The Wayfarer King (15 page)

Gavin stood over the three corpses, his chest heaving. He looked at the sword, both awestruck and wary. Unmarred by beyonder entrails, it sparkled and shone as though it were proud of itself. He was going to have a talk with Risan Stronghammer, the sword’s maker. Not that Gavin didn’t feel grateful that the weapon had... had worked so hard to save him. But this wasn’t a weapon; it was a warrior in its own right. Did he have control over it? Could it tell friend from foe?

In the house, a small face peered at him through a window, eyes wide. Iriel. Gavin looked down at himself and sighed. The shirt was in tatters, ruined with his blood and the creatures’. He stripped it off and tossed it onto one of the corpses. He’d bury it with the bodies. No one needed to know he’d been injured. His chest and abdomen sported a few minor cuts and scrapes. He looked at his arm where the beyonder had bitten him. Pink lines and punctures and an annoying itch were all that remained of the wounds. In fact, he was healing so quickly that the wounds darkened while he watched.

He went to the door and knocked, dreading the inevitable tears and hysteria from Feanna and the girls.

“It’s Gavin,” Feanna’s voice said urgently. “Hurry. Open the door.” He heard some scraping sounds, and the door swung inward.

Jilly launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his thigh. Gavin patted her back, touched by her display. “It’s awright. They’re dead. Everyone’s safe now.”

“Gavin, are you hurt?” Feanna’s eyes roamed his body, returning to his chest and shoulders. He couldn’t tell whether she was staring at his muscles or his scars. “I have bandages and iodine.” In her hands was a box of supplies. She was surprisingly calm, despite the worried line between her eyebrows.

He stroked her hair tenderly. “No, I’m awright. My shirt got ripped and the beyonders’ stinky blood got on it. I’m fine. See?” He turned around for their inspection, flexing his muscles dramatically as he did. Tansa giggled behind her hand.

“Wow,” Iriel said. “Can I see the dead bodies?”

“No,” Feanna answered.

Gavin put a hand on Trevick’s shoulder. “I could use a man’s help burying the corpses.”

The boy seemed to swell as he scooted past Feanna and the girls. “Yes, m’lord.”

Gavin looked at Iriel. “Could you do somethin’ for me? Run to Rogan’s and ask Daia to bring my horse and be ready to ride.”

Iriel smiled and curtsied. “O’course, m’lord.”

The question in Feanna’s eyes was clear.

“Sorry. I’ll explain later,” he said.

Chapter 21

Feanna watched Gavin and Trevick take a pair of shovels from the barn then drag the beyonder corpses out of sight. She had a washbasin and clean towels ready for them in the kitchen when they returned, dirty and sweating, a half-hour later.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as Gavin put his arm into the strap of his scabbard and positioned it on his back.

Gavin looked around at the children who watched him quietly. “I have to leave. There’s something I got to take care of, and until I do...”

She followed his gaze and saw the fear in Jilly’s wide blue eyes. She went to the child and put a calming hand on her shoulder.

“It’s safer for you if I leave. I’m sorry.” He headed to the door.

“Gavin, wait,” Feanna said, hurrying after him. “Children, stay here.” She glanced back at the house to make sure the children were obeying. They crowded at the window and door, watching as she and Gavin walked to the road.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come. My presence here put you and the children in danger.”

“No, that’s not true. You saved us. If you hadn’t been here, I tremble to think what would’ve happened to us.”

At the road, they stopped. He faced her, standing close. “If I ha’n’t come, they wouldn’t’ve either. Everywhere I go, beyonders come. They’re drawn to me.”

“What makes you say that? We’ve had beyonders before.”

“When was the last one?”

She rolled her eyes skyward. “About two months ago. Gavin, this wasn’t your fault.”

He searched her eyes, then lay his palm against her ear to gently stroke her cheek with his thumb. “I got to tell you something about me. There’s a lot you don’t know. A lot you need to know.”

She smiled. “I know what kind of man you are, and for now that’s all I need to know.”

Gavin’s brow rose slightly, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Then his hand slipped around behind her neck. Slowly, deliberately, he lowered his mouth to hers, maintaining eye contact until the moment their lips touched.

Feanna felt like she was falling. She closed her eyes and sank into his kiss, hungry for the warmth of his lips. They were softer than she expected, and hotter. His other arm circled her waist and clutched her body closely against his. She wrapped her arms around him, splaying one hand over his smooth, warm skin. Her fingers found and stroked the hairs on the back of his neck.

Gavin moaned softly as his mouth moved over hers, pushing her lips farther apart.

A flood of spicy warmth spilled into her most private region, radiating upward across her belly, her breasts where they pressed into his hard chest, into her arms, her neck, her face, her lips. Never had she wanted the kiss of a man like she wanted this. His tongue, soft but demanding, slipped into her mouth and sought hers. They danced together, a slow, erotic dance that surely must have been what heaven was like. Nothing she’d ever experienced before had prepared her for the intensity of what she felt now. The physical sensations set her insides on fire. The strength of his caring and the depth of respect and longing drew her in closer. The thought of ending this kiss, this delicious communion of man and woman, was excruciating. Everything she’d lost could be found here, in this moment, in their future together. This was what she’d been looking for, and now she’d found it.

Then Feanna realized she was
shifting
.

