Chapter 2 - A New Home

Straddled on his grey steed, Hastire watched with trepidation as his guards ran off one by one with horse tail set afire. He did not plan to fight their attackers alone, so before the last rider was off he rode after them, screaming and hollering at the top of his lungs which only managed to make them rode ahead even harder. The chase continued for miles.

Then Hastire reined in his horse and blew all his remaining breath into the battle horn. The guards reared and turned back their horses, whose fine tails had by now been burned down to stumps. Their lord scowled at them and though his men were unaffected by the chase, they wore sheepish expressions before his panting form.

"You useless overdressed cowards." He shouted. "Can’t any of you be relied on to do anything?"

After spending some time glowering and catching back his breath, Hastire signalled to his captain, who with three other guards took up the front position. Then came Hastire, flaked by a guard on either side while the rest of his troops trailing close behind. The return was slow and wary as over-alert guards looked suspiciously at every bush they passed and poked their swords at some. Hastire began to calm down, his breathing returned to normal. Then from a distance, they saw the empty pantheon with the dapple mare. They rode ahead slower still, expecting to find Cassia’s burnt and maimed body at any moment.

The area was carefully scrutinized. One of his guards, a tracker, dismounted and studied the ground. He called out. "These are human tracks here. I don’t remember any one of us coming down from his horse. It must be theirs."

Hastire's face turned livid red. Cassia was nowhere to be found, the dapple mare in good condition, the dainty steps of the pantheon was not even let down. A prank, it dawned on him. His mind quickly went over the list of people living near the area. "Nobody mocks I, Hastire, and continues to live. Gad, ride hard to the tower and give the signal to all my spies. They are to scout their area and find out who was home and who was not."

He was pleased with this chance of showing his cleverness to his men. But not pleased about losing his bride. Yes, he would find the one who did this and he would use this person as an example of what he would do to people who took him for a fool.

Merlana lingered at the bottom step of the last platform, which was inside a large cavern under the waterfall. Cassia had expected her to laugh at the hunchback form of Sheorl, who looked as though he had an evil twin stuck to his back, yet she looked very serious. Sheorl walked down the last few steps then he untied the straps round his waist, took off his vest and let Cassia down. A wall of water tummbled down and over a turning wheel in the middle of the cavern. Cassia watched a man climb onto the other platform next to the water wheel, hook a leather swing onto a long chain and sit on it. The moving chain transported him upwards and outwards, taking him out beyond the waterfall and into the night.

A man spoke, "I am sending guards out to patrol the estate borders." Cassia turned her head towards the voice. His back was to a fire and all she could make out was a shock of short pale hair on a head atop broad shoulders. He was also very tall and lean.

"Merlana!" he boomed, "You have outdone even yourself this time. What have you brought upon our household? This is the girl Orwan brags of in the ale houses."

Merlana was a picture of nonchalance as she said, "How would you know that it is her Bulgarth? Even we have not asked her name. Anyway, it was Sheorl that insisted she ride piggy back on him. I only invited her to come; she had not yet said either yea nor nay."

Sheorl muttered under his breath, for he knew she was right. He hoped that her reputation for causing trouble would make his employer overlook her comment.

Bulgarth said, "Of course it’s her. I recognize the dress she is wearing. The sewing woman was doing it when I went to pick up your gown."

Merlana’s eyes narrowed, "My gown? What do you mean my gown? I have no need of a new one at this moment. I am quite comfortable with what I have in my wardrobe now, thank you."

Bulgarth crinkled his brow and was about to retort back a reply when they heard it: The boom of a watchtower gong, carried by the wind from a great distance.

Bulgarth spoke urgently, "We must return to the house now. The first of Hastire’s dogs will be here before daybreak to sniff us out. You will have to find a way to hide her. Wait!" he turned back to look at his sister with one hand slapped on his forehead, "Why am I trusting you with anything?"

