“Hello friend,” Red said, “You all had a hell of a battle here.”
“That we did, we would have been done for if the snow wouldn’t have come. Who are you?”
“I am a messenger from Aviel. Say did you know that King Keyland has taken over the throne back home?”
“Yeah, the news has passed through the troops like wildfire. It wasn’t taken well. General Rackam was a strong supporter of the Queen, and the rest of the men are too. You won’t find anyone calling Keyland king here. You better move on.”
“Sorry if I offended friend. I am neutral, don’t care who wins, just want to do my job and drink in peace. Say I heard that a Captain Rane was caught on the other side of the line. Anyone heard what happened to her?”
“Ain’t heard of a Captain Rane, but Captain Vaux was lost behind enemy lines. A couple of scouts have been dispatched to find her, plus her ‘friend’ Lieutenant Sexton went looking for her.”
“Vaux, as in Winn Vaux?”
“His sister, Tiga. She is a hell of a captain, it turns out. I hope they find her.”
“Me too. Thank you, my friend, I must be off.”
Red got up and left the fire. He headed to the livery to fetch his horse. Once he retrieved the horse, he rode out of Trellheim. Even though he had bad news for Keyland, he was going to hand him a treasure in his half-sister.
Tiga thought about running off, but she had no winter furs and couldn’t find any in the cabin. She wouldn’t get far without warm clothes and a horse, so she decided her only move was to try to incapacitate Red and steal his furs and horse. Tiga stayed awake all night watching for Red’s return. She looked around the cabin and picked a skillet as her weapon. She extinguished all the lamps hoping to disorient Red and trick him into thinking she was asleep. Now that dawn was breaking, darkness was no longer her ally. She would have to attack Red quickly as he walked in the cabin door. She was positioned against the wall by the door, opposite the bed that Red clamped her to, and she hoped he looked for her there first. With his back turned she would get a clear shot at the back of his head and could knock him out.
Her vigil came to an end soon after the sun came out. She saw Red riding on his horse on the long approach to the cabin. She was nervous, way more nervous than when she was fighting the Menegar and facing certain death. She wondered why, and she put it down to the waiting and not knowing what he would do with her if she remained his captor. The Menegar would just kill you, but there are things worse than death, as Tiga well knew. She would die before allowing another man to violate her.
Red rode up to the cabin and Tiga moved out of sight and into her position by the door. She heard the four steps creak as Red trudged up them on to the porch. The door suddenly jerked open and Red took a step in and looked toward the bed just as Tiga had hoped. She swung the skillet as hard as she could. Red must have sensed it was coming and he ducked his head down just enough so all Tiga hit with the skillet was the back of his neck and his shoulder. The blow had enough force to spin him around and make him stumble, but he was conscious and angry. He jumped at Tiga, swinging his fist. She sidestepped the punch and swung the skillet at him again, aiming for his face. He blocked it with his arm and howled in pain. She prepared for another strike, but he recovered quickly. He grabbed her arms and twisted them so that she had no choice but to drop the skillet. She broke his hold and kicked for his crotch and connected. Instead of trying to attack him while he was stunned, she ran for the door and started down the steps when his bulk slammed into her from behind and drove her into the ground. She couldn’t breathe for a painful moment with him on top of her. He partially raised up, keeping his weight on her lower torso, and slapped her in the face. The slap was painful and made Tiga’s head spin.
“I am going to get up now, Tiga Vaux, and you are not going to move until I tie your hands together,” Red said. “If you move, I will beat your head with that skillet until you are unconscious. I don’t think you want that. Do we have an understanding?”
Tiga shook her head up and down. It registered that he called her by her real name, and she felt a dread feeling consuming her.
“Who is Tiga Vaux? Winn Vaux’s sister you mean? Why would you think I was her?”
“Because the idiots at Trellheim told me she was the female captain that got cut off in the fighting. They never heard of Dawn Rane.”
“Ok, I was lying. I wasn’t really a captain. I am just one of the cooks. I deserted before the Menegar came. I have been wondering around this wilderness for a month lost as a goose.”
“Nice try. I have seen your drawings in the newssheets. Though you are a little older now, I recognize you from those drawings.”
“Those drawings in the newssheets are terrible. Any girl with copper blond hair could be mistaken for Tiga. I have been several times, so I understand your confusion.”
“You will say anything won’t you? Tell you what, I am going to take you to the King, your half-brother, and we will see if he recognizes you.”
“Please don’t. I can’t go to Alexandra. My real brother is not right in the head and wants to kill me.”
“That might be the truest thing that has come out of your mouth. Now keep quiet.”
Red got off Tiga and tied her hands together. He tied her to a post then when inside the cabin and packed a bag of supplies. He came back out, untied a shivering Tiga, and helped her up on his horse. He hooked his supply bag to the horse then climbed up behind Tiga. He reached down into another bag attached to the horse and pulled out a fur stole and draped it on Tiga. He grabbed the reigns and turned the horse towards the trail, and they road toward Alexandra.
They rode all day, only stopping a couple of times, without incident. Toward the evening they found a clearing and made camp. Red jumped off the horse and tied it to a tree. He walked around a while and came back to the horse and Tiga with a pine branch. He helped Tiga off the horse and gave the branch to Tiga.
