by Dana Davis
Larisa groaned as she struggled to her feet and waited until the world stopped spinning before moving again. A dull ache emanated from her left shoulder. She reached behind and extracted a dart. Her cloak had provided little protection for the metal tip that pierced her skin. When she held it up to her nose, it smelled of hedgegrass, an herb used to put patients to sleep when they needed surgery or a bone set.
She tossed the dart into a metal bowl. The jabbers stood nearby, oblivious to any wrongdoings, and grazed on what they could find. Stupid animals. If they had half a brain between them, they could have charged the attackers. That’s when she realized all the jabbers were accounted for, dashing her hopes that Kepriah followed the attackers. Unless she needed to be extra quiet and went on foot.
Larisa shook her head, a painful and nauseating mistake that she did not plan to repeat any time soon. She reached down and pulled a dart from Gail’s shoulder and tossed it with her own, then crossed to Jakon and yanked a dart from his shoulder. He was unconscious but uninjured, thankfully. Slowly, she made her way to each of the fallen and found them all unharmed, save for a dart near the shoulder. Whoever attacked them was a superb shot, hitting them in a way that would not cause permanent damage.
But who had taken her sister? Someone who wanted the scepter jewels? They would have to take Kepriah with it because that scepter follows her no matter where she goes. Larisa’s body began to tremble as she realized another, even more dangerous, option. Bounty hunters? Surely, the scepter would keep her from harm. Larisa had to tell herself that or else she might just sit and shriek like a mad woman.
She had no idea how long the rest would be out, no idea just how much hedgegrass had been used on those darts. Why am I awake? Warmth pressed against her chest. The talisman. She drew it from her bodice and the blue jewel gave off the faintest glow. It must have kept me conscious. But why did Patrice’s ring not do the same for her?
Larisa crossed to her younger sister and studied the ring but its jewel did not glow. In fact, if she had not known about its magic, she would have thought the ring a nice bauble.
Her head felt only half-stuffed with cotton now, and the pain began to recede, but her mouth had gone dry, another side effect of hedgegrass. She rummaged through one of the packs that had not been loaded onto a jabber, yet, and took a long swig from a canteen. She sat with her back to the stone wall of the old house, eyeing the bowl of darts she had removed.
With Kepriah gone, I’m in charge now. Her eyes fell on her sister, Patrice, the youngest of the Trine, if only by a mere minute or two. She will love that. Having to take orders from yet another sister. But Larisa was in charge now, a notion she had not contemplated before, and found that she actually liked the idea. In theory, at least. Putting her authority to test would probably reveal quite a different story. Jakon would advise her just as he had for Kepriah, but still...Larisa glanced around at the prone figures. Someone here must know how to track.
Another notion hit her in the stomach like an anvil and caused bile to rise in her throat. If bounty hunters had taken Kepriah, they could sever her head before the woman woke and had a chance to protect herself. Unless the scepter kept her conscious like Larisa’s talisman. No. Kepriah would have fought like a den wolf had she been conscious, even with hedgegrass in her system. And conscious, she would have access to the scepter. She would not allow someone to take her.
Though distance did not keep her from feeling the woman, it did make the link weaker. She could sense Kepriah was alive, nothing more, and that could be from a dream or waking state. She hoped it meant the latter. Hedgegrass produced uneasy dreams. Right now, Patrice was experiencing something unpleasant. Larisa separated Patrice’s emotions through the link, a task each of them had recently learned to do, and focused on her eldest sister.
Even if Kepriah were unconscious, she might recover before the bounty hunters arrived at their destination. Unless they dose her the entire way. Would royals want her awake for her own death? That sounded ridiculous when Larisa thought about it, but the avenger probably wanted the victim to suffer and to know she was suffering. Kepriah would be awake for her own beheading. Larisa’s hand went to her throat and her stomach tightened.
The scepter would stay near enough for her sister to beckon it. It might even help her shake off the hedgegrass effects. Larisa had to keep those good thoughts in her mind. She could not let herself think the worst. She was a healer now and it was her duty to keep everyone in good spirits. Luck from the Moirai with that.
