by Candy Crum
"That's very good to know. I have a very strong code I follow as well, so we should get along just fine."
As she looked into his eyes, she realized she couldn't sense anything bad about him. He seemed very genuine and almost calming. Though she'd judged the place harshly when she walked in, she felt confident they would be safe enough while there.
He turned and waved someone over before meeting her gaze again. "I’m Amon," he said, pausing as a woman in her early twenties with beautiful dark hair with kinky curls walked up. "This is Hasina. She will take you to your rooms and bring your food to you."
The woman smiled brightly. She had green eyes the color of Cathillian's but medium-dark skin like Corrine's. Like her boss, she radiated positive energy.
"I'll get you taken care of." She looked at Amon. "What about the tigers?"
He laughed. "In my travels, I've seen tigers. I've seen the largest breeds the continent had to offer, but I've never seen anything like them."
Arryn smiled. "They're my familiars. I'd prefer they stay with me, but if that can't happen, anywhere shaded and close will work. They won't hurt anything."
"You're sure about that?" Amon asked.
She nodded. "They aren't like normal tigers, and they aren't trained." She tapped her temple. "Druids have a connection to their familiars. They understand what we say. If they're hungry, they'll tell me. They share the same code you and I have. They don't like people touching things or others that don't belong to them. As long as no one poses a threat to anyone else, especially kids, they won't hurt a soul."
"Well, I don't want to say the stables, but that's about the only place we have available that would suit them. There's fresh water out there, and I can take them some scrap meat we have in the back," he said.
"That will be just fine as long as they aren't penned in. No gates."
"I'll see to that myself," he said.
She nodded. "Thank you. They can stay with our horses. I appreciate your hospitality. What do we owe you?"
He paused, clearly thinking over his words as he stared into her eyes. "I was wondering if I might ask a favor instead of payment. It's a big one."
"I'm listening," she said.
"I have a feeling you might be druids, at least a few of you. Your blonde friend has the ears, though yours have a slight point as well, I see. When you confirmed it, I knew I had to take a chance. One of the girls working here…Maria. Her eleven-year-old son has been sick. We don't have a diagnosis, but he's getting worse. The doctors say he won't see his fifteenth birthday if things don't change. If you'd be willing to help him, you can have the room and the food for free. Just tip Hasina whenever she comes to help you. I don't want to take from her, but anything house-related, it's on me."
"I might have enough left in me," Cathillian said, standing just behind Arryn.
Amon shook his head. "I won't risk your health. He'll be fine for tonight. I don't know what happened earlier, but I could sense it. You've used too much magic already. Get some sleep. We'll take care of you tonight, and tomorrow when you wake, I'll take you to him."
"Thank you," Arryn said.
Amon bowed his head slightly. "It's no trouble. Thank you—more than you know. Again, I know we don't look like much here, but we take care of each other. You have to with all the dangers in the world these days."
She offered a gentle smile, though her body was about to give out on her. She needed food and sleep soon, or she would collapse. Still, she needed to make sure he understood her limits.
"I will do anything I can to help that boy, but you should know there are limits going into this." When she paused, he looked at her with full attention. "We can heal wounds, headaches, and acute illnesses that pop up. Anything that is chronic or lifelong, we can heal the damage but not the cause. It will come back, but it will take a while."
His shoulders slumped. "So, it would be a bandage. He would get sick again."
She nodded. "Yes. That being said, it will take years for that to happen. A vacation to the Dark Forest every five or so years wouldn't be the worst thing, would it?"
His face brightened, and a smile spread across his face. "Yes. I think you're right." His deep brown eyes glistened. "Thank you for the honesty. You're free to stay as long as you need to. If it's longer than a day or two, though, we will need to work together on a plan to feed the tigers."
She nodded. "No problem there. Should be two days at most, though if you know of any farms around with cattle, we could use one. I doubt we'll find many large wild animals in the desert."
"I'll see what I can do," he said. He turned to the young woman beside him. "Hasina, please make sure they're comfortable."
She nodded enthusiastically. "I will. Follow me, please!"
After stepping out from behind the bar, she took them on a weaving path through the bar, trying to avoid the patrons. As they walked, Arryn spotted the man Amon had warned her about. Given how everyone was positioned, she had no choice but to follow Hasina around that table.
There was a curvy light-skinned woman with dark-blonde hair and blue eyes placing drinks on his table, so she hoped he would be distracted.
As soon as she passed him, she felt a hard smack on the right side of her ass, and the loud thwap! resonated in the air.
She spun but wasn't fast enough. The blonde serving the table grabbed him by the hair and slammed him face-first into the table. She'd let go as soon as he made contact, so his head bounced back far enough for Arryn to see the blood spurt from his nose.
A laugh threatened to burst from her at any moment, so she bit her lip.
"Big fucking no-no," the blonde said. "You don't touch anyone here unless you're invited to, and she doesn't even work here."
Arryn felt his rage spike as the man shoved his chair back and rose. The blonde woman stood strong, not an ounce of fear on her face as the man who was nearly a foot taller than her at his full height took a step toward her.
