Chael's Luck (A Knights of Dorathan Novel) (14 page)

Ian smiled at my obvious shock. “I told you
it was a good idea to come here.”

The wood elf gave Whisk a pat on the head.
“Follow me.” He turned on his heel and headed deeper into the woods
that had magically appeared overnight. I looked at the massive
trees with awe. Their roots seemed to push out of the ground and it
was possible to walk under the trunks of the trees. I looked from
one to another and nodded to myself. I was sure that I’d be able to
ride Klora under them.

“Chaela, let’s go.” Ian handed me my horse’s
reins and swung up onto Klard.

“Tell me I wasn’t so preoccupied with my
apology to you that I didn’t see a complete forest here last
night…”

He grinned. “If I told you they were always
here and that you were blinded by my dashing good looks…”

“I’d slap you upside of the head.” I caught
the piece of bread he lobbed in my direction and took a bite.
“These trees are phenomenal.”

He nodded. “It’s beautiful here. I’ve only
been in these woods twice before with Alex. It’s just as amazing
this time around.”

I looked in wonder toward the sky. “I can’t
tell where the trees end up there.”

He followed my gaze. “Do you know I’m not
entirely sure they do?”

I looked to see if he was joking and saw he
wasn’t. “Can we only see the trees because we’re with him?”

Blarenagin looked back and grinned, his
pointy teeth sending a shiver down my back. “It is, my lady.”

I wrinkled my nose at the title and his
chuckle made its way to me on the breeze. We walked in silence for
a while, both of us entranced by the forest.

“Now, you’re here to learn of the book I gave
to Master Alexander.” Blarenagin’s voice broke through the quiet
thoughts I was having.

“That’s right.” I blinked my eyes as a city
appeared in the trees.

“And Master Ian, I believe you have a second
reason for being here.”

I glanced at Ian and caught him nodding. I
cocked my head in question but was ignored.

“Miss Chaela, the man who is in possession of
the book is one who has disliked you for many years. He’s also the
man responsible for Alexander’s and your father’s deaths as well as
your aunt’s and uncle’s. It seems he blames you for the fact he was
banished from the knighthood.”

My stomach dropped. “Caleb.”

“What I plan to do tomorrow, is to displace
you to where the book is. It is most important that the book be
returned to us.”

“Why does Caleb want the book?”

“There is a spell he desires in the book.
Though not many know it, Knights have magical blood flowing through
them. It passes down from father to son. Should this spell be cast,
it destroys the Knights’ magic and therefore very efficiently kills
them off.”

“But Caleb is a Knight.”

Blarenagin nodded. “In this book, there is
also a charm to protect the one casting the spell.”

Any more questions we might have had were
ignored by the elder elf. I turned my attention back to our
surroundings. The trees might have been the most amazing thing I’d
ever seen. The entire forest gave off a feeling of peace and I
realized that even Klora must have been feeling its effects.
Instead of being on constant alert, his ears were relaxed so that
they hung a bit to the sides and gave him goofy look. He blew out
of his nose and shook out his mane. Whisk made his way around the
tree trunks, investigating this hole in the ground or that crack in
a large rock.

From up in the tree houses, the sound of
children drew my attention to the skyward branches once again. Too
high up to tell if the child was a girl or a boy, one of the small
elves leaned over a railing and waved to us. I smiled and waved
back.

“We can leave the horses here,” stated
Blarenagin as he gestured to the stable that had appeared before
us. Behind it was a lush pasture surrounded by a tall fence.
“They’ll be fine here. I will show you to your guest houses and
where dinner will be held. It should be served within the
hour.”

I frowned. “We just woke up.”

The old Wood Elf smiled and shook his head.
“The woods tend to make you relaxed so that you don’t notice the
passage of time.”

Looking up into the sky, I noticed he was
right. The sun was now shining through the branches from the west.
We unsaddled the horses and followed the little green man up one of
the winding stair cases. Whisk followed us part of the way then
whined and made his way back down to the ground. Looking over the
edge of the railing as we reached the hanging boardwalk, I couldn’t
disagree with his decision. I straightened with a gasp and stumbled
into Ian who put a hand on my arm to steady me. I latched on to his
arm and closed my eyes.

