Dragonblade Trilogy - 02 - Island of Glass (27 page)

“And this Lucius, his captain,
attempted to kill him?”

“Aye.”

“But I do not understand.”

“It is quite complicated, I
assure you. Suffice it to say that even though Kenneth lies at death’s
threshold, all he has managed to speak of is Aubrielle. He only wishes for her
safe return. And you say that she is unharmed?”

“She was well enough the last I
saw her. But that was three days ago.”

“Do you know where you last saw
them?’

Grendel thought a moment. “I
traveled the road that leads from Kirk for three days. I never traveled
another. If you, therefore, retrace my steps for three days, that is the last
place I saw her.”

“Did they say where they were
taking her, or what they planned to do with her?”

The brother nodded as if Everett
had missed the entire point of the conversation. “They are taking her to the
Grail, of course. The Scroll of Munsalvaesche tells of its location. Aubrielle
knows where it is.”

“And where is that?”

“Glastonbury.”

***

The candlelight was the only
point of brightness in an otherwise black chamber. Kenneth didn’t know how long
his eyes had been open because it was so dark. But gradually, he realized he
was seeing flickers of light and shadows of people across the wall.  He blinked
once, twice, and his arm twitched. It was numb from having been positioned
above his head. The arm twitched again as he tried to bring it down.

“Ken?” Bradley’s voice was soft.
“Ken, are you awake?”

Kenneth’s response was to take a
long, slow breath. His body felt as it weighed a ton, and horrendous pain shot
through his torso. But, strangely, he didn’t feel as bad as he had the first
time he had awoken.

“My arm,” he muttered. “Help
me….”

Bradley took hold and very
carefully put his right arm down to his side. It was like lifting so much dead
weight.

“Better?”

“Aye.”

Argus’ face loomed in Kenneth’s
line of sight. He looked frightful from days of no sleep, like a twisted little
troll. “I fear this is a foolish question, but can you tell me how you are
feeling?”

Kenneth tried to swallow, his
throat dry and parched. “Compared to what?” he whispered. “Water, please.”

Hearing his master’s voice, the
little dog jumped up on this bed again and licked Kenneth’s chin. This time,
Argus didn’t remove the beast as it settled contentedly near Kenneth’s head.
Bradley grabbed at a pitcher of cool water, almost spilling it off the table. 
Argus took the cup from the knight lest he slop it all over the patient.

“I am going to have Bradley move
you so you can better drink,” he said. “This may hurt a bit.”

Kenneth tried to brace himself,
but nothing compared to the reality of movement for the first time in days.
When Bradley grabbed hold of his massive shoulders and pulled him slightly on
to his left side, Kenneth thought he was going to pass out.  But he held his
ground, his face a sickly white color, as Argus held the cup to his lips. He
was able to drink nearly the entire contents.  When Bradley rolled him back on
to his stomach, Kenneth couldn’t help the grunt that escaped his lips.

Argus took a cool, damp cloth and
wiped his patient’s face. “You are stronger than I thought, Sir Kenneth,” the
old man said. “By all rights, you should be dead. It’s a miracle you have
survived this far.”

The cool cloth felt good.  He
closed his eyes as Argus wiped it over his shoulder and down the arm that was
slowly regaining feeling. 

“What of Aubrielle?” he rasped.

Argus looked at Bradley, who
stepped forward so that Kenneth could see him. “Everett and Reid left two days
ago,” Bradley said. “They’ll find her or die trying, Ken, I swear it.”

Kenneth’s response was to open an
eye. The light in the ice-blue orbs was dim, but it wasn’t out completely. The
embers of life, of the old Kenneth, still burned.

“Last I saw her, she was being
taken west,” his voice was so soft they could barely hear him.

“We figured that out. But did you
recognize the men who took her?”

“Only Lucius. Is there any sign
of him?”

Bradley shook his head. “He is
long gone.”

“Perhaps with Aubrielle,” Kenneth’s
expression took on a pained look. “There is no telling what he will do to her,
if he has not already.”

Another man came into Kenneth’s
line of sight. Bradley had him by the arm, pulling him toward the bed.  He was
a slight man, with thinning blond hair and a frightened look on his face. 

“This is Brother Grendel,”
Bradley said. “He was a captive with the group of men who abducted Aubrielle. Aubrielle
negotiated for his release and he came back here to help us. He told Everett
and Reid everything he could before they went in search of her.”

For the first time, some life
seemed to come back into Kenneth’s face. He gave the brother a second, more
penetrating look.

“She is alive?”

Grendel nodded. “She is well, my
lord.

“Is Lucius with her?”

“I have been told who this Lucius
is,” Grendel said. “I never saw the man. He did not travel with the group once
they abducted the lady, of that I am certain.”

That statement brought
overwhelming relief. To know that Lucius did not have her, to know that she was
alive and well, was an answer to his prayers.  But the knowledge also brought
on a host of new, desperate questions.

“God be praised,” he muttered.
“Then who are these men who hold her?”

Bradley pulled up a stool for the
priest; the man looked as if he was about to collapse. Several days of fear,
little food and almost no rest had taken its toll.  His primary reason for
being in the chamber was at Everett’s request to provide last rites to Kenneth,
which he had already done. Even though he was not yet a fully consecrated
priest, he hoped God would forgive him. Sir Kenneth had been in a bad way and
there was no one else to purify his soul.

“They are dangerous men in search
of something Lady Aubrielle has knowledge of,” Grendel said. “Did she ever tell
you about St. Wenburgh?”

“Many times.”

“I am a teacher at that place.”

Kenneth took a long look at him.
“I do not understand. What do you have to do with any of this?”

