“Yes, Agis,” Omiroe said, standing up.
“Also, I want to know who all is missing from the tribe. Once the runners are off, I want to take a census in the village to see if we have any other defectors out there. I suddenly have a sick feeling about our former Midlandia tribemates.”
“Of course,” Omiroe said, rushing out of the hut.
Fralek awoke to find Winter awake, sitting against the tree. She looked at him, and then looked away again.
“Do not be like that. Let us make today a good day, and we will eat well in the evening. Maybe I will even allow you a bit of bryne?”
Fralek got up and gathered his belongings. When he was ready to continue traveling, he walked over to Winter.
“Come now, stand up, and I will untie you from this tree,” he said. Winter struggled to stand up while keeping her back against the tree, finally managing to get to her feet.
Fralek reached up and untied the rope from the tree, and as he turned to face Winter, she suddenly kicked him hard between the legs. As Fralek crumbled to the ground, a second kick to his nose was enough for him to drop the rope. Winter took off, running back down the path to Blackhorn with all the speed she could muster. She knew that Fralek would soon be following behind her, but she also knew that he was no match for her speed. Even after going a day without food, she knew she could make it back to the village without stopping to rest.
And then, to her immense relief, she saw two of the Blackhorn tribe up ahead, standing there, as surprised to see her as she was of them. Shamaya and Trang were both smiling at her as she neared them.
Trang held out his arms and caught Winter as she stopped and doubled over to breath heavily of the forest air. She could hear footsteps behind her, and she turned to see Fralek come running up, blood from his nose drying on his upper lip and jaw.
Winter looked at Shamaya, then Trang and tried to tell them to remove her gag, but instead, they just looked at Fralek.
“Did you lose something, Fralek?” Trang asked with a sneer.
“Good thing we came along,” Shamaya said. “We knew you could not handle this alone.”
cHAPTER 20
Agis was walking past the Town Center when Omiroe intercepted him.
“Agis, we are missing Shamaya and Trang, in addition to Fralek and, of course, Winter,” Omiroe reported. “They could be out hunting. We do not track all that come and go.”
“Shamaya and Trang; are they not two of the Midlanders that came to us when Hayden went crazy?”
“Yes, they are, but they always seemed loyal to us.”
“Let us assume the worst right now until we learn otherwise. “I am going to go with the idea that they are out helping Fralek and are on their way to Midlandia. We need to get a spy over to Midlandia to see what is going on and report back, and we need it fast. Hopefully, kDira and the others will return in the next couple days, and then we can mount an attack.”
“But what if they harm Winter?”
“At best, they will not kill her…probably,” Agis replied. “She is a breeder, they know that, so they would not risk harming a breeder.”
“I hope you are right. Who do you think would be the best pick to go on your spy mission?”
Agis just looked at Omiroe, his eyes answering the question. He needed Omiroe, the last full-blooded Blackhorn that Agis could trust with still enough ability to make the trip without getting caught.
“I understand,” Omiroe said, without Agis having to say a word. “I will make ready to leave right away.”
“Go north to the Great Highway, then east. Come back the same way, and if we leave before you come back, we will meet you on the way.”
“I will do that.”
“Thank you, my old friend. Please be careful.”
“I will. For Winter!”
“For Winter.”
“Settle down, young Princess,” Trang said. “If you make this difficult, we will tie your hands and feet to a tree limb and carry you. From what I have heard, not the most pleasant way to travel.”
Trang, though, like Fralek, also starting to show his age, was still fit for his age, and able to hold his own in the field or in a fight.
Shamaya, a strong female warrior who was also one of the oldest among the former Midlanders, could manage a sword and bow with the best of the warriors. Taller than most females, she would often assert her dominance over others in the tribe. Some had expected her to become a leader among the ranks, but she felt her Midlander heritage held her back compared to full Blackhorn like Omiroe and kDira’s close friend, Ari.
Fralek walked over to Winter as she stood there trying to keep from sobbing due to exhaustion and frustration. He brought his face in close to hers, and just breathed on her face for a moment. She struggled and turned her head, but Fralek grabbed both sides of her face and held it facing his.
“That was not a nice thing to do, daughter of kDira. I will not tolerate any more of your insolence. Are we clear?”
All Winter could do was grunt at her captor, but if her mouth had been clear, she would have loved nothing more than to spit in his face.
“Good; we understand each other. Shamaya, Trang, watch out for her, she is a scrapper.”
Without warning, Winter once again kicked Fralek between the legs. Fralek dropped to the ground and curled into the fetal position. Shamaya and Trang just laughed as their cohort moaned his protest from his blood-stained mouth.
“Young Princess, that will be enough,” Shamaya ordered, tugging firmly on the noose around Winter’s neck.
Fralek, after lying on the ground for several minutes, finally made it to his feet. Then he drew his sword, placing the tip of it against Winter’s belly. “I will run you through if you do that again!” Fralek rasped at her.
“Fralek,” Trang said, “that is enough. She knows you won’t do that so don’t bother threatening her with it.”
