by James Dale
“When you found me at the Inn of Two Fountains,” Anna continued. “I learned my escaped pirate truly loved me as well. And I now I have learned against all hope, my dream has come true because...because..."
"Because what?" Jack asked quietly, no longer able to resist.
"Because I want to spend the rest of my life with him. And I also want him to kiss me again, this instant," Anna smiled. "Or I will have Theros renounce his pardon so I can throw him back into the Tower myself."
"Hmmm...Kiss you or get thrown back in the Tower? A difficult choice," Braedan grinned.
"Jack Braedan..." Einnael warned quietly.
Jack chose it ignore the stern Horsemaiden and kissed the woman he loved.
"Jack," Anna sighed, leaning against him, "there is something else we need to discuss."
"Yes," Jack whispered into her hair.
"There is something you must do for me," Anna began, stepping from his embrace. "If you love me."
"I will do anything for you, my princess."
"If you love me, if you wish to...I mean, if you want..."
"Of course, I do," Jack smiled, and he dropped to one knee. He hadn't really thought this far ahead. But it was the logical conclusion of his love. Though this wasn't the perfect place or time, if she needed him to ask now, he would do anything to please her. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Annawyn Ellgereth, I love you more than life itself. Will you..."
"Jack! Stop!" the princess gasped, realizing what he intended to do. "You cannot!"
"I can't ask you..." Jack was confused.
"You cannot ask me to marry you!" Anna cried, tears forming in her sea green eyes. "Not now!"
"Why...Anna, I thought this is what you wanted?" he asked, pleading, almost begging.
"I do Jack!" she nodded, collapsing to her knees in front of him. "With all my heart. But you...you cannot ask me! I am engaged to Kiathan."
"Were engaged. But surely now you know what he is, now that everyone knows he what he is...Morgan!" Jack shouted.
The Duke of Dorshev was at his side in an instant. He, like most everyone in the gathered company, had watched in astonishment as the Val'anna had bowed to him. And like everyone else, had been furtively watching the exchange between the Heir of Ljmarn and the Princess of Doridan.
"High Prince?" asked the duke.
"Duke Morgan," Jack said, "I want to ask Annawyn to marry me. I know this is sudden but..."
"You cannot Jack Braedan," the Duke of Dorshev said sadly.
"I'm not a pirate anymore!" Jack argued fiercely. "I am…I am the Swordmaster of Aralon! I am the flaming Heir of Ljmarn Bra’ Adan! And we love each other!"
"Jack, please understand," Anna begged. "I am engaged!"
"To a traitor and a murderer and..."
"High Prince, let me explain," Morgan interrupted quickly. "Kiathan Ellgaer, traitor though he may be...is the chosen of suitor of the Princess of Doridan; chosen by her father, King of Doridan. Named as heir by Ellgenn and confirmed by the High Council of Dorshev. While he lives, he and Annawyn are as good as wed."
"Then he is as good as dead," Jack vowed.
"Not by your hand," Morgan replied. "If you kill him, by Doridanian law, you cannot wed Annawyn. It is an ancient law, but it is still the law."
"Let me get this straight," Jack said. "If I'd killed Kiathan this morning then I would not have been allowed...wait, that's why you stopped me?" he asked, turning to the princess.
"I stopped you because I want my dream to come true," Anna nodded. "He cannot die by your hand. Or by your will."
"Christ on a crutch," Jack sighed. "I've sent an ambush to..."
"High Prince," Morgan continued, "this morning you offered the service of your volunteers to me, the Duke of Dorshev. I gave command of those men to Malik Gamrin. Your plan may indeed result in Kiathan coming to a just end, but even should the matter be argued before the High Council, you will be far enough removed to satisfy the letter of the law. A small point perhaps," the duke shrugged, "but then, the rule of law, especially Doridanian law, is built upon small points."
"Then I guess I better pray Lukas doesn't...Never mind," Jack sighed. "I probably shouldn't even say it."
"And if...he does Jack," Annawyn said, "should Kiathan come under your hand, you must not kill him."
"And if he escapes? I mean completely. If he doesn't go to Dorshev at all?"
