Chapter 4
“Alright, that’s enough practice for the day,” Essryl said firmly, looking between the elven trainees impassively. She didn’t think that all the former residents of Mellesyn were putting enough effort into learning to use their instruments, but it wasn’t her concern anymore. If they weren’t going to cooperate at this point, it would be their own fault when their actions backfired horribly.
Vella pulled away from the piano, flexing her fingers and frowning at them, and drawing Essryl’s attention in doing so. Essryl debated for a moment, then asked, “Is something wrong, Vella?”
“I’m not certain, Mistress Essryl,” Vella replied, the brunette’s voice slightly hesitant. “There’s some tingling in my hand and wrist when I’ve been writing or playing music a lot, and I’m not sure why. It’s annoying, but not much more than that.”
“Ah, I’m fairly certain I know what that is. I’m glad you mentioned it early on,” Essryl said, instantly recognizing the symptoms. “If it’s the condition I’m thinking of, you’ll eventually have trouble writing or playing music, and you’ll end up in pain as well. I could be wrong, but I can easily check to see if it’s what I’m thinking of and fix it if so.”
“I… that would be appreciated, Mistress Essryl,” Vella replied, standing and approaching the Illisyr nervously.
As the woman came closer, the others each put away their own instruments, ranging from a violin and flute to a full-sized harp. The only one without an instrument was Anara, who tended to sing, though Essryl had already realized that the young woman was pretending to be less skilled than she truly was.
“Extend your hands, wrists up,” Essryl ordered, and Vella quickly followed the directions, revealing wrists that looked slightly swollen to Essryl.
Murmuring a spell, Essryl traced a rune on one of Vella’s wrists, then the other, and half-closed her eyes to sense what the spell was detecting. Much as Essryl had expected, there was pressure on the nerves flowing through Vella’s wrists, but that was something which she could fix easily.
Opening her eyes, Essryl nodded in satisfaction as the spell faded, explaining, “I was correct about the problem and it’s easy to fix, should you desire me to do so, Vella. It won’t take more than a few moments.”
“Um, of course, Mistress Essryl, I’d like that,” Vella replied, looking a little conflicted.
Essryl ignored the woman’s trepidation, instead preparing the new spell she needed. It wasn’t one she needed often, but it was common enough that she didn’t even need to take the time to decide how to fix the problem. After a moment, she murmured the incantation softly, one hand making the gestures to shape the magic, and bright red runes flashed into existence, wrapping around Vella’s wrists. Slowly, they sank into her skin, vanishing as they did so, and Essryl sensed the magic subtly changing Vella’s body to fix the problem. She imagined that the slight pain that the woman had was vanishing, but wasn’t going to assume that it was. As the magic faded, Essryl looked up at Vella curiously.
“That should do it. How does it feel, Vella?” Essryl asked.
“The tingling is gone, and my wrists feel a little different,” Vella said, blinking as she flexed her fingers again. “I think it’s easier to move my fingers, but I’m not sure.”
“The problem was that the part of your body which controls your fingers and sensations runs through your wrists. In some cases, your body swells and puts pressure on it, which causes pain, numbness, and some other more dangerous effects eventually,” Essryl explained, tapping her own wrists. “Some people are more vulnerable to such than others, but it’s common enough in the end. I simply have a spell which can fix most of the problems and make it far less likely to occur in the future.”
“Ah, thank you, Mistress Essryl,” Vella said, blinking in faint confusion, but Essryl suspected she’d understood enough of the explanation to suffice. It wasn’t as though she needed to know more than that.
“If any of you have similar issues, I can help with them as well. If you don’t, it’s only—” Essryl began, looking around at the others, but at that moment, one of her wards sent out an abrupt warning from a downstairs entrance. The warning was silent, but Essryl didn’t hesitate. That particular ward only activated when one of the women in her charge called for help.
