Secrets and Guardians: Devious Intentions by H. Chambers (summer beach reads txt) 📖
- Author: H. Chambers
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The sound of people shouting in the distance brought Aberrling out of his thoughts. It had begun, they would be looking for him; the council would be looking for him. Staring at the wall, deep in thought, Aberrling decided to hide in Eldin's room for a little while longer.
When he finally did emerge from Eldin's room and started walking through the corridors, men began to surround him, demanding to know what they should do. Ignoring them he went into the main hall where the rest of the council were waiting, surrounded by a large number of frantic people. Raising his hands to quieten them, he looked around at the frightened faces.
'When King Hylaw left for Brinkton I offered the council my resignation. Unable to dissuade our beloved King from leaving Landra unprotected, I failed as his advisor,' he began. 'Now we are faced with an impossible choice, to die, for surely we will if we resist Tremlin and his army or to submit to a known enemy of the King,' Aberrling lowered his head again and sighed. 'Each person must make their own choice.'
An old man stepped forward.
'What is the council’s decision?' he asked.
Aberrling looked kindly at the old man, 'We would be no good to the King dead,' said Aberrling.
The old man nodded, he agreed, he had spent most of his life bowing his head to pompous asses who he would have quite happily throttled.
'I must go now and prepare, the next few weeks will be difficult, let us hope we can all get through this,' said Aberrling, really meaning, let's hope I can get through this.
Aberrling walked through the crowd of people, many nodded as he passed, others touched his shoulder; he had their support.
By the time Hawke and Tremlin rode up to the castle gates it was beginning to get dark, the council was there to meet them. No one in all of Landra had tried to oppose them, not even a rotting potato thrown in their direction, nor had there been any cheering. It was Aberrling who stepped forward.
'Greetings my Lord Hawke, Lord Tremlin, we have had little time to prepare a suitable welcome, I hope our efforts will meet with your approval,' Aberrling said stepping back and gesturing them to enter the castle.
Hawke and Tremlin dismounted their horses and along with thirty of their best soldiers walked up the steps, through the massive doors and into the great hall. Tables had been all set out and servants were busy bringing out a whole host of delicious smelling food. Others stood holding large jugs of ale. Tremlin had planned to sit on the throne and make some big speech about what he expected of 'his' subjects, a bit of loyalty pledging, the odd beheading of those still loyal to King Hylaw, but he supposed that could wait until tomorrow. He noticed Hawke, always keen to add more wives to his collection, was already heading over to a rather pretty girl. Accepting a tankard of ale Tremlin made his way to the table.
The following morning Aberrling sat back, going over in his mind everything he had observed from the previous evening. The night had proved useful for many reasons, but for Aberrling it had given him the chance to weigh up his enemy. Hawke was obviously used to being in charge. Sitting himself at the head of the table the servants hovered around him, serving him first and ensuring his tankard was never empty. Tremlin, on the other hand came across as a man who lacked natural authority, which in Aberrling’s opinion was bad news. There was an awkward arrogance about him, the more he drank the louder he became. Hawke was only expected to stay a few days. Advisors would start to arrive, Tremlin would then start testing loyalties.
Aberrling wondered how Selina’s night had gone. She was being well paid and judging by her performance during the evening, was worth every penny. Tremlin should be waking up this morning feeling like a king. Aberrling smiled to himself, he loved women, but for different reasons than most men. He would speak with her later. It was time now to ingratiate himself with his unwanted guests.
Having made a little detour to the dungeons Aberrling entered the council room to find Hawke and Tremlin arguing about something.
'Oh, I’m terribly sorry to interrupt, I’ll come back later, just thought you might like to know I have Brandon with me,' said Aberrling looking suitably humble.
Brandon popped his head around the door and gave them both a huge grin.
'Bet you never expected to see me again.'
'Brandon? How?' Asked Tremlin, delighted to see his old friend.
'Been in the dungeons, nearly a year,’ said Brandon looking at Aberrling for confirmation.
'Nearly,' confirmed Aberrling nodding.
'You don’t look like you’ve been in a dungeon for that long,' said Hawke.
'Aberrling here made sure I was all right, decent food and stuff, good to be out though,' said Brandon.
Tremlin looked at Brandon then his brother, 'Hawke thinks he needs to stay, that I am not ready to rule Landra'.
'That’s not what I said,' snapped Hawke. It wasn’t what he had said, but it had been what he meant. 'I said I would stay until things had been sorted out.'
'Don’t worry Hawke, Aberrling will be able to advise Tremlin on what needs to be done and I’ll watch his back, he’ll do just fine,' said Brandon.
