Treasure So Rare (Women of Strength Time Travel Trilogy)

by Grace Brannigan

  And he urged his horse into a canter, skirting the woods for the open field. He looked back to make sure she followed, and she too had urged her horse into a canter. Across the open field they rode, and it had seemed like forever since he had ridden freely on the back of a good horse. Despite the fact that it was Camdork's destrier, the animal was a good mount. If he could find a way to take him back with him, he would. The thought brought a smile to his face. How to get the animal aboard the Merry Maiden?

  They slowed to a brisk walk. Erik turned in the saddle to see Ulrich trailed them far behind. Unless the man had exceptional hearing, they should be able to have a private conversation.

  "What do you smile about?" she asked curiously.

  "When I leave I will take this horse with me. In truth, it is Camdork's horse, but he's of good stock. I would begin an entire stable around him, with good sturdy mares." He grinned. "I just wondered how I would get him aboard my ship."

  "You train horses for warfare?" she asked curiously.

  Erik shook his head. "Not for warfare. My brother and I used to raise horses and sell them to wealthy buyers, when we lived in the Catskills -- in the Americas. After Darien left, I sold everything and went back to the sea."

  Iliana had a curious light in her eyes and Erik had the notion she was sizing him up.

  "You come from another world and another time," she murmured, shaking her head. She met his glance directly, hesitated then blurted, "I, too, am from another place."

  Startled, Erik stopped his mount. "And from where do you hail?"

  "I am not of this place," she said, frowning. "I don't know where I belong, but I know it is not here."

  "And what of William? What of his father?"

  Iliana looked at him, her lips pressed tightly together. He was chagrined to see tears in her eyes.

  Pain settled beneath his ribs. "You still love the boy's father?"

  Iliana drew a deep breath, and she tried to smile. "There is no love," she assured him. "There is no man. I don't know how I came to be with child." She put her head back proudly. "It is one of the areas even the tapestry refuses to show me. At times, the tapestry denies me what I would know about my own life."

  Erik frowned. "Or could it be the tapestry shows you only what you yourself know and remember? If you have no memory of an event, it does not write it?"

  Iliana looked stunned. "I never thought of it like that. From everything I have experienced, the tapestry writes the story and our lives are acted out." She shook her head. "In the beginning I rebelled. I could not believe a tapestry would tell me what my life experience would be."

  "What happened?"

  "The first memory I have in this place is a little over three years ago. I awoke from a terrible fever. Many were reluctant to come to the keep or work there. They feared a plague or an illness had befallen me. They feared it would spread and take their lives.

  "When I awoke I suffered greatly with confusion. My memories were swirling inside my head, but nothing was clear to me. I knew I was Iliana but my life began that day." She bit her lip. "I was told who I was, and that my only living family, Graziela, lived in the convent. In truth, I have never met Graziela. About a year and a half later, I fell into another fever. It lasted seven days, and when I finally recovered from that, three weeks later I discovered I was with child. I was devastated and afraid. I considered taking my own life."

  It hurt Erik to hear her say that. "And what changed?" he asked.

  "Sorenta told me the child had been made in love, and he was mine. How could I even think to turn away from my own flesh and blood? And as I began to feel well again, I drew strength knowing my child was wanted, even though the memory remained hidden."

  "And you have never recovered your memory of these times?"

  "No. When I look at the life tapestry, it is merely a swirl of color, a blank slate." She looked behind them at Ulrich, who still kept a good distance.

  "Let us ride further ahead," Erik said, not willing to take a chance on anyone overhearing them. They rode up a small hill to the peak, the wind buffeting them gently. As they stood at the top, Erik looked beyond the hills. "I can see the sea," he said. "Yet my ship lies east of there." He leaned back in the saddle. "Each day I wonder did my men manage to free the Merry Maiden and sail out to sea."

  "They would leave you?" she asked in surprise.

  "It is for their safety that they get further from shore. Camdork does not seem equipped with ships, so that is in our favor."

  "For now," she said.

