Devil's Dominion

by Stephen Trolly

  Erygan stretched, cracking his back several times as he did so. “What choice do I have?”

  “The choice to give them a chance.”

  “What kind of chance?”

  “Erygan, how safe will Leshia be when, not if, the truth of her engagement to Gelida Mectar becomes known?”

  Erygan nodded, understanding his wife’s concern for their daughter. “In Torridesta? Not very safe, at the very least.”

  Rashti put her hands in her husband’s hands. “How much safer would she be if several powerful people, still seen as upstanding citizens, the advisors of the King, including the Five Lords of the Vault, are all publicly in favour of our daughter marrying another woman?”

  Erygan kissed his wife passionately. “I still break the power of the Five Lords, the Night Council is restored, and I am finally the undisputed King of Torridesta.” He kissed her again. “I’m not sitting on a throne again tonight. One day in a cell won’t hurt any of them.”

  “As the one who came up with this new plan, I think that that day should begin with me sitting on a throne instead.”

  * * * * *

  When evening fell, and the country of Torridesta as a whole began to wake up, Erygan was once more sitting on the severely cut throne of black granite. Rashti was again standing behind him. And the ten convicted of treason, five members of the Night Council and the Five Lords of the Vault, were again standing before their King, this time to have their final day appointed.

  “You were brought here last night to answer for your treasonous actions. Not one of you denied those actions, for which I am grateful. And I am also a man of my word. I stated that I may yet choose to be merciful, and so I am determined to give you a choice. There is a task that you, individually or as a group, can perform for me. Choose to do so, and succeed, and you obtain for yourself my mercy, and keep your life. Choose to not, and your execution will at the least be painless, and soon.”

  Mietha spoke for all of them. “What is the task, my King?”

  Erygan was glad that Mietha had spoken. Of all of those sentenced, he wished that she had not been one. She had been a close friend for centuries, and his entire family shared many fond memories with her. “The task I have in mind is actually quite a simple one, but hear it and then make your choice.” Erygan paused and stood. “Host a betrothal feast for my daughter.”

  All of the condemned before him looked confused, and Erygan savoured those unsettled looks.

  Mietha was the most confused. She knew Erygan too well. His anger the night before had not been an act. “Is that all?” She sensed a trap, and was not prepared to take the bait, even with her head in the balance.

  “Yes. Host the feast, approve of her betrothed, and ensure that word spreads through Torridesta that all of the most powerful member of King Erygan’s court approve of the match.”

  Mietha was the only one cautious in her answer. The rest said yes without question. “Erygan. There has to be more to it than this. What’s the catch?”

  “Who cares Mietha?” Tyrid’s whisper was louder than he meant it to be. “If it means that I don’t lose my head, I’ll do this and worry about the catch later, when my head isn’t detached from my shoulders.” He bowed very deeply towards Erygan, intending to thank the King for his mercy.

  Erygan laughed at Tyrid’s quick dismissal of Mietha’s caution. “Maybe Mietha is right to be cautious, but she alone remains to decide. But remember Tyrid, if you fail, I may still claim your head as the price for your crime.” Tyrid paled only slightly. His parties were famous throughout Anaria. A betrothal feast was nothing that he hadn’t done numerous times before. “The catch, Mietha, is who the bride is.”

  “Don’t you mean the groom? We know who the bride is, Erygan.” Mietha caught on as she spoke. “Leshia is marrying a woman.” The intake of breath from those who had been quick to take the offered mercy was sharp, and there was a defeated sense from some of them.

  “You’ve always had a sharp mind, Mietha. Will it be one that I get to make use of in the future?”

  “Who is she marrying?”

  “Leshia is marrying Gelida Mectar, the Morschcoda of Noldoron.”

  Every eye turned to Mietha. She would be the only one actually getting to make the choice while knowing what it was. “You said it yourself Erygan. I have been a close friend of yours and your family for centuries. I love Leshia as a niece, and have long hoped, as I know that you have, that she marries for herself and not for someone else. I accept.”

