“I… I have to try and save him, Thelena. He’s my brother!”
“There’s nothing you can do. The guards will catch you.”
“Please help me, Thelena!” All her plans were in a jumble now. She did not know what to say or do.
“There’s nothing I can do, either.”
“You can ask your father! He can save Matt!”
“He won’t. If I even ask, he will have you killed or given away. He thinks I am too soft on you as it is. If I ask something like that, he will think you are manipulating me—and he might even be right.”
“Please, Thelena!” Kareen began to weep. All of her hopes and resolve were crumbling away. There was no way she could kill Atark now. Thelena would be watching her like a hawk for days. She could not kill both of them. She could not bring herself to kill Thelena at all, and she knew it. She would be able to do nothing and time would pass, and then they would take Matt out of the pen and cut his head off.
“Help me, Thelena! Help me save him! He was always kind to you!”
“He was. And I grieve with you for him. But there is nothing we can do.”
“Please!” she sobbed. “Thelena, you had a brother once, too! You have your father back, but Matt is all I have in the world!”
* * * * *
Thelena felt like she had been punched in the belly. Ardan. Little Ardan. He had been a nuisance at times and a rival for her father’s attention. But she had loved him, too. And he had died with a Varag bullet through his brain. The shock and grief of that loss slammed into her, and she nearly went to her knees. Ardan’s death had been a cruel and totally pointless act; Matt Krasner’s death would be…
Worse. Worse than murder.
Much worse. Or so she feared. Her father had tried to ease the pain the death cries of the sacrifices caused her, but he had not tried to understand what they really were. Thelena feared that she knew. The last time Atark had needed the sacrifices, Thelena had not tried to block out the death screams. She had tried to latch onto one of them, listen to it so she could recognize the voice. It had hurt, hurt terribly; it felt like she was dying, too, but she thought she had succeeded. Then, later, she went to the site of the sacrifice and tried to find that voice again. She had found it. It was there. She could not communicate with it, but the voice was definitely there. A terrified, confused, wailing voice, echoing silently among the rocks.
She did not know what she was hearing, but her only theory filled her with horror. She feared that when Atark took the power from the sacrifices, he robbed those souls of the strength they needed to reach the next world. The weak and shrunken remains could only wander helplessly and scream. It was a fate so terrible to her, she could scarcely bear to think about it.
But now she had to think about it, because a man she had liked would soon suffer it. Matt Krasner was a good man. He had been kind to her. He had never hurt her. He had even given her money at times. He had saved her from being raped on a number of occasions, although he had not been there to save her on countless others. Thelena had even been a little bit in love with him once. Well, not really, but she had flirted with him in hopes he would take her as his mistress and thus protect her from the others. She didn’t think he ever really understood what she was doing. But he had never touched her and had offered her as much kindness and pity as anyone could. He was a good man and Kareen loved him…
…and in a few days, his body would be killed and his soul damned—by her father.
Kareen was sprawled on the carpet at her feet, sobbing hopelessly. Thelena suddenly found herself crying. She sank down and cradled Kareen in her arms.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she whispered, rocking them back and forth.
“Please help him!” wept Kareen.
Pity, doubt, and fear swirled through her. Was there anything she could do? If not to save him from death, then to at least save him from damnation? There was no one she could ask for help: she realized that immediately. Her father would not help, nor any of the other leaders. None of them liked her, and they would never do anything to help in a matter like this. Her other relations were also extremely wary of her. They would neither help nor keep a secret if she asked them. No, if anything was to be done, it was up to her and Kareen. She paused with a bit of a shock when she realized she had, in fact, decided to try.
“Kareen, I want to help you. But I don’t know what I can do. No one else is going to help us.”
“We have to help him escape!” said Kareen, getting control of her weeping. “If we can set him loose, maybe he can escape!”
“Maybe. But we would have to get him out of that pen and then get him a horse—horses since you’ll want to go with him. That will not be easy.” Even as she said it, she realized it would be nearly impossible. Did she really want both of them to get killed? A clean death for Matt, yes, if that was all that was possible, but the thought of Kareen dead as well was like another blow to her belly.
“Perhaps late at night…”
“There will still be guards. But night is best, yes. And it will have to be this very night, Kareen.”
“Yes, tonight! But what can we do about the guards?”
“We shall have to distract them somehow. They have their fire right there by the only gate.”
“Perhaps if we caused a commotion somewhere else?”
“No, that would rouse the whole camp, and Matt and you would never get away. Whatever we do has to be quiet and secret.”
They both fell silent to think. Kareen’s face became very thoughtful. “I can distract the guards,” she said suddenly.
“Kareen, if you are distracting the guards, how will you escape with Matt?”
“I won’t,” she said, and her voice cracked slightly. “I won’t, but Matt will. You can take him a knife so he can cut his ropes and then cut his way out of the pen. It isn’t that sturdily built, and he should be able to get out.”
“Kareen,” protested Thelena, “you can’t do that! If anything goes wrong, you’ll be the first one killed! And even if it works, they are sure to kill you afterward!”
“So what? I’m only a slave, after all.”
