A Knight Amid Thorns
Laurel O'Donnell
Prologue
England
1402
Graden raced through the long halls of his home, Castle Dumount. His father was back from fighting the French! He was home! He hadn’t seen him for years. He skidded to a halt, looking into the Great Hall. Ceilings stretched far overhead, and the hearth crackled with a small fire. The long wooden tables were empty. No one was there.
He raced up the stone stairs, taking them two at a time. Father must be in his solar, a room that had been strangely empty and quiet for almost three full years. He had been a boy when his father left. Since then, his mother had passed, leaving him alone and in command of the castle. But now all of that was going to change. His father was home! And he would be so proud of the man he had become. At twelve years, Graden had trained hard and learned everything, excelling at the skills he had been taught, so that when his father returned home he would be proud of him.
He heard quiet talking coming from his father’s solar. As he approached the room, he saw two guards stationed outside of the room on either side of the door. They looked at him with sympathy as he hurried past, but Graden didn’t notice. He was too excited at his father’s return.
Upon entering the room, the energy and happiness drained from him.
His father sat near the hearth, his shoulders slumped, a blanket covering them. His hair was grey now. More grey than black. When he had left, there were a few strands of grey peppering his vibrant black locks, but nothing like this.
Graden scowled. His gaze moved over the three men standing around his father. One, a tall, strong, balding man he knew as Captain Cairon, captain of the guard here at Castle Dumount. The other, a shorter, armored man, he didn’t recognize. The presence of the third man sent complete dread through him. He knew the thin man clad in a black robe. And he hated him. He was Halacre, the physician. He had attended Graden’s mother for months before she died. Graden’s scowl deepened. He had done nothing for her; she had died under his so-called expert care.
Graden’s fists clenched. Why was Halacre here? He wanted to command him away from his father. Send him far away. But as Graden’s gaze turned to his father, all his anger drained. His father’s hand tightly held the arm of the chair. It wasn’t a hand Graden remembered. It was weathered, wrinkled and fragile, the fingers looking like mere strips of bone. Graden moved forward.
Halacre looked up, pinning Graden with his dark eyes, but he stepped aside to allow the boy access to his father.
“Father?” Graden called.
The grey-haired head came up and swiveled to look at Graden. His blue eyes were ringed with dark shadows. His skin was grey and sickly. Graden could almost see the bones beneath his face. He reached out for his son. “Graden.”
Horrified, Graden could only stare. The face that looked back at him was a ghost of his strong father. The image of his dying mother came to the forefront of his mind. His father was dying! Graden looked up at Halacre.
Halacre shoved him toward the corpse-like countenance of his father.
Thin, boney fingers wrapped around Graden, squeezing his wrist. His father only let go of him when a fit of coughing overcame him. Then another high cough issued from his father’s throat and his entire body shook with the spasm.
Graden stepped back. The same cough! It was the same cough his mother had! He could still remember the horrible, thick sound that had wheezed out of his mother as she lay dying in her bed. He looked at Halacre. There was resignation and sadness in his cold eyes. Graden shoved him. “DO something!”
Startled, Halacre stepped back. He spread his hands helplessly, looking at Graden’s father with an expression devoid of all hope.
“Graden,” Captain Cairon said firmly and reached for him.
Furious, desperate, Graden ducked out of the captain’s reach and raced toward the door. No, no, no. Not his father. Not his father. He ran as fast as he could through the corridors of the castle. His father was strong…had been strong. No! The stone walls and the occasional servant blurred by him as he dashed away. Graden burst from the castle into the inner ward, falling to his hands and knees in the dust.
Above him, a spear of lightning cut through the darkening sky. His dark hair fell forward, shielding his face. Not his father. His lower lip trembled. Just like his mother! His chest constricted painfully. A drop of wetness hit his hand and he wasn’t certain whether it was rain or not.
No. He would not lose his father! He would give anything to make him better. He shot to his feet and bolted toward the stables. He threw the doors open with a mighty push. The young stable boy jumped to his feet, obviously waking, startled by the loud noise.
Graden moved past him to his black stallion. He opened the stalls and pulled the large horse outside.
“I’ll have him saddled in no time, m’lord,” the stable boy said, wiping sleep from his eyes.
Graden didn’t have the time. His father needed a cure now. He grabbed hold of his horse’s mane and pulled himself up onto his back. He kicked his side. With a slight whinny, the steed raced from the stables. Graden steered him out of the castle, charging beneath the inner ward and beneath the raised portcullis of the outer ward.
Thunder rumbled around him as he steered his horse down the road, moving through the town and further beyond the town’s border. He was not going to let his father die. Not like his mother. He cursed himself every day for letting his mother go, for not trying everything he could think of to save her.
Even seeking out Her.
He had heard rumors, of course. But he had always dismissed them. He was rational, after all. He didn’t believe in superstition like the townspeople. But now, now he would try anything. He would not let his father die. Not like his mother! His vision blurred, and he swiped a hand across his eyes. His heart twisted, and he had to push his feelings aside to concentrate on his task.
