by S. W. Gunn
Astir came up with her own plan. She wanted to bring those who killed her husband to justice herself.
“No.” She said.
Everyone again looked at her.
“I will do it myself.”
Her father started to protest but she rose from her throne and yelled out loudly, “They took my husband! I will have my vengeance!”
Her father took several steps backwards, she could only assume he was shocked by the strength of her conviction.
Her mother spoke calmly, “Your Majesty it is not wise for you to leave the safety of Bygod.”
Her voice trembled with anger, “Mother I will not sit idly by. I intend to bring almost all of the guards here with me as part of the force that brings that city to its knees. I am the Queen and this is my order. Now, someone go and find the Hyggja. It is time we be honest with them and recruit them to our cause. I was told they are excellent warriors, we shall arm them with Jordling steel and bring them with us to the Myrr.”
No one in the throne room moved.
Astir yelled out angrily, “This is my command, now someone go and find the Hyggja!”
Ofriki turned and quickly left the throne room. Astir sat back down. The wait for the Hyggja was thankfully short. Ofriki entered with Viisaus and his two compatriots in tow. He stopped once he was fully in the throne room.
“Astir I was told you wish to speak to us.”
“Viisaus I owe you an apology.”
His facial expression shifted. Astir could tell that he was confused.
He asked, “What for?”
“We have not been completely honest with you.”
He did not say a word so she continued speaking, “The reason my husband left was not a simple mission. Two of our own cities betrayed us and declared their independence. He successfully brought one of the two cities back under my sway however he was killed attempting to bring back the other city.”
Viisaus nodded slowly. It was clear he was thinking.
Finally he spoke, “This is why we have lost some of our Kyla. We too were once led by one Lisko; he ruled all of us until he died. After his death there was war. Each Kyla decided to fend for itself, and it has been that way since. We used to keep in touch with each other but even that fell away. It was when I started receiving visions that I knew we needed to contact each other. Thanks to you Astir we were able to find all but one. That search continues.”
He paused for a moment before continuing, “What is your plan?”
With a firm voice she said, “I plan to march to this city with as large of an army as I can muster. Once there I will crush the city of Kunnadi beneath my heel. I wish for your people to join us. The larger the force we bring, the sooner we will accomplish our goal.”
“I cannot make such a decision myself, however I will gladly travel back to my Kyla and ask our leaders.” Viisaus told her.
Astir shook her head as she told him, “No Viisaus, I will personally appeal to your leaders for aid. If I am to ask your people to fight for me, I should at least be there to ask them.”
She could see that her mother and father were quite unhappy with the proposal but she did not care. She was the Queen and she would crush Kunnadi.
“As you wish. I wish to be excused, at my age I find I tire quite easily. I have a long trip back to the Kyla and should rest beforehand.”
“Of course. We have several turns that we must make preparations and set our plan in action. Please use that time to rest and then we shall leave.”
She stood. She intended to make it clear to those within her own council that she would not budge on her plans. She confidently strolled through the remainder of her throne room doors and towards her quarters. Once she made it to her quarters she stood neutrally as her handmaidens helped her change into her night clothing, once the doors closed and her handmaidens had left, she wretched violently into the nearby bucket. At least her wonderful husband had left her with an heir.
Chapter 36
Daell was unsure just how long he had been in the cage. His legs hurt less and less as they slowly healed and honestly he lost track of time. The windows of his prison were to be left closed at all times. It seemed as though they only opened them when Skyansam arrived to taunt him, which occurred less and less. Even still he could barely move them without pain, not only from the injury but also from his muscles, which he could not use properly. He tried to stretch and move as much as he could, but it seemed to help little. Daell assumed that Skyansam was either very busy or just bored with him because Daell would not respond to his taunts in fact he had not spoken a word since he first awoke. They fed him only what Daell assumed was once a turn, which consisted of the same tiny meal. It was obvious that they wished to keep his strength limited to ensure that he could not utilize his powers. It was working as Daell could not sense or utilize earthcrafting at all. He could not gather the strength to summon earth to himself at all.
