“One of them rode at me from the side and managed to plant a spear in my belly. When he recalled his weapon it hit him in the head and he fell from his horse, laughing hysterically. They all rode for him, and a few more fell from their horses with gales of laughter. Because of the blood moon, it was an extremely dark night. In that moment when I tried for my escape, the moon was absent from the sky, making the night utterly black. As a result, they must have lost sight of me. I kept riding hard, even though my belly was on fire, and I could feel the blood running down my thighs. When I managed to outdistance them, I rode for Lauderdam,” she said. “You’re the only friend I have left who I thought might be powerful enough to protect me from those creatures.”
“You were right to come to me,” I assured her. “Now, please, eat your breakfast,” I said, noticing she had stopped eating as she described the ordeal she suffered. “Your child needs the sustenance.”
Emma glared at her food, her appetite clearly lost. She picked up her fork and speared the scrambled egg before stiffly raising the bite to her mouth. She chewed and swallowed, and then forked the egg again. Lia came into the bedchamber leading Astrid by the arm. Emma placed her fork down on the tray, focusing her attention on Astrid.
“If you’ll excuse me, countess, I’ll leave you to your visitors,” I offered, standing, and walking calmly from the room.
Profound uneasiness had settled on me as the countess described her attackers. Her words were from my worst childhood nightmares. I was doing all I could to hide my reaction. The enemy Emma described had brought to mind old, long forgotten, nursery verses about strange, half-human, monsters, called Head Takers, that had once plagued Faeland in the time before Deus lauded the water. I searched my deepest memories for my mother’s voice, and what I came up with was:
“Brightly colored boats sailing on the sea,
Brightly colored ponies, too spry for one to flee,
Brightly colored coats and eyes that will not see
Brightly colored blood, frantic plea
A thousand heads roll free”
I thought that was the gist of it, but I knew it wasn’t exact. My memory was far from perfect on the subject. Still, it was close enough to raise the hair on the back of my neck. I made my way out to the Lauderdam front gate, to find Kashun. He was giving a young guard a dressing down when I approached. I stayed out of his way until he finished, stepping closer as he turned to face me. He offered a stiff Vilken bow.
“Kashun,” I said, as I nodded my acknowledgement. “I’ve had troubling news from our guest, Countess Emmuska,” I started.
“The countess still lives, Your Grace?” he asked stiffly. I realized then that Kashun was concerned. The last Vilken noble family meant something to him. I nodded.
“She’s recovering well,” I replied. “She will live.”
“And the heir to the House of Marinella?” he asked, referring to her unborn child.
“As far as I can determine, the child lives,” I offered. “The midwyfe will tell us more when she checks the countess over this afternoon.” Kashun lowered his gaze respectfully, waiting I assumed for more information, rather than responding to my news. “She has described her attackers,” I started. “They are from a land across the sea.”
“There have been rumors of strange people attacking the coastal villages,” Kashun said.
“Kashun, you should have informed me,” I said in surprise. “We need to take precautions.”
“I have taken precautions, Your Grace, but preferred not to trouble you with this nonsense. The reports rang of gossip. We all know, there are no people beyond the sea,” he explained. I stared at him a moment, uncertain of how to respond. Though I never thought to see them in my lifetime, I knew there were people living beyond the shores of Pangia. Fae folklore was clear on the subject, as was Noge. Several ancient texts held accounts of attacks by strangers who arrived in boats.
“Tell me what you heard,” I said, rather than arguing with the man.
“They arrive in enormous, garishly painted boats,” he started. “When they reach our shores an enormous mouth opens in the front of the boat, and colorful people on vivid horses pour out of the belly of the ship, throwing magic sticks that return to them. They sever the heads, of anyone they strike down, with large plates they hold in their hands.”
“This account matches that of Countess Emmuska,” I confirmed. “We have a new enemy, Kashun. It’s been some time since I asked you to increase the numbers of my private guard. My guard cannot hold back such an enemy. We need to build a Vilken army, and quickly. I’ll send out a summons for warriors to all of the Baneland Territory. I want you to accept any man or woman willing to fight. Begin training and arming them immediately. I won’t allow these Head Takers to massacre the coastal villages, or anyone else in this land,” I explained. “And I don’t want them returning across the sea to bring more savages to our shores. We will kill every last one of them here, on Vilken soil.”
