Chael's Luck (A Knights of Dorathan Novel) (20 page)

“Knights! May your travels be safe and your
quest successful.” General Krane as well as the Knights not coming
with us saluted. We returned the honor.

“To the end!” Our motto echoed through the
calm morning air. I smiled at Ian as we wheeled the horses away and
galloped toward the woods.

Chapter Six

I fidgeted and rolled my shoulders. The fire
crackled, the soft glow of the flames dancing over the sleeping
knights under me. I shifted on the branch where I sat. Ian glanced
at me from his tree.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered.

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Something’s wrong. You haven’t stopped
fidgeting since we decided to make camp.”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I feel… I feel
like we’re heading in the wrong direction.”

He frowned. “What do you think Blarenagin
meant about something going over your head?”

I grinned, unable to help myself. “Maybe he
meant I was daft.”

He laughed. “I don’t think that was it. Your
tunic? That goes over your head.”

“Hmmm. You know, it didn’t occur to me he
might mean it literally. Let’s suppose that’s what he meant… I
don’t think it’s my tunic.”

“Your slaggens? They go over your head when
you pull them out of their scabbards.”

“That would seem a bit more appropriate.” I
reached back and touched them. “They don’t feel any different.” I
scratched at an itch on my collar bone before pulling one of them
out to inspect it. I shook my head.

Mac yawned and stretched before poking John
in the ribs. They each climbed a tree and nodded to us as we
climbed down. I laid my weapons beside my blankets then climbed
under them and sighed as Ian pulled me to his chest. He pressed his
lips to the back of my neck.

“Good night, Chaela.”

“Sweet dreams, Ian.”

Try as I might, I was unable to fall asleep.
My skin crawled and the feeling that I was being watched
intensified.

“Goblins!” Mac dropped from his tree and I
rolled out of the blankets, pulling my slaggens out of the
scabbards simultaneously. Ian’s sword rang as he drew it. The six
of us stood back to back, watching as the goblins surrounded us.
Twelve pairs of slitted yellow eyes focused on us.

One of them focused on me.

“The old man wants the girl,” it hissed.

Ian’s body tensed beside me and the goblins
charged. Ian and Mac each put an arm in front of me and pushed me
behind them so that I stood with all of my friends backs turned
towards me. Ian brought his sword up and blocked a blow. I heard
Mac’s sword as it connected with another goblin’s weapon. I tried
to push my way past the wall of bodies around me.

“Stay back there,” grunted Harry as he
stopped a charging goblin. It screamed as his dagger plunged into
its abdomen. Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust at the black blood
on his hand.

“I can fight, you bloody idiot!” I tried to
get past Ian who pushed me back. “By gods, Ian! Now’s not the time
to start treating me like a woman!”

He hissed as a dagger slipped over his
forearm. He pulled his small knife and threw it. The goblin
clutched his eye and started to run away.

“This has nothing to do with you being a
woman! You’re their main target!”

I turned away from him and found an opening
between Harry and Hal. Hal pushed a goblin away and tripped. The
ugly creature grinned and leapt at him. I swung my slaggen in an
arc and managed to take his hand off at the wrist. Behind me, I
heard Mac cry out. Ian grunted and John hissed. I focused on the
goblin approaching me. Its pointy teeth, brown and black with rot,
pushed past its thin lips. I brought my slaggens up in a defensive
pose, waiting for him to come at me. I frowned as he reached into a
satchel at his side. He held his hand out to me, palm up, and blew.
His fowl breath mixed with the powder in his hand and carried to my
face. My next breath caused me to cough.

I heard Ian yell my name just as I fell to
the ground. I clawed at my eyes and nose, trying to get the powder
off of them. The darkness closed in with every breath I took. The
last thing I remembered was the sound of something heavy falling
near me.

*****

“Ian! By gods, man, wake up!”

Ian groaned and brought his hands to his head
which felt about to explode.

“Chaela!” Her name was more of a groan than a
word.

“She’s gone.” Mac pulled him to his feet and
he proceeded to feel his head for injuries. He frowned.

“Bloody hell, what did they do to me?”

“I’m not sure. It was some sort of powder.
That’s how they got Chaela.”

