Chapter 10: I Can't Take It!
Evil lurks in the sunshine, plots to avenge a lie.
Beware my beloved for evil's face is a beautiful one that hides malice.
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The cloaked man looked furtively about. He only had a few more feet to go before he would reach the rebels' encampment. He had seen the fearsome beast as well as the beautiful young lady who had been brought to the castle. She was different from the others. In fact she looked disturbingly familiar but he couldn't place her. Maybe Discious would have an answer. He stopped and let out a series of whistles and clicks. He was soon answered and he proceeded on his way. He stopped outside the ornate tent and took a deep breath before entering the semi-lit interior. He promptly dropped to the ground his forehead pressed against it as he waited for General Discious to speak.
In front of the visitor sat a well built muscular man, his body solid as brick with an impassive gaze to match. His body was covered from head to toe with many scars making his once handsome features grotesque and frightening. At the moment he was studying a map of the surrounding area a bottle of fine vintage wine sat beside him. He brought the bottle to his fat lips and took a long swig of its aged contents. His eyes fell upon the spy kneeling on his floor, and he spoke with a deep voice that had long ago inspired fear into his enemies and courage in his soldiers. It had once been filled with power and elegance; however, age, battle and drink had warped and decayed it to a low, dangerous rumble. "Speak! What information do you bring me?"
"The beast has brought another girl to the castle. And she looks familiar my lord."
"Another lamb to the slaughter then. Familiar how?" Discious raised a thick eyebrow in question, his patience running short already. He was not one for mystery or anticipation.
"I don't know how to explain it, my lord," the spy nervously stammered. He wished he had a way to show the General the girl's face maybe then the man would understand.
"You may not, but I do." Discious rose from his chair, flexing his gauntlet clad hands and walked towards his spy, Elfred. "You have been good to me Elfred so I will not destroy your mind for not being accurate with important details. I will make you wish I had..."
"No my lord, please, I beg of you, just give me a few moments to remember!" Elfred's eyes widened as Discious approached and he pleadingly raised his hands in front of him.
"Your time is up Elfred, now it is time to see what you know." Discious' hand hovered above his spy's head as he spoke, his words ominous and cold. His hand descended in a hammer like movement, his iron grip clinching his spy's head in a tight grip that threatened to crush Elfred's skull.
Screams rent the air as Elfred's mind was dissected, probed, examined and evaluated. Finally, Discious found what he had been looking for in the forefront of his spy's mind. What he saw made his blood run cold and his heart to ache painfully. She was almost a mirror image to his wife Zitomira, but he knew they had never borne children. Zitomira's sister, however, had born two sons and a daughter. It was clear to him what the beast was trying to do. He was trying to break the blood curse Zitomira had laid upon his soul. Discious would not let this happen, the beast must suffer for all time for what he had done to the people of {insert name of Zitomira's people.}
Elfred collapsed backwards when released, pale and cold, but still alive. Discious turned to his lieutenant and spoke in a rumble fuelled by growing rage. "Assemble the troops Falcor. We march on the city in two days. And have someone see to Elfred, he will be awakening in a few hours and I do not wish to listen to his screams again."
"Yes, General!" Falcor easily scooped up the much lighter Elfred and carried him from the tent.
"Sssso what did you see?" hissed a voice from the darkest corner of the room.
"I saw a vision of beauty that I thought had been lost to the sands of time. It seems Aquene's daughter has turned up alive and well." Discious' eyes narrowed as he looked at the picture of his wife that sat upon his mantle.
The hissing increased for a moment before a giant snake-like creature emerged from the shadows. "Aquene had the ssstronger powersss of the two but ssshe chossse not to ussse them. If ssshe did indeed have a daughter thisss would work to our advantage. Are you planning on capturing her?"
"On the contrary, Syn, I plan on rescuing her. When she sees how the beast reacts to his palace being stormed by an angry mob of townsfolk sick of their daughters being murdered, she'll walk right into our open and waiting arms."
"I hope you are right. I have learned that femalesss are not the predictable creaturesss we wisssh them to be."
