The Sorceress
The Second Tale From Carrock
Page 2 of 4
Dylan and Savoy had been up much of the night, pondering over Tabea’s sickness and the old woman’s words. For that reason he found himself being wakened by a gentle kiss. He opened his eyes and noticed his wife sitting on the edge of his bed, fully dressed, her face a healthy color. Only the blue eyes revealed the fact that she was still not completely well.
“Tabea, you’re up!” he exclaimed.
“Good morning, sleepy-head,” she laughed. “Kyle has been asking for you since shortly after sunrise and I couldn’t stay in bed any longer. Why are you still sleeping?”
“I had a very late night,” he admitted, getting out of bed and going over to the low wash-basin by the window.
“Not worrying about me, I hope?” she asked, coming over to stand behind him.
“That was some of it,” he answered after splashing himself with the water. He dried off his face and upper body, before taking his wife into his arms.
“Savoy is here,” he whispered into her ear.
“Well, why are you keeping it so quiet?” she demanded.
“Because I think Roanna is also somewhere around.” She stepped back, blue eyes wide with shock.
“She’s not dead?”
“No.” He began dressing in some of his better clothing. “One of the farmers saw her and so did Michael Dubris, for that matter.”
“And you were at Will’s without me again,” she pouted.
“Yes, but I needed some information badly, lady love. You won’t be mad at me for that.” He gathered her into his arms again. “It had to do with healing you and Alisande.”
“Oh, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to be angry with you,” she sighed and then kissed him. He lauged to himself.
“Very well, Lady Tabea, now for breakfast.” He let go of her and clapped his hands together.
“Dylan, it’s only an hour till lunch,” she reminded him.
“Oh? I didn’t know that it was that late.” He picked up an apple from a bowl of fruit by the window. “Shall we take a walk together?”
“Hm, maybe...” She smiled at him secretively.
“Maybe not. You have something else in mind, don’t you?” She nodded, still smiling.
“We should take some time for just you and me, right here. We haven’t been alone for more than a few minutes for nearly half a year.” He laughed quietly. She took his hand and slowly led him back towards the bed.
The hag sat on the edge of the old well in the middle courtyard watching the bustle of the many people who had work to do there. It was surprising to her that his lordship hadn’t shown up yet. He’d been regular as clockwork until now. Something must have happened.
She turned and watched those rushing by her and suddenly spied a very graceful form in a white dress walking across the yard. This girl certainly wasn’t from here. The sorceress licked her lips as she watched the girl turn and glance in her direction. The light brown complexion revealed her southern origins. She must be the daughter of an ambassador who came to visit Dylan. Perhaps she could be useful in a ploy to get the lord out of the way. A slight grin washed across the old woman’s face. It would be too easy. Suddenly the girl turned and ran towards someone. Her lover?
“Lora, dear,” the man said in a happy tone, “it’s almost time for lunch. We’d better not keep Dylan waiting.”
“I’m sorry, Dad,” she answered taking his hand. They turned and walked right by the woman on the well. She glanced up at the man. Yes, his appearance was also southerly, but there was something about him that instantly told her who he was.
“Savoy,” she whispered to herself. The Scholar was already here. It was time to act fast. She waited until they were out of sight and reached into her cloak to retrieve a small mirror. She breathed on it lightly and quietly called out a name.
Alisande suddenly paused on her way to the great hall. She thought she heard someone call her. She stared around and saw no one.
“Who’s there?” she asked in a shrill voice. Suddenly she heard it again, distant, seductive. It was her name. Slowly the mark on her forehead started burning and she felt like she was entering that dark tunnel again. Reality was beginning to fade from her and suddenly all was dark.
Kyle and Asha raced down the corridors to the great hall. This would be great, getting to eat with all the adults for once.
“I’ll beat you there,” the boy cried for a second time.
“No you won’t,” his sister laughed. They shot around the corner and came to a sliding halt in front of Alisande.
“Hello, children,” she said with a strange smile on her face.
“Hi, Aunt Alisande, aren’t you coming to lunch?” the little lord asked.
“Of course I am. As a matter of fact I’m supposed to take you there. Come along.” She held out a slender hand to each of them and they obediently took them and walked along beside her. They went down several more stairs until Kyle was certain they weren’t heading towards the great hall.
“Where are we going?” he demanded. The woman laughed lightly.
“I’m not supposed to tell. It’s a surprise.”
“Oh, please, please tell me, Aunt Alisande,” Asha pleaded as only little girls can. Her aunt paused, pretending to decide.
“All right, honey. We’re going to have a picnic instead of lunch. Your father wanted it to be a secret. It’s a special one for you two.” The children’s eyes widened at the prospect.
