“Gimme a mo—there we go,” Jaz muttered, as he hefted a heavy-looking crossbow out from behind the bar and pointed it directly at the tavern’s closed door.
“What are you doing?” Emily hissed. “That’s too heavy! Drop it and let’s go!”
“I ain’t leavin’, little one. Gold Serpents and their masters be dammed, this is my home!” He spoke confidently, but Emily could see the worry—the fear—in his eyes. He knew what his decision meant. Jaz looked at her for a moment and smiled, a painful smile. “Go on, take the tunnel. I’ll hold ’em off for as long as I can.”
“No! We still have time!” she shouted back, reaching for him.
Jaz pulled his hand away and flashed that strange smile again. “It’ll be alright, little one. Take the tunnel and go back to your real family.”
Emily stiffened at his words, even through her panic.
“I knew the moment I found yeh. Only a noble lady would’ve had clothes made of such silk. I was sure you’d bring it up at some point, but yeh didn’t, so I let it be. Whatever made yeh run off, can’t be worse than one of these gold whoresons getting their hands on yeh. Now, go.”
Emily hesitated, then simply nodded. She didn’t know what to say. Keeping her tears in check, she ran into the back room of the tavern and heaved a crate off a hidden trapdoor built into the floor. She knelt and pulled the door open—and without stopping to look, dropped into the black, slamming the door shut after her.
Behind her, she heard the unmistakable sound of wood splitting and the loud twang of a heavy crossbow. She ran as fast as she could through the long, dark tunnel which led out of the city, telling herself not to look back.
* * *
The soil of the tunnel walls was dry. Though roots broke through here and there, the wooden frames built to keep it stable were still doing their job. Emily knew the way well; she had used this tunnel to smuggle items into and out of the city in the past, ever since she learned of Jaz’s true occupation. But in the dark, breathing hard, it was difficult not to stumble.
With so much trade and wealth passing through this city, getting things—goods, people—past the checkpoints had been a very profitable endeavor. Matters had changed with the spread of the Blood Curse and the citywide quarantine that followed. Using the tunnel had become dangerous. The guards might have ignored her smuggling healthy people out of death-traps, like she had with Andre and his daughter, but out of the city entirely? That would have gone against the Satrap’s and the Arna administrator’s direct orders, and so it became too risky.
Right now, however, Emily thought it was safe to assume they had more immediate issues to deal with.
When she slammed into the far end of the tunnel, she reached for and then climbed the ladder there by touch, until she felt her hands meet the rough wooden cover. Heaving it upwards, she paused there panting for a moment, allowing the cold rain to fall on her face and hair. There were trees overhead.
Pulling herself up and out onto the wet earth, the first thing she heard were the distant explosions and screams, as if carried by the wind to haunt her. Glancing back, she saw a red glow and a heavy pall of smoke marking the horizon behind the tall trees where the city lay.
Even under these heavy rains, Arna burned.
Emily rubbed her arm as she tried to stop the slow tremor making its way up her skin. It was cold, and the rain wasn’t helping. She pushed through the light brush and undergrowth, following the same smuggling route she had so many times in the past. It would lead her to the river and a small raft they kept there; she could use it to make her way to Firma, the satrapy’s capital, and back to her family. Surely they would help her now, even given what had happened in the past.
A crack came from somewhere close by. Emily froze. Slowly, she turned and faced the man who had appeared behind her on the path. He smirked as the rain hammered against his heavy plate armor. Emily didn’t need to see his tabard to know who he was.
She spun back, intending to run—only for pain to explode around her face and right eye. She screamed as she fell backward, her feet catching on a branch and bringing her to the ground.
Gravity took control as she rolled down the hillside, wet leaves and branches all around her.
As the ground leveled off, she hastily scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain of the many cuts and bruises her fall had inflicted. She ran as fast as she could in the half-dark, adrenaline flooding into her. She didn’t know where she was going, only that she had to get away. She heard voices calling out behind her, but didn’t stop. Her face burned—that strike had hit her square in the right eye, and she could have sworn she had felt something give from the force. She tried opening it, but she couldn’t see nor feel anything on that side of her face.
Her feet landed on a mossy rock and she almost slipped, but a hand grabbed her shoulder, steadying her, before it pulled her down. She tried to scream, panicked, but a hand covered her mouth and she heard the distinct sound of someone trying to shush her.
“Be quiet,” a male voice whispered. Emily realized, she recognized it.
“Cayden?” she mumbled indistinctly, through the fingers covering her mouth. He had joined the Green Threads only a little time ago, but it was still a relief to see someone familiar.
“Yes, Cayden. What in the Abyss is going on?!” he hissed as he let go of her.
“Gold Serpents,” Emily said. “They torched Arna and are after me. We have to move.”
She stood, pulling Cayden up with her, but stopped as a bright golden light flashed, blinding her, followed by the sensation of wet, cold steel against her neck.
“On your knees,” a deep male voice said, cutting easily through the sound of the heavy downpour, his tone dangerous and unforgiving.
Emily and Cayden followed the order and slowly lowered themselves as their eyes recovered from the temporary blindness.
