Tethered (The Avenlore Series) (12 page)

Fat, stone houses
were clustered together here and there, widows glowing with flickering light.  I could see children running and hear their laughter as it carried up the mountain.  A carriage rolled down one of pebbled roadways.  Lanterns were hung from high rock columns and I watched as they began glowing into life, seemingly of their own accord. 

A wide river, at least a mile across
, flowed slowly through the land.  I followed it with my eyes until it split around an island. 

Then, I saw it.  Seated on top of the island was a lavish castle the color of ivory.  The stone had a smooth, almost glassy quality as it reflected the evening sun.  A high wall surrounded the castle, two long
, deep red drawbridges at its front laid across the river in welcome.  To get to the second, you had to cross the first to a small island where a cylindrical tower stood. 

Light shone fr
om the windows of the castle like a warm beacon and behind it, a boundless lake, so still it mirrored the pinks and blues and oranges of the sunset sky.

T
he cream colored banners bearing the golden sun of Castle Lux flapped in the wind atop the many turrets and I felt a grin break across my face.  On each side of the river, buildings, some several stories high, sat clustered together as people milled around the streets that cut through them.  In the distance, beyond the rivers and remaining valley, mountains in deep purple and blue reached toward the sky. 

“Do you like it?”  Nikolas whispered.

I turned to face him and realized our hands were still linked.  Butterflies took flight inside chest.  “Its…its amazing.  Thank you.”  I surprised myself by squeezing his hand.

“It
is my great honor.”  He told me quietly.  “It is called…the Valley of Light.”

“That’s a beautiful name.”

I felt nervous and happy and afraid all at once.  I thought of Liam and I felt guilty somehow for standing here, being happy, even if it was mixed in with nerves and fear.  My stomach got heavier, like it had filled with bricks, and I thought I should break this contact with Nikolas, slide my hand slowly from his but, my hand wouldn’t move.  I didn’t
want
it to move.

I thought of my father and wondered if he was here, waiting for my return all over again.  And my mother, she would be here too.  And yet, here I stood, hand in hand with Nikolas and I had the nerve to be happy.

Nikolas must’ve read the worry on my face and stepped over to plant himself directly in front of me, peering into my eyes.  “What troubles you, Dani?”

I couldn’t very well tell him that my heart was soaring because he was touching me, looking at me, standing so close I could feel the chemistr
y, the electricity as it flowed between us.  That I wondered what kind of person it made me to feel that way when 24 hours ago I’d been staring into Liam’s eyes, hoping he would cover my mouth with his.  That my father and Liam and countless others could be injured or worse, and here I stood like a giddy little school girl. 

So, I settled for a half-truth.  “I just feel so many things now, I’m not sure how to process it all.”

He stared at me a moment, waiting for me to continue.  When I didn’t, his eyes shifted to follow a few strands of hair that were blowing lightly with the wind.  He caught the loose strands of hair and tucked them behind my ear.  Slowly, his eyes trailed back to mine.  “We do not have to go.  We can wait, I will wait with you…as long as you need.”

I half smiled, heart beating faster in response to his touch.  “No, they need to know we are alright, I’m sure they’re worried.”

He lifted our joined hands, brushing the middle finger of his free hand over my knuckles and I got lost in his eyes again.  “I am more concerned with what you need.”

I looked to the ground as I spoke again.  “I need to know too, so do you.”
  I felt uncomfortable in my own skin.  I turned to make my way back to Drift, taking my hand with me as I went.

Head swimming in emotions, I grabbed onto the saddle and planted my foot in the stirrup.  This time, I managed to put myself in the
saddle alone, though I wouldn’t call the action graceful.

Nikolas was right behind me, not interfering, only watching as I conquered the task.  He
smiled up at me with satisfaction in his eyes from the ground, then he climbed into the saddle as well. 

His arms hung loosely at my sides, lingering far enough away as to avoid contact and
the bricks inside my stomach churned. 

Without a word, Nikolas turned us toward the valley and we began our decent toward the castle.

Chapter 15

My heart sat in my throat as we approached the first red drawbridge that spanned the water between the mainland and the first tiny island. 
Happy shouts rang out as we came into sight of the guards that manned the entry to the bridge. 

“SIR NIKOLAS!  HE HAS RETURNED WITH THE PRINCESS!”  The shout repeated as a burly man ran forward, his stick straight golden hair swinging around his shoulders as he loped toward us.
  His cream cloak flowed behind him and his matching tunic was stitched with a golden sun.  I did not recall his face, but that wasn’t saying much.  There had to be a large number of knights I had yet to see.

Nikolas called for the horse to stop and jumped from the saddle, casting a quick grin over his shoulder for me as he trotted out to meet the man who was so happy to see us. 

They clasped hands when they met and pulled each other in for one of those strange man hugs. 

The burly man’s
booming laugh echoed off the water and stone.  He was a beast of a man, standing even taller than Nikolas, who had a good foot on me.  “It’s so good to see you well, Nik.”  He said, slapping Nikolas across the back.

The embrace broke and Nikolas looked
up to the man, his tone severe and low, though I was close enough to hear.  “The King, is he safe?”

I held my breath.

A toothy grin broke across the knight’s face.  “All that fightin’ and he has but a scratch on the arm to show for it!  At least that is what the rumor is, I was on a ride when they returned.  He is indeed well, Nik.  They returned this morning, just before noon.”

I released the breath, welcoming the relief that coursed through me.

I could see Nikolas relax by a fraction before he continued.  “The others?  The rest of the guard?”

The burly man’s face fell, as did my heart.  “Two of the scouts, Sir, and two more of the guard.  Ambly and Reece, Kurtsworth and Shelling.”  He patted Nikolas
gently on the back this time.

