Ted's Dolls 17: Emily 4 (Patreon)

If you haven't read any of the Ted's Dolls stories before, you should read Ted's Dolls 1: Jane before reading any stories in this series. This part follows from Ted's Dolls 12: Emily 3. This story starts a couple weeks before the events of Ted's Dolls 16: Ted 2 and a week before the events of Ted's Dolls 14: Beverly. 

“'How fortuitous!' Abraham said after knocking and entering the greeting chamber of your suite at the inn. 'I sent a few men to the location you escaped from, Princess. They found a journal written by the man you killed.'” Earl said.

“'What does it say?' The Princess waves off her servant, Relly, who had been brushing the Princess' hair.”

“'I haven't read much of it,' he says. 'But there is a note that he heard, quote, 'The dread lady went into the hills in search of a fabled monastery'. Perhaps the dread lady is our Lady Elswood.'”

“'Well, that's not how I would characterize her. But I have never been her foe. What do we know of this monastery?'”

“'Not much. I sent my squire to the library to inquire about it. But he has not yet returned.' As he finishes, Relly says, 'Pardon my interruption, but last night I was in the kitchens and they were talking about local legends. Someone mentioned a monastery but no one wanted to talk about it.'”

“'Do you remember the name of whomever brought it up?'” Emily said.

“'I believe it was a washer named Garron.' continued the servant. Abraham says, 'I'll summon him immediately, Milady.' Shortly, an older gentleman is brought into the room by two men-at-arms. After some gentle prodding he tells a story:

There was once a silver mine in the hills beyond the Gnarlwood, east of Highpointe. Frequent patrols made travel along the road between the city and the mine rather safe. A monastery, The Ormond Cloister, was founded along the road right where the forest ended. Travelers along the road could see the fields of flowers grown on the land around the monastery as they descended the hills where the mine is located. The mine closed about a score of years ago. But a score of years before that all the flowers died and no one could remember the last time the monastery had sent someone to Highpointe for supplies.

A few curious folk went to investigate but none returned. Eventually the monastery was forgotten. When the mine ran dry and road stopped being maintained, rumor has it the monastery was overgrown by the forest. But one man said he had been to the monastery and was surprised to find a number of statues on the grounds. The monks had not been known for their sculpting and some wondered why the statues were really there.

But no one ever found out. Or, if they found out, they never returned to tell the tale.

“'Garron, you say someone saw statues and yet no one who goes there returns? Which is it?'” Emily said.

“He seems put off guard that you know his name. 'I do not know, Milady. That is the story as I heard it when I was a young man here at the tavern.'”

“'Thank you, good man.' She says dismissing him. 'Abraham, prepare us for a trek into the forest.'”

“It takes a few days of planning before the Princess and her troupe head out on the road toward the mine and the monastery along the way. Abraham tries many times to convince you to stay in the city and the nice warm inn. Once horses are purchased and several guides are hired, your group heads along the abandoned eastern road into the Gnarlwood.”

Earl describes their travel on the road, such as it is, overgrown with grasses and weeds from neglect. The game drags a bit as they encounter various creatures of the forest who see their troupe as food. After the third such encounter where the Princess had to use her magic to save the group, she decides they should camp for the night, well short of the monastery by several days.

“'I told, m'lady, that she should stay in Highpointe,” Abraham says. 'These woods are no place for a Princess.'

“One of the scouts says, 'Well, ye be wrong, Lad, beggin' yer pardon, Ma'am. But this Lass saved my bacon and yours at least twice that I ken. I thank ye, Lady.'”

“'I would be a poor master if I did not protect those I've hired,' I say to the scout,” Emily said.

“I think we're going to have to call it a night ourselves, Emily,” Earl says.

“Yes, I figured as much. Gosh darn, Rhana. You'll have to be a statue another week,” Emily called out turning in her chair to look at the doll on the bed. “He managed to keep it in his pants this week.”

