Nemorosis

The Bell Tolls for Me 98: Hell on Earth

Edgar had prepared for this journey over the seas in ways that no other man could. He had taken to the sea before, but never like this. On a long voyage of unknown destination… he had to go personally. If he sent people to fight in his stead and they failed, it would alert Isabella of the fact that Edgar had discovered Isabella’s secret. Then, the element of surprise would be lost forevermore. In facing an opponent that possessed an ability like he, he couldn’t afford to fight conventio...

The Bell Tolls for Me 97: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

There were many elements needed in order to make King Edgar, the supposedly fearless leader of the Kingdom of Dovhain, risk his life. The first was to have something worth risking it for. Isabella thought that the rumor that Bernadetta had managed to spread sufficed for that. The notion that Isabella was not entirely cured, but dependent on some outside force that required sailing overseas to reach, seemed credible.

But Edgar was naturally suspicious. Isabella and Bernadetta agreed that...

The Bell Tolls for Me 96: Devil of the Details

Isabella sat alongside Bernadetta in a secluded tavern that had a good view of the city streets. Bernadetta had quite a focused gaze, but Isabella felt her mind wandering. Valerio watched the two of them from a distance.

“How can you be so certain that Alistair will appear here?” Isabella asked.

Bernadetta didn’t answer immediately. She kept watching the streets like she was trying to solve some puzzle. She didn’t look away from the streets as she said, “Do you know how ...

The Bell Tolls for Me 95: Devil's in the Details

There weren’t a great many ports in the north. The river that passed by Balat Palace wasn’t navigable, and was frozen part of the year. To reach a point from which they might embark, they needed to head elsewhere. Isabella sat in a humble, unassuming carriage alongside Valerio and one other.

Bernadetta.

Yesterday, she had given her cousin leave to travel briefly to discover some information. Isabella wasn’t foolish enough to let her go without an escort. Thus far, she hadn�...

The Bell Tolls for Me 94: Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered

Yesterday had been quite eventful, but the days to come promised to be even more so. She had sold her soul in three ways. Four, if one was inclined to include the elves. Isabella thought it was a little bit ungrateful after all that they had done to lump them in with the devils. Perhaps her father could be deemed the fourth devil vying for her soul. He fit the bill.

She had thought Valerio would be furious at her decision, but instead she found him leaning out on the balcony, looking at...

Time change

Chapters will be at midnight PST from now on. I like writing before bed.

The Bell Tolls for Me 93: Very Well

Isabella and Arthur advanced through the icy forest in relative silence. They needed to stay quiet to listen to the chiming noises that guided their path. It gave her time to think.

When Isabella heard that Arthur had eight years to live, she thought that a great burden had been lifted off her heart. She wouldn’t be responsible for the death of one of her only allies in her hellish last life. All of that sunk away again when she learned that Arthur intended to sacrifice himself to put...

The Bell Tolls for Me 92: Zero-Sum Game

Thanks for waiting.
I edited the prior chapter a little bit. Rather than a happy accident, killing the familiar to knock Edgar unconscious was a deliberate scheme.
Also, check out my other story on RR if you want. If you came from Jackal Among Snakes, I'd consider that story its spiritual successor.
***
Arthur walked out into the snowy courtyard of the Balat family’s palace. He exhal...

The Bell Tolls for Me 91: Living Hell

King Edgar crossed his legs as he sat upon his throne in the heart of night. He tapped one finger lazily upon the armrest as beams of moonlight illuminated his face. Fatigue lined his burgundy eyes, yet there was an alertness to the man that couldn’t be diminished.

“I have the sinking suspicion that I’m being corralled by forces beyond my control,” Edgar said. “I’ve been around long enough to know what that’s like.”

“Your Majesty?” asked the Archwizard uncertai...

The Bell Tolls for Me 90: Taming a Snake

Isabella sat quietly with her cousin, Bernadetta, as various others filtered into the room in which she was being kept captive. All of them looked at Bernadetta with hostile expressions of various degrees. Valerio looked like he wanted to put an end to her right away while Arthur looked at her with contempt and grudging respect. Felix and his twin daughters all regarded Bernadetta with considerable caution.

“Prince Sylvain isn’t joining you?” Bernadetta asked.

“What’s it...

