Chael's Luck (A Knights of Dorathan Novel) (16 page)

Jasmine stepped out of the house with a wave
to her mother.

“Jasmine!”

She frowned and looked around, trying to find
who had called her.

“Jasmine! Behind the water barrel.” I stood
and grinned as her hand flew to her mouth.

“Chael! Why are you hiding behind my house?
They’re looking for you Chael. They say you killed your aunt and
uncle and father!”

I nodded. “So I’ve heard. Do you believe
them?”

She came to stand beside me and shook her
head.

“Good. I need your help.”

“Anything. What do you need?”

I smiled. “I need a dress.”

Her jaw dropped and her eyes bugged out of
her face. “But…”

“It’s a long story, yeah? For the sake of
getting things done, here’s the short version. The night my mother
died, my father got a double shock to the system. Instead of giving
birth to a son as was usual for my family, my mother gave birth to
me. A girl. My father raised me as a boy to keep the Shadow Knight
tradition alive.”

She looked me up and down, her smile
widening. “By gods, Chael, you make a much prettier woman than you
do a man!” She started to laugh. “It explains so much! Hang on.”
She ran back into her house, saying something about forgetting her
purse to her mother. She reappeared at her bedroom window. “Come
on!” She opened the window and moved out of the way so I could
climb in.

She took another look at me and grinned.
“Alright, so, what’s the dress for?”

“Well, I can’t go around looking like Chael;
he’s a wanted man. I think it might be time to officially become
Chaela. That’s my real name, by the way. No one will recognize me
if I’m in a dress.”

She nodded and went to her closet. “I’ve the
blue or the green that should fit you well. Let’s go with the
green, it matches your eyes.”

I started to tell her it didn’t really matter
what the dress looked like, but kept quiet when it became obvious
she was having a lot of fun. She was, at this very moment, the only
person I could put my trust in.

She handed me the dress and I pulled my tunic
over my head so I could get it on. She nodded, sure of her choice.
“I knew this one would work. It’s not as poufy as the others so if
you need to fight, it won’t be in the way. Also, keep your pants on
underneath. The dress will hide them and if you really need to, you
can rip the skirt clean off the bodice.” She went to her closet and
pulled out a thick dark brown cloak. “It’s a bit warm for a cloak,
but you can strap your slaggens to your back and cover them with
it.”

I watched her, shocked, and she laughed.
“Chaela, I’m not daft. I know you don’t need a dress to go for an
evening with a special someone. You’re here on a mission which
means you’ll need your weapons.” She maneuvered me to the bed and
handed me a brush. “You will, however, have to endure me doing your
hair if you’re going to pull this look off.”

I smiled. “By gods, if Ian saw this he’d have
a heart attack.”

“Oh?” She looked back from where she was
finding pins to put in my hair. “And I’m assuming Ian knows you’re
a woman.”

I blushed and she grinned.

“Promise me one thing, Chaela.”

“Anything.”

“When whatever it is you’re doing is done,
we’ll get together for a drink. We could all go for supper.” It was
her turn to blush. “You were right about Mac, by the way. We’re to
be married next summer.”

I smiled. “Well, once this is done, I’d love
for you to meet Ian. Speaking of Mac, is he around?”

She nodded. “I was just on my way to see him.
He’s guarding the gates with Hal and Harry at the moment.

“Perfect. I could use their help.”

“Alright.” She pinned my bangs back and
nodded at her handy work. “Now, a bit of eye smudge…”

I shook my head and she laughed.

“Fine.” She handed me the cloak, grabbed a
different purse than the one she’d been carrying, and walked out of
the room while I climbed back out the window. Once outside, she
linked her arm with mine. “Now, Ian, do I know him?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard of Sir Gavin
Murphy.”

She nodded.

“His son.”

She frowned. “But Ian Murphy is dead! A
riding accident out on the plains.”

I grinned. “Trust me, the man is very much
alive.” My smile slipped. “I hope he still is at least.”

She gave my arm a squeeze and gave a wave to
Mac who was climbing down the wall at our arrival.

“Good evening, Love.” He pressed his lips to
her forehead and nodded to me. “Miss.”

I started to laugh. “By gods, Jasmine, I must
admit I wasn’t sure the dress would work to disguise me, but the
proof is right before us.”

