We both ate, drank and washed everything we could with a sink of water. I watched him gradually relax and I wondered how much of his obsessiveness toward me came from the desperation of a love denied after centuries of being alone under The Lady’s care.
I realised a great deal of it probably. I needed to make sure I was bloody certain about my commitment before I allowed us to become lovers in more than name.
Feeling almost normal, except for my stinking clothes, I knocked on the door of the room. We were ushered out and marched toward another room, deeper inside the palace. The long curving hallways were all beautifully carved in the language spoken in this region. The swirling script was a fine example of the ingenuity of fey to create something beautiful out of cold stone, to mirror nature’s warmth.
The cuffs were still on my wrists and I’d hardly noticed them. A subtle but strong reminder I held no authority in this place. A clever admission of his Eminence’s control over us, while seeming to give into my wishes to speak with his sister.
Another archway, leading into a small courtyard with a beautiful fountain in the centre guarded by six stone lions, also pouring water from their mouths. They were exquisitely carved.
The guard pointed to a stone bench and a wooden screen. I glanced at Torvec. “I think we sit there and wait for the lady,” he said. “It’s a way to protect their women from prying eyes. Maintaining their sanctity.”
“She really isn’t going to be anything like Morgan and Nim, is she?” I asked.
“Not from what I’ve seen, no,” Torvec said.
“I’m surprised they’ve allowed us to remain together,” I said, sitting down.
“I think they consider me your servant so there’s no point in separating us.”
“Sorry about that,” I said.
“It’s alright, I don’t mind being considered your servant, it helps me be invisible and that’s my preference,” he said, smiling.
We sat in silence, staring at the fountain and waiting for the lady to arrive. When I heard a door open and close I straightened and wondered how to assess a future queen of Albion under these circumstances.
CHAPTER SIX
A small figure in white almost shuffled toward the bench, rather than the loose limbed swagger most of the women in my life used. She sat down on her side of the barrier and I squinted through the maze of wood to try to see her face. Her hair was wrapped completely in white, bound tight and I realised she wore a mask over her face. A white mask made of wood I guessed because the beautiful carvings couldn’t have been done in anything else. I was not meeting a future queen, I was meeting a doll.
“My Lady, thank you for consenting to this unusual meeting,” I said.
“You are most welcome, King of Camelot, Lord Loholt Pendragon and friend to my future husband,” she said quietly.
I wondered how to continue and opted to be myself. “Call me Holt, my Lady, anything else feels as if you are addressing my father rather than me and I hope in the future, when the time comes, we will also be friends.” I glanced at Torvec, wondering if he approved of my words. He nodded but also seemed mystified by her strange appearance.
“I had heard that people were a great deal more relaxed with each other in The City,” she said, her voice hardly more than a whisper.
“It is a lively and often noisy place but we try to keep a relaxed and friendly atmosphere among our large and disorganised family,” I said. If the rod up her arse was as rigid as Galahad’s could be when he chose to be difficult we were in for a rough time of it.
“I have heard you are to be trusted and you are an honourable man, Holt,” she said.
“I try,” I said, frowning.
The lady moved, she rose and stepped around the partition. “If you are as honourable as I have heard then I am about to place my life in your hands and I must trust you to protect it as you would your loved sisters.” Red lips moved behind the frozen wooden face and I saw black eyes shining.
“Um...”
Her hands reached up behind the tied hair. Torvec stood instantly. “No, my Lady, you must not –”
Too late, the ribbon holding the mask fell and she removed the mask from her face. She sighed. “I hate this thing.” She lifted her eyes to mine and she smiled. Young, beautiful, dark and perfect. I’d lost Galahad. “Holt Pendragon, I would like you to rescue me,” she said firmly.
I tore my eyes from her face and looked at Torvec to check I’d not gone completely mad. He looked just as stunned as I felt.
“Um, what?”
“I thought I was dealing with a leader who is known for his quick wittedness and charity toward those who are less fortunate than himself,” she said.
“Er...”
Her fine brows drew together and she crossed her arms under small breasts. “I need your help. I am now betrothed to your Prince Galahad. I’ve managed that much at least, but I need you to insist the wedding commences now so I can leave this cursed place.”
I rose, feeling I needed to use my height to some advantage. I towered over her, Galahad was slightly taller than me, he’d dwarf her. “I think you need to take this from the beginning, my Lady,” I said.
“Aleah,” she said. “He never gives people my name, it’s Aleah.”
“Aleah,” I said. “I think you need to tell me everything you have planned before you get us all killed, which I’m guessing is the punishment for this stunt.” I glanced at Torvec and he nodded. Great, Lance had given away my army and I’d surrendered Galahad to save us from being sent to The Lady but this child was going to ensure I was decapitated for seeing her face.
“It is, but I knew it would be price worth paying,” she said.
“Sure... For you it costs nothing,” I muttered.
“I’ll be stoned to death if it makes you any happier,” she said pertly.
“Not really,” I snapped. Why, oh, why couldn’t any of the women in my life be easy to manage? I took a deep breath. “Explain why you are rushing headlong into a marriage with a man you don’t know and why you want to leave here so desperately.”
