Aleksei watched in horror as she tried to run, only to be pierced through with arrows herself. He tried to close his eyes, the image too terrible to bear, but it would not leave him. He was forced to stare into her pale blue eyes as her life faded into her blood-soaked gown.
He urged Dash on to greater speed, racing the dawn and the inevitable doom lurking in the Hills.
Farms and towns flashed past by him so fast Aleksei hardly even realized they were there before they vanished. He didn’t care. If it was a gift to move this swiftly, he would make the best use of it possible.
Dawn broke over the horizon, but Aleksei paid it no mind. Any sense of fatigue had been burned away by adrenaline as Dash rushed him forward to meet his fate.
The Sulaq Hills passed by and Tamara smiled in delight. She loved the Hills in the autumn, their wildflowers bursting with color and vibrancy. This year the rains had been especially heavy and the flowers resonated thanks in vibrant hues.
Before and behind her, the Magi rode in silence, their Knights surveying the ridges for signs of movement. Tamara wasn’t worried, but after having spent a few days traveling in open country, she was starting to feel thankful to have her honor guard.
It wasn’t that she felt vulnerable. No one could have a thing to gain from her kidnap or death except Jonas, and the idea of her cousin as a threat was laughable. Nevertheless, her escort would not be accused of being lazy and she was glad for it.
A life constructed within the limits of palace walls and hunting lodges had left Tamara with a deep sense of uncertainty when confronted by the vastness of the open sky, the boundless nature of hills rolling to meet the horizon. To her mind there was no boundary to what threat or blessing could be born of that horizon.
Tamara sighed, her mind returning to the flowers and summers long past.
She and Jonas had played in these hills many times, when they’d made similar trips south with her mother. They would stop in Keiv-Alon and there would always be a nursemaid to take them into the Hills so they could run amongst the flowers.
It had been on one of those outings that Jonas had touched the Archanium for the first time.
The memory jolted her, but Tamara didn’t force it away. She liked remembering. It was important to remember.
She had been running a bit farther away than Jonas and he’d chased after her. They couldn’t have been more than five or six summers old. Even then Jonas had that sense of duty and responsibility about him. She remembered little of him as a carefree child.
Tamara’s foot had struck a stone and as she fell, she heard Jonas cry out in surprise. She’d turned just as a snake rose from behind the stone to strike her, its mouth yawning wide.
She’d hardly had time to recognize the danger, much attempt an escape, before it sprang. Tamara had screwed her eyes shut, tensing for the bite. But it never came.
A moment later Jonas was shaking her shoulder, tears streaming down his face.
“Are you alright, Tamara?”
She’d looked around for the snake, but couldn’t see it anywhere. But she could smell something burning.
“Yes.” she’d managed weakly.
He’d hugged her tightly and she started to cry. The nursemaid found them clutching each other, each drying the other’s tears. The woman had been frantic, saying it was probably the lightning that scared the children and thank the gods it hadn’t started a fire.
That was when Tamara realized that Jonas had saved her. She hadn’t been able to explain it at the time, but she’d known somehow.
“Princess!” Dava shouted behind her.
Tamara turned in her saddle to look at the Magus. Her blood froze.
A large man was galloping towards them on a massive horse. His blond hair was wild, his eyes murderous.
Dava’s Knight turned and drew his sword to meet the would-be attacker. And then the world went mad.
Dava and Uriah cried out at the same moment. Tamara gasped as she realized they were gripping thick, black-shafted arrows. Their Knights began to vomit blood.
Tamara screamed.
Aleksei urged Dash on, wincing as he saw the first volley fired into the two Magi. Beside them their Knights began to convulse. Aleksei shuddered as he desperately tried to reach the Princess in time.
He passed a Knight as the man doubled over, blood fountaining from his mouth. Aleksei could see her, the girl who could only be Tamara. She was screaming in panic, staring wildly around at the death that had simply materialized around her.
And then he was next to her.
Time slowed. Aleksei could feel the arrows leave the archers’ bows. He lunged forward from Dash’s back and wrapped one arm around the Princess, twisting his body and lifting her clear of the first arrow’s path.
A heartbeat later, his free hand shot into the air just above her head and caught the second arrow.
Time regained its speed with a jolt and Dash surged forward, leaving the bodies of the Magi and their Knights behind as the distance between them multiplied. It was only after a league or so that Aleksei realized that Tamara had stopped screaming and had begun to bite his arm.
“Hey!” he roared, twisting her around so she sat in front of him on Dash’s back.
“Let me go!” she screamed. “What do you want? Money? I don’t have any!”
She was sobbing now and Aleksei realized that she thought he was part of the attack.
“I’m not robbing you.” he shouted over the thunder of Dash’s hooves.
“So you’re just going to kill me? Is that it? Why couldn’t you just let me die back there with the others?” she sobbed.
Aleksei looked skyward. Was there anything he could say that would make her understand?
“I was sent by Jonas.” he lied. “He sent me to protect you.”
