Druid's Bane

by Phillip Henderson

  “It is the truth. Joseph and your father have forbidden me from saying more. But I know Joseph will talk to you later about it.”

  “Well at least that confirms where your loyalties lie,” Danielle said, before geeing her horse forward. If she couldn’t get answers out of him, she’d bloody well get answers out of Joseph. She thought of something, and drew up. “Give me that sword. Your sword belt as well.”

  “Why? And where are you going”

  “Give it to me. You don’t deserve to wear that weapon.”

  “You know I can’t do that. But I’ll do something better. In the last two years you have never seen me ride, at least not at speed. And whenever you have asked me to duel with you, I have always decline, yes?”

  “Your point?”

  “Glomar taught me to ride, just like he taught you. And your first clumsy lessons at arms were with this sword and at the hand of my benefactor in the south garden of the Illandian palace on a day not unlike this one. Is that not true?”

  “If you knew them, you do not need an answer.”

  “Then if I am speaking the truth you’d know it if we duelled or if you saw me rid as Glomar taught me, would you not?”

  “James, you can’t be a Sydney.”

  “Will you let me show you that I am? Please?”

  She was struggling to stay composed. Part of her wanted to believe him so very much. She managed to nod and pointed down the paddock. “See that stream at the bottom of the gully. Ride there, as the crow flies, as fast as you can.”

  “Glomar’s exact words the first day he let you ride alone, and you didn’t make it across the first paddock before falling off, and only because you tried to put your mount to the gallop before you could trot. Your mother was horrified.” James said as he brought his black stallion around in the direction she had pointed.

  “Anyone who was present that day could have told you that story.”

  “Fair enough. Then judge for yourself,” he said undaunted by her refusal to believe him.

  He tore off across the paddock, hooves thundering as they kicked up sods of earth. He could ride, that was clear, but Danielle saw nothing that suggested one of any number of horse masters she knew of might have taught him—perhaps that was not exactly fair. She watched for a moment longer, and then gave chase. She was riding one of Austin’s grey mares. The horse was quick, and under her hand they rapidly made up ground. She watched as James lined up the low stonewall at the other side of the paddock. Like any capable horseman he drew his knees in tight, crouched low in the saddle and guided his mount over the wall. His technique was flawless, but it was his exhilarated shout that screamed Glomar—Glomar on that first day he’d put her in the saddle in front of him and galloped around the palace’s south garden. Her first protector had always been vocal and loud in all he did. She couldn’t deny what she had just heard and bitter-sweet tears threatened to blind her as she followed him over the wall and into the stand of pine trees beyond. I don’t know how, but he speaks the truth. He’s a Sydney.

  Ahead of her, James negotiated the woods with ease, ducking branches and weaving his mount between the trees at a speed that would have confounded most. He was riding now with the reins in one hand, just as Glomar did. His grin was just as large as her old protector’s had been as he glanced back at her following in his wake.

  Danielle followed him out of the woods and down one of the farmlet tracks towards the stream. He slowed to a fast trot and glanced sideways at her as she drew abreast.

  She knew he was waiting her verdict and there was only one verdict she could give. But thoughts of Wyatt and Glomar filled her with a welter of conflicting emotions. She bowed her head lest he see her tears.

  He reached out and took hold of her reins drawing them both to a stop just as the track reached a ford across a stony stream and disappeared into an orchard of apple trees on the other side. His smile had faded.

  “You heard Glomar’s yell. You saw the posture?” he was puffing hard, his eyes earnest and hopeful.

  “I did, and I don’t doubt that Glomar taught you. I’m sorry I called you a liar.” A fragile smile broke through her sadness for his benefit.

  James beamed with relief as he quickly dismounted. “Wyatt passed on his art with the sword. Though Glomar wanted to teach me how to weld an axe. On the first attempt I just about cut off my foot. A heated argument ensued and they finally compromised on the bow.”

  Danielle laughed despite herself as they led their horses to the edge of the stream. It was so like Glomar. How she missed him and Wyatt. Losing them only months after her mother’s murder had left her with a deep-set grief she did not expect to ever out grow.

  James grew earnest again. “You all right?”

  She nodded.

  “Dee, you can not know how long I have wanted to tell you this. To be absolutely open with you. It’s been murder hiding the truth from you. And I am sorry for the way this was done. But you must know that I love you very much. More than very much.”

  “I do.”

  She touched his arm and reached up and placed a kiss on his lips before leaving her horse to drink at the gently flowing stream and wandered over to sit down on a large rock in the shade of an old gnarled oak tree she remembered climbing when she’d come to here to the Fairfax Manor as a child.

  In truth she did not know what to say. She had no doubt he spoke the truth. That he was who he claimed to be. And certainly that he truly loved her. But that old grief that had haunted her since that horrible day the news had arrive at the palace that Glomar and Wyatt had been killed had rushed forward stealing her joy. She couldn’t believe how strong those feelings still were even after more than ten long years.

  “Are you sure you are all right?” James settled down beside her and uncorked a waterskin.

  “Sorry, I’m just a little overcome with memories. Wyatt and Glomar meant a great deal to me.” she sniffled glancing at him, wiping her eye.

