The Zoya Chronicles Boxed Set

by Kate Sander

  “Line them up.”

  The soldiers obeyed, and Senka was left facing fifteen weeping children in a line. Each child had a soldier standing behind them, dagger in their hand pointed at their neck.

  Senka wept, “Leave them alone. I’ll do whatever you want, just leave them alone.”

  “You’ll already do whatever we want,” the Captain said with a chuckle. “We will make you do whatever we want, as you killed four of my men.” The soldiers laughed.

  “But you will tell us the whereabouts of the Melanthios village with the Quicksilver stash.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Senka cried. “I swear I don’t.”

  The Captain sighed, turned and nodded to the man on the far left of the line. Slowly, with a wicked smile, he drew his knife across the throat of the child in front of him. A little of girl of perhaps four or five. Without a sound, she collapsed in a heap, her beautiful forest green aura dying with her.

  Senka screamed and struggled against the restraints, “I don’t know what Quicksilver is. I don’t. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Another nod, another child.

  “Please stop. Kill me instead. Let them go!”

  Another child.

  Senka watched and cried, struggled and screamed, as the beautiful children were slain in front of her. Last was the little four year old boy with the golden aura. He wasn’t crying. He looked at her in her eyes and said, “It’s not your fault,” and, with a quick jerk of a knife, his beautiful golden aura blinked into nothing.

  Senka woke sobbing on the ground in the fetal position. Forget. Darkness. Nothing. That’s all she wanted. She would never forgive herself. Shakily opening her eyes, she tried to leave the past where it was. Prison was better than living there.

  There was no point in reliving the hellish trip back from the village to Solias. Emotionally broken, much of it was wiped from her mind. She had barely registered the string of men and the torturous walk. There was no point bringing any of those memories to the forefront of her mind. They could rot.

  Oddly, it had been the slow torture that had brought her back. Anger at the Sun Gods and the people of Solias had slowly given her something to live for. At first, she hadn’t said anything to Intelligence because she wanted to die. Eventually, torture became a challenge. From that challenge, her quest for revenge was born. She started training and hardening her body, practicing her fighting, crafting a way to escape and to kill everyone.

  Thunk.

  Senka scrambled to her feet when she heard the noise. The food door of her cell opened quickly. It was evening, and she was only fed in the mornings. In two years there had never been a change in routine.

  Quietly, she scurried to the back of the cell and wiped the tears from her face, preparing to ambush anyone who entered. The Pulse light in her cell would be turned off any moment, and Senka could use the darkness as her ally.

  The cell door wasn’t opened.

  Instead, a tray of bread and water was shoved into her cell and the food door slammed shut. Light feet ran away down the hallway outside.

  Intrigued, she approached the food. Picking up a piece of bread, she inspected it closely. It smelled and looked absolutely ordinary. She took a small nibble. It tasted normal.

  A piece of paper caught her attention, folded on her tray, it had been hidden under the small loaf of bread.

  Unfolding it, she read the loopy handwriting quickly.

  We will get you out in 3 days. Do not kill the 3 guards who come and get you after the Pulse lights are out.

  We will break you out and get you to safety.

  There was no signature.

  Senka ripped the note up and put it down the hole in the back corner of the cell.

  The Pulse light in her room went dark, signally the end of another day.

  She ate her bread, and as was her custom, ripped a couple small pieces off and placed them at the end of her bed. A little mouse, whom she called Fred, scurried up to her side and nibbled.

  Fred was a good companion and they had been sharing meals for a few months. Fred nuzzled her hand and she gave his head a stroke with her finger.

  It seemed that in three days, Fred would have to find someone else to give him food down here.

  In three days, her quest for revenge would begin. The faces of the children and her master haunted her. In three days, she would be ready.

  In three days, she would kill them all.

