Nightlord: Sunset (79 page)

I nodded.  “Thank you.”

She fidgeted with the bowl for a while.  “I watched you with the children.”

“Yes?”

“Do you… are you always like that?  With children?”

I shrugged.  “I can be as impatient and snappish as the next man, I guess.  But I like kids.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted.  “I think it’s because they haven’t lost the ability to find wonder in little things.”

“Such as speaking stones?” she asked, smiling.

“Or even skipping stones,” I replied.  “Kids make me think hopeful thoughts.”

She nodded.  “I can understand that.  Will you return to my wagon and rest?”

“I think I will.  Thank you.”  She helped me up and I used my new stick as a cane; I felt tired.

“I see you have your sword,” she noted.

“Of course.  A knight always has his sword.”

She smiled.  “Of course.  Does anyone… else… know about you?”

“As a knight, or a nightlord?”

“A nightlord.”

“A few have found out, yes.  But they are people I trust, and nobody I trust is running a loose mouth.”

“Wise of them.”  She opened the door for me and I went in, carefully.  A brief walk, a full meal, and I was tired again.  Being chewed on by demons really seems to take it out of me.

“Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?” she asked.

I settled down in the pile of cushions that served as a bed.  “No, I think I’m good.  Thank you, though.  I’m going to try and nap some more.”  She nodded again and plumped a couple of cushions for me.

“I will return after nightfall to see to your needs.  Please, wait for me?”

“I will,” I promised.  I don’t know why she asked, but, well, okay…

“Good.  I will see you then.”  She kissed my cheek and left.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22
ND

N
ightfall was worse than sunrise.  Everything seemed to catch fire inside me and burn.  It hurt—it hurt like having my bones dipped in molten metal and my blood brought to a boil.  The worst of it was my shoulder.  Every puncture the Thing’s teeth made were lines of pain, drawn deep in the fabric of my being with acid and fire.

When the sunset was over, the pain diminished, but it did not go away.

Then came the thirst.  The
hunger
.  Oh, yes.  I was hungry.  My body was demanding blood to fix the problems it was having, and demanding it
now
.

But I laid there and waited, breathing deeply—I didn’t need to, but it’s a calming thing—and tried to keep the upper hand on my hunger.  It wasn’t as bad as I’d felt in the magicians’ circle.  That had been starvation.  This was intense, moreso than I’d ever felt as a mortal, but not beyond my strength to endure.

At least, for a while.

It was distracting, though, and made the minutes crawl by.  Where was Utai?  Why hadn’t she come yet?  Come to that, where was everyone else?  Why was I waiting here?  I could be out in the dark, hunting rabbits, foxes, deer, those big cats—what were they called?…
tuva,
that’s right…

The door opened and Utai came in.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Hungry.  Very hungry.  Is there anything for me?” I asked; I know I sounded eager.

She nodded.  “Yes.  Will you come out?”

I grabbed my cloak, clasped it, and followed her, still favoring my right arm.  Outside, there were six men, each holding an animal or two.  Rabbits, yes, still alive and kicking.  But the prize was a six-point buck with a crossbow bolt sticking out of one lung; it was still alive, but not by much.  Three men were with it, looking haggard around the edges and extremely tired.  I would guess they had dragged it back—still alive and kicking—from wherever they shot it.  I hoped they wouldn’t get in trouble with any local lords.

“These are for you,” Utai said, gesturing.

I gestured, and the tendrils lashed out, sinking into the still-living creatures.  They immediately ceased to struggle or twitch.  A moment later, I had my fangs sunk into the neck of the buck, feasting on the blood like a starving thing.  That took the edge off.  I paused to remove my shirt and the bandage.  The wound was still open and looked raw.  I seized a rabbit and poured blood into the hole.

It wasn’t all I needed, but it was enough.  My shoulder still hurt, but the rest of me was feeling fine.  Even the stinger-cuts were gone.

Then I became aware… Surrounding me, there was the entire
gata
, silently watching.  I stood up and looked back at them, turning to regard them all.

“Thank you,” I said.

Utai dropped a deep curtsey, and all the women and girls followed suit.  The men bowed deeply.  I took it for a “you’re welcome” and let it slide.

“The meat is edible,” I said.  “Please, take it.”

Utai curtseyed again and the men who had been holding the prey/offering/animals moved to take up the carcasses.  Gutting and cleaning them would be a lot less messy than usual.

