by S D Huss
Oros slapped his shoulder with a laugh. Daniel winced slightly from the sudden motion. This creature was stronger than he looked.
“Excellent! I’ll meet you at the front gate.” Oros said, standing. “I need to make some preparations first.” Oros gave a glance at Daniel’s unfinished meal. “You stay here and eat.”
“I want to go too!” Illya said, standing after her brother. “I’ll get ready, and, by the spirits, Oros, if you leave without me, I will pour water in your boots again!”
The two walked out of the dining area talking and laughing with one another.
Daniel smirked at the siblings and turned back to his food. He then noticed that Avria had left the table as well. She hadn’t announced her exit like the rest.
Daniel looked to his dirty hands in thought. -Before it felt like there wasn’t any time to think. Now we have too much.-
Daniel looked to Boros, who still sat conversing with Robert and Katrina.
“Boros.” He said, getting the young Dae’s attention. “I don’t suppose there is a place to bathe around here.”
Boros stood. “Of course, my friend, I’m sorry. It seems we forgot about asking you whether or not you wanted one.”
It was then that Daniel noticed Katrina’s hair and new attire. She looked like she had just recently bathed.
“I will take you,” Boros said, gesturing to Daniel to follow him.
Daniel took one final look at his unfinished food and stood to follow Boros. As the Dae opened the doors that led out of the dining hall, they heard a small argument coming from right beyond it. The doors swung open to reveal Avria speaking sternly to a young Dae who was apparently trying to pass her. As the doors creaked open, Avria’s head turned to meet Boros and Daniel.
Daniel watched as she let out a sigh and stiffened her upper lip. The young Dae pushed past her and this time met with no resistance. The Dae approached Daniel and looked him in the eyes. Daniel looked him over; he stood a couple of inches shorter than Daniel’s modest six feet. He had eager eyes, pearl white hair, and shared the same light gray complexion as Avria. He looked as though he would have been considered quite handsome, except for the large and appalling bruises that smeared his face.
“Well,” the Dae said, not breaking eye contact with Daniel. He looked as if he was searching for the right words to speak. Daniel recognized him; he was the Dae who fought him in the trial of Doxo.
“I wanted to say… that it was a great honor to fight you,” he grunted, as if straining to say the words, and gave an unexpected grin. “I have shamed myself before you by using the elements when showed mercy, and I suppose this means I’ve been disowned or something.”
He glanced toward Avria and left the human puzzled.
Daniel looked to Boros, who just shrugged, giving no advice on how to proceed.
“I will wait for you at the end of the hall, my friend,” Boros said, pointing to another set of doors at the end of the hallway. He gave Daniel a nod and left him to handle the situation on his own.
Daniel sighed to himself and looked again to the young Dae before him.
“What’s your name?” he asked
The Dae reached his arm out for some kind of greeting. “My name is Delmos, of house Regios.”
“And he is my brother,” Avria said, walking up beside him. She gave her younger kin an obvious look of disappointment. “And we have important business to attend to.”
Delmos tried to protest, raising his hands defensively and stepping away from her.
“I told you already Avria, I wanted to see the Spirit-Sent in face to face. It was no accident that I was chosen to fight him.” The young Dae looked at Daniel, his eyes filled with unreadable emotion behind them. Daniel wasn’t sure if he was serious or merely making a mockery of him.
“Enough!” Avria roared, grabbing her younger brother by the Collar of his tunic. The sudden movement startled Daniel for a split second. Like Oros, she was much stronger than she looked.
With a turn of her body, her brother was sent tumbling down the hall. He didn’t fall completely to the stone floor but skillfully used the momentum to get back to his feet. His face now showed fear, but with a clear edge of anger trying to take control.
“I will not tell you again, Delmos, get your disgraceful self back to father, or by the spirits, I will beat you unconscious and drag you there myself!”
Delmos hesitated for a moment and glanced toward Daniel.
“Don’t look to him for help,” She said coldly. “Go.”
Her brother clenched his jaw, turned around, and stormed out of the hallway.
Several moments passed, and all that could be heard were his footsteps fading.
Daniel swallowed dryly and looked past Avria, who had her back to him, facing down the hallway. He could see Boros near the exit, patting Delmos on the shoulder as he passed him.
Avria exhaled slowly and turned to look Daniel square in his eyes.
“You disgraced him,” she said.
She took a step toward him and pointed at the center of his chest. “You made my father’s house look weak before the Hego, and if I wasn’t explicitly ordered by Agron to leave you be, I would kill you where you stand.”
Daniel looked at her in confusion, but it wasn’t difficult to grasp that she wasn’t bluffing and would, in fact, try to kill him if she could.
With that, she turned again and walked rigidly down the hall, and passed Boros without any acknowledgment.