Grendel wasn’t sure how to lead
into this; when he had told Everett everything, he had been scared and blunt.
But to a dying man, he was trying to be gentle. “Did she ever mention the
Grail?”

“Many, many times.”

“Then you know… of her desire.”

“What are you leading to?”

“That the men who have taken her
want her to guide them to the location of the Grail.”

Kenneth was silent for a moment,
digesting the information. His mind was not so muddled with pain and weakness
that he could not put the clues together.

“Does this have anything to do
with the Scroll of Munsalvaesche?”

“It does. Did she tell you of
it?”

Kenneth sighed heavily. “She did.
Then I can correctly surmise that the men who abducted her were also the men
that murdered her mother in their quest for this scroll.”

Grendel closed his eyes, briefly,
reliving the horror of that event. He did not think he would ever be able to
shake the vivid images.

“I can vouch for this, my lord. I
was there and unable to stop them. But it wasn’t the scroll they wanted as much
as they wanted Lady Aubrielle. They knew she had studied it and was the best
person to take them to the Grail.”

Grendel proceeded to tell him the
entire story, about the Order of the Black Angel and their purpose in life. He
did not know the facts of Lucius’ association with them, but added what he and
the knights had managed to deduce. Kenneth listened, his ice blue eyes staring
at the wall. He did not react to anything he was told. When Brother Grendel
finished, the room fell silent and Kenneth continued to stare at the wall.
Bradley and the brother exchanged glances, wondering if Kenneth had even heard
anything of what was said.  Other than his regular breathing, he was
unresponsive to an otherwise explosive tale.

Kenneth’s soft voice finally
broke the stillness. “She said that she has always wanted to go to Glastonbury
to search for the Grail,” he said. “I doubt this is the way she wished to go.
From what you have told me, I have no doubt that those knights will keep her
alive until they find what they are looking for. But after they have secured
it, her life is forfeit. They will kill her.”

“That is my feeling as well, my
lord,” Grendel said softly. “Murder is not unknown to them.”

“Reid and Everett have been gone
a day in search of her,” Bradley said helpfully. “They will find her, Ken. You
must have faith.”

Kenneth’s gaze drifted to the
brother. “How many men would you say hold her?”

“About twelve, my lord.”

Kenneth looked back to Bradley.
“How many men did Everett and Reid take with them?”

“Fourteen men at arms.”

“Against Templars?” Kenneth’s
voice was tinged with disbelief. “These men are seasoned warriors, hard to the
bone and bred for battle. Reid knows this if Everett does not. Why did they
take so few men?”

Bradley didn’t have an answer.
“This I cannot tell you, Ken. But they rode from Kirk armed to the teeth, I
assure you.”

Kenneth didn’t say anything for
some time. He remained unmoving, his eyes fixed back on the wall again in a
trance-like state of distant thought. He sighed after several long moments,
indicative of the heaviness on his mind, heart and body.

“I would eat something now,” he
said quietly.

Argus wagged a finger at him.
“Broth and wine only. You cannot tolerate more.”

“Then bring it. And bring
something for the priest. He is close to collapse.”

Grendel was grateful. Though the
guard at the gatehouse had given him some bread, still, he could have eaten
much more.  It had been a long few days and he needed to regain both strength
and sanity.

Argus fled the chamber in his
quest for Kenneth’s nourishment. Kenneth dismissed Bradley for the time being,
knowing the knight must have surely been at his side both day and night. He
looked like hell.  When the chamber was empty but for Brother Grendel and
himself, he shifted his pained body slightly so he could gain a better view of
the priest.

“Now,” he said quietly. “You and
I will speak privately.”

“What of, my lord?”

“Aubrielle. Tell me her true
state when last you saw her.”

Grendel thought a moment. “She
was defiant and strong, as she always is. Her negotiation for my release was
cunning.”

“How was she physically? Did they
hurt her in the capture?”

“She had a bloodied lip, but
nothing more. She has been known to fight when provoked.”

A faint smile creased Kenneth’s
lips. “Well I know,” he murmured. His smile faded as he took on a distant look.
“She is a strong woman.”

There was something in his tone
that made Grendel take a second look. He’d seen the expression before, though
he’d never personally experienced the emotion usually associated with it. The
man was in love. Knowing Lady Aubrielle as he had over the years, he wondered
what kind of man would love such a headstrong, independent woman. Personally,
he thought him somewhat foolish, but he would not argue with the influence of
emotion. He found it rather touching.

“Would… would you like me to tell
you of the Lady Aubrielle I have known?” he ventured. “I first met her when she
was a child of nine years. I was a neophyte at the time, as old as the lady is
now. Frankly, she terrified me.”

“It is a trait she has.”

“Shall I tell you of the time she
brained Lord Wilcoxon of Ilsby because the lad stole her ration of bread? He
thought he could get away with it because she was such a tiny little thing, but
she exacted her revenge and then some.”

A glimmer came to Kenneth’s eye.
“I think I have been waiting all my life to hear this story.”

“I shall tell you that and more
just like it. Of course, Monsignor punished her for her actions when he could
catch her, but there were those of us who secretly admired her fortitude. She
was like a lovely wild creature; we could not tame her, though we tried.”

Something in his statement made
Kenneth remember something Aubrielle had told him once;
if you are thinking
of beating obedience into me, do not bother.
He remembered the scars across
her shoulders. He knew that he should be bitter towards this priest for the
brutality he represented, yet he found himself unable to complete the cycle
because the man had come at great peril to help them find Aubrielle.

“I saw your attempts to tame her.
They cover her back.”

“I know. But they were not of my
doing, my lord. In fact, on more than one occasion, I prevented even more than
what she already has.”