A half-rotted body was our first clue that we were nearing the Yasri village. From this distance, it looked like a woman.
I quickly dismounted and pulled Lady Gray up beside Fitz, trying to block the bodies. Mia and Tori, still mounted on Magnus’s horse, had a bird’s eye view of the dead woman though. Mia didn’t understand, but Tori clearly did. She stared ahead, pale, gently pressing her sister’s face against her chest.
Magnus turned to me, his lips tight. “Find Malina. We’re leaving them all here until we can take a closer look. I don’t want . . . They’re too young to see this.”
“You’re right about that.” I called for Malina.
Smiling, she pushed through the group. Her smile melted away when she noticed the body. “Yes, mistress?”
“Stay with them. Magnus and I are going on ahead. Don’t move until we come back. Do you understand?”
“Yes, mistress. Be careful, won’t you?” Her eyes widened. “Please come back. I don’t know what we’ll do if you don’t.”
“Not to worry.” I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “We’ll be back.”
Just as Malina had said, the village was ruined.
In fact, “ruined” does not even begin to describe what I saw as we rode along the edge of the forest to the other side of the mountain. Bodies lay scattered, rotting in the sun. Crows and other carrion birds called the alarm as we followed that macabre trail.
Most of the dead were women. Some had knives and crude cudgels still clutched in their bloated, stiff hands. Ineffective weapons against the men who had attacked them, but they’d made an effort to save their daughters and paid with their lives.
The trail of carnage told the story. The goat herders had given chase as the slavers herded their children toward the road cut into the mountain, desperately trying to retrieve them before they were gone forever.
I pulled Lady Gray up short as we rounded the last curve and the village came into view. What was left of it, anyway.
The wattle and daub huts had been burnt to ground, though they’d long since stopped smoking. Household goods – pots, clothing, baking racks – were strewn within the blackened rubble. Goats ran loose, bleating, looking to us for food before darting off again.
The girls we’d saved had been born in this place, raised here. How would I tell them it was all gone? Gone, because a small band of slavers had decided the female children of this village had a value that lay beyond the family circle.
I wanted to kill those men all over again. “Magnus,” I croaked.
“I know,” he said. “I can’t stop thinking of Mia.”
I couldn’t stop thinking of Tori and Malina. They’d watched this happen. They were older and would remember. Nightmares would haunt them. Would they ever be able to trust again?
“I wonder if anyone survived,” Magnus murmured, more to himself than me.
“I don’t know.” I gently prodded Lady Gray with my heels. “Let’s take a closer look. There’s no point in bringing the girls here if there’s no one left.”
Bodies. So many. The smell was atrocious. Some of the women had been stripped bare. It took great effort to keep the contents of my stomach intact. “I will never understand why we do this to each other.”
“The strong have always preyed upon the weak for profit,” Magnus answered. “It’s not right, but it is common.”
“Unfortunately. And it needs to stop.” I swung down off my horse. We appeared to be in the center of the village, though it was hard to tell. The smell of charred wood permeated the air.
“Hello! Is there anyone here?” I heard crows call deep in the forest. “Please, is there anyone left alive in this village?”
Nothing.
I tried again. “We found your girls. We’d like to bring them back, if there’s someone here to take them.”
After a moment, I heard the faint rustling of foliage. Slowly, tentatively, an old woman stepped out of the trees, followed by an old man and a middling-aged woman. That was it. Three. Just three.
Magnus dismounted and gave voice to my thoughts. “Three of you? Only three?”
“Mister, I think we’re the only ones left. We were picking fruit in the forest when those men came. We hid, like cowards, but we lived to tell the tale,” the old woman said. Thankfully, she spoke in the common tongue. “This is what they did to a peaceful people.” She swept her hands toward the burnt huts. “Our families, slaughtered. Our children, taken. Where are the girls?”
“On the other side of the mountain. Behind us,” I told them. “We’ll bring them back to you.”
“Why?” the old man asked, his voice heavy with grief. “There is nothing to come back to.”
