Fantasy The Golden Throne

[GhostDash]

Her mouth continued to hang open as she stared at him a little longer, but eventually she stammered. Pushed herself to her knees and even then wobbled a bit because of whatever just happened to her. As they had left, Coal’s anger met her in full force.

“What am I doing here? Where is here?? Where am I?!” It had been…the barn, the world falling apart…the world spinning sickeningly…and now this. In a strange place, and Victoria was not entirely sure she was having the pleasure a nightmare, from which she could wake. But this….

“I don’t know what happened!” she insisted, pushing back against that anger. Distraught. Bewildered. “What did you do to me you—you giant lout!”

 

[Debacle]

Coal got to his feet--all the better to loom over her. He crossed his arms imperiously over his chest.

"Excuse me?" he growled. "Did you just call me a lout? I saved your life, you whiny little ingrate! If I hadn't pulled you out of the void, you'd either still be there, Mother knows for how long, or you'd wake up in some realm where they probably eat cretins like you!"

He looked around them at the dark forest they'd dropped into, then begrudgingly held a hand down to her. "Get to your feet, wench. You're in Alluna. What part, I've no idea. But there are plenty of creatures here who'd love to flay all that pretty white skin right off your body, and they will if you keep lying there like that."

 

[GhostDash]

She did call him a lout, because he acted like one! And, really, it was the only name she could think to call him right at this very moment.

"How fast you forget that I also saved yours!" In part, now she almost wished she hadn't--but she accredited that to her current distress.

She stared at his hand, practically pouting with indignation, but Victoria reached up to take his hand anyway so she could have some help in standing to her shaky feet. "We can't be in Alluna," she protested. "There is no such place. You-you're just talking from your own head about all that. Because you've been injured."

Although...speaking of which, he appeared in far better shape than when she left him in that cottage. Which had only been a scant few hours before; not even a full night. She knew; she would have woken up. Blinking at him owlishly, Victoria opened her mouth to say something, anything but she was speechless. About him, this place, those two moons, everything. It made very little sense at all.

 

[Debacle]

Coal yanked Victoria up to her feet, instantly letting go of her hand the second she was up.

"Oh, we're not in Alluna?" He blinked at her, eyebrows raised. "My mistake. In that case, have fun exploring wherever you think this is. I shall take my leave of you."

He'd leave her behind. He'd just leave her behind. She'd either live or she'd die, and he didn't care much which. Coal strode away, grinding his teeth. That woman knows how to push all my buttons. If she knew who I was, she'd be falling all over herself.

Behind him, he could hear a faint clicking sound. Coal froze, turning back to the clearing where they'd landed. A Freath was emerging from its den in the underbrush, it's ember-red eyes fixed on Victoria. The creature looked like a desiccated body, its skin black and slippery and pulled taught over its bones. Yellowed teeth protruded from the gaping hole of its mouth, and as it rose to its full height, it continued to click its long, curved claws.

"Victoria." He kept his voice very calm. He didn't know if Victoria had noticed the Freath slowly approaching her through the darkness. "Come here. Right now."

 

[GhostDash]

The force of his pull seemed to nearly jerk her arm right clean from its socket, and she pitched forward when he let go. Stumbling a couple steps, she somehow managed to remain upright, if disheveled and insulted.

“C-Coal. Coal! This isn’t amusing!” One of her feet stamped against the glowing ground. He ignored her. She took a couple steps after him, but paused, loitered. Wherever they were, he was the sole person she knew. Letting him leave her behind would be disaster. But why did he have to be like this?

With her eyes and focus on him, she had not seen any creature, only that Coal had stopped and turned around. But she now wished to be stubborn, crossing her own arms.

“Oh, now you want to help?”

 

[Debacle]

She was being stubborn, planting herself right in that spot, just feet from the Freath creeping toward her. Its slow approach wouldn't last much longer; the creatures could swoop in incredibly fast. They killed by suffocation, then dragged the body of whatever they'd killed back to their cave or burrow or whatever dark place they'd made their home so they could enjoy the flesh at their leisure.