The Bell Tolls for Me 89: Lifegiving Devils

Sorry for the delay on this chapter. Had to drive a long way, couldn't exactly write and drive.
***
“Allison…” Abigail said, taking her sister’s hand. “We need to get father.”

Allison, who seemed greatly shaken, nodded quietly and then ran away with her twin. Isabella watched the shield with stars for eyes and a crescent moon for a smile. It was almost easier to look upon this face than the gently smiling one she’d been confronted with in that palace of ice. That vis...

The Bell Tolls for Me 88: Mother Below

“The reasons why I sought you out…” Isabella trailed off, biting her lip. “There’s a multitude, but the most prominent is learning about the Eagaliteh. We have reason to believe that those two are greatly interfering in our kingdom.”

Teacher looked back at her without betraying any thought. “That is their business.” As Isabella stared at her blankly, Teacher continued, “To become an Eagaliteth is not as joining an institution. It is a state of being that can be achieve...

The Bell Tolls for Me 87: Depends on You

The moment that the security breech was discovered, everyone gathered around to see what had been left behind. Isabella stood in a room with Abigail, Allison, Valerio, Gaspar, and Arthur.

“This scroll has a disassociation spell on it,” Arthur said with conviction as he looked upon the scroll that had been left behind by that white wolf.

“Teleportation, you mean?” Valerio asked, pacing around the room with his arms crossed. “How could you let something like this happen? I...

The Bell Tolls for Me 86: Cycle of Vengeance

“…and for that reason, I was wondering if there was some way that you might be able to help Arthur,” Isabella finished, looking between Abigail and Allison. “I know they might be asking a lot, but—”

“You’re not asking a lot at all,” Allison interrupted, shaking her head. “Trying to save someone’s life is noble.” She took Abigail’s hand. “We’d be happy to help, right?”

Abigail nodded. “I used to think that me and my sister had the most unordinary l...

The Bell Tolls for Me 85: Honeybee

Isabella nodded into the holy paladin standing guard over Bernadetta’s cell as she entered into the room. She had elected to take Alice’s advice to seek out Bernadetta immediately when she learned that Abigail and Allison were preoccupied with another matter. They had agreed instead to meet for lunch to discuss the issue of Arthur and his ending fate.

Bernadetta looked toward Isabella immediately upon entering. The wound on her neck was wrapped with a section of her dress that had b...

The Bell Tolls for Me 84: Reversal of Fortunes

“She surrendered herself into our custody.” Gaspar crossed his arms as he stared into Bernadetta’s cell. “She hasn’t said anything yet. She seems to want to speak to Valerio.”

“Valerio?” Isabella repeated. When she thought on it a little bit more, it made sense. “She must think that the wasting illness still has its hold on me. If that’s the case, then…” she trailed off, putting the pieces together.

“I can talk to her, if you’d like,” Valerio said. �...

The Bell Tolls for Me 83: How Things Change

Isabella rode on a provided horse. Valerio actually didn’t know how to ride a horse, and so Isabella held the reins while he sat behind her—an uncommon reversal in things. The revelation at that fact had come as a total surprise to her. He seemed to know so much, and so she’d been surprised by his lack of knowledge. It didn’t make her think less of him, of course. Riding on either side of her was Allison and Abigail. Allison in particular was staring at Isabella.

“Did you have...

The Bell Tolls for Me 82: You'll Be Missed

I decided to stop being a dirty COWARD and go back to my original plan, as of 9/6. Arthur isn't losing his memories-- he's dying because of travelling back through time with Isabella without the proper constitution. I'll edit that scene where they discuss that sometime tomorrow. I also just want to change the tone of that scene generally.
***
“Just judging by reports that I’ve received from some of my people, Edgar is definitely sparing no expense to track you down.” Valerio leane...

The Bell Tolls for Me 81: Time of Troubles

Alice sat uneasily. The days prior had been filled with drawn-out travels during the day and cold nights, but the warm interior of this house did little to settle her nerves. Across from her sat the person that Princess Isabella had greatly warned about at every turn: Bernadetta. She feared she was to be tortured or worse, but instead her employer’s enemy merely sat there with her. She leaned her head against her hand and watched with an indiscernible expression.

“Is tea not to your...

The Bell Tolls for Me 80: Window to the Soul

Isabella and Valerio walked arm-in-arm to the colosseum. This was a building that she didn’t want to enter, much less flanked by a very large crowd that refused to allow her out of their sight.

