Lord Drasken sat at the table where he, his advisors and sorcerers gathered to plan in what manner they should use to bring Stephen down. So that all his people will see that Drasken is the Lord of all the land and his laws is what they will follow.
Drasken heard the guards talking to someone outside of the gates.
He went to the window and called out to the guard, “ What is going on there?” The guard answered and said, “There is a man outside the gate says he brings you news from the North of Stephen‟s son Bryon.”
“Let him in you fool,” shouted Drasken. He turns back to the table and says, “ Why would Bryon be traveling north? Would he be going there to gain support from the people of the north? We must do something about this right away.”
The guards escorted the young man into the chambers were Lord Drasken was. The man tells him all that Eric had said to him about the journey where they were going and what they were going after. He told Lord Drasken when Eric and Bryon would be leaving for the highlands to find the thistle mint that grows only in that area. And about how long of a ride it would be to get caught up with them. He told Drasken that Eric had said he would try and hold them up for one more day. To give him time to catch up to them.
Lord Drasken looked at the man and asked, “Are you one of these people?” The man answered and said, “I am from further north of the village. The village where he is staying is under the rule of a man called Richard. The village is called Glen Roy.” Lord Drasken thought for a moment longer and said to one of his guards, “Have my horse readied for a long journey. I will need two men to ride with me. Pick the best for tracking.
I want them to understand we will be scouting the land and want to go as unnoticed as possible. I do not want Bryon or this Richard to have any idea why we are there.” He turns back to the man who brought him this news and says, “My guard will take you to a room for rest and so that you may eat and have drink. You have came a long way, when you have been fed and rested I will travel back to this place with you.” The man left the room with the guard.
Lord Drasken had a lot to think about now. He ordered the room cleared. He had to make a plan. He had to think of a way to go about the countryside unnoticed. He wanted to see what Bryon was up to. Was he really there to find this plant or was it just a cover for his true reasons.
Were the lands to the north a place that maybe he should be interested in also? He would have to make this journey. And take care of any threat that could come from Bryon being there.
There was a knock at the door and two men walked in with the guard he had sent to get them. He told them why they were sent for and what they would be doing. He told them to make sure they were armed. But nothing that looked like they were more than merchants. He was coming up with a plan as he spoke and told them to go prepare to leave by morning light.
Drasken sat down at the table where they had all been not so long ago talking about what to do about Stephen and now he had to deal with his son as well. He thought back to when the people of this land had rose up against his father. How he had seen his father killed before his eyes. He had sworn then that he would avenge his father‟s death. He would take back all that was taken from him.
As he sat there he wondered if the dreams he had been haunted by, was not of this place?
A place he had never seen and a woman with hair as red as fire and eyes of emerald green. She was so beautiful in his dreams but he always had a feeling of foreboding when he awoke from these dreams. Was she the woman that had been foretold to his father all those years ago? Was she the one who would rule beside him? Or was she the woman that would defeat him. He was now anxious to set out and find this place that haunted his dreams. He walked over to the window and looked out. The sun was setting and the land looked so beautiful. The rays reflecting off the water that surround the castle looked as if they were dancing. He saw the beauty in this as he did in all of nature‟s beauty but he was driven by revenge and anger. He hated the people for what they had done and now he Lord Charles Drasken would have his revenge.
Drasken began to get ready for the journey. He did not believe they would have any problems along the road but wanted to be prepared if there was. As he got ready to lie down for the night he kept thinking about the woman in his dreams. As he drifted off he began to dream of her. She was standing beside him over looking the valley that haunted his dreams as well. How beautiful she looked with the wind blowing her hair back. But he felt as though she was not happy being there as if she was being forced to stand there and look. He awoke and found he was so soaked in sweat. Why did this woman haunt his dreams? Who was she?
The next morning they were on the road before the first cock‟s crow. There was not much talking between the parties. They all had other things on their mind. At mid day they stopped on the roadside and had a meal of dried venison and a couple of sweet cakes. Lord Drasken knew they would have to hunt for most of their food for they had only packed traveling food. A few pieces of dried venison and some sweet cakes was all they had brought with them. If this was to go as planned they needed to act the part and not raise any suspicion.
When he asked the man who had brought him the message from Eric why had Eric sent him to tell him of this.
The man replied, “My lord, I know not why. He only asked that I be very secretive about where I was going and why. He told me to show you to the path into the forest. And that you would have no trouble in following them.”
“How many men are they taking with them?” asked Drasken.
“Only Bryon and himself My Lord,” answered the man.
This seemed strange to Lord Drasken maybe Bryon was there just to get the plant the man had told him about. It made no sense that if he was out gathering men to help fight him. That he would only take one man with him and one he knew not well but a man who knew the land to the north well. Maybe he was just using this Eric as a guide. Just as he was using this man as a guide, but this man would never live to tell anyone of his presence in these lands. He had already told his men that were with him what the plan was for the highlander.
That night as the moon came up over the horizon Drasken noticed how big and full it was.
There was really no need for a fire they ate early while it was still light and had a hot meal. The men had killed a rabbit and they had cooked it. Now the embers lay dieing and the moon was so bright there was no need for light from a fire. They all settled in for the night. The two guards took turns keeping a look out.
Once again before the cock could crow they were up and on their way. He did not want there to be too much distance between them and Bryon. They rode the whole day not even stopping for a mid day meal. The man told Lord Drasken they were getting close to where the path led into the forest. In the forest is where the village of Glen Roy was. They stopped and made camp early. Once again the men went out to hunt for food and came back with some eggs they had found in a nest. Lord Drasken told them to build a fire so that if any one seen them they would not think it funny to see four travelers sitting around a low burning fire. As this may alert them that something was a miss. As the fire burned Drasken looked into it and thought. By mid morning they should be close enough to the village that they would not need the man to show them any further.
At first light they were heading into the forest. Lord Drasken had already told his men what to do so as not to cause too much noise in case there was someone in the woods. Around mid day they stopped for a meal. As the man was getting ready to get the last of the venison he had left in his pouch one of the guards grabbed him from behind and slit his throat he never even saw which one it was done very quickly and very quietly.
They took him deep into the forest and buried him.
He had told them he did not want someone to come upon him and think about the three strangers they had seen in the forest. After all the man was a stranger as well for he had told him that he did not know any of the people in Glen Roy. After this was done they stayed at the camp sight for the rest of the day and night. He thought it would be best to go into the village about midday. When most of the villagers would be out working and doing their chores. And most of them would see them coming into the village and they would be more interested in stopping their chores for a break. Just to hear the news from where these men came.
As they rode into the village Lord Drasken looked around these were not men of war, they were farmers. They had no reason to get involved in what was going on to the south. Then he knew the reason for Bryon‟s journey to the Highlands had to be to find this plant called thistle mint. Then he saw her she was the woman in his dreams. There could be no mistake it was she.
Her hair was tied back so it would stay out of her face as she pulled the weeds out of the garden that she was tending.
Since they had started into the forest Lord Drasken had a feeling he had seen this place before but knew this could not be true. As he looked upon this woman of beauty, the woman that haunted his dreams, he knew then this was where it had all been leading.
He knew now the reason he had felt so strongly he should be the one to go and see what Bryon was up too.