by Alex Alcasid
“So, Loren. My old friend.” Haedria smiled. “It’s only the two of us now.”
Loren stood rooted to the spot, her hands twitching. Her jaw clenched as she drew in ragged breaths through her teeth, watching the reddened and burned skin of her wrists spread outwards from the markings. She swallowed dryly and felt a heat in her throat and a tightness to her skin, as if a vice was crushing her. She glared at Haedria when the queen approached. “We were never friends, Haedria.”
The queen of Sagna only smiled back. “We could have been, little dragon. But no, you are right. We were never friends.”
“What do you want from me? Take it, but spare Kae, Cassendir, and the wolf. They did nothing to you.”
“They did nothing, true. Although the wolf offends me with his presence. I could spot a Beastman on all fours, my dear dragon, there is an otherness to them. Still, the Houndsmaster may be able to make something out of him.” Haedria chuckled. “If not, he would make a fine rug, wouldn’t you say?”
Loren tried to lunge at her, but the markings flared to life. She gasped from the pain and fell to her knees. “What about Kae? Cassendir?” her voice faltered.
“Oh, they will be taken care of.” Haedria drew closer to Loren. “Seraphis will see to that. My lovely, loyal, executioner.”
“No.” Loren breathed. The closer Haedria got to her, the fuzzier her mind became. The burning heat became warm, almost pleasant and comforting. The sudden shift caught Loren off guard and she wanted to embrace it, to not have to feel the pain anymore. But this was Haedria’s doing, and Loren clung to suspicion. “Please, no. Spare them.”
“You have nothing to bargain with, my dear dragon. I already have what I want.”
“What is it?”
“You, of course. You, and your dragon.” Haedria smiled. She trailed her finger lightly, down Loren’s throat. She braced herself for more magic, for fire to force its way into her, invading her, but it didn’t come. Instead, as Haedria touched the line of branded markings that ran around Loren’s throat like a collar, the princess felt as if a void had opened up beneath her. There was the sensation of warmth, of comfort, and of falling down into an endless, welcoming embrace. Her eyes, once shining gold with Lind’s magic, now glittered the color of fire.
Loren stared at Haedria blankly, as if in a trance. She was fully in the queen’s control. Haedria smiled, almost lovingly, and took Loren by the hand.
Seraphis found Hamilcar and his band past the city gate. They had bound Kae completely, wrapping the huntress in rope and gagging her with a rag. It didn’t stop Kae from struggling and kicking out with all her might. Tears fell down her face, and she was more a wild thing than a companion to a princess. Cassendir was lying in the dirt, staring at the ground. His face was swollen from a black eye, and one of the bandits pressed his foot into his hand. Every time the bandit saw the blue glow spilling from the sleeve of Cassendir’s silk robe, he would push down harder, digging his heels in till the scholar gave up trying to cast a spell.
“Hamilcar, my friend.” Seraphis said as she approached them. “What do you plan to do with them?”
The bandit king sighed heavily, more at ease now that he and his men were beyond the castle gates. “I need a drink, girl. The queen, you know how she gets. She does a number on the nerves, no matter who it is. I was looking forward to beer back at the camp, but the queen gave her orders. These have to be put to death.” He shrugged his huge shoulders. “It’s a waste, but its what the queen wants. She always gets what she wants.”
Seraphis nodded. “That she does. Leave them to me and go home. You’ve earned your beer and then some.”
Hamilcar raised a thick eyebrow. “Are you sure, princess? The queen’s orders…”
“They will be fulfilled, Hamilcar. Don’t worry.” Seraphis’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I am her executioner, as well as the Warmaster.”
The bandit king shrugged and left it at that. Barking orders to his men, Hamilcar rounded them up and had the men on their horses within a minute. He looked back at Seraphis once he was atop his own horse: a large black stallion.
“You do bloody work girl, but I know you have a good heart.” He said, smiling through his thick beard. “Come to the camp! We’ll always have some beer for you.”
Seraphis laughed as she stepped forward to stroke the neck of Hamilcar’s horse. “I will my friend, hopefully soon. Safe travels.”
