Bloodless Knights (13 page)

“We
shall not worry. I knowest not what is causing this madness but we shall be
apprised soon enough I’m sure. We must move on to Bendixon to hire a boat. The
sooner that dragon is destroyed, the sooner I can find my lady.” Flash held
steady as I situated myself in the oversized saddle.

“Are
we going to bury that body, or leave it?” Asher nodded at my pursed lips and
furrowed eyebrows that clearly conveyed we did not have time for such niceties.

“Let
the man lie where he fell. Besides that, the ground will be too difficult to
dig through at the time. Let’s go on to Bendixon as quickly as we can. We will
rest and eat at the inn and leave on the morrow. There is probably a
gravedigger who we can send to fetch the man.” I paused to look at Montour
Mountain across the blue water of the partially frozen bay. The mountain was
tall, with four peaks and numerous canyons. Snow blanketed much of the mountain
and it worried me that we may be in for some ice storms and avalanches. I
sighed.

Jadorion
pulled his tawny cloak around his thin body, “That t’would be a perfect idea!
Let’s go before I can’t feel my arms at all!”

“Aye!”
Ash and I said simultaneously as our little party charged toward Bendixon.

#
# #

The
sun slid behind the west mountains, marking the kingdom we left behind. The
burning flame of Benson Light Tower was the first visible sign that Bendixon
village would soon be under our feet. The tower was situated at the end of a
long strip of jagged rocks. The light served as a welcome beacon to area ships,
to warn them of potential boat-sinkers.

Flint
and Liza Vercutty, kept the light shining every night, rain or calm; while a
saddled horse waited at the bunk house to carry a warning rider if necessary. I
had spent the summer during my fifteenth year serving as a helper to the
lighthouse keepers. They were newlywed at the time and so in love. They taught
me how to light the flame, keep it shining and extinguish it.

My
time was cut short in Bendixon, just as I was about to learn the warning route.
Sheriff Abbott had called me home, due to the battle that Treg kingdom slammed
upon us. The clash had required all manpower from the area. Even untrained men,
such as Flint Vercutty, were required to fight. The war had been a blood-bath
but we had taken victory. Much to Liza’s relief, Flint had fought a valiant
battle and returned home.

We
crossed one small bank, exposing the fishing village from above. The first
thing I noticed was that there were no boats anywhere in sight. That struck me
as odd, since there were usually a dozen tugboats scurrying along the bay. Then
I noticed there were fewer buildings in the village than since the last time I
had been by, perhaps two years prior. There were, however, many buildings under
construction, and it seemed as if they were in the first phase of being built.
Timber was piled en mass near a modest forest of pines, just north of the
village.

I
stopped Flash at the highest part of the knoll to further assess the situation.
Nothing seemed to be amiss, other than what I had previously noted, but I
decided we should be cautious in our approach. “It may be best if we remove any
items from our person that may give away who we are and where we’re from. I
knowest not what we may find here, but I would imagine it’s to our advantage if
we are merely Donovan, Jadorion, and Vivicus of the Wheeler clan. We are simply
on the way to slay the dragon.”

Asher
and Jadorion agreed. We dismounted our ponies and removed all crests from home.
We even removed all signs that we were knights. When we had packed away all of
our things, we looked like ordinary peasants in our tunics, leggings, boots,
and plain woolen cloaks. It saddened me to put away Vivian’s cloak, but the
velvety delicateness of the thing would drawn too much attention that didn’t
match our story. I ran the beautiful garment between my fingers one more time
and closed my pack tightly.

After
looking over each other, to be sure we seemed plain enough to blend in; we
galloped to the village in search of an inn. We didn’t have to travel far; the
weather-worn, shuttered inn was the first building we came to. The tavern was
attached to the inn. Loud music, laughing and singing floated from the
structure. Other than the sound of people, we didn’t see a soul around.

