The Search for Arcon

[lochinvar]

Loch finished picking the guards he thought would be most helpful – meaning the ones that appeared the least damaged from the fight. He would take two of them, leaving three to accompany the queen back to Arconia. Along with Latenight, Meekal, and Willow, he hoped they would provide a large enough company to discourage opportunistic outlaws, or any remnants of Zarcon’s forces that might be still lurking in the area.

He also appropriated the palfrey ridden to battle by the late Captain Zorn, and the horse of the one trooper who had been killed. Along with the still unnamed horse he had taken from the scout, that gave him three mounts for carrying whoever – or whatever – they found below. Without waiting for the queen and her company to depart, he organized his small group and started off again along the bluff.

As they moved out, his thoughts lingered on Zelda. He had offered what comfort he could, when it was needed, but her iron sense of duty had reasserted itself quickly. Royalty had not the luxury of private mourning; there were decisions to be made, responsibilities to keep. Grief would have to wait.

He knew – who better? – what it meant to lose a spouse. He understood the impulse to turn blind hope into certainty, to seize upon this fiction that Arcon still lived and clutch it to her bosom as unassailable truth, but in his heart he knew it to be a chimera.

The chance of anyone surviving that fall was minimal at best, and even if Arcon had survived it, the fall in combination with his previous wounds would soon finish him. And if he had fallen into the river, the cold water and his weakened state would almost certainly have drowned him. If they found his old friend at all, Loch fully expected to find him either splayed across the rocks and brush at the bottom of the cliff, or washed up along the bank somewhere downstream. Neither prospect was very palatable.

Still, he would do his conscientious best to locate the king or, more likely, his broken body. His duty to Zelda as a friend required no less. When she had seen Arcon’s remains, she would be able to finally mourn in earnest, and move forward.

It was a grim favor he did for her, but it would be a favor nonetheless.

[Iwant2bafencer]

Lady Rosaline walked the banks wishing she had brought her horse. Instead of leaving him tied up at the top of the cliff. She grinaced and rubbed her aching backside from slidding down the path.
Tired as she was. She walked on examining each side of the river. Rosaline turned a corner to see a figure leaning against a tree. Quickly she stepped behind a giant boulder, and drew her sword. Pressing herself against the wall, she inched her way towards the still person. As she drew closer she could make out a womans figure. "Jo?" Rosaline whispered to herself. Recognizing her friend, Rosaline replaced her sword, and jogged over to her. At first she was afraid that something had happened to Jo, but then she saw her shallow breathing as she slept.
"Jo!Wake up!" Jo's eyes fluttered open at the shaking of her shoulder. Jo leaped to her feet drawing her sword.
"Woah! Jo it's me! Rosaline!" Rosaline said with her hands in the air. Jo sighed, "You shouldn't sneek up on people like that!" She answered replacing her sword.
"What do you want me to bang two sticks together? I could wake you up that way." Rosaline joked. "Nevermind that was rude. Look we should keep moving, and I think it would be safer to travel together. That is if you want to."
"No no, that's fine. I definatly agree."
Rosaline took a deep breath looking around. "Alright, lets go there's only so many hours in a day."
The girls walked on side by side to find their loyal king, caring friend, and an evil enemy.

(Dont ask if you think it's weird. I'm in a funny mood.)

-------------------
Carpe Diem

[lochinvar]

Loch and his troop made their way to the bottom of the river gorge, finally, by a sloping path he remembered from years gone past. He sent one of the men upstream, to find a ford; his job would be to look for any washed-up bodies along the further bank. Loch and the others would wait for him at the river's mouth; when he arrived opposite them, he was to indicate with hand signals whether or not he had found anything. If he had, he was to return to that place and wait for the others; if he had not, he was to return upstream to the fording place and await further orders. One of the extra horses was transferred to the man.

"Our primary job is to find the king, dead or alive," he told the man. "If you find the Lady Moon, transport her if she's alive, or put her somewhere safe for later retrieval if she's not. If you find Zarcon, make sure he's not breathing - even if he is when you find him, you follow? - and stash him for later retrieval."

