Chapter Nine

E ron and Kene rode south, camping out and then spending an evening at Simona's inn before moving on. Were they going hunting? Kene remained tightlipped throughout the journey. Dark thoughts must be clawing at her mind. She hadn't smiled or spoken much at all since the mage's nighttime visit, and she'd looked upon Eron with what looked to be pity when she thought no one could see.

And tonight marked the full moon. Dead leaves crunched under the horses' hooves.

"This is where we stopped the last carriage." That venture earned them a tidy sum, though Eron sometimes wondered if the handsome young Davin listened and found himself a better protector.

Eron had tucked a few coins into Davin's pocket to help him escape.

"We're not here to hunt." It wasn't like Kene to be so tight-lipped.

"Then what are we here for?" Would she tell Eron all about the mysterious mage's visit?

"You shall see."

The words sounded so ominous. They finally dismounted in a clearing in the woods. Rotted timbers might once have been a cottage, and a tumble-down, vine-covered patch could have been a shed of some kind.

Wait! These woods seemed familiar. Eron and Kene had indeed relieved a coach of excess baggage here not too long ago and several times before. He'd wanted a kiss if Davin's pretty lips hadn't recently been wrapped around the arrogant duke's prick.

Eron waited through several moments of uncomfortable silence before asking again, "Where are we?"

"Where I found you."

Eron looked around. Nothing appeared familiar, and yet… A grizzled grandfather of a man, putting Eron on a horse. Traveling here.

Then the man…

They'd killed him. Men in uniforms killed him. Who was he? "Stable master."

Kene turned to face Eron. "What did you say?"

"The stable master brought me here. Soldiers killed him. The king. My Father. Why would he send soldiers to kill the man who rescued me? Or did he kidnap me?" Thoughts swirled in Eron's head, a glimpse here, something nearly catching in his mind, then spinning away again.

Kene placed a hand on Eron's shoulder. "He rescued you the day your father was killed."

"And you happened to be here for me?" Eron couldn't keep suspicion from his voice. He suddenly viewed Kene with new eyes, unsure if he liked what he saw. Had all their time together been based on some scheme?

Kene stepped away, staring at the ground. "I rode hard to get here when I heard of the planned attack. It wasn't you I hoped to save, but your brother. He was all I could think about. When I found you here, spirited away, I knew my Dafron was dead."

"Your Dafron?"

"Yes." Kene looked up, defiance in her eyes along with a haze of tears. " My Dafron. Then your protector died, and I took you instead."

"You never meant to save me?" Eron's entire worldview upended.

"It's not like that," Kene blurted, running her fingers under her hood and through her hair. "I didn't know you, but I saved you for Dafron's sake. I would have saved your sister, too, had I been able, and have listened to every bit of news I could get about her. But it's for your own sake that I kept you, raised you as my own, no matter how hard that was to be reminded of my failure."

"Yes, I suppose I was a burden." Eron marched closer to see Kene eye to eye.

"No!" Kene took Eron's chin in one hand. "Not a burden. Never a burden. It's just that… that… well, you are the very image of your brother. So much alike that, at times, it makes my heart hurt to look at you." She took a stone from her pocket. "The mage who visited gave me this for you. Keep it on you at all times, and whoever looks and would do you harm won't see the real you. They'll see you as whatever isn't a threat."

Eron curled his fingers around the stone, still warm from Kene's pocket. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Wait here. Mage Miisov told me to bring you here. I don't know what he has planned. It's likely best I don't know, so I can't somehow tempt fate. You don't know him and have no reason to trust him. To tell the truth, neither do I. However, it took both of us to keep you safe."

Strange that Kene didn't call Miisov "Father." Wasn't that what she'd said in the study?

"If you ever need me for anything. I'm here. And if Miisov lets you return to our estate, there's always a place for you there."

Our estate. Not my estate. The place Eron remembered as home, where he'd played, learned, and grown into a man.

"I may have taken you in for your brother's sake, Ed… Eron. For your own, I kept you."

Did she love Eron's brother still? "I've never seen you with a man or woman for long. You've never married or taken a lover for more than a few nights."

Kene shook her head. "I entertain lovers occasionally, but it's only physical. They can never touch my heart. That's buried wherever your brother is."

How had Eron not known all this time? Never had Kene mentioned Dafron until now. "Will I see you again?"

"It is my fondest wish. But you have a destiny to fulfill. I believe Miisov limited your memories to save you pain, and if he has, he'll restore them if he can. It is past time for you to take your rightful place as King Lothan's son."

"I've seen twenty-four summers. Why now?"

"Twenty-two. Remember, I told people you were older to help hide you. You weren't twelve when I found you. You were ten." Kene regarded Eron with a sheen of tears in her eyes. "Take the love of a mother with you. I'll never be far away." One side of her mouth hitched upward. "Who knows, maybe Lord Night will accost you one day while you take an outing in your fine coach." Kene pulled away, taking her warmth with her.

"And you have the love of a son." Eron enfolded Kene in a hug, recalling all the times she'd comforted him after bad dreams. She hugged him just as tightly. "One day, if I come to the estate, will you tell me about Daf… my brother?"

"Yes, I will." Kene released Eron, swiped a tear away with the back of her hand, and swung up onto her horse, taking Rhedos's reins. "You'll not need this old nag any longer, Your Highness." She winked, dug her heels into her horse's flank, and vanished into the trees, leaving Eron's heart to break into tiny pieces for the loss of both Kene and Rhedos.

He stared at the piles of collapsed timbers, reaching back into the dark recesses of his mind.

A childlike voice asked , "What about Father?"

A large man studied Eron with kind eyes. "I'm sorry, son. King Selin's forces invaded the castle. Your father is… lost."

Father. King Lothan. And a mother. No, Mother died in childbirth, along with Eron's younger sister. A soft voice sang to him, and the scent of lilac surrounded him. The memory drifted away like smoke through a fist.

Kene said Eron looked like Dafron. Eron had never been one to stare overly long into a mirror. Would he have seen Dafron's face there? Freed some memories? Sister. Lessa. She still lived, right? She must have if someone at their recent party delivered news of her to Kene.

Flashes came faster: running down the servants' stairs. Anthone! What happened to Master Anthone? A big man lifting Eron onto a horse. Henri? No, Hentri.

Somehow, this place must be jogging Eron's remembrances. Or perhaps the mage's spell had dissolved. Eron gazed through the trees at the castle on the hill. Was that his home?

The gargoyle on the highest pinnacle looked down from its lofty perch. If Eron entered the castle, would those men be freed? Nah. No matter how powerful a mage, no one could turn a man into stone.

Eron remained silent, listening. Was the mage supposed to meet him here? A mist muted the sun, settling over the trees and spreading downward.

A mist? Was that fog or… That was no ordinary mist. Eron sprinted toward the cave. Don't breathe, don't breathe. He covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve, but still the sickly sweetness of the air filled his mouth and lungs.

His steps slowed, and the mist completely enshrouded him. Where was he? Where was he going? Eron sank to his knees, now breathing freely of what must be some form of enchantment. He gulped for air. His arms grew too heavy to lift.

All went black.