“To all that are here,” I shouted, “I am entering this willingly and of my own free will. Should I be injured or killed, you are all witnesses that I have done so voluntarily and the good Governor is not to be held accountable in any way. In fact, if I am killed, he is to inherit all my lands and gold and slaves.”
Gasps went out from the people present. Elfred was shouting something at me but I was holding Fischer’s gaze, and neither of us moved.
“You have a bargain,” he said, jumping out of his seat. He shouted, “Get me my armor and sword and shield.”
Servants scurried about and I don’t think any of them knew exactly what had just happened. I heard Elfred as he walked to Fischer and said, “You shouldn’t do this.”
“Why?” the governor said. “You scared I’m going to hurt your little boy?”
“It’s not him I’m scared for.”
Fischer looked at him, held his gaze a moment, and then burst out laughing.
I waited until he had put on his chestplate and his greaves and his wrist locks and his gods know whatever else. He lifted his sword and his shield and swung his arms to loosen his shoulders. I waited until he stepped forward and then pulled out my two blades. Both were just knives with pearl handles but the blades were white as well. They appeared to glimmer in the torchlight. They were special blades, crafted just for me. Though thin in appearance, they were deceptive. There wasn’t another blade in the world that could break them.
“Ready?” I said.
Fischer just laughed.
As he approached I began moving the blades, twirling them slowly, a distraction, and he laughed again as if he had caught my trick. He came in like a bear and thought he would overpower me. He swung down with such force that as I moved and his sword hit the floor, it made a shower of sparks. Clearly a blow meant to kill.
He swung again and I ducked and made two slices, one on each thigh, before jumping between his legs. I came up with the blades and punctured his spine into three places, small little pricks, hardly enough to even bleed, but he was frozen. He couldn’t even scream.
I sliced his knees, and then his calves, and then his ankles, and he collapsed like a building without a foundation. I sat atop his chest and put a blade on each side of his neck. All I had to do was cross them and his head would have rolled across the floor like a smooth ball.
“You underestimated me.”
He couldn’t respond and just stared at me with large eyes. His guards had taken out their spears and swords and the royal guard stood by, ready to attack. We were outnumbered nearly ten to one; it might have been a fair fight if they had double the troops.
I reached the blade behind him and poked into his back at another spot and he drank breath like a man dying of thirst. He breathed heavily and I let him. When he calmed I said, “You will give me troops or you will die.”
He nodded, his eyes still so wide I could see my reflection in them. I rose and stood over him before putting my blades away.
“Now, where is your beautiful wife?”
2
The morning came too quickly. I had found a stash of wine that a servant girl of Fischer’s had snuck to me; then the servant girl and Fischer’s wife and I had stayed up all night drinking nude and fornicating and running about the castle. His wife was the drunkest, and at one point urinated on one of their finest imported rugs like a madwoman. She so effortlessly betrayed him with such glee that I knew I wasn’t the first. That’s what happens when wives are forced into marriages for political reasons.
In the morning I looked over the troops we would be commandeering and sent them back to Zeries with one of the Royal Guard. My father would be pleased. We, on the other hand, headed on to the port city of Yul.
The morning was cool and I could see the dew glistening on the leaves as we passed by the forest. But the trees soon thinned and we were left with mountainous terrain and then sultry desert as we approached the shore. I ate little on the trip as the previous night’s revelry had drained my appetite, but I took water and at one point Elfred forced me to eat some bread with cheese.
“I swear you’re worse than my nursemaid,” I said.
“I used to take you over my knee when you were a child—I was the only one permitted to do so— in the hopes that I could expunge the intricacies I saw developing in your soul.”
“A soul, Elfred? You never struck me as a religious man.”
“Oh we do indeed have a soul, my young prince. And every soul is as unique as every mountain is unique and just as grand … but I’m afraid for your soul, Lucius. I pray for you every night.”
He had never spoken so endearingly to me and it made me pause. I couldn’t think of anything to say so I just sat quietly as he looked out the window and watched the passing trees as the overpowering smell of sea salt began to overtake us.
“I suppose,” he said, “I should be grateful that Fischer’s wife survived the night.”
“I didn’t rape her, despite what that pig says. She was mostly unconscious that first night but she was more than willing. As she was last night.”
He didn’t say anything and didn’t look at me so I leaned back in the seat and looked out the windows until we arrived at Yul.
It was an interesting city. The people were little more than sheep but they’d built an entire city on the water so they could more efficiently build their ships. And what amazing ships they were. I’d been in several and they glided over the water so smoothly it was as if we were floating on clouds.
I came out of the carriage and stretched and waited for Elfred to step out as well. We went into the city and the people were clapping and welcoming us. Prior to the Empire annexing the city, this port was constantly attacked by pirates, and at one point had been little more than a pirate city. My grandfather had attacked the city and hung all the pirates and city elders that had collaborated with them. Many fled on ships and he had them hunted down. It took three years to kill the last one, but it was something he was devoted to. I recall him telling my father that not a single one could survive to hold bitterness in his heart toward the realm.
