Cruela devil, cruela devil, if you doesn't scare you, no evil thing will. Cruela cruela devil! Sorry…just watched 101 Dalmations. Anywase we are skipping some years. So Murtagh is FINALLY a teen. yes Oh and In case you havnt already guessed, I am going by MOVIE appearance for Murtagh. Why? Cause I like it better ;)
Disclaimer: last time I checked, Im not Chris. So no, I do not own this. darn
"Did you hear what her father did?"
"No what did he do?"
"He rode all the way over to their manor and stormed right in and started yelling at the poor maid."
"He didn't!" the two girls gasped then burst into a fit of giggles, both oblivious to the dark figure in the shadows watching them. He rolled his eyes and leaned against the post he was standing next to.
"Well I think he was out of line, I would have…" the girl trailed off as she finally noticed the figure. Her eyes widened and she whispered to her friend. The other girl slowly turned around and spotted the figure. They both quickly scurried away muttering under their breath to each other. The teen finally stepped out of the shadows and stared after the girls. His dark green eyes reflected disapproval before he walked away down the stable. He stopped by one of the stables and peered in.
"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate living in Uru'baen?" he said to the man who was cleaning a large gray mare's hooves.
"Everyday, hand me that pick, she's got a stone wedged in here." Murtagh handed the pick resting on the stable door to Tornac.
"Well there's nothing you can do about it, except be grateful the king has ignored you." Tornac said. He growled under his breath
"Come on you stubborn rock!" finally he let out a triumphant sigh as the rock popped out. He let the mare's hoof down and patted her shoulder. Murtagh watched with little interest.
"Is there something I could help you with?" Tornac said turning to look at Murtagh.
"How long are you going to be in here?" Murtagh stood back as Tornac exited the stall.
"Murtagh, I'm gona be busy all day. You'll have to find some one else to spar with." Murtagh sighed.
"Why you got given the job of stable manager is beyond me." Murtagh muttered before walking out of the stables. Tornac shook his head and went back to work.
Murtagh slowly made his way over to the barracks, lazily swinging his sword around. He ignored everyone around him as they quickly rushed by to try and avoid him; he was used to it by now.
"Hey boy! Put that sword away before you kill some one!" a guard shouted at him. Murtagh stopped and turned slowly to look at the man. The guard paled and resumed his post, pointedly not looking at Murtagh. The teen grinned and turned away, still twirling his sword. Suddenly a large banter of female voices reached his ears and he stopped. There was a large stone archway leading into the washing area, which was full of maids doing their chores. He sheathed his sword and peered around the corner. There were about a dozen maids with baskets of clothes doing the laundry. All of them seemed to unaware of Murtagh watching them.
"Well it's none of our business how the king runs his empire. We keep our nose out of other peoples business and we will do just fine." Murtagh smiled. He knew that voice. It was Tornac's sister, Mandy. She had taken an instant liking to Murtagh and proclaimed herself his servant and no one else's. Not that anyone cared. Everyone new her to be a bit crazy but that's what Murtagh liked about her. Suddenly the maids stopped chattering and Murtagh looked to see what had disturbed them.
"Well. Good morning princess." Murtagh looked to the other entrance of the washing area. His eyes widened. The princess stood there. He had not seen the king's daughter in three years, and had timed changed her. Her golden hair reached her waist and her eyes were a bright green. Her soft skin seemed to glow in the sun. In her hands she carried a basket of cloth.
"Good morning ladies." She said as she walked over to the group of maids.
"Here's your chair all ready for ya." Mandy said as she patted a stool next to hers. The princess smiled and sat down. Murtagh sucked in a breath. Her smile seemed to light up her whole face, she was beautiful. The chatter resumed as everyone went back to their business. Murtagh glanced around him and placed himself behind some boxes so he would not be seen, but was still within hearing distance.
"Kamara, would you tell us one of your fairytales, you know, the ones from the books." Mandy said loudly. There was a murmur of agreement.
