The Khaishee Mercenaries shared laughs between each other and gave fair warnings to not get any of the hair from the bugs’ legs onto their balls, or else they would be scratching them for days after.
“Artus,” Troian began again, this time with a little more desperation in his tone.
The brothers Tari and Shiro had already skinned a couple rabbits which they had brought along with them; having known there would not be much meat available out amidst the sand dunes. Save for skinny lizards and the rare violet haired fox. The cunning little rascals, they would have caught the mercenaries scent from miles away; their sense of smell was keen like that.
“I need to tell you something, Art. It’s something I’d rather not have Kholo overhear, I’m afraid of how he might react.” Troian begged.
Artus secured the reign of his horse onto a branch near Troian’s and cocked his head to the side. “Lucky for you, he’s gone for a piss. What’s the matter with you, you look like you're about to be sick? Do you need wine, some food?”
“He wants to sacrifice them.” Troian muttered.
Artus blinked hard at his comrade.
“What?” he began. “Who, who’s going - what are you talking about? Troian, hey!” Artus dared not to raise his voice a little louder.
Troian met Artus’ gaze this time.
Around them both, the others had already set up camp and were settling down to rest their tired legs and sore arses.
Troian had Artus follow him around to the other side of the dead tree, all whilst he kept a wary eye out for Kholo’s return.
“I saw something, at the palace. I saw something I shouldn’t have – Kanra sacrificed a young priestess; cut her stomach open and removed her heart as some ritual to his damned gods.”
Artus said nothing for a moment. Yet Troian could tell how he held onto the tree with an iron grip that his news had disturbed him.
“That’s why he needs the priestesses?” it was not entirely a question.
Troian grabbed hold of Artus’ shoulder and shook him.
“I’m not safe Art, and neither are you. Not anymore, not now that you know. I need to leave as soon as possible – catch Kholo off guard. Kanra will want me dead now, seeing as he knows I had been there to witness his barbarianism.” The question he had been yearning to ask, since witnessing the sacrifice, now tasted like poison in his mouth. “Will you come with me?”
Leaving would mean a death sentence for them both. If Artus risked his neck by leaving the Khaishee Mercenaries; whom they had both sworn to serve until death. Better be known as a traitor than a participant in human sacrifices.
Artus looked away.
Troian did not take it well.
“If you want to stay, by all means,” he began.
“I said nothing about staying. After what you’ve told me, I’m not too sure if my loyalty to Kholo means anything anymore – if it should mean anything!”
Troian watched as his comrade held a hand out to him and, with a smile, he clasped his hand tight as Artus said,
“Wherever you go I will follow, Brother.”
18 –
Ariadna
The first thing Preeya did as soon as Ari broke off her act, somewhere along the road to Forta, was scream loud enough to force the assassin to gag her. Ariadna had kept up her act of being ‘unaware’ of the priestess’ presence for a good few hours. It had been long enough for Preeya to have believed she had gone so far unnoticed.
Now, Preeya continued to scream against a part of her robe which Ari had ripped off and stuffed into her mouth. Her legs flailed around as the assassin pressed her to the scorching ground, with her arms held tight behind her back.
“Let go!” she cried, despite her words being muffled.
Ariadna understood well what she was trying to say. “Who the fuck are you and why have you been following me?” she hissed. Securing the girl’s wrists with a thick leather band, Ariadna tugged at it hard enough to rub against Preeya’s skin. The assassin allowed her to scream a while longer before she deemed it safe to remove the material in her mouth. “Answer my question!” Ari roared.
The assassin’s tone was enough to set Preeya trembling.
“I mean you no harm, I was only-” Ariadna cut her off with a sharp laugh. “You? Harming me? Last I checked, I’m the assassin and you the priestess. What did you think you could do to me? Hit me with one of those dainty slippers of yours?” she was being cruel, Ari knew that. Yet the sight of a stupid priestess from Atimae had left her anger unchecked.
