Bastial Sentinels (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 5)

by Narro, B. T.

  “Hurry!” Micah ran to the nearby barn and threw open the door. They all chose a horse and rushed out.

  To Jek’s surprise, the Elves hadn’t moved. But he and the others hurried to get on their mounts nonetheless. Perhaps their enemies were shocked to see them and hadn’t figured out what to do yet.

  “How close do you need to be to shoot them?” Micah asked the guard with the bow.

  “Fifty yards,” he replied. “But I certainly can’t kill them all before they reach us.”

  “Then let’s ride to fifty yards out and see what they do. Stay close so Jek can guard us with Sartious Energy.” Micah turned to the Takary women. “If you have a chance to escape during the battle, do it. We’ll try to get the gate open.”

  Jek looked at Lisanda. “Don’t worry about me. Save yourself.”

  Her worried expression said nothing of whether she would leave without him.

  Jek took to the front again and kicked his mount into a gallop. He could hear the rhythmic slapping of hoofs behind him as everyone followed. He watched the Elves carefully, wondering why they still hadn’t drawn their weapons.

  Jek couldn’t believe his eyes when they turned and unlatched the gate. They parted, clearing plenty of space for the royal party to ride through. Many of the Elves even gestured toward the opening, as if presenting it.

  Jek slowed his horse to a stop. They were nearing fifty yards from the Elves. “I don’t understand,” he said as everyone stopped with him. “What are they doing?”

  “I don’t know.” Micah stared ominously ahead.

  One of the Elves called out, “You may leave.”

  Jek took in a breath to shout back, but Micah stuck out his hand to stop him. “Wait. This might be a trap. I don’t want to get in a conversation with them unless I’m close enough for psyche so I can determine their honesty. Let me go forward alone.”

  “No,” Jessend answered before Jek could. “We’re all coming with you.”

  “I have to be close enough for them to use psyche back on me,” Micah said. “All of you stay here, out of range.” He kicked his mount and sped off, too quickly for Jek to decide if he wished to follow.

  When Micah was ten yards from the Elves, he dismounted and approached them warily. “You’ll let us pass without harm?”

  “We will,” one Elf answered.

  “Why?”

  “Fatholl’s goal isn’t to slay the entire Takary family. He has other plans.”

  “What other plans?” Micah boldly tested his luck.

  “I cannot answer that if you wish to live.”

  Micah looked over his shoulder and bit his lip. Slowly turning back to the Elves, he asked, “What of Raymess Takary? Did you let him live?”

  “Yes. He already left with many guards. It was only necessary for us to kill Danvell Takary and take his palace…at least for today. You and the others may leave now.”

  “Why did Elves attack the Queen and the Princesses, then?”

  “Probably because the palace guards were fighting against us, and it doesn’t matter if those women live or die. If you still wish to fight instead of leave, all of you will die.”

  Micah turned again to his party, this time with arched eyebrows. “What they say is true.”

  Jek rode forward with the others close behind. Micah was back on his steed by then.

  The Elves separated even farther from each other, clearing the entire span of the gate. As Jek led them through, he expected the Elves to do something, at least spew out some sort of threat. But they just watched in silence, the tension so thick even the horses seemed to sense it, for they whinnied nervously. It was the only sound he heard until the gate was closed behind them.

  Chapter 3:

  JEK

  They rode away from the palace, slowing as they came into the crowded streets of The Nest. Micah led them through a series of alleys that eventually rose to a dirt path twisting up a hill.

  “Where are we going?” Vala asked him.

  “Somewhere safe where we can figure out what to do next.”

  It wasn’t long before Jek realized where they were headed. He’d been down this dirt path before. In any other circumstance, he might’ve been excited to see Goreng and Giant again. But now his thoughts were elsewhere. He wondered how they would find Raymess. And even after that, what would they do? They needed to gather Goldram’s army and retake the palace, but surely Fatholl wouldn’t allow that to happen. What did the Elf have planned?

  Should we give up on the palace? Jek wondered. As he glimpsed Lisanda’s mournful expression, he thought of Danvell Takary and of the sword the Elven woman had plunged into his chest.

