Fairyfly - 4. Darkness Falls

Finally regaining consciousness, Esthor could feel his head pounding. It took him a few seconds to realize he couldn’t move and he struggled to open his eyes, wondering what was going on.

“Ugh, what happened?” he mumbled, his voice barely audible.

As he opened his eyes, he gasped in shock, seeing the king’s seven sorcerers standing in a semi-circle around him, each wearing their dark purple robes and pointing their pathetic magic scepters at him. Looking down at himself, he saw chains around his body, purple magical lights sparkling through them, preventing him from using his own magic to free himself.

Sitting on the floor of a room he had never been to before, he scanned the seven sorcerers, each of them standing a great distance from him. They were afraid to come closer. He could see it in their faces. They knew he was more powerful than all of them together, he was the one who trained them after all. However, they knew that without his scepter, even he could not fight the magic of the seven of them. Still, they were nervous, hoping that their magic chains would be strong enough to hold him in place, at least until the king comes.

As soon as it was evident that he had woken up, one of the guards left the room and soon returned, opening the door and standing by to let King Norius enter, followed by Zane.

“What the hell is going on?” Esthor spat out, looking at the king.

“SILENCE!” the king shouted, his voice freezing everyone in the room with fear. No one dared move an inch or say a word. Zane was the only one who seemed unaffected, eyeing Esthor with contempt. For him, serving the king was a holy duty and Esthor had failed it.

Esthor could not remember ever seeing the king that furious, with a murderous look in his eyes. He knew that what he did was extreme, but if he could be allowed to explain, the king would surely understand.

The king was breathing raggedly, his heart was racing and body sweating as if he would explode at any moment, killing everyone around him in a blaze of fire. Finally, he spoke.

“You killed my daughter!” his voice thundering throughout the room, making even Esthor shiver.

It took him a moment to regain his composure, but when he finally did, Esthor straightened his back as much as he could and spoke loudly.

“I saved your daughter!” he explained, wanting to make the king realized that he was right to do what he did. The thought of maybe apologizing first didn’t even occur to him.

“You killed her!” the king shouted again, having to sit down. His aging face looked even older, as if he aged ten years overnight.

“It was the only way to save her and everyone else! You know very well what would have happened had she been kept alive. She would’ve turned in a matter of days and then what? She would’ve gone on a rampage and killed half the castle before being stopped. Even worse, she could’ve bitten your other two daughters.”

“Leave them out of this!” King Norius warned.

Realizing he was in over his head, the young sorcerer looked around the room desperately, seeking for support. His eyes fell upon the old and wise healer who stood at the other end. Pepin looked at him with compassion, but as soon as their eyes met, he averted his gaze.

“Pepin, you’re an expert, you know I’m right. You know there’s no way she could’ve been saved,” Esthor pleaded.

“Well,” the old man spoke hesitantly, “while it’s true that no definite cure has been found, there is little evidence to suggest that…”

“Oh, save it! Should’ve known you were too afraid of the king to say the truth!”

“Anything else you want to say before I sentence you?” the king spoke coldly. He had no mercy left in him.

“Well, I…” Esthor started to say when he noticed a glimmer on the floor behind one of the seven sorcerers. It was the unmistakable glow of his scepter. Narrowing his eyes, he focused on it, trying to move it and free himself.

Zane, who was looking at him intently the entire time, immediately realized the treacherous sorcerer was trying something. As soon as the scepter swiftly flew through the air toward Esthor, Zane jumped out and grabbed it, only to drop it a second later, screaming and looking at his hand. Once again, it was burned as if he put it in a fire.

Regardless, the chance was lost for Esthor. The king himself stood and smashed the scepter into pieces with his hammer.

“He is dangerous even when chained up,” Zane uttered with malice in his voice.

“I see that. How did you do that? Speak!” the king ordered, but Esthor was silent. That scepter was more than just a handy tool, it was an extension of him. He made it himself, it was attuned to his powers and no one else could use it.

“He did something with his eyes,” Zane replied instead.

“Then we’ll make sure he doesn’t do it again,” King Norius swiftly pulled out an ornamented bronze dagger from his belt and handed it to his guard commander. “Take care of it.”

Realizing he was about to get his throat slashed and left to bleed out on the floor, Esthor defiantly sat silently, without moving or uttering a word. If he was to die, he would die with dignity, not begging for mercy.

However, the king obviously had other plans for him.

“When you’re done, throw him in the dungeon, the smallest cell. And wall it up. Let him rot in there.”

With that, King Norius left the room, his footsteps echoing through the hall.