Bendixon
was a place I had always enjoyed. The village was tight-knit and the few people
I had met had been friendly. Walking into the cozy inn was no different; the
unfamiliar innkeeper greeted us with a warm smile. “Hallo, gentlemen, what can
I do for ye tonight?”

The
hot fire welcomed us at the entrance. Asher and Jadorion moved close to it
while I took to conversing with the polite innkeeper. “We need three beds for
the night, dear sir.” I placed a gold coin on the table the man’s small body
was positioned behind.

The
gold clinked on the wood, causing the man to stare at it with intense surprise.
His dark bearded face moved closer to the money as his eyes widened a bit. He
picked up the coin and bit it. His eyebrows raised in satisfaction.

“Hm,
aya, I assume with that money ye want to be left off the books?” He peered up
through bushy eyebrows at me with a pair of glossy grey eyes. His brown hair
was long and straight, it hung in his eyes enough that I couldn’t see which was
the head from his hair or his brow. He had a tiny little nose and enormous
lips. The face was out of proportion, but he had a kind look to his eyes.

I
took in the man’s face for a moment and scratched my head, contemplating what
he meant. “Well, sir, methinks not about it that way, but since yourn offering
I will go with it.”

He
nodded and shoved the gold piece into the pocket of his vest. “Just for my
information, may I bid the names of ye and the other men?”

“Of
course, ye may, good sir! I am Vivicus Rudd. This here is Donovan Wood, and our
young companion is my nephew, Jadorion McArthur.” The men shook hands with the
innkeeper, and as he took my hand in his, he told us that his name was Darwin
McDoughan.

Darwin
took us to the second level of the inn to show us where the beds were, and
where we could wash-up. He told us that his wife, Jean would be serving dinner
soon in the great hall if we were interested. We liked the sound of that, but
went to our horses to gather our packs. The horses were where we had left them,
and our things were still there. I knew our items would be safe due to the
overall honesty of the people in town. Perhaps though, it was that people knew
if one was caught pinching, one would lose a finger.

We
led our horses to the back of the inn where Darwin had said there was a barn.
After stalling the horses in the large, well-kept shelter that was stocked with
plenty of water and hay, we returned to the inn with our gear.

Our
large room had a dozen single beds, lined six on one wall, and six opposite
them against the other wall. A small wood-planked path separated the sets of
beds. At the end of each bed was a trunk for belongings. We found beds that
weren’t already occupied and tucked away our things into the wooden trunks.
They latched but didn’t lock; I hoped nobody would be daft enough to mess with
my things.

I
wanted to toss my weary, achy bones onto the overstuffed bed and wrap myself
under the green bedspread, but we needed nourishment and a boat to take us
away.

Jadorion
closed the lid to his trunk then leaned over to whisper, “I’m yourn nephew,
huh? That would be right smashing!” He grinned at me. The weak smile begged for
supper.

“Aye,
my squire, I would accept ye as a member of my family in a blink!” I patted his
back, “Now let’s get some grub.”

Jadorion
had been abandoned at birth. A villager, Pamen Harrison, had found him wrapped
in rags in her garden. The widowed lady brought him to the church for the nuns
to watch over. After much debate as to what would be down with the orphan, it
was decided that he would be enlisted as a page and given the chance to become
a knight. It seemed the fair thing to do, since nobody knew where he came from.

When
Jadorion was just a wee lad he learned to ride a horse. One day Jad was out
riding and literally ran into Brendan, who was practicing his fencing while
running through the forest. I hadn’t been there, but I assumed Brendan had run
into the oncoming horse. Of course, I never suggested that.

After
Jadorion and Brendan’s run-in, they became fast friends and Jadorion was eager
to learn the “squire business” as Brendan called it. Jadorion may have been
dense in areas of common-sense, but he had always been fantastic at the ways of
knighthood.

As
I followed Jadorion and Asher down the dark hallway to the stairs leading to
the great room, the quiet building seemed to come alive with male voices. When
we entered the crowded room, the chatter simmered down and completely stopped
as all heads turned our direction.

