Hey guys. I hope you're all doing well. I'm sorry this wasn't up yesterday. I had it written, but I really didn't feel like updating, so I'm doing it right now, after school.
TrudiRose: Thank you. I love romance, and it's good to hear that I'm doing it well.
fell4adeadguy: Mmm, yeah. But, at least it's not all physical. I think that passion is, while not the most important thing in a relationship, at least a big part.
Glaze: Of course it took him 13 chapters! I sometimes feel that men would quicker cut off their own arm than admit that the have a 'vulnerability'. But that's just in my experience. And, you! Stop trying to write my story for me! ;cD (I'm not saying if it's correct or not)
Tiger Lily21: Wee for A names! I really think that most of my children will be A named children, the unfortunates. XcD
letylyf: Sorry about that! I think what happened is that when I wrote the last responces, I clicked on the 'Reviews for Chapter 13' button, so yours didn't show up. I didn't mean to insult you! All my readers are important. In answer to your question, it actually took them just a little less than a day to reach the monastery. They had stopped for lunch (ei: about midday) when they were talking, so they had already walked all morning. They arrived at the monastery at about supper time. I don't think I've mentioned Danni's father... yet.
Sirenic Griffin: What holiday did you have? My holiday is just beginning! And thanks.
naughty little munchkin: Woot! Thanks a lot. I love sexual tension. One of the best elements of stories, sometimes. I'm glad you liked their backgrounds. Poor Aiden. He takes somethings too close to heart sometimes. I'm excited about the Cave! I'm hoping that it'll be cool.
moonlight and starlight: Here you go, how Crispin and Aiden know each other. :cD That is so cool. Sea elves are awesome.
atsuibelulah: Hmm. Ah, well. I always have such a tough time coming up with names of places and such. I probably did find inspiration from some medicine.
UruvielTruviel: (hurls a shoe)(cat screetches) OMG, you made me drool with that discription of chocolate...y ... good... ness. (drools some more) Anyway, I'm glad you like it. Woot! No more chemistry (until next year)! I'm free! FREE AT LAST! (Evil laugh) Weird, don't you hate crying for no reason? I was listening to the Shrek soundtrack, and that song Hallelujah by Rufus Wrainwright (?) came on, and I nearly BAWLED! It's stupid, all my friends are uber uber smart, so even though I'm pretty smart, compared to them, I'm like, retarded or something. Sometimes, it's annoying, but sometimes it's good, when say we both get the same mark, and I'm like 'WOOT! 80!' and they're like, 'Dammit! Only 80?' so... yeah. Thanks for reading. You're cool.
Phillipa of the Phoenix: Haha! I sure hope so, or else there would really be a romance story! However,this story will remain PG, maybe with a hint of PG-13. If I write a really crappy lemon scene, it will be for me and maybe someone else if they really want it.
rainkisser: Thank you! I read your chapter too! And reviewed!
Just in warning, I made a comment in this story that might be taken as against Christianity... Totally not. Just part of the story. You'll understand when you read it.
Anyway,
Happy reading!
-Lulai
Chapter Fourteen: The Monastery
"And then he fell into the cook, and he spilled the custard all over the place," Crispin chortled.
"Oh, yes. Uncle Rollo made Theo clean the entire hall." The two friends burst out laughing.
Danni walked a little bit behind them, itching with curiosity, but trying not to show it. Instead, she forced herself to examine the tapestries that lined the stone hallway in a bored fashion. She didn't really mind them ignoring her, they were obviously good friends.
The monastery was obviously old, and filled with men of ranging ages. She peeked in one door to see several other monks in the standard brown robes, writing in what seemed to be large tomes.
"We're trying to restore some of the older books. Those we cannot save, we copy, so at least we can keep a version of the book," Crispin comment, noticing her curiosity.
"Ah," Danni murmured, continuing down the hallway.
"So?" Crispin asked with a raised eyebrow. "Where did you two meet?"
"Uh," Danni stuttered, looking to Aiden for help.
"We met at Theo's," Aiden said. "We became friends, so she came to visit me at the castle."
Crispin nodded. "So, you know Theo as well?" he asked her.
Danni nodded nervously. "Yes," she responded, her voice sounding thick. She cleared her throat. "And you two? When did you meet?"
"Aiden didn't tell you?" he grinned, placing a hand over his heart. "You wound me deeply, Denny."
"Crispin is the second son of the late Earl of Havara. Perhaps you met him at the castle?"
Danni shook her head mutely.
