The Warrior's Assault

by Kristen Banet

  “I’m sorry, Empress.” He was smart enough to drop to his knees. “I offer myself to your mercy and beg forgiveness.”

  “You won’t have it,” she snapped. “Guards, take him. Cicero, contact his second. Let’s hope the next Admiral of my Navy is more fitting.”

  The Admiral screamed obscenities as the guards took him. The hate he had on his face told her what she needed to know. He despised her. He didn’t feel guilty for the loss of the men. He probably thought she was unfit to rule. He even dared to spit on the white marble floor of her throne room.

  Soon enough, though, the screams became muffled, then faded away completely as he was dragged down into her dungeons.

  “Now, let’s talk about how we’re going to fix this,” she said to her remaining advisors. “Generals, what do you think?”

  The discussions kicked off. She sat down on her throne, feeling confident, crossing her legs casually as they fired off their ideas to best handle the threat of what Alchan had in his Company. From there, they discussed how to kick off the next stage of their invasion into Olost under the pretense of capturing the remaining free Andinna. That was important. She had to find ways into Olost and stay there. That had always been the sticking point. They would let her merchants visit and sell goods. They would let her people visit and travel or even hunt free Andinna, but never have they let her military on land. Blackstone had been a boon. She’d lost that now. Blackstone was effectively useless after what Alchan did. It was a poignant sign he was giving to the other Free Cities—align with her, for whatever reason, and he would burn them down. She wondered when the young king had turned so ruthless.

  It’s probably my fault. I shouldn’t have attacked his home village. Attacking a smaller one further away from him would have seemed like a large hunting endeavor. Mistakes, mistakes.

  It went on for hours. She agreed with some of their plans, throwing out others.

  “We can’t use Andinna to fight Andinna, General Augustus,” she reminded them. “They haven’t been properly trained. Most of them still remember freedom. What about the other project, General Tiber?”

  “We have ten squadrons ready to mobilize the moment you want them,” he answered. “The breeding program has worked well for us, especially in the last century. I think this could definitely be the time to get into the air with the Andinna. We have ten other squadrons nearing the completion of their training. That’s four hundred men in total, Empress.”

  “Good. Get more Elvasi training for that. I want to see a thousand Elvasi in the skies. More if you can.” She drummed her fingers on the arm of her throne. “I want forces waiting in Ellantia on high alert. The cargo can’t be lost. Lord Docilus, how is that province? How many of those nobles are against me?”

  “I would say it’s an even split, leaning in your favor, but there’s definitely two factions. Some are saying you’ve grown lax, which empowered them. Some say you’ve gotten fat and lazy here in Elliar.” He looked down, trying to seem smaller before her. She wasn’t angry with him. She had asked the question. Now, she had to decide what to do about it.

  “Get names.” She leaned onto her elbow, thinking. “Bring them before me. Tell them they can voice whatever complaints they may have to me. I’m willing to listen.” She smiled. “And when they’re here, I’ll make sure they understand what the punishment is for speaking against their Empress like this again.”

  “And if they refuse to come?”

  “Kill them. No one denies me anything in this Empire.” She waved them away, feeling better. “You can all go now. Generals, make sure Ellantia is ready for an attack. They’ll arrive in a month and a half if the weather holds up. Get it done.”

  “Yes, Empress,” they responded in a chorus of obedience. It made her smile, pleased by their quick action. They retreated out of the room, leaving her to the large white throne room. She remembered her first day in this room, a young noblewoman with no family left. The Emperor had called to ask her to join in trade talks since the Andinna liked intelligent women. He’d heard her name from others, and that intrigued him.

  The hall had been filled to the brim with powerful people, and she was the new face.

  Now, she was the last face. The last time she had her entire court in attendance was the Games. They had all left the capital after the Andinna had caused a mess under her nose.

  “Servant,” she called. “Find my children.”

  “Yes, Empress,” the human answered. She heard the soft patter of feet as the human man ran to do as she asked.

