An excerpt

An excerpt

A Chapter by Sam

THE RABBLE SANG GOSSIP AMONGST THEMSELVES, until the young man at the center of the grand court announced, “M’lords! My ladies!” to the most beautiful of the ladies, the far-removed duchess, he winked,  “Your majesty... I pray silence. I am Eoghan Thysus,” he proudly stated with a wry smile on his face, as he spun slowly around the court, arms raised to usher quiet and build suspense among the nobles.

“Though only a lowly valet, I have the privilege of serving under the Viscount Barlough of Strythia.” This statement is the one that made the faces of every man and woman in the great chamber change from ones of boredom to wonderment.  

“Yes, perhaps you have heard of the man. No doubt a legend by now, to ye noble households nestled here in the northern kingdoms of Rudeka’an, straddling blackened cliff-faces of Scarin, and flanking tide-borne escarpments of the Bay of Farin. I am sure you've heard many stories of his adventures across the realm; his triumph over Favicus the Giant, his escape from a horde of Ventrakk ogres, the ascent of the Tor of Phanemh, and he is one of the few men to espy the Great Puma hunting the Woods of Garavil.” Eoghan kept circling the court to notice the expressions of the men and woman who listened, and he proceeded, “Yes, Lord Barlough has killed many beasts, fought many wars, and accomplished impossible feats with incredible skill, bravery, and cunning. The knightly Barlough is accustomed to the dangers of the world, and has come out victorious on every occasion. He has heard the woes of your people and their land, and rides on Antorum, he has heard that something troubles you, something foul, something maltempered, ravenous, and fiery-breathed. On his behalf, I offer his services. Moreover, I have faith, he can vanquish the fearsome creature who plagues the kingdom.” Eoghan grinned, though perhaps he shouldn't have, as the crowd became solemn at the mere mention of dragon.

“Master Thysus is it?” said the king slouching forward, “To make such a claim, is to say you can walk in fire to rejuvenate your skin; that you are the army of Corvinius Cerwail incarnate. The creature is not like those of old. This is not some hungry fire serpent, prepared to slumber for hundreds of years come the solstice, he is malevolent, tyrannical, and passionate. He will not rest until a blade has pierced his heart. This creature has the armour of the walls of Valorum, and now, the dragon comes upon us, leaving in his wake desolation and death. Where whole villages once stood, the shadows of men and women upon scorched earth, are all that remain.”

“Forgive me, your majesty, but General Cerwail did indeed breach the walls of Valorum in the end, sire.”

“You say you speak on your master’s behalf, is that true?” King Numian asked, ignoring Eoghan's insolent feedback.

“Yes, your majesty.”

“Then why is he not already arrived?”

“If it pleases your majesty, his lordship had urgent business to attend in Tazuma, and though he left five moons ago I can assure you, he will arrive, and I will meet him on the road to the city, at midday tomorrow.

“But the journey to Antorum is at least seven moons, how could he possibly arrive by tomorrow?” the king spat incredulously.

“I suspect, your majesty, he would have skipped a few meals to keep his schedule, sire.”

“Very well,” the king replied, “as restitution, he shall have his weight in gold. I urge him to defeat the dragon before it comes much closer to the city. In the mean time, I will have my guards show you to your quarters where you may spend the night.”

“Thank you, your majesty, though, may I request my attendant share my room? the stables during winter rains are less than hospitable.”

The king nodded to his guards to make it so.


The door stumbled open, and a tall man taking great pains in crouching to hide his height, creaked into Eoghan’s quarters, as expected, and he said, immediately after the door closed, “Felt an itch to make a performance did you?” as he pulled down the hood of his robe. “I hear nothing but excited whispers through the corridors that I, the famous Lord Barlough will ride unto the city at midday, to save them all from a ferocious dragon. I would say quite tame.”

“The king demanded an audience, I had to tell them something. Did anyone suspect who you were?”

“No one. I was careful. For that, my back has already suffered. What did you tell them? that I was riding on the Great Puma? (I love that story.)”

“I did mention you’d seen it, though I said it takes you five days to get here instead of seven.”

“Well that’s not too impossible.”

“It had the desired effect.”

Suddenly the discussion became more weighty, “Is Rowena here? Is she alive?”

“Yes, I saw her in the crowd. She had half a dozen bodyguards to hold her captive and they’re holding her in a room three doors away, but I figure she knows we came here to rescue her, by the way since that is the sole reason we came, oughtn't it wise to inform me just how we plan on doing that?”

“Are you worried I can't handle something as simple as this? Don’t you trust me?”

“To be honest, I am amazed you hadn’t already revealed yourself to everyone you saw in the hallways.”

As if unhearing toward Eoghan’s quips, Barlough related, “Although, I wish you'd told our host not to expect us until tomorrow evening; now our escape might be slightly more spontaneous than I had hoped.”