A blond medium height man standing next to him said, "It will be difficult to hide her in the manor, Bulgarth. You know we have spies in the house." Like Sheorl he also had shoulder length hair and beard on his face. Another man with the same styled red hair and beard stood close by.

Merlana spoke up, "It is wet and cold in the cavern, Frad. We cannot keep her here. I know exactly what to do. Those men will be looking for a clean, well-dressed, pretty bride. I will just dress her in one of my clothes, cover her hair with rags and dirty up her face a little bit. Nobody who knew her would ever recognize her after I’m done."

Bulgarth’s profile stood out against the warm light of the fire as he thought and Cassia could now see the silhouette of a sharp nose with a flat tip. He did not have a beard although there were light patches of stubble on his chin. He nodded his agreement to Merlana’s plan.

Merlana called out, "Sarah, run ahead of us, and get a fresh set of clothing from my room. She is small; you will have to get something I had when I was littler."

Sarah, who played one of the bushes, sprung up and ran down the tunnel. In a moment, her yellow head was out of sight. Cassia could not find any of the other children and she suspected that most of them had gone off on reaching the last platform. What she did not know then was that, some of the platforms also acted as cross roads, where travelers could glide one way for the manor, and a few other different ways to their own farmsteads. The adults used it as a convenient way to return to their homes after patrolling the borders.

Bulgarth and Frad led the way ahead, while Sheorl and the other man, who was introduced as Hymae, followed from behind. After some trudging in the badly lit tunnel, they heard feet running towards them. Bulgarth lifted a torch from the wall to shine ahead of him. Sarah appeared in his circle of light. She was panting and carrying a pink dress of about Cassia’s size.

"What, that is the worst of all my dresses." Merlana hissed, not daring to shout even though they were in a secret tunnel.

"I had to look for one that people close to you are not familiar with. Else they will know that she is wearing your clothes." Sarah whispered back

Bulgarth was a little offended with his sister’s statement, "I had that dress made especially for your thirteenth birthday. You never even bother to wear it. It was a present to celebrate your blooming womanhood."

Merlana glowered at him from under her eyelids. They had gone through many such arguments before. Much as she loved her brother, he seemed to be such an incurable romantic and she wondered where that attitude came from. On top of that, her brother had very bad taste.

Merlana said, "Well, are you men going to stare at her as she change, or are you going to give her some privacy."

An embarrassed cough filled the passage and the men turned their backs. Merlana and Sarah helped Cassia take off her clothes, including the lacy undergarment.

"This looks extremely useless and uncomfortable." Merlana said to no one in particular.

Bulgarth, who had seen the lace article in the sewing woman’s place, now blushed as an image of what it may look like on Cassia intruded into his mind. She is only a child, he muttered under his breath, not much older than Merlana. Then angrily he slapped his thigh, being shamed by his thoughts.

Sarah called out, "Okay, you can all look now."

Cassia felt ridiculous, for the dress was definitely overdone. Pink ribbons and fake ivory roses sprouted luxuriously around the hem of the skirt. Pink lace decorated an already pink bodice while red, yellow, blue and organdy ribbons danced in a circle round the waist. They were so bright, they actually glowed in the dark.

Sheorl stifled a laugh, "I would give up a year’s wages to see Merlana in that." All three men guffawed, but they choked back their mirth when they saw Bulgarth’s face, for he was the designer of that gown.

The blond man, Frad spoke, "We will have to burn these garments. They are too recognizable." He bundled up the fabric, glancing at the white lace in his hand. The other two poked their heads over his shoulder to get a better view. Bulgarth cleared his throat, for they were taking too long to stare. Sheorl took another torch from the wall, and set the fabrics alight. After it was done, they poked through the ashes to make sure that not a single scrap was left. Torches were returned to their holders and the company fell back in line.

The passage grew ever dimmer and was pitch dark when Bulgarth finally stopped in front of a secret door and slowly turned the handle. It led into a dark corner of a corridor in his manor. Merlana took Cassia’s hand and dragged her down the passage with Sarah following close behind them. The chill of the cold bare floors seeped through Cassia's thin slippers. Parts of the passage was bathed in moonlight, but most was shrouded in dark. Merlana stopped in front of a narrow staircase, and Sarah ran up past her. Soon a cough was heard from above and Merlana pulled Cassia up the stairs with her.