He was right. How would they sustain themselves with the majority of their population dead?
“Who are you?” the old woman asked.
“I am Kymber Oryx. This is Magnus Tyrix.” I didn’t expect them to recognize our names, and they didn’t. “Do you know Malina Blackhorn then?”
The middling-aged woman moaned and wrung her hands together. “Have you seen my Malina?”
“Are you her mother?” I asked.
“Yes. My name is Laiia.” The woman put an arm around the elder woman’s shoulders. “And this is Tibbi.” She nodded at the man. “And Charin. They are my old parents.” The woman drew in a breath. “Malina lives?”
“She’s alive. She’s been a huge help with the girls, but some of them are injured. They’ll need a healer’s attention.”
“Nothing left here,” the old man said again. “No healer.”
“I see that. She told us there was another tribe of Yasri goat herders not far from here. Do you know them?”
“I do.” Malina’s mother nodded. “Many great warriors live there. A few are marriage kin to me. My dead husband’s mother and brothers are there.”
“Will you allow us to escort you there?” I waited for an answer, but no one spoke. “I don’t think you can stay here.”
“This is our home,” Tibbi said with a bleakness that went bone-deep.
I glanced at Magnus and tried to think, finally deciding the three adults could stay if they wished, but I would not leave the girls. “Perhaps you can rebuild someday, but it’s not safe now. We killed the slavers that took your children, but there may be more out there. You weren’t able to defend your village when it was attacked the first time.” Laiia keened softly at my words. “It will be nigh on impossible now.”
Tibbi took firm control of the situation, turning to her daughter and husband. “I say we go. Take what we can carry and go. This woman is right. There is nothing but death here for us. These people saved our precious chipana. That is enough.”
“The girls are hungry,” I said. “Perhaps we should gather up the food that isn’t spoiled and take it with us.” I began kicking through the rubble of the nearest hut.
“And something to carry it,” Laiia said, lifting an intact but blackened leather satchel from the debris at her feet. “Knives and cook pots will be useful, if we can find them.”
“There are several goats left alive. I heard them in the forest,” Charin said, taking up what was left of a shepherd’s staff. “I’ll get them.”
I narrowed my eyes, not sure of their value.
“Milk, you see.” The old man smiled. There wasn’t a tooth left in his mouth. “And meat, if need be.”
“You eat goats?” I asked.
“Of course,” Laiia said. “Don’t you?”
“Uhm, yes.” I had never eaten goat, but I would tonight, if it came right down to it.
Thus did we find enough sustenance for another night or two. As Tibbi had said – it was enough. For now.
We escorted the surviving adults around the mountain and retrieved the girls. We put Tibbi and Charin in charge of driving the wagon and reloaded the injured. Laiia, Malina, and I herded the twelve recovered goats behind them. Magnus led Lady Gray with Tori upon her back, her arm tightly locked around little Mia.
; We must have been a sorry sight, a long line of weary survivors heading toward the larger village. Malina said it was called Dorso.
I hoped we’d be welcome there.
46: MAGNUS
I tried to watch over the girls and Kymber at the same time, dropping back occasionally to make sure there were no stragglers.
Truth be told, I was more worried about Kymber.
Preparing to take the girls to a safe location had put roses on her cheeks and a fire in her eyes. Now that we were underway, she seemed to have lost some of her resolve.
Kymber had taken on a big job, and I was proud of her, but she’d exhausted herself. I had to make sure she preserved her strength to retrieve Silverlight. Saving these girls was one of the most important things we’d ever done, but I thought having her old sword back in her hands was the key to her future.
My Kymber was a series of long, dark hallways and locked doors, the key to opening them obscure, sometimes even to her. This key was as bright as polished gold though: as long as Garai held her sword, she was still his prisoner.
My cruel trick at Seacrest had caused her to steal a horse and flee to Adamar. I was sorry I’d hurt her, but she’d reacquainted herself with a hard truth: life was not fair. If we had to fight him, Garai certainly wouldn’t deal us a just and impartial hand. She needed to be prepared for anything, as did I.
