The War Queen

by Jane Merkley

  “No! Stop!”

  Jaryd stopped, the pain and suffering in her voice rooting him to the spot. He looked behind him. Her demonic demeanor frightened him.

  “Come here.” She had stopped crying.

  Hesitating, but curious still, he shuffled his way back. He’d stay a moment longer to see if there was some sense left in this girl of sixteen years.

  He towered over her. “What?”

  She patted the sand next to her. Jaryd shook his head and kept a close hand on the knife at his belt.

  She frowned at his refusal, and he almost saw a shadow of clarity in her eyes that was still as dark as her hair.

  “Who are you?” she asked gently.

  Jaryd would play this game for a moment. “I’m Jaryd. And you?”

  She gave another sigh. “I don’t know. It’s too dark to see.” She bowed her head and put a hand across her heart. Long black hair fell in front of her like a curtain. “I am called Lorn, but it’s not mine. It’s someone else’s.”

  Jaryd could only entertain madness for so long. He was out of the drug so if she demanded to hold him prisoner, he had already picked out the rock he would use to knock her out. Or kill her with the knife if it came to that.

  “When he fell, Huilian fell with him,” the girl explained, as if telling a story Jaryd had heard before and she was just clarifying the details. “I was born then, born on the spot where he had fallen… Huilian was broken. He told me he was not strong enough, but he would wait until he was. He said he needed a vessel to harbor his soul.”

  Jaryd rolled his eyes but waited patiently for a good point to escape so she wouldn’t call him back. If he left and she was not ready for him too, she’d only follow.

  “So before my own soul could reach my new born body, he put a piece of his inside me instead… Huilian told me in doing so would keep him alive until he could reconstruct his soul because it shattered when it fell from the sky.”

  The ocean folded upon the shoreline with every crash. If the wave was strong enough, it would rush into the cave and recede again. She began to cry.

  Jaryd stared at her, watching the poor girl cry into her knees. Her clothes were soiled and looked as if she hadn’t changed them for a while. Maybe she didn’t own anything else? Did she have a home? Did she even have people to claim as friends and family? Who’s been caring for her for sixteen years?

  She was sobbing. She believed the traumatic story in her head. Just because he couldn’t see her enemy didn’t mean she could not. Just because he thought she was mental still didn’t mean she had fears and nightmares and truly believed some things could bring her harm even though there was clearly nothing there.

  She didn’t deserve to drown down here when the tide rose. There was an infirmary in town. He would take her there.

  “Come with me.” He motioned for her to stand. “I want to help you.”

  She swooned while she sat, a hand to her forehead. “I feel so weak. Huilian has taxed much out of me.”

  “Try to stand. I can support you.”

  She rolled onto her hands and quaked to her feet. She wobbled a moment, and then fell back to the sand. She scrubbed her eyes with her hands. “I’m so tired.”

  Jaryd had been around detainees enough to realize she was likely faking it as best she could so Jaryd would be forced to go in close where he would be vulnerable.

  But she was sixteen and weighed maybe a hundred and fifteen pounds. Even if she did attack, it wouldn’t do any damage. Unless her mental strength came back.

  He finally stopped debating with himself and went to help her. The tide would be rising and he still had to figure out a way to get back to the top of the cliff.

  Lorn was still swooning as if the world was rocking side to side. Jaryd knelt and slid an arm under her own, making her rise with him. He began to walk. Her feet dragged in the sand and continued to trip over each other, making the forward going extremely slow. For the sake of time, Jaryd picked her up in his arms. She was so light, almost fragile. She clutched the front of his damp uniform and nestled in close. It made his heart thrum slightly.

  “Where do you live?” he asked as he stepped out of the alcove.

  “I’d like to live in a warm place where there is no hurt,” was her response.

  “Do you have parents?”

  “Huilian said he’d take care of me. Would that make him a parent?”

  He stopped asking questions. They were strange and made him feel even more badly for her.

  He looked out to the ocean and spotted something there. He stopped and stared a moment longer. Were they… ships? There was land beyond Endendre, but he was not aware that trade had started with them. Those lands were still foreign and no one as of yet cared to discover them. But those were definitely ships because they were now a little closer and appeared to be traveling very fast. He knew nothing about ships, but their speed was not normal for what he believed could be achieved on water.

  He hurried down the shoreline with Lorn in his arms, heading to a footpath that switched back up the cliff face. There was a good chance he was overreacting, but he had never heard of ships arriving in Blindvar. Ruidenthall had a pirate problem on their shores, so they owned ships to combat the problem. And there were definitely fifteen ships approaching.

  Endless Void

  A bell tinkled and Altarn moaned out of her dreams. She looked out of the window. The sun was at its zenith… noon.

  After she took a moment to speculate about the time, she wandered bleary eyed to the door to investigate the source of the bell, throwing on a robe the room provided over her on the way.

  A sweet faced girl was holding a tray of food. “Good morning,” she emitted brightly. “My instructions were to not disturb you with breakfast until this time. I hope my instructions were correct.”

