Dragonblade Trilogy - 02 - Island of Glass (26 page)

Everett, Reid and Bradley were
spread out in various posts around the musty chamber. They hadn’t left
Kenneth’s side since he had been brought back to the castle three days prior.
He had lingered near death for days. Now, they were thrilled and stunned to
think that, perhaps, their liege would indeed pull through and they leapt up,
hovering around his bed like eager children. The little dog, having slept on
the floor diligently by Kenneth’s side the entire time, now jumped up onto the
mattress.

But Argus hushed the knights and
put the dog back on the floor. He did not want his fragile patient disturbed.
“Lady Aubrielle is missing, my lord. Can you tell us what happened?”

Kenneth had more pain than he
ever thought possible and his muddled mind was having difficulty clearing the
fog. 

“Ambush,” he muttered. “Lucius….”

The knights eyed each other
ominously. Those two small words, as if Kenneth had known their question, told
them what they had been waiting days to know. Everett hissed a curse and turned
away, reviled. His mind was whirling with the succession of events leading to
this moment; when their captain had escaped from the vault and Kenneth had
turned up missing, they had no idea how Lucius had accomplished it. But he was
their captain, a cunning man with connections and power, and it was not a
surprise that he had an accomplice lurking about Kirk. They should have
suspected and they should have kept a better watch on the vault. But they had
been chasing after Lady Aubrielle at the time and thoughts of Lucius le Cor had
faded from their minds for the time. It had been a grave mistake.

“Did Lucius take Lady Aubrielle?”
Reid leaned in low against Kenneth’s head.

 Kenneth may have been mildly
cognizant, but he was by no means out of the woods. The safety of
unconsciousness was beckoning him once again. “Do… not know,” he whispered.
“There were others….”

Reid glanced at Everett,
attempting to decipher what Kenneth was saying so he wouldn’t have to say too
much. “Others?” he repeated softly. “Ken, what others? Did you recognize them?”

Kenneth’s ice-blue eyes closed.
The exertion was too much. “West,” was all he said.

He plunged into the fine waters
of oblivion once again. Argus felt his pulse and lifted an eyelid before
turning to the knights.

“That’s all for now,” he said
seriously. “The man must rest.”

“Is he going to live?” Everett
demanded.

Argus was exhausted himself. He’d
waited vigil for three days for the man in his care to live or die. “The man
has been on Death’s door for three days. He could cross the threshold at any
moment, or he could just as easily return to the land of the living. Only time
will tell us which path God has chosen for him.”

Everett’s expression told of his
sorrow. His gaze drifted over Kenneth’s enormous form, his broad back tightly
bandaged where Argus had laboriously removed the two arrows. Kenneth had lost
so much blood that they were positive he would die. But he continued to linger.

“He said ‘west’,” Reid said
softly. “Did he mean that whoever has Lady Aubrielle took her in a westerly
direction?”

“What else could he mean?”
Bradley said from the shadows. “We combed those woods until not a leaf nor
stone were left unturned. There were broken branches and footprints everywhere.
Perhaps Ken saw them drag her off before he was hit.”

“They hit him first,” Everett
muttered. “There is no way he would have allowed Lady Aubrielle to be taken had
he been healthy and whole. If what he says is true, then Lucius fired two
arrows into him to cripple him so that his way would be clear to abduct Lady Aubrielle.
And one thing is for certain.”

“What’s that?” Reid asked.

“He wasn’t drunk when he fired
those arrows. He knew exactly what he was doing.”

The situation was growing more
sickening by the moment. Reid sighed heavily. “God’s Bones,” he growled. “It
goes on and on. What has happened to this man we once called captain to turn
him into such an evil monster? I cannot believe the appearance of Lady Aubrielle
one week ago somehow provoked the man into madness, yet all evidence tells
otherwise.”

“This is my fault,” Everett was
despondent. “I should never have left him. He ordered me back to the castle,
but I should have refused. I should have stayed to…”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Reid
interrupted him. “We all share the guilt, Everett. Had we kept better watch on
Lucius, none of this would have happened. The man knows Kirk like the back of
his hand and we should have known he would have a way of escape from the vault.
This is not your burden alone.”

Everett was lost in his own world
for the moment. “Do you know what it felt like to come across Kenneth with two
arrows protruding out of his back, laying face-down against the earth? He must
have lain there for hours before I realized he was missing. I should have known
sooner. I should have been there!”

“Enough,” Bradley snapped softly.
“Had you not left Ken alone in the woods, Lucius might have killed you first on
his quest to get at Ken. We can go over this a thousand times with a thousand
different scenarios. But the fact remains that you cannot change the past. It
is done. What is most important now is Ken’s current condition. Argus has done
all he can. The rest is up to God.”

The quiet statement made them all
look at Kenneth again. He was lying on his stomach, still as stone, his
breathing labored.  Argus’ gaze lingered on his patient.

“If you are interested in my
opinion,” he said quietly. “I would worry less about Sir Kenneth and more about
Lady Aubrielle. You must go after her.”

Everett squared his shoulders. “I
will go,” he said firmly. “I will head west and not return until I find her.”

“I shall also go,” Reid said.
“Brad, You are needed here. The command of Kirk is yours until we return.”

Bradley nodded. “I will be here
if Ken needs me.”

“He loves her, you know.”

Argus’ tone was barely audible.
The knights looked at him questioningly and he elaborated as if they were all
deaf, dumb and blind to the truth.

“Sir Kenneth,” he said. “He is in
love with Lady Aubrielle and she with him.”

The knights knew that. In the
short time Kenneth had known her, those closest to him had seen an astonishing
change. He had actually become human, though it was an imperceptible change to
the inexperienced eye. Not strangely, Lady Aubrielle had become somewhat human,
too.  An amazing story was unfolding before their eyes. To see it come to this
brutal end was beyond tragic.

