Katrina had no idea what Seth really
wanted from her, or even where they were going. All she knew was that they
needed her, and that fact alone was at least going to keep her alive. So, even
though she was scared, she continually told herself that everything was going
to be okay.
Doing
something that would anger Seth was her top worry as they traveled. So Katrina
made sure to be extra quiet at all times and even kept herself awake, as she
had a tendency to be noisy during her nightmares.
When
they finally arrived to their destination, she was absolutely exhausted. Seth
had made her walk the entire time until Barret glanced down at her and realized
she was close to falling asleep standing up.
“Are
you tired?” Barret asked Katrina softly as he picked her up.
“Y-yes,
but… I can’t s-sleep.” Katrina responded with a yawn.
“Why
can’t you sleep?” Barret asked with a tilted head.
“’cus…”
Katrina said hugging herself. “I-I don’t wanna get in trouble…”
Barret
laughed and shook his head.
“Go
on, then.” he told Katrina with a smile. “Go ahead and sleep. I promise that
you won’t get in trouble. And besides,” Barret said glancing at Seth, “we don’t
need you just yet. Seth still has a little bit of work to do…”
Katrina
looked doubtful, but she couldn’t keep her eyes open. So within moments, she
was fast asleep.
“Barret…”
Seth said, glancing back at his brother. “What are you doing with that thing?”
“I’m
making sure she’s rested up, otherwise she’s not going to perform well enough…
Duh.” Barret said, shaking his head at his brother’s slowness. “And clearly
you’re deciding not to take my advice. If you want the girl to obey you, make
her trust you.”
Seth
rolled his eyes at Barret.
“Oh,
you think you’re so much smarter than me, don’t you Barret?” Seth asked, the
bitterness in his voice all too clear. “Well, you’re not, okay? I don’t need
your advice, and I don’t need you to tell me what to do.”
Barret
simply smiled back at Seth.
“Shouldn’t
you get on with your mission?” Barret asked, taking a seat underneath a nearby
tree.
“I
should.” Seth said as he turned away from his brother. “And by the looks of
this kingdom, it won’t take long…”
Barret
watched with a grin as Seth marched off in front of his men.
“Never
could tell when I was manipulating him…” Barret said to himself with a chuckle.
“And neither can you, huh?” he asked in a whispered tone to Katrina. “But the
less you know the better.”
Katrina moved to wrap
her arms around Barret, and Barret stared off into the distance, waiting for
his brother to finish up with his task.
Seth turned to his line of men and raised a finger
to his lips indicating that he wanted total silence. Then he let his gaze fall
onto a secret tunnel outside of the castle gate. He had made it a habit to
study the nearby kingdoms and look for their weaknesses, just in case a situation
like this one arose where he would need to infiltrate them. Although Seth knew
his father approved of all this, he was never aware of just how thoroughly Seth
had studied the castles and their defense.
With
a slight smile on his face Seth started to make his way through the tunnel. He
was fairly sure he knew where the tunnel was going to take them, and from there
he had a plan that was almost fool-proof. All he had to do was make sure they
weren’t detected before then.
Seth
guided his men through the dark, coming to the decision that a torch would be
too much of a risk. But the distance wasn’t very long and soon the group saw a
feint light up ahead. Seth tiptoed over in that direction being even more
cautious than before, until finally they came to a long dimly light hallway.
Right where I planned… Seth thought to
himself very self-satisfied.
Looking
back over his shoulder at his men, he gave them a nod and pointed over to a
door that was cracked open. His men nodded back and half of them marched over
to the room as quietly as they could. After entering the room they didn’t look
around, but went straight for the center of the room where they knew they would
find what they were looking for.
The
other half of Seth’s men where directed to a room on the opposite side of the
hall. They did the same thing as the first group, and once they were finished,
Seth led them through the hallway into the last room they need to be in.
Seth
lost his need for secrecy and silence and quickly burst into the room he was looking
for. The room was rather large and inside he found two people. One was asleep
on a king-sized bed on one side of the room, and the other was hunched over a
desk next to a few lit candles.