"This is true...Zitomira was a prime specimen of that, such guile in her. She could worm her way out of a firing squad. Have your spies stir up some trouble in tow. When my men arrive as 'peace keepers' they will gladly back our plan to overthrow Aries. His day of judgment is about to arrive for destroying our people."
"Assss you wisssh, General. I hope this plan of yoursss worksss and that the girl isss grateful." Syn bowed and then disappeared into the night.
Falcor entered a moment later. "Can we trust him? He seems to have his own agenda."
"He has his uses for now...once we have control of the palace we can deal with those useless reptiles."
"Of course, General. The men will be prepared to move in the morning."
"Excellent, now leave me, I have things I must deal with."
He motioned towards his concubines, beckoning them towards his bed. "You may take Maria tonight for your good work Falcor. Be gentle with her, she likes to bite certain places if you are too rough."
Falcor chuckled but held out his hand as the beautiful redhead came to him and they left the tent with her giggles filling the air.
"Ahhh Verina, my beautiful dark shadow, come to me. Show me how much you have missed me." Discious smiled in lust as he motioned to his remaining concubine, her chocolate skin glistening in the warm night air and the scent of fragrant oils tantalized his senses.
Verina smiled as she slid into his arms.
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Lynn looked over the reports he had received and sighed. Trying to find and recruit those who had once served his prince was becoming frustrating. Most had turned to less than stellar ways of living and the few he would trust were missing or dead. He looked at the clock. His prince should be arriving soon to discuss with him his findings. Sighing he rose and headed for the east wing. He entered the room and laid the reports on the table.
The air momentarily shuddered as the beat of leathery wings was heard, accompanied by the soft clicking of talons on marble floor. A few moments later the groans of transformation bounced off the walls as Aries returned to his true form. "Ow..."
"Sire, are you hurt?" Lynn looked at his master in alarm and raced over to take a look.
"It's nothing, I was careless and almost landed on a 'monster' hunter from another land come to 'slay' me." Aries shook his head and ignored the blood dripping from his arm as he reached for a towel to wrap the long gash in.
"It is not just nothing, my lord!" Lynn retorted curtly as he grabbed some salve and moved the towel out of Aries' reach and began working on the gash.
"Then what would you call a five feet tall man armed with a short sword and padded archer armor against...well me?" He hissed and glared at his friend as the salve was applied. "It's no worse than when I was stabbed in the leg with a pitchfork for killing a cow."
Lynn glared at Aries. "This is no joking matter, my liege! Do you wish to die a beast?" he snarled as he finished the salve and firmly bound up Aries' arm.
Aries looked shocked a moment and put his free hand on his hip. "Lynn, a little cut is hardly going to kill me. I've landed in trees that have done more damage than he did, you didn't fret this much when that happened. What's eating you tonight?"
Lynn turned away and stomped over to the table where he had placed the reports. He fought for and regained his composure. "I have been hunting for your loyal soldiers and they are in short supply. The few who could be trusted are dead or missing. And as for getting support from the villages, they have either forgotten you or do not care for corruption has filled them all and they now rule individually. If you want your kingdom back I'm not sure how it will happen."
"The same way my ancestors did...diplomacy and, if necessary, by force." Aries looked into the mirror a moment and sighed long and low.
"Force?" Lynn snorted. "What force, my lord? We HAVE no troops. No one will follow a beast," his voice dripped with bitterness. Once his liege had been revered, feared and respected. But those glory days were long past.
Aries walked over and gently placed his hand on Lynn's shoulder. "We will manage Lynn, you say the villages are full of corruption, yes? Then we can use that to our advantage. If we can keep even one village for now then we will have a foothold from which to work. They did not fear me before because of my looks or my physical ability but because of my mind. Trust me Lynn, all will be well."
Lynn sighed. He had serious misgivings but kept them to himself. "Miss Lilandra is recovering very well. She asked about her mystery visitor. I told her I did not know all your plans and was unaware of the identity of her nighttime visitor. She seemed disappointed but then recovered remarkably well when we went for a walk in the gardens."
