The Lost Duke

by Kristen Gupton

  Keiran slowly stood up, holding the weapon. He didn’t try to pull the blade from the sheath yet, thinking it was most likely frozen within and needing time to thaw. He turned and faced his companions, finding that they’d all moved up closer behind him.

  Father Beezle offered Keiran a nod before stepping around him to look down at Ilana. With the coffin opened and aired out for several minutes, he imagined it was safe enough to go closer. “Dear God, she’s incorruptible.”

  With that, Corina and Kanan also moved closer to look down at the dead queen. Corina gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth. While Kanan did his best to hide his reaction upon seeing her, the emotion that washed over him was strong enough for Keiran to pick up on.

  “Poor Ilana,” the old woman whispered, stunned by the state her long-dead friend was in. “I wish so badly she’d not died.”

  Kanan stood beside Corina and placed a hand on her shoulder. He’d cared for Ilana a great deal, too, and to see her still intact after so long struck an uncomfortable chord within him. “How can she still look like this after all these years?”

  Father Beezle sank to his knees, resting his hands on the edge of the coffin, leaning in closer. There was a tension in his gut as it looked like she might just move. “Absolutely perfect conditions, divine intervention, who can truly know but God?”

  “A little late for God to intervene in her affairs after she’s already dead,” Kanan said, sighing heavily. He squeezed Corina’s shoulder before letting his hand fall away from her and turning toward Keiran. “So, how does the sword look?”

  “On the outside, it’s beautiful,” he said.

  Keiran studied the ornately embossed sheath of the weapon. He ran a hand down its length, instantly struck by something. Despite the fact he’d just pulled it out of an ice-filled coffin, the sheath felt warm. He took a step back from Kanan and moved to pull the blade free, finding it slid out easily, not frozen at all.

  Even in the dim light of the church, the gold hue of the blade was readily obvious. It was nearly as thin as his rapier, and similar in length. Instead of a metal basketwork hand guard, however, it had a cross guard like a broadsword. It was an unusual weapon, and Keiran found himself smiling.

  The old guard standing by didn’t move to get any closer, remembering the unpleasant sensation of touching the blade long before. He’d forgotten exactly what it looked like over time and upon seeing it, realized it would be a decent fit for the young king. “It suits you well enough. Looks like it survived fine.”

  “Aye, it did,” he replied quietly, swinging it around slowly, feeling its balance point.

  Remembering the warnings he’d received about it, he resheathed it before long. Keiran had no desire to put his friends in any danger by exposing them to the weapon. Its strange warmth gave him all the warning he needed that it was unlike anything else and not to be used without great caution.

  With the sword safely stowed, he looked to see Corina and Father Beezle talking near the coffin still. He moved toward them, wondering what they were discussing. When they realized he was close, they turned to face him.

  Father Beezle looked up at the vampire and raised his brows. “So, do you wish us to proceed with a proper queen’s funeral for her?”

  Keiran gave a small nod, moving his gaze between the two of them. “I think it’s fitting. Corina, you knew her well, is it what she would have wanted?”

  The old woman looked up at Keiran, her eyes reddened from emotion. “She was a private woman, but she deserves better than being left out here alone in an abandoned graveyard.”

  He thought for a moment, biting the inside of his cheek. A grand public funeral might draw Athan’s attention, assuming they were to get away with what they’d already done. Ilana had probably never been out in the public eye, and so much time had passed that she’d probably been forgotten by those outside of the castle who were aware of her existence.

  “I think we should spare her further time out here and carry out her earned cremation,” Keiran said, looking down at his mother’s body again. He wanted to remember what she looked like, even under the macabre setting. “However, perhaps we should do it out here, privately. I wouldn’t want word of her exhumation getting out to the wrong ears and stirring suspicions.”

  Kanan moved toward Randall. “I’ll help you take care of it. It will take a good amount of time, given the ice around her. Keir, I’ll take you and Corina back to the castle. The longer all of us are missing from there, the sooner someone will begin to ask questions. I’m sure Thana is getting worried.”

