William bent over her back and placed his hands on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head but said nothing.
Riley and Worth forgot about the food he was handing out and hustled over to the fallen queen.
Riley knelt in front of her and saw the tears in Alexandra’s eyes.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
The only person on the porch who didn’t move was Linda. She remained standing in the doorway, watching the other four.
“Thomas,” Alexandra whispered. “Oh, Father and Mother, Thomas...”
“What the hell are you talkin’ about, woman?” William asked, although his voice was full of care.
“They’re dead.” Alexandra shook her head, the tears falling now. “So many of them are dead.”
“Who? Who’s dead?” Riley asked.
“The Chosen. They killed so many.” Alexandra began sobbing, her body shaking.
Riley stood up, although she kept her eyes on the woman. “What is it? You have to tell us, Alexandra. Get hold of yourself and tell us what happened.”
Alexandra slowly sat down, William and Worth backing up some. “Rendal came for them. Came for us. Him or someone he sent, I couldn’t tell.” The tears were still streaming down her face, but she managed to speak. “Thomas used the last of his life to tell me. Or show me. I saw them lying in the sand dead. My people. Your people, Riley.”
Worth moved to the woman and sat down next to her. He didn’t put his arm around her, but he knew better than anyone what it was like to lose family to the dark mage.
“What did he say, Alexandra? Rendal is coming for me?”
“I don’t know. Not exactly. It could be him, it could be an army he sent, but yes, they’re coming for you. Thomas said they’re coming here.”
“Here?” Linda asked.
Riley turned to her. “Hush.” She looked back at Alexandra. “Careful, now. Think. You’re sure he killed them?”
Alexandra nodded but didn’t look up. “Not everyone, but many. Yes.”
“And they know where we are? I don’t mean to be callous, but we have to know the lay of the land.”
“I understand, Riley. Yes, they’re coming here.” The queen wiped her face with her hands, trying to stop the tears and be strong for the woman she called their Savior.
“Did you see how many?”
“What I did see was frightening, although I can’t give you an exact count. More than we can stop.”
“Fuck that,” William growled. “We can stop whoever Rendal sends.”
Riley backed up and looked at William. “We have to go. We have to meet them.”
Still sitting next to Alexandra, Worth shook his head. “Not ready. Need more time.”
“Time, Worth? What time? They’re on the way. I don’t have time to fucking train anymore. They’re going to come here, and they’re going to kill us. At least if we meet them, Linda won’t have to die.”
Worth only shook his head.
“I don’t ever like agreeing with you, but you’re right,” William said. “There’s no sense staying here if they know where we are. They’re, what, five days away? A week?”
Riley went to Alexandra and knelt before her.
She took the queen’s hands in her own.
“They will be avenged. I promise you that. Rendal and his entire army will pay for what they did.”
Alexandra met Riley’s eyes. “I know. I still have faith, Riley.”
Riley nodded and then stood. “Linda, I’d like to speak to you alone.”
Linda went inside the house, and Riley followed. She didn’t want to leave Alexandra right now, but time was short. She had to be a leader and decide what was coming next.
Linda didn’t stop in the house but walked outside. She went to the crumbling street and then paused, allowing Riley to catch up.
“I’d want to walk while we talk,” the old woman said.
“It doesn’t matter.” Riley’s mind was like a hawk now, focusing solely on what needed to be done. “Can you see them?”
“I tried when you all were speaking. I can see a large force, but no details. They have many mages, and some are actively distorting my view. They want me to see their numbers but nothing else.”
“And you can’t get through?” Riley asked.
Linda shook her head.
“If they come here, can you stop them?”
The old woman chuckled. “Maybe when I was younger, but that’s a big maybe. Now? No. I’ll be fish food within an hour.”
“What about with all of us? Are they too strong?”
“We’d have a chance, yes, but in the end, what does it matter, Riley?”
Her face grew perplexed. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s say we luck out and stop them. Then what? You sit here and train more with me? Sooner or later, you’re going to have to go back and face Rendal. Most likely, if you try to stop them, you’ll die. There’s just too many. Maybe hundreds. They’re coming for you, Riley. Not me. Not William. Not your other friends.”
Linda grew quiet for a second.
“It just doesn’t matter whether you fight them here or there. Either way, your fate rests with Rendal. If you want a chance at saving your kingdom, you have to return.”
“Can I beat him?” Riley asked.
Linda chuckled. “I swear, people get dumber and dumber. You already know the answer to that, so why are you asking me?”
Riley said nothing.
“No, you can’t beat him. The mere fact that you asked the question shows you can’t beat him. You won’t beat him until you believe in yourself.”
“Can you beat him?”
“I tire of your questions, and I tire of you being here. You and your lot. All you’ve brought me is a whole bunch of stress.” Linda stopped and turned around to look at Riley. “I can’t beat him, and you can’t beat him. However, it’s not my damned kingdom that he is going to destroy, it’s yours, so stop hiding here and trying to train. Go meet his army, then go to him. You say he wants you to join him?”
Riley nodded.
“Then why not do it?”
