Assassin of the Heart: Book Two: The Temple Islands Series

by Richard Parker

  Doctor Zanna and several other elderly nurses came running and began to fuss over Zarina Monde, but before they could get truly started she barked at them to end their ministrations.

  “They’re here to kill us all!” she yelled, then struggled to calm herself. “Jess, we need a bridge…now, in the clearing before the Grand Hall. Make it large. Make it strong. We have to move as many as we can before the Knights arrive.”

  “The Knights!” Doctor Zanna exclaimed.

  “Yes, the Knights,” Monde answered tired of wasting the time explaining the obvious to everyone. “The High Zarina is dead, as are Crimpier and Austral. I will explain everything when we are safely away. Gather everyone you can. Sound the bells.” Monde said and pulled the Zarina Jess aside as the rest fled to do her bidding.

  “Jess,” she whispered as they moved out into the bright morning air. Monde was still nude, though from her actions, seemed unaware of the fact. “We must survive. We may be the only Travelers left. We must carry on. If we die, all is lost.”

  Jess nodded and then glanced around at the calm beauty of Prism, the capital of the Isle of Light. It was very hard to believe that violence was quickly approaching. She stopped a young acolyte who happened by. The girl was startled and tried her best not to stare at the nude Zarina Monde.

  “Gather all the students immediately,” Jess ordered as the bells from the tower above the dining hall began to toll. The acolyte glanced up, alarmed. “Do it now!” Jess yelled, shaking the girl slightly to gather her full attention once more. Jess tried to smile at her. “Hurry,” she added in a softer tone.

  “When we spot the Temple Knights the bridge closes,” Monde said solemnly, knowing that they would lose many. Her heart plunged at the thought and she cursed her own weakness. If she’d been able to take the pain, if they’d worked the night through many could have been saved.

  “Zarina…Zarina,” Jess said touching Monde softly on the arm in an attempt to pull her out of her thoughts. Monde glanced at her peer, tears forming in her eyes.

  “A bridge to where?” Jess asked.

  “Noble…we must go to Noble,” Monde answered.

  Jess stared at her a moment, knowing that the Tars of Noble Island may give them temporary sanctuary but they would never let them stay on a permanent basis, then she nodded, took a deep calming breath and began the weaving motions with her hands that spelled the prelude to a bridge.

  ‘It must be strong; it must be large,’ she thought, knowing this would tax her strength like nothing else she’d ever experienced.

  ǂ

  Vio Valencia walked beside Tam through the large square and Lila, a first year student, tagged along. All three stopped abruptly as a large bubble opened up to their left, and immediately a vast number of strange people came pouring through in a panic.

  Several other students in the square shouted an alarm, but Vio could tell the newcomers were not warriors, in fact, most were women, children or elderly. Vio moved a step forward as Tar Kostek and Tar Endid appeared in the courtyard along with Pugg and Alynn. On Kostek’s orders Pugg and his wife led most of the strangers away from the bubble. The Tar asked questions of a few as they passed, but received no coherent answers.

  Near either side of the massive bridge, Vio could see a pair of Travelers at work. One was a short, older woman standing completely naked among the throng, her arms weaving in the air seemingly in time with the blowing of her long auburn hair. While she worked another woman brought a robe and draped it over her shoulders but it did little to cover her nakedness. Her concentration was so great that the Traveler appeared not to notice the courtesy.

  The other Traveler was also female, but she could not be more different from her companion. She was tall and beautiful, her arms elegant as they moved through the air in front of her. Her dark brown hair was also long, but was tied up and piled neatly on her head. Her skin was creamy white and without blemish…and she was completely dressed in the fashion of the Travelers.

  Vio watched intently as the Travelers used all their skill to hold open the massive bubble. She could tell that the strain of doing so was beginning to wear on them. The naked woman’s face was pinched in concentration, and though the taller of the two seemed to be working without much effort, Vio could clearly see large beads of sweat forming on her forehead. More and more people came through, their relief so obvious that Vio became concerned.

