Kwin

by Trudie Collins

  “Commander Kwin to see you,” he said loudly then stepped aside so Kwin could enter the room. His eyes fell on Lord Flint, but quickly moved on. He saw Gareth and Shona, then settled his gaze on the person he had been desperate to see.

  Luka looked amazing. A shy smile formed on her face as she returned his gaze. He opened his arms and she ran into them. It felt so good to be holding her again. He longed to kiss her, but he restrained himself. What he and Luka once had was now over. He would marry Shona the next day and he and Luka could be nothing more than good friends.

  She pulled away from him too soon for his liking, but he did nothing to stop her. She said nothing as she returned to her seat. Words weren’t necessary. The look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. She, too, wished things could be different.

  Once everyone had given him a proper welcome, he sat down and was told the things about the ceremony that he was not yet aware of. He found his eyes constantly returning to Luka, but not once did she turn to look at him.

  Conversation was interrupted by a bark and Kwin leaped from the sofa just in time to prevent Canis landing on him.

  “You’re back! You’re back! You’re back!” Canis said into his mind. The two had been in regular contact since Kwin had regained his memory.

  The dog wagged his tail and waited for Kwin to approach. He rubbed him behind the ears and let him lick his face. “It’s good to see you too boy.”

  There was a knock at the door and Drake walked in carrying a large box. “A delivery has arrived for Lady Shona from someone called Fen,” he announced.

  Canis sniffed the air then growled. Kwin and Gareth both tensed. “Put it on the table,” Kwin said. “Then back away.”

  Drake did as asked then everyone except Kwin and Gareth moved as far away from the table as they could. The two men slowly approached. When Kwin used his magic to open the box, the smell of dead flesh filled the room, causing Shona to gag. Her father ran from the room.

  Kwin peered into the box and saw two severed heads, one Tippetian, the other Wayvern.

  “Why would Fen send Shona two heads?” Gareth asked.

  “I have no idea.” Kwin picked one up by its hair and held it up high so he could examine it. It had been neatly removed by a sword. Something about it triggered a memory, but he couldn’t grab hold of it before it disappeared.

  He turned swiftly to look at Shona when she gasped.

  “That’s Fillen,” she said.

  “I thought he looked familiar,” Gareth said and picked up the other head. “Brend I presume.”

  Shona nodded. Kwin was aware that she had told Gareth a lot about those two on their journey back to Tippet and Gareth, in turn, told his fellow soldiers. Fen must have taken it upon himself to do something about them.

  “Let me dispose of them,” Gareth said and put Brend’s head back in the box. Kwin handed over Fillen’s head then Gareth carried the box from the room. Drake went with him. Kwin had no idea how he planned to dispose of them and didn’t ask.

  Other than Canis, Kwin was now alone in the room with the woman he loved and the woman he was going to marry and it made him feel uncomfortable.

  “Luka,” he said. “Would you mind leaving me and Shona for a while?” He had never spoken to her privately and thought they should before they got married.

  Luka nodded her head and called to Canis to leave with her.

  “Gareth has told me a lot about you,” Kwin said as soon as he and Shona were alone.

  “He’s been a good friend to me.”

  “He’s a great man and I’m lucky to be able to count him as a friend.”

  They sat in silence for a while, neither knowing what to say. Eventually Kwin spoke. “I don’t know where to begin. I feel I already know you, but at the same time you are a complete stranger.”

  Shona smiled. “I know what you mean.”

  After that, the conversation flowed and soon they were laughing and joking together. Shona was a good woman and they would get on well as a couple.

  Then it hit him. The feeling that passed through him felt like a physical blow. Shona was a good woman who deserved more than he could give her. He had a duty to the king, but he also had a duty to Shona. She deserved to be married to someone who loved her and only her.

  “I can’t do this,” he suddenly blurted out before he could stop himself. Shona looked at him in surprise. He took hold of her hand. “I’m sorry, but I can’t marry you. It wouldn’t be fair on you. I’m in love with someone else.”

