by Donna Hatch
Unfortunately, the castle appeared to be built to please the senses and not to withstand a siege. The outer walls were too narrow and the buildings of the nearby town stood too close to the castle walls. Other problems became painfully clear—too many to enumerate. Kai hoped the inevitable war would take place on a battlefield far from such delicate and impractical beauty.
At the training arena, Kai and Tarvok halted inside the entrance and watched knights spar in pairs.
“Do you want me to call them to attention?” Tarvok asked.
“No. I want to see how they move.” Kai watched them, noting where their skills lacked and where their strengths lay.
Right away, he saw that their moves were too predictable and that the knights were grossly inexperienced. These men fought more like squires than knights, appearing to have received their knighthood only as an honorary title. Or perhaps the title came from their ability to fence, which was fairly good. But fencing was a pastime to display one’s skill in precision; sword-fighting an enemy required a completely different technique.
Aware that Tarvok was waiting, Kai chose his words carefully. “You’ve done a fine job with them, Captain Tarvok. Their basic skills are solid.”
Tarvok snorted. “Be honest. They wouldn’t last a day in battle.”
True, but Kai refrained from agreeing. “Their lack of experience is obvious, but not as bad as I’d feared for men whose country shuns extensive instruction in weaponry.”
“We Ardeenes love philosophy and the arts, and have little tolerance for men who embrace violence and bloodshed.”
Kai raised a brow at the mocking tone in Tarvok’s voice and wondered if the captain had grown up scorned for his chosen profession as a warrior. “I understand Arden hasn’t seen war in several generations.”
“Over a hundred years.”
“But you’ve been in battle.”
Tarvok lifted one shoulder slightly. “I’m something of an anomaly. I fought in the Govian Wars before the king offered me a post.”
“I did too.”
Tarvok’s gaze flicked to him, but Kai couldn’t guess his thoughts.
He tucked his gloves in his belt and returned his gaze to the sparring knights. “We’ll make sure they’re battle-ready when the Hanorans arrive next spring, Captain Tarvok.”
“That will take considerable effort.”
Kai felt one side of his mouth turn up. “They aren’t that bad.”
“They are, but that’s not what I mean. No one here really believes we face war.”
Taken aback, Kai stared. “Truly?”
With a grimace, Tarvok folded his arms. “They think they’ll find some diplomatic way to keep peace with the Hanorans.”
Kai frowned in disbelief. “Impossible. I’ve fought the Hanorans. Their king is utterly bloodthirsty. No amount of token offers or pretty speeches will appease him.”
“An Ardeene’s faith in his own powers of speech is astounding,” Tarvok said dryly.
“Then why did your king request me to come and train his army?”
“Precautionary measure, I suppose. Show of force.”
Kai dragged a hand through his hair. Trying to train reluctant knights in preparation for a battle most of them believed they would never fight would be a difficult task. “King Farai warned me before I left Darbor that I might meet with some naivety about the possibility of war, but I had no idea my presence here would only be a display.”
“We need you. We don’t know it yet, but we do.” Coming from a battle-hardened warrior, that admission had to have cost Tarvok.
“I’m here to serve.”
The corners of Tarvok’s mouth pulled upward, and he offered Kai his hand. “Welcome to Arden, Captain Darkwood.”
Feeling as if he’d won a major victory, Kai grinned and clasped Tarvok’s forearm below the elbow in the warrior’s grip.
“There’s a ceremony tonight at seven bells in the throne room to welcome you. Plenty of food and pretty ladies. I need to go check the gate sentries during the changeover. I’ll see you here in the morning.” Tarvok turned to leave.
A ceremony? Kai almost groaned out loud. “Captain.” Tarvok turned back and waited.
Kai gritted his teeth. He despised his uncertainty, but if Tarvok could admit needing help, so could he. “About this ceremony tonight, is there anything I need to know?”
Kai was all too aware that his role at Arden included acting as an ambassador of Darbor. Pity, since he’d always despised diplomats. But he’d fall on his own sword before he’d fail his king.
