Vote ~ Comment ~ Enjoy
"Gethin Ricell." He raises his head, dark shadows hanging under his eyes, clearly visible in the bright morning light streaming in through the open window. A soft breeze whistles in and stirs his dark red locks. Grey eyes stare coldly at the one who spoke his full name. Dawn stirs, her arms stretching out above her before she opens her eyes. She blinks, once, twice, three times. Aware of the many new occupants in the room she quickly sorts out her skirts from where they had ridden up to her knees while she slept curled up on the chair.
Gethin does not move; neither his body nor his eyes. He waits, his mind whirring as he takes in the four warriors flanking his sister. Not one of them can look at him, their eyes going anywhere but. They are uncomfortable. They have not even looked at Gavriel because of Gethin sitting right beside him. A tinge of red guilt travels up one man's neck.
She clears her throat. "You are under arrest for the attempted murder of Gavriel Ricell." She says slowly, her voice hitching with nerves. Gethin takes his time in standing, stretching out his limbs before he does so. He tilts his head at her. She raises her chin, her lips trembling slightly. "You have two choices; come quietly or be forcibly removed from his side." Dawn's weary blue eyes widen considerably. Gethin rolls his shoulders then flexes his arm muscles.
"Does father know what you are doing?" He asks his voice controlled and calm.
"Of course he does." She replies, "I would never act without consulting him."
"What proof did you magically obtain to convince him of my guilt, little sister? A written confession perhaps? Are your forgery skills up to scratch?" He steps forward and the warriors step in front of his sister. He holds his hands up in mock surrender but the men do not move forward to secure his arms. They still wait for orders.
"There was no magic involved. Your guilt was confirmed when I spoke with a young maid who saw you repeatedly placing a clear liquid in Gavriel's drinks. She was not the only one."
"Who else confirms my guilt then, sister; surely you would not trust the word of a lowly maid who could easily have been paid." Gethin cracks his knuckles and the sound echoes through the room. Dawn, unnoticed, rises to her feet and crosses the room to Gavriel's side. She places her fingers below his jaw.
"A woman of honour and honesty saw you and she could not possibly have been paid to say so." Zara replies, more confident now. "How do you wish to precede, brother?"
Gethin looks over his shoulder and his eyes meet Dawn's. She nods slowly and then mouths, 'quietly'. His throat bobs. He looks back to his sister. "I will go quietly." She smiles sadly in reply. "But I would never poison my brother. I would never kill my brother. This is not my doing and neither is Jasiel."
"No one mentioned Jasiel." Zara muses before flicking her wrist. The four warriors step forward and flank Gethin as he strides from the room. Not one hand is placed on him as they lead him through the house and down into a special dungeon directly below the house. Gethin will get slightly better treatment than Logan ever did because of his last name.
Zara turns to leave but Dawn's call turns her back, "Do you not wish to ask if your last brother is still alive?" She asks harshly. Zara squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head. She immediately goes to Gavriel's side. She touches his hand.
"I was too scared to ask." She quietly explains. "It is selfish of me but I wished for a little longer if my whole world was going to further be destroyed." She sits and drops her head into her hands. Dawn chews on her lip as guilt rises within her. She was too harsh on her friend. The last few hours have been so stressful for everyone.
"He will be fine, his temperature has gone down and he has been peacefully asleep for a good while now. I trust that he will wake at some point today." Dawn strokes Zara's bright red locks.
"I never thought everything would fall apart so quickly. How did all of this happen?" Zara asks her, large grey orbs gazing up at her. Dawn twists a few strands of Zara's red hair and shrugs her own petite shoulders.
"I do not know." Dawn sits down on the bed, careful to not touch Gavriel. She glances at the door, where Gethin had walked out with his head held high, no useless words falling from his lips. "How can you be sure he did this?"
"A maid saw him and so did Ebony. I talked around with the servants and he has been poisoning father as well. It just makes sense; if he got rid of both of them he thought he would become the Lord of these lands." Zara sighs loudly, her chest rising and falling dramatically. "Why is my family so messed up?" She brushes Gavriel's hair off his forehead.
Dawn chooses not to answer. Her mind goes back to when Gavriel muttered about forgiveness. Zara could not be more correct, her family is certainly messed up. She can only be thankful that they found out Gavriel and Lord Kier have been poisoned and were able to save them.
Zara gets to her feet. "I am sorry but I must go. I need to assemble the council and speak with father. I do not know how to handle my own brother's betrayal." She squeezes Dawn's hand then leaves. Dawn places her head down on the bed in between her crossed arms. Could Gethin really have poisoned both his brother and his father? She jerks her head up when another thought occurs to her. If he has, does that mean he killed Jasiel also?
