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Keldwyn was only a moment behind Uthe in noting it, but vampires had a stronger sense of smell. The Fae's expression became cooler, more battle-ready. Uthe put a hand on his arm.
"Right now, it's just mountain people. They will do us no harm if we observe proper etiquette. Stay aware, but do not look around for them, my lord," he advised Keldwyn. "As long as we appear capable of defending ourselves and don't deviate from our intent, we will not see them. That is preferable."
"All right then." Keldwyn considered. "So we can only move at a human pace, and we've left the most immediate cover you have, less than an hour before sunrise. Where shall we take shelter, Lord Uthe?"
"It will not be necessary, as long as I wear this." Uthe put his hand on the dagger. "It allows me to be out in the sunlight like a human or Fae."
Kel's gaze lasered in on the object. "When you recounted your tale to Queen Rhoswen, I wondered if you still had it."
"I do not know why Lord Reghan recovered it from the battlefield, but when I woke in your world, it was by my bedside. I'm grateful he did."
"Let me see it, my lord. If I may."
At Uthe's look, Keldwyn snorted. "If I was going to kill you, I could think of other ways than holding your dagger away from you and watching you turn to ash."
Uthe grinned and unsheathed the blade, placing it in Keldwyn's palm. Keldwyn's expression turned inward. "Peculiar. The magic is...old. Yet I hesitate to call it magic. It is something else."
"Yes. Something else."
Purity of intent. A shining soul. So rare in this world, and therefore short-lived.
"Well, if we are going to walk, you may entertain me with stories. Like how you acquired your magical dagger."
"Anything to keep you from asking me 'are we there yet?' an endless number of times." Uthe smirked at Keldwyn's puzzled look. So there were some cultural references his companion did not know.
"Shall we go then?"
"In a moment." Uthe knelt, facing the east, and bent his head in prayer. It mattered not where he was. Whenever he could, he started or ended his day with paternosters and prayers. He felt Keldwyn shift, coming closer to him.
"You should have determined the location of a nearby cave, in case the magic is not as potent as it once was."
"There is one sixty yards to the northwest," Uthe said. "But this kind of magic doesn't dilute with time. Now hush, while I'm praying."
He suppressed amusement at the Fae Lord's affront at being shushed, but Keldwyn did fall silent. He didn't move away, though, and Uthe sensed his readiness to help spirit him to the cave if needed. It touched him, though he could be giving it more weight than it was worth. The Fae enjoyed a good story, so Kel might save Uthe just for that potential. On another day, when there was no story to be told, he might not bother. There was never any telling what was going through his mind.
Yet at the tail end of his thirteen paternosters, he recalled a memory that had given him a different perspective on the Fae Lord. Keldwyn had arrived at a Council meeting fifteen minutes late one night. When Lyssa asked why he had been delayed, Keldwyn told her he was playing marbles with Kane, her young son. Most of the Council came to the conclusion he was being a wiseass, his way of saying his tardiness was no one's business but his own. But when Uthe spoke to John, Kane's older friend and second mark servant, John had confirmed it. The grandson of Elijah Ingram, Lyssa's majordomo, John was well-spoken, polite and serious.
"Yes, my lord. He was sitting nearby, watching Kane and me play marbles. We were rolling them down a hill in the driveway, trying to catch them in a cup at the bottom. Well, a few cups. You got more points depending on which cup... I'm sorry, my lord, I didn't mean to wander off topic. Anyhow, he got up and asked Kane if he could play." The young boy's eyes had widened. "Can you imagine, someone like him asking us that? Kane said yes, thank heavens. I'm not sure what would have happened if he'd said no, but you know how he can be."
Kane was a miniature version of his imperious mother. Uthe did indeed know what John meant, and amusedly wondered what Keldwyn would have done if Kane had told him he couldn't play. Probably turned Kane into a rabbit, put him a shoebox to deliver him safely to Lyssa, and taken the marbles, all to teach him a lesson in manners.