  He put his arm around her and drew her closer. “I know.”

  He offered her a drink. “It’s wine.”

  She went to decline and then changed her mind and took a good swig; hoping it might lift her mood. She should have been thrilled. The man she loved and had not seen in two long months was sitting beside her and was now going to be at her side permanently.

  She hand the waterskin back and lent forward and picked a wild flower fromt eh long grass and began to pull off its petals.

  “What’s wrong?”

  After a minute or two she threw the flower away and looked up and studied his face. “I need some answers. I mean more answers. I want to really know you. Every detail. And only the truth this time.”

  “Ask what ever you like.”

  She could see he was eager to tell and that pleased her.

  “Where were you during the year Wyatt was my father’s chief emissary in the treaty negotiations and Glomar was my protector? And why did they never talk about you?”

  “The silence was to protect me.”

  “From what?”

  He handed her the water skin and bid her take another drink before removing his gloves and getting up to massage the knots out of her shoulders. “You know how the Archbishop was trying to sabotage the negotiations.”

  “Of course.” How could she forget? One of the Archbishop’s assassins had murdered her mother; at least that’s what she believed whatever the church’s denials. She closed her eyes and relaxed a little as he worked on her shoulders. His familiar touch was a welcome relief.

  “Given Wyatt’s role and loyalty to your father it was felt I might be a target.”

  “So your existence was kept secret.” She accepted that was a plausible answer. There had been a number of mysterious murders of the kin of nobles who supported the peace negotiations and the formation of the Grand Assembly of Realms in Amthenium.

  “So where were you during that horrible year?”

  “The Aquarius Abbey.”

  That actually made D
anielle smile.

  “What’s so amusing about that?”

  “You’re not exactly priestly.”

  She glanced back at him and his roguish smile was confession enough. She felt the warmth they shared for each other returning and with it her usual desire to intimate. To taste his lips, feel his hand on her skin and have him moving inside her.

  “Truth be told, I loved the place. Lessons in the morning and sailing on the lake, playing in the woods and mountains or exploring the labyrinth of tunnels under the abbey most afternoons with the other boys, it was a great deal of fun and very insulated from the difficulties the realm faced that year.” His tone became solemn and sympathetic as he said the last and Danielle knew it was for her sake.

  “I still can’t picture you in a priest’s habit.”

  “I’m as much a reformist Goddian as you my love,” James said.

  She laughed at the feigned hurt in his voice. “It’s revolutionary doctrines, yes, but not much of a fan of prayer and churches and gods and virtue.”

  “You love me less because of it?” he kissed her ear, then her hair and shoulder blade.

  “I wouldn’t love you at all if it were otherwise.”

  The need to have him after so long apart was becoming a distraction she could not ignore and she got up abruptly and asked for his long coat.

  He grinned, evidently guessing her intent. “Why?”

  “James, don’t tease me. You know why.”

  He took off his coat and held it out of reach as he backed up a few steps, his stupid grin teasing

  “Oh, you think I can’t take it from you?” Danielle let a coy smile brush across her lips and then sprung forward and leapt on him. She swung her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips and kissed him deeply. His teasing vanished and she felt his passion rising to match her own.

  “I need you,” she whispered breaking off for air.

  To her chagrin he broke off abruptly, his chest heaving for breath. There was a look of ambivalence in his expression, which she did not exactly understand, for she could see he wanted her as desperately as she needed him.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We can’t do this. Not here.” He let her down and then lay his coat on the grass in the shade of the nearest tree.

  Guessing that was probably wise, for it wasn’t exactly private Danielle sat and offered him her hand, which he took and sat down beside her. She leaned back in his arms, thinking about what he’d just been telling her. “So, you had lessons every morning. What did you learn?” she asked. She was eager to know more about him and just to have him close.

  “That most of the reformist bishops had a propensity for awkward syntax and an unusual love of five syllable words.”

  Danielle laughed. “You’re not the first to notice.” She sensed what was bothering him and after a short silence said, “It haunts you doesn’t, how things turned out?”

  “I guess I know how lucky I have been.” He was gently rubbing her arms. “In truth, that year took a very angry young boy and taught him the value of human life, all human life, even Lord Summerset’s, the cowardly leech that he is.”

  “A fair description. You blame him for your parents death?”

  “I did, yes. Perhaps still do to some degree. But I wouldn’t be what I am today if it had been otherwise. I wouldn’t be here with you for one. When you are saved from a fate that many do not survive you often feel compelled to make a difference in the world.”

  “I know that burden,” Danielle said. “Do you remember them at all?”

  “Not really. I was barely five when it happened. Just fragments. Too many of which are of that last day when the village was attacked.”

  She took one of his hands in her lap and laced her fingers between his. “We’re going to reform Arkaelyon, James, I promise you that.”

  She knew what had happened in Summerset all those years ago. The summer crusades to recapture Amthenium from the barbarian hordes had been broken and Arkaelyon and Corenbald’s armies had been pursued down the Corundum Gorge and back across Arkaelyon’s northern border. The hordes had ravaged the county side for two weeks while Summerset demanded that every available man be put to the defence of his river town. It was not until a young General Hendrix arrived from Illandia with the royal guard that the horde was driven off.