It took Esthor a few seconds to realize what fate awaited him, but by that time, it was already too late. Zane stood in front of him with a faint smile on his thin lips, and the last thing Esthor saw was the king’s bronze dagger being swiftly thrust into his eye.

Already back in his throne room on the floor above, King Norius heard the scream that fired up his hatred even more. A few seconds later, another scream followed, just as loud. The deed was done.

Collapsing on the floor in pain, still chained up, Esthor muttered words no one could understand. He could not get his eyes back, but one thing he could do was an incantation to take away the excruciating pain that was searing through his head. With nothing but utter darkness all around him, he finished his spell and passed out, his body hitting the hard floor with a thud.

The seven sorcerers all looked in horror as Zane ordered the guards to grab the young sorcerer and take him to the dungeon where he was to be walled up, alive and blinded. As two of the guards grabbed Esthor’s limp body and carried him down to the dungeons, Zane stayed behind with one of the healers tending to his burnt hand that had blisters all over it. Whenever he tried to bend his fingers, the pain was incredible. After his hand was covered in some ointment and bandaged up, the commander looked at the shattered crystals on the floor.

“Clean that mess up! I don’t want to see it when I return,” he ordered to one of the guards standing nearby.

“Yes, Sir!” the guard nodded obediently.

A few minutes later, the commander entered the dungeons where he saw the passed out Esthor in a corner of a tiny cell. Two men were walling up the door with bricks, making sure no one could get in or out.

“Well, you didn’t tell me I was getting a new neighbor,” a playful, young female voice called out from a cell across the hall. “What did he do?”

“The bastard killed…”

“None of your business!” Zane spoke sharply, interrupting the worker who tried to reply.

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll find out anyway,” the woman said, smiling at Zane as if only to infuriate him even more.

"Yeah, just like you said you'd escape. Promises, promises," Zane mocked the girl, but she didn't even flinch, still carrying the same wicked smile. Short, black hair framed her young face, while her skin was unusually pale. Both her arms and legs were chained to the wall, preventing her from moving much.

"Must've been really bad if you're walling him up. Not even I got that treatment," she mused before noticing Zane's right hand, all in bandages. "Let me guess, he was responsible for that," she added, nodding her head at his hand.

"None of your business, Shade," he cut her off impatiently. "Call me when you're finished, I want to see if it's done properly," he ordered one of the men laying bricks before storming off.

After waiting for a few moments to make sure Zane was gone, the girl called out one of the workers pleadingly.

"Can I please get some water, I haven't had a drop in days."

One of the workers turned around, looking at the girl coughing.

"Nice try," he scoffed. "Did you think Zane didn't warn us?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," the girl lied, silently cursing the damned commander and swearing to make him pay once she is finally free from the chains.

"Yeah, right. Be quiet now and we won't tell him you misbehaved," he replied and went back to his work. The wall was coming along quickly and would be finished soon, trapping Esthor inside his tiny prison where he was soon to draw his last breath.

~~

Warm rays of sunlight illuminated the room, indicating that a new morning has come, but Rulf just groaned and covered his face with a pillow. He had barely slept that night, too stressed from almost being caught and the frantic chase that ensued.

His adrenaline levels were high and he couldn't stop thinking about Arabella and what might have happened to her if her father found out about their affair. Would her wedding be compromised or maybe even canceled? As much as he would like that, he didn't dare to hope. Besides, having the wedding be canceled would probably not lead to anything good, knowing the king and his short temper. Would she be punished? All through the night, he kept pacing around the house, not able to calm down, blaming himself for bringing the princess into this and for being weak and foolish enough to try and visit her again.

He'd had a nice relationship with a fellow carpenter prior to meeting Arabella, why couldn't he just stay with him? No, as if Walter wasn't good enough for him, he had to shoot high and fall for the princess! His concern for Arabella was only rivaled by the anger he felt toward himself.

Rulf’s attempt to go back to sleep was interrupted by repeated knocking on the door. Only one person he knew could be that insistent - his best friend Bess. She knew he was home and wouldn't leave until he opened. She was also the only person he confided in about his relationship with the princess. Well, Fendrel obviously knew as well - unfortunately, Rulf thought. He still wasn't sure how the older Lykos figured it out. Then again, they had been friends once, so Fendrel probably knew him too well for his own good.

Reluctantly getting out of bed and pulling a shirt over his lean, slightly hairy body, Rulf went to the door and let his friend in.

