(Drake's P.O.V.)
Everything hurts. I feel a great pain in my chest. It's like someone ripped out my heart and stomped it to the ground. One of the last father figures I had in my life is gone. I know he is in heaven and he isn't suffering anymore, but I can't help feeling lost. I never got to say goodbye to him.
"It's not fair, Kalias and Geoff are probably having one last moment with him and I'm stuck down here. I should be with him too," I think to myself.
With that last thought playing in my head, I get up and wipe the tears from my face. I know I promised Friar Peter and Kalias I would never go outside, but surely she would understand why just this once. I want to see him before they bury him forever and I will be careful not to let anyone see me.
I pick up Kalias' scent and follow it up the stairs. Part of me is telling me, "Go back downstairs, she's going to go nuts if she catches you up there. You saw how she reacted when only Geoff saw you, if anyone else does, she's going to lose it!"
"Well that's true," I say to myself.
Then another stronger part of me says, "You've been down here all your life and not once have you ever gotten to go up there. Aren't you curious about it? Look you'll just go see Friar Peter one last time and then come back before she or Mansel ever know you're gone."
"Well I guess no harm can come from seeing him," I say to myself. Then I realize something.
"Oh great I'm arguing with myself," I moan and shake my head, "I must be going crazy."
Listening to the second voice, I make my way to the door Kalias comes through to visit me. I push against it and it doesn't budge. She must have locked it. I look at my claws and the keyhole for a moment.
"Maybe I can pick the lock."
I put my index claw in the hole and jiggle it a bit. With a quick twist, the lock clicks and the door opens.
As I poke my head out, I look around to see if anyone is around. There is no one here. They are probably either in the chapel praying or are preparing for Friar Peter's funeral. Cautiously, I step out and everything looks brighter out here. It smells fresher and the air is warmer. I never realized how stuffy the dungeon was compared to the air out here. It feels good.
Then it hit me. I have no idea where they would be keeping Friar Peter. I sigh and start walking around, smelling for Kalias' scent. Got it. now all I have to do is follow it without being seen by her or anyone else.
"Lord please help me," I mutter to myself.
By some miracle, I am able to hide from the few people that come out and I see Kalias walking away from a building wiping her face. The pain in my heart returns as I see her looking so sad. Now I feel guilty about telling her to leave me alone. This has been hard on her too. I hope she doesn't blame herself for Friar Peter's death. She had no way of knowing he was sick. She may be the best healer in the land, but she can't save everyone.
I watch her go with some monks and sneak my way inside the building and follow her scent to Friar Peter's room. I see him covered by a blanket. He looks so pale and if I didn't know any better, I could have sworn he was sleeping.
"Friar Peter, it's Drake. I know, I know. I shouldn't be here and you would probably say, 'Drake get your tail back to your room,' but I had to come. Besides Kalias, you were all the family I had left and the only one that made me understand what I am. I just feel so lost. This place is amazing and I wish you would have let me out a bit more. Why was I to stay inside at all times? I wish I knew why and I'm afraid to ask Kalias. She might get angry and the last thing I want is for her to be angry at me."
I put my snout on his hand.
"I will miss you Peter and I hope you will have a happy life in heaven. No one deserves it better than you. I love you."
I rest my head on his and cover him back up. As I leave and stick my head out the door, that first voice returns, "Ok you came and saw him. Now get your tail back to your room before you get in trouble."
Then the other voice says, "No wait, you're already out here so why not explore it a bit? Just for a few minutes, then you can go back."
"Oh great there's those voices again," I complain to myself. I pause for a moment to consider the consequences and decide to look around. The monastery is a very peaceful place and I notice how the houses are set up along the road. There are huge walls surrounding the place that remind me of the walls in my room. On one side I can hear a river. Feeling thirsty I decide to go in that direction for a drink. I jump up on the wall and land on the other side. I can smell other animals that have been here before. I follow the sound of running water through the brush before it comes into view. Kneeling down, I take a long drink of cool water. I look around and see Geoff sitting on the docks is what I believe they are called. He is looking out at the river and occasionally throwing rocks in the water.
I start to walk to him, but then several other people with bright red tunics came riding towards Geoff on horses.
