Of course, I didnt know anything about what Kate was doing until much later. I just believed what Joe said, that he had better control over the mirrors and that I could get back to Strangetown one minute after Id left it. Yeah, hed mentioned his uncles meddling, but I still didnt get it, that the meddling would interfere with my return, which would cause Kate to worry, which would lead to her decision tobut that happened much later and Im getting ahead of myself. It was still dark when I got back to camp. There were a lot of men there and it was obvious theyd been meeting for several hours. Some of them were starting to leave so I was able to get an empty seat at the table and sit down, completely exhausted from the ride. I dont know much about horses and had managed OK with mine only because the animal already knew what he was supposed to do. Both of us were hungry, though. He got down to munching grass as soon as I was off his back. As for me, I didnt see any food anywhere although I thought I could smell something cooking. Joe and Hector were seated at the table, too. Joe nodded his welcome to me and said, Weve had a messenger from Etienne. Duke Hagens Knight Commander Kynwal was killed, but his second in command, Marek, has not called for retreat. Hes expecting Hagen himself, along with reinforcements. We caught the messenger that Hagen sent ahead of them but there must have been another one that got through. So in spite of his losses, and they are considerable, Marek is not retreating. In fact, hes digging tunnels under the walls. My stomach rumbled loudly and Joe actually laughed. He looked up and around at the men who still stood by the table. Wheres Durin? Durin! he shouted to one of them. Get Pops a plate of your stew. Pops? I said, annoyed. With all respect, Errol, Joe said, still smiling, they have been calling you that. I didnt like it, but I let it go, at least for now, while I was busy eating the food someone had put down in front of me. Joe stood up from the table as another man ran into the group and dropped down to one knee in front of him. The man was sweaty and covered with dirt from the road. And he looked anxious. Joe told him to stand up. He got back up on his feet and gave his message, Your Highness, your brother, the Prince Dominic, is wounded and dying. Aubert has sent word to the Queen, telling her that Dominic is asking for her.
Joe stood still for a moment then waved the man away and looked at Hector, Aubert does not know where she is. He waits to see if we are stupid enough to show him the way. Hector said, They are completely isolated. The Queen will not hear about Dominic. Joe closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened his eyes and looked toward the east, where the stars seemed fainter and the sky lighter. He said, We leave at dusk and attack before dawn. Get as much rest as you can today. He walked away toward one of the tents. Attack who? I said to Hector. Duke Hagen. Were going to attack him at Vassily, catch him between us and Aubert. Both Auberts men and Hagens men are already worn down, with many wounded from the siege. If we wait too long, and Hagens tunnels succeed in bringing down the castle walls, allowing him to enter Vassily, then he will have the advantage of what remains of the walls and the castle stores. So we attack tonight. If you defeat Duke Hagen, youll leave Aubert sitting on the advantage. Hector tilted his head. And which of them would you rather see looking down on you from the walls of Vassily? Is that the question? From what Ive heard about Aubert and seen of Hagen, Hagen seems less of a threat. Not true. Hagen knows about the mirrors, which makes him far more dangerous than Aubert. How much does Hagen know about the mirrors? How well can he control them? Joe is not sure, so Hagen must be stopped, and soon. I got up from the table and looked around for Ania. I didnt see her. Hector, wheres Ania? In one of the tents? Hectors bright camera eye did not move its focus off my face. Yes, he said. I looked over at the tent where Joe had gone. I looked back at the robot. His camera eye hadnt moved from my face, but I now knew where Ania was. Im tired, Hector, and I want to sleep. Show me a tent where I can do that. He did, and I stretched out on a cot. But I lay wide awake, looking out through the canvas flaps at a little triangle of sky that slowly turned a lighter shade of blue. I thought about my daughters for a few minutes, and then I thought about their mother for a long time.
*Sigh* so romantic ... The tents are cool. I love it when you post! Thanks for the bedtime story. I'm going to dream about Vassily tonight, I just know it.
LOL, that was my first thought too! Looks like they are sleeping on a wooden table! Poor Ania...Joe...get her a comfy feather matress!
