Ginny Hartman (6 page)

His words had an effect on King Cedric, who looked up at him. His eyes that were rimmed with redness were eerily haunted. “I can't go on without him. He's my brother, and he's dead. I wish I were dead too.”

Terric pulled him forcibly up by the shoulders, bringing his face squarely in front of his. “You can go on and you must. Darth has experienced a great loss today. If the kingdom lost you as well, utter chaos would ensue leaving the entire kingdom vulnerable. It would be the perfect excuse for another kingdom to come in and conquer Darth. You wouldn't do that to Darth; I know you wouldn't.”

Terric's tirade seemed to sober him. “You are correct.”

"We need to get you to safety. I need to go out and see if the rest of the castle is under siege, if there has been any other fatalities."

King Cedric managed to sit up, propping his back against the cold, stone wall. "I need you to ensure that the rest of my family is safe; all of them."

"Of course." Terric rose, anxious to see if chaos prevailed throughout the rest of the castle. "Bar the door the minute I step into the hall. I haven't the time to relocate you at the moment or I would. Do not open the door for anyone but me, and do not look at them," One hand waved in the general vicinity of the corpses lying on the floor.

The king cringed at the mention of the bodies. He didn't need Terric to remind him not to look, for he never wanted to see the bloody carnage again. He followed Terric to the door, shutting and barring it the minute he slipped out into the hall.

Terric squared his shoulders and began jogging towards the main keep of the Castle. He tuned into his surroundings, noting that he heard no sounds of battle. There were no screams piercing through the air, no clanking of metal. He held his breath as he rounded the corner, anxiously hoping that the silence meant nothing was amiss. His shoulders slumped in relief as he witnessed a scene not unlike any typical day in the castle. Servants were busy readying the long tables for supper. Several of them were carrying in large bowls of fruit to place down the center of each table.

He reached forth and stopped a young boy with one hand, “Tell me lad, where can I find King Lawrence?”

The boy appeared shocked that the King Cedric's lead defender had chosen to address him. Stammering, he said, “I saw them in the inner courtyard of recent, sir. Mayhap they are still there.”

“Thank you,” Terric muttered, as he turned to check on them himself, hoping he would be where the boy had said.

When he reached the doors leading outside, Terric paused and scanned the courtyard with his eyes. It didn't take him long to spot King Lawrence conversing with a small crowd under the large oak tree that framed the door of the outer wall. Upon closer inspection, Terric observed that the crowd was his wife, Queen Margaret, and his own three children. Queen Isabel and her two daughters were also counted among the crowd. Along with the royal families was King Lawrence's Lead Defender and several other defenders as well. He exhaled in relief, knowing they would be safe. He watched them momentarily, relieved that they were safe before his heart clenched within him. They appeared so happy, so unaware. He was suddenly grateful that it was not his duty to inform them of the tragedy that had just occurred in the council room, pitying King Cedric for the task he would be required to perform.

Slinking back inside the castle, he apprehensively returned to King Cedric and to the nightmarish scene he had only just fled. Raising one fist, he knocked roughly on the door.

“Who is it?” came the king's shaky voice. He couldn't blame him for sounding scared

“Tis I, Terric.”

He stepped back and waited for the king to open the door. He tried not to look towards the ground where King Eustace and Queen Constance lay, but his eyes involuntarily wandered to the bright pools of red that seemed to scream at him to notice them, to acknowledge the people whose veins were now drained empty of that very lifeblood. Though his eyes couldn't be kept from settling briefly on the bloody pools, he refused to let them wander to the actual bodies. Instead, he quickly barred the door once more and stepped around the bodies, walking to the far side of the room.

King Cedric followed. “Am I being foolishly optimistic in hoping that your presence means that the rest of the castle is safe?”

“Aye, there doesn't appear to be anything afoot. I saw King Lawrence and his family with my own eyes, along with your wife and daughter. They were perfectly well; they had several defenders nearby.”

“You didn't...” his unspoken question trailed off, but Terric knew to what he was asking.

“Nay, they never even saw me.”

