by Mark Albany
Vasara looked at me with a confused expression. Maybe they didn’t have that phrase in Kalames.
Leena stepped in. “Yes, we can help as a matter of fact. Or we could if we had our weapons with us. Speaking of which, you wouldn’t happen to know where they keep the prisoners’ personal items?”
“In the guardhouse just outside,” Vasara answered softly. She dropped to her knees, and her hands worked furiously at the lock outside her cell. Her fingers were nimbly handling what looked like a fish bone that had been curled and hooked.
A full minute passed before she had the door open. She looked relieved, like she hadn’t been sure if she could pull it off, but quickly moved over to our cell door. There was better light here and being able to see what she was doing sped up the process. She popped open the lock on our cell door in seconds.
“What is that?” Kalna asked, peering closely at the instrument Vasara had used to pick the lock.
“A clip usually used to keep my hair in place,” she smiled. “Made from the tooth of a shark.”
I nodded. “Versatile. Now, where’s this guardhouse?”
“Follow me.” Vasara guided us out of the cells.
We snuck into a small courtyard that had a clay path leading to a squat building up ahead. The building was backed up against the wall that surrounded the courtyard. The endless stars above the walls were a beautiful sight. Almost as beautiful as seeing the courtyard empty of guards.
Vasara nodded in the direction of the building. “The guardhouse.”
A candle on a table in the center of the room lit the interior as we crept inside. Six chairs surrounded the table, but only one of them was occupied. The man had his boots up on the table as he leaned back. His eyes were closed, and he was snoring softly.
Vasara made a motion with her fingers across her throat. I shook my head and gestured for all of them to wait outside. The women did as I asked and soon I was alone in the guardhouse. I stood up and approached the sleeping man. He woke up just as I got close, and in his alarm, he tried to jump to his feet.
I slapped my hand on his shoulder hard enough to send him back down into his seat. His shocked look slowly disappeared. I smiled at him, patting his shoulder again gently. He brought his feet down from the table.
“How’s your evening going?” I asked in a soft, calm voice.
“The rest of the boys were needed elsewhere, so they left me here alone.” The man shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. Captain Mads isn’t here, which means I can sleep my shift away.”
I grinned. “If that isn’t living the life, I don’t know what is.”
“You’re damn right,” the guard said, gently tapping my chest with his fist.
“If it’s not too much trouble, could you take a break from duty to show me where the prisoners’ personal possessions are kept?” I asked, keeping my tone light and pleasant.
“Of course.” He smiled, stood up, and moved over to a small room to the left then pulled a set of keys from his pocket and quickly unlocked the door. It was basically a broom closet. Even then, it was bare except for Leena’s bow, quiver, and skinning knife, as well as Kalna’s daggers.
My sword was nowhere to be seen.
The guard was already heading back to his seat. I turned toward him. “Hey. Would you mind terribly if I borrowed your sword? And dagger?”
The guard shrugged. “Of course. It’s not like I’m going to be using them here, right?”
“Exactly.” I smiled. He took the sword and dagger from his belt and handed them to me. “I appreciate the help. I owe you one.”
He rubbed at his eyes. “Let me get back to sleep, and I’ll call it even.”
I nodded. “Deal. I’ll get out of your hair.” I grabbed the other weapons from the closet and headed toward the door. “Sleep well.”
The guard just grunted in response, already back in the spot where I’d found him.
I exited the guardhouse with an armful of weapons. Leena looked at me oddly. I passed the weapons back to their owners.
“I guess the Vizier kept my sword,” I said. “Not surprising, considering how powerful it is.”
“Are we going in to get it?” Kalna asked. “I’d feel rather uncomfortable about leaving something that powerful in the Trelans’ hands.”
“We’ve tarried enough already,” Vasara said quickly. “There is no time to hunt across the entire castle for your blade.”
I nodded. “It’s been made to respond only to my commands. It should be useless to them, though I don’t doubt they’ll try to use it anyway. Regardless, we need to get out of here.”
