Sonya wondered where he’d gone. It couldn’t be late in the morning and a fire burned in the little brazier. She struggled to her feet and retrieved the clothes she’d dropped the night before. Her boots were under the cot, so she had to get on her hands and knees to reach them.
“Too much wine and too many clothes can result in disappointment.” Andrei’s voice came from behind her.
Sonya got back up, her boots in hand. “Good morning. I wondered where you’d gone.”
Andrei looked rather fresh, considering his state the night before. He grinned at her. “I thought I’d find out what our orders are, and get water. I’m sure you need some.”
“Thank you.” Sonya sat down in a wobbly camp chair and took the proffered mug. The water was warm and somewhat muddy, but she needed it. “I’ve got the most awful headache.”
“It’s that wine. You drank a lot for someone who’s not used to it.” He took a seat across from her, making a face after taking a sip.
“I don’t recall you trying to slow me down.” She drained her mug and reached for the small clay pitcher he’d set on the table between them.
“I didn’t want to.” He put his elbows on the table. “You’re very funny when you’re drunk.”
“It’s the only time. I’m not known for my humor,” Sonya admitted.
“You have other strengths.” Andrei winked at her, then yawned and stretched. “What are you doing today?”
“Not sure. I suppose I should find out. Probably continuing south.”
“I hope not. As far as I can tell, we’re not going anywhere yet. With any luck, the archduchess is consulting with your general about something or other. I’d like a little more time with you, perhaps even sober.” He smiled.
Her breath hitched at the way it lit his face. She must still be drunk.
“I’d like that too,” she said, her cheeks warm.
“Come here.” Andrei grabbed her hand, pulling her from her chair and onto his lap. “No reason we can’t spend a few more happy moments together.” His lips met hers again, not sloppy at all this time.
Sonya relaxed and slid her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. She was just starting to enjoy herself when a man cleared his throat at the tent’s entrance.
Andrei broke off the kiss and shouted, “What is it?” his arm still firmly around Sonya’s waist.
“You’d best come quick, sir. There’s trouble.”
Andrei muttered a curse under his breath as Sonya slid from his lap. While he went out, she set to pulling on her boots, buttoning up her doublet and putting on her coat. She needed to go in any case.
Andrei returned a moment later, his eyes wide. “They’re looking for you,” he said, reaching for his cloak and hat.
“Me? And who’s they?”
“The archduchess, your general, everyone. You’re to report to the tent of Teodora Inferrara herself.” Andrei had turned rather pale under his tan. “I can’t think what it’s about. She probably wants to question you about the raiders, though she kicked up quite a fuss when you weren’t found in your tent.”
Sonya’s heart hammered against her ribs. “I don’t know where—”
“Don’t worry,” Andrei said, his voice sharp, though it softened again. “I’ll come with you. The archduchess can be difficult, especially if you’re not used to her.”
“I see.” Sonya kept her face impassive even as her stomach gave an unsettling lurch.
“It’ll be all right.” Andrei clapped on his hat and gave her his arm.
“I hope so,” Sonya said under her breath as they left the tent, though she had a terrible feeling about this.
The archduchess’s tent wasn’t far, and Sonya didn’t have time to get her bearings before they arrived. The water she’d gulped down earlier rose in her gorge and she feared she might be sick.
“Are you all right?” Andrei asked, pulling her to a stop outside the tent.
Sonya nodded. “Just a bit queasy.”
He cracked a smile. “Me too.” He squeezed her hand. “Now, take a few deep breaths. It’ll be all right.”
Sonya breathed in and nodded again. She wasn’t at all sure it would be all right, but appreciated his reassurance. She took another breath. “Let’s get this over with.”
Guards in red velvet liveries stood at the tent entrance, but they let Sonya and Andrei pass. The tent was large, but crowded with people, and stuffy. Sonya wished she’d left her coat behind.
Andrei held her by the elbow and guided her, which she appreciated. In her agitation, the faces around her blurred, and she wasn’t sure where to go.