“Really?” the boy asked in awe.
“Yes, but don’t let anyone notice that I’ve told you, all right?” They both nodded.
“Now let’s hurry along,” the woman coaxed. And hurry they did.
Almost everyone was in the great hall now. Only the royal family and Lady Alisande were missing. Savoy nervously shifted his position several times as he waited. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Suddenly the great doors opened and the lord and lady of Carrock entered, arm in arm. As they approached the table the Scholar could see a very bright sparkle in their eyes and a slightly dreamy look on Tabea’s face. Dylan accompanied her to her seat and then went to his.
“Well,” he remarked, “it looks like we aren’t the last after all.” He gazed around the table. “Hm, were are Alisande and the kids?”
“I thought I saw them all on the way to the great hall a few minutes ago,” Poul answered. His lord nodded.
“M’lord!” A guard raced through the doors. His face was red and his eyes full of worry.
“Yes, what is it?” The apprehensive mood jumped to Dylan.
“I just saw the Lady Alisande rush out of the castle and towards the woods with your children. I called after her that m’lord and m’lady were waiting for them at the high table, but she didn’t slow down or turn. I only saw his young highness look over his shoulder in shock. I — I thought I should report it to you immediately.” The lord glanced at Stev who shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, bewildered.
“That was Roanna’s doing, m’lord,” came Savoy’s collected voice.
“Oh, my,” Tabea breathed, sinking into her chair, face like chalk. She started shivering violently, wrapped her arms around herself and began rocking back and forth.
“My children, my children,” she chanted quietly.
“Let’s go,” Dylan ordered. “She can’t be far yet.” He rushed from behind the table, Stev following behind him.
“Lora, take care of the lady,” the Scholar ordered, rushing after the angered lord. Immediately the girl went to the incoherent woman and assisted her to return to her room.
“What did he say?” Kyle demanded as they ran across the grass.
“Shut up!” Alisande snapped. Her fingers were like links of steel, enclosing the children’s hands in an unbreakable grasp. She rushed them forward so fast that they didn’t have time to think or feel. Suddenly they entered the wood and came to a halt. There stood a black carriage with two large horses of the same color in front of it. The old woman was standing beside them.
“So you’re here at last,” she snapped. “Give them to me.”
“Aunt Alisande, I don’t want to go to her,” Asha sobbed, clinging to the enchanted woman’s dress with her free hand. That snapped her out of her trance.
“No, Roanna, I won’t,” she growled back, her pupils dialating and the gray eyes spitting fire. “These children belong to Dylan and Tabea. They belong to Carrock. You can’t have them.”
“Silence!” the sorceress ordered, suddenly straightening and taking on her real form. “You will do as I tell you. Give them to me, now!”
“Over my dead body,” she hissed.
“If you wish,” Roanna returned coldly. “I can do even more.” She reached out and slapped the woman across the face and she instantly crumpled to the ground. The children were too stunned to run.
“Come, children, let’s go home,” the lady invited them, holding out her long, fine hands. Hesitantly they took them and allowed themselves to be led into the coach. The door closed and the driver cracked his whip over the horses’ heads and they sped away through the forest.
“There she is!” Dylan leaned down over the crumpled form of Alisande.
“Is she alive?” Stev asked, gathering her into his arms. The Scholar bent and took her pulse.
“At the moment she is, my friend,” he answered. “We must get her back to the castle where I can revive her. I must also tend to the lady.”
“And meanwhile that witch has my children,” the lord moaned. His right hand closed into a fist. “I will get them back — but first I must help my wife. I can’t do it without her.” The other two nodded and then they slowly headed back towards the castle, Stev Pulleny carrying his broken wife as gently as possible. Oh, she was such a precious burden for him. His tears ran down his cheeks and fell on her soiled dress. Would she ever wake up again?
Out of the forest, following the rough road, rolled the dark carriage of Roanna. The children were asleep, Asha’s head on the sorceress’ lap and Kyle curled up in the corner of the seat opposite her. The woman smiled to herself as she stroked the girl’s dark hair. Children were always so easy to capture. Best of all, they were so easy to mold. Soon they would forget Dylan and Tabea. Soon they would not know about Carrock or about the soft meadows where they played with their friends and parents. Soon their minds would belong to the sorceress herself. There would be no way that these tender children could escape her grasp. She smiled to herself and let her fine fingers rush through Asha’s hair again. She could feel the hour coming when she would face Dylan á Carrock and his children would deny they ever knew him. Not even his meagre amount of power would help him then. The smile turned to a quiet giggling and slowly grew into an insane laughter. The children stirred uneasily, but the witch laughed on. Her plans could not be shaken!
