The Protector of Esparia (The Annals of Esparia Book 1)

by Lisa M. Wilson

  Varnack never made it to his tribe. He told Jessica, who translated for the others, he felt an unusual feeling of dread and made it back to Ramadine just in time to join Anton and the Guardians.

  Since no one had any idea of where Jessica was taken, the search was begun in the Colossus Mountains. The trail had not been difficult to pick up, as the Elitet seemed to be more concerned with speed than stealth. The search went without incident until Anton and company reached the first Demarian desert village. The trouble there was mostly a war of words with the women, but they decided they could not afford bad publicity, so they avoided each population center, while trying to keep hot on the trail. They ran into several bands of Demarian soldiers, losing time in skirmishes and small battles.

  “It seemed like every time we’d make progress toward Rendaira, we’d hit another group of Elitet or army regulars. We finally started ridin’ at night, just to avoid bein’ seen. It took weeks to make the trip. I’m sorry, Jessi. We tried to go faster.”

  “I understand. It’s okay.”

  “A couple of filons from Rendaira we ran into a fella named Farin. He told us where Jessi was and about the big ta-do brewin’ at Twin Hills. We rode into Rendaira only minutes after Jessi left,” Anton explained. “It was a good thin’ we did too, ‘cause the Elitet doogeroots had gotten free and we came just in time to round ‘em back up.”

  “No!” Jessica gasped.

  “Yer friends are fine. A lady in charge, her name was Merula, sent us off in the direction ya took.”

  Anton grabbed another apple and between munches finished his story. “We rode fast as we could to the battle line and reached the Demarians just before dawn. Ya should’ve seen Daenon’s face when I walked in his tent. It took us a while to ride back here ‘cause we cut a wide path round the retreatin’ Demarians. We didn’t want any more trouble.”

  “I saw your fight,” Jessica said. “When I was up on the hill, I heard swords and saw a campfire go out on the southern end.”

  “Yeah, I threw a couple of Elitet onto it. Snuffed it right out.”

  Jessica regarded him suspiciously. “You’re leaving quite a bit out, aren’t you, Uncle? Daenon is no fool, and he’s as paranoid as they come. He probably had fifty body guards…”

  “Fifty-five.” Anton interjected.

  “And,” Jessica continued, “I can see the blood on what’s left of your uniform is caked so thick it still isn’t completely dry.”

  “Look, Jessi,” Anton’s voice took on a stern tone, one that truly surprised her. “I’ll admit it was tough goin’. I lost some good men there, but we managed to do the job. Without Deanon’s venom poisonin’ ‘em, the Demarian people chose peace. That’s all I’m goin’ to say on the matter,” he shot an unyielding look to John and Lepsis, “to anyone.”

  It was well into the night when the narrative came to an end. Jessica, stifling a yawn, was having a difficult time staying awake. Beginning long before sunrise, the day had been physically and emotionally exhausting.

  “What a day this has been,” Lyrista said. “We have much to be grateful for. Anton, tomorrow we’re going back to Rendaira. Jessica has some friends she wants us to meet and places to show her father.”

  “Yes,” Jessica nodded and stifled another yawn. “Will you come with us?”

  “Yeah, I’d like that. There’s a lot a country I haven’t seen yet. I was too busy trackin’ and fightin’ to stop and appreciate it.”

  “We’ll be leaving early,” Lyrista explained, “so I’ll take Jessica now and show her where she can sleep.” She stood gracefully, and with an arm around Jessica’s shoulders, bid the men goodnight.

  Morning came quickly for Jessica. Lyrista woke her with a hot breakfast. Within an hour, a group of three hundred Guardians accompanied John, Jessica, Lyrista, Lepsis, Anton, and Varnack to Rendaira. It took eight days of easy traveling to make the journey. They took their time. John explained he wanted to give Reese and Ru, who were given charge of the occupation, time to secure the roads and cities.

  The afternoon they entered Rendaira’s borders, the sun ruled a cloudless sky, but a cooling breeze blew from the north. While they rode up the main road, Jessica noticed the grand statues of Daenon were no longer standing.

