“Is this your farmstead?” one of the Ancients asked. They were both men and had long braided hair in slightly different shades of slate gray.
“Yes,” Beltor’s voice didn’t tremble.
“How many head of cattle do you own?” As if by some unspoken cue, the Ancients stepped forward, and while they didn’t push Beltor back physically, he was forced to retreat from the doorway or risk colliding with the armored men.
“Do you want some of our livestock?” Beltor asked. He moved his body away from the entrance and tried to block their view of the family room.
“Yes,” they said in unison. Their faces were almost identical, or at least, I couldn’t make out any difference between them besides their hair color.
“We have one hundred and thirty.” The lie came quickly to Beltor’s mouth. I knew we had almost two hundred.
“Which fields are yours? We will require half,“ the Ancient with the darker hair said. Suddenly his eyes made contact with mine. They were the color of a dull ruby and I couldn’t help but shiver. I tried to look away. I felt like he knew everything about me, knew why I was here, knew who I was, and knew about Kaiyer.
“It will be five crowns a head.” Upon hearing Beltor’s price, the Ancient’s red eyes released their hold on me. I held back a sob in my throat and tried not to whine. My hands clutched the table and I realized my nails were digging into the hard wood.
The Elvens stared at Beltor for what felt like an eternity. Their faces betrayed no emotion; I couldn’t tell if they were shocked at his demand.
“Five crowns is more than our budget allocation,” finally, the one who had stared at me said. I felt the tension in the room ease.
“We have the best cattle in this village, nay, in Nia and Gradar. I’ll show them to you right now if you wish.”
“Which field? We will inspect them ourselves,” the lighter-haired one frowned. The other one turned his attention back to me. Beltor noticed his gaze.
I wished I had listened to my mother and put on better clothes. Greykin’s cloak covered my tattered dress, but it seemed like the red-eyed Ancient’s gaze penetrated the garment.
“Northeast. I am proud of them and would enjoy showing them to you. Let me saddle a horse and I’ll lead you there.” Beltor’s voice was urgent.
“Who is she?” The Elven raised his hand to point. I gasped and my heart stopped beating.
“That is my daughter, my wife, and servants,” Beltor answered. “You are scaring them. I’d like to take you away so they can relax.”
“Why are they not working?” the other Ancient said.
“I called them in when I saw your army. I thought you would butcher us. That is what the stories say. at least.” My uncle laughed nervously.
“Don’t be foolish, human. You need not fear,” the lighter-haired man smiled.
“Anytime and army comes in we have to be afraid, I’m sure you can understand that. But it looks like I might have to fear your haggling prowess! Come; let me show you my herd. I want my five crowns and I’m sure you want this over with so you can continue on your way.” Beltor gave a short laugh and gestured toward the door. The Elvens nodded in unison with his last statement.
“You are correct, human. We must continue on our journey.” The darker-haired Ancient that had pointed at me reached down to his right hip. There was a leather pouch there the size of my spread hand. “This is much more than your asking price. How many horses do you own?”
“My man back here handles the horses. How many can we spare?” Nadea’s father turned around and looked to Rayat with an angry stare that the Ancients didn’t see.
“We have s-s-s-s-ix,” Rayat stuttered. I doubted I could have even spoken if Beltor had asked me a question.
“Excellent. We will take two of them,” the Ancient said.
“Fine. Let me show them to you.” My uncle gestured to the doorway and the Ancients nodded.
Then the three were gone.
“Thank the fucking Spirits,” Greykin whispered after a handful of seconds passed.
“Do not use such language in front of me,” my mother said with an angry look at the Old Bear.
“Sorry, my queen.” The big man bowed lower than his big frame should have allowed. I knew the Old Bear well enough to believe his words were sarcastic.
“Beltor is a fool. He should have explained our situation and surrendered. The empress has already promised our family asylum.” My mother tossed her hair with an annoyed flip of her left hand. “I cannot stand to spend any more time in this hovel. I wish to return to the castle with my daughter.”
