The Forest of Adventures (#1 of The Knight Trilogy) (11 page)

“I’m coming,” I replied as I
skittered down the stairs and charged past her.

Every part of me wanted to run
out across the garden, throw my arms around him and kiss him. In
the end, knowing that Mum was watching us out of the kitchen window
under the pretext of washing up, our meeting was awkward, each of
us battling with our own desires and denying them.

“Sorry, I should have called;
it’s rude of me to drop in. I was just taking Lancelot out for a
ride and I just found myself here.”

I looked over t the horse who
was happily chewing on the gate.

“Lancelot?” I raised my
eyebrows and smiled, “You’re joking right? I mean you
are
joking?” I burst out laughing finding myself slightly hysterical
from the morning’s rollercoaster of emotions.

I looked up at Blake to find
him smiling wryly to himself as if he were a little bit hurt by my
mockery. Eventually I managed to get a grip and apologise, “Sorry
Blake, it’s just…” I struggled to find the words and was also in
danger of once again collapsing into laughter.

“It’s alright Mina,” he said
waving his hand to dismiss it, “I know it’s silly. It seemed a good
idea at the time and to be fair I was only ten.” He winced, putting
a hand to his side.

“You’re hurt?” I asked my hand
reaching out instinctively.

“It’s nothing. A pulled muscle
that’s all,” he smiled as he winced.

I looked at the spot where I’d
touched and saw that a small bloom of blood had seeped through from
a dressing beneath his shirt. He saw me note it but didn’t attempt
to change his story. Instead, he untied Lancelot and the three of
us ambled into the woods.

Aside from an occasional
twinge, he seemed relaxed showing no sign of the morning’s events.
The only clue as to him having been on any kind of adventure was
the sword-shaped parcel pushed through Lancelot’s leather
saddlebag. I didn’t ask about it, not knowing if Blake knew that I
knew but in the uncanny way he had, he seemed to have read my
thoughts and said, “I’ve been informed you had a visit this
morning?”

I nodded, not sure how I was
meant to put all the weirdness into words and whether or not Blake
knew that I’d actually witnessed the incident at the warehouse.

“I think, maybe you’re owed a
proper explanation.” He stopped and turned to look at me.

I watched a cloud pass across
his iris and all at once I was gripped by the thoughts that maybe
it had been Blake and not Leo that had killed Fear and there was a
possibility I was standing in front of a cold blooded executioner.
A cold shiver ran across my shoulders.

“I think there are a lot of
things we need to talk about.” I trembled.

“I really wish you hadn’t seen
what happened this morning. It’s the darker side of our
existence.”

I thought back to the way that
Blake had hid in the shadows, silent and deadly like a trained
killer.
An assassin. A perfectly trained killing machine;
strong, intelligent, fast, agile -deadly.
Cold crept over my
skin.

“We live by old codes, more
simple codes. Life and death aren’t viewed in the same way that
your world views them. The Realm believes that there is good and
there is evil and quite simply evil must be destroyed.”

“No!” I shook my head, my world
collapsing, the threat of crying rising, “No, Blake. Tell me you
don’t believe that. Tell me you didn’t kill that man this
morning.”

“I promise you Mina, I didn’t
kill that man this morning.”

Something in the way he said it
made me certain, “But you’ve killed others?”

Blake turned his face away from
me. It was all the answer I needed.

“You don’t understand. From the
very first minute a boy of The Realm is able to stand they thrust a
wooden sword in his hand and he’s trained to fight and trained to
kill. It’s not a choice. It’s what’s expected.”

“Expected?” My question came
out accusingly and Blake flinched from it.

“I don’t expect you to find
this right, Mina, but it’s a part of who I am.”

“And what is that - a killer?
And I’m just meant to – what - live with that?”

“The code is strict. It’s
exceptionally rare these days for a knight to have to take another
life. If a man calls for mercy he can’t be killed.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then he’s used his free will
to choose death.” Blake’s voice had dropped as if he were speaking
the words he’d been trained to but didn’t quite believe.

