Silent Snow: Tales from Ancient Ieda 01

by Sarah Thomie

  “My family has been against it from the start, but the only way we could make sure they were not mistreated was to buy them ourselves. Human law forbids releasing slaves, so we chose to do what we could.” He sighed, holding his mug of tea. “But we cannot keep up with the supply, especially since Wood Elves have been added. We know the Goddess would never want for Her children to be enslaved as they are. But we are only one family…”

  I smiled at him. “You are doing everything you can to help. The Matriarch called you an ally because we heard stories of a family that was trying to help the City Elves, even if they had to buy us. We never heard anything about your family of any misdeeds. That means you are under our alliance and the protections we provide.”

  “Thank you.” He then changed the subject and asked, “What is your plan to get into the Capital City?”

  “I would say in disguise, but I am too short, and he is too tall.”

  Ursus came running in, holding the boy in his arms. “A Courier dropped this off.” He handed Roland the message.

  “Oh, Goddess Above!” the human male shouted, standing up. “I have to go!”

  I grabbed the message, skimmed it, then raced after him. “Wait!” I stopped him as he mounted his horse. “It is a trap!”

  “Does it matter? They will kill my children if I do not surrender!”

  My brain whirled, as First Son and Ursus came running outside. The other warriors gathered around to see what the problem was.

  “Trade me,” I told the human.

  “What?”

  “Trade me for their lives.”

  “I cannot ask you to do that.”

  I looked to Ursus. “Get the Kitten home with the rest of the warriors.”

  First Son grabbed the message and read it. “Are you planning—"

  “Yes, I am,” I told him without hesitation. “It says they will use his children for Necromancy to stop the City Elf Rebellion that started in the Capital City. His family is under our protection, as such, I will protect them as I would do any other ally. We both know that they will not release your family unless you give them something worth more than their lives.”

  “And you are worth more?” Ursus asked me.

  “Yes, not just because of my hair anymore. The City Elves are rebelling because they believe in the Reckoning. They believe in it because the Matriarch spread the rumor that I was the Goddess’s protector. I may not have risen like wildfire, but I will be the reaper at the enemy’s door to help them pay for their sins in blood.”

  “That is insane, Snow,” First Son whispered.

  “If it helps, this does fall under my normal stupidity, so both Sparrow and the Matriarch cannot get mad at me for it.” I looked back to Roland and added, “This is the best move we can take, so let me help you.”

  He looked grateful but worried for his family. “Are you sure?”

  I grinned. “What are a few more scars between friends? Just be ready to get your family out.”

  He nodded. “All right, if we are going to do this, we are going to do it right.” He turned to Ursus and First Son. “Get your people out of here. They should not have to watch this, nor should they get involved.”

  First Son faced Ursus and said, “Take them back to the settlement. I am counting on you to keep everyone safe if this does not work how she hopes.”

  “Snow?” the boy asked me.

  I reached up and touched his face. “It is all right, Kitten. Your mother is safe. Ursus will make sure that you see her as soon as you get back. Can you do me a huge favor and give Auntie Sparrow the biggest hug for me?”

  He nodded.

  “And you know what a Matriarch is, right?”

  He nodded again.

  “I need you to find her and punch her in the arm.”

  He beamed. “I will.”

  I looked to the other warriors and stated, “All of you are the greatest warriors I have ever met, and it was an honor to fight beside you this last year. You will need to return to the settlement, because if this does not go right, the humans will attack where they know us to be. I will either see you all again in this world, or in the Underworld after you all live long lives.” I turned to First Son and said, “Last chance to choose to go home to Sparrow.”

  “If I leave you here, she will beat me black and blue.” He looked to the warriors and commanded, “Get going.”

  We did not wait for them to leave as Roland hopped off his horse. “Let us hurry.” He took us back into his home, where I stripped out of my clothes and into the plain dress worn by most female slaves.

