“I figured you’d want your bag.” Thaimis dropped it beside me and left.
I scowled at it before opening it up and digging through its contents for my water skin.
I gulped back the now warm liquid and placed it back inside the bag.
“Well, better get some sleep if we’re to be travelling again tomorrow,” I said to myself, laying down and resting my head on my bag.
Chapter 28
I waved my hand at Thaimis’ uniform as I saddled my horse. “Why the new uniforms?” It was the same as the soldier’s who’d found me and took my horse on the night I’d come across the army.
He touched the silver V on his chest. “We’re going to war for Vesirus. They’re more appropriate.”
I wiggled the saddle to make sure the cinch was tight enough. “Do you hear yourself, Thaimis? Doesn’t it alarm you that our king’s working with the dark lord of Mnyama?”
His gave me a blank stare. “Why would it?”
I stomped my foot and whined with frustration. “Never mind.” I put my foot into the stirrup and pulled myself into the saddle, falling in place with the rest of the army.
I needed to figure something out before we reached Terra. Perhaps if I learned more about Vesirus’ power, I’d be able to counteract it somehow. I rarely prayed, I wasn’t known for my faithfulness, but I prayed to Celestia now to help me find a solution. She didn’t answer, of course. Phyra had told me how Celestia visited her in her dreams when she’d needed her. I didn’t know what made her so special that our goddess seemed to favour her. Perhaps it was because she didn’t have a mentor like I’d had with Sreda… or maybe it was because she had more faith.
It was a long day on horseback with no one to talk to. I stayed near the back with some of the women soldiers and the supply wagons. They barely said a word as we rode through the green hills. Everyone seemed to be in a hypnotic state, focused on one thing only… getting to Terra.
We rode on into the night. The inside of my thighs screamed at me for riding with no break. I looked up at the waxing moon and realized this would be the second from the last full moon of spring that we were approaching.
I let out a sharp gasp when I realized what that meant. The woman riding next to me turned her stoic face towards me.
“Sorry, I almost fell asleep,” I lied and checked myself, molding a similar mask of blankness over my own face.
She turned her attention away from me again.
King Zaeden was planning to attack Terra during Noctis De Celestia. I was sure of it.
Noctis was to be held in Aquila that spring. I hoped Percifal and Phyra would make it in time to tell Terra’s sovereign not to leave their kingdom.
I wondered who was sitting in as regent at Aquila with King Zaeden away at war.
I squeezed my way toward the front in search of the king.
I found him surrounded by some of his largest soldiers. They wore menacing expressions and their eyes actually glowed cerulean. A chill ran up my spine as though Vesirus himself breathed on my soft skin.
You’re alright. You could definitely kill these men if you wanted to… drown them with water from beneath the ground’s surface, I told myself. At least King Zaeden’s constable wasn’t riding with him. He’d taken a small group of soldiers to ride ahead; probably to scout out any possible dangers… or witnesses. I wasn’t sure. His absence wasn’t missed though. I found the man unnerving.
Steadying myself, I worked up the courage to ride close enough to the king and ask, “Who is hosting Noctis in your absence, Your Majesty?”
He turned his half lidded eyes my way. “If it were up to us, there would be no Noctis this spring, but to keep up this façade that we are still devoted to the goddess, we’ve left the queen mother in charge of Aquila whilst we are absent. She will take care of things.”
I didn’t really know what to say. I couldn’t imagine a world where there was no Noctis De Celestia each spring, and his mother was an old crone who didn’t care much for anyone.
He sighed dramatically, “Stop gawking. We’re very tired, Chelela, and this is none of your concern. Leave us in peace.”
I pursed my lips before replying, “Yes, Your Majesty.” I held my horse back until I was near the end of the group again.
It was a lot easier to travel alone, or with a small group, than it was with a whole army. When we rode, we rode until we could ride no more, because when we made camp, it took us a good amount of time to settle in and rest before we could pack up and get going again. Percifal and Phyra would beat us to Terra, I was sure of it. By the time we made camp each night, I was dead-tired… barely able to stay on my horse.
