“She was still unconscious when I left. She took a brutal fall. I followed one of the bandits to Deepwater, and although it is purely hearsay and my word against Lord Aaron’s, Deepwater knew. I swear they were involved.” Jerrol paused, but Garrick remained silent. “I know you need to escort Lord Hugh home, but if it’s your desire, I swear I will protect Lady Alyssa until you are available to escort her home.”
Jerrol waited as Garrick stared blindly across the field. “I will accept your oath, Captain Haven.” His face tightened in anguish. “I appreciate and honour the support of Stoneford Keep and the King’s Rangers, even though the new regime may not continue that in the future. I will return to escort Lady Alyssa as soon as I am able. For now, she is safe, and I have the fallen to honour.”
Jerrol bowed. “I will await you at Stoneford.” Jerrol turned away as a column of flatbed carts arrived to take up the fallen soldiers. Captain Bryce stepped forward, rapping out orders to his men to assist in the horrible job of moving the bodies to the carts in preparation for the journey home.
Jerrol jerked his head at Jennery and Birlerion to draw them away. “We can’t help any further here. I need a horse; mine has had it.”
“The horses are over here.” Birlerion led the way towards the picket line, where Jerrol selected a horse that looked in better shape than his last poor mount, tiredly heaved himself up into the saddle and led the way from the battlefield.
Chapter 20
Stoneford Keep, Stoneford Watch
Night had descended by the time they reached Stoneford and clattered into the keep’s courtyard. Lord Jason met them as they dismounted. Stable boys dashed to take the reins and lead the horses away. He noted their strained faces and sent them off to freshen up with instructions to meet him in the hall as soon as they could.
Jerrol gazed longingly at the bed but stripped off his filthy clothes and washed in the warm water waiting for him. His side was twinging a warning as he carefully dressed in the clean clothes, leaving the bandages untouched. He stamped into his still muddy boots as his clothes shimmered into his uniform of Lady’s green. He grinned. The Lady was stubborn.
“Jerrol? Are you back then? It would be nice to know you’re alright!” Zin’talia’s peevish voice intruded on his thoughts, and he veered out towards the stables to reassure her that he was fine. Hugging her silky neck, he breathed in her musky scent, as she did the same, huffing in disapproval. “That’s the last time I let anyone else ride me. I’m supposed to be with you.”
“I didn’t mean to leave you,” he said as he leaned into her warmth. “Jason is waiting for me. I’ll come back later.” He reluctantly pushed himself away and headed into the hall.
“You’d better.” Her voice followed him.
Jason was seated at a table loaded with food for three hungry men. Jerrol was still the first to arrive, even with his detour, and he carefully sat opposite him.
“Are you alright?” Jason watched his stiff movements in concern.
“We got jumped last night – was it last night? I’m losing track! All this strenuous activity today hasn’t helped it.” Jerrol reached for the bread and cheese. He was suddenly starving. “How is our patient?” he asked around a mouthful of food.
“Tyrone is keeping her quiet. She came around about an hour ago, but he won’t let her talk yet. Hannah is sitting with her. She knows about Lord Hugh; she saw him fall after all.” He pursed his lips. “Bryce managing alright?”
“Having the time of his life. I think he might have a few words when he returns. He wasn’t too happy with the politics of his situation. I think Birlerion can explain more. He was there when Lord Aaron arrived.”
Jason winced. “I can imagine. What a mess!”
“What’s worse is that our ambushers originated from Deepwater, and I overheard the young lord and his men discussing the ambush. They were in on it. Deliberately attacking a neighbouring Lord Holder while he was still under their hospitality. Not that anyone is going to believe a disgraced ranger against the word of the Lord Holder, but still, the rot goes deep.” Jerrol took another bite and chewed slowly as Jennery and Birlerion entered the room and joined them. “Two key holds without a Guardian. Aaron didn’t take up the mantle, and the word is Simeon won’t either.”
Jason’s face blanched. “That is not good news; if there is no Guardian the land will fail. Once the land starts sickening the people will begin to suffer.”
