Defiance Ch. 15

"We'll travel through the Lanet forest." Lukas was saying, his voice sure and strong as they herded the horses to the southern forests. "Christian is going to be looking for Tate and Rose. They won't pay too much attention to our party and as long as Tate keeps his face covered we should be able to reach Ovaern's port unmolested."

"And then?" Tate asked. "What do we do then?"

"We travel to the south lands." Lukas said, his voice resigned. "Our families are there somewhere. I want to find them. I at least owe it to them to try."

"The southlands?" Tate asked incredulously. "It's full of slavers Lukas."

"And what are you here?" Lukas said gently. "What was Rose?"

It was true, Tate supposed. Though he had not been a slave in name in every other way that mattered he and Rose had been treated like they were owned. No one would speak out for them and it was inevitable that they both would have died within the castle walls f it hadn't been for Lukas's rescue. Besides, their chances of surviving could not be any worse away from Christian's reach.

"Very well then." Tate said. "To the south."

***

He'd bedded her the moment he was able to respectfully leave the feast. The ceremony had gone well and had been pleased by the praise he had received for his beautiful wife. He was now content in the knowledge that his seed would grow in her belly and soon his lineage would be secure.

He waited until she was sleeping before he slid out of the bed and went to his own chambers. He was aware that he had left Tate locked in his room without food and water and he was eager to let his pretty squire refresh himself.

He was surprised when he found his outer chambers unguarded. It sent a shiver through his spine when he realised the door was ajar. He pressed the door openly slowly as he pulled his blade from his hip.

Something was wrong, he thought as he slid cautiously into the room. He debated calling for his guards but the idea that someone would dare entre his domain left a sour feeling in his stomach. Where was Tate?

He saw Richard first, lying face first on the floor with a hole in his back. Dead obviously, he thought as his eyes took in the blood and his stillness. He felt oddly pained to see him lying there. There had been few men in the world that Christian had trusted and none that he had trusted as deeply as Richard.

"Come for your whore, have you?" An unfamiliar voice asked from within Tate's little room. Christian recognised the soldier who stepped into his presence as the disgustingly scarred man that had been assigned to guard the profits tower. There was blood on his hands and his expression was one of clear hatred.

"Where is Tate?" Christian asked, scared that if he went into the Halflings room he would find him as dead as the captain.

"Gone." The scarred one said mockingly. "He ran away." He grinned, twisting his already ugly face. "I let him out."

Christian pushed aside the sudden and ferocious anger that Tate had dared to leave him. He had found the half-blood once. He would do it again. But first he needed to deal with the intruder. "What did he give you I wonder, to make you let him out?"

"I didn't do it for him." The other man said, his smile suddenly gone. "Do you have any idea how many lives you ruined? Do you even care?"

"And you're referring to whom?" Christian asked, his tone purposefully imperious.

"I'm referring to the tinkers you cold hearted murderous bastard. I'm talking about the people you killed, the families you tore apart, the people you allowed to be enslaved and dragged to the southlands. Why did you do it, tell me why you did it to us?"

"You're a gypsy?" Christian asked, his blood turning to ice water as he remembered the prophets words. He took a step back before forcing himself to take a controlled breath. He had killed the gypsy that had loved Tate. The scarred man before him was not the one destined to destroy him. He was simply a parasite that had taken it upon himself to act out his pathetic revenge. "You want to know why I killed them?" He asked, stepping forward now as he raised his blade. "I killed them because your dirty people were becoming too numerous and something had to be done to control your numbers. I did it because I knew some of you were hiding Tate and I wanted him back, but mostly I did it because I could."

The scarred man screamed at him as he charged and the prince noted with some amusement just how pathetic the gypsy was. Did he honestly think he could beat a bloodied northern warrior who had been trained from birth to rule a kingdom? It was an easy thing to block the blade aimed at his chest. Two more strikes and Christian stepped within the tinker's space and shoved a dagger he had hidden up his sleeve into the gypsy's neck. "Truly pitiful." He said as he watched the piece of filth drop slowly to the floor. "You stabbed him through the back didn't you?" He said as he looked at Richard. "It's the only way you could have bested one of us." He lent down beside the dying thinker and watched him thoughtfully as he died. "You'll be with them now." He said soothingly. "All those people that I killed. You'll be able to join them. How wonderful for you."

