Sentinels: Forsaken Knight (23 page)

“Yes, I’m aware. I won this year,” Anye proudly proclaimed. She gained some amount of pleasure looking at the surprise in his face at the comment. “Before you say anything, I was
trying
to keep a low profile, but the only thing I’m good at is combat, and nobody wanted to hire a female mercenary, especially one without any sort of reputation. The tournament was supposed to get my name out there as a woman with a good sword arm. Besides, I needed the money. What you left me was all but gone.”

Glenn laughed and took a swig of the drink he had in his cup. “I’d heard of a woman winning the tournament this year. News travels, but I didn’t think
you
were the infamous Amy Karst!”

The two shared a laugh for a moment before calming down and continuing on with their stories of the past couple months. Glenn started, beginning with Toran and the herders he was supposed to help. An old colleague of theirs from Delrich’s military, Aldrin Fawkes, was living under a new identity as the leader of the dragon tamers. When they found the dragon, it fought off its attackers ferociously until Glenn injured the creature. By that point, many of the Toraners were dead or missing. Amador appeared and attempted to murder Glenn, but the dragon returned and drove him away. That was how he met Eisenzahn.

The dragon tended to his wounds from the battle and took Glenn to the North Tower, the location Eisenzahn mentioned when Anye first met the enormous creature. It was there that Glenn acquired Darius and his new armor. Knowledge of the goings on with Stragus demanded that they fly west, to the Sun’s Bed, to either move Alistair by some means or guard the location until the sword’s heir appeared. Luckily, the tower was Anye and Amadi’s destination, though memory of the prophecy foretelling of their claiming the artifacts made it less luck and more destiny.

Once Glenn concluded the obviously abbreviated story, Anye began to tell hers. She explained how she crossed the toll bridge and had been living at Byron’s inn, having settled in Bridge Port. Her tale was much shorter compared to Glenn’s though, as much less had happened with her until the tournament and the events leading up to her arrival at the West Tower. Still, thinking about the lecherous old man and his filthy jokes made her miss the simplicity of things during that time, and she wished to return there regardless of her obligation to Lord Taggart.             “Well, this ship is headed back to Belrun, is it not?” Glenn asked. “We’ll need to warn the kingdoms of Stragus’ return. If Lord Taggart has been studying Del’Mond’s history and believes in the legends, then having him on our side could help us convince the reigning monarch of the validity of our warning.”

“True,” Anye agreed. “So you’ll be coming with me then?” she asked anxiously. She was looking forward to being with him again, but her excitement was cut short when he shook his head in reply. “Glenn, why not?” she asked. She sounded as a girl who’d been denied permission to attend a ball or social gathering.  

“I must return to Delrich,” he explained. “It is likely Amador has either reported me dead or traitor. If he is serving Stragus, I need to warn King Justin of what’s coming. Amador’s been keeping Delrich at war with Mitus for the sole reason of weakening both of their defenses…I know it.”

Anye looked down at the table and cradled the cup in her hands before remembering something else that had happened at the tower. “Glenn, what was that with Kiya?” she asked. “I’ve never known her to be adept at using magic, let alone black magic, and to be in bed with Amador.”

Glenn furrowed his brow and got to his feet, visibly angered at the thought of his wife. “Kiya…that woman did nothing but use me, all these years,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“If you’ll remember she was married
to
me,” Glenn said. “I want to make that clear.” He paced around the room as he gathered his thoughts before continuing. “I tried to love her, to be the husband she apparently wanted me to be, but in actuality she used her position as my wife to move about without restriction. She had been having an affair with Amador for some time, perhaps as long as our entire sham of a marriage, I don’t know. The day King Justin ordered me to Toran she left me a letter,” he continued. “She told me she was leaving me because I was a disgrace, and had dishonored her by my infatuations with you and suspected involvement in your escape.”

Anye blushed slightly at the mention of the infatuations, but tried to hide it from Glenn.

