The Misadventures of Ka-Ron the Knight (52 page)

"Rohan?" Dorian asked.

"I will tell you later," Rohan promised. "When we are back in our cabin."

"What brings you here?" Rolmore asked.

The dwarf started to fidget, and there was honest fear in her eyes.

"Dorian, what's the matter?"

"Rohan, you are to be a father."

Rohan froze. All he could do was stare.

Upon hearing the great news that he was soon to be an uncle, Rolmore poured out more wine, and rose melon juice for the lady, and prepared to celebrate.

"A father?" Rohan asked.

Dorian pat her stomach.

"Yes."

"It is a good omen, brother," Rolmore exclaimed cheerily, while drinking his wine.

Dorian seemed confused.

"It seems, my dear, we have walked right into the middle of a war," Rohan stated, kissing Dorian upon her forehead.

The dwarf stood speechless.

Rolmore nodded his head in confirmation.

"Ah, shit! I always have had lousy timing," the dwarf complained.

It took all the magic Kai had to help her lose her weight. With each trail she walked, potion she took, and slab of fat she worked off, she learned to hate the wizard. In all this time, she knew not his name, but his face was forever burnt into her brain. Again, she was a vision of beauty.

The man on top of her had been seeking his pleasure all night. Several times she had to escape inside her mind, as he licked and played, and as he explored the mysteries of her sex. She performed mind games, mysteries she had yet to solve, and for a time, battled the urge to sleep - he was that boring.

"Tell me when you're able," the man huffed, his face dripping with sweat.

Kai beamed the most sincere smile that she could without vomiting on the idiot. He was a powerful man in these parts, and she needed his support if she were to continue with her plans against Ka-Ron. Her hatred had grown so large that she could no longer contain it on her own. She needed allies.

It was her plan to wreak havoc upon Ka-Ron's nation by bringing the Xows and Idoshia to war. If wind of this ever reached Ka-Ron's ear, it would end up killing her. For how could victory be possible without Idoshia's grand knight? The very thought of not being able to participate would kill her spirit.

"I love only you, sire." Kai stated, rolling over to hide her look of disgust.

The man continued with his pleasure.

Kai hated the touch of him.

Mother! Stop this!

Kai tried to fight the sense that she was not alone in the room.

Mother
&
please
&

The Wicca Master looked over her shoulder, but she only saw the man putting his clothes back on. She tried to ignore the voices. She closed her eyes, hoping that sleep would conquer her.

"You do not rule me," she hastily stated to no one in particular.

"What was that you said?" the man asked, half in and half out of his clothes.

"I said that I will have your potions ready by morning."

"Then I will be king of Idoshia and Illium?" The greed in his voice was sickening. He started to laugh.

"Yes, I have so promised."

He did not need to say his goodbyes. He knew that he would get his way. After all, he had paid for the services.

"My revenge," Kai mused, still naked upon her bed. "Is it worth all of this?"

She could still feel the presence in the room.

The Wicca Master was not alone.

"Mother?"

Kai turned around looking at the room's only door.

Before her stood the image of her daughter, Kym.

"You are not here!" Kai insisted, pointing a shaky finger up towards the image.

Kym was there.

"Mother, I have been allowed to come down from my astral path and show to you the errors in your judgment,"
Kym said.

She looked happy. It was the first time that Kai had ever seen her so content. Perhaps, all the answers her daughter could not seek in this life had been answered for her in the next. Kym looked remarkably fit and fulfilled.

"Kym, why did you let a man do you in?" Kai cried, holding a sheet up to her breasts.

Kym's image only shook her head.

"My undoing was my own, mother."

"I have made Ka-Ron suffer for what he has done to you," Kai stated with pride. "Even now, he regrets ever knowing you."

"I know. Mother, my life was ended because of my own selfish reasons, not anything Ka-Ron may have done."

"Not true!"

A strong wind swept through the room.