The Freath clicked its long clawed fingers, red eyes glowing in the darkness. They hated light, even moonlight. But here under the trees, there were lots of shadows for them to slink through. If he'd had any magic left, he would've just summoned a light and illuminated the woods around them, but transporting himself from one realm to another had entirely drained him.

"Listen to me, you twit," he hissed. "There's a bloody Freath behind you. And if you think I'm bad, you're really not going to like him. Or her," he added. "I've no idea how to really tell them apart." He was getting sidetracked. The Freath's gaping mouth widened into a grin. Coal took a step closer, keeping his eyes on the creature. "Now, don't make any sudden moves. Just take a step toward me. And don't look back at it."

 

[GhostDash]

Could he not understand this from her point of view? All the nonsense about another place and possible deadly creatures...although...she did indeed witness something in that strange darkness. Where she spun and spun like a top, unable to breathe.

Peering at him, Victoria strode forward a couple of steps. She might as well go on, then, instead of listening to him prattle on. "Stop calling me--" Just for posterity's sake she did turn around, and froze. Rooted to the spot upon seeing a creature truly horrific loomed behind her. As it crouched, Victoria darted forward, not fool enough just stand there and let it rip her to shreds with those teeth.

Surely this was no nightmare, for she could never dream of something so terrifying.

She screamed as the clatter of its claws sounded after her; the creature lunged with her, intent on catching its prey.

 

[Debacle]

He had just enough time to feel annoyed that she refused to follow one single bleeding order before she screamed at the sight of the Freath. The creature lunged, yellow teeth bared. Victoria moved toward him, but the Freath was too quick and too close already. It grabbed onto her from behind, wrapping its black, sinewy arms around her in a choking grip. It lifted one leg too, wrapping that around her, squeezing her.

Coal grabbed hold of them both, knocking them out of the shadow of the tree and into a small patch of dappled moonlight. The Freath hissed, trying to pull her back, but Coal held onto Victoria tightly, keeping her in the light. The Freath shrank from the light, trying to move as much of its body into the shadows without letting go of its prey.

Coal reached for the ornamental dagger hanging in a sheath from his belt and drew the blade. "I ought to just let it eat you," he growled, but drove the dagger's shining blade into the Freath's shoulder. The creature screamed, hot silver blood spewing from its wound, erupting around the dagger. The Freath dropped away from Victoria, clutching its wound.

"Run," Coal ordered. "Run for any light you can find. We need to get out of this forest."

 

[GhostDash]

This particular feeling of helplessness Victoria quickly came to despise, for all the succession of moments that have happened as of late that she can do nothing about. Largely because those disgusting arms that wrapped around her made her skin crawl and drew a more desperate scream from her. She didn’t want to die like this, at the hands of some oversized insect that ought not exist.

She struggled, though helpless at first, but once the creature loosened its hold enough, she flung herself as hard as she could away from it—probably striking Coal with an arm in her haste, but he’ll live. Looking down at her dress, more blood had splattered on it, silver in color, but she hadn’t the time to get sick about it.

Crawling backwards a bit first to gain some distance from the struggling beast—which one, though, the creature or Coal; difficult to determine—she scrambled to her feet, glanced around and ran towards the nearest beam of moonlight. But she didn’t stop there. Only paused, caught a breath, and darted forward again, lungs burning as she dashed from one beam to another, then another, and another, each one seeming further and further away as her lung burned in her chest. Finally, though, she stumbled into a temporary break in the trees where the glowing grasses stood bathed in full moonlight. Here she stumbled to a stop and dropped to the ground, a hand pressed against her chest in an attempt to recover both her breath and her nerves.

