Morrigan looked down the rocky path and ran her hand along Eaergo’s back. She turned her head, her hair bunched into her hood. She wore deep red pants and black boots, a dark fur lined cloak over her jacket, the same hue as her hair. The path was free of snow parted by the winds, almost like a path swept clean.
Eaergo’s tail swished as he waited for her orders. She stroked the horse’s neck slowly and heard the footfalls of another rider approaching her. He wore a simple black vest and pants along with another fur lined cloak around his shoulders. Very tame wear for Benidict. Living in the Free City had humbled the Sanquiknight a bit. Pulling back his hood he exposed his shorter hair to the elements and shivered but still, he smiled.
“What do you see Mori?” he asked leaning against Noir, a pitch-black horse with foresty eyes.
She turned and looked up the path in front of them. The mountain range beyond it and the low hanging clouds ahead. She could imagine that rain was going to arrive in the coming days. But when she could her eyes she could see the path she was meant to take.
“I see our way forward,” she replied and turned an emerald eye onto him. “And I see him.”
Benidict sat up glancing behind him and chuckled. Morrigan’s eyes alit upon their third companion. It had been three years since they’d first met and he’d grown both physically and personally. He was a man now and sometimes she didn’t recognize the boy she had met. Even now she watched him follow the pair of them on his horse, despite the fatigue he desperately tried to hide.
“He wasn’t born like we were but he still tries,” Benidict commented.
“Becoming a Sanguiknight isn’t for the light of heart,” she said curtly. “But he’s been meeting expectations consistently.”
He smiled and gave a slow nod of his head, “For a boy of such humble origins he’s been impressive.”
“In more ways than one hm?”
“Don’t think I’ve missed the way you treat him in our private time Mori. I see how you favor him in more ways than one as well,” he gave her a knowing smile. “He’s determined to live up to what a Sanquiknight is.”
“You call it determination. I call it stubbornness.”
He placed a hand over his mouth, “Oh dear a stubborn human wishing to become a proper Sanguiknight. Where have I heard that story before?”
She narrowed her eyes to such a sharp point that Benidict touched his cheek as if he were cut and grinned at her. “Watch what you say Ben.”
“Or you’ll hurt me Mori? You can only threaten me with a good time so often.”
She growled, a mixture of his words and the effect they had on her. She opened her mouth to retort but Alistair approached finally his chest huffing slightly but smiled at the pair of them. His white mare huffed a cold puff of air as it stood beside the other two. The other two horses acknowledged his with a swish of their tails.
“Why have we stopped?” he asked pulling his hood back and looking between them. His hair had grown out longer but brushed back behind his head as neatly as he could. His features had sharpened but even more than that his brown eyes gleamed. Across his back was a great sword wrapped in an ornate red sheathe and he wore it proudly.
“No reason Al,” Benidict said smiling at him. “Mori here just needed a break that’s all.”
She threw a glare at him but calmed and looked at Alistair. “We will get to our destination soon. No reason to arrive there more travel weary than necessary.”
“Oh. Wonderful,” he slumped backward letting his shoulders sag. A sharp wind traveled over them and he pulled his cloak closer. “The air up here is thinner than I expected.”
“That’s a mountain for you. This is one of the higher peaks in our lands. It’s why a temple was built here,” Benidict commented. “Her Majesty enjoyed the views from up high.”
“Is that why the castle was constructed in the mountains as well?”
“Indeed. My Queen wanted Her children to always be able to look down upon the world. But no longer,” Morrigan whispered glancing down.
Alistair stared at her and wanted to distract her from this line of thought. Though she had stopped isolating herself in her own pain, the pain wasn’t entirely gone just yet. “What do you think we’ll find in the temple? Hopefully not another crazed Sanquiknight.”
“One can only hope,” Benidict said with a chuckle. “This temple was always more isolated than others. At worst we can go and pray and pay our offerings to Her Majesty. But at best we may be able to meet others who survived the fall of our home.”
“You really think so?”
“There have been others before,” Morrigan commented and nudged Eaergo forward. “Let’s continue.”
Both men stared at her back for a moment before pulling their hoods back on and falling into step behind her. The uphill path evened out as they walked and they crested to a flatter path. Alistair stared at the mountain wall to their right but out to their left was the steep drop off. One wrong turn and they would go tumbling to their deaths.
