Casting Runes Part 100

    Her friend nodded and Neil gently rubbed her back when suddenly…

    With a shocked gasp, Colleen stiffened and the next thing Jordis saw was how her little sister dashed off to the side of the ruined farmstead.

    “Colleen!”, Liam called after her and followed her steps immediately, as did Jordis and Neil. When they reached her, it was only because Colleen had dropped to her knees next to another body, but this one was not charred, not even burnt in the slightest. But the gash across the girl’s neck, plastered with dark, clotted blood told them all that she was long dead.

    “No…”, Colleen mumbled and touched the blonde hair, softly brushing little twigs and autumnally orange leaves out of it, “No, not you…”

    Jordis found no words to say and she trembled as she gathered that somehow Colleen had known this now dead servant girl. This knowledge pained her as she clearly saw the ache in Colleen’s trembling shoulders. Neil shot her a glance and she nodded, so the two of them approached her sister, but Liam was quicker.

    “Come here, honey.”, she whispered and slightly tugged at Colleen’s shoulders until she got up. Without a word, she spun around to him and Jordis expected her to hit him, yell at him…but instead, tears ran down her cheeks and she clung to Liam who held her in a tight embrace while mumbling: “Shush, honey…”

    “No!”, Colleen protested with an angered sob, “Shia was the only one in this farmstead who had ever cared that I was there!”

    They all stared at her and Jordis heard Liam gulp, before he cupped Colleen’s cheeks in his hands. Her gaze did not leave his eyes while she spoke: “She saw to my wounds, gave me to eat even if that bastard denied me water and food to break me. She was the only one who cared!”

    “I care for you.”, Liam whispered and Colleen’s angered stance was weakened, “Jo cares for you and so does Neil. We all care. I’m so sorry that none of us had been there for you when it counted, but now we’re here. You hear me, honey? We care.”

    Colleen did not reply to this, at least not in verbal form, but she rested her head against Liam’s shoulder and clenched her fists in the cloth of his tunic, gripping him tightly.

    “We…should give her a proper funeral, at least this little appreciation of her deeds.”, Jordis mumbled, but Liam quickly retorted: “No, baby girl, we can’t.”

    “What?”, she snapped at him, but Liam sadly replied without letting Colleen go, “If we changed the scenery, even the dumbest knight they could possible send to investigate would know someone was here and they’d wonder. They could catch onto us. We can’t do that.”

    „But…“, Jordis said, albeit her protest was already scotched. And it was silenced completely when Neil touched her shoulder and softly said: “As much as I hate to say it, love, Liam is right. We cannot change anything.”

    Jordis knew that they were right, but she still resented the thought and looked at her little sister. Colleen was still hiding her face in the crook of Liam’s neck, but now she looked into her eyes and said: “Right, we can’t. Let’s just get out of here.”

    “Agreed.”, Liam stated and slowly freed Colleen from his grasp, but as they began to walk from this horrid scenery, he did not leave her side. He even waited right next to her when she looked back at the kind servant girl that had helped her, Shia.

    Neil gently tugged at Jordis’ hand and pulled her further away to give Colleen a moment to bid her farewell to the friend. Maybe, judging from his smile, he also intended to give Liam and Colleen a moment.

    “Stay strong.”, her beloved knight mumbled looking at Colleen until he turned to her so that they exchanged a glance and then he said: “She is strong, but Liam is giving her even more strength.”

    “Yes.”, Jordis agreed, “Indeed, ‘tis what he does.” She of all people knew, as in their early years, she had been the one to rely on him.

    As her sister and her closest friend moved to them, Jordis saw the grief in Colleen’s eyes and she held close to Liam as she would have done herself, but now she had Neil. With a smile, she turned to her knight and looked at him until he nervously raised his eyebrows.

    “My love?”, he mumbled a question and she had to grin. After the last night, he was her fiancé, runes’ sake. Still smiling, Jordis got to the tips of her toes and whispered against his lips: “Thank you.”

    This left him startled, but nevertheless she turned away to continue their journey. As she did this, she caught Liam snickering which only broadened her smile. A quick look told her that Neil belatedly joined them and flustered and blushing he asked: “S-so…our next destination is Noble Creek?”

    “Exactly so.”, Jordis stated, but then bit her lip as she thought of the patrols and realised that it would be dangerous to travel on the roads. As if Colleen had read her mind, she chimed in: “A few miles north there’s an inn. We could rest there for the night and then travel on, but we should avoid the roads.”

    “True that.”, Liam agreed and they walked in silence. That was until Jordis gasped in surprise and took a rune into her hand that had activated itself. Mora’s rune of communication.