“I will hunt him down and kill him myself,” Captain Einnael volunteered unexpectedly.
"If he escapes,” Anna replied, looking at her captain curiously. “Then the one thing I wish to hear you ask of me above all else you cannot. Not until the High Council absolves my engagement to Kiathan."
"The same High Council who said it was okay for Kiathan to crucify me?" Jack asked bitterly. "And if they say no, and I kill them all? Will that be against the letter of the law?"
"If they refuse, I will kill them myself," the princess vowed.
"Let's not go killing them off just yet," Duke Morgan suggested. "Some, not many but some, may yet be salvaged to serve honorably again."
"So," General Gamrin asked, "is everything settled then? I still get to lop off the Dog's head if the Bowmaster misses. The pirate gets to marry the beautiful princess, and everyone lives happily ever after. Agreed? Good.”
“Now I know it hasn't been exactly half an hour yet,” the mercenary commander said, offering one hand to Jack and his other to Annawyn, helping them to their feet. “But the Val'anna look rested enough to continue to me. What say we get on with the business of collecting my head?"
"Okay, the show is over!" Malik shouted at the gathered onlookers. "Everyone mount up! We ride in one minute!"
Eaudreuil and Iraesh were already waiting for them. Braedan knew they were communicating with each other, but they were shielding their thoughts. That was fine with him. At the moment, his own thoughts were conflicted enough without any helpful suggestions from meddling, four-legged, Horse-Friends. Kiathan needed killing, but he couldn't do it. Not without ruining any hope of spending the rest of his life, however long or short it turned out to be, with the woman he loved. He couldn't even ask Anna to marry him without the approval of a High Council who had already once agreed to let him be crucified. Jack had `imagined his choices would be simpler after everyone knew he was Ljmarn's heir. Obviously, he had been badly mistaken.
"Jack, they are waiting for us," Anna said.
Braedan turned to the princess and smiled. If they could only be together by following the letter of the law, so be it. He had stood before the congress of the United States of America, stood before powerful men ready to condemn him for not following their laws to the letter, and he had survived. Surviving, he learned a great deal about how to...rearrange the letters to his advantage. All his choices might not be simple, but getting around the law was.
"Anna," he said quietly, "before we go I want to tell you... I want you to know...every time you look into my eyes, every time you see me smile, every time we kiss, the one thing you wish to hear me ask above all else but I cannot say, will be said with my eyes, with my smile, and with my kiss."
"If...kissing you is still allowed," Jack asked.
"It is not only allowed, Beloved," the princess smiled, reaching out to pull him to her. "It is required."
Braedan didn’t care one bit that Captain Einnael was watching. She could run her sword through his heart at this instant, and he would die content.
"Jack," Annawyn asked during their next fifteen minutes together. "Eaudreuil and Iraesh call me Fire Mane?"
"They do," he nodded.
"What do they call you?"
"Horse-Brother," Jack replied.
"That is not a name," Anna said. "Not like Fire Mane. What do they name you?"
"Tell her," Eaudreuil beamed, amused.
"It's...it's a little embarrassing," Jack admitted.
"Tell her," Eaudreuil insisted. "If Fire Mane is to be your queen..."
"Okay," Jack relented. "M
y name...was given to me by Snow Dancer, a young wolf I..."
"A wolf?" the princess asked. "You talk to wolves!"
"They are not by their nature...evil," Jack said. "They are just...misguided. He...lies to them, has been lying to them for a very long time. But now they know the truth. A lot of them, so I have been promised, will help us when...when the time comes to..."
"When you..."
"Yeah. Then," Jack nodded.
"Jack?"
"Yes, my princess?"
"You still haven't told me what they call you."
"Great Lion," Jack said quietly. "They call me Great Lion."
"Great Lion?" Anna smiled.
"I told you it was embarrassing."
"Humility is a noble trait," Annawyn said, "But a man, a leader of men, must never be embarrassed by the strength that makes him who he is. Great Lion."
"Tell me about Dreamwalking," Annawyn asked when the company slowed to a walk once again the next hour.
"When do we get to talk about you?" Jack smiled.