"Uh oh, not good," I say feeling nervous, "I hope they don't see me."
I move into the brush a bit more and watch them. Amazingly, I can also hear everything they are saying to Geoff.
"I am Roland," One of the riders says to Geoff. He looks about the same age as Geoff, maybe a few years older than him, but still.
"I'm Geoff," Geoff says as he holds that sword he found the other day in his hand.
"Sorry I didn't get to introduce myself yesterday. I had some business at the castle."
"How was it."
"Big, stuffy, full of tapestries."
"Yeah, I hardly go there anymore."
"Oh Geoff," I moan and cover my face with my paw, "Don't start telling fibs, it will come back to haunt you."
"Ha, really," Roland snorts and looks at him smugly. I don't think he believes Geoff has ever been to the castle, and neither do I for that matter.
"Who was that woman I saw you with yesterday?"
"That was my older sister Kalias."
"Hmm, I see you have a sword," He points and says, "Care to test your might?"
"Sure."
I watch as they touch blades and then start the fight. Geoff is able to deflect Roland's attacks and almost gets a few swipes of his own at Roland's chest. He backs up just in time.
"Hey, this stable boy's not bad," One of the others says to his friend.
"Yeah, careful Roland or you could end up taking a bath," The man teases Roland.
He didn't like that and started increasing his attacks on Geoff. He keeps pushing Geoff closer and closer to the edge of the dock and knocks the sword out of his hand. Geoff trying to keep his balance points out that they are just practicing. Roland smiles and tosses him back his sword and continues the fight. Geoff is doing well, then Roland swipes at his sword one more time and breaks it in half. Geoff backs up, wobbles a bit before Roland pushes him into the river. I quickly stand up, but sit back down when I see that the river there only covers Geoff's legs as he sits there.
"If we weren't practicing, you would be dead," Roland smugly says to Geoff as he sheathes his sword, "Now lower your eyes. Stable boys should never meet the gaze of their betters."
Geoff stares at him for a few minutes, then turns his head in my direction. I can see the disgust on his face as Roland looks satisfied and gets on his horse with his friends to leave. Geoff turns his head to watch them leave. As he gets up, this seems like a good time to go to him. I make my way through the brush to him. I can see him on the grass near a bridge leading from the monastery across the river. He picked up the pieces of the broken sword and was looking at them as I came up behind him.
"So this is what it's like outside," I say to him and look around.
"Drake," He says to me, then turns to watch Roland and his friends ride by on their horses back to the castle.
"What are you doing out here?! Kalias is going to kill you and then me if she finds out you came out here."
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to say goodbye to Friar Peter," I sadly say to him.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kalias, wearing a black cape and hood, singing a sad song in the Old Language. She is being followed by the other monks carrying Friar Peter's body all wrapped up and tied to two poles.
"You were lucky to have known him for as long as you did," He says as he sits next to me and watches them carry him into the woods.
"But my heart hurts."
"It wouldn't hurt this bad forever," He tells me as he throws the broken sword away.
"I'm worried about Kalias. She's taking this very hard and I'm worried she's going to make herself sick again."
"Then it's up to us to make her happy," Geoff stands up and says in determination, "And I've got an idea of how to do it, but first we need to get you back to the dungeon, before she sees you."
(Back to Kalias' P.O.V.)
"I swear I am going to be fine Jacob, I thank you that you will be praying for me, but I don't need anything," I plead with him, "Now I wish to be left alone please."
"Very well Lady Kalias. I will respect your wishes. Try to have a blessed day."
"Thank you."
I hug him and turn to go back to the dungeons. I hope Drake is okay now. He looked so sad when I left. I unlock the door and stick the key in my pocket. As I walk down the stairs, I can hear Drake and Geoff talking about something.
"Boys," I call out to them.
"Uh Kalias don't come over here."
"Why what's wrong," I ask in concern, "If you boys broke anything, I need to know now."
"No we didn't," Drake says as I come around the corner. He and Geoff are trying to block my view of something.
"What is that," I ask and point to something red on a table behind them.
"Well it's your surprise," Geoff says as he moves out-of-the-way.
There are bunches of fabric that look like they used to be curtains and patterns laid out. My old dummy model is also out and is wearing something I never thought I'd see again. I remember when I wore that dress.
