Blech, it's snowing here and I don't like it! Don't really have a lot to say about this chapter except that there's an insight to Artair's past and more clues as to who Aileen Fetcher really is but I have a sneaking suspicion you guys already know who she is.
Warnings: Violence, language, blood, and a lot of angst.
Chapter #20: Aileen and Artair find out
Third Person POV
Aileen Fletcher liked taking walks through the forest. Whenever the operation became too stressful or Seoc was annoying her, she would always seek solace in the quietest parts of the woods.
Her walk today was sparked by an argument between Seoc, Seòsaidh, and Fionntan. Heather had come by earlier to give them their supply of food when Seòsaidh insulted her for being a bastard. Fionntan had punched Seòsaidh hard in his face and had broken to old man's nose in the process too.
Aileen sighed. She knew that Fionntan had feelings for Heather but the man was too shy to even talk to her. It surprised Aileen that Fionntan stood up for Heather. It was the first time he ever displayed feelings towards her, not that she saw it.
Aileen walked close by a cove that she visited often on her walks. It was always quiet but now a voice came from it,
"I'm not going in!" A male yelled. It was replied with an otherworldly croon and the snapping of a few branches, "Toothless, you're being ridiculous! I don't smell that bad!" Another croon and the splash of water, "HA! You missed!"
Aileen entered the cove and gaped at what she saw. Hendry Gallach standing face to face with a dragon! She hid behind a rock and her hand wrapped around the handle of hr axe. With a terrifying war cry, she sprang from hiding and charged at the dragon,
"Run!" She screamed at Hendry. The dragon had spotted her and, with teeth bared, charged towards her with a loud snarl. Aileen stopped and stood her ground, lifting her axe to deliver a killing blow to the dragon's head.
The dragon leapt into the air just as Hendry pushed Aileen to the ground and threw her axe out of her reach.
The sight she was greeted with scared and fascinated her. Hendry stood in front of the angered dragon, arms high and wide, keeping the beast from attacking. He was shouting at it to calm down and it did when Hendry said,
"She's a friend." The dragon got off of his hind legs but still growled at Aileen and even tried to advance towards, only to be stopped by Hendry, "You scared him"
"I scared HIM!?" Aileen screeched. The dragon growled, causing her to cringe slightly in fear, "Who is him?" Hendry was silent, fear obvious in his face. He stood straight and pointed to the dragon,
"Aileen, Toothless." He said, his voice wavering slightly, "Toothless, Aileen." The dragon snarled.
Third Person POV
Artair always hated it when William wasn't around. He always felt unwanted and neglected without him. The feeling of being unwanted and neglected was one Artair was familiar with.
Growing up, Artair had to fend for himself. Nobody wanted him, nobody cared for him. In the slums nearby MacInroy Castle, everybody knew that Artair's mother was a prostitute and that his father had dumped him in the slums after she died. He was scolded, abused, neglected for a crime he didn't do. The ones that mistreated him the most were the Anglo-Saxons, who felt that they were suffering more than the child they were abusing.
Nobody ever expected Artair to climb ranks but one brave step changed his future.
It was one year after the death of Lady Caitrìona and Boyd. Artair was 14, the same age as William. Lord Robert and his three children were returning home with splendid regalia after a visit to the rich Gilmore family. The town folk had gathered around the main road to welcome their lord back. Artair joined too and had to push his way through the thick crowd to get a glimpse of the nobility.
He watched as Graham got of his horse and kneeled by some children that had been housed in a local orphanage. He smiled at them and asked if they were being treated right. The town folk had always liked Graham. He was kind, compassionate, benevolent, and as great a leader as his father was. Why anyone wanted to try to assassinate this man was a mystery.
The mystery was quickly solved.
Artair was the only one that saw a Viking in the crowd aiming a loaded bow at the heir. He was the only one that realized what the Viking wanted to do. In a moment of blind devotion, Artair ran in front of Graham and took the arrow to the chest. As his world went black, Artair knew that nobody would miss him and nobody would even care.
He woke up in a strange place. He knew he wasn't in the slums; there was no building there that had a stone ceiling. He looked to the side when he felt someone dabbing a cold cloth to his burning forehead. The woman explained that he was in the servant's quarters of MacInroy Castle. He had been there, unconscious, for about a week. She told him that he was lucky. The wound caused by the arrow was deep but only a flesh wound.
Artair spent the next two days recovering some of his strength. The woman had told him that Lord Robert wanted to speak to him after he was strong enough to do so. When Artair finally was strong enough and went to the audience with his Lord, he never expecting Lord Robert to invite him to work and live in the castle. Artair had accepted without a second thought.
Being a stable boy was hard work but Artair found it better than been insulted and beaten. He was happy. He had food, warm clothing and bed, and people around him that cared about him, that is until they found out about his past.
Artair had seen William a few times during his work but the young man gave the stable boy hardly a second glance. The first real conversation the two had was in secret in the middle of the forest. How friendship ever blossomed remains a mystery to Artair to this day but he was absolutely certain that, by the passing of the first year, nothing short of death could separate him and his friend.
Artair was walking through the forests of DunBroch. Nothing was happening and he was bored. He kicked at branches and stray stones as he marched deeper and deeper in the woods. The peaceful silence was interrupted laughter up ahead. When Artair listened carefully, he heard it was a man and a woman laughing.
Curious, Artair walked to the sound and nearly fell into a steep cove in the process. There, at the bottom, he saw three figures. A man, a great black beast and a figure in a blue cloak. The man walked around and Artair saw the glint of a prosthetic and the beast he recognized from a picture he had once seen. The picture was one of a dragon.
