Arkoma wasn’t a city, it was a dangerous place between Pailtar and the southern kingdom of Morthon. Morthon was currently under the rulership of the evil Lord Zellox, the man behind all the attacks on Elderwood. Even before Morthon was taken by Lord Zellox, Arkoma had been a dangerous place, now it was tenfold more dangerous. “I’ll go.”
“Are you sure? It is a risky mission. The roads are full of Zellox’s men these days, and even if you make it there, there is no guarantee that you’ll find someone willing to help.”
“You said I’m part of the family. That means Quinton is now my family. I’ll do it. But why can’t anyone know. What about Sharon and Nathan?”
“Sharon has been through so much. I don’t dare give her false hope. Losing Quinton twice would end her. And Nathan has too much on his plate right now. Between dragon warriors and Lord Zellox he can’t be thinking about family.”
Kiana nodded. Lady Avera was right. There was no promising that Quinton would return from the dead, and if he did, he might not be the same sweet young man he’d been before death. And the entire kingdom was counting on Nathan to lead them through these troubling times. This was her job to deal with now. “When do I leave?”
“As soon as you can get your gear together. I’ve put supplies and a bag of coins together. Rose will ready the wagon.”
“And the funeral?”
“I was hoping you’d sneak out now. Rose and I can give you a cover story that in your grief you decided you needed to return to Pailtar.”
Kiana frowned. “What will Nathan think?”
“That you blame him for what happened. Rose and I will do our best to assure him that wasn’t the case, but knowing Nathan that is what he’ll believe until you return. It isn’t the best scenario.”
“What if I left him and Sharon a note? Saying I couldn’t stand the idea of being here for the funeral. That I’ll be back when I’ve had time to mourn.”
“I’ll get you parchment,” Lady Avera said. “Go gather your gear and return here.”
Kiana ran back to her room. She changed out of her funeral clothing into her armor and grabbed her weapons. Missing the funeral sucked, but the chance to save Quinton was worth it. Besides, Kiana didn’t need a funeral to say her goodbyes. She had Rose.
When she returned to the room, Lady Avera gave her parchment and pen. Kiana wrote her note and handed it to the former Queen of Balta.
“Rose is in the stables now,” Lady Avera said as she hugged Kiana. “Good luck, and thank you for doing this.”
Kiana smiled. “Who else could you send? Nobody from Elderwood knows the lands south of Pailtar like I do.”
“That is true, but it is your brains and bravery that I trust,” Lady Avera said. “This is a dangerous mission, and one you are uniquely qualified for. Take care.”
Kiana felt a burst of pride, Lady Avera was one of the smartest people she’d ever met, and for her to trust her like that meant everything. It was the same kind of trust Kiana’s mother had had in her.
Kiana opened the hidden door that led to the stables. Rose was there, rubbing the horse, the wagon-traveling style, with a covered back. No one would be able to see inside without opening the canvas doors. Kiana opened the doors and saw bedding, food and the crate. She closed the door and went to Rose.
“I wish I could go with you,” Rose said. “Lord Ridgeback and I would keep you safe.”
Kiana smiled. Kiana had a pet wolf the size of a small horse. The beast certainly could help in any fight. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t be very stealthy. Too many people would notice if you and Lord Ridgeback were missing.”
“I know, but I still wish I could come.”
“You can do something more important for me,” Kiana said.
“What’s that?”
“You can talk to Ava, have her talk to my mom. Tell her I miss her and I love her.”
Rose nodded. “I will. Ava told me she’s there.”
Kiana took a deep breath. It was strange having a friend with a connection to the spirit world, but it made life easier, knowing that her mother’s spirit lived on in another realm. That she was out there somewhere watching over her. “Thank you.”
“Keep Quinton safe,” Rose said as Kiana left the stable.
3
Envee Oke
Envee Oke was devastated. The love of her life, the man she was supposed to marry, was dead.
