She easily danced out of his way.
"Pity you made a promise you can't keep, but I'd expect nothing less from B'nin's daughter."
K'lrsa danced aside as he slashed at her knee, this time a fast strike, aiming to injure. While he was overextended from the blow, she leapt and kicked him in the chest. He stumbled backward.
He recovered quickly, raising an eyebrow as he reassessed her. "He begged for mercy, you know. Cried like a little baby for me to spare his life."
K'lrsa felt white-hot rage fill her and fought to push it back.
K'var laughed. "Your father was a sniveling coward."
He slashed at her again, this time aiming for her head. K'lrsa ducked under the blow and caught him with a strike to the jaw as she came back up.
"No, he didn't." She danced backward. "I found him, you know. Before he died. I freed him."
K'var's eyes widened in surprise.
"You failed, K'var. In everything." She smiled at him, smirking, daring him to attack her again.
He did, rushing at her with the sword held high over his head in a double grip, slashing down at her. "Not everything."
K'lrsa rolled to the side, kicking his legs out from under him as he passed. "How so?"
She danced backward, waiting for him to stand, knowing she should end this now, but desperate to hear what more he had to say.
"The Daliph—the true one, not your little upstart lover—is sending an entire army against the tribes. Not just five hundred troops like I asked for, but five thousand. The White Horse Tribe and all the others that stand against me will be destroyed."
She shivered, glancing towards the darkened hallway where Herin, Garzel, and Badru waited.
"When?"
K'var laughed. "Like you can do anything to save them now."
He slashed at her again. "I should let you go. Let you run home to cry in your mother's lap until they come for you. But you'd never arrive in time. The word goes out in the morning. Every soldier within three days' ride of the border will descend on your tribe. Meanwhile, you'd never make it past Boradol before someone stopped you. A woman. Alone. On a horse?"
He smirked. "Too bad you won't be there to see it."
K'lrsa circled him, holding her rage close to her chest, refusing to lash out at him now.
She waited.
And waited.
K'var shrugged and launched another slashing attack, this one aimed at her thigh. She dodged the blow and slammed her elbow into the back of his neck and then, before he could react, she spun around, driving her knife—the same knife she'd used to kill her father—into his back and through his kidney.
She twisted the knife and yanked it free.
K'var dropped to the ground at her feet. "Too bad you won't be there to see it, K'var."
She started to shake as she stared down at his body, feeling colder than she ever had before.
She'd thought that when she finally killed the man who'd killed her father it would all be better. She'd feel some sense of joy or relief. She'd be happy again.
But she wasn't.
She didn't feel anything.
Chapter 102
Badru ran to her side and pulled her into an embrace. She leaned into him, closing her eyes, grateful for the comfort and warmth.
"Enough you two." Herin opened Midnight's stall. "We can't stand here all night."
K'lrsa reluctantly pulled away from Badru, her hands running down his arms until just their fingertips were touching. She stared into his bright blue eyes.
"Pzah, fools in love. Get on with it, girl. There are saddles in the back of the tack room. One gold, one silver. They're on a table against the far wall. Bring them."
K'lrsa hurried to fetch the saddles. They were small, not much more than a padded bit of fabric with a few thin strips to secure them to the horses, but finely made. The stitching shone in the faint light of the torch that lit the space.
As she picked them up, something rustled behind her.
K'lrsa whirled around, knife in hand, to see the young slave girl with the birthmark, cowering in the corner by the door.
"Don't worry. I won't hurt you."
The girl huddled in on herself, her eyes rolling back in her head like a skittish horse.
K'lrsa looked out at the stables, but Herin was talking with Garzel again.
She knelt down in front of the girl. "You knew, didn't you? That the former Daliph was alive?"
The girl nodded. She pointed at her mouth.
"That's why they cut out your tongue?"
The girl nodded again.
K'lrsa shook her head. "That man has so much to answer for…"
Herin came to the doorway. "What's wrong? What's taking so long?"
"Nothing."
K'lrsa stood, blocking Herin's view of the girl, but Herin pushed past her and glared down at the child who scrambled away from her, knocking over a stand of horseshoes with a loud clanging noise.
"Give me your knife." Herin held out her hand, her gaze fixed on the girl.
"No."
"She can't live. She's seen us."
K'lrsa stepped between the girl and Herin. "No. Leave her be. She can't speak. The old Daliph took her tongue."
"So?" She glanced back towards Garzel. "There are other ways to communicate."
"I won't let you, Herin. There's been enough death for one night."
Herin looked at her with a slight smirk. "She's just a slave. Expendable."