As tired as she was, Arryn's reflexes kicked in, and she took a step forward. That woman had defended her, and she wasn't about to let her take any abuse for her sake.
However, the druid didn't have time to retaliate before the man began to scream and clutch the sides of his head. He fell to his knees, his screams turning into loud groans.
"You know the rules in my bar," Amon said, his deep voice booming across the room.
Everyone quieted, and Arryn looked over to see the bartender's normally deep brown eyes a steel-bluish gray. She could sense the mental magic he used, but it was different. She understood then why he'd been so knowledgeable about her magic-induced fatigue.
"Leave now and never return," Amon said. "You won't lay rough hands on women in my bar, and if I ever catch sight of you doing it anywhere else? Well, I promise I won't be as friendly about it as I am being right now."
The screams stopped, and the man on the floor stood almost robotically. Amon had full control over his mind, and she watched with interest as the lecherous man made his way through the bar and out the door.
Turning back to Amon, she saw his eyes fade back to normal and a smile spread across his face. "No one will harm any of you here. I protect everyone within my establishment. Please rest easy."
Arryn liked him, and she was happy to see her intuition about him hadn't been wrong.
"Sorry about that," Hasina said, drawing Arryn's attention back her way. "Let's get you guys to your room, where you can get some sleep."
Arryn sighed heavily. "I've never heard anything so great in all my life."
Chapter Eight
The days were long and exhausting, working in the tunnels, but everything had gone according to plan so far. Asim and the others had just finished their shift and walked out into the hot Kemetian weather. She couldn't wait to take a cool bath to soothe her sore body.
The men and women who came out of the tunnel wiped sweat off their brows. She knew they were famished. Her stomach had roared every few minutes in the last hour of work, and she co
uldn't wait to get something to eat.
The Kemetian sands were far too deep to dig down to the bedrock below, but the ground under the city was fairly solid, thanks to being close to the great river. Digging north hadn't caused any issues so far, and as long as they stayed on their path, their tunnels would remain stable.
While Asim hoped the girls would return home soon, she was confident her plan would work if the worst were to happen.
As she headed toward tables set with enough food to feed an army, she was halted by a frantic voice calling from behind her, "My queen!"
She turned to see a guard named Jabril rushing toward her. "Yes, what is it?"
The soldier took several heaving breaths before pointing toward the western gates. "Bodies." He panted twice more before clearing his throat. "Several of our soldiers were found slain."
Asim stepped forward and allowed him to take a few more breaths. He'd come quite a distance in the hot desert air, so she wanted him to have a moment to calm down.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
Jabril straightened and nodded. "Yes, Your Highness. Forgive me."
She waved a hand, trying to stay calm but losing her patience. "What happened? Was it the demons to the south?"
The soldier shook his head. "No. We discovered them on patrol. At first, we worried it might be them—the monsters—but we ruled that out the moment we saw the wounds. Those were human kills."
Her jaw clenched as she stared into Jabril's eyes. In the last several months, she had seen more than her fair share of death, and she'd heard about much more. Kemet was not the same place it had once been.
It had begun to evolve from a misogynistic society to accepting women among the working and even in the ranks. With a queen instead of a king, many changes had taken effect, changes she'd been scared to implement but had pushed because of the strength in her daughters.
Together, they had changed the kingdom. Asim believed in their direction, but it had been short-lived. Only a few short years had passed before they came—the beasts to the south. They'd torn holes into this world from somewhere else.
Asim knew magic existed and used it herself, but she'd never seen magic strong enough to rip gaping holes through this world to connect to another. Many travelers, missionaries, and master magicians of different schools of magic had come through her gates, but no one had ever mentioned anything like that.
Ancient religions and beliefs passed down from generation to generation still existed to some extent. She'd heard of “planes of existence.” She wondered if maybe hell itself had opened.
Her mind reeled as she thought about how so many terrifying things could have taken place around them, and people still found reasons to kill one another.
"So much death around us, hanging over us, and they choose to do the job for the invaders." Her fists clenched. "Show me."
Asim grabbed a roll from the table to calm her aching stomach as the soldier led her across the city to the gates. Just inside were four bodies with different wounds.
"Did they think we wouldn't discover them? Did they think we wouldn't retaliate?" the queen asked.
"We don't know," Jabril responded. "I do know their weapons are gone, as well as anything valuable."
Asim shook her head. "Everyone in my kingdom has been invited to live within the city walls. I offered safety. They would have food, water, and other resources. They don't have to fight to survive. Why? Why would they do this?"
A soldier with dark skin and green eyes stepped forward and bowed. "My queen."
"Yes, Shai?" she said. "Do you have more information?"
Shai stood and nodded. "I believe so. I've questioned several outsiders, and they remain loyal to you and to the kingdom. I believe them. Unfortunately, I think there is more to the story." He sighed before continuing. "The first home I visited wasn't shy about telling me of a man they believe has ill intentions toward the kingdom. They said he was kind and friendly, but he gave them a bad feeling. When I asked the other houses, some denied knowing anything, but I could tell they were lying—about that anyway."
