To the Victor

by Samantha M. Derr

  A slow grin spread over the caretaker's face. Suddenly, she leapt into the air with a sprightliness that wasn't at all human—and transformed into a thin, lithe dragon.

  Finally, an enemy Kyrrin could fight. He drew his sword and jumped in front of Arriyah as natural instinct kicked in. He might not understand this sorceress's magic, but fighting a flesh and blood enemy was his forte.

  The dragon roared, and Kyrrin blinked furiously, unable to believe his eyes. A small flock of winged lizards, like miniature dragons, hovered in midair around the caretaker. Where had they come from?

  But there wasn't time to think about it. The dragon bellowed a torrent of fire, and the tinier dragons dive bombed Kyrrin.

  Kyrrin gripped the sword tightly and sliced at the first monster. His sword slashed through it with less resistance than water, though, and Kyrrin stumbled—giving the second and third monsters time to swarm around his face, blinding him. Before he could fully regain his bearings, the dragon slashed him with its claws.

  He bellowed in pain, and Arriyah screamed.

  "Kyrrin! They aren't real!"

  He dove out of the dragon's path, and glanced over to where Arriyah stood, wearing her spectacles again.

  "The little ones! They're just an illusion. The dragon is the only real one."

  Kyrrin somersaulted away, fluidly rising to his feet and took on the dragon.

  It was hard, in more ways than one. There weren't a lot of dragons still in existence, and those that remained were rumored to live in the kingdoms to the far north. He had learned about fighting dragons while training to become a knight, but until this moment, that had all been theoretical.

  The second difficulty was the nasty little beasts circling his head like gnats. While they weren't real, they were incredibly annoying and equally distracting. It was hard not to swipe at them as they flocked around him, batting at him with their tails or breathing harmless imaginary fire at him.

  Still, he was gaining on the dragon. He got in a few solid hits, and when he punctured the vein in her left wing, he saw the flowers flicker into existence for a heartbeat.

  Encouraged, he roared and charged the dragon with a new ferocity, ignoring his various wounds from her claws and the singes from her flames. He faintly noticed the tiny dragons disappear from around him as the dragon weakened further. A few swipes with his sword and some fancy footwork later, Kyrrin had her trapped against the walls of the valley. Her wing was too injured for her to fly away, and he saw in her eyes that she knew she was defeated. "Surrender," he demanded, not ready to lower his sword without her word. "Surrender, and we will end this peacefully."

  He saw the decision in her eyes a fraction of a second after she made it, saw her reptilian eyes flick towards Arriyah just before she made her final desperate lunge.

  "No!" He ran forward, Arriyah's fearful scream echoing in his ears, and rushed straight into the dragon's outstretched claws, stabbing her through the heart even as she tore into his body.

  The creature screamed, desperately trying to take to the sky, but her ruined wings only carried her a few feet before they—and her heart—gave out.

  The dragon crashed to the ground, cushioned in the suddenly visible flowers. The entire valley was full of large purple flowers gently fluttering in the breeze.

  Kyrrin dropped his sword and sank to his knees, feeling lightheaded and a little dizzy with relief as he picked one large perfect flower. "Finally," he whispered. Why was his voice so soft? "Finally, we can go home."

  He realized what was happening just before everything went dark and he collapsed.

  *~*~*

  "Kyrrin!" Arriyah dropped down beside him, one hand going to the side of his face. This was becoming a far more frequent occurrence than she was comfortable with. Kyrrin put himself in far too much danger. She chose to ignore the danger she had put herself in to get them here.

  He had a pulse, and he was breathing. But his face was cold and pale, and he was bleeding. Badly.

  "Kyrrin? Kyrrin, sweetling, stay with me." Could he even hear her? "Kyrrin…" She gasped at the sound of hoofbeats and spun around as a group of knights astride giant horses galloped into the clearing and surrounded them.

  One dismounted and pulled his helmet off. "The king sent us for Kyrrin, almost as soon as he had left. They say the queen will be dead by sundown tomorrow." The other knights bowed their heads.

