Forever Knight (The Champion Chronicles Book 3)

by Brad Clark

  Elissa laughed back.

  The prince took his share, and then it was a free for all for everyone to eat.

  “I trust your journey was safe?” the prince asked with a mouthful of meat and bread.

  “Yes, of course,” Elissa replied. “It snowed some, which made the forests quite pretty.”

  “You came by the valley?” His eyes suddenly realized what he had asked. It was the fastest way from Thellia to South Karmon, but it was also the place where her father had been killed. A slight rosiness came to his cheeks.

  “Yes,” Elissa said, trying not to show that she had caught his blunder. “The snow was not deep, so our journey was uneventful.”

  He continued, but his eyes drifted away from hers. “The valley stays open most years. We have had a few years in the past where the snows are so high it becomes impassable. But it is still early in the winter for that.”

  “So I should not have a problem returning south in few days?” Elissa asked with a smile.

  “Only a few days? You would take such a long and hard trip up north and only stay a few days? I was hoping that I would have your company until the snows begin to melt.”

  The prince’s statement surprised her. She had no idea that he even wanted her more than a few days. Sure enough, he had asked to her to come up for this Ice Festival, but she thought that maybe he was just being polite. And she came mostly because she felt it was the right thing to do to help continue the new relationship between their kingdoms. She dropped her head to hide her flushed cheeks.

  “I am not sure I should be away for so long,” Elissa replied. “I do have a kingdom to run.”

  The prince shrugged his shoulders. “Your Lord Martin is a fine man, is he not? Can he not fill in for you while you’re away?”

  “Well, he can,” Elissa said firmly. She lifted her head up. “But I am still queen, and I need to be available to tend to the business of the kingdom.”

  The prince lifted a finely crafted mug. “Well, then. To your kingdom then. And to our friendship!”

  Everyone around the table, including Elissa, lifted their mugs and drank to the toast. She had expected a sweet wine, but was not expecting the bitter liquid that touched her lips. Even before she could choke it down, her instinctive reaction was to spit it out. Which she did in the most unladylike manner.

  Toknon looked at her mid-gulp, his eyes wide with surprise. And then, after a long moment of silence, he burst into laughter. He could not stop and ended up banging his hands on the table while he laughed.

  “My Queen Elissa,” the prince said between outbursts of laughter. “Do you not care for our ale?”

  Her face was red, once again, Elissa shook her head. She could not believe that she had just spat her ale across the table. Right now, the only thing that she wanted to do was to run out of the room. If she knew where she was to spend the night, she would have run right for the bedroom. And then first thing, before the sun came up, she would be heading for home. Not only was it an unladylike reaction, it was also not the reaction of the leader of a kingdom.

  A commotion at a nearby table broke the laughter of those who had witnessed her embarrassing moment. The crash of plates and a large tray of food caught everyone by surprise. Hollin was standing, his own face red with anger.

  “How dare you laugh at my queen!” He screamed at the man sitting next to him.

  The Thellian was larger than Hollin with a big bushy beard and a barrel chest. The man stood and pointed right back at Hollin. “And I will not have a pimply boy telling me what to do!”

  Hollin threw the first punch. It landed solid and knocked the man back a step, but it did not stun him. The large man gave a berserker shout and rushed at Hollin, launching himself at the last moment. He struck Hollin chest to chest, and they both fall back into a sea of other men. Kern jumped into the fray to pull the larger Thellian off Hollin, but those around did not want Kern involved, so they tried to restrain him. That was when Kern started throwing his own punches.

  Elissa buried her head in her hands started to cry. She hated herself for it, but it was the only thing that she could do. She was too weak to help and she did not have the power to stop the Thellians. She could hear Melanie wailing next to her and that’s what made her stop. She was a queen and she was stronger than Melanie. She would not just break down and cry when she got scared. With a deep breath, she stopped the tears and stood up.

  Toknon had left the table and was in the middle of the melee, but he was not adding to it, he was trying to stop it. He was throwing his own men off Kern and Hollin. One man actually took a reactive swing at the prince and Toknon responded with a direct closed fist strike to the man’s jaw. The man dropped and did not move. Only seconds later, the armed guards of the castle joined the prince to help bring peace. But Kern and Hollin were still swinging, even at the prince and the armed guards. Once they realized they were no longer being attacked, they stopped throwing punches. But they did not stop their mouths. They kept those going, yelling at everyone around them, and challenging them to a fight.

  Elissa rose, all tears and silly emotions gone. Her anger showed as she shouted as loud as she could, “Enough! Kern and Hollin! You will stop this!”

  Kern shrugged away from someone who was trying to hold him back. He turned and faced the queen, dropping to a knee. “Your Majesty, I am sorry.”

  Hollin followed suit and dropped to a knee as well. “As am I, Your Majesty.”

  Elissa turned to the prince, who had a wide smile on his face. “And why are you smiling?”

  “It has been some time since I have had a good fight. It was good to get in a few punches!”

  “We have overstayed our welcome,” Elissa said.

  The smile on the prince’s face faded. “Oh? You just arrived! Come, now, our men were just getting to know one another!”

