The Duke of Tremont II - Bloodspell

Chapter 37
 

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Justin pulled himself away from Kipton and Blake and rushed headlong down the hill. He sent a message. "Joshua! I need my horse!" he called to the surprised captain. Kipton and Blake were right behind him.

"Whoa!" Joshua replied, catching the younger man. "You can't just run off to..."

"Justin!" Daphne interrupted Joshua as she threw herself into Justin's arms, Kelton trailing along behind her. "Brian's gone! One minute he was on his cot and then when I checked again he was gone! I swear we didn't untie him!"

Justin pushed his friend back a little and held onto her arms. "I know, Daph! He's...he's been captured."

"Captured?" Daphne asked in horror. "But how?"

"The adept must have grabbed him with magic." Kipton looked a little bit awed as he spoke.

"A person?" Blake looked shocked. "I didn't know that was possible."

"It's possible with blood magic," Kipton replied. "She probably would have had to kill someone to get enough blood to do it."

Daphne paled visibly. "Oh my God."

"We're wasting time!" Justin ground out, frustrated with all of them. "It's me she wants. I can't let her harm Brian."

"Justin, no...you can't..." Daphne was near tears as Kelton came up and wrapped his shaken lover in his arms.

"It's us she wants, not just you," Kipton spoke up quietly.

Justin turned slowly to face his former captor. "I did not want to speak for you. You saw how powerful she is."

"It's the least I can do for you," Kipton answered with downcast eyes. He finally raised his head and looked into Justin's eyes. "After all I did to you."

Justin shook his head. "You saved Brian and you've helped us today. You don't owe me anything. I told you before I've made my peace with all of that."

"I want to help," Kipton replied.

"I want those mages, King Jonathan!" The voice of the enemy adept boomed across the clearing. "I suggest you produce them now, or your brother will pay the price."

Kipton and Justin shared a look, and grabbing the two nearest horses, quickly mounted them, riding as fast as they could toward the enemy. Blake, Joshua and the others scrambled to get on their own mounts to follow.

Kelton and Daphne, who had arrived with no horses, were left standing nearly alone. "Justin," Daphne practically moaned into Kelton's chest.

"Come," Kelton gently led his lover back to the healer's tent. "They'll be starting to bring the wounded now. We have a job to do, just as Justin does."

Daphne took a deep breath and nodded, letting Kelton lead her away.

 

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"I'm tired of waiting," the beautiful mage spoke to Jonathan and Tristan. "You have dallied enough! Thor!" she yelled.

The giant man who held Brian gripped the duke tighter and dug the dagger into his neck. Brian, who looked like he was starting to revive a bit, yelped in pain as the blade began to slice into his skin.

"Wait! Please!" Justin yelled as he and Kipton pounded past the two kings and their men and stopped just short of the enemy party. "We're here! We are the mages you seek!"

The woman threw up a hand and her man immediately stilled his blade at Brian's throat. She turned back to the two men before her and gave them a calculating smile. "Well, you've finally decided to join us. I thought perhaps your shonaucher's life would draw you out of hiding, young Justin of Westlake."

Justin tried to hide his surprise that she knew who he was, but it was difficult. His eyes met hers and she spoke directly into his mind. Did you really expect to invade my mind without consequence, little boy?

How did you...

Oh, it was fairly easy to garner your identity from you, and then your duke jumped in to pull you out and I traced his location, and that's how I grabbed him. I didn't take this job without doing my research. The handsome Duke of Tremont and his young lover are quite the fodder for gossip in some circles.

"Might we know your name?" Justin asked the woman out loud as he tried to spin the shields around his mind even tighter. He was thrown by how much she knew about them, and the fact that she could get into his mind so easily.

The woman laughed out loud at the young mage's weak attempts to hide from her. "As you wish, Justin," she answered out loud. "I see no reason not to share my name, since you all will soon be dead. I am Mahala of Fernally.

King Jonathan and the Pennington contingent gasped collectively at the familiar name, and Mahala graced them with a calculating smile. "Perhaps you all remember my beloved cousin, Sapperstein, the former King of Ballybonne?"

Murmurs of surprise and anger moved through the Pennington army at the sound of the now deceased traitor's name.

"Ah, I see you do remember," Mahala commented with another smile.

If Justin did a good job of hiding his surprise before, he was positively failing now. He was frozen in shock as he tried to process this new information. The fact that Brian was being held captive by a member of Sapperstein's family was almost more than his still fragile psyche could bear. He tried to breathe as he felt the beginnings of a panic attack set in. No! Not now. He couldn't afford to fall apart now!

Kipton immediately noticed Justin's distress, and even though he didn't know the whole story of the late Duke Sapperstein and Duchess Claire's bid to resurrect the kingdom of Ballybonne, it was obviously distressing Justin enough to render him insensible right now. He nudged his horse forward a bit and sidestepped a little in front of Justin, trying to give the young man some time to recover his senses. "Now that you have dropped your little surprise in our laps, what do you want of us, milady?" Kipton spoke politely to Mahala.

"Traitor!" Duke James growled, unable to hold himself in check any longer. He spurred his horse as he pulled his sword, and made a lunge for Kipton.

Mahala held up her hand and the Duke and his horse froze. "That will be enough of that, My Lord," she chided her employer. "You promised we would do this my way." She lowered her hand, and while James was free of the spell, he remained where he was, though his eyes shot daggers at his former minion.

Kipton ignored the whole scene as if he was bored. "Again, milady, I ask what it is you want of Lord Justin and I. The day grows late and your army has been bested, and I am running out of patience."

Mahala narrowed her eyes at Kipton. "Fine. You are correct, Adept-Mage Kipton, the day does wane and it is time to get down to business. We will admit the defeat of our army, but we still have something that Pennington wants." She glanced back at Brian. "And who can blame you for holding such a fine specimen of man in such high regard?"

