The Journey...

[Lady Desari]

::The dream had started again. Visions of her adoptive home disturbed her sleep. The ground soaked in blood and Mikhail standing in the middle of it all. A silent scream was ripped from her throat as she sat straight up in bed. Goosebumps marred her skin as she ran her hands over her face to try and block out the scene that played over and over in her mind. Slipping from bed, she padded barefoot to the window and looked out across the lands. A myst was rising over the fields, enveloping everything in a slivery haze that clung to the night air. Checking on the children, she smiled as they slept... Innocent faces scrubbed clean from their evening bath, she kissed them all and slipped out of the room. Grabbing her robe she silently made her way down the stairs and out of the castle. Bare feet taking her to the stables, she entered and took a deep breath. The smell of leather and horse mixed with fresh hay calmed her a little as she went down in search of Onyx. Cooing to him and offering a sweet, she took up his brush and with long strokes began working on his mane. The knights she had sent to Artane from RavensWood had not returned yet...She wondered what they had found and if her adoptive family was safe...Business had kept her away from GoldenMyst for so long she was afraid something would happen to cause her to have to take a leave of absence once more...Her mind wondering she did not hear the horse less rider enter the stables until his choked greeting caught her attention...Dropping the brush she ran to him and came to a halt on her knees in front of him...His tunic covered in blood it took her a moment to realize it was Driscoll...One of the knights of RavensWood...Ripping off part of her robe, she began cleaning him up, wondering what wound had caused the blood loss...Gently laying him down, she ran to a bucket of water and rang out the cloth...The water turning a sickly shade of pink, she went back to him, his eyes fluttered open, his gaze fixed on her he uttered one word...Vampire...His body now limp in death, she cleaned away the blood from his neck and noticed the puncture wounds...Sitting back on her heels, she wept and knew Mikhail was reeking havoc in Artane...Gathering her self together, she stood and took a blanket from one of the stalls, her intention to wrap the body and take it back to RavensWood was stopped by a piece of parchment clutched in his fist...Taking it from him, her hand went to her throat as she recognized the strong hand writing...The words leapt to life as he stated he was in Artane and awaiting her return to take care of unfinished business...Determined and now angry as one of her knights now lay dead, his threatening words spurring her on, she walked back to the castle and began packing...She was going back to take care of things with him once and for all...Waking Kendrick, she told him to dress quickly and then wake up Isabeau...Gathering Kahlan up, she wrapped her in her cloak and hurried her children downstairs...Isabeau rubbing the sleep from her eyes, simply kept quiet and was attune to the stress her mother was feeling...Kendrick knew he would get an explanation as soon as they were on their way...Going back into the stables, she gave Kahlan to Isabeau and saddled the horses...One for the two oldest...One for her and the baby and one for the knight she would take back to RavensWood...After settling the children and taking care of Driscoll, she lead them all out of the stables and mounted Onyx...Giving him his head, he began the journey to RavensWood...Kendrick on her right he began the task of being a boy and asked were they were going...She told him they were going to RavensWood to take Driscoll home to be buried and then taking a journey to another land that lay beyond the boarders of RavensWood...He seemed content with that answer for he nodded and got the look he always has when he is thinking...She began mentally going thru what she had to gather to partake on this journey...Then her mind wondered back to GoldenMyst and she sighed...The promise to her sister broken and leaving without telling her other son, she silently began crying...She would send missives before they left for Artane and hopped all would be forgiven when she came back...Looking up, the turrets of her castle came into view and she knew another part of her life was just about to begin::

[Kolava]

An excellent piece which, had I not read your other thread before this, I would never even have suspected of being anything else, especially not merely an explanation for a mun's LOA.

