Squire of War

by M. H. Johnson

  Abella gave a playful frown, then nodded.

  Jess swallowed, throat suddenly dry.

  “I think I would like that, Jessica de Calenbry.” She turned to her silent companions. “There are far too many happy couples here. A new student sort of feels lonely, and people are so shy about pillow friends, outside of the capital.”

  She grinned. “I like a bold girl. It’s refreshing. Well, I have a fascinating experiment to ready myself for. The idea of endless summer, and not a single idiot at my former college gave it more than a confused glance when I showed them Alex’s paper, so I just had to come investigate it for myself. I’m glad I did.” Her grin widened. Jess felt her heart skip a beat. “I look forward to a thorough investigation of your familiar when I return.”

  Jess found herself in something of a daze as Alex, Jera, and a fascinating Abella prepared themselves for their journey along with a handful of other busy aspiring mages, Jess hugging her friends tightly before letting them go. Arbella gave Jess a final wink, laughter tinkling like silver bells as she took the lead, chatting animatedly with the student beside her as they rode off on their adventure.

  “I hope Jera remembers to plant the seedling,” Jess sighed. “That poor thing has been without the kiss of soil for too long. My fault entirely.”

  “I thought you didn’t remember our last mission?” Malek asked.

  Jess shrugged. “I don’t, really, except I remember the feel of placing stout poles of ash into your waiting arms, and the promise I had made. Just one of many I have made to the trees giving of themselves so freely before our battles. Not that they ever insist. I just feel like it’s the right thing to do.”

  Malek nodded, gazing at two of their closest friends as they shrank to specks in the distance. “They will be okay,” Malek declared.

  Jess smiled. “I’m sure you’re right. Half of them look highly accomplished, much like Alex, the others look like they can barely navigate outside of a dusty tome, and all of them excited as the dickens. Though why the guards wouldn’t even acknowledge me when I greeted them, I don’t know.”

  Malek shrugged. “It’s early, they have a headache, and don’t really want to be baby sitters or deal with students any more than they have to? Who cares, as long as they keep our friends safe.”

  Jess nodded. “At least Alex’s friends would acknowledge me.”

  Malek grinned. “And don’t think I missed the way Abella was smiling at you, almost as petite as Jera, and how fascinated she seemed, hearing you wax on about Twilight.”

  Jess grinned. “I have a fascinating cat.”

  Malek laughed. “And you’re beautiful, engaging, sometimes a bit silly, and I doubt Abella has any real idea about what it means to be a Squire of War.”

  Jess sighed. “That’s probably for the best. Come on, Shieldbrother, the day is young. Let’s train our hearts out and be worthy of our ranks.”

  And they did just that.

  22

  A yawning Jess, still tired from her training, stumbled free of cool linen sheets and pressed her palm to the knocking door. She blinked in surprise sensing Sable just beyond, quickly opening the door wide.

  Beautiful dark eyes seemed to pierce her soul. The brooding arrogance that had been all too reminiscent of Mord's was now entirely gone, replaced by the tenderest of smiles. Yet what really struck Jess was that there was no longer any nursemaid, nor was Sable gazing at the baby she now held so close to her with anything but love.

  Jess felt a curious lightness to her chest. Of course she had always suspected, but there could be no doubt. Little Julia was Sable's own.

  Yet the biggest surprise of all was seeing Liam by Sable's side, boyish features gazing at mother and child so protectively. So much conveyed with the solemn glance Liam shared with Jess, his gaze embarrassed and resolute both.

  Jess smiled, understanding at once. "You're a good man, Liam. We'll miss you if you decide to go, but I'd be the last to counsel you to deny your heart."

  Liam's gentle features warmed into the sweetest of smiles. “Thank you for understanding, Jess. I was hoping that you of all people would understand, considering everything that has happened.”

  Then it was Jess's turn to look away, embarrassed. “The truth is, Liam, regarding our last mission, where you had been so grievously injured, I hardly remember a thing. I'm just pleased to see Sable looking so happy. Free of the weight that had burdened her when first we met.”