"Your terms, lady?" Kipton bit out, tired of Mahala's games.

"I propose a duel." Mahala looked smug.

"Of what sort?" Kipton asked, his stomaching knotting, for even as he asked he knew what her answer would be.

"Of the magical sort, of course," she replied in a condescending tone. "And I'll even give you the advantage of two against one."

She winked at Kipton who was trying to scramble for the correct reply. He looked to Justin who seemed to looked puzzled and still a little bit in shock. Blake? he called to his ex-lover's mind.

But before Blake could respond to Kipton, Mahala spoke again. "Why don't you and Lord Justin go off and discuss it with your kings for a few moments." She turned her horse away. "I'm sure Duke Brian and I can entertain each other here for a bit."

Kipton almost sighed in relief as he turned to do just that. He grabbed Justin's reigns on his way back to where their kings both waited with concerned expressions. He stopped short when Mahala called out to him again. "Oh, and Kipton, I forgot to mention that this little contest I'm proposing will be to the death." Mahala smiled and continued to ride to where Brian still sat astride with her guard.

"My God!" Jonathan gasped out when Kipton and Justin moved close enough for a private conversation.

"Just a moment." Kipton put up his hand and then said a quick chant. Soon they were all engulfed in a sound proof bubble that included Kipton, Justin, the kings, his sons, Bishop Vic, Blake, Ben and Michael."

Without even thinking about it Justin came out of his stupor and added his own protection to the shield to ensure their privacy. He lifted his eyes to meet Jonathan's. "You heard who she is?"

Jonathan nodded. "I knew as soon as she said her name. I practically begged Claire not to marry Sapperstein. His family is not known for their warmth and kindness." He tried to hold back a shudder.

“What do we do?" Tristan asked in a small voice.

"We have no choice but to accept her challenge," Justin answered in a strong voice. He was staring across the clearing where Mahala looked to be trying to revive Brian, for God knew what reason.

"What?" Jonathan gasped, sharing a startled glance with his sons. "No, I won't allow it! Brian would not allow it!"

Kipton and Justin shared a look before Justin spoke again. "Let's leave Brian out of the equation for a moment, though I am telling you right now that I will not leave him in the hands of that woman. This is about winning this war and stopping Duke James and more importantly Mahala. She is evil, Jon, and she will not stop here. We've been in her mind and seen what she's done already. I know she won't rest until Pennington is destroyed as well as Maynor."

Jonathan hung his head. "There has to be another way."

"I'm sorry, Highness, but there isn't," Kipton replied. "But the good news is that she is letting Justin and I work together. I believe she is sorely underestimating our powers, especially if Duke Brian is awake and in the link with…"

"Bitch!" Justin exclaimed, cutting off Kipton's explanation. He was still staring at the spot where Brian and Mahala were.

"What is it, Justin?" Michael asked with a worried tone.

"She's cut off our link," Justin answered, his voice seething. "Look over there. She's got him to wake up, but I can't talk to him or even feel him." He looked over to Kipton. "Not even you could manage to do that." Justin's gaze immediately found it's way back to where Brian was now obviously in charge of his senses and defiantly facing his captors.

"Bloody hell," was the only suitable reply Kipton could come up with.

 

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"Come now, wake up, my handsome prince." Mahala kept her voice low and soothing as she could.

Brian, who had been drifting in and out of a haze for quite some time, smelled the foul concoction someone was holding under his nose and immediately opened his eyes.

"What? Where…where am I?"

"Well, you've decided to join us, Your Highness," Mahala spoke. "I am Mahala of Fernally and you are my most welcome guest."

Brian's heart sank when the woman told him her name, for he knew all too well the name of all of the reviled Sapperstein's relatives. He and Jon had made it a point to know when Claire had insisted upon marrying into that dreaded family. Unfortunately their parents had been ecstatic about the match. Just one more reason to resent his parents he supposed.

Brian realized his mind was wandering and he tried to bring his focus back to the present. He felt that his hands were still tied and that he was sitting on a horse with someone behind him. A rather large someone judging from the feel of him. He immediately tried to reach for Justin through their link, but the presence that was almost always there was completely gone and Brian looked around in panic.

"There, there," Mahala spoke, realizing what Brian was trying to do. "Your young Justin is perfectly all right. In fact he is right across the way with your dear brother." She pointed a long red fingernail across the clearing. "I've blocked your link in case you were wondering. It's my insurance that you won't be able to interfere with me again."

Brian looked across and his heart lightened to see the familiar blond head amongst his brother and his men. "How did you capture me?" Brian asked, not taking his gaze from his lover.

"Oh, I brought you here with magic," Mahala answered. "It wasn't easy and I had to kill one of my best servants for their blood to do it, but here you are."

A cold shiver ran up Brian's spine. "And now that you have me?" He tore his eyes away from Justin and let his gaze meet Mahala's.

"Why, that's entirely up to your lover, My Lord," Mahala answered with a sweet smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've offered young Justin a deal I don't think he can refuse."

Brian felt a lead weight hit the bottom of his stomach. "And what is that?" he asked, irritated that his voice broke.

Mahala brought one of her fingers up and lifted Brian's chin with it. "Your life in exchange for Justin and Mage Kipton meeting me in a magical duel."

Brian shook his head, moving it away from the adept’s long talon. "No. I won't let them do that."

"As if you can stop them," Mahala replied icily. "I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter." She grabbed his chin between her thumb and forefinger this time. "I haven't told you the best part yet. It's a duel to the death."

Justin! Justin! Brian's mind called desperately to his lover, trying to get through to him, hoping to make him stop this madness before it was too late.

His only reply was silence.
 

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