Kalna still didn’t look comfortable about it, but we didn’t have much choice. I strapped the borrowed sword to my belt and turned to Vasara, offering her the dagger.
“Appreciated,” she shook her head, “but I’m not a fighter. Best you keep it, lest I injure myself.”
It was only a dagger, but now wasn’t the time to discuss it. I would lecture her on the problems of having a member of our team running around unarmed later. She had just gotten us out of prison, after all. Vasara had held up her end of the deal. Now it was our turn.
We moved smoothly through the castle. It seemed like most of the guards were busy or off duty because we didn’t run into too much trouble. Vasara led us through tight paths between the buildings until we found our way to a massive hole in the wooden stockade wall. The opening led to a steep stone incline, which we used as a slide. Once we were on the ground, nothing impeded us from heading out into the jungle.
“How did you do that?” Vasara asked as we quickly disappeared into the tree cover. “With the guard? How did you…bend his will like that?”
“You were watching?”
She nodded. “I left the door open a crack.”
I shrugged. “It’s just a trick I learned. Stay calm, act like you belong, and they’ll think you do.”
Leena laughed as she and Kalna stood back to make sure we weren’t being followed.
“I’ve seen tricks like that before,” Vasara agreed, nodding. “But never to break out of prison, or men and women with lots of confidence would be strolling out of jail cells every day.”
“Well—” I stopped. My mind churned to come up with an answer that wasn’t, “I have a dark and ancient power inside me.”
Kalna and Leena joined us again. Vasara wasn’t distracted. “What?” she asked. “What were you going to say?”
“A magician never reveals his secrets,” I claimed, remembering what a circus magician had once told me when I’d asked him how he’d pulled a silver coin from my ear.
“Fine. Keep your secrets.”
“I intend to.” I grinned.
“If you two are done,” Leena broke in, “it doesn’t seem like there’s anyone following us. We’d better get going before they notice we’re gone.”
I nodded, turning to Vasara. “Any idea where we can go to spend the night? I hear that travelling through the jungle is dangerous in the dark.”
“I know a place. Follow me. It’s not far.”
Leena looked annoyed. While she didn’t say anything, I knew what she was thinking. Mostly because I was thinking the same thing. While we didn’t want to travel far through the jungle at night, we also didn’t want to stay close enough to the castle to be found once the word got out that we’d escaped.
We probably had some time before they discovered we were missing. The guard wouldn’t be sharing the information until he was done napping. Maybe longer. I wasn’t sure how long the hypnotic effect lasted or even what the range was. He might be waking up now to realize that he’d let the prisoners escape during his solo watch.
I wondered idly if he would come up with some kind of story about how he’d been overpowered, or if his loyalty to the brainwashing that had turned his mind to serve the God-King would force him to tell the truth and nothing but.
Hell, he might have been one of the men who had actually joined the Trelan forces of hi
s own accord. They had their own lands. There had to be some among their numbers that weren’t brainwashed into joining.
Although if that was better or worse than the alternative, I still wasn’t sure.
“This way.” Vasara tugged on my arm and pulled me into a ravine hidden in the undergrowth. With the heavy foliage, it was difficult to see anything in the dark. Sunlight had a hard time filtering through the heavy cover of leaves. The moon and starlight did even worse. I was able to see, and I was sure that Kalna could as well, but Leena would be all but blind. Kalna was leading her to avoid rocks and roots.
I still wasn’t sure how Vasara was able to find her way through the tangle of trees and vines.
“I came here often as a child,” she said, as if reading my mind. “I lived a fairly comfortable life, but when the pressure of my position became too much for my young mind, I would come out into the jungle to clear it. Eventually, I found this small alcove, and being here calmed me. I could just feel everything from the outside world just… washing away. I could be at peace here.”
I nodded. “That sounds like a nice place to sleep.”
