Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor (12 page)

Quinlan knew Sir Edmund was a good man, though frustrated by
the growing lack of enthusiasm among many of the Followers at the haven. Quinlan occasionally felt the urge to help but couldn’t bring himself to step forward for anything more than a routine presence. Discouragement had closed up his ears to any call to missions.

About four months after Quinlan’s journey back to Burkfield, word began to spread that a man of renown would be visiting in an effort to revitalize the haven. Mixed emotions welled up in Quinlan when he heard the visitor’s name—Sir Worthington. The man and his supporting knights would conduct a week’s worth of special training.

Although originally from Cameria, Quinlan was told, the man worked out of the haven at Thecia, planning and conducting missions. His significant success as a servant of the Prince had earned him kingdom-wide attention in recent months. He was a man everyone wanted to meet … or almost everyone.

“Are you going to attend the meetings?” Quinlan asked Tav one morning at breakfast.

“I’ve got other plans … with Mirya.” Tav winked at Quinlan. “You’ll have to tell me how it goes.”

“Sure.” Quinlan looked sadly at his friend, who seemed to be slipping away from the call of the Prince.

Quinlan wasn’t sure he wanted to attend the training either, but he was curious about Sir Worthington. He had liked the man from their brief encounter but wondered how all the prestige had changed him. Such widespread fame was like having a porcupine for a pet—eventually you’re going to get pierced. Quinlan also wondered how much of Worthington’s recognition was due to his natural charisma and how much was due to truly doing the work of the Prince. Would the Swords of Valor still be defending him if they hadn’t disbanded?

Quinlan decided to attend the first day of training just to see if Worthington was worth the effort of defending him.

Quinlan arrived at the haven that day to find only twenty-four knights had gathered for the first session—a paltry showing for a city the size of Burkfield. Sir Worthington was already addressing them, and Quinlan found an inconspicuous place at the back where he could
pretend to work on a broken segment of a fence while he watched and listened.

Six of Worthington’s supporting knights, four male and two female knights, stood near the front. Quinlan watched them first, knowing he could learn much about Worthington by observing those who followed him. The knights looked confident and serious. One of them was the female knight he remembered from Arimil.

Quinlan then turned his attention to the stately looking Sir Worthington, who addressed the assembly with a gentle but compelling voice. “Each of you is here for his or her own reason. Some are here because you are simply curious.” Quinlan felt his cheeks flush as Worthington continued. “Some are here because it would look bad if you weren’t. Others have come because you truly want to develop your skills as knights.”

Worthington smiled as several in his audience nodded. “Whatever your reason, I am glad you are here. I hope that when we are through, all of you will be here for only one reason—because you want to serve the King and the Prince with your whole heart! Without that as your reason, you are not truly a knight.”

Worthington drew his sword and placed the tip in the ground before him. “Sir Edmund asked me to come, but you must understand that I come at great risk to you.” He paused to let the knights absorb his words. “The Dark Knight is out there, and he will stop at nothing to destroy the cause of the Prince.”

He picked up the sword and swept its tip in front of him. “My fellow knights, the cause of the Prince is your cause too. When your heart pounds with passion for that cause, you take up a battle that has been raging from the beginning of time.”

Quinlan’s eyes suddenly filled, and he turned away. He was unprepared for the powerful tug those words made on his heart.

“You wear the mark of the Prince,” Worthington continued. “He died on a tree so that you each could become one of His knights. Do not let the comforts of this kingdom distract you from the call he gave Cedric, William, Rob, and the other first knights on that great day. We
are called to go into all the kingdom and recruit others to become Knights of the Prince, stay true to the Code, and prepare for battle against the Dark Knight. And I ask, are you prepared to do that?”

Worthington looked across the assembly, gazing into the eyes of each knight. Quinlan took a deep breath, feeling foolish and self-righteous for presuming to judge Sir Worthington. He wanted to leave but couldn’t … not yet. He needed to hear and see more.

Sir Worthington and his knights broke up the assembly into smaller units to dig more deeply into the Code. Quinlan busied himself with a few camp duties but listened in on a session that a knight was conducting nearby.

“Understand that the Code was perfectly fulfilled by the Prince,” the knight said with enthusiasm, “something no Arrethtraen could ever do. Because of the King’s great Son, the Code is therefore written on our hearts, and we live in the spirit of the Code, a governing that transcends rules written on parchment.”

Quinlan was amazed at the quality of Worthington’s training. He fully understood why Sir Edmund had sent for the man and his team. He also wondered if, in the absence of the Swords of Valor, the Silent Warriors were working harder to protect Worthington. Had Quinlan’s error actually put this great man in danger?

Eventually Worthington and his knights began training the knights from the haven in various methods of combat, especially sword fighting. Fear of failure kept Quinlan from joining, and knowledge of the truth kept him from leaving, but by noon the conflict in his bosom was more than he could take.

Turning to leave, he collided directly with one of Worthington’s knights—the young woman he had seen in Arimil.

“Sorry,” Quinlan mumbled and backed up a step.

