Kevin directed them through the forest quickly enough, and to the mountain pass beyond. In the space of a day, they had left the Beast Kingdom behind, and the sun rose before them once again, gloriously casting its light.
In passing, Lise noted that the sunrise came from the east, the direction that Rolante had once stood. That was my beginning, like the sunrise, she thought to herself. But her future, her sunset, her ending… that was yet to be determined.
Mountains gave way to gentle grasslands, and the fresh air infected Lise despite herself. She and Hawk had been traveling through it for a day or two, when they came upon a peaceful mountain lake, is surface as smooth as glass.
Lise wondered if it was something about the clean air of the mountains, so like the place she had once called home, that made her pull Hawk to her with a playfulness she had not felt in ages. They tumbled to the ground, her energy infecting him as well, and made love passionately, right there on the lake's shore.
After it was finished, they lay there in the moist grass, he leisurely snaking an arm over her. She lay there comfortably for some time, feeling their breaths settle into a rhythm together.
Finally, she wriggled out of their embrace, rising to look over the shore. She wore nothing, their clothing still laying where it had been nonchalantly tossed, and let the wind prickle her skin, working its chilling fingers through her hair, the sensation both surprising and exhilarating.
She could feel Hawk's eyes on her naked body, but she only looked forward, allowing the smallest of smiles to cross her face.
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The next day found themselves crossing the entrance to Forcena. The walls were unguarded, the heavy gates of the city thrown open and bearing the sings of a battering.
It did not stop there. A hushed kingdom awaited them beyond, and the signs of destruction were everywhere. It was not the wholesale destruction of Rolante, but the mark of war was all around nevertheless, in both what was there – ruined and burnt shells of houses, vague shadows of people hiding in the wreckage – and what was not – the placid buzz of a peaceful and prosperous town. The signs of life.
Hawk seemed no less disturbed, he running his eyes over the city with a mixture of disgust and dread. "What could do this?" she asked in a whisper.
It was a rhetorical question, but Hawk shook his head nevertheless. "It almost…" he began. "It doesn't look like a regular attack. It looks like… magic tore this town apart."
Suddenly, Lise remembered what the Priest had told them. The Magic Kingdom. Altena. "It's already happened," she announced mournfully. Shadows resolved into people; not gone, but huddling against their domiciles. Now that she had located them, she could see dozens surrounding them, all bearing the same expression of mistrust and wariness.
Hawk did not speak, surveying the area critically. "We should try to help the survivors," she prodded gently, and without waiting for an answer, strode towards one of the sullen citizens shrinking away from their presence.
"Foreigner!" someone cried, and instantly, the circle around them disrupted into chaos.
Shadows became dirty villagers, and the mob descended on them madly. Lise had her spear out even before Hawk set his knives to whirling. Hands reached for them, and she stabbed awkwardly, aiming to defend, to hurt if necessary, but not to kill. This country had suffered enough.
"Halt!" cried a low, masculine voice. "In the name of King Richard!"
The crowd melted away from her almost instantly as an armored patrol approached, two dozen men all dressed in identical, glinting solver armor emblazoned with the crest of Forcena. The leader, a young man marked thick, long auburn locks, swept his gaze over the populace. "What is going on here? Is the law no longer obeyed?"
"But - " cried a whining voice.
"No buts," insisted the young man. "If there is a problem, it is for the Knights of Gold to attend to." His eyes swept over the duo of Lise and Hawk, both having now lowered their weapons a bit quizzically.
Lise flinched as those eyes regarded her. Piercing blue eyes, like the aqua of the lake they had discovered en route. "My pardons, my Lady," he addressed her, and she realized with sudden self consciousness that she was hardly more presentable than those other haggard people, after the time traveling. "I would request that you and your companion come with me peacefully. Times are hard, you know."
He did not look at Hawk. She nodded for the both of them. Not that they had much choice, as pairs of the other knights had silently flanked them, making any thought of escape impossible. One reached out a hand, and she reluctantly relinquished her spear.
Turning on his heel, the young men led the group back through the desolate streets of Forcena. He paid no mind to the squalid conditions surrounding him, nor the suffering people living in them.
