《Plaguesbane》Chapter 11: Ilfred
Advertisement
I followed the guard back down to the kitchens. I was conscious of my bulging pockets but he didn't seem to notice.
"Took your time, didn't you?" barked the Cook. "Now get back to those potatoes before I give you the beating you deserve!" She jabbed one of the profiteroles she'd been filling with cream threateningly in my direction.
Healing always took it out of me and I had to exercise a great deal of will power to stop my hands from shaking as I peeled with the other slaves until the pile was done. Next the kitchen hands brought baskets of apples for us to peel. My eyelids were getting heavier, I had to grip the apples hard to stop them slipping out of my tired hands. When we'd finished one basket, the kitchen hands would bring another. Just when I was beginning to think it would never end, the bell rang for dinner.
Dinner, it turned out, was the same vegetable broth as lunch but watered down now and without the bread. I thought of the food in my pockets and looked forward to the time when I would be unobserved for long enough to eat it.
The guard from outside Jemima's room barrelled down the stairs, came up behind the cook and slipped his arms around her waist.
"Get off me you soppy so and so!" She giggled and batted him away. "If the Head Cook catches you down here, he'll have your guts for garters."
"Like to see him try," he snatched a profiterole from the tray Cook was working on and stuffed it into his mouth. "Dog's better," he mumbled through a mouthful of pastry.
"Is it now? I thought that mutt was a goner."
"It looked that way, that's for sure. But you should see it now, running around in circles and jumping up and down. Princess Jemima says he must've just been tired."
I smiled to myself.
After dinner we were led to a big stone trough full of water and an enormous pile of dirty pots and pans.
"I want that lot so shiny I can see my face in 'em," snarled the cook and threw a wooden brush at each if us. We scrubbed till well after nightfall and by the time we'd finished my fingers were raw, my whole body ached and I was soaked in dishwater and sweat.
We traipsed wearily behind the guards into the courtyard, where barrels of water had been set out for us to wash in. I cupped my hands and splashed my face. It felt so good to wash away the caked on salt and soothe my sore arms in the cold water. I collapsed down on the grass and lay spread eagled on my back to dry off, all my muscles aching, taking in great gulps of fresh air. Just as I was about to doze off the guard shouted, "Alright, that's enough. Back down into the dungeons with you." They herded us back through the kitchens and down the steps into the mouldy-smelling dungeons.
Advertisement
"Two to a cell. No talking." The guard's voice echoed through the cavernous space and Meghan took me by the arm and led me into one of the cells. There were no beds; just a pile of straw on the floor and the ceiling was too low to stand, so we sat down. The guard's key rattled as he locked the barred door behind us. It was too dark in here for the guard to see us so I took the napkins out of my pocket and silently shared the food with Meghan. We gulped it down, filling out empty stomachs. Food had never tasted so good.
When we'd finished every last crumb, I wiped my mouth on my napkin and leaned in close.
"Meghan," I whispered. "Something bad's happened back home." She cocked her head towards me and listened intently while I told her all about the plague in Merlax and how I'd come to get the Plaguesbane fruit from the Imperial Garden but I needed the Head Gardener, Ilfred, to tell me where to find it.
"This Ilfred — does he have a long white beard?"
"Yes."
"His cell's that way," she whispered, pointing along the corridor in the opposite direction from the stairs. "Only yesterday, I saw Morwain striding off down there with a couple of guards. A few minutes later he came back and the guards were dragging an old man with a long white beard. That must be Ilfred. He looks very frail. How will you get to him though? We're watched all day and at night we're locked up."
"I'll find a way I told her. Now get some sleep, Meghan." We lay back to back on the floor. Meghan curled up into a ball.
"Daisy," she whispered. "After you've found the Plaguesbane and taken it back to Frailing and saved the people there, will you come back and rescue us?" I was silent for a few breaths, listening to my heartbeat. My heart gave me the answer.
"I will, Meghan. You can be sure of it. I'll come back and rescue you, I promise." She sighed a satisfied sigh which soon turned into a soft snore.
I was exhausted, every muscle ached but I knew I had no time to sleep. I sat up, crossed my legs and slowed my breathing. I stilled my mind and body and hoped. Before long my hopes were fulfilled. There was a rustling in the straw in front of me and a little mouse's head popped up and looked at me. I reached out and gently touched it's furry back. By now I was getting used to the wave that rippled through me, from my feet to my head, the lurching in my stomach, the dizziness in my head as my body shrunk and changed shape. Next thing I knew I was mouse-sized. I snuffled my nose, twitched my whiskers and swept my tail from side to side, then scuttled out of my empty tunic.
Advertisement
In the darkness my tiny eyes could only make our blurred shapes but my sense of smell was excellent. The discarded napkin gave off a rich and heady aroma of cheese and seed cake so powerful it was almost intoxicating. My hearing was sharp. Snores and rustlings from several cells away were loud and clear to me. The other mouse came over to sniff me, paying me only faint interest before scurrying away.
I crawled through the straw and under the bars out of the cell. In the corridor, I turned left and scampered along the wall in the direction Meghan had pointed. I could hear voices up ahead and I headed towards them. Suddenly I smelt something which I knew instinctively meant danger.
I froze, my fur standing on end, my little heart racing. All my senses screamed at me to run but before I could escape, the greyhound's wet black nose was in my face, the jaws and teeth beneath dripping with slobber, his warm breath engulfing me. I braced myself to feel the jaws close around me.
But they didn't.
Instead the greyhound lost interest and trotted back to his lying-down spot against the opposite wall.
