Romana's Freedom (Soul Merge Saga Book 1)

by M. P. A. Hanson

  “The good captain then if you please.”

  She turned Jayde around, and began the ride back to the clearing, the prince of the human realms clinging round her waist.

  When they got back, hell came back for a second try. She sighed, and dismounted to face the forty odd bandits that wanted another go at the prince of the Human Realms, and had them surrounded.

  Dramatic pause, she thought, as they waited to see what she would do. Her eyes flicked around under her hood, and she knew her face was still hidden in shadow.

  She pulled her hood forward some more anyway, keeping her face in the dark. Then she used elvenspeed to unsheathe her swords.

  “Leave this to me boys.” She informed the guards.

  Then she used elvenspeed to run around the circle and return directly back to where she had been before, it took her three seconds at most. Two seconds later, blood erupted from the throats of the bandits who had been in arms reach.

  The remaining bandits stared in horror.

  “Sorcerer!” One yelled in fear, and ran into the forest, making the sign of the Ancients across himself.

  The others followed out of fear, as she pulled a cloth from Jayde’s saddle, and began to clean her blades.

  “You should decide now whether you intend to continue to Carin, or scram back the way you came.” She told them, gesturing with her hand for the prince to dismount. “Either way, you won’t have to worry about being jumped without warning again.”

  “It would be far easier to thank you if we knew your name.” he replied, staying put in the saddle.

  “Names have no importance to me.” She replied. “If you felt like it you could follow the ignorance of others and call me a warlock.” She was a woman after all; calling her a man was pretty stupid on their part.

  “I asked for your name, not your label.” He replied.

  “Don’t have one.” She replied. “Or at least, I don’t have one that you can use, too many powerful people with a look out for it.”

  “So you’re a criminal?” He asked her.

  “Yes and no.” She replied “Now, off the horse if you don’t mind. I need to get home soon; all these men staring at me might make me nervous,” She dropped her voice to a carrying whisper “you know what they say about the palace guards.”

  She was playing insane for a reason. It was so much easier to remain emotionally detached when playing with royalty and it was easier to do that if you were keeping them away with a guise of madness. She watched the prince’s face again, and saw a plan brewing in his eyes.

  “It is too late to travel to either Carin or Morendor; we’d not get halfway to either before darkness fell completely and we were overwhelmed again. The best strategy, it would seem, would be to make camp a little way away, and head back in the morning. Would you join us?” He asked, sliding from Jayde’s back and coming to a halt in front of her.

  “I have no need to make camp.” She replied. “I shall be going now.”

  “Why not stay with us?” He asked “We have enough food to share, and we could use a swordsman of your skill if they came back. There would be a large reward for you when we arrive back at Morendor.”

  “Rewards aren’t my style.” She shot back “And I have my own nourishment.”

  “But do you have a tent to sleep in? It looks as if it’s about to rain, and the rainstorms around here go on for days.”

  That was a good point, she thought. “Alright, but I don’t intend to stay long enough for you to try and place a medal over my head.”

  “But you intend to ride back with us tomorrow?” He asked

  “Yes.” She replied. “But I will leave when you reach the city boarders.”

  “You are determined not to let me reward you, aren’t you.”

  “It would be an insult for you to try.” She replied. “If I wanted your money, I’d steal it. And I’d revel in the challenge of getting into the royal treasury. It would be boring if you invited me in.”

  He nodded, and began ordering lookouts, assigning her to the west perimeter, alone, which she was grateful for. She was to switch guards at midnight.

  She made up the tent that a guard gingerly handed to her, at elvenspeed so, naturally everyone gaped at her for a while before she stared them down so hard from beneath her hood that they all returned to looking at their own tents.

  Chapter Thirteen

  THE SILVER EYED WYTCH

  She found a large tree near the edge of the perimeter, and climbed into its larger branches. She climbed with the grace of an animal, she’d been told, yet again, the suck-ups in the Elven court would tell you anything if they thought it would gain them the favour of the queen. She sat in the branches and extended her hearing, listening out, something far more reliable than even her elvensight in the dense forest.

  Some minutes later the princeling climbed up beside her. “I owe you twice now.” He began, pulling back her hood to expose her face.

  “I collect on my debts,” she replied in her voice. Her voice, not Romana’s, the girl’s voice carried the accent of the desert people, while hers carried only the subtlest hint of elventongue. “You should be wary for what I might ask.”

  “Ask and it’s yours.” The prince replied, settling down beside her.

  “I’ll hold onto yours for now, but be ready to hand over your kingdom when I ask.” When he gaped at her she rolled her eyes. “Yes, because I could be bothered to run a kingdom. Not.”

  “I still don’t feel comfortable not knowing your name. Is there nothing we could call you by?”

  “Feel welcome to make something up. Nothing dull though”

  He paused and she returned to the task of listening for intruders.

  “Silver.” He replied “Like your eyes. Is that interesting enough for you? Your eyes are a fairly unusual colour anyway.”

  “Only certain elven families have the colour.” The newly named Silver replied. “Now you know how to start searching for your pet elf’s family.”

  “You’re related to her?” He asked.

