Novel Treatments / Chapter 1

The sun shone down on the backs of the soldiers as they marched through the forgotten forest of old. A lone soldier stopped whilst his fellow soldiers moved past him. He looked around, searching the horizon of trees and foliage for any sign of the enemy. Seeing none, he turned to move on, but stopped and called to a fellow soldier nearby.
The man looked up, “Aye sir? Is something amiss?”
The general replied, “Nae, Lieutenant. But that is no cause to rest easy on your feet. I feel… something… is wrong in this forest.”
The lieutenant looked around, spotting a scout he said, “You there! Go scout ahead pick two other’s to go with you.”
The scout, but a boy, replied, “Aye sir, at once.” He then motioned to two nearby soldiers to follow him deeper into the forest.
The army moved on.

Meanwhile, not far from the advancing army, a girl was standing on the balcony of her fathers’ house. She looked to be mesmerized by the sun playing on the water, but in truth she was casting a spell. The spell was of no consequence to the army, it was a spell of protection for the house and all those inside. In a time of war, no one can be too sure of anyone’s loyalties. The spell did not encompass everyone in the household, only those she cared for and trusted were included.
“What are you doing Isadora? I thought your father forbade all use of magic in his house.” Said a soft, cruel voice from behind the girl. The voice belonged to a young man of average build and height, with pale skin and dark hair. His eyes, however, did not match his striking features. They were cold and black, deep pools of darkness that seem to try and pull you into them.
“My father was not the one that put the band of magic in his house, and you know it Kaladar. Besides, my father knows what I am doing and he condones it.” Isadora said with a little acid in her voice. She turned to Kaladar and pinned him with her cold, grey stare.
“You have no business here. Why have you interrupted me?”
“I just came to tell you that your father requests your presence.” Kaladar broke her hold of him and made to leave Isadora’s side. She grabbed his wrist before he could move any farther away from her.
“If you bring any harm to this house or the people that reside within its walls, Kaladar, I will personally see to your execution.”
Kaladar started at this and replied with false sincerity dripping from his words, “Such, hostility, from one so young is, remarkable. Why would you think such an outrageous thing such as this? I would never harm any of you.”
“You of all people should know where my accusations come from. I know your not who you say you are, and I know that you lie through your rotten teeth every time you speak.” Isadora spat the words at him, and moved past him to attend her father.

Back at the army, the general and his lieutenant were sitting in front of the generals’ tent.
“Elias, you can’t possible think that these two coincidences are related! It would be madness to think such a thing!”
“No, Dantel, not madness. I am only speculating about this. I have no substantial proof of these speculations.”
“But general, if word of this gets back to the king we are all dead men. Especially you. I speak, no I plead with you Elias, not as your lieutenant but as your friend, to let this go. If you do not then who knows what our fates will be.”
Elias got up and started to pace restlessly before Dantel. Elias’s green eyes darting back and forth as he thought about what had transpired throughout this campaign. All the pointless bloodshed and pain, all the unearthly coincidences that had cropped up in their path. Everything is connected! Elias thought, I know it deep in my heart of hearts, but alas there is no proof! Elias struck the side of his tent with his fist. “There has to be proof Dantel! There has to be!”
Dantel shook his head and placed his hand on Elias’s shoulder. “I am sorry my friend, but I simply don’t see what you are. Maybe all of this will make sense in the days to come.”
The two men were interrupted by the return of the three scouts. Elias and Dantel walked over to great them.
“Report! What did you discover?”
“We discovered this,” the scout handed an object to Elias, “and we also discovered a house not far from here. It looks to be a lord’s establishment, but we could not get close enough to fully understand it without the possibility of being seen.”
Elias, whilst shifting the object from hand to hand, replied, “A house? I know of no lord that resides in these parts. We shall investigate this matter properly in the morning. But for now let us rest and eat.”
Later that night Elias sat in his tent studying the object the scout had found. When he looked closer than a normal person would he discovered a seal he recognized etched into the side of the object. For the rest of the night, Elias sat thinking about the person that once owned the seal, and quite possibly the object as well.

