What do you suggest? Kain sent back.
Your two forces should be able to overpower Faenwelar and we will help with the rescue of the prisoner. But you need to mobilize now and strike at dawn. He will not expect it. Isiloe?
She’s with Alique, Kain said. He sensed alarm and then amusement from Gwaethe.
That would be something to see. Your lady is quite the handful.
Not my lady, Kain said.
Whatever you say, brother.
I’ll let you know when we’re on the move, Kain said.
Gwaethe’s presence vanished from his mind but he didn’t feel completely cut off from her. It was comforting to know he had that connection with his sister, that she was linked to him in this way.
Kain rolled out of bed and sent his aide to wake Formosa and Vorasava. While he waited, he packed his roll and checked that Snow was ready to ride. He had pulled out his breakfast of stale bread and was munching on it when the two leaders arrived with their entourages.
“What’s the meaning of this, Jazara?” Formosa asked, poking a flaming torch at Kain’s face. “I thought we agreed on the elven position?”
“I have word that they are only a half day away,” Kain said. “It’s an ideal time to ride now and strike at dawn when they don’t expect it.”
“Where does this intelligence come from?” Formosa asked, “Do you have scouts that I know nothing about?”
Kain took a step away from the flame. “If your scouts had done their job properly in the first place we wouldn’t still be looking for Lord Zorba and we would’ve had more warning of that first attack.”
Vorasava stepped in. “Answer the question, Jazara.”
Kain drew a deep breath. “I do have extra scouts and they have pinpointed the elven camp, and also that Lord Zorba is being held there. So you see, we can achieve both our objectives if we strike now.”
“The men are tired,” Vorasava said. “Mine have marched non-stop from Brightcastle and yours have fought two battles. Do you really think they can go without sleep?”
“Ask for volunteers,” Kain said. “We need half of our force ready to march in twenty minutes. The rest can sleep another two hours and follow.”
“Suicide,” Formosa said. “I see the King was right to worry about your command.”
Kain knew he shouldn’t rise to the bait but his words were too much on top of all that had occurred over the past weeks. “It’s your command that should concern His Majesty, Formosa.”
“Gentlemen, gentlemen!” Vorasava said. “Now isn’t the time. Jazara, I can’t agree to leaving half our force behind. We won’t have enough men to ensure success.”
“Then bring them all, but we must move now.”
Vorasava struck his right fist into his left palm. “I can’t allow that either. This is all terribly irregular, man. I also am beginning to think the King was right to worry.”
“For the love of the Goddess,” Kain said. “Will you just trust me?”
Formosa waved the burning brand above his head. “Trust you? Why should we? There are all kinds of rumors flying around about you. Many of them say you are half elven. How do we know you won’t lead us into a trap?”
Kain knew he couldn’t convince them as things stood. They were here to prevent this type of disaster from occurring. “If we go on as we are, the elves will win. We need to strike with the element of surprise.” He paused. Dare he tell them about the other elven faction? “Also, there is something more I should reveal.”
“Hah,” Formosa said, “I knew it!”
“Hush, Josef.” Vorasava turned his hard, dark gaze on Kain. “Go ahead.”
Kain took a deep breath. “There is another elven faction, one opposed to Faenwelar.”
Formosa lunged for Kain, burning brand and all. “Clap him in irons, men” he said.
Kain protested as his elbows were wrenched behind him. “You have to listen to me. This is our chance to get on top of Faenwelar and reduce the threat he poses.”
“Wait,” Vorasava said. “Let him speak, Josef.”
“I have heard enough,” Formosa snapped.
“Well, I haven’t. The King did not send us here to act in haste. We have a task to complete and I wish to have all the facts.” He turned back to Kain. “Explain yourself, man.”
Kain drew another deep breath. From here everything changes. “When Lady Alique and I were kidnapped by Faenwelar, we didn’t effect our own rescue. Faenwelar’s force was attacked, and in the ruckus we slipped away but were intercepted by more elves. They were led by Lady Gwaethe Arenil who belongs to another elven faction, one dedicated to peace between our peoples.”
