by Jackie Dana
At first she could see nothing, for there was no light. “Arric?” she whispered. A couple pounding heartbeats later she saw just enough of a shadow on the ground to guess what it was. “Are you here?”
“Kate?” he responded, his voice hoarse. “What are you doing?”
“Shh.” She helped him stand, and led him, hobbling, to the opening. He stared at the dead soldier lying in the dark pool of blood flowing by his feet. Astounded by the sight, he had enough presence of mind to notice the weapon that she gripped tightly, the blade and her shirt soaked in blood. “You did this?”
She nodded, a grim expression on her face. She wasn’t pleased to admit what she had done, and even as she looked upon the dead man, she felt queasy.
Having assessed the situation, he now whispered back, “use the blade to cut these ropes. Hurry!”
Doing her best to force herself to focus on the task at hand, and not think about the man she had killed, she sawed through the ropes on his feet first. In comparison to dealing the deathblow to an armed soldier, this was maddeningly slow and difficult. Daggers apparently were not designed to cut hemp. Eventually she cut through the rope around his feet, and then she held the dagger with both hands as he pressed against it, sawing the ropes from his wrists himself. Once free, he grabbed the knife and led her behind the tent, as far from the center of the encampment as possible.
Arric pointed with Rynar’s knife to the dark shadows of the torrapon, and the Sarnoc towers beyond them. “We just need to pass through the stones,” he told her. “They won’t dare follow us any further.”
She looked back, to make sure they weren’t going to be followed—and then she panicked.
“Oh god, I can’t.” The ring remained in Rynar’s tent. She had made a promise to Arric, and she had to go back to retrieve it.
He hadn’t heard her. Instead, he nudged her shoulder. “Come on. They will find us any moment.”
She shook her head furiously, her feet rooted in place. “No, you go. I have to go back.”
He was already prepared to run, and held out his hand. When he heard her, though, his jaw dropped. “What do you mean, you have to go back? Come on, Kate, we must go now, or we’re dead.”
She feared that she had run out of time. The ropes took far too long to cut. “Arric, trust me. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have to. You go, get the Sarnoc. I’ll be right behind you.”
He grabbed her arms. “Are you sure? What could possibly be so important?”
“Don’t worry about me, please. Just go.” There were tears in her eyes. “Go, or they’ll kill you.”
He took a step towards the torrapon. “Kate?”
“Don’t make this all for nothing.” She looked at the dead man yards away. “Please, just go.”
Chapter 55
She ran back to Rynar’s tent. In some sort of miracle, he was still snoring on the pillows. “Thank god,” she mumbled to herself, and then looked around the tent. There were pillows and blankets piled everywhere. She went to the corner where he had thrown the ring, and began pawing through the blankets to find it.
“Looking for this?”
She whirled around. Rather than being sound asleep on the pillow, he now was standing behind her, with the ring in his hand.
“So you thought to deceive me, did you? You and your fhaoli lover? Ah, Kate, I should have known better. Or perhaps I did?” He smiled cruelly. “So you helped him escape, but you couldn’t go to the Sarnoc without this, could you?”
She whirled around to face him. After all that she had done to get to this point, she wasn’t going to give up now. “Hand it over, Rynar.”
He clucked his tongue at her, and shook his head. He was smiling, the same calculating smile she knew from watching him interact with the other Bhagali in the keep. There was no passion or devotion behind it. “Nay, Kate. It does not belong to you—or to the fhaoli either.” He slipped it onto his index finger, and admired it. “Did you ever try it on, my dear?”
“No. Why would I?”
He pretended to shake his head as if some tragedy had occurred. “Pity. It might have surprised you.” With exaggerated motions, he twisted it from his index finger and moved the ring to his thumb. Then he slipped it on his middle finger, his ring finger, and his pinkie finger, pausing each time to appreciate its subtle glow in the candlelight. “You know, it fits every finger. Amazing, is it not?”
“Rynar, come on. Just give it to me.”
“Nay, I will not.” He advanced on her. “I think we have some unfinished business, you and I,” he said suggestively, and grasped both of her wrists.
