Warrior’s Redemption

by Melissa Mayhue

  “Hours past, my lord,” Ulfr assured him. “My men made mention of it at the guard change.”

  Clever lass, his sister. Or it would appear she thought herself clever. But not clever enough by half, as she would soon learn.

  “Did she travel alone?”

  “I will find out for you, my lord.”

  If indeed Christiana thought to rescue her new sister, it seemed unlikely she would have left her beloved brother behind.

  Ulfr had reached the hallway when Torquil called out.

  “No. You will accompany me. Send one of yer men to verify and bring word to the dungeon. Have my brother sent as well. I’ve use for him.”

  A frisson of anger sparked through Torquil’s body and he increased the speed of his steps.

  They thought to outmaneuver him? He was so far beyond their level, they had no idea what penalty they would pay for their impudence.

  Had she stayed in her room, Mistress Danielle would have been only a pretend widow. Now she would be one in truth.

  Thirty-eight

  AS USUAL IN his life, the gods were having their amusement at his expense.

  Malcolm glanced over his shoulder as he rode, needing a quick check on his companions to reassure himself they still followed. He’d spent the better part of his life in the saddle, leading men from one crisis to another, but this was an entirely different experience. How did one even begin to travel with a gaggle of women in tow? Strong women, to be sure, but women nevertheless.

  Yes, the gods must be laughing at their latest ploy. Choose the one man in the whole of the world who repeatedly failed the women he was given to protect and surround him with a company of women to lead. And not just any women, mind you, but the three women who meant more to him than his own life.

  He reined in his horse and, behind him, the women slowed as well. Circling back to join them, he made his decision.

  “We’ll set up camp here for the night. We’ve a strong lead on any who might follow and this looks to be an easily defendable location.”

  He would have commented on the exhaustion he saw in their faces, but he felt sure that would have gained him only their denials. As it was, they hastened to act on his suggestion with nary a protest between them.

  “We’ve little in the way of provisions, only what I would normally carry on a day visit to Orabilis, but it should be enough for this night.” His sister pulled a small pack from her animal and joined Elesyria, who already led her mount to tether in the trees.

  He dismounted and fell in step beside Dani, a peace settling over him as she reached out to clasp his hand.

  “Stop worrying. They probably don’t even know we’re gone yet.”

  “I’m no worried,” he automatically denied, even as she smiled up at him.

  “You’re doing that thing again, pinching your nose. Either you’re worried or your skin is starting to crack with all that dried flour coating it.”

  He loved that she’d learned so very quickly to read him so well and best of all, that even when she knew she was right, she allowed him his dignity, in giving him an escape from the truth.

  Pulling her close, he kissed her soundly, laughing aloud when she pushed him away.

  “Okay. Officially now, the only thing worse than several days’ growth of beard is having dried dough caked in the beard. You need a bath. Real bad.”

  “Then a bath I shall have, love, as soon as I see to the animals so that the three of you can set about building a fire.”

  The stream would be sheer misery with the cold, but it mattered not. He needed this crackling mess off of him. Perhaps, if his luck held, he’d even come back with a fish or small animal to add to their night’s meager bounty.

  “WHAT AILS THEM?”

  Without dismounting, Torquil reached toward the men in the cart, ignoring the young guard who’d spoken. A sparkle of power bit at his hand, sizzling its way up his arm before he could pull back.

  Irritating, to be sure, but harmless. Magic with a flavor he did not recognize.

  “Interesting,” he murmured, anxious to test it again.

  He rounded the cart, studying the men sitting inside. They appeared to be asleep with their eyes open, frozen in motion and time.

  Now that he’d felt the Magic, he judged a response and pushed his hand through the barrier once more, ignoring the sizzle to clasp the nearest man’s shoulder. With a thought, his own power pulsed toward the man, sending a shower of sparks into the air surrounding him when the two Magicks met. The shower spread until it encompassed all six men in the cart and gradually they began to move.

