Fan Fiction ❯ Dangerous Beauty ❯ Poor Diere ( Chapter 16 )

Down in the gardens Mayee was trying to get Matsey to call upon elemental enchantments of protection. She could call a mist thick enough to hide 500 people, rain to put out fires, winds so fierce they could carry a house away, and snow and sleet to freeze over land making it impossible to cross. Mayee wanted her to learn to heal any type of wound and be able to control fire before she left for the King's castle. Matsey was having some trouble with fire. She managed to send a misguided flame after some poor servant and singed several trees. Her healing wasn't doing much better. When she tried to heal the servant she made him giddy instead and he spent about two hours skipping and singing around the two women. At this time Aunt Mayee thought it best to take a break before Matsey collapsed into frustrated tears. She wanted o see how her niece was anyways “That is all for now. You will get the hang of your powers. You did after all heal my servant.”

“I also made him act like a giddy young maid.”

“You are learning. It will come to you when you need it most.. Let's check on Earok.”

Matsey let out a sigh and nodded in agreement. THey walked inside and went towards Elise's room.

Back at the small village, Delfax and Diere had their hands full with Sir Garot and his men. They had eaten most of their food and were scaring off customers. Sir Garot's men were quite active and rowdy. They were destroying the tavern and trying to take any woman that came near them. Diere was trying to protect the women and Delfax was protecting his tavern. “Sir Garot! Your men! My tavern!”

“It is no concern of mine how poorly built your tavern is. They are tame tonight” He watched bored as one of his men chased another young woman around trying to proposition her. They disgusted him. He wanted a powerful woman and he had one in mind. “Tonight old man you are in luck. I grow tired and restless for the hunt. We will leave in the morning for my bride-to-be. She will be mine or else.” Sir Garot got up, gathered his men, and went to bed.

Delfax decided he needed to warn Count Makraim. He went to the stables and found Diere. “Boy! Come here! Quickly, you must go to Rumox and warn the Count that Sir Garot is coming for the girl. Go on foot so no one notices you. Hurry!”

Unfortunately, Sir Garot was no asleep. He saw the stable boy leaving and instructed one of his men to follow him till the edge of town and fire an arrow to kill him. The poor boy had no idea he was being followed. The man did as he was told and tailed Diere. When they got to the edge of town he fired an arrow and hit Diere in the shoulder. When he saw the boy go down he smiled and turned to report back to Sir Garot. Diere got up and stumbled around until he made it to a wooded area. He knew if he made it through the woods he would make it to Rumox by nightfall. Sir Garot and his men were retiring early so he should be able to make it unhindered. His shoulder ached where the arrow stuck out of it, but he was persistent and made his way toward Rumox.

Back at Aunt Mayee's house Elise was screaming in her sleep. Count Makraim was trying to wake her but no amount of shaking worked. Mayee and Matsey heard the screaming and ran the rest of the way to the room. Matsey entered first and ran to hold Elise. She calmed down and slowly woke the rest of the way. “Oh! I had a horrible dream! Sir Garot ordered our friend Diere killed. He and his men will leave tomorrow for me. We must leave now! Aunt Mayee, go back towards that town and find Diere and help him. We will travel the forest tonight and reach the castle in the early hours of the morning.”

Everyone nodded. The three travelers got ready to leave for King Bilmarath's castle and Aunt Mayee went to find Diere.

Count Makraim, Matsey, and Elise decided to take to the forest on foot. Elise said she would see if they could find a path that will lead them through without little interference from hanging vines and hidden dens. The creatures seemed to be in hiding. Everything was silent as if in preparation for some horrible unseen event. The three traveled through the night in near silence. Only their feet on the ground could be heard as they made their way through the forest.