Bloodless Knights (25 page)

I
leaned forward, about to stand and demand answers, but Vivian spoke to Trave,
“That was rough, wasn’t it my darling brother?”

I
sat back on the bench, with a sigh of relief. Brother. Well now, that made
sense. I decided it wasn’t the best time to speak, and rested my head against
the wall waiting until I was addressed again. Asher stared at me, but I didn’t
want to look at him.

Trave
examined the ceiling, “Vivian, I knowest not how much more of this I can take.
It’s kind of gone too far, and we remain in the dark.”

“We
will get our answers, Trave. We mustn’t stop until we know!” Trave closed his
eyes at her response.

Vivian
scanned the room and parked her eyes on my face, “Well, Sir Tristen, explain
why ye weren’t man enough to tell me ye wanted nothing to do with me, and
gutlessly sent thy clergyman instead?”

The
woman’s words stirred anger in me that I couldn’t contain, “Vivian! I wanted to
go with thee, but I was arrested! I sent my squire to send thee a message that
I wanted thee to wait at my home until I could meet thee. Sadly, my squire was
also detained. I didn’t get out soon enough to meet thee!”

Asher
cut in, “He’s tellin’ the truth, miss. I was in his father’s jail with him and
he shouted a message down the pot to his squire to give thee; heard it with my
own ears.”

Vivian
sat up with a puzzled pinch between her brows. “Thy father put thee in jail?
What did ye do to earn that?”

I
walked to the cage and sat down directly in front of her. “Naught, Vivian. He’s
just a wicked man and wants me dead. But please tell me what the friar told
thee. He told my squire he would give thee my message, but apparently he
delivered his own instead.”

Vivian
picked up her journal and concealed it in her pocket again. She studied my face
with her eyes pressed almost closed. “I waited for thee where ye said. It
started raining. I was just about to leave, when I saw someone approach on a
horse. I thought it was thee but it was not; it was thy clergy. He said he was
to deliver a message that ye wouldn’t be joining me, because ye needed to slay
the dragon. Then he added that ye had already left with Patrious. He told me to
leave and forget about thee because ye weren’t interested in me.” Vivian paused
and really looked at me closely, “Is that my cloak? I forgot I had left it in
thy bag.”

Little
needles of embarrassment stung my face. “Aye, it is thy cloak. I was happy to
have it.”

“Found
the gold?” She nodded at the cloak.

I
nodded.

“He’s
spent a bit of it.” Asher interjected, shrugging when I glared at him.

“Well
good! Now thou knowest I didn’t pick it from thee.” She smirked in an
I-told-you-so way. “And I don’t care that ye spent it; that’s what it’s for.”

I
felt uneasy. Vivian had a crazed look on her face. I didn’t like the fact that
she had emerged from a tiger. There were so many questions I didn’t know where
to start. But it didn’t matter.

“Well,
let’s get out of here shall we?” Vivian pressed up onto the tips of her toes,
and the ends of her fingertips. Right before our eyes, she transformed into a
small kitten with a black and orange tail. I had seen this kitten in my home;
it had been Vivian all along.

We
all watched as the kitten hurried to Trave’s waiting hand. He lifted the bitty
Vivian near a glassless window and she leapt onto the ledge. I had the most
difficult time believing what I was seeing.

The
kitten disappeared, and we waited. And waited. I used the time to interrogate
Trave.

“Trave,
is Vivian a witch?” I still sat on the hard floor; Trave stood by the door.
Asher had laid flat on the bench and closed his eyes like he had decided to be
somewhere else.

Trave
blew out a hearty laugh, “She is not a witch. She’s a ‘felid shifter’. What
that means is she can turn into any type of cat. I knowest more about it, but
thou shall bid her.”

“Since
thou art her brother, art thou a shifter too?” Asher came alive from the bench.

Trave
shook his head. “Vivian has a special talent and I’m not sure where it came
from. No other family member can duplicate it, and honestly, I’ve never met
another person who can.”