“Is that a challenge or disappointment?” Earl said.

“Figure it out.” Emily stood up and carried her things to the door. “Till next week.”

“Have a good evening.”

* * *

“That's Rhana?” Rob said.

“Yes,” Earl said. “Her character has been turned to stone and she loves playing, or in this case not playing, in character.”

“Amazing. I have to say I have no idea why Beverly was willing to be seen as she was last night.”

“From what I understand, the dolls libidos get cranked up by being dolls.”

“Oh, that I'm well aware of.”

“Did she pounce you in the morning?” Earl said. “Last week, Rhana returned to normal around seven in the morning and she made me late for class Friday morning.”

“Yes, I would have suffered the same fate today if I had a morning class.”

There was a knock at the door.

“There's tonight's player,” Earl said opening the door. “Hi, Emily.”

They embraced. “Hi, Earl. Oh, I didn't know you had company.” Emily saw the unknown guy check out her face, her bodice, and her ears.

“Hi. I'm Rob. I was just leaving. Nice ears.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“You can stay for dinner,” Earl said.

“No, I better get home to Bev. See you Wednesday.” Rob left.

Earl said, “Rob and I play poker on Wednesday nights. Last night, his girlfriend was there as a doll. I had mentioned what Rhana was doing tonight and he was curious.”

“Did she mind?”

“Not at all. She figured if I got to see Beverly it was only fair that Rob could see her.”

Emily put her book bag near the table. It was set for dining and Earl was just putting food on the table. “This smells so good. I still feel bad about eating Rhana's dinner these three weeks.”

“She hasn't eaten since lunch,” Earl said. “And that was her idea. I'll make her a big breakfast tomorrow morning.”

* * *

“You've been on the road to the mines for four days,” Earl said. “Calling it a road is generous given how much the Gnarlwood has reclaimed the road. You scouts say the group should be able to reach the monastery around noon tomorrow at the current pace.”

“If I remember rightly, we left the Princess' servants and ten of the men-at-arms back in Highpointe as Abraham convinced Mylya that the forest was no place for a woman who could not defend herself from wolves and other forest denizens,” Emily said.

“Correct. The servants were greatly relieved when you told them they were not accompanying you.”

“I also gave instructions to the men-at-arms to take the servants back to my father in six weeks if I have not returned in that time.”

“Yes, you paid the inn for food and boarding for six weeks in advance for all the servants and men-at-arms. You gave Tatiana additional money to pay everyone's weekly stipend and to pay for the journey back home.

“When we stopped last week, the troupe had been attacked by a pack of wolves. They were driven off by the Princess' fire magic. The scout says, 'We should continue on from this location, now. The wolves might recover their bravery and return if we stop here.'

“Abraham says, 'I agree. We can fend them off, most likely. But we don't want to fend them off if we can just get away from them.'”

“'Agreed. Press on.' I tell them,” Emily said.

“Travel in the dark could be aided by the Princess' light spell, unless you don't want to cast it.”

“No, having light is better than having a horse come up lame.”

“Yes, it is. The men-at-arms break down the camp they were about to create for the evening and continue forward into the fading light. Within a half hour there is only inky blackness surrounding your men and the sounds of insects and wolf howls. After about two hours of slow progress, your men are obviously tired. Do you have them make camp?”

“'Abraham, the men look tired. We should stop,' I say.”

“'That might be best, Princess. Ho! Make camp!' he calls out. The evening meal is quickly prepared and served. Having been a hostage for several years, the Princess is familiar with taking what meals are available. She remembers Lady Elswood making fun of her once when she asked who prepared the Lady's meals when she was on the road. If she could see you now.”

“When the Princess settles down in her bed roll, she takes out her journal and writes:

“Augury 7, 23rd Year in the Reign of My Father,

“Camp rations remind me of that time Els taught me that she cooked her own meals in the woods. I should learn to do this myself. So much time has passed since we last spoke. Will we still be each other's everything? What if we have grown apart? What if she is not imperiled and has just moved on with her life? The Lady Elswood of Poltaria I know could never do that. But years have gone by. I would hope she would not turn away from future happiness in the hopes of getting me back. She doesn't even know I'm free from the Baron.

