Update! Thanks for hanging around to read! Please review! It's the only thing that keeps me going...
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Hilari Bell, not me. I do not own them.
Chapter 12:
The Knight:
Tobin languidly pressed his back against the closed chamber door. Eyes shut tightly, he fended off a powerful headache induced by hours of conversing with the centaur king. Thoughts swarmed around his recap of Makenna's and his former lives. He prayed the centaur were satisfied, but knew his is plight was not at an end. Soon enough the knowledge he received would have to be extracted from his saturated brain and relayed to the goblins. He didn't feel confident that he could hold onto every last detail for very long.
The night was approaching rapidly, and the wind whistled, ominously portending to an approaching storm. "I'm ready for bed." He proclaimed to himself, and struggled to remove his leaning body from the door before he collapsed onto the chamber bed. After a moment, a realization popped into his numbed brain. He had to get up.
"Well, that'll have to wait, knight." offered a squeaky voice from the foot of the bed. Tobin, who had relished in the comfort of being alone for a moment, jumped nearly two feet from the bed back onto his feet. "Mourry!" He exclaimed. The crinkly goblin grinned mischievously.
"Aye, what's it to ya? And what are ya waitin' for, get down to the medical wing before they barricade ya out." The goblin warned.
Tobin hesitated. "I ought to tell someone about what I've learned. Get Master Erebus quickly, and meet me down in Makenna's medical chamber." Tobin thought of the coin Erebus gave Makenna in return for her knowledge of the goblin city affairs, but he realized it was lost in the abyss of her baggage in a neighboring chamber. Instead, he reached for a button from his loose vest, but found only frayed threads from where dozens of buttons had been before. Mourry looked at him knowingly and shook his head.
"Yer fine, no need for bribery here. Just get down there, I'll tempt the Bookie, he'll come." Mourry replied as he scurried to the door. He peered up at the handle well above his head, and hopped up to grasp it. After a moment of hanging, the door clicked open softly and swung into the room. The goblin peered back, proud of his cleverness, and proceeded out into the hall. Tobin stood thinking a moment before he stole a few blankets off of his hastily made bed, and then a piece of strange fruit from a bowl by the door. Had he not known he was in the company of centaur creatures, he would have mistaken the accommodations as near normal. Rushing out the door without looking, he ran into the wide, solid figure of a familiar centaur.
Zvonimir clumsily stepped back, surprise written over his face. "Tobin, excuse me, I have urgent news regarding Makenna" the centaur spoke. Tobin was all ears, impatiently stepping nearer the medical wing. "What is it? Speak! Is she all right?" His tone was unforgiving, his worry obvious. The Ambassador took a step back and bowed forgiveness, his inner irritation masked. "Sorry to worry you Lord, but she is only speaking aloud in her sleep. The nurse thought you should be there in the event that she revealed something of importance." Zvonimir examined Tobin's armful of fabric and fistful of fruit while he spoke. "But I see you are already on your way there. You know, she has ample blankets, as well as a small hearth fire for warmth-" The centaur began with a small smirk. Tobin quickly turned his gaze to the empty hallway ahead of him. "Actually, they're for me in case I fall asleep or get hungry." Tobin returned a bit too harshly. Zvonimir waved a hand. "Do not let me keep you, then. In the morning we may discuss matters of meeting Agna." He offered.
Tobin's attention became torn. "Agna? But Erol said that was part of a deal-" He began. Zvonimir shook his head slowly. His eyes were weary and tired.
"The King has concluded he will allow you a few weeks time to decide. However, we don't have that time. Conflicts abroad and within the clans themselves are upsetting the calm sea that once was our nation. We need to eliminate one of these problems soon, or they will escalate into civil war. You may think we centaur are intelligent enough to reject pride, but in fact it is quite the opposite. We claim modesty, but that is a mask. After centuries of living, we still remain divided into prideful clans." He gathered his wits and continued speaking. "When Makenna is awake I will give you a more realistic account of our history than the one our king offered, but you must promise not to reveal this to anyone but your most trusted goblins." His voice was low, barely audible in the last of his words. Tobin nodded his head.
"Then until the morning. I'll be in the medical wing waiting." Tobin bowed his head respectfully and strode down the marble hallway until he found a vast staircase leading to the first floor. After passing frames of woven pictures, silk banners, and other clothe tapestries draping from wall to wall to keep the fall chill at bay, he found himself nearing a the more modest corridor of the medical wing. In a way it was more reminiscent of the Old Realm castles. The wooden framework revealed panels painted simply, with shorter ceilings than the upper dormitory floors. His clenched hand knocked briefly on the medical wings critical condition chamber before he entered. Only a single gray haired nurse monitored Makenna. Her sleepy brown eyes looked up at Tobin's familiar face with fatigue.