  First Son kept my daggers but placed one of his smaller knives into my boot. “You will get your daggers back when I get that knife back.”

  “What? You mean I cannot keep it? What kind of a gift is that?” I teased, trying to throw down the anxiety I was feeling about being back in slave attire.

  Roland stared at my scars. “Goddess Above.”

  “Do you have a whip?” I asked him. “Because I doubt they would buy that I was captured without incident.”

  He shook his head. “I do not have one.”

  I looked to First Son. “Make it look good. And while I take care of Roland’s family and help the royalty to the underworld, get the rest of the City Elves out.”

  “I will, and I am sorry, Snow,” he apologized as he knocked me out, so I would not feel the pain of the beating he would give me.

  Chapter 26

  “It is a Wood Elf with Lord Roland!”

  “What is he carrying?”

  “Is that a silver haired City Elf?”

  “Is she the one who caused the City Elf Rebellion?”

  I woke up, draped over First Son’s shoulder. I felt the bruises, but at least he did them in places where they would not hamper me in a fight. The familiar sounds of the Capital City drifted around me, despite not being here since I helped the Queen bleed to death after childbirth a couple centuries ago. A blindfold covered my eyes and shackles laid on my wrists. We entered an area where the shadows cooled the stones around us.

  “What is the meaning of this, Lord Roland?” The male voice echoed off the walls.

  First Son dropped me in front of him, and I sprawled to the ground. “We have brought you the 13-87-22, the City Elf who is known as the Reckoning by her people,” Roland told them. “We bring her in exchange for my family, since she is worth more than they are combined.”

  “Guards, seize her and bring her here!” the voice yelled.

  I tried to fight them off but being blindfolded made it harder.

  Two guards grabbed my arms, and I was unable to pull away from them. They dragged me up to the location of the booming voice. He ripped off my blindfold and hatred filled his eyes.

  I looked back to the two males and yelled, “I trusted you!”

  The king slapped me hard across the face. “Silence, slave.”

  I spat at him in return.

  He grabbed my braid, pulling my hair hard enough to make my eyes water. Death magic awoke at the edge of my senses. He threw me to the ground, pressing his shoe to my throat. He looked up to Roland. “Release his family to him.”

  “Father!”

  I turned to see Roland crying, holding his daughter and wife. They looked between him and I, but he ushered them out.

  The King looked at First Son. “You bring me a gift, so what boon can I grant?”

  First Son looked like the arrogant Elf he was when I first met him. “I was told that you had a Wood Elf here. He is my rival back in our Clan.” He gave the king a malicious smile. “I just want to know that he is being taken care of, so I can go back to our Clan and tell his sister that he will not be coming home, despite how hard I tried. I am sure she will reward me with everything I desire.”

  “You bastard! He was your friend!” I yelled at him, until the King kicked me in the stomach.

  First Son just laughed. “Friend? Like I would be friends with someone so weak. But at least I have you two to thank for the
Elder to believe that I was a changed Elf.” He stared at the King. “You see, your Highness, she has been spreading her legs for every Wood Elf she could to stay with our Clan for as long as she had. But she has outlived her usefulness to us, so we decided that she would make a wonderful present for you.” He shrugged. “Though her scars might disgust some males, she is good enough in the dark or when you want to see just how powerless she truly is while under you. How she became the so-called leader of the City Elf Rebellion is still a mystery to me.”

  The King laughed. “You are much different than the stories would have led us to believe, Wood Elf. I can see the viciousness and sadistic nature in your eyes, so I believe we could become good partners. I will show you where the other Wood Elf is, then I want you to show my men where the escaped slaves went to.”

  “Of course.” He gave the King a deep bow.

  The King stood up, kicking me hard again. “Bring her along. I want those foolish slaves to see their leader before we kill her.”

  I saw the shock in First Son’s eyes and regretfully, so did the King.

  “Does her death bother you, Wood Elf?”

