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– Ah…» Glen wanted to say something, but I had to look at him so he wouldn’t argue. I may be shy with people, but when the situation calls for it, I have to activate my special «command» mode.
I stopped the blood.
– Who took the arrow out? – I looked at Danny questioningly.
– Denny must have pulled it out of surprise,» Glen answered.
– You could have bled out. Don’t do that again,» I said to Danny. «Give me your sake,» I held out my hand without looking at Glen or Andrew.
– Wow, look at that! – they laughed.
– Not for me. Him,“ I nodded at Danny, „Are you crazy? – and looked at them in indignation.
They got quiet, and Andrew handed me the bottle. I poured some water on the wound, ripped enough fabric from my shirt, and bandaged it up.
– You’ll live,» I said, looking Danny in the eye.
– Thank you,» Danny looked at me appreciatively.
I nodded.
– Take a sip,» Glen handed him the bottle of tincture.
– He needed to rest, to drink something warm and sweet.
– We’ll be here till tonight, and in the meantime there’s a murderer snooping around, and we don’t know who he is,» Glen answered.
– What if it were you? – I squealed. I didn’t look at him; I didn’t like the man. He wants to annoy Ty, so he’s not exactly my friend, even though he acts like we’ve known each other for a long time and there’s no reason to keep me imprisoned between us.
– Let’s get everything together. Quickly,» Glen said to Andrew.
Andrew ditched the fading fire, and we set off.
We rode in silence for a long time.
We got a little behind our companions, and Danny spoke:
– Glen’s not a bad man. He’s a good friend. We went hunting with him once. I hurt my leg that time,“ Danny’s lips stretched into a smile, „I’m lucky, aren’t I? Well, he saved me,“ he went on, „When I couldn’t walk, Glen carried me for twenty kilometers.
I squinted incredulously. Danny didn’t sound suspicious; there was something sincere about what he was saying.
– I heard that Glen was burning down the houses of the poor? – I asked Danny.
One of Ty’s friends had told me about it, Alex, I think; he always liked to talk.
– No. He’d come to the village with the tax collector. There was a thunderstorm, and a lightning strike set the house on fire. It was an accident and a coincidence that Glen was in that house just before the storm.
Danny stared thoughtfully at the white cotton clouds floating in the distance.
– What do you want with me? What do you want with Ty? – I took advantage of Danny’s talkativeness to ask.
– It’s just that Glen likes power. He wants to run your village, too,» Danny said quietly.
– Doesn’t Glen’s lip crack? – I asked.
– I don’t think so. Why do you ask? – Danny obviously didn’t understand me, or pretended not to.
– Because it would be greasy for him,» I continued to sneer.
– Well, we’ll give him some ointment,» Danny said, as if nothing had happened.
Yeah. Now we’re talking.
I pondered the rest of the way. So they kidnapped me so that Ty would resign his powers in exchange for my release, handing them over to Glen. Voluntarily, without bloodshed. But Ty’s only the executor; his father Tarius runs everything in the village.
– You look like a butterfly right now, you know,» Danny squints and looks at me and smiles.
It pulls me out of my thoughts in an unexpected way.
– Why? – I turn around and look at him in surprise.
– Our people have a belief that everything is in our hands. The saints guide us. We obey them. You’re in Glenn’s hands now. If he squeezes his palms, the butterfly dies; if he opens them, it flies away.
– So everything is in Glen’s hands? Not yours and not mine? Then are you in his hands, too? – I asked.
Danny smiled thoughtfully:
– It’s not that simple,» he said, «And I don’t think I look like a butterfly,» Danny squinted again and smiled, winking at me.
What? Did he just wink at me? What’s that? Why? Why did I even turn around and look at him?
We drove for a long time, off-road, or rather, on some scarcely recognizable trail. Finally we arrived at Glen’s estate, beyond which there was a Calshire village.
– Here we are. «Whaley’s next.
– What?» I jumped.
– That’s the name of the village,“ Danny answered, „where the Calshires live.
«At least there’s something permanent in the world. At least the name,» I thought sadly.
Chapter 7. Strange Captivity
A spacious two-story white-stone house, with a sloping roof, tall windows, a heavy wooden door. Huge courtyard with low, recently mowed grass. The stone house must have looked neat and picturesque in the sunlight, but at dusk it seemed gloomy, though it was bright. A long, elongated structure of logs stood at the side of the gate in a yard fenced by a deaf high fence.
Everything in the yard was in motion at our arrival. The girls and boys of the yard rushed in. The former ran from house to house and back, carrying food from the cellar. The lads were doing the harder work – heating the bath, water must have been prepared, because no one was running around with buckets. In a word, the servants were welcoming the master. They dismounted from the horses. I was led into the house and shown the room. The three of us sat down to eat. Glen, Danny, and me. Andrew went home to the village.
I didn’t feel like a prisoner, but I couldn’t leave the house. At the table, Danny felt embarrassed, embarrassed, and Glen sat and ate whatever he wanted.
– You can go to your room and rest,» he generously allowed me after our meal, and Danny will show you out. Just don’t think of leaving my house, darling. The word «darling» sounded sarcastic.
As the son of a wealthy father, the head of the village, Glen had lived well off in his own house. He had moved out of his father’s house not long ago, about two years ago.
Danny told me about Glen’s recent move as he led me up the stairs to the second floor. After a half-dark corridor, we found ourselves in a rather bright room with one window. There was a wide bed against the wall, covered with a beautiful burgundy bedspread embroidered in gold.