When
Seth entered the room, the man at the desk whipped his gaze to the open door.
“Who
are you?” he asked, quickly standing up. He was frowning deeply at the
intruders, and was positioning himself for a fight.
“I
wouldn’t do that if I were you…” Seth said, noticing the palms of the man’s
hands standing to glow. “I know who you are and what you are capable of. But
unless you want your children to get hurt,” Seth said, moving aside to show the
man a young boy and girl both tied up and looking frightened, “I suggest you
keep your fire to yourself and come with me without a fight. Understood?”
The
man’s eyes widened as he saw his children and he stood there for a moment
debating whether or not there was any chance to save them and still fight off
the intruders. Then his shoulders slumped dejectedly and he sighed.
“Alright,
alright… I’ll do what you say. Just leave my family out of this.”
Seth
nodded, having expected this response and unsheathed his sword. Holding it up
to the man’s neck, he led the man out of the room.
“And,”
Seth said without turning around, “will someone please take care of the queen?
I have heard that she’s quite a handful…”
One
of Seth’s men turned around and was slightly shocked to find that the Queen,
whom most of them thought was sleeping, was standing behind him with her dagger
raised. The man quickly pulled out his sword and batted the dagger out of the
woman’s hand. Then he quickly got a piece of rope and tied her hands together.
The woman glared at the man, not seeming terrified despite her situation.
Actually, the woman just seemed extremely annoyed.
Seth
prodded the king towards the court yard, and was met by more than a dozen
guards.
“Tell
them to stand down,” Seth whispered to the king. “Tell them to stand down or my
men will kill your wife and children.”
The
king clenched his fists, but didn’t respond to Seth. Instead he looked straight
forward and spoke slowly.
“Guards…
Please stand down… I don’t know what’s going on here, but I full intend to get
to the bottom of it. Until then… Stand down.”
The
guards all looked at each other in confusion, but they put their weapons away
and let Seth and his group by. Seth led the king up onto a platform and his men
gathered around the edges, eager to see what Seth had planned next.
“Took
you long enough…” Barret said, looking up at Seth.
Seth
turned to look unsurprised at his brother.
“I
have no idea what you’re talking about.” Seth said crossing his arms. “I did
this faster than you ever could have. And besides, it’s not as if you actually
did anything other than watch over that stupid little kid.”
Barret
smirked and shook his head.
“Really,
Seth. I’m starting to wonder if you’re ever going to learn.” Barret said,
glancing to the side to smile at Katrina. “Anyways, you are clearly showing me
that my part in this is so much more important than yours.” Barret held up a
hand to stop the inevitable question Seth was moments away from asking. “Just
wait and see. It shouldn’t take you too long to figure out how my job is more
important.”
Seth
sighed and made a dismissive gesture.
“I
don’t have time for you Barret.” Seth muttered as he returned his attention to
the king. Grabbing some chains from one of his men, Seth bound the man’s hands
behind his back, and then looked at Katrina.
“Come
here.” Seth ordered firmly.
Katrina
glanced at Barret then Seth. She would have liked to stay with Barret, but with
the way the two spoke to each other, Katrina guessed that would only anger
Seth. So Katrina made her way over to Seth, keeping her gaze glued to the
ground.
“I
want you to stand in front of that man and sing.” Seth said very precisely.
“And just so I make myself clear, I want you to finish your silly little song,
and take the magic out of him. If you don’t… Well, if you don’t, I really don’t
see any reason whatsoever to keep you alive.”
Katrina
looked up at Seth timidly.
“B-but…”
Katrina started. “D-do I hafta?”
Seth
growled slightly.
“If
you tell me one more time that ‘it hurts’,” Seth snarled in a mocking tone, “I
will cause you some real pain.”
Katrina
flinched and squeezed her eyes shut. Then she sighed and slowly began walking
towards the man. She was tired of having to sing for everyone as if that was
her only purpose in life. And she hated the fact that if she messed up even
slightly she would be punished or abused.
As
she opened her eyes she wondered if this was how it was going to be for the
rest of her life.
“Hello,
there.” The man said as Katrina stood next to him. “What’s your name?”