 

[Debacle]

She ran fast, he'd give her that. In an instant she was on her feet, streaking from pool of light to pool of light like a frog leaping across lily pads. Coal turned back to the Freath, who was spitting at him from the shadows, one hand clamped over its wound.

"Tell the others they'll get worse if they try anything on her."

He left the creature behind to lick its wounds and chased after Victoria. Coal was still perplexed what she was doing there, or how she'd gotten into the void. It didn't make sense. When he caught up to her, she'd found an open stretch of land where the Freaths wouldn't be able to reach her. She'd plopped to the ground, catching her breath. Coal slowed his run to a walk and crossed the final few strides. Standing over her, he crossed his arms.

"In the future, listen to me. Unless you fancy being crushed to death, that is. Or sucked dry. Or--or--kidnapped and made into some creatures plaything. There are some rather unsavory kinds in this realm, and you reek of innocence."

 

[GhostDash]

Chest still heaving when he approached, she looked up at him with some sense of relief. Despite all his grouchy, snappish, mean-spirited words, he would not see her harmed at least. Not by anything else, anyway. Her gaze was owlish, mouth slightly parted as she breathed. Her hands trembled. Confusion reigned in her expression, and his words right now did not help settling her nerves and distress.

In fact, once he finished, Victoria burst into tears. Both breathless and now sobbing, she sounded about as much a mess as she now looked. But it was either this, or she might have started screaming instead.

Of course, now she probably will make Coal think even less of her now, which wasn’t what she needed, but she didn’t particularly care right this very moment.

 

[Debacle]

The woman started crying. No, not crying--sobbing. Coal's lips parted and he took a half-step back. Great, ugly sobs racked her whole body, making her shake, and Coal had no idea what to do. For a moment he stood there, immobilized by the sight and tremendously uncomfortable. He considered walking away and leaving her to her tears. She probably wants privacy anyway, he thought.

On the other hand, if he left her there, Mother only knew what sort of trouble she'd find. Things seemed quiet enough out there on the field, and he could see the lights of a village in the distance. But if there was some sort of danger, she'd not only find it, she'd pick up a stick and prod it into a state of annoyance.

And she'd been there for him when he'd been in a sorry state, paralyzed and bleeding out. Perhaps saving her from the Freath made them square though. She didn't even know what a Freath was. She oughtn't be here.

His eyes slid over her, taking in her soiled dress. Fresh silver blood coated the top of her arms, but beneath that was probably a pint of his own blood, more brown than red now that it had dried.

An idea fell into place. All that blood on her...

Was it possible that the magic he'd invoked had thought she was part of him because she was covered in his blood, and had dragged her into the void? He'd read a fable as a boy about a king who had lost his hand in battle. His enemy stole it, keeping it as a trophy. Years later, he'd traveled through the void into another realm. And what had landed beside him? His long-lost hand, shriveled and ghastly. If that could happen, was it possible that Victoria had been brought over because he'd gone into the void, and she just so happened to be covered in his very life's essence?

Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

She was here because of him. This was his fault, in a roundabout way. He had no choice but to take responsibility for her. Perhaps it was better not to tell her what had happened though.

Coal crouched and awkwardly patted her back. "There, there, love," he muttered. "I don't really think anyone would kidnap you. What use would you be? If they kept you, they'd just have to take care of you, and no kidnapper is going to want that burden." This wasn't really going as he'd intended. "Look, Alluna's not so bad. It's lovely here. The Freath... well, that was unfortunate. But we've already handled that and you came out of it alright. Cheer up."

 

[GhostDash]

How embarrassing it was, too, falling apart like this all of the sudden when really he had only pressured her a little with his words. All of this together, though, became too much. But that did not necessarily mean she wanted any of his sympathy. She’d half expected him to show disgust and leave her instead of crouch down and actually attempt some manner of…whatever his words were meant to be.

When his hand touched her back, Victoria stiffened, shooting him a watery glare. “What sort of comfort is that, being told how useless I am in this forsaken place?”