She grinned at a confused Mac. “Let’s see if
Hal and Harry recognize you.” She waved at the two of them and we
smiled as the twins made their way down to us.

“Good evening, Jasmine.” Hal smiled to her
and nodded to me. “Who’s your friend?”

I smiled and Harry’s grin slipped. “By gods!
No!”

“What?” Mac stared at me for a moment.

“Mac, it’s me. Chael.”

He looked me up and down before shaking his
head. “Well, it definitely explains a lot, then, doesn’t it?”

Hal’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Chael?”
He looked around to make sure no one had heard him. “You can’t be
here!” His eyes wandered to my chest and he shook his head.

“I know that but I have no choice! I didn’t
kill my father.”

“We know that, but the rest of the city seems
to think you did.”

“It was Caleb!”

All three of them frowned.

“Come here.” Mac took my arm and we all went
into the guard’s shack. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“We were sent to retrieve a book the day
after the Knight’s ceremony, do you remember?”

He nodded, but held up his hand. “Before
that. Before you left. You know they’re blaming you for your aunt
and uncle’s murders as well? Gods, Chael, they have your dagger as
evidence.”

I nodded. “It’s my old one. The one Caleb
stole when we were young.”

Everyone nodded to show they remembered and I
pulled my new dagger from behind my hip where it was hiding under
the cloak and ran through the explanation of how my father had
presented me with a new dagger the night of the ball and how I
hadn’t been able to find my old dagger the following morning.

“So whoever stole your dagger used it to kill
your aunt and uncle.”

I nodded.

“And what happened with the book?” inquired
Harry.

“We were attacked when we arrived at the
cabin where it was. Alexander was killed and so was my father. The
only reason I made it out a live was because Ian happened to be
traveling by and he heard the commotion. It was Caleb, Mac. I
didn’t know that at the time, but it was. He stole the book.”

“Ian?”

“Murphy.”

Mac ran a hand over his face in disbelief. “A
man who is actually a woman and a dead man who is actually alive.”
He took a deep breath. “Alright, keep going.”

“Ian knew a bit of the book and that it came
from the Wood Elves on the coast.” I waved away their shocked
looks. “I made that face too, but trust me, they’re alive and well.
The elder elf, the one that had given the book to Alexander for
safe keeping, explained to us that the book could be used to kill
the Knights.”

“How?”

“There’s a spell. The elf said that all
Knights carry a certain strain of magic in their blood. It’s what
makes them agile and strong… it’s not just genetics, yeah?”

Harry nodded. “Alright, so why does Caleb
want this book?”

Hal slapped him in the back of the head.
“He’s going to try to destroy us, you idiot.”

“But if he kills us, he kills himself.”

I shook my head. “There’s another spell, a
charm, that keeps the one saying the bad spell from being
affected.”

Mac swore. “We knew he was up to something,
but we had no idea it was something like this.” He frowned.
“Where’s Ian, then?”

“I’m not sure. Blarenagin, the wood elf,
displaced us to two different places. He could feel two areas where
Caleb and the book might be. I managed to displace where Caleb was.
I’m hoping Ian found the book.”

“So Caleb knows you’re here and that you know
what he’s up to.”

I shook my head. “He knows I was here, but
after he pushed me off the top of Guard’s Ridge, he thinks I’m
dead.”

“By gods, how are you here, unharmed, if he
pushed you off of a cliff?” Hal took me by the shoulders and turned
me in a circle to inspect me for injuries.

“While we were with the wood elves I had a
vision of falling. Blarenagin put a charm on me for when the vision
came true. I just had to say a phrase to activate it if ever I
fell. I thought I was dead, actually. I yelled the words and
nothing happened. That is, not until I was about five feet from the
ground. Then, it was like something caught me and set me down ever
so softly.” I remembered the grin on Caleb’s face as he’d managed
to rip my chain from my neck as he’d pushed me over the ledge.
“Bastard!”

We all turned at the sound of someone running
toward the shack.

“Mac!”

“Brian, what is it?”

Brian, a young Knight-in-training, entered
the shack and took an appraising look at me. Harry cleared his
throat.

“You have news?”

