by Sidney Wood
“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you right now,” he whispered through clenched teeth and he squeezed her wrist harder. Cuddles let out a low growl at him. He ignored the dog and focused on Joszette.
Joszette winced and began to collapse from the pain before pursing her lips and recovering her composure. She looked him in the eye again and sat up straight. “I am not sure you will believe me, but I assure you I was NOT trying to hurt her. ”
“You’re right, I don’t believe you,” he said and he yanked her roughly to her feet and dragged her outside. He spun her around to face him and with evidence of rage on his face and in his voice, he whispered, “you have one chance to explain why I saw you holding a knife over my daughter just now, or I will snap your neck.”
She swallowed hard and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Blood magic. I…I could feel it on your daughter. She’s been touched by it”
He began twisting her wrist and the knife dropped. She screamed, “No! I’m telling the truth! She’s in danger! I was trying to protect her.” Joszette began sobbing and fell against him.
Lynn let go of her wrist and grasped her head in both hands. He forced her to look at his face, and asked, “What blood magic? What are you talking about?”
Joszette, obviously frightened and with tears streaming down her face, answered, “I am not sure, but I’ve felt it before. When the rebels attacked us, there was a man with them…no, he was not a man. He was something else. He was evil. I felt it when he was near, and then I sensed a trace of it on one of the survivors. He was badly wounded but he claimed that he had almost killed the evil one. Their blood had mingled and it left an unseen stain that he was never able to wash away. Lynn, he eventually went mad and killed his family and then himself. Please! You must believe me!”
Lynn softened his grip on her head, and simply held her face in his hands as he pondered what she had said. “But why were you holding the knife? What reason could you possibly have for that?” he demanded.
“Dad! Stop it, you’re hurting her!” Charity screamed form the doorway. “Leave her alone!”
“Charity, go inside!” He shouted without taking his eyes off of Joszette.
Joszette didn’t seem to notice Charity. She continued to look him in the eye, and said, “I learned a spell, a ritual.” She could tell he was about to get angry again and she grasped his hands on the sides of her face, holding them to her. “I learned one spell, from an old man who I met in these woods many years ago! I am not a witch, and I am not evil. I tried to do it while you were both asleep so she would be protected and you wouldn’t misunderstand my intentions. I see that I made a terrible mistake! It was for my blood Lynn, not hers. The knife was to cut me! Please, I know you don’t believe me, but let me show you both, and you can decide.”
“Blood magic.” Lynn said as if tasting the words. He turned his head and spat. Apparently he didn’t like the taste, but his eyes softened and his shoulders drooped. He took his hands off of her and pointed to the cottage. “After you.”
They all sat in front of the fire and Joszette told them what she knew. Lynn remained on edge. “Okay, I understand why you tried, and I understand the way the ritual is done, but I don’t understand how you can believe it would work.”
“Dad!” scolded Charity.
“I’m serious! I mean, you seem so perfect…” There was an awkward silence. He swallowed the lump in his throat before he finished, “How can you believe in magic?”
“Lynn,” she said with a pined expression. “When you have been through what I have been through, and especially when you have lived alone in the woods for as many years as I have, an open mind is a given. I didn’t always believe, and I certainly never thought I would try to use it, but how can I not try when I know what I know?”
Joszette tried to smile, but she was conflicted. She couldn’t bring herself to tell them about the terrifying dreams she had, or the real reason the man in the woods had helped her.
“Well, I want you to know that I am grateful, even if my dad doesn’t understand,” said Charity. She gave her dad a glare.
Lynn took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he looked up at the ceiling. Then he leaned forward, placed his elbows on his knees, and looked at the floor. Finally, he stood up and walked outside.
Joszette moved to follow and Charity began to rise as well. “Let me go dear,” said Joszette quietly. “This is my mess, I’ll clean it up.” She gave Charity’s hand a squeeze and walked out the door.
She walked silently to where Lynn stood and placed her hand on his shoulder. He jumped before visibly calming himself and slowly turning to face her.
“Look, Joszette, I’m sorry I reacted so harshly, but you have to understand how that looked.”
Joszette said nothing. She stood silently and looked into his hazel eyes with her own glistening dark brown eyes. She waited for him to continue.
“She’s my whole life,” he said and choked. Joszette could hear the emotion in his voice when he said, “I almost lost her; I thought I had. What happened in the valley, I wasn’t there when she needed me, and she almost…”
Without a word she leaned forward and touched his cheek. With her other hand she found one of his and held it. Rising on her tip toes, she kissed him. It was so very soft and tender, but filled with sadness and an unspoken grief they both knew.
Lynn tasted tears on her lips and something inside of him broke free. He placed his other hand on the small of her back and pulled her to him. The kiss turned to something deeper, more passionate. He lifted his head slightly and opened his eyes. He saw her for what she was in that moment; a strong woman who had known terrible loss. His eyes filled with guilty tears and he hugged her tightly.
The next night, while Charity slept, Joszette came to him. Silently, she slid beneath the covers and pressed her body against his. Lynn’s wrapped his strong arms around her from behind and held her close in a warm embrace.
