by Guy Antibes
Danson Axlewood’s key people had been teleported to various places in Pestledown while the army marched south from Darkpuddle. The forced march would take two days.
Valanna appeared in Coffun Cricket’s house with four of Danson’s scouts just before dawn of the second day. The troops wouldn’t arrive in Pestledown until after noon. She let them out the front door and waited for Neel to arrive with the flyer carrying Asem and Kulara. She searched the rooms for evidence of intrusion, but didn’t find any. She leaned against the back door, outside in the chill air, waiting for the floater. She folded her arms and went over their plans in her mind.
Asem had insisted that the actual battle would play out differently, but one had to have a goal before the attack, and the plan had given everyone a focus. She straightened up as the floater descended and began to help bring the supplies and blankets into the house. Since the Blue Swan Vashtans had been there, the house could be used as a medical facility once the fighting got underway. Vashtans could teleport the injured from where they were injured.
Valanna fought off her nerves. She had experienced battle before and knew what to expect, but that knowledge didn’t cure her anxiety.
“Put this on,” Asem said, picking armor from a pile.
“I’ve never worn armor before,” Valanna said.
“You can’t afford to be hit by an errant bolt. Put this felted vest on first.” Valanna had agreed to wear protection, but it seemed unfair for her to wear armor when the others didn’t.
“The Vashtans will aim at your chest. This will stop most fire and lightning bolts.”
Valanna felt like a stuffed animal after Asem put a thin boiled leather tunic over the metal cuirass that was hinged at Valanna’s shoulders.
“At least I’ll be warm.”
Asem put a similar setup on Kulara. “There, now you are a pair.”
“I didn’t wear one of these in Santasia,” Kulara said to Asem, looking sideways at Valanna’s armor.
“Trak didn’t wear armor, and what happened to him in Balbaam and Beniko?”
“He said he was hit by arrows,” Valanna said. “I was there at Balbaam.” She had no illusions about being a hero and said nothing more.
“Armor might have stopped one.” Asem finished buckling a leather cuirass to himself. “Let’s go.”
Valanna found she could lean in a teleport pose without a problem. The three Warishians along with Derit, Ferikan, and another two Blue Swans appeared just outside the empty square in front of the palace.
Pestledown’s ruler never had bothered with a highly defensible castle, and the lower walls and expansive grounds of the palace eventually wouldn’t represent much of a barrier to Danson’s army.
Sunrise would be the trigger for the insurrection in Pestledown’s streets. Valanna looked up at the palace walls. Soldiers walked in pairs, patrolling along the walkway at the top. She could blow them all off, if she chose, but they first needed to penetrate into the palace. Valanna had chosen the room close to the Throne Room where she had changed before since it faced east, where the sun would rise.
When they appeared, Valanna pulled a thin sword from the sheath buckled to her side. She would use it as a powerful wand as Trak had done. How she wished Trak stood at her side as she went into battle. She looked through the thin silk mesh of the curtain at the brightening sky. The rim of sky turned from light blue to pink.
“Not much longer,” she said. The tip of a tower in the other side of the courtyard began to glow. “Now!”
Asem opened the door and the seven of them slipped into the corridor. The morning light hadn’t yet made it into the palace, and they had to pick their way along in the brightening shadows. Asem would lead them to the Vashtans’ quarters.
Kulara put the two soldiers guarding the Throne Room to sleep. They slinked along one side of the corridor, and then took a walkway that spanned two stories above the ground level into one of the palace’s outbuildings.
The smell of the Vashtan herb, delegrib, intensified as she walked along the elevated corridor. They had reached the right place. Valanna pointed her sword at four guards leaning against walls in front of the Yellow Fox residence. Three of them slid to the ground, and the other fell face down on the stone floor in a clatter.
“Quickly!” Ferikan said. “Derit!”
