CHAPTER 25 #2
The closer he came, the larger he got. He was at least as tall as Gort.
Maybe even taller. Six foot four? Six foot six?
All the broad shoulders you would ever need.
Not only was he large, but he moved so well, he reminded me of Reynald.
Everard. I had to stop calling him Reynald in my head.
This man walked with the same light gait of a warrior trained to respond to sudden threats.
I’m looking for a man in armor. Six five, blue eyes. I almost laughed. After everything that happened, I must’ve finally lost it.
He reached me and bowed. It was a shallow bow, polite and perfunctory, a simple courtesy afforded to an unfamiliar woman of noble birth. Well, he probably did have a trust fund judging by the manners.
“Welcome, my lady. What can the Order do for you on this beautiful morning?”
His voice matched him, a smooth baritone. You could tell that he was used to roaring commands in the heat of a battle, and now he was deliberately controlling the volume, taking care to speak softer because it was just the two of us here.
“I’m afraid there has been a mistake, my lord. I’m here to see Lord Berengur.”
“Lord Berengur has left us for the time being to take care of a personal matter. However, I have known him for many years. We trust each other to handle problems in each other’s stead. Perhaps I could be of service?”
“When will he be back?”
“Not for another week, I’m afraid.”
Another week would be too late.
“In that case, I regretfully ask for permission to impose on your hospitality. May I ask your name, sir?”
At least tell me who I’m speaking with.
“Forgive me. I should have introduced myself. It has been a complicated day, and clearly, I have misplaced my manners. I am Earl Bellen. But here, within these walls, the honorifics are unnecessary. Inside the Citadel, I’m just a knight, one of many. May I ask your name?”
Earl Bellen. Bellen . . . Didn’t ring any bells. How was he not some kind of major character in the books? Of course, he could be lying to me, but I had no idea why he would. We’d never met.
“Maggie,” I told him.
He quirked an eyebrow. “Lady Maggie . . . ?”
“Just Lady Maggie, my lord.” Every time someone said Lady Maggie, it sounded ridiculous, and now I was saying it, too, and feeling stupid every time I did.
“My issue is complicated. I came to appeal to Lord Berengur for help.”
“Perhaps we better sit down then.” He indicated a table and two chairs set at the crossing of paths between the flower beds.
We strolled toward it.
“Does the scent of hafia bother you? Some people find their aroma too heady.”
“Not at all,” I said. “The scent is pleasant, and the flowers are very beautiful.”
“They’re medicinal in nature. They help to stem the blood flow from open wounds.”
“Beauty and utility in a single form.”
“Indeed.”
We reached the table, and he held a chair out for me. I perched in it. My feet quietly celebrated.
Bellen sat. The chair seemed slightly too small for him.
In our world, physically gifted people played sports.
If you were strong and fast, you became a football player, or a basketball star, or an Olympic athlete.
In Rellas, you became a knight. I was probably looking at a descendant of several generations of martial tradition. Knighthood was in his blood.
He was something that was lost in our world because it was no longer needed.
We had moved past people in armor charging at each other on a battlefield.
Romantic history told us they would wash off the blood and gore and turn into gallant poets at the next formal dinner.
If that gallantry had ever truly existed, it would’ve been a disguise, window dressing designed to lull you into forgetting you were sitting across from a trained, experienced killer who would take your life without hesitation.
If I left Rellas and returned to my world, I would never be able to see knights in the same way.
Not after watching Everard kill. Not after the Butcher.
If a Renaissance faire jouster tried to talk to me, I would run away screaming.
“My lady?” Bellen prompted.
“Pardon the hesitation, my lord. Are you aware of the body found in the Dog Market?”
Bellen’s face turned hard. “An ugly affair. Not the way a knight like Shuhoven should have gone.”
“The man responsible for his murder fancies himself a hunter of people. Specifically, knights.”
Bellen frowned. “How do you know this?”
“I cannot tell you that. I can tell you that there was a second victim.”
“Who?”
“Velpor. His body was found in the plaza of the Knight Vanquisher. It was removed and hidden to avoid agitating the Order of the Conqueror.”
Bellen leaned back. “I didn’t hear anything.”
“You weren’t supposed to, my lord.”
I hesitated. One wrong word here and he could detain me.
He clearly was high enough in the ranks.
But knights were bound by a code of conduct.