“I do, sir. You told me to stay around the
pub and to report should Caleb do something suspicious.”

Hal nodded. “And?”

“They just hauled a man out the back, beat
him, and dragged him to the dark haired one’s house.”

I frowned. “Did they say anything? Who was
the man?”

“He called the man Ian Murphy, sir, but he
must have been mistaken. Didn’t Sir Gavin’s son die five years
ago?”

He looked, wide eyed as I rushed past
him.

“Chael! Hang on a second! Getting yourself
killed won’t get him out of there!” Harry grabbed my arm and spun
me around. I hooked my leg under his and dropped him on his
back.

“Just because I’m wearing a dress, Harry,
don’t forget I’m still a Knight.” I pulled him up.

He shook his head. “Sorry. It’s a bit
confusing, yeah?”

I grinned. “Try being me the past eighteen
years. And it’s Chaela.”

“What?”

“My name. It’s actually Chaela, not
Chael.”

“Alright, then, Chaela.” Mac put a hand on my
shoulder. “You say you’re still a Knight, then let’s handle the
situation like it.”

I took a few deep breaths to calm myself.
“You’re right. Do you have a clue where this house is?”

He nodded.

“So what’s the plan?”

He grinned. “We kick in the door and get your
man out.”

“And the book. We need that book.”

Everyone nodded.

Hal rubbed his hands in anticipation. ‘Let’s
get to it, then!”

Mac took Jasmine by the hands and kissed her
softly. “Go to General Krane. Get him out of bed if you have to,
but be sure to tell him everything that’s happened tonight.”

She nodded. “Be careful.”

By the time we’d gone five blocks, I’d
tripped three times on the hem of my dress.

“Hang on,” I muttered. I took the skirt where
Jasmine had shown me and yanked on the fabric. It resisted
momentarily before giving way at the seam. The rest of the trip to
the pub was uneventful.

Once there, Mac poked his head in and shook
his head. “They’re not in here.”

“So we hit the house and hope he’s
there?”

I took a deep breath and looked at the sky.
“Chael, you’ve plagued me my whole life. Please, please let him be
alive. That’s all I ask.”

Harry squeezed my shoulder and stepped in
front of me.

“Don’t start,” warned Hal. “You were never
very good at kicking down doors. This has got nothing to do with
you actually being a woman.”

I nodded. “Just do it already.”

The twins grinned. “One, two, three!”

The door didn’t stand a chance against the
two of them and we rushed in while we had the element of surprise.
The sound of chairs scrapping backwards and shouts of surprise had
my three friends running toward the table to take on the two men I
didn’t recognize. Caleb ran into the room from another just as I
was dropping my cloak to the ground and reaching for my slaggens. I
caught a glimpse of Ian behind him, tied to a chair. The blood made
a dark, thin line along the side of his face from the cut about his
eye and soaked into the gag. I felt the anger ignite in me and
twirled the slaggens before pointing them at Caleb. The shock on
his face was comical and I sneered.

“You’re dead!”

I shook my head. “You just wish I was.” I
lunged at him, my blade sliding over his forearm as he tried to
dodge the blow. He fell backwards as he tried to avoid the other
blade. Behind us, the fighting had already stopped and by the look
on Caleb’s face, he’d just realized his friends weren’t going to be
coming to his aid. He managed to roll away from my next attack and
my sword stabbed and stuck into the floor. I moved my other to my
good hand and chased after him as he disappeared into the other
room.

I watched as he threw himself through the
window and disappeared into the night. I cried out in
frustration.

“Chaela.”

The sound of Ian’s voice behind me made my
throat tighten and I turned slowly. I saw him swallow hard.

“What’s wrong?” I walked toward him and put a
hand on his chest.

“You’re here.” His voice stuck in his throat
and he cleared it.

“Of course, I’m here.” I looked up at him.
“Are you alright?”

He nodded once and pulled me to his chest. I
felt him take a few deep breaths before he pressed his lips to my
forehead. He looked down and smiled.

“What are you wearing?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Well, I was wearing a
dress, but I kept tripping over it.”

He grunted. “Of course, I would miss seeing
that.” He opened his hand and held it up to me. I could see where
his fingernails had dug into his palms with the effort to keep a
hold on the chain. “I think you lost something.”