Rise of the Champion (The Sword of Kirakath Omnibus #1) (44 page)

Recently, he had done a great deal of thinking, and certain things had begun to bother him. King Andrew’s sudden death six years earlier, Hector’s sudden disappearance over a year ago, the destruction of Kirakath, and Count Clovis attempting to have Caleb killed under the order of his mysterious master were a few of the more noteworthy clues in his opinion. Either something big was going on, or he was getting paranoid.

“I don’t think I have a choice,” Caleb said wryly.

“Do not listen to your ancestor,” Abigail remarked. “He condemns prophecy for how it was used in his day, but it is nothing more than a tool. Should all daggers be destroyed simply because one was used to take the life of a child? To blame the tool for the actions of its wielder is foolish.”

Caleb could not deny that she had a point. His father had been killed by many arrows, but he still carried a bow.

“What must be done?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

“That is where we run into a problem,” Abigail said sheepishly. “The tome that I need to cleanse the Blood of Kirakath was stolen several decades ago by a necromancer. Several attempts to reclaim it have been made, but they have all ended in failure. I know exactly where it is, and I know for certain that it cannot be opened by anyone on the island other than us. As you are a direct descendent of Archmage Kyran, the man that wrote and enchanted the tome, and I am a Witch of Akabar, the tome’s enchantments would only allow us to open it.”

Caleb looked started at that announcement. His mouth opened, but no words came out of it. There was no mistaking it. Abigail had stated that he was a direct descendent of Kyran. He had been told that the only direct descendents of his left were King John and Princess Eliza, the only children of the late King Andrew.

“Things are never simple,” Sir Edmond remarked, shaking his head. “I would prefer that he not have to deal with mages in combat until I train him, but I cannot do that until the taint is cleansed. Naturally, the taint cannot be cleansed until he defeats a mage in combat. He could steal the tome, I suppose, but it would be much more difficult.”

“It’s unfortunate, but it’s your only choice,” Abigail said. “Well, I suppose I could remove the barrier without the tome, and the taint would be cleansed if he went three years without using the Blood of Kirakath. I do not believe you have so much time, however.”

“He needs to get the tome then,” Sir Edmond sighed. “And to make matters worse, neither of us can help him.”

“What?” Caleb asked, finally snapping out of his shock.

“A necromancer would be able to control me because I am a spirit, and magic users can sense one another, giving him advanced warning if Abigail accompanied you. The only reason you can go to retrieve the tome is because mages cannot sense the Blood of Kirakath until they are close enough to see what color your eyes are,” Sir Edmond said casually.

Caleb just stared at him blankly. “You mean that I have to deal with a wizard that can control the dead and take this book back? By myself?”

“Perhaps it would not be remiss to allow you to return to Laus. One of your friends would be beneficial,” Sir Edmond mused.

“That’s a yes on the first part, by the way,” Abigail said, making Caleb groan.

He had a feeling that things were just starting to get difficult.

Chapter 4

Just after midday of the following day, Caleb was approaching Laus once again. Sir Edmond and Abigail had both stayed at the temple on Mount Akabar.

Caleb had been surprised by that decision. The Isle of Akabar was a very unfamiliar place to him, so Sir Edmond’s decision to let him go anywhere by himself was rather surprising. Fortunately, his time as a hunter’s apprentice helped him find Sir Edmond’s tracks from the previous day. His own were difficult to see, but Sir Edmond left deep impressions in the ground where he walked. His stone body was likely the reason behind it.

“I need to speak to Vincent,” Caleb said as he pulled back the hood of his cloak. The guards were the same as the ones from the other day, so he knew they would recognize him.

“Come with me,” one of the guards said as he began to lead Caleb through the gates and towards Vincent’s manor.

As they neared the entrance, Vincent walked out of the manor. A look of surprise was clear on his face.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, a hint of concern clear in his tone.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Caleb said, waving him off. “I need to go to the Dark Caverns to retrieve something though, so I was hoping to get Nicolas or Katie to come with me.”

“That’s not a good place to go,” Vincent remarked, shaking his head. “If you have to go there, it would not be a good idea to go alone. I can already guess why Sir Edmond and the witch cannot help you. Unfortunately, taking either Nicolas or Katie with you would mean that they would lose valuable time training.”

Caleb nodded in understanding. He hated the idea of taking them away from their training, especially when the task at hand had to do with his own.

“That’s fine with me.”

They both turned and saw Katie walking towards them with the hood of her cloak hiding her face.

“I heard what you were talking about. I hope you don’t think I’m going to let you go deal with a necromancer by yourself. I heard some of the guards talk about the Dark Caverns last night.”

“I would rather her go with you than Nicolas,” Vincent admitted. “He prefers to fight straightforward with a single sword. At most, he uses a dagger in his left hand to defend with. That’s how I prefer to fight. Other times, I wield my scimitar with both hands. I never dual wield blades of equal length though. It is a fundamentally different style of fighting.”

“Then it’s settled,” she said, satisfied. “Let’s get going.”

Caleb bit back a chuckle as he pulled his hood over his head. “Once we’re done, I’ll be back with Katie. I get the feeling that I’m going to be needed at the temple for a while after we’re done.”

“I suspect that you’re right,” Vincent agreed. “Good luck.”

With a nod, Caleb made his way back towards the gate with Katie at his side.

* * * * *

No words were spoken for over an hour after the pair left, but that was all the time Katie was willing to allow for.

“So what are we going to do, exactly?”

“The Last Witch of Akabar can cleanse the taint from the Blood of Kirakath. Kyran explained how in a tome he gave them, actually,” Caleb said, suppressing laughter as he saw the incredulous look on Katie’s face. “Unfortunately, the tome was stolen a few decades ago by the necromancer that lives in the Dark Caverns. He can’t open it, be he still has it. So we need to get the tome back.”

