Chapter 4
 Aquila and Wren laughed.  Years had torn them apart but now they were 
together.  Nothing could separate them now, walking hand in hand in the open field.
 The wind tugged at Aquila's hair until it was flowing gently in the breeze behind 
her.
 Aquila did not want to wake up, but something was tickling her cheek.  Not
tickling...a brushing sort of feeling.
 Aquila's eyes flew open and for a moment she was frozen in surprise.  Trouble had
managed to sit up and move around to her face.  His hand was caught in her hair that
 had obviously been brushed back because she distinctly remembered falling asleep
with half of it over her shoulder.
 Did I just call him Trouble?  Aquila wanted to hit herself over the head.  She had
 given him a name.
 Aquila looked up at him and blinked.  He was looking at her...but was that pity?
 Aquila inwardly frowned.  She was reading him wrong.  What would he pity her for?
 She lifted her head and he pulled his hand out of her hair.  “Who are you?”
 Aquila was completely awake now.  He had just said something.  His voice—it was
unnervingly deep.  “Aquila—and that is all you need to know.  Who are you?”
 “Trouble.  And that is all you need to know,” he replied dryly.
 Aquila almost laughed.  “Are you serious?”
 “Yes.  My mother did not think much of me, so she named me what I was: Trouble.”
 Aquila stood and opened the door slightly.  It was mid-afternoon.  She rolled her
eyes when her stomach let her know what time it thought it was.  Suddenly Aquila
remembered the task that she had set out to do before she fell asleep.  “We have got
 to get your wound cleaned out. Lay on your stomach.”
 Trouble moved to the old rug and settled down.  “Seems like a nice rug.  Hate to
mess it up.”
 “Ick!  I was tossing it out the door when you showed up,” Aquila wrinkled her
nose.
 Aquila retrieved strips of cloth, rags, and a salve that she had remembered Sam
using on many an animals' cut.  There was not anything toxic in it except for the
smell and the gray pasty mixture seemed to work on everything.  She always kept some
 around for any little scrape she might acquire.
 Aquila cut away the old bandage and immediately had to look away.  She would not
be eating anything anytime soon.  After carefully cleaning the surrounding area,
she took a deep breath and started working on the wound itself.  “So...what
happened?”
 “I was ambushed by two thugs.  I resisted and they thrust a spear through my back,”
 Trouble growled.
 When the wound was thoroughly cleaned, she liberally applied the salve.  Bandaging
 it took only seconds and when she was through she sat back and surveyed her work.
 Sam had been a great caregiver to many a hurt animal and even his own brothers and
 sisters on the occasion that one of them cut or injured themselves.  She had
watched every time and now silently thanked Sam for being so patient with her many
questions.
 It was not long, though, before Aquila discovered the cause of all his weight. 
The wound was in his lower back leaving his thick, wide, muscular shoulders unmarred.
 Why did it seem as if he was thinner with his shirt on then when it was off?
 Suddenly she realized Trouble was looking at her curiously from over his shoulder.
 She pulled her hair over her shoulder and turned away to hide her red face.
 Focus, you numb skull!  Your objective is to get him on his feet and out the door
as soon as possible, she scolded herself.
 Aquila busied herself gathering up all the dirty rags into a bundle until she was
sure she had recovered.  Then deciding to allow him to use the cook's quarters, she
opened the door leading to it.
 Aquila grabbed the rug, and after several minutes of hard labor, managed to drag
him next to the bed.  She looked from him to the bed for a few seconds as if looking
 at them would magically make it happen.
 Finally she tried pulling him from above but she could not clear an inch.  Then
she got onto the floor and pushed her arm underneath him.  After some time, she
managed to lift his chest onto her shoulders and stood to her feet, but she could
not get him balanced and fell back.
 Sandwiched in between the floor and Trouble, the wind was knocked out of her and
she could not breath for several agonizing seconds.  When she could breath again,
she sighed.  “Trouble, you are impossible!”
 Trouble pushed himself up a little and chuckled.  “Would you like some help?”
 Aquila's mouth dropped.  “You mean you can actually do something and you just let
 me go to all that work for nothing?”
 “I guess you could say that.”
 “You ungrateful cow!”  Despite her anger, Aquila helped Trouble into the bed. 
Seeing his strength gave her hope for a quick recovery.
 It was not to be.
   **************
 Aquila looked longingly up at the cold dark stairs that led to her room.  When was
the last time she had slept on her crabby straw mattress?  The last time she could
remember was the night her almost perfect solitary life had been harshly interrupted
by trouble.  No, not trouble.  Trouble.  With a capital “T”.
 After lugging him up half the mountain and eventually getting him cleaned up, he
had taken a turn for the worse.  His fever had skyrocketed and she had spent many
sleepless nights trying to keep him alive.
 Eventually she began getting a little sleep, but not much.  It was then that she
realized just how much she missed that old straw mattress.
 Now it had been days...no weeks...or had it been months?  She had lost count. 
Thankfully he had come out of the dive and was gradually climbing back up.  His
fever was gone and his appetite was in full swing.  Unfortunately for him, he had a
good nurse who knew he needed to take small steps after so long a period without
having anything to eat.
 He had been on nothing but broth and cracker crumbs that had been soaking in the
broth for five minutes before being consumed.  It was what he had had the past three
 days.  Now Aquila worked to knead some bread in the kitchen while Trouble was
trying to gain enough strength to walk across the room.
 Aquila shook her head.  She had left the door open and could hear every movement
he made.  His breathing came in short gasps, and instead of picking up his feet in
 actual steps, he was sliding them across the floor.  Just trying to keep himself
balanced was enough to tire him out.
 Hopefully the vegetables and tiny chunks of meat will help him gain a little more
strength.  I am sure if I told him what was for supper he would pick right up,
Aquila mused.
 Suddenly Aquila's hands stilled.  It had been one thing sleeping across the room
from a complete invalid, but with a man who could get out of bed...that was a whole
other matter.  Why was she still in his room anyway?  And when had it become his
room?  It was called the cook's quarters and he was only using it temporarily.
 Aquila finished the task at hand and put it in the oven.  After checking on the
soup, she went to the doorway of the cook's quarters.  Trouble was now sitting on
the edge of the bed, victory written across his face.
 “You look very pleased with yourself,” she stated nonchalantly.
 “I am, thank you for noticing,” he replied cheerfully.
 She wanted to kill him.  Aquila never gave any voice fluctuations, never smiled,
and never said too much.
 Trouble always smiled, was never droll, and always had something to say.  He was
not disenchanted with her like she wanted him to be.
 Oh, Aquila was not normally so dull.  Aquila never thought he was enchanted with
her.  She just did not want to take any chances.
 At the moment, he did not have a clue where he was, and Aquila had all but refused
to tell them where they were.  But as soon as he could walk, he would step outside
the kitchen door and know exactly where they were.  When that time came, she wanted
him thinking she was the most disenchanting person alive and would not bother to
come back when he finally managed to escape this prison.
 “You will be having soup for supper tonight,” she informed him.
 “Yippee!  Jump for joy, if I could.  It is what, my fourth night for soup?” Trouble
 responded sarcastically.
 Aquila wondered if he was not trying to get a reaction.  She was not falling for
it.  “It has got meat in it.”
 He blinked.  He was speechless?  Aquila had to turn her back to hide the smile.
      *******
 Aquila was so relieved to be able to get into town.  She had left everything
Trouble would need for his meals where he would find it and informed him of her
departure.  She would not return until the following afternoon.
 Now she walked with hides that were now ready to be sold strapped to her back. 
She would check her traps just before going into town.  Hopefully she would have at
least five animals ready to be skinned for their pelts.  The last time she had had
only had two and she was pressed for money for the next months provisions.  Now she
had a guest to feed and that would add more pressure.
 When out of view of the palace, Aquila pulled her hair free of the braid.  It was
hot and she would normally put it up to help keep her cool, but she kept it like
that all day long as Trouble was always around.  She just wanted to be free of all
the pressure she felt to act and look bigger than she really was.
 Aquila skipped down the path until she reached the river that came from an
underground spring and she jumped in.  Barefoot as usual, she stood there for a
moment wiggling them in the sand beneath the cool water. 
 Then she walked the riverbed for a good twenty minutes and then cut to her right.  She had seen evidence of a pack of hellhounds roaming around this area and had set a few traps out hoping to catch one or two.  It was just her luck that all three of her traps had found its target. 