He was as ugly in death as he had been in life, Christian decided as he got slowly to his knees. He checked Tate's room to be sure and then went in search of some guards to clear up the mess that had been made of his chambers.

***

"You found him once." Christian said as he led Tanis and the tracker to the prophet's tower. "You will do so again."

"He's already had a night's head start." Lamidor said. "We should leave now before he gets any further away."

"We will leave, but before we head out on a fool's errand I want to be certain where he is headed." He threw open the prophet's inner door and strode into the ancient ones space. "You're a liar." Christian hissed a moment before he struck the frail creature fiercely across his face.

"Ran away again has he?" The prophet asked before spitting blood from his mouth. His sightless eyes turned to Tanis and he smiled sweetly. "Hello Tanis."

"Speak to me, not him." He roared before dealing the prophet another vicious blow. "You will tell me where Tate is. You will not lie and you will not tell give me half truths. Where is he?"

The prophet's sightless eyes settled warily on Tanis, though he addressed Christian. "He's in the Lanet forest. The girl-child is with him. They are on horseback and travel with great speed," His gaunt face twisted into a smile. "Is that truthful enough for you prince?"

"I'm king now."

The prophet released a scathing laugh. "You are not king, nor will you ever be. It will end soon Christian. All will end soon."

"No!" Christian shouted. "You are a liar." He drew out his blade and pressed it against the prophet's thin neck. "Tell me." He demanded. "Tell me you are a liar."

"I am." The prophet agreed, his voice suddenly quiet and lost. "But I tell you truthfully Christian. The end is here, I can promise you that."

Tanis opened his mouth to cry out some pointless warning but he was too late and could only watch in muted horror as the blade was dragged across the prophet's throat. His blood poured out and Tanis was shocked to see that the colour was a glimmering silver. He heard the tracker curse beside him before he began praying for the protection of the god's.

"You killed him." He heard himself say stupidly.

"He was a liar." Christian said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Our grandfather should have killed him years ago."

"He did not deserve this." Tanis heard himself saying without meaning to. Miliananious had been so beautiful once. He deserved so much better."

"Come, I want my squire back." He looked at the prophet with a sneer. "And do not mourn this creature. He was a liar."

"You're coming with us?" Tanis asked in surprise. "How do you know Tate is even in the Lanet forest? The prophet could have lying."

"He wasn't" Christian said with full confidence. "Not about this."

***

The boy hated him. He hid it well but it was clear he wanted someone to blame for the loss of his family. He had no doubt heard of Tate's part in the tinker's downfall and with no other outlet he had directed his pain and loss to hating Tate.

It should not have bothered him as deeply as it did but the half-blood could not shoulder guilt as easily as he once had. The knowledge that he could twist a man's mind and heart without even meaning to was a constant and stabbing misery. Did Lukas truly want him or was he being controlled by a power Tate could not understand?

He watched the tinker and found himself asking, do I love him? He wanted to. If ever he could love anyone surely it would be Lukas. He was gentle and loving and kind. He had done so much, given so much.

Too much. His mind warned him. He has given too much to ever forgive you for what you have stolen from him.

Tate found himself thinking of Robert, as he so often did. When he slept he saw the tinker in his dreams. Lukas deserved to know of his passing. It would pain him but he needed to be told.

And yet Tate could not make himself utter the words. What if the latest in an impossibly long line of sacrifices became too much for Lukas to bear. He'll leave me. Tate thought fearfully, but even more terrifying was the thought that he would not leave Tate. That he would forgive him as readily as he had forgiven everything else that Tate had done to shatter his life. It would be proof that Lukas truly was under a spell.

Either way he was damned.

"Horses approach." Lukas said, his eyes keen as he looked through the narrow path leading through the heart of the forest. "See, there are three at least."

