Gods Of Blood And Fire (Book 1)

by A. J. STRICKLER

  Rhys rolled down the sleeves of his shirt and checked to see if his hands were clean. “What would you be like if that had happened to you? I know you want to fix him, K’xarr. It’s natural for a leader to try and help the men under their command, you want to make Kian whole again. You have to understand, you have no choice but to except the way he is now. He will never be the man you knew before. I will do what I can, but he is broken and for now I have no way to mend him. Trust me, I understand your frustration. I wish I could help, there just nothing I can do.”

  K’xarr gave his friend an ironic smile. “Sounds like you want to fix him too.”

  Rhys returned the smile. “You don’t like to lose a fight, right? I don’t like to lose a patient. I guess we are both a little stubborn when it comes to accepting defeat, it’s just our nature”

  K’xarr nodded. “You’re right, Rhys. I just wish we didn’t have to deal with sorcery though. I truly hate it.”

  Rhys sobered. “I am afraid as long as you travel with Kian, you will have to deal with it. When we have the time, I hope he will let me study his anatomy. It will help a great deal when I need to treat him.”

  The corner of K’xarr’s mouth rose in a half smile. “Just keep him on his feet. I will need him if we’re going to try and hold the damn city. Come on, the Princess is waiting.”

  Raygan sat on the phoenix throne, no one stood with her as was customary. Not even one Royal Guardsman was left to stand watch at the foot of the dais. The Kian creature had killed or chased off all of them. There was no council or advisers, she sat on the throne completely unattended and alone.

  Raygan looked down at her feet. They didn’t even touch the floor. She felt like a child abandoned and forsaken by the world she knew, pretending to rule a Kingdom that saw her as just a girl, not a monarch of a powerful nation. True, the people loved her, but just as a Princess, not as Queen. She motioned for a servant to bring a small stool to place under her feet. Raygan would not have them dangling in front of everyone, like a baby in its feeding chair.

  She was nervous. Ansellus said she was in control of Bandara now and would soon be crowned Queen if he had anything to do with it. Raygan had liked the sound of that but Cain and her husband were still in the north along with the High Lords Bradford and Fox. She was sure they would have something to say about Ansellus crowning her Queen. Not to mention, her father-in-law. Duke Blackthorn had not been captured and that man would die before he saw her on the throne.

  Ansellus had yet to speak of his brother, but she knew it troubled him that Tobias was in league with Cain and the Blackthorns. Ansellus was a man of honor as were his ancestors. He would most likely settle things with his brother personally.

  She had too many problems to think about of her own to be worrying about Ansellus’s, but the one foremost in her mind was she had no idea how to rule. That had always been Cain’s role. A close second was the child growing in her womb. If there was one thing she knew less about than politics, it was being a mother. She had never really had a mother herself, so she had no example to go by. She would just have to try and do her best with all her new responsibilities.

  K’xarr and Rhys entered the throne room together along with the rest of the mercenaries who had helped retake the palace. The only ones missing from the group were the monster and the overly attractive woman Endra. She could live without the Korlest woman attending court. The barbarian woman could cast a shadow on her beauty and Raygan didn’t like that one bit. Of course, Endra would never have the poise she possessed, the Princess thought, but the woman could distract some of her subject’s attention away from her, and she couldn’t have that.

  She would worry about the nature of her supporters later. K’xarr said Bishop Lyfair had told him he had information about her father’s death. If it turned out the Bishop was telling the truth and not just lying to save his skin, she could finally find out what happened to her father. “Bring in the Bishop.”

  K’xarr motioned for Cromwell to go get the holy man. The Bishop was not restrained, but the big Toran walked alongside Lyfair as he entered the throne room.

  Cromwell bent down and whispered to Lyfair. The barbarian’s whisper was loud enough everyone heard what he said. “If you try anything, I will kill you, holy man.”