  "Yes." He hesitated, but knew she must be told. "I am fairly certain Camdork is responsible, at least for Agnes' death."

  "I fear it, too. My life tapestry showed three men hiding in the woods, and a blood trail leading to them."

  Erik tightened his fingers on the reins and his horse pranced nervously. Soothingly, he ran his palm down the horse's neck.

  "When someone dies, their life tapestry is once more as empty as when they are born. I have this thought that I should collect the tapestries of the dead. I have a master weaver who will create for me a tapestry at my own direction."

  "You think to create another life tapestry?"

  "Yes, with a story of my choosing. A life tapestry from the green emerald, a story that will show me the way to the gem. Once I find it I can leave this place."

  Erik shook his head. "It has been my experience we write our own destiny, Iliana, not rely upon a tapestry to mirror the actions we have taken."

  "It may be the only way William and I may leave this place."

  "And how far along is the new tapestry?"

  "The master weaver has not been able to successfully weave such a tapestry."

  "And if he is not able to do it at all?" he asked, troubled. She looked at him, her eyes a deep blue imprinted upon his heart.

  "When you leave, will you take us with you?"

  Erik nodded. "Of course I will take you and William."

  Iliana looked back again, nudged her horse into a walk as Ulrich drew nearer. "How can I have been with you when there is no memory?" she asked. "No memory of you, your touch, your scent," she murmured. "How can it be so? Please tell me again about that time."

  "Three years ago I made a run in the Merry Maiden to ports along the east coast. One morning, after a particularly grueling storm at sea, I went to my cabin to rest my sleep deprived body. When I awoke, it was to find a young woman in my cabin. Imagine my surprise, and my delight. I soon discovered the woman had appeared as if dropped from the heavens. By all that is holy, we were three days out to sea. She told me she was on a quest and needed help in her search for a green gem that would save her people."

  She frowned. "That is my quest."

  "Could you have been injured in this time traveling and your memory wiped clean as a slate?" Fiercely, suddenly, Erik said in a low voice, "I wish William were mine -- I wish he were mine instead of another's."

  Iliana looked away, and he nudged his horse closer, leaned from the saddle toward her and reached out his hand to gently cup her cheek. "But it matters not. It is you I care about, and the boy is yours, so I think he, too, will be easily loved."

  She drew in a sharp breath and her eyes met his. "Erik."

  He gave her a charming, roguish smile, but his eyes were deadly serious.

  "Many would not welcome another's child," she said.

  "I am not many," he said simply. He looked out over the hills and the small valley below. "I grew up without a father. I would not wish that on another child."

  She nodded. "It bothers me that William has no father, but I look forward to the day we can leave. When my mission is complete -- this mission is not easily abandoned, no matter the hardship."

  "Help me understand. When you came to me aboard my ship, you were consumed with thoughts of the green gem."

  "All I know is it is an emerald, and of such a large size that is quite rare. I have heard tales of the gem, with its strange inscriptions and drawings. Some say the stone itse
lf is under a spell of enchantment, while others say it is held in an underground tomb and guarded by otherworldly creatures."

  "And what do you believe, Iliana?"

  "From all I have learned, from the knowledge that has come to me, the mystery of the gem and its legend first arose in ancient lands, around the time of Cleopatra. The stone itself has mystical healing powers, as do many true emeralds. An emerald with clarity is forgiven many faults, but one with the true green that shines and heals, that gem is a treasure to be coveted. Men have died while trying to steal this gem while others have carried it to safety and hidden it for hundreds and hundreds of years." She looked around as Erik turned his horse back along the track and they once more rode alongside a wooded area.

  "There have been many who sought to keep this emerald for their own gain, but none survived to tell the tale of their journey."

  "And it appears every hundred or so years?"

  "Only to disappear once again."

  "To keep the legend going, perhaps," Erik muttered, and frowned. "It almost sounds like a society is controlling it."