I was raging with anger, “So
how often has it happened to you Blake? How many times have you
forced a man to beg for his life?”

His eyes reached into mine
begging me not to push, “Mina. Please.”

“I’m sorry but I need you to
answer this. How many men have you had at your feet with their life
in your hands?”

“What purpose will my answer
serve? Are you looking for an excuse not to love me? Because if you
use this as the excuse, then it’s not fair. I don’t see it all in
the same way as The Realm. I don’t see how killing in the name of
God is honouring his name or is travelling in the path of Christ. I
don’t believe its right to kill someone unless your life or the
life of the one you love depends on it.”

“And has it,
has
your
life ever depended on it?” I locked eyes with him, challenging him
to tell me the truth.

“Mina, I am begging you, let’s
not do this. I’m not a monster.” His voice cracked.

“If you want me to understand
you, to accept you then I need to know you. You told me there was
nothing I couldn’t ask you, that nothing would ever be a secret to
me Blake. Do you remember that?”

“I’m sorry Mina – not that. I
didn’t mean that.” He grabbed hold of Lancelot’s reigns and started
to walk off, clutching his wound as he left me.

I could sense that with each
footstep his anger was building and before he got out of hearing
distance he turned and shouted out across the distance, “There was
just one, God damn it. Just one – I was thirteen and I had no
choice!” His confession ricocheted off the trees causing a flock of
birds to screech up into the sky.

15. EMISSARIES

The college term started
without Blake. I waited a whole week for him to show. English
lessons were the worst when I would sit next to the empty seat
wondering if everything was over.

Nobody noticed me drowning as
they were all used to me being out at sea waving my hands in
distress. That was except for the weird girl in English who I’d
caught watching me several times during lesson. It was as if she
alone were able to see my own internal drama and it was playing
itself out like a soap opera uniquely for her. I’d catch her
watching me and then her involuntary glance towards Blake’s empty
chair as she pretended she wasn’t. She knew - I just didn’t know
how.

Her name was Delta. I’d never
seen her speak to anyone but that didn’t mean she didn’t speak.
Often in English she was the only other one that had anything to
contribute to the topic discussion. She just didn’t seem to like
speaking
to
someone.

She’d arrived in September.
American, emo, defiant. I’d often see her after class standing
under the no smoking sign having a smoke and thought I would stop
and talk to her but there was something about Delta that warned you
not to bother, as if she wore her very own, ‘Danger – Keep out!’
sign. Even when she smiled at you, it had the sense that she was
smiling at a private joke that she wouldn’t share; which possibly
could be you. Which is why her single act of reaching out was
almost as unsettling as it was comforting.

The bell rang for the end of
class and as she passed by me, she extracted a piece of paper from
her book, dropping it unceremoniously and without a word onto my
desk. In spider-like writing, scrawled hurriedly she’d written,

The Coming of Arthur:
Tennyson

“
But were I join’d with
her

Then might we live together as
one life

And reigning with one will in
everything

Have power on this dark land to
lighten it

And power on this dead world to
make it live”

The passage appeared
disappointingly random and I thought that perhaps Delta hadn’t
intended to give me a message after all but had simply dropped some
of her study notes. But there was something about it, the way that
it was done, the way that she’d been looking at me that made me
think the impossible.
She knew
.
Not just about me and
Blake, but about The Realm.

*

Once out of town, I chose to
take the footpath and shortcut across the fields. The warm, spring
afternoon was the perfect remedy to a rubbish week. I allowed
myself to get lost in the warmth of the afternoon sun, walking
slowly as not to frighten the birds busily nesting or to distract
the Mad March Hares from their own private boxing match.

It wasn’t unusual for horse
riders to use this path as a bridleway and so I wasn’t surprised to
see a rider on a chestnut mare ambling towards me in the distance.
I’d never really seen the attraction of horse riding - much to
Daisy’s frustration. To me horses were just big, smelly and
dangerous. Admittedly there was something lovely about one running
free but most of the horses I’d ever seen had been labouring under
some snotty nosed child in a fluorescent jacket. Even by my
critical standard, this one was a beautiful animal but not quite as
glorious as the woman riding it because after all it was
Vivien.

