Bloodless Knights (6 page)

“I
didn’t see him. The entire castle is locked down.” I studied the scratches on
my hand then lifted it to my forehead. I wondered how bad the gash from this
morning’s ride was. I felt a headache trying to bare down on me but I wasn’t
going to let it win.

“Locked
down? What’s happening?” Vivian rushed to the side of the tub causing me to sit
up straight and cover a specific part that was currently under water. “Oh
please, Tristen, ye don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”

Her
words stung me a little. I felt an attraction to her that I could not resist, I
didn’t want to think of her seeing another man the way she was seeing me. She
laughed at the expression on my face; or at least, I hoped that’s why she
laughed.

I
thought of my mother and realized I should have tried harder to see her. I
needed to be a strong man for my dear mum, and all the other women who couldn’t
be strong for themselves. “My mum. The friar said she’s gravely ill but my
father will not let anyone into the castle. I tried to get in but was denied.
Something is terribly wrong. The friar asked me to avenge my family but I have
no idea what he meant. I also met a strange fellow named Patrious from
Hereford…”

My
words were cut off by an excited utterance, “King Patrious is here? Oh, now
that
is extraordinary!”

“Well
hold on a moment, Vivian, I never said he was a king. Ye better tell me what ye
knowest of him. I also better find out some more about who thou art while we’re
at it. Let me get out of this tub. Would ye be so kind to hand me a cloth?”
Vivian put a cloth in my hand, sniffed the air and, deciding the bread was done,
removed it from the oven with some tongs.

“Thou
wilt love this bread, Tristen! I made it especially for thee. I can’t wait for
ye to try it.” Vivian rested it on the counter. I finished drying myself,
wrapped the towel around me and eyed the bread suspiciously.

“Why?
Did thou upset it?” My innocent but serious question brought a giggle from her
throat. She looked from the bread to my eyes and her smile fell to the ground.

“Thou
art serious? Oh my. Dear Tristen, I wouldn’t mistreat thy food. If thou doth
not trust me I’ll throw it away.” She reached for it, but I grabbed her from
behind with one arm and gently pinned her arms to her sides. Her body was warm.
It felt nice to hold her.

“Now,
there. Just stop that. Ye are wonderful and I am grateful for the kind gesture,
especially after all we’ve both been through today.” She relaxed and I turned
her toward me. “Grammarcy. I’m sorry for being rude.”

Vivian
pulled away from me, but her eyebrows lifted and she told me to cut myself a
piece of bread. Her little body glided toward the chaise where she laid like an
Egyptian princess. I sat at the table with some buttered bread while trying to
keep my cover around me.

“The
Patrious I met said he was Sir Patrious Winnow. He said naught about being a
king. Explain to me why ye think he is and what thou knowest of the king of
Hereford.” I took a ravenous bite from the bread. It tasted more decadent than
it smelled, as the fluffy, buttery gob flowed down my throat.

Vivian
peacefully watched me devour the bread. She twisted her hair as her green eyes
studied me from across the small room. I smiled at her, but her expression
didn’t change. It occurred to me that she had gone “away” again. She wasn’t
looking at me; but through me.

“Vivian?”
I walked toward her but my legs stopped moving. I saw her face, then the floor,
then nothing.

#
# #

A
delicious waft of breakfast smells and the sound of something sizzling forced
my eyes to snap open. I looked around, fully expecting to be on the floor, but
was tucked in to my own bed. Vivian was all put together for the day and had
adorned her hair with flowers. She hummed the lullaby song she seemed to enjoy,
I felt relaxed enough to fall back to sleep. I begrudgingly dragged myself out
of bed; I was totally bare. Folded neatly on my night table was the cloth I had
covered myself with the night before. I glanced at it suspiciously then found
some trousers to put on.

I
sat on a chair at the little table and picked up an apricot Vivian had set out
in a bowl with various other fruits. I felt rested but my body ached.

“Good
morrow!” Vivian’s bright face smiled in my direction like yesterday had never
happened and she had always been a fixture cooking a feast in my kitchen.