  “It’s the witch,” the young guard declared, backing his mount away.

  “No,” Torquil corrected. “The witch hasn’t the power for this.” At least not the witch they knew of. Orabilis was far too weak to have had any part in this.

  This was different. Completely foreign to him and yet elusively reminiscent of something he’d known in the past. Perhaps something in the collective knowledge passed through his bloodline.

  Christiana? Not likely. She hadn’t the intelligence to hide such a power. Magic such as this could not have eluded him for so long. No, the probability lay in its belonging to one of the others.

  One he’d need to deal with quickly and permanently.

  He studied the ground as his guards tended to the men in the cart. With all their stomping around, any useful signs had been lost.

  What he needed was a way to track them. To scent them out and to move with speed.

  “You”—he pointed a finger—“come with me.”

  His pathetically weak half brother visibly paled at the command. Dermid. The least of the whore’s offspring. With his blond hair and pale skin, he had the look of the gods about him, but Torquil wasn’t fooled. He carried the taint of the Tinkler’s blood as surely as any of the others.

  And yet . . . this one had chosen to follow him.

  “Ulfr, when Dermid returns from the forest, send three men with him to track the fugitives. You’ll follow with these men as soon as yer able to round up their horses. You may use my mount for one of them. Are you clear on that?”

  “Yes, my lord!”

  Blind, unquestioning obedience was Ulfr’s best quality and the reason he had become Torquil’s right hand.

  “Follow me,” Torquil ordered as he dismounted.

  Dermid slid from his saddle and fell into step behind Torquil as they entered the tree line.

  “You must not question what you see. Simply obey and follow. I will lead you to those we seek.”

  Dermid nodded, an odd, obsequious dipping and bowing of his head.

  Torquil moved deeper into the forest, looking for the perfect spot. He had done this only once before and, in truth, it wasn’t his preference, but he was without choice. There was no good place for him to leave his body unattended here in the woods. More important—he glanced back at the dolt following him—there was certainly no attendant he could trust.

  No, he’d be forced to a physical transformation rather than a spiritual one.

  This place would do.

  Torquil unfastened the belt from his waist and laid it on a fallen tree trunk before pulling his shirt off over his head.

  “Why are you—” Dermid began, but one look from Torquil silenced him.

  His plaid and boots followed, all folded into a neat stack.

  “Do not fail me, brother. I do not forgive easily,” he warned. “Stand back.”

  He squatted to the ground, willing the transformation to begin.

  The change started in his face, just as it had the one other time he’d tried this. Tearing and stretching his skin and his bones as his skull enlarged and lengthened. Only the rapid change in the shape of his mouth prevented him from screaming out in pain.

  “By Odin,” Dermid whimpered, falling back, scrambling away like a bug on the forest floor.

  It took his arms and legs next. Long claws ripped through the flesh of his hands and feet, even as his arms
and legs grew longer and thicker, with heavy fur sprouting through his skin.

  His bones cracked as his rib cage expanded and his backbone doubled, then tripled in length.

  This, all this, he could stand. It was the next phase that demanded all his will.

  Pain, like burning hot pokers, seared though his mind as he fought the beast for control. The body would do him little good if it wasn’t his to command.

  With the beast confined to one small corner, Torquil shook his body, feeling the air ripple through his thick fur. The metallic tang of blood flavored his mouth. His blood, left behind when the deadly fangs erupted from his jaws.

  He stretched, feeling the power in his new limbs and muscles before turning his gaze on the sniveling half human huddled against the tree. It would be so easy to snap that weak little neck between his own massive jaws. He stalked toward Dermid, slow and determined, intentionally striking fear until the idiot called out.

  “Spare me, my lord! I live to serve you.”

  Indeed, that was the only reason he yet lived.

  With a toss of his head, he started forward, waiting until Dermid gathered his clothing and followed.