They hurried down a balcony and passed a few doors. Merlana opened the fifth door to their right and they stepped into a bedroom where a dim candle shone in one corner. Sarah shut the door behind them. Immediately the two girls in breeches took off their adventure clothes to put on nightgowns. They slide out a panel in one of the walls and hid their clothes inside. Then quiet and as quick as mice, they slipped into bed.

Cassia, at a lost, remained standing in the middle of the dark room. A moment later, the door creaked and a shadow crept in. The intruder moved slowly towards the bed. It was Luwie, a rider had woken her up a moment ago and told her to check and see if Merlana was in the house. Seemed that there was some trouble in the Olin Field, and the young daughter of that house was suspected of being one of the pranksters.

Luwie tried as best as she could to wipe the sleep off her eyes. A pity the girl’s parents met with an accident two years ago, the servant mused. Her work was a lot easier then, since the mother would always keep a sharp eye on her precious daughter.

Merlana heard the door creaked then with shock she realized that Cassia was in the room. During the trip back to the manor, she noticed how Cassia would only do what she was told to do and not more. Even with her eyes closed, she knew that the girl would still be standing in the middle of the room, because she didn’t remember telling her to sit down.

Luwie held up the small candle from the corner table. She made sure not to stand too close, just close enough to see that it was Merlana and Sarah she was looking at. Once satisfied, she put down the candle and turned to walk back towards the door.

That was when the maid saw her, standing straight and still. Face covered in shadows, though moonlight filtered through the window shone on her from the neck down to a foot above the floor. Her pale skin, appearing blue, and Bulgarth’s pride, the gown, with bright ribbons glowed unnaturally. Hysteria began to build up in Luwie’s bosom then she screamed and ran out the door. They could hear her screaming all the way down the passage to the servants' quarters.

Merlana and Sarah jumped out of bed at the same time, grabbed hold of poor frightened Cassia and hid her behind the thick tapestry next to their bed. Then just as nimbly they jumped back into bed. Heavy footsteps pounded outside the door. When it burst opened, Bulgarth was the first person through. He ran so fast from his room, the candle he held was blown out. He still held it up, high above his head, as though it could still give light without a flame. Sheorl, standing right behind him, lit the candle.

The two young ladies sat up, with the bedcovers held chastely over their chest.

Bulgarth asked in a hard voice, "What happened here, who screamed?"

"It was neither one of us," Merlana answered. "Somebody came in here and started screaming. That was very rude, frightening us out of our sleep like that."

Bulgarth thundered, "Wake up all the servants, find out which one of them came in here?" He was worried. He had planned to smuggle Cassia out of the manor to Monqui, which was about six miles away. Let her stay there with a friend for a week or two, then let her return as a ward to his estate.

The same plan had worked for Sarah, who was the daughter of one of his father’s friends, Nikad. Nikad was an addicted gambler and owed a lot of money to Hastire. In a moment of desperation the father agreed to sell his one and only child as a slave to his debtor. Sarah was fourteen at that time. But after having signed the contract, Nikad took his own life, for the days ahead looked dark with that guilt heavy on his soul. A neighbor rode back to the house and told the aunt about what had transpired. The good woman bundled the child in a large cloak and ran out with her through the back door. Once she was out of sight from the house, she released the girl and told her to run as fast as she could into the woods.

That was where Merlana found her, during one of her escapades. Sarah had lived there alone for over five months. She ran away when it was summer and lived on roots and berries, but winter had started creeping into the land and she did not know how to hunt. Merlana found her because she was too weak with hunger and fever to hide from anyone. Sheorl as usual tracked his young charge from a distance and he carried Sarah home on his shoulders. The young master of the manor told all and sundry that she was a cousin, who had been placed under his guardianship. As to nosy questions over why someone as young as him was given such a heavy responsibility, he explained that Sarah was of about the same age as Merlana and her old father thought that it would be good for her to grow into womanhood together with a cousin of the same age. The answer had appealed to the pretentious nature of the district’s elite. There were no more questions after that.

