The Black Knight Chronicles

by John G. Hartness

  “I remember. But I don’t think he’s just going to let us carve his heart out. Besides, something about this doesn’t pass the sniff test.” She turned back to the dragon, who was weeping very quietly into his wine. “Tivernius, you said that there was a woman whose father wanted you to marry his daughter before you met Milandra?”

  “Yes, Alethea of Cintharion. A terrible woman.”

  “But socially important?” Sabrina continued.

  I looked from cop to dragon and back, starting to follow where she was going.

  “Yes, she is now sole ruler of the kingdom, as she has yet to find a man willing to marry her.”

  “So she was at Milandra’s coronation as well?”

  “Of course.”

  “Can faeries glamour each other?”

  “Sometimes. If they’re very powerful. I fail to see what this has to do with anything.”

  “You would. You’re a man. One with scales and a tail the length of a basketball court, but still a man. Look, Tivernius, I’ve got an idea. It might not work, and if it doesn’t, Milandra will probably kill you herself. But if it does, you get to be with the woman you love. So, you willing to try something a little crazy?”

  The dragon stood, a little unsteady from all the wine, and all the whining, and glared at Sabrina. She didn’t flinch. I guess after you’ve been to Hell and Faerieland, one bitchy drunken dragon loses the power to intimidate.

  “I would do anything to touch her hand but for one instant, human. Do not toy with me. If you make promises that you cannot keep, the consequences will be dire.”

  I was pretty familiar with my mouth writing checks that my ass couldn’t cash, but it wasn’t Sabrina’s normal modus operandi.

  “I can promise that if you will accompany us back to the great hall of Armelion, you will be able to be with your love forever, or at least until somebody kills one of you.” Sabrina walked back over to the table, took a last swig of wine, grabbed a big napkin and wrapped a couple of loaves of bread in it. Then she soaked the whole bundle with my leftover red. She looked at me and my flabbergasted partner, laughed a little, and said, “On your feet, Greg. We’re blowing this pop stand.”

  She came to stand with me and Tivernius, Greg hot on her heels. “Now,” she said, looking at Tivernius. “When we arrive, stay out of sight. I want to announce you my way, and in my time. Okay?”

  “I will do as you ask, just bring me into the presence of my lady once more.” Tivernius waved a hand, and with a flash and a disconcerting twist of reality, we were back in Milandra’s great hall.

  I looked around for the dragon, but could only see Sabrina and Greg.

  “We have returned, Your Majesty, and we have with us the heart of the dragon!” Sabrina raised the wine-soaked bundle high in the air, dripping a realistic-looking stream of blood onto the marble floor. Milandra stood, looked at the “blood” spilling onto her stonework, and fell to her knees weeping.

  Chapter 18

  Sabrina didn’t hesitate, just looked at me and Greg, whispered, “Don’t say a word,” and ran to the distraught monarch’s side. I stood right where I was, understanding through years of experience that nothing good would come from me interfering with a woman’s plan, much less the plan of an armed woman who knew all the ways to kill me.

  Sabrina reached the queen and knelt beside her, bag of bread on the floor just out of Milandra’s reach. “What’s wrong, Your Majesty? I thought you wanted the monster dead? Have we somehow displeased you?”

  Greg whispered “Oscar-worthy” in a tone that only I could hear.

  Milandra looked up at Sabrina, and in between sobs managed to say, “I loved him, you idiot human! He betrayed me, and broke my heart, but I loved him. I held out hope for a century that he would return to me, even after his dalliance with that Cintharion bitch, and now he’s gone.” The queen pulled herself together a little and rose, sniffling.

  “Your Majesty, I am sorry,” Sabrina said. “I had no idea. What happened? You said you loved him?”

  “Yes, human. I loved him. Dragons, like your sanguine and the Fae, have many forms, and his human guise was very pleasing to me. He was my heart’s mate, and I was willing to give him anything. Until I saw him kissing Alethea of Cintharion at my coronation ball. To betray my love was bad enough, but to betray me in my very throne room, at my coronation . . . well, it was more than I could bear. I sent many valiant warriors to tear out his heart and bring it back to me, hoping perhaps that Tivernius himself would return to me one day. I would have forgiven him, had he but apologized. It took most of a century, but I realized that my love is stronger than my anger.”

