by Jaide Fox
“He wants this war. He will not consider peace for the sake of his daughter, because he had intended to use her to make war from the beginning.”
“If you are so certain of this, we should go. We should gather our army and prepare for war.”
“We will, but first I will speak to him so that I can tell her daughter with a clear conscience that I tried.”
“It is not worth your life!” Solly exclaimed. “Your people will need you.”
Talin’s lips curled faintly in a wry smile. “I do not intend to die.”
“One never does.”
By the time they had reached the foot of the hill the riders sat upon, they had been noticed. The men guarding the kings moved to block their path as they reached the summit. “You have no business here. Be gone!” one of the men growled when Talin and Solly had halted.
“I have come to speak with King Andor.”
The man looked Talin over with obvious contempt. “Commoners do not address the king.”
Talin barred Solly by extending his arm to block his path when Solly surged forward furiously. “It is as well then that I am not a commoner,” he retorted.
King Andor nudged his horse forward. “You are brazen. What are you called?”
“My clansmen call me king.”
Andor looked him over speculatively. “I do not know you,” he said dismissively and began to turn away.
“I am husband to your daughter.”
Andor stopped abruptly. Leaning over his pommel, he very deliberately spat, narrowly missing Talin’s foot. “I have no daughter!” he growled.
Talin’s face hardened with anger. “She will be devastated to hear that,” he murmured menacingly. “She asked me to come to you and tell you that she has accepted … me and she wishes for you and I to make peace.”
His face contorted with rage. “Accepted? No daughter of mine would accept a creature such as you, Talin. You are an abomination of nature. And I can not accept a whore of such as you as a daughter. She is dead to me. Would that she was dead in truth! It would be far better than what she has become!”
Talin’s lips curled into a snarl. As quick as a snake strike, he shot upward, grasped the old man around the throat, and dragged him from his mount, shaking him. “Watch your mouth, old man! She is my concubine.”
As stunned as they were by the swiftness of Talin’s strike, the guards recovered quickly. A dozen spear tips bit into Talin’s back, shoulder, and neck.
He ignored them. “Despite the insult to me and my clansmen, I have treated your daughter with the honor due her.”
“Kidnapping her from her home? Raping her?” King Andor gasped gutturally past the hand squeezing his throat.
Talin gritted his teeth. “Do not confuse me with your own kind,” he growled. “We do not take the unwilling or abuse the weak. She accepted me or I would never have touched her. It is only for her sake that I have come to offer peace.”
“Keep your peace! And the whore! I want your blood!” King Andor snarled.
Talin’s lips tightened. His hand tightened as well. “I could save myself a deal of trouble by throttling you now.”
“It would stop nothing, save that you would return to my daughter with her father’s blood on your hands. This war has been long in coming, but we are resolved. We will not stop until we have cleansed the land of the unnaturals.”
“You have no daughter,” Talin reminded him. “But I will give her your love. Call your dogs off.” When King Andor merely glared at him, he shook the man.
After a lengthy pause, when Talin had begun to think the old man was willing to go to his death so long as he could take Talin with him, he sent the guards a commanding glance. The spear tips disappeared. When he saw that the guards had withdrawn a short distance, Talin glanced at his captain. “Go, Solly. Now!”
“Sire! I will not leave you!”
“Do as you are told!” Talin said commandingly
Saluting, Solly stepped back and commanded the transformation from man to falcon. As he spread his wings and leapt from the hillside, Talin grabbed King Andor’s belt, lifted the man over his head, and tossed him toward the guards. He took off at a run while they were distracted by the flying man and their panicked horses, shifting as he ran and lifting off the ground and then struggling to climb into the air.
A spear whizzed past his head. A second one clipped the tip of one wing, but missed flesh. Solly, who’d wheeled in a tight circle, shot past Talin, heading directly toward the soldiers. When Talin had finally managed to gain enough altitude to be beyond range, he glanced around for Solly.
To his consternation, he saw that Solly was struggling. A spear had pierced his belly. Cursing under his breath, he turned and maneuvered until he could reach the shaft and wrench it free. He was on the point of dropping the spear, or launching it at the soldiers below, when an unpleasant thought intruded.
The man beast had said he had been poisoned. Twisting the spear so that he could study the tip, Talin examined it for anything that might indicate the presence of the poison the wolf had spoke of. He saw nothing on the spear, but when he turned to study Solly again, he saw that the wound had not closed. He was still bleeding profusely.
Trying to convince himself that that was a good thing, that if there was poison it could not enter Solly’s body if the blood was washing it out, he focused on taking the most direct route to Goldone. He could see that Solly was growing weaker as they covered the miles between the kingdom that had once belonged to the clan of the wolf and Goldone. Relief flooded him when he at last spotted the palace in the distance.
“We are almost there, Solly.”
“I do not think I can make it,” Solly responded tiredly.
“Do not speak that way! I am your king! You will do as you are told!”
