The Uzan Crystal

by Lisa S. Buchholz

  "Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea," agreed Lady Elise with a yawn as she was suddenly feeling exhausted herself.

  Both of the women leaned back against their seats and closed their eyes. They were asleep in a matter of seconds.

  Meanwhile, one by one the members of the escort were reigning in their horses and nodding off to sleep. Even the coach came to a stop as the driver's eyes slid shut.

  Airic slowed his horse and turned it around to face the escort and to make sure that each and every person had encountered his butterfly. Airic held up the small bottle and waited for the butterfly to return to its home before carefully replacing the cork and returning the bottle to the inside of his cloak.

  Airic dismounted his horse, removed a blanket from the saddle of the nearest rider and approached the coach. It wasn't very difficult to slide the driver out of his seat and lay him on the blanket that he had acquired. He then removed each person from their horse and gently laid them on blankets on the ground in a circle. After he had everyone off of their horses, he then tied a rope between two trees and tied each horse to the rope so they would not wander off. His last act was to build a fire pit with rocks, gather fire wood and sprinkle a gray powder over the wood. The gray powder reacted to darkness and would ignite upon dusk. The escort would be safe and would awake tomorrow morning feeling refreshed but somewhat confused about how they ended up where they were. This would allow Airic and his party to continue on their way without them as Airic had originally planned.

  Airic then tied his horse to the back of the coach, climbed into the driver's seat and took a last look around to make sure that the escort would not be in harm's way as they slept and snapped the reigns to spur the horses into a trot.

  Lady Elise and Princess Angelina awoke the next morning to the smell of breakfast cooking.

  "I must have dozed off longer than I thought," exclaimed the princess when she realized that the coach was stopped and a meal was being prepared.

  "Me too," agreed Elise as she wiped her hands across her face and through her hair to feel more fully awake.

  Both women stepped out of the coach to find that the only person there with them was Airic.

  "Where has the escort gone to?" inquired Princess Angelina with an answer already pulling at the back of her mind. "You didn't send them away, did you?"

  "Come and sit down. I'm sure both of you are hungry. We can discuss your escort over dinner," he suggested as he ladled a heaping spoonful of rabbit stew into a bowl. "Well, are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to sit and eat?" he continued when he noticed that the women hadn't moved. He began filling another bowl.

  Angelina and Elise came over to the fire and sat down on the stools Airic had taken off the back of the coach, one of which Airic was already using. Airic handed Angelina and Elise their bowls and a plate which held a thick slice of bread and a wedge of cheese. There were cups of wine already placed by their seats.

  "Now please tell me what happened to our escort," the princess coolly asked Airic when he had returned to his seat.

  "As you know, I did not request an escort nor did I wish to have an escort when we left Talenvar," he began as he stopped to take a bite of the steaming stew. "This sure is tasty."

  Angelina and Elise impatiently sat waiting for Airic to continue.

  "I decided that we had the escort for long enough and that it was time for us to continue on our own. I had everyone drop off to sleep and while they were sleeping, we separated from the group," he explained as he continued to eat, biting off a hunk of cheese.

  "What do you mean you had everyone drop off to sleep?" demanded Angelina her eyes narrowing as she looked at Airic. She was remembering her sudden sleepy feeling.

  "And just how long have we been sleeping?" questioned Elise with a raised eyebrow and a glare at Airic.

  "Come now, I know I'm not wrong in assuming that you both are intelligent women. Surely you know that I'm not an ordinary mortal as yourself," he sarcastically inquired as he continued to eat. "I cast a slight spell and off to sleep everyone went. As for how long, only since yesterday afternoon."

  "No, you were not wrong in assuming that we are intelligent women," began Angelina as she was making sure to control her anger at his arrogance. "We both know, as well as my family, that you are more than a typical mortal. However, to what extent is still left to guess. I think it would have been easier if you told me that you wished the escort to return to Talenvar and I would have informed them. Since it would have been my request, they would have gladly left. It's a shame to have wasted your resources on such a simple thing," she finished as she gave him a cold look before turning her attention to her meal.

  Elise decided to stay out of the conversation and also began eating her meal.

  "Well thank you for that bit of information, Your Highness," he remarked. She was beginning to irritate him.

  The rest of the meal was eaten in silence. Airic finished first and began to put things back in the packs and to load them onto the coach. The dishes were left for Elise and Angelina to take care of. Princess Angelina was not unfamiliar with doing chores since she had learned early on that you should know how to do things for yourself and not expect someone to be there to do them for you all of the time. Angelina's mother had instilled this in her, her brother and sister and she believed that it had helped them as they grew up.

  Elise and Angelina cleaned the dishes and put them away in a pack on the coach. While they were cleaning the dishes, Airic had tossed dirt on the fire to extinguish it.

