Blood & Stone: The Saboteur Chronicles Book 3

by J. V. Roberts

“It’s what he wants. You lose your cool and you legitimize his claim to the throne. Let him posture. The moment will come, opportunity will present itself,” Lerah said.

  “Lerah’s right,” Dominic said. “He’s got too many useful idiots at his back.”

  “Alright, everyone listen up!” Osiris was pacing back and forth on horseback in front of the soldiers. “I’ve already gone over everything with the men, but since you three decided to crawl here, I’ll give you a brief rundown of the situation.”

  “We didn’t crawl here, we just felt like keeping you waiting,” Dominic said.

  “My patience is depleted. I don’t care how useful you may be, one more flippant remark from you and I’ll have you thrown in the dungeons. Do you understand?”

  “Useful idiots, Dominic; follow your own advice,” Lerah muttered.

  Dominic raised his chin and swallowed a big ball of pride. “Understood; my apologies.”

  “Good. Now, moving on. Dominic, you’ll be going with these men. We’ve already got a horse saddled up for you. I trust you’ll find it to your liking.”

  “I’ve ridden a time or two, but I’m not much on horseback.”

  “I’m sure you’ll work it out. Now we ne—”

  “What about us?” Roserine said, gesturing to Lerah.

  “Lerah will help shore up defenses on the wall. You…well…I don’t know. Assist her if you wish. Or cross your arms and continue your petulance. As long as you don’t interfere, I don’t care what you do.”

  “I want to ride out with Dominic,” Roserine said.

  Osiris laughed. “Absolutely not; I’ll not have your hysteria interfering with this operation.”

  “Hysteria? Emily is like a sister to me! You expect me to sit here and trust Eirik and these men—none of whom give a damn about her—to bring her back safely?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I expect you to do. It’s the same thing I told Coen; you’re too close. Your judgment is cloudy. You’re bound to get yourself and everyone else killed. Besides, I’m sending Dominic. I’m sure he’ll act in your best interest.”

  Dominic squeezed her shoulder. “Emily is my number one priority; you have my word.”

  “See,” Osiris’ said, extending his arms out to his sides, “Emily is as good as rescued.”

  “Do you have a location on the Eval?” Dominic walked toward the posse of riders.

  “An exact location? No. But Eirik says he knows the area. I’m confident we’ll root them out. We’ve got the element of surprise behind us.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure.” Roserine moved from beyond Lerah’s grasp, speaking loud enough for every soldier to hear her. “Eirik has never been there. He knows as much about the area as the rest of us.”

  “Mystery is no excuse for complacency.” Osiris pounded his chest. “Mystery is the light that guides the seadog.”

  “My father, your brother, was not complacent. He wanted the Eval dead as much as any of us and more than most of us. We don’t know much about them, but what we do know should serve as a warning, not a guiding light. We know that their people hide in tunnels beneath the hills. They’re capable of surrounding a force in an instant. There’s no way to surround them, even if we sent every man we have; they’ve got entry and exit points scattered everywhere.”

  “If what Roserine says is true, you should reconsider. It won’t be like it was on the docks. In a straight up, head-to-head fight, sure, you’ve got numbers, equipment, and training on your side. But this isn’t head-to-head, this is guerilla warfare; it’s a recipe for an ambush. I’ve seen a handful of men take down numbers three and four times their size using an ambush.” Dominic was talking to Osiris man-to-man; looking him in the eyes, choosing his words the way a surgeon would an instrument, each one spoken with as much respect as he could muster. He needed to be careful not to damage his ego while questioning his tactics. He’d known many men like Osiris, the type of men that would go ahead with a plan, no matter its flaws, just to spite the naysayers.

  “With all due respect to the late King Shalewind, the time for waiting has passed—”

  “It’s not about waiting, it’s about strat—”

  “Enough, Dominic! I’ve had enough of you and Roserine questioning my decisions. I’ve heard what you have to say, but the security of Anthena now falls on my shoulders.”

  Dominic nodded. “Don’t forget that.”

  “Moving on. Men, you know the mission: search and destroy. Oh, and of course, rescue,” he added, tipping his head toward Roserine. “Any questions?”