The young knight stared at him with beautiful blue eyes that seemed to sparkle with life, even though her countenance was quite serious. “It’s all right,” she replied, pushing a loose tendril of dark brown hair out of her face. The rest of it was gathered in a braid that hung midway down her back. “It’s not the first time.”

Quinlan stared at her. Up close she was even more striking than Quinlan had thought, and the sight of her threw him into confusion. In times past, this is where Tav would have taken over and Quinlan would willingly have retreated and watched. But Tav was not here, and Quinlan looked desperately for a quick and easy exit.

“So,” the woman asked, “what’s your story?”

“I … well … I …” Quinlan fumbled for words. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you’ve been here since early this morning but haven’t once joined in on the training.” She flashed him a teasing smile. “Is your sword broken?”

“You could say that, I guess.” Quinlan felt his cheek tense, and he instinctively put up his hand to rub it.

The young woman stared straight into his eyes, all teasing gone. “Do you have any idea what’s really going on here?”

Stunned by the change in her demeanor, Quinlan couldn’t speak or look away. Slowly he nodded.

“Then what are you afraid of?”

At that Quinlan’s cheek went into spasms. “Excuse me,” he said and turned toward the stables to find Kobalt. As he walked, he heard Worthington’s voice far behind him.

“Raisa, we are here to train and recruit. You’re not supposed to chase our knights away!”

“Time is short,” Quinlan heard the woman reply. “The ones who stay will truly care about serving the Prince. We both know it takes more than wearing a tunic with His mark!”

Quinlan’s first response was to quicken his pace, but then he stopped. He had been ridiculed by handsome people his whole life, and he was tired of it. He turned on his heel and met the challenge of those intense blue eyes with an angry glare of his own. He didn’t care how pretty she was. He had had enough.

The moment was brief, but Quinlan saw her flinch even from this distance. He turned back and resumed his walk to the stables.

“He looks familiar. Do we know him?” Quinlan heard Worthington say reflectively.

“Not that I’m aware,” she answered, then raised her voice to make sure Quinlan heard. “But if he’s brave enough, perhaps he’ll come back tomorrow!”

“What
am
I going to do with you, Raisa?” Quinlan heard Worthington say.

JOURNEY TO NOWHERE

Quinlan watched Disty scurry up and down the shoreline of Jewel Lake, scouting for fish. He was glad the creature was away from Tav at least for a few moments. He had an announcement to make. “I’m leaving town,” Quinlan said as he cast his line in from the shoreline.

Tav made a face. “Twitch, I know I haven’t spent much time with you since you’ve been back, but you shouldn’t run off and do something rash again.”

“This isn’t rash, and it has nothing to do with you, Tav.” Quinlan looked at his childhood friend. “I made a commitment to the Prince, and for a short time I found real purpose in waking up each morning. Then when your uncle died, everything collapsed in on me.” Quinlan looked out across serene waters that sparkled in the early spring sunshine. “I thought I could return to my life here, but I’m more miserable now than I’ve ever been.”

“I just think you’re getting too worked up about being a knight.” Tav relaxed against a boulder and sighed with satisfaction. “Look, the Prince wants what’s best for us, right? What’s wrong with being comfortable and enjoying life a little?”

“You don’t understand, Tav. I’m miserable because I know I’m not serving the Prince as I should be. I feel I’m just wasting away while others are doing my work.” He picked up a small stone and threw it into the lake.

“Hey,” Tav scolded. “Don’t scare the fish.”

Quinlan laid down his fishing pole and turned to face Tav. “Why don’t you come with me? Remember when we said we’d ride together into the kingdom on grand missions for the Prince? Tav, you’re twice the knight I am. Imagine what we could accomplish together. There’s a war raging out there, and we could make a difference. What do you say?”

Tav seemed lost in thought as he considered Quinlan’s proposal. Disty, seeming to sense his master’s contemplation, scurried up next to him and chortled softly. Tav shook his head quickly as if waking from a dream, then let loose a laugh.

“You’re starting to sound as crazy as Baylor, chum.” Tav pulled in his line to recast. “Why would you ever want to leave Burkfield?” His line flew out into the lake and plunked into the cold blue water.

In that moment, Quinlan realized he was a man without a home … and without a friend who really understood him. The truth was, he didn’t understand Tav anymore either.

Quinlan got to his feet. “Thanks for letting me stay with you these past months.”

Tav looked up at Quinlan. “You really are going, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Quinlan replied sadly.

Tav looked perturbed. “You’re chasing a dream that doesn’t exist, Twitch.”

“I don’t believe that, but if it’s true, at least I’m chasing something.”

He walked a few steps, then turned back. “By the way, my name’s Quinlan.”

Within an hour, Quinlan had packed Kobalt and was riding south. He had little money, no destination, and no plans, just an intense desire to find purpose once more in his life. His experience with the Swords of
Valor had ended tragically, but it had also shown him what it was like truly to live. Quinlan knew that kind of life could be found only in serving the Prince.