Normally Cece was a very calm person, but listening to
all the absurd comments of her bringing death and the fact that her entire body
was sunburned, her legs and feet were burning from the sharp grass and rocks,
all made her extremely irritable. This is
just a damn dream!
Bramaad only growled under his breath as he dragged her
on. They made a half circle around the outskirts of the village until he made
it to a less traversed path. He glanced behind him over the top of Cece's head
as if to make sure no one noticed them before yanking her quickly down the
path.
Cece yelped in surprise at the sudden movement, nearly
falling and having to jog to keep up with him. Being a head taller than Cece,
his strides were much longer than hers and he did not try to make sure she was
able to keep up. She supposed Bramaad thought that by him holding onto her arm
that there was no way that she would fall.
After a short distance, Bramaad veered off to the right,
off the path and through a thicket of trees. The branches didn't even catch on
his light clothing or bow, but seemed to whip and catch against her bare skin.
Her eyes watered with pain, and her frustration only increased.
Finally Bramaad stopped in front of a small mud hut. It
looked as if it had been there the longest out of all the ones she had seen in
the village, but Cece supposed that this didn't mean anything. There were no
trees towering even within close proximity to the hut, which could cause more
weather wearing on the structure than the others.
Bramaad dragged Cece to the hut's door and knocked
loudly, then yelled, "Loyie, this is Prince Bramaad. I need to speak with
you!" He knocked again, more impatiently, as if this Loyie character
were to take any longer to answer the door, Cece would spring loose and destroy
the whole little village.
There was a long pause before a young woman opened the
door. She was much shorter than Cece's 5 foot 7, which only added to her
youthful appearance. If Cece didn't know any better, she would have guessed the
small woman could have been no older than 16 years. Her hair was cut extremely
close to her skull and looked to be the color of the sun, it shone so brightly.
Loyie was bone-thin and the dress she wore seemed to have gotten too big for
her frame.
"I've been waiting," Loyie said, not even
looking surprised at seeing the prince grasping the arm of a lobster-skinned,
naked woman. The woman only glanced at Cece before retreating back into the
small hut, allowing the pair to enter.
Bramaad quickly shut the door behind him, but he never
let Cece out of his grasp. Cece glared at him, trying to once again yank her
arm free from him, but with no luck. If
Patrick were here, he'd make sure you never touched me again! she couldn't
help but think, shooting her thoughts at the prince. She longed for Patrick's
protective arms and his cool cop head. He'd be able to get her out of this
situation. If only I had control over
this dream!
"Let her go, Bramaad. She can do nothing to us at
this point," Loyie said softly, her pale blue eyes gentle but stern,
proving she was serious.
"You don't understand, Loyie. Jeroff found her in
the water," the prince protested
as he took a step closer to the small woman and pulled Cece's arm along with
him.
"Yes, and he was a fool for not bringing a weapon
with him this morning, but he did it anyway." Loyie's calm tone did not
change, but her expression was that of a concerned mother watching her child.
"And he did not find her in the
water. He found her legs in the water. That does not make her who you think she
is."
Loyie's words clearly did not calm the prince because
Bramaad seemed to only grip her arm harder. Cece winced at the pressure,
wishing he would just listen to Loyie. Cece was surprised that the small woman
could talk to a prince that way, but was relieved that someone could and would
hopefully get through to the stubborn man's head. She had no idea how the small woman already knew this information, but decided not to question the small woman just yet.
"I will talk to Jeroff about his mistakes, but you
cannot tell me that this isn't suspicious to you at all!" Bramaad was
furious, his chiseled face set like strong stone.
Loyie only smiled and made a wide gesture, making Cece
take in the contents of the room. There was only enough seating for two, and over
the hard dirt packed floor was a small,
circular rug with strange colorful markings that held the space between the two
wooden rocking chairs. In the corner of the room was a small wooden stove and a
large clay pot that was meant to hold water or to make stew from. The walls
held shelf after shelf of strange items, some of them in jars, others of them
taking up half the shelf by itself. She had no idea what any of it meant, but
she supposed her subconscious mind thought that all the items meant something
to a strange woman like Loyie.
"And none of this is suspicious to the normal, naïve
eye?" she asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.
Bramaad only sighed and slowly let go of Cece's arm. She
took a step away from the prince and rubbed her arm, wincing at the intense
pain. There was a clear red hand marked there, even brighter than her sunburn.
Bramaad only crossed his arms across his chest and glared at Cece. He looked
ready to lunge at her any moment.
How pathetic and
paranoid is he? Cece couldn't help but feel slightly amused. She looked
ridiculous, but apparently something had gotten his underwear in a bunch to
make him look beyond her appearance and assume she was some kind of threat. Such a strange dream!
"Now," Loyie began, turning to look at Cece and
ignoring the grim prince, "I am Loyie, a Watcher and Guardian of the
Prophecy, someone who can see times that are Now and will come to Pass."
Loyie paused, waiting for Cece to take in the introduction. "Not that this
means anything to you, but it will be important to you in time."
The woman smiled warmly. Her golden hair seemed to glow
in the dim light of the hut, making her seem even more friendly. She seemed
much younger than Cece's 27 years, but at the same time she seemed so much
older. Those eyes are so intense!
Cece felt like her soul was being weighed by an ancient amount of wisdom from
those pale blue eyes.
"I'm Cece," she finally replied when Loyie
seemed to be waiting for a return introduction. "Cece Marks, though soon
I'll be married to Patrick Allmann, so my name will change," she finished
awkwardly. She clasped her hands in front of her, suddenly feeling very nervous
in the woman's presence. She felt very awkward and out of place.
"Prince Bramaad, will you make us some tea? You know
where the herbs are. Cece and I need some time to talk," Loyie said,
turning slightly toward the scowling Bramaad. Her use of his title seemed more
of an insult than anything, but the prince said nothing as he stalked past Cece
toward the little stove. "And take that bow off your back," Loyie
commanded. "You look ridiculous wearing that weapon in here. You know you
are safer here than your own guarded chambers!"
Bramaad turned and glared at Loyie, his bright green eyes
piercing as he slowly took the bow and quiver from his back and carefully
placed it against the wall. Cece was surprised he didn't protest or yell at
Loyie for treating a prince in such a way, but he said nothing. Maybe he's in love with her and knows better
than to upset his girlfriend!
Nearly laughing at her own private thoughts, she stopped
short when she realized Loyie was staring intently at Cece.
"He listens to me because I am wiser than he, and he
knows it," Loyie said, as if responding to her thoughts.
Cece blushed. "I'm sorry, I just thought-"
"Thinking and knowing are two different things,
child. Now, it's time to get you cleaned up so you can put something decent on.
Being free of clothing is only liberating for so long before people start
getting sick of seeing you in such a crude way."
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