Chael's Luck (A Knights of Dorathan Novel)

by Chester, Mireille

  “Those look deep,” muttered John.

  I glared at him. “Alright. By the looks of things, Gavin has about twenty goblins down there. We can’t circle around without being spotted so I think our only option is to go at them head on.”

  “Are we to take Sir Gavin prisoner?”

  Harry raised an eyebrow at the young Knight asking the question. “The man is about to kill his own son so he can wipe out anyone that has Knight’s blood in them… what do you think?”

  I turned Klora to face my men. “Gavin’s our main objective. Take him out.” I saluted and nodded as they all returned the honor.

  The sun sank beneath the horizon and Gavin’s laugh made its way to our ears.

  “You’re too late!” He bent over his pot and dropped something into it. I frowned as a hollow feeling started to grow where my heart was.

  “Do you feel that?”

  Mac touched his chest. “You do, too?”

  “Chaela… you have Knight’s blood in you…” Harry’s eyes were saucers in his head.

  “We’ll worry about it if we live! Attack!”

  The goblins came running toward us as we charged down the hill. Klora smashed into one with his shoulder and I swung my blades, slicing another down. I focused on Gavin, determined to stop him before he could finish with the spell. He dropped something else into the pot and muttered the part of the spell that went along with it. The feeling around my heart intensified. I groaned and tried to focus through the pain.

  Gavin grinned and I spurred Klora forward. My heart jumped in my throat as he slid his dagger across Ian’s chest. The fact that Ian barely jerked as the blade sliced through his skin was indication enough that the other cuts had been deeper than I’d thought. The blood gushed forth, slipping down his chest and into his father’s cupped hands. Realizing I wasn’t going to have enough time to get to Gavin before he dropped the final ingredient into the pot, I stopped Klora, pulling my bow from my back. I notched the arrow and let it fly, quickly following it with two more to be sure I’d hit my mark.

  Gavin cried out as the first arrow went through his hand. He fell to his knees as the second penetrated through his thigh. I watched the third arrow sink into the side of his head. He slumped sideways, only three feet from his pot of horrors.

  I jumped off of Klora and ran to the pot, kicking it off of the flames. The instant the water soaked into the ground, the pressure in my chest lifted. The Knights behind me took on the goblins with a renewed energy.

  “Ian!” I ran to him and tried to lower him gently to the ground as I cut the rope he hung from. Tears streamed down my face. I swallowed hard, trying to breathe past the sobs. “Ian, please!”

  I opened his eyes and cried harder when they closed again. His skin, grey with the lack of blood, felt cool beneath my hands as I tried to put pressure on the deepest cuts.

  “Chael! Chael, you can’t do this to me!” I lay my head on Ian’s unmoving chest and sobbed. “Chael, please!” This last plea was a whisper against Ian’s skin.

  I began to notice that everything had gone quiet. I took a few deep breaths and raised my head, rubbing my arm across my face to wipe the blood and tears from it. I blinked and frowned. The entire world around me had gone fuzzy, as if I was looking at it through the tears in my eyes. I wiped my face again, trying to get rid of the tears I’d obviously missed.

  I looked at Ian, surprised that he was still in focus.

  Someone cleared their throat and pulled I my dagger and crouched low, ready to defend Ian should I need to.

  The man looked familiar, though I wasn’t sure where I’d seen him before. I pegged him as being middle aged, in shape, and shockingly handsome with thick black hair and strange black eyes. He wore no weapons, nor armor, just a black tunic over tan deerskin pants which were tucked into dark brown leather boots.

  “Such a brave girl, my Chaela.” The man grinned.

  “Who are you?”

  His grin widened. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted. I suppose it’s not your fault. I’ve watched you from the day you were born, though you didn’t know it. You did ask me once, but I told you it was secret and you never questioned it. I’ve never had anyone named after me before and I was curious as to what kind of person you would become.”

  My jaw dropped. “Chael.”

  “Is it that shocking?”

  “Gods don’t come to this realm.”

  He shrugged. “I’m Chael… the other gods tend to expect things like this from me.”

  My anger sparked. “Well, you can bloody well go back. I’ve had enough of your luck.” I gazed at Ian’s limp form and swallowed hard. “Just leave me alone.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “Would you care to explain to me how my luck has affected your life?”

  I gawked at him. “You can’t be serious! Let me see… how about the fact that my mother died the day I was born, or better yet, the fact that I was born a girl! I spent my entire life having to prove myself because of my name. My aunt and uncle were killed because a man thought it would be a great way to frame me… my father died…” It was starting to get harder to get the words out through the sobs that were fighting their way out of me. “And now… and now… you’ve taken Ian from me…”

  Chael stayed quiet and I glanced up at him, wondering what he was thinking. He looked at me grimly.

  “Chaela, I didn’t cause those things. People like to blame me for the bad luck in their lives… that’s what I get for playing tricks on mankind when we first created you. I liked to test, to see how far a person could be pushed. It’s Chael’s luck when I’ve underestimated a person and they fail the test I’ve designed for them.” He crouched down so he could look at me closely. “Chaela, you’ve never failed your tests. Your mother dying was just life. If we intervened every time someone prayed, no one would die, lessons wouldn’t be learned, and mankind as a whole would never evolve. Your aunt and uncle and father dying, that was simply life also. We don’t control every act that happens here. You’ve all got a will of your own and unfortunately, some of you make horrible decisions.”

