He was slow to respond, for the shock had him frozen, but her lips were warm and sweet, and he couldn’t help it. He responded back, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. He let her control the moment and was disappointed when she finally pulled away. She looked up into his blue eyes, her lips swollen from the kiss, her green eyes deep as the grass they stood on.
“Thank you for lunch.”
“You’re welcome, Highness,” he said bowing low. “Why don’t we call it a day. I think you need a nap.”
“I’m not sleepy.”
“You will be in a bit. It would be in your best interest to sleep this off. And no more ale for you for awhile.”
They packed up what remained of lunch and picked up their shoes, carrying everything back up the hill to the Keep where Melenthia retired to bed, dreams of the afternoon in her head.
CHAPTER 23
Alek had sent word to Mercer to send guards with wagons to the city of Amaris in order to evacuate the remaining citizens and transport them inside the walls of the city. He knew it would take too much time by road, but there were animals and livestock to think about as well. He didn’t know if Mercer could find place for them all, but he knew he couldn’t leave them here. There were infirmed that needed medical attention and older people that wouldn’t be able to survive without proper food and warmth. He hoped that the farmers with any stock left could find place in the fields outside of town.
He spent two days helping the people get loaded on the wagons and another day going over the message he was sending with Maddon to Alban in Pembroke. He felt that sending this lad, after everything he’d been through, into Pembroke alone, was suicide, but the boy insisted he would be fine. The guards were needed to watch over the citizens on their trip up the road. They were sitting on crates of supplies as they talked.
“I don’t feel right sending you off alone.”
“I fought three of the beasts with my own hands. I don’t fear the road alone.”
“It’s not the road I worry about but what travels on it.”
“I have spent weeks cowering in the tunnels under the city. It’s time that I do something to help in this fight.”
“Helping to protect those that cannot protect themselves is not cowering, it’s part of being a solider.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll have the message inside my head, and I won’t talk under penalty of even death.”
“You’re not old enough to declare such oaths. You should be chasing maidens and playing in the streets with friends.”
“My boyhood ended when I watched my family die, when I watched my city burn. I’m no longer a boy; I’m a man, and I will do the job of one. Now let’s go over the message again until I can repeat it back word for word with no hesitation or thought.”
As much as Alek felt this was a bad idea, one he admitted had been his in the first place, he was impressed at the young man’s strength and fortitude.
“Very well, again. You’ll travel by night and stick to the back roads as much as possible. You’ll stop for nothing and talk to no one. You’ll carry word into Pembroke that Fallon and the giants have destroyed Amaris, and we think his next move is to come into Pembroke from the sea in order to get into Boones Ferry easier. A garrison must be set up in Boones Ferry in order to solidify position. We think Fallon’s move will be to infiltrate Boones Ferry in order to march across land and take down the Triple Cities. Once that happens, his path into Aaralyn, and in so saying, to Lachlan Castle will be easy. If Kingswell falls, the castle will fall, and King Randor won’t have a prayer. Do you have all that?”
“Yes.”
“Then repeat it back to me.”
Maddon repeated the message back to Alek without pause, word for word.
“Well, I think you have it now. But, I won’t have you die for this, Maddon. If you’re captured, you’ll tell them you know nothing. You’ll tell them that you were just trying to get into another city because yours was destroyed. You’re young so they should believe you. You won’t get hurt.” He pulled a sword out from a weapons crate and handed it to him. “You know how to use one of these, don’t you?”
“Of course. It was the first thing my grandfather ever taught me, and I was six at the time.”
“Very well,” he said standing, “engarde.”
The boy lifted the sword and sparred with Alek. They went at it for about a half an hour, when Alek finally conceded.
“Well, I’m impressed indeed. Your grandfather was an extremely good teacher. Your form is nearly flawless, and you don’t tire easily. I’m beginning to think my worry is for naught. Anyone trying to capture you will have their hands full.”