Chapter 11
Horland would have liked nothing better than to stay there with Briana resting against him. He had only known her for a short time, but when he saw the wolf about to attack her, his chest exploded in pain at the thought of losing her and he nearly ran the wolf through with his sword. He hadn’t thought about it before then, but he was enjoying her company and was somehow glad she’d decided to stay with him.
As he stood between the canine and the beautiful but strange woman, he noted the animal had been suckling cubs. That was when he threw his sword away. He knew what it was like to be an orphan and he couldn’t kill the cub’s mother. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew Briana would think highly of him for that decision. And he was right—the way she looked at him when he told her about the cubs said she admired him at that moment. And that made him feel like a giant among even the tallest of trees.
He gazed at her sleeping face and shook his head. There was something about her that drew him in. He fought it atfirst but now, he decided he wanted to get to know her better, find out if there was a mutual attraction.
He sighed and nudged her awake. “It’s time to go.”
She lifted her head and sat back. “Thanks for being my pillow.”
He smiled at her rubbing her eyes. “My pleasure.”
She covered her mouth and yawned. “Do you think Garlain has his wife with him?”
“I do.”
“But what is that to you? He’s her husband and if she wants to spend some alone time with him, she can.”
Horland looked off over the clearing, not seeing anything.
“You think he’s done something to her.”
It wasn’t a question, and Horland had no answer. Nothing about the situation made sense to him. Garlain, Patricia, King Pradwick, Princess Leeta, all were keeping something from him. He regarded Briana. She fingered the hem of her cloak in a nervous fashion. He hoped she wouldn’t become frightened by what they found at the end of their journey, but he wanted to talk to her, to tell her his concerns. She was so open and perhaps she would have some insight that he could not attain.
He gave a small shake of his head. “I don’t want to believe it. Before I left to tour of the kingdom, they were happy and so in love, it was hard to be near them for any length of time. I was not a party to their feelings; in fact, I could bear watching them no longer, so I volunteered to tour the kingdom and report how it fares to the king.”
He looked ahead without focusing. “But when I returned two years later, I learned that Garlain and Patricia had a baby girl and while that should have been a cause for happiness, there was a sadness soaking the walls of the castle as I walked the corridors. The king and his daughters would not confidein me except to say Sir Garlain had left and they did not know when he was to return.”
He regarded Bree with a sigh. “You are new to the kingdom, so you don’t know the king as I do. He and Princess Leeta were keeping something important from me, I am sure of it. I never had the fortune to speak to Morla, one of the other princesses, but his youngest daughter knew little. However, she did come to her own conclusions. So too did Garlain’s sister.”
Her eyes widened and she gasped. She had read her mother’s diary and while all the royals and some knights had been mentioned, Garlain having a sister was not. “He has a sister?”
“Yes, but why does that surprise you? Many knights have sisters or brothers or both.”
“I don’t know, I guess because you never mentioned her before.”
Horland studied her face. She appeared thoughtful. He was thankful she listened so intently to his story.
“Simone, Garlain’s sister, was grieving the loss of her brother and asked me to find him.”
He picked up a small stone and threw it onto the cold fire. “She was the only one who told me Garlain and Patricia had a girl child. Simone was overjoyed but soon became disappointed that she never got to meet her niece because Patricia and her baby never returned to Pradwick. However, when Garlain returned, he did so without his wife and child.”
Horland paused. None of what Simone told him made sense.
“Go on,” Briana said, smiling encouragement.
Horland shook his head. “Simone said Garlain was at first so angry, a maid told her he rampaged about his room, breaking everything in his reach. Later he became morose and stayed within his rooms, allowing no one in. Simone feared he had lost his mind and gone mad. Reflecting on whatI knew, I could only surmise something terrible happened to Patricia.”
“I don’t think Garlain did anything to her.”
“How would you know? You do not know Garlain, you do not know Patricia, you do not know anything.”
“Fine then, tell me about Patricia.”
He wasn’t in any hurry to continue to the ruins; he was content to stay and converse with the strange woman from a strange land. Since his return, he had felt so alone in his quest to find what happened to his friends, and with her open and encouraging visage urging him to speak, he did.
“I met her at the king’s ball the night before the tournament. Mark and Dianne, close friends of the king, arrived with her in their company. She was Dianne’s twin sister, and all the knights were smitten by her beauty. She was the most beautiful woman there, even more beautiful than her sister.”
