“Don’t you remember what I told you at the dance?”
“You were lying, Daniel Tennick. I’ve known you long enough to know when you tell
the truth and when you lie and that was the first and worst lie you ever said to me,”
she replied bitterly.
The pain in her eyes made him sick
,
and thanks to his gift
,
he could see it in her aura as well. She burned with a storm of emotions even though
she kept her outward appearance r
elatively calm. Anger, jealous
y, and confusion fought with one another to dominate her heart
,
but beneath and above them all was love, an abiding devotion that denied them the
power to control her. It lay within her like a fortress, refusing to move in the
face of everything that threw itself against her heart. The surface waters were whipped
up in a frenzy by the wind, but underneath them the still depths of her love lay undisturbed.
In the face of that
,
he felt small indeed. “I’m so sorry, Kate. There’s nothing I could ever do to make
this right, but I never meant to hurt you.”
Swollen lids still held back the tears
,
but she couldn’t keep them for much longer. “That’s a start, but first you have
to tell me the truth.”
“I can’t,” he said, thinking at first that she meant the truth of what had started
it all.
“Say it!” she bit out fiercely, and then she repeated the words, beating his chest
as she did, “Say it!”
He finally understood. “I love you Catherine Sayer.” He started to kiss her
,
but she pushed him back.
“Now tell me why.”
“Why what?” he asked, thinking that she might mean his reasons for loving her.
“Why did you do it?” She said hoarsely. “What could possibly cause all of this?
Why would you sleep with every woman you could lay your hands upon, when you loved
me? Why am I the only one you couldn’t be with? I’m the one
who
loves you, but you’ve gone to great lengths to seduce every single woman that was
remotely attractive—except for me.”
His original crime lay within his heart like a stone
,
and he knew it would have to remain there, even if it choked him to death with its
poison. “No,” he answered. Even as he said it
,
he felt something else, something worrying the back of his mind.
“No you won’t tell me?” she asked, “Or, no, you won’t seduce me?”
He sat up, pushing her aside. H
e recognized what was bothering him now. Focusing his attention
,
he saw the rider clearly. “There’s a warden coming,” he informed her.
“A warden? Why? Why here? Why now?” She was frustrated and angry that anything
would interfere now that she had finally begun to get answers from him.
“That should be easy to guess,” he told her. “I’ve been hiding my presence from him
for a long while now.”
“Then how did he find you? Ronnie?” she asked.
Daniel nodded, smoothing his tunic as he went to the door. She caught him before
he reached it. “We can run, Daniel, together, you and me.”
“It’s too late for that, Kate,” he said sadly. “It was too late for that at the Harvest
Festival, or I would never have done the things I did.” Staring at one wall
,
he added, “He’s almost here.”
“What are we going to do?” she said, fear and courage both showing in her voice.
“
We
aren’t doing anything. We never were.
You
stay here and watch Seth. I’ll meet him outside,” said Daniel.
She glared at him, desperation in her eyes, “That’s stupid. You realize what he’ll
do! Right?”
“What he’s meant to do,” he answered, shoving her back and slamming the door while
she recovered, “Cull the wicked from the faithful.”
Without being sure how
,
Daniel used his power to call a leather thong he had seen lying on the table in the
front room. He held the latch firmly in place while he used the strip of leather
to secure the door. It wouldn’t hold long, especially considering his shoddy knot-work,
but he thought it might be long enough.
I don’t want her to see this.
The door frame
,
and even the wall
,
were shaking as she threw herself bodily against the wooden barrier. “Let me out,
you idiot!” she yelled before launching into an even more creative line of invective.
Daniel was amazed at her vocabulary
,
and he began to suspect that there were facets of Kate’s personality that he was
completely unaware of.
Running to the front door he opened it and left the house. He had made it only ten
feet from the porch when the warden rode up.
The warden’s horse was breathing hard, a sign of just how hard they had been riding.
He must have been miles away when Daniel’s power had flashed like a beacon. If he
had controlled himself better
,
he might have gone unnoticed.
“You,” said the rider as he dismounted. “Do not move.”
“Yes, sir.”
