The Castle on the Hill

Chapter #3 The Shadowed Plot

                "Justice. Do be still." Claudia was bathing the boy in a metal tub in front of the woodstove in her house. It the largest house Thomas had been in to date. There was a second floor where all the bedrooms were and a half upper loft above that. She had informed him that it was mostly used for storage of extra things and the dried things from the previous Harvest.

               "No." It seemed as if that was the only word that this stubborn 4 year old knew. It was echoed by a smack to the bare bottom. Which was instantly followed by a loud cry.

               Thomas would have gotten up to walk outside but his back was killing him. So he remained put with the shrill scream of a child pounding against his ears and the sharp sting of his wounds piercing his back. It wasn't to long before she had wrestled the boy from the tub and into some sleeping clothes.

                 "I'll be back shortly to help you Thomas." She disappeared up the stairs toting a tantrum throwing son. His screams seemed to grow louder the closer they got to his bed. 

                 It took her over 30 minutes to get the boy to sleep. When she returned she looked tired and far older than she should. "Come. Let me see your back." She motioned to a stool next to the tub.

                  "Well you are certainly a strong one. Your back held up much better than I thought it did." He could tell she was making small talk because she wanted to distract him from what she was doing; however, he smelt the undeniable smell of alcohol and salt.  The alcohol was just to clean the blood of but it would hurt immensely. The salt would probably be accompanied with honey and used to pack the wounds crossing his back. He heard her dip a rag into water, or at least he hoped it was water.

                "You make really good blades, you know?" There she was again with the small talk. Thomas nodded. As soon as he moved his head he felt the sting of the rag touch his back. He held in his pain but it seared his back.

                "Ouch....." He slowly let the word out of his mouth after she had removed the rag.

                 "I am sorry Thomas. I am being as gentle as possible trust me." Her voice came out sharper than he anticipated.

                  He sat there as still as he possibly could feeling the blood slowly get removed. She paused for a rather long time and he knew what was next. The alcohol. Sure enough she pressed it to his back a few seconds later and the pain nearly knocked him off of the stool.

                  "Oh God!" the pain seared unlike anything he had ever felt.

                   "I'm sorry, but it is necessary." Her patience was really thin after dealing with Justice and his bath.

                  With every touch of the alcohol dipped rag to his back his eyes filled with tears. It was all he could do to keep them from overflowing onto his cheeks.

                  "This will hurt the worse probably." Her voice was cold like she was to afraid to allow emotion through.

                  When the honey and salt salve first touched the wounds all he felt was the soothing of the honey, but that only lasted for a few seconds before the sting of the salt made him squirm around like his back was on fire. a few of the tears escaped as she continued to spread and pack the mixture all over his back. She was right it was definitely the most painful part.

                "Alright. Almost done. Just have to put some wraps on here to keep anything from getting in."

                "Isn't that what the honey is for?" He shut up when she threw him an evil look.

                 "Double protection." She returned with some strips of fabric and an old shirt.

                 After the strips were carefully placed over his wounds, he slid the shirt on.

                 "Come with me." She opened the door to the house and walked into the dark.

                  "This is beyond strange." He mumbled to himself as he followed.

                   They walked towards the cow field. When they got there she quietly opened the gate and walked into it. She moved expertly across the dark field as if this wasn't her first journey across it at night. He saw the old milking shack that Jon had abandoned early on after he took over the farm because of the distance to it.

                She silently eased open the door and stepped in. He hesitated before walking in. As soon as he walked through the door he was shoved against the wall. He could feel the cold blade of a knife against his throat.

               "Zavier! He is safe! Let him be!" Claudia shouted.

              "Why did he hesitate to walk in then? If he is safe why would he hesitate." Zavier pushed the knife in closer.

               "Because it is weird to follow a woman into what is supposed to be an abandoned shed!" Thomas choked out.

               "Fair enough." He dropped the knife. "What is your name, Kid? What do you do?"

             "Name's Thomas and I am a blacksmith. What about you?"

               "You don't deserve that information." He laughed.

                "What am I doing here Claudia?" Thomas was so confused at this moment in time.

                "He needs your help and after your day I figured you might be willing to help." Claudia sat on one of the overturned milk buckets laying around.

                "What is it that you do, Zavier?"

                "I don't do anything yet. What I plan to do is overthrow this crooked government." Zavier said it like it was no big deal.

                 "Why? Is there a problem with the government?" Thomas looked at this man like he was crazy.

                "Do you not still feel the sting on your back? Over what? A little experimentation? That is crazy and inhumane." Zavier looked at Thomas like he was the most stupid person ever.

                 "How could I be of help?" Something had clicked inside Thomas. Something this crazy dude was saying was making sense. He was ready and willing to help this crazy dude.

                 "Celyn!" Suddenly a girl came from the shadows and lowered her bow from ready.

                 "Show this boy, the weapons."

                "Okay." She lit a lamp and set it on a table that held multiple swords and daggers. "These all have to be sharpened. We have tried to do it ourselves but just cant seem to get it right."

               "Is that all you need? Some things sharpened? Easy." Thomas almost laughed, but there was something very intimidating about this Zavier character.