Mia began to cry again. I turned to see her clutching her hand to her chest. There was nothing more I could do for her, but I brought Fitz to a halt and dismounted. “Would you like to ride with me, Mia?” I can’t say if I reminded her of her father or not, but she usually settled into a fitful sleep when I cradled her in my arms.
She nodded and thrust one tiny hand out to me. I transferred her from Lady Gray to Fitz and spoke to Tori, now alone on the horse. “Would you mind if one of the younger girls rode with you?”
“No, sir,” Tori said. “If you can find Neesa, she had cuts on her feet from the rocks.”
Kymber darted out from behind the wagon, a bleating baby goat in her arms. “She’s in the wagon. If you let her ride with Tori, I can put Kinsey in the wagon in her place.” Her shoulders drooped bit. “Unless my horse can bear Kinsey as well, in which case I’ll put Marta in the wagon.”
Too many tired and aching girls, not enough transportation. I knew we’d eventually regret freeing the slaver’s horses, but we didn’t have the means to feed them and thirty-four girls too.
Kymber saw my thoughts. “I knew it. We should’ve kept those horses.”
“We talked about this. We had enough mouths to feed without dragging more animals along behind us.”
Kymber sighed. “I know. Truly, I do, but they would’ve helped. Some of the girls can barely keep up, and I’ve blisters myself.”
I glanced at her bare feet. “What did you do with your boots?”
“I gave them to Adolia. Malina’s blisters had broken, so I put her in the wagon. Adolia volunteered to take her place herding the goats.”
I had nothing to say – I would’ve done the same regarding the boots – but Kymber was giving small pieces of herself so often there would soon be nothing left of her.
I pulled Mia down off my horse and held her against my chest. Talk of blisters and the pale, lethargic little mite in my arms convinced me we all needed a rest. “We’ll stop and bed down there, in the shade of those trees. I’ll need a few hours of daylight to hunt. There’s a stream beyond the tree line there. I can hear it.”
“We have supper right here.” Kymber lowered her gaze to the goat in her arms.
“No, I don’t want to spend the goats. I need the scant bit of milk they give for Mia.” I turned my attention to the old woman driving the cart. “How much farther?”
Tibbi gazed skyward, thinking, then gave me a smile. “Half a day, if we start early in the morning.”
I turned to Kymber. “A meal tonight, and they’ll need something to break their fast. How much of the food we found in the burnt village is left?”
She drew a weary breath. “Enough. We’ll make it last. We have to.” Her words were certain; the look on her face was not.
“We’re doing the right thing, but we’ve taken on a big responsibility.”
Kymber’s arms tightened around the goat. “Say it,” she hissed. “Say it, and get it off your chest. I bit off more than I could chew. Tell me I should’ve looked the other way while those men drove those girls toward the slave markets.”
“Come now, Kymber. You know me better than that. Neither of us would’ve abandoned the girls on that mountain. We’re doing what needs to be done, but it’s taking a toll. On them, on you. Your eyes look like piss holes in the snow.”
Kymber shrugged, her expression dull as a stone. “I am tired and hungry. Oh, Magnus…”
I put two fingers to her lips. “Shh! Tibbi says we’re nearly there. Dig deep and hold tight, love. You’ve been through worse.” I tried to embrace her across a squirming goat. “I’ll support us both if I have to.”
“I have been through worse,” Kymber murmured. She allowed her gaze to wander over Mia’s face. “We are doing the right thing, but I’m so tired.”
I gave her a pat on the back. “Then rest. I’m going to leave Mia with you while I hunt.”
“No.” She dumped the baby goat into Laiia’s arms. “I’m coming with you. We’ll need to bring in as much game as we can tonight.”
She spoke the truth, but… “You have no bow.”
“No, but I have my knife and a strong back. I can gut and skin and carry the game back to the fire.”
“All right.” I nodded. “Tibbi, will you look after Mia for me? Until we get back?”