 She removed the dead animals from their traps and slung them over her shoulders
and picked up the traps.  She would have to clean them in town and reset them on her
 way home tomorrow.  They would be useless otherwise as other hellhounds would
smell the scent of the dead animals and would stay away.
 After checking her other traps, she was pleased to be taking in fifteen pelts. 
She would be able to buy that new trap she had had her eye on the past six months.
It was big enough that she could catch a bear and it would bring in more revenue.
 Once in town, she went directly for Michelle's.  She was the one person she knew
and trusted in town.  Her barn was the perfect headquarters for her business.
 Michelle was not home so she went straight to the barn and went to work.  It was
not her favorite kind of work but somebody had to do it and there was no one else
there to volunteer.  When the animal was completely skinned, she packed the meat in
salt in a thick deerskin bag.
 Then she took a knife and carefully ran it over the backside of the pelts to help
get as much of the leftover meat off.  After pouring salt into the backside of the
furs, she rolled them and bound them tightly.  She then opened a large wooden crate
and pulled out the pelts she had left to set the last time and shoved her new pelts
in. 
 Unbinding the pelts she had just removed, she dumped them into a lime solution
held in an old trough.  She would let it soak overnight.  It was getting dark and
Michelle still had not come home.  Aquila frowned.  Michelle never liked being gone
past dark.  Aquila could not worry about her right now, and besides the fact, she
would not know where to look first.  Aquila curled up in the hay and fell asleep. 

 Aquila opened her eyes and stretched.  Back to work, she thought with a
half-hearted sigh. 
 Rolling out of her comfortable spot in the hay, she picked up a shovel and
grabbed the barrel.  Her next mission was to collect manure from the livery. 
 Ketura Tomlin was just coming out the front door with a gray and white Appaloosa.  “Pa is inside,” she threw her head in the direction of the barn door.
 “Thank you, Ketura,” Aquila smiled to the grime covered girl and went inside. 
“Lord Tomlin!”
 “Ah, Aquila!  Are you in need of manure?” a man with gray hair encircling a bald
top appeared in surprise.
 “Yes, Lord Tomlin.  Do you have some ready for me?”
 “I sure do.  Where it normally is,” the man motioned towards the back door.
 “Thank you.”  Aquila steered her wheelbarrow through the back door and over to a
smelly trough.  Sure enough, it was about to overflow in fresh manure.  Aquila
wrinkled her nose wondering for the millionth time if there was not an easier way
to delime the pelts.
 Sighing, she threw the shovel deep into the offending mixture and pushed the
handle down.  Aquila loaded the wheelbarrow in record timing and headed back to the
barn behind Michelle's.  There a large concrete basin was loaded with the manure and
 then Aquila used a long wooden pole to push the limed pelts into the manure. 
 Aquila's stomach tried to revolt but she took a deep breath and turned her face
every time until it passed.  When each one was thoroughly coated in manure, she left
 them to soak so she could empty the trough full of lime.  Using a little bit of
manure from the wheelbarrow, she rubbed it all over the trough and then carried
water by the bucket from a well just outside to rid the trough of all other
materials. 
 When she was happy with the relative cleanliness of the trough, she walked around
back and broke off twenty red-streaked stem plants known as Conium off their roots
and threw them onto the anvil.  Along with the Conium, she collected mounds of bark
from oak, chestnut, mangrove, tanoak, and red quebracho trees, Callicoma
serratifolia and myrobalan leaves, and buckets of berries from Rhus coriaria. 
 Then she took a large rock and ground the leaves, barks, and berries into powder
which she mixed in water to make a strong vegetable solution in which she bathed
the pelts just before she went to sleep that night.  As Aquila laid her head down
for the evening, a sigh escaped her lips.  One day she would find someone to help
her do this with. 
      ********
 Aquila rubbed at the small in her back and groaned.  She had been working for the
past few days running a dull knife over the pelts and then going over it
meticulously pulling the last few hairs out of the eight pelts she had just finished
tanning.  In the process she had moved in every position possible to mankind, in
order to be comfortable in her task, but nothing was working. 
 When the job was finally completed, she stood and stretched.  Now would be a good
time to go for a walk.  After walking down the street a ways, she turned around and
walked back.  It was then that she spotted her friend, Michelle, putting up a sign
in her yard.  It read, “For Sale”.  Aquila tapped her on the shoulder.  “You finally
going to sell this place?”
 Michelle whirled around.  “Oh, Aquila!  You scared me.  Um, yes.”
 “What has changed since the last time we talked?”
 “Well, I married Beowulf last week and I do not need the place.  We both decided
that his place was much larger and would would accommodate a family much better than
my place,” Michelle answered.
 Aquila bit her lip.  With this place being sold she would not have a place to skin
her animals. 
 Michelle noticed her worried look.  “I know you use the barn for your pelts and
you must be worried about keeping that place available.  Do not worry.  The barn is
far enough away from the house that I think I can have it arranged so that the barn
is not on the deed.  Therefore I will still own the barn and you can use it as long
as you need it.”
 Aquila smiled.  “That is a relief.”
 “Did you just get into town?”
 “No, I got in yesterday afternoon.  I will be heading home today.”
 “Would you have time for a cup of tea?  The house has not been sold yet and I
planned on selling everything in the house to the buyer instead of moving it with me.
 He already has everything.”  Michelle opened the door and Aquila preceded her in.
 Michelle put a kettle of water over the fire Aquila coaxed to blaze.  They sat
down at the small table in the dining room and Aquila studied her friend.  She was
a rare beauty in her own way.  Everything Aquila was not, Michelle was.  Where
Aquila was short, Michelle was tall.  Where Aquila's skin was dark, Michelle's was
light.  Michelle also had a big bone frame and therefore when they hugged Aquila
felt like she was being swallowed into her friend's body. 
 Michelle's light green eyes sparkled as she pushed her sandy blond hair out of her
face.  “You really should get married, Aquila.  It would do you good.”
 Aquila chuckled and looked away.  “I do not think so, Michelle.”
 A moment of silence ensued before Michelle sighed.  “Oh, Aquila.  Why must you be
so secretive?  I think I am the only one in town who knows you, and yet even I do
not know all that much about you.  Like what is your last name, where you came from,
who your family was, why you hide up in the mountains...you have got to open up to
somebody.  What is wrong with me?”
 “It is too dangerous, Michelle.  I have a dark past that even I do not know all
about.  I cannot afford to open up to anybody and neither can anyone afford to hear
 such things.”  Aquila shook her head.
 Michelle stood and pulled the kettle off the fire.  Pouring the water into the
two cups she had pulled out of the cabinet, she dropped two tea leaves in each cup.
 “I have not told you of my house guest yet.”
 Michelle's eyebrows shot up and she almost spilled boiling water on her.  “House
guest?”
 “He stumbled onto my path a while ago now.  He was injured and unconscious. 
I nursed him back to health.”
 “Him?”
 “Mm-hm,” Aquila replied.
 “What does he look like?” Michelle was curious.
 “Tall, dark, and muscular.”
 “Oh?  When did he leave?”
 “He has not left yet.”
 Michelle had been taking a sip when she said this and all of it now came back. 
“He has not left?”
 “No.  He is just now strong enough to stand and make it to the kitchen.  He is not
ready to leave yet.”
 “Are you ready for him to leave?” Michelle pushed.
 Aquila glared at her.  “Absolutely.  I never wanted him to begin with, but I could
not very well leave him to bleed to death.”
 “So what happened?”
 “Two thugs attacked him.  Sent a spear through his back.  They hit an artery or
something as there was a lot of blood lost and he was still losing when I found
him.”
 “How long do you think you will have him?”
 Aquila sighed and took a sip of her tea.  It was getting cold.  “Probably for
another couple of months.”
 “You cannot wait to get rid of him.  That is not a good sign.  Have you been
talking with him a lot?”
 “Only when I have to.”
 “How much does he know about you?”
 “Not much.  Why?” Aquila's brow knit in confusion.
 “You saved the man's life.  Surely if you would open up to him and let him into
your world, he would learn to love you.  Then all my problems are solved.”
 “Your problems?  Why is it your problem?”
 Michelle reached over and placed a hand on her arm.  “You know how I worry about
you up there.”
 “Me?  What about you?  You lived alone in town for so long.  I should have worried
about you more.  All those men out there who would just love to get their hands on
you and you lived for years here alone.  I am up in the mountains where no one goes.
