CHAPTER EIGHT: Shelter
A few miles east of the battlefields
"Where on earth do you think Soul Edge would be?"
After days of travel, we decided to take a rest by a river. The sounds of rushing water reminded me of home; so if anything I should feel comfortable, but as Jacqueline pondered the question about the destination of Soul Edge it left me wondering. She skipped stones on the currents of the water, the cuffs of her cotton trousers rolled up to her knees, and the rhythmic taps of the pebbles sounded like a ticking clock. After a few minutes of contemplation, I sighed.
"I really have no idea. I'm sure… Auguste would know, though." He had gone into the town nearby to purchase food and blankets since we were so short of them.
"You can't resist him, can you?" Jacqueline chuckled, and my thoughts skid into a halt at the exact moment her stone sunk into the water with a splash.
"… I won't validate that question," I force out of my mouth. She laughs again.
"I'm only teasing. I'm sure that you two have a very close 'relationship',"—I did not like her emphasis on that word—"after all. I mean, you've only known each other for like…two years?" she shrugs. "Well for a long time. I understand that you have lady-feelings bunched up inside for him–"
I stand up. "I think that if you don't mind, Jacqueline, I am going to go wash myself now. Thank you, for your lecture." I grab one of our worn linen blankets to use as a rag for drying myself off and march to a more secluded part of the river. I hear Jacqueline cackle, then the thumping of her rocks resumes.
There was a nice spot where the river turned into a forest then converged to form a small pond that I found peaceful. After all, the pond was shrouded around in beautiful green trees and a willow was draping directly over it. I laid my towel on a round stone and took a deep breath, commencing to unbraid my hair. My oasis was not at all far from where Jacqueline was, but as long as I could escape her blistering voice all was well. I smirked at my own comment, then began to undress myself. My emerald hair had grown long past my hips – hitting my thighs – and I had not realized how much hair the French Braid hid. My locks almost seemed to be weighing me down.
Feeling a sudden chill creep up the ends of my arms, I sat down on the ledge of the pond and let my feet slide in. I had anticipated the water to be rather chilly, but surprisingly it was soothing; this is how I imagined a noble would bathe every day. I spread my hair over my breasts so that I could feel more comfortable, and I splashed some water on my arms. I felt so relaxed that I could fall asleep, but I didn't want to risk drowning.
I began to hum a folk song from the Great Empire that my father taught me, and I had become so carried away that I began to sing aloud.
"Are you going to Scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme!
Remember me to one who lives there,
He once was a true love of mine.
Tell him to make me a cambric shirt.
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme!
Without a seam nor needle work,
Then he'll be a true love of mine."
I submerged under the water, and when I rose my wet hair was all in my face. I laughed cordially, and then went under again to remove them from my eyes. Soon I had decided that my bathing was over, with a rush of water I pulled myself out from the pond, dripping wet, and sat on a smooth flat rock. I reached for my white breaches and pulled out an ivory comb that Amelie had given me. Before commencing, I rang all the water out of my hair and tried to dry it with the linen cloth as much as I could. Combing all the tangles after washing was a bit of a hassle, yet once I was finished my hair looked like a true emerald; not only color-wise, but it also had a shine to it.
In midst of the cleanliness, I decided to wash my clothes as well. The soaked in the pond and were hanging on a tree branch to dry. I finished my bath by drying up with the linen cloth. As I passed the time for my clothes to dry I began to re-braid my hair, and as I was doing so I thought about singing again, then I heard a twig snap in the distance. I glanced up for a moment, then classified it only as a bird. I resumed my braiding.
"Marienbard you have to come quick I–" Auguste bolted into the scene but soon saw my naked body and skid to a halt. I shrieked and leapt up, hiding behind my hanging clothes. Inevitably he had seen my bare bosom! I blushed so hard and profusely that even my neck was red.
"What are you doing here?"
"J-J-Jacqueline told me you were o-over here s-so I-I—"
"Just leave so I can make myself decent, PLEASE!"
He turned but tripped on his own feet, clumsily getting up and mumbling things, then skittered away. I was breathing very heavy. Once I returned I was going to strangle Jacqueline. I felt my clothes and, ironically, they were dry. Muttering a curse, I slipped them on and left to the river where base was. Auguste was fidgeting uncomfortably and I saw Jacqueline trying to swallow a smile. I leered at her.
