Devourer: A Minister Knight Novel (The Minister Knights Series Book 2)

by Nicole Givens Kurtz

  The Aftermath

  “Is she dead?” Marion grunted, holding his broken arm.

  He’d somehow managed to put the sword back into its scabbard. He leaned back against the wall adjacent to the weathered wooden throne where Manola’s headless body lay. With a grunt, he pushed off the wall and stepped over to where Octiva and Zykeiah remained. Akub had placed Manola’s raven head into Octiva’s bag and closed it. Octiva got to her feet.

  “Dead? She’s always been dead, Marion. Now that her body and her brain are separated, she won’t be able navigate the realm of the living,” the elder explained as she gestured to Akub. “Come, Akub. Help Zykeiah. I’ve done all I can here. I must get her back to the castle.”

  Akub got slowly to her feet, her own arm aflame with agony. She willed the last slivers of her chakra to her arm to reverse the magick’s impact. Her lovely Zykeiah’s strange glowing eyes parted.

  “Akub?” she croaked. She pushed herself to a sitting position with slow motions. “I can walk.”

  She reached down for her arm, and Akub helped hoist the minister to her feet. Zykeiah groaned in agony as Akub wrapped one of her arms over her shoulder. “Lean on me, Zy. I’ve got you.”

  Marion reached Kalah and used his boot to wake him. “Kalah! Wake! Are you well?”

  After several attempts, Kalah groaned awake. “Aye!”

  “Are you hurt?” Marion winced.

  Kalah sat up, and then turned to look up at his brother. “Only my pride. I should’ve bested those villagers…”

  Heavy bruising on his upper torso spoke to some injuries that didn’t outwardly bleed. Dried blood remained from his smashed nose. “I’ve been waiting four seasons on you.”

  “You couldn’t hurt them, Kalah,” Zykeiah said, her voice as weak as water.

  “Try not to talk,” Akub said.

  “Is it over?” Kalah searched the area behind Akub and Octiva.

  “Yes.” Octiva hoisted the bag over her shoulder. “Let us go home.”

  Kalah didn’t move. “Amana?”

  “Dead.” Marion started for the stairs.

  “Dead.” Kalah sounded stunned.

  He stumbled on unsteady legs to Amana’s body. He dropped or his legs buckled. Akub couldn’t tell. An incredible wail echoed in the tight space. A howling anguish pierced Akub’s heart.

  “Amana. Love? Why?” Kalah hoisted her to him and held her close. He wept into her hair.

  Kalah had sacrificed more than most. All of his questions would forever go unanswered. He’d suffered greatly. Akub saw his face struggle for understanding. She didn’t know what the younger prince expected to find or do once he faced his wife, but that moment had been snuffed out. Just like Amana’s life. In that moment, Marion had chosen to kill her rather than offer her an opportunity for redemption. In the heat of battle, swift decisions occurred.

  “Kalah, may the goddess give you peace and comfort,” Akub said, and then to Octiva, “We can’t prolong his pain. We must leave this place.”

  “Come. We must get Zykeiah back to the castle before she bleeds to death.” Marion looked over his shoulder before lumbering up the stairs.

  “We’re just going to leave the bodies here?” Zykeiah asked. “The villagers…”

  “I’ll deal with them,” Marion barked.

  “No! I’m not leaving her.” Kalah lifted Amana’s body, held it close to him. Her head lolled.

  Grief will gnaw on Kalah. He would need meditative sessions with Octiva or Sarah to renew his connection to the goddess. Octiva and Akub exchanged looks, but followed.

  “We ain’t goin’ back!” came a shout from the floor above.

  A rushing crowd awaited Akub and the others as they cleared the stairs. The villagers clutched their belongings about their persons. The palace guards had been battered and corralled by several burly and heavy-clothed men. It had become a bit of a muddle. Wild uncertainty flickered among them as the night stretched toward the morn.

  Weakened, Zykeiah groaned, and her eyes closed.

  “Hang on, love,” Akub stammered. They only just won one battle, now awaited another.

  “Release the guards,” Marion ordered.

  “Dragon’s breath!” came another furious yell and the shuffling of feet as the children had grown restless. They lacked proper weaponry, but no doubt they had knives, hammers, mallets, and other tools.

  “You’re all acting like you’ve had a skein full of ale! Shall we have a drunken brawl then, since you sided with evil?” Marion reached across his waist to the hilt of his sword.

  Octiva touched his arm. “Let there be peace. Be calm.”

  Not only did Marion quiet, but so did the others. Only Kalah’s quiet weeping broke the silence.

  “The minister knights, Akub, and I are leaving here. We leave you with the sorceress you sought to follow to freedom, to death. You shall not be allowed back across the bridge.”

  “To the hell with you, you old witch!” barked a deep voice.

