Albion's Legacy (Sons Of Camelot Book 3) Page 6

“Holt?” Severus asked.

  I broke the kiss, forgetting him completely in the passion Galahad generated. We both looked toward my companion who sat nearby, his face a careful mask.

  Galahad rolled off me and moved with effortless grace, almost feline in the twisting turn. He crouched next to my companion who looked up at him with his beautiful eyes. The warrior reached out and touched the ex-prostitute.

  “May I?” Galahad asked.

  Severus just nodded silently. Galahad’s hand grasped the back of his neck and drew Severus into a passionate kiss. I rolled on my side, realising in the process I’d lost control of my desire in this world and Galahad’s but more importantly my side felt whole.

  While Galahad seduced my lover, I pulled up my clothes. The wound on my side no longer existed.

  “You healed me,” I said, amazed.

  Galahad now lay over Severus completely, whose hands were under the tattered clothing. I should be jealous but I felt nothing other than a soft smile as I watched them enjoy each other. When Galahad allowed Severus to surface from the drowning intensity he looked at me.

  “We healed you,” he said. “I have learned many things trying to keep The Lady out of my head.”

  “Clearly,” Severus murmured. He looked dazed.

  I grinned. “This is too easy.”

  Galahad pulled himself off Severus and sat back on his heels. “If you think this is easy then I think I’m not going to want to see difficult.” He pulled at the torc and winced.

  “I meant watching you with him,” I said, indicating Severus. “But you are right, we need to remove that thing if it’s possible. Have we broken her spell?”

  Galahad shrugged. “To be honest I don’t know for sure. I can feel something, like a spider in my brain but whether I am free or not I don’t know.”

  “Let me check. I can be careful,” Severus said. I chuckled, the look of utter devotion in his eyes was lovely to behold.

  “Thank you,” Galahad said. Severus knelt in front of the warrior and placed his hands on the torc. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. I watched him slip away from us as he explored his internal world. Galahad gazed at me over his head. I’d never seen him look so content. I wondered how long it would last.

  Severus came out of his trance. He turned and looked at me. “The Lady’s spell is weakened but not broken. I think removing the torc without some serious help would be a mistake. The madness is embedded in his mind and he needs freeing from it slowly and carefully.”

  “So I am not free,” he said, disappointed.

  Severus turned back to Galahad. “But you are better. It is in retreat. We will help you remain strong and we now know how to keep it at bay. Your love for Holt will help and he isn’t going anywhere.”

  “You both help,” Galahad said, kissing Severus. “I will use you both to help me until we reach Camelot and The City.”

  We remained together on the floor of the cave, trying to gather ourselves for the next stage of the escape.

  “Speaking of which, we have no food, no water and we have a desert to cross,” I said.

  “I cannot help with the food but we will find water in these caves and they will take us through the desert without having to deal with the weather,” Galahad said.

  Severus and I shared a look. “There are tunnels through the caves to help get us home?” I asked.

  Galahad’s skin flushed slightly. “You came through the desert?”

  “We didn’t know we had a choice,” I said darkly.

  “Oh, well, um, you did but thank you for taking the most difficult route,” he said and smiled.

  Severus and I were not overly impressed but what could we have done? There were no maps of this region, doubtless due to The Lady, and Severus’ talent gave us a direction to follow not the specifics.

  “Maybe you could lead us out,” I said carefully to Galahad. The damned windblown desert had almost killed us more than once on the way up.

  “Probably best,” he said. He grinned sheepishly. We rose from the floor and walked carefully from the cave entrance, shifted the horses and behind a rock we’d thought was a wall, Severus and I found a large crevice.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “We’ll need to make some torches,” Severus said, peering into the dark hole.

  “I’ve brought you some of your own clothes and we can use what you’re wearing for torches. Severus and I can go back out there and look for branches,” I said.