Defender Knights, in particular, made a big deal out of the knightly virtues.
If he did something unbecoming of a knight, it would make his political life within the Order more complicated, and his rivals would use it against him.
It was less about his explicit authority and more about how he would be seen by others.
I had to leverage that against uncomfortable questions.
“I find myself in an awkward position, my lord. Lord Berengur would have reason to believe the things I’m telling you, and he would understand why I cannot reveal the source of my information. I have no choice but to rely on your discretion.”
“You have it.” He leaned closer. He was already taking up too much space, and now he blocked half of my view.
“Do I have your word?”
“Yes.”
“The hunter of knights will strike again, and he has selected a new victim. He will track her until the opportunity presents itself, ambush her, abduct her, torture her, and then display her mutilated corpse to terrify the city. I want to spare her that fate.”
“Who is she?”
“Dame Eliarde.”
No reaction. I had expected surprise, outrage, something.
“If I were to warn Dame Eliarde, she would not heed my warning. She has no reason to trust me. She might take it as a threat or a slight against her skill. Depending on her mood, I might not be able to walk away from that meeting. I came here to beg Lord Berengur to deliver that warning on my behalf.”
He studied me. “This is a grave matter.”
“It is. I do not want her to die, my lord.”
He fell silent, considering it.
I waited. I had no arguments left.
Bellen nodded to me. “Although I’m not as renowned as some, my words do carry a little weight. Do not fret, my lady. I will deliver your warning in Berengur’s stead.”
I exhaled, and I didn’t even care if he saw it.
“What can you tell me about this killer?” he asked.
“He is a man who uses magic to enhance his speed. When he strikes, he shimmers with purple and blurs, and his attacks become almost impossible to parry.”
Unless you’re Everard.
“I don’t know his name or where he’s hiding. I know he’s wounded, but I’m afraid it will only spur him on. He will strike again.”
“Who wounded him?”
“A swordsman who interrupted him as he was about to display Velpor’s corpse.” The best lies were mostly true. “A chance meeting that ended badly. I only heard about it and cannot tell you more.”
“Of course.”
Sooner or later, the Defenders would find out about the scar Everard left in the plaza, and Lord Bellen would likely decide that the Sleepless Duke might have been involved. It was good to distance myself from it.
“Thank you. I will not forget this favor.” I rose.
He stood up. “On the contrary, we owe you a debt. Dame Eliarde is dear to our Lord Commander. Any threat to her safety must be taken seriously by all of us.”
“Then I leave assured. Goodbye, my lord.”
I turned. He caught up with me.
“Please allow me to escort you.”
We started down the path. I would have to walk all the way to the barbican, and then I would have to walk some more to Old Town, and Kair Toren didn’t have Band-Aids.
“Would you like to borrow a carriage, my lady?” he asked.
“Is it that obvious?”
He smiled. It softened his harsh face, turning him unexpectedly handsome. It didn’t seem fair—like finding out that a gorgeous actor, who already seemed to have everything in life, could also sing like a rock star.
“As a knight with others under my command, it is my job to recognize when someone is hiding pain. You have done so much for us. Please allow me this one small courtesy.”
Climbing into a Defender’s carriage was ill-advised and dangerous, but my feet hurt like hell.
“Thank you. A carriage would be most welcome.”
We walked across the courtyard. He was keeping close to me, almost at the distance Everard was when he hovered over me at the market. Except Everard did it because we were in a crowded place with a lot of potential danger. Bellen and I pretty much had this courtyard to ourselves.
“Thank you for the escort, my lord.”
“My pleasure. Escorting beautiful women is the rarest of our duties but it is one of grave importance. You never know where dangers may lurk.”
I laughed softly. He smiled at me again.
It was probably force of habit. He was maintaining the “bodyguard” distance.
“What place in all the city is safer than the Citadel of the Defenders? Surely, I’m in no danger here.”
He assumed a serious expression, but the smile was still there, in his eyes. “You could trip, my lady. Should that happen, have no fear. I will not let you fall.”
Flirting with Lord Bellen in the Defender Citadel. Heh.
Everard’s betrayal had hit me like a semi.
I felt raw, as if someone had taken a brick to my emotions and viciously smashed them until they turned into one continuous bruise.
I didn’t want to think about it. I had a big hurdle to overcome today and if I managed it, I would have to go home, and home had turned from my shelter to a dragon’s lair.