Tales From The Emerald Isles: Hope Chest

6

Marric gripped her jaw tightly, moving her head from side to side, examining her. "She is beautiful. I'll give him that. But, there are no shortage of beautiful women in our land. Larutte, has the most beautiful women in all the land. To believe that one this beautiful could come from Hylaen is, well, it boggles the mind."

There were a dozen or so soldiers split between Ash, Marric, the hope chest, and the girl, the rest were forming a perimeter around the camp or scouting the area. The area around the castle of Larutte was thick with trees both old and ancient. Marric knew this would provide cover for his troops, but it also meant they could be seen by one of King Alric's sentries without any of his men knowing it if they weren't vigilant in setting up the proper defenses.

The two men closest to Marric heard his remarks about the girl, their princess. They snarled and clenched their fists. He caught their reaction out of the corner of his eye. He pulled her hair. Her eyes jolted open and in the fire light they gleamed the color of violet as the intensity of her blue eyes danced with her own internal rage and that of the fire before her.

"There it is" Marric exclaimed, pulling even harder. "There's a fire in you. That, you see, you cannot find in any of the women of Larutte. Nor in its King for that matter." He released her hair. "Princess Farrah, your father tells me you ran away some five or six months ago. It's a good thing we found you and not any of King Alric's men. The gods know how poorly they would treat the daughter of the Crazed King Caelen. And, to add fuel to the fire, you were masquerading as an Emerald Sister no less. A capital crime, indeed, my poor princess." Marric said.

"Tell me where Euan is. Ash clearly cannot. But, you can. Where is the boy Euan? How did he seal the box?" Marric asked. Farrah nodded gently, motioning with her head for him to come closer. Marric eagerly moved closer. "Where is he?" he asked again softly. She pursed her lips, her mouth was dry, and it was hard to speak. She swallowed dryly. Marric motioned to the closest soldier, "bring water," he commanded.

"Aye, sir" the solider replied before quickly running to get a ladle full of water from the bucket near the tent. The soldier handed Marric the ladle eagerly, "The water sir".

"Here, drink this," Marric said as he moved the ladle to her dry lips. Farrah sipped the water. It was cool and refreshing, like a much needed rain after a summer dry spell. "He's..." Farrah began softly, but her voice seemed to fail her.

Marric leaned in closer. She raised her head quickly, forcefully, smashing it into Marric's face, and as her head hit its apex she spat in his eyes. Farrah laughed as he fell to his knees from the unexpected combination of blows. He wiped her spit from his eyes, rubbed his face, and glared at her like an eagle who had found his prey.

"I'll not tell you where the boy is. He'll find you when he's ready. Just as he found me; as he found Ash." Farrah said leaning towards her captor.

Marric rose up wildly. He gripped her at the throat with his right hand. His left hand glowed with a small flame, "You forget who I am princess... What I can do..." said Marric.

Farrah shifted her face as far away from the flame as she could with his hand around her throat. "I'm not quite sure who you are. We've only just met. Marric, is it?" Farrah asked feigning sincerity. He squeezed harder. Her mouth opened without sound. Marric rolled the fingers of his left hand, extinguishing the fire, then he slapped her across the face so hard she would have hit the floor if she hadn't been tied to the post. She was pulled up by the rope and as she opened her eyes she saw Ash. He was tied with his hands behind his back to another post just to her left. Almost out of sight. His left leg was badly bloodied. His head hung low. She could see one eye was purple and the bridge of his nose was split. He wasn't moving. Her eyes began to well up with tears, not for the pain that had just befallen her, she had received far worse from her father in the months after her mother died, no, these tears were for him. They were for Ash.