I am well hidden and can take care of myself just as well as you could here in
town.”  Aquila was getting frustrated.  She did not like it when people tried to
worry about her and tell her what she needed.  She was doing just fine without their
help.  Aquila gulped down the rest of her tea.  “I need to get back to work.”
 “All right.  I live over on Tonica Lane now.  Be sure and come and see me your
next trip into town, you hear?”
 “I will,” Aquila assured her. 
 Aquila made her way back to the barn, a cloud of dread circling above her head. 
Normally she enjoyed working alone, but for some reason, her desire for company was
growing stronger the longer she labored in solitary confinement. 
 She picked up the first one that had originally been a hellhound.  It would make
an excellent pair of boots.  Determined to finish her work as quickly as possible,
Aquila settled into a comfortable spot in the hay with her tools and soon she was
completely absorbed in her work.
 A few days later, she packed her objects into a bag.  They included two pairs of
boots, a nice harness, and two quivers.  It would be tight from now until the next
time she came down to sell pelts.
 After talking to the owner at the trapper's store, he agreed to give her the big
trap on credit.  Once all of her traps were cleaned, her long trek home began.

Chapter 2

Aquila took a deep breath and turned the knob. At the same time a cool draft caught the door and it flew backwards, banging against the wall. Aquila jumped and screamed. There was nothing but a dark hallway. Aquila took a deep breath. Calm down. There is no one else here and what possibly could be living in here besides rats and bats? Just watch out for them and they will leave you alone. Now get a grip!
Aquila took the torch that sat on its anchor beside the door and lit it with the torch she already held. She would need all the light she could get. She poked the torch through the doorway and held it high to help illuminate the hall and eliminate the cobwebs hanging down. If she did live in this place, she would need it slightly decent and she might as well start now.
There were two small double doors just to the left as she started down the hallway and she opened one and poked the torch in. There was an old fireplace at the other end of the small room. Two dusty settees sat opposite each other in front of the fireplace, dust and cobwebs now the only thing taking residence on them. Beside the one to the left on top of a small wooden table lay a tin cup on its side, a dark stain told of its contents now long gone.
Aquila left the door open and turned back to the hall. Torches lined the hall that she now took the time to light. There were two other doorways, one to each side that she opened. Beds lined the walls in each with a small fireplace to one side of the room. The same story in each one: cobwebs, dust, and occasionally a rat or two.
Now the corridor turned at a sharp angle and on the darkness went. She cautiously moved forward, lighting the torches as she went. Her guess was that she had just come through the servants' quarters.
Halfway down the hall she found a set of double doors that opened into a large spacious room that had double doors lining the sides and on the far right were two magnificent oak doors that reached the ceiling. It was no doubt the front of the ballroom. A beautifully ornate chandelier sat in the middle of the floor, a rope going up from it to the ceiling through a pulley. The other end of the rope was rotted and hung loosely halfway down.
Aquila closed the door softly and then continued down the hallway until she reached a door to the left. It's hinges groaned and complained as it revealed a large desk at the far end of a wide book-lined room. A settee sat with it's back to her and there was a small table at each end. A single beam of light that shone through the vine covered window, who's drapes hung half torn from its hooks, rested on top of the desk just beside a small tattered book, a quill and pen.
As Aquila stepped into the room, the feeling of something unknown and mysterious returned and she shuddered. Goosebumps covered her skin as the hair on her neck rose. The air was tense with a sense of dread. Aquila could not understand why. It was an uninhabited room.
Aquila moved around the room looking at the endless volumes of books. There was a row of thick historical texts and she pulled one that lay flat off the shelf. It was the latest dated text on the shelf but it was 200 years old. She ran her finger over the top and dust an inch thick rubbed off. She wrinkled her nose and wiped her finger on her robe. She blew on it and instantly regretted it. Dust flew everywhere, into her eyes, mouth, and nose. She sneezed three times as her eyes started watering to rid themselves of the intruding particles.
When she had finally cleared her eyes of the dust and able to see again, she opened the cover. Just inside was an inscription that read, “Quentin, of the Lucian royalty, in the province of Meru”.
She carefully turned the pages until she found “Quentin”. There was an ink sketch of a magnificent castle in all it's glory. Flags flew at each corner hailing the circular cobblestone drive that came up to a wide staircase that led up to two gigantic oak doors. The grounds were well cared for, rose bushes lined the steps and the drive and the grass was kept well cut. Two guards in full regal attire stood at each side of the doors and two more at each side of the bottom of the steps and a carriage with a coat of arms painted on it's side sat attached to two beautiful white bays just off to the side.
There were two guards that patrolled the top of the castle and just below them on the second floor was a good sized window with beautifully ornate curtains drawn back. The picture was done so well that you could see couples dancing in the ballroom there on the second floor.
A beautiful sunset framed the castle in the background and Aquila felt as if she were there...for a second. The door creaked and she jumped and dropped the book. No one was there.
Aquila scooped up the book and quickly placed it on the shelf. She moved to the desk, her attention was drawn to the book on which the beam of light rested beside. Her heart skipped a beat as she opened it tenderly so as not to tear the fragile pages and read the first line aloud. “The humble recordings of Alverdine Portchi, beloved of Sark Thatcher, of the royal Lucians.” Whatever was causing this dread in her was found somewhere in these pages. "Just what is in these pages that casts such feelings?" Aquila asked aloud.
Aquila read a few entries at the beginning and then moved to the middle of the book. Her eyes scanned the page until they spotted the word, “threatened”. Her eyes focused on that one word for a moment before she went back to the beginning of that entry. It was dated the thirteenth day of the month June, in the year of our Lord, 1224. It was fifty years ago that this entry had been written.
The entry started, “How could I have been so foolish! When I came here I came under the pretense that Sark was a man who truly cared for the people. Even those in his own household. But this morning I walked in on him as he was hitting one of the servants! How awful it was. He may not have done something properly, but it never requires one to hit them! Well, I talked to Sark about it and told him that if this was the way he was to treat those under him, that I would leave. It only proved to aggravate Sark more and he threatened me! I do not know who I am marrying and the wedding date is two weeks away. I thought I knew him, but he is not like I thought at all. After that occasion, he told me that if I thought of leaving again he would...I shudder to think of what he said he would do to my family and I shall not repeat it. I am now confined to my room, the library, and the garden. I am to go nowhere else or he will punish me severely. I pray that he simmers down before our wedding. I do not wish to be abused but I could not run. I tried talking to the servants just after this incident and they ignored me. I do not understand. What did I do wrong? I was trying to help them. But of course it was to be expected. They have never given me much notice.”
Aquila frowned and closed the book. She would take this with her for later reading. Aquila tucked the book into the front of her robe and took a last look around the room before heading for the door.
*********
Aquila slowly clicked the small rusty trap open and pulled away. Wiping the sweat off her brow with the back of a grimy hand, she took a deep breath. She had been walking along for a day now plotting a trapline for her to use as a means for a living and had just now started the turn towards home. The discovery of a wide clear stream would prove useful as a good camping ground as well as a natural source to lure animals with.
After sufficiently covering the trap with leaves, and hoping that the rusty trap would come through for her, Aquila stood and continued on her way. A few hours later she abruptly found herself at the edge of the forest a decently sized thriving village sprawled out before her.
She had known by references made in the books in the library that there was a town nearby but she had not been certain as to the direction it was. Thank you, Deus, for guiding me to this place. Your hand is in this, I know! You are so gracious to provide for me, Deus! she prayed.
Aquila cautiously ventured into town. Halfway down the first street and she could already tell that they were not all too accustomed to strangers. Atleast not from this part of town. Everyone seemed to stop and stare as she walked down the middle of the street. Maybe I should not walk down the middle of the street. That is probably what is drawing all the attention, you numbskull! Aquila mentally laughed at herself.
Aquila walked up and down every street she came to until she walked upon the trapper's store. Venturing inside she studied the wares and then walked up to the proprietor. "Excuse me, sir."
"Yes, my lady?" the older gentleman asked.
"I am new to the area...and I am beginning my trapline. I noticed that you sell furs here and wondered if you would be interested in the future in buying furs from me the next time I come into town?"
A smile lit up his round face, as he replied, "I am always looking to assist newcomers with getting their bearings. You bring what you have in and I will take a look a them and give you a fair price, that I promise you."
Aquila quickly warmed up to the man and placed her small hand in the large brown leathery hand that he had offered. "Thank you, Lord--"
"Lord Boar Knifethruster," he supplied.