She smiled. “It was almost impossible for my uncle’s men to find, and they knew the jungle better than most. I imagine that the Trelans will have a considerably harder time than they did.”
“Fair enough.” I nodded. If she trusted the safety of this place, I had to as well. It wasn’t like we had another choice. I gripped the sword I’d stolen from the guard and followed her into a cave at the end of the ravine. Kalna and Leena weren’t far behind.
It was almost completely dark now, and yet there wasn’t much I couldn’t see. As caves went, it was fairly small, only about a dozen paces or so deep, without any kind of crack in the back wall to indicate that it might go deeper.
There was something, though.
A tiny trickle of water flowed from the back wall, filling up a pool. The pool emptied out into a small stream that led out of the cave. The soft sounds of the dripping water somehow drowned out the sounds of the jungle. It was oddly calming.
“We set up camp here,” I declared. “Spend the night, then make our way in the morning.”
“Where?” Leena asked. “If we had any plans about recruiting the villagers to help us, you can be damn sure they won’t be helping us now.”
Kalna nodded in agreement. “We didn’t exactly keep our end of the bargain with the rest of the islanders we had in our company before.”
“I can help with that,” Vasara offered. “I still hold some sway with the elders of the villages. If I can convince them that I am really on their side and not under the influence of the Trelans, they could be persuaded to follow me, if not you.”
“That’s something, anyway. But definitely not a problem for tonight. For now, we rest, we recover, and then maybe, just maybe, we finally start fighting back.”
I took the first watch. All things considered, that probably wasn’t the smartest decision I’d ever made. After my trick of controlling the guard, something in me felt fatigued. Like doing something that was supposed to have come naturally suddenly drained all my energy. With the sound of the water trickling through the cave and out into the jungle, I was finding it difficult to stay awake.
So, I moved outside and sat down at the lip of the cave. The jungle wasn’t a silent place at night, with the incessant drone of insects, the cries of the night creatures, and the sound of wind cutting through the trees. The sounds were peaceful but loud enough to make it easy to stay awake.
“Mind if I join you?” Vasara asked. I’d heard her moving around in the cave after Leena and Kalna fell asleep. It seemed like they were just as tired as I was. Maybe it was a good idea for me to take the first watch. If anyone could stand to lose a couple hours of sleep, it was me.
“Be my guest.” I smiled and patted a bare spot of rock.
She smiled back and sat next to me. “It’s a cold night,” she commented softly. “I’d never miss the cell, but at least we had blankets there.”
I looked at her. “Well, where I come from, cold means snow on the ground and the bite of an icy wind that will freeze you into a statue. Although if I had something to give you for warmth, I would. Unfortunately,” I pointed at the clothes I was wearing, already starting to show wear from our journey, “it’s not like I have anything to spare.”
“I understand.” She leaned closer to me and laid her head on my shoulder. She felt cold, but the temperature was almost intolerable for me, even if the muggy heat of the day was pleasantly interrupted by the strong winds coming from the sea.
If someone had grown up with the oppressive heat of the day as normal, I could see how they might feel that this evening was a bit chillier than they were used to, especially out here. Even with the tree cover, the ravine seemed to be funneling the wind and pouring it through here, cooling the whole area off.
Yes, if I had grown up here, I might like this spot. I hadn’t however, and I was starting to miss my little hill overlooking the castle. I missed Olin. I also missed Eira, and I knew she missed me too. I could feel it, even if our connection was weak.
I looked down, drawn out of my thoughts as I felt Vasara running her hands over my chest, touching, exploring. She was gentle but certainly bold, as she pressed in closer. I could feel her hot breath on my cheek as she lifted her head. Her lips caressed my skin lightly before she pulled herself closer, her lips searching to find mine.
Despite the primal urges of my body, I found myself pulling away, leaning back as she pressed in closer. Eventually, she realized this wasn’t just me shifting into a more comfortable position. Her eyes opened, and there was an annoyed expression on her face.
