Cursed by Fire

by Jacquelyn Frank

  As the flaming arrows of the Hexis forces hit their marks, the Redoe encampment began to burn. One tent after another caught fire and soon the entire encampment was ablaze enough to light it as clearly as if it were a room being lit by braziers. It revealed that the encampment had very few people in it, the forces of the Redoe sitting hidden somewhere in the dark. Since there was only farmland beyond the wall, that left little in the way of hiding places.

  Kyran was readying troops at the gate, preparing to set them loose on the Redoe the moment Dethan commanded it.

  That’s when Dethan realized where they were hiding.

  “Kyran! Don’t open the gates! Make certain they are well locked!” he shouted down to him. “The Redoe are lying in wait along the walls! We wait until daylight, when we can see them!”

  “Understood!” Kyran shouted back.

  The Redoe were counting on darkness as well as surprise to be their advantages, and already they were half right. But now that the initial shock of the attack was over, the men had regrouped themselves and were ready for whatever would come next.

  “Fire down along the wall!” Dethan shouted to the archers.

  The archers lit arrows, moved to the edge of the wall, and fired. Screams and shouts rose up to them from below and the fire of the arrows lit up the Redoe troops. Immediately they began to fall back into the darkness.

  “Shoot again! Follow them!”

  And so it went, the archers shooting into darkness, until Dethan finally ordered them to stop, letting the Redoe fall back to their torched encampments.

  Dethan cursed as he came down off the wall, his shoulder hurting and bleeding heavily. But his temper was high and it kept him from noticing.

  The Redoe had known they were coming. Someone had forewarned them. He would bet his immortal soul that he knew exactly who it had been. But he had no time or luxury to pursue that just then. He found a page and had him help dress him in his breastplate.

  He had been caught off guard once already; he would not let it happen again.

  By the time daylight came, the forces of Hexis were itching for action. The trading of arrows had stopped long ago, Dethan conserving what was left of their ammunition for when they could see their targets. Meanwhile, he had ordered the cauldrons of hot wax fired up, the liquid ready to be dumped over the walls in case the Redoe came again and tried to scale them. They would have been ready for the initial attack had it gone off at dawn as they had planned, but … there was nothing they could do about the mistakes of the past. They were ready now. That would have to be enough.

  Once dawn arrived, he ordered the gates unlocked and the men, more than ready, poured out of the portal the instant it was opened, with a roar of anger lifting from deep in the bellies of furious men. These men had been raped of their crops by the Redoe again and again, season after season, and they’d had their fill of it. Finally, today, they would be able to fight back. They would fight back from poverty and fight back from starvation.

  The battle was tremendous. Dethan was in the thick of it with them and so was able to see, with surprise, that the supposedly native, simple Redoe were heavily armored against the Hexis forces. But the armor that protected them was not the advantage they had hoped it would be because it was clear they were not used to moving under the weight of it. The Hexis forces, while more exposed, were freer to move, faster on their feet, and could swing wide without encumbrance.

  Dethan had no trouble moving under his armor. The god-made metal was feather-light. Each time a Redoe blade struck, it glanced off or bounced back. There wasn’t so much as a scratch to indicate the armor had been struck at all.

  Dethan slammed his weapon into one man, pulled it out, and swung it into another. Both dropped dead to the ground as Dethan looked up at the walls of Hexis. True to her word, Selinda stood there. He could tell because she had dressed completely in scarlet red, a beacon to any man who went in search of her. They all knew their grandina was there to support them, that she was proud of them for fighting for their city. But Dethan also saw the danger of it. She made herself a target, easy to see and aim for. But he knew she would not care. He would have to have faith that Tonkin was watching over her, protecting her as best as he was able. Dethan focused on the battle at hand, finding himself somehow energized by the thought of her standing there. All exposed and in danger. The only way he could keep her safe was to kill … to destroy … to win. Dethan became a vicious machine of death, his sword flying in and out of bodies, his emotions for Selinda riding high within him. He should not let it. He should remain calm and focused … and yet he had never felt more focused in his life. She was the arm, he was the hand, and together they fought with vicious perfection.