Tabea was finally asleep again. Savoy gently pressed his hands against her at specific points, drew back her eyelids to look at the eyes, took her temperature. Finally he rose and turned to an anxious Dylan.
“She’s made it past the first shock, m’lord,” he whispered, “but this inaction is what is killing her. The doctors would tell her to remain in bed and at this moment that is the last thing she should do.”
“So what’s she got?” the lord asked impatiently.
“It is a spell of sorts, along with a weakening of her body. She isn’t well and yet she isn’t sick either. Let’s say that this sickness is one of lethargy. It weakens her just enough that she doesn’t think she has the strength to get up, but if she would fight it — well, she might just get better.” Her husband nodded quietly.
“We need to go and find our children,” he decided. “That’s what will get her back on her feet. She has more spunk than most of my soldiers. I’ll talk to her when she wakes up.” The Scholar nodded and the two of them left the room to where Alisande was lying. Savoy examined her also, his face betraying that he was even more concerned by her condition.
“This very definitely involves a spell, ambassador,” he told Stev. “It is one that renders her incoherent to the world. The only way I know to break it is the same way Alick’s hold on Dylan and Tabea was broken — by destroying Roanna’s source of power. However, she will come around once a month — on full moon and someone very familiar with her must be here when it happens. She is not nearly as strong as his highness or the lady.” The younger man turned to his lord.
“Dylan, I want to come with you when you fight Roanna,” he requested.
“No, Stev,” the lord answered, “you have to stay with Alisande until she gets better. She’ll need you when she wakes up, my dear brother. It’s your duty as her husband.” The sandy head sank down sadly.
“I’ll stay here with her until you get back,” he finally agreed. Dylan smiled sadly and patted him on the shoulder.
“I also have a wife to tend to, along with the lands of Carrock.” He nodded his head pensively. “Phillip, the high marshal, will be in charge until I return. He will need someone who is wise to help him. Too bad old Roche died in the Battle of the Wolf. We would need him now. But, Stev,” he placed one hand on his friend’s shoulder and looked him square in the eye, “I know that you are a man to be trusted and have a good head. You will be able to help Phillip. Will you do that for me?”
“Yes, m’lord,” the ambassador answered quietly. Dylan gripped his right hand tightly.
“Very well, then I’ll notify the high marshal, that he is in charge of the affairs of state as of tomorrow morning.” With that he turned and left the room. Stev sighed to himself.
“I’m afraid that Dylan is in danger, sir,” he confessed to Savoy.
“That he is, ambassador,” the Scholar answered, thoughtfully regarding the door. He passed one dark hand through his beard. “I believe that not only he is in danger, but we all are — as long as the Lady Roanna is on the loose. We will have to confront her sooner or later and the sooner the better. Each of us will have a part to play and I’m afraid that his highness’s is the hardest of all. And besides there are rumors about war...”
She was running through dark corridors, chasing after her beloved. Behind her she could hear the voices of unseen enemies, stalking her. She could see him in front of her, each of his hands clasped around that of a child. She screamed his name, but he couldn’t hear her. He charged on, their children running with him. Suddenly a great hole opened beneath their feet and they disappeared. She slid to a halt and looked down into the inky blackness. She called their names, panic setting in. She could feel something behind her and turned around. It was the sorceress. She was grabbing for her. She took one step back and fell into the pit, screaming ... and woke up, drenched in sweat, the sheets clinging to her. Strong, gentle arms wrapped themselves around her.
“It’s all right, lady love,” came a quiet voice. “You’re safe here.” She blinked and glanced over her shoulder. Dylan was holding her against his chest, gently fondling her forehead and hair.
“I — I had a bad dream,” she stammered.
“I know, dear.”
“It was about you and the children. You fell down a hole and then I went right after you.” It ended in a fearful sob. She clung to his arm, panicky. “Asha and Kyle — where are they? I want to see them!”
“You can’t, dear Tabea,” he said in a cracking voice. “Roanna kidnapped them.”
“Then that wasn’t a dream,” she moaned.
“No, it wasn’t.” She pressed one hand to her moist face, not attempting to stifle the tears.
“Oh, I wish I could just wake up and find it was all a bad dream — this blasted weakness and beastly sickness. I’ve had enough of it. I want to find my children!”
“So do I, lady love.” He let go of her and came around to face her, taking her hands in his own and staring into the overflowing lakes her eyes had become. “I want you to come with me to find them. I need you to help me there. Only together can we save them.”
“But the doctors — I’m too weak!” she protested.
