Dark Lord of Kismera: Knights of Kismera

by Tamara H Hartl

  Drace leaned forward, pulled the drawstring, opened the top of the bag, and spilled the contents into his palm. “I went in search of a ring to give you, and could not find one that spoke to me. Then I saw this and I had to have it for you.”

  Drace lifted the necklace and held it up for her inspection. The light from the one-lit candle gave the wren-sized, tiger-eye stone a warm appearance and the gold of the fine chain glimmered. “Will you be my mate, Ki…for whatever time I have here?” he leaned forward and fastened the chain around her neck. “I can’t promise not to hurt you, but I’ll do my damnedest not to. I do promise to love and cherish you for as long as I live, no matter what happens.”

  Ki sat stunned for a moment, fingering the stone that was warm from his hand. It lay just above her breasts.

  “I would be honored to be bonded to you, Drace,” she told him, tears swimming in her tawny eyes. “I hope that it will be for a long time, but I understand, although the thought pains me that you may wish to return to your home someday.”

  “Come here,” Drace whispered, feeling emotion choke him. He pulled her against his chest. He stroked her hair as she sat between his knees. He felt the tug of anger and hurt again for being forced to choose. “Is there some sort of bonding ceremony?”

  “Not really. If we decide to pair then my people accept our wishes. The Werre are sometimes very simple in their ideas. The elves have a ceremony for a bond and become husband and wife. I have seen one before. It was rather beautiful.”

  “Vashti and Ka’Ril’s?” Drace asked. He slid both of them down to a more comfortable position for sleeping.

  “Oh no, they were married long before I was even born,” she stated.

  Drace gave her a puzzled look, “You must be mistaken. Vashti is your age.”

  Ki laughed.

  “What’s so funny? How old is she?”

  “I think, though it is impolite to discuss a lady’s age, about four hundred and twenty-five,” Ki said, seriously then smiled.

  Drace cocked an eye at her, “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Oh no, you may ask her if you do not believe me.” She lazily stroked his chest.

  Drace settled his head back on his pillow, “No, I believe you.”

  “We can talk to Vashti in the morning about the elves’ ceremony if you would like.”

  Drace kissed her forehead as he brushed loose hair from her face. “That would be nice.”

  Ki settled more comfortably against him with a sleepy sigh while Drace mumbled to himself, “Four hundred and twenty-five. I’ll be damned.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  DRACE WOKE WITH A GASP. He lay on his stomach and raised his head, trying to clear the nightmare from his mind. His breath was ragged and his skin was slick with sweat. The red dragon still haunted him even after he had come awake. He could almost feel the heat of its breath as it came at him.

  Drace rolled over and flopped on his back, suddenly realizing he was alone in the room. He rose up on his elbows and listened intently. All he heard was the thundering of his heart in his ears. He took a few breaths to calm himself and heard footsteps at the bedroom door. He turned his head towards the sound and saw Ki, standing in the doorway. She was illuminated by a single candle; then was plunged into darkness again as she blew it out and closed the door.

  Something’s wrong. He could feel it. He sat up in the bed. “What is it?” he demanded. “What’s wrong?”

  Ki sat on the edge of the bed. “I can smell fear in here. What happened?”

  “Bad dream. I’m okay…and don’t change the subject.” He suddenly felt testy.

  Ki sighed and Drace heard a catch in her breath. “I started my flux and I cramp very badly. I have always been irregular and Vashti says that may be one reason for the pain. I just saw her for some tea she makes for me that eases it.”

  “Is it better now?” Drace asked her, concerned.

  Ki crawled back under the covers and lay with her back to him, curling up into a miserable ball. Drace curled up behind her, letting the heat of his body seep into hers. He could tell by the tension in her back that she was still hurting.

  “I hate this. Until I met you I sometimes wished I had been born male. I hate being weak and I hate that tea. It is nasty and it makes me sleep,” Ki groused.

  She suddenly sounded young and vulnerable to him. “Why didn’t you wake me? I could have gotten Vashti,” he spoke into her hair.

  “I knew you were tired. It eases now,” she replied; her words were a bit slurred.

