The Du Lac Legacy (Sons of Camelot Book 2) Page 15

  A strong arm around my shoulder and a small hand in my limp palm made me step back from the fire. Nim leaned against me and Galahad had his arm around my shoulders and Morgan’s. We were family, truly family for the first time.

  We watched the fire burn and remained all night. At dawn the wind picked up and began blowing the ashes around. I don’t know if it was exhaustion but the darkest ashes appeared to separate from the flaky wood ash and form a twisting vortex. I watched the sun hit the funnel of dark matter and it seemed to glint, rising in the faster air now whipping our hair and clothes. The ash began to blow into our faces and many of us turned away. I tried to watch the darker ash but it soon became impossible, the wind finally causing me to seek shelter by covering my head and bowing over Nim’s smaller body, Lance protecting her back.

  The wind died, faster than it began, and I instantly turned back to the remains of the pyre. Nothing remained. Just the scorched rock and sand.

  “He left me,” I whispered.

  “He’ll never leave you,” Galahad said joining me. “He lives here.” My companion touched my chest. “Come, we all need to sleep and eat.”

  I took a deep and clean breath, everything sharper this morning, the sun brighter and harder. “I think we need to leave the Echo,” I said.

  Members of our group all made noises of protest. “Aleah needs a good escort to her people, we need to make sure the Echo doesn’t suffer for our presence again. It’s time we left them and found our own way.” I felt renewed somehow, the ache of losing Torvec remained a hard nugget of anguish inside my chest, but a powerhouse of determination strengthened my core.

  “You want us to travel on alone so we don’t risk the crew of the Echo?” Galahad asked.

  I looked at him and took in his exhaustion. “I want us to be safe. We’ve been attacked three times onboard that ship. We thought the vastness of the ocean would protect us from The Lady but it clearly isn’t. The men we fought yesterday were trained soldiers. They weren’t hugely skilled compared to us, fortunately, but they were sent by The Lady and we are simply going to endure endless suffering if we remain among friends.” Ideally I wanted to leave Morgan and Nim somewhere safe with the wolves and Lance, but I didn’t think that would be possible.

  “It’s a good decision,” Galahad said. “You are right. If we travel overland, now we are so far south, we will be harder to find.”

  “It’s Aleah’s guards who will be a problem,” Morgan pointed out. “They’ll be reporting where we are endlessly and we can’t move anywhere with her in that bloody stupid dress she’s forced to wear.”

  Aleah had helped with the injured, her guards aiding us with defeating the soldiers and I didn’t want to have to kill them but we were running out of options. We needed Aleah to be free of her constraining social conventions.

  “Talk to her and find out what we can do to cripple her guards’ ability to communicate,” I said to Galahad.

  With the decisions made for the moment, we made our way back to the dory and began the long process of returning to the Echo.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  That afternoon, exhausted but feeling somehow liberated from a weight I didn’t know I’d carried, I spoke to Raven privately.

  “You’re a damn fool,” he snapped. “We’d do anything for you, Holt. The whole damn crew of us and that boy of yours, you shouldn’t even consider leaving us.”

  We were drinking in the captain’s cabin at the stern of the ship, everyone else sent away. I just needed to get drunk and talk; with Raven I knew I could do both without comment, judgement or gossip. I poured more brandy into my glass.

  “I know it seems foolish, but I really can’t risk the Echo. Not again. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I had to watch something happen to you or your men,” I tried to explain.

  “But that’s what we are here for, to protect and serve the throne of Camelot,” he said.

  “Don’t give me that, you old pirate,” I said, tilting my brandy glass toward him. “You don’t give a damn about the throne of Camelot or my taxes, so what’s this really about?”

  He grinned and the gold in his teeth flashed in the low lamp light. “Maybe I just like watching the royal backside wander around my deck shirtless.” I laughed. His grin softened to a smile. “That’s good to see, Holt. You haven’t laughed in a long time.”

