Holding her clothing in one hand, Sara untied the single tie beneath her breasts that held the shirt secure. Releasing the strings she let the top fall off her shoulders and down her arms. Sliding her free hand from one sleeve she switched hands holding the clothing and let the lacy garment fall to the floor between her and Seth.
Seth watched as the black lace slid down Sara’s shoulders. He continued to watch as she untangled her arms from the silk and allowed it to flutter to the floor in a heap. As he looked up from the black silk pile upon the floor Seth studied the body before him. From this view Sara was completely naked except for two small strands of satin. One strand of black satin clung tightly around her hips, pulled down in the back where it met the other strand that ran down her backside and disappeared beneath her, between her legs. He was awestruck by the perfection of her body. She had flawless creamy white skin from heel to head. No blemish marked her perfectly proportioned body. Her silky long black hair lay over one of her shoulders exposing her elegant neck. She had a flawless body in Seth’s opinion, the body of an angel. As he continued to admire her, his musings were interrupted.
“Hmm…” Sara made the sound, pretending to have just noticed something of interest.
“What is it angel?” Seth asked.
Sara did not respond, but turned her head slightly as if examining something. Seth followed her gaze, and looking over her shoulder from behind, his gaze fell upon the tall mirror a few feet away from them. In the mirror Seth’s eyes met those of the woman he loved, and he saw upon her face the same teasing grin she liked to wear when tormenting him with her advances. Then Seth realized the reason for the grin, fore before him in the mirror stood the opposite side of Sara that he had just been admiring, her upper body still exposed. From this angle Sara was also nearly completely naked. The only portion of her body that remained covered was swathed in a black silk triangle with satin cords leaving it at the corners to trace up over her hips and disappear behind her. Seth, though he tried not to, found himself admiring Sara’s now bare breasts in the mirror. He had thought the night before he had seen them well enough that it would not surprise him when he did see her exposed, but he was mistaken. He stood, gaze affixed, when Sara began to giggle.
Seth quickly averted his gaze, and closed his mouth which had apparently fallen open. He tried to pretend he hadn’t been looking by turning his head, but knowing well that he had been caught, blood rushed to his cheeks staining them red.
“You don’t have to look away.” Sara said pleadingly, her giggles had vanished. “Don’t be ashamed to look Seth, if I didn’t want you to see then you wouldn’t be back here with me.” She stated. “Besides, I like the way you look at me, it makes me feel pretty.” She added hoping her honesty would return his gaze to her.
“You are more than pretty Sara, you are beautiful. You are perfect.” Seth replied still looking away.
“If I am all that, then why do you turn your eyes away from me?” Sara asked looking into the mirror at him.
“Because if I don’t I won’t be able to concentrate all day.” Seth said a smile appearing on his face.
Seth then turned back to meet her eyes in the mirror, and reaching his arms around her, he pulled her near naked body to him. Seth wrapped his arms loosely around Sara’s body, letting his hands fall low on her waist. Sara, her back to Seth raised her hands up and wrapped her hands behind his head, laying her head back upon his shoulder. They stood for a moment in each other’s embrace, admiring themselves together as a couple in the mirror. Seth finally released Sara, motioning towards the clothing she had once again dropped upon the floor. Sara too let go and again bent to retrieve her clothes. As she bent to pick up her clothing, Seth, unable to help himself, smacked her firmly on the bottom with the palm of his hand. Sara shot back up, her clothing in hand and spun to look at him.
“You naughty, naughty man.” Sara said teasingly. “You will pay dearly for that tonight.” She added as a mock threat.
“I can’t wait!” Seth returned excitedly.
They smiled at each other a moment and finally Sara began to dress. When she was finally clothed, Seth helped her re-lace her tunic. Sara then picked up the silky top from the floor and after stuffing it in her pack they together left the room to find their companions.
Seth and Sara found Garret and Ashton seated in the dining hall. The four greeted one another with a smile and a hello, and after a moment all were seated in their normal spots around the familiar table. Garret and Ashton related details of their earlier conversation with Sasha and Felix, and explained the city’s lay out to both Seth and Sara. Garret also told them he knew a route to several places they all wanted to visit, and the group decided that after Seth and Sara ate they would leave to do some exploring.
It was not long and Felix rounded the corner from the hall, and spotting Seth and Sara he smiled broadly. He greeted them each from across the room by name, then without warning he spun on his heel and strode back down the hall. Seth and Sara looked at each other puzzled, and not finding any answers they then looked to Garret and Ashton.
“He already has your orders.” Garret said smiling.
“Does he now?” Sara asked returning Garret’s smile.
“Yes trust me. It will be a pleasant surprise.” Garret stated with certainty.
“Good enough for me.” Seth stated and Sara nodded her agreement.
The companions talked briefly about various subjects as they awaited Felix’s return. They did not wait long, and before they had expected it, Felix again rounded the corner carrying two steaming plates. He placed one in front of Seth and the other in front of Sara, and wishing them an enjoyable meal, he left again for the kitchen.