Rounding a corner slowly Alistair’s eyes widened and watched the path open up into what he could only call a valley. The snow-covered ground opened up dramatically with the mountain serving to be a wall of protection on one side and the drop of being the other. And hugging that wall of stone was a tall temple with the symbol of the Cerisan Queen above the doors, the five petalled flower with a bullet in the center.
Staring at the ground as they walked he realized that there were tracks in the snow here. Looking up he saw the pair of Sanguiknights also recognize this and exchange glances. They didn’t say anything but Alistair could see the cautious excitement. Silently he hoped that for their sake it was real.
Once they were at the temple they dismounted leaving their horses lined together in front of it. The trio of horses watched their riders before lowering their heads. They walked together but Morrigan was in the lead walking ahead and toward the massive doors.
Climbing the two steps she pushed the door open. The cold wood groaned under the pressure and scraped across the ground. Warmth flowed out fluffing her hair slightly and she could smell the soft scent of candles from the castle. Her heart ached and her face showed the longing.
Over a dozen eyes turned to face her as she walked onto the carpeted floor of the temple. The chandeliers above them were lit, the altar at the end of the temple was cared for, and before she arrived she knew there was conversation. She looked at each of the faces, dark and light, old and young, tattered regality and humble rags. All of these faces, no matter how bruised, no matter how downcast their eyes were, stood with proud straight backs.
A man approached and he wore a vest that had been repaired many times at the shoulders and wrist. He had a handkerchief in his pocket that had been protected with so much care that she couldn’t see a stitch or smudge on it. His face was young but his eyes were old much like her own.
“Miss Morrigan. Is that you?”
A warm smile formed on her lips and she nodded lowering her hood and letting her hair spill out. “It’s me Walter. It’s good to see you again.”
Walter walked toward her, hands outstretched and took her hand in both of his lowering his head. “I had thought you gone. Killed in the collapse of the castle.”
“We survived,” Benidct said lowering his hood. “Thanks to Her Majesty’s power we were protected and given continued purpose.”
As Alistair lowered his hood as well Walter lowered his head and pressed his hand against his forehead. “By Her Majesty’s blessings. She continues to bring us good fortune. Her Sanquiknights have found Her people again.”
A few of the others came forward. Morrigan recognized some faces but others were new to her. The castle was big enough that she didn’t know everyone who lived within the castle. She recognized some as nobles and others as servants but all were glad to see a Sanquiknight again.
“How did you all find your way here?” she asked looking at Walter after exchanging another greeting.
“A calling,” he said simply somewhat unsure. “A feeling that said to find Her Majesty’s temple.”
“That’s what we felt,” Benidict said glancing at the man and rubbing his chin. “An urge that told us to come north.”
“Some of these people traveled very far to get here,” Walter said motioning to a pair sitting at one of the pews and talking.
“The people of Cerise truly have been scattered,” Alistair said frowning and Walter turned to stare at him with new eyes.
“I remember you. Alistair. Miss Morrigan’s guest and someone who gained Her Majesty’s eye,” he chuckled seeing the mild embarrassment of the man. “We have scattered across the land finding our own ways to grieve. But we are coming together again.”
“Good. I’m sure Her Majesty would be glad to see her people were not broken,” Alistair said and turned toward the symbol of the Cerisan court and the burning altar. Benidict and Morrigan both walked over, their weapons across their laps and heads bowed in prayer.
Alistair watched them and felt a distance between himself and his lovers. They had an actual, powerful bond to Her Majesty and he had only met her once. In some ways he envied their devotion and love of Her.
A few others, including Walter, joined Morrigan and Benidict in prayer or in council at the altar probably spurred on by the return of someone like Morrigan. But Alistair leaned against a pew as something else nagged at him. A presence that he couldn’t place but unsettled him.
“Come on Alistair. You’re just paranoid. Mori’s teaching and all that,” he said laughing at himself.
“Sir knight?” Alistair started slightly and turned to look at a girl. Her eyes were down almost hidden behind a hood and a brown cloak. She stood shorter than him holding a hand to her arm beneath her cloak.
He looked at her confused as to who she was talking to, but realized she was speaking to him. This was the first time a stranger had addressed him with the station or even anything with respect. “Yes?” he asked carefully.
