by Lloyd Baron
A young man enters carrying a small black box with a hole in the top. He sets it down and with a flint and a handful of hay, strikes a small flame. He drops it inside the box and blows on it to get it going. He looks up at Darwin’t and gives a tiny smile which he snatches away swiftly remembering who it is he looks upon. He positions it close to the cell and backs away. The back of his boot catches Derry’n on the back of the head. He looks up suddenly, guilt etched on his face.
“Why are we in here?” Darwin’t asks softly. The guard looks wary, yet seems to find his courage. He steps up to the bars and smiles again but this time it’s more a sneer.
“For trying to kidnap the heir of Atlantia, Princess Narinda.”
“We never did!” Danlynn blurts angrily. “It’s a plot by the Dark Wizard!”
“Danlynn!” Riochald screams. “Shut your stupid mouth! This is not a game! They mean to sentence us to death!”
Darwin’t ignores his two arguing friends and concentrates on the guard, who now stands with his mouth hanging open. “When did this happen?”
“W—what?” He stutters. “I... um... Did he say ‘Dark Wizard’?”
“When did the attempted kidnapping occur?” He says firmly into the guard’s ear to get his attention.
“Yesterday.” He looks at Darwin’t, but his attention begins to slip back to the fighting. “Did he mean a Dark Clan?”
“Where?” He shouts this over Riochald as she tries to reach through her bars to grab Danlynn who now dances just out of her reach.
“What?”
“Where did it happen?”
“Outside the city. By the long grass.” He moves away and slaps Riochald’s hand. She swings around swiftly and grabs hold of the man’s shoulders and pulls him backwards into the bars, holding him there. The guard begins to shout and scream his panic and it isn’t long before more guards are spilling into the dungeon.
“Let go of him, Riochald!” Darwin’t yells and to his surprise, she does. She even winks at him playfully. They were doing it on purpose, he muses. The fight and name calling had all been to distract the guard so he would answer his questions without thinking. Now they know what has happened and can build a case to fight it.
Following in after the guards is a small man with a long white beard. He looks them all up and down before crouching beside Derry’n. He nods to himself and instructs the guards to move him upstairs. On their way out, carrying Derry’n between two, the healer mutters that they should all be given a hearty meal.
“Wouldn’t want them starving to death before the Queen can pass judgment!”
Canace had watched with horror two days ago as the Queen’s guards had beaten Derry’n within an inch of his life. She had rushed to help him but he had seen and urged her with his eyes not to get caught so she blended into the gathering crowd and watched.
She can remember how his beautiful face had split open and been awash with his blood. That was all she could take, and had fled away from the horrific spectacle.
Now two days later she is queuing in line for a job as a palace maid with hundreds of excited city folk. She fiddles with her hair which she had washed in a puddle and nervously cleaned her face in the kitchen of an inn while the cook was taking a break to relieve himself. He’d returned just as she was drying and had chased her out waving a heavy ladle.
“What service work have you done before, miss?” A scruffy old woman asks from behind a desk. The tall lanky woman responding to the question stutters her answer, which doesn’t please the old woman. Canace steps up.
“I am Canace Al’drea from Hillsbough, ma’am.” She drops a perfect curtsey and thinks how glad she is that Riochald beat her every time she wobbled in practice. The woman is impressed and gets to her feet to look over the desk at Canace’s feet.
“You’re a tiny thing. You remind me of me in fact.” She smiles a brilliant smile which shocks Canace into grinning back and dropping another curtsey.
“Everyone else can go home now!” she yells at the milling crowd. “We have found our new maid.”
“What?” Canace exclaims. “But you didn’t even ask me any questions!”
The old woman chuckles to herself and reaches out to take Canace’s hand. She leads her into the single door in the side of the huge palace and up a spiral staircase. Unknown to her, these same stairs lead down to the dungeon and her friends are only two floors below.
The woman begins to talk, but Canace is in awe of her surroundings and only hears bits and pieces. The woman does not seem to notice and continues chatting away. “This is the service stairs which lead to all quarters. You will have a room on this level, which I will show you to soon.”
They turn a corner and the passage opens up into a huge hall. Canace loses her breath and drops a pace behind. The hall is the most beautiful room she has ever seen. A red carpet runs down its centre, over dark wooden boards. The walls are painted white, and large tapestries depicting past queens fill the blank spaces. There is not much furniture, but what there is as beautiful as the tapestries. They pass a chair which is covered in gold. She muses that it looks pretty but must be very uncomfortable to sit upon.
“And then you will be announced to the Queen.”
“Huh!” she blurts and stops dead.
“Come now,” the woman smiles reassuringly. “She is our Queen and she is the most wonderful woman. You’ll love her, and she will love you.” She reaches out and retakes Canace’s hand.
Allowing herself to be pulled along, she groans inwardly. She is the only one to have been seen by the Princess. If she is spotted now then her plan to free her friends will fail and she will join them in the cells. She swallows as they enter a changing chamber and she is presented with her maid uniform.
No going back now.