Ferikan reached for the door, but before his hand touched the latch, the door exploded, showering pieces of the shattered wood against Derit’s shield. A door further down the hall burst open, and three Yellow Fox Vashtans began to pose. Valanna was ready with a wind pose and blew the enemy Vashtans against the wall at the far end of the corridor. She pointed her sword and sent pulses of lightning into the pile of Vashtans.
“You take this door,” she said. “Asem and Kulara, come with me. There are more Vashtans in the palace than we thought.” At least there were five less, the two they killed in Darkpuddle and these three, assuming the Vashtans they attacked during Snively’s escape survived. If there were fifteen, that still meant ten against seven, but Valanna didn’t care about the odds. All she focused on was deposing King Harl, and the Yellow Foxes were in the way.
A flash of light blinded Valanna for a second as fire bathed the front of her chest. She assumed a shield pose and let the smoke dissipate. The leather had been burned away, and the fire bolt blackened the metal showing beneath. The door remained open. Kulara made a shield and slid in front of the door. A bolt of lightning splashed against her shield while Valanna poked her sword through the edge of it and used pulses to finish off two more Vashtans. Eight left.
The Blue Swans had already entered the Vashtan quarters and were lost to view, while Kulara began to shuffle through the door. Unfamiliar spices mixed with delegrib to flavor the air, while Valanna and Asem swiveled about. They went from room to room and found only one more Vashtan before connecting up with the Blue Swans.
“The others have teleported away,” Ferikan said. “We will have to be careful. They could appear anywhere.”
“How many did you take care of?” Asem said.
“Five, but one of us is severely injured.” Ferikan looked around the quarters. “And you?”
“Valanna’s three and another. That is nine we’ve taken care of, with who knows how many left.”
“Behind you!” Derit said. Ferikan and she ran away.
Valanna danced into a pose and sprayed the area behind them with fire, which spread out over the Vashtans’ shield.
“This never fails,” she said, when she sent wind at them. It had no effect. She began to dance and threw everything she could at the Vashtans. Suddenly, the shield let up and Valanna posed wind again and with all of her force blew the shield apart.
Derit and Ferikan began to kill the Yellow Foxes after their shield pose broke.
Valanna looked at the smoking bodies. She turned away and leaned against the wall. Her comment of the wind spell never failing ended up being pure hubris, and she nearly collapsed at the thought.
After she finished checking the remaining rooms of the Vashtan quarters, Derit teleported the injured Blue Swan to Coffun Cricket’s house and returned to join them as they made their way towards the main palace again to find King Harl.
“There are only a few injured at the house,” Derit said, “but I heard that the walls were better defended than they thought, so we won’t have support in the palace yet.”
Valanna grit her teeth and looked at Asem.
“Do you want to teleport out?” he said.
Valanna shook her head. “It’s time for a family reunion,” she said. “I don’t want to wait, since the fighting has already begun.”
Ferikan grinned and patted Valanna on the shoulder. “I am willing.”
“So am I,” Derit said.
Kulara nodded and pushed Asem forward. “You do the leading, and I shall willingly follow, husband of mine.”
They walked past the Throne Room, which was empty, except for the two sleeping guards, and headed towards King
Harl’s quarters. There were fewer guards in the palace than Valanna remembered. She looked out a window, seeing the palace walls now bathed with the morning sun and saw different uniforms manning the walls as well as men dressed in street clothes. Harl’s thugs, she thought. The king had stripped his palace and thrown everyone into the defense of the walls.
Asem held up his hand. “There are six guards lining the corridors in front of Harl’s quarters with another two Vashtans.” He sat down.
“Have you given up, love of my life?” Kulara said.
He waved Kulara’s comment away. “I’m trying to remember if there are any other entrances to his rooms.” He sat down in the hall and put his hands to his head and closed his eyes. “I’m thinking.”
“Wait a moment,” Valanna said. She teleported to Coffun’s house and found the plans that she remembered Asem had brought along. She looked for the right one.