  "If you're both ready, I'd like to get on the road. I'm not as young as I used to be and this traveling doesn't help," he sighed wearily as he climbed into the driver's seat. It also didn't help that he had to lift those heavy men from their saddles and place them around the fire. Even a young man would tire at that.

  "If you give us the direction in which we will be traveling, we could take over driving and you could get some rest in the coach," offered Elise. Her father was older and had numerous aches and pains and she knew how he felt.

  "Yes, of course we would be more than willing to help out," agreed Angelina as she removed her foot from the step leading into the coach.

  "Thank you for the offer but we only have a few more day's journey and I'm sure I'll be fine," he responded not wanting them to know the exact location of his estate.

  Angelina and Elise climbed into the coach and had just gotten seated when the coach began to move.

  "What's with you two?" began Elise in a soft whisper so Airic would not hear. "Must you both be so cold with each other? After all we don't have any idea on how long we are going to be his guests and I think that we should make the most of it."

  "I'm sorry," Angelina answered also whispering. "It's just that he irritates me. When I think that everything is fine, he says or does something that makes me feel like I have to put my guard up." Seeing the determined look on Elise's face Angelina told her that she would try harder at being more civil to Airic.

  "And you certainly shouldn't forget that you're now Airic's wife," she reminded the princess.

  Angelina smiled a quick smile and looked down at the gold band encircling her finger.

  Chapter 18

  Noachiam

  They traveled a few more days before reaching the Shodd river. Angelina and Elise weren't sure where they were but knew they were traveling north and were crossing one of the bridges spanning the Shodd river. It took another eight days to reach the road leading to Airic's estate.

  The drive wound for at least six miles from the main road before their coach passed through the second set of black iron gates and onto the cobblestone courtyard that made its way past the front doors and over to the left where the stables were.

  The estate, Noachiam, as Airic had informed them, was not what Angelina had pictured. Angelina thought that it would be a smaller house that looked kind of old, maybe even run down; however, this place was large and well kept. From what she could see si
nce the sun was going down and the light was fading, the lawns were well tended to and everything had a very organized, clean look to it. Even the shrubbery leading from the pillars and first set of black iron gates at the start of the drive to the gates of the estate, was well taken care of.

  Airic stopped the coach at the main entrance to the estate. Angelina and Elise stepped out onto the cobblestone courtyard. Because of the approaching darkness, Angelina wasn't able to get a good look at things. The only clear thing was the main entrance which consisted of three steps leading up, then a landing, then five more steps to the second landing where there were two large solidly built dark wooden front doors with brass handles. There was an overhang that extended from above the doors down to the first step and which rested on two massive white pillars. One of the doors was already open and a servant was waiting for them. Airic took the lead and the ladies followed.

  When Airic reached the servant he asked that Yarma, the cook, prepare a light dinner for them and he would show the guests to the dining hall.

  The entry hall was not overly large. Straight ahead was a narrower hall and a staircase going upstairs. There was also a staircase going down that was off to the right of that. To the immediate right were closed doors and Angelina was not able to see where they led. Airic took them to the left past one door, which was open but no light was burning in that room for Angelina to tell what it was. Airic opened the second door which led into the dining room. The dark wooden floors were polished to a deep rich shine and there was a large area rug which extended within a foot of the walls of the dining room. The rug was done in creams, golds and greens and was very beautiful. The large heavy oak dining table rested in the middle of the rug and had twenty six intricately carved high back wooden chairs with cushions set around it. A huge chandelier hung over the center of the table and the lamps were already burning, brightly lighting up most of the room.

  Airic sat down at the head of the table, Lady Elise took the first seat to his left and Angelina sat down on the first chair to his right. The servants immediately brought out cups of hot tea and a jar of honey.

  "Please help yourself," invited Airic as he motioned to Angelina to take the honey first and when she was finished with it he passed it to Elise before helping himself to it.

  The servants brought out bread, cheese and slices of cold meat. Each person made themselves a sandwich and began eating.

  "You are free to wander the estate and the grounds, but I ask that you stay within the borders. To the east the border ends at the mountains, to the north the border ends at the edge of the forest, to the south the border ends at a small river and to west the border ends at an old wooden fence." He stopped to take a sip of his tea before continuing, "The stairs in the main hall that go down are the stairs to the lower level of the estate. This is my personal domain and I ask that you respect that and do not venture down there."

  "Of course, we are your guests and respect your wishes," Elise said and Angelina nodded in agreement.

  Airic finished his meal and wiped his mouth with his napkin then pushed his chair out so that he could stand. "Oh, one other thing, I leave the estate once a week. I leave early in the morning and do not return until dinner time so that if you do not see me you will know why." He picked up his staff that was resting against his chair, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to retire for the night. Cabrilla will be your personal servant, she will be here shortly to escort you to your rooms." He turned back to the ladies before he left the room to tell them good night.

