by R A Oakes
“Does she know this?”
“No. If I said that to her, she’d just say that threatening to kill myself is way out of line. So I keep it to myself.”
Farther up inside the same stairwell Balder had come down, Andrina listened to all of this, both the argument between Chen and Lord Pensgraft as well as the conversation between Lord Pensgraft and Balder.
After sitting down on a step, she quietly prayed, “Oh, god, if there is a god, don’t let Chen tell this man she doesn’t love him. For if she does, all is lost.”
Andrina was a realist. Her desperation wasn’t based on frivolous romance. Destructive forces were moving in the east, and those loyal to Lord Stallington would need every ounce of their strength and discipline. A split between Lord Pensgraft and Chen would create a wound that would slice through them all.
The older warrior woman thought, Love might seem trivial to some, but such intangibles are what real foundations are built upon. Destroying the illusion could destroy the fragile beginning of our hopes to reclaim the kingdom.
Dread entered her heart. This young mother, Andrina’s “daughter,” held the fate of them all in her hands.
Andrina thought, Bringing a baby into the world can be an act of hope. But it can also be a catalyst for destruction.
In the near future, Dylancia would prove to be both.
Chapter 15
King Tarlen’s ranch. A little later the same day.
Wanting to be ready for anything unexpected, Captain.
Polaris was checking the ranch’s defenses carefully. Since revealing Tarlen’s true identity, the king and his men were spending more time at Skybrook Castle. However, with over 200 warhorses at the ranch, it was a big operation and continued to require a great deal of time and effort.
In one aspect in particular, King Tarlen’s warhorses were unique. Even if they were not being ridden, the horses were trained to attack the enemy on their own. Most people had heard of attack dogs, but attack horses were something that caught almost everyone by surprise, even Chen.
Shortly after her argument with Lord Pensgraft, Black Scarlet, feeling particularly aggravated, saddled her warhorse and rode out of Skybrook Castle without an escort. But she wasn’t alone for long.
Gwendylln and 20 warrior women ran to their stallions and gave chase. They didn’t want Black Scarlet riding anywhere without their protection. But they also knew better than to imply that Chen needed bodyguards and couldn’t defend herself. Doing so would have been enough provocation for Chen to set them straight, just as she’d done with Lord Pensgraft.
Therefore, these battle-hardened women on warhorses pretended to just be out for a ride. It was the toughest looking group of women most men had ever seen, and their idea of a leisurely ride was to gallop at a breakneck pace across the fields as if they were charging after an enemy. Chen’s warrior women liked to keep in practice because living in a male-dominated world meant that, in one way or another, every day was an uphill battle.
Eventually, they caught up with Chen when she stopped a few hundred yards away from King Tarlen’s ranch. Black Scarlet never went closer to the ranch without permission. She respected the compound for what it was, a fortress filled with men just looking for an excuse to start a fight. Chen thought, After 30 years of being in hiding, who can blame them?
Black Scarlet admired their emotional extremism. Feelings running at peak intensity were normal for Chen, but it was nice to have someone on her level for a change, at least partly on her level.
Chen was a firm believer in cold objectivity, but she also had a dual personality that was difficult to replicate. She could be wildly emotional, which she controlled through clinical detachment. Even if filled with blinding rage, a part of her brain remained aloof, as if observing herself from a distance. It’s what her warrior women referred to as dispassionate passion. Next, as her anger subsided, an ice maiden emerged. At alternating intervals, Chen could be both explosively mercurial and coldly objective, and she could jump from one to the other in the blink of an eye. Which was the real Chen? She was both, which was two too many for most people.
Yet above all, Chen was a survivor. Should the warrior woman appear to be defeated, it would be wise not to count on it. Only death could gain victory over Chen, and some weren’t too sure about that.
As Gwendylln rode up alongside of her, Chen asked in a suspicious, hard-edged tone, “So where are you headed?”
“Nowhere in particular. We just thought we’d take our horses out for a run,” Gwendylln said feigning innocence.
Shaking her head in resignation, Black Scarlet glanced back at the ranch and was pleased to see the king riding out to greet them.
“Beautiful day,” King Tarlen said upon reaching the warrior women. Tarlen was a bit older than Lord Pensgraft, though not as tall or well-muscled. Lord Pensgraft was easily 50 or 60 pounds heavier than the king. But Tarlen, at six-feet- tall and over 200 pounds, was physically powerful in his own right and good looking, very good looking.
The women all had their eyes on him. More than a few lamented that he was engaged. The king took his relationship with Genevieve seriously, however, and didn’t even look at other women. Chen’s warriors admired his self-discipline, and it made them want him even more. But had Tarlen wanted them in return, they would have respected him less.
These were the kind of seemingly contradictory female impulses that drove men crazy, but made perfect sense to women.
King Tarlen didn’t notice their interest in him, or at least appeared not to. Yes, his eyes were bright with excitement, but not over them. He was all wound up over his horses.