“Will you remain with us, Lord of the Dark Hours?” she asked.

“Not tonight.  I have a lot to do.”

“You are not entirely well,” she observed.  I rubbed my shoulder gently; it still hurt.

“That is so.  But I thank you for your aid.  It will not be forgotten.”

The whole
gata
bowed/curtseyed again.  It was eerie and unsettling.  I’m not sure if I like it.

“Then we bid you good journey and safe return.”

I smiled.  “Thank you, Utai.  For everything.”  Then I took her hand and kissed it.  She blushed like a sunrise and I heard a group gasp.

It’s not easy being from another world where the rules of etiquette are different.  I wondered what the hell I’d just done.  But I ignored it, let go of her hand, and moved to
mount Bronze.

“Lord?” asked Alivinus.  “Will we see you again?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted.  “If I can, I will send word of my coming.”

“As you will, lord.”

With that, I rang my heels against Bronze’s sides and we vanished into the night.

Well, okay, we just went away really fast, but it sounds good.

We covered ground for a few leagues before I pulled over and got my crystal out of a saddlebag.  A few minutes later, I had a good image of Tamara; she was not yet asleep, although she was wrapped in a blanket.  She sat up, looked out of the crystal at me, and waved.

“I’m headed your way,” I said, projecting my voice to her.  “I don’t know where you are, though.”

She nodded and cleared a patch of dirt.  With a stick, she sketched the northern keep and the river, then a road southward, one village, and then a little more road. 

“Okay.  I’ll probably hit the village and backtrack… but I’ll find you.”

She smiled at me again and blew me a kiss.  I blew one back and waved a hand over the ball to shut it off.  After that, Bronze and I headed north at speed.

To make a long trip short, I did eventually find them.  I wound up going all the way to the keep to do it.  I asked which way they’d gone, got pointed in the right direction, then just followed the road.

Where’s a road atlas when you need one?

I reined up when I saw the smoke from their campfire and Bronze and I walked the rest of the way.  When we got closer and I could actually see them camped out by the roadside, I drew Firebrand and held it up, over my head.

Blazing or just bright?
it asked.

“Just some light.  I don’t want everyone leaping to their feet and screaming.”

Gotcha, boss.
  Firebrand lit like I’d dunked it in gasoline, shedding enough light to make us easily visible.  The man on watch looked startled; I suppose that’s reasonable, considering I was still far enough away to be invisible in the dark.  One second, there’s an overcast night in a lightly-snowing forest; the next, there’s a man on a bronze horse with a sword of fire illuminating him.  I think I’d be a trifle startled, myself.

We went forward at a walk while the sentry kicked into a tent to wake someone.  Even at that distance, I could see Raeth stick his head out—I’ve got sharp eyes, especially at night.  Sharper than I’d realized; I could count his eyelashes.  While he was blinking.

That was better than I remembered.  Still, as I get older, I should expect changes… right.

A dragon’s eyes can see better than an eagle’s, boss.

“Good to know,” I muttered.  I wondered what else was going to be odd.

Raeth, Bouger, and Tamara woke up to greet me, quietly.  Tamara had warned them I would be arriving sometime tonight.  Raeth and Bouger clasped forearms with me, then Tamara kissed me hello.

I was surprised at the number of people with them.  Hellas and her son, Esmun, of course, but there were at least two dozen more men and a dozen women.  It was a sizable party, complete with tents, a few horses, several mules, and a trio of wagons for goods and supplies.

“What’s up with all the people?” I asked, softly—we spoke in whispers to let people sleep—and gestured at the encampment.

Raeth grinned at me.  “They are your people, my lord.”

“I don’t understand.”

“They have pledged themselves to your banner, my lord,” he clarified, nodding at a pole in the middle of the camp.  I looked at it and thought I recognized a familiar piece of cloth.  I went over to it and held it out.

Yep, that was my banner all right.  Circle, dragon, and sword.  I let it hang again.

“So what does that make me, Raeth?” I demanded.  “I’m just a knight, not a lord.”

“You’re a knight with a retinue,” Tamara answered.  “That makes you a lord.  Is that such a bad thing?”

“Well, no,” I admitted, “but it’s a lot more responsibility than I had in mind right now.”