(Flashback-60 years ago and 2 months after Einon's and Draco's death.)
"Kalias, please open the door," Kara calls to me.
"Go away Kara," I yell at the door I am leaning against, as I wipe my eyes, "I already told you and Bowen, I'm not going!"
"Kalias, will you at least open the door?"
I sigh and move the furniture I used to block the door and unlock it. As I turn to sit on the bed, Kara enters my room followed by Bowen.
"Kalias, I know it's been hard for you, but sealing yourself up in your room isn't the answer," Bowen calmly says as he places a hand on my shoulder. I sigh and lean into him. Ever since Father died, Bowen and I had really bonded. The same with Kara. She became the mother I never had.
"Kalias, I won't force you down there but I think it would be a good idea for you to socialize with other people. Now that Einon's soldiers are gone, you have the opportunity to talk to more people now."
"I am not comfortable being around a big crowd of strangers right now Bowen."
"Well I saw a few people down there that you might know and have been dying to see you," Kara says with a knowingly smile, "Especially, that one young man down there. He seemed especially eager to see you again."
"Who," I ask out of curiosity.
"I don't know who he is but, he has been asking about you for a while now."
"Very well, then I will go to the party, if only to see this young man."
I start to go to the door, but Kara stops me.
"Wait, you're not going down there dressed like that, are you?"
I look at the dress I have on and shrug. Except for a slight rip in the skirt at the bottom, I see nothing wrong with it. She sighs and shakes her head at my actions.
"I have just the dress for you," She says as she push me to the vanity dresser and makes me sit, "You may come in now Brother Gilbert."
I turn around and see him come into the room carrying a dark red dress and matching shoes. As well as a small brown outer corset.
"No way! There is no way I am wearing that! Forget it."
I try to get up, but Kara pushes me back down in the chair. I look at her in annoyance as she takes the dress from Brother Gilbert and orders him and Bowen out of the room.
"Kara please. I'm going to look ridiculous in that."
"You wear dresses all the time. Why is this one so bad?"
"Where did you get that?"
"I made it myself for you," She says with a hurt look on her face as she places it on the bed, "I thought you could wear it when we have a party here at the castle. Like tonight for example."
I go over to the bed and hold it up to get a better look at it. It's actually not as bad as I thought it was. Now I feel really bad that she worked so hard to make this. If Father were here, he'd tell me that I should wear the dress out of courtesy to her. With that in mind, I look at her and smile.
"Thank you Kalias," She smiles and says to me with a hug, "Trust me, when I get done with you, you are going to look shunning."
After 30 minutes in the bath, she brushes my hair and pins it up for me. Then she lightly powders my face and helps me into my dress. When she is done, she brings me over to a mirror. For a moment, I didn't recognize the girl in the mirror until she raised the same arm I did. That's when I knew that the strange girl in the mirror was actually me.
"See, you're beautiful," She says as she comes up behind me and looks at the mirror with me, "Come on, can't keep lover boy waiting all night you know."
With that, she helps me into my shoes and once they are on; we head out the door and down the stairs. I felt a cold chill run down my spine as we got closer to the party room. I gasped and started to turn back, but Kara caught me and started pushing me back to the door.
"It'll be fine. Stop worrying."
As we enter the hall, I look around at all the people who came. It's amazing how so much could change in such a short amount of time. Everything feels so peaceful now. I see Bowen talking to a young man in a dark blue vest and pants with a light blue shirt. He smiles and points at me to the young man.
He turns around and I see that the young man is actually Colt. So he's the young man that has been dying to see me after all this time. Now I feel guilty for ignoring him. His hair is the same but he has gotten taller and he has a goatee, neatly trimmed, on his chin. It makes him look older and more handsome since the last time I saw him.
"Kalias, you look beautiful this evening," He says as he kisses my hand.
"Oh thank you Colt. It's been a long time since I last saw you. You're looking well," I say and blush.
"Would you like to dance?"
"Me? You want to dance with me?"
"Yes, unless you see another beautiful girl with piercing blue eyes around."
"I would love to dance with you Colt," I laugh and say to him.
