George saw a hairpin fall out of her hair and quickly grabbed that as well
before it fell to the floor. He looked into her face and time seemed to
freeze. She was beautiful, for lack of a better word. She had a heart-
shaped face and ivory skin with a little bit of tan, giving her skin color.
Her nose was straight and her lips full. Then she glanced up at him and he
looked into her eyes, becoming trapped in their depths. The purple eyes
mesmerized him. He saw in them surprise and confusion, but deeper, he
seemed to see a flash of grief. When he looked again, though, it was gone.
~***~
Alanna was shocked, to say the least, when a stranger fell through the ceiling and landed not two feet away from her. He'd caught her as she fell and spun her around. She had looked up at him in surprise and caught sight of hazel eyes filled with mischief and laughter.
Presently, he set her down gently on her feet but did not let go of her. They stayed in that position for a moment just looking at each other, both with surprise and wonder evident on their faces. The man's brown hair, tips bleached by the sun, was cut short like most commoners. His face is handsome, but his nose is a bit large, she thought without realizing she was thinking it. However, at that moment, the man seemed to notice her studying him and gave a lopsided grin. Alanna found herself wondering what she had been thinking when she thought that.
Just then, Alanna realized that she was in the arms of a strange man who had fallen through the roof. She didn't even know who he was! Quickly, she pushed herself back from him, but when she did so, she accidentally cut her palm on the sharp end of the hairpin he was holding. Worry crossed his face as he quickly turned the hairpin around so that the sharp end was safely in his palm.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"Let me see your hand,"
"Give that back to me,"
"Just let me see your hand,"
Reaching out, Alanna snatched the ornament back.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed in surprise. Alanna looked at him in confusion and he held out his hand to reveal a red line of blood running through his palm.
"I didn't mean it. I'm sorry," she said guiltily.
He just smiled at her and replied, "I didn't mean it either. Here, let me see your hand, come on," Warily, she held out her palm for him to inspect. "Great, look at this," he said in mock dismay. "Now my sister's goin' to tease me for bein' cut up by a lass."
"Just tell her that you got me too,"
"But then she'll beat me up for hurtin' a lady!" he said, shaking his head sadly. "I lose either way."
Alanna giggled. He had a quick wit and a sharp tongue, yet it seemed to her that he carefully considered each word before saying it.
"Here, let me put some herbs on it," he said. Reaching into his belt pouch, he took out some strange smelling herbs and sprinkled them on her hand. She bit her lip as it stung her cut. Then, he took one end of the silk shawl she was wearing and ripped a strip off of it. She looked at him in amazement and he said, "What? It's ripped anyway." She looked at it and saw that it was true. When she had fallen out of the chair, a piece of the delicate fabric must have caught on it and torn.
Taking the fabric, he bandaged her hand. His calloused hands were gentle as he secured the makeshift bandage in place. When he made no move to wrap his own cut, she asked, "What about you?"
Glancing at the thin line of red tracing his palm, he said, "It's just a small cut. No need to worry about me." They stood in uncomfortable silence for a while, not really knowing what to say to the other.
"Maybe you should go before someone sees you; It might cause some problems," she suggested.
"Right," said the man, his keen ears picking up the sound of footsteps in the distance. He turned and walked in the opposite direction of the door.
"Where are you going?" Alanna asked.
The man turned and looked at her. "I'll go out the way I came in," he said. As an after thought, he added grinning at her, "to avoid causing any problems. Don't go near water for a few days."
Alanna still didn't quite understand. He had fallen through the ceiling and it was over ten feet above them. But before she could say anything, he had jumped up and grabbed the top of the window frame and swung himself up. Then, reaching out, he grabbed the rim of the hole through which he had fallen and disappeared over the edge.
He had left not a second too soon. The instant his foot had gone from view, Aileen and Duraleen ran into the room, frantic.
"Oh lord!"
"Are you okay, milady?"
"What did you see?" she asked, afraid for a moment that they had seen the man.
"What do you mean, Lady Alanna?" asked Aileen in a tone that suggested Alanna had bumped her head. "Anyone can see it. The roof's fallen in!" Alanna suppressed a sigh of relief and said nothing as Aileen and Duraleen, who hadn't noticed her strange behavior, continued to fuss over her. Alanna held up the hairpin she was still holding and examined it. The tip was now stained with a small drop of blood that was quickly drying into a rusted brown.
~***~
A regal-looking woman in her mid-eighties carrying an ebony staff with a crystal orb on top led a small procession along the twisted halls of Trebond. Her white hair was tied in a severe knot behind her head. She had sharp, calculating brown eyes and stern, thin lips in a square, no-nonsense face. The Lady Heranna had single handedly held Trebond, keeping it from becoming a run-down old castle and making it the busy, respected fief it was today.
With her, were two comical looking figures that seemed almost as different as night and day. Both were somewhere in their fifties and they both wore rich, but simple clothes, but that was where the similarities stopped. One was tall and rail thin with dark, but thinning hair and black eyes. He wore a white tunic over a gray shirt. The other man was short comparing to his companion, but actually only about two inches shorter than was normal. His thick, snow-white hair was tied loosely with a leather thong and his eyes were a pale blue. He wore a red tunic over a brown shirt. One more thing that these two had in common was that each carried a large assortment of pouches and vials. The taller one ha a harness that went over his shoulder and the shorter man had a belt and about twenty different sacks hanging off of it.
These were Wil and Lar, world-renowned masters of the arts of poison and healing. Wil, the one in the white, was the best poison master in the known world and Lar, in white, was the master of medicine. They were equivalent to a black robe mage. They had sworn allegiance to the late King Roald who had died a year ago. His wife had died not long before from a disease and he had never truly gotten over it. Now, they were Crown Prince Jonathan's closest advisors.
Following behind were a score of foot soldiers. Finally, after a mind- boggling amount of twists and turns, they arrived at a large, ornate door that seemed to be very old. Lady Heranna stopped and took out a large ornate key. Placing it in the lock, she murmured a word and turned the lock.
