by Krista Walsh
“I’m fine,” she said, but her hand trembled around the reins, and the smile she attempted looked weak and forced. The black Friesen pawed at the ground, troubled by his rider’s nervousness, but remained steady until Jeff was sure Jasmine could sit on her own.
“I’m sure,” he said, making it clear he didn’t believe her. Again it struck him that the Jasmine he’d known wouldn’t have been so bowled over from the shock. Her usual warrior-maiden face was failing her.
By now, the others had drawn into a close circle.
“Gods-be-damned,” Ariana murmured, eyes wide, and Jeff worried he’d have to catch her as well. She had never seen Brady in this state and likely didn’t know that the mind of a dragon had just joined their party.
Jayden gestured to his captain to continue leading the army while the seven of them stood aside and gave them room to pass. Jayden, Venn, and William created a wall against any prying eyes.
“What are you seeing?” Jeff asked Brady.
“How do you know he’s seeing anything?” asked Venn. He heard the slight tremor to her voice, the only symptom that she was as thrown as the others.
Jeff looked into Brady’s white eyes. “If Talfyr’s mind is here with us, it must also be wherever his body is. I doubt he’s dropping in just to say hi.”
“This is hardly the time for jokes,” Maggie chided gently, reaching her hand out to grasp Jasmine’s.
Before Jeff could apologise, Brady’s chin rose and he looked down the road in the direction the army was headed. “Two-legged creatures on four-legged ones.”
“Where?” Jayden demanded. “How many? Are they part of the cabal?”
“Grey creatures with no eyes. Coming closer.”
Brady-Talfyr—Brafyr, Jeff thought—lifted his arm to point down the road.
“The earth shakes,” he continued. “The world will open and more of my brethren will wake. The magic calls them here.”
“Fucking rats on a fire spit,” Jasmine breathed. “More dragons.”
Jayden grimaced. “Kariel can’t find out. He’s a good man, but he won’t risk his men against a dragon threat. We won’t stand a chance if they come to cause trouble.”
“Is there any way to stop them?” asked Maggie.
“Silence the call,” Brafyr replied.
Jeff raised a hand. “If the dragons are coming because they hate Raul, can’t we just dash in, grab Cassie, and let them do the dirty work? We know they’d be thorough. More fire.”
He spoke to Jayden’s back, the warrior having already turned towards the road, standing in the stirrups to better scout for the grey creatures with no eyes. Jeff shivered at the image his imagination created.
“Would you want the responsibility of even one of Raul’s people getting away if we don’t deal with this personally?” Ariana asked, her attention only half on Jeff as her gaze shifted the same way as Jayden’s.
“Or what it would mean if they cast a spell to ensnare one of those dragons to their will?” posed Maggie.
Brafyr growled, the sound coming from deep in his throat and with such venom that Jeff braced for a blast of fire breath.
He kept his eye on the counsellor as he asked Maggie, “That’s a thing that can happen? Why did Raul never try that on Talfyr? Er, you.”
“He did,” said Brady, that second ancient voice full of scorn. “Try.”
“They’re coming through the trees. To the side of the road,” Jayden warned, dropping back down in his seat. “It’s those robed bastards again. They must have eyes all over the place to keep finding us the way they do.”
“Brady!” Jasmine cried, grabbing her husband’s arms as he slumped forward.
William helped her keep him in the saddle as Venn, Ariana, Maggie, and Jayden turned to face the fight. None of them bothered to ride forward, and in a matter of minutes, Jeff understood why. The Robers were all dead by the time Jayden would have reached the front of the column. All except one, who struggled in Arms-master Brian’s grasp. Brian spat out a gob of brown sputum as he hauled the prisoner in front of Jayden, who rode forward with Jeff and the others to meet them halfway.
The Feldall lord dismounted and drew his sword, resting it against the Rober’s throat. The hood fell back to reveal the face of a young man, probably no more than sixteen years old, his cheeks flushed and eyes bright with fanaticism.
“Your efforts are starting to bore me,” said Jayden.