"Anyhow, he knelt right there on the path with us and played for fifteen minutes. Even showed us a couple other games he knew with marbles. Then he thanked us for letting him join us. He said he had to go to a meeting, but that had been far more fun and he wasn't sorry he'd be late."
Insights like that had enlightened him about the Fae Lord. Sometimes Uthe believed he really did know what Keldwyn was thinking. Depending on what he supposed those thoughts were, they by turns made him uncomfortable, pleased or disturbed. Keldwyn was savvy enough to make a vampire think he knew what he thought, which should warn Uthe never to relax around him. Yet, Uthe could and did relax around him more often than expected. Like now.
As he reminded himself he was supposed to be finishing up his prayers, he was aware of Keldwyn behind him. He'd shifted closer, his calf pressed to Uthe's hip, his body forming a shadow over him.
The first ray of the sun speared between the vee of two mountains. It touched Uthe's face, his lips. Adrenaline surged, that quick spurt of panic, but the same way he did during his normal morning ritual, he quelled it. Unlike then, he had no intention of fleeing the sun's touch. He had faith in the power behind the dagger. He kept his eyes closed, his head bowed, thanking the Lord for blessings and guidance, for His wisdom. Heat unfurled over his face and shoulders, warming him through the tunic.
Standing in the sun took him back to protection details with his Templar brethren. He recalled the sauntering movement of his powerful mount, Nexus, beneath him as they flanked a group of pilgrims along the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, the route to visit the river Jordan. Once they arrived at their destination, he'd let Nexus cavort in the lapping waters. It had been an infraction, but he'd stripped off his armor and ridden the horse barefoot, the water washing over his toes and legs, his knees pressed into Nexus's wet sides. The sun had glittered off the spray when Nexus tossed his massive head from side to side.
The heat penetrated his clothes quickly, and the exposed areas of his skin reacted with less fondness than his memories. It would take time for it to adjust to something it hadn't felt in a few centuries.
As he lifted his head, Keldwyn offered him a hand to his feet he didn't need, but he took it, enjoying the palm to palm contact. When the male registered it and began to draw Uthe closer, Uthe balked, a warning to them both. "It's best that we not act as we might...when alone. Those watching us are not friendly toward men who take pleasure with one another."
Keldwyn had his hair tied back, giving the sharp bones of his face a more severe look. He wore clothing like Uthe did now, and he'd used what he called glamor magic to conceal his ears, make them appear human to anyone watching. He was as prepared as Uthe for most contingencies, always thinking several steps ahead, and annoyed with himself when he didn't.
Which he demonstrated now with a frown. "We should have brought you sun screen, my lord."
Uthe smiled. "Even if I burn, I will heal, Lord Keldwyn. But your concern is appreciated." When he gestured in the direction they needed to go, Keldwyn fell into step with him. As they started to navigate the rocky terrain, Uthe calculated the number of steep inclines and steeper descents. The path to the sorceress's cave reminded Uthe of an exposed rabbit warren.
"You were going to tell me the story of the dagger," Keldwyn prompted. "Unless you feel you must keep that a secret."
"No." During their companionable silence on the plane, Uthe had thought it over, coming to the conclusion that certain things were going to have to be entrusted to someone, in case... Just in case. He'd accepted his reservations about Keldwyn were primarily rooted in a longstanding distrust of the Fae, not a distrust of the male himself. Keldwyn was clever and kept Uthe on his toes in Council meetings, ensuring vampire interests were not undermined by
Fae ones, but representing Fae interests was Kel's job. He had no doubt Keldwyn would share information about Uthe's quest with Queen Rhoswen or King Tabor, but he didn't think Keldwyn would sabotage his efforts. Perhaps that was evidence of declining judgment, but his gut feelings were not connected to his mind, so he trusted them more. It was better for Keldwyn to understand some of this; otherwise, his ignorance could prove more detrimental than what information he could feed to Fae royals.
Besides, telling him the story would get Uthe's mind off the broiling sun. By the Virgin, he'd forgotten how hot it could be.
"I was born in Germany. The Holy Roman Empire, then. My father still referred to it as Germania. I left his care when I was close to fifty."
