Kethril (13 page)

“Youuuuuu must! The fate of the world rests
in your hands!”

Tathan stopped in his tracks and turned
around. He was sick of hearing that phrase. “The fate of the world
does not rest in my hands. It’s just a line all you wild idiots use
to get people to do your crazy work.”

“The fate of the world rests in your hands!
Only youuuuuu can save the world! Evil Worms of Doom will descend
upon humanity, destroying all before them if youuuuuu do not
complete this most holy . . .” The Prophet stopped suddenly and
looked down at Tathan’s sword drinking his life force from his
chest. Tathan slid the blade out and wiped it clean on the
Prophet’s robes as the body fell to the ground.

Tathan couldn’t handle another person trying
to get him to do some stupid quest under the pretense of saving the
world. He knew killing the disciple was a bad idea, but didn’t
care. Tathan sheathed the blade, turned around and pushed through
the crowd of fanatics who stared at their dead leader in shock.

The two guards at the top of the stairs
looked down as Tathan reentered the barn. They exchanged glances
and shrugged while Tathan walked to the door and made his way out.
The monk outside pushed it closed again after checking to see that
no one else was following.

Tathan got the oddest feeling that the cows
in the field were now staring at him. It was most likely guilt for
the way he handled things, so he shook it off. The thing that
worried him the most was the thought that Liselle might find
out.

He would have to be more careful about
killing people just because they irritated him. Fortunately, most
people didn’t care what happened in a cow cult. They might even
thank him, although Tathan didn’t intend to tell anyone about
it.

Another hour later, he was back at the inn.
Tathan wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, but Sir Danth was
waiting for him.

Tathan sighed and changed back into his robe
after drying off. Then he sat in front of the fire across from Sir
Danth and made up a new version of what had happened.

“It was some sort of cow cult. The leader
was high on mushrooms and wanted me to rescue sacred milk or
something like that.” It was close enough to the truth.

“Extraordinary. We had some of those back in
Morhain. They were usually driven out of the forest by the army,”
Sir Danth reminisced. “How did you get away?”

“I told them that the sacred milk was on top
of a mountain and had already been lapped up by the Kitten of
Doom,” Tathan said with a grin. “Now I’m off to bed. I’m exhausted
and need sleep.”

“Goodnight, my friend . . . if you still
consider me your friend,” Sir Danth said.

Tathan put a gentle hand on the knight’s
shoulder. “I do. We all have our trials and need friends to get
through them.”

“Thank you,” Sir Danth stared at the fire
while Tathan went to bed.

Sir Danth left the room to go watch the
sunrise, hoping the clouds wouldn’t obscure it behind their dreary
grey. Upon reaching the common room, he recognized something was
wrong. There were no patrons or servants, only a few soldiers
milling about as though preparing for a fight. They froze upon
seeing the knight.

He turned around and went back upstairs.
While passing the second floor, he saw more soldiers down the hall
getting a few remaining customers out. They also froze upon seeing
the knight.

A moment later, he was back in the suite. He
closed and locked the door, debating what to do. Sir Danth had a
feeling that Tathan had done something the night before that was
going to get them all in trouble. He decided to wake Liselle and
Vevin first. Liselle would keep Tathan from telling more stories or
coming up with a plan that would just get them killed.

Sir Danth went to the door of their room.
“Vevin, Liselle. We’re in danger.” Vevin was on his feet instantly
while Liselle sat up and rubbed her eyes. “What’s the danger?”
Vevin asked, doing a danger readiness shuffle.

“There are troops in the common room and it
appears the guests are being evacuated,” Sir Danth answered. “I
believe Tathan might have done something last night. He told me a
story about how he had convinced a cult leader that he couldn’t do
a quest.”

Vevin cocked his head. “I hear troops
outside. They have the building surrounded and are debating the
different ways to get us out. I can tell by things they say that
they’re here to arrest us.”

Liselle looked worried. She dashed by Sir
Danth toward Tathan’s room. Vevin stopped and patted Sir Danth’s
armored shoulder as he exited the room.

