Knight's End (The Knight Trilogy) (29 page)

“I want to help you. I want to find his killer, too. I want to be able to live with this guilt. I think this is what I am supposed to do.”

Jade smiled at the prince. He had come so far since she had met him. He was a kind man now. He would make a great king.
“What about your father?” she asked him.

Talbot shrugged.
“What about him?”

Jade smiled and pulled Talbot into a hug before standing and going to her wardrobe. She grabbed a bag and quickly packed it. She would have laughed at the irony of the situation if she wasn’t so sad.

“How do we go without being noticed?” Talbot asked her.

Jade
glanced
at her window and smiled. “I have an idea.”

An hour later, she’d been to the throne room and retrieved Aston’s satchel, telling her mother and father that she needed it to part with her feelings. Her father had objected, but the queen had been more than happy to allow Jade to take it. Now, she was climbing down the grey walls of the palace backwards, holding onto the rope from Aston’s grappling hook. Talbot
had gone through the palace and out the front door, his hurt shoulder not allowing him to climb down.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Jade felt her heart lift a bit. She’d felt too cramped, being inside the palace. The place that had once been her home held nothing but bad memories. She turned to take one last look at it before blowing a kiss to the moss cover
ed walls
and to her knight, who was still somewhere inside.  Then she turned and followed after Talbot, racing him to the stables. She tacked her horse slowly, watching as
Sebastian
helped Talbot tack
Red
and then gave the prince a hand up.

“Can you ride with one arm?” she questioned.

Talbot smirked at her.
“How do you think I travelled here?” he answered.

Jade watched in awe as
the prince
maneuvered his big bay with his knees, holding the reins in only one hand. She smiled at him before finishing
Sterling
and mounting.
Sebastian handed her Edward’s reins as well, and she
sadly
smiled down at him.

“Leaving again, Princess Jade?” he asked her, a twinkle lighting up the old man’s eyes.

Jade nodded and leaned down to kiss the man on his wrinkled cheek.
“Thank you,
Sebastian
, again,” she told him. She followed Talbot out of the stables and onto the path leading away from Ad
ion. Talbot broke Red into a gallop
and Jade followed,
urging
Sterling
faster. Aston’s satchel bounced against her back as she rode, and she felt comfortable, having him so close.

She vowed to herself that she would catch Aston’s murderer or die trying. She was grateful to have Talbot to help her, and she knew Delgrab, Alys, and even little Richie would do all they could to help as well. She clung to Aston’s sword, which she held in her lap, laid across the saddle, and smiled. She would learn to fight with the blade. She would become s
trong and agile, quick and sure-
footed. This would be
her
weapon from now on. It had been chosen for her.

Chosen for her
at her Knight’s End.

Jami Montgomery is a twenty-two year old author from South Texas.
She spends every second she has writing, reading, and buying countless books. Chances are, if you can’t find her, she is furiously typing away on her computer or buried in a book somewhere. Or lost in a bookstore.

Knight’s End
is Jami’s
first published work, and she looks forward to sharing more stories with her readers, family, and friends.

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