"The red dragon was definitely impressive," Adalbert admitted. "How did you conjure it?"
"Are you planning on studying magic, my lord?" Benjamin asked with an impish smile.
"No, why?"
"Then you better leave us wizards' secrets alone, don't you think?"
Adalbert sighed. "You cleaned the castle of the negative energy. You must be very powerful."
"Beltrand stole his power and brought something here that shouldn't have been taken away. He paid with his life."
"You mean there was actually something evil here that influenced us?" Romelia asked, puzzled.
"Let's say it fed on your worst emotions, magnifying them. But don't worry, I destroyed it."
"Thank you, Benjamin," Adalbert repeated. "We'll miss you."
"I'll come back one day." Benjamin grinned. "Have you seen Malcom?"
"He's supposed to look after my orchard, but you'll probably find him by Florence's side," Adalbert answered, rolling his eyes. "They never seem too far from each other."
Benjamin chuckled. "I won't disturb them, then. Say good-bye to them from me..."
***
Florence and Malcom walked side by side on the narrow country road. The castle and the village were behind them, with the forest looming farther back. Florence wore women's clothes again, and Malcom was cleaner and better dressed.
"You know, I prefer you in women's clothes," he said.
"And I prefer you living in a castle than in an outlaw camp," she replied with a smile.
"Hopefully this lady is too taken by her lord to look at me!"
"You know I really hated you in the beginning?"
"I hated you too, you weren't what I expected you to be."
"What about now?"
"I believe I can't live without you."
"I thought you wanted to marry Conall's sister," she teased.
"Come on, Florence, you know I thought you were his sister!"
"Isabel is a little young, it's true, but her dowry will certainly be much more than mine..."
"Florence, stop! I don't want a dowry, I want a woman! I want you."
She stopped, smiling at him. "Really?"
He took her face in his hands. "Definitely."
They kissed passionately.
***
"I'm pregnant, Philip," Leanna said. "Not that I'm hoping you marry me, but if it's a boy..."
"I already have a bastard, Leanna," Philip snapped. "I will remarry soon. I don't need your services anymore."
Leanna left, peeved. The lord had had his pleasure and now he was throwing her away. Leanna caressed her still flat belly. Hopefully the baby growing inside her wasn't of her haughty lord, but of the gorgeous young man who had given her a night of great pleasure...
Wolfshead
"I'm telling you, Winfred, just go!" The lord of Wolf Castle pushed his elder son towards the secret passage where three youngsters had already vanished. "Now is not a good time to be a hero!"
Winfred opened his mouth to protest, but his father blocked him with a sharp gesture.
"Take your brother and cousins to safety, now!"
Winfred was twenty and had been fighting bravely next to his father since morning to hold their keep – but now the lord had taken him away from the walls of the castle.
"Don't get yourself killed," Winfred replied through clenched teeth, sheathing his sword.
"If I fall with the castle, you will avenge me. Go now."
"Yes, Father."
Winfred grabbed the torch next to the door and dived into the narrow passage that would take him and his charges safely out of the castle under siege. His grandfather had foreseen this day – when Yann Zoran would march on Wolf Castle to conquer it.
"Never trust our neighbor, he's powerful and ambitious and already usurped another castle, your cousins', who are now living with you. Thus beware of his flattery, now he says he wants peace, but he's rarely honest. Yann is an ambitious bastard who turned against his lord like it happened in the Woodlands when I was a young man." Those words were often spoken by the old lord of Wolf Castle who liked to tell the tale of magic and wonder of when a sorcerer had summoned a dragon over the towers of Hawk Castle.
Winfred's father had always shrugged off his father's tales, but when Yann had killed his brother-in-law, forcing his nephew and niece to ask him for protection, he'd started to wonder if there was some truth to them. There were no magic users involved in the taking of Sword Castle, but still...
That morning he'd cursed the late old man when his predictions had come true. And then he'd decided to withdraw his heir from the battle and send him to safety.
