Doubt clawed at her stomach. It made Brelynn wonder all the more if this was a trap.
A haggard tavern wench sauntered over to the Knight. “Whatcha having? Seats ain’t free.”
“I’m after information.” The Knight laid down a coin worth several ales. His voice was low, and Brelynn had to use a small spell to hear him.
The wench snapped up the coin, and it disappeared into her ample cleavage. “Whatdya wanna know?”
“I’m searching for a sorceress.”
“A sorceress, huh? Them ain’t nothing but trouble.”
“Which is why it would be best if I found her.” The Knight withdrew another coin.
Brelynn cursed under her breath. If he really was a Knight of Valor, he’d been around enough to have figured out his title wouldn’t make anyone beyond Tamryn’s boarders talk.
“What’d she do?”
“Do you know of a sorceress in Eskara?”
“No magic users ‘round these parts. They got better places to be. I see one, though, and I’ll make sure you know.”
The Knight handed the woman the coin. He waited for her to leave, then he waited for another customer to distract her before turning his attention to the bar’s patrons.
Even under her heavy cloak, Brelynn squirmed. She kept her hood up and turned away from him, but he focused on her anyway.
She cursed again.
Cold slithered down her spine, and she steadied her hands to keep from spilling her ale and drawing further attention. She couldn’t be certain if he was a real Knight of Valor or a trap sent by her master.
Brelynn wondered again at the wisdom of striking this deal.
Whether or not it had been smart, she’d made it, and it had two outcomes, neither appealing. She either faced this Knight, and they went to Tamryn and on to its capital city of Aerius, or her master would capture her.
Her decision made, she plucked up her courage and carried her ale over to tall and shiny.
“Discretion is a virtue.” Brelynn sipped her drink as she sat in a chair opposite him.
“Are you the sorceress Brelynn?”
His words were quiet, but several heads in the bar still turned toward them.
She arched a brow and set her mug on the dirty table.
“When you didn’t meet me at the rendezvous point, I made myself easy to find.”
“There was no rendezvous point.”
“Arch-Mage Ndrek told me…” He frowned. “Never mind. We found each other. I am Sir Marcus Valerian, and I’ve agreed to take you to Aerius.”
“Not even a blind dog could miss you in that shiny armor. Bandits will think you’re an easy target.”
“They learned otherwise and dispatching a few bandits made the road safer for others.”
He made it sound easy. Either he was boasting, or he didn’t think much of it. She wasn’t sure which was worse. “You’re an eyesore that will get us both killed.”
“Assuming you are what you say you are, King Eli sent me to bring you back to Aerius. You have my word I will see it done.”
Brelynn’s eyes narrowed. This man wasn’t “sent” to do anything. “What I say I am?”
“An Oskelesian sorceress seeking asylum.”
“Instead of what?”
“A spy. An assassin. An agent of evil.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’ve read one too many Knight’s Tales.”
“Then you have nothing to fear. I will take you to Aerius.”
“And once we get there?” Brelynn swirled the ale in her cup.
“That will be up to King Eli.”
The way he tossed around the Tamarian king’s name sent a shiver down her spine. He at least had the arrogance of a Knight. Brelynn fixed her gaze on him, and the question escaped before she could stop it. “Is it true Knights of Valor burn sorceresses at the stake?”
“Of course not!” Sir Marcus thumped the table with his fist. “Who told you that?”
Her mouth dried at his anger, but she simply shrugged. “Guess I’ll have to take my chances you’re not lying.”
“Knights don’t lie,” Sir Marcus said from between clenched teeth. He regained his composure and nodded toward the door. “We should be on our way.”
“It’ll be dark before we can get too far from Eskara.”
“King Eli is waiting.”
“Let him wait.” Brelynn raised a brow as she studied him. “I need safe passage for a reason, and you’re as stealthy as a flaming ghoul in Black Square. Might as well have the sun on our side.”
