John suddenly laughed. “I can see it in your face, it’s throwing me off balance as well. What the hell happened to you? It’s only been what, three weeks?”
He nodded, then his smile dropped away. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when Father died.”
It was out, and now that it was, he found himself ready to flinch in case John swung at him. To his surprise, John merely shook his head and reached out, laying a hand on his shoulder. “You did what you had to. I don’t blame you for that. It’s true that at first my anger was a bit—overwhelming. But I had a lying snake whispering in my ear and I didn’t know any better. But I owe you, little brother. If you hadn’t sent Windel back when you did, if you hadn’t helped to expose Clint, our castle would have fallen, and I would be dead; along with the rest of your people. I cannot ever repay the debt we owe you for that and I will not let anyone else judge you for what happened either.”
He couldn’t help the emotions rising up inside as he reached forward and embraced his brother. Astonishingly enough, he thought he heard John choking back a couple of tears as well. They clapped each other on the shoulders and John pushed him back to take a better look at him. “I can still see mom, but now there’s a lot of dad in you as well,” his brother offered with a grin.
“Yeah, mostly around the—,” he began.
“Eyes,” they both finished together, then broke into fresh laughter.
The door opened, giving him a start. Turning to glance in that direction, he thought Derek had come back once more, but found Willow walking through it instead. She had a couple more bottles of wine and another glass in hand.
“Wait, did you leave?” he asked in shock.
Willow chuckled. “You think I wanted to be here while the two of you ripped each other apart? No thanks Honey. You may be my husband to be, but I’m not your nursemaid.”
His jaw dropped. “Seriously, you just ditched me?”
“Oh, what the hell? Were you actually afraid to be alone with me?” John added, joining in with Willow’s laughter. “And I really don’t think you should be drinking much more of that. Even with your rapid metabolism; it might begin to affect the baby.”
Willow rolled her eyes. “You going to mother hen me as well? I’ve already got one, thanks.” She sipped her wine and as she did so, he stared intently at the glass. It was still the same one she had filled before; she hadn’t even made it through one yet. “You two want to hug it out some more? I can give you guys the room.”
John cracked, his face splitting into a tooth-filled grin. “No, that’s quite all right. Why don’t we just pull up some chairs out here and talk. Looks like we have one hell of a view tonight,” he commented, motioning towards the silver dragon in the distance.
Almost the second after they’d done so, there came the flutter of wings and a quick yowl as a cat jumped up onto the balcony railing from below, the young sprite zooming into view rapidly on his heels. “What the—?” John stammered, as the cat jumped into his lap and curled up, stretching his claws on his brother’s legs.
“That’s Trek,” he told his older brother with a smile. He’d let Trek out himself as a fairy, that was one surprised look he wanted to see.
“And this, is Shirl,” Willow told him, reaching out and allowing the sprite to land on her hand. Bringing her in closer, she raised her hand to her shoulder and the small fairy stepped over and took a seat. “Don’t worry, they’ve already heard everything we’d have to say anyways, so feel free to speak freely around them.”
John shook his head in amazement. “Fairies and dragons, you two have been busy. Maybe it’s time we catch up, eh?”
He laughed. “You don’t know the half of it.”
“That reminds me,” John said after a few seconds of silence. Reaching into a pouch connected to his belt, he slowly slid a scroll free and tilted it his way. The seal on it had been broken and there were signs of blood soaked into the edges. His heart stopped; it was his father’s letter.
A tear welled up at the corner of his eye as he tentatively reached out and accepted it from his brother’s hand. “I had totally forgotten about that,” he managed, feeling an overwhelming tide of emotions spring forth.
“I know that it was hard to give up, but you made the right choice. If not for that unbroken seal and our father’s words, your friend Windel might have been run through with my sword while the palace fell to a goblin horde,” John admitted reluctantly, eyes glazing over for a moment. “That bastard had me truly believing the both of you had murdered our father. I don’t know how I could have been so blinded by that man. I knew what he was from the day he arrived at the palace, swore that I’d get rid of him when I became king, and still I let him in.”
Willow shook her head. “You can’t blame yourself for that. We left in such a hurry, we didn’t get a chance to explain, to you or my sister. We owed you more than that. There was just so much going on and your father thought he had more time—,” she trailed off, unable to finish.
He tried remembering that afternoon, but so much had happened that it was a foggy memory, refusing to come into focus. “Father assured me that he was going to go tell you everything when we parted, I don’t know why he didn’t. Probably got distracted and thought he’d get to it later. But that bastard Clint got to him first.”
“I missed that bastard during the battle,” John remarked, glaring towards the western horizon.
“I saw. No, don’t ask me how. I’ll get to that in a bit. I also missed him at Camelot,” he replied in turn, shaking his head. “He’s one slippery son of a bitch. But I’ll tell you something, he’s got a lot of people gunning for him, so he’d best steer clear of coming here.”
John laughed. “I don’t think he’s that smart.”
He forced a chuckle. “Probably right.”
His brother elbowed him, turning to Willow. “I almost forgot something myself. You two have a new niece, her name is Constance.”
