“Don’t make me remind you! But, at least this one, well…I thought he was nice.” She got back to Seth. “Back at the library.”

  I put down the chopping knife I had been using. “You said something to him.”

  “Nope. But I sure as hell would have if he hadn’t apologized to you. I wasn’t going to stand by and let him be an ass.”

  “Rest assured, his bad ways are now mended.” I chuckled, thinking of guardian love. “He was very nice when he asked me out.”

  “Good. And where is he taking you?”

  “Actually, it’s a surprise.”

  “A surprise? No fancy party or gourmet restaurant opening?” She knew my playboys well.

  “Nope.” I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s his style.”

  “Down-to-earth. I like him.”

  “That makes two of us.” I blushed again.

  She stopped. “Ooh. You’re all smitten already!”

  Yes. It was definitely going fast.

  When we sat down to eat, the conversation drifted to other things: my plans for the year, stepping down as head of the Junior Common Room, my parents moving away.

  But Seth came up again toward the end.

  “Text me when you get to where he’s taking you.” Jane took the last bite from her plate and lay down her fork. “I know he’s a good guy, but you can never be too careful.”

  “It’s fine. He’s my Char—” I closed my mouth mid-word and almost bit my lip.

  Chapter Seven

  Western Scotland, AD 500

  She wasn’t what he had assumed, Seth had to admit.

  He’d expected panic, shouting and screaming, but Kim had reacted in the opposite way, far stronger in mind than some of the knights he knew at court. She was even able to doze on the horse!

  Maybe Niall was right. Maybe he had read her wrong initially, because she reminded him of someone else. The resemblance was there. He saw it when she was asleep, and the memories came, the pain in his wrist suddenly strong.

  He remembered lying on his sickbed after that battle. Seraphim, Fergus Mór’s head mage, was by his side, trying his strongest spells. His body was almost cured, but the wrist wouldn’t heal, and he was weak from all the spells and treatments. He felt like a shadow of his former self.

  “Don’t despair,” said Seraphim. “I know other mages I can write to.”

  These were kind words, but empty ones. If Seraphim couldn’t do it, nobody could.

  Niall would come often. A true friend. “Everyone in court is waiting for you to return.”

  “I think we both know I won’t be coming back.”

  “Seth, you’ll heal.”

  “No. Not completely. Someone will have to replace me.”

  “Fergus Mór said you’re keeping the title. So, any replacement will be temporary. Now, you work on getting yourself better. You’ve got a wedding to go to. Won’t happen without the groom.”

  That was another problem. “She’s been coming less and less.”

  “She’s a woman. They need encouragement. Surprise her. Bring her flowers in the night.”

  He decided to do that. A few weeks later, when he could walk again. He went to her, excited, expecting she’d be happy to see him, and that the ice that had formed between them would melt.

  But her quarters were closed, locked, and the noises coming from inside were all too familiar. She wasn’t alone.

  He waited. He wanted to see who it was. The door opened early in the morning, and Domangart came out.

  He couldn’t challenge the crown prince. They quarreled, but the part that hurt remained the look in her eyes that showed no regrets.

  “Don’t bother explaining,” were his last words to her and the last time he ever spoke with her.

  Now was his opportunity to get back at the prince. Give Domangart what he deserved. He wondered how far the treachery went.

  Getting the warning through was the challenge. Domangart might already be monitoring any pigeon stations around the palace. If that were the case, Niall would have to reach court in person to deliver the message.

  There was one other way to get a letter to the king. Haven. The king’s sister lived there. Her pigeons were received directly by the king.

  The walk there went through one of the most beautiful crossings in the woods, going by the streams of Haven. After passing through Haven itself, the road led to the high court.

  He didn’t expect Kim to like the idea, especially not the cave. That seemed to bring her princess side out, and he was too tired to be patient.

  It was a small cave, easy to navigate, but she had to stop all the time, to adjust her skirt or her shoes. He wondered whether she was also adjusting her makeup.

  “I can’t see anything. How do you know we’re going the right way? What if we get lost?”

  “It’s a very small cave and I know it well.”

  “Okay. What if I get lost?”

  “Just hold my hand and stay close.”

  “What if I fall?”

  “Try not to!”

  On the other end, they stopped so that he could make sure that nothing awaited them outside.

  “Wait here, Your Highness.” It took a lot of effort not to stress the word highness in the tone he felt it deserved. He left her leaning on the edge of the opening wall.

  Outside, everything was clear. There were no sounds, apart from a fox’s cry or a waking owl.

  “Sss… Seth?”

  Her voice came from inside the cave. Another noise accompanied it.

  He turned to see a large wildcat bearing its teeth at her.

  “Come out!” he yelled.

  But she froze. Her eyes were wide open in horror.

  Now she would panic?

  He rushed to her and the animal ran off.

  She was still shivering and he hugged her. “They’re not dangerous. He was probably just hungry. He’d be more scared of you than you are of him.”