“Anyone you’re hiding from will know I’m here, and it won’t be long before they know I came looking for you.”
“Afraid?” Brelynn asked.
“For you, yes.”
“I’ll take care of myself. You make sure we don’t get lost on the way to Tamryn.” She kicked back out of her seat.
Marcus caught her hand and pulled her back into the chair. “I gave my word to protect you, and I keep my word.”
She growled at him and drove a fire spell into hand.
He tightened his grip.
The table smoked, but he only raised an eyebrow at her. Brelynn met his gaze, and her hand balled into a fist under his long lean fingers as she controlled a rush of magic fueled by anger and fear.
“Are you finished?” he asked.
“Let go of me.”
Sir Marcus’s gaze never wavered as he lifted his fingers, and she snatched back her hand.
“You’re under my protection now, and I promised to take you to Aerius.”
“Self-righteous bastard,” she growled. He really was the poster boy for his order.
“Been called worse. Let’s gather what you need so we can be out of this town before we have to fight our way out.”
There was no use arguing, and they’d already drawn too much attention. Brelynn dreaded the long trip to Aerius and being stuck with tall and shiny would make the journey even worse.
She wondered again what she’d agreed to and if all of Tamryn was like this Knight of Valor.
No, they weren’t. A man like Arch-Mage Ndrek was an agent of Tamryn’s king. If he was any indication, there had to be normal people in Tamryn, or at least a few that weren’t holier-than-thou jerks.
Even if there weren’t, her other choice was even less appealing.
Brelynn tightened her cloak, kicked off her chair, and strode out of the tavern.
Chapter 4
As Sir Marcus and Brelynn left the bar, the stench of sweat and rot mingled with the reek of raw sewage that had soaked into the muddy roads. Cobbled together buildings that a strong wind could tip over huddled against the streets, and hidden eyes watched them from behind boarded-over windows.
Disgust pinched Sir Marcus’s face before he hid it under his haughty Knight of Valor expression. Brelynn didn’t disagree with him, but his reaction still rankled.
She lowered her head and let the hood of her cloak slide forward to conceal her face. Most Eskarians wore their cloaks as she did, making it easy to lose someone in a crowd. It was another reason she’d chosen Eskara.
People stepped aside or crossed the street to avoid the Knight of Valor, and Brelynn bit back several disparaging comments. Inconspicuous had been removed from Sir Marcus’s vocabulary, and he was living up to all the stereotypes about his order. She hoped he was as formidable in a fight as those stereotypes also said.
Weaving through the streets, Brelynn slipped into a back alley riddled with doors. She paused at one and checked the magic lock. It was still in place. It didn’t guarantee no one had been there, but it did mean someone had to go through a lot of trouble to make it look like they hadn’t.
Most people in Eskara wouldn’t bother, and even fewer could cast the spells needed.
Brelynn opened the door and stepped inside a room not much bigger than a linen closet.
Marcus walked in behind her and closed the door.
She swallowed hard, realizing how tall and broad he was. He could s
nap her in two, and he might if he decided she was an assassin or a spy.
But fear wasn’t what she was feeling, and that bothered her.
He was a Tamarian Knight of Valor, known for their self-righteous, uptight goodness that despised all things Oskelesian. Not that she was a fan of Oskelez, but that didn’t matter. She was still Oskelesian. Whatever childish stupidity made her heart squeeze when she was this close to him would be better channeled to fear.
“Welcome to my palace. Please make yourself at home.” She spread her arms wide and nearly touched both walls.
While the room itself was small, she’d scrubbed the floors and walls clean, and the faint scent of lilacs perfumed the air. She’d arranged a handful of necessities beside her bed roll, but otherwise, the tiny room was bare.
Sir Marcus glanced toward the door. “We’ve been followed.”
Her throat tightened. “You don’t say, tall and shiny. What do we do?”
“Move before they trap us in here.”
Her fingers trembled as she rolled up her sleeping bag and folded it into her backpack. She tossed in her trail rations, canteen, and a handful of gold rings.