  Raygan rolled her eyes and the small crowd of servants and minor nobles issued a collective gasp. How would she ever deal with these people? The Bishop was a man of the Church, for heaven’s sake. He could not be treated like a common criminal.

  The Bishop nodded to the huge man. He knew the Princess’s new supporters wouldn’t hesitate to kill him, they were savages and most likely pagans, but the Princess was aware of the law. Only the Church could condemn him, if he was killed, she would have to answer to the Holy Father in Tyro.

  He had to tell his story just right, if he did he might have a chance to walk away from all this. It was a stroke of luck that Blackthorn had disappeared. Now he could lay all of his sins at the duke’s feet.

  “Bishop Lyfair, I was told you have information for me?” Raygan was doing her best to try and sound regal and hide how anxious she was to hear what the holy man had to say.

  The Bishop gave a slight bow. “I do, Highness. I wish I had been able to give it to you before, but I didn’t really find out until recently that my suspensions were true. As you know, things here in the palace were dire for all of us. Duke Blackthorn was mad with power and I was being threatened just as I know you were. There was just no way I could have gotten to you earlier. Now I see my mistrust of the duke was warranted.”

  Raygan remembered how frightened she had been after her father’s death and the threats Duke Blackthorn had made. Could he have been threating the Bishop too? “Yes, Your Eminence, I’m well aware of how things were. You are safe now and have my undivided attention. So, I just want you to tell me what you know about my father’s death.”

  The Bishop lowered his voice. “Are you sure you want everyone to hear this, Highness?”

  A flash of anger crossed the Princess’s face. “Just tell me, there should be no secrets about how a King dies.”

  “As you wish, Highness, I have found out there was a conspiracy against the King. Several members of his council were involved; of course, all the information I have gathered was obtained after the vile deed was done, Highness. If I would have only known before, I could have stopped it. It is a guilt that weighs heavy on my soul.”

  “Please just get on with it, Your Eminence. I’m sure my father’s death upset you greatly. I want you to tell me how he died, just get to that part.”

  The Bishop gave her a sad smile. “Of course, Your Highness, they used the healer Finn Selmac first. When your father grew ill, Selmac did everything in his power to keep him sick, and I understand that they hoped nature would take its course and your father would just simply die.”

  The color drained from Raygan’s face, she thought back on her father’s illness and how he would get better only to relapse again. She began to believe what Lyfair was telling her, it made sense.

  “Of course, Highness, your father was too strong and too close to God for the healer’s treachery to succeed. He would not succumb to the illness that plagued him or the men who tried to worsen his condition.”

  Raygan’s eyes began to fill with tears, she held them back as best she could she had to hear it all, no matter how painful it might be. “So, when my father would not die for them what happened?”

  Lyfair cleared his throat. “Well, Highness, I don’t know what their plans were exactly, but I assume they planned to murder him when they realized he was not going to die from the illness. It was then your father made his decree that you should be his heir instead of your brother. I believe he discovered their treachery somehow and that’s why he decided that you should have the throne instead of Prince Cain. You father was a very trusting man, he had a great deal of faith in his friends, I believe it was his undoing. He did however manage to thwart their plans before he was k
illed by taking Cain out of the succession. We can take some comfort in that small mercy.”

  She could not hold back her tears, they began to roll down her flawless cheeks. Her father’s gentle face flashed into her mind, he was so very trusting and caring, he seldom had an unkind word for anyone. How these evil men had taken advantage of him and his good nature was unthinkable to her. “I want to know how he died and I want to know now.” She had never been so angry in all her life. She hadn’t even noticed Rhys had joined her on the dais until she felt his hand resting on her shoulder and heard the murmurs from the crowd.

  “I would rather not give the details, Highness. I will just tell you that it was William Blackthorn who perpetrated the horrible deed.”

  Raygan jumped to her feet throwing Rhys’s hand off her shoulder and wiping the tears from her face. “You will tell me in what matter was my father was killed, Bishop Lyfair, or you will come to regret it.”

