by H. M. Clarke
‘Maybe. But I hope it does not take them long to make their decision either way,’ Hauga said.
‘Yes. We need to get back to the muster grounds to help prepare our warriors for the Northerners.’
‘Yes. But there was one thing that was confirmed for us in that meeting,’ Dearen said.
‘What is that?’ Hauga asked.
‘That Asnar has been lying to us all this time. The Pydarki have not pledged to support us. They had not promised us anything that Asnar said that they had. I want to know why he did this.’ Dearen’s frustration and anger boiled out into her words.
‘Asnar had been telling the Elder Council about the help and support that the Pydarki are going to give us.’ Raga said. ‘And I agree with you. The Pydarki council seemed to know nothing of this.’
‘We have asked for their help officially now. You never know, they may decide in our favor.’
‘You are an optimist Hauga,’ Dearen replied.
‘From their reaction, I believe they will just stay indifferent,’ Raga fumed. ‘We should just leave the Pydarki to fend for themselves and ally ourselves with the Southerners. They are not friends of the Northern Bareskins which makes them more our friend than the Pydarki.’
Dearen made no comment to Raga’s remark. She had her own misgivings with the Southerners. They looked to be having their own problems, especially if it turns out to be true that some of their own are betraying them to the Arranians.
‘I want to talk to Asnar.’
Dearen looked up into the eyes of both the much taller Dymarki.
‘Will you help me find him?’
Both of the Dymarki nodded.
‘I want to know why he lied to us. I want to know why he pretended to be our friend.’
‘He wasn’t in the room. It was empty when the Lieutenant opened the door to go in.’
‘Asnar could be anywhere then. He probably ran as soon as we left for the meeting,’ Raga spat.
‘He might be easier to find than you think,’ Hauga said. ‘Have you noticed the way the other Pydarki here had been treating him? I suspect he is not wholly welcome here. Someone may know where he is.’
‘There was a common room back down the hall. Someone, there may have seen him.’
‘It’s a start,’ Dearen said and then turned on her heel to head back down the hallway, with the two Dymarki close behind her.
In the common room were five Pydarki seated around one of the tables enjoying a hot mug of soup. All five sets of eyes quickly focused on them as they stood blocking the door.
“Can we help you?” one of them asked.
Dearen nodded.
“We are trying to find the Pydarki who arrived here with us. His name is Asnar.”
Their helpful expressions turned to distaste at the mention of Asnar’s name. But the Pydarki who spoke quickly schooled his expression back to what it was and gave her a weak smile.
“I saw him leave the room not long after the meeting was called. He left down the corridor in that direction.” The man helpfully pointed to the left. “That way eventually leads to a general common room. He may have been heading there.”
Dearen nodded again. Then she asked. “Do you know of him? Does he have living quarters here?”
The man’s weak smile quickly flattened between pursed lips. He did not reply. The others sitting around the table said nothing but looked away from them as if they were unsightly. Dearen took the hint.
“We’ll leave you to your meal. Thank you for your help.”
The Pydarki gave her a nod and then turned back to his friends.
Dearen stepped back into the hallway and strode in the direction the Pydarki indicated with Hauga and Raga following close behind.
‘Are you sure that he will still be here? He might have taken his chance in our absence to leave us before we could confront him.’
Hauga’s words sat heavy in Dearen’s mind. It was a possibility, but if Asnar was afraid of a confrontation, then he had had many chances to leave and be long gone on the journey here.
‘I’m sure he’ll still be here. He’s had many chances to leave us, but he hasn’t.’
‘He may come back to us then. He’s probably gone to see someone here,’ Raga said.
Dearen suddenly stopped in her tracks. She then turned to look at both Hauga and Raga.
‘He will come back to us. He will not give up until the council gives its decision. We’ll head back to our room and wait-’
Dearen halted mid-sentence as she saw Hauga jerk his head, warning her of something, or someone, behind her.
She slowly turned around and found herself face to chest with Asnar.
CHAPTER TEN
“ASNAR, YOU HAVE BEEN lying to us,” were the first words that Dearen spat at him.
“The council have told us that they had made no earlier promise to help us.”
