The door jerked open from the other side, Keiran standing there, wild-eyed. He’d awoken from a sound sleep, knowing Jerris would be on the other side of the door.
Jerris was startled, and he looked Keiran over in the dim light. Keiran was shirtless, the gash across his stomach healed, though there was a considerable dark scar left. His ribs were visible from the profound weight loss he’d suffered in the preceding weeks.
Keiran looked Jerris over as well, seeing his left arm in a sling. He didn’t say anything before closing the distance between them and embracing his friend.
The guard didn’t know how to respond at first as it happened so quickly. However, he soon closed his eyes and put his functional arm around Keiran in return.
After several moments, Keiran finally stepped back. He turned away for a moment to run his hands down his face to hide his tears before looking at Jerris again. “What happened to you?”
Jerris looked down at his healing arm and gave a weak shrug. “Mountain tried to collapse on me. I’ll tell you about it later. Right now, you have guests waiting.”
Keiran lofted a brow and squinted. “Guests?”
Jerris hated arriving like he had only to give bad news. He decided to show Keiran rather than telling him. “Get a shirt on and come downstairs.”
The vampire gave a quick nod and held his hands out for a second. “Okay, wait here! I’ll be right back.”
Jerris watched him go and turned away from the door, but he heard Thana clear her throat behind him before long, and he slouched.
She stood clad in her nightgown where Keiran had been. Her arms were across her chest, her expression giving up nothing.
He swallowed and offered a pained smile, though it faded when she didn’t reciprocate.
Thana sighed and rolled her eyes. “I told you he’d welcome you back like that.”
“Aye,” Jerris replied, dropping his gaze to the floor.
She looked him over. Knowing Keiran would be remarkably better to have the guard back around, her resolve to remain angry at him faltered and her shoulders rounded. “Just…just don’t pull something like this again, you ass.”
He gave a small nod, relieved to see Keiran reappear to rescue him from Thana’s continued stare.
Keiran turned to Thana and whispered a password to her so she would let him back in the room when he returned. He’d started to do so every time they’d been separated since her nightmare. Though she still saw him as Athan a few times, being able to know it really was Keiran made life a little more bearable.
Jerris started back down the hall with Keiran at his side. “I ended up a lot further from home than I would have liked.”
“Edinau.”
Jerris skidded to a halt and turned to look at Keiran at the top of the stairs. “How in the hell do you know that?”
He shrugged, not entirely sure the guard would believe him if he told him. “I just did. I knew you’d gotten away from that fire, and I knew that you’d ended up in Edinau.”
The redhead blinked and shook his head. “And I know you were in Maris looking for me. You found my bottle and picked it up.”
Keiran cocked his head to the side. Jerris wasn’t psychic. He’d never so much as even confessed to a bout of déjà vu. He wondered if he’d left some sort of imprint in his wake the guard had picked up on. Perhaps he’d just seen the fingerprints on the bottle. “Aye, that’s exactly what I did.”
Jerris gave a small grin, pleased to see Keiran the one surprised for once. “Regardless, they’re waiting, come on.”
Nothing else was said during the short walk to the throne room. Keiran entered with Jerris, and he stopped halfway within. He saw Mari and Garhan there and broke into a wide smile, relieved they had also returned.
“I didn’t quite expect the two of you back yet!” he said, going to them, pleased to see they looked to be in good shape.
Garhan had his arm around Mari’s shoulders. “We ran into Jerris in Edinau. I wish I could say we were the only ones.”
Keiran narrowed his eyes, realizing there were two others present, standing near the fire. “What in the world… Emperor Betram?”
The old man beamed and shuffled over, taking a hold of Keiran’s right hand and quickly touching it to his forehead. “King Keiran! Such a relief to finally see you!”
The vampire looked over, seeing Etras approaching as well. “What are the two of you doing here?”