  Interlude - James

  “Miss Bennet was the only creature who could suppose there might be any extenuating circumstances in the case, unknown to the society of Hertfordshire; her mild and steady candour always pleaded for allowances, and urged the possibility of mistakes – but by everybody else Mr. Darcy was condemned as the worse of men.”

  James put down the book he had been reading out loud to Lizzy. Pride and Prejudice had always been one of her favorites. His poor little sister, laying in the hospital bed in a blue robe, eyes shut. The heart monitor they had hooked up to her twenty-four-seven was currently showing a normal beat of seventy-two. Sometimes, he had seen it rise to one hundred and sixty. These spikes always coincided with Liz’s muscles tensing and a look of severe pain or panic on her face. James would run and grab a nurse but the fit never lasted long.

  His sister had been in a coma since the accident. A suitcase had flown from the back of the minivan and hit her in the head. That had been three and a half years ago. She had been near death in the ambulance to the hospital. They had even had to give her an electric shock to restart her heart. But they brought her back. They weren’t sure if she would survive for the first month. Her body grew stronger and she hadn’t needed any life support, but her mind had never recovered.

  Liz had stayed in intensive care for the first couple of months. They later transferred her to this recovery room or the Riverview Health Center. She would live here until she woke up, if that ever happened. The doctor had told him that with every year that passed her odds declined, but unlike everyone else James would never give up on his sister.

  “OK, Liz,” James said to her, “I’m going to school. I’ll see you tomorrow, alright? Same time.”

  James had transferred his degree in Engineering to the University of Manitoba so he could be near his little sister and her recovery. He went and read to her every morning before class. She was in there somewhere, he just had to figure out a way to get her out. He knew she was dreaming sometimes because her eyes moved rapidly under their lids. He hoped it was all good things, but with the spikes in the heart rate he wasn’t so sure.

  James leaned over and kissed Liz on the forehead, “Wake up, ok? Come home. Happy twentieth birthday hun, sorry the rest of the family couldn’t be here.”

  Leaving the worn book on the bedside table, he turned and left the room, tears in his eyes.

  Part II

  “Being against evil doesn’t make you good. Tonight I was against it and then I was evil myself. I could feel it coming just like a tide… I just want to destroy them. But when you start taking pleasure in it you are awfully close to the thing you are fighting.” – Ernest Hemingway, Islands in the Stream

  9

  Senka

  Senka lay in her bed, waiting, saving her energy. Not hoping for anything. Hope could crush the soul. But, she was prepared for a shift in the monotonous life she now led. Her room was in total darkness. The Pulse light had been shut off a couple of hours before.

  If they didn’t come soon they wouldn’t be coming at all.

  A sudden change. Footsteps, coming down the hallway. They were trying to be quiet, but Senka heard three distinct treads jogging quickly.

  Well. I guess they are coming.

  She sat up quickly and stretched, fully expecting this to be a trap. Even if it was, she’d kill as many as she could before she died. Or, better yet, kill them and escape.

  The lock scraped against the metal of her cell door. Moving quickly, she rose from her bed and stoo
d by the door, back against the wall.

  With a low creak, the door was pulled open and three people rushed in. A single Pulse light shone against the opposite wall of the cell, blinding in the darkness. All three were dressed in dark clothing and wearing hoods.

  As if disguises would help them survive if they were captured.

  “She’s not here,” a rough voice whispered.

  “She has to be here,” came a woman’s reply.

  A brief thought crossed Senka’s mind of sneaking out behind them and locking them in. But she quickly dismissed it as being stupid since she didn’t know her way out. As she watched the three people in the room look around in bewilderment, she almost did it anyway to teach them a lesson.

  A quick check of their auras told her all she needed to know. The smallest had a swirling orange and yellow sunset surrounding her body. The short, wide one had a stiff maroon. The last, a tall skinny one had a bright green aura. She trusted yellow, had no thoughts about green, and maroon made her uneasy.

  She cleared her throat, and smiled when they all jumped and turned. Maroon even dropped his sword with a bang.