K'lrsa looked away, ashamed that she'd thought even for one moment of sacrificing a slave to save Badru. "No one is expendable, Herin."
Herin nodded. "Fine. But you're making a mistake. Now let's go."
K'lrsa waited until she was sure Herin wasn't going to come back for the girl and then followed.
It might be a mistake to let the girl live, but it was a mistake she was willing to make.
As they saddled up Fallion and Midnight, the young girl darted away down a nearby hallway.
Herin raised an eyebrow as she watched her go, but didn't say anything else.
Chapter 103
K'lrsa listened for the sound of running steps that would signal soldiers coming to arrest them as she finished saddling Fallion.
She didn't think the girl would betray them, but what did she really know about her?
At last, they had the horses saddled and the carry bags that Herin had packed slung across their shoulders, the heavy weight of whatever she'd brought resting against each of their hips. K'lrsa wondered why they didn't use saddlebags, but Herin was in no mood for questions.
"Ready?" K'lrsa reached for Fallion's reins.
"Wait." Herin rustled through the bag at her hip. "Here."
She shoved something at K'lrsa, not meeting her eyes.
K'lrsa took the object and held it up. It was a moon stone, strung on a blue silk cord.
"Where did you get this?" She rubbed the stone between her thumb and forefinger, relishing its welcoming warmth.
"It was L'dia's." Herin wouldn't meet her eyes. "You gave her yours. It seems fair you should have hers."
"You've had it all this time?"
Herin glared at her. "It took some time to find it, but yes. Couldn't exactly walk around wearing it now, could I?"
And hadn't exactly given it back to her sister when she sold her to Harley, had she?
K'lrsa felt a gentle prod from the stone, a rebuke at her judgement of Herin. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
The stone was right. This was a special gesture. Herin could've kept it for herself, but she hadn't.
"Thank you, Herin." She pulled Herin into a quick hug.
Herin stiffened in surprise. "We don't have time for that."
K'lrsa smiled and gave Herin a kiss on her wrinkled, angry cheek.
She studied the stone for a moment and then ripped off the servant's robes she'd been wearing. If she was going to die, she'd die a Rider not hiding and cringing like a servant.
She tied the stone ar
ound her neck, grateful to once more feel the comforting presence of a moon stone against her skin.
It felt different from her own somehow, but familiar nonetheless.
Now she was truly a Rider once more.
She grabbed Fallion's reins and looked to Herin, Garzel, and Badru. "Let's go home."
Chapter 104
The moon was full, dominating the sky above them, as they finally led their horses through the entrance K'lrsa had entered what seemed like a lifetime ago.
Garzel walked in front of them, a sun stone at his neck. She didn't know how he did it, but somehow he used the stone to cloak their movements. Not many people were out, but none looked at them. A man even almost walked into them until turning aside at the last moment as if he'd suddenly remembered something he needed to do down a dark, empty alley on their right.
They walked through the gates of Toreem without anyone stopping them; the guards didn't even look up from the game of dice they were playing.
K'lrsa had known the stones were capable of far more than just finding the occasional shelter in the desert, but she'd never known they could do this. So much knowledge had been lost when the Summer Spring Tribe was destroyed.
Once across the bridge, K'lrsa and Herin mounted Fallion, and Badru and Garzel mounted Midnight. They rode towards Boradol as the moon made its slow way across the sky.
K'lrsa stared at the distant walls of the town, despairing.
They had so far to go to reach the tribes and they'd have to travel by night, sneaking and hiding their way across the entire Daliphate while the Daliph's messengers rode at high speed, changing horses as they went, carrying her tribe's death with them.
Herin tapped her shoulder. "This is good enough. Stop here."
She nodded to Garzel who dropped down from behind Badru and walked around in front of Midnight.
K'lrsa looked to Badru for an explanation, but he seemed just as confused as she was.
Garzel pulled his sun stone off and held it to the small white teardrop mark between Midnight's eyes.
He grunted softly, the sounds he made a gentle chant. The stone in his hand started to glow, a brilliant yellow like the midday sun on a hot summer's day.
K'lrsa looked away, the echo of the stone's brilliance lingering against her eyelids.
Someone shouted from the direction of Toreem and she glanced back to see guards standing on the wall, pointing in their direction.
"We have to go." K'lrsa started to urge Fallion forward, but Herin stopped her.
"Patience, child. Either this works or we die here. Or at sunrise, or in a few days, or in a few weeks. This is our only hope. It's our only chance to escape Aran and save your tribe."
K'lrsa watched men ride out from the gates of Toreem, galloping towards them, swords drawn.