  With how heavily she had been sleeping, she doubted she would have heard the bell any earlier than now. She then wondered how Torren knew she’d sleep in so late, but since she had not slept the night before she supposed it would be obvious.

  “Wait just a moment.” Altarn rushed into the bathing room where she had discarded her purse with her clothes and came back, handing the girl three copper coins in exchange for her tray she handed to Altarn.

  Curtsying graciously, the girl left. Altarn hadn’t even closed the door when Torren suddenly appeared in the hallway.

  “Good morning, Kyree.” His smile was bright and he had changed his clothes. He must have gone shopping while she was asleep. She was hoping he had left without her. Today he was wearing black pants pulled over black boots with a silver buckle around the ankles. The dark green shirt was sleeveless and muted gold patterns curled down around the left side. The clothes seemed too nice for a soldier but the regal appearance of it all on him made up for it. “Can I join you for lunch time breakfast?”

  “I am not dressed.” Altarn tried to form a sentence on her face that he could read, saying plainly she wanted him to go away. She punctuated this sentence with a doleful smile.

  “It’s basically the same thing you were wearing at the pools.”

  Of course the pools were different. Here, she had just gotten out of bed. She supposed she could have pushed the issue, but the longer she was standing there persuading him to leave was taking her longer to leave this town and be on her way. She was glad her hair was a ratted mess of black. She hoped she looked like a bedraggled crow.

  She turned from the doorway and set her tray on the low table in the first room. She lifted the lid. Fire-blackened toast, cream-stuffed raspberries, and bacon baked into oven cakes assaulted her eyes.

  “This room and service seem a little excessive just for one person for one night,” she commented, unable to rid her curiosity.

  “When I go on leave, I go on leave. Not having a wife or children make it easy to squander.” His white toothy grin made her want to roll her eyes again, but she realized it would very quickly become a bad habit and her court might not take too kindly to
her eye rollings when they wanted her opinion.

  “Well, it was nice of you to treat me, even if it was not necessary.”

  “You’re my lady for this trip. You are my responsibility.”

  Altarn snorted through her raspberries. “I am most definitely not your lady and I can take care of myself.”

  “My apologies.” He leaned humbly back in the couch. “Just feeling protective since I watched you almost get… robbed.”

  Or something else. Altarn’s stomach churned at the reminder. Where would she be now if Torren had not come to her rescue? She killed the thought. She would have been able to defend herself. It was just easier traveling with someone so she didn’t have to do it again.

  “And I am very grateful for your protection.”

  He raised his hands again. “No need. Tis my honor to assure the safety of all those unfairly treated, to include beautiful women like you.”

  She knew his compliment was a far stretch. Even when she didn’t look like a bedraggled crow, a plain braid and servant’s garb had the opposite effect on flattering. So this is why she was furious with her subconscious who ate the comment like a starving woman, like she actually needed it.

  Even if she actually was giving into his subtle means of flattery, she knew she could not continue anything serious with this Ruid – especially a Ruid. She would have to reveal her identity to him at some point and that would break his innocent heart, for she finally decided that it was innocent. Evil men usually revealed a sign by this point. She had known enough evil men to know this. It would be better if she accepted his kindness but did not allow anything more, to make it clear that they had to part ways in Athenya. She would have to make up a solid reason why she could not continue this. It would have been better if she had lied and told him she had a husband. Explaining why she wasn’t wearing a ring would be easier than explaining why she couldn’t be courted by him, for it was clear where his intentions were leading. He had already asked, after all.

  “Your flattery is generous,” she began in careful, measured tones, “but I cannot accept it. We simply live two separate lives in two separate states to make anything work – I know that is what you are doing,” she finished in reply to his sheepish smile. “But I am serious when I say thank you, and don’t feel obligated to pay for anything for me. We don’t even know each other.”

  He smiled, showing teeth. “Half the fun.”

  She gave her attention back to breakfast, finished in a rush, and left to change into her clothes, wishing the bathing room door locked.

  She took advantage of the local venders to re-vamp her food stores. As part of the room fee, her horse had been taken to the inn’s stables and de-saddled, brushed, watered, and fed. She snuck two coins in Torren’s purse when he wasn’t looking.

  They stopped at the aviary so Altarn could send a bird and then finally headed out. By the time they finally rode out of town, the sun was well into the afternoon and Altarn wished she hadn’t been allowed to sleep in. She voiced this worry to Torren.

  “Then you should not blatantly distrust those who just saved your life and stay up all night because you are afraid I would be the kind of man who preyed on women.”

  She turned her eyes down under his brittle tone. Now that she had known him longer than a minute, she felt bad.

  By nightfall they still had not reached the next town and to Altarn’s moaning, Torren notified her that they still had three hours to go.

  “You said it was only another five hours to the next town from Gaynord.”

  He shrugged apologetically. “I haven’t been this way in a while. I must have gotten it confused with another town.”

  “Then how do you know we have three hours left?”

  “Because I remembered four hours ago how long it actually was.”

  The two moons gave them a dull yellowish glow to follow by. It was a hot night, thick with silence. Even the crickets didn’t sing.

  Altarn’s weariness would not waver. She had seriously hurt herself by not sleeping that first night and she was still paying for it.

