Wolf of Corwick Castle 005: The Wolf and the Lamb Read online

  The Wolf and The Lamb

  Terry Cloutier

  Copyright © 2022 TERRY CLOUTIER

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,

  in whole or in part, without prior written permission

  from the copyright holder.

  Books by Terry Cloutier

  The Wolf of Corwick Castle Series

  The Nine (2019)

  The Wolf At Large (2020)

  The Wolf On The Run (2020)

  The Wolf At War (2021)

  The Wolf And The Lamb (2022)

  The Past Lives Chronicles

  Past Lives (2021)

  Jack the Ripper (2022)

  The Zone War Series

  The Demon Inside (2008)

  The Balance Of Power (2010)

  Novella

  Peter Pickler and the Cat That Talked Back (2010)

  The action and adventure continue in the fifth installment of the bestselling Wolf of Corwick Castle series!

  Seven years have passed since Lord Hadrack of Corwick defeated the last of the nine and fulfilled his vow to his murdered family. Now a father of four, Hadrack’s life has settled into a routine of ruling over his immense lands and swapping lies and tall tales with his two best friends, Baine and Jebido. But, when riders arrive with a plea for help from an old friend, Hadrack finds himself drawn into a bloody war against a group of slavers called the Shadow Pirates and their leader, a monstrosity of a man known only as Captain Bear, who has sworn to kill the Wolf at all costs.

  But, more is going on than even Hadrack suspects, as powerful forces inside the Empire of Cardia are also moving against him, with their eyes set on a bigger prize than he can possibly imagine. Hunted at every turn by both pirates and Cardians, Hadrack and the crew of his brand-new ship, Sea-Wolf, must somehow manage to survive against enormous odds, with failure not only death for all on board, but also for the one person who means far more to him than life itself.

  Contents

  PROLOGUE

  Chapter 1: Riders

  Chapter 2: Shadow Pirates

  Chapter 3: Sea-Wolf

  Chapter 4: The Overseer

  Chapter 5: Escape From Blood Ring Isle

  Chapter 6: The Prophecy

  Chapter 7: Ascension

  Chapter 8: Fanrissen

  Chapter 9: Ravenhold

  Chapter 10: Storming the Citadel

  Chapter 11: Alesia

  Chapter 12: Captain Bear

  Chapter 13: Battle at Sea

  Chapter 14: The Lion’s Mouth

  Chapter 15: Bahyrst

  Chapter 16: Lady Deneux

  Chapter 17: The Bridge of Betrayal

  Chapter 18: Not Everything Is What It Seems

  Chapter 19: Cryptic Message

  Chapter 20: The Hundred Knives

  Chapter 21: Return to Blood Ring Isle

  Chapter 22: Underwater Siege

  Chapter 23: The Fury Of The Lamb

  Chapter 24: The Watching Hill

  EPILOGUE

  Author’s Note

  PROLOGUE

  “Stop fussing over me,” I grumbled as my granddaughter, Lillia, fiddled with the pillows propping me up.

  “You don’t look comfortable, my lord,” Lillia said, ignoring my words as she continued to tuck and poke at the stack of frilly, feathered cushions behind me with a fierce look of concentration on her face.

  It might have been funny, I thought, if it wasn’t for the fact that I was fed up with being treated like a child. I took a deep breath, trying to contain my irritation while she worked. I knew the girl was only trying to help, yet even so, she was wearing down my patience with her constant hovering.

  “Don’t you think I’m better able to judge how comfortable or not I might be?” I asked.

  “Of course you are, my lord,” Lillia said, though her expression greatly conflicted with her words. “You’re a grown man, after all, so why wouldn’t you be?”

  “Yes, why indeed,” I mumbled, not liking her condescending tone. I might be the Lord of Corwick still, but since I’d awoken from my prolonged bout of unconsciousness, it seemed to be in name only.

  “I know what’s best for you, lord,” Lillia added primly.

  I raised an eyebrow. “Do you now?”

