The Rogue Lady

Chapter Forty Two

Second of the two updates on 04/08 (US) or 08/04 (EU). I forgot to do it last week so here it is!! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter but didn't overeat on chocolate or eggs.

Now, I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo this month and as I said before, I am working ont he sequel of The Rogue Lady. I don't really know how far I'll get but I hope to finish it during the July sessions =D Surprise!!

Enjoy!! P.S I added the map again.

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I could see Woodfall in the distance, the grayish white walls surrounding the city, the castle somewhere in the middle. The city had spread out all around the castle, unlike in Silverley where the city had spread out in front of the castle and behind the castle were the royal gardens. The inhabitants of Woodfall were a lot closer to their Lord and Lady and always had been, whereas the royal family was kept a little more separate for their own protection, and privacy. I could see the black wooden gates, open as people came and went. The city was always busy but I had thought that they would have closed the gates for a few days since they knew we were coming. Or maybe the word had gone around that everyone should stay inside until the Lord had received us.

William had stopped on one side of me, with Woodfall’s messenger on his other, whereas Eric was on my other side. My archers were around somewhere but they usually made it less obvious; they had other friends at camp as well and often when they disappeared, they were with them. They never ventured too far away from me though, liking to keep an eye on me the same as I liked to keep an eye on them.

“How are you going to go about this? The Queen has soldiers in our city, though, because she is uninformed about your progress at Blackwalls, she has not sent more,” the messenger spoke up, breaking the silence.

Instead of answering the man, William turned to look at me. It seemed that since we had discovered about Sir Arthur’s spell, he now turned to me instead of his knights. I knew he had personally filled Sir Arthur in on what had been done to him; whenever I saw the knight now, he looked to be in shock, and even ashamed when he looked at someone. It was quite a sad sight to see, and I hoped someone could make him see that he wasn’t to blame; especially considering there was still another spy at camp.

“What do you think would be best?” He almost sounded afraid to make the decision himself. Maybe that was because he had been up half the night and had riding half the day. It certainly didn’t put him in the right frame of mind to make a proper decision. Of course, he didn’t know I hadn’t had much more sleep than him, but I didn’t want to worry him.

I gazed at the city and thought of all the soldiers inside those walls who didn’t want me there, who didn’t want any of us in there; they didn’t want any of us anywhere. But those feelings were reciprocal; I didn’t want them in that city either, I didn’t want them in this Kingdom either. And with those thoughts came the bloodlust, the aching in my hands to reach for my blades. It was terrible really; the moment the choice was offered to me, I was instinctively pulled towards bloodshed. The Queen’s men had had their place in the Kingdom before the Queen offered them a military position; killing so many was bound to have some nasty consequences.

“Let me have some fun with them, please?”

Behind William the messenger’s eyes bulged as he heard me say those words, and Eric chuckled in reaction. “My Lady?” he said, shocked. “Sir, should you not consult your knights for this instead of the Lady. No offense to you, my Lady.”

I shrugged; it was nothing new, it was nothing surprising. But he would never doubt me again once he saw me fight. William turned to the man and said, “I have been having slight trust issues with my camp, although I would like to keep it from them all. Right now, her opinion is the one I am going to trust as she is easily the best fighter I have, and one of the smartest.”