  First Son recovered quickly. “No, your Highness. I just wonder if she is better tied to a bed as a breeder than dead. It is one thing to kill her, but another for the City Elves to see their precious leader forced to carry the child of their master.”

  I felt sick at the thought, but I understood what he was trying to do.

  “Killing her only lasts once. Keep her as a pet, and she becomes a lifelong lesson for the City Elves to ever question their place in life.”

  “I like how you think, Wood Elf. And they say Wood Elves are the honorable ones.”

  The guards grabbed me off the ground.

  “Honor only gets you so far. Ambition gets you farther.”

  “Right you are,” the King replied as he escorted First Son and the guards carrying me down into the basement of the castle.

  The air became colder as we reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped at a door, but it was not from the temperature. Everything around me felt wrong, the strong smell of death in the air. I felt the Snow Cat stirring, as she raged against my mind. She took over my body without my permission. She fought against the guard that held us.

  The King slapped me, but I caught his hand in my teeth. I bit down, adding more of the scent of blood to everything. He screeched, and First Son stepped in front of me, where he hit me in the stomach hard enough for her to let him go. I hissed at him, then growled so low it was a wonder it came from my throat.

  The King held his bloody hand close to his chest as the door opened. Thick congealing blood covered the floor; the smell hit us hard.

  “Goddess Above!” First Son yelped as we saw the dead City Elves lining the walls.

  Howling Wolf laid naked, chained in the center of the room, a woman riding him as she raped him.

  There was a murderous look in the King’s eyes. “Your Goddess has no place here.” He grabbed me from the guards. “Hold him!”

  They lunged at First Son, as other guards came through the door to make sure he would not be able to help me.

  “Do you think I am a fool, Wood Elf? I knew both of my carefully cultivated Slaver Clans were destroyed by this bitch. I heard of the stories of the woman they called the Reckoning.” He motioned to the dead City Elves. “Their lives showed me your campaign to free the slaves, but they also showed me where your City Elf settlement is located. Within days, my knights will capture them all, along with your Wood Elves. I just needed to get their three strongest fighters away from there. Since Roland has such a bleeding heart, I knew you would help him if he needed it. I just needed the right incentive. You almost had me fooled with your idea that I should make her a breeder.” He threw me onto the ground next to his Queen as she finished with Howling Wolf.

  I saw through my blue tinted vision that he was barely breathing. “What did you do to him, you bitch?” I asked the Queen.

  “He needed to learn his place, so I gave him something that would make him more compliant.” She gave me a smile filled with hatred, as she stroked his cheek. “How about you show our guest how good of a dog you are?”

  He rolled over and faced me. There was no recognition in his eyes as he lunged at me.

  I kicked him over me, as I had done many times before. He flipped over me, and I popped onto my feet. I ignored him, and I ran to the Queen, her eyes wide at the speed the Snow Cat gave me. I slid behind her from the blood covering the floor and used the chains of my shackles to wrap around her neck.

  “Stay away from me, or I will kill her,” I growled to the King, tightening the shackles around her throat.

  “Guards! Seize her!” he told them, leaving only four near First Son.

  I stayed close to the Queen’s body, tightening the shackle chains as they came for us. I used her as my shield until she fell limp in my arms.

  The King screamed in hatred and rage, watching the life leave his wife’s eyes. “Kill her!”

  I dropped the Queen’s corpse onto the ground. Howling Wolf tackled me. He straddled my waist and wrapped his hands around my throat. I was unable to kick him away from me, so instead I wrapped the chains around his wrists, pulling as hard as I could to try to break them.

  The Snow Car snarled and took over again. I kicked my feet up, wrapping my ankles in front of his neck, like I did with the tree during the Gauntlet. I pulled back, yanking him with it.

  “Snow!” First Son called out as my daggers and sheaths slid toward me.

  I untied my chains from Howling Wolf’s wrists and grabbed the daggers. I then slashed at his arms, and he let go of my throat. I slashed him again, just trying to cause pain instead of harming him.

