Deception

Chapter 24

It was early in the morning; I had just finished dressing in a light green dress when I saw Guy's carriage pulling up towards our house. I quickly ran down the stairs and opened the door as Guy was walking towards the house. He looked exhausted; a bruise was faint under his chin obviously where Robin had hit him to knock him out. I knew my father stood in the doorway of the house as I walked towards him.

"Are you alright?" I asked him slightly concerned as he held up my ring with a smirk, before he took my hand and placed the ring back on my finger. I gave a small smile looking at the glistening ring around my finger.

"I am now. Will you accompany me to Treeton mine, to see Greek Fire" He smirked, as I raised my eyebrow curious. He held out his arm, as I hesitated before I took it as he led me away. I glanced back as my father watched as I was guided into the carriage and sat quietly. It was a quiet ride to Treeton Mine, as I could see that Guy was slightly excited, as we made our way over to the Sheriff and a man who was pouring black powder from a barrel in a line.

"His name is Lambert" Guy whispered in my ear as I nodded before we stood waiting. When Lambert reached the Sheriff, Guy and I, he turns the barrel upright, corks it, and trades it for a lit torch from an assistant. The Sheriff watches him with his eyes from his horse.

"We are ready. Forgive our excitement, Esme, but we’ve been waiting months for this." He apologized with an excited smile across the face.

"I’m intrigued." I admitted truthfully. I wonder why Guy and the Sheriff were so excited over black powder?

"You’ll be astonished, I assure you." Guy promised as the Sheriff leans on his hand, bored.

"Right. What you are about to see here today demonstrates that by containing the black powder, we can control the charge. Guy’s miners would then be able to place a small charge at the scene. Let the powder do the hard work, and increase production without endangering lives." Lambert explained as I suddenly became frightened of this power. It was a weapon as the Sheriff yawns.

"Please dismount, my lord. There may be quite a bang." Guy warned as I glanced up at the Sheriff he looked bored out of his wits.

"Really?" He questioned flatly.

"And your horse is highly strung." Guy smirked as I bit on my inner lip to prevent myself from laughing. The Sheriff raised an eyebrow before motioning towards his guard.

"It won’t be the only highly strung creature if I’m made to hang around for much longer." The Sheriff complained as I saw Lambert gulp. We waited for the Sheriff to dismount his horse by stepping on the guard’s back. Lambert lights the end of the trail with a torch. He tosses the torch into a bucket of water behind him as he, dash behind a partition made of thin logs.

Guy followed holding me firmly by the wrist as we watched from behind the divider. Guy's hand was sitting on my waist which made me feel rather uncomfortable as I glanced up at him though he was staring at the powder with excitement in his eyes. The Sheriff stands and watches the flame as his horse is led away, then realizes how volatile the powder is as it quickly travels along the line. He ducks behind the partition beside me and peeks out its window.