She opened her mouth.
“I want the truth and my friend here is a true bard so he’ll hear the lies in your voice if you get this wrong,” I warned and found myself wagging my finger at her. If I’d tried that with Morgan, she’d have snapped it off. Aleah coloured with some embarrassment.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m just desperate. I... I need help and when I heard you were here, with Galahad, after hearing everything we have about the nobility of your fathers, I wanted... I knew I had a chance, perhaps my only chance of ever realising the dreams of my people and the wish dearest to my heart.”
“And that would be?” I asked.
“Freedom. I am the head of the armed rebellion my brother is going to use your troops to destroy.”
I sat back down.
My brain fought to catch up and try to find a way to leap ahead of this conversation. “Does Galahad know?”
“Of course not, we only met in my brother’s company once and he hasn’t seen me yet. He’s rather handsome though, and that scar...” her voice and eyes were suddenly those of a young woman who’d fallen for a beautiful man. I knew how she felt.
I gathered my wits and rose once more. “I appreciate your honesty, my Lady, but this is madness. I simply cannot risk the Prince by enraging your brother. We have enough powerful enemies and I have the feeling your brother’s reach is a long one.”
“That’s why I need you to push for my marriage to Galahad now. Then I can leave with you and there will be no suspicion on any of us,” she said.
My heart raced and I felt the rise of panic at the thought of Galahad being married to this beautiful doll.
“Holt,” Torvec said. “It’s alright. He won’t leave you.”
Aleah’s eyes looked at Torvec and she frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to,” Torvec said.
Her eyes widened for a moment. “You di
dn’t speak to me like that, you’re a servant.”
“He’s not a servant, he’s my lover,” I said quietly and feeling completely disorientated.
Aleah issued a soft ‘oh’ of surprise.
“Make the panic stop,” I asked of Torvec. “I can’t think.”
“It’ll make our connections stronger,” he warned.
I just looked at him and he nodded, sadness in his expressive eyes. He reached up for my face and his fingers brushed down my cheek. The panic of losing Galahad vanished. This talent of Torvec’s would be my undoing, it was addictive.
The girl looked up at me and I began calculating the repercussions of her request. If we left her here she wouldn’t stop working against her brother and she’d place herself in death’s way. I didn’t think Eamo would be the type of man to tolerate rebellion in his own household and family. If we stole her we’d simply have another enemy to deal with, who would hunt us as desperately as The Lady.
If she married Galahad now, we’d be able to save her and stop her brother from hunting us through his lands.
“There is no guarantee Galahad will be king,” I said. “The trials might kill him.”
“I don’t need him to be king, I just need him long enough to leave here without being hunted. You can drop me off further down the coast and I join up with my people, better able to serve them. By the time my brother finds out, you will be far from here.” Her eyes were on fire with the fever of a passionate warrior.
“You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?” I asked.
“I have little else to do all day but think and plan,” she said, her anger clear. “Women are wasted in this land, especially those of us who are born into wealthy families. We are traded for connections with other families. We are worth nothing more than that but I want more, for me, for my people, for those we call slaves.”
She’d be a powerful ally in the region if we helped her take her brother’s place. But I knew Galahad. Once he married his sense of honour and loyalty would keep us apart forever. Illusions of a happily ever after were just that, illusions, and they always had been from the moment I first laid eyes on him.
“I’ll talk to Galahad, explain what you’ve said and I’ll see if he’ll see sense. But I warn you now, he’s an honourable fool so you might well find yourself turned in to your brother rather than rescued because his first promise is the one that counts,” I said.
“His first promise is to me is as my future husband,” Aleah said with a humility I didn’t believe for a moment.
She lifted her mask back in place and Torvec moved to help her tie it securely. Her hands sought mine. “Thank you, Loholt Pendragon.”
“Don’t thank me for dragging you into our troubles as well as your own, my Lady,” I said, probably more gruffly than was necessary. I watched her shuffle away in the restricting shoes and tight dress of her people.
“What have I done?” I asked aloud.
“The only thing you could do,” Torvec said.
I looked at him, those strange and hypnotic eyes stared back at me calmly. I wondered if he were right, but once more the situation called for me to react, not act, and I just had to hope I reacted correctly for those around me and for Albion. I loathed the heavy responsibility.
Shortly after Aleah left, guards returned and showed us back to the others in the grand room we’d first entered. Galahad’s relief was palpable.
“We’ve been told we can return to the Echo,” he said, with a guard finally unlocking my arms from the cuffs. When they were gone I thought my hands and wrists would float off they felt so light. Torvec rubbed his wrists and I saw the marks from the cuffs, his skin torn in places. He’d not said a word about his discomfort.
“Good, we need to talk. I take it we will have to return for my signature?” I asked.
“He’s withholding the final bits I need to repair the ship until you do,” Raven said unhappily.
“Then we’ll finish this soon,” I said.
“How did the meeting with the lady go?” Galahad asked. His tone was careful.
I glanced at him and gripped his shoulder. “She has a fine mind and big heart.”