"Lying? Why would they lie? And why would you trust them if you'd caught them in lies?" she asked. Shai had always been a good judge of character, which was why she always placed him on patrol or as her personal guard. She trusted him, but that didn’t mean she wouldn't question him.
"They didn’t seem afraid. They almost seemed protective, but their demeanor changed between talking about the strange man, who they called Zuri, and talking about the murders. Their posture was stiff while discussing the man. Everything else, they were far more relaxed. Whoever that man is, he has their trust. They know who he is but won’t say anything. I had no reason to doubt anything else they said, but they lied about knowing anything about the stranger."
"What did the others say about him?" Asim asked.
"That's the interesting part. The last house I visited said they didn't know who he was, but he'd visited them. Offered them protection in exchange for their help. It seems he's raising an army of his own. They made sure to say he was very nice and seemed genuinely concerned about them and the area as a whole. He gave them no indication he was lying, but something didn’t sit right with them. They said he seemed too nice, which they found suspicious. They even mentioned they didn’t want to alarm anyone or get anyone in trouble over what they said because they had nothing more than a gut feeling to go on.
“They didn't know why he wanted the help, and they didn't want to know. They'd left the city because they believed the demons would go after larger areas with more people. Their theory is more noise, more smells, bigger target. They said if they wanted to be sitting ducks in a large group again, they'd come back to the city."
Asim thought for several moments. "From the limited information you gathered, do you think this man is putting together an army as a way to protect the outsiders from the monsters? Or do you believe he’s a threat to the kingdom as a whole?"
The queen already knew the answer to that. The bodies in front of her told her everything she needed to know. Still, she prided herself on getting the opinions of others so she could see a larger picture than the one she'd painted in her own mind.
Shai shook his head. "It's impossible to know for sure without finding him and speaking to him myself, but I would say he's a threat. I find all this too coincidental. We find dead soldiers at the same time we learn of a stranger in the area recruiting people. An attack on a soldier is an attack on Jadid. It doesn't matter if an outsider originally came from within our walls, that's common sense. In my humble opinion, this needs further investigation."
Jabril stepped up to her right. "I agree. I don't think a stranger showing up and asking people to help him defend the land against the monsters is cause to worry. After all, our men have all been pulled away to help with the construction of the tunnels and for security, due to increased traffic coming in from the south. It’s not farfetched to think the people would band together to protect themselves.
“That being said, two of the places you visited feeling compelled to lie about it is what concerns me. That man had other plans. I’m almost certain of it. Regardless, a hunch isn’t enough to convict. We need to look into this further."
Asim nodded. "That was my thought, but I wanted to get your opinion. We need to come up with a plan. I want to lure this man out. Find him and find out what he's doing. Organically. We don’t want to scare him off, and if he does mean well, we don’t want to threaten him. I think subtlety is what’s needed here."
Both soldiers bowed. "Yes, Your Highness."
"First thing, we need to get these bodies taken care of and the families notified. They will have a proper burial and be shown all the respect they and their families are owed. After the bodies are prepared and the families are notified, please get some food. We'll figure out what to do about this…stranger."
She gave a curt nod before turning to the bodies, then closed her eyes and respectfully bowed. "Thank you for your
service and your bravery," she said at normal volume. As she straightened, she lowered her voice. "We will get the bastards who did this to you, mark my words. Rest in peace, knowing that."
Asim made her way back toward the palace so she could eat and plan. Losing in battle was one thing, but this was quite another. It was obvious they had been snuck up on and taken without much fight, and she wasn't about to let that stranger and his group of assholes get away with cold-blooded murder.
Chapter Nine
Though the half-moon was high overhead, some of the earlier heat still clung to the air. Soon, it would disappear altogether and be replaced by a chill. After a hearty meal and nearly an hour spent planning, Asim went to get some sleep while Jabril and Shai set out to ready their men.
After the sun went down completely, Asim rose and readied herself for another long night. This time, she wouldn’t be sleeping but instead out with her soldiers.
Jabril and Shai had educated guesses as to where the stranger might go next, based on the path he'd taken through the houses and small villages he'd visited. While there wasn't a clear pattern, they were able to narrow it down to three places he might go.
Asim ordered Jabril and Shai to take teams of soldiers and go to the first and second potential targets. They were to request entrance, and only Jabril and Shai would go inside, while their teams hid in the shadows outside.
If the stranger showed at either location, Jabril or Shai would play the part of the man of the house and have a conversation with him to learn whatever they could before they and their men engaged. The goal was to get as much information as possible but not let the stranger or anyone with him leave.
Asim went to the final house, but she remained outside, allowing her closest Queen's Guard Faraj to go inside. While no one knew anything about the stranger, Asim assumed he was older and part of the group that had been resistant to the changes she'd made. He only spoke to men, which told her enough to make what she thought was a reasonable assumption.
