Rider's Revenge (The Rider's Revenge Trilogy Book 1)

by Alessandra Clarke

  She stepped back. "I'm sorry, Badru. But I have to know. What did you give K'var of the Black Horse Tribe today? Did you promise to help him destroy my tribe? Are you going to help him kill my mother and sister and brother?"

  Badru frowned. "How do you know about K'var?"

  "I heard him when he arrived. He said he was here to ask you for men and weapons to attack the tribes that oppose him. He wore your colors, Badru. The White Horse Tribe, my tribe, is the one that opposes him."

  Badru turned away from her. "I haven't met with K'var yet. I spent the day with Herin and Nesbit working through the language on freeing slaves and returning their property. The entire palace is in an uproar over my announcement. The sooner we release the new language, the better."

  "So you'll turn him away? Send K'var home to fight his own battles?"

  Badru's shoulders tensed. "It's not that simple, K'lrsa."

  "What do you mean?" She grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look at her.

  "We need the trade they bring us."

  "No, you don't. You were fine without it for centuries."

  He shook his head. "We were the poorest of the Daliphana before we opened the trade route across the desert. We were the only Daliphate without access to the ocean, at the mercy of the others for everything. We were poor and backwards, our main export our own people to serve as slaves in the other Daliphana. We can't go back to that, K'lrsa. My people won't accept that."

  "So you'd kill my people?"

  He winced, closing his eyes. "I don't want to."

  "But you will?"

  He met her gaze. "Unless another tribe is willing to take us across the desert, I'll have no choice but to support K'var."

  K'lrsa shook her head. "No. We have to stop trading with you. We have to go back to who we were before or you'll destroy us."

  "It's too late to turn back now, K'lrsa. We won't give up on trading across the desert now that we're able to and the tribes won't give up all they've gained from that trade either."

  "If you loved me…"

  "It's not about loving you." His face darkened and he stepped away from her. "I'm Daliph of the Toreem Daliphate, K'lrsa. I have to do what's best for my people."

  She'd thought they were past this, but here she was face-to-face with the Daliph not the young man she loved. "Go."

  "K'lrsa…"

  "No. Go. Get out." She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. "Get out!"

  Badru knocked the pillow aside, glaring at her. "I do love you, K'lrsa, but it's time you stopped acting like a spoiled child and saw how complicated the world really is."

  K'lrsa screeched and launched herself at him, clawing at his eyes. She managed to gouge his cheek before he pushed her back.

  He left, the heavy bar slamming into place, locking her inside.

  She glared at the door, glad he was gone and hoping he'd never come back. Ever.

  She threw herself into practicing the hundred and five attacks again, leaping and kicking as the anger churned inside her.

  She tried to picture her enemies with each attack, but she didn't know who they were anymore.

  Badru?

  K'var?

  Time?

  Change?

  Maybe Badru was right. Maybe it was already too late to save her people.

  Chapter 76

  K'lrsa lay in her sleeping corner and stared at the ceiling. She didn't want to sleep, afraid her heart would betray her once more and she'd spend the night lost in Badru's arms.

  Instead, she struggled not to remember the real kisses they'd shared, the softness of his lips, and the way his arms had wrapped around her, so strong and yet so tender.

  She tried to banish those images with memories of her father, but it was no use. She kept coming back to Badru and the way being with him obliterated everything else.

  She needed to go home. To get away from him before she lost herself so completely she could never leave.

  He was going to help K'var destroy her tribe.

  Not to save the lives of his people, but to make sure that they continued to prosper. Her people would die so his could choose from five platters of food at each meal instead of four.

  And he knew it. He knew that if he helped K'var he'd be sentencing her family to death. He knew, and he didn't care.

  How could she love a man like that?

  K'lrsa heard the bar on her door slide away and the door open, slowly, quietly; if she'd been asleep she would've never heard it.

  She crept to the edge of the bed, peering around the corner to see who it was. Maybe Badru had come back to apologize.

