of Shrikes and Other beasts
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 16053
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The clash of sword and ax, of knife and shield resounded as the battle
continued. Duke Zular watched as his men cut the rabble down. Zular was
not a manly man, in fact, he held many an effeminate characteristic: his
choices in clothing, the softness of his voice, his desire for interior
decorating. Yet this man, who seemed more a boy to many in the Court,
also had other qualities. He was renown for his skills in vassalage, he
had honed his strategic senses to a tee, and only a handful of persons
could best him in the game of chess.
The sight of a falconer caused the young buck of the House Mollari to turn half his attention from the battle. The man rode to the Lady D'Honiare, noted Zular. He could see them speaking, discussing, deciding. He watched them dash through the throng of fighting men, through a gap conveniently made by his own willful machinations. ~~ride, my little noblegirl, ride. Wherever you go I shall be there; my eyes, my ears, my will. Regent I may be now, but one day I shall be far more.~~ Far from that place A beast lay sleeping in the protection of some brush. She was an odd thing to be sure, an abomination to say the least. Her breast rose and dropped as she breathed in the morning air. Mumblings came to her mouth as a dream passed within her twisted mind, then another and another. The dreams held images from her past, from her present, and from some unknown place in which the Fates hold sway. She saw her girlhood friend, Lady Sal, frolicking in the woods with the second son of some nobleman from the Province; she heard the twit, twit, twit of the sewing needles as her mother taught her the Lady's Duty; she felt the fabric of her blouse and boyish pants as she left her room on that fateful night. The beast's eyes opened and tears seemed to well within. Then the beast rubbed her eyes and with new sight and smell and hearing began to prowl the valley in which she found herself. She recalled having run from the ice and then from the water, she was glad to be in a warm, dry place now. With a sniff she knew that game was not far off.
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6/12/2001 10:09:22 PM
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