  The laugh faded slowly. “I don’t like being King, Raven.”

  “You never liked the thought of it.”

  I sighed heavily and stared out of the thick glass behind the pirate’s head. “I don’t know what to do, Raven. I follow my heart and people die. I follow my head and people die. I don’t like it and I don’t want it.”

  “Unfortunately, you are stuck with it, my friend.”

  We drank in silence for a while, until – “Holt, I know it’s none of my damned business but what happened to you when we lost you overboard? Why is Galahad so protective over you? And why aren’t you in bed fucking like rabbits?”

  “That’s not something I want to share, Raven,” I said. I’d felt everything inside me grow cold with his questions, the warmth of companionship a distant memory.

  “It strikes me you need to talk someone.” His tone remained carefully neutral, body language open and friendly.

  “I talk to Galahad,” I muttered. I drained the rest of the brandy and placed the glass carefully on the table. “I should go and find him. He worries.”

  Raven sighed and placed his own glass down. “Holt, Lance and I aren’t the enemy. We are your friends. The Echo is here to help and we can protect you if you let us. Just because you are King doesn’t mean you have be alone.”

  “That’s exactly what it means,” I said and turned away from one of my oldest friends. My problems were going with me to the grave. Galahad was the only man alive who knew what kept me awake at night now I’d lost Torvec. I knocked quietly on his door and entered to his soft words of consent. He sat up in the bunk, a low light burning, and I saw a manuscript in his hands. He wore no clothes in the small stuffy room.

  “I wondered if I’d be seeing you tonight,” he said.

  “Where did you find the book?” I asked avoiding his statement. The vellum was of fine quality and the penmanship exquisite.

  “Aleah brought it with her, it’s in Common and I just wanted something to do.” He turned the book over, stroking the leather cover. “It’s a romance but something is better than nothing.”

  He looked tired, drawn and unhappy. I sat on the the bed and reached for his arm. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.”

  “You stink of brandy again,” he said, fighting to keep the condemnation out of his voice and failing.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I was drinking with Raven.”

  “And now you are here,” he said.

  I glanced at his face, the scars hidden by shadow but his beauty emphasised. “He asked a few too many questions I didn’t want to answer,” I murmured.

  “Then I suggest you get into bed, Holt. You need to sleep and so do I,” Galahad said.

  I placed his hand back on his thigh and rose. “It’s hot in here, I’ll leave you to it, the deck is fine.”

  He watched me for a moment. “Get undressed and get into bed,” he said. “I don’t want to be alone and neither do you. We said farewell to a friend this morning, let’s be kind to each other.”

  I studied his eyes but they didn’t tell me anything. If I wanted to know his emotional state I’d have to open the channels created by the bonding. I suddenly felt helpless and hopeless. “What do you think happened to his ashes.

  “I don’t know,” Galahad said. “But I think something special, that wind wasn’t natural. Perhaps Albion herself came to take her white dragon home.”

  I remained standing in the small room, Galahad’s scent strong, and felt the pressure of unspoken words filling my throat, blocking it off.

  “Come to bed, Holt,” Galahad said.

  “I love you,” I confessed into
the silence. I just stood there looking at him, the sheet from the bed carelessly covering his hips and thighs, the muscles of his stomach relaxed and those broad shoulders... I looked away. “I do not know how to do this,” I whispered.

  “Relax your hold on the barriers between us and we’ll find out how to do it,” Galahad said.

  He hadn’t told me he loved me. Torvec no longer stood between us and he’d retreated from using such words once more. I turned back to the door to the cabin and placed my hand on the latch.

  “Don’t leave, Holt. You promised you’d give us time and space to talk. If you leave now you will damage us both. Don’t leave, come to bed, let me hold you,” Galahad said.

  “You cannot offer me more,” I said and my words were bleak.

  “I don’t know if we don’t try,” he said. “Please, Holt. Please be patient with me. With us.”