  It didn’t take long for them to walk into the room. Her children were woken up when she was, just in case she needed them. It was how her late husband had done it, how his fathers before him had. She kept it because it was convenient.

  “Lothen, Nyria. How are you both this morning?” She stood up to greet them, kissing her son on his cheek first, then turned to her young daughter and did the same.

  “Tired. Why were we up so early?” Her son even yawned.

  She ground her teeth at his lack of dignity. She tried so hard to raise him to carry himself with respect, but he was youthful and rebellious. Hopefully, he would learn before he, one day, needed to take the throne.

  “Bad news from Olost,” she answered. “I want to discuss with you both about a possible war in the region. I’m considering an invasion and wanted your opinions on it.” She walked back to her throne and sat down slowly in front of them. “Consider it a chance to exercise some power. One day, you’ll be making these sorts of decisions.”

  “I will be,” Lothen said softly, giving his sister a side glance.

  “And the Empire will rejoice,” Nyria muttered, shaking her head.

  “Children.” Shadra didn’t have time for their petty rivalries and arguments. Lothen had felt challenged by Nyria since the day she was born, though Shadra didn’t understand why. Her daughter was pretty and quiet, the perfect Elvasi girl with the rare gold eyes many found enchanting. At five hundred, she was in her prime years to have a strong political marriage, something that was in the cards in the next decade. She would have worked harder to get her daughter more power like she did for herself, but Nyria showed no ambition. She was a reader, didn’t have a lick of magical ability, and had no passion for politics.

  She wasn’t a threat to anyone. As much as she hated it, Shadra knew her daughter was a tool to be used to gain allies and have children. The only time her daughter showed any fire was arguing with her brother, and since he was the future Emperor, that helped no one, only breeding more animosity between them.

  “I think we should send our entire force there and take every city by force. They’ve stayed out of our reach for too long, guarding the barbarians.” It was an arrogant, brash, and youthful solution. His father had been similar. The Elvasi army had always been able to crush enemies with overwhelming force. She wasn’t frustrated by his answer, but she wanted him to start looking for more.

  “What would you do about their pirates?” Nyria asked. “Historically, our forces have always been better on land than at sea.”

  Lothen glared at his sister, but Shadra perked up just a little.

  “Mother, must we deal with her today?” he asked. Her daughter looked down. Shadra sighed heavily, shaking her head.

  “Any advisor you have would say the same thing, son. Answer her question.”

  “Well…” He frowned, finally sighing. “What if we pay off the pirates? That would get them out of the way.”

  “That’s better,” she agreed. “Paying them off would allow us rights to the sea for a time until they need to make more money and want us to pay again. After that, they would control the waters and attack if we ever stopped paying them. They would cut us off from Olost and end our invasion at a bad time.” She eyed her daughter. “Nyria?”

  “War and invasions aren’t my strong suit, mother.” Her daughter was shutting down on her.

  “You understood the problem of the pirates. How would you fix it?”
>
  “I understood the problem, but I don’t have any solutions,” she whispered.

  “Of course. Spend the day thinking about invading Olost. Think about our forces, both of you. Think about what’s at stake. It would give us a footing and control over the region the Andinna continue to hide from us. We would solidify our control over most of the known world.” Shadra had to train her children. It was a tedious task. They would come up with things she could easily dismiss, but it was all about the work in progress. They would learn to think deeper, further ahead, and find mistakes without anyone needing to point them out.

  Each had their flaws. Lothen was arrogant. He thought he could never fail, and everyone would always be loyal to him. He charmed women and ruined them, thinking that would never come back and curse him. He was the future Emperor and behaved as if it made him invulnerable. Only time and experience would teach her son that the world didn’t work that way, not even for an Emperor.

  Nyria was around too many pretty noblewomen who were taught to be quiet and stupid. While her daughter wasn’t stupid, she wasn’t a thinker either. She wasn’t cunning, which she had to be to survive and thrive in their world. She was a beautiful bookworm. She would make a great wife to some intellectual.