“I wonder if that is the intent. If someone wants to overthrow the current ruler, causing civil unrest would do the trick, don’t you think? And that someone riding to the rescue while the current ruler is distracted and ill?
“Both Greenswatch and Deepwater had their councils recently infiltrated by new players encouraging them to promote council rule over the King and Lady. Lord Hugh was so concerned at Aaron’s confirmation that he agreed to new protocols with the other lords. Garrick was talking about protecting from within. I think we may even have contention within the holds as well.”
Jerrol frowned in thought; he shifted awkwardly as a spike of pain flashed through his side. His ribs burned and, to be honest, he hadn’t checked under the bandages when possibly he ought to have; maybe he had overdone it. His stomach roiled as he eyed the food on his plate. “Jennery, share what you found at the Grove,” he said, as he surreptitiously wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Birlerion peered at him. “Captain? Are you alright? Have you done yourself more harm?”
Jerrol reached under his shirt and came out with a reddened hand, just as Healer Tyrone entered the hall. Tyrone hustled Jerrol out of the room, complaining under his breath about idiot Rangers. He marched him to the infirmary, leaving Jennery and Birlerion to explain everything to Jason.
Jerrol was confined to the infirmary. His wound was painfully restitched, and Tyrone warned of infection. With his foster mother, Hannah, frowning over him in concern, Jerrol stopped arguing. He drank the disgusting potions Tyrone was forcing on him and carefully lay down. Closing his eyes, he caught up on some sleep. It made a change to leave the problems to someone else.
The next morning, he was unable to get Tyrone to release him. Lady Alyssa was still asleep in the bed next to him, a screen separating them. He lay in bed, musing over the incidents in the Watches. Events were happening too fast for it not to be coordinated. He was worried about the King; that last audience with him was even more concerning.
For the King to defer to Prince Kharel was unheard of, yet, as soon as Kharel had entered the room and spoken, the King had stopped mid-sentence, even though he had been talking about oaths, the King’s Oath. There had been that resounding crack that echoed across the throne room before fading to silence.
He was also annoyed about the Prince confiscating his sword. The King himself had presented it to Jerrol on the conclusion of one of his shadier missions out of Terolia that he wasn’t supposed to talk about. He had liked that sword. It took time to train a sword to your hand and that one had been coming along nicely.
His thoughts circled back to the Watches. Who would gain the most by killing off Guardians and destabilising the Watches? Why was it so important to remove him from the equation? What had he been doing that had made him a target? He was only one of many Rangers the King could call on. It was true the King did have a preference for using him, but that only meant he got the difficult jobs.
In return, Jerrol had set up some pretty strict protocols around the King which he knew had caused issues with both the Chancellor and Prince Kharel. Jerrol grinned viciously; they would find them difficult to overcome. Good. Maybe he had been a thorn in their side, and they had decided it was simpler to remove him.
The evening was drawing in when Jerrol caught Tyrone for a last plea. “I’ve rested long enough. Give me my clothes, Tyrone, and let me out of here.” The inactivity was driving Jerrol mad.
“You’ll have rested when I say you have.” Tyrone wasn’t giving in. “Give your body a chance to heal. As soon as you get up,
you’ll be tearing off somewhere, and doing more damage.”
“I’ll be careful. I promise.”
They were interrupted by Alyssa’s pale face peering around the screen. “Captain Haven?” she asked, tugging her blanket more tightly. “I understand I have you to thank for my rescue.”
Jerrol stopped mid-complaint and glared at Tyrone before smoothing his face and smiling at Alyssa. “Call me Jerrol, please, and it wasn’t just me,” he said, waving his hand in the air. “Birlerion helped too.”
“I feel terrible that you were hurt saving me. I don’t remember much after I fell off Firefly. Do you know if she is alright?” she asked, her face tightening in concern.
“I expect she’s fine. I bet she’s munching her way through Lord Jason’s feed supplies, and anyway, my condition isn’t anything to do with you. I picked this up before we came across you. I just overdid it,” Jerrol said while Tyrone snorted in disdain and walked away. “Honestly, this...” and he indicated the bandages around his chest, “was nothing to do with you.”
Alyssa’s eyes filled with tears. “So many people killed to protect me,” she whispered as if he hadn’t spoken.