Tarvok shook his head. “It’s only a formality. King Darvae will welcome you and give you your rank and title. They won’t expect a speech or anything from you, merely a vow of loyalty. There will be a feast and probably a dance. Nothing to worry about.”
A grand feast and a dance with royalty sounded almost as appealing as blood and torture. Kai let out an unhappy sigh. “Formal dress, I presume?”
“Of course.” A devilish light entered Tarvok’s eye. “Surely a Sauraii master has no fear of that.”
“Will you be there?”
Tarvok made a sound that might have been a cough. “Royalty and honored guests only.”
Disappointed that he’d be facing the formalities without an ally, Kai nodded. “I’ll see you at dawn.”
Tarvok broke out into a full grin, saluted, and after a smart, military turn, strode away.
Kai returned his gaze to the knights and watched them until he determined the best way to begin his instruction in the morning. Then he wandered up on the battlements.
The view caused him to pause. Unlike the rugged terrain and craggy mountains of his homeland of Darbor, Arden was green, with smooth, rolling hills. The sea shimmered silver in the distance on one side of the castle, and rounded mountains rose up into low clouds on the other. A fine mist blew off the water and formed tiny droplets on his face. The salty air was both invigorating and soothing.
Below the outer wall, Kai noticed a man with a slight build speaking to a hooded figure. Something in the furtive manner of their conversation caught Kai’s interest. The slender man, wearing the clothes of a nobleman, passed something to the hooded figure, who jumped astride a duocorn and cantered toward the open gates. Kai watched the nobleman as he turned and swaggered out of view. Something about the exchange didn’t feel right, and Kai decided it would be wise to keep a sharp eye on the nobleman.
Kai stilled. Keep an eye on a nobleman? Possibly a trusted member of the royal council? What a ridiculous notion! Perhaps the journey had fatigued him more than he thought. Even if he could have the king’s ear at some point over the next few days, voicing doubts about a nobleman was not the best way to begin his role in Arden.
The sun scattered golden-red rays through the clouds, reminding Kai that he should begin preparing for the welcoming ceremony. He descended the battlements and approached a sentry.
The knight, apparently recognizing Kai, snapped to attention. “Sir!”
“The officers’ barracks.”
The knight pointed to a cluster of low buildings on the opposite side of the bailey. “That way, sir.”
Kai nodded his thanks and headed toward the barracks. As he crossed the bailey, a servant girl approached and dropped a curtsy.
“Forgive my boldness, sir, but are you looking for someone?” Her eyes traveled over his face, and she blushed slightly as her hand moved to rest on her throat. She took another step closer to him, her eyes moving down his body.
Kai looked down at her in amusement. “The officers’ barracks.”
“Ohhhh,” she breathed. “I love your accent. Where are you from?”
“Darbor.”
Running footsteps neared. “Captain? Captain Darkwood?” A rosy-cheeked lad skidded to a breathless halt in front of him.
“Yes?” answered Kai, noting the girl’s glare directed at the lad.
“I’m Romand, your squire during your stay here, if you approve.”
Kai offered Romand his hand. When the boy hesitantly held out his, Kai gripped the squire’s forearm below the elbow in a greeting between knighted warriors. “I’m honored, Romand.”
The boy beamed as he returned the warrior’s grip. “I’ll show you to your quarters,” he managed. Then he noticed the girl and faltered. “Oh, uh, am I interrupting?”
The serving girl moved away but turned and glanced back over her shoulder at Kai with a come-hither smile. Reminding himself that it would not reflect well on his king if he appeared late to his own welcoming ceremony, he resisted the urge to follow her.
Instead, he turned back to his squire. “You’re not interrupting, Romand. Your arrival was timely.”
“This way, sir,” the boy said with an expression that bordered on worship.
“Thank you.” He followed the boy, whose smile threatened to divide his face in half.
