“Speak for yourself, Helkree.”
Helkree whirled on Indie and gawked at her. “You want to be thrown in a stall for men to fill your belly over and over until it swells?”
“Not like that, no.” Indie huffed and then turned to Izanami. “I want to stay here. I will give the empire a strong child. The strongest.”
“You know Zurek can’t give you that child, right? If it worked like that all the Helcats would have little green-haired kids running around by now.” Helkree slammed her back against her chair and glowered at the table. “Indie’s okay with this horseshit, I guess.”
“As am I.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Helkree threw up her hands and stared at Hitomi.
Hitomi barely glanced at Helkree as she reclined in the chair along the wall. “I don’t like this any more than you, Hel, but I can’t stand the thought of going back. We’ve lost the bridge. We’ve lost two Helcats. If we go forward, we all die. If we go back, it’s surrender. If I have to bear children to keep what we’ve fought and died to claim, I will. I’m not losing anything else.”
“Well then you’re not going to like my next proposal, Hitomi.” Izanami cleared her throat as the others looked at her and waited. “We have still not discovered how Rellizbix breached our walls and they now know exactly where we’re at. Our disadvantage is currently too severe.
“We must abandon the fort.”
…
Torches illuminated the night sky as the remnants of the Greimere Empire gathered for Raegith’s speech. It had been nearly a week since they returned to Fort Augustus and the aftermath of a massacre. The men and women were tired and the children scared. Raegith still remembered the grueling task of burning all the headless bodies. They did not have the time or resources for individual burial rites. Some of his people threatened mutiny. Some had abandoned the empire in the middle of the night. In the end Raegith burned hundreds of his people in a mass funeral pyre and endured the curses of the living for this act.
Sickness gripped the Greimere’s heart, stealing their resolve away. Their faith in his leadership was shaken. They all eagerly awaited good news from their warlord, or at least some idea of what the future held for them.
Raegith stood atop a hastily built mound so that all could see him. His Helcats flanked him, along with the other members of his council and the generals.
“I know what you’re all wondering. I won’t draw this out for you with flowery talk.” Raegith paused to take a deep breath. “We’ve come to a fork in the path; we have only two options available to us. But I cannot make this decision for you. Not this one.
“We do not have the numbers to continue our assault on Rellizbix. We do not even have the numbers to remain here within this fort. Rellizbix knows where we are now and I would not see us caged inside walls our enemy built. As soon as we are able, I will lead us out of here and to a new home; one that we will build ourselves.”
The crowd murmurs grew at this and Brimgor had to bellow to quiet them. Raegith continued.
“Where that home is, however, will be up to you. We can go back across the Hell Cliffs. We can cross the barren waste, return to the Citadel and rebuild. We can make a society like our people have never seen before and live out our days in peace, away from the atrocities of Rellizbix.”
People began to boo and cry out at this.
“He did not run!” The voice of some Gimlet rose over the commotion with the rallying cry their kind had inexplicably taken up after the death of Ardyx.
Others, Gimlet and otherwise, parroted the cry before Raegith could continue.
“Or we can stay here. We can make this place our own and fight any incursion so brutally that no one crosses the river without paying a toll in blood by the gallons. But to do that will require sacrifice; one that is greater than any I have asked of you before.”
“We should stay.” Someone in the crowd yelled and others cheered him and added their approval of the second option.
“He did not run!”
Raegith raised his hands and motioned for them to settle. “If we stay, we breed. There it is. We need more warriors and without being able to pull from our old home, that means more children.
“I cannot ask this of you myself. But if you choose to stay, you agree to supply the empire with youth… and I will enforce that pact. We will change as a people. Our goal will swap from domination of Rellizbix to the proliferation of our people. Women will birth children and men will care for them. Get with your Generals and let them know where you stand. I will convene with them in the morning and then we will leave this place behind us forever.”
…
The next morning Raegith entered the main hall to greet his generals and learn what the empire had decided. Hitomi stepped forward, looked across the line of officers, and spoke.
“Grass-Hair, there was little debate among the people. The women, it would seem, could not be reasoned with. They will bear many children for the empire.”