"When I am tired of listening to the sound of your voice," the princess replied. "In about fifty or sixty years."
"You mind if I ask for a little help with this one? I'm only a novice. Ailicia is the expert on this subject."
"I suppose I could share my fifteen minutes with you," Anna shrugged. "But just this once."
Ailicia was only a short distance away, walking with Arrinor and their father. They walked over to join them.
"Anna wants to know about Dreamwalking," Jack informed the Ailfar princess. Cilidon gave a start, but said nothing. He did however, raise an eyebrow and give his daughter a warning look.
"We will not be in danger just talking, father," Ailicia sighed. From her exasperated tone, Jack suspected they had been discussing...more likely arguing knowing Ailicia...the very subject.
"Very well," Cilidon nodded. "So long as you two only talk," he added, directing the last remark at Jack, before he moved off to join Theros and Duke Morgan.
"Jack and my sister ran into a bit of ummm...trouble the last time they went Dreamwalking together," Arrinor explained with a grin, seeing Annawyn's questioning look.
"Trouble? Jack Braedan?" Anna said, feigning shock. "I find that difficult to believe."
"Ally," Jack said soberly, "tell Anna the First Rule."
"The Lord of Shadow is not bound in the Land of Dreams," the Ailfar princess replied quietly. "And He has grown very...restless of late."
"Do you still want to know more?" asked Jack.
"Yes," Anna nodded, tightening her grip on his hand.
"And Long Tooth is dead?" Anna asked, at their next scheduled stop.
"Sort of," Jack shrugged. "It's...complicated."
"Everything about you is complicated, Jack Braedan," the princess replied. "Very well, I will let Dreamwalking rest. For a time. Tell me more about Snow Dancer."
Jack told her the story of their meeting.
"I would like to meet your wolf," Anna said as they remounted to resume the chase. "Where is he now?"
"I've been wondering the same thing," Jack replied.
During the next hour, the company came upon a small village that bisected the road south. Or more correctly, what was left of it. It had been put to the torch. No doubt it had been done by the Raashani as they passed through in an attempt to further slow any pursuit.
"Sergeant Callahan says there are tracks leading west away from the village," Theros informed Jack as he sat looking at the ruined hamlet. "He estimates perhaps forty to fifty pairs of footprints. That would be about the number of inhabitants a village this size could support."
"Has...are there any..." Jack began.
"Three have been found so far," the Dragonslayer nodded. "There may be more, but it looks like the rest chose to flee instead of fight."
"Have a squad remain behind and search for the survivors," Jack instructed. "Give them whatever aid they can. We continue south."
"I'll see it's done," General Gamrin nodded.
"Morgan?"
"Yes, High Prince?"
"Who protects this land?"
"We still ride in with the borders of Immer till we reach the Ruwe Mountains." He replied. “Why?”
"Letter of the law or not," Jack said quietly, dangerously, "When Kiathan is caught I will make the son of a bitch pay for what he's done here. Even I have to rewrite ever law written by man, he will pay."
"No king, not even the High King, is above the law Jack Braedan," Duke Morgan replied sternly.
"We'll see," Braedan muttered, looking around at the burned village.
Not long after leaving the burned village behind, the sun sank in the west and night came swiftly to the Midland Plains. Though the sky soon filled with stars, the moon was hours from rising yet and darkness settled over the company like a cloak. Ailfar scouts were brought in from the flanks to go ahead of the column, adding their keen vision to the natural eyesight of the Val'anna. With the Great South Road stretching out before them like a thin line of blackness in a darker night surrounding it, they continued their hurried pace.
Three times after darkness fell, the company repeated their exhausting cycle. On their fourth rest halt since the setting of the sun, Eaudreuil informed Jack several of the horses with of less than pure Val'anna blood were nearing the limits of their endurance.
"And the Val'anna ahead of us?" Braedan asked.
"We are gaining on them," Eaudreuil replied after a moment. "They are still some distance off, yet there pace has slowed. They grow tired Horse Brother. Soon they must rest as well."
Jack called a quick council and informed everyone what he had learned.
