by Dawn Peers
Broadwater would no longer be a thorn in Sammah’s side. Eden wondered coldly what would happen next, to the lord or land that stood in the baron’s way. Sevenspells, it seemed, would be the ones to find out.
11
Quinn screamed, her shrill shriek piercing the night air.
The sudden noise did not deter her attacker, and the sword continued in its deadly arc towards Quinn’s prone body. At the last second, she rolled out of the way, hearing a whistle as the blade whistled past. The blade made a dull thud as it impacted with the ground by her ear. Trying to roll farther away, Quinn became tangled in her bedroll. Her arms thrashed as she struggled to free herself before another attack came. Her voice had woken Ross, however, and the giant chamberlain was already scrambling to his knees, sword in hand and eyes darting around to find their foes.
Maertn was awake as well, but his eyes were full of shock, and it was clear he didn’t know what to do next. Kicking down on her bedding, Quinn finally freed herself. She scrambled away on her hands and knees before the next blow could come. She twisted to her feet, and saw with horror that they were being faced down by three of Baron Sammah’s silent mercenaries. No wonder they hadn’t heard them coming. Luckily, Ross was no court pushover, and as a veteran of the wars, was a force to be reckoned with. He barrelled into the attacker who’d gone for Quinn first, tackling him to the ground and beating at the man’s face with the hilt of his sword.
The mercenary crumpled at the blow, though the other two ran in quickly to take his place. Evidently, they had hoped to murder them in their sleep. If this was the case, why just Quinn? Why not all three of them, at once? Three mercenaries for three victims?
Whilst Quinn was relieved they’d made such a basic mistake, she could tell something didn’t ring true. Sammah did not make errors in judgement, and his instructions were never so lax. The two remaining men charged straight for Ross, recognising immediately that he was the only thing that stood between them and their prey. Quinn gulped as she saw Ross grab the fallen mercenary’s own sword, holding one weapon in each hand, he twisted them both expertly. She’d never seen an ambidextrous fighter before. Ross was making it look like child’s play. With only a brief hesitation, the two mercenaries darted at the chamberlain. Ross met them with a cackling laugh that sent shivers down Quinn’s spine. That noise would have been enough to petrify anybody on the battlefield, but it didn’t deter the men; trained since childhood to bear arms and follow the bidding of their sworn master.
Their own silent onslaught would have given most men pause, but set against the berserk laughter of Ross, it made an odd scene. He parried their thrusts with ease, though Quinn could see that he was being driven back, not able to fight forward on two fronts. They had to do something to help. She shouted to Maertn, looking across to see him still wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Quinn squealed in frustration. She looked around their destroyed camp, desperate to find anything she could use to help Ross before he was brought down. Finally, her eyes settled on the dying embers of their campfire. One long branch still stuck out the end of the fire, and Quinn remembered that Ross had been using it to stir the last of the flames. The end of it was starting to go grey and white with ash, but there was still enough heat for it to be a threat as well as a distraction.
Quinn grabbed the cool end of the branch, darting around their camp to try and flank one of the men. They were so focused on Ross that they didn’t notice her move, and didn’t hear her coming. Not really knowing what she was doing, Quinn ran at them with a yell, raising the branch high, and swing it around in an arc at one of the mercenaries’ heads. Not tall enough for a powerful swing that high, Quinn missed, but she did drop the branch as it impacted against the mercenary’s shoulder. Shocked and surprised, the man dropped his sword. This was all the edge Ross needed, and with a triumphant yell, he thrust his sword up into the man’s neck.
The blade bit deep, and the man’s eyes went wide as he fell back clawing at his throat. Blood gushing through his fingers and down his arms. Undeterred, their final attacker went for a killing thrust into Ross's side as he was distracted. This didn’t work, and Ross brought down his borrowed blade to parry easily. Bringing around his now bloodied sword in an upward swing, he slashed across the man’s exposed throat. Quinn, distracted by her help with the attack, let her guard down. The pain of the men slammed into her, and she collapsed to the floor clawing at her own neck. Her vision swam, and she didn’t see the two men thrashing around in death, nor did she see Ross finish them off with a humane kill. All Quinn cared about was the pain.