“She puts the pen and ink away and flips back to a random older entry or two before going to sleep.”

“That was great. Similar to the concerns she had in the entry you sent to me last week,” Earl said.

“In high school, I was a fan-fiction writer. I haven't had time to do any writing since the semester started.”

“Glad you could use this as an outlet,” Earl said. “In the morning, the men break camp and you are on the road maybe a couple hours later than you might have expected. It is a couple hours after high noon when a scout returns to the main troupe. 'We've spotted the monastery. It is long abandoned. There's missing sections of wall on each side. The fields surrounding it have long since been reclaimed by the wilds. Curiously, I spotted a statue outside the walls not far from one of the breached sections of wall. It has no overgrowth on it. Like it had been placed there within the last couple years or so.'”

“'Who would place a statue near an abandoned monastery?' she said,” said Emily.

“'I doubt the statue was placed so much as transformed,' one of the men said.

“'Surely you aren't serious,' Abraham says.”

“'The rumors at the inn in Highpointe suggest that a gorgon has taken up residence in the monastery,' the man said.

“'Faery tails,' Abraham says. 'No one has seen a gorgon in thirty years at least.'

“'Except the statue Wilson saw outside the monastery.”'

“'Even if they haven't been seen for thirty years, Abraham,' the Princess says. 'The monastery has been abandoned for over forty years. What if a gorgon moved into the monastery and has been there ever since?' Did I just use out of game knowledge in game?”

“I don't think that's a bad thing, necessarily,” Earl said.

“Okay, um, 'Wilson, how far are we from the monastery?'”

“'About two miles,' he says.”

“'Let's find a good place, perhaps a little off the road to camp and figure out how we will investigate the monastery.'”

“Abraham looks at you with an impressed expression. 'You heard the Princess,' he bellows. With the aid of the returned scout, the troupe finds a spot off the road a little over a mile from the camp. The scout uses a stick to draw in the earth the layout of the monastery.” Earl hands Emily an overhead map of the monastery.

She asks Earl for several clarifications about the map as she is unsure what the symbology means. But once she is up to speed she says, as the Princess, “'I want to see this recent statue. If there is a gorgon, I fear the statue might be the missing Sir Lyle.'”

“'Princess, we cannot risk your life against a gorgon,' Abraham says.”

“'Lieutenant, I am tired of you treating me like a fragile flower. Who killed her kidnapper while you were caught napping? If the man who kidnapped me were smart, you and the other men would have been dead before I woke tied to a chair. I am going into the monastery. There will be no discussion of if, only how.'”

Earl salutes Emily, “'Of course, Ma'am.'”

Emily says, “I say to the scout, 'Did you get a good look at the statue? Was the figure tense? Relaxed? Is the figure's pose anticipating danger or was he caught off guard?'”

“'I'm sorry, your highness. But I did not get close enough to see its face. It was looking into the monastery and I was behind it. It did have its sword drawn but it did not seem like it was in the middle of a fight.'”

“'As much as I want to see this statue, I suspect we should try to enter from elsewhere. If there is a gorgon, it was able to catch this man, who was apparently being cautious, unawares. Abraham, choose five of your best men, we'll go in from this breach on the other side as soon as you are ready.'”

“Abraham chooses a group of men to accompany you, including himself. He names one of the men staying behind as the leader in case he doesn't return. Within minutes you are walking toward the monastery.

“The building is barely visible rising over the stone walls. The walls are dark and dirty. In many places vines and other creeping plants have grown up the wall's surface. The scout keeps the party well away from the walls, moving through the edge of the forest. It is fairly obvious that the forest use to be further away from the wall, but with no one maintaining the grounds, the forest was slowly moving toward the monastery.

