by Radu Aldea
But Kara could afford to forgo that kind of protection. Nobody would dare to attack someone like her. And only a senator would even consider challenging another senator, hence the fortified residences. Even though the war had ended twenty years ago, just before Kara was born, the scars still remained. The mistrust, inequity and brutality were ever-present, everything under the undisguised iron-rule of the senators who, thanks to their complex hierarchical system, managed to control almost every corner of the empire. This was not surprising, since the emperor and the Senatorial Order had been the winners of the war. And to the winners go the spoils. The humans had their counts and dukes and they tried to emulate the same kind of control over the territory the senators had. But no duke or count could ever come close to the power held by one of the high-ranking senators and these dukes and counts would shake in terror if a member of the Order visited them.
Thus, a status quo was established with the Order at the top of the hierarchy, second only to the emperor. For most senators, humans were nothing more than second-rate citizens, no better than any of the other instruments they were using. For high-ranking senators, less powerful members of the Order were not much better. Kara could recite the litany of the Senatorial Order as it was forever burned into her mind: “There is no law but the senatorial law.” This actually meant they could do pretty much anything they wanted and abuse their power in any way they could imagine. She could not remember any senator being convicted of anything. About half of them should’ve been, really, she often thought. But nobody wanted to kick the hornets’ nest. Kara and her family did what they could, although they walked a very thin line, and any misstep meant they could lose their influence and power. For what it was worth there were fewer senatorial abuses in Suttland than in any other province of the empire and the brutality of their rule was at its lowest.
But this was not what Kara was thinking at that moment, although she promised herself she would do something about it in maybe ten years, when she actually could change something. Nor did she dwell on the news, which had just reached them, that the emperor had died and his son, who didn’t possess even a fraction of his father’s wizard powers, was now emperor. When Kara heard the news she was sure things would stir, but there wouldn’t be much damage and certainly nothing that could threaten her. Her father agreed with that. The Great War ended twenty years ago and nobody wanted another one. Besides, any sides that could possibly pop up were so evenly matched there was none that could assume a leadership position. And Kara couldn’t imagine someone stupid enough to attack her. She also saw the smoke rising up from the small forest near the lake but she didn’t think much about that either. She just imagined they were some travelers or worse, some robbers, but nothing to concern her. Had she known who was in the forest she would’ve been very concerned.
What she was actually thinking and feeling at that moment was that she was bored. Kara knew that Aleyna had picked up on her mood, no surprise there, before she put her hand on her shoulder. Aleyna, a normal human, was Kara’s age, a little shorter and although she was very pretty with her long chestnut hair and brown eyes, she was not considered stunningly beautiful. She was also slender, but not quite as athletic as Kara.
“We could go to Hilderfort, you know,” Aleyna told Kara. “That would be fun. There are lots of things we could do there. You won’t be bored.”
Kara wasn’t so sure. There were lots of amusing things to do in the capital of Western Suttland, things that could distract her for a while, but not for long. Something was amiss, although Kara was not sure what. It was just one of those feelings.
“I don’t think it is a good idea to go there,” Kara replied.
“You’re probably right.” With the new emperor, nerves were stretched, and the humans were by far the most nervous. Kara’s presence in Hilderfort would push them into a full-blown panic attack. “We could go there in disguise, though. No one would know.”
Kara was not so sure about that either, but she conceded the point. It was possible she could go there without drawing attention to herself or being recognized.
“I don’t think I want to go there. Too many people, you know!”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with you.” Aleyna was worried. “You’ve been moody for weeks.”
“I’ve not been moody.” She really hadn’t been. Maybe she had been a little out of sorts and agitated, not moody. What bothered her was she couldn’t pinpoint when this feeling started and took over her.
“Then you’ve been depressed.”
Kara wanted to reply she hadn’t been depressed either when something else caught her attention. Armed men appeared on a hilltop and were advancing towards them. At first Kara thought they were sent by her father because something happened and he wanted to bring her home. Then she realized, even before she could see they weren’t wearing her family’s crest, there were too many of them. They had a hundred men protecting the villa and what Kara saw on the hill was closer to five hundred. Then the cold understanding hit her: someone was stupid enough to attack her.
Aleyna seemed to have arrived to the same conclusion moments later. She instinctively moved her hand to her hip, where she usually carried a short sword. There was no sword there; Aleyna hadn’t brought it with her today. She swore under her breath and darted a bewildered look at Kara.
“What do we do?” Aleyna asked when she didn’t get an answer to her silent question, although there was no way Kara hadn’t caught on her thoughts.
“Maybe they’re stupid and don’t know much about senators,” Kara answered, not very sure of herself. There was slim chance of that. They would have to be complete idiots. Nothing to be done for now, Kara thought, not until they get closer.