The
door to the dungeon opened slowly, and Vivian waltzed through it. She shut the
door and turned toward me. Somewhere, the lady had found a black cloak similar
to the one I wore. The cloth of her clothing whispered “swish, swish” as she
swayed my direction. The beauty came close to me and reached her hand out. I
was eager to find out what she would do, when she grabbed Elena’s hairpin and
said, “Let’s get ye out of these chains!” She coyly grinned at me, and turned
to Trave. She picked the locks on his shackles quicker than I could blink. When
Trave was free she pulled a brown cloak from under her cloak and handed it to
him. He put it on over his armor.

Next,
she took off Asher’s chains and lastly she approached me. “I don’t want to take
yours off, but I will.” She sighed. I looked desperately at her face; I didn’t
like this meeting between us, and she seemed too weary and distraught. I
decided it couldn’t all be me. There was something more to her irritation.

I
looked at Asher, “I don’t want thee following me. I don’t want thee anywhere near
me!”

He
looked at me as if I had slapped him. His sad eyes hovered over my face then to
the ground, “Ye can’t leave me here, they will kill me!”

Vivian
grabbed my cheek and turned it toward her face, “Do not treat thy friend in
such a manner, Tristen! He had reasons for what he did, as we all do. I knowest
this is difficult, but ye have to forgive.” Then she did the most unexpected
thing…she kissed my lips.

The
short kiss shocked me. Vivian smiled, then pulled back some of her hair and
secured it with Elena’s hairpin; I grimaced. Vivian grabbed Asher and me by the
hands and told Trave to open the door. His large, strong arm pulled at the
door. The sunshine burned our eyes.

We
carefully emerged from the dungeon, checking to be sure nobody saw us leave. There
was no one. As we neared the main path through the city, horse’s hooves sounded
behind us. We all turned slowly. Three soldiers rode toward us. We turned back
the direction we were originally heading but three soldiers cornered us from
the front. With all the luck I had today, I wasn’t too surprised it had come to
an end.

#
# #

“Get
down on the ground!” A thin guard wearing chainmail over a burgundy tunic
shouted at us. He sat atop a fine, bay-colored, draught horse making him look
thinner than he actually was.

Trave
and Vivian looked at each other, and then Trave looked at me. I shrugged my
shoulders and we all sat on the ground. As we sat in silence, except for
Vivian’s humming, I wondered why she didn’t turn into Lugina and end this, but
I decided she was a smart woman and probably had her reasons.

The
thin guard, who seemed to be in charge, said something to the two men next to
him, then held up his palm to the other guards. That indicated he wanted them
to keep their watch. He rode his horse toward us. When he was close, he
dismounted and walked the remainder of the way.

I
didn’t understand what the guard was doing. He should have watched, while the
other two cuffed us and led us back to the dungeon. As the man approached me, I
recognized something in his face. I pondered the clean shaven, golden-haired
man. His blue eyes seemed to search my face. Something seemed familiar about
him to me, but I could not place what. The way his eyes examined me, lead me to
believe he felt the same about me.

The
man walked near me and stopped next to my black boots. I stared up at him, as
he looked down upon me, and held his hand out.

I
questioningly gazed at his hand. “I would like to shake thy hand, sir.” He
smiled at me, with a near-toothless grin. Suddenly the smile and eyes reminded
me of a beggar-man in a tattered and stained brown cloak. It couldn’t be…

I
took his hand and he pulled me toward him. The man was thin, but he was strong.
He shook my hand with a fierce motion and chokingly said, “Ye saved my life,
sir. If it wasn’t for the gold ye gave me, I never would have been able to get
back to my rightful place.”

I
was thoroughly confused. A beggar turned palace guard? No way. My confusion
must have been etched in my face for the man laughed.

“My
name is Prince Kristoff Ventor.” That caught my attention, as the man smiled at
me. “I was thought to have been killed in battle, by the Hions from the North.
In fact, I was captured, then tortured and beaten. With the distraction of a
bloody battle in the castle, I escaped with an inch of my life left. I walked
for a long time before I found a wild horse roaming. I rode him a short
distance, until he suddenly died. By then I was almost home, but nearly
starving.