  “Your men insulted my queen,” Hollin growled. As he stood, an armed Thellian put a hand on his shoulder. He shook himself out of the grasp and said, “And keep your hands off me!”

  “No,” Elissa said to Toknon. “We will leave first thing in the morning.”

  The prince stepped over to Elissa and spoke in a soft voice. “The men, they were having fun. Yes, they may have gone too far. But it is time for our people to stop fighting one another and become friends. It will not be easy. I know, because it is hard for me to look at your beauty and think that you were once my enemy.”

  “Oh…” Elissa was stunned by his words.

  “Please, Queen Elissa, I beg of you to stay. This will not be the last fight between our people. There will be more, but we will get past each one, and soon enough we will be the best of friends. We must both be strong and vigilant to know that peace is what is best for our kingdoms. But it will take time and we cannot give up when it becomes hard.”

  Queen Elissa looked around, fully overwhelmed by the moment. For every moment that she felt strong and confident, there were times were she felt weak and alone and this was one of those times. She found herself shaky and lightheaded. Between him calling her beautiful, and the anger that she saw still existed between their two peoples, her mind was a rush of emotions. She knew that her father wouldn’t have cried in this moment, but that was all that she wanted to do. But she managed to keep the tears back. She was a queen, not a spoiled princess.

  “My lady, I believe it is time for you to retire,” Kimmie said softly. She had come up from behind her and spoke so that only the queen and the prince could hear. “Prince Toknon, if you would have us escorted to our chambers?”

  “Yes, of course,” the prince said. “You must truly be exhausted from your travels. But please do not make a decision to leave, yet. I would like to at least show you our city in the morning.”

  “The travel has indeed worn us down, I am afraid,” Elissa said. “It has made us all a bit anxious and quick tempered. I am sure a good night’s sleep will do wonders.”

  Toknon motioned for nearby pages to attend to the queen and her par
ty. “Sleep well, Queen Elissa. And upon the morrow, I will show you our fair city.”

  ***

  “They traveled light,” a voice said in rough Commoner.

  Toknon looked around to be sure that they were still alone. The festivities had broken up soon after the queen and her party were led to their sleeping chambers. Servants had come to clean up while the partygoers had stumbled off to their own chambers. The man who stood in the shadows before him would not meet with him until the castle had gone to sleep, so the prince had to wait for the servants to complete their jobs. With just embers burning in the great fire pit, the great hall was darkened so that that corners were easy hiding places.

  “Karmon is a small kingdom,” Toknon said. “They are not opulent or extravagant in anything that they do. I would have expected no less.”

  “You admire them? Were they not your sworn enemy just a half year ago?”

  With an anger that exploded from nowhere, the prince grabbed the man’s wool cloak and pulled him from the shadows and slammed him up against the stone wall. The chainmail armor and sword short clinked loudly in the silent darkness. “Do not presume to know anything. Our countries are not at war, Commander Roland. Peace treaties have been signed. Commerce between our nations has begun. We may never be friends, but we will be friendly.”

  “And yet, here I am,” Roland said. The commander of several companies of centurions from the northern armies, he was an older man with curly dark hair and graying temples. His face was tanned from years of sun and weather. As his lips turned into a smile, his eyes narrowed, causing more wrinkles to appear across his face.

  “Yes, here you are. Alone in my castle.” The prince released the commander’s cloak from his grasp. “You have your sword strapped to your side, but before you could pull it out to defend yourself, I would have slit your throat.”

  “A threat?” Roland said with a laugh. “You would threaten me?”

  “Yes,” Toknon replied with a glare. “We wish no fight with Taran, but I have had it with dealing with your kind. The last sneaky Taran that came calling with promises left us with several hundred dead and wounded.”

  “Oh?” the Commanded responded, surprised. “Who would that be? I was unaware that you already had dealings with us.”

  “He called himself Hibold. A thin, weasel of man. And those dealings are done. If I ever see that snake again, I will slit his throat.”

  “I know of him. He is a politician and as such, should not be trusted. You and I are warriors, soldiers that serve our countries. You can trust me.”

  “I can, but I will not. Do you now have what you need?”

  The commander pulled out a folded parchment that was sealed with Thell’s royal seal. “Passage for my companies through your lands. That should keep your patrols off our backs. We certainly would not want some accidental incident where lives are lost because of a misunderstanding.”

  “Of course not,” the prince replied with a sneer.

  Commander Roland tucked the parchment back inside his cloak. He started to leave, but then he turned back. “There is one more thing.”

  “Yes?”

  “This queen of theirs, you fancy her?”

  “What kind of question is that? Is that some sort of threat?”

  “Of course not,” Commander Roland replied coolly. “It’s just that I watched how you looked at her all night.”

  “What?”

  “I was here, in disguise, all night. Quite a feast, I must add. Well, if you do fancy her, I would recommend that she stay in your company through the winter.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “If she were to return home, I would venture to say that she would not survive to spring.”

