N. Walters - Strands of Love

Radnor slapped him on the back. “Good. You’ll share a meal with us before you set out for home.” It was more a command than an offer. Jace glanced toward his brother, not surprised when Darian shook his head. As usual, they were in accord.

Jace turned back to his host. “Thank you for the offer, but we need to be on our way. Looks like there’s a storm brewing and we want to make it home by nightfall.” They’d only been at Craddock Keep a matter of hours, having camped just beyond, up in the mountains the night before.

A light step came toward them and Radnor’s face broke into a smile. Jace knew who was there even before he turned around and she was part of the reason he didn’t want to stay. Roxanne Craddock was a tapestry bride. One of those rare creatures brought to Javara by the magic tapestry to be a bride to some worthy men.

He faced her and bowed in greeting, noting his brother did the same. She was pretty enough with her black hair and gray eyes, but when she smiled at her husband, she positively radiated beauty. Jace swallowed hard, ignoring the ache in his chest. He was thirty years old and felt each of those years. It was hard not to covet what the Craddock brothers had found.

“These are the Hunter brothers.” Radnor put his arm around Roxanne and pulled her close. “Jace and Darian.”

She smiled and offered her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Jace glanced at Radnor, getting his unspoken permission before reaching out to shake her hand. No need to offend his host. Some men were very possessive over their women. They were rare treasures and very protected. “It’s a pleasure,” he assured her.

Darian stepped forward and took her hand. “My lady.”

Jace could feel the tension constricting his chest. “We need to be going.”

Radnor nodded. “We’ll come in a week to collect the agreed-upon spices.”

“That’s fine.” Hunter Keep might not be as large or as prosperous as some, but they did well enough, mostly with spices and plants used in cooking and medicines. Some were very rare and grew only in the mountainous region around their home. Some were deadly unless harvested properly, and those at Hunter Keep kept that knowledge a carefully guarded secret. They also had an abundance of salt, which everyone needed to some degree. It allowed them to trade for what they could not produce themselves.

Sednar, the other Craddock brother, joined them. He had the saddle from Jace’s gelding cinched on the stallion in a matter of minutes. Jace thanked him and mounted the massive horse, bringing him quickly under control. He was a spirited beast and suited Jace well.

“Until next week.” Jace led the way. Darian came behind him leading the horse Jace had ridden here. Neither spoke until they were well away from Craddock Keep.

“That went well.” Darian came up alongside him on the path as he spoke.

“It did.” Jace quickly calculated what was left of this season’s spice crop. “We have enough to barter for some new lambs to expand the herd.”

“I heard Carn sired a litter of pups.”

Jace knew his brother wanted one of those pups to train. Carn was a massive wolfhound owned by the Dannon brothers and was one of the best protectors a man could have for his home and his flock.

“If they’re not wanting too much for them,” Darian continued, “I think we should claim one of them if they’re willing to sell.”

As elder of the two by three years, Jace’s word was the final one when it came to what happened at Hunter Keep. But he always listened to his brother’s counsel.

“He’d be a prime bloodline to breed more pups,” Darian pointed out.

His brother was right and, as usual, they were thinking along the same lines. It was the same reason they’d dug deep into their coffers and paid the price for the horse he was riding. If they could breed the stallion with some of the better mares they already owned, they would likely get some fine colts to fill their empty stables.

They’d spent the last five years since their father’s death trying to make their home more self-sufficient. The old man and his two brothers had almost driven the place into the ground before they’d been killed in a freak hunting accident, buried beneath a deadly landslide in the mountains.

Jace glanced up at the darkening sky. “We can send word to Dannon Keep as soon as we get home. I don’t want to leave again so soon.” His mother was in charge while they were away and, while he didn’t doubt her capabilities, he hated to put that burden on her.

They rode for a few more hours, but Jace knew from the ominous clouds gathering above them, they weren’t going to beat the storm home.

“The wind is really picking up.” Darian glanced toward the woods at the base of the mountains. As if on cue, a bolt of lightning struck the ground, illuminating the world in a brilliant flash of light. A boom of thunder rocked the earth. Fallen leaves and debris kicked up, swirling around them. The horses shied and his new stallion tried to bolt.

Jace held on tight to the reins and wrapped his thighs around the beast. “We need to take cover.” A sense of urgency filled him. Out in the open was no place to be in a violent storm.

The skies darkened further and rain began to pound down, stinging his skin. Jace cursed the weather. He’d hoped they’d be home long before the storm was upon them.

“This way,” Darian yelled above another boom of thunder. His brother led the way to a small outcropping of rocks sheltered by some trees.

When they were close, Jace dismounted and tethered the horse to the trunk of a tree. He didn’t trust the branches to hold beneath the might of the creature.

His hair and clothes were dripping by the time he stepped beneath the outcropping with Darian. His brother was in the same shape, his long, blond hair hung in hanks around his face. The difference was, his brother was smiling. Even now, he found the joy in the power of the storm.

“It’s really coming down, but should blow over quickly.” Darian swiped a lock of hair out of his face.

Jace started to answer, but froze when the air in front of them began to shimmer.

“What is that?” his brother asked.

Jace cursed the fact his sword was still lashed to his saddle, but quickly drew the knife from his boot. It wasn’t as powerful a weapon as his sword, but the blade was six inches long, extremely sharp and he knew how to use it. Darian moved up beside him, his knife in his right hand.

The shimmering solidified and a tapestry hovered in the air in front of them, the rain seeming not to touch it. It was about two feet wide by three feet long and the picture on it changed repeatedly. He’d seen it once years before at Castle Garen. It was the magic tapestry, the one that brought potential brides to Javara from other worlds far away.

“Is that the tapestry?” He could hear the disbelief in Darian’s voice. “Doesn’t it bring a woman with it when it comes.”

They both peered through the thick sheets of rain coming down around them, but there was no one there. The horses whinnied and trumpeted their displeasure as the storm continued unabated.

Jace squinted at the tapestry, watching the image on it change. There were no stone castles or keeps on it. No huts with thatched roofs and no horses. Instead, there was a vast, dusty land with a white structure in the distance.

He leaned forward, drawn to it, wanting to see more.

“No!” his brother yelled. He felt Darian’s hand wrap around his arm and then Jace was falling into darkness, into nothingness. He heard his brother cry out and reached for him. Then the world went black.

Jace’s eyes snapped open and he sprang to his feet, knife in hand. Where was he? Where was Darian? He looked around and his heart skipped a beat when he saw his brother lying in the dirt at his feet. He fell to his knees. “Darian.” He shook his brother, grateful to see the slow rise and fall of his chest. He was breathing.