Chapter 28 #2
The carriage horses paw at the sand where they’re still tied up, blowing hot air out their noses. Frog’s and Rhidland’s steeds lie dead and Wolfe’s is missing.
It’s all Merrek and Myrrdin can do to keep them calm while heading off the two cloaked figures before them.
I rush to help them when a strong arm hooks around my waist and pulls me back into the carriage’s shadow. A warm hand smothers my scream.
“It’s me, Miss Sunday.” Frog breathes into my ear. “It’s only me.”
I cease the useless kicking and relax into the dark knight’s hold, expecting him to release me.
He doesn’t.
“What is going on?” I murmur beneath his hand, but my words come out muffled and distorted.
“What is happening?” I try again.
“Shh,” Frog hushes, the cold edge of his iron mask grazing the shell of my ear as he draws me closer. The touch is impossibly light, sending a shiver down my spine, sharp enough to make me forget, for one reckless moment, the danger surrounding us.
“This needn’t go on any further. We have no business with you,” Rhidland calls from somewhere behind the carriage, but he doesn’t sound like himself. He sounds tired. Desperate.
Boots shuffle in the sand and Frog pulls me further into the shadows.
“You are our business.” A gravelly voice tsks.
“So be it.” Rhidland sighs, a sound I’ve heard a thousand times before, yet this time feels different.
I twist and turn in Frog’s arms, begging for him to let me go when the sound of steel exploding into motion makes me freeze.
The first clash echoes off the cliffside, like thunder rattling the mountains. Then comes the clash and zing of the other knights’ blades as they join in driving back the strangers.
Everything becomes noise.
Steel on steel.
Men shouting.
The terrified screams of horses.
My fingers tighten around where the dark knight smothers my own screams.
“Please,” I beg as hot tears stream down my cheeks. But it isn’t until an attacker finds where we’re hiding that he finally sets me free.
In one smooth move Frog pushes me behind him, but he doesn’t draw his blade.
The attacker cocks his head in question, his dark eyes bouncing between me and the dark knight.
“Move,” he croaks.
Frog shakes his head, but I can’t see his face. I can’t see what he’s thinking or why he hasn’t drawn his sword.
“Ooh. So it is like that now?” The attacker huffs a laugh, inching ever closer with the tip of his blade. Though somehow, he knows to tread lightly, watching the dark knight’s every step.
“You cannot have Miss Sunday,” Frog grits, digging his heels into the sand, readying to face metal with nothing more than his hands.
“This realm will be restored,” the strange man growls. “’Tis a shame you won’t be here to see it.”
He charges us, his blade held tightly at his side.
“No!” I yell out as Frog meets him halfway, tackling the attacker to the ground.
“My lady?” Rhidland shouts.
I whirl in time to see him frozen, his sword raised high above his head. Pinned beneath him, the attacker slips a hand into his cloak and draws out a short blade.
My heart lurches in my throat.
“Rhidland!” I scream just as steel sinks into his flesh.
“No!” I cry.
Time stops as the blade disappears into his ribs. He remains standing for one impossible second, his sword striking the earth with a dull thud. Then he falls to his knees.
I’m running before anyone can stop me.
“Princess! I’m coming!” Merrek calls, his attacker screaming as he’s shoved off the cliff.
I ignore them all. Dropping to my knees in the sand I catch Rhidland before his head strikes the ground. His blood soaks into the sleeves of my nightgown almost immediately.
“No…no, no…” I shake my head, harder and harder each time, as if the motion alone could change his fate.
“My lady…” Rhidland whispers.
His voice is frighteningly calm.
“Stay with me, okay?” Hot tears blur my vision, and I curse them for stealing my view of his face.
His weathered hand lifts with obvious effort, swiping the wet from my face.
“My how you’ve grown,” he murmurs.
My head shakes, more desperately than before.
“My lady, look at me.”
Around us chaos ensues, but it all feels impossibly far away. My eyes search for someone, anyone, to help us. To help him. But Merrek’s taken on the man Rhidland had pinned. There’s no one here to save him.
“No…no.” I plead with trembling lips.
“My lady, please.”
I suck in a shaky breath and lower my gaze. Blood trickles from his mouth now.
“I’m so sorry, Rhidland. You never got to see the good return.”
His eyes soften as his thumb strokes my cheek.
“Oh, but I did. I saw you. And you are good.” His breath hitches in his throat and warm tears pour from his eyes. “I die with a full heart, My lady. For it has finally seen you happy.”
His eyes drift to where Frog is wrestling a blade out of an attacker’s hand, then back to me, a knowing glint in his eyes.
“Your heart is in good hands,” he whispers, his breaths growing shallow.
I take his hand in mine, squeezing it to my chest.
“It will carry the memory of yours for a lifetime,” I sob.
He smiles, drawing in his last breath. “My Sunday.”
His hand goes still in mine, its warmth already fading. Yet I hold on…waiting. Certain his chest will rise again.
But it doesn’t.
The realm falls silent, even the men and their stupid swords. They’ve all faded into nothing beneath the pounding of my heart.
I clutch the old guard tighter, burying my face in his shoulder.
“No…”
Somewhere nearby, someone shouts my name. But I don’t let go.
How can I let go?
Strong hands reach for my shoulders. I shrug them away. Above us, honeyed hues of pink and orange spill across the road, washing the tangled forest behind us in a beautiful shade of gold.
A new day has begun. My first without him.
They buried him beneath sunlight,
deep within the sand.
And next to him, a small pile of rocks
For a man named Galahand.
No goodbyes were needed.
No goodbyes were said.
For grief is a love that knows no end.