Forgetting the Vikon for the moment, Maeve began chanting a sing-song cantrip. She quickly determined that she wasn't under any kind of assault, or even being spied upon magically. Yet something was different. But what?
"The geas," she muttered, startled, alarmed. "It is gone?" She hesitated, afraid the mere act of checking on the geas's state would condemn her in Dirusa's eyes, but she had to know. After a short chanted spell, her eyes lit with joy. "I am free!"
Then something far worse than the geas hit her. Humiliation.
With rising bile, Maeve glanced around at what she had wrought in Dirusa's unholy name. The dead and barely living lay about her accusingly. Even the children were sprawled across and under their mothers, aunts, and grandmothers. All because of her magic.
"What have I done? Oh Gods, forgive me!"
Fear, shame, self-loathing, and nausea all assaulted her at once. What to do to right this terrible wrong? And could she? Would the Vikon even allow her to try?
Danica.
Rebecca had the only women who might know her whereabouts. Rebecca and Dame Falen might even now be moving to capture her and Cat. All thanks to her efforts.
Maeve wondered, did Danica know of her efforts to capture her for Ayesha? If she did, how to convince her she was no longer aiding her allies? Should she even try? And if she didn't, how to hide the facts?
"Perhaps it is best if I just go away," she said miserably. "I have only made things worse for my friends and myself."
Then the first faint sobs of an awakening child reached her. Maeve knew she couldn't just leave. She had to do something to right her wrong. First, she had to help the Vikon, then Danica. Somehow, the Gods willing, she would find a way.
* * * * *
Danica closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of the wind on her face. They were soaring through a warm cloudless blue sky about an hour southwest of Dahlys. Even Cat seemed to be enjoying the ride. The big bravo was to her right, on the white bird. Danica was riding her piebald.
Looking all around, Danica couldn't see a single cloud anywhere. Just a deep blue sky. Perfect weather for a joyride, but terrible for escaping pursuing air cavalry. She could only pray for cloudy skies on the night of their rescue attempt. The witches back at the tenement had proven unable to forecast the weather. Apparently sorcery was required for that, and even then it wasn't all that accurate. Or so they swore.
Flying around the Amazon countryside like this denied the two women the opportunity to talk, to debate options. But Danica wasn't feeling too talkative. Things weren't going well. Their earlier treatment of Helene still stung. Helene had proven herself a true and trustworthy friend up until then, so they should have given her the benefit of the doubt. True, her indiscretion required she give them some proof they were still safe, but it was all handled wrong. She resolved to make it up to her some way before they parted company.
"Maybe...I'll buy her a bracelet," she mused, then grinned. "She'd probably prefer a new whip, though." She laughed, "Kinky wench!"
Cat, too far away to make out what she said, gave her a questioning look. Danica waved it was nothing, so Cat resumed her study of the underlying countryside. They were scouting out possible routes out of Dahlys, and Cat's job was to locate possible bolt holes if they're pursued too fiercely. Preferably, small clearings in the thick woods with just enough room for warhawks to land and take off. Danica joined her in that task, finding the checkerboard country stretched out below a beautiful sight. More so since she had decided that though Dahlys was a grand and impressive city, it still wasn't quite up to Dakkor in overall beauty. Where Dakkor took a person's breath away with warm feelings of pleasure and inspiring beauty, Dahlys just overwhelmed them with grandeur. Way over done, in Danica's opinion.
Looking up at the sun, she estimated it to be midday. Time to return to Dahlys. She wanted to scout out the interior of the Imperial Palace after lunch in the guise of citizens seeking to petition Empress Serena on some petty dispute she has yet to think up. Getting Cat's attention, she signaled to turn back.
Danica took the lead, picking up the pace. The faster they got back, the more time she'd have exploring the palace. That, and her stomach had started to complain when she thought of lunch.
It was just over fifty-five minutes later when they began their descent to the mews. Danica didn't even go for another pass around the city, though she would have liked to. She figured they'd get more useful information on the Imperial Palace and its grounds on foot.
