by Jane Merkley
Byrone felt a twitch develop at his eye. This man’s state has just been overrun with a foreign army and he wants to go rescue Blindvar’s Lady?
“Your heart is in the right place, and I regret I cannot spare men to assist in your honest endeavor, but I could use you in this patrol for it is vital we reclaim your state as soon as possible. Since you are leading the Blindvarn army, it would be wise to know the enemy beforehand. Your Lady is being cared for in the proper respects due to another human being and when this war is over, they will release her… if they haven’t killed her for escaping already.”
Jasper flinched. “Your words are true. But for more reasons than one, we need our Lady back, if she isn’t dead.” He visibly swallowed upon saying the terrible possibility. “There is no way of knowing that at this time. True, there are others who can replace her in leading the army and even me… if I must.
“I have no doubt that even you, Lord, could lead our army to victory, but Blindvarn combat differently than Ruids and it would take longer than what time we are allotted for you to learn how to integrate them into your forces for this war, due to their skill set. You can’t simply hand our grapplers a sword and tell them to charge at the front. One, swords are not their weapons. Two, they cannot fight from the front.
“You have a sizeable army, but if I have heard correctly, half of it is on your shores fighting pirates and cannot be pulled away. And I know what this foreign army is like, Lord. I’ve seen it. I’ve already had to fight them for my life when I came back to rescue my family. There is no more for me to know about them.”
Byrone saw the burning look in his eyes and felt ashamed to accuse that Jasper had never seen the enemy. But that was soon replaced by Jasper’s self conviction that he needed to rescue Altarn to redeem himself and that sent the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end for more reasons than one.
Fact was, Jasper was leaving to Luthsinia to demand Altarn back and would find out she wasn’t there. Chances were good that Athenya would not recognize Jasper as having also escaped and so would not re-arrest him. However, there was still discovering exactly what did happen to her and so Jasper would continue to traipse about Endendre to learn of her demise… and what was a grappler anyway?
Dread filled Byrone’s blood in a rush of heat so he shifted to let more cool air into his leather armor.
“Then whichever god you worship, may he grant you success.” And Byrone raised his hand in parting. Then, in second thought, “Please return right after and let me know what you found out.”
Jasper humbly lowered his head and stepped aside, allowing Byrone and his party to ride through.
Lies Laid Open
The ride to Blindvar took three days with short periods of guarded sleep and no fire. The enemy had not left Blindvar. The majority of them were still entrenched in the city of Niesh. At night, Byrone and his men went around to the thinnest spread of the army and snuck through. Byrone had overheard Jasper tell Altarn before their capture that this army had arrived in ships.
The glances they caught of this army revealed them to be foreign from a landmass beyond the ocean that was known but not discovered. To what purpose did they have? From their size, they were not properly equipped to conquer all of Endendre.
At the shoreline, Byrone counted fifteen ships. Byrone had a pirate problem along the opposite shores of Endendre from the land beyond his ocean, but these were not the same flags, and they looked like soldiers, not pirates.
If they were out to claim more land, they were doing it wrong. They had attacked Niesh which is on the eastern half of Blindvar but still had towns on either side of it. It looked like they were simply securing their position… and waiting.
Byrone was hoping to make it back before Jasper.
But Jasper had a good eye and when Byrone’s horse stepped onto the artery road into the city, Jasper practically lunged from the shadows with despair filling every stress line on his face.
“Lord! My Lady is not there! I’m going on a full expedition to locate her. I would ask for some of your men who know the area.”
“Jasper.” Byrone reined his horse to a stop, doing his best to sound sympathetic and patient. “I’m afraid you’d be wasting your resources and our valuable time to prepare for the enemy. Already my eight day expedition yielded that the enemy has crossed into Luthsinia. I need you to figure out – and figure out quick – how to command your army. I will personally help you find your Lady after the conflict.” Byrone was personally losing his patience. No woman was worth this. “But right now, we must look at the needs of your state. Not the needs of you.” Byrone said it more harshly then he meant, and his consequence reflected in Jasper’s green eyes. But the guard was quick to calm and retained a demeanor Byrone had lost long ago.
“I understand so, Lord,” he offered slowly, almost sadly. “But she was in my care, and I ran too far ahead and she became lost behind me. I have not seen her since. I have known her for many years and though the rest of the state despises her tactics, I see what everyone does not. I see a gentle hearted woman who is accused for being naïve because she leads differently than everyone before her.
“She chose me as her personal guard because she couldn’t find anyone else to trust since they all fell bias due to her gender. And… and I lost her. Her full trust in me and I…” Jasper looked away and cleared his throat. “Against your very good council, I must do everything I can to find her, so even if she has died, her soul can be at peace that I tried to make amends. Baron Perseth is in camp. He would be proxy Lord anyway until Altarn returns. I will apprise him of the situation. ”
Anger and frustration seized Byrone’s hands and he had to clench the reins to prevent them from clenching Jasper. The only way to stop him would be to tie him up, but that would likewise look suspicious if people voiced too many worries about Altarn and they disappeared. But Byrone definitely decided he did not need a man who was so easily drafted into self moral wars.