Why he was running back in the direction of the castle, he didn't know but he did know that he had to get back quickly to sent a letter to William. William would be pleased to know that Hendry Gallach was committing high treason with his knowledge on Aileen Fletcher. The dragon, however, would catch William's attention. Dragons' are Viking myth, ferocious beasts that killed on sight, so why did the dragon in the cove look so calm and tame?
The marketplace was once again busy, though not with the foreign merchants. The crown was made up of people going about their daily business. He saw a few maids from the castle buying supplies for the kitchen but the only maid there that caught his eye was the beautiful Rapunzel.
She was crouching in front of a boy and handing him a loaf of bread, the way he moved his hands and was staring at nothing suggesting to Artair that the boy was blind. Watching her gave him a warm feeling of lust inside. Yes, Rapunzel was married but that had never stopped him.
He could have any woman he wanted. He wasn't bad looking. Some would even challenge that he was more handsome than William. He was the right hand man of one of the most powerful men in DunBroch and he had a reputation of being a very good lover.
But Rapunzel... She was special. Of all the women he had ever had or wanted, she was the only one to have said no to him, something that only made him even more attracted to her.
He followed her when she left the boy and continued with whatever it was she was doing. When she was close enough, he grabbed her arm and forced to turn to face him. He wanted to speak but she spoke first, harshly.
"I've told you before, Artair, and I will say it only one more time. NO!" And she spat in his face. She tried to free herself from his grip but he held on tight. He slapped her hard across the face. She fell to the ground. The people around the two watched in horror as Artair lifted Rapunzel by her hair and continued his cruelty.
Jack's POV
I had been having an unnerving feeling in my stomach the whole morning. It was distracting me from my work and Aster, who worked with me, even offered to sent me home but I had utterly refused.
I was putting away a saddle when, in the distance, I saw somebody running towards the stable. As they got closer, I saw that it was Máiri. When she noticed I was looking at her, she began to wave her arms frantically. She obviously needed me for something, so I walked to her. She stopped just in front of me, panting heavily,
"Jack." She panted, "You have to come quickly!" I'd be lying if I said I wasn't confused,
"Why? What's happened?"
"Artair attacked Rapunzel." After she spoke, I immediately ran for the town, Máiri following me closely. That bastard had attacked her again! Why couldn't he just let her be? What has she ever done to him? When we had reached the edge of town, Rapunzel, along with another woman, met me there. Rapunzel nose's was bleeding and one of her sleeves was ripped open. Below the rip was a large gash. She also had a cut above her eyebrow and her cheek was glowing red.
I cupped her face and assessed her injuries. Angry boiled in me. Before any of the women could stop me, I ran into town, seeking an explanation and revenge.
I looked around for Artair but I couldn't find him. I finally spotted him by a stall, flirting with a young woman standing behind it. I paced fast towards him and roughly turned him by his shoulder. Before he could react, I delivered a hard blow across his face. He grunted loudly and fell to the ground, catching everyone's attention. As they began to form a rough circle around me and Artair, he got up and faced me. I was surprised to see him smiling and I grabbed him by his black shirt,
"What do you want with my wife?!" I yelled at him. He smirked,
"That cunt? I want to stab her," He let out a low chuckle when he saw my face full of shock, "But not with a knife." He let out a laugh but that quickly stopped as I brought my knee to his abdomen. He crutched over and grunted loudly, trying to retrieve the air that he'd lost. I then took him roughly by his shoulder and straightened him and I drew my other arm back, ready for another punch,
"Jack! Stop!" I looked over my shoulder, my arm still drawn, and saw Rapunzel standing on the edge of the crowd, looking at me and shaking her head slightly. As I looked at her, I began to drop my arm slowly and my clenched hand relaxed. I was about to let go of the hand that held the shirt when I felt a push against my shoulder. I let go and stumbled back, a gasp escaping from nearly every woman present. I looked at my left shoulder. It was then that I saw the knife lodged into it and a blob of crimson around the knife expanding into my vest. I looked at Artair, who was smiling but I saw the shock in his eyes. He met my gaze and seconds later he ran into the crowd behind him and disappeared.
I heard someone call my name but I couldn't hear who; time had slowed as my gaze went back to the knife. Slowly, I wrapped my fingers around the blade and pulled. The pain was excruciating. The blade was covered in red and it was spilling onto my hand. As soon as the blade was out, the blood began to seep faster into my vest. I felt hands grabbing onto my shoulder, my arms, and my back. I could hear echoes of voices and spots of black appeared in my vision. I tried to take a step back but my feet gave out and then, my vision was clouded in black.
Third Person POV
Hamish ran as fast as he could towards his and his brother's room. News spread quickly about what Artair had done to Jack and Rapunzel and Hamish wasn't about to let him get away with it.
He burst through the door to find his two brothers wrestling with each other,
"Artair attacked Jack!" He cried. Hubert and Harris stopped instantly,
"What?!" Hubert yelled,
"Where is Artair?! I'm going to kill him!" Harris threatened.
"Artair has fled to the north." Hubert explained, "The coward." he muttered.
"What happened?" Hubert asked,
"Artair beat up Rapunzel. Then Jack attacked Artair and Artair stabbed him in his shoulder.
"We have to let Merida know!" Hubert said and the other two nodded,
"Artair will not get away with this." The three teenagers quickly scrambled to their desk and wrote a letter to their sister with the hope that justice will be served.
The triplets say that Artair won't get away with this. The question is: will he? And Artair knows about Toothless and Hiccup's involvement with Aileen Fletcher That could be really bad for Hiccup in the future.
Go ahead, murder me for what I did to Jack.
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