by Thomas Green
Zerae reached into the pocket of her coat to dig out a thin cigar of rolled leaves. She reached for the oil lamp Patricia always kept full and burning to light up the cigar.
The heavy smoke combined with the bitter tea made her relax. Now, she needed to figure out how to get Elizabeth accepted into their clan, how to prevent Astril and herself from being executed for bringing her, and how to stop their civilization from getting wiped out by the Palai Order.
5
Zerae
Zerae opened her eyes, her head pounding, her body sore and her mind clouded. After long minutes of suffering, she crawled out of bed just enough to light a cigar by the nearby oil lamp. She rolled onto her back, breathing in the smoke, hoping it would revive her. She remembered how Astril always frowned at Zerae smoking in her bed. She banished the thought, enjoying the moment.
As always, the smoke put her onto her feet. After the rest of her morning routine, she walked to her office, which was a mere floor away, to drink the tea Patricia had made and collect whatever reports she gathered for her.
She had no time to read them though, for Elizabeth’s trial was soon to start. Zerae headed to the Hall of the Council where they held the trials and placed herself into her seat.
The hall soon filled, for this time, the trial was open to the public and the Sil Haen loved trials, or at least those of others. Astril and Leena brought in Elizabeth. Leena looked like a walking corpse, for while she was otherwise almost identical to Astril aside from being less muscular and having mahogany hair instead of blonde, she had bulging black veins on her neck and eyes of the same color. Loose, brown robes hid the rest of her body, but Zerae had no illusion of how it had to look.
The sight of the two youngest purebloods, her left, and right hand, brought a smile to her face. She missed Astril more than she was willing to admit and Leena, who spent all the time intoxicated and dream-walking through Limbo was a poor company at best. And yet she preferred Leena’s company to that of almost everyone else inside the city because silence was better than the lies others loved to feed her.
Once the hall filled to the brink, Mathilde Hellwind took the word. “Astril Hellwind, why had you asked to be heard?”
Astril stepped to the center of the hall, leading in Elizabeth by her hand. She pulled her close and hugged her from behind. “I have brought my sweet little daughter, Elizabeth, to join the clan.”
Zerae sighed. On the one hand, it was sweet how Astril covered for her, but on the other hand, this was a zero out of ten lie. Nobody would ever believe Astril having a secret child since if she ever got pregnant, the entire city would know about it the next day.
“How old is she?” The Hellwind Matron asked in a stone-cold voice.
“Sixteen.”
Zerae rolled her eyes. That was another lie, but it wasn’t like it mattered anymore.
Mathilde formed a poisonous smile. “That is too old for a child and too young for a warrior.”
Astril spoke as casually as if she was ordering a meal. “I want to ask for an exception. Her father died recently, and she can join the older kids at school.”
“Why have you not brought her earlier? Is our clan not good enough to raise your daughter?”
Zerae kicked her seat to move the attention to her. “That is beyond the point. We need every member we can get.”
Mathilde pierced her with a glare. “Silence, daughter, for I am questioning her now!”
Elaine Darkscream spoke in a voice colder than ice. “I concur with Zerae. Your question is irrelevant. Stop wasting our time, Hellwind matron.”
Zerae wished the fifteen seconds this trial took to turn into an argument were a record. It suited her plan though. She sighed but enjoyed how the hatred in her mother’s eyes was not directed at her.
Mathilde sneered. “I deny any exceptions. We have our law and the law is the cornerstone of our society, for without it there would be only chaos.”
Elaine clicked her tongue. “Nonsense. We cannot cast out a child because of procedural errors. For that, punishing Astril is more than sufficient while the child deserves a chance to prove she is worthy of her heritage.”
Zerae frowned, her heart sinking. She hated the through of Astril getting punished as a result of her plan, of her accepting Elizabeth, but this was an acceptable outcome. “I concur,” Zerae said, and the other two champions joined her in unison. The fact that Astril didn’t wince did not make Zerae feel any better.