From sobbing to spitting more venom at him; she truly was losing all sense of composure and decency in front of him. Could he blame her, though? Well. He likely would, but should he blame her?

“If I am such a burden to you, then just take me home. Better to be a burden there rather than where I am not wanted, or where I do not belong. Or have you done this to spite me for thinking my words unkind to you before?” She wiped her eyes, quite done with her own tears at this point, especially where he was concerned. Even so, her voice shook a little, but Victoria did not wish to crumble in front of him like that ever again.

In trying to brush off her skirts, she noted not only his dried blood but the silvery muck on her arms and clothes, which nearly made her start in with the tears all over again. She ought to have taken a bath before that nap back home…

She made a sharp, angry noise of frustration, swiped her hands down her arms to try and rid herself of even more blood. “I want a bath! Is that too much to ask?! I am tired of dirt and blood and—” Another wordless noise, higher in pitch and, if possible, even angrier than the first.

 

[Debacle]

Coal drew his hand back. Ungrateful little wretch, he thought, straightening back up. Fine, she could just be that way. Let her sulk and cry all by herself. How should he know how to comfort her? He wasn't used to being around emotional females. The females he did spend any amount of time with tended to be more steely and conniving than the men in his court.

“If I am such a burden to you, then just take me home," Victoria sulked. "Better to be a burden there rather than where I am not wanted, or where I do not belong."

Coal crossed his arms over his chest. "Believe me, pet. If there was a way to send you back, I would. But coming here took every last ounce of magic I had. I couldn't send a flea to the void, at this point."

Victoria's frustration was increasing. He could tell because she was starting to sound like a kettle, getting ever more shrill the more she worked herself up.

“I want a bath! Is that too much to ask?! I am tired of dirt and blood and—”

"You think I'm not?" Coal demanded, suddenly irate. "Yesterday I was poisoned, shot, and dropped into another world, where I woke to find myself paralyzed. I'm covered in blood, unable to perform even the smallest feat of magic, and my brother is probably sitting on my throne right this instant, cackling about his victory. And who do I get for company? You. A whiny, sniveling, powerless little whelp who can't even follow my bloody instructions and almost got herself killed within minutes of arriving!"

 

[GhostDash]

Ignoring that magic comment—nonsense anyway, it ought not exist at her home or anywhere else; except she was not at home, but elsewhere, a where that also by all means should not be but it was, and it is, and she just did not want to think on it for much longer—Victoria pushed to her feet, wobbling a bit on the slightly uneven ground. Her arms flailed but she remained upright and as insistent as ever. Hair a mess, covered in blood both dried and fresh, she looked far worse for wear and felt almost nothing at all like herself. This temper certainly was not her own, or at the very least was one with which she was not at all familiar.

What in the world was this strange man doing to her?

“I am not whining! I have every right to be upset! You stole me from my home and brought me here, and nearly got me killed by doing so!” She jabbed a finger towards his face, which was about as threatening as she usually got but it was something. “I hope this brother of yours is having the bloody time of his life right this very moment, no doubt enjoying life without a coldhearted, sharp-tongued l o u t of a sibling around! Now what are you going to do about this predicament you've placed us in?!"

 

[Debacle]

Stole her from her home. Stole her from her home! Had she really just accused him of such a thing? Coal reeled from all the accusations being thrust upon him. If he was responsible for her being there--and he wasn't entirely sure he was--then it was completely inadvertent. And she didn't even know the nature of magic, so how could she stand there and accuse him of whisking her off to his realm? She was the very last person he wanted to be stuck with.

She shouted at him, on her feet and scowling at him. If looks could kill, he would've been dead already.

"Now what are you going to do about this predicament you've placed us in?!" Victoria concluded.

Oh, the things he could say to her. A thousand possibilities went through his head, full of obscenity and colorfully vindictive promises of exactly what he was going to do to her. But in the end, he settled on saying nothing at all.

