Glyph

Chapter 5

Dirk awoke in a strange bed. He thrashed around confusedly, trapped in the sheets. When he finally escaped their embrace, he took stock of his surroundings. He was in some sort of castle or fort because the walls were stone. The bed he was lying in was big and comfortable; he felt as f he were sinking into it.

There was a couple of tapestries on the walls and an armoire hung open, displaying his clothes from the road, along with some finer ones he had never seen before. There was a thick wooden door on one wall, reinforced with iron. Directly to the left of his head stood a small bedside table. To his right stood a small, heavy glass window, distorted light streaming through into his room. A desk and chair stood near to a pitcher of water and a wooden basin.

As Dirk got up, he suddenly felt dizzy, and as his side stretched, there was the sensation of someone ripping apart his side with a hot poker. He fell back on to the sheets with a gasp. The pain slowly subsided.

Gingerly, he felt at his side. There were thick bandages wound tightly around it. Slowly this time, he tried to stand. It did not flare up, although there was a low throbbing there. Walking slowly to the door, he tried to open it. It would not budge. Frantic, he shook it hard. It remained locked. He was trapped, he was a prisoner, and he didn't know where he was. He felt himself begin to become overwrought.

I need to calm down, he thought, getting hysterical won't change anything. He had to think rationally. Why bother binding his wound if they were going to hurt him? They had to be friends, or at least not outright enemies. He went to the armoire and slowly and carefully dressed himself in a clean white shirt and pants. He reached out to belt on his sword and realized it was not there. He froze. He had no way of defending himself.

He sat back down on the bed. There was nothing to do but wait. As the minutes ticked by, he realized he desperately needed to relive himself. He glanced around the room for some sort of bucket to chamberpot, but there was nothing. He kept glancing around the room without hope until he finally gave up and lay back down, focusing solely on holding it.

He was jerked out of his concentration by the creak of the door opening. He had somehow dozed off. A matronly woman walked in but stopped short at the sight of him sitting up awake. "Oh," she said, surprise evident in her voice, "you're awake. Well, good, about time you got up. If you can get up, I'll make that bed."

Dirk got up mechanically. "Who are you? And where am I? What happened? What did you do with my sword? And where can I relieve myself?" he added as an afterthought.

The woman raised her eyebrows. "I'll do my best to answer your questions in order. I am Althea, one of the cleaning ladies. You are in Redvale Castle. As to what happened you'll have to wait to hear it from someone who was there as they haven't given me any details. My task was merely to check up on you every couple of hours. Your things, I assume, are in the armory or being held by one of your friends. The privy is down the hall third door on the right," she finished.

Dirk blinked. Althea. Redvale castle. Privy down hall. He quickly strode out the door and down the hall, glancing at each door and counting in his head. Reaching the privy he quickly shut the door and locked it.

A few minutes later he walked out, feeling much better. He looked around and realized he had no idea of how to get back to his room. He wandered around, checking each door. No luck.

Opening another door, Dirk found a dark room, with a strange scent that made his eyes water and clouded the room. Nevertheless, he somehow found himself wanting to go in. Quietly, he entered, closing the door behind him. The little he could see of the room was full of herbs and books, as well parchment and quills. He moved towards a light. When he reached it he saw it was a candle, standing upon a desk. He saw a book, with spidery green writing across the front. He opened it. Inside were diagrams that hurt his eyes, along with words that seemed to come off the page. Suddenly, a figure loomed up in front of him. Dirk fell back with a gasp. A shriveled old man stared at him.