○ ○ ○
"You need to tell me about that day." Hunter encourages his horse to walk in stride with Logan's. Jag rides far ahead and Leo a little way behind, both on the lookout for anyone watching their travels. Logan stiffens in his saddle, tension travelling from his hands, down the reins and into the horse's mouth. The horse throws his head up immediately, unwilling to continue if he does not relax. Logan forcibly relaxes his hands.
"What day?" He tries to reply airily. Hunter simply replies with a dark quirk of his eyebrow. "Why do we need to discuss that day?" he says with a hint of defeat.
"We do not need to discuss it. You need to talk and I will listen." Hunter, out of character, explains without any mockery.
"You already know that I did not kill him. What more is there to say?" Logan nudges his horse faster but Hunter's horse responds just as quickly to encouragement and they remain side by side.
"I can keep this up all day." Hunter simply says.
"It was like any other day. We woke up, we packed up camp then we did our own separate errands while Zara remained with the cart and our belongings. Gethin would go off and hunt. Gavriel would go and collect water. Jasiel would see to the horses, stretching their legs and feeding them. I would take what needed washing and find a stream."
Hunter's silence is deafening.
"I was trying to get on the brother's good side by doing the job they did not wish to do. I was aiming to marry their sister and having their support when meeting with Lord Kier would have been priceless." Logan explains himself but Hunter does not give him the relief of pretending to understand. "Anyway..." Logan growls, "we all left as usual. Gavriel headed off in the same direction of Jasiel; Gethin had gone back the way we came. I followed Gavriel but went further downstream so that I was alone for a little while."
"Where was Jasiel?" Hunter interjects.
"He did a loop with the horses before telling us he was going to take them back to Zara."
"Go on..."
"I washed the clothes and the pans we had gotten dirty the night before. I was about to rise when I was hit over the head. I heard no one approach and it was too late when I saw the large branch coming down on me. I could not have laid there unconscious for long. I woke to the sound of absolute horror. I was unsteady on my feet for a moment but I ran towards the noise." Logan pauses, his dark green eyes flashing with sadness.
Hunter considers placing his hand on his brother's shoulder to show support. He decides against it. This talking thing has already taken him far from his comfort zone.
"They had already gone by the time I got to him. The light was fading from his eyes and his mind was already gone. I got so much blood over me trying to stop it bubbling from him. I knew when I was doing it that it was a fool's errand. He was already gone but I still tried to save him. He was gone so quick. I just did not believe it straight away." Logan's eyes take a faraway gaze. "Then they came and it all looked so bad."
"Did you try to explain what had happened?" Hunter forces himself to ask.
"They looked at me with so much hatred and anger, I tried but they threatened to kill me there and then if I dared to speak further. Then I saw Zara's face and I could not speak. There was no one else around; they would have been discovered if there had been. And a Ricell would not kill a Ricell." Logan finishes.
They carry on a bit further allowing the conversation to die out. Hunter grimaces but chooses to revive it. "Are you sure?"
"Am I sure about what, Hunter?"
"That a Ricell would not kill a Ricell. You say there was nobody else and you are not guilty for his death. That leaves a Ricell."
"They had their differences but I find it hard to believe of any of them." Hunter accepts his words although he has his doubts. "I have been meaning to ask you something..." Logan grabs his brother's attention. "The warriors had been called away just when you chose to help me escape. Why was that?"
Hunter sharply kicks his horse forward and mud flicks up into Logan's face. He watches with very little amusement as Hunter's horse gallops ahead, swiftly catching up with Jag. He nudges his horse and gradually they catch up. Logan stands in his saddle, calling out words to excite and speed up his horse. Hunter checks over his shoulder and scowls. He yells and his horse sprints for its life. Logan breaks out into laughter at the sight of his brother slowly becoming smaller. Jag whoops and his horse picks up in pace until it races a little behind Hunter. Logan soon joins in the race. Leo however keeps his horse a little way back, more aware of everything going on now that the others are not bothering to remain inconspicuous.
He turns his head as if stretching it out. His eyes zero in on a movement far behind them but to the left. Then he catches a glimpse of a horse, then two horses. They do not appear to have riders. Perhaps they are just wild, he thinks. He keeps his focus flicking back to them. At his glance ahead he sees that Logan has edged up to beside Hunter. Leo laughs as he sees the older brother clip the back of the younger brother's head as he passes. His eyes flicker back, the horses, without a rider or perhaps with, have fallen back and are gone from his sight. Leo pats his mount's shoulder. He will have to keep an eye out in case they should return.