Andrei led her to the far end of the tent, where two women sat in chairs, also flanked by guards. Off to one side, Sonya saw Captain Vondran and General Faris. At first she was relieved at their presence, but the grim looks on both their faces soon gave her pause. So she turned her attention to the women.
A guard took a step forward, saying in a shrill voice, “Bow in the presence of Her Grace, the Archduchess Teodora Inferrara.”
Sonya couldn’t tell which one was Teodora, since both women wore plain shirts and breeches, so she dropped to one knee at an equal distance between the two chairs. If she bent over, she might vomit on their boots.
But then she recognized her and gasped. It was the woman with the terrifying reputation, the one who’d destroyed the village.
“So we meet again,” the woman said, a smile lighting up her face. She was quite pretty, except for those awful black eyes. Her smile widened, and Sonya was certain she’d be sick. The woman had fangs; no doubt about it. Beside her, she felt Andrei start; he’d noticed it too.
“Is she the one?” the other woman asked. She must be the Archduchess Teodora.
“Yes, she’s the one who killed my people.”
Sonya refused to look at the woman again, and instead looked toward Teodora. “You wished to see me, Your Grace?” She had to use all of her willpower to keep her voice from shaking.
The archduchess rose from her chair, and stood towering over Sonya, looking down a long nose at her. “I did. You were extremely difficult to find. I thought perhaps you had run away, rather than account for your crimes.”
Crimes? Sonya pushed down her terror and kept looking up. “I’m not running away from anything.”
Beside her, Andrei cleared his throat. “Apologies, Your Grace, but it’s my fault Lieutenant Vidmar was not in her tent.”
Teodora turned her gaze on Andrei. “Who are you?”
“Captain Andrei Danko, in your service. The Lieutenant was my guest at supper last night.”
“And she stayed over?” Now Teodora looked at Sonya again, amusement in her dark eyes.
“We both had a lot to drink,” Andrei said. “Her tent was far away. It seemed better to—”
“I’m sure it did.” Teodora laughed, loud and false, and everyone else in the tent echoed her, as if on cue.
Sonya’s cheeks burned even as her leg cramped up.
“You can stand,” Teodora said her laugh ending abruptly as she returned to her chair.
Sonya scrambled to her feet.
“And you can go,” Teodora told Andrei, who disappeared from Sonya’s side. She didn’t dare look for him, and prayed he wouldn’t get in trouble on her account.
“Now.” Teodora tilted her head and looked up at Sonya. “My friend here, Daciana Tomescu, tells me you interfered with one of her operations.”
Once she’d uttered the words “my friend,” Sonya realized all was lost. She was sure that nothing good was about to happen to her, so there was no point in trying to downplay what she’d done. Besides, she had nothing to be ashamed of.
She pushed down her nausea and held her head high. Even if the worst happened, she would take her punishment without a whimper.
“I did,” Sonya said, aware of a gasp going up from the masses crowded around. She ignored that and stared straight at the archduchess.
Teodora slouched in her seat, amusement in her eyes.
She’d pulled a strand of long brown hair out of her braid and twirled it around her finger, feigning boredom.
“I was sent to investigate a burning village, and found it under attack by marauders.” Sonya made sure her disdain was unmistakable, even venturing a look down her nose at that Daciana person, though she didn’t look too long. “They had killed women and children, were sacking their homes and attempting to drive off cattle. If that isn’t the behavior of bandits, then I don’t know what is.”
Teodora chuckled. “It’s true Daciana’s methods are unorthodox. Still, she operated on my instructions and under my protection. Interfering with an imperial military operation is an act of treason and punishable by death.” She fixed her eyes straight on Sonya’s.
Sonya worried her knees might buckle, but refused to show weakness in front of this woman. “If I had known this was an act of the imperial military ...” She said these last words as scornfully as possible, now she knew she had no hope of survival. “... I would never have interfered. But I didn’t know that.” She nearly said she was sorry, but bit her tongue. She wouldn’t apologize.
