Serenity Valley (34 page)

Ox bellowed out, “He broke some
vessels tin the eyes is all, be clearin' up soon
'nough.”

Gamel got on his knees next to Basilea
and took her hand. “Sorry I left you for a while,
Princess.”

Basilea squeezed his hand while
clutching the locket in the other. She said in a faint whisper, “I
kept your heart with me, good sir.” Gamel carefully wrapped Basilea
in the bed roll and raised her from the ground. Cradling her as
tenderly as a baby, he started walking from the field of
battle.

A very excited Ox grabbed Fulk by the
shoulders and said, “Time it is to announce withdrawal from da
field, it is!” He reached for his horn while a cringing Fulk
covered his ears with his hands. Others were not as lucky. Ox took
several deep breaths, then gulped in a huge quantity of air and put
Hades Quake to his lips. The ten-second burst of the high-pitched
warble was said to have stampeded the herd of a nearby tenant
rancher. The entire group groaned and covered their ears. Gamel
looked down to see Basilea’s eyelashes fluttering. The following
fifteen seconds of deep, reverberating bass tone was said to
vibrate the china in the great hall.

Basilea whispered, “Oh,
my.”

“It seems Master Ox is feeling his
oats this evening,” Gamel said.

With Demon on Gamel’s right shoulder
and Mildred on the left, and a mixed group of people following,
they made their way off the field as the sun was setting behind the
Enola Mountains. When they made the turn to follow the path leading
to the main house, hundreds of people with lit torches lined the
roadway. Demon came to full attention and started prancing
majestically. Mildred followed suit and also began prancing as a
queen would. Demon couldn’t stand it any longer and pranced out
from position and started zig-zagging back and forth, from side to
side on the pathway. Every time he neared the bystanders, women
shrieked and men gasped in astonishment as he prominently displayed
his grisly battlefield trophy.

Basilea whispered, “What does Demon
have in his mouth?”

“Just a souvenir from the field,”
Gamel replied.

Basilea forced another whisper. “Is it
a, a...?”

“Yes, I’m afraid it is.”

After a pause, Basilea whispered, “Oh,
oh, oh, my.”

“I’ll deal with it later. Let’s go
home.”

Nearly two thousand people lined the
roadway by the main house and down to the Sirates House turnout.
Every twenty feet or so, someone held a torch. Guests, guards of
visiting lords, and De Ferrier men-at-arms all held their swords in
salute as the procession passed. Gamel said, “They honor you, my
princess.”

“No, they honor you, sir. You saved
the hold.”

Gamel ignored the remark and said,
“Have I told you that the pink of your cheeks is only matched by
the beauty of an early morning rainbow?”

Basilea just smiled and touched his
cheek with her left hand. Her right hand still clutched her
locket.

The sun is sinking behind the
mountains now. I have never seen these colors before, a sunset all
in shades of red and pink. I am alone now. I was looking for
Basilea’s spirit here. I talked to her lifeless body, hoping that
her spirit would be where I am now. She could not answer me. Her
spirit must be somewhere else now, and I am totally alone. Now that
all the things are gone, I no longer have a purpose. Where am I? My
body sits here just some feet from hers, but where has my mind
traveled? I see the sky, and sometimes, a blur passes in front of
me. I don’t know what these things are. My body should have ended,
releasing me, but now my body remains here. I am trapped. My mind
has left without it and waits to be released by the body. This is
not right. I should be free, and my soul should have traveled to
where Basilea’s soul waits for me. I am somewhere in between; maybe
this is purgatory. Why must I wait longer to be set free? I
finished my purpose. All the foul things are gone. Why haven’t I
been set free? My body is hollowed; there is nothing left in it. I
am just an empty shell sitting next to Basilea’s body. I must wait
for my body to end. I will wait here until it ends, releasing my
spirit. Then I can leave this world behind. My body will end in
time. I will wait. Nothing left to do but wait.