“Go back then. It's a short walk.” Greykin’s beard concealed his mouth, but I could tell from his voice that he was close to either screaming at my mother or breaking this house down on top of us.
“I do not appreciate your attempt at wit you ridiculous, broken drunkard. If you had not failed in your duty of protecting my daughter, none of this would have happened. I blame you for the fall of our kingdom. Bless the Spirits that my son was able to salvage a relationship with the empress.” Her insult caused Greykin’s face to turn a shade of red I had never seen.
“That isn’t true, mother!” The words escaped my mouth in a whisper and I hardly realized I had spoken.
“What ‘isn’t true’ daughter?” Her voice mocked mine. “That this old man failed, or that your brother saved our kingdom? Or perhaps something else in your little bird brain is finally working and you think you can explain this situation better to me? Maybe you’ll actually be able to offer a solution instead of just letting yourself be taken advantage of?”
I shook under her ice cold stare and her upturned lip. I tried to speak, but I didn’t know what to say and the lump in my throat seemed to be preventing me from even breathing. My foot throbbed. My vision got blurry and I blinked to keep the tears at bay.
“Are you crying now? My poor, useless daughter.” She sighed and covered her face with her delicate hands. “I should really blame myself for how you turned out. But I just cannot. Your father and his lack of discipline had far more to do with it than I did. At least you are beautiful, or you will be again when you have recovered from whatever you did to yourself in the forest.”
I tried to speak, but the words were lost to me. Instead, I felt removed from my body. When the sobs hit me again, I couldn’t fight them. I was not in control anymore.
I didn’t think I had any tears left.
I should have expected and prepared myself for her scorn. She was right. I was always at someone else’s mercy. Greykin needed to protect me, then Kaiyer, now Nadea’s father. Maybe it would have been better if I had been taken to the empress and tortured. Maybe I should have just died when they tried to kidnap me.
Greykin’s cloak was warm and heavy. But I still felt cold and couldn’t stop shaking. His face was almost the color of wine, but his blue eyes stared at me with empathy. Had this been any other day in our previous life, the old warrior would have wrapped his giant arms around me so I could cry into his chest. He would have told me how amazing I was, how beautiful I was, and how my mother was wrong. Eventually he would calm me down and do something to make me laugh. Then he would turn me over to my handmaidens, and they would clean the tears from my face before sharing the kingdom's gossip.
Everything was broken now. Even though my guardian sat in front of me, he couldn’t risk angering my mother. He was sworn to do her bidding. What would Nadea do if my mother had just spoken to her that way? The thought gave me mixed emotions. Nadea was smarter, braver, and more beautiful than me. Even my mother could not find fault in my cousin. Or maybe she just knew that Nadea would not tolerate such insults.
The door opened so suddenly the draft blew back my hair. Everyone jumped to their feet in surprise.
“Fuck! Horses!” Beltor’s eyes were wide and panicked.
“What horses?” Greykin asked in confusion.
“There were three Nia horses in the stables!” Nadea’s father slammed the
door quickly behind him and ran over to the window to peer out again.
“We left them in the forest though,” Greykin said with puzzlement.
“Those were the horses that the Ancients stole from the castle stables when they took me. Kaiyer left them here as payment to Rayat for housing us,” I said slowly.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Greykin suddenly looked as panicked as Nadea’s father did.
Then I understood the mistake.
“They didn’t notice. But it changes nothing. Just buys us a few hours maybe. Someone will see the brandings and the saddles. They were stock from the Royal Stable. The Ancients will wonder how those horses got here and then piece the situation together.” Beltor sighed and then let the curtain fall down in place. “I thought we had escaped detection.”
“We should go back to our horses in the forest and leave,” Greykin said with a nod, approving his own idea.
“Where will we go? We have twenty thousand troops in the North, but the snow hasn’t thawed yet and we couldn’t make the journey. We can’t go east to my keep; the Loshers will have troops there.” Beltor sighed with frustration.