  “Of course,” Lillia said. “So, the sooner you accept that fact and let me do my job, the happier we’ll both be.”

  I sighed. What man stood a chance against a girl like Lillia when her mind was made up? Her grandmother had been just the same. I glanced out the open window near my bed, where I could see blue skies with several puffy white clouds slowly drifting by on a gentle breeze.

  “You should be outside, child,” I said as Lillia finally finished positioning the pillows—though the overall effect from all that effort seemed no different to me.

  She sat on the edge of the bed and tried to button up the top of my sleeping tunic and I pushed her hand away, only to have it return again moments later like a bothersome fly. I glowered at my granddaughter and she glared right back at me in an obvious test of wills. I have fought all manner of men and beasts in my lifetime, charged shield walls and scaled castles with arrows whizzing past my head, but despite all that, I realized I was no match for this slight girl. I finally looked away and relented, ignoring her grin of triumph that I could see out of the corner of my eye as she once again fussed at my collar.

  “You should be outside,” I repeated, trying to regain some sense of dignity. “Not wasting your life away caring for some foul-smelling old man day in and day out. It’s already mid-summer now, child. Winter will be back before you even realize it.”

  “You know I can’t leave you,” Lillia said, looking pleased when she finally had my button done to her lofty expectations. She sat back, her expression darkening. “I’ll not make that mistake again, lord. If I hadn’t left you alone the last time, then maybe I could have done something to help.”

  “Like what?” I said with a disbelieving snort.

  Lillia shrugged. “I would have thought of something.” She smiled, pausing to rub my cheek affectionately. “So, like it or not, you’re stuck with me until you’re better, my lord.” She leaned close to me then and sniffed, a twinkle in her eyes now. “Besides, you only smell a little. I can hardly notice it.” I chuckled despite myself as she put her hand to my shaved scalp, gently touching an eight-inch puckered scar that ran from the base of my left ear up toward the crown of my head. “How are the headaches today? Any change?”

  “Much better,” I lied.

  “Well, that’s good news, at least,” Lillia said diplomatically. I guessed by her expression that I wasn’t fooling her. “Kieran says the pain should go away any time now, the gods willing.”

  “Uh-huh,” I grunted with little enthusiasm. Kieran Ackler was my physician, and it was he who had come up with the radical idea to cut open my head—though not even he had expected to see what they’d found inside. “Haven’t the gods and Kieran done enough to me for one lifetime?” I added, unable to hide the bitterness in my voice. “Maybe it’s time they all just leave me be.”

  Lillia sighed, placing her hands in her lap. “Not this again, my lord. The fact that you’re alive at all is a miracle that will be talked about for generations to come. The gods have truly favored you through the brilliance of Kieran Ackler.”

  “Ha!” I snorted bitterly. “You say they favored me, child, but I know better.” I grabbed my granddaughter’s wrist, my hand looking like a shrunken claw against her fair, delicate skin. “I was prepared to die, Lillia,” I said, harsher than intended. “Don’t you see? I wanted it to end, needed
it to.” I released Lillia’s wrist, then lifted my frail arms in helpless despair as I glanced around my bedchamber. “Yet, here I am, still trapped in an old man’s body with nothing but memories to keep me company. This is not a miracle, child. This is torture.”

  “You must not say that, my lord,” Lillia admonished. “The gods are listening.”

  “So, let them hear my words,” I snarled. “I’m tired of their constant games and meddling.”

  Lillia chose that moment to start fussing with my coverings, and I shooed her hands away with an annoyed grunt. I wasn’t going to give in this time, I resolved. A man has his pride, even an old one.

  “You are a great man,” Lillia said, actually respecting my wishes for a change and letting the coverings be. It wasn’t much of a victory, but it was something. “The greatest this kingdom will ever know,” my granddaughter added, her eyes shining. “The gods have returned you to us for a purpose, my lord. I’m positive about that. This is something that you need to understand.”

  I laughed dismissively, shaking my head. “It’s so easy to be positive of something when you’re young and naïve, child. Just wait until you’re older, and then you’ll see that nothing is what you thought it was.”

