| |
Caught, Chasm, Chaos, Queen
––––––––
PIRUA (SEPTEMBER) 6, 1538
Thirty-six days after Prince Terosh’s Kireshana journey
Prince Terosh’s Private Estate, City of Estra
Being stranded in the Frozen North half a planet away from her new husband was not an appealing option, but Princess Reia Minstel had reluctantly agreed to stay in Estra. Located almost equidistant from Chara and Idonia, Estra hosted about a tenth of the population of either mainland city. Reia wondered what kept people living here. Ice, snow, and cold wind offered little in the way of comfort, though admittedly the sun shining off snow could be quite beautiful.
Word of the assassination of Prince Taytron and King Teorn had forced Terosh to travel north to Rammon. Reia would have gone with him, but he had enough to deal with without having to explain his marriage to the Governors Council and the Senate. In time, she would have her own explaining to do. How she would do so consumed much of her thoughts, the rest she reserved for worrying about Terosh.
This place is too big.
Reia walked softly, so her footsteps wouldn’t echo. Terosh’s absence turned the elegant beauty of the cavernous rooms cold and distant. Reia drew her travel cloak tighter around her shoulders to ward off a chill. She could have roused a servant to turn on the heat, but she didn’t want to disturb them. She’d spent many nights in harsher conditions out under the stars.
Thinking of stars, Reia quickened her steps, determined to visit the observatory. She spent an hour gazing up at the stars through the powerful telescopes and thinking about sharing constellation stories with Terosh. The memories warmed her. When her heart regained some peace, Reia returned to the main floor.
As she passed her bedchamber, a rustling noise caught her attention. She gripped her banistick. Nervously drawing the weapon, she searched several nearby rooms. Finding nothing, she admitted she was growing increasingly jumpy. The first week had been fine, but now, she wished she hadn’t worked so hard to convince Terosh not to leave a guard or two.
Or two dozen.
If Terosh had gotten his way, she would have been tucked into one of Loresh’s bunkers surrounded by Royal Guards and Melian Maidens.
That would have fixed the loneliness issue.
Having already eaten an evening meal and not quite ready for bed, Reia decided to take another walking tour of the vast estate. This took her the better part of an hour. She returned to her bedchamber pleasantly weary, but when she noticed the door slightly ajar, instinct put her senses on high alert. Her pulse quickened, and she snatched up her banistick. Creeping close to the door, Reia pushed it open with her banistick.
A hand latched on to her weapon and pulled. Though surprised, Reia threw herself into a sideways roll, wrenching her weapon free. Coming to her feet, she whirled to face her attacker.
A broad-shouldered figure covered entirely in black stepped out of the shadows and nodded.
An arm encircled her neck and drew her back into a man’s chest. His other hand braced the back of her neck.
“Hello, Reia. Why is this the only way I get to hold you?” asked Lucas Telon. “You don’t know how hard this is for me.”
“Not. Hard. Enough!” Instead of reaching for her neck, Reia whipped her banistick down, aiming for Lucas’s kneecap. She missed and connected with his right thigh instead.
Grunting, he shoved her away.
She tried to keep from landing in the other attacker’s arms, but she hadn’t anticipated being released suddenly. The next thing she felt was a hard knock across her shoulders that spun her half-way around. This was followed by hands driving her to the ground and a knee landing on her back. A cold dagger nestled into the flesh under the right side of her chin.
“Trials waste so much time,” the man complained.
She knew his voice, too.
“I wish it were still the old days. When criminals were simply caught and gutted,” Kolknir continued. He emphasized the last three words with small increases in pressure on the dagger.
“Let her up,” Lucas growled.
“As you wish,” Kolknir said. His blade left Reia’s neck. “But don’t get cocky. She’s the means to the end we both seek. Remember that.”
As hands rolled her over onto her back, Reia tensed to continue the fight.
“Don’t even twitch.” Lucas’s dagger appeared under her chin.