She found it hard to physically resist him, almost as if she was about to pass out, and she sunk to her knees, prevented from collapsing entirely by the fact that he held her firmly. Was this his healing power, causing her to wilt? Could it really work that way? She realized how easily she had slept under his touch. It had been more than physical comfort he had offered her after all.
She tried to struggle, but she could barely move.
“I apologize for dozing off a short time ago. Now perhaps you will tell me what really happened with the Dosedra, and why you were willing to betray me for him, after everything I’ve done for you.”
“No. Rynar, this isn’t right. You can’t force me….”
He raised his eyebrow in surprise. “What isn’t right?” In voice that suggested newfound resentment, he demanded, “you tried to seduce me, did you not? Just to save that fhaoli.”
She blinked away tears. “I’m sorry, Rynar. I never meant to hurt you.”
His mouth wrenched into a combination of anguish and loathing. He still held her. “After everything I have done for you, still you betray me for a filthy murderer.” He threw her to the ground and toed her side where the soldier’s blood had splashed onto the shirt. “Do you not see it? I had so much hope for you. I truly believed you would be the one to transcend all the evils of this land. Yet, look at you now. Even I have never taken a life.” He made a sound much like a growl, a sound that came from deep in his throat. “I never lied to you, not about anything. Especially not how much you meant to me. And this is how you thank me.” He knelt down beside her, and held her hair so she would see his face without turning away. “You have betrayed me, but worse, I fear that you will betray our people, and you shall do it with the help of one who has already walked down that path. Blood is on your hands now. It is all over you. It’s the first time, but I daresay it will not be the last.”
From behind Rynar a tall shadow blocked the light from the torches outside. “Leave her alone,” a voice commanded.
She tipped her head just enough to see a blade come to rest on Rynar’s shoulder.
The Aldrish froze in place, releasing his grip on her hair. Kate, still lying on the ground beside Rynar’s knees, didn’t breathe.
“Alive or dead, Aldrish? Which shall it be?”
Rynar’s face paled as the blade tickled his ear. “You would not use my own dagger to kill me, fhaoli?”
“I am Dosedra,” he corrected, his voice unyielding. He stepped to one side, and the blade reached for Rynar’s chin. “That is the only title I wish to hear from your mouth.”
“What of her?” the Aldrish asked. “Kate has killed a man—a member of the Senvosra, no less. That is cold-blooded murder, and treason. You know the Vosira will condemn her for her actions.”
“Nay, I think not. She killed him in self-defense.”
“Ah.” Rynar nodded. “So I shall tell the Vosira that in the process of trying to seduce me, stealing my dagger, and aiding in the escape of a wanted fhaoli, she killed one of his men—not threatened him, or wounded him, but murdered him outright? And that he should look upon her actions as self-defense? The two of you play a dangerous game, and it is Kate who shall pay the price.”
“She shall never be punished for saving my life—not while I live, Aldrish—and you know why.” The knife left Rynar’s chin, the tip of the blade traveling down his right arm
to his hand. “I believe that belongs to me,” he said, neatly hooking the point under the glysar ring on Rynar’s pinkie. “Remove it now, or I shall remove your finger instead.”
Without hesitation, Rynar slid it from his hand dropped it onto Kate’s chest, as if willing to comply only so far. Then he stood up, no longer intimidated by the dagger.
“Dosedra,” he said softly, “take the ring and go. Leave her. She does not belong with you.”
With his free left hand, Arric reached down and grabbed the ring. Then he threw the dagger across the tent and lifted her with his right hand. Once she was on her feet, he released her again.
“Aldrish, the lady shall choose her own fate. You will control her no longer.” With those words, he spun on his heels and kicked past the tent flaps.
“Kate?” Rynar looked at her.
She turned to him, and saw the anguish in his face. Why did she matter so much to him, even after what had just happened? “I really am sorry,” she said, as if it would mend everything, and then she ran out after Arric.