Betram slowly let go of Keiran’s hand and shook his head. “Terrible news! Ahman Danier has overthrown the Sador Empire. We were unable to stop him. I had to flee for my life. I found Etras in Ibia, and he helped guide me to Tordania. To combat a vampire, I must have a vampire’s help.”
Keiran settled his gaze on Etras, trusting the Sadori after all he’d helped with the last time they’d met. Etras gave a single nod, verifying the emperor’s words.
Though Keiran already believed Danier to be alive, Betram’s news made his head swim. He moved away slowly and went to the throne before dropping into it. He stared down at his hands in his lap, stunned.
The five others in the room came over and stood before him, curious how he’d respond. However, Keiran was being drowned in his emotions over Jerris returning and the news about Danier, and he couldn’t muster any words.
Betram grew restless and broke the silence. “Your guard, Jerris, if he’d not found Etras and I, we would be dead twice over!”
That got Keiran’s attention and he lifted his gaze, staring at the emperor. “How so?”
“Three bounty hunters found us in Edinau, and he dispatched them!” Betram smiled and extended his arms at his sides. “Then, Danier sent a vampire assassin after us. Your guard took her head off! I owe him my life!”
Jerris shifted uncomfortably. “Garhan honestly did most the work with the vampire. I just took off her head when he got a hold of her.”
Keiran quirked a brow. “Danier has chosen to spread vampirism? You are all truly fortunate to have survived…”
“Jerris knew what to do,” Garhan replied, shrugging. “I only intervened knowing I would be harder for her to kill and able to counter her strength.”
Keiran lowered his head and pressed his fingertips against his temples, the familiar pounding of one of his stress-induced migraines coming on. “I hate to say this, Betram, but the very fact Danier is alive and a vampire is entirely my fault. I thought I’d killed him, I truly did…”
With Keiran the only vampire Betram had ever met, and the only one he’d known about anywhere near the Sador Empire, he wasn’t shocked to hear the king’s admission. “It doesn’t matter how he became what he became. Even as he was, he was stubborn and driven enough to have rallied his tribe into a revolt. I do not blame you, King Keiran, but I need your help to do away with him. I cannot do it alone.”
Keiran’s hands fell, his elbows resting on his knees. He looked at Betram and slowly shook his head. He knew it was his personal responsibility to kill Danier, but leaving Tordania and traveling to do it wasn’t something he was currently prepared to do.
Betram continued to offer his hopeful smile, clasping his hands before his chest. “Please, King Keiran, the Quitam are going to make all the other tribes suffer. My own may even face annihilation for the direction we’ve led the country since taking power.”
“And if I kill Danier, will that be the end of it? Or will another just step into his place? Do you have any idea how many others he’s infected with vampirism?” Keiran asked, brow furrowed.
“I have no way of knowing that, but killing him is the best place to start. The Quitam didn’t have the resolve to revolt on their own, they needed him to pull it together. Without him, I have no reason to believe the other tribes can’t push them back into the desert. Besides, with Danier in power, all trade with the Sador Empire will end. He may continue to bring in grain from Ibia, but our deal of coal for iron will be eradicated.”
Keiran pulled himself back up and started to pace before his seat. “We nee
d that iron, Betram. As for the coal…you know as well as I do that Danier will absolutely try to take it from us again.”
“He will, yes,” the old man replied.
“Damn it! Danier coming at us from the south, when I’ve been desperate for a way to push into the north to go after Athan? This isn’t a coincidence. My own people are on the verge of an outright famine next year given what happened this winter. This is too damn much! I can’t do this,” Keiran said. He hopped from the dais and started for the door, overwhelmed.
There were concerned looks around the room, everyone plunged into an uncomfortable silence. Jerris looked at the others before turning and jogging after Keiran, catching up with him in the corridor.
He hadn’t gotten far. Keiran was just outside the room facing the wall, leaning forward with his arms folded above his head.
The guard stopped behind him. “Keir?”
He gave a small grunt in reply.
