“We will need to hurry,” Valessa said. “The ride here was long, and Arthur will surely have begun marching.”
“It will be many weeks until he reaches the Castle of the Yellow Rose,” Velixar argued.
“Sebastian won’t stay,” she said, shaking her head. “He’ll march out. I know it. He’s been eager to fight his brother for years. Now he’s left his cave, he’ll came riding out with his entire host.”
“If you are right, we have little time,” Mallak said. “Let us rest this night, for I see Valessa is tired. Come morning, we will ride.”
“I travel at night,” Velixar said. “As will Darius. Rest now, and then follow the main roads. Listen to the whispers of the common folk. They will tell you where the armies march, and where they will meet. As for us, we will always be near.”
With that he turned, and Darius followed him away. As the man in black stepped out of the circle, Valessa felt the very air warm, as if Velixar were a fire giving off cold instead of heat.
“I hope I show no disrespect in saying I do not trust him,” she said when certain the prophet was far enough away. Mallak tilted his head and looked as if he were examining her.
“Your faith is strong,” he said. “And you are wise in many things, but you are wrong to doubt Karak’s hand. I have met him only rarely, but every time, he has spoken with wisdom, and cunning. It was he who brought low the Citadel, though the rest of the world hears only the name of Xelrak. He has given us a great victory, and if he assures me Karak has redeemed Darius’s soul, then I will believe him.”
Valessa shivered as she thought of Darius.
“It still feels wrong,” she said. “Did you not see Darius’s eyes? He looks like a dead man, or at least diseased.”
Mallak led her from the sacrificial circle to where he had tethered his horse at the base of a tree.
“Indeed, he does,” said the paladin as he untied his mount. “But he has much to atone for. I’m sure the guilt of his failures weighs heavy on him, and will until he executes the paladin … what was his name?”
“Jerico.”
“Yes, Jerico. With his death, Darius’s atonement will be complete.”
Valessa accepted his offered hand, and she sat behind him as he rode out to where she had tied her own horse, following her quick gestures to lead him there.
“But what of Nevek? Pheus? Lars? I heard rumors of other dark paladins going missing, too. What of those potential murders?”
Mallak stopped his horse so she could dismount. As she untied her horse, the strong rope wrapped around a low branch, she heard the paladin draw his blade.
“This fire is for healing as much as cleansing,” she heard him say. She turned about, and the frightening power in his eyes sent her to one knee. “We lost good men to him, but I will not lose another if he has truly returned. Let him fight. Let him suffer, and walk Karak’s hard road. But should he stumble, or turn against all Karak holds dear…”
He swung the sword once, cutting the tree limb Valessa had tied her horse to. It fell to the ground with a thud, having barely slowed the blade as it cleaved through the air.
“I follow your orders, not those of the prophet,” she said, her head bowed. “Speak the word, and I will turn on Velixar himself.”
“I know, girl. Now hurry. I saw an inn a mile back, and I would like to sleep on a soft bed while I still can.”
She mounted her horse, tightened her cloak about her, and then let him lead the way.
*
Kaide was surprised by Jerico’s silence as they rode back toward Stonahm. He’d expected questions, doubt, maybe even rudimentary discussion of battle tactics. But instead the paladin remained lost in thought, and this made him wonder. When required, the two traded their mounts for fresh horses at a nearby village, with every farmer eager to help out with Arthur’s war, as they called it.
Arthur’s war. Only now did they accept it, even though he’d spent years spilling the blood of Sebastian’s men. Sure, they’d given him their support, but only when he dumped bags of stolen gold at their feet. At every village, he told them of the coming conflict, and made a quick speech rallying them to battle before moving on, trusting them to find and link up with Arthur’s vanguard.
“We’re making good time,” Kaide said as they rode out from another village, saddled up on yet another new pair of horses. Kaide’s was a chestnut mare, and he liked the beast’s energy.
Still Jerico said nothing.