The man before them wore the same heavy, silvered armor as the rest of the Gold Serpents, but it was augmented by a golden cape and an ornate helm that covered most of his face. Even through the helm, Emily could see his light green eyes. The feature marked him as being from an original Ejani bloodline, the most entitled and influential group within the Empire.
He glared down at them, his eyes devoid of mercy. There was no trace of humanity in them—they were the eyes of someone who had witnessed countless deaths and atrocities. Even under the cold rain, Emily felt a sharp, unnatural chill in her bones.
“Check them,” the armored man ordered, and another person in drenched white robes came out from the trees. He pointed his open palm toward them and closed his eyes. Yellow mist seeped from his fingers before forming into several symbols. A warm feeling spread through Emily, but it was gone just as suddenly as it appeared.
The white-robed man shook his head, then left without a word. It was just her, Cayden, and the Gold Serpent again.
“Name,” the soldier demanded, as his razor-sharp blade dug into her neck. Emily flinched.
“C-Cayden!” her companion interjected. “I’m just a fisherman… m-my boat is down there.” He pointed toward the river behind them.
The soldier didn’t even look at him; he kept staring down at Emily.
“Emily… sir,” she replied, whilst keeping eye contact. The man nodded, then sheathed his blade before gesturing for them to stand.
“I am Division Leader Mehrazeen, of the Gold Serpents. Do you know what that means?”
Emily nodded, as she and Cayden pushed themselves to their feet. It meant he could do whatever he wanted with them.
It was clear that Cayden, however, had no intention of seeing what that might be. At the first opportunity, he spun and sprinted toward the river. Emily stared in shock at his quickly retreating form. Mehrazeen glowered and extended his right hand. A yellow mist seeped from his fingers, swirling to form intricate symbols, before he bellowed: “Radiance!”
A bright light flashed from above, illuminating the individual rain drops in the air before a column of gol
den light shot down and directly onto Cayden. The surrounding vegetation erupted into flames. The light released so much heat Emily felt it against her own skin, even from this distance.
Emily squinted at Cayden’s dark impression at the center of the beam with her one good eye, his screams drowning the sound of the rain as it battered the surrounding trees. When the beam disappeared, only a charred body was left. It was still on fire, Emily saw with a sickened feeling, until the rain snuffed the last flames out.
Mehrazeen let his hand fall back to his side, his gaze drifting to her. “Any trouble from you?” he asked, and Emily quickly shook her head. But then the trauma of the night caught up with her, the many cuts and wounds she had suffered, the shock. Her legs began to go numb and her vision blurred. For a moment, it was as if she was falling, and just as a hand grabbed her arm, the blackness took her.
Chapter 2
Emily let out a pained groan and forced her eyes open. She winced at the sudden flash of light, blinking repeatedly until her blurred vison slowly cleared.
She found herself on the floor of a yellow tent, in loose and tattered rags in place of her clothes, her wrists and ankles restrained by ropes. A bandage was wrapped around her head and eye, while smaller medical patches covered the cuts on her arms and legs. How long has it been? she wondered, instinctively scanning her surroundings. Other than a strange pulley positioned above her head and a few bedrolls stacked in the corner, the tent was empty.
They had taken her to their camp. From all around her, she could hear muffled screams and cries for mercy. The Gold Serpents were taking their time interrogating the helpless people of her city… her former city. What made it worse was that she still didn’t understand what this was about. Why would the Imperial Family, or even the Prime Divinity, unleash the Gold Serpents on Arna?
The Ayya family, the latest in a long string to rule the Ejani Empire, had conducted a coup and seized control over a century ago. Since then, they had championed peace and never before fielded the Gold Serpents, even when it might have been warranted.
What had changed?
Her thoughts were confused by the pain, and a memory of Jaz came to the forefront. He had taken her in at the most vulnerable time of her life, and cared for her without asking for a thing in return. When she had found out about his other, less legal business, she had insisted on helping him to repay his kindness. Although he had argued against it, she had worn him down in the end.
Jaz kept telling her she would more than likely end up dead or worse. A woman such as herself had no place in a world like that, he had said once.
Emily shook her head, feeling the dull ache around her bandaged eye. His words held more meaning now that she knew he had known who she was. She supposed it didn’t matter; he was right, she would probably be dead soon.
The tent’s flap swung open and two men strode in. The first was a giant of a man, clad in a decorative yellow-and-white outfit. Twin pins—each bearing a stylized sun—were attached to his shoulders, marking him as an official of the imperial government. The second was a scrawny fellow, wearing a long white robe with the emblem of the Gold Serpents embroidered on its front: a gold snake wrapping around the Ejani’s sun. She didn’t recognize either of them, and although the larger man had the characteristic green eyes of an original Ejani bloodline, it was the smaller man who caught her attention.
Unlike her and the taller mans bronze skin, the paleness of the robed man meant that he was not originally from the eastern or central Ejani imperial provinces, but his presence meant he was from one of the many satrapies established by the Empire after their numerous conquests of their neighbors. Her skin crawled at the way his lips curled upward at the sight of her wearing only the tattered cloth over her nakedness.
The larger man cleared his throat and unfurled a scroll in his hand. “Emily, no family name. Occupation: smuggler,” he read out.
