Chael's Luck (A Knights of Dorathan Novel) (8 page)

“Who was it?” I yelled to my father.

He shook his head and maneuvered Klard around
a large rock. “I couldn’t see. I only saw the arrow and it didn’t
make sense!”

A tree branch threatened to pull me out of
the saddle and Klora moved sideways of his own as he felt my weight
shift on his back.

“It was one of ours, wasn’t it?” The picture
of the Shadow Knights’ arrow stuck in the tree flashed through my
mind.

“It must be goblins. They must have taken
down a knight or found the arrows somewhere.”

I ducked and barely managed to avoid another
killer branch. “How far until we reach Alexander’s?”

“At this speed, I’d say another hour.” My
father steered Klard to the left and I followed suit.

“Do we know who, besides us, might know about
this book?”

“If they’re goblins, they’re not after the
book. They’re just trying to get the horses.”

I smiled at the thought of a goblin trying to
ride Klora. The thought of anyone trying to get on my horse was
laughable. In the years I’d had him, no one but me had ever been
able to stay on, my father included.

When all signs of pursuit faded, we slowed
our mounts and I tried to calm the pounding of my heart in my
chest.

“Once we reach the creek, it will be a twenty
minute ride to the cabin. He’s waiting for us.”

True to my father’s word, ten minutes later
we jumped over a small creek and were soon stopping in front of a
small cabin. We dismounted, tied the horses to a tree, and made our
way to the front door. A tall man in his seventies opened the door
and peered at us suspiciously.

“Who are you?” he barked at us.

“Alexander, sir, I am Sir James and this here
is my son, Sir Chael. We were sent by the king to transport the
book which is now currently in your possession.”

“How do I know you’re who you say you are and
not imposters trying to get your hands on the book?”

“Sir?” I frowned. “Have there been others
inquiring about the book?”

He turned his untrusting gaze on me. “Chael,
is it?”

I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

He shook his head. “What kind of father names
his son after the god of bad luck?”

“Well, mine, sir.”

“And are you bad luck?”

“I… I don’t think I am, sir.”

An arrow flew past my shoulder and stuck in
his chest. Alexander’s eyes widened, his hands flying up to touch
the object penetrating him. My father and I ran forward, both of us
grabbing one of his arms so we could drag him back into the
cabin.

“That arrow’s one of ours, Dad.” I helped him
lay the old man on the floor then reached back for my bow. I looked
around the cabin. “I’m heading up. I’ll see if I can’t take them
out as they come out of the woods.” I ran up the stairs and settled
myself by a window, waiting for someone to show themselves.

“Anything?” My dad’s voice carried up the
stairs.

“Not yet!” I could hear him talking to
Alexander.

“Chael! Can you see a dresser up there?”

I glanced around the room.

“Find the black leather bound book!”

I shot one more glance out the window to make
sure it was clear and ran to the only dresser in the large room. I
pulled open the drawers, tossing things out of them in my haste to
find this single book we’d been sent to acquire.

My heart jumped in my chest at the sight of
an old and worn book with a black cover. The sound of the door
bursting open diminished my celebration and I ran to the top of the
stairs. I heard my father grunt and the clash of steel on steel.
Dropping the book where I stood, I raced down the stairs, slaggens
drawn. I met my first opponent with a furious cry. The goblin
hissed and ran back out the door as my blade slid over his
forearm.

“Typical goblin,” I mumbled. The sound of a
sword being drawn put me on alert and I spun to meet this new
adversary head on. I blinked in surprise at the man standing before
me. I barely had the chance to register the fact that he was human
before he lunged at me. I blocked his sword and pushed him back a
few steps. His eyes widened behind the black mask he wore over his
face.

Somewhere behind me, my father grunted and I
did my best to concentrate on the man in front of me. I had a
second to see a goblin running down the stairs and out the door
with the book. I threw one of my slaggens at the man before me
before giving chase. The small, grey skinned being of about five
feet cried out in alarm and headed toward the woods. I stumbled
forward with the impact of something hitting my back, my entire
side flaring with pain, and fell face first into the leaves and
grass, rolling onto my back, ready to take on whoever or whatever
was coming after me.