“That’s a lie, Tabea,” he returned firmly. “It was just a suggestion planted in your mind by that witch. You never were too weak to get up, except when you chose to believe that lie. You have to fight against it with the truth. Remember, the Word will help you — and I will, too, as well as I can.” The resolve in his green eyes spurred her on and she let go of him, threw the covers aside and clapped her hands. Instantly two ladies-in-waiting scurried into the room.
“Get the bath ready,” she ordered, “and then my travelling clothes — the simple farm dress and the brown cloak. No hat.”
“Yes, m’lady,” they answered together.
“Good, now go.” Dylan gently laid her robe around her shoulders.
“I’m happy to see you’re back, lady love.” She turned to him and smiled. It was a sad, but determined smile.
“As long as that witch has her hands on our kids, I’m going to be on her tail, no matter how sick I get. Even if I have to crawl there on my hands and knees.”
“Come hell or high water,” her husband laughed. “It looks like the iron couple is back.” She laughed with him and then kissed his lips before rushing off to her bath.
Only few people had gathered in Dylan’s study to discuss the next step. The lord and lady were there, dressed in simple clothing and looking quite like peasants. Phillip the high marshal and Stev Pulleny the royal ambassador were there along with Savoy the Scholar and Galbin and Enfer. Lora sat off to one side, watching the leaping flames in the fire-place.
“Now that you all know what happened,” Dylan concluded his description of the events of the last day, “I believe you will understand that we must act immediately.” The others nodded silently. “The lady and I will go after the sorceress in the morning,” he continued.
“Lora and I will go with you, m’lord,” the Scholar added. The lord regarded him thoughtfully.
“Very well, sir, I believe that will be all right.”
“And I, sir?” Enfer asked. “I would like to join you.”
“I believe that you would and I know that everyone else here would, too, but our strength is in stealth and small numbers. There is only one other person that I would consider taking along.”
“And who is that, m’lord?” the high marshal inquired.
“Alick the wizard.” The whole room gasped, with the exception of Tabea and Savoy, with whom Dylan had discussed this before.
“But, m’lord, he isn’t to be trusted,” Phillip argued. “He’d kill you on sight.”
“I know that, high marshal, but he is also the only one alive who knows Damrok — that is other than the Lady Roanna. There is no other choice.”
“Couldn’t he revive his powers there?” Lora asked timidly, entering the conversation for the first time.
“Perhaps, but that would take a very long time, much longer than we would give him,” the Scholar answered.
“Anyway,” the lord continued, “he’s right on the way to that place and he still owes me a favor for not killing him or exiling him completely. After all, he is a servant of the house of Carrock and will remain that to his death.” There was general agreement on that point and the meeting was finally closed down with the Scholar asking the Word’s blessing on this enterprise.
The lord and lady of Carrock had been wandering the moon-lit fields for some time now and she’d decided to take a rest, sitting down on a large rock. She stared towards the massive black mountain, where she’d been so often during her enchantment. It was not a pleasant memory, but it at least encouraged her to look for and find her children.
“I just wish I could be that Cat one more time,” she told her husband, “and sink my claws into that witch.” She held up her hands, fingers curved, lips curled in a snarl.
“I don’t want to ever be an animal again, Tabea,” he answered. “Not even if it would help me kill that beastly woman. It was the worst event in my life, even counting this one.” He smiled at her sadly. “I’m so thankful that you and I could get together again and that we had children at all.”
“What if she kills them?” his wife interjected.
“Then she’ll be judged, found guilty, and sentenced to death, and we’ll have more kids — with the Word’s help.” She laughed, just a bit playfully, as he sat down next to her.
“Since when are you getting so religious, Dylan?” His face remained straight and his voice grave.
“For a long time, lady love — ever since Alick was overthrown in the Battle of the Wolf. It should have been called the ‘Battle of the Word.’ It was he who really won it. I wouldn’t admit it to anyone but you, but I know that I would never have been able to keep my mind that long or go through that horrible door to Alick’s room if he hadn’t been with me and if that hadn’t happened — well, then some wolf-maid would be bearing my pups out there.” He shuddered. “I don’t even want to think about that.”
“Neither do I,” she returned in monotone.
“Then let’s just try to get through this — on the Word’s help.”
“Yes.” She sighed and leaned into him. He gently laid one arm around her shoulders.
“I’m so happy that Savoy is coming with us, dear,” she whispered. “At least now I feel a bit safer.”
“For some reason I feel all the more vulnerable,” he confessed. “I don’t know why, but I’m afraid.”
“So’m I.” She snuggled even closer and silence closed in on them.
“Comfort me,” she finally pleaded with him.
“I will, but let’s go home first, lady love. We’ll need to be home before dawn.” She nodded and they quickly returned to their room in the castle, where the lord of Carrock comforted his wife.
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