Page 18 of The Time Of Queens (An Afterlife Story #2)

18

A LORD TOO LATE

V incent had taken one look at my face and wisely chose not to comment. No doubt stuck on the belief that as soon as I retrieved my Electus, all would be well. If I were being honest, I was not so sure it would. The way I was feeling made no sense, for anyone would have believed I had already found her.

The pain wouldn’t leave me and the more distance I put between myself and her, the harder it got to breathe. I kept seeing her face in my mind. The way her eyes held onto those tears for as long as she could. I knew, in that moment, that my brother had been right.

She had cared for me.

But was it love that she had felt?

A question I continued to torture myself with along the road we travelled, as I pushed Samson to continue with haste. Even the sight of my horse brought me back to thoughts of her. The way I held her hand in my own as we stroked my steed as one. My touch giving her the courage to do so. It had been intoxicating. Every look, every softly spoken word, her gentle teasing and her easy sense of humour. Every opportunity to feel her against my hand was as if I was being lit up from in the inside out. As if she were enveloping my soul in pure light.

How then could I feel like this for one and still be haunted by that kiss from another? It made no sense. Well, I was soon to discover if I still felt that way, as I was close enough to the farm now that I found my feet landing as I swung from Samson.

“My King, the mortal is still inside,” Ragnar told me. He was the first to approach. The size of him was considered by many to be a giant, as mortal men and women usually felt unease around him. Hence why he felt less suited to the constraints of sociality and preferred that of serving me within the company of our own people. The cover of darkness was something he also favoured, and he commanded his men on this dark and rainy night.

“And what proof do you have to think it is the girl?” I asked, ignoring the surprise on my brother’s face that I would even ask this. Or no doubt it was the tone of anger and suspicion that came with it. As if I was annoyed at being here now for fear of what it meant. That to welcome another, would force me to let my maid truly go. Something, I confess, the journey hadn’t inspired me to do, for if anything, it had only broken my reserve and caused my reasons to crumble further by the second. For I wanted nothing more than to ride back to my home and fix what I had broken between us.

“Brother…” I held up my hand to stop him, and demanded, “Well, commander?”

“The cloak, my Lord, it is the same one stolen from your room as it holds the embroiled seal of your family’s sigil.”

I gritted my teeth at this, despite knowing that I should be pleased. Because as for the strength of proof, then this was pretty definite. So, with a sigh, I told him,

“Good, keep your men back, for I don’t wish to frighten her when we emerge.”

The commander of my guard nodded, before signalling for his men to give me space. Then I walked towards the barn, making sure to keep my footsteps light so as she was not to hear me. I did the same when I opened the door, one she must have seen for I spotted the darkness of my cloak move within the shadows. Which meant I no longer had to mask my presence, now letting it be known and moving toward the lantern hanging on a hook. I lit it by supernatural means, blinking at it and forcing a flame to emerge on the wick.

“Don’t be afraid, for you are not in any trouble.”

I heard the whimpered sound in response, making me sigh and force my heart to calm.

“You can come out now, no harm will come to you, I swear it,” I told her, and thankfully I didn’t have to wait long. My eyes homed in on my sigil, knowing that this was indeed the cloak that had been stolen. But what of the girl beneath its hood?

“I… I am sorry, my Lord, but it is cold, and it has been a long time since I’ve had chance to sleep in a shelter such as this one,” she said, making me frown before demanding,

“Come into the light. Closer, girl,” I told her, knowing that if I grabbed her, it would only frighten her further. She did as she was told and when she was but a step away from me, I raised my hand. This was it, the moment I had waited so long for. Damn, but my hand even shook as I brought it to her hood. I paused ever so briefly before pushing it from her head, sucking back a breath when I finally saw her.

“You’re… you’re a child?” I asked, astonished, and rightly so, I felt not a single thing for this young girl before me.

“I am four and ten, my Lord,” she told me, as if this was enough to be classed as an adult.

“And what of your family?” I found myself asking.

“I ran away, my father is making me marry a man three times my age.”

I curled my lip, finding the thought a distasteful one.

“And this cloak?” I asked, trying to keep my tone even, despite feeling anything but calm.

“I swear I did not steal it, my Lord!” I held up my hand to stop her and asked her once again.