The masked man fell onto me, his fist
connecting with my face. My cheek exploded with pain and I turned
my head, shielding it with my arms. He laughed and threw an elbow
at me. Not sure of what else to do, I reached past his arms, laced
my fingers behind his head, and pulled him down to me. I brought my
head up as hard as I could and heard the telltale sound of his nose
breaking. He cried out but managed to pull away from me. He smashed
his fist into my face once more before pulling his dagger and
swinging it down in an arc toward my side.

He jerked back and missed his aim, his free
hand reaching over to touch the arrow stuck in his arm. He stumbled
off of me and ran around the cabin, disappearing into the woods
behind it. I rolled onto my stomach before pulling myself up to run
toward the woods behind me. I stopped short at the sight of a man
in a green tunic fighting two goblins.

“Check the cabin!” he yelled as his dagger
slipped across one of the creatures’ throats.

I hesitated a fraction of a second before
doing what he said. I jumped over the steps and into the house, my
one slaggen ready. I spotted the second on the floor where it had
fallen. Alexander lay where we had left him, his lifeless eyes
staring up at the ceiling. Someone groaned and I made my way into
the kitchen.

“Dad!”

“Chael.” He tried to sit up.

“Lay down.” I knelt beside him and pressed my
hands over the wound on his abdomen. Blood pumped through my
fingers and soaked into his clothes. “By gods, Dad!”

“The book…”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Dad. One of the
goblins ran off with it.”

“You need to get it…”

“I’ll get it. I promise.” The tears welled in
my eyes.

“Chael…” He fought to open his eyes. “This
wasn’t your luck. It’s never been your luck.”

“It was supposed to be better. My luck was
supposed to change.” I wiped the tears from my cheeks with my arm
and tried to press harder on the wound. I swallowed hard. “Stay
with me, Dad. Please. You and me, we’ll get you out of here. I’ll
find a healwife.” The tears were starting again. “It’s always been
you and me.”

My father blinked his eyes and managed to
focus on me. “It wasn’t your luck, Chael’s luck…” He took a ragged
breath and groaned at the pain. “The day you were born… it took me
years to see clearly and by then, it was too late. I thought I had
the worst luck the day you were born. I was wrong. I should have
told you. I should never have made you be someone you weren’t. You
shouldn’t be a Knight…”

“You’re wrong, Dad. I should be a Knight. I
am a Knight.” I brushed the hair out of my face. “I’ve loved my
life. I do.”

His head lolled to the side and he managed to
right it. “Chael… a… I…” His final whisper barely left his lips
before his body relaxed.

“No…” I set his head down as sobs raked
through me. The sound of Klora’s nervous whinny put me on alert and
I took a deep breath to try and pull myself together. I pulled an
arrow from my quiver and notched it before plastering myself to the
door frame. Whisk’s deep growl turned vicious.

“Hey, now, good pup.”

I peered curiously at the man that had saved
my life. One of his eyes was swelled shut and he’d managed to get
cut along the top of his thigh, though not too deeply it would seem
due to the lack of blood soaking into his dark brown pants. His
dark green tunic also had spots of blood on it. I didn’t think any
of it was his. He brushed the dark blond bangs out of his eyes and
reached into his pocket.

Whisk continued to bare his teeth, seemingly
unaware of the fact the stranger could have been pulling a weapon.
I let my arrow fly and smiled as it dug into the tree just inches
from his face.

“I’m quite fond of that dog. I wouldn’t do
anything stupid.”

He looked up and light grey eyes met mine. He
smiled and proceeded to pull a piece of jerky out of his pocket.
Whisk quickly put his teeth away and sat, his tail thumping the
ground. I rolled my eyes.

“Whisk, you’re a traitor.”

“My name’s Ian.” He patted Whisk on the head.
I turned and walked away, ignoring his shout of ‘wait, son, I want
to help’. I sat by my father’s body. I registered the man’s light
footsteps coming into the kitchen and I tensed, my hand on my
dagger should I need it. I looked across my father as he sat.

“My name’s Ian.”

“Chael.” I tried to keep the tears from
spilling from my eyes.

“Was this your commanding officer?”

I nodded then shook my head. “Yes. He’s my
father.” I could tell he was observing me. “What?”

