A Dark Champion

by Kinley MacGregor

  "I know not. Her father never spoke anything of her leaving his home until he sent her to live with us."

  Rowena tilted her head to look up at Stryder, who considered that. "What are you thinking?"

  "I don't know. Foolishness most likely." Stryder inclined his head toward Joanne. "Will she be all right?"

  "Aye, she just needs to rest." Rowena closed the burgundy curtains around the bed, then led them from the room.

  By the time they reached the hallway again, everyone was rushing about, murmuring.

  Most of all, they were whispering about where Stryder might have been when Elizabeth fell into the lake.

  "After all," one elder woman said to a friend as they headed toward the stairs, "I heard the girl bragging many a time that she would wed the earl of Blackmoor. Mayhap she annoyed him one time too many."

  "Well, you know his father killed his mother…"

  "And curiosity killed the cat," Rowena said from behind them.

  They turned to see her, Stryder, and her uncle, then hastened off in embarrassment.

  "I never!" Rowena snapped as the older women vanished.

  "Leave them," Stryder said. "Those rumors have been with me all my life. I no longer even hear them."

  "Aye, but you do." Rowena touched his arm comfortingly. "You're just too well armored for your own good."

  Stryder caught her uncle watching their exchange. Clearing his throat, he disengaged himself from Rowena's grasp.

  "Is there something the two of you wish to tell me?" her uncle asked.

  "Nay," they both said in unison.

  Lionel looked back and forth between them suspiciously. "Are you certain?"

  "Completely," Rowena said.

  They rejoined the thronging crowd of onlookers downstairs who were gathered in the great hall as the door opened.

  Stryder grabbed Rowena against him as soon as he saw the blanket-covered body being brought into the room.

  "Stryder, what—"

  "Sh," he said quickly, making sure she couldn't see her friend or the ones who carried her. "There are some memories no one needs to have."

  Her uncle gave him a nod of approval as Stryder guided her toward the rear of the hall and to the exit that led toward the kitchens. Lionel stayed behind to tend the body.

  "It was Elizabeth, wasn't it?" she asked, her voice thick with pain.

  "Aye, love."

  She closed her eyes. "Thank you."

  He kissed her hand gently. "Ever at your service."

  Rowena paused to give Stryder a hug for his thoughtfulness and she savored the warmth of his body. The feel of his strength and comfort.

  "Is this ever going to end?" she asked. "I'm beginning to share Joanne's thoughts. I am more than ready to go home and put this tournament behind me. How can we continue to have festivities after so many have died?"

  "The same way we managed to laugh while we were in prison. You have to, otherwise you will go mad from the grief. Sometimes it helps to shout. Let the angels hear your rage."

  "Is that what you did?"

  He nodded. "Other times I would goad my captors just so that I could get a taste of them before they beat me back."

  "What if I'm not as strong as you are?"

  "I would never take you on in battle, Rowena. Methinks you could easily best me in that regard."

  She smiled at that.

  "Stryder!"

  Neither of them had time to look or respond before someone threw them to ground.

  Stryder struggled against the unknown assailant until he heard the whizzing sound of arrows being fired.

  "Rowena?"

  "I'm here," she said, her voice quaking from fear.

  The weight removed itself to show him Kit, who then pulled the dagger from Stryder's waist and took off running.

  Stryder rolled over to see a shadow dodging along the wall. It was obvious that was what Kit was after.

  "Rowena," he said, urging her back toward the kitchens, "run inside. Now!"

  She didn't hesitate to obey him.

  Stryder ran after his brother. It didn't take long to catch up to him. Side by side, they chased after the shadow until Kit stopped suddenly and tossed the dagger straight for their target. It hit the shadow and caused him to flip head over heels off the wall.

  Stryder watched in stunned appreciation as Kit skillfully scaled the battlement wall, even better than most knights, to reach the place where the man had vanished. It took him a few minutes longer to get to the top where Kit waited. They both looked down to see the body that had fallen over to the other side.

