“I prefer your own face,” she said, with a smile. “Or was the one you wore before Balic a lie?”
“It was mine,” I said.
“Handsome,” she murmured.
“And you are …” I began, and looked up to the roof, avoiding her nakedness. “You know. We have to move. There are two more guards just down the corridor. One saw your brother as he is and is complaining, and yet another seems to be a captain there,” I whispered. “They’ll start to wonder soon. Would you cover up?”
“Giants don’t like girls?” she asked, with an arched eyebrow. “Can you change into something that might help kill the guards?”
“We like girls fine,” I explained, and couldn’t have felt more foolish. “And I can only change the face. I’ve been … shackled, as I said.” I pointed at the cursed ring. “This makes me mostly like any of you. Not sure I can kill the guards out there alone.”
She shook her head, as she smiled. “We’ll deal with them,” she said, and turned to rip the chain mail off the man, and I helped her. In the end, blessedly, she pulled on her tunic, and began to struggle into the mail. “Keep an eye out,” she said, as she was jumping up and down to slip into the heavy thing. She looked like she knew what she was doing.
I walked to the doorway, and kept an eye on her, as she stripped the man’s leather pants and struggled into them.
She noticed and frowned. “Eyes on the corridor. I’m not shy, but one would think a king had better manners.”
“First you think jotuns are cold to girls, and then you complain when their eyes wonder,” I chuckled, blushing as I turned away. “I have no idea what kind of manners we jotuns are supposed have.”
She was smiling to herself as she worked, expertly pulling on the boots and opening the belt, and the helmet. Everything was mostly too large for her, but she made do.
“I take it you are not the sort of a princess who only wears silken dresses?” I asked.
“No, I fight, ride, and sail,” she said. “Oh, I wear no dresses. Right, I’m done, as it is. What do you suggest we do now?” she asked me.
“I have to get home. I have to warn the Aesir Baduhanna—”
“I’ve heard of her,” she said. “They fear her, like the plague. Wait, isn’t she married to you?”
“So she told me,” I said uncomfortably. “It is very complicated.”
She was chortling as she walked over. “I see. Forcibly married and bedded.”
I gave her a wry smile and didn’t deny or admit. “Be that as it may, I have to warn her of the treachery of her own Regent. And I have to figure out how to save the people from your Hammer Legions and that bastard, Balic.”
“Plan?” she asked, as she peeked to the corridor.
“We kill them,” I said simply.
She chuckled. “An excellent plan. Kill two guards, perhaps more. Then, save a nation, save the goddess. What shall we do after breakfast?” She was nodding as I gazed at her uncertainly. “Yes. I’ll come along, then.”
“What?” I asked her, astonished.
“Can’t stay in Aten,” she said with a smile. “Obviously.”
“Can’t stay here, at least,” I answered, confused, and tried to listen to the men, who were now laughing at something. It was an oddly sinister, echoing noise. They captain had apparently convinced the turnkey of the man’s drunkenness. “Shall we wait a moment and see if one comes here?”
She shrugged and shook her fair head. “Just for a moment. And after, I’ll come along. Or rather, you will come with me.”
“You will? I will?” I said. “I’m not sure I asked, and not sure I will go with you. I have to get up north, I said.”
“You saved my life,” she said, as she tested a sword for balance. “So, you have to keep doing it. It’s the rule.”
I frowned, not sure if she was serious, or not. I decided not to argue. “We need a ship. You said you sail?”
She smiled. “I have a ship. A fine ship. Merman’s Kiss. Fast and deadly. I was going to lead it, when Balic sails, but I’m happy not to join his endeavors. I’ll just go early. The crew are more loyal to me than to anyone else, including Balic.”
“I’m Aten’s enemy, you know?”
“Not mine, and therefore, not theirs either.”
“How will we get out to the ship? I can take a different face, but they know you are here.”
She frowned. “I’ll cover my face.” She peeked into the corridor and whispered to my ear. “There are thirty thousand Hammer Legionnaires sailing tomorrow. How will you fight for your city?”
