The Ward of Falkroy

by Loki Renard

  “I thought you said they would return to their true forms at the full moon,” Leo scowled.

  “Did I? Hm. I must have been mistaken.”

  “Mistaken, or misleading,” he growled, shaking his head at her. “Victoria Varys, I cannot trust a word that falls from your lips. You are the most wicked wench in all Englred !”

  Victoria's smile only grew broader.

  ***

  Kelsie stayed silent throughout the exchange, as was her wont. If she were not being spoken to directly, she thought it best not to open her mouth. Even if she was spoken to directly, she preferred to answer with a shrug or a nod or some other physical response that avoided the need to form words. It was a habit she had formed growing up around sometimes brutal peasants and it had served her well.

  Victoria's opinions of boyishness aside, she liked her new clothes, though the boots pinched a little and the doublet felt tight. She had been assured both would soften with wear, and she had no reason not to believe that.

  She liked Englred City too. It was incredible. She had no idea how large it was, but it seemed to go on forever and ever. There were stalls and markets and grand houses three stories high and a lot of smaller ones that were little more than hovels. There was a cathedral, and Kelsie could only imagine what else beyond.

  As Lady Varys and Lord Falkroy argued, she cast her mind back over her recent experience, how it had felt as they passed under the great stone arches leading to the drawbridge across which Englred Castle stood. A bolt of frisson ran down her spine. The castle was even more impressive in person than she had imagined. It stood with turrets and towers rising skyward, ramparts rounding the outside. The seal of the Englreds, the falcon and the bear, was displayed proudly on yellow and green banners. She wondered how much of the castle she would get to see. Thus far she had only seen a waiting chamber which had been a fascinating place in and of itself with flowers and statuettes and ladies whispering to one another about various intrigues.

  “That is enough day dreaming, girl!” Lady Varys lectured her swiftly. “Follow us to the stables.”

  Kelsie followed, of course, wondering how things would be now that the Lord Falkroy had joined their little party. He was a very handsome man, one who still scared her quite a bit in spite of the fact he had been rather nice in having her fitted for clothes. There was clearly a great deal of history between the lord and the lady, a tension that seemed not entirely friendly, but not at all hostile.

  Once she reached the stables she saw that Victoria had ordered the stable hands to ready their steeds, and for the first time Kelsie had one of her own. Her donkey looked quite ridiculous next to Leo's black stallion, and Lady Varys' chestnut mare, but it was a mount and she had never had one before and she was certainly not going to complain.

  “You've no doubt got no idea about riding,” Leo said once he'd helped her into the saddle, which was quite different from the low flat ones he and Victoria's mounts were fitted with. Hers was like a bucket chair, high in the front and in the rear. He took her hands and placed them on the high pommel.

  “If this were a battle steed, I'd be telling you to steer the beast by shifting your weight, or failing that, a gentle knee or pressure on the reins. As it is, this thing will most likely follow along nicely in our stead, so sit tight, hold on, and if the donkey starts heading in the wrong direction give me a shout. I'll come and round you up.”

  She nodded and gave him a little ghost of a smile, all she dared express.

  “You can give a shout, can't you?”

  He winked, and she blushed.

  “Yes,” she said softly. “I can if I have to.”

  “Good girl,” he said, reaching out to ruffle her hair. She was surprised by the gesture, his large gloved hand landing on her head with a dull thud. A squeak of fear escaped her before she realized she was not being hit.

  “Easy,” he said with a reassuring smile. “If I'm to beat anyone on this journey, it will be Lady Varys, not you.”

  Her eyes went wide at the thought. “I don't think that would be a good idea, sir.”

  Leo chuckled as he turned away, and she was left not knowing whether he was joking or not.

  “Oh, one last thing,” he said, turning back to her before mounting his stallion. “Donkeys are more effective protectors than guard hounds. You're in good hooves there.”

  Kelsie reached forward and rubbed her fingers over the animal's neck. The donkey gave a grunt which seemed to indicate its approval of her touch.

  They rode out of Englred and turned to the south. Falkroy and Lady Varys rode side by side, talking about something or other Kelsie could not hear. Her donkey did follow along for the most part. The pace was not hectic and her animal seemed happy enough to wander along, swiping the occasional long strand of grass from the road side.

  The more she tried to puzzle out the lord and lady's relationship, the less she understood it. Falkroy did not look like a man who usually brooked disrespect from anyone. On their shopping trip through Englred, everyone who met him had been obsequious in the extreme. Victoria was plain rude to him many times, which he did not seem to like, but clearly tolerated. And they seemed to like one another in spite of the near constant bickering.

  The ride was long and mercifully uneventful. As night fell, they sought shelter in a tavern. It was busy with merchants and locals alike and the tavern keeper only had a single room spare, a room they all had to share. A room with a single bed, which, of course, went to Victoria.

  “I'll take my bed roll and sleep before the door,” Falkroy said. “Kelsie, you take the corner farthest from the window.”