  “I’m so afraid of being hurt,” I said, my forehead pressed against the wooden door.

  “And I am afraid of hurting you.” Movement behind me and Galahad’s long body pressed into my back. “Come to bed.” I turned around and Galahad pushed me against the door, his mouth covered mine and the kiss, passionate but somehow chaste, made my knees sag.

  He pulled back and smiled. “Come to bed,” he repeated. He retreated from me and I started to pull off my clothes. When I’d stripped, he moved across the small thin mattress and I slipped in beside him.

  “Sleep,” I said.

  “Sleep,” he agreed.

  I lay down and turned onto my side, facing away from my companion. Galahad lay down and curled around my back, his hand placed over my waist. “I do love you,” he whispered.

  Those soft words brought tears to my eyes that I blinked back. I held his hand tight to my chest and I worked hard to fall asleep, my last thought – goodnight Torvec.

  The following morning I woke alone, so I remained still and just listened to the soft sound of water lapping against the hull of the ship. I also heard bare feet slapping against the deck and the dull chime of sword play. Galahad must be training again, his default state of being. When my bladder became too uncomfortable to bear I finally rose and dressed in hose and shirt.

  “You see, that’s what I’ll miss if you leave,” Raven said from the helm when I finally made it up on deck.

  I laughed at him and joined the others. We were sailing down the coast with the land on our port side and just in view. The ship wasn’t in full sail but the wind and waves were kind. Aleah sat with the other women, stitching something she shared with Nim, while Morgan and the wolves were sharpening weapons or polishing armour. Galahad trained with Lance and Kerwin.

  He smiled when I arrived. “Good sleep?”

  “It seems to have been, it’s close on midday,” I said, glancing at the sun.

  He stopped training and the sweat made his shirt stick to his back and chest. “Aleah thinks we can stop safely at the next port town,” he said, joining me and picking up a cup of water from the nearby barrel. He drank one and poured another over his head. There were at least three of us on deck watching every movement – his wife, his lover and his ex.

  Morgan touched Valla’s hand and dragged her attention away from Galahad. Aleah flushed when her eyes caught mine and I tried to ignore the racing of my damned heart.

  “Then we’ll stop.” I turned and looked over the personnel on the deck. “Where are her guards?”

  Aleah shrugged. “They wandered off.”

  I frowned and glanced at Galahad, he didn’t offer anything. “What does that mean?” I asked. “We’re on a ship, you can’t just wander off.”

  “You can if you’re an inconvenience to a Kerith,” Nest said quietly.

  I stared hard at Aleah and she carefully placed her embroidery down. “I didn’t want you two thinking they should have their throats cut. Now you know what I am I can be...”

  “More honest?” Galahad offered.

  “More direct,” Aleah corrected tartly. “I merely suggested to them they would like to see their families and that the idea of this wouldn’t need to be sent back to my brother. In fact he wouldn’t need to know about any of this, including The Lady’s attack. They fought so well I really didn’t want them dead. They aren’t bad men, just foolish for believing in my brother.”

  “Who isn’t your brother,” I said.

  “He is in name,” Aleah said, her dignity remaining important.

  “So they’ve taken a dory?”

  “They swam,” Galahad said.

  I looked at the distant shore, maybe two full leagues or more. “Then we won’t have to worry about them again.”

  “It seemed expedient and they have a good chance of making it,” Aleah said.

  I shared a glance with the other men. If she could make them do something like that – what could she do to us?

  “Well,” I said to fill the silence. “Perhaps it’s time to think about where we go after we make it to the town.”

  “I know where to go,” Aleah said.

  “Any chance you could tell us?” Galahad asked.

  She looked up at him smiled sweetly. “You are my escort, of course you need to know where we are going. We are going to Larz city.”

  Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the girl. “No,” at least three of us said.

  “Sounds like fun,” Morgan said. “I could do with some fun.”

