Heroines and Hellions: a Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  Captain Malik raised his brow and gave me a strange look as though I should know what he was meaning. He gave a small cough and raised his brow again. That was when I got it. My cheeks flushed at the thought. Tending. That was the first I had heard that from inside the castle. We sat in silence again and waited for the king to be finished. My cheeks were still warm, and every time Captain Malik looked at me, I had to look away. It’s not that I had never done that before, it had just been a while.

  When the king finally arrived, he looked grumpier than usual. His brow was low, and his face was almost scrunched up. He sat in his normal place at the head of the table and looked at the captain and myself.

  He bore his eyes into mine, and I knew exactly what he was meaning. I quickly got out of my chair and stood behind him. We waited a while longer until some of the kitchen staff entered the dining room with our food. When the dome was lifted from the king’s meal, my senses were filled with the beautiful aroma of porridge, toast and sweet rolls.

  I tasted the juice and toast first and found nothing wrong with the delicious food. I decided to try the sweet bread next, so I cut a small piece from the very centre of the roll and tasted it. My mouth was filled the amazing sweet spices and flavours, but when I rolled the bread over my tongue, something tasted off. The flavours changed from sweet to sour. Before I could spit out the bread, an intense pain erupted in my stomach. My throat closed as I tried to gasp for air, and I dropped to the floor. I was finally able to spit out the piece of sweet roll and tried my hardest to speak.

  Captain Malik kneeled on the floor next to me and tried to hold my convulsing body down. I was able to raise my hand and gesture for him to come closer. Drawing a staggering breath, I wheezed out some inaudible words. The pain became unbearable, and my screams burned in my throat.

  “Callie, can you speak? You need to tell us the poison so we can get an antidote.” Malik leaned in closer as I tried to say what it was.

  “Prinine,” I said in a raspy voice that I couldn’t even tell if Malik could hear.

  Pain erupted again, causing my body to convulse even more. My screams grew louder as I became desperate for the pain to stop. Captain Malik gripped my shoulders harder, trying to stop me from injuring myself. Spots appeared before my eyes, and a few moments later as the pain came on again, my vision blurred. I felt like I was about to die. They had used a poison so rare, so deadly that I was sure that even the small amount that I had ingested would kill me. The pain came to me again, this time more intense than before.

  My whole body felt like I was being stabbed by a thousand daggers laced with fire. The spots in the blurriness became bigger the longer the pain continued, until finally, I was taken into the darkness.

  I was on fire. I was burning from the inside out. Within the darkness that I was confined in, it was the only thing I could feel. Was I in hell? Had the Prinine killed me? I could feel pressure on my body. It would come and go. I could feel myself moving. There were noises too; it was all too blurred to hear what it was or where it was coming from. I tried to move, but when I did, something invisible restrained me. The noises continued around me. They grew louder and more urgent. I tried to scream as the pain intensified again. If I was dead, then why would I still be in pain?

  I could feel something strange, a small prick in my arm that overpowered the burning. It stayed there for what felt like a lifetime before it was quickly removed.

  Then it all went away. I was alone in the darkness.

  My body was numb. I tried to open my eyes but was met with a bright but blurry light. Strange sounds whooshed with the rush of blood in my ears. I could see movement within the light. Multiple people hurried around me while one stayed by my side, and I could hear they were trying to talk to me. It all sounded distant from me like I had linen wrapped around my head.

  I tried to move, but when I couldn’t feel the rest of my body, my pulse quickened and my breathing laboured with panic. I urged my body to move; I wanted to get out of there. Wherever there was. My vision started to grow clearer, and I could see small details of the room. Gas lamps hung from the ceiling of the bright white room. I could finally see the faces of the people rushing around me. Three women dressed in white with the king’s emblem stitched on their breast pocket. I tried to struggle again, to move against my restraints.

  “Callie, please stay still. You may open your wounds,” one of the healers said.

  “Wounds?” I asked with a raspy voice.

