by Alta Hensley
“Ahh, so the truth finally comes out,” I teased.
“You are safe at camp. I made sure of it by asking Cheshire to keep an eye out for you. No man will dare come near you knowing that Cheshire is ready to attack on my command.”
I wasn’t sure if I should speak of the conversation Cheshire and I had exchanged only a few hours earlier. Though I didn’t really feel the need to withhold the fact that we’d spoken, I wasn’t sure if Cheshire would consider it a breach of confidence. I also didn’t know if he’d consider that his confession that he wished to have feathers might be seen as a sign of weakness. No, I would do nothing to possibly cause even a modicum of his commander’s respect to be taken from a fellow soldier. My decision made, I said, “Cheshire? Why Cheshire? I need protection from him. He hates me.”
Rabbit chuckled. “He hates everyone.” He laughed again. “But I wouldn’t want anyone else—except you—to stand by my side. He has saved my life many times, and I will forever call him my friend.”
I huffed. “Well, good thing I didn’t kill him,” I said with a smile. “It would have been unfortunate to kill your friend.”
“He’ll be your friend someday. Just give him time. Already the men are impressed with you, and with time, they will all see you for the wonderful, and powerful woman you are.” He spun me around and playfully swatted me on the butt. “But yes, I will give you some time. Not much, but some.”
“And if I say no?” I asked as I placed my hands on my hips and played the part of a mischievous brat. Every emotion flowing through me was foreign, but I loved it. It was refreshing to be so carefree in a place that was anything but. Rabbit allowed me to step away from darkness and see a light, if even for a short time.
He gave me an impish smile. “Then I will just have to convince you to change your mind. I am your commander, after all. I may just give you a direct order. And like any good soldier, you would follow your commands. Am I right?”
My heart soared with our playful banter and my face nearly hurt from how big I was smiling. “Yes, sir. I will always follow your command.”
9
Slipping out of the first dress I had worn in a long time, I ran my hand down the fabric. Yes, the color had reminded me of blood, and yet now, the richness of the deep, vibrant crimson would always bring to mind elegance and… well, femininity. Removing the ruby necklace and setting it next to the dress, I shook my head. Neither of those things had a purpose in my life. Pulling on the clothing I had worn only a few hours earlier, I reminded myself that jewels, no matter how priceless, and a dress, no matter how beautiful, would not keep me safe. My training, my skills as a warrior, my ability to nock an arrow into my bow, sending it true to its target—as easily as the servants had wielded their pots to paint my face—those traits would keep me alive.
Rabbit insisted on walking me back to camp after we’d left the dinner and I had changed. After the spanking, and the intimate influence of submission, and with his hand even now pressed hotly against my flesh, I no longer had the same desire to protest his dictate. His kind words and soft touch afterwards had earned it. My feelings for Rabbit remained confusing, but one thing I was sure of was my intense respect for him.
“Do you know where the Penna are keeping our men?” I asked as we strolled under the moonlight. The battle a few days back had resulted in three of the Cyan men being captured.
“We don’t.”
“They know how to torture answers out of the bravest of men. I fear our location is no longer safe.”
He nodded. “We have never been safe. If the Penna want to march toward us, I say let them. We will be ready.”
“We should be on the attack, not the defense. We need to find them before they even get within several miles of here.”
He leaned in closer to my face, and I moved closer as well. I watched his eyes glinting in the moonlight, hoping for another kiss like before.
“RABBIT!”
A voice shouted from a few hundred yards away. I thought I recognized it to be Cheshire calling.
“RABBIT!”
Rabbit and I hurried toward the shouting and saw a beaten body lying naked in the bitter night snow. I recognized the man’s face.
“Garrett,” I said softly under my breath. Poor Garrett. He was always one of the nicer soldiers. I breathed a solemn sigh.
Cheshire studied Rabbit and me when he saw us approach him side by side. Cheshire pointed at the dead body. “The Penna and their cowardly men killed him. They killed a man held captive.”
“Did he say anything before you saw him like this?” Rabbit asked.
