Knight's End (The Knight Trilogy) (2 page)

The knight
set his wandering eyes on the pine doors at the end of the hallway, currently gaping open and waiting for him. When he reached the doors, two stoic-faced guards bowed him in. He acknowledged the bows with a slight nod before heading into the throne room.

As the
grand
doors sealed behind him, he started for the three solid gold thrones at the far end of the room. Two of them were occupied by King Donn and Prince Talbot. The knight held his head high a
s he made his way down the long
red velvet carpet, stopping at the k
ing’s feet.
Aston bowed low, taking a knee.

“Your Majesty,” he said, grateful his voice didn’t waver. The monarch
nodded to
him
,
and Asto
n stood, waiting for his orders as he studied his king.

The king looked less than royal, lounging in his throne. His belly rolled over the top of his pants and his ruby red shirt did
nothing to hide the pouch. King Donn’s pants were wrink
led brown cloth, one leg
tucked into a black boot while the other was left out. His hair was slowly disappearing, leaving little more than an unkempt silver flap on the top of his head. The king’s face was grim, his grey eyes somber as he looked at Aston.

“It has been half a year since Prince Orion was murdered. The murderer, The Rogue Royal, is still at large and has found another target. It seems the man is never satisfied. How many kills does that make, Talbot?” King Donn asked, looking at his son.

Talbot looked away in annoyance, swatting a fly from his shoulder before answering. “Duke Aeron would make twelve, Father
.” He
sl
ipped
down further in his c
hair in a practiced slouch, his dark eyes looking everywhere but at the knight.

“Eleven, then.
King Aric of Adion received a letter early this morning announcing the Rogue’s intent, as is customary.
I want you to take Talbot with you
and go to Adion. My old friend, Duke Aeron of Northsbury, is arriving there with his wife
tomorrow afternoon. The Rogue intends to strike there, at midnight. I want you to stop him. You haven’t been formally invited by King Aric, so make sure you aren’t seen. It would seem uncouth of me, sending a knight to protect the duke at another man’s castle.”
Donn waved his hand, as if to dismiss Aston, but the knight still had questions.

“Sire, if it is uncouth, why send Talbot and I?” Aston questioned. It was unlike the
king to care about other people more than he cared about appearances.

“Duke Aeron has been a close friend of mine for ages, and I fear King Aric is getting soft in his old age. The man will most likely ignore the Rogue’s warnings. I want someone there to save Aeron,” the king answered, looking down his nose at his knight.
His tone was condescending, and Aston felt foolish. He shouldn’t have questioned his king.

The knight nodded, setting his eyes on the man who was to accompany him.
Prince
Talbot’s brunet hair curled to his ears; his brown eyes were so dark they were almost black.
The prince currently wore
a shirt so golden, Aston wondered if it were
inlaid with
the precious metal. His black pants were neatly pressed, his ebony shoes shining in the chandelier’s bright light.

Brooding and snide, the twenty-summers-old male was undoubtedly the worst prince ever to grace a kingdom.
Talbot
didn’t care about his people;
he loved the riches that came with royalty, and could have done without the duty.

Aston sighed. It
would doom
him, bringing Talbot along; so
mething was bound to go wrong. But t
he knight knew he had no choice. He couldn’t turn down a direct order from the king.

“Yes, your Majesty
. When would you like for us to ride out?
” Aston
questioned.

“As soon as you are ready,” came the king’s reply. King Donn dismissed the knight with a wave of his hand. Aston nodded,
placing his hand across his heart before turning and leaving the room to prepare.

*
*

Talbot stayed behind, waiting until Aston left before turning to his father.

“Why do I have to go with him, Father?” Talbot whined like a child. His father sent him a stern look, but Talbot didn’t back down. “Why not send William or Robert? Send a
nother
knight and let me stay here.”

Donn shook his head. “You
will
accompany Aston. I know I can trust you with him. The other knights don’t like working with
him.
He’s the best
at what he does, but
they say
he is too kind, too gentle.
Too willing to forgive when an enemy surrenders.
I need you there to make sure that what needs to be done is
done
.”

“But Father, think of the danger! Say we do save the duke’s life. What happens if the Rogue decides he wants to kill someone else in the duke’s place? Someone like me?”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, son. The Rogue has a clear target. If he doesn’t kill the duke, that better mean he won’t kill anyone again.” The king made a slicing motion across his neck, and the prince understood. His father wanted The Rogue Royal out of the picture
. P
ermanently.

“Yes, Father,”
Talbot sighed
, still not wanting to go. H
e knew his father would not change
his mind. The prince
stood slowly and sulked out of the room, not bothering to throw his shoulders back and stand tall as he walked through the palace. He didn’t care about appearances. Right now, all the prince wanted was a warm bath and a warm bed. He wouldn’t get either until Aston and he returned home from their mission. He found the knight at the end of the hall, talking to a cook. He scoffed and went to interrupt the men’s conversation.

“Oy, Aston!” he called, putting on a fake smile. Upon seeing the prince, the cook bowed and left. Aston turned to face Talbot, what looked like a fo
rced grin plastered on his face.
Talbot stood a bit taller than Aston, his eyes placed mere inches above the two-meter-tall knight’s. Aston had to look up slightly to meet the prince’s eyes; his height was something Talbot had always admired about himself. He liked making people look up to him. It made him feel more superior to them.

“Prince Talbot.” Aston bowed before standing at attention again. “What do you need?”

