by Kate Sander
She lunged forward to grab Jules but he wasn’t there. Stomach dropping, she fell to her hands in the dirt. The others had disappeared. Crushing darkness stifled her breath. Completely alone with no sense of direction, she crumbled on the ground.
This was no place to die.
Senka turned and saw two others way behind her. Vigo took up most of the tunnel, his vast shoulders from one side to another. Standing tall, his head barely scraped the ceiling. His short fame fit almost perfectly. Jules came up behind him and had to stoop at his waist.
“Wait,” Jules said, puffing, “Wait. You have to slow down a bit.”
Senka nodded and sat in the tunnel on her knees. She breathed deeply and tucked a piece of brown hair behind her ear. Jules turned to see how the Queen was doing and he realized she wasn’t behind him.
“The Queen’s gone!” he whispered. “We have to go back for her.”
Senka hopped to her feet and unsheathed a knife, staring at him, eyes blazing.
“No!” He was struggling to keep his voice low, “She didn’t betray us. She wouldn’t. Her life is depending on this as much as yours.”
Senka stared at him, and nodded slowly. She gave Jules the Pulse light and pointed down the tunnel, towards the exit. She then pointed to herself and back towards the bunker and towards the Queen.
“No, we’ll go together.”
Senka shook her head, pointed to the light, the exit, her and back. She shoved the light into his hand, pushed him forward and turned and ran away stooped, left hand lightly touching the wall.
“Well, not a talker is she,” Jules commented to Vigo. Vigo grunted his agreement and Senka left them both behind to face the darkness alone.
The Queen was on the threshold of a complete meltdown. She didn’t know which way to go. She scrambled on her hands and knees, trying to find the wall so she could go a direction, any direction. Even being caught by the guards seemed better than this. Death for treason was better than dying alone in the black. At least at the gallows there was fresh air and sky overhead. The dank old air was crushing her lungs as she scurried on her hands and knees.
Something grabbed her arm and a hand was placed roughly over her mouth. The Queen tried to scream but she couldn’t make a sound. Panicking and thrashing, she tried to get away from her attacker, but the hands gripped her wrist and held her mouth to keep her silent.
She couldn’t breathe. She was going to suffocate. And yet, the hands held firm.
Trying to relax, she gasped air through her nose. Once she controlled her breathing, the hand let go of her mouth while another guided her hand to a belt. It was 613. The Queen almost yelled with joy. 613 guided her hands to the back of her belt. All the Queen had to do was hang on to her guide.
Senka rolled her eyes when she heard the Queen scrounging on the ground, breath coming in gasps. Surrounded by complete blackness for twelve hours a day for the last two years, she had learned to use her other senses. After she calmed the Queen down, she guided her hands to the back of her belt. Lightly touching the wall with her right hand, she guided the pair towards the direction of the exit.
It took a lot longer than Senka expected and the Queen, though quite strong, had clearly not been running. They had to take multiple breaks. The twisting of the tunnel didn’t let them see very far in front of them, so there was no way to tell how far away they were from Jules, Vigo and the Pulse light. After her solo escapade in the darkness, the Queen wasn’t in a talking mood, which suited Senka just fine. Senka also knew where she was at all times by checking her aura. The Queen had a bright orange aura, much like the sun. Senka liked the color, therefore liked the Queen.
Senka pulled the Queen up from their last break and guided her hands to her belt. She kept her ears peeled for the sound of the others, though the heavy steps and breathing of the Queen drowned most other sound out. Luckily, still no sounds of approaching guards.
Senka took a hard right and was greeted by the site of Jules, Pulse light in hand, waiting in the corridor. Vigo’s head was hanging down from a trap door in the roof. Jules must have boosted him up. Senka pointed at the Queen and then pointed to Vigo. Jules understood and boosted the Queen up to Vigo’s grasp. Senka could hear her gasping the fresh air. Jules then boosted Senka up and, with a leap, jumped up into Vigo’s arms.
Senka breathed in the fresh air. She had been in that prison for two years. Trees surrounded them. Beautiful, green trees. Bombarded with the smells of trees and crops, flowers and moss, she inhaled deeply, taking it all in. Cool, fresh air tickled her skin. She held her arms out and turned around in a circle, feeling the beautiful grass on her feet and the wind in her hair. She turned and faced the three others with a large, toothy grin.
The Queen laughed, “I owe you one. Really I do.” The Queen was sitting on the ground, covered head to toe in dirt. Vigo and Jules hadn’t fared much better, they were dark with grime. Senka looked down and saw her hands and feet were black. Clearly she looked the same. She couldn’t see Solias from the copse of trees. The tunnel must have led them a mile or more out of the city.
“Now,” the Queen said as she pushed herself to her feet. “I fear my husband might sober up soon and wake up. I have a way back into the city, not a worry.” She took her very thick green cloak off and gave it to Senka, pulling a pair of supple leather boots out of the pocket. Senka gave a curt nod. The Queen removed her bow and quiver, holding it out to her. It was beautiful, the wood was elm and deftly made, the arrows superb. Senka examined it in awe and looked up at the Queen. Senka’s eyes welled up and she angrily wiped the tears away.