  Kit cursed at the broken, unmoving body that lay far below on the jagged rocks that were piled up against the backside of the castle. Rocks that had been chosen for their lethal edges should anyone try to lay siege to the castle. A scaling ladder pushed off the wall would guarantee serious, if not mortal, injuries to any knight who fell from said ladder and struck those rocks.

  "He's dead," Kit spat. "There'll be no questioning him now. I knew I should have struck before he made it to the battlements. Damn. He was supposed to fall on this side, not that one. I should have realized he would pitch himself over rather than be caught."

  Stryder gaped at Kit. "You and I need to talk. We definitely need to talk."

  Kit met his gaze for only an instant before he looked away. He started off the wall.

  "Wait!" Stryder snapped.

  Kit stiffened. "I'm not your dog, Stryder, to come and go at your command."

  "Nay," he said, placing his hand on Kit's shoulder. "You are my brother. And I want a few answers, starting with how you knew that man was after me."

  Kit raked his hand through his black hair. "I saw him attack Christian and I followed him quietly, trying to take care of him on my own. Unfortunately, he escaped.

  "In the last hour, since you left the training list, all of your men have been attacked. So my next guess was that they would be coming for you. As I made my way here to warn you, I saw him again and chased him. You and Rowena just happened to get in our way."

  Stryder didn't know what part of that shocked him most, his brother giving chase to an assassin or the assassin making so bold a move on all of his men during the light of day. "What do you mean, my men were attacked?"

  "They are all fine. I don't believe the attacks were meant to do anything other than toy with them. They were just caught off guard, and for that I apologize. I didn't think the assassins would attack in the middle of the day, and I had no idea they would be going after anyone else." Kit directed his gaze to the wall where he had killed the assassin. "At least there's one less of them to worry over now."

  Stryder wasn't amused by Kit's tone of voice, or the gleam in his brother's eye. "Has anyone been hurt?"

  "Christian's arm was slashed." A haunted look descended over Kit's face.

  "What are you not telling me?"

  Kit climbed down the wall without answering.

  Stryder jumped down after him.

  His brother didn't pause as he headed back the way they had come.

  "Kit!" he snapped, rushing to catch up. He grabbed Kit by the arm and pulled him to a stop. "What is going on here? And don't tell me again that you don't know. I know you better than that."

  Kit refused to meet his gaze as his face mottled with color. It was obvious whatever it was, it upset Kit greatly.

  "You can tell me anything," Stryder said, gentling his tone. "You know that."

  A tic started in Kit's jaw. "I don't want you hurt and I don't want you dead." Kit finally met his gaze levelly. Sincerity burned deep in the eyes that were an exact match for Stryder's. "Whatever else you might think or hear, you must believe those two things about me."

  Agony seized him as Damien's words returned to goad his anger. "You are Aquarius, aren't you?"

  Tears welled in Kit's eyes before he looked away and Stryder had his answer. His brother's entire body shook and he hung his head shamefully.

  Stryder couldn't breathe as he remembe
red how many times he had spoken to Kit through the walls of their prison. How many times he had promised his brother that he would save him while never knowing that it was Kit he was talking to. Kit whose cries had haunted him all these years.

  In the end, he had left him there to be abused.

  Stryder wanted to die with the knowledge of what had happened.

  He pulled his brother into his arms and held him tight. "Oh God, Kit, I never knew it was you. I swear I didn't knowingly leave you there. Had I had even an inkling that you were still alive, I would have torn down the walls to get you out."

  He felt Kit's tears against his neck. "I know that now, Stryder."

  Stryder pulled back and braced one arm against Kit's thin shoulder. He lowered his head until their gazes were level. "Do you honestly?"

  "If I didn't know it for truth, you'd be dead now." Kit's gaze was eerie and haunting. "By my hand."

  Stryder was uncertain of this new side of Kit. He was used to his brother being humble and shy, not rigid and deadly. "How many men have you killed?"

  Kit withdrew from him and unlaced the dark green leather bracer he wore on his left wrist. He rolled his white sleeve back to show Stryder what appeared to be a list written in Arabic on his arm.