  Octiva grinned, and with a voice as frigid as the water outside, “I know what I am.”

  25

  Epilogue

  Akub, the one once called the Devourer, sat beside Zykeiah three months after she’d been ordered to leave. Queen Zoë had agreed to allow her to remain on Veloris, and she’d moved into a small cottage in the village. She spent time practicing the healing arts of magick weaving and assisting those in the village. One day she’d accompany the ministers as a healer on their adventures. No more destruction. Now, she would heal.

  But today, they’d gathered at the Great Hall for morning meals. Akub hunched back into her ebony cloak and, fingers stiff with cold, cupped her hands around a mug of tea. Seated at the ministers’ table, Akub sat beside Zykeiah. Across from them, Kalah sipped his coffee, a cloud over his features. Queen Zoë sat on her throne, legs crossed, her elegant gown glowing in the early morning sunlight.

  “Is your mother on the mend?” Zykeiah looked back at Kalah.

  “Octiva said she is. The sickness has been treated by the Bandon.” Kalah rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “She’s fine.”

  “Good.” Akub watched as one of the servants walked up the stairs to the raised dais and served the queen a hot drink.

  “Did either of you see it coming? Be honest with me.” Kalah rubbed his bald head in apparent frustration. He gazed down at his bowl of eggs and flatbread before looking back up at them. His withdrawn features spoke to little sleep.

  Zykeiah shot Akub a worried glance.

  Kalah caught the look. “Of course you knew, Zykeiah. You wanted to leave her at Valek’s castle. But I had to have her. She was so lovely.”

  “Oh, you do love pretty things,” Zykeiah said with a shrug.

  He crossed his arms in a huff. Soon they would all be sniping at each other from the thick, blanket of stress that covered the castle. It had lessened, but the tension between Marion and Kalah could be cut with a knife and served to the entire kingdom. Defeating Manola and her defector hadn’t stymied the tension between the ministers. Nothing would ever be the same.

  “Amana’s always been an odd kowletta, but the soul cages made her worse.” Sarah caressed her bulging belly. “I thought love, normalcy, and family would help her heal. Now, she will find the peace she lacked in life, in death.”

  “Kalah, we believed that she loved you. Do you think we would have allowed you to proceed without warning if we knew she’d betray you?” Marion explained in a slow, deliberate manner reminiscent of a parent to a child.

  Kalah avoided Sarah’s eyes. No doubt he didn’t want Sarah to see the raw hatred there. Akub watched the once-close minister knights splinter. Perhaps time would serve as a balm to soothe the emotional wounds.

  “How could you, Kalah?” Sarah asked, pain streaked through her tone.

  Akub spied the pulsating power throbbing in the fire-bringer’s hands. The servants split up and moved on to their duties, albeit in heated discussions about what just happened. The ministers’ argu
ment would be news all over the village.

  Kalah’s pale gray eyes met Sarah’s and, seeing the anger that burned there, softened his expression. With a heavy huff, he said, “I did nothing but care for her. It is I who has been betrayed, Sarah."

  "I knew my sister.”

  "And I knew my wife! You were not here to see them together preparing to slaughter us all!"

  Sarah recoiled as if slapped. Marion grabbed Sarah by the shoulder and gently pulled her back to him. Too stunned to resist, she leaned against him for comfort. Both hurting—one physically, the other emotionally.

  “That’s enough, Kalah.” Marion slammed his fist onto the table.

  Zykeiah held her tongue. Beside her, Akub’s hand threaded with hers. It rested on her thigh, a ball of warmth. Her thigh bore an ugly scar, but the muscle appeared to have been repaired albeit sore from time to time.

  “Zykeiah!” Kalah shouted, breaking her concentration and bringing her back to the conversation at hand.

  “What?” Zykeiah snapped.

  Marion chuckled. “Lost you for a moment.”

  Kalah cleared his throat and repeated, “What do you think Mother will do with the others?”

  Zykeiah replied without hesitation. “I doubt she will order their deaths.”

  Marion nodded in agreement.

  “I’m leaving.” Kalah pushed his bowl away. “Do you want to come to Stocklah?”

  Marion’s face held surprise. “It is your fourth journey this week. Of course, I would be honored to go. I do not have any water or food. Sarah, will you be all right?”

  Sarah licked her lips. “Yes.”

  “Share with me. Come let us be on our way; the day is only beginning. I want to reach it before night falls and takes the light to get back down the trail,” Kalah suggested with a shrug.

  After a few moments of silence, Marion said to Kalah, “You have been witness to some of the servants’ requests to purchase land?”

  “Yes. They should know their place. They are servants,” Kalah retorted after swallowing.

  “If they have money, why not allow them to become lords? There is no harm in aspiration. If we do not, they may riot or attack us. The royal family is small; there is no heir, yet. Sarah is delicate right now. We are endanger of losing the throne,” Marion said.