  Though Keiran wanted to be there on some level for his mother’s sake after witnessing his father’s cremation, he knew it was an experience he could live without going through. Besides, the guard was right about them all missing and Thana’s probable concern.

  “It is a reasonable course of action,” he agreed. Keiran turned his eyes toward Father Beezle, offering up a smile. “I thank you for helping with all of this.”

  The aged priest simply smiled and waved them off. “There is nothing to thank me for. Now, off with the lot of you. I’ll start to gather up wood for the pyre and then await Kanan’s return.”

  * * *

  Thana paced the width of the throne room, having lost count after her fiftieth lap. She’d searched the castle from one end to the other, looking for Keiran. He tended to end his work day around the same time late every afternoon, and when he’d not come to find her by the time the sun had set, she’d grown concerned.

  She’d come to realize that not only Keiran was missing, but Corina was as well. While she knew Keiran had a past history of leaving unannounced, Corina wasn’t known to do so.

  Jerris entered the room, holding his hands out to his sides. “Well, I couldn’t find them, either. Interesting side note, my father also seems to be missing.”

  “Well, I suppose that should make me feel at least a little better,” she said, giving a half-frown to the redhead.

  “It does nothing for my ego. He’s never taken off without me before,” Jerris replied, going over toward the throne and sitting down in it without a second thought.

  Thana turned toward him, seeing the pout he wore. She rolled her eyes and went over, sitting in the queen’s throne, which had been brought into the room for her after the wedding. It had been rare she’d occupied it, feeling more at home working around the castle all day with the servants than sitting while Keiran legislated.

  “I’m certain they have their reasons for whatever it is they’ve gone off to do,” she said, toying with the long right sleeve of her dress, which she’d sewn closed to hide her missing hand.

  Jerris looked over at her. “Getting used to the left-handed way of life?”

  She gave him a sidelong glance. “It still pains me from time to time, though it’s healed outwardly. Some days, it feels like my hand is still there. It’s unsettling.”

  “Well, I think you’ve coped with it far better than anyone else would have,” he said.

  The young woman leaned forward and looked over at him, quirking a brow. “Did you just compliment me?”

  “I suppose I did,” he replied.

  Thana sat up straight again, taken aback. It might have just been a simple thing, but it wasn’t quite in Jerris’ nature. “I do suppose I thank you, then.”

  Keiran walked through the door, cutting off further conversation between Jerris and Thana. He gave a sheepish grin, realizing his absence had not gone unnoticed. “What is this? Have I been overthrown?”

  Thana got up and hopped down the stairs coming to a stop right before him. “It would serve you right if you had! We have looked everywhere for you! Where did you run off to?”

  “And why didn’t you take me?” Jerris added from where he still sat.

  Keiran felt a burn on his cheeks, and he looked to the side with a shrug. He wasn’t sure how much he should say about it, suffering some level of paranoia over Athan hearing them. Still, the elder vampire hadn’t yet intervened,
and if he’d been apprised of the situation, surely he would have already made his presence known.

  Thana crossed her arms over her chest and leaned closer toward the vampire. “Well?”

  “All right,” Keiran said, knowing he couldn’t keep it from these two. “Corina and Kanan took me somewhere private to tell me about my mother. Father Beezle was there as well. That is all.”

  Jerris got up and moved closer. “That’s it?”

  “Aye.”

  The young guard sighed and moved to walk from the room, already looking bored with it. “Certainly not as exciting as I’d hoped it would be. I have somewhere else I need to be. Goodnight.”

  Keiran and Thana turned to watch him go, and she spoke only when Jerris had disappeared from sight. “You hurt his feelings by not taking him, you know.”

  He sighed. “I knew it would, but it was something best done in private. You know how irreverent Jerris can be.”

  “Indeed I do,” she said. “Have you noticed him acting a bit odd lately?”