“The next time I saw her was when I was in Toran. I didn’t know how she got there at the time, but she and Amador were working together. She’s the one really responsible for…well, this,” he said as he pointed to his bad eye and scar. “I nearly died in that frozen waste, and would have if Eisenzahn didn’t drive them off”

“Conveniently left that part out of the story before,” Anye commented.

“I prefer not to think about it,” he replied. “I suspect you enjoy the memory of Prince Robert’s murder about as much.”

The comment stung, but the man had a point. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. We’ve both been stabbed in the back,” Glenn sighed as he sat back down in his chair again. “I’m just happy I was able to see you again.”

The two stared into one another’s eyes for the moment, enjoying the ambient sound of the water splashing against the hull of the ship, and the soft glow of the candlelight on their faces. Anye had forgotten what it was like seeing him every day, and she wanted to continue to do so. She hoped he did too.

“Now what’s going on in here!?” a loud and drunk sounding Amadi yelled through the door before barging in, effectively ending the moment Anye and Glenn were sharing. “Did I interrupt something?” he said with a slur.

“Amadi…are you drunk?” Anye asked with a smile on her face. The way the boy moved along with the ship’s rocking indicated that he had indeed drank too much with the crew and she started laughing at the boy. Glenn, while less enthused by the boy’s antics, also smiled and laughed.

“Those men…” Amadi said as he stumbled over towards his friends. “Now
they
know how to have a good time…I should do this more often!”

“Okay~,” Glenn commented while catching the boy’s stumble. “I think you’ve had enough, Amadi. Let’s get you to bed.”

“Bed…yes…bed seems smart…” Amadi tried to reply in his drunken stupor.

Glenn helped the boy walk. His staff was still miraculously in his hand, although Legeia may have had something to do with that. The pair slowly stepped towards one of the beds in the cabin and Amadi lowered himself down to sleep. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was out cold and snoring.

Anye could barely control the laughter, a feeling which she hadn’t really felt in a while, and it felt good. She laughed as Glenn shook his head at the boy similar to how an older brother would treat a younger sibling in a similar situation, reminding her of the nights she’d spent in Delrich’s tavern near the castle with friends and colleagues. They were good memories.

“We should get some rest,” Glenn told her as he picked up Darius from where it rested. “I’m going to find a hammock below deck.”

Anye stood surprised. “You won’t stay with us…?”

Now it was Glenn’s turn to blush. “I wasn’t sure if you…um,” he tried to say as he nervously swallowed.

Anye walked up to him, the smile completed faded from her face, and she got close to him. She looked him in the eyes and he looked back, although an obvious feeling of nervousness and awkwardness was around them.

“Anye, I…”

“Glenn, what are we?” she asked. “Is there…”

Before Anye had the opportunity to say anything else he placed his hands on her cheeks, pulled her close, and pressed his lips against hers. Anye remembered the kiss she’d given him the night of her escape, but always wondered if that was wise. She’d hoped so, but this moment now cemented the feeling that it was. She kissed him back, feeling her body grow warm as she leaned into him, but the moment lasted only briefly. Glenn slowly ended the kiss and pulled his head away from her while keeping his hands on her cheeks, looking into her eyes as she looked back into his.

“Glenn…”

He stepped away from her and smiled. “Good night, Anye. I’ll see you in the morning.”

As he moved away from her, Anye grabbed the hands resting on her cheeks, savoring the moment. She had dreamed of a moment like that for years, and it was euphoric for it to have finally happened. She only wished it could last longer and had occurred under less stressful circumstances. Still, she was happy and didn’t want to ruin the moment. “Good night,” she whispered before she let go.

Glenn backed out of the cabin, keeping his gaze locked with hers until the door closed in front of them. Anye stepped away from the door towards the beds, feeling as if she was walking on air. It would have been a perfect end to the evening if Alistair didn’t decide to be a jokester and whistle a cat call at her, apparently having observed the entire interaction.

“Shut up, Alistair,” Anye barked as she fell to the bed to sleep.