“If you wanted to talk, you needn’t have stalked me in my own house,” Reia commented.
“She’s mighty comfortable in these fancy new trappings,” Kolknir said with a chuckle.
“What now, Lucas?” Reia asked.
“Now you stand trial before the Ashatan Council for betraying the Rangers.”
Reia couldn’t believe it. Lucas’s outrage sounded genuine. Then, it suddenly made sense.
“The Council never sent you on the Kireshana. Who is your new master, Lucas?”
The dagger pressed even closer until it broke the skin.
Reia held still and prayed Lucas had steady hands.
“It doesn’t matter,” Lucas said. “What matters is that if you even think of sharing your thoughts with anyone I will personally hunt down your precious sister and her husband and kill them painfully.”
“Kiata and Todd would never turn. You’ll have to kill them anyway.”
The drug on Lucas’s knife made Reia drowsy.
Cormea, radon, and alipo sap.
It was a combination many of the Nareth Talis Rangers used on their daggers, for it could render an enemy unconscious without having to kill them. The first two ingredients caused paralysis and the last induced sleep.
Reia feared Lucas would flick his dagger once more and end her life before she could reveal his plans.
Who else has turned?
She felt Lucas’s tension. He really wanted to hurt her. Just before the cormea, radon, and alipo sap sent Reia into oblivion, the dagger left her neck and slipped into her side. The flash of pain was the last thing she remembered.
***
PIRUA (SEPTEMBER) 8, 1538
Thirty-eight days after Prince Terosh’s Kireshana journey
Ashatan Council Chamber, Ranger Compound, Riden Mountains
Having finally been admitted into the Ashatans’ meeting chamber, Kiata Antellio Wellum stormed over to Lucas Telon and smacked him. He reeled from the blow. Lionel Riften and Val Cederik steadied him with neutral expressions. James Celdin and Todd stepped between Lucas and Kiata. Everyone had seen how Lucas had brought Reia back, and most believed he deserved what he got.
Kiata would have punched him, but she wanted answers before breaking his jaw.
“What happened to my sister?” she demanded.
Todd placed restraining hands on her shoulders.
“Not now, Kiata. This won’t help her. Come away with me. We can deal with Lucas later.”
“What’s this about?” asked James, one of the few people who didn’t know what had transpired. Until a few hours ago, he had been with his wife while she gave birth to a son.
Kiata shook off Todd’s hands and glared at Lucas.
“What happened to Reia?”
Why did you stab my little sister, you slime-sucking maggot?
“She surprised us,” said Lucas.
“And the great Master Lucas Telon stabbed her before she could explain.” Kiata’s anger threatened her self-control. “Why question people when you can stab them?” A new thought struck her. “What are you afraid she’ll say?”
Anger covered her fear. The dose of sedatives on Lucas’s dagger must have been high for Reia to be unconscious almost two days. Master Ekris had treated the cuts on Reia’s chin and side so they wouldn’t scar too badly, but Kiata knew there would be different scars.
“I think we’d all like to know what happened out there, Master Telon, but there’s no time now.” Master Niklos’s tone left no room for argument. “Everyone sit down so this phase of the trial may begin.”
Kiata couldn’t let the matter go yet.
“If what you’re accusing her of is true, she’ll soon be your queen!”
“She’s not queen yet.” Lucas looked like he wanted to say more.
Kiata wanted to shake the rest of the words from him, but she reluctantly allowed Todd to pull her to a cushion on the floor. Her hands unconsciously formed fists.
Todd squeezed her right arm.
The room was set up like most of the instructional chambers with ten lines of twelve cushions on both sides of the center aisle. The speaker, Master Hiram Alikron, sat in the center of the judgment barrier, flanked by six council members. Kiata took in their grave expressions. Alikron had called for the trial. He would certainly oppose Reia. To his left and Kiata’s right sat Jolinda Ekris, Kale Corida, and Liam Deliad, respectively masters of healing, tracking, and arms. Of those, Kiata expected Master Ekris and Master Corida to support Reia. Kiata wished for Master Deliad’s support, but knowing his traditionalist views, she counted him among the opposition. The masters from Osem—Alvis Canter, Viki Tor, and Simon Haloren—were unknown, but their expressions did not give Kiata hope.