  “Why are you telling me all of this?”

  “You’ve blamed me for everything that went wrong in your life. Have you ever thought that maybe I’m the one you should thank for everything good that’s happened?”

  I snorted and he rolled his eyes.

  “If you hadn’t been born a girl, been brought up as a boy, been named Chael,” he grinned at the last, “would you have worked this hard for get where you are? Would you have gotten as far as you did?”

  “I’d like to think so.”

  He smiled. “Me too.”

  I frowned. “Why are you here?”

  “Chaela, even before you could talk, you chose to talk to me.” He waved away my surprise. “Yes, I heard. Most people curse me. The sound of someone simply talking to me was, shall we say, refreshing.”

  “I’ve cursed you.”

  He smiled. “Yes, and I must say, you’re quite creative with your wording.”

  “You still haven’t answered my question, Chael.”

  “Though I know you didn’t know, Chaela, I watched you grow from a determined little girl to one of the bravest and most loyal of women. I’m here because, as I’ve watched you grow, though I couldn’t chat back, I’ve tried to give you the answers you’ve sought.”

  “The dreams.”

  Chael nodded. “You want your Ian to live and I’m here to help with that.”

  “Why?”

  “You asked me please.” He laughed at my obvious shock. “Now, don’t start to get excited yet.”

  I took a deep breath and nodded.

  “For as much as I like to annoy the other gods, there are rules I refuse to break. Though I’d love nothing more than to simply bring Ian back to life and to watch the pair of you live happily ever after, I can’t. I must give you two options and you must pick one.”

  I nodded again. “Him.”

  “What?” />
  “Him. Save him and take me.”

  He smiled. “I shouldn’t be surprised, really. You’re such a selfless girl. However, the choice isn’t quite that simple.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You’re more than willing to die for those you love, we’ve seen more than enough proof of that. What the gods want to know is this… what are you willing to live without?”

  I frowned. “I still don’t understand. I won’t sacrifice another’s life to better my own.”

  He waved away the suggestion. “Chaela, you’ve worked your entire life to prove yourself. Today, you learned one thing about yourself you didn’t know.”

  “The Knight’s blood.”

  He nodded. “It’s helped you succeed, much in the same way it helps the other Knights become Knights.” He stopped talking for a moment and let what he was implying sink in. “Are you willing to give up the Knighthood to save your Ian?”

  I frowned. I’d spent the past eighteen years of my life proving myself worthy of being a Knight. Being a Knight had been my goal, my life. It was my life. I looked down to Ian and kissed him softly, my tears slipping down my cheeks and onto his. I took a deep breath and wiped them gently.

  “Take it,” I whispered.

  Chael blinked. “What was that?”

  I cleared my throat and looked him straight in the eye. “Take it.”

  “But Chaela, all these years…”

  I shook my head. “All these years, Chael, all I’ve ever done was try to prove myself to others. My father wanted me to be a Shadow and I did it. Everyone else thought I would fail, but I proved them wrong.” I took inhaled and let the breath out slowly then nodded. “It wasn’t just everyone else I had to prove myself to; I had to prove it to myself as well. More than anything, I wanted to prove them wrong.”

  I gazed down lovingly at Ian. “Ian… well… with Ian, I don’t have to prove myself. With him, I can be me. I can be Chaela, just plain and ordinary Chaela, and he loves me just the same.” I looked back to the god that was my namesake. “I’m done proving myself, Chael. I am who I am and I plan on spending the rest of my life simply being me. If that means I can’t be a Knight, then so be it. I’ve spent the past eighteen years of my life being a Knight. I think I’d like to see what else I’m capable of.”

  Chael smiled and nodded. “So be it.”

  “Wait!”

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “That was a quick change of mind.”

  I shook my head. “I’m just wondering… will I remember meeting you?”

  He smiled. “If you want to.”

  I smiled. “Thank you, Chael.”

  “It’s been my pleasure, miss Chaela. Oh, and Chaela?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “It’s just that, well, I just thought I should warn you… this is going to hurt.”

  He did nothing more than look into my eyes and the next second I was clutching my chest, sure that my heart was about to break through my ribs. I screamed while I writhed on the ground, trying to get away from the burning feeling that was engulfing me. The burning intensified and I looked at my hands, expecting to see flames burning away my skin. I glanced up and caught a glimpse of Chael’s face. I had a second to wonder why he looked like he was regretting this choice. My muscles spasmed and I lifted off the ground. His eyes widened.

  “Don’t! Don’t stop!”

  “Chaela! It can’t be worth it!”

  Another scream erupted from me and I turned to grab a hold of Ian’s cold hand. When I managed to take another breath, I sucked in two for good measure.

  “Don’t stop!”

  He gave a nod. The pain intensified and my heart gave one last pump before I felt it stop. Chael’s eyes closed and the world went black.

  *****

  “Chaela!”

  I felt the slap to my face and groaned in protest. Harry let out his breath.