She took another drink from the canteen and glanced at Patrice. This would no doubt put the Earth woman in another foul mood. And they had finally gotten her to contribute, though she did still complain about cooking and sleeping on the ground. Larisa had never known a woman who could not cook. Granted, she had met some who were abysmal at it, but they at least knew which end of a spatula to use. She slowly pushed to her feet, stepped to her sister, and adjusted her skirts, much more becoming for a woman, in Larisa’s opinion, than those trousers from her world.
Larisa roamed around her new patients, checking pulses and making certain they did not become too cold. Thankfully, Jakon was still here but he had no magic, and despite Palith’s loyalty to Kepriah, Larisa did not trust him or his men without her eldest sister to keep them in line. If they decided to start trouble, Jakon was outnumbered. She, Patrice, and Gail would not be much help. What were the Moirai thinking?
You prayed to the Moirai for excitement, Larisa. You wanted adventure, a way out of Donigere. Mother always said to be careful with wishes. She sighed.
Gail looked so young, especially when she slept, and Larisa studied her. With Kepriah not around, would the girl try to run away again? Larisa did not condone the leash or the way Kepriah frightened the girl to keep her docile, but she realized her eldest sister was right about one thing—they needed Gail. They had to get her the Pewter Throne for any hope of a successful hoisting. Larisa had seen it in visions.
As she thought about the Pewter Throne, her talisman grew warm against her chest and she placed a hand over it. Like last time, the air undulated in front of her, much like summer heat off a rock. Through the wavering air, she saw a young woman seated on a throne, a silver crown atop her red hair. Gail. Beside her, a crowned man sat on the other throne, but his face was turned. The air swirled away like fog in a brisk wind, taking the vision with it, and Larisa dropped her hand from the talisman. The only time she saw the young man’s face clearly was the first vision of him, the one in the war-torn village as he begged for food and coin. He looked much healthier in this vision, no longer a hungry beggar. Gail had filled out since they rescued her from her ruined farm and looked healthy now, healthy enough to marry.
Jakon moaned, and Larisa moved to his side. “Go slowly, Jakon. You have been dosed with hedgegrass.”
“Feels like it. Is everyone all right, Second?”
“They took Kepriah.” Several curses flew from Jakon’s lips and he pushed to a sitting position with Larisa’s assistance. When he tried to stand, she said, “Not yet. You will fall over.” She gave him the canteen and he drank greedily.
Those golden eyes squinted at her and she sympathized. “Your talisman. It protected you?”
“Seems like. I stayed conscious and was able to get up a short time ago.” She felt almost normal again, except for the bit of thickness in her head. “Patrice is still out. Why are you awake?”
He smiled, sharp teeth bright against his dark skin. “It would take twice what others need to keep me unconscious for a long period. Another gift from the Moirai.”
“And lucky for me.” She gave him a wide grin followed by a frown. “I have no idea what to do next, Jakon. Kepriah’s alive. I can feel her. But we need to find her.”
A relieved look came over his features. “Agreed.” He glanced around. “It will be a while before we can travel. At least they left us the jabbers.”
“Yes. Why would they do that? Do you think it was robbers? Or bounty hunt
ers?”
A thoughtful look crossed his face and he studied the ground. “I do not think so. Robbers would not leave any jewels or coin behind.” He pointed to her talisman. “And bounty hunters, well, see those tracks? There were six attackers, one female from the boot shape. Bounty hunters travel in packs of three. More is conspicuous and too many to split bounty with. And there are only two female bounty hunters that I know of. Neither works for the royals.” He smirked. “I studied bounty hunters when I became Sorinieve’s protector. Helped us avoid them.”
Another option, one Larisa had been trying to ignore, surfaced again. “Nyanan?”
He frowned. “I believe so.”
Nyanan was becoming quite a pain in their backsides. The woman might make Kepriah miserable but at least she would not behead her.