“It is true that such a measure would be extreme,” Karmen Voidwalker, the old Matron of the Voidwalker clan, said.
“This is a matter of our clan, not yours,” Mathilde spat.
Zerae’s face twisted into a cruel smile. “The law binds us all, mother, so no issue it covers is a matter of a single clan.”
Mathilde glowered at her so intensely the veins on her neck bulged. “Zerae!”
Elaine laughed. “Zerae has a point.”
Mathilde relaxed into her throne. “Well then. She should receive a chance to prove herself. Alicia, test her!”
Zerae’s older sister, Alicia, tossed aside her long auburn hair and rose. She grabbed her halberd and stepped down the stairs.
Zerae stomped, her platformed boot releasing a loud clang. “Are you out of your mind? Do you want one of our top warriors to execute a child? That is insanity.”
Mathilde smiled. “Acceptance tests are subject to the decision of the Matron which is me, not you, daughter.”
Astril drew her falchions, murderous intent oozing out of her, and the entire hall fell silent. “Come closer, Alicia. It’s been a while since I’ve wanted to cut off your tits.”
“Astril!” Zerae and Mathilde shouted at her at the same time.
Astril shrugged. “What? She wanted a fight, and there is no problem with that. I will fight.”
“How dare you?” Hellwind Matron snarled. “Seize her!”
“Enough!” Elaine’s voice thundered through the hall. “I will not watch a child being butchered. If you do not want her in your clan, fine, for I will allow her to test into mine. Should Astril agree, of course?”
Astril smiled and sheathed her blades. “Sounds good.”
“You cannot take my clan member,” Mathilde protested.
Elaine shrugged. “She is not of your clan since you refused her, remember? Astril’s punishment is yours to make, but you or anyone you command will not touch Elizabeth. She is now the matter of Darkscream clan.”
Mathilde straightened her back. “Astril Hellwind. For defying the Matron, violating our law, and drawing a weapon in this sacred hall, you will be punished by five hundred lashes of a heavy whip.”
Zerae’s heart shot to her mouth. “Five hundred is outrageous. That is a death sentence!”
Mathilde pierced her with a stare. “I decide the punishment, not you.”
“That’s not how our law works, mother.”
“Are you defying me, daughter?”
“I am merely making sure our law is kept. Astril neither harmed any clan member nor disobeyed an order, so defiance is out of the question. Since Elizabeth is to be accepted into the Darkscream clan, she has never been a member of ours, and therefore Astril cannot be punished for hiding her.”
Mathilde’s expression hardened into stone. “Astril drew her blades in our sacred hall. That is a punishable offense.”
“Yes, but that is punishable by no more than a hundred strikes of a light whip.”
Mathilde sagged down into the chair. “I hereby sentence Astril Hellwind to flogging. She is to receive a hundred lashes by a light whip.”
***
Once the meeting ended, Zerae dove into the side hallways to intercept Niria, the warrior of their clan she saw heading toward the room containing the whips. The raven-haired girl greeted her with an awkward expression. “War Leader.”
Zerae nodded. “I know Mathilde’s guards will take the heaviest whip they have. What I want you to do is to take a lighter one and swap them when you can.”
<
br /> Niria winced a little, but quickly straightened her back. “Yes, War Leader.”
Zerae stopped herself from smirking and walked to catch Astril before they brought her to the main square. She welcomed her with a smile, one far kinder than she deserved. I’m sorry. Zerae’s heart sank. “I can’t get you out of this one. Is there anything I need to know?”
“Yeah, three things. One, be nicer to me. Two, I want chocolate and three, make sure someone’s ready to interrupt the fight, so nobody gets hurt too much.”
Zerae frowned, biting down the anger that flared up her throat. Were it not for the collar holding her neck, she was sure she would explode into an inferno. “Did you lie to me about how ready she was?”
“No.”
Zerae whirled and blasted forward, crossing the central square of Voidspire where the arena for Elizabeth’s match was already almost built. She found the girl sitting beneath a broken statue of what was once an angel. The girl was tightening the straps of her scale armor, making herself look like a smaller version of Astril. She stared at Zerae with wide eyes.
