Death Flag

  Madison was struck by how similar that story was to his own. “Your father was rescued by someone from K’yer Utane?” he asked, surprised.

  “Yes,” she answered with a small nod of her head against his arm. “Many years later, after my father had assumed his position as lord, a man showed up at his estate one night. I was only a baby then, and my brother was but a small child, so I never met him. But the man showed up, and my father recognized him immediately. He swore that the man’s face was burned into his memory and that, even after all those years, he could never forget him. That was when my father knew: He had to be from K’yer Utane. Anyone else would have aged beyond recognition. Only in fabled K’yer Utane, where the sentries stand watch, does time pass differently than the rest of the world.”

  “So, what did he want?” Madison asked, suddenly curious. “Why suddenly show up after so many years? Who was it?”

  “He told my father that I would develop into a powerful seer and that he should bring me here in order to develop my powers to the fullest. He said that it would be safer that way. My father didn’t believe him at first—or he didn’t want to—until I began having visions. I believe he intended to bring me here soon after that, but then things started happening that made it impossible. The man who rescued my father all those years ago, and the one who told him to bring me here, was Guardian Burke.

  “So, you see? We knew that K’yer Utane existed all along.”

  “That’s . . .” That’s one hell of a stretch in logic. You’re relying on an old man’s memory over countless years of someone he saw for a brief moment on the edge of death. It could have been anyone showing up on his doorstep!

  Alyanna giggled again softly, shaking her head against his shoulder. “You’re trying to figure out what is real and what isn’t again,” she chided. “I can practically hear your brain working. Just accept it for what it is. Whatever misgivings you might have, the story is true; and, one way or another, we are here.”

  “If I had been your father,” Madison answered seriously, “I would have done everything in my power to capture his lover’s heart—her family be damned. That’s what I meant when I said it was just inspiration to work harder whenever someone told me I couldn’t have something.”

  “Oh, he did,” she answered softly. “He and my mother were married for many years before she passed away. He returned from his travels as a rich man with scars of battle from a dragon. There was no way her family could refuse him after that.”

  “Of course,” he answered. “But you said you came here for the Guardians’ help? Are you in some sort of danger? Is your magic going to harm you somehow?”

  “No. That was only part of the reason we came. What I said about the war was true. Forces in the east are trying to drag our people into the war. Emissaries have been coming for a while, telling us dreadful tales of what is happening down on the rest of the continent and begging us to get involved. We are few in number, but we are a proud and strong people. Others have sought to drag us into their wars in the past because of that. They seek to use us as weapons, pawns in their game of war that they can throw away once they’re finished.”

  “And you think that they can help you with that here?” he asked skeptically. I don’t have a clue what K’yer Utane’s purpose is, but I highly doubt that they’re going to go marching off to war given their reclusive nature. Of course, Cruz did hint around at something similar, so . . .

  “We live in a land of ice and snow. We can only grow crops for a few months of the year, and even then, they aren’t exactly record-breaking harvests. Those warlords in the east want to use my people because we are strong. We learn to fish and hunt and fight at an early age because that is the way. But when your people are starving, and when there is little left to hunt, and war has disrupted your trade, it is a dangerous time. That is why my father is hopeful that K’yer Utane will intervene on our behalf. I’m certain that we would be able to resist their advances with even a small squad of its fabled warriors. We might even be able to convince them to allow trade through so that our people can continue to exist.”

  “So, it’s not just you. You came here to save your people as well.” Madison was struck by how grand that sounded. He had lived a simple life. The only thing he’d ever had depend on him before was a dog while he was a kid, and she had real people with real lives relying on her and her family to make the right decision. “What is it that you have to trade?” he asked. “What are you able to farm in such a frozen land?”

  She shifted against him for a moment before settling back into her position against him. “I have heard they teach many things here aside from how to make war. Perhaps you should consider taking those classes as well.”

  She wasn’t being rude; she was just being honest. There wasn’t anything in her tone to suggest that she was being snarky or belittling, and she was right. If he was going to spend an extended amount of time in this world—which he was still hoping that he wasn’t—he was going to have to learn as much about its people as he could. There was no telling when he was going to need to know something about a people or a place that might end up saving his life. Even a basic map and compass and a quick lesson in geography would probably do him wonders. “You’re right. I’ll look into it if I ever get the chance.”

  She nodded, indicating that she accepted that answer. “We produce ice diamonds,” she said with a small amount of pride in her voice. “They are what my father discovered when he was fleeing from the dragon, and they are the source of my family’s wealth and the reason my mother’s family could not deny his request to marry her. They are buried in the mountain, and they are very hard to get to, but they are among the most exquisite in the world when we can collect them. I have been told that our diamonds have been used in crafting magnificent pieces of armor and weapons for lords around the world. That is the other reason it is so dangerous for us to get involved: if we cannot defend the mines, there is no telling what would happen to that wealth or our people.”

