Magic Weaver

Chapter Three(v2)

Rafe suddenly stopped. Cedric looked up. And blinked. Blinked again. Was he hallucinating? In front of he and Rafe stood Jack, wearing a furious expression. Emily was slightly behind him a smile playing on her lips when their eyes caught. There was something hopeful in those eyes that shouldn't be there. Why did she look at him as though everything was going to be alright?  

"What do you think you're doing with my servant?" Jack demanded sharply. What the hell was he doing? Rafe would tear him apart! He'd take him too and kill-wait. Jack was the duke's son. And Rafe, though the king's personal servant, was still a servant. Jack had authority over Rafe. Cedric couldn't help it-he grinned.  

"This servant has broken the most prominent law in the castle. On the king's laws, he is to be put to death immediately." Rafe explained with only the slightest hesitation.  

"I don't care." Jack snapped. "I want to keep him, and my word is above a law."  

"But the king-"  

"The king doesn't care what happens to dirt, and neither does he care what happens to lowly servants. This servant is mine, and I'll do with him what I wish. If I want to kill him, I'll kill him. But I don't want him dead. So I demand you give him back to me." Jack played his part expertly-it was almost humorous to watch, knowing his true feelings about servants.  

"Surely you don't want this servant-he's horrible at obeying orders and breaks every rule he comes across. Why, he's probably stolen half your valuables already."  

"I don't steal!" Cedric exclaimed angrily. He had never stolen anything in his life, and he wasn't about to let Rafe add more blemishes to his honor. Cedric gasped and arched his spine in pain as he felt the tip of a dagger move across his back. He could feel tendrils of warm blood slither down his flesh. That silenced him, as he moaned softly in pain, and looked around at the nobles who watched him with subjective interest. Didn’t they understand that he was human, just like them, that he could feel pain as much as they did? He tore away from their gaze and focused on Jack.  

Jack decided to ignore the pain inflicted on Cedric, which was the smarter choice for him to make. If he betrayed any emotion toward Cedric as a human being, his attempts would quickly fall apart. They would discover that he harbored feelings of friendship toward the slave.  

"We can get you another servant." Rafe offered. "One that will listen without speaking out of turn."  

"I don't want to train another servant. I want this one. And I insist you return him immediately."  

Cedric could sense Rafe's mind turning rapidly as he tried to find a way around this upper's demand. There was nothing he desired than to end Cedric's life and be rid of him. "Shouldn't your father have a say in this?" Rafe asked suddenly.  

"My father?" Jack's voice was guarded, hiding his surprise by the turn of events.  

"Yes. You may not care that this servant should be put to death, but Duke Christopher would want to know. He wouldn't want his son's servant causing mischief under his nose. I say we ask him what he thinks about this particular situation."  

"I suppose that's fair then." Jack reasoned, fists clenched apprehensively. "Give the servant to me while my father decides."  

"I think not." Rafe replied with a smile in his voice. "Since this one has already tried to escape, we'll keep him in a cell until the duke decides what his fate should be."  

Cedric felt the urge to voice the fact that he had not in fact run away, but the blood running down his back reminded him that now would not be the time. Cedric watched as Jack looked over Cedric's face carefully, trying to find a better way out than what Rafe had proposed. But there was none; Cedric could read that in Jack's defeated poise. "All right." Jack relented. "But you better keep him alive until my father settles on a decision."