"They're coming at speed." Tate said, his heart hammering painfully in his chest. For a moment everyone was frozen and the riders were close enough to make out their colours.

"Run!" Tate screamed desperately. He rode up beside the children and gave the horses flank a sharp slap. The horse reared and Rose scream but the horse went onwards at a furious pace.

"They'll break their necks." Lukas shouted before forcing his horse to a gallop.

"Better that than they catches us." Tate shouted back at him. He looked over his shoulder and realised that they wouldn't be able to outrun their pursuers. The horses the boy had stolen could not compete with the princes own stables.

The others were all ahead of them. He could only hope that Lukas would not abandon the children to come back for him.

He veered off sharply, forcing the horse into the density of the forest before the poor creature could go no further and Tate was forced to abandon her and move forward on foot. He didn't get very far before he heard footsteps behind him. He spun around and was unsurprised to see Christian marching towards him.

He released a bitter and choked laugh as the prince caught his arm and pulled him flush against his chest.

"You left me." He snarled, his fingers digging in painfully tight. "You swore you wouldn't run away and first chance you got you left me to be murdered by some filthy disgusting tinker."

"A pity he didn't succeed." Tate said as he managed to wrench his arm free of the princes grasp. "I'd hoped he would. Prayed for it in fact." He saw the pain on Christian's face and relished in it. "At least I can console myself in the knowledge that Richard is dead."

"You prayed for my death?" Christian asked in a small and lost voice. "But I love you."

"Love?" Tate scoffed. "You don't know what love is. In the name of the Gods Christian, you killed your own father. A man who loved you and cared for you above all of his other children and you had him murdered to hasten your place on the throne. The gypsies-"

"The gypsies!" Christian roared, swinging at him with a closed fist that caught Tate's jaw and sent him spinning to the floor. "It's always about them, isn't it? They're the only things you've ever cared about. Nothing I have ever done or given you has been good enough."

"It never will be." Tate whispered. "Because I will never want you." He pulled out the small blade that Lukas's had given to him and raised it slowly to his own throat. "You're never going to let me go." He whispered as he saw Christian's eyes widen in realisation of what Tate was about to do. "And I can't bear to allow you to own me again. Death would be preferable."

He closed his eyes and heard a screamed cry of his name at the same moment that Christian released a surprised grunt. His eyes opened on their own accord and he watched in confusion as Christian dropped to his knees. Two arrows were sticking out of the princes back.

"You killed our father?" Tanis asked as he entered the clearing with his sword drawn and an expression of hatred on his face that Tate had never seen before. He looked at Tate, saw the blade in his hands and turned back to Christian. "You are insane."

"He deserved to die." Christian choked out. He reached out to try and grasp the arrows in his back but they were too high for him to reach. He let out a quiet howl of pain and looked beseechingly at Tate. "Help me, please. Take them out."

"Don't talk to him." Tanis roared as he kicked the prince onto his side. "Don't even look at him."

"We're brothers." Christian cried, tears flowing freely down his cheeks now."Please brother, help me."

"Brothers?" Tanis asked him bitingly. "Do you truly think me so stupid? You were going to replace me Christian. You saw me as a threat and you were planning on having me killed."

"I wouldn't." Christian said, sobbing now and looking far younger than his years. "Please, it hurts."

"Good." Tanis said, his eyes suddenly devoid of emotion as he lent down beside his brother, though Tate noticed he was careful to keep some distance between them. "It's about time you experienced some of the pain you have forced onto others. I want you to know how it feels before I kill you."

"No." Christian cried hysterically. "Not you. It was the tinker, the tinker who killed me."

Lukas appeared in the clearing then, stepping silently behind Tanis with his bow drawn. "No!" Christian screamed when he saw him, struggling desperately to gain his feet. "I killed you, I killed you."

Tanis turned around and stared at Lukas for a moment before bending back down beside Christian and raising his blade. "Not you!" Christian screamed and he was laughing as he raised his hands up in some vain attempt to protect himself. "Not you, the prophet said it would be the tinker."

"He kept trying to warn you." Tanis said a moment before he stabbed Christian through the heart, "Prophets lie."