  Madison took a moment to let everything that she’d told him settle in. She’d given him a lot of information all at once, and he was trying to absorb as much as he could. He was fascinated with her for some reason. He suspected that it was the aftereffects of the magic she had used on him, but at the moment, he wanted her to tell him everything. He’d probably sit and listen to her entire life story if she was willing to tell it.

  “But this . . . Now, everything is changed. My father was going to allow me to study here as a bit of trade. He was hoping that he could solve two birds with one stone: I would get additional training in magic, and by leaving me here, he was hoping it might help convince the Guardians to intervene on his behalf.”

  “What? How could—” He was going to question how a father could use his daughter as a bargaining chip, but he already knew the answer. The rules here were different than they were back home, but that was only because his own civilization had advanced beyond that point. Daughters had been married off for land or property or power for ages, and this world was probably no different. As long as he had an heir to his land, that was all that mattered. It was just Alyanna’s job as the second child and daughter to marry into another household to help secure the family’s power and wealth. Despite knowing that, it didn’t sit well with him.

  “My brother was the heir to the family lineage,” she answered, confirming Madison’s assumptions. “He was groomed from an early age to take over when my father passed away. He’s been in battles on the frontier more times than I can count, and my father saw to it that he was given the best tutors and training that he could afford. Don’t get me wrong: we’re not a wealthy people. The diamonds we mine are enough to see that our people live a comfortable life and provide the food we cannot grow ourselves, but we’re not overflowing in money like some of the southern cities are. Life is still hard, and everyone wants to take advantage of us. That was why everyone loved my brother: he was well known as a strong fighter against the northern clans
and for being even tougher at the bargaining table. Many of our people were looking to him to lead the next generation.”

  “But now that’s changed,” Madison surmised.

  She nodded slightly against him again. “There is no way that I can stay here now, and that will greatly lessen our chances of having the Guardians intervene for us. Now that my brother is dead, I am the one who will have to learn to lead our people.”

  “Your father won’t try to marry you off to some rich lord’s son?” Madison really didn’t want to ask the question as he feared the answer, but he forced himself to anyway.

  “No,” she answered firmly. “My people are not like others, who see strength only in men. That’s not the way. We see value in both men and women. I am not as strong as my brother was, but I have other virtues of my own. It’s true that there are some who are suspicious of me because of my magic, but there are others who see it as a great benefit as well. Being able to see certain aspects about people and their future is scary, but it can have its advantages if it’s used properly.”

  Madison really wanted to question her about what he had seen—about what she had seen when she read him—but he refrained. This wasn’t the right time for that. He was going to have to ask at some point, but not yet. Nothing about that vision made sense to him, and like everything else that had happened recently, it opened up yet another box of questions that wasn’t likely to get answers. Still, he held out some bit of hope that he might have some talent in interpreting what all that dark imagery meant. She had appeared shaken by it at the time, so there was a good chance that she at least had an idea. Of course, there was also the possibility that anyone in their right mind would be shaken like that as well.

  “What happened out there?” he asked instead. “What happened to your brother Darrius on the way here?”

  He felt her shift uncomfortably against him as if she were reluctant to talk about it. Of course. It’s all still fresh to her; the wound is still raw. Probably wasn’t the best question to ask in this situation, Madison. “Ah . . . I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—”

  “No,” she interrupted. “It’s okay. We should celebrate the lives of those who have departed once they are gone from us—not mourn their passing. That is the way.”

  “I see,” he answered carefully.

  “Despite our belief in the fact that K’yer Utane existed, we still didn’t have much to go on. We had been traveling for a little over a week when one of our forward scouts came back with a report that there were reports of bandits in the area. There was some debate over whether or not we should pick up the pace so that we could get out of the area before something serious happened or if we would be safe enough just posting a heavier watch at night, but in the end, we were afraid that we might miss some vital clue that would lead us here if we hurried through too quickly.

  “Normally, scrying magic would have led us straight to whatever we were looking for. K’yer Utane is different, however. This entire valley is protected by some incredibly-powerful and intricately-complex wards. I felt them when we passed over the rim of the valley, and they are . . . well, they’re something else. They’re old, but they feel as if the magic hasn’t degraded at all. I honestly don’t know if anyone alive today could replicate those wards if something happened to them . . .”

  There was a bit of open admiration in her voice, and he took it to mean that she was fairly impressed by the magical defenses here. He had no idea what she was talking about when it came to degradation of magic over time or who might be able to copy it, so he just nodded along and accepted the fact that she knew a lot more than he did in that area. Interestingly enough, however, she had said she sensed the wards. He hadn’t noticed anything at all when first entering the valley, but he had been under the effects of an incredibly-powerful healing elixir at the time, was physically and mentally exhausted, and had been warier of his guide, Warren, than of any magical defense mechanism.

  “Mmm . . . Anyway, we were about two days out when we were first attacked. The scouts were half an hour late reporting, and we quickly learned that two of them had been picked out. Our third, Linus, barely made it back to us ahead of the group of slavers. They sent in an emissary first, of course. That ragtag group wouldn’t have dared attack us unless they thought that they could win, but they were sure riled up about something. He was shifty-eyed as he walked through the camp, as if he was looking for something or someone, and kept making demands that we tell him about anyone we had seen in the area.