“Princess Valanna,” one of the Blue Swans said.
“No time for that. I’m returning to the palace.”
“Palace? Let me go with you. The fighting hasn’t really started.”
She nodded and turned to a soldier getting his arm bandaged. “You can tell Danson Axlewood that few Vashtans still remain.” She leaned into a pose and returned to Asem with the Vashtan. She tossed the large sheet of paper to him. “This might help revive your memory,” she said quietly.
The Warishian grinned. “I’m an old forgetful man.”
Kulara kneed him and knocked Asem over. “Don’t tell me you’re old. What does that make me?”
“Lovelier than ever.” He smiled up at his wife and righted himself. He looked over the plans. “There is another entrance to his rooms on the other side of the corridor, but it’s down quite a ways. I suggest we split up. “You Vashtans take care of these guards and the Yellow Foxes, Valanna, Kulara, and I will get to the other side. Will that work?”
Ferikan nodded and held Derit’s hand. “We won’t let you down now that we have a reinforcement.”
“I know you can help,” Valanna said to the new member of Ferikan’s team.
Kulara had already leaned into a pose. Valanna joined them, and they teleported to the other side of the corridor leading to King Harl’s rooms, avoiding any guards.
“We will have to hurry,” Asem said. Valanna had no choice but to follow Asem and Kulara running down the halls.
There were more twists and turns to reach the back entrance to King Harl’s quarters than Valanna had thought, but Asem stopped them before looking around the corridor.
He got on his knees, and slithered on his stomach to look around the corner. “Two Vashtans we didn’t know about and one huge guard.”
“Are they in poses?” Valanna asked.
“No.”
She pulled out her sword and quickly took care of the Vashtans. Her fireboats splashed against a magical shield that the large guard had created.
“The guard is a magician!” Valanna said. “He must be the fourth Colcanan.”
She put up a shield of her own before the guard quickly threw powerful lightning bolts at her. Kulara and Asem joined in the fight, but Kulara’s shield was no match for the guard’s bolts. Both of them had to retreat, battered by the spells that had made it past their protection.
“Asem needs medical care right now,” Kulara said. “You are on your own. I’m sorry.” She posed and Valanna was left alone.
Valanna’s shields held up well enough as she slid closer to the magician. She used wind, but it only made the magician slide back a few inches. She wondered where Berin had hidden such a warrior. She chanced a glance back, and realized that this was a fight she had to win. Her life and future depended on becoming Queen of Pestle and annulling her marriage to Marom. Thousands of lives depended on her getting to Harl before Pestlans slaughtered each other in the square in front of the palace. Valanna narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath.
She began her dance, but every time she broke a pose, the magician was ready and threw fire bolts and lightning that she barely caught. Valanna could detect her felted protection beginning to smell like burnt hair and managed to point her sword at the man.
“Want to fight with a sword?” He pulled out his own blade and grinned, eager to end the fight, but Valanna quickly changed to a pose and hit his arm with a bolt. His armor turned red on his upper arm, causing the man to grimace.
“It looks like an impasse, Valanna Almond. I was warned about your strength, but I underestimated you.”
They stood magical shield to magical shield.
“Who are you?” Valanna said. Perhaps she could distract him.
“Colcan’s finest warrior. You won’t survive, but Rasia would know of me, and Ben Nomia, too.” He sneered at her.
Valanna had never known a Colcan to be so fierce. “Will you join your army in their march to Balbaam?”
The man’s face grew grimmer. “I will find a way to join my brother, who leads the army. My transportation is on the other side of that door. These won’t be of any help,” he said, quickly glancing down at the Vashtans. “They thought they were invincible.” He shook his head, nearly breaking the shield. “They are poor servants, the Vashtans,” he said and puffed up his chest. “I am strong enough to make do on my own.”
Valanna quickly threw another lightning bolt at the man’s shield, and it buckled just a bit. His powers were draining more rapidly than hers. She kept hitting him with pulses, and now her efforts began to push him back. She took another step and tripped, falling to the floor.