12
Maertn dashed to Quinn’s side, and she felt the pain subside as his panicked but soothing voice washed over her. Ross loomed nearby, and she opened herself up to both of them, letting their concern for her lift and wash away the pain she had felt.
“Quinn, you are alright? Did they get you? Maertn, is she hurt?”
“No. This isn’t from the swords, it’s in her head.”
“You mean she’s imagining it?”
“No, we’ve seen it before. This has happened a few times, when the emotions overwhelm her. A couple of times it’s brought her near to death. She’s awake, so I think she’ll be fine.”
“How do you know she was near death before?”
Maertn gulped, not wanting to meet Ross’s gaze, but forcing himself to anyway. “Because I went and got her back from the Beach of Bones.”
Ross stilled, contemplating those words.
“Quinn, can you talk to us?” Ross tried to keep his voice calm and low.
Quinn opened her mouth to respond, and a pained croak was all that came out.
“Here, here, keep still. I’ll get you some water.” Maertn squeezed Quinn’s shoulder gently before shuffling off to stoke the fire and set up pot of water to boil. He had only brought a basic set of herbs along, but he had more than enough to settle Quinn back down.
* * *
“Hey, Quinn?” Ross waited until her eyes swung to him, before he went on, “I’m going to lift you and take you to the fire. Is that okay? Does anywhere hurt?”
Quinn shook her head, and Ross could see the tears forming in her eyes. The girl was ashamed, though she needn’t be. Her first scream had saved all their lives. That payback had been enough to negate anything that was happening now. Ross knew that no matter how good he was with a sword, he would never be able to cope with the demons that rampaged inside of Quinn’s head.
As gently as he could, Ross put one arm underneath Quinn’s shoulders, and the other underneath her knees. He picked her up like she was nothing. The girl was too thin, and her body too fragile. Sammah had neglected these children, and Ross knew that life in Sha’sek would either be the breaking or the making of them both.
Ross wanted to protect them, and that’s the only reason he’d let Eden convince him to come here. Ross was glad to see that Maertn had resurrected the fire with ease. The flames were still low as he fed small kindling sticks into the soft, red coals. As Maertn coaxed the flames higher, Ross gathered together all the bedrolls and made sure Quinn was fully swathed. Only when Ross was sure that Quinn was safe, and Maertn had the healing in hand, did he go and survey the dead.
He looked over the bodies of the two fallen mercenaries with disdain, and did not relish the idea of having to dispose of their bodies. He was tempted to leave them out on the plains as carrion, but that wouldn’t be fair to other peaceful travellers. He would bury the men when he knew Maertn and Quinn were asleep.
Their other problem was the final mercenary. Ross had only knocked the man unconscious, so they might get more information. In the heat of battle, he had not considered the fact that it was one of Sammah’s mercenaries, and unable to speak. If they were unable to get any information from the man, then Ross would have to kill him. It would be much easier to do than in cold blood and judgement after the heat of battle. Ross would consider it an execution, not an act of murder. Priorities were priorities though, so Ross went to his saddlebags, w
rapping a sturdy length of rope and winding the mercenary’s hands and feet before knotting them together behind his back.
Next, he tended to all of the swords, cleaning them down with a rag and making a mental note to run over them with a whetstone later when he was on watch. It was going to be a long night. Ross wouldn’t let them go to sleep without any protection again. Quinn’s bloody shriek had sounded like a cry of fear from the spirits themselves, jolting him out of sleeping and into immediate alertness. Ross had woken just in time to see Quinn dodged a swing meant to decapitate.
