Page 16 of The Darkest Knight (The Cursed Kingdom #3)
Chapter Sixteen
P adriag appeared near the caves. Argo looked up as he neared, the shifter’s expression harsher than usual.
“Did anyone get hurt?” Padriag asked him.
“Two of our guardsmen are injured, one badly. They’ve been taken back to Atlandia. We are about to head there ourselves.” Argo looked away toward the woods. “The villagers of Middlesex cannot survive without protection. The Princesses have decreed that they all relocate closer to the castle. At least until their numbers increase, then they can request permission to reestablish the village.”
“Are we going to help them?”
Argo shook his head. “Half of the guard left early this morning. They are probably arriving at the castle soon.”
Padriag hesitated before asking, hoping his friend was not one of the injured. “Is Liam here?”
“Yes. He just returned shortly.” Argo motioned to the caves. “He’s packing.”
Returned? “Thank you, I’ll go retrieve my belongings as well.” Padriag ran up the hill.
The guardsmen were mounting and preparing to leave, and head back to Atlandia.
“Where the hell have you been?” Padriag yelled storming into the tent.
Liam tightened the strap on the bundle he kneeled next to and looked up. “Where the hell have you been?” he asked in return, emphasizing the word ‘you.’ He went back to picking up the remaining items. “I thought I would end up taking the three horses back to the castle myself. Where’s Niall?”
“He’s still back in the other realm.” Padriag began to pick up his belongings. “How will he know where to find us? Maybe I should take the horses, and you go and tell him to return to the castle.”
The sounds of hooves interrupted their conversation. Liam headed towards the tent entrance. “Come on, we still have to saddle the horses and catch up.”
Snow wasn’t falling, but the air remained frigid. Padriag let out a puff of air as he went after Liam. The ugliness of the frozen land mirrored his mood. “Liam wait,” he called after the Brit, who’d reached one of the horses. “You never answered my question.”
A slow coloring, followed by a wide smile told more than Liam’s words. “I went to Edinburgh. Popped in to visit John.”
“Oh, well shit. That’s great,” Padriag replied truthfully. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d lost interest, you haven’t seen him in a long time.”
Padriag tied his bag and bedroll onto Niall’s horse’s saddle. “It’s nice to know that you, Gavin, and Tristan found happiness.”
Liam walked over and stood directly in front of him. “Something is wrong. Why are you saying only the three of us?”
Not sure he wanted to have the conversation, Padriag shrugged. “My time is over, nothing happened. Three lives were rescued. Niall, Erin and Tammie. I don’t know about hearts restored. Maybe that’s you and John. No one died, which is a good thing.”
“The moons are in the sky,” Liam pointed out. “It is not over yet.” The Brit went to his horse. “If we don’t hurry, we’ll never catch up with the guard.”
They mounted and began the trek back toward the castle riding side-by-side, with Niall’s horse following behind.
Padriag looked at Liam. “You should go now. It’s time to allow yourself time with John, time to be happy. To be free of all this. Niall and I will find our destiny whether it’s here or in the other realm.”
“Why the sudden pessimism?” Liam frowned at him. “I gave my word. I will remain and help you.”
Humbled at Liam’s nobility, Padriag tried to think of the words needed to allow Liam to leave without it seeming as if he’d given up on them. It shamed him to think that of all the men he’d spent the last three hundred plus years with, Liam was the one he’d never been close to. Liam always maintained a distance. Possibly his upbringing in the English aristocracy caused him to seem like that. Either way, he should have gotten to know the man who obviously cared very much for him and Niall.
“I’m sorry Liam.” Padriag started and had to clear his throat. “I’m sorry that I didn’t take time to get to know you better.”
Liam raised an eyebrow giving him a puzzled look.
“So,” Padriag continued. “I mean, yeah I know a lot about you. We lived together for centuries. But I don’t think you and I ever hung out and talked. You know about deep things.”
