Angst Box Set 1

by David Pedersen

  “Victoria?” Angst asked in disbelief. “You’re joking, right?”

  “Here they go,” Hector said shaking his head and glaring at Dallow and Tarness. “It’s getting worse!” He sped up to ride ahead of Angst and Victoria.

  “It will pass,” Dallow called after him.

  “They’ve had more verbal foreplay than I’ve gotten real foreplay in years,” Tarness admitted, galloping to catch Hector.

  Dallow soon followed, and they were left alone.

  “I don’t believe you’re thinking about kissing her,” Victoria screeched, spitting like her mom did when angered. “I’m sitting right here, in front of you, and you’re thinking of kissing her?”

  “Who, Heather?” Angst deflected with feigned innocence, knowing all too well he had been thinking of Alloria’s full lips and full—

  “I’m talking about my whore cousin,” she said sharply.

  Tarness looked back with a grin, and Hector shook his head in defeat. Dallow grimaced as the soldiers in front of them turned their heads to watch.

  “That’s strong language from a princess,” Angst teased, desperate to make light of his thoughts. “Would you rather I thought about kissing you?”

  “Eeuw! No, of course not,” she said testily. “I don’t kiss old, married men.”

  “Eeuw, neither do I,” Angst replied, trying to deflect once more.

  It wasn’t working. Victoria pushed back with her rear, nudging Angst to the flank of his swifen. In a surprisingly acrobatic move, she spun on her tailbone while lifting her left leg across the front of his chest. She now rode backward, facing him. Her legs were over his, forcing him to sit very close. She peered at him, staring into his eyes, and Angst couldn’t help but blush guiltily.

  She breathed in deep from shock. “You weren’t just thinking it? It really happened?” Victoria whispered angrily, her eyes wide with surprise and her brows furrowed with hurt. Victoria stared at him, focusing on his thoughts and seeking out the truth. “That little slut.”

  “It wasn’t like that,” Angst started. “Hey, what are you doing?”

  Victoria reached into the top of his chest piece and pulled out the ruby ring dangling from his necklace.

  “Really, Angst?” she said with zero tolerance. “You kissed her then she gave you her ring? What did Heather think of this?”

  “Oh, now you’re on Heather’s side?” Angst said in embarrassed surprise. “Look, I didn’t kiss her, she kissed me.”

  “What’s the difference?” Victoria said. “You didn’t even fight her off.”

  “It happened so fast,” Angst said weakly. He didn’t know why he should feel guilty, or be defending his actions to Victoria, but he did, and he was.

  “She isn’t even half your age, Angst,” Victoria said with an unforgiving stare.

  “Yeah!” Angst said. He meant it to sound like he, too, was in shock, but it sounded more like he was proud. It was the wrong answer.

  A loud clatter beneath the swifen made Angst jump. When he looked behind his ram, he found one of the patchwork plates holding the creature together had dropped to the ground.

  “Huh,” Victoria said, spinning around to face forward once more. “Please catch up to the others.”

  Angst was now shivering as though the cold air coursed through his very veins, feeding the emptiness eating away at him. He wasn’t sure why, but he tried apologizing. Every plea for understanding was met with tiny “hmm” noises. He felt completely lost, and alone, and as they caught the others, she finally answered his thoughts.

  “When you understand why I’m upset, I’ll ride with you again,” she hissed.

  “What?” he said with a shrug she couldn’t see. “Can’t you just tell me?”

  “It seems the lover here can’t stop going on about his kiss with my younger cousin, Alloria, and I’m fearful of losing my virginity,” Victoria announced loudly. “Can I ride with someone else for a while?”

  Heads and ears perked up as Angst tried to slip deeper into his armor. It wasn’t working. Nearby soldiers from the Rehmans’ Charge stared at Angst accusingly, as if they had an ounce of a clue as to what was going on.

  “You kissed Alloria?” asked Tarness. “Fine work, old man.”

  “Uh, well, actually, she kissed me,” Angst said under his breath.

  “There’s a difference?” Hector asked shaking his head.

  “Exactly!” Victoria said, hopping off Angst’s swifen. “I’ll ride with Hector.”