  ‘It’s absolutely beautiful here,” Lyrista said. “Almost as beautiful as Ramadine.”

  “Shows what can be done with good irrigation,” Jessica pointed out. “Daenon dammed a small river north of here. That dam could be made larger and the water put to greater use.”

  When they came over the last hill, the entire troupe stopped. The elegant mansion gleamed in the bright sunlight.

  “Oh, my,” Lyrista breathed.

  “Wait till you see inside,” Jessica said enthusiastically. Lepsis smiled at the animated girl.

  When the travelers rode down the smooth, stone road leading to the covered portico, Rendaira staff, smiling and waving, streamed from the front door. Cook Stratin sported fresh bandages and a sling she did not have when Jessica left a week ago.

  Merula, wearing a dress for the first time since Jessica knew her, acted as head greeter. She sent the Guardians to the barracks behind the mansion, then gave Jessica a big hug. An unmistakable light shown in her eyes when she looked at Lepsis.

  Bowing to Anton she said, “I’m pleased you’ve returned so we can repay you for everything you did, Lord Anton.” She turned to the others and explained, “This man came to our rescue when prisoners we thought were secured had attacked. Twenty-three of our number are dead and many more wounded, but it could have been much worse.”

  Jessica gave her uncle a questioning stare. “I didn’t want ya to worry, Jessi.”

  “Let me look at the wounded, I’m a healer,” John offered.

  “Merula, this is my Dad, John Ernshaw,” Jessica introduced him, “and this is Lyrista, daughter of Seventh Bar Gammet.”

  Merula nodded to them both. “Your help would be welcome. We have done the best we could, but five men barely cling to life.” Merula turned to a young girl standing nearby. “Take the Healer to the wounded.” The girl nodded, and John, accompanied by Lyrista, followed her.

  “Let’s go to the central dining hall,” Merula suggested. “The kitchen staff will have something prepared soon, and it’s pleasant in there.”

  While they walked through the mansion, Jessica noticed that every door stood open. “Quite a change here, I must say.”

  “There will be no more secrets at this place,” Merula promised. “No more terror behind closed doors.” She turned to Lepsis who was deep in thought beside her. “Lepsis, I’ve saved everything. There are those who wanted to burn anything belonging to Daenon, but I insisted it be saved until you had a chance to look at it. You should be the one to determine what is destroyed and what is not. I knew you would come back.”

  Lepsis nodded. “I’ll go through the office papers first. The most useful information should be there. Hopefully we can find out what happened to so many good people.”

  They reached the dining room where the smell of roasting meat filled the air. “The poor kitchen staff,” Jessica said, “I’m sure we took you by surprise. Showing up with three hundred guardians must have given Cook Stratin quite a shock.”

  “Oh, you know how well she works under pressure,” Merula laughed. “You wait, she’ll have a wonderful meal in no time.”

  Merula’s words were prophetic. Toward the end of the simple, yet delicious meal of baked bread covered in thinly sliced meat and milk gravy, John and Lyrista came in. Plenty of food still lay on the table, and with no one in a hurry to leave the table, they had pleasant company while they ate.

  “How is everyone, Dad?” Jessica asked.

  “Your friends are good healers,” he said. “Most of the wounded were already well cared for, but there was one or two things I was able to do. As long as they keep getting the care they currently have, I think they’ll pull through.”

  “Merula hasn’t touched Daenon’s personal things, t
hey’re just as he left them,” Lepsis told John. “If his files are anything like he is, they’ll be in perfect order. When you’re finished eating, I think you should come with me.”

  “I’m finished now,” John said grabbing an extra apple-like fruit. “Let’s get to it.”

  The two men strolled from the dining room. Jessica did not envy them any. “I’ll bet Daenon had a lot of dirty little secrets,” she commented to Lyrista. “I wouldn’t want to go through his stuff.”

  “Well,” Anton yawned, rubbing the back of his frizzy head, “I’ve eaten a fine meal and had a long day. Ma’am,” he addressed Merula, “if ya could show me to a bed, I’ll be out of yer hair.”

