“Through the bonding? That’s difficult. I had something of an adventure of my own and right now you feel...” I thought about it. “Different, it’s true. You hurt me when you went for the dryad type fey.”
“She isn’t a dryad,” he said, absentmindedly. “What happened to you?” he asked.
“I think I should tell you as we are moving. You have to reach The City, right?”
He nodded and we rose. Once back at the track I retrieved the horse I’d ridden into the forest.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I began to tell him about the old man who turned into The Lady and the brief trip to the Land of the Dead.
“You met with my father?” he asked, picking his way between fallen branches and prickly bushes on bare feet.
I leaned against my horse’s shoulder. “I did, and my own.”
“I don’t want to know any more,” he said, turning away from me.
I frowned. “But... Galahad, they –”
“No, Holt. I have too many other things to deal with. I’m just grateful The Lady did not kill you.”
“Technically she did,” I muttered. “And she only did it to stop you. She wants you dead now, she’s no longer happy with trying to use you, she just wants to prevent you becoming king.”
“Well, she’s too late.”
I approached my friend and placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him toward me. “Galahad, what’s wrong?” I asked directly.
He sighed and looked at the ground under his dirty feet. “I don’t have anything left to give, Holt. I’m exhausted. Utterly exhausted. The things I’ve seen, the things I know...”
“Nothing in the future is written in stone, my friend, and you aren’t alone. You won’t be doing this alone. We are together and we will face all this together,” I told him.
Galahad gripped the back of my neck. “What would I do without you?”
I smiled. “Life might be less complicated.”
“But then I would be alone.” He pulled me toward him and we embraced once more. We did not kiss and the passion between us did not so much as whisper words of lust. We were friends and at the moment that’s all we wanted.
A noise behind me made us pull apart and we were both surprised by what came toward us. The small fey was once more the striking beauty of her other self. Beside her strode a tall man, long black hair, pitch black skin and amber eyes. I reached for my sword. Galahad placed a hand on mine.
“It’s fine,” he said.
“How do you know?”
“I can feel it,” he said.
I frowned but eased back on my preparation for combat. Both figures were beautiful. The man was grace personified and very obviously old fey, the energy around him ancient and powerful. Even at four paces away his alien fey power made my skin prickle, it wasn’t exactly unpleasant, just uncomfortable.
“King of Albion,” the man said, his voice soft and accent heavy in the Common Tongue.
Galahad tilted his head in recognition of the title. “To whom am I speaking?” he asked.
The man bowed low, sweeping his arm outward and keeping his right leg straight out in front so his forehead practically touched it. The robe he wore was deep blue in the sunlight and almost transparent. The long lithe limbs were enough to make me stare in admiration. As the man rose from the bow his eyes focused on me and a small smile parted his dark lips, the pointed teeth, longer than those of the Salamander, were just showing. He made no comment about my staring but his frank appraisal of me made it clear the desire wasn’t just on my side. Galahad coughed to draw us back to the present.
The man’s face stilled and his head twitched as he struggled with the words. “I am Senorious, I am counted as a leader in this place.”
“Which is where exactly?” I asked.
He smiled at me and I felt things tighten in my loins even as his focus returned to Galahad.
“I am honoured, Senorious,” Galahad murmured and bowed in turn but not quite so low.
“It seems you are at war with a person we shall not name in this place,” he said.
“We have been, we are, and we will continue to be until I kill the person in question,” Galahad said.
“My people prefer to remain outside the normal world of Albion, but as you have come to us and you wish to defeat those who abhor our kind, we are happy to offer aid to you and your companion,” he said.
I glanced at the woman’s face, the strange little fey, now transformed into a rare beauty, made Galahad’s eyes track to her constantly and I felt the familiar pain of jealously and fear when his desire was piqued by a woman.
“The throne of Albion would appreciate any help you could offer us,” Galahad said.
“I do not do this for the throne of Albion, I do this to protect my people, to protect Albion, she is coming to the end of her time and we are all vulnerable,” Senorious said.
“I can think of a few of the old fey who sided with our mutual enemy,” I muttered, thinking of the Mer-King.
Galahad glanced at me and grunted acknowledgement. “How can you help us in our current difficulties, my Lord?” he asked.
“We have a gate to The City,” Senorious said.
“I still want my kiss,” the woman said, suddenly.
Galahad and Senorious both looked at me. “Um, that’s one of the things I needed to talk to you about.” My friend frowned, I continued, “She’s the one that trapped Sherriff and she promised to show me where you were and release him if she received a kiss, but one from me doesn’t mean a great deal. So... I offered you.” I finished hastily as his expression wasn’t forgiving.
Galahad’s face continued to darkened. “Not impressed, Holt.”
“It’s just a kiss,” I said. “And even I can tell she’s attractive.”
“I am the King, you can’t just bargain me away,” he protested.
I grinned. “I was King of Camelot first.”
“You made a deal for a kiss with the King of Albion?” Senorious asked the woman.
She shrugged. “I wanted the mortal but he doesn’t like women. Not much fun in that.”