It seemed impossible that Quinton Albet was gone, but here she was looking at his casket. That an agent of Lord Zellox had infiltrated the society of Elderwood didn’t bother her. For all she cared, Elderwood could burn to the ground. She hated it here. She missed her home in Balta. If it weren’t for Nathan Stoneblood and his hussy friend Sharon, she and her beloved Quinton might still be in Balta.
She’d only been knee high to a hobbit when she’d first started her training. The only daughter of a mid-level merchant, Envee’s mother had taught her that the key to life was to marry well. Pick a boy of quality bloodlines and study him, learn what he wanted and become that. It hadn’t taken Envee long to notice Quinton Albet. He was a year older than her, was a member of the most famous family in all of Balta. He’d been perfect. Under her mother’s tutelage, Envee had started studying everything she could about him. When he’d started attending classes to become a mage, she followed. When he showed a love of illusion magic, she became an illusionist. He’d even started to notice her, helping her with spells and chatting to her at school. Everything had been going perfectly.
But then that Nathan Stoneblood and his friends had shown up in Balta and everything changed. Quinton started spending more time with new friends, and then the war came. Nathan Stoneblood had somehow convinced the Albets that they needed to abandon their perfect kingdom for the savage wilds of Elderwood. To make things worse, Quinton fell for the wiles of that witch Sharon.
Envee touched the casket that contained her beloved’s body. She’d snuck into the anti-chamber where his body was waiting to be taken outside for the funeral. Wanting one more look at his angelic face, Envee used her magic to open the casket. When she removed the lid, Envee was in shock. There was no body in the casket! What was going on? Had Quinton’s body been snatched by that witch Sharon? Or had that bastard Nathan Stoneblood done something to him? Envee closed the lid and snuck back out. She needed to find out what had happened to Quinton’s body. He was hers. It was her right to touch him one more time, to say goodbye to the man who’d been stolen from her once already.
As stealthy as she could, Envee raced through the castle. She’d only been there a few times but she remembered every inch. After all, if she’d married Quinton she would’ve lived there. It made perfect sense to prepare for that day every chance she’d gotten.
Most of the royal family and the other funeral attendees were now outside, Envee was able to sneak into Sharon’s room. There was no sign of Quinton. What had they done with him? She continued her search until she found herself in the royal stables and she spotted something strange. A covered wagon in the royal stables. It wouldn’t have been that out of place except it was a basic wagon, no royal markings whatsoever. She spotted Rose, and Lady Avera using magic to load a crate into the back of the wagon. After they were done, the two disappeared.
There must be a secret door from the castle to the stables, Envee thought.
She made her way into the wagon. The only things there were supplies and the crate. It was magically sealed. Why was it sealed? Envee instinctively knew Quinton’s body was in the crate. But why was Lady Avera allowing it to be moved? Was she under the spell of the witch Sharon, or had that bastard Nathan Stoneblood tricked her somehow?
Unsure what to do next, Envee retreated from the wagon and took up a hiding spot by the doors. She waited and it wasn’t more than half an hour later that Kiana Clairmont appeared in the stables. She loaded a few sacks into the wagon and then sat at the front of it.
Envee frowned. She knew Kiana from the Elderwood magic school. The girl was one of th
e refugees from Pailtar, she was a strong magic user who, rumor had it, had been a member of the infamous Thieves’ Guild. She was also another known friend of Nathan Stoneblood. Whatever she was doing with Quinton’s body, it was wrong.
After Kiana left the stables. Envee shook with rage. Something evil was amiss. Her beloved Quinton’s body was being stolen. She needed to get it back so Quinton could have a proper Baltan funeral. His body needed to be burned to purify it so his spirit could move on. Someone needed to stop Kiana Clairmont. But who? Obviously if Lady Albet was part of the plot then none of the royal guards could be trusted. Her father? No, for all his skills as a manipulator he was weak in the flesh, and no match for a witch like Kiana Clairmont.
No. It had to be Envee. She needed to be the one. Her decision made, Envee stole a horse and headed out to follow Kiana. She’d wait until the girl was outside Elderwood. There she’d find an opportunity to get Quinton’s body back so she could burn it properly.