“Ignorance is no excuse,” Teodora said, straightening up in her chair. “But since you likely didn’t act intentionally, I’ll allow you to choose your method of execution.”
“How kind,” Sonya said, energy rushing over her, the surroundings taking on a dreamlike quality. She’d felt this way a few times before, in battle, at moments when she was certain her end had come. She supposed this was no different, but worried panic would come later.
“Excuse me.” Count Faris’s voice cut through the tent’s suffocating air. “I must protest, Your Grace. Lieutenant Vidmar acted on my orders, so I must share in the responsibility.”
Everyone’s head swiveled in Faris’s direction as he stepped forward to stand beside Sonya.
She felt a sudden rush of warmth and tears pricked at her eyelids. No. She hadn’t wept since she was a girl and she wouldn’t now.
Apparently fearless, and with that easy, elegant carriage only noblemen had, Count Faris faced Teodora. “The lieutenant is right. Your friend’s methods were those of an outlaw’s, though I’m certain she had good reason for them.”
Those last words might have been conciliatory, but his tone wasn’t. “I strongly object to having an officer with an otherwise flawless record executed for an honest mistake, one she undertook on my orders.”
Now Teodora’s eyes flashed. “I will not have my authority undermined in this. By the emperor’s decree, I command all his armies, and by operating on imperial soil, you and your force fall under my jurisdiction.”
“I understand that,” Count Faris said, irritation creeping into his voice. “I have no wish to undermine your authority. However, execution is not a reasonable punishment in this case.”
“Your objection is noted,” Teodora said, a scowl distorting her otherwise regular features. “But I don’t care what you think. The lieutenant will take her punishment on the morrow.”
At that, Sonya’s knees buckled, but she didn’t fall. Count Faris caught her right arm, and Captain Vondran her left. Sonya hadn’t noticed the captain coming to her other side.
“I’m all right,” she murmured through a sharp pain in her forehead, accompanied by a high-pitched whining in both ears.
“Just stay up a moment longer,” Captain Vondran whispered. “Don’t give her the satisfaction.”
So Sonya somehow held her head up.
Teodora smirked, then said, “Once you decide how you want to die, tell one of your guards. I will honor your request.”
“I want her to do it,” Sonya gritted out, nodding toward Daciana Tomescu. “I want her to cut off my head with that great bloody blade of hers. Might as well add to her crimes.”
For an instant, there was complete silence in the tent, then Tomescu threw back her head and let out a long, shrieking cackle. When she stopped, she wiped at nonexistent tears and said, “I’ll do it gladly. Though I’m almost sorry. I could use someone with your spirit in my little band.”
“I’d much rather have you cut off my head,” Sonya snarled, “than work with scum like you.”
Teodora was on her in a flash, delivering a stinging slap against Sonya’s cheek. “You don’t know when to shut up, do you? You will never insult my friend again. Now take her away.”
And she turned her back as four guards shoved Faris and Vondran aside, then dragged Sonya from the tent.
Teodora’s slap had cleared her head, and now Sonya breathed in great gulps of air as the guards hustled her between the tents. She tried to pay attention to where they were taking her, but one tent looked much like the other and she didn’t recognize the standards fluttering here and there.
Not that it mattered anyway. She wouldn’t escape Teodora’s clutches. She appreciated that Count Faris had tried to help, but he wouldn’t attempt a rescue and risk Teodora’s wrath coming down on his whole army.
The guards led Sonya to the edge of camp and into the ruins of a village. They didn’t hold her arms as tightly once they realized she wasn’t struggling, so she entered the hut chosen as her prison on her own strength.
Half the roof was missing, and a thick layer of dust covered the few pieces of furniture that still stood about. The doorway was open and so was the single window cut into the log walls.
A guard pulled out a piece of rope and lashed Sonya’s hands together in front of her. She pushed her to the ground, then tied another rope around her feet, securing that to an iron ring hanging from the mantle-piece of a cold fireplace.
