Steel Maiden

by Kim Richardson

“Doesn’t look like nothing to me.”

  Even from a distance I could see the fury in their eyes.

  His expression hardened. “Soon they’ll be cutting each other’s throats.”

  A shudder went down my spine, but his words rang true. It was only a matter of time before even those from the same clans killed each other. There could only be one victor.

  I scanned the groups, knowing what I was looking for, even though I didn’t want to admit it. And I found him.

  Landon was surrounded by a group of men. He stood straight with his arms folded around his chest. His expression was hard. They appeared to be in a heated discussion. He did not look up.

  I felt a little deflated.

  Serves you right, Elena.

  I shouldn’t have been thinking about his smiling eyes and his soft, warm lips. I should have been focusing on the fact that he was my opponent.

  As we approached the group from the Pit, every single pair of eyes, including Will’s and Leo’s, shot daggers at me.

  I gasped. They were all directing their hatred at me.

  The blood drained from my face as I looked away. It hurt. It hurt to be loathed by your own people. I could read their minds. Traitor.

  Of course I would be perceived to be a traitor to them. I was racing as the champion of the temple. I was representing the very people who forced us to live like animals. How could I explain why I was doing this without putting myself, them, and all our families at risk?

  My eyes burned, but I wouldn’t let the tears fall. I sat straighter. I wouldn’t let them see how painful this was for me. If Mad Jack had seen the reaction from his group, he never gave any indication. I was sure he did. If I saw them, he saw them.

  It was as clear as the sky was blue—I was not welcome.

  The icy realization that I was alone made me shudder. The other participants all competed as members of teams. My friends from the Pit had rejected me, and I didn’t fit in with the highborn and wealthy Anglians. I was an outcast.

  Mad Jack seemed to realize how alienated I had become, and the look of sadness in his eyes made it all so much worse.

  “We’re about a half a day’s ride away from the border. The horses are well rested so we’ll be heading out soon,” he said softly as though he was afraid I’d burst into tears.

  I felt guilty that Torak would not be as well rested as the other horses. He was loyal to me. He was the most deserving of a good rest and a full belly.

  Mad Jack shifted uncomfortably. “I have a few things to take care of before we leave. You know, the tension between the groups is just going to get worse. It might be safer for you to ride with us. Maybe we could—”

  “No. I’m not riding with you.”

  My voice was harsh, and he stared at me with his mouth open.

  “This is a race, right? There is no we. And the last I checked, I was in this bloody race because of you. So you’ll understand why the last thing I need is to be around you. We’re alone in this. All of us. Only one of us can get the stone.”

  I looked away, not wanting him to bewitch me to change my mind.

  “My horse needs water.”

  Mad Jack opened his mouth to argue, but I left him and steered Torak to the riverbank.

  I was not alone. I had Torak.

  I slipped off his back and let him relax a little. He deserved it. As he began to drink, the thunder of stampeding horses filled the air. I whirled around to see the Girmanians dashing across the road. The other groups saw them leaving and rushed their packing, too. In a few moments most of them were mounted and racing across the fields to catch up to the Girmanians. It all happened much faster than I could have imagined.

  I coughed as the last of the riders hurried off, and everything was covered in a blanket of dust and dirt. I blinked through the mist and saw that Landon was watching me. Our eyes met for a moment. He gave me a meaningful smile, like he was pleased to see that I was still in the race, and then he turned his horse and galloped after the fury of rushing horses.

  Mad Jack’s great white mare shifted nervously, anxious to be let loose and join the others, and he looked at me anxiously, pleading with me to move.

  I had told him that I didn’t want to race with him or anyone. But I would race.

  I met his gaze and nodded my head.

  He kicked his horse, and they were off.

  I pulled myself up on Torak’s back and grabbed the reins.

  “So sorry for this, my boy,” I whispered and caressed his mane. Creator, forgive me.

  “I promise it’s only for a few more hours. Then you’ll have a whole night to rest.”

