Chapter 2: Fear of Evil
"Aldis have you ever wondered why your hair is pure white?" Hurah asked me as we fed the horses, one of our usual many daily chores. It was mid-morning and the sun was just about to reach its peak, shinning down upon the earth. My hair seemed almost like silk in the sunlight, the pure white locks lit with the fire of the sun.
"No not really. A weird gene from an old relative I guess" I replied, petting one of the horses.
"I mean I only ask because it's an Elvish quality" she said, picking up her bucket of feed.
"Don't be ridiculous Hurah, elves are extinct, and no one has seen one for over one-hundred years" I said, grabbing my bucket.
"I know, it's a valid point though. You have to admit."
I rolled my eyes at her. I never really did put any real thought as to why my hair is white. I always thought it was just because. But I never related it back to elves, because that would mean my mother or even father was an elf, and that's impossible seeing as though elves are extinct. My mother's hair was dark brown, almost ebony and my fathers, well, I actually do not know. He died before I got any solid memories of him and my mother spoke of him. Right as Hurah and I were about to leave, I noticed Lady Ballock.
"Aldis, child, there you are!" she said running up to us.
"What is it my Lady?" I asked her as she came to an abrupt stop.
"You must come with me; the King Vallion has requested your audience"
The king has never asked to see me. I have lived here in the kingdom for about nine years and I only remember seeing the king a handful of times, and he lives in the same building as me. Lady Ballock and I rushed out of the stables, but not before I waved goodbye to Hurah. Hurah was my only childhood friend who I would not trade for the world. She has been one of the only people in my life who has not disappeared, the other being Lady Ballock. Everyone else I ever get attached to disappears out of my life, leaving me to question letting people in.
As I ascended the staircase that led to the king's hall, I made sure my appearance was acceptable. I did not have a lot. I only had two dresses, one red one blue. My white hair was long and wavy, and there was not really much you could do with it. My shoes were just simple knit boots that Lady Ballock bought for me, like the dresses that I washed every other day after wearing them. Really I have no idea why I bothered trying to impress the king; I really have nothing to work with. I finally got to the last step and the doors were right in front of me.
"Okay, my child. Go on!" Lady Ballock said to me, giving me a tiny shove towards the doors. Almost falling over, I walked up to the two colossal doors, looking back to Lady Ballock, who was no longer standing where she was. Panic struck within me, and I turned my gaze back to the door. I moved to walk and the doors abruptly opened, like someone could sense me on the other side of them. They opened to reveal a hall with two great tables following the length of it. Men surrounded either side of the two tables, drinking ale and engaging in conversation or whatever it is they do. I slowly walked through the center of the hall, following the scarlet carpet that was in-between the two tables. My steps were barely touching the carpet, not wanting my dirty boots to spoil its silky quality.
"Who are you to grace yourself in the presence of the king without reason?" a guard said as I approached the end of the hall.
"It's quite alright Magnus. I requested to see her."
"A thousand apologies, your highness." Magnus said, and went back to his post. As Magnus stood aside, I finally saw the king. His crown was perched on top of his shoulder length brown hair with sprinklings of gray that hung ever so flawlessly. He had a nice build, and was about six feet tall. He could not have been more than fifty years of age.
"Aldis, thank you for coming. Please, follow me" he said, leading me into a corridor.
"I bet you are curious as to why I called you here?"
"Why yes." My voice sounded like it was miles away from my body, my nerves out of control. I had never had a conversation with the king ever since I have been living here. I was not expecting him to be so, well, nice I suppose.
"The truth is Aldis, I am worried." He stopped walking and closed his eyes. I looked at the floor and bit my lip, not sure if I should break the silence and speak.
He opened his eyes, "I fear that…evil lurks." I could tell it was hard for him to get words out. What was he talking about? Evil? Surely he couldn't mean anything by it.
"Sir…"
"I fear that the world is facing a great threat" He was close to me now, so close I could feel him breathe. My heart was racing and I did not know how to react.
"With all due respect your highness, why are you telling me this?" I asked in a whisper.
"Where is it" he asked. What?
"I…"
"Where is the dagger, Aldis?" My mind wandered back, back to when I first met King Vallion…
"Hurah, I give up! I've been looking for almost ten minutes!" The wheat field blew to the melody of the wind as I ran trying to find Hurah. Hide and seek was not my favorite game and I pity who invented it.
"Come on Aldis, I'm right here!" she shouted bumping into me. We fell to the ground, leaving two indentations on the giant field, laughter spurring out of us like water from a hose. The sky was big and open and…darker.
Oh no!
I shot up form where I was lying.
"Hurah! It got so late! Lady Ballock will be looking for me. And your mom will be looking for you!" Hurah got up as well, the same look of horror on her face.
"Run!" she shouted. I grabbed my bag and we bolted through the fields back towards our home.
"I bet I can beat you!" she shouted as we ran. She picked up the pace and so did I.
"I'd like to see you try!" I shouted back. The wind cut through me like shards of glass. The kingdom was finally in sight and the gates were open still, just like when we snuck out. We both entered the gate at the same time, out of breath and exhausted.
"Hurah there you are! Thank goodness! Let's go, it's time for dinner." Hurah's mother said, taking her hand and dragging her away. Hurah waved goodbye to me and I waved back, looking at her holding her mother's hand. In that moment, I felt so incomplete that it stung like poison. I hadn't forgotten what my mother's touch felt like, and the warm tingles it sent trough my body.
I shook the feeling as best I could and made my way for Lady Ballock. I ran through the crowd that clogged the streets, bumping into individuals on accident. I protected my bag, making sure its contents did not fall out.
Suddenly, I went flat on the ground, my bag revealing its insides as a result of the fall. A pair of feet emerged in my view, standing upon the handle of my bag. The figure knelt down, and his face came into my view. The golden crown that sat on top of his worthy head made me leap to my feet. King Vallion, still kneeling on the ground, grabbed the dagger, the dagger that felt too heavy when carried in the bag. His face showed an expression that I had never seen on his face before: pure fear. His fear traveled almost through the air between us and into my body and I started to tremble. His hands began to shake, the dagger barely staying within his grasp.
"Where did you get this child?" he whispered, his eyes never leaving the dagger, the sight of it utterly consuming him. Before I could answer him, he got to his feet, returning the dagger into the bag. Surprisingly, no one seemed to notice or pay attention to this confrontation between Vallion and I. But what I was most surprised the most was that he gave me my bag, no words exchanged between the two of us.
"That day in the village…" my voice trailed off and his eyes said that he knew what I was speaking about.
He stepped back from me and breathed in, as if he could not get enough oxygen in one breath. With a sigh, he said, "That dagger belongs to a very well trained group of assassins known as the Dark Ryders. I recognize it from my earlier days when I came in contact with them; all they bring is evil and destruction when they are near. "
"Sir, why did you not mention this to me when you first saw that I had the dagger?" The question burst out of my mouth so fast, like a string was yanking it off my tongue. All this time living here, the king knew of my mother's killer, or, where the killer belonged to and I had no idea. That day when he saw the dagger in my bag was kept dormant in my mind, I honestly thought nothing of it until this very moment when he asked of the daggers location. So many other questions I wanted to ask him about the Dark Ryders and who M.J.R. was and most importantly where I could find them.
"You were so young Aldis, I didn't want to frighten you."
"That dagger was used to kill my mother!"
Painted on the kings face was the same horror that was on his face when he first saw me with the dagger years ago.
Please let me know what you think! I pretty much know where I am going with it and yes these are my own chracters in the world of LOTR but the stroy does connect with LOTR better later on xxxxx