“What efforts?” Brian grumbled. “That was a pitiful display.”
Jeff appreciated the arms-master’s dedication to his craft, but if the enemy’s lack of skill made them easier to take down, Jeff didn’t see the issue.
“Who are you?” Jayden demanded, ignoring Brian.
The man squeezed his lips together, and Jayden pressed the blade deeper into the skin. Jeff cringed and brushed his fingers over his own throat, feeling sympathy pressure.
“I’ve killed many of your people and will not hesitate to kill you. Your kind have been a plague for weeks. Know that your mission will fail. We will end you. It’s now a matter of hours.”
A flash of fear crossed the stranger’s face, and for a moment Jeff thought they had him. Then it disappeared and hate replaced the fear.
“Do what you wish with me. Our cause will not fail. Raul will not win.”
Jeff’s brain stumbled. “Huh?”
He looked to Jayden, but the lord’s attention remained on the prisoner as his brow furrowed with similar confusion.
“I don’t understand,” Ariana said, looking from Venn to Jeff. “I thought these were Raul’s people?”
“It seemed most likely. What with the trying to kill us all the time and all,” Venn replied. “Guess we fucked that up.”
Ariana smirked. “That’s the trouble with assumptions.”
Jeff heard no judgement in her voice, knew she was just making a comment—that she had drawn the same conclusions—but he saw the irritation boil in Jayden’s green eye, and heard the harshness in his tone as he said, through clenched teeth, “We made an assumption based on the information at hand.”
A wounded expression crossed Ariana’s face, and Jeff opened his mouth to call his friend on his rudeness, but the princess beat him to it. “It wasn’t my suggestion that you provided false information, Lord Feldall, so I recommend you watch your tone.”
She dismounted to be level with Jayden and drew her own sword, placing the blade over his so both points sat against the Rober’s throat.
“It is my suggestion,” she continued, “that you step away and allow me to speak with this young man. Perhaps I can add some facts to our breadth of knowledge.”
She kept her voice cold and level, her brown eyes raised to meet his without wavering. Jayden held her stare for a full half-minute, every muscle tense and unmoving, and Jeff wondered if the tableau would ever unfreeze. Finally, he gave a stiff nod, sheathed his sword, and turned away sharply. He mounted his horse and clicked his tongue to spur him across the field, away from the marching army.
Ariana deliberately kept her back to him, and didn’t begin to speak until Jayden was gone, her jaw clenched as tightly as his had been.
Jeff debated staying and learning what Ariana could glean from the prisoner, but the opportunity to speak with Jayden couldn’t be passed up. With a last look over his shoulder to see Brady rousing back to consciousness under the care of Maggie, William, and Jasmine, and a quick nod to Venn, he rode after Jayden.
The brown mare plodded through the snow, Jeff sensing her misery increasing with every step, but eventually they caught up to Jayden far from the road.
“What part of me riding away gave the impression I wanted company, Author?” he asked without looking behind him.
“How did you know it was me?”
“No one else would be so invasive of my privacy.”
Jeff huffed. “Only because everyone else is distracted with their own crap, not because they’re not worried about you acting like this.”
Jayde
n drew in the reins to stop his horse, and turned him around to face Jeff. His dark eyebrows were drawn in, the black leather eye patch giving him a more menacing appearance when set against the scowl around his mouth and harsh light in his good eye. “Like what?”
“Like a bitter old man.”
The words were out before Jeff could stop them, but he forced himself to hold Jayden’s gaze and stand his ground. He may have been blunt, but he was right.
Jayden’s scowl deepened, torn between irritation and anger. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know you still love her,” Jeff pressed. “As much, if not more, than when you married her. I think you’d forgotten how much she meant to you until she ran into us on the road, but ever since that moment you’ve changed.”
“Bullshit.”
“Great argument,” Jeff lashed back. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, trying to summon his patience. Once he felt it was established, he tried again. “You may not see it, but we do. And the grumpier you get, the more obvious it is, but the less anyone wants to be around you. Which is a normal symptom of love, I’m told. Cassie quoted some classic literature stuff about it once. Point is, you have to do something. The issue’s not going to go away on its own, and you’re just making it worse by being such an asshole.”
