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

by Richard Parker

  Gwaynn raised an eyebrow.

  “Hahn and Samantha came up with it,” Marcum explained. It was the first time he’d seen the new tactics in action and was quite impressed. “To protect themselves against cavalry. Hahn has the armory working on steel points.”

  “Impressive,” Gwaynn added as the groups began to drill with the new weapons. He sighed, slightly disappointed but turned and moved back down the hill toward the main camp.

  He reached his tent just as Lonogan Bock came riding hard into camp. Bock smiled at Gwaynn.

  “Welcome back. Any luck?”

  Gwaynn nodded. “We’ll have two thousand Toranado troops with us within two weeks. We need to take Colchester by then. They’ll be moving through the Aleria Passage.

  Bock, Marcum and any men within earshot stared at Gwaynn in stunned silence.

  “Two thousand….” Bock said and whistled.

  “Also, Arsinol has moved his army out of Cape. They’re marching on the Gap as we speak. After Colchester we’ll need to take Manse with all speed,” Gwaynn added.

  Bock laughed. Gwaynn was all about speed whether fighting with men or kali…everything was fast.

  “You’ll be happy to learn then that the Deutzani have abandoned their position at Colchester,” Bock said gratified to see the look of shock come over the Prince’s face. “They’ve moved their cavalry to Manse; the Plateau is ours.”

  Gwaynn shook his head. “Not until Manse,” he said. “Not until Manse.”

  Gwaynn then turned to Marcum, who was still at his side. “I want to meet with all the Captains in my tent tonight. We’ll be breaking camp in two days.”

  Marcum nodded. “Samantha?” he asked in a lowered voice.

  “Do you consider her a Captain?” Gwaynn asked, smiling at the older man’s attempt at discretion.

  “Absolutely,” he answered at once.

  “Then by all means,” Gwaynn said. “And invite na Gall also. I would like to have her input.”

  ǂ

  Gwaynn woke the following morning with every intention of riding north with Bock and Krys. They planned to head toward Colchester just to scout the lay of the land. Though he was pleased, Gwaynn still could not quite believe the Deutzani would abandon the town without a challenge. In his mind it was a grave error not to contest every town on the plateau. If the news was indeed true then the Deutzani just handed them a very large, secure base where they could train and recruit a new army. It made little sense.

  The meeting the night before went very well. Everyone now knew what had to be done. The training of the new arrivals was paramount and would be handled with all possible speed. On Sath’s recommendation, Krys and Marcum began to introduce the heavier practice weapons, everything from katas and swords to pikes and lances. Nev’s method of training was catching on quickly in Massi.

  David Hahn had nothing but praise for Samantha. She’d somehow become his number one man…so to speak. Samantha accepted the praise stoically, without comment, discomfort, or apparent pleasure. During the meeting she and Gwaynn sat opposite each other and made a practice of catching each other’s eye, then looking quickly away. The tension building between the two was readily apparent to everyone present, although the two emanating the taunt atmosphere believed only they were aware of it. Everyone else in the tent tried to ignore it. The younger men did so with a certain amount of embarrassment, but the more experienced found the mounting electricity between the young people highly entertaining.

  The following morning Gwaynn went about the business of saddling Eve for the ride to Colchester. He kept a close eye on Samantha’s tent and the surrounding area, but as yet there was no sign of her. The air was crisp, but the sky was clear and he expected the day to warm quickly as the sun rose higher in the sky. He was at a loss as to what to do about the girl and his growing feelings for her. Up to now he’d tried to keep a healthy distance from her, knowing that his mind should be on other, more important things. But the harder he tried to keep her from distracting him, the more she’d occupy his mind. Like a tongue worrying a bad tooth his thoughts returned to her again and again. He finally conceded that he was up against a force he could not easily defeat; he wasn’t even sure how to fight it, or even whether he truly wanted to. This morning he would ride…ride hard to Colchester and try to get her off his mind.

