Nilene bowed slightly. “It would be a pleasure, sir.”
The two walked side by side in complete silence toward the stairs. Kasrian was sweating, his heart beating so loudly he was sure that everyone must be able to hear it. Nilene smiled, greeting everyone who crossed her path. As they climbed the stairs, Kasrian felt his hands twitching. Finally, he couldn’t stand it any longer.
Noting that the hallway they were in was empty, Kasrian suddenly reached out to grab Nilene’s arm. He pulled her roughly through the nearest open door, slamming it shut behind them.
Nilene didn’t look the least bit surprised. She allowed him to push her against the closed door, grinning widely as he pressed his lips to hers. She reached her hands up to run them through his dark hair as they kissed, pulling him closer as she kissed him back.
Kasrian finally pulled away from the kiss, looking down at her smiling face with a grin of his own. “I’ve been waiting to do that all day.”
“Just all day?” Nilene’s eyes sparkled playfully. “Here I was hoping I’d been on your mind all week.”
Kasrian’s cheeks burned at her teasing comment. A half-formed witty response swirled around his mind, but he could barely think straight. He kissed her again fiercely. Nilene didn’t seem to mind. She wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss.
After ten minutes, Kasrian reluctantly pulled away. “We should get going. Aldwin’s already going to lecture me for being late.”
Nilene groaned in protest. “He’ll lecture me, too, you know.”
“He wouldn’t dare.” Kasrian reached out a hand to brush an errant strand of auburn hair over Nilene’s ear. “You’re the toughest, smartest soldier in his army. I’m just his little brother.”
Nilene laughed. Kasrian’s blood was on fire, but he forced himself to pull away. “I love you. You know that, right?”
“Of course I do.” Nilene’s expression softened. “I love you, too, even if you do want to keep it a secret.
Kasrian’s shoulders slumped. “I know it’s selfish. It’s just . . . I’m in the public eye all the time. You might be the only person other than Aldwin who actually likes me for who I am instead of what I am. If we tell everyone, suddenly everything we do is watched and talked about. It might not change anything, or it might change everything.” He leaned forward, pulling her into a warm embrace. “I love what we have. I just can’t bear the thought of losing it.”
Nilene blushed as she laid her head on his chest. “I know. I feel the same way. I don’t want a prince, I just want you.”
Kasrian felt his heart fluttering. He reached up a hand and stroked it through her short hair. It’s soft. How does a soldier keep her hair so soft? He smiled at the thought of her bathing for hours the way noblewomen did. Never. She’d get bored halfway through and demand a book to read.
With a heavy sigh, Kasrian finally stepped back. His brow furrowed as he looked around the room. “Where are we, anyway?”
Nilene laughed. “I think it’s a storage room. Look, there are crates of something over there.” With her usual mischievous grin, she strode over and opened a crate. “Soap,” she said matter-of-factly. Her curiosity satiated, she walked back toward Kasrian. “Well, shall we get upstairs? If we wait any longer, Aldwin isn’t going to believe whatever excuse we give him.”
Kasrian blushed. She’s even taken to calling the King by his first name. What does she see in me? He nodded, and together they left the storage room and continued on toward the King’s study.
“Three more reports this morning.” Aldwin leaned forward on his desk, pressing his fingers to his temples. “I guess it was too much to hope that the kidnappings would stop as soon as the Slaver was caught.”
Nilene frowned. “We knew it would take time. There’s far more work to do before we’ve dismantled the Slaver’s network of suppliers.” Her tone was calm, but her eyes twitched with anger.
Aldwin did not respond. Kasrian watched as the color slowly drained from his brother’s face. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
The King nodded, closing his eyes with a heavy sigh. “It seems we have a new problem. Or maybe not new.” His hands dropped as he looked up to Kasrian. The commander was shocked to see tears in his brother’s eyes.
Kasrian spoke softly. “Brother, what is it? What’s in the report?”