"Lord Knifethruster. I am Aquila," Aquila gave a small curtsy. "Thank you for your time and I look forward to doing business with you in the future."
Lord Knifethruster nodded and Aquila moved away. It would be good to have one place established that she could count on. When she did come back with furs, she would learn to make leather out of some to use for other things.
As Aquila stepped outside, she forgot about the porch and fell into the dirt. Aquila lifted her head and shook it. Spitting the dust out of her mouth, she struggled to her feet, barely noticing the hand that was gently helping her up.
A large but nicely fit woman stood in front of her. “Are you alright? I saw you take the fall. That must have come as quite a shock!”
“Yes, I am fine, thank you,” Aquila nodded and smiled.
“Good. I am Lady Fridgeirsen,” the lady beamed.
“Aquila.”
“My home is just two streets down. Would you care to join me for my afternoon tea?” Lady Fridgeirsen invited as she tucked a stray wisp of her sun-bleached hair back into her straw bonnet.
Aquila thought for a moment. She had nothing better to do other than go home and that could wait a little bit. She was certain that if she stepped up her pace, she could certainly make it back to the creek before she had to camp for the night. “I would be delighted, Lady Fridgeirsen. I am feeling a little faint with the heat.” The last part was a lie and Aquila mentally slapped herself for not leaving it at “I would be delighted.” Even with her small stature, she could endure what some people four times her size could not.
Aquila followed silently behind Lady Fridgeirsen as her host talked on and on about the town and all the happenings as of late. Aquila's eyes widened and laughed as she talked of everything from devastating swirling winds to flocks of chickens running through town as if their heads were chopped off.
Before she knew it, Aquila found herself in a messy little kitchen, sitting at an oak table with four decorative chairs. Messy was putting it lightly. It was obvious she was doing some renovations.
“Excuse the mess of things. I'm preparing it for the market,” Lady Fridgeirsen chuckled as she placed a kettle over the cast iron stove. “We just started repainting the kitchen, as you can tell.”
Lady Fridgeirsen moved to sit in the chair beside her, and for a moment, all was silent. Aquila folded her hands and placed them on the table, uncomfortable with the lull in the conversation.
Lady Fridgeirsen placed a hand over Aquila's and squeezed. “You are new to town and young. If you need a place to stay, I would be more than happy to accomadate you.”
Aquila smiled reassuring. “Thank you so much for your kind offer and concern, but I am staying in the eastern mountains far out of town away from harm. You need not worry, Lady Fridgeirsen.”
Lady Fridgeirsen patted her hands. “Well, if you ever need anything, you are always welcome here. And also, please call me Michelle. That is my first name and I would be very happy if you and I could become good friends. Are you planning on coming to the village often?”
“Whenever I check my traps, I will come right through the village,” Aquila informed her.
“Then you must stop in here every time and have tea with me.”
Aquila thought for a moment before deciding that she rather liked Michelle. “I would love to see you, Michelle, whenever I can come through town.”
An hour later, Aquila finally managed to take her exit and quickly left town. A glance at the sky told her she should not have taken so long. Still, she could make it to the creek.
The sun disappeared and the wolves were howling long before Aquila finally came upon the creek. It had taken her a little bit longer to set up the few traps she had plotted for her return trip than she thought. Relieved and completely exhausted, she collapsed under a large oak tree and fell asleep.
*********
Aquila sighed beneath the warm morning sun and opened her eyes. There just in front of her face was the long face of a hideous creature. It's dark yellow scales shimmering in the sun. She could only see one glassy green eye from the angle of the face but it was watching her carefully.
She would have loved nothing more than to run but not knowing how it would react to such rash behavior, she stilled the wild beatings of her heart and remained motionless.
It seemed to sense her conscious state and it moved. Suddenly the warm comfortable feeling left as it rose to it's feet. Aquila blinked as she realized that it had not been the warm morning sun that she felt but the warmth of the gold dragon that had come to cover her overnight.
It turned it's full attention to her, it's wings securely tucked beside it's muscular body. Remembering that Gold Dragons were supposed to be friendly, Aquila moved slowly and cautiously to a sitting position. Still the dragon did nothing.
Aquila cocked her head to the side and did a double-take when the dragon did the same. Aquila straightened her head and then cocked it to the other side. The dragon mimicked her again. Aquila straightened and then leaned closer. The dragon did so as well and Aquila choked back a laugh. “Can we be friends?” she asked the creature.
Remarkably the dragon moved to her side and tucked her safely into the folds of his left wing as if to say yes. Aquila smiled. “Then I shall call you Leo.”
A few minutes later Aquila moved from her spot to the river and waded in. Breakfast would have to be fish as she had forgotten to purchase anything in town. No mind at all. Aquila had taught herself to be a fairly decent fisher at home when she had nothing better to do than to sit by the river and sing.
Ten minutes later she threw a yellow bullhead onto the bank, a safe distance away from the water's edge. Aquila started to turn back but stopped abruptly when Leo stood and breathed fire onto the rebellious catfish.
When Leo pulled back, the fish lay still. She noticed the brownish-gold hue the fish now had and nodded, “Hmph.”
Her attention was drawn away when something shimmered in the water and she prepared for her final catch. Five minutes later she came up with a white catfish this time and threw it next to the first fish. Leo did the same thing and Aquila returned to the banks.
Once the fish were thoroughly cleaned and the meat was taken off the bones, Aquila studied it. The meat was already well done. She took a bite. “Mm, Leo! You need to come home with me. You can be the cook!”
When she had finished the fish, she looked up to find Leo watching her curiously. “Oh, no! How rude of me. I shall catch you one before we go home.”
Ten minutes later and Aquila had him a fish on the bank where he again cooked it. This time instead of standing back, Leo snatched it up headfirst and down the fish went. Aquila dried her hands with her robe and smiled. “We make a good team, Leo!”
Aquila walked upstream for a little ways, Leo's shadow from above the trees following her all the way, until she found a thinner part in the river where she crossed. That night as she walked up to the base of the mountain where the palace sat, she looked up wearily and moaned. She was tired and exhausted but she had hoped she would make it home for a good night's sleep on her homemade straw mattress.
Suddenly, Leo appeared and lifted her onto his back. His long wings expanded to their full length and began flapping gracefully and before Aquila knew what was happening, Leo lifted them both into the sky. They were soaring up the mountain side as a brisk pace and much sooner than Aquila could have imagined, he had them sitting on the cliff where the palace sat.
“Good boy, Leo,” Aquila patted his head. “You can sleep in the kitchen if you like.”
Aquila opened the door and stood inside as Leo looked hesitantly through the doorway. Finally it cautiously ventured inside. Aquila shut the door and patted it's head. “Find you a comfortable spot to sleep, Leo. I shall see you in the morning.”
*************

Aquila pulled at the board. She had been exploring the kitchen for what seemed like hours, the words in the journal playing over in her mind. I found a stash of weapons in a secret compartment in the bottom of the cupboards. It was an accident that I came across them, the compartment was well hidden. I was going through it washing out the mess the rodents had left when my rag caught on something.
Aquila paused for a moment, wondering what servants could hold over a distinguished lady, as the King's betrothed, that would force her to do a servant's job. She shook her head. It was all a certainly dead mystery. At first I thought it was just a large splinter, but when I looked at it, the corner of a board had been dislodged and had caught my rag. I pulled it up and there inside was a pile of spears, daggers, and swords of various shapes and sizes! I could barely believe what I saw, but I touched one and it was real.
Obviously they had not used the weapons to coerce her into working, for she did not know they had any. Suddenly one of the boards moved and she froze. There it was. She quickly prodded at the board until the opposite end came up and she was able to pull it out. It was a long board and instantly she nearly smacked herself. It was longer than any of the other boards in the cupboard and she should have seen that first off.
The board removed, she reached in and felt around. Her hand touched something rough and long. She carefully pulled it out and inspected it under the light. It was a long sword, dull, and rusted over time. There was nothing else in the long deep compartment so she returned the sword and placed the board back over it. She would retrieve her cross pendant later and hide it under the boards.
********
Dearest brother or sister,
I send this letter out with a prayer that it shall find you. I shall press upon my falcons that I wish for you to receive this, but I cannot be sure that they shall obey.