Nikolas nodded solemnly
and hung his head as he ran a hand through his hair.  My heart went out to him as I felt his sadness permeate the air around me.  After a few heartbeats, he raised his head and stared out over the water silently.  “Good men all.”  He paused and his eyes found mine.  “Forgive me, I have not introduced you to the Princess of Esterope.”  He spoke quietly. 

The burly man dropped to one knee where he stood.  “Princess.”  He said with his head bowed.

Walking back to his horse, Nikolas reached up to help me down and I held his gaze, trying to offer some sort of silent comfort.  He looked troubled and worry worn now, the color of his eyes dulling, their depths filled with sadness.

The burly man broke the painful silence
and looked up to me.  “Well, ain’t she as pretty as the dawn.”

Nikolas offered a half smile at that.  “Princess, this is Sir Luther Landon, brave Knight of Castle Lux.”

I offered a small smile to Sir Luther and realized I would’ve definitely remembered his face.   His features were fair and kind, with bright amber eyes just beginning to crinkle from age and that golden mane, but his face was marred by matching thin scars that ran the length of his face on either side.  I tried to not to stare.  “I’m so happy to meet you.  Could…Could you please get up?”

The deep laugh sounded again.  “As you wish, Princess.”  Sir
Landon said, still laughing.  “Come, I will escort you to the castle.  It would do me well to see a happy reunion.”

My stomach twisted into knots at his words, I hoped he was right.  I hoped it
would be a happy reunion, but I barely knew what waited for me inside the walls of the castle and that was quite unsettling.

Sir Luther trotted back across the bridge to get his horse and give orders to the men manning the bridge in his absence.

Nikolas and I followed on foot at a leisurely pace, Drift being led along behind us.

I thought about the scars that lined Sir Luther’s face, wondering who put them there.  I
didn’t imagine they were received in battle, they were too perfect, too deliberate.

As if reading my mind, Nikolas spoke.  “The scars are courtesy of Lord Raythen.  Sir Luther was captured and tortured for information on your whereabouts four years ago.
  He is the only prisoner to every escape the castle alive, though that is barely what he was when we found him.”

I couldn’t understand why Lord Raythen was allowed to remain free, so I asked the obvious question.  “Why doesn’t someone kill him?  You know where he lives, right?”

Nikolas sighed heavily.  “If it were that easy, we would have done, long ago.  Alec has used his black magic to ensure that Lord Raythen is not easily killed, we have yet to understand how to overcome it. 

“
Castle Knox was stormed after they took the young Connolly girl, mistaking her for you.  It was a massacre.  The Knights of Castle Lux were completely unprepared for what they encountered.  No less than eight men drove their swords into Lord Raythen…he laughed as the blood poured from his body, one of them was your father.  And even if we did kill him, he has two sons that would most likely take up the cause, they breed anger and greed the way a farmer breeds pigs.”

“He has children?”  I asked, horrified that someone like that was allowed to reproduce.

Nikolas glanced at me, then his gaze shifted back to study the tower.  “Not children now, but yes, he has two sons, Callen and William.  Even if we were able to terminate them, we’d still have Alec and the Black Knights to contend with.  One problem is as uneasily solved as the other.”  He sounded tired and looked it as he brushed the curls from his forehead.

Nikolas
stopped on the bridge and turned to face me.  I wanted to reach out to him, to wrap my arms around him.  I wanted to be his sanctuary, the way he had been mine.  He was so sad and disappointed and defeated and…guilty in this moment.  But I was afraid.  Afraid of the eyes I could feel on us and afraid he would reject me and what I wanted to offer. 

So I just listened silently as he continued.  “
We have slaughtered countless Black Knights over the years.  Alec simply produces new ones to replace them.  Willing participants or not.  It doesn’t really matter once the spell is cast.”

“But I thought the first knights were put to death because they wouldn’t comply, why kill them if they could’ve had their way regardless?”  I asked.

“I could not say for certain, but our speculation is that they simply did not know the magic was so strong.  We believe they eventually came to the realization that anyone without protection could be turned.”  He said, sounding more weary with each word.

A shiver ran down my spine.  “
So much carnage…over me.”  I said under my breath, but he still heard. 

Nikolas looked at me, eyes widened, a fire burning inside them now that hadn’t been a moment before.  I looked away, ashamed that I’d made this about me, sickened that I’d upset him further.  He snatched my chin between his fingers and turned my head, holding me there until I looked at him.  “Do not do this to yourself.  You cannot take responsibility for the evil of other men’s hearts.
”

I regarded him for a few heartbeats, then I reached up to curl my fingers around his hand.  “Neither can you.”

He let his hand fall from my face, but I held to it.  He gaped at me for a few seconds, then glanced down at my hand in his, a look I couldn’t make sense of passing over his face.  When he spoke, I had to strain to hear him.  “You have no idea what you do to me.” 

The sound of
Sir Luther’s booming laugh interrupted our moment, announcing his return.  We both looked to the sound, but Sir Luther was hidden by a wall, still joking with another of the knights.  I let go of Nikolas’ hand and wrapped my arms around myself to have something to do with my hands.

Nikolas looked out across the water and then back to me.  “We can ride in, if you like.”  His tone was subdued, his usual charm and confidence in short supply.

I didn’t mind walking, we’d been riding for so long I was actually sore, but I wanted to be as near him as I could because I was running out of time.  Who knew what his duties required of him or how much I would see of him once we got inside the walls.  I smiled at him.  “I would…like that.”

It could’ve been my imagination, but I thought he looked a little relieved at my words. 
This time, Nikolas climbed on first and reached down a hand to pull me up behind him in the saddle.  Sir Luther came into sight and beckoned us with a wave before whirling back toward the castle.