Chapter 56
The room was bright, with freshly whitewashed walls. A fire blazed in the hearth, and the chimney efficiently drew the smoke out of the room. The windows, made of beautiful swirling glass, reached from floor to ceiling, while the floor was tiled with spotless white marble.
Arric was pacing rapidly across the small chamber, taking five strides and then spinning on his toe, the hard leather soles of his boots offering no resistance to the smooth tiles. Sarnoc Vaj, meanwhile, was sitting alone, his elbows propped up on a small round table, his chin resting on interlocked fingers. Both seemed lost in concentration and did not notice that Kate and Sebachin were standing silently in the doorway.
Sebachin nudged her to enter first, and when she stepped across the threshold, Arric caught sight of her and nodded, waving her to the table, where she was greeted with a solemn nod from the Sarnoc.
“You look well, Bhara,” Sarnoc Vaj said.
She nodded. Since their arrival last night, she had done little but eat, bathe and sleep. She was now wearing a soft tunic and hose of blue, much like what Arric wore, she realized, and bit back a smile. “I feel much better now, thank you.”
Addressing her companion, Arric asked, “I must apologize, but have we met?”
“Nay, Dosedra, we have not. I am Pasadhi Sebachin.” He bowed his head politely in recognition of Arric’s rank, and then joined her and Sarnoc Vaj at the table.
“Good, I’m glad you’re here then.” Arric walked over to the table, but did not sit. “You should both know, there’s been a new development,” he announced with a frown. He was gripping a scroll that he twisted between his clenched fists.
At first Kate was happy to see Arric again. When they had arrived a day and a half earlier, three laliri had hustled her off to a private chamber for bathing, food, and rest, and she hadn’t seen him since then. However, as she watched him now, she grew increasingly nervous. What had happened?
“Vosira Bedoric arrived outside the city a short time ago,” the Sarnoc explained. Although she had seen him before, she couldn’t help noticing that Vaj was almost exactly Arric’s height, and his shoulders were just as broad. Despite his grey hair and trace of wrinkles near his eyes and mouth, he would be a formidable foe with a sword if he were ever inclined to fight. “He sent an envoy with a message,” he said, indicating the scroll Arric held, “demanding that I release the Dosedra into his custody.” He appeared calm, but from the clipped tone of each of his words, it was obvious that underneath his placid exterior, he was quite angry. The Sarnoc was not someone to underestimate, and he wasn’t the type who would be easily intimidated. It didn’t seem in his nature to acquiesce to the Vosira’s demands, and she found it hard to believe that this news was the least bit unsettling to him, since everyone, even Kate, had already seen it coming.
Vaj continued. “He makes this demand based on his claim that we are harboring fhaoli, and accuses Sarnoc of violating ancient agreements. According to the Vosira, we have brought an end to centuries of cooperation and coexistence between the Sarnoc and the Sarducian people. Because of this, he believes that he has the right to force our surrender and usurp our authority.” He paused, and Kate noticed his lip twitch. His words seemed to be taken directly from the scroll Arric was now mangling, and as he said them, there was a tinge of sarcasm and anger. “The Vosira further demands that I agree to submit myself and all Sarnoc to his rule. Otherwise he plans to lay siege to Altopon with the intention of destroying our city.”
At that moment he turned his gaze to her, causing her to swallow quickly. “Of course, that’s not all,” he snapped. “According to the message, he claims that we are holding you, Bhara, against your will, and—as if he had the right—he demands that we turn you over to him as well.” He pointed to the parchment with a wave of sorts, bidding Arric to read it.
Arric unrolled the crumpled parchment. He seemed less able to contain his anger than the Sarnoc had been. “Aye. After my brother’s demands, there is an added piece at the bottom, from the Aldrish.” Squinting to read the text, he continued, “this is what the bastard wrote: ‘Kate is an unwilling participant in this quarrel between brothers, and must be freed immediately.’ ” He cleared his throat with a grimace, as if he had a bad taste in his mouth. He then dropped the scroll to the table and looked helplessly to her. “Those are his words, Kate,” he said, “and I would spare you any more of this garbage, but—”
“Just finish the message, Dosedra,” Vaj admonished him.
