Tall, Dark, and Medieval

by Barbara Devlin

  “Nay, my lady, I do not. I believe a few of the servants know, but they are too frightened to speak of it.” Birdie’s voice trembled, and Brynn knew the girl was probably too frightened to listen to it, if it had been told. After all, she believed if she spoke of The Dragon’s parents, she would perish. She couldn’t blame Birdie, because Drake’s reputation was indeed frightening. She decided not to question her further, but to try to find out about Drake on her own.

  “Thank you Birdie, you are dismissed. I don’t believe I’ll be needing you for the rest of the day.” Brynn unbraided her hair, liking the way it felt loose.

  “My lady, a married woman is supposed to wear her hair up or braided, never loose.”

  “I don’t care,” Brynn said, running her fingers through the tangles. “I like it this way.”

  “Aye, but I fear Lord Thorndale will not.”

  “Do not worry what Lord Thorndale will think.” Brynn called him by his new title for the first time. It felt odd, but somehow also comforting. She didn’t understand it at all.

  “But . . . he will be angry, my lady. He will reprimand me for not braiding your hair.”

  Brynn could see Birdie was truly upset by the idea. She lived in fear of the man.

  “Birdie, has he ever hurt you?”

  Her eyes met Brynn’s before she answered. “Well, no, my lady.”

  “Then perhaps his growl is worse than his claws.”

  “Aye, my lady.” The girl’s eyes were downcast, and it was clear she didn’t agree with Brynn.

  “You are dismissed.”

  “Thank you, my lady.” She threw the hairbrush down on the bed and ran from the room.

  Brynn turned back toward the fire, wondering what secrets Drake held in his past. She had to find out, but she’d never get information from any of his servants. They feared him too much to even speak of him behind his back. Even Birdie, who couldn’t keep a secret, wasn’t going to give Brynn the information she needed.

  She reached into the fire and held up a glowing ember. Its orange cast warmed her hand and gave her the strength she needed to try to accomplish her task.

  “I wish to know where Drake is headed,” she said, looking into the ember. Scrying was an ability her mother had used often, but of which Brynn had little experience. It still didn’t work for Brynn as it had for her mother. She saw nothing but the glowing wood in her hand. She put back the ember, unburned as always. She looked at her father’s torn banner and knew it was her duty to find out all there was to know about the man who was responsible for so many deaths. Why did he come to find her? Why did they call him The Dragon’s Son? She had many questions and it was time they were answered. But first she had to find Drake.

  She brushed off her hands and headed outside. She would borrow a horse and look for him herself. She would have taken her own horse or that of her father’s, but they were stolen by the Klarens when they attacked. She made her way to the stables where she ordered a stable boy to saddle up a horse. Drake had left and she’d be free to go where she pleased now.

  “Lady Brynn? Where are you going?” Asad walked up with Calais at his side. Not at all what she wanted to see. She had the sinking feeling that Asad would be the one to stop her.

  “Out for a ride,” she said with a smile.

  “By yourself?” He studied her intently. A woman was supposed to have an escort. It wasn’t safe to go out alone and she knew Asad was probably under instruction from Drake not to let her leave.

  “Oh, that’s right,” she laughed, looking out to the courtyard wondering what she was going to say. “I did see Drake leaving earlier, however I know the woods like the back of my hand. I’m only going out to collect some herbs. So I’ll be fine alone.”

  “I’d be happy to escort her,” Calais told Asad. “After all, if I’m to be the lord’s squire soon, I should start protecting his lady.” He smiled, and Brynn sickened when she saw his rotting teeth.

  “I’m still his squire,” said Asad. “I’ll escort her wherever she needs to go.”

  Brynn knew she’d never be able to leave the castle’s walls now. If only she’d been a little earlier.

  “I think I’ll stay after all. I wouldn’t want to upset Drake if I go riding without him.”

