Burden of Stones

by James Dale

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Tempered Wrath

  “Are you hurt?” Jack cried, rushing to Anna’s side. The room was dark once more now that Yhswyndyr was no longer in his grasp.

  “No…I don’t think so?” she gasped.

  “Stay down,” he hissed. Her knife was a foot away. He kicked it toward her and ran to the door. He had no need to give the sword another command. As he pulled it free from the door and the thing’s head, Yhswyndyr filled the room with light again. Even though its triangular head was nearly split in two, Jack plunged the flaming blade into the monster’s chest where he imagined its heart would be, just to be certain it was dead. He ran and closed the balcony doors, then grabbed a sheet off the bed. He tossed it to Anna as he hurried to open their bedroom door where shouts of distress could be plainly heard.

  “I’m unlocking the door,” he shouted. The pounding stopped. “You’ll have to push.”

  Jack had to leap back as Captain d’Kenna heaved the door open, easily pushing aside the slain beast. d’Kenna rushed in, sword in hand, followed closely by a pair of guardsmen, followed by Lord Rhia’dan and the Lady Ara’fael.

  “Merciful god!” d’Kenna hissed. “What is it?”

  “There were three,” Jack replied. “There might be more. You can’t see them when they aren’t dead, only their shadows.

  Lord Rhai’dan stuck his staff on the floor and added more light to the room. It was less harsh that Yhswyndyr’s glare so Jack let the sword go quite. “Ailias enne’ cyanalla!” the Lord cried, and three balls of blue light sprang from his staff and began making circuits of the suite, searching for more.

  “There will not be more than three,” the Ailfar Spellweaver said, bending down to examine the last Jack had slain. “For Yh’Adan’s sake, cover yourself Jack Braedan.” She muttered.

  Jack realized he had been fighting the monsters naked. With as much dignity as he could muster, he walked back to the bed, grabbed another sheet and wrapped it around his waist. “What are they?”

  “Aa’gal Na’thar,” Ara’fael replied. It did not sound like she was pleased to see one.

  “Shadow Snakes?” Jack snarled. “That about sums it up.”

  “Are you hurt, child?” The Ailfar asked, leaving the monster and moving to Anna’s side.

  “It’s not my blood, Lady,” the queen replied calmly. “Help me up, Jack.”

  Jack lifted her from the floor and wrapped her in his arms. “Are you sure you are okay?”

  “I’m fine, Beloved,” she nodded. “The threat is past Lady?”

  “There will be only three,” she nodded.

  “Go clean yourself Jack,” Anna ordered. “You are covered in blood.”

  Jack took a single step and almost tripped on the bed sheet wrapped around him. “Ah, hell,” he snarled, and let it drop. But he held on to Yhswyndyr. He walked quickly to the foot of the bed and retrieved his discarded trousers from the floor. Walking to the bathroom, he leaned his sword against the wall, splashed water from the sink on himself, then grabbed a towel and wiped away most of the blood. “What are flaming Shadow Snakes?” he shouted, pulling on his pants. “And what the flaming hell are they doing in my bedroom!”

  “If you will calm your tone, I will tell you,” Ara’fael snapped.

  “Calm my tone? Calm my tone!” he growled, emerging from the bathroom, Yhswyndyr in hand. Fire licked along the edges of the Highsword’s blade in answer to the rage boiling inside him. “Twice now within a flaming week, Graith has sent his monsters to kill my wife! In our own flaming bedroom!”

  “Jack,” Anna said, hurrying to his side, she wrapped her arms around him. “Calm down. I am unharmed.”

  He took a deep breath. “I am calm. If I were upset, all of Dorshev would know it. Leave them where they lay.” He barked at a guardsman who had grasped one the things by its legs to pull it from the room. “I want to get a look at the bastards.”

  “Come with me, Jack.” Anna said, taking his hand. She stopped at the bed and retrieved her night shift, then guided him to her dressing room. “I’m fine.” She said, dropping the sheet, then sliding the shift over her head. “Are you?”

  “I’m not hurt, no,” he sighed.

  “That’s not what I mean,” she said. Yhswyndyr was still in his hand. Fire still danced along the blade.