“You won’t be here long,” the guard said, as she tested the knots, then stood, dusting off her breeches. “Someone will stay in here to keep an eye on you, and there’ll be more guards posted outside. So if your friends try anything, you’ll be the first to die.”
Sonya backed up against the wall. At least there was enough rope to do that. She wouldn’t try to escape. Not only would she not get past the guards, she didn’t know what to do after that. She doubted she’d be able to find Zeki, and she’d be on her own, in the middle of nowhere with no weapons, no money, nowhere to go. It was pointless, and she might as well accept what was happening.
It still took far too long to slow her breathing, or be able to think through the pounding in her head. Willing herself to do what she must anyway, Sonya leaned her head against the wall, and prayed. Best to go to her death having squared herself away with the gods.
Marjatya
Once she’d calmed down, Sonya realized she was hungry and thirsty, but no one brought her anything. Not that it mattered; starving to death was the least of her worries. It grew dark, but she wouldn’t sleep. I’ll sleep when I’m dead, she chuckled to herself, though it wasn’t funny under the circumstances.
The guard who’d sat inside the open doorway left and another came. Sonya ignored her and the guard returned the favor. Anyone working for that witch Teodora couldn’t be any good, and that probably included Andrei, she thought sadly.
Her biggest regret was that she wouldn’t be able to say goodbye to her friends. She hoped they wouldn’t have to witness her execution, but knowing Teodora, she’d force them to anyway.
Sonya felt bad about her family too. They’d frustrated her as a girl, and she hadn’t been home in a long time, but didn’t want to think of how they’d receive word of her execution for treason. At least her mother was already dead. Since she’d been the soldier, she’d have taken that news hard.
And for herself, it was a disappointing way to go after all of her hopes and ambitions. Even after her recent setbacks, Sonya was certain she’d lead her own army one day. Now it would never happen.
The worst was the boredom and waiting, and in spite of her resolution, Sonya fell asleep. She dreamed of Daciana Tomescu with her awful fanged smile, and those black eyes turning yellow as she brought her curved blade down on Sonya’s neck. The metal bit into her skin and Sonya jolted awake, sweat pouring down her face.
She wiped
it on her sleeve, awkwardly lifting her bound hands, and tried to calm her breathing. The last thing she needed now was to upset herself. However it went, she resolved to be brave and hold her head high until Daciana Tomescu chopped it off.
It was cold in the hut with its open roof, and Sonya drew her knees up to her chest. With her hands bound, she wasn’t able to pull her coat around, but she doubted she’d be fortunate enough to freeze to death.
In the dark, the guard wasn’t visible, but she had to be there. Outside, two others spoke in low murmurs, but then there was a shout, quickly cut off, and two muffled thumps.
The guard inside sprang to her feet, her silhouette visible in the doorway for an instant before she disappeared.
Sonya held her breath. Maybe Faris had sent someone to rescue her after all.
“Gods, they tied you up nice and tight, didn’t they?”
“You?” It was too dark to see anything, but Sonya would recognize Andrei’s voice anywhere, and the warmth of him as he nearly fell on top of her. She hadn’t considered the possibility of him coming, ever. “You’re rescuing me?”
“Not by myself, but yes. Give me your hands.”
Sonya stretched them out.
Andrei sawed at the ropes. They fell away, then he cut those at her ankles.
Sonya rubbed her hands, nearly crying out as the feeling rushed back into them with a thousand tiny prickles.
“Now come.” Andrei yanked her to her feet.
Sonya stumbled.
“You’re not hurt?” he asked.
“No, just stiff. I’ll be fine. Where are we going?”
“To your horse. Tchernak is bringing him. We need to go see Count Faris.”
“What? He knows about this?” Sonya kept her voice low.
They ran out of the hut, looking around for more guards. A few dark shapes lay in the grass.
“Did you kill them?”
“Don’t know.” Andrei sounded a little breathless. “Don’t care. Ah, here she is.”
The Forsaken Crown (The Desolate Empire Book 0) Page 5
