Jothan watched Delphas’s brief moment of buoyancy vanish as unpleasant memories again crowded his mind. “I did survive,” he asserted through clenched teeth. “Sheer force of will enabled me to resist her torments. The best-trained of my soldiers did likewise. In time, however, each of those good men fell victim to their own diseased minds.” Delphas’s eyes filled with tears that he hastily blinked away.
Deciding to spare him the effort of going into further detail, Jothan broke in. “I think I am beginning to see how this tale ends. You escaped from these demons and hid in the walls of the castle. No doubt there were passages that only you and your men knew about. I have heard of such secret storage places where troops and arms can be concealed in times of siege. That is how I heard you in the hall each night before you came to my door. You were moving the stones to slip through.”
Delphas nodded and rubbed a hand over his face. “And ’twas the truth that I came to steal a garment from the wardrobe the time you came upon me undressed. I am sorry I kept so many secrets from you, my lord.”
“As am I, though I can understand your desire for caution. After all, you knew not what sort of man I would be.”
“If I could do anything to change what happened on that awful last night four years ago, I would do so. But I cannot, and so I decided to find some way to move forward. I could not envision any method for doing so until you came along. I hope you can believe me.”
“I do believe you.” Slowly, Jothan lowered his sword as relief lightened his chest. Delphas was not a spirit, a revenant, or an incubus, as he had feared. He was a displaced warrior whose failure to protect his lord no doubt weighed on his mind. “Can you tell me then…what happened to Lord Peredur and Lady Ursell? Does either of them yet live?”
“No. Lord Peredur’s last act in this world was to plunge his dagger into her tar-black heart. As she crumpled to the floor, she hurled one final burst of her evil magic at him. My uncle disappeared in a burst of flame. I can only hope that what claimed him was not hellfire.” His eyes moistened again. “He was a good man who cared for his people and this castle. His greatest mistake was that he loved unwisely.”
“A common enough mistake, I fear.” So now he knew what had become of his predecessor. Lord Peredur was no deserter, and his honor remained intact. Jothan was determined to inform the king as soon as possible. He set the sword down beside his bare thigh—still in reach, but at rest. “However, tragic as those days may have been, we must take comfort in knowing that they are gone and will never return. You need not hide any longer, Delphas. Come forward into the light and join me in restoring this castle. You could honor your uncle’s memory and reclaim your own life as well.”
Delphas stared in obvious surprise. “Your invitation is most generous, my lord. In fact…it is the sort of offer I have waited my entire life to hear.”
“I admit it is an offer I have longed to extend for as long as I have been alive. Though I harbor no active distaste for women, I have always known that I preferred the company of other men. Has it been so for you as well?”
“Yes,” Delphas replied. “Nearly from the time I could speak, I have known and understood the depth of my affection for other men. I admit I have lusted after some, as well, and even acted on my urges. Never have I experienced actual love for a man, though—until now.”
“Nor have I,” Jothan admitted. The words rose to his lips more easily than he had expected they would. Once he had spoken them, he leaned across the bed and was gratified to see Delphas do the same. Their mouths met in the space between. At first, their kiss proceeded softly and comfortably, only to increase in fervor after a moment or two.
Though years of rigorous training kept Jothan’s right hand close to his sword, passion spurred him to lift the other and slide his fingers through Delphas’s dark, silky hair. Delphas moved closer, resting his palms on Jothan’s bare thighs. Jothan felt his pulse quicken as those long, graceful fingers strayed closer to his eager cock. He longed to bury it inside Delphas’s soft body, reach around to grasp Delphas’s equally swollen organ, and then rock both of them to a state of mutual bliss. And he wanted to do it every night until all the agonies and disappointments of their pasts drifted far away.
“So you will remain, and stand by my side?” he asked when at last they broke apart. Though Jothan had expected Delphas to react with pleasure, he was mortified to see tears roll down Delphas’s cheeks.
“If only I were free to do so, my lord, nothing would have made me happier.”
