The Poison Within

by Rachel Marie Pearcy

  “I have a question,” Gavin slurred, leaning in towards Rya. “I’m going to be a great king.”

  “That’s not a question, that’s a statement.”

  “I’m not like my father, I will be better than him.” His voice was tense but his eyes were soft and moist. “Don’t you think I’ll be a good king?”

  She pitied him in that moment. He seemed so sad and lost, like he had been when she last saw him. “To be honest I have no clue. I think that as a boy you wanted to please everyone, especially your father. Now you can see how horrible a man he was, but I don’t doubt there’s a part of you that still wants to make everyone happy, and I’m certain that won’t end well for me.”

  The last of her words had been lost, driven away by the snickering of Thane and Gavin’s snorts of laughter. They were once again drowned in the alcoholic euphoria, and Rya was practically invisible.

  The night was half over, and the patrons that remained were quiet and somber, or entirely passed out on the tabletops. Gavin and Thane were trying in vain to help each other walk out the door, leaning on the other for support. The pair swayed from right to left as they shuffled down the road. Another tip to the side and an unseen force grabbed them and held them upright. Behind them, Rya walked with her hands stretched out, using her power to keep the boys on their feet and not face down in the dirt.

  “You,” a voice growled from behind. The man had burst from the tavern, and was now staggering after her with heavy steps. His face was bright red, and his eyes were glazed, but she could see the rage fueling his drunken temper. “You killed my brother.”

  Rya rolled her eyes, dropped her hands, and turned towards the man. “I’ve killed quite a few people. You’ll have to be more specific.”

  There was a loud thud and she turned to see Gavin on the ground passed out with Thane standing over him looking confused. She faced the stranger again and sighed. His eyes were wide and the vein in his neck swelled as he fought for words. Unable to voice his anger due to lack of vocabulary, or the alcohol altering his mind, he did the next best thing and reached into the back of his belt. The blade he pulled out was six inches long, and rusted around the handle.

  “I think not,” Thane shouted in a heroic voice. He reached for his own sword, only to find the sheath missing. He failed to remember that he’d left it behind, and began spinning in a circle, like a dog chasing its tail, searching for the weapon.

  The man roared, and charged full speed at Rya.

  “I’m not in the mood for this,” she grumbled, thrusting her hands out in front of her and swirling them around. Vines growing up the side of a nearby building ripped free of the brick and threw themselves at the man, twisting around his limbs and holding them still. His body kept moving forward while his feet locked together, and he crashed to the ground. The sound of his nose cracking was immediately followed by his muffled screams.

  Rya placed a boot on his side and kicked, rolling him onto his back. Blood poured from his broken nose, mixing with the dirt and caking his chin in a red mud.

  “You’ll pay for this,” he spat through the blood.

  “No, I don’t think I will.”

  “You murdered by brother, and you’ll die for what you’ve done.”

  “Again, I have no idea who your brother is—was, but if I killed him, he definitely deserved it.”

  The stranger thrashed from side to side, struggling against the bindings.

  “Was he the man stealing from my crops?” Rya asking, tapping her chin as she thought. “Or maybe the one cheating on his wife? Or the man who I caught abusing his animals. You know, beating a donkey isn’t going to make it move any quicker. He learned that the hard way because no matter how much I beat him, he didn’t work any faster. At least the donkey lived.”

  “Whatever he did wasn’t worth being run over by your own horses and left for dead. Did you know he was still alive when we found him? He was broken all over, but still breathing. He felt every ounce of pain until he passed.”

  “Oh,” Rya gasped in excitement. “That was your brother? I’m surprised you’re so upset, he was not a nice man.”

  “Take that back,” he shouted.

  “I can’t,” she shrugged. “Did you know he was a thief? He would steal people’s horses in the dead of night, then convince them he could retrieve it for a small reward. A scam artist like that has no place in my kingdom. He needed to be removed.”

  “You’re a monster!” He pushed against the vines until he could move his hand. In its new position he was able to place his blade against the plants, wiggling until it cut through them. Suddenly free he stumbled to his knees, then lunged for Rya with the knife still in his grip.

