“Just follow my lead.” He pressed his lips to my knuckles. “I won’t let you trip.” He took a step back, his whole hold on my body pulling me along. I gazed into his piercing eyes and soon, all I could hear was the music; all I could feel was the strength in his arms as they moved me along with him.
The song ended and he bent down to kiss the end of my nose. “See,” he whispered softly. “That wasn’t so bad.”
I smiled then frowned as his father appeared behind him.
“Why don’t you take your lying whore and leave? The pair of you aren’t wanted here.”
Ian spun, his one hand grabbing his father by the shoulder while the other connected with the man’s face before clasping around the front of his throat.
“You’d do well to keep your mouth shut. Why does it bother you that I’m here? Is it because people can finally see your true colors? You’re the lying bastard. You preached to me about honor and loyalty from the moment I was born and yet the moment I questioned something, you cast me out and told the world I had died.” He pushed his father away. “Stay away from us.”
Everyone watched his father wipe the blood on his lip.
I reached for Ian’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Let’s take a walk.”
He gave a nod and I started to lead him toward the doors that led to the gardens. I frowned as four of the older Knights blocked our path.
“We thought we’d remind you that even though your friends are putting quite a display on your behalf, rules were still broken. What your father did was unforgiveable. To say the least, the man is lucky he died before this came to light.”
My heart was pounding in my chest.
“My father did nothing wrong. It was my life that was the lie, not his.”
“But he encouraged it. He was the one who thought this up.”
“My father was a good man.”
“Your father was a fool.”
Someone standing behind us cleared his throat. The Knights before me saluted.
“Is there a problem here?” General Krane stood beside me.
“No, Sir.” The four of them turned on their heels and left.
The General gave us a nod and walked back to the banquet. Ian changed our direction and led me out the doors that led to the hallway. I followed him, trying to keep the tears from falling. He pushed open the door to my room and closed it quickly behind us, dropping the lock into place. He walked toward the bed and spun back toward me.
“Your father was a brilliant man who was able to see your true character. Where most fathers would have looked at their daughter and started to plan who he would marry her off to, yours took the time to teach you all he knew.” He held my face and wiped the tears from my cheeks. “Don’t you ever let them tell you otherwise.”
I nodded and took a deep breath. “And your father is an ass for not being able to see what an honorable and loyal man you have become.” I stood on my tip toes and kissed him softly. I turned and lifted my hair up. “Can you get the laces please? I need to get a tunic on.” I shivered as his lips brushed against the back of my neck. I heard him dip a cloth in the wash basin before he gently turned me so that I faced him again.
“You looked like a dream tonight,” he murmured softly. He brought the cloth up and proceeded to wipe my face. I frowned but let him do as he pleased. He smiled. “Ah, there she is.”
“Who’s that?”
“The Chaela I love.”
I laughed and went to find my clothes. “Chael’s luck and damn it all.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Jasmine took my clothes to wash them and she never brought them back.”
Ian proceeded to take his jacket off and pulled the tunic over his head. “Here. This should cover you.”
I pulled it over my head, wiggled my arms out of the dress, and smoothed the tunic down as I stepped out of the gown. I frowned as Ian swallowed hard.
“What’s wrong?”
He blinked and shook his head. “You’d better get under the covers.” He watched as I did as I was told. He slid in beside me and I kissed his chest. I sighed at the feel of his fingers running up and down my back.
“Chaela…”
I looked up and found myself looking into his piercing grey eyes. My heart skipped at the look in them. I reached up and ran a hand through his hair, pulling him down to me. His lips brushed against mine and his tongue slipped across them. I wiggled so that I was more under him. His groan vibrated through both of us.
“Tell me no, Chaela.” He contradicted himself by letting his hand move up under the shirt I’d worn to bed. Though I had no clue what I was doing, my body seemed to know exactly what it wanted and I gave it free rein to do as it wished.