"You stay here and guard the door. Do not let anyone enter," she ordered the foot soldiers sternly. Then, turning to the Masters, she said, "Follow me." She opened the door and stepped aside to let the two men in, then locked the door behind them.
The room seemed simple enough. It was furnished like a normal guest room. There was a large bed at one end of the room and a chest at the foot of it. In the corner was a plain desk with some parchment and a quill on it. There was also and rug and a fireplace. Wil and Lar looked around confusedly.
"Um...Lady Heranna?" said Lar tentavely.
"Yes?"
"Are we...uh...in the wrong...uh...room?" asked Wil, uncertainly.
Heranna laughed and Wil and Lar looked at each other in confusion. "Watch," she said simply, and before they could respond, she crossed to the bedpost on the left side at the foot of the bed and gave it a clockwise twist. The chest disappeared into the floor and revealed a staircase leading downward. The two men stared in amazement. Heranna lit the crystal on her staff with her Gift and began to walk down the stairs. She had gone down about five steps before she realized she was alone. Turning, she saw the two old men were still staring in wonder.
"Well?" she demanded. "Are you coming?"
"Oh! Uh, yes—"
"Of course—"
Came the startled replies as they broke out of their trances and hurried to catch up. They huddled together like children scared yet amazed at their surroundings. The walls seemed to be covered with strange creases, and, upon closer observation, they could be seen as carvings of warriors and knights doing brave deeds. These must have been the heroic history of Trebond. Once, during their long decent down the narrow stairway, Lar had accidentally bumped into Wil while staring at the walls. They both jumped five feet into the air.
"Watch where you're going!" whispered Wil angrily. Speaking out loud didn't seem right in this place.
"You're the one who ran into me!" retorted Lar, also in a whisper.
"How could I run into you? I'm a stair beneath you!"
"You must have backed up!"
"No, I didn't!"
"Yes, you did!"
"No,"
"Yes,"
"No—"
"Shh!"
They had arrived at the bottom of the stairs and there was an enormous ornate door with a carving of a tall figure holding a magnificent sword. In the background was an army of cloaked men, their faces shrouded in darkness. To the side of the carving was some writing, but the origins of it were alien. There was also a picture of some sort on the bottom. It was a rectangle surrounded by flames. Around it were four star-shaped figures. In between two of the figures was a small shape that seemed like two circles joined together. Once again, Heranna took out a key and unlocked the door.
They entered into a vast chamber that seemed to be a natural underground cave. A strange glow was coming from the center of the cave. It seemed to be a large force field on top of a slab of stone. Small power bolts danced along the surface and it seemed to fill the entire cave with an eerie hum.
"Is it in there?" Lar asked, turning to Lady Heranna.
"Mm," she nodded, staring at her family heirloom in pride and, although she would never admit it, a little bit of awe.
"Great," said Wil excitedly. The two walked over to the stone slab. Heranna, realizing what they were doing, shouted a warning.
"No don't—" it was too late. Wil had already reached his hand out. The second he touched the glowing dome, a strong force threw him into a very surprised Lar and sent them both flying backwards to the hit the far wall of the cave and come crashing to the ground in a tangled heap of limbs and bottles. Heranna laughed while they, with much shouting and cursing, disentangled themselves.
"Wow," panted Lar as he dusted himself off. "That's quite a spell."
"Gryffith of Trebond, the founder of our great fiefdom, was the one who cast it." Explained Heranna. The two old men looked at the shield with awe evident in their gazes.
"How do we get the sword out then, Lady?" asked Wil.
"Watch," she replied. So saying, she stepped up to the energy field. She mumbled something that they couldn't quite understand and touched a spot on the altar. The dome instantly disappeared and the slight hum that they still felt in their bones was the only trace it left. The sword flew out of the altar where it had been sheathed, and Lar jumped up and caught it.
"Wow," he breathed. "So this is the legendary Storm Bringer."
The pommel held a large emerald, and gold and silver wires twined along the hilt. The scabbard was made of a material that looked like stone but it was as light as a regular leather scabbard and had creases all over. It was decorated with small emeralds along the edges.
"May we have a look at it?" asked Wil hopefully.
Heranna seemed to consider this for a second, looking each of them up and down with her calculating gaze. Finally, she nodded her consent. Excited, Wil walked over to Lar and watched as he tried to pull the sword out of the sheath. However, hard as he tried, it would not come out.
"What are you? A weakling?" asked Wil, scornfully.
"Weakling yourself," replied Lar. "This sword won't budge."
"You're just not trying hard enough."
"If you're so good, you try," said Lar handing the weapon over.
"Fine," said Wil. "I will." He pulled and pulled, but to no avail.
Lar sniffed an I told you so and Wil stuck out his tongue (such behavior would normally be viewed as strange in old men, but anyone who knew these two knew that they were like small children).
After Wil's curiosity overcame his pride, he suggested that Lar pull on the sheath while he pulled on the hilt. Lar agreed and they tried that, but it didn't work either. By now, the two were most annoyed. Lar proposed that this time, Wil would turn around and pull on the scabbard and he would pull the hilt by bracing his foot on Wil's back. This resulted in Lar's hand slipping causing Wil to fall painfully on his face and Lar to fly back into the cave wall again. After that, they gave up.
"Lady, this sword is protected so carefully, how could you bear to give it away?" asked Wil.
Lady Heranna, who had been laughing at the antics and constant bickering of the two, sobered immediately. "This sword has been in our family for generations. But we have lost the right to keep it any longer. Long ago, Gryffith the Warrior used the sword to defeat the Evil Sect, but after him, no one has ever been able to wield it again. The great House of Trebond is no longer what it once was either. That is why we have decided to hand the responsibility of keeping this sword to his highness, the prince. It will now be his duty to protect this sword and made sure it is used only for good."
The two old men, feeling the gravity of the moment, said, "We promise to do all that is within our power to help our prince protect this sword. You can count on us."