"Felz shavir. Thank you." She spoke quietly. Tobin bowed, guessing she thanked him for coming to see Makenna. "Thank you for taking care of her." He offered, pointing to the sleeping hedgewitch. The nurse smiled and nodded, settling into her seat. Tobin edged up to Makenna, seeing she lay well cushioned in a peculiar centaur bed. Raised from the ground only a small height, similar to their chairs, the centaur bed was extremely wide. It was large enough for a single centaur to lay down as a horse would in a stable. To Tobin's eyes, Makenna looked as if she was in a coffin.
Shaking those thoughts from his head before they took hold of his sanity, he sat beside her, pulling the sheer curtain aside which gave her privacy. To his distress, the purple colored flesh which had started at her collarbone now spread below her chin. Resting his hand on her forehead, his nerves were only calmed by the fact that her skin was lukewarm and her sleep quiet.
Makenna mumbled undecipherable jibberish. Tobin stilled, and listened, his hand still resting on her forehead. From behind he heard the light snores of the nurse. What she had thought were words of their language was in reality only nonsense.
"Makenna, can you hear me?" The Knight asked knowing she could not. Every fiber of him wished she could answer back. Never before, not even when he was away for months, had he yearned so badly to hear her voice. She mumbled more nonsense and stirred. Tobin removed his hand and sat back.
"Do you remember when you told me the story of the farmer and his apples and grapes? I don't know why, but speaking with these centaur made me think of it. They have no idea of where we come from, and no matter how much they think they know us, they never will. Makenna, I feel as if we are the only people who truly remember what it is like to be human, however skewed both our perceptions of that happen to be. I know you won't say it, but I will. I miss the Old Realm. I miss my father's farm, my sisters, my brother, even my mother. It's been months since we left the goblin city, I miss being able to live with those familiar faces and customs. Here, everything is different. Being overwhelmed by these battles has made it impossible to speak with you about the things I'd always wished to talk about. Now that you're sick, I fear I'll never be able to speak with you again." The Knight bowed his head low, resting the bridge of his nose on a closed fist. Silently, he confronted the loneliness that came with being one of the only humans among goblins and centaur.
After a very long time, the heat of the fire slowly subsided and Tobin realized he must have dozed off. Makenna slept quietly now, her lovely face washed clean of years of stress. Her hair spilled unbound over the fluffy pillows of her bed in a cascade of silken chocolate. Fully understanding she was unaware of his presence, he swept aside a strand of hair which had fallen on her brow. Images of the dirty, but string willed so called sorceress he once saw her as filled his mind. He had once felt bitter towards her, but long ago he realized her spirit was kind and genuine. His loyalty to her was stronger than any bond he'd felt before.
It was then that he noticed the small Bookie sitting on an adjacent chair, dozing silently while at attention. Erebus looked tired, but then again, his wrinkles and sinking nose always made him seem tired and old. Before the Knight could consider letting the small goblin sleep, the Bookie's eyes fluttered open.
"Good evening, Sir Knight. Or should I say good morn? I hear you have learned much from the centaur, and I am eager to know-" He excitedly began. Tobin smiled at the goblins ability to remain perky.
"Yes, I do, but it seems that the information I received was biased. Zvonimir plans to explain the truth to us after dawn. We may wait until then." The knight answered. "As I recall, you owe Makenna a bit of knowledge yourself." Tobin added with a smirk, procuring an amused grumble from the Bookie.
"Yes, yes. That is true. But that may wait until the Mistress is awake, which I'm sure is not far from now. I will tell you, the other goblins have the same optimism. Mourry has dispersed the provisions and supplies the centaur have provided us, and he says most of the goblins are not worried about their general. They can only see her as the resilient woman she has always been." With a reassuring smile the goblin stretched and resettled into his small seat by the edge of Makenna's bed.
Tobin nodded. "She is very strong. Yet this curse is strange. Her skin plagues all who touch it, if it spreads and she does not wake, soon no one will be able to take care of her without afflicting themselves." Tobin peered wearily at the bruise upon her neck, which had remained in place since he last observed it. The Bookie followed his gaze with perceiving eyes.
"I am sure someone knows how to cure her. If I had the knowledge of such curses, I would gladly offer it without trade. My knowing of most curses, though extensive, remains bare in the department of barbaric curses derived from the supposed Dark One." The Bookie stated with a shiver. "Though quite a handful of humans have traveled to this realm, only someone who is schooled in the runes and spells of the barbarians may fully comprehend how to reverse such a plight." Erebus let out a sigh, and peered curiously out the window facing the on coming light. Once again, like the day they fought the band of sorcerers, the sun's rise was delayed by the presence of moisture laden clouds. A sense of foreboding settled into the already disturbed city of Ferkai.