Knight Fall (The Champion Chronicles Book 1) (2 page)

Brace wondered as well, but he could not dwell on it.  Even if it was only one, then he could be tracked and they would take care of him.  He didn’t really like the idea of having more lives lost, but it was simply a part of the bigger picture.  In fact, he regretted that the princess’ Royal Guards had to be taken care of in such a barbaric manner.  There were not many in the guard that he really cared for, but he also didn’t like meaningless loss of life.  Or murder.  He pushed those thoughts away.  There would be plenty of time for reflection later.  The bigger picture meant that individual lives didn’t matter.

“I must return to the city before dark,” Brace said.  “I do not have time to chase her down myself.”

              “The soldier?” One of them asked.

“There are four of you and one of him,” Brace replied with a growl.  "When I hired you, I thought I was hiring men, not cowards.  Are you so afraid of one man that you would run through the forest like a bunch of little girls?"

The four looked at one another.  They were mercenaries and skilled with arms.  But unlike soldiers who would die for cause, they needed to be alive to be paid.  It wasn’t necessarily cowardice, but it was awfully close. 

After a moment, the mercenary named Rogget said, “We will find her, sire.”

Brace clarified, “Unharmed.  With the soldier you can do what you want, but the princess will not be harmed or otherwise touched.”

Rogget nodded his head, but the Knight Captain added to his warning.  “I would rather she escape and return home than for you to harm her.  For her fate will be your fate.”  He looked down at the rest of the mercenaries and said to them, “That goes for all of you.  She is to be unharmed.  Capture her as planned, but if she returns harmed, you will get twice what she got.  And if you do not return, I will hunt you down and you will regret that you were ever born.”

The mercenaries were as arrogant and confident as any, but the tone of his voice, the inflection of his words, and the fierceness in his eyes caused them all to simply sulk away and return to their hunt.

Brace watched them leave, regretting everything that he must do, but knowing it was only for the best.

***

“I do not think they are chasing us anymore.”

The words caught Conner by surprise, and he let go of the girl’s hand.  She was bent over, gasping for air.  Although Conner was sweaty and tired from their sprint through the forest, he was breathing easily.  He could have run faster, but the girl kept pulling him back, slowing him down.  Conner knelt to the ground, closed his eyes and listened.  He ignored her heavy breathing and focused solely on the forest.  The trees.  The wind.  The animals.

All seemed normal.

He looked back at the path that they had made and frowned.

She noticed the sour look on his face and asked, “What is it?”

Conner pointed back towards the way they had come.

The girl looked, and then looked again.  She said, “I do not see it.”

“We have made a path that a five year old could follow.  We will need to be more careful.”  Then he looked around more closely to his surroundings.  “And I have made a grave error!”

She chuckled.  “Grave error?  You do not speak like a peasant hunter.  Who are you?”

Conner stood and realized he was still holding his bow and two arrows.  He returned the arrows to his quiver.  “Conner.  My name is Conner."

She smiled.  “Pleased to meet you, Master Conner.  I am Princess Elissa.  And thank you for saving my life.”

Conner was too stunned to say anything.  He knew the name as well as anyone else in the kingdom, but never dreamed that he would come face to face with the king’s only child.  She was as beautiful as they had said, even after being kidnapped and hauled through the forest.  Her eyes were bright and full of life, like someone who lived in a high tower and never saw the pain of real life.  Her blonde hair was now dull and matted, but he could just imagine what the flowing, curly locks could look like.  Her mouth was turned into a smile, showing her white teeth.  He could only stare back in fascination.

“You said you have made an error?” She asked.

Pulled from his trance, he corrected her.  “No, I said I made a grave error.  I have led us in the wrong direction.  Just past those trees is a river that we must cross.”

“Very well, then, lead on,” she said with a flip of her hand.

Conner chuckled at her innocence.  She had no idea the trouble that she had avoided, and if she did, then she had a very short memory.  “It is going to be dark soon.  We will need to find a safe place to hole up for the night.”

She stood silently for a moment, and asked, “Should we not return to my carriage, I am sure that my guards are searching for me.  If we return there, they are sure to find us.”

“If they caught you, it is likely that your guards are dead. Anyway, the guys who kidnapped you are between us and your carriage.  And it is getting late.”

“Dead?” She said.  Her eyes welled up in tears and her bright red lips quivered.

“Yes, and we will be if we don’t move on,” Conner said.

