His Dark Empire (Tears of Blood)

by Forbes, M. R.

  "Silas?"

  She did hear him.

  "We need to get out of here. Robar will either give us up, or they will kill the minstrels and burn everything they own to make sure they aren't hiding us somewhere. Can you get out?"

  "Let me ask you again," the soldier said. "Where are they?"

  Robar's voice was more panicked. "I told you, we haven't seen the fugitives. Killing my people won't make that any less true."

  "Silas, mine's stuck too," Eryn whispered.

  Silas considered bashing against the platform, but they would be caught for sure. "Your Curse," he said. "Can you use it to open the lock?"

  "I don't know. I'll try."

  Silas heard more shuffling feet; the rest of the minstrel troupe being brought before the commander.

  "I'll ask you one more time, before I kill another minstrel," the commander said. "I know they're here, or were here. There was a messenger who survived an attack on one of our camps. He met us on the road to Elling. He distinctly remembers seeing a dappled mare in the field nearby. Keep that in mind when you answer my question. Where are they?"

  Silas choked on his breath. He had overlooked the horse. Robar, his wife, and the rest of the minstrels were going to die, and it was all his fault. It didn't matter what they said, because they had already lied. They couldn't and wouldn't be trusted.

  "Eryn?"

  She didn't answer.

  "Eryn?"

  They needed to get out, now.

  "Okay," Robar said. "The fugitive, Silas Morningstar, came into our camp. He demanded a horse. He threatened to kill my wife there. We had no choice." His voice was filled with fear.

  "Eryn?"

  She didn't answer. He had no choice but to try to break his way out. He closed his eyes and tried to coil as much force as he could into his body before he shoved against the seat.

  "And he brought the horse back?" the commander asked.

  "I... uh... I... we were sleeping," Robar said. "He must have returned with it in the middle of the night."

  Silas heard a small click. He released his tense body, and pushed lightly on the seat. It shifted up. She had done it! He pushed it open as slowly as he dared, and was greeted by a pair of brown eyes peering in.

  "Silas?"

  "Shhh.." Silas said. "We're going to have to fight our way out."

  Eryn held up her bow. "I'm ready."

  "Two more questions for you, minstrel," the commander said outside the carriage. "One, why didn't you tell me this the first time I asked? Two, why would he take your horse, and then return it?"

  Silas climbed out of the hidden compartment, lifting the sword behind him. He leaned forward, and inched away the curtain covering their view of the outside. He saw the back of Robar and Sena's heads and the commander of the soldiers in front of them, a bloody knife in hand. The other three minstrels were being held by soldiers, who were flanked by three more soldiers on horseback.

  Silas motioned for Eryn to give him the bow. She passed it over, and then drew an arrow from her quiver and handed it to him. He notched it and drew it back before using the tip to push the curtain aside once more.

  "Well?" the commander asked. He walked over to one of the captives and put the knife to her throat. "I expect you'll have a reasonable answer."

  "Please," Robar said. "She's done nothing. I... I let him take the horse. I... just kill me instead. You're going to kill me anyway. There's no point for you to kill her too."

  He put his face right up to the female minstrel, and then looked at Robar. "You're right," he said. "Take her back to the others. We'll bring these three to the mines."

  The three bards began to struggle at that, but the soldiers held them tight.

  "We have to do something," Eryn whispered.

  "No, we have to wait. The mines are a better fate than what will await them if we show our hand right now."

  The soldiers pulled the minstrels away, leaving the commander and the three on horseback. The lead soldier approached Robar again.

  "This is for lying," he said.

  He turned, his dagger headed for Sena's throat.

  The force from the arrow that pierced his shoulder pushed him off course and made him to drop the knife before it could reach her. He cursed in pain and surprise, grabbing for the shaft at first, and then thinking the better of it and going for his sword.

  The hesitation and indecision was all Silas needed to pull open the carriage door, drop the bow, grab his sword, and jump out. He shoved Robar and Sena apart with his shoulders, and stabbed the soldier in the gut.

  "You should have just left," he said to the man.

  The men on the horses began to shout, drawing their swords. A few seconds later, another arrow came through the window of the carriage, hitting one of them in the neck and knocking him from his horse.

  "You need to get out of here," Silas said, pushing Robar in the direction of their horses.

  He ran towards the vacant charger and jumped, his foot catching the stirrup and helping him slide easily into the saddle. He wheeled the horse with confidence, pointing it towards the other two soldiers while another arrow flew out from the carriage. It missed its target, but it was enough of a distraction to give Silas time to reach the man and easily slip his guard, planting the point of his own blade between a pair of ribs.

  The remaining horseman spurred his own charger forward, sword out to his right and angling for the kill. Silas brought his own blade around, and they met in a sharp clash of metal. The Mediator's sword broke the other into pieces, the force of the impact leading the shining blade right through the soldier's neck. Both head and body tumbled from the horse and onto the grass.

  "Eryn, it's time to go," Silas shouted. "Robar, take your wife and ride. Head east past the villages and make your way to the Killorn Mountains. They won't follow you."

  "What about the others?" he asked. "They're musicians, not miners."