Jakon gave her a concerned look. “You have not been injured, have you? You and Third Noble and Gail?”
From his tone, she knew exactly what he meant. “No.” Thank the Moirai.
When assisting her mother, Larisa had seen two violated women, one by her own husband and the other by a stranger passing through Donigere. The physical scars healed but something in the women’s eyes seemed to die away. The wife had refused to leave her abusing husband and he moved them out of Donigere soon afterwards. The stranger was caught, beaten, and banished from Donigere, though Larisa suspected he did not survive his banishment. The woman he had raped would not let any man near her for a long time. It was just two months before the flood that she had finally married Tomis, a gentle man.
“I think I can stand now, Noble.”
Jakon’s voice jolted Larisa back from those disturbing thoughts. When she helped him to his feet, he clutched his head. “Sorry, Jakon, but I have nothing for a hedgegrass headache. You will have to be patient until the herb gets through your body.”
“It will pass.” He said that as though he had experience.
The large man moved slowly and Larisa felt for him. Her own head was clear now, thank the Moirai, but she had more urgent concerns. If the rest of the group stayed out for several hours, Nyanan would get Kepriah farther from them. That was probably the woman’s plan all along, to ensure no one followed right away.
“You all right, Second?”
“Yes, Jakon. Just worried.”
He stepped close and peered down at her with those familiar golden eyes. “We will find her.”
She gave a tiny smile, amazed at how attached she had become to her new sisters in such a short time. Not long ago they were strangers, and now she sensed their most intimate feelings. The two of them thought about sex much too often in her opinion. She glanced at Patrice, who still slept. She had not felt those urges from the Earth woman since that night at Damon’s palace. Worry filled her again. Patrice did not talk about it but she still had nightmares. No amount of lying on her sister’s part could keep Larisa from believing otherwise.
As Jakon crept around the clearing, he checked the jabbers and the trees, followed footprints and mumbled to himself. Larisa trailed him, trying to learn how he knew the number of attackers and which prints belonged to a woman. All the prints looked the same to her. Like boots in mud.
A woman’s prints would be smaller. Would they not? These were nearly the same size. A large woman perhaps? She smiled that she had even thought of that. Her father would have been surprised, since she never had any interest in tracking and hunting.
“No one stayed behind.” Jakon’s voice caused Larisa to jump. He sounded so loud in the quiet morning, with only birds, insects, and a few snores as background. “Not much we can do until the others come around. Is Rabbit okay?”
“Yes.” She followed Jakon as he scooped up the bowl of darts and sat next to the wall. “The sleep might do him good. Patrice, too.”
As Jakon sniffed one of the darts, he offered a grin to Larisa. “You recognized the smell. That was very astute, Noble. Very much a healer.”
She eyed him as she sat down. “My mother took me on healing visits from the time I was old enough to walk, and I resisted her trade from the day I was old enough to apprentice with her. Her teachings must have gotten through my thick head anyway.”
“Lucky for us.”
Without Kepriah and her scepter for healing, they would need Larisa’s talents even more. I just hope none of us gets seriously injured.
Jakon leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He looked rugged, strong, intimidating at times, yet he had been nothing but kind, even in his frustrations with the Trine’s quibbling ways. He had been Sorinieve’s lover, and Larisa had seen his recent exchange with Kepriah. All the hand signs in the world could not keep her from noticing the way the two looked at each other. Pure lust. Kepriah had tried to hide her feelings but Larisa had felt her sister’s desire flare for an instant.
Larisa had never bedded a man. Two boys had kissed her on separate occasions, out of sight from village eyes, but she had never felt a man’s hands on her in a sexual way, except through Kepriah. Her own desire swelled as she watched Jakon’s broad chest rise and fall with each breath. She chided herself. Though Jakon would be a willing partner, this was certainly not the time or place to give in to desires of the flesh. She pulled her cloak around her, leaned her head against the hard wall, and let the cool breeze lull her to sleep.
