#Andrea Tutella
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Unexpected Field Trip pt 1
“And what have we learned today Mariella?” I asked as I followed behind the child in question.
“That being a responsible pet owner means taking responsibility when your puppy causes trouble.” She replied with a practiced tone that only betrayed a little bit of her pout at being in trouble herself.
“Very good,” I said, “and what does that mean for you going forward young lady?”
She sighed dramatically like she’d been burdened with some sisyphean task, “It means I’m not allowed to let Rupert out of his kennel without you or Father ever again.”
I chuckled at her response,”it’s not ‘ever again’ Mariella.” I said, “it’s just until we’re confident that he’ll obey your commands, we wouldn’t want him running off again now would we?”
Another over dramatic sigh, “No.”
Ahead of us Rupert tugged at the chain being held by Mariella, clearly unhappy with the slow and steady pace we were keeping on our walk back to the castle. Rupert wasn’t the first Hellhound I’d ever seen though I was still a bit surprised at first to see one being kept as a house pet. Far larger than the average dog or wolf, black sinewy skin, boney spikes protruding from his back, and a bone plated head completed the picture of a terrifying beast. The glowing red eyes and occasional panting breaths of flame from the hound would be enough to strike fear into the hearts of most men. On the other hand in the past week alone I’d seen Rupert startled at the sight of a mouse, get his head stuck in a gate, and completely pacified by belly rubs from the girls. So I personally didn’t find him all that scary.
Further up the trail I could see the road that traveled from the castle all the way into town. As we neared the end of the trail I could hear hooves approaching rapidly, along with what sounded like carriage wheels. “Mariella, wait here,” I said as I quickly walked forward. “Rupert, sit.” I commanded firmly. The hound replied with a groan but obediently planted himself in a seated position.
As I approached the road I moved off the trail, trying to stay somewhat hidden while still affording myself a view of the commotion. The roar of hooves grew louder and louder til the source of the noise finally arrived. A large group of riders on horseback raced down the road, carefully surrounding a large carriage. All of them adorned with the heraldry of the crown. Kingsguard, an entire squadron of them racing away from the castle. “This can’t be a good thing,” I mumbled to myself as I took off back down the trail to find Mariella.
“What’s happening Andrea?” Mariella asked, concern evident in her voice.
“I don’t know darling,” I said as I ran up to her. “But we need to get back to the castle now.” I pulled the chain from her hands and scooped the girl up into my arms before turning and taking off for the castle in a full sprint. “Rupert, come.” I shouted as I ran back past him. The hound kicked up dirt and leaves as we both tore down the trail. I thanked the gods that I’d had the good sense to change into trousers before we went out to track down the dog. Looking back on it I don’t know if I could have made the run in a dress. As we rounded a bend in the road the castle came into view. My lungs and legs were burning at this point, the last few months of minding children and teaching lessons had caused a lapse in my fitness that I vowed then and there to never let happen again.
Passing through the gates I saw the castle doors wide open and another Kingsguard carriage waiting out front. I briefly slowed to a stop to set Mariella down again before I continued. “Mariella, dear wait here,” I shouted over my shoulder. “Rupert, protect the child.”
My second wind hit right as I crested the top of the stairs which was mercifully wonderful timing. I stopped and quickly took stock of the situation, the entryway had been torn asunder. There were impact marks all around the walls, furniture destroyed, several fallen knights, tapestries burnt or burning, and on the ground in the middle of the room the gravely injured Dr Braithe with two armored Kingsguard approaching him as he backed away weakly. He had two stakes protruding from his chest and what looked like several other wounds as well.
I swallowed my thundering heart down and grit my teeth as I charged the two knights with their backs turned to me. I quickly grabbed a spear off one of the fallen knights and readied my attack.
I don’t like killing people if at all possible, it’s messy and complicated. But years ago I swore an oath to protect the innocent from those who would do evil. And right this moment ‘innocent’ was a wounded father of three backing away from two fully armed men.