  Sable's warm smile matched Liam's, a brave tear trickling from one eye. "I owe you so much, Jess. And I mean far more than just your timely intervention with Ubel. You saved my life against hideous odds, and you don't even remember. Ah, the Fates play their games."

  Gently, she stroked Jess's cheek. "I came so close to making the most horrific of mistakes. And when I finally realized it, I was nearly killed when I tried to make things right. Then you... Mord... Malek." She shook her head, gently wiping away a tear against Liam's tabard, troubled not at all by the armor underneath that her partner openly wore. "I was trapped in nightmare, that's all I will say on it. It's a blessing, perhaps, that you no longer remember it."

  She took a deep breath, cheek pressed to her cooing daughter. "And in that horror, my soul was seared with the most beautiful and awful of truths. Nothing matters more than one's own children. No sacrifice is too great to save them, and no promise of power could ever match their worth.”

  Jess felt a warm presence settle himself upon her shoulder. “Sensing the worth of another soul. Choosing the life of her daughter over power, even as it put her own life in peril.” Sapphire eyes locked with Jess's own. “Bless this one, my mistress. As dark a path as she once strode, when the irredeemable choice was before her... love, not power, was her resolution.” Twilight sighed. “Sable is everything the one who failed you is not.”

  Not even knowing why she did it, Jess found her hand gently caressing a trembling Sable's brow. “Go with the Goddess, Sable. May the woods keep you safe on your journeys. May you and your child always find safety in the times to come.”

  Pale-faced and shaking, Sable bowed her head.

  Liam was gazing at Jess in awe. “Jess, what did you just say?”

  Jess shrugged. "I'm not even sure, Liam. I guess I just wished you all a safe journey, wherever the currents of life take you."

  Liam's face lit up in a pleased grin. “A blessing from the last Druid. Thank you, Jess. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.” He held Sable close, even as a dumbstruck Jess gazed on, at a loss for words. “She was there for me, you know. When I was in the infirmary, lost in the most excruciating of agonies, she was there. I don't even know why. I had only seen her in passing once before, but, well, I instantly felt a connection to her, and she to me.”

  Liam smiled, gently kissing a trembling Sable's brow. “For days, while I was healing, writhing as often as not between the most painful of white mage castings as they fought to save my hand and leg, she was there.” Liam sighed. “I poured my heart out to her. My hopes, my dreams, and for some strange reason, she shared her story with me as well.”

  Sable stroked his jaw. “And you won't tell a soul.”

  Intent blue eyes gazed deeply into her own. “Not a one. I give you my heart, and I take your burden, because that's what it means to love.”

  Jess flushed and looked away, blinking back tears, knowing she had just witnessed something profound. She would miss Liam, a ray of innocence in a world jaded and dark, but perhaps this was for the best. Just looking at the glance they shared, Jess knew that to be so.

  “I'm glad you two found each other.”

  Sable nodded. “We're leaving, Jess. Don't ask where. The less who know, the better. But we're leaving for someplace where hopefully we will be safe.” Gentle eyes turned solemn and sad. “Ubel made it all too clear that Julia isn’t safe, even here. And the counsel you gave me, painful as it was to hear, is the absolute truth. The only way we will ever be free of peril, either of us, is if our enemies can never find us
, no matter how hard they search.”

  A trembling hand touch Jess’s cheek. “A storm is coming, Jess. There is so much I can't say, not without inviting the darkest of curses upon my already stained soul. But if I were to say anything, it would be... tread carefully. More serpents than you can imagine lie hidden in the rushes." She flashed a rueful smile. "Before I forget, there is something I want you to have. Something that Liam and I both want you to have." She handed Jess a slim leather covered volume, with pages of finest vellum. Jess whistled and shook her head, awed and grateful.

  “Sable, I don't know what to say. I don’t know you nearly as well as I would like, for all that I think we could be fast friends, and still you would give me such a priceless gift? I know such tomes are expensive...”

  Liam chuckled. “Stories of wonder and magic, flights of fantasy to put a smile on your face, wonderful for dispelling the gloom of difficult days. It cost a pretty penny, but when I told the white mage tending me who it was for, he insisted on selling the tome I loved to borrow from him at cost.” Liam shrugged. “Just because you hardly remember the battle at a certain fallen keep doesn't mean everyone else has forgotten, and for all that Eloquin demands we hold our tongues, there were several delirious Squires and Aspirants dosed with poppy for their pain making it quite clear whose banner they would follow to the gates of Hell.”