"In either case, continue searching until you find the king, or can say with assurance that he is not there. Search every crevice and gully, every tangle and thicket, along the bank of the river from here to the sea. If he's along this river, I want him."

The man nodded, and started upstream. Loch and the second guard turned and started down.

[lochinvar]

He saw them before he heard them.

Loch and the guard had moved quickly downstream until they got close to the spot below the clearing and the stone house. Then they had slowed to a sedate walk, and while one examined the ground, brush and cliff-face for signs of Arcon, Zarcon, or Lady Moon, the other scanned the river bank and the various obstructions out for several yards into the current.

The guard watching the bank was the first to find something. Caught in a tangle of branches, not far downstream, was a body, floating face down. They moved nearer, dismounted, and improvised a grapple from some saplings that grew close to the water. Castiing it out to where the form bobbed lifelessly in the current, they finally managed to snag some of the clothing and draw it to shore, where they turned it on its back.

A face like, yet unlike, the face of his old friend stared sightlessly at the sky, a face Loch had last seen retreating down a dungeon corridor a scant few days ago. The king’s sword protruded from its side, lodged where it had been thrust. They had found Zarcon.

They lashed the body across the saddle of the mare that Captain Zorn had ridden, hanging the sword from the saddlehorn with an improvised lashing. Zelda would want it, either to keep against Arcon’s return, or as a memento of his death. Further searching along this stretch for any sign of Arcon or Lady Moon turned up no sign, however, so they remounted and continued their slow progress and divided scrutiny.

Loch was watching downstream when his eye caught movement. With a signal to the guard, he spurred the gray into a canter, keeping to the clearer areas. Drawing closer, he recognized the two figures. Finally reigning to a stop not far from them, he waited until they saw him, and stopped.

Schooling his features and voice to a blank neutrality, he greeted them. “Good day, Lady Rosaline. Good day, Lady Josephine.” Looking Jo over appraisingly – the bloody and bootless foot, torn shirt, scaped hands, the twigs and mud in her hair, and what appeared to be a rope burn about her neck – he asked in the same neutral, conversational tone, “Having another of your less-than-enjoyable ‘adventures’, Miss?”

[DamedEscrime]

"Sir Lochinvar," Jo said in almost a hush as she looked down at her feet. She could not look him in the eyes. The tone of his voice along with his words cut her to the quick. She'd hoped he would understand why she had "borrowed" Morgan, but he did not appear to be in an understanding mood. "Perhaps we need to speak, Sir," was all she could manage. "Yes, perhaps we do,"he replied looking stearnly at her as one's teacher might do when the student had been disappointing. "But it will have to wait. We have work to do." He did not ask after her any further, but ordered her to mount up so that they might be off.

Jo tried to walk on the toes of her pained foot keeping the flat of it off the ground as much as possible. Being her right one made it nearly impossible for her to pull up into the saddle. Annoyance in his voice, Lochinvar commanded again, "Please, someone help her mount." He would not go near her, not yet. He couldn't. Her indiscretion was too fresh in his mind. He'd blamed her for Morgan's death. Who in theor right mind would ride a horse like that?

As Jo finally was aided to her seat she spied the black studded saddle. She looked about expecting to glimpse Morgan tethered to another animal, but saw him nowhere. The coolness in Lochinvar's voice, the saddle, it all became clear now. Morgan would not be joining them. She stiffled a cry and tried to hold back a flood of tears to no avail. She held onto the saddle horn tightly, turned her head and heaved. He was dead and it was all her fault. There were no excuses only the reality of it. Her only hope was that the man she had nursed and cared for could forgive her some day.

[Iwant2bafencer]

Lady Rosaline greatfully accepted her horse from one of the guards. She mounted, and glanced at Loch's pain, and anger ridden face. Then at Jo's sorrowful yet. .hopeful face. Not daring to ask what the hostility was all about. She looked around at everyone, and then she saw the limp body lieing over one of the horses. "Is that. . .?" Loch shook his head. "No, it's Zarcon. We haven't found any signs of Arcon or Lady Moon. How about you two?" Now Rosaline shook her head. "Nothing, not even a shread of cloth, and we wont even get that if we just sit here. So I suggest we keep moving. If need be I want to set up camp at a deicent hour."

