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2024-10-29 19:42:56“We..we dare not disturb ye, Sire, gave us instructions to..to not disturb yer Majesty un..unless the Castle was a..aflame.” pleading with the King for understanding, the soldier raised up, looked at the people all kneeling behind him. He did not want to be the one receiving the Kings wrath at that moment.
They were all aware as to what King Barkarius had been doing in those 4 days. It happened often he would not leave his room during drug filled entertainment with female guests. The King had explicit rules to not be disturbed during that time.
“So, ye thought not to inform me that the dragon managed to walk right out of my castle? Ye thought to not inform me, that half of my army, just abandoned their duties?” Going down each step as he spoke, the King stood before the soldier.
“Apparently I am no longer King of this castle if ye think for a moment I need not know that the very purpose of my existence freely walked out the doors?” The King addressed all as he pulled the sword at the soldiers’ hip and drove it through the man's gut. Blood started to pool on the floor as he twisted and pulled the blade out.
“Anyone else here to question what I be needin or not needin to know?” yelling, he stared at the top of his subjects' heads, daring the next person to look up.
“Good, now that be settled, I be needing one of my useless subjects to send word to her late Majesties army, I will be needing their service, seeming I have not one TO SERVE ME NOW!” Screaming as he said this, the subjects at his feet could feel the rage, and started to fear for their life. They didn’t take for granted the kings temperament and stayed bowed, answering him immediately.
“Yes Sire, as ye wish.” Cutterson answered. He was loyal to Nikolas but had stayed behind, figuring with the situation, the King would not suspect but be desperate for supporters.
Nodding at a servant standing off to the side, the servant left to send word for the King. Cutterson knew the King would send for reinforcements. He would get them, though Cutterson also knew it would still not be enough, as the late Queens army was not large, and they were merely guarding the border of the Kingdom.
Eyeing the direction the response came, the King spoke.
“Finally, some loyalty where there seems to be none. Someone, get this mess cleaned up, and send for Lady Regaline.” Tossing the bloodied sword to the ground, the King turned and headed back up to sit upon his throne as servants hurried to remove the dead body and clean up the blood that had pooled there.
Not a moment later a soldier came running into the throne room through the main doors. Stopping before reaching his throne, the King whispered ‘Now what?’ to himself.
“Sire,” kneeling down before him, a redheaded soldier hesitated. Seeing the fallen comrade laid before him being dragged away and the red stain hugging the marble floor, the soldier squeezed his eyes and prayed.
“YES? NOW WHAT?” yelled the King.
“My Lo..ord, sev..veral men ju..just returned on horse back, they..they had left us to go with Captain Nikolas, but..but have retur..urned.” the scared soldiered stuttered in delivering the news.
“Wonderful! They must be here to seek redemption, though given a choice if weren’t for the current situation, I would have them drawn and quartered. Send them in so as I may speak to em.” Feeling a bit of relief for the return some of his army, he stepped up the stairs and plopped down on his throne. The elaborate robe covering his large, firm frame, almost engulfed it.
Looking up at his Majesty, the soldier hesitated. Fearing for his life as to what was about to take place.
“Well, don’t just sit there, bring em in!” His demanding words caused even more dread in the kneeling soldier.
“Aye, S..sire” getting up and heading to the high double doors that stood at the entrance to the throne room, the soldier stopped and took a deep breath.
Slightly opening one of the doors, he stuck his head out for a brief moment, then looking back in the direction of the King, he proceeded to pull one of the doors open further.
The subjects that had been kneeling stood and gathered to the outside of the large carpet laid in the center of the marble floors.
The scene before them brought gasps. Even a light giggle could be heard from Lady Regaline who entered from the left corridor of the throne room.
5 soldiers, not wearing a single piece of cloth but rubbed in manure, hopped into the throne room. Their hands and ankles had been bound by rope and colors resembling the Kingdoms flag had been bound around their mouths. The pungent smell caused the people watching to pinch their noses in disgust while trying to stifle their laughter. The King stood speechless at the audacity.
“Sorry, me Lord, we had just arrived when ye requested for them to be brought in. We had yet to figure on if they be friend or foe.” A tree of a man that bare years' worth of facial hair reported to the King.
“Can NO ONE seem to get something right today? I was expecting well over 20 of my men!! What jest is this?" The King's face was red from his heated anger and embarrassment of assuming what was coming was anything but what stood before him.
"Must I do everything myself?” saying this as he rose and hurried to the bottom of the steps, he yanked down the cloth covering the naked man's mouth as he kicked him in the shin. The man fell to his knees with a grunt as he was not small in stature.