  Asad looked at her suspiciously and she wondered if her lie was that obvious. Yet, she couldn’t very well follow Drake with them along. She’d have to find another way. She needed to find out where he went so she could find out more about him.

  “Where is my lord husband off to this day?” she asked with the reverence of a doting wife.

  “He didn’t say,” answered Asad. “But he did say he may not be back for awhile.”

  “Oh?” she prodded. “Then mayhap he’s traveling far? On a mission from the king perhaps?”

  “I don’t think so,” said Asad. “If that was so, he’d have taken me along. I do believe he’s gone up to the cliffs again. He tends to spend time there when things are bothering him.”

  That’s all Brynn needed to hear. Now she just needed to find another way to leave without Asad noticing.

  “I do believe I’ll wander out to the orchards,” she said nonchalantly.

  “Hungry?” Calais asked with a grin.

  “Disgusted,” she answered, directing her comment to Calais. “The stench of these stables seems to have gotten quite strong all of a sudden.”

  * * *

  Drake stopped his horse when he’d gotten to the top of the steep crag. The cave was just up ahead. He could see its open mouth waiting for him in the distance. Gollimer didn’t like being so close to the cave and showed his displeasure with a snort and a stamp of the foot and a tug of the reins.

  “Then stay here,” said Drake tying him to a tree. “I never asked you to like it.”

  He made his way to the cave opening, gripping the hilt of his sword for reassurance. He’d always come here to find solace, though there was an air of danger about the place. He never understood it, but knew this was somewhere he had to be.

  He glanced over his shoulder, searching the cliffs for anyone who may have followed him. This place was secret and he couldn’t risk that one of his enemies may find it. He looked at Thorndale Castle far in the distance, wondering if Brynn was awake yet. A dark cloud seemed to be hanging over the castle and he felt as if he were the cause of it somehow.

  He slipped inside, sword at the ready, making his way past the stone gargoyles that guarded the entranceway. His father had put them there long ago. This cave had been a favorite place of Aurelius Pendragon. That should have been enough to make Drake want to stay away, but it wasn’t. This place was his mother’s favorite as well, and that would override any of the evil his father had done.

  It was cold and dark inside, and Drake wished he’d thought to bring a torch. He remembered the bathing pond inside, fed by a hot spring. His mother had always gone there when things bothered her. She’d talk to ghosts or the dead or something of the sort, saying she could see them in the water. Drake never once questioned it. He’d been seeing her do it since he was a young boy, and it seemed natural to him.

  That’s why he’d decided to place her ashes here. Ever since the day he scooped them up into her favorite chalice. Then he’d placed them on a rocky ledge above the bathing pool. He’d been coming to this secret place for years, talking to his mother’s ashes the way she had talked to the dead.

  He could hear the dripping of the water down the cave walls, and the splashing into the pool up ahead. When he rounded a rock he was even more surprised to see two torches burning brightly, stuck into cracks of the wall, lighting up the body of water.

  “Who’s here?” he asked, listening to his voice bounce off the cave walls. “Show yourself before I strike you down.”

  No one answered, but someone had been there or the torches wouldn’t be lit. He ran to his mother’s urn and found it still in place in the alcove where he had placed it. The sealing of wax was still around the lid, and he knew she had not been
disturbed. But he was disturbed. Deeply. Whoever had been there was sure to come back. And when they did, he’d greet them with the end of his sword. He sat down by the pool and waited.

  THE DRAGON AND THE DREAMWALKER

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Brynn lifted the flap on the back of the merchant’s cart and peered out. She was safely outside the walls of Thorndale Castle. Her plan had worked. She’d waited under the merchant’s tarp, and when he was let through the castle gates she left with him. The man was nearly deaf and didn’t even notice when Brynn slipped out and lowered herself to the ground. She’d changed out of her gown earlier and wore a simple peasant’s gown and worn leather boots that she found in the small room off the kitchen. She was sure some randy kitchen maid would be terrified to find her clothing gone once she finished her tryst with whatever peasant boy or knight she was bedding.