  But no. Whoever it was moved too carefully. Badru would've entered with a lantern, striding into the space as if he owned it. (Which, she guessed, he did.)

  This person crept across the room, familiar enough with its layout to avoid the sitting area. He tripped on the pillow K'lrsa had thrown at Badru and hissed a curse as he stumbled into the wall.

  Tarum.

  Tarum was sneaking into her room in the middle of the night. She shivered and crept from the edge of the bed to the bathing area, keeping to the darkest shadow along the wall.

  As Tarum passed through a shaft of moonlight coming in through the slats of the left-most window, the knife he held caught the light.

  He'd not only come to her room in the middle of the night, he'd come armed. K'lrsa suddenly felt calm, all the uncertainty and fear of the last few weeks melting away into hard-edged certainty.

  He was here to kill her.

  But she was going to kill him first.

  As he reached the edge of the bed, looming over her little sleeping space, she launched her attack.

  He stepped aside at the last moment; the kick she'd aimed to shatter his kneecap turned into a glancing blow. He stumbled away from her, holding the knife between them.

  As she approached, he slashed at her but missed. K'lrsa stepped forward as the knife whizzed through the air and delivered a blow to his arm, forcing him to drop the blade.

  It clattered to the floor, the sound sharp and distinct.

  Before K'lrsa could grab it, Tarum rushed her, pinning her arms to her sides as he drove her backward into the wall.

  "What are you doing here?" She stepped on the inside of his foot and then tripped him while he was off balance.

  He kept his hold on her so they both crashed to the ground, the breath he expelled as she landed on him heavy with the scent of onions and garlic.

  Tarum flipped over on top of her, pinning her body with his as he grabbed her wrists and forced her arms above her head. He grinned as he ran his eyes down her body, his leering smile on full display.

  K'lrsa kneed him in the groin and pushed him off.

  She sprang back to her feet as Tarum stumbled to his, the knife once more in his hand.

  He sneered at her as he waved it in her direction. "Shut up, whore."

  "I am so tired of being called that." K'lrsa aimed a kick at his gut.

  Tarum staggered under the blow, but managed to keep the knife. He shrugged, breathing heavily. "A mule is a mule, and a whore is a whore."

  He slashed at her again, managing a shallow cut along her arm.

  "So, what? You figured you'd come in here and have your way with me? Then what? Run away? Because the Daliph will kill you for touching me."

  "You're no dorana." He slashed at her once more.

  She laughed. "Yes, I am. But you always were a fool. You didn't think it through, did you? Didn't plan this out at all."

  He slashed at her again and managed a deeper cut along her thigh. "I have a plan. You're going to die. And then they'll reward me."

  She jumped back, avoiding another attack. "Who? Who wants me dead?"

  "Everyone. You've ruined everything." He grunted as he lunged again. He was tiring, his breath now coming in ragged gasps.

  She circled him, wondering if she could reach the door before he caught her again.

  "And did they, whoever they are, tell you to rape me
first?" She stumbled a bit as he lunged for her once more.

  "No. But might as well get a little payment now." He ran his eyes down her body, his gaze groping at her exposed flesh.

  Rage surged through her veins and she jumped forward, her heel driving his knee backward until it made a sickening crunch. He fell heavily to the ground, screaming.

  K'lrsa glanced towards the door, wondering if anyone had heard him. And, if so, who would come? Tarum's accomplices? Or a rescuer?

  She circled him warily. He was still on the ground, but the knife was sharp and his reach long. "Why did they want me dead?"

  She stumbled again, feeling dizzy.

  "Feeling it aren't you?" He grinned at her, completely confident even though he couldn't stand.

  "What?"

  "The poison."

  As K'lrsa struggled to stay standing, Tarum laughed softly. "They didn't want to take any chances."

  K'lrsa forced herself to focus on Tarum and ignore the way the poison dragged at her limbs and her mind. She launched into Crouching Cricket, her body speeding through the air as she leapt at him.

  Bones crunched as her heel connected with his face.

  He collapsed, dead.

  She stared down at him, her vision unfocused as she struggled to stay standing.

