The air was warm and still in the tavern. It was called the Langdon Arms, and it had stood on the main street since the founding of the town. As the only tavern for at least fifty miles, it had once been a rowdy place, with dozens of boisterous conversations going on at once, but in recent years, it was as quiet as a library. Business was slow, and the old building had fallen into disrepair, looking as old and tired as its few patrons. A tantalizing aroma wafted out from the kitchen, causing Reginald Bartel’s mouth to water as he stood patiently at the polished oakwood bar. He glanced at old Robert Langdon, the tavern’s proprietor, who was slumped over the bar, taking an impromptu nap.

Hiding a smile, Reggie, as he was called by his friends, turned his back on the bar and cast his gaze out into the tavern’s taproom. Tonight, the only other patrons were three old men who sat around a table close to the door. Each nursed a mug of locally brewed ale in silence as they looked out the window that overlooked an overgrown field while waiting for supper. Stan and Willie were widowers while Vinny’s wife Ethel was up in Berstock, helping their daughter take care of his first grandson.

Her husband, like most of the young men in Four Fields and the neighbouring villages, had been called away to the war that was raging to the south. Even the merchants who plied the Nighdown Trunk Road that came as close as a mile and a half from the town weren’t stopping by. The life of a travelling trader was a young man’s game, or so the town’s elders said.

At fourteen years of age, Reggie was one summer away from being eligible to be summoned to serve in Sir Peyton’s army. If the war didn’t end soon, he had no doubt that he too would be called away. None who had marched off under Sir Peyton’s banner had yet returned. Four Fields was a small, rural town, miles away from the Kingsgate, the kingdom’s capital and seat of power, and they had received no news about the war except that it was still ongoing.

There was a time not long ago when the prospect of being marched off to war would have paralyzed Reggie with fear. However, since Adrianna arrived in town the past spring, little troubled him. She was like a beautiful flower blooming out of the pile of manure that was Four Fields, and he couldn’t help but smile when he thought of her radiant beauty. Yes, her arrival had been the best thing that ever happened to this town.

The women had tried to blame the new arrival for the disappearance of little Peggy Danton earlier in the summer, but Reggie knew that was impossible. Adrianna loved children and many of them, mostly boys, frequented her home until their mothers forbade it. Why on earth would she kidnap anyone? Besides, Peggy had enjoyed swimming in the river with her father. Since he had been called away to war, she had taken to going on her own and had probably drowned. As tragic as that was, the town’s women, who were simply jealous of her beauty and how she turned their men’s heads whenever she was around town, had used it as an excuse to alienate poor Adrianna.

Being the sensitive and considerate woman that she was, Adrianna withdrew into her modest cottage on the edge of town and hardly ever left. It had delighted Reggie that she had asked him, out of all the men and boys in town, to bring her supper every evening. He told Mrs Langdon, who was cooking in the kitchen, that the meal was for him and his mother to share for fear that she might refuse to prepare him a meal or worse, poison it if she knew its intended recipient.

Everyone in the tavern jumped when they heard the door swing open. That its present patrons were all the business the Langdon Arms would see for the day was an undisputed fact to them, just as sure the sun setting in the west. Every eye was glued to the doorway, and each person wondered if they were imagining the tall, broad shouldered man standing at the threshold. He cut an imposing figure, clad in a long overcoat despite the summer heat, and sunlight gleamed off the polished buckle on his hat.

With great effort, Reggie tore his eyes off the man and glanced over at Robert to check if the old man was seeing what he saw.

“Good… good evening, sir,” the old proprietor stammered at length. “What can I get for you?”

“Just a drink, a meal, and some information, if you please,” the newcomer said as he walked up to the bar. As he approached, Reggie felt an inexplicable revulsion towards him.

“I don’t recognize the accent,” Robert remarked as he began filling a tankard. “What brings you out this far?”

“I’m searching for someone,” the man replied and then stopped in his tracks.

Reggie followed the man’s gaze to his fists and realized that he had been bunching them up. A smile appeared from under the brim of the man’s hat. “Are you looking for a fight? I’m happy to oblige, but I’m afraid I don’t know how to hold back.”

The boy turned pale as the man slowly parted his overcoat to reveal the sword hanging from his belt. Reggie took an involuntary step back, as did Robert, who began to splutter.

“I’m sorry, my lord, the boy doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s just come under some bad influence of late.”

“A woman’s influence, no doubt,” the man said as a knowing smile crept across his face.

Reggie’s fear turned to anger. How did this man know? Was he after Adrianna? He had to protect her. He was about to lunge at the man when he heard a voice come from the kitchen.

“Oh, do we have a guest?

Reggie turned to see Kimberly Langdon standing at the door to the kitchen, beaming at the new arrival. “You’ve come at the perfect time. Supper is ready.”

She then turned to Reggie and held up a small iron pot by the handle. “Here’s your order, young man.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Reggie swallowed and gave the man a wide berth before taking the pot from Mrs Langdon.

“Thank you,” he muttered before hurrying out the door. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew that he had to inform Adrianna of the new arrival at once.

Once he was outside, he looked in through the window and saw the man staring at him with unblinking eyes. For a moment, he could swear that the man’s eyes were yellow, like a cat’s. He blinked in disbelief and when he looked again, the man’s eyes were normal. He suppressed a shudder before hurrying away.

The sun was still out despite the late hour, and the streets were quiet. Most of the townsfolk who remained were inside, having their supper or getting ready for bed. This was a farming town, and its people went to bed early and rose early. Especially now with the departure of most of the young men, labour was in short supply. Reggie had numerous odd jobs lined up from the break of dawn until dusk every day but still made sure he had time to run an errand or two for Adrianna. Dropping by her cottage was the highlight of his day, and he was proud that it was a privilege afforded to him alone out of all the doting men in the town.