“Ah, my daughter, finally, I hope that I did not interrupt anything important?”
“No father, you did not. How may I be of assistance?”
Isadora’s father, a thin, wiry man with graying hair and grey, watery eyes; wrung his gnarled and calloused hands and looked at his daughter. “Your mother… She is missing.”
“What?! How did this happen? How could this have happened? When did this happen? Father, I saw her this morning! She was…”
Isadora’s father cut her off, “My daughter, you must have been mistaken. Your mother was gone before I awoke this morning. She must have gone missing in the night.”
Isadora looked desperately around the chamber. “But, this cannot be. I swear on our forefathers’ graves that I saw her at first meal! You must be the one mistaken father. I know what I saw.”
A look of confusion crossed his face. “I too know what I saw Isadora. I fear there is some trickery at play.”
At that moment Kaladar entered the chamber. “What have I missed?” He said non-challantly as he sauntered to Isadora’s side.
Isadora gave a look of hatred and loathing to Kaladar and said acidly, “That is none of your concern.”
Her father thought otherwise, “We were discussing when my wife could have disappeared Kaladar.”
Kaladar nodded slowly and said, “I believe that she could have disappeared at some point between last night and first meal today. But I cannot be sure.”
Isadora gave both of the men a sharp look, “I do not believe you Kaladar, for you lie about everything and anything to get your own way. I believe that you had some hand to play in this and I intend to investigate this matter further, with or without my father’s permission. Father! Do not get in my way with this!”
Her father paled at the force of her words and Isadora left the chamber.
“You must get a stronger hold over your daughter milord. She threatens to stand in the way of our plans. If you do not make her comply to your will, I will have to subdue her myself! Do you understand?” Kaladar exited after Isadora, but before he left Lord Cyrus said softly, “I understand.” He placed his weary head into his hands.

Not long after Isadora and Kaladar had left Lord Cyrus alone, the army arrived at the gates to the house, Elias and Dantel at the lead.
Elias looked anxiously around while Dantel gave orders to two soldiers who disappeared from site before Elias noticed them. Elias’s attention was grabbed by a young lady approaching the gate. As she approached she called out, her voice full of authority, “State your business soldiers!”
Elias replied, “We are just passing through milady. We thought to pay our respects to the resident lord of this house, may we proceed?”
The young woman surveyed the troop with a calculating stare and replied, “I am Lady Isadora, the daughter of the resident lord you speak of. His name is Lord Cyrus. I am afraid that you have come at a rather stressful time. I will go and make my father aware of your presence. Stay where you are.”
As Isadora disappeared into the house Elias swore. Dantel looked at him sharply and asked, “What is it sir?”
Elias looked at Dantel, “Lord Cyrus is a rouge traitor to the king. If we are to succeed in investigating this place then we will need the decorum of a courtier. I am afraid that this kind of decorum is not possessed by any of our fellow soldiers.”
Dantel looked thoughtful for a moment, and then suggested, “Why not leave them with orders and go by ourselves? Our fellow soldiers can make camp a few miles down the road and if we have need of them we can send for them via one of the houses servants.”
Elias beamed and slapped Dantel on the back, “That’s brilliant! Where would I be without you my friend?”
Dantel smiled weakly, trying to hide the pain coursing through his torso from Elias’s overzealous slap, and replied, “I am unsure about an answer to that sir.”
Before Elias could reply to this, Lord Cyrus, Lady Isadora and Kaladar exited the house have a heated discussion which ended before they reached the gate.
Lord Cyrus smiled tightly and greeted Elias and Dantel, “My greetings to you, soldiers. How may we assist you this fine day?”
Elias replied, “You must be Lord Cyrus, I am General Elias of the kings army and this is Lieutenant Dantel. We would be most grateful if you would give us some information about the surrounding land. If it suits you milord, I can order my troops to make camp up the road whilst my Lieutenant and I gather the required information.”
Cyrus considered this for a moment, looking from his daughter to Kaladar before answering, “That would be best, ah, General Elias. I will send a servant to attend to your horses once you have ordered your troops down the road. Now, I have pressing business to attend to, Kaladar, Isadora?”
Isadora stood looking at Elias for a moment and said, “I would rather overlook the care of our guests’ father. You and Kaladar go on ahead, I will catch up.”
Kaladar gave Isadora a cold stare before moving after Cyrus.
Elias did not miss the open hostility between the three, but he kept his mouth shut and gave orders to his men. Once his men were out of site down the road, Isadora opened the gates and allowed the soldiers to enter.
“What really brings you here General?”
Elias looked shocked but replied, “What brings me here milady is of no consequence to you. I would rather you not pry into my business.” Dantel was shocked at this response but said nothing.
“Whatever your business may be I feel I should warn you, there is trickery at play in this household. Be on your guard at every moment.”