Joszette turned her head and he kissed her gently. He brought one hand up and caressed her cheek.
“No one has ever done that before,” she said.
“Kissed you?” he asked.
“No” she whispered. No one has touched me so tenderly and held my face as they kissed me,” she said softly. “It’s beautiful.” She breathed. “Thank you.”
In the very early morning, before Charity awoke, Joszette silently returned to her own bed. She was smiling as she fell back asleep. No nightmares or troubling memories found her. As she drifted back to sleep there were only thoughts of warmth, and hope, and love.
Chapter Thirty-Four
(Present Day: 237 Cycles into the Light)
Guy awoke refreshed and in a rather good mood. Light was already streaming in through the window and he could hear the bustle of merchants and shop keepers in the streets beginning their day.
He took the extra time this morning to wash his body, using the clean water basin and towel the Inn keeper had placed in his room the night before. He carefully wrapped his stump in a clean cloth and placed it in the padded leather socket at the top of his wooden leg. He fastened the straps snuggly, first as he sat, and then cinched them a little tighter as he stood. Satisfied with the fit, he put on his belt, threw his bag over his shoulder, and stepped into the hallway.
Hannah was just coming out of a room down the hall, and she was completely disheveled. “Apparently she found someone willing after all,” Guy thought as he smiled and walked past her toward the exit. She smiled smugly at him as he passed the door she was standing in front of, and he heard a deep rumbling snore from the man she had spent the night with.
The hair on his neck stood up immediately, and his smile faded. He continued forward without a word, and tried very hard not to let his wooden leg tap the floor too loudly as he went. “Slap your sister!” he whispered through clenched teeth as he stepped out the back door onto the cobbles. “Curly is here!” he exclaimed internally as he hurried along at an awkward gait toward the trea
sury. “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
Duke Dennison and his men strode purposefully down the center of the cobbled street toward the treasury. Each time he visited the capital he insisted on inspecting his holdings in person, and since the King’s priest was playing games with him, he decided not to waste his time by simply waiting in the castle. Just outside of the treasury, the Hawk whispered to his footman, “Shane, take two men and return to the stables. Meet me here with our arms, our mounts, and a cart and driver. Be very discrete. I am considering making a withdrawal, and I don’t want that pious jackass, acting as regent, to know what I am doing until it is done.”
Shane, dressed in his usual black garb with green cloak, bowed slightly and turned to the soldiers following them. He simply pointed at the first two and walked quickly back the way they came. The two men he pointed at turned smartly and followed him immediately.
The Duke continued into the well-guarded bank with his unarmed soldiers in tow. The King had a long standing order that all visiting soldiers and guards be disarmed during their visits to the capital. In the past it aided in avoiding legitimate coup attempts, but more often it was used to make influencing or eliminating his foes easier.
Although the Duke’s men were not under arms at the moment, they were certainly not unable to protect him. Each man was a seasoned veteran, handpicked for his skill at fighting. Each of them also carried at least some sort of weapon hidden on their person in case of emergency. The Duke was also aware that the mere size of his guards was enough of a deterrent to keep most trouble and troublesome people at bay.
Across the street, standing in an open store front and trying to look inconspicuous, a trio of scoundrels watched the Duke and his men enter the bank.
Guy ignored all of the caution he had observed over the past two days and strode directly across the street and into the treasury. One of the guards eyed him suspiciously as he approached and stepped in front of him, blocking the entrance. Guy smiled and pulled the key from out of his shirt. The guard immediately recognized the authentic treasury key and softened. He nodded and stepped aside, sweeping his arm toward the entrance in a welcoming gesture.
With a smile still on his face, Guy walked in to the bank. It was much larger and ornate on the inside than it appeared from the street. The walls and floor were covered in marble and inlaid with what appeared to be gold and silver. There were impressively large murals and statues as well. All in all it was too much to take in at once, and Guy was not in the mood to browse anyway. Looking about for someone to assist him, he noticed a tall, hawkish man with four very large men behind him, speaking in hushed tones to one of the clerks.
Guy was still looking for an unoccupied clerk to assist him when he saw a man dressed in black with a green cloak stride in through the main entrance. He walked directly over to the Hawk and whispered something in his ear. Then he turned and walked out. Two of the four guards followed him.
Guy stepped closer to the entrance and peered out. He saw two things that interested him. The first was the man in the green cloak and the body guards. They met up with two other body guards and all of them were adorning themselves with weapons and armor. They had a cart and enough horses for the six body guards, the man in black and green, and the Hawk. The second was that three very disturbing and generally unfriendly looking men were staring directly at him from across the street. They were just the sort of men that Curly would hire to help catch or kill him.
Turning back inside with a purpose, Guy knew what he had to do. Without waiting this time, he walked directly up to the long counter and knocked loudly on the polished hardwood surface.
“May I help you sir?” asked the short man who had suddenly appeared behind him. Despite his diminutive stature, he managed to be staring down his nose at the much taller Guy. The emphasis he placed on “sir”, and his curt tone were anything but friendly.