Daell was deeply saddened by everything. He missed his wife dearly. He could only guess that by this point she must have begun growing in size from their child. To miss all of that had been nothing short of heartbreaking for him. He knew that Modira herself must be punishing him for his actions in Hellir. Tears rolled down his cheeks whenever he thought about it. How ironic it was to rise so high, only to fall so low. Daell was unsure how long he would stay in this cage but he guessed it would be until he either withered away or was finally just slain by that very evil man. He still could not believe that the whole issue revolved around the Kostir. Was Daell so beneath Skyansam that he could not handle the loss to Daell? Daell doubted he would ever understand. The windows of the prison dropped open, bringing in a heavy amount of bright light, which caused Daell to cover his eyes. Each time it happened it was harder and harder to adjust to. The door slammed open and Skyansam entered.
He spoke, “Well false king it has taken some time, but the Queen has finally summoned forth an army to attempt to defeat my cause. I would estimate she has brought almost three thousand men to bear. It would be an impressive number, if not for our superior weaponry. The intellect of the Vindiri has grown to a point that we can defeat an army twice the size as the one she has brought to my gates.”
He smiled wickedly at Daell. Daell remained silent through his rant.
Skyansam continued speaking, “I am at a loss as to what to do with you false king. My scouts have told me that your wife is showing signs of being with child. It would seem that you have managed to provide her with an heir. It is a shame you failed in your other tasking as King.”
He laughed heartily. He reached through the nearby door and pulled a piece of raw meat. Daell was able to guess that the beasts below were not actually captured but there had to be some way for them to access the inside of the prison under the Myrr. Skyansam threw the meat into the water, which caused an immediate violent reaction. The beasts that waited below tore into the meat in a violent struggle.
Skyansam laughed again before saying, “I would hate for our guests to starve while waiting for you to be delivered to them.”
Daell finally spoke to him for the first time since his initial imprisonment, “Why are you doing this?”
Skyansam laughed.
“Why?” He asked, “I shall tell you false king. From the moment you stole the crown out from underneath me I have been executing my revenge. First you embarrassed me with that horrible excuse of a thing that you call poetry. A child could have written better and yet that foolish woman chose your poem. Again at the Tilkall I was embarrassed to lose because of you. You were not welcome at the Kostir and that idiot brother of hers should have been voting properly. I do not know what you did to that fool, but it is clear that he was unbalanced because of it. And finally you should not have been at the Bardagi, I trained to defeat that scum Aldarnari with his sword. If not for you I would have defeated him easily and then I would have possessed my crown.”
Daell could see the man believed his own words completely.
“
The only positive I have drawn, has been the luck to capture you, false king. It was a pleasant surprise that you survived when your friends did not.”
He paused to let the words sink in with Daell. Daell frowned. He had hoped Viga and Anderskoti survived. He used the earth to push them far enough away to avoid the boulder, but apparently it was not enough.
Skyansam smiled wickedly, “False king your face betrays you. It gives me pleasure to see more anguish brought to you. Very soon your foolish wife will send forth her army to attack my walls. Once she does, we shall crush them. That will weaken all of Heima enough to allow Kunnadi to march out and capture all of the cities. Once I rule all of Heima, I will have you put down and then I will have the Queen captured. She shall marry me and I will become the King that I should have been.”
He laughed as he stepped through the door behind him. The door slammed shut with the windows closing soon afterwards.
Daell was again despairing about life. The idea of Astir being forced to marry Skyansam was unbearable. The man was obviously pure evil and did not deserve to even breathe the same air as her. Daell knew that he must somehow escape. He shifted so he was sitting upright. He extended his palms and touched the padding below him but he could feel nothing. Between the distance of Heima below him and his weakened condition, he just could not sense Heima. He tried to relax and focus, but nothing happened, he was alone for now. He had thought to rock the cage to try and loosen it from the ceiling, but the idea of sinking slowly into the Myrr and drowning was not very appealing to him. While he could swim normally, although not very well, in his condition he would not be able to swim well enough to either make it to the small platform or escape the beasts below. He was trapped.
