“You speak Elvish?” Anni asked, forgetting her place, as her tone changed and filled with revulsion. “Apologies, Sath, but why would you bother?”
Sath felt a growl growing in the back of his throat but he swallowed it. He tried to remember how he felt about the world when he first left Qatu’anari. He remembered how alien the other races had seemed to him. He had seen a few elves meet with his father in the past, but for the most part, it was all new and scary, and he could remember vividly the distrust that came with that feeling. “I bother because I am trying to rectify the mistakes our people have made by being cut off from the rest of Orana, our ancestral home,” he said, glancing over at Gin sadly. “Nothing more than that.”
Annie smiled at him. “You are an amazing male, Sathlir,” she said, a purr behind her words. Sath smiled back. “And if you’ll forgive me, the wood elf? Ginny? She doesn’t know how you feel, does she?”
Sath stared at her, but could not bring himself to be angry. “No, she doesn’t, “he admitted. “Keep your voice down.”
“As you wish,” Anni said, smiling. There was still a chance after all.
“What do you think they are talking about over there, Tee? Your Qatunari is better than mine,” Gin said. The dwarf frowned.
“I can’t tell,” Tee said, looking at the ground as though concentrating. “We’re too far away. Sath will be back soon and we’ll be on our way to rescue that other Cat.”
“I have wanted to get into that Tower for ages,” Elysiam said, rubbing her hands. “We cut our teeth on the stories about the sorceress who lived there, remember, Gin? Everything inside is enchanted.”
Gin frowned at her druid companion. “Everything inside the Tower is dangerous, that was the last part of that story or have you forgotten? The sorceress at the top of the tower can bend the will of others to her own!”
“Bah, that’s just a story and besides, you and I both have magic that will keep us safe from some moldy old sorceress,” Elysiam retorted.
“To be fair,” Teeand said, stepping between the two elves, “it’s not a sorceress exactly. Our lore calls her an enchantress, and that means all sorts of awful magic. Makes me a bit twitchy, does that business.” He shook all over, as though ridding himself of something unseen to the rest. “So we’ll not be goin’ up there unless our Sath has a proper good reason for it.”
“I just wish they were closer,” Gin muttered. “Can you hear them well enough to understand what they’re saying? I tried earlier but that female has a different accent from Sath’s and I was not understanding much. She used words I’ve never heard before.”
“No, I didn’t,” Tee lied. He had a lot on his mind, and wished that the druids would settle down and leave him to it. For once, the gnome was the quiet one! Tee looked down to find Hack meditating with his giant axe gripped in his tiny hands. Fusing his will with his weapon, of course that was why he was so quiet. “Oi there, wee man, knock that off, we’re not in battle yet.”
“Shush, Tee!” Hack responded, his voice a hiss. “I want to be ready in case I have to take that Anni off my list.”
Tee looked back toward his old friend and the new Qatu female, still hissing and spitting at each other. He knew he had heard the word Rajah from them, and that the female had called Sath something that translated to Your Highness. “What are you playing at, Sath?” he muttered in his native tongue.
“Did you say something, Tee?” Gin asked, laying one oaken-tinged hand on his green clad armored arm. “Can you hear them?”
“Just wondering what’s going on over there. Clearly that female is someone our Sath knows, but I don’t trust her. Not one bit of her is truthful, not one bit,” Tee said, his brow furrowed. He would have to be more careful. The wood elves had near preternatural hearing, and he knew that Gin was almost fluent in Teeand’s own language now, thanks to his excellent tutelage. Thankfully, the language lessons happened before they took up again with Hack and Elysiam so he could still keep SOME things to himself.
“You would tell me if something was going on between them, right?” Gin asked him in the language of the dwarves, moving around to look him in the eye. “I mean, it’s none of my business, but…”
“But I’d be a fool to miss how you two feel about each other, Flower,” he responded. “Now let’s keep this talk to a minimum, shall we, or the other two will want to know what’s up?” Teeand patted Gin on the shoulder and she smiled at him. They had spent too much time at odds and in truth, Gin was like a daughter to him. Teeand renewed his silent promise that no harm would come to her…even if it meant squaring off against his best friend and that Qatu female.