  The nurse shook her head and walked off. I wondered why. Captain Malik took her place by my side.

  “You were poisoned with Prinine. I don’t know if you know what that poison does.” He paused, and I shook my head. I had read about it and how to detect it, but didn’t get far enough in to read what it did to someone’s body. “Prinine gets into the system quickly. It begins by causing intense pain within the body. Incapacitating the person. Once the person is knocked out, the poison reaches the bloodstream and burns a person’s skin from the inside.”

  I looked down at my bandage-wrapped body, and panic erupted in my mind. Instinctively, I squirmed in the bed.

  “Callie, stop moving. Your wounds are almost healed. You were in a coma for a few weeks, and within that time, we got the antidote quickly, and the healers tended to your wounds multiple times a day. You only have a few small areas that haven’t fully healed.”

  “Wait, you didn’t have the antidote already?”

  Malik shook his head. “No, how would we?”

  “You were the ones that used the poison. It was the test. How could you not know what poison you chose to use?”

  “This wasn’t our test. We were going to use Malefic Tears, which was only meant to make you sick for a few days. The Prinine was from an outside attack. You passed the test. You saved the king, Callie.”

  Malik’s words took me back. The Prinine poisoning wasn’t from their hands. I had truly been poisoned and could have died. I stared into the blank space between Malik and the door leading to the rest of the castle. When I stayed like that for a while, I wondered why Malik was still sitting by my bed. I watched as nurse after nurse came up to him and whispered something in his ear. He nodded at each one of them before standing from his chair.

  “The healers inform me that you will be fit for travel in two days.”

  I gave him a confused look. “Travel?”

  “The king is visiting Oslor to discuss the trade with King Rathgar. You will be required to come along in the travel party. Tonight and tomorrow morning, the healers will give you treatment. Tomorrow night, you are to return to your quarters and prepare for the trip. You will be given a special remedy to apply to your wounds to make sure they continue to heal. We don’t want you to relapse while on the trip.”

  I nodded and listened intently as he explained. The whole trip to King Rathgar’s castle would take four days, we would be staying there two days and then the four-day return. The healers would need to give me enough remedy for the whole ten-day trip or my wounds would get infected. After finishing explaining everything, Malik started walking to the door but stopped and turned to look at me.

  “On the morning that we leave, meet me at dawn in the stables so you can pick a horse.”

  10

  That night and the next morning I went through the healing process for my wounds. They unwrapped the bandages from my skin and applied a strange remedy that numbed the area. When I asked what it was, the healers just told me it was something that would help heal from the inside out. When the numbness wore off, the entire area of the injury tingled. It was a strange sensation to feel.

  When it was finally time for me to go back to my quarters, it was hours before sunrise. The healers had woken me from my sleep and gave me a special tea to help me wake. They allowed me to dress before handing me a jar of the remedy.

  “Place this on your wounds morning and night. Do not use too much, only about a spoon full.”

  Their instructions were easy enough to follow. I than
ked them for all their help and made my way to my quarters to get ready. By the time I made it there, I was already exhausted. I put everything away and climbed the stairs up to my bedroom. As soon as I lay my head on my pillow, I fell asleep.

  I woke to the sound of someone walking around downstairs. I could hear their footsteps in the silence of my quarters. I leapt out of bed and realised I had fallen asleep in my clothes. I grabbed the dagger than I kept beside me at all times and I crept into the hallway. As I looked over the banister, I couldn’t see anyone downstairs, but I could still hear them. Quietly making my way down the stairs, I watched out for movement. I kept my dagger ready to attack any moment. A small movement to my left alerted me, and I raised my dagger in the air, but when I saw who it was, I instantly dropped it, causing her to jump, startled at the sound of my dagger hitting the floor.

  “Callie, you scared me,” Abigail said, catching her breath.

  “I’m sorry, Abigail, I was asleep and heard noises. I needed to make sure no one had broken in.” I paused for a moment and realised I had locked the door behind me when I returned. “Abigail? How did you get in? I was sure I locked the door when I returned this morning.”