“Where did you find it?”

“A bundle of discarded clothes, the rest were strange, looked like they belonged to a man, but the cloak I took,” she offered, but it was not enough, as this time I gritted out the single word,

“Where?”

“The alley, behind the Hundred House Inn, my Lord.”

I tensed, knowing my men had already made enquiries there.

“Wait here, one of my men will come in and help you but don’t be afraid, for if you run, you will be forfeiting your one chance at a new life, one that brings you a warm bed, food, and a roof over your head… do you understand?” I told her, knowing that I couldn’t in all good conscious walk away to leave her to such a fate as to starve or freeze to death.

“Oh yes, my Lord, thank you, my Lord,” she said, taking the cloak off, but I promptly stopped her.

“Keep it, for you are right… it is cold out there,” I said, looking to the door and, for the most horrifying moment, envisioning not my Chosen One out there but…

My little maid.

“Thank you, my Lord…” she said, but I was no longer listening as I turned and stormed out of the barn, knowing what I must do.

“Dominic?”

I ignored my brother and looked straight to Lucius.

“Go the Hundred House Inn, clothes were found in the alleyway next to it. Ask the innkeeper of all that have come and gone these last few days,” I ordered, making him bow his head.

“Everyone was spoken to,” Zagan pointed out, making me close to snarling.

“Yes, but it only takes one to accept a bribe,” I reminded him.

“Then I will discover the truth via other means,” Lucius said, making me nod as he knew without my asking what I needed of him.

I turned toward my horse, when Vincent stopped me with a hand on my arm.

“And what of the girl in the barn?” he asked, and I looked back at it.

“She is not my Electus. She is but a young girl who ran away from home, found my cloak, and sought refuge here,” I told him, the bitterness easy to hear but for reasons he believed to be for the loss of my Chosen One.

“You wish me to return her?” Ragnar asked, overhearing this, making me tense at just the idea of what she would think if I had him be the one to go in there and retrieve her. Which was why, after I mounted my horse, I turned to the one who would no doubt put her at the most ease. This, despite the truth behind the vessel being one strong enough to bring destruction upon the Earth.

“Adam, have the girl brought to the house, tell my steward I have employed her as a scullery maid, ensure she’s clothed and fed a hot meal.”

He bowed his head and walked towards the barn ready to carry out my orders. As for my brother, he too mounted his own horse, pulling its reins so as to trot up alongside me.

“This doesn’t mean she is not still out there,” he said, making me look to the road as I tried to picture the one I would be most loathed to discover out walking this lone, dark, cold road. Which was why I looked at him and took no time at all to tell him sternly,

“I agree, but as of this very moment… Fate can have her!”

My resolve was easy to hear, before I gave Samson the order to gallop, for I had no time for my brother’s reply. No, I had far more important matters to attend to. Like doing what I should have done since the very first moment I met her.

Listening to my heart.

Breaking the rules and… Claiming a mortal.

Which was why I pushed Samson with more urgency than I had in my haste to get to the barn. Because, suddenly, my biggest fear was being realised. What if I was too late to fix this? What if she would not listen to me when I tried to explain. What if she wished never to see me ever again?

Or what was worse…

What if she was already gone?

“Faster, Samson! YAHHH!” I shouted, almost tempted to take to the skies and get there quicker, as the fear in me continued to grow. Until I saw the lights of my home and was counting down the seconds… until I could dismount my horse and run inside.

“Brother?!” Sophia said, the haunted look in her eyes not one I wasted time questioning. Instead, I found myself demanding,

“Where is she?!” Yet I didn’t wait for a reply. Not as I started running through my house until I was faced with the staircase. I took three steps at a time, ignoring the hurried steps of my sister as she followed.

“Dominic, wait!” I didn’t listen, and my feet took me straight to her door. The hole in it was still not yet fixed, and it was a good job too for I would use it once more to gain entry if I found it locked.

However, this was not to be the case. For I turned the handle, pushed open the door, and was met by my biggest fear on the way back here.

“I tried to tell you,” my sister said solemnly after catching up with me.

“Where is she?!” I demanded in a dark tone, turning from the empty room. Which was when I finally understood that sadness in my sister’s eyes, as she told me…

“She’s gone.”