Two Rangers escorted Reia into the chamber to the seat of those on trial, which is halfway between the Ashatans and the spectators and directly across from the witnesses.
Kiata anger melted in favor of sympathy. Sitting still was difficult. Kiata wanted to go to Reia, hug her, and kiss away the hurts as she had done when they were children.
At least she looks better, but I should have been there! She needed me, and I wasn’t there to protect her!
“Beat yourself up later,” Todd whispered.
Try as she might, Kiata couldn’t concentrate on the trial. As the Ashatans argued every facet of Reia’s “crime,” Kiata could only stare at her sister.
Reia’s eyes said much. The green orbs cycled through fear, anger, and sadness so deep it was almost palpable. When Reia finally stood, Kiata tuned in to Master Alikron’s words.
“Ranger Healer Reia Antellio,” Hiram Alikron began.
Reia opened her mouth to correct Alikron on her name, but he stopped her with a glare.
“We have discussed the matter at length. This Council is clearly divided. A Ranger marriage with a royal has not happened for many years. The old ways are unacceptable. So, we give you a choice. Renounce your marriage to Prince Terosh of House Minstel and retain your position or leave the Order.”
Reia sighed like she had expected as much.
Kiata snorted. She knew what would come, though she doubted the stuff-headed High Council members had a clue.
She’ll never do it, you fools!
Master Alikron blundered on.
“Your master speaks very highly of your skills, and we are certain you have a promising future.”
Oh, yes, a promising future in an Order that put you on trial for forbidden love. Brilliant, Master Alikron.
“I cannot simply stop loving him,” Reia said.
“That is your decision then?” Alikron’s expression hardened.
“It is, and we shouldn’t even be discussing this. There are traitors—”
“We are aware of your recent troubles with Ranger Kolknir and Master Telon,” Alikron interrupted. He exchanged glances with the other council members. After receiving silent approval, Alikron turned his gaze back to Reia.
“I’d like to say one more thing,” Master Niklos called.
“You will wait until this trial is concluded,” Alikron said haughtily. He impaled Master Niklos with a stare before returning his attention to the accused. “Reia Antellio, the Ashatan Council finds you guilty of betraying the Rangers. You are hereby stripped of your rank and forbidden to use your skills as a healer. In addition, you are forbidden from ever using the weapon of a Ranger. Your banistick will be destroyed by—”
“I claim her weapon!” Kiata declared. Anger added force to her words.
“That is—”
“Well within her right to request,” interjected Master Niklos. “If her sister had died, the weapon would have been returned to her closest kin. Ranger Knight Wellum is a respected member of the Nareth Talis and deserves this honor.”
Alikron looked like he had taken a large bite of something very foul.
“So be it. Ranger Riften, remove this woman from our presence.”
Kiata’s heart ached, for she could imagine how she would handle someone telling her she couldn’t love Todd. She didn’t even acknowledge the part about Reia not healing people. The idea was ridiculous. Plenty of people used healing arts similar to the Rangers. The knowledge could not be confined by a title.
Master Niklos retrieved Reia’s banistick from Master Alikron, cradled it gently, and passed it to Kiata. She clutched the weapon desperately but could not think about it while Ranger Riften moved to take custody of her sister.
Reia closed her eyes and absorbed the pain of Alikron’s announcement as Ranger Riften took her elbow. She shook him off.
Silence ruled the chamber.
Finally, with tears streaming down her face, Reia spoke.
“I am sorry my actions have caused such a rift in the Order, but Riden as my witness, I have done no wrong.” With a respectful bow Reia concluded her ill-fated trial with the Ashatan Council.