  "We have a magic flower!" She pulled the flower from Kyrrin's hands and held it out to him. "To save the queen. Kyrrin fought a dragon and he's unconscious. We have to hurry!" She looked to the sky, trying to gauge the time they had left. "We'll never make it through the forest."

  The knight lifted a pendant from beneath his shirt; she could feel the strong power stored inside. "My family has practiced magic for generations—the same magic that made those trees dark and twisted. We made it through the forest to get to you. We'll make it through again. We must."

  One of the knights helped her bind Kyrrin's wounds tightly and tie him onto their spare horse. Arriyah, with the flower in tow, mounted behind him so that she could watch over him, and together, they rode back to the palace as fast as their horses could carry them.

  *~*~*

  Arriyah meandered down the halls of the palace. Upon her arrival, everything had happened at once. The flower was whisked away to be brewed into a tea for the queen, who was miraculously recovering. Kyrrin was rushed to the healers, who infrequently contacted Arriyah with updates as to his slowly improving condition.

  Arriyah had been put up at the palace to thank her for her part in saving the queen and Kyrrin. She forced herself to stop thinking of Kyrrin as the queen's son, since no one else knew who he was. It wouldn't do for her to slip up and reveal Kyrrin before he and the royal family were ready to make an official announcement.

  That was another mind boggling thing. Kyrrin was not only a glorious knight, but he was a member of the royal family. She had fallen in love with royalty.

  Goodness, she was hopeless. An Outlander in love with a prince, even an unnamed one?

  She gave a snort of derisive laughter.

  She trailed her fingers along the cool stones of the wall, pulling them away so that she didn't soil any of the tapestries or paintings with her fingerprints. There were dozens of them, going back generations, intricately detailed portraits and scenic views depicting coronations, treaty signings, epic battle sequences. There were knights, princesses, lovers.

  And finally, the current queen. Arriyah stood a few feet away so that she could take in the full view of the large piece all at once. She was regal, that was for sure. She had a classic beauty, a feminine strength, a deep wisdom. She looked like a mother, through and through. Protective, caring, intelligent. Everything a mother should be.

  No wonder her people loved her. Just by looking at her, they could see everything that she was, everything she had to offer them. And all of it was good. They, Arriyah included, were lucky to have her as their queen.

  She narrowed her eyes, searching the painting. There was something more, something Arriyah couldn't put her finger on. Something familiar, something that told Arriyah she had seen the queen before.

  But that wasn't possible. Arriyah had never been to the palace, and the queen never toured the Outlands. Still, it was like a half-forgotten memory, or a dream of a dream. The harder she fought to place it, the farther it slipped. Like holding sand in her fist.

  "Arriyah?"

  She spun, surprised, at the sound of Kyrrin's voice. He stood a few feet away, watching her with those deep intense eyes and the ghost of a smile around his lips.

  "Kyrrin!" She rushed to hug him, maybe a little harder than she should have considering he'd been half-dead when they'd returned to the palace three days earlier. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, making her melt into his chest. She breathed in the earthy masculine scent that was his alone and let her eyes drift shut.

  "How are you feeling?" she murmured.

  He laughe
d lightly, pulling back from her. "Much better. Almost back to my old self. You?"

  "I wasn't attacked by a dragon and her magical horde."

  He grinned at her. She liked that he liked her wry humor. "All part of my job."

  There was silence for a moment, then Kyrrin said, "The queen wants to meet you. To thank you in person for saving her."

  Arriyah's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You're the hero. I was just tagging along for the adventure."

  "I couldn't have done it without you." Kyrrin's voice was entirely serious. So was the look he pinned her with. "I've been telling her all about you, and our adventure. Come with me to meet my mother."

  That did it. As if she was could refuse him anything, especially when it had to do with the most important person in his life, the person he had nearly died to save.

  She smiled at him. "Of course."

  He took her hand just long enough to kiss the back of his hand, little more than a brushing of his lips against her skin, but it sent her heart racing all the way to the queen's chamber.

