All Seeing Tree

CHAPTER FOUR

"How did you know the prince has returned when not even the day walkers at the castle knew?"

"I know a lot of things, Juliana," she answered with a suddenly sullen face.

I didn't ask why the sullen face. I wanted to have a good lesson and if something bad was going to happen to me I rather not dwell on it when knowing wont change my fate. "The prince has been pleasant," I said. I was still a little confused and curious to why that is, he wasn't named the Prince of Darkness for nothing. The stories I heard talked about the prince being darkness, he literally consumes his enemies the same way the darkness consumes the earth on a moonless night.

Gretchen waived me into the room with a small hand. The front room of the shop is only about fifteen by ten feet. The walls are lined with shelving that hold different amulets and charms that she sells. Directly across from the entrance is a wooden desk and behind that a doorway covered in beads. I browsed through the shelves seeing if there was anything new. The store always smelled of a mix of sage, rosemary and pochullui oil. I picked up a small cloth pouch and raised it to my nose to smell it. It smelt of a mixture of seasonings and herbs, but had a strong lavender smell. The small piece of paper attached to it had "calmness" written on it.

"You may have that one, dear. It may help you cope with the princes return." She walked through the beads and out of site. I shoved the small pouch in my pocket and followed her out of the room.

The room I walked into was her living room. It wasn't much larger than the first room, but instead of shelves and a desk there was a red three-person chair, and two single person chairs surrounding a coffee table. A hallway on the other side of the room leads to a small bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. Both the walls that are free of doorways have large cabinets that almost take up the entire wall. The dark, hand carved wood holds spell books and all the other paraphernalia that Gretchen uses for spelling. I sat down on the largest chair. Gretchen walked over to one of the cabinets, grabbed several items and walked over to me.

" Blue becomes you, Jul," Gretchen said while setting the items she grabbed down on the table and sitting down next to me. I know that she is blind with her eyes, but I don't know how she manages to still see things. It freaked me out.

"Thanks," I said picking up one of the books she brought out and examining it. I have power, but for the last seven years since it surfaced I have not been able to call it or control it. Gretchen said that for some reason I haven't came to my power yet and she is not sure why. I have spent the last years trying to find out what I need to do to come to my power and learning different spells and rituals I can use if my power ever does come. Gretchen has been able to help me control the small out burst of power I do have enough to not wake up at night on my ceiling at least.

Gretchen and I spent an hour working on a new spell of fertility and failing. It was missing an herb and we couldn't figure out which one. "What if we added birds honey," I offered. I rolled my eyes up to her face after several moments of her not answering me. The moment I saw her face I knew something was wrong. Her head was slightly tilted to the side like she was lessoning to something I couldn't hear.

"Shame and Sara are coming, but something is wrong." I stood up in alert at her words. Something was wrong? With Sara or Shame? A thought crossed my mind, oh God the baby! I grabbed my sword that was leaning against the couch next to me and ran towards the front of the shop. The same time that I pushed through the beads to the front room the door to outside flew open. It took me several second for my eyes to register what I was looking at. I saw blood, but I couldn't tell who's it was. My breath came out in a shaky exhale and I ran to them.

When I got closer I realized that Sara was helping to support Shames weight. I was relieved that the blood was Shames not Sara's. Not because I care less for Shame, but he will heal and is not pregnant.

"What happened?" I asked pulling Shame out of Sara's arms. There was too much blood to tell where it was coming from. The blood sank thick into the long sleeves of my shirt why I held him.

Sara answered why she shut the door and locked it. "I don't know who they were but they attacked us. They were going for me, they wanted to kill my baby!" The last part of what she said was hard to understand, because it was mostly a sob. I looked at her, searching her body with my eyes for any wounds. Her dressed was soaked in blood, but I don't think any of it is hers. Tears were pouring down her face as she fell to the floor next to me while I held Shame across my lap.

I looked down at the bloody man in my arms. His black shirt was slightly shredded. I grabbed were I could and started to rip the shirt free of his body. The front of his body looked okay. Shame's body felt dead in my arms, but the pulse in his neck was still steady. It took me all my strength to turn his body over so I could see his back. The tanned flawless skin that normally sat on his back was gone. It looked like razor sharp sand paper rubbed across his body until his bones stopped it from sanding him away. The air blew out of my lungs in a load gasp when I saw the piles hamburger that was left of Shame's back.

Gretchen sat a bowl of water and other supplies down next to me on the floor and then left the room to gather more supplies. I laid Shame as gently as I could on his stomach and started cutting the rest of the cloth from his body with one of the twin knives I carry in my boots.

Sara was trying to explain what happened, but it was too hard to hear through her sobs. Damn it! Why does ever one have to get all hysterical in the mist of a crisis? You wait until after everything is resolved and then have your hysterics. I never understood how Sara could live in the castle, be the mistress to our master and still have the innocence of someone that truly hasn't been touched by violence. I mourn that innocence within myself. Arden enjoys that about Sara and tries to keep her that way. Not even his other mistresses can live without fear of our master like Sara does. No one has ever tried to shelter me from the world. But being sheltered from the evils of the world doesn't make them go away. Times like now I am glade that I don't hold that innocence, because I much rather be numb and useful while covered in my friends blood than have hysterics.

"Sara!" I screamed, "calm down so you can talk, I need to know what happened." She lifted her tear-streaked cheeks to me and I watched her try to pull herself together. After several attempts she was able to talk in a voice I could understand. "There was three of them"- she gave small crying hiccups between sentences- " they attacked us right in the middle of the market. Shame was able to take them all on by sword, he was winning when one of them threw a spell at me." A sob slipped from her lips, but she kept talking. " Shame jumped on top of me and used his body as a shield to mine,"- she waved one delicate hand in the air towards Shame on the floor- "he is like this for saving me." She broke back into load sobs and tears. Shame will hopefully live through this; if that spell had hit Sara both her and the baby would have died almost immediately.

Gretchen was back and was tending Shames back. "I sent a pigeon with a urgent note to the doctor," she said with out lifting her head from the wounds.

"Sara," I said, "What happened to the men after the spell exploded?"

It took several sobs before she could speak. I would have shaken her in frustration if I didn't think it would make her worse. " I don't know," she said, "they were just gone when the smoke and dust from the spell cleared." That worried me. Why would they attack them in a crowed place and then leave Sara alone after her guard was injured?

"Do you think they followed you here?" I asked.

"I didn't see them. Shame was awake long enough to walk here, but I know we left a trail of blood."

I opened my mouth, but Gretchen answered before I could ask. " I don't feel anyone coming. Hand me another towel." I did what she asked.

It didn't take long for the doctor to get here. I let him into the room after Gretchen assured me it was he out side the door. He was a short and round man. His head was clean-shaven making his large forehead look even bigger. The features on his face didn't seem to fit each other; everything was either to big or to small. He was wearing a black coat that went to the floor and was carrying a black bag, which I assumed were his medical supplies. He went right to business as soon as he saw the bloody body lying on the floor.