“After an hour or so, the scout points to a wide breach in the wall, claiming it would be hard to get through the breach stealthily, but it would also be hard to ambush from the other side. Six of the men lead the group to the breach, the other four follow behind. Abraham is on your right side.

“As soon as you pass into the breach, you see a collection of statues that seem to be arranged as part of a garden. Care has been give to make the paths here neat and trimmed but the 'garden' is mostly weeds and grasses. The statues are clean of any moss or vines.”

“I tell the men to be on the lookout for a place the gardener might live.”

“Noted. The monastery building is about fifty yards away from the breach. Most of the roof has collapsed on the upper floor. A doorway, with no door, enters into the darkness of the building twenty feet from the corner of the building.

“A deep voice shouts,” Earl said then he affect a gruff sounding voice. “'You can't be here.' You all turn at the sound of the voice. There's an ogre standing not far from a cluster of three statues. He sniffs the air. 'You must flee before the mistress finds you.' Your men create a line between you and the ogre. The ogre is not being aggressive and you notice it has a cane. It also does not seem to be looking right at any of you.”

“'Who is your mistress?' I call out to him.”

“The ogre walks toward your group. His manner of moving confirms he is blind. 'Mistress Gwennolin. She is very private. Sometimes she makes statues and has me put them in the garden.'

“'And what is your name, gardener?'”

“'Oh, I am Skurg. Do you like my garden?'”

“'It is beautifully maintained, Skurg.' I say to him. 'We don't want to disturb your Mistress Gwennolin. But we do want to see the statues she's made and all of the gardens as well. Perhaps she wouldn't mind that?'”

“'I don't know. She told me to keep people out of the monastery. I don't think she would mind if you stayed in the garden.'”

“'That would be great. We don't want to keep you from your work.'”

“'Okay,' he says and then he wanders back to the three statues he was next to when you first saw him.”

“'Let's see if Lady Elswood is among the statues. Then we can decide what we will do afterward.'”

“It takes about twenty minutes. As you walk among the statues, it is obvious some of them have been here for decades. Rain and erosion have made the small features of the statues wear away. But one statue is not as old as the others. You find a nude statue of a woman laying on its back as if about to sit up on a stone plinth. It is the very image of Lady Elswood.”

“Tears form in Mylya's eyes,” Emily said with tears in her own eyes. “Does she know of any way to restore a statue to life?”

“Make a magic history check.”

Emily picks up a die and looks at her character sheet. Her face lighted up as she saw the die result. “22,” she said.

“You are aware that the blood of the gorgon itself can restore a statue it created.”

“'We have to kill the gorgon,' I tell Abraham.”

“'Vengeance will not help poor Lady Elswood and will most likely cause some of us, including yourself to join her in a stony end.'”

“'I seek not vengeance. I seek liberation. The blood of a gorgon can restore a statue created by the gorgon.'”

Earl describes in detail the interior of the monastery. It seems unused and abandoned. After a thorough search they find no sign of anyone living here. Behind a door in what was once a kitchen, they find a stairway down into what was once a root cellar. Behind a false wall, they find a tunnel.

“It's getting late,” Earl said.

“Yeah, I guess this is a good place to stop,” Emily said. “Sorry, Rhana. You get to be a statue again next week.”

“We should finish this up one way or another next week. Which is good because next week is the last Thursday before Thanksgiving.”

“Oh, right. It is. What are you plans for Thanksgiving?” Emily said as she packed up her things.

“We're spending the holiday apart. We each have family obligations.”

“That's too bad.”

“It is what it is. We will have holidays together in the future. We will survive being apart for a long weekend. You going home for the holiday?”

“Yes. I wonder if I should tell my brother about playing this game.”

“Does he play?”

“He does. I always teased him about it.”

“Karma. You'll just have to face the music.”

“I don't know. He might ask me about the game I'm playing. He's 13. I don't think I can describe this game to him.”

“You'll think of something.”