  Are Sannil and Kalli safe? he thought, now worried for his father and sister. At least they weren’t in The Nest. The capital would be in the most danger of any town. Still, he needed to figure out Fatholl’s intentions for the sake of his family, not to mention Lisanda’s. There was only one thing he knew—whatever this was, it was only the beginning.

  Jek couldn’t look away from Lisanda as he watched sadness slowly overtake her, her eyes lowering, her body slouching. He could see the weight of her father’s death upon her now that the frenzy of their escape was done. It was tempting to halt everyone so he could dismount and hold her, but he refrained.

  Eventually, they were riding toward a corner of the palace. “What are we doing getting so close?” Vala asked, her concern evident.

  “It’s safe,” Micah assured her.

  Jek knew that Vala trusted Micah as much as he did, and it obviously was for this reason she didn’t object. Had it been anyone else, the Queen would’ve demanded a guarantee of her daughters’ safety. Jek hadn’t yet found the same crushing grief on her face and Jessend’s as he did when his eyes fell back on Lisanda, but he knew it was coming. Everyone grieved in their own way and in their own time.

  The sun had begun to set, and the crackle of a campfire broke through the noise of the wind. They passed between trees, and soon Jek found himself in a familiar opening with one palace wall casting a great shadow over him.

  The little blond man beside the fire jumped at the sight of them. “Is that you, Micah Vail?”

  “It is.”

  But before they could say more, a behemoth of a man crashed through the bushes and ran toward them like a dog catching scent of its master. The horses startled, many rearing up, others turning to flee. They all struggled to stay in their saddles.

  “Giant!” Goreng screamed at him. “You’re scaring our visitors!”

  Giant suddenly looked frightened himself. His clenched fists flailed around his chest, and his eyes went wide with shock. He grunted out something and ran to his brother, who was at least half his size.

  As they regained control of the horses, Jek jumped off and hurried to help Lisanda down, eager to touch her, to comfort her. Once she was standing, he crushed her to his chest. Her arms came up to squeeze him back.

  “What’s this all about?” she asked, showing no signs of letting go.

  “Nothing.” He kissed the top of her head.

  She smiled when they finally parted. Jek found Micah on his knees hugging Goreng. They were about the same height in that moment. Then Micah stood and opened his arms to Giant. The man grunted happily, lifting Micah off his feet and spinning him around as if he were a small child.

  “Who are these men who live so close to the palace?” Vala asked. The blue Takary cloak bearing the image of soaring wings made her tone no less regal than it already sounded. “Are they employed by us?”

  “My queen,” Micah said, “these are friends of mine. They’ve been an asset to the Takary family for many years.” Jek waited for Micah’s eyes to shift and give him a knowing look. But to his surprise, they didn’t. They were held by Vala’s gaze. Even as she walked by Micah toward Goreng, his worried glance followed her, expecting rebuke.

  She sighed but didn’t look back at him. “So many secrets,” she muttered. “I’m Vala Takary.” She clearly expected Goren
g to bow.

  He did, even got to one knee to show the utmost respect. Giant mimicked his brother, though he was still taller than Vala on his knee, even with his head bowed.

  “Yes, yes—I recognized you, Queen Takary. It is the highest of honors to meet you in person.” Goreng reached his small hand toward hers. She let him take it, and he kissed the back of it sweetly.

  Giant laughed out a grunt, puckered his lips, and shoved his hand at her face like he wanted to snatch off her nose to kiss it. Vala stepped away from him just as Goreng took his brother’s hand, turned his palm up, and lowered it to the height of Vala’s stomach. She hesitantly placed her hand on his.

  “Gently,” Goreng whispered.

  Like a bear trying to drink from a delicate glass, Goreng carefully held the Queen’s slender hand as he brought his thick lips toward it. He was kissing the air as he moved closer, as if to practice. A hair away, he practically halted all movement. At the speed of molasses melting under the sun, he brought his lips to her golden-brown skin, feathering her hand with the faintest of kisses.

