Protector (Little Death Bringer, #2)

by Banks, Catherine

  “I do not know what to say,” I whispered, “I am greatly honored.”

  She nickered happily and stood up. “It is time to return you to the castle so that you can get ready for the ball.”

  I put the bracelets inside my coin pouch which was attached to my belt and hopped up onto her back. “I will never forget what you have done for me today.”

  “You’re welcome.” She replied and then took to the sky. My heart beat faster as I went over the plan in my head again. I had everything set up and I was ready to begin my journey.

  Silvermist dropped me off at the back side of the castle and then flew off to rejoin her herd. I rushed into the castle and up the stairs to my room, blowing passed Sebastian and Favian and ignoring their calls as I shut and locked my door. I had two hours to get ready, but I needed all of that time. I rushed through a sponge bath, brushed out my hair and then picked the most beautiful dress I had and laid it on the bed. Two hours was normally a long time, but tonight it seemed like a short amount as I worked on my hair and face and prepared myself to look my most beautiful.

  I double checked that the clothes I would change into were laid out on the bed and that everything else was packed and then took my money pouch with the bracelets as I walked down the staircase towards the ballroom. Mother was waiting for me at the bottom and her eyes sparkled and a smile split her face as soon as she saw me. “We were worried that you had run off when you were away all day.”

  “I wouldn’t miss an Elven Ball,” I said with a smile as I kissed her cheek.

  “You look beautiful,” she whispered, “I love that dress.”

  I curtsied to her and then we walked with linked arms to the doors of the ballroom. “After we eat, I would like to gather you, Father, Kato and the Princes together for a private family moment, if that would be alright?”

  “Of course,” she said happily.

  She stepped into the ballroom and I waited as she was announced and the applause died down. I smoothed down my dress and took a deep, calming breath before stepping into the ballroom with a wide smile on my face, trying my hardest to imitate Mother.

  The crowd clapped as I walked inside and headed to the head table where the royal family ate. Favian looked at me in shock and Sebastian had a pleasant smile on his face as I sat down beside Mother on the other side of Father from them.

  Father raised his hands and everyone sat down at their tables. “I am pleased to announce the return of our stolen prince, Sebastian!” Some of the crowd who had just arrived gasped in shock while the rest clapped happily. “Let us eat and celebrate this joyous occasion.”

  We ate our food and as soon as I was done I made my way to the other tables, making pleasant conversation with everyone I knew. When I made it to Alex he whispered, “Fire is ready,” and then turned away from me. I hoped he was not mad at me for asking him to help me sneak away, but I did not have the time to stop and ask him.

  I whispered thank you back and continued around the room, playing host as Mother had always asked me to. The dinner finished and the dancing began with the Princes having to dance with every single female elf present. I walked to Kato who was talking with some of the soldiers and curtsied. “Good evenin’, Kato.”

  He smiled at me and bowed. “Good evening, Marin. What brings you to my side this evening?”

  “I was hoping you would honor me with a dance?” I asked sweetly.

  “You promise not to step on my toes?” he asked.

  I laughed. “I promise to try.”

  He picked my hand up and twirled me around before leading me to the dance floor. “You were missed today,” he whispered as he led me through a slow dance despite the fast tempo of the music playing.

  “I was with Queen Silvermist,” I whispered back.

  He pulled back and stared at me in shock. “Please tell me that you did not go find the Pegasus herd.”

  “I did not,” I said with a smile. “I never set foot in their territory.”

  He exhaled and spun me around in a small circle. “You had me worried.”

  “Would you meet me at the head of the room in ten minutes? I would like to gather the entire family for a moment,” I said.

  He nodded his head and then bowed to me, kissing the back of my hand as the song ended. “I would be delighted.”

  I curtsied to him and then kissed his cheek. “Thank you for the dance.”

  I was preparing to move off of the floor, but was swept back onto it by Father. “So you will dance with Kato, but not your own Father?” he asked, feigning hurt.