The ever vigilant Sheorl saw who it was that screamed like some mad thing down the passage, for he was standing guard in a dark corner outside the bedroom. He did not confront Luwie when he saw her because his sharp ears heard the sound of the old bed creaking. Merlana had many friends and a third teenage girl in her bed was not unusual. The scream, however, came as a surprise. For a moment he thought that he had made a mistake, his second one for the night. But he controlled himself and let Bulgarth step into the room first then he followed from behind.

Servants who were woken by the scream came out of their rooms wondering what the commotion was about. The two men, who were with Bulgarth in the tunnel, went to the servant quarters and told all to gather in the hall, for the young master wished to see them. Luwie was nowhere to be seen.

Bulgarth went down to the hall and stood on the second step of the grand staircase, giving everyone a good view of him. He turned to his red-haired man and said, "Hymae, find out where Luwie is." In the commotion nobody noticed that the young master called for a lowly maid by name and even noted that she was not there.

The servants shifted their feet uneasily in the large and draughty hall as they watched their employer’s face. Hand held candles cast long eerie shadows on the floor while evenly spaced lamps along the side of the far walls cast distant pools of light, making everyone feel small in all that dark vastness.

Hymae went to the servants’ quarter, which was located on the ground floor, near the kitchen. Luwie’s door was ajar so Hymae stepped in without knocking and bumped into a bundle protruding out from under the bed. The bundle whimpered. He pulled it out. Luwie’s face, which was wet with tears, stared back at him with pale terror.

"What is the matter with you, speak. Did you not hear your employer calling for all to gather in the main hall?"

Luwie whimpered a reply under her breathing heavy. She implored him with incoherent words as Hymae pulled her up and dragged her into the grand hall.

The secret rider spied through a latticed hall window and noted that both Sarah and Merlana were standing next to Bulgarth. So she could not have been in the field, he thought to himself. He had seen what he needed to know and crept back into the shadows to his horse tied behind an abandoned gardener’s shack.

By then a circle had formed around the terrified Luwie. Bulgarth was playing the concerned master and trying to calm her down. Finally Luwie found her voice, stammering the whole way. "Ghost, dead thing. It was a dead thing in the lady’s room. I could not sleep. The draft was cold, I thought that Merlana may have left her bedroom windows open..., as is her custom. I went up..to..to see if it needs to be shut. I walked in.., then I saw it. Floating in the middle of the room, it was headless... So terrible, it was so pale... It must be a woman ghost. She was wearing the most hideous gown imaginable; a thing from hell!"

Merlana stifled a laugh but it ended up sounding like a little scream. Frightened servants turned to the teenager and tried to say words of comfort all at once. Sheorl twisted his face into a scowl to hide his mirth.

Frad said, "We will check the room." Both him and Hymae sprinted up the stairs. Young female servants sigh to think that there were such brave men living under the same roof with them. When these two reached their destination, they shut the door and gripped their stomachs and rolled on the floor all the while trying as best as they could to stiffle their laughter.

Back in the hall, Merlana said, "It is alright. I have slept in that room this many years, no harm had ever come to me. I would sometimes see her too. I have never said anything, because I did not want to worry anyone. I believe that it was her you saw."

With that she pointed to a woman’s portrait across the hall. A dim lamp threw light on part of the artwork as Luwie’s gaze followed her finger. Lush flowers and curly ferns surrounded the elaborately dressed woman. Poor Luwie swooned and fainted in a heap on the floor and immediately servants rushed to her side, all talking at once.

Under normal circumstances Bulgarth would have told everyone there that his grandmother, the woman in that portrait, had never stepped into the manor, let alone live in it. But the trouble that Merlana had caused that night did not make that a normal situation. In exasperation he thundered, "Everybody calm down. Take Luwie back to her room and send for the physician." The servants rose to obey.