I know that by doing this, I am defying Duard and his direct order. However, I feel I am somehow right to do so. Perhaps it is as Father Andrew said. We need to regard Deus’ will as higher than Duard’s when it comes to moral decisions. I think it is thus with this. If it isn’t, my heart will at least be at peace in the knowledge that I have attempted to contact you.
If you fare well or poorly, please let me know. Pen a reply on the back of this parchment and reattach it to the falcon’s leg. He or she shall return to me with your message, of that I am certain.
Your loving sister,
Wren

Aquila pulled her hair over her left shoulder, as she looked at the palace behind her. She had just come out to get a breath of fresh air when she saw Gavin, one of Wren's gyr falcons, flying in. It had landed just off aways and it had taken her a little time to slowly and cautiously get the falcon's trust enough for her to approach.
Now she returned inside to retrieve her writing instruments. She had managed to come up with an ink well at the town she had visited before finding the castle. The pen had been scarce to find, so she found it very convenient that there was one in the library. She pulled it out of the drawer and paused. Maeron had expressly forbidden them to contact each other. Why? She did not know but how could he find out that they were contacting each other?
Aquila laid the letter flat on the table and picked up the quill. Dipping it into the inkwell, she began,
Dearest Wren,
I miss you terribly. It has been a long hard journey. Talya died halfway into the journey. After a prolonged stay in a monastary, I finally left on foot until I reached my final destination: a long forgotten palace. There are mysteries of which I have yet to discover and could never be told by air that which I have discovered. I fare well and hope this missive finds you doing so as well. All my love, Aquila
Aquila wanted to tell Wren of what she had discovered at the palace and the journal. She wished that Wren were there so she could sit and have a long talk about Mistress Portchi. Alverdine's servants were never respectful to her, though they knew she could complain to Sark, despite her predicament, and they would feel his wrath. Many times she was forced to do their work which she did without complaint in hopes of at least gaining some respect but it just seemed to get worse. They even hit her a few times when her work was below par. Aquila wished to tell Wren of how during one particular morning when Alverdine woke up after falling asleep cleaning the floor of the servants' kitchen, she overheard a few of the menservants talking of executing Sark and running away with a treasure of great value, but she knew she could never utter a word for they would surely kill her. But instead she quietly slipped out before she was noticed. At one time they caught her when Alverdine stumbled across a pile of weapons hidden in the servants' kitchen and she was sure she had seen the last she would ever see but some of the guards employed under the royal guard walked in and found her cornered. It was then that she was escorted out and Sark berated her for not informing him of their mistreatment of her. The servants from then on looked at her with nothing but pure malice and she felt tense for reasons she did not know. Every night she dreamed of the two servants who were talking about executing Sark. Despite her situation with Sark, Sark was her only protection and she would rather face his anger than that of the servants so she knew she would have to tell him soon. The last entry in the journal was dated the morning of her wedding. Alverdine again expressed her fear of the servant's uprising and plans to tell Sark of what she heard the next morning when she was clear of any repercussions from him when he heard of what they were planning on doing. But that was the last entry in her journal. But Gavin could never carry a message so long and heavy.
So far I have only covered the downstairs grounds. I have yet to make it to the second floor where I believe the wedding to have taken place. I must venture to the second floor for surely something up there would tell of the mystery. If someone did actually put the mortar there to hopefully hide the whereabouts of the entrance, who was it? Who came out on top of it all and do they come back every once in a while to check on the place? Oh, to get to the bottom of this whole thing! Aquila stomped her foot in frustration. She hated not knowing the whole story and she would hopefully remedy that tomorrow. Now it was too late and she had to get the letter sent back to Wren.
**********
Aquila sighed as she opened her eyes to find herself tangled in her thin blanket and hair again. This was becoming a routine. Every morning she was all tangled in her bedding and her hair never helped. It got twisted in with her blanket and it was a literal pain to get herself untangled. One day she would not be able to get herself untangled just because of the magnitude of the mess.
Then it dawned on her. Today she had vowed to uncover any mysteries the second floor held. She unwound her way out of the covers, stood, and grabbed the torch. Even in the middle of the day it was rather dark where she did not open windows and still even then it was not so bright, as the vines were so thick, it choked out the sun's rays.
Aquila stumbled to the staircase and looked down the dark expanse. She bit her lip. She slept in a room that was more like a small attic room above the second floor but she had never ventured around the second floor. Why not? She had purposed to explore it a week ago but had not got the nerve up to do so. The wedding that was to have taken place the same day that Alverdine's journal ended on would have been held in the ballroom on the second floor. Something surrounded the second floor...something worse than that of what she had felt when entering the library. It just grew worse and worse at each step she took, drawing her closer to the second floor.
Aquila took a deep steady breath as she stepped onto the carpeted second floor. She lit the two torches on each side of the stair case and then continued down the hallway. The only way she would get the courage to open the ballroom doors was if she went directly there and did not give it a second thought.
The hall seemed to go on and on, an endless tunnel towards the unknown, the torches numberless. The flames cast shadows on the wall as she steadily made her way. Time seemed to stand still, life on pause as the dread rose higher and higher at the thought of what she might find. Why she thought she would find something, she had no idea. It was just an empty room. It was an empty castle. There was no reason for her to dread it. She was on an adventure...it was not working. Nothing she could tell her nerves would work. Her skin was crawling now and her hand shaking.
She almost jumped when she turned to light a torch and it was the door to the ballroom. Quickly recovering, Aquila's shoulders rose in determination. Her hand went to the door knob and she shoved the door open. She stepped inside and lit the torches on both side of the door. Now she turned and jumped. The silence that had pervaded her journey was disrupted with terrified screams.

Chapter 3

Aquila wanted to run. To flee from the room and the castle. Yet her legs were frozen as her lungs emanated high pitched vibrations through the otherwise cold still air. The scene before her...it was nothing but pure horror.
What could have taken place in this room half a century ago to have left such devastation? There, just five feet in front of her, lay the skeleton of a human body. A long sword stuck out of it's rib cage, the clothing that had once clothed it had deteriorated so much that it was barely discernible but the gold badge hanging by a weak thread said that he had been a royal guard. Two feet to the right another skeleton of a guard lay lifeless, the wood floor underneath both skeletons stained with what could only have been blood.
She had come in on the far end of the ballroom. When her feet finally were able to move they plodded forward in between the two skeletons. There were various other skeletons sprinkled around the room, the clothing only hinting at wealth now, after the years of deterioration. One was laying at the foot of a door, as if they had tried to get out, but had not been able to make it.
Aquila trudged on as the scene unfolded in what had to have been sheer terror in the few minutes it took whoever to accomplish. Dark stains splattered the floor. Her pace slowed as she reached the podium. There were four skeletons laying here in close proximity. The two on the right were smaller than the two on the left. The two women's dresses were not quite as deteriorated as they had obviously been the thick gorgeous dresses accustomed to women of stature. The two men's clothing, though, were much like the others. The man on the far left had something intertwined in his fingers.
Aquila stepped closer and knelt. The skull was crushed, which had to have been the cause of his death, as there was no obvious knife or sword markings. She frowned. It was a chain necklace with a cross pendant on it like that of what priests might wear. Why was he holding it? She turned to the other three skeletons and bit her lower lip.
The first man had a knife in his chest and the woman next to him had a knife in her stomach. The other woman's head was in an odd position. Whoever had killed her had grabbed her around the neck and broke it, for when she nudged it with her foot, it rolled away. There were no necklaces or jewelry on any of the other skeletons laying there, or a crown, but Aquila knew instantly that they could only have been Alverdine Portchi, Sark Thatcher, and their attendants. The reason for the massacre was not robbery but whoever had done it had thought to make it look like it. But why was the male attendant holding the priest's pendant?
Aquila pulled the chain free of the skeleton's fingers and studied it carefully. The clasp had been broken. It was possible that in the struggle, the attendant had grabbed hold of the priest's pendant and it had broken free of his neck. But where was the priest? There were various other skeleton's around the room but the one that caught her attention the most was the one that had tried to escape.
Aquila walked over to the skeleton that lay at the foot of the door. His clothing had been black and could have been the cloth that a priest was accustomed to wearing. Her mouth dropped slightly as she noticed the blood stains around him. They were not just stains of a puddle of blood. This man had lived long enough to write in his own blood.
Aquila squatted on her heels to look closer at the writing. Aloud she read, “This day, the thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord 1224, the High King of Lucia, Sark Thatcher, was executed with his bride, Mistress Louisa Alverdine Natasha Maybelle Portchi Thatcher, by their own servants. May God keep their souls.”