  But Torak didn’t seem tired. He was excited, and his eyes were wide and fixed on the other galloping horses. He wanted to run.

  “You are a true godsend, my friend.”

  I didn’t need to slam my heels into his flanks to encourage him. We flew into the open fields, and when I stole a look behind me, I spotted riders eating my dust. I couldn’t see their colors, and I didn’t care. I welled with pride and urged my horse faster.

  This time I wasn’t last.

  CHAPTER 16

  WE TORE DOWN THE central road, finally passing out of the mountainous wilderness of Anglia and into easier country. And I was still not last.

  Mad Jack and his crew rode ahead of me, and I could see him glancing back over his shoulder every few minutes, just to make sure I was still there. I ignored him completely. I didn’t want him to think that he was doing me any favors.

  Again Torak was the model of strength. He ran with an effortless grace that put all the other horses to shame. I understood why Landon had seemed so sad that he had had to sell this magnificent creature to the priests. He was a prince among horses. Although I knew nothing about riding, and even less about a horse’s pedigree, I was sure that Torak had come from a line of kingly horses.

  I caught a glimpse of Landon’s gold and red banners about a half a mile or so ahead, and I knew he was there somewhere, riding with the rest of the champions from Anglia.

  By midday we had reached Gray Havens. It was a small village protected by forest, and I knew from studying my maps that this was a legendary witch village. Stories were still told of the strange and deadly witches who lived here. They were said to be cruel magic bearers that stole children in the night and feasted on their bodies.

  Gray Havens was a small part of Witchdom, a giant realm east of Arcania. Regular folks didn’t dare enter. There was no invisible wall or anything like that. But the legends said that the witches ate human flesh, so I guessed that was enough to deter anyone from entering.

  Personally, I never believed in such nonsense. I didn’t think women could actually eat people, let alone children. It conflicted with our maternal instinct to protect the young. It sounded more like a manmade myth to keep children at home at night and to prevent them from doing mischief.

  Legend said that in the days of the kings, the royal guard had been charged with destroying the village and killing all the witches. But the guard had gone in and never returned. The people of Anglia never set foot in the village again.

  As we approached, I could see a road that wound into the forest but then was lost in shadow. And then I heard a strange humming sound, like the buzz of giant bees. I could see that the sound came from tall wooden posts in which grotesque faces had been carved. They were part human and part animal, with horns, holes for mouths, and long protruding tongues.

  The posts stood like giant guards at the entrance to the town, to warn off intruders no doubt, and I felt their eyes following me as I galloped by.

  A strange energy was thick in the air, like lightning before a storm. I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel it—a warning of some kind. But I wasn’t sure if it was a warning not to enter, or a warning about something else entirely. Even Torak stiffened beneath me. I was terrified.

  “It’s witchcraft,” shouted Will twenty feet ahead of me. “Demons, disciples of the Devil himself. Do not look into th
e eyes of their demons, my friends, for they will curse you and take your soul.”

  He spit on the ground and made the sign of the Creator.

  Every rider who passed after that spit on the ground, and each time it made me more and more nervous.

  I glowered at them. “Do you think it’s wise to insult them like that?” I yelled to anyone who would listen. “If anything, it might make them angry.”

  A man I recognized from the Pit turned to me. “If you don’t want them witches to poison your soul, best spit on the ground and ask the Creator for protection.”

  He pulled out a trinket in the shape of a sun that hung from a thin leather string. He kissed it. No doubt it was some crude protection charm to ward off evil. I’d seen them before at the traders’ market, and they never stayed on display for long.

  Why did the people of Arcania fear magic bearers so much? Their hatred for anything magic made me uneasy. I didn’t want to think of what they would do to me if they found out my secret.

  I caught Mad Jack watching me. He looked nervous and curious, like he knew there was something different about me but just didn’t know what. All he knew was that I had managed the impossible when I had survived sorcerer’s fire to steal the crown.