‘The council did not send you or your friends to us. They had given no promise of military aid against anyone.’ Raga’s words matched the bristling fur that was rising on his hackles.
“They knew nothing of the words you spoke to the Dymarki. They know nothing of any promises or warriors,” Dearen continued straight after Raga finished. “Asnar, if the council did not send you, why did you come? Why did you tell us all those falsehoods about aid and soldiers? Why?” Her voice was full of restrained anger and her finger was pressed hard into his chest, though Dearen did not remember putting it there.
Asnar took an immediate step back as if he was going to turn and run back the way he came. But he did not. He settled his weight on that back foot and looked Dearen, Hauga and Raga square in the eyes. He stayed silent.
‘Asnar. We do not like to be made fools of. We deserve the truth. Or an answer at least.’ Hauga was more contained than Raga, though there was no anger in his voice, Dearen could still feel it radiating from him.
Still, the Pydarki’s lips remained shut. In spite of this Dearen had the impression that the man wanted to speak, but was trying to formulate the right way to tell them. Dearen felt no sympathy for him.
Then, quicker than the eye could blink, Raga reached forward and grabbed Asnar by the front of his tunic and lifted him from his feet towards the cat.
Asnar’s hands moved to grip tightly to Raga’s wrists in an effort to pull himself up to stop being choked by the material of his shirt.
Dearen made no move to stop Raga. She just watched and waited.
‘You will tell us what we need to know otherwise I will show you first-hand what Dymarki claws can do.’ As Raga poke, his claws began to extend from his fingers. The sight of their length and sharpness would be enough to put the fear of The One into anybody. But from the way he was held, Asnar could not see them. He was more concerned with stopping the suede of this shirt from pressing into his windpipe.
“Alright. Put me down. I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you,” Asnar finally gasped out.
Dearen saw Raga look to her and she gave him a nod to putting the Pydarki back on his feet.
Raga frowned but did as she allowed. He opened his fists and released his hold of the shirt. Asnar dropped unceremoniously to the ground, causing him to grunt in pain. He lay there a moment, rubbing a hand around his neck where his tunic had cut into the skin, before levering himself up on his arm.
“I’ll tell you. Just give me a moment to get up.”
Dearen, Hauga, and Raga made no move to help Asnar as he slowly used the wall to help him get to his feet. The three stood, immobile with arms crossed across their chests watching.
“Well?” Dearen eventually asked once Asnar was upright and had recovered his breath.
“Dearen, I promise that we meant the Dymarki no wrong-“ Asnar started but Dearen interrupted him.
“We? What do you mean ‘we’?”
“Give me a moment to explain,” Asnar said rubbing at his throat again.
Dearen could see the angry red mark where the suede had pressed into the flesh of his neck.
&n
bsp; “Go on. Explain.”
Asnar drew a deep breath. “I am part of a small group of Pydarki who want us to go back to what we once were. Free and unhindered and not governed by a foreign power.” Asnar paused, waiting for someone to speak, but no one did, so he continued.
“When the Dymarki came back we took it as a sign that The One wanted us to act now. So when the council elected to send emissaries to the Dymarki to give help with food and shelter, our group made sure that most of the people sent were of our way of thinking.”
“So, you want to be free of the Suenese?”
Asnar nodded at Dearen’s question.
“The Pydarki as a whole will not openly support the Dymarki because of the original war the Dymarki had with Arran and Hadria.”
“But Hadria does not exist anymore,” Dearen said.
“Hadria became the Suene Empire. The family ruling now is descendants of the King that Dearen Hardclaw fought in one on one combat.”
‘The Hadrian King died saving Dearen Hardclaw though,’ Hauga said.
“Yes, he did because of the treachery of one of his own.” Asnar sighed. “Our group took the reappearance of the war like Dymarki as an opportunity to help our break away from the Empire.”
“So, you used us. You decided not to tell us the truth and you used us to your own ends,” Dearen spat at him.
“Yes. Our leader commanded us not to.”
“Well, your leader is a fool.”
‘We respect the truth. If you had given us the choice, we might have considered helping you,’ Hauga said.