“Screw it,” the Queen said and gave Senka a hug. Senka didn’t hug back but she allowed the Queen to bury her head in her shoulder. Jules coughed and the Queen let go, blushing.
“Sorry,” the Queen said, and her face was all business. “I need you to go to the Melanthios and negotiate a treaty. We want peace, it’s the council who doesn’t. The King and I are under severe pressure, I honestly don’t know if I’ll survive to see you again. Go to the main Melanthios village and tell them I will personally meet with their leader to negotiate peace, a treaty so iron clad even the council won’t be able to break it.”
Senka nodded. Swinging the cloak on over her daggers, she sat to tie her boots.
“You can reach me by raven. Don’t trust anyone. We live in a dark time. I’m leaving Vigo and Jules with you to help. Don’t fail. If the two of us fail, we’ll all die. All I have is you.”
They stared for a while, neither wanting to break eye contact. Senka owed this woman everything. So, revenge would have to wait. With a final nod, the Queen turned away and ran towards the city.
Senka slung the bow and quiver over her shoulder and ran northeast, leaving the boys to follow at their own pace. Leaving the trees, she looked up and saw a clear night sky with the beautiful Aurora burning overhead.
Beauty. How could she forget to look up? Never again.
She loved the stars and the bold green of the Aurora cutting through the sky filled her with hope. Hope was dangerous, but it weaseled its way inside.
She had failed her master, she would not fail the Queen.
10
Senka
Senka set a hard pace through the open field, her eyes set on a small copse of trees in the distance. After being cooped up for so long, she relished every sight, sound and smell. She breathed deeply and loved the burning sensation of exercise in her lungs. The bright green Aurora overhead lit the path, a rare sight in Langundo.
This was the closest to happiness she’d felt in a long time.
Senka knew that she had left Jules and Vigo far behind her, but she wasn’t worried. This flat landscape meant they could see her for miles. They needed to get to the trees before daybreak when her escape would surely be discovered. She basically sprinted the last quarter mile, letting her legs run loose and breathing deeply. Slowing down, she jogged into the copse of trees, lungs burning but feeling exhilarated . Time to figure out a shelter
for the day.
She found a couple of fallen trees over a rock and thought that, with a bit of work, it would suffice. A few feet away was a small creek that the farmers must use for irrigation. They wouldn’t find food but after her time in prison, she didn’t need a lot of food to keep going. The guys would just have to suffer through.
She was well into setting up camp and hiding their shelter with more leaves and fallen trees when Jules and Vigo crashed into the trees, breathing heavily.
“Water,” Jules managed to pant.
Senka pointed to the small creek and they went and had their fill. She watched Vigo carefully, that maroon aura set her on edge. She paid no attention to Jules, his green aura was one she had seen often. He was average.
Jules returned and she showed him the shelter.
“Well done,” Jules said, still recovering from his run, “I figured we would rest during the day and travel at night. Especially over the plains. We should hit the forest in a week’s time, then we can switch it up.”
Senka nodded and pointed at herself, showing that she agreed.
“Look, you don’t have to be quiet anymore,” Jules said, “We’re way out of ear shot, and have a good eight hours head start on anyone finding out you’re gone. They usually don’t change guards until well after sunrise and they will have a hard time figuring out which prisoner is missing. When they do figure it out, it will be a while until they even have an idea about which direction we’ve gone.”
Senka looked at him, brows furrowed. Jules thought she looked sad. When you got passed the scar and stared into those eyes, she was really quite pretty.
“Look you don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, I’m just saying you don’t have to be quiet anymore.”
Senka sighed and opened her mouth.
Stunned, Jules couldn’t look away. Her tongue had been cut out. He stood up and paced angrily. How could the Melanthios do that to someone?
“Who the hell did that to you?” he exclaimed.
Senka held up one finger, made a swirling motion with her index finger, then pointed behind her.
“One year ago,” he offered.
She smiled and nodded. She then pointed at the scar on her face.
“During torture?” he asked.
She nodded again.
Jules could barely speak, “You mean… You mean to tell me we did this?”
She looked at him confused and gave a quick nod, clearly meaning “Well of course you did this.”
Jules stopped pacing, “The Sun Gods don’t do stuff like this, I can’t believe we would do anything like this to anyone. It’s the Melanthios who torture and do stuff, the Sun Gods protect.”
It was Senka’s turn to stand up angrily. Glaring at the insult, she balled her fists at her sides. She wanted to hit him, but she held herself back. The leaders were lying to their people. But how dumb can you be?
She pointed to her face again.
“Well, that’s obviously new.” He stopped pacing. “I’m sorry. The Queen had said we were being lied to, I just didn’t know it was this bad. So Intelligence did that to you? The scar and cut out your tongue?”
Senka sat and nodded again. Jules smiled, “Kind of funny. She wanted information and she cut out your tongue. I don’t mean to be laughing at you, but seems kind of stupid.”
Senka pointed to herself and nodded and started to giggle. The stress of two years imprisonment started to melt away.
“Listen, I really want you to be able to talk to me, okay?”
She looked at him quizzically.