“I have little choice but to try.” I cursed. “I have to figure it out. It’s your own choice to come along. It won’t be a feast.”
She smiled. “This Baduhanna. Will she not throw back our armies?”
“She will try to save ours first, and cares little for the people. She thinks I’m fool to do so. I don’t expect you to travel there. It’s a death sentence.”
She nodded. “I said, you have a duty to take me along now. The North is at war, but you think I’ll be safe here? My mother is keen on making me ugly. I’ll go where they fight.”
“Why had they not killed and raised you already?” I asked.
“I was young,” she explained. “Years ago, Balic called my family to Malignborg. They came back different. We had heard of the miracles, which took place in the other kingdoms. I was sleeping,” she whispered, holding her face. “I was sleeping, when the horses rode to the yard. They came in. Father, Aten-Sur, Mother, and my brother. They came in, and I went out to meet them. A dinner was served for them, and drinks offered, but instead, they sat in the dark, not touching the food. When I entered, they turned to look at me. They stared at me.” She shuddered. “You know when you see a corpse and know there is nothing left of the human you used to know behind the dead eyes, I knew immediately they were gone, no matter if they moved. A part of them was gone. Important part. It was hard to understand, and what Balic had done took a long time to accept. Father said I’d get my turn when I grew up. So I ate my food alone from then on, waiting, getting ready for this day. I slept under my bed, because my brother would come to my room, and stare down at me as I slept, and Mother…she was dangerous.”
“Why did he come to your room?” I asked her, and saw her troubled face. “You don’t have to tell more.”
“One day,” she answered, and glanced to the corridor. The Captain was laughing, dully, and there was the sort of a lull in their discussion. Soon, they’d realize their guards had been gone for a long time. And still, nobody came down the corridor. “We have to go to them,” she said.
“Let them start speaking again,” I whispered. “Tell me of Raven.”
“She had always hated me,” she whispered. “She was spiteful and disappointed in me all my life. She tried to kill me, after she changed. Many times, when Father was not looking. He finally ordered her to leave me alone.” Her face looked pale, as she clutched the sword. “I learnt to fight. I learnt to sail. I sailed a lot. It’s in Aten’s blood, after all. The Merman’s Kiss was my home; my men would follow me anywhere. Except into this dungeon. They have no idea what happened. I would have led them tomorrow, a different woman. So, I’ve got more of a chance there with you, than here. You need me, I think. Every sword. Mine’s very sharp.”
I looked around, feeling the fate move in the shadows. She was a strong girl, and one who men would follow. I might need her, indeed, if Baduhanna was no longer in Dagnar. The Captain began to speak again, loudly berating the soldier, Mirk. I nodded. “Fine. Are you ready?”
“I’m ready,” she whispered, and flashed the blade at me, and pulled a cowl over her head. I smiled at her bravery. I grasped the skill I still knew, and let my face morph into Tallo’s. She shuddered and licked her lips, looking away.
“Be ready. None must escape. We must make sure none will,” I said, pulling on the robe.
“None shall,” she assured me. “I know my business. Try to lure them out of the d
oors and I’ll stay near the corridor, in the shadows.”
We moved out to the corridor. She adjusted the helmet and the cowl, and moved behind me, as I shuffled forward. I swallowed my fear. We approached the chamber ahead, not really knowing what to expect.
We came around the corner. Quiss stood in the shadow of the corridor, and I strode forward. I saw how a guard was stoking the fire, and the Captain was taking a piss on a pot. That ended abruptly and with a curse, as he saw me coming. I stood there, and sneered at him, as he tucked his cock away, and the turnkey got up with a shocked look on his face, and bowed.
“All to your satisfaction, young lord?” the Captain asked uncertainly, as he walked to me. “Lord, you look a mess—”
I pointed a finger back to Quiss, my quivering and petulant voice snapping. “This guard killed him.”
The Captain frowned uncertainly. “Is that a problem? He was to die anyway, was he not?”
I hit myself in the chest. “I was supposed to kill him. He made a mess of the whole ritual. In fact, he made it so the jotun is useless to us. Balic will be unhappy. He won’t be unhappy with me, I assure you. Perhaps you don’t want him to be unhappy with you?”
