“That’s curious, because I say it in my mind all of the time.” Her eyes were sparkling again. “I guess it just happened to slip out.”
“I guess it did,” he answered. His grin broadened and then he added, “My love.”
“Do you truly mean it?” she asked stopping and looking up at him.
His response surprised them both. He leaned toward her upturned mouth and placed his lips upon hers. The softness of her lips pressed against his made him feel lightheaded. It wasn’t like any sensation he’d ever felt before. He drew his lips away from hers and reached out to steady himself against the trunk of a large tree.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her smooth brow wrinkling with concern.
“I’m fine,” he said. “I’m better than fine.”
“Perhaps I was wrong about your strength,” she laughed. “If a tiny creature such as I can knock you off your feet.”
He knew he had to change the subject or he’d have her in his arms again and he might never stop. “How has the rebellion not failed? We made our attempt on the garrison, but someone had betrayed us and I and two dozen others barely escaped the Roman trap.”
“For being its king, you sure have little confidence in your people,” she smiled.
“I have plenty of confidence in the people. What do you mean?” It was his turn to wrinkle his brow.
“The Silurian are like a fire,” she began, chewing on her lower lip as she considered her words. “A small spark, touches off the tender, but as you add wood to those first tender flames, it begins to grow into a roaring blaze. You’ve provided that spark, my love. My father and others like him are those flames, to which the Romans are only adding more fuel.”
The weight of it all suddenly struck him like the force of two fists. He’d believed that he’d failed, but the truth was that he had succeeded far more than he realized. The first thought that trailed along behind that realization was the danger that he was bringing to Arthes and her family.
“I will have to leave, you know,” he whispered.
“I know,” she replied in the same, low tone.
“It won’t be forever,” he said. “I will come back for you.”
“I know that as well.”
“Did you dream that too?” he teased.
“There’s no need for dreams when your desires are standing before you in the flesh.”
He nearly kissed her again, but fought back the urge. “We must return to the shelter and I must prepare to leave.”
“Can you not wait until after breakfast?” she pleaded as he began to hurry her through the woods toward the shelter.
“It has always been one more, one more and one more,” he answered. “That’s why I’ve stayed so long.”
“Do you regret it now?”
“Not a bit,” he answered.
They returned to the shelter. By the time they arrived, he had agreed to stay one more night. With one more tender kiss, he sent her on her way. She had taken only two steps outside the shelter when Owain heard her catch her breath sharply.
“What is it, my love?” he asked, scrambling out to her.
“I thought I saw something or someone in the trees,” she said.
Owain looked toward where she was pointing, but could see nothing. He surged forward and searched the brambles and the thicket. There was nothing there, not even a sign.
“I suppose I’m just seeing things,” she smiled. “I will be here in the morning to prepare you breakfast.”
Chapter Nine
“Marcus!” Lucius snapped. “I want satisfaction. I want this Silurian criminal and I don’t care how I get him. Do you understand me?”
“I do, sir,” Marcus responded sharply.
“Do you realize that on the morrow, it will have been a month since Owain slipped through your trap and escaped?”
“I am aware of that, sir,” Marcus answered.
“And yet, he’s still running free. How do you explain that? Is he a phantom? Is he something that we have conjured up in our minds?”
“He is not, sir,” Marcus answered.
“Yet he is more intelligent and more resourceful than my best officer.” Lucius brought his fist down hard on the top of the stone table. “How do you respond to that?”
“Am I allowed to speak plainly, sir?” Marcus asked.
“Please speak plainly or in any other form you like, I can even stand the most severe insult at this point. Just explain how this criminal has managed to escape discovery with such a heavy price on his head.”
“The people will not talk,” Marcus replied. “We have tortured, killed and offered bribes, but no Silurian will speak his name. They act as though he never existed.”
“Impossible!”
“That is what the men report to me, sir.”
“Then double the reward, triple it, do what you must. There must be one man among these pagans who values gold!”
“As you wish, sir,” Marcus replied.
“What of Takud?” Lucius demanded. “Have you any word of him? Has he too vanished?”
“He proves to be more elusive than Owain, sir,” Marcus responded. “Not a single person has ever heard the name.”
“I’ve heard the name!” Lucius roared. “He must be somewhere. Have you searched the woods on the other side of the channel?”
“We have combed every inch of them, sir,” Marcus replied.
“Do it again! I will not rest until we have this man hanging on a cross in front of the fort in Cardiff. Do you understand me?”
“Grant my request to search for him myself, sir,” Marcus demanded through gritted teeth.
“Marcus, you are to make no demands of me or you will find yourself hanging beside the criminal, if your idiots are ever able to find him!”
“I apologize, sir,” Marcus said, bowing. “I will double the award and see if we can’t loosen some tongues. Is there anything else, sir?”
Lucius was about to answer when the door to his chamber opened slightly and his steward pushed his head through the crack into the chamber. “General Lucius, I hate to interrupt.”
“And yet you have,” Lucius mocked.
“There is someone who would like to speak to you,” the steward continued. His eyes were wide with fear. Interrupting Lucius was not a good career move.
