Page 40 of Pawns of Fate

NICHOLAS

H e kissed her tears, then gently kissed her lips. Rose responded in kind, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him in to deepen the kiss. Closer, closer. He couldn’t be close enough to her right now.

Nicholas broke the kiss to ask, “Are you alright?” He ran a hand through her hair, cupping the back of her head and checking for himself.

“Yes, I’m alright,” Rose choked on a few sobs as she tried to dry her tears, then reached over with her sleeve and dried Nicholas’s. “I didn’t know you could perform levitation spells.”

“He can’t,” a blunt voice said from behind them.

Rose and Nicholas turned around.

“Syzman! Where’s Lyla?” Rose asked eagerly.

A dark, panicked look flashed across the assassin’s face.

“She’s not up there with Ava and York?”

“No, we separated. Lyla bought us time by fighting the three werewolves on her own.”

“Three?” Syzman’s voice cracked, and his eyes widened.

“Yes. I suppose there are only two now, but we heard at least three howls. Lyla didn’t have very much mana after teleporting the three of us out of the city, so she told us to run for the border village while she took care of the monsters.”

Syzman didn’t even bother with a goodbye as he sprinted into the foothills.

“Don’t worry too much. Syzman will find her,” Nicholas stated confidently.

“I’m not worried that she’s lost. I’m worried that he’ll be too late.” Rose looked distressed. Nicholas remembered she hadn’t seen either Syzman or Lyla using the full extent of their capabilities.

“Werewolves wouldn’t be enough to take her down. Even without magic,” he added, hoping to alleviate some of her fears.

“Are you certain? Besides, did you see Syzman’s face? I’ve never seen him panic like that. Or move that quickly.”

“You just haven’t been around him long. Those two care deeply about each other, even though they’ll never admit it.

They have a long, strange history, and they both actively work to hide it from others.

” Nicholas tucked a strand of Rose’s hair behind her ear, then added, “Not that they do a particularly good job of hiding their feelings from anyone but themselves.”

“Rose! Nicholas!” York and Ava’s voices echoed from the top of the cliff.

“Did you dispatch the werewolf?” Nicholas yelled in reply.

“Yes!”

“Join us down here then! We’ll ride back to the village together.”

Ava and York agreed, then disappeared as they searched for the path that would lead them safely down the cliff.

“While we wait, let me check you for injuries, Rose.”

“I’m fine, Nicholas.”

“There’s a cut on your arm. How did you get that?”

“The wolf. Its claws grazed me just before York cut its arm off.”

“We’ll need to dress it properly, then. Wounds caused by werewolves are prone to infection.”

Nicholas rifled through his saddlebags, looking for bandages and alcohol to act as a wound cleanser.

As the shock of the day’s events faded, Rose asked, “How did you get here so quickly?”

He produced a few white cloths and a tiny bottle of alcohol. “Lyla left Syzman with teleportation scrolls modified to respond to lightning and shadow mana. The scrolls didn’t get us all the way to Uddedin, though.” He uncorked the bottle. “This will hurt a little.”

Rose winced as he poured the disinfectant on her arm.

“When we teleported, we ended up almost at the border village that’s ahead. We bought the horses and supplies there,” he said as he wrapped her arm with the bandages.

Rose examined his medical handiwork, and a tiny smile crept across her face. “Thank you for bandaging me up,” she said sweetly.

They shared a quick meal, simple field rations. Nicholas hadn’t eaten in what felt like days, so the dried meats and bread tasted like a feast. From the expression Rose made while she ate, she shared the sentiment.

After the brief meal, Nicholas seated Rose in front of him on his horse. Ava and York, also sharing a horse, joined them shortly after.

“Should we wait for Syzman and Lyla?” Ava asked with knitted brows.

“Or we could go after them,” Rose added.

“No,” York replied. “Two werewolves won’t be any trouble for those two. We’d only get in the way.”

Rose shifted uncomfortably in the saddle. Nicholas gave her a small hug. “Lyla will be okay,” he whispered.

“I trust you,” she said hesitantly.

Nicholas wanted nothing more than to kiss away all her worries, but he knew seeing Lyla safe and sound was the only thing that would truly relieve Rose’s heart. He settled for giving her another light hug as he urged his horse toward the border village.

“For three rooms?” the innkeeper asked.

Nicholas slid a small bag of silver coins across the counter, enough for double the normal rate. “Three of your best rooms.”

“What name?”

Nicholas paused. It was better to use a fake name. He wasn’t good at coming up with things like this on the spot, though.