“Speak very carefully, yer life, and the men who stand at ye back, depend on yer words.” having bent and whispered this into the mans ear, the other 4 over heard and dropped hard to their knees, loosing their balance and falling over.
As the four fleshy bodies laid there cold, they started to wriggle as they begged to be spared behind their gags, the man who could speak waited a moment, terrified.
“I will not offer this curtesy again, SPEAK!” the King yelled as he reached to hip of the soldier standing next to them and drew the broad metal sword from its scabbard.
Feeling the cold metal against his neck as King Barkarius started to press the blade in, a hoarse gurgle erupted from the man.
“Ehh.hmm. COUGH. Ye..yes yer Majesty, I beg of ye, please spare us! We's only followed that traitorous Captain because we..we..uh..we wanted to gather information from em Sire! I swear, ours loyalty has always been at ye side, please me Lord, I beg for forgiveness, please!” Pleading with his explanation, the bound soldier did not know if the King believed him.
The soldier's true intentions of overtaking Nikolas and leading the army back to the King had failed. The man's greed and want for recognition, had turned on him when he and the men behind him started to bash the Nikolas’s standing as captain of the army.
A snicker could be heard in the moments silence as the King was thinking. He glanced over warningly in the Lady's direction.
Lady Regaline, watching the events play out before her, stared in sick fascination. She was familiar with a man's body, and staring at the naked bodies of them now, brought up a sick desire that caused her cheeks to pale pink. Very few were aware of the sex and sweat filled nights, fueled by opium, she had with the King. Even though she was his half daughter, he saw no wrong in taking her when and as he pleased. They both shared a love for torture, so with summoning her, Lady Regaline thought she would be getting new playthings to fill her time.
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Cutterson who had been watching as well, looked to where the lady stood. He felt there was something odd about the Lady. “Sire, if I may speak?” The Lady asked. Turning, with blade still in hand, the King nodded. “I do find it odd that they weren’t killed by Captain Nikolas.” Smiling sweetly as she said this, a bit of blood lust rose inside her. Looking back at the naked bodies before him, the King nodded. “It is odd, I do say.” He didn’t believe the soldier's excuse either. “Maybe he intended to insult ye, my Lord. He must think ye desperate for soldiers, so sending them back, as such, was his way of pointing that out” the Lady commented. Looking back at her, the King’s face started to turn red with anger. “Insult me! How dare he! I will have the dragon, and I will have that traitors neck hanging in the courtyard along with anyone who sides with the churl!” Holding the sword as he threatened, the King turned to the man nearest that had begged for his
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“That would not suffice, as this was handmade by my mother, I dare say I demand more than some useless trinket box.” Her snobby persona was in full swing as her high-pitched words penetrated Cutterson’s ears. More whispers and giggles could be heard, from behind Lady Regaline, as the maids held the truth, that it truly was just a normal wooden box, with no sentimental value whatsoever. The lady had planned well, and caught him in a bind. She knew that Cutterson was not loyal to the King, so she had plans on making him pay for it, but after the visual of the naked men that graced the throne room floor, her desires were first in need of gratification. Cutterson was handsome enough, and even more, the Lady knew he was married with a child. She had heard talk of how faithful he was, and that all the maids swooned over it. The Lady would break him of that pride and seduce him, let him be her first. Bowing again, Cutterson knew he couldn’t compensate her for such a valuabl
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“We’s be leaving at firsts light. Be the Cap’ns camp tis half day ride, it must be’s south of err. I’ve bad feelin we stick round, we’s gonna be stuck dyin frum sicknes or starvin.” Halik whispered once the men were facing the bushes under the pretense of having to pee. “T’was yur idea, fool, yu’ve pulled us in this mess” One of the soldiers whispered louder. “Aye and yee be bigger fool for follwin, we’s all be, no’s need to be blamin him!” Freddik whispered as well, suddenly pushing his shoulder into the soldier that was mouthing Halik. Now arguing over whose fault it was, they stood there with their pants down and gained the attention of a few soldiers sitting at the nearby campfire. The men at the fire couldn’t hear what they were whispering about, but they watched as each man took turns shoving their shoulders into each other. Suddenly Halik hit against the soldier next to him hard enough, causing the other three to fall like dominos. Including Halik, when his feet were
