“I know, and I can’t even imagine how he’s going to get on his horse,” Thana replied, shaking her head. “But, I also know how absolutely stubborn he is, and that he will not relent. So, I suppose I’m going with him.”
That wasn’t the answer Corina was hoping for, but there was nothing she could do about it. “Very well, but if he starts to struggle, you take his horse’s reins and you forcibly bring him back. I’ll look after Zach.”
Thana nodded and then strode past Keiran and toward the door the guard had retreated through. “I’ll go get Quinrah and Porter ready myself. You’ve become insufferable.”
Keiran stood there with Corina continuing to glower at him after Thana exited. He knew he’d been miserable to tend to. “I’m sorry. For all of it.”
“Do you have any idea how close you are to seeing your entrails fall out? One tumble from Porter will rupture you open like a spoiled piece of fruit, vampire or not,” Corina said, shaking her head.
Keiran still refused to look at her, frowning at the visual her statement brought about.
She sighed and waved her hands at him. “Go on, go do what you think you must. Don’t be horribly disappointed when he doesn’t immediately bend to your will, though. Jerris needs time to grieve. We all do.”
Keiran gave a meek nod before going outside. The sun was bright, the early morning sky cloudless. There was heat in the air, made worse by the growing humidity coming up from the wet ground and melting snow.
Sygian sat on the stairs leading into the courtyard, and he looked up as Keiran stopped beside him. “It is good to see you moving about, My Lord.”
The young king managed up a smile for him. “On my way to recovery.”
The advisor reflected the smile despite seeing the insincerity behind it. “I never had any doubts. I saw our queen rush by to the stable. Going for a ride?”
Keiran thought about it, then carefully eased himself down beside Sygian. “Aye. I’m going to see Jerris and try to work things out.”
He nodded and tipped his head up toward the sky. “Well, don’t overdo it, and be mindful of the weather. Mornings like this lead to afternoons of wicked thunderstorms, you know.”
“Indeed they do.” He turned and looked at his advisor. “Sygian, you’ve been around for a long time. You worked for my father for what, thirty years?”
“Thirty four, if memory serves.”
Keiran fidgeted with his hands. “Turis Lee wasn’t a good man. Did…did you ever think that it was wrong to not actively go against his will? I know the other advisors and assistants he had were bought and paid for, but you aren’t like the rest were.”
Sygian furrowed his brow and thought about it for a moment. “To be honest, My Lord, I knew your father was a tyrant, as were most of those he kept close to him. I suppose that’s why I wasn’t promoted over the years. I wasn’t willing to lick his boots, if you will. Outright rebellion on my part, however, would have been suicide. But, it doesn’t mean that I was complacent.”
Keiran quirked a brow. “Oh?”
“I will only tell you this as you, too, recognize your father for what he was, though it still is of some risk for me to admit,” Sygian replied, all remaining traces of joviality dissolving from his expression. “There were several occasions where I would pass information I’d gathered from your father to some of our regional governors in advance of him passing certain laws or decrees.”
“You did what?” Keiran’s eyes went wide, never having expected such a thing from the meek individual beside him. “You acted as a spy against my father?”
“In a manner of speaking, aye.” Sygian nodded, lacing his hands together in his lap. “Some of us had to take a stand, even if it was only small things that we could do. To have been completely in agreement would have made us a party to his ways. For all of those who aided and catered to your father, there were just as many who tried to subvert his dealings. We may have not made much of a difference in the end, but we tried.”
Keiran leaned back onto the step behind him and scanned out over the courtyard. “I had no idea.”
“It isn’t something one advertises,” Sygian replied. “I couldn’t have very well told you before, in the event you’d turn out like King Turis Lee. It wouldn’t have gone well for me, My Lord.”
“I knew there was a reason I kept you on after I cleaned house.” Keiran gave a fleeting smile. “I didn’t keep on anyone I should have trimmed from the staff, did I?”
