by Luke, Monica
Only one tease that Laad often warned him of, he knew why the worry.
“Curses!” he angrily blared, “Curses, Loth!”
“There is no need to scold me,” he spoke out, “I know I have erred great – I would rather cut the tongue out of my mouth than do it again.”
“It has gone pass that!” Laad blared sarcastically, “And lies on the tongue of another to speak it!”
Loth turned, and looked out briefly, then back at Laad.
“Any blood is on my hand,” he promised him, “I will lead no path to you.”
“Bonded we are,” Laad avowed, “All you do leads a path to me.”
“Then shall I do nothing,” he asked throwing his hands up in frustration, “And let his tongue reveal our words to another here or there until it reaches the king?”
This time Laad turned and looked out for a long time; then finally looked back at Loth, and right into his eyes.
“For the sake of those we love put in the way of harm, handle him such that none question his befalling.”
Loth put his hand on Laad’s shoulder and looked back into his eyes, but when he turned to leave, Laad made clear one more thing.
“Fate is fate, Loth,” he added, “Let mine be such not by blood soaked hands.”
Loth’s chin lifted slightly signaling he understood, before he turned and walked away.
Chapter 28
As King Rone sat on the throne holding court, when a messenger arrived with a sealed letter, after he read it he inhaled woefully and crumbled it tightly.
“What did you read?” Baric, who was there talking with him and Laad about more horses for the guilds asked curiously, “That brought about such a groan?”
“King Hurus…” he said, as he inhaled again, “Word has reached him of Bayl’s death. He is coming to WorrlgenHall.”
“When?”
“He left before the full moon and sent his messenger ahead,” King Rone answered, “And should be with us in days.”
“Who is King Hurus?” Laad whispered his question over to Baric.
“He is my mother’s father.”
“Is he not welcome?”
“With him,” Baric answered, and rolled his eyes and thought of him. “Long has it been since he came here, but what comes to mind when he did was that he was old and unpleasant.”
“Unpleasant,” Laad said, as he raised an eyebrow, “How so?”
Baric turned; then began to walk while he talked to Laad. “He is one, ruled by his own haughtiness and power.”
Laad frowned, and said nothing, but he wondered what he meant by that.
“Ready WorrlgenHall at once,” Laad heard King Rone order his servants, before slightly groaned, “And let nothing be unattended.”
“Yes, ready WorrlgenHall,” Baric said under his breath, as he groaned as well, “His stay could be a lively one.”
When Laad turned to walk away, Loth normally with him, Baric was surprised that he wasn’t.
“Where is Loth? He has not been with you all day,” he inquired, “He is with you such that when not it seems out of place.”
“His wife is unwell,” Laad spoke his lie, “And within his chamber with her.”
Baric nodded. “I hope it is nothing.”
**
His hooded cloak well over his head and his face covered, quietly Loth knocked on the door of an old woman’s hut.
“I am here for it.”
“Come inside,” she said, and turned.
“Do you have it?” he questioned, as he stepped cautiously inside making certain to stand by the door as his eyes searched the dimly lit room.
The smell of rotten and fresh flower strongly permeating within his nostril, he both enjoyed and detested the smell depending on how deep a breath he took.
His eyes slightly watering from the acrid sting of something, when he walked closer to a curtain to peak behind it to ensure they were alone, noticed why when he saw the preserved frogs, snakes, and lizards.
In no great rush, slowly the old woman turned and walked from a large table where she had had her back turned to him preparing something.
“This I made with great toil to deceive,” she said, and now went to him and gave him a small pouch. Her dim eyes brightening slightly proud of her concoction, “He will cough for awhile and slip into death.”
Loth took the pouch and looked at it curiously; slightly skeptical something so minuscule could be so deadly.
“Use great care and only give what I spoke,” she warned, “If not his body will shake and his eyes will roll – questioning eyes will be upon him.”
Carefully, he tucked the pouch in his belt; then gave her thirty-five bronze coins, concerned that if he gave her anything of more value, it would raise suspicion from those around her.
“Spend it wisely,” he warned, “That none question you about it.”
The old woman nodded, but when she turned, Loth warned her.
“Old woman,” he called out to get her to turn back; then when she did he walked in front of her and spoke a few words void of inflection, “I am sure there is no need for me to warn against speaking this to any.”
The old woman fully understood his meaning, but said nothing and didn’t nod, instead, not bothering to wait, she simply turned and hid her coins behind jars of fermented frogs.
Stealthily, Loth rode hard to get back to WorrlgenHall, and almost to the king’s road; his head turned when he heard a familiar whistle and noticed Laad waiting for him just inside the tree lines.
“I have what I need?” he revealed when he rode to him; then faced the other way on his horse.
“Dare I ask who?”
“No.”
Laad looked at Loth.
“Such a deed,” Laad voiced his reluctance, “Dare we do it?”
“The deed will be on my head alone,” Loth assured him.
Laad looked away, rubbed his horse’s neck, and looked at him again while he thought.
“You have held your tongue of all you learned about me,” he then said, “And at the peril of your own life take up a task for my sake – on my head, as well should you fail, but I fear for our loved ones.”