  "There are twelve names here," he said quietly. "All of them are dead save you."

  Stryder touched the names he couldn't read that the Saracens had tattooed on Kit's arm. "When?"

  "I killed them before I met you. Originally, I had intended just to return home and kill no one except you. I went to Michael's hoping he would shelter me from Kalb al 'Akrab, but when he threw me out, I knew I had no choice other than to fulfill my bargain. Without a haven, I dared not do anything other than what they had instructed me to do. There were times when I traveled that I was certain one of them watched me. Indeed, I would find notes of warning along the way, but I never knew who left them or when."

  "But what of Cyril?"

  Once more Kit refused to meet his gaze.

  "Is he on your list?"

  Kit shook his head. "Nay. I killed him because he recognized me as Aquarius."

  That didn't make any sense. Cyril was in the same cell as Stryder. He would no more recognize Aquarius than Stryder had. "How would he know you?"

  Kit flinched as if he'd been struck. Before Stryder could blink, Kit started away from him.

  "Kit?"

  "Leave me alone!" he roared. "I have no desire to remember that night any more than you do."

  A sick feeling came over Stryder as he remembered how many times he and the rest of the Quinfortis had pulled Cyril away from some of the younger boys in their prison.

  "Tell me he didn't—"

  Kit turned on him with a hiss. "Don't you dare say it! And don't look at me." Kit's breathing was ragged as he raged. "I was there for five years after all of you escaped. Five years! Don't you or anyone else judge me for what I had to do to get free. You and your precious Brotherhood never returned for the rest of us. Never. You were too busy freeing others, and don't think for one moment that our captors didn't take great pleasure in informing us of every raid your Brotherhood performed that freed more. But never us.

  We waited and waited and waited, and none of you ever returned for us."

  "Us?"

  "Us," Kit repeated angrily. "I wasn't alone."

  Stryder closed his eyes as pain seized him. "Why didn't you kill me too, then? Why did you spare me when you didn't the others?"

  "I was going to," Kit said, his voice hollow and deep. "That night in Canterbury when you rescued me and paid for me to have the room next to yours. I crept into your room while you slept, fully intending to cut your throat."

  "What stopped you?"

  "You did," he said simply. "Remember? You were in the throes of a nightmare and you came awake calling out to me, or Aquarius, rather."

  Stryder nodded as he recalled that night. It was a nightmare he'd had since the night they became free. It was one where he heard Aquarius calling to him and he was trying to break down a door to get to the youth.

  On the night Kit spoke of, Stryder had awakened to find Kit standing by the foot of his bed. "You said you heard me and that you were concerned."

  Kit nodded. "I was hiding the dagger behind my back so that you couldn't see it. You were so trusting of me as my soul begged me to go ahead and kill you."

  "Yet you refrained."

  "Aye. Because when I asked you what you were dreaming of you told me how much you regretted not saving me and I knew it for the truth. Your pain was too genuine to be feigned. I realized my masters had been playing with my mind, lying to me. I hadn't seen you in years. As Christopher you owed me nothing at all, and yet you reached out to me when no one ever had. God knows there are far too few men like you in this world. I couldn't bring myself to kill you, even if it meant my dying in your place."

  Stryder frowned at his words. "What do you mean?"

  Kit let out a deep, tired breath. "I was given two years to fulfill my bargain, and my time has since passed. I was told to either kill all of you or they would kill me."

  "No one has tried to kill you?"

  "Not until today. It seems my masters have grown tired of dealing with us all and have sent in a new group to dispatch us."

  "How so?"

  "Elizabeth was one of us," he said wearily. "It appears she must have found Kalb al 'Akrab after all and confronted him. I know she didn't finish all the names on her list and she still had time to complete her mission. There was no other reason for her to die and I know she didn't drown. It's just too coincidental. Nay. They killed her. I know it."

  Kit gave Stryder a sheepish stare. "She was the one who framed you for Roger's murder."

  "And Cyril's? Why did you frame me for that one?"

