“I can promise you,” Janouc intervened, “It will never come to that, my lady. You are the queen here, and you,” Janouc looked at the sisters, “Are her sisters, this is your home. Perhaps, now is a good stopping point.”
“No.” Venalina said, “We have much to accomplish and very little time.”
“Yes, of course,” Janouc quickly responded, “A break, is all, some food, drink. We must care for the body, as well as the mind, your highness. I’d also like a moment to discuss your plans regarding Taranath.” Venalina raised an eyebrow at him, considering his words and whether to take a break or not.
“Feed us, Janouc.” She said. Janouc looked at another priest who had entered the room during the lull in training.
“Take the ladies to the dining hall, her highness will be along shortly.” The priest bowed and led the ladies from the room.
“What do you want to know, Janouc? Food sounds good to me right now, another elf perhaps?” She asked making Janouc smile.
“You have been very clear in your intentions, I only wish to offer advice, my dark goddess.” Janouc said putting a hand to his chest, bowing respectfully. Venalina stared at him while he showed his respect. She wondered how dark he truly thought she was? How dark did humans consider her, for that matter? It made her think of Velen, the way he spoke of her, how he treated her, such contempt and hate. How many others felt the same as he did but were better at holding their tongues? She said nothing, just continued to stare at him, lost in her ponderings. Janouc finished his bow then looked back at her for an uncomfortable minute of silence. He thought she was going to speak, but she said nothing. “If it is true that the Ffrei are exploring the dead city, and you intend on reaching its library before they take the books. Then I’d like to make a recommendation?” Venalina nodded, “I think we should begin recalling our priests from Qinkas.”
“No.” She said without hesitation, then turned and started toward the door to join the sisters during their meal.
“Your highness, I understand you wish to protect your friend, I do have a plan to continue to serve her in that manner.” Janouc followed after Venalina, speaking just over her shoulder.
“Janouc, you can treat those men as if they no longer exist, as far as the priests are concerned. They have been folded into my lord’s army and serve at his pleasure.” Venalina said as the two exited the room to the large hall, full of priests going about their business. Each bowed deeply when she and Janouc passed by.
“Your highness, they are meant to serve you and your desires, not him and his.” Janouc pleaded with her. Venalina stopped dead in her tracks and turned to him. It froze him in place. He stared at her with wide eyes, full of fear. “With all due respect.” Janouc spit out as quickly as he could. Venalina started walking again. “We can replace them with new recruits from the villages around Cold Lake?” He offered, again following her. Venalina laughed.
“You wish to make my lords ruse a reality?” Venalina asked chuckling.
“Yes,” Janouc said, “The ruse under which our men joined her guard can become a truth. There are many who wish to join her guard, why not make it true? You can recall your men to your service, and Queen Jenzenya will remain protected… by her own people. We can replace them slowly, as not to draw any attention, but it can be done?” Venalina kept walking as Janouc followed, waiting for her to respond to his suggestion.
“I will consider it.” She said when they finally reached the dining hall where the ladies were already eating and bickering like sisters do.
“Thank you, my lady.” Janouc turned to leave Venalina in peace.
“Janouc,” Venalina said turning him back to face her, “Begin recalling our forces. But first, I want you to bring me that elf. Take him to my private chamber, I wish to feed before we resume training. Do you have two available for me?” Janouc smirked at how quickly she changed her mind about recalling her priests, and her desire to feed on an elf. She didn’t need to feed on anyone but Dracon, but her desire to feed on an elf, a delicacy to her kind, was telling to Janouc. It meant she wanted more than Dracon could offer her on his own. That gave him joy. A joy that she would not bend to Dracon’s will.
“Yes, we do, my queen.” Janouc smiled.
At the table where the sisters sat, Saida had been questioning Talila feverishly, since the moment they walked out of the training room. When they sat down at the table it was no different. “I know you have been sneaking off in the night, Talila. Tell us all, here and now, where have you been going?” Saida asked once they all sat down so her sisters could hear.
