by Aimee Moore
Dal's hot hand stopped at my breast, kneading and pinching in places that shot pleasure to my core. The throbbing heat of lust flared to life within me, and I let out a sigh, rolling on my back to see him better.
But Dal gave me a soft smile and rolled onto all fours above me. “It is time to wake,” he said in a neutral voice. And with that, he rose.
“Cruel,” I whispered.
But when my glance brushed down over his pants, I noticed that he was just as affected as I. And the sight did nothing to quell my desire for him. He looked down at me, and I smiled and turned away, rising as well. We woke Mindrik, who seemed to be in a better mood, and went to fetch our mounts.
But when we got to them, we suffered another disappointment.
Dal said on a sigh, “They lasted longer than I thought.”
I stared in horror. What had been our mounts only hours ago were now piles of thin leather, bones, and orange and brown goo.
“What happened to them?” I asked, my face aghast.
“That is not natural,” Mindrik said.
“Without nourishment, they fall apart. Stronger than any creature the Kraw have encountered, but when weakened, they cannot even feed Kraw dogs.”
“Did it hurt them to die like that?” I whispered.
“I cannot say.”
“There is no way in this world or the next that dying like that is not painful.” Mindrik turned to Dal. “Is there any part of Kraw life that is not born of misery?” And without waiting for an answer, he stomped off toward the road.
I cast a sad look at Dal and turned away, hiking my bag over my shoulder and following Mindrik. Dal stayed a moment longer before following us.
“How much longer until we are at the capital?” I asked.
“Not long now, maybe two days,” Mindrik said. “The air has much more water in it as we travel further. The coast nears.”
He was right, the wind, when it blew, seemed to clear away a lingering mugginess that clung to our skin these days.
Or perhaps I was just heated around Dal.
I sighed, raising my hair off the back of my sticky neck, trying to ignore the cramping hunger in my gut. “It's going to be a long two days without food.”
“I will catch what I can, but we must accept the possibility that there is nothing left alive to eat.”
He was right, of course. The two days of travel were punctuated by long rest as our bodies grew sluggish. Two days became three. Dal offered to carry me, but I held my head high and refused. Three days would not kill me, I had gone longer without food in the Kraw hut. But now each step was torture, as if each leg had sacks of grain tied to it, and I had not the breath to endure the exertion.
At long last, we pushed our weary bodies to crest a tall hill. Upon doing so, we gazed upon the awe-inspiring wonder that was the capital city of Elanthia. Lush green swept the landscape for miles within high stone walls, fading into sprawling cities and large, sparkling buildings. All of it led up to a massive stone structure that could only be described as a castle. Beyond that, my breath caught at the endless blue of the sea, winking in the distance as the rolling orange clouds kissed its jewel-like surface.
“It's magnificent,” I whispered.
“Yes, it certainly is grand.” Mindrik said.
I turned to look at him, but instead met Dal’s eyes, who was standing between us.
“Well, the sooner we get there, the sooner we get food,” Mindrik said. And with that, he set off down the hill, toward the capital, robes flapping behind him in the breeze.
I gave Dal a small smile, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze before turning to the road and following Mindrik.
When we got to the gates, after the entire day of agonizing travel, I realized that I had been sorely mistaken about one very crucial thing. The capital city was larger up close than I could have ever fathomed. The tall stone walls seemed to stretch up into the clouds, and the massive two-doored gate that sat upon the road like an aloof sentry baffled me with how it could possibly be opened without an army to pull it.
Within each massive door, was a smaller, human-sized door. A dozen or so men were posted at the door, and at the sight of Dal, they sprang to action in tight, regimented order.
“That creature may go no further,” a soldier with a tall helmet said.
Mindrik waxed his usual failing diplomacy. “He comes as a friend, to speak to the council about defeating the Kraw.”
“State your names.”
“I am Mindrik, prodigy follower to Sol Creljin, third elder of the council. I was summoned by him two summers ago and arrive now to discuss business, in addition to offering a Kraw informer for our advancement.”
“Where are your summons?”
“The university was burned to the ground, you fool, do you really think I would risk my own life trying to grapple a worthless piece of parchment? The council will know me when they see me.” Mindrik raised his chin.
“Who is the woman?” the tall-hatted soldier asked in his flat tone.
Mindrik turned to me, as if I was forgotten. “She is...”
I stepped forward. “I am Seraphine of Lambston, the last survivor of my village. I, too, wish a word with your council. I bring fresh news of this war.”
“The beast will be chained,” the soldier said.
“He most certainly will not, he is my guard. How is he to defend me against the likes of you if he is chained?”
“What about you commands our ill will?” The soldier asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I am female. That seems to be reason enough everywhere I set foot.”
The men laughed. The tall-hatted one spoke. “The beast comes in chained or you do not enter. There is no negotiation.”
“Then I do not enter,” I said, crossing my arms.
Mindrik grabbed my arm, giving the soldiers a fake smile. “A moment with the foul-tempered woman, if you will,” he said, leading me away. Dal followed, maintaining a neutral demeanor.
“I am not foul-tempered,” I hissed.
