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I dropped the pastry to the snow, horror making my heart nearly pound out of my chest. Oh, crap, I was screwed. Luke looked surprised to see me. He eyed my gear and shook his head.
“Thieves are usually punished with a hanging,” he warned.
“I didn’t steal this,” I protested.
Luke rubbed his brow. “You want me to believe that Vector Village gave you the supplies freely?” he demanded.
“Not them. Zamire,” I clarified.
“The princess’s consort is openly helping you? And tell me, Jade, why hasn’t a draguel been after you?”
I swallowed the dread and focused on the conversation. “I... I think she knows I’m alive. The emperor... I, um... Eleron... I... You need to help me,” I pleaded.
Luke frowned. “Help you how?”
“The emperor kidnapped all of the villagers, even the children. He had men with him that had milky eyes and...”
Luke shook his head. “Emperor Tulda is an honorable man. In fact, he’s set to visit our village soon. I came here to see if anyone in the Vector Village got the same E missive.”
“They did, and it didn’t go well. You need to warn your people. Y—” Tia appeared beside me, her knife flying before I could say a word. It slammed into my shoulder, my body being battered by horrid pain. Nausea filled me and my body wanted to collapse onto the snow, but I refused to fall. If Tia wanted me dead, I wasn’t about to make it easy for her. I lifted my right hand and wanted to blast her. Instead, Luke stepped in front of the witch.
“Tia, stop. Something’s wrong,” Luke shouted, as if his woman was miles away.
“Yes, she’s still alive,” Tia hissed.
“No. Doesn’t it seem rather quiet out here?”
“You’re right. I don’t see a draguel in sight,” she complained.
“No,” Luke cried. “The Vector Village is empty. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
Tia let out a breath.
“The emperor took them,” I said in a shaky tone. It hurt to talk through the pain.
“Why would he do such a thing? The villagers are his people.” If only Tia hadn’t barged in on our conversation, things would have progressed further.
“The villagers were ordered to drink a pink liquid. Then they were put onto a flyer that transported them to a black warship. That’s all I know,” I said. Tia suddenly appeared in front of me, her face radiating anger. Oh, great, she thought that I was lying. She quickly pulled her knife from my shoulder and I passed out from the pain.
A hard landing made my eyes fly open. I blinked furiously, trying to figure out where I was. My charm was still in place, since the cold wasn’t giving me frostbite. A growl told me that my stomach badly wanted food. A sharp twinge in my shoulder made me groan. Right, that no-good Najorian woman stabbed me. Anger gave me the willpower to sit up. Every inch of my body was in pain. A hand rested on my forehead.
“She has a fever, Luke,” Tia’s hard voice reported. “Let’s just leave her here. I’m tired of carrying her.”
“You were the one that stabbed her,” Luke snapped. “Have a heart, Tia, we can’t just leave her in the snow. Especially if what she says is true. We’ll need her to prevent our people from being taken.”
Tia laughed. “You can’t believe that, Luke. She’s lying to stay alive. I say we toss her into a draguel cave and go home.” Where in the hell was I? It took forever to sit up and assess what surrounded me. We were on a snow-covered path surrounded by bare trees. Luke and Tia were facing one another, uninterested in me. Getting to my feet sent pain through the wound that was wrapped with a thick bandage. I slowly turned in the opposite direction and began walking; having no supplies was inconsequential. Despite Luke’s warnings, I would snatch what I could. I needed to find my way back to Princess Shala so Zamire and I could escape this ice prison. Soon, I made headway, Luke and Tia’s voices slowly fading. It wasn’t like the pair would help me on my endeavor. Luke was reasonable, but didn’t have the ability to stand up to his suffocating wife.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Tia hissed. She appeared right in front of me and I let out a startled scream. I stepped backwards, my back slamming into a warm chest.
“We came to an agreement. You’re our prisoner, and our leader, Carlo, will decide what to do with you,” she explained. The smirk on her face announced that Carlo would probably murder me. Great. Why couldn’t one of my abilities be to teleport? For once, could I do something useful? I felt a horrid burning sensation in my stomach that doubled me over. I groaned and tried to prevent the sensation from pulling me apart. Moments later, the pain was gone and I was able to breathe again. “You’re not going to puke on my shoes, are you?”
“No,” I said. “Now let’s go. We have to warn your village.” We continued walking with Tia taking the lead and Luke following behind me. As we walked, the weak sun slowly slipped behind the full moon. The path lasted for a mile, then a gorge became visible. Great, this was when some man who’d rather see me dead was going to decide my fate. I needed to come up with a plan. I needed to... A horrid trumpet sliced through the quiet air, making my heart stop.
“It’s too late,” I cried. Tia vanished and Luke followed. I didn’t need to see what was going to occur. In fact, it would do me good to stay out of sight. The crazy emperor may not want an audience the second time around.
I leaned against a boulder as a piercing scream reached me, even over the sound of the trumpet. Crap. Should I stay hidden or try to rescue these people?
I stepped off the path to see what I least expected. A draguel was across the hole from me, spitting fire from its mouth. An unhappy Emperor Tulda stood there, his milky eyes hidden by dark shades. He was surrounded by armored guards, each of them holding a red rod. Tia gestured at the draguel with frantic hands, shrieking her displeasure. Ugh, why didn’t she just get out of the way? I was about to step forward when one of the guards pointed a rod at the creature and fired. The creature crumpled into ashes, some of the black powder spraying down on the gorge. Great, someone clued Princess Shala to the fact that I was alive. What to do now?
“Enough screaming, specimen,” the emperor snapped as soon as the horrid trumpet sound vanished. A tall man wearing furry leggings and no shirt climbed out of the gorge, his expression hard. He walked over to the emperor and bowed.
“None of that, Carlo. I’m here for a different purpose,” the emperor said.
“We tried to kill Jade, Emperor. We swear it. The princess’s consort is working to keep her alive,” Tia graciously explained. That witch turned on me. I wanted to toss a ball at her head, but I refrained.
“A Najorian. You lot are usually hard to catch. I wonder...” Emperor Tulda shook his head. “Enough of that. I need you and your villagers to take a serum that protects against a terrible disease,” he announced. “Is everyone assembled in a line like I ordered?” I wanted to toss a fat “I told you so” to Tia. Instead, I considered my options. On one hand, this was good news for Zamire. Emperor Tulda needed to acquire his soldiers before he rained carnage on Neretha. But the bigger the army, the more difficult it would be for the king to defend his country.
“Of course, Emperor. Thank you for your benevolence,” Carlo said.
“Carlo, you can’t just sign us up to take a mysterious serum,” she cried.
“Silence,” Emperor Tulda ordered. I knew that I couldn’t do anything to save the village. Even if I spread the message to another village, how could they avoid Emperor Tulda? The best option was for Zamire to appeal to Princess Shala. Perhaps she could find a way to reason with her brother.
I turned my back on the village and walked the way I came. It would be smart to pillage an empty village for supplies. Then I’d search for a way to go back to the castle. It was like a plan caused my body to fill with energy. I sped up, my legs easily carrying me down the path. I was about half a mile away when a horrid shockwave slammed into the ground, sending me flying. My body crashed into the snow, causing my face to slam into the snow. Screaming followed the horrid noise, and I debated not getting up. After Tia tossed me under the bus, why should I risk myself to save her? But dammit, I couldn’t just leave someone when they were in trouble. I shakily got to my feet and ran back to the village.
