“Pace yourself,” Tamera cautioned Kayleigh, who until that moment, hadn’t considered that she was attacking the food on her plate like a starving animal. She’d never been as hungry in her life.
Amanda chuckled as Kayleigh looked embarrassed. “That is not proper etiquette for a young lady,” the water maiden said, mimicking the tone of their instructor.
With her cheeks flaming red, Kayleigh laughed and replied, “I must have missed the class where we covered being prisoners in a city about to be attacked.”
Amanda said, “Oh, we’ll definitely have to ask her about that when we get back.”
Kayleigh had to give them credit. They were resilient and their spirit was improving. She still wasn’t sure how this would play out. Smythe was in the foyer, examining parchments a messenger had brought, but she could see his eyes flicking off the papers and observing them. He was subtle, watching them, yet appearing not to.
As dinner ended, Laurel leaned across the table and encouraged one of the earth maidens, Anna, to sing. Kayleigh knew her friend had a wonderful voice. In the third year barracks, Anna was often singing and Kayleigh reasoned that Laurel was trying to give them some form of normalcy.
Anna complied and began a song, a story of a woman waiting for her husband to come home from the sea. The words were sad and poignant, but with a lingering hint of hope in them that ended with the woman on the beach at dawn’s first light seeing the sail of his ship on the horizon. Even Smythe returned to the room to listen and wore an appreciative smile on his face.
When the polite laughter and clapping ended, the man cleared his throat and said, “As the battle draws near, I can place one, perhaps two, of you at my compound. The others, I am afraid, will need to be on display – especially you, young lady.”
He was looking directly at Kayleigh. She nodded.
“I also have some simple rules you must abide by. No more than two of you may be with your unicorns at any given time. My men will be watching. I cannot allow you to escape and I advise you to not mistake my hospitality or generosity for foolishness.”
“Do you honestly believe that this city will hold?” Tamera asked.
“No,” he replied candidly. “But a show must be made and we all have our parts to play.”
“But you intend to survive?” Laurel questioned.
“If the powers above - or perhaps below - see fit to spare me I will be grateful. One of my men will be in here to escort you to where you may rest and refresh yourselves.”
With that, he spun and left the room. Kayleigh heard his footfalls moving up the staircase.
Laurel asked Anna for another song and motioned Kayleigh to come closer. When the other girl began, Laurel set her cup down and whispered, “We’re on the southern side of the city and the back wall is against the city walls. If that army is coming, it’ll be from the north. Our earth sisters should be able to break through to the outside from here.”
“Smythe is counting on that,” Kayleigh said. “Either that, or he already has some kind of way out.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t, but he’s too smart.” Kayleigh answered. “But he’s right; I don’t see how this city will hold. I think the question is do we wait for the attack and try to break away in the confusion or do we try to go before?”
Laurel thought it over and asked, “What’s your plan?”
“I don’t have one, yet. But he’s only going to let two of us by our unicorns. Everyone knows that you need to keep riders and their ’corns separate. Except we both know I’m not really a Battle Maiden, now am I? What if I am up on the wall with the guards when two of you are with the ’corns?”
The air maiden shook her head and Kayleigh thought it was the girl doubting her half-formed plan. Whitaker’s answer surprised her.
“You keep saying that, Kayleigh. But the way I see it, you have the potential to become the greatest Battle Maiden ever. Let’s keep your plan in our pocket and be ready to make a break if the Goddess grants us an opportunity.”
Chapter 7- Madness and Schemes
Majherri sensed his rider’s ire. Problems quelling the resistance in Jaruciax were slowing down the Master’s schedule. The Master and his manticore were spotted in the morning sky flying south and a good portion of the cavalry was missing.
His rider was feeling isolated and oddly paranoid. Rationally, he knew it to be another symptom of her corruption, but the anxiety and anger threatened to overwhelm him.
The area they approached used to be a livestock market and smelled like it. For the moment, it was a command post. A smaller tent than the massive pavilion had been erected. Men scattered from her presence except for the two that held open the large flap to allow them access.
Majherri caught the musk of the manticore on top of the other smells, but the beast was long gone. Danella dismounted and led him through the opening.
“Good morning, Lady Rider,” Amir, the sand sorcerer and chief adviser to the Master, said. “Are you here to report that the docks are secure?”
Majherri noted that the tall, thin man carried one arm in a sling and that the exposed skin was discolored by healing salve. To his sharp sense of smell, it stank of spoiled meat not quite covered by the flowery scent of the salve.
He also sensed an undercurrent of conflict between Danella and the man. The unicorn wasn’t certain what he could do with this bit of information, but a true scout gathers knowledge and stores it for when it may be useful. If Danella’s insanity was beyond his ability to break, Majherri might yet be able to lead her to a target like the bald sorcerer.
“I would not be here otherwise,” she answered smoothly. Majherri knew it hadn’t been nearly as easy as Danella made it out to be. Several ships in the harbor were sinking or burning and at least a score of soldiers holed up in a warehouse perished when it had been reduced to ash after they refused to surrender.