Soon, Reggie turned off the town’s high street and onto a dirt path that ran along Folger’s, one of the four large fields that gave the town its name. Up until spring, it had been one of the two fields that were being worked. The other two fields had been temporarily abandoned due to a lack of manpower. However, shortly before Adrianna’s arrival, strange, thorny brambles had sprung up in the field. The already overworked townspeople had attempted to clear them at first but had quickly given up. Now, the field was an overgrown mess of thorny brambles that everyone did their best to steer clear of.

On a whim, Reggie paused to look at the bramble patch. They blamed Adrianna for that as well even though the field had been abandoned before she had even arrived. He shook his head. The town’s elders were still debating what they should do with it. Some wanted to burn the brambles down, but there were fears that the fire could spread to the town. It had been weeks since the last rain, and the patch had become a tinderbox.

At length, the boy shrugged. His opinion on the matter wouldn’t be heard by those that mattered. He then froze when he realized someone else was on the road with him. He was standing almost three hundred yards away, but Reggie recognized the newcomer’s silhouette almost at once. It felt as if their eyes locked. Reggie scarcely dared to breathe, and the man too stood as still as a statue. Then, he darted off the road and into the brambles, vanishing quickly from sight.

Reggie’s felt his heart hammer against his chest. The stranger had obviously been following him. But why? To harm Adrianna, of course! He began to run, knowing that he had to warn her. Her cottage was at the end of the road, overlooking the bramble patch. Its sudden appearance had been why Leroy had been all too willing to sell his cottage and retire to the nearby village of Berstock.

In the corner of his mind, something nagged at Reggie. Why had the man run into the bramble patch, and why was he so sure that the man was after Adrianna?

He shook his head and continued running, careless of the fact that the stew he had bought for their supper with money he had saved from odd jobs was spilling onto the ground. None of that mattered now. He looked up at the tidy cottage with its lush garden that was almost overgrown with beautiful, exotic plants that no one in the town had ever seen before.

Adrianna was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps that was for the best with that man on the prowl. He wondered what he should do after he warned her. He could summon help, but what men were left besides the old and infirm? How about the other boys? They would certainly lend a hand, but he didn’t want to risk any of them upstaging him. He would have to deal with him on his own.

He smiled to himself when he imagined how grateful Adrianna would be. But first, he had to warn her. He knocked on the door.

“Is that you, Reggie?” came a melodic voice from inside that set Reggie’s heart aflutter. “Have you brought dinner?”

“I’m afraid…” Reggie was dumbstruck as the door swung open to reveal Adrianna. He couldn’t place her age, but she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her hair was raven dark and her skin was blemishless and as white as freshly fallen snow.

She giggled, setting Reggie’s heart aflutter when she saw the half empty pot and the trail of stew that the boy had left down the road. “You could have taken your time, Reggie. I wasn’t that hungry.”

Reggie felt like he was walking on air. She had said his name! It was like a whisper from the lips of… then, he regained his senses and blurted. “There’s a man in town!”

“Just the one?” Adrianna laughed, revealing a mouth full of the most perfect white teeth, and Reggie was once again befuddled by her beauty. She reached out and stroked his cheek, and the boy felt the blood rush to his face, and somewhere else. “Don’t worry. Didn’t I tell you? You are my special one.”

“Yes, you did,” Reggie said with a sloppy grin on his lips before his mind forced him back on track. “He gave me the most uncomfortable feeling.”

Adrianna’s good humour was gone in a flash. “What do you mean?”

Her words were like cold water in his face. He had never heard the edge in her voice before. Reggie feared that he had lost her favour forever. Tears streamed from his eyes as he sunk to his knees. “I’m sorry if I displeased you but just give me another chance, I beg of you.”

Adrianna rolled her eyes. Reggie blinked, wondering if what he was seeing was just a figment of his imagination. She looked older now, less radiant, and a little haggard.

“In what way did he make you feel uncomfortable?” she demanded.

“I don’t know,” Reggie blinked, still confused by Adrianna’s sudden change in demeanour. “It’s like I knew he was a mortal enemy despite it being the first time I’ve seen him.”

A look crossed Adrianna’s face that caused Reggie to scramble backwards involuntarily. It was one of unadulterated hate. However, it quickly passed, and the Adrianna he had known since spring quickly returned, wearing a concerned look on her face. “Where is this man now?”

Reggie swallowed and he looked over at the bramble patch. “He went in there.”

Adrianna cursed and grabbed Reggie by the wrist and dragged him into the cottage with surprising strength. She then pulled him to his feet and placed her hands on his shoulders before looking him in the eye.

“He is here to harm me,” she began.

“I knew it!” Reggie exclaimed.

“I will need your help to fight him off,” Adrianna pleaded. Her voice was small, and Reggie could tell she was terrified.

He nodded without hesitation. “Of course. You can rely on me.”

“I knew I could,” she said before ruffling her hair. She then looked out the window and gasped.

Reggie followed her gaze and saw that the bramble patch was ablaze. Then, a wave of nausea engulfed him and would have fallen had Adrianna not been gripping his shoulders.

“Change of plan,” she said tersely. “You are going to have to hold him off while I run for help.”

Reggie could only nod while Adrianna stalked, past the only piece of furniture she had brought with her when she arrived in the town, a large wooden cage with a domed roof that resembled an oversized birdcage. Reggie had always wondered what it was for. She said it was Leroy’s but he couldn’t for the life of him remember seeing it while the old man lived here.

Adrianna arrived at the back door and pulled it open only to be greeted by a wall of flames. As she slammed it shut, Reggie heard the front door swing open behind him.