Kaladar, in a fit of rage, burst into the chamber with Lord Cyrus close behind him.
“What were you thinking you imbecile?! Why did you give them entrance?! Do you not have ears?! They are soldiers of the king, by all the gods this could jeopardize our plans?!” Kaladar struck Lord Cyrus with an open hand. Cyrus cowered against the wall of the chamber, holding his face.
“I-I-I thought that giving them entrance would be a good idea considering we need the Lieutenant for a part of our plan…”
He was cut off by a bitter laugh as Kaladar walked toward him. “You old fool! We could have gotten the Lieutenant on our side without the general’s presence.”
“But the Lieutenant most probably would not have gone anywhere without the presence of his general.” Cyrus cowered even further away from Kaladar as he grew closer with a mad glint in his black eyes.
“I’ll tell you how this situation can be rectified.”

“Vada?”
“Yes milady?”
“Can you see to it that the General and Lieutenant have everything they need?”
“Yes milady.”
Isadora turned away from the window and returned to her reading. Her serving lass exited the room with a curtsy.
A while past and there was a knock at the door, “Come.” Isadora said.
The door opened to admit Kaladar; Isadora looked up from her book and gave Kaladar an icy look.
“What do you want now?”
“Please Isadora, why do you keep up this charade?”
“It is not a charade Kaladar. I truly despise you; I hope one day you will actually open your eyes to that fact.” Isadora said in a level voice.
“Well I one day hope that you will put aside your hatred for me so that we might become friends.”
Isadora laughed at this. “You really think that we could become friends? That is a laughable prospect Kaladar.”
Kaladar bridled at this, his eyes flashed but he controlled his anger. I must not act now, he thought, there will be time enough later for her punishment.
In soothing tones he said, “Isadora, I need your help with the guests. I would like the fact of your mothers’ disappearance within the household. Outsiders do not need to be involved.”
“I may have a different view point than you on that matter. You forget my theories Kaladar.”
Kaladar stood as still as a hunted deer, then he turned and stalked out of the bedchamber, slamming the heavy wooden door behind him.

Elias and Dantel were shown to a chamber by a pretty little blonde serving lass with big green eyes. She had introduced herself as Vada and explained her orders to them before showing them to their chamber.
“You seem familiar to me.” Elias noted to Vada.
“I doubt that you know me sirrah, I have been in the service of this family since I was but a wee lass. Do you have any other needs?”
Elias looked at Dantel, “Do you need anything? Food or a bath?”
Dantel considered the question, “A bath and some fresh clothes from my saddle bag would be nice.”
Elias nodded in agreement and turned to Vada, “That would be all, thank you.”
Vada nodded, “Your baths and clothes will be brought shortly sirrah.”
She exited the chamber in search of the things the soldiers had requested.
When she was gone Dantel turned to Elias, “What is your true business in this place Elias? I know it is not to bring justice to this rouge lord.”
“That is none of your concern Dantel. You do not need to know what I am looking to do here, no one does. I am sure you will find out when the time comes my friend. What we really need to know is what this lord and his lackey are up to in this forest. I told you something was wrong.”
Dantel looked at his friend and general with suspicion, then conceded that he was right about something being amiss in this place.
Soon after, their baths arrived with their fresh clothes.

Several days past without incident, everyone studied each other but little dialog past between them. Lord Cyrus finally came to the soldiers’ chamber with information that could have been useful to them. He relayed the information and then started small talk with Dantel, “So, how long have you been on campaign?”
“Several months milord, we are on our way back to the king presently. That is after we leave here.” Dantel was cleaning with armor and tact whilst the transaction of information was being made. He now sat cleaning with sword.
Cyrus looked uneasily at the broadsword but carried on, “That’s quite a long time to be away from family and friends, is it not?”
Dantel looked up sharply, a pained expression on him face, “I have no family milord, they died in the last plague to hit the city and surrounding villages. My only friend is Elias; he is like a brother to me.”
Cyrus looked sympathetically at Dantel, “I am sorry if I bring any painful memories to you.” He looked away, “I must see my daughter now. I will see you at night meal.”
Cyrus exited the chamber leaving Dantel to his memories.