“We shall do all we can to find
her,” Reid assured the old physic. “If Ken wakes again, make sure he knows that
we have gone after her.”

“But what about Lucius?” Bradley
asked. “Do we assume he has her?”

“You heard Ken. He did not know.
I can only surmise that if Lucius ambushed Ken, then he must at least have a
hand in Aubrielle’s abduction.”

“Fair enough. But you did not
answer my question. What are you going to do with him when, and if, you find
him?”

Reid’s jaw ticked. “There is no
question. We are going to kill him.”

***

Everett was packing the last of
his satchel when young Max entered his small, cramped chamber in the knight’s
quarters. The lad had been devastated by Kenneth’s attack and had been further
disappointed when told that he could not accompany the knights on their search
for Aubrielle. When Everett saw him, he thought the boy had come to plead with
him again.

But Max was there on a different
mission. In fact, his face was pink with excitement.

“There is a man at the gates who
says he knows of Lady Aubrielle,” he said quickly. “You must come.”

Everett shoved the last of the
jerky into the pack. “No one knows she is missing, Max. Who is he?”

“He says he is a priest. He says
that he has been three days in coming to us and knows of the men who hold her.
Hurry!”

Everett didn’t hesitate. He
followed Max at a rapid pace from the knight’s quarters to the guard house.
Inside the massive gate, just this side of the portcullis, was a small room
used by the gate guards.  It was cold, cramped and uncomfortable at any given
time of the year.

A very dirty, very pale man
shivered on a stool against the wall, being watched by an armed guard. Everett
walked up to man, sizing him up, wondering if he was a liar or simply crazy.

“Who are you?”

Grendel pulled his robe more
tightly about him as if to protect himself. “I am Brother Grendel of St.
Wenburgh,” he said. “I bring news of the Lady Aubrielle Grace di Witney.”

Everett sent the guard from the
chamber. They had managed to keep news of Lady Aubrielle’s abduction quiet for
three days and were determined to maintain the secrecy. Those who knew of Sir
Kenneth’s wounds had been told a glorious story of his heroics, far from the
truth. It was an attempt to keep life at Kirk as calm and normal as possible
since the siege last week and the subsequent death of the beloved earl. The
populace was still reeling from that; an abduction and attempted murder on top
of everything would only serve to rouse fear and discord.

This man was a priest, which gave
him more credibility in Everett’s eyes. That and the fact that he did not have
the look of a liar. Everett was grasping for any amount of hope at this point. 

“What do you know about her?” he
demanded quietly.

Grendel was quivering with
fatigue, fear, exhaustion. “I know that she is in grave danger, my lord.”

Everett grabbed him by his
disheveled cowl. “How did you know to come to Kirk? Tell me who has sent you or
I will kill you this moment.”

Grendel recoiled. “I was held
captive by the group that abducted your lady. I knew that she was taken from
Kirk. I thought… I thought you would want to know her whereabouts and try to
save her!”

He seemed genuine enough. At
least Everett couldn’t scare him into changing his story. He let go of the man.
“Then where is she? Who has her?”

“A group with the foulest of
intentions,” the brother went on. “They are renegade Templars searching for the
Grail. Lady Aubrielle has knowledge of a scroll that tells of its location.”

Everett looked at Max; they were
both slightly confused, more than slightly anxious. “You will forgive my
bewilderment,” Everett said. “This is all new information to me. Are you
telling me that she was abducted because she has knowledge of a scroll?”

Grendel nodded his shaggy, dirty
head. “Templars are an all-knowing, all-seeing sect of religious zealots. They
have always been thus. They knew the Scroll of Munsalvaesche existed; a man by
the name of Wolfram von Eschenbach told of a scroll written by King Titurel
that spoke of the Grail’s location. The scroll was taken from a castle in
Catalonia and, from what I have gathered, the Templars traced the document
across the continent to its final resting place at St. Wenburgh, where I am a
teacher. Lady Aubrielle was one of my pupils. She had a special interest in
this scroll, so much so that I believe she stole it from the monastery when she
was discharged. The knights took me hostage and forced me to lead them to the
Lady Aubrielle. They want her to tell them of the Grail’s location.”

“As described in this scroll?”

“Aye, my lord.”

“My God,” Everett breathed. “This
is fantastic.”

“Fantastic but true.”

“But how did Lucius become
involved?”

“Who is Lucius?”

“The captain of Kirk’s army. He
attempted to kill the man who was protecting Lady Aubrielle, thereby allowing
your Templars to gain hold of her.”

Brother Grendel shook his head.
“I know nothing of this. But I know there were spies inside Kirk, searching for
Lady Aubrielle. Perhaps somehow your captain came into contact with them.”

Everett looked at Max as he
filtered through the pieces of information. “And Lucius, already threatened by
Lady Aubrielle’s inheritance of Kirk and his general hatred of her, conspired
with them to have her removed. Only Kenneth stood in his way, and when these
spies somehow released Lucius from the vault, our captain showed his
appreciation by attempting to kill Kenneth so these men could abduct Aubrielle.”
He hung his head in sorrow. “Good God, is this even possible that such a thing
could happen?”

Max was young to hear of such
treachery and betrayal. He was pale and visibly upset. “But why? Sir Kenneth
has only served Sir Lucius with loyalty and dedication. Why would he try to
kill him?”

Everett couldn’t explain what he
himself did not fully understand. He slapped the lad reassuringly on the arm.

“Who is Sir Kenneth?” Grendel
asked.

Everett lifted his eyebrows;
there wasn’t an easy answer. “He is many things. Foremost, he is second in
command of Kirk’s army and betrothed to Lady Aubrielle. When he marries her, he
shall become the 2nd Earl of Wrexham.”