  A gargling gasp escaped his lips as he knelt, frozen. The knife fell to the ground, and his hands moved up, pawing at his neck. His face paled, turning blue while his lungs begged for air. Her magic was strangling the life from him, and he was powerless to stop it.

  “Rya,” Cam voice whispered. She was suddenly at the queen’s side, her gentle touch cooling Rya’s arm. “Let him go.”

  “He attacked me,” she argued, still holding him by the throat.

  “I know, but there are other ways to deal with it. You don’t have to kill everyone who wrongs you.”

  “I disagree.” Rya shook her head, but released her invisible grip.

  The man collapsed, gasping for air. His hands shook, and his body was weak, but he wouldn’t be beaten. His trembling fingers wrapped around the handle of his knife once more, but he was too slow. The rock collided with the side of his head, and in an instant, he was unconscious with Cam standing over him.

  Rya crossed her arms, glaring at the princess. Cam shrugged.

  “I said you didn’t have to kill him, I said nothing about knocking him out.” She looked down at him, cringing at the blood that covered his face. “What did you do to make him so angry?”

  “Why is it always my fault?” Rya asked. “It’s possible he came at me without a reason, and I’m the innocent one in all this.”

  “Are you?”

  “Not completely. Apparently, I killed his brother.”

  It was now Cam’s turn to look annoyed. Rya hung her head back, groaning. “The world is better without him.”

  “How so?” Cam asked.

  “He took advantage of the poor and weak, and when he did return what he’d stolen he would up the price for his service. A man like that doesn’t deserve to be free. Besides, I hadn’t intended on killing him in the beginning. That was a happy accident.”

  “It doesn’t matter what happened back then, but you can’t kill this man for being related to another. That hardly seems fair.”

  “I told you, I was attacked.”

  Cam looked down at the man once again, this time with distain. Rya smirked.

  “So, can I kill him now?”

  Thirty-Four

  Thane rubbed his temples with his fingertips, trying to push away the pain that pounded against his skull. Gavin was on the floor next to him, his face buried in the pile of blankets while he moaned while Sora stood over the pair, offering each a cup of water.

  “You need to drink something other than beer,” Rya smirked. She was looking down at them from her seat on the bed, trying to contain her laughter at their expense. “Water will make it better. I promise.”

  “How do you know?” Gavin groaned. “You don’t drink.”

  “True, but I’ve spent many years in the same house as someone who did. Every night he’d come home as wasted as you two, and each morning I watched him go through the pains of the hangover. You need lots of water, and a good breakfast.”

  “I swear I had a dream you were going to kill a man,” Thane added, forcing a small laugh.

  “That wasn’t a dream,” Gavin replied. “She was attacked in the street.”

  “What?” Thane gasped. The excitement making his brain hurt more.

  “I’m surprised you could remember that,” Rya laughed. “You were face do
wn in the dirt at that point.”

  “My ears still worked,” Gavin winced at his own voice.

  “What happened?” Thane asked. “Did you actually kill him?”

  “Don’t worry,” Rya sighed. “Cam took care of it, and he is still very much alive. She found a pair of traders, showed them her tattoo, and convinced them the man was a danger to the Ashen people. They jumped at the chance to help a princess and bound and gagged him. They vowed to take him to the port in Cira where he will be put on a boat and shipped across the Halton Sea, hopefully to die over there somewhere.”

  “You don’t sound happy about that,” Gavin pointed out. “You would have rather killed him yourself?”

  “Yes. It’s easier that way, but Cam doesn’t care for the violence, so I let her send him away.”

  “I get it now,” he exclaimed. “You’re in love with her. That’s why you let her tag along. I’ve seen what your magic can do, and if anyone else had tried to follow you they would have been frozen on the spot. Then you consider last night. I have never seen you take orders from anyone, not when you’d made up your mind, and yet you just let her have her way. How did I not notice that you’re in love with Cam?”

