“My gods only accept clean sacrifices.” Kanra felt the need to explain. He pulled the priestess’ tunic away, leaving her naked down to the waist.
Preeya felt her eyes sting from the shame and embarrassment of being exposed to her captor like this. She wondered how Ariadna had acted whilst being kept prisoner like this and the thought of her new sister alone willed her to steel her expression; to turn cold and emotionless about any of this. If she was to die, Preeya wanted to die feeling brave. She heard water trickling but, she did not bother straining her neck to investigate.
“You must be properly prepared.” Kanra began again as he returned to Preeya’s side, with that same bone bowl and a clean cloth. He wrung it out and washed Preeya, scrubbing at her stomach and breasts, making sure no dirt or sweat still clung to her skin. He laughed. “To offer an unclean sacrifice is to offend my gods. You would not offer them a dirty bull, would you now, Priestess?”
Preeya did not like being compared to an animal but, she certainly felt like one. She felt Kanra’s fingernail run up her stomach, making her shudder.
“The blade will be a lot sharper.” he whispered and then wiped her down with a dry cloth. The Dictator took this sacrificial business very seriously, Ariadna would have laughed at it all – so that was exactly what Preeya did. She laughed and shook her head, giving Kanra reason to look down at her. “A priestess who laughs in the face of death?” he was surprised. “My, my. You certainly have been around the assassin for too long, not to worry, I’ll put you out of your misery soon enough.”
Kanra wasted no time with Preeya, he wanted to make his threats clear and he took up his usual flint dagger, intending to talk her through how he would kill her. As though Preeya needed reminding. Kanra did not think to care about her thoughts on this entire business. He held the knife up for his latest victim to see, pointing out how sharp the tip was and just how jagged the sides were.
“You may feel the blade getting caught in your flesh at times but, I’m usually quite precise with my work so, I hardly ever need to really saw through your skin and flesh. It will be nice and swift, I promise you.”
Preeya flinched at the feel of Kanra’s breath against her cheek. She had tried to ignore how close he had gotten but, now it proved impossible as he stood leaning over her, his cold hand resting on her stomach again.
“Why won’t you cry for me, Preeya?” he was trying to get inside her head.
It was only now that Preeya finally understood why Ariadna was so protective of her name. This demon dictator was trying to use her own name against her but, Preeya would not let him succeed in getting inside her head. He would not plant fear into her heart, simply by using her own identity. The thought of her name being on Kanra’s lips for the last time – it made Preeya shudder and she could not help but swallow hard and let out an unwanted whimper as the demon Dictator drew back victorious.
Kanra let out another of his horrible laughs. “I shall remember you, Preeya. You might just be my favourite priestess yet, the others squealed too much and, I do love a prisoner who can stand their ground no matter how much they may fear me. But you? You’re choosing not to show your fear and for that, I commend you. If only your sisters were still alive to witness you being so brave.”
The mention of her sisters had Preeya growing bold. “Shut your mouth!” she growled. If she had not been bound to the damn slab by leather cuffs, Preeya would have gladly shoved Kanra’s own blade into that foul mouth of his.
“Oh, ho! The priestess is offended. As are my gods, for being kept waiting this long. I see no other reason to delay.” Kanra replied. Turning to the priests, he roared, “Summon the Skull Dancers. Today, Distretia feasts on a feisty priestess.”
53 –
Ariadna
Whilst both the mercenaries were not pleased to be back at Kanra’s palace, Ariadna had exhausted their horses by pushing them to their limits. The men did not blame her for her desperation to get to Vhorgo with haste. But, as they stopped their horses beneath a heavy willow tree, long dead, Troian and Artus could feel that strange sense of being watched again. The castle had eyes everywhere.
“Like I’d said, there are at least thirty men above the gates alone. With no other doors in sight, we’ll have to find another way in that won’t result in us getting an arrow in the throat.” Artus hissed. He was so tired but, the thought of leaving Preeya to die at the hands of the demon dictator, it made him sick. He rolled his neck out in an attempt to loosen a sudden pain there. Having slept leaning back to back with Troian the night before had not helped him on the journey to Vhorgo, it had only made it more uncomfortable for him to sit in his saddle for so long.
As though the cage Preeya had likely been shoved in was any way more comfortable, he thought bitterly to himself. It was his own way of privately scolding himself for being so selfish.
“At this rate the sewer may be our only option. There must be some sort of tunnelling beneath the castle.” Troian was whispering to Artus and from there it turned into an exchange of whispered arguments about what the best way of getting into the castle was; undetected, too.
Ariadna, meanwhile, had tightened her hair into its band and she began scaling the walls after making a quick judgement about the security of the stones. There weren’t any loose this low on the wall but, Ariadna did not doubt that Kanra kept his own castle well-fortified. He could not let anyone escape so easily, nor could he just let people slip into his castle like it was nothing. Ariadna wanted to laugh.
You clearly don’t know as much as you think about the Anari, she thought. Her fingers dug into the small moss filled cracks of the walls, she had to be extra careful not to lose her grip on the wall or that would be the death of her. Very rarely did she climb walls as high as this without something to secure her but, now was not the time to go searching for rope. Ariadna at least had the advantage of being slim and of average height, so she did not have any excess weight threatening to pull her down. It was why she preferred slimmer weapons.