  Jack let it fall clattering to the floor. He dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around his wife’s slim waist. “I thought I had lost you.” Tears started flowing and he couldn’t stop. “That…thing had you by…the throat and…”

  “Oh, Jack,” she cried, taking his face in her hands. “My love, my champion. You awoke from a dead sleep and slew three Shadow Spawn in only your skin.” She bent down and kissed him tenderly. “I will never fear the dark, with you by my side.” She pulled him to her and stroked his hair. “Hush now, my love.”

  “I love you Anna,” he sighed, looking up at his lovely wife. “I would burn the world to ash to protect you.”

  “Let us pray it does not come to that, my love,” she replied, holding his face in her hands and wiping away his tears. “Now,” she said, taking his hands and helping him to his feet. “We are both fine. The danger has passed. Temper your wrath.” She retrieved the bed sheet from the floor and wiped his face, then kissed him again. “Let us go and ask the Lady Ara’fael how we can ensure this doesn’t happen again. After…you apologize to her.”

  “Anna…I…”

  “Jack?”

  “Okay,” he sighed. “Okay.” He bent down and picked up Yhswyndyr, then took her by the hand.

  “I’m sorry Lady,” Jack said, entering the bedroom. “I was still flushed from the fight and fear for my queen. Forgive my harsh words. They were born of frustration at being unable to secure the protection my own home.”

  “There is nothing to forgive, Jack Braedan,” Ara’fael replied, kindly. “You are yourself again.” Yhswyndyr’s flame was extinguished. “Let us talk calmly.”

  Jack sat down on the bed with Yhswyndyr in his lap and patted the mattress. Anna sat down beside him. There were excited shouts from the Hallway. It sounded like all of the palace had roused and coming running to see what was amiss. “Captain d’Kenna,” Jack sighed, “Would you be so kind as to assure that ruckus outside we are unharmed?”

  “Go,” he nodded to one of the guards. Apparently, the Hammer’s captain was not prepared to let his king and queen from his sight just yet.

  “And you can clear the bodies now if the Lady Ara’fael is finished examining them.”

  “At once, my King,” he saluted.

  “But put them somewhere safe. I still want to have a look at them later. In fact,” he said, “let everyone out there see them. I want them to understand the danger we face.”

  “There was a dragon on my roof less than a week ago, my love,” Anna said. “I think every-one understands.”

  “What were they Lady?” he asked again, ignoring his wife’s rebuke. But he asked more calmly this time as guards rushed in to remove the dead snake-men.

  “The Aa’gal Na’thar were ancient when the world was young,” the Ailfar Spellweaver replied. “No one alive knows their true origin. In the old legends, and those are few, they were called the Fallen.”

  “The Fallen?” Lord Rhai’dan asked. “There has not been a Fallen on this side of the earthe in a thousand years.”

  “Longer most likely,” Ara’fael replied. “It has been said the first shaman kings of Zsolandar summoned them from the deep jungles, using unholy blood magik to bind them as their assassins. I thought the tale outrageous. Until tonight.”

  “How do we fight invisible snakes?” Jack sighed.

  “They are not invisible,” Ara’fael corrected. “They are just difficult to see. Stop,” she commanded the pair of guardsmen removing the upper body of the one Jack had sliced in two. She reached out and grabbed its lifeless arm. Where her hand touched it, the scaly, grey-green flesh became alive again, assuming the same skin tone as th
e Ailfar. “They can change their appearance to match their surroundings.”

  “Great. That’s just great,” Jack muttered. “How do I protect Anna from flaming chameleon assassins?”

  “They are creatures of the Sa’tan,” Ara’fael replied. “So, the legends say. If they are true, then the Staffclave can ward against further intrusions.”

  “If they supernatural, I can emplace a Word of Warning around your room easily enough,” Lord Rhai’dan said. “Now that we know the threat, we can counter it.”

  “Not this room,” Anna said. “Not tonight. We will find another bed until this room is cleansed.”

  “Oh course,” Rhai’dan nodded.

  “They aren’t Krayga,” Jack observed. “They didn’t fly here. Unless they arrived by some other means, they walked. Or slithered. Or swan.”

