Day 14

Viola Stone had been so crazy the night before that Rider gave her a sleeping mix in her water. They had then camped outside the City Point on the road to the castle.

“I think she’s sick.” Rider said.

“She’s tired. Not sick.” Viv said.

“Are you sure? You saw her last night, all crazy and changing between thoughts, not finishing anything she was saying and having ‘feelings’” he said.

“We will go to the castle and have that physician look at her. I know she is not sick.” Viv insisted.

“Who is sick?” Jacob asked.

“No one is sick.” Viv said glaring at Rider.

“Viola is sick. She had the mind illness.” Rider told Jacob.

“You don’t know that.” Viv argued.

Rider gave her the ‘we both saw it’ look.

Viola woke up to the arguing of Rider and Viv. She looked around it was first light, and she was in bed. She couldn’t remember going to bed. Then it all came back to her. They needed to be at the castle.

“What happened?” Viola asked trying not to sound angry.

“I put you to sleep, you made no sense. I think you are sick with the mind illness.” Rider said.

Viola raised an annoyed eyebrow. She cleared her throat. Rage boiled inside her.

“You drugged me.” All the veins in her neck stood up but her voice was calm.

“Drugged?” Rider asked confused.

Viola grabbed the staff.

“Ahhhhhh”

She attacked Rider. Striking him in the knee, then the shoulder and a power shot to the gut.

“OOMMFFF” came from Rider.

Viola kept hitting him. Not giving him a change to even see where the next strike would come from

“You drugged me!!” she shouted.

“That’s not ok. It will never be ok! You want CRAZY, now you have it!!”

“Stop it!” Viv yelled.

But Viola was so angry she wasn’t going to stop.

“You are always there, making remarks…. being ugly…” Viola hit him venting all her anger.

“I am stuck on this crazy horrible world with you! If it wasn’t for your family I would never have stayed! Freaky weird people!”

Viv’s yelling wasn’t even noticed as Viola beat Rider. Then he grabbed the staff. Viola felt how strong he really was as he pulled it right out of her hands.

“Are you done?” he said standing up.

Blood poured from his nose and his teeth were red with blood. Cuts she had created ran with blood.

His narrowed eyes.

“Don’t! Please don’t!” Viv begged.

“My turn” Rider said.

He swung the staff at Viola hitting her so hard she was knocked off her feet. He proceeded to hit her with the staff. She kicked his knee the one she had hit first. It gave way under him. She picked up a stone and hit him on the head. He struck her across the face with the staff in his hands. Dazed and with blurry vision Viola lashed out. But it was one of his doubles and she missed him completely. Rider however was not seeing double, and he kicked her.

“Have you had enough?” he asked.

Her ears rang and she was seeing five of him.

“Look what you have done!” Viv scolded angry with Rider.

She helped Viola to her feet.

“Rider is a stronger opponent than expected.” She said dazed but still boiling with frustration.

She extended a hand to Rider. He took it thinking she was calling it over. But once she had his hand, she knew which one was real and she head-butted him. Both went down. The blow was hard and brutal.

“You foolish girl. I defend you and you carry on. You too deserve each other!” Viv was angry.

“Come Jacob we are leaving.”

“Wait!” Rider said getting to his feet.

“I have seen enough, and Jacob has seen too much. Kill each other… I’m done!” Viv snapped.

Viv walked away with Jacob.

Viola could hear most of what was happening. But she was dazed and unable to see clearly. The pain from the injuries during the fight started to throb.

“Were you holding back?” Viola asked knowing Rider was still around somewhere.

“Yes.”

“Uuurrrrrr” Viola groaned.

Rider sat on the ground holding his gushing nose. He watched Viola trying to sit up. But she was so unbalanced that she couldn’t.

“My family doesn’t need you. I was willing to give you a chance, but you are trouble, and you bring trouble upon us.” Rider told Viola.

Viola lay is the dirt. Her body ached. She could hear Rider talking but she couldn’t make out what he was saying over ringing in her ears. Her vision began to stabilize, and she could see Rider sitting. He was covered in blood. She pulled herself into a sitting position.

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Rider threw a staff at her. It hit her on the shoulder and the side of the face.

“To help you walk.” He snapped.

“Ouch!” Viola objected.

“Take yourself to the castle and protect your head next time.” Rider stood up and began walking away.

Viola tried to stand but her legs were like jelly. She wondered if something was broken. She held onto the staff and watched as Rider limped away.

It seemed like a long time of battling to stand before her old friend Ferox came down the road.

“Viola?” he asked looking at the bloody mess that was her.

Viola gave him a one-sided smile. Her face hurt too much for more.

“What happened to you? I thought you were meeting friends.” He said getting off his horse.

“I started it.” She confessed.

“Started what?” he asked thinking she has been attacked.

“It was my friends.” she groaned.

Ferox examined her wounds.

“If it was not for your hair, I would not recognize you.” Ferox said.

“Can you walk?” he asked her.

“No.” Viola answered.