Turning to look at the Princess, Trang continued. “Listen, Winter, this is not easy for any of us, so do not make it harder than it has to be. We do not want to carry you, and I am certain you do not want to be carried. It is a long way to Midlandia. You would be very uncomfortable by the time we get there.”
Shamaya and Trang watched Winter, looking for some sign of agreement.
“Do you understand?” Shamaya asked.
Winter nodded her head.
“Good. Let us be on our way. Fralek, you left your cullions on the ground over there.”
Trang and Winter laughed while Shamaya grinned at her own comment.
“Very funny.”
Malak exited his master chamber, still naked. “How was your evening, my King?” Nonham asked. “I see there is some blood around your royal scepter,” Nonham continued, looking at the young king’s male member. “Is everything alright?”
“One of the girls put up a bit of a fight, but I taught her who the king was. She will not refuse me again.”
“I see. It is good that you are proving yourself the leader. Is she okay?”
“She will be fine,” Malak said, walking over to a wash basin, wetting a rag and wiping himself clean. “Have my linens changed, and send the females away. I do not wish to see them here today.”
“As you wish.”
Nonham entered the master chamber and found both girls on the bed, crying. One was lying sideways, curled up in a ball, and the other was trying to clean blood away from her anal region.
“The king wishes you to leave at once. Take her to the healer and get her looked at. Quickly now, get some clothes on and be gone.”
The girls were quick to obey; the injured one helped by the other to get dressed. As they left, neither looked in the direction of the king, who was finishing up his bathing and pulling on a robe.
“King Malak, it is not my place to tell you what you can and cannot do with your servants, but if you continue to abuse them, word will get around, and the people will not stand behind you.”
“The people will respect their king. T
hey will respect me, or I will have them put to death.”
Nonham looked at the young king, seeing firsthand the similarities between the boy and his father, Hayden. Nonham had no words.
“But if you insist, I will go easy on the females. I do not want to wear them out so soon; I just got here.”
On the second day of the trek home, kDira and her party had just started back on the trail that morning when a warrior came running up to them from the direction of Blackhorn.
Natan, a twenty-season old male originally from the Westerlies tribe, stopped and bent over, resting his hands on his knees a moment to catch his breath.
The Westerlies were a small band of people whose tribe had been wiped out by the Karn, similar in fashion to the way the Blackhorn had been wiped out years ago. Natan and six other Westerlies had sworn allegiance to the Blackhorn as a means of survival.
“What is it, Natan?” kDira asked, handing the young male a bola of water. Natan took a long draw from the bag and handed it back.
“Queen Mother, it is Winter. She has gone missing.”
“Winter is missing? How?”
“She went on a hunting trip with Fralek, and neither of them returned. Two other former Midlanders are also missing.”
“Did Agis send out search parties?”
“Yes, Queen Mother. Agis expressed his urgency that you return as fast as you can.”
“Bracken, you and Natan stay with Noske. Thank you, Natan; rest up and head back at the best pace you can, but I want you all to stick together. Do not leave Noske behind. Ari, Lyren, we must hurry back.”
“Yes, Queen Mother,” Bracken said.
“You mean you do not want me to leave them behind,” Noske said, trying to lighten the mood. kDira smiled.
kDira, Ari, and Lyren set off at a rapid pace. kDira could think of nothing but getting back so that she herself could head up a search party. Nothing would stop her from finding her precious child, her precious Winter.
After trying unsuccessfully to escape in the night, Winter found herself bound and suspended from a tree limb by her wrists and ankles, being carried along by Trang and Fralek.
“I told you this would happen if you were not cooperative,” Fralek said with a sneer. “Now you can just hang there and wait for the skin to rub off your wrists and ankles.”
Winter found that the pain in her wrists and ankles weren’t the biggest problem at the moment; that just trying to hold her head up to keep it from flopping backward to the ground was the hardest thing to deal with. She managed to find a way to rest her head over one of her arms, but it was only marginally comfortable.
As the group made their way onto the Great Highway, they decided that they would not make any more stops. All were certain they could find their way to the Midlandia village in the dark if necessary. They were anxious to finally be home once again after seventeen years away.
“Do you suppose we will be rewarded for our loyalty?” Fralek asked.
“Our reward is our service to our tribe,” Shamaya answered. “You should not be thinking in terms of personal gain, but in what the tribe gains from what we do.”
“Some form of rank or a royal title would be nice.”
“Fralek, you already have a title, have you forgotten?”
“What title is that? I have no title.”
“But you do; you are the Mule,” Shamaya said with a strong hint of contempt.
Fralek almost dropped the end of the limb he was carrying. “Do not ever speak of that again! I will cut you down where you stand!”
“A sore spot, is it? Tell me, Fralek, with all the hatred you have for Hayden, why do you go so far out of your way to help his bastard son Malak?”
“I hated Hayden, but the Midlandia tribe is still in my blood. I have hope for a better future.”
“That is very noble of you, Fralek,” Trang said.