Katrina
frowned slightly at the man. Usually the people she had to sing for weren’t
very nice, and they certainly didn’t care one bit who she was.
“’m
Katrina.” She answered shortly.
“Katrina?”
The man asked with a smile. “That’s a really cute name. Which is good because
it definitely matches the person the name was given to, don’t you think?”
This
time Katrina didn’t respond, but simply tilted her head.
“I’m
Edan.” The man continued. “And you know, you kind of remind me of my little
girl. You look like you could be around her age, right? How old are you?”
“’m
five…” Katrina said, with a glance back at Seth. Something gave her the idea
that Seth wouldn’t approve of this little conversation.
“Oh,
see? She’s four, so you two are pretty close in age.” Edan said smiling widely.
His smile lessened when he caught Katrina looking in Seth’s direction. “Are
they hurting you?” Edan asked in a quieter more serious voice.
Edan
scowled when Katrina nodded.
“And
they’re forcing you to do things, aren’t they?” Edan said, this time glaring at
Seth. “What good do you think you’re accomplishing?” Edan said, addressing
Seth. “What could threatening and using this sweet, innocent, little girl
possibly gain you? And is it really that important?”
Seth
huffed in annoyance.
“You
think that just because you demand answers that I’ll just hand them to you?”
Seth snorted. “I don’t have to answer you about my business, or my property.” Seth pointedly directed the
last part to Katrina.
“Well
when your business involves me, then I at least deserve some knowledge of
what’s going on.” Edan argued. “And she,”
he said, nodding towards Katrina, “will never be your ‘property’ no matter what
you do.”
“Shut
your mouth!” Seth shouted angrily. “You have no right to go around telling me
what I can and can’t be doing. You’re the one full of witchcraft! You and that
stupid girl both use magic and that fact alone makes you evil! If it wasn’t for
the girl’s abilities, I would have already gotten rid of her, but for now I
need her. As for you…” Seth quickly moved next to Katrina and grabbed a handful
of her hair. Then he yanked upwards, momentarily lifting the girl off her feet.
Edan
winced as Katrina cried out in pain.
“Stop!”
Edan said quickly. “Just stop… I was the one keeping her from doing whatever it
is you wanted her to do, so don’t take it out on her.”
Seth
glared at Edan for a moment, then glanced at Katrina.
“Start
singing.” Seth ordered.
Katrina
sniffled and rubbed her head lightly. Then, using a voice quieter than a
whisper, she started singing her song.
“Hold
on…” Edan said gently to Katrina. “If you have to sing, could you come closer
so that I can hear you?” he asked with a kind smile.
Katrina
gave a small shrug and glanced at Seth briefly. Then, without waiting for Seth
to say anything or to respond at all, she stepped closer to Edan.
“You
know,” Edan said in a whisper, “I think maybe I can help you out a bit.”
Katrina
tilted her head and glanced at Edan suspiciously. She stopped singing and
looked deeply in to Edan’s eyes.
“I
think you’re a very cute little girl,” Edan said quickly, knowing that Seth
would stop this conversation soon, “and I know for a fact that you don’t
deserve this treatment from anybody. I think I can help you out of this, but I
need your help to do that, okay?”
Katrina
nodded slowly, but didn’t say anything.
“You’re
song does something to my magic, right?” Edan asked Katrina. “I could already
feel it working a few minutes ago. What need you to do is pretend to sing your
song. You can do that, right? If you sing a different song, one that’s not as
magical, then I’ll have enough time to help both of us escape.”
Edan
looked hopefully at Katrina, but Katrina still said nothing.
Seth
growled loudly, infuriated with that fact that Katrina wasn’t doing as she was
told.
“That’s
it!” Seth yelled. He unsheathed his sword and begun to walked towards Katrina.
Katrina
closed her eyes, trying her best to ignore Seth. With a shaky voice, Katrina
started to sing. At first she started out in a whisper, then as her song
progressed she got louder and louder. When she had almost finished, Katrina
opened her eyes and glanced in Seth direction. He had stopped coming towards
her and was now staring at Edan, waiting to see what would happen to him.
