“Yeah, ‘oh’ is right. Now go on. I need to get back before Vashti misses me, ok?”
The fairy nodded, chimed something else and flew off his shoulder. She stopped, seeming to have an afterthought, flew back quickly, and kissed his cheek. Waving with slender delicate fingers, she flew up and disappeared into the trees. As Drace got to his feet he heard the giggles of several small voices above him.
He waved over his shoulder as he strolled back to camp, Pride in tow. “Bye ladies.”
Vashti looked up from cooking as he appeared. “Why are you smiling, my Lord? Whatever have you been doing?”
He accepted the cheese wrapped in the warm bread. “Just meeting new friends while I’m here in the twilight zone, and having my poor vanity eased,” he replied.
“I wondered how long they would leave you alone. Fairies love attractive men.”
Drace inhaled deeply through his nose, “Ouch,” he sighed at the twinge of pain. “I don’t know that I’d say I’m very attractive on my best day, let alone today.”
Oh, he is very wrong, thought Vashti. He is an extremely attractive man, bruises included. She flushed, embarrassed at her thoughts of his piercing eyes, sensuous mouth and athletic build. She eyed him through lowered lashes as he began to saddle Pride. Muscles rippled in his arms as he threw the draperies over the saddle, not having any means to tie them to the back of it.
Drace caught her staring at him. “What, my tail showing?” Finished with Pride, he walked back to her. “Hey, answer something for me. Can you dream that you’re having a dream? You know, actually aware of each.”
“I do not see why not,” Vashti answered, puzzled at his question.
He told her about the dream of the panther and the woman. “I could see the woman, but not her face…she was just a hint… there, but not. Oh hell! I can’t explain it. I keep waiting to wake up from this one, but it just keeps going on and on.”
“Drace, this is not a dream. This is reality. And the reality is we need to be moving on soon,” Vashti said patiently.
He squatted down next to her by the fire. “So you’re telling me you are really an elf, and I’ve done some kind of time-travel thing,” Drace said, obviously frustrated.
Vashti sighed and brushed a stray lock of hair off her check. “It is not really time travel,” she tried to explain. “It is another plane of existence. Life of all sorts is found on many different planes. There is one who will be able to explain all of that better.”
“And the elf part…?” Drace stood up, arms crossed over his chest. “Prove it.”
“Legends usually come from some fact,” she said, pulling her hair back to reveal her ears. They were slightly pointed to the tops. “Convinced?”
Drace fought the truth before him, “Oh yeah, maybe that’s a birth defect, like having an extra toe or something.”
A male voice from behind him answered, “I can assure you her toes are normal.”
Drace whirled to see a tall, slender man with long dark blond hair and brown eyes. His hair was braided back and his ears were visible and shaped exactly like Vashti’s. He had a bow and quiver of arrows slung over his back and lead a handsome bay gelding. He wore brown leather breeches and a loose fitting pale blue linen shirt with long sleeves. The hilt of a dagger showed at the top of one of his tall leather boots. Another was tucked into his belt.
Vashti gave a glad cry, jumped to her feet, and ran into the elf’s open arms. He gathered her close, buried his face in her hair, and then looked up at Drace over her shoulder. Without releasing Vashti he said, “I am Ka’Ril, Vashti’s husband.” He gave a welcoming smile.
He said something in elfish to Vashti and let her go. “I knew you would be here soon, so I was headed this way when I met the Lady’s messenger last night. I thought to ride in with you.” He extended his hand.
Drace went to take it and Ka’Ril grasped his arm just below Drace’s elbow. Drace hesitated then copied him.
“My friend,” Ka’Ril exclaimed. “What in the name of all the gods happened to you?”
Drace released the elf’s arm and chuckled. “I’m not totally sure. Drace MacKinnon—pleased to meet you.”
Vashti came between the two men, laying a hand on Drace’s arm. “If you please my Lord, we need to be leaving.”