“Very good. The western part of the city is now offering the most resistance to our forces. Take three squads of infantry and as much cavalry as you require and eliminate those who oppose us.”
“I was supposed to be leading the group heading south,” she stated.
“You are needed here to secure this city. These are our lord’s orders,” he answered in a rather uncaring monotone voice. “He is personally commanding the southern attack.”
“He is taking Shiftla by himself?”
“No”, the man said. “An air maiden is leading the cavalry units.”
Danella bristled further. “Garrett is leading the Master’s forces into battle? She is weak and unworthy!”
“She seemed rather eager for the chance to prove herself. The Master granted her request. I would concern yourself with accomplishing your own task, Lady Rider.”
“You make it sound as if I still have to prove my worth, Amir,” she replied.
“The Master values all who serve,” he said dismissively. “Your role is to be his hand that crushes the last resistance to his rule of this city.”
“Out with it!” Danella demanded. “Speak your mind, wizard. I’ve no patience for word play.”
All activity in the tent ceased. From the limited amount of time he’d spent with Count Darius and his command staff, Majherri knew Amir was the Count’s most trusted advisor and a wizard in his own right. Danella was playing with fire, but the unicorn sensed no fear coming from her. In fact, he was fairly certain that she wanted a confrontation.
“As you wish,” Amir said. “You greatly overestimate your value to our cause or underestimate the situation here. Also, you’ve become erratic since regaining your unicorn. Either way, it matters little to me. What does matter is that you execute your orders. I am testing you and I expect results! Be gone, woman! I’ve no more time to waste on you.”
Waves of murderous rage radiated from his rider. “I will execute,” Danella said and paused before finishing, “your commands.”
She spun Majherri around and left the tent, nearly trampling the guards
men at the entrance. The unicorn fought back against the woman’s insanity, but already he began to pity any enemy they encountered. Blood would be spilt this day.
“What has happened to you?” Osalon asked as the links of the short chain restricting the male’s movements clinked together. Majherri understood that his new, dark appearance would frighten his brethren. That was, if he truly could count himself still a unicorn.
He had wandered away from Danella after she had washed the blood from his horn and face. Her words of praise merely sickened him further. Behind the command tent he found a line of wagons carrying cages and guarded by ten men. Some of the prisoners moaned. Two cackled with madness. He looked for any Battle Maidens among them, but saw only Osalon’s rider. The Master acquired his small collection of unicorns and riders through ambushes. The ones defending this city had likely fought to the bitter end.
“My rider travels further into the darkness. How fare’s your lieutenant?” Majherri felt no need to hide the truth from this unicorn. Turning his eyes to the female human in the cage, he saw the once proud warrior woman curled into a shivering ball of misery. It appeared that Lieutenant Sandra Townsend slept for the moment, but he doubted her dreams were peaceful.
“She continues to fight, but she is losing,” Osalon replied. “They just brought her from the tent a short time ago. Sandra speaks to me, but I fear her spirit is coming undone. The enforced separation between us only makes matters worse. Will this change happen to us all?”
Dragging his front right hoof through the dirt Majherri gave his answer. “Truly, I do not know. The others I have seen have not changed like this, if that is any reassurance to you. Still, prepare yourself for whatever may come. I am both stronger and faster than I have ever been, but the cost of this power is my Danella embracing the darkness.”
As he spoke with Osalon, he recalled Danella’s wrath. It encompassed two city blocks and left far too many dead bodies in her wake. Majherri wanted to be as far away from Danella as the compulsion she held over him would allow. One of the female unicorns spotted him during his trek, but he used his body to signal anger, aggression, and hostility before she got within twenty lengths of him.
In truth, he was scared that what had happened with Cyemma would take place once more. Sadly, a tiny part of him was eager to see if it would. He envied his rider in a sick manner. She had already given herself over to the evil and no longer cared. Majherri could not resist her commands, but retained his wits and knew what he was doing. This ordeal might very well break him.
“The manticore speaks our tongue,” he said, trying to change the topic into one that didn’t bother him nearly as much. “It is every bit as fearsome up close as it is from a distance, perhaps even more so. Be wary of the creature.”
Osalon lowered his horn and stared at the ground, deep in thought. Majherri took this as a sign to leave.
Osalon snorted and called to him. “Wait. Majherri.”
“What is it?”
“This is not a decision I make lightly, but I see no other path,” Osalon said. Majherri waited patiently for the other to continue. “This chain prevents me from getting close enough to my rider. Sandra begs me for release.”
“She wants you to kill her!”
“Yes and she made me swear it upon the lights of our brothers and sisters in the sky.”
Majherri felt Osalon’s pain and said, “By the time she is released from that cage, she will no longer wish this.”
“I know,” he responded. “However, you walk freely, Majherri. You could grant the both of us release. She does not wish to become Count Darius’s butcher and I have no wish to see my bondmate recast in the image of a savage.”
Majherri was stunned by Osalon’s request. There were legends of unicorns and riders too badly injured in battle that were allowed to perish together. “You want me to kill your rider?”
