by Todd, E. L.
A man approached their table. “Hello.” He smiled at Accacia and completely ignoring Zyle. “Those earrings you are wearing are very beautiful. I had to come over here and compliment them.”
“Thank you.” Accacia smiled.
The man grabbed her hand and kissed it. Accacia flinched at his unexpected touch. “They match you perfectly.” He stared into her eyes, and Accacia felt the arousal coursing through him. He still held her hand. “My name is Torric. What is yours?”
Accacia pulled her hand away. “Accacia,” she answered. She moved further away from him in her chair, but he just leaned forward.
Zyle spotted the unease on her face. Her eyes flickered with fear. “Accacia, are you interested in this man?” he asked her.
Accacia turned her gaze toward him. “I’m sorry, but no—I’m not.”
Torric nodded and leaned back. “I apologize for bothering you, miss.” He got up and walked away.
Accacia wiped the sweat from her brow. She never had such an experience. It was novel to her. She was surprised he immediately ceased his advance when she said she wasn’t interested. She was glad Zyle was there.
Zyle smiled at her. “I apologize, Accacia. I should have told you this sooner. When a man expresses his interest in you, just say, ‘I’m not interested.’ When you say those three words, they will instantly seize their advance. They will continue to pursue you until you do.”
Accacia nodded. “Okay. That’s good to know. But it probably won’t happen again.”
Another man approached their table and smiled at Accacia. Zyle laughed at the irony.
“I’m not interested,” she said quickly.
The man dropped his smile then walked away.
Accacia sighed. “Those three words are going to save my life.”
Zyle laughed. “You are going to be saying those words every day for the rest of your long life—until you find a life partner, that is.”
A man in a white shirt approached the table and smiled at both of them. Accacia immediately raised her hand to him.
“I’m not interested,” she said.
He dropped his smile. “I’m just here to take your orders.”
Accacia’s cheeks reddened and Zyle laughed at the crimson color in her face.
“We are waiting on a third person,” Zyle said.
“Very well,” he said. “I’ll return in a few minutes.”
“Thank you.”
Accacia covered her face with her palms. “I am so embarrassed.”
Zyle laughed. “It’s okay, Accacia. He was probably going to woo you at some point anyway—you just saved him the effort.”
“How do the women deal with this all the time?”
“Well, it doesn’t happen to all the women, and when it does happen, it isn’t so excessive.”
Accacia didn’t understand why it was happening to her so often. “Is it because I’m new? I’m more interesting?”
Zyle stared at her. “No, no one knows you have returned to us.”
“Then what is it?”
Zyle looked at the panic in her eyes and the unease in her limbs. She really had no idea why they were so interested. “Accacia, you’re a gorgeous woman. I think that is obvious.”
Accacia shook her head. “All the women here are beautiful.”
“There is no comparison.”
They stared at each other for a moment and the silence stretched between them. Zyle saw his guest walk toward their table, and he was grateful for the interruption. He knew he made Accacia uncomfortable.
Zyle stood up and embraced the woman. “Hello, Laura.”
She smiled at him then turned her gaze to Accacia. She stared at her for a long moment before she grinned at her. “Hello, Accacia. I am very happy to meet you.”
Accacia returned her smile. “As well am I.”
Zyle pulled out her chair and Laura sat down. The waiter returned to their table and Accacia’s cheeks reddened when he looked at her. She was still embarrassed by her earlier presumption.
“Have you decided?” the man asked.
“Yes,” Zyle answered. He nodded to Accacia. “She and I will have the same thing. We will both have a pineapple-mango tart and a green tea.”
The waiter nodded then turned to Laura. “I’ll have the same,” she said.
The waiter walked away and Zyle turned his gaze toward Accacia. Her cheeks were returning to their normal color. “Laura is a trainer at the Battle Academy,” he said. “She is one of the best.”
Accacia nodded. “That is fascinating.” Accacia stared at her body and saw the toned muscles in her arms and hands, but she didn’t appear to be bulky like she imagined a warrior to be. “I would love to be a student there someday.”
Laura nodded. “You should pursue it. Come to the academy and we will determine if you are worthy of the endeavor.”
“What do I have to do to be worthy?”
Laura shook her head. “I’m sorry, Accacia. I cannot reveal that information. When you apply to our training program, you will know what it entails.”
Zyle cleared his throat. “Accacia has wonderful forestry skills. She was able to identify a few plants by herself. She also witnessed me heal a broken wing of a bird.”
Laura turned to Accacia. “An amazing sight, isn’t it?”
“Very much so,” she said.
Accacia wasn’t sure why Zyle brought Laura along to lunch, but she enjoyed the woman’s company. She was beautiful and friendly with a wide smile that never seemed to fade. The fact that she was a warrior made Accacia adore her even more.
The waiter brought their food, and Accacia devoured her entire plate even though she wasn’t that hungry. Everything was delicious. She had to try everything on their menu eventually.
Laura wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin. “Do you have a companion, Accacia?
Zyle answered for her. “Yes,” he said. “She stole mine.”
“Koku?” Laura asked
Accacia laughed. “I did not steal him. He is just being friendly.”