“Good. I need to be the one to tell them myself, though I dread the task completely.”

“With good reason too. The news will not be well received, especially by King Eustace's children.”

The mention of the dead king's offspring made King Cedric inhale sharply. “In my grief I failed to remember Princess Rosalind. She is the only family not at Brantonwall Castle. She is not safe.”

“You are not safe here. My first matter of concern is getting you to safety.”

“King Hadrian of Peltis will protect me. We have always had good relationships with his kingdom, and seeing as how it is the closest kingdom to here; it would only make sense for us to seek his assistance. I want my family to accompany me, as well as my brother and his family. I want to know we are all safe.”

“It is not a wise choice,” Terric disagreed with him, though he was relieved that the king was once more thinking rationally.

“Of course it is,” Kind Cedric snapped angrily, his emotions close to the surface. “I darest not go to Moar, you know that our ally with them is tentative at best. Besides, it's more than twice the distance than Peltis.”

“Nay, I agree that you shouldn't go to Moar but I don't think it's wise that you take King Lawrence with you. That would leave Darth without any rulers, a fact that would not go unnoticed by both the people of the kingdom and our enemies. That would leave Darth in a very precarious position.”

King Cedric was thoughtful for a moment before he finally agreed. “I don't like the thought of leaving him behind, but I see that it must be. I don't think my fleeing from the kingdom should become common knowledge either.”

“Absolutely not, no one must know where you have gone if you wish to remain safe. My second concern is that Princess Rosalind has been left alone at Hefordshire Castle, and with the death of her parents, she is left an easy target for the enemy.”

King Cedric's face paled. “You must go fetch her, bring her to me in Peltis. She is the heir of the Southwestern Territory. She is now the Queen.” Terric hadn't thought of that—Princess Rosalind, upon her parents’ deaths, was now Queen Rosalind.

“I can't go to her; my duty is to you. If ever there has been a time that you need protection, that is now. Don't you see? Send King Eustace's Lead Defender to fetch her.”

“I will be fine once I am safely in Peltis. My niece is not fine; she could be in danger as we speak. I need you to go to her immediately.”

Terric's concern for Princess Rosalind was immense but he was duty bound to protect the king. He had taken oaths promising to guard the king's life with his own, an oath that was punishable by death if he failed in his duty. The thought of the king fleeing the kingdom without his protection did not sit well with him, it went against everything he had been trained to do and believe.

“Nay, I cannot leave you. We can send someone else to go fetch her and see her safely to Peltis.”

“There is no one else I trust,” King Cedric stated flatly.

“But what of your own life? Surely you are concerned with your own safety.”

“I will leave to Peltis immediately. I will have the protection of Eustace's lead defender. We will double up on protection. We can be there in less than a day if we hurry.”

“If you can trust King Eustace's lead defender with your own life, surely you can trust him with Princess Rosalind's,” Terric argued, uneasy at the thought of leaving the king's protection in somebody else's hands.

“Queen Rosalind,” King Cedric angrily corrected him. “I will have it no other way. I want no one knowing of my destination and no one knowing of my brother's death, especially not Rosalind. I will tell her myself as soon as you deliver her safely to Peltis. Swear to me that you will not tell her of her parents’ deaths. She should hear it from me.”

“I swear it, Your Majesty.” He had no desire to be the one to tell her of the tragic loss she suffered this day. He had no desire to see her pretty face crumple in pain at the knowledge that she was now an orphan. It was a promise he made easily, and one he was certain to keep.

“Good. Now go to her. You must waste no time. If you are quick, you can make the two days journey in a little over one.”

Terric knew all that. He had a vast knowledge of the Kingdom of Darth, having traveled throughout its territory extensively in his duties as defender. He would leave Brantonwall castle immediately, only taking enough time to grab some provisions from the kitchen to see him through his journey.