Coming back from relieving myself in private one night after we’d settled in, I saw a glowing cerulean light emanating from King Zaeden’s tent. It was the same light I’d seen in the soldiers’ eyes.
I didn’t notice anyone around, so I crept closer to the tent. Reaching the tent’s entrance, I pulled one of the flaps back enough to peek inside with one eye.
“Haldeth dinyah gat’row. Haldeth dinyah gat’row,” King Zaeden chanted in a language I’d never heard.
A horrible squealing sound came from within the tent, causing me to cringe. My eyes watered and my head buzzed. I felt the air’s temperature drop from within the tent and goosebumps pimpled the skin on my forearm holding the tent flap back.
“My lord, you asked me to summon you. I heard your whispers as we rode last night,” King Zaeden said, his back toward me.
The voice that answered turned my blood to ice. It was both high pitched and booming… both near and far. It definitely wasn’t human. “Yeeessss! What isss takinggg sssso lonnnng!”
“I apologize, my lord, but we need to eat and rest. Perhaps if you gave me some more of your power ,the whole army could go without either.” I could just barely make out the king’s muffled voice.
“You’ll get more power when you ssseize the kinnngdom of earth. I need to manifessssst,” the voice spat out viciously.
“Of course, my lord. We’ll make haste.”
“Yooou let me bringgg my dark world up here, and I’ll let yooou rule, but firsssst I need deathhh!”
I began to tremble as King Zaeden bowed. I was in way over my head! I had to find Percifal and Phyra.
I didn’t want to see anymore… see the dark lord of Mnyama. I let the flap drop back down and turned to run, smacking straight into a hard chest.
I tilted my chin up. Thaimis looked down at me. His eyes were glowing brightly. His face was different. A skeletal shadow covered skin too pale.
I shoved him away in a panic and bolted, but he caught my ankle and held me with an inhuman strength.
I clenched my teeth to keep myself from screaming as I crashed to the ground, scraping my hip and elbow.
The man towering over me was not Thaimis. His movements were stiff and jerky, his face held no emotion.
I used tendrils of power to reach beneath the earth’s surface and pull the water that rested beneath the soil upwards.
The ground exploded in a spray of dirt and water, hitting whoever—or whatever—controlled Thaimis in the face, knocking him down.
I scrambled to my feet and took off, only to be tackled by another man.
“Where do you think you’re going?” His deformed face looked almost identical to Thaimis.’
“Let me go!” I tried to kick him as he picked me up, but he was too strong. I was dragged back toward the tent, kicking and clawing.
“The girl’s mine.” I heard someone say.
My captor kept walking as though he hadn’t heard a word. His grip was unrelenting.
“I said she’s MINE!”
A fist hit my captor’s face and he fell backward… stunned.
“What the Mnyama?” My captor scowled at the other man, who I’d now figured out was Thaimis.
Others, who’d began to crowd around, watched us with glowing cerulean stares, unblinking.
Thaimis grabbed me by the back of t
he neck and shoved me forward. I fell to my hands and knees.
“Well, well. What’s going on here?” I stretched my neck up to find King Zaeden staring down at me with crossed arms. His eyes were the only ones that didn’t glow cerulean. I saw a different kind of madness reflected there. He wasn’t under a spell, I realized. He was doing this of his own accord.
The urge to scratch his eyes ate me up from the inside. Instead, I forced myself to weep, which wasn’t hard given the amount of pain I was in.
“I don’t know, Your Majesty! These men attacked me! They’re monsters!” I cried out, tears making muddy tracks down my face.
“She’s lying. She’s a traitor,” The second man who’d attacked me said, rubbing the bruise beginning to form under his left eye where Thaimis had hit him.
“Is that so?” King Zaeden questioned Thaimis.