Liselle dragged Tathan into the living room
with Anilyia right behind. When they were all together, she
confronted her cousin. “What did you do, Tathan? Why are troops
surrounding the inn to arrest us?”

“They’re surrounding the inn? That’s a bit
extreme.” Tathan yawned and stretched before sitting with the
princess on one of the couches. He avoided the question
altogether.

“What
did you do
, Tathan?” Liselle
leaned forward dangerously with hands on her hips.

Tathan stared at her with tired eyes and
then sighed. The rogue looked around the room before resettling a
guilty gaze on Liselle. “I killed the Holy Prophet of the Goddess
Telemooo. He told me the fate of the world was in my hands if I
didn’t save some sacred milk from carnivorous fairies. I just
couldn’t handle it anymore, so I snapped.”

“Tathan!” Disappointment washed over
Liselle’s face. When he tried to explain, she held her palm up to
his face and turned her head. Then she went to the door and stared
at it, trying to decide what to do next.

Sir Danth understood Tathan’s position.
Priests were always difficult. Crazy priests were intolerable. He
would have killed the man too. In fact, he wished it had been him
instead of Tathan. It had been too long since he’d had some good
battles. Perhaps he’d be allowed to kill the troops. His armor
should enable him to take on an entire army single-handedly, but he
hadn’t had the chance to test that theory.

Liselle hit the door hard with the side of
her fist. She turned and looked at each one of them with fire in
her eyes. Sir Danth realized he probably wasn’t going to get to
kill anyone after all.

Tathan opened his mouth to speak, but
Liselle narrowed her fiery eyes and he shut it. She turned and hit
the door again. Fire was beginning to develop around her hands too.
Liselle took a deep breath to calm herself. “Get dressed in travel
clothes with weapons close. I don’t intend to fight, but they may
not give us a choice.”

A moment later, everyone was back in the
living room, dressed and ready to go. Liselle scanned them. The
worst of the fire was gone, but blue flames still ghosted behind
her eyes. She didn’t say anything as she opened the door and
entered the hallway, expecting them to follow.

Sir Danth brought up the rear. He didn’t
want to be in the way of Liselle or Vevin in case they decided to
perform magic. Tathan was upset and Anilyia wasn’t a fighter, so it
was best that he watched their backs to keep them from getting
surprised. The fact that he could see through the back of his
helmet made him the perfect candidate for rear guard anyway.

Upon reaching the common room, they found it
empty with the exception of two soldiers in front of the door.
Those soldiers dashed outside at the appearance of the companions.
Liselle stopped and looked back over her shoulder. Before doing
anything else, she took a moment to cast a spell. Sir Danth’s armor
recognized it as a beneficial casting and accepted the energy. It
could have rejected the spell, but the armor was made to use
anything beneficial. Liselle set her jaw and marched to the
door.

The day was overcast again and the drizzle
seemed determined to show the peasants who was boss. Tathan and Sir
Danth moved to either side of Liselle. Vevin stood behind her and
the princess stood behind Tathan. The sight of troops lining the
street greeted them. Archers with drawn bows stood to either side
and in front, while swordsmen with blades drawn stood ready to rush
after the first volley. Sir Danth thought it was a bit of an
overreaction although he admitted to himself that they didn’t have
enough soldiers.

He scanned the troops and found four
wizards. It was convenient of them to wear robes and stand in
stances that indicated they were ready to release spells. By the
tingle of magic in the air, they had already cast spells to protect
their troops. That would complicate things. Sir Danth could tell
when magic was being used, but had no idea what spells they
were.

Sir Danth guessed the person stepping
forward was a general and the one behind him was a major. There
were two captains shouting orders for men to hold steady on either
flank. Most likely, there would be one or two around back as well.
It wouldn’t be enough to overcome the companions, but it was a
respectable showing.

The officer raised a hand. In a powerful
voice, he bellowed, “Tathan of the Shadows and companions, you are
hereby ordered to appear before his royal majesty, King Cranwer. We
are aware of your reputation, Tathan of the Shadows, and are
prepared to subdue you if necessary.” He gestured toward the troops
and wizards.

Tathan took a step forward. “All that for
me? I’m flattered, General . . .”