  Sabrina looked back at us and tilted her head to where Tivernius was hiding behind a column. She whispered “keep him hidden” under her breath so that only a vampire could hear, and I nodded at her.

  Tears still streamed down her face, but Milandra was one of those women that could cry in public and still be beautiful. And now her beauty was turning cold as her shock changed to anger. The pink marble floors were slowly turning gray, shot through with veins of black and blood-red. I remembered what Otto said about the very stone reflecting Milandra’s moods, and started to worry. The little queen was getting seriously pissed off, and if Sabrina’s plan didn’t work soon, we were going to have to fight a whole dimension just to stay alive.

  “But you’re the queen. You can do whatever you want. Your whim commands the clouds in the sky, your slightest wish makes the grass turn pink. If you wanted to marry Tivernius, why not tell him?” Sabrina prodded.

  “I couldn’t!” the queen almost shouted. “He betrayed me. Humiliated me on my own coronation day. I couldn’t grovel to him after that. I would be the laughingstock of all the realms. And now I shall be forever alone.”

  It was getting dark in the throne room, and I didn’t feel good about getting out of there, with or without Stephen’s cure.

  Milandra collapsed again into sobs, and Sabrina motioned for me to bring Tivernius to her.

  I’d figured out where Sabrina was going somewhere between the reveal of the dragon’s “heart” and the marble turning black. I got almost all the way to the sobbing queen before saying, “What if you were wrong, Your Majesty? What if you were not betrayed, but merely tricked by Cintharion glamour?”

  Silence crashed down around us. The temperature in the throne room dropped thirty degrees and frost filled the veins in the marble. Milandra’s eyes went wide, then began to narrow in fury as she caught sight of Tivernius for the first time.

  “What is the meaning of this, vampire?” Milandra’s eyes bored holes in Tivernius.

  I needed to talk fast. “You told us that the Fae have multiple forms. And tons of magic, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “And Tivernius told us that Alethea’s father wanted him to marry her, not you. Right?”

  Tivernius spoke, his gaze locked on Milandra’s eyes. “Yes. The horrid woman was always pawing at me like I was her property. She even announced our bethrothal after I told her I would rather die than marry her.”

  “So it wouldn’t take much for a faerie to magic themselves to look like Tivernius and be ‘caught’ kissing Alethea, would it?” Sabrina asked.

  “So you didn’t—” Milandra asked, stepping closer to the dragon.

  “I could never,” Tivernius replied.

  He held out his arms, and the two of them collided like clichéd movie lovers running through the surf. He actually picked her up and swung around in a circle before putting her down and laying a kiss on the Faerie Queen that curled my toes.

  I looked up at Sabrina as they broke apart, and I would almost swear that I saw a glint of a tear in her eye. She caught me looking of course, and shot me the finger, completely shattering the mood.

  After the Faerie Queen and the dragon had finished making out in the great hall, Milandra turned back to Sabrina and said, “I owe you a great thanks, human. You have done what hundreds of heroes over a century have failed to do. You
have brought me the heart of my dragon.” She leaned her head against Tivernius’ chest, and I swear I heard Greg sniffle from behind me.

  “Yes, I thank you for bringing me to my love,” Tivernius said. “And now, Milandra . . .” he looked down into her eyes and took both her small hands in his. Tivernius went to one knee on the marble floor, and looking up at Milandra like she was the only woman in the world, said, “Will you be mine? Will you stand by me until the stars fall from the sky? Will you fight with me and beside me? Will you love me no matter how ridiculous and set in my ways I am? Will you allow me to worship you for the goddess of beauty that you are? Milandra, Queen of House Armelion, will you marry me and become Lady Tivernia?”

  Milandra looked down at him and said, “I will love you until the flowers no longer bloom. I will stand beside you until the sun refuses to rise. I will kiss you every day that these lips draw breath. I will be your Lady Tivernia, and you shall be King of the Armelion Fae. From this moment forward may our kingdoms be forever joined.”