Zerae ducked down to meet her at the eye level. “Listen. I don’t know what Astril did or did not teach you, but Elaine will have you spar with a kid. Be extremely careful not to get killed or kill her, understand?”
Elizabeth’s mouth gaped. “What do you mean? I’ve never fought anyone other than Astril and I never even scratched her!”
Zerae shook her head. “Do you know why the hall of trials fell silent when Astril drew her swords? Because she is the strongest Sil Haen there had ever been. Yes, you may have never landed a hit on her in the three years of sparring, but there are fewer than ten people in this city that would. So be careful.”
Zerae stood up and wished she didn’t look across the square. At its other half, Astril was stripped half-naked, tied between two wooden poles. Behind her, one of Mathilde’s royal guards cracked a whip and lashed Astril. She shouted out with pain.
Zerae swallowed the blend of rage and sadness that exploded within her and searched for Elaine, the Darkscream matron. She found her by the side of the ring and stepped to her. “I need a word, matron.”
Elaine arched an eyebrow. “War Leader?”
“Be ready to stop the match at any second.”
Elaine nodded and tensed.
Zerae glanced over the ring. The girl to test Elizabeth, Kerri Darkscream, already stood within the circle. She was half a head taller than Elizabeth, wore well-fitting ring mail armor and carried a double-bladed battleaxe.
Elizabeth entered the ring, visibly terrified. She winced every time Astril screamed with pain.
Zerae didn’t blame her, because she also did. She wished it was her being whipped since this was her failure, to begin with. The plan was hers, the agreement to accept Elizabeth too, so she was the one to bear the responsibility.
Elaine slammed the butt of her poleaxe into the ground to gather attention. “Prepare to fight. The fight is non-lethal and the first one to be knocked unconscious or placed outside the ring loses.”
Elizabeth stepped forward and had her two puppets, which looked like two armored women crafted out of wood and steel, walked by her sides.
Elaine’s eyes narrowed. “What is that?”
“Puppets,” Zerae said. “She controls them with her aether.”
Elaine nodded. “Proceed.”
Elizabeth stared at her opponent, terrified. She gulped and closed her eyes.
Kerri prowled forward, raising her axe above her head into an offensive stance.
Elizabeth slowly exhaled, reopened her eyes and her hands darted into the air. In moves so fast they were but a blur, her fingers danced with flashes of golden aether shimmering around them. The puppet to her left opened its mouth, out of which shot half a dozen needles, and charged forward, sliding into a tackle. At the same second, the puppet to her right leapt up while a dozen blades extended from its body and arms.
The needles hit Kerri in the chest, and the sliding puppet swept her feet. She fell to the ground with a painful scream. The blade puppet was falling on her with arms spread wide.
Elizabeth froze and shouted in horror. “Dodge!”
Elaine bolted forward. A thunderous boom echoed through the air as she dashed across the ring within an instant to knock the puppet aside.
Tears welled in Elizabeth’s eyes as she blurted, “I’m sorry! I didn’t want to hurt her, I promise, I just—”
“It’s all right.” Elaine smiled. “Good job.” She stepped by Elizabeth and put a hand on her hair.
Elizabeth started crying. “I am sorry… I didn’t want to hurt her… I thought she would dodge. I am sorry. I didn’t want to hurt her… I thought she would be faster, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to kill her!”
Kerri lay on the ground, her face pale with terror.
Elaine squatted down in front of Elizabeth. “Welcome to the clan, Elizabeth Darkscream.”
Zerae shook her head. This was her fault too. She should have realized that when Astril said she wasn’t ready, she meant the emotional stability, not the actual strength. While sparring with Astril taught Elizabeth how to fight, she had never even wounded anyone, much less had taken a life. On top of that, she apparently ordered the puppets in sequences, so once she started the attack, she couldn’t stop it. Still, this was mostly a success.