The women sighed and even felt a little insecure over his indifference to their beauty. Then, they noticed the king’s eyes flick ever so quickly in the direction of Chen’s bottom and thighs. It was just for an instant, but the women found it reassuring. It pleased them that even King Tarlen couldn’t totally resist their master. He wanted her, they decided, just as all men did. However, it appeared that Tarlen had the strength to keep himself under control, which was vital in a leader. Before he could conquer others, he had to first conquer himself. All of this was very noble, they felt, as long as it didn’t go too far. When his eyes had strayed momentarily to Black Scarlet, the glance provided the slightest hint of human weakness and made her warrior women like him even more.
King Tarlen’s appreciative glance hadn’t gone unnoticed by Chen. She, too, admired his strength and self-discipline, up to a point. However, the warrior woman wanted her beauty to give her power over him. She just didn’t want him doing anything about it in return.
“Would you consider assisting me with our war games?” King Tarlen asked.
Gwendylln thought, These two should get along fine. He’s talking about war, and that’s Chen’s favorite topic.
“Sure,” Chen smiled.
“You know about our warhorses, don’t you? How we train them to attack even when riderless?”
“Yes, they’re big attack dogs.”
“Basically,” King Tarlen laughed.
“How can we help?”
“We need some of your warhorses to ride past the ranch, ones that ours are unfamiliar with.”
“You want us to provoke them?”
“Yes. Just a few of you riding by would do it.”
“How many of your horses would be chasing us?”
“I’ll let ten out of their corrals, and they’ll be grazing in the field not far from the bunkhouses. I’d suggest that you ride by with no less than five warriors. That way, my horses will have a variety of targets to go after, and you’ll all share the risk.”
“So, we’re the bait.”
“Yes, but after they chase you for a while, my men will ride between you and our warhorses and get them to return to the ranch.”
“Sounds simple enough.”
“Well, there’s the little matter of these warhorses being trained not just to attack but to kill. If any of them should succeed in catching
up to you, things could get rough.”
“I thought your men were going to intercept them.”
“Well, that’s the plan, but there’s always the chance that one could slip by.”
“Are you saying that you want us to participate in war games where someone could actually get hurt or killed?”
“It’s possible, but hopefully things won’t get that out of control.”
“This could prove to be really dangerous, couldn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, no problem, count us in,” Chen smiled.
Gwendylln just shook her head. The warrior woman knew what was coming next, even if King Tarlen didn’t.
After Tarlen rode back to his ranch, Chen and her warrior women watched as the warhorses were released from their corrals. The animals grazed contentedly for a few minutes, and then Black Scarlet said, “Gwendylln, come with me. The rest of you stay here.”
Gwendylln thought, I knew it!
Black Scarlet nudged her warhorse and galloped towards the ranch with her scarlet cape blowing in the wind. Gwendylln rode behind her thinking, Well, you can’t live forever.
When Chen and Gwendylln were around 200 yards from the ranch, King Tarlen’s warhorses looked up. Enraged by what they saw, they snorted in anger, their nostrils flaring, and leapt towards the intruders.
Rather than veering away from the furious animals, Chen rode right at them and shouted, “Let’s close the gap a bit and make this a real horse race!”
“Good idea,” Gwendylln shouted back, but to herself she thought, Here we go again. Chen’s going to push this to the brink and won’t be happy until she does.
With that, Gwendylln put aside all concern for personal safety and threw herself totally into the race. Grimly determined, she rode hard and caught up to her thrill-seeking master.
Black Scarlet leaned forward and shouted to her horse, “Let’s give ‘em hell, boy! Let’s show ‘em who’s boss!”
Her warhorse responded to the challenge and surged ahead. This was no ordinary warhorse. This was Zenithstar, a horse with incredible endurance. However, a year ago, during a race over Crystal Mountain, Chen had chased down Zenithstar’s owner and killed him. Zenithstar hated Chen for that, but Lord Pensgraft had worked with the noble beast over the last 12 months and had won the animal’s trust.
Zenithstar was highly intelligent and could tell that Chen was special to Lord Pensgraft. The warhorse served Chen as a favor to the giant, but Zenithstar hadn’t given up on his desire for vengeance. For her part, Black Scarlet felt that most people were already out to get her and had no problem straddling the back of an enemy. In fact, it was almost a comfort knowing her horse hated her. It made the animal more predictable. Chen understood hatred. What confused her was kindness.
Zenithstar was extremely competitive, so the warhorse rode dangerously close to King Tarlen’s animals, holding them in contempt. Then, he turned hard and swerved directly in their path, coming so close that dirt and grass torn up by his hooves sprayed into the faces of the rival warhorses.
Zenithstar despised Chen, but in one way they were a lot alike. They both loved danger.
When Chen sensed that her warhorse was totally committed to the race, she dropped Zenithstar’s reins and gave him control. The warrior woman thought, Now, let’s see what he can do.
When Zenithstar realized he’d been given free rein, it occurred to him that he could use this opportunity to kill Chen. All he’d have to do was stumble, throwing Chen from the saddle, and the rival warhorses would trample her to death.
There was just one problem. Zenithstar liked to win. So, he put his hatred of Black Scarlet out of his mind and focused on running the other warhorses into the ground.