Lise found she could not restrain herself, and spoke irately to the man escorting her on her right. "Doesn't he see it?" she said, glaring at the back of the young commander of the soldiers, unable to keep the righteous anger from her voice. "Doesn't he want to help the people?"
The soldier beside her spoke firmly, but not unkindly. "You have not been here to see what Altena has wrought, my lady," he told her quietly. "We are barely holding the kingdom together at all."
Lise pondered that, as they were led into the castle.
She had expected to be tossed in jail as in the Beast Kingdom, or perhaps taken for some sort of judgment before the king. To her surprise, they were greeted by a couple of women dressed in the livery of servants, who curtsied deeply before the redheaded young man.
"Please take her to some appropriate accommodations," he told them, and they rose to gather her from the soldiers' custody. Lise turned her head to see Hawk hustled somewhere in the opposite direction, but in a second, he was gone from her view. She looked at the commander questioningly.
"We mean neither of you harm, my lady," he said, sensing her concern. "The Knights of Forcena all swear oaths of chivalry. You will be treated with utmost hospitality. But things being what they are, we cannot allow either of you to leave for the time being."
So. Still a prisoner, if a well-treated one. Lise nodded curtly.
He seemed almost… chided. "I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news," he told her, "but I can only hope to make your stay as comfortable as possible. If you need anything, anything at all - " here he regarded her pointedly – "please ask for me. My name is Duran."
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The rooms to which she was taken were simple and comfortable. Nothing like her royal suite in Rolante; but then again, far better than anything she had seen since.
The maids attended her, pouring a hot bath into which Lise sunk gratefully, her body releasing tension she didn't know it held. Weeks of dirt sluiced off, aided by the dutiful hands of the servants, and her hair was washed and brushed until it gleamed gold once again.
They brought her clothes, and did her hair. The dress was not the elegant, clinging style favored in Rolante, but an elaborate construction of a tight bodice and a skirt that could nearly stand up on her own. Nor was her hair allowed to remain free as a Rolantic woman would have worn it, but half was twisted and pinned into a complicated style.
It was some time before they were done, and when they were, Lise wondered if she was not constricted in a whole new way. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. The very image of a proper Forcenan lady. It was not who she was… but then again, she was hardly what she had been before, either.
"She's admiring how pretty she is," whispered one maid to the other. Lise could not break her eyes from the mirror; but that was not the reason.
It was her eyes looking at themselves that held her. The same color as always, but... A year ago, her green eyes would have been wide, filled with hope and possibilities. Now there was something else, she could not get rid of, a knowing that, like a scar, might fade but would never disappear completely. It was as if the less showed of her heart, the more showed in her eyes.
A knock came at the door, and one of the maids scurried to answer it, returning shortly. "Forgiveness, my lady," she uttered, with another of those damnable curtsies. "Sir Duran requests your audience."
Lise knew the request was a formality. She nodded impatiently, eager to get the charade over with.
She made her way to the receiving chamber of the suite, hampered by the ridiculous skirt, flopping unceremoniously into a chair. Once she was suitably arranged, Duran was brought in.
He was still wearing his armor, hours after their return to the castle, and Lise wondered idly if he even took it off to sleep. He was obviously comfortable in it, moving with barely a clank, almost as if it was part of his own self.
Duran did stop, and start slightly, at the sight of a much more composed – and cleaner – Lise awaiting his presence.
She raised one eyebrow. "You needed something, sir?" she asked acidly, drawing on all her lessons of regal protocol.
He seemed surprised at her icy formality, but retained his knightly composure quickly enough. "Merely to check if all was to your satisfaction, my lady," he told her.
"Lise," she said.
"Lise… ?" He left it hanging.
"Just Lise." She shrugged in a slightly unladylike manner. "That's my name."
"In that case… Lise…" Duran seemed bothered by the lack of a title. "I invite you to rest for a moment. We will have time to talk later." He rose, with a look at her just a trace of a second too long for propriety, and the maids departed as well, leaving her alone with her thoughts.