  He was cinching up his saddle when the flap to Samantha’s tent suddenly sprang open. Gwaynn quickly straightened up and his heart jumped in his chest so wildly he was afraid those around him would see his shirt move, but it was Jess na Gall who popped out into the cool morning air. She spotted Gwaynn, smiled and walked over to join him.

  “I’m going to be working with Daniel and Laynee on projection,” Jess said referring to a pair of her most advanced students. She desperately wanted to work with Gwaynn on the ways of the Travelers but knew it had to be his decision. No one could learn the ways without steadfast dedication and a great deal of commitment. She was intensely curious about Gwaynn and what knowledge he was hiding behind those enigmatic eyes. She knew his mind was capable and strong, but did he have the desire to match?

  Gwaynn nodded, curious, but said nothing and continued to saddle Eve.

  “I would like you to work with us,” Jess finally admitted, and Gwaynn immediately stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her.

  She was studying him with an intensity he found disturbing, and once again he noted her striking beauty.

  “You have the ability,” Jess urged and moved forward half a step. “I felt it. You may believe you have more important things to do than training with me, but do not take the powers of a Traveler lightly. We do not, and it is not just anyone who is invited to join our ranks. A Traveling King would be a formidable match for anyone.”

  Gwaynn smiled slightly, for she’d voiced his own thoughts precisely. Once he discovered Nev’s ability to Travel, the desire to learn such a skill was never far from his mind. It would be a great asset. Nev claimed it was easier than manipulating time and Gwaynn planned on looking into it once he’d driven the Deutzani from his land. Of course the art of Traveling was a complete mystery to him and he had little notion of where to begin, but he knew Nev would walk him through the basics if he asked. Of course to learn from a Traveler held an appeal all its own so without hesitation Gwaynn turned and pulled the saddle off of Eve.

  “Sorry girl,” he whispered in the ear of the black horse. “I’ll take you out this afternoon.”

  He then turned back to Jess. “When and where?” he asked and then his eyes widened as Samantha finally emerged from her tent. She looked over and saw Jess and Gwaynn talking together but only smiled and waved then moved off toward the central fire without looking back. Gwaynn followed her with his eyes for a moment, before turning his attention back to the smiling Jess na Gall.

  “She’s very lovely,” the Traveler said, but Gwaynn only nodded, so Jess continued. “There’s a corner of the field up the mountain that the archers do not use. I hold my classes there every morning and evening. We start in about an hour.”

  “Excellent,” Gwaynn said for it would give him time to make arraignments for someone to take his place on the scouting mission. “I’ll be there.”

  A half an hour later Gwaynn was relaxing in the field waiting on the Traveler and her students. He waited patiently because Samantha and her company of archers were already hard at work and he found he enjoyed watching her teach. At this hour, her company had the field to themselves, and they practiced relatively close to where he sat, for which he was very thankful. Gwaynn had little doubt that given time the archers under her command would be the finest company of bowmen in all the Inland Sea. She drove them hard, but he did not wonder at her motivation for such perfection. He felt it himself. Watching your family butchered had a way of setting your priorities in line. He gazed at Samantha, her hair was tied loosely into a ponytail, but several strands had already won their freedom and were blowing about in the light morning breeze. She wore a long b
rown skirt and a simple white cotton blouse that accentuated her skin, which was becoming brown from exposure to the early summer sun. To Gwaynn, she was perfect. Her long legs, her small waist and narrow shoulders, such qualities were all a part of how a woman should be. In the distance, Samantha tested the wind then pulled back an arrow, taking aim at a very distant target, not a vertical one made of straw, but instead the target was a large circle laid out on the far end of the field. Bright red ribbons were tied to six or seven stakes driven into the ground, forming the target.

  Her shoulders, though narrow, were apparently very strong, because she held the arrow in the ready position for a long time as she gave instruction. And though she was too far away for her words to carry clearly, Gwaynn could tell by the expressions of those around her that the men were taking her very seriously. Her display of bravery in battle had gone a long way with them. She held the arrow a bit longer, the point aimed up into the sky a forty-five degree angle, and then she let in fly. Gwaynn watched with the others as it arched gracefully up into the clear morning sky, and when it came down it landed inside the circle, just to the left of center.