  Keiran quirked a brow and looked down at her. “I have. He’s had ‘somewhere to be’ quite often, lately. I don’t know what he’s up to. It’s gone on for several months now, and generally, he doesn’t disappear like this nightly for more than a week or two before he gets over whatever girl he’s been running off with.”

  Thana lowered her voice. “So, you think it’s a woman?”

  “Aye,” Keiran replied, nodding. “But if it’s been the same one for this long, it’s uncharacteristic of him by a long shot.”

  She thought about it for just a moment longer before deciding she didn’t care to dwell on it further. “Regardless, you finally found out what you wanted to know about your mother?”

  “Well, I know more, let’s just say,” he said, giving her a smile. “The history books about Aleria I was able to get for the castle library weren’t very helpful, and the story I was told tonight raised a good number of questions for me. Still, it’s more than I had to go on before.”

  Thana looked him over, knowing there was more to what had happened during his outing that he wasn’t telling her. The knees of his pants were marred with dried mud, his boots covered with it as well. The sword hanging on his belt was one she’d never seen before, either.

  “Where did that come from?” she asked, pointing at the weapon.

  He looked down, placing his right hand on the hilt. “This was a gift my mother left. Father Beezle held onto it since her death, and they gave it to me tonight.”

  Her eyes narrowed, and she turned her head away from him a little. He was still holding something back, but she knew him well enough to realize he was sometimes secretive. Then again, if it was something so sensitive that Corina, Kanan, and Randall had needed to take him away to tell him, then perhaps it wasn’t for her to know yet.

  Keiran caught her look and frowned a bit. “I know what you’re thinking, and when I get more of it figured out, I’ll clue you in. I still need to digest it a bit myself.”

  Thana took a long breath, looking at the sword again. “Well, all right. That is beautiful, though.”

  “They told me it has the power to harm vampires as though they were normal men,” he said, looking down as well. “However, simply being near the exposed blade supposedly is enough to make normal people ill.”

  With that, Thana took a quick step away from him and went a wide-eyed. “I’m hoping you have somewhere safe to store it, then.”

  He nodded, meeting her gaze. Keiran intended to keep it upstairs in the King’s Armory, where his forefather’s most prized weapons were all safely locked away. After Turis Lee’s death, he’d been given the only key. “Aye, and I think I should do that now.”

  “Then go on, so I don’t get poisoned by your new plaything,” she said with a laugh, shooing him off with a shake of her left hand.

  * * *

  Jerris made his way out into the courtyard of the castle and wandered to the large trough to the left of the main gate. The trough was fed with a constant stream of fresh water from the aqueduct that served the castle. It was used by the servants to do laundry. He sat on the edge of the trough and patiently waited.

  After Keiran’s decree ordering the freedom of the castle’s indentured servants, Corina had needed to hire some new workers to replace those who’d left. One of them had been a young woman by the name of Magretha Erskine. Widowed, but childless, at the age of only twenty-five, she’d come to the castle in desperate need of work. Corina had quickly been impressed with Magretha, and she’d been given a permanent job.

  The guard hadn’t been instantly attracted to Magretha. Dark haired and full figured, she wasn’t much at all like the fair, waif-like girls Jerris had usually pursued. However, Magretha’s jovial nature and infectious laugh had caught his attention in short order. Instead of being simply physically attracted for a short-lived fling, with Magretha, he’d developed a good friendship first. That had been his downfall.

  As their friendship had quickly grown, Jerris had experienced the unthinkable and fell in love.

  Shutting off the water to the wash-trough and emptying it had become Magretha’s last chore on her workdays. It was there where Jerris usually caught her on evenings he planned to escort her into Tordan Lea for drinks after work.

  When she finally appeared, Magretha offered him a kind smile before shutting off the water.

  “Jerris, are you waiting around for me again? It’s becoming something of a habit with you,” she said as she reached down into the water for the trough’s stopper.

  The redhead stood up and shrugged, trying to act calmer than she tended to make him feel. “I was wondering if you cared to go out tonight? I just happen to enjoy your company.”