Summing up every ounce of grace he could, he bowed his head in pseudo acceptance. “Then again, good luck with you. Please return every so often so I don’t have to go looking for you.”
“Yes, Lord. Go with Gildeon.” And Jasper dipped his head respectfully in parting.
Gildeon… Blindvarns were almost zealots in mention of their fallen god’s name. Byrone urged his horse – and a new dark mood – forward with a harsh slap on the reins.
Blindvarn refugees swarmed his streets in front of him and he had to travel slowly to avoid crushing small children who found games to race under the horses who flinched irritably but otherwise did nothing. Byrone had been very sure to train his war horses not to startle easily.
A young woman stepped in front of their party and indicated she wanted to talk. Red hair slopped into a tired bun highlighted a white face of worry.
“Sorry to stop you, Lord,” she began with downcast, apologetic eyes, “but I was wondering if you saw my Lady on your travels to the border?”
Irritation swam at the last edge of Byrone’s patient. Altarn was definitely not worth all this fuss.
“No, miss. Though Jasper has gone out to search for her. With this army threatening my borders, I cannot spare any men to follow suit until I make sure your state is safe.”
The woman gripped her bare arms, pulling a shawl over their litheness. It was then that Byrone noticed a baby swaddled in the shawl in her arms. “Certainly. That is wise. I hear you saw her because Athenya had captured you both?”
That must have been proclaimed by Jasper, who had been captured with them. Byrone flexed his jaw. “That is correct. I helped her escape, but we were separated.” He hoped she would not press the question as to why he escaped and Altarn ‘didn’t’.
She nodded. “I never should have given her my tags. I never should have let her go. I hope to Gildeon she is alive. I… I can’t bear losing her in this way. If she never returns I… it will be my fault.”
“You are Kyree?”
“Y
es!” The woman brightened some. “How did you know?”
Telling her might complicate what Byrone already knew was complicated. “I must get back. I have been gone too long already. I promise I will send a large party out after the threat is eliminated to inquire about her. Who knows? She might wonder back on her own.” Byrone urged his horse forward – quicker than before – so people clogging the street ahead heard the rumble and made a path.
Altarn watched him ride up the courtyard and around the large fountain in its center, glad to see road dirt and weary clinging to his face and clothes; anything to make that man suffer would make Altarn feel she had at least conquered something.
He disappeared under her balcony and her eyes moved to where she could barely see the tops of the white tents beyond the city of the refugee camp.
The door to her room banged open. Altarn leapt to her feet, causing the chain to sing.
It was Byrone, still in his traveling habit, and for reasons she could not fathom, he had a look of scorn and angry defeat which he shot at her as if to make her feel what she had done.
Then he tossed something metallic at her. She let it clatter to the floor at her bare feet.
“If you tell them where you’ve been, I will publicly hang you and then there will be a war on your state!” And he left, a swirl of indignation trailing him like a cloak.
Stunned, Altarn only stared after him for a moment before looking at what he had thrown at her. It was a small metal disc with two claws at one edge, like a crab’s pincers. She was not sure why Byrone was suddenly eager to release her, but she would not question it. She picked up the device and sat on the bed, fitting the two claws into the matching holes on the cuff about her ankle. Twisting it, it fell free with a loud clatter to the floor. She pocketed the key.
She looked out the window again to the white tents and Blindvarn citizens filing down the streets to discover more of Greatmar’s economy.
But she was not done with Byrone.
Her feet hit the carpet without the accustomed song of the chain. She walked to the open door and stepped out, seeing the interior of – it appeared to be a castle – for the first time. She looked left and just barely caught sight of Byrone turning a corner.
She followed him, holding her arms against the chill which clung to the empty wing she had been confined.
She turned down the corridor where Byrone had gone and felt degrees warmer. Attached to the walls just above her head on both sides was a copper pipe that was emitting a soothing warmth. Altarn’s house was still warmed by fireplaces in every room. A castle this size, however, they had upgraded to pipes filled with steam from boiler rooms located throughout the castle.
She passed a servant – also in a sleeveless shift to reveal her tattooed arm. The servant smiled warmly and continued on her way.
Altarn looked down every hall she passed and into every open door and soon she heard a murmur of male voices. She followed the sound into an open door. Beyond was a room where a large map of Endendre took over an entire wall and ten men in sleeveless shirts and tattooed right arms were clustered around a large table in the center. Small wooden figurines and different colored blocks of wood spread across the table where another large map was tacked down.
Byrone had his back to her, pointing to various areas on the map.
Altarn invited herself in and sauntered to the table. Two men heard the slap of her bare feet on the stone floor and looked up. They said nothing but did quirk an eye brow at her.
She walked around the table directly across from Byrone and pushed her way in between two of the men, looking at the table as Byrone talked and pointed.
“Most of their forces are clustered here.” He shifted around several small red blocks until they were mashed together in Niesh. “I’m surprised they haven’t marched this way yet. They’ve had the time. It almost looks…” He paused, possibly unable to believe it himself. “It almost looks like they are looking for something.”