  Senka shook her head and rubbed her furrowed brow with her hand as he hurried to pick it up. Her face lit up with the Pulse light, followed closely by shocked looks of revulsion. The horrid scar across her face. That’s what they were looking at.

  Blushing, but straightening her back and refusing to look away, she forced them to look at what their people had done.

  The smallest of the three, orange, stepped forward and lowered her hood. Beautiful, with bright blue eyes and long brown hair, she carried herself high. Shoulders back, chin out, she looked like a princess.

  A princess with a bow and arrow.

  “Prisoner 6-1-3, we’re here to get you out of here,” she said, accidentally shining the bright blue light in Senka’s face. Senka squinted and shielded her eyes.

  “Sorry,” Orange said, fumbling slightly to lower the light.

  She’s more nervous than I am.

  The lady was looking anywhere but the horrid scar on Senka’s face.

  At least she’s trying to be polite.

  Senka raised her eyebrows and pointed at the sword.

  “Give her your sword,” the lady said to maroon. He hurried forward and gave it to Senka.

  She tested its balance and weight. It was far too heavy, with the weight sitting awkwardly at the hilt. It would be slow. Senka didn’t do slow. Shaking her head, she gave it back and pointed at green. He dropped his hood, revealing short wavy brown hair, a strong jaw and brown eyes.

  “I’m not giving you my sword,” he said, voice gruff, “I will give you my daggers. Unlike that oaf Vigo over there, I don’t drop my sword.”

  He passed her a belt with two sheathed daggers attached. Nice, light, and razor sharp. Perfect. Nodding her approval, she attached the belt over her robes and pointed to the door.

  Welcoming the weight of the weapons, she was getting closer to her old self.

  The lady took the hint and ran out of the cell, followed closely by the brown haired man. Next came Senka, and last maroon, the “oaf” called Vigo.

  Stealth. They needed it. Only Senka’s steps were quiet. The other’s rang out in the dungeon halls, begging to get caught and thrown back in jail for life. Her training with her master was returning quickly and she felt as fluid and quick as that day in the village.

  They came to a corner. A yell sounded down the hallway perpendicular to theirs.

  A guard had seen the Pulse light.

  The lady quickly extinguished the light, but it was no use. They’d been seen. A bouncing blue light shone down the hall. Guards, running straight for them.

  Wide-eyed, the woman looked around her, trying to find a way out. Senka shoved the three saviors into the shadows of the wall and put her index finger to her lips.

  Shhh.

  She drew her daggers and truly smiled for the first time in a long time. Spinning a dagger in her right hand, she cracked her neck to the side and bounced lightly on her feet.

  She was going to enjoy this.

  Three guards rounded the corner and skidded to a stop, piling into each other. It was comical, the way their jaws dropped and their eyes widened. One turned to run and two charged her. She turned and winked towards the three in the shadows and ran towards the guards full speed.

  Wonderful. To be running with weapons again. The feeling was absolutely wonderful.

  Both guards swung at the same time, Pulse sticks glowing. Senka dropped to her knees and leaned her body back, sliding underneath the sticks right in between them.

  She was after the coward first.

  She got to her feet and ran after him as he turned the corner.

  “Fucking get her!”

  But she was too quick for them. She caught up to the coward, grabbed him by his hair and pulled down hard. He didn’t hear her coming and was lifted backward off his feet.

  Glorious.

  This was too easy.

  She stabbed him in the throat on his way down, driving him into the ground with both daggers in his neck.

  A sickening crunch. Twisting the knives, she wrenched them out of his neck. Blood shot so high it hit the ceiling.

  She didn’t have to check his aura, the gurgle and spray of bright red blood told her she did the job.

  The other two guards were right behind her and one swung at her with an elbow. Late with the duck, she took the blow right to the mouth.

  Still rusty, she thought as bells rang in her ears.

  Diving, she rolled forward and stabbed the guard in the foot on her way by.