The
moment Katrina’s song ended, Edan slumped weakly. A grin slowly appeared on
Seth’s face at the sight, and he strode over to stand in front of Edan.
“See?
All that talking and scheming got you nowhere.” Seth glowered at Edan, then
frowned at Katrina. “And you… You better keep in mind that you are mine. If I
tell you to do something, you better do it the first time.”
Seth
raised his arm. He was moments away from swinging it to strike Katrina when
someone grabbed his arm. Seth whirled around angrily to see Edan out of his
chains.
“What
is going on here?” Seth bellowed, demanding answers.
Seth
glanced quickly down at Edan’s chains, and found that Edan had melted them off
of his wrists.
“I
guess making someone fear you doesn’t work as well as you’d hoped.” Edan said
with a wicked grin. With one hand locked solidly around Seth’s wrist, Edan held
up his other hand which was in gulfed in flames. Then he punched Seth as hard
as he could and let go.
Katrina
watched with wide eyes as Seth went flying across the courtyard and into a
wall. Then, as the majority of Seth’s men attacked Edan, she looked around for
a place to hide. There were no obvious spots in sight, but as she scrambled
quickly away from the fighting, she bumped hard into Barret.
Barret
for his part, was only standing there watching the chaos enfold. He didn’t even
acknowledge Katrina who was standing right in front of him. Not that Katrina
cared. She was just completely terrified and Barret seemed like he was standing
out of harm’s way, so she quickly hid behind him.
Katrina
peeked around Barret’s leg to see if Edan was alright. Although Edan was very
outmatched, he seemed unharmed. It was actually Seth’s men that were at the losing
end of this battle. Within a few moments the majority of the men were working
furiously to beat out the flames that were erupting all around them. Edan
smiled dangerously, seeming unfazed by this whole situation.
“Well,
that was hardly a challenge at all!” Edan said, taunting his attackers. “How
about this? When you guys are done being afraid of a little fire, I’ll beat any
of you in a fair sword fight. Sound good?”
Edan
had only just pulled out his sword, when one of Seth’s men came charging at his
with his own blade. Edan quickly lost all of his joking manner and fought the
man fiercely.
Barret
shook his head as he watched the scene in front of him. Of course his brother
would idiotically hire men who were incapable of handling a man who had the ability
to control fire. And not only that, but Seth’s men were also terrible at sword
fighting.
“And
that leaves me to clean this whole mess up…” Barret muttered under his breath.
Without removing his gaze from Edan, Barret slowly unsheathed his dagger. Taking
careful aim, Barret waited for the perfect opportunity. Just as Edan was
finishing up with one opponent and was about to engage another, Barret threw
his dagger. Then he grinned widely as his knife found its target and Edan
collapsed to the ground.
Katrina’s
eyes widened and she took a few steps away from Barret, horrified that he had
been the one to bring Edan down. Then she felt ashamed and angry with herself
for even allowing herself to trust Barret in the first place.
Barret
took a step towards Edan, then stopped and looked around. Finally spotting
Katrina a few feet away from him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards
Edan.
When
they got closer they saw Edan lying face down on the ground, unmoving. With a
slight scowl, Barret yanked his knife free from Edan’s body and wrinkled his
nose at the blood dripping from it.
“Go
on,” Barret said to Katrina, “finish what you started…”
Katrina
frowned deeply at Barret, then turned to stare sadly at Edan. She knew Barret
wanted her to sing, but she didn’t see the point.
“B-but…
He’s d-d-dead…” Katrina said beginning to sniffle.
“He’s
not dead yet,” Barret said almost sounding disappointed, “but before he does
die, I want to take his magic from him.”
Katrina
shook her head. She didn’t know what to say, but she did know she didn’t want
to sing. Edan had been kind to her, and had been planning to help her. She
didn’t want to do anything that would hurt him.
“Why
aren’t you singing?” Barret asked in confusion, not seeming to be angry with
Katrina. One look at the girl’s face and Barret frowned thoughtfully. “You
liked him, didn’t you?”