4
Kiana.
As Kiana went down the road south, she thought about Pailtar. It had been over a year since they’d left Pailtar. It was now back in the hands of the people, thanks to the efforts of Nathan Stoneblood and the armies of Balta. But whether that was a good thing or not, she wasn’t sure. Many of the better families had chosen not to return after the first invasion. They hadn’t felt safe.
There would still be plenty of good folk in the city, but the ratio of people of questionable character was certainly going to be higher. The Thieves’ Guild still ruled in Pailtar and now, if rumors were true, the leadership had taken a darker turn. When Kiana had been part of the guild there had been rules, structure to keep the worst in check and make life in the city tolerable for all. Now, many of those rules were gone. She’d have to be careful when she arrived. She’d need to be careful who she talked to, and above all, she’d have to trust no one.
Suddenly, Kiana noticed that she wasn’t alone. There was a man off to the side of the road hiding behind a tree. Bandits had always been a problem in this part of Solotine, the recent troubles in the nearby Kingdom of Tarnstead had only made it worse. Without moving her head, Kiana scanned the woods ahead looking for any signs of other lurkers waiting to attack. She spotted a shadow where there shouldn’t be one ahead on the right, and a tree branch with an unnatural bend to it, like someone was sitting on it.
As Kiana moved forward the road had a slight bend in it. As her wagon came closer to the bend, she spotted a wagon on the side of the road. The rear wheel had been taken off. There was a man and a woman pretending to fix the wheel. It was a convincing act that made Kiana wonder how many times they’d used it to lure in victims? Were they attacking every traveler that came through? or using the act to get travelers close enough to gauge their wealth or importance before attacking?
Being from a city run by the Thieves’ Guild, Kiana probably knew this setup better than the bandits using it. Already she could tell a few simple mistakes that the would-be thieves had made. The spot on the road where they’d placed the wagon was fairly wide. If Kiana wanted to she could rush her horse forward and possibly blow right by the trap before it could be set. The archer was in a terrible position. It was fine for normal wagons, but hers was a covered wagon. Once she was close to the trap, the archer would have almost no shot at her. He’d just hit the thick canvas that covered the wagon. The positioning of the men in the trees wasn’t bad if she’d planned on retreating after the attack started, but she had no such intentions. There was no way she was going to just tuck her tail and escape to leave these bandits for someone else. What if it was a family, or an elderly tradesman that came upon these bandits next? No. Kiana was going to deal with it herself.
As Kiana got close to the wagon, she gently pulled on the reins to slow the horse.
The woman stood up and smiled at Kiana. “Greetings, friend.”
Kiana smiled back. “Hello. Looks like you’re having some troubles?”
“Yes, I’m afraid we are,” the woman said as she casually stepped further onto the road.
“Do you need a hand?” Kiana asked.
“Could you?” The woman asked. “It is a two-person job, but I’m just not strong enough to hold the iron wheel in place while my husband hammers it.”
“Sure,” Kiana said brightly.
Instead of stopping right away, Kiana waited until the front of her wagon was beside the rear end of the bandit’s wagon.
The woman frowned. “You might want to pull your wagon back a bit, so there’s more room to work.”
Kiana wrapped the reins around the corner of her seat. “Oh, it will be fine. There’s plenty of room to work.” She hopped down to the ground on the opposite side of the bandits and then made her way around the front so that she was standing between the two wagons.
The husband, who’d been crouched down over the wheel stood up and in his hands was a short-sword. He pointed it at Kiana. “Don’t move.”
Kiana frowned. “You’ve been trying to fix a wheel with a sword? That isn’t very efficient.”
The wife pulled a dagger out of her skirt pocket.
“Oh, your skirt has deep pockets,” Kiana said excitedly. “I just love skirts with pockets, don’t you?”
“Lady, you need to shut up. What’s in the wagon?” the husband said.