The next several turns Daell spent alone. He received his usual meal, but no visits from his tormentor. Daell could only lie on his padding and attempt to move his legs and arms. His legs had recovered enough for him to put pressure on them. He found that if he stretched his legs and pushed them against the side bars of his cage; it allowed him the ability to work the muscles but he could tell they were so greatly weakened that he doubted he would be able to walk properly for some time. Although that would not matter if Skyansam had him killed before he ever left the cage. Daell spent all of his time dreaming about his wife, thoughts of her was all that kept him alive. He doubted that he would have survived this long without her within his mind. If he closed his eyes and concentrated he could almost imagine her laughter ringing in his ears. His mind many times would wander to their many adventures together. From sneaking out of the palace to the village below, or wandering Araedi in darkness, it all came back in his mind. From her soft skin against his as they lie on their bed back in Bygod to her long brown hair, he missed it all.
It had been several more turns before Skyansam returned. Again the windows were flung open, which blinded Daell temporarily, and the door opened to his presence. He laughed as he entered.
“Well, well, false king. I must say I am impressed with both you and your foolish Queen. First I am impressed with you for surviving this long, and then the Queen for her ability to rally the people. Her forces have built up from the three thousand to more than double that. I suspect that her final attack will occur within the next turn or two. She must feel quite confident that she will be victorious.”
He clicked his tongue and then continued speaking, “It is a shame for her. Once her forces attacks, we shall launch much more than the one boulder we sent to you. Dozens of them will crush down on her army, then we shall follow that will a massive number of our large artillery, we have modified a normal bow to the size of a carriage, and made it so that it can fire by pulling a mere switch. With a turning of a crank we can reset and reload the bow. Along with that we have hundreds of trained men with bows. The artillery will rain down on her army and execute them swiftly. With the number she has brought, it will make capturing the other cities easy. She has committed too many men to her campaign. I can barely wait to bed her. I imagine she will put up a fight, the first time. I will have to deal with her child also. No Jordling will rise to the throne again.”
He smiled evilly at Daell. Daell was furious with the man. He would give anything to lay his hands on him again. He was powerless to do anything. Daell just turned away from him. Skyansam laughed.
“Worry not false king, soon I shall return and you will be released from life. I will savor watching you being torn apart by the beasts below.”
He turned and left the prison, with the door slamming behind him. The windows were closed, leaving Daell in darkness again. During his time being a prisoner Daell had become quite capable at judging each turn. He was quite shocked when the door of his prison opened. It was not the usual time; in fact darkness met him when the door opened instead of the light of the sky. Daell could not tell who was standing at the door. It was unusual since it had not even been a turn since Skyansam had visited; also he had received his meal for the turn.
He heard a muffled voice below, “He is in a cage here, I must go before I am spotted. Use the lever there to lower him and the rope to pull him to you. There is a pit of water below, do not let the cage fall in it. You must move quickly since a revolt has begun and he cannot be here as they will send someone to kill him.”
Daell saw movement of shadows at the door. He could now tell that there were three people there, two large men and one small one. The smaller one left. Daell saw the two men move into his prison and then he could hear them fiddling with the knob along the wall. His cage began to slowly lower. It rocked slightly as one of them tugged on the rope attached to his cage. The cage continued to lower until the metal bottom of the cage clattered as it impacted the ledge of the small area that the two men stood on. The cage shuttered as he felt them pull in fully onto the ledge. He saw one of the men feeling the sides of the cage until they found a latch. Daell knew the latch was there, but he never could reach far enough through the bars of his cage to touch it. The door of the cage opened slowly and two pairs of hands slowly pulled him out. Daell had not realized it until they grabbed him, but he had lost a lot of weight. He now estimated he must have lost a over one third of his weight. The two pair of hands grabbed his arms and each man wrapped one arm around their shoulders. Daell could tell that both men were Jordlings. Tears welled in his eyes. Was he to finally be freed?
