Dark Lord of Kismera: Knights of Kismera

by Tamara H Hartl

  She walked up to him. He took a step back. From now on I won’t be bested.

  “Relax human,” she said in a more soothing tone and placed a hand on his sword arm. “You drew blood. You have learned to follow your instincts regardless of who you face. I will tell you when the time comes to pull your blows.”

  Drace shook his head as if trying to clear it. His dark hair was sweat soaked and a lock of it fell over one eye. Ki brushed it away for him and he flinched at her touch. She touched his cheek where she had hit him and, although it was tender, this time he did not move at all.

  “Have Estelle order you a bath and something for this. You did well today,” she said in a low voice. “I see you wondering. Cearan and I are Lion-kin. We can shape shift at will. It can be advantageous at times. Now go. We will talk more of this and Nimbus’ plans later.”

  “So brother, what did you think?” Ki asked Cearan after Drace left.

  Cearan looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbing his chin, then he answered, “I think once the scare wore off he was a bit angry.” He turned to look at her. “He looked like he fought well enough. What is your opinion?”

  She wiped her lip, which still bled a bit. “I surely was not expecting him to hit me, especially after the shift. The man can actually fight. Right at the end his ire was up and he forgot to pull his blows. I had to really watch myself. I think he will be a great fighter one day.”

  She turned to walk to the castle, Cearan at her side. “He is a natural fighter. We have only a seven-day more to work with him then we must ride to Ferndale.”

  Stopping, Cearan nodded acknowledgement and then watched her walk away.

  Chapter Six

  DRACE LEANED BACK in the tub, letting Estelle daub her foul-smelling concoction on his bruised check and clawed shoulders. His broken nose had healed, but he kept receiving a steady supply of marks and bruises for her to fuss over. He closed his eyes and sighed.

  Estelle ruffled his dark hair affectionately and stood up from the stool behind him. “I’ll be back in a few moments with your towel, my Lord. Relax in your bath. It will take the soreness away.”

  Drowsy from the heat of the water, Drace yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth. “Thanks Estelle.” He took a deep breath and sank even deeper in the tub, knees bent to accommodate his height. His mind drifted from the week’s events with Lady Ki, to thoughts of nothing, as he dozed off.

  Sometime later, the door open, waking him. His eyes remained closed; he barely heard Estelle move the stool to sit beside him as fingers gently touched his cheek.

  “I see I have not damaged you too greatly, my Lord,” came a soft voice. Drace’s eyes flew open to gaze into amber ones. “I believe I’ll live,” he returned slowly, his deep voice also soft.

  Ki eyed his physique appreciatively and touched the tattoo of a Scottish lion that started below his left collarbone and extended almost to his nipple. She leaned in for a better look.

  Drace had not thought of her as soft before, but he studied her closer while she was distracted. Her golden eyes were cat-like and surrounded by long, dark lashes. Her hair was loose and still damp from her own bath. She wore a lightweight dress of a gauzy-looking emerald green material that was long and flowing. He caught a whiff of a light citrus scent that became her. At that moment, he saw her as an exotically beautiful woman; he flushed slightly, but said nothing, as he, nonchalantly as possible, moved to cover his groin with his washcloth. His body had reacted rather strongly to the picture she presented sitting beside him.

  She looked up to see him watching her intently. Ki caught her breath at his hungry gaze, his eyes more blue than gray. He reached up and gently touched her soft hair. “I wanted to do that the first time I saw you,” he whispered, his voice husky with the beginnings of arousal. “You really have incredible hair.”

  She cleared her throat, suddenly strangely nervous. “My Lord…,” she started.

  “Drace,” he said simply, his intent look not wavering.

  She raised her eyebrows, her gaze questioning, “My Lord?”

  He still held a lock of her hair. “My given name is Drace. At least when there is not a zillion people around, please call me by my first name.”

  Ki tried to lean back and felt the tug of his hand in her hair. Reluctantly he released her. “If it pleases you, my Lord,” she said, strangely compliant at his request.

  “It would please me a great deal.” Then with a wry grin he added, “You know, you are a very lovely woman when you’re not trying to kill me.”

