by Alex Alcasid
“She took offense to that?”
“Yes.”
Kaiten threw his head back and laughed. Cassendir, who had just managed to nod off, lifted his head and glared hard at the Beastman.
“What’s so funny?” Kae bristled.
“I’m very sure that that wasn’t what the princess wanted to hear.” Kaiten waved a hand. “You both will sort this out soon, I’m sure.”
“What? What are you talking-—“
Kaiten cut the huntress off with a hand. His ears perked up, and his eyes darted around as he stared into the surrounding forest. Beside Loren, Ma’trii looked up too. The wolf was at full alert as he stood on a bench, likewise staring into the forest. When Kae looked, all she could see were trees. She turned back to Kaiten, but knew better than to ask out loud.
“There’s something up ahead.” The prince whispered. He narrowed his eyes as he looked past the driver of their cart and his horses. “It sounds like… armor. Heavy boots.”
“Soldiers?” Kae whispered back. She reached for her bow and slung on her quiver.
Kaiten nodded. “Sounds like it. Many of them, more than necessary for a patrol.”
“What do we do? Are they friendly?”
The princes growled, his hackles raised. “I don’t think so. They smell like blood and steel. We have to run. Loren! Wake up!” Kaiten hissed, moving to another bench and shaking Loren awake.
Ma’trii suddenly backed away from the bench he stood on, growling defensively. He took a low stance, ready to attack.
“We might not have much time!” Cassendir said. The blue light of his magic seeped out of his sleeve. “Prince Kaiten, I have an idea, and you or the girls may not like it. Please do not hold it against me.”
“What? What do you plan?” Kaiten said, standing. His hand flew to his sword belt as he heard footsteps from the forest. He growled as he realized he still didn’t have a sword and his claws tried to grip empty air.
“You’re fast, hardy, and not expected to be on this side of the mountains.” The scholar spoke quickly, weaving a spell between his fingers. Threads of blue light left an after image in the air as he moved. “Please, run for us, and get help. I hope this would last you at least to Hardwick.”
Before Kaiten could protest, Cassendir pushed the Beastman out of the cart. The prince tumbled out of the cart with a yelp, landing in the dirt just before the cart rolled to a stop. As Kaiten hit the ground, Cassendir’s blue magic covered him completely, winking the Beastman out of sight. Kaiten disappeared.
“Cassendir, what did you do?” Kae looked out of the cart, scanning the road blindly.
“He’s safe, and hopefully, we would be too.” Cassendir muttered. He slowly raised his arms, and as Kae looked back to ask what on earth he was doing, she felt the sharp tip of a pike at her throat. The huntress carefully raised her arms as well, a gesture of surrender.
As soon as Loren peeked her head above the wall of the cart, she was met with the sharp end of a pike as well. The princess went cross eyed as she focused on the blade tip hovering inches before her face. She followed the shaft of the pike down to who was holding it, and saw a scruffy looking man holding the pike in his gloved fists. He wore a mismatch of leather and steel armor, along with a cloak of furs like the northern nomads. He could have been from anywhere. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her friends held fast by similar looking men.
“What do we have here, boys?” A loud, booming voice said just out of sight. A large man approached the cart, his chest as big as a barrel. He was dressed in mismatching armor as well, but his cloak bore a red and black pattern of twin lionesses. The sigil of the Red Sisters of Sagna. “A cart full of travelers, hmm?”
The driver of the cart fearfully nodded, keeping his head down and his gaze firmly on the ground between his horses. “Please sir, ‘m just a trader. They paid me for passage back to Hardwick. I’ve already sold all my goods back at the border town.”
“Hmph. No goods, just passengers.” The man watching Kae said. The side of his head was shaved, and bore two large, raised scars from Beastman claws. “Doubt these would fetch a bounty. Do we kill them, Hamilcar?”
The large man grunted, shaking his head. He approached Loren, and his eyes widened in surprise and delight. “Don’t rush right into it, Ain. We may have a prize on our hands after all.” He laughed again. With a quick movement, a knife appeared in his hand. With it’s point, Hamilcar lifted the dragon pendant off of Loren’s neck, holding it at the limit of its chain. Loren protested, but one of the bandits brandished the pike again. “Do you know what this is, Ain?”
