“Was that really necessary?” Ben glared up at the guard.
Reagan answered smugly, “No, but it was fun.” He then pointed up the stairs, “The king will see you now.”
Ben shook his head and let out a sigh before he turned and climbed the stairs to the king’s chamber wing. Mâvis was on the balcony with a mug off tea looking out over his village. Ben limped over to the railing and laid his crutch on it before leaning on it himself, “Where is Genie?”
Mâvis didn’t even break his gaze from the view as he answered, “Our daughter’s room, she will not talk to me either. I guess I fair no better than you.” He swirled the contents of his mug before taking a drink of it.
“I am guessing you have all you require from me this evening?” Ben dropped his head down and closed his eyes, only listening for his answer as he breathed in the cold night air.
Mâvis finally looked over at Ben, “Tell me, human, had William ever made an offer to you would you have taken it?”
Ben brought his head up and looked back out over the village, pressing his lips together as if to bottle up his frustration. He let out his breath and struggled to choke back his pain, nearly chuckling as he finally answered, “I would never have taken an offer from him. He is more power hungry that Ormr and Freyr combined. Why would I put my wife at risk with someone like that?”
Mâvis crinkled his nose and shook his head, “William would never hurt a woman.”
Ben scoffed and looked at the king now, “No, then tell me why he killed that boy’s mother?”
“What?” Mâvis looked confused.
“He begged me to take him out of there, he said William’s guards killed her as he watched. He was scared of William, terrified of him. Why would I willingly work for someone like that?” His pain now evident in his voice. He straightened out a shook it off. “I can hate you with every fiber of my being, Mâvis, you would still never hurt a woman. You would never hurt my wife.”
The king grumbled, “I suppose I am a bit soft.” Ben rolled his eyes at Mâvis and the king answered with nothing but a toothy grin before taking one last swig off his tea, “Go home to your wife, human. That is if it is safe for you to do so.”
Ben nodded and picked up his crutch, “Good night sir.”
A little while later he made it to the cottage, unlocking the door. He found Lúta curled up on the lounge reading one of their favorite stories. She looked at him coldly at first. But he sat down anyway, taking the book from her hands and putting his arm around her as he pulled her close and started reading it from the top of the page.
She wiped her tears and put her arm across his chest to pull him tight before asking, “How long do we have before we have to move out?”
He smiled and kissed her forehead, “We don’t have to move out. This is still our home.”
She immediately sat up and choked back her sob, “Really? Are you sure?”
He smiled and nodded before pulling her to him for a slow, loving kiss. Then he snuggled back down with her and finished reading their book.
Garrett – Book 2 Preview
Garrett wasn’t sure how many weeks had passed when the boat finally made it to shore. His mother was weak but she was still alive. She had given up on her own food rations over a week ago letting him eat instead. He scrambled out of the lifeboat at the sound of the waves lapping at the sand under the boat and he yanked at the rope and tried to tie it to a giant piece of driftwood. The moonlight lit the beach enough for him to see what he was doing, but the dark forest that surrounded the beach absorbed what little light was left over. He stumbled and slipped as he struggled to pull the rope and get the boat secured.
Finally, he realized he just wasn’t strong enough to make it the last few yards and collapsed to his knees crying out in frustration. Then out of nowhere, the line picked up and the boat dragged across the beach landing so far up on the sand that he no longer needed to tie it. He looked up to see who had yanked it ashore only to see a massive beast staring down at him.
Garrett screamed and fell backwards as he tried scrambling to his feet. He made a dash for the boat as the humungous creature threw an arm around his waist and snatched him off the ground. The boy screamed to his mother to wake up, but she didn’t move as he beat at and bit at the arm that had him trapped. The creature issued some order in a language he determined to be English immediately due to the fact that many of his father’s servants spoke English.
The beast never let go as it hauled him off and he watched helplessly as a couple more beast’s that looked like this one climbed into the boat. He screamed again as he watched one of them strike his mother, and then again. By the third strike, he knew she was dead as the creatures stepped out of the boat and another one of them lit it on fire.
He screamed relentlessly and fought against the monster until he was tossed to the feet of an even larger beast. The two of them spoke for a few minutes and Garrett wasn’t even sure the two of them noticed him anymore. He quietly tried to scramble out from under their feet as they continued arguing and he made it into a bush, hiding as still as he could, hoping they would just go away.
Not more than a second after he pulled his knees to his chest in order to make himself as small as possible, the bushes spilt open as the creature he was handed off to snatched him up and carried him off screaming again.
In the morning, Garrett woke to find himself in a room. He wasn’t even sure how he made it in there because he had no memory of falling asleep. The last thing he remembered was giant, hairy, bear like men killing his mother and hauling him off into the woods. Now somehow he was in a room with a fire going and sheets covering him. There was a pile of pillows on the bed and a woman sitting at his feet humming softly. She looked just like the creatures that had killed his mother, but she was smaller and had long, wavy red hair that was pulled back into a bun on her head. Her face was covered in matching red fur, as were her arms and hands. She had a full set of claws on her hands even though her hands looked much like his.