  Completely giddy, Giant jumped up—startling Vala into shrieking—and danced beneath the nearby canopy. Jek tried to hold in laughter, though Lisanda and Jessend giggled loudly, so he happily joined in.

  But Goreng was red with embarrassment. “I apologize about my brother,” he said, standing and bowing.

  “Your brother?” Vala exclaimed. “Is such a thing possible that he’s your blood brother?”

  “Yes, yes—we share the same blood. But he’s harmless, just like me, my queen. He won’t hurt anybody—I swear it.”

  “I see. And what are your names?”

  “I’m Goreng, and he’s known as Giant. We’re here to help with whatever you need. What brings all of you out this way and with all these guards?” Although the question was posed to Vala, Goreng let his eyes show that he knew Micah would be the one answering.

  “The palace has been taken,” the King’s adviser said, not as indignantly as one would expect, but with a deep sadness instead. “You probably shouldn’t stay here too long, just in case they find the secret passage in the Princesses’ dressing room.”

  Goreng’s fingers twiddled. “Yes, yes—I see. Is there time for tea?”

  This is what he asks? Jek was dumbfounded. He doesn’t care to know who took the palace or why, only if there’s time for tea?

  Micah let out a sound between a scoff and a chuckle. “Not for us. There are some matters Vala and I need to discuss.”

  “I wouldn’t mind some tea while we speak,” she said.

  “Certainly!” Goreng was delighted. “Yes, yes—I’ll put a kettle over the fire right now.”

  “Wait,” Micah said. But Goreng ran off, apparently pretending not to hear.

  “We could use some food as well,” Jessend said.

  “Don’t drink the tea,” Micah warned them, “unless I can convince him to make a separate pot for us. Give me a moment.” He joined Goreng by the fire.

  “Excuse me.” Lisanda left the group to set her tired body in a weathered chair by a battered table.

  Jek excused himself as well and followed her. He studied Lisanda’s face, soon recognizing the same expression of dejection as she’d worn when he’d kidnapped her from the palace, wrapped her in a filthy tarp, and made her walk for miles without food or water. He hadn’t seen her this miserable since then.

  Coming from behind, he bent and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She lifted a hand to stroke his arm, letting out a sigh.

  “I’d always had a niggling fear that being king would get my father killed,” she muttered, careful to keep her voice low. “Half of them die before they reach old age. And now we don’t even know where my brother is or what he’s thinking of doing. He might try to take back the palace without gathering the rest of his army first. He’s always been half insane about family, power, revenge…” She took her hand off Jek’s arm to flutter it. “Those sorts of things.”

  Just hearing Lisanda speak, with her deep voice and lively accent, made Jek feel that everything could be fixed.

  “We’ll get through this,” he assured her.

  She rubbed his arm and nodded.

  “I’m so sorry about Danvell.”

  She nodded again. Tears pooled in her eyes, but she ruthlessly wiped them away as she furrowed her brow.

  “Why didn’t you tell me Micah was a psychic?” she asked, her tone accusatory.

  “I would have had there been a reason for you to know. But he asked me to keep it a secret, I believe as a test of trust. No one else knows…or knew before today.” Then Jek realized he was wrong. “Except Cleve and Rek, but that’s only because Rek figured it out from his own psyche and told Cleve.”

  She was silent, her hand now frozen on his arm.

  “Are you upset with me?” Jek needed to know.

  “I suppose not. I just don’t like the idea of you keeping anything from me, but that’s not reason enough to be angry, especially considering what happened today.” She lowered her head to kiss his arm, giving a soft sigh when she was finished. “Is there anything else I should know?”

  “Just that I’m hopelessly in love with you.”

  She giggled as she ran her hand through his hair and turned to kiss his cheek. “I’ve known that since the day we met, even before I found out about your darkness.”

  Jessend’s argumentative voice broke Jek’s smile. “There’s no way I’m going there! Don’t you know he has a brother?”

  “Jessend, I think it’s our only choice, and there’s a good chance Raymess will be there.” Vala looked with pleading eyes at her daughter.