  The Redoe finally faltered around midday. The hot sun baked them in their armor, the relentless mud-farmer soldiers of Hexis throwing themselves into the battle with a fury the Redoe simply did not feel in return. The Redoe were not defending their home. The Redoe, in the end, had thought Hexis would be an easy conquest and were now discovering that was not the case.

  They began to retreat.

  Dethan raised the flag being held by the page near him and waved it furiously. He waited until he saw the same colored flag raised up on the wall, it too waving furiously.

  And with a roar, over the hillside came a second force of Hexis soldiers, this one fully behind the Redoe … leaving them nowhere to run, sandwiched perfectly between the two. And with a new injection of fighting blood, it was clear the Redoe had no hope of victory.

  It was clear even to the shocked eyes of the woman watching from the top of the walls. Seeing that unexpected troop of soldiers come over the rise to fight for Hexis had to be the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life. At first, upon seeing them from the wall, she had thought they were Redoe troops lying in wait. But it was quickly evident whose side they were on, as it became evident who was going to win the day. The war. By the end of the day the Redoe would be gone … for good.

  Selinda turned and ran from the wall. She grabbed her waiting horse, Tonkin by her side every step of the way, helping her into her saddle and then mounting beside her. Together they rode madly for the fortress. Selinda raced through the stone corridors and into her father’s offices. To her relief, Grannish was not with him. She had feared Grannish would be watching over him, ready to strike him down the minute he heard the battle was being lost.

  “Father! You must come with me! Your safety is at stake!” she said.

  “Whatever for?” her father asked. “Have you not heard? The battle is all but won! We are victorious against the Redoe. There is nothing to fear now.”

  “Father, I know you have never listened to a word I have said against him, but surely now you must see that Grannish is not the man you thought he was. He has failed you against the Redoe. Firru was his choice, his general. You can see now how useless he truly was.”

  “Yes. A poor choice,” her father agreed. “But we all make mistakes.”

  “Mistakes? Is that what you call it? We were nearly overrun by the Redoe! That is no small mistake! That is a crucial and dangerous flaw! Father, he is an evil, horrible man. Why can you not see him for what he is? And now that Dethan has won, now that he will claim me as his prize, Grannish will know his last chance at becoming grand will have slipped away. He will lash out and he will hurt this family.”

  “Preposterous,” her father scoffed. “Grannish has never had anything but this family’s best interests in his heart. Now, I am tired of hearing about this! You are endlessly harping on this and I forbid you to speak of it any longer! I know you hate him, that you did not wish to marry him … Well, you have your wish. You will not be marrying him. I have given you your desire. Can you not be satisfied?”

  “You have given it to me?” she echoed, completely aghast. “You gave me nothing! I fought for it! With my heart, my soul, and my body, I fought for it! You have been so blind! I am warning you, Father. Your life is at stake here. Come with me now until D
ethan has returned and secured Grannish. Once he does so, we will be safe. Please. What can it hurt you to just come with me?”

  “I will not come,” her father said dismissively, shaking his head. “You are being dramatic as usual and I am losing patience with you. Now go to your rooms and wait for word that the battle is won.”

  “Father, please! Why is it so hard for you to believe me? Just once! Just this once will you not give me—”

  “I said go!” her father thundered. “I have had enough of you!”

  “And I have had enough of you!” she railed back. “You do not deserve to be grand! A ruler who lets others do the ruling for him should not rule! A man so blind he cannot see the evil under his own roof does not deserve the care of the people. You are supposed to be protecting them! Protecting me! Instead you offer us up like sacrifices just to keep your life comfortable. Very well. Remain blind. It is your life and you can throw it away if you wish. I will not risk mine or my brother’s!”

  She turned hard on her heel and swept through the door …

  … and crashed into Grannish.