  Brynn’s own clothing was left in its place, but hers were the clothes of a noble. If a kitchen maid even dared to try on a gown of fine silk and brocade, she’d be accused of stealing it and hanged after a trial. That’s why Brynn left the coins next to her clothes. She was sure the owner of her new clothes would be able to buy something to wear from a visiting merchant to cover her body.

  Brynn lowered herself to the ground, nodding her head in thanks to the merchant, who never even saw her. She then started on her trek up the mountain, wondering if she’d find Drake before sunset. She had to make certain he didn’t see her. After all, she was here to watch him in secret, and learn about the man she’d been forced to marry. It wouldn’t do at all if he knew she were coming.

  * * *

  Drake stared down into the water, calm for some odd reason. For the first time in his life he’d understood why his mother came here for solace. He felt her presence here, and it was comforting. The water called out to him in the whispers of the cave, and he found himself leaning forward to look into the pond. The firelight glowed off the surface, and he thought of Brynn - the woman of fire.

  Then he saw her. Her vision appeared in the water. Suddenly, he realized his mother truly had been able to see people in the pool. All those years of his just accepting her actions without knowing why, were answered. Drake saw his first vision in the water. A vision he wasn’t sure he himself hadn’t created from his constant thoughts of Brynn. She was dressed in peasant’s clothes, climbing the mountain by foot. If he wasn’t mistaken, she was headed right for the secret cave.

  “What in the devil’s name is she doing?” he asked aloud.

  “Looking for the dragon,” came a wiry, little old voice.

  Drake jumped to his feet and extended his sword. The tip rested below the chin of a little old man. Drake recognized him. He was the addlepated man who used to roam from castle to castle spouting nonsense poems about how to kill a dragon. He never made any sense and the nobles only kept him around for mere amusement. He proved to be more entertaining than the jester at times. Drake hadn’t seen him since that awful night his mother perished.

  “You, old man. I thought you were dead.”

  “Ah, are any of us really alive? We walk the earth, dead, waiting - waiting for the dragon to consume us. Only when we’ve perished do we know what life really is. Oh, so late, so late but yet much too soon.”

  Drake lowered his sword, knowing the man was not a threat. He was a hermit, and probably lived up in these hills somewhere. Drake knew he would never tell anyone of the cave’s whereabouts. Even if he had, no one would believe him.

  “Are you the one who lit these torches? What were you doing in here? I don’t want you so close to my mother’s remains.”

  The old man looked into the water and Drake saw that the vision of Brynn was still there.

  “She comes to find the dragon.”

  “I don’t think so. She’s coming to find me.”

  “She looks for you, but does not see. You look, but do not see either.”

  “You make no sense old man. Now leave. I don’t want you in this cave again. Do you hear me?”

  “Do you hear?” he asked, and he cocked an ear upward. The silence between them was thick. Something told Drake to be quiet and listen. His mind played tricks on him. He thought he heard his mother’s voice calling out his name. Then he thought he heard the voice of his father. He saw a movement in the pool of water and when he turned his head he saw his father’s face reflected there.

  Drake jerked backwards, taken by surprise. Dark eyes stared up at him. The eyes of his father. He smiled at Drake and Drake felt the rage within him grow. He took a stone and flung it into the water, shattering the illusion.

  “I hate you!” Drake roared. “I hate you for what you’ve done.”

  “You feed the dragon and he grows. You kill the dragon and he lives forever by your hand.”

  “Get out of here, you crazy man! Let me be.”

  Drake buried his face in his hands, hearing the thunder booming outside the mouth of the cave. When he removed his hands from his eyes the old man was gone. From the corner of his eye he saw movement in the shadows of the cave. He knew who it was. Brynn was there watching him from the shadows. How had she gotten out of the castle walls when he’d told Asad not to let her leave?

  He was about to confront her, but instead, had a better idea. If she was there to watch him, then he’d give her something to see.