Aquila sighed. What a terrible ending. Aquila rose and was headed back for the door that she came out when she noticed that one of the doors was slightly open and blood-stained footprints led up to the door. Had someone tried to get out and succeeded? She opened the door and followed the footprints out the door, down the hall, and down a second servants staircase. Was this one of the servants themselves that had acquired an injury in the struggle?
Whoever it was had escaped for they led out the front door and dissipated down the grand stair case. Aquila pulled the large door shut and returned to the kitchen. She was hungry but after the scene she had seen, she did not feel up to eating. Instead she sat at the table studying the priest's pendant. Her thoughts returned to the pendant that had been left with her. She retrieved the pendant and stashed it in the cupboards.
**********
“Braedoch is no longer home to you...you will depart alone...terrible consequences will follow...I am warning you now...you have three days!”
Aquila sat up suddenly, her breath coming in heavy gasps. She closed her eyes as she pulled her long black hair out of her face and over one shoulder. After a few seconds she stood up and walked to the one window that looked over the rocky expanse that led to the ocean.
She stepped onto the crate she had carefully placed under the window and folded her arms over the window ledge. She could see the stars clearly but no moon. It was on these nights that the last time she had seen her siblings would come to haunt her. What had happened to them after that? Letters had been the only way they had been able to keep up even though they had been expressly forbidden to contact each other. Yet even letters were far and few what with the time that the birds had to take getting from one to the other.
Aquila turned from the window. She would never be able to get to sleep tonight. Her bare feet quickly padded down the hard floor down two flights of dark stairs and and through the back hallway to the kitchen. A back door opened to the small ledge she used as a pathway down the side of the mountain.
Something that only she knew, was that halfway down where there seemed to be a a little cubbyhole full of bushes, was that it was a small hallway into a cavern where a spring trickled out of the rocks and down a deep expanse of blackness. There, she followed a small ledge down the steep cavern to the bottom where the water collected into a little pool until it got too high for the pool and then it flowed over a thin rocky riverbed down to the ocean.
She uncovered the lilac soap she had made just three days before, as she stepped down into the pool. It was not too deep but deep enough for her to take a bath in it. It beat carrying buckets and buckets of water up the side of the mountain to boil for sanitation and then carry by the bucket full to her tub.
She had washed her body and was about to get out when she heard something. All movements stopped and she held her breath. She did not fear being seen unless she made too much noise.
This part of the pool was also hidden in the mountain but there was an opening only big enough for a small horse to get through that she now watched intently.
There it went again...and again...and again. It sounded like the slow steady clopping of a riderless horse. Still, she must wait.
A few seconds later she could see the head and neck of a horse drinking from the river just outside the cavern. It was bridled but the reins lay at a heap in front of the horse. It could mean one of two things: it had run or wandered off from its owner, or it was not completely riderless.
If it was not riderless, who was the rider? Had he somehow discovered her hideout, seen her go into the cavern, and this was an attempt to lure her out, and to test her strength, her ability to fight him off? Or was he injured and unconscious, allowing the horse complete freedom?
After several minutes and no new sound, Aquila gracefully stepped out of the pool and quickly pulled her robe over her head. The amusement some would find over worrying about being exposed to a horse was lost on Aquila as something in her was not quite sure it was alone.
She shivered as her clothes soaked the cold water from her body, making it miserable to be out in the chilly night air. This horse was not starting out on good footing.
Aquila moved ever so quietly to the cave entrance. It was her ability to move without making a sound that allowed her to walk up on a deer unnoticed, and it was this ability that she thanked Deus for as she pushed down the urge to gasp when she saw what looked to be a lifeless body hanging over the side of the horse.
There was not much light due to no moon but her eyes worked excellently in the dark and could tell her visitor was a man. I hate dealing with men! Deus, why a man?
Still with caution etched in every step, she approached the smelly motionless visitor. When no sign of threatening movements came, she placed two fingers under his jaw and put her ear to his face. His breathing was shallow but his heart was strong. This worried her.
If he had been dead, she could have buried him and sold his horse and tackle. Now that he was alive, she could not let him die but neither did she feel comfortable nursing a complete stranger in her home. After all, if her nursing worked, he would wake up and gradually regain his strength. At the same moment this thought crossed her mind, something wet and sticky ran down the hand she held under his jaw. The smell! It was fresh blood.
Alarm slammed through her small body. It had happened within the hour. Who did it? Where were they now?
Aquila took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Questions, questions, and more questions. They would get her no where without a conscious body to answer them. Besides, she did not want to stand there any longer then she had to in risk of getting spotted by his attacker. The question of whether it was a human attacker or something else would have to be determined later.
********
Aquila's foot slipped for the umpteenth time and she paused to catch her breath. Both pathways were too narrow to risk using the horse to ferry her visitor up the mountain. The ledge up the cavern was too steep for her to attempt with him in tow. Now she wondered if she would be able to make it up at all.
For once, Aquila had underestimated everything...almost. First thing, her visitors size. And she had overestimated her own size and abilities. Her guest had to be 6'0 at least and there was no doubt in her mind all his weight lay in his broad shoulders and rather muscular body. All of that against her 4'11” 70 pound body, she was having a grand old time.
For all the animals, and the rare humans she crossed paths with, she always gave a name. She was fighting the urge to give this one a name. Creating an attachment to this large and unwelcome stranger was the last thing she needed.
I am so glad he is unconscious, or otherwise this would be a rather awkward task, she thought, her eyes going to the sky.
Since beginning her struggle up the mountain, clouds had somehow managed to produce and reproduce until they opened up and laid their wrath on her. As if her robe had not been wet enough, she was soaked to the bone and her robe was pasted to her body with a mixture of rain and mud from literally scooting on her side up the mountain.
The one good thing this rain was good for was to help clean the wound in his back. She had torn her robe from the knees down off and with it had successfully stopped the bleeding, once she had found the source.
Aquila looked up at where they were headed and gave a determined sigh. With her left arm she pulled him up farther onto her body, and with her right arm and legs, began dragging them up the ledge. A couple of times her hand or feet slipped and she was sure they were about to plummet down the side of the mountain, but just as daybreak hit, Aquila reached home.
She was so exhausted that she stopped for a moment to enjoy the warmth. Until she realized the warmth was coming from a sticky red mess that was now all over her and her guest!
Aquila growled. “Why me?”
Within the next half hour, Aquila managed to get him into the kitchen on a rug she had been intending to throw out and stop the bleeding. Yet she knew that his wound would need cleaning and that would need water.
Getting water meant going back down the mountain with an empty bucket and returning with a once-full bucket of water that would have inevitably sloshed out to a half-full bucket of water which meant six or seven more trips down the mountain...and back up.
She had attempted to get water from the spring, but the buckets lip was too thick to fit in between the rock wall and the spring itself. Waiting for it to fill up by what little made it into the bucket would take twice the amount of time it would take her to make one trip down and back up and not worth her time.
Aquila grabbed the bucket and opened the back door. Leo had just come home from his monthly rendezvous and and was just making his landing. Aquila smiled. “Old faithful Leo. I do not suppose you would tell me where you have been going, huh?”
For three months now he had been disappearing every night for a weeks time. “Do you have a friend?” Aquila teased.
Leo seemed distressed and Aquila frowned. He snorted and hissed and shook his head. Suddenly it dawned on her. He did not like the smell of fresh blood.
Aquila held up the empty bucket. “I need some water to clean up with, Leo. Wanna help me?”
Leo was a smart dragon and caught her drift rather quickly. He lowered himself onto his belly and spread his wings out. Aquila climbed atop his back. “Good boy.”
Leo lifted his head and wings and rose to his feet. It was only seconds before they were in the air. Leo was not a very large dragon but he was much bigger than Aquila and thus he was able to carry her to the bottom.
Aquila watched the rocks turn into water. “Leo! I need—“
Before she could finish her sentence, Leo rolled to the side dropping her into the cold water. Aquila surfaced and wanted to let Leo have it, but all she could do was laugh. Leo must have thought her intentions were to take a bath and presumed upon himself to accomplish the task.
Leo came swooping down and grabbed her by the arms. Aquila managed to catch hold of the sinking bucket and pull it up with her.
Aquila closed her eyes as Leo took a directly vertical shot up the side of the mountain leaving her in between him and the rock wall. Seconds later she felt her feet touch ground and opened her eyes to see the still wide-open door.