III
A short time later and a bottle down, John sat back and lit a tobacco pipe; something that their father had a habit of doing and not what he’d ever seen his brother do in his presence. “When did you start that?”
“Right when they put the crown on my head,” John chuckled back. “Looks like you could use some. Take it the conversation with Bordin didn’t go well?”
“You could say that,” he answered with a groan. “Doesn’t seem to matter that our wedding is in two days, and that we only put it off so that the two of you could be there.”
John shook his head and laughed. “It’s his little girl, what did you expect him to do? If it was Constance I came upon full in the belly with a hormone driven teen preening by her side; Gods forgive me for what I’d do to the boy.”
“Now you’re beginning to sound like her,” he answered, nodding in Willow’s direction. She hit him in the shoulder and he immediately said “sorry.”
“You’d better be,” she sneered playfully, giving his shoulder a pinch.
John brought his mug back to his mouth and drank some more. “Jenna’s going to be upset she’s going to miss it.”
“I know,” Willow responded, then patted her belly. “Not like we have much choice. If we don’t do it soon, my father will likely skin your brother and make a new cloak out of his newly increased hide.”
His brother leaned forward. “Speaking of which, you went through these trials and they changed you this drastically? Did you know that was going to happen?”
He briefly looked away, then frowned. “I knew something would happen, just not this. And it wasn’t just my body that got altered by those trials.”
“Yeah, he finally grew some balls to tell that flirting whore to fuck off,” Willow sneered.
“Okay,” he said with an opened mouth. “I think that’s enough wine for you.”
She held the glass away from him as he tried to reach for it. “I don’t think so buddy. I know when I’ve had enough, and I’m not there yet. If that bitch had kept it up, I
’d have ended up knocking her out.”
John broke into fresh laughter. “Hey, you’re marrying her.”
He smiled at his fiancé and held her hand. “You’re damn right I am.” Then he looked back to his grinning brother. “It’s odd, right? How much has changed, yet still feels the same?”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” John nodded.
Trek stretched his claws and suddenly leapt from John’s lap. “That was quite comfortable, thanks,” the feline said, whipped his tail in the air, and disappeared into the room beyond to take his accustomed spot at the foot of their bed.
John’s jaw dropped and he couldn’t hold it in any longer. Willow joined in and the confused look on his brother’s face was just making it worse by the second. “He’s a fairy.”
“Brag,” the sprite interjected, watching the three of them with delighted eyes. It was like she was drinking in every word, analyzing how they interacted with one another.
“Apologies!” he hollered at the cat, but as usual, Trek simply ignored him.
“A Knight of the Realm. I’ve got to tell you—the timid boy who wouldn’t shoot a bow a month ago is now a knighted warrior; it’s just not reconciling in my head.”
He smirked. “Think of how I feel. I keep getting these wonderful gifts, these genuine gestures of friendship, and I can’t help but feel like I’ve somehow woken up in another realm and become someone entirely different. You know, I lost father’s sword.”
“Yeah, I caught that part,” John replied mournfully. “But it’s what was needed to get Excalibur and I’m sure the old man would understand.”
He nodded at Willow, who got to her feet and brought his swords to him, placing them standing up by the side of his chair. “Well, Erik had another blade forged for me and named it Justice to replace the one we lost.” He brought out the sword and let John take it in hand.
His brother rose to his feet and swung it about carefully, mindful of the three people sitting before him. “The weight feels good, and it’s skillfully well-balanced. Even feels lighter than father’s sword, if I remember correctly.”
He nodded; he had thought so himself. Handing it back, Tristan quickly sheathed it and placed Purity on the table. John whistled as he beheld the magical sword. “I know, right?”
Shirl flew down to the table and bent over the magical blade. “Nimue made this for you?” she asked with awe. “I can sense it’s magic, it’s like a song that flows through me, filling me up with thoughts of peace and joy.”
“Can you sense what it can do?” Willow suddenly broke in out of curiosity.
The fairy hovered over the blade, then reached down and placed a tiny finger on the scabbard’s surface. She jerked it back suddenly, then with greater purpose, placed her palm upon the white dragonscales beneath her. After a few long minutes and another glass of wine, Shirl looked back at him with a large smile upon her face.
“She told you the truth. This magic is only as strong as its user and is forever bound to you and your kin. It will never break as long as you stay true to your heart. I can sense four elements woven into the blade, almost like blood flow, slowly pulsing with the beat of your heart. It will pierce the toughest of surfaces as if a blade through butter. You can plunge it into the earth and make the ground shake. With it in hand you can manipulate objects to become light as air, or as hard as stone. You could even walk on water. You can use it to summon those you love, or to help guide you to where they might be. There are a few strands I can’t quite make out, but the intricacy of how they are woven together is so amazing. It’s truly an honor to behold such fine work. I’ve never seen or heard of finer, with the exception of Excalibur,” the fairy finished, taking her hand off the white surface and beaming up at him.
“And this one?” he patted Justice lying beside him.
