| Anna's Tale |
| (Anna's tale, written by LadyKris, has been included in this story with her kind permission.) |
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| As told to Knightshade and Rorke: |
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| LadyKris awoke distraught and disturbed this morn. Her voice trembled as she asked me to beckon the duty guards assigned to watch over her bedchamber, last night. |
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| "Were ye all at thy posts throughout the last eve?" she asked. "Was there any crevice through which man or beast could gain access to my chamber while I slept?" The guards assured her that she was well-protected and guaranteed her that no one had forced his way past the strong human fortress they created. |
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| LadyKris dismissed the guards and fell back to her pillows, weeping. Alone, with only me by her side, she cried as she told of what had happened in the darkness. |
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| Hours earlier, she awoke from her sleep to see the shadowy figure of a man beside her bed. Through her fatigue she was fooled to believe it was her true love, the brave warrior who had been on a quest since just before the Christmas festivals. Who else could the man be? Who else would be allowed past the guards without commotion? She reached for him, his name escaping with much joy from her lips. |
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| The man stepped away, and LadyKris saw that there were two other dark figures of men behind him. Before she could speak, one of the figures raised his arms and cast a strong enfeeble spell upon LadyKris. Weakened and unable to speak, the lady lay helpless in her bed. |
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| The first man told the others to leave, and they vanished in a puff of smoke. Now alone with him, she watched as he lit her bedside candle. The enfeeble spell would not let her speak or move as she watched the light of the candle begin to illuminate the room. The dark figure came into focus, and LadyKris soon realized that he was not her fiance, but another man unknown to her. |
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| He sat on the edge of her bed and extended his hand toward her. She could feel a slight tremble in his hand as he touched her cheek, then her hair. "The tales of thy beauty have not been false, m'lady," he said in a deep voice. "My scouts have told me, but I had to see thee with my own eyes." |
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| Fear filled LadyKris as the stranger took her limp hand and kissed it. His fingers were cold as he touched her. The stranger paused, turning her hand toward the light of the candle, looking at the ring of her fiance. "Most beautiful," he muttered. With his other hand, he slipped the ring from her finger and placed it in his leather pouch. "I shall keep this to remember thee by, m'lady." |
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| She felt chills throughout her body as the stranger bend down and softly kissed her lips. Tears lept from her eyes, and the stranger brushed them from her cheeks. "Cry not, I will not harm thee," he whispered. "I will not take thee by force, for ye shall soon give thyself to me freely." |
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| With that, he stood and pinched the flame from the candle. "Now," he said with great calm, and he was summoned away from her bed chamber, immediately vanishing. |
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| 'Twas not until I shook her, this morn, that the enfeeble spell was broken. I have never seen such fear on the countenance of m'lady. She touches her finger in search of her missing ring and cries. Her heart is so sad. |
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| Tell her not that I have shared her secrets, good sirs. |
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| Page 7 of 8 |
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