“Show off,” Aquila said.
She looked down at the bucket to find a rather full bucket of water. Hurrying inside she poured the bucket into the gigantic cauldron and started a fire. “Should have had this fire going before I went for water,” she grumbled.
Once the fire was going good, Leo took her for three more rounds. Aquila hoped it would be enough for the morning. Once the water had boiled for a solid ten minutes, she took a towel to grab the cauldron.
The cauldron alone weighed 50 pounds and due to her size she could not move it alone for very long when it was cold, but hot and full of boiling water was impossible.
Remembering different techniques from her older brothers and sisters, she had created a sturdy cast iron rod over the fire that she could use to hang the pot on. It was also movable so that she could pull it off of the fire. Even with this, it was a trick.
With the cauldron now off of the fire, Aquila went to check on her patient. The current bandage was holding up. She put her hand to his forehead to test for fever. He was warmer than usual and would need to be watched, but it was not currently life threatening.
She was about to open his eyelids to check his eyes when they voluntarily opened. Aquila jumped and screamed. She had not prepared herself for when he would actually wake up.
He moved his arm and his sleeve brushed against her bare knee reminding her that she was completely unprepared for a conscious male guest. Aquila jumped to her feet and fled the room.
As hurt as he was, he had made it this far and he would hold on long enough for her to throw on another robe. She was back in a flash but when she came into the room she found him trying to sit up. “No, no, you fool!” she nearly screamed. “I just got your bleeding to stop for the second time and I did not get you all the way up here to have you bleed to death in my kitchen!”
When he continued to try and sit up, Aquila attempted to push him back. The instant her hand touched his shoulder he moved and grabbed her wrist.
Aquila gasped, surprised with the strength he held her with after all the blood he had lost, yet she could tell he was seeing everything in a blur and was not able to intelligently ascertain the situation.
Still, there were many different reasons to fear an injured and disoriented man, especially one his size. Aquila was searching for something to say when he released her arm and fell back onto the rug. Aquila winced. “Lets not get a concussion on top of everything, all right?”
Aquila tried to roll him onto his stomach but with no luck. It seemed all her strength had left her. All the sleep she had lost that night and all the energy spent trying to get him this far suddenly caught up with her. She could not even get off the floor to climb the two flights of stairs to the safety of her own room. Aquila crawled two feet away and fell asleep.

Chapter 1
Aquila shivered in the cold night air as Talya slowly trudged on. For three nights she had been traveling, repeating over and over, "I will make it. I will make it." She did not really mean them but for Aiden's sake she said them.
Town life was sparse along her northerly direction and she felt it pointless to break for the whole night so instead she allowed Talya to set the pace as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
A loud crack split the air towards her left and Talya jolted to life, Aquila screaming as she grabbed for the horse's mane. She held her body low against the horse to avoid low branches as Talya flew through the dark woods for only a few minutes before Aquila suddenly felt the horse falling.
Aquila was thrown and sprawled on the ground, she cried out as the horse rolled over her forcing her leg to bend back in the most painful position. Moments later Aquila opened her eyes to feel something pulling on her clothes. She looked over her shoulder to find the figure of a man crouched over her, one hand on his shoulder and the other putting something in a small pouch she had fixed to the side of her skirt.
Suddenly the man groaned and slumped over her. Aquila wiggled painfully out from under the man's lifeless body just to find her horse. "Talya?" Aquila whispered as she ran her hands down the horse's neck to it's motionless stomach. "Oh, Talya!"
Suddenly she heard someone shout through the woods behind them. Other voices answered as a commotion could be heard nearing her position. Frightened, Aquila tried to stand up but fell back onto the dead horse in pain. Her leg must have been broken in the tumble.
The voices grew closer and closer bringing fear to Aquila's small frame. They did not sound friendly and had to have been the party that had shot the man who now lay lifeless. She did not know the story but she was not sure she could trust the group approaching. Obviously they thought him dead as they were not making precautions to hide their location.
Aquila shoved a stick in between her teeth and forced herself to stand despite the pain. If she could get to the tree just a few feet ahead silently, she could climb it until they had left.
Just when she thought they would appear and find her hanging from the lowest limb, she was able to pull herself up and disappear in the thick foliage. Peering through the leaves she could see five men emerge from the far side of where the man now lay.
"He is dead, all right," one said as he leaned over the man.
"Forget about burying him. No one will find him out here," another man kicked at the dead man's carcase.
"Hey, did he come on a horse?" a third man asked.
Immediately all attention was on the dead horse. Aquila wanted to cry over her poor horse but knew she would certainly give away her position if she did.
"He did but that is not his horse. It took off in the other direction, plus it was a brownish color, not no gray," the first man replied.
"He has not been dead for long," a fourth man surmised.
"His nose is still wet," the first man exclaimed.
"Quick, check Davis' pockets and bags and find that thing so we can get out of here," the last man ordered. "I do not want anybody coming back to their dead horse to find us here."
Aquila listened and watched as they searched the man down and everywhere on the ground. A few even rifled through the one saddlebag fixed to Talya's side. "A woman's horse for sure," one mumbled.
"Where is it?" the fifth man growled.
"We cannot find it!" the first man swore.
"I bet whoever owns this horse has it. She heard us coming and ran for it," the man by the horse exclaimed.
"She cannot have gone far on foot. Search the place!" the fifth man instructed.
Aquila silently climbed a little bit higher as the men spread out and disappeared into the woods. One was headed her way and she was hoping that the foliage would still cover her from underneath. When she could not possibly make it further, she looked down and almost fell out of the tree when she could see the sixth man, the biggest one of them all, underneath her tree. Fear that he would see her shook her body and she knew he could just hear the leaves rustling as it shook from her body's movements but a few minutes later he moved on and she let go of her breath.
Still Aquila remained in the tree. They would surely return to their horses this way. Yet hours later and Aquila was ready to climb down. They must have circled around to their horses a different way.
Aquila shifted and was instantly reminded of her broken leg. Aquila hugged the branch to her chest trying not to scream. She would not know if the men had come from a town nearby raising the possibilities of a passerby hearing her somewhere not far off.
When the pain finally ceased she broke off a stick and jammed it into her teeth. She had to get down despite all pain. She took it limb by limb until she could not take any more. Her hands lost their grip on the branch and she fell from the tree into complete darkness.


The falling. It kept going and going. She never landed. She just kept falling and falling surrounded by complete darkness. Then something warm wrapped itself around her body and on and on the falling went. Aquila opened her eyes and suddenly the falling stopped.
Above her was a high wood ceiling. One torch was lit on the wall six feet from her head but allowed enough light to see bookshelves all around a small room. In the opposite corner a brown robe-clad figure stood, its back to her. Concern flooded her mind just before the figure turned around to reveal a monk.
The man looked at her for a moment before nodding and leaving the room. Aquila picked her head up off of the flat hard surface and pulled back the thick warm blanket to look at her leg. It was wrapped and securely tied to a board. Moments later the door opened again and a girl walked in. "Good morning, Mistress."
"Good morning," Aquila replied once she could find her voice.
"I am Xeldra Blaintoff. I came in this morning to say a prayer and the monks indicated to me that they had a visitor but I did not imagine one so young."
Aquila looked the girl over. She could only be seventeen and yet she called her young? "How old do you suppose I am?"
"Oh, well you...at first glance I would think fourteen," Xeldra answered sweetly.
"I suppose you are seventeen?" Aquila arched an eyebrow at her.
"Yes."
"I am older than you by two years, Mistress Blaintoff," Aquila informed her.
"Oh, I am terribly sorry," Xeldra looked at the floor.
Aquila giggled. "That is all right. I know I do not look it."
"Well, the monks want you to know that you will be welcome here as long as you want to stay. If you ever need food or water let them know. Clothes they can also help with although I am sure it is all brown robes," Xeldra wrinkled her nose.
"Thank you," Aquila smiled to her and then turned to the monk standing beside her.
The monk nodded and smiled in return. Xeldra sat and talked with Aquila for a few minutes before she begged her leave. The monk followed her out and Aquila was left to her thoughts.
Aquila looked up at the ceiling and tried to remember what had happened before she passed out. It suddenly struck her that the dead man had stuck something in her pouch and it was now pressing hard against her thigh. She rolled slightly to the side and pulled her pouch out from under her. Inside was a small red vlevet pouch closed with a single pearl button.
