Riley would get it back. She didn’t know how and she didn’t care, but she would get it back.
***
Ocken raced back to the old woman’s house and retrieved his swordstaff. He couldn’t storm a fortress unarmed. If he was going to die, he’d do it swinging.
A few moments later, he was once again hidden among the trees outside the closed gates of the abbey. He readied his weapon, closed his eyes to steel his resolve, and took a step forward.
“I wouldn’t do that,” a female voice said from the shadows.
Ocken spun and brandished his swordstaff to face the threat. Without the slightest look of worry, Khate stepped into the moonlight.
“You’re a fool for even thinking it’ll work,” she said. Her eyes drifted to the swordstaff pointed at her chest. “Put that thing down.”
Ocken relaxed and stowed his weapon.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. “I didn’t even hear you.”
“Just because I’m a mother doesn’t mean I’ve lost my touch,” Khate quipped. She looked from Ocken to the gate and scoffed. “You must really love this girl if you’re willing to throw yourself onto the end of a spear to save her.”
“Suicide missions are a common occurrence in my life these days,” Ocken remarked. “And she’s only twelve, by the way.”
Khate shrugged. “Love need not be romantic.”
“Then yes,” Ocken said, nodding. “I care for her deeply and I will protect her with my own life. I’ve been protecting her and her family since…” He looked away.
“Since you left Shadowhold’s royal guard,” she finished for him. “There’s no shame in that. Not with me. I left too, remember?”
“I remember quite well,” Ocken said. He closed his eyes and his mind flashed to the day she left him standing in the street as she walked out of his life. He shook his head and returned his attention to Khate. “I also remember our conversation from twenty minutes ago and you made it quite clear you weren’t getting involved, so why are you here?”
“I know how bullheaded you are and I knew you’d try something like this,” she said, chuckling. “I wasn’t about to let you die.”
“What about your husband?” Ocken asked.
“Actually, my husband is the one who came up with a plan,” Khate said.
Ocken recoiled, his eyes going wide. “You told your husband about us?”
Khate scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. He asked who was at the door. I told him. We don’t keep things from each other. I told him to forget about it, but he kept pressing. When he found out you needed to get past the gates, he volunteered to help.”
“You don’t keep things from each other, but you didn’t tell him about us?” Ocken asked, unwilling to let it go.
“There is no us. There never was an us. So no, I didn’t tell him about us,” she said. “Will you focus?”
Ocken’s heart sank. If seeing her married plunged a dagger into his heart, she just twisted it. “Fine, how exactly is your husband going to get me past the gate?”
“He’s one of the city guards,” Khate said.
CHAPTER VI
The main door of the prison screeched as it swung open. Riley lay on the floor of her cell, convulsing.
Her jailor said, “Your breakfast is—Oh, gods.”
Keys jingled against each other followed by metal scraping metal and a soft click. The cell door groaned as it opened.
The man leaned down close, reached out his hand, and said “Are you all—?”
Riley stopped shaking. Her eyes met his a second before she elbowed him in the face. He recoiled and brought his hands to his face, dropping the keys.
She might have caught her captor by surprise, but he was still a threat. What she was about to do felt wrong and shameful in so many ways, but there was no place for pride when her life was on the line. From her position on her back, Riley kicked up between his legs as hard as she could.
A high-pitched gasp escaped the man’s lips and he crumpled to the ground.
Riley jumped to her feet, grabbed the keys, and ran from the cell, closing the door behind her. She had no time to feel sorry for the man. It wasn’t his fault she got captured or that he’d been assigned to watch her, but neither was he completely innocent as he hauled her off to her cell the night before.
As silently as she could, Riley darted from the prison and out into the fortress streets. The prison was along the wall at the base of the mountain. She’d have to track her way back up to the abbey if she wanted to retrieve the Soul Render.
The sky lightened with the rise of the sun, though its bright, glowing form had not yet crested the mountains. People were beginning to stir. She didn’t have much time to remain unseen.