His voice trembled as he spoke, “Are you friends here to save me?”
One of the men replied, “Yes.”
They began to carry him, each man grabbing one of his legs as they moved. The Myrr air that once smelled foul to Daell hit his nose and smelled almost as wonderful to him as his wife when he awoke the first morning of his recovery. Tears began to run freely down his cheeks. The two moons were high in the sky. The men started to move quickly as they carried him.
Daell asked, “Where are we headed?”
The men did not answer initially.
Once they brought him to a small boat, one of them said to him, “We’re taking you to our fishing village stranger. It’s along the coast at the edge of the Myrr and no one will come looking for you there. You’ll be safe and able to recover your strength.”
They lowered him gently into front of the boat, facing backwards, and then they boarded. One man sat in the middle and took the oars and the last man stood in the back of the boat and began to drive a large wooden staff into the Myrr. Daell could only guess it was to steer. In the distance he could see fire. He had no idea what the fire was and at this point he was just glad to be escaping. The small boat began to move as one man rowed with all of his strength. Daell sensed they were in a hurry.
Soon the fire behind them shrunk as they moved away. Daell’s heart grew with joy. He was with his own people, he had no doubt he would be safe. Now he would need to find his way back to Astir. He had to recover enough to be able to travel, which he had no doubt could take several cycles. He would be of no use to her in the future fight if he was not fully strengthened.
Chapter 37
The number of men who answered her call for aid was impressive. Astir was able to bring with her over three thousand men immediately, with promises of more to come. She stood outside her personal carriage and surveyed the walled city of Kunnadi before her. Being there caused her to grow impatient for the attack and she wished to personally end the life of the man responsible for everything, including her husband’s death. Skyansam Smidasson would suffer the death he deserved, although all of her councilors had to hound her to promise not to be the one to do the deed. They felt it would seem vengeful for her to strike him down. Her brother volunteered to replace her husband and execute the Queen’s law. She suspected that he was just as heartbroken at Daell’s death as anyone. The only who might have been more heartbroken outside of her had to be Hollurn. The man left Bygod completely. Her councilor Skemmra had left with him. She hoped Skemmra would return with him at some point, Astir needed her wise council. She knew that Hollurn was crushed; he had known Daell since both were young enough to walk. Just thinking about her husband only caused more pain.
Her belly had begun to grow as her child grew within her. In fact her child had started kicking. Usually if she ate something the baby did not like, it would kick her real good. Astir was also appalled by her weight gain. She was large enough already that she had to have her entire wardrobe replaced, and she was only around five cycles in! In about four cycles she would give birth. She was very frightened of giving birth. It was now that she deeply regretted her lack of attention during Fregna’s lessons on the subject. She had to ask her mother many questions but she did love bearing her child, it was a wondrous experience that she was sad to know she would never get to repeat. She would never marry again; in fact she would die before marrying another man. No man could match her husband.
Her baby kicked her again as she stood. It hurt more than usual, which meant the baby was in need of food. Astir chuckled. Her baby had been the cause of her weight gain. She had to guess that she might have added a stone in weight, which left wondering just how much she would weigh by the end. At least she did not have to wear those tight dresses that she wore before. Astir headed to the large makeshift building that had been set up for her. It had a small table with chairs for regular council meetings, and for the regular meals. As she entered she saw that the morning meal was prepared and waiting for her. After the meal she was expecting a report from the Hyggja. Although they were born in the desert, it seemed as though they took to the Myrr as if it was their own. They became the main scouting and attack force within the Myrr. Stories had already filtered to her about them cutting off supply skiffs that were making their way from Kunnadi. It pleased her greatly because she knew that they would be successful in the temporary siege.