“Kareen!” Thelena stopped and looked at the woman very closely. “I…I don’t want you to die. You’re more than just a slave, you’re my friend.”
Kareen looked back at her and then suddenly gave her a strong hug. “Thank you, Thelena, thank you. But I still need to be the one to distract the guards.”
“But why?”
“Two reasons: the guards will know who you are. If Matt escapes, you’ll get in real trouble. If it’s me, they’ll just think it’s another Berssian slut they can rape in the dark. The second reason is that I can’t ride worth a damn. Never could. I’d just slow Matt down and then we’d both be killed.”
Thelena shook her head. This was insane. How did she talk herself into doing this? And she could scarcely believe how determined Kareen was. She had always seemed so soft and weak. Now she was showing more strength than she had ever suspected was there.
“It could work, Thelena,” insisted Kareen, “Will you help me?”
“So you would go and distract the guards? And then I try to find Matt and slip him the knife?”
“Yes! And then you get out of there! We can’t ask any more of you. Once Matt is out and the guards have finished with me, I’ll just come back to the tent.”
It all sounded so simple, but so much could go wrong! But maybe it could work. And with luck, no one would get killed. She could not bear the thought of some of her own people being killed in this crazy scheme. At least this way, there was a chance that there would be no one hurt.
“Do…do you think you’ll be able to distract the guards?”
Kareen stood up with a strange expression on her face. She undid her braids and shook her hair out. She pushed a thick lock forward so it covered the scar on her cheek. Then she pulled off her skirt, shrugged off the vest, and flung away her underclothes. Then she unlaced her blouse as far
as it would go. The blouse was very short and her legs were bare almost to the hip. She took on a pose that was somehow both defiant and seductive.
“Yes. And I can keep them distracted as long as necessary.”
Thelena gasped. She had always envied Kareen her beautiful face and voluptuous figure, but she had never seen her flaunt them like this. The sight stirred something deep inside her.
“I…I guess you can. But put your clothes back on! It will be hours yet before we can start!”
* * * * *
Kareen lay in the darkened tent and tried not to shake. Soon now, they would go very soon. She listened to Atark’s faint snoring from the far side of the tent. She was very glad they had come up with a plan that would not require her to kill Atark. The thought of actually slitting his throat as he slept was just too horrible. And he was a sorcerer after all, he probably had some spell protecting him while he was asleep. No, the plan they had agreed on was best. Matt would escape and no one else would be hurt.
She twitched when Thelena nudged her. She looked out from her blankets, but it was so dark, the woman was just a slightly darker blob. “Now?” she whispered.
“Yes,” came the reply. Kareen got up from her bed. She was only wearing her blouse, and there was no need to put anything else on. She felt around, found the wine skin, and slung it over her shoulder. It did not contain wine. Thelena had found some brandy taken as booty and filled the skin with that. She carefully tiptoed to the back of the tent. Thelena was already there, and she had lifted up part of the fabric so they could crawl out. There was a pair of guards at the front of the tent, and they could not afford to be seen. Fortunately, the guards were considered more ceremonial than anything else and were not terribly alert. In fact, they usually took turns sleeping.
Kareen wriggled under the tent and Thelena followed in an instant. Then Thelena took the lead and they silently made their way between the tents. It was about three hours before dawn, and it was very dark and very quiet. Cold, too. Kareen was shivering in her skimpy outfit, and the dew on the grass felt like ice on her feet. They took a roundabout route to the pen that Thelena had scouted the previous evening. They saw no one. There would be a few sentries around the camp’s perimeter, but none inside. As long as they did not encounter anyone answering the call of nature, they should be safe.
Soon enough, they reached the area the pen was built in. They stopped and peered at it for a while. It was overcast, so there was no moon and most of the campfires had died down. It was very dark. The pen was not much more than a black wall in front of them. She could see the fire for the guards about a third of the way around the pen. That was her goal. She was trembling hard now. She had to do this. She had to!
“Do you still want to go on?” whispered Thelena.
“Yes. I’ll go now.”
“Wait. Are…are you sure you don’t want me to tell Matt about you?”
“No! We already talked about that. You can’t tell him I’m here! He’d never leave without me. Tell him…tell him I’m dead.”
“Kareen! I can’t…!”
“You must! It’s the only way!”
Thelena was silent, but after a moment, she seemed to nod. Kareen hesitated for just an instant, and then she walked forward. She was not trying to hide any longer; instead she had to act completely normal. She walked along the outside of the pen and tried to see inside. There were just hundreds of pale lumps huddled on the ground. As cold as she felt, they must be freezing! Anger flared in her again. Her doubts vanished, and she knew she could do; what she had to do.
She neared the fire without being challenged. It appeared that all the guards were trying to stay warm, too. They surely must be tired and bored. She quailed slightly when she saw that there were twelve of them. Earlier, there had only been eight. No matter. She was only a few feet away before anyone noticed her. One man sprang up and challenged her. The others looked up sleepily. Kareen stopped for an instant and then slinked forward as provocatively as she could manage. Thelena had taught her what to say:
“Hail, mighty warrior. The goodly Noyen Teskat of the Kuttari sends refreshments for you.” She held out the wine skin and then thrust forward her bosom and smiled.