  “I know.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “You’re Arkaelyon’s hope there is nothing in the world that I am more certain of.”

  “I’m not exactly sure I deserve that title right now, not after the tourney.”

  He kissed her wind tussled hair. “Yes you do.”

  She was grateful for the little squeeze he gave her hand.

  “Either way I do intend to make remedy for the financial loss the commoners suffered because of my disqualification. It’s a small thing, but at least it is a start.”

  “Bastion said as much.”

  Surprised, she sat up to look at him. “You’ve met Bastion?”

  “And your brothers and father. I’ve been in Illandia for the last week or so.”

  She could see that there was something else on his mind that was troubling him.

  When he looked away from her, she touched his face, drawing his attention again. “What?”

  “Why did you enter the ring without all you armour donned?

  The thought that he could have lost her clearly troubled him, but she really didn’t want to go over this ground again. “I know it was foolish and I’m sorry. But can we talk about something else? Please?”

  He was considering her face in that way that always made her smile. She leaned forward and kissed him, and as his hands cupped her cheeks and he kissed her back she got up on all fours and pushed him down on his back.

  The need for mutual possession was flaring like a wild fire in summer, but as she moaned under his mouth and reached for his belt buckle he caught her hands stopping her. Then to her surprise he eased her back and gently dislodging her before climbing to his feet. “We should probably be heading back.”

  Dismayed, she took the hand he offered her and resisted as he went to pull her up. “Can we please stay a bit longer? We haven’t seen each other for two long months. Haven’t you missed me?”

  He smiled at that and half laughed. “You can’t imagine how much I have missed you or how much I want this. But not here.”

  “Your manhood looks like it wants to stay,” Danielle said, grinning at him.

  “Dee, please. This place is hardly private. What if someone wanders by?”

  “Then where? And when?”

  He crouched down in front of her, becoming serious. “Look, there are some things Joseph is waiting to tell you. They’re likely to upset you, and I can’t do this until the two of you have talked. I’m sorry.”

  “What’s it about?” Her interest perked, she let him pull her back to her feet as he stood.

  “Wyatt and Glomar, and a secret that has been kept from you for far too long.”

  ***

  Her horse was blowing hard by the time Danielle dismounted outside the stables on the north side of the Fairfax villa. On the gallop back from the stream she had been lost in her own thoughts, and it was only now that she realised James had fallen behind. She left her horse with a groom and hurried off down the gravel path to a gate in the ivy-covered wall that surrounded the manor house’s lawns and gardens. It was by far the quickest way to the library. What Joseph had to tell her there, she couldn’t imagine. But she feared more duplicity.

  She heard hoof beats on gravel, and James calling to her, bidding her wait. Danielle drew up before the small iron gate. James dismounted and reached her at a run. “Danielle,” he paused, trying to catch his breath, “before you talk to Joseph…there are things you need to know. It is not my place to say, but what Joseph is about to reveal to you…it was not a course of action agreed by all. In fact, Joseph and Glomar have always staunchly opposed the decision that was made. So please don’t blame either of
them. And please don’t tell Joseph I told you this.”

  Danielle nodded, not at all sure what he meant, and after James opened the gate, she went through into the garden, more confused and apprehensive than ever. Joseph and Glomar have always staunchly opposed the decision that was made? He spoke as if Glomar were still alive. An error of the moment, she supposed as they strode along, their boots crunching on the gravel.

  The path ran under a stand of beech trees to the lawn, and as they walked, Danielle could hear the genial chatter of a sizable crowd. Between the thick tree trunks she caught sight of a white canvas pavilion, erected on the lawn in front of the villa. An army of servants carried platters of food from the house, hurrying between clusters of local gentry and their wives and children.

  Danielle frowned, guessing it was a farewell celebration, given in her honour. “Did you know about this?”

  “I must confess, I did.”

  She flashed him a reprimanding look. He knew bloody well she didn’t enjoy these gatherings.

  She saw Owen, the household butler, talking and laughing with Bastion, and made a beeline for them. She wasn’t aware Bastion had returned from Amthenium.

  Justin had been playing with Black in the shade of an oak tree nearby, and on spotting Danielle’s approach, he and the wolf came running over to meet her. She swept the boy up in one arm and petted the wolf’s head, before continuing, James on her left and Black trotting along on her right. She was sorely conscious of her grimy state and wanted to get to the library as soon as possible.

  Bastion laid a hand on her shoulder and kissed her cheek before taking James’ hand firmly. It was obvious that he already held her protector in the highest regard. Black seemed to approve too, for he had sat down quietly on James’s boots and was enjoying a head rub.

  “I hear you’re leaving Fairfax tomorrow,” Bastion said, taking two glasses from a tray and handing them to her and James.

  “Clearly you’re not the only one,” Danielle said, smiling politely at a couple nearby.

  “Sarah overheard you arguing with Faith a week ago, and Jennifer and Amanda and she have been organising this ever since.”