[LadyGelinaGrey]

::not having been able to sleep she laid in bed staring into the darkness of her room. the fire had died down to nothing but a few embers, her room becoming chilled from the cool night air. slipping out of bed she grabbed her robe wrapping it around her then walked to her window. opening the shutters she looked out over the fields. she heard something in the stables and could hear rustling. brushing some of that now darker hair from her face she leaned out the window a bit, just enough where she could see that it was her sister, though she was too far for her to catch up by now. a tear dropped to her cheek. she knew where Desari was going and she knew that there was a possiblity that she might not come back. seeing that it was the two oldest on the second horse she caught her breath. she had at least hoped that she would have left the children with her. it was too late to stop her now and she was hurt that she didn't even take the time to say goodbye. she could have wakened her. she wouldn't have minded, they were sisters for christ's sake. sighing heavily she turned moving to her door opening it to go downstairs for some tea. as she looked down at the floor in the hall she saw a scroll at her feet. knowing it was from Desari she picked it up and settled it in her pocket decending the stairs toward the main hall as she sniffled softly, tucking some hair behind her ear. the main hall was quiet and dim, everyone was asleep and she was grateful for that this night. she made her tea and curled up in her chair by the low burning fire in the hearth. a silent prayer was given to protect her sister and her children and to bring them home safe. then she sipped her tea and drifted off into thought as her hand rested on the scroll in her pocket that she never read::

[The Silent One]

::she watched Desari from the mysts that clung to the trees and forest. Shaking her head, she sighed as she watched the woman, back straight on her horse and wondered when she would reveal her kept secrets. Would she reveal all as she faced the man who made her what she is or wait til her return to this realm? Something tugged at her until she raised her eyes to a window and spotted Desari's sister. A grin tugged at her lips as her eyes drifted back to Desari only to find she had traveled out of sight. Hunching her shoulders deep into her cloak, she turned to walk back into the forest and her laugh at the thoughts of what would happen when Desari came back danced on the cool night air::

[LadyGelinaGrey]

( oh great...here we go again...someone just had to step in "anonymously" and try to screw with the "sisters" again. well ya know what? it's getting old. go find something else to do. stirring up trouble is never a wise thing to do. espeicially if you involve Gelina. this was a simple IC post to explain my sister's ooc LOA. so don't piss me off, I'm not in the mood )

[Lady Desari]

::sitting near the fire, Desari huddled into her cloak, amber eyes scanning the camp...The knights she was traveling with had pretty much settled for the night...With the exception of Kahlan, who was in her lap, the other two children were asleep in the tent...The journey so far had been uneventful...It was taking longer then usual though with the children...They only traveled for so many hours before she would stop and set up camp...They were about four days away from Artane...The dreams she was having were getting more and more vivid...Mikhail was waiting for her...She closed her eyes as she rocked Kahlan in her lap, his words from the past coming back to her now...He told her that there was more to her then the titles she had...She was a woman, a warrior and a vampire...Looking down, she kissed the top of her daughters head and smiled...She was also a mother...She never knew until she had the children that nothing else really mattered...She had kicked her self plenty of times recently for bringing the children with her but there was nothing she could do about it now...She would not send them home alone...Thinking back to Mikhail, she wondered what the little whoreson was up to...She knew her adoptive father would only tolerate him for so long and then wondered why she had not heard from him...She sent a swift prayer to the goddess that her father and mother were safe...Seeing that Kahlan had finally fallen asleep, the stubborn child, she rose slowly, and walked to the tent...Raising the flap, she ducked as she entered and noticed the two candles had been put out, she waved her hand and they jumped to life once more...A soft glow was casted on the fabric of the ten as she walked over to the large pallet and laid down with the other two children...On her side, she held Kahlan close to her as she pulled the blanket over all of them...Eyes finally closing from exhaustion, the dreams began again::

[Lady Desari]