“We might just have to climb the walls. I know you hate heights, Art but, what other choice do we have?” Troian still argued with his comrade. He felt cruel to be offering up the suggestion of one way in and then no alternative. The castle gates were just too risky and there were no side gates of such; for a reason.
Ariadna reached the top of the wall with very little effort. As she peered past the walls, she found perhaps only half a dozen men on guard. The other six must have gone on patrol, walking up and down their part of the wall. Ariadna wasted no time.
One guard responded to a sudden chirping sound. It came loud and clear, and as he approached the wall with his lantern left by the stool he had dared to sit on, he felt a hand grab onto the front of his body plate and he flew off the wall. His screams were muffled by his helmet, his body hidden by the dark.
Ariadna climbed up and over the wall, dropping into a roll as another guard came to face her. She unsheathed a sword and rammed it into the gap just between his helmet and the chain-mail he wore underneath his armour. She slung him over the castle wall too; lifting her leg up in time to catch his spear and stop it from clattering all the while. Ariadna kicked the spear up and caught it. She turned at the sound of two other soldiers charging her but, the tip of the spear was already piercing through their throats; one after the other like meat on a skewer, and they too were shoved off the wall and to the ground below.
“Watch out.” Troian whispered to Artus, raising his voice only as loudly as it was considered safe to. They had both mustered the courage to climb without anything to secure them but, the sight and sound of bodies soaring past them had the men gripping onto the wall for their lives. It made them both wonder how Ariadna had gotten up there so fast.
Ariadna helped pull the men up onto the walls and she urged them to be quick. “We need to leave before the second half of the guard return from their patrol. Where else could the rest of the men be?” she said.
Troian tightened his sword belt and r
eplied, “Protecting their Master so he can carry out the sacrifice.”
Ariadna cocked her head to the side. “Lead the way.”
With the bodies of the guards disposed of and the other half of the guard not back yet, a part of the wall was left unguarded long enough for the trio to climb down to the small village within the castle walls. It looked as miserable as it sounded – pure silence, save the tapping of feet and spears from the group of guards now returning from their patrol. If they were lucky, the three intruders hoped the disappearance of the guards was narrowed down to the men having gone on their own patrol a little too early. Still, there was no time to waste loitering.
Troian led the way, seeing as he had been the one unfortunate enough to make his way down to the cave himself. He could feel his stomach recoiling already and he had not even gotten inside the castle yet. “Two guards at the gate, another four further up ahead patrolling the area. There aren’t any windows on the lower ground for us to climb through.” he whispered.
Ariadna unsheathed her sword and pressed herself against the wall of a tiny building they had hidden behind. She risked peeking around the corner and found four men coming their way; unaware of the three intruders waiting for them. Ariadna licked her lips and sent one sharp whistle towards the men. It was loud enough only for them to hear.
The men on guard picked up their paces and ran past the building where they were met with the clashing of swords and three warriors bent on getting revenge. Their heads went rolling and Artus was quick to kick them beneath a heavy wagon stationed outside the building.
Troian looked to the headless bodies of the guards, dressed in their black uniforms, and then to Ariadna. He sheathed his sword and knelt beside one of the bodies. His fingers worked swiftly as he stripped the body of its black chest plate and cloak. “Do you trust me? Do you trust Artus?” he asked her. Pulling the chest plate off, he held it up against himself and decided it would fit him well enough. “Gather two helmets, Art.” he instructed.
“What are you doing?” Ariadna asked. She sheathed her own weapon and took a helmet Artus was offering up to either one of them, only to watch as Troian finished strapping the chest plate on and took the helmet from her next.
“We’re going to deliver another ‘priestess’ for sacrifice. Surely none of the guards will notice you and they will not stop two of their own from entering the castle. But your hair, Kanra already refers to you as the silver haired assassin. You’ll need to put a cloak on too. Kanra has likely put the castle on high alert, should Artus and I return as traitors.” he explained.
Ariadna did not argue with any of it and she slung a cloak of her own over her shoulders, flicking off any blood which may have made the guards by the castle doors suspicious. “Don’t think of this as an excuse just to be rough with me again.” she whispered to Troian, all the while earning a laugh from Artus.
“You weren’t complaining the first or second time. If I remember correctly, you were almost begging me to,” Troian bit back a laugh as Ariadna cuffed him against the ear.
Artus took hold of the assassin and when Troian covered her head with her hood, he took hold of Ariadna’s other arm and dragged her towards the doors of the castle. To make the whole plan seem more realistic, Ariadna writhed a little in their grasps. A squeeze of her arm was signal enough that the men guarding the doors had taken a step closer to them.
“What have you got there?” one of the guards asked, trying hard to eye Ariadna up from beneath her hood.
Troian held up Ariadna’s tattooed wrist and showed it to them, the marking which Kanra had given her had now scabbed up.
“Sneaky priestess had tried to cover up her marking, thinking we wouldn’t notice. Where are those damned mercenaries, was it not their duty to bring more priestesses to our Master?” he replied.