  “Or we can use these,” Galahad said, routing around in the dark of a corner. He retrieved several heavy long use torches. “Those that can’t use the portal but need to reach The Lady use these tunnels, they are always stocked. I’ll find some water flasks soon if we are lucky.”

  “I’m not known for my luck,” I muttered.

  Galahad didn’t say anything just continued to search. Severus and I retreated to pick up our few belongings and so I could dig out Galahad’s clothes from the saddlebags.

  “He’s amazing,” Severus confessed.

  I touched his shoulder and drew him into an embrace. “Loving him is frighteningly easy,” I said as we hugged.

  Severus pulled back and looked at me. “Watching you with him while you were away from me was beautiful. The light from you both. The passion. You cried out for him. I want you to tell me what happened.”

  “If ever we need the stimulation, Severus, I will tell you exactly what happened between us,” I said.

  His desire to share what I’d had with Galahad was both gratifying and strange all at once. His acceptance was slightly unnerving.

  “He is so powerful. I want him inside me,” Severus said quietly.

  I kissed his forehead, pushing any fears I had back into their dark hole. “You can have whatever you want from him, Severus. He cares about you already. He will love you as I do in no time. But remember we only have him on loan until he finds the right woman.”

  “Then I will make it a hard choice for him to make,” Severus said. “If we can share our love I will be a happy man.”

  “We can share,” I promised.

  Galahad returned and I handed him the clothes. When I’d first met him he’d never have stripped in front of us, but I had a new version of Galahad on my hands and he not only stripped but took full advantage of Severus being within arm’s reach.

  “Boys,” I said. “As much as I am enjoying the demonstration, we really need to move on.” Watching the pair undoubtedly inspired my desire but we didn’t have time, I could almost feel The Lady reaching out trying to find us.

  Severus grasped Galahad’s naked backside in both hands while they kissed. Galahad’s appreciation of Severus’ talents wasn’t in any doubt and I knew Severus well enough to know this would end up in full sex for the rest of the day if I didn’t divert them.

  “It helps keep the spells at bay,” Galahad growled, drawing his fingers through Severus’ curling hair. I picked up the discarded clothes and threw them at Galahad’s chest.

  “Dressed, now,” I said in warning, trying to hide my smile.

  They both sighed heavily but obeyed.

  By the time we finished I realised the sun had begun to set. We fired the torches and stored more on the horses. I led Sparrow, the oldest and calmest of the beasts, in the front and headed for the large crevice at the back. It was narrow for the horses but safe enough and I murmured soft words of encouragement to Sparrow. In his big heart he believed utterly in my ability to keep him safe, I just had to hope I wouldn’t prove him wrong. If he didn’t fit through some part of this tunnel system we didn’t have enough food or water to turn the horses around.

  It took a while for the beasts to settle themselves down. The violent shadows thrown by the torches against craggy rocks not really helping any of us. Those shadows poured over the rocks shifting and melting into new and terrifying shapes. Sound echoed in some places and deadened in others. The air grew cold and slightly damp, smelling of nothing. No loamy earth or dusty wind. Just our own stink and t
hat of the pitch torches.

  The tunnels were tall and broad enough for one man and a horse in most places. We were following some large natural gallery with work done in some areas to widen the sandy path. Sometimes we saw evidence of others passing this way, trinkets left behind, candle stubs, the odd item of clothing. It was eerie.

  “When will we find water?” I asked Galahad quietly, only to have the noise ripple back at us combining horribly with the chime from a horse shoe hitting a rock. Sherriff snorted and tried to dance from Galahad’s firm grasp.

  “Soon,” he said. “There’s a river and a lake we will rest beside for a while.”

  “Oh good,” I muttered. My skin prickled with nerves and I’d started to sweat badly. Fear of attack made my stomach twitch. I didn’t like this place. I kept expecting The Lady to appear from nowhere to wipe us out. An army of fey, driven by religious zeal, sweeping through the caves to destroy all our hopes and dreams. Our bones would be left here to rot no one knowing where we died.