______

            The journey back to Mark's Landing aboard
The Empress
was uneventful. The crew and passengers all expected to be harassed by the foreign navy on their return from the 'forbidden' land but the ships all kept their distance. Bikke assumed it was because of the large dragon they had picked up that circled around them as they sailed. "There’s something about seeing a giant fire-breathing monster that just seems to strike fear in people," was a joke captain Bikke took a liking to saying.

            Whatever supplies were still needed had been quickly purchased when they reached the island’s port, and then they quickly departed once more continuing east across the sea on their way to Belrun. During the time on the water, Anye used the open area of her cabin to practice using her new weapon and abilities. Not much of the magic she had learned was new per-say, but rather an enhanced form of what she had been taught during her training and years of servitude.

            The new magic she
had
learned was what took up most of her time. The ancient blade contained knowledge of magic she’d never heard of before. There was a method of utilizing raw energy to deal extra damage with each blow she could land, another for drastically enhancing her senses, and even storing magic in isolated locations, releasing it when deemed necessary for tactical reasons. Control over the elements also became much easier for her to grasp than before, and she mastered enchanting the blade with various charms quickly, much like Yarik Boulderson had done in the tournament. But the most useful, and notable, augmentation to her abilities was the ease of which Anye could enter an enlightened state. Unfortunately, doing so was not without cost and she knew it would be best to save such magic for dire situations.

            Glenn offered to spar with her, to help the physical aspects of her sword play, something she hadn't had a partner for since before she had left Delrich. In doing so, the lancer surprised her with new techniques of his own, showing increased mastery of the spear. He explained that he also knew a form of magic she hadn't heard of before. He called it a Spirit Link, and explained that it required a temporary union of both the dragon's and the rider's souls. The act was terribly straining on the human body, but it granted so much power and strength that the caster became nigh invulnerable, if only temporarily. When asked if he would demonstrate it for her Glenn declined, telling her that he "didn't want to risk not being able to use it should the need arise unexpectedly." It sounded extremely similar to the enlightened state, and she wondered if they were connected in some way.

            The evenings became increasingly romantic for Glenn and Anye as each day passed, something that Amadi caught on to quickly enough. He allotted to sleep below deck with the crew to provide the newly christened couple with some privacy. Anye didn’t complain, nor did Glenn. They took advantage of the solitude, letting loose desires for one another that had been pent up for years. The courtship was exhilarating, and was everything Anye had dreamed it would be and more. Captain Bikke asked them to keep it down on several mornings following as a result.

            The Empress
finally returned home to the port at Mark's Landing after only a few days more than it took for them to reach the Western Isles. Eisenzahn had flown higher than the clouds to avoid causing a panic in the town, informing the group that he would wait for them in the hills outside of its borders, and that Glenn would know where to find him.

            At the end of the docks leading to the town stood Captain Bikke, along with Mr. Evans, who looked to like he wanted to have a word with the ferried passengers. Anye suspected what it was they wanted to discuss based on the look on the old captain's face; money.

            "Glad to see you've recovered from your illness, Master Amadi," Bikke joked regarding Amadi’s lack of alcohol tolerance. "Don't worry. The more you partake, the less you feel."

            Amadi chuckled and nodded his head to the vessel's captain. "I'll remember your advice, Captain."

            "Now then, down to business. There's the matter of the money I was promised during our stay in the Western Isles," the captain stated. "When should I expect to receive payment for our additional passenger?"

            Anye opened her mouth to speak and give an answer she had been brewing in her head, but Amadi stepped up and spoke unexpectedly. "Lord Taggart will happily send a courier with the funds you are owed," he explained. "He is an honorable and trustworthy man, I'm sure you know."

            Bikke nodded his head towards the dark-skinned boy. "Aye, he is. He's never left a debt unpaid if the stories are true."

            "Then we have a deal?"

            "
You
are not Lord Taggart, Master Amadi…but you helped us when the sea’s wind refused to blow. Aye, we have a deal."

            The two grabbed hands and shook their arms to seal the agreement. Bikke looked happy enough to have been promised more than double his original payment, and so after releasing the boy's hand, he and Evans bid farewell to the travelers and returned to their ship.