“This place is under the Marquis's Fortress?” Trent asked, letting his own anger tinge his every word. Sasha knew she should help him repress it, knew his anger would drive him to the edge, cause him to again act before considering the consequences. But instead, she continued feeding her own, their mingling fury turning into a swirling conflagration that began to morph into lust, her for him and him for her. It took her a moment to realize that she was also unconsciously feeding her passion alongside the anger.
“Yes, Sir Trent...and that is the most troubling part of this entire ordeal. The Marquis's Fortress is indeed just as its sounds; a massive fortress with a full garrison of 50,000 guards and 1,000 elite arcguards. I see no option but to wait for the fleet to return from “The Wall” and storm it with a large force of ABF Battleguards,” Sir Illion explained as he ran a single hand through his red streaked, shoulder length brown hair.
Sasha tensed. That would take too long! She needed to tell them, force them to understand that time was of the utmost essence. But her words wouldn't come. Her body still locked away from her mind. So she pushed her feelings into Trent, finding he already shared them.
“Sir Illion, I'm sorry to say that is not an option. Sir Wontin, how many private guards do you have in your employ?” Trent asked, turning from the stunned Sir Illion, to the crying older man.
“A little...a little over a thousand, Your Grace, but...but they will not be enough to storm a fortress. We have already discussed that option and...” Sir Wontin looked to Precursor Dei'Fil.
“It's impossible, Your Grace, plain and simple. But even if we could sneak them inside, they wouldn't stand a chance against a highly trained force of house guards,” Sir Illion explained.
“How many private guards on the planet?” Trent asked, refusing to back down. The question took everyone by surprise, except Sir Seb'Losh, who had an uncharacteristic smirk on his lips that Sasha could only call; wicked.
“Close to twenty-million I’d gather, with all the different business interests, Your Grace. But there is no way to convince them to participate in something so risky,” Sir Wontin paused as he stared into Trent's eyes, and Sasha immediately ascertained the reason.
Sasha had always assumed Trent's depression was born from despair, since he'd admitted that fact himself on more than one occasion. But now she was inside his mind when the feeling struck, the feeling of caring for everyone else and their safety with no concern for himself. She knew it may have originally been born from his lack of self-worth, believing others lives more important than his own. But now it was different. Now it was born from love. Love for her. Love for her ladies. He would do anything for them. Even destroy this planet to save them. And it scared her, since she suddenly realized; she would do the same.
“We will just have to make it too risky for them not too, Sir Wontin. Contact all the business associates you trust and inform them that the Alutia Duchy requires their assistance. Of course, we will compensate well for said assistance with credits, tax breaks or any other favors that only we can offer. But also let them know that any who refuse will not only find it difficult to ever do business in the Alutia Duchy again......but will possibly be brought under charges of treason, for assisting the Marquis Rostil,” Trent said slowly, providing plenty of time for his words, and his threat, to fully sink in. The surrounding faces stared at Trent in disbelief, except for Sir Totin, who joined Sir Seb'Losh with a wicked looking smirk.
“Bu-,” Sir Wontin stopped his reply mid-word, having seen what Sasha felt in Trent's eyes. His unbreakable determination that would not be stopped or questioned; she loved him so!
He cleared his throat. “Very well...but most of them will be not be pleased...private guards are finicky creatures who do not like the idea of actual fighting, and finding good ones are very hard to do, mind you. How do you plan on sneaking them in?” Sir Wontin asked, finally forcing away his own demons and accepting the inevitability of Trent's decision.
“Deliveries, a fortress that size must have constant deliveries, so we can hide the guards within the freight shuttles and hopefully take them by surprise,” Trent explained. Sasha felt Trent's exhilaration as the discussion turned from despair to hope. “That's it. You all have much work to do...the operation will begin tomorrow...” Everyone's faces went rigid, but Trent raised his hand. “But I know that is asking much. So I will give you till the morning after to set everything up. At that time, Sasha and I,” he glanced to Sir Seb’Losh, “along with our guards of course, will storm the fortress and save Lady Wedra, Lady Vickie, Lady Tiana, and every last petty and noble trapped within. Do I make myself clear?” Hurried nods were the only response, hope returning to Sir Wontin's eyes as he heard his daughter's name. Sasha pushed her love through to Trent, love for the man she knew wanted to leave her behind in safety, but would never dare since she would never allow it.
“Good...and inform the men that surrender shall be accepted. But if anyone resists...they have my permission to use any force necessary.” Silent stares looked back at him as the men quickly stood, Sir Illion eyes still showing his disbelief and Precursor Dei'Fil looking overly dubious.
“As Your Grace commands,” they bowed in unison. Their bond suddenly filled with his embarrassment. The men quickly filed out and Sir Seb'Losh moved to follow, but Trent's eye caught his.
“Prepare our combat armor, Sir Seb'Losh...and have someone bring us food and drinks...nothing fancy, just some of the high-protein gruel,” Sir Seb'Losh nodded stiffly, his smirk having long vanished, telling her that the captain of the Alutia Guard was less than happy at the fact that she and Trent were once again planning on placing themselves in danger. But she didn't care. They would save her ladies.
