Seth woke up and looked blearily around the room. Nothing seemed wrong with Eric or L'Arachel so he jumped out of bed. He walked over to the door where he had left his shoes. He walked outside the inn to look at the sky, clouds good that meant they could get some decent distance for today. He got back inside the inn, as it was freezing cold. He sat back down on the bed warming his hands. Eric stirred and got up. He looked around at Seth and then out the window.
"What time is it?"
"Maybe six…why?"
"Well I had a late night."
"What?"
"L'Arachel and I stayed up for a while."
"Really all alone? But I thought she…"
"No it wasn't like that…we need to keep her safe from Erika."
"Okay now I'm confused who?"
"The Princess of Frelia."
"But…why I though tRausten and Frelia were friends."
"We are but…Erika thinks L'Arachel is in love with her not…"
"Dragon lady okay…how would you like to do that?"
"I guess we could leave Frelia now…"
"No we cant, Mansel knows how long it takes to get to Frelia castle and back."
"What? How could he possibly know that?"
"He's a smart guy I would assume that he probably has someone tailing us to make sure we get there."
"Wonderful."
"So we have no choice but to go there."
"I guess so we need to keep a very close eye on her."
"Okay."
They both were getting breakfast when L'Arachel woke up. Her hair was a little disheveled and messy.
"Hey guys…how long was I asleep?"
"Only a few hours."
"My hairs all screwy too."
"Hang on, I'll fix that."
"Eric? You do hair?"
"I did my sisters for years anyway I'll just get it all straight, I wont try anything elaborate."
"Well okay."
Eric grabbed L'Arachel's brush and follower her to a bed and sat down. Seth shook his head, Eric certainly did some things that not a whole lot of men would do. It was odd Seth thought as he got breakfast served. He watched Eric brush her hair and had to restrain himself from laughing, it did look funny to see him doing such a thing. Seth sat down on the floor and Eric and L'Arachel joined him for breakfast. Seth had to admit, eric didn't do that bad of a job on her hair. It looked nice when she let it down. Eric seemed pleased with the job he had done. L'Arachel hoped it didn't look ridiculous and judging by Seth's face Eric hadn't done a bad job but she would be the judge of that. They finished breakfast and got their bags packed and with some trepidation, finally left town.
At Frelia castle Erika was brooding. She had returned from her visit to that town in poor spirits. Ephraim was constantly worrying about her well-being but this put him in even worse spirits than usual. But what ever was bothering her, she wasn't telling him or anyone else, the only hope was to wait and watch in an attempt to find out what was causing her depressing mood.
Myrrh was beginning to regret her flight. She had flown for two days and nights straight and had still made very little progress. She hadn't brought any food of any kind with her, she had no idea what direction to head in and she was all alone in the woods. She was close to despairing when she came across a huge lake in the middle of the woods. It was sparkling in the late afternoon light. Something about the lake made Myrrh feel more relaxed. She walked to the water edge and dipped her feet in. She decided she needed to clean off and got undressed. She stepped into the lake and felt the cool water wash over her. She was in the middle of washing her arms when she heard rustling in the trees. She squinted into the trees, nothing. She went back to washing until she heard a yell and someone crashed to the ground. She gasped loudly as the man stood up and she saw it was Tancred.
"…What are you doing?"
"Oh…Mio was worrying about you so I told her I would check to see if you were okay."
"Oh…I thought you were going to…"
"What?"
"Take…advantage of…me…like her."
"Oh…no…I don't think so…"
"…Why?"
"One, the age difference and two, you don't want it."
"Oh…you have more respect…than your wife."
"Actually…just a smaller libido."
"Oh…what's that?"
"You'll find out when you're older…where are you headed?"
"Rausten Castle…I wanna see L'Arachel again…"
"I see…well in that case…I wanna come with."
"What…?"
"I wanna come!"
"What?…"
"You heard me I wanna come with you!"
"But…why?"
"I want to have fun!"
"But his is a trip…it's not supposed to be fun."
"Well maybe you just haven't been doing it right."
"Well…"
"You don't have much choice I'm the only one who knows where he's going."
"Good point…can I get done here please?"
"Sure okay, I'll look away now."
"Thanks…"
Tancred ducked back into the foliage and Myrrh continued to bathe. When she got out and got dressed. When she was done Tancred stood up out of the bushes.
"Ready?"
"Yes…how long will it take to get there?"
"Well, if I do this…maybe a matter of hours."
"That's…fast…"
"It is now then, let's go."