Jerris rolled his eyes and went another step forward, placing his good arm around Keiran’s shoulders. “That wasn’t exactly the reaction I was expecting back there.”
Keiran sighed and turned around to lean his back against the wall. “What were you expecting?”
“You to get mad?” Jerris replied. “For you to decide to go in and do in Danier?”
Keiran shook his head and looked off to the side. “Every step forward I think I’m making, two more things come up to yank me back. Jerris, how can I go and deal with Danier, and deal with the condition of the country, deal with Mother Thinliss, and also deal with Athan? I don’t know what to do! I’m being pulled in all these different directions!”
“But I’ll go with you.”
Keiran fixed his gaze back onto the redhead, quirking a brow. “After all we went through dealing with Danier last time?”
Jerris gave a nod, dropping his gaze to the floor. “I would go in there with you, find Danier, and help you end him once and for all. You may have made him, but I didn’t stop him, either. I was there, too. It would take us a few weeks at best.”
Keiran continued to stare at Jerris in silence.
The guard finally brought his gaze up to meet Keiran’s. “We will put this to bed once and for all. I’ve already killed one Sadori vampire, and that was with only Garhan’s help. Do you have any idea what the two of us together could do?”
The vampire took a deep breath, still not giving any verbal reply, unmoving.
Jerris shook his head and motioned with his hand. “We need to practice if we’re going to take out Athan. I fucked up and was disloyal once. I won’t do it again.”
The corner of Keiran’s mouth quirked upward.
The guard turned away and ran his hands through his hair. “Baden told me I was misplacing my anger at Athan onto you.”
“Wait, Baden?” Keiran straightened up from the wall, narrowing his eyes.
“Aye,” Jerris replied, turning around again. “Apparently, he and I are friends now. I think we are. Maybe not, but regardless, he seems to like coming to visit me in lieu of talking to you. As you had hoped, he has rebelled against his father. He did bring the hand for Thana, and the note with the rock for you.”
“I felt him here a few times after I was injured, but I never saw him.” Keiran replied.
“He’s scared of you, Keir.” Jerris snorted and shook his head. “I don’t really know why, but he is. Maybe he’s just intimidated. Either way, he’s on our side, and he’s willing to throw in with us to take out his father when the time comes.”
“And you believe him?” Keiran asked.
“Aye.”
“That…that isn’t insignificant…” Keiran gave another faint smile.
“Theryn is willing to throw in with you, too,” Garhan said, standing just outside the throne room doors.
They both looked over at him, Keiran taking a few steps forward.
“She agreed?” he asked his brother.
Garhan nodded, Mari emerging to stand at his side. “She did. I told her all of it. She still didn’t want to believe all of the vampire business was real, but I managed to convince her.”
“He let her run him through with a sword,” Mari clarified.
Keiran’s brows rose, and he glanced back at Jerris, the guard simply shrugging in response.
“Either way, we convinced her that Athan killed her mother, and that he is a great danger to the entire world, including Aleria.” Garhan put his arm around Mari’s shoulders.
Keiran let out a sharp breath, standing up a little straighter. “Well, that is very good news.”
Betram and Etras emerged into the corridor as well, the emperor still trying to keep up his optimistic air, though Keiran’s previous reaction had diminished it a good deal.
Keiran went closer to the old man and looked down at him. “I will help you with Danier. I can’t devote an army to it. I can’t risk more of my men for it than I already lost in the first conflict with the Quitam invasion last year. I will handle it, though. Personally.”
Jerris moved forward to stand next to Keiran. “We will deal with it.”
Betram beamed and picked up Keiran’s hand and touched it to his forehead before turning to Jerris and doing the same with him. “Thank you! Thank you! I will give you something of great help in return! I may have lost my country for now, but I may still have a means of easing some of your other problems!”