  Drace felt her relax. That must be some damn good tea, he thought, and closed his eyes. He willed the dragon from his mind and drifted back to sleep.

  Ki was still asleep when Drace woke the next morning. He could see tension in her face and knew she still had some pain. He dressed, shaved, and went to find Vashti. She looked up from her work in the kitchen. Herbs were chopped and in neat piles.

  “She will not drink it,” Vashti informed him when he asked about more tea. “I am surprised she drank it last night. She must have been in much pain,” Vashti looked at him studiously. “What is it you wish to speak about with me?”

  Drace told her about bonding with Ki and the indecision he faced and of the compromise he and Ki had agreed upon for the time being. He also asked her about the elven ceremony

  Vashti looked at him then with a bright smile, “So,” she said, and popped something green and fragrant into her mouth. “You are mated. I had thought that might happen. It was not our intent to find a mate for Ki when you were brought here but…,” she searched for the right words, “Someone who would stand at her side and help protect her lands and people.”

  Vashti resumed her chopping as Drace leaned a hip against the table. “I think sometimes Ki is, or was, lonely,” she said. “The weight of her responsibilities is a heavy burden to bear by herself.” She looked up at him again. “I have never seen her happier, and you look rather cheerful yourself.”

  Drace straightened up and searched a sideboard; he found a piece of cheese and an apple. Vashti handed him a cup of cider and he started to attack the apple hungrily. He swallowed a bite. “I am happy. I never thought I would say this, but this world is a wonderful place,” He shrugged his shoulders and took another bite of the apple.

  Drace and Vashti talked for a while longer, with her agreeing to help with a ceremony and the decision to see Nimbus for advice on Drace’s other problem.

  “Hey. I’m outta here. I have to go back to Jaron’s for a fitting. When you see Ki, would you remind her that’s where I went? I should be back soon.”

  “Of course I will, my Lord,” Vashti said and resumed her chopping. Drace snatched another apple and breezed out the door.

  When Drace arrived at Jaron’s, the armorer had Drace’s chain mail shirt finished. Drace tried it on and found while it was still heavy, it was more lightweight than any other one he’d owned. Jaron assured him it was stronger as well. The shirt hung to mid thigh, the sides split from the hips down for riding and fighting. The sleeves covered his wrists and it had a light hood.

  Jaron also had his helm ready. Drace pulled on the padded linen hood, the chain mail shirt’s hood and then the helm. It fit like a glove. His old helm from the show had a nasty habit of pinching one ear and sometimes the bridge of his nose. He lowered the visor and was amazed how much more visibility he had. He had requested the eye slits be a little bigger than his old helm. He would rather chance losing an eye than his head.

  Drace raised the visor and removed the helm. Cleverly mounted on the back on the helm was a thick tail of black hair removed from Pride’s mane and tail. Engraved on both sides of the helm was a prancing replica of Pride. It was a beautiful thing. Jaron had done all the armor in black metal to honor the Black Knight.

  Drace thanked Jaron and walked back to the house, hoping Ki was up and feeling better.

  Ki was up and feeling somewhat better, but by her own admission felt grumpy. Drace knew enough about women to know whe
n it was a good idea to steer clear, so he spent his evening with Cearan, Zol, and Tren, practicing in the back courtyard.

  When darkness fell everyone retired to his or her room after a filling meal. Drace was soaking in a tub, relaxing tired muscles, when Ki came and sat in a chair next to him, curling her legs underneath her. “I watched from the window for a while. You are a master now,” she commented.

  Drace looked at her with serious intent, “I have something worth fighting for now.”

  “Tell me, my Lord, of your world,” she asked, making herself more comfortable in her chair.

  Drace propped a foot on the side of the tub and scrubbed industriously on his toes, “What do you want to know?”

  “Anything…everything.”

  “Well, that narrows it down,” he quipped. He thought for a moment, and then told her of vehicles, trains, and airplanes.

  “So you can fly great distances in a short period of time. But do they fall?” Ki asked, enthralled with the idea of long distance travel by air.

  “Sometimes, but not very often,” he answered, switching feet.

  “And you have flown in these metal birds?” Ki asked, her eyes alive with curiosity and excitement.

