Seenan’s eyes were wide but her voice was steady and strong. “My dear, what are you doing? This man tended to my ankle and has helped me get this far. Put your knife down!”
Seenan’s daughter could not believe what she was hearing, “Nanna, he’s Amarr, he could not have helped you! This is a trick!!!”
“Oh my dear, he is not the only kind one among those dreadful Amarr heathens. Put your knife away and help me home. I will tell you everything.”
This Minmatar youth’s face becomes a classic expression of surprise. She sheaths her knife and backs away from this curious Amarrian youth. This simply could not be. An Amarrian who is kind and caring? She had not heard of such a thing. He’s staring at me. Why is he staring at me? Too bad he is Amarr, his face is not unpleasant.
Galen could not help himself. This woman, although apparently deadly, was beautiful. Her blue eyes just seemed to glow like the morning sky, her face was filled with the beauty of youth. There was something very familiar about her eyes, but he dismissed it as a fleeting attraction for a beautiful face.
“Nanna, he is Amarr. They can not be trusted. They will lie at the drop of a stone. Look how he stares at me now. He’s thinking how he can take me to his bed chamber!” Her hand was now again, holding her knife.
Seenan raised a hand to her daughter and gave Galen a sideways look, winking a subtle wink with one eye before she spoke. “Oh my, where are my manners. Leainati, this is Ga’len. He is a forester for the manor. He was out to collect the produce from the mushroom growers. We have crossed paths before and I must tell you, he is not like any Amarr you have met before. Put away your knife, he is unarmed and he’s just a bit smitten with you. You know how all the boys like to chase you around.”
Guh len, Ga’len? That was not my name. She know who I am but why hide my identity? Perhaps Leainati would kill me if she knew who I was. I should play along he thought.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Leainati. I must admit, I need to head back to the harvesters as soon as possible. They will be looking for their mushroom shipment at the manor. Ladies, I believe this is where I take my leave. I should be heading back.”
“Ga’len, I do not trust you. You are Amarr, how do I know that you won’t call the guards to kill me? I threatened your life.”
“Believe me, you can trust me. If I wanted you dead, you would be lying on the ground by now. Please understand….”
Suddenly, from down the path, two guards spotted the three of them.
“HALT!!!! YOU THERE, ON THE GROUND NOW!!!”
Galen turned to his two new friends and yelled, “RUN, RUN!! GET OUT OF HERE.”
The two guards began to raise their weapons. Galen ran towards them as fast as he could. He tackled one of the guards, knocking him to the ground, smashing his head with a deep, resonating thump.
The second guard however, was untouched and smacked Galen against his head with the butt of his rifle. Everything went dark.
Galen awoke, his head was throbbing as the a nurse standing over him was changing the dressing for the wound on his head.
“M’Lord, it is good to see you awake. You are in the medbay and you will be fine. You took a nasty blow to your head. It’s a good thing that guard recognized you or you would be dead now. Of course, he would be still be dead for striking a member of the ruling family. Your father commands your presence immediately.”
Slowly, Galen raised himself from the bed. The whole room seemed to bounce in his eyes. Each heartbeat made his head throb more and more. Breathing only increased the throbbing and hence the wobble of the room. Slowly, he walked out of the medbay and headed for the throne room.
When Galen arrived, his father was no where to be seen. The local enforcement magistrate was standing just inside the hall.
“Ah, the rebel has arrived. It is fortunate you are the son of Galen Grendalis the IV, otherwise you would be dead now. Fucking ‘Minnie’ lover!!”
Galen stood there and glared at the magistrate. “You have no right to speak to me with such tone. Leave my sight now or I will have you removed.”
“Will all due respect M’Lord, you have no right to remove me. You are under arrest for aiding in the escape of two Minmatar slaves and killing a guard who was in pursuit. You may be spared severe punishment if you tell us who it was you helped to escape.”
Galen stood as silent as the stone pillars that surrounded the throne room.
“Very well, then you shall be subject to the most severe punishment under the law. GUARDS, take this traitor to his quarters, he is under house arrest.”
Galen was hung on a toture rack that had been brought into the chapel. He hung there, his face twisted from the pain of his head and the deep thought, I shall be beaten by my father, the coward.
“So, you did lie to me after all,” the words pierced the darkness of the room.
Galen raises his head slightly and tried to look around. It was dark in the chapel, but he could make out a familiar face. Those blue eyes that reflected the moonlight, glowed slightly in the darkness.
“Are you here to kill me with your knife now that you know I lied to you?” Galen asked.
Leainati smiled and looked him square in the eyes. “Seenan told me everything. It would seem that not all Amarr are bastards. It would also seem that you do not want the mantle that was born upon your shoulders. So tell me, who is this Ga’len person?”
“Seenan made that up, “ she chuckled quietly, “well….Ga’len, Galen. Not very original, but if I am to free you and we manage to escape, you will need to change your name. They will hunt you down.”
“Leainati, you are here to free me? A Minmatar girl freeing an Amarr boy.”
“Yes, well, Seenan said this to me, ‘Together you will both be free and in time, so will we all’, or something like that.”
Leainati took her knife and soon he was free of the rack.
“What now blue eyes?”
Leainati held the knife to his throat. “Let’s get this straight. I am proud of my name, it’s Leainati. Seenan gave me my name and I will always carry it. Just because it means ‘blue eyed warrior’ in some ancient language does not mean you can jokingly toss it’s around, got it?”
“So, what does Ga’len mean then?”
“You will have to ask Seenan when you see her, come on, we must get out of here quickly.”
More of The Bleeding Rose
May 14th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
MOAR
May 14th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
The next episode is finished and will go up on June 1. Episode IV is still being written, but trust me, I have more on this storyline to tell!!!