  He was just as startled by the contact as she was, but only for a moment. He reached out with iron hands and grabbed hold of her arms. Then he shoved her with all his strength until she was thrown back and sent sprawling across the floor. She fought off the shock of it, scrambling to get back onto her feet, but Grannish was there, and with a mighty kick he caught her in the side of her ribs and sent her flying against the far wall.

  She crumpled to the floor, coughing and gasping for air, trying to force her now-bruised lung to work.

  “Grannish! What is the meaning of this? Why would you do this?” her father demanded, moving hurriedly to her side. He turned his back on Grannish and bent to help her up. She couldn’t speak fast enough to warn him. All she could do was shout out, “Father!”

  At least, she thought in that sharp second of time, her father had come to her. At least at the very end she knew he truly did care for her in some way.

  And then Grannish drove a dagger through her father’s back, through his heart, and out past his ribs on the front side. Shock registered along with pain on her father’s face. It was only a second. Just one second between heartbeats, but she finally saw clarity in his eyes. Finally saw the veil of blindness lift from him.

  But it was too late.

  Her father fell forward onto her.

  Grannish reached out to grab her father’s body and haul him off her. Still, she was stained with her sire’s blood and with the shock of his death. Grannish pulled her free and wrapped his hands around her throat, dragging her up to her feet and slamming her up against the wall.

  But out of nowhere came Tonkin’s fist, crashing into Grannish’s jaw, knocking the other man back and allowing Selinda to crumple back down to the floor on her hands and knees, again gasping for breath.

  “You! You answer to me!” Grannish spat at Tonkin, working his bruised jaw as he faced off with the page. “This fortress is surrounded by the city guard … the guard that works for me. The army, as we speak, is being locked outside the city walls. This fortress and this city are mine now! If you ever want to see your farm again—”

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass about my farm,” Tonkin spat. “I never have. I work for General Dethan and always have. Everything I told you was a whole lot of nothing. Things you would have found out anyway. You think you have this fortress, but I promise you, you don’t. And I won’t let you at the grandina again.”

  Tonkin stood between Selinda and Grannish, his fists up.

  Then two fortress guards entered the room. Grannish turned to them and said, “Quickly. He means to hurt the grandina!”

  “No!” Selinda rasped out. But the guard did not hear her. They charged poor Tonkin with weapons drawn. Tonkin bravely tried to fight them off, but he was outnumbered. He was fully engaged and there was nothing he could do to stop Grannish from grabbing Selinda by her hair and throat and dragging her from the room. She tried to fight him off, but as usual he was much too strong for her. He pulled her down the hall to his offices and threw her inside. There, she fell at the feet of a be-robed mem.

  “Very well,” Grannish said to the old woman. “Here’s the bride. Marry us.”

  “No! I will not marry you!” Selinda said. “You cannot force me!”

  Grannish grabbed a dagger off his desk, unsheathed it, and held the point beneath her chin so closely it broke the skin.

  “I can do whatever I like. And once we are wed the forces of this city will have no choice but to follow me.”

  “You’re mad!”

  “I will be grand. They will have no choice but to protect their grand!”

  “You will never be grand,” she spat at him. “I am granda now, Mem,” she said, addressing the woman whose robes marked her as being a mem for Xaxis. “I command this city now that my father is dead! Dead at this man’s hands! If you try to wed us, when General Dethan returns and retakes this fortress—which I promise you he will do—I will see to it you and your entire order are ejected from this city once and for all! But if you listen to me, if you obey your granda, then you will have a high standing in my regime.”

  “You will have no regime,” Grannish spat. “Marry us!” he commanded of the mem.

  The mem stood there a moment, seemingly indecisive. Then she turned and walked out of the room.

  Selinda sighed with relief.

  “Come back here! I will have you caught and your skin will be flayed from your body inch by inch!”

  “She is gone,” Selinda said, her bearing proud, her tone strong. “Don’t you see? This city is tired of your tyranny. They belong to me now. Me and my child, the baby in my body conceived by this city’s true general! Your power is at an end!”