It's even worse than that. I noticed yesterday that Joe and Ania's relationship points had gotten low. They were in danger of falling out of love. Joe has been neglecting Ania (because of all his heavy responsibilities.) So I thought, time for a little making out, maybe even woohoo. After all, he's going off to war and could be hurt or even killed . Anyway, I sent them off to their tent. Oi! :shocked: No blankets to dive under during woohoo. But before anyone gets excited, there still isn't anything to see, mostly it was just sparks flying off an empty cot. (Nothing under it either. I looked. ) So Joe and Ania are back up to 100 again, in spite of the uncomfortable cot.
*Sorry, I'm at work, so no pictures until later. * I've learned some boxing. I've been in some fights, mostly while in prison and a few while traveling with Iven Harcourt. Yesterday I defended myself successfully from losing my limbs and my life to a sword. But I, personally, have never been in a battle where large numbers of men try to kill each other. Now, as the sun hung on the horizon I stared at it as if I'd never see it again. It could happen. I might not see the sun again. It finally disappeared and my thoughts returned to Kate where they'd been all day while the sun was high in the sky. And Kate was on my mind through all the hours of the dark yet to come. Joe's troops did not gather at the camp site. He'd arranged to meet them somewhere close to Vassily, ordering them to go there in small numbers, avoiding any of Hagen's or Aubert's scouts. The number of Joe's men was probably much larger than either Hagen or Aubert knew and he wanted to surprise everyone. Good idea, I thought. It was probably our best chance against trained soldiers. So it was me, Hector, and Joe left at the camp. Joe handed me a sword and shield, neither of which I could handle very well. I decided to think of them as extensions of my fists which I handle just fine. It might even work, I thought. Ania didn't want me going and started to get angry with Joe again, telling him it was not my war to fight. I hugged her tightly and told her not to worry for us. Joe pulled her around and kissed her hard. Then he told her that he, Hector and I were going to stay together, watching each other's backs until we all got back to this camp. She must wait. It would be hard, but she must wait. We would only be safe so long as we knew that she was safe. Finally we mounted our horses and took off down the hill. I looked over my shoulder and waved at Ania. She didn't react at first, then raised her hand and waved back just before we were out of sight. It was a hot night and a hot ride on the back of an eager horse. He wanted to race and kept trying to get ahead of Joe and Hector's horses. I fought to keep him behind. Stupid animal. I was worn out even before we came over the rise and saw Vassily in the distance. It was still dark. Shadows moved through the bushes nearby. Slowly, Joe's men gathered around him. He gave quiet orders and the shadows moved away again. I waited, watching the castle, watching the smoke of fires rising from its walls. There was a dull roaring sound from that direction and I realized it was the sound of men yelling and fighting. My hands were sweaty where I gripped the sword and shield. My heart pounded. I'm too old for this, I thought. This is a mistake. Then Joe raised his arm, sword high, and yelled something. Still on horseback, we charged forward, yelling loudly whatever came into our heads. I don't recall what I yelled but it probably had something to do with cursing my stupid horse. He wanted to be at the front for this battle.
I was out late tonight. Oh, well. Can't stop RL and I guess I don't really want to. Didn't get as much done with Errol and Joe as I'd hoped this evening so I have just a couple of pictures to add. My daughter rode horses while at summer camp and would recognize Errol's horse. There's always the frisky one who wants to be at the head of the line. And it would always have a name like Sparky. 1) Ania clings to Joe for a moment. 2) Three guys ride off to Vassily (Ania way in the back and hard to see) 3) Vassily smoking. Also hard to see because it's such a dark picture. I seem to have a lot of dark pictures with this story. Sorry about that. I'll have to try to move the story into daytime hours.