Preeya yelped at the feel of the sand beneath her clinging to her skin and burning her. She did not doubt her pale skin would be pink from the heat; whilst her sweat soaked robes proved useless now in such heat. It made her question how her mysterious woman was not burning up in her own leathers. She supposed the assassin was just used to it.
“What brings you from your convent all the way in Atimae, Priestess? Got bored with being paraded through the city centre like cattle?” Ariadna asked. Her tone was flat, and she did not even look at Preeya as she spoke.
Apparently she found the priestess too tedious to even look at as she admired the blades strapped to her thighs. It was a silent promise of death, should Preeya say anything suspicious.
Preeya swallowed hard. Her lips were dry and cracking now. “Can I at least stand up before I answer? The ground is so hot.”
Ariadna did not feel threatened by a fragile Priestess of Atimae. She saw no need in holding a dagger to the girl’s throat as she pulled her to her feet with rough hands. The girl’s weight alone was enough for Ari to know she would not do much damage, should she try to attack the assassin and escape.
Despite Preeya’s obvious inability to hurt even a fly, the priestess winced at the feel of the leather band around her wrists; one which Ariadna kept on her.
“Are you going to send me back?” Preeya asked, all timid as she spoke. The girl did not meet Ariadna’s gaze, as sudden fear swept over her and gave her reason to appear as distant as possible.
Ariadna was annoyed. She had left the institute early intending to get as far away from Vinn and the stupid, fucking Anari as much as possible. Now, this priestess of all people on the damned earth had followed her like a lost puppy – she was worse than Vinn! Ariadna hung her head a moment with a dramatic sigh.
“You’ve followed me on a donkey? I don’t know whether to congratulate you for having gotten so far, or to clap you across the back of the head for having no common sense. This donkey is old and lame. How far did you reckon you’d get before it died on you?” Ariadna found she had no energy to spare in being angry. Not when she was already putting so much of it into planning a way of dropping the priestess off somewhere and just leaving her to fend for herself.
“I’ve heard so many things about you.” Preeya said after a while.
Ariadna checked the band holding the girl captive was secure.
“Like what?” she asked with that same bored tone of hers.
Preeya shuffled her feet a little.
“You used to be a priestess too.” she began.
Ariadna’s hand was around Preeya’s throat before she could finish and she pressed her fingers hard against the girl’s skin. “Don’t mention that here! Do you understand me? There are reasons little girls like you are locked away in convents, away from the outside world. Because stupid little girls like you don’t know how to keep their mouths shut and end up getting others into trouble.” Ari hissed.
Tears poured down Preeya’s cheeks as she attempted to breathe against the pressure of Ari’s hand. “Your reputation proceeds you. I-I want to come with you, to learn how y-you became such a liberated woman. I want to be free.”
Ariadna let the priestess drop to the floor at that final wish.
Preeya was afraid her silence meant tough luck. She dropped to her knees and brought her bound hands up to her chest, shaking them at the young woman. "Please, please don’t send me back. I can’t go back! They’ll kill me if I do
and I don’t want to die a priestess, I’d rather die a free woman.”
“And what makes you so sure I’m a free woman? You know nothing about me, despite the things you may have heard through gossip.” Ariadna spat back at her.
Preeya went to take Ari’s hands in hers, only to earn a slap on the wrist before she could do such a thing. She was so hot, her throat so dry, and already she could feel herself slipping in between consciousness. “I have no food or water left. If you leave me now, I’ll die.”
“That’s not my problem. You should have thought about the consequences of your actions before you’d followed me.”
Preeya felt her stomach ache with anger. She jumped to her feet to face the young woman on. “Who are you to talk about consequences, Assassin?”
Ariadna turned on her, a blade already unsheathed and in her hand as she pointed it in the priestess’ direction.
Preeya shrieked and drew away with her hands raised in her defence.