  Living History

  The reunion between Garneth, Daliana and El Darnen had to wait, but Heavy Paw decided not to make his decision until later that day. El Darnen decided that his life might rest on his decision whether to wait for Heavy Paw’s judgement or not. He chose not to.

  “He wants me gone, and I agree with him. Enough of this Pride’s Cartarin were alive ninety years ago to know I was the one who came with Taren and left with Grrwa. The Chief will not rule in my favour. The sooner I’m away from this camp, the better the help you will get.”

  “I know Heavy Paw well now, El Darnen. He has no love for you, that much is clear, and he hoped never to see you again. But the news you brought to him, that his sister is alive, it will tip the scales in your favour.”

  “I may not have fifty years of dealings with Heavy Paw to draw on, Garneth, but I know him well enough. Those scales, even if they’ve tipped back some, are still weighted heavily against me. When he first saw me, he gave me until tonight’s sun sets to be out of Cartarin land. If I leave now, I still have a chance to make it.”

  Garneth shook his head. His beard had grown to be over a foot long, and his hair was long and shaggy. He clearly had not shaved or trimmed his hair in the last twenty years, or likely since he had come to the camp. “Even if you could make it out of Cartarin lands, Heavy Paw will just have the hunters track you and bring you back for leaving before he passed his judgement. You will be better off if you stay, my old friend.”

  “We may not have wasted time in this camp Garneth, but Anaria does not have the time we still need to use. Someone has to get back across the mountains, and I’m not welcome on this side of them. We should have met with Gelida two days ago, at the latest. She’ll have sent word into the forest by now, looking for us.”

  “Gelida?”

  Daliana answered. “Gelida Mectar, the daughter of Dalasin Mectar. She’s the Morschcoda of Noldoron now.”

  “Obviously much has happened that I had no way of knowing about. And if I do not know about it, Heavy Paw does not. There is a possibility that I can convince him to judge you less harshly.”

  “What’s the worst he can do to me, Garneth? Exile me? I want nothing more than to leave.”

  “He could kill you.”

  El Darnen laughed. Edya thought it sounded slightly hysterical. “He could try.”

  Edya knew from the tone in El Darnen’s voice that she was right. He was hysterical. More than that, he was terrified. “What aren’t you telling us, El Darnen? Your hand hasn’t left you sword since the hunters overtook us. Every time you turn around, you look over your shoulder first. You haven’t eaten or slept in three days. What is going on?”

  “You hold yourself as one of high honour and great power. You speak with the arrogance of a women three times your age, but I am the Serpent. I’ve led a long and complicated life, Edya Reeshnar. You may have done what your own people consider to be great deeds on the battlefields of Taren’s imperial expansion, but you aren’t me. Oceans could be filled with the blood I have shed. Lords and commoners of all the Ten Nations and more have felt the bite of my sword. Cartarin have died on it.” He hung his head slightly, and his next words were quieter. “I killed Heavy Paw’s father.”

  Garneth did not look too shocked, or even appalled at the admission. Edya swore. But Daliana finally understood exactly why Heavy Paw was looking for any excuse to get rid of the Serpent. When she had learned that Taren was dead and that Makret had killed him, even before she h
ad known Taren was her father, the betrayal shook her. After she knew the truth about Taren, she had wanted to do everything she could to make Makret suffer for her father’s death, and even though she knew that Makret was fighting for his redemption, she still wanted it. She doubted that the Cartarin chief would, or could, be any more forgiving. “What happened?”

  “We had no idea how far into Cartarin Pride lands we already were. We were found by a group of hunters, who wanted to take us back to this camp. Only, we wanted to enter the camp on our terms. When we could not come to some sort of agreement, mostly because we couldn’t understand each other, a fight broke out. We tried not to kill any of them, but Taren, being Taren, became frustrated when our show of force was not as effective a deterrent as it should have been. He swung hard, not just injuring one of the hunters. He killed him. That nearly started a war then and there between Anaria and the Cartarin. Eventually, I had no choice but to fight to kill as well. The chief, Heavy Paw’s father, crouched on all fours and pounced at me. I fell backwards and drove my sword through his gut. We tried to turn around after the battle, which ended with the chief’s death, but we were lost, and we stumbled into this camp.”