After Sir Seb'Losh left and the door slid shut, Trent's vision turned back to her and her sheet covered body, which he gently caressed.
“My love, I...I do enjoy the times you fill me with your “cravings”, but did you have to dream about such things at that very moment? I almost lost myself...” he whispered, apparently believing her dreaming. “But I don't mind, of course...anything you do to me...I don't mind...because I love you beyond life itself. So much that I don't know how to describe it at times. Just trying to show it through our bond, hoping you understand. But that's not enough for me. I want to show you, show myself. But I'm scared. So I will do it now......as you sleep.” Sasha heart began to race, hearing something that she was never meant to hear, something she couldn't stop herself from absorbing into her entire being. He leaned close to her ear, so close that his warm breaths caress caused her to stir.
“Sasha, my love. I swear loyalty only to you and those you choose. I give up my own life for yours. To become a man worthy of you, I shall allow you to mold me, shape me, remake me. For my love is such that without this one fact, this unyielding loyalty and love, I would be unable to continue on......fade away,” his oath was a whisper she could barely hear, but she did, and the words he spoke, words of his heart, struck her deep, like an arrow piercing through her own, locking it forever to his.
“It's funny......I don't really know what it means, but my heart told me to tell you these words, so I did. But I'm scared of how you would respond, scared that you would scold me, be angry with me, so I could only say them when you sleep. Being scared, most of all, that you would hate me......what a sad man I am...” he whispered, his words trailing off as he pulled away. She wanted to scream, force him back into her embrace, telling him the same. That she was his, and he could reshape her as he sees fit. But she couldn't. The words wouldn't come, her body still distant.
So she pushed the words into him, with the feelings that clung to her; of love and loyalty. He froze as his vision became wavy, tears trickling from his eyes, to fall gently across her exposed skin, tears of love, tears of joy, and tears of hope.
“There is only an us......my duke......loyalty and love till the end of days...” the thoughts seemed to echo in both their minds. She felt Trent's embrace, filled with such passio
n and undying love that she could never bear the thought of ever losing.
*********
The forced march of despair finally came to an abrupt end when the wall forcing them forward groaned to a halt. They exited the dim tunnel into complete darkness. Vickie tightened her grip, pulling Tiana and the child closer as the darkness engulfed them, concealing fresh horrors Tiana knew must lie just ahead.
An intense flash of light blinded her at the same moment the air crackled and a deafening rumble rippled through the stone, as if lightening had just struck nearby. But before she slammed her eyes closed, cowering in fear from the unknown threat, it provided her a glimpse of what lay before them; their next frightening challenge.
In the total darkness stood a wide chasm, the same foggy mist hiding its depths, with a bridge made of many individual blocks crossing the expanse. But the bridge wasn't solid. Each of the individual blocks would continually shift and separate, some floating up and down, while others, left and right. Each time the lightning struck, the bridge appeared different, every block having shifted, before her sight again, vanished into night.
Tiana felt the sweaty grip of the petty child at her side tighten, she having finally stopped crying, now standing mute, following Tiana without question. But when another flash of lightning struck, Tiana glimpsed fear in the child’s eyes, and was grateful, the child's mind not yet completely gone. Hers, on the other hand, was again beginning to slip, reality and fantasy threatening to merge into one. They'd been awake for longer than Tiana could remember and the stress brought on by fatigue and terror, born during the crossing of the floating platforms, had drained her beyond anything she'd ever experienced in the past.
“This could be trouble,” Vickie muttered, pulling her slowly forward as another flash filled the cavern, followed instantly by a loud crack.
“Any ideas?” Tiana asked, hopeful that the always prepared Vickie had a solution to their latest predicament. But silence was her only response. Before Tiana could question again, another flash filled the air, causing her to flinch back as she noticed that they had almost reached the edge of the solid floor and the beginning of the shifting bridge.
“Only move during the flashes. If you have to wait for a few before they line up properly, then do it, do not rush. But we have to move,” Vickie instructed, voice tense. Tiana didn't understand the abrupt change, until the next flash of lightning struck, and Vickie pointed behind them. Tiana tensed as she noticed the wall was creeping closer.
“Do you want me to take her?” Vickie offered as she pointed to the child, the blocks too small for all three of them to traverse together. Tiana was about to nod, but stopped herself. It was her responsibility. She couldn't pass the burden onto Vickie, who still seemed to be experiencing some of the aftereffects of the poison.
“No,” she responded reluctantly.
“Ok...follow fast, try not to fall too far behind,” Vickie turned and just as the lightning struck, she stepped onto the first, slowly moving stone block.
Tiana froze in place, panic rising from deep within, she no longer having Vickie's reassuring presence at her side. She took a few deep breaths, remembering her Dai Tempest training, forcing the panic away while resolving herself to move on. She stepped forward as the next lightning struck, revealing a horizontally moving block sliding slowly past.