Katrina
nodded and moved her gaze to the ground.
“He
probably told you some nice things, didn’t he?” Barret continued. When Katrina
nodded once more, Barret shook his head. “And you’re probably upset that I hurt
him, right? But something that you probably didn’t think about was that he hurt
people too.” Barret extended his arm towards some of Seth’s men who were either
injured or dead.
Katrina
only glanced up for a few moments then looked away quickly. She was confused,
and scared. She had no idea what to do, or even who to trust. Edan had said
that he was going to help her, but he was dying, and as Barret had pointed out,
he had hurt people too. Barret had seriously hurt Edan, but he still didn’t
seem like a bad guy…
Maybe, Katrina thought to herself, the best idea is to listen to Barret before
he decides he wants to hurt me too.
And
with that thought, Katrina made up her mind and begun singing her song. She
didn’t bother singing loud enough for anyone other than herself to hear, but
she sang quickly, trying to be done with this situation as soon as possible.
When
Katrina’s song was done, she moaned and quickly sat on the ground knowing that
she was too weak to stand. Barret glanced down in approval at Katrina, then
took a step closer to Edan. Without saying a word, Barret lifted Edan’s head
and sliced his throat with his dagger.
Then
Barret turned away from Edan’s lifeless body to look for Seth.
“You
know,” Barret called to his brother, who was attempting to stand up, “I can’t
believe you failed to do something so simple.”
Seth
rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to respond when someone else spoke.
“What
is the meaning of all this?” the newcomer said scowling in disapproval. “Seth,
Barret, come here at once!”
Seth
walked quickly over to the man, confusion written all over his face. But Barret
looked as if he was trying to hide a smirk.
“Father,”
Seth said, hurriedly, “what are you doing here?”
“I
could asked you the same thing!” Seth’s father said with a huff. “My orders
were to get the girl and come straight home. Instead you decide to go and take
matters into your own hands, is that it?”
“No,”
Seth said, shaking his head, “I’m sorry, father. But believe me, that’s not
what I was trying to do. I just thought-“
Seth’s
father scoffed.
“No,
Seth, you weren’t thinking. But, you Barret, did the right thing.”
Barret
nodded towards his father.
“Well,
contacting you about Seth’s plan was the only thing I could think to do.”
Barret said, not bothering to keep the grin off his face.
“Yes,
and clearly Seth didn’t have anything in control. As much as I wish this hadn’t
happened yet, I’m glad one of my sons isn’t a complete failure.” With a sigh,
Barret and Seth’s father looked over the whole scene. “Seth, get this mess
cleaned up, and then bring the girl to the castle. And if you have any more
adventures like this… You better believe there will be a serious punishment
waiting for you.”
“Yes,
father…” Seth said staring hard at the ground.
“And
Barret, thank you for keeping an eye on your brother. Sorry if this got in the
way of any business you had to attend to.”
“Oh,
not at all, father.” Barret said, sounding much too pleased with himself. “In
fact, why don’t you go back to the kingdom and I’ll make sure everything gets
tidied up here.”
Barret’s
father nodded, then rode off without another word.
Barret
grinned at Seth, then walked back towards Katrina.
“Well
hasn’t this been fun?” He said cheerfully. “Thanks for your help, kid!
Although, I’m going to apologize in advance for Seth. He’s not going to be in
the best of moods, and quite frankly, I’m tired of protecting you. So… Bye!”
Katrina
didn’t even bother looking up at Barret as he walked off. Instead she stared sadly
at Edan’s body and wished desperately that she was back home with her parents.
At least when she was with them, no one die…
Crawling
over to Edan, Katrina kneeled next to his body.
“’m
sorry…” She whispered, feeling very responsible for his death. “I-I’m really
s-s-sorry…”
When
Edan’s wife and children were released and came rushing over to his body,
Katrina was very thankful that one of Seth’s men dragged her away. Seeing how
heartbroken Edan’s family was, made his dead hurt worse.
And
as Katrina was pulled away from the whole scene, she continued to whisper how
sorry she was to Edan, and his whole family.