A cough cut through the silence and Hitomi cocked her head to the side with annoyance. “Also, the Stone Seers have made their voices heard on this of all days. They, too, will abide by this new decree and add to the empire.”
Raegith noticed Ariadne tense at hearing this, but he ignored it. She did not have to worry; he would not force her to bear a Stone Seer’s child. He strode to where Brick stood.
Looking up into the Stone Seer’s opaque, rust-colored eyes, Raegith smiled. “Thank you.”
“We were not allowed to bear children under the laws of the Faeir Counsel. We are the ones who should be thanking you.” Brick bowed.
Raegith looked around the room. His people had voted to stay and fight. Their enduring faith in him cheered Raegith, but he feared the road ahead. A nagging part of him thought that the Greimere would abandon his conquest. He had prepared for the Greimere to return, but he would not give up his vengeance. During the night he had come to a resolution. If the Greimere decided to leave, he would abdicated his title to Hitomi and remain in Rellizbix. He would make his way to Thromdale, infiltrate the keep and plant the Greimere flag in his father’s corpse. Before they could execute him, he would make sure all of Rellizbix knew of the Caelum’s treachery and the Treaty. Maybe it would be enough to save his people from the Rellizbix retribution.
The Greimere had cast that future aside for him. He would have no easy path to vengeance this day. Raegith had an empire to rebuild.
“Behold the greatness of the Greimere,” Raegith shouted as he spread his arms wide and backed away from the line. “Our spirit cannot be drowned. Begin the preparations and someone bring me a map. We need to pick the new capital of the Greimere Empire.”
Freya burst through the door. “Grass-Hair, there is a problem. Rellizbix is already here.”
Raegith’s heart sank and Helkree roared, pulling her tomahawks free.
“What do you mean? How many?” Raegith tried to focus, but his mind strayed to how unprepared they were to defend against an assault.
“Not many. Maybe a dozen.”
The room went silent and Raegith stared blankly at Freya. “This isn’t really a good time to be fucking around, Freya.”
“I’m not kidding,” she replied. “They’re on a hill and they have hostages from my scout group. They’re flying a plain, white flag.”
“A truce?” Ariadne asked. “They’re asking for a diplomatic meeting.”
“They slaughtered children and now they want diplomacy?” Helkree walked up to Raegith. “Let me make flags from their skin.”
Raegith held his hand up for silence and tried to straighten things out in his head. “What kind of armor are they wearing? Do they have hammers like the one Belathid took?”
“I don’t fucking know,” Freya replied, throwing her hands up. “I didn’t hang out with them. I came straight here so we don’t get blindsided.”
“We take a small party. I don’t want to spook them into killing the hostages. When our scouts are
clear, you’re free to do what you please with them.” Raegith turned to Qufeng and Brimgor. “Come with me.”
“Let me come, as well.” Ariadne stepped forward. “My presence may put them at ease and you will want my skill to keep them alive for questioning.”
Helkree cast a sideways glance at the Mage. “… and so you can talk him out of flaying their flesh from the bone.”
Ariadne stood her ground before Helkree. “I am Greimere… and they put infants to the sword. I will simply avert my eyes.”
“We’ll see.” Helkree moved toward the door with the others following behind them.
Within the hour, Freya led the small group to a hill where Greimere scouts sat in bonds under the watchful gaze of a dozen strangely-dressed Twileens and Sabans. Sitting on a log, twirling an intricate long danger between his fingers, sat a muscular Twileen with a scarred face. Tattoos covered the man’s arms and a red bandana pulled back his chin-length, black hair. He barely regarded the approaching group.
None of them wore armor or held hammers like the one Belathid commandeered.
“Are you the leader here?” Raegith asked the tattooed man. “You don’t look like soldiers.”
“Loegaire gets that a lot. He’s not the leader of the Carrion Tide, though. I am.” A tall, blue-skinned Faeir woman stepped out from the shadows and pulled back the dark hood of her revealing black robe. Her navy hair billowed out from the hood like crashing waves. The thin material of her robe clung to her slender body and the plunging neckline revealed extensive tattooing of her own. She regarded all of those in Raegith’s group until her eyes settled on him.