Riley turned to head up the road leading to the abbey. Four armed soldiers walked down the zigzag of the road far ahead. Abruptly changing directions, Riley headed off down a deserted street to find another way up to the abbey.
She passed building after building, mostly industrial. All the residential houses were on the second and third levels. At the far end of the road, against the northern face of the mountain, sat a door. Riley figured it was as good as any.
Turning the thick iron handle, she pulled the door open just far enough to allow her to slip inside. Beyond it lay a hallway of some kind reaching as far as she could see to the left or right. It was dark, with a lone lamp feeding light into the corridor.
Riley turned right and grabbed the lamp from the wall. Whoever came in after her wouldn’t be able to see anything, but her need trumped theirs at the moment. She followed the hall as it wrapped around to the right and then up several flights of stairs.
She continued all the way up until she couldn’t go any higher. A lone door sat at the top. Slowly, she reached out her hand and gripped the door’s handle. Riley hesitated. She had no idea what lay beyond. She might be walking right into the guard barracks or their torture chamber.
Riley shrugged. She didn’t have many options. If she wanted her stone back, this is what she had to do. She took a deep breath and pulled down on the handle.
A dusty, dirty room greeted her.
The sitting room near Yesenia’s chambers!
Riley must have found a servants’ access. Her own castle had them, though she rarely used them. She had no need except to sneak down into the kitchens for a midnight snack.
Riley moved to the other side of the room and slipped through the door leading into the hall. As she passed a corridor on the way to Yesenia’s room, a pair of hands reached out and grabbed her. One big hand held her tight and the other covered her mouth.
Riley bit down hard on the man’s hand. He hissed and said, “It’s me.”
Turning, Ocken’s stern face stared back at her.
She let out a sigh of relief, looked at his hand, and said, “Sorr—”
A fast staccato of boots on the stone floor headed their direction. Ocken cursed. He pulled her in closer and leaned against the wall as tight as he could. The soldiers didn’t look down their corridor as they went running by.
Ocken let go of Riley and motioned for her to stay quiet and wait. He peeked around the corner and looked up and down the hall both ways.
“All’s clear,” he said. He waved her down the corridor, away from Yesenia’s room. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
She shook her head and refused to budge. “She took it, Ocken.”
“Who took what?” he asked, tilting his head in confusion.
“Yesenia,” Riley explained. “She’s got the stone.”
Ocken cursed again.
“We have to get it back,” Riley said.
“I don’t care,” Ocken said. “Your life is more important. We need to leave. Now.”
“Follow me,” she said, ignoring him. “Yesenia’s bedchamber is right over here.”
Ocken snorted. “All right, fine. But quickly.”
They rounded the bend, and advanced on Yesenia’s room. The door was locked.
Riley was not about to let a little lock get in her way. She backed up and prepared to ram the door. Ocken stepped in front of her.
“Get out of the way or I’ll—”
“Allow me,” Ocken said, holding up his hands.
Ocken reached for his swordstaff and slammed the butt of the staff hard into the door handle. After two smacks, the handle fell free of the door and it slid open.
Riley went straight to the jewelry box, supposing Yesenia would put such a valuable gem with all her other expensive bobbles.
No luck.
Riley checked the bedside table, the dresser drawers, even the wardrobe, but she couldn’t find the Soul Render anywhere.
“I’m sorry,” Ocken said, “but we really can’t wait. We have to get out of here.”
“Maybe she’s got it on her person,” Riley mumbled to herself. “Where would she be?”
“You’re not hearing me,” Ocken said. “We have to leave. Now.”
Ocken didn’t give her any time to respond. He just picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.
“Hey!” she cried. “Let me go.”
They flew through the hall and down a flight of stairs as Riley pounded her fist against Ocken’s back.
Exiting the abbey, they spilled out into the courtyard at the top of the mountain overlooking Celesti.