Seth and Sara eyed their plates hungrily. They admired the steaming piles of round bread dripping in syrup as a pair of hungry wolves might eye a fawn with a broken leg. As they began to attack their food Garret told them it was called pancakes, and not wanting to interrupt them further he sat back and waited less than three minutes until they finished. Thinking the sight amusing Garret decided to share his thoughts with his companions.
“Quite the appetite you two have this morning.” Garret stated. “Must have been an exhaustive night.” Garret added. His tone implying more than he said.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Sara replied, giving Garret a twisted grin.
Garret exploded into laughter, no longer able to contain himself. The others too laughed with him. None of them could believe Garret had the nerve to say such a thing, and none of them expected Sara’s response either. So they laughed loudly together at the circumstance. Each of them was thankful to have such close friends, as to be able to joke with one another without offending anyone.
When the laughs and subsequent giggles finally settled, they decided to hit the streets and see the sights. They rose from their table and each pushed their chair in. They left the room in pairs, passing once again through the familiar lobby and straight through the door leading them back outside to once again behold the expertly carved facade of The King’s Herald.
Chapter 9
Sought and Found
The four companions entered the street bustling with activity and Garret steered them north through the masses of people who now inhabited the streets. They traveled straight down the main, always heading north, always walking up hill. Even from the inn they could see that the street ended, some distance ahead, at a massive stone structure. Garret had told them they needed to walk twenty three blocks north towards Castle Valdadore, then skirt the castle wall, following it to the east and then north again six more blocks.
As they traveled up the road they watched the castle before them grow, as they had previously watched the city grow. The castle sat upon the top of the hill that the city was created upon, and from its vantage point it looked down upon the city surrounding it. It was a giant stone structure consisting of giant towers and walls. Behind the walls arose dozens of large spires with stone staircases spiraling around
them all the way up to their pointed tips. Upon each spire’s pinnacle, flags blew lazily in a breeze that was not evident upon the streets below. Several of the spires were joined by arched breeze ways that hung perilously in the air, looking dangerously fragile from the street below. Upon the walls and twisted staircases and even upon the breeze ways small figures could be seen walking or rushing from one place to another. The stone of the castle walls was not painted as had been the wall surrounding the city. Instead each stone was polished to a shine revealing hidden flecks reflecting the sun in hues of gold, magenta, and silver. The small flakes of metal in the stone made the entire structure appear to shimmer and sparkle as the sun struck its surface. The castle was a breath taking sight to withhold, and as each of the four companions took their last steps from the street into the courtyard surrounding the massive castle, each of them held their breath while admiring the glorious creation that stood before them.
Directly across the courtyard from where they stood was a massive gate. To either side of the gate stood at least a half a dozen guards, each fully armored, and fully armed. Several stories above the road, through narrow slits in the wall, several dozen more armored men could be seen watching the street below them. From this perspective, using the armored guards on the ground as a reference, Seth estimated the wall to be approximately fourteen stories tall, the gate itself rose nearly eight of those stories. The towers and spires rose over a dozen stories beyond that of the wall. The towers were placed behind the wall at a regular interval, and all appeared to be equal in height. The spires on the other hand appeared to have been built irregularly, each of them raising into the air to different heights, and sometimes appearing to clump together in pairs and trios. A couple of the spires jutted out from the towers themselves and rose alongside the towers into the air. It was an amazing sight. Some of the stone structures appeared to be defying gravity itself as they spiraled off into the sky attached to the other structures by thin spidery walkways. The four stood staring at the castle before them in awe of its glory, the rest of the city forgotten to them for many minutes.
After the four companions finally absorbed as many details of the castle as was possible from this vantage point, they continued around the castle’s wall to the east. Counting the roads as they passed, they counted eleven roads before they came to the corner of the castle’s wall. Turning north once again they paralleled the castles eastern most wall and continued down the road six more blocks. Garret had been leading them, Ashton at his side when he came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the street nearly causing Seth and Sara to run them over. Garret turned this way and that, looking all around him in every direction. He looked around the square as far as he could see. He also looked down the road that they stood near, the sixth road they had counted since the corner.
“It should be right here.” Garret stated, still looking around.
“What should?” Seth asked his twin.
“The Knight’s training grounds.” Garret answered. “Sasha said it was almost six blocks down this side of the square.”
“What did she mean by almost?” Seth again questioned his brother putting emphasis on the word.
“I’m not sure, but I didn’t ask either, I assumed we would be able to see it easy enough.” Garret stated.
Seth turned around looking back the way they had come. He sized up the space between them and the previous road they had passed and looked all along the side of the square in between. None of the buildings along the square appeared to be near large enough to train knights in, and so Seth continued his search. Looking across the square to the castle wall Seth found what he was looking for. They had been so busy looking away from the castle wall, counting roads and such they had missed another gate in its wall. This gate had no guards around it fore it had no need of guarding at present. The portcullis had been lowered at this gate closing it to all traffic, but the castle within could be seen through the iron bars. Seth began to wander back towards the gate, holding firmly to Sara’s hand he pulled her along with him. Garret seeing his twin set off towards the castle, shrugged his shoulders to Ashton and the two followed to see what it was that Seth had noticed.