  At that moment Estelle entered the room with towels and fresh clothes. Despite the urge to jump to her feet, Ki rose slowly. Drace thought she would have looked rather majestic if not for the furious blush staining her cheeks.

  As she left his chamber, she paused in the doorway, “I shall see you at dinner, Drace.” It was phrased both as a question and a command.

  With a lazy smile, he answered, “Of course, my Lady.”

  “Ki,” she corrected, then turned and left him, Drace catching the glimpse of a fleeting smile.

  Estelle turned to look at Drace, puzzled as she heard him chuckle. So, the tough-as-nails Lady can be soft after all, he thought.

  Ki stopped about halfway down to the next floor, before reaching Vashti and Ka’Ril’s door. She leaned against the wall, a hand to her chest, feeling her hearts’ still frantic pace. She closed her eyes for a moment to compose herself. By the gods, what is wrong with me? she thought. It was not like she had never seen a naked male.

  Once she was again in control of her emotions, she continued downward, meeting Vashti and Ka’Ril just exiting their room.

  “Are you alright, my Lady?” Vashti asked, stopping Ki with a hand on her arm.

  “Of course, why ask you this?” Ki answered, too quickly.

  “Well, you are rather flushed,” Vashti answered, then raised her pale brows as Ki’s color turned a deeper crimson.

  “Perhaps my bath was a bit too warm.” She sounded peevish, even to her own ears. “Come, let us go down now. I am famished.”

  Vashti hid a smile behind her hand. “Yes, let us.”

  Ki continued down, Vashti and Ka’Ril right behind her. Vashti gave her husband a knowing look. “What?” he asked, obliviously.

  She beamed a brilliant smile at him, “Nothing, love, nothing.”

  The tables in the main hall were mostly filled with the normal diners in attendance. Most of the higher-ranking men and Ki’s officers, many with a woman at their side, were already seated. The children were fed before the adults and already sent to their quarters. There were, however, several teenage boys who attended evening meals with the other adults. These boys were also in training, and seemed fascinated with the newcomer in their midst, looking often at the stairs for his arrival to dinner.

  Drace joined them shortly, dressed in a royal blue tunic and black breeches. His dark hair, still damp, lay loose, just over his shoulders. He noted with some wonder that Vashti had changed her usual place and the seat next to Ki was open. Ki caught his gaze at the empty chair. She didn’t blush; instead her chin raised a notch.

  Once he was seated, speaking in a quiet tone, she informed him, “We will school for a seven-day more; then we must ride to Ferndale. While we are that close we will visit Morenta, the home of Nimbus. We may go on to the Dwarfs’ mountain-hold, Fortune.”

  In an off-hand manner, she added conversationally, “We trade with both the elves and dwarfs.” She glanced at him quickly then back at her platter as a servant placed a steaming bowl of soup on it.

  Not only had Drace seen her as a desirable woman today, but her responsibility as leader and protector of her people had also occurred to him. Drace now saw her in a new light. What he thought would be his gelding day had turned out pretty well after all.

  After being served roasted chicken and some exotic looking vegetable following the soup, he asked her, “What sort of things do you trade?”

  She paused before a bite. “We have e
xcellent gold and silversmiths who make jewelry, some very fine.”

  For the first time she seemed inclined to engage in a more relaxed conversation with him. “Please, go on,” he offered, in encouragement. “You appear to have a considerable amount of land. Is it as productive as it seems?”

  She nodded. “To the north and east of us there is fertile farmland. To the southeast there is fertile land as well, and some is farmed, but that is where the majority of our cattle and pigs are raised.” She made a directional motion with her fork. “If you continue in that direction, you will come to the seaside city of Trevess. Trevess is not Clan owned. It is an independent city. There are salt beds there, and of course, there is fishing. It is a large port and many other lands trade there as well.”

  “You go there often, I take it,” Drace asked, pleased that she seemed willing to speak of other things besides training and war.

  “I was to go there for Ysgol but was unable to attend. Cearan spent three turnings of spring there, however.”

  Drace noted the odd expression she wore…almost sorrowful. Although he understood her accent, he did not understand the word she had used. “What is Ysgol?”