“That’s right,” Ariadna began behind clenched teeth. “I’m an assassin. I kill people for money and I enjoy it – I don’t hesitate to kill people either, man or woman I don’t care. Test my patience any longer and I will prove to you how quickly I can kill someone, without a moment’s hesitation.”
The sun had reached its highest point in the sky. Ariadna had calculated she would have reached the border of Forta by now but, her unwanted meeting with Preeya had thrown her off schedule.
“I promise I won’t be a burden.” Preeya began again.
“You already are.” Ariadna muttered. Sheathing her sword, she turned to where Atha stood whining in the heat and removed her canteen from her saddlebag. Unscrewing the cap, she offered it out to Preeya.
The priestess did not take it.
Ariadna rolled her eyes and took a gulp from it.
“Do you really think I’d poison my own canteen? I’m not stupid, there are better ways of killing people without putting my life at risk. Now drink, before I change my mind.”
Preeya accepted the canteen as Ariadna pressed the neck of it against her mouth and tipped it up. The priestess could not suppress a moan as the sweet taste of wine poured down her throat.
“What is that?” she asked. Preeya rolled her tongue around her mouth, hoping to gather a final taste of the sweet drink which may have remained behind somewhere.
“It’s called wine. One of the many things priestesses are forbidden to drink so, whoops, you’ve broken one of your rules.” Ariadna’s voice was flat and cold.
Preeya wondered if the stories of her childhood were true and that was the reason she appeared so… cold, distant and uninterested in anyone. Unless it came to killing them.
There came the sound of red sand crunching beneath boots as Ariadna advanced on the lame donkey Preeya had been riding on. If there was one thing Ari hated about being surrounded by desert wherever she went, it was the heat! The sun just seemed to bounce off the ground and then decide that actually it wanted to stay in the air where it belonged. It never left.
“What are you doing?” Preeya cried as the assassin pulled a knife out and braced a hand against the donkey’s neck, kneeling down as she did.
Ariadna turned to look at Preeya, slow and bothered by her constant screaming. “Your donkey is lame. Were you not listening? You can’t ride him any longer, he’ll die on you. As much as I don’t mind him taking you down with him, this beast is of no use to anyone anymore. It’d be better to just put him out of his misery now.”
Preeya shook her head. “But, wait can we not,”
Ariadna rammed the blade she held into the donkey’s forehead and it dropped to the ground in a pitiful, lifeless heap.
That was when Preeya burst into tears at the sight of her beloved donkey dead. Ariadna wiped her blade clean against the donkey’s fur and rose to her feet. Sheathing her weapon, the assassin pulled Preeya by the arm towards where Atha remained standing. She lifted the girl onto her horse with ease.
“Where are we going? We can’t just leave him there like-,”
“A feast for the crows. That’s what your precious donkey is now. Can you do me a favour and just shut the fuck up for maybe, I don’t know, the next twenty-five miles? I can’t think with your constant wailing and pointless chatter.” Ariadna paused a moment to swing herself up onto Atha. She clicked her tongue, and the horse went off, back onto its due course.
“Can I at least know where we’re going?” Preeya dared to ask. Oh, she enjoyed pushing her luck. Ariadna sighed through her nose.
“Forta. I have business there I need to attend to; business which doesn’t concern you. You’ll remain as silent as a grave and not get in my way. I’ll drop you off in the city and from there, we’ll part ways and never see each other again. Understood?” she asked.
Preeya nodded. There was silence between them both for some time, interrupted only by Atha panting as she rode hard towards the city of Forta in the blasted heat.
“Did you regret doing it?” Preeya asked after some length.
Ariadna knew what she was asking.
“No. The gods are not worth being celibate for.”
19 –
Kanra
If Kanra had to hear the word please one more time, he reckoned he would cut out the tongues of every prisoner decorating the walls of the cave beneath his palace.
Please, don’t hurt me! Please, let me go! It was driving him mad, these formalities from people who were his prisoners.