“What’s the matter? Do you not find me desirable?”
“It’s not that,” I replied, trying to gather my thoughts. What was the matter? “Believe me, you are very desirable. I just…” I let my voice trail off, and as I tried to pull myself together, the silence continued.
Vasara seemed to think it was an invitation, and pulled herself closer. “Whatever qualms you might have about bedding a member of the royal family, I can assure you that under these circumstances, all will be forgiven.”
“I didn’t even know that would be a problem,” I admitted. “No, it’s not that either.”
She tilted her head, smiling. “I know it’s not a cultural issue. I remember what I saw in our cells very well, and I can assure you that the concept of sex to relieve tension is very well established and used among my people as well. And in this case, very, very welcome.”
“I can’t.” I pushed myself away. She tried to follow, and I got to my feet. “I just can’t.”
She let out a long sigh and closed her eyes. “Might I inquire as to why not?”
“I can’t do that to them.” I nodded toward the cave where Kalna and Leena were. “Our relationship is complex, but I can’t. At least, not without them knowing about it first.”
“They seemed rather willing to share you back in the prison.” She looked even more annoyed now than before.
“Even so, they should know before I…volunteer myself to be shared?” I tilted my head, not even sure what I was talking about at the moment. “Besides, it’s just too soon for me. I need to get to know someone before I can do something like that.”
She rolled her eyes. “I understand. Well, I don’t, but all this talking has suddenly taken the need to be with you away, so it doesn’t really matter. I just needed to be with someone on my first night free from that fucking jail, and after what I saw between the three of you, I thought you might be the one for that. I didn’t think that you, of all people, would be a prude.”
“I’m not, all right?” I shook my head. Now was not the time to set the story straight about whether I was a prude or not. “I can’t handle this right now. I’m going back in the cave. You’re welcome to join. Not… That’s not an invitation. I… Good night.”
I retreated into the cave, grateful that I could walk away from a conver
sation that made me uncomfortable. I had never been the best with women. Verbalizing what I was thinking had never been a strong suit, and with most women, that was desirable. I had come to terms with that. And now that Leena, Kalna, Eira, and I all shared this relationship, I’d assumed that all those problems had gone away. I was happy.
Then Vasara came along and smashed all that. It was probably a good thing. I was getting too caught up in my ego after being with three gorgeous women. I had forgotten that when you didn’t share a mental connection with someone, you actually had to find a way to express yourself.
And I still needed to work on that.
I dropped to the ground farther inside the cave, while still giving Kalna and Leena space to rest. I took a deep breath and looked outside. Vasara hadn’t taken my invitation to come inside, not for the moment anyway. She probably felt stung by my rejection.
I shook my head, leaning back against the cave wall. I didn’t like feeling this way. This was out of control.
Exhaustion started to hit me then, and the hypnotic effect of the trickling stream made it hard to keep myself focused. The longer I tried to stay awake, the harder it became, and it wasn’t long before my head nodded forward. I brought it up again, taking deep breaths, but then it happened again. And that time, I lacked the strength to bring myself out of it again.
At least Vasara could keep watch until I regained my strength. Hopefully.
The sound of steel scraping over rock was very distinctive. That, followed by a soft cry of alarm from Leena, was all I needed to drag myself from my deep sleep. I sprang to my feet almost before I knew what I was doing, dragging the dagger clear from its scabbard. Even in my dazed state, I knew that using a sword in the close quarters of the cave would be a poor choice.
My hand locked around the collar of a black mail suit. I yanked the man closer and rammed the dagger deep into his chest. The breath left his lungs with a dull crack before he dropped to the ground. I charged forward as another suit of black armor came into view.
I dropped my shoulder and hammered into the man, lifting him and flipping him over me to drop with a thud on the stone floor. I turned to find another target, but all I could see was Kalna and Leena, bloodied and bruised, on their knees with swords pressed to their throats.