“Not a word. He stumbled here and collapsed,” Cheshire replied. “Maybe if you hadn’t been too busy deciding where to ‘stick your dagger’, none of this would have happened.”
“How dare you speak to me like that!” Rabbit tried to lift his sword free but I stopped him fast, resting my hand on his wrist. Garrett and Cheshire had been close. His anger was understandable.
“Sir! The Penna are approaching!” one of the soldiers called out from the distance.
In a blur, we all grabbed our weapons and headed to the wall to face our enemy.
Rabbit asked me to stay while he and a small group of others met with the Penna.
“No.”
He frowned, but I knew that was the end of it. I was going.
I could sense that one of Rabbit’s top priorities was to protect me, and when he didn’t feel like he was doing so well, it upset him. But now, I was just as much a part of this as he was.
“I wish you would not come,” Rabbit snapped in one last desperate—yet futile—attempt at keeping me back.
“I know,” I replied. I also knew he didn’t actually expect me to remain back.
Side by side, we all carried bright torches, though the deepest part of the night had already passed and a new day would dawn soon. Our broad swords gleamed as they hung slung across our backs. Our snowmobiles gathered speed through the shifting valley of snow.
Rabbit held his hand up and commanded all of his riders to stop. A shimmer of something loomed up ahead.
The Penna came on snowmobiles from the depths of the icy land. They were wary. The heavy armor they were coated in suggested it. In the distance, some of the enemy sat on their machines in front of many others, who hung back even further. The Cyan army never dishonored the diplomacy intended to discuss terms, but the Penna seemed nervous. Over the past month, many rumors had gone through the campgrounds about the Penna’s unfaltering nerve. People believed they were unstoppable, unwavering. That wasn’t what I saw tonight.
“They want to talk,” Rabbit said to me.
“Do you think there are more we cannot see?” I asked. My snowmobile vibrated loudly beneath me as I spoke.
“No Penna would be foolish enough to venture out into the icy land without a powerful army. Well, except for the one sitting next to us,” Cheshire muttered, coughing over his shoulder.
“Keep your words to yourself,” Rabbit barked.
“Let me go with you. Let me go and talk to them,” I said, driving into Rabbit’s path. Rabbit looked up and faced me.
“You mean to talk sense into them? You really are mad…” Cheshire said, sliding his hands down his cheeks.
Rabbit turned his snowmobile so he could face his men. “Stay here and do not move until I give you a sign,” he demanded.
The men held back, watching.
The Penna drove until they were a hundred yards from their battalions, and paused. Rabbit, Cheshire, and I drove toward them. I recognized them instantly. One soldier was a man of considerable strength and poise. He was nearly twice the size of any man in our army, and had a loose, shoddy-looking cloth eye patch over one eye. No one knew why, and no one asked him about it. He didn’t speak much unless drunk. He carried a massive double-sided battle-axe no one else could even hoist. The other soldier by his side was almost the complete opposite—small, agile, loquacious, cunning. He had always preferred knives. Both men
were deadly.
Cheshire was a master of tongues and diplomacy—even if not with me. If there was any chance we would see the Penna leave without bloodshed, he would be the man to secure it.
“What do these men want? There are not enough of them for battle. They are outnumbered,” Rabbit said.
Their snowmobiles moved together in perfect formation, as if the very machines were demanding we understand the gravity of this unexpected assembly.
“I have not dealt with them personally. But this is out of the ordinary. Is it not, Alice?” Cheshire asked.
“It is unlike the Penna to come only to discuss,” I agreed.
“Then why are we here? More importantly, why are they here?” Rabbit asked.
The closer we moved to the solitary Penna, the stronger the pungent smell of death became. It was almost as if the Penna had splashed their bodies with the cloying scent of decay as if to convey that while they were willing to ‘talk’, we need not forget they were better known for slaughter. The Penna were sending a message. An orange and violet hue spread as the first rays of sunlight bled over the desolate plain. A few feet before them sat a man on a machine with a crooked smile.