“Could we go south to Brilla?” I asked. The sound of my voice surprised me. My mother looked over at me disapprovingly.
“We would have to go through Nia. We would probably get caught.”
“What if we sailed there?” I asked. “We might trade the horses for a small boat and get to Brilla that way?” My voice lost its volume when Beltor and Greykin didn’t nod in approval. The cloak seemed to press down on me, forcing my shoulders to slump. The wool fabric felt itchy and horrible.
"No one knows how to sail, Jessmei." My uncle shook his head with a displeased expression.
“I would not risk myself on a boat. I have no desire to travel anywhere but my home,” my mother said with her chin held high in the air.
Beltor moved quickly across the room and I heard the sound of the slap before I saw him hit my mother. He struck her with the backside of his hand.
“I told you not to speak until I addressed you.” She stared at him in a beautiful mix of amazement, shock, horror, and contempt. Rayat clung to his daughter and pulled is son closer to him.
“How dare you hit me Beltor? I am your queen!” She looked over to Greykin and pointed at Nadea’s father. “Are you going to let him touch me?”
“Aye.” The Old Bear smiled big through his beard and chuckled a little.
“You have failed my family again. I--“ Beltor’s hand flew out and smacked my mother across the face in the same spot. It seemed like this was a much harder blow, and my mother’s head snapped to the side.
“Do not speak unless I address you,” Beltor repeated with slow enunciation. “I know it is difficult for you to comprehend this situation. But I am in charge here, not you. I don’t serve you. I serve our kingdom and the rightful heir to my brother’s throne.”
“I guessed it then.” My mother sneered and blood dripped out of the corner of her lip. “You want the kingdom for yourself. You were always jealous of him and our marriage. Will you force yourself on me like you will rape Nia?” She let out a mocking laugh.
“No, Otrila. You are the ugliest woman I have ever met, and the idea of laying with you makes my mouth taste of vomit. I never envied my brother. I was allowed to marry the woman that I loved and make a beautiful child with her. He was forced to spend his life joined to you. I never wanted to be king. I only wanted to raise my family in peace.” My mother’s eyes grew large at his words and she frowned. I had never seen my mother cry, but it seemed that Beltor’s statement hit a nerve with the mean woman.
“I serve our kingdom. My brother is dead. Your son is a traitor for having made an alliance with our enemy. There is only one rightful ruler of our land.” He nodded at me and smiled. The grin made my heart ache to see my father again. My uncle's hair was a few shades darker than my father's, but they shared the same smile.
“I’ll agree with that.” Greykin looked at me and grunted.
“Me?” I gasped and my mother snorted.
“Yes, Jessmei. Our armies will follow you. Our people will follow you. We’ll just need to secure you somewhere safe for a few months, until our main force can return from the North. The Elvens and Loshers cannot stand against our army. We outnumber them too greatly."
“But they hold the castle. How will we fight them?” It was the only idea I could grasp as the significance of his words swirled around in my head.
“Let us worry about that. You’ll have generals, advisors, Greykin and me to guide you. It is your birthright and we need you to claim it.” He nodded and smiled reassuringly at me.
My mother drew in a sharp intake of breath and Beltor shot her an angry look that cut her voice off like a muted harp string.
“First, we will get Queen Jessmei to safety.” Greykin got up and stretched his massive shoulders.
“Girl.” Greykin pointed at Tira. The poor girl’s face turned white at his attention. “When Jessmei is crowned she will ask you to come to the castle and visit with her. There will be banquets, dancers, musicians, and a circus. Would that interest you?” Tira’s eyes grew wide and she nodded eagerly, all fear forgotten with the thought of circuses. “Excellent. But she needs your help to get clothes together for her trip. Can you take her to your room and find clothes?” Tira was still about six winters younger than me and the tattered dress I wore was probably the only garment in the home that would fit me.
“I have clothes she can take,” Greta said. It was the first she had spoken since Greykin and Beltor dragged Jiure into the home and explained to his parents what he had tried to do to me, and who I actually was.