::finally entering Artane, her heart sank into her stomach as eyes wondered over the carnage...The
thatched roofs the village were burned out, leaving only the burned out walls behind...Stopping
the horses, she reined in close to one of the knights and bade him to stay on the out skirts with the
children for they did not need to see what she knew laid before them...The one thing Mikhail did
not like was bodies littering the place he was living in...Artane would be no different... The
knight nodded to her and as she turned to lead the rest of them
away, she caught Kahlan’s smile and groaned inward...So much like
her father and for a split second she wished he was here with
her...Fear was something Mikhail thrived on and here she was
letting it ooze out of her pores...Taking a deep breath, she
closed her eyes and slowly let it out...Facing forward in the
saddle once more, she drew her sword and continued on the path
that would take her all the way to the main gates of the
castle...The smell of burning fleshed assaulted her, covering her
mouth to keep from being sick, she caught a glance of someone
standing on the wall of the main building and froze...It was
him...Bold as hell...Coming within screaming distance the first
words out of his mouth actually angered her...She was a lot of
things but whore was not one of them...Leaning forward and
propping one hand on the pummel of her saddle, she simply raised
a brow:: Why are you here Mikhail? If it was to get my attention
it worked...::amber hues focused on him as he bowed and smiled
that false smile she knew so well:: I simply wanted to make my
presence’s known...Tell me how does it feel to birth bastards?
::she gave a low growl at his statement, a rock sailed thru the
air and would have nailed him in the temple had the bastard not
moved:: Again Mikhail why are you here? ::No answer came forth as
he disappeared within a lighting storm that had suddenly came out
of no where::#nosmileys

[Lady Desari]

::she jerked her head up and groaned, as white sparks of light danced behind her eye lids. Slowly opening her eyes, she realized she was laying on a cold stone floor. Using her hands,she rolled over and laid on her back, amber hues looking up at the ceiling and in an instant she knew where she was. The dungeon of Artane. The whoreson had gotten the best of her and she had no clue how. If there was ever a time she hated her self it was right about now. Pushing her self into a seated position, her back against the wall, her eyes adjusted to the light and she winced. The pain at the back of her head was screaming at her, telling her to lay back down. She tried shaking it off and yet again it was not a good idea right about now. Using the wall for leverage, she stood and walked to the door. Her hands, stiff with cold, wrapped around the bars. She craned her neck to see if there was anyone about. Nope not a soul. She had hoped by now that Colin had taken the children back to RavensWood. She had given him the details on what was to happen if she did not return in two days time...Damn it to hell, she was gonna kill him when she got her hands on him. The voice in her head laughed and she squeezed her eyes shut. :: Get out of my head you bloody whoreson. ::the laugh just got louder til she pushed away from the door and went to sit in the corner, her back against the wall. Bringing her knees to her chest, she propped her chin on her knees and closed her eyes again. This time images floated before her. Death and blood were everywhere. It was the bodies the blood belonged to that began sending her over the edge. She saw her children, her sister and her friends. One hand went for her throat, only to find her necklaces gone. One had been an amulet for protection.
A laugh escaped her. Protection. She never had it. It felt like everything in her life had been a lie. Tears streaming down her face, she gave up on everything and laid back down. Curling up into a ball, one name passed her lips, the sound drowned out by Mikhails laugh. She wondered if she would ever see home again::

[Lady Desari]

::eyes slowly opened and focused on the wall she was now chained to...She had no idea how much time had passed since Mikhail had come to see her...She gave the chains a tug and winced as the pain shot thru her arms...She had thought about shifting but knew with the size of the room she may do more damage to herself in dragon form then staying the way she was...She knew her sister was gone...The feel of her soul leaving this realm and passing to the next had vibrated thru her and she had sook with sobs...She had begged Mikhail to let her go that night...He said he would let her go if she submitted to him...When she refused he had fed from her then whipped her til she passed out...The marks on the walls of the cell prevented her from doing magic...Basically there was nothing she could do...She licked her lips and tasted tears...She belittled her self and laid her cheek on the cool stone wall...Her hair was full of knots and matted with blood...She looked at her arms and saw how pale her skin had become from his feeding off her...The need to know how her sister had died and how her children were was so strong, she let out a scream and it echoed back to her...He was breaking her...Closing her eyes a vision of a man danced in her mind...It was his name she called...::