The Destroyer Book 3

by Michael-Scott Earle

  "Fucking asshole. After this I am going to rip each of his rib bones out one at a time," Nadea seethed.

  "We'll discuss that tomorrow." She was getting agitated and I wanted her to relax. I did not want to tell her that I was the reason Nanos was alive and well inside the castle. I had not wanted to waste time on him when she needed me to save her life.

  "Your father left a note for Nanos and had it delivered with his food. There were instructions to meet in the West Wing’s garden about your whereabouts." Her eyes flashed dangerously and I smiled. "Nanos came to the meeting place but the leader of the Elvens found him and then questioned him about the note."

  "The Elven leader threatened Nanos, I couldn't hear what he said. Then he left. We caught up with Nanos before he made it back to the castle and told him what we were planning. We had no idea he had betrayed the kingdom."

  "He's done worse than that." Her voice tore like she wanted to scream.

  "What did he do?" I asked. Runir said that Nadea had been imprisoned by Nanos and the Elvens. He told me that the prince gave us up to the empress, but had he done something worse to Nadea? I felt my blood begin to boil as I imagined the annoying blonde man raping her.

  "Finish. Please." She gritted her teeth and let out a deep breath. I searched her eyes for some hidden message but all I saw was anger.

  "Nanos explained that you were in the dungeons. He said he would create a distraction out in the city and then help us free you. Afterward, we planned to leave with the queen and him."

  "Fucking cock sucking piece of shit bastard," she muttered under her breath.

  "We met with him and you can probably guess what happened." Nadea nodded and frowned.

  "I made a deal with the Elvens. They said they really didn't care about keeping your father, Greykin, or the queen, but they needed you and Nanos here. They wouldn't show you to me, but they said if I agreed to stay as their prisoner they would keep you alive." I smirked with Nadea's chuckle.

  "Runir had already broken me out of the dungeon. They had no idea where I was. They played you." She shook her head in dismay.

  "I didn't want you to get hurt. Their leader's name is Alatorict and I thought him more of a fool than he is."

  "I understand." She gave me a faint smile and sniffed a little. "Sorry to interrupt this, but you really do smell amazing. Like wood smoke, lavender, and jasmine." She inhaled again.

  "It is just the Earth playing with your senses." She frowned again and I could feel her try to reduce the amount of power she pulled.

  "I don't know. Maybe. Please continue," she said.

  "Alatorict threatened to kill you if I didn't remain locked up in my room. They had guards that left every half hour to report on my obedience. I should have--"

  "Wait. You were in your old room?" Nadea interrupted me.

  "Yes."

  "Fuck. She was taking me to have dinner with you!" Nadea put her face in her hands and moaned in disappointment.

  "Runir told me that Isslata came to get you. I had made a side deal with her and she agreed to let you go if I would make sure that she was in the meetings I would have with the empress."

  "I despise that bitch," she said with vehemence that seemed more passionate than her loathing of Nanos and I guessed why. Runir hadn't wanted to give me the details but I pulled enough out of him to guess that Isslata tried to have some sort of twisted fun with Nadea before she was brought to me. I decided to change the subject quickly before my friend lost control of her new powers. Or asked about my relationship with Isslata.

  "I've been remembering more," I said. Nadea's eyes instantly moved back to my face. "I've been keeping things from you, but if you want to know, I will tell you everything I remember."

  "I want to know everything about you." Her hand reached up to my face and her fingertips traced my cheekbone.

  "I don't understand everything yet. But I will tell you what I know. Most of it isn't pleasant.”

  "I don't care." Nadea pulled herself to me again and sighed in comfort. Eventually I would have to tell her about Iolarathe, about Shlara, about Jessmei, and about Isslata. But not now. At this moment I just wanted to be close to her.

  "I had a memory that was painful and I became angry. I think I destroyed the East Wing of the castle." The dream of making love to Iolarathe and then killing Shlara flashed through my mind. I had woken up in the ruins of my room and sat at the apex of the destruction. I did not remember it, but I knew I had caused the explosion that left part of the castle in ruins.