“They were there to protect you, that was their job. They died with honour. I swear by the Lady, my injuries were not caused by you. In fact,” he said ruefully, “you can confirm it with Silene. Though please not when I am in the same room; she will be very upset with me seeing as she stitched me up in the first place!”
“Silene? You know Silene?”
“Yes, we stayed with her and her husband, Reese...” Jerrol fell silent as he counted back: no wonder he was exhausted! “Two nights ago. We were on our way to visit your father when we got caught out in the storm, and they kindly offered us shelter for the night.”
“Oh,” she said, closing her eyes. “But you were on the field. I’m sure I saw you and your friend amongst all the bodies.” She shuddered as her face paled.
“What made Lord Hugh leave the main road, do you know?” Jerrol tried to distract her from her recent horrors. She looked young and vulnerable perched on the chair next to him with her auburn curls shoved behind her ears, and her brown eyes large in her unnaturally pale face. She should be the one lying down, not him.
“I’m not sure; there was a shout from the front of the column and the guards in front charged off. I think everyone else just followed.”
Jerrol nodded to himself: straight into the ambush. He shifted, trying to get comfortable. “How are you feeling?”
Alyssa’s shoulders drooped. “I just want to sleep all the time, and I keep seeing things.”
“What things?” She had taken the Guardianship after all. She probably didn’t know.
“You’ll laugh.”
“I see things all the time, so no, I won’t laugh. Let me tell you what I see. You can tell me if you’ve seen it too.” Jerrol gestured at the end of his bed. “I can currently see a small black and brown fluffy creature that looks like a kitten, but has a forked tail and reptilian wings, sitting on the end of my bed staring at me with big green eyes. How about you?”
Alyssa gasped in relief, holding her hands up to her face. “You can see it too? I thought I was going mad! No one else has mentioned it.”
“That’s because they can’t see him; he is an Arifel. A not so mythical creature of the Lady’s. Only the Lady’s Guardians can see him unless the Arifel decides he wants to be seen by others, which doesn’t happen very often.
“And you can see him,” he said, watching her, “because you are currently hosting the Greenswatch Guardianship, which jumped to you when your father died. And I fear it will stay with you, as I am hearing it is unlikely your brother will pick up the mantle and claim the Guardianship, much as Lord Aaron has done.”
Alyssa dropped her hands in shock. “What? How do you know?”
“Well, first because you can see Ari.” Jerrol coaxed the little creature up the bed and scooped him up, dropping him in Alyssa’s hands, where Ari made himself comfortable, crooning gently. Alyssa’s lips quirked up in response as she gently stroked his soft fur in amazement. “He has been watching over you while you have been asleep. And secondly, because I felt it when I touched you.”
“What do you mean, you felt it?”
Jerrol glanced around the infirmary. It was so quiet that Tyrone’s voice filtered in from the corridor. “It’s not common knowledge, and I would prefer to keep it that way,” Jerrol warned, easing himself up on the pillows, “but I am the Lady’s Captain. Apparently, Ari here appeared because she made me her Captain.” The Arifel cheeped in agreement.
Alyssa sat stunned. “B-but, there hasn’t been a Lady’s Captain since the Lady cracked the stone!”
“So I understand, yet here I am.”
Alyssa reached out tentatively and touched his arm; the jolt zinged through her, as it did Jerrol. She petted Ari as he stirred in protest, smiling into his fur. She raised shining eyes. “What am I supposed to do?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted, “though I would recommend you keep it to yourself for now. Although some of the other Guardianships follow the female line, I’m not aware of a Watch Guardianship ever being passed outside of the male line before. Silene might be a good source of information. She might know more.” He sighed. “I am sorry, Lady Alyssa, but I don’t think you should trust Lord Aaron or your brother with this information, nor anyone else to be honest. If at the Hold confirmation your brother accepts the Lady’s protection, he’ll take up the Guardianship; if not, it will stay with you.”
“Call me, Alyssa, please. I will look after it, don’t you worry about that. Lady is my witness,” she vowed. The Lady’s acknowledgement resonated deep in his bones, and in Alyssa’s, too, judging by her widening eyes.