“Are you certain you want to do this?” Valerio asked her.

Isabella looked over to him. “I get the sense that you don’t wish for me to do this.”

Valerio couldn’t hold her gaze, and inhaled deeply to sigh. “The idea that anyone could distrust you…” His jaw clenched, ...

The Bell Tolls for Me 79: Pollutant

Isabella opened her eyes with a sense of wellbeing that had eluded her for quite a long while. When she tried to lift her head to look at herself, her muscles obeyed her. When she sat up, she was capable of doing so without assistance. She was wearing the same plain beige dress that she had begun the ceremony with. She was in a humble room with one bed, and Arthur sat by the door.

“You’re up,” Arthur said, and Isabella’s head turned to look at him.

“I don’t feel weighe...

The Bell Tolls for Me 78: Surrender

The Fëantaina en’Thalvassë—the surrendering of the soul—was a ritual near as important as persuading the Lómethar. For most people, this would be the final boundary before being granted the role of Thalvassë. But Isabella had the benefit of a certain individual standing by her side. She stood on a raised platform in the center of the city square. The turnout was astounding, in her mind—she had addressed fewer people when executing Cesare. They listened raptly, silently. For this r...

The Bell Tolls for Me 77: Will of the People

By all rights, Isabella should have been acting with the utmost urgency. She couldn’t deny that she was concerned, but she had been planning to spend up to a month in this place. If the regime really was as fragile as she saw, that plan could be greatly accelerated. That changed the landscape of things. So for now, she simply walked among the people that Valerio had done his utmost to help over the years.

The atmosphere was universal: unbridled optimism.

There were children of a...

The Bell Tolls for Me 76: In the Cradle

“I can’t believe that you would ask her to do something like this,” Arthur complained, crossing his arms as he paced around the small room that had been allotted to them.

Valerio said nothing in response, probably because he was thinking the same thing that Arthur was saying. He stood there silently and received the rebuke.

“Just leave it be.” Isabella’s voice was weak. She did wonder about how persuasive she could be when she looked as though she might fall over at an...

Back to old schedule

Going back to 6PM PST chapters, weekends. AKA, chapter 18 hours from now.

The Bell Tolls for Me 75: Exile

The journey was much less arduous than Isabella had been predicting. She didn’t know much of sailing, but a few of the sailors educated her on why what Valerio was doing was so spectacular. Shifting sea ice, unpredictable storms, and rapidly changing weather could block or damage vessels with little warning. Even in summer, there was extreme cold and limited daylight in the frigid north—both a sailor’s nightmare. Yet Valerio persevered, and not once did their ship suffer unduly.

I...

The Bell Tolls for Me 74: Around the World

“Your Majesty, forgive me for disturbing you, but—"

Edgar reached his hand out and placed it over the Archwizard’s mouth in rage. Days upon days of hearing that same greeting had gotten under his skin. This sort of frustrating scenario was the last one that he wanted to endure upon being freed of his illness. It reminded him of some of the most desperate moments of his last life. The one in particular that came to mind was the Spring Rebellions. He’d been outnumbered almost twen...

The Bell Tolls for Me 73: The Horror

One day of total absence was already quite a stretch for the central figure in the interregnum council. Even ill, a ruler had duties. That no one was permitted to see her was accepted on the first day, but by the second became a subject of rumors. This was still the Royal Palace, even if exported out into the outback.

By the close of the second night since Isabella’s departure, people began to piece together some oddities. The archduke and his daughter were absent, along with their ch...

The Bell Tolls for Me 72: Silent Battle

Edgar the Great awoke.

His awakening had always been the most pivotal time for his life. He always chose when and where he slept very carefully, when he could. His power—the ability to travel back through time—was anchored by his passage to and from the world of dreams. When he traveled backward through time, the last time that he’d woken up was the period that he would emerge. This had tremendous merit to it.

These past months, however, had been utterly restricting to him. ...

The Bell Tolls for Me 71: War

The natural inclination when executing a scheme was to move as fast as possible. A problem should be addressed rapidly, without delay—that’s the common mentality. Because of this instinct, patience was a much more difficult feat then rapid action. Being able to sit still and strike at the right time was a discipline that very few had mastered. Isabella thought to count herself among that number, but even she found it immensely difficult in the weeks that followed.

The royal progress...