---------------
Carpe Diem

[DamedEscrime]

The small party headed along the river. Each bump and jar sent new pain through Jo's bruised and battered body. Her scraped hands found it difficult to hole the reins of her strange mount. The stirrups of her saddle were not set to her length and each time the horse set its hoof upon the ground it would swing wildly and crash into her aching foot.
She endured all this in silence. She felt she had no right to voice her discomfort. She had finally stopped crying and tried to focus on the hunt for Arcon and Moon.

She looked ahead to Sir Lochinvar. He sat straight and tall in the saddle. His face carried a stone seriousness, but his eyes looked worn and deprived of sleep. JO fought the urge to ride up and along side of him. Though she wanted to be near him she was ashamed of what she had done and wanted to hide. "Wait," she thought to herself. "Wait until I can find him alone. Then I can explain. Then I can beg forgiveness."

They traveled on for several hours at a steady pace. As dusk approached, Loch called for a halt. "We shall set camp here and take sup," he indicated a higher flat area just above the river bank. The men and women stopped and unloaded their mounts. Water and wood were fetched and the evening fire was lit.

The group spoke in hushed tones. Jo had the uneasy feeling that they were talking about her from the occasional glace in her direction. Lochinvar passed by headed toward the river. Jo sat for and watched him go. It seemed that his shoulders sagged forward and that his gait was laboured. She gave him a moment and then quitly followed.

She was not extremely quiet as she trudge along after him, but he did not turn to see her. When he finally stopped and stared up at the stars she placed her hand on the back of his shoulder and said quietly, "That one was named for Zelda on the day she wed Arcon."

Sir Lochinvar lowered his head and turned to her. He looked into her eyes and saw a fearful hope in them. Then he remember where it all began. He had told her about that star in the royal garden on the evening of the ball.

"I truly am sorry," she said not looking away this time and touching his hand in earnestness. "I was foolish. Arcon was right to forbid me to go on this journey."
Loch said nothing so she went on. "I saw Morgan's saddle. Have I killed him? I pray not. I pray he has only been left behind too tired to complete this trek. I pray you have only brought his saddle for safe keeping."

His silence was answer enough. She touched her fingers to her lips and looked up at him with those deep brown sad eyes. It made him want to take her in his arms, but he did not.
He still wanted to punish her. Rather he grasped her arms and shook her firmly and said,"Why? Why didn't you do as you were told?"

The sudden outburst alarmed her. Her body stiffened and her eyes grew fearful. Loch saw a terror in her and released her as quickly as he had taken her.

[Iwant2bafencer]

After waiting for Loch, and Jo to disapear behind the trees. Lady Rosaline went to her saddle bag, and got out some new dressings. Returning to her seat, she gingerly rolled up her shirt sleeve. Slowly she unwrapped the old dressings, and set them aside. Raising her arm. She examined the gash on her upper forearm. It had bruised all around, and was getting a slight infection. She would have gone down to the river to wash it. If not for Loch and Jo being down there. Not many people knew about her wound, and didn't have to. As she dressed her arm. She thought about how if the man in black hadn't stepped in Zarcons way. She probably wouldn't have the lower half of her arm.
Rosaline realized that this was the first time she had thought of the mysterious figure since that night at the ball. She shook him from her mind, and looked around for something to do. Failing to do so. She rested her head on her Sadle, and stared up at the entrance to the dark kingdom. It wasn't long after, that she fell into a deep sleep.

-----------------
Carpe Diem

[lochinvar]

He turned away from Jo, back towards the river. "I'm…sorry," he said, haltingly. "I have no right. And I would not harm you, or frighten you. It…wasn't your fault. Morgan, I mean. I know that." His voice was calmer now, but his hands worked at each other. Still without looking at her, he indicated a large stone by the bank with a wave of his hand. "Sit. Please."