Instead, he turned his back on her, raised his arm into the air, and shot her a very rude gesture as he started walking toward town.

 

[GhostDash]

Her mouth dropped open in wordless shock. Did--did he just--the nerve! The absolute cheek! The sheer rudeness of him was wholly unfounded and utterly disgraceful for a man who claimed to be a king! In fact, he probably did lie to her about it from the beginning. His crass demeanor and uncouth mannerisms fairly screamed some wildling general or a banished solider. Maybe even a fishmonger. Anything but a king, that's what he was.

Gritting her teeth, Victoria glanced around in the glowing grass and spied her weapon of choice. She'd be following him, of course, since he must know the way out, but first she plucked up a stick from the ground and chucked it at his back. It missed, naturally, and went sailing end over end passed his head but the message ought to be clear enough on what she thought about his poor attitude and mean gestures.

However...she still followed him. Let it not be said she was fool enough to stay here by herself.

 

[Debacle]

Something flew over his head, landing in the grass ahead of him. Coal's eyes narrowed. He bent to pick it up and scowled. A stick. She'd thrown a bloody stick at him. Coal spun on his heel to face the woman following after him at a distance, the stick in his hand.

"If you come within this area of me," he said, defining an invisible barrier around him with the end of the stick. "then I will whack you with, I swear to the Mother."

One more withering glare and he turned back around , marching toward the town. From this distance, the glow of lights seemed promising. But the closer they got to actual civilization, the less like civilization it looked. The lights were a mere cluster of homes built along the river. The houses were poorly crafted, clearly inhabited by poor fishermen or lowly farmers. None of whom were likely to recognize him.

Besides, it probably wasn't the best idea to start announcing to people that he was alive, even if it might result in aid. If word spread, or if he revealed himself to someone with loyalty to Gibralter, his brother would come and finish the job. Until he'd regained his power, he'd have to lay low.

Coal marched toward the river, disgusted by the level of filth that had accumulated on his fine clothes. Not looking back at Victoria, he began to undress. "Your bath, milady," he called, extending an arm toward the river. She'd probably find another bloody stick to throw at him, or maybe a rock, but it was worth it. He shrugged out of his jacket and dropped it onto the grass, then started unbuttoning the shirt beneath.

 

[GhostDash]

From her own safe distance—both close enough, hopefully, yet far enough away from him—Victoria glowered, tight-lipped and sullenly watching him explain his own boundaries as if he really believed she wanted to be anywhere that near to him. She snorted to herself in derision. Was he so paranoid that he believed she might deal him harm? Good. Let him think so. Never mind that she has absolutely zero idea what she would do to him even if she did have the capability.

She tromped on. Glancing at every shadow, turning towards each unfamiliar sound. Nothing else happened, though, which washed relief right down her tense, rigid spine. They have been following after those lights, she noted, but appeared slightly despondent to find it was just a simple village, perhaps without much with which to give aid. Or Coal simply didn’t trust them.

Staring towards the buildings, Victoria’s attention turned to him with a spike of sudden elation that crashed right into horror as she watched him undress right there in the open.

“I beg your pardon!” she scoffed. “Here? In the middle of nowhere? And with you looking on? You must be joking.”

 

[Debacle]

“I beg your pardon!” Victoria was still behind him, and he could easily picture her standing there with her hands on her hips, looking offended and perhaps just the tiniest bit adorable. Perhaps. “Here? In the middle of nowhere? And with you looking on? You must be joking.”

"It's good enough for a king," he countered, dropping his shirt on top of the jacket that was already on a dry patch of grass. "But if you'd rather not, I'm not going to force you. I may ridicule you for being the most foul smelling companion I've had in a hundred years, but I won't force you."

Coal tugged off his boots, shucked his pants, and made his way toward the faintly glowing water, clad only in darkness. The water felt blissful on his skin, cool and soothing. He ducked his head under the water and came back up seconds later, droplets clinging to his dark hair like tiny beads of light.

