Callum 

I fled from the room.

I had to get out. It was too small to contain her and my inappropriate thoughts.  

My hand had trailed over soft curve and line in exploration. The gentle dip of her spine and the way the bones created tiny hills down her neck when her head bowed forward. 

How could I have tried to sever something so perfect? 

Touching her filled me with a warm tingling sensation. I had never been so engrossed in the beauty and form of a body or the feel of skin. 

I finally understood why other men spoke at length about the women they courted and desired. My curse had taken away things I didn’t even know I missed.

I needed to stop thinking about her. 

Verbodine had to face consequences for taking my father and bringing sorrow to my family. And for beating her, using her as bait, and anything else he might have done. 

I wanted to walk down these stairs and find Holwick dragging Verbodine by a rope. 

The atmosphere in the hall changed in the short time I was upstairs. The hearths roared with fire and dozens of my men had gathered to feast and escape the rain.

Liola and her assistant had taken up the back corner of the hall to mend wounds and bones. A mix of my soldiers and the people of Breccia laid out on tables or sat waiting for their turn. Liola wasn’t fussy about who needed aid.  

The servants of Breccia had returned to the hall. Flitting about to serve Truehorn soldiers with little hesitancy over our occupation.

At the far end, on the lord’s dais, Remi waved me over to join a gathering of my closest knights. 

Holwick did not have Verbodine. He sat hunched over trying to catch his breath. Octayvo was in the same state beside him. Their armor was gone and they were covered head to toe in mud.  

“Tell me everything.” I pushed aside thoughts of the girl and held desperately to the last thread of hope that could lead to Verbodine.  

Holwick shook his head. Cutting hope short. 

“We returned without success, Your Grace,” Holwick reported. “The tunnel is natural. Breccia had likely built on top of it for just this purpose. It’s so tight in some places we had to remove our armor and crawl. We found armor belonging to, at least, four knights abandoned within.

“The tunnel was about a two-mile trek. Difficult to traverse, with many turns and changes in elevation. By time we reached its end, there was no way to tell where we were.”  

Holwick was a stoic man not known for dramatics. I liked Holwick for this. He matched my way of working. If he complained about the conditions, it was not an easy journey. 

“They trapped it, your grace,” Octayvo jumped in when Holwick paused. “There was a cave-in with freshly splintered wood beneath it. Holwick found boot prints leading up to it that didn’t double back.” 

“They must have destroyed a wooden support to block the tunnel and keep anyone from following them,” Holwick added. “It will take days to clear it safely.” 

“So we can’t follow them the way they went, and the rain will have washed away their trail even if we were to find the exit.” Great, Verbodine had planned for everything. 

“Yes, Your Grace.” 

Even the slippery Earl couldn’t have called down the rain no matter what weaver he had at his side. It was my frayed luck and his bastardly good luck combined. 

I had positioned scouts on every road and path a half-mile out as a safety net. In case he fled. And he went under the ground, crawling like a slippery rat. What was next? Would he simply sprout wings and fly out of my reach?

“Fracking fray!” Remi shouted for me. He kicked the leg of the table, causing the plates and drinks to rattle in protest. 

I appreciated his outward show of anger. It soothed my inner need for it.  

“Has everyone returned to the fortress?” I asked.

“All but one of ours is accounted for, Albie Rodgers, a scout. We’ll send out a few men to head in his direction if he doesn’t return before dawn,” Remi answered.  

“Where was he assigned?” 

“A shepherd’s path to the northwest.” 

“Holwick, is that likely where the tunnel dumped out?” 

“Could be,” he said noncommittal. “It's likely the tunnel let out north of the fortress, but I could flip a coin and have the same level of certainty.” 

Sheets of rain battered against the high windows in a percussion that rivaled the noise of forty men feasting. Looking for a lone rider at night in this weather would be like trying to spin the wind into thread.

“We’ll assume for now Albie found a place to bed down until the rain lets up.” I didn’t like leaving it that way. Albie was a good soldier. He wouldn’t ignore the horn calling him to return without good reason. “Anything else?” 

“Baron Moretti would like a word with you about his precious gruffallops,” Remi said. He quirked his head toward where the baron stood waiting and shrugged. Remi, perhaps rightfully, thought the baron had fallen off his loom. His obsession with the creatures went just a bit too far. 

“Aye, I knew he would.” I sighed and waved the man forward.

Baron Moretti walked like the earth moved under his feet at his orders. In only seven strides, the mountain of a man chewed up the distance between us.

“You injured my beasty.”