She was folding some odd looking clothing as she hummed her tune and he just silently sat and watched her, too scared to make any noise and draw her attention from her task. She still noticed him anyway and immediately her lips and eyes broke into a bright smile revealing a set of fangs that scared him right under the covers.
She chuckled and peeled the sheet back biting her lip as she offered him a slice of apple bread, patiently waiting for him to take it. His hands shook uncontrollably as he accepted the morsel of food, so hungry he nearly choked scarfing it down. She reached for his hands to slow him down a bit and he scurried back against the headboard to dodge her touch. His breathing was in full panic mode as his eyes flew back and forth between her hands and her face, trying to assess what she was doing.
He watched in amazement as she wiped a couple tears from her own eyes and the action confused him enough to relax a bit. He wasn’t daring enough to touch her but seeing her emotion and sorrow brought a sense of safety to him enough so to accept a cup of water from her.
She watched him drink it slower than he had tried with the apple bread a moment ago, and she wiped a couple more tears from her eyes. She stood to put away the clothing she had gathered up for him to try on. Garrett marveled at her old world style dress. It looked like something he had seen in museums and paintings, nothing he had ever seen a real person wear. The gown she wore swept the floor and cinched at the waist with a belt. The top of the outfit hung at her shoulders in the same place her bust line started and the fur took over the rest of her look.
Seeing how far she made it across the room he dashed from the giant bed, falling immediately to the floor after realizing how tall the bed was. He scrambled to his feet and dashed to the giant wooden door, yanking at the metal latch for dear life and looking back over his shoulder as the woman was now crossing the room after him, shushing him as she did so, “Sh, sh, sh. You are safe. You are safe.” He didn’t understand a word she said but the door now opened from the othe
r side and the monster that had dragged him here last night came in addressing her right away and then looking down at him. He backed up and screamed as the creature approached him. It was so tall and menacing looking with enormous hands and claws even larger than hers. This beast kept his black hair as short as his fur, to the point that Garrett could not tell where the fur stopped and the hair started.
The beast addressed him, “Why don’t you come out and look around. You are safe, no harm will come to you.” Again, Garrett had no clue what the monster was saying, but he made a split second decision between standing there at the mercy of the creature that took him from his mother, and the female creature that had just fed him and offered him water. He ran to her hiding behind her and crying. He clung on for dear life and bellowed in French, “Don’t let him take me! Please don’t let him take me.”
His action sealed his place in the woman’s heart right away; he had run to her for protection. Again, she wiped her tears and addressed her husband, “He needs more time to get used to you, let me handle him for now.”
The boy backed up to the wall now as the giant male beast crossed the room and kissed the woman he had just run to for protection. The monster looked down at him after and pointed to the woman as he spoke in English, “Mother,” Then he placed his hand on his own chest to reference himself, “Father.”
Garrett burst into tears, immediately. He knew what those words meant. The kids that he played with back home often used these words to address their parents. The monsters think they are his parents. The giant male looked back at the woman, shook his head in frustration, and turned to leave the room. She called to the male, stopping him in his tracks for a moment, “Go to Mâvis’s village, he owes you a favor. Bring back the doctor, he will know what to do.”
As soon as he left, she turned back to Garrett and offered her open arms. He closed his eyes, fought his trembling, and fears to cross the room and accept the hug. Despite the fact that she was so different, right now she was the only one he could trust.
Garrett spent the next couple days in the room too scared to come out. There were always two monsters outside the door, they wore heavy armor and carried giant spears. He was too scared to even pass between them. A couple times the giant one that kept calling himself ‘father’ came in and spoke to the one he called ‘mother’. He would then usher the two monsters that stood guard outside the door away. Mother would then open the door and try to coax him out. He clung tightly to her hand wanting to hide behind her skirts as she led him through the giant lodge to a huge, round room. There was a massive fire pit in the middle of the room, with a fire going in it, and tables with food on them.
The woman let go of his hand and he looked around to be sure they were the only ones in the room before joining her at the table to try some of the food. He ate quickly but stayed on high alert, keeping watch on all the doors to stay prepared for who or what would come through them.
The first time he went into the room she ate alone with him, the second time the male monster joined them and he immediately hid behind the one he only knew as Mother. The minute the one who called himself father sat down Garrett peeled across the room to the door, yanking on it and pushing on it violently, praying for it to budge. When it didn’t move he slumped down to the floor, crying and pulled his knees to his chest waiting for the beast to finish eating. He never once took his eyes off the monster until he finished.
The two creatures talked in English for a few minutes and then Mother got up and walked towards the door bringing a bowl with her. She crouched down and offered him the bowl, and then she put out her clawed hand to help him up so she could open the door, giving it a couple knocks until the guards opened it. She walked him down the hall to his room where he dashed in and shut the door.