Only once the clouds of dirt and dust that Hamilcar and his men kicked up settled, did Seraphis turn to her prisoners. Kae had finally tired herself out. The huntress was lying on her side, sobbing quietly. The scholar Cassendir however was sitting cross legged, watching the bandits leave.
“Seraphis.” Cassendir said.
“Hmm?”
“You’re not actually here to kill us.” He said so matter-of-factly that Seraphis couldn’t help but smile.
“Was it that obvious?”
“Well, to me it was.” Cassendir replied. “I suppose to Hamilcar, it wasn’t. He readily left us.”
“He is a bandit, not a murderer. As much as possible, he only kills animals. He robs traders and merchants a plenty, of course, but he lets them go. Unless he gives them as gifts to my dear sister.” Seraphis crouched and ran a knife through the ropes binding Cassendir’s wrists. “My hands are used to being stained with blood.”
Cassendir nodded his thanks and stood, rubbing at his sore wrists. “You don’t like it, however?”
Seraphis shook her head. “Our father taught us to rule with fairness. To only raise a sword to protect our people. But my dear sister had other ideas, and she was the next in line. Of course she would be the one to be followed.”
“So why are you defying her orders? You were always made out to be a loyal soldier.”
“I never said I wasn’t loyal to my kingdom, Cassendir.” Seraphis said as she cut Kae’s ropes. She had to pull the huntress up to a standing position. “I’m sure you saw it in the market.”
Cassendir nodded solemnly. His mage markings glowed their soft blue light under his sleeves as his magic set to healing his cuts and scrapes. “The people of Sagna live in fear. They cast worried glances at the Firestone Keep.”
“Precisely.” Seraphis sighed. She set to shaking sense into Kae, but the huntress was inconsolable. She could only sob, hanging limp in the princess’s strong grip. “I cannot do anything to defy my queen while I’m at her side. But you can, she will think you dead. I’ll tell her I have beheaded the both of you and that I have thrown your corpses to my hounds. She won’t expect a thing.”
“To your hounds?” The scholar winced. “Is that not too gruesome?”
“What do you mean? I do it all the time. I have many hounds and they need to be fed.”
Cassendir gulped.
“Very well then. What do you suggest we do, Seraphis?” Cassendir said. He gazed up at the Firestone Keep, his hands on his hips. Hamilcar and his men did away with his, Kae’s, and Loren’s packs. They were stranded in a foreign kingdom, unarmed, and at the mercy of the Red Sisters of Sagna.
“First thing first, mage. You need to save princess Loren. I fear that my sister has already done the worst to her, and you will have to act quickly.” Seraphis answered grimly.
Beside her, Kae found the strength to stand on her own. She sniffed and wiped at her face. “Did Haedria kill her? Did she kill Loren?” the huntress sniffled, her voice small. She didn’t want to think about the possibility, but she had to ask it all the same.
Seraphis shook her head. “No, Loren still lives, I’m sure of it. The princess was my dear sister’s goal. With Loren under her power, she can manipulate her for the dragon of Aldoran.” She sighed. “I do fear that she has other, more personal plans for Loren.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well…” Seraphis trailed off, gathering her thoughts. “I have told you about my love, Elysia? Let’s say that my dear sister has particular, very specific tastes. Act quickly, Loren may come o
ut of this worse for wear. If she comes out of this at all.”
Kae fell silent. The huntress stared into the middle distance, mind swimming with the possibilities of Haedria’s cruelty. She shook her head, attempting in vain to break out of her thoughts. “How do we save her?”
The warrior-princess looked over her shoulder, back up the path towards the market. No one had dared to follow one of the Red Sisters, but one can never be too sure who is listening in. She motioned to the two to follow her, and led them a ways past the city gates, towards a crop of trees in the shadow of the city walls. “You’ve already seen that Loren has been marked with my sister’s magic.” Seraphis said in hushed tones, holding out one of her own wrists and showing the burned markings there.
Cassendir nodded. He laid a hand on his arm, unconsciously touching his own markings. Looking at the red, raised skin around Seraphis’s markings made him thankful that his own markings did not pain him. “Do Loren’s function much like your’s?”