“Put. Me. Down,” Riley said, punctuating each word with a pound of her fist.
Ocken obeyed, but didn’t let go of her hand as he pulled her along toward the road leading down the mountain. As they reached the road, about twenty horses emerged from the trees at the foot of the mountain and approached the abbey gates. Ocken ground to a halt.
“Who’s that?” Riley asked.
“Drygo,” Ocken stated with a shudder in his voice.
Riley gasped. How had he found them so quickly? They only just arrived the day before. No way word could have reached his ears already.
Regardless, he was here and he was after the stone. The stone her mother died to protect. The stone she now knew she had to get back whatever the cost.
“Halt!” a soldier below called out, his voice drifting on the wind.
Riley couldn’t make out the words of their exchange, but midway through, the soldier let out a scoffing laugh. Riley breathed a sigh of relief. Celesti’s soldiers wouldn’t let him in.
That was when the screams started. Then the gates started to rise.
Riley’s heart leapt into her throat.
“Come on,” Ocken said quickly. “Back inside the abbey. We’ll find another way out.”
“Ocken,” Riley pleaded. “We have to get the stone. I won’t let it fall into Drygo’s hands.”
Ocken looked at her with a frown on his face as if weighing the decision in his mind. Then he pursed his lips and snorted. “All right, but if we can’t find it in the next five minutes, we’re finding a way out of here. Stone or no stone, your life is more valuable to me.”
They re-entered the abbey and began looking for Lady Yesenia. It was early morning, so Riley guessed she’d be in the throne room or dining hall. She had no idea where either of those was, though.
They turned right, then left, then ascended a flight of stairs. Ocken led them with purpose.
“Have you been here before?” Riley asked.
“No,” Ocken said, glancing at her. “It’s a castle. There are only so many places to put an audience chamber. The first floor is almost never used for the public. It’s for the kitchens, laundry, storehouses, and servants’ quarters. The top floor is generally reserved for the private quarters of the king or lord. Since Celesti only has three floors, logically, what we’re looking for is on the second floor.”
A moment later, they found the audience hall, but it was deserted. The abbey gates were locked tight. There was no one to meet with, so Lady Yesenia wouldn’t be holding her regular court hours. That left the dining hall.
Fortunately, they only had to try one more door before finding the right room. Lady Yesenia sat at a table with a dozen other lesser nobles feasting on pancakes and bacon. The smell was tantalizing and Riley’s stomach rumbled.
As soon as they entered, Lady Yesenia stood, her chair sliding back, the dishes clattering on the table. All attention turned to them.
“What is the meaning of this?” Yesenia shouted. Then her eyes met Riley’s. “How did you get free?”
“You took something of mine,” Riley told her. “And I want it back.”
“Over my dead body,” Yesenia said. “Guards! Kill them.”
Two guards were posted at the door and another two behind Lady Yesenia. When they drew their swords, several of the nobles screamed and ran from their seats.
Ocken barely had time to draw his swordstaff before the first attack soared in. One guard came at Ocken while the other went for Riley. Riley didn’t have a weapon, and she hadn’t been trained to fight. All she knew to do was duck and cover.
Riley dived beneath the nearest table, out of reach of a swinging blade.
Ocken parried his opponent then counter-swung, knocking his enemy’s blade wide. Before he could finish his attack, the second guard, forgetting about Riley, came at Ocken from behind.
“Watch out!” Riley called.
Ocken turned with just enough time to pull up his swordstaff to block the blow, but the blade slid along the shaft of the staff and nicked his hand as it fell away.
Hissing, Ocken slammed the butt of his staff back into the gut of the first guard and came in low, clipping the calf of the second. The man fell to the ground in agony.
By that point, the other two guards had navigated through the frenzied lords and joined their comrade. Ocken faced against three opponents. Riley felt helpless just watching.
Ocken flipped over the nearest table, sending plates and glasses crashing to the floor. Riley covered her head and screamed as her cover disappeared. She scrambled forward under another table.