  For all their flaws, she loved them. She rode them hard to see them succeed in whatever challenges the world threw at them. She didn’t want to see them fail when she could prepare them for every possibility.

  “Are we done here, Mother? That’s all you want from us?” Her son sounded impatient.

  “Yes. When you’re the Emperor, everyone will be looking to you to take these situations in hand.”

  “I’ll have the best advisors,” he said with a shrug.

  “The best advisors can be wrong. You should ask dear Admiral Titus who was placed in the dungeon earlier.” She smiled indulgently.

  “Poor bastard,” he muttered. He understood her. It wasn’t the first time her son would see her execute an advisor who failed, especially when she had thought it was an easy problem to fix.

  She considered him. “I’ll give you something to do, love, since I know you enjoy that more than classrooms. Help my generals plan the defense of Ellantia. There’s strong reason to believe the Ivory Shadow Mercenary Company will be making a move there.”

  “I’ll do my best,” he promised. In an instant, he shifted to a more serious demeanor. He knew a test when he was presented one, and she was giving him the ability to work with the very generals who trained him as their equal and not their student. He loved military campaigns like most Elvasi noblemen, and this only helped him shine. “Thank you.”

  “You both can go,” she told them. Lothen was nearly out of the room, and Nyria was gone when her son stopped and smiled back at her.

  “Mother, you could pay the pirates off until you claim control of whatever naval forces the Free Cities also have. Then you would have a large fleet that knows the area to crush the pirates and rule the waters in your name.”

  “Very good. Eventually, solutions like that will come naturally to you.”

  “When did they start coming naturally to you?”

  “After years of practice. You’ll be a great Emperor one day, Lothen. Don’t lose sight of that. If you think someone else will figure it out for you, you’re doomed to fail. If you give your advisors your complete trust, you’re doomed to fail. If you repeat the mistakes of the past, you’re doomed to fail.”

  Your father trusted me implicitly, and look where that got him.

  “Of course, Mother.” Lothen nodded. “Thank you for the lesson.” He at least took his assignment seriously. It was a chance for him to prove himself on a military front, something he needed to be respected when he eventually took the throne.

  When she was finally alone again, Shadra walked out of the throne room. Going to her private quarters, she opened a small secret door when she was positive no one was around, locking herself in, and sat down at a small desk she kept tidy. She did most of her magic here, in private.

  She opened a small chest and pulled out a small vial of blood, swirling it around in the candlelight. Grabbing a small bowl of water she kept on hand, she dropped a bit of the blood in.

  “Show me,” she whispered in the dead language of magic, waving a hand over the bowl.

  Nothing happened.

  “Not close enough yet,” she said, annoyed. She left the bowl of water and blood on the table. She would come back to it later.

  She had an Empire to run.

  27

  Mave

  “Again!” she roared over the crash of the waves. Before her, twenty-five of the males repeated the same pattern she’d had them doing since dawn. When she saw one fumble, she growled. “Again! I told you once, but I’ll say it again. The moment you do it right is the moment I’ll let you go for water!”

  “Fuck this,” one muttered close to her. She ignored it. They could talk under their breath all they wanted. She could put any of them on their asses, and they would all deserve it.

  This wouldn’t be happening if they showed any respect for the Company.

  Nearly two months at sea had worn the males thin with each other, and some were losing the fire they needed for what was to come. This was the first time Mave was being forced to deal with them during the voyage. Alchan had picked the twenty-five worst offenders to make an example of, then put her in charge of them. She questioned that decision every moment she was in front of them. She had a feeling it was because of what was between her legs. Males listened to females, and she was the only one around.

  If Senri were here…

  She gritted her teeth in undeniable rage. Soon—she would have her friend back soon.

  “Again,” she snarled as she passed through the rows of males.