  Both Lillia and I looked up then as a soft knock sounded at the door. I think we were both relieved at the interruption away from our familiar argument.

  “Come in,” I barked.

  The door opened, revealing my physician, Kieran Acker. He strode into the room with a customary smile of greeting on his face and his ever-present brown leather bag in his right hand. I could see my steward, Walice, hovering outside in the corridor uncertainly, his expression hopeful as he peered into my chambers.

  “Close the door,” I grumbled at the physician, ignoring Walice’s disappointed look as Kieran did as I asked. I didn’t need any more wet nurses hanging over me this morning. Lillia and Kieran would be more than sufficient for the task.

  “So, how are things this morning, my lord?” the physician asked.

  “I’m still alive, aren’t I?” I grunted.

  Kieran laughed good-naturedly as Lillia moved, allowing him to take her place. “Still in good spirits, I see, my lord.”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked sarcastically. “Thanks to you, I’ve got a bright future ahead of me. Maybe I’ll go climb Mount Halas tomorrow. Or take a swim in Last Gasp Gulch. The possibilities are endless.”

  Kieran chuckled as he ran his cool, dry hand across my bald pate. “No fever, my lord. That’s good. How are the headaches?”

  I glanced at Lillia, who nodded to me, her expression clear—tell him the truth, or I will. “Not great,” I admitted.

  “Ah,” Kieran said. He pulled down my left eyelid and peered into my eye, then did the same for the other. “Time will fix that, my lord,” he added. Kieran took out a flat, thin piece of wood from his bag. “Open, please, my lord.”

  I did as he asked, suffering the indignity and trying my best not to gag as the man poked and prodded inside my mouth with his infernal stick. I’ve learned to despise that horrible little device.

  “Excellent,” Kieran said, finally removing the stick. I swallowed and then coughed while the physician fished in his bag. He drew out a small box covered with a thin glass cover.

  “What’s that?” I asked, curious now. I’d never seen anything like it.

  “I took the liberty to have the castle carpenter make it for you,” Kieran said. He placed the box in my lap. “I thought you might like to have it.”

  I stared down at the box’s contents in surprise. Inside lay the source of all my health issues over the last few years. It still seemed hard to imagine.

  “We measured it before putting it in there,” Kieran said, shaking his head. “Almost seven inches long. It’s a wonder you were able to function as long as you did, my lord.”

  “Indeed,” I said as I studied the pale, thin tapeworm that had burrowed into my brain and almost killed me.

  Kieran had told me I’d likely ingested the worm’s larvae from raw pork at some point, though truthfully, I couldn’t remember ever eating any. The physician had guessed the damn thing had been living and growing inside me for years. I felt a sudden blackness settling over me as I stared through the glass at the worm. Too bad you failed in your mission, I thought in annoyance before I tossed the box on the bed beside me.

  Kieran frowned. “Did I do wrong, my lord?”

  I waved a hand. “No, not at all. It’s not the stupid worm. I’m just tired of lying here day after day, I suppose.”

  Kieran’s face brightened. “Well, then you’re in luck, lord.” He paused, waiting as I just stared at him. Finally, the physician glanced at Lillia and winked. “Your granddaughter tells me you’ve been restless, so, to that end, I’ve agreed to her request to let you go outside.”

  I could feel my eyes widening with sudden hope.

  “But only for an hour or so, lord,” Kieran cautioned. “We mustn’t overdo it, you see.” He glanced up at the door. “Walice?”

  The door swung open instantly, revealing the steward, who pushed a two-wheeled contraption into the room that I hadn’t seen in many years. It was the moveable chair that Haverty had built for me almost fifty years ago after I’d broken my leg during the Battle of Silver Valley.

  “It can’t be,” I said, shaking my head in wonder. “How?”

  Kieran stood up. “It isn’t the same chair, my lord,” he said. “I found Physician Haverty’s drawings and built it myself.” He smiled modestly. “With a few minor modifications from the original design, of course.”