The curl of his upper lip joined the Brit’s raised eyebrow. “Deep things?” Liam’s voice laced with impatience. “Seriously, Padriag, what the fuck are you talking about? We’ve spent many times talking. What can be deeper than the time we were tied together and dragged through the woods naked.”
“Ugh,” Padriag exclaimed. “I forgot about that. I had to dig rocks out of my ass cheeks after that.”
“Or the time,” Liam continued, “when those mad villagers caged us and hung us in a tree to die. I believe we spent four or five days getting to know each other pretty well.”
“Your hair was never messed up,” Padriag replied, “How the hell do you get dragged through the forest by a galloping centaur and not mess up your damn hair?”
His comment ignored, Liam continued, this time smiling at the memory. “Remember the time Gavin and I fought until we practically passed out, and Tristan became so angry he grabbed you and used you like a stick to beat us with?” The Brit let out a laugh. “You screamed like a girl.”
“I did not,” Padriag retorted, “but that shit did hurt, and it wasn’t funny. I don’t know why he did that.”
Liam shrugged, “he’s very strong and you were the closest thing he could reach.” The Brit stopped talking and pulled his horse to a stop. A glazed expression came over him and his body went slack, the telltale sign that he had a vision.
They’d not caught up to the guard yet. Alert, Padriag scanned the surroundings. All seemed clear. Other than the sound of the wind through the frozen branches, it was eerily quiet.
“Hurry, we must go.” Liam urged his horse to a run and Padriag followed suit. Hopefully the guard had not been attacked.
Padriag would have to wait to ask Liam what he’d seen because right now he was having a hard time keeping up with him.
Whiteness surrounded them. A mixture of snow and ice suddenly blew, making visibility impossible. The horses could not be urged to continue forward. Without vision, the beasts became cautious and frightened. The hair on his nape rose. Padriag began to cast a spell of protection over his small party. Liam turned to give him a thankful half-smile that did not reach his eyes.
“What did you see?” Padriag asked, pulling his sword from the scabbard. “Because I feel something tingling the edge of my ward.”
“How strong is your ward?” Liam asked in place of an answer.
“It depends.” Padriag replied, catching movement out of the corner of his eye. It looked like one of Meliot’s sentinels. A black wolf. Where there was one, usually more followed. The pack animals never traveled alone.
Liam’s horse whinnied and reared when two wolves appeared, blocking the path. The huge beasts did not snarl, but merely seemed to study them, their intelligent eyes scanning their bags.
“Wouldn’t happen to have any jerky would you?” Padriag asked Liam. “Maybe they’re just hungry.”
“I doubt it,” Liam replied pulling his sword free. “They are scouts, someone follows.” The Brit charged forward towards the wolves, who simple moved out of his way allowing him to pass.
Now that was strange.
Padriag followed suit, but with the lost visibility, they continued their slow trek. The wolves followed at a safe distance.
“We should have caught up with the guard by now,” Padriag said glancing back at the wolves.
“Not if they missed this storm, or whatever it is,” Liam replied looking about warily. “Look.”
They entered a clearing and the snow stopped. It was as if it had never fallen to begin with. They could see clearly again.
It would have been a very good thing if it weren’t for being surrounded by black wolves and the woman standing in the middle of the landing waiting for them to dismount.
Which they did, not by choice of course. But with the assistance of her magic, which proved to be very much stronger than Padriag’s. He fell to the ground as the woman neared.
Great, it was Meliot’s sister, or was it his niece. What was her name? Irene? No, that wasn’t it. Elaine? No.
“Ouch!” he screamed when she flung a fireball at him that smarted pretty bad.
“My name is Devina,” the beautiful woman told him, her face scrunched in anger. “How dare you forget?”
Padriag stood, back-to-back with Liam, each holding their swords prepared to fight. “Sorry, I have a hard time remembering names sometimes.”
She didn’t see the humor in his comment. “You won’t forget my name again.”