Once the mews came into view, Danica noticed that it was now crowded with women. They were milling about, looking at the warhawks. Most of the women were standing in twos and threes before various warhawks.
Spotting two perches near the center of the mews and their black warhawk, she started guiding her bird towards them. It would be helpful to have all three birds close together. She considered it a stroke of luck, even if they were located dead center of the thickest concentration of milling women. The women closest to the empty roosts quickly moved away.
In a thunder of flapping wings and warhawk roars, Danica and Cat landed on adjoining roosts. Every eye in the mews was on them. Danica felt a strange satisfaction at that, casting a crooked grin at Cat. Young girls ran up and secured the thick leather leg straps to the perches. Only after their birds were secure did they drop their saddle ladders.
Danica scurrying down her ladder, then headed over to meet Cat. She arrived just as Cat stepped on solid earth and so did the Amazons. Danica noticed the women moving in an instant too late. In a flash, they were seized and their weapons taken. Someone behind her hit Danica with several hard punches to the lower back.
"At long last, we meet again," Dame Falen said, triumph flashing in her green eyes as she stepped before them. "This time I'm not letting you escape me."
Danica was dumbfounded. For once she couldn't think of a single thing to say or do. Cat was even worse off, fear and dread already claiming her eyes.
Finally, regaining some of her composure, "How did you know where to find us?"
"We paid a visit to that Vikon hideout of yours earlier this morning," Dame Falen said, enjoying the looks of shock and fear in the eyes. "I fear all your friends met untimely deaths."
Both women visibly sagged at that revelation.
"Except two," she taunted, a sneer twisting her pretty face. "The two redheads you flew in with are back at the Imperial Palace, awaiting our pleasure."
"If you even think of hurting them — " Cat snarled.
Falen cut her off with a vicious backhand.
"I have already done, and will continue do, more than think about hurting them," she said. "I've already had the pleasure of torturing your whereabouts out of the smaller one, Helene." Smiling grimly, "Her screams and cries made me feel great."
Danica felt her insides turn to jelly and her knees go weak at that news. She hadn't wanted anyone to get hurt on her account. Cat was determined to help her, come death or glory. The two Vikon were another story. They didn't even know why they were dying.
"Let them go," Danica said, pleading. "I'm the one you really want. The others aren't any threat to your plans. They don't even know what's going on."
"The only plans I have are to finish carving them up while Rebecca deals with you two," Dame Falen sneered, stepping in closer and grabbing Danica's face. "Then, later, I have very special plans for you, my elven beauty." She looked Danica over slowly, a hint of lust easing into her eyes. "The pleasure I'll take from your body will be exquisite. But not as exquisite as the pain, horror, and humiliation I'll inflict afterwards."
Dame Falen kissed Danica long and hard, crushing her lips mercilessly. Danica struggled, but was held fast by the laughing warriors. She had that same helpless, terrified feeling that being turned into a woman had given her. The feeling that she had lost control of her own destiny.
Falen ended the brutal kiss, stepping back with a satisfied look about her. Danica, overwhelmed with guilt and fear, lashed out at the smug m
ercenary Captain. With a scream more of despair that rage, she lifted her right knee to her chest and kicked out at Falen's head. To everyone's surprise, the blow landed solidly. Danica's heel struck beside the nose and ripped a deep, ragged gouge across Falen's right cheek that ended just under the ear. For a brief instant Danica could see glistening cheekbone, then a deluge of blood spouted out.
Danica, Cat, and everyone looked on in horror at what had been done to the pretty Captain's face. Dame Olivia was the first to recover, screaming woefully as she ran to her lover's side.
Lifting her right leg again, Danica this time drove her heel ruthlessly into the foot of the mercenary holding her right arm. She felt the small bones and soft flesh give, ripping an agonized wail from the woman's lips. Jerking her arm free, Danica reached over and grabbed the sword of the other mercenary. Jerking it out, she slammed the heavy disk pommel into the first woman's temple, then tried to skewer the other, but that woman scrambled out of reach quickly.