With a thought and surge of mana, Essryl crossed the boundaries between worlds, flickering into the shadow plane. The huge red sun was overhead, sending wavering shadows across the landscape of blackened spires and dark sand beneath Essryl’s feet as she darted forward, latent magic amplifying her speed as one of her spells flickered fully to life. No monsters dared approach the realm of the shadow plane around Resvarygrath’s palace anymore, and that was good since she didn’t have time for them. Reaching the appropriate spot, Essryl willed herself to return, refusing to let herself feel anything just yet. There’d be time for that once she knew what had happened.
As she snapped into existence again, Essryl heard a man’s voice from near the door, his voice angry. “—just wanted a little fun and you dared to hit me, you little tart?”
Essryl was in the hall connecting the interior of the palace’s west wing to the courtyard, and her lips thinned slightly as she caught sight of her charge, as well as the speaker. As she did so, the embers of anger she’d been suppressing in the back of her mind flared to life.
Leticia was a beautiful elven woman, and was one of the servants who’d lasted the longest as Resvarygrath’s captive. Her poise was generally perfect, her appearance immaculate, and she was an excellent assistant, one which Essryl had a modicum of affection for. Which was why seeing Leticia bleeding from the edge of her mouth and with her hair disheveled was… upsetting.
The man who had Leticia by the arm as she struggled to get away was average in height, but his build was powerful. Unlike the last time someone had decided to assault one of Essryl’s charges, this time he was elven. Not that it surprised her, as the time before that it’d been an elven woman who trespassed. The biggest problem was that he was in the garb of one of the Shadowguard, and that was what truly incensed her. The man should know better.
“Let go of me! I don’t like you, and I’m not some prostitute. Help!” Leticia called out, obviously not having given up. That was to be expected, since she’d been around for several of the previous incidents.
“Who’s going to help you? You’re nothing more than a worthless, if pretty, servant,” the man snarled, not having seen Essryl appear in the shadows yet. Essryl unsheathed a dagger calmly, her rage growing ever stronger at his disrespect. No one touched her girls when they didn’t wish it, save for Resvarygrath himself.
“I am,” Essryl said, her voice as calm as she could manage as she stepped forward, but as she did so she channeled mana into her holy symbol and felt the symbol of the Dowager flash with light. Brilliant white flames enveloped the dagger as she swung it faster than the man could react.
The blade cut through the man’s wrist like it was made of soft cheese, and he belatedly recoiled, leaving his hand still holding onto Leticia’s arm as the stump smoked, the scent of burning flesh suddenly filling the room.
“Agh, my hand!” the man screamed, staggering back and turning toward Essryl in shock. “Who the hell are you? How dare you… you…”
“It was your hand. Now? Now it’s nothing more than a worthless chunk of meat. Much like you,” Essryl said, reaching out to yank the hand off Leticia and tossing it aside. She saw the relief in Leticia’s eyes, but Essryl didn’t focus on her charge just yet, turning to the man and smiling thinly. “As to me… you must be a new recruit. Everyone else knows who I am. And all of them know that no one, no one, is allowed to touch the girls. I suppose you’ll serve as an example.”
“What are you talking about? She’s just some common elven slave, isn’t she? How dare you…” The man growled, staring at the smoking stump of his hand, then drew his dagger and roared. “I’m going to kill you for that!”
He must be goin
g into shock, Essryl thought, considering how unfocused the man was. He certainly wasn’t going to put up nearly as much of a fight as he thought he was. Regardless, she wasn’t going to let him continue in the hallway. No, an example had to be made of him and that meant doing this publicly.
“Imbecile. I’ll heal you shortly, Leticia… I have trash I need to take out,” Essryl said as the man charged at her.
Essryl sidestepped the dagger and kicked the man in the chest, sending him staggering back toward the door into the courtyard, and Leticia replied softly. “Of course, Mistress Essryl. Thank you.”
“It’s my duty and my pleasure,” Essryl replied, flashing forward as she gave the idiot another kick to send him sprawling outside.