Drace wasn’t sure what to do next, Who do these people…ah elves…think they are, taking me and dragging me around in the wilderness? I have…had…a pretty content life…isn’t this kidnapping? He decided it would be best to just follow along and to see what happened. It was this or allow himself to become seriously pissed. Besides, being alone and lost in another ‘plane of existence’ didn’t exactly tickle him either.
Both elves helped Drace back into his armor, and finished saddling Vashti’s gelding, while Drace covered the fire with dirt. The camp was quickly broken. Soon the three were riding west, leaving the woods and entering a large plain. They rode in silence. Drace really did not feel like talking anyway. He still felt the remnants of his headache, and he was trying to figure things out as he quietly fumed.
At midday, they stopped to rest the horses. Ka’Ril produced a few strips of dried meat and several apples. Ready to go hungry instead of eating more cheese and bread; Drace accepted the fruit and a strip of meat gratefully, along with an extra water skin.
Resigned to the fact he had no choice but to continue on with the elf couple, Drace decided to make the best of it, and began to take an interest in the scenery. Although much greener, the plains they traveled reminded Drace of pictures of the savanna in Africa. It was rich grassland dotted with trees and the occasional outcrop of dark grey rock. In places, the grass reached almost to the bottom of his stirrups.
At one point Drace halted and visually searched around him, perplexed at the void of animal life. He had seen the signs: scattered manure piles, hoof prints of some cloven hoofed animal, even a sandy spot where something had wallowed, but nothing alive was close by. Where are all the animals when there is so much grazing opportunity?
Drace noticed that Vashti and Ka’Ril had also stopped and sat watching him, probably thinking he was going to run off, so he asked Pride to catch up. Just where the hell do they think I’m going to go? he wondered with a pensive frown on his face.
An hour later, the three picked up a trail that became a faint dusty road.
It was mid-afternoon when the threesome stopped on a hill. Ka’Ril looked at Drace and pointed west. “There, do you see?”
Drace squinted against the sun’s glare barely able to make out what looked like a stone fortress far in the distance. “I think so. Is that where we’re headed?”
Vashti kicked her horse into a canter. “Yes, my Lord. Let us hurry.”
The sun was low over the horizon when they came to a well-traveled road and started to pass small farms and homes. Drace decided maybe it really wasn’t a dream. It’s almost a fairytale. Although he wasn’t ready to ditch the dream theory just yet.
Drace glanced at each farm and building they passed and was amazed at the broad time-scale of appearance. He couldn’t place a specific time period but guessed most were from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries. The exception was the clothing on the few people he saw. There were no modern conveyances or wire fences, no electric lines, nothing to indicate the modern era. They passed one farm where a middle-aged man was cultivating corn with a draft horse. He waved at them in a friendly manner as they galloped by.
They trotted through a large village near the fortress. The town was bustling with people about their work and children playing along the streets. Greetings were called to the two elves as they passed. As they neared the castle, the road became paved with cobblestones. Pride’s shoes striking the stones echoed against the buildings.
Once they left the village, Drace could see the stronghold clearly for the first time. It sat on top of a large, high hill. There were several orchards at the base of the hill, planted far back from the sides of the road.
The l
ong incline was covered in good grass, similar to Kentucky bluegrass, and wildflowers. Several children were playing, chasing each other among a group of sheep that grazed loose and contented outside the high outer curtain wall. The open area, while doubling as pasture, also made sure no one could approach without being seen by men upon the battlements. Four such armed men watched their arrival from the curtain wall, while two more stood outside the outer gatehouse, all armed with swords strapped around their waists, and wearing chain mail and armor.
Drace didn’t know about being in ‘another plane,’ but did feel as if he had stepped through time. Drace looked up, eyeing the metal portcullis warily as they were waved on through the immense gates.
Drace was able to look around more as they slowed to a walk once inside the outer bailey. To his left were paddocks, several horses standing dozing in the afternoon sun, or nibbling scattered hay. Two large stables were close by; a neigh from a horse inside had Pride lifting his head to answer.