“I was a servant at the castle. It was part of my duties to know the higher ranking members of the castle. Especially Her Majesty’s most trusted subjects. But I never knew about you,” she said hesitantly. “I’m sorry I don’t mean disrespect. Please forgive me.”
Alistair raised his hand and shook his head quickly. “No no. This isn’t disrespecting. Do not feel that you have to apologize. I was not a knight when Her Majesty was alive. My status came from journeying with Mori and Ben.”
“Then are you only a knight in name?”
“Not quite,” He could feel himself about to downplay his on skill but he knew what Morrigan would say. ‘Own your achievements. You’ve earned the position that you’re in. Undersell yourself and you undersell my and Benidict’s faith in you’. So he smiled to himself and said, “I lack all of the experience of the others but I can be just as effective in living up to Her Majesty’s expectations.”
“I’m glad,” she smiled slightly. “I’ll know that Her Majesty and Cerise will continue to be protected. If there’s anything I can do please let me know.”
“I will,” Alistair watched her leave and sighed content. Whatever unease he had felt before had gone away. Glancing down at the ground he raised his eyebrow. “Wait, you dropped something.”
Going forward he picked it up and stared at the small hand that was in his own now. Pale skin and slender fingers, but severed at the wrist without any blood. “What is this?” he asked and the girl turned to look at him.
He saw past the hood she wore and saw her eyes were empty black, dried blood caked along the upper part of her forehead. “Oh. I dropped that. Please don’t tell anyone. It will ruin the surprise.”
A shout echoed through the temple. All eyes went to Morrigan and another standing near her. She stared down at them and the dagger protruding from her stomach. She grabbed the hilt and yanked it out, glaring at the man. But he just stared at her blankly, as if there was no soul inside his body.
“Morrigan!” Benidict jumped to his feet and grabbed the man by the back of the neck and whipped him toward the far wall. He crouched beside her as she wobbled on her feet. “Morrigan are you okay?”
“I’ll live,” she said holding her stomach and wincing. “He would have pierced my heart but I managed to guess it in time. Who is this traitor?”
“No traitor. Just one of my pawns,” The door to the temple opened as a shape approached. They all turned this black robed newcomer who was swaying back and forth to their own music. Clapping their hands, they hummed to a new song and finally laughed. “You people are very passionate about your royalty. Specifically, your queen. Even in death you still worship her. Awaken my pets.”
They clapped their hands together and it was like lifting a veil. Everything managed and cared for became dilapidated. The pews were broken, the windows shattered and the lights extinguished. The people of Cerise that had once stood around them happy and alive were now standing still heads down.
Their clothes were torn, their jaws slack, and their bodies limp. Where once were friends were now nothing but the undead. Alistair stared at them his anxiety reaching a level he’d never felt before. He took a step back and then turned to Morrigan and Benidict, frozen.
“Were they ever really here?” Benidict said slowly and stared at each of the zombies. “Or is this them? Did you slaughter them?”
“Oh this? Well you’d be surprised at what you tend to pick up along the way to a location,” They shrugged and chuckled.
“You’ll pay,” Morrigan said getting to her feet. Her hand went to her hip and she drew her weapon. Blood flew from her wound to the edge of the weapon as her eyes turned to a deep red. “You’ll pay for desecrating my Queen’s temple!”
Jumping to her feet she lunged past the zombies and straight at the stranger. Her sword moved like lightning and the stranger just grasped their hood and pulled it down. Morrigan’s sword stopped in front of their face. Her breath left her lungs as she tried to process what she was looking at.
“What is wrong my knight?” the stranger said in a voice that she knew intimately well. One that had rescued her from darkness and given her new purpose after she had lost everything. She hesitated to stare at her queen’s face again after years of having not seen it. The stranger stared at Morrigan and her eyes glowed with purple light. “Kneel before me my Sanquiknight.”
She scowled ready to scream her rage at her when the stranger’s arm darted forward. It hit her wound and glowed with magic that made pain explode in her head. She looked down as her head became dizzy. Slowly she sank to her knee her head bowed. “Mori? Mori what are you doing?” Benidict asked staring at her.
The stranger came forward placing a hand against her head, “You are a loyal servant to me and I have always valued that. So, I give you your task. Eliminate these two.”
