"Fine," agreed Lord Ackbar. "Let's get a move on so that we can travel as much as possible today before we have to make camp for the night."
The group briefly discussed which direction to take and then they took what was left of the rope, cut it and tied each of the horses together so that they would be in one long chain. This way they would all stay linked together or so they hoped. Sir Taz and Pendrake took the two front spots and Sir Matthew and Lord Ackbar brought up the rear. They traveled this way until it was getting too dark to continue and they had to stop and make camp for the night.
As the party began to get things ready for camp, Angelina noticed something odd about her surroundings. "Elise, doesn't it seem strange that the woods are practically silent? I think the only noise being made is by us."
"Yes, I did notice it and I'm sure the rest have also," Elise replied.
"Do you sense any type of magic?" she asked as she removed her sleeping blanket and set it on the ground beside some of the other ones.
"I don't feel any kind of magic at all, even though I believe what's happening to us is magic," Elise explained as she handed the reins of her horse to Corbin.
The girls could do nothing else but wait until fire wood was gathered before they could start a fire and cook some porridge. Sir Taz had instructed the women to stay together no matter what and to stay in the center of camp so that they would be surrounded by the men. He was being extra cautious.
"Where's Sir Matthew?" hollered Sir Taz after he had looked over the camp quickly to make sure everyone was there.
"He's getting firewood," responded Koren. "He said he would keep us in sight and not go very far at all. But now I don't see him."
Sir Matthew had stepped behind a small tree when the conversation of the others in his group ceased. He dropped the firewood and agilely pulled his sword from its sheath as he swung around to face the campsite. He was expecting danger, not what he found. Everyone and all of the horses were gone. He looked in every direction, calling out to the rest of the group but without any success. "Oh great," he thought. "Here I am without food or water in the middle of nowhere." He resheathed his sword, picked up his firewood and made camp. He would start off in the morning to find his way through the forest.
"Lord Ackbar!" Pendrake yelled to get his attention. "I suggest you stay right here." Lord Ackbar was about to head into the woods to hunt for his brother. "We don't need to lose another person. Sir Matthew is more than skilled enough to take care of himself."
"Koren is missing also," added Corbin with slight panic in his voice. "He excused himself to take care of some private business and now he isn't here either."
Sir Taz sighed and shook his head in frustration. "From now on, no one, and I repeat no one will go off by themselves. We stay together as a group. Even when nature calls, I do not want anyone wondering off by themselves." He turned toward the women, "You two will stay together at all times and when one has to relieve themselves the other will hold onto that person and keep the rest of the group in sight at all times while the other person may step behind some cover for privacy." He looked at the rest of the men to include them as well. "Same goes for you. Always pair up with someone and one person must always continue to be in sight of the group. I know this isn't going to be fun to have to do it but it must be done."
"I agree," Lord Ackbar spoke up. "We don't need to have one person at a time disappearing from our group. I suggest we get firewood, but we stay together and only range out a few feet from camp."
It was almost humorous as the entire group had to get firewood, unload food from the horses and make camp as if they were practically bonded to one another.
After they ate and the dishes were taken care of, Lady Elise and Princess Angelina put their blankets next to each other and laid down to sleep. Before they dozed off, Angelina reached out her hand and clasped Elise's hand. Elise gave her a reassuring squeeze and then they drifted off to sleep.
Angelina woke to a rough shake from Elise. "Angelina, get up. We've lost the others."
Angelina bolted upright and hastily looked around. Sure enough they were the only ones there. The fire, men and horses were gone. It was quite disturbing.
"Well, I guess that means that we're on our own," stated Elise as she got up and shook out her blanket. "We might as well get a move on. Who knows how long it's going to take us to get out of here and we don't have any water or food to sustain us."
"Yeah, but at least we're together," Angelina said as some reassurance. "I wonder what happened to the rest of the group. Does this mean that the only reason we're still together is that we held hands last night? And that would mean then that everyone else is alone."
"Look," Elise said as she helped Angelina to her feet, "we can't dwell on what's happened and I certainly don't want to. We have to concentrate on getting ourselves out of here and I'm sure that that's what everyone else is going to do."
Angelina rolled her blanked up and tucked it under her arm. "Okay," she said as she scanned the trees and then looked up at the barely visible sky. "Which way do we go?"
"Let's start walking and try to keep in one direction," replied Elise as she pointed straight ahead. "This way looks as good as any."
Angelina and Elise held hands again and began walking. It wasn't easy going because there were fallen limbs and rocks to go around or over. At one point Elise began to laugh.
"What's so funny?" asked Angelina.
"I was picturing Sir Taz walking though the woods holding hands with Pendrake," she explained as she chuckled again.
