A Hare in the Wilderness

by S E Turner

  Lyall raised an eyebrow, Namir cocked his head.

  She took their expressions as a sign to continue. 'Please tell me what became of Laith and Artemisia, so I can ease my mother's aching heart. She carries the torment like a heavy burden, and I can see it weighs her down.' Her eyes were sad. 'Also, my brother Cornelius; what can you tell me about him? My mother always worried about him and she needs closure now, however painful that may be.' She drew a pained response. 'And what really happened in Ataxata? My dearest husband has given me patches of the story; possibly to spare me the details of my father's deadly rise to power and his heinous crimes in getting there, but I need to know the truth.'

  Lyall looked at Namir with his customary raised eyebrow. Namir tilted his head is response, and the two men fell silent as the events of what she had just spoken about raced through their memories, firing up a distant past.

  'Of course, we can fill in the gaps for you, if that is what you wish,' said Lyall. 'We understand your need to know the truth–if you are ready for the truth.'

  Ajeya's heart beat faster with trepidation. She had opened a can of worms now and there was no going back.

  'Perhaps Lyall should begin our story and I can end it for you,' said Namir, and looked at him for his response.

  'Yes, perhaps I should,' Lyall was already reliving his past. 'As it does begin with me.' He paused for a long breath while he collected his thoughts...

  He looked out of the huge windows as if he was searching for something on the brow of the hill. The mountain range crowned the vista and immediately it was moving towards him, bringing his past closer and closer until the vast glittering wall was right in front of him. He was standing on the edge of a great precipice, and below him was his life spread out like a moving quilt, a sea of motion awash in the colours of his memories. He breathed in the spectacle that was teasing old wounds; stabbing and tearing and wrenching them apart until they all began to resurface. Suddenly he felt a grip of panic, and his subconscious memory flew open.

  'My life was quite ordinary until I was fourteen years old, living in this very castle, with the King and Queen of Durundal.' He looked around in awe. 'And then everything changed. Everything. And it all started on that dreadful night in November. The blood month.'

  To be continued in – 'A Wolf in the Dark.'

  I was a very frightened fourteen-year-old boy back then. Too frightened for my own good by all accounts. My father desperately wanted me to succeed him as a strong king with absolutely no fear of anything or anyone. A tall order back then. He used to tell me stories and I hated them. Because night after night, I had the same recurring nightmare, the same disturbed dream—and even now as I speak, it's as real today as it was then.

  It is pitch black and my heart is hammering. I can't control my vicious panting. The tunnel closes in and I crouch against the wall. My fingers can feel every crevasse on my shrinking tomb as I slide along the cold, damp, ancient, stones.

  And then I feel it. Something cold reaches for me and I instinctively recoil. The monster groans and wails as it claws at my flesh. I manage to break free and start to run, but fettered legs are weak. I am weak. I cannot breathe. I cannot move. The creature closes in. A long, forked tongue licks along the sweat of the walls and I can feel its icy breath on my neck. I scream and sit bolt upright, trembling in my bed.

  Main Characters in: A Hare in the Wilderness

  CLANS

  Clan of the Mountain Lion.

  Laith - Leader

  Artemisia - (Laith's childhood sweetheart)

  Zoraster - medicine man

  Hill Fort Tribe

  Colom - leader

  Peira - Colom's wife

  Jena - (Eujena, exiled Empress of Ataxata)

  Hagen - Jena's husband

  Keao - Hagen's son

  Red - Keao's wife

  Rufus - Keao and Red's son

  Ajeya - (Eujena's daughter)

  Dainn - (married to Ajeya)

  Storm & Durg} clan boys

  Malik & Tay } clan boys

  Clan of the Giant's Claw

  Thorne - leader

  Ukaleq - Shaman

  Marshland Tribe

  Torré

  Lace

  COURTS

  Palace in Ataxata

  Emperor Gnaeus III

  General Domitrius Corbulo