Steel and Shadow: An Epic Fantasy (16 page)

             
Samuel chortled.

             
“I pity the man that thinks to chain you anywhere, my lady,” he nodded.  “Still, aye.  If there is a chance Koa is about, I’d not mind seeing him again.”

             
“Do you see any of your own companions any longer?”

             
“Hardly.  Most sailed off to the Western Isles to fight in the civil war there.  I could have told them, mercenaries make poor sailors.  And whatever your side, the sea is a harsh place for any man when she’s angry.”

             
“And the rest,” she asked kindly.

             
“Many of the older freemen took their wages and plunder, and rode back north.  They considered the Wolf’s fall as an omen.”

             
“Aye, you northmen are all superstitious babes,” one of the warriors with the escort sneered.

             
“Little man,” Samuel drawled.  “Did you see just half of what this old babe has seen, you’d likely wet yourself,” he declared.

             
Lia chortled.

             
“I don’t doubt you.  Shall we go then, my friend,” he was called by the princess.

             
“In truth.  I have been getting bored of late,” he grinned, and called for his horse.

X

             
“Greetings, Lady,” the lean, dark-haired man bowed as she rode right up to him as he stood over a plow hitched to a small mule in the middle of a recently cleared field.

             
“You’ve a familiar look, sir,” she told him, searching his face.  “Are we acquainted?”

             
“Us?  Lady, my kind rarely mix with yours,” the young man smiled in a self-deprecating manner. 

             
“Tell me your name,” she asked, dropping from her saddle as her escort only then appeared on the horizon.

             
“You risk much riding so far ahead of your protectors.”

             
“I do not need a protector,” she huffed, putting a hand on her sword.  “I do need a friend.”

             
“Then may you ever find all you need,” he half-bowed to her.

             
“Koa?”

             
“Nay, Lady.  I am Adam.  Adam Snow.”

             
“A curious name.”

             
“’Tis quite common in the northlands,” he told her, his dark eyes lit with mirth.

             
“You are far from the north.”

             
“Aye, but I found it dreadfully cold, and dull there.  Thus, I chose to seek my fate in the south.  Where you can feel the warmth of the sun, and not fret over mountain wolves, or bears creeping up on you as you slowly freeze to death.”

             
She chuckled, and said, “I think you would likely be the one creeping up on them.”

             
He only smiled.

             
“I know you,” she finally said.

             
“Does anyone ever truly know another,” he asked.

             
“Eric would have made you a lord.”

             
“I would argue that one cannot be made anything.  But they can earn their way, if they are willing to work.”

             
“I cannot argue your point.  I’ve been using it myself of late in my….discussions with my brother.”

             
The escort was getting closer now, but she did not look back.

             
“I have waited for you to return to me.”

             
“I am not Koa.  Nor am I of noble blood.”

             
“Nor was my grandfather, who stole a crown with a sword, and two legions of followers.”

             
He smirked now.

             
“I don’t care about titles.  Or aught else.  You opened my eyes, and showed me my own worth.  Call yourself anything you wish, but I’ll still know you.  And I’ll still want you at my side.”

             
“Truly,” he murmured, turning from the plow only then.

             
“In my chains,” she told him quietly.  “I oft lay in the darkness and dreamed of a friend.  A champion.  Someone that would come to me, tear off my bonds, and lead me into the light.  Someone that would not overpower me, but would stand beside me.  Someone who would….cherish me for who I am.  Not what I am.”

             
“Any man that cannot see your worth, Lady,” he smiled at her, “Is truly a fool.”

             
“And are you?”

             
“I will not be a lord.  Nor a weapon,” he finally said, making only that small admission before the men rode up behind them.

             
“He’s not the shadow,” one of the king’s men huffed.  “You led us on yet another fool’s errand, Princess.  When will you…”

             
“Here now,” Samuel cut in.  “I wager King Eric would not like knowing his dogs speak so boldly to his sister.”

             
“He’s only angry that I beat him at dice last night,” Lia drawled, making Adam laugh. 

             
“And what did he lose,” the apparent farmsteader asked.

             
“His wages for the next month,” the officer in the lead grinned. 

             
“Then he only has himself to blame.  A man should only wager what he can afford to lose,” he quipped.

             
Samuel stared hard at him.

             
That was one of Jengus’ favorite adages.

             
“So, if you’re not our missing friend,” Samuel asked.  “Who are you, man,” he asked, noting there was something familiar about him, but not in his visage.  He looked a Northman born, and not anything of the young Kanlysan lad his friend had raised from a mere boy.

             
“Adam Snow,” he said, and Samuel’s eyes rounded.

             
“A potent name,” he murmured, knowing from Jengus’ stories that Adam Snow was the First.  The first Shadow ever drawn into the world of men by mages first learning magics.

             
He was said to have been a power beyond reckoning.  That he only left the world when he grew bored with men.  Because none of them could resist him, or command him.

             
It was, he knew, a name right out of legend.

             
“I take it you are on friendly terms with the Franks, then,” he finally asked.

             
“We get along,” Adam smiled at Sam, nodding up at the older man.

             
“So, Adam,” Lia finally asked him, looking right at him.  “Do you move to Kanlys, or must I move my capital here?”

             
Only Samuel burst into laughter.

             
Her men were only staring.

             
Adam, his voice just loud enough for only her to hear, said, “Whatever you wish, my lady,” with the faintest of smiles.

             
Lia shocked all her men when she abruptly threw herself into his arms, and embraced him.

             
“I should be angry you did not return at once.”

             
“I’ve been here waiting for you to find me,” he restored quietly.

             
“What if I had not found you,” she complained.

             
“Yet, you did.”

             
“I see you’re going to be as thick as Eric, aren’t you,” she huffed, but did not let him go.

             
“Who do you think sent you the rumors to my presence,” she was chided.

             
Now she laughed, and hugged him all the more.

             
“At least Eric will finally stop complaining over my marital state.  I think I’ll need to explain why I intend to wed a Xantian farmsteader, though.”

             
“Or, we could not say anything, and live in peace until he shows up.  If he shows.”

             
“I like that notion,” she beamed, and lay her head on his chest.  “He can be obnoxious.”

             
“Most kings are,” he agreed easily.

             
Samuel, saying nothing of his own suspicions, merely asked, “Does this mean you are giving up your quest to find our missing Shadow, princess?”

             
“I have found something better,” she grinned up at him.  “A man that meets my standards.”

             
Not one of her men commented as Adam invited them to stay and rest for the night.

             
As scandalous as most considered her, none of her former admirers could quite believe the news a few weeks later when it was revealed the princess of Valdor had wed a mere farmsteader.  To their astonishment, she was said to be a very contented, and happy bride.

End

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