“Can whoever it is wait until I’m finished here?”
“I think you want to see this…” he hesitated a moment as he tried to form the words, when he finally spoke, it came out like a question. “Man?”
“Who is this… man?” Lucius mocked.
“He announced himself as Takud. He is rather strange, sir.”
Lucius suddenly calmed himself. He recalled the previous meeting with Takud, remembering the eerie, creepy, hooded figure. In a quieter voice, he turned to Marcus. “Please stay.”
“Sir?” the steward called out to him, waiting for Lucius’ response.
“Send him in,” Lucius answered.
The door opened and the same hooded figure who had been there before entered. He seemed to float into the room, as though he was not an earthly creature. Lucius wiped his eyes and cleared his head. It had to be an illusion.
“You are very difficult to find,” Lucius said, pushing an authority he did not feel at the moment into his voice.
“Your men have violated our agreement,” Takud countered. “The wood was-sss to be unoccupied, yet your troops-sss have tromped through every inch of it.”
“They were looking for you,” Lucius replied.
“And that makes-sss it a forgivable offense?”
“It does not,” Lucius admitted. “I will order a…”
“I want no restitution,” Takud snapped. “Although I will make my request to leave the wood unoccupied once more, that is-sss not why I’m here.”
“Please, Takud. Tell me why you are here and then we will discuss the reason that the soldiers were searching for you.”
“I know why the soldiers-sss were searc
hing for me,” he replied. The eerie chuckling sound came from inside the faceless hood. “Owain of Silures-sss has-sss eluded them and they have hoped that I would be able to find him for them. Is-sss that what I am to understand?”
“You are correct,” Lucius responded.
“And so, while I am continuing to keep my end of our agreement by searching for and keeping an eye on your quarry, your men violate your end of our agreement.”
Lucius had no response. A long pause ensued before he finally spoke. “Do you know where Owain of Silures is?”
Takud made the chuckling sound again. It sent chills up Lucius’ spine.
“I will give the reward that is offered for his capture to you, if you know where he is. Perhaps that will be sufficient restitution for breaking my end of our agreement.”
“Did I overhear that the reward was-sss to be doubled?” Takud snorted.
“I will triple it for you if in exchange for Owain of Silures, if that is what you want?” Lucius responded.
“I have no use for your gold,” Takud scoffed.
“Name what you want,” Lucius responded.
“I’ve already named my price. I only expect that you abide by it.”
Lucius felt like he was being scolded. It was an uncomfortable feeling to experience, especially in front of his subordinate, Marcus. “I will abide by it.”
“See that you do.” There was no questioning the force behind Takud’s threat.
Lucius bowed his head slightly.
“There is-sss a certain wood to the north and east of Llangennech. Within that wood is-sss a farm and a girl who has-sss been keeping Owain hidden in the abandoned dwelling of a goatherd. I have no doubt that he might still be found there.”
“How do you know that he is still there?”
“Quite easy, really,” Takud chuckled as he turned away from Lucius to leave the chamber. “Our young Owain has-sss fallen in love.”
Lucius and Marcus waited in silence until Takud had left the chamber. They were each shuffling through the eerie feelings that still lingered after his passing.
“Do you know the wood of which he speaks?” Lucius said in a tone that was significantly calmer than it had been before.
“I do, sir,” Marcus replied.
“Dispatch some men there at once. We will soon have our rebel, I should think,” Lucius smiled.
“Yes, sir,” Marcus snapped, turning on his heel to leave the chamber.
Chapter Ten
In a corner with ten Legionnaires closing in on him, Owain’s heart thundered in his chest and his breathing was ragged. He held only his bared blade in his hand and the spirit of the dragon in his heart as he faced their numbers fully armored, fully protected by their shields and their swords at the ready. Behind him was a stone wall that could not be scaled. He was trapped.
“Lay down your weapon!” the commander of the ten ordered. The eyes that glared at him as the order was issued were the same ones that he had looked into as he stared back over the water of the channel and issued his unspoken challenge.
“I will not!” Owain snapped.
“Yield!” the commander cried out again. The Legionnaires held back, retaining their strict discipline, but crouched like wolves and ready to attack their prey.
“I will never yield!” he responded. It was better to die with honor at the edge of a sword than to be put on display for the entire world to see. He braced himself to leap into the midst of them and meet his fate when Arthes suddenly appeared beside him.
“You cannot die, my love. You cannot leave me,” she whispered to him. She looked up at him with her pale blue eyes and pleaded with him. Instantly, the Legionnaires vanished and he was reclined against a large tree by a gurgling stream.
Speechless before her, he relaxed and let the sword drop from his hand.
“Stay,” she whispered.
Her bright pink lips moved toward him. He closed his eyes and anxiously awaited their soft touch.
“You must go!” a commanding voice broke through the tender moment. He recognized the voice instantly and leapt to his feet as Arthes vanished.
