Chapter 31

Rex jumped up the moment the memories matched about who the person was. He quickly half dried himself, threw on some of the clothes that were put out for him and went in the direction he saw the woman walking. Not having a clear heading, he wandered aimlessly for a while looking into the faces of the maids he saw. Rounding a corner, he ran into Stug who was giving out orders to a man wearing a cloak, getting the man moving he looked back at Rex, eyed him up and down and saw him still half wet and asked hurriedly, “Is everything ok prince?”

“Yes, one of the people you’re looking for is here! I saw her walk past my room” Rex said.

“Really! They have the nerve to try and sneak back in, I will sort this out immediately!” he said and paced off towards his majordomo and said something to him. The majordomo nodded and immediately walked off to the main room of the building. He looked straight ahead and clapped his hands 3 times and then walked outside. Not a few seconds after the third clap all the maids in the building started walking out following the majordomo out into the courtyard, the guards went and checked all the rooms for any who didn’t answer the call. Rex walked outside and was soon joined by Charr and Lizz. All the maids who worked in the keep were outside and lined up into 3 perfect straight lines ready for inspection with the majordomo standing in front of them.

“What is going on?” Lizz asked.

“I told Stug that I saw the woman from the vegetable stall dressed as a maid and in the house as I was closing my door and I’m guessing he has arranged for them to line up to see if she is still here.” Rex concluded.

Stug walked out with his captain of the guards closely behind him and stopped in front of Rex and told him, “All the maids are here, the building has been checked and no one else is inside.”

Nodding his head Rex walked out towards the maids lined up, looking each one in the face before moving on to the next. It was soon apparent that the woman he saw was not in this line up, “She must have run after I spotted her. Sorry for the effort required for this.”

Stug waved his hand and said, “Not at all my prince. If you would please Cam.” He said looking at the majordomo who bowed his head and clapped once. The maids then walked back into the house single file and resumed their duties.

“Stug, we would like to have things prepared for us to leave tomorrow morning at first light with horses, map and supplies please” Rex asked Stug.

“It would be my pleasure” was his reply, “If you could excuse me, I need to go and arrange for your departure and my brother’s funeral.” Bowing his head and turning and walking off.

“Where you think sneak woman go?” Charr asked when everyone had left.

“I’m not sure” Rex said shrugging, “Must have ran after I saw her inside the house.”

“We still have to be careful either way” Lizz exclaimed. Rex agreed with that, he did not want any further complications delaying their departure.

“Let us go eat and then Rex come get strong with Charr” he called to Rex, all this standing around was not making Charr happy.

It was then Rex remembered that he asked Charr to train with him so he could make his body stronger and not have to rely on Fafnir so much. Nodding his head at Charr he asked Lizz, “what will you do?”

“I have already found some interesting books in Stug’s library that are begging for me to read” she replied with a smile.

“Book be boring, skinny Lizz not come get strong with us?” Charr asked, he seemed a little hurt. It seemed Charr did not like to read books even with the benefits of learning.

“No thank you, I leave the strong body to you, I would prefer a strong mind” she replied sweetly putting her hand on his forearm. Looking a little bewildered at her comment Charr nodded and motioned for Rex to come.

Rex hopped into stride beside Charr and headed to the kitchen. Stopping by the chef, Charr asked for meat and bread for them both. The chef nodded and entered the kitchen and a few minutes later came back with boar meat, fresh loaf of bread and a water skin. Charr gleefully took the food and walked outside before turning and looking at Rex, “Bring food outside? Good to eat in sun.” nodding Rex took his food portions and followed Charr outside and sat next to him on a bench close to some large rocks and a hill.

While eating Rex asked, “Why this place?”

“Has good view, and heavy rocks to carry up hill, will make you little chicken legs big like tree trunk” he said booming with laughter and slapping his thighs.

Shaking his head Rex chuckled and said, “If mine get half the size of yours, I would be happy.” Once the food was consumed Charr stood up and started stretching, Rex sighed heavily before standing and doing the same.

“You start small and work to bigger rocks” Charr said handing him a rock that was a foot in diameter.

Rex held it in his arms and looked up at the hill in front of them, this is going to be a long day he sighed. Watching Charr lift a rock 3 times the size of the one he had quite easily made Rex’s jaw drop. He was hoping to have half that strength.

‘You could lift them all with my help’ sneered Fafnir.

‘No thank you, I need to build my own body up” Rex replied. Fafnir just seemed huff at Rex’s comment.

Rex and Charr continued working the routine for next few hours before being completely exhausted, they sat back down the bench both sweating profusely from the effort.

“You did good for little legs prince!” said Charr, clapping him on the shoulder in praise. Rex nodded to him in acknowledgement before saying, “We should clean up before dinner.”

Stranding up and heading back up to his room, Rex had a bath and changed into his fresh clothes he had set out on the bed. As he was heading down the stairs, he noticed Lizz was at the door to the dining hall waiting for them to arrive. Seeing the outfit she had chosen made him smile, it was a light blue colour that made her white hair shine exceptionally brighter than usual.

