Infinite apologies, my readers. I did not mean for the long wait. But, honestly, it's not my fault. Imagine if you will, this little scene.
(click-click-clickity-click)
Sweet,Jenn thought to herself, I'm going to have thischapter done by Friday! (the 7th)
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(NNNNEEEEEERRROOOO.... THBBPT!)
"What the heck?!?! NOOOOO!"
/scene
Yes. My hard drive went kaputzky. We had to order a new one, wait until it was shipped, and then reinstall everything. I was just thanking my lucky stars that I have all my word processing stories backed up on floppy disk. But, now I'm back.
So. Thank you for all your reviews. I have a couple things in the last chapter, just in case anyone wants to read it again. I hope it makes more sense. As I have mentioned before, I have a stupid habit of editing some stuff and not others, making certain sentances confusing. :c/
Tiger Lily21: Yes, well. I almost like that it is almost the same. It's a good challenge to see if I can have almost the same basic plotline, but keep the story completely different.
Glaze: Thank you! Lord Vardon is quite intelligent. But he has a very personal reason for all of this, which I will reveal in due time.
fell4adeadguy: Haha! (gloats) Begone, heathen wench, from thy place of evil wreckoning, lest I strike down these matches with the force of the might ocean! Never with a thousand torches will they relight! Mwahaha! (I don't really want you gone, just FYI ;cD)
flyinghigh808: They are actually outside the invisable wall. The her going to get her horse was a typo/editing error.
ruberduckysrfun: Woot! Okay!
Phillipa of the Phoenix: Thank you very much! :cD
UruvielTinuviel: major bummer. Being grounded sucks the big one.
Dragon Goddess: I feel so awful for not updating faster. I'm glad you like the story. Hmm... It is a little fast, but some of the things were kind of in the past and looked back on, you know?
naughty little munchkin: Thank you! I actually originally planned for them to havea different sword, but I was like, how many magical swords does Lark have? So, I used Robbie's sword.
fairygypsy: Yes,I do understand what you're saying. I didn't really want any strong words in my story, so I thought 'damn' would be a good compromise. Wow. An English major? I'm impressed. I have a love/hate relationship with English. I can't write essays to save my soul, but I love to write short stories and poems and such. Aiden is a very careful character. He hates to accuse(?) people without proof. In his mind, he was always half-sure that he was right and Daniela really was Danni, but then something might happen and shift his thoughts. Plus, they only really knew each other for a week, and most of that week, she was a guy. Thank you so much for the detailed review! It's really helpful.
Pabo: I kind of did it that way half-purposely. I didn't want Vardon to be a main-main character, mearly because in 'real life' he was kind of a background man. I wanted there to kind of be a feeling of 'Who? Vardon? EVIL?' in the readers because that is what's going on in everyone in the castles' minds. Thank you for pointing out that error to me. It's fixed now. :c) No I haven't, but I will now, thank you!
Thank you all for being patient with me. Now armed with my faster, non-broken computer, I hope to resume my updating schedual asap.
Toodles!
-Lulai
Chapter Twelve: Out of the City
"How is this going to work?" Danni hissed as they began to walk the cobbled streets of the town. The sky behind them was a brilliant mixture of fuchsia and orange from the setting sun. Danni was quite too strung out to appreciate its beauty.
"I don't understand what you mean," Aiden said honestly, admiring the orange that seemed to set her pale hair on fire. He shook his head. He should be concentrating on freeing his family, not on how pretty Danni's hair was.
"I'm sure everyone here in town knows you, my lord," Danni said, a crease forming between her eyebrows. "Plus, Vardon has probably found out that you are not there and will have people looking for you."
"What do you suggest I do?" Aiden asked a little sarcastically. "I didn't exactly plan for this trip."
Danni frowned at him. Then her eyebrows lifted. "Wait," she said excitedly.
Aiden stopped walking. Danni went back to the horse and took off the saddle blanket.
"Here," she said, holding the blanket out to him. "Throw this over you so that you are not so… so… royal looking."
Aiden wrinkled his nose, but took the blanket and put it over his head, holding it closed in front.
"So?" he asked.
"You're still too tall," Danni instructed. "You'll have to hunch over and pretend to be an old man, or something."
Aiden raised an eyebrow. "What about you?" he asked. "You aren't going to blend in with that outfit."
Danni looked down at her blue gown. It was very pretty. It seemed a shame to do anything to it. Aiden shrugged out of his doublet, leaving his white shirt on.
"Here," he said, handing the jacket to Danni. "This should at least cover most of your dress." Danni put on the doublet.
It was oddly intimate. His smell and warmth enveloped her just as much as the shirt did. It was also far too big. She rolled up the sleeves to her wrists.
She took the net of jewels out of her hair and tucked it into her bodice. Then, she tied her hair into a knot on the top of her head.
"Better?" she asked.
"Much," Aiden replied, hunching his shoulders. He cracked her a grin. "Should I hobble?" He began to do a half walk – half skip down the street. The corners of Danni's mouth twitched, despite her mood.
After tying Carpet to a rail stationed for horses, they entered a large inn with a swinging sign proclaiming it as 'The Traveller's Way.'