  "Help," she cried, but the word was no more than a whisper.

  K'lrsa fainted.

  Chapter 77

  She awoke in her bed, the flimsy curtains blowing against her face in the cool breeze from the open windows.

  One of the Daliph's guards stood next to the bed, his face as still as stone. When he saw that she was awake, he signaled to another guard stationed by the door.

  Herin sat next to the bed on a small stool; Garzel behind her. They both looked tired; the wrinkles on their faces had multiplied overnight.

  Herin gestured the guard to leave. He stepped far enough away that he wouldn't hear their conversation, but stayed close enough he could react if Herin or Garzel tried something.

  K'lrsa wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it, but then she remembered that her own poradom had tried to kill her.

  "What happened last night?" Herin asked, demanding and belligerent.

  "Isn't it obvious? Tarum tried to kill me. I killed him first." K'lrsa tried to sit up, but fell back into the pillows, closing her eyes against a wave of dizziness.

  Herin pursed her lips like she was sucking on a lemon. "That's not what Balor says happened."

  "Who is Balor? I'm telling you, Tarum came here last night and attacked me with a poisoned knife." She rubbed at her forehead, willing the headache that had just appeared to go away.

  It didn't work.

  "Balor is a well-known and well-respected poradom. He says he found Tarum in your rooms. That the two of you were together, naked. He killed Tarum and subdued you for proper judgement."

  "Together? Me and Tarum?"

  Herin raised an eyebrow but didn't speak.

  "Oh, honestly, Herin. Do you think I would ever be with Tarum? I hate him." K'lrsa tried to sit up again and fell backward.

  "He was very handsome."

  "He wasn't my type."

  "We didn't find a knife."

  "Where do you think this came from?" K'lrsa pulled her sleeve back to show the wound on her arm.

  All that remained was a faint white line, as if the wound had healed long ago.

  K'lrsa stared at her arm. "That's impossible. He cut me here last night."

  Herin didn't say anything, but her expression showed exactly what she thought of K'lrsa's tale.

  K'lrsa forced herself to sit up and pulled the covers back from her thigh. That wound also looked long-healed.

  "What is this? What happened?" She grabbed Herin's arm. "Herin, I don't know what happened last night, but I swear to you on the Great Father and the Lady Moon that I was attacked and poisoned. Look at Tarum. I killed him with Crouching Cricket."

  Herin pulled K'lrsa's hand from her arm.

  "Herin?"

  "No one will believe you. Balor is a senior poradom. Your supposed wounds are long-healed. There is no knife. And Tarum's throat was slit." She shook her head.

  "So what's going to happen to me?"

  Herin met her eyes. "The punishment for a dorana caught with another man is death."

  "But I wasn't with him."

  Herin shrugged, not even looking the least bit upset. "Balor says you were. Zenel was stationed at the door with Tarum and he says Tarum begged him to leave for a candlemark so you two could be alone together. He says he knew how wrong it was, but he knew how much you cared for each other."

  "Zenel? Who is Zenel? He's a liar, too."

  Herin nodded in mockery. "Lots of liars in the poradoma."

  "Herin, you saw how Tarum was with me. He was always touching me more than he should've. Always looking at me."

  "He was your poradom. They have to touch and look at you."

  She shook her head. "You know Tarum was different. What about Sayel? Does he know? He doesn't believe this does he?"

  "No, he doesn't."

  "Well, that's good, isn't it?"

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "Because Sayel was your head poradom. He was responsible for guarding your honor. If he says it's a lie, everyone will think it's only to protect himself."

  K'lrsa lay back, trying to clear the final dregs of poison from her mind. She needed to see Badru. He'd save her. He'd know the truth. "What happens now?"

  "Badru will see you this afternoon."

  K'lrsa felt a small surge of hope.

  "He'll deliver his judgement in front of the full court."

  The full court? K'lrsa glanced at her. "What aren't you telling me, Herin?"