They moved quietly through the trees, fast enough to keep moving, but not too fast to make it easy for anyone who was following them to see their trail from far off.  Conner zigged and zagged his way towards the river, mentally kicking himself for not realizing where he was.  The Meadow River eventually dumped into the greater Tyre River, but it didn’t take a straight course.  It bent and bowed as it cut through the forest, giving water and fish to the animals of the woods.  But unfortunately for Conner and Elissa, they had made straight for an almost full circular curve of the river.  They were now almost completely surrounded by the river, so they would either go back the way they came and stay dry, or make their way across the river.  It was a cold river, and Conner had no way of starting a fire, unless he was fortunate enough to find the right flint stones along the banks.

The Meadow River wasn’t a fast moving river, but it had cut a big cliff into the woods right where they came out.  Conner looked down directly into the water, about thirty feet below him.  Another hundred yards farther downriver, the ground sloped to a small beach.

“Maybe we should head there to cross,” Conner suggested, pointing down river.

Elissa had not said a word since they had last stopped.  Now she had sat down and yawned.  “I think we should just rest for a while.  Right here.”

Conner looked around, knowing that it wouldn’t be long before they were caught.  They just couldn’t move fast enough, and if the soldiers who had kidnapped Elissa were halfway intelligent hunters, they would easily track them through the woods.  “We should at least get across the river before we rest.”

She furled her eyebrows and pursed her lips.  “No.  I say we rest right here.  I am tired.”

For a moment, Conner was going to argue.  But the girl was clearly beat.  Her chest was heaving up and down, and her shoulders were slumped.  Her clothes were torn and ragged, dirty from running through the woods.  He sat next to her. 

“We can rest, but only for a few moments.  The sun is just about to fall below the trees and it gets dark really fast in the woods.”

She nodded.  The spark that had been in her eyes was gone.  She looked hardly the princess she claimed to be.  She looked more like the dirty peasant girls who carried the harvest from the fields to market.

“What happened?” Conner asked.

“I am not really sure, I guess,” she said after a minute of reflection.  “One minute we were riding through the forest, me in my carriage, and my Royal Guards leading the way.  And then there was yelling and screaming.  Raymond, my personal guard, pulled me out of the carriage and …I…”  She looked away, a tear falling from the corner of her eye.  “I tripped over Tory.  I see now that he was not alive.  Then I ran.  There was yelling behind me, but I just ran.  After I could not run any more, two of them caught me.  I think they were going to kill me.  Until you came.”  She placed a hand on his arm and smiled up at him.

He smiled back, seeing the spark back in her eyes.  Her hands were warm and sent an odd tingle up his arm.  He had never been touched by such a pretty girl before, much less a princess.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Conner said.  “I will get you back to the city.  But not tonight.  It is late and we will be in complete darkness soon.  On the other side of the river are some caves where we can hide through the night.”

They sat in silence for some time.  Elissa sat on a fallen tree, playing with her hair, trying to brush it out with her fingers.  Conner listened carefully, hoping that he would not hear any rustling of the underbrush that would signal that their pursuers were upon them.  Their only route out was across the river, which would be a cold and dangerous swim.  The river was deep and the water was cold.  Conner knew he was a good swimmer, but he had no idea as to how well the girl could swim.  Even if she could swim, would she be able to have the strength to fight the cold water to keep from drowning?  With the sun dropping below the trees, and the shadows of the forest getting longer and darker, Conner stood up to lead Elissa along the river’s edge towards the small beach where they would cross.

With darkness inching through the forest, it wouldn’t be too long until they were in complete darkness.  He was trying to be careful, but he knew that he wasn’t able to move as quietly as he would like.  The fear and adrenaline that had coursed through his system was now going away, making him tired and not as sharp as he thought he was.

The odd thing about the movement was that if it had been high noon, he might not have noticed it.  But the shadows and gray dreariness of dusk made quick movements just that much more noticeable.  It came from the corner of his eye and suddenly the weariness was gone and his muscles reacted without him actually thinking about it.  He leaped towards Elissa, pushing her forward just as an arrow buzzed past his head.  They dove into the underbrush, but away from the river.  The bank of the river was still too steep and high.  They could jump down into the river, but risk breaking a leg on an unseen rock.  Conner kept pushing Elissa, who let out a steady stream of whimpers and whines.

Under cover of both underbrush and darkness, they made it safely to the small beach at the river’s edge.  Although they couldn’t be seen, Conner knew that they were heard and that their pursuers were not far behind.

