The Dark Crown

by S C Gowland

  That in particular was a task that he did not envy Kubrean. The loss of a loved one was earth shattering, he knew this all too well, but the loss of an only child. He set such thoughts to the back of his mind, clenched his teeth and set off to swap places with Zalen, scouting ahead. His burgundy cloak splayed out in the wind as Tren charged off, Dref in hot pursuit.

  ***

  ‘It’s no good.’ said Kubrean, shouting to be heard above the noise of the rain. ‘We must replenish our supplies and this weather is doing no-one any good.’

  Kaoldan scowled, his mood like the weather, had worsened over the last few days. Still two full days from Thura and despite their best efforts they were all soaked. One day after leaving Grihr the heavens had opened, and they had not stopped since. Ceaseless rain, greyer days. Conversation had been sparse and Kubrean was right, it was doing none of them any good.

  He looked at the large tavern in the distance, candles flickered in the windows and the sign rattled around violently in the wind. The greyness of the evening and the surroundings trees did little to diminish the prospect of a good dry bed and perhaps some hot food too. His trousers stuck to his legs and water trickled down his back.

  Kaoldan had wanted to press on, but judging by the surrounding faces such a move would prove unpopular and given the weather what progress could they make? Better to rest up, hope for more favourable weather and press on at first light.

  ‘You’re the Master.’ he said to Kubrean shrugging his shoulders.

  The old man grinned back.

  ‘Excellent choice.’ he replied.

  In truth Kubrean was the Master, the Grey Master of Walkers in Thura; a noble and ancient title that he had been appointed to over a decade before. Their friendship had blossomed and although Kubrean was his Master, Kaoldan had always followed the old man out of respect and duty, as much as for his position. Leadership was something Kaoldan had seldom liked, Kubrean’s ability to do it so effortlessly was a blessing for them both. And upon reflection was a night in a tavern such a bad suggestion, Kaoldan thought not.

  As they approached the rattling sign calmed slightly, the rain easing to show in golden lettering ‘The Tipsy Monkey’.

  Kaoldan smirked, at least the owner had a sense of humour.

  Kubrean dismounted and approached the main entrance, a green glass-panelled door set against a double fronted entrance with lead-lined windows, three storeys high. Not too much noise escaped as Kubrean passed through the door.

  ‘Hope they’ve got some decent beer.’ said Zalen shivering in his saddle.

  ‘Something dark and rich would be nice.‘ mused Dalon.

  ‘Nah. Pale, golden and sweet.’ announced Kryst.

  ‘White wine?’ ventured Kaoldan.

  The others all turned and looked at him accusingly.

  Salah shook his shaggy mane and rain sprayed everywhere.

  ‘Thanks’ said Zalen dryly. ‘You’re not having any beer.’ he said to the sandy coloured panthera, who snorted and looked in the opposite direction.

  Merriment and warm light spilt out of the door as Kubrean emerged. ‘They have space for us.’ he said happily. ‘Kaoldan, would you and Dalon take care of the Pantheras?’ He nodded to the rear of the building. ‘Apparently, they have a large stable, more than enough room for us without unsettling the horses.’

  ‘At last, civilisation.’ said Zalen as he dismounted and splashed through the puddles of the muddy street over to Kaoldan leading Salah by his reins.

  ‘Off you go stable boy.’ he said with a straight face, patting Kaoldan firmly on the shoulder. ‘Right’ he announced turning towards the tavern and rubbing his hands together and running them through his wet hair.

  ‘First round is on you Kryst.’ he said with a wink.

  The big man winced at the prospect.

  The sound of music echoed out onto the street as the others dismounted and entered the tavern, a fiddle began playing as the door closed behind them.

  Kaoldan and Dalon exchanged a look, shrugged their shoulders and led the Panthera around the back of the tavern.

  The structure to the rear of the tavern was indeed large. Sloping roof and walls were made of perfunctory wood. A golden orange glow emitted from between the wooden slats, the light sound of the rain their only accompaniment.

  Entering through a large open door at the front, they found a large vaulted room, separated to the left into individual stables. They led the Pantheras to the right into one large open section which seemed to have been created to house several horses at any one time and began unsaddling their mounts.