Sygian shook his head. “Only Farin Edmund, but that seems to have worked itself out.”
Keiran and his closest confidants had kept the missing guard’s fate to themselves, and he nodded in reply. “Aye, it did.”
The advisor’s posture relaxed, seeing no hint of threat in the king’s reaction. “There is right and there is wrong in the world. Some, like your father, take the easiest path to get what they want. Others must fight back against it. It doesn’t always have to be an outright war, sometimes just small bits of resistance can add up to something greater.”
“So pick our battles,” Keiran said.
“Aye, My Lord,” Sygian replied, smiling to himself. “Subtlety can work wonders now and then.”
Keiran saw Thana and the guard he’d previously excoriated emerge from the stable into the courtyard with Porter and Quinrah. He forced himself back to his feet with a grunt and looked down at Sygian. “And that, Sygian, is why you are Grand Councillor.”
The aged man’s jaw dropped, his eyes widening. Being promoted to an advisor had been one thing, but to become Grand Councillor was quite another. “Your Majesty, Grand Councillor? I’m hardly qualified.”
“Aye,” Keiran said with a nod. “I need one and I trust you, so you are qualified. And, Sygian?”
“Yes?”
“Call me Keir. I hate titles,” he said before moving down the stairs toward the horses.
Thana stood beside her horse, eyeing Keiran as he approached. She could easily see through him as he tried to hide his pain. “You’re not up to this.”
He took Porter’s reins from the guard who quickly departed, turning his attention to his wife. “You know I won’t be right until I can put all this nonsense with Jerris to bed.”
She rolled her eyes and moved around Quinrah, easily pulling herself up with one hand and settling into the saddle. After Zach’s birth, she’d found riding her horse therapeutic, and she’d taken lessons to improve her skills and to retrain Quinrah for Tordanian riding techniques. “Then, let’s get on with it.”
Keiran moved around Porter, the horse suddenly seeming much taller than he’d always been. He closed his eyes and hung his head, steeling himself for what he was about to do.
Watching him hesitate before mounting sent a pang of worry through Thana. He’d always made getting onto the massive warhorse look effortless. She held her tongue, though, knowing he wasn’t going to give up.
He finally drew in a long breath and placed his left foot into the stirrup before reaching up to get his handholds. Though he did his best to get up like he always did, it took far longer than normal, and he finally landed in the saddle with a pained gasp, color draining from his complexion.
Thana raised her brows and edged Quinrah closer to Porter. “Keir?”
He looked over at her, not making any effort to hide the agony from the tearing sensation across his midsection. “I’m up.”
She frowned and shook her head. “You are a mess.”
Keiran straightened up and turned Porter toward the castle gates. “Let’s get on with it.”
* * *
Even though he’d gotten Baden’s reassurance the rashes he’d suffered weren’t part of any contagious illness, Jerris hadn’t rushed back home. He’d decided to remain where he was until he saw signs of healing to verify the young vampire’s claim. Though his accommodations weren’t luxurious by any means, the solitude had given him time to think without interruption.
Despite the mountainous terrain and shade offered by the den
se forest surrounding the old trading post, the air had grown oppressive with humidity. The spring was proving to be uncomfortably warm, Tordania’s weather patterns still disrupted after their brutal winter.
Wanting to bathe and replenish his water supplies, he’d saddled Patrice and made the short ride to one of the small creeks winding through the trees.
The snow-melt water was bitterly cold, but it provided relief for the healing burns across his skin. He sat naked on a flat rock in the stream, letting the water swirl around him. Patrice stood on the bank, grazing on the fresh grass starting to grow at the water’s edge.
Jerris tipped his head up to look at the sky above as a roll of thunder broke the quiet. Heavy clouds were starting to form to the north of his position. He hoped they would bring a reprieve from the heat before much longer. Normally, rain was a constant in the mountains, but since the snow had stopped, it had been relatively dry. Heat and humidity simply weren’t normal in their country.