– If you need anything, ask one of the servants to fetch me,» Danny said. His gray-blue smiling eyes reminded me so much of someone, but I couldn’t figure out who, Danny looked away embarrassed. I could tell only from his fleeting smile that he wasn’t my enemy.
While we ate, a bath was prepared, and the maid led me to the bathroom.
– What is your name? – I asked when we came out into the corridor.
– Mila, Mistress.
I coughed in surprise.
– What are you doing? What do you mean Mistress? – I stared at her.
– Well, Mr. Glen told me to treat you well.
«Mr. Glen? Gee, there’s a lot of order around here. I didn’t hear Ty referred to as «Master» when we went with him to the Tari’s village. He was addressed by his first name, like a friend or a good acquaintance.
The gorgeous bathtub, filled with warm water with something fragrant, Mila must have added some kind of salt, beckoned me and alarmed me at the same time.
– These are soothing herbs,» Mila explained, seeing that I was hesitant to start undressing.
The scent of the forest, the fragrant soap.
– Yes, thank you. I can take it from here.
– I have to help you in everything.
– So help me. Don’t interfere with the washing. Wait outside the door.
The girl slipped noiselessly out the door.
It felt so good! The warm water enveloped me gently, and the white foam covered the surface of the water like a downy blanket. It was so nice to soak in a warm bath after a long, hard day full of such worries. She ran a sponge over her body, rinsed with cool water from a large jug. The fresh-smelling, cozy, furry robe that hung on a hanger was down to her heels.
Glen’s maid was waiting for me outside the door, and she walked with me to my room.
– Mila, go, please, I’m very tired and want to sleep.
– I’ll help you undress,» she answered eagerly.
– Why? Just go, really. That I do not take off my robe? – I was surprised at such an offer.
– I shall be punished,“ she looked at me pleadingly, „but I was told to be your servant, Lady Fox.
– Lady? Are you laughing?
– Well, you told me not to call you Lady.
– Just call me Lisa. All right? I’ll tell you that you’ve done everything right and the right way. Now go. My eyes are closing from fatigue.
I slept restlessly. I dreamed of a huge ancient room with high narrow windows. Its walls, upholstered with a pleasant purple tapestry, seemed softly woolly, if such a combination is possible. At the very ceiling, decorated with homemade toys and illuminated by numerous candles, they gave the room a mysterious and enigmatic feel. Candles were arranged along the walls and in the center in gilded candelabras. Stitched from colored fabrics, tied from colored threads numerous toys beautifully decorated this huge room with a high, many-meter ceiling
The elegant young girls and boys danced to beautiful gentle music. And musicians tried their best by the wall opposite the windows, playing violins and harps.
Suddenly the sashes of the windows flew open, and cold air rushed in from outside.
From above on ropes came down men in ancient garb. They were friends of my savior. Ty appeared from somewhere. He put a warm palm on my shoulder and put his other arm around my waist. We flew upward, straight to the window. An unknowable force pushed us outside. My friend and I were in the garden.
It was a moonlit night, and I could see quite well. It’s beautiful. We had no time to admire it. We took cover behind the bushes next to us. Alex and Vlad seemed to disappear into the inky darkness as the moon disappeared behind a gathering cloud. Ty and I mounted the horses they’d brought with us, and we rode away from the castle. Nothing disturbed the silence. Only later did I understand why. The hooves of the horses were tied with something soft.
I woke up with a sense of insecurity and a certainty that it was real.
In the morning I left my room to wash up, and somehow I didn’t remember much about the bathroom visit yesterday, forgetting which way we’d walked down the hall and where we’d turned. I was very tired from the turmoil of the evening, so now I had to go at random.
Around the corner there was a staircase downstairs. I went down and found a door. It was locked. Very interesting. Since I had been brought in against my will, why not find out where I was. Let’s see what’s behind the door. I fiddled with a little pin in the lock and managed to open it. The door opened with a creak.
It was not a pretty sight. The walls were gray stone. The massive old chains upon the walls were frightening. A small window was hung below the ceiling, which gave no indication but some light. There were cages of rats along the walls, real gray rats. I left the room as quickly as possible, closing the padlock on the door again to make it look as it was.
I had to climb the stairs and walk the other way down the hall. After getting past the door to my room, I finally found the bathroom and was able to wash my face, went down to the first floor, and looked into the bright kitchen, bathed in the morning sun.
– Hi, Leica.
Danny was sitting at the table.
– Hi, Danny. Are you talking to me?
– Do you see anyone else? – Danny squinted and smiled.
I stepped over the threshold.
– Why Leica?
– You look like a Leica butterfly. They are very beautiful, delicate pink and purple colored butterflies. They fly around a lot before it rains. They seek shelter from the weather.
– I sure could use some shelter. From Glenn.
Danny laughed.
The two of us sat in the kitchen. A large room with wooden cabinets and light yellow curtains, a wooden table, a few chairs, two stoves, a big one and a small one, the big one being used for cooking during the cold season and the small one during the summer.
A teapot with blue flowers, similar to cornflowers, adorned
in the middle of the table. The same mugs and plates were placed around the table.
We sat at the table. Danny was talking about how they had gone to a faraway village last year. I listened and couldn’t hear. His expressive gray-blue eyes were laughing, and his lips were saying something quickly. I could feel goosebumps crawling up my back. What if he sensed something was wrong with me? What if I looked stupid? Emotions flooded through me, my ears buzzing and my heart pounding.