She fell back just as her foot touched the block, the child not taking the step with her. She felt herself start to fall, the child's reluctant weight threatening to pull her off the block, but she had enough momentum to drag the child, forcing herself to fall forward to her knees while pulling the child across the small gap and onto the moving block. Her heart raced out of control as she recovered her feet just as another flash came, faster than the previous, and she moved again as the stone rumbled, forcing the child to jump alongside her onto a vertically moving block. The next flash revealed no blocks within range, so she took the opportunity to look for Vickie.
She had vanished. The constantly shifting blocks blocking Tiana's view, Vickie having moved too far ahead to see, or she had...Tiana let the last thought vanish before it fully materialized. The next flash showed she was still too far away from the adjacent block that shot quickly below and out of sight. So she waited, trying to predict when another block would come close.
One moved parallel and she stepped instinctively, falling to her knees as the child went limp, tumbling off the block, almost dropping into darkness. Tiana steadied herself, pulling on the child's arm with all her strength and was somehow able to drag her back to the top of the block.
“You must...must move with me...” she stuttered under ragged breaths, but the child didn't respond, eyes showing nothing but fear. Tiana felt her own fear growing, again threatening to overwhelm her as she wobbled back to her feet. This isn’t the time, Tiana, we have to keep moving, we have to survive.
It was slow going. Block by block they moved across the bridge as her fatigue continued to grow. The child became deadweight, her reluctance to move with Tiana almost causing them to fall on more than one occasion. But she fought on, forcing the child to move across the bridge with her, no matter the extra effort.
“Tiana!” the shout echoed from high overhead. She looked up just in time to be blinded by a flash. She covered her eyes and looked up again, trying to discern where Vickie's shout had originated. “We're almost there! Keep moving! The blocks become easier up ahead!” Vickie shouted again, this time from above and to the right. She is a good distance away, Tiana realized.
“Ok!” she shouted back, more to reassure herself then Vickie.
After a few more blocks, Tiana found that indeed, Vickie was right. Instead of small blocks moving about in random directions, those ahead were larger and just moved slowly, side-to-side, following a predictable pattern. But something was odd. The air overly humid and a fine mist seeming to strike her face.
“Tiana! Be careful its-,” the booming flash interrupted Vickie's words. Tiana moved, going by instinct, and slipped as her foot touched the slippery stone surface of the adjacent block. She fell backwards, striking her head on the rising block that she had just stepped off.
Stars exploded in her vision as she tumbled across the wet stone, grasping desperately, trying to recover her feet, to pull herself upright in the now heavily falling rain. But the pain and swirling stars mixed with the constant flashes of lightning disoriented her, making it almost impossible for her to recover on the slippery stone.
“Tiana! Tiana! Are you ok!” Vickie shouted from closer than before. It took Tiana a moment to realize that yes, she was indeed alright. But something was wrong, missing, though her mind couldn't place what. Her thoughts strangely muddled.
The petty child.
The memory struck like the lightning. Tiana forced her reluctant body to move, searching the block desperately, but the child was nowhere to be found. She must still be on the previous block, she realized, peering into the darkness behind her frantically, knowing during the next flash, she would be there, waiting for Tiana to save her.
A flash revealed all the blocks behind her were empty. I dropped her, the thought exploded into her mind. She collapsed, pulling her knees to her chest, sobbing uncontrollably. She heard Vickie's screams, but didn't care. She'd dropped her. She'd killed her. It was all her fault.
Time stood still as the rain washed over her skin, the swaying block pushing her sanity farther and farther from reality.
Could I still save the child by diving into the darkness? A voice whispered.
There is a chance, her heart responded, but you would have to do it quickly, the voice urged.
But how would I survive? Her mind countered. The darkness may extend into eternity, the drop, infinite.
But Trent and Sasha had done it, not once, but twice, so why not you? Her heart explained.
She stood, having made a decision. She would listen to her heart and save the petty child, break her free of the darkness. Hands wrapped around her as she stepped fo
rward, stopping her from taking the final plunge. But she fought, pushing against the obstruction keeping her from the child, from her responsibility. You have to save her! Her heart cried.
“Tiana...it's alright...calm down...it's not your fault...” a calming, familiar voice fought against the insanity growing within her mind.
No, it is your fault! The voice of her heart countered. You can only make amends by following the child you let die! It commanded.
“She jumped, Tiana. Before you moved, this is why you slipped. It's not your fault...” the familiar voice soothed, breaking her free. Vickie's voice, she suddenly realized. Tiana turned, clinging to her friend, burying her head in her warm bosom, losing herself in the overwhelming sorrow.
“I know...I know...” Vickie cooed, running her fingers through Tiana's hair, wet and unkempt. But her tears wouldn't end, her sorrow too great, and she slumped to the surface of the block, letting herself fall fully into Vickie's embrace.
“We must move,” Vickie pushed after a time, her tone calming. Tiana nodded as she allowed Vickie to pull her to her feet, only dry tears remaining.
They moved slowly on, traversing the wet blocks carefully until they reached the far side of the chasm and another ominous archway blocked their way.
“Shall we wait or move?” Vickie asked kindly. Tiana wanted to say wait, wait for the child. But she knew it was too late and the longer they stayed the more likely she would once again be taken by insanity.
The Noble Petty, Complete Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 2) Page 67