“Our wives and children,” Loth quickly assured, “Another trusted well will see they get safely away if we are found out.”
“Then we shall not be found out.” Laad’s challenge, as he looked at him intently.
“So be it,” he accepted, and gave him his arm to grip as his gesture of faith, which Laad quickly returned.
When both straightened their horses to ride away, Laad suddenly remembered what he told Baric.
“Lord Baric asked me where you were,” he said; then added to make certain their accounts were the same if asked, “Your wife is not well, and you tended to her within your chamber.”
“When I return, I will keep away from all and stay within the chamber.”
Laad again nodded; then he remembered something else.
“We shall soon have guests.”
“Who?”
“King Hurus.”
“That is Lord Baric’s grandfather,” he mentioned with an unsettling look.
“Then you know of him?” he asked curiously, as again, the mention of his name brought about familiar facial gestures.
“Only of what I have heard, and all is unpleasant, and of him being one for gluttony and boastfulness.”
“Then feasts and vies may be before us,” Laad said, “And in our favor for our deed.”
“Such could be so,” Loth agreed; as he tugged at his horse’s rein to ride off, then yelled, “We had no words on the wall this day!”
“True!”
After saying nothing for a while, Loth shouted without looking back.
“Then I shall be there early!” he said; always looking forward to talking with his friend while they looked out over the land.
“I will be waiting!”
**
“Why is such toil made for this king?” Ovfren asked Ogorec,
as they rode to WorrlgenHall in the morning.
“His kingdom is larger and wealthier than Worrlgen’s,” Ogorec answered, “He is boastful and knows that it is.”
“Then what the men speak is true,” Ovfren said, and looked over at Ogorec, “His stay will be an unpleasant one.”
“Each of his stays,” Ogorec said, when he thought of them, “Have all been such.”
“Larger maybe his kingdom,” Ovfren averred, “But never will his warriors within be as those of Worrlgen’s, and never will any of them be as brave, strong, and striking as you.”
“You speak such words from loving me,” Ogorec said, taken in always by Ovfren words.
“My words are all true,” Ovfren happily agreed, “But yes, I do love you.”
“All of your tender words to me,” Ogorec admitted and inhaled, as if drawing them in as air to breathe, “Stay well within me, and come to mind endlessly.”
“As yours to me; let me hear them at once.”
“You are not so unpleasant to have near me,” Ogorec teased.
From his teasing words, Ovfren moved his horse closer to Ogorec’s returning his playful gesture.
“Shall I kick you harder?” he threatened, “To force the words out of you.”
“Look into my eyes,” Ogorec words, as he looked at him, “And all you will ever see in them is my love for you Ovfren.”
Satisfied with his words, Ovfren looked out at the wide-open and hilled land that stretched across Worrlgen.
“Many will be among us,” Ogorec regretfully said, looking out as well.
“Should we not be close?” Ovfren asked concerned, “You are in high command and will be before him much. If he sees me he will know what we are to the other when we look at each other.”
Ogorec stopped, and looked at Ovfren. “Can you really behave as if you do not know me?
“I can try for the sake of him or anyone judging you,” Ovfren proclaimed.
“What if his stay is a long one?
Ovfren’s face unhappily distorted. He hadn’t thought of that.
“One tasks at a time.” He decided, “Such strength I will have to gather not to look at you with love should you pass me.”
“And what of our oath not to deny that we love each other?”
“You will not deny you love me,” Ovfren answered, “You just will not show it around those strange within these walls.”
Ogorec nodded his consent.
“By your will only Ovfren,” he assured him, “And if not your will – I will not.”
“Yes, my will,” Ovfren agreed, “But only for a time.”
“Shall we sleep apart as well?” Ogorec questioned.
“Uh.” Ovfren groaned, now second-guessing his decision because he hadn’t thought of that either, “Such will I must have, as well, to sleep away from you, but yes, we shall sleep apart. Yet, I hope his stay is not long.”
Now at the gates of WorrlgenHall, they prepared to part and go about their day.
“I will meet you in the gathering hall if I am free and eat with you,” Ogorec said, as he turned his horse to wait for Ovfren to speak, “If not; then later into the day.”
“I will look for you,” Ovfren said, as he leaned over to Ogorec, and as always, they tenderly quickly kissed and went about their day.
**
Only days after King Rone got the message, a scout saw King Hurus, along with a trail of wagons and men just beyond the plains of Worrlgen.
“Ride out to greet them,” King Rone ordered Laad when he got the news from the scout, “And have with you the highest guilds to ride alongside him to honor him, and when close to the road into WorrlgenHall blow the horn and we will be waiting to greet him at the gates.”
Quickly obeying, Laad called upon the highest of guilds; then along with Loth and Belon, rode out to meet King Hurus.
As they watched and waited, when Loth saw them in the distance, he marveled over how many were riding with him.
Many lined in the front and back of King Hurus with his personal guards’ and his advisor Gueden, who was also in charge of most affairs inside Ivodgald. The visiting king also brought along his only grandson, Lord Aderac, who broke from the wagons followed by a few other guards, and rode ahead to meet with them.
