Andrew Darklore: The Lunar Blade

Chapter 11 : Friend from the Castle

"My sister will get you the shirt," Oliver said to Andrew. Oliver's sister worked with other women to wash the clothes of everyone in the town. Another group of women was tasked with mending and stitching clothes.

"Oliver," A soft voice said fragilely. On the door, stood the young woman Andrew had seen the previous night. She was dressed in a faded blue dress and a dirty apron. Her brown hair was tied up in a messy bun and some flicks of hair fell on her face. Her face was fair and clean except for a light brown streak of dust on her cheek. She was holding a cloth in her hands.

"Liz," Oliver said, taking hold of the shirt she had brought and passing it to Andrew.

"Andrew," Oliver said, "This is my sister Liza. Liza, this is Andrew."

Liza's eyes flickered to Andrew who gave her a smile and a wave. She lightly nodded her head in response.

"Liz, are you done with your work?" Oliver asked as Andrew put on the shirt.

"Almost," Liza replied, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Better."

"Uh...the buttons are broken," Andrew said. There were only four buttons at the bottom. The top ones, on the other hand, were missing. His shirt failed to cover the upper portion of his torso.

As she looked at the boy, Liza's ears turned red. This didn't go unnoticed by Oliver who scowled at her and then at Andrew.

"You don't have to keep it wide open," Oliver said, annoyed. Then he turned to his sister and said, "Thanks for your help, Liz. I think you need to catch up with your work."

Oliver gave her a pointed look. She nodded and hurried away, leaving the two boys alone. Andrew had given up on trying to fasten the buttons and said, "That was rude, mate."

"Whatever," Oliver grumbled, "Now come with me. You have a lot of work to do."

"Yeah, I remember," Andrew said, rolling his eyes. Just as the two were about to leave, they spotted their supervisor coming to them. As soon as he saw her, Oliver delivered a sharp slap on Andrew's upper back.

"Oi!" Andrew exclaimed and rubbed that spot while glaring at the other boy.

"I see that Lord William has given you your punishment," said the woman, who had finally come up to them. Apparently, she hadn't seen Oliver hitting Andrew, and had mistook Andrew's pain for the pain of whipping. Andrew suppressed the curses that his mouth was eager to spout and just gave her a tight smile.

"All thanks to you."

"You haven't lost that cheek of yours," The woman said, looking at Andrew in disgust. Then, she turned to Oliver and said, "Lord William wishes to see you."

"What for?" Oliver asked.

"Keep your questions for Lord William," The woman replied and motioned him to follow her. Andrew looked at Oliver questioningly but the boy just shrugged. Andrew could tell that he was nervous as he followed the woman.

"Andrew!"

Andrew spotted Kyle running towards him. This resembled the scene of the previous night so much that Andrew had to double check if Kyle was being chased by someone. Kyle drew up towards him and then bent over with his hands on his knees.

"Thank god you are fine," Kyle panted, "I thought that they were going to punish you."

"Yeah...me too," Andrew said, "But Oliver came to help."

"Oliver?," Kyle asked,shocked, finally regaining his breath.

"It just kind of happened," Andrew said and then explained to him what had happened. Kyle listened to him, stunned.