Sir Marcus raised a brow, but she offered no explanation. If he wanted to add petty theft to the list of crimes he thought her guilty of, so be it. At least it wasn’t spy or assassin.
He listened at the door and shook his head.
“Anyone out there?” Brelynn asked.
“Not yet.”
Brelynn bit her lip. “Probably don’t know which door we went in and are waiting for us to come out.”
“Is there another way out of here?”
“Do you see one?”
Sir Marcus listened at the door again. “Hurry.”
Taking a hand spade from her pack, Brelynn flicked her wrist, and it dug into the hard earth until it uncovered a leather pouch. She tucked it into her cloak before packing up the spade. She then reached up and grabbed a small object from either corner of the room. When she turned back toward the door, Brelynn found herself face to face with Sir Marcus in the confined space.
The top of her head reached his chin, and his armor accentuated the breadth of his shoulders. His shield was almost as tall as she was, and he carried that and his sword with the competence of a battle-hardened soldier. Despite the grime of the city, he smelled like a crisp autumn day.
Glancing up, she expected his eyes to be blue, but this close, she realized they were a pale purple.
Her breath caught in her throat when their gazes met, but she refused to step away.
Raw emotion sparked her magic, and she throttled it.
“Your magic wants to protect you. I’ve seen magic do a lot of things, but never that.”
She refused to meet his gaze again. “Magic tries to do a lot of things. It’s up to the caster what it gets away with.”
“You’re angry with me about insisting we leave now, but you’re in too much danger here. I promised King Eli I would bring you safely to Aerius, and a Knight keeps his word.”
“Danger you brought.”
“Danger that was always here, but I will protect you.”
“I’ll try to remember that.” Strange thing was, she believed him. As long as he didn’t think she was an assassin or spy.
Brelynn couldn’t name the emotion sizzling along her nerves and tickling her skin. Not anger, not fear, but still a warning.
She kept her expression neutral and pointed behind him. “If you have to be here, make yourself useful and get the charms.”
Sir Marcus turned to do as she asked, and his shoulder brushed against her. The contact tightened the thick muscles in his arms.
Brelynn tried to ignore his reaction. He was either as affected by her as she was him, or she repulsed him and he wanted to kill her. Neither scenario was appealing.
He brought down the powerful undead wards and handed them to her. Brelynn packed them away, not offering a word of explanation. Not that he needed one. He already knew she was fleeing Oskelez.
“Anything else you need to gather before we leave?” Sir Marcus asked.
“Wait while I get the fine silver.” She rolled her eyes as she tried to push past him to the door. He was a wall of immovable steel blocking her way.
Sir Marcus put up a hand to keep her back. He then opened the door, scanned the street, and stepped outside, letting her follow him.
As she closed the door behind them, two men appeared on one side of the alley, and three more closed off their escape on the other side. They all had weapons drawn as they approached.
“Ah, the welcoming party,” Brelynn said. “Must’ve heard you were in town.”
“I’m surprised they took this long to pay me a visit. Stay behind me.” Sir Marcus drew his sword and shield.
His weapon shimmered with holy light, brightening the dim alley. Brelynn knew little of such magics, but the strength of it whispered across her flesh. Their assailants must have felt it as well, and they paused.
“Walk away, and I’ll forget I saw you,” Sir Marcus said, his voice flat.
Brelynn kept her magic sheathed. “If you let them go, they’ll only get reinforcements.”
“Maybe, but I’m giving them the choice.”
She bit her lip to keep from laughing at his arrogance.
After a moment’s hesitation, the ruffians charged.
Sir Marcus waited for them, shielding Brelynn as he did.
Memories of the dark spells her master had forced her to learn danced over her tongue. Caging the incantations, Brelynn pushed away the temptation.
She’d escaped Oskelez. She would never use such spells again. Better a quick death than slowly losing her soul.