  Two burly castle servants came in after Walice, and together, they lifted me out of bed, sitting me on the end of it while Lillia took off my sleeping tunic and dressed me. I didn’t fail to notice one of the servants staring at my white, emaciated body riddled with old scars in fascination before he saw my gaze on him and hastily looked away.

  “So,” Kieran said once I was ready, his hands behind his back as he studied me with a faint smile on his lips. “Where would you like to go for your first time out, my lord?”

  I paused for less than a heartbeat. There really was only one place I needed to be. “The Watching Hill,” I whispered, the words catching in my throat.

  Kieran nodded, not looking surprised as Lillia squeezed my shoulder. “Then The Watching Hill it is, my lord.”

  Forty-five minutes later, I sat at the peak of a large hill a half-mile east of the castle in my new, padded chair. I could feel the warmth of the sun on my face for the first time in many months as a gentle breeze tugged playfully at the collar of the heavy coat Lillia had insisted that I wear. The morning was already quite warm, but in truth, I was thankful for the coat, for I was always cold. Tall trees with purple flowers ringed the hilltop, giving off a heady scent that I’d never expected to smell again. I took a deep breath, enjoying the moment as birds sang and bees and brightly colored hummingbirds moved among the flowers.

  “Do you want to be alone?” Lillia asked me. “Uncle Hughe, Uncle Taren, and Aunt Kalidia should be here shortly. I can wait below until they arrive if you wish?”

  I glanced downward where Kieran, Walice, and the two servants waited at the point where the road from the castle broke to either side of The Watching Hill before heading west again on the other side. A crowd of curious onlookers had traveled the short distance from the castle, whispering to each other as they watched me. I could see more people coming from the market town of Camwick to the east, as word of my outing spread. I guessed I must look quite the sight up on the hill, like a ghoul risen from one of the graves.

  I looked up at Lillia. “No, child. Stay. I think your mother and grandmother would want you here with me.”

  Lillia nodded but said nothing, both of us turning inward as we focused on the stone grave markers lined up in a row along the hill’s crest. I studied each one, seeing a familiar face in my mind for every name.

  Jebido Grayerson

  My mentor, my father
, my friend. I still awoke every morning, expecting to see him and hear his familiar voice. I fought back tears as I moved on.

  Baine of Corwick

  My dear, dear friend and brother, always with a smile on his face, unless you crossed him. Oh, how I miss you, old friend, I thought with infinite sadness.

  Lady Alline Corwick

  My beautiful daughter and Lillia’s mother. If I close my eyes, I can still hear her musical laughter. Alline had been so much like her mother, inheriting not only Shana’s breathtaking beauty, but her intelligence and sense of humor as well.

  Finally, I turned my gaze on the middle stone, saving it until the end, tears rolling unashamedly down my cheeks.

  Lady Shana Corwick

  My wife, my friend, my lover, and my life. I started to weep harder then, with the blue skies above me, a throng of people watching, and my granddaughter by my side as she wept along with me. We stayed that way for a long time, before finally I looked up as a shadow crossed over me. It was my eldest son, Hughe, with my daughter, Kalidia, beside him.

  “Father,” Hughe whispered, his voice catching in his throat as he dropped to his knees beside me. I noticed his beard was more grey than black now, although he looked just as big and powerful as ever. When had that happened? “I’m sorry I’m late, lord.”

  Kalidia moved to my other side, taking my hand. “You should have told us about this, Father,” she scolded in a low, yet firm voice. “I will have words with both Walice and Kieran later.”

  I kissed the back of her hand. Always the worrier, my little Kalidia. It was a trait earned honestly by all the Corwick women. “None of that, now, child,” I said to my daughter, my voice hoarse and cracking. Kalidia was more like me than her mother, always ready for conflict if needed. “This was my idea,” I added. I looked around, realizing that someone was missing. “Where’s Teran?” I asked.

  “Gone to settle a dispute in Ashwick, Father,” Hughe answered. “I’ve sent for him. He should be here soon.”

  “Good,” I said with a nod.