  "That woman took me up the stairs to your floor," Nadea whispered against my chest. "Then I was lying on my back, there was dust everywhere, I couldn't hear and I felt like I was going to die."

  "When I awoke, I knew that I had to find you. I heard your heart beating as you ran away."

  “I knew Nanos would be in the Safe Room. I had to avenge the king and Paug before I died, and since I knew the combinations--“

  "What?" I pulled her away from me and stared at her face. I realized my mouth was open and closed it with a hollow clank. “What did Nanos do to his father and Paug?" I demanded. Her eyes opened in shock.

  "I thought Runir would have told you." She gauged my reaction and quickly continued. "Paug tripped while we were fleeing the Loshers, I tried to help him up, but Greykin threw himself at the men. When Paug and I got to the door of the Safe Room, Nanos was standing over his father's body with a bloody sword. Paug grabbed the king's blade and tried to defend me. I was too slow and the Losher men caught up to us. Nanos ran Paug through the stomach. He died on the ground next to the king."

  The edges of my vision turned a dark red. I heard my heart thunder in my chest. I tasted blood in my mouth and I didn't care that I was biting my tongue.

  "He'll pay for what he has done. I'm glad you left him alive. We can have a trial and execute him under the law." Nadea put her hand on my shoulder and ran her fingertips up to my jaw.

  It didn't make me feel any better.

  "Nanos isn't here," I sighed.

  "What?" She almost screamed in surprise

  "You were hurt and I used magic to change you. I didn't have time to deal with him and I hadn't realized he killed his father and Paug. I left him in the castle and I fled with you, Runir, your guards, and Greykin's men." My heart filled with sadness. Paug was just a boy, no swordsman or warrior. He had been butchered trying to avenge his king and save his friend.

  "Shit!" Nadea gasped. "Fuck." Her hands moved away from me and covered her face, hiding her tears.

  "I didn't know." There was a lump in my throat. Fuck me; I should have guessed what a snake Nanos was. He betrayed more than his kingdom. I should have killed him when I had the chance.

  I'm sorry Paug.

  "You couldn't have known, Kaiyer," Nadea said after she recovered from the news.

  I heard several booted feet approach the tent in unison. Nadea and I looked at each other and she mouthed the name of her blonde friend.

  "You cannot enter, sir. Kaiyer left instructions," the guard said with little authority in her voice. I gave her credit for speaking against him. She didn't report to me; she reported to Nadea or Runir.

  "Move aside!" Runir commanded before he stepped into the tent. "You're awake!" Runir's smile filled his face. Four other men followed him into the tent. I knew they were Nadea's generals, but I not yet interacted with them.

  "And you haven't washed the hair dye out yet?" Nadea said with a smirk before she opened her arms to hug the handsome man.

  "When did you awake?" he asked after they parted.

  "A few hours ago," I answered.

  "You did not summon me?" He glared at me.

  "We had to speak privately," Nadea answered for me.

  Nadea looked to her generals and was about to greet them, but Runir interrupted her.

  "I have other news." His face lost the pleasant smile Nadea's awakening had given him. He looked to me before he spoke again. "The empress has moved south with her army. They are a week awa
y from the castle, between us and Merrium."

  "Shit," Nadea and I said in unison.

  "The men I sent returned without trying to work around the army. They felt it would have been too risky, and I agree,” Runir continued.

  "Is it possible that they didn't even see the village?" I asked. Merrium was a few miles off of the major road that led north out of Nia.

  "I doubt it." He shook his head. "It looks like she has over twenty thousand soldiers. They would have discovered the village. They have probably captured Jessmei, Greykin, the queen, and your father." Runir glanced to Nadea.

  "We don't know that for sure," she tried to sound hopeful, but I saw the fear on her face. Runir nodded and smiled but they both looked to me to see if I agreed.

  Hope was a valuable commodity.

  "I know how to find out."

  "How?" Nadea asked.

  "I know where the village is, and I can slip through the empress's lines undetected. I've had to outmaneuver their enemies many times."

  "No. It is too risky." Nadea's face grew angry.