  ‘What shall we do with her?’ asked Dalon softly as he stood in front of May, who stood still as a statue.

  May turned her head and looked at the heavily bearded man.

  ‘I think May will be quite capable of looked after her.’ said Kaoldan gently as he walked over to help.

  It was true, since the terrible incident in Grihr May had not let the body of Yasmina out of her sight. The body still wrapped in Dalon’s heavy blue travelling cloak.

  ‘You go.’ said Kaoldan to his big friend, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  ‘Go have a drink and something to eat with the others, I’ll finish up; won’t take long.’

  Dalon looked at once at the body and then at Kaoldan, a half smile appeared on his face.

  ‘Thank you.’ he said simply before glancing back at May and turning to leave the stable, hay rustling underfoot as he left, the door banging as he exited the building.

  ‘Come over here.’ said Kaoldan to May, ‘it’s about time you had some rest.’ He ruffled the head of the big grey and black cat, she raised her neck enjoying the attention. Kaoldan moved to her side and began to lift Yasmina’s from the saddle on May’s back.

  As he did so a slender pale arm flopped out of the blue cloak and a blood speckled hand landed in his own.

  Kaoldan shivered then froze.

  An anger rose within him.

  He had been right.

  She should never have come with them.

  An avoidable and needless loss of life.

  A father desperate to please his daughter’s need to prove herself had ultimately cost her life.

  He closed his eyes and shook his head, stopping himself from thinking about it more. Slowly the anger subsided, but only slowly. Kaoldan looked away as he picked up the cold hand and gently placed the arm back inside the blue cloak, tucking the heavy fabric inside itself to secure the limb.

  He hefted the body and placed it carefully by May’s side as she watched attentively.

  He finished the remained of the tasks and moved towards the exit, as the door opened with a creak he glanced at the blue cloak on the floor. May had settled herself down and appeared content. He looked towards Tren and the big cat blinked at him then turned towards May and settled his head down. Kaoldan let out a slow sigh, before grimacing as he ducked outside.

  The rain was now lashing down as he jogged through the pools of mud, around the side of the tavern to the main entrance. He entered through the main door and pulled his hood down. The warmth of the room hit him like a wave. Stale air scented with a hint of burning peat.

  The main lounge area was spacious and split equally to the left and right of the main bar. A fire to the left roared within a stout stone fireplace, grey mottled with black soot. By its side a young man and woman gently played fiddles, to a small crowd of enthusiastic onlookers who clapped in time to the tune.

  A shout to his right drew his attention, Kryst was half stood, beckoning his friend over with a wave. They had been able to secure a square table with chairs in the far corner, sat on top were dishes and tall tankards of frothing beer.

  ‘Here.‘ said Dalon thrusting an overfull tankard into Kaoldan’s hand. ‘This might help’.

  Kaoldan took a long deep drink, the beer was surprisingly good; deep, thick and dark with a slightly bitter and earthy taste. A taste he could quite easily slip into without too much thought. He placed the dri
nk down and surveyed the food in front of him, dark bread, cheeses and a selection of meats, the main thing that caught his attention was a large wooden bowl of thick white broth. Creamy and filled with vegetables and white meat, the taste was wonderful, the first spoonful of warmth expanded through him from his middle to the tips of his fingers. He grabbed a chunk of the bread and eagerly set to work.

  ‘Not bad.’ pondered Kubrean sitting back in his chair nursing his tankard. ‘Not as good as my cooking of course.’ he said a grin spreading across his face. ‘But most definitely what we needed.’

  ‘And what we need more of now is this.’ said Zalen tapping his tankard in Kaoldan’s direction. He winked and then nodded at the bar. ‘I would get this round, but I’m hemmed in here, damned window seats.’ he said pretending to try to rise from his seat, spreading his arms in defence while pulling a sad face.

  ‘Alright then’ said Kaoldan reluctantly getting to his feet.

  ‘Same again.’ said Zalen ‘please.’ he winked.

  Turning towards the bar, Kaoldan hefted his purse in his hand as he walked. Kubrean had been right he thought, a calmness settling over his shoulders, as he walked counting out silver and copper coins as he went.

