“Sir Christopher taught me.”
“That’s right. He did. Remember, don’t be too stiff. The horse can sense when you’re afraid.”
She let him help her up onto the horse. A few dozen villagers had come to see them off as well. Many still avoided her gaze and stood to the other side of the knights and their horses, but many of them watched Peter with wondering eyes.
“It must frighten them to remember the way they treated him,” Katy said smugly. “Such a knight must frighten anyone on the wrong side of the law.”
The firin’s eyes darted to Peter once before returning to her. “Have you eaten anything this morning?”
“The innkeep’s wife gave me some bread and milk. Are you sure you can’t come with us?”
He gave her a kind smile and patted her leg. “I’m afraid I’m not feeling well enough for this particular trip. Maybe next time, though.”
“Do you need me to stay?” Katy began to climb off her horse, but the firin reached up and held her in place.
“It’s only a case of stiff knees with all this early autumn air. It’ll be much better in the summer, I’m sure. We all get old at some point. But as for you,” he said, fixing her with a heavy stare, “I will be hearing from Peter sooner or later, and when I do, I expect to hear that you have done your best to live.”
She frowned down at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I mean you need to trust Atharo. Stop trying to predict your own doom and see what He has planned for you.” He glanced at Peter and then gave Katy a wink. “And don’t judge the boy too harshly. He’s young, but he’ll eventually see the world for what it is.”
She gave him a doubtful look. “There’s a reason everyone thinks you’re crazy.”
“Crazy. Desperate. Imaginative. It’s all very well. But I know what I was made to be.” He gave her leg another pat and handed her the reins. “My prayer is that you discover the same thing for yourself.”
“Are we ready?” The knight who had stayed with her yesterday, Sir Antony, rode up.
Katy did her best to smile and nod.
“Miss McKine, you will ride here, in the center of the triangle.” He took the reins from her and led her horse until it was standing several yards behind Peter and his horse.
“A triangle?”
“We will ride in a triangle around you. The—Peter will ride just ahead of you at the point, and the rest of us will ride on each of your sides and just behind you. We’ll stay that way until we reach the mountain. Then you’ll simply ride in the center.”
“What is all of this for?”
Sir Antony glanced in the direction of the forest, though its edge was invisible still in the dark of early morning. “Just a precaution.”
Katy wished to inquire further, but Sir Antony was already busy again. So she sent one more long look back at the firin. He gave her his familiar tight-lipped smile, and Katy’s heart hurt.
Let me see him again, she silently pleaded to Atharo. Don’t let this be the last time.
“Are you ready?” Peter called over his shoulder.
“As ready as ever, I suppose.”
“You’re going to love it!” His voice was quivering with excitement, and Katy almost laughed.
“That’s what you said about the rope swing over the brook.”
“And what did you think about that?”
“It was wonderful. Right until I ended up in the water.”
He scoffed. “I pulled you out.”
“I pulled myself out! And you, when you fell in trying to get me!”
Peter’s laughter was infectious, and Katy found herself laughing right along with him.
“I’m telling the truth,” he said. “You’ll love it. And if you fall in any water, I’ll make sure you get out, eventually.”
The sky had just turned gray when Peter finally deemed them ready to go. With their food sacks heavy at the horses’ sides and the knights in their triangle around Katy, Peter gave the signal and they were off.
As they started up the road, Katy turned once more to see Downing. The crowd had grown and now seemed to have over a hundred people, so it took her a moment to find the firin’s face. When she did, however, she found herself suddenly smiling when he raised his hand and waved. Her breath caught in her throat as she faced forward once again toward the fields and the mountains behind them.
It was hard not to study Peter as he led the group, hard not to be in awe of what he had become. The skinny boy who had hardly been able to lift a sword until he was ten was still thin, but what little she could see of his neck was muscled. His dark hair had been cut shorter than she could ever remember it being, but she supposed that made it easier for him to do as he pleased without having to brush it. As children, she’d once asked his father if he’d even owned a brush, which had brought a great bellowing laugh from the usually quiet Sir Christopher.
There was an eagerness to Peter’s posture, a confidence she had never before seen. She found that this made her happy. And a little nervous.
The ocean and its port slowly shrunk as they raced away from it, and the mountain seemed to grow by the minute. The empty fields of grass, mostly Sir Christopher’s land, long neglected, seemed to wave goodbye as she went. On her right, the arms of the trees at the edge of the distant forest did the same, and to her left, the taller bluffs seemed to salute their little group. Eventually, the forest would grow closer and the ground beneath them would rise. But for now, they tread an open, easy road.
Sir Antony had said they would start the journey at a fast pace and then slow as they grew closer to the mountains and the forest crowded closer to the road. It should be an easy first day, he’d assured her. But as her horse picked up speed, Katy was hit by the familiar sensation once again, the wild tinge she’d felt in the air two days before on her way home, then again in the ravine with Peter.
For the first time, though, Katy welcomed it. For though the wind was wild, so was she. So was her decision to take this chance. There was very little chance Peter would find anything that would stop the swirling powers inside her.
But there was still a chance.
Maybe, if she allowed herself enough space to live…to really live, there would be enough room in that new life to hope in the dreams she’d once entertained.
