Knight's End (The Knight Trilogy)

by Montgomery, Jami

  Ernst pulled his ruby hilted dagger from his belt and held it up for her to see. “This won’t go through both of you,” he said. “Your choice, Jade. Save the king there, that’s already given up on life, or save that knight who you’ve been following around.”

  Jade went from terrified to angry, and she felt her cheeks reddening as anger flared through her. “What did you do to him?” she asked, taking her arms from the throne and standing tall again. She took a step toward her brother, but stopped when he turned the dagger on her.

  “He got in my way, Jay. That knight almost captured me in Adion. You’re lucky I didn’t run him through where he stood. I know how much he means to you, so I left him alive,” he answered.

  Jade paled and looked out the door. She hadn’t realized it before, but Aston should have been in there. He wouldn’t have wasted so much time talking to servants; he would have followed her and run in when the clock struck midnight.

  “Ernst, please,” she tried one last time. When her brother didn’t back down, Jade turned to the king sitting silently behind her. “I apologize,” she said quietly, bending down to kiss the king on the cheek. He didn’t react, but she hadn’t really expected him to. The king was already dead on the inside.

  Jade took one last look at her brother before racing from the hall, making her way through the palace, back to where she’d left Aston. She heard the sound of metal piercing flesh, the scream the king let out as his blood was released, but she ignored the sounds.

  The princess felt guilty, leaving the king to die, but she couldn’t let Ernst kill Aston instead. Aston wasn’t ready to give up on life, and it wasn’t her call to decide his fate.

  She found him laid out in the middle of the hall. Jade rushed to the knight, sliding to the ground beside him and pulling his head into her lap. She tried not to notice the blood she was sitting in and instead went to work checking him over. A long wound stretching from his shoulder to his collar bone on his left arm seemed to be the cause of the blood. A bump on his right temple was the reason he was unconscious.

  “Aston? Aston?” she whispered, shaking her knight, fearing the worst. He groaned, but didn’t wake up. Looking around herself, Jade cringed and forced down her want to heave; the hall looked like a war zone. Several of the king’s soldiers had fought, despite their king’s orders not to. The men who had tried to stand up to Ernst were dead; all except for Aston, who he’d kept alive for her.

  Somewhere, deep inside the murderer, her brother still lived.

  **

  Aston woke up confused. His arm and chest hurt, his head was throbbing and he had no idea where he was. As his memories came flooding back, he sprang up in his bed, automatically falling back again as the world tilted sideways.

  “Aston!” he heard a female voice cry.

  Turning his head to the side, he saw that Jade was there. Taking a closer look, he realized two things: he was back in the inn, and Jade had been crying. “What happened?” he asked, frowning at his voice. Had it always been so deep and crackly? Jade helped him sit up and handed him a glass of water, which he drank greedily. “What happened?” he tried again, pleased when his voice came out fairly normal.

  “You fought the Rogue,” Jade explained.

  Aston nodded; that part he remembered. He remembered seeing a masked man walking down the hall and thinking that definitely counted as suspicious. He remembered drawing his sword and charging the man, remembered the Rogue crouching low, grabbing his dagger, and pulling it across his chest. “How did I get here? What happened to King Roland?”

  Jade looked away, standing and going to the window. She pulled the curtains aside and looked down at the street below. “A few soldiers from the palace helped me bring you here. The king is dead,” she answered, keeping her eyes averted.

  “He was so fast, Jade.” Jade turned, meeting his eyes. “I’ve never fought anyone who moved like that. He was under me with his blade in me before I even had time to bring my sword up.” The knight turned away, staring at a spot on the wall.

  Jade sighed and let the curtains fall back over the window, casting the room in shadow. She walked to the bed and sat down beside Aston, careful not to jar him. “He’s a practiced murderer, Aston. How many palaces do you think he’s snuck into? How many guards do you think he’s killed?” Jade asked, and Aston knew she was trying to make him feel better.