The more Jeff spoke, the darker Jayden’s expression became. Jeff noticed it, but hoped the words would break through in spite of his friend’s stubbornness.
“You don’t know anything, Powell. Don’t presume to preach at me as if you understand me. You may believe you ‘created’ me, but even if that’s true, it’s been a long while since you played in my head. Count yourself lucky I know that or you’d have a broken nose to go with that arrow wound.”
Jeff bit back a retort in response to Jayden’s threat, knowing from experience the man wasn’t opposed to throwing punches his way when provoked. Last time, Jayden had accidentally learned Jeff meant to kill him off in Evensong; if he suspected Jeff was responsible for his current situation, Jeff doubted a simple protection spell from Maggie would be enough to keep Jayden from throttling him.
With another deep breath, he said, “I may not know a lot about life in this world, and I may know less about relationships, but I know what it is to feel crazy about someone. To want to be with her even if—and sometimes especially—when she’s pushing you to madness.”
Jayden opened his mouth to argue again, but Jeff pushed through.
“You don’t have to believe me right now, but before you bite anyone else’s head off, ask yourself why you’re so impatient these days. We’re about to butt heads with the enemy. We could get cooked by dragons. We could get sucked into a vortex. We could trip and fall and hit our heads and have the embarrassment of dying out of clumsiness after surviving the battle. Why waste what time we have left fighting against what you so clearly want?”
Finally, Jeff saw a light flash in Jayden’s green eye, clearing some of the thunderclouds that hovered over his head. A reluctant acceptance that the lowly author was right. It lapsed quickly back into grumpiness.
“She—”
But Jeff was in no mood for more pointless debate when the answer was staring the man in the face.
“She feels the same. Talk to her.”
“She thinks she’s so superior. She’s rude. She’s bossy.”
“She’s you without a penis.”
Jayden stopped, brow high, and Jeff felt a surge of satisfaction.
“I don’t want to hear it. Talk to her. Ideally while you still have friends to watch your back when this battle we’re riding into starts.”
Jayden mumbled something incoherent as he turned his mount back towards the road, and Jeff followed with a smug smile. He hoped his friend found the courage to talk to Ariana, but he also planned to be nowhere around if he did. Chances were high that tempers would flare between them, and Jeff didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire.
By the time they returned to the others, the Rober had been bound and secured on the back of William’s horse. Brian had gone back to the army ranks, with Ariana and Venn guarding either side of the prisoner to make sure he didn’t try to jump and run. Maggie and Jasmine stayed beside Brady, who looked much more alive than he had a few minutes earlier. His grey eyes shone with a sort of fever.
“What’s going on?” Jayden demanded of Ariana. “I leave for no time at all and this bastard becomes one of the party?”
Clearly our talk did a world of good, Jeff thought, rolling his eyes.
Ariana’s chin rose. “As it happens, Jacob—that’s his name, by the way—is prepared to take us to his headquarters to meet the leader of this group. Apparently they have some information we might find helpful before facing Raul’s people.”
“No,” said Jayden.
“No?” Ariana repeated, strawberry blonde eyebrows rising to lofty heights.
Jayden raised his arm to cross it, and then dropped his hand back to the pommel of his saddle. “We’re already marching to the Kinnaeths. I will not reroute my men for possible information that might help us.”
Ariana, as though to goad him, did cross her arms. “Then it’s a good thing their camp is on our way. Jacob tells me they’ve known the location of Raul’s men for months and have been waging their own guerrilla war.”
“Which has been very effective, I’m sure. Shame they spent half their efforts coming after us when we could have been allies. Their outstanding judgement really makes me want to go to them for help now.”
Jeff glanced towards Maggie, and the enchantress rolled her eyes. Beside her, Brady watched the banter like a tennis match.