“Can you swim?” Conner asked.

Elissa nodded her head, her eyes wide in fear, her lips trembling.

“Go, then!  Straight across.  Once you get there, hide in the bushes.”  Conner quickly strung his bow and knocked an arrow.

“What are you doing?”

“If we both go, they’ll easily pick us off from the bank.  I’ll stay here and keep them company.”

She gripped his arm tightly.  “What if you don’t…?”

“I will,” Conner interrupted.  His eyes scanned the forest for movement.  He knew he wouldn’t actually be able to see them in the darkness.  But he would be able to see movement.  He lifted his bow towards what he thought was a body and let an arrow fly.  It struck something hard with a thud.  But there was no cry or the sound of a falling body.  At the least, he hoped it would slow them down if they knew that he still had his bow.

She hadn’t moved, so he pulled her hands off his arm.  “You must go.  If I don’t get across, head down river.  There is a village about a half days walk.  Just follow the river and you’ll get to it.  You can’t miss it.  It’s where the Meadow River runs into the Tyre River.”  He pushed her away and pulled out another arrow.  He only had five left.

Her lips moved, as if she were trying to say something, but no words came out.  Finally, she turned away and ran into the water.  Conner turned away from her to scan the trees, looking and waiting for someone to show a face.

And there it was.  It was a white face that barely visible behind a tree limb.  He lifted his bow, and aimed at where the man’s chest should be.  He let loose and the face disappeared.  Movement to his left caught his eye.  A shadowed body appeared and he thought he heard the sound of an arrow flying through the air.  A quick aim and then another arrow was released and this time he heard the thud of the body falling to the ground.  He crouched low, listening and watching.  His eyes straining to see through the darkness, but there were no more shadowed bodies or faces visible.  Knowing he couldn’t swim while holding the bow, he loosed his remaining arrows into the trees and then ran into the river, diving under the cold water, swimming as far and as fast as he could.

Chapter Two

Brace guided his exhausted horse underneath the portcullis before it was fully raised up.  As soon as he was through, it dropped with a crash.  He glanced back, thinking the guard let it drop just a little bit too early.  If his mount wasn’t nearly dead, it would have been spooked and would likely have bucked him off.  Instead, the horse simply let out a snort and dropped its head.  A squire took the reins as the Knight Captain slipped off.

The courtyard was dimly lit by a handful of torches hanging from the stone walls of the castle.  The men that approached him were lost in the darkness, so he did not realize that the king himself was approaching until his face came out of the shadows.

“Your majesty,” Brace said in greeting, forcing the tiredness out of his bones.

“Brace, it is good to see you.  I see that you rode hard upon receiving my message," the king said.

“I came as quickly as I could,” Brace replied.  His heart was racing and it wasn’t because of his hard ride.  He did not lie.  At least the words that came out of his mouth were not lies.  But the meaning of the words, the implication of the words, and the preceding actions could only result in accusations of treachery and ultimately death.  But it was a bridge that he had long ago crossed.  There was no turning back.  He just did his best to hide his lying words from his beloved king.

King Reyan Thorndale, ruler of the kingdom of Karmon was not an old man, but his hair had long since turned gray and his beard was long and shaggy.  Deep, serious eyes were surrounded by leathery wrinkles.  He carried himself as a king would, with a straight back and a puffed out chest.  Even in this time of grief and anger, he was still king of Karmon.  He was shorter and older than the three men who flanked him, but it was clear who was the strongest.  Brace knew more than anyone that strength did not come from a length of steel, or the size of one’s arms, or the number of lives that his steel and arms took.  The king’s strength came from the way he ruled his kingdom.  He wasn’t a tyrant, but he also wasn’t a pushover, either.  He ruled with honor and love.  And the people of the kingdom returned that love.  There was hardly a man or woman in the entire realm that did not love their leader.

It was painful for Brace to stand in front of this man having to lie and perpetuate the ruse.  His stomach was queasy and he just wanted to throw up.

“I thank you, although your steed may never be the same,” the king replied.

Brace took the opportunity to turn away and pat the horse on the neck.  “She is strong and will recover."  He took a deep breath to collect himself and asked, "Now, as for what happened...”

“Thellians,” one of the men standing behind the king shouted out.  The man was clad in a deep blue cape, the color of the Royal Guard.  His hand clenched the pommel of his sword tightly.  “The murderous scum…we shall ride against them immediately!”

