Moonmount Castle - LGBT, manXman

36

Coda

I heard a voice call my name and twisted round in my saddle to see who it was. To my surprise, I saw Seguin, Lodareth's manservant, riding up behind me.

"What're you doing here?" I asked him as he drew his horse in beside the four I was leading. "Visiting family in Alnwick?"

"No, I..." He paused. "Myself and someone else are just... travelling this way."

"Oh... I suppose you've got a bit of time off, now that Lodareth's on his honeymoon." I tried to keep my voice from sounding bitter, and failed.

"He's not on his honeymoon, Coda."

"What? Why not?"

"He never got married. He left the Princess at the altar and came after you."

I pulled my horses up short. "Why... What?" I stuttered.

"He loves you, idiot. He came after you, and says he'll never go home again, if you don't want him to."

I stared at him for a moment, before I shook my head. "Tell him to go home."

Seguin looked surprised.

"I begged him for a month not to marry her. He can't back out at the last second and want me instead. He had his chance with me and he missed it. Tell him that, and tell him to go home," I said firmly.

"I'll tell him," said Seguin after a moment. "But don't think for a moment that he'll listen to me. He never has." He spun his horse around and trotted away, back towards the love of my life.

I forced myself to continue forwards at a brisk pace, feeling tears well up and choke me.

***

I pulled into a secluded thicket later that day. I tethered the horses to the low hanging branches of a cluster of oak trees so they could graze, and settled down to my evening meal. My encounter with Seguin had left my mind whirling. Dare hadn't married. He'd left a Princess for me. I felt my heart swell at the thought, and suppressed the pleasure as best I could. I had to get over him... I had to move on with my life.

As it grew steadily darker, I built a small fire and settled down on my blanket, gazing into the flames. As I was drifting into sleep, a dry twig snapped loudly behind me. I sat bolt upright and looked about. I carefully reached into my blanket roll and drew my sword, rolling into a crouch. The horses were peacefully snoozing, undisturbed.

"It's only me." A low voice hissed from the trees.

As I looked over, Dare stepped forward from the bushes. My heart sank down to my stomach.

His green eyes gleamed in the dimming fire light. He came over to sit beside me on my blanket, looking apprehensive.

"I told Seguin to tell you to go home."

"And I ignored that," Dare said simply.

"Did he tell you what else I said?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you here?" I growled. "I don't want to see you."

"I left her, Coda. I couldn't marry her," he said quietly.

"Seguin told me... I don't care, Lodareth." I saw his face fall at the use of his full name.

"Please, Coda I-"

"I don't want to hear it!" I snarled, feeling my anger finally well up and spill out. "You had your chance with me, and you missed it. I gave you a month, and you left it until the very last minute to decide how you feel about me."

"The point is that I left her." Dare argued, half-sullenly. He was far too used to getting his own way.

I steeled myself for an argument. "The point is that you've missed your chance with me. You were too scared to admit to yourself how you really felt about me."

"You know why I couldn't, Coda," he said wearily. "If anyone found out-"

"I wasn't asking you to write a letter declaring your love for me to King Benedict," I said. "I just... I just wanted some sign that you felt the same way I did. I told you we could have left. We even talked about it once. You let me believe we could leave. Go to the far south, or into another kingdom. King Ryn lets people like us live in his kingdom."

He looked away from me. "We could do that now," he murmured after a moment.

I sighed. "No, Dare, we couldn't. I've got a new job... I've started a new life. And you're not in this one. You need to move on too."

"I don't want to. I can't go home. Father is so angry at me, Coda, for leaving Isolde," he said stubbornly. "I love you, Coda."

"And look where that got us," I snapped, getting up and walking away from him.

He followed me, his expression stubborn and determined.