Ignoring the screaming Amazons, Danica drove her sword tip into the thick steel cuirass of one of the women holding Cat. Her blade pierced the steel, but the mercenary threw herself backwards and escape with only a minor flesh wound. Cat just finished punching out the other when Danica turned around. Danica grabbed Cat's hand and took off running, brandishing the sword.
The mercenaries froze for a heartbeat, most glancing uncertainly at their captain. Quickly breaking free of the crowd, they raced towards the horses. A mercenary guard intercepted them mere paces from the picket line.
Danica skidded to a halt to engage the warrior, but Cat, who was glancing back at the pursuit, didn't notice and plowed into her. Danica went down hard at the Amazon's feet, with Cat smashing headlong into the woman. Danica scrambled back up, kicking the Amazon in the jaw then helping Cat up. A quick glance back told her they didn't have time to untie and mount.
"Just run! Forget the horses!"
The faster Cat took off without being told twice. Danica took the time to run down the picket line of horses, guiltily dragging her sword across their soft, velvety noses as she ran down the line after Cat. The horses responded by screaming, kicking, and pulling on the ropes. It hurt her to do that to the horses, but she had to do something to disrupt the pursuit. Especially a mounted pursuit.
"Out the gate, then right," she ordered.
Without a word, Cat cut sharply right at the gate, and then charged into the first alley. The pursuit could be heard shouting behind them.
Spying two doors across from each other, Danica called loudly, "Run into that door on the right!"
Then she quickly overtook Cat and led her through the left door, which was the only open door of the two. Closing the door behind them, she quickly threw the lock. They paused only long enough to hear the Amazons start to pound on the other door. They made their way through the small cobbler's shop, out to the street, and turned back towards the mews.
"Where are we going?" Cat asked, confused.
"To get out of Dahlys," Danica said, looking about nervously. "And the surest, fastest way is by warhawk."
"But they'll be waiting."
"They're back in the alley."
"Not all of them, I'm sure."
"We'll deal with them," Danica said.
"Deal with them? Great God of Mercy! There had to be two hundred of them!"
"Sixty, maybe seventy," Danica said, still moving steadily back toward the mews. "And at least fifty of them came after us."
Before Cat could voice any more objections, of which she had plenty, a group of stragglers spotted them, and the race began anew. Rounding the next corner brought them within sight of the mews. Danica led them straight for the open gate. Cat no longer had the wind to argue.
They found some twenty-odd mercenaries tending to the horses, some of which were still quite agitated. Racing past them, Danica and Cat headed for their waiting warhawks. Both their birds were watching , seemingly eager to join in the action.
Splitting up, they charged the dangling saddle ladders — legs pumping furiously, hands desperately grasping at the wooden dowels of the ladders.
Strapping herself into the saddle, Danica remembered the restraining straps on the both warhawks' legs. Angry Amazon warriors, brandishing swords, were charging toward them. Cat, also having remembered the restraining straps too late, sat frozen in her saddle staring at their approach.
"Bandu!" Danica cried. Then to the bird, "Bird, squat down! Fast!"
The warhawk did as ordered, squatting low on the perch. Unstrapping, Danica slid out of the saddle and down the silky smooth feathered back and raced over to Cat's tethered bird. Swinging her blade with all her strength, she sliced the thick leather strap holding the warhawk down.
"Fly!" she screamed in her most commanding voice.
The warhawk didn't hesitate. With a roar, it jumped high as it brought its powerful wings down. Mighty gusts of air buffeted Danica as she turned to her own bird, knocking her down twice. Scrambling on all fours back to her piebald, she cut the warhawk's restraining strap.
Slamming the sword into its sheath, Danica hooked her arms around the saddle straps across its chest, "Fly!"
Danica found herself being pounded by powerful bursts of wind as the great bird of prey took off. The warhawk roared her defiance, which Danica barely heard over the thunder of her wings. It was all she could do to hang on. Until that moment, she never realized the size and strength of the bird's breast muscles. Now, every time the bird flapped, flexing her muscles, she threatened to snap both of Danica's forearms against the straps.