I so very much dislike bullies.
The noise of my boots alerted them to my presence and they both tried to turn to face me. I however had the element of surprise, momentum, and had already closed a considerable distance between myself and them. The first one to round on me aimed his unusual looking weapon, I knocked it away with the haft of my spear, back towards the other knight. A small explosion rang out and a spray of blood from the second knight as whatever weapon the first knight was carrying discharged directly into the knee of his compatriot. There was a scream of pain from one and a panicked look upon the face of them both. Taking advantage of the momentary chaos I spun my spear knocking the weapon fully from his grasp and giving myself an opening to drive the tip of the spear down into the gap above his breastplate. Shoving his body away I drew his shortsword from his belt and rounded on his friend. Pointing the blade at the other knight I glared at him with righteous fury.
“Wh-who are you??” he asked, desperation in his panting breaths.
“I’m the Governess,” I stated, before driving the sword through his visor.
Parts: [0] , 1, [2], [3], [4]
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Unexpected Field Trip pt 3
My back hit the wall as I retreated around a corner. Chunks of marble and stone flying past me as the iron pellets clipped the edge of the corner. “I’m really getting tired of these so-called ‘rifles’ Rupert,” I said to the hound. The large beast gave a grumble of vague agreement. He had blood dripping down his muzzle from the guards that had been foolish enough to challenge him.
I peeked my head around the corner to get a vantage but pulled back in time for another spray of rubble to narrowly miss me. “Honestly this is just ridiculous,” I said as I started refilling the rotating mechanism on my crossbow with the last few of my bolts. “You’re all cowards the lot of you!” I shouted towards the other end of the hallway.
To my surprise the sporadic firing stopped. To my even greater surprise a voice I actually recognized came from that end of the corridor.
“Andrea?” The voice queried, “is that you babe?”
“Charlotte?!” I questioned after a moment of being stunned as I processed hearing the voice of my ex girlfriend on the opposite end of a fight from myself.
“It is you!” Charlotte exclaimed. “What a surprise!”
“Charlotte, you joined the Kingsguard?” I asked.
There was a giggle at first then she replied, “That’s ’Captain’ of the Kingsguard.”
“Well clearly I made the right decision by breaking up with her,” I muttered to myself.
“What are you doing here love?” She asked after a moment.
“Oh, just retrieving the children of my employer,” I said as I spun the rotator into place. “You wouldn’t happen to remember where you left them would you dear?”
Charlotte giggled again, I was starting to remember how maddening that giggle was whenever I was trying to be serious. “Hmmm ‘fraid not babe. Why are you here though?” She asked, “shouldn’t you be destroying monsters not protecting them?”
My blood boiled, she didn’t know these girls. She didn’t know how hard they tried at everything. How clever Coralline was, her coursework was immaculate, I’ve never met a twelve year old as smart as her in all my days. Or how charismatic and graceful Sophia could be, her beautiful singing voice, she was sure to wow audiences with her performances one day.
But to Charlotte and these knights they were nothing more than monsters to be hunted and killed. I would not allow it. “Charlotte!” I called back, trying to keep my anger in check. “I am their Governess and those children are under my care. And when I find them there best not be a hair out of place on their heads.”
That laugh again, “no promises babe.”
I lean away from the corner to see if there’s anything I could use to my advantage. Near the far end there stood a decorative suit of armor with a tall tower shield. Carefully I formed a plan in my head. I looked over at Rupert, “I think I’m quite done with old acquaintances don’t you?” I got to my feet and carefully stepped away from the wall, taking care to not get too close to the corner and expose myself to more gunfire. Finally as the suit of armor came into view, I leveled my crossbow and aimed carefully at its shield.