Though Reia walked from the room with a straight back, Kiata sensed the pain rolling off her. She moved to follow, but Hiram Alikron’s nasally voice halted her.
“Ranger Wellum, we are very close to war with the Restler-Tarpon Alliance. We need loyal Rangers to concentrate on their duties. I doubt you’ll have time to fraternize with traitors.”
War I’m sure you pushed for.
Not trusting herself to speak civilly to the man, Kiata clenched her teeth and stalked from the room.
***
THE SAME NIGHT AS REIA’S trial, Lucas Telon gladly acted upon new orders from Lord Kezem. His first target met him in a dark, seldom used training chamber. The kill had been clean and quiet. Hiram Alikron—and other weak members of the Restler-Tarpon Alliance—had no place in the future Lord Kezem was building. Tonight would be the cleansing of the old and the birth of the new.
Wiping his dagger on Alikron’s shirt, Lucas silently moved through the familiar mountain tunnels until fresh air greeted him.
“Good evening, Master Telon,” said a young, chipper voice. “What’s the hurry?”
Lightning quick calculations took place in Lucas. The boy didn’t sound suspicious, but Lucas couldn’t afford to have an alarm raised. His fist caught the youth in the throat, resulting in a strangled noise somewhere between gasping and gagging. The noise cut off a moment later as Lucas’s dagger claimed another victim.
Kolknir and Kezem’s men should have killed the lookouts already. Hoping they could handle the simple task of slaughtering the slumbering Rangers, Lucas anticipated fulfilling his next objective. He jogged past several dwellings until he came to the Wellum’s home. He had warned Reia he would kill her family if she caused him trouble, and he intended to keep that promise. He wished he could kill her soon after, but she left as soon as the trial had ended, carried away in a hov sent by her dear husband.
I’ll give her the details later.
***
SCUFFLING SOUNDS AWAKENED Kiata Wellum. Her mind started organizing battle tactics almost before full consciousness gripped her. A crash further motivated her. Having taken Reia’s warning about traitors seriously, Kiata had slept fully dressed in case a midnight fight rolled her way. She snatched her banistick off the end table, jumped to her feet, threw on her boots, and raced to the cabin’s main room. Until now, Kiata had never appreciated having a small cabin. Even in the dark, she knew where she could safely step. Todd, who had been slightly farther from the doorway, was only half a step behind her.
The ceiling’s lightbar had come to life at the first bang. Two figures wrestled on the floor, blood spilling from at least one of them. One of Kiata’s favorite chairs had been reduced to firewood crowned with a crooked cushion, but she couldn’t mourn the casualty. The framed arrangement of pressed flowers and herbs Reia had given her as a belated wedding gift miraculously remained fixed to the wall.
The satisfaction that the keepsake had survived the invasion vanished as Kiata recognized the intruder. Her banistick whistled through the air as she brought it down on Lucas Telon’s back. He rolled away from the blow but most of it caught him anyway. Seeing the odds had changed from one-on-one to three-on-one, Lucas cursed, threw his dagger at Kiata, and fled.
Kiata swatted the dagger into a wall. For an instant, she could only stare at the empty space that had once held Lucas. She’d believed Reia about Lucas’s being a traitor, but that did not prepare her for seeing the man attack her servant. The thought of Nils brought her back to the moment.
Todd already knelt by him, examining the knife wound.
“He’ll be fine. Go help the—”
Kiata had only listened until the word “fine.” After that, she raced out the door and ran down the hill making as much noise as possible.
“Wake up! Wake up! We’re under attack!”
Where are the sentries?
Kiata didn’t have time to consider the question, for she ran into four assailants. She had the advantage of going downhill, and the attackers had been stupid enough to run one right behind the other. The unfortunate back two tumbled down the hill, and Kiata sent their comrades after them with two quick strikes from her banistick.