  “Get off our backs, bitch,” one snapped. “We’re trying.”

  “Not hard enough.” She grabbed a sword from the closest male and rounded on the one who had spoken. He didn’t have time to stop her as she deftly lunged and sliced across his bicep in the very move she had them practice. The world was still as his sword fell from his hand, and he growled in pain.

  “That’s how fast you need to do it. You need to get under their guard and make a move. Where you land it is up to you, but if you’re slow and tripping over your own feet, you’re useless. Now, pick up your fucking sword.” Waiting patiently, she didn’t lower the blade she borrowed as he leaned down and grabbed the hilt of his fallen weapon. Once he was in position, she handed it to its owner.

  “Again.”

  She went back to walking between them, seeing some progress as many of them refocused their efforts. It was closing in on mid-day, and there was progress but not enough for her—not nearly enough.

  “Let’s show them what they can be!” Nevyn called out from the upper deck. Sen stood behind the wheel, grinning. Half the Company was up there as well, watching quietly or lying out in the sun out of the way. Only one of the Hornbuckle dwarves from Blackstone was up there, most hiding below deck for the entire trip.

  “Aye, I like that idea. This entire thing has gotten boring.” The Elvasi-human mutt laughed. “I want to see how much progress our female has made!”

  “I’m not your female,” she reminded him. Since meeting Sen again, he’d taken to calling her ‘theirs.’

  “My heart,” he cried. After that, there were only two males in the Company not laughing. Alchan was reading something, not paying attention to them, and Kian didn’t find humor in much anymore. She did catch a smirk from him, though. It was something.

  “Come on, Nevyn. Let’s show them.” She waved him down. Jumping over the railing as he drew his sword; he was an impressive sight. He was considered the best there ever was and would ever be. It was becoming one of her goals in life to beat him. So far, she and Luykas couldn’t take down the lovers. She figured one-on-one wouldn’t be any easier for her, but she would try. It was at least a chance to stretch her muscles.

  She drew both her swo
rds, spinning them once as they started to circle each other. Having sparred more than once, they both knew what the game was—three bloods, nothing deep, pulling their strikes to keep from accidentally maiming or killing the other. They didn’t need a judge or someone to call time.

  He jumped forward first. In a flurry of swings, parries, and counters, they sparred, two of the best warriors the Andinna would ever see. She was confident that she counted as one of the best. She might not have the experience Nevyn did, but she had enough. She was able to draw first blood, drawing a line over his chest, then was forced to retreat as he landed not one but two on her so fast, she wasn’t sure she saw the moves. Nevyn had a habit of dictating the pace of the fights around him, moving something akin to a normal fighting speed, then suddenly speeding up without warning. She couldn’t find his tell when he was planning to do it.

  “Running scared?” he taunted with a friendly smile.

  “Planning.” She needed two more hits on him for the win, but he only needed one. That wasn’t good. She charged this time, jumping into the fray, trying to control the pace. When he went to block, however, she pulled back on the swing and came up with her second sword while falling to the deck. It was a risky move, but it paid off when her steel ran along his thigh. Nevyn wasn’t an idiot, though. Before she could go for the third hit, he brought up a boot and kicked her in the face.

  With a thunk, her head hit the deck, her nose bleeding. Her hands went limp, releasing her only protection. All she wanted at that moment was to roll over and cover her stomach. She had to protect her vital parts. Then something clicked in her mind.

  I’m free now.

  She snarled, grabbing her swords again. She was on her feet and attacking without a pause to even blink.

  The Andinna blocked her attack, jumping back. As she roared, he threw his sword down and grabbed her wrists before she could put her swords in either side of his neck.

  “What did it?”

  She snarled, not hearing his words. An Andinna male kicking her? Just as bad, if not worse, than the Elvasi. She threw up a knee, hitting him where it counted. Before she delivered a killing blow, a large arm yanked her away, and a hand grabbed her wrist, twisting sharply until she was forced to drop her sword.