The old woman drew Mia into her arms. “Poor little chipana. Tibbi will take care of you.”
Kymber spoke to Laiia. “You and your old parents are in charge until we get back. Ask the girls to gather firewood if they’re able. Others can take the water skins and go to the creek. Give everyone who isn’t feeling poorly something to do. We need all hands tonight.”
Laiia bowed. “It will be done, mistress.”
“Hopefully, this will be the last time we need to work this hard to fill our stomachs.” Kymber leaned into the cart and handed Malina the fire flints. “Tomorrow, we’ll be in Dorso.”
Hunting was easy on the plain, especially after we stumbled on a muddy water hole. Tan and white gazelles ran together, turning to sprint in the opposite direction when they saw us. I didn’t feel up to chasing them. Wild goats and boar were abundant as well, and I even saw a few stray cows meandering at water’s edge.
The cows would’ve been an ideal meal for the number we had to feed, but they were too large for the two of us to drag back to camp.
“Well.” Kymber scratched her head. “They’re used to eating goat meat. I’d almost like to catch a few more live goats, or maybe even that scrawny brown cow there. The more livestock we can bring along to Dorso, the less likely we are to be seen as worthless, hungry bellies. I’m a little nervous about them agreeing to absorb that many extra mouths to feed.” Kymber put her hand to her forehead and stared out at the horizon. “Though I’m not sure what we could’ve done differently. By the time we found the girls, the damage had already been done to their village.”
I eyed the cow to which Kymber was referring. Fattened up, it might be a good addition to an already existing herd. It was definitely the largest of the five that wallowed in the mud. “We were put in that spot at that particular time to help, and we have.”
“All well and good, but what are we going to do if they don’t take them in? Three adults, not counting Malina, and two of them are elderly. Most of the girls have an injury or bloody blisters. Some of them will soon be sun burnt. That would strain the resources of any village. If Dorso is as poor as the ruined goat herder village appeared to be . . .” Kymber clenched her fists. “This might end up being a nightmare for us.”
“Could we take them back to Seacrest?” I lifted my brow. “I own plenty o
f land along the coast. I could call in builders to erect temporary shelters. They’d be protected, at least.”
She shook her head. “We’d need better transportation. Damn it! If only we’d kept those horses.” Dropping to the ground, she tucked her legs under her. “And I’d be that much farther from Silverlight.”
“What?”
“It’s selfish of me to say it, but I’d be that much farther away from Silverlight.” She was silent for so long I crouched beside her. She lifted weary eyes to me. “Maybe I truly don’t need her, Magnus. After all, I do have Promise.”
I drew circles in the dirt with my fingertip. “I don’t think it’s a question of ‘needing.’ Yes, you have a perfectly good sword available to you, but Silverlight was a gift from your father. She doesn’t belong to Garai.” I took a moment to choose my next words carefully. I had learned my lesson the hard way. Motivation, yes. Taunts, no. “Look, Kymber, I’ll understand if you don’t want to go for Silverlight. Your feathers were ruffled the day you brought me Tariq’s head, but sometimes one regrets things said in the heat of the moment.”
Oh, that look. The clenched jaw, the narrowed eyes. “I don’t regret a damned thing I said. I just didn’t count on having to rescue all those girls. I have to trust that things will work out. I’m not going to think ‘what if.’ I’m going to think ‘when.’ When this Yasri village takes these girls in – because it’s the right thing to do, and they will do the right thing – we will continue on our journey. We’ll be too far west to go over the mountain pass I came through when I escaped from Pentorus, but we’ll find another. We’ll keep trying until we get there.”
“That’s my girl.” I kissed the top of her head. “Now let’s go hunting so we can get back to the fire. I’m starving.”
Dorso came into view near noon the next day, an uneven dark line tracing the horizon. I whistled low as we drew closer. It was an impressive sprawling town; Laiia had said there were thousands of inhabitants. They’d built wattle and daub outbuildings for their livestock, even incorporating wood into many of their structures.
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