  Jess lowered her head, humbled by the intensity of his gaze. “You saved us, Jess. Springing those traps, allowing Eloquin and the Squires to charge, and boy did he butcher those bastards before those dark mages cast their spells. And when you three slammed into those Velheim knights, valiantly holding off from being swarmed just long enough for Hyve to redeem himself...”

  Liam shuddered. “Even as I lay screaming upon the ground, death and pain my only companions, I bore witness. Honestly, I thought those were my final moments, and I was determined to blaze it all upon my mind's eye. And still, you went back. You, Mord, and Malek; determined to free even the captives trapped within the keep, to beard the lion in his den, even when Eloquin said you were an idiot. And it was then that I blacked out at last, only to awaken and find the girl of my dreams gazing down at me, even as the healers tended to her and her child.”

  Sable smiled. “To me it was as if, after finally gazing at the reflection of my life, accepting the horror of what I had almost done, the Goddess loved me enough to shine a light of hope into my life.” She shuddered, squeezing Liam's hand. “He is my paladin, I think. He is my redemption.”

  Jess trembled at those words. Swallowing, forcing herself to speak. “Will you be all right?”

  This time Sable flashed a smile both jaded and bemused. “Don't worry, Jess. Something woke up inside me this past week, but I will never play the fool. Our enemies did not die easy, and they did not die poor. I managed to wrest Graslig's purse, even as we fled.” Intent eyes blazed into her own. “It was filled to bursting not with silver, but gold.”

  Jess blinked. Speechless. Even a few gold crowns could buy a man a nice sized piece of fertile land complete with buildings, crops, and livestock. A hundred gold would allow a border lord to equip a full score of his best soldiers as knights in all but name; with full suits of armor, warhorses, and weaponry. Or such wealth could allow a prudent lord a comfortable life for years, even in the capital, so long as he didn't gamble.

  Liam nodded. "We've split the gold between us, so robbing us is no simple matter." His benevolent smile turned bleak and hard. "And no petty group of thieves will find me an easy target, as you know, dearest Jess."

  And that Jess did. He might have had the gentlest of souls, but Liam was skilled in blade and battlemagics both, and Eloquin would never have agreed to Squire him so late in his studies, if he were not exceedingly gifted.

  Jess nodded, feeling fiercely proud of her friend. “You both are sacrificing power for love.”

  Liam shrugged. “That's one way of looking at it. But honestly, Jess, the horror of that first battle? I don't, well, I don't think the life of a Squire is what I was put upon Dawn for.” His features softened, holding Sable close. “Maybe she is why I am here. Not to be a warrior, but rather, a husband. A father.”

  Sable's determined features eased into the gentlest of smiles as Liam kissed her. “It's a big world, Jess. Somehow, Liam and I are going to find our way.”

  Jess bowed her head. "May your journey be safe, and the memories you share happy ones."

  Final hugs were exchanged, Jess softly kissing little Julia's cheeks, somehow knowing that she would never hear from any of them again. And if such prudence kept them safe, then she was happy for them.

  Jess frowned, forcing herself to say it. For all that she despised his arrogance, Sable was his sister. “What about Mord?”

  Sable shrugged. “I think he understands. Even if he is determined to proceed with one foot in darkness and the other clean of sin, he knows that I don't dare to play the horrid games our family favors ever again.” Her expression turned wistful. “I know he loves me in his own way. Fiercely. As furious as he is to lose me, I know in his heart he wants to keep Julia safe, just as much as I do.”

  With those final words, her newest friends left, and Jess gazed sadly down the corridor long after they were gone.

  She turned to gaze at her familiar, grooming himself upon her shoulder. “Twilight?”

  Her cat sighed, brooding only a few moments, before nodding. “Very well, Jess. I will see them safely off to wherever they are going to call home. I might be gone a few days, so please, try to stay out of trouble.”

