The Blood Knight - J. Gregory Keyes [66]
The head lifted, and for an instant he feared it would turn its deadly eyes up toward them, but instead it lowered its nostrils to the ground and began to sniff at the trail. Its neck moved this way and that.
Was it following us or the slinders? he wondered. And who will it follow now?
It was then he noticed something he hadn’t before. The body widened above the legs to accommodate a massive bunching of shoulder muscles, and there, at its thickest place, was something strange, a flash of color that didn’t seem to belong, something sticking up.
Then he got it. It was a saddle, strapped around the girth of the thing, and there were two people sitting on it, one bareheaded and one wearing a broad-brimmed hat.
“Sceat,” Aspar murmured.
As if in response, a flash of pale appeared as the man with the hat looked up. And though the distance was great and the mist obscuring, Aspar knew by the eye patch and the shape of the nose exactly who it was.
Fend.
DUKE ERNST reached for his sword, but Neil’s already was flying from its scabbard, feylight lapping up the length of its blade. Ernst froze and stared, as did his men, and Neil backed his horse so that he was not pressed, so that he could face both Ernst and Elyoner.
“By my fathers and their fathers,” he snarled, “Anne Dare is under my protection, and I will slaughter any man who threatens to lay a hand on her.”
Another sword hissed from its sheath, and Cazio bounded down, placing himself between Anne and Ernst, but with his back to the Craftsmen. At this point Neil thought that might be a mistake.
“Shinecraft!” Ernst said, still staring at Draug. “Witchery. The praifec shall deal with you, whoever you are.”
“Much comfort that will be to your corpse,” Neil shot back. “In any event, I took this sword from a servant of the praifec, which I’m sure is as strange to you as it is to me.”
Ernst finished drawing his weapon. “I have no fear of your sorcery and no belly for your lies,” he said. “I will carry out my lord’s command.”
“My uncle is an usurper,” Anne said. “Your duty does not lie with him. It lies with me.”
Ernst spat.
“Your father my have badgered the Comven into legitimizing you as his heir, but do not become confused, Princess. There is only one Dare whose blood is thick enough to rule Crotheny, and that is King Robert. Whatever childish adventure you have embarked upon, I assure you that it ends now.”
“Oh, let the girl remain a child for a bit longer,” Elyoner broke in.
“Duchess?” Ernst said.
“Anne, dear,” Elyoner said, “you may want to close your eyes.”
Neil heard the sudden strum of bowstrings, and his flesh went cold and hot as he cursed his stupidity.
But it was Duke Ernst who showed the most surprise—one arrow went through his throat, and another vanished a fourth of its length into his right eye socket.
More darts followed, and in the space of but a few heartbeats, all of Ernst’s riders had fallen from their saddles. Only then did four men in yellow hose and orange surcoats appear from behind the wall. They began to slit the throats of the wounded with long wicked knives.
Anne gaped in astonishment.
“Oh, dear,” Elyoner said. “I thought I told you not to look.”
“It’s not my first time to see men die, Aunt Elyoner,” Anne replied. She looked pale and her eyes were watery, but she watched the murder with a steady gaze.
“Sadly, yes,” Elyoner said. “Despite a residue of naïveté, I can see that you have grown up, haven’t you? Well, enough of this unpleasantness,” she continued, pulling on the reins of her horse. “Let’s go see what my staff can find in the kitchens.”
As they started up the avenue toward the mansion, Neil trotted his horse up next to Elyoner.
“Duchess—”
“Yes, sir knight, I know it was boorish to think me a traitor and a liar, but there’s no need to apologize,” she said. “You see, I hadn’t expected the duke to arrive until tomorrow, and I had arranged for him to meet with an ill fate before even reaching here.”
“Robert will soon know that something has happened to them,” Neil said.
“Tsk, tsk.” Elyoner sighed.