“When
I got home, none of my people recognized me. The guards would not let me in
since I was, apparently, merely a beggar. I wandered around, trying to get in,
but there was no way. Then I saw thee and thy men. Ye were so kind to freely
give thy gold. I used the gold coin to buy my way into the city. I found my mother;
thank God she recognized her son. Now here I am, back in my rightful position
and I owe it all to thee and thy generosity. Please tell me thy name.” The
prince continued grasping my hand.

I
cleared a lump from my throat that had developed during the prince’s story. “I
am Sir Tristen Dow. It was my pleasure to serve thee.” I nodded my head in
respect to a fellow royal.

At
the mention of my name, Kristoff jumped back slightly. A surprised look drifted
over his face. He dropped my hand, “
Thou
art Sir Tristen Dow?
Prince
Tristen Dow? The man with a grand bounty on his head; but why? I can’t see that
a person of thy sincerity would do something to deserve a wicked request such
as that.”

I
chuckled, a bit uneasy, “My father despises me.”

Asher
said, “That’s an understatement like none other!”

Then
Trave and Vivian laughed too.

Kristoff
was the one who seemed confused, as he scanned all of our faces. “Listen up.”
All of us stopped silent as he continued, “I knowest not what quarrel thy
father has with thee but I’m going to get thee out of this city, in return for
what ye did for me. It’s the very least I can do. Pull thy hoods over thy
faces, and let’s hurry on our way before any other guards decide to join us.
This is already going to cause enough trouble, but I will deal with that. On
thy feet!”

Trave
and Asher stood. I reached my hand toward Vivian, who stared at it in disdain,
but took it anyway. She abruptly dropped it when she was steady on her feet.

I
wondered why nobody had noticed that a woman was with us and wonder where she
came from. Then I again wondered why she had decided to stay a woman, when she
could so easy shift into a ferocious beast. I threw an odd look her way; it was
met with a growl. I sighed.

Each
member of our small party pulled our hoods tight around our heads. At
Kristoff’s request, we moved forward. He returned to the top of his horse and
followed us to the street.

His
guard’s tight lips, and squinty eyes, communicated their disagreement with what
he was doing and Kristoff knew it. He responded by saying, “None of thee
knowest a thing of this, and ye were not here. That is an order! If thou wants
to leave, do so now, but I’m getting my friends safely to the gate.”

As
if afraid of disagreeing with the prince, the guards followed behind him. We
each made our way down the road and I didn’t dare to look at anyone in the
street. Luckily, there were few to look at. As soon as the folks saw the guards
were not alarmed by us, they went back to their business.

When
we reached the gate, Kristoff told the guard to let us through. Then he said to
me, “My Lord, should thou ever be in need again, I consider us lifelong
friends. Seek me if ye require assistance of any sort.”

“I
could use an army to slay a dragon.” I chortled, as everyone watched without
the amusement I displayed.

Kristoff
squinted his eyes at me and nodded, “Indeed ye could, sir.”

After
waiting for him to speak further, and only receiving dreadful silence, I
touched a fist to my chest and raised it toward him in salute. He did the same.

“I
would offer horses, but there’s no time. Thou must go, now.” Kristoff ordered.

I
smiled and nodded politely. “Grammarcy for the offer. We don’t need them.”

Kristoff
looked at me oddly, then at Vivian as she spoke.

“Grammarcy,
Sir Kristoff.” Vivian parted her ruby lips into a most delicious smile that
made the Prince appear to blush. He smiled back and nodded.

Trave
and Asher voiced their gratitude, as the gate shut behind us, and put us back
into the big world that surrounded St. Anthony. The trees appeared more
skeletal and dead than they had when I reached the city. The snow had stopped
but the sky was cloudy and dark. We walked toward the bridge.

“What
now?” Asher whined. I decided everything Asher did, or said, would deserve a
throttle from me, though I would have to wait until this mess was over. It
sickened me that my best mate would sell me for an empty reward.