  Kelsie made herself comfortable where he'd told her to, impressed by his instinct to protect them by covering the points of entrance. The position put her at both the foot of Victoria's bed, and at the feet of where Falkroy had stretched out. She had a cozy little nook to herself, and it was more than enough. Most of her life she'd slept in a corner of the sty with pigs for warmth. This room was small and simple and cramped, but it was already a significant improvement on her previous accommodations.

  The three of them soon settled down with the rations they had bought with them for dinner. A nice wine and a selection of cured meats and breads made for a delicious supper.

  “We will have no idle talk tonight,” Victoria declared from her perch on the bed. “It is time your education began, Kelsie. It is time you learned who your ancestors were, and who you are as a result.”

  Kelsie gnawed on a corner of tough bread and listened with true fascination. Across from her, Leo Falkroy lay propped up on his left arm, swilling a goblet of red wine in his right hand, a pleasant smile on his handsome face as Victoria held court.

  “All those of magical blood lead back to one woman, Lyra the Terrible. She lived well over a thousand years ago. Her blood runs strongly in my veins, and to a lesser extent, yours.... yes, girl? I can see the question in your eyes. Ask it.”

  Kelsie hid her mouth behind the bread, but gathered the courage to speak. “So you and I, we are related?”

  Victoria gave her a long look, then nodded. “In a distant sense, yes, we must be.”

  Leo let out a laugh. “That galls you doesn't it, Lady Varys.”

  “It does not,” Victoria replied haughtily. “Those who spread the blood around may have thinned it, but they have also preserved it. You see, Kelsie, the main lineage of Lyra's sorceresses – my familial line, have been subject to systematic slaughter over the years.”

  “Some say it was because the sharpness of their tongues caused men to sharpen their blades to match,” Falkroy grunted.

  “Silence, or I will render you silent by merit of turning you into a hound,” Victoria narrowed her eyes at Leo, who shook his head at her imperiousness, but did not interrupt again. Kelsie was sure she could see a certain light in his eyes, an indication that Lady Varys might not be getting away with quite as much as she imagined.

  “So, Kelsie, your mother, whoever she was, no doubt inherite
d the blood from her mother and her mother before her. At each successive generation, a little more was likely bred out of your line. Only those who chose to mate with Lyra's sons and their offspring preserved the blood and created stronger lines...”

  “Isn't that inbreeding?” The thought escaped Kelsie's lips before she had a chance to catch it.

  A chilly silence fell, broken only by Falkroy's laugh. “Yes! And enough of the inbreeding made them feeble minded. There's a reason we refer to mad witches, and why it's said you can tell a witch by her extra toe...”

  “Enough!” Victoria cast a scandalized glare at the pair of them. “There is a difference between inbreeding and maintaining good breeding.”

  “And the difference is why you never take your shoes off in good company,” Falkroy snorted.

  For the merest split second, Victoria's face fell. She looked... hurt. The facade returned immediately, along with a cutting comment Kelsie didn't hear because she was too caught up in her thoughts. The little she could remember of her mother was locked away inside her mind, somewhere so deep even she had trouble remembering it sometimes. She knew ladies in the village had come to her mother before her passing... she'd helped them with their lady's days, love affairs, other little matters. Kelsie pushed the memories away. She didn't like thinking of her mother. It made her chest ache with a sadness best avoided.

  “Falkroy, I tire of your insolence,” Victoria declared. “You will sleep outside the door.”

  “I will not,” Leo snorted. “And if you don't stop ordering me about, I'll throw you out of that bed!”

  “Oh I suppose you will take the bed, will you?”

  “I'll give it to Kelsie. She looks like she could use a good night's sleep. Not like you, Ms Varys. The only thing you could use is a good thrashing.”

  Kelsie tried to hide her giggle and failed.

  “Pay no heed to his ramblings, Kelsie,” Victoria said dismissively. “Men are tedious, brutish creatures at the best of times and this one is no exception. You are right on one count, Leo. Kelsie needs her sleep. As do you and I.”

  Chapter Five

  The next day proceeded much as the first, and the third in much the same way as the second. It was hard riding all day long, stopping to relieve themselves in bushes and then carrying on their way. Kelsie's rear ached from the saddle and the tension between Lady Varys and Leo Falkroy seemed to be on the increase, so much so that Leo rode nearly a quarter mile ahead, alleging that he was playing the role of scout.

  “Come here and ride alongside me,” Victoria said, beckoning to Kelsie. “I may as well teach you something while we are on this foolish errand.”

  It took some convincing for Kelsie's donkey to match the pace of Victoria’s mare, and when it did, Kelsie found herself a good two feet lower than the sorceress, under her sparkling green gaze.

  “I began teaching you history the other night, explaining who you are, and how you came to be, in a sense. Now it is your turn to teach me, to tell me what you know about your mother, your lineage.”