  Brynn peeked out from behind a rock and couldn’t believe what she saw. Drake stood next to a pool of water, removing first his gauntlets, then his cape, sword, and belt, followed by his surcoat. He placed them on a rock and continued, removing his boots next. When he reached for his tunic and pulled it off over his head, she ducked back into the shadows.

  What was he doing? He was undressing in a cave? He obviously meant to bathe in the pool and she was trapped there while he did. If she ran out now, he’d see her. It was only because he had his face in his hands when she’d entered that he hadn’t seen her approach. She was beginning to think that to eavesdrop on her husband wasn’t such a good idea after all. She should have just come out and ask him anything she wanted to know. But then again, she knew he would never give her the answers she sought.

  Drake was a private man. A mysterious one who didn’t talk about his past, or even his parents. She’d heard talk around the castle since their wedding night. She knew people questioned their consummation, but yet he’d said nothing. He could have told them his wife was unwilling. He could have bedded a virgin servant and displayed the blood-spotted sheet announcing the loss of her virginity to say it was his wife he’d had, but he didn’t. He didn’t talk about his problems to anyone, and that’s why she knew he’d never confide in her.

  When she heard a splash she looked back toward the pool, but Drake was nowhere to be seen. She figured he was under the water and would resurface in a minute, but when she’d waited several and he still didn’t show, she became concerned.

  What if he were caught at the bottom of the pool and couldn’t come up for air? What if he were drowning while she stood there watching, doing nothing to help? She told herself she shouldn’t care, but yet she really did. She waited longer, and still nothing. Finally, she could hold back no longer.

  She dashed out from behind the rock and made her way to the pool. She knelt down at the edge of the water, knowing she should jump in to look for him, but she couldn’t swim. She feared the water, and her own inner struggle twisted in her chest as she weighed the odds. She rolled up her sleeve and stuck her hand in the water, gripping for his hair.

  “Drake? Drake, are you all right? Drake,” she screamed, “answer me, please!”

  “I’m just fine, my lady. Thank you for asking.”

  She whirled around to see Drake sitting in the crevice of the rocks, stark naked.

  “You bastard!” She jumped to her feet.

  “Such language from a noble lady is not usually tolerated. But I must admit, your brash words do excite me.”

  He stood then, and she turned quickly, looking the other direction rather th
an to look at his nakedness.

  “You cur, to let me think you were drowning.”

  “I did no such thing. If you hadn’t been hiding your eyes from my nakedness in the first place, you would have seen me throw the rock into the pool.”

  “You knew!” she turned toward him and then caught herself and turned away quickly. “You knew I was there and yet you thought to embarrass me by stripping your clothes from your body just to torture me.”

  “I’ve never heard a wench refer to looking at my nakedness as torturous before. You have such an odd way with words. I wanted to bathe and couldn’t very well do it while wearing my clothes.” She heard a splash and curiously looked from the corner of her eye. When she knew it was really him in the pool this time, she turned to face him, much braver now.

  “If you’re trying to entice me, it’s not working.”

  He ducked beneath the water and came back up, squirting water from his mouth, and soaking the front of her peasant’s gown.

  “Oh!” she exclaimed and backed away.

  “You came to watch me in secret, did you not?”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Oh, perhaps because you stand there in disguise and hidden in the shadows?”

  She realized she’d been caught. She stared at him, and there was silence between them. The rain came down in a steady soft flow outside the cave, and she knew if she left now she’d be soaked before she returned to the castle. Still, she couldn’t stay here with Drake.

  “I’m leaving.” She started for the mouth of the cave, but his voice stopped her.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  “I’m not afraid of a little rain,” she said, stopping in her tracks but not turning around.

  “I thought you didn’t like water.”

  “I’d chance the rain over staying here with you.”

  “I’ve instructed my men to close the drawbridge at nightfall. You’ll never make it back in time.”

  “So I’ll sleep under the stars.”

  “With Klarens lurking about?”