  “I would save my Father’s toes from pain,” I said with a smile as he led me around the room.

  He grimaced as I stepped on his toes and then smiled. “A few hurt toes are nothing compared to the joy of dancing with you.”

  I relaxed in his presence and over the next ten minutes danced with Father, Favian and Sebastian before I finally had them all gathered at the front of the room. My throat was dry, but I ignored it to get this moment over with. “I gathered you all here to give you presents,” I said with a sweet smile.

  “Presents?” Favian asked in shock, “What for?”

  I pulled out the bracelets and handed the shelled bracelets to Mother, Father and Kato and then two of the three braided Pegasus hair bracelets to Favian and Sebastian. “I was with Silvermist today and she helped me make this and spelled them for me. These are so that we can always communicate to each other, no matter the distance. That way, if one of us were to be stolen we could find each other,” I explained as I slipped my own bracelet on.

  “They’re beautiful,” Mother said happily, “Thank you.”

  I curtsied to her and then grabbed Alex’s hand as he tried to sneak passed us and pulled him out on to the dance floor. His shock was obvious, but then it was quickly replaced with happiness as he danced with me. Although I did enjoy dancing with him the true reason I had grabbed him was to allow me to move away from the family and to the side of the room where I could make my escape. I kissed Alex’s cheek and thanked him again.

  “Anytime, Marin,” he whispered before heading off towards his friends.

  The family was still talking together as I inched towards the back door and then squeezed out of it. I ran to my room and changed as quickly as possible, leaving my dress on the bed with the note I’d written the previous day explaining that I had to set out on my own to find my true father.

  I grabbed my bag and climbed out of my window and down the rope I had secured to my bed. The night air bit into my skin, through my cloak as I made my way around the castle and to the stables. Fire nickered a greeting to me as I walked inside and opened her stall. “Hey pretty girl. Ready for a trip?”

  She bobbed her head as she followed me out of the stable and I was extremely grateful that Alex had her saddled for me. I swung up onto her back and clucked my tongue to urge her forward. She moved into an easy canter and we headed away from the castle and out the front gates. I let Fire decide the pace and relaxed as we headed down the familiar path. I wasn’t sure where I needed to go to begin my search for my Father, but I decided to start at the town my human parents had come from.

  As Fire slowed to a walk I pulled my bracelet out and looked at its glowing beauty. I was hesitant to put it on because as soon as I did the others would be able to communicate with me and I wanted to be far enough away that I wouldn’t have to worry about Favian or Sebastian catching up to me.

  The stars twinkled above and the moon cast enough light for me to see down the road as I continued on my first solo mission. Despite the nervousness that thrummed through my body I also felt excited. I was on my own for the first time and I was searching for my father’s identity. I had no idea what I would find and yet the possibilities were narrowing down. I hoped I could find a mercenary job in the next couple of days. I needed to increase the number of missions I’d completed so that I could reach my goal of becoming a Protector sooner rather than later.

  As night turned into day I dism
ounted from Fire’s back and made camp. I needed to sleep for at least a few hours before continuing or I would become reckless and could get in to trouble. I didn’t bother making a true camp, just threw out my bedroll and took off Fire’s bridle, leaving her saddle on in case I had to leave quickly. She stood beside me and dozed as I lay down and fell asleep.

  Chapter Seven

  I slept in a little later than usual before starting off again, but as I made my way down the forest road I heard another rider approaching quickly. I stopped Fire and prepared myself in case I needed to protect myself, but once I was able to see the rider a smile split my face.

  “Micah!” I called happily.

  He stopped his horse just in front of mine and smiled back. “Marin. I was on my way to the Elven Kingdom to find you and Favian.”

  “What’s up?” I asked him.

  “I was sent to give you two a mission.”

  Magic to my ears! “Really? What type of mission?”

  “Where’s Favian?” he asked instead of answering my questions.