“Hold now, Perkins,” the king said with a wave of his hand.  “We know little of what happened.  It is my daughter that is in danger, but we must be cautious in our assumptions.”

Brace nodded visibly, agreeing with his liege.  “Yes.  It has been quite a while since they have done anything like this.  And never have they been so bold as to go after the royal family.”

“And yet, we must not discount them,” the king said.  “They have been quiet, and that is always something to be concerned with.”

“Very well,” Brace replied.  “Shall we go to the hall?  We can discuss this in more detail there.”

Perkins stepped forward, exploding in anger.  “Discuss!  There is nothing to discuss.  You must call your knights and head out at once.  You must find these vile Thellians, kill them and return the princess to her father.”

Brace stepped forward to meet the challenge.  But he kept his cool and his words calm.  “Perkins, I understand your anger, but you are not thinking clearly.  We cannot just go invade Thell because we think that they did this.  I want to find out who did this as badly as you do.  But we can't make assumptions and act irrationally."  He gave the royal guardsman a long stare before motioning towards a set of double doors.  "Your majesty, shall we?”

Perkins took another step forward.  The calmness that Brace was able to hold in check dissipated.  Anger now replaced it.  His own hand went to the sword sheathed at his side.  Perkin’s hand went for his own sword.

King Thorndale placed a hand on the chest of each man.  “I do not understand this petty squabbling between you two.  Rather than fighting about who is the biggest and strongest, you should be more worried about the safety of this kingdom and most importantly my daughter.”

“Sire, I was only trying to express the urgency of the situation,” Perkins explained.

“And not trusting decisions to those who are best able to make them,” the king countered.  “It is a dark, moonless night.  Any trail that could be found will not be found until the morning.  We will ride out two hours before first light and arrive at the forest as the sun comes up.”

He let his hands drop and the two men took a step back. “Now, we will retire to the great hall to prepare for what we will do tomorrow.  Perkins, you will call your Royal Guard together and make your presence known in the city.  Once it gets out about the attack, the city will be fearful.  If they see you and your men out and about, then they will be reassured that all is well.”

“Yes, sire,” Perkins said meekly.  “I would request that my men and I assist in chasing down those who attacked your daughter.  It was my men…”

“That failed to protect the princess,” Brace said sharply.

Before another fight could erupt, the king shouted, “Enough!  And this is why I will keep you two and your men separate.  Perkins, you and your men will stay here.  Brace, call your knights together and prepare them to ride.”  He looked at one, then the other.  He shook his finger at both of them, like a father chastising his children.  “Your squabbling will be the death of me, I tell you!”

The king turned his back and strode strongly towards the great hall.

***

The river was deathly cold.  Conner knew that it was a bad idea to cross at night with no chance of building a fire to warm them, but they had no choice.  With their pursuers getting closer, their only option for escape was the river.  If it was mid-day with a sun shining strong and high in the sky, he would not have worried.  The spring sun was warm and sometimes hot.  It would have dried them out in no time.  But once that sun slipped below the horizon and darkness was upon them, it was cold and would only get colder as the night winds picked up.

Elissa’s sneeze caught his attention.  She was huddled in the corner of the cave shivering.  He sat back from his kneeling position and let out a long sigh.  The small pile of twigs sitting in front of him just would not light.  For all the rocks and stones strewn about the cave’s floor, none of them were useful for getting a spark.  He kept himself warm by moving around trying to light a fire, but his hands were sore and his arms were tired.  Giving up, he leaned against the cold stone wall of the cave and watched her for a while.  She sat with her knees up to her chest, her long hair laying across her shoulders and down in front of her face.  The curls had long since lost their curl and bounce.  Her dress was wet and dirty.  She looked hardly the princess she claimed to be.

And then she looked up at him and something struck him hard.  The hairs on his neck perked up and a wave of heat suddenly swept over him.  Her face showed her weariness from running and crossing the river.  But when her eyes caught his, she smiled.  It wasn’t a smile of hello, but a smile of warmth and deepness.  He smiled back and locked her eyes.  He wanted to look away, but he just couldn’t.  Regardless of her title and the royal blood that flowed through her veins, she was really nothing more than what he was.  Cold and weary.  Young and scared.  He stood up and moved to be next to her.

“How are you holding up?” He asked.

“Wet and cold,” she replied, with a slight chuckle.  “What about you?”