Sammah’s mercenaries moved liked shadows, and were infamously deadly. None of them would have made a move to wake the girl, so she must have used her ability to detect them, somehow. The thought gave Ross pause. The mercenaries were so useful to men like Sammah, because even when captured, they couldn’t be made to talk. Beyond basic affirmation, the mercenaries were useless. But with Quinn, they might be able to glean something more meaningful. Ross knew, after her experiences with Sammah, he couldn’t force her. Quinn would have to volunteer to interrogate their captive, and if she refused, Ross would have to execute him, information or no. The man posed them a constant threat.
After Ross had completed his menial chores and double-checked the bindings on their prisoner, he returned to the fire. The fingers of its flames were reaching higher now. They weren’t afraid of being attacked again. Sammah didn’t have men to spare, and hopefully couldn’t hire new men from the confines of the Everfell gaols.
“Sorry, the fire got away from me. Is it going to attract more of them?” Maertn asked in a timid voice.
Ross shook his head, no. “Quinn would probably be able to detect them if they were coming, and she hasn’t mentioned anything. I think she saved our lives tonight.”
Maertn hunkered down next to Quinn, stroking her hair and tucking her in tighter. The shock of her dream had exhausted her, and she’d fallen asleep as soon as Maertn had got the fire going again. “These shocks always seem to take it out of her the worst. At least this time she’s not ill. I wouldn’t know what to do.”
“That’s why she needs to be in Sha’sek. I’m hoping they’ll know what to with her.”
“I’m not sure they will, you know. Empaths are rare, like you’ve said, and Sammah was so intent on studying her. I don’t think it was just because he wanted to…” Maertn baulked at the word, “mate with her. I’ve been trying to read that book. Empaths always kept themselves, isolated, except for the healers that helped them. I suppose, after seeing Quinn grow up, I can completely understand why. I think the notes Sammah has added to what Sammen already knew is equal to, if not far beyond, what they will know on the islands. Who else has studied empaths so closely? Who else would have dared?
“Their rarity would have hindered more studying than any danger they might have faced. If Sammah’s conjecture is true, then Quinn is going to be stronger than Nerren. Little wonder that Sammah was obsessed. They’re going to either adore Quinn in the islands, or they will try to run her through. We can only pray that it’s the former; we can’t protect her if a mob thinks that she’s going to turn into another Nerren.”
They sat in a miserable silence for a short time, a thick silence joining the early morning air, along with the cloying smoke from the fire. Ross couldn’t bear it for long. Maertn wasn’t going to go to sleep, and if there was anything that made the hulking veteran feel uncomfortable, it was awkward silences.
“How do you feel about this journey Maertn?”
Maertn, who had been sitting with his chin in his hands, jerked his head up.
Maertn took too long, and Ross decided to give him a prompt. “Don’t think about what you want me to hear, think about what you need to say. It’s imperative that you and Quinn are both completely honest with me, and with each other, otherwise I won’t be able to help you properly. If there’s anything you’re scared about, or anything you need, you must tell me.”
Maertn swallowed nervously, “Ah, well, I don’t know what to say, Ross. I don’t know what to say, because I don’t know what to expect. I came because I knew that Quinn needed someone with her. I wasn’t expecting anyone else to come with us.”
“And would you have still come with her if I hadn’t been here?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then Quinn alone isn’t the reason you came?”
“I do realise that I’m Sha’sekian too, and that I’ll be finding out more about myself. But my motivation was Quinn. I came with her to protect her, and I’m going to keep doing that, whether you’re here or not.”
Ross smiled thinly. Quinn needed allies like this; men who would stay by her side no matter what the outcome. There were not many men like that in the world any more, and thankfully for Ross, was Maertn was one of them. Ross didn’t know if he was one himself, but he was willing to try for this girl. “That’s good, Quinn will need you. She’s always needed you.”
Maertn looked bemused. “How do you know that?”