“See if you can clear the snow away while I gather some wood and start a fire.”
Tiga grabbed the branch from him sullenly and wished she could stick it through his back.
“I don’t know how I am supposed to brush away snow with my hands tied,” Tiga said.
“You will figure it out.”
In half an hour a fire was going and the area around the fire was mostly snow free. Tiga and Red were sitting in front of the fire eating some cured ham that Red brought from the cabin. He gave Tiga water to drink, but he was drinking something stronger. Tiga hoped he got drunk and would give her an opening to escape. After they finished eating Red told Tiga to get up. She stood up and Red led her to a nearby tree. He told her to sit against the tree, and Tiga had no choice but to do it. Once Tiga sat with her back against the tree, Red tied her to the tree, encircling her ten times with the rope.
“This is so tight, and I am going to freeze over here.”
“You can feel the fire from here.”
“What if I have to go?”
“Hold it or soil yourself, your pick.”
Red walked away before Tiga could say anything else. She was angry that she was in this predicament. She was angry that she let a man like Red get control of her. If she had her sword, it would be a different story. She tried to move but was tied tightly to the tree, and that made her angry too. She was starting to get cold already, she didn’t feel any heat from the fire, despite what he said. At least she had the fur stole on, or she would freeze to death. She was angry about the cold too.
Tiga could not see where Red went. He wasn’t sitting by the fire. She stared at the fire for hours thinking about how to get free. The fire died down considerably and still Red was nowhere to be seen. She started to hope that something happened to him, but if it did, she wondered how she would free herself. First things first, she decided, hopefully he didn’t come back and a friendly person would.
Tiga nodded off to sleep as the fire burned down to the embers. She woke up to a cackling. She opened her eyes and th
e fire was going again. Red was standing right in front of her, making a strange laughing, cackling noise.
“You are a beautiful lady, Tiga Vaux,” Red said. Tiga didn’t say anything. “I am sure your brother wouldn’t mind if I took another peek.”
“That would be most ungentlemanly of you!” Tiga shouted.
“I am no gentleman, in fact, I bet the King wouldn’t mind if we had a little roll together.”
“Red, you are drunk, and I know my brother would behead you if you took advantage of me. I am a lady.”
“It might be worth losing my head over. What is wrong? Your papa had his way with you. You might like it with a real man.”
“A real man wouldn’t force himself. Besides, how would you do it with me tied to this tree?”
“Good point. I am going to untie you, but you stay still unless you want me to spank your bare arse. I am going behind the tree to cut the rope.”
“You do that. I’ll stay real still. I’ll even strip off my clothes if you untie my hands.”
Red didn’t answer. He stumbled his way back behind the tree and started cutting the rope. Out of the darkness came a blade swung with force and aimed with precision. Red’s head went rolling down the side of a hill. Out of the darkness stepped Reed Sexton. He cut the rest of Tiga’s ropes and stepped around the tree to face her. He extended his hand and helped her stand up.
“Captain Vaux, permission to kiss the former captive,” Sexton said.
“Permission granted, Lieutenant Sexton.”
After a long kiss they took a break. Sexton looked Tiga over.
“What happened to you? How did you come to be in this scout’s clutches?”
“It is a long story. What is the news in Trellheim?”
“We stopped the Menegar, though they broke through the outer wall. King Arkyn was killed and Torvee was named Queen. The Menegar left after the big storm.”
“How was Torvee received as Queen?”
“There were grumblings at first, but she seems to have won the key players over.”
“Good, because if my cousin doesn’t need me for the moment, my sister-in-law does.”
“I am sure she could use all of us, but why you specifically?”
“She needs a loyal guard, and with her family and Winn gone, who would be more loyal than me? She needs to survive all the treachery Keyland will throw at her so that we can face the Menegar and defeat them.”
“I am going where you are going. Do you think she is using the Knights of the Pearl, or is she forming her own group?”
“I don’t know, but I am going to find out. For now, how about you keep me warm and we get some sleep?”
“Best orders ever.”
The End
Read the conclusion of this series in
THE TRIUMPH OF A CHAMPION
Acknowledgements
A note about the cover – The inspiration was the goddess Lyssa, who represents madness. My daughter Alex used an ancient sculpture of Lyssa’s head as the basis for the cover art. I wanted an image that depicted madness to symbolize what Winn was going through. When my wife saw it, she said “Scary”, which I thought was a great reaction. Lyssa isn’t a speaking character in the book, but rather a silent but impactful character that completely alters Winn’s mind. Once again, Alex did a great job on the cover, and Abbi as always did a great job on the maps. I am grateful to them.
I want to thank you, the reader. Every word read gives me validation that I am not wasting my time. Lastly, I want to thank the readers who take the time to write a review. Good or bad, reviews give me great feedback. It is great to see the positive ones, but if you have a problem with this book give me some feedback about it. Good or bad, I implore you to leave a review on Amazon. If you don’t want to write anything you can give a star review. Thank you in advance for doing so. I’ll be waiting to hear what you think.
Thomas M. O’Gorman III
Trials of a Champion Page 37