Angelina had to laugh as well. It was also the first time she heard Elise laugh a real laugh since Merk had been sucked under the sand.
They walked for what seemed hours before they had to take a break. The scenery didn't change much and they weren't even sure if they were still going in the same direction.
Meanwhile, it was a shock to Sir Taz when he awoke. He was the only one left at the campsite. He quickly assessed the situation. If he had been separated then his best guess was that his companions were in the same mess. He picked up his sleeping blankets and began to journey on. He had a very bad feeling about the woods.
The first party had fallen under the same predicament. They had made camp for the evening and when they awoke, each person was alone and without the horses or supplies.
Chapter 38
Unexpected Help
Night came upon the two women. They gathered some firewood and made a small fire. Elise used her magic to create a flame to start the fire. Then they laid out their blankets, clasped hands and gratefully fell asleep.
Each day became an unending nightmare. Walking through the woods, not finding anyone, the women were becoming weaker each day without water and food. It was a chore to get up and continue their journey. It was only by force when Angelina yanked Elise to her feet that she agreed to continue on. They tried to search out food but were only lucky enough to find a few mushrooms and some very bitter roots to chew on. But they ate them since nothing else could be found. Most of the time they walked in silence, broken only by a grunt when one would trip on a root or stump. They were completely exhausted on the eighth evening and almost forgot to clasp hands as they slumped on the ground to sleep. It was the next morning that broke the monotony. When they regretfully pulled themselves out of their blankets and stood up, they heard a voice.
"Well it's about time."
Both women dropped their blankets and pulled out their daggers. Angelina was fully awake and searching the trees to find out where the voice had come from.
"Up here silly," said the voice.
The women looked up to find a small fairy in the air above them. The tiny fairy flew over and sat down on a branch, close enough to be heard but far enough away from the women in case they got any ideas.
Angelina took a good look at the fairy. She was only six or seven inches tall with short red hair, which didn't look like it had been brushed for days and a spotless pale purple tunic. She
had matching leggings and tiny boots that curled upward at the toes. Her wings were pale and almost transparent. When she moved they shimmered with the colors of the rainbow.
"Are you two done gawking?" she queried in a soft voice. "I don't usually help out strangers but since I haven't had much to do in the past hundred years or so and since I don't see she-folk around the woods much, I thought I'd chat a little."
Angelina and Elise looked at each other thinking the same thought. "So if you've been around so long surely you know how to get out of these woods?" Elise prompted hoping to hear a positive response.
"Of course I do. In fact, I had already been here for some time before Gabrielle put the curse on the woods. Do you know why she did it?" she asked, hoping to stir their curiosity.
"No," replied the women. "And at this point, I really don't care," continued Angelina. "Can you help us find our friends and get out of these woods?"
"Well, you could have asked a little nicer but seeing that you've been wondering around these woods for the past four days, at least that's how long it's been since I first saw you, I guess I can help you out. But first," she explained holding up a tiny finger to make her point, "you have to let me tell you the story of Gabrielle and then tell me your story. Then I'll help all of you. Is it a deal?," she asked.
"We are in a bit of a hurry, couldn't you tell us at a later time and help us now?" asked Angelina. Angelina was trying to control her temper after hearing that the pixie knew that they were wandering the woods for the past four days without food or water. And at this point, she wasn't exactly sure how many days that it was overall. It felt like forever though.
To that remark, the small pixie folded her arms, crossed her legs, huffed at them and turned her head away as if pouting. Her tiny foot swinging back and forth in impatience.
Angelina looked at Elise and sighed. She turned back to the pixie. "On second thought, we would love to hear your story." With that, she plopped herself down on her blanket. Elise did the same.
The small pixie turned around with a big smile and flew out of the tree to land on the ground in front of them. "My name Kimber," she said as she quickly bowed, "and this is my traveling companion Zeek." A rather plump orange and white stripped cat stepped out from behind a tree. He walked over behind Kimber and laid down as if he had it planned from the beginning. Kimber seated herself on the back of the cat and began her story.
"It was a long time ago and Gabrielle was a young and beautiful woman. A man from another village was passing through and due to a heavy snow, was invited to stay with Gabrielle's family until the weather had cleared. Gabrielle's family was very wealthy and had a large estate. The young man's name was Sebastyon. He was older than Gabrielle but not so old that he wouldn't have been a candidate for her husband."
"Gabrielle took to him immediately and made it her personal job to wait on him as if she were just a servant. At first he thought her time with him was only because she was being the polite hostess but as the days wore on he began looking at her in a different light. They harmlessly flirted with each other for the next week or so before it was time for him to move on. Now Gabrielle's mother had seen the adoration in her daughter's eyes and noticed that Sebastyon had returned the looks. They seemed the perfect couple. Sebastyon gave Gabrielle a lock of his hair before leaving and promised that he would return to ask her father permission to court her. He briefly brushed his lips against hers before riding away."