  “You’re here already,” Jess said from behind him. Gwaynn jumped and his hand went to the hilt of his kali. He’d been so intent watching Samantha that he hadn’t heard them approaching.

  Jess noticed the move, and stopped short, causing the two youngsters behind her to bump into one another. “Gwaynn,” she said, a little breathless, “these are my top two students, Daniel and Laynee.”

  “M’lord,” they both said bowing low. Gwaynn could tell they were all a bit nervous to be around him, na Gall included.

  He smiled a bit sheepishly. “Sorry. You startled me,” he explained and looked at the other two would be Travelers. Daniel, the eldest, looked to be about fourteen. He was tall and desperately thin, with long straight hair and eyes much too big for his face. Laynee was younger, maybe eleven or twelve. Her light brown hair was so long it hung well past her waist. She had a wide face and nose, her ears were too large and her forehead too prominent, but somehow these deficiencies when combined with her clear, luminescent gray eyes created a genuinely pleasant effect. She looked real, and as she smiled shyly up at him, Gwaynn found that he instantly liked her. “Call me Gwaynn,” he added, wanting to ease their discomfort.

  Both looked back at him with wide eyes, but said nothing.

  “Well,” na Gall said leading the small group to the base of a large oak tree, which grew out away from the tree line. It was an old tree and seemed to stand sentinel over the forest. They all sat down on the cool ground. Most of the trees surrounding the field had blossomed into green, and there were a smattering of bushes in the area that featured bright purple flowers, the plant life already celebrating the coming summer.

  “Both Daniel and Laynee have been able to successfully project, though only for short periods,” na Gall explained. “Their projected selves do not yet have the strength to move out of the vicinity of their physical bodies and as yet neither can Travel.”

  Gwaynn glanced at Daniel, who still seemed a bit nervous by the presence of royalty, but Laynee smiled up at him with no apparent reservations.

  “First you must learn the twenty-nine steps,” Laynee piped up in a high-pitched childish voice. She immediately held up her two hands in front of her and began to move them about in a seemingly random and intricate pattern.

  na Gall smiled. “She is correct the steps are usually the first part of learning to project. I have a feeling, though, that you may not need them.”

  Gwaynn frowned, still watching as Laynee moved her left hand up from her waist to her chest. She moved her hand in an undulating fashion that somehow reminded him of a dancer who’d preformed for his father’s birthday. It was long ago, but even now he remembered how the sultry woman’s erotic movements had affected his young body. “The gestures are not required?” he finally asked, puzzled.

  Jess shook her head. “No, but the concentration required to project is considerable. We’ve found over the years that it is helpful if the procedure is linked to muscle memory of some kind. The hand and arm movements act as a catalyst for the area of the brain that controls memory.”

  Gwaynn frowned. “And why wouldn’t I need the steps?” he asked, suddenly very curious as to how the Traveler viewed his abilities.

  Jess was silent for a long moment, but when she finally spoke she looked unflinchingly into Gwaynn’s eyes. “When we Traveled to Helles Island…and you assisted, I could feel the sharpness of your mind. Tar Nev obviously already taught you a great deal about concentration, possibly to a higher degree than achieved by any Traveler. I suspect you’ve already developed some method for achieving the level of concentration needed to project. You just have to be able to access it on a readily available conscious level.”

  Gwaynn nodded. Thinking back on Nev’s teaching: the meditations, the focus, the ability to make his very atoms coherent in order to manipulate time and space.

  ‘Space,’ he thought, positive he could project even now. In fact, looking back on his training, he remembered the day when he passed out on Erato, Gwaynn believed it was then he’d succeeded in projection for the first time.

  “Laynee,” Jess said bringing Gwaynn out of his reverie. “Would you project for us? Gwaynn, I would like you to concentrate and assist her, as you assisted me on the trip to Helles.”

