by MJ Schutte
‘Peter, enough. Brighton has something important to say,’ Nicky said gently.
Peter looked at Nicky and then at Brighton.
He smiled and said, ‘I’m sorry. Please go ahead, Brighton.’
Brighton looked at Nicky with surprise on his face.
‘How did you know?’ he asked.
‘It’s all over your face, my dear. I do not need magic to see that you are bursting to say something,’ Nicky smiled.
‘You’re a very perceptive woman, Nicky,’ Brighton smiled at her.
‘Yes, I do have something to say. At dinner, I had a quick conversation with Robyn,’ he started.
When he saw a deep frown on Nicky’s forehead, he quickly explained the energy link and how thoughts can travel through it. To make his point, he established an energy link to Nicky.
Do you understand? popped into her head.
Her eyes went wide as she nodded.
‘Like I said, I had a quick conversation with Robyn. Lily, she is your aunt. Seth was not Evangeline and Robert’s first born, Robyn was,’ Brighton said.
Pandemonium broke out as everybody started talking at the same time. Brighton held up his hands for silence.
‘I believe her. Adri helped me verify that she was being truthful,’ he continued.
All eyes turned to Adri.
‘I did not know what she was “saying” to Brighton, but I could see that she was being truthful. I also saw that Lady Jaclyn was telling lies and Robyn felt very ashamed about it,’ Adri explained.
Brighton smiled his thanks at Adri and said, ‘For now, the details are not important. I will share that later. What is important is that Robyn wants to have a conversation with Lily tomorrow.’
Facing Lilian, he said, ‘She asked that you meet a man called Theodor behind the town hall before the final match and that I must keep Jaclyn occupied.’
Brac shook his head.
‘It sounds too risky. Why does Robyn not meet Lilian behind the town hall?’
‘I don’t know. Perhaps she is afraid that someone might see them together and tell Jaclyn,’ Brighton speculated.
‘I’ll go with Lilian,’ Brac offered.
This time Adri shook her head.
‘No, I will go. I will be able to tell what Theodor’s intentions are. If this is a trap of some kind, I will see it,’ she suggested.
‘But you will be defenceless. I will go with to protect the two of you,’ Brac argued.
‘We need to be careful. Jaclyn suspected that something was going on between Robyn and Brighton at dinner. If too many of us vanish just before Brighton’s match, Jaclyn will become more suspicious,’ Adri replied.
‘I can claim to have a headache and need to get away from the noisy crowd,’ Lilian suggested.
‘That sounds good. I will take my bow and Lilian has her talent. We will be able to defend ourselves if need be,’ Adri added.
‘What do you think, Bri?’ Lilian asked.
Brighton thought for a moment before he said, ‘I believe Robyn simply wants to meet you. You are, after all, the last of her family. She probably does not know what happened to her parents and siblings so my guess is she wants to ask you about it. Go and meet this Theodor person tomorrow. I believe that he will take you to Robyn. Adri should go with you; her talent will be of great value.’
‘It’s settled then. Adri and I will do as Robyn asked,’ Lilian replied.
Although Brac was still not happy about this, he realised that he had already been outvoted so he did not argue any further.
‘I still have some reservations,’ Peter said.
All eyes turned to the old man.
‘Adri, you said that Lady Jaclyn was telling lies at dinner. I find that hard to believe. She is a good person; we all know that. Why do you think she was telling lies?’ he asked.
‘There was a black cloud of deceit hanging over her when she said Brighton has her support for tomorrow’s fight. She does not want Brighton to win,’ Adri answered.
‘Are you sure you understand fully how your magic works? Perhaps you saw something that wasn’t there?’ Peter pressed.
‘I’m sure of what I saw. We can test it if you want to. Tell me something that only you would know and I will tell you if it’s the truth,’ Adri offered.
Peter thought for a moment and said, ‘I loved my father.’
‘True. You should really ask something that I do not have any chance of guessing,’ Adri replied.