Ian looked around to the Knights in front of
him. Mac had a black eye and fat lip, Harry was bleeding from a
wound on his leg, Hal was limping but seemed fine otherwise, and
John sat with his shirt off, a bandage already tied around his
chest.

“Everyone’s alright?”

They all nodded.

“Who’s the old man? Who sent them?”

He frowned at all the head shaking happening.
“We don’t know anything?” He sat heavily, his head in his hands,
willing the headache to go away and for answers to appear. The
hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach intensified. He rolled to
the side and threw up.

“Is it your head?” Harry was getting the
horses together.

“No.” He thought of the fact that someone had
Chaela and that he’d been unable to stop them and his stomach
heaved again. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, wiped the
tears from his eyes, and stood. “Let’s go.”

Hal frowned. “Where? We don’t know who took
her!”

Ian growled in frustration. “Well, we can’t
just sit here!” He mounted Klard and promptly slid off as the fire
light made something shine on the ground.

The Knights watched as he bent to pick it
up.

“What is it?” John was tugging his tunic back
over his head.

Ian’s throat tightened and he swallowed hard.
“It’s her chain.” He frowned. “It’s still done up? How did it come
off of her?”

“Maybe it caught on something when they
started to drag her away.” Harry shrugged. Ian looped the chain
around his wrist until he was sure it wouldn’t fall off. He took
Klora and True by the reins and stopped short once again.

“Where’s Whisk?”

Hal pointed to the west. “The last I saw of
him he was chasing after the goblins.”

Ian held his breath, scared that his idea
wouldn’t work. He patted Klora between the eyes to settle him down
and remembered a story Chaela had told him. She’d followed a couple
of goblins and strayed farther than she’d intended, a mistake that
had left her hiding in a small cave for two days from the beings
she’d been stalking. The only thing that had saved her had been
Klora, who’d led Mac and John to her.

“Can you help, Klora? You’ve found her
before.” He rearranged the reins in his hand until he was holding
Klora’s on top of the others.

“What are you thinking, Ian?” John mounted
his horse.

“I’m thinking that Klora might be able to
point us in the right direction.” He put his foot in Chaela’s
stirrup.

“Are you insane? No one but Chaela’s ever
ridden that horse!”

Ian swung on and mentally swore at himself
for not adjusting the stirrups before getting into the saddle.
Klora started to dance around nervously. “Klora, you know which way
they went. You’re the only one that can find them.” He reached
forward and ran his hand along the stallion’s neck. The others
watched from their horses’ backs, scared to move.

Klora’s ears perked in the direction the
goblins had gone. Ian gave him his head and marveled at how quickly
the horse picked up speed. He looked back under his arm to make
sure the others were keeping up.

“Ease up, Klora. Even your sire can’t keep
up.” He pulled back on the reins and Klora shook his head in an
attempt to loosen them once again. The black slowed suddenly.

“What’s he doing?” hollered Mac.

“I don’t know!” Ian was jerked sideways as
Klora turned right sharply. He dug his spur into the horse’s side
to stay on and marveled at the fact that his mount didn’t so much
as flinch at the contact. Ian heard the rest of the horses turn and
follow behind them. Klora kept turning until he was running back in
the direction they had come.

“Maybe this won’t work, Ian!” Hal raised an
eyebrow at his brother who shrugged.

Ian glanced down at his arm as Chaela’s chain
started to warm against his skin. “Something that goes over her
head.” His heart sped with the realization of what Blarenagin had
meant. “It’s the chain! Blarenagin was talking about the chain!
We’re heading in the right direction!”

“How can you be sure she’s with the book?”
Mac let his horse catch up to Klora.

“Where else would she be? I have no idea who
this old man is, but I’m willing to bet my life on the fact that
he’s got both of them.” He brought his arm up and pressed his lips
to the chain around his arm. “Hang on, Chaela.” He swallowed hard.
“Chael, you bastard, she’s been through enough. Just let her be
alive when I get there.” He gave Klora his head, suddenly positive
he had to get to her sooner than later.

*****

I awoke to the feel of someone’s fist
connecting with my face. The pain in my cheek flared and I
struggled to pull out of the darkness I seemed stuck in. Fingers
dug into my arm.