“Yes, I suppose so. By my dear sister is capable of so much more, I’m afraid.” Seraphis sighed. She rubbed the skin of her wrists. She took a breath, needing to be careful with her words. If she spoke the queen’s name, Haedria would turn her magical attention on her. Now, more than ever, she needed to be discreet. “The queen’s magic is stronger than most mages. She is the prophesied Fourth Daughter, the Witch of Flame foretold to be born in an eastern kingdom.”
“Who prophesizes these things? Is there a mage with magic so strong that they can see the future?” Cassendir’s curiosity was getting the better of him. Kae sighed heavily, opting to sit on a tree root instead.
“My father only told me that a young girl came to the castle one day, while my mother was with child. She had long silver hair and wore strange, rough robes. She walked straight up to the king, past the guards bristling with arms, and handed him a sealed scroll. The scroll bore the message that the last daughter would be born to the rulers of Sagna. Her bailiwick will be fire. That his child would be born a fire mage did not trouble the king; many of our ancestors were fire mages. The girl with the silver hair, when asked, said that her name was only ‘Keeper’. She smiled, curtsied, and walked right out of the door. When an attendant followed her, she had vanished.” Seraphis said. As she spoke, she glanced towards the city’s high walls.
“How strange, how strange.” Cassendir muttered, nodding at this new information.
“Are you done? Loren has been captured by a mad queen are you’re asking about history.” Kae’s voice was muffled. She held her head in her hands. “How will this help us save her?”
“I’m sorry, you’re right.” Cassendir straightened up. “I will have to study more about this Keeper and the Sons and Daughters at length later.”
“You can if we don’t get killed, Cassendir.” Kae sighed. “We very well might be at this point. Loren might as well be.”
Seraphis turned her attention to Kae. Her expression darkened with disappointment. “If you intend to give up and leave, be my guest and stop wasting my time. I could very well be punished for helping you. I was sent out here to kill you, but I’ve stayed my hand to allow you to rescue your princess.” She sighed and put a hand on the hilt of her sword.
“Seraphis.” The scholar said gently. The warrior-princess held up a hand.
“There is a path on the west side of the Keep that leads to a sewage system and a gate. That gate will be unlocked. Follow it and the river of blood up and to the right, it will lead you to the kennels.” Seraphis said.
“Why is there a river of blood?”
“That doesn’t matter. Once you are in the kennels, the door leading out of it will be unlocked as well. The Houndsmaster Kerza tends to the hounds day and night, but I will instruct him to let you pass. He is a trusted man, I know he will not raise the alarm. Ma’trii should be alone in one of the cells, and Kerza will unlock it for you.”
Cassendir nodded, listening intently. He had the look of intense focus that Kae had seen when he was examining plants and other items of interest. She rolled her eyes, assuming that the scholar was committing things to memory. Kae herself was barely listening to Seraphis’s instructions. All she could hear were Loren’s screams as she twitched and burned, succumbing to the queen’s magic. Kae shook her head.
“The door from the kennels will bring you to the throne room. I cannot tell the guards posted there to leave, as that will draw suspicion. You will have to use your wits.” Seraphis continued.
“Where is Loren kept, anyway?” Kae asked.
Seraphis looked to her and hesitated. “That would be the most difficult part. Knowing my sister, Loren would have been taken to the queen’s quarters.”
“What?”
“It is as I’ve said. Just like Elysia. If the queen has other plans tonight, then I suppose…” Seraphis trailed off with a sigh. “The dungeons. Follow the sounds of screaming. It shouldn’t be hard.”
The huntress could imagine the sound of Loren in pain, the sight of it setting her gritting her teeth with eyes screwed shut. And yet, from how Seraphis spoke of it, she wasn’t sure if finding Loren in the dungeons would be the better option. “How do we get the princess out of the Firestone Keep?”
The warrior princess shook her head. She played with the small braids the peeked out of her short red hair as she thought. “Perhaps the same way you came in; that would be safe. But if the alarm had been raised, I don’t know. If the queen finds you, I will have to obey her and attack you.”