“Afternoon Mina,” she smiled,
good humouredly, “Fancy meeting you like this.”

“Yeh –
Tck –
Surprise!”
I waved my hands in the air in mock surprise and smiled letting out
a small laugh of defeat.

I knew that nothing to do with
Vivien was ever really a coincidence.

“You’re not fooled are
you?”

“Afraid not.”

“Sorry,” she said as she
dismounted, landing in front of me with the grace of a ballet
dancer, “it’s just…well we’ve all put up with him all week moping
about and he’s become unbearable. One of us had to do something
before we bludgeoned him to death and buried him under the
decking.” I blushed at the thought of Blake moping around over me.
“Look, I know you two have had a fight but can’t it be fixed
already?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“No. It never seems it is at
the time,” she smiled maternally, “but whatever it is I’m sure it
can be sorted out.”

“No, I’m not sure it can be.
I’m not sure I want it to be. Blake’s not who I thought he
was.”

“No he’s not Mina.
Nobody
ever is.”

I looked at her and I wondered
what magical powers Vivien possessed that made all your certainties
suddenly take flight in less then a minute. It was actually quite
annoying.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged,
struggling to find the strength to argue.

“There’s a reason why Real
Worlders don’t tend to be invited into The Realm and that’s because
not everything about The Realm is good or honourable. Old laws and
ideas hang around in the shadows and some of the ideas and customs
should have been buried a long time ago but Blake’s different, he
thinks for himself. He wants The Realm to change, to leave behind
the shadows of the past that pollute the true light that is at the
heart of The Realm. The elders think that Blake’s disobedient, an
idealist, maybe some even fear he’s a rebel but the one point that
everybody agrees on is that Blake is truly good.”

“But he’s killed people.”

“Not people,” she looked sad as
if reminded of something that hurt her deeply, “he killed
some
one
and I know there’s not a day that goes by when he
doesn’t think about it.”

“Who? Who did he kill and
why?”

Vivien shook her head and moved
to mount her mare, “I’m sorry Mina, but that’s only half my past to
tell; if you really want to know then ask him yourself, tell him he
has my permission. Shall I tell him that you’ll meet with him?”

I nodded, “Yes I’ll meet him,
but tell him not to bother if he’s not prepared to tell me.” I was
aware that I sounded like a petulant toddler.

“Mina, please be gentle over
this. When you know the story you’ll wish you didn’t and you’ll
realise that knowing it was never as important as the amount of
hurt it’s going to cost. Let him tell you in his own time.”

I felt embarrassed by my own
behaviour nodding to show her that I’d taken her advice on
board.

“I’ll tell him that you’ll
receive him tomorrow morning then shall I?”

I sighed, “Yes. I’ll see him in
the morning.” I waved her off before setting back to mine, no
longer enjoying the sun as much as I had.

16. KNIGHT FORWARD

I had breakfast with mum.
Something we hadn’t done in a long time. It felt nice, although
sadly awkward when she asked what I had planned for the day and I
told her I was meeting with Blake. Mum really didn’t like him but I
couldn’t work out whether it was actually
him
she didn’t
like or the fact that she clearly thought I was behaving
wrongly.

I hadn’t made any arrangements
with Vivien other than agreeing to meet with Blake during the
morning, and now I worried that he would turn up at the house
causing more irritation to Mum. I resolved to get dressed then walk
into the woods in order to head off the problem.

The morning was beautifully
clear with the promise of a warm day and so shunning winter
clothes, I took the risk and put on a light blouse with my jeans. I
caught my reflection in the mirror and rolled eyes at myself as I
realised that I looked like I might have made an effort.
So
what?
I allowed a smile at myself in the mirror and unclasped
my hair which I had been about to put into a knot, letting the
auburn curls bounce down over my shoulders.