“Good
morrow, Miss Vivian. What happened to me last night? One moment we were
speaking the next moment I don’t remember.” I bit into the apricot; its sweet
juice coated my tongue and woke me up. Vivian rested a tin cup of black tea
onto the shined tabletop; she had made my home more spotless than it had been
since it was built.

Vivian
placed a giant plate of eggs and ham before me. The intoxicating smell invited
me to dine. “Methinks ye were just plain exhausted, sir! Ye were walking toward
me then thy legs gave out! I had to help thee to thy bed. It made me nervous
when thy towel fell off.”

“Pardon
me for startling thee, miss. I’ve never blacked out like that before,” hot eggs
filled my mouth; the yoke coated my tongue with a delightfully fatty residue. I
usually didn’t speak with a mouth-full of food but I was in a hurry to get to
the castle. I needed to see my mother and find out what was going on with the
dragon hunt.

A
loud knock at the door startled me out of my chair. Vivian’s eyes grew wide as
she searched for a place to hide. We both knew she couldn’t be seen in my
cottage; it would cause many questions and rude speculation that just wasn’t
needed at this time. She slid under the bed as I wiped my mouth with a white
handkerchief the lady had delicately spread over my lap.

I
forcefully opened the door to reveal my elderly neighbors, Harry and Matilda
Mives. Cold air blew into the room. The flower buds on the trees were covered
with tiny ice crystals.

Harry
had scraggly, unkempt hair. His long nose was like a tall lone mountain in the
middle of a canyon of wrinkles. His dark brown eyes were concerned and his lips
were pursed tight together as he pressed them forward. His beard was as gray as
his hair and even more unruly with stray hairs. His clothing was plain and
tattered; the shoes on his feet seemed like they wouldn’t hold on to his toes
much longer.

Matilda
was a female version of her husband, minus the complete beard. However, I had
often wondered if she was trying to grow one with the hair from a wide mole on
her chin. Although age had taken its toll on them, they were fine people who I
enjoyed living near.

“My
Lord, we are dreadfully sorry to bother thee. We’ve come to tell ye that a
large animal of some kind brutally attacked and killed one of our cows last
night. We wanted to tell thee, since the animal’s bloody paw prints were seen
headed toward yourn home. The tracks weren’t like a dragon, they were like a
big cat or a bear maybe. So please be careful when yourn out and about and make
sure ye put yourn horse in the barn at night.” Harry paused, and his cold hand
touched mine. “There is great evil going on right now, sir. I hope ye can fight
the good fight to restore us back to where we were.”

I
scratched my head with the hand Harry wasn’t holding and asked, “By chance are
ye missing any eggs, milk, or butter?” I figured I may as well take a chance to
see if Vivian had robbed the neighbors.

“Well,
a pretty little gal never seen before bought some from us yesterday, but none
went missin’ other than that. Why d’ya bid?” Matilda asked without changing the
expression on her weather-worn face.

I
was angered a bit that Vivian had left the house but I lied for her, “When I
got home yesterday there was some sitting on my porch, just thought it may have
been my gracious neighbors is all.

“When
she left our place she did head the direction of thee. Perchance ye have a
secret admirer, my Lord! Ye wouldn’t feel sorry; she was a bitty little beauty.
Long black hair, lips like strawberries. Plus she paid us two full gold coins
for the food.” Harry’s vision changed like he was having a nice dream in a far
off place.

Matilda
swatted at Harry, “Harry! Shame on ye!”

Harry
gave Matilda a look that made her step back a bit. He shook my hand and wished
me luck then they turned to leave.

“Grammarcy
for the warning about the animal. I will look around for it and if I see it I
shall slay it and avenge thy cow.” I bowed slightly at the two as they waved
and walked through the gate. They carefully shut it behind them.

Harry
called to me, “Ye won’t be telling anyone what that lovely lady brung us will
ya?”

“Never,
my good sir. Have a wonderful morrow and please be careful and safe on thy way
home.” I waved at them and smiled to ease their worry.

