The Headless Knight of Sleepy Trees
Draft_2
By: Chase L. Currie
(Tales of The Bat)
Everyone has a different way to react to Death; some break down crying, others act strongly at the moment, but you can see it in their eyes they can’t stop thinking about the dead. Some even walk away to find a drink and deal with the dead by not dealing with anything. Artful had seen it all. He had been around the living when they had to face Death, and he had seen it all, but Lord Ichabod Longears didn’t even seem to notice the words coming out of Seathan mouth. It was as if he didn’t care one bit that his Head Knight had been killed.
“You think it was these Headless Knight?” Ichabod coolly asked.
“We believe so,” Seathan said.
“And you saw it?” He asked the Bard sitting behind his desk with his chair slightly turn reading a letter someone had sent him and his reading glasses halfway down his long nose.
“The body? Yes, we saw it,” Seathan said looking back at Artful.
“Not the body, you fool,” Ichabod said calmly, “the Knight, the Headless one.”
“No, my Lord, we did not see that,” Seathan remarked.
“So, Sir Danial could have been killed by someone else then,” Ichabod said, not looking up from his paper.
“I guess so.”
“How sad then,” Ichabod said, “I was hoping you would have seen the killer ghost so you could tell the Queen I was telling the truth.”
“Do you not care about the death of your Knight?” Seathan asked standing with his arms crossed.
“I cared deeply because he was my Knight,” Ichabod said as if it was something he had to say.
“But not because it was Danial,” Seathan said with Artful standing by the door watching and holding on to his staff.
“Danial and I,” Ichabod explained, “were not close. He was a station here because he begged to be put here, not because I wanted it. He had a complicated relationship at best.”
“Why is that?” Seathan asked.
Ichabod lowered the letter staring at the Bard and asked, “What have you done in the name of the Empire?”
“A lot.”
“Anything that you will have to stand in front of the AllFather and answer for?” Ichabod questions him harshly.
“No,” Seathan said shaking his head. “I have done nothing as such.”
“Then when you have, boy,” Ichabod said making sure the word boy was emphasized, “Then you can come talk to me.”
“Is it because of the witches?” Artful asked.
Ichabod sat back a little at the question not sure if he wanted to say anything to the Saint.
“It is our duty,” Seathan said, “to find the truth.”
Ichabod growled a little sitting all the way back. “I brunt Danial’s mother for being the devilish witch she was, and his foolish father tried to kill me for it. He was executed for the action.”
“Oh,” Seathan said locking his jaw.
“Explains why you wouldn’t want Danial here,” Artful said.
“Yes, well, I did not,” Ichabod said going back to his letter, “but orders are orders.”
“Yes, yes, they are,” Artful said tapping Seathan on the shoulder telling him it was time to go. They walked out of the house without saying a word. When they stepped down from the steps, Artful asked, “Did you see any magic markings on Danial?”
“Not that I can recall,” Seathan said as they headed for his small house and yawned. “But he could have been hiding them.”
“Did you see any last night?” Artful asked him using his staff as a walking stick.
“No,” Seathan said.
“To be a witch means you must have a deep understanding of magic,” Artful explain. “An understanding so deep that it would mark your bloodline for generations to come.”
“You think that Danial’s mother wasn’t a witch?” Seathan asked.
“I’m starting to think so,” Artful said looking back at the Lord’s house. “What if our dear Lord made a mistake about Danial’s mother? What if he killed the wrong squirrel?”
“And if the Queen found out,” Seathan said in a low voice, “then he would be put to death.”
“Sounds like a good reason,” Artful grin at him, “to kill the Knights who knows the truth and hire some cutthroats to kill the squirrels trying to find the truth to me. What do you think?”
“Seems scary accurate,” Seathan said, “but what about the Headless Knight? What does he play into all of this?”
“I’m sure there is one,” Artful said. “We haven’t seen him and anyone who does end up dead.”
“Expect for the Lord.”
“Right,” Artful said, “and he gets to tell everyone the story of the Headless Knight.”
“You really think it was him?” Seathan asked stopping at his door.
“I don’t know,” Artful said looking back at the house. “It would make sense …”
“But?”
“But it is all too easy,” Artful said.
“Too easy?” Seathan asked.
“Yeah,” Artful said. “Why not burn Grundy’s house down before we got there? He knew were we, you, were coming, so why not destroy the house then? Why even ask the Queen for help in the first place? Why not kill Danial the second or third night the Headless Knight attack? Why kill everyone else? And why did Danial lie to you about who died? He said there was six. Lord of forever frowning said there was only four.”
“There would be six,” Seathan pointed out, “if you count Danial’s mother and father.”
“You are right,” Artful said with a grin. “So, the question is why tell you that, if not to put distrust between you and the Lord? He knew what the Lord was going to tell you.”
“But Danial’s is dead,” Seathan said. “You can’t still think it was him.”
“If that was his body,” Artful said.
“You think it wasn’t?”
“I don’t know,” he said, “but what I do know is this is hurting my head, and I need some food.”
“I’m going to read a little of the journal,” Seathan said unlocking his door with an iron key, “I’ll find you later.”
“Sounds good to me,” Artful said walking with a wave and Seathan stepping into his place for a long read.
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