  “Honestly,” Thane replied, “I don’t know how you missed it. It’s super obvious.”

  “That’s enough,” Rya snapped. “You two need to get downstairs. Some food in your stomach will help get your head right.”

  Gavin pushed himself up from the floor, brushed off the front of his shirt, and laughed. He was just walking out the door when Rya’s keen ears caught his whispered words.

  “The Black Queen falling for the Ashen Princess,” he chuckled. “Like that could ever work.”

  Thane managed to stand, still holding the side of his head.

  “Sora,” he winced. “Could you give me a minute with Rya.”

  “Of course,” the boy nodded, setting Thane’s glass on the nearby table, then promptly rushed from the room.

  “He’s wrong, you know,” Thane said, sitting beside her on the bed. “It could work between you and Cam, if you wanted it to.”

  “I’m not returning the Ashen Forest.”

  “I know you’re not. We could ask you a million times to do so and I know you’d turn us down each time. But we’re only days away from the Isles, and we haven’t done much to change Gavin’s image of you.”

  “I’m aware.” The tingle of fear and anxiety was stirring within her.

  He took her hand in his, squeezing it gently until she looked at him. His eyes had always been so kind, and so calm, just as they were now. His hair had grown past his shoulders since she’d arrived, and the journey from the Ashen Forest had put a blond fur on his jaw. She didn’t want to look at him any longer, she wanted to turn away and pretend she didn’t care, but she couldn’t.

  “I’m smart enough to know you have more than one backup plan,” he added. “I don’t want to know what it is since I’m sure it’s something I would never approve of.”

  “I do,” she replied. “Because of that, when we reach the Isles’ border, I want you to take Cam and return the Ashen Forest.”

  “What—no. We’re with you until the end.”

  “You can’t be. You’ve seen yourself how hated I am, and how many people want me to pay for the things I’ve done. Gavin is not one to stand up against a crowd, and when his own people are chanting for my head, he’ll want to give it to them. I won’t go out like that, and whatever happens next, I don’t want Cam to see it. I don’t want any of you to see it.”

  Thane wrapped his arms around her, his hug absorbing her. The bristly hair on his cheek tickled her forehead, and the tears stung her eyes. She knew that she loved Cam, but she knew she loved him too. In way she loved Sora, and in the way, she would have loved the brothers she never met. He had wiggled his way into her stone heart, and helped drive out some of the poison. She could never tell him what he meant to her, or how much she cared, so instead she just squeezed him tighter.

  A few moments later she took a deep breath, and stepped away from him. His eyes were red and his cheeks were wet, but so were hers.

  “You know she’ll never go,” he sighed. “Cam’s not going to just leave you.”

  “I know,” Rya nodded. “That’s why I’m telling you this now. I’ll need your help when the time comes. I’ll say my goodbye, then you’ll need to take her, even if she fights you. When we talked before you said you would always protect Cam, and that didn’t just mean in battle. This is part of that. If you want to keep her safe, you’ll drag her far from me, and far from the Isles.”

  Thane nodded, and wiped away the last tear clinging to his eye.

  “Now,” she smiled, forcing the smile she had practiced for years. “How about that breakfast. I promise you’ll feel much better after some eggs.”

  Rya was happy to see Thane’s color return after his meal, and she was equally happy to have proved to Gavin that she was right. The group gathered their possessions, and mounted the horses. As they rode out of the village Rya could see the brown stain of blood on the road from where the man had broken his nose, and the drag marks that had followed.

  Avoiding Danek took some work as all the roads seemed to pull the group towards the middle of Trava, but Thane had done an excellent job of keeping them off Centrum Road and close to the coast. The journey had led them through a large orchard of orange trees, filling the air with the sweet citrus smell of the fruit. Strawberries overgrew their plot and the rogue ones had fallen onto the dirt path, leaving sticky pink spots behind as the horses trotted over them.