"Thank you," said Heranna gratefully.
***
George found the secret entrance to the room easily. He had memorized the map of the servants halls in the castle before coming and knew there could only be a few places that it would be. After running by a few, he found it. It was obvious, for it was the most heavily guarded. All of this time, Gary had been following him, still believing that this mysterious stranger was just leading him on a wild chase for the handkerchief, never suspecting that he was being used to get into Trebond House.
Looking in on the room full of guards while once again waiting for the young noble, he sensed something strange in the room. Looking closer with his Sight, he noticed two little spots of magic the size of a full-grown man in the corner where there weren't any guards. So, he thought. Others are here too. These nobles think they are so good at being secretive, but they have one weddin' and the whole world knows their secrets. Hm, to get that sword, I've got to get rid of this bugger on my tail. Just as he thought this, the 'little bugger' ran into view. Speak of the devil, thought George as he turned and dashed in the opposite direction out of the servants' passages and into the main halls.
Seeing a cluster of guards that had just gotten off duty, he ran towards them, purposefully making his footsteps louder. Turning, they saw him. One of them shouted, "Stop, thief!" assuming that that was the reason he was running. When he didn't, they surrounded him and tried to fight him.
"Wait!" he said hurriedly and putting on an innocent face. "I'm not the thief, he is." He pointed to Gary who had just run up and was looking at them all confusedly and ran.
***
Gary finally caught up to the thief once again. He always seemed to be just one step ahead. It was getting very frustrating. Seeing him so close, Gary ran at him. the thief turned to run.
"Running again, you coward?" shouted Gary.
The man turned around unexpectantly. An innocent look was plastered on his face as he said, "I don't want to run, but look behind you."
Gary turned to find a group of angry looking foot soldiers, they charged at the young noble who now seemed to have a permanent look of confusion plastered onto his face. Who could blame him? A mysterious stranger who seemed to be only interested in stealing his handkerchief woke him up early in the morning. After being pummeled by chicken and fruits in the marketplace, he chased this stranger all around Trebond House. Now, a group of guards was attacking him as if he were the thief.
His knight training kicked in before he had time to think. He ducked under a wild punch and kicked the offender in the stomach. The next man charged at him. Gary sidestepped him and threw the man over his shoulder into the wall. He didn't remember the rest of the fight, only that when he finally decided to shout that he was not the intruder, he realized that he had no more opponents. They were all rolling on the floor in pain or knocked out. Wow, he thought. What useless guards.
However, looking around, he realized he had lost the man.
***
Meanwhile, the two men hiding under the spell watched the scene before them anxiously. They were brothers. The older one was a half of a head taller and had a wide face. The younger had a more angular face and sharper features. Both had black hair and brown eyes. Suddenly, the younger brother sensed another presence. Both brothers had moderately strong magic. His was the Sight and the older brother had the Gift. The feeling was gone as fast as it appeared. He stepped forward, but a hand on his shoulder held him back. He looked back at his older brother who shook his head.
"There is someone else here to steal the sword as well, Verreaux. We must get it first." He whispered in a voice so low that only his brother could hear him.
"First, let's make sure that this sword is truly what we came here for, Isidor. Now stop moving or you'll break the spell." Verreaux was sweating from the effort of keeping the concealment up.
Isidor agreed reluctantly and settled back down to wait. Soon, they saw the Lady Heranna, Wil, and Lar emerged from the room. Wil was carrying a long object wrapped in cloth.
"Are we supposed to just leave like this?" Lar was asking.
"Of course," said Wil. "See, the more we act like it's nothing, the more people will overlook it."
"Good point," agreed Lar.
"That's it," Isidor whispered. "Let's go,"
Verreaux nodded.
The two leapt out of their corner of concealment. Verreaux charged at the line of soldiers and kept them distracted while Isidor went for the sword. The entire movement was so fast that only a lucky step to the side on Wil's part kept the sword in his hand. Damn, thought Isidor. Missing his first lunge, he knew that they would be on the alert now and it would not be so easy on the second try. Now they would have to fight.
He hurried back to his brother's side and they stood back to back, surrounded by guards. The position was a familiar one for the brothers, who had had to use it too often in their hard lives; first, when people accused them of being devil's spawn and tried to stone them to death, and now, when they were risking their lives to carry out their masters orders to avoid his wrath were they to fail. These brothers had learned the evil side of humanity too early in their lives. They had now become cold-blooded killers.
With a battle cry, they charged out and began fighting the guards along with Wil, Lar and Heranna, who had learned to fight from her stay in the Yamani Isles. Isidor kicked a guard in the stomach and knocked him back into another guard. He turned to see Wil. They exchanged a few passes until Verreaux decided to take him on. Isidor hadn't yet had time to draw his sword but he did so now. He charged back in to take care of some soldiers who had been trying to get his brother while his back was turned. The battle was even for a while, neither side losing or winning, but then, Isidor feigned a grab for the sword again and while Wil and Lar tried to protect it, he went after Heranna instead, holding his sword to her neck. The fighting ceased immediately and his brother was at his side in an instant.
"Don't move or I'll kill her," said Isidor. "Now, hand over the sword."
"Don't do it!" shouted Lady Heranna, but Isidor shut her up by pressing harder with the sword tip until it drew blood.
Wil seemed to be in indecision for a moment, then, huffily, he relinquished the sword. Verreauz opened the cloth bag to check the sword was inside.
"Wil!" shouted Heranna and Lar at the same time.
"Great, now stay here. If you follow, the old lady dies." Said Isidor.
Isidor and Verreaux left with Heranna in tow.
"Why did you give it to them?" asked Lar in frustration.
"Follow and you'll see," replied Wil.
"Ooohh," said Lar, realizing that Wil must have had a plan all along.
***
when they were out of sight, Isidor lifted his sword to swing it at Heranna's neck. Verreaux stopped him.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm going to kill her," said Isidor.
"What about the prince? She is his mother0in-law to be."