  “Not if I kill your whole fucking family, it isn’t! It will leave only me, the conqueror, to rule! And I’m going to start by killing you, you disgusting little slut!”

  Grannish lunged for her. She scrambled back from him, fighting her skirts every inch of the way. But eventually he caught her and held the dagger at her breast while choking off her air at her throat.

  “I should have known you were fucking him. I saw the way you lusted after him. Flirting and throwing yourself at him. Flaunting this mangled face of yours. And that’s fine. If he likes to fuck a gnarled up husk of a bitch, that’s fine. But right now I’m going to squeeze the life out of you slowly, like I have been wanting to do for months,” he growled at her, spittle flying from his lips as his face mottled red.

  He did as he promised, crushing her throat with his bare hand until she couldn’t breathe. Then he released just enough for her to catch a breath before doing it again. And again. And again. All the while he glared into her eyes.

  No. She wouldn’t allow this! She refused to let this monster kill her and her child!

  He will not win!

  And with that fierce promise, an explosion of flame burst out of her. Grannish ignited instantly, his hair conflagrating and burning to a crisp, his clothes lighting up like dry tinder. He fell away from her and she cried out as her clothes caught fire. She rolled across the floor, extinguishing most of the fire, then scrambled to her feet. She whipped around to face Grannish, who was rolling across the floor, screaming at the top of his voice in a shrill pitch that cut through her … with satisfaction. Focusing on him, she called up her hatred toward him, and another burst of flame seared out of her and into him.

  By the time she sent a third volley of fire at him he was barely flopping around on the floor. But she would not be content, would not be safe, she thought, until he was ashes. The stench of burning flesh barely penetrated her senses. She kept him burning until he was mere bone on the scorched stone floor.

  Panting for breath, she stumbled away from him, giving him a wide berth even though there was no reason to fear him any longer. She rushed across the hallway to where Tonkin had been left fighting on her behalf.

  He was wounded and on his knees,
still trying to fight one guard back, the other lying wounded on the floor.

  “Enough!” she shouted when the one remaining guard went to lunge for Tonkin once again.

  The imperiousness of her tone drew him up short and he wheeled around to look at her.

  “I am your granda and I command you to stop this very instant! The man you followed is dead … by my hand! If you do not wish to face the same fate, you will heed my command and you will stop!”

  The soldier looked unsure for a moment, so she extended her arm and pointed to a chair in the corner of the room. She was exhausted and did not know if she could do any more, but she recalled all her feelings and frustrations of these past months and threw it out toward the chair.

  The object exploded, splinters of wood spraying everywhere, each one burning as it fell to the floor.

  The soldier dropped his weapons with a clatter and sank to his knees, his eyes wide with shock and fear.

  Completely drained, Selinda could barely keep upright. But she had no choice. Dethan needed her. He had been locked outside of the city with the Redoe. She raced through the fortress, commanding the doors be opened, ruling Grannish’s men into submission with just the power of her voice and bearing. These men were good men. Men who had been beholden to Grannish out of fear or blackmail. All they needed to hear was that he was dead and she was granda, and they made way for her with total obedience.

  Tonkin was with her the entire way, his arm hanging useless on the left side, but his right hand immediately there for her when she raised her foot toward the stirrup of her saddle. He hoisted her up and she took her seat. Looking down on him, she said, “Rest now, Tonkin. You have proven yourself a fine and loyal page. I will see to the care of your master until you are well.”

  She reined her horse around and kicked him into a run. Her hair had come undone and now streamed like a black banner behind her. She rode up to the gates, shouting at the top of her lungs. “What news?! What news?!”

  She dismounted with haste and ran for one of the wall towers, taking the stairs madly, breathing hard by the time she reached the top of the wall. She rushed to the edge of the wall and looked down on the battlefield. What she saw made her heart stop. The Redoe were all on their knees, kneeling before the power of her army. Walking the line of the prisoners, still blissfully unaware of how he had been locked out of the city, was Dethan. She was so relieved to see him that tears burned in her eyes. Before she could stop herself, she screamed his name.