A couple more days passed and for the first time since he had arrived in this horrible place the woman didn’t come in to see him. Garrett wondered where she was but he didn’t dare venture out looking for her. The day started to wear off into the evening hours and he was very hungry, but still was not brave enough to try the door. Finally, it opened Father came in, Garrett fled to the other side of the bed and crouched down behind it as the beast took a seat in nearly the same spot he was in only moments ago.
The creature waited there with his hand outstretched offering it to the boy, “I need you to come with me. We have a guest that wants to meet you. You will like him, he is human like you are.”
Garrett slowly stood up. He knew one of those words, human. He was ‘humain’; it was the same word in French. He rounded the bed and cautiously took the creature’s hand. The beast smiled warmly and nearly purred as he stood up and lead Garrett to the door.
When the door opened, the boy saw the entire hallway bustling with the same kind of monsters. The most he had seen this far. He wanted so desperately to duck back into the bedroom but the one named Father held his hand firmly and at the same time caressed it. Garrett bit back his fear and allowed Father to walk him into the great hall. Where there was a huge party full of the creatures. Males and females were all dressed in the ancient clothing. The women wore gowns and men were dressed in either armor or tunics like the one he was wearing along with leather pants. However, they were also all covered in fur.
Father passed through the crowed effortlessly. Everyone just seemed to step aside without so much as a prompt from Father. Then the one he was hoping to see was there in front of him. A tall dark haired human man, he was dressed in a brown animal skin jacket with a double breast, fur lining and the same loose leather pants as the rest of the creatures. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder and his dark eyes got big at the sight of the boy.
Garrett rushed from Father’s grasp and ran full on into the man giving him a hug and bursting into tears. “My parents are dead and I am trapped by these monsters, please can you take me home?” Garrett looked desperately into the man’s eyes hoping he would take him out of here.
To Garrett’s amazement, the man replied in French, “Well, these people want to help you, that’s why they brought me here. What happened to your parents?”
Before Garrett could answer the monster started talking again, and the man stood up to give his full attention. Garrett latched onto the man’s arm so fiercely that he had to look back down to calm him.
Father turned back down the hallway they had come from and the man gave his hand a gentle squeeze and pointed to where they were going. Back to his room; as soon as they were in there the man introduced himself as Doctor Abbott and told him that he lived on an island nearby. Garrett wiped his tears and allowed the doctor to check him out the same as his doctor at home had done all his life.
When they were finished with the exam the boy looked up at the beast and swallowed hard before informing Abbott, “They killed my mother, I saw them kill her. The monsters killed her.”
The man got quiet for a second and looked up at William then back at Garrett, replying in French, “Was it him? Did he kill your mother?” Garrett shook his head, but Abbott could tell that the boy was holding on to the fear that the king had something to do with it. The Doctor altered the translation before speaking to the beast, “He says he is still scared.”
Abbott listened as the beast spoke then he turned back to Garrett, “He says he knows you are scared but that you have to learn to trust him because this is your home now. Your new mother’s name is Olivia and this man will be your father now, his name is William.” Abbott thought on it for a moment and added, “He is the king of this village and will see to it that you are safe and protected. No one here will hurt you if you are raised as his son.”
Garrett panicked and immediately latched onto the doctor begging to be taken home. Abbott pried the child of his arm and gestured to the king to follow him out into the hallway where he continued their discussion in English.
A few minutes later, the king came back in and smiled while holding his hand open, “Father.” Was all he said.
Garrett looked up in
to his coal black eyes and reached out with a shaky hand to accept the king’s. He took a deep breath and wiped his tears again before nodding and replying, “Father.”
A few minutes later he was back in the packed great hall clutching Olivia’s hand and hiding behind her skirt as she stood talking to a couple of other women and the biggest creature he had seen yet. The nearly white beast seemed miles high to the tiny boy, and he had piercing blue eyes. He casually held a gigantic axe over his shoulder as he stood smiling down at Garrett. The fear this monster brought sent Garrett deeper behind Olivia.
Then something else appeared this time at his feet. It was a human girl. She was tiny and blonde with blue eyes. He bent down and picked her up almost unconvinced that he was even looking at her. She was not scared in the least bit despite the fact that anyone of these monsters could step on her without even noticing.
She turned curiously to the giant light colored beast, “Papa. Is human papa.”
Garrett understood papa clearly, he was her father. He looked at her and said something in French, “You called him papa. Is he your papa?” he pointed at the giant and the little girl now panicked that the stranger was talking to her. She squirmed and reached for the beast, as he leaned down to grab her Garrett nearly dropped her in a panic to let her go.
The monster already had a firm grip on her though and she was quickly clutched to his chest and now scolded Garrett with her eyes. He ducked back behind Olivia as the blonde beast addressed her chuckling in English, “There is not much warrior in him, is there?”
As night fell and the palace lodge settled down the queen walked him down the corridor to his room, she ushered the guards away from the door and brought Garrett in. He changed from his tunic and brushed his teeth with a grass straw the way he saw her do it. Then he climbed into bed. She tucked him in and got up to leave. Before she could reached the door he called to her, “Mother?”
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