Yay! chapter 10!

I don't have much to say here, I think I'm losing my mind lol.

Oh yeah, we get to know a little bit more about Lucette in this chapter.

-owl

Meilin was a big fan of things being done in the right way, at the right time. That was only one of the reasons she was annoyed with Abeke at the moment. The girl had left their room at dawn, and had yet to return. It was out of friendly courtesy that Meilin had waited for her, making herself late to breakfast.

Conor and Rollan were already there, talking with Finn and Lucette. And wasn't that something, Rollan on time and not Meilin? The four of them gave her odd looks as she joined them.

"Where's Abeke?" Lucette asked.

Meilin shrugged. "She left our room early this morning. I think she said something about the cats wandering the halls. Have none of you seen her either?"

Conor shook his head. "Not since the banquet last night."

"Lucette and I'll see if we can find her. Why don't you three try talking to Lord MacDonnell about exploring the gardens to find Rumfuss?"

Smiling, Meilin nodded at Finn's words. She would be very good at this! After all, all her life she had been taught to rub shoulders with nobles and other important people. "Come on, boys, let's find Lord MacDonnell."

The lord of Glengavin wasn't hard to find. He beamed when he saw the three of them approaching him. "Meilin, Conor, Rollan! Good morning to you all! How did you sleep?"

"Very well, thank you, Mi'lord," Meilin said with a demure smile, Rollan and Conor nodding along.

"And where are your animals this fine morning?" he asked.

Conor and Meilin held up their arm and hand, while Rollan gestured vaguely to the rafters, giving the impression that he had no clue as to where Essix was.

"Jhi seems to prefer staying in passive state," Meilin offered when Lord MacDonnell faintly frowned.

"Well, let your wolf loose!" he boomed — always with the booming.

Conor grinned and let Briggan out of passive state. The wolf bounded around the room for a minute or two, before eventually stopping and settling down to stand next to Conor.

When they all sat down to eat, Lord MacDonnell insisted on Conor sitting to his immediate right. Rollan was on Lord MacDonnell's left, and Meilin was on Conor's right.

"What's your name, boy?" Lord MacDonnell asked in between bites of his breakfast.

"Um, Conor, Mi'lord."

Lord MacDonnell shook his head. "I meant your family name, boy!"

Conor hung his head. "I, uh, don't have one. My family are shepherds."

"Well, here in Glengavin, you'd take your father's name and add 'Mac' in front of it. That means 'son of.'"

"Conor MacFenray," the boy muttered to himself.

Then Rollan cut in. "What if we don't have a father? Could I choose my own name? Rollan Bird-Tamer. Rollan Coolest-Kid-in-Erdas."

After they ate, the three kids and Lord MacDonnell went on a meandering walk around the castle. Out in the courtyard they came across scores of men in army uniforms. They were indulging in the oddest of things. Some of them were painting or writing, some were playing chess, and others still were playing instruments.

"What are they doing?" Rollan asked, confusion thick in his voice.

Lord MacDonnell laughed "Training, of course! Twenty years ago, Glengavin had some of the best soldiers in Northern Eura, but that did them no good when they returned home. Now we train in the arts almost as much as we train for war."

Meilin nodded. "That's a good idea! I've seen many warriors in Zhong come home and fall apart because they didn't know anything other than war. We are hoping to end this war, let the soldiers fighting go home to their families. But, to do that, we need to talk to Rumfuss."

As Meilin had spoken, Lord MacDonnell nodded along, at least until she mentioned Rumfuss. "I am the only one allowed in the gardens. Do not ask me again." Then, after taking a deep breath, Lord MacDonnell smiled once again and gestured to an open chessboard. "Conor, Briggan is a great leader, why don't you play me in a game?"

It was all Meilin could do to avoid wincing. Conor was the last person that should be playing chess.

Hesitantly, Conor agreed, sitting down opposite Lord MacDonnell. The game was over in a matter of minutes. Conor kept making increasingly bad moves, losing his pieces to his opponent. Meilin was fairly certain that only by the time Conor was in check mate did he truly understand how to play.

As they reset the pieces for whoever would be next to play, Lord MacDonnell looked highly pensive, finally speaking as the final piece was returned to its place.

"One day, Conor, Son of Fenray, you will be a great leader. You will have many opportunities to learn." There was a short pause before he spoke again. "Do you think that you and Briggan are a good match? Rollan, you and Essix? Meilin and Jhi? Abeke and Uraza?

"When it was my turn to drink the Nectar, I was obsessing over what animal I would call. Did I know there was a possibility that I wouldn't get anything? Yes, but I was sure I was going to call a spirit animal.

"I spent all my time fantasizing about what I would call. I was hoping for a grizzly bear, or a black wildcat to live up to the legends. Instead I called a hare. An overgrown rabbit! I was furious! I wasn't kind to him. At best, I dismissed him, at worst I insulted him. One day he left, and I haven't seen him since."