Daniel made his way down the hall slowly, as to avoid any awkward catching up to Avria and her clearly hostile intentions.
“Well,” Boros said with a grin on his face, “You survived.”
“Yeah, it looks like I did,” Daniel said, trying to shake off the tension that had built up. “What did I do to piss that one off so much? What’s her problem?”
Boros smiled again, and put his arm around Daniel’s shoulder, walking him out of the hallway.
“Well, as the spirits would have it, you fought her brother during the trial of Doxo and managed to defeat him handily, in spite of him violating the law of equal plain.”
“The law of equal plain?” Daniel asked
“It basically means we fight without using the Dunamis, it is a show of good faith, a sign of respect. Delmos violated that law when he tried to shock you; you had every right to kill him.” Boros thought for a moment. “Actually, it probably would have been better if you had.”
“Why is that?” Daniel asked again.
“Well, let’s just say that my father takes things like this very seriously. He humiliated himself, and all of house Regios in the process. If you had killed him, at least the offense would have been rectified. Now, he has to face the wrath of his father.” Boros shuttered slightly. “That is something that I would not want to ever take part in.”
As he finished speaking, Boros lead Daniel down another hall and in front of a smooth stone door.
“Here is the bathing room. When you’re finished just ask one of the guards to lead you to the courtyard. We’ll be there waiting for you.”
Daniel thanked him and walked into the bathing room; he closed the door behind him and looked up to the ceiling with a sigh.
chapter 8
Katrina marveled at the sight before her once again. Vul De Rah was a magnificent spectacle from the battlements of the Ignos palace, which was on a modestly sized hill overlooking the city. The terror and confusion of the last few days seemed to be receding slowly as the days ebbed on. She thought briefly of the Trial of Doxo from the day before and a shudder ran through her body. Daniel had fought against one of these creatures and won against him, no less. She took in a deep breath and exhaled sharply, pushing the thoughts from her mind.
“Hello there!” a cheerful voice called from behind.
She turned her head to see Boros approaching with a large smile on his face. He was a good sort she thought, returning the smile. Maybe he was a little over affectionate, but in their current situation,
it was a welcome demonstration.
“As soon as your friend is bathed and ready, we will be off,” The young Dae said as he took a spot next to her against the battlements.
Katrina looked again over the village, and her smile faded.
“You look troubled,” he said, facing her. “What’s wrong?”
“Well,” she said, “Besides the fact that yesterday I wasn’t sure if I was going to be burned alive or not. . .” She paused for a moment, sensing her usual sarcastic reply coming on. It wasn’t really intentional, just a defense mechanism for high-stress situations. “It’s just… a lot to take in.”
She forced a smile and looked at him. -Keep it together, Kat.- She thought to herself.
Boros began to open his mouth to speak but was interrupted by the call of a young woman.
“Will you stop harassing the poor thing?” His sister Illya teased, walking toward the two. She was now wearing leather breaches, a light fine tunic, and a deep green cloak. A very plain outfit, but it looked like it was made from extremely fine material.
Katrina looked her over; another instinctual reaction for her to compare and contrast with herself, and the Dae girl was gorgeous.
She suddenly felt a little self-conscious of her own attire and looks, but suppressed it quickly.
“Hello,” she said, as Illya came to a halt before them.
The Dae gave a gracious curtsy and smiled. “You know, I was just talking to your companion… Uh,” she paused, trying to recall the name.
“Robert.” Boros chimed in.
“Yes! Robert. What a nice man he is.”
Katrina chuckled at the comment. “Well, of course, you’re talking about him. The mean one is Daniel.”
Illya let out a very un-ladylike laugh and waved her hand dismissively. “Well, he didn’t seem that bad when I spoke to him. I take it he’s your mate?”
Katrina blinked awkwardly at the sudden declaration. “Uhm…” She said looking at Boros, who was visibly uncomfortable as well. “No, actually. I really don’t know him very well at all.”
“No?” Illya asked, surprised.
“I have only known him for a few days. Well… basically from when I woke up in this world. Why? What gave you that impression?” Katrina asked, somewhat amused.
“Well,” she said, looking at Boros for support, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume.”
Katrina began to laugh, breaking some of the rigidity that had begun to form. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Well, I do find it rather curious. I mean, it is odd to find a young woman like yourself accompanied by two males.”
“Curious?” Katrina asked
“She means all she does is gossip about insignificant compost all day,” Boros interjected. “For the sake of the spirits, Illya, we just met these humans, and you already are trying to find out who is mating who?”
Illya gasped at the words. “Boros! How inappropriate! And no, that is not what I am trying to find out. I would just like to get to know them better.”