Something calls to me. I can hear
something. Is it the spirit world calling to me? Something is
talking to me, shadows in front of me now, just shadows. No, more
than shadows. Wait, the shadows call to me. The shadows calling to
me may know how to guide me. Shadows show me how to leave this
place where I am. I am ready to leave. I am done here. Show me how
to leave my body behind, guide me. Where are you, shadows? Talk to
me, shadows. Where have you gone? I need to leave this place.
Shadows have left. I cannot see them. I don’t hear the shadows
anymore. I will wait until the shadows return. I have nowhere else
to go.

Some time has passed. The
shadows have come back and call to me again. What are the shadows
saying? I will try to hear what the shadow says. I will
concentrate. The shadows sound like Demon. What is Demon saying to
me? Demon must be here, where I am now. I wonder if Demon is
trapped like I am. I can feel Demon’s breath on me now. The shadows
are taking a shape. Now I can see Demon's face. Demon has come here
to be with me. I feel his breath on me. Demon is able to come to
this place. He is here with me now. I can smell him. I can feel his
breath. He is behind me. He rests his head on my shoulder. He is
talking to me. What, Demon? What do you want from me? He talks; he
wants me to see something. He is begging for attention. He is
showing me something. He wants me to see it. Demon wants me to talk
to him. I will try to see what he is showing to me so I can talk to
him. I see what it is. It’s just a piece of one of the things.
Demon shouldn’t play with parts of the man-like things. There is
something else on the piece of man thing. I see it now. There is a
big ring on the piece of man-thing. That is what he wants to show
me. Demon wants to show me the big opal ring that is on the
man-thing. Demon demands I talk to him. He whinnies all the time.
He begs me to talk to him. I will talk to Demon. Demon is a good
boy. He helped me end the foul creatures. “What you got there,
young man? Oh, that’s a pretty, isn’t it? You killed all the bad
things and got you a prize, didn’t you?” Demon’s excited now. He is
prancing and shaking his prize; he is being playful. It feels good
to see Demon playing. He drops his prize in my lap. He wants me to
have the prize. He found it for me. He wants me to have the ring;
he’s giving it to me. “You want me to have your prize, don’t you,
Demon?” He says yes, the ring is mine, it’s for me. But I don’t
like rings, especially big, gaudy rings like this one. I don’t want
a big, gaudy ring. I would never wear it. “No, you keep your
pretty; you found it. It’s yours to keep, Demon.” Demon is excited,
flagging, prancing. He is a child with a new present. He makes me
smile. Demon is cut. I see a gash on his neck. I need to look at
it. I stand now. “Come here, young man. Let me look at you.” Demon
comes to me. “Hey, young man, you got hurt. Look at this cut on
your neck. Did one of the things cut you?” Demon nickers and nods
his head up and down. “We will need to fix this, Demon. Does it
hurt very much?” Demon shakes his head back and forth. “Oh, you are
such a big, tough horse, aren’t you, young man?” Demon whinnies.
“You’re a good boy, Demon, the smartest, toughest, bravest horse
ever.” Demon nickers and puts his head against my chest. I scratch
his ear. There are a lot of people at Basilea’s body. Why does it
take so many people to prepare her body to be moved? I better go
see what is going on. “I’m going to go take care of Basilea now,
Demon. We will go home soon, young man. Go find some mischief to
get into for a bit.” Demon shakes his head back and forth playfully
and trots away. Lots of people here: Ox, Bells, Fulk, the kitchen
staff, and soldiers. Why is Healer Warin here? I see him with
Giselia. They are doing something to Basilea. I stand behind Bells
to watch. People are talking, talking and watching what they are
doing. They say if it works, she can breathe better. My Basilea
breathe? Ox is saying it was good that Ivan checked for breath or
we would never know she lives. My Basilea lives? If Basilea lives,
I will stay in the world with her! The kitchen staff are saying
prayers for the success of the procedure.
Please, Lord, help these good people be successful. Guide
them with your wisdom and compassion. The world is such a better
place for having her. Please, allow her to stay, allow me to care
and look out for her. A more deserving soul you couldn’t find.
Amen.
They are finished now. Giselia is
checking Basilea’s breathing. Now Healer Warin is checking her.
Everyone is happy; everyone is celebrating. Giselia says she will
live. Giselia is very excited; she makes me smile.
Thank you, Lord, for answering our
prayers.
Bells is very happy; everyone is
happy. I must stay in the world now. I must take care of my
Basilea, my beautiful Basilea! Giselia is telling Bells that we can
move her to the house now. Bells asks Ox to arrange for a wagon to
move her. I think not! I speak. “I’ll take her.” I get on my knees
next to my beautiful Basilea. I take her hand; she still holds the
locket in the other. “Sorry I left you for a while,
Princess.”