"Alright," said Isidor reluctantly. To Heranna, he said, "You're lucky to have a powerful son-in-law." He knocked her out before she could reply.
"What did you do that for?" asked Verreaux.
"Well, we weren't going to drag her through this entire castle were we?"
"Good point,"
The brothers hurried through the hallways incase there were more forces waiting for them. Suddenly, Isidor felt a funny feeling in his chest. It was becoming increasingly harder to breathe. He fell to the ground trying to breathe. Verreaux noticed and hurried over.
"Isidor! What's wrong!" All of a sudden, he seemed to be overcome by the same symptoms and sunk to the ground clutching his throat.
"What's going on?" Isidor asked.
At that point, Lar and Wil, who had been secretly following them, came out of their hiding place behind the wall.
"Hehehe. How do you like my poison?" asked Wil triumphantly, as though he were winning a game of chess.
"So, it was...you, old man," gasped Isidor angrily.
"Yes, and I must commend you two on being able to last so long with my poison in you."
At this point, the brothers could hold out no longer and blacked out.
"Just when you said that, they passed out," commented Lar, laughing.
Wil bent down and retrieved the sword. "Can you guess where I hid my poson this time?" he asked Lar. It was an old game they played.
"Isn't that obvious?" said Lar. "It was the sword."
"Nope," said Wil, eyes twinkling mischievously.
"What? It couldn't have been on Lady Heranna, could it?"
"Nope,"
"Then where was it?"
"It was...I'm not telling you,"
"Oh, come on!"
"No, you can't make me,"
"Yes, I can,"
"No, you can't,"
"Yes—"
Suddenly, a young boy walked over. "Ahh!" he screamed, seeing the two bodies on the ground. "Old men are killing people! Help! Help!"
"Shh! It's all right. We're not murderers," said Wil and Lar trying their best to soothe the frightened youngster.
"Don't kill me. Please, don't kill me!" chanted the boy completely ignoring them. Turning, he tried to run, but appeared to trip in his hurry.
Wil and Lar hurried over to help as the boy wailed that he was going to die.
"Sh, sh, sh. It's okay." Said Lar trying to calm him.
"Yea, we're not murderers. Let us help you. Where did you get hurt?" said Wil.
The boy's wails died down. Sniffling, he pointed to his knees. Wil and Lar immediately began rubbing them and mumbling calming words. Suddenly, they each felt a thump on their heads and the world went dark.
"Hmph," sneered the boy. "Pathetic old men. Now where is that antidote?" he said to himself while searching through Lar's bottles. "This should be it." He pulled out an oblong bottle with a rubber stopper and also pick up the Storm Bringer while he was at it. "If this isn't right, I guess I'll just have to kill you two to avenge my two partners over there."
Walking over to the two fallen young men, the boy put a spherical pill from the bottle into each of their mouths. Then, he used a bit of his Gift to allow them to regain consciousness faster.
"Now," he said, slinging his arms around their shoulders as if in a familiar fashion. "You both owe me for saving your lives. Remember that,"
Isidor glared at the obnoxiously smug face, "I'm going to get you one day, Cam." Verreaux just looked exasperated.
***
George, watching from the window, shook his head. Poor old men, he thought. They didn't even realize that what they had believed to be a young boy was actually just a very slight woman. I didn't even need the Sight to figure that one out. Grabbing a small pebble, he threw it at her back. The rock flew straight and true, striking her pressure point and rendered her momentarily paralyzed. She froze.
Jumping in, he grinned cheekily at her as he walked over and took the sword from her unmoving hands. "I'll be takin' that, thank you." He said to her. She glared at him. Then, she grinned slyly coming up with another ploy.
"Aren't you afraid of the old man's poison?" she asked.
"Them?" he asked. "Both of them put together wouldn't be as venomous as you."
She huffed angrily. The two brothers struggled to get up, but were still too weak from the poison.
"Well, it was nice chattin' with you, but I'd best be off now," said George as he swung himself out of the window and disappeared.
Meanwhile, the two brothers had struggled up and were limping away when the boy/girl called, "Hey! Are you just going to leave me here?"
Isidor look an angry step toward her but Verreaux held him back.
"If we were to leave you," he said. "those two would definitely kill you when they wake up."
"You wouldn't dare—"
"But," said Isidor, catching on to his brother's ploy. "If we let you go right now, then our debt to you will be repaid."
She pursed her lips angrily for a moment, hating to have to give in to them. Finally, her life won out over her pride and she muttered a grudging, "Fine,"
Verreaux gave a firm tap to her left side, in between her third and fourth ribs. Then, the two hurried away, not liking to be in the castle for longer than they had to in their weakened state.
"I'm going to tell the Master on you!" she shouted childishly at their receding forms. "You're going to be in big trouble when you get back!"
At that point, Wil and Lar had begun to wake up, clutching their heads and groaning in pain. Then, they spotted Cam and shouted, "Hey! Freeze! Don't move!"
"Yeah, right." Sneered Cam as she took off down the hall. Wil and Lar were too dizzy to follow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok. So George has the sword and Cam, Verreaux, and Isidor are about to face the wrath of their "master." More a/g coming up next time (I sound like a tv show!)! Please R&R.
Thank you to all my reviewers! I'm sooooo sorry I didn't update sooner. But I've just been in this serious rut. Mainly cuz the rest of the chapter is boring and there wasn't much a/g going on so I didn't feel like writing it. Oh well.
Vera- hehe. I finally got it up. Aren't you proud of me? gets a pat on the head that really took too long. Even I know it. Well, sorry I couldn't get it up by ur computer class, but I sent it to you. I still don't completely get ur next chapter on warrior. I think you should fix it. Make it more descriptive if you have to. It's very strange.
P.S. I'm not changing the title. Nice try.(
AJ 4eva- blush thanx!
sw33t t3mptations-hehe. Well, it wasn't that bad of a cliffie. You should read vera's (verasilyn) stories. Now those are evil cliffies!
