Battlefield and the Bard

Chapter 4 – Urgent Mission

By: Fluffycawwot

       Inside the keep, a red carpet stretched from the entrance to a set of thrones on the other side of the room.  Upon the throne to the left sat King Andrew.  He was dressed in a dark sienna colored cotton robe and wore a brightly polished golden crown on his head that was embedded with pear-cut shaped diamonds.  Next to him, on the second throne, sat his wife, Queen Cezanne.  The queen, too, wore a crown but, hers was made out of silver with emerald gems.  She wore a silky magenta dress with golden embroidery.

       A young man paced back and forth in front of the king and queen.  His brown hair fell softly around his ears beneath a small circlet of glass that sat on his head.  A single ruby hung on a chain around his neck and his leather vest bore gold and silver decorations.  

       Both Alvara and Garron approached the royal family in silence.  Upon reaching them, they knelt down respectfully.  The knights and archers coming back inside lined up against the walls of the room and Alisa sat in the far corner.

       “Prince Edgar, your majesty.  I have sad news and… I’m afraid I’m to blame for it.”  Spoke Alvara.

       “Dame?  What has happened?”  Prince Edgar stopped pacing and looked towards the warrior.  “Your friend, Alisa Phoenix, came in here not long ago asking for reinforcements to aid you outside against demons?!”

“Yes, Sire.  This morning I encountered eight barbarians by the mid-forest rivulet.  They seemed very aggressive and I intended to come and tell you as soon as I got home.  However, I did not.  I became sidetracked and because of my actions, I failed to warn you of the danger that could occur.  Now, Sir Streyhan has been captured by them.”

       “Captured…”  Edgar looked towards his father.

       King Andrew scratched his chin and got up.  “How did they enter?  Were not the drawbridge and portcullis closed?”

       “They were.  These creatures had wings and were not human anymore.  They flew in and landed by the dining hall.”  She held out Devin’s flute and placed it on the floor.  “I fought them as best as I could, but in the end, I could not save him.  I’m deeply sorry.”

       “Where is my husband?!”  A woman with blonde hair covered by a white cloth and in a long, soft gray gown came running in.  She stood behind the warrior. “Alvara, one of the war mages just came to my house and told me my husband was… kidnapped?!  Where is he?  Where was he taken?!”

       Alvara turned to look at her and felt a twinge of sadness seep into her mind.  The woman was shaking and about to burst into tears.

       “Lady Corinna…  I… I don’t know for sure where Devin is…”  She got up and turned towards Prince Edgar.  “But, I do have an idea as to where they may be going.  They were headed southwards, towards the sycamore lands…  And all this was involved with black magic…”

       “What do you mean?”  Garron asked worried.

       “I have a horrid feeling it might be...  King Andrew, your majesty, I’m sure you know what I’m speaking of.  If I may receive your permission, may I take a few knights with me to see if we can track them?

       “The fortress… I can’t believe it’s come to this…”  King Andrew closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead before facing her again.  “Dame… Do you feel well enough to go?”

       “Yes.”

       The king sighed.  “Alright, you have my permission.  Take knights and horses with you...  but…, be careful.  Those two brothers are corrupted by pure evil.”

       “I will, thank you, Sire.”  She bowed.  “I will definitely save Sir Streyhan and bring him back home.”  She turned to Corinna.  “I won’t let anything happen to him, Lady Corinna.”

       “Thank you.”  Corinna embraced her and cried into her shoulder.

       Alvara hugged her back.  She could see just how much she loved her husband.  Facing the Royal family she bowed once more, then, turned around to head out to the warriors’ guild.

       As she approached the entrance to the keep she could see a young man, roughly the same age as herself, standing by the heavy wooden doors.  His hair was cut low and he wore a simple leather vest with leather wrist bands, a white rose in his hand.  She frowned and ignored him.

       “Alvara?  Wait…!  I have a gift for you!”  He ran after her.  “Alvara…”

       She stopped.  “What is it, Jacob?”

       “I overheard about what happened.  I… wanted to check if you were okay.”

       “I’m fine.  You can go home now.”

       “I brought you a gift.” He held out the white rose.  “An early birthday present.”

        “Don't hand me a white rose out of nowhere!  I'm not joking around!"  Alvara shouted.  "My birthday isn’t for another five months.  Jacob, please don’t try to become friendly with me.  Put that rose down.  To me, you’re the leader of the archer guild and we only know each other as military guides, nothing else!  What we had, ended over a year ago… don’t you remember?  You broke my heart that winter’s morning...  How could you sleep with someone else behind my back?!  Stay away… from me…”  Alvara began walking again.

       Jacob dropped the rose on the ground and grabbed her arm.   “Alvara, please…”

       “Let me go!”  She tugged her arm and managed to pull away from his grasp.