The vampire wasn’t exactly sure what Betram could offer under the circumstances, but he wasn’t looking for payback. Keiran looked over at Jerris. “It won’t be right away. Jerris has some healing to do first, and there are things I have to arrange around here, but it will be dealt with. You are more than welcome to stay here for the time being. You will be safe enough and out of Danier’s reach in the meanwhile.”
Betram turned to Etras. “Will you stay with me here?”
The younger Sadori shook his head. “No, I think it best I get back home to my wife. I should still be able to travel in and out of Takrah, and it will give me the ability to try and gather as much information as possible. I think it is the best way for me to be proactive while we wait and preparations are made, yes?”
Betram was disappointed Etras wouldn’t stay, but his plan was for the best. “That would help. If you can find out if the asashis survived and made it home, it would be dearly appreciated.”
“I will do all that I can,” Etras replied. “I will start back for home in the morning. For now, I need to rest. It is very late.”
Keiran nodded and realized everyone needed to get some sleep. Certainly, they were all exhausted after the trip they’d made. He decided to call their meeting to a close, and he quickly had Etras and Betram shown to vacant rooms in the castle.
Mari and Garhan agreed to talk to him more about their meeting with Theryn later before dismissing themselves.
Though Jerris was going to head to his house in town to see Magretha, he was the last to leave Keiran’s side.
The highs and lows of the night had hit Keiran hard, and his head was left pounding. He squinted at Jerris after all the others had retired, though he still managed a lopsided smile.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Jerris said, catching his look and returning a smile of his own. “So…we’re all right, you and I?”
“We always were,” Keiran replied.
Jerris still had his regret to work through, but Keiran’s forgiveness was a massive relief. “We’ll get them. Athan and Danier.”
“Aye, we will, but you have to be able to use both arms before we try. Meanwhile, I’m feeling that there’s somewhere else you want to be for the night,” Keiran said, placing a hand on Jerris’ shoulder.
The guard gave a small nod. “Aye.”
“Go on home. We’ll deal with it tomorrow.” Keiran dropped his hand away and pointed toward the doors to the courtyard. “You know where to find me.”
Jerris gave him a nod and a last smile before heading toward the exit.
“Jerris?”
He looked back over his shoulder.
Keiran laced his hands behind his back. “I still need a King’s Knight. If you’re no longer needed by Emperor Betram now that he’s here, I’d certainly entertain rehiring you.”
Jerris stared down at the floor for a moment before meeting Keiran’s gaze with a grin. “Aye. Fate has me locked in this job until the bitter end, whether I want it or not. That was shown to me clearly enough while I was out there.”
Keiran took a step forward. “…do you want it? If you don’t, Jerris, I won’t force you.”
The guard sighed and looked to the side. “You need me. I’m the only one of us that has any experience killing vampires. Goodnight, Keir. I will see you in the morning.”
* * *
Mother Thinliss sat in the tower as she had when she’d called the meeting with the Church Knights before. Excitement welled up within her. If they were taking the initiative to call her this time, perhaps one of them had seen something worth discussing with her about Keiran.
She heard the men entering behind her, and she smiled, steepling her hands together before her chin. Once she heard the men stop moving, she cleared her throat. “Has everyone arrived?”
“Aye.”
Though she wanted to get up and face them, she knew she needed to follow protocol this time. “What matters have you to discuss?”
“We have serious accusations toward you regarding witchcraft,” Sygian replied.
While she knew the Church Knights were in Keiran’s pocket, to hear them come to her about it was irritating. She feigned anger and slapped her hands onto the arms of her chair. “Witchcraft? And what evidence have you of this?”
Another of the men spoke up. “The king says you have placed a spell onto the queen, causing her to see him as Lord Vercilla.”
Adreth shook her head and gave a hidden smile. “So, that is to say there is no evidence, only an unverifiable claim?”
Sygian crossed his arms over his chest. “The queen’s reactions have been sincere, I have witnessed them myself.”
The King's Knight (Royal Blood Book 5) Page 27