Zerae braced herself to gaze across the square. The leather whip was already tearing into Astril’s skin, releasing a spray of blood and a scream of pain with every lash. Zerae’s throat clogged up while she dug her fingernails into her palms. I’m sorry… my plan wasn’t good enough… I wasn’t good enough.
Zerae spun on her heel and returned to her office.
***
When she arrived at her office, Patricia was taking the pot of fresh tea off the fire she always kept burning on the small balcony of the antechamber.
Her assistant’s eyes widened. “The matron has asked to see you.”
Zerae sighed and turned, heading to her mother’s chambers, descending the tower to enter the main keep of the castle. Mathilde Hellwind stood within the overly decorated room that contained more paintings than the rest of the Voidspire combined.
Zerae entered and bowed, freezing as her eyes rested upon a large, framed canvas. Displayed on the painting were Mathilde and her three daughters, Alicia, Zerae, and Lilly. Mathilde looked the same as now, but the girls were young, Alicia seven, Zerae six and Lilly five years old. Zerae remembered the moment. It was one of the last times the four of them met.
The painting was made less than a week before the incident in which Zerae discovered the cursed flame within her. Before she killed Lilly and their entire class in school. The skin beneath Zerae’s collar itched as the memory of her younger sister burning alive before her eyes flashed through her mind. She didn’t want to hurt her. Not her or anyone else. But the cursed flame within her didn’t care. Disregarding her thoughts, it exploded from her, scorching everyone around. Even now, almost seventy years later, the mere thought made Zerae’s eyes wet and stingy while her blood nearly froze in her veins.
Mathilde turned, her face twisted with rage. “What the hell was that?”
Zerae deepened her bow. “I am sorry, mother, for I overstepped—”
Mathilde stepped to Zerae and slapped her face so strongly she spat blood, sending stinging pain through her face. “You cannot disrespect me like this, Zerae! I am your leader and your mother!” Mathilde slapped Zerae’s other cheek, leaving behind a bright welt.
Searing anger, stinging pain, and the sinking feeling of humiliation blasted through Zerae. She swallowed them all, sealing them within her.
Mathilde glowered at her as she straightened herself. “How could you do this to me, daughter? You made me appear as a fool in front of the other leaders. We need to work together through these hearings, not against each other, for that undermines our entire clan.”
“I am sorry, mother, but I merely—”
Mathilde slapp
ed her again, her sharp nails cutting Zerae’s cheek. “Do not go sorry on me, Zerae Hellwind. You knew what you were doing, what your actions would make me look like and how it would humiliate me. Do not pretend you had no idea! Stop being so weak!”
Her stomach tied into a knot while her cheeks flared. “We are low on new members, and I saw an opportunity to help it while seeing no good reason to let the chance pass.”
“Are you saying I was wrong? I have led our clan since its inception. All of this is my achievement, mine alone! You do not understand what it’s like to lead, so stop being selfish!”
Zerae stood petrified, feeling like the worst piece of trash to ever exist.
“Why can’t you be like your sister? She understands! Why do you have to be so naïve and stupid? You act as if all I have ever taught you becomes vain the second Astril and Leena stand around you. You need to stop seeing them. They hurt your potential, making you weak and pathetic.”
“In terms of merits, they are our most effective warriors. Our clan builds on strength so I cannot ignore—”
Mathilde slapped her again, almost knocking a tooth out of Zerae’s jaw. “They are the cancer of our clan. Undisciplined, rebellious, defying, uncontrolled, they seed these stupid ideas in our poor sisters and misguide them into foolishness. They are the worst thing that ever happened to our clan. They, and your curse. I am disappointed, so, so disappointed with you. You are the leader of our united armed forces, our War Leader, so act like one. I have made great sacrifices to get you there, so stop failing me.”
“Yes, mother,” Zerae squeezed out of herself, using all her strength to hold back her tears.
“I’ve had enough of you.” The Matron waved Zerae off with her hand. “You are dismissed!”
***
Zerae left the tower to enter a different wing of the castle. She reached the ledge from which she had a good view of Astril’s room.