Patrice stopped eating and lifted her head, nostrils flaring as she took in several deep breaths, followed by a rumbling grunt of agitation.
Jerris felt a spike of fear, dreading a run-in with another bear. He stood up and followed the horse’s line of attention, but saw nothing. “What are you on about?”
The horse didn’t relax, instead, she jerked back against the rope tying her to a fallen tree, though it held.
Jerris exited the water and went to the log, his clothes lain out upon it. He pulled on his shirt and pants, keeping a watchful eye on the horse. She was obviously sensing something he couldn’t, but he’d come to trust her instincts over the years.
Patrice’s repeated grunts gave way to a shrill scream, and she began pacing from side to side, pulling harder at the rope restraining her.
Jerris quickly finished dressing and untied the rope, placing his hand over the small white star of fur on her forehead. “Come on old lady. What is it?”
Another, louder clap of thunder broke the quiet, silencing the birds in the forest. Jerris turned to look north again, the wind mounting and blowing into his face. He tipped his head back slightly and took several short breaths, finally picking up on what had Patrice so worried.
“Oh God, what’s burning?” he asked.
* * *
The ride into Tordan Lea had taken an inordinately long time. Every swaying step Porter took telegraphed up through Keiran’s body. As he tried to remain steady in the saddle, his injury raged against the horse’s motions.
Thana had been patient, bringing Quinrah to a stop as often as needed to let Keiran get himself together enough to go forward again.
By the time they reached the open gate to Jerris’ property, Keiran was soaked in sweat. He leaned forward in the saddle as Porter instinctively came to a stop where he was usually left at Jerris’ house.
Thana slid from the saddle and went to grab Porter’s reins. “Can you get down? Moreover, can you get back up again when we’re done here?”
He looked down at her, dreading the dismount. “Aye.”
She started to say something, but a loud crack of thunder cut her off. The thunderstorm Sygian had speculated upon had formed over the southern end of the valley.
Keiran and Thana both looked off toward the storm, seeing a white arc of lightning strike a tree on the mountainside. The instant heat of the bolt caused the liquids within the pine’s trunk to boil, the tree exploding with a crack that resonated through the valley despite the distance involved. A lick of flame erupted from the ruptured tree’s remains, and it wasn’t the first tree to have been hit and ignited.
“That cloud better let go with some rain, or we’ll have problems,” Thana said, trying to blink away the blue streak still masking her vision.
Keiran gave a slow nod and moved to get down from the horse. Dismounting proved to be just as horrible as he’d anticipated, and he doubled over once he was on the ground. “Wind…out of the north, if it burns, it will be away from town. Always goes that way. Just the trade road up there. No one is going to be on it, yet.”
She put her left hand on Keiran’s back and bent over to try and look at him. “Keir, are you all right?”
He nodded and ran his hands down his face before slowly straightening up, leaning on her for support as he did so. Keiran canted his head toward the house’s door. “Let’s go see what’s going on inside.”
As they approached, Magretha pulled it open before they had the chance to knock. Her expression fell when she saw her visitors. “Oh, I was hoping Jerris was home finally.”
“He’s not here?” Keiran asked, equally disappointed.
Magretha looked the vampire over, seeing the poor color of his complexion. She stepped aside and waved them into the house. “No, he’s not, but you need to sit by the looks of it!”
Thana helped Keiran into the small home, getting him situated at the table within. He rested his elbows on its surface, glad to be still. “So, when do you expect him home?”
“The king, here and sick in my own home. How strange my life has become.” Magretha brought an earthenware mug of water to the table and placed it before Keiran, then sitting opposite to him. “You’re not well enough to be making trips like this.”
He waved off her concern. “I need to talk to him and waiting any longer wasn’t going to do me any favors.”
She sat back and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at Thana and shaking her head. “These men of ours don’t know what’s in their best interest, do they?”
Thana shook her head in response. “We’ve got duff ones, Mag.”
