Zenora, The Dragon's Fury
12. Butterflies

I was some sort of relieved when Cirilya said that there maybe was a way to lift the blockage. Sentencing Ruth to death was at least off the table for a short amount of time. At the same time I was anxious to learn more about what Cirilya has to tell though.

“We know that her rage is created by blood magic, but there might be a chance that the blockage is done by a normal mage spell. If that is the case, my father can unblock it. But if it is caused by blood magic, then our last option is not something that I want to explain just yet.” Cirilya said.

I was dearly hoping that it was caused by normal magic, but I fear that that’s not the case.

“Can Norim come here? To at least try?” I asked her.

“Well, my father is not exactly a few hours away, nor could we try to reach him at this moment.” She said, while scratching the back of her head.

“And why is that?” I tried to remain calm, as she is taking her bloody time to drag out her information.

“Because he is not exactly on Zenora right now. He went through the portal, to our ancestors, participating in an elven ritual.” She said with a sad voice.

I tried to read her mind but the vision was blurred by her sadness.

“What’s going on Cirilya? Tell me please?”

“My father is getting old, and he chose to join our ancestors within a few months.” She whispered.

“What? Is he going to give up his life? Why would he?”

“The ancestors have asked him, they want his wisdom to be engraved in our history forever. It is a huge honour to be asked to join the ancestors, not many get the chance to live on as a guardian to our knowledge. So, he is not really going to give up on his life, but rather choosing for his soul to live on forever. I am really happy for him, but he won’t be a physical person anymore, only a whisp, and only visible when his knowledge is required. So, I will miss hugging him, and talking to him every minute of the day.” She said with tears in her eyes.

I hugged her, trying to soothe her, for already some sort of loss of her father. I didn’t like the idea either, of course there were moments when I didn’t like his stubborn character, but he has grown on me. Hearing all the stories that Cirilya told me, about how he is teaching her all the druid spells, from the research he gathered, or how kind he is towards his Elven people. I think he is changed during the course of the last few years, as he is being proud of his daughter, instead of ever thinking of banishing her from the forest again.

“Why don’t we wait for your father to return from his ritual, while you stay here with me and the girls?” I asked her.

“Unless you can’t wait to kill an innocent woman that is!” I turned to the men behind me, snapping at them.

“Ruth will stay in the dungeon, and she will be guarded by warriors and mages at all times.” My dad replied to me.

“Okay, but no torturing. She will receive normal meals and clean water and clothes.” Mediating with my dad, at which he rolled his eyes, but eventually agreed to the terms.

“Brock, you’ve got yourself a handful with my daughter becoming a Queen one day.” My dad said, and Brock sighed.

“I know, she is a handful already.” He frowned his brows, and Nicolai chuckled.

“Thanks, I guess?” I said, but I hugged them all. I still love them, even though they were not keen on my ideas.

Several days went by, where I had to fulfil my daily duties, taking care of the boys, checking in on the new Ranger’s progress, watching how Ursai’s new cub was growing and so on. But in the evenings I would spend time with the girls, trying to take Cirilya’s mind away from thinking about her father for a while.

Also, I went down the dungeons in the morning, to check up on Ruth. She was sad to be locked up, but could understand the reason behind it. She was still really happy that I saved her from her master, even locked up in here she still had it better than all the time she spend as a slave. Food and clothes were provided for her, and she wasn’t forced to be ‘voluntarily raped’ – if that was even an option from the dictionary – each moment her master felt like it.

“I’m sorry I attacked the General, Princess. I don’t know what came over me, he really looks just the same as that other man.” Ruth said.

She has been explaining what had happened to her, as far as she can recall what happened. Brock’s close relative, at which right now we don’t know how close, killed one of the other slave girls who didn’t want to have sex with him. Ruth had offered herself to do it in her place, as the girl was only thirteen years old. But the man got offended by the idea that he had to have sex with an ‘older’ woman, as he so kindly called her. So, as a punishment, he raped the little girl, while Ruth had to watch it all happen in front of her, and then he snapped the little girls neck. Afterwards, Ruth was knocked unconscious by the man, and woke up next to the dead girl, a few hours later.

I suppose the curse was put on her then, when she was knocked out.

Even without the raging curse placed on her, I couldn’t blame her for attacking Brock actually. Not that I want my husband to be in any danger, but if I would be in her place, my own rage might have come to surface by seeing the man who raped a thirteen year old girl.

By now, Ruth understood why she was being isolated in the dungeon, she couldn’t believe that there was magic involved, but knew better than to argue with me about it. She was glad that she wasn’t sentenced to death already.

After our small talk, and me checking up on her wounds on her back, I went on to leave the dungeon.

“Is that other man coming again too?” Ruth asked, and a blush appeared on her face. I could see it, even though she kept her head bowed down.

“What other man?” I asked confused.

“He said his name was Aron, but I don’t know who he is.” My jaw dropped open when Ruth said this.

Oh my! Is my dad taking a liking in this woman? That’s why he didn’t agreed upon sentencing her to death immediately! He was thinking about her! I smiled on the inside, I wished for him to be happy, more than anything. My dad was without a woman for more then twenty years now, and I know that he won’t forsake the thoughts about my mom. He is a kind and gentle person, and he has been through a lot of sadness too. So, let’s see how this works out for him.

“Aron? He is just one of the lower ranked advisors of the King.” I didn’t want to spoil all the information on her, I wanted to see if she was worthy of him. To see, if she still liked him, being low-ranked and without the knowledge of him having wealth and power.

And besides that, I want to see how my dad reacts, when he replaces out what I told her.

“May I ask you how old you are?” I asked her, wondering, as my dad is almost fifty-seven, and she doesn’t seem to look like anything close to his age. Not that age matters, but I’m still curious.

“I- I’m not sure. I think around thirty-six? Could that be right for my looks?” She asked in confusion, looking down at her body. “We didn’t got the chance to celebrate our birthdays, but I think I remember correctly how many times the new year was celebrated.”

“Ruth you are a beautiful woman, when being fed properly, and I think thirty-six sounds about right for you. Maybe Aron will be around later, have fun talking to him.” She blushed when I had said that, and I smiled.