  “Of course,” Merula smiled.

  “We’ll go with you,” Jessica offered. “I’m sure Lyrista would like to see more of the mansion. Come on Varnack, let’s take a walk.”

  Merula led the way up the servant’s back stairs to one of the spacious guest rooms. “See ya in the mornin’,” Anton said, yawning as he closed the bedroom door.

  With Varnack at their side, the three women walked through the rest of that section of the mansion. They looked into several of the guest rooms, the sewing room and a library on the upper level. On the main floor they wandered through three of the enormous dining halls, the smallest of which they had just eaten in, a beautiful grand ballroom, Daenon’s ornate throne room and one of the kitchens.

  In the kitchen Merula grabbed a torch. She led the way to a set of stairs close to Daenon’s private quarters and descended them to the palace’s sub-level.

  “Have I been here before?” Jessica asked.

  “Once, but you were in such a hurry you wouldn’t remember,” Merula said. “This is the only real passage leading to the treasure chamber.”

  “I guess I was running pretty fast. All I could think about was getting out of there.”

  The hallway was made of polished stone and their shoes echoed with each step. Halfway down this lower passageway they came to a junction. To the left lay another set of stone stairs, but they passed on by, keeping to the straight path.

  “Those steps lead to three torture rooms and thirty prison cells,” Merula explained. “I thought I knew every inch of this place, but even I didn’t realize they were there until after we took the mansion. We found some pretty terrible things. We’re still trying to clean everything up. It’s a little difficult, considering one wants to throw up soon after entering. I’m going to have the entrance to those stairs sealed so no one will ever go down there again.”

  When they reached the Treasure room, Jessica was surprised to see the large oak door still locked. Merula handed her the torch and produced a bright gold key from her skirt pocket.

  “I thought no more secrets,” Jessica said.

  “This room is just too tempting. The things in here should be returned to their rightful owners, and what is left over, well…Lepsis will know what to do with it all.”

  “Wow,” Lyrista breathed when she entered the windowless chamber.

  Jessica saw the broken sword case was untouched, shards of glass still scattered on the carpeted floor. Blood stained the ground where Addex had fallen. The three women walked through the room in silence. Every few paces Lyrista would reach out and touch a statue or a painting. Eventually, she stopped in front of a gold framed portrait of a handsome young man dressed in a blue and silver military uniform. He had a kind smile on his face and looked about eighteen years of age.

  “Jessica, do you know who this man is?”

  “No. Why?”

  “This is your grandfather, Graesion Saylon.”

  “Grandfather!” Jessica held the torch higher and gazed into the young face. Light green eyes stared down through waves of soft brown hair, but the painter had captured more than physical beauty. There was warmth in the eyes and gentleness around the mouth.

  “I see why Grandma fell in love with him,” Jessica whispered. “My Grandma would love to see this.”

  When they left the Treasure room, Jessica took one more look at the portrait hanging on the far wall. She had never noticed it before and now she wondered how she could have ever missed it.

  “Merula, where are Daenon’s quarters?” Lyrista asked.

  “I’ll take you there. It’s on the main floor, behind the grand ballroom. He liked his privacy and his rooms are tucked at the back of the house. They overlook the large gardens behind the mansion.”

  It took a few minutes to climb the stairs and weave through the hallways to Daenon’s rooms. “One could become lost here,” Lyrista commented. “It’s like a maze.”

  “Segal built this place and made it maze-like on purpose,” Merula explained.

  Daenon’s main sitting area was a two story, high-ceilinged room paneled from top to bottom in polished, maroon wood. The intricately carved paneling was hand pieced to flow together seamlessly. A massive stone fireplace stood in the center of the wall opposite the door. Flanking it on either side were three-foot wide windows running from floor to ceiling. All of the furnishings, from draperies to floor rugs, were the muted color of green sage. The room overlooked the back gardens, and if it had been daylight they would have had a spectacular view.

