Knight's End (The Knight Trilogy) (24 page)

“It’s true, Zane, but I can’t hide forever.”

“Well what brings you to my shop? What could you possibly need from here?”

“A gift. 
For a woman.”

“Ah, I see. She must be very special, Aston.” Zane led him to a case at the back of the small shop. Aston
glanced
around at the va
rious tables and cases, but his friend
didn’t let him stop to look. “Trust me, Aston, what you want is back here.”

Aston smiled as they passed a glass case filled with sparkling rubies. The walls of Zane’s shops had all been painted to match the precious stones he sold. One was sapphire blue, another emerald, and another ruby. The back wall was white, and Aston knew Zane was leading him to his most precious collection of diamonds.

When Zane stopped, he pulled a small, square pillow from the case, set
ting it in front of Aston.

The knight
shook his head at the diamond necklace laid before him. “She’s from a well off family, Zane. I want to buy her something that no one in her family would think to get,” Aston told him, glancing around the case. His gaze landed on a silver bracelet hidden in the corner. He pointed to it and Zane smiled, nodding his head.

“It’s perfect,” Zane
said.

Aston agreed.

*
*

Talbot hadn’t thought anything of the stran
ge urge to go into town
. He almost never ventured outside the palace unless his father forced him, but today was different. He’d woken up with the desire to walk the streets of the country that would one day be his,
and he’d come across the one thing he needed to save his life
:
Aston Smith.

What was he doing at Zane’s jewelry store?
Curious, Talbot stood across the street, facing another shop. He could see Aston’s reflection in the shop window as he left, pulling his cloak over his head again. The knight
jumped onto a horse he had waiting outside a
nd rode off down the street.

Talbot followed him, running to keep up with the horse’s quick steps. As soon as they reached the trees, As
ton sent the horse into a trot
.

If it weren’t for the light layer of snow still on th
e ground,
the horse’s tracks clearly preserved,
the prince
would have lost them. Instead, he reached the small cabin in the woods after Aston had already taken care of his horse and gone inside.

He
looked the place over, rating it in his mind. It was nowhere near as grand as his own home, but the quaint little cabin
seemed
comfortable
enough. Shaking his head, the prince
turned
his thoughts
to the real reason he’d come.

He needed to get Aston to help him.

**

A knock at the door made Jade look u
p in surprise. She was sitting i
n a chair by the fire, her book in her lap. Aston was in the other room, changing out of his wet, snow
-
soaked clothes. Who could be at the door?

Setting her book aside, sh
e crept to the d
oor and pee
ked out through the glass crescent.
When she saw Talbot, she pressed herself against the cabin wall beside the door. Another knock had her pressing her hand to her heart to stop its frantic beating.

“I
saw you, Jade du Halen. Open the door
. I need to speak with Aston,”
Talbot said.

. Aston chose that moment to enter the room and he stopped, staring at the door.
“Is that…?” he asked.

The princess nodded, her face grim.

With a
defeated
sigh, Aston went to the door and wrenched it open.

Talbot was on the doorstep, his fist raised to pound on the door again. He
dropped it
when the door opened and stood there, staring at Aston.
His face was unreadable. He looked nervous, scared, and determined all at once.

“What do you want, Talbot? By the time you make it back to the palace, we will be gone
,” Aston said.

Talbot shook his head. “I’m not here to turn you in. If I was, I wouldn’t have knocked.
” The prince ran his hand through his dark curls,
seemingly
uncomfortable. “
I just want to talk.”

Aston hesitated before moving a
side and allowing Fridel’s prince
to enter the cabin. He scanned the woods for
signs
of Donn’s army, but he didn’t see anyone. He sighed and closed the door, following Talbot to the living area where the prince
waited.

“What do you want, Talbot?” he repeated.

The
glanced around the room, looking at everything but the knight standing before him, waiting for an answer he wasn’t ready to give
. Now that he was here, he wasn’t sure what to say to Aston. “I need your
help,” he finally managed.

The knight
stared at him before laughing.
“Why would I help you, Talbot? You’re the reason I’m hiding in the middle of the woods, running from armies, and rumored to be a criminal.”

“I can fix everything, Aston. I can make
it
right, but please, you have t
o help me!” Talbot exclaimed, desperation
in
his voice.
At Aston’s raised brow, he continued. “I think t
he Rogue is go
ing to come after me.”

“You’re
his next target,” Aston deadpanned.

Talbot paled.
“How do you know
?”

“A brick through a win
dow in Summerslade last month
,” Aston replied.

Jade shuddered and Aston knew she was remembering that night as well.

“Father didn’t say anything when I asked this morning.
When is he coming?”

“He sent another letter
to all of the kings
informing them
he wouldn’t be killing again until winter was over.” Aston looked out the window. “
The snow is almost gone now
,” he commented.