Emily didn’t know if it was a question or a statement, but she nodded.
“What do you know of the spread of the Blood Curse in Arna?” he asked.
Emily paused for a moment at the unexpected question. “Not much,” she said eventually. “It started with some tainted food, then spread through people.” This was information everyone in the city knew.
The man shook his head. “We have evidence which implicates the Fermont Syndicate, including the leader of the Green Threads, in conspiring to commit this heinous crime—here, and in other cities within our bright Empire…” He pressed his lips together. “We also know that you helped the infected escape the approved quarantine. So let me ask you this, smuggler: do you wish to confess?”
Emily stared at the man, not knowing what to say. What did he mean “in other cities?” Had the Curse also spread to the other provinces? Either way, Jaz could not have had anything to do with it, and they had been very thorough in who they smuggled out of the quarantined districts. Arna was their home too.
“Emily,” the man repeated. “Do you wish to confess?”
“You’re wrong,” she insisted. “I don’t know what evidence you’re talking about, but we had nothing to do with the Curse.”
“Then you know who instigated it?”
“Of course not!” Emily snapped as the man’s intentions became clear. She was far too intimate with this type of questioning. It was an interrogation which only had one outcome: guilty. The guards used it frequently to put undesirables away in holes, never to be seen again.
The man sighed, then knelt before her. His eyes went to her many wounds and Emily had the distinct impression that this man was pitying her. “By the powers instilled upon me by His Majesty, the bright Emperor of Ejan and its many loyal satrapies, I have the authority of judging you with the full might and fury of Ejani law.” He paused and placed a surprisingly delicate hand on her slender shoulder. “Don’t fight this. I can promise you a swift, painless death—it’s the best outcome for you now,” he whispered, before getting back to his feet, his expression hardening. “Let me ask you one last time: will you confess to the crime of directly or indirectly aiding in the spread of the Blood Curse amongst the esteemed visitors to our great Empire, as well as to its noble citizens?”
Emily glowered back at him. It was clear now: this had nothing to do with evidence of Jaz’s misdeeds, they simply needed an excuse for the bloodbath they had unleashed, and the Syndicate were the easiest target. Why would they even commit this massacre if it meant going to the considerable trouble of covering it up? But then the answer struck her, and she had to work hard to keep the grin from her face.
Someone, somewhere, had made a mistake and now they were trying to find anyone other than themselves to blame. It didn’t matter what the details were—she would not submit to such a ploy.
“Do what you must, Serpent,” she said coldly. “I won’t give you a scapegoat for your crimes in Arna. I can only hope you killed some important people, and the other factions go as mad as you have and burn down your pretty manors in the Imperial Capital.” Deliberately, she spat on the ground between them.
The larger man frowned. “Is that all?”
Emily nodded, her eyes never leaving his.
The man sighed. “Well, it’s not as though I expected anything better.” He turned toward the thin man, who stood at the furthest point of the tent. “It appears you will have your fun, Nelik. Do what you must; I want her signed confession by daybreak.”
Emily glanced at the scrawny man just in time to see his lips curve upward before he bowed.
“As you command, Master Helis,” he said.
Emily was startled. Helis? She knew that name. This man was the Captain of the Guard, one of the most powerful men within the Ejani faction. Whatever was going on, it was much bigger than she had thought if it had brought such a man so far from the Imperial Capital.
As if he had been waiting for her reaction, Helis smiled, then immediately turned and left. His sudden departure brought silence to the tent, only for it to be broken by a light chuckl
e as Nelik positioned himself before her and grabbed the ropes which tightly bound her ankles.
Emily yelped as he yanked her forward with surprising strength and hooked her to the pulley. He let out another laugh as he repeatedly wrenched on the mechanism, which promptly hoisted her up from the ground.
It didn’t take long for the pressure to build within Emily’s head as she hung upside down. The ruined clothes, if they could even be called that, fell over her head and obscured her view for a few moments before Nelik pulled them completely from her. Emily glared at the robed man, as he whistled and made other disgusting noises of appreciation at the sight of her now-naked body.
He took a step closer, then another, his hands reaching out to caress her hips, then her stomach. Emily tried to move away, but with her hands also bound, all she could do was swing there helplessly. The man took a step back, his hands disappearing into his robes before pulling out a thin curved knife.
“Wh—What are you doing?” Emily asked, her eyes wide and her heart pounding.
The man brought the knife in front of her and drew his finger across the length of the blade, as if showing it off to someone he wished to sell it to.
“This blade has drunk its fill of dozens of people,” he murmured. “Traitors, thieves, even lovers. All confessed to their crimes in the end.” Emily let out a grunt as the man gripped a handful of her hair and pulled her toward him to look directly into her eye. “That’s it. Struggle, little bird. I wish to bleed you dry.”
He stretched upward, his hand brushing across her right thigh before a sharp stinging pain erupted from the same location. Emily grunted, then screamed as the horrific sensation was repeated over and over. She arched her back and twisted away, her body trying to find any position which would reduce the pain it was experiencing, but all that did was allow her own blood to drip and spatter on her face and body.
Fallen Ambitions Page 2