  “Wait!”

  Dominic turned and saw Hawthorne running across the field, waving his hands, the front of his shirt still stained from hauling fishnets all night.

  “What the hell are you doing? You should be sleeping,” Lerah scolded him like an angry mother.

  “I want to go with Dominic,” he panted.

  Eirik and some of the men laughed, but their mockery died out when Dominic turned on them.

  “Have you ever held a sword before, son?” Osiris asked.

  “Miss Lerah and Mister Dominic have taught me plenty.”

  Osiris threw his hands up. “He’s with you, it’s your call. I don’t mind having an extra sword on the mission.”

  Dominic pushed Hawthorne back, away from prying ears. “What are you doing, kid? This isn’t for you. What about that pretty little girl on the boat with the dimples and the red hair?”

  “You think she wants to be with a coward?” Hawthorne shot back.

  “What the hell, Hawthorne?” Lerah wedged herself between them.

  Dominic grabbed her arm. “Lerah, stop.”

  “Don’t tell me to stop!” She shook him off. “He’s going to get himself killed!”

  “See! Even Miss Lerah thinks I’m a coward!”

  “She doesn’t think you’re a coward.”

  “I don’t think you’re a coward. But you’re not a soldier. You’re a good kid. You’re the one thing that kept me sane on the beach. You haven’t had to see the shit we’ve seen. You’re not calloused over by it. What you have isn’t cowardice. It’s a rare, beautiful thing in this world, Hawthorne. Don’t be so quick to try to give it up.”

  “She’s right, you know.” Dominic smacked Hawthorne on the chest with the back of his hand. “Your place is on that boat, catching fish and wooing that pretty girl. You’ve got nothing to prove here.”

  Hawthorne looked back across the field toward the stairs, chewing on his bottom lip and squinting against the sun. “I might not have anything to prove to y’all, but I’ve got something to prove to myself. I refuse to be the guy that always waits with the boat and that always needs to be saved. Say you two aren’t around anymore? Then what? I need to know I can survive in this world. I might never be as strong as you, Dominic. I might never have your reflexes, Lerah. But I’ve got…something.”

  “It’s not a call I can make for you. If you feel that strongly about it, I reckon you can saddle up,” Dominic said.

  “Dominic! What the hell?”

  “What do you want me to do, Lerah? Tie him down? He’s a man. We can’t decide shit for him; we can only offer our advice.”

  “Goddamnit!” She wrapped her arms around Hawthorne’s neck, standing on the tips of her toes to get her cheek next to his. “You be careful out there, you hear me? You stay with Dominic and do what he tells you.”

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet. “Don’t you worry, Miss Lerah. I’ll be fine.”

  “You better be.” She stepped away, wiping her eyes. “And you,” she planted a finger in Dominic’s stomach, “you get your ass back to me in one piece. That’s an order.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Dominic said, squeezing her hand and smiling. He pulled her in and hugged her tight. “The pistol is under the bed, just in case,” he whispered in her ear.

  She nodded, tears glistening in her eyes.

  Roserine wrapped her arms around Lerah and they turned toward the st
airs, no doubt in search of a stiff drink.

  “Alright, that’s enough of that. Let’s get you two armored and saddled so we can take the fight to those savage bastards.” Osiris motioned toward a pile of swords and armor.

  Dominic slapped Hawthorne on the back. “After you, kid.”

  A small crowd watched from a distance. They appeared excited. To them, it looked as if things were changing; the new king was finally taking the fight to the enemy. Anthena could rest easy. But they hadn’t heard Roserine’s words of caution. Or perhaps they had and—like Osiris—they’d chosen not to heed her warning.

  38

  Draxus sat against the wall near the cell door, rolling two, small stones around in his left hand; he was a cluster of shadows dancing in dim torchlight. “You were right; the tunnel was exactly where you said it would be. Goddamn, I can’t believe you broke so quick. I expected more.”

  His voice was a hallucination; an echo that reverberated down a never-ending hall. She was dehydrated, starving, and sleep deprived. “You were…torturing me.”