“I had your gear taken to your room already, and your duocorn’s been seen to. Are you really a Sauraii master, sir?”
“I am.”
Romand paused, chewing on his lower lip as if struggling with the propriety of a question he desired to ask. “Are you here because we’re really facing war from the Hanorans, or are you just here to help the knights perfect their swordplay?”
Kai paused. “That depends on who you ask.”
“I’m asking you, sir.”
Kai suppressed a grin at the boy’s cheekiness. “I’m here because my king ordered me to come and help an ally train his knights.”
“To prepare for war?”
Kai admired the boy’s determination. “Yes, Romand. To prepare for war.”
Not only had Darborian spies reported that Hanore was amassing its armies and targeting the tiny kingdom of Arden, but Darborian mages had also foreseen an invasion of Arden. When, the mages could not say, but they knew it would be soon. King Farai’s grandmother had been an Ardeene princess, and his daughter had married the eldest Ardeene prince, thus further cementing a long-standing alliance. Moreover, some feared once Arden fell, the Hanoran king would turn his greedy eye on all the rest of the kingdoms. Darbor had many reasons to care about the outcome.
If the Hanorans attacked now, Arden would fall in a day.
“Would you do anything your king asked?” Romand wondered.
“Of course. I’ve sworn an oath of loyalty,” Kai replied without hesitation.
Romand looked up at him with round eyes. “What if he asked you do to something wrong?”
“He wouldn’t. King Farai is one of the wisest men I know.”
“But what if he did?”
Kai’s practiced exterior almost cracked at the lad’s guileless charm. “As a knight sworn to follow my king, I do not question his command. But as a man, I trust him implicitly. So, I will never face the choice between obeying my king and doing what I know is right.”
“What was your final test for your Sauraii training?”
Nearly reeling from the abrupt change of topic, he glanced at Romand, then said with a straight face, “I had to bring back the heads of thirteen boys who ask too many impertinent questions.”
Romand gulped.
Kai grinned. “I’m only ruffling you, lad.”
Sheepishly, Romand met his eye. “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. My father often tells me to hold my tongue.”
“You can ask me anything you want. I may choose not to answer you, but I won’t skin you for asking.”
When Romand looked up, Kai knew he’d won the boy’s undying loyalty. The squire paused outside a doorway. “Captain Tarvok said these are your quarters in the barracks, but I thought you were staying in the guest wing in the castle.”
“I want to earn the knights’ respect based on my knowledge and skill, not because of my reputation as a Sauraii. That will be better accomplished if I live among them instead of in the castle like some kind of lord.”
Romand glanced up at him in puzzlement. “The knights are all sons of noblemen and lords. No commoner can be a knight; they can only be ordinary soldiers.”
Kai didn’t volunteer to the squire that the same held true in Darbor normally, that he had been knighted despite his common blood. “Do any of the knights live in the castle?”
“No, only the royal family. Oh. I see what you mean.”
Kai ducked his head slightly to enter his quarters. The furniture consisted of a bed that actually looked large enough for a tall man to sleep in comfortably, and a trunk with his bag lying on top. Small, clean, uncluttered. Perfect.
A servant arrived with a basin and hot water. Romand helped Kai remove his chain mail, but when the squire prepared to help Kai bathe, he replied firmly, “Thank you, Romand. That will be all.”
Clearly surprised, Romand hesitated and then moved to the door. “I’ll wait out here until you need me.”
Kai scrubbed away the dirt and grime, blackening the water. After shaving and changing into the full dress greens of Darbor, he dragged a comb through his wet, clean hair and pulled on his boots.
Outside the window, the sun sank closer to the mountains, and the two moons glowed pale against the purpled sky. A few stars winked dimly. Kai paused, his eyes moving up to the stars.
Perhaps the far-off world where the souls of the dead rested lay among one of those glittering lights. His hand moved to touch a strand of braided hair attached to a leather thong around his neck and brought it to his lips.
“Good night, my love,” he murmured. Only a faint ache in the broken pieces of his heart came in reply.