The sun was bright now and the coolness of the morning had turned to the heat of the afternoon. We stopped at the inn we would be staying at and I went inside and slept. I don’t know for how long, but it was still daylight when I awoke. I bathed and ate and then went out to speak to the guards.
As I was speaking to one, I caught a scent behind me. It resonated within me, like a musical note. I turned and saw one of the most exquisite creatures I had ever seen. Her hair was like fine silk and eyes the shape of almonds.
“And who are you?” I asked.
“My name is Aysta, M’lord. I am a servant of the Lady Margaret. I simply wanted to meet you.”
We spoke for some time and every word made me want her the more. She was confident and unafraid of me. Though she supplicated to me and used all the proper terms of respect, I sensed something within her that told me she cared nothing for my station. She was … intoxicating.
As Lady Margaret took her to gather her things and join me in the inn, I watched her walk away. She glanced back once, a grin on her slender face before turning back.
And I knew I would have her.
SLESH OF ULRIK
I was near Yul and felt that my stomach would turn on itself and begin eating my organs. I had not eaten now for two days and I somewhat wished it would flip inside-out so the intense pain would go away. It was not even close to the longest I had gone without food, but it’s odd how quickly your body forgets hardship when it has had abundance.
I had been to Yul before, when I left on the Savage Sea and landed in the Darklands.
Horses were allowed only as far as the stables and I went and gave mine to a stable boy.
“That will be two nesters per day,” he said.
“I’ll pay you when I come back to get it.”
I walked away and went to the nearest tavern and sat down. A woman—they were not called wen
ches here—came and asked what I wanted. I had only two coins left and I took them and placed them on the table.
“As much food as that will buy. And plenty of water.”
She took the coins and went back and ordered something for me with the cook. I was leaning back in the seat when she brought out a mug of water and I drank it down so quickly most of it spilled down my chest.
I wasn’t paying attention but something familiar was in my vision. I looked over … and saw the woman who had nearly broken my jaw the other night.
In the daylight I saw how beautiful she was. Almost as beautiful as Emma. She stood up and went to go outside and some ruffian grabbed her wrist and said something to her. In movements that looked like a blur, she broke his wrist, his arm, then his shoulder, and flung him into a chair. It happened so quickly the man couldn’t even scream because the pain hadn’t hit him yet when she had already left.
The food came out and I asked the woman, “Who was that?”
She shrugged. “Some servant of the prince I would figure.”
I froze. “Kandarian is here?”
“Yes, he’s staying over there at the inn.”
I sat staring at the food but suddenly couldn’t eat. I knew I should, so I snapped to attention and forced myself to shove the food down my throat, but my eyes stayed on the inn across the street.
When the food was done I had another mug of water and then rose and went to the group of men who were sitting there. I found the one with the injured arm. He was getting drunk, his arm laying useless on the table.
“You need an apothecary my friend,” I said.
“Sod off,” he mumbled.
“I can see part of the bone sticking out of the wrist. If that festers, you will die.”
“What do you care?”
“I just don’t like needless suffering, I guess.” I looked out the door. “That woman moved like a cobra.”
“Fuck her, and fuck you too.”
Another man, one with a white beard and a prodigious belly, said, “Leave him alone, Gel.” He turned to me. “My name is Tel, and this one-armed fool is my brother. What is it you want, friend?”
“I was just being friendly is all. I’m new here and was seeing if you knew of any ways to earn some coin.”
“The prince is here, if you haven’t heard—prince or whatever the hell they told us to call him. Whore son of a letch seems to fit well.”
A chuckle from the other men.
“Is he hiring for something?” I said.
“Hiring good sailors and mercenaries. But it’s to go to the Darklands. Suicide if you ask me but it’s a well paid suicide.”
“Are you going?”
“We were, but now I don’t know if my brother will be able.”
“So you’re in need of a man?”
He thought a moment. “I suppose we are.”
“I’m fine,” Gel said.
His brother responded, “You couldn’t hold your cock to piss, you damn fool. You’re staying here.”
“How much is the pay?” I said.
“One sester per day.”
“Really? That’s quite a payday.”
“He wants the best and the best motivated. Can you hold a sword or sail?”
“I can do both.”
“You’re hired then. We signed on for five men and I don’t want to tell that one-eyed giant bastard that we’re short one man.”
“When do we leave?”
“Two days time the ships will be ready. We’re staying down the city some near the piers. You can get a room with us if you like.”
“I appreciate that, Tel. Thank you.”
I walked outside after agreeing to meet them that night at the inn and stood in the sunlight and watched the men across the street. They parted and I saw a man in crimson and gold robes. He looked at me and then away and I knew who he was.