Bulgarth walked up the stairs and signaled for his accomplices to follow him. He stopped outside his sister’s door and Merlana coughed as Bulgarth turned the handle. Hymae and Frad stood in the middle of the room, looking sheepish."

Bulgarth broke the silence. "Where is she?"

Merlana pulled back the tapestry and Cassia stepped out. Stifled giggles filled the air, mingled with snorts. Sheorl left the room to keep watch outside.

Bulgarth picked up a straight-backed wooden chair from the side and put it in front of the bed. The three girls plunked down on the edge of the mattress facing him, with Cassia in the middle. Frad and Hymae took their post behind their young employer.

"Cassia, I plan to send you to town, to one of my relatives for a while. After which, you will return here as my ward."

"Why not let her stay a ghost?" Merlana asked, disappointed with the boring plans her brother was making.

"Because it will attract too much attention to this manor."

"She is far too pretty brother. The servants are going to see and they will talk about her in the marketplace."

"You’re right, but how else can we go about it. We cannot ask her to stay in the dark all the time. At least if she is my ward, she can walk around freely in the manor and the garden."

Coyly Merlana said, "Well if you make her your ward, it will be difficult for you to alter things later on. You would not want people to accuse you of not fulfilling your duties properly now, do you."

Bulgarth did not respond. In the customs of their land, it was the guardian’s duty to find a suitable suitor for his ward when she reached marriageable age. The list of suitors should not include the guardian himself, since people akin it to incest. He cleared his throat and turned to look outside the window.

Hymae asked, "What would you suggest we do my frisky little cousin? Take her in as a maid? She is far too young to be employed."

Well,

The door was slightly ajar and Sheorl had sharp ears. He shook his head in disbelief.

Merlana continued, "I also have some outlandish dresses she can wear. Remember, mother bought some for me when we went to visit Uncle Farling in Kalimy. The women there wore veils, she can do that too." Cassia breathed with relief to learn that she would not be wearing any of Bulgarth’s designs.

Bulgarth thought about the plan. "Where will she stay?"

Sheorl's back stiffened. His employer just asked for more ideas from Merlana; a bad sign.

Merlana said, "She can stay with me of course. You can say that during one of her visits to her father, you noticed how mild mannered and well behaved she was, so you took her in as my companion." One hand waved daintily in the air as she continued, "With high hopes that some of her submissiveness will rub off on me, hence teaching me to be a proper lady."

It was quite a ridiculous excuse but Bulgarth thought it over. He had pulled off a few things in the past and he felt that he could pull this one off too. Living in a snobbish community did have its advantages. Most probably it would set a new trend.

"Very well then, we will do as you say. Sheorl, what do you think?" he called out, turning his face towards the door as he did so.

Sheorl poked his disapproving face into the room. But his heart melted when he saw Cassia’s child like face. He had seen the way that Hastire treated his slaves, and he had also heard of the way Hastire’s stepmother treated his women. He remembered the childish body he carried down the cliff and how it had trembled in fright as they glided down. All of a sudden he felt very protective of her, yes, he grudgingly thought to himself, he would make her his daughter.

The giant resigned himself to his fate, "I will follow along with the plan. But I will not be a pretend father, I will be a real one." With that he disappeared behind the door to return to the watch outside.

Bulgarth looked suspiciously at the spot where Sheorl’s head previously was, wondering what the big man meant by those words. Everything settled, he got up to leave. Frad put the chair back to its original position, giving a thumb up to Merlana behind her brother’s back. Sheorl remained on his seat outside, openly showing that the room was being guarded.

The two teenagers helped Cassia out of her dress, giggling as they did so. She wore one of Merlana’s nightgowns which was far too long for her and slept between the two friends. They were the only three people that slept in the manor that night, without taking into account the still unconscious Luwie.

