Page 55 of Till Kingdom Come

He was wearing his helmet, so I couldn’t tell who it was at first, but from his size I knew it must be either Larak or Bracca. When he got closer, I could see that whoever he was, he meant business. He had his lance extended straight at me. He was charging me, and the melee hadn’t even started yet.

All around me, people were shouting their outrage, but I couldn’t afford to stand around and join them. I knew deep down that he was on his way to kill me.

I was shocked but at the same time, I had actually expected something like this. Suddenly, I knew exactly who this was coming to kill me if he could. It must be King Larek, and his lance had one, sharp metal tip, the better with which to run me through. I knew he had no love for me and meant to do me harm if he could. There was nothing I could do but spur my stag and ride at him as hard as I could, taking him by surprise with my ready response.

I think he thought I’d be frozen in fear or try to run away. He never tried to veer to the side at all as he came at me. He made his first pass, and I managed to lean far enough to the right to avoid the lethal tip of his lance. We passed each other, turned to face each other again and he rode at me hard again to make his next pass.

This time the metal tip of his lance hit my shield a glancing blow on the right side, but it was strong enough to knock it from my hand. I managed to somehow stay on my stag and turn to face him. He took his battle axe and threw it at me, end over end, hitting me squarely in the breastplate. It didn’t pierce the metal, but the pain was still intense and knocked the breath out of me. I didn’t think I’d be so lucky the next time, especially if it hit me in the same place again. I breathed frantically, trying to calm down and take in some air. He spurred his horse to make another pass at me and this time I couldn’t get out of the way fast enough and his lance scored a direct hit.

It had to be the new magic I had found that helped me stay on my mount and that kept the lance tip from piercing my armor. The force of the hit knocked me backward though, so I was lying back on the big broad back of the stag. I gripped hard with my knees and managed to keep my seat, but I heard the horrible sound of wood splintering. He had broken the lance off against my armor. He looked down at his lance in disgust and threw the shaft on the ground.

Yelling something in Fae at me, he threw off his helmet, and I saw that it was the king as I’d suspected. He snarled at me, jumped down and tried to drag me down from the back of my stag. I knew that if he got me on the ground, I was as good as dead, so I pulled up my own lance—the only thing I had left—and with the last of my strength, I brought it straight down into his neck. To my horror and surprise, the three-pronged, blunted tip pierced his throat. Maybe it was because it was made of iron and seemed to melt right into his flesh. I’d never even considered what iron might do to a Fairy’s body in a melee. I heard him try to scream, and I looked down to see that the huge, broad three-pronged tip had almost severed his head from his body. His head was barely hanging on, and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Horrified, I jumped off the stag to catch him as he fell, and I heard a hoarse scream come from behind me. I turned to see Bracca bearing down on us, riding rapidly across the field. He saw me standing on the ground beside his father’s now lifeless body, and he gave a hoarse shout. As soon as he reached us, he bailed off his stag and fell down beside Larek, groaning loudly in pain and grief.

“What have you done?” he screamed at me, and to my horror, he jumped to his feet and drew his huge sword. “I’ll kill you!” he cried, and I barely had time to raise my own sword before he was on me. The odd thing was that he wasn’t slashing at me but pushing at me with his fist around the hilt of his sword—pushing and shouting and calling me names. He was beyond furious at me and in that moment, I had no doubt that he hated me.

Suddenly, I knew exactly what was going to happen and I saw it in my mind’s eye as plainly as if it were happening right there in front of me.

He was completely distraught and out of his mind with grief and pain. I saw myself waiting for a moment of distraction, raising my sword and slashing it straight down across the back of his neck. I saw his body crumple and saw him fall.And I was glad. I wanted him dead in that moment. Both of them, dead at my feet.

And in that instant, I knew that I was seeing something that would truly come to pass if I willed it. The evil of the curse had found me at last. I was looking at a vision of the future, but it was only the future if I wanted it to be. I was about to murder Bracca, the man I loved more than I loved myself.

The knowledge slammed into me, waking me up, jarring those evil feelings out of me, and I shuddered in horror and threw my sword down on the ground. Falling to my knees in front of Bracca, I closed my eyes and waited for him to kill me.

“What are you doing?” he raged at me, his voice hoarse with grief. “Pick up your damn sword. Stand up and fight me!”

“No, darling, I won’t! I can’t! I’ll never hurt you. I can’t do that! Kill me instead and let’s put an end to this horrible curse! I’m ready. I love you far too much to ever hurt you.”

He shook his head, looking confused and dazed and devastated, and I knew how he must be feeling. His beloved father was dead on the ground in front of him, killed by his own husband! He had to avenge him and kill me in return. He had no other recourse. I was kneeling in front of him, so I bowed my head and waited for him to end it.

“I’m ready. Go ahead.”

He violently threw the sword down on the ground beside mine and fell to his knees beside me. He pulled me roughly into his arms and stared down into my eyes.

“I-I can’t. I love you too much.”

He lowered his head then as the icy rain began to fall from the skies, and I pulled him close, as close as I could get to him.

“Don’t leave me,” he said, and I shook my head.

“I’ll never leave you. Never.”

“Whatever this curse brings, we can face it together. But you can’t ever leave me. Promise me!”

“I promise.”

I felt we had made each other a solemn vow there where we knelt on the muddy field, in the blood and the rain. It was a vow that nothing and no one could ever break. It was a promise that I’d fight to keep from now until forever. Until the end of time.

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