  She nodded. “You did. I came earlier but noticed the door was locked so I went and found Captain Malik and asked for a key.”

  I was about to ask her why when I noticed the large pile of clothes placed on the couch behind her. “What are those for?” I asked, pointing to the pile.

  A smile lit up her face. She grabbed my arm and pulled me along with her. She motioned for me to sit on one of the other chairs while she took her place beside the pile of clothes. She quickly laid them all out on the table between us.

  “These are your travel clothes. Since you are going to Oslor, which is south from here, it’s their cold season now. I’ve made you some fur-lined boots and gloves, two pairs of each in case you run into snow. I’ve also made you two more cloaks, which are heavier material so they will keep you a lot warmer while riding.”

  I was amazed. I had never had this much clothing before, especially not of this quality. Fur-lined boots and gloves were something I had wished for back in my training days. Back then, I had to kill for money, which could only be used on necessary things like food. Nothing for comfort. I watched Abigail as she showed me everything she had done to the clothing. She had even added a button on my cloak to help keep it wrapped around my body while riding.

  “Thank you, Abigail. These are the nicest clothes I have ever had.”

  As I spoke, tears welled up in my eyes. I quickly wiped them away before Abigail had the chance to see. I couldn’t let anyone see me in such a weak state.

  “You’re welcome, dear. I adore sewing clothes for the people in the castle, and you are no exception.”

  She got up from the couch and moved closer to the door, but as she reached to open it, she stopped.

  “I have also added in some formal attire as well. There will no doubt be a dinner with the king of Oslor and his men. You need something nice to wear,” she said with a smile across her face.

  I nodded. “Thank you again, Abigail.”

  When she left, I turned back and stared at the clothes I had been given. I picked a set that I would wear the next day and picked up the rest to bring to my bedroom. In the back of my armoire I found a bag that I could fit it all in. It was handcrafted to be able to tie down onto the back of a horse for travelling.

  I packed everything I could in there and found that I still had room. I decided to bring a few of my weapons from my stash just in case anything were to happen on the way to Oslor. I picked a few daggers in their sheaths along with a set of throwing knives. I placed my favourite sword on my bed alongside the bag. I would be carrying that with me on the ride.

  The rest of the day dragged on. With nothing to do, I found myself exploring my quarters. I found where they put my training supplies. They had created my very own training room, complete with sparring area. There were a few rooms they left empty. I had a feeling they wanted me to do what I wanted with them. I didn’t have enough stuff to fill this entire two storey place.

  I finished the day in bed reading a few of the books I had found in the shelves. I placed the remedy on my wounds like I was told and then lulled myself to sleep with a book in my hand.

  The castle clock chimed five as I got ready for the trip. Captain Malik had told me to meet him in the stables at dawn, so I made sure I was up well and truly before that. I double checked the things I had packed before leaving my chambers and heading to the stables.

  The brisk morning wind bit against my cheek as I exited the castle. The snow season was coming quicker than I had thought. I pulled my new winter cloak in and tied the button to keep it from blowing away in the chilly breeze. The stables were located at the back of the castle grounds near the rear gate. The stable hands would take the horses into the woods to train them so the king made sure there was an easy way for them to get in and out of the grounds. Because of this, there was always four guards posted to this gate at all times. The stables were a huge brick building with two paddocks attached to the side. As I got closer, I could see a few horses standing in the closest paddock. They were magnificent. All of them were tall and muscular, bred to make sure they could stand long rides. I made my way through the large double wooden barn doors and into the small office to the side. Captain Malik stood there with another man. The man was medium height with white hair down to his shoulders. Sitting on the table beside them was everything needed for a horse, the saddle, bridle and more.

  “Good morning, Captain Malik.”

  “Callie. This is Zaxon. He is the head of the stables. He will be the one giving you your own horse today.”