  “Hey, don’t I get a turn?” asked Dallow playfully.

  “You got your turn last trip,” Tarness replied.

  “What?” asked Dallow in an uncertain tone.

  Tarness coughed out Rose’s name. Dallow rolled his eyes.

  “That’s not something I thought to see,” Tarness commented on Hector and Victoria as they trotted away.

  “How did she find out?” Dallow asked Angst.

  “I...” Angst stopped to think. He had to be careful not to let them know her secret. “It sort of slipped.”

  “Ohh,” Tarness said, shaking his head, “bad mistake.”

  “As good as you are with women,” Dallow advised, “you’re an idiot.”

  “What do you mean?” Angst felt dizzy.

  “What makes you think Victoria wouldn’t be jealous of that?” Dallow asked.

  “I’m married to Heather,” Angst stated. “Victoria and I are just friends.”

  “Right,” Dallow drawled, clearly not believing a word. “Friends that sleep together? Friends that take naked baths together?”

  “Wait, it’s not like that,” Angst said guiltily, looking back and forth between Dallow and Tarness. “Well, it’s not sex.”

  “Sure,” Tarness remarked, not believing Angst.

  “I didn’t say sex,” Dallow continued. “But just friends? So when are you and I going to start taking naked baths?”

  “I...I couldn’t do that,” Angst said with wild eyes.

  “Then why is it okay to do it with her?” Dallow asked pointedly.

  When it was obvious Angst had no reply, Dallow sped up to join Hector and Victoria, leaving Angst with Tarness.

  “Did you have sex with Alloria too?” Tarness asked, resting his chin on the palm of his large hand as though waiting for story time.

  “I didn’t have sex with either of them,” Angst said, clearing his throat several times.

  “Why not?” Tarness asked in surprise. “That’s what I don’t get about you. You go through all the trouble to woo them, to the point that they’re kissing you. I know you aren’t happy with your marriage. Why not just leave that and enjoy all...this?” Tarness waved his large hand about as though including all attractive young women everywhere.

  Angst had never thought of it that way. He had never thought of women as being so available. It had never been his goal to sleep with them, or have sex with them, or even see them naked. This stuff just kept happening, and he was comfortable enough with it that it all seemed okay at the time.

  “I don’t know,” Angst said finally. “I think these things happen because of what I won’t do, not because of what I will do.”

  Tarness nodded at this, seeming to understand.

  “Then maybe you can tell me something,” Tarness said with a deep sigh. “What kind of carrot are you dangling?”

  This made Angst chuckle. “Carrot, Tarness?”

  “Rose almost died just to ride with you the first trip. It looked like Victoria had given up her crown for a jaunt to Melkier.” Tarness shook his head. “And Alloria? Now they’re all throwing themselves at you naked and kissing you and—”

  “Wait, hold on Tarness,” Angst said seriously. “What’s this about?”

  Tarness looked weary, his thick brows drooping over his dark eyes. For a moment, his face filled with sadness. “I’m alone,” he said quietly.

  “Oh,” Angst said in hushed surprise. “You can have one of them if you want,” he offered helpfully.

  This made Tar
ness snicker. “I’ll take Alloria,” Tarness said a little too sincerely.

  “I kid, big man. She’s not mine to give. Not to mention, I think you’d break her.”

  “I would,” he said proudly.

  Angst waved him away dismissively, and they laughed again.

  “I just can’t find her, Angst,” Tarness fretted. “I don’t know if it’s my size, or the magic. I know it can’t be because I’m black. Nobody likes pale...no offense.”

  “None taken,” Angst said with a smirk. “What about Maarja? She might break you, but...”

  “I think about her,” Tarness said, smiling to himself. “But I don’t know where she is now.”

  “So...and...go look for her!” Angst said. “What are you waiting for?”

  “I happen to be here trying to help my best friend not die,” Tarness said. “Oh, and save the world. Again.”

  Angst’s heart warmed. Tarness had never said anything so affectionate, at least about Angst. It was almost enough to distract him from Victoria’s anger and disappointment.

  “I really think she’s the one, Tarness,” Angst said. “I’ve never seen you connect with someone like that before. If there is a world left when this nonsense is done, I’ll help you find her.”