  “Very well, Highness, from what I understand after giving your poor sick father a beating, the duke suffocated him. It was a terrible death, Highness, from what I overheard the duke telling his accomplices and it was not quick. You must try and remember. As awful as his death was the King’s frail body was released in to the arms of the Almighty and now he resides in heaven with his God.

  Raygan slowly sat down on the throne, eyes full with the tears of rage.

  “I can give you more details on the conspiracy, Highness. I have heard several conversations and know just about what they were planning to do.”

  Raygan slowly looked up at the Bishop as if she had just noticed he was there. “Names, just give me their names.”

  Bishop Lyfair did as his Princess asked and gave her every name involved in the regicide but his own.

  “I have only one question left, Bishop, did my brother know about this conspiracy?” The Bishop shrugged his shoulders. “I have no proof of it, Highness, other than how close he and the duke became after your father’s death, and as you remember he was quite upset when you father named you heir, by his actions, I don’t see how he could not have known?”

  ***

  Talorn had his King’s arm around his neck and was helping the wounded monarch off the field of battle as best he could.

  The King had fought valiantly until an arrow punched through his armor and buried itself in his thigh. The wound was deep and Cain had lost a lot of blood but it was all Talorn could do to get him to leave the field.

  They had held their ground against Havalon’s sons today, but it was too late. He and Cain both knew it, but it was good to see his Bandarans fight so well. There was not much they could do now but fight on and pray for God’s mercy.

  The King was silent as they trudged up the hill where the command tent sat like an oasis in the desert. Black smoke and crows filled the sky and the heat was as hard on the men as the enemy. Both sides suffered from the abnormally warm weather. The air should be much cooler even though it was early in the fall.

  If they could just hold on a month or two, the winter would come and the armies would be forced to stop until spring came.

  The King looked over to his general as he limped along beside him. “They could not push us back today, Talorn, we still might have a chance rally the men and I will speak with them this evening.”

  The King’s eyes rolled up in his head and he lost consciousness. Talorn had to use all the strength he had left to drag the King close enough to their camp that some of the soldiers saw them and came to help. “Get his surgeons, it’s the right leg.” Several soldiers carried the King into his tent and the surgeons started their work.

  Talorn tossed his heavy helmet on the ground and grabbed a large goblet filled with wine. He drained it and handed it to one of his squires to refill, war was dry work, he thought.

  “It seems you had a good day son.” Talorn nearly spilled his wine. “Father, what are you doing here?”

  Duke Blackthorn dressed in his full battle armor walked into the tent. “Things have taken a turn for the worse in Bandara and your little bitch of a wife is responsible for it. She started an uprising among the people, took the palace, and hired a rogue band of mercenaries to help her.”

  Talorn looked at his father like he had lost his mind.

  “Raygan did all that? I find that hard to believe, Father.” William slammed his armored fist down on the small table that held a large pitcher of wine, breaking the legs off it and sending wine and clay shards all over the floor of the tent.

  “That’s not all, she summoned a demon that wiped out what few of the guard you and that fool of a King left me, and to top it all off Ansellus Fox has returned and is helping the little sow.”

  Talorn had never seen his father’s anger this out of control. “Watch how you speak about my wife, Father. Now calm down and tell me what happened.”

  “I told you what happened, we lost the damn capital, you idiot.”

  ***

  Endra had fed her children and now they were all asleep. All but Payton, he was looking out the window at the city of Turill. He was the one whose looks favored their father the most. It was hard to look at him and not remember what had happened to her. She loved him dearly, but his dark eyes were a constant reminder of the man who destroyed her life. The boy had never slept much, even as an infant, he was always the last to fall asleep.

  “Mother, will we get to see a real battle soon?” Endra looked at him quizzically. “War is a terrible thing, Payton, not something to be watched and it’s not a very pleasant thing to think about before bed, Son.”

