Brighid of Gauwynn
Brighid opened the door to see Correl and Winston sitting outside together, waiting for her. Same old scene, but something was different. She was afraid to break the silence between them, so first she closed the door behind her. She had the key and the map in hand when she turned around, “Good evening the both of you.” She said her voice coming out as soft of a whisper as she could manage. Correl acknowledged her with a nod and Winston managed a small wave. Brighid gave Correl a questioning glance, but the latter waved that away with a shake of the head.
“Are you going to willing walk to your room by yourself tonight, Winston?” Brighid asked.
The boy immediately jumped up, nearly bowling forward, and righting himself, “Nope! Today I’m gonna look at that map in your hands!”
“Now Winston I can’t let you into- wait, what?” Brighid looked at the eager boy’s eyes before slowly glancing behind him to see the still-sitting Correl. She rose from the floor slower, sheepishly, and said slowly, “I may… have said he could look at the map?” She ended her declaration with a smile. Brighid shook her head. Maybe it was fine if Winston saw the map, but what if he showed someone else? If Brighid’s enemies still stalked around the castle, then… Well they’d be right back to where they started, chased around the better parts of Yor while trying to unmask the very people chasing them.
Brighid looked back towards Winston, who looked between herself and Correl expectantly. She shifted the map and key into the same hand. With her new free hand, she held up one warning finger to Winston, “You cannot… can not tell anyone about this, alright? This map, and the route on it have to stay between us.” For a second, Winston seemed unsure, still looking between Correl and Brighid herself, but he agreed enthusiastically
So instead of their usual routine of carrying a protesting Winston through halls as quietly as possible, Brighid gathered the group in front of the door to her study. Brighid huffed as she held the map out in front of her, specifically eyeing Correl with sharp interest. The younger woman waved her off, slightly less jovial than before. Brighid urged her to take the map from her, and when she did she unfolded it along in the center of their gathered group.
Brighid didn’t have to go over the trails she’d marked along the crinkled, curled surface of the slightly yellowing page. She’d had the route in her head for days, only able to scribble out a little of it at a time between the breaks she was given from her busywork. From here in Gauwynn across the country to Carneggan, then trekking even closer to kingdom’s coastline towards the tropical Dunby, circling back to check in with the capital and King Hedrick himself. At this point, there were only 6 or 7 magicians in the whole of the kingdom of Yor, and after Carneggan, That would be 4 that Brighid had looked into. Sir Ionel of Muney, and Sir Silas of Aldeerah… had both passed on. Most likely by one of their mysterious assassins no doubt. Sir Virgil, having been cleared of any crimes, and Lady Dahlia who they were supposed to have talked with already.
Technically she was supposed to have checked in with the king already, especially given some of the correspondence she’d received from the capital, but…well she was ignoring it. Reworking the route had taken a lot of her time, especially amidst her other duties to Gauwynn. She didn’t want to deal with the added pressure of answering to the king’s men or the king himself. Right now, Brighid was watching Correl and Winston and their faces intently scrutinizing the map and what was on it. After a moment, Correl looked up at her, with a questioning look and stopped short of asking something aloud.
“What is it? Something no good?” Brighid said, with her less formal speech style taking over.
“Ah no…” Correl mused, going back to look over the map once more but Brighid could see on her face that she was just going over the same thing again and again. Brighid waved her hand over Correl’s face, catching the woman’s attention. She gave her squire a pointed look, “No, what’s wrong?” She asked again.
“Well… here it says we’re going from Dunby towards Moorllyn , but that’s arduous. Plus there’s nothing but swampland in that direction. It would be safer and quicker to go through Baccat, the fishing village.” Correl looked between Brighid and the map, her eyes still rapidly looking over the trail just to make sure.
A small laugh escaped Brighid’s throat, immediately reigned in, before she answered, “I know.” She pointed on the map where Baccat was, and traced along the route back to Dunby, “but the problem there is that was my original idea. If we are being followed, we can’t take that same route that they already know about. We have to do something different.”
“Even if it means walking- no, trudging through smelly swampland?” Correl questioned, her face scrunched up at the thought of it.
Brighid only nodded in response.
Brighid then looked over at Winston, who was practically drinking up the map, looking over each little detail, scouring over words like his life depended on it. “Are you alright, Winston, you’ve been… quiet. It’s unlike you.” Brighid leaned down a little to get a better look at the young man’s face. He was smiling wide. Maybe, Brighid thought, this is the first map he’s ever been allowed to look at? Even though it wasn’t really my choice to let him…
She hated to cut their sneak-peek short, but Brighid figured that was enough map-looking today. She turned to Correl once more and said, “Alright, you keep this map with you. I’ll start making the preparations in the morning for us to leave. We should be gone within three days time.”