"So," I said, clearing my throat, "what is this oh-so-urgent news?"
"Ah… erm, well, as I was in town I uncovered some news about Soul Edge."
The awkward scene we had both shared was completely behind me now, and all my attention was closed on the cursed sword.
"Really? Do tell," I said eagerly.
"Apparently there's an old castle not too far from here called Ostrheinsburg. It has quite the reputation for having the same evil energy as Soul Edge. Either that, or it's like a magnet to the sword." He pulled out a satchel filled with food and tossed Jacqueline and me a roll. "I'm sure if we go there we might find better clues on the sword."
Jacqueline frowns.
"So you don't think we'll find THE Soul Edge there?"
"No," he says, scratching his neck, "that would be too simple. But we are going to undoubtedly find accurate information on it." She groans.
"Whatever," she mumbles. I think, however, Auguste has a good plan. He always does the wisest things… except for barging in on peoples' private business. The nerve!
"So, you said Ostrheinsburg was in eastern Germany somewhere?" I say, finishing my bread.
"Yes, so now what we do is head over there."
"Hooray, more travelling," Jacqueline cheers, dripping with sarcasm.
"Lighten up," I tease, giving her a nudge. "If we've made it this far, surely a bit more travelling won't hurt you."
"WHY COULDN'T WE HAVE GOTTEN OUR HORSES BACK?" Jacqueline yells, the sack on her back weighing her down dramatically. Her voice is hoarse, surprisingly, and bags are drooping under her eyes. I give her a pitiful look.
"Because…they had already shot them," I say, my mouth twitching as I searched in my memory on what exactly happened that day. My voice took a higher pitch at the end of my sentence as if I were asking myself a question.
"No they hadn't!" she retorts. "They just galloped away with them."
I flared my nostrils. "Well I heard gunshots after they were stolen. Whether they killed them or not is up to you."
Jacqueline and I had been arguing for the past several days we had been traveling. She always started the commotion – complaining about something and I only tried to comfort her, yet she had to turn it into a debate. I felt bad for Auguste, who was stuck in the middle of it and couldn't really take sides unless he wanted a scolding by Jacqueline and her irritating voice or by me and my piercing glare.
I did have to agree, though, that the last few days of travel were very back-wrecking, and I hoped Auguste thought so also. He was the one who always decided if we were going to stop and rest in a town or not.
"Alright," he said, wheezing a breath. "We're going to rest here." He immediately dropped our supplies and fell on the ground. Though I was glad we could stop and catch our breath, I became suspicious. There were no spots of civilization around where we had decided to stop, and it was very chilly.
"Auguste… I don't think there are any towns nearby—"
"It doesn't matter," he said, lying flat on his back. "I just want to rest for a few moments…"
I tried to flash a concerned look at Jacqueline to see if maybe she would agree with me, but she had already collapsed too. I sighed, and decided to sit down and rest my back on a shiny rock. When my clothes touched it though, I flinched back in shock and turned to see that it was completely made of ice! When I looked at my feet, I saw that the ground was solid ice also. My breaths came in short puffs of air.
I quickly glanced around the edge of the ice wall, anticipating some kind of Yeti to leap at me, and saw that there was a pirate ship and some kind of extinct animal all trapped in ice! I gasped silently and whipped my head around to where my friends were sleeping.
"Auguste, Jacqueline – wake up. I don't think this is particularly safe…" I whispered, gently shaking her.
"Go 'way, worry wart," Jacqueline mumbled, trying to wave me off but instead she pushed our satchel full of supplies. I gasped as it began to slide on the ice… and into the freezing water. I became livid.
"Jacqueline!" I hissed, hitting her side. "Look at what you've done!"
Auguste grunted. "What is it now, you two?"
I gripped my hair. "Don't any of you realize how serious this is? There went our supplies – and our money – just because you two wanted to catch up on some beauty sleep." As angry as I was, I couldn't succumb myself to yell at them. I suppose it was a natural trait I had, staying collected, as I had remembered the similar scene when my father was leaving for Germany – how I was the only one who wasn't shedding tears.
The two couldn't come up to say anything back. I sighed and stood. "We should travel while we still have energy – and we don't want to fall asleep in this weather." They lazily rose to their feet, their heads groggily, but soon their sleepiness was out of their system.