  “Holt, are you alright?” Galahad asked after awhile.

  “Fine,” I growled, and I clenched my fist, trying to stop the tremble from spreading.

  I heard soft words shared between Severus and Galahad.

  “Holt, we need to stop,” Galahad called out.

  “We need to find water,” I said. I led Sparrow around a corner and found my torchlight reflecting off a large pool.

  “We’ve found the water,” Galahad said, pulling Sherriff up beside me. “I think it’s time we had that talk.”

  I led Sparrow to the water, ignoring him. I knew full well the confrontation heading toward me and I really didn’t want to endure it – everything was going so well.

  “Holt...” Galahad said in warning.

  I sighed heavily and turned to my companions. I looked at Severus. “You had to tell him.” I felt betrayed by my lover and defensive.

  “He’s feeling your sickness now you are physically close and your bonding is stronger,” Severus said.

  “You could have lied.” The words came out as a snarl – I hadn’t meant it to sound so savage but this conversation was one I’d been dreading for weeks.

  “No, Holt. I could not have lied.” Severus crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me with defiance, stronger in himself with Galahad standing beside him.

  I glared at the Prince of Albion. “Come on then, out with it, tell me what a fool I am for being an addict to the bugleweed.”

  He cocked his head to one side, considering something in his own mind, then he walked toward me and pulled my resistant body into an embrace. “You’ve done this for me, for my sanity. You’ve risked all this for me.”

  I wrapped my arms around him slowly, wondering what the catch would be to this sympathetic compassion. “I love you, Galahad. Always have despite hating you sometimes. I will give everything to keep you safe, even if it means my life,” I told him.

  He kissed my hair. “I am going to free you of this addiction, Loholt. I will not have you weakened by this insanity.” He pulled back and looked at me with a firm expression.

  “If I hadn’t done it, you would have died,” I said. “Or worse I’d have lost you to The Lady forever. You still need me to be more fey than I really am. A small dose of the weed –”

  “No, Holt. I need you as you are, not some pumped up version because you feel you aren’t good enough. You are not true fey and I love you for that. We are cleaning you out.” He released me completely and returned to Severus. “Give me the tin.” He held his hand out.

  Severus looked at me but gave Galahad the tin. His guilt and fear shamed me. He didn’t want to hand over the drug so I wouldn’t hate him. I’d made his life miserable over this addiction.

  Galahad didn’t pause for a moment. Before I could move he drew his arm back and threw the tin into the water.

  “What the fuck!” I began to wade into the freezing pool. “I can’t do this without any help at all!”

  “You’re going to have to,” Galahad said over my splashing. “Holt, come back, you’ll never find it and in a moment you are going to sink. It’s very deep.”

  I’d waded to the very edge of the torchlight from the shore and beyond the light I carried I could see nothing but utter blackness. There were no cave walls and no roof for the light to reflect off. The cold already numbed my legs and my balls had retreated.

  “Fuck!” I screamed loudly. “You bastard!”

  Galahad didn’t say anything, just began filling water flasks, watching me with half an eye. Severus remained still, afraid for me – of me.

  I walked slowly back to dry land, already shivering with more than the cold. “I’m going to make your life miserable,” I told him.

  Galahad just looked up at me with that new, almost serene, expression and smiled. “No, you won’t. Time with you and Severus, regardless of what’s happening, is never going to make me miserable.”

  I scowled hard and water squished out of my boots as I stomped back to Sparrow to find dry clothes. The sickness sweeping through me grew worse very quickly. Whether it was the knowledge we had no more bugleweed or whether it was the shock from the cold water I don’t know but I gave up the fight and began to wretch.

  Galahad crouched beside me in the dark, the corner I’d found to rid myself of my stomach contents a long way from the pool. He rubbed my bent spine as I heaved in misery, the muscles unable to bring up anything else but bile. When it finished he handed me a flask.

  “You must drink, my friend,” he said quietly. “We have to travel but you must drink.”