  The third time she almost fell out of the saddle, Torren shimmied his horse to hers and yanked her from it, followed by some minor fits from her.

  She didn’t fuss long. His horse walked along so smoothly that it lulled her right to sleep. He let the reins go and held her with both arms. She knew she should not let him, but it felt so good, as if he were soothing over an angry sore that had been festering for years. She couldn’t remember the last man that had made such honest gestures. She unwillingly noticed his breath on her neck and the rise of his chest with every intake of air.

  She woke to his soft voice telling her they had arrived at the aviary. The night was still very young and she stumbled in a weary daze into the building and wrote a message she hoped made sense and then rode her own horse to the inn, feeling more awake as the air around her cooled.

  Torren respected her wishes and let her tell the hostess what room she wanted and pay for it herself. She got the cheapest room available to maintain her story as a servant. She noticed Torren got the cheapest as well. At least he has some self-restraint, she thought. Leaving her name on the traveler’s ledgers, she was directed to her room and crashed onto her bed. She laid there for a good hour but sleep evaded her now that she was awake from her nap. It frustrated her. She didn’t want to sleep in till noon again. If they left early, they would reach Athenya late afternoon tomorrow.

  Her stomach clenched at the worry of what her appeal to Luthsinia’s Lord would entail. If they denied her request to ally her against Byrone, she would be in trouble, and chances were good that they would not ally her. Luthsinia loved Byrone as much as her own people did. Apparently the only one who wanted war with Byrone was her.

  All of this roiled in her gut and chased sleep even farther away. She rolled out of bed and pulled on her boots, deciding a walk and a hot beverage when she came back would help.

  The night was still very warm. The trees overhead were clustered together thick enough that the moon light could not reach through. Crickets sang in accompaniment to the night birds that warped overhead and fireflies buzzed about the heads of the flowers closed for the night.

  She was following a well traveled dirt path that snaked into the trees behind the inn through its small forested garden. She had half a mind to climb one of the trees, a desire long lost within her. Torren had shaken a restlessness out of her and the anxiousness to break free from herself crawled under her skin in a humming tingle. Even if she didn’t climb the tree, she hoped she could remember what had broken free when she returned home so she could remember life was not worth dying over.

  She heard a crunch of rock behind her. Before she could turn around to see, a large pair of thick arms wrapped around her chest and head.

  Panic surged in her throat and she fought to reach her knife. The intruder was ready for that and knocked her hand away, as if he had encountered women before hiding knives on their legs. She readjusted her strategy and grabbed the wrist of his right arm and spun to his outside. With a violent, sudden blow, she drove the palm of her left hand through his elbow. She felt the pop and leapt away as the man screamed. She took two steps and another shadow slammed into her, driving her to the ground. Now Altarn screamed and tried to lift the man’s dead weight. His hands grabbed at her shoulders to roll her over.

  Even while she scrambled to do something… anything, the man’s weight left her. The oddness of his vanishing weight confused her. But she took advantage of it and jumped to feet her to find Torren wrestling with the violator. Their tossing took them into the concealment of large bushes beside the trail. The intruder yelped, gurgled, and was silent. The man whose elbow she broke was gone.

  Altarn was shaking violently even as she cast her eyes about for more intruders. When Torren emerged with leaves in his hair, Altarn threw herself into him. She hated looking this vulnerable, but she was scared out of her mind over what might have happened to her if Torren had
not saved her… yet again. She had battle training and so was ashamed that she let fear obscure her thoughts as to what she could do to fight the second man. She still trained some with her soldiers, but apparently not near enough to fight off an attacker who surprises in the dark and tries to grab, instead of stab.

  “How did you know?” she wailed, knowing she looked pathetic.

  He put both arms around her, holding her close. “I admit, my room is close to yours and I heard you leave. I wanted to give you privacy but I couldn’t stand to know you were walking about alone in the dark. You should know better than to come out alone, by now.”

  Tears from a frightened heart burned passed her eyelashes because he was right, but she reined them in before they could completely escape. How would that look, the State Head of Blindvar crying into a Ruid’s chest? And despite she knew this, she was still not ready to let go of the safe embrace of his arms.

  Then his finger slid under her chin and he lifted her head, meeting her with a hard kiss on the mouth.

  An endless void of hunger for warmth swallowed her. A forbidden, needy craving clawed up into her heart and spread painful barbs of want throughout her blood. She hated that she thought she needed this, was drinking it like water.

  He disconnected and something sharp protested in Altarn’s head. She snapped back into reality and saw the dark forest around them.

  “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

  “I’m okay.” She forced herself to take a deep breath, chasing away the last of what she had thought she did not need. “There were two that I saw. The first grabbed me and I broke his elbow. He was gone by the time you arrived.”

  “You… broke his elbow?” Torren’s hands stiffened on her shoulders.

  “I’m not completely helpless, you know.”

  “Well… wow… well done!” His voice was strained but she knew it was because he had not believed her to be that capable.

  “Thank you, by the way, for saving me from that second man.” Her voice was small and she dropped her eyes. “I am forever in your debt.”