Hawke did want to get back to Korin, but was not about to leave his brother until he was sure it was safe.
'I’ll stay until the end of the week,' said Hawke, 'Aberrling come with me'.
As they walked Aberrling looked at Hawke’s back and thought about what Brandon had said to Tremlin. If only they all knew what I really have planned for them, thought Aberrling.
Chapter 17
A few days after the circus performance Jed, Burrell and Decker had been tied between two posts just outside the wall. The wizard had come to talk to them, again. The previous night they had again dreamed of the witch. It was all a bit vague in their minds now as they rode back to Brinkton. Burrell said he had pulled on the ropes, which had then come loose from the post. They sort of remembered creeping past Aharen and then taking the horses. It didn't really matter though, the important thing was that they had escaped.
*
Darius was anxious, it had been two weeks since Brinkton had been invaded. They had made their camp in a copse on a hill about ten miles from the town. From their vantage point they could see the main road. Sadly they could also see some of the villages which Kerdred’s men had ransacked. They had wanted to help, Darius and Lewin had never argued so much. If Kerdred’s men could come and go freely from the town, where was King Hylaw? Had Landra also been taken? Nathe had told Darius to leave Brinkton at the first sign of trouble, Hylaw had a plan. Darius just hoped it wasn't to let Brinkton rot in Kerdred's hands.
One of his soldiers came and told him three riders had been spotted heading south. Were they the ones who had pursued Princess Ami? Darius was being driven to distraction by not knowing what was going on.
Watching from the cover of the trees, the riders passed.
'Did anyone recognise them?' asked Lewin hopefully.
'They did not appear to have any swords,' said one of his men.
'Look there are another two men coming,' said Darius pointing in the distance. 'They appear to be chasing the others.'
As the two riders got closer it was Lewin who broke cover and began running down the hill, shouting back at the others, 'It's Aharen and Caleb!'
Aharen and Caleb pulled up their horses when they saw a man running, frantically waving his arms. 'Is that Lewin?' asked Caleb.
'Looks a bit like him, never seen him like that though,' replied Aharen.
'Never known a man who cares so much about his appearance,' joked Caleb.
'Well if that is Lewin, seems he's had other things on his mind recently,' laughed Aharen.
All of a sudden, movement from the side of the road caught Caleb’s attention.
'No!! Lewin!' Caleb tried to warn him, gesturing equally frantically with his arms.
An arrow caught Lewin in the side, sending him crashing to the ground. From a thicket an archer stood, an arrow aimed at them. Aharen and Caleb turned, the sound of horses alerting them to a new danger, a dozen or so riders were heading straight for them from the other side of the road. Kicking their horses furiously, Aharen and Caleb raced past their attackers and further along the road towards where Lewin lay, narrowly avoiding the arrows fired in their direction. The road then swung right, up the hill towards a coppice. As they approached the trees they were met by Darius’ onrushing soldiers charging down the hill at the enemy on foot with swords and spears. Turning their horses back round Aharen and Caleb joined Darius and his men in the attack. Surprised by the sudden onslaught, some of Kerdred's soldiers panicked, horses reared up dismounting their riders, those still mounted faced spears and arrows. Those on the ground faced swords and fury. One of the riders broke from the fighting, trying to escape. Aharen caught up with him halfway down the hill. Leaping from his horse, Aharen unseated the man and they both went crashing to the ground. Aharen was back on his knees first, his rage at the death of Lewin getting the better of him, he clenched his fists together and brought them down hard onto his opponent’s chest. He was still kneeling there, blood dripping from his hands, when Caleb touched him on the shoulder.
'We need to get moving,' Caleb said quietly.
A combination of Darius and an archer had taken care of Lewin's killer. By the amount of blood on Darius, Aharen knew Lewin had not been killed instantly. Darius had lost Lewin and four other men, another was badly injured and would not be able to ride. All the bodies, except Lewin's killer were brought into the coppice and buried in two separate graves. One of the soldiers agreed to stay with the injured man, he had been stitched and bandaged and if he made it through the night he might have a chance. Heading out, the two remaining soldiers followed behind Aharen, Caleb and Darius, leading the spare horses. Darius had hardly spoken, his face showed no emotion, his eyes blank. Aharen and Caleb rode silently next to him.
Chapter 18
Shade had arrived in Wilmayne over twelve years ago, tired and hungry. Wilmayne was a small village in Daranel, about forty miles west of Brinkton. Its hillside location meant it had the most fabulous views, Shade would often sit for hours on a rocky
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