“I know where she’s been going,” Kaylin interjected, “Isn’t it obvious? She’s been with him.”
“Lord Dracon?” Alyndra leaned forward in her seat looking at Talila, then looked at Kaylin and Saida. Talila smiled then took a plate from a priest who arrived at the table to serve the women. Other priests arrived at the table simultaneously to serve the sisters.
“I’ve seen you leave in the night,” Kaylin pointed at Talila, “Don’t deny it!” Talila tried to take a bite from her plate but giggled instead. Venalina arrived at the table.
“What are we talking about?” She asked as she sat down. The women shifted uneasily in their seats. After a moment of silence, at which point the sisters took the opportunity to take a bite of their food, Kaylin spoke up.
“Talila has been dominating Lord Dracon’s time and we don’t think it’s fair.” She said. Saida’s eyes went wide then she slapped Kaylin’s leg to silence her. Venalina smiled and looked around the table. Talila smiled back at her, raising her eyebrows slightly. Saida became angry watching Talila flaunt the subject with such a cavalier attitude.
“It isn’t fair!” Saida reiterated, leaning forward over her plate, speaking to Talila across from her, “You say Lord Dracon is becoming weary from our nightly visits, and we must refrain from it, but then she sneaks out and joins him alone in the night.” Saida pointed at Talila the whole time she spoke, then sat back in her seat, looking at Venalina with a scowl on her face. She put her hands back in her lap a moment then reached for her fork, then decided she was angry and wasn’t going to eat, once again dropping her hands to her lap. It made Venalina smile at how upset she was, but at the same time she was concerned for her.
Venalina took a deep breath and held it in for a moment as she thought, then exhaled slowly, “Our power ritual has ceased for a time, but should you spend time with our lord while he is awake, and of his own mind, then that is allowed. After all, that is a simple relationship that must blossom between a man and his wives. I encourage you all to develop your relationships with him while he is awake, not wait for me, or the ritual.” Saida stared at Talila holding back her disdain for her sister, hardly able to stop the scowl fuming from her, across the table at Talila.
“Stop it, Saida, it’s not her fault, it’s your own. You heard her, it is up to us to please our husband.” Alyndra said trying to get Saida to let go of her anger towards Talila.
“I was pleasing our husband just fine, until she began wearing him out at night, and beating us to his bed!” Saida growled looking at Talila, who smirked back at her smugly.
“Maybe, it’s as Janouc said, and King Dracon favors her, for her act. Or maybe he just doesn’t care for the rest of us?” Kaylin asked lowering her head in disappointment.
“That is not the case, my dear. He may be shy, but do not think less of yourself for it. Talila is aggressive, that’s all. Get to know him, develop a relationship with him. If you hide away and never talk to him, how can you know him, or him, you?” Venalina asked crouching next to Kaylin.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Darius was blind in the darkness that surrounded him. His nostrils were filled with the smell of dirt and wood. He was in and out of consciousness, barely able to feel any part of his body. Confused and in a dream like state, light finally broke through the darkness. He coughed and gagged on dirt in his mouth, it choked him to a panic. He began to thrash around as de
ath gripped his throat. Darius broke free of the wood that surrounded him and fell to a rivers edge, face first, still delirious. He could tell it was night time. His ears were filled with the sounds of the night in the wilds around him, after being freed from the log he had somehow been placed in. The winds soft breeze stung his face and forehead, causing him pain, enough to make him cry out. He heard a soft, high pitched giggle. Many such giggles filled his ears, almost piercing his skull. He covered his ears with his hands and laid on the river’s edge, spitting dirt, still on his lips and desperately trying to catch his breath. His mind was confused, hurt and dizzy. The giggles faded away and became just one giggle. It sounded like it was floating around him. His head began to clear, and his vision slowly returned. He rolled to his back, half in the water and half on the banks of the river. He gasped for breath, blinking