Twenty-Seven
“Right, so what’s the plan, Sath?” Hackort said, hopping up from his meditation with Elysiam hot on his heels. Teeand hadn’t even noticed that Sath had returned, he’d been so lost in thought. Gin was standing behind Teeand, trying not to glare at Anni.
Sath looked around at the faces watching him expectantly. “This is not something that I ask of you lightly,” he began, “and I will understand if you wish to stay behind. None of you know Kazhmere, the female that has gotten herself stuck in the Salynth’s Tower, and I cannot ask you to risk your lives for someone important only to me.” Gin’s face fell but she quickly cast her eyes down, fiddling with an imaginary string on her tunic. Teeand reached back to her and squeezed her arm.
“You don’t even have to ask,” Hackort said, shouting a bit to make sure the extra tall Qatu could hear him. “That’s what we do, Sath. A friend of yours is a friend of ours, and if she is in need of your help she will get OUR help.” Noticing that no one was agreeing with him, Hack kicked Elysiam soundly in the boot. “Right?”
“Oh, you will SO pay for that, gnome!” she hissed. “Of course he’s right, Sath. Name the time and you know we will be there to help your Kazhmere.” She elbowed Teeand in the ribs, and he nodded his head vigorously. Gin alone remained silent.
“Gin?” Sath said, looking cautiously down at her, his teal eyes wide with worry.
“I go where you go,” she said, her voice tight. “All of you, I go where all of you go.” Sath smiled at her, but when she looked up at him, she noticed that the smile did not go all the way to his eyes. Gin returned her focus to her tunic.
“Right then!” Sath said, turning back to Anni who was beaming with relief and happiness. “We leave at first light. Tonight, or what’s left of it, will be for planning and rest.” He nodded to Anni. “You have provisions of your own, I presume?”
“Aye…Sath,” she said, still smiling at him. Sath suppressed a shudder and led her back to the fire that was beginning to smolder.
“So what is the plan of attack?” Elysiam could hardly hide her enthusiasm. “How many were in your group?”
“There were fifteen of us including me and Kazhmere,” Anni responded.
“Were?” Gin asked, fearing the answer.
“Aye,” Anni said sadly. “While I am most sure that Kazhmere still lives, I watched the rest of the party die at the hands of the undead inhabitants of the tower.” She shuddered violently and Sath instinctively put an arm around her, stilling Anni and infuriating Gin. “Thank you,” Anni said as she gazed up at Sath. He shook his head and removed his arm, moving to sit on the other side of the fire from her.
“So we charge in, we kill anyone in our way, and we save Sath’s friend Kazhmere, yea?” Teeand grumbled. “That sound like a good idea to anyone?” Before Hackort or Elysiam could answer, he held up one scarred and weathered hand. “Not you two. I’m asking anyone sensible.”
“I think it’s the only plan we’ve got, Tee,” Sath said. “Besides, Gin’s gotten loads of rest, she can keep us healed up and safe can’t you, Gin?” He beamed a toothy grin at her and she merely stared back at him.
“Sure,” she said, her voice pinched. “I’m sure that Lady Salynth will be no match for the six of us. She’s only dragonkind, is all.” She rolled her eyes.
“Ginny is right, Sath,” Ha
ckort said, stepping clear of the swat from Gin at the use of the nickname. “This will be easy. I’m taking her off my list right now.”
Anni cleared her throat. “Have any of you been there before?” she asked carefully. All of them shook their heads save Sath and Teeand, who studied the ground. “Right, I was afraid of that. Let me tell you a bit about the tower. Do forgive my skill with the common tongue.” She closed her eyes a moment, calling up gory memories of the recent failure in the icy Tower. “Something horrific happened there, and I’m willing to bet it was at the hands of Lady Salynth or her minions. Kazhmere had done some research with some of her contacts outside of Qatu’anari and had come up with a plan of attack that our new groupmates found to be a bit on the conservative side.”
“Are all of you Qatu alike?” Elysiam exclaimed, chuckling. “That sounds just like Sath, taking the careful way in, when I’d just ride up and ROAST anything in my way.”