"Ah, well. Since we are of a close age, Crispin, Theo, and I, we were always thrust together at social functions." Aiden shrugged. "We eventually became friends."
"Sit here, Danni," Crispin interrupted, indication a spot on a wooden bench. Aiden sat down on her left. Crispin spooned the simple beef stew in two bowls, setting them down in front of Danni and Aiden. He went back to get his own before sitting down on the left of his friend.
"So, if your father was an earl, how did you, uh…" Danni didn't know how to phrase her question, and trailed off.
"End up here?" Crispin finished for her. She nodded. "Fairly simply, I assure you. While Theo and Aiden were both preparing for taking over their respective titles, I had an older brother. Rather than trying to find a suitable marriage, I joined up in here, partially because I wanted to repay the kind father who had taught us history, and partially because I wanted to help Aiden and Theo." He shrugged. "I figured they would need someone to watch over them, or else they'd become womanizing drunkards."
"And with Crispin here holding the Right Ear of God, I don't think that'll ever happen," Aiden said, giving his friend a light punch in the shoulder before taking a mouthful of stew.
Danni looked to her own bowl. The stew was quite tasty, with chunks of beef, potato, and carrot swimming in a thick spiced broth, plus a chuck of sweet white bread to mop the liquid up. She had finished off the entire portion before realizing it.
Crispin and Aiden were much slower at finishing their meal than she, as they often interrupted each other with stories from their childhood. Danni sat quietly, listening to the two friends, but after a while, her mind began to wander.
"-hey, Danni?" Aiden asked, turning the conversation her way.
"What?" Danni asked, her attention snapping from the particular stone that she had been studying to Aiden's face. "I'm sorry. I was wool-gathering."
Aiden gave her a grin. "It seems you have enough for an entire flock."
Danni blushed and looked at her hands, clenched tightly in her lap.
Crispin laughed and gave Aiden a mighty whack on the back. "Stop teasing the girl!" Crispin gave her a bright smile and she couldn't help but return it. "I would say that he isn't usually like this, but I'm a monk now, and they frown on lying in a church."
Aiden gave his friend a mocking look. "You are not like any monk I've ever met."
"They're still trying to meditate my wild side out of me," he responded, but he smiled, showing that he didn't mind at all.
"Let's retire to the library," Crispin said, taking their bowls from in front of them. "There is a fire there, and you can tell me what this visit is all about."
They nodded. They followed Crispin through the hallways before entering the library. A low hum of sound tickled Danni's ears. She asked about it.
"That is the singing of the opening of Vespers," Crispin responded. "I asked to be excused so that I may converse here with you this evening."
"Ah," Danni nodded, feeling she had to say something.
"Now," Crispin said after they had all been seated with a cup of mulled wine. Danni sipped at hers slowly, afraid that it might make her drowsy, but she quite liked the slightly sour flavour. She swallowed, enjoying the aftertaste of apples. "What is this all about?"
Aiden twirled his glass in his fingers as he told the basic bones of the story, kindly glossing over most of the details of Danni's involvement.
Crispin's expression was thoughtful when Aiden finished. "Cave of Wonders, eh?" he mused, almost to himself. "Where have I heard that name before?"
Danni threw back the little dribbles of wine in her glass and set the glass back down on the crude wood table. She wasn't feeling too bad. In fact, other than the tip of her nose feeling a little numb, she felt great.
"More?" Crispin asked, holding up the pitcher.
"Yes, please," Danni responded politely. He started to refill her goblet, when he suddenly set the pitcher down beside her cup.
"Wait, I think I have it!" He rushed over to a shelf and pulled out a large book. Danni took advantage of the pitcher and poured herself some more wine.
"What is it?" Aiden asked, setting down his cup to walk over to where Crispin was leaving through the musty pages of a large book of what were apparently maps.
"Here!" he said triumphantly, stabbing his finger to the middle of a page. In a flowing script of strange swirls, a map showed a large forest in which laid a large cave. Underneath the strange pattern, someone had printed out 'Cave of Vonders' in dark contrasting letters.
"And here," Crispin said, flipping the page. "There is a strange line that goes along with it; apparently, it's how to find it."
"To finde the Caverne," Aiden read, "thee must finde the ribbon vhich vinds through the heart of the grande hall. Pull backe the curtain vhich no manne canne touch twice, and the entrance thee shalle have. That's nonsense."
Crispin shrugged. "It's a start. We think that we know what the ribbon that winds through the heart of the grand hall is, though. Do you recognize this forest?"
