by Sam Bennett
Compass of the Nymphs
Title Page
CHAPTER ONE -
CHAPTER TWO –
CHAPTER THREE –
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE –
CHAPTER SIX –
CHAPTER SEVEN –
CHAPTER EIGHT –
CHAPTER NINE –
For Etta Kimble,
who at ninety-six still enjoys a good story,
For Mae & Cleo,
who will soon be old enough to enjoy them, too,
And for Mrs. Milleson,
who taught me how to write one
(for them and you!)
Compass of the Nymphs
Published by Sam Bennett
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2013 by Sam Bennett.
This book is available in print at most online retailers.
Thank you for downloading this e-book. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without written permission of the author.
CHAPTER ONE -
A NARROW ESCAPE
It’s easy to live life running, but sometimes we don’t even know where we are going. Life also has those moments where it feels like time is running past us while we sit still.
As the forestland became a blur and her feet barely touched the ground before sprinting on, life was definitely not going too slowly for Taisiya. She had killed a palace guard, injured four others, and had the queen’s entire fleet chasing her in the past five minutes alone.
Now the trees before her were getting thicker and thicker, making it harder for Taisiya to navigate around them to safety. Luckily for her, it also was getting harder for the stocky guards, and as they repeatedly had to stop and regroup in their efforts to find her, they didn’t even notice as she nimbly began to climb one of the trees and hide amongst its branches.
Taisiya gripped one of the thicker branches with her thighs for balance and then turned to the tiny satchel hanging at her waist. She stifled a small chuckle as she opened the bag while the guards were right below her, clueless that she was dangling mere feet above their heads.
Her grin quickly disappeared though, after realizing there wasn’t much help to be found in the bottom of the satchel. Taisiya bit her lip in thought and grabbed a ribbon to pin back her long, curly brown locks. The guards below had reached an impasse, but Taisiya knew they would not stop until they captured her.
She pulled out the sharp, serrated knife from her bag and carefully laid it out on the branch beside her. The knife alone would be useless from this height; she would be lucky to toss it and kill one of the men from so high up, and after she did, it would give away her location. All that was left in the bag was some thick rope and another, slightly duller knife.
While the guards below had begun hatching a plan to cut down one of the neighboring trees and continue through, above them, Taisiya quickly devised a strategy of her own. She swung one of her legs up and fastened her foot to the branch with some rope. After tying her other foot in place, she grabbed the knives in one hand and her satchel in the other. Then she waited.
The leader of the burly guards was not soft spoken, and as he commanded his men his voice boomed over any other noises on the forest floor. He and his brutes were anything but intelligent, so even though they were making quite a ruckus, they had made very little progress. This was something that the smallest of the guards noticed, and although he tried to bring it to everyone’s attention, he too was drowned out by the loud thuds of fists pounding into trees and the booms of voices grunting in frustration.
Sneaking up behind the commander, the small guard stood on tiptoes and tapped him on the shoulder. All the other men stopped what they were doing after the bellowing reply of, “What?!” echoed throughout all the forest. Everyone and everything were too terrified to make a sound. Even as Taisiya watched above, her heart pounded a little faster as tension soared right below her.
The tiniest guard gulped and looked up at his commander, wide eyed. “Sir,” he said politely, “I don’t think your plan is working. We’re wasting so much time, while the girl manages to get farther and farther away with every second lost…and, well…”
He never got to finish his sentence. The commander’s eyes burned red with hatred, and he pushed the runt to the ground, refusing to listen to anything but yes-men. The other guards watched in silent horror, unsure what to do next. Their commander gave a swift kick to the fallen guard who fell back in pain. He then slowly turned around to his other men and began to make a speech.
“Who is the most intelligent of all the guards?” He boomed pompously. The others just nodded at him in stunned silence as he continued.
Taisiya was under no obligation to sit and listen to an arrogant commander drone on and on, and she knew that now was the time to act on her plan. She double-checked that her legs were tightly fastened to the branch and then said a little prayer as she released all tension in her body and let herself fall backwards into the air. She now dangled by her feet less than an inch away from the commander’s neck.
“…and understand that any mutiny against me is mutiny against the queen! Let this boy be a lesson to you all,” the commander prattled on. Every one of the other guards’ mouths opened as they saw Taisiya floating, knowing that if they said anything, they would most likely suffer the same fate as their currently incapacitated comrade.
Taisiya gave the guards a little flippant wave and then swung her body weight forward and upward, grabbing and pulling the commander’s head with her left hand, and using both knives to cut his throat with the right. It was now his turn to collapse to the ground in stunned disbelief. Taisiya took no time to watch him, though, as she was busy surveying her other opponents.
The remaining guards reached at their sides and pulled out their own knives and ran towards her. Taisiya flung her body weight up and grabbed onto the ropes holding her to the branch. She maneuvered herself back up the tree and quickly untied her feet as the guards started to try and climb up after her.