“I wanted to go over the details of the mission with you. We will ride out when I feel we are ready and not before a proper meal. We will ride cautiously
and, when we arrive, you will make camp while I supervise,” Talbot announced, counting off on his fingers as he made his conditions. “Oh, and we will not rise before sunrise to st
art toward
Fridel again once the mission is complete.
I need my rest.” Having made his demands, Talbot turned on
his heel and headed toward
his chambers, leaving Aston standing there clenching his fists and grinding his teeth.

*
*

“I despise that man,” Aston muttered to himself. He turned and headed in the opposite direction, going down two flights of stairs to the knights’ hall.

His room was
messier than usual. Clothes were strewn across the floor and over his wrought iron bed. The quilt he used at night
hung halfway to the floor
, the pillows turned sideways. He had just returned home from a mission the day before and hadn’t gotten around to cleaning yet. In his twenty- two summers, Aston had never been the neatest person in the kingdom.

With a sigh, he grabbed his half-unpacked bag from the floor, emptied the res
t of the soiled clothes from it
and proceeded to grab everything he would need. After packing, he left his room again and went to the mess hall to find supper while he waited for Talbot. He caught sight of his closest friend in the palace, a young man who was currently training under the head housekeeper. It was unusual for a boy to be a
maid, but Richard was barely thirtee
n summers old an
d too small to do anything else. Not to mention the fact that he was horrible at every other job.

Smiling, Aston made himself a plate of food and then headed towards the long, wooden table where Richard sat by himself. The boy looked up and smiled when Aston sat beside him, but quickly went back to shoveling food into his mouth.

“Slow down there, Richie. You’re going to make yourself sick,” Aston said, laughing before filling his own mouth with food.

“Madam Louise said I had to eat quickly and then get back to work. I’ve been told your chambers are filthy, Sir,” Richie answered. Aston nearly choked on his food, but he recovered and patted the
red-headed
boy on the back.

“Good luck with that woman. She’s tough as can be but she’ll do good by you. As for my chambers, I have been away nearly a fortnight. I’ve just returned, but I have to leave again. I don’t have time to clean. That’s what
you
are for.” Aston noticed the frown that marred the boy’s face upon hearing his favorite knight
had to leave again
. He seemed to ignore the part about cleaning being his job.

“Where will you go this time?” Richie asked.

“To Adion, the most beautiful country around! You would love it, Richie. Stone houses, yards full of blooming flowers, a bookshop with hundreds of books, and beautiful women around every corner.” Aston winked at the young boy, knowing he didn’t care about women.

“A bookshop, sir! Would you bring me a book back?” Richie’s
hazel
eyes lit up at the prospects.

“You know I will, Richie. I always do,” he replied. He took another bite of his beans and a quick bite of bread while he waited for Richie’s reply.

“And you’ll teach me to read more to
o, right?” Aston nodded. “Thank you
, Aston.” The boy smiled and went back to shoveling beans into his mouth. They spent the rest of the meal in silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Richie was one of the few people he called a friend.

“I must go now. I’m bringing Talbot with me and I’m sure he’s already waiting at the stables,” Aston said, finishing his bread. Richie’s
freckle covered
nose crinkled at mention of the prince.

“You have to bring Prince Talbot?” the boy whispered, moving in close to Aston and covering his face with his hand. “But he’s so mean.”

The knight smiled at the boy. “Yes, Richie, I have to bring the prince. Maybe he will be helpful.”

Richie’s face quickly turned skeptical. “I doubt it, Sir. Just watch his feet. He likes to kick people.”

“Only you, Richie. He only bothers you.” At Richie’s confused expression, Aston elaborated. “It’s because you are small. He thinks he can intimidate you.”

“But it’s not just me! It’s all of the maids and cooks and stable hands and--“

“Okay, Richie, okay! I’ll watch his feet,” Aston said, laughing as the boy continued his list. Richie nodded, seemingly satisfied, and went back to eating.

With a quick ruffle of the
boy’s hair, Aston bade Richie
farewell and went back to his chambers to grab his satchel. He took one last, longing look at his bed before heading toward the stables.

The white building came into view as soon as Aston
walked
out the castle’s front doors. The stable was tall with a dozen wooden stall doors on two sides. An open hallway ran between the two rows of stalls, ending at a wall m
ade for tacking horses. A
door to the right of the wall led into the tack room, filled with saddles, bridles, and halters.

A small
gold plate
rested on the door of every
stall, a different horse’s name engraved on each one.
A wooden peg to the left of every
door held a halter and lead for each horse. As he entered the stable, Aston noticed Talbo
t at the other end
, so
me poor groom saddling his ride
. Shaking his head, Aston started down the hall to Sterling’s stall. He stopped to pat his rouncey, Edward, on the nose before continuing to the stall of his courser.
He let himself inside and whispered soothing words to the animal as he slipped a red halter over his long silver nose.

The dappled grey beauty was the fas
test of all the coursers in Fridel.
The horse had been his loyal companion
since the beast had been born. Aston
had trained Sterling himself, and there was no
better mount for a knight. He
led
Sterling from the stall, taking
him to the back wall to be tacked.

Tying Sterling’s lead to a waist high wooden bar, the knight went to the tack room to pick out a saddle and bridle before going back to Ster
ling. He quickly brushed
the animal, checking for burs, before settling a wool blanket over the horse
’
s back, topping it with the saddle.  He tightened the girth on his saddle, looking up when the animal made an annoyed grunt.