“Exactly,” said Brytnoth. “Exactly. Just like on my own homeworld. They whittled us down to a single wasted city, and then they came, blasted us out of our homes, and loaded us on a ship. It’s all coming back to me now. They herded us onto that damned ship and sent us to our deaths.”
“You think that’s what happened here? You think that’s what this means?” Rafe asked.
Brytnoth nodded. “But maybe there’s someone left behind. Maybe they weren’t as totally thorough as they should have been. Maybe…” He choked and pushed past them, heading through the twisted metal of the gates and into the blasted street beyond.
“How could there be anyone left?” Sahara asked as they followed him. “Wouldn’t they do a sweep?”
“We won’t know for sure until we do a sweep of our own,” Jared said. “But there’s just one thing more. We can’t be here too long. Those guards at the temple know we escaped. They’ll send out a search for us, and if they find us…well, let’s just say we don’t want to be found. And if we want to leave with the ship, we have to be gone before dusk. That thing won’t survive a sandstorm.”
“We’ll salvage what we can for supplies,” said Rafe. “And maybe we’ll find something that will help us decide what to do next.”
The city stood in breathless quiet. The main street into the city was pocked by deep holes and singed stone, and anything green and living had been utterly destroyed. Sahara couldn’t help a shudder as they passed a row of what used to be shops and was now little more than a heap of burnt stone and timber.
The guilt was weighing her down with every step. Every burned and blasted building stared at her with blackened eyes, convicting her.
If I hadn’t pushed them to rebel, this never would have happened, she thought. I wouldn’t have gotten myself caught…and they wouldn’t have come to destroy the city.
It was inevitable, came Jared’s voice suddenly in her head. They would have come for us no matter what. It was only a matter of time.
Sahara glanced up at him. “That’s what you told me on the day of the battle,” she said aloud. “That I was just giving them the chance to die sooner.”
“I said a lot of things that day,” Jared sighed. “I think I wanted to be proven wrong.”
“But you were right.”
Jared didn’t say anything, and Sahara sped up her pace to catch up with Brytnoth.
The Great House was still partly in flames when they arrived. Smoke billowed from the eastern wing, and Sahara could see tongues of fire licking at the windows on the second and third floors.
“Be careful,” Jared cautioned as they stepped through the rubble that had once been the front doors. “The building could come down on us at any moment. We need to be quick.”
Sahara coughed, the smoke choking her lungs. There was no sign that fire had reached the central wing of the building yet, and she glanced down the wide corridor that led to the dining hall.
“Where should we search?” asked Jared.
Sahara moved slowly down the hall, and she heard the others following her. “If I was going to hide out in a ruined city, I’d find a place where I had access to food and water,” she said softly.
She stopped at one of the long tables and ran her finger along the grain of the wood. “Somewhere secure,” she murmured. “Somewhere…” Her voice trailed off, and then her head snapped up. “I know where. Follow me!”
She led the way through the dining hall and into the kitchen beyond. On the right hand side was the doorway and stairs down into the pantry, and she clattered down them.
“The pantry?” Jared said. “They’re sure to have searched this, Sahara.”
She ignored him and moved to the large shelf at the back of the low room. She groped behind a heavy pot of honey and found what she was looking for. A tiny lever in the wall. She pulled it and stepped aside. The wall to her right shifted suddenly, slipping open and revealing another set of steps that fell away into darkness.
“Anyone got a light?” asked Rafe.
“No need,” Sahara said. “Follow me.”
As she started down the stairs, lights flickered on above them and lit their way.
“How did you find out about this place?” Jared said. “I’ve never been down here before, have you, Rafe?”
“No.”
Sahara motioned for him to be quiet and led the way down the corridor. It ended in a wall of glass. A sophisticated keypad on the right blinked at them. Sahara glanced up.
“Someone’s been here,” she said. “Someone else knew about this place.”
“Can you open this?”
Sahara tapped the code into the keypad and the door slid open. “Yes.”
“What in God’s name is so important that Arnauld would keep it down here?” Rafe asked. “Those look like wine barrels.”
Sahara smiled at him and stepped through the door. “They are. This room is temperature controlled, so Arnauld stores all the best vintages of wine in here. But that wasn’t its original purpose.”
“Well, he certainly took advantage of it,” Brytnoth said, gesturing to the racks of casks that lined the far wall.
“That’s an incredible supply.”
Jared stopped suddenly and grabbed Sahara by the arm. “I want to know how you knew about this,” he said. “And I want to know right now.”
Sahara jerked her arm out of his grasp. “You say it like you think I wasn’t supposed to know about this. Like I was some kind of spy.”
“Well?”
“Lady Aliya showed me how to get in here,” she said. “Because of that.” And she pointed to a case that hummed along the wall opposite the wine casks.
“What the hell is that?” asked Rafe.
“It’s medicine.”
Jared’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Medicine. Anesthetics. Antibiotics. Vaccines.” She shrugged.
“We don’t have supplies like that,” Jared protested. “Our medical supplies dried up a long time ago!”