to clear his eyes. He could see floating above him was a creature, close enough to reach out and touch. It terrified Darius, he tried to scurry away from it. The creature flew away, carried away with wings like a butterfly, quickly disappearing into the woods. Darius looked around again, his senses returning to him. One of his eyes struggled for vision but the other could see clearly. Darius raised his hand to touch his face, but stopped short, the pounding in his head warned him that whatever happened to his head he did not want to touch. The giggle came again alarming him. He tried to get to his feet, managing only to his knees. He scanned the area for the creature that made the sound. Across the river, floating above the river’s edge, a fairy of some type flittered and watched him, giggling all the while. It flittered away, disappearing again. Darius gasped trying to catch his breath. He could hear the flittering of the fairy’s wings, fast, like a hummingbird. Darius could sense it was flying at him fast, from somewhere in the dark. Darius had no idea what the fairy’s intentions were, but he was a man who did not know kindness, neither given nor received. He did not believe in goodness from any creature, not even a fairy. He expected a fight of some sort. He felt around the ground for a rock or a piece of wood, anything he could use as a weapon. Suddenly, by the nape of his neck, little hands grabbed him, lifting him from the ground, high enough that Darius struggled, fearing he was going to fall to his death. Another fairy flew in front of him, close enough that he could see her face. She smiled, giggling at him, then threw a handful of dust in his face, putting him to sleep again.
Darius awoke, but this time he was in a makeshift bed, near a fire, in a home, a very small home. He imagined it was the home of the fairy who took him from the river’s edge. The windows were shuttered and through the cracks, he could see it was day. He tried to sit up, but a pain grabbed him like it grabbed his very brain from within his skull. He laid back down on the small pillow and waited, either for death, or for his caretaker to return. He wasn’t dead, which meant someone, or something took mercy on him. His last memory was being tortured by Dark Hawk and his men, before passing out from the pain. Dark Hawk stripped skin from around Darius’s head and face, vowing to give the Bandit King a crown he could never remove. How he made it to the riverbanks, or the small home he was a guest in, was a blur. He did remember the fairy, or fairies, rather. The door to the small home opened and a small man walked in. Darius couldn’t see well enough to tell if the man was a dwarf, halfling, or even a child.
“Where am I?” He asked with a scratchy, dry, voice, getting the small man’s attention.
“You’re in me home, sir, you’re safe,” The man said dropping an armful of twigs and broken branches in a box near the fire. He walked to a bucket and grabbed a ladle from its edge, then scooped up some water, putting it in a nearby cup. He walked the cup over to Darius and began to bring it to his lips. Darius grabbed the cup from the man with his thumb and forefinger, spilling some of it, but he was not going to have someone nurse him like he was a child. The cup was so small it was hardly a mouthful. The man stepped back from Darius tentative and guarded. “Well, I suppose you’re well enough to tend to yourself.”
“What are you, a dwarf?” Darius asked handing the tiny cup back to the man.
“Of course, you’d think that, I’m small, what else could I be, right?” The small man asked then walked back to the fire. He put a few twigs in the fire, grabbed a loaf of bread and walked it over to Darius, “I’m a gnome.” He tossed the bread to Darius, it landed in his lap. Darius was starving, he grabbed the loaf of bread and shoved it into his mouth. He instantly felt pain in his jaw. “Easy, young man, you’ve suffered some tearing there, he pointed at Darius’s jaw, “Not sure why ya seen such damage to ya face, but ya should go easy opening ya maw, for now.” Darius put his hand to his jaw, nursing it.
“Who are you? How did I get here?” Darius asked after he recovered from the searing pain that ran up his jaw line to his left ear.
“Glyna brung ya to me, barely alive, with all that happened to ya head. Ya stumbled upon some real mean characters, must of, to get such a skinnin’. I’m called Piern, been seeing to ya since she brung ya.” He said.