“One of the parents,” Aldwin’s voice broke. He cleared his throat and continued. “A child was kidnapped last night in Felway. Her mother said in the report that a group of people in black robes snatched her off the street, then disappeared into thin air. Another child in Vendarin was taken from his bed. A neighbor reported him missing the next day after she found his parents stabbed to death in their kitchen. And the third report . . .” his voice trailed off as he pointed to a finely written missive bearing the royal seal of Katrell.
Nilene and Kasrian both stiffened at the sight of the seal. Nor and Katrell were allies, but the peace between them was fragile at best. If something had happened there and the people of Katrell thought that Nor was responsible, war would be inevitable.
“It’s from the Queen’s sister, Zara. Apparently, they have children going missing as well. Their investigation has found some kind of cult. They have no idea of the name or motivations, only that the cultists wear black robes and carry this symbol.” Aldwin reached out his hand. A silver amulet bearing a strange carving dangled from a black chain wrapped around his fingers. “Do either of you recognize it?”
Kasrian shook his head. “Doesn’t look familiar. Do you think this cult might be responsible for our missing children?”
Nilene was pale. “I’ve seen that symbol before. It was painted on the wall of a building in the Slaver’s camp.”
Aldwin nodded. “Yes, I remember the report. We didn’t know what it meant then, but I guess we do now.” He sighed. “Lady Zara says they’ve been spotted taking children from the streets, but they disappear as soon as anyone comes close. It seems they’re using some kind of magic that the Katrellans are unfamiliar with.”
“But how is that possible?” Kasrian slammed a fist on Aldwin’s desk. “Their ambassador is constantly bragging about all the magic that can be studied there. How can there be any kind of magic they’re not familiar with?”
“Ambassador Selathiel is certainly boastful, but even he would never claim to know every kind of magic there is.” Aldwin tapped his fingers on his desk, his expression dark. “Lady Zara is asking that we work with Katrell to find and end this cult. I think it’s an excellent idea.”
Nilene’s nodded, her lips pressed tightly together. “I agree. We’ll make far more progress working with the Katrellans than we would on our own.”
“That’s good to hear. I’ll send word to Selathiel right away. We’ll meet tomorrow evening to discuss our next steps. Captain. Commander.” He waved his hand, dismissing them both.
Kasrian opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it. Aldwin’s face was grave, far more somber than Kasrian had seen in years. He looks like he did after Amelia died. I should leave him to his thoughts.
Kasrian and Nilene left the room together. They were silent, all thought of passion driven away by the reports they had just heard. When they reached the stairs, Kasrian turned and gave a bow. “If you’ll excuse me, Captain Drannell, I have some urgent matters to attend to.”
Nilene’s expression softened. She glanced around to make sure they were alone, then stepped forward to plant a quick kiss on his cheek. Despite the hollow ache in his stomach, Kasrian smiled. Without a word, she snapped a salute and dashed off down the stairs.
Kasrian stood for a moment, still feeling her soft lips on his skin. Finally, he walked off down the hall toward the private quarters of the royal family.
A few moments later, he knocked gently on an ornate wooden door. “Lyall? Are you there?”
A small voice called from behind the door. “Come in!” Kasrian smiled as he pushed the door open.
Lyall
, Aldwin’s only son, was in the center of his room practicing with a wooden sword. He was only six years old, but Kasrian could already see the makings of an excellent swordsman in him. “Hello, Your Highness. What would you say to an afternoon with me in the training yard?”
Lyall’s eyes sparkled. “That sounds great! Thanks, Uncle Kasrian!”
Kasrian smiled. The heavy feeling was beginning to fade. A day of training Lyall in swordsmanship should help me relax. Who knows how long we’ll be dealing with this cult? Best to take the opportunity to have a good day while it lasts.
He reached out a hand. “Come along, Lyall. Let’s go.”
Chapter 6
The black-robed man was utterly silent, which made the Boss’s haggling a lot harder. He growled. “Look, she’s young, healthy, just what you people want. And she don’t speak a word, just like you. You should be paying more for her!”
The cultist shook his head and gestured emphatically towards the bag of coins he was holding out to the bandit. Rafe sneered from behind him. He tightened his grip on the scared little girl’s arm. Autumn stood perfectly still as his nails dug into her skin, swallowing her fear and wishing with all her might that she could just disappear.