Within the hour she is washed, groomed and given her first duty. She now stands outside the Queen’s chamber awaiting her summons to present herself as the new member of the royal staff. She has been warned that the Queen is due to have an important and stressful meeting with the Head of her Eyes and Ears over some matter of great importance involving the Princess. She is to say her name, swear her love and devotion to the royal family and to kiss her Queen’s hand. Once the Queen gives her acceptance, the new maid will leave and join the girls working in the kitchen.
She stands rigid with her hands behind her back and feet drawn together. She is a picture of beauty and grace in her black dress under a white apron. Her long blond hair is tied up and tucked into a large white bonnet. The twin red eagles embroidered on the breast are a mark of honor which she is proud to wear, even if it is under false pretences.
A tiny grey and white kitten jumps up on the gold embroidered chair beside her and she lets out a shriek. She glances nervously around and is grateful that nobody is in the hall to hear her.
She turns to regard the kitten that seems to be staring directly into her eyes. She gives it a cheery smile and reaches out to pat its head. The cat pulls away slightly and she notices a small patch of shaved fur on the top of its head. In the centre of the bald spot is a tiny scar.
“You poor thing,” she coos. “You got a bump on your head.” The cat does not take its eyes off her. It meows and tilts its head to the side. “What’s wrong? You hungry?”
The cat shakes its head. Canace lets out a small giggle. It is almost like the cat had answered her question. She decides to fill her boredom of waiting by chatting to the kitten.
“So if you’re not hungry, what are you? Lonely?” The cat nods and this time a cold tickle touches the back of her neck. It is just a coincidence. “Can you understand me little cat?” She asks jovially.
When the cat simply nods again she steps back, her breath taken away. Something passes through her. It is not fear but a strange wariness of the situation. Surely this cat cannot really understand what it is she is saying, can it?
Before she can ask another question a bang from a side door draws her attention. The cat leaps at her and lands in
her apron pocket. She is about to haul it out when a guard pushes into the hall. He carries a cudgel in one hand and a small brown sack in the other. He is startled to see her standing there and jumps nervously.
“Hello,” he says pleasantly with a smile. “You are new.” He flashes a wide white smile. His eyes sparkle with a marvelous blue, and she finds her breath taken away for the second time in as many moments. He is stunningly handsome.
“Hello,” she replies a little stiffly and groans inwardly when he smiles back knowingly.
“Have you seen a cat up here?” he asks stepping closer and flashing another perfect smile.
Disgust hits her so suddenly that she cannot prevent the horror from sweeping across her face and coming out in her voice. “You brute,” she squeals. “You would hit a poor defenseless animal over the back of the head and put it in a sack! How dare you even ask me if I had seen it! I would lie to you even if I had!”
His smile drops from his face and he mutters something angrily as he marches away. He lets the door slam behind him, and the echo rebounds off the walls. Canace cringes for the second time and hopes it is not heard in the Queen’s Chamber.
She is to have no such luck.
The door opens so fast and a beautiful woman in her middle suns strides out. She glares at Canace but says nothing as she surveys the hall. Once she is certain they are alone she turns and smiles.
“I take it one of the other girls let a door go?”
“Oh... it was a guard,” she says looking away down the hall. This woman must be the Queen’s personal maid. She wears a simple blue gown and has her hair held back in a net of pearls. She knows that the Queen likes her maids to be well turned out. She is more a friend then a maid, so she was told.
“I’m Canace Al’drea,” she says offering her hand in the Hillsbough manner, palm upturned for the woman to take.
The Queen’s maid smiles in surprise and reaches out. “Now if I can remember, you do it like this.” She places her hand back facing down onto Canace’s and they both close their fingers, Canace’s over the Queen’s maid’s palm and the maid’s over her fingers. They shake once before letting go.
“You know our customs,” she says with a broad grin. “I was about to turn my hand to the side like they do it here.”
“You don’t become Queen without knowing your subjects,” the woman says with an air of amusement. “Come we have some things to take care of before my meeting. I will skip the kissing of my hand part and we can have a chat about you instead.” She beckons for Canace to enter her chamber.
Canace’s legs turn instantly to mush and she has to use all her will to remain standing. “You’re the Queen!” She blurts a little too loudly.
The woman laughs pleasantly and takes Canace by the shoulders, gently easing her through the doorway. “Yes, I am Queen Narmada. I’m not what you were expecting?”
Looking at her now, however, she cannot believe that she hadn’t been aware of whom she had been speaking too. The woman is so regal and carries herself like no other woman she has ever seen before.
“Your majesty,” she says giving the Queen a perfect curtsey. She had offered the Queen her hand as if she was a common street vendor who had given her a bargain. “I am so sorry for the hallway. Offering you my hand like I was better than you, I am so sorry and ashamed.” Tears moisten the corners of her eyes, but she won’t let them fall.
“No need, my girl. You were not to know and it was such a refreshing sight that I could not resist teasing you.” She drops a slight curtsey and lowers her own eyes to the floor. “It is I who should apologize. Being a queen does not give me the right to tease a young girl. I should know better.”
Canace almost faints.
“Now we will put that behind us and move on.” She indicates that Canace should take a seat and she personally pours them both a glass of red wine. Canace accepts hers with a smile but her mind is still numb and she cannot make any words come.