“A druid after my own heart,” Anni said, beaming a genuinely appreciative smile at Elysiam, who smiled back. “No, all of us are not so conservative but I understand Kazhmere’s ways in battle. There is no Qatu I’d prefer to have at my side in a fight than her.” Her eyes immediately flew to Sath’s. “Apologies, I meant no disrespect, Sath.”
“None taken, Anni, please continue,” Sath said, his eyes clearly communicating a warning. Gin marveled at how they could communicate with each other via eye contact, and at how daft Sath must think she was if he thought she didn’t see what was happening between the two Qatu before her.
“Right, so our group agreed to follow Kazhmere’s lead and we met with no resistance on the ground level of the Tower. Some of the more skittish members of the group tried to jump ahead of us, but we found the door to the only upward-leading stairwell locked. Upon rummaging about in the belongings of the ghastly inhabitants,” Anni said with a shudder, “we found a ring of keys in a drawer. We tried the keys and thankfully one of them opened the door.”
“Where are those keys now, Annilanshi?” Tee asked, making sure to pronounce her name correctly. Her eyes widened a moment at him, but after a glance at Sath for support, she began digging through her haversack.
“I have them with me,” she said, producing a heavy iron ring with six metal keys hanging from it. Each one engraved along the shaft with strange letters, one of them seemed to be glowing with a blue light. “I was the only one to escape, and used the keys to move back down through the floors of the tower. I think that the inhabitants no longer need the keys for they are all shades, they may pass through walls…and that it was locked as whomever caused their demise moved upward through the tower, to prevent anyone from coming to their aid.”
“What was the makeup of the group you were with?” Hack asked after standing up to make sure Anni could see him. “I want to know if we need to recruit anyone with special skills. We seem to have almost two of everything now...well, two Qatu anyway.”
“Too bad we don’t know any wizards,” Sath said. “That sort of fire power might come in handy.” Gin’s mind flitted briefly to Taeben, and then to that blank space in her memory that always followed her remembrance of his face. She frowned.
“Is there something wrong with mine and Elys’s magic?” Gin asked, her tone acerbic.
“Of course not,” Sath said, immediately wishing he could eat his words. “I just want to make sure you two can focus on healing magic if need be.” Gin met his gaze and he knew he’d put his foot in it again. “Not that healing is all you’re good for, mind you,” he stammered. “Help me out, Tee?”
“Oh no, old friend, you’re in this one up to your pointy ears,” Teeand said, cracking a grin. “Tis much more fun to watch, I think. We’ll be okay as long as we know what we’re up against and,” he pointed at Anni, “you listen to us and do as we say?
“Of course. I owe all of you a huge debt for helping my friend. I can certainly understand how Sath commands such loyalty and respect in his soldiers, though,” Anni said. Elysiam blanched and Gin leapt to her feet. Teeand stared at her and Hackort started to laugh. “What?”
“Sath isn’t our leader, Anni,” Gin said. “We’re all on equal terms here.” Teeand shot a look at Sath that made the Qatu swallow hard. Teeand knew what he and Anni had been talking about, and it was going to be tough to keep him from making sure they all knew.
“Of course you are,” Anni said quickly, not daring to look at Sath. “I’m sorry, that was a poor choice of words. My common tongue is clearly not as fluent as I thought.” She held out a clawed hand to Gin. “I would really like to undo whatever I’ve done to wrong you, Gin,” she said to Gin’s clear surprise. “I feel we have gotten off on the wrong foot and I want to do whatever I can to make that up to you. I want you to be able to trust me.”
Gin studied her a moment and then took Anni’s large, furry hand in both of her tiny hands. “I want to be able to trust you,” she said. “But I will defend my friends to my own death against you if you cause them harm. Understood?”
“Aye,” Anni said, swallowing her revulsion at the love the wood elf clearly bore for the Prince. She looked at Sath who was grinning down at Gin like a fool. This did not bode well for a future Rajah. Not at all. “Now, my only other words of advice are that we need to stay together and hope for the best as far as Kazhmere’s safety is concerned. Any questions?”