  "I hope she gets here soon, I'm ready to crawl into a soft bed and go to sleep," Angelina said before she yawned.

  "Me too," agreed Elise. "I wonder if a hot bath would be too much to ask for tonight," she said hopefully.

  There was a soft knock on the door before a young servant girl with pale brown eyes and long dark brown hair entered. "My ladies," she began with a curtsy, "my name is Cabrilla and I will be your personal attendant. If you'll follow me I'll show you to your rooms."

  Cabrilla waited for the ladies to get up and then she led them up the flight of steps and down the hall toward the front of the estate. She stopped at a door and opened it. "Please enter," she said and waited for the women to go into the room.

  The room was spacious with a large fireplace on the right and plush chairs and polished wooden tables neatly arranged around the room. Cabrilla opened another door and this led into the bed chamber. There was a large four poster bed, the headboard resting against the left wall. There were two large doors straight ahead that opened onto a balcony. To the right was a partition which separated the bedroom from the bath area. There was a large wardrobe on the wall to the left side of the door. The room was lovely.

  Cabrilla then returned to the sitting room and opened the double doors which were on the same side as the large fireplace. These opened into another large sitting room and the women realized that the fireplace was used for both rooms. If you looked through the flames you could see the other sitting room. There was also a door leading out into the hall from that sitting room. Again Cabrilla showed the women the bedroom which was the same as the other except the set up was opposite. This also had double doors to the balcony. Both rooms were decorated the same except for color. The first room was done in greens the second room was done in blues.

  "You may choose whichever room you wish," she said, waiting for the women to make a decision. Angelina loved the color blue so she chose the second room and Elise was fond of green so both women were happy about their accommodations.

  "I took the liberty of having hot water brought up for you both and placed in your bath chamber. I will leave you for the night. If you need anything, pull this gold tassel and I will be here immediately. There is one in each room," she instructed as she also showed Elise the tassel locations in her room. "I'll have your things delivered to you for tomorrow morning. You'll each find a night shirt in the wardrobes that you can use tonight."

  Elise's eyes had lit up when she heard the mention of hot water and was eager to get cleaned up.

  "Thank you very much Cabrilla and good night," said Princess Angelina and was echoed by Lady Elise. She was so tired that all she wanted to do was hop into bed.

  When Cabrilla left, Elise and Angelina said their good nights. Elise went to her bath chamber and hurriedly striped off her traveling outfit and washed. She then located the night shirt in the wardrobe and climbed into bed, she was exhausted. It wasn't long before she was asleep.

  Angelina also washed quickly, dressed and climbed into bed. She didn't even have time to think about anything, she just drifted off to sleep. When she awoke the next morning, she was a bit confused for the first couple of seconds on where she was. She climbed out of bed and her bare feet touched the soft rug. For the first time she realized that even though this room didn't have a fireplace it was still warm. She walked over to the wooden and glass paned doors leading out to the balcony and peaked out. Their rooms overlooked the gardens. She noticed that there were steps that led down from the balcony to the gardens. She could see the dew clinging to plants and a bit of fog hanging in the air. There was a knock on her door.

  Angelina quickly grabbed a robe out of the wardrobe and went into her sitting room. She glanced at her trunks that had been brought up and were on the floor near the outside door. The knocking was coming from Elise's room. Angelina opened the door to find Elise, already up and dressed in a dark green dress.

  "I wasn't sure if you were up or not," apologized Elise. "I didn't wake you, did I?" she questioned eyeing Angelina's attire.

  Angelina smiled, "No. I just woke up, I guess I slept longer than usual. Come in," she invited as she stepped back to allow Elise to enter. "Give me a few minutes and I'll change." Angelina then went over to one of the three trunks and opened it to take out a pale gold colored dress and matching shoes. "I'll be right back," she said as she headed for the bedroom.

  Elise took a seat on one of the nearby couches to wait for Angelina. It wasn't long
before she emerged from the bedroom. She had pulled the front part of her hair back into a braid to keep it out of her face. The rest of her auburn hair hung down her back.

  "If you're ready, Cabrilla said that we should head down to the dining room for breakfast," informed Elise as she stood up and headed toward the door to the hall, Angelina following close behind.

  They made their way down to the dining room and were informed when they got there that Lord Airic had already eaten.

  Elise and Angelina sat down in the seats they had taken yesterday evening and were served hot tea, eggs, thickly sliced ham and fried potatoes. There was a fresh loaf of sliced bread on a platter set between the two women. The servants left the women alone to eat in privacy. The meal was delicious.

  They decided that if Airic did not have need of them today, they would begin exploring the estate and possibly the nearby grounds.

  The estate was unusual in the way it was situated. Most estates had at least three levels and the fourth level being the level below ground. This estate had only three levels, the third and lower level being Airic's private chambers.