  “Yeah?” Tarness asked.

  “Yeah,” Angst replied with a smile.

  “I guess you can have Alloria back,” Tarness said grinning. “And keep the rest too.”

  Angst sighed deeply, a bit of pain creeping into his heart. He was still angry with Victoria for not confiding in him, and couldn’t understand why she was so upset that Alloria had kissed him.

  “They’re all crazy. You know that, don’t you?” Angst asked.

  “So are we,” Tarness replied with a knowing smile. “We’re the ones who work so hard chasing them.”

  They rode on silently. Angst wanted to fall off his swifen and sleep. He felt weaker than usual, like the growing emptiness eating away at him was now filled with Victoria’s anger. He refused to show any sign of this while surrounded by the Rehmans’ Charge, but in spite of his resolve another piece of plate armor crashed to the ground. Angst clutched his stomach, swallowing hard to keep it down.

  As the morning became afternoon, Hector slowed and assisted the princess off his panther.

  “Thank you, Hector,” she said sincerely.

  “Any time, Your Majesty,” Hector said with a deep bow of his head.

  Without a word, Victoria used the bent armor of Angst’s swifen to pull herself up and sit in front of him again.

  “What did you talk about?” Angst asked.

  “You’ll know when you can read my mind,” Tori replied. “I hate you right now.”

  “I know,” Angst said with a sigh, grateful she was riding with him once more.

  33

  A low-pitched hum filled Angst’s ears, and he had to wonder if Chryslaenor was singing to him once more. There was a second, higher note then a harmony of sounds followed quickly by the higher note again. Angst shook his head, took off his glove, and wiggled a finger in his ear. How could they possibly have caught up with Rose? He had no idea where she was.

  “It’s okay. I hear it too,” Victoria whispered to Angst. She looked over at Dallow. “What is it?”

  “I’ve always wanted to see this,” Dallow said in anticipation, smiling at their reactions. “Or, I guess, hear it.”

  The distant echoing tones became louder and never stopped, like unkempt music from a crazed composer.

  “This has been an annoyance of mine for years,” Hector grumbled, his sensitive ears twitching with every new note. The lower tones made him wince. “I hate coming this way.”

  Angst looked at Dallow nervously as his friend rode closer to the edge. Dallow squinted as he did his best to see clearly and catalog everything. There was a tall stone wall on their left, and a thousand-foot-drop to the Bliss River on his right. In spite of the distance to the bottom and the loud musical notes, Angst could hear the waters raging far below.

  The music made him think of Chryslaenor and, like an open wound, the emptiness drew energy from his very pores. But every time it crept in, the hold on his hand got tighter. Angst’s right hand was almost numb from Victoria’s grip as she looked straight ahead, avoiding any glimpse of their surroundings. He felt odd, holding hands with his friend, but she didn’t care and Angst wasn’t going to tell her to stop—it was much better company than her cold shoulder.

  Angst did his best to ignore Dallow so close to the edge of the cliff, watching the procession of soldiers before him. Their dark helms and polearms led the way around a bend in the path.

  “Do you see, Your Majesty?” Dallow asked. “It looks like they constructed the bridge in rows. First making a standard archway bridge, then stacking another atop the first, like blocks. They just kept going until the bridge reached all the way up here.”

  Angst gasped as the sight unfolded. The Great Bridge of Melkier lived up to its name. A monumental feat of engineering, it crossed a chasm easily three hundred yards wide and a thousand feet deep. The cliff-side road they followed provided a beautiful view of the expanse, and the structure. Low-hanging clouds hovered nearby, captive between the mountains held together by the Great Bridge. An ever-changing cascade of rainbows surrounded it, leaping from cliff walls to dive into a thick mist. The bridge appeared afloat, surrounded by clouds and rainbows.

  “I don’t need to see, Mr. Dallow,” Victoria snapped brusquely, reeling and leaning back into Angst. “Your description is more than enough.”

  Dallow looked at the princess briefly and shrugged. “Whoever built the bridge also dug tunnels along the canyon—seven on each side—that have an opening upstream and an exit downstream. Water from the river pours through the tunnels at random. The air forced through the tunnels by water creates music, and rainbows.”