  “How did you get lost on the plains? The mountains are right there.”

  “We were about an hour’s walk away from this camp. It was the night after the Silver Moon. There were no stars, and the moon was spent.”

  Kallin asked the next question. “What happened?”

  “All the Cartarin could smell the blood in our past, but only Heavy Paw could tell that some of it was Cartarin. We could barely communicate with them, so we had no way of explaining that we had done everything we could to avoid the fight.” He paused and took a drink. “I think that maybe Grrwa could smell her father’s blood on me, but I think that she believed that I had done everything I could to avoid it. Heavy Paw made Taren and me promise never to come back to his Pride’s camp. It’s been over ninety years, but I know that he still remembers that promise. And I know that he still disagrees with Grrwa’s belief that I didn’t mean to kill their father. Of all the lives I have been forced to take, that is one of those I regret most.”

  “There has to be a way that you can stay here with us.”

  “No, Daliana, there is no way. I have to leave, and I have to do it now.”

  Garneth gave his head a frustrated shake, and but there was sympathy in his voice. “The hunters will stop you.”

  “They’re welcome to try. Daliana and Edya can explain what has happened in Anaria since you left far better than I can.” El Darnen stood up and looked around, preparing to make a dash. But Edya called him back.

  “How will we find you? The Garuthen Mountains don’t forgive travellers without a plan.”

  “Garneth, if you come with them, remember that not everything is as it seems.” He looked around one more time, stepping cautiously, making it look like he was just walking through the camp, but before he had even gone ten feet he broke into a full run. He was well out of Morschen sight before any Cartarin stopped to inform them that he was being looked for. But none of the Morschcoda knew how long of a lead El Darnen would need. Daliana was sure of one thing though. El Darnen’s feud with Heavy Paw would end the same way it began.

  “You know that there is no way that he will outrun the Cartarin hunters Daliana. Heavy Paw himself will try to run him down.”

  “That is what I am afraid of, Garneth. Either the chief will conquer, or he will die on El Darnen’s blade. But they don’t know that he’s gone yet, and I intend for it to stay that way as long as possible. What I want to know is what he meant by his answer.”

  Garneth simply stared at Daliana for a long time, as if he did not quite understand the woman that was sitting in front of him. “Obviously, things have changed since I last stood in Anaria. I know that the Deshika and the Seven walk in our lands once again, but I know nothing else that has happened in the last fifty years. And you, Daliana; you have changed more than I believed was possible.”

  “I sat on the Morschcoda Council with you for over three hundred years, Garneth. While I was not surprised when you abdicated the Throne of Stars, I was surprised to find out why, and more so when I discovered how secret that reason was.”

  “Taren could have told the Council. I am actually surprised that he kept it quiet.”

  Edya and Kallin were both of the opinion that they had known Taren well. Edya voiced their collective question. “It surprises you?”

  “It does not surprise you?”

  “Taren wasn’t exactly an open man, Garneth. He kept a lot of secrets.”

  “Well, tell me what’s happened.”

  “Taren and Erygan broke the Anarian Treaty. Taren conquered Dothoro, Caladea, Meclarya, Noldoron, and Armanda without losing a man.”

  “What about the rest of Anaria? Why did Taren and Erygan break the Anarian Treaty? They were always the ones who fought hardest to uphold it.”

  “Garneth, I think you have been away from the Great Library for far too long. Taren did everything he could, with your help more often than not, to find every loophole in the treaty.”

  “This is exactly why he did not want the treaty broken. It was what was keeping Taren and Erygan in power. It made them the two most powerful Morschcoda in many hundreds, many thousands of years. No one else would challenge something … anything that old.”