  "You've said that before." I smiled at her. "But I am going to go with or without your permission."

  "You've said that before, and the answer was still no." Nadea's lips drew a hard line that matched her voice. "I need you here with me." She seemed to realize that Runir and her generals were in the tent and her cheeks turned a slight shade of red.

  "Julliar, Weatan, Corvan, and Yabar can you excuse us?" Nadea asked the four generals. "I'll be prepared for our meeting tomorrow morning." The men nodded and left. Weatan was the oldest of the generals, and the last to leave, he gave me a grateful nod as he walked past me.

  "Jessmei, Greykin, and your father need me as well. I had this same conversation with Jess before I left Merrium to come to Nia," I said as soon as the men exited. The three of us sat in silence for a few minutes. I could see Nadea trying to puzzle out a way to keep me here, but her delay only increased the tension between the three of us.

  I expected her to tell Runir to leave, but she didn't. Perhaps she didn't want to be alone with me, or maybe she didn't want the man to know that she wanted to be alone with me. Finally, I decided that I wasn't going to wait for her to think of more reasons for me to stay.

  "I'll leave in the morning. What I've taught you today about the Earth should be enough for you to work on for a few weeks while I try to find them." I nodded to Runir and he returned the movement. Relief was plain on his face.

  "Wait," Nadea said as I stepped out of the tent. I didn't want to turn back to her, but I did.

  “Do not ask me to stay. I will say yes.”

  Her eyes began to tear up and I could not stand it anymore.

  I closed the tent flap and swam through the throngs of troops toward the quartermaster's pavilion. It was after lunch and I still had a few hours to get supplies together before nightfall.

  I knew going to Nia would be difficult. One did not simply walk into a conquered city, find the remnants of an overthrown ruling family, and rescue them without any confrontation.

  This mission seemed simpler. Circumnavigate an army, determine if Merrium had been sacked, and then return with either news of the royal family or them in tow. There would be no need to interact with the Elvens, beyond butchering any that got in my way.

  Or so I hoped.

  Chapter 3-Jessmei

  I paused for a moment and leaned against one of the many ancient trees that surrounded me. Its bark was soft, brown, and slightly abrasive. Kaiyer had told me the names of these trees a few times. Were they maple? Pine? I knew they weren't oak, as oak trees dotted the hills around my home, and these looked different. They were straight and upright, dressed with needles that stayed green round the year.

  I heard movement behind me and I spun toward the small shrubs that caused the rustle. I didn't think anyone had followed me, but I had no way of preventing it if someone wished to do so. The noise grew louder and a large gray rabbit bounced out of the bushes, eyed me suspiciously, and softly bounded off to my left.

  I sighed and relaxed against the rough bark of the tree. It was mid-morning and my time to be with Kaiyer. I suspected that Greta knew that I came out here to mourn. The older woman gave me a look of pity every time I finished helping her with the breakfast dishes and told her I wanted to take a walk through the trees. She seemed to understand my loss and need to be alone. She never questioned where I went or what I did when I reached my destination. Perhaps that was the way of our sex.

  Tira and Jiure were a different story. Tira latched on to me as if I was the sister that she never had. When she wasn't helping Jiure heard the cattle, or her father Rayat milk, she followed me around like a puppy and asked me hundreds of questions about life in the city. The questions sometimes hit too close to a sensitive topic and I tried to do my best to answer them without revealing my identity. Greta may have guessed that I was someone of importance, as she often told Tira to stop bothering me.

  I doubted that any of them could fathom the truth.

  Thankfully, Jiure spent little time around the house. He was younger than I, but looked at me the way most men did. I was used to it. Even in Nia, men and boys had been looking at me with lust for years. Whether hidden beneath the elaborate veneer of manners and breeding as with the nobles of the capital, or raw and unchecked as it was with the men of the village, the look was the same. The look was hungry and my mother had taught me that it was my duty as a lady to ignore it and keep it in check with modesty and virtue.