My first bolt knocked it loose and as it was falling to the floor I quickly cycled the lever on my weapon and fired another. The second bolt sent it into a top-like spin. I grinned at my success so far. Cycling the lever again, I waited for the spin to hit just the right angle. Then, as quickly as I could manage I fired, reloaded, and fired again, sending a duo of bolts toward the spinning shield. They ricocheted off their target and disappeared beyond the corner. A loud cursing from the opposition told me that at least one of them had hit home.
Quickly as I could I threw my weapon over my shoulder and took off in a full sprint down the hall. If at least one of my shots hit then two on two makes for a better fight than three on two.
Ten feet from my goal, two armored figures rounded the corner and leveled their weapons at me. I dropped into a slide and felt a large shadow pass over me as the hulking hound-like form of Rupert lunged forward. He tackled one of the knights, knocking him to the ground and tearing into him as if his steel armor were mere tissue paper.
Taking advantage of the distraction and the momentum of my slide I kicked the legs out from under the remaining knight before spinning and dropping my heel onto his neck. At the same time I brought my crossbow to bear on the third figure slumped behind the corner of the wall.
Charlotte glared at me with burning eyes and to my surprise both of my crossbow bolts sticking out of her, one in the thigh and the other in the shoulder. I mentally pat myself on the back for my accuracy only until I realised she was also aiming her weapon at me.
“Guess we’re in a bit of a standoff, ay babe?” She said more than asked.
“It would seem so,” I replied, “reminds me a bit of our last argument, but without all the dishes being thrown.”
She let out a dry laugh, “not so much the same I think,” she said, pulling back a hammer on her smaller firearm.
“You’re right,” I countered. “This time I have help.”
A deep, growl caught Charlotte’s attention and she turned to see the fire and teeth filled maw of a hellhound inches from her face. “What the fuck…” she muttered, losing her grip on her gun.
I quickly relieved her of it before standing up and dusting myself off. I turned the weapon over in my hands, inspecting it carefully, it was all metal and craftwork like the rifles but in a much smaller package, able to be fired one handed. “Tell me about this new weapon of yours darling,” I said to Charlotte, not turning my eyes to her.
She scrambled back against the wall as Rupert sniffed at her, licking his teeth. “You can go fuck yourself,” she said, panicked.
I sighed, “always so impolite,” I tutted at her. “Rupert.”
The hound growled at Charlotte as he leaned closer to her, “wait!! Wait wait!” She pleaded, “it’s a revolver they call it, five shots before you need to reload.”
“Rupert sit,” he grumbled at me before planting himself on the ground as ordered. I turned to regard Charlotte again and saw her glaring up at me, thoroughly bested and looking entirely furious about it. “And how does it work?” I asked calmly.
She bared her teeth, beyond aggravated that she had been so completely defeated. “Pull back the hammer on the rear then pull the trigger to fire,” she grumbled.
“And the number of remaining charges?” I inquired, looking back down at the revolver.
“Four” she said, she had a glint in her eye and the slight upturn of a smile on her cheek. She really was always an awful liar.
“I see,” I replied, leveling the revolver at her. “Shall we test your counting skills then?” I asked, pulling the hammer back.
The snide look on Charlotte's face was immediately overtaken by fear, “three!” She said in a panic, “there’s only three left.”
“Splendid,” I said, smirking at her. “I knew you were better at counting than that. I tucked the weapon into my belt and set off down the hall. “Rupert, heel.” The hound fell into step behind me.
“What’s to become of me then babe?” Charlotte called after me, some of her snark returning after seeming to realise that I wasn’t going to feed her to a hellhound.
I turned my head to call over my shoulder, “I would suggest maybe locating some alternate form of employment.”
I heard her scoff as I pushed the doors to the next corridor open, continuing my search for the girls and their captors.
Parts [0], [1], [2], 3, [4]
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Unexpected Field Trip pt 2
“Alright take a deep breath and hold it,” I said, my hand firmly grasping the large, wooden stake protruding from the doctor’s pectoral. He did so and I continued, “I’m going to count to three and then I’ll pull this out, okay Doctor?” He gave me a nod of confirmation. “Alright then. One…” I yanked the stake from his chest quickly.