Peter thought for a while, then said, ‘I’m an elf.’
Brac laughed and said, ‘That’s ridiculous! Adri can see you’re not an elf.’
Adri put her hand up and said, ‘No, wait. What Peter said is not entirely a lie. He is obviously not an elf, but I see some truth in the statement.’
Peter kept a straight face as he said, ‘I’m half-elf, a hudeti.’
Adri immediately said, ‘Closer to the truth, but there is still some deceit.’
Peter looked at her closely and said, ‘My mother was a hudeti.’
Adri shook her head and said, ‘No, that’s a lie. Your father was.’
As Peter nodded, she saw a glow of honesty around him. It was quickly replaced by disappointment.
‘I thought that Lady Jaclyn was an angel. She is always so kind and giving. Why would she lie to us?’ he said with a shake of the head.
‘Uh…I might know,’ Brighton said slowly.
All eyes turned to him.
‘The day that we went to the town hall, she made an inappropriate suggestion to me,’ Brighton said uncomfortably.
‘When she pulled you into the back room?’ Brac asked.
‘Yes. She sensed my talent when I had the little argument with Asdargh outside. She knows I have the same ability as her and encouraged me to use it in order to win the Warrior Trials,’ Brighton answered.
‘That does not sound inappropriate,’ Lilian replied.
Brighton looked around uncomfortably. Everybody was waiting for an explanation so he continued.
‘She wanted me to become the head of her honour guard,’ he said.
Only Peter understood. He had heard rumours of the duties that the head of the honour guard was expected to perform, specifically in the bedroom. He put his hand over his mouth to hide his smile.
‘It still does not sound that bad,’ Lilian remarked.
Peter burst out laughing.
He pointed at Brighton and, between fits of laugher, managed, ‘You….are….in…trouble!’
‘It’s not funny,’ Brighton complained.
Lilian planted her fists on her hips, tilted her head backwards so that she could look Brighton in the eyes, and said, ‘Explain.’
Brighton sighed. There was no way he was getting out of this.
‘The head of her honour guard is invited to her bedroom,’ he said, trying to be diplomatic about it.
Peter had to sit down, he was laughing so much.
‘She also said something about me being her life partner,’ Brighton said slowly.
Lilian exploded.
‘THAT WITCH! I will…I will…’ she screamed as she balled her tiny hands into fists.
‘I will tear the hair from her head! I will scratch her eyes out!’
She shoved a finger in Brighton’s face.
‘I hope you told her that you are married!’
Before he could answer, she said in a slightly calmer tone, ‘Wait. Why then, would she want you to lose tomorrow?’
‘Because I rejected her,’ Brighton replied sheepishly.
‘What did you say?’ Lilian frowned.
‘I told her that I was married and love my wife with all my heart. I don’t think she takes rejection very well,’ Brighton replied.
Lilian’s anger vanished immediately. She put her arms around Brighton, rested her head against his chest, and said, ‘Oh my darling husband, I’m sorry I shouted at you.’
‘It’s not a problem,’ Brighton smiled as he hugged her back.
She l
ooked up into his dark eyes and, in a husky voice, said, ‘I’ll make it up to you later.’
‘Perhaps the twins should sleep in our room tonight so that you two can go sort out your marital problems,’ Adri teased.
She winked at Brac, who caught the hint and tried to take Thomas from Nicky. The old woman shook her head and said, ‘They will sleep in our room. I have seen the looks Brac has been giving you all night. I think he really likes that dress on you.’
‘Seems to me that he would like to see the dress on the floor,’ Peter mumbled.
Adri and Brac didn’t argue. The couple said goodnight and retreated to their room.
‘Well, perhaps we should go to bed as well,’ Brighton remarked.
They too, made their way to the bedroom. Brighton closed the door behind him, turned, and slipped his arms around Lilian from behind. She leaned back against him.
‘I don’t know why I got so jealous,’ she whispered.