Thaimis bowed his head. “I found her spying on you.”
“Well,” he bent down, grabbed my wrist and pulled me up. He turned me so I was facing the others. “What should we do with this traitor?”
“Kill her!” most of the soldiers shouted in unison, throwing their fists up in the air.
“Pardon me, Your Majesty, but I think we should bring her to Terra with us as our prisoner. Then we can offer her as a sacrifice to Vesirus,” Thaimis said loud enough the others could hear.
Some nodded their heads in agreement.
King Zaeden was silent for a moment, pondering the suggestion.
He squeezed me and laughed. “That is an astounding idea, Thaimis! Our lord will be happy to hear we have someone of importance to offer him. She is, after all, like family to us. This will strengthen my bond with him!” He said the last part to himself. The king was thrilled by this new idea. I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved or terrified.
“What’s wrong with you?” I muttered more to myself than to the king.
He heard my words though. “Traitors, that’s what.” He pushed me toward Thaimis. “She’s your responsibility. See that she doesn’t escape, or I’ll offer you to the dark lord.”
I sagged in Thaimis’ arms, putting as much weight as I could against them. He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Chapter 29
I should’ve listened to Percifal. I’d ruined everything. Vesirus was going to annihilate our world, and there would be nothing I could do to stop it, because I would be dead… sacrificed to the dark lord.
I don’t know why I’d thought I could save Thaimis. I guessed it was because I remembered the caring, jovial man he once was. That man was gone, and whoever controlled his body now wasn’t worth saving.
I was kept tied to a tree. Thaimis had a female soldier watch me whenever I had to relieve myself. My food and water were fed to me as though I were a baby.
When we were on the move, he had me sit in front of him on his horse and kept my wrists tied together. Goddess forbid I fall off, I’d surely break my neck without the use of my hands. Though, I supposed that would have been a better way to die than the death King Zaeden had planned for me.
“You should be thanking me,” Thaimis said while feeding me some oats and bread.
How bland the food was in Sarantoa compared to the spicy flavours I’d enjoyed in Gwon.
I chewed slowly, swallowing hard before I answered, “For what? Pray tell.”
“For saving your life.”
“Oh, you mean for prolonging my death.” I glared daggers at him. “I’d rather have been killed that night.”
He pressed his lips together before he rose. I heard him ask someone else to watch me.
What nerve he had! I would never forgive him for the death he’d sentenced me to, never mind thank him for it.
My sour mood called to the rain. It drizzled steadily for days, making everyone miserable except me. I was miserable for other reasons, but the rain wasn’t one of them.
We began to run low on food. The little we had left began to mold from all the moisture. I smiled inwardly when I felt an air of doom throughout the army. It wouldn’t bother me if every one of these goddess forsaken soldiers starved to death. King Zaeden had us go off course in search of a village he knew was nearby. His mood was foul at having to take this detour. He yelled at his soldiers to hurry and had us riding harder than usual. The soldiers were annoyed with him. It gave me a small sliver of delight.
When we reached the village known as Vedram, King Zaeden had us head straight for the baron’s manor.
The king had taken off his usual robes and jewels; replacing them with armour to match his soldiers’ to avoid being discovered. He didn’t want anyone running off and alerting Terra about him leading this army. Surprise was of the utmost importance… too bad Percifal and Phyra were going to do just that. It was strange to see him looking like a commoner. He ordered us to all treat him as though he wasn’t a king. If I weren’t being held captive, I would have enjoyed that feat much more.
The village was mostly made up of crops and cottages where the farmers who grew them lived. Some of the horses tried to grab a mouthful of hay when we crossed the fields that surrounded a large manor near the center of the village.
King Zaeden ordered his constable to knock on the front door of the large, rectangular, stone building surrounded by shrubs after we’d dismounted and left the horses and wagons at the stable that belonged to the owner of the manor.
A servant opened the door. His eyes grew ginormous when he saw the large group of soldiers standing on the doorstep to his master’s home.