  "That was an unfortunate accident. The witness must have glimpsed me and in the dark thought that I was you. After all, how could Christopher de Montgomerie fell a knight of Cyril's skill?"

  Stryder took a deep breath to quell his conflicting emotions. He was angry at Kit and fate for what had happened, and he felt guilty for leaving his brother behind. Most of all, he felt sick that he had failed so many people so needlessly.

  "Elizabeth thought she was doing me a favor by convicting you," Kit said morbidly before he started away from Stryder. "I shall pack my things and leave your company."

  "What do you mean, leave?"

  Kit paused to look back at him. "What else is there for me? You don't want a whore in your company."

  Stryder's temper broke. "Never say that word to me! What happened to you was never your fault. I was there, remember? I know the truth of what happened to you and I will not allow anyone, especially you, to use that word."

  Something akin to relief flashed in Kit's eyes. There was still a wall between them, but he could feel Kit's resistance to him faltering.

  He was reaching him.

  Stryder patted Kit on the back, then urged him toward the kitchen where Rowena had escaped to. "Come, we needs gather everyone together and find a solution to this."

  Kit stopped midstride. "Will you tell them who I am?"

  "Nay. Your secret is safe with me, little brother."

  Kit nodded gratefully as he followed along.

  They found Rowena in the kitchen with a rolling pin held in her hands as if ready to do battle.

  Stryder smiled at the sight of her there. She was truly lovely, but never more so than whenever she was holding her ground against anyone who threatened her.

  She lowered her weapon. "Is the danger over?"

  "Yea. Kit saved both our lives."

  Kit shook his head in denial. "All I did was warn you."

  Rowena smiled at his brother, then laid a quick, chaste kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Kit."

  Kit looked terribly embarrassed as he put Stryder between them.

  From the kitchens, they made their way to Swan's tent. The same blue and gold as Will's, the inside was similar except it lacked a desk and had
a smaller bed. Stryder's men were already gathered there: Zenobia, Swan, Val, Nassir, and Christian, whose arm was bandaged.

  "Are you all right?" Stryder asked.

  Christian nodded. "It was just a glancing blow. Enough to make me angry, but not enough to do much damage."

  "Kit said all of you were attacked."

  "Aye," Swan said. "Someone threw an ax at my head while I practiced, but no one saw who threw it."

  "I had someone come up behind me and try to stab me," Val said. "I caught his arm and knocked him back. He turned and ran so fast that I didn't even get a good look at him. All I know is he was almost a head shorter than I am."

  "I had a dagger tossed at my head," Nassir said. "Zenobia saw it coming and tripped me in time to save me."

  Zenobia looked at him sweetly. "Ever my pleasure to embarrass you in public." She turned to Stryder. "But I didn't see who threw it at him either. Only the sunlight catching the blade made me realize what it was."

  Like Nassir, he was grateful for her quick reflexes. "Did anything happen to you?" Stryder asked her.

  "My wine was poisoned."

  Stryder felt his jaw go slack.

  "Have no fear," she said, "It was dharindus. I'm not sure what you call it in your language, but it is a fairly common poison in Syria. I knew the instant I smelled the wine that it was tainted."

  "Why are they attacking us now?" Swan asked, rising to his feet. "And why all of us?" He looked around. "Which one of you angered our enemies?"

  "I think I did when I didn't die," Stryder said.

  Nassir stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Who is controlling them?"

  Stryder forced himself not to look at Kit lest he give his brother away. "I believe it's someone called Kalb al 'Akrab."

  "Heart of the Scorpion?" Val asked gruffly. "What has that to do with all this?"

  "The Watcher of the West," Zenobia breathed as a light came into her eyes. "My people believe the star Kalb al 'Akrab is responsible for causing discord and conspiracy. Many of my people take an oath by it to exact revenge on our enemies. It would be the perfect name to give to a spy sent here to eliminate all of you." She looked at Stryder. "Where did you hear that term?"

  Stryder didn't answer.

  "I gave it to him," Kit said, surprising them all.

  Stryder heard Rowena gasp, but she said nothing as Kit continued.