After a moment, she sat hesitantly, wary, ready to either flee or fight.

What, really, did she know about this man? A few stories, a few confidences, the fact that he was held in high regard by the king and queen...those things were all well and good. But by his own statements he was a soldier, and had seen and done things less than savory, things that might make a man callous and prone to violence. She had seen the scars of his old wounds, even as she had tended the new ones. At the time, they had seemed exotic and romantic; as she thought of them now, they seemed to carry implications of a more sinister hue.

"Lady…Jo…" he began. "I know that I am not old as men calculate these things, but I have reached a time when I have begun to notice the sound of clocks ticking, if you can draw any meaning from that statement."

"I'm losing her, slowly but surely." Jo's brow wrinkled in puzzlement, bewildered by the seeming sudden change of subject. "With each day that passes, her face becomes less distinct. There was a time when I could simply close my eyes, and she would be there in every detail - the texture of her hair, the sound of her dress as she moved, the scent of her, the way she'd lift her eyebrow - it was all there. All of it." The mystery suddenly resolved itself in Jo's mind. He was speaking of Ellen, his late wife.

"But week by week, the details become…hazier…harder to recall. Soon they'll disappear altogether, except for a few, like rooftops sticking up above floodwaters. The rest will be covered, buried, and never be seen again."

"Morgan was the only other living thing here who knew her, had felt her touch, heard her voice. It was as if, as long as Morgan lived, she wasn't really gone yet; I could…delay the…fading…indefinitely. Maybe there were even times that I believed I could postpone it forever, though that seems mad, now."

"When I first heard that you had taken him - which was, and still is, wrong, by the way," he stated, glancing at her sternly for a moment. "Anyway, I was angry…very angry. I felt…betrayed. Stabbed in the back, if you will, as if you'd stolen all of my memories, and then carelessly cast them away by the side of the road - and all on a whim. Had I caught up to you that first day, I would have had some…harsh things to say."

"But the intervening days have given me time to think, and the more I examine myself, and my feelings in the matter, the more I've come to realize how foolish and unfair I was. You could not have known what, or how much, Morgan was to me. And I had seen the two of you together, and I couldn't believe that you would knowingly put him in harm's way."

"I don't know why you felt compelled to steal my horse and go haring off, when the king expressly told you to stay. It was disobedience, and dereliction. But I am in no position to judge - I left my post, the place specifically entrusted to me by Arcon and Zelda, to go chasing after you. I am equally guilty, if not more so, of the same crime."

"I could have turned back. I shouldhave turned back. But I discovered…another reason to continue. Oh, yes, I wanted Morgan back, but…" he stopped, staring down at his boots. He kneaded his hands together, as if performing some difficult task. "…I was also…concerned…for you."

[ 11-04-2001: Message edited by: lochinvar ]

[lochinvar]

Damn, but this was hard! Loch suddenly felt he would rather, unarmed, face a dozen foes than move forward in this. But now he'd begun, there was no help for it but to see it through to the end - whatever end that was.

"Jo…I don't know what these few days since the ball have meant to you. Hell, I'm not even sure what they've meant to me, not for certain. But your touch, when you were…shaving me…" his voice trailed off.

Finally he started speaking again. "What I'm trying to say is, that I have…feelings…for you. I don't know what - if anything - you might feel about it. Maybe it's too sudden; after all, we've hardly known each other a week. And I understand we would need to take our time…explore…see if things could work. I don't know. Maybe this all comes as a great shock to you. Maybe it was the furthest thing from your mind. Maybe I'm just making a great fool of myself."

"I only know that I've lived too long in the past. I want to live in the present again…and I would like that present to include you - if you'd have it, that is."

There. It was done. He'd said it. The die was cast.

He didn't look up, couldn't look at her, for fear of what he would see.