  “I dream about it all the time. I see the cavalry and infantry in my sleep. I know when they should move and when they should be still, someday I want to be in a war, no one will beat me. I will be the best general ever.”

  Endra put her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him in the direction of his bed.

  “I don’t know what you will do when you get older, Payton. You should just get to sleep for now, little general.” The boy crawled into bed and she pulled the blanket over him and kissed him on the head.

  “Was my father a warrior?” the boy asked looking up at her with his piercing dark eyes. None of them had ever asked about their father, she didn’t know what to say.

  “I believe he was, Payton.”

  The child gave a very unsettling smile. “I want to be like him when I grow up.”

  Endra tried to smile but couldn’t. “Goodnight, Payton,” was all she could manage to say.

  She had waited until Payton fell asleep, then she went to look in on Kian. He was sleeping when she went to tend the children. Whatever had attacked him in the garden hadn’t kept him down long. When she stuck her head inside his room she found his bed was empty and his weapons and belongings were gone.

  She thought his wounds would keep him in bed for the night. She had planned to go and stay with him after putting the children to bed. Now she had no idea where he had gotten to. Endra decided to see if anyone had seen him leave, so she went looking for someone she could ask.

  K’xarr had taken command of what was left of the city watch and was using them for palace guards. She approached one, hoping he might know where Kian was. The watchman had told her that Kian had been asked to vacate the palace. They had seen him out and had been ordered by the Princess not to let him back inside if he was unaccompanied.

  Endra’s jaw tightened and she stormed down the hall to the Princess’s quarters. The little noble was going to hear from her. Kian had helped her at no small risk to himself, now he was not to be allowed in the palace? She would see about that.

  Two guardsmen with spears blocked her way. “Is the Princess expecting you?” the taller one asked.

  “No, but I want to see her, can you ask if she will see me please?” She tried to hide her anger from the two men as best she could.

  The shorter guard said, “Her Highness already has a guest and she said she didn’t what to be disturbed.”

  Endra kicked the tall guard between the
legs he dropped to the ground like a stone. The shorter guard stood with his mouth open surprised by her sudden violence. Her fist slammed into his jaw, she followed that with an uppercut to his soft belly, she was about to throw another punch when the door opened.

  Rhys stood there with a look of shock on his face. She went ahead and threw the punch anyway, knocking the guard to the ground. “I wanted to see the Princess right now.”

  Rhys looked at the two men rolling around on the floor. “Why didn’t you just ask?”

  Endra rubbed her hand, the short guard had a bony chin. “I did, I said ‘please’ too.”

  Rhys shook his head and stepped to help the two battered men. Endra walked past him into Raygan’s chamber. The gaudiness of the room stopped her from speaking for a moment, she had never seen anything like it. Everything was gold, silver, and silk. Her home in Sorrack wouldn’t even make a good dog kennel for this woman.

  “Highness, you have had a trying day with the news about your father, I know, and I know you are about to become the Queen of this land, but I must ask why Kian is not welcome in your home? You would not even have it if it weren’t for him.”

  Raygan got up from the huge bed she had been lying in. Endra could see she had been crying, the Princess’s eyes were red and swollen.

  “I know what he did here … Endra, isn’t it?” Endra didn’t reply. “I’m truly thankful and you might be right, if not for him I may still be in that filthy barn.”

  The Princess brushed at the front of her dress and stretched herself up to all of her five feet of height. “He is Half Elven, my dear, and there are some places they are not accepted, some of my subjects might not be so willing to support me if I allowed him to stay here.”

  “Did you know he was wounded, Highness?”

  Raygan nodded her head. “I was told the wounds were minor.”

  Endra’s hands clenched into fists. “He is a good man, kind and loving, you would keep him out over the circumstances of his birth?”

  Rhys walked back into the room, he could hear the women in the hall and he chose to remain silent. The healer was not a fool.