The Devil's armour

24

Guided by the light of a great, grey moon, Gilwyn and White-Eye rode.

She wore a dress of fine white silk that billowed as the kreel loped through the sand, holding on to Gilwyn’s waist and breathing in his ear, soft and warm. He wore a sad expression, heartbroken and afraid. There were hours to the night, still, and Gilwyn wanted only to be gone from Grimhold and take White-Eye away for himself. When they rode she was not kahana, and he was not responsible for Jador’s million troubles. He had missed White-Eye sorely, and upon the news of Thorin’s crimes he had taken her from her desecrated home to ride in the moonlight before the deadly rays of the sun could burn her.

To Gilwyn, the news was unbelievable. Thorin was no thief, but the spirit of the armour had corrupted him. Worse, it had made him a murderer. While Minikin and Lukien met and planned, Gilwyn had left Grimhold with White-Eye. He didn’t care what the others thought of him now. He needed the blind kahana.

They rode, and as they rode the mountain keep faded behind them, swallowed by the night and the undulating dunes. Unafraid, White-Eye said nothing as she held tight to Gilwyn, letting Emerald bear them away. On a better night she might have laughed, delighted by the hundred sensations. She loved seeing Gilwyn and stealing freedom when the sun went down. She trusted him. Gilwyn felt her trust, wrapped around him like a soft blanket. The sense of her, her breath in his ear, weakened him. Barely able to speak, he could find no words for the pain in his heart. Would Thorin die now? Would any of them ever be the same?

With merely a thought he brought Emerald to a halt. All at once the silence of the desert swam around them. White-Eye leaned forward, resting her chin on his shoulder. He listened, fascinated by every small sound. The young kahana’s perfume reached his nose, making him smile.

‘Why do we stop?’ she asked softly. In the quietness her words glowed.

‘The moon. Can you see it?’

White-Eye thought for a moment. She did not need to face the moon to see it. ‘Yes. It is very lovely.’

They were on a dune, their own private mountain, with the swales and valleys of the desert all around them. Here they were safe from the eyes and ears of Grimhold. Gilwyn thought he might never return there. White-Eye, sensing his pain, raised her hand to his chest. He clasped it there, feeling his own heartbeat. It had been many weeks since he had seen White-Eye, and he had never expected their reunion to be like this. Circumstances had ruined it, but he did not want to speak of them. He hoped White-Eye would not even utter Thorin’s name.

‘Are we very far?’ she asked.

‘Not too far,’ Gilwyn replied. ‘We have hours yet till the sun comes up.’

He didn’t have to tell her not to worry. She never worried when she was with him.

‘I’m glad you came,’ she told him. ‘And I’m glad I came with you here. It is good to be alone with you, Gilwyn.’ She kissed his ear. ‘I miss you every day.’

Gilwyn grinned. Was there anything worth missing about him? He had never been successful with girls, certainly not in Koth. Yet even with his clubbed hand and foot, White-Eye loved him. Truly, Grimhold was a place of miracles.

‘I can hear them,’ he said, looking eastward over the desert. ‘I can feel them.’

‘Who?’

‘The kreels.’ Gilwyn closed his eyes, letting the sensation take hold. Since meeting Ruana, his sensitivity to the kreels had increased a hundredfold. ‘They’re in the valley. Young ones.’ He opened his eyes and pointed. ‘Out there.’

The east held the valley where the kreels bred and raised their young. It was not a secret, but few ever went there. White-Eye nodded, only partially understanding.

‘Let’s get down,’ she said. ‘Let’s stay and rest here.’

The idea pleased Gilwyn, who slid from Emerald’s back then helped White-Eye down. The night was cool but the sand was still warm beneath them. White-Eye knelt in it, running her hands through the sand and letting it fall through her caramel fingers. Gilwyn watched her, fascinated by her dark beauty. Feeling his eyes on her, she glanced up with her own white orbs.

‘Sit with me,’ she said, ‘and tell me of these kreels you feel.’

As Emerald lay contentedly nearby, Gilwyn slipped down close to White-Eye, stretching out his legs. Suddenly Grimhold seemed far away, and all his worries with it. The warmth of the sand felt good beneath him.

‘The eastern valley,’ he said softly. ‘I can feel them, dozens of them. They’re so alive. It’s like having fire in my head.’

‘The eastern valley is days from here,’ said White-Eye. ‘If you can feel them so far away. .’

‘I know it sounds silly. .’

‘No, I believe you,’ said White-Eye. She touched his face. ‘You are very strong, Gilwyn. The gift in you is magnificent.’

‘It’s Ruana. With her help, it’s like I can do anything.’ Gilwyn took her hand and kissed it. ‘All I have to do is stretch my mind, and I can feel the kreels in the valley. They don’t know I’m watching them.’

White-Eye grinned happily. ‘I chose the right man for regent.’

Gilwyn chuckled. ‘You chose a boy.’

‘Not a boy. A man.’

‘A very young man. Too young, maybe.’ Gilwyn pulled back a bit, unsure how to tell her his news. ‘There’s so much to do,’ he sighed.

‘What is there to be done?’ asked White-Eye sadly. ‘Lukien will go after Baron Glass, no doubt. We can only hope for his safety and pray Amaraz gives him strength.’

‘No, that’s not it. Don’t you see, White-Eye? Jador is in danger. If Lukien leaves, we won’t have his protection. There’s danger all around these days! Something has to be done, and I can’t just sit around.’

He glanced away, but White-Eye took his chin and made him look at her.

‘Gilwyn? What are you planning?’

Gilwyn had trouble meeting her gaze. ‘To go to the eastern valley,’ he said. ‘I’ve already decided. I’m going to the valley to bring back more kreels.’

‘Oh,’ said White-Eye absently. ‘You have decided?’

‘You made me regent, White-Eye. I can decide these things.’

She surprised him with her calmness. ‘That is true. And Minikin? She approves?’

‘She was the one who first told me about the valley. And now I know she was right.’

He sounded so certain; perhaps that was why she didn’t argue as expected. Instead White-Eye held his hand, nodding a little and hiding her fear.

‘It’ll be fine,’ Gilwyn hurried to say. ‘I know how to control them. I can bring them back safely.’

‘I am sure you can,’ said White-Eye. ‘But I worry for you, Gilwyn. The valley is far from Jador, two days ride at least. And there are rass along the way.’

‘I know,’ said Gilwyn. He had already considered the great, hooded snakes. ‘I’ll avoid them the best I can.’ He tried to look brave. ‘I have to do this, White-Eye. If more of Aztar’s raiders come, we have to be ready for them. The kreels are our only real defence.’

White-Eye brought her head close to his chest. ‘I am afraid for you.’ She let him stroke her hair. ‘Are you afraid?’

‘Yes,’ replied Gilwyn. ‘That’s why I wanted to be alone with you tonight.’

She twitched in his embrace. She seemed to understand. He looked down at her hopefully. He felt her body tremble. Or was it his own?

They had never been together as lovers, not in the whole year they had known each other. In such a time of need, in the shadow of war and rebuilding, Gilwyn had never found the courage to ask for it. Now, though, White-Eye understood his urgency. Slowly, she leaned back in his arms and let him lower her gently to the sand. He studied her in the moonlight. Her lips parted, opening for him. Gilwyn bent to kiss her. Deeply, he let his mouth taste her.

In the cradle of sand, he lay with her.