Raising his swordstaff, Ocken prepared to fight, three against one. Ocken swung a large, sweeping blow. The three guards danced back together, staying out of his reach. Fanning out, they each came at him from different angles.
The guard on the right raised his weapon and rushed in. He grossly underestimated the reach of Ocken’s weapon as he was impaled at the end of the swordstaff’s sharp blade.
With the sword end still inside his opponent, Ocken swung the man’s body to the left, crashing him into his fellow guardsman. Both fell to the floor. The second man’s sword flew from his grasp and skittered along the floor, coming to rest a few inches from Riley’s face.
Ocken dodged under the third man’s swing, picked him up and slammed him down onto the second man, then swung his weapon and speared them both like pickles on a stick.
Ocken was so preoccupied that he didn’t notice that the fourth man, who had fallen at the beginning of the battle, had risen to his feet and was, even now, advancing on him.
Riley did the only thing she could think of. She grabbed the sword in front of her and launched herself from her hiding place. Her weapon plunged into the man’s side.
The man grunted and wheezed as his step faltered. Blood spilled from the wound. Riley stared at it in abject horror, as did the injured man.
His pain was short-lived, though, as Ocken turned at the sound, plowed his shoulder into him, then crushed his larynx with the heel of his boot.
Riley fell backward, scrambling away from the dead man. His shocked expression permanently etched onto her brain. She’d never killed before.
Her stomach tied up in knots, her heart beat hard enough to break out of her chest, bile rose up in her throat and she wretched.
Nausea gave way to grief and remorse. That man had a family—people who loved him—and she took him from them. She would never forgive herself.
While the battle raged, Yesenia attempted to slip out a back door, but Ocken cut her off, grabbed her wrist, and tossed her into the center of the room.
“Give me the stone,” Ocken demanded
.
“I don’t have it,” Yesenia spat.
Ocken pressed his boot down on her chest and placed the blade of his staff against her throat. “No one else need die. I’m only interested in the stone and you can go free.”
“All right,” she gasped. “All right. Here. Take it.”
Yesenia pulled the stone from the folds of her dress and tossed it to the floor. Ocken pulled back his weapon and released his foot. Yesenia clambered to her feet and ran from the room through a servant’s door in the back.
Reaching down, Ocken retrieved the stone.
A hand covered Riley’s mouth as the cold point of steel came up against her throat. She wanted to scream, but didn’t dare move.
From behind her, a deep, mirthful laugh filled the room. “Thank you for keeping the Soul Render safe for me.”
CHAPTER VII
Ocken turned around and saw Alexander Drygo holding a knife to Riley’s throat. Two of Shadowhold’s royal guard, Drygo’s elite, flanked him. Ocken’s elation at retrieving the stone deflated as quickly as it had risen.
“Let her go!” Ocken called out.
“Gladly,” Drygo said with a smirk. “Give me the stone and I’ll release her.”
Riley shook her head.
Ocken winced. Give Drygo the stone and save Riley? Or refuse and watch her die? If he gave Drygo the stone, the last five years he spent preventing Drygo from finding it would have been for naught. On the other hand, how long could he reasonably hide from Drygo? And could he live with himself if he chose the stone over Riley?
“Your Majesty,” a voice said behind him.
Ocken turned to see one of Drygo’s men dragging Yesenia behind him.
“I found her trying to escape,” he finished.
“Excellent,” Drygo said, flashing a wicked smile at Yesenia. He shoved Riley off to one of his royal guard and motioned for Yesenia to be brought to him.
Yesenia straightened, standing as tall as she could before the king of Shadowhold. Then she spat in his face. “You’re a monster,” she said, her lip quivering.
“Even monsters need to eat,” Drygo said with a shrug. “Can I help it if you’re better prey than predator?”
Soul Siphon: Set includes four books: Midnight Blade, Kingsbane, Ash and Steel, Sentinels of the Stone (Soul Stones) Page 22
