by T.M. Nielsen
***
King Qualsax glared as the Valharan knights walked in with Alric and stood before him. Eight of them held the heads of dead Qualsax Warriors, and then threw them at the feet of their king.
“We thought you might be missing these,” Alric said angrily.
The king stood up and screamed, “How dare you attack and kill eight of my warriors!”
“We didn’t,” Alric said, now smiling. “They attacked my wife, tried to have their way with her, and she killed them.”
“The idea is preposterous. My warriors cannot be beaten by a woman.”
“You don’t know my wife. She’s a fighter, and a damned good one. She’s not going to be easy to victimize, so I suggest you leave her the hell alone!”
“We do what we want! She is your wife, and that makes her a target,” the Qualsax King said, and then sat down on his throne. “I’m sure they simply wanted to slowly breed out the Valharan line.”
Alric grew furious, but Trox stopped him from advancing. “So your goddess agrees with your views?”
“I’m sure she does.”
“Then I’m even more disgusted with her and her followers than I was before.”
“Kyrin has done nothing to Qualsax,” Alric said. “Leave her alone.”
“No! It is my duty to make you suffer, and if attacking your wife does that, then I will.”
“Consider yourself warned.”
Alric turned and walked out, followed by the others. They were far away from Qualsax before anyone spoke.
“They have no moral fiber,” Trox said. “I can’t believe that what those warriors did was sanctioned by their king.”
“I guess we shouldn’t really expect any more of them,” Alric said. “We’re just lucky that Kyrin isn’t that easy to keep down.”
“Do you think they will realize that one of their warriors is without a tongue?” one of the knights asked.
Alric couldn’t help but smile. “I hope they do.”
Trox’s voice grew soft. “I wish Finn was here to see what she did to those eight warriors. He was always so proud of her strength and abilities.”
Alric simply nodded. Finn’s death was still fresh on the king’s mind, and as they couldn’t find enough of a body to bury, there hadn’t been any closure for Finn’s family or the kingdom.