“Too friendly,” he said. “He has ignored me for the past few months.”
Accacia rolled her eyes. “Do you have a companion, Laura?”
Laura was about to answer when a tall man approached the table. He was holding a yellow blossom in his hand. Accacia prepared for the worst.
The man kneeled directly before Laura and held the flower out to her. “Good afternoon, Lady Laura.”
Laura smiled. “Good afternoon to you as well, but I’m sorry, I’m just not interested.”
The man nodded his head then rose to his feet. He placed the flower on the table then walked away.
Zyle turned to Accacia. “I’m glad you held your tongue this time.”
Accacia laughed at his joke. Laura shifted her glance between the pair of them. She looked at the location of the sun in the sky then turned to Zyle. “I need to leave. I have training in the next half hour.”
Zyle nodded. “I understand. Thank you for coming to lunch.”
“Of course,” she said. “Thank you for inviting me.” She turned to Accacia. “It was very nice to meet you, dear.”
Accacia smiled. “The pleasure was mine.”
Zyle rose to his feet and hugged her. When Laura pulled away, she said, “Come back to the academy, Zyle. You are sorely missed. We haven’t been able to find a replacement for you.”
“I think it’s time for me to move on.”
Laura nodded. “Let me know if you change your mind. The offer is always on the table.”
“I know it is.”
Orgoom Forest
24
Aleco drank from his glass and returned it to the desk. He went through so much brandy and whiskey he had to order a shipment from the neighboring city, Porman, and the caskets came just the day before. He glanced at the case in the corner and looked at it doubtfully. At his rate of intoxication, he didn’t expect it to last long. Aleco knew he was an alcoholic, but he was fortunate that his
liquor didn’t inhibit his judgment like it did others. If anything, he felt calmer and more in control. He knew Accacia would disapprove of his habits. Since she left, he drank even more than he did before, which was quiet astounding. The thought of Accacia made his heart squeeze painfully.
A knock on the door resonated in the room, but Aleco looked unaffected by the sound. Nothing mattered to him anymore. He pulled up his hood and concealed his features from view, wanting to keep his identity a secret from anyone that he possibly could.
“It’s open.” Aleco grabbed his glass from the desk and took another swig. He didn’t look at the person who entered his office. If they were there to kill him, Aleco wouldn’t care. In fact, he would welcome it. He was just a shadow of the man he once was. Without the light in his life, his beloved Accacia, he may as well not exist. He forced the thoughts to the back of his mind. He did have a purpose—to kill Drake and save Accacia’s kin. When he was finished with the task, he would let himself die peacefully.
Ryan, one of the Naturalists, entered the room. “Father Rhonian, may I have word?”
Aleco glared at him. “Well, you are already talking aren’t you?” He took another drink from his glass then refilled it with more brandy.
Ryan stared at the Nature Priest apprehensively for a moment. He and the other Naturalists still didn’t understand why Father Giloth chose the man as his successor. They had never seen his face and the man was always unpleasant. While he did have a vast knowledge of the forest, herbs, and remedies, he was very intolerable.
Aleco stared at him. “So?”
“Sorry to bother you, Father Rhonian.”
“Then stop doing it,” he said. “And call me Rhonian. None of that Father horseshit.”
Ryan nodded. “I’ve received a missive from Porman—it’s urgent.”
Aleco put down his glass and rose from his desk. He was always rude and malicious when he was in his office, but when he had to fulfill his role as the Chief Nature Priest, he put his anger aside and focused on the task before him. Since it was his uncle’s fault that he was given the title, the forest and the inhabitants shouldn’t have to suffer. “What is it?”
“A terrible sickness has overtaken the people,” Ryan said. “And some of the king’s soldiers are there, pillaging and stealing from the civilians. They were supposed to help the inhabitants, but they are only setting fire to their homes, plundering their possessions and raping the women. A man rode a horse into our woods and told us the news. He passed away shortly afterwards.”
Aleco felt his heart pound in his chest. He already hated his brother and thought he couldn’t loathe him more than he already did, but somehow he hated him even more. The actions of the soldiers made him sick. The comment about the raping resonated with him and made him enraged. Even to this day, Accacia’s time as a slave still plagued her nightmares and frightened her to exclusion of all else. No woman should have to deal with that. The soldiers already stole women from Anastille, and now they were doing the same thing to another town. It was despicable. “How many soldiers?”
Ryan was quiet for a moment. “I can’t say,” he said. “But I know there are very few. Perhaps fifty. Porman is a small town.”
Aleco walked around Ryan and headed towards the door. “Well, it’s about to get smaller.”
“Where are you going?”
“Porman,” he snapped, opening the door to his office.
“But the city is overrun by soldiers,” he argued. “And we don’t know what they need to cure their disease.”
“What are their symptoms?” Aleco asked. He grabbed extra knives and blades from the cabinet and started shoving them into his folds.
Ryan was quiet for a moment. “They are coughing up blood, vomiting, and experiencing severe diarrhea. They also have high fevers. If they don’t die from dehydration, then they die from the blood in their lungs.”
