Lady of the Wood

VIII. Henry

Three days after the meeting, I was sitting in my study working my way through a report on the damage caused in the raid on one of the castle and estate of one of the wealthier noblemen in Evalor. Genevieve was sitting across from me reading an inventory on the resources currently being collected into the castle storerooms in case of a second, larger scale attack from Corran, and Arthur was sprawled across an armchair, reading a letter from his sister, Ella, a smile tugging at his lips. He was very fond of her, and even though he'd only really spent time with her after our return from the border wars, they'd grown quite close. There was a fire crackling in the hearth, and it cast a warm glow around the room that drove out the chill of the evening. We were working in silence, enjoying one another's company, and completely oblivious to anything outside of the little bubble we'd created for ourselves in my study.

A timid knock on the door broke the silence, and the spell that had been over the three of us was broken. We all sat up, setting our work aside, and stood up from where we'd each been sitting.

"Come in," I called, and the door opened to a boy who appeared to be perhaps thirteen or fourteen years old, and he looked like he'd just seen a ghost. "Are you alright?" I walked over to him and brought him to sit in the chair Arthur had just been in.

He sat down, and started fidgeting with his fingers. He had a distant look in his eyes, as if he were replaying a moment over and over in his mind. I looked up at Genevieve for help; I was completely lost when it came to comforting small children.

She gestured for me to step back from the boy. Pulling up an ottoman to sit on, she reached out to take the boy's hands and hold them in her own. "Hey, can you look at me and tell me your name?"

He looked up from his hands to meet her eyes. "My--my name's Benjamin, Lady," His voice was timid. "But my mother called me Ben before I came here. You can call me Ben if you like, Lady."

"That's a fine name, Ben." The boy smiled at her praise. "Are you sure it's alright if I call you Ben?" He nodded enthusiastically at her request. They sat for a few moments, and Genevieve slowly rubbed her thumbs over top of his hands to calm him down.

"Ben, can you tell us what brought you here to my study?" I knelt next to Genevieve. "You seemed pretty rattled a few minutes ago when you came in."

Ben sat up a little straighter then, as if suddenly realizing who I was. I hated the fact that people felt the need to straighten themselves around me; I was little more than a scared little boy myself.

He looked me in the eye and said, "Corran sent a--a, I don't know what it was, but it was ugly and scary." He shivered, trying to shake the memory of the beast Corran had sent as his representative from his memory. "I'm sorry," He blinked a few times before continuing. "He sent something, and it was holding a piece of paper tied to an arrow in its hands. When it saw me standing at the door, it untied the paper and gave it to me, and bade me give it to you." He pulled his hands from Genevieve's and rummaged around in a pocket in his tunic and fished out the paper, now rather crumpled, but still intact. He handed the paper to me.

"Thank you for delivering the message, Ben," Arthur spoke as I stood with the paper in my hand. "I'm terribly sorry you had to meet one of Corran's beastly drudges. You said it spoke to you?"

Ben and Genevieve both stood from the chair and ottoman, and Arthur, Genevieve, and I stood around him. "Yes my lord, it spoke to me, but it did not sound like the voice a creature like it should have, but it sounded like Corran's voice, but with an echo making it sound like he was talking underwater."

"Interesting," Genevieve looked at me and Arthur with a look of alarmed concern painted across her features. "As my Lord Arthur said, thank you for delivering the message, Ben. We will take care of the matter, you have no need to fear." She bent down to give him a hug, which he eagerly returned. "You may be dismissed." She smiled at him warmly, like a sister would smile at her younger brother, and he returned the smile before bowing to each of us in turn and taking his leave. She turned to Arthur and I, "I would very much like to keep an eye on that young man; he seems like he could use a sister here."