  “Ah,” he dismissed her excuse with a wave, “I’ve had people lose every nail on their hands and feet along with half of their teeth and they still didn’t say shit. You know my Vipers, yes?”

  Emily wobbled her head; she was staring at the ground, her eyes closing against her will. “The naked women that don’t speak.”

  “They speak when I tell them to; they’re well trained. You should see some of the fucked up shit I’ve put them through.” He laughed. “They don’t scream or cry, they don’t complain, they say my name and ask for more. I could do the same for you.”

  She didn’t say anything; just shook her head and jolted in and out of consciousness.

  “That man on the docks that was wailing like a bleeding cunt, was he your boyfriend?”

  Emily smiled at the thought of Coen. “He’d asked me to marry him.”

  “Huh.” Draxus banged the stones together, igniting a small spark. “He fuck you yet?”

  Silence.

  “Yeah, he fucked that ass. Your first time, right? Of course it was. You’re not exactly the town beauty. The first boy that offers you something hard and throbbing, you jump on it. You’re ugly, but you ain’t stupid. What was the plan? Pop out a couple piglets and live happily ever after?” He tossed one of the stones at her and it bounced off her stomach before clicking into the darkness. “That’s what you Anthenians do; you breed and you spread. You’re a plague,” he threw the second stone at her, “and I’m the cure. Soon it’ll be at an end. Your people will be no more.”

  She’d grown used to the pain. There was nothing more he could do or say that would set her off.

  “Hey!” He picked up another stone and bounced it off the top of her head. “You listening to me? I’m sitting over here pouring my heart out! Don’t be a cunt!”

  “What more do you want from me, Draxus? Do you want me to scream some more? Beg? You’ve taken everything from me. I’ve got nothing else to give.”

  He stood, his hands going to his belt. “I don’t know about that.”

  She’d been foolish to believe she’d reached rock bottom.

  The cell door flew open. “Master!” It was one of his naked, raven-haired women.

  “What is it, you beautiful bitch? Can’t you see I’m pre-occupied?”

  “Yes, Master. Apologies. But this can’t wait.”

  “For your sake, I hope not.” His hand went to the side of her neck, his thumb pressed against her trachea.

  She didn’t shrink beneath his violent touch. “Our scouts have spotted an Anthenian force moving beyond the wall; they’re heading this way.”

  “Arrogant motherfuckers!” He hit the wall with the side of his fist. “How many?”

  She shook her head and cocked her hip. “Close to fifty.”

  “They really think they can win.” His laughter filled the room. “They think they can win.” He wrapped an arm around the Viper’s waist. “Grab your sisters. Assemble the men. We’re going to war.” He slapped her ass as she departed before turning back to Emily. “Well, darling,” he rubbed his hands together, “you may want to start praying to your gods; the sun is setting for you.” He bowed and backed out of the cell, slamming and locking the door behind him.

  39

  Grassland occupied the space beyond the northern wall. The scene was out of a painting: lush grass, yellow flowers, willow trees springing up and shadowing the ground with their great branches and plentiful bloom.

  Dominic rode at the back of the pack; Hawthorne was bouncing up and down to his right, watching his horse as if he expected it to transform into a monster and swallow him whole.

  “Try to relax, kid. That horse is going to smell your fear and toss you.”

  Hawthorne closed his eyes and exhaled long and steady through his nostrils.

  “There ya go. Truth be told, I don’t like being on these damn things either.”

  “But you’ve ridden them before?” Hawthorne stole a quick glance at Dominic and then glued his eyes back on the horse’s head.

  “Oh yeah. I rode one part way into the Glass Mountains before it broke its ankle on some rough terrain and I had to put it down; it was a good horse, got me out of Genesis, probably saved my life.” Dominic reached down and gave his horse a pat in honor of the fallen steed. “You gotta be careful, though. Don’t treat them right, they can turn on you, sure as any man.”

  Hawthorne studied him for a moment. “Why didn’t you wear any armor?”

  “If I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die comfortable.”

  “But Miss Lerah wears it.”