“As you say, Your Grace,” Kashun replied, eyeing me warily.
-CH 17-
The midwyfe’s assessment of the countess’ condition was favorable. Over the following weeks it became apparent that not only was Emma recovering, but also her child was healthy. Emma moved around the palace with one hand always cradling her belly. While she hardly spoke, I recognized the cold, strong expression in her eyes from many years earlier when Lore had believed M’Tek killed by the witch. For that reason, regardless of her silence, I knew Emma was buried in grief and anger over the loss of her mate.
All those years ago, Lore focused her pain and rage into a reign of terror over those she believed had taken M’Tek from her. Emma had no army, and no way of striking out at the ones who had taken Jestin. Lore knew the witch had taken M’Tek, but Emma didn’t even have a clear understanding of what her enemy was. Instead of going to war, Emma murmured gently to the unborn child in her belly, and devoted hours to educating Astrid in Vilken culture.
Lia and I were accustomed to finding our daughter continuously underfoot. After Emma’s arrival, our child became almost scarce. At first I couldn’t understand the allure this Vilken woman held for my daughter, but then Lia explained to me that Astrid had learned from Emma that there was a baby living inside of her, and that this baby would soon be coming out into the world. From the moment she learned of this fascinating situation, Astrid became Emma’s shadow.
Astrid could be found most mornings hanging about in Emma’s room. The countess had a very poor grasp of the Fae language, and her Noge was stiff and heavily accented. She clearly preferred speaking Vilken, and voiced quite willingly, whenever prompted, her belief that the Vilken language was far more beautiful than any other. For this reason, Emma spent her time with Astrid, teaching my daughter the Vilken tongue, not accented with that clipped Fae accent, as I spoke it, but as it should be spoken, with florid precision.
As the weeks passed I noted changes in the Vilken woman. Emma was a contemporary of Lore’s, and had even been among the young Vilken Nobility I escorted to Lareem Palace for the season, that long ago year, when Lore entered into her attachment with M’Tek. This meant Emma was in her middle forties. Her pregnancy was extremely late, and should have been wearing heavily on her aging body, causing her to appear even older. In fact, it was having the opposite effect.
First I noticed Emma’s walk becoming straighter, her gait smoother. Over the following weeks, her skin grew tighter around her mouth and eyes. The tightening and smoothing of the skin of her throat and hands followed. When I noticed the dark almost black roots of her hair growing in behind those abundant strands of grey, I accepted this as the final indication, becoming convinced that Lia and I had effected some change in the Vilken woman. Somehow the enormous amount of blood we’d given the countess, when healing her, had given her traits of the Lemu. I couldn’t think of a way to test my theory without inflicting bodily injury on my friend, so I waited and watched her. The delivery of her child would tell me. The Lemu wom
en whose birthings I’d witnessed all recovered far more quickly than normal women.
Emma, for her part, failed to notice these sweeping alterations to her physical appearance. She was so lost in her grief over losing Jestin, that only Astrid seemed able to pull her away from her internal struggle. She spoke to Lia and me when we addressed her, but otherwise, kept silent when Astrid wasn’t near. She seemed a shade of her former self, but a far younger and heavily pregnant one.
After receiving no reply to my request for military support from Lore, I wrote to M’Tek requesting the protection of her Fae army, and explaining how these strange savages were targeting the Vilken people. Noge intervention, I assumed, had been refused. Baneland needed an army if we were to defend ourselves, and I only had an oversized security force. I received a letter from M’Tek explaining that while she truly wanted to answer my call for assistance, those same savages were terrorizing the southern coast of Faeland. She needed her entire army simply to hold them at bay. She went on to request that I bring Lia and Astrid with me to Lareem Palace to live, until Baneland could be made safe again.