He was a dead man.
AYSTA
That night I went to the inn and was given a suite next to the prince’s. It was a large chamber with fine rugs and antique weapons up on the walls. I lay on the hefty bed and it was like lying on sand. I closed my eyes, not for sleep, but to rest and realign my thoughts. The prince would be in the next room. He would be a few steps away from me, asleep, lying like a baby in a crib. Lying as my sister had lain in her bed before she had been violently ripped away.
It wasn’t long before night fell but I was still in the bed. I was waiting for a knock. Or perhaps he wouldn’t knock? Perhaps he would barge in drunk like an animal and I would slit his throat and tell him of my sister and my mother and my father as he gazed up at me, trying to hold his blood back with his fingers.
But there was no barging and there was no knock. It came as a soft whisper.
“Aysta, are you awake?”
I rose and opened the door. The prince stood there. He hadn’t changed much in all these years, and every time I saw him was like a blow to my stomach and I had to keep from vomiting. If I allowed myself, I would have shaken so violently I couldn’t move. So I emptied my mind and spoke softly.
“My Prince, I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I’m sure you have. May I enter?”
“Of course.”
He brushed past me. His shoulder touched mine lightly and a wave of nausea went through me. He walked to the window and looked out over the ocean and the little sparkles of lantern light that the ships held as they approached the docks.
“I’ve never held much fascination with nature. Volumes of poetry have been written about the sea but I don’t know why. It’s a bath. A bath that wants nothing more than to kill us.”
“My people believe we are to live in harmony in nature. By doing so, we take away its desire to harm us.”
“Really? And do your people not die? Do they not get eaten by beasts and stung by creatures with poisoned blood? Do storms not wipe them from life as if they had never been here?”
“They do, My Prince, but it is the will of nature should she do so. It is her right.”
“Her right to kill us?”
“Yes, My Prince. She is the giver of life and the taker. It is her decision to make.”
He was silent a moment. “The giver and the taker….” He inhaled deeply and let it out as he sat down on the sill and watched the people walking along the city street below. “You will have to do things for me. Uncomfortable things. For some reason I don’t think you will be the type of person to let me hurt you. But you will help me hurt others. I need that and there can be no debate if you wish to serve me.”
“Your will is my desire, My Prince.”
“I … lead a lonely life. I would like someone to share it with me. But it is a jungle of terrors. Will you be able to tolerate such a place?”
“I tolerate what you tolerate, M’lord.”
He nodded and rose. Looking me up and down, he smiled sadly and walked out.
I had a restless night’s sleep and woke with my head aching and my back screaming from the pain of sleeping in a soft bed. It was not something I had had … well, ever.
I stood and looked out the window as the sun was coming. I then washed my face and went to the clothing Lady Margaret had given me and dressed in a pink and yellow patterned dress and slipped into my jeweled sandals. I stepped outside and heard commotion downstairs so I went down and found guards and maidens and assistants and stable boys all eating and drinking in the tavern. I ate some ostrich eggs and fried horse with water and sat in the corner by myself. The Royal Guards were drinking but I could see that it wasn’t ale. It was some sort of juice of berry.
The men were drunkards but they had enough wherewithal to not get slobbering drunk in the morning as their duty was to protect the prince.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and a cold disgust went through me as I knew who it was. Kandarian sat across from me and smiled. The weakness he had shown me last night was no longer there. Now he was arrogant, discussing the conquests he’d had in bed and on the battlefield.
Most of the day was spent following Kandarian around and taking notes on parchment of whatever it was he wished to remember. At one point he had me negotiate with a merchant over the price of some salted meat he wanted for the journey. When I was done I found the prince and he smiled and said, “I knew you were more than a maiden. You got him down to half of what he quoted me.”
“Men are simple,” I said. “They respond to fear and to lust and nothing else.”
“Really? And what did you use?”
“I simply reminded him of your power, M’lord, and of what benefit it was to him to make a few coins today when he could lose everything tomorrow.”
“Threats without threatening. Truly an art form reserved to the female sex.”
As the day was winding down word was received that the ships would be ready that night. We had four of them and Kandarian informed me that I would be on his ship along with the most trusted of his guards. He then went down to the docks at the last of daylight to watch the deckhands working, and as we watched them I saw a man I knew.
At first I didn’t recognize him, but then I knew exactly who he was: the assassin who had tried to take Lady Margaret’s life.
He smiled at me and winked.
2
I waited until well past nightfall before going to the docks and watching the last few men load the ships with what supplies were left. The assassin was there. Perhaps assassin was not the right word. It granted too much dignity to a man who sneaks into a woman’s bedroom at night. Perhaps he was a simple rapist looking for a night’s violent pleasure? It did not matter. He would not get another opportunity on Lady Margaret’s life.
Empire of War - An Epic Fantasy (The Empire of War Trilogy Book 1) Page 11