‘The Pydarki are not what they once were. We thought you honorable people. But during the years of the Great Exile you have diminished into something weak and spineless,’ Raga said. ‘No wonder the rest of the Pydarki seem not to like you Asnar.’
“The council thought agreeing to send our members away would keep us from mischief but... You are right Raga. The others do not agree with our ideas and wants. They are content with the status Quo.”
“It doesn’t matter what your reasons were or who ordered who. You are still a liar, which makes me think that everything you did was a lie. You have lost my trust Asnar and that is your loss.”
With that Dearen turned on her heel, pushed past Hauga and Raga and walked away back to their room.
To Be Continued in
Part 9
The Great Game
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THE KALARTHRI
The Way to Freedom, Book One
“This Hatar Kalar has more natural Talent than any Second Born found in the Empire.”
Every ten years the Imperium Provosts travel the provinces of the Great Suene Empire and take every second born child as the property of the Emperor. His Due for their continued protection.
Kalena, taken from her family and friends finds herself alone and scared in the imperial Stronghold of Darkon. And when she cries out to the darkness for help, Kalena is shocked when it answers her back.
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John McCall Mysteries, Book One
John McCall just wanted to get a surprise for his men. Instead he got a disemboweled body.
A man is arrested for the murder but McCall is sure that they have the wrong person.
And when McCall starts digging around for the truth, he unearths a whole lot more than he bargained for.
Howling Vengeance. A supernatural mystery in the Old West.
Available now at your favorite Online Bookseller
THE ENCLAVE
The Verge, Book One
Katherine Kirk lived only for vengeance.
Vengeance against the man who destroyed her home, her family and her life.
Sent on a babysitting mission to Junter 3, RAN officer Katherine Kirk, finds herself quickly embroiled in the politics between the New Holland Government and the Val Myran refugees claiming asylum.
After an Alliance attack Kirk and her team hunt the enemy down and discover that they have finally found the lair of the man they have been searching for...
And the captive who has been waiting patiently for rescue.
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Winter’s Magic
Book One of The Order
KAITLYN WINTER IS BITING at the bit to become an active agent for the Restricted Practitioners Unit. And on her first day in the job she is thrown into a virtual s**t storm (to put it nicely).
First, she gets targeted for Assassination by The Sharda’s top assassin
Second, her Werewolf best friend decides that her being ‘Straight’ means she can’t protect herself and places her in protective custody
Third, the love of her life still won’t notice her existence and the Tempus Mage who’s set to keep an eye on her is infuriatingly attractive....
You can find out more information and sign up for Hayley’s monthly newsletter on her website
http://www.hmclarkeauthor.com/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
IN A FORMER LIFE, H M Clarke has been a Console Operator, an ICT Project Manager, Public Servant, Paper Shuffler and an Accountant (the last being the most exciting.)
She attended Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, where she studied for a Bachelor of Science (Chem), and also picked up a Diploma in Project Management while working for the South Australian Department of Justice.
In her spare time, she likes to lay on the couch and watch TV, garden, draw, read, and tell ALL her family what wonderful human beings they are.
She keeps threatening to go out and get a real job (Cheesecake Test Taster sounds good) and intends to retire somewhere warm and dry – like the middle of the Simpson Desert. For the time being however, she lives in Ohio and dreams about being warm...
You can find out more information and sign up for Hayley’s monthly newsletter on her website – http://hmclarkeauthor.com
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Or catch her on Twitter - @hmclarkeauthor
About the Author
In a former life, H M Clarke has been a Console Operator, an ICT Project Manager, Public Servant, Paper Shuffler and an Accountant (the last being the most exciting.)
She attended Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, where she studied for a Bachelor of Science (Chem), and also picked up a Diploma in Project Management while working for the South Australian Department of Justice.
In her spare time, she likes to lay on the couch and watch TV, garden, draw, read, and tell ALL her family what wonderful human beings they are.
She keeps threatening to go out and get a real job (Cheesecake Test Taster sounds good) and intends to retire somewhere warm and dry – like the middle of the Simpson Desert. For the time being however, she lives in Ohio and dreams about being warm…
Read more at H.M. Clarke’s site.