Well, the soldiers or whoever commanded them were not idiots, but they weren’t geniuses either. They stopped three hundred paces away and drew out their weapons. It was the worst news Kara could get. They were archers. Someone really knew what they were doing: the best way to take out a senator without armor was with archers from the distance.
Shield wall! As soon as the silent command was given Kara’s five guards, who fortunately had their shields and unfortunately they were small round ones, managed to create the shield wall. It wasn’t a very good one, but it offered some cover to the four women. Kara was sure the odds were good the archers wouldn’t hit them. But she wasn’t ready to take that chance. She took a dagger from one of the soldiers. Aleyna did the same.
Kara was ready to unleash her immense and terrifying senatorial power. There were two components to it: connect and control. The connection meant the senator could link with the mind of anyone (except another senator or someone controlled by one) within a certain distance, and that distance was directly proportional to the senator’s power. There was a hierarchy within the Senatorial Order because the individual power of the senators differed. The second component, the control, allowed a senator to take control of anyone within the same distance (the exceptions were the same as in the first case) and transform them into puppets. They would literally execute any order the senator would give, whether transmitted mentally, or otherwise. All the persons in Kara’s party were under her control, but this was done to prevent another senator to take over them and attack Kara that way. Now, the measure seemed insufficient. Also, control could not be established without the connection part, so Kara could read the minds of everyone under her control. That’s why Aleyna was sure Kara had heard her thoughts. But it wasn’t a pleasant experience for a senator to control multiple persons as their thoughts would perform an onslaught on the senator’s mind. It was difficult to put order in the multitude of voices in your head, and the more persons a senator controlled, the greater the onslaught and the difficulty of creating order. Hence the limited number of persons a senator could take over.
It was obvious to Kara that the person who orchestrated this attack knew a lot about senators and the limits of their power and had taken precautions. For instance, the manual on senators, ther
e wasn’t really a manual but if there were one, would say that if you are more than two hundred and fifty paces away from a senator, no matter who that senator was, he could not take over you. So the archers stopped three hundred paces away; obviously Kara worried them and they took extra precautions. The manual also would have said that no senator could control more than three hundred people. The fact was that there were only a handful of senators who could control more than two hundred. Most of them, about three quarters of all senators, could not control more than twenty people.
But they miscalculated badly when it came to Kara. They hadn’t encountered someone like her, nor could they have because no senator as powerful as her had fought in the Great War or soon after. Senators of her enhanced abilities were a somewhat recent occurrence.
They are mine! Kara opened her mind to the onslaught. What seemed like a thousand voices screamed in her head. But it was worse than that. The randomness and the incoherence of the thoughts of all those men increased the strain on her concentration. Time was hers now. Nothing is faster than a thought. Kara isolated the voices of her small party. It was something she had learned to do when she was ten: give different orders to people under her mental control at the same time. This was another thing that created the difference between senators. Some could only give one order, others ten, but Kara could give a different order to every person she controlled. At least she thought she could. She hadn’t tried something like this in four years and even then she controlled only about a hundred humans. Kara didn’t need to do that now. She only had one order to give. They were hers. They had miscalculated.
Kara finally ordered the voices in her head. It seemed like hours but she knew it only took a moment. Their bows weren’t drawn. Their arrows weren’t set on the bowstrings. They were hers. She realized she only took control of about three hundred and fifty of them. That was more people than she had ever controlled. Although she hadn’t tested herself like that since she had been fifteen. Even then she could control more than three hundred, but it seemed her powers had grown. It was not a surprise. In the meantime, she had learned how to use it better. But she also felt emptiness within. The power that allowed her to take over minds was gone. That place inside her mind where it was stored was empty. It was to be expected. It was also uncomfortable. Taking over normal humans had its price. This was it. It was the reason why senators didn’t stretch their powers to the limit. She had to now, though. The power would come back after a while. It took a short time for her, longer for most. Kara was drained, but it didn’t matter.
They were hers. In this second, in this moment, they were hers. She gave them a silent order. Get some dirt from the ground and spread it over your face! She saw some of the archers doing that. Most of them, in fact. The others had their bows drawn and were ready to release their arrows. Kara gave the second order. Kill everyone who doesn’t have dirt on his face! Only now was the importance of the first order revealed. It was an innocuous action that would not attract attention and the archers who weren’t under her control would not understand what it meant until it was too late. It was a way to separate and single them out.
Pandemonium erupted! Some of the archers Kara didn’t control died quickly, surprised by the ferocious attack. But the rest of them soon recovered. “She’s taken over us!” She heard the scream with her own ears, but also from the voices in her head. The scream was filled with panic and fear. They knew they were going to die and there was nothing they could do about it. Even so, some of them fought. They fought with the desperation of someone who doesn’t have anything else to lose. Kara knew some of her archers had died as well. She knew because some of the voices disappeared from her mind. Then another shout came from only one man. “She controls anyone who has dirt on his face!” Somebody knew how to fight. Somebody knew enough about senators. It didn’t matter though. They were too few. They would be dead soon enough.