“A likely story,” Formosa said. “I suppose these elves are the extra scouts you speak of?”
“They are,” Kain said. “Gwaethe has a force very close to Faenwelar, ready to assist us.”
“Why should these elves help us?” Vorasava asked.
“It’s not so crazy,” Kain said. “They are locked in a civil war and Gwaethe sees this as a way to gain the ascendency, with our help.”
“And that is all she wants?” Vorasava asked.
“For now,” Kain said. “I can’t see the harm in allowing them to help us. Both parties benefit.”
“And I suppose that elven female we captured is this Gwaethe?” Vorasava said.
“No, she is Isiloe, Gwaethe’s cousin.”
“That is right, kingdom men,” Isiloe said into the silence that had fallen. “And you would be wise not to cross me.” The elven woman stood in her forest garb, arms crossed over her breasts and oozing defiance. Swords slid from every scabbard within ten paces.
Kain couldn’t help the groan that escaped his lips. “Silence, Isiloe,” he said.
“You should know better than to think you can silence me, Kain Jazara. I have stayed quiet for long enough, and now that you have exposed me I will speak.” She stepped forward past the circle of men around the three leaders. “My cousin wishes for nothing but peace between our peoples, but Faenwelar seeks dominion over all the lands previously elven. That means all of the land you know as Thorius. I think you had better decide whom you would rather have to your north, Gwaethe or Faenwelar.”
Formosa snarled. “I think neither. We shall sweep all of you from the region.” He waved the tip of his sword in Isiloe’s face.
Vorasava grasped the hand of the fiery lieutenant. “Don’t be an idiot, Josef. Now is not the time to allow your passion to run free. It is time for cool heads.” He turned to Isiloe. “Speak on.”
“There is no more to be said, Brightcastle man. My people stand ready to aid you. In these conditions, one elf is worth two humans. We have fifty. I do not think you can afford to leave half your men behind, though. Even tired, we might need them.”
Vorasava looked back at Kain. “The freshest soldiers will lead us and the others shall follow. Give the order, general.”
Kain nodded his head and turned to his aide. “Pass the word. Any who can fight in six hours must move forward. Others behind. We engage Faenwelar at dawn. Silence is paramount, and tell them we have elven friends this time.” He looked at Isiloe. “We must have some way of telling your people from the enemy. Can you wear something prominent?”
“I will discuss this with Gwaethe and send word,” Isiloe said.
Kain looked to Vorasava who nodded. “You may leave, Isiloe, and may the Goddess protect you,” Kain said.
Isiloe smirked at Kain and then with a short sprint and a leap she was gone into the treetops.
“Rather like those monkeys you hear of,” Vorasava mused as he watched her disappear. “I begin to think she may be right about one elf equaling two of us.”
“Move out,” Kain said, mounting Snow. Formosa scowled at him and trudged away. Alique’s cousin was not the sort of man to let go easily.
Burning brands were lit to aid them in the first part of the journey. Kain moved down the column, checking the men who moved to the fore. They were weary but grimly dete
rmined. He nodded his approval. If they felt anything like he did, they would need all of that grit by the end of this trek.
He met Alique and her men long before he expected to.
“Where is Isiloe?” she said, her blue eyes wide in the firelight. “I awoke to find her gone.”
“And that’s why you are here?” Kain asked. “Looking for her?”
Alique blushed. “I heard we were moving out and wanted you to know she was gone.”
“And you wished to be closer to the action,” Kain said.
“If my father is in that camp, I want to be there when he is found.”
“He’s there,” Kain said.
“When were you going to tell me?” Alique said.
“There hasn’t been the chance.”
“This is my father we are talking about. I thought if there was news, you would have passed it on.”
“Regardless, I can’t have you up near the front.” Kain found Sergeant Mazesta amongst Alique’s escort. “I expected you to keep the lady safe, man, not tag along like a faithful dog.”