"Follow the other warhawk!" she cried, noticing they were starting to veer off more southwardly. Cat had headed due west, toward Allaria. An area they had scouted somewhat that morning. "Follow them closely."
While the warhawk sped up to close with Cat, Danica turned her attention to regaining her saddle and the comforting safety of the restraining strap. So cautiously, she began pulling herself up the strap. The strap was too tight to slip a leg or foot under, so she was forced to hang from the flapping bird. Her arms were tiring quickly. Finally, she made it to within feet of the saddle, just in front of the wings. Ordering the bird to glide a moment, she took the opportunity to scramble up into the saddle. Once there, she was momentarily overcome by violent shakes.
"Thank you, Bandu!" she exclaimed breathlessly.
Looking back, she couldn't spot any pursuit. It would take a few minutes to saddle some warhawks and follow, but would it be enough? It being the lunch hour, few Riders were up and about. They were almost alone in the sky. Taking the lead, she led them toward a small forested hill just a few miles outside the walls and east of the Tybor River, heading for a clearing halfway up the hillside.
Cat was horrified, wanting to keep flying due west until they reached Allaria or at least out of sight of the city. As far as she was concerned their rescue attempt had failed miserably. Any hope of rescuing Monique was lost forever. Danica didn't agree.
Landing in the small clearing beside Danica, "What are you thinking, woman? They'll be all over us in five minutes here!" Glancing over her shoulder, "God of Mercy! I can see the city from here!"
"They'll never think to look this close to the city."
"Like hell they won't!"
"Trust me..."
"Gods! Don't say that! You'll jinx us!"
Danica rolled her eyes, then climbed down. Cat reluctantly followed suit, grumbling and casting murderous glances at Danica. They quickly herded the balking warhawks into the cover of a hardwood thicket, wishing they had Helene and Claudia there to keep the birds quiet. Just wishing they had the two Vikon there, safe and sound.
Chapter 17
Sitting with her back against a tall oak, Danica stared at the city of Dahlys through the treetops from the steep hillside. Their birds were hidden away in a lower, denser stand. Cat leaned against another tree to her left, brooding quietly. Large and small formations of warhawk riding Amazons wheeled about overhead in search patterns, or s
treaked by high above, hardly noticed after five hours. They were both consumed by thoughts of Helene, Claudia, and the other Vikon who had opened their homes and hearts to them. Danica could see the Imperial Palace from her vantage point, wondering what torments Helene and Claudia had suffered, and currently were suffering, because of her.
"We have to save them," Cat said, not taking her eyes off the city. "If nothing else, and even if you must spend the rest of your life as a woman, we have to save Claudia and Helene."
"I know."
"How are we going to do it?"
"I don't know. Exactly."
"What 'exactly' do you know?"
Danica, turning to look at Cat, smiled weakly, sadly.
"I only know that tonight we have to slip back into the city, and into the palace. Tomorrow will be too late for our friends."
Cat's face turned to her. Her dark eyes were huge, brimming with tears.
"What are you saying, Danica? Surely they won't kill them while we're still loose."
"There are worse things than being killed." Danica's eyes burned. She struggled to control the boiling emotions within. She indicated to the growing darkness. "Once it becomes too dark to search any longer, Dame Falen will return to her mistress and take out her frustrations on our friends."
"Torture?"
Danica could only nod. The horror and despair in Cat's eyes mirrored her own darkest fears. She knew it was all her fault. Helene and Claudia suffered because of her.
Cat wiped away tears, and asked, "H-How will we get in?"
Danica sighed raggedly. For once even Cat didn't question the need to go to the place she feared the most.
"Fly, I guess. The city gates will be closed at sunset," she said. "But I doubt we can do it without being detected."
Cat rolled her eyes, looking so dejected. "That's encouraging."
"Do we have a choice?" When Cat didn't respond she continued. "Around midnight we'll leave here, and fly straight for the Imperial Palace. They'll be waiting for us, of course."
Into Lands Forbidden (The Elfmaid Trilogy Book 2) Page 25