“I think I just realized I’m afraid of
heights,” I managed to mumble between the deep breaths I was taking
to try and slow my heart. Suddenly, I was falling. The wood fell
away from under my feet and my stomach dropped. My eyes flew open
and I was staring at a hazy sky filled with rain clouds. A scream
burst from my lungs and I clamped my eyes shut as I waited to hit
the ground.

Just as quickly, Ian’s arms wrapped around me
and pulled me to his chest.

“Shush, Chaela.” He laid his cheek on the top
of my head. “What the hell was that?” he demanded of Blarenagin. He
brushed the hair from my face and wiped my tears. “It’s alright. I
don’t know what you saw, but you’re safe. I’ve got you.” His lips
pressed to my forehead. “Shhh… I’m here.”

I couldn’t do anything but cling to him and
shake. Ian swore. “Let’s get you back on the ground.” It took a bit
of effort on his part to pry my arms from around him so that he
could cradle me properly to his chest. My tears soaked into his
tunic and try as I might, I couldn’t stop them.

Whisk whined and the horses came to
investigate as Ian sat with me on one of the bales in the open
concept barn.

“She’s alright,” Ian told them and had I not
been having a breakdown, I’d have laughed. He tucked my hair behind
my ears. “You’re worrying the animals.” He took a deep breath.
“Never mind the animals, your scaring the hell out of me.”

I swallowed hard and managed to get myself
partially under control. Whisk’s cool nose touched my cheek and I
finally opened my eyes.

“I’m alright,” I whispered. “I… gods, Ian… I
was falling. I could feel it. I couldn’t stop it.” My throat
tightened and I had to stop talking or risk breaking down again. I
reached over and pet my dog to let him know all was fine. I looked
past the large grey hound to the three horses standing in a
semi-circle around us before looking at the ground which was a mere
two feet from where I was, which was where I liked it. Suddenly
embarrassed, I sat up and wiped my tears away. “I’m sorry. I’m not
sure what happened.”

Ian frowned. “What are you sorry for?” He
tightened his hold around my waist as I tried to stand.

“I… I’m not sure. For scaring you, I
suppose.”

He shook his head. “You’re something else,
Chaela McKinney.” He pressed his lips to the bridge of my nose.
“I’ll go get our food and bring it down.”

I groaned. “I feel like an idiot.”

He smiled. “Don’t. It’s not every day I get
to have a beautiful woman cling to me like that.” He let me stand
and I wrinkled my nose at him.

“Try not to get used to it. I’m not the
clinging kind.” I tried to hide my smile but didn’t succeed. The
fear I’d felt with the vision was receding. The animals, getting a
sense that all was back to normal, wandered off to graze or sniff,
whatever was their preference.

Ian’s smile softened. “You’re alright?”

I nodded. “I think so.”

He stood and pulled me to him once again.
“Try not to do that to me again, alright?”

I thought of the feeling of falling and
shivered. “No worries, there,” I mumbled. “Now… about that
food…”

I felt him smile against my hair. “Coming
right up.” He gave me a parting squeeze before heading back up the
winding staircase.

I watched him climb up and meet Blarenagin
who was still standing where we’d left him. I couldn’t hear what
was being said, but by the way Ian stiffened and gestured as he
talked, I was sure they weren’t discussing what was on the menu for
dinner. He stopped and listened to what the wood elf had to say and
I frowned as both of them looked over the railing at me.

Ian turned back to the smaller man and his
one forceful word made its way to my ears. “No.” With that, he
headed off in search of food.

Suddenly exhausted, I curled up in the straw
and promptly fell asleep.

*****

“What do you mean, there’s nothing you can do
about it? I’ve seen you work magic. I know you can do something!”
Ian tried to keep his voice down so it wouldn’t carry down to
Chaela. “She felt herself falling. You saw her! You were right
here! Don’t tell me that was a small slip down a hill, for gods’
sakes!”

“Master Ian…”

“Don’t ‘Master Ian’ me! She’s not going to
die because of a fall. I won’t let it happen!”