Owain opened his eyes and snapped to attention as he sat up on the lumpy mat inside the goatherd’s shack. His heart was hammering out an impossible rhythm and he gasped for breath as he tried to reconcile reality with the dreams he’d been having. He was in the midst of getting his wits about him when Eriu ducked beneath the open end of the lean to and crouched in the cave beside his bed.
“Father?” Though he wasn’t his real father, Eriu was the man who had taken on that role in his life.
“I’ve come to lead you out of here,” the old man said.
“I was going to leave in the morning,” Owain replied.
“The morning will be too late,” Eriu answered. “You must leave now. You have been betrayed.”
“I’ve been betrayed again?” Owain ran his fingers through his black curls. “Who among my people betrays me?”
“Your betrayer is not flesh and blood, my son.”
Owain looked up at him with the question in his eyes but did not speak. His mind raced through the possibilities and tried to come up with an answer, but there was only a question.
“You recall when Arthes had her start yesterday?”
“There was nothing…” He stopped. “She really did see something.”
“She saw a wicked creature from the Dark World. He is called Tukad. It is he who betrayed you before and it is he who has betrayed you now.”
“But why?”
“The Arcadians are stirring toward some purpose, neither I nor those in Eon have guessed what it is.”
“How do I fight against something I do not understand or cannot see?” Owain asked. He clenched his teeth in frustration, trying to hold in his temper.
“You fight what you can see and understand and leave the rest for those who are suited for it,” Eriu replied. “At the moment, you must flee.”
“But Arthes and her family. The Romans will come. They will…” Owain rose up and stood. “I will protect them.”
“You will flee,” Eriu replied sternly. “If you don’t, all hope will die and you along with it.”
“The family has done nothing. They will be destroyed,” Owain replied. “I can’t let that happen.”
“I have made it so her father is away and her mother will be on a visit when they come.”
“But Arthes…”
“Will not be harmed. You must trust me, son,” Eriu. “Leave now.”
“Where shall I go?” Owain asked. “Shall I go home?”
“You cannot go home, son. You already know that.”
“But where?”
“Go deeper into the woods for now, but trust your people. They will protect you.”
Owain struggled to accept what Eriu had told him. Abandoning Arthes went against everything inside of him. He closed his eyes and tried to focus, pushing down the rising panic and the fury inside of him so that his mind would clear, just as his mother had taught him to do. In that instant, more than any other, he missed her. “How is mother?” he asked raising his head and opening his eyes.
Eriu was no longer there. Owain sighed. “Trust me, he says,” Owain muttered.
“Yes, trust me,” Eriu’s voice responded.
Owain knew better than to go and look out and look for him. He wouldn’t be there. That’s what went along with having the sort of father that he had. He also knew better than to go against his advice. That had come from practice. He pushed himself up from his mat, with a sigh. He wished for one more moment, one more, sweet kiss from Arthes before going.
He wished that he could leave a note, but he had nothing for writing. Stepping out from the goatherd’s shack, he looked toward the stars and sighed once more. He would force his feet to carry him away, but his heart would never leave that place. It would never leave Arthes.
His mother had taught him to find the star of promises from the time he was first able to understand. “
When you make a promise to that star,” she had told him. “Your promise will be kept.”
He searched the sky until he found the star and spoke his promise. “I will come back for you, my love, my Arthes.”
Satisfied, he slipped through the brambles and into the deeper wood beyond.
***
A heavy hand knocking upon the door below awakened Arthes in the early morning hours. Instantly, she felt her heart begin to race. People didn’t come knocking on your door in the early morning hours unless something terrible had happened. She sat up in her bed and peered through the rails toward the door as she watched her sleepy mother shuffling to answer the persistent caller.
“What is it?” her mother called out.
“Your sister, Gwenlyn, has fallen gravely ill.” Arthes heard the voice call out from the other side of the door.
“Gwenlyn?” Arthes’ mother clarified.
“Yes,” came the reply. “Please hurry.”
“Won’t you come in for a moment and…” Arthes’ mother opened the door to invite the messenger in, but there was no one there. She muttered as she pulled the door closed behind her. “That’s rather odd.”
Arthes had already slipped out from under her blankets and pushed her feet into the warm, fur-lined slippers.
“Arthes,” her mother called out to her. “You need to get up. My sister is sick and I must leave.”
“I heard, mother,” Arthes called out, as she mounted the ladder to descend from her loft.
Chapter Eleven
Dawn’s light did not have a chance to creep across Arthes bed and wake her as it usually did. As the sun crested the eastern horizon and spread its light, Arthes was finishing up with the milking of cows, the gathering of eggs and the feeding of the animals. Since her father was gone, Ethel, her father’s rotund jenny, was not among those who needed their breakfast, though the tending to her would have taken very little more time than the morning chore had already taken.
Her mother had dressed hurriedly and told Arthes to come along after her after she finished the chores. “I might need you to fetch things for me,” she said. “So, don’t tarry and don’t go wandering off into the woods like you tend to do. How you can spend entire an entire day out there is beyond me. You’d think you had your handsome prince tucked away out there somewhere.”
The Dragon (Sons of Camelot Book 3) Page 4