Just as he was turning to leave, King Cedric stopped him. “Wait,” he said as he walked over to the scribe's small table and picked up a piece of parchment and a quill. “You will inform Rosalind that her parents have made a journey to Peltis to strengthen Darth's ally with them and refuse to leave her alone for such a lengthy time, hence the reason you have been sent to fetch her.” He paused then, taking a moment to write a few hasty sentences on the paper. Once he was done, he folded the paper into thirds then reached for the nearest candle, dripping a spot of wax on the paper before removing his signet ring and pressing his seal into the cooling wax.

Shoving the now sealed letter at Terric, he continued, “If anyone gives you any problems, show them this. This is proof that you are doing my bidding and do not need to answer to anybody.”

Terric took the letter, “I bid you farewell, Your Majesty, until our reunion in Peltis.”

“Do not worry for me, Terric. See that Rosalind is safe. Her life is now in your hands.”

Terric turned and left, without a further word spoken between the two. He had trained his entire life to protect the king. To say that this new assignment to protect Queen Rosalind was unsettling was a vast understatement.

Chapter 7

The Retrieval

Sitting atop his destrier, Terric felt his shoulders slump and his hands loosen on the reins. He had been riding at full speed for nearly four hours before finally slowing the horse to a trot. It wouldn't do to wear out the poor beast completely when they still had at least a ten-hour journey ahead of them. The adrenaline that had been coursing through his body since the attack on King Cedric had taken nearly the entire ride to leave his system, and now that it had, he was utterly exhausted. His body had been trained since he was a wee lad not to give into sleep when there were important duties to perform, and fetching Queen Rosalind from potential danger was now his premier duty.

He pulled back on the reins, bringing his horse to a halt. There was a nearby stream where the animal could drink while he refueled as well. Leading the horse to the water, he bent on one knee and removed his helmet and splashed some of the cool liquid onto his face in an attempt to stay alert. The water was cold as it permeated his hair and rolled down his neck, disappearing into the top of his tunic. He stood, shaking his head of the excess water, before reaching inside the pack and pulling out a handful of dates, which he hungrily shoved into his mouth.

As soon as his hunger abated and he felt sufficiently alert, he replaced the helmet on top of his head, grabbed the horse’s reins, and began walking in the direction of the Southwestern Territory. He gave the horse plenty of time to rest as they walked along in the dark before he pulled himself once more into the saddle. The solitary silence of the night left him with plenty of time to think. His mind couldn't stop thinking about the earlier attack on the King. He wondered if tonight's attack had any correlation with the prior attack, and he was almost certain it did. The question was, who wanted the High King dead, and why?

As much as he had wanted to see Princess Rosalind, now Queen Rosalind, now was not the time for it and most definitely not the circumstance. His loyalty to King Cedric was deeply ingrained into his being, his oath to defend him written permanently on his heart. He was going mad at the thought of King Cedric fleeing without his protection. Terric knew King Eustace's Lead Defender well. He was a man named Tristan, and very capable, though not as capable as Terric himself. As High King, King Cedric demanded and received the best, and the best was Terric, not Tristan. And though it was currently out of his control, if anything happened to King Cedric, he would only blame himself.

His unease at the entire situation settled upon him and remained as an unwanted guest for the entire trip to Herfordshire Castle. By the time he crested the last hill and Herfordshire Castle came into view, he was exhausted and unusually irritable and more than ready to have his assignment complete so he could return and see to his rightful duties to the king.

Terric rode along the short drawbridge before coming to a brief halt at the gatehouse. He paused long enough for the defenders to recognize who he was before continuing on beneath the raised portcullis and entering the inner ward of the castle. Having been to Herfordshire Castle on multiple occasions, he was very familiar with the castle grounds. He confidently turned left, directing his horse to the stables, where he dismounted and instructed a stable boy to care for his destrier, while he took care of business inside the castle.

Entering the main keep of the castle, it didn't take Terric long to find the castle's steward. A lanky man with a hawkish nose was busy dictating to a crowd of servants and as he dismissed them to see to their duties, Terric marched straight up to him, and not mincing any words, spoke, “I'm here to collect Princess Rosalind.”

The man eyed him curiously before asking, “What is the meaning of this?”