Dr Braithe released his held breath in a hacking cough, strained words interspersed between them. “Good lord Andrea,” a loud groan, “your bedside manner is atrocious.”
“Yes but it’s effective,” I said, preparing to remove the remaining stake.
“Alright,” he said. “Make sure to warn me before you pull the seCOND ONE!” He yelped in pain as the stake was pulled loose.
I tossed the wooden object aside before turning to face the door. “Mariella!” I shouted, “it’s safe for you and Rupert to come in now!” I turned back to face the doctor, “now, what of these other wounds?”
“Iron pellets,” he said, easing himself into a sitting position against the bannister post. “Some sort of explosive projectile weapon it seems.”
I gave the wounds a quick glance before looking him in the eye again, “I’m afraid that’s going to be beyond my ability to remove.”
He waved the notion away, “It’s alright, I have some forceps in my bag that should do the trick, Mariella can grab the bag for me.”
“Right then, I’ll go check on the other two girls.” I turned to leave and he grabbed my arm, turning back to face him, I saw a deeply haunted look on his face.
“Andrea,” he said, breathing heavily, “They’ve taken them.”
My heart dropped, “what…”
“Sophia and Coralline,” he replied. “Those soldiers who attacked us, they took my daughters.” A pained look crossed his face that I had to believe was due to more than just his wounds.
I turned to look back towards the door, Mariella was standing there cautiously, surveying the destruction while holding tightly to Rupert’s leg. A plan was forming in my head as ice began to flood into my veins.
I immediately set off down the hall towards my suite in the east wing. Throwing the doors to my chambers open I then went to my bed and pulled the large trunk with my hunting gear from under it, popping the latches and opening it. Looking over my equipment I had to prioritize what I could grab and what would need to stay. I didn’t have time to don my entire armor but my breastplate and bracers would do for now over my current clothes.
As I tightened the straps on my armor I heard the door behind me creak, “I’m coming with you,” came the strained voice of the good doctor.
“You most certainly are not Dr Braithe,” I said, turning to face him. “You have been thoroughly wounded and from the looks of it you can barely stand.”
“I have to,” he said, “my… my girls…”
“Doctor…” He looked me in the eye. “What you need to do is remain here and protect Mariella.” I pulled my crossbow from the trunk and gave it a once over.
“And what do you plan on doing with all of that?” He asked.
I grabbed my belt of ammunition and turned back towards the door, passing Dr Braithe. “Doctor, when you hired me it was on the basis of my claim that I could keep your daughters out of trouble.”
He hobbled to try and keep up with my hurried steps, “Andrea you and I both know that this is not what you meant.”
“Yes, but the fact remains the same,” I turned to face him as we returned to the foyer. “Sophia and Coralline are in trouble, and I intend to get them out of it.” I turned and headed towards the door. “Rupert, come,” I ordered as I passed the hound and he fell into step behind me. I made my way down the stairs to the Kingsguard carriage and pulled the door open. “In,” I said as I nodded towards the interior. He grumbled and climbed inside.
There was a small tug at my sleeve and I turned to see Mariella standing there. “Are you coming back?” She asked, worry in her eyes.
I smiled at her, hopefully reassuringly, “of course darling, and I expect to see you in bed before sunrise when I return young lady.” I slung my crossbow over my shoulder and climbed into the driver’s seat of the carriage.
Dr Braithe walked up and put his arm around his daughter, looking up at me as well, “I hate to state the obvious but you’re up against the full might of the crown you know.”
I gathered the reins up in my hands and turned to face the two of them. “I’ve never been a fan of kings personally,” I said as I cracked the reins and led the horses out the gate and down the road.
Parts [0], [1], 2, [3], [4]
#schoolchildren of the night#andrea tutella#dr hector braithe#mariella braithe#rupert#my writing#my ocs#vampires#monster hunters
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