Magical Encounters

Chapter 6

Seeing the old blacksmith brought back memories, some happy, others not so happy. She tried not to think of the last time she’d seen her old friend, the day he’d given her directions to Camelot. Instead Clara lunged at the man and hugged him with all the might her skinny little arms could muster.

“Rolf!” she beamed at him, “What in the name of Gwen’s soggy potatoes are you doing here?”

Laughing genially, he disentangled himself, “I’d forgotten how enthusiastic you can be” He smiled back at her warmly, but it didn’t reach his eyes. She had known him long enough to recognize the expression in his eyes: sadness.

“What’s wrong?” she asked anxiously, “Is everything alright back home? Is it-is it my father?” She almost did not want to hear his reply. Sighing he said, “Let us sit”

He turned to Leo, “Is there any place Clara and I can talk in private? I’ve not been within these castle walls for a long, long time”

“The servants quarters are empty right now, everyone is preparing for the royal banquet tonight” Leo replied, “I shall leave you two, come Annie” He pushed Annie in front of him.

The servants’ quarters were the places where the workers slept. Two long rows of wooden doors set in walls of stone ran down the hallway, all grey but for the black torches hung on them, not yet lit as it was not so dark yet. They stopped at the second to last door; where Gwen and Clara stayed.

Rolf pulled out two old, battered wooden chairs to sit on, “Clara, I have some bad news-about your father”.

Feeling a sense of growing apprehension she asked, “What? What happened?”

“I am so sorry but he is dead. Your father is dead”.

For a moment she froze. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Finally she said, “You must have made a mistake” she laughed shakily, “He can’t be dead, he was perfectly healthy when he threw me out”

“There is no mistake. He is dead” He sounded miserable, “Some boys found him facedown on the ground at his home. The village physician examined him. There was no physical damage to him. We still don’t know how he died.”

How do you react when your only friend from your home tells you that your father, the cause of your suffering, is dead? Clara didn’t know. She supposed she should be happy, but who would be happy knowing that their only living relative was now dead. He had still been her father and she had loved him, despite everything.

“Clara” Rolf looked at her worriedly, “Are you alright?”

That was a silly question she thought, of course I’m not happy. My feelings are so jumbled up, I don’t know if I’m angry or sad or both. But she said, “I’ll be fine.”

She sighed and sat up in her chair, “So, what now?”

“Well, this was found in his clothes the day of his death” He rummaged in a satchel Clara had not noticed he’d been carrying and brought out a rectangular package wrapped in a dark brown fabric, “Your name was written on it so I knew he meant it for you. I haven’t opened it”

She took the package from his hands. It felt soft and light on one side but heavy on the other, like there was some kind of metal inside.

“Thank you”

“I should get going. It’s a four day journey back and the smithy can’t run without me” He said, his blue eyes crinkling like they always do.

“That’s alright” She stood up, “I have my work to do anyway, I must help the Prince”

“Yes I heard about that, sent you here to become apprentice to the cook and what do you do?” He chuckled, “You become Prince Nathan’s personal maidservant.”