“Where is your mother? If you do not mind my prying.”
“My mother disappeared shortly before you came, I have my suspicions about the circumstances to her disappearance. All I need is proof.”
Elias looked out of the window fiddling with the object the scout found. Isadora noticed the metal in the soldiers’ hand and asked, “What is that in your hand?”
Elias started and said, “One of my scouts found this the night before we arrived at your gates. It is a brooch; I believe it belongs to a woman I once loved a long time ago.”
“Can I see it please?”
“Of course milady.” Elias handed the brooch to Isadora.
She studied it in fascination, then gasped, “This is my mothers’ brooch! She never took it off. She said it was given to her by one she held dear…” She looked in shock at Elias, as if seeing him for the first time.
Elias was studying her face with an intensity that gave her the chills. His eyes were full of surprise and sorrow, “You are… Lady Ida’s daughter? This cannot be. Oh, my poor dearest! Where have you gone to?” Elias placed his head in his hands; Isadora placed what she hoped to be a comforting hand on his shoulder, “That is what I plan to find out.”

Kaladar looked out the window at the gathering twilight. How do I deal with Isadora? He thought; I cannot just kill her. Not with the soldiers here at least.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the chamber door, “What do you want this time Cyrus?” The door opened and Isadora slipped in.
Kaladar turned and started at the sight of her.
“You were expecting my father? What a pity, my father is currently… indisposed… for the time being.” She picked a letter opener up and toyed with it. “I have come to discuss my mothers’ disappearance. I have come across some… disturbing evidence.”
Kaladars’ eyes widened, “What have you discovered Isadora?”
“There seems to be signs of a struggle in my mothers’ chamber. This suggests that she did not leave willingly. Further more, I have found a small patch of blood on the carpet.”
Kaladars’ eyes filled with fear and anger, he stealthily drew his table dagger and moved towards Isadora. “My dear girl, what are you suggesting? That someone within this house murdered your mother? Do not be absurd! Who would want to do that?”
“Well I thought that would have been obvious Kaladar. You and my mother had a lot of disagreements, who better to murder her than yourself?” As Isadora said this she moved closer to the door, staring right into the black pits that were Kaladars’ eyes.
Without warning the door opened behind Isadora, Vada enter the chamber, sword in hand. She took stock of the situation, grabbed Isadoras’ arm and dragged her out the door.
Kaladar screamed in fury and went to go after them, but before he could Vada shut and barred the door. They both ran towards the soldiers’ chamber.

Elias and Dantel heard the commotion in the hall outside their chamber and went to investigate. As soon as Elias opened the door he was greeted by the site of Vada holding a broadsword in one hand and Isadora in the other, both girls were breathless.
“What…” Elias started but was pushed back into the chamber as Vada and Isadora entered it.
“I’ll explain later, but right now we have to leave.” Vada stated as she moved to the window and opened it. “Gather your things and meet us in the stables.” She pushed Isadora out of the window and then disappeared after her.
“Dantel, do you have everything? I think it best if we do as she says.” Elias grabbed his saddle bag and armor and moved towards the door. Dantel went to follow suit when Elias suddenly stopped and motioned that they should exit via the window as well. As Dantel was closing the window he heard Kaladars’ furious voice shouting in the hall and understood his generals’ sudden change of heart about their form of exit.

Shortly after, Elias and Dantel entered the stables and found Isadora and Vada in a stall saddling two horses.
“What is going on?” Elias demanded, but Vada shook her head, “Not here. I will explain all things when we are gone from this place, agreed?”
“Agreed,” Elias saddled his horse and looked at Dantel.
“Sir, should I ride ahead to alert the troop?” Dantel asked when he had finished saddling his horse.
“That would be wise my friend.” Elias turned to help Isadora onto her horse. Isadora was looking around the stable with a distant look in her eyes, but she allowed herself to be helped onto the horse.
When everyone was on their horses they rode out into the night without a backward glance at the house that was now in mayhem.

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