“I think your legs are broken.” He said with concern.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I can see the bone.” He replied.

“This will hurt. I will take you on my horse to a physician.” He stated.

“Take me to the castle. My sister’s boyfriend is a Mystic Healer.” Viola said.

Ferox picked her up and put her on his horse. Then he climbed on behind her. Viola gritted her teeth. It hurt everywhere.

“Tell me how you started a fight with your friend that left you to die on the side on the road.” Ferox inquired.

“He drugged me, and it was too much. I have…”

Ferox interrupted her.

“You started a fight with a man?! How big is he?” Ferox asked.

“A bit bigger than you.” Viola answered.

“Why would you do that?” he asked.

“He drugged me!” Viola objected.

“What is this drugged you that you keep saying?”

“He gave me stuff to make me sleep. He thinks I have a mind illness.” Viola said.

“Do you?” Ferox asked.

“No! Of cause not!”

“So, this man/ friend of yours beat you?” he asked.

“It was a tie… fine, yes he beat me.” Viola conceded.

“Starting fights, you can’t win does sound like the mind illness.” Ferox said “I hope this Mystic Healer is around to help you.”

Viola was too sore to even elbow him.

“I was angry. It got out of hand. Ouch!”

The road was rough, and it hurt as the horse cantered towards the castle.

“Viola Stone you are crazy.” Ferox told her.

“Feral, I will hurt you if you call me crazy again.” Viola said.

“My name is Ferox.” He corrected.

“Ouch!” Viola groaned again.

Pain was all over her face.

“You are not even crying, and I can see the bone in your leg. Why are you trying to be so tough?” he asked seeing her pain.

Viola didn’t reply.

They arrived at the castle.

“Thank you!” Viola said with visible appreciation.

She winced in pain as she climbed off the horse and collapsed. There was a strange silence at the entrance.

“Where are the guards?” Viola asked herself out loud.

Ferox dismounted his horse.

“I brought your stolen horse back general’s daughter.” He told her.

Viola smiled awkwardly from the ground.

“Is anything you say true?” he asked.

“I knew something was wrong at the castle.” She said out loud.

“Please help me inside and let’s try to avoid a fight.” She added.

“Are you going to answer me?” he asked.

“Ask no questions hear no lies.” She replied.

“Help yourself into the castle.” He said getting back on his horse.

Part of Viola was not surprised. Asking him for help was a 50/50 chance. She didn’t look back as she hobbled and winced, falling, and crawling towards the door. It took her way too long to reach it. She was tired by the time she got there.

Ferox rode his horse to the stables, where he put his horse. He walked back to the castle. He was a little worried about Viola. Her leg was seriously bad. When he got back, Viola had only reached the door. He watched as she battled to open the door and hobbled in on her crutch.

Viola cautiously entered. She could hear loud voices coming from deep within the castle. She hobbled towards the noise, unsure of what she would do if attacked.

“Why are you such a stubborn woman?” Ferox asked.

“You feel what happened here was right. I was here. I know it wasn’t.” she said still hobbling along.

“I came to the castle. I saw the injustice. It was a massacre not an honorable fight. I met the queen.”

Viola stopped forcing herself to move.

“She was nice. No screaming or throwing me in the dungeon. In fact, she didn’t care that I was there. She just cared about the missing people.”

Viola looked at him.

“I am not usually like this. I don’t like killing and I had to kill children. It’s made me a little crazy.”

Ferox smiled.

“Crazy?” he inquired.

Viola gave him a ‘don’t push it’ look.

“I am sorry I supported something I don’t really know about. I was on my way to tell my family the truth about what happened here when I found you on the road.”

Viola smiled through her pain.

“I think I am going to be sick.” She interrupted.

A nauseous feeling came over her. She had been enduring the pain for too long. She puked. There was no flowerpot available to make it less gross. Just the stone floor and a witness. Viola looked at her shoes that now had vomit on them.

“Euuuu.” she groaned.

“Let me help you.” Ferox put his arm under Viola’s. She hopped along with the help of Ferox.

Ferox found her hopping along to be quite frustrating.

“May I just carry you?” he asked.

Viola didn’t really want to be carried but hoping along was very painful and she really needed something for the pain.

“Yes.” She agreed.

Ferox took her to the recovery room. The door was barricaded closed from the inside. Dead bodies lay in the passageway.

“It’s Viola. I need a doctor.” She said in English.

The sound of furniture scraped on the stone floor.

Shane opened the door.

“What happened to you?” he asked with big eyes.

Shane looked at the bone poking through the leg.

“That’s a very bad break.” he observed.

“What happened here? Why are you barricaded in here, and why are there dead bodies in the passageway?” Viola asked.

“We have been attacked again.”

Shane spoke the queen’s vernacular “Please put her on this bed.”

Ferox put her down.

Rachael was looking better but not great.

Keimoni was sitting with her. He had brought her soup and wildflowers.

Viola smiled. Relationships were so complicated and yet they didn’t really need to be. Fake relationships were easy, she had many of those. But real ones where the other person knows you and loves you anyway. She hadn’t had any of them.