Winfred joined the others. His cousin Kennoch, who held another torch, led the way towards the exit. Kennoch had been kicked out of his own castle at seven, when Yann had become captain of the guard of Sword Castle after his sister married Kennoch's widowed father. He'd been living at Wolf Castle with his uncle and cousins ever since – ten years as a dispossessed castle owner, trained with his cousin but not as proficient at fighting yet.
Winfred, his younger brother Ewald, Kennoch and his sister Isobel found refuge in the forest between Wolf Castle and the manor that should have been Kennoch's inheritance.
They knew about a cave, molded by mysterious beings who now hid from Human eyes, that could be closed with a simple mechanism and become completely invisible from the outside. It was a livable cave – not damp, not deep and big enough for all of them to settle and hide.
"Win, will we have to stay here for long?" Ewald asked, worried. He was fourteen, like his cousin Isobel, and had waited in the keep with her while Winfred fought on the battlements with his father. Kennoch had stayed with the youngest, his sword drawn, ready to protect them.
"The necessary time, Ewald," his brother answered with a frown. "Until the usurper forgets us and lowers his guard. And then we can attack him and get our lands back. All of them." He exchanged a glance with Kennoch who nodded in acknowledgment.
***
"Damn!" Yann Zoran scratched his beardless chin, frowning. "That Wolfshead again! That wicked outlaw is becoming more bothersome than an insect! Who is he?"
His soldiers had told him it was a blond young man who could use both bow and sword with great proficiency. And he wore jewels with a wolf's head on his forehead and belt, and on a medallion around his neck. The wolf was also the symbol of the manor, but the young man seemed to be too good to be the never seen heir of Wolf Castle.
"Five years of peace," Yann muttered, seated on the dais in the great hall, alone. His men were milling around, keeping away from him, since he was in a foul mood. "Surely the boys are dead! Those noble weaklings couldn't survive a winter outside of their castle!"
He had searched the whole forest after taking the castle and killing the lord, but couldn't find the young runaways, so after five years of quiet he was convinced the legitimate heirs of the castle had ended in the jaws of wolves and bears.
Damned Wolfshead! He's only a wicked outlaw who hopes to see his lord come back from the dead. But he shall fail! He's alone, and I have an army...
Wolfshead seemed to have an army too, though. They called themselves "Wolflings" and seemed to be everywhere. Maybe some acted in his name out of sympathy, but most of the little attacks were well thought out and coordinated.
Yann Zoran kept muttering under his breath.
"Seth!" he called, straightening in his seat.
His twenty-year-old son came forward and climbed on the dais. He had brown hair and blue eyes, like his father.
"Yes, Father?" he asked, bending to be closer to his seated father's mouth, since he was very tall.
"We must find the damn outlaws and get rid of them," Yann said. "See if you can infiltrate someone in the Wolflings."
"They know me, Father," Seth retorted. "They know who I am. They'd never trust me."
"Well, seduce one of those stupid peasants into telling you who the Wolflings are!" Yann snapped.
Seth sh
ook his head. "Tsk, father. A guard's son going after peasants? I thought you earned us some castles because you wanted us to acquire noble blood!"
Yann glared at his son, but Seth was right.
"Fine, I'll find you a noble bride and with her help, we will get rid of the outlaws..."
***
Winfred had become Wolfshead for all, even if his brother found it hard to call him by that nickname. At twenty-five he kept remembering his grandfather's advice and his father's last words. The tale of how the lord of Hawk Castle had fought his usurper with the help of magic had kept churning in his head for years, but when he'd realized there was no magic behind Yann Zoran, he decided it was time to get back what was his with hit-and-run attacks that were mining Yann's strength.
At nineteen, Ewald was a most handsome young man with long blond hair who drove his cousin Isobel crazy. He didn't like life in the woods, but he had adapted. He was used to following his elder brother everywhere. He missed the castle's commodities, but he didn't mind the freedom of life in the forest, hunting and laying traps and sometimes fishing in the streams.
Isobel, brown-haired and with hazel eyes, had acquired a womanly shape a couple of years earlier, even if she was still much shorter than her brother and cousins. She knew she was pretty, but Ewald never mentioned it, which peeved her immensely.