  I would have thought that the presence of Kaiyer would have struck some fear into Jiure, or at least a sort of respect for a woman that he knew to be joined. But alas, his stares seemed to have gotten more lecherous since Kaiyer had been away. Yesterday evening, he asked me if I ever thought of re-marrying, since my beloved had not returned to claim me. Rayat yelled at his son for a good ten minutes, but he couldn't really punish him. His family was probably the wealthiest in the small town, but there was still too much work to do, and he could ill afford an incapacitated son, nor another mouth to feed.

  I listened again for any movement and heard nothing. My destination was only a mile from the tree line that opened to the range of fields where the cattle grazed. Then it was another half mile through the grass to the house we all shared. They would expect me back soon, so I set off deeper into the forest.

  I had tried to help them with some of the farm chores, but it quickly became obvious that I was more suited to occupations that did not actually involve hard labor. I thought I could help Greta with knitting and sewing, as I had spent countless hours embroidering with my handmaidens and was adept at weaving, but the rough repair work Greta did to keep the family’s clothes and equipment in working order was vastly different than the decorative stitches I knew. Everything I had ever learned was simply a frivolity to occupy the time of someone who did not need to work. Perhaps the men were right in the way they looked at me. I only seemed to exist for one purpose, whether I was a princess or a girl on a farm.

  I cleaned up dishes after meals though. This gave Greta some relief during the day and helped me feel as if I contributed something, however small. I sighed and smiled slightly as I continued my walk. My hands were rough from the work. The lye soap was harsh and my skin was red and peeling, my fingernails were worn down. These were no longer the hands of a lady. My mother had scolded me as a child for forgetting to wear gloves outside. If she could see me scrubbing plates for a family of peasants, she would be beside herself with horror. I didn’t like my mother. Therefore, I loved washing dishes.

  I tried to push the angry blonde woman and soapy tub of water out of my thoughts with a frown. Mother definitely would not approve of any of the novel activities I'd participated in during the last few months. Especially the love that I shared with Kaiyer. She and my brother were of similar mindset and demeanor on most topics, especially him.

  I breathed deeply and enjoyed the scent of the needles, wet dirt, and moss. I was getting close to m
y destination and my footsteps grew quicker with excitement. My hand brushed up against the trunk of a large tree that guarded the entrance. Its bark felt rough but it was soft beneath and gave slightly as I pushed on it with my hand to steady myself as I passed. It reminded me of his face and hair but it didn't comfort me.

  Then I reached our glade.

  It was a small clearing, only a quarter of the size of the Royal Garden. A spring twisted through the meadow, bubbling over slick moss covered rocks and splitting the tall grass of the field in an embarrassed grin. The grass was as green as Kaiyer’s eyes and as soft as his kisses. He had discovered the spot while hunting and brought me to it. We had escaped here for a few hours every day. We spent our time speaking freely, unburdened by the fear that the villagers would discover us. And we made love. It was furtive and desperate, we were clinging to each other with the knowledge that we were running out of time. For me it had always felt this way. As much as I loved the idea, a part of me knew I could never be with Kaiyer if we returned to Nia. If I went back, I would forfeit any freedom to make a choice. But Kaiyer had been unaware of our customs and dismissive of my fears about our relationship. He was not anxious or scared of losing me, until we reached Merrium. Once he knew he had to return, his lovemaking matched mine. We knew each time was one of our last and we cherished each other. I knew he did not want to leave me, but we both knew that he had to. As much as I wanted and needed him to stay, I would have lost some respect for him if he had. I could not love a coward.

  I slipped off my leather shoes and walked barefoot across the grass until it turned into smooth moss and rocks by the chiming creek. I carefully sat down and dangled my toes into the frigid water. He should have returned by now. It had been two months since he left. He promised that he would return soon with whatever news could be found in Nia's capital. Was he dead? Captured? On his way back to me?

  "Grandmother." I sat up and spoke my prayer out loud. "Please keep Kaiyer safe. Bring him back to me alive. Please let him find my brother and mother. Please bless their safe escape." My father's mother always spoiled me when I was a little girl. When the fever took her I prayed to her Spirit for guidance and protection.