Ian ran his fingers along my ribs, down to my hip, and back up again.
“Can I take it off?” His voice was husky and my whole body tightened at the sound of it. I nodded. He tugged the tunic over my head. “By gods, you’re beautiful.”
I blushed as he sat, letting his gaze move over my bare body. He brought his lips back down to mine, his body pressing me into the mattress.
“Gods, Ian.” I arched up into him, my fingers grabbing handfuls of his hair as his hand trailed down my body.
“Chaela, if I hurt you…”
I shook my head. “I trust you, Ian.”
He groaned and brought his lips down to mine. Whatever I’d been expecting was nothing to how I was feeling at this moment. Ian’s slow attention and movements continued until I found myself boneless under him, my breaths short pants of pleasure. Ian brought his face down to my neck, his words hot puffs of air against my skin.
“You’re alright?”
I nodded, still too out of breath to talk. He got off of me slowly.
“Don’t move.” He went to the other room and reappeared a few minutes later with the wash basin and a clean cloth. He dipped the cloth, wrung it out, and wiped me down gingerly. When he’d finished cleaning me, he crawled into bed and pulled the covers over us and I pressed my back against his chest, the sensation of skin on skin along my entire body sending a shiver running through me. His lips pressed to my neck.
“I do love you, Chaela.”
I smiled and snuggled as close to him as I could, linking my fingers with his. I yawn which caused him to chuckle.
“And I love you, Ian.”
*****
“Sir Chael!”
I jerked awake at the sound of my name being screamed down the hallway.
“Sir Chael!”
There was pounding at the door and I wrapped the sheet around myself as Ian pulled on his pants. He went to the door.
“Sir Chael!” Nate rushed into the room and stopped short at the sight of me in my sheet.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
The boy quickly composed himself. “It’s Klora, sir! Miss! I…”
I waved off his confusion. “How did Klora get here?”
“There’s actually the three, sir. Klora, Klard, and a mare I’ve never seen before.”
“That would be True.” I made to get out of bed and stopped. “Where are they?”
“They’re in the stables Sir. Just as I was getting to work a few minutes ago, a strange little man with white hair was walking out of the barns. He told me to tell the two of you to be careful and you’d be in need of the horses.”
“Blarenagin,” mumbled Ian. “What else did he say?”
“It’s, well, it doesn’t make sense, but he told me to memorize this word for word.” He closed his eyes. “Tell them that the key to finding the book goes over her head. He said that when you had that bit figured out, all you’d need would be trust.”
Ian frowned. “I hate riddles, but that doesn’t explain why you came barging in here screaming at the top of your lungs.”
I sighed and shook my head. “He’s destroying the stall?”
Nate nodded just as Jasmine entered the room with my clothes. I grinned.
“You have perfect t
iming.” I turned to the lad. “I’ll be right there.”
He nodded and raced away. I pulled my dark green tunic over my head and slipped on my pants.
“I’ll be back.” I was just stepping into the hallway when the alert for intruders sounded. Ian tossed me my slaggens and I strapped them to my back. Nate ran back into the room, stopping a fraction of a second to take a few deep gulps of air.
“Sir… Sir Mac… The great hall… I’ll try… to calm Klora…”
I nodded and Ian and I ran toward the great hall. Ian pushed the doors open and we made our way to where a group was gathering. Sir Gavin glared at his son.
“What’s amiss?” I questioned, ignoring the stares from some of the Knights that hadn’t heard of me yet.
General Krane ran a hand over his face. “The book’s been stolen.”
My heart dropped. “Chael’s luck and blast it all,” I mumbled. Ian put a hand on my shoulder.
“We found it once. We’ll find it again.”
“How did they get in the palace vault?” I frowned.
“Whoever it was knew where to look and how to disarm all the traps.”
“A Knight,” grumbled Harry.
Everyone looked at him, shocked by suggestion. His brother nodded. “It has to be. No one else knows them.”
