Green Apples and Glasses of Water

Chapter Eight

Morning all :) or evening, depending on your daylight preferences... anyway, here's chapter eight of GA&GW.  Hope you enjoy it =D please vote/ comment/ etc if worthy. Voila!!

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Last time I had a visual, she was feeding the game birds that live around her manor. I’ve decided it will be a shame to make her suffer, since she’s such a soft hand when it comes to nature… She’s a beauty, too; long raven green-blue-black hair and a pale fine boned face, and an ethereal glide to her walk. Exactly the type of girl I dreamed of when growing up in a rose tinted world of niceties and upper class society. It’s how I fell into being a soldier; I was friends with the prince before his father wrongly killed my brother. We were an honourable family, the next but one to take the throne if this family died out; it is ironic then, that I will be the one to remove the last member of their clan from this realm and not be replacing it with my own. I practiced swordplay with the prince and our friends; we were sometimes joined by his sister Kæta and more often than not she beat at least one of us. She tended to practice charms more than sword fighting though, so no one saw very much of her around here; I know for certain that she doesn’t know my name, living in her tiny bubble. The landscape has changed considerably since we were young; the land was lawn rather than heather and had a few trees on it. Seems that it was just too much effort to keep the barrier up alone; the glamour would have taken some impressive magic to maintain and I’m surprised that she manages to even disguise the castle from prying eyes… I tested her to see what she’d do if I broke the barriers- I didn’t know whether they were permanent fixtures or she kept them herself- and was pleased when she fixed them and then wiped all their evidence of her home. I felt… pride. I don’t know why, but I smiled as she fixed up her barriers and kicked my spell making backside. It felt like old times, seeing her face from the wrong side of a sword.

Shame that soon she’ll be dead…

Kæta

Lazairne… That was his name! The one who used to practice swordplay with my brother when we were children; I remember beating him in a match and having my sword pressed against his throat, staring into his glowing eyes. He’d laughed nervously and pushed my blade away from his windpipe, jumping up and looking down into my face…He’d ran off with his friends and I’d never seen him again.

Or had I?

I’ve just had a light bulb revelation moment and now I’m really, really worried. I mean, seriously worried. He’s Lazairne, isn’t he? It’s been staring me in the face the entire time and I’ve been so naïve. I knew it was someone who’d worked for my father but I didn’t connect him and the young man I’d beaten in mock combat when we were about nine. His eyes were the clue, except the fact that he never used to have the silver specks mixed with the coal black. I wonder if they mean something… oh, I feel cogs turning and creaking in my head! I’ll try to force sense out of my ramblings.

There were always six or seven boys hanging around the palace when Kæ and I were young; there were two pairs of brothers, Kæ and two other lads who were living in the nearby settlement (the town in the valley wasn’t always filled with humans- it was built by our people but we dwindled so much we let some move in. They have no idea what we are though) because they’d been orphaned due to the war. One pair was of Spanish descent, so it wasn’t them. The other pair was from the Russian ‘fairies’, even though they’d come here a long time ago so they only spoke English. Their name… now what was it? Smith; that was it!  They used their Russian name when they were in court, but it’s been so long I’m not quite sure what it was. They’d translated the lettering of the name into English too, so that if a human saw it they wouldn’t question them as quickly; it’s hard to remain anonymous when someone spots you’ve got such an unusual name. Anyway, the brother’s first names were Lazairne and Heourain (they were named after two brothers from our legends, but that really is another story), Heourain being the elder of the two. I don’t remember much of them except their ice white skin, dark eyes and hair and exceptional height for their young age. Other than that, they were a mystery to me…

Huh. Maybe he didn’t like being beaten that day in the summer when we were kids. Mind, since my father ordered Heourain dead I’m not surprised that he wants blood. I would happily kill whoever it was who took my brother from me, but since it’s nigh on impossible I won’t ever get that chance. I’m off to sleep now, though. Maybe I’ll wake up with a sword at my neck or a cruel charm cutting off my air supply.