“Until I get a specific vision or feeling
about a situation, there is not much I can do to rectify it.”

Ian clenched his fists, trying to keep
himself under control, knowing the elf wasn’t lying to him.

“I’ll speak with some of the other elders
before you leave. One of them may have an idea of what to do. It
doesn’t make sense to me, young Ian. I’ve seen pieces of the
future, and Chaela’s meant to do much more than she expects.
However, my visions are not always a hundred percent accurate and
some of them are subject to change as time goes by. If she sees
herself dying in a fall, then I’m afraid that her vision may be the
more accurate version.”

The two of them bent over the railing and Ian
swore at the sight of Chaela looking up at them. He turned back to
Blarenagin.

“No.”

He thought of the look on Chaela’s face as
the vision had come upon her. The surprise and absolute pure fear.
Though physically she hadn’t fallen an inch, there was no doubt in
his mind that she’d felt as though she was about to die. He’d
pulled her to his chest and she clung to him. His back was starting
to throb in a dull reminder that her nails had managed to leave
proof of her fear. The feel of her heart pumping against his chest,
her tears soaking into his tunic, her entire body shaking so hard
he had to keep his from following suit; those weren’t the reactions
of a woman who had seen herself falling off of her horse.

He entered the hall where dinner was being
served. Many of the elves there looked up at his arrival, but he
looked at the floor and ignored all of them. He wanted to tell
himself he wasn’t being very polite. Gods knew he’d been brought up
with better manners than this. He took two bowls of some sort of
stew and put some fresh rolls and two flasks of ale which he put in
a sac one of the older elven women handed him.

He started to walk away, but was stopped
short by her surprisingly strong grip on his arm. Her light green
eyes held his and he frowned.

“The gods take care of those they care
about.” Her voice was soft and much too young for the age of her
body.

“What do you mean?” Ian’s heart started to
pound in his chest.

She looked toward the sky and gestured up.
“The one you worry about… she is in good hands.”

Ian felt the blood drain from his face.
“Now?”

“Always.”

He dropped the bowls and barely heard them
break as they hit the floor while he ran back onto the catwalk. He
rushed down the winding stairs, jumping the last ten to the
ground.

“Chaela!”

He burst into the barn, his eyes scanning the
area blindly as they adjusted to the dark. He shut the doors out of
pure habit and sprinted to the opposite corner where Chaela lay in
the hay. He dropped the bag on a bale and knelt beside her,
scooping her up into his arms.

“No, no… Chaela, please…” He breathed a sigh
of relief as she lifted her head, her eyes still half asleep as
they met his. She frowned.

“What’s wrong? You look like someone just
died.”

Ian swallowed hard to get rid of the lump in
his throat. He closed his eyes and leaned his face into her hand as
she touched his cheek. Her other hand moved up so that she was
holding his face.

“Are you alright?”

He nodded and opened his eyes, finally
trusting he’d gotten control over the tears of relief that had
threatened to spring free.

“Can you do me a favor?”

She frowned. “What’s that?”

“The next time you decide to fall asleep,
could you wait until I’m with you?”

“I…” Seeing that he was obviously upset, she
nodded. Her stomach growled and Ian felt the blood rise up his
neck.

“I had food, I swear I did.” He let her go so
he could go get the bag he’d dropped.

“What happened, Ian?”

He shook his head, not wanting to upset her.
“It’s a long story. Actually, it’s a very short story that involved
me dropping two bowls of stew.” He pulled the rolls out and handed
two to her. “I did, however, manage to bring back rolls and ale.”
He gave her one of the flasks and watched as she took a long
swallow and closed her eyes as she savored the taste. “I can go
back for more stew if you’d like.”

Her green eyes met his. “No. I’d rather you
just stay here.”

His heart skipped and reaffirmed for him what
he’d told Blarenagin. There was no way he was going to let anything
happen to her. He took a drink from his flask and nodded. “I’d
rather just stay here as well.”

*****

The dreams had been so frequent the past week
that it came as no surprise when I found myself out in the middle
of a meadow. I looked around for the tall man with black hair and
black eyes, knowing he was the one who would appear.

“Have you decided who you are, yet?”