As we approached the Penna, they dismounted and stood there. This was not a typical arrangement. It was customary to always stay on their snowmobiles to discuss terms.
“Dismount,” their general ordered us. “We will talk.”
This didn’t sit well with me. I looked at Rabbit for a moment, and could see he knew how I felt. He read me well and yet, when he dismounted, Cheshire and I followed suit.
“We thought you dead, Alice.” The general took in my new appearance. “So the rumors are true. You are a traitor to us just as you were a traitor to your father.”
“Do you have our men?” Rabbit interrupted. The general seemed surprised Rabbit was so bold as to interrupt him.
The general nodded. “We do. We will gladly return them in exchange for Alice. She is a traitor, and must be tried as such. Her fate is to be prosecuted, and hopefully, executed.”
“She goes nowhere with you,” Rabbit responded.
“You know what we want. This woman does not belong with you. Keep her, and we’ll kill you slowly. But if you give Alice to us, we’ll kill her and then the rest of your men, but quickly. We are merciful men, after all.” The Penna all chuckled at their general’s words. “Take your pick.” None of the Penna seemed worried about a reaction from Rabbit, Cheshire, or me.
“Talk is over. Walk away now, or taste the sharp end of my sword,” Rabbit announced.
“Very well,” the general said. He came toward us with six other men in tow. It looked like a formation.
Cheshire approached slightly ahead of Rabbit and me. The general reached his hand out to grab Cheshire in what appeared to be a friendly gesture.
I had known something was off from the moment the call that the Penna were here was given, and yet had kept as silent as possible as I did not command the Cyan army. I could feel my gut coiling, my instincts protesting as I watched Cheshire reaching for the general’s hand. In that split second between their flesh meeting, seeing the other Penna’s hands clenching around the hilts of their swords, I screamed, "No!" My warning came too late.
The general’s hand clasped around Cheshire’s and pulled him in close to ensnare him while he used his other hand to unleash his short, close-combat knife. He pierced through Cheshire’s midsection and was out of the way just in time to dodge a fellow Penna soldier’s battle-axe coming down toward Cheshire’s head, barely missing it.
“No!” I screamed again as total chaos ensued.
The other six Penna filed forward, forming a half oval around the general and raising their shields. They outnumbered us and yet we gave no quarter. Rabbit peeled six throwing knives out from where they were strapped around his tunic, and deftly put four of them in the legs of one of the men. I charged forward and swung my sword with a centrifugal force so massive that it cleaved one man in half. His body falling caused another man to stumble and yet he managed to stay on his feet. Rabbit sprang onto the man with knives in his legs, pushing a knife into his heart and twisting.
The general and his remaining four Penna mounted their snowmobiles and fled. Rabbit sent two more knives whispering through the air, both landing in the back of one of the men. The man tumbled into the snow while his snowmobile surged into the icy vastness. Rabbit pulled out the knives he’d planted in the bodies, and after wiping them off on his pants, he placed them back in the straps lining his tunic. I ran to Cheshire as he gasped for breath, my sword still drawn. Rabbit came to stand next to me, taking large breaths.
“Come on, Cheshire. Don’t die,” I gently ordered the man who now lay in my lap. Cheshire had been so cruel to me, and yet had shared his desire for feathers, and in his dying breaths, I could see a softness so long hidden under his rough façade.
Cheshire’s stomach looked awful. Blood spurted with every beat of his heart. I saw his eyes drifting.
Rabbit bent down and smacked his face. “Listen to the woman. Fight!”
I tried to comfort him as he went.
“Cheshire. Cheshire!” Rabbit cried.
I rubbed Cheshire’s hand, and he smirked at Rabbit. “I’ve never been good at following your orders,” he said between coughs.
“Well it’s about time you fucking learn!” Rabbit almost pleaded rather than commanded. “Fight death just like you would fight any of those God damn Penna.”
I pressed my hand on the bleeding wound, doing my best to hinder the bleeding, but I knew he was losing too much blood. I had seen enough men die in battle to know that Cheshire would soon die. And judging by the pain that washed over Rabbit’s face, he too knew that death would be the end result.