“Witnessed,” Jerrol said with a wry smile.
The Arifel popped out of sight as Tyrone returned. “You, young lady, back to bed. You’ve been up long enough.” Observing Alyssa’s improved colour, he turned a surprisingly approving gaze on Jerrol. “And you don’t move until I tell you so, not until tomorrow, hear me?” he said with a firm nod.
Jerrol grimaced at Tyrone, but lay back down, feeling the hum of agreement from Zin’talia in the back of his mind. Two nursemaids were ganging up on him! At least she had gotten over her resentment with him for leaving her behind. He drifted off, comforted by her presence.
Jerrol woke early the next day, and after a somewhat heated but low-voiced discussion to avoid waking up Lady Alyssa, he managed to get his clothes back and got dressed. Tyrone, surprised that he had kept Jerrol confined for so long, had given in gracefully. He listed the things he forbade Jerrol to do for the next two days, knowing that it was a hopeless cause. Jerrol airily agreed to all and fled the infirmary.
He was crossing the courtyard as a very weary Captain Bryce and his men trailed in, grubby and exhausted. Even his horse was drooping. Jerrol paused by Bryce’s horse, holding his bridle. “What are you doing here? Didn’t Greenswatch offer their hospitality?”
Bryce looked down at him; the dust and grime coating his face made him look older. “Garrick did, but the young master was not so inclined. He was berating Garrick for not bringing his sister home, and he dispatched us to get her. He would not allow us to stay while his sister was missing.”
Jerrol was horrified. These men had been up for over forty-eight hours straight with little relief from the heart-breaking job of clearing a battlefield of friend and foe alike, only then to travel back from Greenswatch on top of that. “Food or bath first?” he asked.
“Bath,” Bryce grunted as he dismounted with a heartfelt groan. “Though there are some things that you can’t just wash off.”
Jerrol glanced around the courtyard; lads had been roused and were leading off the exhausted horses. Bryce ordered his men to bathe and eat. They were off duty until further notice. The men saluted in relief and dispersed before he could change his mind.
“Go on.” Jerrol jerked his head towards the officer’s b
arracks and took the reins. “I’ll take your horse. I’ll meet you in the hall.” Bryce untied his saddlebags before slowly turning away, leaving Jerrol to lead his horse to the stables.
Jerrol led the road-begrimed horse through the archway into the inner courtyard and the stable blocks fanning out around it. A small lad popped up beside him. “I’ll take him, sir, I’ll see to old Sooty,” he said with an affectionate rub of the horse’s nose. Jerrol relinquished the reins and turned to greet Zin’talia, who was bombarding him with affection. He hugged her. “Enough! Anyone would think I’ve been gone a year instead of a day!”
He smoothed a hand down her silky neck; she was looking pristine and full of energy. “Hmm, no gallops for me today, maybe tomorrow, hey? One of the lads can take you through your paces, or shall I turn you out to pasture?” She flashed her eyes at him and shook her head. “Okay, why don’t you go for a run.” He led her down to the training field, where he released her. Leaning against the wooden rails, he watched her gallop away, frisking all the way, her tail flowing behind her.
He smiled in pleasure at her pleasure as she danced her way back up the field and pirouetted before him. “Now you’re showing off,” he said as he realised they had gathered an audience of lads, young and old, gazing adoringly at her.
Jerrol caught the eye of the stable master as he walked across the yard towards him. “Now she is a real beauty, and she knows it.” The stable master’s eyes followed Zin’talia as she frisked away like a young colt. “But,” he said glaring at the lads, “we have some exhausted horses here who deserve just as much attention if not more, so off with the lot of you,” he barked, scattering the lads back to their duties.
Chapter 21
Stoneford Keep, Stoneford Watch
Jerrol turned back towards the hall, leaving Zin’talia to play, her touch a light and carefree but reassuring presence, the stable master walking with him. “There was a bay mare in the picket, she was from the hostelry outside of Deepwater. I borrowed her the other day; my mount had run out of steam, she ought to be returned.”
Sentinals Awaken: Book One of the Sentinals Series Page 17
