She was afraid, and she was turning to him for help. To be her protector.
And he would.
From vampires. From Oskelesian mercenaries. Even from another Knight of Valor.
Marcus slid his arms around her. “I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
Brelynn exhaled as she laid her head against chest. “Even if you don’t believe me, thank you.”
He stroked her hair as the warmth of her seeped into him and strengthened his resolve. “I will always protect you.”
She hugged him. “We should get some rest while we can. I doubt he’ll confront you directly, but he can’t let you leave. I figure he’ll try to poison us at supper.”
“We must be careful what we eat, just in case you’re right.”
“Only eat what he does and stick to watered wine and bread if in doubt.” Brelynn kissed Marcus’s cheek. “Thank you for listening to me.”
Marcus touched his cheek as she climbed into bed and her golden hair spread across the pillow.
His chest squeezed as a slew of strange and conflicting emotions assaulted him. He wanted to protect Brelynn, to safeguard her, but he also wanted her to kiss him again. He wanted to erase her fear and earn her smile. And if Silas had broken his vows to the Knights of Valor… Anger, hot and bright burned through Sir Marcus.
He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing.
Maybe it had been better when he hadn’t been able to feel anything.
Chapter 31
Marcus lay beside Brelynn on the large bed, and neither interrupted the silence. Despite the comfortable bed, the quiet room, and how tired he was, Sir Marcus couldn’t sleep.
Brelynn’s words unsettled him, but the truth behind them taunted him more.
He replayed the events of the afternoon through his mind over and over again, but he kept coming back to the same explanation for Silas’s behavior.
Silas was a fraud.
Dracor would not bless a man that forgot his vows. A man that couldn’t sense the darkness in Three Rivers. The Dragon God wouldn’t bless a man who’d done nothing about Three Rivers after learning about it.
Brelynn was right.
Silas wasn’t a Knight of Valor, but he was posing as one.
He was blaspheming Dracor and defaming the Knights of Valor.
He was sullying everything Marcus had fought so hard for, and what good men Marcus had called friends had died for.
What Marcus’s own father had died for.
Sir Marcus closed his eyes and swallowed back the bitter taste in his mouth. He had to report the suspected transgression and see justice done.
King Eli would be angry at the delay in getting Brelynn to Aerius, but there was no other choice. Sir Marcus’s commitment to the gods came before his earthly promises.
And he would still get Brelynn to Aerius, just not as quickly as he’d planned.
A tickle of magic snapped at him and broke his thoughts.
“It’s not me,” Brelynn whispered.
“I know. Your magic feels different. Warm.”
She said nothing as she inched closer to him. The cold of the spell whispered over her, and she shivered. Wrapping his arm around her, Marcus eased Brelynn against him as he closed his other hand around his sword hilt.
The spell touched him and evaporated.
“It’s gone,” he said.
“It didn’t like you.”
He frowned, but she was right. Yet it didn’t have the same resonance as the spell they’d felt before Ducard and his men had attacked. “Calmont?”
Brelynn shook her head. “He’s not a mage, and it would be a lot stronger if Arch-Grimveldt Korvar were casting it. Like before Ducard found us. But Silas isn’t a mage, so I’m not sure.”
“The necromancer that destroyed Three Rivers?”
Brelynn shuddered. “Maybe not as gone as Silas said.”
A knock at the door silenced them.
“Dinner is ready,” the maid called.
Brelynn sucked in a breath. “We’ll be right there.”
Marcus listened to the maid’s receding footsteps before standing and pulling Brelynn’s arm through his. “Stay close, okay?”
“You don’t have to ask me again.”
Marcus withdrew a vial from his cloak, cracked it open, and pulled out a sheet of glowing paper. He tore it in two, and the paper disappeared.
“What was that?”
“A request for help in case Silas tricks us.” Without thinking, Marcus dropped his hand to his sword hilt. “I don’t think he’s a Knight of Valor, but I don’t have proof. I’ve never faced this before, and I’m not sure what to do.”