“Who is the most intelligent of the guards?!” Taisiya now boomed, winking coyly at the sentinels scratching the tree bark below her. They stopped what they were doing and looked up at her, barbarically bewildered. “I’ll tell you who,” she went on. “That one!” She pointed to the incapacitated guard fallen on the other side of the pathway.
They turned when she pointed and then looked back up at her, howling with laughter. “Laugh all you want,” Taisiya smirked, “but he will be the only one of your lot going back to the palace alive.” With that, she grabbed her empty satchel and flung it into the air over her head, putting on a show.
Taisiya tossed the bag to the ground, making a thwack! as it slammed onto the forest floor, landing near the fallen guard’s head. Everyone else turned and watched it, and it took all her might for Taisiya not to laugh as they continued to fall into her clutches. “Go get that bag,” she said in a tone reminiscent of a dog’s master telling him to fetch. “It’s got the Queen’s Elixir in it…”
Every single guard made a mad dash for the satchel, and Taisiya smiled as she hopped off the branch and landed adroitly on the ground. The guards were having quite a tug of war with her empty satchel, making it even easier for her to sneak up on them and knife them one by one like she did their commander.
As guards lay fallen around her, she dodged the knife of the last one standing. It narrowly avoided her temple. She ducked again and leaned forward, throwing her knife and puncturing his stomach. He gasped in pain and clutched his chest, dropping his knife. Taisiya quickly snatched the guard’s knife and then kicked him to the ground. “And let this be a les
son to you all! Mutiny against me is fatal!” Taisiya boomed, mocking the guards and their leader. Every single one of her foes lay dead before her.
She hadn’t counted on the living one behind her, though. Her grin of satisfaction turned into a grimace as she felt the cold blade of a knife brushing up against the back of her neck. Not about to lose her cool, she decided to start up a conversation and buy herself some time to think of another plan. “You were faking it, huh?”
“No…not really.” The voice behind her replied. Taisiya could tell it was the youngest and smallest guard who must have gotten up during her brawl. His voice cracked and showed his age…and his inexperience.
“What’s your name? I’m Taisiya.”
“My name isn’t important…”
“Good…I didn’t really care to know.” Taisiya replied coolly.
The boy scoffed, a bit offended. “You’re rather rude.”
Taisiya chortled. “Really? It took my not caring what your name is for you to realize I’m not Miss Congeniality? Do tell me, mysterious stranger, what you are going to do with that knife?”
“I’m going to kill you,” he said, “and take you back to the queen.”
“That doesn’t really work for me,” Taisiya said, “I’m a little hungry and was planning to have a nice little dinner…”
“Well, I don’t care what’s nice for you!”
Taisiya raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. “You’re rather rude!” she mimicked. “But seriously, there’s two options, kid. The first one involves you putting that knife back in your pocket, running back to the palace and alerting everyone about the fallen guards. The second plan, and this one’s my favorite, is where you pretend you really know how to fight, and end up joining the rest of the queen’s idiot henchmen over there. What’s it going to be? I’ll let you decide.”
“Neither!” The boy pressed the knife deeper into Taisiya and even managed to draw a little blood.
“I thought you were smarter than them,” Taisiya said, biting down in pain.
The boy gave a slight guffaw, “Thought? I am smarter than any of those buffoons.”
“But not quite as humble, I see…” Taisiya rolled her eyes. “And if you truly were smarter, you would get that knife off of me and go running back to the palace before you find yourself choking on it.”
He gulped and eased up on the knife. Taisiya knew she had won.
“The queen won’t know. No one will know. Tell them how Captain Genius knocked you out, and when you woke up, everyone was dead, and I was nowhere to be found. You’ll probably even get promoted.”
“All right, all right.” he said hotly, “but instead of me running back to the palace, you’ll be the one running. Go. Deep into the forest, and never return. I’m being far too nice to you, and you had better remember that. Now get lost!”
In no position to argue, Taisiya grabbed her satchel off the ground and made a run for it. The air stung her wounds as she ran, and the bushes sliced at her legs. Nothing was going to stop her now, and Taisiya continued to run as fast as she could until the forest gave way to the little town of Solames.
She stopped and caught her breath. Although she lived in Solames, Taisiya knew she would have to be cautious traipsing into town after her latest attempt to penetrate the queen’s castle. If she knew the queen well enough, there were probably more guards waiting at her parents’ house for her arrival. Luckily, she knew the town inside and out and expertly navigated herself through it, arriving a block away from her parents’ house and peering around the corner sneakily.
Her stealth wasn’t necessary. No one was at the small hut where she lived. The lot lay in tatters as the walls of the shelter had collapsed, and tiny flickers of still lit ashes danced in the wind. Taisiya walked over to what was once her and her parent’s home and knelt down, fingering the ashes of what was once her belongings. What had happened?
A warm voice spoke up behind her. “The queen was not pleased with your latest attempts to breach her security…” Taisiya turned and saw it was her neighbor, kind old Melitta.
“There were palace guards all over Solames. It was quite a sight. Two very nasty gentlemen interrogated your poor parents. After stealing all the food, they lit your house on fire and took your parents back to the castle with them. No one has stepped outside since they left.”