Paige Moonsword()-yup. Me love George too!! *o* drool
Fire Mage6- Thank you!
Soccerrsweet- sorry for being so long! I just really didn't want to write it cuz the rest of the chapter was kinda boring. Been struggling with myself for ages. I finally got it out though! yay for me!!
~***~
Alanna was shocked, to say the least, when a stranger fell through the ceiling and landed not two feet away from her. He'd caught her as she fell and spun her around. She had looked up at him in surprise and caught sight of hazel eyes filled with mischief and laughter.
Presently, he set her down gently on her feet but did not let go of her. They stayed in that position for a moment just looking at each other, both with surprise and wonder evident on their faces. The man's brown hair, tips bleached by the sun, was cut short like most commoners. His face is handsome, but his nose is a bit large, she thought without realizing she was thinking it. However, at that moment, the man seemed to notice her studying him and gave a lopsided grin. Alanna found herself wondering what she had been thinking when she thought that.
Just then, Alanna realized that she was in the arms of a strange man who had fallen through the roof. She didn't even know who he was! Quickly, she pushed herself back from him, but when she did so, she accidentally cut her palm on the sharp end of the hairpin he was holding. Worry crossed his face as he quickly turned the hairpin around so that the sharp end was safely in his palm.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"Let me see your hand,"
"Give that back to me,"
"Just let me see your hand,"
Reaching out, Alanna snatched the ornament back.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed in surprise. Alanna looked at him in confusion and he held out his hand to reveal a red line of blood running through his palm.
"I didn't mean it. I'm sorry," she said guiltily.
He just smiled at her and replied, "I didn't mean it either. Here, let me see your hand, come on," Warily, she held out her palm for him to inspect. "Great, look at this," he said in mock dismay. "Now my sister's goin' to tease me for bein' cut up by a lass."
"Just tell her that you got me too,"
"But then she'll beat me up for hurtin' a lady!" he said, shaking his head sadly. "I lose either way."
Alanna giggled. He had a quick wit and a sharp tongue, yet it seemed to her that he carefully considered each word before saying it.
"Here, let me put some herbs on it," he said. Reaching into his belt pouch, he took out some strange smelling herbs and sprinkled them on her hand. She bit her lip as it stung her cut. Then, he took one end of the silk shawl she was wearing and ripped a strip off of it. She looked at him in amazement and he said, "What? It's ripped anyway." She looked at it and saw that it was true. When she had fallen out of the chair, a piece of the delicate fabric must have caught on it and torn.
Taking the fabric, he bandaged her hand. His calloused hands were gentle as he secured the makeshift bandage in place. When he made no move to wrap his own cut, she asked, "What about you?"
Glancing at the thin line of red tracing his palm, he said, "It's just a small cut. No need to worry about me." They stood in uncomfortable silence for a while, not really knowing what to say to the other.
"Maybe you should go before someone sees you; It might cause some problems," she suggested.
"Right," said the man, his keen ears picking up the sound of footsteps in the distance. He turned and walked in the opposite direction of the door.
"Where are you going?" Alanna asked.
The man turned and looked at her. "I'll go out the way I came in," he said. As an after thought, he added grinning at her, "to avoid causing any problems. Don't go near water for a few days."
Alanna still didn't quite understand. He had fallen through the ceiling and it was over ten feet above them. But before she could say anything, he had jumped up and grabbed the top of the window frame and swung himself up. Then, reaching out, he grabbed the rim of the hole through which he had fallen and disappeared over the edge.
He had left not a second too soon. The instant his foot had gone from view, Aileen and Duraleen ran into the room, frantic.
"Oh lord!"
"Are you okay, milady?"
"What did you see?" she asked, afraid for a moment that they had seen the man.
"What do you mean, Lady Alanna?" asked Aileen in a tone that suggested Alanna had bumped her head. "Anyone can see it. The roof's fallen in!" Alanna suppressed a sigh of relief and said nothing as Aileen and Duraleen, who hadn't noticed her strange behavior, continued to fuss over her. Alanna held up the hairpin she was still holding and examined it. The tip was now stained with a small drop of blood that was quickly drying into a rusted brown.
~***~
A regal-looking woman in her mid-eighties carrying an ebony staff with a crystal orb on top led a small procession along the twisted halls of Trebond. Her white hair was tied in a severe knot behind her head. She had sharp, calculating brown eyes and stern, thin lips in a square, no-nonsense face. The Lady Heranna had single handedly held Trebond, keeping it from becoming a run-down old castle and making it the busy, respected fief it was today.
With her, were two comical looking figures that seemed almost as different as night and day. Both were somewhere in their fifties and they both wore rich, but simple clothes, but that was where the similarities stopped. One was tall and rail thin with dark, but thinning hair and black eyes. He wore a white tunic over a gray shirt. The other man was short comparing to his companion, but actually only about two inches shorter than was normal. His thick, snow-white hair was tied loosely with a leather thong and his eyes were a pale blue. He wore a red tunic over a brown shirt. One more thing that these two had in common was that each carried a large assortment of pouches and vials. The taller one ha a harness that went over his shoulder and the shorter man had a belt and about twenty different sacks hanging off of it.
These were Wil and Lar, world-renowned masters of the arts of poison and healing. Wil, the one in the white, was the best poison master in the known world and Lar, in white, was the master of medicine. They were equivalent to a black robe mage. They had sworn allegiance to the late King Roald who had died a year ago. His wife had died not long before from a disease and he had never truly gotten over it. Now, they were Crown Prince Jonathan's closest advisors.
Following behind were a score of foot soldiers. Finally, after a mind- boggling amount of twists and turns, they arrived at a large, ornate door that seemed to be very old. Lady Heranna stopped and took out a large ornate key. Placing it in the lock, she murmured a word and turned the lock.
"You stay here and guard the door. Do not let anyone enter," she ordered the foot soldiers sternly. Then, turning to the Masters, she said, "Follow me." She opened the door and stepped aside to let the two men in, then locked the door behind them.