The second guard on duty smirked. “We’d murdered the Khaishee Mercenaries upon their return to the castle. Now enough of this mindless chatter, get that priestess inside now and present her to our Master.”
Troian and Artus felt their blood turn to ice at that unexpected announcement. Still, they could not break their façade now and with heavy hearts, they dragged Ariadna past the opening doors of the castle. From there Troian led the way down to Kanra’s torture chambers.
“It’s too quiet, Troi. Where are the guards?” Artus whispered. He was right, the castle was far quieter than usual, and it appeared dead. Perhaps all the guards had been called down to the cave beneath the castle? Maybe Kanra had not wanted to risk any intruders in the form of assassins or mercenaries sneaking their way down to the cave and interrupting his sacrificial offering?
“Someone’s watching us; following us.” Ariadna whispered. Her tone was so calm as though she had known all along. “Then why haven’t they attacked?”
There came the sound of armour clanking and boots thumping across the stone in one steady rhythm. It came from behind, causing the trio to turn around and face the oncoming intruders. How ironic.
Ariadna threw her cloak off and unsheathed a weapon, bending her knees into a defensive stance as she felt the weight of her sword melt into her hand. “Come on.” she whispered. Her blood was boiling and she had not even laid eyes on the real bastard she was hoping to kill; these men patrolling the castle were just testing her patience.
A group of dragon-guards came marching towards them. Armed with spears and daggers protruding out of their boots, they screamed some strange chant and attracting the attention of any other clusters of men on patrol. If they wanted a fight, they would get one. But little did they know, or care to think, it would be their blood staining the ground.
If the guards within the castle appeared to be swarming this one corridor, to investigate the sudden commotion, it made Ariadna wonder how well every other corridor leading down to this cave of Kanra’s was being guarded.
“Troi. Ari.” Artus moaned. He stood with his back to the oncoming army of guards and instead, locked gazes with the eyes of at least fifty, if not more, servants armed to the teeth with varying weapons.
Troian risked a glance over his shoulder and his eyes widened at what he saw. It was a face he recognised.
The nameless servant whom Troian had met before, not even a day after having left Vhorgo first to carry out his wretched contract. He carried a spear of his own, resting it against the crook of his neck and after staring but a moment longer, he opened his mouth and revealed his sliced tongue to Troian again. Then he charged. Not the intruders but, the guards, and the other slaves followed.
The prisoners let out war cries in the man’s stead and Ariadna turned in time to find the unexpected army; clad in whatever armour they could find and armed with weapons both real and makeshift, rushing past her to attack the dragon-guards.
“We’ve given them hope!” Troian cried as he and the others shoved their way past the slave army. "They're rebelling!"
“And they’ve given us a chance. Hurry, Troian, lead the way.” Ariadna replied. She waited for him to run off first and then gave the chaos behind them a final glance goodbye as she went after the two mercenaries.
54 –
Kanra
Everything was set. The sacrifice had been laid out, ready to be slaughtered, and the Skull Dancers were already gathering.
The men, painted black and streaked with white to mark out their bones, waved their hands in the air and convulsed their bodies in some kind of strange dance. They screamed and whooped, slamming their fists against their chests and flailing their legs around as they danced in circles.
Kanra, had just finished dressing himself in his black robe. Slinging the hood across his face, he approached one of his priests with a dagger in his hands. “We begin the ceremony now, Brothers.” together, he and the priests swarmed around Preeya and whispered the goddess of death’s name over and over.
Preeya let out another whimper as Kanra raised the dagger up for the priests to see. She closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing, aware of the
eyes of the priests on her.
Ana, the thought of her dear friend hanging on the wall sent tears pouring down her cheeks and this time a full sob broke past her lips.
“The time for weeping has passed, Preeya. I’d given you the chance to shed tears earlier on. Now, you will die to appease our goddess,” Kanra raised his arms a little higher, and he roared her name, “Distretia!”
The priests followed in his chanting of the goddess’ name and their voices grew louder, the drums played by a handful of the Skull Dancers grew heavier and those not carrying instruments only became more enthusiastic with their movements.
Preeya’s naked chest grew cold, as she felt the warmth of whatever happiness she had gained from her brief moment of freedom flee her body.
A fire had been built up by two of the priests, whilst their Master began the ritual in a language which Preeya could not understand. The bone dagger in Kanra’s hand shone in the fire’s light and even then, it was still cold around them all.
“What have the gods done for you?” Preeya screamed at him. It was a brave attempt to stall the sacrifice for just a moment longer. “What have your pathetic gods given you in return for all this barbaric behaviour?”
Kanra slammed the bone dagger beside Preeya’s head, missing her on purpose. He watched as she flinched and tried to pull away when he grabbed hold of her by the face.
“My gods have given me everything I have. I do not and will never hesitate to kill someone like you to thank them, for all the things I have and will continue to be blessed with.”
Preeya knew she was going to die. This was her end, and she supposed there was nothing more to do than just accept it, in this very moment she felt the same courage and hard-heartedness which ran through Ariadna course through her own body. She smiled against Kanra’s grip and said,
The Anari Page 24