‘Because you love me,’ Brighton whispered back.
‘Yes, but I also know that you love me,’ she replied.
The feeling of his strong arms around her made her knees go weak. Slowly he slipped one hand behind her neck, under her long blond curls, and tugged on the knotted string. The dress slipped to the ground. Lilian turned in the circle of his arms.
‘Perhaps you should get out of these clothes,’ she breathed as she started undoing his shirt buttons.
Chapter 7
THE NEXT MORNING, Brighton and Lilian joined Brac and Adri on the porch for breakfast.
‘Nicky insisted on making us breakfast today,’ Adri commented.
As she said it, Nicky came through the door holding a large tray with four plates on it.
‘The service here is a lot better than at dinner last night,’ Lilian teased, remembering that she got beef instead of goat.
‘I was actually just wondering about that,’ Adri replied.
‘The girl made a mistake. It’s not unusual,’ Lilian frowned.
‘No, it is not, but Jaclyn’s reaction was. She had a glow of satisfaction around her as soon as you pointed out the mistake,’ Adri replied.
‘That is strange,’ Lilian frowned.
‘She is jealous of you. It may have given her some sort of satisfaction to know you didn’t get the right food,’ Brac tried.
‘I don’t think so. It looked to me like she felt she had just accomplished something. It was quite strange,’ Adri replied.
Brighton did not hear much of the conversation; he was more interested in the food Nicky put in front of him. Peter came out of the house holding a plate.
He sat down at the table and said, ‘So, young man, today is the big day.’
Brighton only nodded since his mouth was full.
He could still hear Carmen saying “Don’t speak with food in your mouth!”
‘Are you going to enter the archers competition?’ Peter enquired.
Brighton swallowed and said, ‘Yes, I will give it a try.’
‘Try? Oh please! We all know you will win if you enter,’ Brac laughed.
Peter pulled up an eyebrow and said, ‘There are some really good archers in Fenton.’
‘None as good as Brighton. He never misses,’ Brac replied.
Peter looked at Brac closely to see if he was joking.
When it became clear he was serious, Peter said to Brighton, ‘How is it possible that you never miss? Even the elves miss sometimes.’
‘I manipulate the temporary energy in the arrow as it flies and guide it to the target,’ Brighton explained.
‘So you use your magic,’ Peter said.
Brighton was about to tell Peter that magic does not exist, but changed his mind and said, ‘Yes, I use my magic.’
He did not feel like getting into another argument about his talent.
‘You know it will be highly suspicious if you hit the middle of the target every time,’ Peter warned.
‘You have a point. Maybe it is best if I miss a few times and end third or fourth in the competition,’ Brighton agreed.
Peter nodded and started eating. Silently he wondered what else the young man was capable of doing.
Shortly after breakfast, the group left the house. On their way to the town square, they went over the plans for the day. Brac was the only one who was still uncomfortable with Lilian and Adri going to meet an unknown man.
‘If we get into trouble, I will use my sense. Brighton will feel it and know we need help,’ Lilian suggested.
This seemed to satisfy Brac.
The group reached the town square. Lady Jaclyn was sitting on the platform already and spotted them immediately. She waved them over.
‘Good day, my friends,’ she greeted with a smile as they reached the platform.
Not waiting for an answer, she said, ‘Please join me again today. This will be the best spot to see Brighton fight. We are also having the archers competition shortly. Brighton, if you want to enter, just tell James and he will put your name down.’
Brighton nodded to the young man behind Jaclyn’s seat. He rushed off to go put Brighton’s name down for the competition.
‘How many archers have entered so far?’ Peter asked.
‘Twenty two, including Brighton. I am very pleased. It looks like it might be a very popular addition to the Warrior Trials,’ Lady Jaclyn replied.
‘How will the competition work?’ Brac asked.
Lady Jaclyn pointed to four targets roughly one hundred and fifty paces away.