Aiden looked at it closely. It did look vaguely familiar, but he couldn't seem to place it. "Sort of," he said slowly.
"This is Drewery Forest," Crispin said with a semi-smug grin.
"What?" Aiden asked, looking at the map closely. "Nonsense. Where is the castle? And the town? And this monastery for that matter?"
"This map was made before any of that," Crispin explained. He pointed to a small drawing of a tree. "This is us," he said. "See this?" He ran his finger up a thin line drawn between the trees. "I think it's a road, or at least a path."
"Of course," Aiden said, "'the ribbon that winds through the grand hall.' A road that goes through the trees. But what about 'the curtain that no man can touch twice?'"
Crispin shrugged. "You have me on that one. Perhaps it is a magical wall, like the one around your castle, and once you go through it once, you can't go back through again."
Aiden frowned. "Perhaps. What do you think, Danni?"
Danni looked up, surprised, from her study of the intricate pictures up the margin of a semi large book. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I wasn't listening. I was much too fascinated by these pictures. They are very good."
"Thank you," Crispin said.
Danni's jaw fell open. "You drew these?" She ran her fingers over a particularly savage looking dragon.
"Yes," he acknowledged. "Well, at least I copied them from an older text."
"Wow," she said. She felt a yawn coming on, but didn't wish to insult her host, so she tried to keep her mouth closed. She was sure she was making weird faces, and the thought made her giggle.
"We've had a long day," Aiden said, recognizing what was happening.
"Of course. You two must be getting tired," Crispin said, closing the book and placing it back on the shelf. "I will show you your rooms."
Danni sat the book back down and finished her wine. Aiden also finished his.
Crispin led them through the darkened hallway, lit by torches on the walls. A hooded figure seemingly detached himself from an archway.
"Brother Crispin, you are needed in the sanctuary," he said.
"Why?" Crispin asked.
The brother sighed. "Brother John knocked over the statue of our Lord again."
Crispin echoed the brother's sigh. "We really must nail that thing to the ground." He turned to Aiden and Danni. "Your rooms are a little farther on the left. You cannot miss them; they have a sprig of Hatly on the front. Goodnight and I shall see you on the morrow."
Aiden and Danni watched the two figures retreat, listening to the quiet conversation of the merits of putting nails through the Lord's feet. As they continued down the hallway, Aiden noticed that Danni seemed to be paying unusual close concentration to the floor.
Just as promised, there were two doors, side by side, both with a small bit of Hatly on the front.
Danni turned to Aiden. "I like your friend," she said simply.
Aiden smiled. "Although I haven't seen Crispin in a while, we still keep in contact with the occasional letter."
Danni nodded. "That's nice." She paused a moment. "I have a question for you, one that I started to ask, but we were interrupted."
Aiden looked at her. She seemed a little flush. "Go ahead," he said.
"Why did you kiss me?"
The question took him back. "What?" he strangled out, the tips of his ears growing hot.
"After that day in the park," Danni said, as if she needed to explain, "before you left me in my room, you kissed me. I just wanted to know why."
"The moment was right, I guess," he said, trying to figure out what was going on.
Danni sidled up to him. "Is the moment right now?" she asked, looking at him with bright eyes.
"What the?" Was she drunk? "How many glasses of wine did you drink?"
"Two." She stopped, considering. "No, three. Maybe four. Not more than four."
She was drunk! He felt compelled to tell her. "Danni," he said firmly, his hands on her shoulders, "you are foxed."
"Foxed?" she asked, confused.
"Drunk," he clarified.
Her face brightened. "Oh. So does that mean you don't want to kiss me?" Her was slowly sliding up his chest.
"Stop that," he growled, capturing her hand in his. A sly smile crept over her face as her other hand began to travel up the same path on the other side.
"Danni," he warned. He wasn't going to last much longer. He knew that she was drunk, and he shouldn't be taking advantage of her in this state, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt that she was taking advantage of him. His resolve weakened. She freed her hand from his and slid them both behind his neck and laid her head on his chest. Then, she was still.
"Danni?" he asked after a moment. "Danni?" A soft snore drifted up from the blonde hair. She had fallen asleep. Thank goodness for small miracles.
He lifted her behind the knees and under her back so that she was cradled in his arms like a child. She shifted in his embrace, borrowing her nose into his chest and giving a gusty sigh.
He laid her down on her bed, and covered her with the spare blanket. He brushed her hair back from her face and gave a little half smile. She was going to have a killer headache in the morning.