The Blood Knight - J. Gregory Keyes [216]
There.
Fend and his companion were in the monster’s saddle, and the companion was taking aim at Aspar again. Cursing, he levered himself up just as a red-fletched missile struck his boot. He didn’t feel any pain, but the impact and his reaction sent him tumbling toward the edge. He threw his arms out to catch himself…
…and watched his bow, the string, and the black arrow fall toward the forest floor.
“Ah, sceat,” he snarled.
He spent exactly one heartbeat deciding what to do next. Then he leapt for the nearest treetop, some five kingsyards below him.
The presence of the Kept seemed to uncoil all about her, stretching vaster with each instant, and her bones hummed as if a saw were cutting through them.
Free.
The word struck her as if the Kept had somehow cast it into a lead ingot and hurled it at her. Her breath voided her lungs in a single painful gasp, and her heart felt as if it were liquid with terror. Confidence, command, certainty—all were swept aside, and she was a mouse in an open field, watching the hawk descend.
Free.
There was no joy in the word. No elation, no relief. It was the most vicious sound Anne had ever heard. Tears exploded from her eyes, and she trembled uncontrollably. She had doomed them all, ruined everything…
Freeeee.
Something cracked like thunder, so loud that her shriek was lost in it.
And then…nothing.
He was gone.
It took what seemed a very long time to regain control of herself and her emotions. She heard the others weeping and knew she wasn’t alone, but that did nothing to ease the humiliation.
Finally, after an age, Austra had the presence of mind to relight the lamp.
Their eyes confirmed that the chamber was empty. It was much larger than she had imagined.
“What have you done?” Alis asked weakly. “Dear saints, what have you done?”
“W-what I thought was best,” Anne managed. “I had to do something.”
“I don’t understand any of this,” Cazio said.
Anne started to try to explain, but her breath caught, and she suddenly felt like crying again.
“Wait,” she said. “Wait a moment, and I’ll try—”
Something suddenly hammered on the other side of the secret door.
“We’re found!” Austra gasped.
Cazio came to his feet and drew his weapon. He looked shaky, but it gave Anne heart. Screwing up her resolve, she determined to be strong.
“The Kept promised to kill Robert’s men,” she said.
“I’m thinking he lied to you about that,” Alis replied.
“We’ll see,” Anne replied.
“Someone give me a weapon,” Prince Cheiso said weakly but with determination. “I need a weapon.”
Cazio caught Anne’s eye, and she nodded. He proffered the Safnian a dagger. He glanced at the other three men, remembering vaguely there once had been four of them. What had happened to the fourth?
But after the soul bending he’d just experienced, nothing would surprise him.
“What are your names?” he asked the warriors.
“Sir Ansgar,” one of them said. Cazio could just make out a small beard. “These are my bondsmen, Preston Viccars and Cuelm MeqVorst.”
“The passage is narrow,” Cazio said. “We’ll take turns. I’m first; work out the rest of the order among you.”
“I pledged an oath to Sir Leafton that I would face her foes first,” Ansgar replied. “I hope you will allow me to honor that oath.”
Cazio started to object, but Ansgar, after all, was wearing armor. He was probably more suited, so to speak, to the situation.
“I yield the priority,” he said. “But please do not kill them all. Leave some for me.”
The man nodded, and Cazio stepped back, hoping his head would clear a bit more. At least their foe hadn’t made it through a few moments earlier, when they were all still weak. Maybe Robert’s men had been affected, as well.
He’d have to ask Anne exactly what had happened once this was over.
“Maybe they won’t make it through—” Austra began, but suddenly a wand of flickering light appeared in the stone, carving through it. An instant later, not only was the hidden doorway gone, so was a large lump of the passage.