《Alliance by Marriage》Chapter 18
Advertisement
The day is busy, but at least my tasks occupy me enough to help me forget about my troubles. It's been a week since the poisoning attempt, and the issue begins to fade away from my mind.
It's cooler today, semi-transparent clouds absorbing some of the sunshine, and I don't feel the heavy tiredness that usually enwraps me by midday. I dine with Sagaristio, Messenio, Techo and a few other nobles who are invited to join us for the first time in a week. The food is delicious, and some of it I even eat before my food tester tries it, which earns me a few reproachful looks from Sagaristio.
The guests act cheerful, but they don't eat much. The wariness underneath their fake merriment annoys me. Only a handful of people knew about the poisoning attempt, but the rumors have clearly spread.
I send for Emilio, hoping his habit of speaking his mind would provide a refreshing contrast to the fake pleasantries of my guests. Yet a eunuch comes instead, to announce that Emilio has left for one of his rides. I shake my head and continue to eat, making a mental note to limit his riding hours to the mornings, when I'm busy and less likely to have a need of him.
I retreat to rest after the meal. With a hint of satisfaction, I close the door on my guards, leaving them outside, and unlock the one connecting my room to that of Narin. She comes in, quiet and efficient, as usual, and does her magic until, sated and exhausted, I drift to sleep in the bliss of the perfect summer afternoon.
I wake up alone, groggy and disoriented. My midday naps never last more than a couple of hours, and yet the room looks too dark for what's still supposed to be an afternoon. I get up and throw some water on my face from the basin in the corner, then walk over to the window, my muscles stiff from sleep. The sky is almost completely covered by clouds now, and not the transparent ones from before, but grey, thick ones. There's wind, too, its cold tendrils crawling under my shirt immediately, making me shiver.
Advertisement
From the courtyard below come the sounds of doors clapping, voices and hurried footsteps as the inhabitants of the palace prepare for the bad weather. A few guards stand by the main gates, discussing something. Then two of them walk leisurely towards the gates and start drawing them closed, one from each side.
Before they can finish their job, there's sound of hooves, and a white horse runs in through the remaining opening. The two men pause in confusion, and the others turn to look.
The horse makes a round in the courtyard and then stops, snorting and jerking its head. It's saddled, but there's no rider. I watch it dumbly until my sleepy brain catches up, and then I recognize it.
I'm going down the steps in no time, bellowing orders to bring me someone from the Women's Quarters and to find Sagaristio or Messenio. I burst into the courtyard, my bodyguards stomping behind me, their weapons clattering. Curious spectators scatter away.
"When did he leave?" I snap at the eunuch who's approaching me hastily as I walk over to the white horse. It snorts and backs away, but then stops, allowing me to catch it by the reins. It's Manilla, for sure, the calm, powerful beast Emilio has been riding. It doesn't look calm now. Its sides rise and fall rapidly, like after a long run, and it eyes me wildly.
"He's left before supper, my king," stammers the eunuch. "With his servant and his guard, as usual. He was late, but...I wanted to inform you, but... The guards told me you were asleep..."
"When before supper? How many hours ago?"
"About three hours." His voice trembles when he adds, quieter, "Four, at most."
I clench my fists, feeling more chilled than can be explained by just the wind. Four hours. Even if he's ignored my order to limit his riding to one hour a day, this is too long. He hasn't escaped—we're on an island, albeit a large one, so there's nowhere for him to go.
Advertisement
Something must have happened.
Perhaps he's had an accident, a broken leg or something. Even though he's a good rider, such things happen. But wouldn't his companions have brought him back already?
Sagaristio is striding across the yard towards me, and behind him, a few people lead horses out of the stables.
"Heard you were having troubles with your pretty boy," he says, coming closer, looking serious despite his playful tone. "Want me to lead the search?"
"I'll lead the search," I say. "Let's go."
The air is heavy with the upcoming rain as we ride across the river, heading towards the mountains. A smaller group was sent to search the town and the harbor, but those are unlikely places for him to have gone to, too crowded for riding. There's nothing else for him to do there since he's allowed no money and can't buy things or stop to eat in taverns. He must have gone to the countryside, like he usually does.
We continue up the main road, past the fields and the low sharp roofs of the villages. Everything seems deserted, people having taken shelter before the storm, and we only encounter a few peasants. We stop to ask if they have seen Emilio and his entourage, but they claim they haven't.
It means nothing, I tell myself, kicking my horse. He must have passed here hours ago, what are the chances these men saw him?
Yet my heart is as heavy as the clouds above us.
Our group is getting smaller as we pause occasionally to send parties of two and three to investigate new directions when the main road splits into smaller ones. By the time the road begins the incline towards the forest-covered slope, there's only half a dozen men left. As we ride into the forest, it gets darker still, the leafage swallowing what little light still gets through the thick clouds.