  The prince gave Commander Roland a long look. There was more going on than what the commander was revealing, so he would have to pull it out of him. “Your soldiers that I am allowing to pass through my land, they can only be scouts for a larger force, am I right? Why would I just not tell Queen Elissa now?”

  “That would be unwise,” Roland replied. “Indeed, there are elements of the army that are on the move. But they could just as easily march straight east to Thellia rather than south into Karmon. And yes, that is a threat.”

  Commander Roland took a step forward so he was only inches from Toknon’s face. He continued in a whisper. “Here is what will you will do. You will tell the queen nothing. You will keep our meeting secret. You will keep your patrols away from your western borders. And if you wish to save the queen’s life, then you will keep her here through spring. I care nothing for her or the kingdom. It is only South Karmon that I want. But if I find out that you have betrayed my trust, there is nothing that will stop my army from crushing your kingdom. Thell is nothing to Taran. A tiny pimple on a baby-faced boy. It is hardly worth an effort to even think about you. But if you anger us, we will crush you. Completely. Wipe you off the face of the earth. Do you understand?”

  Toknon said nothing, he simply stood there, doing his best to control his anger. He could feel his face getting flush and he suddenly became very, very hot.

  Commander Roland stepped away and glanced around, just to be sure his threats had not been heard. Then without another word, he disappeared into the shadows of the castle.

  Prince Toknon remained in the dark for some time, trying to decide what he should do. If he did nothing, then his kingdom would be protected and would survive whatever plans the Tarans had. But he didn’t think that he could live with himself if he let that happen.

  Chapter Four

  Marik Brownbow was frustrated. He knew he had let his emotions get the better of him and that was why he had lost focus and missed his turn. But he could not get the image of Conner getting cut down by a half dozen crossbow bolts out of his mind. Each time he thought about it, he felt a pain deep in the pit of his stomach, and a cry strained to get out. But he held it in, just as he did the anger. It was a low burning rage that was just on the verge of bursting out, but he knew that he could not let it get out. His training in weapons was not only about the skill with the blade, but also the discipline of emotions. A Karmon Knight could not let his emotions get the better of him, else he would lose focus in the middle of a fight and one slipup would mean death.

  That was why he was so frustrated with himself. While leaving the arena, he had let his emotions get the better of him and he had lost focus, which led to him getting lost in the winding streets of Tara City. He wanted to place the blame of his predicament on Queen Elissa, for she had been the one to disband the Karmon Knights. If she had kept them intact, he would still be serving the kingdom as a Knight Ranger, and he would not have lost his edge. Not to mention, he would be hundreds of miles away, safe in his home city of South Karmon.

  In the middle of the street, he came to a stop. He was not being fair to the queen. She had not been the one to force him to lose focus. It had been his lack of discipline in the moment that had caused it. He did not need to have some sort of title in order to have discipline. He should have it regardless. Whether he was knight in name or not, he still needed to act like one and not let his emotions guide his actions.

  He looked back over his shoulder. The sun was well on its way towards the horizon. There was still light, but he knew that darkness would be coming soon. Even if he made it to the gate, it would be a difficult trek to get back to his camp in the middle of the night. He knew where he needed to go, but the markers he had memorized on the way in would look much different in the darkness.

  The problem facing him now was that he wasn’t sure how to get to the gate. The streets and alleys of the city were not straight and they twisted and turned back in opposite directions. The moment he thought he was heading towards the gate, he found himself turned around. Standing alone in the middle of the street, with night falling around him, he knew he was lost.

  A noise in the shadows of a nearby building caught his attention. A man stepped from a doorway carrying a bag over his shoulder. He wor
e an apron covered in flour and looked directly at Marik, his face showing some surprise.

  Marik approached. The man looked around, as if he were looking for a place to run to.

  “Hello!” Marik said as friendly as he could.

  The man set his bag on the ground. He said something in Taran, which Marik did not understand. He wished that he had the time to learn the language. He felt naked in the city, unable to speak to hardly anyone.

  “I don’t know what you are saying,” Marik replied.

  “I have nothing,” the man said, this time so that Marik could understand him. He glanced back at his shop.

  Marik stepped forward and the man took a step back.

  “I am not here to steal from you,” Marik said, realizing why the man was acting strangely.

  “What do you want then?” the man snapped. “It is late.”

  “I just need to know how to get to the gate?”

  The man shook his head, mumbling, “Arata,” under his breath. Then, louder, he said, “It is yonder to the east. Just follow the street.”

  “I have been following it for quite some time,” Marik replied. “I keep going in circles. I am sure I am lost.”

  The man picked up his bag and slung it back over his shoulder. “The gate is directly east. If you cannot find it, then that is your problem.”

  “What?”

  “You foreigners come into the city, march around as if you own the place, beg and plead for better deals while we barely survive on what meager income we get.”

  Marik did not know what to say. It had been so long since he had been talked to in such a derogatory way that he wasn’t sure how to react. The last time anyone had ever used such a tone with him was when he was a squire. Since then, he had always been recognized as a knight and was always given the respect he deserved.

  “Go back home,” the man said. He turned and walked away, leaving Marik in the middle of the street.