Nearby moans prompted her awake. The sky was darkening as gray clouds crossed the sun, and the wind had picked up. Jakon was leaning over Patrice.
“Slowly, Third,” he told the prone woman. “You will have a headache for a while.”
“What the hell happened?”
Larisa smiled at her sister’s sour disposition as she made her way to the woman. “We were dosed with hedgegrass.”
Patrice sat and winced, then held her head and peered with one eye open at Larisa. “What’s hedgegrass?”
“An herb that puts people in a deep sleep. It is commonly used for surgery, but we figure Nyanan wanted us out of the way so she could take Kepriah.”
“What?” Patrice started to look around but got a pained look on her face and leaned away to vomit. Afterward, she spit a couple of times and groaned. “Remind me never to have surgery here. Kepriah’s all right. I still feel her.”
Jakon produced a rag from his pocket and offered it to Patrice to wipe her mouth. “First Noble should not be in any immediate danger but we need to find her.”
“How? Why would Nyanan do this?”
Larisa checked her sister’s pulse. It was a bit rapid from exertion but she would recover. “She wants our powers, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. I feel like shit. My head feels like a foggy day in Seward. I think I swallowed an entire bag of cotton balls. And I had the craziest dream.”
“Oh?” Larisa stroked Patrice’s hair.
Patrice waved a dismissive hand. “Nothing bad. Just a lot of flying around and landing on cars that turned into giant glaciers in the shape of lollipops.”
“I did not understand most of that.”
“Like I said, crazy.” Her Earth sister grimaced and put a hand to her head again.
“The side effects will pass, Patrice, but you need to go slowly.”
“Easy for you to say. You don’t look like I feel. You or Jakon, either one.”
“My body tolerates more of the herb than most,” the desert dweller said. “But I had that headache. So did your sister.” That got Patrice chuckling between grimaces.
Any patient who can laugh with hedgegrass in her system will recover with haste. Another lesson from Mother, may the river take her swiftly.
“What about you?” Patrice took a swig from Jakon’s offered canteen.
Larisa shrugged. “My talisman kept me conscious. And I wager your ring helped you, though I never saw your stone glow the way mine did.”
“Oh.” Patrice lifted her right hand as though it had a weight tied to it and examined her ring. “There it is. Hard to see in this light but it’s glowing slightly.” She held the ring out to Larisa, who did not notice
anything different.
“If you say so, Third,” Jakon said, when Patrice moved the ring toward him. “We need to find shelter soon. That storm will hit us by nightfall.” He nodded toward the west.
Patrice grunted and shivered. “I feel it. Gives me goose pimples.”
“Will you be all right, Third?”
“Yes. I can ignore the storms when I have to now.”
Larisa smiled. “You are getting more control. Where can we go, Jakon? The others will be awake before dark but I have no idea what condition they will be in.”
The man glanced around. “I suggest we leave as soon as everyone is conscious, Noble. I have not been through this area in centuries but Palith may know of a place. And you are responsible now.” She nodded her understanding, then his golden eyes turned to her Earth sister.
Patrice gave him a confused look. “What? Am I drooling on myself?” She swiped a hand across her chin. “Why’re you staring at me like that, Jakon?”
“I hope you truly have learned to take orders without argument, Third.”
“Huh?”
When Jakon’s gaze moved back to Larisa, she said, “I am the leader until Kepriah is back. But you are much better at it, Jakon. You have centuries on me. You can take over until we bring our sister home.”
“I am here to advise and protect. I cannot lead you.”
“Oh, just do it, Jakon,” Patrice said with her eyes closed. “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t. You must have something for this damn headache, Larisa. Anything.”
“Sorry, no. Hedgegrass has to get through your system. It should be gone within the next hour or so.”
One eye opened and stared at her accusingly. “An hour! Maybe I should just sleep until then.”
Patrice started to lie down again, but Larisa caught her and held her upright. “That will make it worse. You need to drink water and move around. Just go slowly. Besides, we need to figure out where to stay tonight. Closer to Kepriah.”