"I don't know, last time I didn't get any of this cursed sewing done and I had to walk around with wholes in my clothes." Everyone started to beg and Murtagh heard the princess, Kamara, sigh.
"Fine fine! Once upon a time…" Murtagh sat there and listened to Kamara tell a tale of a far away land were a princess was being forced to marry an evil and cruel man. The princess ran away and faced all sorts of peril and was saved by a charming stranger. But that stranger turned out to be a prince who carried her away. They fell and love and lived happily ever after.
"Ah, such a romantic story." One of the maids sighed.
"It is a foolish tale to help children sleep, not an ounce of truth in it." Kamara said.
"You don't believe in love?" another asked.
"No I do not. At least not love between a man and a woman. A woman can love a man, but a man cannot love a woman. Men only love women for what they can give them." She said bitterly.
"Oh come on. Men aren't that bad." Mandy said.
"Well, there are some exceptions, but those men don't live around here." Kamara responded.
"So I take it you don't plan on marrying anytime soon." One of them joked.
"Of coarse not. I refuse to nothing more then the object of some idiot's lust." Murtagh had heard enough. He got to his feet and continued on his way. Those were some awfully strong words for someone so young, what had happened to her? What experience had given the princess such a bitter outlook on men? Murtagh decided he preferred not to think about it.
Murtagh continued through the passages and smiled when he finally reached the sparing grounds. He walked through the archway and looked around. There was a boy, maybe 11 years old, swinging a wooden sword around. The kid's moves had no style to them, and clearly had no formal training behind them. Murtagh suppressed a snort as the boy raised the sword high with a yell and smashed it to the ground, killing his invisible enemy, only to have the sword bounce back up and smash him in the face. The boy howled in pain and chucked the sword as hard as he could. Murtagh jumped to the side as the sword went flying past him.
"Hey! Watch it!" he said angrily. The boy froze and looked ay Murtagh with shock. Murtagh rolled his eyes and went to pick up the sword. The boy didn't move as Murtagh approached him.
"I highly suggest only using this if you have a sparing partner." He said and started to walk away.
"Will you spar with me?" the boy said suddenly. Murtagh almost laughed.
"I don't think that's very fare kid." He said with mirth in his voice.
"Hey! Don't call me kid. You don't look that much older then me!" Murtagh sighed and removed his belt containing his real sword and retrieved a wooden one from the storage closet in the corner of the court yard. When he found a suitable one he walked back out to the kid and took his stance. The boy raised the sword in a ridiculous manner and grinned. He lunged at Murtagh which Murtagh easily sidestepped. The boy went flying past him and wound up on his knees. He quickly jumped to his feet and glared at the expression of amusement on Murtagh's face. He attacked again. Murtagh blocked him. He tried to hit low; Murtagh's sword was already there. The boys frustration grew as he found he could not get past Murtagh's defenses. He growled in anger and Murtagh let out a yawn as the boy was once again blocked.
Murtagh was playing with the boy, he knew that. It was just so easy. Though, as he let out a yawn of boredom, he should end the boy's misery. He suddenly swung his sword with such speed and force, the sword flew out of the boy's hand. He placed the wooden sword and the boy's throat and said,
"Dead."
"How did you do that?" the boy said as Murtagh lowered the sword.
"I, unlike you, have actually been taught how to use a sword. If I really wanted to, I could have disarmed you before you even moved." He said walking away. The boy hurried after him.
"Can you teach me?" Murtagh froze and looked down at the boy. He let out a laugh.
"Your joking, right kid?" The boy frowned.
"I have a name you know, its Nathaniel. And I am serious!" Murtagh stared in disbelief down and Nathaniel.
"No. No I won't teach you." Murtagh started to leave but found himself blocked.
"Look Nathaniel, if you don't get out of my way, I will make you." He snarled. Nathaniel cowered back in fear.
