Fantasy Flash Fiction: Those Who Are Dead But Cannot Die (Accusation)
The 3rd entry in the Fantasy Flash Fiction series called Those Who Are Dead But Cannot Die, this time around we have a confrontation from the lord and admitting of guilt. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this piece.
Hrandikar stole a gaze across the mighty hall to see a giant wooden table with chairs carved with stag head back rests. His eyes drifted to the large dragons curling up the beams and across the ceiling. He yelped when he heard a throat clear in the darkness as a female’s voice called out to him. “You found something fantastic in the Gulley. You are not the only ones to discover something amazing, but his lordship wishes to hear this tale in your words. Please, tell me of your adventure.”
Hrandikar took a step forward and offered an awkward bow toward the darkness. “My friends have disappeared in the wilderness and the ones that die but cannot remain dead scour the land for more of their kind.”
Wulfred stepped forward and place his hand on the boy’s shoulder as he offered a smile toward the darkness. He offered a stiff bow at the waist as he watched crystalline blue eyes blinking at him from the shadows. “Please forgive this boy, my lord. He forgets his place in the world. I discovered that his friends had explored the Gulley and took it upon myself to investigate the area. It is as you feared; the shunned have been expelled from Winter’s Court and infest the wilderness with their stench.”
The boy looked up at Wulfred with a sneer, but was summoned by the female voice. “You are the one they call Hrandikar, are you not? We have heard interesting things about you, things that place your credibility at risk. Are you telling me you have seen the shambling with your own eyes?”
The crystalline blue eyes blinked and shifted from side to side as a murmur of voices spoke in the darkness. Moments later, a deep male voice spoke as the mysterious eyes rose. “Why would you lie to your lord?”
“I am no liar, my lord. I was scared. There was no time for me to explain what happened nor was I able to accept that he was dead.”
“Your parents were my loyal servants, people I would trust my realm with. Tell me, did they teach you to lie?”
The boy stuck his chin out in defiance as he folded his arms over his chest. “I am a man of my word, as my father taught to be me long ago. There is no need to lie to a lord.”
The eyes s fromhim. Moments later, laughter rumbled from the darkness. Wulfred shook his head in disgust as he grabbed the boy by the shoulder again “I am not sure this boy understands the mockery placed before him, milord. Perhaps you should explain yourself before you wound this boy’s feelings.”
The laughing stopped as the blue eyes turned toward them and narrowed in anger. “Take the boy and leave us. We have much to discuss.”
Hrandikar glared at the darkness as he spat on the floor. “You aren’t going to do anything about my friends, are you?”
The blue eyes shot toward the child, causing him offer a muffled cry in astonishment. “You are a member of Grundistad, there is no need to fear. If you speak the truth, we have no choice but to avenge the death of your friends. If you are false in your reports, you will be hung from the northern entrance and used as a deterrent for your friends to no lie to a lord.”
The woman’s voice hissed, causing the blue eyes to fade away. “Father; remember you speak to a child.”
“I speak to a warrior, not a child. When I was his age, I stood in the Cull and proved my worth more times than I care to admit. He stands in my hall, within my walls; to tell me he swears what he says is the truth. He will not have to face a Cull, but he will know what it is like to lie to a lord of the Sawteeth. Leave us, I have much to discuss with my retinue.”
Wulfred bowed once more and dragged Hrandikar away from the throne. The boy protested until they disappeared into the antechamber, leaving the hall eerily quiet. The blue eyes fluttered as the cast their gaze toward the corner. “You are the priest from the Kingdom; you tell me what is happening here.”
An elderly looking woman stepped from the shadows, her eyes glancing from the lord in the darkness to the door and back again. She cleared her throat as her right hand shook, causing the withered wooden staff to clatter on the smooth surface. “If it is what I believe, the Kingdom is suffering from a curse, lord. I have heard reports of people who should have died from massive wounds, yet they still rose from their deaths and walked the world. Every day they exist past their death, they drift further into madness until the fires of jealousy remain. You would do well to flee this place and leave these poor souls to their fate.”
The woman cowered when the sound of a fist slamming against the armrest of the throne echoed across the hallway. The slow hiss was replaced with words that trembled with anger through the tense air. “I shall not leave these people, not when they have cast their lot with me. I promised I would be different than the other lords and ladies. I swore I would not be like Karis, nor would I forget them like Trantis.”
“My apologies, milord; I did not mean to o—“
“And yet you did, old hag. You have my grace as a refugee from the Kingdom of Winter because you had valuable information regarding my nemesis. I wish to stress ‘had’; your existence here is by my grace only. You would do well to remember that.”
“Yes, your grace.”
“Leave us, I wish to have a discussion with my son and daughter in peace.”