  Now he was ready. He could already scent the direction his prey had taken.

  He would hunt them and find them, and when he did, he would make them regret their decision to deceive him.

  Thirty-nine

  AS GOOD AS it had felt to stand after a day of running full speed on horseback, lying down was close to heaven.

  Dani stretched out on her woolens, enjoying the pull of her muscles as they lengthened out. With temperatures dropping as the sun prepared to sink below the horizon, it wouldn’t be long before she’d need to cocoon herself in the wrap, but for now, after the day she’d had, she was determined to simply enjoy.

  Not that she planned to spend this night wrapped up alone.

  She rolled on her back, feeling the silly grin stretch the corners of her mouth. Though they were far from being safe here, it was the closest she’d felt to it in days.

  Elesyria dropped to sit beside her wearing her own silly grin. “I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it is to have the Magic coursing through my veins once again. Thank you, Christiana. I shall never forget the gift of freedom you have given me.”

  “You would do well to save yer thanks, Faerie, for that which I have asked of you. Or at least until we ken for sure that we have freedom and no simply the illusion of freedom.” Malcolm’s sister leaned her back against a large tree, her face drawn in a frown. “I only wish I had brought my rune stones.”

  “You needn’t worry,” Elesryia assured. “Those guardsmen are likely still sitting in the wagon where we left them. Though my powers were weakened when we left Tordenet Castle, I put everything I had into the effort.”

  “Mayhap,” Christiana agreed. “But it’s no the guards we left behind what concern me. It’s Torquil. I’ve no a single doubt that he kens the truth and follows us even now.”

  “I don’t understand why your brother is so set on making all of you miserable. He’s obviously a powerful and wealthy man. The meals, the servants, the possessions—everything at Tordenet Castle indicated there was no want there, so, why is he so intent on taking over the MacGahan holdings? It isn’t like he needs one more group of people to rule.”

  It was one of the questions that had puzzled Dani from the moment she’d set foot in Tordenet Castle.

  “You mistake my brother’s intent. Torquil doesn’t seek to rule the MacGahan alone. Torquil seeks to return the glory of the old gods. He would rule the whole of the world.”

  So he was crazy. Like some antihero in a B-grade movie, wanting to take over the world for fun and profit.

  “Well, that’s one worry we don’t have.” Dani smiled, relieved. “Trust me when I say I know for a fact that your brother will not succeed in taking over the world.”

  There were distinct advantages in having seen this world from the future.

  “You base this upon yer perception of time and upon where, when, you come from.”

  Christiana’s words hit far too close to home. How could she possibly know about Dani being from the future?

  “I see the need to deny in your eyes, Sister, but I ken the truth of when you come from. I have seen yer home in my Dream Visions. So I ken the reason you would feel insulated from my brother’s plans, but you must understand, yer concept of time and place has no meaning here. Torquil would wield the powers of the Alfodr. His actions could change the very fabric of the world that Skuld herself has woven. The time you remember may never come to pass.”

  That couldn’t be.

  And yet, here she sat in front of a campfire, seven hundred years from where she belonged, companions to a Faerie and a descendant of Odin. By what right could she possibly claim anything couldn’t be?

  “How do we stop him?”

  Her life in her own time might not have been the best, but she certainly didn’t want to think of the ways it could have been worse if Torquil had ruled the world she’d lived in.

  “I canna say. I’ve no seen the outcome of his plans.”

  “Say what you will of his future intentions.” Elesyria leaned back, stretching out her legs in front of her, “I’ve more of an interest in the here and now. You say you believe he already follows. Can you be sure of that?”

  “Without my rune stones, the only way I have to tell is the Dream Vision, though even that will no always give me what I seek.” She shrugged, a small smile playing around the corners of her mouth. “The Magic has a mind of its own.”

  “And then some,” Elesyria agreed. “In that case, let’s have at it, shall we? Is there anything we can do to help you?”

