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The Knight's Tale (Huldah)


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Re: The Knight's Tale (Huldah)

The friar smiled and nodded his head enthusiastically as Huldah mentioned a commission. His face lit up as though he had remembered everything as he followed her to fetch her father.

"Yes, the commission that is the words Sir Daniel used. He has been so helpful to my flock over the years. Always finding the best people to aid the church in its times of need."

The forge was soon closed for the night and her father, though tired agreed to join them on the trip. The friar assured them it was only a short trip to the church, even on foot. The cheerful friar told jokes and parables as they walked making the time go by quickly. Just past the inn they turned towards a small copse of trees in the middle of a field. An unusual spot for a meeting with the noble from the night before, but for some reason she felt compelled to continue on with the friar and her father.
 

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Re: The Knight's Tale (Huldah)

Huldah followed along, grinning and laughing at the friar's jokes on the way, the man being quite pleasant company for the trip. She grew somewhat suspicious as they left the beaten path, but not enough to halt. "I don't recall there being a church down this way. Is it new?" She asked in a conversational tone, not suspecting anything as yet.
 
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The friar nodded happily as Huldah and her father followed him down the overgrown path into the trees. Her father seemed just as pleased by the friar's company as Huldah felt, but something was beginning to feel wrong. She couldn't place her finger on what exactly as the friar seemed far too harmless to worry about.

"We've only begun recently building this place of worship. I believe you will be able to aid us in making some of the decorations. It can be so difficult to find the correct decorations for our god you see. Only the best will do and Sir Daniel always seems to find the best. Haahahhah."

Something about the friar's tone seemed almost threatening but the laugh at the end seemed to allay some of the fears.
 

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The growing sense of unease warred with the comfortable feeling she got from the rather jovial friar. Huldah wasn't quite sure what to think. "Oh, I see. It sounded like Sir Daniel had something more personal in mind for the comission he spoke up. I must have been mistaken." She answered, glancing around as they entered the small stand of trees.
 
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The feeling of unease only grew as they entered the copse of trees and she looked around. Something about the forest felt odd and the trees didn't calm her feeling of unease. The trees gnarled and twisted about each other and there were strange decorations hanging from them. It certainly didn't look like any church grounds Huldah had ever seen.

The friar had grown silent as they entered the forest area as well. He almost seemed like a completely different person as he urged them onwards with gestures. His limp was gone and he moved much more quickly towards what looked like a clearing in the center of the trees. Huldah knew there was definitely something wrong now but her father seemed completely unaware as he continued on towards whatever lay ahead.

To top everything off Huldah could feel that something was watching them or following them. By what she could not tell though. Her mind raced with thoughts of bandits or even stranger things like what you might hear in the stories of the minstrels.
 

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Huldah‘s unease grew with every step, little things nagging on her until she had to do something, putting a hand each on the friar and her father‘s shoulders, urging them to a stop. “Something is wrong.. we should turn back...“ she cautioned slowly, looking around.
 
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Huldah's sudden entreaty caused her father and the friar to stop and turn back. Her father seemed genuinely confused by the sudden fear in her voice and the way she had grabbed his arm. He put his arms up reassuringly and spoke softly.

"There is nothing wrong, dear. I'm sure of it. I heard there was a new church being built at the tavern just the other night. You're just tired and jumpy from all the extra work you've done at the forge lately. We can take a break after we finish the commission, I promise."

Meanwhile the friar seemed to stare at Huldah in a decidedly unpleasant fashion. It was almost as if he were staring in to her very soul and looking for something. She could feel the strange urge to just keep following her father and the friar but something in the back of her mind seemed to say otherwise. It was strange but she kept seeing visions of herself running away the way she had come to get help.
 

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The woman hesitated, but held her ground. "No. There's something wrong here, we should go back." She said, a little firmer. "There's something in here with us, I can feel it watching us. We need to leave, it isn't safe here..." She added, keeping a hand on both companions, even going so far as to start pulling them back when she started to retreat.
 
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Huldah was no weakling and she managed to pull her father a few steps though the friar didn't budge an inch. Her father seemed worried by his daughter's statements and her actions but he continued to try and reassure her. He let himself be pulled the few steps before pulling his arms away and putting them up as though to calm her.

"Relax my dearest. The things here won't hurt us as long as we're with the master. They're under his control and they would never do the faithful any harm I promise but we have to stay near him."

The friar's smile grew grim as her father reassured Huldah while he studied her intently. His voice seemed somehow frightening and conniving as he echoed her father's words.

"It's true, lass. My minions would never harm those of my flock of course if one were to not wish to join my church..."

He let the words hang in the air though the threat was obvious as her mind slowly came to grasp what was actually going on. Her father was somehow a member of the friar's flock, whatever that was.
 

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Huldah took a step back as the pair spoke. She couldn't have been more shocked if she had been physically hit by either of them. "The Master? Father, this isn't right, what's going on?" She pressed, more fear edging into her voice. Something rustled in the brush a short ways away, making her jump and glance in it's direction. She couldn't see anything in the dark, which just made her more unnerved.
 