Raven hair and dark eyes, twenty-two-year-old Kennoch saw the day he'd get his fief back coming closer every passing year. His cousin with his surprise attacks and strategy, living in the shadows of the trees and secretly helped by his people, was doing more than his uncle with the army of Wolf Castle under him.
One day Isobel decided that she should change her ways. After all, she'd been living with three boys forever, she'd been dressing like them for the past five years, maybe it was time she started to become like them.
Fist on her hips, Isobel confronted her brother and cousin.
"I ask a hearing with the supreme command," she announced to her brother and elder cousin.
"Hearing granted." Wolfshead smiled. "What can we do for you?"
"I have a complaint."
"We're listening."
"My life is too sedentary!"
"So? What are you complaining about?" Kennoch asked, amused. "We don't even ask you to cook every day!"
"I'm not your maid!" she snapped. "And I'm bored, always here doing nothing but waiting for you guys!"
"I'm sorry," Wolfshead said. "What would you like to do?"
"There are so many things I could do and you don't let me!" she protested.
"You can't do much," her cousin replied.
"Of course, you don't teach me anything! I don't understand why you keep me out of all this! I want to fight too, damn you!"
"You should have learned something after all these years with us," Wolfshead admitted, thoughtful.
"All right, we will teach you to shoot with the bow and use the sword," Kennoch promised. "But only if you promise you won't get yourself in trouble."
"Why can't you trust me?" she complained. "Who do you think I am?"
"A woman," Ewald said, finally joining the conversation and flashing his dazzling smile at her. Isobel wasn't sure if she wanted to kiss him or slap him. And during the following days, the love-hate rose since her gorgeous cousin kept teasing her for her efforts. It wasn't her fault if she didn't have the muscles of her male relatives.
***
Lady Morwenna of Tower Castle was chosen as a bride for Seth Zoran because she was young, beautiful and the only heir of her fief. Her father didn't dare oppose Yann's request, since the powerful usurper threatened to invade his lands, so Morwenna left under escort for Wolf Castle, now in Yann's iron grip after the short siege of five years earlier.
A blonde beauty with sky-blue eyes, Morwenna rode with her lips thinned and a frown on her face. She'd met her betrothed only once, when he'd come to her father's castle as ambassador, and she'd found him arrogant and cruel, albeit handsome. And he was a few years younger than her and with no noble blood in his veins.
Tower Castle wasn't far from Wolf Castle and her father had been a friend of the late lord. Morwenna had grown up knowing one day she'd probably marry Winfred of Wolf Castle – and then the fief had fallen prey to Yann and the heir had vanished...
She was going through the forest on horseback, thinking she'd rather marry the vanished Winfred than the accursed Seth, when an arrow killed the captain of her escort. Startled, Morwenna stiffened on her saddle, but began to hope. She knew there were outlaws in the valley, and she'd have joined them if she'd known where to find them.
The arrows rained on the guards, but not one touched her. And finally Wolfshead appeared, clearly recognizable from the wolf's heads on his brow, waist and chest. The young man bowed, serious.
"I'm sorry, my lady, but armed men are not welcome in my forest," he announced. "Who are you and where are you headed?"
"Morwenna of Tower Castle, and these guards were taking me to marry Yann Zoran's son. I'd be grateful if you'd take me as far away as possible from those men."
"I don't know a place for a lady like you," Wolfshead apologized. "My shelter is only a cave..."
"Better a cave that Seth's bedroom," she retorted, dismounting. "Don't you have any women among the Wolflings?"
"One," he answered, skeptical. "But she dresses like a man and uses a sword."
"Good, I can do that too," she replied, quickly unsheathing his sword and pointing it at his throat.
He made a gesture as if to stop hidden archers. He held out his hand and she gave him back his sword. A golden gleam caught her attention and she saw a blond young man come out of the woods with his bow in his hand. From the other side of the road emerged a dark-haired young man and a similar-looking young woman.