Aquila fingered it for a moment before opening it up. Inside was a small but heavy gold cross with a star-shaped emerald in the center of it. She rubbed her thumb over the emerald and gaped at it.
Just then the door opened and Aquila hid it in the folds of her skirt. A monk appeared by her side with a bucket of water. Aquila lifted her head and accepted the cool drink of water he offered from a crudely crafted ladle.
"Thank you," she said just before he left the room. Aquila pulled the cross out of her skirt and fingered it for a few more seconds before putting it back in the velvet pouch and into the leather one at her side.
Over the course of the next few months, Aquila's leg slowly began to heal, she upgraded to a sitting position where she washed robes, dishes, made candles, and churned the butter to do her part although they turned out to be disastrous. One morning she put a whole in her skirt as she was trying to trim the wicks on the candles. Just hours later as she was lighting a few of them to see if they needed any more trimming, she caught her sleeve on fire and burned her arm bad. The candles did not even look pretty and the robes were more wrinkled than clean and the butter never seemed to come out right. Aquila knew the only reason they did not lock her in a room was out of kindness.
Then when she could walk and had recovered from her mishap with the fire, she kept up those activities but added cleaning chores to her daily routine. Unfortunately they were just as big of disasters as her first jobs were. One afternoon while cleaning a window in the main library, she tumbled off her stool and grabbed a hold of the curtains. It produced a bruised hip and torn curtains that would have to be mended. While mopping the kitchen she tripped over her mop and knocked the bucket over just in time to land in the suddy water.
Finally one morning, Aquila was mopping the main corridor and thinking to herself as she often did what she wanted to do with her life. I think I could really get to love this life. I work from sun up to sun down but it gets me food and board and my robes are not quite so bad.
Now Aquila's leg was completely healed and she could go about her way. Father Suriya had even written a note telling her she could choose a horse from the stables as final payment for all her work. But Aquila was steadily growing to like her place in the monastary.
Aquila paused a moment and leaned on the broom of her handle. "The only thing I lack here is a man," she said aloud. "No one here can have me and that is the one thing I have always longed for."
Aquila sighed and picked up her broom. She extended it out and pulled it back but was stopped abruptly when it hit something. She gasped and turned around to find Father Paduma standing there holding his nose, blood running through his fingers. "Father Paduma! Oh my goodness! I am so sorry," Aquila cried as she pulled a clean rag out of her belt and handed it to him.
The blood kept coming no matter how hard they tried and by the time Xeldra came on the scene, Aquila and Father Paduma were both bloody messes. Xeldra quickly took control and was finally able to bring it under control.
Nevertheless, Aquila hung her head and sighed. She would be packing come morning.
********
Aquila brushed away the leaves from under the big pine tree. She had been traveling by foot for a week. Now she was just too exhausted to go any further. It was a mountainous range that she had stumbled onto two days before. It had been alive with trees until she reached the mountains and then it was nothing but rock. She found it rather strange that this one lone Pine tree should be there, but it was, and she had used it as a shelter for the past couple of days. Now she laid down beneath it's big branches and hugged herself.
“You will make it, Aquila. I have faith in you.” Aiden's last words rang in her head. He had followed her out that evening she had left and assisted her onto Talya. But when she showed the least bit of doubt that his faith had been accurately placed, he had made her say it herself.
As she so often did, she pulled out the cross pendant and fingered it for a short moment. Now she was more than ever determined to make it through.
*******
Aquila trudged up the small ledge on the side of the mountain. The ocean was alive and she enjoyed the cool breeze that blew off the sparkly blue waters beneath her. She had been at this for a couple of hours now and it did not seem like it was going anywhere but the breeze and the smell of the ocean helped to rejuvenate her. She did not know what she was looking for. A place to stay? In these mountains? She was better off going back to town and finding a place there but then again, she would have to face people and that she could not handle. Not anymore.
Aquila was about to turn around and go back when she leveled off onto a large cliff covered in thick, lush, green life. There seemed to be a big rock covered in the beautiful greenery. It was almost like another part to the mountain but something was oddly peculiar about it. She frowned and put her hand into the greenery to feel the wall of the rock. It was flat and not bumpy and jagged like the mountain had been so far.
She stepped back and looked up. The wall went up for a hundred feet. There was a slightly smaller wall on top of the rock. All of a sudden a bird flew out of the smaller wall on top. Aquila's eyes widened. Was that a window in the wall?
Aquila walked around the big green wall. She was completely worn out after the long trip around but now she was convinced more than ever that she had found her a place to stay. The closer she looked at the large wall the more it was evident that it was not just a big rock. It was a palace and most obviously abandoned.
Her job now would be to find the door and clear it so that she could get in and out. Unfortunately it was getting late and the sun was already disappearing behind the mountains. She would camp here tonight instead of going all the way back to the pine tree she had called home the past few days and would wake with the dawn. It was sure to be a beautiful sunrise.
*******
Aquila frowned in exasperation. She had been looking for a door all day and had come up empty. It was nothing but vines, wall, and more vines. She looked up at the retreating sun. Had she really been working that long?
Aquila was about to give up. Maybe this was not a castle. But every time she looked at it the more she was convinced that was what she had stumbled across. Just as she was about to pull away she felt something. It was small and barely even there explaining why she had missed it altogether the first two times. It was a small line that ran straight up and down. She pulled the vines away from it and looked. It was indented slightly and it was a darker gray than the rest of the wall as if someone had put mortar in the crack. Had someone been actually trying to conceal it from the outside world? Was there someone living inside? Surely there was no way someone could survive closed up in there for so long.
Aquila pulled out the knife she had concealed in her robe and began chipping away the thin layer of mortar in the crack. It was easy and with only the help of the bushes to climb on to remove the mortar from the top part of the door she had it finished by nightfall. Unfortunately the same vines and bushes she had used would have to be dug up and moved before she could open the door.
It was the work of another day.
********
Aquila pulled furiously at the base of the vine. She grunted in the effort until she had to pause and catch her breath. She pushed her sweat-dampened hair out of her face. She had been digging with her knife and hands all morning and afternoon pulling vines out of the ground. Now there was only one left but it was the biggest one and was proving to be just as big a challenge as it's size.
Aquila looked around before grabbing the root at the base and throwing her body into an all out battle with the vine. Her face turned red and her fingers white, sweat pouring down her body, as she let out the biggest battle cry her lungs could give. Suddenly she heard the vine groan and she felt it giving way and there was nothing she could do to stop it. “Oh, no!” she muttered as the vine let go of it's hold and she fell backwards landing hard on her derrière.
“Ow!” Aquila almost screamed. There was a rock perfectly situated so that her tail bone landed on the jagged top.
Aquila held up the vine with it is dirt clod vines and cursed it. She stood and winced. It would smart for a few days...maybe even weeks. Just then she remembered the reason she had gone to all that trouble. The door was free of the pesky petiolaris vines and she could open the door. Aquila grabbed the knob and pulled it down. The door groaned and complained with the stress that she was putting on its old rusty hinges but it eventually complied and she was able to get it open.
It was dark inside but the light shining through the doorway revealed cobblestone flooring. Aquila stepped just inside the doorway and felt oddly cool. Just to the right of the door there was a torch and she took it from it is anchor. Now for some way to light it.
Aquila stepped outside and looked inside her small bag for something with which to start a flame. There was a flat stone inside and she pulled it off. She grabbed the rock she had landed on and sat down. Anchoring the torch in between her legs she struck the jagged rock against the smooth one several times. Nothing was happening. She tried some more and finally saw something so she kept at it. Something started going for her and she was able to get a big enough spark to catch the cobweb covered torch.
She dropped both rocks into her bag and took the torch. She held the torch high as she stepped through the doorway into the chilly air of the castle. It was a slightly large room with cupboards along the wall. In the middle of the room was a big black cauldron covered in dust and cobwebs. It hung at an awkward angle as one end was sitting on a blackened hearth and the other half was held up by a rusty chain from a pole affixed above it. This must be the kitchen, Aquila mused. Aquila swung the torch around until she found a door. She opened it to find a pantry. Rats quickly ran for cover from the light behind various tins and hole filled boxes all over the floor.
She shut the door and shivered. She hated rodents. She found a second door. This has to be the door into the corridor, Aquila told herself. As she put her hand on the doorknob it was as if something was awaiting her on the other side. The hair on her neck and arms stood on end. Something was not right about this place. She froze as a cool breeze hit her, taking her breath away.