None of the kids knew quite what to say in response to that, but luckily they didn't have to. Finn came running up to them, Kunaya in his arms.

"Abeke is missing! Kunaya found me, and Abeke left us a message. 'Help. Devin hunts Rumfuss.'"

"He hunts?" Lord MacDonnell asked incredulously. "In my garden?"

"We have to stop him! And find Abeke!" Conor exclaimed.

"Oh, NO!" the lord of Glengavin practically spat. "I don't need more wayward children in my gardens."

"So what are you going to do?" Finn asked. "Send in your army and let them trample through the garden?"

Conor spoke again before Lord MacDonnell could respond. "Wait, what if we made a deal! If you let us look for Abeke and Rumfuss, we'll bring your spirit animal back for you. Think of it as a boon."

That brought Lord MacDonnell up short. After a minute of clearly deep thought, he agreed. "Fine. If you can find my hare, You may look for your friend and the invaders in my garden."

As he stalked off, Conor turned to the others. "Finn, I have an idea for the hare, you'll come with me. Rollan, Meilin, you'll look for Abeke, then join us in the garden."

"Has anyone seen Lucette?" Rollan asked. He had thought she had gone with Finn to look for Abeke, but obviously hadn't returned with him.

Finn shook his head. "We split up while we were searching. I wouldn't be too worried, though, she's quite capable when it comes down to it." And, with those parting words, Finn handed Rollan the cat before he and Conor left Rollan and Meilin alone.

"Any ideas?" Meilin asked.

Rollan was about to shrug as he had no clue where to even begin looking for the missing girl, when the black cat, Kunaya, pawed at him, jumped out of his arms, and began walking towards the stables. "Maybe we should follow her." He suggested.

Meilin raised an eyebrow. "You want to follow a cat to who knows where?"

"She's the last living thing that saw Abeke. She probably knows where she is, or at least where we should start looking."

Meilin gave him a look, which Rollan decided to interpret as her thinking he was insane, but she didn't actually say anything. Rather she gestured for him to take the lead.

They walked for around ten minutes, until Kunaya stopped and pawed at the door to the stables. Meilin pushed it open, and it opened a lot better than the doors in the Howling House. Once she was let in, Kunaya ran across the room, leaping and landing on a heavy-looking trunk, loaded on a wagon. There was a second trunk next to the one Kunaya was standing on. Both trunks had heavy padlocks on them.

"Abeke, are you in here?" Rollan called to the empty room.

"Rollan?" Abeke called back, hope in her voice as it filtered out of the first trunk. "Is that you?"

"Yes, I've got Meilin with me as well. We're going to get you out."

There was a mumbled word of agreement and Rollan began to work at the lock. Within seconds it fell uselessly to the floor.

The lid to the trunk opened with a bang as Abeke leapt out, Uraza flashing into being next to her. "Did you unlock the other trunk?" she asked.

Rollan gave her a quizzical look.

"Lucette is in there."

Dread jolted through his body, and without another second of hesitation, Rollan picked the lock holding Lucette's trunk closed. When there was no movement from the trunk, Rollan pushed the lid up, letting light flood into it. Lucette was in there, yes, but her eyes were clenched tightly together, her face had a look of pure distress, and she had drawn herself into a tight ball.

"Lucette?" Rollan asked hesitantly, slowly reaching a hand towards the woman.

Her eyes shot open and locked onto Rollan before he touched her, though. Then she grabbed his hand and let him help her out.

"Are you OK?" Rollan asked.

Lucette made a motion somewhere between a shrug and a firm shake of her head. "I need a minute, but then I should be alright." With a flash, Bryer appeared next to her.

Rollan frowned, he didn't want to leave Lucette alone, but he also knew that he should be going with the other two to find Conor and Rumfuss. Then again, how were they going to find either one in the massive maze-like garden? "Meilin, Abeke," Rollan said, making up his mind as he spoke. "I'm going to stay here with Lucette, why don't you two try to find Rumfuss?"

"And how do you think we'll do that, exactly? And, better yet, how will you two find us?"

Essix shrieked loudly then and perched on Meilin's shoulder before Rollan could speak. "That's it! Essix can guide you from above! Then Lucette and I can have Bryer track you."

Abeke nodded "That'll work. Let's go, Meilin."

Once they had left, Rollan turned to Lucette. The woman was still obviously distraught, and her hand was buried in Bryer's fur.

"Somethings wrong," Rollan stated. "More than just being temporarily held captive by a couple of eleven-year-olds. Will you tell me?"

Lucette gave him a faint smile. "I'm supposed to be helping you, aren't I?" her smile faded. "I'm not scared of the dark, nor small spaces in general. I just don't like being stuck somewhere I can't get out of easily. I'll be fine in a minute, really."

Rollan nodded, and they sat together for a few more minutes. When they got up, they let Bryer take the lead.