  Shona’s reaction wasn’t what he was expecting. “Thank Hellan for that.” She sounded relieved.

  “What?” Kwin said in confusion.

  With her free hand, Shona patted the back of his. “I, too, am in love with someone else.”

  “Who?” Kwin asked, then shook his head. “Sorry. Ignore that. It’s none of my business.”

  “I don’t mind you asking. It’s Gareth.”

  “Does he feel the same?” Shona nodded her head. “He never said a word to me.” A sly smile formed on his face as a plan began to form in his mind. “I think I know how to fix this. But you have to promise to not say a word to anyone.”

  Shona agreed and Kwin told her everything. Without telling anyone where they were going, they left the house. Their destination was the nearest city, which was only an hour or so away on horseback. The king was staying there, ready to attend the ceremony the next day. Kwin’s plan depended on the king agreeing, but he was confident he would. From what Gareth had been saying, King Tarkel had taken a liking to him and invited him to dine with him whenever they were in the same location.

  The meeting didn’t last long. As predicted, the king agreed to everything Kwin proposed and all necessary paperwork was completed before Kwin and Shona left.

  Kwin was smiling as he rode away from the city.

  “What’s got you so amused?” Shona asked.

  Kwin laughed joyously. “Tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun.”

  Chapter 47

  Luka stared at the dress on her bed. The last thing she wanted to do was put it on, but it was the one thing she had to do. Both Shona and Kwin wanted her to attend the wedding and she wouldn’t let them down.

  She took a deep breath and forced herself to get dressed, all the time fighting to stop the tears that had formed in her eyes from falling.

  Shona had asked her to stand as her witness, but she had declined, stating that as this was a Tippetian ceremony, someone from Wayvern should not take part. She suspected that Shona knew this wasn’t the real reason Luka had said no, but she might have been wrong.

  The room the ceremony was to take place in was almost full by the time she arrived. Gareth was standing at the front, dressed in his ceremonial uniform. He looked stunning. Luka was not surprised to see him there; he was taking on the role of witness for Kwin. Next to him stood Shona’s father, who had been her second choice for her witness. This was going to be a lot more formal ceremony than the one Henna and Kail had had.

  Luka took a seat at the back and all too soon Drake entered the room and called for silence. “The bride and groom,” he announced and music started to play.

  Shona and Kwin entered together, her outstretched hand resting on his. Kwin was surveying the crowd as though looking for someone. When his eyes met hers, he stopped. He smiled at her. It wasn’t a comforting smile, a ‘I don’t want this to happen either but it must’ smile. It was filled with warmth. He was genuinely happy to see her.

  He dragged his gaze away from her to whisper something to Shona, causing her to smile. A lump formed in the back of Luka’s throat. They looked so happy together.

  ‘That’s a good thing,’ she thought to herself, but she couldn’t help hating them for it.

  Kwin was dressed in a uniform the same as Gareth’s. It didn’t look anywhere near as good on him as it did Gareth, but Luka still found him captivating. She had to force herself to look away from him.

  Shona looked stunning. The red dress she was
wearing was simple, yet elegant. It was long and flowing and perfect for the ceremony. Luka wished she looked that good, but knew she never could.

  The assembled crowd watched the happy couple slowly make their way to the front of the room, then the music stopped.

  The king had insisted that Varsel, his head magic user, perform the ceremony. He seemed nice enough, though a little young to hold such an important position.

  He began to speak and Luka had to force herself to listen to him as her mind kept wandering. Images of Kwin’s naked body, lying beside her in her bed, filled her head. Every time she banished one, it was replaced by another.

  She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry out that he was hers and Shona couldn’t have him. It all became too much for her and she had to get away. She couldn’t watch Kwin dedicate his life to another woman.