Her opponent relaxed and put his sword to her neck. His boot rested on the charred breastplate, pressing down on Valanna’s chest. She struggled to breathe and lifted her sword up along the armored arm of her enemy, futilely trying to cut him. He grinned and looked down at her.
“Flail away, it won’t do you any good, since it appears your visions of glory end here,” he said.
~~~
Chapter Twenty-Six
~
Trak entered the Throne Room, seeing nothing but chaos. He spelled a loud voice. “Cease immediately if you want to live!” His words were a bluff, of course, but he had to do something to stop the mayhem that he had little chance of controlling on his own without violence.
His announcement worked, as the fighting ceased, and the opposing groups drifted to form defensive groups.
“The king has abdicated. Princess Pullia is the next in line.”
Lia strutted into the room. “Actually I should have been first in line and Gastal behind me,” Lia said, her chin lifted high. “We will talk through what is happening. I’ll not have needless bloodshed in my city.” She looked at the carnage in the room and took a deep breath.
Trak looked at the guards behind him. “Get servants to move the injured to the healer’s wing and remove the dead.” He then took one of the chairs at the side of the room and placed it next to the throne.
“Sit here, Princess,” he said. He took Lia’s hand, and she tiptoed to the chair on the dais and sat and looked up at Trak.
“Princess Pullia does not take the throne until she goes through whatever ratification process you have in Zamiel. She is unsure what that is, since her father was coronated before she was born, and the Princess was out of the country when King Gastal had his. The situation is grave enough in the city, and certainly in the Court, to quickly transition the leadership. There are four armies poised to attack the city.”
A few of the courtiers began to talk among themselves, their faces filled with alarm. Others stood impassive. Trak noted who was who. “The Princess wishes to meet with the leaders of the armies to see what kind of negotiations are required to turn Western Torya into a more peaceful condition.”
A red-faced courtier stepped forward. He threw his sword down in disgust. “Who are you to order the Princess around, and who is the Princess to order us around?”
Lia stood. “I have discussed the matter with Trak Bluntwithe, who, as you know, was instrumental in quelling rebellion
s in three countries, including Santasia. He treated our soldiers with as much respect as one can to an enemy, at the time. I concur with his statement to meet with leaders of the armies to arrive at a peaceful solution. My goal is to minimize bloodshed and disruption to our citizens, both in Zamiel and in all of Western Torya.”
“I won’t ask who of you are allied with what army, but I do suggest that you contact them. In the meantime, the Princess will determine what she is required to do so she can take over as the ruler of Western Torya,” Trak said.
A courtier began to pose. Trak put his hand out, palm up. The man went up into the air as Trak’s arm raised. He lowered the man and terminated the spell three feet from the floor. The man fell in a heap and struggled to stand, his face pale.
“As some of you know, I don’t have the need to pose. This is a warning. If I see anyone attempt to pose in Princess Pullia’s presence, I will count it as an act against the Princess and will defend her accordingly. You may leave the Throne Room and will be notified when to return,” Trak said.
Lia clutched the arms of the chair, showing white knuckles as the last of the courtiers filed out. Servants and guards came and went assisting the injured, and carrying the dead out. Servants had already started to clean the stone floors.
A look of anger colored Lia’s face. “I’m glad that was you that spoke to them. I would have lost my temper.”
“Then it is good that I took charge. Anger is not going to help in a situation where you wield uncertain power.”
“Uncertain power. I guess that is an apt description, but it is little better than no power.”
Trak nodded. King Gastal’s chamberlain entered the court. “I chose not to be present during the fight or when you quelled it,” he said.
“I am sure you listened in.”
The man let a slight smile slither across his face. Trak didn’t trust him, but he needed information that this man possessed.
“I did.”
“Then how can Princess Pullia ascend to the throne?”