Guy paid it no mind and simply held out the key. “I would like to make a withdrawal, and time, I’m afraid, is an issue. I am very late for an important meeting with a very large man I owe a lot of money to, so if you can make this quick I am likely to be VERY generous with my thanks.” Guy waited patiently for the smaller man to decide whether or not he would be bribed. He was not disappointed. The man bowed briefly and asked Guy very politely to follow him to the vault room. Guy looked over his shoulder once and followed the little man.
Several minutes later Guy came back out with his bags full and much heavier. The short clerk, who walked out just after Guy, showed no emotion on his face, but kept a protective hand over his own bulging pocket as he resumed his duties.
The Hawk was being led by a clerk into the vault room as Guy headed for the main entrance. From the door way, he spotted the green cloaked man standing ready with the guards near the cart. Guy took a deep breath and walked over to him.
“Good morning sir,” Guy said loudly to the Duke’s footman. “I am…”
“I don’t care who you are, or what scheme you have cooked up,” interrupted Shane. “We are here on official business with his Lordship, Duke Dennison. You’d do best to move along before I have you arrested.”
Guy nodded understanding and raised his hands in surrender. He began to turn around and then, seeming to change his mind, he stopped.
“I’m having a crisis of conscience here. I don’t want to be arrested, but I feel obligated to warn you. I saw some men following you earlier, and I noticed three of them watching you from across the street when I walked in and again just now as I walked out. There were several more, I just don’t know where they might be.”
Shane turned and immediately saw the three dangerous looking men across the street staring intently at them. He turned back to Guy and stared at him through narrowed eyes for a moment. “How many did you see in all?”
“I can’t be sure, but it looks like ten or more all told. They were in small groups, but they were all watching your group like hungry wolves as you arrived.”
Shane turned and spoke to the escorting guards and they immediately turned out, looking toward the opposite side of the street and the three men watching Guy. Then he walked over to the guards at the entrance to the treasury and spoke to them briefly. He turned and pointed at the men across the street.
The men watching from across the street began to look at each other nervously, and after some discussion, split up and vanished into the shops and back streets.
Shane walked back over to the cart as the treasury guards sent runners to bring a patrol of the King’s Royal Guard. “Thank you Sir…?” Shane asked.
“Guy Martin,” he said with a smile. “And no thanks are necessary. I am simply a merchant who made a windfall profit on a once in a lifetime deal, and I’m looking to retire,” he said and patted his bags. “I do have a small favor to ask though. Those men, they saw me give you warning.” Guy reached into his bag and pulled out a handful of gold coins. “I am feeling quite vulnerable now that I have made such enemies,” and he jerked his head toward the opposite side of the street for emphasis.
Shane raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He simply held out his hand to receive the coins and then jerked his head toward the cart. Guy happily paid the Duke’s footman and climbed up into the cart next to the driver.
“Slap your sister,” he thought. “I’m going to pull this off.” He tried not to smile too much as he waited comfortably for his armed escort to usher him out of the city.
Chapter Thirty-Five
(Present Day: 237 Cycles into the Light)
Captain Chase Martin and Lieutenant Corvis Brente sat in the captain’s tent discussing a new mission. They had been best friends since meeting at the Royal Academy as boys, and it showed in the way they spoke candidly with each other now.
“No, I think it’s stupid because it IS stupid, not because I don’t believe in magic,” said Corvis.
“Think of it this way,” said Chase. “It gets us out of this camp, and more importantly, away from Major Tisley. I can’t stand that
idiot any more than you can.”
“But, Chase, are you really okay with going on a glorified witch hunt when we should be fighting rebels and defending the people who live out here?”
“Did you not hear what I said?” asked Chase. “It’s the people who are asking for our help. I’m not saying that the giant from up in the valley is back from the dead, but somebody that sounds an awful lot like him is walking around scaring people and he might be responsible for the missing villagers. The whole idea of witches and blood magic makes my skin crawl, but that’s what they’re saying, and don’t you remember what Sergeant Hayes said about killing him before? All I‘m saying is, let’s go find out.”
“Chase, you know I’m with you. I still think it’s stupid, but I’m with you,” Corvis said.
“If it makes you feel any better, the Major was going to task you and your men with another crap detail. He doesn’t know I’m taking you with me yet,” Chase said grinning.
“Ahhhh, I’d love to see the look on Tizzy’s face when he finds out,” chuckled Corvis.
The next morning as the sun was rising over the mountains, Captain Martin and Lieutenant Brente rode out through the camp gates followed by twenty mounted soldiers. Twenty men was overkill in Chase’s mind, but the Major had insisted. The idea was to hunt down the big mystery man that was causing so much worry, while showing the villagers that the Royal Guard was fully capable and willing to protect them from any threat.
The mounted company marched at a moderate pace down the main roadway toward the last reported sighting of the pale giant.
By midday they reached their destination and the company stopped just before the village. Chase dismounted while Corvis ordered his men to tend to the horses. The soldiers immediately obeyed, splitting the duties of equestrian care and security among two squads of ten men.
Chase and Corvis set off to question the villagers and gather information.