“Easy now. You want her to regain
consciousness, not lose it again.” The voice broke through the
darkness and I tried to focus on it. My head was pounding, my
throat was dry, my entire body ached and all I could think about
was that whoever was beating on me was going to die.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” someone whispered
in my ear.

“Caleb…” My voice broke and I cleared it. I
was starting to become aware that my situation was not an optimal
one. My hands were tied with ropes to a beam in the ceiling of the
cabin. I hung so that I had just enough weight on my legs to keep
some of the strain off of my shoulders if I stood straight.
Unfortunately, having spent an unknown amount of time unconscious,
my shoulders were screaming. I tried to focus on the positive.
Well, at least you’ve still got your clothes on, I thought.

Caleb’s fist connected with my abdomen and my
breath left my body in a sickening wheeze. I opened my eyes, trying
to focus on the man taking so much obvious pleasure at my pain. I
looked at him though the hair that had fallen over my face.

“Caleb.” I sucked in my breaths, trying to
fill my lungs.”

He cocked his head to the side. “What is it,
runt?”

“What… why…” My head snapped back with the
force of his punch. The breeze from the open window helped to cool
the pain.

“Why?” Caleb grunted. “You really need to ask
why? Because from the moment you showed up to training you’ve my
life a living hell!”

I frowned and clenched my teeth as his palm
connected with my face. I could feel my left eye starting to swell.
“I made your life hell?” I spit blood and turned my head to wipe my
lips on my arm. “By gods, Caleb! What the hell have I ever done to
you? You were the one who made my life hell! From the instant I got
off my pony, you started! What a stupid name, Chael. What’s wrong
with you, Chael? Your mother was a whore, Chael! You’re a runt,
Chael!” My ranting ended as I double over with pain as much as my
position would allow.

“Ah, but you’re not a runt, are you Chael?”
He squeezed my face in his hand and looked at me curiously. “It’s
so bloody obvious now that your secret is out,” he said quietly.
“Do you know, I’ve spent the better part of the year thinking about
this day? From the moment you got me banned from the Knighthood, I
knew I’d get my revenge.”

I grunted and tried to shake my face free.
“You did that to yourself.”

His fingers tightened and I couldn’t help the
cry of pain that made his smile. “Of course, originally, the plan
had been to beat you until you died, but now…” He kept his eyes on
mine as his hand ran up my tunic. His grin widened as I started to
struggle. I brought one leg up to try and kick him, but found that
my feet had been tied together.

“Oh, come now… I promise I’ll be nice.” He
let go of my face and let his other hand trail down my side, so
that it came to rest against the small of my back. “I only like it
a little rough.” He pulled me toward him so that my feet came off
the ground and the only thing keeping the weight off of my
shoulders was the fact that I was pressed against him. He kissed me
roughly.

I clenched my teeth. No matter what happens,
I told myself, you will not give him the satisfaction of crying. I
tried to block out what was happening so I could focus on how I was
going to get out of my situation.

“Caleb, that’s enough.”

“You said I’d have my time with her.”

“And you will.” The voice was coming from
somewhere out of my field of vision, though it was starting to
sound familiar. “Of course, we have a bit more urgent of a matter
to take care of first.”

“You can guarantee me the spell won’t kill
her?”

He was answered with a grunt. “She’s a woman.
She doesn’t have Knight’s blood in her.”

I met Caleb’s eyes. “Caleb, please. Do what
you will with me, but don’t do this to the others.”

He frowned. “And why would I spare them? They
didn’t say a word in my defense when I was cast out.”

“Of course they did! No one knew it had
happened until the banquet, but once word got around, there were
quite a few men who spoke on your behalf.”

“You’re lying.”

“Caleb, please. Why would I lie?”

“To save yourself.”

I shook my head. “Keep me, kill me, do what
you wish. You’ve my word I won’t fight you.” The thought of all of
my friends and comrades being wiped out with one spell made my
stomach clench. I thought of Ian dying and a tear slipped down my
cheek. Caleb watched it with wonder. His hand moved slowly, as
though he was moving under water. His fingers traced the line down
my face before coming to rest against my cheek. He brought his lips
down to mine and pulled me against him once again. I fought to stay
still, to keep from giving in to the urge to struggle.