  “Why did he leave me alive?” Aston asked. Jade met his gaze, but said nothing. “All those other soldiers, in the hall with me. He killed them without a second glance. But me…he left me alive.”

  “Maybe he thought your wound would kill you,” Jade offered, but Aston shook his head.

  “He would have known better. Something made him spare me. We need to find where he’s going next.” At Aston’s words, something crashed through the window, causing him to throw his arms around Jade and shield her with his body. He cursed; how could he have gotten Jade into a life so dangerous?

  When nothing else happened, he slowly moved, allowing Jade to sit up again. She looked at the floor beside them and bent down, picking a brick up off the floor. A thick piece of paper was connected to it by a thick rope. Aston took the brick from Jade and tore the rope off before quickly unfolding the thick parchment.

  Your prince is next, Aston of Fridel.

  One single line, but it told Aston everything he needed to know.

  **

  Talbot sulked the entire ride home. The king had been murdered, he hadn’t seen Aston, and Ernst was nowhere to be found. He blamed the men behind him for missing the fight. Half of his army had gone in to fight off the Rogue, leaving Talbot outside with the other half. He’d tried to go in, but the men had restrained him, saying the murderer would kill him as soon as he met him.

  The half of his army that had disappeared inside the palace had never come out. They’d been slaughtered, and Talbot was almost grateful they hadn’t let him inside. Almost. He was still angry enough at having missed Aston that he wasn’t ready to forgive anyone just yet.

  “Ok, we can rest here for a minute,” Talbot announced, guiding Red off the dirt road and into the shade of the trees. His horse seemed grateful for the reprieve from the heat; the prince was happy to get out of the sun as well.

  He watched what was left of his army gather under the shade, feeling restless. He’d brought his father’s best knights with him and The Rogue Royal hadn’t even been bothered by them. He had been thinking a lot about what Ernst had told him, and he feared the prince might be right. What if the Rogue did come after him? Talbot wasn’t the fairest prince, especially with what he’d done to Aston.

  He’d ruined a knight’s life just to keep himself from a scolding and a slap on the writst.

  Talbot cursed under his breath; he was a perfect target for the Rogue. “Ok, men, enough rest! Time to get going. We can rest once the sun goes down. For now, we push toward Fridel!” His terror reigning foremost in his mind, Talbot intended to push his men as far as he could that day. He knew he wouldn’t feel safe again until he was back in the palace.

  He wasn’t even sure he would feel safe then.

  **

  “You can’t go back to Fridel, Aston! It’s a suicide mission!” Jade said, scrambling around the room after him. She’d been trying to get him to go back to bed since he’d read the note, but he was determined to leave.

  “I can’t let Talbot die, either, now can I?” Aston asked, grimacing. His wound hurt more when he was moving then he’d expected it to.

  “Why not?” Jade asked, throwing her arms in the air. Aston turned to look at her. “Talbot is the reason you’re here, Aston, bleeding and hurting.”

  “No, Jade, the Rogue is the reason I’m bleeding and hurting. Not only because he hurt me,” he added when he saw Jade open her mouth to speak, “but because if he hadn’t been killing people, I wouldn’t have had a reason to be with Talbot in Adion that night.”

  Jade shut her mouth, as if realizing he was right. Instead, she focused her
energy on helping him pack. “He didn’t set a date, Aston. That means he isn’t going after him right away.” Aston looked over at her, his expression hard. “He always sets a date. Relax, gain your strength back, and then we will go to Fridel. Together,” she said.

  Aston studied the princess a moment longer, wondering if she was just trying to stall him. He realized she was right, of course. The Rogue always said exactly when he would kill his target. The note he’d received, however, only told him that Talbot would be targeted, not when.

  With a sigh, Aston sat on the bed, carefully laying himself down. He hissed in pain as his shoulder moved and Jade was at his side in an instant, lowering him onto the mattress. He smiled up at her, trying to remove her frown. He didn’t want her worrying about him.

  “I’m fine, Jade,” he said.