  “He’s back at the kingdom dealing with Prince duties. Now, about this mission…” I prompted.

  He frowned. “You and Favian always do your missions together.”

  “I need to do a mission, please,” I pleaded with him, “I can’t wait for Favian to be available. I am just as capable without him as I am with him.”

  Micah didn’t look like he believed me. “I am sure you and I can handle it by ourselves. We don’t need Favian do we?” I asked hopefully. I really wanted to spend this time away from them all.

  Micah looked at me suspiciously a moment and then laughed. “Alright, I was supposed to head back to Macon, but I’ll go with you instead. He won’t mind if I’m a couple of days late.”

  My face stretched as far as it could as I smiled at him. “Thank you.”

  “You owe me,” he said with a somewhat serious face.

  I laughed. “Alright, I’ll owe you one.”

  He turned his horse around and we headed back the way he had come. “So, how have you been?”

  I shrugged. “Good. I did a couple missions with Favian and then we were summoned home. Then I discovered that he has a twin brother and that brother was found and now he is being transitioned into the family and the Elven way of life.”

  “Wait, he wasn’t with the elves before?” Micah asked.

  I shook my head. “Apparently he was kidnapped right after they were born and he was raised by humans.”

  “So you were raised by elves and he was raised by humans?” he asked with a smirk.

  I laughed. “Yeah, it is sort of funny.”

  “Is he nice?”

  I nodded my head and felt a pang of sadness. I shoved the feelings down and said, “He is great, exactly what a prince should be and he looks exactly like Favian.”

  “Really? Like identical twins?” he asked. I nodded my head. “Wow. That must be confusing for you.”

  I shrugged. “I finally figured out how to tell them apart so it’s not so bad now.”

  “I meant emotionally.”

  I turned and looked at him in shock. “What? Why?”

  He laughed. “Come on Marin, it’s obvious that you are in love with Favian.”

  Dammit. How could he have figured it out? “Well it doesn’t matter.”

  “Because he’s the Prince?” he asked. I nodded my head and he sighed. “I am going to pull my nose out of your business now, but I really do not think it is that big of an issue.”

  “So, how far are we going?” I asked to change the subject.

  “Grundio,” he said with a grimace, “It’s not the nicest place. The people are a little rough, but they have good drink and food. It is a day and a half ride.”

  “What information do you have?”

  “The only information we have is that the villagers are being picked off slowly and even though they are a tough lot, they can’t defeat these silent killers, which they claim are ogres.”

  “Silent killers? That doesn’t sound like ogres,” I said skeptically. Ogres were noisy and smelly and preferred to bellow as they chopped off your head.

  “That’s what I said, but one of the villagers swears they saw ogres taking off with one of the villagers.”

  It sounded highly questionable to me. Could it be an ogre working with someone else? I had certainly witnessed that recently. We rode in silence as I absorbed what he had told me and I felt my excitement building as we rode closer and closer to our destination. We had to stop to sleep and let the horses rest for a few hours and as soon as my bed roll was down, I slipped on the bracelet and prepared myself for my family’s thoughts.

  As soon as the bracelet touched my wrist I heard a chorus of “Marin!” in five different voices.

  “I’m on a mission with Micah. I’m safe and I just wanted to let you know.”

  “Where are you? I’ll come meet up with you,” Favian said in an irritated tone.

  “We’ll be fine by ourselves,” I replied testily.

  “Are you sure you can handle it with only a human as your backup?” Sebastian asked.

  Unfortunately I knew he was right to question that, but I didn’t want Favian rushing to my side. I needed to prove that I could do this on my own. I needed to prove myself to become a Protector.

  “I’ll contact you all when I’m finished with the mission.”

  “Stay safe,” Father said.

  “Yes, I need to scold you for leaving a ball early when you are done with your mission,” Mother said in a chastising tone.

  “Love you all,” I said with a laugh.