  “Rainbows?” Victoria said with sudden interest, looking up as though awakening from a long slumber.

  Her grip on Angst’s hand couldn’t have gotten any tighter as she braved a peek. Water continued shooting out from the large holes directly beneath the Great Bridge. Steam and spray pouring out the tunnels combined to create a cascade of colors dancing about the structure as the river randomly chose which path to follow. Tori’s cheeks lifted in a smile, and she let go to clap excitedly in spite of her fears.

  “All created without magics,” Crloc declared behind them.

  “How do you know?” Dallow asked curiously.

  Crloc’s head whipped about in anger, and he looked ready to beat the curiosity out of Dallow, until the princess stared him down. She raised a thin regal eyebrow and cocked her head to one side thoughtfully, her fear of heights replaced with defensiveness for her friends. Crloc winced as a thin smile fought its way across his face.

  “You brought it up, Crloc,” she chided on Dallow’s behalf. “It’s a fair question.”

  “It’s common knowledge,” Crloc mumbled into his large beard. “Well documented in history books.”

  “History is always written by the winners,” Dallow retorted. “Either way, as long as it’s safe, I don’t really care.”

  “Speaking of safe, you wouldn’t want to edge away from the side of the cliff a little, would you, Dallow?” Angst pleaded nervously.

  “A little too close for you, Angst?” Tarness teased.

  “A little too close for him, actually,” Angst said, trying to avoid explaining his fear of others-near-heights.

  Victoria’s head tilted back suddenly as she looked up into the sky, high over the bridge. She focused on a single point, as though trying to make out a star through high clouds.

  Angst glanced at Crloc and Dallow, concerned they might have noticed her sudden distraction. “What is it?” he whispered.

  “Something’s coming,” she whispered over her shoulder to Angst. “We should get across the bridge quickly.”

  “Can we hurry? I want to get to the other side, now!” Angst shouted without questioning her. H
e decided to make it sound like he was the one afraid of heights. “I’d like to get this over with.”

  “Your boyfriend is spineless without his giant sword,” Crloc bullied.

  “He’s not my boyfriend!” Victoria snapped defensively.

  “I’m worried for her safety,” Angst said, ignoring Crloc and Victoria.

  “Are you insulting The Great Bridge?” Crloc asked, obviously looking for a fight.

  “I’m insulting the great fall, something I don’t care for the princess to experience.”

  “Coward,” Crloc snapped. He yelled loud for the entire watch to hear, “we will ride across quickly, for the princess and her spineless champion.”

  Victoria looked back at Angst apologetically. He merely shook his head and rolled his eyes.

  “I’m used to bullies,” Angst said, loud enough to be heard. “Luckily, they never get used to me.”

  Three-quarters of the way across The Great Bridge, Kansel pointed to the sky with his longbow and shouted, “Dragon!”

  A dark shape emerged from the exact spot at which Victoria had been staring. The beast dropped from the sky, glided toward them shakily then fell once more. It was like a doe trying to walk for the first time but, while the flight path was unsteady, the dragon was still hurtling directly toward them.

  Angst, his friends, and the group of soldiers rode forward at a gallop in a desperate attempt to cross the bridge before the dragon crashed into them. As it came closer, Angst could hear it: a roar that sounded more like a scream. Did dragons scream? The sound was horrific. As the creature approached, he could hear the desperate flapping of wings. A blast of dragonbreath scorched the air over him, and he wondered if it was actually the sun crashing on top of them.

  “Almost there,” Victoria yelled as they approached the bridge end. “When we cross, keep riding another fifty yards!”

  “Kansel, shoot it down before it hits the bridge!” Crloc commanded.

  “Faster, Angst!” Hector roared.

  Angst wanted to see what was happening, but there was no time. He could hear the music and the rushing water below the bridge, the screams of the falling dragon, and the twang of arrows loosed from longbow. It was a maddening blur, and his heart raced. Angst urged his swifen faster, sprinting past his friends and the Rehmans’ Charge soldiers to seek higher ground. He continued along the road even as the dragon crashed into the bridge behind them.