  She nodded, shaking. And then something happened. It was as though a wave of energy passed through her, after which she was calm again, looking around her with serenity, her eyes curious, at where the animal had been. Strange.

  He let her dose for a bit, as he prepared something for them to eat from a food pack that he and Niall had put together before leaving.

  He was careful when waking her up, and when she opened her eyes and saw him, she immediately moved back.

  “It’s just me.”

  “That’s not exactly a relief.” But she was smiling.

  He found himself laughing. “There’s food. Here, try this.” He cut a bread roll in half.

  She held it in her hands, waiting for him to take his first bite, and then nibbled on it hungrily. “Not too bad. Lacks some taste, though.”

  “It’s from your father’s table.”

  There were still a few hours until morning. At least it seemed that way from how dark it was.

  Kim looked at Seth, marveling at his stamina. She had had some sleep that night. It appeared he’d been up the entire time.

  They were headed to a safe place, a man-dug cave that was built as a shelter for the people of Haven. A good place to rest for a few hours.

  The walk was easy, leading them through woods now, far from the cliffs and the beautiful view of the valleys. But the sky was clear, and the moon provided plenty of light.

  Some of the court ladies might have even called it romantic. That is, if she didn’t tell them about the mud, the spiders, and the sore feet. Or maybe she would not tell them about any of it.

  They could never understand that there was something else beyond the toils of the journey. A sense of being alive. And perhaps this was enhanced by the very hardships and danger. It was like being in one of those stories that the knights were telling, and with one of those knights.

  Seth was quiet, helping her move through the ferns and stones on the path.

  She couldn’t figure him out. The knights she’d met at her father’s palace were normally easy to decipher. They liked court life. It seemed that their focus was on trophies of different kinds: tournaments, money, titles, court women.

  Something else drove him.

  “How long have you been in Fergus Mór’s court?”

  “Almost two years,” he answered, glancing at her, and then back at the path. “I’ve been Niall’s teacher for a while.”

  A teacher? Not a knight? “Were you always a teacher?”

  “No. Not always. I was a knight first.”

  He still had the title. “So...this was a sort of promotion.”

  He sniggered. “Not really.” Something about his tone said he didn’t want to talk about it.

  “Where were you before?” She tried to shift the conversation a bit.

  He stopped. “You’re full of questions, aren’t you?”

  “Just trying to get to know you.”

  “Why?”

  “’Cause we’re in this together.”

  That made him smile.

  He resumed the walk. “If you really want to know, I don’t remember where I was before.” He turned to see her reaction.

  She gave him a look filled with all the curiosity she could muster. There was no need to fake it, of course. This was the first time she met anyone who had trouble remembering their past, as she did.

  It worked.

  “I woke up one day,” he continued, “alone on a road. A few minutes later, a carriage passed. Then another one, chasing it. They crashed and soon I heard screaming. A bandit was threatening a finely dressed woman with a sword. Somehow, although I was unarmed, I knew how to take him down and it turned out that the woman was King Fergus Mór’s daughter.”

  “And the rest is history.”

  “You could say so.” He chuckled.

  “I…” She stopped. Should she tell him? It wasn’t exactly common knowledge that she didn’t remember her past. Though, it would be such a relief to tell someone, and he had been honest. What harm could it do? “I… also don’t remember anything except for the last two years of my life.”

  “What?” He stopped. Then looked at her, confused. “You mean you don’t remember growing up in court or being a princess?”

  “No. I was trained by fairies. Morgan Le Fay, in particular. She said I had had an accident, and I stayed with her tribe until I was ready to be presented in my father’s court.”

  He glanced at her with sincere interest now. “We have a few cases in court where princesses were sent abroad to be trained before they came into society.”

  “There was one other in my father’s court.”

  “Did you ask the fairies about your past?”

  “Many times. I never got a straight answer. I sometimes think that they, too, didn’t really know. But they knew more than they were telling me.”

  He took her hand again to help her during a rougher stretch of the path. Once more, she noticed that warmth that she had never felt from anyone else’s touch.

  After walking a bit further, a strange sensation suddenly made her stop and concentrate. Something was paying attention to where they were. It was behind them. Not far. And not human. It walked like it was big and heavy.

  “What?” said Seth.

  “I… think I can sense something following us.”

  “There are lots of creatures around. People who walk here often get overly alert.”

  That wasn’t it. She knew she sensed something threatening. It was in her mind’s eye now. A nocturnal creature, a beast, treading the ground, its steps interrupting the other sounds of the night. They had passed a bend in the path a few minutes earlier. It was now there, going right through it, its sides crashing the branches around it and its sharp tail banging against the trunks.

  “We can’t stop here,” said Seth.

  “How much longer till we reach the shelter?”

  “About twenty minutes. We’ll be passing through a large clearing soon. It’s after that.” He held out his hand. “Come. Don’t worry too much about noises you hear. Not many people would walk any of these paths at night.”

  But he would. And walking with him was almost like walking in daylight.

  They continued. She didn’t sense the creature anymore. She wondered whether Seth was right before. Was it just her over alertness, mixed with everything that was happening tonight?