Something grabbed her right ankle. The ankle twisted painfully, and Kiata fell hard. Luckily, she had taken enough tumbles to know how to break a fall. The attacker was on her before she could rise. She had lost her banistick somewhere. The pain in her ankle helped her focus. The blow to her head did not. Kiata fell back on years of hand-to-hand combat training. For all his crude methods, Kolknir had been an efficient instructor. Kiata’s assailant cocked a fist to bring down on her head. She grabbed the wrist he was using to brace himself and drove her thumb knuckle into the flesh, whispering words to tighten her grip. At the same time, she whipped her left elbow up into the man’s nose. He screamed and recoiled but not swiftly enough to avoid catching her left knee with his stomach. A punch to his head finished him. Satisfied, Kiata used one of Reia’s healing phrases to fix the pain in her ankle and went to find her banistick.
***
PIRUA (SEPTEMBER) 29, 1538
Fifty-nine days after Prince Terosh’s Kireshana journey
Royal Palace, City of Rammon
Queen Reia Minstel stood a step behind her husband, trying not to gape at the crowd filling the palace courtyard and the streets beyond. The cool, early evening air wrapped around her, but she still felt uncomfortably warm. Her serene expression betrayed little, but she prayed she wouldn’t faint. Having the attention of several million people directed at her was not her idea of a good time. Thousands of eyes stared up at the balcony she stood upon.
Determined to face her fears, Reia struggled to see past the blur of faces to individuals. A little girl sat atop her father’s shoulders, eyes wide and hands outstretched like she wanted to touch Reia. An old man struggled to keep his posture straight as tears of joy and sorrow mingled in his white beard. A pair of young Royal Guards straightened as Reia’s gaze passed over them. She wasn’t used to having that effect on people.
Everything felt strange. Her hair was piled atop her head. The hair preparation had stretched Reia’s patience very thin. The deep purple evening gown she wore weighed almost nothing. She occasionally brushed her fingertips across the fabric to assure herself she wore anything at all. She didn’t even want to know what it cost.
To escape the moment, she turned her thoughts to the last few weeks, trying to focus only on the good. It was a hard task. The news from the Ranger compounds in the Riden Mountains and Osem was mixed. Her banishment from the Order was complete, yet both Councils had drafted formal letters recognizing her new status. The recovery efforts after the twin attacks were proceeding slowly.
Kiata, Todd, and Master Niklos are safe. Don’t think about that right now.
Thoughts of Terosh’s drawn face after seeing the anotechs’ messages from Mitra haunted her. He had not let her see the images yet, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to see them.
Not that either.
Uncertainty made her heart falter until she fixed her eyes upon her husband as he addressed the crowd.
So much has happened.
Terosh’s warning that he might one day inherit the throne had been easy to relegate to somewhere far in the future, but now that day had come.
The coronation ceremony in the Temple of Riden in the heart of Rammon had been beautiful. First Terosh, then Reia had knelt before Father Niktol and promised to honor and serve the people of Reshner with their lives, no matter the costs or consequences. It had reminded her of their wedding where they had made similar promises to each other.
Love brought us here, but can it carry us through what comes next?
***
TEROSH LOOKED BACK at Reia. She stood calmly behind him, her bearing regal and wonderful. His spirit absorbed the peace she projected.
Does she know her presence makes everything better?
Realizing he had been silent too long, he glanced at the quiet crowd and forgot the rest of his speech. Burying the inadequacies, Terosh stood taller.
“I never expected to be here and wish my brother yet lived so that I could serve him as he served you, but he is gone. And we cannot despair for long for we have hope in a new form. People of Reshner, I give you your queen!”
He stepped aside so they could see her.
A loud cheer went up, and Terosh waited for it to subside. He motioned for Reia to join him before the amplifiers. When she did so, he grasped both of her hands. Forgetting the crowd, Terosh brought Reia’s hands to his lips and kissed them.
“She was a Ranger and a healer, and now she is queen. May she give us the strength to face the future.”
––––––––
THE END