  Jessica had seen the room before, when she first arrived and was taken on tour by Merula, but it was dark then, and late at night. Now the room was brightly lit by dozens of thick candles. Taxidermy animals packed the open spaces, with heads of various beasts mounted on walls as well as whole bodies arranged in woodland settings in the corners. A large, stuffed bird of prey in flight was suspended from the ceiling. Before she really took it all in, Jessica heard her father’s voice from down a connecting hall.

  “I can hardly believe this!” he sounded exasperated. “Everything is so well documented. It’s as if he were going to publish his memoirs or something.”

  “Hey, Dad,” Jessica yelled. “Where are you?”

  “In here,” he stuck his head out of a side room.

  Daenon’s office bureau looked as if a hurricane had hit it. Paneled in the same wood as the sitting room, the den was brightly lit by silver candle stands in each corner. Papers lay strewn all over the floor. Cupboard and file drawers stood wide open. Sitting in a black leather chair behind a long desk, Lepsis thumbed through a ledger while John rummaged through an armoire against the wall.

  “Daenon kept detailed diaries and records of everything he did,” John said, looking up when Jessica walked into the room. “So he wanted to marry you, huh? You’re not the only one to leave out certain details of your adventures.”

  “He thought he could rule more legitimately,” she shrugged. “It was not a pleasant prospect.”

  “What’s all this?” Lyrista gave her light, gentle laugh, as she picked up several of the discarded papers.

  “Mostly garbage.” John sounded disgusted. He tossed another couple of documents on the pile. “The important things are on the desk, but this stuff,” He indicated the mess on the floor, “is all trash, the rantings of a truly deranged mind.”

  “It’ll take us a couple of days to go through everything,” Lepsis warned. “So don’t expect to see us any time soon.”

  It was a gentle dismissal, but a dismissal none-the-less. Merula showed Lyrista to a guest room identical to the one Jessica was in, and Jessica, with Varnack still by her side, settled into the one she had occupied for over two months. Her things were still in their drawers, and a fresh candle sat by her bedside.

  Varnack curled up on a rug beside the bed.

  “Varnack, do you miss your family?”

  “Sometimes.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Larone and Anton family now.”

  “And me.”

  “Yes. And you.”

  In the morning, John and Lepsis made a late appearance at breakfast. After they took some nourishment, Merula suggested the time had come to show the men the Treasure chamber.

  “My, oh my!” John exclaimed when he walked in. “It looks like a king�
��s ransom!”

  “I assume this is where Addex met his end,” Lepsis said dryly, looking at the large bloodstain on the carpet.

  “Yes, thanks to Merula I’m still in one piece,” Jessica said. Merula remained silent.

  “Daenon used to talk about this room, but I never once saw it in all my years of living here,” Lepsis said.

  Jessica pointed to the painting of her grandfather. “Dad, this is Lord Graesion.”

  “I haven’t seen that picture in more than fifty years.” Anton’s loud voice echoed in the room. “Looks just like the lad. He was as fine a man as I ever knew. Ya remind me a lot of him, John.” Anton affectionately slapped him on the back. “Haesom always wondered what happened to that paintin’. Now we know.”

  After looking everything over, they exited the room. Merula locked the door and handed the key to Lepsis. “Here. It belongs to you now.”

  He looked at her in surprise. “She’s right,” John agreed. “You are the rightful regulator of this province. It’s been your home, and the people trust you. Who better to head a transition government? Use the money Daenon so selfishly accumulated and transform this desert. I’m sure you’ll have willing hands ready to give you whatever help you may need.” John smiled at Merula and she smiled back.

  For four days Jessica barely saw her father. When she did, he was busy sorting through Daenon’s papers, sending directives, and answering messages from Reese, Cordon and Ru. As far as she knew, the occupation was going smoothly. John mentioned only one village that actually took up arms against the Esparians, and they were quickly subdued. Lepsis sent riders to all corners of Demar, trying to consolidate power and guarantee freedoms.

  John published a standing offer of amnesty to any Elitet willing to take an oath of peace, but from the small number of assassins Jessica had known, she felt few, if any, would accept it. Reports came in concerning one Corter, a Shield trying to gather Daenon’s remaining loyal troops.