Chapter 104 104 Rumors

Chapter 104 Chapter 104 Rumors

The left guy's shoulders relaxed. But the right guard's eyes flashed with disappointment- as if he was expecting some kind of late evening action.

"Master Nexus, I beg your pardon we didn't realize it was you."

Nexus slowed his horse;

"How come?" he asked innocently; "Was it the hat?"

Both guards shared a quick nervous glance, as if unsure of what to say.

"Actually sire, for a moment I thought I saw a bearded gentleman."

Nexus' face looked pained; "So you're saying you're disappointed I don't have a beard?"

Pudgy right guy's eyed flared open. His poorly balanced helmet shook as he tried to stand at attention;

"No sire!" he cried aloud; "Forgive me sire, it was probably some optical anomaly. the sun playing tricks on my sight!"

Nexus sighed and dabbed his forehead dramatically;

"Friend, if you're mocking me because of my youth and because I am yet to grow a beard, be sure that I will take this matter to the Lady of the estate."

Immediately, the guard stood at attention and cried;

"Forgive me sire! I didn't mean to offend thee!"

Nexus nearly laughed aloud. Who the hell still uses that word?

"Don't let it happen agai–"

The sound of a long winded scream suddenly broke from the compound ahead. Nexus head jerked upwards in an instant and his eyes flashed urgently. Muscle memory kicked in, and he literally kicked the horse- driving forward at full speed, and charging into the compound towards the sound of the scream.

As his horse came galloping through furiously, the large hat on his head kept bouncing lower and lower over his smaller head, almost covering his eyesight.

In the courtyard, at the base of the stone steps that led up to the entrance of the great hall, were Crystal and Nora.

Standing in front of each other, shoulders squared, and arms at akinbo, Nora's face was taut in shock and her mouth was slightly open in an 'O' position as Crystal filled her in on the hottest and juiciest gossip in town.

Surprised at the sight of the blond girl and the black chattering, and even more surprised that there was not a single threat in sight, Nexus tugged at the reins of his horse- cutting of his fierce advancing motion.

"What's going on?" his booming voice resounded through the open courtyard; "I heard someone scream."

On cue, both women turned as one. In the eyes of the dark haired girl was a joyful flame that had been kindled just from the sound of his voice alone. In the eyes of the blond girl was a welcoming gaze, mixed with a quiet admiration at the background.

They both echoed at the same time;

"NEXUS!!"

Except that Crystal added 'lord' first.

With his face strained in a searching interrogative gaze, and with his dark coat flapping, Nexus looked like a large bat, he slowly dismounted off his black horse.

"What happened?" he asked again; "Is someone hurt?"

Nora shook her head;

"Oh nothing of the sort, I was just being silly. Crystal here was filling me in on the tales making its way around town, and I kind of got excited."

"Oh," he relaxed; "Would it be rude of me to ask what this news is?"

"You can take a wild guess, but you'd never know whose the new celebrity now. . ."

She didn't allow him to guess. She mouthed a single word;

"Monica."

Nexus' eyebrows went up- above- into his hat.

"Monica?" he echoed.

"Yep," Nora turned to Crystal who was still gazing at Nexus with worshipful eyes; "Take it away Crystal. Go on, tell him what you just told me."

They both rested their eyes on her as she began to recount the juicy gossip.

Crystal tried to keep her tone flat. But her eyes betrayed her by flashed with streaks of excitement;

"So, while I was taking a stroll down by the docks, early this morning, I saw a little gathering- at first, I assumed it was the usual shenanigans of the public rousers. But then again, I heard a single phrase; Monica Russell of the Russell clan. . ."

Nexus fought to keep his face bland. He could almost guess what this was about.

". . .so I go over right? You know, strictly for investigative purposes of course, and there was a single teenage boy- an apprentice at the hunter's lodge- telling everyone how dangerous the red headed Russell girl was."

"Get to it Crystal," Nexus scowled impatiently.

She nodded. And continued briskly;

". . .so. . .basically. . .the gist is that Monica singlehandedly wiped out an entire pack of wind wolves in one night. . .according to the boy, Monica stole upon almost a thousand wolves while they were having a group orgy under the moonlight. . .they filled out an entire plain. . .stretching out from one end of the land to another. . .alone, Monica climbed a hill overlooking the open grasslands, lifted up her hands to the sky, and summoned a fiery comet from the east. . ."

Nexus chuckled lightly; "Oh, did she now?"

"Yes m'lord." she nodded like a schoolgirl; "According to the boy, she harnessed the power of the sun, and rained down hellfire on the black beasts. . .people say the power of the bombings caused indentations in the land. . .roasting the beasts on the spot. . ."

By the side of his eye, through his peripheral vision, Nexus made out the look on Nora's face.

The lines around her eyes were darkened, her cheekbones weeks strained, and her arms were folded in front of her chest- squeezing tightly against each other, forcing her still developing areolas outwards as Crystal recounted the tale;

". . .while she swooped down into the valley of death to slice off their heads and corpses. . .another pack of B-rank wolves suddenly emerged in the horizon!"

Nexus raised his eyebrows up in mock curiosity.

Crystal, thoroughly enjoying the attention he was giving her, loosened her body, and began to gesticulate dramatically;

"The were about this tall. . ." she raised her hands upwards above her own height; "All hundred of them, and they were as big as horses! And five times as strong! They moved like the wind, and their teeth were rows and rows of iron nails fastened together. . ."

Some movements caught his eye.

Nora's arms suddenly dropped.

She hijacked the tale;

"Yes," the blond girl rasped as her eyes squinted as thin as a blade; "

"Monica singlehandedly killed them all. She's a brave heroine who killed the LEADING WOLF!"

Her last words rolled out of her tongue, snapping as they escaped her mouth. Both her eyes burned as strands of her golden yellow hair lapped in the wind. Her breaths came out in more frantic gasps.

Being an astute room reader, Nexus instantly picked up on the subtext. Of course she was frustrated. Truly, it seemed like she was destined to be eternally confined to the shadow of the younger, more talented sibling. And to crown it all, Crystal was over dramatizing the event fetishously.

And- well, it certainly wasn't helping at all.

But that wasn't his primary concern. He was more intrigued by the facts of the story itself.? That redheaded bitch was feeding lies to the public, and they were lapping it up like milk to a newborn.