As they camped for the night, only a two day ride from Stonahm, he finally asked Jerico what was the matter.
“You badgered me into talking,” he said, grinning at the paladin. “I think it’s my turn, now.”
“Ashvale,” Jerico said, still staring into their fire. “What happens to the people there if we win?”
“When we win, I suppose I’ll leave that up to Arthur.”
Half a smile cracked on the paladin’s face.
“I’m no fool, Kaide. Arthur will give you what you want as reward for helping him sway the people to his cause. What will you ask of him? Will you butcher the people who live there now? Send them away without homes? What?”
Kaide leaned back and tossed another stick onto the fire. He watched it burn as he chewed on his words.
“You want to know what kind of man I am,” he said at last. “That’s what this comes down to, isn’t it?”
When Jerico nodded, he sighed.
“I don’t know anymore, Jerico. There was a time I’d have burned down every building with the people inside to reclaim my home. But we’ve made a new home now. It’s only the fire in my gut that urges me on. I may never take back Ashvale, just as I will never bring my wife back to life. But I can hurt the man who did it. I can make him suffer, as I suffered. He took away my home, my lands, and my wealth. I’ll do the same to him.”
“Revenge is never—”
“Spare me,” Kaide said, glaring. “I know what revenge is. I live with it night and day. What will you tell me, that I’ll feel hollow inside when I’m done? You’re wrong. I’ll feel elation. I’ve lost friends, family, and spilled sweat and blood to achieve what Arthur now marches toward. I’ll feel complete, paladin. Does that answer your question?”
Jerico nodded.
“Sadly, I think it does.”
He stood to leave, but Kaide stopped him with two words.
“The Citadel.”
Jerico glanced over his shoulder, and he stood very still.
“What does that have to do with anything?” he asked.
“You are no different than I. You lost your friends, your home, everything you’d ever known. Would you tell me that, if given the chance, you wouldn’t hunt down and kill the man responsible? Would anything I said change your mind?”
The paladin fell silent. Kaide knew he’d struck home. He wouldn’t lose a valuable ally, not now.
“You feel it burning in your gut, don’t you?” he said quietly. “I know the feeling. Let me give you what you want. The people talk to me, tell me whispers of stories they might be afraid to speak in the daylight. I know the name of the man who destroyed your home. Stay with me, and I’ll tell you. Then you can decide for yourself just what type of man you are.”
Jerico brushed his red hair away from his face, then touched his shield as if needing its strength.
“I’ll help you,” he said. “I still think you’re in the right, and I’ll pray to Ashhur that when the battle is done, you’ll be a better man than I fear. Just promise me one thing.”
“And what is that?”
Jerico looked him in the eye, and there was a force there that made Kaide’s throat tighten.
“Never, ever, tell me that name.”
“I promise.”
“Good.” Jerico smacked him upside the shoulder, and he grinned as if a heavy weight had left his chest. “A few days more until Stonahm, yes? I hope you realize that I barely had time to teach your men how to hold a blade, let alone kill anyone with it. You bette
r have something in mind for them other than standing in the front lines when Sebastian’s knights come crashing in.”
“One of these days you’ll stop thinking I’m a fool,” Kaide said, tossing a nearby stone at him. It clanked off the paladin’s armor.
“One of these days it’ll be right do so, but until then, I work with what I have.”
Another rock, this one larger. Jerico failed to duck in time, and as he rubbed his eyebrow, Kaide laughed.
“You may be a big lug in armor,” he said, “but even this fool knows to strike where a man’s weakness is.”
“Mine’s my forehead?”
“It’s big enough.”
Jerico smiled.
“When the battle starts, you stay at my side,” he said. “I’d hate for you to get killed off on your own.”
Kaide shot him a wink.