  “She’s alive!”

  “What the hell happened to her? By gods, it looked like something was killing her!” Mac was kneeling beside me.

  I coughed and sucked in a breath at the pain. “Ian…” His name was more of a groan than anything else. I cleared my throat. “Ian.”

  “Chaela…” Hal hesitated. “He…he…”

  I groaned. “No… no… Chael! We had a deal!” My screaming split through my head and I clutched at it. Sobs raked through me and I rolled onto my side. I pressed face into Ian’s side. “By gods, Ian, I tried.” I wrapped my arm around him.

  “Chaela…”

  I waved away Harry’s concern. “Leave me be. I just… I need a minute with him…” I wasn’t sure how they heard me through the sobs, but they all moved away as I’d asked. “Ian,” I whispered. “Ian, I’m sorry.” I tried to calm myself. “I never should have let you come on your own. I should have come… I should have known…”

  I jumped at the feel of a hand over mine. I looked up and saw Chael rolling his eyes at me.

  “Humans…” he grumbled. “Always so impatient.” He smiled. “Enjoy your life, Chaela.” He placed his other hand over Ian’s heart and I watched as the man I loved jerked before taking a breath. I held mine and watched as he took another and another. Chael grinned, nodded to the pair of us, turned and walked until he disappeared from sight. Ian groaned.

  “Chaela…”

  Unable to talk through the tears, I sat up and looked into his amazing grey eyes. He swallowed hard and gently touched my cheek. He frowned.

  “I dreamt that Chael…”

  I nodded.

  “Chaela. Everything you’ve worked for…” Ian shook his head.

  I rubbed my cheek against his palm and closed my eyes. “Was worth giving up to be with you.”

  His other hand came up so that he was holding my face. His thumb brushed the tears from my cheeks before he pulled me down to him. His lips brushed mine and I didn’t bother to hide the shiver that ran through me. I took a deep breath and brushed the hair out of his eyes.

  “I do love you, Ian.”

  He smiled. “I’ll never doubt it.” He wrapped his arms around me and crushed me to his chest. “I do love you, Chaela.”

  I tightened my hold on him. “I know.”

  I heard the others running toward us.

  “What, in the name of the gods, just happened here?” Mac touched my back. “Chaela, get off of the man so we can wrap up the cuts.”

  I kissed Ian once more for good measure before doing as I was told. Harry passed me a water canteen and I thanked him.

  “Did we lose anyone?”

  Hal grinned. “Not one man. Or woman.”

  I laughed and groaned. “By gods, I feel like Klora’s thrown me twenty feet into the air. I looked up into the black sky and smiled. “Thank you, Chael,” I murmured.

  John raised an eyebrow at me. “That’s not usually the god most people thank.”

  I grinned. “Most people aren’t named after him.” I watched as the men who weren’t too injured started fires and set up camp while others moved the goblin bodies into a pile out of the way. Ian sat up, his cuts cleaned and his chest bandaged. I placed our blankets near one of the fires and smiled as he sat beside me.

  He frowned. “Chaela…”

  “Don’t.”

  “But.”

  “No. Not a word. You won’t blame yourself for this and you won’t question my actions.” I leaned into him and he put his arm around me. “Ian, with you, I can be me without having to prove myself. You’ve helped me find myself. In the past few months, I have felt a freedom I’ve never felt before and you’ve been a big part of it.” I closed my eyes at the feel of his lips on my hair. “I do love you Ian.”

  “And I, you.” He lay us down and looked deeply into my eyes. He smiled softly. “Does this mean you’ll agree to be my wife, then?”

  I frowned then kissed him as his smile left. “Of course. I just… I’d never really thought about being a wife.” I started to laugh. “You do know I’ll make a horrible wife.”
r />   He grinned. “You’ll be mine and that’s all that matters.”

  “I can’t sew.”

  “I can. I can’t cook.”

  I kissed him. “So I’ve noticed. Cooking, however, is something I happen to be good at.” I sighed and snuggled into his chest, careful not to hurt him. Around us, the others were settling in for the night.

  “Goodnight, Ian.”

  “Sweet dreams, Chaela.”

  *****

  In my dream, I felt peaceful. I was lying on a bed with Ian pressed against my back, his arm around me. His lips brushed the back of my neck and I shivered.

  “Good morning,” he mumbled against my skin.

  “Good morning.” I stretched and turned so I could kiss him.

  He smiled. “Is coffee made, yet?

  I grinned. “Coffee’s your job in the morning.”

  He groaned and pulled me tightly to his chest. “Alright.” He stood and pulled his pants on. I watched as he went into the kitchen.

  “Good morning.”

  I jumped and pulled my dagger from off the nightstand. I frowned at the chuckle that came from the corner of the room.

  “Is that any way to greet your favorite god?” Chael walked out of the shadows and sat on the bed. I looked toward the kitchen and Chael shook his head. “He won’t realize I’m here.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “I just wanted to see how you were doing?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “I can see that. It’s not very often that a person goes through what you just did and still manages to have a dream this peaceful, just hours after the fact. You truly were ready to get rid of your Knight’s blood to spend the rest of your days with this man.”