  I sighed in relief as the village of Gray Havens disappeared behind us. I had the uneasy feeling that the witches had seen the disrespect that the other riders had demonstrated at the doors of their village. I suspected they wouldn’t forget.

  We rode on in silence for hours after that. When we finally reached the border of Anglia, the sun was a fiery red orb of light sinking beneath the waters of the West Sea. The sky was ablaze with warm oranges and searing reds, and I could see that the outer edges of the blazing sky were cooled with the indigo of the coming night.

  Even before I saw it, I smelled the delicious salt scent of the West Sea. We came over a rise, and I could see the waves that beat golden beaches that stretched into the distance.

  The long strip of land that was called Death’s Arm disappeared into a blanket of rolling mist out at sea. It was wider than I’d first thought, the size of a farmer’s field, and although I couldn’t see past the fog, I knew that it stretched out all the way to Goth.

  At the border between Anglia and Goth, Death’s Arm connected the two realms with the miles of dead grasses and rotted trees that were known as the Eternal Bog. Tree skeletons were foreboding shadows that loomed up in a thick gray mist to warn off intruders. Weeds covered most of the dark greasy surfaces of the sullen black waters, and white mist coiled above the stagnant pools of the bog. A faint smell of sulfur tickled my nose, and I could smell something more foul that I didn’t want to think about.

  The Eternal Bogs looked more impenetrable than I’d first thought.

  I felt a sudden pull, like something in the bog was reaching out to me. And then I heard a droning sound. At first I thought it was the sound of the waves hitting the rocks around the cliffs, but I quickly realized that the sound was something else. It was coming from the bogs. It was almost as though the mist itself was alive and breathing.

  A chill rolled down my spine, and my pulse raced. There was something evil lurking beyond that gray mist. I couldn’t see it, but I felt something in my bones, something inhuman. A dark entity was waiting for us on the other side.

  How are we going to cross?

  Torak shifted nervously, and I eased him into a full stop. I stared out into a white evil. He could sense it, too, the evil that lurked in the bogs.

  I spotted the Girmanians, the Espanians, the Anglians, the Romilians, the Fransians and the Purtulese. They were all camped out on the beaches. While many of them regarded me with animosity, I couldn’t help but feel invigorated. I was still in the race. And by the looks of it, everyone was at a standstill. Everyone was equal now.

  I took in a long breath of fresh air and relaxed a little.

  “Quite a sight, isn’t it?”

  Startled, I turned to see Landon. He walked over to me with his head high and looked very regal in his red and gold tunic. There was no mistaking his noble birth. It practically oozed off him. He smiled with that too perfect smile, and I cursed self-consciously that the blood always seemed to rush to my face when I saw him.

  I looked away quickly.

  “It is. It’s like a white evil. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It doesn’t even look real, more like a dream, you know, like a nightmare.”

  He didn’t say anything, but I could feel his eyes inspecting every inch of me. I felt my ears burn, and my heart raged in my chest.

  He came up and stroked Torak’s neck, soothing him softly with words I couldn’t hear. Torak nickered in greeting, a hello to an old friend, and rested his head on his shoulder. They stayed that way for a while. Finally, he peered up at me, and our eyes locked.

  “You’re holding your own,” he said, impressed. “Glad to see it. For someone who’d never ridden before, I wasn’t even sure you’d make it past the gates in Soul City.”

  When I saw the mischief in his smile, I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Well,” I said, trying to compose myself, “you haven’t gotten rid of me just yet.”

  He was so close I could smell his musky male sweat. It was intoxicating.

  “Who says I want to get rid of you?”

  His gaze met mine again, and he didn’t try to hide the flirtatious tone in his voice.

  I looked away again as my treacherous cheeks began to give me away. I blurted the first thing that came to my head.

  “Why has everyone stopped? Shouldn’t we continue?”

  “Because it’ll be dark soon.” Landon looked over to the bogs. “And no one, not even the strongest warrior in all of Arcania would venture into Death’s Arm at night. It would be suicide.”