Talbot
winced. “If you help me escape t
he Rogue, I will
confess
everything
to my father
about that night in Adion,” he said, his eyes pleading.

Aston considered it for a moment.
He’d wanted to help Talbot since he’d learned he was a target, but he hadn’t expected the prince
to come and
beg
for help. The prince
had always been proud, though cowardly. He n
ever asked for help from anyone. He only made orders.

“How did you even know t
h
e Rogue might target you?” he
inquired, curious.

The prince
shrugged.
“I told Ernst du Halen about you
,
and he asked
me if I was worried about becoming
a target. I told him I wasn’t and asked him why, and when
he told me, I started to
think about it. I’ve been a horrible person my entire life, but do I deserve to be murdered?”

Jade stiffened beside Aston, but the knight couldn’t figure out why. Did she suddenly feel bad for the prince? Or was she worrying about something else?

“What do
you want me to do?” Aston asked, intending to speak with Jade later about her reaction to Talbot’s statement.

Talbot relaxed, his deep frown turning up into a small smile.
“Plan with me, Aston. You’re a knight; you can
help me conspire
against the Rogue and keep him away from me
.”

“You could stay here that
night,” Aston offered, but
t
he prince
shook his head.

“He would
find me. I
don’t know how he does it, but t
he Rogue always knows
the location of his target
. It’s like he’s on the inside and knows every little detail about the lives of the people he kills.”

“So, you wan
t me to come to the palace
?” Aston asked. When Talbot nodded, he stood. “I’m not going to fall for it, Talbot.”

The prince
looked confused. “Fall for what?”

“You come here asking for help, claiming you can free me, but you don’t need my help. You’ve never cared about a soul in your life aside from your own, and this is just a clever way to get
me t
o return
to the palace and die for you,” Aston said, clenching his fists at his sides.

Talbot stood as well.
“That’s not true, Aston! What you said about me, about not caring about anyone, it’s true! That’s why I need your h
elp! I don’t want to die, Aston!
I need you to save my life, and if saving yours is the only way to make you do it, then I’m going to help you!” he exclaimed, striding forward.

As
ton held up a hand up to stop the prince from coming any closer
. Ta
lbot stopped and stared at the knight
,
waiting for him to make his decision.

As far as Aston saw it, he had two options: he could help Talbot and have his help
sneaking
into the palace, or he could help Talbot without the prince
knowing
and try to find his own way in. He cursed under his breath, knowing what he had to choose.

“I’ll do it.”

**

Talbot left as night fell, hurrying so that his footprints wouldn’t be lost in the newly-falling snow. He looked back at the small cabin with a smile on his face. With Aston helping him,
he was sure he would live. If t
he Rogue showed up and he lived to tell about it, he would be sure his father lifted Aston’s sentence
and that the knight
was able to walk a free man again.

“It is usually more important how a man
meets his fate than what it is.”
- Karl Wilhelm von Humboldt -

The palace was quiet. Night had fallen and Richie found himself wandering the corridors alo
ne. Most of the royal family were
already asleep, though he’d seen the dim glow of a candle from under Prince Talbot’s door.

He made his way through the palace, down winding staircases and passed closed doors. He wound up in front of the throne room. The massive oak doors had been left open. Richie looked both ways, searching for patrolling guards, before entering the room. He hurried down the red carpet, stopping at the foot of the thrones. The large golden throne looked odd without King Donn perched in it. He was such a fixture there.

Shaking his head, Richie grabbed what he’d come for, a folded piece of parchment addressed to King Donn. The letter stating when and where Prince Talbot would be murdered. With a small, albeit slightly sad, smile, Richie tucked the letter into his breeches and hurried back to his room. Winter was coming to a close. The snow was starting to melt, and the Rogue would soon be hunting again. Aston would want to know everything.

**

“Are you really going to go through with this?” Jade asked as Aston pulled his b
oots on over his trousers. He
looked up at her but didn’t answer. “It’s suicide, Aston! You can’t trust him!”

“I can’t trust anybody right now, Jade. If I don’t keep Talbot alive, everyone who knows the truth about that night will be gone.”

“I’m still here. I can tell my father that Talbot came to me, not you. He’d listen
--
”
She grabbed Aston’s forearm, but he shook off her touch.

“No, he wouldn’t. You’ve spent the last two months with a fugitive knight. Besides, you already told me your father doesn’t care what you want. Why would he care what you have to say?”

Jade looked taken aback
by the curtness in Aston’s tone,
and she let the subject drop. Richie had come by the night before with
another letter, this one from t
he Rogue himself, stating the time and date for Talbot’s murder. The snow was almost gone now
,
and the restless murderer seemed ready to kill again.

“I want you to stay here, Jade,” Aston said, grabbing his
coat and pulling it on. When sh
e went to protest, he held a hand up to st
op her. “I don’t want you near t
he Rogue. Bringing you with me to
Northsbury
was a mistake. I can’t protect you.”