I watched Lance’s eyes narrow, he’d caught something in my tone or look that Galahad missed, he clearly didn’t believe it was that simple.
We were shown out of the palace and an armed escort guided us through the busy streets. Torvec and I were both tired and I for one was still hungry but we were all together again and right now, that’s all I wanted. Well, that and a bath.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The welcome we received on the Echo warmed my heart.
Morgan and Nim were in tears, I think I’d been threatened one too many times, and their panic overwhelmed their pride. Nim also hugged Torvec, much to his surprise and Galahad’s irritation. The wolves were pleased, though Valla continued to be subdued.
“Don’t everyone think this is over,” I said, once we’d been reunited in Raven’s plush cabin. “I have something I need to talk to Galahad about and we have a decision to make.”
All eyes turned to Galahad, who frowned. “What is it?”
I glanced at Valla, my pity for what was to come derived from empathy. “Aleah is a little more than she seems. Galahad, she says she is the leader of the rebel movement in this country. I don’t know if she’s a figurehead or the real thing, but she’s strong. She wants us to remove her from her brother’s influence and is pushing to marry you now, not later.”
Silence. Everyone looking first at me, then at Galahad. I joined them. He only looked at me.
“Now?” he whispered.
I nodded. “It doesn’t mean you have to consummate it, at least I don’t think it does, it’s not like when Morgana married your father, but Aleah is desperate, she made that much clear.”
“I can’t get married now,” he continued. “I might not be king. We might die before we ever get that far.”
“I know,” I said. “But if we don’t, she’ll run and we’ll be hunted by her brother. We cannot afford more enemies.”
“We don’t need friends who run rebellions either,” Raven pointed out.
“I know that as well, but we have to find a way to leave here without being in a fight,” I said. “Aleah is a clever woman, that much is clear, she also has more fight in her than the average person, she deserves our help and so do her people.”
“I promised Camelot’s troops,” Lance said miserably.
“And we will provide them, but we can’t until Galahad is on the throne, by which time the rebellion might have won if we release Aleah from the palace,” I said. “There are many advantages to forcing this marriage now. He has to do it anyway, so why not now when we can maximise our benefits?”
My gaze swept over Valla, her eyes were downcast, her skin very pale and she grasped Nest’s hands so tightly her knuckles were white.
“I know this is going to be hard on us all,” I said quietly. Valla looked up, tears staining her cheeks. “But the king of Albion is always victim to an arranged marriage. It’s just happened sooner than any of us expected.”
Kerwin, the dark and silent sentinel of the small wolf pack in our company, placed a large hand on Valla’s shoulder. Nest smiled her thanks and for the first time I saw the frost thawing between them; maybe they’d join together for Valla’s sake, just as Tancred hoped. When I thought of Tancred I inevitably thought of the messy marriages Lancelot and my own father managed to sustain. The strangest things could happen over time, this was just another bump along the way and we’d see it through to save Albion and Camelot.
“I don’t want to be married,” Galahad said.
Raven rose and poured himself more wine. “Sounds to me like you don’t have a choice, son. Besides, it’s been the making of many a man.”
“And the undoing of many more,” Galahad countered.
I caught Lance and Nim sharing what was probably meant to be a secret smile and wondered when he’d be asking my permission
to marry. As a lord of Camelot he needed me to agree and Nim needed Galahad to say yes, he being the head of their household. Perhaps if they were wed it would help us all to see things more positively?
“Well, married or not, Holt and Torvec stink so I think we should stop talking and allow them some peace,” Morgan announced. She’d been quiet throughout, unusually, and I couldn’t help but notice the dark rings under her eyes. Something disturbed her and I’d need to find out what.
The others agreed, all of them suddenly finding me too smelly for company. The time in prison had cured my endless desire to constantly wash because of previous events that my mind skirted over but refused to currently acknowledge, so my anxieties were peaceful at last.
The small tub I’d used previously was pressed into service again and this time I found myself helping to fill it with cold water. It made me feel good to know that the insecurities created within me, after the attack by the Mer King, already faded with the next crisis taking over. Or perhaps having Torvec beside me, rather than Galahad, helped. Torvec wanted me, loved me, wouldn’t leave me – didn’t care a damn about anything but me. Galahad wanted the security of approval and felt the weight of his destiny guiding him without thought of rebellion.
When the last bucket filled the tub I instantly began stripping off the disgusting clothes. When my shirt came over my head, blinding me for a moment, I heard something and opened my eyes, hands still entangled with the laces on my cuffs, and Torvec stood before me.
His breath came hot and fast, I felt it on my neck he stood so close to me. I wanted to back off a step but something in his eyes held me still. A feral look, more animal than man, made me think showing fear and weakness would cause havoc.
“A bit close, Torvec,” I said quietly, trying to keep the panic under control. Just moments ago I thought I understood how he fitted into my life, right now he just scared me. His eyes were dilated and I saw something in their depths. Swirling shapes of black and blue with bright sparks of white. He was losing his control over the rational fey part of his shape shifting personality. I’d heard of wolves having the same problem, some of them ending up with wolf minds in fey form.
The Du Lac Legacy (Sons of Camelot Book 2) Page 4