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One by one, coaxing the horses with sweet grass they had tucked against their chest behind their armor, Captain Nikolas and Barreth spoke soothing words to the animals as they walked nervously being led out of the camp. They could smell Caspian, but couldn’t see him, causing them to dance a little in place with each step. Finally getting the last horse out with nothing more than a mumbling turn, or coughing fit from the sleeping men, Captain Nikolas waited at the edge of the camp as the men got ready to throw the nests of hornets they had gathered, into the middle of all the sleeping scouts. Caspian had his head peering above some underbrush barely able to see the Captain as he stood at the other end. Waving his hand in the air towards Caspin, the dragon’s mouth started to spew a bit of white smoke before a small blaze of blue fire started licking around his mouth. Keeping his thick mouth pursed, he blew the fire in a thin line as he stepped slowly down the edge of the camp. Wi
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The world around had gone silent. Nikolas noticed the wide eyed looks of his men. They were staring at what was going on behind him. Their looks were of fear, and confusion. Slowly turning, he didn’t know what to expect. He had felt the magic from Caspian countless times when the young man would change. Why was this different? “Aye lad, tis for ye own good, I beg of ye not to make this difficult for me.” He said, but stopped talking any further. Caspian was not listening. His head was tilted to the sky as orange smokey swirls started to engulf him. Suddenly, he changed, but not to the horse sized dragon he once was. “GET BACK, SHEILD IF YE CAN!” Nikolas yelled, his voice carrying to the ears of men around him. Soldiers scrambled for the cover of their shields as others sought out thick pines to hide behind. The sound of snapping tree limbs filled the air as a high pitched roar bounced off their armor. The wings that were once only big enough to shield his body, now spre
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Besides the rare utterings from Hagthoria as she bad mouthed Ally in her sleep, no other noise except soft snores and crackling embers filled the small camp. All of them were exhausted, but relieved, the battle had ended. The sun rose quickly, shining off the cool dew that blanketed the leaves and clung to their cloths by the fire. Vermanious was already awake, still in the form of a horse, munching on the sweet wet grass while Nikolas woke. Getting up, he walked over to where the old man was. “Goodmorn” he said stretching, looking through the trees at the sun peeking through. “Yes, it be right nice, though the cool nights will be getting longer soon.” Vermanious responded between chewing the vegitation. Nikolas just looked at him and laughed softly, as he patted his neck. “Never is it easy to be seeing ye like this and watchin ye speak old man.” Nikolas said nervously. The horse bobbed its head, “Trust, tis even funnier when the old witch and I be getting to the pub, I dare s
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Ally covered her smile and walked over to her horse. She had trouble when leaving the castle earlier, she had never mounted a horse on her own. “Let me help ye lass.” Nikolas said coming up behind her. She nodded, facing the saddle. “What made ye change yer mind?” He asked quietly. “I’m not sure. It’s crazy to think all the movies I’ve seen never prepared me for what this world is really like. Knowing that, it probably helped to change my mind. I will have to return home someday, but for now, without a job to go back to, I will just consider this a vacation, sort of.” She responded as he lifted her at the waist. Ally pulled herself up and looked down at Nikolas when she was seated. “Are you mad I stayed? Do you think I am crazy for staying?” She said smiling gently. He shook his head no in response. “What I be thinkin lass, is nothin to do with ye stayin or goin.” He was trying to hide his desire for her. Grabbing her small waist and lifting her up put images in his h
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“Well are ye ready lad?” He said watching Caspian who was now looking down at the field. “Umm..where’s Ally?” He asked turning to Nikolas. “Did she not say her farewells to ye last night lad? Did ye forget?” He responded walking over to the edge. “No, she didn’t say a word to me she wouldn’t be joinin us. She only asked how I was feelin and what would be the first thing I be doing when I can fly. There was nothin else.” Caspian said looking over at the castle. “I be not sure why she didn’t give her farewells then. She plans on waitin around for them to send her back, I’m sorry lad. She did say she will be missin ye though.” Nikolas relayed the words, not understanding why Ally didn’t say goodbye to Caspian. “I be figurin as much, she be nothing but a selfish devil, best she be goin back soon.” Hagthoria commented while she eavesdropped on their conversation. “Hush, old woman. She has a right to be wantin to return home, we cannot blame her for that.” Nikolas said, glancing
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His words sat heavy her heart. “I cannot tell you what kind of experience this has been for me. I still am trying to believe this is not a dream. I appreciate everything everyone's done, in their own way, to make me feel accepted. It breaks my heart to leave Caspian, he’s like the little brother I’ve never had.” Ally said, feeling at loss on how to react. “I am sure he will be missin yer company, tis certain.” Nikolas responded, feeling suddenly awkward. “And..I will miss him too.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. “I, ehm..am sure the rest of them will miss ye as well.” He almost let out that he would miss her, but he didn’t want to appear desperate. Ally nodded and stared at him. If he begged her to stay at that very moment, she knew she would say yes. “Umm..I do have a question that’s been bugging me. Why does Caspian need his parents so he can learn to fly? I mean, isn’t it as simple as flapping his wings?” Ally never had the chance to ask, so with the short silence bet