“Please show some respect to the Duke, Baron,” Remi cut in before the old goat could go too far.

Moretti harrumphed and crossed his hairy arms across his chest. He gave no sign of deference, and I didn’t care enough to make it an issue. Besides, the injured gruffalop was my responsibility. I expected him to charge me dearly for it.

“I can’t make the wee little beasty limp its way back to Mortania,” he said, glowering down his nose. It had been smashed by a fist at some point in his long history. The bridge widened and flattened above the pudgy red tip. When he huffed, it made a low-toned whistle like air blown over the mouth of a jug. 

A renowned knight of the old guard. Moretti had made a name for himself as a fierce force on the battlefield even before my father’s time. But when it came to his animals, he was softer than his beloved gruffalop cheese.

“Your mender refuses to tend to her,” he gruffed.

Liola likely refused to treat the gruffalop before she finished with the human wounds.

“We’ll be staying the night here. You are welcome to stay and let the creature rest.” The miserable weather and Moretti’s obstinance soaked into my mood. I had more pressing matters than a limping gruffalop.

“A night in some crummy barn won’t heal the hole in ‘er leg.”

“But it might give our mender enough time to rest and change her mind.” I had given enough time to this. “Drink some ale. Let’s talk in the morning.”

“Aye.” He left miffed. Big boots stomping stone, but he wasn’t angry. When he lost his temper Moretti was as easy to handle as his injured gruffalop had been.

Turning back to my circle of knights, I said, “We’ll head back to the duchy in the morning if the rain has let up.”

There was much to account for. All I had gained by storming the Marquis’s castle were wounds to be mended and a complicated entanglement with his would-be bride. 

“Jaspar set up a rotating watch. How are the men and horses?”

“Horses have been fed and penned for the night,” Jaspar said, standing up from the chair he’d been resting in. “A rotating watch has been set. The men will bed down here in the hall. The common folk seem to be handling this in stride. A few left the fortress after a thorough check to be sure they were hiding nothing. But most have gone back to their homes or returned to work. No one and nothing about it feels hinky. I don’t expect any problems.” 

“Janyck,” I called, and the young knight stood at attention. “Fix a plate of food and take it to the prisoner. Her name is Keziah, and she’s in the room upstairs at the end of the hall on the right. Guard the door.” 

Janyck nodded and left. 

“Food, first names, and your squire for a guard?” Remi asked, making a face I didn’t like. It looked too much like he was saying told you so. “You’ve gotten quite comfy with your captive. Where did you leave your armor?”

“Why do you still reek of horse shit?” I asked back in a puerile attempt to shake off his implication. 

“Because I’ve been down here doing your work for you,” Remi shot back. He turned bright red from his neck to the roots of his hair. He'd washed the worst of it off, but the smell persisted. The manure had likely slopped inside his armor, and that was too unfortunate to think about. 

“Aye, you’ve done well. All of you,” I said. “Take Holwick and Octayvo with you. All three of you are in desperate need of a bath and some rest.” 

I stood and banged my fist on the Lord’s table to gain the attention of everyone in the hall. I waited until the noise died down to a whisper.  

“Men of the Truehorn Duchy, my Scarlet Blade Knights,” I called loud enough for all to hear. “You have done well today. Our invasion was swift. Over before any of you lot could show off.” 

A chorus of hurrahs and the rumbling of fists banged on tables filled the hall.  

“The Earl of Verbodine and the Marquis of Breccia have run like cowards before you.”  

Boos and more banging and mumbling filled the room. I paused for them. Accolades and losses need to be aired out after every battle. 

“We have sent them running from one more hole. They know our might, and they will soon run out of friends and holes to crawl to. It is only a matter of time until we hunt them down and make them pay their due.” 

The cheers that roared through the hall filled my gray world of loss with warmth. My soldiers and knights were the backbone of the duchy. I relied on their brilliance and brawn.  

“To Breccia and its people. We will leave you in peace and ask that you respond with peace. We will be gone soon and leave the fortress and its lands to you.” 

Making Breccia part of my territory would lead to too many political consequences. I regretted the lives lost in pursuit of my revenge. I had tried to make it as few as fate and the loom would allow.  

“Eat well tonight. Rest. Drink until the ale is gone,” I called out, raising a tankard. “To the weave of our loom.” 

“To the weft!” The hall rang with the chorus of voices and raised glasses gulped down to complete the toast. 

I wiped my lips with my sleeve when I finished my ale and smiled. It wasn’t anything close to the victory that I had wanted. But it would have to do for now.