  Iliana shrugged. "If I can secure the gem and bring it here to the keep, only then can the people's future be secured. The land will have an opportunity to heal, people can once more sow the seed without half of it rotting in the ground, and the fields will know abundant harvests. Bad times have befallen the people of this region. Since my lord William was killed and his sons are all gone, there is no one to take the region in hand. Nature herself seems a blight on the land. There will be much work necessary to make this right once more."

  "And now my lady Iliana, why has this task fallen to you?"

  "I have no answers, Erik. I am here and I am under service to complete this mission. Until it is fulfilled, my life is not my own." She looked at him. "I tried once to leave."

  "How is it you failed?"

  "I reached the edge of the boundary marked by red soil. The fighter dragons were lined up by the thousands in the red hills I could see and then hear their wings buzzing, as if anxious to see if I crossed the line. I dared to cross the line that first time, and then as the dragons took to the air, they bore down upon me with their ferocious teeth and claws bared." She looked at him. "Then -- I remembered no more until I awoke, and much time had passed. I had been lying ill all that time, as if under a spell." She frowned. "From time to time memory has come to me, almost a memory from sleep, of the worlds I visited."

  "What hold this quest has over you!"

  "All I hold dear is in a fine balance between this world and the next." Iliana lifted her chin, met his eyes. "This duty is upon me and I cannot refuse. Should I walk away, I shall perish with the people of Dutton Keep, forever a prisoner in another time."

  Erik pressed a fist to his chest. "I swear by all I value, I will help you. Together we will see this mission to an end."

  Iliana smiled, but cautiously. "It is a dangerous mission -- that you must fully understand."

  "I am a man who enjoys solving riddles, Iliana. This is merely an intricate riddle."

  "Perhaps," she said slowly. "But then I am not very good at riddles."

  "And once solved, we shall leave this place. I will take you with me, and we shall find a new life on the other side. How does Mandrak fall into this scheme?"

  "He too seeks the emerald. I fear if he gains possession of the gem, the world will fall into total chaos. He seeks to control its power."

  "I would meet this so-called sorcerer," Erik said grimly.

  "Erik, please," she cautioned, "do not speak of him. I have a terrible sense of doom about him."

  "He and his witches. There must be a way to stop him. There must be a way we can secure the gem." Erik looked at the clouds making their way across the horizon. In the distance the keep's dark walls stood in sharp contrast against the blue sky.

  As before, Erik noted the peculiar light that hung about the keep, deep like the color of blood. It was a sight that he still found unsettling. "Am I the only one who thinks it peculiar, the light that hangs about that place?"

  Iliana twisted in her saddle. "You see the light also?" she asked. "It hangs like blood in the skies. It has been that peculiar light as long as I have been here. Many do not seem to notice."

  Erik sighed. "So many unanswered questions, Iliana." He looked upward. "I fear it looks like we may have rain. Come, let us give the horses a real chance to stretch their legs."

  And they were off, racing across the field toward the keep with its blood red skies.

  As they cantered past Ulrich, Erik saluted the man, ignoring his sour-faced expression. Ulrich had little to say, but Erik thought there was much the man allowed none to see.

  ¤¤

  As the pretender and the lady Iliana rode back toward the keep, their horses in fine fiddle and running across the fields, Ulrich looked searchingly toward the woods, and then urged his mount into a trot.

  "Now I am a nursemaid," he grumbled, "as if there are no important duties awaiting me, no men to train -- I must follow the pretender and see that he finds no mischief. Methinks mischief has found him in his pursuit of the lady Iliana."

  "Psst. Man -- wait upon me."

  Ulrich drew his sword as a figure garbed in a long brown robe walked out of the forest to his right. Then another shadow appeared, and Ulrich saw the sorcerer was accompanied by Camdork.

  Quickly, Ulrich said a short prayer of protection under his breath and then he bowed his head, aware that a tick began below his right eye. "My lord sorcerer," he said in deference, "and my Lord Camdork, how may I serve?"

  "I do not like the look of any of this," said Camdork, scowling after the two riders. "He thinks to take my place. I will kill the bastard before --" the dark robed figure extended a quick hand and placed it against Camdork's chest. Camdork took several steps back, closing his mouth tightly, his eyes dark and bitter. He wore a makeshift sling around his neck and his one hand was tied into the material.