  “Because of the bogs?” I asked and shivered.

  I had to admit that just looking at them almost caused me to break out in hives. I peeled my eyes away from his, and with a straight face I asked, “Tell me more about this bog. Something tells me you know more about it than the rest of us.”

  I wasn’t sure he would answer, but I felt it was worth a try. I needed to prepare myself for whatever devils were lurking out in Death’s Arm.

  Landon spoke lightly, but his eyes were grave.

  “Well, from what I’ve heard, the bog is a perilous swamp that goes on for miles. Some say that it never ends. Some say that it’s a doorway to hell, and that you’ll be lost when you are sucked into their shallow waters. Only your bones will resurface, years later,” he added with a knowing expression as though he’d witnessed this first hand.

  “Well, it’s really creepy and disturbing that we have to cross it.” There was no way in hell I’d go in there at night. “Is there no other way around the bogs?”

  I peered at the swamps that bordered Death’s Arm. “There might be some dry areas that would be stable enough support us.”

  Landon shook his head. “No, there’s no other way around, unless you fancy a swim. Even then there’s no telling what demons lurk in the waters. I’ve heard stories of folks who’ve only just dipped in their toes, only to die the next day of a mysterious illness. No, I wouldn’t chance it. The waters are treacherous.”

  “Such nonsense is probably just old wives’ tales,” I said. “But I believe there’s a bit of truth in any tale, so I suspect it’s wise to stay away from the water.”

  When Landon grinned, tiny dimples formed below his cheeks.

  “Beauty and brains. A dangerous combination. Is there anything you can’t do?” His eyes sparkled mischievously.

  “I don’t know, to be honest.”

  I laughed softly, shocked at my own forwardness. “I haven’t discovered anything yet.”

  He laughed hard, and then watched me for a moment, drinking me in slowly with his eyes. “You are a remarkable woman, Elena. No doubt with many more secrets.”

  I was complimented that he remembered my name, but it was the way he emphasized the word secre
ts that had me twitching on the inside.

  I tried to look composed. “So everyone will camp here for the night, then?”

  He watched me for a moment longer. “For the most part, yes.”

  The camps that were set up already surrounded small fires, and everyone’s expression was rather gloomy. No one was smiling. Did they feel the evil that I felt coming from the bogs?

  “So, what part of Anglia are you from,” I asked and then regretted it, the second the words left my big mouth. This was becoming way too personal.

  He didn’t answer right away, and I thought he was about to lie. But when he did finally answer there was no lie in his eyes.

  “Erast,” he said finally. “Just south of Soul City.”

  He looked at me sharply and said, “From your accent, you’re definitely from Anglia. And if I had to guess, I’d say you were from the Pit.”

  He watched me with eyebrows raised.

  “I am.” There was no point in lying, but I furrowed my brows in frustration.

  “A woman from the Pit riding for the priests,” he said perceptively. “Odd. Don’t you think? I’d have never believed it if it weren’t for Torak here and the temple’s emblem. I hate to ask, but are you one of their concubines?”

  “The hell I am,” I shouted, surprising us both. Did he think I was some sex pet? My anger rose to match my voice.

  Landon lifted up his hands in surrender, but he was smiling.

  “I don’t mean to offend you. It’s just…” he paused and his smile vanished, “it’s just very unusual for a woman from the Pit to have such vivacity of spirit. You are clearly not in a sexual liaison with the priests, and yet you are riding for them.”

  Of course he’d think I was in league with the priests. I was traveling on a warhorse clad in the finest saddle blankets and emblazoned with the emblem of the temple. It made me want to vomit. But it was quite plain from the expectant look on his face that he was anticipating an answer. Why was he so interested in me? What was in it for him? I had the feeling he would keep on asking until I told him.

  I couldn’t tell him that the high priest had forbidden me from speaking, and that I was being blackmailed. Perhaps it would be better to avoid him after all.