[DamedEscrime]

"Oh what foolish thing have I done to you?"
What had he said? He came for her? He deserted his post for her? This seemed to make the matter worse. He cared and she repayed him by ........Morgan, the thing most dear to him. Oh, how evil she felt.
Anguish now shown on her face. "I cannot tell you how sorry I am for this. I see that I have cost you dearly and I am indebted to you. I am certain that words will never make it right, but will you believe me if I say that I will never again be disobedient? Pray, Sir, say yes."

Jo stood to implore him and stumbled on her now swollen foot which caused her to cry out. Lochinvar caught her before she fell, righted her and looked into her deep brown eyes. He saw the pain there. Be if from her heart or her injuries he was not sure.
"Jo," he said tenderly. "Sit down and let me examine your foot." She took a breath and did as she was told.

Loch carefully removed what was left of her stocking, taking care where it had adheared itself to now dry blood. It was indeed swollen. He lightly held the calf of her leg and gently caressed the foot, pressing here and there to make sure it was not broken. Several times she winced, but held her. tongue. Satisfied that there were no broken bones,he produced a clean handkerchief and a flask that he carried from his waist and poured the liquid from within onto her wounds. She grasped his shoulder and gripped hard for the liquid burned as it entered the many abrasions she had suffered.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I should have warned you. Your foot seems to have become a bit infected. The brandy should help to cleanse it."

Jo bit her lip then held out her hand toward the flask. Loch looked at the flask and then at her. "You want this?" he asked surprised.
She nodded and he handed it to her. Pressing it to her lips she took one large swallow which made her cough and sputter as it burned all the way to her empty stomach. He patted her on the back and said half jokingly,"I suppose you do need a drink after this day, my girl." All she could do was nod as the burn became a warm feeling that spread throughout her all the way to her toes.

"Now let me wrap your foot help you back to camp, my lady and we'll see to the rest of you."

Jo was awash with feelings. Only moments before he had scared her with a breif glimpse of his anger. Then he said he cared for her. His touch had been gentle and sent an excitment through her she had never before felt.

As he wrapped a strong arm around her and helped her up she felt his warmth or was it the brandy. No matter his body was firm and made her feel safe. She wanted to melt into him as they walked slowly back to camp.

[lochinvar]

Jo and Loch moved carefully along the darkened path. The ground was uneven, the light chancy now that the sun had set, and the trees provided the occasional root at convenient trip level.

His leg had improved over the intervening days, but he still had a noticeable limp. Adding that to the objective of favoring her injured foot rendered the mechanics of movement amazingly complicated. In the first few minutes, she found herself supporting him from falling almost as many times as he did her.

As they were sorting out just how the two of them were to proceed, he briefly in his own mind toyed with, and then discarded, the thought that they should just walk separately. Whatever the difficulties, he didn’t want to relinquish the feel of his arm around her and hers about him. Between them, they finally managed to develop a sort of rolling, irregular stagger, which was practical, if not quick.

As they made their slow progress towards camp, he reviewed what they had just been talking about. After having spent the last several hours in agonized indecision, he had finally worked up the courage to make his declaration – and she had apologized, again, for losing his horse!

Had she even heard him? Perhaps she was just trying to avoid the whole subject, letting him down easy, giving him the chance to pretend he hadn’t said it. But then, why would she be here, holding on to him? He thought, hopefully, that there was a little more fervor in her grip than could be explained by mere locomotive support. But then, he couldn’t trust that judgement – his thinking in this area wasn’t exactly objective, and it might all be a construct of his own wishful imagination.

Or maybe it was just the brandy taking effect.

She hadn’t said ‘yes’, but then, she hadn’t said ‘no’, either. In fact, she hadn’t really said anything on the subject at all. So, perhaps there was still some hope. But then, why hadn’t she addressed the issue? What reason could she have for waiting?

He was hopelessly confused.

As they were negotiating a particularly tricky patch, an image exploded unbidden in his mind. He tried to suppress the chortle, but it escaped. A series of giggling chuckles followed.

Jo stopped, and peered at him quizzically. “What? What are you laughing at? What’s funny?”