“I want you to kill us both. If it would spare Sandra, I’d simply ask you to kill me, but they would still convert her regardless. You cannot set our bodies free, but you would give us the freedom to die in a manner of our choosing.”
It was Majherri’s turn to be silent as he considered Osalon’s request. Even Danella had avoided pitting him against his own kind so far.
Could I really do this? My horn is cracked, my coat is darkened, and my rider is consumed by madness.
To the other unicorn, he said, “You ask much of me, Osalon. To willingly take the life of a member of the herd is the highest crime of our kind.”
“Your own sister said you almost attacked her rider when you found the Reese girl.”
The mention of Kayleigh sent a pang of remorse through his spirit. “I was defending what I thought was a bondspark, but I freely admit it might have been a result of Danella’s corruption.”
“Do you think any herd would ever welcome you back as you are now, Majherri?” Osalon replied. “Those who lead the Greater Herd are opposed to change as you are all too aware. I suspect any who have fallen to this dark sorcery will be forever denied mating rights on the Sacred Isle and are as good as dead already. As for you, they may condemn you to death for any number of reasons, be they true or not.”
Osalon’s words were the cold and bitter truth. His sister T’rsa would be the loudest voice calling for his execution.
“I will worry about my fate, Osalon. As for mating, the changes in me allowed me to mate outside these very walls with Cyemma.”
“Impossible!” Osalon tried to rear, but was held in check by the chains.
“We do not know each other well, but I have no reason to lie to you. I do not know what this means or whether the mating will be successful. I can only say that it happened.”
“So what do you hope to achieve with this, Majherri? Do you want to found a new herd…separate from our kind?”
Osalon had a good question and Majherri did not have an answer. “I do not know. I hadn’t considered the option until you’d just spoke of this. Cyemma’s rider did not seem much different, other than her loyalty to Count Darius. For you and your rider, there may still be hope. The count does not let his thralls stray too far from the heart of the netherbeast.”
“And what of your rider?”
“I fought against her control and that drove her further into the heart of darkness, resulting in what you see before you. I will continue to try to save Danella, but I do so knowing that she is well past the point of redemption.”
The unicorn in front of him thought for a moment before saying, “I do not wish the life of an outcast, Majherri and would spare Sandra from becoming a madwoman. Once more I ask you to prevent this. If you do not, the blood she and I spill in service to this tyrant will stain your hooves.”
Majherri was reminded of the last moments he’d spent with the dying unicorn back on the Sacred Isle before the male succumbed to the wasting. Osalon appeared to be approaching this level of desperation. Still, unicorns had traditions of learning life stories so they could be passed on.
“If I agree, I cannot guarantee that your story will be told, except perhaps to the few here.”
“Several of our brothers and sisters died today with no one to bear witness to their lives. I will go to the sky above and those who join me there will learn of it.”
Looking back to the guards at the perimeter, Majherri considered the ramifications. Danella would be furious with him…or perhaps she would not. The fact that he wasn’t certain how his possessed rider would respond spoke volumes about the one sidedness of their situation. Killing the air maiden would deprive Count Darius of a powerful ally and likely would prevent several deaths. The count might even dispose of both him and Danella for this treachery.
From his rider’s actions, he was assured that would spare countless lives. Fire magic was about control and responsibility for one’s actions. Danella had little interest in either.
Granting Osalon and Sandra’s release ultimately could lead to his and Danella’s redemption.
“I will do as
you ask,” Majherri said with firm resolve.
“I thank you,” Osalon answered and lowered his horn in deference.
Moving slowly, he circled around Osalon and approached the cage mounted on the wagon. The human female inside continued her fitful sleep. She slept in the center of the cage and, even if he had the missing tip to his horn, he could not reach a vulnerable spot on the officer.
He settled for nudging the nearest extremity, her foot, until she stirred.
Watching as the rider shook her head and cleared the sleep from her mind, Majherri waited.
Osalon called, “Get her to the bars and strike true!”
“Osalon? Is that you? They let you free?” Sandra said, wiping her eyes. Humans did not possess very good night vision and he suspected his darkened coat did not help matters.
“No. You’re not my Osa,” she determined and looked back to where her mount was chained. “There you are, my friend.”
Osalon made three quick jabs of his horn in her direction and turned to Majherri.
“What are you saying?” she asked, crawling toward the back of the cage, closer to her mount. The bond typically required physical contact, but strong enough ones could travel short distances. The dark magic amplified the powers of the riders as Danella continually demonstrated. Their connection spanned a distance he’d never believed possible.
“Majherri is here to release me? Yes. I did ask this of you, but now I am not so sure. I miss our partnership, Osa. I want to ride together again, to be free of this cage.”
She paused, dropping her head and mumbled quietly for a few seconds, “I want to…I want to…serve the Master.”
The lieutenant gripped the bars and lifted her head up. She was smiling. “No! I do not wish that kind of release anymore. I am ready to do his bidding. Finally! I know what it is to be on my true path. We were foolish to resist!”
Osalon recoiled a few steps away from his rider. “Her eyes! We are too late.”
Sorceress (Book 2) Page 9