  She reached down and took his face in both her hands and kissed him gently. He pulled her down to sit on his knee and began to kiss her more seriously. After a kiss long enough for me to wonder where their air was coming from, they broke apart to a loud cheer. I spun around and saw that out of nowhere a crowd of faeries and humans several thousand strong had filled the great hall, all cheering and waving small flags with pictures of faeries riding dragons on them.

  I don’t care how long I live, I’ll never get used to magic.

  Chapter 19

  We toasted the happy couple, listened to the cheering of the crowd, and generally fidgeted around for an hour or so before I finally pulled Otto aside. “Look buddy, I’m all for marital bliss and immortal happiness, but we’ve kinda got a guy dying back on the other side of the magic portal, remember?”

  “Fear not, James. Our queen has sent for the apothecary, who is on his way to you now with the verdirosa plant. Once I have it, we can deal with the Unseelie and return to your world to heal your friend.”

  “That’s great, Otto,” Sabrina said from beside me. “What’s an Unseelie, and when will they get here?”

  Milandra joined us then, waving an arm and sending the reveling faeries to who-knows-where. “The Unseelie are sometimes considered the Dark Fae. They are cousins to the faeries you know, but their magic is practiced not to create, but to destroy. They use their martial abilities to enslave, not to protect. They do not typically discuss, preferring to fight. In short, they are the antithesis of everything we strive to be. They keep trolls as bodyguards and servants, while we destroy the loathsome creatures on sight. If there are trolls making their way into the mundane realms, no doubt the Unseelie will know about it.”

  Apparently the Unseelie were a bit of an unpleasant topic among the Armelion Fae, like that uncle at every Southern family reunion.

  “As usual, your highness, you prove your ignorance with every syllable.” An oily voice came from behind me, and I whirled to see a seven-foot tall faerie standing far too close for comfort. Clad all in black, his white hair made a sharp contrast to his ensemble, and his dark eyes scanned the room for threats like a tiger in a cage. He was just as handsome as every faerie I’d seen so far, but his was a cruel kind of handsome, like the chisel-jawed bad guy from every 80s movie.

  He carried two long swords with hilts showing signs of use, and a dagger protruded from the top of each knee-high boot. I thought I saw a couple of small blades tucked into his gloves as well, but I couldn’t be sure. What I could be sure of was that this dude was bad news, and that he’d somehow gotten close enough to stab me in the back without me ever hearing him enter the room. I pretty much hated him on sight, and by the look he gave me I’d say the feeling was mutual.

  “Count Darkoni, you are welcome to my hall and my lands. I pledge you and yours safe passage and lodging as long as you reside here and maintain the peace with my people and other guests.” Milandra crossed the room to stand stiffly in front of her throne, hand on the hilt of a sword I’d never seen before. The hilt was plain silver, with a large sapphire set into the pommel, and the scabbard showed signs of plenty of use.

  “Fear not, little queen. We shall behave ourselves while we are here. And if we do not, I have no doubt you will enjoy feeding us to your husband. Or is that why I’m here? Do you tire of your pet lizard already? Or did you bring me here to offer me some consolation prize?” He looked Sabrina up and down like a piece of meat, and licked his lips.

  She met his eyes without a hint of fear and walked over to the faerie like she was the queen, not Milandra. She reached up and grabbed Darkoni’s collar, pulling him down until they were on eye level.

  Very slowly she spoke directly into the faerie’s face. “Not if you were the last almost-human left in all the worlds. You couldn’t handle me, and you certainly don’t deserve me.” Then she slapped him across the face with a sound like a .22 going off.

  Darkoni’s hand flashed out, but I was there first. I caught him by the wrist before he could hit Sabrina, and I gave his wrist a good squeeze. When I could hear the bones grind together, I stopped. Darkoni never flinched.

  “Don’t even think about touching her, Tinkerbelle,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Or what? You’ll bleed all over me? Thorgun, show our fanged friend here your hand.”