Ain craned his neck and squinted over at Hamilcar. He shook his head. “Jewelry? Looks expensive. Do we sell it at Hardwick? Or the Eastern Shores?”
Hamilcar laughed again, and let the pendant fall back to Loren. “No, this little trinket isn’t for sale at all. In fact, its more valuable than all your hides! Round them up, boys! Bring the spares and the dog too! We make for Sagna!”
Hamilcar’s bandits made short work of Loren and her friends. They stripped them of their weapons, tied their hands behind their backs and put burlap sacks over their heads. For Ma’trii, the wolf was hogtied and stuffed into the largest sack they had. Loren felt the uneven sway of a cart, and all the bumps from stones and roots. Once the sounds of the bandits calmed into a smug bickering among themselves, Loren tried to feel around the cart. There were sacks and not much else, and the princess began to feel the sharp panic of being alone. Then she kicked something.
“Hey!” Kae’s muffled voice said from near Loren’s feet. “What was that?”
“Kae?” Loren whispered.
“Princess! Yeah, I’m here. I can’t find Ma’trii or Cassendir, they might be in another cart or on a horse.”
“Do you think they’ve been—“
“No, don’t think that. If they were take care of, we’d have heard it. There around and alive, I just know it.”
The two fell into a tense silence. The princess crawled and scurried around the cart, feeling her way with her bound hands, till she managed to maneuver herself beside Kae.
The princess brushed Kae’s hand with her’s, and felt the warmth of another body beside her. Reassured that she wasn’t alone, Loren seemed to calm. She pressed herself closer to Kae, and already her breathing slowed to a normal rate.
“Are you okay?” Kae asked.
Inside the burlap sack, Loren nodded, then realized that Kae couldn’t see her. “Yes, I’m alright. Unharmed, so far. They took all my weapons, my gold… my pack.”
“Same here. Took my bow. Took my wolf.” Kae shifted uneasily, twisting her wrists in her binds. “They had better not have hurt Ma’trii, gods above…”
“Kae.” Loren said slowly. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For getting us into this. For even thinking of stepping foot in the Plaguelands, for making us trek across the north unprepared, and now this. Stuffed in a sack and laden on a cart, being delivered right into the enemy’s lair.” The princess’s voice was tight, about to cry.
“It’s like I said before, princess.” Kae said softly. “I don’t blame you. I followed you willingly, we all did. Don’t beat yourself up for something you can’t control. We just have to figure a way out of this mess. And besides, we were going to Sagna anyway right?”
Kae’s words brought a chuckle out of Loren. “You are right, we were headed there anyway. But still, I can’t help thinking this is my fault. I have to fix this.” She paused, taking a deep breath. “But there is one thing in my control.”
“What’s that?” Beside the princess, Kae shifted again. She turned onto her side, facing Loren as much as she could.
“I’m sorry for how I acted earlier this morning.” Loren said haltingly. Under the burlap sack, she was blushing. “I shouldn’t have gotten up and turned my back on you like that. Or hid behind the dragon magic.”
“Loren…”
“Really, I apologize. I should have handled it bette
r. It’s just…” Loren sighed. “Kae, I don’t want you to be a servant; I don’t want you to be under me at all. I would like you at my side, treated as an equal. Treated with the utmost respect.”
“I shouldn’t have pushed what I thought was right for you either, princess. I mean… Loren. I assumed that was how things worked in your world.”
“In my world?”
“The castle. The nobility. Everything seems to work differently behind the castle’s walls, back where the guards block the view. I’ve seen enough of Markholme, the marketplace and slums, even the trader’s road to Markin’s Pass.” Kae chuckled. “You should have seen Ma’trii swimming in the Great Ocean. He came running back to shore, spooked by a wave.”
“How is life different?”
“I’m not surprised it never occurred to you, princess. You get to live your life in safety and security, sleeping in silk sheets and dressing in gowns. You get to eat the best food, and you get to eat it every day with no fear or not having enough.”