  “Many times.” He reached for a metal pitcher on the stool by the tub, and dipped it to fill with rinse water. “I’ve even had horses in them.” He poured the water over his head then another over his body.

  “What?” she exclaimed. “Impossible!”

  “No, it’s possible. Pride was in one when he was brought over from Holland to the U.S.”

  She shook her head in wonder. “Why did you not ride him to your U.S.?”

  “First of all, I actually don’t own him yet. I was in the process of trying to buy him. That’s one of the things I’m concerned about. Anyway,” he said, rising from the tub and grabbing a towel. “You can’t ride from Holland. There is an ocean…a great sea, and it’s maybe…,” he stopped to ponder for a second as he toweled off. “A couple thousand miles across.”

  Drace stood buck-naked towel drying his hair then wrapped the towel around his lean waist; his long hair stuck up in all directions. “It’s not all wonderful. There are also terrible things in my world,” Drace said, grabbing a comb and working on tangles.

  “Such as?” Ki asked, taken in like he was telling ghost stories around a campfire.

  “Well, these vehicles and planes and all create what we call pollution. The very air we breathe, a tiny bit at a time, is poisoned. “There are weapons like nothing you could imagine. Guns that send a little piece of metal into someone’s body from very far away, but it’s the people who use them that are the worst,” he stood there thinking, looking a bit sad. “Some people invented a bomb, which they took up into a plane and dropped on an enemy. It destroyed every living thing in the city and the city itself. Mankind has developed some that are even worse, ones that may affect the entire world.”

  “Every place has good and evil,” Ki said, “it is the natural balance of things.”

  Drace threw his damp towel at her and pulled on a pair of linen drawers. “I wish I could see that simply. Sometimes the world feels out of balance…and evil is ahead.”

  “Let us not talk of these things anymore tonight. I am tired,” Ki yawned. “As soon as Jaron is finished, we should be on our way. Vashti told me today that you wished to speak with Nimbus. We can go to see him first, and then we need to return to the stronghold. Harvest is upon us.”

  Drace sat on the edge of the bed, his elbows on his knees and arms out. He studied his nails for a few seconds then looked at her, “Aren’t you forgetting something?’

  Ki smiled at him, “No, my Lord,” she rose from her chair and came to stand in front of him. She took his hands in hers. “I feel honored to become your wife and mate. I have not forgotten a bonding ceremony. Vashti and I worked on that this afternoon while you were trying to bash my brother,” she said and gazed down into his eyes. She felt her love for him like a living thing inside her.

  Drace took his hands from hers and pulled her close to him, resting his cheek against her belly.

  Ki stroked his damp hair. “I love you, Drace, and I would face even your airplane monsters if it meant I could be with you.”

  Drace laughed against her belly.

  Chapter Fifteen

  TWO DAYS LATER, the Lady Ki Lionblade of the ancient Clan of Lionblade bonded with Lord Drace MacKinnon of the ancient Clan Mac- Kinnon. The ceremony took place amongst the many flowers of Vashti’s garden behind her home.

  A priest of one of the Elvin gods conducted the ceremony in Elvish. Cearan and Ka’Ril stood by Drace and Vashti with Ki. They were all dressed in the clothes they had worn to the Liege’s dinner. Drace had his hair plaited to homage Werren males. He looked handsome and fierce, and stood proudly, smiling at Ki. Even Zol and Tren attended.

  Drace did not understand much of the ceremony, but responded at the correct moments with well-practiced answers in Elvish, having been coached by Ka’Ril in private. Ki had raised an eyebrow at his first response and smiled warmly, then answered in kind. She, herself, spoke fluent Elvish, some dwarfish, and the ancient language of her people was second nature.

  The kiss Drace gave her at the end of the ceremony spoke of many promises.

  With the help of her kitchen staff, Vashti had prepared a formal meal for that evening.

  All but Drace’s sword and daggers were completed so the group was preparing to leave in two days time. The group spent a relaxed evening, knowing they had one more day to rest. With harvest to do, everyone knew to take advantage of the free time.

  With well wishes sent their way, Drace and Ki retired to their room. They spent a passionate, loving night together and fell asleep exhausted in each other’s arms.