  “Miss Lerah does a lot of things, kid. I reckon that maybe she thinks it’s comfortable.”

  The procession slowed as they crossed a trickling stream; curious, brightly colored birds watched them from the surrounding canopy of trees, their chirps mixing with the discordant sound of the hooves displacing the shallow water. Hours ticked by. Miles slipped away beneath them. The hills where the Eval were said to operate started to pop in on the distant horizon; faint, charcoal drawings against a palette of pale, blue sky. They were well past noon; the sun had begun making its easterly descent.

  “It’s something out there; damned nice, if I do say so,” Hawthorne said as he stared out over the horizon.

  “Yeah, it’s something.” Dominic wasn’t just placating him.

  “Why not build out here? Seems to me there’s more than enough land to go around. I’d live out here.” Hawthorne was smiling, his head swiveling back and forth, oblivious to the two soldiers in front of him growing visibly annoyed with his chattering.

  “It’s easier to take what ain’t yours than to build something up from scratch. Most folks would rather ride on the backs of others.” Dominic was watching the two soldiers.

  “Might want to pipe down back there; you’re venturing awfully close to treason. That’s a fatal offense in Anthena.”

  Hawthorne sealed his lips.

  “Lucky for us, we’re not in Anthena anymore,” Dominic said.

  “We carry Anthena with us. We represent our land and the great leaders that founded it. I will not sit here idly and listen to you diminish them.”

  “So ride ahead. Or you can sit there and bitch. Makes no difference to me.”

  “Yeah, we weren’t talking to you!” Hawthorne had been emboldened by Dominic.

  The soldier slowed his horse and dropped in beside Dominic, getting close, almost touching knees with him; the vicinity caused Dominic’s horse to snort and buck its head.

  “Whoa there, boy,” Dominic said, attempting to calm the beast. “You wanna back off, asshole?”

  “Why don’t you repeat what you said, say it to my face, merchant?”

  “Bradan! You saw what he did at the docks. Ignore his blathering and get back up here,” the soldier that was riding beside Bradan said.

  “I saw him, yeah.” Bradan spit on the ground. “What of it?”

  “You know what a machine gun
is, Bradan?” Dominic was looking him in the eyes, his voice flat, face void of emotion.

  “I’ve heard stories. What of it?”

  “I faced down three men in a small hallway. All of them had machine guns. All I had,” Dominic held up an empty palm, “was a machete. That’s it. No armor. Just a machete.” Dominic pulled up his shirt, showing the scar underneath. “I got this when I jumped from a window as they shot at me; the only scar I got from that incident and I did it to myself. Something ain’t it?” Bradan was starting to look noticeably shaken. “Those three men, with their machine guns, they weren’t so lucky. I chopped them down, right there in that hall. One of them, I took his head off his goddamn shoulders; swung so hard that I buried the machete in the wall.” Dominic sliced the air with an invisible blade.

  Bradan gulped, the color now drained from his face. “I hardly see the point of this story.”

  “The point is, they had guns and there were three of them. And they did it right. They didn’t make any mistakes. But in the past few minutes, you’ve made some fatal ones.”

  His lip had begun to quiver. “Like what?”

  “Look how close you are to me. I could reach over and rip your throat out. And the entire time I’ve been talking, you’ve been focused on my face. You haven’t been watching my left hand; I’ve pulled my blade halfway from its sheath. Your hands are still on the reins. I could cut you in half before you even twitched.”

  “You…you’re a lot of talk.”

  “Am I, though?” Dominic pulled the sword a bit further from its sheath.

  “Bradan!” Eirik was riding down the line. “Back in formation before I have you flogged.”

  “Yes, Commander.” Bradan rode back up beside his partner, not daring to look back.

  “We have a problem back here, Dominic?” Eirik asked as he took Bradan’s place.

  “Not at all, Commander.” Dominic let gravity pull the sword home. “We were just having ourselves a friendly chat.”

  “You know, Dominic, I didn’t want you on this mission.”

  “Now you’re just hurting my feelings.”

  “Our new King thought you’d be a valuable asset in our campaign against the Eval. Despite my objection, he insisted I bring you along.”