Quoted By:
<span class="mu-s"><span class="mu-b">Winner:</span></span> ... it was tied when I started writing and I chose the brave lady. orz
A carriage hurtled through the woods at top speed. The horses pulling it ran as if the Dark One himself was snapping at their heels. From a certain perspective, he really was.
The carriage bounced violently as its wheels crashed against another root. Not for the first time this night, its driver - the Dame Thalia of Begonia - prayed for the good health of the craftsmen who built the vehicle. It must have been half-a-hundred times now that a root or stone or other divot in the road should have broken the carriage's axels, but it held strong so far. All she needed from it now was another six miles. Then she and the carriage's precious cargo would be clear of the Mavrodasos and in sight of Tefrapol.
"Will Sir Basil and the others be alright?" asked the carriage's only passenger. He kept his voice as calm as he could, but Thalia heard the notes of panic slipping through the filter of his will. Still, it was a praiseworthy effort for one so young.
A precious young boy of twelve years old, the hundred colors of the Mavrodasos in Autumn crowned his head with a mop of hair that never wanted to sit straight. His eyes shone like the aurora in deepest winter with vibrant tones of violet and crimson. His cute and boyish face, alongside his gentle demeanor, quite thoroughly charmed the young lady of House Baccara the other night. Of course, just as he inherited the good looks of his brother - the Princeps Pleniflora - he <span class="mu-i">also</span> inherited his brother's oblivious nature towards feminine attention.
Thalia could not spare even a moment to look back at him, and see him clinging to the armrests of his chair like a drowning sailor might cling to driftwood. Nor did she think it wise to tell him what she saw not ten minutes ago, before Sir Basil told her to take Aris and run. However, she could not bring herself to lie to the brother of her liege, so she simply omitted the truth by saying, "Sir Basil said that he and the men would meet us back at Tefrapol. It's best to take him at his word."
Of course, Dame Thalia knew Sir Basil would not be joining them. The creatures - <span class="mu-i">demons</span> - that attacked the carriage dragged him from his horse not long after he cut a path through for Thalia and Aris to escape. May the LORD guard his soul from the dark.
Aris made a noise of dissatisfaction. It seemed that somewhere along the line, he became more canny than his elder brother... or at least more prone to show when he saw through evasion. Rather than call Thalia on what she left out, he asked, "What attacked us? Highwaymen? Briarfolk? That Daffodil giantess whose portrait my brother keeps painting?"
In spite of everything, that last one made Thalia snort with laughter. "No, the Maid of Charlemont isn't quite so ugly. T'was orcs, Aris."