To his right were several large vegetable gardens Drace assumed were for the castle’s use. Further over were smaller barns for a few cattle and the sheep. Chickens scratched in the grass around them.
Two more men greeted the elves when they passed through the large inner gates into the inner bailey, the castle rose in front of them and Drace craned his neck to look up at the red-gold stone fortress. The main body of the castle was four floors with a large, tall, square tower at each corner that raised two more floors above it. Walkways lined the top edge of the walls with stairs leading from them to the top of the towers, giving sentries outside access to the tower roofs. Men were barely visible atop the two front towers.
Heavy wooden doors, tall enough to grant access to a man on horseback, marked the main entrance, probably into a main hall. Large open windows flanked the door, wooden shutters of heavy oak ready to be closed for either weather or defense.
Moving along slowly, following Vashti and Ka’Ril, Drace saw along the inner bailey wall was two barracks, large enough to hold a considerable number of men who moved around each structure as they went about their tasks.
There were other smaller buildings nestled along the wall: a wood shed, a smithy, a smoke house, a laundry. Drace did not know the use of a couple of rooms. Close to the barracks was an armory, or weapons room, judging from the weapons and shields propped against the building’s exterior wall.
Hunger inducing smells came from a large building against the wall of the castle, causing Drace to guess correctly that it was the kitchen. His belly agreed with a rumble of hunger. A large tree shaded the kitchen’s outer entrance.
The people here appeared well fed and healthy so he thought he probably wasn’t in danger of starvation. But if he had any more meals of bread and cheese without at least a taste of meat to go with it, he just might cry.
To his dismay, they turned away from the kitchen and rode past a smaller stable to a large open area. Counting quickly, Drace saw twenty men practicing with various weapons, and several horses were being exercised at the near end. Pride’s tired walk suddenly became an excited prance, and he neighed a greeting. The exercise riders pulled up their mounts and stared with curiosity and respect, letting the trio pass. Vashti and Ka’Ril seemed intent on two people at the far corner of the training area who were engaged in a mock fight.
Both wore leather sleeveless shirts that came to their waist and matching leather breeches. Calf-high soft leather boots completed each outfit. The weapons were blunt edge swords and wooden unpainted shields. Neither participant was wearing much armor, just leather shin and lower arm guards.
Drace noticed that one fighter had dark auburn hair and was of medium build. Despite being heavily muscled and appearing to be a good fighter, he was taking a pounding from his opponent.
Drace couldn’t help but stare at the other fighter…a woman…who handled a large sword better than anyone he had ever seen. She was taller than her opponent, probably five-ten, with long tawny-blond hair in a thick braid that hung to just past her hips. She was muscular, but slender in an athletic way. Her skin was tanned golden.
After several deft moves, the man she scrimmaged hit the dirt. In an accented, velvety voice she explained something Drace couldn’t quite make out to the fallen opponent. He took her offered left hand and was helped to his feet. They repeated the last set of moves and he countered her last blow slightly different. This time he maintained his footing and made a vicious jab at her midsection. Drace gasped involuntarily as the move seemed to have deadly intent. The woman moved nimbly to the side, and backed off, lowering her sword. The woman said something to the other warrior that Drace assumed were words of praise. The man nodded to her with a slight bow. With a motion of dismissal from the woman, the man left the field, heading for the barracks.
When the woman turned to the waiting trio, Drace saw her face for the first time. “Hey, it’s her!” He put a hand on Vashti’s arm. “That’s the woman from my dream.”
The woman had the most intriguing face he had ever seen. When she came closer he could see her eyes. They were bold, slightly slanted, cat-like, and a light amber color, framed by dark blonde lashes. Her face was angular but not sharply so, with a straight nose perhaps just a touch too short. Her lips were full and at the moment curled in a disdainful smile. An image of a lioness came instantly to his mind.
A henna-like tattoo of a winged dragon rising into flight was on the bicep of her right arm, and even from a distance, he could see the incredible workmanship.
She stopped in front of Vashti. “Sorceress, I hope all is well?”