“What do you think that could be?” Altarn asked.
Byrone’s head snapped up along with the rest of the men who had not noticed her entry. “What are you doing here?” he snarled under his breath, as if hoping only she could hear.
“It seems foolish to me, Byrone, that a war council was called without me, especially since you need my army.”
“Lady Altarn?” one of the men inquired, astonishment on his face. It appeared he was going to question further, but he shifted his glance to Byrone and said nothing.
Byrone’s eyes fixed on her and an angry muscle flexed in his jaw and equally clenched fists hardened the muscles in his bare biceps. The look in his eyes clearly said that these men were not privy to her incarceration and dared her to say anything about it.
Altarn shrugged. She would let him worry about the lies he would tell his men later. “With an army that size, you are going to need mine and I don’t think you’ve been schooled on how to command a Blindvarn army.”
They challenged each other with stares for a moment. Altarn looked away first, bored of his prowess and noticed a man in the assembly whose right arm was bound to his chest in a sling. She found his face and he quickly looked away from her, but a growing certainty that she recognized him hovered about his familiar black tresses and scruffy facial hair and the fact that it was dark that night she broke his elbow did not dissuade it. Then she imagined him wearing a wooden mask…
“Torren,” Byrone said to the man with the sling, though his eyes remained pinned to the table, “please ride to the town crier and tell them Altarn has been found and we are working together to merge our armies for this conflict.”
A little too eager to leave Altarn’s presence, Torren shuffled quickly out of the room.
“Also,” Altarn interjected, her eyes following Torren darkly, “I doubt you’ll want me showing myself in one of your servant uniforms to my people.”
He was doing well keeping his composure – if stiff – in front of these men who were waiting for the moment when they could bombard Byrone with questions.
“Dorain,” Byrone called over his shoulder to a servant girl Altarn had not noticed – servants were good like that. “See that she gets fitted into attire expected of her court and give her a room to occupy during her stay.” He still was not willing to call her by her title – because that would mean he’d have someone equal to his station to contend with – so he settled with a simple she and lucky Altarn was the only female in the room aside from the servant.
“We will meet again at breakfast tomorrow where we will discuss where we will go from here,” Byrone said to her, fixing her with a hard blue stare.
Altarn nodded her agreement and followed the servant girl out, breaking a smile as she heard a bombardment of male voices directed at Byrone as the door closed behind her.
The castle’s seamstress fitted her with a gown to Altarn’s instructions to be ready for her at breakfast tomorrow and provided her a simple lady’s gown to replace the servant shift she was wearing, along with slippers that fit as best they could considering they were not tailored to her feet. Altarn was then led to the same bed chamber she had been chained to. The chain was still there, as if to remind her she was still beholden to Byrone’s hospitality.
Undecided if this was the servant’s idea or Byrone’s, she still hid the key to the cuff inside the dirt of the newly replaced flower pot, making a mental note not to throw this one at Byrone.
She changed into the dress provided. It was pale green cotton with a dark green sash provided to be tied at the waist. Altarn was tall and the dress was a cast off tailored to an average height, slightly wider female so the dress bunched unassuming around her waist and breasts when she tightened the sash.
The town crier did his job because no sooner had she finished dressing than a servant boy brought her news that someone was in the foyer to see her. Following the servant, they entered the foyer where Jasper stood anxiously just inside the large front doors, restlessly shuffling about his sp
ace.
When she came into view, Jasper rushed Altarn and surprised her when he scooped her in a hug and spun her around once.
“Lieutenant Jasper!” she gasped, embarrassed by this bold breach of protocol.
“So sorry, my Lady!” Jasper took a step away from her but held onto her with his gaze. Altarn saw a hint of tears in his eyes. “We need to talk.”
“Of course.” Altarn motioned over a servant – Byrone had them everywhere. “Please find us a place to sit and snack.”
“Yes, Lady.” She curtsied. “Follow me.”
They were seated in the upper section of the foyer where large windows let in the autumn light. Many small, two chair tables scattered the polished floor. When the castle was first built, Altarn was certain the walls about the foyer were solid stone, maybe with a fireplace. Now, the stone had been knocked out in sections and replaced with large glass windows to let in light. They were facing north, so light shown in through the windows during the whole time the sun was up as it passed from east to west.
The girl disappeared inside a door and returned shortly with two mugs of cider and a plate of cheese and sausages. She set them down and left. Jasper took a deep breath and released it again, as if it pained him.
“My Lady…” He paused but she did not interrupt. “I do not know the words to express my torment at failing at my duty to protect you.” Altarn started to say something but he lifted a hand to stop her. “You’d rather forgive and forget but that is not what I want you to do. We were captured and upon our escape, I ran too far ahead of you, more worried about getting to safety then getting you to safety.” He took another deep breath, emboldening himself for what was coming next. “When I realized you had not followed, I tried to go back but Athenya guards were on our tail and I had to run so I could stay free to find you. We ran so far that they stationed soldiers and guards behind us to prevent anyone else from entering or escaping the city.” Jasper paused again, fumbling with his fingers, his head lowered.