Bulgarth and his two men walked back down to the grand hall, which was now brightly lit, and stood in the middle of it. He needed to plan out the details of Cassia’s introduction into the household and that was the best place to discuss secrets, since nobody could stand close enough to listen without coming into plain sight.

After the discussion, Bulgarth made his way to the study by going down a passage to his left under the grand staircase and passing the secret door. He lit two wax tapers atop a large oak table then sat on a cushioned straight back chair behind it. About the room, mismatched chairs and stools stood aimlessly, while bound books and yellowed maps filled the shelf lined wall.

Though Bremargh, his father had passed away two years ago, Bulgarth still could not call that study his own. So he sat on his father’s chair and wrote two letters. One was addressed to the priest, describing in detail the horrific happenings in his home that midnight hour, and begging for the good pious man to come and clean his abode. Next he wrote a letter to his friend, Dunwood, a fellow of slight build and shorter than most men though what he lacked in physic, he made up for in intellect.

When the wedding party reached Hallskein castle, Hastire blew his horn and a drawbridge groaned its way down across a muddy moat. The stone covered bailey made a din to herald their arrival and, when the riders came into view, gasps and hushed words added to the noise. Hastire dismounted and passed the reins to a servant before climbing the grey steps in his heavy boots, making sure to stomp his feet with every footfall. A wide polished mahogany door swung open wide before he even reached the last step, and beyond it, bright lights and a grey hall decorated with purple and white banners greeted him.

The dowager of the castle Lady Hamina, his stepmother, stood in the middle of all that space. Her powdered curls piled high above her head and a wide starch collar encircled an old face caked with so much pale powder that if she were to smile crusts would form around her lips and cheeks. Thankfully very little amused her. "Where is your bride? Had Orwan cheated you into buying an invincible creature?"

Hastire straightened his back, "No stepmother, we were ambushed on our way here. Some kind of enchantment confused us, making us incapable of recognizing friend or foe. She was taken in the commotion."

Hamina was shrewd enough not to believe her stepson, for she had lived long and had never come across that magic. If people of such skills existed, she would have found them by now for the furtherance of her own ambitions.

"Well now you see my son. Your reputation for finding the most beautiful women to marry has caused you all this trouble. You know that you are the envy of every man in Netherweld. This fellow must had been watching your habits for some time," she said as she led him in to a drawing room choked in lace and perfumed powder.

Hamina sat down on a very fragile looking purple and blue chair. Hastire went to a seat next to her and let himself down very carefully. There was none of his stomps in his stepmother’s drawing room. She tinkled a dainty bell and a maid brought in tea and bite sized cakes. Hastire would have preferred big chunks of meat and a jug of ale, yet his stepmother’s approval was very important to him.

After she had poured tea into two fragile looking cups, Hamina added sugar and cream into Hastire’s portion without asking for his preferences. He carefully reached for the cup and saucer she held up then they had a chit-chat over meaningless things. Though he tried his best to please her in whatever way he could, Hastire was relieved when his stepmother finally got up to retire for the night.

The matriarch smiled on her way up the grand staircase, glad that he lost the girl. She had gone to Orwan’s house a month ago while the girl slept, with the excuse that she wanted to make sure his merchandise was up to par for her stepson. What she saw displeased her. Cassia was beautiful. Hamina had seen many times the effect of such rare beauty on a weak man. The girl would be a threat to her because Hastire’s obsession would give Cassia control over him. She smiled to herself, ignoring the cracks forming around her mouth.

If not for the immediate need in his growling stomach, Hastire would be a very sad man. He dragged his feet to the guard’s mess hall, where he knew that he would find food more to his liking. Sullenly he ate in the midst of nervous men then with his heart as heavy as his stomach, he ambled back to his room. It was empty, there was no bride waiting for him. He took off his belt, relieved to be free of the tightness, and his outer garments, leaving on his breeches before stretching on his large bed. As he stared up the ceiling he fantasized about the methods and means of punishment would use to torture the person who attacked him that night. The thought cheered him and he promptly went to sleep.

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