Aleco nodded. “Gather some of the Naturalists and prepare the horses.”
Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Do you know what they need to heal them?”
Aleco was growing frustrated with this waste of time. “Yes,” he said. “Find as much Thyme Blend as you can.”
Ryan stared at him with a look of amazement. “How did you know that?”
Aleco rolled his eyes and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the floor. “I’m the Chief Nature Priest for reason, you idiot.”
After an hour, the Naturalists prepared as much remedy as they could find and saddled the horses for the ride. Aleco led them through the forest and out the other side. Porman was a small city, a farming community, that bordered their forest, and they reached the province in a few hours. The Naturalists were all timid and fearful as they followed behind Aleco. They didn’t know what to expect from this seized city.
Aleco noticed their unease. “You’ll be safe.”
They all relaxed. Since he couldn’t speak a lie, they immediately felt assuaged.
When they arrived at the province, Aleco led them behind a line of tree and hid them from view. “I’ll retrieve you when I’m ready,” he said.
They stared at him for a moment. Smoke billowed into the sky and screams could be heard from the city even at that distance. It definitely didn’t look safe or habitable. They weren’t sure what the Nature Priest hoped to achieve. Before they could ask their questions, Calloway approached the entrance with his sword held at the ready. There were no guards on post at the entrance. Since it was overrun by rogue soldiers, there was no need to keep any security. Since everyone was too sick to flee, the guard was unnecessary. The fear settled on Aleco when he realized that he might catch the illness and die, but then realized it didn’t matter. These people had to be saved—even if he lost his own life in return.
Aleco entered the city and saw a group of soldiers packing belongings inside the back of a cart. There were clothes, weapons, and jewels. The guards were drinking bottles of wine directly out of the container and looked cheerful. The sight angered Aleco. He was looking forward to killing all of them. He was so angry that he needed to take his despair out on something. What was better than a group of criminals under the king’s banner?
He pulled out his three-bladed throwing knife and stabbed the man closest to him. With a loud cry, the soldier fell over and tried to pull the knife from his throat. He started to scream but it just came out as a gurgle.
The other soldiers looked up and spotted Aleco across the street. There were dead bodies littered in the gutters and against the walls of neighboring houses. The stench was disgusting but Aleco focused his thoughts. He couldn’t think about that right now.
“Drop your weapons and realign under my command. You can answer for your crimes by helping me heal the innocent victims of this province and returning it to its formal glory.” Aleco gripped the hilt of his blade and waited for their response. He hoped that they would defy him. As a leader of a holy sect, he felt obligated to spare mercy even when he didn’t want to, and he hoped they were too stubborn to accept his pardon.
One soldier stepped towards Aleco. He grabbed the blade sticking out of the man’s throat, who was dead, and twirled it in his hand. “I hope there is more of this inside the folds of that cloak. We could get a small fortune in Roslyn.”
Aleco waited for him to make his move.
Quicker than a blink of an eye, the solder threw the tree-bladed dagger back at Aleco, but Aleco evaded the blade with his sword, bringing it to the ground below his feet. The soldier widened his eyes in fear, amazed at Aleco’s exceptional abilities. He smiled at them even though he knew they couldn’t see his grin. “Thank the gods,” he said. “I was hoping you would do that.”
He released the anger bottled inside him and let his bloodlust leak through. The despicable acts of these soldiers sent him into an uncontrollable rage. While he committed too many crimes to count, he never did them because he enjoyed them. He didn’t have a choice. He raised his sword and charged the men that were standing by the wagon. Before they could draw their sw
ords, Aleco decapitated two of them and stabbed a third one through the chest. After the rest of the soldiers recovered from the horrific deaths of their comrades, they rushed him, aiming their swords for his heart. Aleco felt his blade fall from his hand as he was pursued by five of the soldiers. One man smiled at him victoriously, knowing that Aleco wasn’t a match for all of them.
“Don’t get cocky,” Aleco said. Using only his body, he grabbed the neck of one solider and snapped it at the head, then grabbed the blade and sliced off the arm of the men closest to him. He swung his blade around and killed them one by one, littering the ground with the bodies of the soldiers. When he was done, he lowered his blade and kicked the corpses aside. While he was satisfied that he killed the criminals, he was ready for more. The decaying bodies of the city poisoned Aleco’s sinuses and encouraged him to move forward. If the illness didn’t kill them, then the disease from the rotting bodies would.
He crept through the small town and found three soldiers standing outside of a wooden building. Aleco knew it was a brothel by the sounds of pleasure escaping from the windows, though most of the noises sounded like blood curdling screams. Aleco knew this was where they were raping the women who were too sick to defend themselves. The thought reminded him of Accacia and enraged him even more. Without giving the men a chance to surrender, he stabbed them all through the lungs, making them die a painful death by suffocation. They fell to the ground, clutching their bleeding wounds as they passed from this life. Aleco spat on each one of them. “May the void take you.”
Aleco walked inside the building and found himself in the lobby. A soldier was standing behind the counter and looked him over. “Are you a customer?” he asked. “Is that why the boys let you in?”
Aleco pulled back his hood and smiled. “You could say that.”