Miles Cameron - The Red Knight

He held onto her. ‘When I was young, I wanted nothing so much as to be a knight,’ he said. ‘I wanted it, and I fought for it. And I did not get it. And after more time and some bad things, I met your husband, and we survived a bad time. And then I became a decent man in a small town. I had some dark days and some good days.’ He shrugged. ‘And now – par dieu, now it seems that I may get to be a knight. And I may have you, my lady.’ He held her tight. ‘Which is by way of saying – our little captain will take many hurts. If they break him?’ he shrugged. ‘Then they do. That is the way of it.’

She nodded. And slipped a little closer to the carpet of their tent.

The captain sat with Ser Alcaeus and his brother in the last light. The great eagle sat on a perch in the shaded end of the tent, head muffled, squawking softly. The captain went and petted the bird and calmed him, and while he was doing so, Toby poured him wine. Ser Jehannes knocked at the captain’s tent poles.

‘Come,’ said the captain.

Ser Jehannes had Ser Thomas and Ser Antigone, and Toby poured them all wine. In the distance, Oak Pew slammed a fist into Wilful Murder’s head. The archer sat suddenly. The captain shook his head.

‘It’s good to be home,’ he said.

Jehannes held out a leather wallet. ‘I know this is supposed to be a night to revel,’ he said. ‘But the messengers who brought these have been like bluebottles on horse manure, m’lord. Dispatches and letters,’ he said. He grimaced. ‘Most for our well-born recruit here.’ He motioned at Alcaeus. ‘Your uncle seems determined to hear from you.’

‘Your pardon,’ Alcaeus said, and broke the seal on a scroll tube of dark wood.

While he did so, Jehannes handed an ivory tube to the captain. He glanced at the seal and smiled.

‘The Queen, gentlemen.’

They all drank. Even Sauce.

He broke the seal while Alcaeus was still reading.

Alcaeus looked up. ‘M’lord,’ he said formally. ‘The situation has worsened. I must ask, in the Emperor’s name, that we ride with all dispatch.’

The captain was till reading his own. ‘Relax, gentles,’ he said. ‘We aren’t riding anywhere tonight.’

Alcaeus looked at white as a sheet. ‘The Emperor has been – taken. Hostage. A week and more ago.’

The captain looked up and fingered his beard. ‘All right. That does constitute a crisis. Tom?’

‘Ready to ride at first light it is.’ Tom grinned. ‘Never a dull moment.’

‘We live in interesting times,’ the captain said. ‘Everyone get sleep. We will be moving fast. May I assume this is part of the same – er – trouble for which your uncle is hiring us?’

Alcaeus shook his head. ‘I don’t know.’ He shuffled. ‘I don’t even know if he is alive, or still Emperor.’

The captain nodded. ‘Dawn, then,’ he said. ‘We’ll pick up information as we go.’

Jehannes looked at the other parchment. ‘And the Queen?’

The captain sighed. ‘An invitation to a Deed of Arms,’ he said. ‘In the spring.’ He smiled. He looked out into the darkness. He was smiling. ‘Someone has kidnapped the Emperor, and we are going to be called on to save him,’ he said quietly. ‘I think we’ll have to miss the tournament.’

He looked around the table. ‘Remember this night, friends. Breathe the air, and savour the wine. Because tonight, it’s all in the balance. I can feel it.’

‘What is?’ Sauce asked. She raised an eyebrow at Tom, as if to say Is he drunk?

‘Everything,’ the captain said. He laughed aloud. ‘Everything.’