“Caleb,” I growled and looked up at Ian. “We have to go now. The longer we wait, the farther he gets.
“How do you plan on finding out where he is?” questioned the General.
“I have no idea, but Blarenagin said we’d be able to find the book should it go missing.”
“Sir, I’d like permission to go along.” Mac stepped forward. Harry and Hal went to stand by him. The General nodded and tilted his head in question at John, who was looking uncomfortable.
“Sir John? How about you?”
John ran a hand through his hair and met his father’s hard gaze before nodding to the General. “Yes, Sir. I’d like to be included.”
“John!” His father’s voice was low but held all the warning of a parent who promised to spank a child once they got home.
John shook his head. “I’m going with Chaela, father.”
The General nodded. “Go saddle your horses. I’ll have someone meet you at the gates with supplies for your trip.” He dismissed us with a salute and we hurried to the stables.
“Damn it, Klora!” The stable boy’s exasperation sounded from inside the barn. He turned toward us, relief clear on his face at the sight of me, though I noticed the two weren’t battling nearly as badly as they usually did. I gave a soft whistle and the slamming inside the stall stopped.
“Klora, you really need to stop giving Nate such a hard time.” I patted his nose as he stuck his head over the half door to look at me. Klard and True nickered their welcome.
“So what’s the plan, then?” inquired Harry as he threw his saddle on his horse.
“I’ve not a clue, to be honest.” I opened the stall door and grinned at the sight of Whisk. “Blarenagin said that the key to finding the book would go over my head and that once we’d figured that out, all we would need would be trust.”
Hal frowned. “Does that make any sense to you?”
“Not even a bit.”
We mounted and trotted the horses toward the gate. By the time we got there, a crowd had started to gather to see us off. General Krane watched as the pack horses were led to us. Micheal, Greg, and Brent, all of whom had been a part of our training group, were joined by quite a few of the Knights that were stationed in the city at this time. I watched as Mac leaned down and kissed Jasmine softly.
“Knights! May your travels be safe and your quest successful.” General Krane as well as the Knights not coming with us saluted. We returned the honor.
“To the end!” Our motto echoed through the calm morning air. I smiled at Ian as we wheeled the horses away and galloped toward the woods.
Chapter Six
I fidgeted and rolled my shoulders. The fire crackled, the soft glow of the flames dancing over the sleeping knights under me. I shifted on the branch where I sat. Ian glanced at me from his tree.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Something’s wrong. You haven’t stopped fidgeting since we decided to make camp.”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I feel… I feel like we’re heading in the wrong direction.”
He frowned. “What do you think Blarenagin meant about something going over your head?”
I grinned, unable to help myself. “Maybe he meant I was daft.”
He laughed. “I don’t think that was it. Your tunic? That goes over your head.”
“Hmmm. You know, it didn’t occur to me he might mean it literally. Let’s suppose that’s what he meant… I don’t think it’s my tunic.”
“Your slaggens? They go over your head when you pull them out of their scabbards.”
“That would seem a bit more appropriate.” I reached back and touched them. “They don’t feel any different.” I scratched at an itch on my collar bone before pulling one of them out to inspect it. I shook my head.
Mac yawned and stretched before poking John in the ribs. They each climbed a tree and nodded to us as we climbed down. I laid my weapons beside my blankets then climbed under them and sighed as Ian pulled me to his chest. He pressed his lips to the back of my neck.
“Good night, Chaela.”
“Sweet dreams, Ian.”
Try as I might, I was unable to fall asleep. My skin crawled and the feeling that I was being watched intensified.
“Goblins!” Mac dropped from his tree and I rolled out of the blankets, pulling my slaggens out of the scabbards simultaneously. Ian’s sword rang as he drew it. The six of us stood back to back, watching as the goblins surrounded us. Twelve pairs of slitted yellow eyes focused on us.
One of them focused on me.