  As everyone continued to listen to Varsel, Luka quietly slipped away. She went to her room and began to pace. She had no idea what to do. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. She had to get out of the house, out of the province, out of the country. She couldn’t stay there any longer.

  She was in too much of a hurry to pack, so she just grabbed her essentials and shoved them into a bag. She closed the door when she left then magically sealed it. Nobody would be opening it until she allowed it to wear off. She didn’t think anyone would be chasing after her for a while, but wanted to make sure. They would assume she was still in the room. Then she put a shield around it, preventing anyone being able to use magic to probe inside.

  Magically she was strong, stronger than even Gareth realised. Distance made no difference. Her magic would remain in place until she decided to release it. Not even Kwin would be able to break it. She had done the same to her home before she left, the only difference was that she set the shield to detect Kwin’s magic and let him through. This shield, however, would not let anyone enter the room.

  As everyone was attending the wedding, even the servants, she managed to leave the house without being seen and retrieved her horse from the stables. It was going to be a long and lonely journey. She had no idea if it was safe to return to Wayvern, but hoped that it was. After all, she didn’t own any slaves.

  She momentarily considered contacting Canis and asking him to join her, but he was at the ceremony and everyone would notice if he left. She would contact him in a few days, once she was home, and he could then let Kwin know where she was so he could arrange for Canis to join her.

  With one last look behind her, she instructed her horse to run. With tears flowing down her face, she galloped down the driveway, away from the wedding, away from Kwin and away from Tippet.

  ————————————-∞————————————-

  Kwin was enjoying himself. Gareth was doing his best to look happy, but every now and then Kwin saw him look at Shona with eyes that were full of misery.

  Part of him felt guilty that he was letting his friend suffer, but it wouldn’t be for much longer. They were almost at the most important part of the ceremony.

  Kwin couldn’t stop smiling as Varsel turned to him and said, “Kwin, do you agree to this marriage?”

  “No,” he replied, loudly and clearly.

  Gasps filled the room, followed by a deathly silence. Nobody could believe what they had just heard. Even Gareth looked stunned. The only people to not react were Shona and the king.

  Varsel shook his head, as though something was blocking his hearing and he wanted to clear his ears out. “What did you just say?” he asked.

  “I said no, I do not agree to marry Lady Shona.”

  He desperately wanted to turn around and see Luka’s reaction, but she was at the back of the room and his view would be blocked by others, so he satisfied himself with watching Gareth, who was gaping at him. His jaw was moving up and down, but no words were coming out.

  “It’s nice to see I have finally found a way to shut you up,” Kwin said quietly to Gareth, then winked at him.

  In a voice loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, he addressed Varsel. “Am I right in saying that when a groom refuses to marry the bride, tradition dictates that the groom’s witness has to?”

  “Yes,” the magic user said, “but I have never known it to actually happen.”

  Kwin turned to his friend. “What do you say Gareth? Are you going to follow tradition?”

  Gareth just stared at him as though he had gone insane.

  Kwin squeezed his shoulder. “You seem to have temporarily lost the ability to speak. At least I hope, for Shona’s sake, that it’s temporary. Just nod your head.”

  Gareth did so. “Is that good enough for you?” Kwin asked Varsel, who confirmed that it was.

  “Well it’s not good enough for me,” Lord Flint called out. “I don’t know what is going on here, but I won’t have my daughter marrying a commoner.”

  The king stood up. “Sit down and shut up Flint. I promised you your daughter would marry into my family and that is what she is doing. Though he doesn’t know it yet, yesterday I officially welcomed Gareth into my family as Kwin’s adopted brother. It’s all legal.”

  “I always said I loved you like a brother,” Kwin said to Gareth. “Now I can say ‘as’ instead of ‘like’.”

  Still Gareth said nothing. He just looked at Kwin, then Shona, then back at Kwin again.

  “I think we should get on with this wedding before the new groom falls down,” Kwin said to Varsel.

  “Does anyone object to the change of groom?” Varsel called out.