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Nikolas could understand where his friend was coming from. The loss of a loved one was never easy to move past. He was hopeful that Cutterson taking over the new Kings army would give him reason to live. “Ye cannot be blamin ye self, brother. The person responisible will be rotten in the dungeon until her last breath. Y can be sure of that. Now, I need ye to drag yer self back up proper. Those men need a good captain and I cannot think of another who has more reason to keep going forward then ye.” Nikolas kept his words convincing. The biggest fear he had was that Cutterson would reach a depressive state and take his own life. Nikolas had seen it happen too many times amongst the men. Being far from home, away from a dying loved one. No way to see them. “The captain is right. Ye be best for this. It will give ye a purpose.” Barreth commented, not sure how else to help convince him. Cutterson asked that they give him time to think on it more before the morning. It was already lat
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Ally was feeling torn. She wanted to object, and beg them to try, she wanted to go back home. A hot shower with normal body wash and real shampoo was something she missed. Her body wanted a face mask, and to file away the jagged edges that developed on her nails. Her stomach missed a cold beer with fried chicken and she needed a good night's sleep in her own bed, not a hot sweaty back from animal skins. Then thinking about Nikolas, Barreth and Caspian, she had grown close to them in such a short time, how could she leave. What she witnessed on the field below was a piece of history, for someone’s future, probably not even hers. She wanted to see Caspian fly, if she were to ever go home, she wanted to take that kind of memory with her. “I understand, but I really need to get back soon.” She really didn’t, unless you would name off her wants as needs. Other than herself, she didn’t have anyone. No job, no real friends, back in her time. “We understand lass, ye are welcomed to stay
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Without Decision
Nikolas felt without a doubt that the solution to the curse resided in the mountains. “We will head to Mt. Gelu come the morn. The lad had been cursed by a wee Fae up there, I’m sure of it.” He blurted out as he approached the camp fire. Barreth stood, “Are ye sure?” Nikolas nodded. “We first must see to the Kingdom Cap’n, then I will join ye on this trip.” Barreth said, feeling a bit concerned that they were rushing. “Aye, ye be right. I will speak with the King come the morn. For now, we will head back to the castle with the lad.” Nikolas said as he looked over at Ally by the fire. “The Fae generally don’t approach dragons. They have long lives themselves so I am unsure of what the purpose of the curse would have been for.” Vermanious said outloud. “Tis a simple reason. Our dragon has him a little fairy up there in the mountains that couldn’t bear the thought of him leavin her.” Nikolas chuckled as he walked over to stand by Barreth. “Oh? Ha ha, ye don’t say, how did ye come
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Barreth gave Nikolas an odd look and shook his head. “Lass, when ye done, we shall be headin to meet with the witch on the hill. Tis cooler, I will have a someone bring ye somethin, warmer, to wear then what ye have.” Nikolas called out from behind the door while thinking of the garment he was eyeing not moments ago. “Okay, that’s fine, thank you.” Ally responded in a rushed tone. Barreth could sense something happened before he had returned to his captain but decided it wasn’t worth visiting. Afte Ally was well dressed, the three of them were given horses from the stables. Even though it was dark, they would be fine riding as the field was already alit with bodies being burned. Halik opted to stay back to keep an eye on Cutterson. Nikolas hoped that Caspian was awake so he could be questioned about wandering the snowy mountains. If what he heard from the Scourts troops was true, they may be one step closer to getting the dragon well and flying. After riding for 30 minutes,
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No Answer
Not sure if going in unannounced was the right thing to do, Nikolas decided to try one more time. “Lass, I am about to enter. If ye aren’t decent, I cannot be held wrongly if ye don’t answer me.” He waited until the count of 10 in his head and turned the wooden latch on the door. Slowly opening the door, her peaked his head around. Ally was nowhere to be seen in the room. All that sat there was a a steaming wood basin. Nikolas opened the door further as he entered followed by Barreth. “She must be somewhere else in the castle.” Barreth commented as he stood by the door, scratching his black beard. “Go and see if ye can find her. Ask all the help and check and see if any horses are missing from the stables.” Nikolas said, standing next to him. “Cap’n, I do have a question before I go’s searchin. What if the lass be with the King? I dare not knock on his door in fear of losin me head, haha” Barreth asked, and the laughed because he truly thought it was possible. Swearing under hi