It was bedlam. I swung my sword wildly at men wearing armor because I knew that none of Joe's men owned any. Even so, in the dark I could barely tell who was on my side and who I was supposed to fight. And I don't know what happened to my horse. He went nuts, throwing his back legs up in the air, trying to kick people. I decided to slide off before I fell off. Without my weight on him he threw a serious tantrum, screaming and kicking and running off into the melee somewhere. I caught sight of Hector's metal nearby. He'd lost his horse, too. I managed to get myself to his side and then we stood back to back, defending our piece of dirt. I didn't see Joe anywhere at first, then caught sight of him, still on his horse, fighting his way toward a gap in the castle wall. The tunnels that Hagen's men dug had done the job. The wall had collapsed in at least two places. Something big and heavy crashed into my side, knocking me to the ground. I rolled to get my shield up to block the sword that was swinging in the direction of my chest. It missed my chest but not my leg. I sliced my own sword upward and it rang against armor, but before the wretch could pin me to the ground like a bug, Hector got him from behind. Then he tried to pull me to my feet. My left leg wouldn't support my weight and I fell sideways. I knew I was losing blood. I could tell. It didn't feel good. Hector grabbed my belt, pulled it loose and wrapped it tight around my thigh. "Don't move," he said. "Hold your shield over your chest and head." Then he stood guard over me. He was covered in gore, a robot monster from your worst nightmares. Looking like that, he didn't have to fight much. He scared them all clean away. "Whoa, Kate!" I mumbled to myself. "You should see us now!" Then I closed my eyes and went to sleep. *I'm at work again, getting bored, so I updated. I should have more time for the pictures tonight. *
Kate had a nightmare. She sat up in bed, turned on the light and tried to shake off the bad feelings. The dream was too real and too intense. Just a dream, she told herself. Just a dream. She got up and walked around the house, turning on all the lights, determined to forget the dream. Think about the house, she thought. It looks good. Errol will like it. He likes green. Theres a lot of green. But her efforts to forget the nightmare didnt work. I cant do this anymore, she yelled at the walls. I cant do it! Im going crazy! Thats when she decided she was coming to get me. Her nightmare, you see, was of me dying, which wasnt really the case, though it was a near thing. I cant explain why she dreamed about it. Except, were connected, me and Kate. So It was quite a few hours later, as Viola sat in the living room reading, that Kate came downstairs to talk to her. Viola glanced up from her book and then stared, What are you wearing? Armor. Rather, chain mail. I got it at the pawn shop downtown this morning. Chains? You mean, like a fence? Whatever for? Im leaving tonight through the mirrors. I cant wait anymore. Somethings happened and I have to find them. Take care of Edith, Viola. There was some money left from the sale of the house and store so I set up a trust for Ediths education. The papers are filed in the desk. The lawyers phone number is there, too. Wait, wait, wait, Viola stood up. You cant leave us. Errol told you to stay with us, Kate. Kate! Lets talk about this a little. Im going upstairs. Bye, Viola. Viola followed her up and the two of them sat on the bed while the sun set. They stared at the blank wall together. Viola had intended to argue with her but sat quiet, not saying a word, for at least an hour, anyway. Finally she said, Edith and I will be fine, Kate. Kate took off her metal glove and put her hand down on top of Violas. I know, she said. Im not worried about you and Edith. The mirrors shimmered and appeared in their magic way. Kate shoved her hand back into the glove and grabbed the sword shed kept close by on the bed. She smiled at Viola , took a deep breath, looked at the picture of me that hung on the wall and stepped into the mirrors.
Viola sniffed and wiped her eyes and watched the mirrors until they faded away. Then she walked up to the third floor to a spot near the top of the stairs. She reached for a thin chain that hung there and pulled hard. A trap door creaked open and a ladder slid down. Viola climbed the ladder carefully and when she got to the tiny attic room she just stood quietly studying the object on the floor. It was safe, untouched. None of the painters or contractors had discovered this little room. Nor had Kate, who never bothered with the third floor. Only Viola had noticed the little bit of chain in the ceiling near the stairs. Viola picked up the object and considered opening it. Shed been thinking about it for a long time. But she wasnt quite ready. She was, she knew, nervous about what she might find inside of it. Not now, she thought. Not yet. But soon, Daddy. Real soon, I'll open the urn you left with Errol. She set it gently on the floor and climbed down the ladder.
I thought I had died. I really did. I heard an angel whisper in my ear, an angel who called me Lover. “Open your eyes, Lover. Look at me. Errol, my love, open your eyes.” Who could resist such an invitation? Not me. Even though my eyelids were almost too heavy, I worked hard at getting them open and finally did. I smiled. I smiled because now I knew that all the angels in heaven look like Kate. And they kiss like Kate, too.
Again, so very romantic! Go, Kate! And that Viola is a sneaky one, isn't she? I can't wait to find out what's in the urn.