“You mean you do not accept?” Jothan pulled back as if he had been slapped. “What is stopping you?”
Delphas blotted his tears with his wrist. Suddenly his face hardened and once again became that of an embittered warrior, rather than an emotional lover.
“I have told you what happened to the castle and to my uncle, Lord Peredur. But there are parts of my story that I have not revealed…that I cannot reveal to anyone. Please, my lord, for your own safety, take what I have given you thus far and hold it close to your heart. Let me go on my way and never think of me again. ’Twill be safer for us both.”
“Safer? In what way? Do you mean some evil still pursues you? Was the witch not fully destroyed?”
“I am sorry, my lord…my love. I cannot speak of this further.” Pulling away with obvious reluctance, Delphas stood and reached for his drying cloth. He wrapped it sadly around his waist. “Perhaps my loss will be easier to bear if I tell you I will never forget you. I am sure you shall find a way to be happy one day.”
“Aye. That I shall.” In a flash, Jothan had bounded off the bed and grasped Delphas by both arms, wrestling him to the floor while he was still too startled to fight back. Though he struggled mightily once he lay flat with Jothan’s full weight upon him again, desperation gave Jothan the advantage. Rapidly he pulled the drying cloth from his waist, tore it into strips, and used it to bind Delphas’s wrists. When he was tied securely, Jothan stood and retrieved his sword.
“Release me,” Delphas begged, thrashing on the floor in an attempt to free himself. Jothan had taken prisoners before, however, and he had long ago mastered the art of tying knots that could not be undone.
“I will not,” Jothan growled. He gripped his sword and held it in front of him. The sharp blade flashed in the candlelight. “I will find out what evil force is keeping us apart, and I will destroy it myself.”
“Please, Jothan. You know not what you are saying.” Delphas was near tears again, but he stopped twisting around and slumped to the floor in resignation.
“If something is pursuing you, let it come here and find you. I am not afraid. We have all night, and all of the morrow, if that is what it takes.”
“You are planning to keep me here until daylight?” Delphas’s eyes widened. Despite fighting in many battles, Jothan had never seen such a look of pure fear on a man’s face. “No, my lord. I beg of you. If you do that, you will regret it until the day you leave this world, no matter if it be a hundred years in the future.”
“But why?” Jothan frowned and stepped forward, peering closely into Delphas’s stricken face. “Tell me so that I may understand!”
Delphas shook his head. “I beg you again to release me.”
“Well, then,” Jothan said, seating himself on the bed with his sword across his naked thighs, “I suppose we will find out together.”
Chapter 6
Wrapped in a loose robe, his sword belt buckled over it, Jothan stood beside the bed and sipped his wine while Delphas, still naked and tied, remained stubbornly curled on the stone floor.
“Why don’t you have some?” Jothan held out his goblet toward Delphas. “Perhaps it will lighten your heart.”
“And loosen my tongue?” Delphas groused. “’Twill not happen, my lord. You may ply me with drink or torture, as you wish, but I promise I will keep my silence. I only ask again that you trust me enough to set me free before daybreak.”
“Torture? You think me that sort of man?” Jothan di
d not bother to hide his pain at such an accusation. “The wine was meant to comfort you, but I cannot untie your bonds. I have tried all night to convince you that my intentions are benevolent.” He sighed, frustrated at having to explain it again. Why did Delphas refuse to listen and understand? “My plan is to confront whatever evil force pursues you during daylight, and fight it off myself. Then you will be free to remain with me as we both wish.”
Delphas laughed bitterly. “Do you really think it will be so easy?”
“I have fought evil before, and defeated it as well. Had I not the strength, you would not see me standing before you now.”
“There are many degrees of evil. And, once defeated it always seems to come back in a more powerful form. At least that has been my experience.”
“Perhaps. Yet I will always believe that good is stronger. I have lived my whole life by that principle, and will continue to do so.” Turning his head sideways, Jothan glanced at the narrow slit in the wall that served as its only portal to the outdoors. The sky had changed color, appearing more steely grey than black now. “It shouldn’t be long before the sun arrives and brings with it the truth. I am ready to fight on your behalf. You must trust me, Delphas.”