We reach the place where the road splits in two and there we stop to let our horses rest and to decide where to go next. One direction leads to the waterfalls, the other—to the deep Garas canyon. I contemplate each direction with a heavy heart. In both places, accidents happened.
"All right, we split," I tell Sagaristio, and then I pause as my eyes fall on a strange-looking patch of ground under the hooves of his horse.
"Move," I tell him as I make my horse come to his side on the road.
The whole area of the sand there looks as if it's been soaked by—blood, my mind cries, but I push the thought away—by something dark, and the trail of color is leading to the bush growing by the side of the road.
Something pale is peeking from the tall grass underneath it.
As I come closer, I realize it's a human hand.
* If you like the story, please vote or comment! Thank you! *
Advertisement
Zairen
Zairen was a vagrant doctor who was killed by bandits. After he died, his journey began once again.
8 562The Last Primordials
In a world where people can serve as hosts to animal spirits, Huo Lohse Lang (Lolo), daughter of the Wolf Tribe leader, makes friends during her five summers in the training exchange. Little does she know just how critical those relationships will be on a quest to unlock the hidden mysteries of the original primordial spirits and save humanity from annihilation by an ancient evil. A young adult, slow burn progression fantasy written in eight novella-length parts and published together to make one epic adventure. The story is technically COMPLETED though in a rewrite process. See chapter "00- Rewrite: A Living Draft" at the beginning of the story to follow the rewrite process. If you have any comments or suggestions, let me know! I'd love to hear your feedback! Please be advised that this story contains a wide variety of traumatizing content and dark/adult themes. I avoid graphic details, but the content is there. Reader discretion is strongly recommended. If you would like more specifics, feel free to PM me. Story inspired ART!!! Standig Thank you to RenamedUser8903457!! Beautiful work. I am blown away. I had some fun with artbreeder.com to create some loose character sketches. They aren't perfect, and I might replace images from time to time with more accurate ones. However, in case you are curious: Character Images
8 249Royal Road Rumble
It's a new season of Royal Road Rumble! The premier wrestling series that takes people from multiple universes, (i.e. stories) and forces them to face each other in a no holds bar season of professional wrestling for fame, fancy bling, and freedom! Dozens for people, monsters, and machines find themselves at the mercy of the mysterious show runner of this sadistic serial. Will they be able to out maneuver this mysterious man in black, will they perish to each other in the ring, or will they be the one to make it to the end of the season and fight their way through Rumblemania to be granted the championship belt? The only way to find out is to tune in and watch this season of ROYAL ROAD RUMBLE: Multiverse Openwieght Beatdown Raw! On hiatus due to tending sick granny. All characters used have been used with author consent and will have links to their original stories if you wish to see more of them. Will try to update every Monday/Friday Go here to submit your character to the Rumble! Applications are currently open!
8 199The Beasts Under Your Bed
The Beasts From Beyond, an ever-present threat of elderich abominations appearing in the world through some unknown means, for unknown reasons. All that is known is that they will come, and they will kill. Living in fear of this, was not the way of the people of Alatara. To the North, they built mighty machines and bred mighty people. To the west, they developed an order of great warriors. To the east, they undertook surptitious and unseemly strides towards peace. To the South, flaming Demons and Devils crush the creatures that threaten them. And in the center, the largest mass of land and the largest concentration of both Beasts and man, they embraced unity. The Otherworld Defence Department oversaw all the needs of the different branches, the most famous of this being the Supernatural Incursion Response. A Mailed Fist, aimed at the creatures that would disturb the peace and threaten the people. Aided in this endevour, there were the Quasi-Humans. Beings of transformative properties, with powers and capabilities allowing them aid the Humans in pushing back the beasts. It is in this, that Kiko is born. Though nobody could foresee it, she will bring about the doom of the planet. The only question, is how?
8 97Possessed: book 1 {COMPLETE}
Alya, Nino, Adrien, and Marinette have a sleepover that they will remember for a lifetime. Alya brings an Ouija board and the decide to use it.Suddenly, Marinette's eyes are changing from blue to horrifying black, and she seems to have a terrible head ache. There is a black aura around her and Alya, Nino, and Adrien thinks something is wrong with her.What happened to Marinette? Can they get her back to her old self?
8 159Jack Dawson's Sister
This is a story about Titanic but instead of Rose telling the story,it is Jack Dawson's little Sister. I do not own Titanic. I love the story of Titanic,not the sinking or the death. I admire the love. No hate. I do not own anything,just my character. Enjoy! 😁 I do not own the photography or the videos in here.
8 140