"Whatta ye want?" a menacing man growled, giving Danni a look down.
Danni opened her mouth to respond when Aiden spoke up.
"Me daughter an' me, we be wantin' a room fer tha night," he said in a hoarse voice.
"Ye got money?" the innkeeper asked, obviously trying to discreetly see Aiden's face.
Danni brought forward a silver coin and slapped it down on the counter.
"Aye," she said. Suddenly the grumpy man was a lot friendlier.
"I got just tha room fer ye," he said, handing them a key. "Second floor, third door on the left."
"Thank ye," Aiden wheezed.
Danni took his arm, enjoying the farce in spite of herself. "Here, Papa, let me help ye." They took the stairs slowly, but as soon as Danni had shut the door to their room, Aiden straightened up and threw the blanket off his back.
"Ow," he said, stretching his back. "It's a lot harder than it looks to keep that posture."
"Mmm," she muttered noncommittally. She tried unsuccessfully to strangle a yawn. "I think we should get to bed," she said. "The sooner we go to sleep, the sooner we can begin the journey to find this cave that Lark talked about."
"Speaking of that cave," Aiden mused, "I haven't actually heard of a 'Cave of Wonders.' I hope you have some idea of where it resides."
Danni's shoulders sagged. "No. I was hoping that you knew." She blew a lock of hair out of her face. "It seems this journey was doomed before it even started."
"Nonsense," Aiden said, taking her shoulders in his hands. "We'll find a way. We have to. My family is in there."
Danni looked into his green eyes, strengthened by the resolve there. "So what do you think we should do?"
Aiden squeezed her shoulder then released her to pace the floor. "If what you say is true, that Lord Vardon will be after me, and I have a feeling that it is, I suggest we remove ourselves from the city as soon as possible. I know of a library in a monastery a little bit north of here that might have some information."
"Alright," Danni agreed, a smile starting to curve her lips. A glimmer of hope began to inch its way into her mind.
At precisely the same moment, both Danni and Aiden realized that there was only one bed in the room. Simultaneously, a grin crossed Aiden's face as a blush swept Danni's cheeks.
"I will leave you to your rest, your highness," she said, picking up the horse blanket.
"If we are to be travelling together, you are going to have to call me Aiden," Aiden said firmly, gently tugging the blanket away from her. "And I will be taking the floor while you sleep on the bed."
"But-but…" Danni stuttered. Aiden silenced her with a raised finger.
"No buts, my dear," he said, shaking out the blanket and laying it on the floor. "I will take the gentleman's road and let the lady sleep on the bed."
"But I'm not a lady," she burst out.
Aiden shook his head at her, his green eyes sparkling. "You have already fooled me once on that score, Danni. Although I found out in a most unorthodox way, I feel quite certain that you are indeed a woman."
Danni's face went bright scarlet as the memory of the day out on the field came back to her. "That was not what I meant," she mumbled.
Aiden lay down in the blanket. "Try and get some sleep. The monastery is quite a ways from here."
Danni looked at her bed. She grabbed the pillow.
"At least take this," she said, offering the plump object to him. "It will make me feel better."
"Alright," Aiden replied, sitting up. He took the pillow from her, letting his fingers linger over hers.
"Thank you, my lady," he said, bringing her knuckles to his lips. "Sleep well."
…
"Highness… Highness… Aiden!" A vigorous shaking of his shoulder jerked Aiden out of his pleasant dream.
"What?" he asked groggily. He tried to recall his dream, but he only had a brief recollection of Danni and him… in a pool? And a waterfall?
He shook his head. It was gone.
"You said you wanted to be off early this morning," Danni said, rocking back on her heels as Aiden sat up. His neck was stiff. He pulled his head to one side, wincing as the bones in his spine made a cracking sound.
"Yes," he replied, stretching his neck to the other side. It made another cracking sound. "I'm sorry to have been asleep so long."
"It is alright," she said. "I've only been up for a while."
Aiden stood up and lifted the blanket. Danni stood as well. She was still wearing the same outfit she was the other night.
He sighed. He didn't really mind the smell of horses, but that didn't mean he wanted it to be his permanent smell. He threw the blanket over his head again.
Together, they made their way down the stairs and out to Carpet. He was right where they had left him, tied to the railing. He was drinking from the trough.
"I hope you were alright last night, Carpet," she said, rubbing his nose as she untied his halter. "I'm sorry I couldn't find you a stable."
Carpet blew his lips in response. Danni smiled and gave his neck a final pat before they began to walk towards the gates of the city.
The sounds of the city were scared and hushed.
"Have ye heard? Tha castle's under a spell."
"I heard tha whole family is in there."
"This Lord Vardon is a mean critter, ain't he?"
The conversations continued throughout the city. Most of the soldiers had already been called to the strange invisible wall, trying to break it down. After a few minutes of slow going, Aiden and Danni approached the gate.
"Why are ye leavin' this city?" a guard asked them harshly, blocking the small gate with their spears.
"Me Pa, he's dyin'," Danni said sorrowfully. "He wishes ta spend his last days in tha monastery to tha north."
The guard nodded and they lifted their spears back into their upright position. "Very well. Move along with ye."
Danni nodded her thanks and she helped Aiden through the door.