"How about we just get out of wherever we are and into a more… normal place. Then you two can rest all the day."
Jacqueline and Auguste nodded, and he took the lead. He stopped us in our tracks though, gasping and pushing us back against the wall.
"I know, Auguste," I whispered. "It's a creature stuck in the ice. I've never seen it before myself—"
He shook his head and put a finger on my lips. I swallowed.
"It's a man," he said extremely quietly. "He's walking about. Don't…make…a sound…"
Of course, though, Jacqueline slipped on the ice and let out a shriek. Auguste put his face in his hands and muttered something brusque that I'd rather not repeat.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I knew there were some dogs lurking about. Reveal yourself," the man called, a mocking and noble tone to his voice. With a mutter, Auguste lead the way and stepped down from where we were hiding to the platform of ice where the blonde gentleman stood, his thin sword unsheathed. I immediately recognized him.
"Jacqueline…That's the Sorel gentleman from Rouen!" I whispered. Her eyes gleamed but I told her to keep quiet.
The Sorel man made an elaborate dueling bow. "So, the evil sword has sent you to do it's bidding." He sneered, seemingly amused by Auguste.
Auguste began to stretch his legs out, his sword ready. "This is a real pain, you know?" He grumbled, then started the duel by slashing his sword down at the man vertically.
He evaded the move so swiftly that it looked involuntary, and then hit the edge of his rapier on Auguste's back. Auguste let out a grunt of pain, and I winced. To counter guard the attack, Auguste spun his leg around in an attempt to trip his opponent, yet he leapt up and hit his hilt on Auguste's head. He let out a cry.
"What's wrong?" the Sorel man taunted, then thirsted his sword at Auguste. He miraculously blocked it with a width of his blade. The Sorel man retorted with a second thrust, this time stronger and breaking his foe's guard. Seeing his vulnerable state, he thrust several more times, extremely quick and merciless.
"Feel my wrath! Unending strings!"
I gasped and tore away from the scene, the fight getting worse and worse as Auguste let out cries of anguish. I didn't see the finish of the duel, but I knew it was tortuous as I heard blade meeting skin and teeth tearing into flesh. Auguste wailed. He had lost the fight.
I went to tell Jacqueline that we had to leave, yet when I turned she was gone, and right after I heard her battle cry. I kept hearing the crash of metal and Jacqueline switching from grunting to crying in her high-pitched voice.
"Who do you think you are? You're starting to annoy me," he said firmly, the smoothness of his tone indicating that he hadn't a scratch upon him. My breathing was quickening. Was he going to kill us? As I thought that I heard Jacqueline let out some kind of death cry and her body fell to the ice. My breathing ceased.
"It's not exactly accustomed to leave a duel in its progress by not revealing yourself," the Sorel gentleman called. I swallowed, holding my scythe tightly and shakily stepped onto the platform. My eyes were determined and transfixed on his gleaming red ones. I was not going to lose against him. My scythe was like my right arm, and it did not alter or fail. I held my position.
"Welcome. Let us celebrate your demise," he taunted.
"Effort, talent," I retorted coldly. "They are meaningless."
He seemed surprised that I said something in return, but before I could linger on that he lunged at me. My first thought was to guard against it, and I did so by using the long handle of my weapon, albeit his strength took me by surprise. I sidestepped toward him, the razor sharp blade coming at him fast and shredding a bit of his black coat.
He seemed a bit distracted, so I spun around, swinging my scythe in front of me, but he stepped behind me and struck his booted foot to my knees. I doubled over.
"Where are you going?" he mocked.
I grit my teeth and tried another attack. I missed him only by inches. How he had the luck or skill to humiliate me this way I did not know, but by now I knew I was going to lose the fight.
I did, after countless tries. Out of frustration I had swung my scythe vertically at him, but it struck the ground and became stuck in the ice. I panicked – I was completely vulnerable to him now. His read eyes gleamed, and his smile was so even it gave me goose bumps.
"Now do you see the futility of your ways?" He asked, his butter smooth voice almost seducing me. As he stepped closer to me I tried to show that I wasn't afraid of him, that I was iron-willed… I wasn't afraid…
I was, though.
What was he going to do to me? I took brief glances at Auguste and Jacqueline, who were lying motionless in pools of their own blood. My worried eyes looked from my scythe to the Sorel to my friends…
"My turn now."