  “There are many ways they could have arrived here,” High Lord Perigaen said, entering the room. “Most of them of natural means. I would assume they were hiding in the city somewhere, waiting for another opportunity at the queen. When you arrived, to great fanfare, they made their move.”

  “Hiding where?” asked Jack.

  “The sewers, most likely.” The High Lord speculated.

  “That would be my guess as well.” Ara’fael nodded.

  “Captain d’Kenna?” Jack said.

  “My King?”

  “Double the guards. Double the light in the hallways,” Jack instructed. “Send a runner to find Captain Braegil. In the morning, I want his Rangers scouring the sewers for more of these Fallen. It will be a shit detail, literally, but they should enjoy hunting something called Shadow Snakes.”

  “High Lord,” Jack continued. “In Grethor, I watched the Lady Cil’lena place a Word around her entire cavern. Can the Lords do something like that? For as much of the palace as you can manage? Preferably of a kind that doesn’t blow up if it’s breached?”

  “I think we can manage something of the sort,” Perigaen nodded.

  “Do it please,” Jack nodded. “As soon as you are able. Wait, how long until sunrise?”

  “About two hours,” Captain d’Kenna replied.

  “I guess a Word of Warning would be pointless, then.” Jack sighed. “We’ll double security and hope the Rangers can ferret them out if there are more.”

  “Tomorrow we will emplace a Word.” Perigaen assured him. “No more Fallen will enter your palace Queen Annawyn.”

  “Thank you, High Lord,” she nodded. “Captain d’Kenna, would you send someone for Steward Haemon? The High King requires another room until this one has been cleaned and secured.”

  “Captain a question if I may, before you go?” asked Jack.

  “Certainly, my Lord,” d’Kenna nodded.

  “How is it you were at my door first? At four in the morning?” Jack inquired.

  “After the queen granted Corporal Paeton a furlough, I could not send him off to Immer alone,” the captain shrugged. “There were two more men in the Hammer just as deserving of a furlough as he. Raelon Waeston married only a week before the Haelfest. Lieutenant Haest has a mother who is ill. I took Sergeant Waeston’s shift on patrol, my King. If they have not returned before we depart, the Lieutenant will ensure they find us on the road. Is that all? I have a shift to complete.”

  “Go on, captain,” Jack nodded. “But today sometime, we will have a meeting to see if we can…lighten the burden on the Hammer somewhat.” d’Kenn’s words had filled him with shame. Here he was, snuggled up with his wife, while the men sworn to protect him were far from hearth and kin. In his urgency to capture Kiathan and during his month long stay at Dorshev, then longer on Lordsisle, he had not once stopped to consider how he’d ripped The High King’s Hammer away from their loved ones. Four men of the Hammer lay buried in the garden memorial. They would not to see their families again this side of the Bosom of Yh. Now they were going with him off to war. There was a war council today. He would ask for a delay, a short one, so that any who had followed him immediately after the Haelfest could visit their families if they wished, before they marched off to the east and to war.

  “Duty is a light burden, High King. Failing your duty, is as heavy as a mountain.” With that, d’Kenna bowed and departed.

  Jack kissed Anna on the cheek and stood, looking for his shirt.

  “What are you doing, Jack Braedan?” his wife asked, curiously.

  “I’m going to find Daenel d’Lachaeland and learn what kind of pension the families of the fallen Hammer received,” he replied. “And I’m going to have him double it at least.”

  “Not before you bathe and have something to eat, you are not,” Anna replied.

  “But Anna…”

  “A few hours will make little difference,” she replied, standing to take his hand. “Come. We will go find Haemon together, have a bath and breakfast, and then you can find Daenel.”

  “May I make one suggestion?” asked Jack.

  “Of course, my Love,” she nodded.

  “Perhaps you should put on a robe first?”

  Anna was still only dressed in her night shift. One she had chosen specifically to please him. It left little to the imagination and the guardsmen still lingering in the room were struggling to look anywhere but at their queen with the danger now passed. Most were not doing a very good job at it.