She nodded in agreement. “I suppose we do. As for when Jerris will be home, your guess is as good as mine. It’s been days now.”
Keiran quirked a brow and squinted. “Days? He just went missing?”
She raised her hands for a moment and got up from the table to retrieve the note Jerris had left. She handed it over to Keiran when she returned to the table. “He left that. I had to go to the cathedral to find someone to read it to me. It says he was worried about spreading some sort of disease…”
Thana shook her head, looking down at her left hand. “We all had some irritation from treating the injured, but it seems to be improving, and we’ve had no other ill effects, I’m happy to say.”
Magretha smiled and slouched forward. “That is very good to hear. Poor Jerris, you know how he spooks about things.”
Keiran unfolded the note and read it over silently. When he finished it, he set it in the middle of the table and picked up the mug Magretha had offered him and took a sip.
Magretha pulled the note back toward her, tracing her fingertips over the words. “I was so afraid it would say he’d left me because of something I did wrong. When Mother Thinliss read it to me, I was relieved on one hand, but worried on a whole new level. Knowing everyone is improving is welcomed news.”
Keiran locked gazes with Magretha, frowning. “Thinliss? Mother Adreth Thinliss read this note for you?”
She gave a meek nod. “Aye. I didn’t know who she was until afterward. Not quite the beast you and Jerris implied she was.”
He drew in a long breath and looked at Thana, eyes wide, shaking his head.
Thana leaned closer toward him. “What? What is it?”
“Thinliss knows that Kanan was murdered, illness in the castle…” he let his words trail off, gaze dropping away.
“What of it?” Thana asked.
He shook his head. “Just more fuel for that old witch to use. She believes I’ve brought some manner of divine wrath down upon the country.”
Magretha’s cheeks went red, and she stared down at the note. “Oh, I…I didn’t mean to cause any harm with it, I just wanted it read to me!”
Keiran reached across the table and patted one of her hands. “No, no, Mag, I’m in no way upset with you. You were only doing what you needed to, and it’s not your fault in the least. That woman is a nightmare.”
She didn’t seem too comforted by his reassurance. “Sti
ll…”
Thana switched her gaze between the two of them. “Regardless, if Corina and I are finding that our symptoms are improving, he should see his getting better, too. I’d imagine he will come home before much longer. Do either of you have any idea where he would have gone?”
Magretha shrugged. “Well, he isn’t in any of the taverns or pubs in town, so I’m stumped.”
Keiran gave a snort. “That is exactly where I would have looked first, too.”
Thana snickered, as it would have been her inclination as well. “So, he could be outside of town in the trees somewhere?”
“Sadly, that’s most likely the case, and it would be nearly impossible to find him if he didn’t want to be found,” Keiran said, suddenly scooting his chair back from the table. “In fact, if avoiding human contact was his main goal, he would have taken the path hardest to travel.”
The two women exchanged glances as Keiran pushed himself up and went back toward the door, tugging it open. They quickly followed him as he stepped outside, his attention fixed toward the mountain where the tree had been struck by lightning earlier.
While thunder still rolled from the storm overhead, not a single drop of rain had yet fallen. Where the tree had been a thick, blue-hued smoke column rose into the air—and it wasn’t the only one.
Keiran groaned. Though his instinct was to get back on his horse and go charging up the trade road, he knew it was well beyond his limits. “That damned fool will be along the trade road somewhere, and those fires are going to cut off his return if they grow.”
Magretha walked past Keiran, seeing the nascent forest fire herself. “Do you really think he went that way? Won’t he be in trouble?”
He thought about it before shaking his head. “Jerris may be a lot of things, but willing to be burned to death isn’t one of them. I should hope he’d have the good sense to not go riding directly into a blaze.”
“But, it is Jerris,” Thana added.
Both Magretha and Keiran turned toward her, answering in unison. “Aye.”
Thana sighed. “Hopefully, Patrice will have better sense.”
The King's Knight (Royal Blood Book 5) Page 14