Page 88 of Luthias

“So Prince Ross only made the one?” When he nodded Emery sighed. “Rats. I wanted to see his workmanship up close. I don’t suppose I could look at it again, could I?”

“We’ve placed the blade in the crypt. ’Tis best to keep the thing locked away for now.” He reached out to brush a tendril of hair back from her cheek, which felt silky soft against his fingers. “I dinnae wish you disappear before you save the clan, my lady.”

“Good point.” She took a step back to break the contact between them. “I wanted to ask you, are there any Fae around in this time? Maybe somewhere close to your castle?”

“They dinnae oft visit the mortal realm, but mayhap.” He dropped his hand. “What want you with the Fae?”

“If I could talk to one of them,” she said slowly, “maybe they could tell me more about Prince Ross and this saining enchantment of his. I know he was exiled, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask for some details about the magic he used, right?”

“The Fae cannae be so easily found, and they never speak to mortals.” It turned his stomach to think of Emery going anywhere near the fair folk. “They would likely take you.”

“Take me? You mean to their world?” When he shook his head she frowned. “Then where would...oh. I get it. But really, just like that?”

“Mortals of rare beauty fascinate the Fae,” Luthias told her, resisting the urge to touch her again. “Those unlike any other most inflame their passions. You’d be regarded a true prize.”

“Good thing you’re not Fae, huh?” She met his gaze and took in a quick breath. “You know, my lord, I promised the master sage I’d do, ah, something important. I should go do that right now.”

As she tried to leave Luthias couldn’t help reaching out to catch her with his arm. He meant only to speak with her, to reassure her that he would not press his attentions. That he forgot as he pulled her back against his body.

“This is a bad idea, my lord,” she said, sounding breathless.

“Stay a moment, Mery. Only a moment.” When she started to turn around to face him he tightened his hold. “Dinnae. ’Tis too tempting.”

“You’re not making this any easier for me.” She put her hands over his, her slim fingers sliding over the spaces between his own. “Every time you touch me, my whole body goes crazy. Do you think it was from that love charm, or just our bad luck?”

“I broke the charm. ’Tis us.” He turned his head and breathed in the scent of her as her fine hair caressed his face. His cock had swelled so much he knew she could feel it throbbing against the small of her back. “Tomorrow I’ll take you away with me. ’Twill take much the day, the ride.” A vision of her on her back in wildflowers, her eyes dark with desire, made him smile. “We’ll rest the horses at a meadow that overlooks the loch. ’Tis a pretty, quiet place.”

“Quiet. Pretty. Right next to a large body of water.” She shivered. “I think I should stay at the castle.”

“So you should.” He found the curve of her ear with his mouth and murmured, “Only you dinnae wish to. You desire come with me, Mery.”

“Don’t say that.” She closed her eyes. “It means something else in my time.”

“Then teach me what ’twill someday mean,” Luthias said.

In that moment a vision of Emery binding a wound on a man’s leg came to him. He saw her look up and say, You need to keep this clean and dry until it heals, so change the bandage after you wash up for the day––and wash these pants, too.

“My lord?” someone called from the outer passage, shattering the vision.

“Someone’s playing your tune.” Emery pulled his hands away from her belly and walked very quickly out of the armory. “Hey, Taveon. The laird’s in the armory. Wow, look at the position of the sun. I had no idea it was that late. Got to run now, see you later.”

Luthias closed his eyes briefly as the sound of Emery’s light footsteps retreated quickly down the hall. He would not chase her down. He would not carry her off to his chamber. He was a man, not a beardless lad. But why had he seen her binding another man’s wound?

“You look ready to pound something,” the war master said as he came into the chamber, taking care not to touch anything. “Shall I fetch Camdyn, or meet you in the sparring circle myself?”

“’Twill pass.” He looked into Taveon’s dark, solemn eyes and saw something other than amusement. “What now?”

“’Tis something the patrol found in the eastern slopes,” he said, his voice dropping with deep disgust. “The last rains washed away a swath of earth, and uncovered an old cave. Inside the thing...I dinnae ken what to name what I saw. Come with me, for I reckon you need see what and how ’twas done.”

They rode out together from the stronghold, leaving their horses tethered at the base of the slope before climbing over the uneven, rock strewn slide to reach the site. On a ledge above, two guards from the patrol stood watch, their faces grim.

Luthias found solid footing before he brushed the dirt from his hands and surveyed the newly exposed face of the slope. The area had once been pocked by caves used long ago by herders hunting for strays. Since that time the clan had created less hazardous pastured areas with stone walls to prevent the animals from wandering. No one came here anymore.

“’Twas once used as a shelter, mayhap,” Taveon said as he pulled aside a swath of newly-exposed roots to reveal the small, dark recess behind them. “We thought the caves all collapsed after the quakes and slides during the Famine Winter. Even to reach the place, one almost need be half-goat. Ah, fack, the stench, ’tis near worse than the sight.”

Seeing his usually fearless war master going pale made Luthias peer into the darkness. For a moment he thought he beheld pedestals that had been built inside the cave, and then he recognized them as tall piles of animal bones that had been stacked neatly, some reaching from floor to ceiling. The wind brought the stink of rotted meat and the privy to his nose. Feeling the bright sunlight on his back as he beheld the work done inside the cave made his gut clench, but he took a step closer to be sure.

“By the Gods,” he murmured. One stack had been formed from only deer leg bones; another had been woven from their spines. At each joint a spike had been driven through to the one beneath it. “They’ve been cobbled together.”