"Mother, it was not Ka-Ron's fault. Would you believe that even after all you have done to him, he still loves you? He still honors the memories of living with us, of his first kiss under your house."
Kym paused, amazed.
"He still loves me."

This last caused Kai to gasp with surprise.

"I never knew, child."

Kym's astral image reached her arms out, as if to hug her mother. There was a hunger in her eyes, as if the young woman missed the feeling of live flesh pressed warmly against her own. This made Kai think that perhaps this simple feeling was not possible when one was gone.

"I do miss you, child."

"Mother, Ka-Ron told me what manner of man he was, but I would not hear him."

"What?"

"I planned my demise, and I let my selfishness get in the way of my life."

"Do not tell me these things!"

"I wanted Ka-Ron to come back and save me,"
Kym whispered. She held a shaky hand up to her lips.
"But, my own denial got in the way. One cannot make a bird love one by placing it in a cage."

"Then, what you are saying..." Kai whispered, startled.

"Ka-Ron is an innocent."

Kai fell back upon the bed. She was as shocked as Kym had been miserable. If Kym was right, she had done the knight a great wrong.

As if she sensed this, Kym started to feel relieved. The guilt of hurting the knight was a terrible burden. Although one is always promised paradise in the next life, the spirit cannot ease their mortal burdens until they have been justified or, at best, corrected.

"When the time comes for you, mother, I will be there to guide you home."

Kym let her hands reach outward, and, before Kai could take hold, she was gone. All that remained was the coldness of the wind and the hollow feeling of the truth.

Kai had been responsible for a horrible mistake.

It was now time to set things right.

The Wicca Master was at ease. She was quite happy when she told the cruel little man with whom she had been sleeping that his dreams of conquest were over.

"Ka-Ron," she whispered to the winds. "I am coming."

The crowds along the docks grew with the knowledge that the "prince/traitor" would soon be paraded through the streets. Some elves were shouting "The Gods save the king!" or "Down with the dwarf lover!" In all elfin memory, no one could remember so much hatred. Most of the people just stood silently, unable to believe the drama that had been set before them.

Rohan looked out one of the ship's portholes, taking in the entire picture. A phase ago, he would have seen the dramatic problems set before him as a puzzle to solve - it was the elfin way to seek answers, after all. But, now, knowing that he was soon to be a father, all was different. He had to see the world with more responsible eyes. He had to participate in all of this, hoping above all hope, that in the end, he would help make the world right&if only for the future sake of his unborn child.

"Rohan!" a harsh voice ordered.

Rohan turned to stare into the eyes of his brother, Rolmore.

Two elf sailors walked in with him.

"You will leave me alone with the prisoner." the elf captain ordered.

One of the sailors stirred.

"Captain, the king&"

"The king is the king." Rolmore barked. The sailor he was yelling at stood over three sticks taller than Rolmore, but the captain's energy had caused the elf to express a moment of fear. If he had wanted to, the sailor could have taken Rolmore. "I am captain of
The Willows' Breath
. I rule here!"

With that, the sailors bowed, respectable

The door closed.

They were alone.

Dorian rose from a chair in which she had been sitting while hearing the elfish hate echoing from the other side of the bulkhead. She tried her best to keep her hands from shaking, but terror clearly projected itself from her features.

"Do they really hate me so?" she asked, trying to act bravely.

"If you live long enough, my lady," Rolmore explained, being himself quite scared, "You will discover that most people hate the idea of change."

"Then, my brother, they should really hate what we have planned."

The captain put up a warning hand, as he started nervously to pace the room.

"Do not joke so!" Rolmore started clearing his throat. "Several generals and their armies are waiting for my signal just outside the village gates. As far as our father is concerned, they are out doing war games."

Rohan turned away from the porthole. His face did not look like that of a confident revolutionary.

Rohan was scared to death. "Rolmore, do you believe that father would give up without taking his own life?"

Rolmore paused, thinking.