  “I wouldn’t tell you if I was.” She replied.

  “How long have you been watching me?” He asked.

  “You’re sounding very self-centred.” She cautioned “What I do is not restricted to snobby royals who buy slaves because it made sense to keep one close to them because they’re an ‘advanced species’.” She plucked the memories from Romana’s conscious as she talked.

  “You were there?” He asked “So you have been watching me.”

  “No. I was drawn to the girl’s presence. I hadn’t expected to see another elf in the human city.”

  “And what were you doing in the passageways?” He asked.

  “Stealing food,” She lied easily. “I get cranky when I’m hungry.”

  “I didn’t receive a report of any thefts.”

  “You see, that’s what distinguishes brilliant thieves from the good ones. Brilliant thieves can go in and out, take things, and you never notice they’re gone.”

  He was silent for a while. “Some of the horses were killed when we were ambushed. Everyone has to double up, you included.”

  “I will not be doubling up with anyone.” She replied “Anyone else on my saddle would regret it.”

  “I’m willing to risk it.” He replied.

  “You intend to be the one sharing with me.” She guessed. “Well, don’t expect to succeed.”

  He stopped and thought for a second. “A match; if I win it, I get to ride behind you, but if you win, you can pick your reward.”

  “Another favour?” She asked.

  “Only if you win.”

  “When?” She asked.

  “Tomorrow at dawn, before we move out.” He replied.

  “Best get back to your captain.” She informed him. “He’s going to come searching for you in a minute.” The old man’s grumbling was annoyingly loud to her senses. “And you need to tend to your cuts.”

  “Can’t.” He replied “The mule with the
medical supplies on was taken.”

  “And none of your soldiers has any other medical training.”

  “I didn’t exactly bring the infirmary with me.” He replied dryly, wincing as he pulled his sleeve back from a particularly bad cut on his arm. He climbed down then, leaving her to her watch.

  Two hours later she climbed down from her tree, her muscles slightly stiff from having been in the same position for the whole time, yet bearable. She woke her replacement, who nodded silently and thanked her for helping them. She kept her voice low, and slipped into the woods.

  It didn’t take her long to find the herbs she needed, digging them up was even faster, and she ran with them back to camp at elvenspeed. She took her canteen from Jayde’s saddle, and heated half the water over the fire at the centre of the camp.

  When it was boiling, she ripped a scrap of cloth from one of the cotton blankets given to her by the guards, and tied the herbs in it, boiling the poultice in the water for a few minutes before taking it over to the prince’s tent. He was awake, as soon as she opened the tent door, sword in hand.

  “Relax. I brought you something. Put it on the cuts.”

  She handed him the poultice and left, not giving him a chance to say anything as she slipped into her own tent, and allowed herself a light doze, from which her elvensense would wake her at the slightest wrong sound.

  That sound was the whispering open of her tent door, some six hours later.

  Her knife was withdrawn from under the pillow in an instant, and then lowered as she saw the prince, with breakfast.

  “Relax, I brought you something.” He told her, echoing her earlier words. She took the tray silently from him, and waited for him to leave. “When did you learn herb lore?” He asked her, sitting next to the camp bed.

  “Years before you were born, halfling.” She replied. “I have been around for centuries.”

  “Exactly how old are you?” He asked.

  “I’ve survived for millennia.” She replied. “I no longer care for my exact age, though I’d guess at around three thousand years old.”

  “Yet you show no signs of aging.”

  “Not all races do.”

  “You’re elven.”

  “Well done.”

  “Not even the royal family is that old.” He disagreed.

  “Not true.” She replied. “Queen Hira is older than me by several centuries.” She wolfed down the bacon. “The court magicians are younger by only a handful of years.”

  “Should I be hesitant about fighting such an old woman?” He joked.

  “Should I be hesitant about putting a baby on his butt when I win?” She asked.

  He laughed, and then paused. “How did you know I was a halfling?”

  “You’re forgetting, I’m old, I knew the son of the elven adviser Fiora and the human King would be heir to the throne, and your features are typical for a half-elf.”

  “Not many people figure it out.”

  “You keep it a secret?” She asked.

  “No, but I don’t exactly advertise it.” He replied “Even a prince is entitled to some privacy.”

  She nodded, and finished the food, before raising her hood and ushering him out of the tent.

  She folded up the bed, and then made quick work of the tent. Outside many of the guards were only just waking up. One was using his sword to mark a large ring in the ground where the fire had been the night before, she left her tent in a neat pile on the ground, and walked to where Jayde stood, she sorted through her things, re-organising the saddle, and lowing the stirrups to the correct position.

  “Um, excuse me?” A human spoke up from behind her.

  She turned and looked at him from beneath her hood. Her impassiveness appeared to make the guard more nervous and he started wringing his hands when she didn’t reply, but to his credit, he got up the courage to continue anyway. “I wanted to say thank-you.” He said, “You saved my life in that battle, from that guy about to cut me in half. I am in your debt.” She studied him for a moment, the guard was young, perhaps only in his early twenties, but he was solidly built and she got the feeling he was sincere about what he was saying.