Solly rallied momentarily, but even as they approached the practice field in the center of the castle, Solly began to drop rapidly. Wheeling, Talin aligned his flight with Solly’s and glided beneath him, nudging him upward.
“We will both fall to our deaths,” Solly muttered.
“I have no intention of adorning the rocks below with my splattered carcass,” Talin said grimly. “Or yours. Can you land?”
Solly gauged the distance. “Aye, Sire.”
“You are certain?”
“Aye.”
Talin dropped away. Satisfied when Solly managed to gain a little altitude, enough to clear the wall, he circled, watching as Solly descended on the other side. It was not a landing so much as it was a crash, however, and the moment Talin touched the ground, he dropped the spear he had carried, shifting to his man form as he rushed over to his captain to examine him. “The wound has not closed,” he muttered. “Solly! Command your beast!”
“It is still there,” Solly gasped hoarsely.
“It is not! I pulled the spear free!”
“I feel it,” Solly groaned.
Talin spread the wound, but he could see nothing. Glancing around, he saw the courtyard was filling. Aliya and her ladies appeared at the main entrance to the palace. Dismissing her for the moment, he bellowed for a blade. A soldier rushed forward, thrusting a knife into his palm. Bracing himself, Talin grasped the blade and thrust it into Solly’s belly, quickly slicing the flesh all the way around the wound and cutting the plug of flesh out. Solly cried out as the blade cut into him, passing beyond consciousness almost at once. When Talin had cut the piece from his flesh, he dropped the dagger, grabbed Solly’s head and shook him. “I took it out,” he growled. “You must make the wound close.”
Rousing slightly, Solly frowned in concentration. Slowly, as Talin watched with a sense of profound relief, the blood ceased to pour from Solly’s body and the wound began to close.
Shaken far more than he liked, Talin sat back on his heels, brushing the sweat that beaded his brow with the back of his hand.
“What has happened?” Aliya gasped.
Talin turned to her, his expression grim. “Your father does
not want peace,” he said tiredly. “He wants my blood.”
Aliya stared at Talin in horror. “He did this? It can not be! He would not break the truce of a peace talk in this way!”
“There was no truce,” Talin retorted grimly, pushing himself to his feet and bending to scoop up the lump of flesh he had cut from Solly. Lady Leesa’s eyes rolled back in her head as he examined the bloody flesh and she wilted to the ground, taking Lady Beatrice, who tried to catch her, with her.
Talin glanced toward the pair curiously as he continued. “There would not have been if I had asked for it. Very likely they would have slain me on the spot if they had known who I was before I reached them.”
Turning from her, he surveyed the men who’d come to gawk. “Reyhan--as soon as Solly is stronger, help him to his quarters.”
Once Reyhan had acknowledged the order, he struck off across the practice yard purposefully.
Aliya glanced at her ladies, but absently. She followed Talin as he crossed the yard to retrieve the spear he’d dropped.
“How did you find him?” she asked anxiously.
“I followed the corpses.”
Aliya blinked as if he’d slapped her. “He is a good man,” she said shakily. “He would not do such things. He is just angry that you took me.”
Talin stopped abruptly and turned to study her face intently. After a moment, he lifted a hand to caress her cheek. Discovering that it was bloodied, he dropped it to his side again. “I am sorry, Aliya,” he said finally.
Turning, he left her, scanning the men who were loitering in the yard hoping to learn what had happened. “You,” he bellowed finally to a group of three men who stood together. “Find the elders and send them to my council chambers.”
Reaching the chamber, he moved to the wide window at one end and stood looking down at his mountain and the green valley at its feet where his people toiled in the fields. There would be no harvesting this year’s crop if they were not quick about it. He had no trouble at all envisioning the lush fields churned and strewn with bodies as the fields of the wolf clan had been when he had seen them.
When the council had assembled, he turned away from the window at last, strode to the council table and dropped the spear and the flesh in the center of it. “We have our war,” he announced grimly, “but I very much fear we are about to discover that we have only played into the hands of the man children.”
The elders examined the objects he’d dropped on the table before them with varying expressions of surprise, disgust, and confusion. “What is this?” Malik, the high elder, demanded at last.
“Our extinction, unless I miss my guess,” he retorted grimly.
Chapter Sixteen
“A spear?” Malik scoffed.
Talin leaned forward, bracing his palms on the table. “That is no ordinary spear, old man. I cut that from Solly after he took the spear meant for me,” he added, nodding toward the piece of flesh that had already begun to rot--that seemed to decay before their eyes.
“Two days ago, I sent two of my best men--to their death, I fear. They were told to infiltrate the army the man children were forming, learn what they could of their plans and return with the information. They did not return. Last eve, Captain Solly and I went to discover why. When we reached the encampment, it was already deserted, for the army had moved into battle.
“The kingdom of Cavar is no more. It lies in ruin. The clan of the wolf is scattered, if any still live.”
Stunned silence greeted his announcement. “That can not be!” Jenar, the youngest of the four elders, exclaimed.