  My mouth must have dropped open at his words because Malik gave me a piercing stare. My own horse, not one on loan from the academy. My very own horse. I nodded and gave a small bow as thank you to Zaxon.

  “Pick up the gear and follow me,” he said without even looking away from Malik.

  I placed my bag over my shoulder and picked up the tack before following them both out into the stables. We walked past the other horses in their stalls and through another set of double doors. They stopped at the fence of the first paddock. I placed the tack on a small table to the side and moved to stand near them at the fence. Before anyone spoke, I counted eight horses standing before me. I looked over to Malik who was standing there impatiently, and when I tried to figure out why, Zaxon moved in front of him.

  He gestured his hand towards the horses and the paddock. “Pick one.”

  “Be quick, we are scheduled to leave soon,” Malik chimed in.

  I grabbed a rope from the table before scaling the fence and dropping over into the field. I scanned over all of the horses. One in particular caught my eye. A beautiful grey with light and dark patches stood in the far side of the paddock. I slowly crept over to the magnificent horse and held my hand up to pet it. It looked at me and dropped its head, allowing me to touch its neck. I slipped the rope over its head and tightened it while still rubbing its neck. I led the beautiful horse over to the fence where Zaxon and Captain Malik stood.

  Zaxon gave me a strange look. “You sure you want that one? The grey mare is a quick runner, not really one for a beginner like yourself. She isn’t really broken in.”

  “I can break her in. I am choosing her.”

  “Good. Zaxon, please show Callie how to tack up the horse.” He paused for a moment before looking at me. “Meet at the entrance next to the stables when you are done.”

  I nodded and watched as he strolled off back into the stables. Zaxon opened a gate within the fence, allowing me and the horse to exit. I tied the rope to a hitching post and stood waiting for him to show me what to do. His instructions were short and simple. Place the blanket on first followed by the saddle, make sure it was tied tight enough not to slip. Next was the bridle. He showed me how to place it on the horse without spooking her. He clipped the reigns to the bridle and laid them g
ently on the horse’s back. After everything was fastened right, he showed me how to tie my bags to the saddle so that they sat nicely on the back of the horse.

  “The only other things you need to know is that every night after the ride, you need to clean the horse’s shoes and give her a brush. If you don’t, the next day she won’t ride well and you will slow down the travel party.” He paused so that he could hand me the tools needed to keep the horse in good shape. “One of the stable hands will be going along to feed the horses every night, so if you miss anything, he will pick up on it.”

  “Thank you, Zaxon. I will take good care of her.”

  He nodded. “I’m sure you will. Finally, what’s her name? I will make sure there is a stall ready for her when you all come back.”

  I looked in the deep brown eyes of the grey mare, and her name came to me instantly. “Sage. I’ll call her Sage.”

  11

  After making sure that everything was secured to the back of Sage, I picked up her reigns and walked her over to the entrance where the travel party would be waiting. Everyone was already gathered around, and in the centre of it all was a medium-sized coach. Since it was a long trip, the king wouldn’t be travelling on horse. The coach was all black with golden details painted all over, on the back was a large painting of King Jarrett’s emblem, the three crescent moons.

  I spotted Captain Malik sitting impatiently on top his horse, while the others just stood around. As soon as he noticed my arrival, he caught the attention of everyone.

  “Now that everyone is finally here, this is how it will work. The king’s advisor and myself will ride beside the coach, one side each. There is to be two guards riding in front and flanking behind and one riding side by side with myself and Callie.”

  Everyone nodded and mounted their horses. I followed suit and found my place next to the left side of the coach. I was joined by a man on a beautiful black horse. I recognised the guard; I had seen him on duty a few times. Before he could introduce himself to me, Malik called for everyone to ride. The two guards in front seemed to know exactly where we needed to go. We found the road south through the forest and kept a straight path. The chilly air bit at my cheeks as we rode at a good pace, I buttoned my cloak tighter and regretted not putting on my fur-lined gloves.