“Are you fucking insane?” Riley asked.
“Seriously. Why not? If you rule with him, perhaps you can help your kingdom. Right now, you’re doing nothing.”
Riley laughed in disbelief. She turned in a circle and looked at the crumbling city. “You didn’t join him, you just fled. You left your duties. I won’t do the same. I’ll die and let that kingdom burn to the ground before I join him.”
“Well then, girl, there’s no sense staying here. Go meet him, die, and let your kingdom burn.”
“She said that?” William asked.
Riley shook her head. “Yeah, just like that. ‘Go meet him, die, and let your kingdom burn.’”
The five of them were on the beach, sitting in the sand. Night had come, and the water was black before them.
“Once I kill Rendal,” William commented, “I’m going to come back here and kill her. That settles it.”
“’Once you kill Rendal,’ huh?” Riley grinned.
“Yeah, obviously. You’re not going to be able to do it. All this training, and that old woman can still take you. It’ll be me and me alone who kicks his ass, and then I’m going to come back here and kick hers.”
“You ready?” Worth asked from the other side of Alexandra. He hadn’t left since she’d received Thomas’ message.
Riley knew what he was asking. Could she stop Rendal? Had she learned enough?
“I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be,” she answered.
“Okay,” Worth responded. “We go then. We go, and we fight. ‘Bout time.”
Riley laughed. “About time? Worth, you’ve been telling me to wait since you joined us.”
“Worth just lazy. Always knew you ready. Just didn’t want to fight.”
They all laughed at that. It felt good to laugh, given the weight hanging over them.
“W
hat are you going to do?” William asked. “We just going to head out into the desert until we run into them?”
Riley shook her head. “No. If the goal is to get back home and face Rendal, we want to do it as quickly as possible. Alexandra, can you send a beacon to their mages to let them know where we are?”
“Yeah, I can, my Savior. It will make me sick to my stomach, but I can.”
“I know,” Riley responded. “We’re heading straight to the people who killed your family, but we will avenge them. Blood is on their hands, and they will pay the cost for that.”
“When do you want me to do it?” Alexandra asked.
“Now. We leave tonight. I don’t want anything else to do with the old bitch who lives in this dead kingdom.”
“Oh, I’m not done with her,” William commented. “We’re coming back when this is over and showing her a thing or two about being heroes. Show her what happens to villains and those who are apathetic.”
“‘Apathetic’ is a big word for you. I’m proud.” Riley smiled. “I also have a feeling she’d kick your ass, chubby.”
“Watch it, skinny. You don’t want to be in the way of my warpath when I’m done with her.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard it all before.” She glanced at Alexandra. “Will you send the beacon now? Let them know we’re coming to them?”
Alexandra nodded, and her eyes flashed red. Moments passed in silence, with Riley considering what it meant. They were going to the enemy, but not to fight them, or at least not in the desert.
“They know,” Alexandra finally said. “They told me their location.”
“Oh, isn’t that sweet of the bastards?” William grumbled. “Now we can meet up and be a happy family. Riley, what are you planning to do?”
“Go back to New Perth.”
“We’re not going to kill them? We’re just going to surrender?”
“You’re smarter than this, chubby,” Riley replied.
“Got nothin’ to do with brains, skinny. I don’t think we’ll lose if we fight ‘em. You do.”
“It’s not worth the risk. We’ll go back, and then I’ll have my chance at Rendal.”
The group was silent for a few minutes. Finally Riley said, “Okay, let’s get packed.”
Chapter Twelve
“It’s over, Goland. It is oovvveerrrr.”
The last word came out in a sing-song fashion, echoing across the cold stone room Mason and his father occupied.
Goland grinned. “Oh, your constipation finally cleared up?”
Mason loved his father, always had, but he was loving him more and more with all the smartass remarks.
“It’s going to be a lot less funny once Riley is either on my side or dead,” Rendal responded. “Because, regardless of which happens, you two are done. Mason, I might miss you slightly. Goland, it’s going to be a pleasure pulling your lungs out through your mouth. That’s the way I’m going to do it—I just decided. Because it’s your lungs and your everlasting mouth that have annoyed me so.”
“Oh, Rendal, you hurt me so,” Goland quipped. “How am I going to continue praising you without lungs?”
Goland and Mason sat on the floor behind the bars, their cage completely bare.
Rendal was pacing back and forth across the little strip of stone in front of them.
“We’ve found her, or rather, we will soon. I sent a force out to search for her.” Rendal gazed at Mason and grinned. “I hope you weren’t thinking I was just going to wait for her to come here. No, that’s foolish. But my army found her.”
Rendal turned then, taking in Mason fully.
“You sent her to Linda. I thought there might be a chance—though a small one—that Riley could survive what I did to her, but I honestly never thought of Linda. I didn’t even think she was still alive, to be honest. It was a good move, if unexpected.”
Rendal nodded, and Mason thought he saw actual appreciation in the man for the first time.
Mason hated it and wanted to spit on him.