She stilled, her attacks subdued, though her body was still wracked with sobs. Gods, he wished he could see her face. “Jonas?” she managed.
“He realized what was going to happen and he told me to get to you as fast as I could.”
“So why don’t you take me back to him?” she demanded.
Aleksei pulled Dash to a halt and took a moment to look around. He was stunned to realize how much ground they’d covered. He recognized their location and it was as far as could be from the Sulaq Hills.
“We’re in the Southern Plain.” he whispered. “Gods, of course we are. What was I thinking riding south?”
“What?” she whimpered, bewildered.
Aleksei shook his head. There was no way to explain it to her, not in a way she would understand. He hardly understood how it was possible.
“We need to stop, at least for a moment. I have to rest, and so does my horse. We won’t get far if we’re both about to drop.” Aleksei said absently, his eyes scouting for a place to camp.
There. The Southern Plain was dotted by tiny wooded glades like the one he’d camped in his first night away from home. Now he rode towards the nearest one, exhaustion already creeping up on him. Aleksei had only slept a few precious hours the night before, and since the small hours of the morning Dash had been racing towards the Sulaq Hills.
Tamara was silent and sullen as Aleksei rode into the glade and slid off Dash’s back. He offered his hand to her and after a brief pause, she allowed him to help her down.
“I’m sorry for how sudden all this is.” Aleksei said gently. “But please, just trust me for right now. I’ll take you to Jonas, don’t worry. But first we have to go a bit farther south to get supplies. Otherwise we won’t make it back to Kalinor.”
Tamara sat on the ground and stared straight ahead. She no longer seemed to acknowledge that he was present or speaking.
“I’m sorry about your friends.” Aleksei said softly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Tamara flinched at first, but then relaxed. She finally nodded, her tears trickling in a stream down her cheeks, the pain dripping from her chin into her folded hands.
; CHAPTER 13
A Noble Peasant
BAEL PACED BACK and forth across the pale blue and gold carpets. His mind was racing, full of anticipation and dread. It would be a small feat for his father’s men to Fade to the Southern Plain and return with news of their victory. He prayed to the Dark God that his own plans had come to fruition without incident.
There was a flicker across the Archanium and a new figure stood in the center of the room. When his blue eyes caught sight of Bael, they widened with surprise.
“Master Bael! I…I hadn’t anticipated…” Sammul fell to the floor in a shocked cry of pain.
Bael stepped forward and towered over the other Magus, “I want answers and information, Sammul, not apologies.”
“Master Bael?” Sammul whimpered, suddenly uncertain.
There was another flicker across the Archanium and Sammul screamed until he began to cough blood. In truth, Bael wasn’t even sure if the spell would work, but he’d seen his father attempt the same thing before with limited success. He was more than pleased with his own results.
“I said I want answers.” Bael growled, placing his boot on Sammul’s neck, “Now, can you provide them or shall I move on to one of your little sycophants?”
“I’ll tell you whatever you want!” Sammul bellowed.
“I want the truth. What happened down there?”
“They failed!”
Bael stood stock still, barely controlling his tightly wound rage. Once his grandmother had given him permission to release the years of repression and torment, he’d found it increasingly difficult to master his emotions. This was no exception.
“Who failed? How?”
“I don’t know.” Sammul growled. “One moment we were about to execute the princess and the next someone flew out of the ether, grabbed her from her horse, and just…disappeared. My archers were at a loss even as I executed them.”
Bael eased his heel from Sammul’s neck. The other Magus trembled as he regained his feet, rubbing the sore spot. “What I can’t understand is how anyone even knew we were going to be down there. The Princess was traveling in utmost secrecy.”
“It was Aleksei.” Bael muttered faintly.
“I beg your pardon?” Sammul asked, perplexed.
Bael waved a hand dismissively, “You wouldn’t understand. But I do. I made a huge mistake.” An idea took root in Bael’s mind. He rounded on Sammul, stepping very close to the Magus even as he embraced the Archanium, “But you. If you breathe a word of this to my father, I will cut you like a fish. Do you understand?”
Sammul’s face turned defiant. Bael could feel him reaching for the Archanium, could feel him grasp and flounder. Sammul’s steel blue eyes watered with the strain. Finally Sammul’s gaze sank to the floor, “Yes.”
“Yes what?” Bael snarled, gripping the Archanium again.
Sammul crumpled to the floor without a sound, blood drooling from his eyes and ears. His gaze turned slowly upward, back to Bael’s sparkling emerald eyes.
“Yes, Master.”
Tamara blinked at Aleksei.
She was just beginning to come out of her fugue and recognize where she was, what was happening. For a time there she was quite sure she’d gone mad. All she could hear were the sounds, the wet throb of the crossbow bolts striking flesh, the screams, the splatter of blood and vomit as men, good men, her friends died.
Some time in the night her mind became alert once more and her lifetime of training in the art of leadership, the very thing that was supposed to make her an excellent queen when her time came, the grace to handle difficult situations without losing her composure, had surfaced. And gradually she had pulled herself back to sanity, though the road had certainly been treacherous.
