Copyright © 1993,2002 Richard R. Kennedy All rights reserved. Revised: September 22, 2002 .
In Defense of Eve
Prologue:
L ong ago was an unrecorded distant land mostly populated on the shoreline. Its southern terrain was mostly rolling hills and dales while a smaller section to
the
north was mountainous. The tallest mountain loomed high above a cliff along the
shore. On the other side it faced a vast valley rich with vegetation. At the
base of this mountain, the top of which was partially blown off before the dawn
of man, there had been built a millennium ago an enormous castle. Behind this
fortress — even long before — slanting off and up was a long, twisting
narrow passage with steps ascending and then descending into a wide cavern.
4. Lodeston
B
ryan and Lance rode hard from dawn to dusk for three days before lush rolling plains of the kingdom finally gave way to a barren misty moor that stretched for another two days when the bogs yielded to rugged, desolate foothills of the northern mountain chain where they camped for the night. While Bryan searched for firewood, Lance unsaddled their horses and fed them oats. Low on water, he could barely cover the bottom of their feed bag. He corked the vessel without drinking from it himself and laid it by the saddles. Bryan returned empty handed."Nary a twig in this rock infested land!" he grunted.
Lance settled back against his saddle and said calmly, "We'll survive; but for the dampness of the haze still rolling in from the moor, it's rather mild tonight."
Bryan reached into his saddle bag to retrieve an apple, took a bite and while chewing said, "By tomorrow I trust we will reach some trace of civilization, though it is said these are a barbaric people."
Lance replied, "Oh, I'm not so sure that's true; after all, there's the legend, you know."
"Bah, that's just a fairy tale," Bryan scoffed.
"Even so, it's a sign that they couldn't be that barbaric."
5. Escape
D
ays following Bryan and her brother's departure, Rhonda avoided her father and Erinysia early in the mornings by stopping off at the kitchen out-building to grab two apples, cutting one in half. On her way to the stables she would eat one and save the core for a colt of her favorite mare. She would then feed each half to her horse and her brother's. Having her horse saddled she then would lead Stars to the pasture where she would watch him graze while she day-dreamed her happy childhood days when her mother used to take her riding, or when her brother would frolic with her when not teaching her two-handed swordsmanship with a small single-handed sword. On her return to the stables she would redress Stars leg after soaking it in warm water. Each morning she expected to see progress but the horse continued to limp.During the afternoons and evenings—after having visited her mother's tomb—she would read and sew in her room and have her meals there. One evening reading by candlelight, having supped, she heard a knock on the door, and her father entered to inquire about her long absence from the dinner table. He sat down on the feathery bed to face her. He stared over at her, waiting for an answer.
9: Rhonda
B
y noon she and her dun were exhausted; for the last mile she had dismounted and led the mare by checkrein to rest it and relax herself. Moreover, she was sore from riding hard and long without a saddle. Continually she sheltered her eyes from the sun as she squinted down and along the twisting trail hoping to see a home or inn—she knew she was still two day's ride from Castle City. Spacious rolling plains opened up beside the trail which became wider.Finally she discovered a camp where two men were sitting round a smoky fire. A donkey and an old draft horse were tied to nearby trees. A battered cauldron was set on stones in the middle of flames. The suggestion of victuals aroused her appetite, though the aroma was not much more appealing than the wash she had seen the women boil by the river of her castle. The men were dressed in little more than rags and their mien disheveled and dirty. Instinctively she mounted; stopping was out of the question, even though she would have welcomed the respite and perhaps some nourishment. She mounted and gently heeled her tired mount to a canter.
Nevertheless, one of them, a sandy-haired rogue in his twenties, obviated her having the luxury of her volition. He had been watching her attentively as she was coming down the trail. When he saw that she was going to pass them by, he jumped up from the campfire, and rushed to the road, stepping in front of her and grabbing the rein.
"Now, missy, that's not very neighborly of you to pass us by—and without a word of greeting."
28: Bryan at the Castle
W
hat Erinysia had seen through her tiger's eye the evening of Bryan's exploits shocked her into a rage:The cat had stolen past the sentries at the old palisade—so rotted away it was of little use—and reached the moat. It crouched and leaped high in the night air and landed on the castle side of the moat. It then crawled through a crack in the bailey wall and pranced across the court toward the inner ward's bailey, which the cat scaled. It glided past castle guards of the keep, some alert, others dozing. As it approached the keep steps, it hesitated, then shook itself, slumped prematurely, giving way its image and rolled on its back concurrent with Erinysia back at her tent losing concentration by making love to young Maureen.
32. Bennet
E
rinysia having several times been unsuccessful in her bid to conjure images on her dimming cabochon, tried again to track Bennet's progress, but again met up with the same frustration. She shrilled, "Damn you, Eve!" and wildly hurled the balking domed crystal, but it caught in the bed curtain and bounced on the bed. With a sigh of relief, she lovingly picked it up and placed it back on the table.Had she been able to bring up an image, she would have seen Bennet and some of his officers drinking at a table in an inn on the north fringe of the black forest. Bennet just finished guzzling a tankard of ale and said, "Well, my drinking mates, you heard the innkeeper say that the heart of the black forest has been uninhabited for a century and not even penetrated by hardy hunters." He swung round with his tankard held high, motioning to the innkeeper at the bench bar for replenishment.
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