You have no future, Winter thought to herself. None of you do.
cHAPTER 21
kDira and her two companions stopped only briefly to rest and refresh with some drink and dried meats. Then they were off again pacing a full our run to home. kDira was driven to the point of having to stop because the others were exhausted, only then realizing that she also needed rest.
“We must stop for the night, kDira. You will be no good to the tribe if you wear yourself into sickness. It is getting dark. Let us make camp and start fresh at first light.”
“My Winter is counting on me. On us. She may not have a night to spare.” For the first time, the possible fate of her daughter struck kDira like a heavy weight. As kDira sat down on a fallen log, she broke down into tears. Ari went over to comfort her.
“kDira, you are so strong, it is okay that you weep. Winter would want you to be strong, but if we run through the night, we may not be able to take the next actions we need to in the morning.”
“We are all very tired,” Lyren said.
“You are right,” kDira agreed. “Of course, you are both right. Let us roll out our bedrolls here and be ready to pick back up tomorrow at first light.”
“You sit,” Ari said, “I will get your bedroll out and prepare it.”
“Thank you, Ari.”
Ari did as she promised and made camp for them both, as Lyren set up his own bed. The sun was setting, and kDira felt exhaustion setting in as her adrenaline level dropped off. She was tired, and flashbacks of years past were coming back to haunt her. Flashbacks of things she thought had died in the past. She forced herself up off the log and lay down on the bedroll as the last of the daylight bled from the sky. Ari laid down behind kDira and put her arm around the Queen. She could tell that kDira was crying.
“I am here for you, my dear kDira.”
“I know…thank you.”
As the sunlight fell into darkness, Winter could tell that her bearers were getting fatigued. They had only stopped once during the day to relieve themselves and to eat and drink. They offered her none, but she felt as though she could take all three of them at this moment if her hands and feet were free.
Fralek did more than his fair share of complaining about the task at hand, and how he wished Shamaya would take his end for a while. She told him where he could stick that branch he was carrying, and Winter laughed quietly at the remark.
Winter was, however, feeling the pain in her wrists and ankles; that was inevitable. She decided to make the trip just a bit more interesting. The natural sway of her body hanging below the branch made it easy to begin a slow side-to-side motion. As they progressed onward, she managed to increase the swing little by little. Soon she could see that it was having a definite effect on the bearers, and it wasn’t too long before Trang figured out what was going on.
“Stop that,” he demanded.
Winter continued her swinging, and she could see Fralek become increasingly off balance with each cycle.
“What is happening back there?” Fralek asked, too tired to try to turn around and look while keeping the branch on his shoulder.
“I said stop, now!” Trang again ordered.
Shamaya came around to see what was happening in the dim light and as she stepped closer to her captive, Winter swung into her, and the reaction of the impact knocked Fralek to his knees, then onto his face. Winter landed on the back of Fralek’s legs, and Trang let his end of the branch fall from his shoulders.
“You clumsy fool!” Shamaya barked at Fralek. “You cannot do anything right.”
“I told you I am tired. Let us stop and rest.”
“That disobedient girl must be taught a lesson,” Trang said, walking around to Winter’s side where she lay, with Fralek desperately trying to get out from underneath her. Trang kicked her in the side, and then in her legs. “Does that feel good, Princess? Do you want some more?” Again, he kicked her in the side. “You will not do that, or anything else, again, or we will see that you have an unfortunate accident, Malak be damned!”
Malak? Winter thought to herself. Is he part of this? Then my wor
st fears are realized. He does want to kill me. Personally.
“We will rest here,” Shamaya said. “Make sure she is secure. She is crafty; I do not trust her for one second.”
As well you shouldn’t.
kDira was awake before anyone else the next morning, the sun not yet having broken through the trees. She could see Lyren, who was still resting, and could feel Ari’s hand over her body, cupping a breast.
“Ari, wake up. We need to get going.”
Ari stirred, and realized where her hand was. “My apologies, kDira. I did not mean to take that liberty.”
“Do not worry about that now. I want to get back to Blackhorn as soon as possible.”
Lyren heard the conversation and was up immediately, gathering his things and getting a quick bite of dried meat before they headed off. Ari and kDira got up off the ground, also taking a moment to get some nourishment.
“Come on, we must be off,” kDira said. And with that, all three began their run down the path to Blackhorn.
It was not quite midday when they passed through the gates of the village. Agis was quickly summoned and came out to greet them.
“kDira, I am so glad you made it back safely. Did Natan give you the news?”
“Yes, we must discuss what we must do about it.”
“First you must rest. You must be exhausted. Ari, Lyren, go get yourself refreshed and rested. We must make plans.”
“I have a new provicy I must give to Elick. I wish to go there first.”
Agis knew better than to argue, so escorted the Queen Mother to Elick’s hut. Elick greeted the Queen Mother with open arms and guided her to a comfortable chair near the table. Agis sat as well.
“Elick, I have another scroll from the Provitos,” she said, handing him the parchment.
Elick unrolled it and began to read. “The book of Sylys? Was that not Hayden’s full name; Sylys Hayden? It was, was it not?”
The kDira's World Anthology Page 35