Sahara arched her eyebrows and pointed. “No, Jared. They’ve been here all along. Lady Aliya had them stockpiled, in case there was ever an outbreak or something that couldn’t effectively be treated with herbs.” She folded her arms. “It’s the perfect place to hide.”
“You’re right,” someone said from behind them.
They spun around to face the speaker, and Jared cried out in surprise.
“Kirin!”
Kirin grinned at them and bowed. “The same.” Then he called out, “You can come out now, Emma! It isn’t them.”
Chapter 30
“Emma!” cried Brytnoth.
She emerged from behind a row of casks and came forward, pale and dirty. Her entire face lit up when she saw Rafe.
“I thought you were dead!” she cried, her eyes welling with tears. “My God! Where have you been all this time?”
She ran to him and as Rafe clasped her tightly in his arms, Sahara saw the relief that flooded his face.
“I thought they had taken you,” he said, then he turned to Kirin. “What happened? And how the hell did you know about this place when none of us did?”
”Lady Aliya told us.”
“How—” began Jared, but Sahara interrupted.
“Let’s get some food,” she said. “If we’re going to tell stories, I want to eat first.”
Emma stared at Sahara as though she’d never seen her before, and the color rose into her face and then faded just as suddenly. “You’re the one,” she said. “The one they were going to sacrifice to the dragon!”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go,” said Jared. “I think I saw a good supply of provisions in the upper pantry.”
They raided the pantry, gathering dried fruit and nuts, flatbread, some strips of dried meat, a rich and dense fruitcake, and several flagons of dark red wine. They clustered at the end of one of the long tables in the dining hall and heaped their bread with food. As Jared poured the wine, Brytnoth spoke to Kirin.
> “Tell us what happened here,” he said. “And tell us how you knew about that storage room.”
Kirin clasped his hands and closed his eyes, and Sahara, glancing up with her mouth full of bread, thought for a moment that he was praying.
“They came yesterday,” he said slowly. “Just after the noon meal. We had no warning. The city gates were closed, but they blasted them open. They flooded the streets and went house to house, pulling every man, woman, and child out into the street. There was no bloodshed. Not yet.” He stopped.
“I was here in the Great House,” said Emma, “and so was Kirin. I was visiting my father. They came through like a sandstorm and swept us all in here and then they left. That’s when some of the men decided to attempt overpowering the guards.”
“Did they?” asked Jared.
“They tried.” Kirin pressed his palms into his eyes and shook his head. “They were slaughtered. And that set off our captors. They dragged thirty people out of the crowd and shot them on the spot. After that, no one dared to move.”
“And that was just the beginning,” Emma broke in. “It came at sunset. The dragon. They forced all of us out into the courtyard, in full view of the beast. And then it just…” Her voice died away for a moment. “Burning. Everything.”
“Everyone was screaming, running,” Kirin said. “The whole place was chaos. And that’s exactly what they wanted. They sealed us off from the main street, and there was nowhere for us to go. I found Emma just by chance. We chose the same stone bench for shelter, trying to escape being trampled or burned to death.”
“The guards at the door of the Great House were overrun,” continued Emma. “Kirin pulled me out from under the bench and the crowd carried us inside. We were halfway up the stairs when we met her. Lady Aliya.”
“She grabbed us by the arms. I’ve never seen her face look like that,” Kirin continued. “The guards were coming. We had no time. And she told us to get down here, to the storeroom. She told us the code. And she told us to seal ourselves inside.”
“We could hear things exploding outside,” Emma said. “And the guards were dragging people out of their chambers, driving them back down the stairs. Smoke was coming from somewhere. It was hard to breathe. I didn’t think we’d make it, but Kirin got us down to the pantry. And then everything stopped.”
“It was so quiet,” said Kirin. “It was…” He shuddered. “There were no more screams, no more gunfire. Just this heavy tread on the floor above us, like hundreds of people marching. We didn’t wait to find out what was happening. We got down to the storeroom and sealed ourselves inside. And that’s where you found us.” He sighed. “I’ve never heard of anything like it. Ever.”
Brytnoth stared at his trencher, his face like stone except for the working of his jaw as he clenched and unclenched his teeth.
“So there’s no one else left?” Rafe asked. “You’ve seen no one?”
“No one.”
“They even took the bodies,” Sahara said. When everyone turned to stare at her, she explained, “I mean, there’s no sign that any executions happened in here at all. No blood, no bodies, nothing.”
“How can you talk like that?” Emma blurted out, her face a sickly white.
Sahara shrugged. “It’s true,” she said. “They left no sign that they were here.”
“Do you know where they were taken?” Jared asked. “Do you know what they did with our people?”
“I haven’t got a clue,” said Kirin. “But what happened to you?”
Jared told them, and for a long time after he finished, no one spoke.
“You’re sure it was dead, then?” Kirin asked, finally. “You killed it?”
“I saw it explode,” said Jared. “The Council is destroyed. For good.”
“Then why—” began Emma.
“I think I understand,” said Rafe. “They never meant to let Albadir stand, no matter what happened to Sahara. We were destined for the same fate as Askalon. And now our people are out there somewhere, drifting in space. Yes, we’re finally free. But we’re utterly alone.”
Jared stood abruptly, knocking over his chair. “Well, it won’t be like that for long.”