Loren was shocked at Kae’s words. She remembered the huntress saying something similar while under the Queen of Yureun’s spell. Kae’s insecurity about her status ran deeper than Loren ever thought.
Kae continued. “You get to live every day surrounded by family. You have your mother and father, and aides that I’m sure have been with you all your life. Sometimes, Ma’trii and I would sit on a root by the Markholme gates, you know? Always on a clear day. We’d look up at the castle on a hill, see the blue and gold flags flying from the towers. I’d wonder what life was like inside those walls. It must be nice, much better than sleeping in the dirt. I’d wish my father were still around to see it.”
“Is that really how you see us?” Loren asked quietly.
“The ruling class?” Kae answered. “The untouchable rich? What game I manage to hunt, I have to sell at the market just for a few coins to buy necessities. Maybe a decent, used bedroll because mine was beyond repair. Maybe a few new leathers because mine were worn too badly to be of use.” The huntress sighed and was quiet for a while.
“I’m sorry, Kae. I didn’t know how hard life was for you.” Loren said. She regretted the words as they left her mouth.
“Of course you didn’t know. It’s hard to see the gutters from the castle towers, right? Anyway. I know I don’t belong up there, with you. If anything, I’d leave the stench of dirt and wolf on all your clean linens.” Kae chuckled, but there was no mirth in her voice. “It’s not a place for me.”
“But…” Loren said haltingly. “Would you like it to be? If I was there with you, would you try living there?”
“In the castle? As what?”
“W-Well… You’d be at my side. Going to meetings with me, going to dinners with me, exploring the city with me.”
“Yeah, as what?”
As my wife, Loren thought. But the word stilled in her throat, choking her with the weight of what she wanted from Kae. Her heart leapt at the idea, but sank at the same time. From how Kae spoke of the nobility, the princess knew she didn’t like it, their privileged lifestyle. She didn’t like the life or what her place would be if she were to be in it. Kae would hate it, and maybe hate Loren for dragging her into it while thinking only about herself. Loren couldn’t say it, shouldn’t say what she really felt. She took a breath and willed her voice to be still. Just as she opened her mouth to answer Kae, a rough hand grabbed her by the arm.
“Hey!” Loren yelped as she was pulled upright.
A gruff male voice chuckled near Loren’s ear. The sack was whipped off her head, and the princess squinted against the light. Beside her, Kae was also pulled up, her sack removed. They were sitting in a cart, now surrounded by the bandits from earlier. They had stopped, the men dismounted, and were now at the iron gates of a city.
“We walk from here, boys.” Hamilcar said, coming into view. He had his hands on his hips as he looked up at the gate. It was a large, oppressive thing, all heavy iron and stone. Slits for arrows were carved into the walls beside the gate. “Get the other two. Ain, you carry the sack with the wolf. All of them are to be brought to the queen!”
“Queen?” Loren muttered. She watched as Hamilcar called to a guard posted at the gate, telling the poor man that he and his band were expected at the keep. The gate rose slowly, the portcullis pulling out of the dirt with a slowness that brought Loren a feeling of dread.
As the gate rose, she realized they were already in Sagna.
Chapter Twenty Two
The capital city of the kingdom lay just behind the heavy gates. Only once the portcullis locked into place and the bandits began to roughly push Loren and her friends down the path, did the city come fully into view. Sagna was surprisingly very similar to Aldoran. Roads paved with flat stones snaked around the town, disappearing behind simple houses and shops. Travelers and traders shouted over each other, fighting for lower and lower prices at the markets. Craftsmen shared their wares and waved curious onlookers over to entice them. Blacksmiths hammered away at an anvil, carefully crafting swords and shields.
It looked like a lively city. Houses were closely packed together within the walls that surrounded the area. The market had a few stalls and permanent shops and was located closer to the gate to allow for easier access to the main road for trader’s carts. There were men carving whole sides of beef with large cleavers, women selling vegetables, others holding out large bolts of cloth. The princess tried to look among the vendors for a lion Beastman selling chickens, just like the ones at the markets in Markholme and Rhodia. There were no lion Beastmen selling chickens; there were no Beastmen within the city at all. Everywhere she looked, Loren saw only humans.