“Why do you follow her orders?” Kae rounded on the princess, her voice rising. It was if a dam of emotions had broken, and her anger and indignation was spilling out like a tide. She stood, stepping close to the princess. “If you had the courage to defy her earlier, none of this would have happened! You wouldn’t have to sneak around your own city like a thief! If you had the spine to stop her, she wouldn’t have taken your slave girl!”
Seraphis’s fist cracked into the huntress’s face before she could even blink, sending the huntress sprawling to the ground. As Kae reeled, one hand on her cheek, Seraphis’s eyes were wide in anger. Her glare, turning mad with rage, looked similar to her sister’s. “How dare you speak of her. How dare you presume to tell me what I could have done. You should be thankful I’m trying to help you at all.”
“Seraphis, please!” Cassendir cried, stepping between the two ladies with his arms outstretched. “Both of you! Now is not the time.”
“Not the time? Just a minute ago you had Seraphis spouting ancient history.” Kae grumbled. She stared up the warrior princess, still rubbing at her sore cheek.
“I apologize for that! I let my curiosity get ahead of me, I’m sorry. But ever second we waste here is another second of the princess in pain.” Cassendir said gently. The soft blue light spilled from his sleeve and he offered his hand to Kae who took it and stood. The huntress didn’t move away, so Cassendir placed his hand on her cheek, aiding her with soothing magic. “I apologize on her behalf, Seraphis.”
Seraphis said nothing. Her gaze was hard on the two of them as she debated with herself if she really needed these two for their help. In time, she sighed. “Just follow the directions one hour past nightfall. But even if you get to the princess, the spell put on her by my dear sister will not have faded.” She rubbed at her own wrists and the markings there. “I have traveled as far west as Aldoran and her markings have not faded.”
“How do we free her then?”
The warrior princess only shrugged. She turned away from them and began walking back towards the city gates. “You’re a mage. I’m sure you know what to do.”
Chapter Twenty Four
The sun was an hour away from setting when Haedria finally gave Loren a chance to rest. The princess sat on a cot in the dungeons, thrown there while the queen attended to other matters. The blue and gold surcoat she wore, bearing the sigil of her kingdom, had been ripped off of her. Her trousers, chainmail, leathers, everything had been taken from her. Except the dragon penda
nt.
She sat in the dark, clutching the pendant with a shaking hand. There were burns all over her body, healed numerous times only to be burned again. The queen had been thorough.
“She refuses to obey me.” Haedria’s voice sounded from down the hall, the entrance to the dungeons. “I’ve poured so much of my power into her, and yet, nothing.”
“What have you been trying to get from her, sister?” Seraphis answered.
The queen sighed. “The dragon of Aldoran. Our birthright, sister. Under the full influence of my power, she was able to say the words to call him. But nothing happened.”
“Does she not have the pendant?”
“She does, she does. But the pendant and its dormant magic do not respond. Under my control, what the princess says are merely words. Hollow words. It will not call the dragon.”
“Why not take the pendant from her?”
“While it’s magic does answer to me, sister, the dragon does not.” Haedria sighed. “It seems that the dragon knows when Loren is not in control.”
In her cell, Loren sat with her back against a wall. She curled up, hugging her knees to her chest. Her breath heaved with sobs, and her grip tightened around the small silver dragon. It’s golden eyes caught what little light streamed into her cell.
Loren tried to stifle a sob. The sound of the Red Sisters faded, their footsteps moving farther away from her cell and leaving her in the dimness of their dungeon. She sat, frozen in fear, listening to the silence till the ringing began in her ears, and she knew she was alone. The tears fell down her cheeks as her chest heaved with sobs, the sound escaping her, tearing through her in a torrent. She was alone, in her enemy’s home, and she walked right into it.
Her hand gripped her pendant tightly, letting the dragon’s wings and tail bite into the skin of her palm. There was no way out of this darkness. Her only company was the rats she heard running across the stones, and the Red Sisters. Her worst fears had come to pass. She had led her friends to their deaths. If she called to Lind, if she called for the dragon to help her, the Red Sisters would capture him, and even worse suffering would befall the world.