Ross laughed, but immediately shushed himself as Quinn stirred in her sleep. “You think I didn’t notice the little people whilst I was running around after the nobles back in Everfell?” Ross was playful, but kept his tone low to try and let Quinn rest.
Maertn rolled his eyes. “Of course, I keep forgetting. I don’t usually expect courtiers to be able to swing swords like you do. I suppose everybody forgot that you were a veteran in the wars once peace came.”
“Believe me Maertn, Vance didn’t forget it. There was more than one reason he placed me where he did. Why just have a captain of the guard, when you can pay to have a successful mercenary at your back? I’m loyal to the king, no matter what my history in the wars. My ability to fight was, of course, well known. There were nobles overlooked so I could be at the king’s side, effectively. Can you imagine the kind of reception I got?”
“Is that why he’s willing to let you go now? To keep the peace?”
Ross’s eyes twinkled. “I think so, yes. Between us, Eden and I convinced Vance that having a grizzled war veteran—a Sha’sek sympathiser, as some think—hanging around court might not be a good idea. Your kind aren’t exactly this month’s favourite food at court.”
“So the king has sent you away, because he expects there might be a war with Sha’sek?”
“He let me go because he thinks there’s going to be a war, and he wanted to make sure his most talented healer was brought home alive.”
“Brought home? And when do you think that will be? The way things are, I’ll be surprised if I’m still alive by the end of this year.”
“Here now that, that’s no way to think of things. You can’t help Quinn with moping around. What’s wrong, left a nice lad behind, have you?”
Ross laughed as Maertn gaped. “Maertn, please, you really think I missed anything whilst I was chamberlain? I knew you before you knew yourself, Maertn, and I also know that you had a noble admirer, though you’d have needed to ask in some very particular circles to know that.”
“Quinn didn’t know,” Maertn said.
Ross was surprised by this, and said as much. “Really? I thought being an empath, she’d have had a full head start on you, on that front?”
Maertn smiled. “It was her ability that confused matters. It seems that being an empath doesn’t make you omniscient. Before, when her emotions weren’t selective...I mean, when she didn’t have a choice at whose emotion she could feel and who she could lock out, she could always feel the way I felt for her when we spoke. She thought I was in love with her. I suppose that is true, I do love Quinn, just not in that way.”
“I take it she was never around you when you were speaking to the stable hands?”
Maertn blushed a furious red under his thin layer of stubble. “She wasn’t.”
“This isn’t the end of your life, Maertn. It’s just the beginning. She’s vulnerable now, but Quinn might not always need you there. And, you never know, you might meet someone else on the islands.”
�
�I doubt it; it was hard enough to meet Petr.”
Ross grinned, feeling genuine pleasure at having a benign heart-to-heart with this pleasant and blatantly overlooked young man. “I think you’ll find that, contrary to popular belief, Sha’sek is a lot more civilised than you think it is. It doesn’t matter there, who you love. Man, or woman, no one will bat an eyelid. It’s all about power, over there. As a strongly-gifted healer, you’re going to be pulling in your fair share of suitors. Some of them might even come from the noble houses.”
“Men? And no one will care? Are you serious?”
“Yes,” Ross said firmly and without hesitation. “And why should it matter? Opinions like that should have died years ago, with our ancestors. Only a few people in Everfell now really care about those things, it’s just unfortunate that the majority of those are in positions of power. If you spent any time out in the city, and other parts of the kingdom, you’d know. Though, if that’s your only concern about Sha’sek, you’ve got absolutely nothing to worry about.”
“It wasn’t my only concern.” Maertn muttered under his breath. Ross didn’t miss it.
“So what are you really worried about?”
“I’m worried that me and Quinn will be split up.”
“Well, that’ll happen at some point, lad. You can’t stay stuck to each other forever. You grow up, you’ll meet people, and you’ll have your own lives to lead. You’re not brother and sister anymore. That would have happened in Everfell, never mind the islands. It might just happen sooner, that’s all.”