“We may lose this entire war, and I’ll still survive. Trust me on that. I’ve eaten the flesh of the dead. Sebastian has nothing, nothing, that can frighten me now.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Jerico felt uncomfortable with the attention lauded upon them as they rode back into Stonahm. People swelled the streets, either cheering or demanding news. Kaide led the way, pushing through until reaching the home where Beth stayed. Within were many members of his bandits, bunking on the floor wherever there was room.
“You’ve really done it now,” Bellok said, the wizard looking positively annoyed.
“Is that so?” Kaide asked, grinning as the rest came up to greet them.
“You started a war without me. I’m disappointed.”
The two laughed, and then louder as Adam and Griff wrapped them in bear hugs.
“We get to fight!” they cried in unison.
Jerico slipped to the side, content to let them celebrate. He caught Beth watching him while waiting for her father to be free. He smiled at her, but she looked away. When Kaide called to her, she ran and wrapped her arm around his chest, hugging him tightly. Her stump remained at her side, as if she were afraid to touch him with it.
“We’ll need to move out soon,” Kaide said after kissing the top of her head. “There’s several places the two lords might choose to meet, and I want us there before either side can discuss matters with the other.”
“You really think they’d make a truce?” Bellok asked.
“No,” Kaide said, his grin ear to ear. “But I want to be there just in case Sebastian sends an envoy. I’ll enjoy sending him back in pieces.”
“Father!” Beth said, and he kissed her forehead once more.
“Pay no attention to what I say,” he whispered. “Now go on to your room and leave us be. You entered this dark world of adults sooner than you ever should have.”
She blushed but did as she was told. Jerico watched her exit, wishing for even the tiniest of smiles to soothe his lingering guilt. He received none.
“Jerico,” Kaide said, pulling his attention away. “You know more of this than I. We need to march, and prepare supplies. Come give us a list, will you?”
Jerico helped much as he could, detailing necessary provisions to bring with them, from the obvious to the obscure. Kaide frowned as he listened, and rebuked several things they could not get in time.
“We’ll make do without,” he said. “How many we have with us ready to go?”
“They been comin’ in from all over,” Adam said. “Burly men, thugs, farmers, rapers. The whole lot’s ready to beat some heads.”
“Wonderful,” Kaide said, his expression anything but. “How many?”
“Three hundred,” Bellok said. “And Adam’s right … they’re the sort even we might normally turn away.”
“Not today. Give them a stick if we have to. We’ll club Sebastian down from his castle walls.”
Jerico excused himself, feeling no longer needed as they continued. He stepped out into the town, where many still lingered about the home, hoping for any word. Their expressions did not match their earlier joy upon seeing Kaide, though. He felt the outsider, a necessary tool, and that was all. He thought of the flock he had taught in Durham, and longed for such a connection. Would any care to hear the word of Ashhur from him, or was the word of Kaide, a word of war, the only thing they desired?
“Will Ashhur be with Arthur’s war?” a farmer called out as he walked for the village outskirts.
“I pray he is,” Jerico said, committing to nothing further than that.
He walked until he reached the pond, and he found the log he’d sat upon when training his leg. It wasn’t so long ago, but it felt like a separate age. Sitting down, he grabbed a few nearby rocks and began skipping them across. Finally alone for the first time in weeks, he closed his eyes and listened for the words of his god. All he heard were the soft sounds of the night birds rustling, the blow of the wind through the grass, and the trickle of the small stream feeding into the pond.
“Jerico?”
The paladin looked back to see Beth standing behind him, holding her stump. She looked ashamed, but she met his eye despite the effort it clearly took.
“Yes, Beth?” he asked.
“Can we talk?”
He shifted, and gestured for her to sit beside him on the log. She did so.
“I…”
She stopped, and Jerico let her take her time. The sun had begun to set, and he watched the colors.
“I’m sorry,” she said at last. “I shouldn’t be mad. I am, but … it was so awful, Jerico. They…”
She’d begun to cry, and he shushed her.
“You have no reason to apologize,” he said. “Not to me.”