  “Shit!” he said, grabbing his injured foot and hopping around.

  The other guard swung his pulse stick, aiming for her head.

  No time to duck this one. She was going to take the blow right in the head.

  Suddenly, the guard’s eyes went big and he fell forward, gurgling. An arrow shaft stuck out of his back.

  Pivoting, she slammed her dagger into the chest of the hopping guard. With a twist, she wrenched it out of his chest. She checked his aura, revealing a red light that disappeared as he slid slowly down the wall, leaving a streak of blood behind him.

  Wiping a trickle of blood from her mouth, Senka stood up to survey the damage.

  Definitely not as fast as I used to be, she thought, rolling her shoulders. The guard with the arrow in his back let out a low groan. Without hesitation, she grabbed his hair and, pulling his head up, slit his throat. Squatting, she wiped her knives on the guard’s shirt.

  She never sheathed dirty weapons.

  Down the hall, the lady stowed her bow over her shoulder. Senka nodded to her, showing her appreciation. The lady returned the nod. A look of respect passed between them.

  Senka pulled the arrow out of the guard’s back and held it out to the woman as the three jogged up to join her.

  “Nice shot, my Queen,” the man with brown eyes whispered.

  “Thank you Jules,” she returned.

  Senka stood, wide-eyed. Queen?

  Noticing her expression, the Queen said, “I guess you hadn’t figured out that I’m the Queen of Solias.”

  No, I hadn’t figured it out.

  “I don’t know why I expected you to, you haven’t seen a lot of daylight the past two years. We’re headed to a bunker on the lowest level of the dungeons that was made for the King and Queen and the council in case Solias was ever breached. There’s a tunnel that leads out of the bunker into a little patch of trees east of the city. From there you can continue across the plains to the forest and I can return to the city.”

  Senka nodded. The plan made sense. Not like they had many other options.

  “Ok, let’s go,” the Queen said. She turned and led them down the hallway.

  They didn’t see any more guards until three floors down. This time they shut off their light before the guards saw them. By the time the Queen looked up from her Pulse light, Senka was gone.

  As Se
nka dispatched the guards, the Queen tapped her foot behind her.

  It only took ten seconds. With the thump of the last guard dying against the wall, the Queen turned her light back on. Senka shot her a smile and sheathed her weapons.

  “Well really,” the Queen whispered, “You don’t have to look so happy.”

  Senka cocked her head and slowly pointed to her scarred face.

  The Queen shook her head and said, “Oh shut up. Just stop enjoying it.”

  Senka shrugged and they continued. They arrived at the bunker unscathed. Senka looked at the large steel door fit into the rock with no locks. The Queen pushed, and the heavy door started to screech open.

  Footsteps behind them. Another group of guards was on their way.

  “Hurry,” Vigo said, in an unusually high voice for a man so big, looking behind him in fear.

  Jules, Senka and the Queen pushed on the heavy door with all their might. After a few tense moments, it started to move.

  “Keep going,” the Queen grunted.

  The footsteps were getting louder.

  With a heave, they managed to slide it open a crack and sneak inside.

  “Stop!”

  The guards had seen them.

  Jules, Senak and the Queen pushed again. An arrow zoomed past Senka’s head but they managed to shut the door on the approaching guards.

  Feeling around, Jules managed to find a large deadbolt and turned it, locking the guards out.

  Muffled yells and banging reached them from the other side of the door. But it didn’t move.

  “We don’t have a lot of time,” the Queen said puffing slightly and not bothering to whisper. “They will be back with the cavalry. I’m pretty sure they have ways to break in here in case any prisoner got this far and locked the door. If we find the tunnel out we should be okay. They shouldn’t know it exists.”

  Senka walked in the dark room, the Queen’s Pulse light bathing it in an eerie blue glow.

  The room was large, easily able to fit fifty people. Beds lined the walls and jugs of water and dried food were tucked away in the corners.