 

[GhostDash]

In fact--yes, her hands were indeed on her hips. And no she did not avert her gaze a little to late before he got into the water.

"Implying what?" she snipped. "That you are over a hundred? That's perhaps the most outlandish thing you've manged to say yet!"

Huffing her herself, Victoria started on her ties at the back of her bodice, struggling for a few minutes to rid herself of the layers, right down to her chemise. She wandered a little bit further upstream and debated before entering the water with her undergarments off but waiting for her right on the edge of the shore. With no soap, she briskly rubbed her arms, slipping under the water and rinsing off with vigor as the water was cold. She kept an eye on Coal as well, and the shore, just in case anyone happened to be out tonight. (Or what she assumed to be night.)

 

[Debacle]

"I happen to be over two hundred, as a matter of fact. Why? How old are you?"

He watched her undress unapologetically, smirking at her all the while. It was a shame the darkness probably hid his face, thought Coal, wading deeper into the river. The water was blissfully soothing. He washed away the blood, careful around the faint scar still marring his breast. He didn't like the look of darkness streaking through his veins. It was most concentrated where the arrow had entered, but it was starting to spread across his chest.

Ducking under the water, Coal scrubbed at his face and ran his fingers through the tangles of his long hair. When he came back up, he looked around for Victoria. She had finally submerged herself in the water, but she'd walked far down the river bank. "Does she really think that will stop me?" he asked himself. "A little distance?"

Clearly she didn't know him at all. He turned in the water, doing a lazy backstroke in her direction. "Tell me," he called, his face directed up toward the starry sky. "Why is it you insist on such prudishness? Are all your people this way, or are you an anomaly?"

 

[GhostDash]

"I happen to be over two hundred," she muttered to herself, silently mocking him with great derision and pointedly declining to answer his question in return. Too focused upon her vigilant watching and scrubbing, and her age was of none of his concern. She was a grown woman, thank you; that was all he needed to know.

As her back was towards him while she rinsed out her hair, long as well and in gentle waves deceptively soft to the touch, Victoria started upon hearing him moving closer towards her. She lowered herself into the water, arms wrapping protectively across her chest. It was likely too dark to see the red heating her cheeks despite the cool of the water.

"You are a wretch, is what you are! Denying a lady her due privacy! As it so happens, my people have the good moral decency to understand it isn't prudish. We're simply not barbaric." Implying that he certainly must be, and was. On all accounts.

 

[Debacle]

Coal nodded knowingly. "A prudish society, then. How dreadful. Mother forbid I see a nipple."

Hopefully they could find a way to get her back home at some point. Otherwise, she was going to be in constant misery among the 'barbarians' of Alluna. But that was hardly a priority. There were other matters that needed to be attended to first. Finding a healer was currently at the top of the list, but murdering Gibralter was a close second.

Coal waded back toward the shore, as clean as he was likely to get without soap. Shrugging back into his soiled garments felt like a creative form of torture.

"Come along," he called, leaning against the trunk of a glowing willow. "I haven't got all night, love. We've things to do. People to find. Thrones to reclaim."

 

[GhostDash]

Victoria scoffed but decided that trying to argue the point with him would be utterly moot and a waste of precious breath that she ought not spend on the likes of him.

She watched him closely, still low in the water and loath to return to those filthy clothing but…she had nothing else to wear. Waiting until he was occupied with his own, Victoria struggled out of the water, grunting softly as she slipped and splashed, had to wash off some dirt and mud, then could clamor out onto shore and quickly stuff her wet self into her underthings. She got a couple layers on just for modesty’s sake, but that soiled dress she left on the ground. By no means would she be getting back into that thing.

Joining him by the tree, she grumbled, “I’m here, Lout. There is no need to be so insistent about it.” She truly had no intention of being left behind in this place.