"She wrote to him each week and told him of her love and how she was waiting for his return. But Sebastyon wasn't the man she thought he was. He had given a lock of hair to many different women during his journeys and promised to return for their hand in marriage. Poor Gabrielle, she waited and waited for him to return. It wasn't until many months later that Gabrielle found out about him."
"Her parents had insisted that she attend a play that was given in the honor of a close family friend's marriage. They had to travel six days to get to Trumant. It was while she was shopping for a new dress to impress Sebastyon when she saw him next, that she heard a young woman discussing how she had met the perfect man. Gabrielle was intrigued when she heard that this man had just given her a lock of his hair a few weeks ago and promised to return for her. She interrupted to tell the young woman how romantic it sounded and she wished her the best. She slyly asked the gentleman's name already having a sinking feeling of what she was about to hear. Of course the young woman said Sebastyon and gave her a description of him."
"Gabrielle was amazed that she didn't feel broken hearted. She felt anger rising in her, an anger that she had never felt before. She knew then that she would stop Sebastyon's lying and deception. She politely excused herself and headed toward the poorer section of town. She went to a conjurer's house to get a spell that would make Sebastyon forget all of the other women that he made his so-called promises to, including her. In fact, she thought why not make him forget everything. She had it all figured out. So she gave the old woman some money and got a potion in exchange. She was told by the old woman that this powder was powerful and to only sprinkle a pinch or two in the air before the man's face so he inhales it. That's all she needed. The old woman handed her a small pouch."
"While the old women left the room to get change for Gabrielle, Gabrielle grabbed the entire bottle of powder and left another gold coin in its place. When the old woman returned and found the money she decided to let Gabrielle have the powder. After all, what did it matter to her what disaster Gabrielle would cause."
"Gabrielle headed back to the inn where she and her family was staying. When they finally returned home, Gabrielle sat down and wrote a letter to Sebastyon. She began telling him that she had fallen ill and didn't have many days left and wanted to see him a final time. She then added that since he had planned on asking her father to court her, her father had insisted on giving Sebastyon a substantial amount of money to make up for the loss of a potential wife."
"Gabrielle knew that if he didn't feel bad enough to see her when she was about to die, the added incentive of money would definitely bring him. Who would pass up the chance of getting a substantial amount of money for doing pretty much nothing? The last thing she wrote was that she hoped he could read her letter through the tears that had fallen on it. She then dipped her hand in her water basin and sprinkled the water on her letter."
"It was only a few weeks later when she received a reply from him that he was heartbroken to hear that she was ill because he had been planning on asking her hand in marriage. He said that he would travel to her parent's estate in six days to see her."
"When the day came, she had her servants prepare a feast, load everything into her carriage and take her out into the forest to the large clearing where many a time the wealthy had lunch. She had everything arranged and then told her attendant to leave her and the carriage, she wished to be alone. She had not told anyone about her meeting with Sebastyon. The attendant left, knowing that they were in a safe area and she would be fine if she were left on her own. He took one of the horses and headed back to the estate. Sebastyon came upon the carriage and recognizing the emblem of her father, stopped to find out why it was there. He found Gabrielle sitting on a throw with a feast set before her. He noticed that she looked pale and when he went to greet her she could hardly stand. He helped her up and she continued to play the ailing heartbroken woman. She explained that she wanted them to be alone and her servants were due back a little later that afternoon."
"They sat and ate and all the while he played the role of a grieving man. She had to stop herself from laughing at him a few times. It was after lunch that she asked him to sit close. When he did she explained about the substantial amount of money he would be given. She could see the greed in his eyes. She turned as if to get a handkerchief and opened the bottle with the powder in it and poured a handful onto the handkerchief."
"When she turned to face him she told him that she knew of the other women. At first he denied it but then admitted that they were o
nly passing fancies and that it was she that he truly loved. At this she jumped to her feet and laughed at the amazement in his eyes. She told him how she had played him for a fool as he had done to her and that there wasn't a cent to be had. He stood and told her that he was leaving. At this she threw the powder into his face and nothing happened."
Kimber stopped for a moment to make sure that she had both of the women's full attention before continuing.
"He choked on the powder, told her that she was insane and headed over to his horse. Thinking that she mustn't have thrown enough, she grabbed the bottle and with a sweeping motion tossed the entire contents toward Sebastyon as he was climbing into his saddle. It rained down on him; however, there was a breeze blowing and the powder scattered to the winds but not before Gabrielle herself inhaled some."
The Uzan Crystal Page 31
