A Beast's Tale

Chapter 70

Luke shifted his pack over his shoulders and looked up at the sky, heavy with dark clouds. "Are ya sure about this? It looks like it'll start rainin' buckets anytime."

"Battle conditions aren't always ideal," Licht called over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know that, but should we even be leavin' the palace right? With everythin' goin' on..."

"Keep moving," I told Luke.

Keith was walking ahead of Luke and behind Licht, head down, eyes on the ground, silent. His actions of the previous day weren't common knowledge, of course, but all my brothers knew, and they'd all expressed shock, anger, and disappointment in some fashion. Their reactions had confirmed my assumption that he'd told none of them. Why would he? Most people wouldn't believe him, and his original, kinder personality was a better public face than his aggressive, assertive personality. Concealing his dark side and pretending he was normal was in his best interest.

I wondered which Keith was present today. His alternate personality mimicked the original too well for me to tell at this stage. I'd have to observe him more closely to identify the minor differences between the two.

"We should stop here," Licht announced at the base of the cliff. "If it rains, the sides will get too muddy to climb back down."

He tossed his weighted pack to the ground and rolled his shoulders to loosen his muscles. I did the same as I scanned the trail behind us and the forest below. I'd doubled the guards at each entry point of the palace before we left, but there were natural blind spots. This area was one.

"Keith, let's—"

"No." I turned back to the other three.  "All of you. Come at me."

Keith gaped at me. "Uh..."

"Really?" Luke asked.

Licht drew his sword and took an offensive stance. I put my hand on my sword hilt. He charged. Steel rang out as I drew my blade, then clanged as we clashed. Keith drew his sword and rushed in when I threw Licht back. I caught his blade with mine, parried, and then let his blade slide closer to me while I threw a kick at his stomach. He stumbled backward, and I slashed sideways to deflect Luke's attack.

If I kept my back to the cliff face, they couldn't get behind me. Licht and Keith had trained together for years and usually worked well as a team, but there was a rift between them today, and their communication was sloppy. Luke had always forged his path alone and was predictably terrible as part of a group.

It was a good warm-up.

I was rougher on Keith than I was on the others. I would have been anyway, but he let a hint of a smirk show when he almost landed a strike on me, and I knew the mean Keith was here to play. That doubtless contributed to the difficulties he and Licht had in synchronizing their attacks. The nice Keith was Licht's close friend and training partner, not the mean Keith. It worked out well. I knew I was distributing punishment to the appropriate personality, and when Licht and Luke realized Keith was my primary target, they began working together. The clumsy alliance was a step toward correcting a major deficiency in Luke's skill set.

Keith was a mass of bruises when I sheathed my sword and shouldered my pack to leave. He lay on his back on the ground, moaning and clutching his side. Licht, panting to catch his breath, extended a hand to help Keith stand. Luke was bent over, hands on his thighs, sweat dripping from his nose. His sword still lay where it had landed a few feet away from him.

A black cloak disappeared into the woods below.

I trekked down the trail at a quick pace. That had to be Roderic, Gilbert's man. Gilbert wouldn't waste his time spying on a training session that was no secret. He wouldn't have assigned such a task to Roderic either, which meant I was missing something. Something more important than having Roderic watch Ivetta in Gilbert's absence. Monitoring the blind spot as well? I doubted Gilbert's morning business, and whatever arrangements he had made, were direct orders. He would do as he'd always done: sow seeds of discord and take advantage of whatever came to fruition.