“I’ll be okay.”  He continued to look at her closely.  He had expected her to be crying and afraid.  Maybe she was afraid, but her smile and chuckle told him that there was something else behind those bright green eyes. 

“Are you sure?  You had to kill two of them.”

Conner nodded and leaned back against the cold cave wall.  “I know.  I had to.”

“Have you ever…” she left the question hang in the damp, dark air.

“No.  They were the first.  Well, the one back when I found you was the first.  But that was an accident.  But the other two…”

“I’m sorry,” she said, putting a hand on his knee.

He looked down at her soft, white hands, and then up into her eyes.  “They were after us and if they caught us, they would have not had a second thought about killing us.”

She squeezed his knee.  “Then you are my champion.”

Conner let out a short, sharp laugh.  “I am no warrior, I am just the son of a peasant farmer.  I am nothing!”

She didn’t share in his humor.  Her jaw was locked firm.  “I am serious.  You are my champion.  I want you to come back to the castle with me.”

His laughing came to a quick end.  “I will certainly escort you back to your home.  The forest is no place for a princess.  Even without kidnappers hunting us down.  Wolves and bears abound!”

“No, seriously, you should stay at the castle and be my champion!”

Conner patted her on the shoulder, doing his best to stifle a laugh.  “You are a beautiful princess and it would be an honor to serve you as a champion.”

“And now you tease me!” She said, laughing with him.

“No, seriously," he said.  "It would be an honor.  But I am no champion.  I do not know how to swing a blade or fight in a battle with knights.  I would not last long as your champion.”

“I think you underestimate yourself, Conner.  You are brave and courageous.  Two qualities that would make a champion.”

“Two qualities that would lead to my quick death!  Without skill with a blade, all the bravery and courage in the world would do me no good!”  He was silent for some time, pondering their predicament.  As long as they could survive the night and not freeze to death, they would be able to slip through the forest and avoid their pursuers.  The problem would be staying warm enough.  With no fire to dry their clothes or keep their bodies warm, there was a good chance they would simply fall asleep and not awaken.  He had seen it before, but that had been in the middle of winter. While on a hunting trip with a friend and his uncle, the uncle fell through ice on the river.   They had struggled with a fire then, and could not get one going.  Any wood they found was too wet and the friend’s uncle had the only flint amongst them.  It had been lost when he struggled in the river trying to get out.  They had gone to sleep that night and only Conner and his friend woke up in the morning.

Conner looked around the cave.  It was really no more than a hole in the side of a hill.  It was just tall enough for Conner to stand with a slight crouch, but it didn’t go very deep into the hill.  There were remnants of fires from when others who had used the cave.  It was out of the wind and maybe, just maybe, it would hold the heat of their bodies in.

He moved close to the princess and put an arm around her, wrapping his cloak around the both of them.  The cloak was wet and smelled dirty and musty.  She protested with a groan, but her teeth were chattering too much to speak.

“The warmth of our two bodies together will be warmer,” he said.

She did not make another sound.  She simply rested her head on his chest and his arms pulled her in tightly to him.  In only a moment, her teeth stopped chattering and she let out a long sigh.  The scent of her perfumes filled his senses.  It was warming and wonderful, something that he had never experienced before.  He had smelled girls before, but they mostly smelled like dirt and sweat.  This was different.  She was different.  Her warm body was soft against his.  She moved her left arm behind his back and held him tightly.  His arm, draped over her shoulder, squeezed.

“How old are you Elissa?”

It took her a moment before she answered with a sleepy voice, “Last spring I had my Growing Celebration.”

“You’re what?” He asked with a suddenly loud voice.  The response had surprised him and his voice carried deep into the cave.  

She giggled.  “It is a tradition in my family.”

“I have never heard of it.”

“Well of course not, because you are…”

“Just a peasant?” He finished for her.

She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.  “Well, yes.  But I was going to say that you were not a part of my family, so how would you know?”

“Okay.  Then what is this Growing Celebration.”

“When a young lady reaches her fourteenth birthday, the family puts on a fancy feast and celebration.  It is a week of eating and dancing.  We play all sorts of lawn games, too.”

“Lawn games?”

She smacked him on the chest.  “Games, you know, stick ball, bowling.  A westerner showed us a game he called sock it.  You play with a big ball of twine, but you can’t use your hands, only your feet.” 

“Games,” Conner said quietly.  “Sounds fun.”

“You do not play?”