Morrigan stood slowly and both Benidict and Alistair stared at her shocked. The wound in her side along with Morrigan’s own eyes glowed with purple light. The same glow that was within the eyes of the stranger impersonating the queen. Morrigan raised her bloodied katana and then drew her rapier. “Yes, my Queen.”
Bloody metal clashed against bloody metal, echoing within the decrepit temple. The three knights battled against one another, Morrigan fighting to kill them and the men doing their best to not harm their lover. But even under the influence of another she was still beyond formidable.
Sliding backward Alistair regained his footing and pleaded, “Morrigan please! Fight that thing’s control! She’s not you Queen!”
“Be quiet and die traitors! My Queen has ordered me to eliminate you and I will carry out Her will here and now!”
She closed the distance between them as Benidict stepped between them with his longsword. Catching her katana along the edge of his blade he watched her rapier thrust forward and he raised his hand. The thin blade pierced it but stopped at his palm, just shy of going through his eye. Grasping the guard of the weapon he yanked her to the side and kneed her in the stomach.
Whipping his sword around he slammed the pommel into her temple and shoved her to the ground. She was stunned for a moment but regained her composure quickly. Her eyes shone through with red despite the purple haze of possession clouding them.
She dragged herself to her feet and glared at him. The zombies formed a ring around the trio of knights stationary but their eyes watched them with an intelligence that felt more than just robotic. Morrigan again brandished her swords, grinding them against one another.
“I once thought you were someone I could trust Benidict. A true knight of Cerise. I thought I met someone whose heart aligned in the same way that my own did. That we could find life through this tragedy. But clearly that I was wrong to ever believe that. You spit upon my Queen’s name in Her death and I will make sure that you regret ever doing this.”
She spoke her words, the venom in them power and angry but in her eyes, there was conflict. She meant what she said and yet hated that she was saying it. Benidict saw it and wanted to say something but he couldn’t bother trying to reach out to her now. He had to defend himself.
She darted forward focused on Benidict. The knight stepped back dodging around her precise thrust and aggressive slashes but Morrigan’s assault was oppressive. There was no escaping her wrath unharmed and soon his arms bore the brunt of that. He finally raised his sword catching both of her swings but with a rotation of her arms she stole his sword and yanked his arm into the sky.
She raised her leg and hooked it around his neck, dragging him to the ground stepping on this back. She raised her katana high ready to strike. It clanged against Alistair’s bloody broad sword and she looked at him swiftly. Her glare hurt but he stepped forward and swung forcing her backward and off him.
“Alistair. When I met you I saw so much potential. I trained you believing you would become a knight my Queen would have been proud of. More than that I let you into my heart. And that’s the betrayal that hurts the most.”
Alistair’s heart tore at her words but he told himself that wasn’t her truth. Taking a slow breath he narrowed his crimson eyes and stepped back raising his sword. “We will break you out of this Morrigan.”
She attacked rapier first and he readied himself, not taking a step back. She’d drilled and trained and practiced with him over these past years. She conditioned his body, his reactions and above all his mind. All that practice meant he could swing the sword without bulking his body up with magic and that meant he was free to use his magic elsewhere.
Jerking his head to the side he avoided the thrust and swung his sword upward forcing her to take a step back to avoid getting her head split in half. Her eyes went wide shocked at the speed of his swing and he smirked. Energy surged through him like a steroid and he chased after her.
His broad sword was a blur of red as he swung and she struggled to keep pace with him. Their weapons clanged together and rapidly but he was scoring his own blows against her. She did hit back but just like she taught him, he hardened his skin to weather the worst of it.
Jumping off one of the pews he spun and let his magic enhance his strength in a burst. She raised both weapons and blocked but the bloodied edge proved to be stronger. Her katana was knocked aside and her rapier snapped in half. She went spinning around sliding to a halt in front of the stranger and she snarled.
Grasping the katana with both hands she started forward but the stranger grabbed her shoulder. “Enough for now my knight.”
“But my Queen-“
“A strategic retreat is our best course of action for now. Let us go home,” she said softly and snapped her fingers. The zombies came to life and immediately surged forward reaching for them. Alistair and Benidict fought them, cutting them down easily. But when they were all dealt with they stared at the entrance to the temple and it was only the pair of them left behind.
“Where did they go? Ben where did they go?” Alistair shouted.
Shaking his head Ben sank to his knees tired. “I don’t know. But she’s gone.”
The Harlequin Library 