Another chapter of the tale of mystery.
FAMILY SECRETS
A HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE FANFIC
Chapter 34
The wizard kept to his promise and waited for us to exit. He rightly figured that there was no escape from Howl. He could easily find him. He seemed scared of him. Which was well earned. Howl would turn on him at the first sign of trouble. My safety and wellbeing was his first priority. He was watching 'Seus' very closely.
When we appeared 'Seus' pulled out a pair of handcuffs. He apologized, "I'm sorry, but I am going to have to ask you to wear this. It has to look like I captured you."
He looked at me nervously as if he was expecting Howl to hurt him. Instead, I held out my arms and said, "Don't worry about it. I understand."
He carefully placed the cuffs upon my hands. Immediately I felt so tired and weak. After noticing my distress he quickly added, "These magic sealing cuffs. The only kind to use on Witches and Wizards. They will make you feel weird. Sorry, I have to use this. It won't be believable otherwise."
I nodded. "It's fine. I just didn't expect this sensation, that's all."
"I understand. Shall we be off, then?"
One moment. Howl injected. I want to remind you not to try anything. You may have sealed my wife's power, but you have not sealed mine. If you try to hurt her in ANY way I will respond. Her life means everything to me. Keep that in mind as we go.
He nodded curtly. "I understand. I will not harm your wife, you have my word."
Howl seemed satisfied with that. I think that it went back to the wizard's word is his bond thing. 'Seus' may or may not be telling us the truth, but he did promise not to harm me. He could not break that promise. Not without severe consequences that is. What those consequences are I do not know. Howl really never told me. However, it seems that both good and bad wizards follow that custom. They are hesitant to give their word for anything. When they do give it then they will not break it. That's what Howl told me anyway. I can assume that 'Seus' will not do anything directly to harm me. That doesn't mean that he won't turn on us. If is telling the truth about his employer. It only means that he won't try to harm me directly anymore. It did not engender trust, but it was a start. It was certainly enough for now. We could deal with the rest later.
'Seus' took us far away to the most northern part of Ingary. It was to a village that I had never seen before. I did not like this place at all. It felt strange. Like something was hanging over the area. The villagers wanted nothing to do with us. Not that I blamed them. Seeing a strange man drag a 'helpless' woman through the streets would garner strange reactions. One would hope that someone would be willing to assist me, but no clearly that was not the case. It was almost as if they suspected all of us of witchcraft or something! Which wasn't too off the mark. This was related to magic, witches, and wizards. They provably shouldn't get involved. It was just disappointing how willing they were to stay away.
'Seus' dragged us to an old house on top of a hill. It was part of a long ruined farm. Most of the buildings here lay in rubble. The only thing that remained somewhat in shape was the house. It had a newly thatched roof and the walls seemed to be recently reinforced. Beyond that it looked dark and abandoned. Like no one was actually living there. Why someone would go all the way out there and repair this building was beyond me. It didn't make any sense. The thing really stuck out now. It was like they wanted people to find it! Maybe that was the idea. It sounded crazy, but it was possible. Maybe it was a beacon for bounty hunters.
We entered the house but found nothing there. Only an empty room greeted us. There wasn't even a single chair there. It made me wonder even more why we were here! It smelled of a trap! Inside my clothes I could feel Howl tensing. He expected trouble, but did nothing for the moment. The next move belonged to 'Seus.'
He brought us to the center of the room then released me. Just before he activated the circle he apologized, "I'm sorry, but I have little other choice." Then the world exploded in color and light. Soon after I lost consciousness.
Next Chapter coming up!