  "I'm sorry. I truly am. We can't help them right now."

  Robar grabbed Sena's hand and started running for their horses. The rest of the soldiers who had waited near the road were headed their way. Eryn popped out of the carriage, her bow and quiver across her back. Silas rode towards her, leaning over.

  "Give me your arm," he said. She reached up and he took hold of her, pulling hard to bring her up behind him. "Hold on tight."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Eryn

  The horse spun around, Silas turning it west towards the Baden. Eryn wondered why he was going that way. Would they be able to cross the river on the horse?

  She wrapped her arms around him and held on as tight as she could. She couldn't help but notice the rough edge of the scar he had hidden under his shirt, and she nearly let go out of surprise at the feel of it. She caught herself in time, and focused on staying on the horse with him as it galloped through a small copse of brush and down the riverbank.

  The soldier's horses were well trained, and the charger didn't even slow when it reached the river, instead plunging right in. They were lucky to have come down in a somewhat shallow spot, and the water didn't rise above the horses flanks.

  The short time it took them to get through the river felt like an eternity. Eryn looked back, seeing the rest of the soldiers about to join them at the bank. There were at least ten of them, all mounted on similar steeds.

  The west side of the river wasn't much different from the east. The bank sloped gently upward to a small outcropping of brush and trees, where it regained a second road that ran north to south on the west side. They galloped straight over it, and headed into a large, open field where the soldiers would have too easy of a time with their bows.

  "They're going to shoot us out here," she said. This was all too much like the first time she had run.

  Except Silas wasn't Roddin.

  "You're right," he agreed, pulling on the reins and bringing the horse to a stop.

  "What are you doing?" she asked.

  "Get an arrow ready. It doesn't matte
r if you hit anything, it's just to keep them on guard."

  He turned the horse around, and started racing towards them.

  "Are you crazy?" she cried. She grabbed an arrow from her quiver and put it to the bowstring, holding onto the horse with the strength of her thighs. She was surprised by how smooth its gait was at this speed, and that it wasn't as hard to aim as she had expected.

  "Now," Silas yelled.

  She let go of her arrow, and watched it sail past one of the soldiers, barely grazing his shoulder. Even so, it gave him enough pause that his horse lost a step, and his own shot went way over their heads. The rest of the soldiers didn't fare much better, their aim altered by the surprise attack.

  Their passing was a ring of steel, and a blur, but Eryn heard the grunt, and when she looked back she saw one of the soldiers fall from his horse.

  "Again," Silas said, bringing the horse around in a tight turn. The soldiers had to maneuver around each other to get in position, and it left them at a disadvantage.

  Silas killed two more on the second pass, the shining sword he held striking like the mouth of a snake, and taking deep bites through the soldiers' armor, their lone horse making for a difficult and agile target as he maneuvered it with his heels like he had ridden all of this life.

  He slowed on the third pass, putting them in the middle of the scrum, creating a barrier that forced the soldiers to switch to their swords if they didn't want to risk hitting one another. Eryn didn't need to be so careful, and of the remaining six arrows she had, two of them found flesh.

  Silas was an expert with the blade, using it first in his left hand, and then tossing it with precision to his right to attack from the other side, all while their own charger continued to wheel and prance through the melee. The make of the weapon also proved a tremendous asset, tearing through the shirts of metal chain the soldiers wore as if it were no more than simple cloth.

  Silas had dispatched all but two of his solders when they turned and fled, headed south down the road. He stayed the horse and watched them go until they vanished over the horizon. Then he dismounted.

  "What are you doing?" Eryn asked, jumping off the horse behind him.

  "Trying to find someone my size," he replied. He looked back at her. "Someone your size too, if I can. We could also use some more arrows."

  He didn't need to ask. She ran to each of the bodies on the ground, taking the arrows she found, as well as their coin purses. She also discarded her homemade bow for one of theirs. A part of her was saddened to let go of one of the few pieces of her family she still possessed, but she knew they would want her to be practical, and the soldiers' bows were superior in every way.

  By the time she was done, she had sixteen arrows in her quiver, a new bow, a larger purse of coin, and little else. Silas had come away empty-handed. They were both too slight of build to make use of the more burly mens' armor.

  Finished scavenging, they stood at the edge of the road together, with Silas holding the reins of the warhorse.

  "Eryn, I..." he started to speak, but then paused, like he didn't know what to say. A few minutes ago he had been the most efficient and confident killer Eryn could imagine. Now he looked uncomfortable and ashamed.

  "Silas, where are you headed?" she asked.

  He looked at her, then towards the north. "I need to get to Elling," he said at last. "There are answers there, about who I am. But the main road isn't safe. Not before, and especially not after this. I'm going to head west, past the villages to the foothills of the Rushes. Then I'm going to go north to the sea. There are ships that sail inland to Elling Lake from there. I can probably trade this sword to be smuggled into the city by boat."

  "I need to get to Elling too," she said. "I need to learn. About him, about his empire. I need to learn how to fight. I need to learn about my Curse if I can, and practice controlling it. You saw what the blue stone could do, but my hand hurts every time I touch something to it." She turned her palm over, showing him the burn. "The Mediators, they're Cursed, and they know how to use it to do powerful things without passing out. That means it can be done. I need to learn other things too, simple things, like how much coins are worth. Life in Watertown was so different, and easy."