  “I don't know much of anything,” Kelsie said. “My mother died before I could really remember her. The villagers let me eat some of the pig slops and would take turns giving me clothes, or teaching me something of the world.”

  “You speak far too well to have been raised by pigs since early childhood,” Victoria said. “Why are you lying to me?”

  Kelsie turned her head and focused on the back of the donkey's neck.

  “Because I promised not to tell. I promised not to tell anyone ever, and I want to keep that promise.”

  There was silence, a silence that could be felt between the singing of the birds and the hooves of horse and donkey.

  “Very well,” Victoria said, finally bringing the silence to an end. “I cannot force you to tell me... which is to say, of course I could force you to tell me, but I will not.”

  “I can tell you that I don't think I do have magical talent, ma'am,” Kelsie said. “I'm sorry, I think I'm going to disappoint you.”

  “The only way you will disappoint me is if you fail to try when asked,” Victoria replied. “I know what talent you have, it is quite evident for those who have eyes to see.”

  Kelsie tried not to feel pleased, and failed. For many years, she had been an outcast in the village and now this beautiful, powerful sorceress was telling her she was special, treating her as if she mattered. It was as a dream come true to the orphaned girl.

  “Let me tell you something,” Victoria added after a quarter mile or so. “Stories are full of special ones, chosen ones, those who were born to greatness or had it thrust upon them. The true secret, Kelsie, is that it takes only a scintilla of talent and thereafter everything comes to those who work. You have the blood in your veins. There were once many others who shared it. It did not make them great sorceresses. It made most of them nothing at all. Some of them were destroyed by their gifts because they bought no discipline to them. You do not need to worry about your breeding, girl. You need only worry about your effort. Do you understand?”

  “Yes ma'am.”

  “I don't think you do quite yet, but you will. Because in the next months and years, you will work harder than you ever have. I will be quite relentless with you. You will probably come to hate me at times, but you have given yourself to me and I will not abide disobedience or fractiousness. In the end, you will be quite amazed at the gifts discipline brings.”

  “What was that?” Leo joined them quite stealthily from the woods beside the path. He must have been riding a few paces back, perhaps listening to the conversation. His teeth flashed white in a broad grin. “How appropriate to hear you talk about a need for discipline, Victoria.”

  “I will speak with you at some distance, Falkroy,” Victoria said, her tone cold.

  They urged their mounts forward a few dozen feet, but Kelsie had keen ears and she could still hear them quite clearly, especially as Lady Varys was not used to being discreet.

  “I will not have you undermining me before her,” she hissed. “It is all very amusing for you, I know, but it will have consequences for Kelsie. She will get into trouble she does not need to get into.”

  “She is out here because you had a fit of temper and cast two spells that should never have been cast. And what is the consequence for you? Little, if anything.”

  “I've been lead to believe it will be off with your head should I fail to find the prince. That would be a consequence,” Victoria smirked.

  “Perhaps you are right,” he said. “If Kelsie is to become a sorceress, it would be better for the world at large if she was not one who cared little for consequence. One of you is quite enough.”

  “Stop your wittering and your whining, Falkroy,” Victoria snapped back. “It is becoming tiresome.”

  “You deserve to be horsewhipped, woman.”

  Victoria let out a laugh that sounded to Kelsie as if it held genuine amusement – and perhaps even challenge. “You do not have the nerve, Falkroy. And I do not have the time to entertain your fantasies. We have a prince to save.”

  With that, she spurred her mount on, Falkroy's caught up the pace and even Kelsie's little donkey whinnied and began to charge after the horses, much like her rider, eager not to be left behind.

  Chapter Six

  Victoria was glad when they arrived in Samilton. The prince would soon be corralled and taken back to his loving mother and that would be the end of the matter. It should be simple enough to find him, judging by the BEWARE THE GOAT MAN signs posted prominently on trees along the way.

  They made their way to the tavern, where Victoria and Kelsie took a room and Falkroy made inquiries as to the 'goat man' who had been terrorizing the town.

  “Stay here in this room,” Victoria instructed Kelsie. “Falkroy and I will attend to our business. I want you to remain here and await our return. You may sleep as you please, but do not leave the room. Above all, eat only from our provisions. Do not touch anything from this inn. Understand?�
�

  “Yes, ma'am.”

  Victoria allowed herself to smile at the girl.

  “You have proved very obedient thus far,” she praised Kelsie, reaching out to brush a few stray strands of hair from the girl's face. “I am pleased with you.”

  An adorable blush consumed Kelsie's face. “Thank you, m'lady,” she murmured.

  Having bolted Kelsie in with a charm, Victoria left her apprentice and made her way to the tavern proper, where Falkroy greeted her with news.

  “Six miles north east, a little cave system in the hills,” he said. “Apparently our goat prince has been luring the local maids there and having his way with them. There's already one swelling belly in the village, and they're expecting more.”