“Go along with him for now, and we’ll look for proof tonight.”
Brelynn slid her arm through Marcus’s, and the two headed down to greet Silas.
Sir Marcus tightened his hold on her.
He’d protect Brelynn and see justice done. Silas would answer for Three Rivers, for defiling the Knights of Valor, and for bringing the darkness to Tamryn Marcus fought so hard to eradicate.
Chapter 32
Relief flooded Brelynn despite the false Knight waiting for them.
She hadn’t wanted to hurt Sir Marcus, hadn’t wanted to darken the Knights of Valor in his eyes, but they both needed to be wary. Their host hadn’t expected a real Knight of Valor to appear in the tiny village, and if he was as corrupt as Brelynn suspected, he couldn’t allow her or Sir Marcus to leave alive.
She tightened her hold on Sir Marcus’s arm.
Brelynn would not let a false Knight kill her lich slayer. Marcus deserved better. He deserved to go home and bask in those accolades.
Burying the thoughts, Brelynn plastered a smile on her face and followed the maid downstairs to the dining room.
Silas greeted them and seated Sir Marcus on his right and Brelynn on his left. Pretending as if nothing was out of the ordinary, Silas regaled them with amusing stories and anecdotes as a parade of footmen served rich and sumptuous dishes.
Sir Marcus said little, but Brelynn played along, laughing at Silas’s stories while she picked at her food and ate only what she saw Silas eat. Sir Marcus did the same.
Brelynn asked Silas about his time in the Knights, his family, and how long he’d been stationed in this part of Aerius. All standard, innocuous questions.
All he avoided answering.
Finally, the last course was served. The decadent chocolate cake was a feast onto itself, and Brelynn stared at the piece in front of her then over at Sir Marcus. “Too bad your vows forbid Knights chocolate,” she said as Silas had a bite half-way to his mouth. “I suppose I should be polite and not eat this in front of the two of you even though it looks amazing.”
Sir Marcus tensed and pushed back his plate. “Too much rich food will unsettle your stomach.”
Not a lie, Brelynn noticed. She pushed away her cake as Silas dropped his fork.
“We should rest. It’s a long way to Aerius,” Sir Marcus said, his voice flat.
Silas fisted his hand around his glass but offered no objections as Marcus escorted Brelynn out of the dining room and back upstairs to the guest rooms.
He closed the door and blew out a breath. “Silas is a fraud.”
“We already knew that.” Brelynn glanced towards the window. “And he’s not doing a very good job of hiding it.”
Sir Marcus touched her shoulder. “You were right about everything. I’m taking him into custody, but I want you safe up here when I do.”
Brelynn let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and took his hands in hers. “I’m sorry about this. All of it.”
“Me too.” Marcus tightened his hands around hers, and his voice hardened. “But we’ll see justice done. For the gods. The people of Tamryn. And for Three Rivers.”
There was Sir Marcus’s righteous anger, the kind she felt to her marrow, but she didn’t have sympathy for Silas. He deserved whatever punishment the Knights of Valor deemed appropriate.
Sir Marcus drew his sword. White fire shot down its blade and illuminated him with its light.
Her chest tightened. She didn’t want him to go, didn’t want him to face Silas. Not because she thought Silas or even the necromancer that had destroyed Three Rivers was a threat to him.
But because she didn’t want Sir Marcus to face the pain of Silas’s betrayal alone.
Because she wanted to be there for him as he had been for her.
Stupid, yes. Foolish, yes. But both applied to her where Sir Marcus Valerian was concerned.
The Twins had cursed her completely and totally.
Brelynn touched a hand to his cheek. “Please be careful.”
Chapter 33
Marcus laid a gauntleted hand over hers, and his breath caught in his throat. She was scared, but she trusted him.
He wouldn’t disappoint her.
As he turned toward the door, a sound from below caught his attention.