“What do you mean?” Sahara asked.
“We’re going after them. And we’re going to bring them home.”
There was absolute silence in the room. Kirin opened and shut his mouth twice, trying to speak but finding no voice.
“That sounds suicidal,” Rafe said. “But why should I expect anything else at this point?”
“We didn’t go up there and destroy the Dragon-Lord Council once and for all just to let them have the final victory! Without the Dragon-Lords, Albadir can be all that she was in the past! We can reclaim the desert, reclaim the southern sea! We can reopen trade with other worlds…become once again a prosperous, free, and happy people. We can be a world again, not just a rebel outpost struggling for survival against overwhelming odds.”
“I agree with Jared,” said Brytnoth. “Askalon suffered the same fate as Silesia...and there was no one to save her. Albadir is my home now, and if I can do anything to save her people, I will do it.”
“Remember our plan, Jared,” said Rafe. “We need to be out of here by dusk to avoid the sandstorms. Let’s get weapons and provisions and load up the ship. The Council may have been destroyed, but its minions weren’t.”
They rose and divided themselves into teams. “And Sahara?” Jared said. “I want you and Emma to head back to the storeroom and pack a med kit. God knows we might need it.”
They spent the remainder of the morning gathering and stowing weapons and supplies on the ship. They ate their noon meal back in the dining hall, but it was a short one.
“Let’s get the rest of our supplies and get out of here before they track us down,” Jared said. “And do a final sweep while you’re at it. Make sure no one else is left here.”
Their search turned up nothing, and they packed up the rest of their supplies and headed back to the ship. Rafe fired up the engines and hesitated, staring out the window at the smoldering remains of their home. Jared strapped himself into the co-pilot’s chair, and Sahara and the others settled into the crew seats.
“I never really thought it would come to this,” Rafe said quietly as he did his final check of the controls. “I guess I never thought they’d actually destroy us in the end.”
Jared clapped him on the shoulder. “Where there’s life, there’s hope,” he said. “We’re in a tough spot, but we’re not out of this fight yet. And now that the Dragon-Lords have been destroyed, we have a chance. A chance to build a new world.”
“We can’t build a world with six people, Jared.”
Jared grinned at him. “That’s why we’re going to get our people back.”
“So where does that take us from here?” Rafe asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“Some awesome search-and-rescue team we are,” said Kirin. “Heading into space on some piece of crap alien ship with no clue where we’re going.”
“You think this ship is a piece of crap?” Sahara asked. “How would you know?”
“Well, he’s not wrong,” Rafe said. “This ship wasn’t designed for deep space flight. She’s a little planet hopper. Not enough fuel in her cells to get us much beyond K’ilenfir. If we think we need to head out beyond that, we’re going to need another ship.”
Jared’s face creased in a broad smile. “Great! Now that we have a plan, let’s go.”
“Sorry,” Rafe said. “Did anyone else hear a plan? I didn’t hear a plan.”
“If we need a deep-space vessel, I know just where to find one,” Jared said. “We’re going to K’ilenfir.”
Rafe stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. “Well, I guess we all have to die sometime,” he said, shaking his head. “You got it.” He glanced over his shoulder at the others strapped into the crew seats behind them. “Buckle up, kids. This’ll be one hell of a ride.”
“
He can’t be serious,” muttered Kirin to Sahara. “He’s not actually serious, is he?”
Sahara watched the blasted skyline of Albadir sink slowly out of view as Rafe lifted them off the ground.
“This is your last chance to stay here, Kirin,” she said. “You want to get off?”
Kirin shook his head. “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this.”
The next moment, they were slammed back into their seats as Rafe gunned the engines. And then, with a dizzying rush, they were out in the black, headed for the pinpoint prison moon on the shadow side of Silesia.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
To the Reader
I hope you’ve enjoyed this first volume in the Silesia Trilogy! This totally revised and expanded edition has been a true delight to work on. If you’ve read the story before, I hope you’ve enjoyed the new material, and if this is your first journey into the world of Silesia, I hope you’re here to stay for a while! You can find The Lords of Askalon and The Artifex in paperback at Amazon.com (and signed copies will be available soon on the SisterMuses website).
Re-releasing the Trilogy under the SisterMuses label has been one of the most exciting moments in my writing career. This has been a dream for a long time, and it’s incredible to see it happening! Please check out our entire backlist of titles, now available for the first time under our own imprint.
If you want behind-the-scenes glimpses at our work at SisterMuses, as well as news about upcoming releases and the unique chance to be part of our advance reviewer team, please head over to www.sistermuses.com and sign up for our newsletter!
If you enjoyed the read, please let me know your thoughts by leaving a review right here! I’d love to connect with you on Goodreads or any of my social sites below!
Until our paths cross again, happy reading!
About the Author
S.K. has been a lover of the written word since childhood. This passion led her to pursue a Ph.D. in English Literature, specializing in the medieval period. Her interest in the intertwining of history, mythology, memory, and language inspires much of her work, including the Silesia Trilogy. When she’s not writing novels, you can find her freelancing, reading, enjoying a cup of coffee, or playing with her kids.
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