Turning himself over on the floor, Delphas followed Jothan’s gaze to the window and began to grow agitated all over again. Desperately he writhed and twisted in an attempt to free his tied wrists, reminding Jothan of a caught fish hauled to shore. Yet, like the fish, there was no hope of escape. His bonds remained secure.
Soon his writhing took on a more ominous quality. Sweat began to course down his forehead and back, and his breathing became more labored. He reminded Jothan of men he had seen suffering from fevers—of a sort that had ultimately taken their lives.
“Once again I beg you, my lord,” he rasped. “Untie me. Let me hide myself before daylight comes.”
“I cannot untie you. You must not ask me again.” Worried, Jothan set his wine aside and took a step forward. “What afflicts you so? Are you ill?”
“’Tis nothing you can help me with,” Delphas snapped back. “Since you would not set me free when I asked, you must now observe the reason for my request.” He stopped speaking to groan in pain. His chest heaved as his features contorted. Jothan briefly wondered if he were mumming to distract him and possibly escape. Yet Delphas’s agony appeared so extreme that it had to be genuine.
“Explain yourself,” Jothan demanded, kneeling close with one hand near his sword hilt. To his horror, it looked as though some demonic force were invading Delphas’s body. Even his face seemed to be changing color, its usual ruddiness fading to a sickly grey pallor. “What is happening?”
Delphas sucked back a deep, shuddering breath. “You have vowed to confront the demon that pursues me. That is very noble of you, my lord, but there is one thing you have unfortunately failed to consider. The evil you seek to destroy does not exist outside of me, but within me. In order to destroy it, you must destroy me.”
Jothan gaped, certain that what seemed to transpire before his eyes was naught but illusion. It looked as though the very form of Delphas’s body was changing. His skin seemed to be thickening, the smooth surface growing rough and creased like tree bark. The toes on his bare feet seemed to elongate, the delicate nails turning sharp and clawlike. His flaxen hair receded into his scalp, opposite the usual way of nature.
“Nay, this is impossible!” What manner of foul trickery is this?” he shouted.
“’Tis not trickery, but a curse. I related the story of my last night as squire of this castle, but I did not finish the tale. I had hoped to spare you the pain such knowledge would bring you.”
“Surely this is not real!” How could it be? The Delphas he recognized was rapidly disappearing, his face and body slowly turning into hideous, coarse-skinned imitations that reminded him of nothing so much as…
No! Such thoughts were madness. Delphas and the beast he had seen on the tower were nothing alike. What he was witnessing was nothing more than a wine-fueled delusion. Perhaps he had fallen asleep while guarding his captive and this was the resulting dream.
Jothan shook his head violently to clear it. He blinked and drew deep breaths, hoping to wake himself up. Yet nothing seemed to change the grotesque scene unfolding before him. “I cannot believe this. Surely I am dreaming!”
“’Tis all too real,” Delphas’s words trailed off in a moan. “Believe what you see. In a few minutes, I shall no longer be what I was.”
“You must tell me everything.” Jothan spoke in desperation. “The time for secrets between us is past.” Now his own eyes brimmed with tears.
“Yes,” Delphas agreed slowly. His words came out slurred, as though he were having trouble forming them. But then, his lips had begun to recede into his face, and his tongue seemed to blacken and swell behind his lengthening teeth. “No more secrets. I can only hope that when you hear the end of my tale, you will finally set me free. Otherwise I cannot be responsible for my actions. My mind is not entirely clear when I become…my other self.”
Jothan pressed one hand to his churning stomach as the other reaffirmed its grip on his sword. “But what is happening? And why?”