"To the gods, I pray it." He continued with his pacing. "I should not live well, knowing that in saving my kingdom I forfeited the life of my father."

"Nor I," Rohan gulped.

"Rohan, must it be so?"

The elf looked upon the face of his dwarfish love, and couldn't bring himself to answer the question. He had not seen his father's madness. If his father had indeed gone mad, it was his duty to follow through. Rohan wondered how all warriors of ages past had felt. Why was doing the right thing so damned painful?

"Perhaps it is the nature of the universe to put us all to the test," Rohan stated, giving his woman a passionate kiss.

From the other side of the door, they all heard the angry buildup of the crew's anger. This fact hit Rolmore quite hard.

"Brother, I must speak with you."

"Then speak." Rohan appeared remarkably calm.

He was nothing of the sort.

"Upon leaving this cabin, you must accept the fact that I am with my men." Rolmore's features betrayed a certain amount of agony. "I will end up treating you quite badly. You will have to face great pain, humiliation, and some bloodshed. You have my word that should your life be threatened, my orders keep you safe until you reach our father. So, if I stop my men from killing you, I will be well within my powers to do so."

"That's comforting." Rohan stated. He placed his hands behind his back.

Rolmore marched up to his brother and stared him in the face. The suffering the elf captain was going through was almost as powerful as the fear gripping Rohan.

"Rohan," Rolmore stated his voice shaky. "If there were any other way&"

Rohan grabbed Rolmore by his shoulders. It was a good embrace.

"Brother, I understand."

Rolmore turned his eye to Dorian.

"Lady, should one of my men even touch a hair on your knuckle, I swear they will not live long enough to brag about it."

"I can take care of myself, captain," the dwarf stated triumphantly.

Rolmore glanced at Rohan, who shook his head with conviction.

"Of that I have no doubt, madam." The captain started walking towards the cabin door. "No doubt."

There are people who believe that history is the recording of places, names, and events. They bore children by making them do repetitive memorization of times and political intrigue. But in all their scholarly pursuits, they are wrong. True history is nothing more than moments made manifest by destiny. Rolmore was starting to feel the tremendous burden of his "moment."

"May the gods be with you," Rolmore whispered.

He never turned back.

With a steady hand, the elf captain opened the cabin door.

Keeth read the letter.

The wizard had been using this down time to perfect one of his imaginative machines he had been trying to incorporate into the
Argo's
matrix. Certain little details were not working as he had planed, so, he was tinkering when he received a dispatch. The wizard was more intrigued when he discovered that the message had been delivered from Rolmore.

"Keeth, are you all right?"

The wizard bumped his head as he tried to look out from inside one of his engines. In one hand he held the dispatch, the other a wooden hammer.

Ka-Ron's careworn eyes greeted him.

"Ah! How may I help you, dear?"

"We were going to sit down for a late supper, and we missed your company."

"Very dear of you to think so." Keeth turned back to his work. "So many damned wheels in this one idea! Ah, I should have given it up." Keeth continued to hammer away.

Ka-Ron listened to the hammering and studied her friend. She knew desperation when she spotted it.

"Keeth," the knight said, gently touching the wizard's hand and stopping him in mid-swing.

Both were deep within the confines of the
Argo's
hull, about midship. It was quite a maze to walk in the tiny ship's under-housings. Most of the hull was made up of parts, wheels, and gears of the wizard's machines. Now, the old man was making the hull doubly packed by adding more. What Ka-Ron was worried about was that the man was blaming himself for what was happening to both Dorian and Rohan.

"It is not your fault." Ka-Ron insisted.

At first, the wizard jerked Ka-Ron's hand off his, and tried to focus on what he was building. Try as he did, Keeth could not get the hammer to move. He held it, in mid-swing, thinking about all the ghosts haunting him in the back of his mind - the man was caught in the guilty storm of "what might have been."

"They were under my protection, child," the wizard huffed, throwing the mallet to the deck. "I should have done more than just welcome the assholes on board!"