Marcus strode over to the window and watched Silas gallop out of the stables on one of his horses.
“Going for backup,” Brelynn murmured as she stood beside Marcus. “He knows he can’t stop you alone.”
Marcus closed his eyes and held her, breathing in the soft scent of lilacs. Her touch quieted his anger but strengthened his resolve to see justice done.
She deserved Tamryn to reflect the light of the gods.
Brelynn nodded toward the window. “He was traveling light. I bet he’s coming back. Probably with a mage.”
“The source of the spell we noticed earlier.”
“My guess is he’s working with whoever destroyed Three Rivers.” She motioned to the crystal and gold vase on the bedside table. “Might want to investigate his business dealings. He has to be up to something to afford the stuff in this house.”
“Think he’d be arrogant enough to leave proof in his study?”
“Think he was expecting the Great Lich Slayer to arrive at his front door?”
Marcus grimaced, then hefted his shield and led Brelynn downstairs to the study.
The room reeked of cigar smoke, but otherwise, it resembled the rest of the house, and Silas had crammed it with just as many expensive furnishings.
Sir Marcus shook his head. He’d never comprehend how a man could turn his back on the Holy Trinity, much less do it for material goods. But he’d seen it too enough.
Marcus sat down at Silas’s desk as Brelynn cast a magical lock on the door. He tugged on the drawers, but they were locked. Brelynn opened them with a quick spell, and he pulled out several leather-bound ledgers and stacks of correspondence. She sorted through the piles of documents, and Marcus turned his attention to the ledgers.
His brows furrowed as he studied the rows of numbers. By the gods, he wished his aunt or cousin were there. Both would have quickly made sense of the jumble.
But they weren’t, and though his aunt had started teaching him things he’d need to run his own lands, the columns of numbers hurt his head more than the shrieks of a banshee.
At least he knew how to deal with a banshee.
Brelynn unfolded a thick piece of parchment stamped with the royal seal. She frowned as she took one of the newer ledgers and scanned the entries.
“Find something?”
“Silas paid taxes to the crown for Three Rivers recently.” She handed him the parchment and pointed to the corresponding entry. “Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s hiding it.” Marcus studied the tax records. “If he marked an entire village dead, the Knights of Valor and the Crown would be here asking a lot of questions.”
“He pretends they’re alive to keep real Knights from checking up on him.”
“That’s expensive. He shouldn’t be able to afford the taxes of an entire village. As my Aunt Matty would say, follow the money.” Marcus took the ledger. “If only that were as easy as she made it sound.”
“That’s the aunt that took over running your lands when your mother died?”
“Yes, and I wish she were here now. She makes looking after the books seem easy.”
“Interesting talent for a Knight of Valor’s wife.”
“My Aunt Matty’s father was a viscount. She married an earl, not a Knight of Valor. She’s very practical. You’d like her,” Marcus said, his words distant as he tried to remember everything his aunt had taught him.
Silence stretched as he studied the rows and columns of numbers. Memorizing a book of litanies was easier than figuring out everything that was happening, but he did know one thing. There were far too many entries for the books to belong to a lord. Rather than being concentrated around planting and harvest time, the flurry of numbers never ceased.
Much closer to a merchant’s books than a lord’s. A merchant with a lot of cargo.
Marcus rubbed his eyes and handed Brelynn the thick ledgers.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“He has a lot of entries recording goods coming and going. Too many.”
“Sounds like some sort of cargo business. Odd this far away from any major cities.”
“Unless I’m reading the ledgers wrong, but it looks like he’s transporting goods even in the middle of winter.”
Brelynn paused. “Could he be smuggling contraband into Tamryn?”
“But the flow appears to be going the other way. Stuff coming here from Aerius then moving on, though I can’t be sure.”
“I’d guess he was smuggling out of Tamryn, but where’s he smuggling it to?”