While I was in the midst of drafting another formal request for help from the Noge Queen, a letter arrived by courier from Lore. She started out by apologizing for her tardy response, as well as her inability to send military assistance to Baneland. The Noge Queen went on to inform me that she was at Saranedam Palace for only a respite from her travels. She was to head to the southeastern coast of Nogeland the following morning. Strange savages, such as the ones I’d described to her in my letter, were attacking the villages along the southeastern shore of Nogeland and embroiling her Noge army in disastrous battles, she explained. Her letter went on to basically beg me to bring Lia and Astrid to Saranedam Palace, where we could be protected effectively. Ania would soon be headed there, I was assured, as southern Faeland was deemed, by Lore, to be no longer secure.
I spent a few hours after receiving Lore’s letter, contemplating my options. Clearly, I needed to protect Lia and Astrid, but Emma and her unborn child, not to mention my entire household staff of loyal Vilken servants, were also high priorities for me. I considered both Lore’s and M’Tek’s invitations to weather the attacks under their protection. Lore would not welcome a pregnant Vilken noble, or a horde of Vilken servants, though M’Tek would likely be amenable to any guests I brought. This caused me to ponder a journey to Lareem Palace briefly, until I considered that M’Tek was already struggling against these invaders, and from the tone of her letter not faring well. Apparently, Lore believed Ania would be unsafe at Lareem.
In the end I couldn’t bring myself to abandon the Vilken people to these strange savages. All of the Vilkerlings were, in some way, my responsibility. I was not their sovereign, but I owned almost three quarters of the workable land in Baneland, and I employed more Vilken laborers than anyone else. I was, in all honesty, the only responsible noble left who could offer any form of protection to the Vilken people. With this realization, I couldn’t, in good conscience, abandon my people.
I refrained from discussing my predicament with Lia as I waited for some solution to present itself to me. None did. In the early afternoon I headed out to the stable. I needed to clear my head, and a ride through the woods was the only activity I believed might bring me peace. Lia caught up with me in the stable as I was saddling Reika. Without my notice, she watched me over the mare’s stall door.
“I’m riding with you, Pet,” she said, breaking my focus on our impossible dilemma, as I picked Reika’s hooves.
“Lia, darling, I didn’t know you were there,” I said, stating the obvious as I placed Reika’s hoof down and straightened to meet Lia’s gaze.
“One of the grooms is tacking Khol for me. I’ll bring your saddle,” she said disappearing for only a moment before she returned, and rested my saddle across the top of the stall door. “I found Lore’s letter on your desk,” she said, as I moved my saddle from the stall door to Reika’s back. “Why didn’t you tell me when it arrived?” she asked.
“I didn’t want to upset you,” I confessed, as I tightened the girth.
Lia’s gaze settled on me as I took my bridle from her outstretched hand. Once tacked, I led Reika out into the aisle of the stable to wait for Khol. Lia was still watching me when the groom handed her Khol’s reins. We headed out toward the woods, neither of us speaking at first.
“You had a letter from Mata yesterday,” Lia observed as we crossed into the woods. “I looked through your files, but couldn’t find it anywhere. I’d like to read that one too.”
“Of course,” I replied.
“Lore wants us to leave Baneland,” Lia observed. “My mother believes we’re in danger.”
“Yes, she does,” I acknowledged.
“What does Mata think?” Lia asked gently.
“I asked my cousin for her army to protect the Vilken people,” I said.
“Will she protect us?” Lia asked, sounding anxious.
“No. She can’t,” I replied. “We seem to be faring better than both of our neighbors at the moment. Faeland is under the heaviest attack from what I gather. My cousin’s responsibility is to her own people.”
“And Lore has refused to help us,” Lia observed with a look of dismay.
“Lore’s situation is only slightly less dire than M’Tek’s. She has to protect the Noge,” I replied. “Lore hasn’t abandoned us, though, Lia. She offers protection at Saranedam Palace. I believe you’ll be safe there. M’Tek is with her army in southern Faeland, while Lore rides with hers in southeastern Nogeland. These savages are all over the place suddenly,” I said quietly.