He tried to choke out an answer to our appearance, but the constable with long, wavy, black hair interrupted him. “My army and I are in need of food and rest. We thank you for your hospitality,” Constable Mintosa said, pushing the servant aside and allowing the rest of us to enter.
We filed in to the grand manor and squeezed into the front room. I felt like a fish in a barrel, squished against all of those soldiers. There was barely room to breathe, let alone move. Some of the soldiers had to wait outside. There just wasn’t enough room for everyone.
Sweat trickled down my back. Suddenly my legs felt wobbly. Thaimis held me tight against him to keep me from toppling over.
“Hold yourself together,” he said lowly into my ear.
I craned my neck and glared at him.
Soon, an obese man with curly, light brown hair came from down the hallway. He wore a red silk robe trimmed with black fur and black breeches with black boots. Golden buttons decorated the shirt underneath his robe… clothes fit for a baron.
“What’s the meaning of this?” the baron asked through his big red lips. I could hear the spittle spray with each word he spoke.
“Pardon me, Baron—sorry, what’s your name?” Constable Mintosa asked.
The baron crossed his arms. “Baron Kennard.”
“Pardon me, Baron Kennard, but we are in need of hospitality. It is your duty to provide us with food and shelter while we’re here.”
The blood drained from the baron’s face. “Why is an army travelling these lands? Are we not still at peace?”
Constable Mintosa stood taller and stared down at the baron with his grey-blue eyes. “We are, but there is a threat from foreign territories. We’re on our way to aid Terra in protecting its boarders.”
Baron Kennard frowned. “I don’t recognize your uniforms.”
“Enough questions, Baron. We are here to help. We will fit as many as we can into rooms in the manor for the night. The rest will sleep in your stable, but first we will feast. Have your staff prepare our supper.”
“But I don’t have enough food for you all.”
“That’s not my problem. Find more. This village has plenty of farms. I’m sure they won’t mind sharing.”
Constable Mintosa didn’t give the baron time to answer. He beckoned for us to follow him in search of the great hall.
I felt truly sorry for the baron and his people. War was cruel to everyone. Perhaps I could find
a way to let the baron know what this army’s real plan was… if I could only get alone with him for one moment.
The grand hall wasn’t as spectacular as Aquila’s, but it was still impressive. Footsteps thudded on the wooden floor as we moved around the room. Stone archways lined the walls symmetrically. Inside each of the archways were white marble statues of Celestia in different poses. Lanterns hung from the wood beamed ceiling, which were currently unlit. The room was quite dark, even though it was daylight outside. Being that it was an inside room in the manor, there were no windows to brighten the space. Two large, wooden tables ran the length of the room on each side.
A soldier was scowling at one of the statues. I thought he might smash the piece of art with his fist. King Zaeden nudged him, shaking his head, and the soldier turned away from the statue.
Thaimis led me out of the grand hall and up a set of stairs. He opened a door to a bedchamber and pushed me inside.
“You’ll stay in here ’til I come get you for supper,” he told me, tying my wrists around one of the bedposts at the foot of a large canopied bed.
“Where are you going?”
“To help tend to the horses.” Finished tying the knots in place, he stood back and nodded at his handy work.
“How kind of you.” I rolled my eyes.
He left without answering.
I knew there was no way I could get out of the knots he’d tied. I’d tried many times before. It only ended in rope burns. Perhaps if I made enough noise, someone who resided at the manor would find me.
I waited a while to ensure Thaimis was far from the room before I started screeching and kicking the wooden frame of the bed.
My throat grew raw, and my foot and leg began to throb from the impact with the bed. I stopped only when I heard footsteps outside my door.
Relief flooded me when a maid with silver hair pulled back into a neat bun opened the door.
“Oh—oh—oh my! Who did this to you?” She rushed over to me and placed her hands on the ropes.
The Elemental Diaries - Complete Series Page 43