Katrina let out another laugh and leaned against the battlements again. “Well, what about your father’s ward? She’s always surrounded by men; don’t you find that ‘curious’ as well?”
“Avria!?” Illya exclaimed, with no small amount of venom.
“That woman, if you want to call her one, is one of the warrior class. She is expected to do these things. Most of us don’t participate in fighting, and by us, I mean young women of the clan.”
“I can’t help but notice your disapproval of her,” Katrina said
The young Dae girl regained her composure and took a deep breath. “Well, it’s because she and my father have been trying to marry her to my brother Oros. And don’t let me get started on how ill-mannered she is. All people from the Regios house are like that; rude and unsophisticated.”
“Ahem,” Boros coughed, pulling their attention toward him. “I think the real reason is that our father chose her to be his ward instead of Oros, but don’t mistake me, those two have been at each other’s throats since they were children. I don’t have any real reason to dislike her…” He thought for a moment. “Well, actually I really do hate how condescending she is.”
“Well, I believe we have wasted quite enough time talking about Avria~,” Illya said, drawing out the name. “Now, where are those other humans? It seems like we have been waiting here for ages.” She tilted her head and looked at Boros expectantly.
Boros sighed heavily and began to walk toward the entrance of the palace. Illya smiled and let out an overly childish “Thank you”
chapter 9
Daniel ran his fingers through his hair for the first time - without tearing through tangles and matted dirt - in what seemed like years. The bath had been a strange one, with water flowing from several pipes at once entirely on their own at precisely the temperature he found comfortable. The strange substances they used for what he could only perceive as soap left him puzzled, but he could not argue with the smell, it was considerably better than before.
Daniel was attempting to make his way to the courtyard to meet with his companions and see more of the village they would now be calling home for the unforeseeable future. -Vul De Rah.- He thought to himself, picking up the pace a bit. -Would be great if I wasn’t lost.- He went over the directions the guard had given him again, but it was no use. There was too much on the man’s mind. Beyond the staggering situation he found himself in, he couldn’t shake the thought and worry for his friends, Henry and Angelo. Had they come here with him? The possibility was strong, as they were within reaching distance when he was transported here. He pondered this and looked again to the task of finding his way out of here. The seemingly endless twists and turns of halls and rooms all looked the same to him. The hall he was currently in was lined with several doors on either side, most of which were closed, but one was slightly ajar, and he could hear the obvious sound of scratching parchment within. Daniel let out a sigh and kept walking. “Eventually I’ll run into someone who knows how to get the hell out of here.” He said out loud, trying to get someone’s attention.
“Huh? What was that?” Called a feminine voice from within the open room before him.
Daniel slowed his pace and saw a Dae’s head poke out from the open doorway. It first looked down the other side of the hallway, then turned its head to meet Daniel’s eyes.
“Oh, my goodness!” Called the Dae, clearly startled by the appearance of the alien creature before her. It stumbled from the doorway clumsily and dropped a stack of paper in the process.
It was a female Dae, though one could hardly tell. She wore a large and cumbersome cloak of dark green, with several belts across her chest that hung with multiple pouches. Her hair was a fine pear white, like most Dae he had encountered up to this point, but her skin was a much darker grey than he had seen before. She fumbled to pick up her papers and stuttered. “My my my, how clumsy I can be! I am so sorry.”
Daniel couldn’t help but feel slightly amused at the sight but moved to help her pick them up. “I’m sorry I scared you,” Daniel said, picking up several pieces of paper. “But I’m lost in this God-forsaken labyrinth of a palace. Can you show me a way out of here?”
The Dae girl held her papers to her chest, in what could easily have been a defensive gesture, but stared dumbfounded at Daniel. “You…” She said as her eyes widened.
“You’re one of the creatures!” She took a quick step toward him and studied his face eagerly. “Oh my! You are one. This is incredible, such a strange color.” She then extended her hand to touch his face, but Daniel pulled back before she could.
“Yeah, Uh… I guess I’ll… just.”
“No!” She shouted, interrupting him. “I apologize about the, uh… well, I just have heard a lot. And I never thought I would get to actually meet one. The whole clan has been talking about you.”
Daniel just stared on awkwardly. “Well… uh… I need some help getting out of here. Would you mind helping me?”<
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The Dae girl paused for a moment, then pulled the papers from Daniel’s hands and threw them on the stone floor with the rest of her stack. “Yes! But I would like to ask you some questions if you don’t mind.” She motioned him to follow her and began walking down the hallway.
“My name is Amynta, by the way.” She turned to give him a gracious nod but continued moving.
“I’m Daniel.” He replied.
“Daniel…” She repeated, rolling the name around in her head. “What a strange name. Please, you must tell me where you come from, or what you are. You see, I’m a scribe for House Bodilla and would love to get some firsthand information from you.