“I was just thinking how we must look to anyone who would be watching…” he dissolved into guffaws. She just stared at him for a moment, then started giggling.

Soon they were both laughing out loud, helplessly, uncontrollably. They wrapped their arms around each other to keep from crumpling like two empty grain sacks as tidal waves of mirth coursed back and forth, heightened by, and draining, all of the tensions of the preceding week. Each time one of them would start to sober, a glance at the other would set them both off again.

Finally the gales began receding, trailing off to an occasional giggle. Suddenly, he was very aware of his arms around her, his eyes mere inches from hers. Those eyes were liquid and shining in the dim light, and his pulse started pounding. At one and the same time he felt both like he didn’t have enough oxygen and that he couldn’t possibly breathe.

Seemingly by itself, without any conscious volition on his part, his face moved ever closer to hers. She did not draw away, but rather waited expectantly, as if what was about to occur was as inevitable as the sunrise.

She closed her eyes as their lips met, and the night dissolved around them.

[DamedEscrime]

She accepted his kiss eargerly. She felt her own heart race,her breath come faster. This was a kiss like none other. He had totally enveloped her in his strong arms and held her like he would never let go and she did not care. She didn't want him to let go. This was the kind of kiss that she had waited her whole life for.

Her response told him that she would accept his advances and it encouraged him.

When finally their lips parted the words poured forth as a heavy rain. "Jo, did you hear what I told you earlier? That I have feelings for you?"

"Yes."

"Then why did you not speak of it?"

"I needed time to think upon it for I have likewise felt stirrings for you and it frightened me. When you made your profession I did not expect it. I had hoped for it, but not expected it then. Your kiss has convinced me that I should tell you also of my feelings."

[ 11-06-2001: Message edited by: DamedEscrime ]

[Swordsman]

Hey hey hey, I thought we were supposed to be searching for Arcon here?

Sorry, Dame, just thought I'd interject that...

[DamedEscrime]

Don't worry Swordsman, we won't foget Arcon the beloved. Now dont you think the story would get dull if all we did was trudge around in the woods?

[Iwant2bafencer]

Aw! You to make such a cute couple!! My guy had to go off to become. . . .*clears her throat*. Right anyway, I thought that was very well done. Not to long, and not to short. BesidesI know I didnt have any briliant plans to liven up the plot just yet. Oh, and what else do you excpect us to do in 'the middle of the night.' Sould I talk in my sleep? J/k I'll shut up now. So that we can move along with the story.

------------------
Carpe Diem

[Swordsman]

Originally posted by DamedEscrime:
<STRONG>Don't worry Swordsman, we won't foget Arcon the beloved. Now dont you think the story would get dull if all we did was trudge around in the woods?</STRONG>

Maybe for anybody else. Think, Dame. Nice timing.

Sorry, didn't mean to get bitter there. Go back to your happy plot.

[DamedEscrime]

*Don't worry, Jo thought of what she had wanted from Naekos and didn't get...He'd had his chance. Now she'll always wonder.

(Oh, shoot. My bad, Sorry Sword.)

[ 11-06-2001: Message edited by: DamedEscrime ]

[lochinvar]

Now, kids, if you don't stop this sniping at each other, I'm going to make you go play outside!

Swordsman:
Romantic sub-plots are a part of most great fiction. Fantasy fiction is no exception. They allow the author to more fully develop and display the characters, while making them more human and accessible (because who doesn't want someday to be part of a Great Love Story? I know *I* do/did/will!)

The sub-plot between Loch and Jo hasn't--and won't--interfere with the rest of the story line. We're still going to look for Arcon, suffer through whatever miseries are in store, interact with Rosaline, etc. Whatever we have done up 'til now has only taken about an hour or so.
(Boy, we can pack a lot of fun into a short time, can't we?)

And it's not like it's some cheap, sordid, tale of incest, adultry, and/or betrayal. It's just two otherwise unremarkable (and unattached) people confronted with a different type of unexpected event, and now they are going to have to deal with it, somehow.

Don't worry, we'll keep it in good taste. We both have kids of our own.