Some of the archers fought, but some of them dirtied their faces. They were smart, although not smart enough. She gave another silent order. Kill everyone who attacks you or tries to run! The battle continued with even more ferocity. More voices in her head died. Kara had lost fifty to a hundred archers; she wasn’t quite sure how many and she didn’t take the time to learn. She didn’t need to. The battle died down and only a few pockets of archers still fought. Kara was winning. Aleyna seemed to come to the same conclusion.
“Is it over?” Aleyna asked calmly.
“I’m not sure,” Kara answered. “It seems that way!”
“They really underestimated you, haven’t they,” Aleyna said in a low voice.
Kara wasn’t sure of that either. She still felt something was very wrong. Who could possibly attack her? And use free humans, no less. They seemed to know a lot about senators and not enough about her. They haven’t erred much, just enough for her to win. But winning took her to the limit of her powers. Then the cold understanding hit her. This is a test! They wanted to see the limits of my powers and I fell for it. I showed them everything or most of it, anyway! Another thought soon followed. This isn’t over!
She had this thought moments before heavy-armored riders appeared over the same ridge as the archers. Again, it was quick and bloody. The archers didn’t have a chance. A lesson she had been taught a long time ago sprang to mind. The best way to take out archers was with a cavalry charge. Apparently, somebody else attended the same lessons. I made the mistake, they didn’t! Damn, I was so bloody arrogant and I didn’t see the trap!
It took Kara moments to understand there was no escape. Even if she hadn’t made the mistake, she still would’ve lost. Maybe she could’ve escaped, but that was far from certain. They were too much into the open. She shook the thought out of her mind. This was not the time for what ifs. She had to make a decision quickly. Kara looked at Aleyna and saw the concern in her eyes. Her friend certainly understood the situation. She probably saw the emptiness in Kara’s eyes. Emptiness stood now where power used to flood everything.
“What do we do now?” Aleyna asked calmly. Surprisingly, Kara saw that she actually was calm; it was not just in her voice. She had accepted their situation.
It dawned on Kara she was calm as well. She had accepted that she was going to die or worse. It will probably be worse, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let them die as well. They are after me! They probably won’t care if my human servants escaped!
Kara looked at the clash. The archers were fighting desperately, and they wouldn’t run because she had given them the order to fight. Not all the archers had been under her control when the armed riders attacked, but they didn’t take any chances. There were hundreds of riders and the archers’ resistance was futile. But they weren’t coming directly for her. They were cleaning this mess first. This gave Kara some hope.
“Run for the forest,” she gave the order to the three women.
Her two servants didn’t wait for a second command and they started running. They were not doing too well. It was to be expected as they were servants, not soldiers. The edge of the forest was about a thousand paces away. They could make it if they were lucky and if the riders didn’t care about them.
Aleyna refused to move. Her eyes shouted no, she would not run. Her thoughts told the same story. I will not leave you! If you stay, I stay!
“Please Aleyna, run!” Kara pleaded with her. “They are after me. I can’t run!” It was the truth. If she started running, they wouldn’t bother with the archers anymore and would just come directly for her. It would make the hunt easier. That’s why Kara didn’t even consider running.
“Aleyna, don’t make me do this!” Kara said and her emerald-green eyes made contact with Aleyna’s brown ones. They both knew what she meant. Kara was ready to give the mental order that everyone under her control would have to obey. Including Aleyna. And it would be very difficult for Kara because she had never before ordered her friend around like this. Better her to be safe and angry with Kara than dead. Aleyna’s cold stare sent shivers th
rough her spine. Kara knew what she was thinking. If she ran she would hate herself forever; if Kara made her run she would hate Kara for making her leave. It was a difficult decision.
Suddenly, Aleyna started running. Kara was stunned because she hadn’t made the decision in her mind. Aleyna just acted. It seemed her friend had learned things and managed to keep secrets. Living with a senator for a long time was bound to do things to you, change you in some ways. Kara was just amazed because she didn’t think it was possible. That’s what she had been taught.
It was time to pay attention to the armored riders. They had finished with the archers and were heading towards her. She didn’t have much time left but she felt she still had a little of her powers. Just a drop of water compared to what used to be an ocean. But it was there. She threw another look in the direction of the forest. The three women were all running and Aleyna was gaining ground on the other two fast. It was not a surprise, really. While those two were only servants, Aleyna was trained to fight, just like Kara.
Into the water, she gave a silent order. Kara backed into the water followed closely by her five guards. The water was so cold it almost stopped her breathing. It took a few moments for her to accommodate, then she quickly moved to a part of the lake where the bottom was higher. The water was up to her chest there, while all around it went easily over her head. They had to swim for a short distance and her guards managed to do that only because they were wearing light armor. On the other hand, the people who were after her had horses. But she knew the lake and they didn’t. In her mind a plan quickly began to take shape.