She smiled.  She took my hand and placed it over her belly, then looked me in the eye.

“You wish to found a manor—a manor of schooling, is it?—and have pledged yourself to aid me in
this
,” she said, patting my hand.  “Shall you not profit and learn from these who would follow you?”

I listened with only half an ear; my right shoulder was still hurting and she’d taken my right hand.  But there was something strange I felt…

“Shh,” I said, and knelt down, pressing my head to her belly.

“What—” she began, and I shushed her again, listening.  I could hear her heartbeat and breathing… tune that out, tune out the sounds of the wind in the trees, the sound of thirty people snoring and sleeping, the crackle of a campfire… and
listen
within her…

Heartbeats.  Tiny things, smaller than the sound of snowflakes falling on water. 
Two
of them.

I stood up.

“Twins,” I said.  “You’re going to have twins.”

She broke into a radiant smile.  And I mean that; light glowed from her, faintly, like she had glow-in-the-dark skin.  Raeth and Bouger both congratulated us.  I got the impression they already knew about her having a baby.

“Why, of course,” Bouger answered, after I asked.  “Did you think she would not tell us?  We are traveling far and we are taking all the care of her we may.  It would not do to keep such a thing a secret.”

“I guess you’re right,” I admitted.

“Although, she didn’t say who the father of the child—the children—is.”  Bouger grinned at me and nudged me in the ribs.  “But I think you just did, eh?”

“Oh shut up,” I mumbled.  I’m glad I can’t blush at night.  “We’ve got a long road in the morning; let’s turn in.”

“Anxious to get to bed?” Bouger added.  I growled at him softly and he smirked.  Raeth kicked him in an ankle and gestured; the two of them retreated to a tent to sack out.  Tamara took my hand and led me to a tent.  Her tent.

“Unless you intend to spend the night in the cold?” she asked.

I allowed myself to be led.

Inside the tent, she lay down on a pad of blankets and drew another over her, then looked at me expectantly.  I sighed theatrically and undressed.

“You’re hurt,” she said, upon seeing my shoulder.

“Not to speak of; it’s getting better.”

“But you should have healed, should you not?  It is night.”

“Yeah, but it was a demon what done it,” I answered.  “It’s dead now.  I’ll be fine in a day or two.”

“Let me see,” she demanded, sitting up.  I sat down beside her and let her examine me.  The bite was still there, the mark of fangs driven through flesh and bone until they met inside.  It was much shallower now; the flesh was healing from the inside up toward the surface.

“Did you wash these?” she asked.

“Yes, with blood.”

“Good.  Now tell me how this happened.”

So I explained what happened—coming across the
gata
, greeting Utai, making a sort of pact, killing the demonic thing, recovering for a day, feeding on their gifts, then coming here.  When I spoke of the demon, her eyes grew wide, but she did not interrupt.  When I was done, she touched my wounds and bit her lip, thinking.

“What you killed was something fouler than you know,” she said, softly.  “It is a thing that eats other demons.”

“Then I’m sorry I killed it.”

“No, do not be.  It is an unclean thing.  It was seeking you, I will swear to it; it favors the flesh of all things of darkness over any mortal meat.”

I felt cold chills that had nothing to do with the weather.

“So it was looking for me?”

Tamara nodded.  “I fear so.”

I thought about it.  Utai used to be with me a lot, and I’d cloaked her in a shielding spell.  But I hadn’t maintained it in a long time—doubtless, it had gone down by now.  Anyone looking for me—okay, let’s face it: one or more of Tobias’ mages, if he still trusted them; possibly even Tobias himself through the agency of the Devourer—might put something terrible on her trail to wait for me.  Something nasty and dangerous that might even kill me.

They couldn’t be sure of that.  So what would be the backup?  Something to follow me, maybe, to keep an eye on me…

I pulled Tamara close to me and whispered my thoughts to her.  She nodded, silently.

“I’m going to step outside and look around, see if I can find anything watching.”

“I will wait here,” she whispered.  “If you need any aid…”

I kissed her cheek.  “I’ll yell.”  I got up, dressed, went outside, and headed for Bronze as though I were leaving.  As I mounted, I started spreading out tendrils to check for unpleasant Things.  I remembered to search higher than ground level, too.  I also looked into the sky, in case some Thing was flying.  Nothing.

Relieved, I went back into the tent and to Tamara.