Melisandre
I fell asleep tangled in the arms of my lovers with my bottom hot and tingling and a satisfied smile on my face.
Hours later, I was awakened by Drayke.
“Time to rise, my lady.”
I glanced around. The bed was empty. He stood beside it, fully dressed, with a tray in his hands. There was no sign of Magnus.
I gave him a sleepy smile and took a sip from the cup of tea he’d brought me. “Good morning, my lord. If it is morning. I lose all track of time when I’m in the fortress. I don’t know how you can function without seeing the sun when you wake.”
Drayke had taken me on a tour of the fortress the first time he brought me here. Our refuge had begun as a huge cluster of caves inside Mt. Jarazal. Over time they’d been joined together by a warren of passages carved out of solid rock, leading off in several directions from the largest cave, now a Great Hall. The entrance to the fortress was hidden behind a door in the rear wall of the temple.
Each passage led to a series of smaller rooms. One wing held the meeting room where he’d laid me on the table and introduced me to the pleasure a man’s tongue could bring, a memory that still made me blush. Farther down the hall, a vast library held fragile scrolls and ancient books, most of them completely unknown to me, though I’d been educated by the best tutors in the land. Other passages held storage rooms, filled with provisions enough to feed an army for months.
“How many people live here?” I’d asked him, amazed at the barrels and sacks piled high.
“At the moment, just you and me. But the oracle has been preparing for this battle with the dark lord for a very long time. Stocking this place to withstand a siege.”
He’d showed me other passages lined with barracks, nurseries for children when entire families sought refuge, a kitchen wing large enough to prepare meals for a crowd. One passage led to a hot spring bubbling up from below, where we bathed each night. The room where we slept was in yet another wing, holding private quarters designated for those who would lead the fight. Drayke said the oracle had a suite of rooms to herself, reached by another secret door in the temple.
In the library, he’d shown me scrolls that recounted the first war with the dark lord, when our ancestors took refuge in the fortress. As I read, I imagined the dining hall filled with soldiers. Children unaware of the danger outside these walls, giggling as they scampered through the passages playing a game of tag. Women banding together, keeping vigil and supporting each other during the long nights when their men went off to battle.
“I have no need to see the sun’s morning rays,” Drayke said. “I wake at the same time each day, no matter what delights I may have indulged in the night before. A habit instilled in me by the oracle during my years of training,” he added with a wry grin. “One of many lessons I learned from her in a most painful way. She hates to see people laze around in bed for hours.
“Magnus is already in the library hard at work, doing research,” he went on. “Grumbling as usual. He hates deciphering the old script. I promised you’d help him. You’re so good at it.”
“You don’t need to charm me into doing my job. I was raised to be responsible. Everyone thinks the life of a queen is glamorous, but I too had a hard taskmaster. After Papa died, Antonius drilled into me daily that the fate of the realm lies in my hands. It’s hard to sleep late when the weight of the entire kingdom and all its inhabitant rests on one’s shoulders.”
Drayke leaned over and gave me a gentle kiss. “You don’t have to bear that burden alone anymore, Meli. Magnus and I are here now.”
I caressed his cheek. “And I thank the Goddess for that blessing.”
“Join us when you’re ready. There’s no rush,” Drayke said. “Take your time. Eat. I made breakfast for you.”
He held out the tray bearing half a loaf of bread, pots of honey and jam, and a plate heaped with dark-brown sausages. My stomach heaved at the thought of starting my day eating aged mystery meat that reeked of strong spices, but I managed a smile. “Thank you, my love. That was so thoughtful. I’ll be there as soon as I’m dressed.”
Drayke left beaming with pride. I ate a slice of bread with jam on it, polished off the last of my tea, and slipped out of bed. With any luck, I’d manage to smuggle the sausages back to the kitchen without being caught.
The way to the library took me through the Great Hall. The room was once a cavern created by nature in the heart of the mountain. Stones to build the temple were quarried from the interior, enlarging the space until it became an enormous high-ceilinged chamber. Over the centuries, the lower walls had been paneled, huge tapestries woven to warm and soften the upper walls, and the stone floor overlaid with thick rugs in colorful designs.
Above my head, narrow shafts cut into the ceiling leading all the way to the surface allowed light and fresh air to flow in. The channels were wider than the shoulders of a grown man, serving a dual purpose as escape routes. When he gave me a tour of the fortress, Drayke showed me ladders hidden behind the tapestries to access the shafts and said they had finger and toeholds carved in them all the way up. I hoped we’d never have to use them.
Sunlight streaming in from above onto the deep-jewel-toned rugs made an intricate pattern on the floor, like that of a stained-glass window, and the silence gave the huge chamber the feeling of a cathedral. It was my favorite room, the place I headed to when I needed a break from the thought of what perils my future might hold.
Unlike the rest of the fortress, where I could almost see the ghostly images of those from the past, the Great Hall filled me with a sense of peace. Deep in the womb of the mountain, I felt safe.
But today I didn’t linger. I had a job to do, and my warriors awaited me.
“Damn our ancestors to the seventh hell! Did no one ever teach them to write legibly?”