  As his wife hurried to her dressing room to cover herself, Jack put on his boots and shirt and strapped on Yhswyndyr. If he was not even safe in his own bedroom, it would not be out of his reach again until Graith was dead and the Bloodstone destroyed. Anna soon returned, now covered more discreetly in a purple silk rob that reached her ankles and carrying a change of clothes.

  “I couldn’t very well send Mallory or Angaela back in here to find me something to wear,” she explained. Though the bodies of the Aa’gal na’thar had been removed, the room was still splattered with a fair amount of their blood.

  “Should I as well?”

  “Unless you want Daen to fetch your clothes for you?” she replied.

  Knowing what the young scoundrel might suggest if he found him wrapped in a towel, and the queen in the room with him, Jack went in search for more clothes of his own. For someone who had barely turned sixteen, it seemed Daen was as anxious to have Jack produce an heir as the Lady Ara’fael. They did not have to go in search of Haemon Emnael, the Chief Steward was waiting for them in the hallway. Captain Einnael was there with half a dozen Horsemaidens. Kirk Vanar was also there, along with Arrgenn, Anghol and Falan. Haemon was beside himself with shame that the queen had suffered yet another violation of her chambers and the look on Kirk’s face wasn’t much better.

  “It’s horrible. Horrible,” Haemon sighed. “Is there no place safe in of Aralon?”

  “We are unharmed,” Anna assured the distraught steward. “The Staffclave will take steps to see it does not happen again.”

  “Are you boys okay?” asked Jack. All four of the Lions were bleary eyed. From lack of sleep he hoped. “You are…well?”

  “We are fit for duty, my Lord,” Kirk informed him. “Well…more fit than most of the Lions.”

  “I hope you gentlemen had your fun,” Jack said. “There will be damn little time for any entertainment after last night.”

  “Were…were they worse than Krayga, my Lord?” Falan asked.

  “Not worse, but sneakier, that’s for sure,” Jack nodded.

  “Enough talk of snake-men,” Haemon insisted, “you’ll upset the Queen! Come, I know just the room for you until yours is properly cleaned and better secured. I had prepared it for Prince Thonicil. Since he is off to god knows where, it is sitting unused.”

  The room, the suite, was not far. Though not so luxurious as the queen’s chambers, it would certainly suffice. While the Horsemaidens guarded the royal couple, Kirk and the Lions insisted on searching every corner of the room before they let Anna and Jack enter. When they pronounced it safe, the Lions and Horsemaidens posted themselves outside the door and Haemon promised to hav
e breakfast delivered to them within the hour. As his wife went to draw a bath, Jack made sure the doors to the balcony were locked, then for good measure pushed a heavy table in front of them. He found the bath chamber by the sound of running water. She had filled the sink as well and was wetting a wash rag as he entered.

  “Strip,” Anna instructed him.

  “I can…”

  “Strip,” his wife insisted.

  Jack unbuckled Yhswyndyr and laid it against the wall, then dutifully removed his clothes. Anna took the rag and made sure not a single drop of the Fallen’s blood remained on him, then removed her rob and night shift, and climbed in the tub. Tub? It was more the size of a small pool, though only about two feet deep. More for relaxing than bathing.

  “Well? Get in Jack Braedan. Your queen commands it,” she ordered.

  Jack climbed in the warm water, facing her and Anna began to wash his chest, and arms and face. “I do not think I will ever grow accustomed to your scars, my love,” she said sadly. “You have had a…difficult life.”

  “More difficult than some, less difficult than others,” he replied, never taking his eyes off her face.

  His wife tossed the rag aside and moved toward him, climbing onto his lap with her arms across his shoulders.

  “Anna, we don’t have too…”

  “Hush,” she said, laying a finger on his lips. “Your queen commands it.”

  “Yes, my queen,” Jack said, and kissed his wife.

  He would burn the world to ash to protect her.

  After a breakfast of fruit, cheese and warm rolls hot from the over, Jack and Anna emerged into the hallway to find two more Lions had joined their guard detail, Greg d’Vis and a new man he did not recognize.

  “My Lord, this is Dornael Mand,” Kirk said, introducing the man. “He was a senior sergeant in the 5th Highland Infantry until Kiathan disbanded his unit.”