Taisiya put her hand over her eyes to hide her tears. Melitta knelt down and patted her on the shoulder to comfort the girl. “Don’t you cry,” she said, “you’re only doing what’s right.”
“But…the queen doesn’t want me finding out what she is up to, yet she has my parents taken to the castle.” Taisiya sobbed, “Doesn’t she know that will only make my determination to get in even greater?”
Melitta nodded, “Oh, yes, she knows. I would even say she is trying to lure you in. Get up dear, and come in to my house. We’ll have more privacy there.” She took off her shawl and wrapped it around Taisiya, covering her and her tears from any prying eyes that may have been peeping from other houses on the block.
The two went into Melitta’s home, and Taisiya sat down at the kitchen table while Melitta went to light up a fire for some warmth. “My guess is,” Melitta said, as she stoked a log, “the queen has decided to flip the script. She’s tired of trying to stop you from breaking in, so the next time you try, she will make sure no guards try to halt you. You’ll get in, but you will never get out. Your parents are the bait to ensure you’ll visit her palace once more.”
Taisiya took a deep breath. “If anyone had a doubt that she was evil, they would know for certain if they found out she had done this. You know I can’t leave my parents with her, Melitta!”
“You must, my dear, at least for the time being. You can’t walk right in to her trap without some preparation.”
“Preparation?! Do you honestly think she is going to wait around before she kills them?” Taisiya growled.
“Yes.” Melitta said plainly. “Your parents are the only way she knows you will be back. She will keep them alive so that she can kill you.”
Taisiya groaned in agony and nervously tapped her fingers on the table. “I simply can not stand idle and let her tyranny go on.’
Melitta shook her head in agreement. “Too true, my dear. When the guards vanished with your parents, five more children disappeared with them. Not one of them old enough to even crawl! The poor families didn’t even realize they had been stolen, either. You and I both know they’re now up in that castle, never to return.
“She’s now taking more and more each week. Families are terrified to conceive, knowing that as soon as they give birth, their children will be stolen in the night. Pretty soon I fear there will be no more youth left in Solames. God knows what the queen will do to us then, after we are of no further use to her.”
“What is she even doing with those poor children?” Taisiya wondered aloud, “I’m terrified that one day I actually will make it into the palace…I don’t think I can even imagine something as terrible as she is doing.”
“Heaven knows,” Melitta tittered, “but it is more than likely something from the Underworld. I’m not as young as I used to be, but I remember as clear as day when the queen ascended to the throne. Quite a few mysterious deaths had to occur before her place in line, I assure you. Many said she is a witch; others say she is the devil. One thing is for certain: she is evil.”
“I wish everyone else in the village was able to rise up against her and stop her. Instead, everyone in Solames is relying on me! I’m just a girl.”
“Not to put more pressure on you, dear,” Melitta smiled, “but she rules over more than just Solames. The entire kingdom is relying on you! Very few others have the determination to try and stop her, and if they do, they aren’t as strong or as crafty as you. In fact, the only other people I know smart enough to actually do something about her are in her clutches now.”
Taisiya frowned, missing her parents dearly. She wanted to run out of Melitta’s house and go bac
k through the woods and up the mountain to the queen’s castle, but she knew deep down that Melitta was right in thinking it was a trap. “What am I supposed to do?!”
“Fight fire with fire,” Melitta contemplated. “Your parents raised you to be smart and resourceful. The one thing they didn’t do was make you patient. Sit down, come up with a strategy, and then execute it. Take it slowly.”
“Slow is for people that don’t have the lives of their parents depending upon them…” Taisiya said, her voice trailing off wistfully.
Melitta got up and grabbed two light jackets from her closet. She handed one to Taisiya and put the other one on herself. “Nonsense! Put on a coat and let’s go talk to old Ammon the librarian. Just last week one of his granddaughters was taken by the queen, so I’m sure he’ll be sympathetic to your cause. I’m also sure he should have some of the schematics and building plans for the castle from when it was being built. The whole history of the kingdom can be found in his library, if you know where to look!”
Taisiya wrapped the coat around her, and the two set off to visit Ammon. The old librarian lived on the other side of Solames, which made for a long and unbearable walk. Melitta tried her best to keep conversation flowing, but Taisiya’s mind was far away, already trying to come up with a plan to break into the palace. It took her by surprise when Melitta suddenly stuck her arm out in front of Taisiya, pulling her behind one of the buildings they were passing.
“Are you insane?!” She whispered shrilly. “You nearly walked right into one of the queen’s spies!”
“Sorry!” Taisiya whispered back. The two of them peered quickly around the corner to see if the coast was clear.
Taisiya’s eyes widened as she bit her lip at the sight of another one of the queen’s men. This one certainly was no brute guard. Golden laurels sat squarely on his head, sparkling in the light against his short blonde hair. The white cloth he wore appeared to be made of fine silk, and it was cinched in by another gold fabric. He wore magnificent gold knee high boots, which Taisiya thought was a gaudy display of wealth.