“Well, turns out Linda healed her, and I suppose that’s fine. All I need now is for her to decide to join me or to disappear forever, which is what’s going to happen.”
“She’ll never join you,” Mason remarked, “and clearly you can’t kill her.”
“You’re faith in her is misplaced, young man. Do you know what she’s doing right now?”
Mason said nothing.
“She had one of the people with her contact my army. The person provided a beacon of sorts and asked for a return one from the army. You know why? So they could meet up. She’s not hiding. She’s not running. She is peacefully going to meet them.”
“Of course, so she can come back here and kill you.” Mason felt real fury at Rendal, but he grinned instead of showing it.
“Does this sound like the Riley you know? Meeting up with my men? Sending beacons? No. She’s seen the light, and she’s going to join. I have her kingdom; she must know that by now. Perhaps Linda helped her understand that there is nothing she can do, or maybe she came to the realization on her own. Either way, this is a very different Riley.”
Goland stood and walked to the edge of the cell. “You might be older than me, due to whatever corrupt magic you use. You’re not wiser, though. You know nothing about people. I wonder if you are even human anymore, or if perhaps you’re so wicked you’ve changed to some kind of subspecies. Either way, you don’t know Riley. She’s returning, but it’s to put your head on a silver platter.”
Chapter Thirteen
Two days had passed since the group sat on the beach watching the waves lap lazily on the shore.
“This mage wasn’t playing around,” Alexandra said as the five came to a stop.
“Are we going to fight them?” Eric asked. Even though he was the quietest of the entire group, Riley knew he was no coward.
“No,” she responded. “We’re not.”
Before them stretched a force that they couldn’t hope to defeat. Men stretched to the left and right, all battle-clad and looking like hardened warriors. There were mages too, their eyes red and ready to fight if necessary.
The group was perhaps five hundred feet in front of Riley.
“Alexandra, tell them we’ve come in peace. Ask for their leader to come to us.”
Alexandra’s eyes turned red for a moment.
“This is bullshit,” William growled. “Complete bullshit, and you know it, Riley.”
“What do you want me to do?” She looked at him. He was still sitting atop his camel.
“You’re a Right Hand, damn it. I want you to fight. I want you to fulfill your duties.”
Riley shook her head. “I took no oath to die in vain. Did you, and I don’t know about it?”
William gritted his teeth.
“Plus, you still don’t have your sword, chubby. You’re not even half as good of a warrior with that axe, and on your best day with your sword, you’re not half as good as me. That means that right now, we’re talking orders of magnitude less adept at fighting, and I don’t want to have to save you again. It’s getting embarrassing.”
William grinned despite his anger. “Yeah, you’re definitely getting your ass whipped just like that old biddy.”
Both hushed for a moment as the army opened up some and two riders came through.
“That’s the bastard, Harold, ain’t it?” William asked.
“Him and his jackass sidekick Belarus. Come on, let’s get this over with.”
The group of five went forward.
“I hope your message was truthful, Riley,” Harold said as they reached each other. “My orders are rather different this time since Rendal is growing very tired of you. I can either bring you back if you come in peace or I can kill you here. If you look behind me, I think you’ll see that the second option wouldn’t be much of a problem.”
“We’re not here for war.”
“Not yet, anyway,” William chimed in. “War will come once we get to New Perth. I’m g
oing to enjoy killing you. No mage will save you this time.”
“I think once you get to New Perth, you’ll see that a lot has changed. War isn’t even possible for you anymore, Right Hand, although you don’t see that yet. You’ve already lost.”
“The only one losing anything is you, and it’s going to be your damned head,” William shot back.
“Enough,” Riley said. “We’re here. We want to go back. Let’s do it.”
“That’s the spirit,” Harold agreed. “Belarus, go ahead and put the necklaces on our friends here.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
Harold’s second spurred his camel forward, and Riley caught his eye.
“How’s the arm?”
“Fine, you dumb bitch,” Belarus murmured, but quickly looked away.
It clearly wasn’t fine, as the bandage around it could attest.
“Think you’ll want to fight again on our trip?” Riley grinned. “I don’t imagine your boss there will mind. In fact, you and me fighting might be the only thing he truly approves of.”
“I’ll fight you when I’m good and ready. Now shut yer damn trap.”
Riley chuckled, knowing the coward would do no such thing.
Belarus reached over and slapped a necklace on her neck quickly.
Riley focused on the sand beneath her, trying to make it rise. Her eyes didn’t turn red, and the sand remained in place. The necklace had blocked her magic.
Belarus slapped necklaces on all five.
“Their weapons next.”
“To hell with that.” William reached to pull his axe from his back.
Riley looked at him. “No.”
William held his pose for a second, considering whether people would die now or later.
Finally, his hand dropped.
“Smart move, big man,” Harold commented. “Got more people back there than you can even count, I’m sure. Would be awful dumb to make any moves right now.”
Belarus had his camel kneel and hopped off. “All of ya get down. Need to check ya for knives and such. Give me any shit, and I’ll break yer jaws.”
He sounded almost bored, as if he wasn’t dealing with the deadliest fighter on this continent.
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