"Hey, don't tell me you've been sleeping so late?" Bess chirped as she walked in, moving to the kitchen and placing a bag on the table. She opened it and took out some pastries, a large piece of ham and a bottle of what looked like beer on the table.

"I thought we'd have breakfast together and you could tell me all about last night. You did go, didn't you?"

When Rulf just frowned and sat back on the bed, running fingers through his wild hair, Bess realized something was wrong.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I know the wedding is today and it's horrible you have to go through this..."

"It's not that," he interrupted her, shaking his head.

"Then what?" she looked at him in confusion.

Rulf got up and sat down at the table opposite her, taking a bite of the warm pastry.

"Uhh... I did go to see her last night, but it didn't go as expected. I got ambushed by two guards who were in her room as if they were waiting for me."

Bess gasped, almost dropping the glass she was holding.

"Don't worry, I was in my wolf form, they wouldn't recognize me. I barely escaped, the bastards chased me all over the damn town."

"Rulf, I... Did they hurt you, are you ok?"

"They didn't, and I'm not ok. What if they know about us? They must know... And I didn't even get to see her."

Bess looked at him studiously, as if mulling something over.

"Well," she finally spoke, "the wedding is today, there's gonna be this big celebration and they'll parade through town when the prince arrives. I know it's the last thing you wanna see, but it could be a chance to see her, at least from a distance?"

His initial reaction was to tell her she's crazy if she thinks he's going to go and watch his princess get married to someone else, but he then realized it was actually not a terrible idea. They could go to the town, mingle among the crowd and watch the celebration, just so he could see for himself that Arabella was alright. At least that would be some solace for him, knowing that she was not in danger.

"Alright," he said, much to Bess' surprise. "We'll go."

Although Rulf worked with a local carpenter, he had a day off that day - everyone did, actually, since the king had proclaimed a holiday due to the wedding.

Around midday, the two friends went out and headed straight for the square in the town center. Seeing several men put up decorations along the street, Rulf and Bess approached them.

"Adding the finishing touches, huh?" Bess asked, smiling at one of the men. "What time is the wedding?"

"We're taking these down. Didn't you hear, there is no wedding," the man spoke with little interest.

Fear with mixed hope burst right through Rulf's body as a lightning bolt.

"What? Why?" he asked, a little louder than he intended to.

"You really don't know? The princess is dead."

Feeling as if he was about to faint, Rulf suddenly felt Bess' hand grabbing him by the arm.

"Bella? No, that's not true," he said, his voice no more than a whisper.

"Unfortunately, it is," the man replied, now a little more sympathetically. "Poor girl."

"What happened to her?" Bess asked as Rulf stood silently, still believing this was some kind of a sick joke.

"Some say she was ill, others say she was murdered..."

"What? No!" Rulf pleaded, staring at the man and Bess.

"I know, it's horrible. Who would do something like that..."

As the man took off the decorations made of white flowers, he went on his way, continuing his work and leaving Rulf and Bess standing dumbfounded.

Bess stood by him with her arm around his shoulders, afraid to say anything. Her heart ached for her friend, knowing he was suffering greatly.

Feeling tears running down his cheeks, Rulf hugged his good friend, sobbing on her shoulder. How could this be true? How could his Bella be dead? He would give everything to have her back, even if that meant he had to stand and watch her marry another man.

Now he had no reason to live. No reason other than to avenge her death. If it's true what that man said, if his Bella was indeed murdered, then he would find whoever did it and tear him apart with his claws.

~~

In all the commotion that occurred after Esthor's imprisonment, Pepin left the room through the other exit as fast as he could, shivering and muttering a prayer to the Gods.

“I should’ve done something. I should’ve never let this happen,” he whispered to himself, hurrying away from the castle as fast as he could. He needed to be away from that place, away from the king and his servants. Not because he was afraid for his own life, but because he was disgusted and wanted nothing to do with them anymore.

Had it not been for his cowardice, maybe this entire tragedy could’ve been avoided. He never had the courage to speak up, but this time his silence had grave consequences and he couldn’t help but blame himself. Yes, Esthor was young and arrogant and acted hastily, but even he did not deserve such cruelty, no matter how much the king was hurt.

Having reached his house near the end of a street overlooking the nearby river, Pepin looked into the darkening sky where the first stars had already started to appear. He realized it was already dark and instead of unlocking the front door and entering his home, he changed his mind at the last moment. In the blink of an eye, he graciously shifted into a majestic eagle and soared into the sky, flying away at great speed.

As usual, big thanks to all Fairyfly readers and my beta reader @AusGlitterati 
More drama and a long overdue meeting await us in the next chapter!