Chapter Four
They had been riding for some time. The scents and the scenery of the forest were lovely this time of year, and Lily found herself enjoying every moment of it.
Up ahead of her rode the King and his gentlemen. They were a handsome bunch, some of them already flirting with the ladies in the group. Lily hung behind, not really wanting to participate in the banter. Besides… that dark rider was bringing up the rear of the group. She felt drawn to him… something about him just made her want to melt every time their eyes met.
He's still watching me. I can feel it.
She turned to her friend, who was looking over the gentlemen riding ahead of them. "So… which one has caught your eye?" Having failed to capture the King's romantic interest right away, Danai easily turned her attention to the gentlemen surrounding him. The other girls were still jockeying for position, hoping that he'd notice them.
Danai looked over at the men critically. "Well… I think I like that one with brown hair. He's got a wicked smile." She looked over at Lily, "What about you? Which one is going to sweep you off your feet?"
Lily laughed. That was a pretty good description of what the dark rider had done to her. "Oh, I don't know… so many to choose from." She paused for a moment, then pressed on, "Danai… you know who's who around here. Who's the one in the black leathers, riding the dark horse?"
Danai looked at her curiously, "The one riding behind us?" Lily nodded. "Oh, that's the High Councilor. Garthan is his name."
"High Councilor?"
"Oh yes. He's been a comrade to the King since they were young. Him and the Lord Martial. The three of them were a sabotage squad back during the Great War. After the Kingdom was founded, he became the High Councilor." Danai's voice then got lower, "That's the formal title. Rumor has it that he's really the King's Spymaster. Nothing happens in the Goblin Kingdom without him knowing about it, and very little outside of it, too."
That sounded… sexy. And a little bit dangerous. I have a feeling that life with him would never be dull…
Lily nodded and tried to look nonchalant. "He's not… bonded, is he?"
"Not that I know of… oh! Do I detect a little interest going on here?" Lily blushed. Danai gave out a giggle, "He's good-looking, certainly, but he scares me a little."
Lily laughed, "Now why would you say that?" He scares me too, but not for the same reason, I'll bet…
"I don't think I've seen him smile this entire time. He just looks at everything like… like he knows what's going on. Like he knows what you're thinking. It's scary." Danai casually looked behind her. "And yes… he's staring at you."
The butterflies in Lily's stomach roiled and swarmed. Before she could say anything, she saw the King make a motion with his hand. Instantly, all riders stopped. There was some discussion between the men, then the King rode back towards the ladies.
"Garthan," he said, uneasy in his countenance.
"Sire?" said the baritone voice behind her. It gave Lily a pleasant shiver. It was the first time she'd heard him speak. Oh, I like his voice…
"It looks like we have a wild boar loose in the Kings Forest. I don't want the ladies at risk."
"I'll escort them back, Sire."
The King nodded, then turned to address the ladies, although he looked directly at Lily. "Ladies, I apologize. I'm not sure how, but it seems that a wild boar is loose in the Forest. I would have you taken back safely to the castle while we deal with it."
Lily, a child of the border, knew exactly how fearsome wild boars were. They were huge, easily the size of a small cow, with wicked tusks and a resistance to magic that made them very dangerous. She had expected to hunt turkeys or geese, not a porcine monstrosity. She was glad to be returning to the castle.
As the ladies sorted themselves out, she shot a glance over at Garthan. He turned his horse to lead them away, looking back at her briefly. She moved her horse so that she rode beside him, and a little behind. This was the perfect time for him to start a conversation.
But he didn't. He rode with his head faced forward, his gaze sweeping both sides of the forest path. He said nothing, but she could feel that he was very aware of her.
Well, this is odd. Why stare at me so much but not talk to me when you get the chance?
They must have ridden in silence for about ten minutes, when Lily's patience internally snapped. If he wasn't going to start the conversation, then she'd have to. But what to say?
So, how's the spy business?
No.
Nice horse you've got there…
No.
You look absolutely delicious in those black leathers…
Oh, hell no.
There had to be something that would get the conversation ball rolling. What to say?
Well, it's official. You are an idiot. What the hell, Garthan?
As they rode back to the castle, he had to use all his restraint to keep from kicking himself. He'd volunteered to take the ladies back, thinking he might talk to his girl (his, again?) and even felt gleeful when she rode so close to him. She gave him a smile when he glanced at her before he ripped his gaze away. He played out a dozen different scenarios in his head, but all of them hinged on his actually speaking to her.
What to say?
So… what are you doing after the hunt?
He snorted internally. She's eating dinner at the dining hall, same as you, you troll.
You ride a horse well… do you want to go for a ride tomorrow?
Ugh. She probably did. It was getting her to want to go for a ride with him that was the issue.
You are the loveliest thing I've ever laid eyes on, and I want you for my own.
Real smooth, that one. Just the thing to get a maiden to fall in love. Bog damn it.
Truthfully, even if he did open his mouth, he wasn't at all sure that what came out would even be coherent. She was just so… lovely. It hurt to look at her, and yet he felt like every nerve in his body was aware of her. He could feel her looking at him intermittently.
He didn't get much more time to ponder his situation before utter chaos ensued.
The earsplitting squeal of rage, his horse sidling in alarm, the other ladies' horses scattering, his girl's horse wheeling in panic, then bucking.