  "Tell me what you know," said Mandrak.

  Ulrich, too, looked after the pair as they disappeared into the distance. "Of Lady Iliana or the pretender, my lord?"

  "The pretender."

  Ulrich could not see the man's face, hidden deep within the cowl. It made him uneasy.

  "Dismount from your horse and spend a moment," remarked Mandrak.

  Ulrich complied, standing before both men. "He came from the sea and my Lord Camdork --" he looked at Camdork but the man remained silent, "forced this mission upon him, to go in his stead to the keep of the Lady Iliana."

  Mandrak turned to Camdork. "And what did you hope to gain with this pretense?"

  "You warned me of his coming. I thought to keep him occupied while I discovered what was afoot. There are assassins in the woods, small armies patrol --"

  Mandrak made a cutting motion with his arm and Camdork stopped speaking.

  "And what do you think, Ulrich?" Mandrak asked.

  "I am not sure, my lord." Ulrich stumbled over how to address the sorcerer. He gritted his teeth, wanting to be on his way and back at his duties. "My Lord Camdork shared that he feared there was a plot against the queen and he wanted to remain close at her side."

  "So you are this pretender's bodyguard -- or his watchman?"

  "I was bid to watch the pretender for what I can see and what I would hear."

  "It was necessary," blustered Camdork. "I promised you information, and I have it," he added angrily. "I went to the queen's court as promised."

  "I know this," said Mandrak. "I know you would not dare to hide from me and conspire with others."

  "Of course not," Camdork said angrily, putting a hand to his sword hilt.

  "You have not been conspiring with your lord, have you, Ulrich?"

  "No, my lord sorcerer. This is the first time I have seen my Lord Camdork since I arrived at the castle."

  Ulrich was glad when Mandrak turned his attention from him.

  "Camdork, your drinking and wenching will bring you to ruin and quite probably
your death," he said dispassionately. "If you persist in chasing after the wants of this queen, that deadly spider will seal your ruin."

  "Sorcerer, you speak like a man without a country, either that or it is treason."

  Ulrich drew in a quick breath at what he considered my lord Camdork's foolhardy words.

  Mandrak laughed. "Yes, I speak against the queen. When all this comes about, she too will fall."

  Ulrich felt the sorcerer's attention. He clenched his fist, pressed it against his horse's saddle. "Yes my lord sorcerer."

  "I brought you into this game," Camdork snarled, "thinking I could trust you, and yet you speak evil against the queen." His eyes narrowed. "I wonder, are you involved in the plot to bring Henry out of captivity and onto the throne --"

  Suddenly, the sorcerer turned on him and almost before Ulrich realized it, he had Camdork by the throat. From within Mandrak's tattered sleeve a fighter dragon crawled out onto his wrist and then the back of his hand. Camdork watched the fighter dragon a mere three inches from his eyes. Ulrich also froze, his gaze trained to the small dragon.

  "Do you understand I need your loyalty?" Mandrak asked, seemingly unconcerned with the dragon clinging to his hand.

  Camdork nodded.

  "I thought you faithful until I see the way you run off to your queen," Mandrak sneered. The fighter dragon disappeared again into his wide sleeve. He released Camdork, who stumbled back.

  "Ulrich, I need a man such as yourself to accompany me on my journeys," Mandrak said.

  Ulrich stiffened. "Of course, if that is your wish," he said.

  The sorcerer stepped closer and suddenly swept his cowl back, leaving his head and face exposed to Ulrich's gaze.

  Ulrich had seen the horrors of war, fought in many bloody battles where limbs were severed or crushed, but never had he seen a face as if eaten away, where worms nested in one eye socket. It fair churned his stomach and he felt in danger of losing the little food he had partaken of hours before.

  Camdork gave a strangled cry, and Ulrich clenched his jaw. As he watched, the sorcerer's face changed, become smooth, until the skin became whole and healthy once more.