  She shook her head at him. “You always say that,” she replied. Aston looked at her, expecting her to say more. “You told Richie you were fine when he found you in the clearing. You tell Delgrab and Alys not to worry about you. And now, when you’re hurt, you’re telling me you’re okay?” Jade didn’t mean for the last part to come out as a question but it did.

  “I am okay. I’m hurt, yes, but I’m alive. Wounds heal, Jade. Only lost lives can’t be restored.” Jade nodded and turned away. “Why do you care so much, anyway? I’m just your bodyguard,” Aston said.

  Jade sniffed and he realized she was crying. “I don’t understand this, Aston, but you are more to me than that. When I first found you, in the woods, you looked so strong and proud. When I learned your story, I didn’t understand how anyone could still be so calm. I would have been jumping off a bridge or riding my horse through a battle. I didn’t understand how you kept it all together and managed to put up with me at the same time.”

  “Jade,” Aston began, but she stopped him.

  “I can’t explain it, can’t tell you why, but I don’t want you to go after the Rogue. Find another way to prove you’re innocent. Use me, if you have to, but don’t go after him.”

  “Use you? Use you how?” Aston asked, struggling to sit up again.

  Jade helped him before she answered. “I’m the woman who screamed, Aston. I’m the one Talbot rushed in to save, the one who allowed the Rogue to get away from you.”

  Aston’s eyes widened. He hadn’t thought about that. “You could prove I wasn’t the one checking on the woman,” he said. Jade nodded. “You know Talbot came into your room. You never saw me there,” he continued. Another nod from the princess. “It still wouldn’t be enough,” he said, slumping.

  “Why not? Is the word of a princess not good enough?”

  “Word will get around that you are traveling with me, Jade. They’ll think I forced you to say those things to save your own life. They’ll think I threatened you,” he said somberly.

  “That’s not right! How can people be so cruel and unforgiving!” Jade exclaimed, standing.

  Aston only shrugged in answer, staring at the curtains covering the windows. A cool breeze drifted in through the shattered glass, making Aston shiver even though he was covered in a thick wool blanket. “I still need him, Jade. I don’t know that he will help me get my old life back, but I’ll feel better knowing that the man who ruined it has suffered the same fate as I have.”

  “What fate, Aston?” Jade asked. “Once he’s turned in, he’ll be hanged,” she said, her voice cracking on the last word. She didn’t want to think of her brother that way.

  “And so will I,” Aston replied quietly. “I’ll turn him in. I’ll be praised for catching him, but it won’t be enough for King Donn to drop his sentence. I’ll hang with him.”

  “No. No! I won’t let that happen,” Jade said. She returned to her spot next to the knight, putting an arm across his shoulders and gently pulling him to her. She took his chin in one hand and forced him to look at her. She almost lost her train of thought as emerald met the ocean, but she pulled herself together. “Why don’t you both live?” she asked.

  Aston tried to shake his head, but seeing as his chin was captive, the move was futile. Instead, he said, “It’s against my code to let a murderer walk free, Jade. A knight’s honor doesn’t allow it.”

  “Not even as a personal favor? For a princess?”

  “No, Jade, not even for that,” Aston sighed, closing his eyes.

  He opened them again when he felt a pair of soft lips against his own. Jade’s eyes were closed, her hand still resting lightly on his chin. The other arm had moved from his shoulder and was searching the bed beside them. He took her hand, instinctively knowing that was what she desired, and closed his eyes, letting himself fall into this one kiss. After this, he’d have to keep his distance from the princess, but he would allow himself what he wanted this one time.

  The knight pushed against her lips, returning the kiss she gave him. He didn’t push it any farther than simply lips touching; he didn’t need to get himself in any deeper with the Princess of Adion than he already had. Aston pulled away shortly after the thought entered his head, watching as Jade’s eyes slowly opened.

  “There’s no harm in trying, right?” she asked. Jade stood and left the room, saying something about finding ice for his wound. Aston found himself wondering if she was talking about the favor she’d asked, or the kiss.

  Had she kissed him to see if he’d bend?