Romand knocked hesitantly. “I’ll take you to the throne room if you’re ready, Captain Darkwood.”
“Almost.”
He carefully packed away his sword and the usual assortment of daggers he normally carried. It would not do to show up fully armed to offer his services to the king of Arden. He would only carry what he absolutely must. He picked up two of his smallest daggers. One he tucked in his boot, the other he strapped to his forearm underneath his sleeve. Though trained in the martial art of nordichia, where one fought with empty hands, Kai preferred to have a blade when he faced an enemy. Not that he expected to find an enemy within the castle, but one never knew.
Kai followed Romand to the main doors of the castle, feeling naked without his chain mail or heavily padded training shirt. He also missed the reassuring slap of his sword against his leg.
When Romand led him inside the castle proper, its splendor took Kai’s breath away. The nobleman whose actions had seemed suspicious out by the bailey crossed the main hall, catching Kai’s attention, and the Sauraii watched him narrowly.
“Romand, who is that?”
The boy followed the direction of Kai’s stare. “That’s Lord Alivan. He sits in council with the king.”
Kai nodded his thanks but said nothing. Normally his instincts were reliable, but Arden was a strange land with strange customs. It would be best to wait and observe further before acting. As an ambassador of Darbor, he must not make a mistake of this magnitude regarding a nobleman of a country to which he was about to swear an oath of loyalty.
He certainly had been wrong about the young lady in the woods being in danger from the fearsome-looking animal.
Kai drew a steadying breath and braced himself. He must face getting through this ceremony without bungling it, surviving a meal with royalty without committing an unforgivable breach of etiquette, and then participating in a dance he couldn’t hope to know.
He wished he could spend the evening in the training arena instead. Or perhaps rethink his decision not to follow the serving girl who smiled so invitingly in the bailey. Or go find the girl in the woods and beg her forgiveness. Learn her name. Touch her silken hair again.
She hated him. She thought him a bloodthirsty murderer.
Why that twisted in his gut like a knife, Kai couldn’t guess. He shouldn’t care. He’d left one entanglement behind in Darbor. His orders to go to Arden had been a relief, the perfect excuse to end the relationship, ensuring that he was safe from form
ing any dangerous emotional attachments. The last thing he needed was to risk another involvement.
He didn’t care what the girl in the woods thought of him. He didn’t care. But the tragedy in her eyes haunted him.
He kicked a loose stone and sent it skittering across the rockpaved courtyard. How could he have known it was a magical and honored animal? He’d heard a roar loud enough to shake the leaves off the trees, and seen a beast bigger than a duocorn, with more teeth than a pack of wyrwolves, standing over a lady who lay on the ground. Any sane man would have assumed she’d been about to be devoured. Any knight would have acted as he had.
To his everlasting annoyance, that knowledge did nothing to assuage his guilt.
Chapter Three
R eeling from the events of the afternoon, Jeniah trudged through the castle halls.
“There you are!” Mora called. “You’re late. The ceremony will begin soon. Come, come, you must change.”
The aged lady-in-waiting took Jeniah by the hand and trotted toward the stairway to the royal family wing. As Jeniah stumbled to keep up with Mora, her father and her eldest brother descended the stairway on the opposite side, both wearing full formal dress and crowns.
“. . . to train the knights,” her father said to Aven. “I haven’t yet decided if I’ll have him train the common soldiers as well.”
Jeniah paused and bowed her head in deference to the king and the crown prince, even knowing they would pass her without glancing in her direction. She knew better than to ask what they discussed. No doubt they’d either be annoyed by her interruption, or simply pat her head and tell her to not concern herself with the matters of men.
To her surprise, the king nodded briefly to her. Aven gave her a wink. She gaped at their uncharacteristic acknowledgement. A slow warmth thawed the edges of the icy lump in her heart.
“Darkwood might have a recommendation,” Aven said as they passed by.
“Quickly, now.” Mora tugged her hand.
