Chapter 14 (Dnkstar)
Diana lay in the darkness of her chambers, awake and watching, as the full moon laid the light and shadows into sharp relief. From far in the distance, a whippoorwill sang out a sad and lonely note. It was no use, she finally decided, at last. No matter how much she tried, it was obvious that the sweet blessings of sleep would not be hers this night.
As soundlessly as a cat, she dressed into her outer garments and left the sanctity of her chambers. At this time of night, the corridors were silent and devoid of any movement. Only Evynia, her chamber’s guard, was the only one that she encountered. She said nothing, but looked at the princess with a quizzical smile.
“Long day, couldn’t sleep--”, answered Diana. Admittedly, the excuse sounded weak, even to her own ears. --But, she comforted herself; she was being at least partially truthful, wasn’t she? After all, it had been a long eventful day and her thoughts seemed to be racing like horses in a pasture. A nice long walk in the garden would be just-- HORSES--!, the word clamped down like a steel trap on Diana’s thoughts. Drusilla---! She winced as she covered the last several yards between the palace and the stables.
“Oh, Drusilla-- I’m sooo sorry for having for forgotten about you today. It’s been a trial by fire today, so much has happened--”
The beautiful beast turned to give a hard glare to her mistress. It had not escaped the mare’s notice that her mistress hadn’t forgotten to exercise or groom the stallion at the other end of the stables. But she had forgotten her, left her to wander the pastures --alone, abandoned--ungroomed. She sniffed at Diana, derisively. Hadn’t she been the one to carry her mistress through dangerous and foreign territories? Hadn’t she battled valiantly at her side, fending off those terrible highwaymen? Hadn’t she been the one to help her mistress discover and track the location of the shape shifter, Patrick, as he followed their band through miles and miles of forest, hoping to find even more things-- beyond the young mage’s bag-- to steal? Why she’d even gone so far as to allow them to put the wounded Dark Knight upon her back, and saw him safely back here, to home. And this-- this--was her reward?!? --to be given breakfast, then completely forgotten for the entire rest of the day?!? She lowered her head, and glared once more at Diana, clearly furious.
“I’m truly sorry, my dear steed.” Diana whispered contritely to the thoroughly offended mare. “If only you knew everything that’s happened to me today---” Diana’s voice trailed off and she closed her eyes and her thoughts once more spun and danced in circles before her. You see, Drusilla--” Diana picked up the mare’s grooming brush and began to lovingly brush out her mane, as she described the day’s considerable list of events to the irate mare.
“--- I simply felt that it would be in everyone’s best interests if he just let them do what they were naturally talented at rather than trying to force them to learn something so clearly foreign to their own natures.”
“--Well, that’s what I thought too, and I meant to tell him that as well, but I guess I lost my train of thought when he kissed me and--”
Drusilla whipped her head around, eyes wide with surprise. Whatever last vestiges of anger she’d felt towards her mistress were long forgotten. She pricked her ears, and cocked her head to the side to look at Diana. Her interest was now thoroughly peaked. With mischief-filled eyes, she nudged Diana, urging her to continue.
“-- I don’t know if I liked it or not. I --uhhh-- suppose so.” Diana gulped back the words. She suddenly felt her cheeks reddening, in a strange, uncomfortable way. “I am not blushing!” she protested miserably. “--And I would thank you to keep your unwarranted opinions to yourself!”
She found herself reddening even more as the mare’s sensitive equine ears picked up the sound of Diana’s quickening heartbeat.
The ends of the horse’s mouth curled into an amused smirk. “You certainly are full of unwanted comments and questions tonight, aren’t you?”, said Diana, feigning exacerbation.
“Mating? With him--?” This time it was Diana’s eyes that widened in surprise. “No, I have never considered it!” ,the elf-maid protested, almost too strenuously. You haven’t been talking to my mother by any chance, have you?”, she laughed.
“Although I’m sure he would have made a much more acceptable mate than that insufferable Tresstom!”
The mare turned to look at Diana. Her ears pulled backed against her head, her mouth forming a grimace of sheer disgust, at the mention of the repulsive human’s name.
“At least Mother is going to release me from my obligation to marry him, once we’ve finished this quest,” Diana hopefully informed the beauteous creature as she brushed out and plaited her snow-white tail.
“--I know, Drusilla-- I feel something about him too. I can’t put a name to it, but I agree wholeheartedly with you--there’s something very untrustworthy about that man!”
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Lois sat in her chambers, dabbing the tears from her eyes with a kerchief made of lush green silk. Her red and swollen eyes looked out over the kingdom, yet saw nothing of it’s beauty. Killed. The word reverberated over and over, with the force of a nail being driven by a particularly heavy hammer. Lana dead. She knew it was so but her mind seemed unwilling to completely grasp the reality of it. Her beloved Lana--cousin, friend, playmates since their earliest days--was dead. Killed by an unknown assailant or assailants, and for what reason? Vainly, through her grief and exhaustion, she tried to make sense of all that had happened these past several days. So many questions, so few answers. Lana had seemed so strange, so oddly preoccupied. Lois rubbed her throbbing temple. Her mind replayed all the many strange things that Lana had said to her during their brief and fleeting moments alone together:
“Beware, cousin, he is not at all the noble gentleman you think he is!”
“All is not as it seems, Dearest Lois-- trust no one within these corrupt and evil walls!
“Lois, come with us--come back with Peter and me, Lois, before it’s too late!”
By all outside appearances, Lana seemed her happy, cheerful self; but one only needed to look a bit closer to see the dark shadows under her eyes, the stark fear that seemed to haunt her every furtive glance.
“Lois, it’s not safe for you here. Peter and I can provide you a way to escape and a place to hide, for a while--but you must leave with us, tonight!”
Lois just barely managed to make her way to her bed before she once again collapsed in a fit of tears. Her heart broke for her dear cousin’s widower. Never before had there been two people more gentle and sweet; more perfectly meant for each other than Lord Peter of Rossvale, and his lovely wife, Lana. Now that perfect companionship was gone, lost forever. Lois struggled to understand how something like this could have happened within the very walls of this courtyard. What were all those strange warnings that she’d tried so vainly to give Lois? Why did she distrust Alexander so? Why was it so imperative to her that Lois leave so quickly. What was her cousin so afraid of? It was true that Alexander seemed a bit harsher than she’d have thought a man of noble birth to be. On their wedding night, he’d taken her much more harshly than she would have liked, but she thought it due to his ardor for her. Could there have been something more that she didn’t know about?
Then a thought struck her that chilled her to her very soul. What if there were something more? What if Lana had died because she’d tried to warn her of whatever the coming danger might be? And what if, in her failure to listen to Lana, she’d inadvertently doomed Peter and herself to the same fate? What if there was now no more chance for her to escape from whatever it was that frightened Lana so, and in the end may have ended her life?