The stranger was dressed from head to toe in leathers, although their cut and fashion
were unknown to Daniel. He drew a dark blade from its sheath
,
but the sound it made as it came free was dull, unlike the ring one would expect
from a metal weapon. Staring at it
,
Daniel thought that it must be wood, just as Tom Hayes had
said
. His extra senses confirmed it, although he sensed a strange power infusing it,
particularly the edges.
“Kneel,” said the warden.
“Are you going to…
?
” Daniel didn’t finish the question.
“If you try to run
,
it will be messy and painful. I promise you that. Kneel and it will be quick,”
the man gestured at the ground in front of him.
Daniel knelt, bending forward to bare his neck. “Thank you.”
The stranger grunted, “Don’t think I’ve ever heard that before,” and then he lifted
his weapon high, preparing to strike the young man’s head from his shoulders.
It’s over,
thought Daniel with a mixture of fear and relief. He flinched as the warden shifted,
thinking the blade was already descending, and then he became still again.
His mind saw the rock flying through the air before he understood its source. He
had partially withdrawn his senses and failed to see that Kate had escaped from her
bedroom and exited the other side of the house. She had circled around and found
ammunition as she went.
The stone that struck the warden’s head was almost the size of a man’s fist
,
and Kate had a strong arm. She and Daniel had practiced throwing over many long
summer days when they were smaller. He knew she was quite capable of killing small
game if given a good stone and a clear shot. She threw this stone with every intention
of killing the warden.
The man’s head was knocked sideways
,
and he staggered, almost dropping his weapon, but he didn’t fall. He wasn’t even
bleeding. At the very least he should have been stunned, even if his skull was somehow
hard enough not to have been cracked by the force of the heavy rock.
“Bitch!” he muttered. “You’ll die for that.”
Kate hadn’t finished, though. Her second stone struck him squarely in the face.
“Run, Daniel!” she yelled.
The warden wasn’t affected at all by the second throw. With his new senses Daniel
could see that the man had a shell of some sort of energy around him, as though his
aura had grown a hardened exterior. It had grown thicker and stronger after her first
assault
,
and now it protected him against anything she could possibly muster. Their enemy
smiled
,
and Kate stiffened before falling over sideways. Her face was covered by a translucent
barrier of the same sort of energy
,
and more of it restrained her arms and legs. Daniel could tell she was struggling
to breathe.
“Let her go!” he told the warden, a low growl forming in his throat.
“Or what, boy? You’ll bare your fangs at me? Learn your place,
baratt
!”
He had no idea what the warden’s last word meant, but the derision in his voice made
it clear it wasn’t a compliment. Moving forward Daniel feinted, as though he were
about to throw a punch at the man.
Laughing, his opponent waited, knowing the blow couldn’t touch him, but at the last
minute Daniel slipped sideways and stepped behind him. Using his right arm
,
he pushed at the warden’s chest, hoping to trip him.
I just need to break his concentration.
The warden was unmoved. His shield had grown beneath him, anchoring itself in the
rocky soil. “You’re about twenty years too young to win this one, boy, but I admire
your spirit.” His sword flicked out
,
and while Daniel tried to duck
,
he wasn’t fast enough. A sharp sting accompanied by a feeling of warmth on his neck
told him he’d been cut.
Most of his right ear lay on the ground.
“Good reflexes, baratt!”
Daniel was stumbling back now. He could see Kate still struggling. Her chest was
heaving like a bellows
,
and her face had gone purple. Desperate
,
he reached out with his mind, trying to tear at the warden’s aura, like he had done
with Ronnie.
His enemy’s face broke into a grin as Daniel’s power scrabbled uselessly against his
shield. His attack was far too clumsy and unfocused to have any chance. “Poor stupid,
bastard,” said the warden. “Let’s get this over. We’ve played long enough.” Lifting
one hand
,
he gestured and more bands of pure force wrapped themselves around Daniel’s body,
pinning his arms to his side.
“Please let her go,” he begged the warden. “She’s innocent. I’m the one
who’s
tainted.”
The other man laughed as he approached to stand in front of Daniel, his sword held
loosely in his right hand. “Tainted? Is that what you think? Your gift makes you
superior to them, baratt. It gives you power.”