  Each patch of land they passed was different than the last, and each one beautiful. The rows of crops lined up cross hatched patterns added depth to the low rolling hills. The colors were brighter than Rya had ever seen before. The yellow of the lemons almost glowed in the daylight. The rich greens of the watermelons complimented the vines growing around them. The territory was a quilt, every plot unique as if it spoke to the variety of people that called Trava home. A part of Rya was sad to see it behind them, but with the border to the Imani Plains in front of them, they had no time to waste.

  Thirty-Five

  The roads through Imani were all wide and smoothed over, thanks to the ranchers that drove herds of livestock from one end to the other. Tall grass covered most of the land except for the few flat-topped trees that offered the animals shade in midday heat. The cattle that roamed the open space were branded, each design representing one of the lord’s houses in the area. As they rode near one of the villages, they could see smaller fenced off pastures that housed goats or sheep, obviously belonging to families of lower status.

  “Do you think we’ll make it by sundown?” Sora asked. He was fanning himself as the sunlight beat down on them. Imani enjoyed the warmth of the summer and fall longer than any other kingdom, and the weather was determined to hold off winter as long as possible.

  “We should,” Cam answered. “One more night in a real bed, then it’s back to sleeping on the ground.”

  “Maybe we should splurge and get our own rooms this time,” Gavin added from behind them. “I wouldn’t mind having a moment’s peace before marching into a battle.”

  “I don’t know that we can afford that,” Cam replied. “I think it’s better to save the coin we have left and maybe buy some food for when we leave Imani. Being back in the wilderness is going to be rough, and I don’t want to end up in the situation we had before.”

  “Cam’s right,” Thane nodded. “The last thing we need is to be going to war and empty stomachs.”

  “Fine,” Gavin grumbled. “But this time you’re sleeping on the floor. I can’t handle another night of you kicking me in your sleep.”

  All over Imani groups of shingled buildings calling themselves villages popped up. Living close together gave the regular citizens a sense of comfort and safety. No one wanted to be out on their own trying to keep the lords from absorbing their small piece of land into their own. Cam had expected Sara
ba to mostly be the same, perhaps with a few more shabby homes on the outskirts. She was completely wrong.

  All the money the king of Imani spent on his kingdom obviously went into maintaining the small city. The buildings were still made of wood, but the grain was smooth and without splinters. Each home was painted a different color, and stood at least a story, if not two, higher than any others they’d seen along the way. The roads were made of cobblestone, lined with torches for the night, and cleaner than anyone would have expected. Shops were tucked in between houses, flower stalls sat on the corners, and the smell of a bakery filled the air.

  The inn they were searching for sat on the end of a long drive, flanked by a bar on one side, and a small market on the other. The exterior was a sky blue and each of the four floors held large windows that tilted open to allow the fresh air to flow into the rooms. The inside was equally impressive, with a large dining area and kitchen to one side, and a parlor for games on the other.

  “Here,” Norell said, taking the bag of coin from Cam’s hand. “I’ll get the rooms, you ask what time dinner is served.”

  Cam had tracked down one of the cooks and gotten the information they needed when Norell returned to her with a key in hand, and led her away from the rest of the group.

  “Take this.” Norell shoved the brass at Cam. “Room 40, top floor. I’ll be up soon. I just have to deal with something first.”

  The look on her cousin’s face was tense, and Cam couldn’t help but wonder what Thane had done this time to make her so annoyed.

  She took the key and climbed the four flights of stairs, finally coming to the door with the 40 carved into the rich wood. She unlocked it and walked in, not ready for what she found. The space was bright and airy, thanks to the windows she’d seen outside. The bed was larger than any they’d slept in so far, and she collapsed on the plush bedding. The sheets smelled of fresh air and flowers, and she rolled over to take a big whiff. After breathing in the clean scent, she stood and looked out the window. The king of Imani’s home was in the center of the scene, placed atop a small slope, the white walls glistened as the sun set behind the massive castle. It was impressive, as was the whole town of Saraba, but she grew sad for those living elsewhere in Imani. If you weren’t here in the heart of it, you were lost and forgotten, left on your own to survive the brutal world of ranchers.