Concentrating on her magic, Brelynn dug deep and drew as much as she could muster. She wove a spell, a different spell than her master would’ve commanded. She released it, and fire shot up and engulfed the closest man. His screams echoed through the alley as he fell to the ground and tried to douse the flames.
The attackers turned in surprise towards their screaming comrade, and Sir Marcus decapitated the first as his shield deflected a late blow from the second.
The Knight swung his sword around, and using his shield to knock the attacker off balance, seized the opening in his opponent’s defenses to dispatch him.
Turning mid stride, the Knight’s blade arced in a brilliant cascade of holy fire and steel as he ran it through the chest of the man Brelynn had set on fire. The man’s screams died and silence filled the emptiness as Sir Marcus turned toward the remaining two men.
She’d been wrong.
It wasn’t arrogance.
Fear salted her tongue and squeezed her heart as she watched Sir Marcus’s lethal ballet. She’d been proud of her spell for a moment, but it was nothing compared to the holy warrior that killed with the ease of a hawk preying on a mouse.
His armor may be pristine, but that wasn’t from lack of use.
As fear thrummed through her veins, Brelynn called the magic again. This time, ice shot from her hands, and it clinked off the chest plate of the attacker charging Sir Marcus. While the man was unharmed, the cold slowed his movement, allowing Sir Marcus to bat away his attack and sever the man’s head from his shoulders.
As the fourth attacker fell at Sir Marcus’s feet, the last remaining assailant stared at Sir Marcus, then turned and sprinted back toward the street.
Sir Marcus watched him leave.
“He’s getting away,” Brelynn snarled and started to chase after him.
Sir Marcus caught her shoulder and stopped her. “We won’t be in Eskara long enough for sparing him to matter.”
“He knows I’m a mage,” Brelynn ground out from between clenched teeth. “You’re supposed to be protecting me.”
“If they want you, they must come through me to get you.”
She clenched her fists as she buried her fear beneath a veneer of anger. “What’s after me is worse than a few thugs. If we can’t handle these-”
&n
bsp; “We handled them just fine. And I figure we’re facing undead based on your wards. I can and will protect you.”
“Maybe you can.” Brelynn shrugged off his hand. “But if it comes down to killing someone or my master destroying my soul, I’d rather send someone on the final walk with Mor.”
“It won’t come to that.”
“You sound sure. Too sure.”
Sir Marcus said nothing as his grip tightened on his sword.
Brelynn met his anger with her own as she hoisted her pack. “Let’s get one thing straight, Knight of Valor. I’m in this to survive.”
“Very Oskelesian of you.” His sword glowed white, burning away the blood, before he sheathed it. “The king sent me to keep you alive. Let me do it.”
“You’re the one asking for a fight.” She snatched a cloak from one of their dead assailants and tossed it at him. “Try drawing less attention.”
Sir Marcus stared at the cloak in his hands and cursed under his breath. “I will grant you that, but I handled them easily enough. You need to trust me. I’m a Knight of Valor. People are supposed to let me protect them.”
“Must be people you don’t burn at the stake.” Brelynn stared down the alley past the dead men. “Doesn’t matter. We need to get our horses. No way you’re walking to Aerius in that armor.”
“Where’s your horse?”
“My palace doesn’t come with a stable. We have to get him.”
Chapter 5
Brelynn led the Knight of Valor down the alley and across several streets to a half-collapsed structure. She ducked inside with Sir Marcus close behind her.
Fear propelled her, but his closeness elicited the same strange emotion she’d felt in her room. The combination surprised her and left her a little nauseous.
Focusing on the task at hand, she surveyed the couple of horses that were bedded down and whistled. A dark brown gelding with a white stripe on his nose sauntered over, and she summoned him an apple as she stroked his flank.
Rocky was an old horse, but he didn’t deserve what would happen to him if he stayed in Eskara any more than she did. Brelynn prayed again Tamryn would be kinder to both of them.
Knight of Valor: Knights of Valor Page 2