They had to go.
Now.
The blinding light faded and Garzel stepped away from Midnight. He stared up at Herin and shook his head.
Whatever he'd tried, it hadn't worked.
K'lrsa looked back towards Toreem. The men were gaining on them, whipping their horses to full speed. They'd never catch Fallion or Midnight on the run, but the horses were just standing there. Waiting.
For what?
Midnight shook himself and his coat shimmered like a thousand stars were hiding just beneath the surface.
And then…
And then wings appeared, sprouting from the space just behind where Badru sat. They were large, magnificent.
K'lrsa reached out a hand to touch them. They were real, but at the same time not. Solid under her fingers, but ephemeral, shimmering in and out of her vision.
Herin laughed, a sound like sunshine on a fresh spring. "It worked. Ah, thank the Lady, it worked."
Hooves thundered on the road behind them and K'lrsa glanced back to see a dozen guards racing towards them, close enough that she could see each one.
"Hurry, my love." Herin called.
Garzel grinned up at Herin as he stepped in front of Fallion and rested his sun stone against the small white tear drop on Fallion's forehead and murmured his chant.
Once more K'lrsa had to avert her gaze as the stone shone a brilliant white.
After he was done, Garzel mounted up behind Badru once more—there was just enough room for both of them to sit with their legs in front of Midnight's wings.
K'lrsa held her breath and waited for Fallion's transformation as the guards from Toreem came closer and closer. She glanced back, none had bows, at least.
Just when she was wondering if it had worked, Fallion shivered and the light of a thousand suns shimmered under his coat.
And then, he, too, sprouted wings. Beautiful, strong, wings.
K'lrsa laughed, the sound bubbling out of her.
"Later, girl. We have to get out of here now."
The guards were almost upon them, swords drawn. They'd slowed their horses at the sight of Midnight and Fallion, but they were still coming.
"Ready to see our horses fly?" K'lrsa asked Badru.
"Absolutely." His smile answered her own.
Fallion and Midnight raced across the grasslands, side-by-side.
The wind whipped K'lrsa's hair as she crouched low over Fallion's neck, Herin clinging close behind her.
"Faster, Fallion, faster." The words were lost in the wind of their passage as Fallion thundered across the plains, brilliant like the sun, full of grace and beauty, Midnight by his side, an embodiment of the evening sky over the Great Desert on a clear night.
Fallion leapt, his powerful legs launching him high into the sky. His wings beat downward, flattening the grass beneath him with each powerful stroke as he rose higher and higher.
All of K'lrsa's fears and worries and sorrows fell away behind her with each beat of his powerful wings.
She looked to Badru and saw the same carefree joy on his face.
They were free.
For this one moment, they were completely free.
What happens next? Find out in Rider's Rescue.
Glossary Of Terms
Daliph: Leader of a Daliphate. Usually a hereditary position. The current Daliph can designate any of his sons or grandsons as his successor using any criteria he chooses.
Daliphate: One of seven territories ruled by a Daliph. (plural: Daliphana) Male-dominated society that engages in slavery and is heavily reliant on trade.
Dorana: One of a Daliph's chosen consorts. Considered the highest honor a woman can receive. The more dorana a Daliph has, the more powerful he is. A dorana can be released from her service. She is given an golden ear cuff for each year she serves as dorana that serves as part of her dowry.
Meza: Worn by the dorana as a symbol of the Daliph's power over her actions. Fastens to the thumb and index finger of each hand so that they form a circle.
Poradom: Guardian of the Daliph's dorana. A position of high regard in the Daliphana. Responsible for the training and care of the dorana. Trained warrior. (plural: poradoma)
Tiral: A long garment worn by the dorana to attend formal court appearances. Crocheted from gold in a fillet pattern. Has long sleeves that fasten to the middle finger of each hand with a fabric loop.
About the Author
Alessandra Clarke has been losing herself in the worlds of fantasy novels since she was old enough to borrow her first book from the library.
She loves the worlds of Darkover, Valdemar, and Pern, and wishes she could live a hundred lives just so she could read all the books on her to-be-read shelves while still having timeto write, take her pup to the dog park, and see her friends and family.
You can reach her at [email protected] or find her on twitter @writer_aclarke.
Her website is alessandraclarke.com.
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Also by Alessandra Clarke
The Rider’s Revenge Trilogy
Rider’s Revenge
Rider’s Rescue
Rider’s Resolve
Copyright
Text copyright ©2015 M.L. Humphrey
All Rights Reserved
Rider's Revenge (The Rider's Revenge Trilogy Book 1) Page 34