The Baron and his Lady

Five: Keys to a door or to a heart?

"Again, whatever I say is what I heard from my ancestors," Kelly continued , "the rest is for you to decide." He stared at me then at my dad. We both nodded at him. He straightened his back and continued.
  "The Baron Lucian rode his horse called Thor, after the Greek God. It was his favourite because it ran the fastest of all," we all tried to picture him straddling the creature, "the servants did not heed his request to not bring another rider. They called Claus to saddle up as well, they still worried that the Baron is not himself. By the time Claus got there, Lucian had already broken into a gallop. He immediately followed his friend who was heading towards the forest."

I remembered my dream, when Lucian had described the Alpine Forest. He told me the names of each tree he'd passed by, he'd described to me what they look like. While Kelly talked, I could see Lucian running away from Claus towards the forest. His hair flew against the wind along with his unbuttoned shirt but his thick brows remained shapely and unmoving. I could see Thor gliding smoothly towards the path, he knew it well. They had taken it several times. Both rider and horse looked magnificent. 

Behind him, Claus was gaining, he was good with horses too. He called for Lucian but the Baron did not spare him a glance. They continued the chase deep down the forest, the afternoon sun was fading. It will be dark soon.

Kelly's voice broke my thoughts, "According to the servants, Claus chased the Baron until they reached the forest. Letecia sent for more men, they are to recover the Baron and his friend. And off they went, five able bodied men drove the finest horses the Norwood's owned. The women grew frantic, they felt something bad will happen." He loosened his tie and continued, "Darkness have arrived and still no men came back, Letecia had sent word for the authorities. They managed to gather volunteers to search the forest. They needed a lot, Alpine Forest is very wide. Armed with torches and gas lamps, they searched and searched. Men and women called for both Lucian and the Baron—"

"—but no one answered." Patrick couldn't help himself, he read that on the journal. "Claus wrote that he was found unconscious beneath a pear tree, his horse was gone and he was badly injured."

"That is true, he was taken back home and nursed by the women. When he came to, he wanted to go back and look for  Lucian. It took three men to subdue him."

"A certain page on the journal had it too, 'My tears fell for my Lucian. My dearest Lucian, taken from my grasps. They won't let me go back to the forest and find him. They held me down and poured potion in my mouth so I would sleep. They do not understand, my Lucian needs me.' It breaks even my heart knowing he wanted to risk his life to go back yet he could not. It broke my heart before, thinking it was written by a woman, yet it affects me still knowing it came from a man." Patrick sniffled, I gave him my handkerchief.

"It was not his doing that Lucian had gone." Kelly said.

"But he was the reason he did," I muttered, "if he did not kill the girl, Lucian wouldn't be do anything like that."

"No one knows that Miss Neville. Lucian wasn't himself."

"Because he lost the woman he loved!"

"There, there..." Patrick was beside me, I didn't realise I was crying. "Think of it this way Krista, even if he was himself why would he go to the forest? The girl had no memories there."

That stopped me. Why indeed? I stared at Kelly.

"Letecia did not know as well. They were all puzzled why the Baron suddenly rode there at that certain time." Kelly's face had began to soften, "He knew the path well, he couldn't have met an accident or else they would have found his body. Yet no one has."

"But what about Claus? How did he lose his horse?" I managed to choke back my tears.

"Your guess is as good as mine, when Letecia asked him he said he could not remember."