“Seraphine, we need to get into that capital. There is food, answers, and possibly the end to the war if your bea—"
“Don't you dare,” I said in a low voice.
Mindrik let a fast breath out of his nose. “If your friend cooperates.”
“Let them chain me,” Dal said.
I turned to Dal with a frown. “No.”
“They will remove the chains when I give them the information they want. Even if they do not, human chains pose little threat to me.”
Mindrik was staring at Dal with a furrowed brow. “Surely you have seen a chain before, Kraw?”
“Many.”
Mindrik shrugged. “If you wish it.”
“No, he does not wish it.” I turned to Dal, searching his gaze with desperation. “Dal, I cannot walk in there with you chained like some wild animal. You’re not a threat to them, there's no need.”
“I am a threat to them, Sera. I can snap their necks with a wave of my arm. Were I a member of this capital with citizens to protect, I would want the enemy subdued as well. Let them think me subdued so that we may find rest and nourishment. I would very much like to see all of us reasonably fed, for once. Even Kraw have limits on hunger.”
Mindrik put a hand on my shoulder. “If you are worried that you cannot trust anyone within those walls, do not trouble yourself Seraphine. There is law and order within those walls, and I can protect you as well as any Kraw with my gift.”
I let off a rough sigh as I looked at Dal.
“We are wasting time. Come,” Dal said.
My heart squeezed as Dal approached the soldiers, arms held out in front of him. It took two men to fasten the manacles of the chains around Dal's large wrists, and each clink of the manacle closing shot through me like spikes of ice.
I glanced at Dal, and his gaze brushed mine in a soft caress before looking forward with blank indifference. We walked forward, stopping at the small door within the grand gate.
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br /> “Welcome to the city of Elanthia,” the lead soldier said to us.
We nodded and stepped through the door.
I was not prepared for what was on the other side.
Green as far as the eye could see stretched before me, disappearing over a vast hill. So vast and so open and so verdant that I was saturated by it. And it was all food. To my left, off the marvelously cobbled road, were stables and a few more buildings. An open cart was brought forward with two magnificent horses to pull it. The beasts alone would have been worth more than a mansion in my village.
All three of us loaded inside the cart with a handful of soldiers, and before long it was rocking and bumping down the endless road at a quick pace. I couldn't quell the look of wonder on my face as the endless crops raced by my sight. I had never seen this much food before, crops as far as the eye could see. As we drove on, people out in the fields, well fed and smiling in their wide brimmed hats waved to us.
I could only stare. Even after an hour of riding at a brisk pace, I could not tear my eyes away from so much life. More than once I glanced at Dal to see his head tilted to me, watching my reaction to all around me. I shot him a small smile, conveying my joy. Mindrik was relaxed against the edge of the cart, arms upon its walls, watching the world go by as if this was to be expected.
In time we passed the endless fields and entered yet another gate, this one smaller than the first. Within this gate, there was a city unlike any I'd ever seen before. The cobbles ran everywhere, not a patch of grass or dirt in sight. Buildings stacked high, even sometimes stacking upon each other.
Between them ran lines of clothing and blankets and delightful fabrics and meats and flowers and herbs and sometimes even tethered birds with brilliant feathers. The smells of smoked foods and breads and herbs mixed with dust and sweat and animal. Noise was everywhere, and people openly stared at us as we passed, the magnificent horses not stopping for anything as they pranced proudly through the streets.
I couldn't close my mouth as I craned my neck this way and that in open wonder at the city around me. Men and women were calling out their wares, children were running through the streets, people were walking around with baskets or carts or nothing at all. All of them, well fed and untouched by the tragedies of war.
A band of children had begun to run after the cart, and I smiled at them until one of the little monsters threw a rock at us. Confusion caused me to reel until I realized that the rock hit Dal in the chest. Dal brushed it off as if it were nothing, but soon more rocks came. And further down the road, old fruit came as well.
“Make them stop,” I told a soldier.
He gave me a condescending smile. “You would have me halt our progress to scold some children?”
“They are attacking my friend.”
“He does not appear harmed.” And with that, the soldier turned away.
I glanced at Mindrik, who shrugged, and then to Dal, who brushed the smelly mush off of his chest with a sigh.
“I'm so sorry, Dal.”
He acted as if I hadn't spoken.
The city was no longer wondrous to me, I wanted to pass through it as soon as possible. But it kept on. For hours, the children falling away when they had gone too far from home, only to be replaced by new giggling monsters with fresh, yet unoriginal, ammunition. Some only threw insults. Some threw things much worse. A live rat landed in the cart, and I shrieked, climbing away from the scurrying creature. Dal grabbed it by the tail and dropped it off the edge of the cart all in one swift move.
At long last, new gates greeted us, and behind these was much of the same, except the buildings shined with polished stone or lovely metals. The wood signs were elaborate and artistic, the chaos was toned down to a dim murmur. The people here were dressed much finer than before. The only thing that was thrown at us now was distasteful looks, and all of them were given down the noses of the onlookers. Mindrik straightened, spent a moment grooming to be more presentable, then sat away from us, rigid with a polished air.
He was one of them, the message could not have been plainer.