  She didn't know what she expected to happen upon meeting the queen and king—honestly, her thoughts had been entirely occupied by Kyrrin—but it wasn't for the queen to drop her goblet and whisper, "Arriyah? "

  Arriyah glanced at Kyrrin, but he could only shrug helplessly. He looked just as confused as she felt. It made sense that Kyrrin had told the queen hersname, but why was the queen so shocked to see her? Arriyah looked to the king for help, as he was the only other person in the room, but he too seemed frozen.

  The queen stared at her as if she was seeing a ghost. "My daughter? Is that really you? After all these years, you've finally come home."

  Arriyah went cold all over. She could have sworn that her heart stopped, and it was Kyrrin's turn to stare at her with those deep blue eyes.

  The king and queen had brown eyes, like Arriyah's. And Kyrrin was the only blond in the room.

  This wasn't possible. The silence was deafening, but her brain wasn't functioning. She couldn't be…

  The queen held out a hand to her, which Arriyah just stared at until the queen finally dropped it back into her lap.

  "Your Highness…" Kyrrin began, but he trailed off.

  The queen looked at him sadly. "You have always been my son," she told him, "but I never gave birth to you."

  Kyrrin's hand fluttered beside hers, reaching out to her, and Arriyah gratefully held it tightly as the queen carefully got to her feet and approached them.

  "I'm sorry I never told you," she murmured, gently trailing her fingers down Kyrrin's cheek. "When you chose the dangerous life a knight rather than enter the politics of being a royal, I thought I finally understood why Ghree had told me to do what I did."

  "Ghree?" Kyrrin asked. "What's he got to do with anything?"

  "Everything," the queen replied wearily. "So many years ago, shortly after I had my baby, the healers told me I would never birth another child. Ghree came to me that same night. He said he couldn't tell me why, or it would jeopardize my future, but my life and the lives of my children depended on me trading my baby for another."

  "Children?" Kyrrin replied. "You just said that you only had one baby."

  "You were always my child, even if you were not of my womb." She glanced at Arriyah and sighed. "I brought my baby to the Outlands. We met a village shaman, and I told him I wanted to adopt a baby—an orphan, whose parents had both been taken by illness that winter. But during the night, I left my baby in the shaman's tent." She reached out to Arriyah, gently resting her palm against Arriyah's cheek. "Arriyah, you are my daughter, the daughter I left behind all those years ago. I swear to you, I never would have done it if Ghree hadn't prophesized that your life—both of your lives—would be lost if I didn't. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I knew that the only way to protect you was to let you go. Ghree has never been wrong, and I couldn't risk losing you for good. All these years, I've dreamed of the day when I might see you again."

  Arriyah reached up and covered the queen's hand with her own. Finally, after all these years, she had found a mother. Her mother. She met the king's eyes when he came to stand beside the queen. Not just the king, but her father. Standing beside her mother. Her family.

  Kyrrin drew her attention when he released Arriyah's hand and dropped to one knee before her. Her eyes widened.

  "My lady," Kyrrin said formally. "Princess Arriyah. I vow to serve you as I have served my mother before you. I will protect you with my life, until the end of my days."

  A mother, a country, a royal title. In a matter of moments, her entire world had been flipped inside out. She realized that, ironically, she had gotten what she'd always wanted: a life that was more than the life she had left in the Outlands. She felt completely unsure of who she was, what was expected of her, and where her life would lead next, but there was one thing she was certain of.

  Kyrrin.

  "I don't want your service," she announced.

  Kyrrin's mouth actually opened in shock. Maybe that declaration had been a little harsher than she had intended. Being careful with her words hadn't always been her strength.

  "From what I've seen here at the palace, there are plenty of people to serve the royal family—my family, now. Kyrrin, you brought me home! You found my family!" Her heart was overflowing, and the tears in her eyes threatened to do the same. "You have given me more than I ever dared dream was in the cards for me, but there is still one thing I need to be complete."

  "Anything, my lady," Kyrrin swore, his knight's honor and fierceness clear in his voice.

  She smiled and simply said, "You. I want your love, just the way you are. Love me, forever."