Mazesta’s mustache twitched. “It’s been more difficult than you would ever imagine keeping her ladyship safe, general. She insists on placing herself at risk.”
“I sense a story here, sergeant,” Kain said, glaring at the man.
Mazesta shook his head, jowls jiggling. “No, general, nothing to report.” His eyes slid across to Alique, who frowned at him.
Kain shook his head. “Lady Zorba, you will not advance any further. Sergeant, you may restrain the lady by any means necessary if she disregards my orders.”
“You cannot do this to me.” Alique said, barely able to form the words.
“I’m still leader of this party and you’ll do as I say.” Kain sidled his horse up to Ebony so he was leg to leg with Alique then seized her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Please look after yourself,” he muttered. “It would pain me were anything to happen to you.” Kain glared at Mazesta. “See that she is safe, man, or you’ll answer to me.”
Kain wheeled his horse about and cantered back to the front of the column.
Chapter 18
Alique’s skin burned where Kain had touched her. How could the merest contact evoke these feelings in her? She should be furious with him and yet her body ached with the need to be near him, skin to skin. If only she could convince him to let down his guard.
“My lady?” Sergeant Mazesta said. “The rest of the column is on the move.”
Alique felt her face heat and pulled her thoughts from her infuriating general. There I go again! He is not mine and best I get used to it, especially if Isiloe is right. She sent a quick prayer to the Goddess to keep him safe and joined the column filing past, falling in with her men and Julli.
*
The night rolled on with only the reflection of the dancing flames on the tree trunks to relieve the monotony. Several times Alique caught herself dozing off and shook herself awake. Many of the men around her fared the same and she wondered at the wisdom of mounting an attack when they had all had so little rest. At least come midday this might all be over, and her father safe and sound.
Three hours into their trek, the brands were extinguished to prevent drawing attention to their arrival. Gwaethe’s elves joined the party at that time, silver bands tied around their foreheads. There was one elf every ten rows to help guide them. The elves had superior eyesight at night, a fact which made Alique shiver. They were so foreign.
The elf stationed near her was the one who had been with Isiloe when she and Kain were rescued from Faenwelar. He nodded at her and she dipped her head in return. That was the total communication they had for the remainder of the trek.
Once the brands were extinguished, the forest plunged into a spooky, brooding blackness, the gentle squeak of harness and the grinding of wagon wheels the only sounds. Alique and Julli climbed into the moving wagons each hour to check the injured, speaking in hushed tones when they had to and reassuring those who were conscious. One man died in the hour before dawn and had to be left where he lay, in the wagon with the living. He would be buried soon enough and likely would have plenty of company.
A faint glow lit the forest after the fifth check of the wounded. They must be close. She slipped back onto Ebony from the wagon, waited for Julli and they rejoined their guard. Soldiers on horseback pushed past them, anticipating the battle ahead, but one glance at Mazesta had Alique reining Ebony back instead of pushing her forward. The sergeant would not allow her access to the front, not if he could help it. But there was danger everywhere along the column, not just at the front.
A half hour later, the elves sat up straight in their saddles and looked off into the forest. There was a whispered “alert” up and down the column. The elves had heard something that the humans could not.
“They have seen us, my lady,” Mazesta said. “The battle is joined.”
The sounds of fighting and men screaming drifted down the column to them. A stray arrow whizzed by her right ear and Alique ducked and looked behind. The arrow had lodged in the throat of a soldier two rows behind her. She turned Ebony out of the line and rode back. Mazesta followed with another of her guard. The injured man’s terrified eyes met hers as blood trickled from his lips.
Alique didn’t hesitate but snapped the fletching off and pulled the arrow through, plugging the hole with bandage and then binding the man’s neck all around. He sagged against her by the time she had finished.
“Sit up, soldier,” she said. “There is hope for you but I must get you back to the wagons. “Julli, come with me.” Julli joined her and they managed to support the man on his horse until they reached the wagons. Mazesta and the other guard helped them get the injured man into one of the wagons, and Alique gave him a draft for the pain. He was unconscious by the time they left the wagon.