I heard Magnus’s bellow halfway down the hall. “Good morning, my lord,” I said brightly as I walked into the room. Though I hadn’t known him long, I had a feeling that in his present mood the chipper greeting would annoy him. I wanted to tease him a bit to pay him back for his feigned anger over the way I’d awakened him in the middle of the night.
“Drayke says you’re good at deciphering the old script,” he said by way of greeting. “See if you can make any sense out of this.”
I winced as Magnus shoved a fragile scroll at me. He was seated at one end of the long table in the center of the library, surrounded by piles of brittle parchment musty with age.
From his place at the other end, Drayke gave me a warm smile. “I told him if it hadn’t been for your skill we’d never have been able to track down the Flask of Fire.”
I sat down across from Magnus in one of the massive carved wooden armchairs pulled up to the table and read aloud.
“It is written that the strength of the Lord of Darkness lies in the sacred sources. There are five in all. He stole them from the gods and harnessed their immense power. But in the last Great Battle, the Woman Clothed with the Sun took them back after defeating him with her spell. She hid each one in a secret place. His followers searched for centuries, and they learned the whereabouts of four of the five. They guard the knowledge carefully, for when they find the last, he will be able to tap into their power once again and become strong enough to claim the World of the Seven Stars as his own.”
“Yes, the sacred sources. You and Dragon Boy took care of the first one already.” Magnus said impatiently. “I want to know what happened much earlier, when they battled the Dark Lord for the others.
“Read this one,” he said, grabbing another ancient scroll from the pile and tossing it at me. “I tried, but I couldn’t make out a single word.”
Wrinkling my nose at the musty odor of the document, I carefully unrolled the scroll. Every few inches, a large section at the top was missing, the edges around it ragged.
“I think some creature gnawed on it,” he declared. “You’d think the old witch who runs this plac
e could mutter some banishment spell or incantation to get rid of all the vermin.”
“Careful. She might hear you,” Drayke warned. “You never know when she’s listening. And you know how she gets when her temper is riled.”
“No wonder you couldn’t make it out,” I said, studying the first few lines. “This is written in the ancient tongue. I had a tutor who insisted I learn it, so I could read the private journals of kings and queens who ruled long before me. Discover their strengths and learn from their mistakes.”
I scanned the document. “This is marvelous! I think it’s what we’re looking for. It seems to be an eyewitness account of a battle with the Dark Lord, dictated to a scribe by a survivor…” My excitement died. “On his deathbed.”
Drayke came around the table and pulled up a chair next to me. “Did they win the battle?”
“I don’t know. He says the Lord of Darkness possessed a powerful talisman infused with the power of the earth itself. A magnificent stone that caught the light and…” I paused. “We don’t have a modern word for what comes next, but it translates to something like ‘sent it dancing.’ He goes on to say rays of light that hit the stone were multiplied a thousandfold. He’s describing another one of the sacred sources!”
I read on silently. Finally, Magnus interrupted me. “What else does he say?”
“As you noticed, there are large chunks missing in the scroll. From what I can piece together, the generals of King Vidos the First led an army that drove the Lord of Darkness and his followers into the mountains. The generals thought they’d cornered the enemy, not realizing they’d been lured into a trap. They started through a mountain pass at sunset. Suddenly, the Dark Lord appeared on a cliff high above them.”
I went on with my rough translation. “He addressed the troops, promising them riches beyond belief if they would swear loyalty to him, join his band of followers, and fight by their side.
“The Lord held the stone up to the dying rays of the sun. It sparkled with a dazzling brilliance as though lit from within,’ the man says. ‘I do not know what trickery he used for he was far away yet I heard him clearly, though not with my ears but inside my head. His voice was low and seductive, like that of a comely wench offering to…
I hesitated, then went on, feeling my cheeks turn hot with embarrassment.
“To suck and fuck me till I howled like a beast.”
Magnus grunted in approval, and Drayke nodded. “That’s exactly how it was with me when I got close to the Flask,” he said, “except I didn’t actually see him. He spoke directly to my mind. I could hear the whispered promises. He even showed me visions of what I’d get if I joined him. A throne room piled with gold and jewels. Half a dozen collared slave girls dancing naked around me.”
I continued reading. “He says the regiment was unswayed in their loyalty to the king. Of course, I’d say that, too,” I remarked. “Especially if I was giving testimony in front of said king.”
Carefully unrolling more of the parchment, I continued. “The writing is less faded here. Easier to make out. He says the Dark Lord became furious when they all refused to serve him.
“His wrath was terrible to behold. He bellowed and cursed then held the stone above his head. Drew on its power. The earth let out a horrible groan and began to shudder and sway beneath our feet. And the mountain…”
I stopped, sickened.
“Go on,” Drayke said softly.
My head filled with images too horrible to imagine. I forced myself to finish reading the document, though I couldn’t bear to translate his exact words.