"I'm really sorry, it's just, well I…" he stammered. Murtagh crossed his arms and glared down at him.
"I wanted to be able to defend myself." Nathaniel finally stammered out.
"Defend yourself from what? The boogie man?" Murtagh said sarcastically.
"No, the nobles, well their kids anyway." Nathaniel said quietly. Murtagh's frown deepened.
"You get picked on?" Nathaniel nodded. I wonder why. The nastier part of Murtagh said sarcasticly, but he pushed the voice down. He weighed his options in his head. He could tell Nathaniel no and be free to spend his days doing whatever he liked, and leave the kid to be torn apart by noble brats, or he could help Nathaniel and have something constructive to do. Tornac wasn't going to be able to teach him much anymore, and he had been told a great way to learn is to teach… Murtagh gave a great sigh.
"Fine Nathaniel, I will teach you the BASICS of how to use a sword; I'm not going to teach you any of the fancy stuff." Murtagh was taken aback by the look of pure joy that sprung onto Nathaniel's face.
"Thank you so much! You won't regret this! I'll be the best student you'll ever have!" Murtagh groaned.
"You better be the only student I'll ever have." He said.
That night Murtagh dreamed of beautiful princess who was being held captive by an evil man, who looked strangely like Tornac's new boss. He valiantly tried to rescue her but kept getting held up by an annoying villager who sounded just like Nathaniel. The villager kept popping up in the middle of his battles against ferocious monsters and screwing up his plan; resulting in him being gravely injured. Finally he had disposed of the villager and made it to the evil man and destroyed him. The princess, who he realized was actually Kamara, ran in to his arms and professed her undying love for him. He held her close and smiled to himself. But suddenly a cruel, evil laugh filled the air. Kamara started to scream as she was pulled away from him into a giant black whole. A voice wrung out, louder then her screams.
"You will never be happy." The voice said. Murtagh screamed and fell to his knees as pain wracked is entire body.
"Did you think death could free yourself? I will never leave you!" Morzan's voice boomed through Murtagh's head. Morzan started to laugh as he appeared before Murtagh. He raised his sword high with a insane look on his face.
"And now you will join me." He said and swung the sword down.
Murtagh woke up still screaming. He shot into an upright position and looked around franticly. He was in his room, everything was fine. His father was dead, he couldn't hurt him now. Murtagh ran a hand through his hair and realized he was covered in cold sweat. He groaned and got out of bed. Murtagh looked out of his window. The full moon was shining brightly into his room, illuminating everything around him. He sighed as he gazed up at the moon; he would get no more sleep this night.
Ugh, that was horrible to write! I hated writing it, and it probably shows. Oh well, it was a necessary chapter. Now I know marysue alarms are going off in a bunch of you, do not worry, THIS STORY IS NOT A ROMANCE! Sorry to those of you who might have wanted one, but if I write a sequel, THAT is were any romance will happen. What do you all think of Nathaniel? Do you like him or hate him? Well either way your going to have to get used to him because he is going to play a MAJOR role in the plot.
Review Replies
-Bista- laughs innocently theres not going to be anything with Murtagh and the King till Murtaghs a lot older.
Hehe, the princess isn't exactly innocent and pure anymore.
Tiger Priestess- Murtagh definitely has a very bad opinion of the girls around the palace, except for Kamara of coarse, but that will change with time…hint hint
alsdssg- thank you! I'm glad you like that part. Kamara has definitely changed over the past couple years, but there is a good reason that she hates men that we will find out about later. I hope you still like her though. She is not exactly going to be playing tremendously big role as a originally planned though
Embry- Thank you! I hope you like this chapter
Twilight Kumorichu- I love Tornac so much. Chris made is pretty clear, or at least I thought, in the books that Tornac played a major role in Murtagh's early life, and I always find it strange we don't hear more about him.
I checked and double checked this chapter for mistakes1 I hope I didn't make any.