Arric sighed. “Very well, Sarnoc.” He grabbed the scroll again, but then lowered it. “I can scarcely believe his audacity. ‘She still needs to discover who she is and what her place is here in Sarducia, and I alone can provide that information. I care deeply for her, and promise to provide for her welfare and happiness when she leaves Altopon.’ ”
Kate leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “Wow.” She exhaled heavily and shook her head. So he had information about her, and never shared it before now? The idea incensed her, as if he was holding out information he knew she desperately sought as a form of currency, a bribe. She could not determine whether the words were honest or strategic—or perhaps, knowing Rynar, a bit of both.
Arric threw the parchment to the table, and snapped his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Sarnoc, Kate will confirm that I did not force her to come with me,” he protested. “As a matter of fact, in the Aldrish’s camp, Kate rescued me, not the other way around.” He spun towards her, entreating her to confirm what he said.
From what he said, she guessed that this had already been a topic of discussion between the two men. Did the Sarnoc not believe Arric’s account? At first she was uncertain how to respond. Through his note, it was as if Rynar had reached into this very room to say those words. Then she gazed up at Arric, who stood now near the hearth. There had been an edge to his voice she had never heard before, as if the act of reading the note had caused him pain.
It was the realization of that sharpness, almost desperation, that shook her from the momentary spell the Aldrish had cast. “It’s true. I had to trick Rynar so that we could make it here, though Arric helped at the end. But yes, I came here willingly.” The last thing she wanted was for the Sarnoc to turn her over to the Aldrish, who likely would want to rip her limb from limb despite what he wrote. “I don’t believe anything he wrote in that note—at least, not after what I did...” she couldn’t finish that thought, and instead, suddenly fearful, added, “please don’t send me back there.”
“I do not intend to do so,” the Sarnoc reassured her, though his voice was firm and anything but comforting. “However, it is good to have the Dosedra’s story confirmed.”
Arric reached over and threw the scroll into the fire. “Tell her the rest, Sarnoc.”
“There’s more still?” Sebachin had been silent the entire time, but now he spoke without thinking, his face betraying his surprise.
Vaj nodded
, but hesitated a moment. He pressed his hands together, and tapped them to his lips, while blinking once. It was as if he was drawing strength from an unseen force. “Vosira Bedoric had one more message for us, and this one is quite serious. He claims he holds Sarnoc Sofinar captive in his camp, and will kill him if we do not comply with his demands.” He looked to Sebachin and Kate in turn. “All of them.”
The color drained from Kate’s cheeks, as Sebachin buried his face in his hands, and Arric had resumed pacing. “That’s blackmail!”
For the first time, Vaj appeared unsettled. “Aye.”
She curled her arms over her head, as if recoiling from a physical blow. This was truly devastating news. How had the Vosira found Torv out after so many years? This raised the stakes for everyone.
The room was silent for several minutes. Then Sebachin asked, in barely more than a whisper, “will the Vosira really go through with it?”
Arric stopped pacing, and stared out the window. Without looking back at the others, he said, “I believe he will. We sons of Parmon are stubborn.” He did not smile at the self-effacing remark. “I know Bedoric. He’s not bluffing. He fully intends to use every advantage he has to weaken the Sarnoc and defeat Altopon. With the history between them, I think it’s safe to say he would have no problem killing Sofinar if we do not agree to his demands. It’s funny, though, because before this morning I believed Sofinar dead and buried in Bhoren. Finding out my old friend still lives, but under these conditions, is rather bittersweet.”
“Dosedra,” Vaj said, his voice not as firm as before, “you understand that I cannot surrender my authority to your brother, not even in exchange for Sofinar’s life.”
“But he’s Sarnoc!” Kate instinctively grasped what it would mean for the Vosira to kill Sofinar. It wasn’t just killing a man. It had political, religious and social significance beyond anything she could comprehend. “Arric, can’t we do something? We can’t just refuse to cooperate, not if it means—”