“Who?” Darius asked.
“Glyna, she’s the wood nymph that brung ya to me.” Piern said, “S’pect she be taken ya back where she found ya, a’fore too long?”
“Wood Nymph?” Darius asked then tentatively took a second bite of the bread. The gnome went to the fire were a pot was near its edge. He grabbed a cloth and used it to lift the top off the pot then looked back at Darius.
“Ya think you can eat something with more substance than that there?” He asked.
“I’ll give it a go.” Darius answered, he was starving, anything more than bread would be a treat. He held his hand out, his eyes told Piern he was desperate with hunger and would eat whatever was in the pot. Piern nodded with a chuckle.
“Ya look like ya might, I must warn ya its one uh her recipes, no tellin what she means for ya, they’re a mischievous bunch.” Piern said, “But no worries, she won’t hurt ya none after bringin’ ya to me for healin’.”
“The nymph brought me to you?” Darius asked.
“Yes, she did.” Piern chuckled walking a bowl over to Darius. He ate it eagerly, burning his tongue, but he didn’t let that stop him from devouring it all at once, again, it was hardly a mouthful. Piern filled another bowl and walked it over to Darius, who took it just as eagerly as the first. “Easy, young man, ya throat isn’t all the way now, so mind ya don’t hurt yourself.”
“Where am I?” Darius asked between slurps of the chunky stew.
“I tell ya already, you’re in me home.” Piern said with a laugh, “Not for long, I reckon.”
“Where in Ganlin am I?” Darius asked.
“That, my boy, is the question, isn’t it?” Piern laughed holding up a spoon from a bowl of his own he was eating from, “We fairy folk keep to ourselves. We like our little hallow, far away from all ya others, who like to make war, and fights, and all types of guff, for no real good reason at all!”
“Fairy folk?” Darius asked, “There’s more of you?”
“Boy,” Piern laughed, “We’ve a whole society amongst our own, long before you humans took to making so many of ya own, you took over everything, like ants!”
“A tiny little society in the woods.” Darius said shaking his head then laughed a dry cough.
“Never said we was in the woods. Count yer blessings boy, yer lucky to be alive after laying yer eyes on Glyna, mind you.” Piern said.
“What do you mean?” Darius asked sitting up and looking down at the tiny gnome.
“She’s a nymph, boy, to look upon her means death for all but the truest of good creatures. Why she took mercy on the likes of you, I’ll never understand, I dare say yer not the most golden of heart are ya?” Piern asked. Darius chuckled making him cough again. There was a bright light just outside the tiny home that shined through the window, lighting up the entire home. “Looks like it’s time to go boy.” Piern said. The light became so bright Darius had to shield his eyes. A familiar giggle filled his ears and he could feel little hands grab him by the nape
of his neck. Darius struggled against the hands that lifted him up. He was blind and floated. Suddenly, Darius could see a man hovering over him.
“Are you all right?” The man asked him. Darius scurried backward away from the man. He was in the woods just off to the side of a road. There was a wagon and horses behind the man who straightened up watching Darius back away from him, “I mean you no harm, sir. Are you ok?” The man asked again with his hands up, so Darius could see he meant no harm. Another man rounded the wagon dressed like a guard.
“Is he alive?” The other man asked as he approached, “What happened to his head?” He was shocked at Darius’s appearance, making Darius want to see what he looked like.
“Bring a blanket,” The man ordered the guard, “Are you okay?” He asked Darius again.
“Where are we? Where am I?” Darius asked, he realized he was barely dressed and shivering.
“We’re on compass road, southwest, on the way to Dwerma.” The man reached his hand out to Darius to help him up, “Were you on your way there too, old beggar? Were you set upon by some beast?”
“Old beggar?” Darius took the man’s hand and stood, “I’m no beggar, fool! I’m…” He thought about what he must look like, then curbed his outrage, “Can you help me?”
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