Marcus frowned as he thought of the lands to the southeast of Tamryn. He’d seen plenty of maps during his travels, some more accurate than others. But they all agreed that the only city of any size in that area was Oskelez.
He drummed his fingers on the ledger. “I can’t think of anything you can get in Tamryn that you’d want in Oskelez.”
“I’m sure Tamryn has something Oskelesians would pay for, just not sure what would be worth the risk to Silas.”
“According to the ledgers, he took receipt of cargo a few days ago.” Marcus gathered up the books and tossed them in his pack.
If Silas was smuggling, people far smarter than him could figure out who Silas was working with using the ledgers. And Marcus wanted more than just the false Knight. He wanted all of Silas’s accomplices.
Brelynn glanced toward the out buildings that surrounded the house. They were all freshly painted, in perfect repair, and none had windows.
Marcus followed her gaze. “If he’s got it, it’s out there.”
“We’re going to go look, aren’t we?”
“If there’s evidence, I want it.”
She touched his shoulder. “You might not like what you find.”
“I need proof for Three Rivers to get justice. Silas will face the consequences for impersonating a Knight of Valor, but the light of Dracor must shine on any who were involved.”
“Then we proceed carefully. A necromancer destroyed Three Rivers, and I think he’s still nearby.”
Marcus sucked in a breath. “I don’t know if it’s more dangerous for you to investigate with me or stay here at the house.”
“I don’t want to get caught alone if a powerful and trained necromancer comes back with Silas.”
“Good point. We go to together.”
“There are a few things I learned about getting into places I wasn’t supposed to go. First, we’ll need an invisibility spell.” She called forth her magic and touched a hand to his chest then to hers.
While she disappeared, he didn’t.
Marcus grinned. “Immune to magic, remember? The first time in my life that’s been an issue.”
“Right. Immune to magic.” She tapped the desk as she thought. “I’ll use an invisibility bubble on me that you’ll need to stay inside of. Not as useful as it’s much easier to tell it’s there, but better than nothing. I’ll add a sound dampener to it. Your armor isn’t stealthy.”
After Brelynn cast the spells, Marcus led her out to the y
ard behind the house. “I’m not seeing any of the maids or footmen.”
“They probably left when Silas did. He either killed a whole village or stood back and let it happen. Not a far leap from that to drugging a Knight of Valor and dropping him in the river. Even the Great Lich Slayer.”
Marcus pondered her words and realized that could’ve been his fate. He’d been so careful in the lich’s lands, but now that he was home, he’d lowered his guard. It had almost cost him his life.
He squeezed Brelynn’s hand. “Thank you for staying alert. Saved me from whatever the barkeeper put in our drinks.”
“Glad I could help. Just wish I didn’t have to.”
“Me, too.”
Brelynn linked her fingers with his, and they walked together to the closest building. Marcus rattled the lock, and Brelynn touched a finger to it. The lock sprung open.
“You are skilled at getting into places you’re not supposed to be.”
“It’s how I learned what Mokkar Calmont had planned for me. Besides, if you want to keep a mage out, you have to do a lot better than a basic lock.”
Marcus pushed open the door, and they entered.
The interior of the building was dark and smelled of sawdust. Brelynn conjured a magelight to let them see, and row after row of dried grains sealed and packaged for transport greeted them. Everything was neatly stacked, labeled, and organized.
Marcus frowned. The packaging on the foodstuffs was unusual, but the foodstuffs themselves weren’t if it was as bad of a harvest as Silas had said. Marcus’s frown deepened when he cut open a couple of the containers and the stuff that spilled out was exactly what was on the label.
He walked with Brelynn up and down the rows, but it was simply more foodstuffs.
The next building was the same.
“Perhaps we’re wrong about smuggling,” Marcus conceded as they walked to the last building.
“We’re not wrong,” Brelynn said. “Did you notice everything was packaged for transport like it needed to be protected from water? Perhaps destined for a trip through a swamp?”
Knight of Valor: Knights of Valor Page 13