If this is where you want me, she silently told Atharo, I will try.
* * *
“You didn’t enjoy our little jaunt?”
Katy looked up to see the youngest of the knights grinning at her. He was unloading his horse in the clearing they’d stopped at between the road and the distant edge of the forest.
“Oh, it was…interesting, Sir…?”
“Benjamin. Sir Benjamin.” He took her hand and kissed it, bowing low to the ground with a large flourish.
“Sir Nothing yet.” An older knight thumped him on the head and scowled. “Excuse his poor manners, my lady. Benjamin here is a squire. Meaning he’s not yet a knight. Now come, you,” he told the young man. “If you want any supper, you’ll make the fire and quit flirting with everything that moves.”
Katy couldn’t help but smile as the young man nodded and followed, looking quite dejected as he did.
“If that boy ever learns his place, it will be a miracle.”
She turned to find Peter beside her, shaking his head in Benjamin’s direction.
“What you mean?”
“Benjamin joined us less than a fortnight ago. I’ve never seen any squire so enthusiastic, yet so reluctant to learn. He’s the youngest son of an earl. At first I felt sorry for him, as he has very little to inherit, and his older brothers can be rather cruel, but by the eve of his first day, I began to realize that the boy has the ability to drive even the most gentle soul mad for all of his talking and very little doing.” Peter put his arm around her shoulder. “Come. You’ve met Sir Antony, but I’ll introduce you to the rest of the knights.”
As they moved across the clearing, Katy felt her heart bea
t a little unevenly. Peter had always been tall. Unusually so. But his gangly limbs had always felt familiar, safe. As a child she’d thought nothing of wrestling with him or climbing all over him to get up trees or rocks or other forbidden places that she was too short to reach. Now walking beside him felt odd. When he spoke and teased her, he still felt like her Peter. But whenever he moved or donned that serious expression, the one he wore when he was focused on the other men or some knightly duty, he seemed like…
Well, a man. He felt like a man.
And while Katy knew Peter the boy, Peter the man was a mystery and a stranger, one that made her want to hide in the corner and watch him in awe. With the exception of Firin Reaghan, Katy hadn’t spent time around men since Sir Christopher died. And now that she was in the presence of seven of them, she wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself.
“That’s Sir Domnhall.” Peter reclaimed her attention, pointing to a man tending to the horses who had more gray hair than black. “He’s the only knight still serving who served with my father.”
The man waved back. “But Domnhall is a mouthful, my lady.” He grinned. “You may call me Dom.”
“And this is Sir Carey,” Peter said, pointing to another man who looked to be slightly younger than Sir Dom. He was standing closest to the edge of the forest, staring into the darkness. His hair was so blond it was nearly white, and he wore a solemn expression on his wide, square face as he focused on the darkness.
“What is he doing?” Katy leaned in to whisper.
“Carey doesn’t talk much, but he’s the best tracker I’ve ever seen. The man can find a lost sheep three days after it’s gone missing. He also has an uncanny ability to sense danger before it arrives. Quite handy, really.”
He turned to point to the man who had led Benjamin away. Now the two were building a fire. “That over there is Sir Briant. That man has the heart of a holy man.”
Katy looked up at him quizzically, and he rolled his eyes and gave her a wry grin. “You would have to, to put up with Benjamin for very long. But for some reason, he’s seen fit to take Benjamin under his wing.” Peter ran his hand through his hair. “I’m indebted to him for that, really. Overseeing the squires is my responsibility really, but I’ve been short on time as of late.”
“Your uncle?” Katy guessed.
He nodded, a pained expression on his face. “I’m afraid so.”
Katy glanced around again at the men. They were all of varying ages and, she guessed, diverse experiences. And as Peter was twenty-two years, she couldn’t help wondering just how Peter had become their leader at such a young age. “Peter,” she shuffled her boots, “what position does your uncle hold exactly? It seems quite important.” She waited, but he seemed lost in thought. “Peter?”
“Oh. I...It will be easier to explain when we get there, I suppose,” he said quickly. “Come meet Sir Tomas.”
Katy wasn’t about to be distracted, but she found that she liked Sir Tomas very much. He also had a touch of gray in his dark hair, but his green eyes were bright and his smile kind.
“How many years have you, my dear?” he asked Katy as he counted arrows.
“Twenty, sir. I will have twenty-one in the autumn.”
“Is that right now?” He smiled at Peter. “I’ve three daughters of my own, just a few years younger than yourself.” He nodded at the other knights. “If any of these hooligans give you trouble and you can’t find your friend around, just let me know. I’ll have their hides quicker than they can blink.”
Katy got the feeling there was only one man in their present party that might possibly fit the description of “hooligan,” but she grinned and thanked him just the same.
As the men set up camp, Katy could see why knights had such a reputation for their speed. In less than fifteen minutes, the clearing had been stripped of all fresh grass, branches, and brambles, a fire had been built, sleeping mats were rolled out, and thin, dry strips of herb bread were warming over the quickly dug fire pit. Soon everyone but Sir Carey was gathered around the fire with their bread, dried meat, and cider.