  "Two senior poradoma have accused a dorana of consorting with a man other than the Daliph." Garzel touched her shoulder and Herin rested her hand on his, squeezing gently. "By the laws of the Daliphate you will be beheaded."

  "Beheaded?"

  Herin nodded. "By the Daliph's own hand."

  "No. It won't happen. He won't do it."

  Herin once more looked like she was sucking on a lemon. "He must. Or risk losing everything."

  "No." She stared at Herin, noting how nervous she was. "You don't think he'll do it either, do you?"

  "Pzah. He's a boy in love. Who knows what he'll do?" She leaned forward, spitting her words. "But if I have any say in it, he will swing that sword without a single moment's hesitation."

  K'lrsa stared at her, too surprised to speak. Herin had never been her friend, but to think that she'd encourage Badru in this…

  Herin stood slowly, Garzel supporting her with a hand under her elbow.

  Desperate to keep them by her side, K'lrsa said, "Tarum was ordered to kill me."

  "By whom?"

  "I don't know. He didn't say."

  Herin stared towards the door.

  "Do you believe me, Herin?"

  Herin took a deep breath and turned back to her, her face completely blank. Now K'lrsa knew where Badru had learned that particular trick. "It doesn't matter if you're innocent. What matters is what everyone else believes."

  "What?"

  "The truth is irrelevant. If they think you're guilty, they'll want you punished. If Badru doesn't punish you, he'll fail even if he's right."

  K'lrsa closed her eyes against a wave of dizziness. "That doesn't make sense."

  "Of course it does. The only thing that matters is how people perceive their leader."

  K'lrsa grabbed at Herin. "But you'll tell Badru, won't you? You won't let him kill me thinking I've betrayed him, will you?"

  Herin stepped away. "No."

  "Why not?"

  "Because he doesn't need the temptation. He needs to believe you've betrayed him so he can do what he must."

  Herin turned away.

  "Herin!"

  She turned back to K'lrsa. "Make your peace, child. And spare a thought for the others who are going to die today, too."

&
nbsp; "Others? Who?"

  "Your poradoma. Morlen and Sayel."

  "No."

  Herin nodded.

  "Why?"

  "Because they failed to protect your honor."

  K'lrsa threw herself back against the pillows. "My honor is just fine. Herin, if you let this happen, whoever tried this will go after Badru again."

  She nodded. "I know. But with you gone, it won't be so easy to strike him down."

  As Herin walked away, K'lrsa called out after her. "He'll find out eventually, Herin."

  She shrugged.

  "You can't do this, Herin. It'll break his heart."

  She paused with her hand on the door and turned to look at K'lrsa. "I'd rather see him with a broken heart than a broken neck. And you? What would you rather see? Do you love him enough to let this happen? Or will you ruin him completely?"

  Before K'lrsa could respond, Herin left.

  Chapter 78

  K'lrsa struggled out of the bed and stumbled around the room, working the last vestiges of poison from her body. She still felt a little weak, but nothing like when she'd awoken.

  "I need to see Badru." She faced off against the guard nearest the bed, but he ignored her as if she didn't even exist.

  "I need to see Badru." The guard by the door glanced to the other guard and then he, too, ignored her.

  She paced the room from wall to wall to wall to wall, desperate for escape.

  The door opened and Sayel stepped inside, his eyes cast downward.

  "Sayel. Am I glad to see you." She hugged him, but he was stiff and awkward in her embrace. "Sayel? What's wrong? You believe me, don't you? You know Tarum tried to attack me. You know I'd never be with him like that."

  He met her eyes briefly and then looked away. "Herin said you confessed."

  "What?" She turned away and paced the room, her hands clenched and unclenched. "That meddlesome, loathsome hag. That dried up old bag of horse shit."

  She turned back to Sayel. "I said no such thing. Tarum tried to kill me last night; I killed him before he could."

  Sayel glanced at her and then away again. "I want to believe you, my dorana. But Balor said…"

  "Forget what Balor said."

  He forced himself to look at her. "Balor said he found you together. He was poradom with my father. I've known him my entire life. Who am I to believe?"