  “Ysgol is a place of higher learning. We have a basic education available to all children here. Cearan and I had a teacher of other tongues and higher mathematics and so on in our youth. Ysgols are in the cities, and mostly for the upper class and wealthy of all races of people. It is the highest of learning and philosophies.”

  “Why did you not attend the school there?” Drace asked.

  Ki frowned. “I did not have the opportunity as I had responsibilities here that prevented it.” Her expression closed that particular subject.

  “You came in from the east.” She seemed willing to continue talking with him as they ate, but she had changed the subject. “That land we keep for hunting land for ourselves and for Nimbus. That is his right as guardian of all Lion-kin lands.”

  She laid a hand on his, but then pulled back, and gave her plate her attention. “I see a change in you. It pleases me.” She glanced up at him through her lashes.

  He made a questioning gesture with his hand then rubbed his clean-shaven chin. “What I would like to know is how you did the whole lion illusion.”

  She straightened and stared at him. “You did see a lion. I was the lioness.”

  “Duh,” Drace sneered.

  She saw he wanted a better explanation. Ki glanced over at her brother to her right then back to Drace. Cearan was deep in conversation with a man Drace recognized as So Lar, who was also a Horse Master. He was an older man whose long hair was mostly gray. He had the same distinctive features as other members of the Clan Lionblade. He was Cearan’s second-in-command in the care and training of the horses. Drace had spoken with him several times in the last few weeks, and genuinely liked the older man.

  “I have mentioned to you that Cearan and I are Lion-kin, yes?” she remarked. At Drace’s nod she continued, idly toying with the food on her plate with her fork. “Those of our clan that are Lion-kin have the ability to become the lion as they wish; shape shift, if you will. They have the natural weapons of the lion: claw, fang, speed, strength, and so on. There are others among us here that are of other clans. You have seen Ja Din and Oran during your stay here at Oralia. They are of the panther clan.”

  Drace had met the brothers. Ja Din was a blacksmith and Oran was a warrior who did a lot of scouting work. Both men were fairly tall and were muscular, although not as heavily so as the members of the Lion-kin clan. They both had jet-black hair and the greenest eyes Drace had ever seen on a person.

  Something occurred to Drace, “You have referred to me several times as human. Not particularly in a flattering tone either, I might add. I can’t be the only one here.”

  Ki smiled at him in that arrogant way in which he was very familiar. “You are a human from outside these lands. That makes you very different.” In a more pleasant tone she continued, “There are humans here as well, such as Estelle. She had two children with her mate, Jem. They are both men, grown now. One can change at will to a lion. The other has only a sharp sense of hearing and smell, which he has always. A Panther-kin may mate with a Lion-kin but the children will have only one parent’s abilities, if any, and it does not happen very often. You understand this so far, my lord Drace?”

  He took a swallow of red wine then nodded.

  “You are taking this information rather calmly,” she stated with raised brows. “Earlier this afternoon you showed fear.”

  He set his cup down harder than he had intended and wine sloshed onto the table. “You seem annoyed, my Lord,” Ki remarked.

  Drace absently mopped the wine with his napkin. “Well I am annoyed, although it’s mostly at myself. I was scared, to be honest, which pisses me off.”

  “What is ‘pissed off’? You do not mean you passed water with fear, do you?” Ki leaned back in surprise.

  Drace furthered her surprise by laughing. He pushed his hair back and explained, “No, no, although I can’t say that I wasn’t close to it. No, ‘pissed off’ means angry. I am angry at myself that I was afraid.”

  Ki drank deeply from her own cup. She touched the tip of her tongue to her top lip to catch a stray drop and as Drace watched he felt a jolt low in his belly at the innocent action. He subtly shifted his weight in his chair.

  “I have seen inexperienced warriors piss themselves in the face of an angry dogue, or in battle. Fear is nothing to be ashamed of, and at times it makes you more cautious. You do not strike me as the ‘pissing’ kind,” she commented, matter-of-factly.

  “Thanks, I think,” he said, and made that small shift in weight again.

  She eyed him curiously for a moment. He returned her gaze for a brief time then turned to stare at his plate. Color stained his high cheekbones.

  He stabbed at his chicken and stuffed a bite into his mouth. Ki reached for the small bowl of loose salt close to his plate and her arm brushed his, Drace abruptly rose from his chair. “Excuse me,” he muttered, left the table and exited the main hall.