Now my whole body was trembling, my little lungs panting for air. I took a couple of deep slow breaths and composed myself before carrying on along the wall. The voices were closer now. They were coming from a corridor off on the left hand side. I turned into it and scurried towards them. Two men were sitting on the ground outside one of the cells, talking. Staying close to the wall so they wouldn't see me I moved closer and peered inside the cell. With my weak eyes I could just make out two men in the red and gold guards' uniform. Between them, lying on the ground was a man with a long white beard.
With guards on either side there was no way I could change back to my human form and ask him the whereabouts of the Plaguesbane without being spotted. Even if I was to get a note to him somehow, how would he be able to reply? No, this avenue was closed to me. I would have to find one of the Secret Gardeners and ask them. Surely they couldn't all be as heavily guarded. It was then that I noticed what the two guards outside the cell were saying.
"I don't like it. Makes me nervous."
"Why? Makes our job easier. Since Morwain gave the Secret Gardeners that Long Sleep Draft, they haven't woken once."
"Yeah!" agreed one of the guards inside the cell. "There's no better prisoner than a sleeping prisoner."
"I know but what if he did it to us? You know how angry Morwain gets. What if we displeased him in some way and he made us drink that Long Sleep Draft too. It's like being dead but you're not actually dead, you're just really fast asleep. Makes me nervous."
"Oh give over and pass me that wine. You think too much!"
Oh dear! I thought. Another avenue closed. Morwain had used magic to put the gardeners to sleep indefinitely. What could I do now? I headed back to our cell, my little brain feverishly trying to think of a plan. If I stayed with the slaves maybe I could find another way to get to Ilfred. At that moment I heard two more voices. Two guards were walking down the corridor towards me.
"Aren't you pleased?" said one of them. "It'll get us out of this dingy dungeon for a bit."
"What are you talking about?" asked the other one.
"Haven't you heard? We're taking all the slaves out of the city tomorrow. The farmers in the royal orchards at the bottom of the hill need help harvesting the apples. We've got to take the slaves down there and stay with them until it's done."
Uh oh! What now? If I stayed with the slaves I'd be taken out of Jamain tomorrow and I'd never get to Ilfred. I'd never find out where the Plague Tree was. Now I needed a Plan C. I was aware time was passing by. The sun rose early this far south. Soon I was going to have to change back and when I did I'd need something to wear, something that wasn't slave clothes.
I had an idea.
😉
😊
✨🌿⭐️🌺💛🌺⭐️🌿✨
Advertisement
A Lord of Death
Efrain Belacore, lich and erudite necromancer, was just trying to enjoy a cup of tea with a morning book. Then that over-excited paladin just had to kill herself, with his pendulum no less. Now Efrain has been drawn into a much larger story than he had wanted, caught between a powerful chruch, its young champions, and an mysterious curse. Join in a hilarious and fascinating journey as Efrain and his unexpected students explore from the holy capital of Anogrrah to the magical continent of Pasgrima, as shadowed conspiracies and ancient secrets rise to meet them.
8 176A New Light In Interria
Interria. Cruel and Injust. Forget the promise of an exciting adventure because abominations from your worst nightmares will rise and fill their path to damnation with bloodshed and carnage. Forget your moral compass because thinking of it will only make things harder and harder for you to survive in this grey world. Forget the promise of a wonderland because the lands now are just an empty shell of what they once vowed to be. Forget all your dreams because there is no hope for anyone in this mad world... Or is there? *Note: I am a new writer. So I am open to all criticism. But pls don't be too hard.
8 125Age of Gods Online
Serena was a top player in the popular browser game Age of Gods Online which combined elements of strategy and RPG on a platform available to everyone with access to the internet. As an RMT scum, she climbed the ranks of the deathmatch with real world money. After she was defeated in battle by another player one day, she went to sleep and woke up in the world of AGO. But something was wrong. She woke up 300 years in the future of the current Age of Gods Online. Will she ever be able to unravel why or how she got there and if she'll ever return home?
8 180god of wealth
Woke up in a world all bright and shiny What comes to his head first is that ‘could that be a diamond shining over there’. The thought of seeing a diamond jolts him up from where he was laying only to feel a long splitting pain in his head His name was Andrew, a commoner whom worked his ass out on earth. Was 22years old, had no parents, had to fend for himself all through his life just to make money but ends up falling in love with a pretty girl whom stays in the same neighborhood with him. Had a pretty awesome time with her, thought he could find absolute peace with her by his side but was unexpectedly betrayed by her when she broke up with him to get married to the son of Rudy, the president of a well established and famous company. Got heartbroken, drunk to stupor and got hit by a truck and died. His only regret in this world was not making lots and lots of money, live his life according to his wishes, be powerful and great. “Seems like I got transmigrated, a typical background encounter I did guess. Since I was given a second chance I would become so rich, powerful and famous that the whole world would bow at the mention of my name. Muahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.” Coughs hardly cause of laughing too evilly This is the story of Andrew a man whom transmigrates to a different dimension and dreams of making it big without knowing how deep the ocean is and if he did live long enough to achieve his dreams.
8 180NCT -Imagines, Scenarios, Reactions, etc.-
Just as the title says :DNCT OT21 -Please Enjoy! 👻-Started: 6/25/2017
8 174Let's Travel || Tokyo Revengers
What will happen if our tokyo revengers characters travel to the new world that they were know as Fictional men?. And of course our MC will be a certain simp for all of them. This is just a work of fiction. I'm sorry if the characters are not acting like they did in anime or manga. This is the first fanfic and first story I'll make since they inspired me so much. I'm also gonna add some crossovers from... Secret for now. Tokyo revengers characters aren't mine. They belong to our serial killer Ken Wakui lol.#1 Manjirou - April 24/22#1 xreader - May 5/22#1 Angry - July 6/22#1 Travel - July 13/22
8 90