  “I hate you.”

  “I know. We can fight about it when you have more strength. I’ll ask Severus to help with Sparrow. I don’t think you’ll be walking too much further.”

  “I’ll walk,” I told him. I drank and instantly the water returned.

  The pain in my body became intense with shocking speed. I heard Severus and Galahad discussing the best course of action. I couldn’t move. I remained on my knees dry heaving and soon realised that wasn’t all that was happening to my body.

  “Oh, no,” I moaned as I lost control.

  Severus was instantly beside me, soothing and kind with words and actions. He and Galahad decided I couldn’t be moved away from the water and they stripped me between them. Then Galahad half carried me back into the freezing water while Severus knelt and washed my hose.

  I began to weep from humiliation. My lovers remained loyal and steadfast through that terrible first bout of withdrawal.

  CHAPTER TEN

  A cool rough hand stroked my brow and cold cloth followed. I groaned in misery. I’d had some unpleasant wounds over the years but I’d always enjoyed good health. Sickness was alien to me. The weak shaking limbs that ached as if smashed by rocks. The sore skin, prickling and itching all over. The terrible stomach cramps making me sick when I had nothing to be sick with and loosening my bowels horribly. The endless scream inside my head that prevented sleep. All of these things humiliated the strong warrior and made me utterly dependant on my companions, not something a king should endure.

  “Holt?” Galahad asked. I’d only been vaguely aware they’d shared their caring duties between them.

  “What?” I blurred the word through dry lips and a thick tongue.

  “We have to move today. I’m sorry. I didn’t think it would be this hard,” he said.

  “Why?” I asked, another chill racing through my body, refusing to accept his apology.

  “We’ve been here two days. We are hungry and so are the horses. I’m worried we will be captured if we remain,” he said.

  “Then leave me,” I said. My eyes leaked tears again, not wanting to be left but I was unable to move and I hated myself for the weakness.

  “I can’t leave you, daft man,” he said. “I take it riding is still out of the question?”

  I nodded shamefully. My bitter disappointment with myself made all this seem impossible. When I’d been with Galahad, full of bugleweed an
d unspent passion, I’d felt completely fey. The company I kept never questioned my abilities and I’d forgotten my own limitations because of the bonding, the weed, Severus’ fey talents and of course, Torvec. He’d given me access to Galahad, shown me how to use the ties of our bonding and I’d become horribly over confident.

  “Come on, hero. Let’s find a way to move you through these caves without killing you,” Galahad said, forcing me upright.

  “I’m dying,” I murmured.

  Severus knelt beside me. “You aren’t dying, Holt. Not yet. But we will if we don’t find some food. Drink this,” he said, thrusting a flask into my hand. “I think I have an idea.”

  The water was cold and I tried to drink while I watched Severus and Galahad carrying out the plan. Severus collected up all the spent torches and laid them out on the ground in a rectangle. He then removed every spare piece of leather and rope from the horses and started to lash the torches together. I tried to rise and help but my legs were next to useless and if I bent over I vomited because of pressure on my guts.

  It took them some time but they finally had a working version of a small stretcher. Over the skeleton of this frame Severus tied one of the canvases we used to sleep under in the rain. They then used Sparrow’s reins and tied the sledge behind him, at an angle to keep my head off the ground.

  “Come,” Galahad said. “We need to move you and this is safe.”

  “This is lunacy. I am too much of a burden in this state. You will be recaptured.” I started to shiver again and the hot flushes made me sweat.

  Galahad brushed my sticky hair back. “She will not take me alive. Not again. I am not going to leave you. So you have a choice. We all die here or we all die trying to finish this escape. With any luck they’ll be assuming we used a different way.”

  “But this is the main route,” I pointed out.

  “This is just one set of tunnels and the furthest from the citadel. She wouldn’t think of me using these considering how injured you were and how weak my mind is.” He started to lift me off the ground, every movement a new lesson in agony, his hands on my skin a conflagration of pain.