Shadows & Lace (Spellbound Prequel)

Chapter 2: O' Brother Where Art Thou?

It had started small. Appalled by the abuse of the kingdom, Braithe had taken it upon herself to help where she could. Stealing back a bit of the money the tax collectors took, returning it to the poor citizens who could barely afford food. Disposing of thugs who tried to make a bad situation worse. Then one evening she'd helped Jowan as he was beaten by a few overzealous tax collectors. He'd been following in her footsteps since.

Evrei joined after his parents were thrown in debtor's prison when they couldn't pay the exorbitant taxes demanded. They had run into Steffan in the deep woods outside the city when they'd all been about to rob the same gold transport. He had escaped to the woods to avoid the debt collectors and was the one who had started building Nowhere.

"Don't pick at your food, dear."

Braithe looked up at the sound of her mother's scolding voice, her fork stilling from where it had been shuffling scrambled eggs across the plate.

"Sorry." The apology was as automatic as it was insincere. It sickened her that they were sitting in the castle with all the food they wanted, more food than they could possibly eat, while the people outside of its walls were starving. She pushed the unfinished plate away. "May I please be excused?"

Her mother's silver-grey eyes, so much like her own, narrowed for a moment before she nodded her permission. Standing up, Braithe threw a quick look at her father, but as usual he paid her no heed, his eyes scanning some documents on the table. Probably lists of all the taxes collected, she thought unfavourably.

"Do see if you can find your brother," the queen called after her as she was leaving the dining hall. "He didn't show up for breakfast. Again."

Not much later, she found Baudwin in the castle gardens, a place he frequented these days, often with a book. He said that if he could no longer train his body, he could at least train his mind.

"Mother is asking for you," she said, reaching out an arm to help him up from where he was sitting underneath a tree.

"Did she say why?" Her brother took her offered arm and hoisted himself up. She helped steady him and then found his cane resting against the tree and handed it over.

"Of course not. Then you might have found a reason to not see her."

Baudwin's right leg had been crushed by the rubble falling from a crumbling tower during the siege of Messina not quite two years ago, when the armies of the twelve kingdoms had come together to take it back from the Dark God's followers. It had been broken in so many places that it had never healed correctly, and to this day he struggled to walk unaided. Braithe suspected that it was also still causing him a fair bit of pain, but her brother would never admit it. He had been the best fighter in the kingdom, possibly in many of the kingdoms, and a proud man. While maybe he was no longer a fighter, he was still a proud man.

"How goes your training?" Baudwin asked as they walked back towards the castle, his damaged leg slowing them down. A tall man, he was slender, bordering on skinny, his once impressive physique all but gone. The clothes hung limply from his now smaller frame, another reminder of what he had lost. Braithe made a mental note to speak to a tailor to get him some new clothes. She could do that, at least.

"You taught me well, no one has bested me yet." She smiled. "I think you should spar with me again."

He scoffed. "You'd knock me on my arse these days."

"Maybe you need to be knocked on your arse now and then."

The shameless comment made him laugh. She liked it when she could make him laugh, it was so rare these days. Everything she knew about fighting she had learnt from him, and she could never repay him for that. When he had started training her as a young girl, neither of them could have imagined how useful it would become. It had been their secret; it was still their secret. If their parents found out that their precious Princess Braithe was a skilled fighter, they probably would lock her in a tower and throw away the key.

"Seriously though," Braithe said. "I know your leg hinders you from being able to do a lot, but I think you could at least train. If ever needed, you could then at least defend yourself. Come up with some new defensive moves that you can do. There's nothing wrong with your upper body. Other than maybe your head."

"Haha," Baudwin muttered. "You're ever so funny, little sister."

"It's been nearly two years. It's time you stop feeling sorry for yourself." She almost regretted the words the moment she said them, but that didn't make them any less true.

Baudwin stopped walking, resting heavily on his cane as he stared ahead at nothing. Running his free hand through his chestnut brown hair, he sighed. "You're right."

Letting out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding, Braithe smiled and gave him a quick hug. "We can train together again," she said, excited now. "It'll be great!"

"As long as you don't try to drag me out on your nightly escapades." Baudwin chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"No, but maybe you can come to Nowhere sometimes." It was only fair, seeing as her brother had been a big instigator in setting her off on her current path. She was doing what he could not, and he helped by assisting her with tactics and useful fighting tips.

"I'd actually like that. It would be nice to leave the castle once in a while."

"Yes, I imagine you must be running out of books to read by now," Braithe grinned.

Baudwin chuckled. "No, we actually have a rather well-stocked library. You'd know that if you ever visited."

"I have better things to do with my time."

"It must top the embroidering mother has you do while in her presence."

Braithe made a face as they entered the castle and continued down the domed hallways towards their father's cabinet where he spent most mornings in meetings or with his nose in documents and correspondence. Their mother would often stay there with him unless the meetings were extra sensitive in nature. She was a much more hands-on queen than one would normally find, and sometimes Braithe wondered if the shrewdest plans were hers.

"There are books about fighting," Baudwin teased, bringing her back to the present.

"You have my attention."

He grinned. "I'll pick a few out for you."

As they reached the cabinet, she watched as her brother's face grew more solemn again, and he walked taller, trying not to lean on his cane as much. She could only imagine how painful it must be. They knocked on the big oak door, and Baudwin opened it without waiting for an answer. As expected, both of their parents were present, but they weren't alone. Braithe had been about to turn away and leave when she caught sight of the man talking to her parents and couldn't quite keep herself from staring. It was the stranger she had saved last night. What was he doing in the castle?

Their father's face lit up when he caught sight of them. "Ah! Children! Come in! Come in! Let me introduce you to our guest. He arrived only last night."

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