She jerked, stiffening. Gavin loosened his arms and pulled back with a question in his eyes. Feanna didn’t know how to explain to him what she’d done, but she was sure it was wrong. After all, those were his feelings, not hers. She’d merely stolen them and enjoyed them with him. The experience had been immensely pleasurable, certainly, but what had
she
felt? She pushed away from him, and reluctantly, he let her go.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I didn’t mean to... do what I did. It was wrong of me. I’m sorry.” She smoothed the front of her dress and cast an embarrassed glance at the house. The children were smiling. Tansa waved, nodding enthusiastically.

“I thought it went well. Didn’t you like it?”

“More than you know,” Feanna said softly, lowering her gaze. She fought the strong impulse to step back into his arms where, for that luxurious moment, she’d felt cherished and desired for perhaps the first time in her life. “But I shouldn’t have... It’s hard to explain.”

“Well then, I guess we both have something to confess.” Daia walked toward them leading two horses, saddled and dressed in leather armor. Iriel sat upon Gavin’s huge, dappled gray gelding wearing a smile that nearly split her face. “Look, I really need to tell you something before I go. I’m—”

Feanna put a finger across his lips. “Tell me next time. And I’ll do the same.” She went up on tiptoe and pulled his head down to place a soft kiss on his lips.

Gavin took the leather thong from around his neck and pulled it off over his head. His wooden warrant tag dangled from it. “I swore never to take this off. I want you to wear it until I come back.” He slipped it over Feanna’s head.

“Won’t you need it?” She grasped the tag in her right fist and felt his emotions almost as strongly as though she’d touched him directly — concern, regret... and affection.

He smiled. “No. I’ll tell you about it next time. Feanna, listen. If you need me for any reason —
any
reason — send word to the Elegance Inn in Tern and I’ll be here as fast as Golam can run.” He placed a warm, lingering kiss on her lips.

Even after he’d pulled away and gone to his horse, the feel of his lips remained.

Iriel patted Golam and waved as she backed away. Daia nodded with a pleasant smile. “Miss Feanna.”

Feanna stroked Gavin’s warrant tag where it lay against her chest, still feeling him acutely. “Miss Daia.” She put a hand on Iriel’s shoulder, and they watched as Gavin pulled on a clean shirt and donned his leather cuirass. He and Daia mounted their horses. Feanna caught her breath at the noble sight of him sitting tall in the saddle with the jeweled sword on his back. Roughened though he was, there was more to him than met the eye. Far more.

He waved at the children. When he looked back at Feanna, the expression in his eyes was intense and longing. “I’ll be back soon. I promise.” He rode away with Daia at his side.

Chapter 22

“What’s wrong?” Daia asked as they rode away. “You certainly didn’t look like a man eager to get back on the road. Is that blood on your trousers?”

“Yeh. Beyonders. Three o’them.”

Guilt stung her like a hive of bees. He could have been killed. “I knew I shouldn’t have let you go there alone.”

He shot her an annoyed look. “Do I look like I lost the fight?”

True, he didn’t look like he’d fared poorly except for the fresh scars on his forearm and wrist. “Beyonder blood isn’t usually red, Gavin, so don’t pretend the fresh scars on your forearm aren’t from that beyonder attack. I’m glad you heal quickly, though.”

His face showed surprise, but he didn’t press the matter. “I think they’re drawn to me.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Wherever I go, they ain’t— aren’t far away. You heard that armsman in Tern say there’s been more beyonder attacks in the city during the last week — ever since I got there. They came through in the city square only minutes after I was at the armorsmith’s. Feanna said she ha’n’t seen a beyonder in months, but when I came, three o’them turned up — not to Rogan’s where you were but to Feanna’s where I was.”

It did strike Daia as strange that they’d encountered so many beyonders lately. Perhaps it had something to do with Gavin receiving King Arek’s magic. It was just as well they were on their way again. With evidence that Brodas Ravenkind was killing Gavin’s relatives, Daia felt a desperate need to leave Rogan’s property to keep Gavin’s location secret. That Cirang might still have been in the area concerned her.

She followed Gavin to his brother’s farm where he tried again to convince Rogan to take his family into hiding. She didn’t think a man could be more stubborn than Gavin Kinshield, but Rogan held fast to his decision to stand his ground against Ravenkind’s threat.

“You don’t want your boys growing up without their father,” Gavin said.

“We got Dona and Nasharla here. Besides, Ravenkind’s made his point. He’s hungry for power, not for blood.”

“You don’t know him,” Gavin said. “He escaped with five of us against him. The two guards won’t give you much more than an early lead if he comes here. You heard Daia say she thinks one o’his spies is still in Saliria.”

By the lines in Rogan’s wrinkled forehead, the caution appeared to sink in. “Where would we go?”

“To the Elegance Inn in Tern,” Gavin said. “At least send Liera and the boys. If you want to be a fool, do it at your expense and not theirs, though they’ll be hurting without you.”

“I’ll think on it,” Rogan said.

With an exasperated sigh, Gavin shook his head. He bid his brother good-bye with a long embrace, but didn’t seem to have many more words left to say that he hadn’t already tried.

“Don’t worry, Little Brother. At the first sign that somethin’s amiss, we’ll be on the road.”

Gavin climbed back into the saddle, but the defeat was gone from his posture. In its place was the confidence of a new conviction. “I’ll be right back.” He trotted to where Dona was walking through the trees on the outskirts of Rogan’s property and returned with her, riding double on Golam’s back. Once they’d stopped and Dona had dismounted, Gavin said, “Sorry to do this, but I got to. Dona, you’re witness to this. Rogan, pack your wife and sons, make arrangements for the care o’your animals, and go to Tern. You’ll leave by nightfall tomorrow. As King o’Thendylath, I command it.” Without waiting for a response, he trotted off.