King Tarlen and ten of his men were farther out in the field waiting as Chen and Gwendylln rode towards them. The king had heard of Black Scarlet’s confrontational style, but this was the first time he’d witnessed her courage personally.
“Can you believe it? She let go of her reins,” King Tarlen marveled.
“She’s a tough one,” the warrior nearest to him said in admiration.
“Be still my heart,” another warrior said.
Not all men were frightened of intelligent, aggressive women. Some respected such women above all others.
King Tarlen and his men watched in surprise as Chen and her warhorse veered away from them.
“She doesn’t want our help,” the king observed.
“Yes, but are you willing to tell Lord Pensgraft that our horses killed his wife, but that it wasn’t our fault?” one of his men asked.
“No, that’s not my first choice for how I’d want to end my life,” Tarlen laughed.
So, King Tarlen and his men nudged their warhorses and the chase was on.
Although Chen and Zenithstar had succeeded in putting some distance between themselves and the ranch’s attack horses, the animals were getting closer to Gwendylln and her black stallion. When Zenithstar saw that, he spun around and ran interference for Gwendylln coming so close to the other warhorses that Chen could have reached out and touched one.
Zeroing in on the fastest horse, Zenithstar brushed past him as a personal challenge. Taking the bait, the animal quit pursuing Gwendylln and went after Zenithstar with a vengeance.
Swinging off to the right, Gwendylln and her stallion drew most of the rival warhorses away from Black Scarlet and headed for the king and his men who were gaining ground.
However, Zenithstar and the fastest rival warhorse leapt past all the others, and the race went on for miles with neither animal gaining an advantage over the other. Zenithstar still felt fresh and was ready for more, but it turned out that Chen had other plans.
To Zenithstar’s dismay, Black Scarlet again took control of the reins pulling back on them, and though the horse wondered what she was up to, he obeyed and slowed down.
When the other warhorse pulled up alongside of them, Chen did the unexpected. She leapt from Zenithstar onto the back of the rival warhorse taking the animal completely by surprise. After a few seconds, the horse realized what happened and went wild. It started bucking furiously and spun about in an effort to throw the intruder off its back, but Chen gripped onto the horse’s mane tightly with both hands.
King Tarlen was far ahead of his men by the time he caught up to Chen. Alarmed by what was happening, he thought, Doesn’t she realize the danger she’s in? Didn’t she believe me when I warned her that these horses would try to kill her?
However, Black Scarlet knew how much danger she was in and loved it!
Being spun around in circles, while being bucked up and down, was a thrilling experience for her. But the warhorse, being almost as devious as Chen, kept tossing the warrior woman into the air while waiting for a chance to sneak out from under her. The warhorse hoped to have Black Scarlet hanging by her hands from its mane with her feet dragging on the ground.
With all the strength it could muster, the warhorse jumped, putting all four feet together and projecting its entire body into the air while arching its back in an upward curve driving the unwanted rider even higher into the sky. Over and over, the animal sprang up and down attempting to dislodge the intruder. Then, the warhorse tried bucking with just its hind legs while snapping its rump into the air like a catapult. It did this again and again, but nothing seemed to work.
Unfortunately for the warhorse, Chen possessed incredible athletic ability, and her goal was to keep straddling the animal’s upper back and shoulders, which was a spot that was a lot more stable than its rump.
During some situations, time loses all meaning, and riding a horse that’s out to kill you is one of them. So much happens in such a short period of time that what’s taking place is of greater significance than how long it takes.
Thus far, Chen managed to stay on the crazed horse for almost a minute, in spite of the fact that the enraged animal had bucked her into the air at least 20 times, any one of which could have resulted in her death.
Anyway, Chen preferred to live life solely in the present moment for in the violent world in which she lived, one’s life expectancy was always an unknown variable.
So, as the enraged warhorse did its best to buck Chen off its back, she did her best to enjoy herself. However, eventually she did begin to feel dizzy. But right about then, King Tarlen rode up beside her and encouraged her to leap onto his horse. She was ready to get off, but obeying the king made it easier to do so. Black Scarlet didn’t want it to look like she couldn’t handle herself under extreme circumstances, even though she’d just done the impossible by riding a crazed, wild animal without getting thrown.
Jumping off the bucking animal, Chen landed directly behind Tarlen and wrapped her long arms around the king’s waist, but the crazed horse was relentless and kept coming after them. The king realized the animal was going purely on instinct and wouldn’t give up until one or the other of them was dead.
However, at this point, the rival warhorse made a serious mistake. It bit the king on his left thigh and drew blood. Instantly, claws slid out of King Tarlen’s fingers, and his shirt ripped across the back revealing huge muscles covered with long fur.
Chen was stunned. She’d heard of the Tiger of Dominion Castle, and even about how Tarlen had recently transformed into a tiger, but she hadn’t fully believed it, at least until now.
To her total amazement, an 800-pound tiger was sitting in front of her, but their warhorse couldn’t carry such a weight and began to stumble. However before it did, the Tiger of Dominion Castle leapt onto the rival warhorse, straddling the animal’s back, and then sank his claws, just a little, into the horse’s flesh as both a warning and to help him hang on, and roared into its ear. That got the rival warhorse’s attention.