  The coins exploded out of his hands and into the air, followed by a loud shout. A large heavy-set man turned around somewhat flustered.

  ‘What are you playing at?’ he accused, his eyes settling on Kaoldan. The pig like man looked him up and down.

  ‘Why don’t you watch where you’re going?’ he said, sweat visibly dripping down is bald, shiny head.

  ‘My apologies.’ offered Kaoldan, not wanting to continue the discussion. ‘Let me buy you a drink.’ he offered towards the bar. The offer of a fresh tankard of beer seem to appease the man, his face lightened but still eyed Kaoldan suspiciously.

  Kaoldan ignored the look and bent down to gather the spilt coins from the dusty, hay covered floor. Although still missing a few, Kaoldan thought better of it and stood up straight. The hog man was still watching him intently. Kaoldan smiled politely before moving towards the bar, his new companion in tow.

  ‘You’re one of them Walkers, ain’t ya?’ asked the man wiping his nose on the sleeves of his thick arm with a loud sniff.

  ‘Something like that.’ offered Kaoldan, trying to get the attention of the young dark-haired girl at the other end of the bar.

  ‘Heard lots of things about you, I have.’ the hog man confirmed importantly. ‘Magic and stuff like that.’ he continued.

  ‘Really.’ answered Kaoldan finally able to get the young barmaid’s attention.

  She approached with a gentle smile on her face, then she saw the hog man and slowed her pace, the smile falling from her face.

  ‘What’ll it be?’ she asked curtly.

  ‘Same as before’ said Kaoldan nodding towards the table in the corner, ‘And one of whatever he wants.’ he inclined his head to the hog-man.

  Hearing the cue, the pasty man turned, saw the girl and smiled. His lips curling up at the corners of his mouth, beady eyes looked her up and down like a main course.

  ‘Well, I think I’ll have a drink and then see what else is on offer.’ he laughed loudly to himself, clearly having told the funniest joke in the world.

  ‘Just food and drink.’ said the girl shortly, she turned to the row of barrels behind her. Taking fresh tankards from the table to the side, she drove them deep into the barrels with a deep splosh. She placed the first drink on the side of the bar in front of the hog-man.

  He tried to grab her hand, but she deftly moved it out of the way before he could catch hold.

  Kaoldan noticed the attempt and the half smile disappeared from his face.

  The girl plunged another tankard into the barrel, before twisting around to place the frothy drink on the bar.

  This time the hog man was quicker and tried to use both hands to grab her arm and he would have succeeded if Kaoldan hadn’t deflected the attempt away with a slap of his hand.

  The hog-man rose.

  ‘What you do that for?’ he yelled, spittle spraying everywhere.

  ‘Don’t.’ said Kaoldan coldly, ‘Take your drink and leave it at that.’

  ‘None of your business this.’ said the hog-man gesturing towards the girl. ‘We’ve had fun before, ain’t we Naween?’ he declared pompously.

  Naween smiled nervously, still trying to complete the drink order.

  ‘Your dad don’t mind.’ continued the hog-man shouting down the bar to a meek looking man with grey hair, a stoop and another nervous smile, who seemed very interested on a stain of a table.

  He, like his daughter, was plainly dressed in dark leggings, dirty white shirts, and brown leather apron to complete the look. He glanced quickly at Kaoldan and seemed to shake his head a little, pleading.

  ‘I think it might be best to just have a drink tonight’ said Kaoldan turning to face the hog-man who stood half a head taller than him.

  ‘And what if I decide otherwise?’ eyed the man toying with his drink. ‘I’ve got me friends here.’ he declared nodding towards a crowd of five dirty looking farm types to his left. They looked over suspiciously.

  ‘Besides, I think you might be owing me another drink.’ he said downing a huge gulp of beer from his tankard, before slamming it down, slopping half its contents onto the bar. The farm workers smiled to themselves.

  ‘And I definitely think me and Naween will be seeing each other later.’ he said leaning into Kaoldan slightly turning eyeing the young girl up and down. She went tensed as he said the words, and that was it.