The room seemed simple enough. It was furnished like a normal guest room. There was a large bed at one end of the room and a chest at the foot of it. In the corner was a plain desk with some parchment and a quill on it. There was also and rug and a fireplace. Wil and Lar looked around confusedly.
"Um...Lady Heranna?" said Lar tentavely.
"Yes?"
"Are we...uh...in the wrong...uh...room?" asked Wil, uncertainly.
Heranna laughed and Wil and Lar looked at each other in confusion. "Watch," she said simply, and before they could respond, she crossed to the bedpost on the left side at the foot of the bed and gave it a clockwise twist. The chest disappeared into the floor and revealed a staircase leading downward. The two men stared in amazement. Heranna lit the crystal on her staff with her Gift and began to walk down the stairs. She had gone down about five steps before she realized she was alone. Turning, she saw the two old men were still staring in wonder.
"Well?" she demanded. "Are you coming?"
"Oh! Uh, yes—"
"Of course—"
Came the startled replies as they broke out of their trances and hurried to catch up. They huddled together like children scared yet amazed at their surroundings. The walls seemed to be covered with strange creases, and, upon closer observation, they could be seen as carvings of warriors and knights doing brave deeds. These must have been the heroic history of Trebond. Once, during their long decent down the narrow stairway, Lar had accidentally bumped into Wil while staring at the walls. They both jumped five feet into the air.
"Watch where you're going!" whispered Wil angrily. Speaking out loud didn't seem right in this place.
"You're the one who ran into me!" retorted Lar, also in a whisper.
"How could I run into you? I'm a stair beneath you!"
"You must have backed up!"
"No, I didn't!"
"Yes, you did!"
"No,"
"Yes,"
"No—"
"Shh!"
They had arrived at the bottom of the stairs and there was an enormous ornate door with a carving of a tall figure holding a magnificent sword. In the background was an army of cloaked men, their faces shrouded in darkness. To the side of the carving was some writing, but the origins of it were alien. There was also a picture of some sort on the bottom. It was a rectangle surrounded by flames. Around it were four star-shaped figures. In between two of the figures was a small shape that seemed like two circles joined together. Once again, Heranna took out a key and unlocked the door.
They entered into a vast chamber that seemed to be a natural underground cave. A strange glow was coming from the center of the cave. It seemed to be a large force field on top of a slab of stone. Small power bolts danced along the surface and it seemed to fill the entire cave with an eerie hum.
"Is it in there?" Lar asked, turning to Lady Heranna.
"Mm," she nodded, staring at her family heirloom in pride and, although she would never admit it, a little bit of awe.
"Great," said Wil excitedly. The two walked over to the stone slab. Heranna, realizing what they were doing, shouted a warning.
"No don't—" it was too late. Wil had already reached his hand out. The second he touched the glowing dome, a strong force threw him into a very surprised Lar and sent them both flying backwards to the hit the far wall of the cave and come crashing to the ground in a tangled heap of limbs and bottles. Heranna laughed while they, with much shouting and cursing, disentangled themselves.
"Wow," panted Lar as he dusted himself off. "That's quite a spell."
"Gryffith of Trebond, the founder of our great fiefdom, was the one who cast it." Explained Heranna. The two old men looked at the shield with awe evident in their gazes.
"How do we get the sword out then, Lady?" asked Wil.
"Watch," she replied. So saying, she stepped up to the energy field. She mumbled something that they couldn't quite understand and touched a spot on the altar. The dome instantly disappeared and the slight hum that they still felt in their bones was the only trace it left. The sword flew out of the altar where it had been sheathed, and Lar jumped up and caught it.
"Wow," he breathed. "So this is the legendary Storm Bringer."
The pommel held a large emerald, and gold and silver wires twined along the hilt. The scabbard was made of a material that looked like stone but it was as light as a regular leather scabbard and had creases all over. It was decorated with small emeralds along the edges.
"May we have a look at it?" asked Wil hopefully.
Heranna seemed to consider this for a second, looking each of them up and down with her calculating gaze. Finally, she nodded her consent. Excited, Wil walked over to Lar and watched as he tried to pull the sword out of the sheath. However, hard as he tried, it would not come out.
"What are you? A weakling?" asked Wil, scornfully.
"Weakling yourself," replied Lar. "This sword won't budge."
"You're just not trying hard enough."
"If you're so good, you try," said Lar handing the weapon over.
"Fine," said Wil. "I will." He pulled and pulled, but to no avail.
Lar sniffed an I told you so and Wil stuck out his tongue (such behavior would normally be viewed as strange in old men, but anyone who knew these two knew that they were like small children).
After Wil's curiosity overcame his pride, he suggested that Lar pull on the sheath while he pulled on the hilt. Lar agreed and they tried that, but it didn't work either. By now, the two were most annoyed. Lar proposed that this time, Wil would turn around and pull on the scabbard and he would pull the hilt by bracing his foot on Wil's back. This resulted in Lar's hand slipping causing Wil to fall painfully on his face and Lar to fly back into the cave wall again. After that, they gave up.
"Lady, this sword is protected so carefully, how could you bear to give it away?" asked Wil.
Lady Heranna, who had been laughing at the antics and constant bickering of the two, sobered immediately. "This sword has been in our family for generations. But we have lost the right to keep it any longer. Long ago, Gryffith the Warrior used the sword to defeat the Evil Sect, but after him, no one has ever been able to wield it again. The great House of Trebond is no longer what it once was either. That is why we have decided to hand the responsibility of keeping this sword to his highness, the prince. It will now be his duty to protect this sword and made sure it is used only for good."
The two old men, feeling the gravity of the moment, said, "We promise to do all that is within our power to help our prince protect this sword. You can count on us."
"Thank you," said Heranna gratefully.
***
George found the secret entrance to the room easily. He had memorized the map of the servants halls in the castle before coming and knew there could only be a few places that it would be. After running by a few, he found it. It was obvious, for it was the most heavily guarded. All of this time, Gary had been following him, still believing that this mysterious stranger was just leading him on a wild chase for the handkerchief, never suspecting that he was being used to get into Trebond House.