Once Lizz noticed the look Rex was giving her she could not help but feel the heat in her face start to rise and she started blushing immediately. Hiding her face until she could get a hold of herself she turned back and Rex was almost down the bottom of the stairs. Seeing Lizz waiting, Rex held his arm out for her to take it and said softly, “Shall we?”

Nodding with a smile she took his arm and they both entered the dining hall. Rex noticed that Charr was already here, as well as Stug and another woman they did not know. Once Rex walked into the room, the conversation immediately ended and everyone stood up and stared at him. I guess I will have to get used to this he thought, it was easy to forget that Rex was considered royalty here. He immediately threw up his hands and said, “Please sit.”

Stug nodded and proceeded to sit down, at that everyone sat and then the conversation started up again. Once Rex sat down and the food came out the conversation became quite lively, the woman introduced herself.

“My name is Helena, I am Komo’s sister. I came to visit and then heard he was entertaining a Magnus and I could not leave without meeting one, I hope you don’t mind” she said standing and bowing to Rex. He did not notice Lizz’s face screw up a little at that comment.

Rex also stood and said politely, “Not at all.” Once he sat down, he whispered to Lizz, “His name is Komo, sounds strange.” This made Lizz giggle to herself, she had felt a little jealous that a woman had delayed her leaving just to meet Rex but his reaction to them with the joke relaxed her a little. They ate their dinner with plenty of laughter and conversation, it was a definite change in personality from their first meeting with Stug he seemed like quite a good host. As the friends were leaving the dining hall they were well and truly full from the feast.

“Time for a good night’s sleep, we are leaving at first light” Said Rex farewelling his friends as they went up and walked into their respective rooms.

Rex had risen quite earlier than the others, he wanted to make sure the preparations for their departure was complete. Going down to the stables Rex asked the lead stable hand about the request.

“Yes sir, the chef has already had the supplies sent and the horses are just being finished up and loaded as we speak” he said pointing at the 3 horses that were not too far away.

“Excellent, I’m just going to hang around here for a while until my friends arrive” Rex added with a polite smile. The stable hand bowed his head and walked back off towards the horses being prepared.

It was not long after Rex sat down, he heard Charr’s familiar voice coming from back towards the house, so he hopped up, saw his head over the top of the hedges. Jumping around the corner hedge to scare Charr he let out a boo! Instead of Charr showing any sign of fright he looked at Rex and chuckled, “You make too much noise for sneak attack.” That’s not possible, Rex had not made any sound at all he thought, then he looked down and realized he had walked over the tiny stones next to the hedges which let out a small crunch when stepped on, looking back up at Charr he nodded and said, “You have good hearing.” At which Charr just winked.

“I thought I heard you two” came Lizz’s soft voice from behind them, this made both the boys jump. Rex was not able to get the jump on Charr but Lizz had inadvertently done it instead, the boys looked at each other and laughed.

“Everything is ready my prince” came Stug’s voice from near the stable. Time to go.

“Thank you for the hospitality, and not killing us” Rex said with a wink.

“My deepest apologies for that misunderstanding and I hope you will forgive me” Stug said bowing his head.

“No harm done, and thank you for the supplies and horses, will definitely make the trip easier” replied Rex.

As the friends mounted up, Rex tilted his head at Stug who bowed once more. Rex brought his horse up to a slow trot and proceeded out the northern gate with Charr and Lizz not far behind. They were just rounding a beautiful looking lake when a few birds took off from the water’s edge at the sound of the horses.

‘Duck’ came Fafnir’s voice out of nowhere.

Looking back at the birds again Rex started saying, ‘No, I actually think they are geese…’

*THUNK*

The instant it hit him, Rex left the saddle and found himself flat on his back. Groaning and clutching his chest, Rex looked at what had hit him, not seeing an arrow shaft exiting his body he sighed and sat upright. To his left was a very large blunt ended arrow, that must have been what hit him and knocked him from the saddle. Shaking his head to try and clear it there was a figure coming, must be Lizz he thought. Instead of help, the figure put his foot on Rex’s forehead and pushed him back down again. He heard another voice arrive who helped the first person pin him down, where were his friends and what was going on Rex thought starting to panic a little. Once his eyes started to clear a little he could see the 2 men holding him down and another person rocked up with a strange red glowing stone in her hand and was muttering something. Once she spoke to the stone it started flashing at which point she pushed into onto Rex’s chest, the moment it touched him he felt instant burning pain like the stone had been left in a fire. “What are you doing!!” he cried out struggling against them. ‘Fafnir help me!!’ he called.

‘I…cannot..you..need…to…stop’ was his reply, instead of the usual clear booming voice all he got was like radio static.

‘Let’s see how good you are without his help now you little twerp’ sneered the woman, she pulled the hood back, it was the same woman from the vegetable stall!!

“You!!” he said through gritted teeth, “What did you do to me.”

“You’ll know soon enough” she said with an evil smile.

*Donk*

Suddenly his vision went black, he had been hit on the back of the head with a cudgel to stop him struggling.

“Send a raven to Ean, we have him.”