  Kaoldan smiled lightly and in one swift motion drew his head backwards before unleashing a savage head-butt onto the nose of the hog-man. The impact sounded like the snapping of a large twig; blood exploded everywhere. The hog-man crumbled into a semi heap. The commotion alerted the hog-mans’ friends, who turned and lunged at Kaoldan.

  Kaoldan felt a hot anger rising within him. He turned and swiftly punched the first straw haired, long limbed man full in the throat. He choked violently as he folded up on the floor.

  Kaoldan parred a clumsy punch to his left, twisted and kneed the man straight in the groin. Air exploded out of the man with a whoosh.

  Kaoldan felt the rage within him flooding throughout his body, he felt light, limber and strong of body, and cold of mind as he buried his elbow in the back of the man’s neck, there was another crack and the wounded man flopped to the floor.

  Tankards flew, chairs and table scraped on the floor. Kaoldan didn’t think, he just reacted.

  A movement to his right was met with a swirling backwards elbow, something soft oomph'd and staggered backwards.

  Kaoldan struck again with the back of his fist and it hit something thick and wet. He moved avoiding the grab of dirty hands. He grabbed the equally dirty arms and flipped them downward in a circle. The owner of the dirty hands and arms somersaulted in the air and crashed to the floor as another pair of dirty hands grabbed Kaoldan from behind. He threw his head back cracking the nose of the man behind him, the hands loosened and slipped away. Kaoldan grab the slower of the arms and pulled downward, hard. The resulting crack made the man cry out as the injured arm bent completely the wrong way.

  ‘Enough!’ came a shout from behind Kaoldan, but he ignored it, ducking under a wild swing of a punch. Kaoldan rose to uppercut the man on the jaw. There was a crunch as the man’s head ricocheted backwards, teeth and blood spraying.

  ‘ENOUGH!’ came the shout again, this time accompanied by two sets of strong hands that restrained each of Kaoldan’s arms. He was about to struggle lose, when he looked to each side and saw it was Kryst and Zalen who were pinning his arms. He struggled to be free, but their grip was too tight. Kaoldan trembled and shook his head in rage; unleashing a savage roar.

  ‘E-nou-gh!’ said Kubrean for a third time. ‘Take him outside’ he ordered. Zalen and Kryst with rehearsed precision moved together to face the doorway as Kaoldan continued to yell.

  The hog-m
an rose to the right of Kubrean, blood streaming from his broken nose and a look of rage in his eyes. He was about to charge towards Kubrean, who didn’t even turn to face him. He merely raised his right hand, there was a fizz of Fajin and with a flick of his wrist the hog-man flew backwards ten feet, crashed against a wall before collapsing into a silent heap. Kubrean let out a short sharp breath then followed his restrained but raging friend out into the midnight air.

  It had stopped raining much to Kubrean’s relief as they left the tavern. The glow of torches either side of the main door provided an orange glow which was absorbed by the thick brown mud of the road. Zalen and Kryst still had Kaoldan’s arms firmly pinned by his side and for the most part he had stopped struggling and yelling. His face was contorted with rage and he looked at Kubrean intensely.

  ‘Enough!’ roared Kubrean, growing tired of the fighting. ‘What is the matter with you?’ he asked Kaoldan.

  ‘I didn’t start it.’ began Kaoldan trying to shrug, ‘Do you mind?’ he asked the two Walkers by his side.

  They looked at Kubrean who nodded. They released their grip and Kaoldan stretched his arms, bending and shaking them, he rolled his shoulders to work out the kinks.

  ‘I didn’t start it and I’ve done the world a favour whilst doing so.’ said Kaoldan defiantly.

  ‘Really? You think knocking seven shades of shit out of some local bully is going to change the world?’ asked Kubrean exasperated. ‘What has got into you?’

  Then it all became clear.

  ‘It’s about her isn’t it.’ said Kubrean gesturing towards the stables.

  Kaoldan said nothing.

  ‘Would you mind leaving us?’ Kubrean asked Zalen and Kryst.

  They looked at him, then at Kaoldan and quietly left. The noise which escaped from the door as they re-entered the tavern seemed to indicate the kerfuffle was over and the pleasantries had resumed.