“So you pimped me out?” Galahad asked. His anger was surprising.
“It’s just a kiss,” I said.
“She’s powerful fey, it’s never just a kiss,” Galahad snapped.
“Oh, so I suppose you eyeing her up like a good steak means nothing? It’s hardly a trial for you,” I returned with equal irritation.
“You can’t give me away. Not again.”
I really didn’t understand the fuss he was making. “I wasn’t, I was trying to find you – again.” He’d made me angry.
Galahad’s shoulders relaxed and he sighed. “I know, I’m sorry, Holt.”
“I’m not asking you to marry her,” I said, remembering Leah and suddenly feeling very guilty, I’d completely forgotten my role in that sad tragedy.
“Actually, you are,” Galahad said.
“What?”
“He has just become King of Albion, whoever he chooses now will impact on his connections to the land,” Senorious explained. “I fear my sister understood this all too well and has tricked you mortal man.”
I felt the blood drain from my face and I stared horrified at the woman. She stared back at me with a small smile playing around her mouth, her eyes brimming with mirth.
“You bitch,” I murmured. Senorious moved to protect his sister, obviously unhappy with something he saw in my expression.
Galahad rubbed his face. “I’m too tired to deal with this. Could we spend the night somewhere safe and just sort this out? I can’t marry your sister. I can’t marry anyone until we have defeated The Lady.”
“You can’t go back on the deal either,” said the fey woman.
“I don’t even know your name,” Galahad pointed out.
“Lanjar,” she said.
It didn’t make Galahad seem any less tired or pissed off. “Why did you trick him? What do you want from me?”
“I
’d like an answer to that,” Senorious said, his eyes hard as he stared at his sister.
“I wanted to see what the mortal might taste like, when I realised I couldn’t entrance him, I thought I’d try my luck with the real prize.” She walked toward Galahad, her hips and eyes speaking of more experience than he currently had with passions of the flesh.
It was my turn to protect him. I stepped forward and blocked her access to him. “You really think you can stop me?” she asked.
My hand strayed to the hilt of my sword. “Yes.”
“Enough,” Senorious said. “Lanjar, you have done wrong. We are not a part of the lesser fey in this world. We do not associate with them. We agreed to allow Galahad access to our world in this forest to help with the trials of kingship so far from The City, but we did not expect his bonding to pull the mortal from Camelot and we were not to show ourselves.”
“You are a fool, brother. The world has changed since the Black Wolf killed his cursed father. We should be a part of it. If we remain as we are we will vanish just as the dragons have done,” Lanjar said. “I have shown them what we are and how powerful, we can become something more, something better. We can change Albion forever.”
Senorious’ hand whipped out and grasped his sister by the throat. Both Galahad and I moved to protect the woman who gasped and gripped the hand crushing her neck.
“You are going to doom us, Lanjar,” the tall black fey snarled.
“Let her go,” Galahad said. I drew my sword and pointed it toward the man.
The amber eyes of a powerful fey were vivid against the dark skin and his rage rippled around us, disturbing Sherriff. “We are not of your world and I have no wish to be a part of your world.”
“You are a fool,” Lanjar repeated but her voice strained horribly and she clearly couldn’t breathe.
“Let her go or Holt will make you,” Galahad said calmly. “We just want to leave. We just need to go home. I have no intention of kissing your sister. She will not be queen.”
Senorious studied Galahad. “You will break the fey deal?”
“Under other circumstances I would not, but this is wrong. The fey rely on these bargains too much. Please, let her go and we will leave.” He remained calm.
The dark hand relaxed and Lanjar dropped to her knees gasping and rubbing her throat. I knew how she felt to be honest.
Lanjar hissed at her brother and moved away on all fours, reverting to her other form on the way. Her large green eyes were full of tears and she cursed in a language I didn’t recognise. I’d be very worried about sleeping if I were Senorious, she wasn’t going to forgive him quickly.
He, however, ignored her, turning his back. “You will now leave.”
“Is there a way we can begin a dialogue between our peoples?” Galahad asked. “Lanjar is right about the throne and the people of Albion being made stronger if you are an active part of our world. My parents made many changes, I will continue their work but with powerful allies I can protect what is important and destroy the evil.”
“Lanjar will be punished for her foolishness. We will not be joining your world as the Shifters have done. We are ‘other’,” he said.
“I can respect that but –”
“No,” Senorious said.
I placed a hand on Galahad’s arm. “Leave it, we need to reach The City, let’s not make this worse.” I spoke only to Galahad.
“This is an opportunity,” Galahad said quietly to me.
“No, brother. We need to remain focused on our mission. We can reach out to them again once we secure the throne,” I said.
“I can help, I can give you information about your dragon,” called Lanjar from the trees above us.
I looked up at her and made a decision about the dragon haunting my life. “There is nothing I need to know about Torvec. Don’t try to bait me with such nonsense.” I returned my attention to the dark fey. “It is time we went home. If you can help with that we would be grateful.”
“You will be in our debt,” Lanjar snapped from the tree.
Her brother closed his eyes and was clearly begging for patience. Galahad chuckled. “I have a sister with the same spirit. It does make life difficult.”