“No, Lord,” the captain said and scowled at Quiss.
“I want you,” I said, pointing a finger at Quiss, “to throw her into a cell, and Balic will judge her later. And that way, you and I will keep our heads.”
“Cell?” the captain breathed nervously. “Sure. Which one is it? Hagri?” He was trying to see, but would only be able to make out the armor and helmet in the dark.
“I care not for her name. Chain her to the wall,” I spat. “The fool.”
Quiss stepped back.
The Captain grunted. He shrugged, and moved forward. “Well, it’s too bad you made the young lord an enemy. Perhaps you were just unlucky? In either case, you’d better pay up your debts this night, since it’s likely your last.” He moved past me, and right at that moment, he realized something. He looked at me oddly. “Her?”
I stabbed with the sword.
The Captain fell back, and rolled on the floor, a seasoned fighter. I hesitated, as the turnkey stared at me, his hand on an ax hilt, but Quiss didn’t, as she barreled into the fray. Her sword went up, and cut down, just as the Captain got up, opening a gash on his face. I charged the other guard, my sword seeking his flesh, but his chainmail resisted my efforts, and we surged back and forth. He was only fighting halfheartedly, because he was still terrified at fighting with the prince. Finally, he dodged under a stab, and grasped me, and pushed me down to the floor, and I struck my head on the door.
He hovered above me, pulled back his ax, and lifted it, staring down at me with begging eyes. “Lord, I saw you. You were dead. I—”
“He’s no lord! Is some devilry!” the Captain screamed. He was fending off Quiss’s attacks, clumsily, his face bleeding and hampering his sight. The girl stabbed at him time and again, deftly, like a deadly, murderous dancer, and the huge man howled.
I roared and heaved the guard aside. He cursed, leapt to his feet, and aimed a hit on my skull.
I let my face flow into my own.
His shock was complete. He hesitated. I impaled him through his chest. He fell back, whimpering. I got up, and kicked him hard, and stabbed down and he didn’t move. I turned to look at the girl and the captain, and fell, as they ran over me. The girl was on the man’s back, stabbing at his massive torso, and the Captain stumbled for the door.
The pair careened through the door.
It fell apart, splinters exploding in all directions, pieces clinging to his face, and the girl was finally dismounted. The huge man slapped her down, as she tried to get up, found his bearings by wiping blood of his eyes, and shuffled for another doorway.
“Stop him!” I yelled, heedless of the danger of having someone else there.
The Captain reached the door, deftly inserted his keys into the lock, and laughed at us with a mocking, pained voice.
He scowled as the door opened, confused, as he had not had time to turn the keys, and caught a thin sword into his mouth.
He made an odd, bird like noise, and fell on his back with a crash.
Sand stepped in, grinning. “Hello, Maskan.” He frowned, as he saw the cursing girl. “New flame?”
CHAPTER 11
I grinned and hugged Sand, who, predictably, didn’t react, as he would have before, with joy. He was cold as ice, and even Quiss frowned as she came closer. “Who’s this?” she asked, with a grimace. She had been bruised by the Captain’s slap. “There’s something familiar … odd about him.”
“I’m sure I’ve not seen you before,” Sand said, looking around. “I’d remember.” He thumbed towards the corridor beyond him. “I killed two guards by the side doorway. Most everyone is asleep. We should leave.” He handed me the two-hander, and I stared at it, and then grabbed it, happy to have even the sword back. “You should name it.”
“They wanted to execute me with it,” I told him. “I’ll name it later.”
“Can we trust her?” Sand asked, as he pulled me along.
“That,” I said, as we moved to the corridor, then into another guardroom with a window facing north, “is Quiss Atenguard. The princess of the Kingdom.”
“I asked can we trust her, and you tell me she is an enemy royal?” Sand asked, and whirled to stand before her. “I don’t—”
“I trust her,” I told him, and pulled him away. “I trust her well.”