  “You know, Seth...”

  “What?”

  “You’re not like the other knights I’ve met. I must admit, a few hours ago, I was half ready to send you to the gallows the minute I’m queen.”

  He laughed. “The gallows! No, not the gallows!”

  “I was being merciful.”

  “Were you, now?” He turned, a smile on his face. “What’s changed? You discovered my charming personality?”

  She laughed. “Well… you kidnapped me and took me to filthy forests with wildcats and mud.”

  “Clearly, I made a strong impression.” He snickered.

  “Clearly.”

  “You’re not what I thought either. Not exactly the typical court lady. Though most of them would envy you, of course.”

  “What’s to be envied?” She sighed. “The main goal of my life is excelling at being a king’s daughter, so that one day I could be a king’s wife.”

  He raised an eyebrow, surprised. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

  “What? It’s the truth.” They resumed their pace. “And I don’t think that Fergus Mór’s court would be any different.”

  “The women there are younger and prettier.”

  “Excuse me!”

  “I didn’t mean more than you.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  “No. No. It’s strictly present company excluded.”

  She giggled.

  They’d just entered the clearing, and it was easier to walk, the ground more visible. They walked side by side.

  “The ladies of the high court are more ambitious than in other courts.”

  His tone had betrayed that he was trying to say something more. What did he mean by ambitious? “How so?”

  Seth was silent for a few moments, hesitating. “Well, I guess you might as well know. They… like to entertain your future husband.”

  “Entertain?”

  He nodded.

  “I see. But surely, this…entertainment would stop once we’re married.”

  He looked her straight in the eye.

  “Right. So he’s… marrying me for the politics and my kingdom’s wealth.”

  But her words were hardly audible to herself. Somewhere behind them, she sensed it again. The creature.

  It had gotten much closer, without her noticing. And they were now exposed, walking in the middle of the clearing.

  She turned and looked toward the woods. “The creature. It’s back.”

  And then, in that moment that she didn’t look where she stepped, something caught her foot. An instant later, she was on the ground, pain spreading.

  “Are you all right?” Seth bent down, moving the hem of her dress.

  Her teeth clenched from the agony. And she held her ankle, shocked at the level of ache.

  Behind Seth, the trees moved sideways and into the clearing stepped a massive creature.

  All she could hear was the sound of her own screaming.

  Seth drew his sword and looked at the scarred, disfigured, and scaly beast emerging from between the trees, its jaw open with saliva dripping. A deranged dragon. It was his one fear. He had faced one before. This was how he’d broken his wrist.

  Behind him, Kim was still screaming, and the dragon eyed her.

  “He likes it when you scream.”

  She stopped. That made it easier to concentrate. Not that concentration was the problem.

  Of the ten dragons that the mage-king Harthenon had burnt to create the Curse of Avalon, two survived. He himself had killed the other, and at a terrible price. The wound had magic in it that even Seraphim couldn’t undo.

  The beast in front of him was larger than that one. Was this his kin, now coming for revenge?

  It stood high on its hind legs, blocking the sky, casting a large shadow on the ground, its eyes observing him with hunger. It pulled its head backward and sniffed, then exhaled, spitting fire into the sky.

  He needed a poisoned dagger. But all he had were two boot knives and his sword. With the princess too wounded to make a run for it, the only chance to survive was to try to blind the beast.

  The dragon advanced, poised to attack.

  Seth breathed in, filling his lungs with air, and reached for one of the knives. The dragon’s tail came at him with lightning speed, wrapped around him and raised him off the cold earth.

  “No!”

  He heard Kim’s voice behind him.

  But the dangerous move was also an opportunity. He was now closer to the beast’s face. He threw his knife straight toward the dragon’s eye.

  The moment that the weapon left his hand, the dragon jolted him. But somehow, almost as if guided by magic, the knife hit the target.

  The beast shrieked, its tail releasing him, and he fell backward. Instinctively, he pulled out the other knife and thrust it into a scar on the beast’s skin, holding onto it as the tail swung left and right.

  The dragon roared. It started to move erratically, both its head and its tail shaking.

  In its rage, it brought Seth close to its mouth.

  Seth focused. His next move, if they were going to survive, would be to thrust his sword into the other eye. But with the dragon thrashing about, it would be difficult.

  He waited for the right moment. Just when the dragon brought him close enough and at a good angle, he drew his sword and plunged it toward the beast’s eye. He hit the dragon beside the eye and caused a smaller injury than he’d intended. But then, the sword suddenly shifted and sank again, straight into the beast’s head – a fatal wound.

  “What?!” He couldn’t believe his eyes.

  The dragon stopped, frozen, as death took over. A stifling darkness spread instantly from its chest in every direction. Its skin started changing, turning stiff and becoming solid.

  The creature tilted forward, as it turned into rock.

  Seth held onto the knife until the tail neared the ground and then ran, moving away from the falling dragon-shaped mass of rock that had once been a living beast. It crashed into a thousand pieces.

 

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