Cheshire reached down and pulled my bloody hand from his wound, allowing the blood to flow freely. He looked into my eyes and said, “I was wrong about you, Alice. You have proven to every one of us that you are a soldier worth respecting. I am honored to have fought beside you.” He coughed, blood seeping out of the corners of his mouth. “I shouldn’t have been so hard,” he coughed again, “none of us should have been so hard.” He held my hand with whatever energy he surely had left in his body and squeezed. “But we all believe you are our dark feather sent here to lead the Cyan to victory. And Rabbit…” He paused while he swallowed back the pool of blood forming in the back of his throat. “Fight beside Rabbit. Protect him, help him, but mostly… love him.” When his fingers loosed his hold on my hand, I yanked a feather from my wrist and pressed it into his palm, closing his bloody fingers around it.
“I will, I give you my word.”
“I already feel warmer…” He smiled one last time, and the light faded from his eyes.
It wasn’t until then that I noticed I was surrounded by soldiers. Grief conquered each one. Unlike the Penna, these men were not ashamed to show their pain. They weren’t ashamed to cry and mourn someone they cared so deeply about. We had lost Cheshire. We had all lost a respected soldier, and a friend.
“They wanted death,” Rabbit said, his voice cracking with pain.
“They got it,” I replied. “They wanted to send a message that they know where we are.”
Defeated, Rabbit picked up Cheshire’s lifeless body and carried him back to our encampment, followed by every man who had once fought beside Cheshire. Rabbit placed him gently in the snow, sorrow blanketing his face and tears in his eyes.
“He could be a real son of a bitch, but a worthy and loyal fighter,” he declared. “He was my friend, and he did not deserve to die under such deceit. Those fucking cowards will pay!”
I knew the worst still lay ahead, and all of Rabbit’s men were ready to lay siege.
“I’m so sorry. They wanted me,” I said as a deep sorrow washed over me.
Rabbit touched my cheek, wiping a stray tear from my eye. “Whatever happens, happens to all of us.”
“They just want me. Maybe it’s best for you to surrender
me. If you push hard and negotiate, then maybe they would give you your men back in return.”
Rabbit shook his head. “My men are dead. Or at least, they will be. There is no bargaining with the Penna. They killed Cheshire in what was supposed to be a peaceful parley.” He wiped at another tear escaping my eyes. “We fight. We stay strong. We stay together.”
No matter how hard he tried to convince me, I knew many of them would not survive this fight. “Cheshire died because of me,” I said.
“Cheshire died because of the Penna. Not you.”
I saw such pain in his eyes as he reached for the shovel one of his men brought over. He allowed no one to offer assistance in digging the hole to lay Cheshire to rest in. He attacked the frozen ground as if it were the general of the Penna, and didn’t pause until Cheshire was lowered into the ground.
When it was all done, I just put my arm around him and said, “Vengeance.”
Rabbit turned to face his grieving men. “All that matters now is we find out how to ambush their encampment.” He turned to me and nodded. “Yes, vengeance in the name of Cheshire, Garrett, and all the men we lost,” Rabbit shouted to us all.
Cheers rang back in return as the storm clouds came rolling over, dark and bloated in the breaking dawn.
“It is decided. We prepare, and at week’s end, we head for revenge.”
10
The thundering sounds of a vengeful Cyan army swept violently through the icy land. The collapse of silence surrounded the Penna below. From the midday sun over a frozen landscape came the war cries of many. Some were from the Penna in warning, and others came from the Cyan, who hollered as they prepared for battle. The Penna armed themselves with weapons and courage to fight what was—hopefully for the Cyan—to be the Penna’s last battle for some time. All the Cyan had to do was kill the Penna general, and the effect would be crippling. They were outnumbered and consumed from all angles. Still, as they watched the army of Cyan coming to attack, the fight was inevitable. From the middle of the Penna camp came the ringing of the horns. The soldiers came together, as did all able-bodied men. The blood-thirsty Cyans were coming!