“Isn’t Sir Carey coming to eat?” Katy asked, glancing over at where the yellow-haired knight was still staring into the forest.
“He’ll eat later,” Peter said. “We never leave our backs unprotected, particularly when we’re so close to the forest. So we take turns watching the woods.”
“The tree are a good fifty meters away,” Katy said. “Are we in that much danger?”
“Most likely not,” Sir Domnhall said. “But one can never be too confident around the forest.” He looked at Peter. “Particularly after whatever you sensed yesterday.”
Katy recalled the strange change in the forest’s edge and the wild whisper on the wind. A little shiver went down her back.
“I’ll bet this is a poor meal for yourself,” Benjamin said between bites, grinning whenever his mouth somehow remained closed. “You’re probably a much better cook than Briant here.”
Katy smiled but merely chewed her own bread.
“Tell us,” Benjamin pressed. “What kind of food would you eat before you came gallivanting off with us?”
“Benjamin.” Sir Briant shook his head. “Let’s not pepper our guest with questions while she’s trying to eat.”
Benjamin grimaced at the older knight. “I’m only asking her what she ate.”
“Well,” Katy said, studying her own bread carefully, “if the weather was good, we would have the wild berries I picked each day. The chicken would lay an egg each morning, and there were usually a few slices of bread if we managed to get enough grain that week. Often, I would go to Peter’s old house and find dried corn to take back and make into cornmeal.”
An uncomfortable silence filled the air until Benjamin said loudly, “That’s all?” Then he shook his head.
“Benjamin!” This time, Peter spoke, his voice harsher than Katy had ever heard it before. “That’s enough.”
“But I—”
“Will do as you’re told and eat your food in silence.” Peter raised his eyebrows. “Am I understood?”
Benjamin gave a deep sigh, but he nodded and took a few more pieces of dried meat.
“So,” Katy said, hoping to ward off any more of Benjamin’s questions. “What exactly is the Kingsguard? I heard someone mention that’s what you all are called.”
“The Kingsguard,” Antony said, brushing off his hands, “is the hand-selected group of knights that acts as the king’s personal guard. They can protect him or they can do his bidding.”
“What makes you different from other knights then?”
“The Kingsguard is privy to the king’s secrets. We know more than anyone else in the kingdom. It allows us to undertake missions of the most dangerous and delicate sort.”
Katy looked up at Peter, who was studying his food with great interest. “Are you the head of the Kingsguard?”
Peter began to nod, but Benjamin burst out laughing.
“Just wait until Lady Saraid learns she’s been courted by a knight!”
“Benjamin!” Peter barked. “That’s enough!”
“What does he mean?” Katy looked back and forth between the young man and Peter.
“Nothing,” Peter growled as he glowered across the fire at Benjamin.
“No, really!” She put her food down and turned to face him. “I mean it. What is he talking about?”
“It’s nothing,” Peter said emphatically.
She stood and folded her arms. “Peter, you’re hiding something from me. And I’m not going a step farther until you tell me what it is.” She swallowed hard. “Who is your uncle?”
Peter stared at her for a long time through his storm-blue eyes. No one moved, not even Benjamin. An eternity seemed to stretch as they watched one another. And with each second he delayed, Katy felt the foundation of her confidence crumble just a little bit more.
“My uncle is the king,” Peter finally said in a low voice.
Tomas slapped
the back of Benjamin’s head.
Katy struggled to find her voice, trying to sound as if she weren’t in utter shock. “Which would make you what? An earl? A duke?”
Peter stared at her for another eternity, his lower jaw working the way it always did when he was frustrated.
“Pe—”
“Crown prince.”
Katy’s self-control slipped away as all the air rushed from her lungs.
“At least, I will be once we get back. Officially, anyhow.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but Katy couldn’t stay to watch. Large tears were threatening to escape her eyes, and she had no desire to lose control in front of all the king’s knights.
And least of all, the prince.
Taking deep breaths, she walked away from the camp back toward the road.
“Katy?”
She heard him rise, but she continued to walk.
“Katy!”
Katy stopped at the horse she’d been given and leaned against its side, her breath coming in and out too fast. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if that would change anything. Heavy bootsteps crunched behind her, but she couldn’t raise her head.
“You lied to me,” she whispered.
“I never—”
“Crown prince. Crown prince!” She finally turned to look at him, no longer able to keep the angry tears at bay. “And you couldn’t tell me?”
“Believe me. I wanted to. But it wasn’t my secret to tell.”
She rolled her eyes.
“After my mother and sister were killed by the olcs, it was imperative that I stay hidden. That’s why my father moved us out here and brought Odhran and Firin Reaghan with him. He found the smallest coastal village on the isle where no one would know who or what he was, bought a farm on its outskirts, and stocked it full of food and weapons. When I was old enough to know, he told me, but I was forbidden to share it with anyone else. I wasn’t even supposed to discuss it with him unless we were alone and he’d taken all the precautions to make sure no one could hear us. It was all to protect me. Besides,” he frowned at her, “I knew that when I eventually did tell you, you would do this.”
The Autumn Fairy (The Autumn Fairy Trilogy Book 1) Page 7