“Druid magic is different from that of Fey. I can’t help you there. For that you’ll have to ask a druid,” she answered quickly, then flew into the air and landed on Willow’s shoulder.
He sighed but understood. He had been told to ask Revan about it, and it seemed like he wasn’t going to get off that easily after all.
John took Purity in hand and it felt like the sword was actually singing at his touch. “It’s amazing. I saw Excalibur at dinner, and it was a fine blade, but I think you ended up with the better of the two.”
He shook his head in disagreement. “It is a wonderful gift, but it won’t destroy the Book of the Dead; only Excalibur will. And I don’t envy the man that wields it, because sooner or later he’s going to come face to face with the Phoenix. I’m not sure I’d want to be in his place when that happens.”
John eyed him briefly, then nodded his head in agreement. “Nor I. I’ve met her personally already and that witch is owed a reckoning, but she’s not at the top of my list.”
“Clint,” he muttered with disgust.
“Exactly,” his brother sneered back. “When I find that son of—”
He leaned forward. “You mean when I find him.”
Willow chuckled. “Are you two back on this again? I think both of you need to stop drinking and give me those glasses. You’re are so wrapped up in battling each other over him—you both won’t mind if my sister finds him first and rips his heart out of his chest, now would you?”
Both brothers turned to her and she burst into laughter.
“He’d better not be stupid enough to show his face when the Phoenix’s army arrives, for I swear on our father’s soul, I will destroy the entire army single-handedly to get to him and make him pay for what he has done,” John swore loudly.
“Against the two of us, how could it be any other way?” he countered as they slapped their hands together in a display of brotherhood.
Willow suddenly rolled her eyes. “Oh boy, the testosterone is just about killing me out here. I’m going to be marrying your brother day after tomorrow and this is our last night together before the wedding. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get some before going to bed.”
He had never known his brother to blush, but he did so now.
He snickered. “See you tomorrow?”
“You’ll have to. If you are going to get married then you need to have a bachelor party, I’ve got some planning to do,” John rose to his feet. “That is, unless you have another best man in mind?”
“Do elven weddings have best men?” he asked Willow, who was already starting to unlace her blouse, causing John to shift his weight in embarrassment as he looked away from the pregnant woman across from him.
Willow laughed. “Of course they do. Someone has to stand there with you, otherwise you’d be the only naked guy in the room.”
“Wait, what?” both men stuttered at the same time and his fiancé laughed even louder as she disappeared back into the room.
“She’s kidding, right?” John asked him with concern.
He shrugged, eyes wide. “I don’t know.”
Chapter 22
Binding
I
To say that he was nervous was an understatement.
There were naked elves walking past his chair, hands sliding over his shoulders, fingers teasing his ears, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was sitting at a table in a small dining hall while women danced to loud music on the table in the center of the room. Smaller tables had been set up around it and he made sure that he was in the corner, and not the center of attention like his brother had wanted.
Even though he hadn’t lifted a finger in response to the elven women’s attentive caresses, he still felt like he was cheating on his betrothed, and nothing anyone said made him feel any different. John sat next to him with a long brown-haired beauty on his knee. She was leaning against him, her breasts pushing into John’s chest, a huge smile on his brother’s face. Was he even thinking about Jenna while he was doing that?
“It’s all in good fun,” John had told him the first time a naked woman had walked past, but all it was doing was tying him into knots. Where
was the fun in this? He’d rather be in Willow’s arms right now than watching a parade of exotic elves gliding by.
Erik sat on his left, eyes passively taking in the scenery, he didn’t look the least bit interested either. At least he wasn’t alone. Derek had wanted to come, but the king had ordered him out; much to Tristan’s relief. He didn’t want to be responsible for corrupting the youth before he had a chance to learn what he really wanted or liked. Then again, how old was he? This was something he shouldn’t be witnessing either, but his brother had insisted, and would not listen to any of his protestations.
The Lancaster generals had mixed with the Forlorn commanders, and together they ringed the table in the center of the room, drinking wine and cheering for the dancers gyrating above them. Noelani had a higher chair on the end and was reaching out with gigantic palms to try and touch one of the women’s bare legs.
Bordin was absent, but that was all right with him. The two hadn’t said much since the argument the night before and he wasn’t sure how long it would take to mend the rift that had sprung up between them. He wasn’t sure where to even start. The only thing he could do was wait and hope that it worked out on its own.
It wasn’t like they weren’t getting married the next day.
He should’ve felt nervous about that, but he didn’t. The women sliding by made him more uneasy than the thought of standing by Willow’s side and taking her hand in marriage. It was a necessary step to the start of their lives together and he was more than ready for that.
Looking over at Erik, he watched as the king nodded his head towards a balcony across the way. The elf got up promptly and made for the door. Erik politely declined one of the girl’s reaching arms as he opened the doors and stepped outside.
He immediately got to his feet and followed after, ignoring the questioning look from his brother. As he stepped out into the night air, he saw a smirk on Erik’s face greeting him, and he couldn’t help but shake his head and shrug his shoulders. “That’s my brother’s idea of a good time.”
The New Age Saga Box Set Page 79