  Lisanda was up from her chair by then. “Let’s see what’s happening.” She and Jek joined the others.

  “We’ll just stay there one night,” Micah said. “We shouldn’t stay long in the city anyway, not until we figure out what Fatholl’s intentions are.”

  “Stay where for one night?” Lisanda asked.

  “At the Lage mansion,” Micah said.

  Jessend started bickering, but Jek was too busy whispering to Lisanda to hear her. “Who are the Lages?”

  “You must remember Kasko Lage, the insane man who wanted to marry Jessend? His father feels in debt to us because of what his son did.”

  Jek recalled the name now. Kasko had led a team that kidnapped Vala and Raymess and held them as ransom for Bastial steel swords. Jek had only met Kasko once…and it was right before Cleve cut off his head.

  “I’ll only go,” Jessend said, “if you promise I won’t have to see Kasko’s brother and if two of our guards watch my door as I sleep.”

  A few of the seven guards who were huddled around their party let out a quiet huff of opposition. Micah and Vala were looking at each other, hoping the other would answer.

  Finally, Micah took it upon himself. “I can’t promise either of these things. Owin Lage might be there, and there’s no way I could stop him from greeting us. And our guards are just as weary as the rest of us. They need to sleep. But I can promise that you won’t be left alone or unprotected.”

  Just as it looked like Jessend was about to disagree, Vala spoke up. “You don’t have a choice in this matter. We’re going there.”

  Jessend grumbled but gave no more argument.

  Micah and Vala spoke between themselves for the better part of an hour. The guards removed their weapons and napped as they waited for orders. Jek sat with the twins, asking questions about Owin.

  “Is he like Kasko in that he wants to cut people?”

  “Probably,” Jessend muttered.

  But Lisanda answered more to Jek’s satisfaction, listing the facts she knew. “He’s not much older than us, and he’s married to a woman from a wealthy family, Heather Milander. He’s shown no signs of Kasko’s insanity.” Lisanda looked at Jessend, who gave a disapproving glare in return. “But Kasko had everyone fooled for a while,” Lisanda added halfheartedly. “So I suppose that’s possible for Owin as well.”

/>   “I don’t trust anyone in that family,” Jessend said petulantly.

  “I’ll stay with you in your bed,” Lisanda offered.

  “So you can be killed as well if Owin comes in?”

  Lisanda blew out a breath of annoyance.

  Jessend shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m in a terrible mood. I would like your company tonight, but I’d also like someone outside the room who could protect us.”

  “I’ll monitor your room throughout the night,” Jek said. “I’ll be up anyway because of my nightmares.”

  “Thank you,” Jessend said. “And I’m sorry.”

  Micah and the others got ready to ride.

  “Looks like we’re leaving,” Jek said. He checked the sky. Night was coming quickly. “How far is it to the Lage mansion?”

  “Not far,” Lisanda said.

  “It’s too close to the palace,” Jessend answered.

  They said their goodbyes to Goreng and Giant, then rode back down the dirt path until they were surrounded by the city once again. Light from the windows of taverns and houses illuminated the roads just enough to see silhouettes, making it too dark for the other weary travelers they passed to recognize Vala Takary or her daughters.

  The Lage mansion looked to be four times the size of Sannil’s entire estate. Private swordsmen guarded its entrance. Micah knew one of them by name and greeted him. Soon their horses were being taken off to the stables, and they were led inside and left to wait in the luxurious entrance room, where Jek thought a disgusting amount of space was wasted on furniture that looked too fancy to serve a purpose.

  A young man who Jek assumed to be Owin Lage descended the stairs. Everyone stood.

  “I apologize for coming by without notice,” Micah began. “And so late as well.”

  “Please, the Takarys are always welcome.” Owin looked specifically at Jessend. “I’m terribly sorry about Kasko. We could speak more about it later if you would like.”

  “No, thank you,” Jessend replied coldly.

  “I understand.” His voice hardened as he shifted his glance to Micah. “My father left for Chanren yesterday. I assume you’re here to speak with him?”