  He took her hand in his, kissing her palm as he got to his feet. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Forever is a long time."

  "I'm sure. Kyrrin, I've never met anyone more noble, more honorable, or more courageous. I've never had someone willing to die for me, someone who would risk his life to keep me safe. I've never known anyone like you, and I've never loved anyone the way I love you. And I know I never will. I know that you're the only one for me. I think I knew it from the moment I convinced you to take me with you to fulfill my life debt." She bit her lip, then confessed: "My people don't really believe in life debts."

  His eyes lit up and he grinned brilliantly. "I knew that was an ancient, backwards practice!"

  She laughed. "I couldn't bear the thought of not being with you, even though I barely knew you. I knew that you were going to take me to where I was meant to be. At the time, I thought that was a place, somewhere more exciting that my village." She squeezed his hand. "I see now that I was meant to be with you."

  "Are you sure?" he asked again. "Completely, one hundred percent sure?" He reached out to touch her hair, her cheek. She sighed happily. "Because I am. I love you, Arriyah. I feel like I've known you forever, not just a matter of days. From the moment we met, you have never ceased to amaze me. You're a fierce warrior one moment and a gentle healer the next. You make me laugh. You make me feel so many things I don't even know how to describe. All I can say is that I feel complete when I'm with you, and I don't care if it's luck or good fortune that brought us together. I just know I never want to let you go."

  That did it. The tears she had fought to hold back slipped free, and her joy slid down her cheek. "I'm sure," she whispered. Her voice caught, but it didn't matter. The time for talking was past. She wrapped her arms around Kyrrin's neck as he bent to kiss her, his strong hands settling around her waist and pulling her against his chest. She could feel his steady heart beating in time with hers.

  The queen applauded them, and Arriyah broke the kiss, laughing. She looked up into Kyrrin's completely unguarded eyes as he laughed with her, and she knew that, finally, she was where she was meant to be.

  Perilous Knights

  CHARLES PAYSEUR

  Energy crackled at the base of Lamorak's skull, hot nearly to burning. He gritted his teeth and flexed, the suit coming to life aro
und him, standing from its crouch. Images came in fits—a field; a figure twenty-feet tall, painted black and red, with green glowing eyes; a mechanical hand; a woman's face, scarred and stern and frowning; a field, suddenly getting closer. He braced as the suit crashed to its knees, then its chest, the pain in his neck finally too much to bear as he cried out and hit the kill. Darkness.

  "Lam?" a voice asked through one of the crystals surrounding his head. Close. Worried.

  Lamorak wished the voice didn't remind him of all the things he was running from. All the ways he was a failure, and unless by some miracle he could change his fortune, he'd be forced to swallow his pride and return home in defeat.

  "Lam, are you okay?" the voice asked.

  "Fine, Percy," he said, despite wanting nothing more than to fill the tight confines of the suit with a litany of his best curses. "Can you get me out of here?"

  "Hah," Ruwena, his senior squire, barked. Hers was the face he had seen, and it sounded like she was wearing the same disapproving expression. "You collapsed on the hatch, so you're stuck until we can get the mules over to flip you. Serves you right for trying to walk before you can crawl."

  "I don't have time for this, Ru," he said. "The tourney is tomorrow, and if I can't earn enough, I'll either have to sell the suit or my body to cover what I owe to Sir Breuse."

  "I'm not the one who decided to take money from that crook of a knight," Ruwena said. "And I'm certainly not the one who decided to run away from home because of some silly fight with my father."

  "It wasn't like that, Ruwena," Percy said, his voice breaking as he spoke. "If Father had his way..."

  "Enough, Percy," Lamorak said, harsher than he'd intended. But he didn't need to be defended by his little brother, and he really didn't want to be reminded of why he had left the comforts of his father's castle for the perils of the road.

  "Whatever the case, you shouldn't have pushed the interface," Ruwena said, brushing away the familial drama about which she had never once asked. She was old for a squire, but she knew more about suits than anyone Lamorak had met, including his father's chief squire, who had been through four campaigns in Hessia and a stint in the Royal Stable.