Erica had gone down to the chapel to do some soul searching earlier that afternoon. The service had ended hours before but she was still hanging around the grounds. No one was noticing her that suited her just fine right now. She had been so sure that L'Arachel had been the person but… It made her eyes water just thinking about it. She got up to leave and ran into someone. She fell down and looked up at whom she had run into. Neimi stood there looking thoroughly startled.
"Oh…Erica I…didn't realize…how are you?"
"Okay I guess…you?"
"Oh…fine, fine I just never thought I would run into you outside the palace."
"Well…I needed some air and I wanted to do something calming."
"Oh…listen, I need somewhere to stay…do you have anything available at the castle?"
"Well…come on back and we'll check."
"Okay."
Erica and Neimi left for Frelia castle, both of them lost in their own thoughts.
Curtis had trekked for five days but he had finally reached Rausten Castle. As a member of the spy guild he was allowed in without much questioning or problems. He was glad he was finally here. He got to the nearest inn he could and got up to his room. He had a very decent view of the palace front from here, most importantly the balcony. He sat down on the floor and reached into his cloak pocket, he drew out the letter and looked at it. It was detailed and long but he was more interested in the back. He turned the note over and found a hastily scrawled message:
"Make sure it's done. Make sure it's clean and then get out."
He put the letter back and reached even further into his cloak, bringing out a small crossbow. He then reached into a pocket on his belt and pulled out a metal dart and loaded it. He then set it aside and leaned against the wall and waited for his opportunity to complete what he was really here to do.
Myrrh was still wondering why Tancred was so keen on joining her for this trip. He hadn't spoken to her since they had started walking again. She had maintained her silence as well so as not to anger him. Tancred was looking closely at her behavior. He was interested that L'Arachel had fallen for such a quiet reserved person like Myrrh and he was watching her for some kind of quirk that might have attracted L'Arachel. He didn't know either of them well but he didn't find anything.
"So Myrrh…"
"What…?"
"I wanted to know…what attracted you to L'Arachel…"
"…"
"Well…"
"…I don't know…"
"Hmmmm…"
"Well…I guess…No…I still have nothing…"
"Huh…interesting…I wonder what she found in you."
"I dunno…"
Myrrh lapsed into silence. Tancred's question had made her wonder if he had a point. By the evening she was seriously questioning her attraction to L'Arachel. She knew the feeling was real but she was wondering if she had no reason for feeling it, did it mean anything? Night was falling as they neared a town that was only a matter of miles away from Rausten Castle.
"Why are we stopping?"
"Why not, its almost midnight."
"But…I wanna get there…"
"Well, I don't wanna get caught trying to sneak past the guards."
"Oh…"
Myrrh was annoyed but followed him into town anyways.
Erica watched the moon rise in Frelia out on her balcony. It was cold outside and she was wearing a heavy cloak over what she had on that morning. The winds started to kick up and she pulled the cloak closer to her. She heard the door open behind her.
"I thought you might find me."
"So…how are you?"
"Okay I guess."
"Listen, Erika I have to tell you something…"
"What?"
"I think…I think I…I…"
Erika didn't have to hear anymore she turned to the blonde haired woman standing in the doorway. She moved towards her and they held each other in their arms in the freezing cold of the night.
The moon glowed brightly over the Cathedral at Rausten as Mansel made his way towards the door. A nearby guard opened it for him and he made his way towards the altar for the nightly prayer. He felt an odd chill as he walked towards the altar and knelt down. He was in the middle of the hymns when he felt a strange tingling feeling on his neck. He bent his neck again and continued the chanting.
Curtis watched the figure kneeling at the altar from one of the balconies near the roof. He was chanting the nightly prayer. He drew his crossbow and fitted the bolt. He took careful aim at the figures neck. He was about to pull the trigger when a thought crossed his mind. He was so fascinated that with a single shot, he was going to send an entire nation in turmoil. He saw the figure rise and turn; he looked up at the balconies and spotted Curtis and their eyes met for what seemed an eternity. Curtis cleared his head and pulled back the trigger. He felt the bolt fly with a jolt and heard the dull thud that meant he had hit his mark. There was a yell of pain and he was forced to run out onto the balcony and climb the roof as the guards poured into the building. He felt a sort of miserable pride rise within him, on the one hand he had completed his mission and killed a king and so far it looked like he was going to get away with it, on the other he had just killed the man he swore an oath to serve. He sprinted towards the unguarded door at the side of the gate and forced his way through into the black of the night.
Hi all readers! Sorry I haven't updated this for a while but with school and all I find it hard for time what with football practice and tests… well anyways hop you at least were a little interested ( I don't personally think this is the personal greatest I could do and will probably rewrite.)