“Good. We will also need you to prepare food for us. Quickly.” Greta got up from her chair and nodded. She pulled her daughter close and gave her instructions on what clothes to get for me.
“Boy, come here.” Beltor pointed at Jiure. My attacker’s face was covered in dried tears, dirt, and blood. He crawled on his hands and knees and knelt before my uncle. His forehead touched the ground and he trembled like a leaf in the wind. The boy looked so small and insignificant. I should have felt happy to see him reduced to such a state after he tried to force himself on me. But all I felt was sadness and regret. I did not want him to be killed.
“I have decided not to execute you. I will give you a chance to redeem yourself.” Rayat and Greta gasped. “Do you wish for redemption boy?” my uncle asked
“Y-y-y-y-yes. Forgive me, my lord,” the boy stuttered. His breath whistled through the missing teeth and I felt a bit of satisfaction that I had done that to him. I did not want him to die, but he deserved the wounds I had inflicted and I was still surprised I had been able to fight him off at all.
“I am not the one to bestow forgiveness upon you.” He gestured to me.
“I am sorry, my queen. So sorry. Please forgive me.” Jiure looked up at me from the ground. Fresh tears streamed down his face and mixed with the dried blood.
“I forgive you,” I choked on the words. My mother snorted, crossed her arms, and turned her face away from me. I probably should have said something different to the boy. My hand clutched my stomach and I remembered where he had hit me. I asked my grandmother to protect us and felt warmth spread through my body.
“Get to your feet. Wash your face. I need you to walk out of the house and track the comings and goings of the Ancients. If it looks like the four of us can make a break for our horses, come get us.” Jiure nodded gratefully until my uncle gestured toward the door. The boy dashed out like the home was on fire.
“I’ll fetch you some more clothes. Can you come with me?” Tira’s voice was but a whisper and she clutched delicately at my hand. She probably didn’t understand exactly what had transpired. Or maybe she did. Children had a way of knowing what was real. Perhaps she suspected who I was this whole time. I let the girl drag me into the back room where Rayat and Greta slept. I heard my uncle, Greykin, Greta, and Rayat whispering. Then Tira asked me
what it was like to be a queen and I had to focus on her questions.
After a few minutes, she gathered two of Greta’s summer dresses that would fit me. They were probably too thin for the current weather, but the winter was turning and Greykin’s cloak would keep me warm for whatever journey we had ahead of us.
I changed into one of the dresses. It was rough cotton dyed dark blue. It felt smooth against my skin compared to the cloak and I was grateful to discard the tattered garment I had been wearing. I realized that Kaiyer had left a supply pack in the room I shared with Tira. It contained a cooking set, bedroll, and spare clothes that we had altered to fit me. I grabbed it on the way back to the family room.
“I am ready.” As soon as the words left my mouth I realized that I would miss Tira and Greta immensely.
I would miss how much being here reminded me of Kaiyer. Other than the cave we had lived in for a few weeks, our time here was the closest we had come to living as a joined couple. Though Jiure and the Ancients had spoiled the place, I still felt sad about leaving.
Nadea’s father took some of the gold coins out of the pouch and gave them to Rayat. The rancher nodded and seemed grateful for the amount Beltor had given him. “Here is most of our jerked beef and cheese.” Greta looked exhausted and her voice confirmed her stress. Greykin took the large bag from Rayat’s wife and carefully put it into a thick leather backpack.
“Say your goodbyes, Jessmei,” Beltor said before he paced over to the window to look through the curtains again.
“I am so ashamed, my queen.” Rayat kneeled on the dirty wood floor in front of me. My stomach flipped and I started to feel sick. His wife and daughter quickly followed and threw themselves on the floor before me.
“No. No. No,” I stuttered. “Stand please. Thank you for caring for me.” I reached down and tried to pull Greta up but she resisted me. Tira sobbed loudly and Rayat put his hand over her mouth to quiet her.
The Destroyer Book 3 Page 11