“Grass-Hair, wait. I know of this woman.” Ariadne stared on in shock and she took a step behind him. “She is a heretic… a pock upon my kind. Her transgressions are the greatest affronts to the Elements in history. She is boundless evil; the Sea Bitch.”
“It’s a name intended to degrade me, I’m sure, but I’ve actually grown quite fond of it.” The Faeir woman bowed deeply in front of the group. “Hail Raegith Caelum, firstborn of Helfrick Caelum, scion of the great Throm Caelum and the true heir to Rellizbix. My name is Isadora, Queen of the Carrion Tide. The long-awaited pleasure of this meeting is all mine.”
Chapter 29
“So you’ve heard my claim from somewhere and thought to indulge me. I’m not impressed.” Raegith waved her off dismissively. “And you insult me with such a small group of guards. You should have brought more.”
Raegith signaled to Ariadne and both Brimgor and Helkree jerked into motion. He was not interested in being ambushed by Rellizbix’s new dishonorable strategies. He could find out what this group wanted once they were at his mercy.
In an instant a gust of wind blew the hostages away from the men holding them and sent them tumbling down the hill. Brimgor howled and charged at the tattooed Twileen as Raegith conjured flames around his fists.
As the two sides clashed, Isadora lifted her arms, drawing up an enormous, blue energy from the ground. Whipping her arms forward, they rippled like slack ropes and the blue energy followed, bowling into them. The force of the magic stole the feet out from under Brimgor and the others, slamming them into the ground. Only Raegith managed to cut through the wave, parting it around him with a hate-filled straight punch.
The Carrion Tide guards shot forward behind the wave, attacking the instant his group hit the ground. Raegith easily swatted aside the sword that came at him and clotheslined the man as he charged past. In an eye blink, Raegith reached Isadora and wrapped a flaming hand around her throat. Behind him the tattooed Twileen had a dagger to Brimgor’s throat and Helkree’s tomahawks had been kicked away from her hands.
“My, you are powerful,” Isadora said, grinning at Raegith with wild-eyes. “Please calm down, though. You’re making negotiations difficult.”
“I’m not negotiating. I’m killing Faeir; it’s what I do.” Raegith tightened his grip, making Isadora wince.
“It’s not what you used to do with Faeir, though. Is it?” Isadora’s hands shot to his wrist and her eyes rolled a bit as she struggled for breath. “Would Onyx even recognize you now?”
A chill spiked through his spine, splintering outward and stealing the warmth from his body. He loosened his grip, but kept his hand on her throat. “How do you-?”
“You weren’t impressed with my knowledge of your birthright? Fine. What if I named off the members of your little quest party Helfrick sent to their deaths in the Greimere twelve years ago?” Isadora wrenched his hand away from her neck and rubbed the bruises that had already formed. “Boram? Tavin? Hemmil and Zakk Hadrian? I was on the Counsel, Raegith, and I’m sure your pet Mage can verify that fact for you.”
“What does the Faeir Counsel want with me?” Raegith looked around at the men in strange garb holding his people at knifepoint. “How did you even get this far into my lands?”
“Please pay attention, Raegith. I was on the Counsel. Then I saw what they truly were, thanks indirectly to you.” Isadora ignored Raegith’s confused look and continued. “I can’t imagine you knew what was happening when you went beyond the Hell Cliffs. Helfrick may have signed the end of the Treaty, but it was the Counsel who gave him the idea. And when he waivered, it was the Counsel who made sure he stayed true. And when Pyrrhus returned with word news of your internment by the 9th, the Counsel had him executed before Helfrick could be told.”
Pain spiked through Raegith’s chest and his throat tightened. “Helfrick… waivered?”
“Liar! It was you who killed Pyrrhus.” Ariadne shouted from where the man held her.
“Who told you this, Mage? Was it the Counsel?” Isadora smirked at Ariadne before turning back to Raegith. “The Counsel had Pyrrhus executed alongside the road leading into Thromdale and they arranged for me to arrive at the very location to witness it… and so that I would have insufficient alibi when they pinned the crime on me.”