“I am General Bormann, Commander of the
Fourth Regiment of Kethril.” He snapped his heels together and gave
a nod. The general looked to be in his late thirties with a touch
of grey beginning to show in his light brown hair. His uniform was
immaculate with the exception of mud marring his black boots. Sir
Danth was pleased to see that the general was fit and stood with
the casual confidence of a trained swordsman. Lazy, out-of-shape
officers irritated the knight.

Tathan nodded in greeting. “Nice to meet
you, General. While I’m honored that the king would like to chat,
I’m a bit busy at the moment and can’t spare the time.”

General Bormann was very serious when he
responded. “You are ordered to present yourself before King
Cranwer. I will make every attempt to take you by force if you do
not proceed willingly.”

“I see,” Tathan replied while rubbing his
chin. Liselle glared at him with arms folded. Sir Danth didn’t know
how his friend was going to react. On one hand, the knight wanted
to try his hand at taking them on. The inclusion of wizards made it
all that much more challenging. On the other hand, he knew that
Tathan would not want to endanger his cousin or the princess.

“General Bormann!” The companions and
soldiers turned toward a grey-haired wizard who was staring at
Vevin. His voice was deep and filled with power. “You are not
seeing everyone there. One of them is using an insidious illusion
spell.

“Remove the illusion immediately,” the
general commanded. Sir Danth knew it was Vevin hiding his presence
from the soldiers and that the wizard had a strong mind to see past
it.

Tathan turned and nodded to Vevin. The
soldiers gasped when the illusion dropped. A younger wizardess
spoke. Her voice was clear and rang like a bell through the air. “A
dragon in human form! It is forbidden to kill a dragon.”

As one, every soldier took a step back. The
wizards stayed where they were, but looked nervous. Sir Danth was a
bit jealous if he was being honest with himself. He liked to
intimidate people, but in the company of his current friends, it
was hard to do anything as impressive as they did and there was no
way to top being a dragon.

The female wizard spoke again. She was
pretty, with silken brown hair and pink eyes. In his lifetime, Sir
Danth might have courted her. He liked pink eyes the best and they
had been rare in Morhain, though they were common in many other
countries. “Humans and dragons have a treaty that requires them to
act peacefully with each other. If we harm the dragon, it will
bring a horde down upon Kethril.” She lowered her arms and released
the magic she was holding into the ground. All attention was on
her. “I recommend treading with utmost care, General.” She
curtseyed to the officer.

Vevin turned to Tathan and whispered, “I
can’t kill them either. I’m not allowed to kill humans.”

Tathan sighed. “General Bormann, I would ask
why the king wants to see us. I don’t want to cause trouble, in
spite of what you may have heard about me, but I’m not willing to
rot in a jail or be hung either.”

The general looked to either side and saw
that the wizards had all released their gathered energy and that
the bowman and swordsmen had tentatively lowered their weapons. “I
understand your position, Tathan of the Shadows.” My regiment is
prepared to fight you and your knight.” He gestured towards Sir
Danth, who considered shifting and killing him for the easy
dismissal. “However, no one is prepared to fight a dragon. I cannot
tell you what the king wants, as I do not know. I
can
tell
you that he doesn’t like hanging people because it makes him
queasy.” A few of the soldiers rolled their eyes. “I can also tell
you that he puts very few people in prison due to the fact that it
costs money and he likes to keep a tight budget.”

“Take me then,” Tathan said. “Leave my
companions as they have committed no offense.”

The general shook his head. “My orders are
to bring you and your companions, though I was only told of two,
the knight and a woman with hair and eyes the color of yours. I am
willing to let the dragon and other woman go free in order to keep
the peace.” General Bormann looked hopeful at the thought of not
having to escort a dragon.

“I will not leave Liselle,” Vevin insisted
in full dragon voice. It echoed off the buildings on either side of
the street, shattering glass in a few of the nearby lanterns. He
tended to be a bit protective. “She is my mate and I will fight to
the death anyone who tries to harm her, regardless of the
consequences.” The soldiers took another step back. Some took three
or four. A child cried in the distance.