The man’s look of suspicion turned to delight. He took the wine skin and drank from it. He coughed and sputtered as the brandy burned his throat. He called out something and the other men laughed. He handed the skin to one of the others and then reached out for Kareen. She playfully spun away from him and then began to dance about, smiling invitingly to all of the men. Others grabbed for her, but she eluded them for a moment and led them after her—farther from the pen. They were all in pursuit now. She peeled off her blouse and tossed it to them. They laughed loudly as she danced naked before them. She led them a few more paces away. The fire was now directly between them and the pen.
Finally, one of the men caught hold of her. Her heart was pounding so hard she was afraid she was going to faint. Instead, she leaned into the man and kissed him. He laughed and clutched her tightly as the others closed in around her.
* * * * *
Thelena could hear the laughter on the far side of the pen and she shook her head. Kareen was letting herself be used by a gang of men. Considering the circumstances, it could not quite be called rape, but she was sacrificing her body to save her brother. Could I have done that? Her thoughts went back to that terrible day at the mound. The one Varag had been pawing her and she had been terrified. When he tore her dress, she had struggled wildly, and her family had tried to help her. Her brother and her mother and—she thought—her father had all died trying to save her from being raped. If she had known that was going to happen, if she had known beforehand that they would die, could she have done what Kareen was doing now? Yes! Yes, I would have thrown my clothes off and done anything they wanted—anything!— if it would have saved them! I would! Of course it would not have saved them. They would have just raped her mother, too, and killed Ardan and her father anyway. But she would have tried to save them.
She could do nothing for her brother or her mother now, but she could try to save the soul of Matt Krasner. She rose from her crouch and moved quickly toward the pen. She reached it in moments and then peered in through the stakes. Hundreds of men were huddling together for warmth. She knew that a good number of them had to be awake despite their exhaustion. It was just impossible to sleep for very long when it was this cold.
“Lieutenant Krasner!” she hissed as loudly as she dared. “I have a message for Lieutenant Matt Krasner! Is he there?” A few groans answered her, but that was all. She moved a couple of yards along the pen and tried again. Her heart sank as she realized how hopeless this probably was.
“Matt! Matt Krasner! Are you there?” Several voices answered back, far too loudly, but they were not Matt.
“Quiet!” she said urgently. “Lieutenant Matt Krasner! Is he here?” She moved again. There was a frightening amount of movement and noise, but then she heard more laughing from the guards at the far side of the pen. Perhaps they thought it was their play that was awakening the prisoners. She moved a dozen yards farther and called again.
“Lieutenant Krasner! I have a message!” She was about ready to give up and run when she got an answer.
“Who? Who’s there?” It didn’t sound like Matt.
“I have a message for Matt Krasner!”
“Wait. He’s here.”
There was movement among the huddled shapes and some urgent whispering. Then someone—two someones—were coming closer, stumbling over the other bodies on the ground.
“Over here!” she whispered. The smaller of the two shapes came right up to the edge of the pen and peered out at her.
“Matt?” she said. It was hard to see in the dark.
“Yes! Who are…? Thelena?”
“Yes! It’s me!”
“What…? What are you doing here? Is Kareen with you?” The question froze her heart. She almost told him the truth. Almost told him that his s
ister was a few yards away, having sex with a dozen men so he might escape. But no, Kareen was right. He’d never leave without her. He would attack those men with his bare hands to try and save her—and then they would all die.
“I’m sorry, Matt. She…she’s dead.” The shape in front of her seemed to shrink in on itself. She heard a groan. “She was killed when the magazines in the fort exploded. I don’t think she suffered at all, Matt,” she lied.
“Thank…thank you for telling me, Thelena,” he said after a moment. “You better go before you get in trouble.”
With a start, she realized that Matt did not know why she was here! Of course he doesn’t, you idiot! “Matt! Matt, I’m here to help you escape!”
“What? Are you crazy?”
“Probably. Turn around and I’ll cut your bonds.” Matt hesitated for an instant and then did as she had told him; he thrust his bound wrists toward the opening in the pen, and she used her knife to slice through the ropes holding him. He pulled his hands loose and then turned around again. She held out the knife for him and he took it.
“Cut your way through the pen here. Then go that way about four hundred paces. There are horses there. Ride north as fast as you can. Go for at least three days before you try to get back to the river.” She hesitated for a moment. “Whatever you do, don’t let yourself be taken alive.”
“Thank you, Thelena. Thank you very much.” He pressed his face up to the gap in pen to stare at her.
“May the gods watch over you, Mattin Krasner.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. Then she turned and fled.
* * * * *
Matt stared after the dim shape as it vanished in the darkness. Thelena! He could scarcely believe it. And Kareen was dead—he could scarcely believe that, either. Something inside him seemed to have died as well…
“Have you got a knife?” hissed a voice at his side. It was Chenik, of course. His sergeant was the one who heard Thelena and roused him. The man’s voice roused him now. He could mourn his sister later—right now he had work to do!
Fires of Memory Page 27