  “Run and fetch our kali,” she ordered Tam and Lila, neither hesitated for they could also feel the current of fear running through the crowd. Their quarters were very close and the two returned quickly. Vio took her weapons, spinning them in her hands absently as she watched more people step through to Noble. The tension was mounting with each passing moment and when a group of Temple Knights appeared on the far side of the distant square it became apparent why.

  “Stay back here and help the others,” Vio ordered her two underlings. Lila made to protest but Tam scolded her and pulled her away. Vio moved toward the bubble, forcing her way through the panicking crowd. She glanced over to see that Tar Endid was doing likewise. The Temple Knights were moving ever closer, and through the press of the crowd Vio spotted the telltale black clothing trimmed with red…Executioners.

  “Executioners!” she yelled to Tar Endid, who nodded. The Knights and Executioners were now rushing forward hacking their way toward the bubble in an effort to cut off the fleeing multitude. Vio approached to the very edge of the portal though she was very careful not to move through any part of it. Her eyes suddenly locked on a tall, beautiful Executioner walking quickly toward her. She moved calmly on long tapered legs, her softly curled, jet-black hair whipping in the wind behind her. Only occasionally did the woman lash out and kill an unfortunate who wandered too close.

  The Executioner was staring directly at Vio, a slight smile of anticipation on her face. The Knights moved closer and closer, now slicing and cutting the screaming stragglers in earnest.

  “Hold steady Vio,” Tar Endid yelled. Vio flinched but nodded. She fidgeted as the carnage on the other side grew closer and more gruesome, and just when Vio was about to disregard Tar Endid’s orders and jump through to protect the Travelers, the elder of the two opened her eyes.

  “Now!” She yelled, and together the two Travelers jumped through the bubble. The closest Knights were only twenty feet away. The innocents left behind screamed for the Travelers to wait, but without warning the bubble quickly shrank and disappeared with a small, almost inaudible pop.

  “Executioners!” Endid exclaimed as Tar Kostek approached, “and Temple Knights,” he added.

  Kostek nodded calmly, but Vio could see the shock in his eyes. He went immediately to the elder Traveler, who had not yet pulled the robe completely around herself, but still seemed unaware of her nakedness.

  “Zarina Monde,” Kostek began. “What has happened?” His eyes involuntarily swept down her body and for the first time she seemed to realize where she was. Without embarrassment or hurry she pulled the robe about her. A young acolyte Traveler moved to her side, crying softly, and helped her pull her arms through the sleeves. Monde winced as her bandaged arm slid into place.

  “They’re dead. All dead,” the Traveler told Tar Kostek, “Zar Crimpier and Austral, and I fear High Zarina Aleecia as well,” she added sadly and Vio gasped. The Zarina Aleecia was a frequent guest to their island.

  “Dead?” Kostek repeated as if mouthing his worst fears.

  Monde nodded. “The High King is set on destroying us.”

  Kostek stood silent. He too, caught sight of the Executioners and Temple Knights, but could not understand why. It made no sense. “The High Zarina?” he asked.

  Monde nodded once more. “She was summoned to the King’s Island four days ago. We’ve heard nothing from her since. She…she came to collect Tar Amon. Somehow she suspected the worse.”

  Tar Kostek’s eyes went wide, and both Vio and Tar Endid gasped, for Tar Amon had disappeared without a word. Tar Kostek turned his attent
ion to Vio and frowned.

  “Not a word,” he said firmly, eyeing her intently until she nodded her agreement, then he turned back to the Zarina Monde.

  “Come. Let us move to a more private location,” he said looking about at the still panicked crowd. “Vio, help Pugg and Alynn see to the people. Make them as comfortable as possible.”

  He gently grabbed Monde by the right arm, motioned for Endid and Jess to follow and led them through the crowd and toward the Great Hall. “You must tell me everything,” he whispered on the way, but no one answered.

  “So many…we left so many,” Jess said, weeping softly as they moved up the stairs to the Hall.

  IV

  Three days after the attack from the Deutzani cavalry, David Hahn galloped to the very front of the Hawser home. Gwaynn and Sath rushed onto the wide porch at the sound of the approaching horse.