“The scribe explains the soldier is dying from the injuries he suffered, barely able to speak by the end,” I said. “But he managed to recount what happened next before he passed. He says the magic stone the Lord of Darkness held was infused with one of the five elemental powers. The power of earth. Tons and tons of it, able to bear down and compress a simple chunk of carbon until it turned into a magnificent diamond. The Dark Lord used its power to make the whole mountain crumble to the ground, save for the peak on which he stood. The army was engulfed, their legs and arms pinned under huge boulders that crashed down. But that’s not what killed them. They were buried alive. Screaming all the while. The Dark Lord laughed as dirt and stones poured over them, the weight crushing their bones. Suffocating them. Slowly. The survivor was the last one to enter the pass. His lower body was mangled in the avalanche of rocks but he managed to pull free and drag himself back down the mountain. Shepherds found him three days later, half mad from the pain, and brought him to the palace.”
I looked up from the scroll. “He said the Lord of Darkness let him live so he could carry a message back to the people of our kingdom.
“Give up your allegiance to the king and bow down to me. I crushed the king’s army – and I will crush all who dare to defy me.”
Chapter Nine
Magnus
For the next three days, Drayke and I combed through the scrolls with Meli for hours every morning, setting aside the ones that dealt with the Lord of Darkness. We read bizarre ancient myths and legends telling of his powers, eyewitness accounts of evil deeds that made my skin crawl. Afternoons I reserved for training my queen in the ways of a warrior.
She dazzled me with feats that could only be described as magical – moving stones with the power of her will, erecting an invisible wall around her that she challenged my sword to penetrate. But her mastery of those abilities was sporadic.
“You can’t tell your attacker, ‘The queen orders you to stop where you are while the Seven Stars align.’”
“No need to be snarky,” she muttered, her eyes nearly crossing as she stared down at my blade. The tip was poised against the delicate skin of her neck.
I paused to consider my next works before speaking. Tact had never been my strong suit, but I did have some experience with the opposite sex. If she got into a snit because I offended her, we’d waste valuable time arguing instead of training.
“I know you have special abilities, my lady,” I said, sheathing my sword. “But until you can control your magic all the time, I can’t rely on it to have my back in battle. If you’re proficient with a blade, you can wield it skillfully at a moment’s notice if you’re called on to save my life.”
I doubted she’d ever be in that position. Though I think I hid my opinion from her successfully, I found it secretly amusing to give credence to her image of herself as a warrior.
She nodded gravely. “Of course. I hadn’t thought of it that way. Although I did learn a great deal about sparring from Pieter. He’s the master of my royal guard,” she added.
I made a point of rubbing the scab where she’d nicked my thigh with her own dagger the morning we met. “Yes, you’ve mentioned that before. I remember finding out how much you learned from him,” I said, grinning at her.
To her credit, she’d handled herself well in that skirmish. Far better than I expected. That’s why I pushed her hard in training. Because she looked like a delicate maiden, she’d take any battle-hardened warrior by surprise with her tactics, as she had with me at our first meeting. And those few moments would be enough to give her an edge. All I had to do was teach her to take full advantage of it.
“Again,” I said, drawing my sword. “And this time, forget putting up an invisible shield. Don’t wait to defend yourself. Use your blade. Your opponent won’t expect you to mount a full-blown attack.”
Before the last words left my mouth, she let out a scream and charged at me, sword flashing in the sun.
“Yes,” I shouted, whirling to the side. Momentum carried her to the ground, where she collapsed, kicking up a cloud of dirt. “That’s good! Excellent follow-through.”
Meli picked herself up, dusted off her backside, and shot me a dark look.
“Let’s take a break and do some mental training,” I suggested before she could open her mouth to mutter a colorful curse. I’d been on the receiving end of th
em all afternoon.
“Mental training?”
“I told you the oracle trained me,” I said. “But she didn’t teach me how to fight like a warrior. I had lessons with a swordsman for that from the time I was a lad. Knowing how to wield a blade or a crossbow better than any other isn’t the key. She taught me how to be a warrior.”
We’d left the fortress to work in the wide clearing in front of the temple, where we had room to move. Meli sat down on one of the stone steps, closed her eyes, and turned her face to the sun.
“It’s so good to be outdoors again,” she said with a sigh.
She took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and focused her attention on me, making me feel as though at that moment I was the most important person in the kingdom. For the first time, I saw the full force of the charismatic power she exuded. No wonder the people loved her.
“Tell me the secret, Magnus. Teach me how to be a warrior.”
She patted the stone step, and I sat down beside her and told her the story of my first meeting with the oracle. About sharing with her my goal to be the greatest warrior the kingdom had ever known. I described my trial in the desert. How exhaustion and thirst brought me to my knees. How I struggled on for two days and nights, only to collapse at the foot of the cliff, ready to give up.
“But you didn’t,” she said. “I know that, or you wouldn’t be here right now.”
I nodded and went on. “When I finally made it to the top of the cliff, I found myself on a wide plateau. I saw the temple – this temple – in the distance. At least I think it was this temple.” I looked around and shook my head. “I’m still not sure how the old witch pulls off her tricks. She was waiting for me inside. I told her she’d nearly killed me. She ignored my outburst and asked me what I’d learned. I was so angry I wanted to grab her by her skinny neck and throttle her. Instead I spat out that I learned not to drink all my water the first day.”
Chaos Born: A Sci-Fi Menage Romance (Warriors of the Seven Stars Book 2) Page 6