  Her smile lingered as she straightened back up and shook the water from her arm. “Aye, and I enjoy it as well. However, I don’t quite feel up to going out tonight, sadly.”

  “Well, that’s all right,” he replied, trying to not look crestfallen.

  She stepped closer and patted him on the shoulder. “Tomorrow we can go if you like. I’m just a bit worn out today.”

  Jerris gave a nod and brought back up his smile. “All right, tomorrow night, then.”

  Magretha smiled again before turning to walk back into the castle, retreating toward her room for the evening.

  The young guard stood there alone for a while, debating what he was going to do. After a few minutes, he turned and moved back into the castle, heading off to find Keiran.

  * * *

  The vampire stepped out of the King’s Armory and nearly ran into Jerris. He quirked a brow, having thought his friend was gone for the night.

  “I need to talk to you about something,” Jerris said, his tone serious.

  He cocked his head to the side. “What of? I thought you left?”

  The redhead looked up and down the hall, seeing they were alone. “I intended to, but my plans have changed.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “I need your help with something, and I feel like an ass for approaching you about it, but you are the one with the experience in the area,” Jerris replied. “It’s about a woman.”

  Keiran let out a quick laugh, but cut it off when he saw that Jerris wasn’t amused. “That’s… I’m not certain how to take that. You’ve been the one with all the experience when it came to women, Jerris.”

  “Aye, I have gotten around, but this is different and an area where you, unfortunately, are the one with the greater knowledge.”

  The king’s curiosity was legitimately piqued. “How is that?”

  “When it comes to having an actual relationship, Keir, you have done so. Nothing I’ve ever been involved in has been remotely serious,” Jerris said, growing self-conscious.

  Keiran saw his friend’s changed posture and felt the awkwardness coming off of him. While it would have served Jerris right for him to have immediately set into berating him for this juxtaposition, he forced it back.

  “Are you sayin
g you actually have serious feelings for someone?” Keiran asked. “Whom?”

  Jerris felt his cheeks go hot and he looked down at the floor. “One of the women Corina hired after the indentured servants were freed.”

  Keiran leaned in a little closer and narrowed his eyes. “Which one?”

  “Magretha,” Jerris whispered.

  “Magretha?” the vampire repeated, straightening up and crossing his arms over his chest. She was a far cry from the women Jerris had generally pursued, and Keiran couldn’t help but feel that meant it was serious, indeed.

  “Aye, and while I have managed with women before her, with her, I’m absolutely terrified to do the wrong thing. In fact, she didn’t want to go out tonight as we have been doing, and it’s worried me.”

  “Did she give a reason?” Keiran asked.

  “She said she wasn’t up to it tonight, but she would like us to go out tomorrow,” Jerris said.

  “Then maybe she was just tired. Perhaps you’re worrying about nothing, but I do agree it can be nerve wracking.” Keiran offered up a smile.

  “But you got through it, and you and Thana seem to be doing well enough. While I know how to convince others for a tryst, how do I go about convincing Magretha I want something more permanent?” Jerris asked.

  “Are you saying you want to marry her?” Vampire or not, Keiran couldn’t read the feelings of others with enough clarity to know what was on his friend’s mind.

  “Aye, I think I do,” Jerris confessed.

  Keiran was silent for several seconds. While he’d been in the position of having to reassure Jerris their friendship wouldn’t change in light of him becoming king and marrying Thana, to now have the tables turned spiked some anxiety within Keiran. Still, he owed it to Jerris to give him as much help as he could offer under the circumstances.

  “She either feels the same way, or she doesn’t. There’s not much you can do about it, and if she does, it becomes simple enough,” Keiran said. “All you can do is ask. I can say I never would have imagined she’d be the one.”

  Jerris nodded at his words then shrugged. “Aye, I suppose you’re right. But there’s something just so genuine about her. She laughs at me, but not in a condescending way. There’s so much happiness in her, despite what life has put her through. I suppose I can’t really describe it and not sound insane.”