  “What is your name soldier?” She asked

  “Donald. Donald MacArthur.” He replied.

  “I collect on my debts, I am giving you a chance to withdraw your offer, choose wisely, for if you insist upon placing yourself in my debt, I will not forget, and I will not allow you another chance, even if the price is your life.”

  He visibly swallowed, and wrung his hands together again. “I owe you my life.” He insisted “I don’t withdraw my offer.”

  This one was brave, she thought, not many men had the courage to speak to her after seeing her kill, yet this one was offering her a life-debt, and the realms took debts and favours seriously, they were almost currency. No one would get in the way of her killing this man here and now, his life was hers to command. “Your honour is admirable.” She informed him “Others would do well to learn your courage, MacArthur.”

  “Thank-you, thank-you very much.” He replied, hovering uncomfortably before giving up on hopes of a conversation and leaving.

  Dawn shimmered over the horizon, and she patted Jayde, before walking to the ring. The prince was waiting for her, he wore no shirt, and his lean muscles gleamed in the rays of the sun. The skin stretched over those muscles was a golden colour, tanned by the heat of summer. Most women would find him attractive; she wasn’t interested in cradle robbing.

  Walking over to the opposite side of the dirt ring, she waited for the captain to appear in the middle.

  “Do you plan to fight in your cloak?” The prince asked, smiling slightly. Did he want the others to know he was beaten by a woman?

  She unclasped the hook at the front before chucking the thing aside. The idiot spectators gaped.

  “Yes. Amazing! I’m a woman, pull your jaws up from the ground already,” She told them sarcastically.

  “Women are not permitted to fight.” The captain informed her.

  “Yes, well, I would also be embarrassed if I were in the situation where someone of what I view as the inferior sex had to save my life.” She replied. “Now, get on with it; your misogynistic laws bore me, as do your chauvinistic attitudes.”

  The captain’s face grew to a respectable purple, as he built up steam, but the prince stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.

  “I’ll deal with it when we get back to Morendor.” He reassured the man.

  The man cleared his throat and began to speak. “The fight is to first blood,” he stepped out of the ring and raised his hand high in the air before bringing it down in a chopping motion “Begin!”

  She unsheathed her swords, and attacked at elvenspeed. Interestingly, the half-elf appeared to have inherited elvensense from his mother, which was fairly rare, and parried her blows. Admittedly, he did move slightly slower than her, and he appeared out of practice at maintaining elvenspeed, but he was managing to hold his own.

  A blade came an inch away from her cheek, but she parried it, and with her second sword, sliced a hairline scratch down one of those golden arms.

  “HALT!” The captain called, even as they stepped away. “The victory goes to miss…”

  “Silver.” She replied “I am the Silver Eyed Wytch.” It had been one of the many names she’d used over the centuries but it went well with the little prince’s chosen name for her. “You fought well.” She added to the prince in elven, a language he was sure to know. “It may have been more in your favour, if you were better acquainted with fighting at your true strength.”

  “You did put the baby on his butt.” He replied in the same language, smiling slightly. “My reputation will be in tatters for years.”

  “Just tell them that the woman was far more experienced than you.” She replied. “I’m sure they’ll understand.”

  “I don’t suppose I could have a consolation prize.” He asked.

  “What?”

  “L
et me ride with you?” He asked

  “I have maintained secrecy for years. Could you blame me for wanting to stay out of the limelight?” She asked

  “What would it take for you to let me ride with you?” He asked.

  “Adopt an orphaned centaur from the orphanage in Morendor, no older than a year; bring it to the gap in the palace wall to the northeast in two days time.”

  “Why?” He asked.

  “The why is not important.” She replied “I give you my word that the child will not be harmed.”

  “Will you will allow me to see the child, to check you’ve kept your word?” He asked her.

  “Do you think so little of my honour?” She asked.

  “I think a woman like you has little to be honourable for.” He replied.

  “Fine. On every new moon I shall have one of my servants arrange for you to see the child.” She replied.

  “Then I agree to the conditions set.” He replied in human tongue.

  She nodded, and the prince began barking orders at the soldiers, she picked up her cloak from where it lay on the ground, before swinging up onto Jayde.

  It took fifteen minutes for the guards to saddle up and form an organised column. During the procedure she had plenty of time to wonder why on earth she’d asked the prince for a child. She was experienced enough to know that she’d reacted to a subconscious premonition, as had happened before, but why would she want a child when in over three thousand years she’d never shown interest in having one of her own?

  When Morendor’s finest were finally mounted and ready, she moved Jayde to the head of the column, where the prince swung up behind her.

  “I would suggest silence.” She informed him “I hear the group that attacked us last night not far behind us.”

  He made some signals at the rest of the guard, and they set off. It was dull, and slow, but by midday, they were able to see the tops of the great walls, an hour later they reached the edge of the city.

  The peoples’ reaction to her was understandable, they whispered behind their hands. One half of the guard peeled off towards the city barracks, and soon the name she’d given them began to appear in the conversations. Some openly shouted “Wytch!” Others remained silent, scared out of their minds so badly, she could smell the fear coming from them.