This part of the vast city went on for hours more, until we finally came upon a grand gate gilded in shining silver that seemed to alternate between hues of blues and greens. The gate swung open at our presence, and the massive courtyard on the other side was still another hour in the least away from the great castle I had seen from the hill so long ago.
The smell of the sea and honeysuckle wafted at me in an intoxicating mix. Night was falling now, soft stars winking in the purpling brush of night that crept in on the orange sky. Exquisite, gilt lanterns were lighting along the elaborately cobbled road, and magnificent animals wandered among the lush path that teemed with plants and blooms that I had never fathomed in all my life.
I leaned out of the cart to try and smell each of them, to get a better look at shining birds with long trains of tail feathers or large cats of sleek silver coats lounging in the trees. This part of the journey was something out of a fairy tale, for not even in my wildest dreams had I imagined such a thing.
As night carried on, fireflies winked into existence, some of them being lapped up by lizards or frogs. Small, charming creatures with large ears and eyes hopped between the trees overhead, and frogs and crickets competed with equally entrancing symphonies. I looked at Dal, seeing the lamplight and fireflies in his eyes, and wished that we were alone here, free to share our thoughts and affections without judgment. But he was Kraw and chained like a captive among enemies.
“Lovely, isn't it,” Mindrik said to me.
I tried to turn my attention back to the lush gardens. “Have you ever seen anything like it?” I asked.
“The university had gardens of this sort, but not nearly so grand or well cared for. I had never seen a blue frog until today.”
I smiled. “And these flowers, what a heady perfume they all make.”
Mindrik gave a nod. “Yes. Which is your favorite?”
I turned out to the lush garden before me, my gaze settling on a purple bloom with yellow fronds in the middle. “That one is far lovelier than the rest,” I said as I pointed.
Mindrik began to weave with his fingers, and a small glob of water coalesced by the bloom. As we passed it, the glob of water pinched the flower off of the plant and floated toward me. I reached out and stuck my hand in the water, grasping the flower, and the water fell away.
I smiled at Mindrik. “Fancy trick.”
Mindrik smiled back. “I assure you the people within this grand structure will think nothing of it.”
I smelled the flower, and it smelled nothing like I expected. The odor was pungent, almost like a skunk. I held the flower away from my face and spun it. At least it was pretty. I glanced at Dal to see him watching me with the ghost of a smile.
At long last, our drooping horses pulled us to another magnificent gate within the structure, and we were helped down, Dal being left to jump and land on his own. He did so with an agility that surprised everyone, the clinking of his chains being the only noise to signal his movement. We walked through the gates, into a courtyard with a ring of stairs leading to alcoves containing doors set in grand columns. Three men stood within the grandest alcove, each wearing a robe of a different color. Above their heads spun small balls of fire of different colors, like crowns.
I knew without being introduced that these men were part of the council, the acting kings of my world.
Chapter 18
Gilded Dreams
The man in the blue robes with the blue crown of fire stepped down first. His papery voice took its time floating to us. “Mindrik, I presume.”
Mindrik strode over to the man, head held high. “Sol Creljin, I have arrived to find you in good health, I see.”
“No thanks to the likes of the creature that rode here in your shadow.”
Mindrik turned as if seeing Dal for the first time. “This one is subdued, and claims to offer aid.”
I snarled at Mindrik.
S
ol Creljin flicked an unconcerned glance at Dal and myself, then back to Mindrik. “You have arrived, then, at my summons.”
Mindrik looked down his nose at the area around him. “In part. I was passing through the capital and thought to spare some time for your grand palace.”
Sol Creljin stepped back, gesturing behind him with an arm. The other two men, one of yellow and the other of red stepped forward. “These are my peers, Sol Vraldok and Sol Lalpund.” The other two men nodded respectively.
“And what of the other four council?” Mindrik asked, not bothering to extend the same courtesy to Dal and myself.
“Two have perished in battle. The remaining two are seeing to another matter.”
“Tell me, Sol Creljin, what of our king? I have had no news since the university fell.”
“Ah, so the university was destroyed before then.” Sol Creljin said in his sad, papery voice. “Our king has perished at the hands of the Kraw. The council rule, now. Come, we shall see to your needs, it is obvious that you have not been fed for some time.” The councilmen began to turn away from Dal and me, Mindrik falling into step with them. The soldiers reached for us, obviously intending to steer us somewhere far removed from the high and mighty Gifted.
“I would request that you remove the chains from my companion,” I said in a loud, commanding tone, halting the procession.
The man of yellow, Sol Vraldok, turned to me. “I beg your pardon?”
“My companion remains chained, hungry, and dirty. We have arrived at your door the same as Mindrik, do we not deserve the same hospitality?” I said, straightening.
Sol Lalpund turned to me. “And why do you come? You were not summoned, why would we not assume that you rode in on Mindrik's shadow, acting parasites on his greatness?”
My hands heated and I balled them into fists. “I come to bring you news of the war, and Dal offers aid against his own people for the good of ours. Do you think so highly of yourselves, hidden behind the walls of your wealth, that you do not see fit to be grateful for such grand assistance?”
Sol Lalpund flicked a glance at my hot hands, then at my face. “What is your name?”