“What the devil is she doing here, dressed like a guard?” Sand muttered, as he stared at her. He was having a compulsion to silence Quiss, and I stood before him. Quiss’s face was marred with a frown, and she kept her sword ready. It wouldn’t help with Sand.
“Relax, Sand,” I admonished him.
“He—” Quiss began, and I lifted a hand towards her, hoping Sand’s suspicions would ease.
Finally, my draugr friend pointed his sword to the sea. “We can make it to the alleys. Then, the galleys, or smaller ships. You change your face, but someone might know her. Will, in fact.”
“We will cloak her again. Worked just now. Now, tell me what happened to you. And do you know anything of Shaduril? They had the Book.”
He frowned. “They had it? No, I didn’t go back. I was thrown aside by an explosion in the tent, and sneaked after you to a ship in their harbor, which sailed right behind you. I saw your naked ass, Maskan, when they beat you.” He smiled cruelly. “Not a sight they’ll ever forget in the city.”
I ignored the burning shame and prodded him. “They are going to attack Dagnar,” I told him. “They needed the gauntlet, and Balic wanted the Book. And they had some plan for me.”
“Your Black Grip?” he asked.
“Why? Nobody’s told me anything, friend or foe. At least the entire Aten thinks I’m a king, though a fallen one.”
“You aren’t?” Quiss asked.
“A long story,” I answered.
“So they told you nothing?” Sand asked.
“Not much. But, they are trying to kill Baduhanna. Hilan is arranging something for her demise. I wonder if Lord Ban is with her as well, but I know Hillhold will fall to treachery. Baduhanna will ride into a gantlet of steel. If Balissa didn’t find her, she will be in trouble.”
“Let’s hope Balissa made it,” Sand said. “We need to know more.”
“Yes,” I answered. “But first, lets go.”
As we moved through the corridors Sand was murmuring something offensive, at least judging by the tone. I only heard his last sentence. “That Helstrom bitch.”
“Baduhanna isn’t easily killed.” I hoped that was true. We made it down to where many corridors arched to four directions, and Sand picked one he had used.
Quiss shook her head sadly. “But, she can die, right?”
I nodded at her. “You sure you can trust the crew?”
“I’m their Sea Lady. Gorth, the captain, handpicked the men. We share blood and secrets,” she said mysteriou
sly. “I told you. We go down to the harbor, of course. The Mermaid’s Kiss is just past our castle.”
“Fine” I said, as we came to a spacious room, and heard the commotion of the street nearby. I noticed a window that was half ajar. We sneaked to it, and stared at the lights of Aten. There were many people about. Many soldiers, lots of officers, all making merry. They were not draugr, just misled men. I began to think, and Sand knew it, because he looked worried. “Was it that huge lump of stone in the sea-wall?” I ventured.
“Yes,” she answered. Her finger indicated to a distant building by the harbor. “It’s that red-roofed one, part of the wall, the high one. See?”
Indeed, there was the hugely tall, many storied building, with crenelated terraces on each level, and greenery and gardens spewing vines all over the walls in the city side.
“Let’s go then,” Sand said harshly. “We have a meeting with death in Dagnar. Balic is coming, right? I saw thousands of legionnaires, and all their fleets are in Aten.”
Thirty thousand men. They’d have the advantage with third of that. We had no army, if Baduhanna was gone. And we knew next to nothing of their plans.
“Yes,” I said darkly. “They’ll be in Dagnar, all right.” I looked at Quiss, having made a decision, and she flinched.
“Tell me,” she said.
“Is Balic staying in the palace?” I asked her. “It would seem logical.”
“Rarely,” she answered. “He holds office there, with Father and Mother’s blessing, of course. Right next to the throne room, on the third floor. Why?”
“Who leads the armies?”
She frowned. “The kings and queens of the nations. The One Eyed Priests.”
“No,” I said. “Who leads the men in battle?”
“Some of the kings and queens,” she said stubbornly. “But, the generals, I suppose, and the heroes and captains, when the royals are not present. High officers, of course. They aren’t led by jesters. You know this.”
The Queen of the Draugr: Stories of the Nine Worlds (Thief of Midgard - a dark fantasy action adventure Book 2) Page 14