Looking in on the room full of guards while once again waiting for the young noble, he sensed something strange in the room. Looking closer with his Sight, he noticed two little spots of magic the size of a full-grown man in the corner where there weren't any guards. So, he thought. Others are here too. These nobles think they are so good at being secretive, but they have one weddin' and the whole world knows their secrets. Hm, to get that sword, I've got to get rid of this bugger on my tail. Just as he thought this, the 'little bugger' ran into view. Speak of the devil, thought George as he turned and dashed in the opposite direction out of the servants' passages and into the main halls.
Seeing a cluster of guards that had just gotten off duty, he ran towards them, purposefully making his footsteps louder. Turning, they saw him. One of them shouted, "Stop, thief!" assuming that that was the reason he was running. When he didn't, they surrounded him and tried to fight him.
"Wait!" he said hurriedly and putting on an innocent face. "I'm not the thief, he is." He pointed to Gary who had just run up and was looking at them all confusedly and ran.
***
Gary finally caught up to the thief once again. He always seemed to be just one step ahead. It was getting very frustrating. Seeing him so close, Gary ran at him. the thief turned to run.
"Running again, you coward?" shouted Gary.
The man turned around unexpectantly. An innocent look was plastered on his face as he said, "I don't want to run, but look behind you."
Gary turned to find a group of angry looking foot soldiers, they charged at the young noble who now seemed to have a permanent look of confusion plastered onto his face. Who could blame him? A mysterious stranger who seemed to be only interested in stealing his handkerchief woke him up early in the morning. After being pummeled by chicken and fruits in the marketplace, he chased this stranger all around Trebond House. Now, a group of guards was attacking him as if he were the thief.
His knight training kicked in before he had time to think. He ducked under a wild punch and kicked the offender in the stomach. The next man charged at him. Gary sidestepped him and threw the man over his shoulder into the wall. He didn't remember the rest of the fight, only that when he finally decided to shout that he was not the intruder, he realized that he had no more opponents. They were all rolling on the floor in pain or knocked out. Wow, he thought. What useless guards.
However, looking around, he realized he had lost the man.
***
Meanwhile, the two men hiding under the spell watched the scene before them anxiously. They were brothers. The older one was a half of a head taller and had a wide face. The younger had a more angular face and sharper features. Both had black hair and brown eyes. Suddenly, the younger brother sensed another presence. Both brothers had moderately strong magic. His was the Sight and the older brother had the Gift. The feeling was gone as fast as it appeared. He stepped forward, but a hand on his shoulder held him back. He looked back at his older brother who shook his head.
"There is someone else here to steal the sword as well, Verreaux. We must get it first." He whispered in a voice so low that only his brother could hear him.
"First, let's make sure that this sword is truly what we came here for, Isidor. Now stop moving or you'll break the spell." Verreaux was sweating from the effort of keeping the concealment up.
Isidor agreed reluctantly and settled back down to wait. Soon, they saw the Lady Heranna, Wil, and Lar emerged from the room. Wil was carrying a long object wrapped in cloth.
"Are we supposed to just leave like this?" Lar was asking.
"Of course," said Wil. "See, the more we act like it's nothing, the more people will overlook it."
"Good point," agreed Lar.
"That's it," Isidor whispered. "Let's go,"
Verreaux nodded.
The two leapt out of their corner of concealment. Verreaux charged at the line of soldiers and kept them distracted while Isidor went for the sword. The entire movement was so fast that only a lucky step to the side on Wil's part kept the sword in his hand. Damn, thought Isidor. Missing his first lunge, he knew that they would be on the alert now and it would not be so easy on the second try. Now they would have to fight.
He hurried back to his brother's side and they stood back to back, surrounded by guards. The position was a familiar one for the brothers, who had had to use it too often in their hard lives; first, when people accused them of being devil's spawn and tried to stone them to death, and now, when they were risking their lives to carry out their masters orders to avoid his wrath were they to fail. These brothers had learned the evil side of humanity too early in their lives. They had now become cold-blooded killers.
With a battle cry, they charged out and began fighting the guards along with Wil, Lar and Heranna, who had learned to fight from her stay in the Yamani Isles. Isidor kicked a guard in the stomach and knocked him back into another guard. He turned to see Wil. They exchanged a few passes until Verreaux decided to take him on. Isidor hadn't yet had time to draw his sword but he did so now. He charged back in to take care of some soldiers who had been trying to get his brother while his back was turned. The battle was even for a while, neither side losing or winning, but then, Isidor feigned a grab for the sword again and while Wil and Lar tried to protect it, he went after Heranna instead, holding his sword to her neck. The fighting ceased immediately and his brother was at his side in an instant.
"Don't move or I'll kill her," said Isidor. "Now, hand over the sword."
"Don't do it!" shouted Lady Heranna, but Isidor shut her up by pressing harder with the sword tip until it drew blood.
Wil seemed to be in indecision for a moment, then, huffily, he relinquished the sword. Verreauz opened the cloth bag to check the sword was inside.
"Wil!" shouted Heranna and Lar at the same time.
"Great, now stay here. If you follow, the old lady dies." Said Isidor.
Isidor and Verreaux left with Heranna in tow.
"Why did you give it to them?" asked Lar in frustration.
"Follow and you'll see," replied Wil.
"Ooohh," said Lar, realizing that Wil must have had a plan all along.
***
when they were out of sight, Isidor lifted his sword to swing it at Heranna's neck. Verreaux stopped him.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm going to kill her," said Isidor.
"What about the prince? She is his mother0in-law to be."
"Alright," said Isidor reluctantly. To Heranna, he said, "You're lucky to have a powerful son-in-law." He knocked her out before she could reply.
"What did you do that for?" asked Verreaux.
"Well, we weren't going to drag her through this entire castle were we?"