       “Wait…!  I didn’t mean anything strange with the rose.  I’m not trying to ask you out or anything!  I just wanted to… Oof!” A heavy punch landed on Jacob’s face, interrupting his words.

       “Didn’t you hear her?  She said to stay away!”

       “Lamont!  Don’t fight!” Alvara yelled back.  Lamont was slightly more sturdy-built than Jacob.  His maroon gambeson was tied by a thick leather belt and he had curly black hair.

       Jacob wiped a drop of blood from the side of his mouth.  He got up and stared menacingly at Lamont.  “Heh, so the mage leader thinks he has physical strength, now does he?”

       “I don’t need to be physically strong to hurt you, Jacob.  You’re just weak by nature!”  Jacob lost his temper and tackled him to the floor.

       “Hey!  Quit it!”  Alvara felt frustrated as the two threw punches at each other.

       Prince Edgar could see the two men fighting and hurried to the entrance.  “Enough!  Get off the ground this instant!”  They stopped at the sound of his voice.  “You two are military leaders, not little boys!  Jacob, go back to your guild!  And Lamont…, go back to yours…  There will be no fighting in the kingdom!”

       Jacob and Lamont obeyed and reluctantly got up.  Going their separate ways, they gave each other threatening glares from afar.

       “Those two…  I swear I don’t know what to do with them anymore…”

       Alvara bowed to the prince in gratitude.  “Thank you, Prince Edgar.”  He nodded and watched as she took her leave.

       On the way to her guild she tried to sort out her thoughts which had been rattled by Jacob’s actions.  She didn’t care for him anymore and wished he’d just quit bothering her.  Halfway to her destination, she was greeted by Alisa and Cybil.

       “Alvara.  You’re really going after those things?” asked Cybil.

       “Yeah.  I need to.”

       “We saw Jacob talk to you.  He just doesn’t get it, does he?”  Cybil crossed her arms.  “Jacob needs to stay the hell away from you.  I don’t see why he thinks he can talk to you.  But…, Alvara… Lamont…”

       “No.  I don’t want to start a new relationship right now… I’ve told you, I don’t want to fall in love again… Or at least… I’m not…ready to…”

       “Well, that’s a lie…  You’re clearly in love with Devin…” said Alisa.

       “No, no I’m not!  Can you drop that, please?!”

       “Alisa!”  Cybil called sternly.  “Now, Alvara, can’t you give Lamont a chance?  He really likes you and he’s a very nice guy.”

       “I’m telling you, she likes Devin more.”

       “No!  I don’t like him, I don’t like anyone!  I really don’t have time for this!”  The warrior changed her ponytail back up into a bun.  “I have an urgent mission to accomplish right now.  We can talk about this later.”  She began walking towards the knight’s guild.

       Alisa felt enraged as she watched her friend turn her back and walk off.  She called out after her. “You can lie to us but, you can’t lie to yourself!”

       Alvara ignored her.

       “Hey Cybil… what’d you say we follow her…?”

       “Follow her?  Why?”

       “I want to get a second person’s point of view of her answer…  I want to know if she’d tell anyone else that she loves Devin...”

       “Alisa…  We’re her best friends.  If she’d tell anyone it’d be us!  Besides..., how do you even know she does?"

       “I’ve seen her plenty of times.  Whenever Devin is around or whenever someone mentions him, she turns red and gets annoyed.  I’m a girl too you know!  The signs are clear to me… I know what she’s thinking…  I’m sure of it!”

       “I’m a girl too and I don’t see what you mean…  heh… well…  But, we can’t go out there either way.  I mean, what if there are more barbarian creatures?”

       “Don’t worry!  Alvara and her knights will be around!”  she thought for a while.  “Then again, it might be safer to bring along someone who can fight…  And I’ve just the person!  I’ll ask Day to come along!  She’s got amazing skills!”

       “Uh… You sure she’d approve of this?”

       “Are you crazy?  You saw her question Alvara at the picnic.  I’m certain she’d beg me to come along…  Like this…  ‘Of course, dear sister!  Take me with you, I must know the truth!’”

       Cybil laughed and the two went off to find Day.

               *             *             *

       Alvara tried hard to forget Alisa’s provoking words.  Deep inside, however, she had to admit that there was indeed something about Devin that caught her attention.  Something so admirable, that it was unforgettable.  Deep inside…, she really did care about him in a certain way but, not just any way.

       She cupped her hands together and pressed them against her chest as she walked.  “Devin… how I wish I could tell you the truth… but…, I know I can’t…”

       Though her replies were always in vain denial, and though it had happened against her immediate will… she knew… she had fallen in love… with a married man.

               -

       At the knight’s guild, Alvara gathered a handful of warriors. Ater packing some supplies, they headed to the stables.  She placed Walnut’s stable sheet back on while she waited for her knights to select their horses.  Once ready, they head for the drawbridge.  The rescue plan to save Sir Streyhan, had begun.