Approaching the iron barred gate Seth could hear the clangs of steel on steel and the grunts of men’s exertions. Pulling Sara even quicker than before Seth led them straight up to the bars and peering between them, Seth gasped in surprise and reeled back from the sight. Sara, curious as to what Seth had witnessed too pressed her face between the bars. Seeing what lay beyond she too gasped and stepped back shaking her head in disbelief. Garret and Ashton were just approaching as they witnessed both Seth and Sara’s reaction to something beyond the curtain of iron. Both of them too looked beyond the bars into the clearing beyond. Both of them inhaled loudly and took a step back to look at one another.
“Did you see…?” Garret asked, unable to finish his question.
“Yup.” Ashton replied. “I have never seen it before, though my mother described it to me. I have to admit, I was not sure if she was just telling me tales to keep me quiet, but now I see for myself the stories were true.” Ashton stated.
“But what… err…who are they?” Garret managed to ask.
“Those are Valdadorian Knights, the blessed of Gorandor.” Ashton stated.
“But they can’t be human, so what are they?” This time it was Seth who asked.
“They are human Seth, well at least those two are.” Ashton stated shrugging his head in the direction of the iron bars. “Their size is part of the blessing bestowed upon them by their god. The first man to receive this blessing was the original King Valdadore, and if you remember the story teller’s story in Stone Haven, then you will recall that the First King was able to become four times the size of a man.” Ashton stated knowingly.
“So the crazy old bastard was telling the truth?” Garret asked amazed.
“So it would appear.” Ashton replied.
They each again approached the bars, and pressing their faces between them, watched the giant men within performing some sort of battle practice. After a few moments Garret pulled back from the bars, and the others noticing his absence then turned to relocate him.
“Those guys are about two and a half times as big as me I would guess. Their swords are about as wide as I am for crying out loud. Yet you’re telling me that they get even bigger than this? Where would they live?” Garret bombarded Ashton with questions.
“Well let me see if I can explain this well enough. Wait I have a comparison.” Ashton began, and with a deep breath continued. “Ok, you know how I pray, then I repeat words in another language, then I glow when I am healing?”
Ashton’s three companions nodded to his question their individual acknowledgements.
“Ok the knights do something similar.” Ashton continued his narration. “They are usually normal size like you and me, but they pray to their god, and he blesses them with incredible size and strength. My mother told me the largest of them still alive was the King himself, and He can become nearly four times a man’s normal size.” Ashton said taking another large breath as he finished.
“Do all Valdadorian Knights get the same blessing?” Garret asked, yet another question popping into his mind.
“No I don’t think so, but each of them is blessed by Gorandor, and each of them receives some sort of blessing to make them better on the battlefield.” Ashton again answered.
Garret seemed to think about the answers a moment as his face twisted in upon itself momentarily. Apparently coming to some conclusion, Garrets face once again smoothed out, and he pressed his head into the bars again for another look. His companions followed suit.
Two enormous men stood in the manicured field opposite the wall of the four companions. Both of the giants were armored from head to toe in gleaming polished steel armor. Each of the giants too held a massive sword the length of a man and a half, and a shield of equal length. They lunged back and forth landing blow upon blow on each other. Most blow
s glanced of their shields, but scratches and dents on the giants’ armor bore witness too many blows that had gone unchecked. With every step of the giant men the companions could feel the iron bars reverberate with the impact the ground was forced to endure. Garret was soon daydreaming about how hard it must be to forge a suit of armor so large, when he realized the bars pressing to his head no longer vibrated. Snapping his attention back to the field before him he witnessed one of the giants raising his hand to halt the other’s advancement. The men squared shoulders with one another, and touching their swords together at the tips, they bowed their heads to one another. Lowering their massive weapons, they exchanged words and each of them nodded as if agreeing on something. That was when things got interesting again. Garret and his three companions watched as each of the giants began to shimmer, and their bodies began to lose shape as they appeared to lose definition around their edges. The more the shimmering encompassed the men the more unstable they appeared, and with two large booms wind gusted heavily into the four companion’s faces forcing them to close their eyes momentarily. When the wind vanished as quickly as it had come they reopened their eyes to reveal two armored men of average height walking away from them, across the field beyond the gate. Each of the companions watched them go, each of them wishing they had been able to keep their eyes open to see the transformation.
The group continued to watch for many minutes in hope that more knights might appear, but no more forthcoming, they eventually stepped away from the gate and decided to continue on to their next location. Garret and Ashton led the way as before, following the eastern wall of the castle towards the north all of them talking excitedly.
Seth and Sara followed their companions through the street towards their next destination. Sara, clinging tightly to Seth’s hand slowed for a moment to put some space between them and their companions ahead of them. Seth, curious about Sara’s change of pace looked to see her expression, and again he found the teasing smile upon her lips.
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