After
glaring us up-and-down, the men casually returned to their conversations. I
counted heads, and had just passed thirteen when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I
turned slightly, thinking it was perhaps Asher or Jadorion. Much to my
amazement, I was peering directly into the muddy brown eyes of none other than
King Patrious.

“Hallo,
sir!” Patrious bellowed at me while squashing me in a giant bear hug. It was
obvious from the smell coming off of him that he had already had his fair share
of beer for the night.

I
hugged back in a friendly gesture, patting him like I would any good chum. He
pushed me away while keeping hold of my biceps. “I wondered if thou would ever
make it to us! Come have a seat at my table.” Patrious turned toward a small
round table in the corner. He was dressed in his king’s coat and his hair had
been re-braided since I had last seen him. The braid had golden string laced
through it and his facial hair had been trimmed. Apparently, the king was not
in-hiding anymore.

The
king, Asher, Jadorion and I got comfortable sitting on ornate pine chairs at a
vacant table I assumed Patrious’ claimed due to our arrival. The inn was nice
and it seemed Darwin tried to keep everything maintained and clean. Patrious
didn’t wait any further before leaning over the table toward me and spewing, “I
don’t need to hide who I am here, everyone in this village knowest me. I
personally buy fish here and have crossed the bay many times. Most of the
captains knowest me, so I could not hide. I actually didn’t want to hide
because I need their help. I’m telling thee thou shall address me as King. Of
course, that doesn’t mean I feel like I’m superior to ye. We are all friends,
but as a king I must be recognized as such.” He leaned back in his chair then
added, “And, I am glad ye got out of that situation ye were in. Tell me about
yourn escape.”

For
the next little while we talked about the details of our trip. When Jadorion
described finding the dead body near the bay, Patrious concentrated on every
word. He kept his lips pressed tight together and his brow wrinkled deeply. It
was blatant he was distressed by what he heard. After Jadorion finished and I
identified the wounds I had seen, Patrious’s breathing got a tad heavier and he
finally burst, “Was the man perchance wearing one of my uniforms?”

I
thought back to what the man was wearing and didn’t recall noticing any
association with any area. After telling Patrious that, he let out a long sigh
and his face brightened again.

“Chow
time!” A pretty little lady with tiny facial features and red hair flowing down
her back pulled a cord to raise a curtain that had covered one wall. The space
behind the curtain consisted of a window into the kitchen and a counter covered
with plates, forks, knives and tins of fish, biscuits and venison. The smell
from the meat and peppercorns created a rush of hungry men, who loaded plates
with as much food as they could.

Wine
and ale flowed freely from casks and kegs. The thirst from our day seemed to
attack rampantly and we guzzled more than our fair share. A thought suddenly
crossed my mind that I couldn’t ignore so I turned to Patrious, “I assumed ye
would have taken the men from the army and headed to Hereford. Why are ye still
here and where are the boats?”

Patrious
finished a bite of trout then replied, “Oh now, guess I forgot to tell ye about
that. The beast burned down the shipyard, all the boats, and many homes and
shops. The village has been good to me through my life so I obliged them in
using the soldiers to rebuild the shipyard and some other buildings. The army
and I agreed to stay a few days until everything is finished. We have a system
going that seems to be working great. The good news is we’ll be out of here in
no time. The bad news is that it will take too much time to wait for boats
enough to get us all across the bay. We are going to have to travel around the
bay through the Mistrust Forest. I
do not
want to go that way but we
have no choice.”

Asher
swallowed a large swig of ale and groaned, “Isn’t that the forest where yourn
worst nightmares can come to life right before yourn eyes?”

There
was silence at the table as we searched one another’s faces. Patrious broke the
silence, “Aye, sir, the forest brings to life yourn worse fears. The safety tis
in numbers ‘cause if ye see something rattlin’, people around ye can snap ye
out of the terror that grips yourn chest and drives ye mad. No two people see
the same thing ‘cause no two people have the same deepest fear.”