  The door to the chamber opened, and Ursus burst into the room, holding his axe high. He slashed at the guards holding First Son, then the two of them tackled Howling Wolf off me.

  The King tried to run, but what was left of the enslaved City Elves and Roland with his family stood there, blocking his path.

  The City Elves all made signs of the Goddess of their chests. “He is yours, our Reckoning,” the Patriarch of these Elves commanded. “Show him the mercy he never gave us.”

  “Are there any other members of the royal family who deserve execution?” I asked flatly.

  Five other humans were thrown into the blood. “There is also a young daughter, but she is too young to even use the slaves, much less punish.”

  “The only mercy you will receive is the knowledge that your Kitten will live after today,” the Snow Cat’s voice reverberated off the stone walls.

  The Patriarch turned to the rest of the royal family. “You stand before our Reckoning, a creature of the Goddess who will let you pay for your sins to our people. Say your prayers and take your last breaths before she lays you to rest. May the Goddess have mercy on your souls because there is none within her.”

  The King and three Princess drew their swords, ready to fight me. The two Princesses just stood there, the look of arrogance on their faces.

  I held my two daggers. “Roland, take your family out of this place. It is not a place where your daughter should lose her childhood innocence.” I then spoke to the City Elves, without taking my eyes off the royal family. “My Wolf has been poisoned with Muttsblood Weed. Can you get rid of the effects?”

  “Yes, Reckoning,” the Patriarch answered. A few of the City Elves escorted Roland and his family from the chamber, while others went to help hold Howling Wolf down, with even more rushing the antidote.

  “Once we kill you, we will hunt down every last Elf and destroy them until nothing is left of your race except stories,” one of the Princesses yelled.

  I waited until the City Elves gave Howling Wolf the antidote to the Muttsblood Weed, and he screamed in pain.

  “Then cut me down, if you can.” The Snow Cat and I were one, our movements fluid as we gave them their death dance. We moved with their movements, dodging their swords, slashing at t
hem with cuts that hurt and bled, but we did not kill. The Princesses watched with wide eyes as I sliced their males to pieces. I disemboweled them, just as I did Viper, before reaching the women. They begged for their lives, but I slashed their throats open, letting them fall to the floor.

  The Necromantic circle activated with their deaths and blood. “Goddess Above!” someone whispered. The spirits of the fallen City Elves rose to their feet. They walked over to their friends, saying their last goodbyes, while they passed by me, thanking me for being their Reckoning.

  The Snow Cat’s spirit howled as her blue spirit pulled away from me. I saw the small spirits of her Kittens running to her, as well as a larger male.

  I knelt. “Thank you for everything. I would not have survived without you. Enjoy your afterlife with your family.” I smiled to Howling Wolf, First Son, and Ursus. I saw pride in their eyes, and something else in Howling Wolf’s. “I finally found mine.”

  She purred against me then I felt her leave, her blue spirit nuzzling against her mate and her Kittens batting at her. My body became weaker, the Snow Cat’s energy no longer strengthening my own. Darkness closed around me, as I fell.

  Chapter 27

  “Snow? Are you awake? We are almost to the settlement,” someone whispered to me.

  I opened my eyes and saw First Son sitting there next to me in the covered wagon.

  “How long?” My voice was rough.

  “For about a week. We made Roland’s family into the new royal line, under threat of returning to finish the job against the humans if they tried to disagree. King Roland’s first duty was to completely abolish the slave trade, and then he got to work making the kingdom better. We have been travelling for five days, and we were not sure when you were going to wake up.”

  I closed my eyes but stayed awake. “Ah. Please do not tell Sparrow or the Matriarch that I played bait. I enjoy having a pillow when I sleep.”

  “You have a pillow at Wolf’s house.”

  “But—” I started to remind him about Doe when we heard voices outside of the wagon.

  “It is Ursus and Wolf!” the Kitten yelled from outside. “Where is Snow?”