“Already it is beginning. Your words begin to seem like another language to me…one not of this world.” Delphas swallowed hard, his forehead bulging and his brows turning to hairless, bony ridges. He struggled visibly to complete and then articulate his thoughts. “What lies before you is my lady aunt’s final gift and final revenge upon me. It was not enough for her to kill me. With her dying breath, she made certain I would never see the daylight as a man again. For four years I have lived this way—a man by night and by day, a beast so dreadful that any sane man would turn away in revulsion.”
It was true, Jothan realized. He did long to turn away, to blot out the image of the beautiful man he loved turning into so horrid a beast as a scaly, winged gargoyle. “But why did she hate you? The steward wrote of her disdain for you. On what was it based?”
“From the beginning, I saw what seethed within her heart, even though my uncle could not. Alas, she saw what lay in my heart too—and she knew that she would never manipulate me the way she did most other men, by making me her lover. When my uncle refused to listen to her accusations, she planned her vengeance against both of us.”
“But how can I help you? There must be something I can—” Jothan struggled to keep his voice from trailing off in a wail as the worst change overtook Delphas. Great leathery wings began to sprout from his back. The pressure forced him to roll onto his stomach to allow them to unfurl between his tied arms. When he did so, a long tail, coiling and snapping like a serpent, shot out from the base of his spine.
“One last time,” Delphas wailed, the words barely sounding like human speech, “I beg you to release me, my lord. Cut my bonds or take my life. Either would be better than this torture.”
Jothan gulped down a deep, steadying breath and rose. Gripping his sword in both hands, he planted his feet on either side of Delphas’s thrashing hips. Having swelled to nearly double their usual girth, Delphas’s wrists strained against the strips of fabric that held them, now stretched taut and shredding. Long-clawed fingers clenched and unclenched in obvious anguish as they sought release.
“Forgive me,” Jothan said as he brought down the sword. A single swipe of the blade freed Delphas—or whatever he now was—from his bonds.
The gargoyle leaped to its feet, its hooked claws clattering over the stone floor. Jothan backed into the corner of the room, his sword thrust forward in a defensive posture, as the beast advanced a few steps toward him. The snarl that came from its twisted maw could have been a threat, or it could have been the beast’s final attempt at forming the words spoken by men. Jothan had no way of telling. Then it whirled around and stalked away.
With a loud flap of its wings and a jaunty flick of its tail, the gargoyle strode to Jothan’s chamber door and opened it with such force that the hinges squealed and bent as they pu
lled away from the frame. Ducking its massive head and angling its shoulders, the beast squeezed its way through and lumbered out of the room.
Pausing only to grab a torch from the nearest sconce, Jothan dashed into the corridor after it. He saw its shadow turning the same corner Delphas always favored, and knew the beast was heading for the spiral staircase to the north tower. The hollow clattering sounds of claws on stone steps reached his ears as the creature headed for familiar ground.
Sinking back against the wall, he clutched at his robe and struggled to calm both his thundering heart and racing thoughts.
Soon another sound intruded, issuing from somewhere deep in the recesses of the castle. Jothan recognized it as the triumphant laughter of a woman—or, more likely, a witch.
Anger flared in him, fast and hot. “I will defeat you, Lady Ursell,” he shouted, raising his sword. “I will find a way to break your curse!”
Again the sound of mirth echoed through the labyrinth of stone. Refusing to acknowledge the fresh fear that rose in his gut, Jothan pushed forward and followed the path he assumed the creature had taken. Though his feet were bare, he padded up the stone steps without feeling either their roughness or the morning chill.
Once he reached the wall walk, he turned to gaze out over the forest as dawn unfurled above it. The tall trees shimmered as a chorus of birdsong brought the sleeping world back to life.
The gargoyle was there, perched in one of the largest pines, its great tail wrapped around the thick branch on which it crouched. Its cool black eyes met Jothan’s with a wounded expression that squeezed at his heart.
He started to call to the creature, but soon thought better of it. Let Delphas seek the safety of the forest and hide himself until he could become a man again, as he had been forced to do for so many years already. Let him hide his shame and his pain inside the hideous body he was doomed to inhabit by day. But it would not go on so forever.
The Baron's Gargoyle Page 4