“But we’re safe here, in Lauderdam,” Lia pointed out. “You told me we’re almost too protected. We have an army of guards protecting us.”
“The ancient Noge chose this location well. We’re safe at the moment,” I replied.
“Why are you so worried?” she asked. “You look as if death were awaiting you.”
“I’m not worried for myself, Lia, but for the Vilkerlings,” I explained. “Faeland has M’Tek to protect them, and Lore is defending the Noge, but what about the Vilken people?” I asked. “They’re being slaughtered along the coast. Emma’s estate is lost, and Jestin murdered. These savages are raping and killing Vilkerlings at liberty. No one is standing in their way.”
“Pet, my beautiful mate, it’s not your responsibility to worry over such things,” Lia said, starting to sound alarmed.
“If not mine, whose responsibility is it?” I asked. “M’Tek has never cared for the Vilken people. She’s killed thousands of Vilkerlings during her long life,” I pointed out. “And Lore washed her hands of these people over twenty years ago.”
“All right. We’ll send some of our guards to the coast to help,” Lia said, her voice becoming sharper.
“Under the command of whom?” I asked.
“Kashun,” Lia snapped.
“As much as I trust and value him, he’s not a general,” I replied. “Have you ever noticed I always interact with him directly? That’s because he’s illiterate, Lia. He was a lieutenant, under Kieran. By my estimation, she’s not actually a general either. I remember when Lore faced her during the Baneland wars. Kieran lacks the education and self-discipline needed to wage war effectively, always reacting through instinct and bravado, easily falling into traps. We need a calm head to lead the attack against these savages, someone with the proper intellect and skills, and the ability to see the entire scope of this invasion.”
“That may be, but you’re not going, Pet,” Lia said sharply.
“Lia, please,” I said, not wanting to argue with her. “Don’t make this more difficult for me.”
“I’ll agree you have the education, but you’re no more a general than I am,” Lia said. “Just put it out of your mind,” she added tersely.
“My love, I have no choice,” I replied. “Aside from M’Tek, I’m the highest ranking Tannuk,” I said. “It’s my duty, and…”
“Have y
ou forgotten? I’m a Tannuk, Pet. And since when does a grand duchess outrank a princess?” Lia snapped, interrupting my explanation. I very nearly informed her that I in fact outranked her, both as Grand Duchess of Tannuk a large and wealthy estate, and as Prime of Nogeland. Determining that such clarification was unimportant in that moment, I refrained.
“Lia, my family background is made up of generals,” I continued, remaining on point. “Aside from M’Tek, my father was the greatest general of his time. I received the education and training for a military career. M’Tek chose to use my talents in other ways, or I would have followed in my father’s tread. But none of that really matters. What it comes down to is this. I’m all the Vilkerlings have.”
“No, Pet, you’re all I have,” she argued. “You don’t belong to them. You’re mine. You’re my mate, and the love of my life. Both of my mothers are great warriors. I’ve trained since I was a child in combat arts and strategy. I’m easily as qualified as you. Would you have me lead our guards against these savages?” she asked.
“No. Absolutely not,” I said without thinking. “You’re not suited for war.”
“Then you understand how I feel. I forbid you to do this mad thing,” Lia commanded, sounding very much like Lore in her tone, but then she took a deep breath and tried to smile at me, the tension in her expression loosening. “There. Now that it’s settled, let’s talk of something else,” she said, her voice softening.
“I already told you, darling. I have no choice,” I replied calmly. “I can’t stand by and allow the brutal slaughter of defenseless, unarmed, Vilkerlings to go unchecked.”
“I’ll put it another way, then. Baneland has either no general, or two, Pet. If you go, I’m going with you,” Lia said sharply. “If you risk your life, you’ll risk mine along with it. I’ll not live on without you. Don’t even consider it.”
“Lia, you need to remain here with Astrid,” I replied. “If something were to happen to me, the two of you would be all right here until M’Tek or Lore came for you.”
A Fortunate Woman (Fortune's Favor Book 2) Page 30