  “Marin,” Favian said, “Tell me where you’re going.”

  “I’m going on a mission,” I responded and then took the bracelet off. I put the bracelet back in my pocket and sighed.

  “What were you doing?” Micah asked me curiously.

  “I was talking with my family.”

  “You were what?” he asked disbelievingly.

  “The Queen of the Pegasus helped me make items which allow us to communicate telepathically,” I explained.

  “Magic is a magnificent thing,” he said with a smile.

  It was common for humans with no magical abilities to fear magic. Micah on the other hand craved magic and he possessed quite a bit of it. He was always looking for more ways to increase his magic and expand his spell casting knowledge. I laid down to keep his eyes off of me because I knew a spell that would increase his magic exponentially, but it was an Elf-only spell and I couldn’t tell him. He may have been one of the few friends I had while in the Academy, but he wasn’t an Elf and I couldn’t tell him.

  “Let’s try to leave early. I’d like to get there as soon as possible,” I said as I closed my eyes.

  “Agreed.”

  * * *

  As we neared Grundio I felt a twitchiness that I only had when ogres were near. “There are definitely ogres here,” I whispered to Micah as we walked our horses into the town.

  The town, if it could be called that, only had a couple of buildings and those buildings looked in need of desperate repair. All of the townspeople stared at me with stern faces and I gave them blank looks back. They were a hard looking group of people with thick beards and clothes made of animal hides. If I had seen a group of them riding together I would have assumed they were bandits. Could a group of bandits make a town? Was that what this town was?

  Micah led the way to the last building and dismounted his horse. “We’ll speak to the petitioner and try to get as much information from them as we can.”

  I dismounted, tied Fire to the hitching post and looked at the building in front of us. Loud piano music played from inside and I could hear the clanking of glass. “A bar?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “This is where I was instructed to meet the petitioner.” He looked around the town and then said, “There really aren’t that many options anyways.”

  I sighed and untied my cape, draping it across Fire’s saddle. I wanted to have
quick access to my swords and daggers if the men inside decided to try to cop a feel, which often happened to me when I was in a bar.

  Micah smiled, knowing why I was doing it and said, “It might make this trip more interesting if you left the cape on.”

  I made a face at him and stepped up onto the porch of the bar. “Let’s get this over with so I can go out and locate the ogres.”

  “Don’t be so feisty, men take it as a challenge.”

  I sighed. “I will punch you.”

  He laughed and pushed open the door and waved his hand. “Ladies first.”

  I stepped into the bar and all conversation stopped. The patrons in the bar looked even meaner than the ones we had passed by in town and every single one was male. There were approximately ten wooden tables with four chairs each in the bar. A piano sat in the farthest corner with a young boy playing on it, or at least he had been until I’d walked in. There were no decorations and no barmaids.

  I walked passed their staring faces up to the bar counter and leaned my elbows on top of it. “Two mugs of beer,” I said in my stern voice.

  The barkeep continued to stare at me as he wiped down the bar top on the other end, not moving towards the mugs. “You’re a little young,” he said in a gruff voice.

  I whipped my dagger from my belt and stabbed his rag to the bar top faster than he could blink. “I’m older than I look,” I said with a pleasant smile.

  A man in the back of the room laughed and said, “Give her a mug, Tom.”

  I pulled my dagger from the wood and put it back in the sheathe on my belt. The barkeep left his rag where it was and got two mugs from the stack to fill them. Micah sat on a stool next to me and whispered, “You’ve done this before I take it?”

  I shrugged. “Similar type of town, though this one is a bit tougher.” And Favian wasn’t with me this time.

  The man who had spoken walked to us and held out his hand to me. He was tall, well over six and a half feet, with arms as thick as my waist and a face as soft as Favian’s. He was muscled and the scar across his cheek helped him to fit into the town, but I knew he had to have caught hell growing up with that sweet face. “Murdock McCreery,” he said with a smile that no doubt made girls swoon.