FOREVER KNIGHTS: #12 Primal Intent

Thunder cracked and the queen of Nightway Castle sat bolt upright. Heart throbbing.

Jessica had been tucking a fresh warming block into the bottom of her covers and saw her mistresses panicked look. “What’s wrong?”

“Another one.” Riaura panted.

“What?” Jessica blinked huge brown eyes.

“A woman was burned alive tonight.” She choked out brokenly.

“Another peasant woman?” Jessica knew her mistress had been having nightmares about the peasants dying ever since it began several years ago, and they were increasing.

“Yes.” Riaura put her face into her hands mournfully.

“Are you ever wrong?” Jessica sat on the edge of the bed to rub Riaura’s shoulder consolingly.

“No. And there’s nothing I can do in the nightmares. I just have to…Watch.” She sobbed. “They’re horrible! Who’d do that to them?”

“I don’t know.” Jessica looked helpless. “I’ve been asking around but no one in the castle seems to know. Or they’re not talking…”

“They’re needless! And they’ve been happening for far too many years now!”

“And the Rebel uprising are increasing in objection.” Jessica agreed.

“Why would someone want to harm my people? And in such an awful way.”

“They’re twisted and evil.”

Tears flooded from Riaura’s green eyes. She pulled open her chamber door under Jessica’s startled eye and looked to both sides of the door. Finding no one there.

“Who are you looking for?” Jessica asked in confusion.

Riaura hadn’t told her that Alazar was now a knight of the NightGuard. She opened her mouth to now but thought better of it. With a wild sob she fled her chamber. Rushing headlong through the corridors of Nightway Castle. Nightclothes flying like wings glowing in the dark. Eyes shined over with tears that’d stopped falling. She fumbled down the flights of steps and the guards positioned at them. Hair flying around her in the same luminescing shade of the moonlight on her nightdress. She slid a candle off the table near the door and heaved with all her weight to hoist it open.

It groaned in objection. Only scraping open a slight crack.

A knight stepped to her side and assisted her opening it, but one glance beyond his helmet with the candle aloft, verified he wasn’t the one she sought.

Lips compressed and gaze locked ahead she flew out into the courtyard where lightening cut the sky beyond the Gaming Ground’s training pillars. Brightening her path through the bailey and to the drawbridge.

The guard saw her coming and heard her shout.

Unquestioningly they dropped the drawbridge for her. Murmuring in concern.

She crossed it on bare feet. Not hesitating over the meadow with her long candle.

The guards watched worriedly as she vanished into the blackness of Warlock Grove. “Shoul’ we be lettin’ ’er go?” Jacob, the younger of the two, asked.

“She’s the Queen, ye wanna stop ’er?” The older one gestured toward her in the meadow.

Jacob frowned worriedly. “Well ‘tis said Dreads and demons haunt them wood. Protectin’ it from any’un goin’ in there.”

“Yea, I’ve heard that.” The other one said quietly. Looking at the ominous shadow of skeletal trees against the night sky. “Mos’ ’ave the good sense to not go in there.” He added.

“But our Queen is fearless.” Young Jacob said. Sounding both proud and as dreamy as the other young lads that hadn’t failed to notice the great beauty of their mistress.

“She is.” The older one nodded. “No doubt she’d lead us inta battle. But this runnin’ inta the night in her bedclothes is sumthin’ new…”

“Yea…” Jacob gritted his teeth anxiously beneath the helmet.

But despite all of the talk of the deep shadows, demons and horrific creatures the Nightway people knew nothing of the dark, deeply terrifying thing that truly did lurk there.

But she knew him. And knew him well.

“Alazareth!” Her cry was nearly torn from her throat as the storm engulfed her and the darkness turned pitch. The wind cruelly blowing out her candle.

She looked behind her for pursuers.

She shouldn’t be out in these woods alone. Yellow eyes flared in the darkness. His head whipping at the sound of his name on her lips. Damn her!

She was following the pattern of the trees, as familiar to her as her own face. Her hair trailing and her gown dancing behind her in the gust. Head tossing as she tried to shake torrents of rain from her face. She managed to hop the fallen trunk that’d been there for as long as she’d been coming to these woods. Branches cloyed at her face and she slapped them aside to shout for him again.

“Alazar!”

Riaura encountered the strong male chest like hitting a stone wall. Only her hand between it and her face kept her from injury.

The arm encircling her, moved with a speed too quick for her to see, sorely needed. Her balance was gone at the impact and she’d nearly stumbled. She’d have fallen.

Her extraordinary eyes narrowed on him, accusingly. “You!” Her eyes scanned his face. “Why’s it happening, Alazareth? Who’s to blame?” She expostulated.

Peasants being tortured. How’d she know already?

Alazar had caught the whiff of burning flesh and chased it to the end of NightVille village finding the pier and the corpse of the burning human woman. Far too late to save.

That’s where he’d come from. Making his way back to the woods. When I heard her calling.

It’s your Dear Charles. But you’ll never bloody hear of it.

Face tight he said, “You won’t listen. I’ve told you this often enough you should’ve known what I’d say.”