  “To love means loving the unlovable.

  To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.”

  - G. K. Chesterton -

  Fifteen

  Jacob slowed his horse to a walk as the gates of Fridel came into view. He’d heard from a servant that Aston Smith was sent to look for Jade. He thought the King of Fridel might be able to tell him where Aston went.

  As soon as he identified himself to the guards, Jacob’s horse was taken to the stables to be rested. He was sent to the palace and directed to the throne room. As he walked the halls, he caught people sending him sideways glances, but no one talked to him.

  King Donn was seated on his throne when Jacob entered the room. He walked briskly down the red carpet, stopping in front of the middle throne and going down on one knee. He bowed his head and waited for King Donn to acknowledge him.

  “Marquess Jacob. Welcome to my home,” King Donn said. Jacob stood and nodded in thanks.

  “I am here on orders from King Aric. I was told you sent Aston Smith to search for Jade du Halen,” he lied. King Donn’s eyes widened.

  “Where did that information come from?” he asked Jacob, his voice frantic.

  “From King Aric. He sent you a letter,” Jacob said, his brow furrowing in confusion. Did King Donn not send Aston, after all?

  “Aston Smith is a traitor to Fridel. He was present in Adion the night your father was killed,” King Donn said coldly.

  “He was there?” Jacob murmured. The king nodded. “Why would King Aric send for him?”

  “Aric likely doesn’t know that Aston betrayed us that night. You should return to Adion. Send Aric word that he won’t find his daughter, or Aston Smith, here.”

  Jacob nodded before turning and leaving the throne room. Aston Smith, a traitor? Surely King Aric would not send a traitor to find his daughter? He would send a man he trusted.

  King Donn must be wrong about Aston, Jacob thought, returning to the stables. He ordered the stable hand to prepare his horse before mounting and riding from the stables. He wasn’t sure where he was going. A small voice behind him stopped him.

  “Wait! Wait, sir, wait!” Jacob turned around and frowned at the small redheaded child running towards him.

  “What do you want, boy? Identify yourself,” he spat. The boy flinched, but didn’t back down.

  “My name is Richard. I’m a maid,” he answered. Jacob laughed.

  “A boy maid? Next thing you know, Fridel will have woman stable hands,” he joked.

  “Aston Smith isn’t a traitor. King Donn is wrong,”
Richie responded, and Jacob immediately stopped laughing.

  “Continue, boy. Tell me what you know.”

  “Talbot and Aston were in Adion when your father was killed, but Aston tried to catch The Rogue while Talbot stayed behind with the princess. If anyone should be called a traitor, it should be Talbot. King Donn won’t listen to anyone, though. He believes his son is innocent.” Richie looked at his feet, frowning.

  “So, Aston is innocent. I thought as much.” Jacob took a silver coin from his pocket and flipped it into the air. Richie caught the coin in both hands and looked at it, his eyes shining. He looked up at Jacob questioningly.

  “For your information, boy. Everyone deserves payment of some sort,” Jacob answered. He dug his heels into his steed’s sides and the horse raced off, leaving Richie in the dust.

  “They’re in Northsbury!” Richie called. Jacob waved a hand to let Richie know he had heard him. He turned left out the gate, finally having a destination.

  **

  “This is frustrating,” Aston told Jade. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, reading a book she’d picked up from the local bookshop. She looked at Aston when he spoke, pointing at the line she’d been reading so she wouldn’t lose her place.

  “Are you hurting?” she asked him, frowning.

  Aston shook his head. “Not really. I’m pretty numb. I just hate sitting here,” he replied.

  “You’re used to constant travel, no rest. This will be good for you,” Jade told him. When he didn’t reply, she turned back to her book. Aston sat up and moved forwards, bringing his legs out from under the covers and sliding to the end of the bed. He looked over Jade’s shoulder, reading with her as she moved her finger along the page.

  “He was a brave man, always fighting. She wanted to tame him. She wanted to take him into her arms and make him feel like he was home,” he read aloud.