“Well we can start with hand signs, and I’ll speak out loud. When I guess, you nod. We can make a language with our hands. I’ve heard of people doing it in Carabesh. Eventually me and you will be able to talk without using our voices. Then I can start teaching others. Deal?” Jules held out his hand for a shake.
Senka hesitated. She couldn’t understand why this tall man was being nice to her. Vigo returned, crashing through the trees. Senka stared at Jules, eyes boring into his. Finally, with a nod, she shook.
Jules smiled toothily. “Great,” he said. Vigo turned and went into the shelter, clearly not in a talking mood.
“So what do I call you?”
It took a lot of attempts, but they eventually got it.
“Senka?” He said finally, and she nodded happily.
“Okay Senka, nice to meet you. I’m Jules.”
She pointed at him and had a questioning look on her face.
“You want to know about me?”
A quick nod.
“Well, I’m afraid you probably won’t like me when I tell you my story.”
She looked at him, expectantly.
“But I suppose we need to trust each other. I am a member of the Sun Gods.”
He waited nervously for her reaction, but she continued to stare at him with steady eyes.
Taking it as a signal to continue, he said, “I didn’t do exceptionally well in my trials. I didn’t make the Exalted or anything, but I survived. I was assigned to the Second Infantry. We just pretty much policed Solias, sending the vagrants to the dungeons for a few months at a time. Nothing ever happened to anyone from Solias that happened to you,” he added, hoping she realized he didn’t know what was going on down there.
“Anyways, one day a lady ran up to us when we were on patrol. Apparently someone was threatening to kill themselves in the market. Me and my partner got there and talked the man down. He was some trader, I’m not really sure what he did. I haven’t seen him since. The lady happened to be the Queen. She would often wear civilian clothes and go to market herself. She thought I would be a good fit for her personal guard. This was a few years back. I joined and have been devoted to the Queen ever since.”
He finished his story and looked at her. She didn’t seem to judge, and occupied herself by fiddling with her fingernails. Nodding, she pointed into the shelter where Vigo had gone.
Understanding, he said, “I’m not sure what his story is. The Queen found him. The first time I met him was this morning when we went over the plan to break you out. But the Queen trusts him and I trust the Queen.”
Satisfied, Senka yawned and turned, entering the shelter. Jules stared after her. He didn’t know what she had endured in her short life, but he felt himself becoming protective over her.
And he realized that despite the scarring and the violence, she really was quite beautiful.
11
Armend
My Dearest King and Queen,
I have done your bidding these past two weeks, and regrettably have very little information to pass on. The only whispers I have heard are from the Head of Treasury. He seems to think that the Melanthios are behind our Quicksilver shortage and wishes war against them.
I will continue to listen to the treason, and though my soul tells me to lash him with my tongue as he speaks, I will resist.
I fear, as you feared, these whispers by Treasury will become talk.
Ever your servant,
Uncle Armend, Head of Peace
Armend signed his name with a flourish and put his quill back into the ink. He re-read his letter and thought smugly that it was perfect. Armend wanted to place seeds of distrust, but as he was lying he didn’t want any specific information. Plausible deniability was key.
With the letter dry, he folded it and wrote the name of the King. No one in their right mind would try and intercept a letter addressed to the King, so he wasn’t worried about spies or his raven being caught. He left his chamber and headed to the man he knew with a flight of Ravens ready at any time. Ravens were the smartest creatures in Langundo, and were used without hesitation for mail. They would carry the letter for hundreds of miles and would always find their quarry unless they were killed in the journey.
Ravens could also be trained to report to only one person. That was often how Captains received orders from the city. They had a raven assigned to them, and that raven would run messages back and forth from Solias
. The raven would stay away until a whistle drew them down to their master. Armend had never understood the use of caring for a raven full time. Vile vermin, they were nothing better than rats with wings.
Armend walked through the golden palace without looking around, completely lost in thought. He needed to get Treasury, Housing and Goods out of the way or on his side. Really, he could only frame one of them. If he tried to frame them all for treason it would draw too much suspicion.
The King was quite easy to manipulate, but the Queen was the thorn in his side. He was sure she didn’t trust him and he needed to figure out how to get her under control.
All he wanted was to give this great city what the old King had envisioned for it. Pulse lights in every house, no shortage or rationing required. Safety. The people of Solias deserved to feel safe. And the only way to accomplish that once and for all was by crushing the enemy. The Melanthios had to die. Only then would Armend save Solias.
Arriving at the market, he wrinkled his nose. The smells of spices made him nauseas and the colorful tents hurt his eyes. He was in no mood for this. Sebastian should be on this errand, but he was busy following the Queen trying to get information on her movements for Armend.
She was a dumb bitch, but she seemed more troublesome than a normal woman.
Armend quickly strode into the right shop. The smell of bird shit was everywhere. He hurried the man a Krit and walked out. He didn’t mind being seen in the market, it was quite usual for members of the council to send ravens and do their own shopping. Even though they were only a step down from the King and Queen in power, they didn’t keep servants except to cook and clean their quarters in the castle. This was completely unreasonable. Who kept this city running? Certainly not the monarch. It was the council, and servants should be provided… for every need.