  Jess grinned, holding her purring familiar close. “Ubel’s made it clear she is in the sights of those out for her child’s blood. Knowing you will be there to guide her away from trouble, even if she can’t sense exactly why she might take a particular path, means a lot to me. Thank you, Twilight.”

  Twilight chuckled softly. “One of the very few ways I dare to act upon the denizens of mundus.” Sapphire eyes locked upon her own, brilliant in their intensity. “It is a skill I mastered long ago, guiding young couples to places of safety in times of peril.”

  Jess blinked and shuddered, realizing that there was so much she didn’t know about her beloved familiar, so very many questions she never got around to asking. She squinted suddenly straining eyes, cursing softly. Her familiar was already gone.

  She chuckled softly to herself, determined to have a relaxing dinner with Malek and a shower afterwards, free of dyed hair at last. And things went just as she had planned. Her friend’s company sweet, the fish and lamb chops excellent, her bath in the company of fellow noble ladies everything she could hope for after hours of sweating on the training grounds, and no glowering Ubel or his cronies anywhere in sight. Of course, after his threats the day before, she went nowhere unarmed, as was every girl’s right.

  Jess was in high spirits when she opened the door to her quarters, humming contentedly to herself as she changed into far more comfortable attire, gazing fondly at her inviting bed, ready to turn in for the night.

  It was then that she caught sight of the letter slipped under her door.

  Curious, she picked it up, sensing no trace of anything untoward, excited to see the Calenbry seal upon it.

  She quickly tore it open, delighting in reading of her family's daily happenings back at the manor.

  It was towards the end of the letter that her happy smile slowly morphed into an expression of disbelief, understanding at last the true point of her mother's correspondence.

  “I will claim you, Jessica. Body and soul.” Mord's hot words resonated through her once more. Jess felt her heart pounding against her chest, recalling his possessive smile.

  It was like facing men upon the field of battle as they unsheathed their bitter sharp swords. Yet now there was no dark elation to counter the fear. All she felt twisting through her guts was mounting dread.

  Jess gripped the tome Sable had so thoughtfully gifted her with, imagining stories bold and beautiful within, wishing she could s
omehow escape between those pages.

  Her parents weren't just insinuating about the prospects of a Plaga alliance, an arranged marriage to prepare for, some vague time in the future.

  No.

  The Plaga Clan had asked for a specific date.

  And her mother had given one. Immediately after Jess graduated from Highrock, or was expelled from school.

  Jessica's gamble, telling her family nothing of how utterly horrific Mord had been during her first year so she wouldn't be forced to leave, had just resulted in the worst of all possible outcomes. She wasn't in danger of just losing her freedom and being forced home, but of becoming little more than Mord's plaything, to use and abuse as he saw fit. His victory over her would then be absolute and utter.

  “Gods above, Twilight, what do I do?” Jess blinked, realizing only as she said the words that her familiar was long gone, making sure Sable could safely flee to a land far away from the twisted machinations of her family and their bitter allies, machinations that could have killed Sable and her daughter both.

  A clan that now sought to claim Jess as their prize.

  Jess turned to peer at the woman gazing back at her from the mirror, looking so vulnerable with her wide blue eyes, brilliant gold locks streaming down her shoulders framing a face far too innocent, far too gentle to have embraced all the horrors of battle, not at all like the warrior she knew herself to be.

  She grimaced and looked away, always uncomfortable with her reflection, shamed by the frightened girl hiding beneath all her masks.

  She curled up in her bed then, soft and snug, propping herself up with down-stuffed pillows, clasping Sable’s beautiful gift, quickly losing herself in stories filled with magic and wonder, letting herself escape in sweet dreams of being counted among the most legendary of heroes, an adventurer able to Delve straight into living story and twist those yarns into reality, returning once more with wondrous prizes and fantastic tales of all they had seen and done.

  She closed her eyes, eager to slip into the sweetest of dreams, faerie tales full of flying castles, magic carpets, sage wizards and talking dragons. Far away from the furious shouts and cries of desperate battle, the jolt of her mace pounding in helmets, the jar of her saber ripping through exposed throats, the stench of fear and blood, the screams of dying men, their desperate eyes piercing her soul, that normally haunted her sleep.