The girl tried desperately to lose herself in thoughts of the life she had lost. She remembered walking through the forest with her father, the sound of his voice and the smell of old leather. Autumn had seen so much death since that day. She was still trying to understand what her father had told her. I wish I could stop it all. All the death, all the pain. I’ll die soon, too. Why does it have to be this way?
The clatter of steel startled Autumn out of her thoughts. Rafe’s grip on her arm loosened. She looked over at the Boss. Apparently, the negotiations had taken a turn for the worse. The Boss had his sword out and was threatening the cultist he had been trying to haggle with. Other cultists were gathering now, slowly and silently. Each wore the same black robe. Nothing distinguished them from one another. Autumn realized that they were forming a circle, slowly closing in on the Boss.
Rafe realized it, too. He let go of the girl to draw his own sword and run to the Boss’s side. Well, that’s noble of him, she thought. When he rushed to grab the bag of coins that the cultist had dropped, she rolled her eyes and sighed. Oh. Never mind.
With everyone distracted, Autumn considered making a run for it. She dismissed the idea as soon as she had it. The path up the mountain had been long and winding, and many other trails branched off. Only the strange traveler’s map had gotten them to the right place. Even if she managed to get away, Autumn knew she would never make it down the mountain on her own.
The cultists were closing the circle around the bandits, who stood back to back with their swords at the ready. The cultists had no blades. There were no weapons of any kind in their hands. Despite that, Autumn was suddenly gripped with terror. The circle raised their hands to the sky in perfect unison. The bandits looked confused for a moment. Then, without a sound, they were gone. Their clothes dropped to the ground, empty and soaked in blood. All that remained of the bandits was a red mist that hovered in the air for a moment before dissipating into the wind.
Autumn stared in horror at the empty space where the bandits had stood only a moment ago. These people were dangerous, far more dangerous than she could have imagined. Autumn’s fear kept her rooted to the spot. She couldn’t even struggle when a cultist placed a heavy hand on her shoulder, guiding her towards the sheer rock face that bordered one side of the narrow valley.
It isn’t just a sheer cliff, she realized. In the light of the setting sun, she saw the outline of a mighty temple carved into the stone. How could I have missed that? After studying it for a moment, she could see that it was an illusion. There was no carved temple, only a trick of the shadows cast by the dying light filtering through the mountains. The only real part was the great stone door that was slowly opening to allow the cultists and their prize inside.
The room behind the door was dark. Autumn looked up at the cultist leading her. He was a young man, his eyes hidden in the shadows of his hood. Silently, he pushed her into the dark room. The massive stone door closed behind them, leaving them in darkness.
After a moment, her eyes adjusted. It was a small room, lit very dimly by a few candles set in hollows carved into the walls. The only feature of the room was another door, smaller than the one she had entered through. The dark wood of the second door was ornately carved with strange symbols that Autumn didn’t recognize. Just looking at them made her feel sick to her stomach. The young man betrayed no emotion as he opened the door and led her through. At the sight of the room beyond, Autumn gasped.
Despite her fear, Autumn had to admit that the temple was strikingly beautiful. A single massive room stretched from the floor she stood on all the way to the top of the peak, where an opening revealed the sky above. The room was lit by strange, glowing vines that seemed to have grown into the sides of the mountain. Thorned plants climbed over the walls from the floor of the temple to the hole at the top, but they seemed to be dead. They were lit dimly by the glowing vines, their dead and twisted branches reminding Autumn uncomfortably of clawed hands.
The surface she walked on was bone-white. She looked down, then jumped back in shock. The floor wasn’t just bone-colored, it was made of bones, carved and fit together into an intricate mosaic. In several places, empty eye sockets gazed up at her from the floor. Some of the skulls were set in permanent grins, others fixed in endless, silent screams. She shuddered, feeling waves of nausea wash over her.