  “Of course nobody does,” the king said before anyone had chance to speak. “Now get on with it.”

  “Of course your Majesty. If Gareth and Kwin could please swap places.”

  Seeing that Gareth couldn’t make his legs move, Kwin stepped to the side of him and pushed him closer to Shona.

  “Gareth,” Varsel said. “Do you agree to this marriage?”

  Finally, Gareth managed to find his voice. “Yes, with all my heart.”

  “Shona, do you agree to this marriage?”

  She was beaming at Gareth when she said yes. Kwin burst out laughing when Gareth grabbed hold of her and kissed her.

  “Stop that right now,” Varsel said. “You are not married yet.”

  The rest of the ceremony went without a hitch. When it was over, Gareth punched Kwin in the jaw, hard.

  “That is for not letting me know sooner,” he said, then grabbed hold of him and hugged him. “Thank you brother,” he whispered in his ear.

  “Congratulations on your marriage,” Kwin whispered back. “Now I have a lady to find.”

  He went to where Luka had been sitting, but her chair was empty. He asked those who had been sitting next to her if they knew where she was and was told that she had left early in the ceremony.

  “Damn,” Kwin said. If she left that early, she had no idea that he hadn’t married Shona. He had to find her.

  He ran from the room and headed straight to Luka’s. He’d been so sure of himself, so sure that everything would work out the way he had planned. He had been so focused on how Gareth would react that it had never occurred to him that Luka would walk out before the truth about the wedding was revealed. Now he was kicking himself. He should have told her the full story instead of letting her believe he was marrying Shona.

  He banged on the door. “Luka, are you in there?” he shouted. He could hear panic in his voice.

  There was no response, so he tried again. He pushed on the door, but it wouldn’t open. He swore, then placed his ear against the door, trying to hear any sound of movement inside. He let his magic flow out, hoping to enhance any sounds, then jumped back in surprise when it came into contact with an opposing magic.

  Someone had shielded Luka’s room, but who?

  “Gareth,” he silently called out. “Was it you who shielded Luka’s room?”

  “Ah,” came the reply. “I guess there’s something I forgot to mention.”

  “What?”

 
“Luka has magic.”

  Kwin was sure he had misheard. “She can’t have. I would have noticed.”

  “She does,” Gareth said as he walked up to Kwin. “She managed to hide it from everyone. All that magic she said was her father was actually her.”

  “She can’t have magic,” Kwin said again. “I probed her mind. I would have known.”

  “She’s powerful, Kwin. Maybe more powerful than you.”

  Kwin leaned back against the wall; he needed the support. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Then a thought occurred to him.

  “Did she shield her house before she left?” Gareth nodded. “How in Hellan’s name is she still maintaining it? She isn’t even in the same damn country.”

  “She found a way to make it maintain itself.”

  “That’s not possible.” He looked at Gareth and was not pleased to see him smiling at him.

  “Feel like your legs have been swept from under you?” Gareth asked. Kwin growled at him. “It’s not a pleasant feeling, is it?”

  Kwin threw his hands up. “Alright, I deserved that. Now will you please turn your mind to how I am going to get into that room to speak to her if she has used magic to seal the door.”

  With his head, Gareth indicated that Kwin should look to his right. Canis sat there, watching the conversation, a bemused expression on his face.

  “Canis,” Kwin said. “Please can you go and get Luka. I don’t know how, but you need to get her to let me in.” Then an idea occurred to him. He could write her a note and Canis could take it to her.

  Before he had chance to tell the dog to wait, Canis walked through the wall.

  “She’s not here,” Canis’s voice sounded in his mind.

  “What do you mean she’s not there? Where is she then?”

  “I don’t know,” Canis said as he walked back into the corridor. “But I can ask her.”

  “What do you mean you can ask her?” Kwin asked out loud. “You have a mental connection to her? For how long?”

  “Since before I met you. Now shut up and let me talk to her.”

  ————————————-∞————————————-