Vashti and Ka’Ril both dipped their heads in greeting. “Very well, my Lady,” Vashti replied.
The woman stuck the point of the long sword into the ground and leaned on it a bit in a nonchalant manner. “How were the plains today?”
“Very quiet my Lady. We saw not even a hare,” Ka’Ril volunteered.
“Nimbus flew today and passed over. I believe he hunted,” the woman said and turned her attention to Drace. “Is this the poor creature you were sent for? It looks like a Zakara used a mace on him.”
Drace stiffened in the saddle, causing Pride to move restlessly. “It wasn’t a mace, it was a lance,” he answered in a tight voice, “I am Drace MacKinnon, ma’am.”
“Oron told me you would arrive today. We have rooms and baths ready for you. Estelle will show you to your quarters. I will join you at the evening meal.”
She turned away without another word to the three, and then shouted across to another man waiting on the side. She gave her sword a couple of swings over her head to loosen her arm muscles and went into the next match, clearly dismissing them. Drace felt somewhat insulted, but said nothing.
The three left their horses with three men at the inner stable. Drace was nervous about leaving Pride with strangers, but Vashti reassured him the stallion would receive excellent care. Pride seemed tired enough not to be bothered by it all, being led willingly away from Drace in the stable’s direction.
Vashti directed Drace in through the side entrance into the huge kitchen area where the smells of cooking meat permeated the air. A plump, older woman greeted them. She had graying hair, which was once jet-black, and merry gray eyes. Drace immediately thought she would make a perfect grandmother for anyone. She went into mother-hen mode at their arrival, tsking and fussing. She clucked to two young women to have the hot water added to the trio’s baths.
Estelle grabbed Drace’s chin, a considerable stretch as she was not very tall, and a bit round. She turned his head right then left. “Hmmm.” She let go then lightly touched his nose making him wince. “I will have something brought up for that, right away.”
She turned and clapped at the two women. “Hurry now with the water,” she said. She turned to Vashti and the two men. “I’ll show you to your chambers. Follow me, please.” She left in a whirl of brown skirts and the dynamo bustled from the kitchen; Drace, Vashti and Ka’Ril trailing in her wake.
Drace tried
to see everything in the great hall as they passed while still keeping up with her. He caught glimpses of tapestries and weapons hanging along the wall. A large fireplace was at one end and a raised platform stood in front with a long table on it. Tables on the floor ran down the sides of the hall, leaving the center opened. He had expected rushes on the floor, like he had read about, but it was clean swept flagstones. A pair of dogs, which looked very similar to Salukis, an ancient breed originally used to hunt gazelles, lay next to a small child. The little boy sat on a blanket, his mother close by sweeping the floor. The dogs, one fawn in color, the other black, raised their heads but did not leave the child’s side as Estelle hurried her charges on through to stairs in one corner of the great hall. They went up two levels in the front tower. She paused at a door. “Your usual chambers, my dears; please make yourselves comfortable. Your hot water will be here momentarily,” she said to Vashti and Ka’Ril.
“Come sir, after me.” Again there was the whirl of skirts as she turned and resumed her climb. Despite her slightly plump physique, she was not at all out of breath. Drace could not help but smile at her perkiness. They climbed one more level and stopped before the next door. “This is your chamber, my Lord.”
She pushed through the door. “Well, come in now,” she coaxed as he hesitated in the doorway. “Let me help you with your armor. I used to help my man with his years ago. I believe I remember how to get this undone.” She began unbuckling straps before Drace could protest. She flitted around him like a bird, here, there, and soon he was standing in his linen. “You have no gear, my Lord?”
“No ma’am, I don’t,” Drace replied, his deep voice reflecting his embarrassment. “Only what I’m wearing.”
“Well now. I believe I can find something else for you to wear. You are very big though.” She tapped her lips thoughtfully. “I will have to search a little. I will find you something before you finish your bath.”
Dark Lord of Kismera: Knights of Kismera Page 3