“Is there truly hope for him, my lady?” Julli asked.
“There is always hope,” Alique said. “If the shaft and head have not done any major damage he may be saved. We shall see.”
Alique cantered her horse forward, stopping to bandage another arrow wound as she went. Julli stayed with her, though the girl’s eyes were wide with fright. They reached their guard and fell back amongst the soldiers again, Mazesta heaving a great sigh, and then immediately ducking as an elven enemy swooped at him from the trees. Alique had a knife in her hand and had thrown it at the elf before she had time to think. The knife lodged in his shoulder and he fell at the side of the path, but not for long. Before she could blink an eye, he was up, had pulled the knife from his flesh and launched himself at Alique. Ebony’s battle training saved her, for the mare swung her rump at the attacking elf, knocking him flat. Alique turned the horse forward again and bolted toward the front lines.
“My lady, stop,” Mazesta called from behind her but she ignored him. The front lines could not be any more dangerous, surely, and that was where Kain was, and beyond that, her father.
Alique pushed her horse into a reckless gallop, squeezing her though the narrow gap between the side of the column and the forest, a gap which frequently disappeared as the soldiers engaged the enemy. Several times she barely avoided mowing down groups of soldiers battling elves. She spotted Isiloe on one of these occasions, a silver band tied around her forehead. Only Gwaethe’s elves wore the headgear. That must be so Thorian soldiers didn’t kill the elves aiding them.
When Alique was forced to stop for battling soldiers she took the opportunity to help the injured, wrapping cuts to stem the bleeding, which sapped a man’s strength over time. She even removed several arrows from arms and legs. The soldiers were amazed to see her amongst them, and sent Mazesta harried looks which were returned in full measure.
“The general will have my head for this,” Mazesta muttered at one stop, as he slammed the butt of his sword against an elven enemy’s temple. “We must turn round, my lady.”
Alique finished tying a bandage and handed the supplies back to Julli. “There is danger everywhe
re, Mazesta.”
“The fighting just gets hotter the further up we go. I insist we turn back, collect any wounded, and tend their injuries.” He laid his hand on Alique’s elbow.
“If you think I will fail my father in his moment of need you are wrong, sergeant.”
“He needs you whole, not with an arrow through you!”
“I am finished here,” Alique said. “Come!”
A path had cleared and Alique pushed Ebony into a gap and broke into a canter once again. She had no care for whether Mazesta followed or not. If she kept on the move, she could reach Kain and her father and at least be of some help.
Alique dodged a pack of warring men, and then another, before she glanced up and saw the thickest patch of fighting yet. It appeared to be a clearing in the forest and a dart of excitement shot through her. This must be Faenwelar’s camp. She craned her neck to peer over the backs of battling soldiers and elves, trying to locate Kain. She could not see him.
A pack of fighters on horseback swept against her and Ebony sidestepped bringing her up against another group battling in the opposite direction. Her eyes met those of an enemy elf and she gasped. Celri, Prince Gorin’s aide! Celri’s eyes widened, before his mouth curved into an evil smirk.
“You will not escape me again, kingdom wench.” He brought his hand up and slammed the butt of his short sword against Alique’s temple. Pain smashed through her skull and she gripped the pommel of her saddle to avoid falling off Ebony. The mare danced away from Celri, kicking out at the horses around her and nearly unseating Alique. Sickness curled in the pit of Alique’s stomach and darkness pushed at her but she could not let this stinking elf win. She threw her knife at his face but something slammed into the back of her head and the light snapped out.
*
Kain sank to his knees, exhausted. They had won, and he had received word that Lord Zorba was safe – a little roughed up, but he’d live. So why did he have this terrible sense of foreboding?
Brother, you are needed at the western side of the clearing, Gwaethe sent.
The Elf King’s Lady: Wildecoast Saga Book 2 Page 19