"I hate to admit it," General Gamrin muttered, "but another hour or two and you'll have prop up me in the saddle with sticks. That is, if Jhera's heart doesn't explode first. Neither of us are as young as we used to be." Jhera was the general's Val'anna. He'd been Malik's trusted mount for the last ten years.
"It’s your decision son," Malik said, straightening with a wince. "I'll ride till I fall over dead if it's the only way to catch the Dog of Raashan."
"How long until midnight?" asked Jack.
"Another two hours at least," Cilidon replied.
Another two hours, even if they reduced their pace, would gain them another ten miles, maybe more if they pushed.
"Do we rest now and ride harder tomorrow? Or try and get another two hours out of the mounts that are nearing exhaustion?" asked Jack, voicing his concerns aloud.
"May I suggest a compromise High Prince?" Captain d'Kenna asked.
"Go on captain," Jack nodded.
"Ride another hour before stopping," d'Kenna advised. "After a short rest, and a bite to eat, the Hammer will send a patrol on freshest mounts south. If we find no sign of the Raashani in two hours, we will return. If we locate them, we will place a watch and send a rider back with word on where they have bedded down.
"High Prince," d'Kenna continued, before Jack could object. "The Hammer has been waiting seven hundred years to serve you. A few extra hours in the saddle will be nothing to us after waiting so long."
With only starlight for illumination, Braedan could not see Captain d'Kenna's face clearly, but his words held no idle boast, only confidence and a desire to serve. Jack needed to know how far ahead of him Kiathan was. What d'Kenna was suggesting was Basic Reconnaissance 101.
"Very well, captain," Jack nodded. "But under no circumstances are the Hammer to engage the Raashani. Find them only. And take a few Ailfar with you as scouts."
"As you command, High Prince," d'Kenna saluted.
Though it was too dark to see, Jack could sense the smile in his voice clearly.
The company road hard for another half hour. When they slowed to a trot, Jack could hear the night filled with sounds of horses struggling for breath. Opening his mind to the Val'anna around him, he felt their weariness assault him in waves. Occasionally he detected pain, mixed with the thoughts of valiant mounts pushed to the limit
of their endurance. If they were forced to ride another hour, horses would begin to die beneath them.
As Eaudreuil slowed to a walk, Braedan slid from the saddle with legs that shook from exhaustion. When he helped Annawyn dismount, she leaned against him wearily for support. "Are you okay?" he asked, brushing auburn strands from her upturned face.
"I am fine," she nodded, reassuringly but weak. "It is Iraesh that concerns me."
"Why don't you ask her how she's doing?" he suggested.
Taking Annawyn's hand, he placed it on Iraeshs' broad neck, keeping his fingers interlocked with hers. "Now open your mind to her," Jack said.
"How?" the princess whispered.
"Just concentrate on Iraesh. Feel the strength in her muscles, the sweat on her hide and just...listen," Jack said.
"Fire Mane is worried about you Iraesh."
"I have strength remaining yet," the Val'anna mare replied with pride.
"Then tell her," Jack instructed.
"Have no fear Fire Mane," the mare beamed. "I am well." The Val'anna did not use words of course. That was not how Mindspeak worked. Instead, the mare projected thoughts full of confidence and the indominatable spirit of her breed. She thought of the wind in her mane, the sweet smell of grass beneath her hooves, of running and running, and never growing weary beneath a cloudless, sun filled sky.
The princess gave a small gasp of surprise and turned to Braedan with a look of wonder. "Jack, for just an instant I... thought I smelled grass. I could feel the sun on my face. How... is that possible?"
"I knew there was more to you than just pretty green eyes," Jack said, kissing her forehead tenderly. "With practice you'll soon be begging me to show you how to shut her up."
"What are you two doing?" Arrinor asked, rubbing his temples as he walked up to join them. "I could have heard Iraesh from a league away."
"Just a little experiment," Jack grinned. "Anna is learning to Mindspeak."
"Well give me a warning next time," Arrinor sighed. "She almost knocked me from the saddle. Wait...did you just say Annawyn is learning to..."
"Mindspeak," the princess laughed. "Thank you, Jack!" she said, throwing her arms around his neck. "That was wonderful!"