  Drace was running, sword raised, and screaming a battle cry as his ancient Highland warrior ancestors.

  The red dragon raised its head, mouth open in a roar. It turned to strike, hissing angrily, wings flared.

  Drace’s sword flashed as he ran on to meet the dragon and Drace screamed his challenge once more. The dragon snapped at him, massive jaws clicking together, just missing him.

  Drace yelled again with an overhead swing of his sword as he attacked, his fist colliding with part of the dragon. He swung with his left hand and hit the dragon again. When he swung his sword again he missed, the dragon moved away with a scream. His chest heaved with exertion as he fought for air.

  Ki knelt on the floor, hair wild around her, trying to identify her enemy. She touched at the blood that trickled from the corner of her mouth. She woke enough to realize that Drace was in the throes of a violent nightmare.

  Footsteps ran down the hall. Cearan burst through the door, naked except for the sword in his hand, eyes blazing. Vashti and Ka’Ril followed, armed with daggers and little better dressed: Vashti in a dressing gown and Ka’ Ril in his breeches.

  Drace was still caught in the grips of the dream when Cearan flew into the room, and Drace leapt off the bed and attacked the new danger. Cearan went down hard with one of Drace’s hands on his throat, and the other hand, a fist that landed on Cearan’s jaw.

  Drace bellowed in fury and slammed his fist again into Cearan’s face. Cearan roared an angry lions’ roar, which to Drace was the dragon’s challenge. He gave full and serious intent to kill his enemy.

  Vashti put a restraining hand to Ka’Ril’s chest and shouted for everyone to stand back, and then muttered a quick spell. A blinding light swirled through the room and lifted Drace, slamming him against the wall.

  Ki had gotten over her painful awakening and now voiced concern as Drace slid down the wall and landed crumpled and dazed. She quickly donned her dressing gown then snatched a quilt from the bed, and rushed to Drace.

  Cearan dropped his sword and rolled up on his knees. Blood trickled from one nostril, the corner of his mouth, and one eye was starting to swell. He growled low in his throat.

  Vashti dropped to her knees next to him as K
a’Ril went to Ki and Drace.

  “What happened?” Ka’Ril asked Ki, as Drace slowly came around.

  Ki looked up at Ka’Ril and shook her head, “I do not know exactly. We were asleep, I heard him yelling and before I knew what was wrong, he struck me. I rolled to the floor and then everyone rushed in, and Drace seemed to be attacking Cearan.”

  “Seemed to be?” Cearan’s voice dripped sarcasm as he wiped blood from his nose then muttered a vile curse in Werren.

  Drace came to his senses, lying up against a wall with the room filled with people; his chest hurt. His head was still filled with the dragon’s image, but he was awake now, his heart slowing it’s frantic pace.

  Cearan rose to his feet, and squatted down to eye level. He laid a hand on Drace’s shoulder. “Brother, what happened?”

  Drace looked at him. “What the hell happened to you?” His hand still felt as if he held a sword. He grabbed a fistful of the blanket Ki had laid over his lap to counter it.

  Surprisingly, Cearan laughed. He returned Drace’s gaze and said, “You did, brother.”

  Drace thought frantically. He laid his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Suddenly, his head throbbed. He covered his face with a large hand. “Oh shit,” he whispered. He kept his hand over his face. “Man, I’m sorry, I was having a dream, I guess.” He stopped to take a deep shuddering breath then told them of the dragon and its attack, the dragon that haunted him. “It’s the second time I’ve dreamed about it.”

  Drace moved his hand and squinted against the candlelight. He noticed Cearan’s sword on the floor and everyone else’s weapons. “That bad, huh?”

  Cearan nodded in answer. He slapped Drace lightly on his knee then stood. “Go back to bed. We will talk in the morning when you have had time to clear your head.”

  Drace mumbled a reply and everyone left the room but Ki. She still knelt beside him with concern.

  “I didn’t hurt you did I?” he asked, worried he might have struck her as he had Cearan. She shook her head but he could tell something was wrong. He looked at her closer and swore silently, his hand shook violently as he touched her face. “God, Ki. Jesus, I did that, didn’t I?”