  “I thought I was fun,” Valla said.

  Morgan patted her thigh with disturbing familiarity. “You are, dear, but I need some real dissolute fun.”

  I placed a restraining hand on Galahad’s arm before he began to rant at his sister. It wouldn’t help if they started to argue again.

  “Aleah, you do know Larz is the size of The City but has no real legal system,” I said.

  “It has a legal system, it just doesn’t have one you would recognise as right and proper,” she said. “Now, I’m going to get changed so I can move like a real person and not a doll.” She rose, took a knife from Galahad’s belt and promptly cut her skirt from the bottom to well above the knee. Her legs were slim and pale, the muscles hardly noticeable, but every man watched as she strode across the deck like a real person and not a doll.

  Morgan’s eyes tracked her and the soft, “I could grow to like that girl,” made me smile. I also saw the expression in Galahad’s eyes. It made me shudder.

  “Holt?” he asked, instantly dragging himself back to me. He approached and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Are you alright? I felt something...”

  “I’m fine,” I said. “I’ll talk to Raven. We need to make port if the princess wants to be in Larz.” I walked away from everyone and added another reason to my list of reasons for not making love to Galahad again. He found his legally acquired wife more attractive than he thought.

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  Raven finally agreed to leaving me in the next sea port town, travelling back toward Camelot with messages for everyone but strict instructions to burn the lot if The Lady came sniffing. He wanted to come with me but I pointed out he was a far better sailor than he was a soldier and did he really want to leave the Echo in charge of his first mate?

  He agreed it wouldn’t be wise to come with us but his hug made me remember why we’d once shared a bed. Raven cared about me – not the throne of Camelot – but me and that brought a grateful tear to my eye when we parted.

  He left us in a town further from Camelot than any of us had ever travelled and a strange place it was too. The port we’d found sat at the head of a vast river delta, the entire town was made up of small islands and vast reed beds joining the islands together. The reed beds weren’t growing reeds, they’d been tightly woven together with small reed houses on the top, the people living mostly outside it seemed. The floating islands bobbed about on the small waves that rippled under the surface. We all stood on one of these platforms staring about us, the ground shifting slightly.

  “This is different,” Galahad murmured.

&n
bsp; “They are all staring at us,” Nim whispered.

  “I’m not surprised,” I said.

  We were taller than the people around us and much fairer of skin, even Aleah and Kerwin. The small lean black people were moving around us with wide eyes and whispered voices in a language I didn’t know.

  “Can you understand them?” I asked Aleah, who was at least close to the people in height.

  “Not really, but I’ll try,” she said.

  These people also wore very little and poor Nim flushed with embarrassment and remained very close to Lance and myself. Mind you, I couldn’t blame them for wearing so few clothes, the damp heat in this place made me want to strip off. The sun, hidden behind vast rolling clouds, lay on our shoulders heavily.

  We began to walk into the town, carrying packs and our weapons, already sweating.

  The harbour side in northern towns were busy with fish markets, warehouses and taverns supporting drunken sailors and their whores. This place was different. Men sat quietly gutting fish and mending nets, women worked in the same way while they also cooked and cared for the many children rushing around. The children soon surrounded us and their small hands began poking and playing with our skin.

  I’d never seen so many dark skinned people in one place. One or two among the different races of northern Albion, such as Kerwin, were always present but we didn’t have dark skinned tribes like this. Their flesh looked soft and shone slightly in the sunlight, their hair long and braided like Kerwin’s or shaved close to the scalp. The eyes were dominated by dark brown and many had strong features making them handsome. The clothes they did wear were loin cloths covering their genitals and many wore golden bracelets and bands of gold around their necks. They were utterly fascinated by my and Nim’s blonde hair, and Lance’s red curling locks.

  “I wonder what would happen if I turned all wolfy?” Valla asked in general.

  “Please don’t,” Galahad said. “I can see far too many spears and long knives among them.”