The princess’s nostrils flared, and her larynx bobbed as she swallowed hard. “I’m not saying I agree with them or their methods. Just that we would benefit from knowing more. My suggestion is that we allow the army to continue as planned, and we detour to meet Jacob’s friends. We’ll move faster as a small group, and could probably catch up before your men arrive. But this is your show.”
Another standoff followed as Jayden’s stubbornness slammed against his reason. Jeff felt the tension rise around them, and almost expected a vortex to open at their feet with the brewing energy.
“Jayden,” Jasmine spoke up, breaking the spell.
Jayden blinked. “Fine. Let’s head out. William, you ride with me. Venn, make sure this kid doesn’t do anything stupid. If he does, incapacitate him.”
Venn grinned, a touch maniacally. “You got it, boss.”
Jasmine, Brady, and Maggie followed behind, leaving Ariana and Jeff to bring up the rear. The silence between them felt heavy, but given the subject of Jeff’s recent chat with Jayden, there seemed to be an embargo on any conversation starter.
“It’s cold out,” he said in an attempt at small talk.
Ariana smiled at him, but made no reply, so he dropped the effort and left the princess to her thoughts.
The journey took another day and a half, but Jacob hadn’t been lying when he said their camp was close to the village. The mountains loomed to their right, and Jeff heard Jayden grumble about giving away their position.
Ariana rolled her eyes. “It’s another half-day ride. Instruct your captain to stop and wait a good distance away and send out scouts to make sure Kariel’s and Lyle’s men are in place.” She caught Jayden’s glare and held up her a hand. “Just my humble opinion.”
“Noted, Your Highness,” said Jayden. “I defer to your superior wisdom.”
Jeff held his breath, waiting for the backlash, but Ariana bit her tongue.
Jayden gave the order—a touch more sharply than he normally would have, Jeff noticed. Probably bothered that she showed more rationality than he possesses at the moment—and the army continued down the main road while the smaller group veered west towards the camp.
The shrunken party was silent, all lost in their own thoughts, but Jeff’s growing apprehension pushed him to speak to distract himself from what awaited.
�
��What sort of information does Jakey-boy think we’ll get?” he asked Ariana.
Considering these Robers seemed to have it out for him in particular, he didn’t feel comfortable riding into their dragon’s den, but riding ahead with the army hadn’t been much of an alternative.
“He didn’t say much,” Ariana admitted, keeping her voice down with a glance towards Jayden. “In fact, after making it very clear of his group’s position against Raul, and alluding to the camp nearby, he was quite tight-lipped.”
Jeff smirked. “You failed to mention that particular detail to our leader.”
The princess chuckled. “Sneaky dealings was one of my favourite classes growing up. Only tell people as much as they need to know to get them to do what you want. I felt this was too important to ignore.”
Jeff’s smile faded. “I wish I knew if I agreed with you.”
Ariana’s expression turned quizzical. “Oh?”
Jeff hesitated, not sure how much personal information one should give the heir to the throne, but her face was so inviting, so free of judgement, that he said, “It’s not that your point isn’t valid. The more we know, the better our chances of kicking their asses.” He stumbled, wondering what was or was not appropriate language, but as she didn’t appear fazed, he continued, “It’s just that Cassie’s only a half-day away and I don’t want to waste any more time. She’s been gone over a week. I don’t know if she’s okay, if they’ve hurt her. More than anything I want to have her back. At this point, every second we spend riding in the opposite direction feels like a whole extra day.”
He worried he was talking too much and fell silent, face flushed.
Ariana smiled, reassuring him that he hadn’t committed any faux pas. “We’ll reach her soon. I promise.”
Jeff grinned. “I believe you. And,” he added, risking saying it aloud, “here’s hoping these maniacs prove worth our time. Can’t say I want to be around Lord Grumpypants if there’s nothing there.”
This brought out a laugh, causing Maggie to look over her shoulder, and Jayden’s shoulders to tense up ahead, Jeff noticed. But her amusement soon ebbed into sobriety. “We’ll find out soon enough. Looks like we’re here.”