“Norman will do.”

The innkeeper dutifully wrote the name Norman in his ledger. He handed Nicholas three sets of keys.

Nicholas hurried across the tavern section of the inn and presented York and Ava with their keys. They mumbled something about meeting up for dinner, then scurried off.

Rose offered her hand as he guided her to their room.

“Lyla said this inn has private baths that draw water from the local hot springs.”

“Lyla was correct.” They stopped in front of a door painted a deep shade of forest green. Nicholas opened it and said, “And I made sure that we got one.”

He heard Rose let out a small, contented sigh as they inspected the room.

The floors, ceiling, and walls were all made of dark wood, which made the space feel small, yet inviting.

The scent of lavender and vanilla soap flooded their senses, which was far more heavenly than anything Nicholas had smelled in that damn swamp.

A spacious bed, laden with thick blankets and furs, drew Rose in.

His wife threw herself on the bed and was asleep faster than Nicholas had thought humanly possible.

The room’s outside wall had a sliding door, which Nicholas opened. Beyond the door lay an outdoor bath, fashioned after a natural hot spring and certainly large enough for two people. A high wooden privacy fence shielded the area from prying eyes.

Nicholas debated jumping into the bath or joining Rose for her nap until there was a gentle knock at the door.

Syzman stepped into the room. The mage looked like he’d aged a decade, and the edges of his cloak were torn and bloody. Nicholas pulled Syzman back into the vacant hall, suddenly worried that something had happened to Lyla and Rose would find out in a horrible way.

“What happened?” Nicholas whispered.

Syzman pulled at his own hair. “Lyla will live, but…” His gaze and voice trailed off, as if he were reliving a nightmare. “She lost a lot of blood.”

“Where is she now?”

“There’s a small doctor’s office in this village. They wanted her to stay overnight. She needs to stay two nights, but she’ll be worried about guarding Ava and Rose.”

“No. I won’t let Lyla return to work until she’s well and truly healed. She stays two nights, if that’s what the doctor ordered.” Nicholas pursed his lips.

Syzman let out a breath of relief. “Thank you.”

Nicholas glanced up and down the hallway, making sure that there were still no other patrons around. “Syzman, what do we do about that shadow mage that’s after Rose? We used a hood to cover her hair when we came into town. I’m very concerned that won’t be enough.”

Syzman replied, voice low, “Our attacker used even more mana than we did. He coordinated half a dozen monster attacks across Albion yesterday. He’ll rest tonight.”

“Are you so sure it’s only one person?”

Syzman tilted his head back and forth, as if weighing the thought.

“There are only five known mages who can travel through shadow. I’m one of them.

Of the other four, there’s only one that’s—” Syzman paused, as if weighing his words carefully, “—there’s only one that is capable of creating this kind of mess. ”

“Do you know him?”

Syzman let out a sound that was something between a hiss and a sigh. “I’m not at liberty to say, little lord.”

Nicholas felt annoyance crease his brow, but decided that it was a good sign that Syzman felt comfortable enough to tease him.

“Will the tower take care of this? I’m worried Rose won’t be safe, even in Onanish.”

“Which is why I think you should take her to the Duchy of Kai first thing in the morning.”

“What?”

“Duke Talbot employs several exceptional mages who can ward just as well as Lyla. Kai is a three-day ride from here. Our attacker will need at least a day to recover. You and Rose could be halfway to Talbot’s castle by then.”

It was Nicholas’s turn to weigh an idea in his mind. Syzman’s plan made sense, and the Talbots owed the Sharp family a favor for aiding them with the western wolf rider skirmishes.

“She could wait for us to capture Lys—the rogue mage in the comfort of the largest castle south of the Imperial City. Lyla may not have full use of her magic for days. We’re sitting ducks here,” Syzman added.

“What about York and Ava?”

“I think they should ride back to Onanish.”

Nicholas frowned. York wouldn’t like that idea, but their options were limited.

“Alright. It’s a plan. Go get some rest, Syzman. We need you at full strength as soon as possible.” Nicholas handed him the keys to a room.

The shadow mage gave a small bow. “I’m going to check on Lyla one more time, but I will recover my strength tonight, little lord.” He strode off down the hall.

Nicholas didn’t have the heart to tease Syzman about how much his true feelings for Lyla were showing through. If it had been Rose in that hospital bed… He perished the thought and returned to the room, where he was greeted with the adorable sight of Rose waking up from her terribly short nap.

She rubbed her eyes and mumbled, “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”