“And naturally, your long dead ancestor us useless against a necromancer,” Katie remarked dryly. “Do you really think it’s safe to give her a tome of powerful magic?”

“They had the tome for over a thousand years. Do you really think they’ll do something bad with it after so long?” Caleb countered.

“I suppose you have a point,” Katie conceded.

“What do you expect?” Caleb asked, making himself sound haughty. “I am a direct descendent of Archmage Kyran, after all.”

Katie came to a complete stop as she heard those words.

“What?”

The question came out so softly that he was not sure if she had actually spoken, or if it was his imagination.

“Apparently, Archmage Kyran had one son and two daughters. The son carried on the Cross line and is the ancestor of King John and Princess Eliza. The second daughter married into the Sullivan line and is the ancestor of Sir Edmond. Since I’m his direct descendent….”

He did not need to continue. The look in Katie’s eyes made it clear that she understood.

“This is more significant than you realize. Arcadia has been ruled by direct descendents of Kyran since it formed. If anything happened to King John and Princess Eliza, you would have a claim to the throne. Well, you would have to have proof of your lineage, but I’m sure something could be found.”

When that sunk in, Caleb could not stop the look of astonishment from crossing his features. She was correct, and he knew it. If his lineage became known, everything would have become much different.

“I wonder if Clovis, or his boss, knew about this. Your father was a popular man. If his lineage had gotten out six years ago, the nobles might have tried to put him on the throne after Andrew’s death instead of John,” Katie pondered.

“But why would they kill him five years after King John took the throne?” Caleb asked. Part of him hoped to end the discussion quickly, but another part of him wanted to continue it. Curiosity mainly fueled that second part. Katie was sharp and had unusual insight, after all.

“It’s conjecture at this point,” Katie admitted. “It is unusual that Duke Aron Black visited Caldreth a month before Kirakath was massacred though. While it’s not irregular for a duke to visit nearby cities to visit the counts and barons, the timing is still suspicious.”

“You know a great deal about nobility,” Caleb remarked with a hint of a frown. He still remembered his conversation with Clovis before he did. The Count of Caldreth had mentioned serving a master. Duke Aron coming to Caldreth a month before the Massacre of Kirakath was very alarming because of that. He had told Katie about the conversation already, and he could see that she had made the same connection that he had.

“You think Duke Aron was in league with Count Clovis, Cain Fell, and the Night Blades?” he asked carefully.

“It is possible,” Katie answered nervously.

“Katie, what’s wrong?” he asked, coming to a stop. She looked more nervous than he had ever seen her before. Given that he met her in a slave camp, watched her freeze up after encountering a griffin, saved her after assassins nearly killed her, and broke into a castle to kill a noble alongside her, he had not thought such a thing was possible.

“I don’t know if I want to tell you,” she said after a few moments of silence. Her eyes were focused on her boots as she spoke. “I shouldn’t have any problem telling you after you told me about your lineage, but if what I just told you is true….”

“You can trust me,” Caleb reassured her as she trailed off. “We’re good friends, and that’s what we do.”

Katie took a deep breath as she came to a stop. Her emerald eyes met Caleb’s sapphire ones before she spoke in a soft and calm voice. “Caleb, I was never known as Katie before I came to Caldreth. When people ask me what my real name is, I tell them it’s Katelyn. But in truth, my name is Katherine Black, second child and only daughter of Aron Black. My father is the very duke that may have plotted to have yours killed. Now, do you see why I didn’t want to tell you?”

Caleb stared at Katie for a moment. No emotion could be seen in his eyes, but that was simply because he was stunned.

He had always known that Katie was more than she appeared to be, but none of his guesses had been close. He likely would never have made the connection, now that he thought about it. She had mentioned that she lost a father that she barely knew, though she never said that he died. He had assumed that he had, but assumptions were often misleading.

All of Katie’s knowledge suddenly made sense as he thought about what she had told him.

She spoke of bards familiarly. She knew far more than the common man did about history and was well spoken. She had skill with blades that only came from someone who was trained with such things, and nobles were known to have their young taught to use a sword. That was not all either. There were many other minor things that he had noticed that could be explained by what she told him.

“You could have told me earlier,” Caleb said as he finally took it all in. “I can’t say that I see you the same as I did before. I don’t mean that in a bad way though. Knowing more about a person helps you understand them, and understanding them changes how you see them. You’re still my friend, and I have no plans of changing that.”

“You don’t care?” she asked in surprise. “I thought you’d at least be a little upset with me.”

“I don’t see any reason why it should matter to me. You never lied about it to me, and I’m sure you had a good reason for leaving that life behind you,” Caleb said with a shrug as he began walking again with Katie a few steps behind him.

“I wasn’t his heir, so Father wished to marry me off and secure an alliance,” Katie said quietly as she followed him.

Hearing that made Caleb feel a little nauseous, but he suppressed it. He was not sure what caused it, so he decided to worry about it later. “I’m just guessing here, so tell me if I get it right. You ran off since you didn’t want to be forced into a marriage. You ran off to Caldreth, and you probably ran into Nicolas once you got there. You couldn’t live like you were used to, but the life of a thief was better than the life of a run-away.”

“You’re closer to the truth than I expected,” Katie said with a weak smile. “The details don’t matter too much, but you have the basics down. I ran away after Father told me that he intended to begin meeting with suitors. I would have been married within a year. I did meet Nicolas shortly after I arrived in Caldreth, and he is the one that taught me the skills I needed to become a thief.  The rest is history. I haven’t seen my father, my mother, or my brother in four years. I’m afraid that the next time I see them, I will have to fight to stop them from forcefully taking me.”