Part 4
An hour later and the great hall was filled with guildies as I paced back and forth at the front of the room.
" - Today someone tried to see me dead and inadvertently harmed my son. I will find out who is behind this!" I said. The crowd gasped." - I know a lot of you feel that all of this is because of me. I still stand by what I said earlier. For everyone's sake I hope it was no one here that thought this would scare me into submission. My son has nothing to do with this he is innocent. If you have a beef with me you come at me directly face to face. I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to live a normal life with my family. However it is not turning out that way. So until I find out the one behind this mess no one will be leaving here. If you attempt to leave you will be branded as guilty and thrown in the castle dungeons to await judgement from me. So until then go about your normal lives and once I find the culprit those who still wished to leave will be allowed to." i said. I turned to GrArgen."Make sure no one leaves the premises.". He nodded. I leaned over and whispered" Until I return tell no one I left".
He once again nodded and headed out of the room. Drake and Jenn caught up with me as I began leaving the room.
" - Storm we are so sorry about Dark Death. Terry is beside herself with grief, we do not believe any of us here would hurt you and certainly not Dark Death we all love him as our own. Is he going to be ok?' Jenn asked with tears forming. I laid my arm on Jenn's and said
" - Thank you for your wishes. My little light is stable for now but I must find the source. Tell Terry not to worry he will be out causing mischief once again with her soon." I gave them a weak smile. She hugged me then they were off to their suite. I headed to mine and Dark's suite. Dark Deaths room was next to ours. There was 2 guards standing outside as I approached the doors. I could see the sadness in their eyes. I went in and found two more guards along with Darkangel by his bedside.
" - Still no change my love?" I said as I planted a kiss on his brow. He took my hands in his.
" - I should have been there! Maybe if I had I would have noticed something wrong early, Maybe if I had been with you, you would have never touched the rose." he said between sobs.
" - Oh my love you need to stop beating yourself up. It was not your fault. You can not be next to both of us all the time. I will find a way to fix this. That is my promise to you." i said as I stared hard into his eyes." I will fix this if it takes my last breath". I kissed his lips tenderly then headed to our suite to prepare for my short journey. I stopped by the kitchens on my way out. Cook was sitting in a corner with her head down. I could hear the prayers she was sending to the gods for Dark Death. I lightly touched her shoulder which made her jump. She looked up at me with red rimmed eyes.
" - My Lady please tell me he will be alright. I have been sending up my prayers ever since the news reached my ears. I can not imagine anyone harming our sweet little prince. He is the light in the darkness here." she said then began to sob again. I gently squeezed her shoulders wishing I had Dark's calming effect right now.
" - Cook he will be fine you have my word on that even if i have to give him my own life." She looked up to me and tried to give me a smile.
" - Majesty what you seek here is on the counters. I had an intuitive heads up so I prepared it just in case." I walked to the counters and found a sack filled with food for the road including crackers. I gave her a smile as I touched my stomach. The baby squirmed inside at my touch.I had been so worried about my son I had forgotten about the little one inside. My beast had seemed to take a shining to this little one and had created a protective aura around the yet to be born baby. I had to smile my beast was such a softy. The beast must of heard me because he rumbled a small growl.
" - Majesty please be careful and may the gods be with you to keep you safe." she said as she gave me a hug. I hugged her back then collected the pack and headed out to the stables. Legolas looked up from his stall and gave a soft whiny. He knew what was coming and was letting me know that he was ready to go. I walked him to the far back wall where GrArgen and Mefisto were waiting for me.
" - Majesty won't you reconsider one of us going with you in your condition?" asked GrArgen. I shooked my head.
" - I need both of you here to keep and eye on things. Someone tried to harm me and knew that Dark Death has a life bond with me. Until I know who is behind this I want him protected and everyone else under close watchful eye. Besides Dark , you two are the only others I trust fully. If hell breaks out while I am gone get the two of them out of here. It hurts that we lost B1 and Heamt a few years back so i want all four of you to get to safety if need be. I shall return in a few days you have my word on that." I gave each of them a hug and mounted Legolas.
I directed him back toward the ruins of Defy Fate. I had a feeling that is where I would find what I was looking for. I rode for what seemed like hours through the country side trying to reach the mages forest. Defy fate was located on the other side. The beast began getting restless. I know it was hungry because my will to suppress it was getting weaker. I was so sure there would still be bounty hunters out looking for me. So far we had not come across any. I began to wonder if they were growing more cautious. There was a reason my bounty was set at 150 million gold. Even I had thought of turning myself in for that amount. I could not blame them for needing the money. Outside of Defy Fate the realms were struggling. For the last 2 years crops were few due to the drought and bugs. The villages near us benefited from the protection spells but since the fire the spells were gone. I felt horrible leaving them without protection. Perhaps once I figure out who is trying to kill me I will come back and set up some wards to help them. They are still my people to protect regardless of status.
I dismounted Legolas and walked him through the thick brush into the woods. They were still just as eerie as the first day I traveled through them on my way to Defy. The memory of what I had did to that bounty hunter still haunted me. Just up at the first clearing I saw what was a small cooking fire. I approached cautiously. An elder couple was roasting what looked like fresh fish from the stream just beyond. My stomach gave out a loud growl. I just realized I was actually famished. The elderly man called out
" - Who goes there?" It was a good thing that I had donned some more homely clothes before I made the trip. My cloak obscured my long red hair so I doubt anyone would recognize me. Having children had caused my body to become fuller out. I was far from being fat mind you but I was no longer a twig that would float away with the breeze. I stepped forward with Legolas.
" - I am just traveling through. Would you mind if I share your fire with you? "I called out. The old man put away his sword and beckoned me forth. The moment his wife noticed I was pregnant she rushed towards me and guided me to the fire.
" - My child what brings you out in your condition this late at night?" I explained that I was just traveling through to visit my sister in Defy Fate. She gave me a grim look.
" - You poor thing. I hate to tell you that you traveled here for nothing. DefyFate burned to the ground seven years ago." she said as she handed me some of their fish.
" - May I asked who your sister was?" she asked. I took a bite of the fish. It was rather good. It had a very familiar blend of spices that I could not place.
" - My sister is Stormslayer. I am her long lost sister Pervyqueen. I had put off visiting her for years. I barely knew her but once I became pregnant and lost my husband to a farming accident last spring I felt that I needed to be around family. I did want my child to grow up not knowing family as I had." I said as I continued to eat the fish. So far so good they believed my story. It was mostly true except the part of her being pregnant. I had only word that I had a sibling I had never met. I am not even sure if she was aware of my existence. The fish was very filling. I had a tingling feeling throughout my body. It was a rather pleasant feeling. I looked over to the elderly couple, " May I asked what that delightful seasoning you used on this fish is? It is vaguely familiar but I just can not place it." I asked. The elderly woman gave a delighted smile.
" - Ah you mean the Foxtail root. It has a fantastic taste that fills the senses. It causes an euphoria like state. I am rather surprised that you noticed it. It is a very rare ingredient found in our home land." The inside of mind began to spin. I reached out to my beast and received no answer back. Why is my beast not answering me. I looked up at the elderly woman and noticed a slight red glow beginning to form around her. The elderly man next to her was no longer an elder but a very young man. His eyes were burning with a bright blue fire. I had been tricked. How could I have been so stupid." Foxfire has some interesting properities. One of them you should be feeling now is the separation from your beast inside. The next one will be the onset of paralysis. You will remain aware of you surrounding but will lose all movement just like a spider that is about to eat her prey." the elderly woman laughed. The plate of fish fell from my hands as I realized I could no longer move them.
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