"Good point,"
The brothers hurried through the hallways incase there were more forces waiting for them. Suddenly, Isidor felt a funny feeling in his chest. It was becoming increasingly harder to breathe. He fell to the ground trying to breathe. Verreaux noticed and hurried over.
"Isidor! What's wrong!" All of a sudden, he seemed to be overcome by the same symptoms and sunk to the ground clutching his throat.
"What's going on?" Isidor asked.
At that point, Lar and Wil, who had been secretly following them, came out of their hiding place behind the wall.
"Hehehe. How do you like my poison?" asked Wil triumphantly, as though he were winning a game of chess.
"So, it was...you, old man," gasped Isidor angrily.
"Yes, and I must commend you two on being able to last so long with my poison in you."
At this point, the brothers could hold out no longer and blacked out.
"Just when you said that, they passed out," commented Lar, laughing.
Wil bent down and retrieved the sword. "Can you guess where I hid my poson this time?" he asked Lar. It was an old game they played.
"Isn't that obvious?" said Lar. "It was the sword."
"Nope," said Wil, eyes twinkling mischievously.
"What? It couldn't have been on Lady Heranna, could it?"
"Nope,"
"Then where was it?"
"It was...I'm not telling you,"
"Oh, come on!"
"No, you can't make me,"
"Yes, I can,"
"No, you can't,"
"Yes—"
Suddenly, a young boy walked over. "Ahh!" he screamed, seeing the two bodies on the ground. "Old men are killing people! Help! Help!"
"Shh! It's all right. We're not murderers," said Wil and Lar trying their best to soothe the frightened youngster.
"Don't kill me. Please, don't kill me!" chanted the boy completely ignoring them. Turning, he tried to run, but appeared to trip in his hurry.
Wil and Lar hurried over to help as the boy wailed that he was going to die.
"Sh, sh, sh. It's okay." Said Lar trying to calm him.
"Yea, we're not murderers. Let us help you. Where did you get hurt?" said Wil.
The boy's wails died down. Sniffling, he pointed to his knees. Wil and Lar immediately began rubbing them and mumbling calming words. Suddenly, they each felt a thump on their heads and the world went dark.
"Hmph," sneered the boy. "Pathetic old men. Now where is that antidote?" he said to himself while searching through Lar's bottles. "This should be it." He pulled out an oblong bottle with a rubber stopper and also pick up the Storm Bringer while he was at it. "If this isn't right, I guess I'll just have to kill you two to avenge my two partners over there."
Walking over to the two fallen young men, the boy put a spherical pill from the bottle into each of their mouths. Then, he used a bit of his Gift to allow them to regain consciousness faster.
"Now," he said, slinging his arms around their shoulders as if in a familiar fashion. "You both owe me for saving your lives. Remember that,"
Isidor glared at the obnoxiously smug face, "I'm going to get you one day, Cam." Verreaux just looked exasperated.
***
George, watching from the window, shook his head. Poor old men, he thought. They didn't even realize that what they had believed to be a young boy was actually just a very slight woman. I didn't even need the Sight to figure that one out. Grabbing a small pebble, he threw it at her back. The rock flew straight and true, striking her pressure point and rendered her momentarily paralyzed. She froze.
Jumping in, he grinned cheekily at her as he walked over and took the sword from her unmoving hands. "I'll be takin' that, thank you." He said to her. She glared at him. Then, she grinned slyly coming up with another ploy.
"Aren't you afraid of the old man's poison?" she asked.
"Them?" he asked. "Both of them put together wouldn't be as venomous as you."
She huffed angrily. The two brothers struggled to get up, but were still too weak from the poison.
"Well, it was nice chattin' with you, but I'd best be off now," said George as he swung himself out of the window and disappeared.
Meanwhile, the two brothers had struggled up and were limping away when the boy/girl called, "Hey! Are you just going to leave me here?"
Isidor look an angry step toward her but Verreaux held him back.
"If we were to leave you," he said. "those two would definitely kill you when they wake up."
"You wouldn't dare—"
"But," said Isidor, catching on to his brother's ploy. "If we let you go right now, then our debt to you will be repaid."
She pursed her lips angrily for a moment, hating to have to give in to them. Finally, her life won out over her pride and she muttered a grudging, "Fine,"
Verreaux gave a firm tap to her left side, in between her third and fourth ribs. Then, the two hurried away, not liking to be in the castle for longer than they had to in their weakened state.
"I'm going to tell the Master on you!" she shouted childishly at their receding forms. "You're going to be in big trouble when you get back!"
At that point, Wil and Lar had begun to wake up, clutching their heads and groaning in pain. Then, they spotted Cam and shouted, "Hey! Freeze! Don't move!"
"Yeah, right." Sneered Cam as she took off down the hall. Wil and Lar were too dizzy to follow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok. So George has the sword and Cam, Verreaux, and Isidor are about to face the wrath of their "master." More a/g coming up next time (I sound like a tv show!)! Please R&R.
Thank you to all my reviewers! I'm sooooo sorry I didn't update sooner. But I've just been in this serious rut. Mainly cuz the rest of the chapter is boring and there wasn't much a/g going on so I didn't feel like writing it. Oh well.
Vera- hehe. I finally got it up. Aren't you proud of me? gets a pat on the head that really took too long. Even I know it. Well, sorry I couldn't get it up by ur computer class, but I sent it to you. I still don't completely get ur next chapter on warrior. I think you should fix it. Make it more descriptive if you have to. It's very strange.
P.S. I'm not changing the title. Nice try.(
AJ 4eva- blush thanx!
sw33t t3mptations-hehe. Well, it wasn't that bad of a cliffie. You should read vera's (verasilyn) stories. Now those are evil cliffies!
Paige Moonsword()-yup. Me love George too!! *o* drool
Fire Mage6- Thank you!
Soccerrsweet- sorry for being so long! I just really didn't want to write it cuz the rest of the chapter was kinda boring. Been struggling with myself for ages. I finally got it out though! yay for me!!