Something of a crowd had formed, Essryl noted in approval. It’d make this easier, and from the way several faces paled, it looked like at least some of the soldiers had an idea of what was coming.
“You…” the man gasped, climbing to his feet, his nose bleeding.
“I am Essryl Demara. I’ve been tasked with protecting Lord Resvarygrath’s prizes from any who would touch them. You made the mistake of harming one of them,” Essryl said, her voice echoing through the courtyard. “I must say, you’ve also made me angry. That being the case, may the Dowager have mercy upon you, because I will have none.”
“Hells,” one of the nearby soldiers said, and Essryl saw confusion wash over her victim’s face, then worry.
Unfortunately for him, it was far too late for regrets.
“There you go, Leticia… is there anything else that hurts?” Essryl asked, pulling her hand away from the woman’s cheek gently as she saw the swelling and other damage from being struck had vanished.
“No, Mistress Essryl. That’s the last of them,” Leticia said, looking relieved as she took a deep breath.
“Good. When I detected that someone had called for help, I worried that I might be a touch too late. I would’ve thought the last example would have warned the idiots away for longer,” Essryl said, scowling as she thought about the incident. “It’s… upsetting.”
“The new recruits have been undergoing harsher training, and the newest batch arrived yesterday. I’m not certain, but I suppose it’s possible that they weren’t warned away from us,” Leticia said, frowning as she admitted, “That’s just speculation, though, Mistress Essryl.”
“Of course it is, but speculation that I’d believe,” Essryl replied, annoyance rushing through her. “I’m going to have to have words with Captain Gardner. I’m not going to have—ah, there he is. Good, I don’t have to track him down.”
Captain Gardner had stepped into the hallway, a deep scowl on his face. His beard wasn’t trimmed as well as normal, so Essryl suspected he’d been woken early due to her demonstration. Regardless, he was in full armor, save for a helm, and he had his sword, so he might be making the mistake of thinking he had a chance against her.
“Essryl! What’s the meaning of all this?” Martin Gardner demanded angrily.
“One of your new recruits decided that he wanted to bed Leticia and wasn’t willing to take no for an answer. I just finished healing her, I’ll have you know,” Essryl replied, her tone conversational. “As for him… I dealt with him appropriately.”
“Appropriately? You tortured him, crippled him, then cut him to pieces and put them onto stakes in front of the doors!” The captain retorted, gesturing back toward the courtyard. “My new recruits are in an uproar, and even the ones who’ve been here for a while are disturbed by what you did! This is going too far, Essryl!”
“Going too far? You think that is going too far?” Essryl demanded, turning to glare at him in return. “I made a point, Captain. Less than two years has passed since I had to make an example of someone, and yet one of your recruits harmed one of the women under my protection. I wanted to make a point that would last a decade or more. If I was trying to be cruel, I would’ve left him alive, blind, and wheezing for hours on the end of a stake, and utterly irrecoverable by your healers. Instead, I put him out of his misery far more quickly than that.”
“Even so—” the captain began, but Essryl cut him off.
“No. I answer to one person, and one person alone below the gods themselves. I serve Lord Resvarygrath, and he directed me to protect Leticia and the others,” Essryl said, her voice flat. “I was there when he warned you to tell your men that the captives shouldn’t be sullied by the touch of your soldiers, but perhaps he was a bit unclear at the time. His directive doesn’t just apply to the captives from Mellesyn, Captain Gardner. It applies to all the women wearing these gold collars. Now, would you rather I left it to him to render judgement for what has happened? Because I do recall he directed you to train your men better.”
Essryl could see the man hesitate and felt the vaguest sense of satisfaction at his obvious fear of Resvarygrath’s anger. After a few moments, he took a deep breath and shook his head. “No, that won’t be necessary. May I at least have the man’s remains taken down and properly buried? What happened to him is hell on morale as it is, let alone how you left him.”
“You may, on a single condition,” Essryl said.
“What’s that?” Captain Gardner asked warily.