Daniel wasn’t listening. He was straining, but try as he might
,
his arms wouldn’t move. It felt as though he had been wrapped in steel. Changing
tactics he pushed with his mind, trying to use his gift to pull the bands of force
apart.
The warden’s face took on a more serious cast. “You can’t do it, boy. You aren’t
strong enough.” His arm came up, holding the sword purposefully now.
Kate stopped struggling. Her face was blue
,
and her body had gone limp.
Rage surged through Daniel
,
and his jaw clenched as his power expanded.
The warden froze, concentrating as he fought to contain the younger man. Sweat beaded
on his brow
,
and his eyes grew wide. He was losing. “No!” he said, but it was too late.
The bands imprisoning Daniel were torn asunder with a blinding flash of energy. He
jumped to one side, trying to avoid the warden’s inevitable sword blow
,
but his opponent was already crumpling to the ground.
The older man was unconscious.
The energy surrounding Kate had vanished,
and
she didn’t appear to be breathing. Daniel ran to her side and began shaking her,
trying to shock her body into taking a breath. When that didn’t work
,
he did the only thing he could think of, leaning down to blow air into her mouth.
Most of it came right back out her nose. Trying again he pinched it shut and blew
until her chest expanded. He could feel her heart still beating weakly
,
and after a second breath she began to cough. She began breathing heavily
,
and
a minute later
her eyes fluttered open.
“Daniel?”
He kissed her, “It’s me.”
“Where is the warden?” she asked.
“Over there, unconscious. I think he pushed himself too hard or something. When
I broke free he passed out,” he told her.
She eased herself up, leaning on one arm. “He’s still alive?”
“His heart is still beating.”
Shaky on her feet
,
she walked over to the warden and leaned down. Her balance was still uncertain
,
and she nearly fell
,
so she knelt instead. She picked up the rock that she had thrown at the man earlier.
Daniel was close beside her, hovering protectively. “What are you doing?”
Catherine Sayer brought the stone down hard, smashing it into the side of the warden’s
head. It glanced off
,
but the skin tore
,
and blood began flowing freely. She raised the stone again.
“Stop Kate!” he yelled, catching her wrist before she could repeat her bloody attack.
She looked up at him, her cheeks stained by dirt and tears. “He has to die, Daniel.
He’ll kill you if he wakes up.” Despite her appearance
,
her voice was calm and unruffled.
“No, Kate,” he said, pulling her backward, half dragging her by one arm. “You can’t
do that.”
“I won’t let him kill you.”
He considered her words for a minute. The warden had threatened her as well after
the attack. He had nearly suffocated her. If he woke
,
it seemed unlikely that he would allow her to go unpunished. “I’ll do it,” he told
her. “If one of us has to commit murder, it should be me.”
“It isn’t murder, it’s common sense,” said Kate. “He’ll kill you, otherwise.”
“I’m supposed to die,” said Daniel. “You should have let him do his work. Now he’s
after you too.”
“Ask me if I care,” she spat back at him. “If killing you is the work of the gods
,
then they’re the ones who are wrong.”
Daniel stared at her, wide-eyed.
She’s crazy, and if I don’t do something
,
her life will be forfeit as well.
He took the rock from her hand, but then reconsidered. Instead
,
he picked up the warden’s strange blade. It felt light in his hand, like a wooden
baton, but he could see the dangerous edge it bore. The energy surrounding it was
gone, having vanished when the warden lost consciousness. It still looked sharp,
though.
Gritting his teeth
,
he swung at the man, aiming for the neck.
He got the jaw instead, laying open the flesh of his cheek, exposing the bone. Blood
was everywhere.
Sickened, he changed his grip on the weapon, planning to drive it through the man’s
chest instead.
“Don’t,” said Kate. “You’ll ruin the armor.”
The calm reason in her voice chilled him
,
and Daniel turned to stare at her.
She shrugged, unapologetic.
Taking her advice
,
Daniel shifted his grip again, deciding to cut the man’s throat rather than trying
to slice his head off. He had helped butcher enough lambs to know that the easy decapitations
in stories were pure fantasy. As he began to cut
,
Kate grabbed the warden’s feet, pulling to reposition his body
,
so that his head was lower than his chest.