He offers his arm which I take and he leads me onto the dance floor with the others. It took a little practice, but I got the hang of it. We danced for several dances before deciding to take a breather in the garden for a while.
"It's beautiful out here," I say as we sit down on some benches.
"Yes it is," He says as we look up at the stars. As I am watching the constellation Draco, I feel him put his arm around my shoulder. I touch his hand with my own and smile at him.
"I miss him you know."
"Yeah I know. He was a great friend to all of us and he was a great father to you. Kalias, there's something important that I want to ask you."
"Yes Colt, what is it?"
"Kalias, I…,I…," He stammers and blushes. Why? I haven't a clue, " I know I haven't seen you for a while, but I loved the time we had together before. You are such a strong person and very caring of others. These are qualities that any man would be, be l-l-lucky to have in a-a-a w-w-w-w-wife."
"What? Colt are you asking me?" I asked to be sure I hadn't heard wrong.
"Yes I am Kalias, Daughter of Draco," He says with an air of seriousness and gets down on one knee. He takes my left hand in his own, "Kalias, will you marry me? Will you be my wife?"
"I…I…I…I…," I stammer this time and I am sure that my face is as red as my dress right now. I had never given much thought to the idea of marriage and I like Colt. But I need to think this over, "Colt may I have time to think it over?"
"Oh yes, of course," He politely says, but I can see the hurt in his eyes. I smile at him as we go back inside.
"Colt I will be back. Could you get me a drink?"
"As you wish Kalias," He says and squeezes my hand.
I look around and spot Kara talking to Hewe, who looked good after he cleaned himself up, and his three daughters, Sarah, Juliet, and Coleen.
"Kara, I need to talk you now," I whisper eagerly to her.
"All right," She whispers and turns to Hewe, "Will you excuse Hewe? Girls?"
They nods their heads and I pull her towards the door.
"Kalias, what is it?"
"Colt has asked me to marry him."
"What? When did this happen?"
"Just a few moments ago, in the garden. We were watching the stars and I was talking about how I miss Draco and then he asked me to marry him."
"Well what did you say?"
"I asked if I could think about it. Kara what do I do? I never thought of the idea of marriage and I'm worried."
"Do you love him?"
"Well, I like him a lot. He's a great man and very sweet."
"Yes, but do you love him?"
I thought for a moment and remembered all we've been through. He stood up for me against people that made his life miserable. He helped me when I was feeling down and he helped fight with me against Einon.
"Yes I love him," I smile at her, "I love how sweet he is to me and when he stammers when he gets nervous."
"Then what are you waiting for? I know Draco would want you to be happy. I can't think of anyone who doesn't deserve it more than you."
"Thank you Kara," I sigh and hug her.
She smiles, returns the hug and puts a hand on my face. I look at her and look around for Colt in the crowd. I spotted him by the food table with two drinks in his hands. He had a forlorn look on his face. I cast a calm smile on my face as I approach him. He braces himself like he expects the worse; instead I surprise him by grabbing his shirt and kissed him on the lips. He was so shocked by my actions he dropped the glasses in his hands, but he relaxed into it and wrapped his arms around me.
"I take it this means yes you'll marry me," He asks panting as we break away.
I nod my head and he cheers as he picks me up by my waist and spins us around.
(End of Flashback. Back to now)
6 months later we were married. After seeing this dress and seeing my brothers trying to recreate something like it, it touched my heart. I remember that they are still here for me and love me as well.
"Kalias why are you crying," Drake asks me and offers a handkerchief.
"Sorry I didn't realize I was," I say as I wipe my eyes with it, "You guys just reminded me of some people I knew a long time ago. Thank you for this."
"I remembered that your birthday is coming soon, so we thought of making you something, but dresses are harder than I thought," Geoff sheepishly says to me.
"I will help you finish it and thank you for remembering. I kind-of forgot about it."
It took most the afternoon and started getting dark, but the three of us managed to get the dress finished. It is red with a dark red cape and I found a black corset to wear outside it and a red sash.
After we finish it, Geoff and I go to the kitchen to eat and then prepare Drake's dinner. After he finishes eating, I get ready for bed and fall asleep with Drake and surprisingly Geoff joins us in the huddle. As I close my eyes, I bask in the love shown to me by my brothers.