  Christiana shook her head and lay back flat upon her woolen, arms crossed over her chest. Within seconds her breathing slowed.

  “I’ve never seen anyone go to sleep that fast.”

  “It’s not sleep,” Elesyria corrected. “You’d be more correct to think of it as being in a trance. She’s connecting with the Magic on a whole different plane of existence.”

  Though Dani knew all of this was real, it just never got any easier to accept.

  “Well, trance or sleep or whatever, Malcolm will be back soon and I’m sure he’ll be ready to eat.”

  She pushed up to her knees to lay things out so they’d be ready when Malcolm returned. She placed her knife next to the bread and cheese before getting up to wander around the edges of their campsite, gathering sticks and kindling to toss into the fire.

  She gave the spot where Christiana lay wide berth. It felt uncomfortable to go too close. Granted, the woman might be in a trance and not asleep, but she didn’t want to disturb her either way.

  “Did you feel that?” Elesyria sat up straight and ran a hand up and down her arm as if warding off bugs. “It has the touch of the old Magic.”

  “Could it be from what Christiana is doing? From the vision thing she’s having?”

  Dani had sensed something odd when she’d walked past the woman, like static electricity that made all the hair on her body stand on end, but she’d been convinced it was just her imagination.

  Elesyria clasped both hands around her arms, her head shaking slowly as she rocked back and forth. “Maybe. I cannot say what it is for sure. But I can say for a fact that I do not like it.”

  Squatting down next to the fire, Dani tossed her armload of wood down and nudged some of the flatter stones close in to the fire. This would be a good night to utilize the bed-warming trick Hamund had taught her.

  Her heart caught at the thought of the easygoing Hamund and what Torquil had done him and to her other friends, her last memories of them hanging from that horrible pole.

  She struggled to push the image from her mind. Dusk approached rapidly, and dwelling on those memories sent a chill of apprehension racing down her spine. Hopefully Malcolm would return soon and banish all the negative thoughts eating away at her nerves.

  A noised sounded in the unde
rbrush and she was on her feet, already headed in that direction to welcome Malcolm back when a totally unexpected figure emerged from the trees only feet from where Christiana lay.

  “Dermid! What are you doing here?”

  Malcolm would be furious. After all he’d done to make sure his brother had stayed behind, Dani was sure they were in for a scene when he returned.

  The young man grinned as he made his way past her and into their circle. “I’ve found you at last! You canna believe how long I’ve searched for you. Where’s Malcolm?”

  Dani had only an instant to wonder at his asking after Malcolm but not the MacGahan guards when another rustle of brush revealed a second visitor.

  This one was huge and not the least bit friendly.

  A wolf. White as snow and standing easily five feet from the ground to the raised hackles on his back, he drew his muzzle back into a snarl that displayed the biggest teeth Dani could ever have imagined. A low continuous growl issued from the beast’s throat even as saliva dripped from his fangs.

  The beast paused, scanning the circle with what appeared to be an almost human intelligence as three men, swords drawn, stepped from the trees to take up their places, one on either side of the wolf and one behind.

  The beast might be a mystery, but the men were all too easy to recognize. Torquil’s guards.

  And then, it was as if everything happened at once.

  Dermid ran toward her, away from the beast, while Dani threw herself over Christiana’s prone body, hoping to somehow protect the unconscious girl. Across the circle, Elesyria was on her feet, her arms lifted upward, her mouth moving rapidly, issuing some silent prayer even as what looked like lightning speared from the sky straight into her fingertips.

  When she extended her arms straight out in front of her, the beast lunged. It leaped through the air, roaring as the lightning traced two paths of fire along its sides, sending the stench of burning fur up Dani’s nostrils. The huge animal smashed its head full force into Elesyria’s chest, slamming her body backward against a tree in a shower of sparkling fireworks. The Faerie slumped to the ground, unconscious, and the beast stood over her, his jaws widening as he prepared to go for her throat.