“Then you did not murder a Mage in the Crystalline Annex at Thromdale?” Ariadne countered. “You can swear to the Elements that you have not committed the ultimate atrocity?”
“I cannot swear that, no.” Isadora circled around Raegith as she spoke. Her gown swirled around her feet like the edges of a stream around a rock. “Neither the Counsel, nor I for that matter, expected my Stone Seer to step in during the trial and confess to the murder; to take the Counsel’s accusation upon himself in my stead.”
“You let your Stone Seer take the fall for you?” Raegith asked with a scowl.
“Regretfully, yes. He had confessed in front of the entire Counsel. Would you rather me have invalidated his word? Do you know what we do to Stone Seers whose words cannot be trusted?” Isadora sighed. “Even with Filth’s confession, I knew they would find a way to get to me. As I sat alone in that cell, contemplating the magnitude of Filth’s loyalty, I felt the weight of my accumulated sins.”
Isadora brushed against Raegith as she bent her face near his ear. “Have you ever felt that weight, Raegith? Do you know the sting of finally seeing the grime beneath the walls this kingdom has erected around you? The guilt when you remember all the things you did within the confines of those walls? All the false assumptions you made about the world beyond?”
Raegith stared forward without speaking or shying from her touch.
“At that moment, with no options and no future, those walls, for me, fell down.” Isadora lifted a watery projection of a brick wall from the very ground below her and gently pushed it over to crash and disintegrate against the grass. “With the destruction of those walls, so too did the restrictions on my power fall away. I was free.”
“And you used that freedom to kill a fellow Faeir?”
“They were no longer my fellows. I was no longer a Sage. I killed those who got in my way, abandoned my possessions and good name, and fled to the Wilderness. Over time and with many, many sacrifices, I came to rule over the entire Storm Line south of the Pisces.” Isadora motioned at her men. “We are merely pirates to the Kingdom; a threa
t to be stomped out. But they have not managed to do so yet, and with you here… they don’t even bother with me.”
Isadora leaned her face in toward Raegith’s and her scent attacked him with memories of his first love. “Your presence here has been very good for business.”
The man standing over Helkree grunted and Raegith turned to see him drop to the ground, an arrow in his back. Helkree took advantage of the shock and dropped the other man standing guard over her. Qufeng pulled her guard into her and maneuvered him into an arm bar and Brimgor tackled the tattooed Twileen.
Chev’El and Fenra burst through the trees along with a dozen other warriors.
“Dead or maimed?” Chev’El asked as she lined up Isadora’s face in front of her arrow. The Twileen had not drawn her bow at anything other than deer for the last two years, but Raegith felt no doubt that she would split the Faeir’s skull with her next arrow if he asked.
“Stand down,” Raegith ordered.
Helkree raged. “What?”
Raegith kept his eyes on Isadora, who now held her hands up in submission, yet kept her face calm. “Ariadne, fill them in. I cannot have this woman killed; we have much to discuss.”
…
The men of the Carrion Tide sat uneasily across the fire from the Greimere warriors as Raegith and Isadora spoke to the side. Izanami joined them as Raegith’s new Chief Advisor while Loegaire, the tattooed Twileen, stayed by Isadora's side.
“This will be a hard sell to my people. They barely tolerate the presence of our converts from Rellizbix.” Raegith rubbed his chin and thought about the interesting proposition from Isadora. “However, my people have recently proven their dedication to keeping the land we’ve claimed.”
“The Sage is not proposing recruitment, Grass-Hair. She is proposing enslavement.” Izanami looked at Isadora from under the cover of her dark hood. “I like it.”
“Slavery leaves a terrible taste in my mouth.” Isadora stretched her shoulders and rubbed at her neck. “Besides, that’s not entirely accurate. Right now you call yourselves an empire, but you hardly meet the definition. You are merely a nation at war with the largest, most sophisticated kingdom in the known world. But, there are other nations you’re ignoring to your disadvantage. Once these nations realize your current state, you will be at war with them, as well. Bring them under your banner instead.”
Wrath of the Greimere Page 22