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Huldah's father stepped after her imploringly though he stopped short of leaving the friar's side entirely. Fear creased his aged but strong face as he tried to explain things. "I'm old, Huldah. I don't want to die but I can't stop it. The master can stop it though. All I have to do is bring people to his flock so that they can learn his message. I-I had to trick you, that knight who wanted to hire us is trying to stop all of this. I-I just did this for you."

The friar simply stood behind her father and smiled as her father tried to explain the lies that had brought her here. More movement in the brush drew her attention as she wavered in her thoughts. Then the vision came again and it was clear that someone was telling her to run. But could she simply leave her father to this friar and his flock.
 

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"Father, I..." Huldah started, glancing into the forest again when the sounds began anew. Her fear warred with her love for the man, sticking her in place, halfway between fleeing and trying to make the friar release her father.

"...Come with me. We'll find some other way, I promise." She entreated the man. The vision came again, more and more urgently. If her father refused this final time, she'd try to grab him and carry him with, but she knew the chance was almost past, she couldn't wait any longer.
 
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Huldah's father looked torn as she begged him to come with her. It seemed more like he was unable to simply leave the friar than that he wanted to stay. He glanced back at the friar with that evil little grin glued to his face, a grin that suggested he knew how this would all play out.

The images came once more of Huldah running from the forest, a horse meeting her at the edge of the trees to help her. While Huldah was distracted by the disjointed images the friar called out to her father with his enticing voice ending with a point of his finger towards Huldah.

"It is time to come pledge your loyalty to the master. You know those men of god cannot help you now. Only the master can save you, but we must have the sacrifice or there can be no aid. Grab her before she escapes."

Huldah's father had turned to listen to the man speak their eyes seemingly locked. As the command was given he turned and stepped towards Huldah with hardened eyes trying to fight back tears.
 

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Huldah looked dismayed as her father seemed to choose his side, advancing on her carefully. With tears starting to cloud her own vision, she turned and ran, barrelling through the trees in the direction they had come. In the back of her mind, she thought that if he chased her far enough away, she might get through to him, but she knew it was a slim chance. The friar seemed to have some hold over him, some evil sorcery that he hid under his cheery demeanor...
 
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Huldah blew past the bushes where the noise seemed to be coming, catching a glimpse of something as she stole a glance back towards her father. The dark shape only served to spur her further down the trail and away from the evil friar. Her father gave chase but there was little chance that he could keep up with her at full speed.

Up ahead the moonlight beckoned her to safety away from the copse of trees as the friar's evil laugh seemed to fill the area around her. Somehow she knew she had to get away somewhere safe and something seemed to be telling her that safety was just ahead.
 

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The blacksmith's daughter felt her heart skip a beat when she caught side of something in the brush she passed, her mind unable to take the half-seen shape she saw and match it to any animal or person she knew. Her father started to lag behind in his chase, but Huldah couldn't slow down, the urging adding to her own flight instincts until all she could think about was running, further and further until she could find somewhere she could be safe.
 
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Huldah's fear had gotten the better of her after seeing the unusual shape in the bushes. The muscles in her legs burned as she sprinted headlong for the safety that she somehow knew was ahead. Gone were any rational thoughts about how this friar had corrupted her father, though the hope that she might save him still lingered in the back of her mind.

She hadn't even noticed when she emerged from the forest and towards the nearby inn. A party of horsemen pulled into the inn just ahead of her one of the horses seemed similar to her, even as her mind raced with fear and panic. It was the knight from the previous evening, the one she thought she had been going to see.

As she finally slowed Daniel turned his horse towards her and he waved her over towards his two companions.
 

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Huldah angled towards Daniel as soon as she saw him, out of breath when she finally stopped close enough to speak, still looking over her shoulder in a panic that the things in the forest were still after her.

"Sir Daniel! There was a friar... Said he was from you... Father and I followed him... To a forest... There were creatures, and the friar was evil, a demon or something. My father's under his influence, you have to help!" She pleaded, getting her wind back as she spoke.
 
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Huldah struggled to regain her steaming breath as she finally slowed, the night had grown cold but she hardly noticed after her exertions. She finally hazarded a glance behind almost fearful of what might be chasing but nothing was there. Making her way over to Sir Daniel who had stepped down from his horse with a concerned look on his face.

His companions remained behind though they also looked worried and seemed to be listening closely as Huldah pleaded for aid. One was an exceptionally pale woman with long black hair, the other a small thin man with a greying beard. Daniel was dressed the same as the previous evening though his cloak was now open to reveal chainmail and sword beneath. The cloak still hid most of his face even as he stood right in front of her.

As soon as Huldah had finished her tale he simply nodded and quickly leaped back onto his horse. With a nod the thin man took off at a gallop towards the road to Canterbury. Daniel spurred his horse towards the forest as he shouted for Huldah to stay with Emma and that she could protect her.
 

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The blacksmith's daughter nodded at the knight's request for her to stay, still partially gripped with the fright that filled her on her frantic dash to safety. She was a fit woman, but those trees were a fantastic distance away, she would have collapsed before making it were it not for the flood of adrenaline in her veins.

Taking a seat more or less where she was and resting back against the stump of a tree at the side of the road, she looked up at Sir Daniel's companions. "Shouldn't one or two of you go with him? He's in more danger than I am, those creatures didn't leave the trees, I think."
 
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