“The old man wants the girl,” it hissed.
Ian’s body tensed beside me and the goblins charged. Ian and Mac each put an arm in front of me and pushed me behind them so that I stood with all of my friends backs turned towards me. Ian brought his sword up and blocked a blow. I heard Mac’s sword as it connected with another goblin’s weapon. I tried to push my way past the wall of bodies around me.
“Stay back there,” grunted Harry as he stopped a charging goblin. It screamed as his dagger plunged into its abdomen. Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust at the black blood on his hand.
“I can fight, you bloody idiot!” I tried to get past Ian who pushed me back. “By gods, Ian! Now’s not the time to start treating me like a woman!”
He hissed as a dagger slipped over his forearm. He pulled his small knife and threw it. The goblin clutched his eye and started to run away.
“This has nothing to do with you being a woman! You’re their main target!”
I turned away from him and found an opening between Harry and Hal. Hal pushed a goblin away and tripped. The ugly creature grinned and leapt at him. I swung my slaggen in an arc and managed to take his hand off at the wrist. Behind me, I heard Mac cry out. Ian grunted and John hissed. I focused on the goblin approaching me. Its pointy teeth, brown and black with rot, pushed past its thin lips. I brought my slaggens up in a defensive pose, waiting for him to come at me. I frowned as he reached into a satchel at his side. He held his hand out to me, palm up, and blew. His fowl breath mixed with the powder in his hand and carried to my face. My next breath caused me to cough.
I heard Ian yell my name just as I fell to the ground. I clawed at my eyes and nose, trying to get the powder off of them. The darkness closed in with every breath I took. The last thing I remembered was the sound of something heavy falling near me.
*****
“Ian! By gods, man, wake up!”
Ian groaned and brought his hands to his head which felt about to explode.
“Chaela!” Her name was more of a groan than a word.
“She’s gone.” Mac pu
lled him to his feet and he proceeded to feel his head for injuries. He frowned.
“Bloody hell, what did they do to me?”
“I’m not sure. It was some sort of powder. That’s how they got Chaela.”
Ian looked around to the Knights in front of him. Mac had a black eye and fat lip, Harry was bleeding from a wound on his leg, Hal was limping but seemed fine otherwise, and John sat with his shirt off, a bandage already tied around his chest.
“Everyone’s alright?”
They all nodded.
“Who’s the old man? Who sent them?”
He frowned at all the head shaking happening. “We don’t know anything?” He sat heavily, his head in his hands, willing the headache to go away and for answers to appear. The hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach intensified. He rolled to the side and threw up.
“Is it your head?” Harry was getting the horses together.
“No.” He thought of the fact that someone had Chaela and that he’d been unable to stop them and his stomach heaved again. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, wiped the tears from his eyes, and stood. “Let’s go.”
Hal frowned. “Where? We don’t know who took her!”
Ian growled in frustration. “Well, we can’t just sit here!” He mounted Klard and promptly slid off as the fire light made something shine on the ground.
The Knights watched as he bent to pick it up.
“What is it?” John was tugging his tunic back over his head.
Ian’s throat tightened and he swallowed hard. “It’s her chain.” He frowned. “It’s still done up? How did it come off of her?”
“Maybe it caught on something when they started to drag her away.” Harry shrugged. Ian looped the chain around his wrist until he was sure it wouldn’t fall off. He took Klora and True by the reins and stopped short once again.
“Where’s Whisk?”
Hal pointed to the west. “The last I saw of him he was chasing after the goblins.”
Ian held his breath, scared that his idea wouldn’t work. He patted Klora between the eyes to settle him down and remembered a story Chaela had told him. She’d followed a couple of goblins and strayed farther than she’d intended, a mistake that had left her hiding in a small cave for two days from the beings she’d been stalking. The only thing that had saved her had been Klora, who’d led Mac and John to her.
Chael's Luck (A Knights of Dorathan Novel) Page 15