Kiana scratched her head. “I don’t understand. Do you want me to shut up, or to tell you what’s in the wagon? I can’t do both at the same time. Unless you’d like me to write a list in the dirt? I could do that if I had a good stick.”
The woman jabbed her dagger at Kiana menacingly. She glanced over at her partner. “Something’s wrong here. We should just kill her.”
“Torun would kill us if we did that. Stick to the plan, Elsie.”
“Elsie. That is a beautiful name,” Kiana said with a smile. “You should listen to your friend. You don’t want to try killing me.”
“Why not?” The woman said. She was getting nervous and inching closer to Kiana.
“That is a good question. I suppose if you really aren’t a fan of going to jail you might risk fighting me.”
“Jail? You think anyone from Elderwood is going to come rescue you?”
“Of course not. I’m going to arrest you myself,” Kiana said.
The man’s face started to turn red as he got angry. “A little girl like you? You know how much trouble you are in? You’re surrounded, outnumbered and don’t have a weapon.”
“Normally, I would say that five against one isn’t fair. But really, in this case? I like my odds. The two men hiding in the bushes are too far away to help you, and the archer has no shot at me from here. He’s going to have to climb down and come running. By the time he’s done that, I’ll probably have the rest of you dealt with.”
“Enough of this nonsense. Elsie you’re right. We’ll kill her now, worry about Torun later.”
The woman grinned. She had an evil look to her, like she enjoyed the idea of killing. “Boys, attack,” she yelled to the men in the bushes.
The husband and wife didn’t wait for their friends, instead they attacked at the same time. Kiana was impressed with their teamwork; they’d definitely done this before. However, it was also obvious they’d probably never attacked anyone who’d been properly trained. Kiana had been trained to fight in the Thieves’ Guild, and then she’d learned even more sparring with Nathan, Quinton and Sharon.
Kiana sidestepped as Elsie tried to stab her. She grabbed Elsie and pushed her forward. The husband couldn’t stop his momentum and ended up running his sword through his wife.
The husband swore and pulled his sword free. He shoved the dying body of his wife aside and continued towards Kiana.
Kiana shook her head. “That’s kind of cold. Couldn’t you at least mourn your dying wife before continuing to try killing me.”
“She wasn’t my wife, and now I’ll be getting her share of the reward for killing you.”
“And who am I?” Kiana asked.
“Don’t play games. I was in the city when Raze killed your mother and that ranger.”
Kiana frowned. This man knew her mother’s killer? She wanted to interrogate him, but every second she wasted brought his companions closer. Fighting one or two at a time she felt confident, but three against one? With an archer working his way into position to get a clean shot. She needed to work fast. “You worked for Raze? You know what happened to him don’t you?”
The man laughed. “He deserved to die for failing Lord Zellox. I won’t be making that same mistake.” He lunged forward, swinging his sword at Kiana’s head.
Kiana slipped under the attack and drew one of the small knives she had hidden in her waistband. She stabbed him in the ribs at an angle that would bring her dagger to his heart. She pulled the blade free and turned just in time to spot the archer. He was on the road now and he fired an arrow.
Kiana spun and dove under her own wagon as the archer’s arrow struck the falling bandit she’d just stabbed. She rolled under the wagon and stopped for a second. One of the bandits who’d been hiding in the bush was running alongside her wagon so he could trap her. As he went past her, Kiana rolled again and popped up behind him. As he turned the corner to look for Kiana, all he saw was the dying husband and wife pair on the ground, his other partner from the bushes and the archer.
Kiana came up behind him. The archer spotted her and tried to aim at her, but the third bandit was in his way. That bandit saw the archer’s concerned look and turned, but it was too late. Kiana slashed the bandit across the neck and, as he dropped his weapon, she grabbed him by the arms to hold him up. The archer fired at her, but Kiana kept the bandit she was holding up as a shield until his arrow struck. She let him fall to the ground and faced the fourth bandit who was now coming between the two wagons to attack her.
The archer swore profusely. Again, his friends were blocking his aim. He started running to get closer.
Necro Mage Page 2