“I was just thinking you look a bit young to
be a Shadow Knight.”

“I’m eighteen. I’m just small.”

We sat in silence for a moment.

“Do you want help to get him onto a
blanket?”

I nodded, unable to get any words past the
lump in my throat. Ian moved to his head and I took my father’s
feet in my hands. We laid him under one of the large apple
trees.

After rummaging through the shed, Ian was
able to find two shovels.

“Do you have any particular spot in
mind?”

I nodded. “The cherry tree. My mother’s
buried under one.” I tried to take solace in the fact that my
parents could finally be together again after such a long time
apart. I stabbed my shovel into the ground.

By the time the hole had been dug, I was
aware my side was throbbing horribly. I took a deep breath and
tried to ignore the pain. Ian sat to catch his breath.

“Are you alright?”

I bent over to ease myself to the ground and
cried out as the throbbing turned into a sharp pain. Ian rushed to
my side helped me onto my back. A nervous shiver ran through me at
the shocked look on his face.

“What?”

His eyes wide, he lifted the hand he’d had
under my back so I could see it. It was covered in blood. The
memory of the pain as the masked man had tackled me, stabbing
through my thick leather vest flashed through my head. I realized
Ian was pulling at the laces that held my vest together. I slapped
his hands away.

“Leave it. I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding. Now take the damn thing off
so I can have a look at it.”

I shook my head. “Help me get my father in
his grave first.” I sat up and quickly lay back down as spots
swarmed my vision.

“Chael!” Ian swore under his breath,
something to do with Chael’s luck, and I tried to protest as my
vest was pulled over my head. This was quickly followed by my
tunic.

Ian paused for a fraction of a second before
turning me onto my side to inspect the wound. He pressed his hands
over the wound and the last thoughts I had before I passed out from
the pain was that this man must have amazing self-control not say
anything about what he’d just seen.

*****

The crackle of the fire was my first
indication I was alive. The next was the pain that raked through me
when I tried to sit up. A hand pressed me back down to the
mattress.

“Don’t get up. Try not to move. I put a few
stiches in, but I’m not a healwife by any means and I’d rather not
have to do it again because you tore the other ones out.” Ian’s
light grey eyes met mine and he smiled. “How are you feeling?”

“My father’s dead, I’ve lost the book we were
sent to find, and I managed to get stabbed.” I tried to glare at
him, but couldn’t find it in me. None of this was his fault.

“Here, have some water. You’ve been out for a
whole day. I was starting to worry.”

I took the cup gratefully.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I finished
burying your father while you slept. I also buried Alexander.”

I noted the sadness in his voice. “What was
he to you?”

“A friend. I’d always stop in if I was going
by. He was a good man.” He fell silent and he frowned with the
thoughts going through his head. He looked me square in the eye.
“Chael.” He took a deep breath.

“You’re wondering about what you saw when you
pulled my tunic off.”

His lips twitched in an attempt not to smile.
“I’m not wondering about what I saw. I know what I saw. What I’m
wondering is why.”

My heart sped in my chest. I’d spent the past
eighteen years of my life keeping the secret I was about to talk
about. My mouth fell dry and I took another sip of water.

“Chaela.”

“What?”

“Chaela. My name’s Chaela.” I took a deep
breath and leaned my head back, suddenly relieved to have said it
out loud.

“But you’re a Knight?”

I looked up into Ian’s grey eyes and smiled
sadly. “I am. I come from a very long line of Shadow Knights. My
family tree always starts off the same way no matter where you look
at it. The first born of each family is a son. This son is always a
Shadow Knight. It’s been this way for hundreds of years and the
pattern has never been broken.” I smiled grimly. “Until me. You can
imagine my father’s grief when my mother died and his horror at
finding that she’d died giving birth to this.” I gestured to
myself.

He shook his head in disbelief. “He raised
you as a boy.”

“Yes and no. He wasn’t disillusioned by any
means. He knew I was a girl. At home, when it was just me and him,
I was Chaela. He still called me Chael most of the time, but that
was more of a nickname than anything.” Thoughts of my father and
the times we’d shared caused the tears to well in my eyes. “He
wanted his first born to be a Shadow. That was never going to
happen if others knew I was a woman.”