I
closed the door slowly and turned to call for Vivian but she was already right
next to me, “Sir, I apologize for going to those people’s place but I wanted to
make thee a nice meal and well, there was no food and ye don’t have any animals
of thy own.” She looked over my face and knew I was upset.

I
held up my palm. “Now stop there, my lady, I did have a dog once. His name was
Mer. Very good dog but he liked to bark. My father looks for small reasons to
drive himself madder than usual. The dogs barking bothered him so much that one
night at dinner he yelled at me to silence the dog, or he would. Well, a nine-year-old
boy is no match for a dog who wants to be heard.

“Ladislas
was so angry that he pushed himself from the table, and with the fire from the
hearth dancing off his eyeballs, he looked like Lucifer himself. The crazy man
drew his sword and chopped off my poor dog’s head. I screamed and cried. My
mother tried to comfort me, but something about a favorite pet’s blood pouring
over thy lap has an uncomfortable effect about it. Even the nursemaid and
lady’s in-waiting tried to console me. I cried for a fortnight and vowed I
would never own another pet again. I just couldn’t handle that pain.”

The
lady put her hand on my arm and hummed as her eyes soothed me. She pulled a
flower from her hair and held it to her nose as she slightly inhaled. The sight
thawed my heart a touch but concern hardened it quickly.

“I
can’t risk ye being seen! When I leave today, I have no choice but to tie thee
to a chair! Ye simply must not be seen here, it will cause too many problems.”
I tried to keep my voice down but it was difficult, so I sat to finish my food.

Vivian
sat in the chair next to me and pulled it close. She rested her arms on the
table and watched me eat. That in itself should have felt odd to me, but I
actually enjoyed it.

I
gently placed the fork on my plate, leaned toward her and whispered, “Why
aren’t thou eating?”

“I
was starving when I woke. I already ate.” She laid her head on her folded arms
and stared at me intently. “What am I doing here?”

Her
question caught me off-guard. The silence lingered until she gently tapped my
arm. “Silly questions don’t deserve answers, Vivian. Thou knowest why thou art
here. Ye are making recompense for taking my brother from me.” I paused not
knowing if I should say more, but decided to go on, “And…I enjoy ye being here
too. I appreciate all ye have done.”

Vivian’s
green eyes lit up as the corners of her mouth turned to a bright grin. I felt
bad knowing what was coming up, but I could not let her leave the house again.
I let the smile linger for a moment then braved the cold to gather a rope from
the barn. I checked around for animal prints of any kind but didn’t see any on
the frosty ground. I still worried for my house guest though, she had to stay
inside.

When
I returned, Vivian was still sitting patiently on the chair I left her. The
smile had been replaced with sadness in her pleading eyes. “Sir Tristen, I
promise I won’t leave again. There really is no need for this. I will be on my
best behavior.”

“Vivian,
I just can’t take a chance. I trusted thee yesterday and ye showed me that I
can’t leave ye here alone. Besides, there’s a wild beast on the loose and
although ye have proven ye can handle thyself I would rather thee not come upon
it. I’m only watching out for thy well-being and thou must knowest that.” I
took the rope and gently wrapped it around her.

“I
can’t believe ye will tie me like an animal, Tristen.” I stopped the rope for a
moment. She was good at making me feel guilty, but I wasn’t going to let her do
it. I kept tying.

“By
the way…where did ye get the gold ye gave to the Mives? I knowest thou didn’t
pinch it from me because I have no gold here; but I didn’t see ye bring any
money with ye.” I stopped to look into her almond-shaped eyes.

“Since
ye didn’t see it, I obviously stole it, right?” Vivian stared into my soul as
she spoke. I felt bad for asking.

“I
won’t be gone long today, Vivian. I need to check on my mum and find out what
else is happening, and then I will be back. I promise not to leave thee this
way all day but it must be done.” After wrapping the rope, I tied a tight knot;
but not too tight. I didn’t want to hurt her. After seeing the look on her face
I knew I had hurt her enough. I patted her petite hand. She glared at me. She
seemed to snarl for a moment. I felt fear well-up in my heart; the woman seemed
to terrify me for reasons I couldn’t place.