Kanra buried his face in his hands as he sat atop a throne of polished bone, deep within his secret cavern of horrors. This was his haven, his playroom when he was not busy dictating Vhorgo. But he could not relax with all of this racket.
“Will you be quiet?” Kanra roared as he slammed his grey fist against the arm of his chair and ran his gaze over each prisoner hanging by weak limbs across his walls.
What Troian had seen during his unfortunate visit to Kanra’s ‘haven’ was a torture room. To him it had been hell on earth, or at least the closest one could get to it. To Kanra, however, it was a place where he could take out his anger or even to just sit and brood in whenever he felt it was necessary. But he was in trouble. Kanra had run out of priestesses to sacrifice and the day of Distretia was soon upon him.
Boots thudding against stone, accompanied by chains clanking, had Kanra lifting his gaze so quickly, his eyes nearly rolled back.
“Ah, my loyal pet. Thank you, thank you!” he cried out with glee as Kadira, the nasty brute and willing servant to the Dictator, stood a respectable distance away from where his master sat.
The brute wore his usual black leathers, his shoulder, arm and chest plates painted with the strange white whorls of Distretia. His twisted beard was dirty from a day of travelling and his red eyes were not bright like usual.
Kanra did not fail to notice this.
“Oh, my poor pet. You’ve done well,” his gaze dropped to the floor, where a young girl with chains around her neck and wrists sat cowering by Kadira’s feet. She wore the robes of a virgin priestess, now stained with blood and torn from when she must have put up a fight in a pathetic attempt to escape. “But you must be tired. Go, go! You must rest, I shall take it from here. You’ve done well. Distretia will be pleased.”
The young girl did not meet Kanra’s gaze as she clutched herself tight and shrunk in on herself.
“Please, where am I?” she began.
Kanra let out a horrendous scream. “No! No more pleases, thank you.”
Kadira gave the girl’s chains a hard tug. He smirked as she choked on air and wheezed in pain as the collar around her throat scraped tender skin off her neck. Kadira secured the chains to Kanra’s throne and gave his master one of his dramatic bows.
“With your permission, I will retire to my chambers to rest.” he gave Kanra a final bow. This time it came as a small bob of his head and he trudged off to leave his master to be.
“Oh, wait!” Kanra called out.
Kadira was by his master’s feet
in an instant.
“Rest now, my pet. When you are ready, I have a need for you to find the mercenary boy, Troian. He knows, my pet. He knows what we are doing and I fear he will compromise our opportunity to gather more priestesses for sacrifice.”
The word alone had the young girl shrieking and tugging on her chains. A pitiful attempt to free herself.
Kadira struck the side of her face with the sole of his boot. Crossing an arm over his chest, he dropped to one knee and bowed his head.
“What is it you wish for me to do, Master?” he asked in his gruff voice.
Kanra leaned forward in his seat, all whilst his new victim shrunk back at the interaction between a master and his pet.
“Bring me back his head.”
20 –
Ariadna
Having decided Preeya had missed out on so much in the years running up to her sixteenth birthday, Ariadna took it upon herself to give the girl a parting gift she would remember.
The assassin tossed a gold coin to the stable boy outside a cosy building, by the name of The Wild Woman; along with a vivid threat should anything happen to her horse. She pulled Preeya alongside her as she approached the door of the inn.
“Ariadna?” it was the first time Preeya had used the assassin’s name.
Ari looked back at the priestess with a raised brow. “What?” she asked with a touch of impatience.
Preeya stretched her bound hands out towards her captor. “Can you untie me now, please?”
Ariadna cut the leather around her wrists and sheathed her dagger quickly, should Preeya be stupid enough to snatch it from her.
It was dark outside now. Both women had been travelling all day, and the sun had finally stopped pursuing them as it settled near two hours ago. The inn was a spectacular building. Its grey brick exterior was visible through the ivy and roses which crawled across the walls in a mesmerising display of nature.
The Anari Page 8