Correl nodded and after gently getting Winston’s attention, rolled the map up and tucked it away into her boots. Brighid then turned to Winston, “Now, if you’d like we can walk together to your room, so that you can sleep for the night.” At first there was no response. Winston seemed to be in a daze even, looking past Brighid, eyes big and round. “Ah, Winston? Maybe you’re more tired than I thought…”
Correl tried to get the boy’s attention as well, at first gently shaking him, then calling his name, but received no response either. Brighid was about to call him dead on his feet and carry him to his room when he finally spoke.
“You… left it open?” His voice came out colder than Brighid had ever heard, and drawn out like a whisper of smoke.
Left what open? Wait- For the first time since she left her study Brighid felt the weight of the key in her hand. The key that she should have used to lock the door. Oh. The sudden realization for some reason made Brighid feel all the colder, and there was the distinctive pin-prickling sensation running down her arms. Shakily she turned away from them to lock the door.
“That’s my mistake, Winston. Let’s not get any funny ideas- ” she was cut off, as was her train of thought, replaced with the distinct sensation of red, hot, blinding pain coming from her back.
It burned.
And smelled of blood and iron, Brighid looked down and saw… a knife? The metal glinted in the moonlight, all the way up to a bone white hilt, where Winston was holding the other side with the same wide grin as before. Brighid’s vision staggered as she pulled away from the blade. Blood, dark, and near black in color spilled to the ground in the space she left to move away from her attacker.
“You! Left! It! Open!! Ah hahaha!” Winston practically snarled, his voice taking on a higher pitch as he fell into a fit of cackling. Brighid watched Correl beside him, a look of abject terror on her face. It took her a moment but she began to rush forward towards Brighid.
Brighid watched, almost as if in slow-motion, Correl rushing towards her and then being smacked? Pushed, more likely into the wall behind her. Winston had a lot more strength than he should have at his age. Well, while that might be true, the truth came crashing into Brighid like a wave…
Another assassin. Winston had been another one of those assassin from beyond the magical veil. But he looked human?
Brighid struggled to stand upright, every thought she had was a scream, and right now it was just No no no no no no! No! Because she knew exactly what this was, what he was. A Changeling. A monster meant to change its face to hide among people…
Correl was unconscious, meaning that Brighid’s only options at this point were to wake everyone in the castle by yelling or to run. But…
The blood loss was really beginning to affect her thinking. She backed up towards the door that led into the study, and looked to Winston.
He seemed so comfortable. A rather sizable blade sitting in his hand, with a white hilt. No…a bone hilt. It looked to be the arm bones of some creature, twisted around a metal blade. Bandages hung loose from it as if he’d just unwrapped it for this very purpose. He was an assassin, alright. The one she’d been looking for.
“You’re just about the most stubborn person I’ve had the displeasure of meeting.” He taunted her, tossing the blade up and it out of the air. His wide eyes took on a sort of yellow-ish tint as he glowered at her. “We could have done all this without any witnesses you know. Makes my job much harder if I need to kill more than one specified target…” he mused.
If Brighid was honest her hearing was coming and going, she knew he was speaking, and knew she didn’t want to stick around for whatever he had to say. She pulled the door open, behind her, and slipped into the hall.
Her descent would have been easier if he hadn’t lunged at her, sending both of them tumbling down the stairway, mostly with Brighid making contact with stairs and sliding to a stop at the second door with Winston standing on her. Winston sauntered off of her and over to the second door with ease, whistling a little tune as he opened the door.
Brighid struggled to pull herself up, her back felt like it was leaking onto the ground, “Why are… you doing this?” She hissed, just as the light from the study filled the hallway. For a moment, it seemed that Winston couldn’t hear her either. He stared at her from the open doorway, shadows cast across his face, and continued whistling his little tune, made more ominous with his large, unblinking yellow eyes.
“I do as my king commands,” he said finally. He walked back over to Brighid’s body, stepping on her spine and forcing her back down under the weight, “I wonder if you’ve ever seen a war, Lord Gauwynn…” he giggled, for a moment, before falling back into that same stoic look, “I haven’t, but I’ve heard its beautiful.”
“Let’s get into this study, I”ll need your help before I kill you.” He ordered, taking his foot off of Brighid. Then, hoisting her up by one arm, he dragged her into the study.
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