  The sleazy faerie smiled down at me as I felt the presence of something very large behind me, and a hand very gently covered my head. My whole head, from crown to jaw, fit inside the huge, smelly troll hand that descended from above me. Thorgun didn’t speak or even put any pressure on my scalp, he just rested his hand on my head, holding it like I could palm a baseball. I got it. He could squash my head like a grape before I could even think about hurting his boss. I hate melodramatic monsters.

  “Now, why don’t we all sit down and behave like civilized beings. Even those of us who obviously are not,” Darkoni said.

  The hand disappeared from my head. I turned around and looked up, way up at his troll bodyguard. He had nothing on Tivernius’ dragon size, but at nine and a half feet tall with fingers as big around as my wrists, I didn’t want to arm-wrestle him anytime soon. I let go of Darkoni’s wrist, after giving it one last squeeze for good measure. Petty, I know, but sometimes that’s how I roll.

  “What a lovely idea, Count Darkoni,” Milandra said, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

  She waved her hands and a table appeared with chairs sized for all the occupants, even Thorgun and his twin, who stood on the other side of Darkoni. The Unseelie count had brought a retinue of about half a dozen faeries with him, but the trolls were the real muscle. Both of them made the one we fought outside the bar look like a half-grown kid, and they had hammers hanging over their shoulders with heads bigger than a dishwasher. We took our seats, our team on one side, the Unseelie entourage on the other side, and Milandra got right down to business.

  “Count Darkoni, we have called you here to inquire why there have been troll attacks on changelings in the mundane world. Would you care to enlighten us?” the Faerie Queen asked.

  When I glanced at her I saw that she had magically changed into her robes of state and crown. Tivernius was decked out, too, and a golden circlet rested on his head to match the silver one on Milandra’s brow.

  “I would love to, Your Majesty, if I had any inkling of what you are talking about.” The Unseelie count had transformed his wardrobe as well, now garbing himself in robes of deepest black velvet with black fur trim. A black circlet capped his brow, with a large red stone in the center. The stone pulsed rhythmically, almost as if it were in time to a heartbeat somewhere. I looked down to see if my clothes were any different, but it was the same armor I’d put on when I crawled out of bed in the morning.

  Oh well, can’t have everything.

  “Please, Your Excellence, do not play ignorant with us. Your kind has long held enmity for the changelings, and you have much truck with the trolls. If y
ou are not behind these attacks, then who?” Milandra seemed almost to be enjoying the jousting with the snotty faerie, but I wasn’t sure she was going to get anywhere.

  “Of course we loathe the changelings, but it is the human vermin that we would exterminate, not the innocent Fae that you cast out like so much unwanted livestock. We are the rightful lords of this realm, and bringing humans here to breed with and create abominations like yourself is an affront to our true heritage.”

  I took a closer look at Milandra, and for the first time could see that her ears were a little more rounded than the rest of the faeries I’d seen. Must have been a human branch on her family tree somewhere in the past.

  “If we wanted to attack anyone, you would be a more likely target than any poor changelings you’ve cast away into the mundane world like so much rubbish.” Darkoni smiled and leaned back in his chair. “I suppose if that is all you have to ask, then we will accept payment for our travels and leave.” He reached for a small bag lying on the table beside Milandra’s hand, and she clasped her hand over his wrist before he could withdraw.

  The Unseelie stood and drew a knife, pointing the tip at Milandra’s wrist. “I suggest you release my arm, before you lose your own, Your Majesty.”

  I whispered from behind him, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Excellence.”

  He turned his head slightly and saw the point of my dagger hovering right beside his eye. Otto and Greg had the trolls covered, and Armelion knights surrounded the rest of Darkoni’s entourage.

  “This is an outrage, Milandra,” Darkoni shouted, veins bulging in his neck. “We have come here in good faith, answered your questions, and now I wish to take my payment and leave. You stretch the boundaries of hospitality to the breaking point, lizard-slut.”

  “That’s it, I’m drinking him.” I grabbed his collar and pulled the count’s neck around toward my mouth, only to have him twist in my grasp and stab me in the chest with the dagger he’d threatened Milandra with only seconds before. I looked down at the hilt sticking out of my chest, and then I got really mad. Apparently chain mail is only useful against swords and slashing weapons, because the faerie’s dagger went through my armor like a hot knife through butter.