"Ewald," the outlaws' leader introduced the newcomers. "And Kennoch and Isobel."
"Thank you, Wolfshead," she answered with a curtsy. In spite of the fact the other two men were more handsome, her heart kept beating for the young leader who was proving so strong and bold, without Seth's arrogance. Morwenna started to hope she'd finally found her true bridegroom.
***
"Hey, my friend, don’t you know this is a private stream?" Kennoch shouted from the edge to a young man seated on the other shore with a horse grazing nearby.
"Of course, it belongs to Yann Zoran, lord of these lands," the other replied in a very boyish voice.
"Wrong, it belongs to me," Kennoch said, fording the stream towards the intruder. The small ribbon of water was in Sword Castle's territory and one of his favorite spots in the forest.
"Want to bet?" The young man rose and prepared to fight. Seen from up close he was very effeminate, but looked way too sure of himself to be a woman.
The boy unsheathed his sword with a fluid movement that showed years of experience handling weapons, in spite of his youth. Kennoch studied him before attacking. He was a good swordsman who had done his best to prepare himself to get back his own castle and was surprised at the proficiency of his adversary. The other looked startled too by his skills and they stopped the duel almost immediately.
"We could fight forever without a winner," the intruder said.
"True," Kennoch admitted. "You're very good, but I've never heard of you."
"I haven't heard of you either," the other retorted. "My name is Cinder, yours?"
"Kennoch," he answered before realizing the other had a female name.
He stared at her, incredulous and she flashed an impish smile at him. The very short fight had slightly opened her tunic and now showed the partial curve of a small breast. Brown-haired, blue-eyed, she stared at him as if she were about to burst out laughing.
"I hope we'll meet again, lord of the stream," she said, while he understood the boyish voice, but not the skills with the sword.
"Wait!" he called while she reached her horse and jumped on the saddle. "Who taught you to fight like this?"
"I was born with a sword in my hand," she answe
red, amused. "See you, handsome lord!"
She spurred her horse and vanished into the woods, leaving Kennoch breathless with astonishment.
***
"Nice to see you, Cinder," Seth greeted. "Everything fine at Sword Castle? What took you so long to get here?"
"I stopped in the forest," Cinder answered with a shrug. She was seated on the bench by the window and kept staring outside, towards the sea of green leaves outside the castle. "A much quieter place than any of these castles."
"Found any trace of Morwenna?" Seth insisted.
"No, dear little brother." She averted her eyes from the forest to look him in the eyes. "I think you can forget her. She's with Wolfshead now."
"I shall rephrase the question, then," he retorted. "Any trace of the outlaws?"
"None, of course," she replied. "I met a guy, he challenged me to a duel, he was very good."
"Just good?" Seth asked, sarcastic. "Maybe also young and handsome?"
"Shut up, Seth." She snorted, disgusted. "I'm a warrior woman because our father made me so and I'll never marry."
Seth nodded with a smirk and left, allowing her to go back to her musing.
Just in case he didn't have any sons, Yann had raised his daughter as a male, continuing even when, two years, later Seth had been born. But Yann knew he had plenty of enemies, thus he'd decided both his children would be trained as warriors. And until that day Cinder had fiercely fought for her father without bothering with the other sex.
But the meeting in the forest had touched her. Kennoch looked like an inexperienced beau and then turned out to be a sort of angel of war. Cinder had rarely met anyone like him and rarely had those men shown respect for her femininity. Except for the initial surprise, Kennoch seemed different.
Cinder decided to see him again. It was the first time in her life she wanted to get to know a man better. She was known as a wild woman, who preferred fighting to romance, but somehow now she felt different. Might have been the forest, the stream – or him, who knew. She couldn't stop thinking of him. He was so different from the men she'd dealt with so far...
***
Wolfshead saw a beautiful woman lost in thought, seated by a waterfall in the forest. She was older than him, but she looked like a real lady in distress and his heart missed a beat. She wore elegant clothes, but looked so sad she made him want to protect her.
Tales of the Northern Kingdoms volume 2 Page 25