  “Horsemen coming,” Hahn said breathing heavily. “Fifteen, about two miles off to the northeast.”

  Fifteen was a surprise. They expected the Deutzani to appear at the Hawser place in force at any moment. Gwaynn was actually astounded they’d not arrived already, but it was a blessing, for it gave them time to prepare. It had taken nearly an entire day to haul all the bodies up into the hills and away from the ranch where they were stripped of their uniforms and then buried.

  “War will come quickly now,” Sath told him earlier in the day. “It tends to happen when you leave dead soldiers all over the countryside.

  Gwaynn did not react to his masters chiding. To win his country back war would have to come…and as far as he was concerned the sooner the better.

  “Deutzani?” Sath asked Hahn, worried again about their decision not to move farther northeast to their camp near Colchester. It was a risk to stay, but Gwaynn wanted the offensive to take place from Koshka, attacking Mayfield and then moving out across the western half of the Plateau from the south. Colchester was located near the western mountains and was receiving a trickle of supplies from the Toranado but it was also much closer to Manse and therefore could be struck with little or no warning. Gwaynn ordered the men and supplies based there to move south as swiftly as they could.

  “The key is Manse. We need to choke it off as quickly as possible,” the young prince answered with enough confidence to sway even Afton Sath, though what exactly the young man had in mind was apparently a secret he meant to keep…at least for now.

  Hahn shook his head. “They don’t appear to be Deutzani regulars,” he answered, nor were they likely to be a squad of Massi cavalry from Colchester. Very few Massi would be so bold as to cross the open plains. The four hundred or so soldiers Sath managed to assemble on the Plateau would be hugging the mountains on their march south and were not expected for at least another week.

  Gwaynn, Sath and Krys, whose leg was improving rapidly, immediately mounted up. Gaston was out watching the eastern road, while Marcum, a surly old veteran, guarded the western road that led to Koshka. He guarded it with Van. For some reason Marcum had taken to the boy, which surprised the rest of Sath’s men because in their words, Marcum didn’t take to people, let alone a Deutzani.

  David quickly saddled a fresh mount, which was one thing they were not lacking at the moment. They’d taken another fourteen horses from the Deutzani in the last skirmish, which gave them nearly forty horses in all when you added the Hawser’s lot. It now took several people to watch over them and keep them from straying off since the ranch didn’t have an area large enough to contain them all. Gwaynn knew they would need them. Horses would be very important in the coming battles. The entire herd fell under the watchful care of the Hawser family. Sath also assigned Samantha to help out, but she didn’t mind and relished the job.

  On Sath’s orders, they kept only what horses they needed down by the main house, the rest of the herd was moved to the upper fields higher in the tree-lined hills. The Hawser’s, who were mourning the death of their youngest, relocated to a three room cabin near the fields. The move was mostly for their safety but it also gave the family time, space and solitude, precious commodities when dealing with a loss.

  Samantha spent half of her time with them and was content to do so. Gwaynn was beginning to fill her thoughts in a way that she found very frightening and just a little disturbing. For his part, Gwaynn was equally relieved to have some distance between them. Samantha was becoming a distraction, which was something he could not afford at the moment.

  Even so, his thoughts were on the young woman as he led his father’s old Weapons Master and his new young one, out onto the Plateau with only Hahn to complete their compliment.

  ‘Four against fifteen,’ Gwaynn thought with a shrug. It seemed he’d have to get used to such odds.

  Hahn led them directly north. The weather was becoming unstable, and though the sky was currently clear directly above them, they could all see a large storm moving off the mountains to the west. The clouds were dark, and heavy rain was clearly visible even from a distance. How fast the storm would move was anyone’s guess. Gwaynn hoped it would not interfere with the coming confrontation.

  They rode at a quick pace and it only took about five minutes before they spotted a group of riders in the distance, heading directly toward them. It took only a few minutes longer to see that the riders were definitely not Deutzani, unless of course they were traveling in disguise. Gwaynn and the others stayed on guard, just in case.

  The strangers were still some hundred yards away however, when Krys spotted Lonogan Bock at their head.