As Loren watched, she began to feel an unease in the air. The carpenter studiously scraping away at a plank of wood with a hand plane was pale and his hands shook. The blacksmith placing an unfinished sword back into the forge was haggard and had dark circles under his eyes. The mother walking down the road impatiently pulled at the hand of her young son, constantly looking over her shoulder with fear in her eyes. Loren traced the woman’s line of sight and saw what she was so afraid of. Every few seconds, the woman would look back at the volcano towering above the town, and at the lowered drawbridge that led into a castle.
The Firestone Keep. The home of the Red Sisters.
Hamilcar grunted and shoved the princess roughly in the back. She stumbled forward a few steps, and when she looked up, the crowd was looking at her. Men and women stood in an eerie silence, having completely stopped what they were doing. They looked on with curiosity, some with pity in their eyes. Loren saw some glance towards the castle, others whispered. It was several agonizingly long seconds before the crowd went back to their routine, and the sounds of the market started up again.
Loren felt a nudge at her shoulder.
“They’re looking at all of us, don’t worry.” Kae muttered. The huntress’s hands were still bound behind her. “I don’t like this place, princess.”
“They look scared.” Loren whispered back.
“Why wouldn’t they be? Remember who rules this place? I would be scared for some unlucky idiots going to their doom too, but at least they aren’t the ones with their wrists tied up.”
“Quiet there!” Hamilcar bellowed behind them. He drew a large axe from his belt and jabbed it into Kae’s back, pushing her along. “Get a move on, the queen is waiting.”
The bandit leader’s laugh boomed in his chest. He waved a large hand towards the volcano and the castle carved into the dark rocks at its slope. “Nice, isn’t it? The Firestone Keep it’s called, and you know exactly who lives there.” He grunted as he returned his axe to his belt. “I heard there are mines that run under the mountain, digging up rocks that glow like coals but are cool to the touch. That is, until a mage gets a hold of it. When that happens, the thing won’t ever stop burning.”
Loren glanced at Kae as they walked up the long road towards Mount Volknar. All around them, Sagnian commoners took a quick look at the
m before hurrying on their way. It was as if they could spot dead men walking, and the sight was misfortune enough. Kae held Loren’s eye and smiled, reassuringly. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. Loren kept putting one foot after the other.
The entrance to Firestone Keep was a lowered drawbridge over a moat, connecting the castle to the city below. Thick, heavy chains ran from the drawbridge and disappeared up into the dark walls of the castle, still slick with oil from use. Heavily armored soldiers stood guard past the drawbridge, holding spears crossed between them. They wore shining, parade-ready steel armor and full helms, with the insignia of the Red Sisters emblazoned on their chests in red on black.
“Who seeks entry into the Firestone Keep?” came the voice of one of the guards as Hamilcar and his band approached.
“Hamilcar, the Barbarian King!” Hamilcar answered, thumping his chest with a fist. “I bring gifts for the Red Sisters of Sagna.”
The guard looked over to his partner, who nodded back. They withdrew their spears and held them at their sides, turning on their heels to move out of the way of the guests. Hamilcar nodded back and led the way into the Keep.
The interior of the Keep was lit with large bronze braziers spaced every few feet along the walls. They were even larger than the ones Seraphis had set up at the northern outpost. Hanging from the high ceiling were black and red banners bearing the rearing lionesses that symbolized the Red Sisters. Attendants scurried around, drawn and pale faces flashing in and out of sight. The very air was thick and warm, and carried the aura of fear. The very building was oppressive, with no windows and heavy wooden doors leading into a darkness that Loren couldn’t see. Portraits of men and women hung upon the walls as well, in between the Sagnian banners. Fierce painted eyes looked down at Loren as she passed, and she was reminded of the painting of the Lady Ylfair, hanging in the Aldoran castle back home. Perhaps these stern figures, women and men marked with the swirling mage markings, were the rulers of Sagna that came before the Red Sisters.