His girl flying off the horse, tumbling to the ground.
The boar, which had just burst through the trees, focused on the girl, and prepared to charge. She tried to get up, but clearly had been injured in the fall. She pulled the dagger at her waist, the expression on her face a mix of mortal fear and grim determination.
Garthan pulled his sword. Damn, I wish I had a spear, he thought. No choice. A sword it is.
Spurring Vorlan to dash between the boar and the girl, he used the stirrups to launch himself from the saddle, hit the ground behind the boar rolling and slashed across the boar's hindquarters. The boar squealed in rage and whirled to face him. He had time to fling a deflection shield over the girl before the boar charged.
The next few minutes were a blur of slash, charge, roar, and squeal. Blood was spraying everywhere, but as far as he knew (or at least could feel), the boar hadn't hit him. He didn't know how long he was at it before he heard the thunder of hooves and watched as a spear came flying in from nowhere. Before his eyes, it plunged into the chest of the boar, sending it skidding back a few feet. The boar remained unmoving.
Finally relaxing his stance, he turned to see the King dismounting, the rest of the court gentlemen doing the same. Jareth took one look at the shredded boar and smiled.
"Damn, Garthan. How are we supposed to eat that thing, now?"
The men laughed. A couple of them patted him on the back. Without even knowing why he did it, Garthan took his dagger and dug one of the boar's teeth out. He put it in his pocket. He turned his gaze to the girl, still laying on the forest floor. Jareth followed his gaze.
Garthan waved his hand slightly and the deflection shield disbursed. Regular magic shielding would have been ineffective against the boar, so he'd had to use a shield which rendered the girl invisible. The rest of the men noticed her lying on the ground and started rumbling in concern.
"Garthan, take the lady back to the castle, see to it that Melina takes a look at her." He turned to the other ladies, who had gathered again once the danger was over. "Ladies, shall we continue?"
The bevy of girls fluttered and giggled, assembling themselves around the King. Two of his aides moved over to the boar to prepare it for transport back to the castle while the other gentlemen prepared to ride with the King.
Sighing inwardly, Garthan walked over to the girl. She still held the dagger to the ready, her countenance holding that same mix of fear and determination. Before he could stop himself, he heard his own voice.
"Is that dagger for the boar, My Lady, or for me?"
She blinked at him a moment, then looked at the dagger in her hand. She looked back up at him and burst into laughter. He found himself smiling down at her.
Did I just see that man kill a boar with a sword? A sword!
Okay, so it was the King's spear that dealt the death blow, but still. She had no doubt that Garthan would have killed that boar himself if he'd had another thirty seconds.
She lay on the forest floor, her ankle on fire with pain. She felt herself trembling a bit in reaction while she watched the backslapping and congratulations. Garthan had moved over to the boar, doing something with its mouth.
Hello… I'm right here. Anyone?
As if he'd heard the thought, she saw Garthan look over at her.
Well, at least he remembered I'm here.
She saw the King look over in her direction, and then Garthan waved his hand. She could see the air around her immediate vicinity shimmer for a moment. She mentally shook her head… they didn't see her because Garthan had shielded her. Of course. The boar wouldn't attack something it couldn't see…
With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, the King turned to say something to Garthan, who nodded in response. The other ladies assembled, all ready and willing to continue the hunt while she lay with a nasty ankle sprain and leaves tangled in her hair. Garthan walked over to her, stopping about a foot away. As he didn't have any boar blood on him, either he or the King must have magicked it gone. His hair wasn't even mussed.
"Is that dagger for the boar, My Lady, or for me?"
She looked at him blankly for a moment, then looked down at her hand. Her dagger. What the hell did she think this dagger was going to do to that boar? The ridiculousness of the situation struck her as hilarious. She looked up at him, while a mix of hilarity and delayed reaction caused her to start laughing as she sheathed her weapon. Then she saw it.
He was smiling at her.
Oh… I like this… his smile is so… oh…
Her brain refused to talk sense to her. She didn't think she'd be able to make it make sense if she tried to speak, so she just kept smiling. Garthan knelt before her. "Are you injured, my lady?" His voice just sent all kinds of tingles through her nerves.
"My ankle, I think. I might have been able to Heal some of it, but it hurts too much…"
She had Healing magic, all Othánas women did to some degree, but they hardly ever could use it on themselves, not like the Ughlánas could. The reason for this was usually pain. Pain interfered with the concentration needed to perform a Healing. While she could Heal a sprained ankle on another, the pain of the ankle would cause her Healing magic to sputter and spark if she tried it on herself.
"May I?" Garthan said as he reached for her ankle. She nodded. He gently drew her boot off (which hurt terribly, but she bit her lip and refused to make a sound). With a deft touch, he felt the bones of her foot, ankle, and lower calf. "I don't think it's broken, my lady. Only sprained." He pulled his own dagger and before she could say anything, he'd cut strips of cloth from his cloak. Working quickly but gently, he'd wrapped her ankle with the strips. He looked her in the eyes when he'd finished, noting that she'd bitten her lip to keep from crying out. His expression was so… tender.
She felt it in her bones, an almost audible 'click'. A rush of sensation, almost dreamlike in quality, as she felt the voids within her fill.
It was him. He was The One.
