Page 26 of Chained Knight

Bad idea, Ari. Don’t piss this guy off. You saw what he did to these robots, and he may have killed an entire castle full of them not too long ago as well, if you’re understanding what the other guys said. You might want to play along for a little bit, until you can figure something else out.

But she had to,neededto know.

His mouth curved slightly, the expression too bitter to be a true smile. He left his hand out, hanging in midair as if it were perfectly normal to stand in pouring rain after killing a bunch of robots. Soft black flowers of hyperventilation-fueled oxygen deprivation bloomed around the edges of Ari’s vision, and her knees decided there was a limit to the bullshit they could be asked to handle even if bolstered by magical appetite-suppressing pondwater and the relief of possibly, maybe not dying at the hands of giant armor suits full of red oil.

Wet grass and moss rushed up to meet her. The roaring in her ears swallowed her whole. Whatever answer he would have made was lost as she fled gratefully into a semidarknessspangled with silver dots and a strange, unwilling sense of comfort.

It didn’t last nearly long enough, of course. Muffled thunder echoed, and a faint edge of woodsmoke intruded on the soft, restful blackness. Dry warmth enfolded her; the sensation was so luxurious Ari considered staying in the gentle numb fog of shock, leaving her body behind. A breathing doll, it could absorb whatever punishment Mike was dishing out, and she could creep back in later, bit by bit, assessing the damage slowly.

Sometimes he was repentant after an Incident, and would even protect her from Wanda Lee for a little while.

Orange and yellow light, a faint sap-bubbling hiss. Low murmurs of conversation. There was something springy under her, and her cheek rested on her bent arm. For a moment Ari thought she was about to open her eyes, sit up, and find Jazarl standing in the woods studying her intently again. There were movies about timeloops; being caught in one required solving a mystery and keeping your eyes open, learning bit by bit until you could do things right.

Except she was a very tired groundhog; she had no desire to repeat any single day in the past five years or so. Even the good ones like graduating college were tinted with the sorrow of Mom gone in that awful car accident, and the joy of her wedding had turned into breathless anxiety soon afterward.

“My lord prince?” A soft, cautious tone. She thought it was probably Darjeth, and he sounded utterly respectful. “We have a few flasks’ worth, by our lady Moon’s grace.”

“I need nothing.” A pause, a soft sound of metal sliding against itself. “Though I thank you for the offer. How fares Jazarl? And Naithor?”

“Both hale, and ready to serve.” It was definitely the blue-eyed blond guy, though now not a single tinge of sarcasm tinted his tone. Ari liked him better when he was talking shit, but he probably—and very wisely—didn’t want to mess with someone who could cut a giant horned robot in half. “Jazarl did all he could, my lord. ’Twas judged best to attempt reaching Gesthel with every possible speed, and each choice held more danger than the last. He?—”

“And you entered the Keep to look for me, not once but twice.” The chained man said it like he might remark it was raining, or a Tuesday. Thunder crashed, thankfullyoutside; Ari had rarely been so grateful for the bare concept of walls and a roof. “Brave almost to foolhardiness, the lot of you. And loyal.”

“To the Moon, my lord—unto death, or worse. The faithless one and his Law find no friend among us.” The words marched out like a catechism, or an allusion to some text Ari wasn’t familiar with. “How fares our lady?”

“When she has regained some strength we shall strike for Gesthel; gentler care than ours is required.” The chained man sounded thoughtful instead of angry, thankfully. “Though ’tis far better than I feared. You are to be commended, knights of the Keep.”

“Will we return, then?”

“Once the filth is cleansed. Now go and rest. You may reassure your fellow knights that no shame is theirs, and all honour. Especially Jazarl of Atalan.” The dismissal was plain, and there was the sound of cloth shifting, soft footsteps retreating.

Which left Ari with a choice—take a peek out at the world, risking some new terror, or stay tightly curled up inside herown head, safe but also leaving her body vulnerable? Either way, something was bound to go wrong. Even the effort of silently, internally brooding on her list of questions, terms, and implications was too much.

The silence was almost a living thing, the sensation of being watched undeniable. It could be felt on a crowded street or in a quiet college library, an atavistic tingle at one’s nape, the lizard brain perking up through layers of evolution with a soft preverbal warning.

But she was so goddamn tired. All the shocks, strangeness, delirious detail—someone else could deal with things for a while.

Please. Just let me have a minute, even fifteen stupid seconds without anything else.

As if he had heard the thought, the chained man spoke again. “You do not remember,” he said softly, conversationally. “It is a mercy, and my penance. Sleep, and fear nothing.”

Ari sank into darkness, and did not dream.

17

A VERY LITTLE

The slight smoke-smellwas from another expertly built campfire, and the storm had passed. Their shelter was a small cave, hollowed from a rocky prominence covered with slim grey trees and thicker, darker ones which looked like evergreens, their bark rough and cedar-spicy. The forest glistened, gemmed with swiftly drying water under the same swollen red sun.

She hadn’t seen a hill since arriving in this weird place, so it was both comforting and unnerving. The rock was black and looked at least part igneous, and Ari had to rub at her eyes because the forest now seemed old-growth. Great ferns had arisen amid glossy-leaved bushes, and there were new squat, thorny shrubs as well, their teeth exuding gummy red resin.

It was unexpectedly beautiful, especially with tracers of morning mist rising to a violet sky. No blue vault here, the sun was far too red.

Waking upon a pile of soft, freshly cut boughs in a small rock-walled chamber was one thing, peering around a craggy corner into a larger cave another. Finding Alzarien at the fire near the mouth of the outer chamber, humming slightly as he watchedthe fire and shifted arrows between a stack of quivers, was a relief. Ari approached tentatively. Her bootsoles sank into fine dry sand over the stone floor, and she wondered if the cavern’s walls were carved or naturally striated. Faint glittering spatters like mica were trapped under the surface, winking cheerfully.

“Ah, there she is.” The crimson-haired man grinned, fans of wrinkles creasing the corners of his dark eyes. He looked a lot fresher than he had the day before, stubble-free and downright perky. “Worry not, Jazarl and Majan are on watch outside, and the others have gone with our lord prince to collect equines. Indeed the forest is wondrous renewed, almost as before.”

Judging by his tone, this was all good news.

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