  “Bock.” He told the others and they spurred forward at an easy gallop. Lonogan was smiling widely when they met and pulled to a stop.

  “Gathered a few men on my way back from Cape,” he said nodding to Gwaynn first and Afton Sath second. “Would’ve been back sooner but had a bit of trouble with our verbose friend here,” he added, tipping his head toward a fat man with thinning hair and the remnants of a black eye and a split lip.

  “Zebo Sorbello,” Bock said by way of introduction. “This is Prince Gwaynn of Massi.”

  Zebo gazed at Gwaynn, then his eyes flared in recognition and his mouth popped open in shock.

  “I thought he was lying,” Zebo uttered in a very smooth, deep voice, then ducked as Bock made a half-hearted attempt to reach over and crack him in the side of the head with his knuckles.

  “And you believe him now?” Gwaynn asked.

  Zebo looked surprised. “Why of course. I worked for your father for many, many years. The resemblance is plain to see. There’ve been rumors of your survival and return, but I put them down as wishful thinking.”

  “Fatter than ever I see,” Sath commented and Zebo turned his attention to him.

  “Weapons Master,” he answered smiling widely, but Sath just shook his head and motioned to Krys with an open hand.

  “Former,” Sath replied. “We should be getting back. The Deutzani must be on the move by now.”

  Zebo considered this for a moment then turned back to Sath. “Thought you were dead,” he added.

  “Not yet Mister Speaker, not yet,” Sath replied with a chuckle.

  “Come, let’s get off the Plateau,” Gwaynn said and the group turned and made their way quickly back to the ranch.

  Two hours later Gaston charged over the bridge shouting that a large party of mounted Deutzani was moving swiftly their way. Because they were expecting such an eventuality they had little trouble gathering what supplies they needed before heading down the Black Creek riverbed. They rode a mile or so to the west, before moving up into the forested hills and away from the ranch, Gwaynn doing so very, very reluctantly.

  Gwaynn sent most of the men up farther with Hahn, each man pulling two extra horses along behind them as they rode higher into the mountains. They avoided the Hawser cabin, which was located southeast of the main house. They hoped to use the tracks of the extra horses to draw any pursuit away from the cabin and the bulk of their herd. Gwaynn then sent Lonogan alone to warn the Hawsers and Samantha, while h
e stayed below with Krys and Sath. They found a nice overhang that allowed them to keep a relatively distant eye on the path they’d taken up into the hills. If the Deutzani followed in force they would have plenty of warning and enough time to move even farther up into the trees and mountains if necessary.

  “Tar Nev!” Sath exclaimed when Krys let it slip that Gwaynn trained with the famous solitary for nearly a year. Gwaynn smiled slightly and gave a look of reproach to Krys, who rolled his eyes in apology.

  “You never told me you’ve trained with Tar Nev,” Sath accused as they continued to watch the path upward.

  Gwaynn shrugged. “I’m my own person…not just someone who trained with Nev,” he answered back, then started as he caught sight of a cloud of thick black smoke coming from below and to the east. He pointed it out…alarmed.

  “They probably fired the house and barn,” Sath said as if he were expecting it. “It’s what I would do.”

  Gwaynn frowned and wondered just how he would tell Rue and Carmen their house was gone and it was his fault. If he’d not stayed, the Deutzani’s attention would not be focused in that area. Already events were not going as he imagined and his confidence faltered a bit.

  “Tis not your fault,” Sath added, seeing the look on Gwaynn’s face. “The Hawsers have been long supporters of mine, and you yourself said the party in Koshka was looking for me. They knew the risks and expected even this. Perhaps you can make it up to them when this is over.”

  “Perhaps…the house anyway. There’s no way to make up for Brace,” Gwaynn answered.

  “No,” Sath agreed after a silent moment.

  “Hey!” Krys hissed and they all looked down to see horsemen coming quickly up the trail. The Deutzani were still a couple of miles away in an open meadow, nearly a thousand feet below their current position. The three of them studied the line of men and beasts as they made their way across the open area, but after nearly three straight minutes the line still did not end.