  She felt angry to have lost that life. She'd had her fill of crying though. She was going to survive.

  "I won't make it on my own," she said. "I could use your help."

  Silas didn't say anything. He just looked at her, as though weighing his options.

  "You know who I am," he said.

  She shook her head. "No. I know as much about who you were as you do. What I've seen of who you are? I've seen a man who is willing to die for a girl he never even met, and knew nothing about. You were at the camp, before I was. You were going to try to free those prisoners, whether I showed up or not. You protected me, and got me away when I was unconscious. You saved Robar and Sena back there, when you couldn't have known we would make it out alive."

  "I knew we wouldn't make it out alive if I didn't do anything."

  "You could have let the soldiers kill them, and waited for a better opportunity to escape. Silas, we are both headed to Elling. We should go there together."

  He looked at the ground, as if inspecting it for something while he considered her suggestion. Then his eyes rose to meet hers. "If you travel with me, you will need to learn to use a sword. You will need to learn to hunt. You will need to learn everything I can teach you to help you stay alive. You will do what I say, when I say it, not because you are my slave, but because I am trying to teach you. The path I am taking to Elling will take nearly the rest of the season, and it will not be an easy path. The soldiers will come for us. Outside of the Mediators, what you've seen so far have mostly been guards and road patrol. There are more accomplished members of his army, and they will be coming to try to do what their lesser brothers could not."

  He let go of the horse, and walked over to her, crouching down so they were at eye level.

  "There is a very real chance that one or both of us will not survive the next few weeks."

  "I understand," she said. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for taking me."

  She didn't know what kind of thoughts her kiss triggered in him, but Silas' eyes changed. It seemed to Eryn as if he was looking at somebody else.

  "If we ride hard, we can be at Sumbury by nightfall," Silas said. "The soldiers will know that too, so we'll have to keep going through the night. If we can reach the Rushes ahead of them, it will be easier for us to disappear."

  "What are the Rushes?" she asked.

  "You'll see when we get there." Silas climbed onto the horse, and then helped her up. "It's just as well the armor wouldn't fit. The horse will be able to go further without tiring if it isn't carrying all of the extra weight."

  They rode west.

  ***

  It was well into the night when they paused for the first time, having passed the village of Sumbury and left it far behind. They had both been upset to find it had been razed, and all of the inhabitants were either fled, taken to the mines, or killed. Silas had wrestled with the idea of resting there, in one of the buildings hollowed out by fire. In the end he had decided the soldiers might expect them to do that, making it unsafe.

  "Consider this your first lesson," Silas had said to her. "The best way to survive is to be unpredictable. That's why we defeated the soldiers back at the river. The last thing they expected was for us to charge. You had an excellent idea."

  She had been embarrassed by his praise. Especially since she didn't deserve it. She had only pointed out the obvious. "Is going to the Rushes unpredictable?" she asked.

  He had smiled. "Very."

  They had taken some vegetables from one of Sumbury's farms, and had eaten them while they rode. Now they were sitting in a field of tall, green reeds. It was a plant Eryn had never seen before, but the horse had taken an immediate liking to. She could tell Silas hadn't really wanted to stop moving, but their r
ide needed food and water too, and at least it provided good cover.

  "Silas, can I ask you something?" She was still a little nervous about speaking to him. He looked so intense most of the time, like he was just waiting for something to jump out at them.

  "You can ask me anything, Eryn."

  "When we were riding away from the minstrels. I had my arms wrapped around you. I felt... something rough? A scar?"

  Silas shifted onto his knees and lifted the front of his shirt, showing her the vicious wound. "I don't know where it came from," he said. "I don't even know how I could have survived it."

  Eryn couldn't believe the scar. It ran across his entire body, and was so jagged and rough it was as though he had been cut in half and sewn back together. "You really don't remember anything?"

  "Only what I told you. The only other thing I have is this." He took the note from Iolis out of his pocket and gave it to her. "It is a message that the Overlord sent to a Mediator named Roque. For some reason, the Overlord is afraid of me. He's afraid of what I'll recall. That's why I know I need to get to Elling. I'm hoping that if I can see him, I'll remember." He lowered his shirt, and sat back down with his legs crossed.

  Eryn read the note. "I don't know the word 'inebriation'," she said.

  "Drunk," Silas replied. "I spent the last ten years of my life drunk, all of the time. It was my way of forgetting about what I had done. To others, to my wife, to my son." He fell silent for a minute before continuing. "I would still be drunk, but the Constable of Root locked me up. I was going to turn in a Cursed, for the coin." He looked up at her. She knew he was waiting on her judgement.

  "But you didn't."

  "No. I tried to save him. That's what got me in trouble in the first place. I don't regret it. There are some things I don't understand though."

  "Like what?"

  "The Curse. The power of it. I saw what you did. Why didn't the prisoners try to use it to free themselves? And if it is so powerful, does he take the Cursed, or kill them, because he is afraid you would be powerful enough to overthrow him?"