FOREVER KNIGHTS: #5 Subjugation of Beasts

Warlock Grove, Nightway (Five years after meeting Riaura)

ALAZAR

“Alazar!” Riaura waded through ankle deep mire in pouring rain. Eyes glittering with emotion.

Only hours ago, Danbury directed her, yet again, to stay from Alazar.

Alazareth had heard his voice from near the pillar in the bailey. Yet here she is.

Reluctant to reveal himself, he trailed after her while she called for him. “Alazareth! Answer me!”

Yellow wolf eyes were intent on her as he slipped past another tree. Weaving through them like a ghost. She’s determined today. She’s not going to go ’til I answer. He realized.

Sighing, he let fur fall from his body and bowed his head as his back twisted and changed. Vertebrae extending and straightening. Legs switching their angles with a pop.

“What is it you want Riaura?” His smooth baritone asked as he stepped from the trees. A black cloak trailing grass behind him. His presence making the air in the woods seem thinner.

“To talk with you!” She stomped. Green eyes flashing.

“Why are you here?” He stayed a distance away. Leaning his shoulder on a tree and crossing his ankles as he wove his arms over the breadth of his chest.

“To speak with you. I’ve missed you…” Her voice dropped.

“Have you?” His head lifted. He’d intended to ignore her but impulsively stepped from the trees at her bidding.

“I have to talk with you. I don’t-don’t want to…believe…”

“Believe what, Riaura?” He asked dully. Already knowing what she’d been told.

“That maybe you’re…That you…”

“What?” His chin lifted, and his eyes narrowed. Daring her to recognize him for what he was.

Say it.

Tell me what he told you.

“You cannot deny that in all these years I’ve known you, you’ve not aged at all.”

No, I haven’t.

“No.” He admitted.

“And you stay out here in the dark and the fog and the cold.”

“I don’t like to stray from my trees. The sun hasn’t been kind.”

It drove us from England. People there had noticed we weren’t aging either.

“Is that why you avoid being in the light?” She persisted.

What are you driving at? He gave her a sideways glance.

“Are you implying I’m some dark dread creature?” His voice turned bitter. “Is that what he’s telling you?”

She blinked at him.

Waiting…But not daring to ask.

Stop pussyfooting.

“I can stand in your sunlight Riaura. It’s just not wholly safe for me and less so if you’re near me.”

“And why is that Alazar?”

Cimmerii are circling you like wolves on a dying deer.

“I’m not evil. I combat it.”

“I don’t understand.”

Of course not. You can’t see it for what it is.

“I don’t expect you to.”

“Charles has not led me wrong afore...”

“That you’ve yet discovered.” Alazar scoffed.

“Alazar.” She chastised. “It’s unlike you to be so unkind. Aren’t you the same who preaches kindness and forgiveness to me? ‘Don’t judge anyone by your first assessment, Riaura.’, ‘Be kind, Riaura.’, ‘Be generous, Riaura.’ Wasn’t all of that you?”

His jaw tightened. A muscle ticking there.

Cheeky. Very cheeky. He shifted. Blue-green eyes snapping with annoyance.

“Why would one who cares so much for me wish to separate me from my friend? Unless…he truly worries you’d harm me?”

Alazar scoffed. “Have I?”

Her brows drew together.

“Have I ever hurt you?” He demanded urgently. Envisioning healing her hand, the squirrel, her black eyes.

Who do you think I am!

“Of course not.” She said at length.

“Then why would you let someone plant a seed of doubt in your head?”

“I sit by his side through his violent seizures.” She explained. “He needs me. Cares about me. I see no reason he’d lie to me.”

Cares about you? He straightened from next to the tree. Wondering why his throat grew tight and his hands curled to fists.

“I’m aware you tend him.”

“People have told you?”

He looked at her, unwilling to correct that he’d heard her soft reassurances, while Danbury’s body rattled against the rushes. Teeth clattering. Alazar pictured her sitting next to the fire, cradling his head and caressing his hair comfortingly.

He’s betraying you. But she’d never believe it. Alazar was well-aware of that.

“I didn’t come here for all that, Alazar.” She brought him back to the present.

Of course not. You won’t listen!

“Then I’ll ask you again.” He took another step toward her, his hair flattened around his face from the rain, chest heaving with irritation. “What is it you’ve sought me out for?”

“I needed to see you. Needed to know if it’s true?”

He saw fear and confusion written over her round face. Sighing he relented. “Come out of the rain.”

“Where would that be?” She laughed.

“There are closures of trees where rain can’t get through.” He led her to one. The canopy was dense enough only a stray drop or two seeped in. The leaves above looked gray. Trees dark with moisture. Piles of early Fall leaves in shades of brown and red smushed beneath her boots.

Alazar led her to a mass of roots under one wide tree which sheltered the ground from dampness. He sat. Tipping his head next to him as he laid his cloak out to ensure if the dirt was wet, she wouldn’t grow cold.

She was quiet a long while. Staring down at him assessingly.

What? What are you thinking I’m going to do? It irked him she’d suddenly question his intentions. If that’s what she’s doing. His jaw ticked as he waited.

At length she sat and turned her back to his side laying back and surprising him by resting her head on his leg to look up at him.

“What’s wrong with you today?” He lifted his arm to peer at her beneath it. Unsure where to put it with her head on his thigh. He shifted slightly and settled for resting his hand on the opposite elbow.

“Marod.” She murmured. Looking at her hands as she plucked a piece of grass and twisted it in her fingertips. “I challenged her a few days ago.”

“Oh?” He quirked a blonde brow. “How’d that go?”