  Kalah scoffed. “I am an heir to the throne. Besides, the throne of Veloris has been in our family for thousands of rotations!”

  Marion put his hands on his hips. “Yes, but it is best to make peace. What if something happens to both of us? There is no royal army like Saturn Four’s or Earth 3012’s.”

  “Then maybe there should be.”

  "Yes, perhaps we should discuss it further on the way." Marion stood up. “Kalah, you have not been yourself as of late.”

  “Because you killed my wife!” Kalah shouted, took in a deep breath, and slowly let it out.

  Akub felt the atmosphere shift. Zykeiah squeezed her hand beneath the table. Sarah pushed herself to a standing position and started for the exit. She’d only gotten a few paces before she started retching.

  “Damn you, Kalah!” Marion growled as he got up to see to his pregnant wife.

  Silence fell as they thought about the possible fate of those beyond the river and Amana’s death.

  Zykeiah broke the quiet, changing the subject. “What do you do with servants who defy the law and commit such an act as those in Lundlei?”

  Akub took in a deep breath but said nothing. Zykeiah turned to Kalah. Like many others on Veloris who debated—some heatedly—the same matter, the rising number of servants with growing wealth challenged the status quo. Each day a new representative visited the queen to demand she section off her lands and allow them to move beyond the status of servant. Some even demanded the queen appoint an army like other planetary realms.

  Veloris used to have an army, but over the years, it had declined until nothing. No standing army, not since King Merced the third. There had been no reason for an army when they had the minister knights, and before the Allerton Circle had been resurrected, no one came to the ice planet.

  But the servant numbers had risen in the past few years. The small circle of cottages in the servants’ quarters had steadily grown until there were at least sixteen rows of homes. Many were overcrowded with families and branches of extended families all running over each other and spilling out in a sea of human beings. Those who remained in Lundlei, though forbidden from crossing the bridge, thrived.

  Kalah shrugged with mock indifference. “It's never really happened before, but one thing is certain, the queen must pass a judgment soon.”

  Akub remained quiet. Even after three months, this topic seemed beyond her. The kitchen servants were busy gearing up for full morning meals, and the dense smell of roasted eggs and potatoes permeated the hall. Servants filled the mugs with tea. The warmth and heady taste felt good going down.

  Akub grimaced. She needed something to wash down the horrid start of the day.

  * * *

  After morning meals, Akub and Zykeiah retrieved two danker beasts from the stables. They started the laborious climb up the slope to the Stocklah Mountains. At its highest summit point was a tropical oasis, which contradicted the snowy cold world of Veloris below. Buried between two smaller ridges, the oasis's waterfalls flowed freely, warmth prevailed throughout, and flowers and animals cultivated without interruption. Caves existed that contained the ancient people’s writing and beliefs. It was if she were in another world. The oasis was a favorite retreat amongst the knights. The area was ideal for meditation, or so Zykeiah had claimed. Akub definitely needed to clear her head. It seemed that Marion and Kalah had dissolved their plans to go.

  The narrow trail to Stocklah started just a short distance from the castle, across the clearing, and not far from the path that led to the servants’ cottages. The servant cottages occupied an enormous section of land to the east of the East Hall. The trail to Stocklah lay directly behind the stables.

  Akub sighed deeply, for her heart was happy. Feeling the cool air wafting against her face, they decided to visit Stocklah and enjoy their day together. She could not watch or alter the actions of others, but time alone with Zykeiah would be good, healing.

  She directed her danker up the trail behind Zykeiah.

  “I can see that it eats at your soul. Spit it out and rid yourself of it,” Zykeiah said over her shoulder.

  She looks so beautiful with the sun on her dark skin and bright glowing eyes.

  Instead, she said, “I’m glad to be here, with you.”

  Zykeiah smiled over her shoulder.

  The danker beasts labored on toward the oasis, the ground growing steeper with each step. The sun marched across the early morning sky despite the number of clouds that moved steadily in. The Awakening Season brought with it the fresh fragrance of floral vegetation and short, stubble grass that shot up through the blankets of white snow.

  For which the Devourer would consume with her love and light.

  The End

  About the Author

  Nicole Givens Kurtz is the author of the futuristic thriller series, Cybil Lewis. Her novels have been named as finalists in the Fresh Voices in Science Fiction, EPPIE in Science Fiction, and Dream Realm Awards in science fiction. Nicole's short stories have earned an Honorable Mention in L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future contest, and have appeared in such numerous anthologies and other publications.

  Visit strange new worlds. Visit Other Worlds Pulp, Nicole’s website, at http://www.nicolegivenskurtz.com or follow her on Twitter @nicolegkurtz.

  For More from Nicole Givens Kurtz

  www.nicolegivenskurtz.com

 

 

 
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