Since then she had been studying the only thing of interest.
Aleksei.
Despite everything that had just happened, happened in the span of a moment it seemed, she had found comfort in his warm tone and patient voice. She allowed herself to believe that he truly was what he claimed. Surely Jonas would only send someone he trusted to protect her?
But questions remained unasked and unanswered. Why had Jonas not come himself? That troubled her. If Jonas had known about the threat, surely he would have done everything in his power to save all of them. All of them. This man obviously meant her no harm, yet she could not bring herself trust him completely. Not yet.
But here he was, slowly sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Patiently watching her after having left her unattended through the night. Surely her kidnapper would remain awake until his compatriots were near enough to keep an eye on her.
Whatever the truth, there was something decidedly odd about him. He wasn’t like any other man she’d met. He was neither too harsh nor too soft. He radiated patience and calm, yet she remembered how quickly he had acted when he saved her. She knew without a doubt that if he had not appeared, she would be dead.
Tamara made up her mind. Whether he meant her good or ill, she would wait for him to make his intentions clear. It would do her no good to run off if he was a savior, and even if he weren’t, what would she do? She had no food or supplies. He was right. Without provisions, they couldn’t make the journey back to Kalinor.
She glanced around, wishing to the gods she had a better idea of where she was. The impossibility of their position was still held with a degree of skepticism in the back of her mind, despite the countryside and its obvious support of his claim.
He believed they were in the Southern Plain, but that was an enormous province. They could be practically anywhere in southwestern Ilyar. But perhaps he knew where they were better than she.
Actually, from this angle she found him to be quite an attractive man, which came as a surprise to her. That her mind could conceptualize such a thing of beauty after being exposed so suddenly to the intense ugliness of the previous day.
He was much larger than the nobles and even the Guardsmen she was used to seeing, but his square jaw and bold brow lent him a commanding air she wouldn’t have expected of such a young commoner. And there was an intelligence in his preternatural golden eyes that matched the obvious power of his body.
A truly odd man. Just the sort that would fascinate Jonas. Strangely, that realization comforted her.
“You’re still here.” he muttered, seeming surprised in the twilight.
She shrugged, “Where would I go? For the moment I’m safer with you. At least I know you don’t want me dead. That’s more than I can say for anyone else out there.”
“Well I’m glad you’re speaking again. Are you hungry?” he asked, coming to his feet.
“Very.”
He smiled, “I’m going to go find us some food. Any chance you could gather some wood?”
She paused, then nodded.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes.” he said before vanishing into the gathering darkness.
Tamara rose and began to look around the campsite. Wood? She was to gather wood? She laughed quietly to herself as she began to collect twigs. She, the Princess of Ilyar, heir to the throne, was gathering wood for a fire like any common kitchen maid.
It was exhilarating.
True to his word, Aleksei returned a few minutes later. He cradled three dead rabbits. Tamara gasped, dropping her twigs.
“Excuse me.” she muttered, gathering her sticks. “I’m unaccustomed to seeing such things.” Tamara cursed herself for sounding so naïve, but her irritation warred heavily with her need to be far away from Aleksei when he gutted the poor creatures.
“You might want to gather more wood on the other side of that tree.” he said pointedly.
She hurried out of the campsite.
Aleksei sighed irritably and set about skinning and cleaning the rabbits. Fortunately there had been no impulse to mark himself this time. He wondered what the Princess would have done if she’d returned to find him half-naked with rabbit blood drooling down his chest.
It had been uncannily easy to trap and kill the rabbits, and though Aleksei was not usually bothered by hunting animals, he found himself strangely affected by the experience.
They were so gentle and calm. It hurt to kill them. But he needed their meat, and he had the feeling they had offered themselves.
“Is this my curse?” he muttered to himself. “I can hunt any animal in Ilyar, but only as long as I can feel its pain?” He would almost rather return to the cold combination of precision and luck afforded by his bow at home.
“Have you found enough wood?” he called softly into the near-dark.
For a moment fear lanced through his heart. What if she’d been taken while he cleaned the rabbits? What would he do? Would he be able to track her? What if the assassins had caught up to them? The moment passed and Tamara stepped around the tree, her arms full of twigs and small branches.
Aleksei fought back a laugh as she deposited the wood on top of her previous collection. The image of a princess gathering firewood was more than a little amusing to a him. It was hardly something he’d ever expected to see.
“Thank you.” he said instead, gathering the smaller twigs along with a handful of dried leaves he’d collected while hunting the rabbits.
He cleared a small area of undergrowth and built his fire with the speed born from long years of experience. In a matter of minutes he had a small blaze. He spitted the rabbits and balanced them against two stones over the fire. As he worked, Aleksei was keenly aware of Tamara’s eyes on him, watching him with apparent fascination.
“How long will they take to cook?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. He could hear the eagerness in her voice; the desperation.
Aleksei turned the spits and shrugged, “Longer than you’d think. I have to be sure they’re cooked through or their meat could make you sick. And neither of us can afford that at the moment.”
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