“It is!” Talin bellowed, slamming his fist on the table for emphasis. “I saw it with my own eyes. King Matin’s stronghold lay in ruin. His fields and forest were littered with the bodies of the man children, and his own people lay dead or dying among them. They did not rise again. They did not heal themselves. They could not.”
Pushing away from the table, he moved to the window again, bracing his palms on the window ledge. “One I found who was still alive spoke of poison. When I pulled this spear from Solly, he swore it was still there and he could not close the wound.”
“Magic,” Malik said slowly. “They have found someone powerful if he can weave a spell of this magnitude.” He frowned. “Why did they attack the clan of the wolf? I have heard of no animosity between Cavar and Anduloosa.” He looked up at Talin as the king turned from the window to face him. “Only to test their magic?”
Talin’s face hardened. “I do not think so. King Andor himself spoke of ridding these lands of the ‘unnaturals.’ We are not the only target of their fear and hatred. They mean to do all that is in their power to destroy all of the kingdoms of the man beasts.”
“We must discover what we can of the potion used to wither the flesh of an immortal,” Jenar said decisively. “We must find a wizard.”
Talin’s lips tightened. “We have never had need of such things,” he pointed out. “You will not find one in this kingdom, nor likely any of the kingdoms of the man beasts.”
“We must find one if we have to go into the lands of the man children.”
“They are man children,” Talin growled. “We could not pay enough to be assured of their loyalty. The man children have no honor when it comes to dealing with those they consider their enemies. Even supposing we could find one, he would take our coin and turn upon us the moment it suits his purpose to do so.”
“Nevertheless,” Malik put in abruptly, “we must prepare as we can. I have heard of a race in a distant land of learned, benign beings that are neither man child, nor man beast. They are seers, but though that is their greatest gift, they are also very intelligent and learned, as I have said. If anyone can help us to understand and perhaps fight the magic being used against us, then they will know, and they could be trusted. We will go and see what we can learn from them,” he finished decisively.
“I have never heard of these beings,” Jenar objected immediately. “Are we to simply wander about searching for a myth?”
“A distant land, you say?” Tiko demanded. “I am not at all certain that I could go so far. I do not have the strength I once had.”
Grinding his teeth, Talin dismissed them and left them arguing the matter. He had met with his council, per law, and listened to their advice. Now he was free to do whatever he thought best without their interference. When he reached the practice yard once more, he climbed the stairs to the top of the wall and had the men summoned to assemble.
While he waited from them to form up and grow silent, he did a mental head count. The clan of the golden falcon was one of the largest of all the clans of man beasts, and yet their numbers were few when compared to any of the clans of the man children. He had two other strongholds that held perhaps as many together as had assembled here and he still feared it would not be enough, a thought so alien to him that it took him many moments even to arrive at why he found the count so disturbing.
It had never mattered before, he realized finally.
“We are at war with the tribes of the man children,” he bellowed loudly enough that all could hear when they had finally quieted. The moment he made the announcement, however, they burst into ragged, gleeful cheers.
Grinding his teeth impatiently, he waited until some of the noise had died down again. “Make no mistake--this is no game we play at. This is not a fight to resolve some petty dispute, or a battle to relieve the boredom. We will be fighting for our right to exist.”
A deathly silence fell as the men began to exchange baffled glances.
“The tribes of the man children spread upon this land like locusts, and they have united for the first time in known history with only one goal in mind--to destroy the clans of the man beast.”
“We are far stronger!” someone bellowed from the crowd below. “It does not matter that they outnumber us.”
“It did not matter,” Talin corrected the man. “Solly was brought down by a single spear. They have gathered wizards to their cause
who have concocted powerful potions against us. You must use the utmost caution when we go into battle and guard yourselves, else we will find death, not victory.
“I will need couriers--ten in all--to travel to the kings of the other clans and warn them before it is too late. The rest of you are to begin preparations for war.”
“Are there not twelve clans?” someone called.
“Not any more,” Talin retorted grimly. “The clan of the wolf is no more.”
* * * *
Talin’s thoughts were dark as he climbed the stairs to his own chambers. He had not liked to risk demoralizing his men with such an announcement, but it could not be helped. It would have been far worse to say nothing, for they were not accustomed to worrying overmuch about being wounded in battle. There was always the chance that a stray bolt or spear might pierce a throat or brain and cause too much damage to recover completely, or, in hand to hand combat, that they might have their head cloven from their body by a sword, but these were not things that happened often.
He knew his men. If he had said nothing, the youngest and wildest among them, particularly those who had not seen battle before, might have felt compelled to display their stupidity by seeing just how many wounds they could survive to brag about.
Despite his distraction, he had not failed to notice the subtle changes in the palace that indicated Aliya had indeed accepted her role.
Either that, or she had decided to annoy him by changing everything about, he thought wryly, for she had had the great hall completely rearranged--which he might not have noticed except for the fact that he’d run into furniture that had not been in his path before.