“Thank you, Ferox.” Viola said laying on the bed.

Spice came over with a numbing mix of herbs. Which she lathered onto Viola’s many wounds.

“What happened?” Shane asked.

“I picked a fight and lost.” She told him.

Ferox was leaving.

“Ferox stay with me.” Viola looked at him hopefully.

He was very surprised at her request. He sat down next to her. He only then noticed how much blood was on his clothing. Viola’s face was swollen, her nose bleed had stopped but the evidence was still there. Her mouth and lip had also been bleeding. She was covered in her own blood. She had gashes and cuts all over her body.

“She told me her sister is with a Mystic Healer.” Ferox said to Shane “If this is true, shall we not call him?”

“It’s true, her sister is with a Mystic Healer. He and his tribe have been healing people for the past few days. He has gone to find the queen.” Shane told him.

Viola lay in a half awake half unconscious state. She was aware others were around, but she didn’t understand what they were saying. Her body was numb, she couldn’t feel any of it. A strange feeling of being awake and yet not, with a body she could not feel.

Viv arrived at the castle with Rider and Jacob. Her plans to kill her father kept being interrupted. Rider had been badly beaten and she was so mad at both of them. She loved them both, but she wished they could just get along.

She took Jacob to her mother who had survived a third attack on the castle. Viv told her mom everything that had happened and her mother told her of Griffith’s treachery and how he tried to have her killed. Viv pondered how Viola had insisted that something bad was happening at the castle.

Viv then took Rider to the sick room. There they saw Viola lying unconscious with a man that they didn’t know sitting next to her. Rider saw the bone sticking out of Viola’s leg.

“What happened to you?” Shane asked Rider.

“I was in a fight.” He answered.

“She was also in a fight.” Ferox replied still looking at Viola.

“Will she be alright?” Rider asked.

“I don’t know.” Shane answered “Her injuries are bad. She has lost a lot of blood, and I don’t know if I can save the leg.”

Rider looked at him in horror.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Her body is broken. She’s in bad shape. Whoever did that to her is a savage.” Shane said.

“Did she say what happened?” Rider asked.

“Just that she lost a fight she started.” Ferox said.

“You are looking pretty beat up yourself. Let me look at your wounds once I have stabilized Viola.” Shane said Rider.

“Where you in a fight here in the castle?” Shane asked Rider.

“No, this was an unexpected fight.” He replied.

Rider was very beaten up, but his bones were not broken.

“Who are you?” he asked Ferox.

“I found her in the road. She asked me to be brought to the castle. Says her sister is with a Mystic Healer. We are waiting for him to come.” Ferox said.

“Why are you waiting with her?” Rider asked.

“She asked me to.” he said sensing there was something more going on.

“Do you know her?” Ferox asked.

“I do.” He answered, “What are you called?”

“Ferox.”

Fiona and Ranger came in.

“Viola?!” Fiona said looking at the mess of a body that was her sister “What happened?”

“All I know is she was in a fight?” Shane told her.

Fiona looked at Ranger.

“We should have gone to Viola’s room. I am a terrible sister.” Fiona felt terrible.

She didn’t know Viola had left the castle.

“I should have been there for her. She’s an air hostess. How could she possibly be expected to protect herself? Ranger, can you heal her?” Fiona asked worried and feeling guilty.

Viola’s mind was still. Ranger was sitting on the swings in her back yard with her.

“You are in bad shape.” He told her.

“Am I?” Viola asked.

“Why do you like this place?” Ranger asked her.

“It’s where life was simple. I haven’t killed anyone. I didn’t need to. I guess I am just feeling down.” She pondered.

“Your sister feels it is her fault this happened to you. I have not told her who you are.” Ranger said.

“You are a better man than I anticipated, and it is best for Fiona not to know.” Viola said.

“Do you want to die?” Ranger asked her.

“I am not sure.” Viola said.

“You need to be. You don’t have much time to decide.” Ranger said.

Viola’s body was having a seizure. The damage to her lungs were extensive and other injuries made it hard for her body to keep going. She had pushed herself too much getting to the castle.

“I want to live.” She said unsure.

“Decide.” Ranger said.

“I want to live.” She decided.

Then she was taken through memory lane including the beating she gave Rider and the beating he gave her in return.

“Your interrogation methods are superior.” Viola complemented.

“You love them but feel unloved in return?” he asked.

“I know Viv cares. But I have ruined it. I attacked Rider how can things be as they were?”

“They cannot.”

“I want to go home.” Viola told him.

“Then choose to live.” Ranger said “Now is not the time to feel sad. Make a choice and make it a reality.”

Viola looked around inside her earth memory.

“It feels like a lifetime ago.” she said.

“It was.” Ranger answered.

Viola took Ranger’s hand.

“Take me back.” She said.

Her body stopped seizing and it began it heal in front of them. All who watched were relieved. It was scary for them. Fiona breathed a sigh of relief.

“Alien boyfriend for the win.” She announced happily.