The room smelled heavily of incense. Apart from the sounds of their footsteps, it was entirely silent. Why is it so quiet? The silence was only made stranger by the fact that Autumn was not the cultists’ only captive. Cages, also made of bones, lined the edges of the temple. Every enclosure was filled with children. Some seemed to be sleeping, others sat and stared blankly toward the center of the room. None of them made a sound or gave any sign of struggle. Autumn briefly wondered why, before her attention was finally drawn to the massive stone altar in the center of the room.
Compared to the rest of the room, the altar was unremarkable. The simple slab of black stone stood in sharp contrast to the white bone floor. There was a boy on the platform no larger than Autumn. He was naked. Four black-robed cultists held him in place – one at each hand and foot. He struggled -- but did not cry out -- as an old man in the same black robes carved into his chest with an ornate silver knife.
After the old man had finished carving, he raised the dagger high and plunged it into the boy’s chest. Autumn couldn’t tear her eyes away as the boy gave a final shudder and lay still. Blood pooled out from underneath the lifeless body. Two of the cultists pulled the body off the altar and carried it into the shadows. The other two poured water over the platform and wiped the remains of their sacrifice from the stone surface. The old man wiped the blood from the dagger reverently, then finally looked up at the terrified Autumn and her silent escort.
The young man had been leading her gently along. Suddenly, he seized her arm and dragged her forward. The old man with the dagger gave the girl a quizzical look, then looked at the young man. The young man placed a hand over his mouth and gave a quiet bow. The old man looked at Autumn again and gave a small smile and a nod. He motioned to the two cultists who were cleaning the boy’s blood off the altar.
The two young cultists left the altar and came to Autumn’s side. Before she could react, they quickly stripped her of her clothes, grabbed her limbs, and dragged her onto the altar. They took up their places holding her legs in place while the young man who had led her grabbed her wrists and held them fast above her head.
The old man began to carve into the skin on her chest. The pain was excruciating, worse than anything she had ever experienced before. The dagger was like a shard of ice so cold that it burned. It ripped through her skin. Autumn struggled with every ounce of strength she had left, but it wasn’t enough. The cultists held her fast, and the kni
fe began to dig deeper into her skin. It hurt so badly that she nearly lost consciousness. After what seemed like hours, the blade rose high and prepared to plunge down into her chest.
Suddenly, Autumn’s world went white.
She saw nothing but the light that suddenly burst into view. She knew she should be frightened, but she felt . . . Safe. The light enveloped her, surrounding her and holding her gently. She was warm and protected in its embrace. The cold stone of the altar fell away. The cultists holding her down disappeared. Her strength grew, and she knew that she could protect herself at last. She closed her eyes, surrendering herself to the soft, gentle glow.
When she opened her eyes, Autumn was back on the altar. The cultists were on the floor all around her. She couldn’t tell if they were dead or just unconscious. The wounds they had carved into her chest were bleeding. The light was gone, leaving only the terrible darkness of the silent temple.
What in the name of the Gods was that?
Autumn sat up, wide-eyed. She tried to figure out what had just happened. From the corner of her eye, she noticed other cultists coming in from other areas of the temple. Ignoring the burning pain in her chest, she leaped off the altar and ran to the nearest cage. At least I can free a few of the other children.
The other captives still hadn’t moved or made a sound. She struggled with the lock on the cage door, pulling at it angrily. Help me! Don’t you want to get out of here? What is wrong with you?
With a sickening lurch of her stomach, she stumbled back as she suddenly realized exactly what was wrong with them. They’re . . . They’re dead. They’re all dead. The bodies sat motionlessly staring out from the cages. All of them had the same symbol carved into their chests, with the mark of the killing blow in the center of the carving. The children were in various stages of decay. A few still had skin around their lips, their mouths sewn shut. That’s why the boy wasn’t screaming. Autumn looked at the rotting bodies in terror. She coughed and realized that the thick incense had covered the horrible stench of putrid meat so well that she hadn’t noticed it before. Death. This is what death looks like. This is what it smells like. This is why it made Father so sad. Gods, this is what’s happening to him right now!
The Silent Pact Page 4