‘Every archer will get five shots at one of the targets. Notice the painted rings and the solid purple circle in the middle. If the arrow hits the first ring from the outside, the archer is awarded one point, the second ring is worth two points and so on. The inner most ring is worth five points and the blue circle, or the peronia as we named it, is ten points. The winner receives twenty gold coins,’ she explained.
‘The peronia,’ Peter repeated with a smile.
When he saw the question in Brighton’s eyes he quickly whispered, ‘It’s a little purple flower.’
‘We know them as Avrilias,’ Brighton whispered back.
Lilian spoke to Brighton but made sure that Jaclyn could hear.
‘I have a headache from all the noise. I am going to take a walk to find a quiet spot,’ she said with a frown.
Adri immediately offered to go with and the two women strolled off.
‘I can help her with the headache,’ Jaclyn offered.
‘Thank you, but there is no need. She will be alright,’ Brighton smiled at Jaclyn.
He did not see the small hand gesture Jaclyn made to one of the elves standing nearby the platform.
The archers competition began and the first four archers stepped up to a table in the centre of the fighting ring and laid out five arrows each.
Lilian and Adri rounded the corner of the town hall. They took a few more steps, stopped and looked around. There was a narrow street behind the building separating the town hall from some houses. Small footpaths between the houses led to more houses further back. There was nobody except a filthy looking beggar sitting against the wall about twenty paces away.
‘I suppose we should wait for a while,’ Lilian suggested in a soft voice.
‘That beggar is anxious,’ Adri replied, also whispering.
‘Maybe it’s Theodor,’ Lilian suggested.
‘Shall we go ask him?’ Adri asked.
‘No. If it is him, he is obviously in disguise and already know who we are. He will approach us when he feels it is safe,’ Lilian replied.
An elf rounded the corner of the town hall.
Lilian immediately bent over, leaned against the wall, and made noises as if she was throwing up. Adri played along and slapped her gently on the back, saying, ‘Get it out, you will feel better.’
Lilian’s long hair had fallen forward, hiding her face so the elf could not really see what was going on. Looking very disgusted, he quickly rushed past them. As soon as he was out of si
ght, Lilian straightened up.
Adri snuck a quick look at the beggar and whispered, ‘He is relieved and a little concerned.’
‘It must be Theodor,’ Lilian replied.
A few moments later, another elf rounded the corner. Lilian repeated her little act. The elf walked past slowly, looking at them carefully.
Lilian started coughing and stuttered, ‘It…must be…last night’s…dinner.’
Adri played along and said, ‘I also feel a little sick.’
Turning to the elf, holding her stomach, and trying her best to look like she might be violently ill on his shoes, she said, ‘Could you help us, please sir?’
The elf shook his head and rushed off without looking back or taking any notice of the beggar.
‘What can you see now?’ Lilian whispered, referring to the beggar.
‘More relief and a bit of admiration,’ Adri replied.
‘It is Theodor. We will wait for him to make a move,’ she said.
A third elf rounded the corner. Another convincing little act from Adri and Lilian also made him decide he would rather be somewhere else. As soon as he was out of sight, the beggar stood up and shuffled away from them. Adri started following him but Lilian grabbed her arm.
‘No, wait,’ she whispered.
The beggar turned into one of the footpaths. When he was out of sight, Lilian looked around to make sure nobody was watching them. She hooked her arm into Adri’s and started walking slowly towards the path the beggar took. Just before they reached the path, she looked around again but saw nobody. They turned into the footpath. The beggar was just disappearing around a corner into another small path. Slowly the two women walked down the path and turned the same corner. Again, they spotted the beggar turning down another path. They continued following the beggar. As they rounded the fifth corner, they stopped and stared down an empty footpath.
‘Where did he go?’ Adri gasped.
‘I don’t know. Let’s keep walking,’ Lilian answered.
As they walked past the fourth house, Lilian heard footsteps behind them. She turned and saw an elf approaching them.