“I tell you what,” the Queen says with a pleasant soft smile. “You may request one thing from me, and then we will be even.”
“Oh I could not ask you for anything more,” Canace says in a rush.
“Nonsense. Anything.” The Queen sits back and tugs at a strand of loose hair, tucking it behind her ear like a normal woman. All the stories she has ever heard about this woman are true. She is fair and gracious and wise and stunningly beautiful. She is well-respected by the other rulers of neighboring countries and even good friends with some.
Now it would seem this young girl from a farmer village is being granted something that only kings and queens are accorded. She is allowed to speak freely and ask for anything.
“I ask that you listen to a story,” she says at last.
The Queen smiles and settles back into her plush chair. “I love stories. Begin.”
Canace takes a deep breath. This could all go so horribly wrong.
“It all began in a well...”
Darwin’t stares at the sleeping form of Derry’n and lets the tears gently slip down his face. They came so close to losing him the night before. The healer had returned him with instructions that they watch him closely. If he began choking or his fever became worse then they were to ring the bell he’d left in the cell.
It was Tarfleam’s turn to stay awake and watch the big man. Darwin’t could not sleep for worry. He knew he should trust the man not to let them down and remain awake, but old doubts had resurfaced and he had decided to take over the watch. He had been thinking for a few minutes what he could tell Tarfleam not to make it seem like he was checking up him. When he had decided he would simply say he could not sleep because of a headache he had sat up to find blood filling Derry’n’s mouth.
Derry’n was being kept in Danlynn’s cell and was too far away for him to help. All he could do was scream for the others to wake up and find the bell. In his panic he kicked the bell through the bars and out of arm’s reach. If it were not for Riochald’s instructions being relayed to Danlynn, the big man would not still be alive.
Tarfleam had remained sleeping during the whole terrifying event.
The healer, the same beaded man as before, could not fathom why Derry’n showed no sign of improvement. “It’s almost like he doesn’t wish to wake. Something is keeping him inside.”
This comment had frightened them all. What if the Dark Wizard had found a way to get to them? It was Riochald who stopped the fantasy from overtaking them. She pointed out that it was more likely that the big man just needed more time to recover. “Some people simply lock themselves away until they are healed,” she said once the healer had gone. “You shouldn’t let that crazy old man scare you with wild notions.”
It was a shock when the big man suddenly sat bolt upright and gasped a ragged breath. He searched the darkness of the cells, lit only by a single candle left by the healer, before dropping back down and closing his eyes.
“Well he has woken up,” Danlynn said with a broad grin before breaking down into sobs, his relief overwhelming him. They had shared his tears. All except Tarfleam.
That had been over an hour ago and the big guy has not shown any other sign of waking. He does look better though. His cheeks have become flesh colored and his lips moist. Riochald fusses over him in her stern grandmotherly way. She has always been kind to the outsider. Maybe she feels they have lots in common as they are both apart from the rest of the village.
Guilt floods Darwin’t and he swipes at his eyes to remove the tears. He cares so much for the man now. It is strange to think it has been only weeks since he was beside the wagon in Gressgs, hating the man for being helpful to his aunt. It was pathetic. How could he have been so hurtful? He had been frightened of Tarfleam and Tye for suns, and all the time he was being the same to poor Derry’n. The man had grown up in the same village but had always been excluded for being different.
The truth is he is better than them all. He has proven himself to be loyal and wise. His sharp mind is hidden behind his
slow speech and deep voice. His wide shoulders and angular face make him look simple and he’d heard girls mutter within his earshot that they would like to take advantage of his slow wits to have their way with him.
He is disgusted with himself.
The door to the cell opens, and a guard steps in and then to the side to allow the healer to enter. Two more guards enter behind carrying leg irons. They toss them through the bars of Darwin’t’s cell and instruct him to put them on. He sits on the damp cold floor and begins to snap the braces around his ankles. They pinch and he covers a yelp with a hand over his mouth. He makes a show of getting up and staggers to the now opening door to his prison.
He notices Danlynn hobbling towards him with his lopsided grin and fights the urge to throw his arms around the man. Being able to touch him again is a luxury he does not want to end. Best friends for their entire lives. They will be there for each other until the very end. They turn together as the healer enters Derry’n’s cell and briskly nudges Riochald away from him. She stands and steps around the man’s body to stand beside the other two, all of them feeling helpless.
“Get up you,” the young guard mutters to Tarfleam from behind them. Danlynn glances, but the other two ignore what is going on.
The healer touches the big man’s head and his brow pinches into a frown. Muttering something to himself he lifts his worried expression to the guard by the door. “I must heal him,” the old man says in a tone almost like an apology.
“Fine,” the guard replies sternly. “Just don’t make him feel too much better. He was hard enough to beat down the first time.”
Darwin’t surprises himself by launching himself at the guard. His fist lands squarely on the man’s jaw. The guard doesn’t even flinch. Riochald grabs at him and hauls him back into the line. Danlynn’s hands come to rest on his shoulders and he calms slightly. The guard smirks at him.