His eyes were on Tate as he died. They were impossibly blue and Tate was reminded of the picture of Christian from when he was a boy. His death seemed to have drained all the madness from his eyes and he looked like the angelic child he had once been.

Tate shuddered and struggled to his feet. Lukas was there in an instant, supporting him as Tanis turned his attention to them. "You did kill him." Tanis remarked softly to Lukas as he looked down at his dead brother. "It would have taken time but the arrows would have killed him eventually. Perhaps the prophet wasn't lying." He looked at Tate. "So what now?"

"Someone is going to need to take the blame for this." The tracker said, appearing suddenly with the familiar wolfish grin of his face. He looked at Lukas and his smile widened. "Well, well." He said, clearly amused. "It appears I caught the wrong one."

"Wrong one?" Lukas asked, frowning. He looked at Tate. "What does he mean?"

"You haven't told him?" The tracker asked, clearly amused when he saw the horror on the half-blood's face. He looked back at Lukas and pointed towards Christian. "What of this then my prince. Who's to take the blame?"

Tanis looked at Lukas too and sudden understanding bloomed.

"No." Tate cried, stepping forward as he tried to shield Lukas from view. "Tanis please, do not take him away from me. Not now, please!"

"He killed out future king." Tanis mumbled.

"No, you killed him. Your blade was the one that ended his life Tanis and we both know why. He was insane, he deserved to die and there is no denying that but do not steal away the one thing I have left. I'm begging you."

"I could care for you Tate." Tanis said with sudden longing. "I would never treat you as Christian did. I would never hurt you. You would be safe."

It was all starting again. Tate still had the blade in his hand. He could end his own life now and save himself all of the heartbreak and humiliation that would follow. He went to raise it and felt Lukas's own hand on his own. His other arm wrapped around Tate and pulled him close. Lukas scent washed over him and he felt the blade fall from his nerveless fingers.

Tanis was watching them, his expression unreadable before he abruptly turned his back on them. "I'll let you go." He said, his voice barely more than a whisper as his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "But you only have until we reach the castle, then I'm going to tell everyone that the tracker killed Christian and I'll send every available solider I have after you both." He looked back at Tate for a mere moment before turning his back to them again. "I won't let you go again if I catch you Tate, so for your sake you had better hope I don't find you."

"Tanis," Tate said, at a loss for words as he stared at the man's broad shoulders. "Thank you_"

"Miliananious is dead." Tanis interrupted him suddenly. Before Tate could respond the prince let out a sudden scream of anger. "Leave! Now, before I change my mind!"

Lukas grabbed Tate's arm and tugged his out of the clearing. Tate found himself sparing one last glance at Christian. Both he and Richard were finally gone yet he felt little satisfaction in their deaths. It wouldn't bring back any of the people whose lives had been destroyed.

"Until next time we meet." The tracker said menacingly as they passed him.

The moment they were free of the clearing they broke into a fast run. Tate could hear horses up ahead and realised with some relief that the children had collected them and were waiting uneasily for their return.

Rose burst into tears the moment she caught sight of them and Tate offered her a quick hug of reassurance. Tate didn't entirely trusted Tanis's generosity so he urged them on at a bruising pace.

"What happened?" Rose asked at last, breaking the silence.

"Christian's dead." Lukas said, his voice wooden. "Tanis killed him." A short pause. "As did I."

More silence. "I'm glad." Rose finally said. "He deserved to die."

Tate drew his horse up beside Roses and pulled the little girl onto his saddle. She went gladly into his embrace and pressed her head against his chest. "Are we safe now?" She asked.

"We will be." Tate promised as he hefted Christian's gold thoughtfully in his purse. "We'll travel to the southern port by river boat. They won't expect us to be able to afford to make the trip that way." He thought of the prophet and felt his throat constrict. "They won't be able to follow us so easily now. We'll be able to escape them this time."

He looked at Lukas and offered the older man a tired sigh. "To a new life?" He asked, lifting his water skin and offering it up to Lukas. The tinker reached out and took a hefty swig.

"To a new life."

End of Book 1