Essryl smiled thinly, looking him directly in the eyes as she spoke bluntly, her tone entirely sincere. “Warn your men when they get here that they’re not to touch the girls unless they’re attempting to escape, and even then, they can only subdue them. I was upset this time. If there’s another incident like this, I will not only kill the man or woman who acts, but I will also make them such a horrific example that you’ll likely have to replace the entire guard of the palace due to desertion. Is that clear, Captain?”
The man paled, swallowing hard before replying. “As crystal, Essryl.”
“Good. You may go now. I have things to do,” Essryl said, turning away from him. She smiled at Leticia and spoke gently. “Come along, Leticia. I think you deserve the rest of the day off.”
“Thank you, Mistress Essryl,” Leticia replied, looking relieved.
Behind them, the Captain quietly left the hall, and the door shut behind him.
Chapter 5
The interior of Ivy Vines was different than Ruethwyn had expected, considering the incredibly elaborate exterior. While the walls were still wood, the lacquered surfaces were mostly smooth, rather than like the vines on the outside. Around the edges of each wall, as well as the support beams, there were carvings of vines, though, and the leaves had been intricately painted to look as real as possible.
Rugs helped soften the sounds inside the building as well, and Ruethwyn couldn’t help but notice that the tables were each subtly positioned behind short walls that cut off most line of sight to them and would help keep any words private. Beyond beautiful wooden furnishings, the restaurant was illuminated by lanterns that cast warm yellow light over each of the tables, while leaving much of the rooms in dimmer lighting. A part of Ruethwyn wondered what Umbra would make of the building, but she wasn’t going to summon the elemental to find out.
Instead, she chose to follow in Korima’s wake as the others followed their hostess, a pretty elven woman who’d greeted them warmly, and who had barely batted an eyelash at Ruethwyn’s injuries. It had surprised Ruethwyn at first, then she realized that the woman was probably trained to not react to any peculiarities of guests, based on what Navaan had said. If a noble was coming here to relax, they wouldn’t want the staff staring or reacting poorly when they arrived.
“Here you are, ladies and lords,” The server said, coming to a round table with six chairs, though only five were set. She paused and said, “I believe this is your first time here, so I should mention that, normally, the meal is composed of several courses that are planned well in advance. However, should any of you have specific preferences, you may request a meal and we shall see if it’s available.”
“Oh! That’s neat,” Sella murmured, glancing at the others as she paused near the chairs.
Ruethwyn shook her head, as did Sella, but Korima quickly asked, “My main concern was whether there would be a fairly, um, meaty dish. Will there be something like that?”
“One course has several venison medallions with a red wine and herb glaze. Would that suffice, ma’am?” the servant asked.
“Oh, that sounds wonderful. Thank you!” Korima said, smiling broadly as she found a seat, ending up next to Navaan, who had Tadrick and Sella on his other side.
Ruethwyn hesitated, then took a seat next to Korima, since it’d let her see any servants coming. It meant she could only see Sella and Tadrick without turning her head, but it’d have to do for now.
“Excellent. A server will be by with drinks shortly,” the servant replied with a half-curtsey, then quickly left for the front desk again.
As they got settled, Tadrick looked at Navaan and asked curiously, “So, how’re your trials of mastery going?”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Navaan replied, shuddering slightly as he shook his head. “They’re… intense. I think that’s a good word to describe them.”
“Are they really that bad?” Sella asked, her voice nervous. “I know I’m probably years out from them, but…”
She paused as a server, this one a man, brought out a small cart with glasses on it. He silently poured water into glasses and placed one in front of each of them, then pulled out five wine glasses that he filled with an amber liquid with tiny, glittering motes of light suspended in it. Handing out the glasses, he spoke simply. “Starlight’s Breath, from the vineyards of Lord Dema.”
“Oh, this is a treat. Don’t drink it too fast, it’s a rather potent wine,” Tadrick cautioned. “Really flavorful, though.”
Queen of Ice (Through the Fire Book 2) Page 4