She is weak but squeezes my hand. “I
kept your heart with me, good sir.” I gently wrap her up like a
baby and cradle her against me. I’m taking my girl home.

When the invaders began the attack and
Ox blew Hades Quake, men-at-arms accompanying the noble families
moved quickly to surround their charges. Soldiers from several
holds soon formed an alliance to set defenses around the main house
complex should any of the attackers splinter off of the main group.
If De Ferrier soldiers failed on the battlefield, these soldiers
would be the last line of defense. As our procession continued up
the path toward the main house, more and more people continued to
line the roadway. Torches were lit to light the way. Soldiers of
visiting lords now fell out to join the noble families and hold
folk forming along both sides of the roadway. News of the battle
had traveled quickly. Nobles, common folk, and these soldiers would
honor those who fought. Word of Basilea’s grave injury and Gamel’s
insanity on the battlefield were well known by the time Ox blew his
horn, signifying the withdrawal from the field of battle. As hold
visitors joined the lines, the number of people along the path
swelled to almost two thousand. As the procession made its way on
the now well-lit path, Demon took full advantage of the opportunity
to bask in his own glory. After all, why else would all these
people gather, but to bestow praise upon his self-proclaimed
royalty? At full attention, tail and head up, with his neck
gracefully arched, he strutted back and forth in front of his
subjects. He couldn’t understand why the people shied away when he
came close to them. They were not praising him for the pretty that
he carried in his mouth, his trophy of war. His human had told him
it was his to keep. They should be telling him how beautiful it
was. To ensure people could see his beautiful trophy, he veered
close to the crowd so they could gaze upon his pretty. When people
gasped or screamed, he would go to the other side of the path.
Perhaps he would get a better response on the other side. When the
procession neared the main house, visiting lords and their ladies
had joined the ranks of well-wishers. Demon approached some of the
same ladies he had entertained two days earlier. Upon seeing his
gruesome trophy, two of the noble ladies promptly fainted on the
spot. Demon took that as the highest compliment. They must have
been overwhelmed by the immense beauty of his pretty. Mildred had
fallen into her usual place on Gamel’s left shoulder. She was proud
and pranced in her best erect pose. Seeing the devastating effect
Demon was having on the crowd by presenting them his souvenir arm,
Gamel spoke to Mildred. “Mildred, isn’t there anything you can do
to control him?” Mildred’s erect pose sank like a stone on water.
Her tail fell, her ears pinned back, and her head dropped as she
looked away from Demon in disgust. She slowly shook her head back
and forth miserably. “It’s okay, Mildred. I know, there isn’t
anything I can do about it right now, either. Mildred, you are such
a good horse, and you were a very brave girl today. I’m very proud
of you, very, very proud!” Mildred was immediately revived. Her
tail flagged, head popped up, and ears pricked forward. She was
instantly renewed appropriately for the occasion.

At Sirates House, Lord Goodwin was
being attended to by Healer Umfrey. Goodwin’s wound had been
cleaned with boiled wine and a poultice applied. A fresh dressing
was secured by wrapping white linen over his shoulder and around
his chest. The new dressing immediately began wicking up blood from
the wound, leaving a red blotch on the white cloth. Healer Umfrey
spoke. “My lord, the wound has been cleaned and packed with a
drawing poultice. The poultice should draw out any festering that
may try un take root. You were very lucky, my lord. The weapon
missed all vital organs and bone. Although the wound is painful and
has caused considerable blood loss, you should manage a total
recovery. The wound must be cleaned three times daily and
redressed, but you will be on your feet in a short
time.”

Goodwin replied, “Thank you, Master
Umfrey. Your attentions are greatly appreciated. You may go now and
attend the wounded men awaiting your care.”