“I fear for her.”
“Maybe she could come to court and learn more about what I want to do while helping me understand your people?” Galahad said. “If you give her a little of what she wants it will make your life easier. She does have some valid points.”
I smiled slightly. Galahad’s ability to negotiate new relationships with fey would have made my father proud, even if it would have been something of a mystery to his own. Lancelot wasn’t known for his tact and relied on Arthur for help against rival factions.
“Perhaps, King of Albion. I was impressed with your progress through the trials. All of the old fey have access to the progression of the candidates and I was pleased even if others are not.”
Galahad nodded his thanks at the kind words. “I should imagine the Mer-King isn’t very happy with my success.”
My back stiffened with an instinctual response to the mention of the rapist.
“He will cause problems in your future,” Senorious said.
“I plan on dealing with him personally once The Lady is gone. His underwater palace will not be a place he can hide,” Galahad said, his tone darkening.
“That would not be a bad thing. Now I must send you back to The City. I will think on our position within Albion and perhaps I will open a dialogue with you.”
“I look forward to it, Senorious,” Galahad said holding out his hand. Senorious only paused for a moment. He gripped Galahad’s forearm in acceptance of the offer of friendship.
I glanced at the figure in the trees. She watched with quiet intelligence and I could almost see the plans forming behind those bright eyes. I felt sorry for Senorious.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
It turned out there was a portal to The City nearby which hadn’t been used for generations. It took both Senorious and Galahad to wrench it open. I watched my friend and felt him through our bonding – his time with The Lady had changed him considerably and I wondered how the trials would affect him over the coming months and years.
The way Galahad now viewed the world, through the eyes of experience, made him more openly compassionate. He tolerated both himself and me with a patience I’d never seen in him before. If the trials stole that from him it would be a sad day, they’d clearly shaken him to the core but unless he spoke to me about his fears and doubts I couldn’t help.
I pondered these things as I leaned against Sparrow and watched him use the fey power he now possessed. The Lady had unlocked a great deal of residual magic inside Galahad while trying to destroy his mind. I hoped she’d learn to regret all she’d done. I held the amulet for a moment where it rested in the purse on my belt, I’d tell him about it later, when I could predict his reactions a little more. We needed a plan in order to use it and I was worried he’d just charge off after The Lady, rather than help devise a sensible path toward our victory.
Once the shimmering door was open within the ancient stone circle nestled in the forest, Galahad took his leave of Senorious and I looked for Lanjar in either form. I didn’t find her but that didn’t mean she wasn’t there, watching and plotting. I brought the horses to the edge of the portal and Galahad led Sherriff through, I followed suit, bracing myself for the nausea and pain of arrival.
My knees hit the floor and Sparrow’s reins slipped through my fingers. The trip didn’t seem to bother the horses but it hit me like a boulder rolling down a hill. I swallowed the need to vomit.
Strong hands grabbed my arms and hauled me upright. “It never gets any easier for you does it?” Galahad sounded slightly amused.
I managed to focus on his face. “At least I don’t faint often these days. I think our bonding helps.” I gripped his shoulder and we looked around us.
We were in the main portal room under the palace in The City. There were
no guards and the horses shifted restlessly, their hooves loud on the marble floor, the barrel vaulted ceiling reflecting the sound back.
“This can’t be good,” I muttered.
“They are coming,” Galahad said.
“Who?” I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword. The silence, the lack of guards, the general stillness all coalesced and made me very nervous.
Galahad closed his eyes. “Gods, this is weird, I can feel the palace breathing in relief because I’m home.”
“So we are safe?” I asked.
“Morgan, Quilliam and the others are on the way.”
I relaxed and coaxed Sparrow down the stone dais steps.
“Holt!” Morgan called, running into the room. Her slim body slammed into mine. Next came Nim and Lance. Morgan left me to go to her brother. To have my family in my arms eased my burdens and a wave of exhaustion cascaded through me.
Just as Nim began asking questions about my travels, Severus appeared through the arch to the large room. A weight I didn’t know I carried lifted the moment I set eyes on him. We came together in a rush and to have him in my arms brought me a measure of peace I didn’t realise I missed.
“How are you here as well?” I murmured into his neck, my arms around his slim body.
“You’ve been gone almost four weeks,” he said. I could hear the tears in his gentle voice. I breathed in his scent, clean and rich.
“Four weeks?” I asked him, amazed.
He drew back and his startling eyes were wet. “Four long weeks. I made it back last week and came straight here. I then made a report to Camelot and your sister, which turned out to be something of a mistake.”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Nim and Morgan in Galahad’s arms. He held them to him as if they were his reason for living.
“Galahad, we’ve been separated from Severus for almost four weeks,” I said.
He looked up and his sisters were tucked under each arm. I couldn’t help but smile to see the family so united. He needed this; he needed to feel safe and loved even if it wasn’t for very long.
“The joy of Albion,” Galahad said. “It’s given The Lady four more weeks to prepare for the fight.”
Albion's Legacy (Sons Of Camelot Book 3) Page 12