  Drace’s hasty exit had caught Cearan’s attention and Ki glanced at her brother. “Whatever is the matter with him?” she questioned, confused by Drace’s actions.

  A look of concentration crossed Cearan’s face as he took a deep breath. He then looked at Ki with amusement on his features. Being a man who loved the company of women, he recognized the scent Drace had left behind in his hasty escape. His sensitive sense of smell had detected the scent of an aroused man. He laughed out loud, making Ki raise an eyebrow in question.

  Ki then gave him an angry glance. “What is wrong with Drace,” she demanded.

  Cearan did not miss her familiar use of Drace’s name. “It is not a topic one discusses with a lady, or their sister.” He gave her a knowing look, which at first angered her further, her brows drawn together in her pique. Sudden understanding came to her. “Oh.” Ki said in a quiet voice and her cheeks bloomed with color. She stood, causing the remaining men to stand politely. She excused herself as well.

  As she moved away from the table, Cearan was certain she was going to find Drace. “Ki, wait. Perhaps you should leave him to himself for awhile.”

  His words fell on deaf ears as Ki was heading out the door.

  Chapter Seven

  DRACE STOOD OUTSIDE Pride’s stall. The stallion had come to the stall door when Drace first entered the stable. After Drace gave him a good scratching, Pride moved back to his hayrack and stood contentedly munching, eyes half closed. The horse’s ears flickered briefly at a soft noise behind his master.

  Drace caught the faint aroma of citrus before he heard the rustle of skirts. He did not turn around. He leaned on the stall door, arms crossed. “Yes, my Lady?”

  “How did you know it was me?” Ki whispered as she moved to stand be- side him.

  “I smelled your fragrance. I got a good sample of it earlier.”

  “Oh, I see.” Ki tugged at her skirt then smoothed
it. She then brushed at her hair.

  “You’re fidgeting,” Drace remarked, finally looking at her.

  “I do not fidget!” Ki flared. She cleared her throat and spoke quietly, “It is my duty as head of the household to make sure that you have everything you might need. It has been brought to my attention that perhaps…,” she brushed at her skirt again, “You may have a need that…um…has not been met.” She felt her face flame and was glad that it was dark in the stable. “From the conversations of the kitchen maids...,”

  Drace stared at her in disbelief, straightened from his relaxed stance and said, “Excuse me, but I seem to have misunderstood what you just said.” He rubbed a finger down the side of his nose.

  “But I thought…,” she started, but he cut her off.

  “Thought what? That I needed to get laid?” he exclaimed hotly.

  “I do not know what ‘laid’ is, but if you need it, I am sure one of them can get it for you,” Ki said.

  “You’re trying my patience, Lady. ‘Laid’ is sex. You do know what sex is, don’t you?” Drace asked, exasperation clear in his tone.

  Ki seemed flustered. “Well, yes… I think. Sex is mating.”

  “I do not need your help finding a bed partner,” he growled through clenched teeth. “Or to mate with, or to do whatever you want to call it.”

  “I apologize, my Lord. I meant no offense. I was… out of line,” Ki said, so quietly Drace almost didn’t hear it.

  Drace turned to her. The stable was dimly lit, moonlight filtering through the open window, but he couldn’t see her face clearly. “That must have been difficult. You have a bit of pride.”

  “Yes, I know,” she admitted, which surprised him considerably. “My father used to tell me that all the time. I hear it still even though he has been gone six winters.”

  Drace was silent for a moment, surprised that Ki would share that personal of information with him. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  She was back to twisting her skirt, her voice low and reminiscent, “My father, myself, and one of my father’s best warriors were riding a patrol. It had started to snow and a pair of dogues surprised us. My father did not even get his sword drawn, it happened so fast. I was wounded on my thigh. The other man was Jem, Estelle’s mate. He was wounded also, but we were still able to kill the dogues. He and I managed to get my father on a horse and ride for home. We had to tie him onto it. I knew he was dead, but I had some hope that maybe Nimbus could help with some sort of magic. I was wrong. It was too late. Jem had lost so much blood by the time we came through the gate; he passed within an hour as well. These things happen, but that was a day I had no pride.”