“I am Laad, Lord Helm of Worrlgen,” Laad represented himself, and although he had never seen Lord Aderac before, gathered he was in a high place by the way he dressed and they way the men stayed behind him.
After Laad introduced himself, he bowed his head when he pulled his horse closer, but Lord Aderac merely nodded and looked indifferently pass him.
First, he looked at Belon, and then at Loth, then back at Belon, before he took the time to glance at the other guilds, and as all looked at him, except Belon, Laad glanced at Loth.
Both generally thinking alike, noticing his expression seemed uninterested in whatever they were about to say, perceived him as haughty like his grandfather, as well as spoiled, and already dreaded both men’s stay.
His eyes again set on Belon; Aderac did not blink, as his chest heaved in and out as if having trouble breathing.
“Who are you and what is your place?” Aderac asked Belon, who was the only he bothered to question, and kept his eyes on him waiting for an answer, but Belon, who was looking elsewhere, ignored him.
“You, with the red hair and face,” Aderac said this time to get his attention.
Arrogant himself, and still in his morose mood, Lord Aderac’s words annoyed him, but Belon made himself respectfully answer.
“Belon, first in command, my lord, and was Lord Bayl’s guard,” he answered, but while he did, he looked at him indifferent that he was the grandson of a king.
“Dare he guard me?” he mockingly asked those who rode alongside him, but loud enough for the others to hear him, as he now controlled his breathing, “I would always fear the worse with him.”
When Belon heard his remark, his look to Aderac now became sharp.
“Fear what you will,” his piercing reply, “But let it rest well within your head that it was a branch that brought him down, not a man.”
Aderac felt the knick of Belon’s sharp words, but said nothing else and began to ride off, but as the others with him turned to follow him, he turned once more, and stared at him hard before he spurred his horse away.
“Belon.” Laad turned to him. “Mind your place. He is a lord and could command your head on a spike.”
“Command what he will,” Belon responded unafraid, “Dare I fear death, when I feel nothing inside me.”
Gathering Belon still upset by Bayl’s death and other personal matters, Laad ignored his disrespectful words.
“Hold your tongue,” he only said, and gave him a stern look.
As they watched, Aderac rode back to his grandfather and spoke to him for a while before all looked at them, then began riding again; but when King Hurus rode pass, when all bowed their heads, as they did Aderac gazed at Belon until he raised his head, then quickly turned it.
Just as he said he would, King Rone, and Baric waited at the front gate to greet him; then walked out.
“The seasons have not changed you much,” King Hurus said to King Rone, “Yet, gray has found that long hair. Such toil to have it Rone, why will you not cut it?”
King Rone smiled respectfully. “Then shall we all look alike?”
Kink Hurus looked left and right; then up at WorrlgenHall.
“Since last I was here,” he commented, “You have built it up more.”
“Such is true and we have many rooms for you and yours.”
“The men will camp in the glens,” he said sarcastically, “To not be so close within. It is still small if scaled with Ivodgald.”
“You see,” Loth whispered to Laad from his comment, “Haughty.”
After King Hurus spoke, he looked to Baric.
“You have your mother’s eyes,” he said, as he looked right into them; then nodded pleased, “But you have grown into a fier
ce looking young man.”
Still arrogant, but respectful of his tragic lose; he put his hand on King Rone’s shoulder.
“Such sorrow,” he said solemnly with a saddened face, “Take me to him that I may grieve for him and for my daughter.”
After giving homage to his grandson and daughter, right away all rode into WorrlgenHall, then knowing he was probably tired from his long journey, King Rone suggested he rest.
“I will rest later,” King Hurus inhaled deep and rubbed his stomach, “Feed me, I am hungry.”
Nodding to Laad, all rode back to WorrlgenHall and went to the king’s hall, where knowing he loved to eat; King Rone had a feast already waiting.
“Ah,” King Hurus said well pleased.
Once all sat at table in king’s hall, when the wives walked in to eat with their men, King Hurus looked up at Seda, Ecia, and Liha when they came to the table and nodded politely, then when Nona came to the table, last because Laad, although high in place was still under the others, his eyes widened.
“Never have I seen one so beautiful,” he said and stood; then walked to her to kiss her hand, “Should you want to be a queen at Ivodgald, the chair is empty.”
Embarrassingly blushing, Nona gratefully bowed and thanked him, then smiled at Laad.
“She is well wed to another, great king,” Laad was quick to say, “And it is me.”
King Hurus smiled. “Ah, I see.”
All quiet, none knew what to say to King Hurus’s words, as all wondered if he was only jesting or serious, until he burst into laughter.
“Let us eat,” he said cheerfully, then went back to his chair.
While all ate, Aderac, seemingly bored with his visit, kept his attention only on his plate eating quietly, that is, until Belon walked inside the hall.
Noticing him at once from all the way across the hall, when he saw how tall and stalwart his body actually was, swallowed food not chewed in his mouth and began choking.
As Belon casually stood talking, his hair informal and now resting on his shoulders unlike earlier, after Aderac recovered from the brief choking incident, he gaped at him the entire time he talked and didn’t take another bite.