  “Of course,” Gwaynn said and turned to Laynee who’d already begun the twenty-nine steps of concentration. He reached out gently with his mind, feeling her progress, which was slow but steady. He waited and suddenly felt the presence of Jess in the air as well, but he kept his concentration on the young girl at his side, painstakingly following all the changes around her. When Laynee was close to her goal, he abruptly realized what she was doing and how she was doing it. Gwaynn instantly fell into a much deeper state of consciousness and slowed time, not wanting to miss any nuance. When all was still and ready, he probed into Laynee’s mind and mentally smiled, so simple and sweet were her thoughts and ambitions. He pulled back feeling somewhat guilty, but he now had the knowledge he needed and immediately performed the act of projection, only then did he release time. He was standing in the field, slightly behind his body, all three of the Travelers before him had their eyes closed and both Jess and Laynee were moving their hands through the last of the twenty-nine steps. Gwaynn moved back away from his body, which was still sitting on the ground with the others, and then he looked down. He saw nothing but the grass. He held out his arms, but could not see them either and when he moved to the old oak and tried to place a hand on it, he was surprised to find no resistance at all. His felt nothing.

  Suddenly Laynee was coming. He could feel her approaching and reached out his mind, found her and instinctively gave her a mental tug. Her projected self leapt from her body. Gwaynn could see Laynee, but she was dim, translucent, and though she was almost completely transparent, he could still see that it was Laynee. He could see her distinct features, her hair, eyes and large ears, but he could also see the trees and grass behind her. The young girl took one look toward Gwaynn, screamed and disappeared. Just as Gwaynn was about to return to his own body, he felt the softest of touches on his arm. He turned and saw Jess na Gall looking at him in wonder.

  “It’s….it’s not possible,” she exclaimed.

  The projection of Jess was much clearer than that of Laynee. She appeared to be almost solid, yet still there was a thinness when she moved, and at times Gwaynn could see through her.

  “It is said that Galen Dawkins was solid…but I didn’t believe…” her voice trailed off as she stood looking at Gwaynn.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, for he could not see anything of his projected self and thought he was, in fact, even more transparent than Laynee.

  “You are solid!” Jess said loudly in her excitement. “I can’t see through you; you look completely solid,” she continued and moved closer, studying him, “even your edges seem sharp and solid.
It’s like you’re two places at the same time” she added and moved around him in a circle. “Completely solid, I can’t see through you at all.”

  Gwaynn frowned and looked down at himself once more…nothing. He was dimly aware of Laynee panting next to him in the grass; in fact, if he concentrated he could still feel himself sitting next to her. He opened the eyes of his body and stood. Jess’ body also stood and she was looking at him with wonder from both places.

  “You can Travel,” her projection said in a hushed voice.

  “Can I? I can’t see myself.”

  Jess smiled and nodded her head. “You can Travel…come,” she said and reached out and took his hand in hers. Again, Gwaynn felt the whisper soft touch on his skin but nothing substantial. He let himself be led away across the field. They passed close to Samantha, who was busily showing an old man a new stance. He moved closer to her, but she didn’t react at all.

  “They can’t see us?” Gwaynn asked moving closer still. He reached out and brushed Samantha’s arm. He could only just feel her, and she brushed her arm off as if a small insect landed on the spot where his fingers grazed her skin.

  Jess shook her head. “Come,” she said patiently, and reluctantly Gwaynn turned and followed her to the very far side of the field. She stopped along the tree line well away from where the archers were practicing, and then turned and faced her body. Gwaynn followed suit, and had a moment’s disorientation as he looked at himself across the wide field of grass. He shook his head, feeling dizzy. He was able to take in both viewpoints at the same time but he was having trouble assimilating the information.

  “It gets easier,” the Zarina said smiling at him, and then added absently. “Now that you’ve projected…I wonder how far you could go,” she shook her head to banish the thought and looked at Gwaynn once more.