  “Well, of course we hadn’t seen anyone. We were weeks away from even the closest town of any decent size, and there aren’t any trade routes that run this close to the coast. We hadn’t seen anything but woods and mountains there for days and days, but he didn’t seem to believe us when we told him that. He demanded that we turn over an escaped slave to him. Some slave had apparently escaped from his shackles and slain several of the guards in his escape attempt. He seemed convinced that we were harboring him for some reason, even though we hadn’t seen a living soul outside our own group.

  “I guess it makes sense since we were probably the only group he’d come in contact with. The land here is harsh despite its beauty, and not very many people could survive out there alone. Naturally, I guess he assumed we must have picked him up. Anyway, he refused to believe us and demanded that we let him search all of our property. My brother refused, of course, and promptly sent him on his way.

  “Well, his group attacked that night. We were smart enough to double the watch, at least, but it wasn’t enough. They came at us just after dark, and a terrible fight broke out. We were able to hold them off in the end—but just barely. We weren’t traveling with a very heavy guard, and we lost a lot of men before the others could respond in time. My brother was wounded then during that initial attack . . . He insisted on standing the first watch so that more of his men could get some rest, and his reward was to be shot in the back with an arrow. Once he was down, they stuck a sword in his gut and left him to bleed out where he was.”

  Madison grew increasingly nervous as he listened to her story. The mere mention of slavers made him shiver as he remembered the treatment he had received from the ones he escaped. He had known that her story wasn’t going to end well, but he hadn’t been prepared that. There wasn’t any ‘good’ way to go, but bleeding out from a gut wound had to rank up there as one of the worst possible ways he had ever heard of. Even if you didn’t die from blood loss or injury, the risk of dying slowly over time due to infection or sepsis was incredibly high.

  “I . . . I’m sorry,” Madison said quietly, but the words sounded hollow even to his own ears. There was never a right thing to say in times like these.

  Alyanna drew her knees up to her chest on the bench and hugged them against her. “It is simply the way,” she answered softly. “But do you know what the strange thing was? The thing we never could make sense of? The man we talked to . . . He swore that the slave had gone missing over a month ago. Can you believe that? They had been out there for over a month while looking for a fugitive slave, and they were convinced that he was still in the area somewhere. One of the men he killed while escaping was the son of some wealthy, high-up priest from one of the nomadic tribes up in the mountains. They wanted this guy badly enough that they spent over a month looking for him. I guess they were just fed up with being out in the wilderness alone and saw us as an opportunity to vent their frustration.”

  “For over a month? I doubt it. You said that no one could survive out there, and you were right. I remember what it was like while I was out there . . . I guess it might be possible if you knew the right nuts and berries to eat and where to find them, but I don’t think I would have made it if Warren hadn’t found me. There was nothing but trees and forest and forest and trees.”

  She nodded against his shoulder and then shifted around restlessly. “That was unusual, but it’s possible the slave actually survived. Plus, if there’s a big enough bounty on someone’s head, it would give
all the incentive in the world for a band of cutthroats like that to hang around as long as it took. But, I think I understand that part now. What I don’t get is how he planned on identifying a man whom he had never met after a month in the wilderness.”

  “That is a bit strange. I guess they had an accurate description of him or some kind of identifying mark or something. Alone for a month out there? He’d probably have lost a ton of weight, grown a beard and long hair . . . He wouldn’t even be recognizable.”

  “No,” she said, shifting around again. “There was one definite way the slaver said he could identify the fugitive: by a tattoo on his left forearm. That was the part we couldn’t make sense of.”

  Madison felt a shiver run up his spine as he glanced down at his bandaged arm between them, and he instantly started adding up the details.

  “Lots of people have tattoos . . . but no one would ever tattoo the mark of the Legion on their own body,” she whispered.

  Madison furrowed his brow. “The mark of the— Ugh . . .” He choked on the words as a stabbing pain erupted from the left side of his abdomen. He glanced down at his side as she pulled away from him and saw the handle of a knife jutting from his side. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. He stared at it in disbelief, his brain refusing to understand what he was seeing and connect it with the incredible pain he felt. He watched in horror as a pool of bright-red blood soaked through his shirt and trickled down onto the wooden bench.

  Holy shit. She just stabbed me! What the hell?! He jerked his eyes away from the sight of the weapon and forced himself to look at her as she stood up. There were tears forming in the corners of her red-rimmed eyes, but there was a look of cold and fierce determination there as well.

  “At least, I didn’t think there was until I met you,” she said, her voice loud and clear for the first time since he had met her in the apartment. “You try to keep it hidden, but I know what that mark means!” Her voice grew louder with every word and angrier with every accusation. “I know what you are! I know who you are! Why would you let me read you? Did you think I wouldn’t know? Did you think I wouldn’t find out that you’re the reason my brother is dead?!