“I could have if you ever told me the plan!” Barlough covered Eoghan’s mouth before he lost his temper.

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry, you're absolutely right. Now... what does Rowena know about the plan?”

“I’ve told you already…”

“Then why is she standing outside the window right now?”

Aghast, Eoghan turned around to see she managed to sneak along a parapet small enough only for birds to manoeuvre, and stared inwardly with a flash of anger to her cheek. Immediately both men rose to their feet to let the young woman inside, and as Eoghan pulled open the sash, Rowena leapt inside and proceeded to assault Barlough, though Eoghan reluctantly went to his aid, and pulled the distraught duchess off, and covered her mouth to prevent her from further cursing, otherwise drawing too much attention.

When Rowena stopped thrashing about, Eoghan released her, and though they all spoke in whispers, Rowena spoke in louder hues, visibly incensed with Barlough. “Where the devil have you been? Urgent business to attend? In Tazuma of all places? I’ve been held prisoner here for nearly two weeks, and just now you’ve decided to rescue me?”

“Your grace, if I may say so, you look,”

“Shut up, Antonio and tell me what’s going on.”

“Ravishing. But of course, your grace. I was accused of being involved in the plot to abduct you,”

“You did plan to abduct me!”

“Yes, but I wasn’t affiliated with his majesty King Numian. Mine was a separate plot, of which you were to play a part, if you remember?”

Rowena turned away abashed, clearly not forgotten. “Never mind that now, why were you in Tazuma?”

“On the contrary ma’am, after a night in the dungeon, one of my contacts made it known to your father who was to blame for your abduction, and I instantly set out to the Black Mountains to seek out the perfect dragon to enable your rescue.”

“Oh how sweet,” Rowena replied derisively, “you provoked a dragon, and set it upon hundreds of innocent people in my name.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, your grace, not in your name. Caolán is an old friend, and owes me a favour. And as for massacring whole villages, it’s easier to spread rumors.”

“Then why would you plan to ride to Antorum to kill him.”

“Caolán is not a he. I needed a reason to come to Antorum, without Numian suspecting your father employed me to save you.”

“You’re being paid to save me?” said Rowena pointedly.

“That’s irrelevant,” Eoghan interjected, “now that we’re all safe, we need to leave. Now.”

“Not until after midday tomorrow,” Barlough replied.

“What? Why?” both Eoghan and Rowena exclaimed.

“I have a dragon to slay.”

“If this is about your pride, or your reputation,” Eoghan began, when Barlough interrupted, “This is about our escape plan, not my pride.”

Eoghan sat down worried, “It’s fairly difficult to escape when there is a dragon set on killing us.”

“We’ll be dead before we have the chance, he’s never killed a dragon before,” Rowena piped in.

“Why does everyone who knows me, have such little faith in me?”

“Because they have learned how stupid and audacious you are, dear Antonio.”

“Caolán is my friend, your grace. I would never harm her, neither would she harm me. At least, not intentionally, or unless she had reason to distrust me.  Now, you need to return to your quarters.”

“You’re not rescuing me, then?”

“Not at all. Back where you came, your grace. We shall see you tomorrow,” straightening her out, and forcing her to the oriel.

“Do you have any idea how dangerous it was crawling along there? And that’s snow beginning to fall!” the duchess remarked.

“Then I suggest you use extreme caution on the way back.”

“When I get out of this castle, if I get out, I swear I will kill you, Antonio.”

“Really?” and Barlough stared at her suggestively, holding her arm, to steady her out the window, before aggressively smacking her lips against his, and dishevelling his mane.

“Goodnight, your grace,” said Barlough with a smirk. Both he and Eoghan eyed the duchess, who was mindful of her footing, on her way to resume her captive position, ducking their heads inside after she rounded the corner of the tower.  

“Would you care to elaborate on this strategy of yours?”

“At midday, ride out to meet me, like you said you would. And make sure Rowena doesn't leave her quarters. I’ll have Caolán collect her from there,” and Barlough began to climb out of the window.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“I need to steal a horse, rendezvous with Caolán, and then wait over the horizon for tomorrow evening. And be sure to relax, Eoghan, I’m doing all the leg work.”

Eoghan sighed, “are you sure you want to jump from there?”

Barlough looked down to see how long a fall awaited him, which would certainly spell death if he were a human. But he shrugged and replied before plunging into the unknown, "It's nothing."



© 2014 Sam


Author's Note

Sam
Three condensed chapters, from closer to the middle of the book.

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Ooh, fun and exciting stuff. Some sentences run on and need splitting, but otherwise an enjoyable read!

Posted 9 Years Ago



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Added on February 5, 2014
Last Updated on May 26, 2014


Author

Sam
Sam

Fair Verona



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I do most of my writing when I'm trying to sleep. "Better a witty fool than a foolish wit." -Shakespeare. more..

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