  “Well, that’s why they did break it. Dalasin Mectar forced the Council to vote on a new High King or Queen.”

  “I often wondered why Taren never challenged for the throne that was his by right.”

  “Maybe he felt ashamed of the legacy of his ancestors.”

  “The Garrenins have been many things, young one. I would not expect you to know much about the history of such an impressive and powerful family.”

  Edya crossed her arms indignantly. “I was one of Taren’s personal guards for two hundred years. I know more about him personally than all but maybe three people in history can claim. I wasn’t only a captain of the Spear, I replaced him on the Morschcoda Council.” This was the first thing that made Garneth realize that the young woman whom he thought he might possibly recognize was actually someone of great importance on the other side of the mountains.

  “You are a Morschcoda?”

  “To be an even more painful braggart, I am the first Morschcoda General in over twenty thousand years, and the only non-Garrenin holder of the title. I have access to the personal records of countless Garrenins, notes and journals that Demosira would kill to possess, or pay fortunes in gold to read. I know the history of the Garrenins as well as you do, if not better.”

  “Peace, girl. One does not become Demosira by simply knowing things. What does surprise me, though, is that Taren allows even a Morschcoda such free access to the Garrenin Journals. I have long known of their existence, but Taren never trusted me with their knowledge.”

  “Taren is … Taren … Daliana?” Edya could not say it, and looked imploringly at Daliana to continue, but Daliana could not say it either.

  Kallin though, had no such difficulty. “Taren Garrenin is dead, father.”

  “Impossible. I would…”

  “You would know nothing. You have been sitting around a campfire for the last fifty years. Taren died two years ago. He drowned Agrista with him in an attempt to kill The Kindler.”

  “And he failed. What a waste.”

  “He killed thirty thousand Deshika in five days, by himself.”

  “And how many more replaced them? No, with Taren dead, I cannot advise the Cartarin march and aid the Morschen. Anaria is no more.”

  Daliana did the one thing no one expected at that moment. She laughed. “Guinira Gundara was named High Queen of Anaria. She betrayed us, and has made An-Aniath her capital under The Kindler. But we have an advantage.” That got Garneth’s attention. “Makret Druoth is The Kindler’s High General, and he is a spy.”

  To the Gate

  Daliana had just finished describing the events o
f the last fifty years to Garneth as the sun touched the horizon. Then they heard Heavy Paw roar, and he came to their campfire, flanked by two tigers. The rest of the circle closed in from other sides. It was clear that they had chosen death for El Darnen. Suddenly, Daliana was glad he had run when he did.

  “Where is the Serpent?”

  “Gone. He left this morning, for the Morschen world.”

  Heavy Paw turned, but still spoke in Morschen. “Run him down.” The Cartarin started to obey, but Garneth stopped them.

  “Why? You wanted him gone, and now he is. You have no reason to bring him back here.”

  “This is between him and me, Star-gazer. He owes me a blood debt for my father and my sister. If I do not collect it, my son will.”

  Daliana couldn’t hold the thought back any longer. “If you do not collect it, it will be because he has killed you also. Hunting El Darnen down will only end the same way that this started. It will not bring your father back. It will not bring Grrwa back.”

  “Have you lost your father, Garrenin? Or any you might call family? Do you know the hole I feel? Vengeance is all I have left.”

  “I grew up not knowing my father, not knowing that I was the daughter of Taren Garrenin. My real mother died when I was three, and my adopted mother died barely one hundred years later. My father’s best friend was the man who killed him. I know your desire for vengeance. But my people need El Darnen, which means your people need him too. If Anaria falls, The Kindler and the Deshika will not be sated. They will look over the mountains, and you will be here still, only without the Morschen armies standing between you and them.”

  “You hold a throne on your side of the mountains.”

  “The Oaken Throne of Dothoro. And Eliish Del Lasheed, by right if not by name.”

  Garneth looked up with renewed interest. “Eliish Del Lasheed has been found?”