“None from me Flower,” Teeand said, keeping his gaze firmly on Sath. “Sath? Anything else we should know about this Kazhmere?”
Sath squirmed under his old friend’s gaze. “No, Tee, only that she is a young female like Anni and has only limited training to her credit. I don’t imagine her pet has survived one floor of that cursed tower, and on her own without her companion she is defenseless.” He swallowed hard before continuing. Despite his loathing for his father, Sath adored his younger sister. He regretted every moment that he had been unable to shower her with attention and training before he left Qatu’anari. “She…is very important to me, and I trust that’s all you need to know.”
Gin stood and busied herself in her haversack, pulling out her own bedroll and settling by the fire. “I assume we’re returning to our watch rotation, then?” she called out over her shoulder.
“Aye, Gin,” Sath said sadly. “Tis my turn still I believe? Anni, you will sit up with me and tell me more about your time with Kazhmere before you started out on this failed adventure?” Anni nodded but Teeand walked in between the two Qatu and sat down.
“I think I’ll stay up as well,” he said, glaring at Sath as he did. “I do love a good tale spun round a fire.” Elysiam and Hack mumbled their agreement as they slipped into their bedrolls and drifted off to sleep filled with dreams of battle. Anni glared at Teeand but Sath just sighed loudly.
“Out with it, Teeand,” he said once he was sure that Gin’s breathing had settled into the same rhythm of sleep as Hack’s and Elysiam’s.
“What are you playing at, Sathlir?” Tee hissed, careful to keep his voice low. “You and this one here, you’re not telling us everything and expecting us to just blindly follow you.” He opened his flask, ever at the ready around a fire, and took a deep swig of it. “Out with it. I consider you my brother, Cat, but I’ll not lead the rest of them to their deaths because you’re too proud to tell us the truth.” He paused a moment, noticing that Anni was staring at him, slack-jawed. “What’s wrong with you, female?”
“Your Qatunari is very good, Teeand,” she said, “so good that I am amazed that our…Sathlir allows you to speak this way to him. Surely you know…” Sath’s staff swinging up from his side and nearly cracking into the side of her head cut off her words.
“Bah, he doesn’t allow anything,” Teeand growled. “I do as I please. Our Ginolwenye was right when she said none of us are better than any other,” he said, leaning in close to glare at Sath, “wasn’t she Sath? On the other hand, should I call you Rajah? Your Highness, perhaps?”
Sath looked at Teeand sadly. “I hope you never call me that, Teeand,�
�� he said. “Annilanshi knows me from my former life, a life that I…happily left behind.” He looked earnestly at his old friend. “I’m serious, Tee. I have left my royal family, title, and all of that behind me for good. I have no need for any of that pomp and circumstance nonsense. The only thing that worries me is…Kazhmere. Please trust me when I say that she is very important to me and that I can’t tell you why.”
“Oh aye, I trust you Sathlir. And I hope you’ll trust me when I say that if at any time this fool’s errand looks to cause harm to any of our rag-tag little family over there,” Teeand replied, staring Sath right in the eye and gesturing in the direction of Gin, “I’ll take you out myself to save them. Do we understand each other?”
“Now, listen here, little man,” Anni began but fell silent at a raised finger from Sath, who was looking at Teeand with a mixture of wonder and respect.
“We understand each other Teeand. At least I hope we do.” Sath made a mental note to ask Teeand later why he was specifically pointing out Gin, and then stood. “Off with you two, get some sleep. We have a lot of work ahead of us now, and none of it will be pleasant.”
Gin sat up alone, startled out of a dream filled with vengeful opponents back from the dead pursuing her and her companions. She took a few deep breaths to clear her head of the visions still hanging on to her subconscious mind, wrapping her arms around her torso and rubbing her elbows to warm them, and then pulling the bedroll back up around her. The sun was rising in the east, unfurling plumes of red, orange, and yellow into the sky and pushing the moon down below the horizon for another day. Soon it would be time to wake the others, and get going, but for the moment, Gin was enjoying the quiet.
“The Highlands are truly the best place to watch the sunrise,” Sath said, making Gin jump. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
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