“But you just wanted to help,” she said, shaking her head. With her lone hand she wiped at her tears. “I shouldn’t be mad, not when you wanted to help. Her name was Sally, the lady you protected. I thought you should know.”
“What happened to her?” he asked. “When the knights returned, what did she do?”
Beth looked away, and she shivered as if she were cold.
“She ran. ‘Never again,’ she kept screaming. Screamed even before they reached the village. They chased her, and she … she never came back.”
Jerico felt the words knife through his heart. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers, feeling a headache building in his forehead.
“All my fault,” he whispered. “Damn it, it’s all my fault.”
“No, you can’t think…”
“Not her, Beth. You. I could have said yes. I could have spared you all of this. I’ll never forgive myself. And I can see it in your eyes, that you know it, too.”
She fell silent, and already Jerico felt his frustration grow. Beth was only on the cusp of womanhood, barely able to handle her own problems, let alone his. He should have kept his mouth shut, and carried such a burden on his own. That was his purpose in the world, after all. She had enough to worry about besides his guilt.
“I don’t mean to be,” she said at last. Her arm wrapped around his waist, and she leaned against his chest. Her tears wet his shirt. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so angry. The whole time it happened, I kept hoping you’d save me like you saved Sally. It’s not fair, blaming you. Please don’t hate me for it, Jerico, please.”
“I could never hate you,” Jerico said. He watched the sun set as he waited for Beth to cry it all out. Every tear hardened his heart against the men who had done such a thing to her. It wasn’t right, but he didn’t care. Hopefully Ashhur would forgive him, because for once, grace and forgiveness were the furthest things from his mind. But most of all, he felt his guilt and sorrow fading away. If she could forgive him for such a mistake, then that would be enough for him to forgive himself.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “For everything I’ve failed at, for letting you, letting everyone, suffer. I handled it horribly, and could have done something to keep that knight from leaving shamed and furious. I’ll do better. I’ll find a way. Don’t give up on me yet.”
“I won’t,” she said as she pulled back, sniffing
and turning away as if embarrassed. “Will you help my dad fight?”
“I will, for as long as I believe it right to do so.”
“I was there that winter,” she said. “What we had to do, it was … will my father go to the Abyss for it? For … you know … what he ate?”
He could see the question in her eyes, the true words she meant to say.
What we ate.
“Ashhur turns no soul away,” he said. “No matter the past. It’s forgotten. Murderer or priest, pious or thief, all are children in his eyes. I don’t think your father will be condemned forever, not for that. And neither will you.”
Her relief spread across her face, and she hugged him, this time unworried about her stump of an arm.
“Promise you’ll come back to visit?” she asked.
“I promise. And thank you, Beth.”
“Cheer up next time I do see you,” she said, forcing a smile. “You’re much more fun to be around when you’re in a good mood.”
Jerico laughed.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Go on to bed. I need some time alone to pray.”
She left, and once more, he felt the sounds of the night envelop him.
“Heed the voices of children,” Jerico said as the evening star pierced the hazy purple sky. He focused on it, as if it were Ashhur and could hear every word. “I hope this is what you want. No more doubt. No more worries. I go to war, and I ask your blessing upon it.”
He stood and grabbed his shield and mace, which he had put at his feet. The shield shone brilliant in the night, and he smacked the front of it once for reassurance before returning to Stonahm to sleep.
Come morning, he and three hundred others rode west, to where they believed Arthur would be.
* * * * *
Sir Gregane stared at the map of the North and frowned.
“I hate maps,” he muttered, pointing at a section of sharp, interconnected triangles. “Is that forest, and if so, how dense?”
His second in command, a knight named Nicholls, leaned over and scratched at his chin.
“I’ve hunted there once,” he said. “The land’s mostly flat, and the trees are thick at times. There’s many gaps, though, as if the woods and grass couldn’t make up their mind who got to grow where. I think that’s what the cartographer meant to imply.”
Gods & Dragons: 8 Fantasy Novels Page 199
