She wanted to kill him. She should have killed him. But what the messenger said had stayed her hand.
“I can end this war. I have proof, a message from King Ari.”
The decision was taken out of her hands. The letter in his saddle bag bearing the royal seal as well as the name Alazane, the king of Avar, on the scroll confirmed his words thus far were true. Only Kade could decide the man’s fate. Bound and blindfolded she took him back to the compound as her prisoner.
“Has he decided anything?” Luken asked from the other side of the portcullis when she approached.
“No. He’s been in there for an hour, but I’ve heard nothing. He wouldn’t let me stay.”
“Do you think he killed him?” he asked, resting his hands on the gate.
“I doubt it. I would have already been asked to carry the body away, if that were the case,” she said, leaning against the heavy wooden gate.
“You should have killed him in the woods.”
She raised a brow. “This coming from the man who insisted we rescue him?”
“That was before I found out he was a Dacian royal. Aren’t we allowed to kill them on sight?”
“Paladai are allowed to leave them to defend themselves, if they’re attacked. That doesn’t mean we’re allowed to go on a killing spree. You know that. Besides, he’s a messenger, not a royal; however, his connection to the royals puts him in a grey area. It’s Kade’s decision now.”
“It shouldn’t take this long,” he huffed as he moved away from the gate and started pacing.
“Why are you so impatient?”
“No reason. I just…I just don’t like Dacians, especially his kind. That’s all.”
She could tell he wasn’t being completely honest, but before she could question him further, Kail came running out with his usual “Lady Ashea” and said Kade wanted to see her. Bidding Luken goodbye, she made her way to the Great Hall. Kade seemed lost in thought, as he raked his hand through his short shorn black hair.
“You sent for me?” This broke him from his trance, and he turned to face her.
“Yes, I did. What is your opinion of our ‘guest’?” Kade asked, chewing on the last word.
“He’s cocky, but I don’t believe he’s foolish enough to forge a letter from the king in hopes it might save his life. They wanted the letter to arrive in Avar. Why else stay off the roads, travel in disguise? Have you opened it yet?”
He held up the rolled piece of parchment, the seal still intact. “I could break this seal, but then King Alazane would never accept it. It may hold the message the carrier described, an invitation of sorts for the two royal families to meet. Or it could hold something else entirely. We can’t be sure.”
“What did he say about it?”
“Only as much as any messenger could say,” Kade said, tossing the letter on another pile of papers. “He claims proof was found to absolve both kingdoms. Sound familiar?”
It was the same message that had gotten her father killed. If there was a connection, it was a bold move to try the same thing twice. “What do we do?”
He turned and leaned against the table. “The last time we received such a message, I blindly sent a good man to his death. I will not make the same mistake twice. Ashea, you found this man, but you won’t finish this mission alone. If the proof exists, the messenger will take us back to Dacia and show us.”
“Us? You mean to go to Dacia? You can’t be serious.” Kade was the most hated and most wanted man in the Dacian Empire. There was a reason he stayed hidden in the Lurraren instead of going on missions. “Besides, he’s a messenger, Kade. He won’t know where it is.”
“The king does not idly divulge the contents of his letters. If this man knew what the message was about, then he knows, or at least has an idea, of where this proof is.”
“Even if he does, it’s too dangerous for you to go to Dacia, especially anywhere near the palace where this proof is likely kept. Let Talana go in your place, or literally anyone else.”
His eyes darkened and his tone turned cold. “When did you become leader?”
She took a step back, averting her gaze to the ground. “I meant no offense. I’m just taking your safety into consideration.”
He let out a frustrated sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know. I’m sorry. The timing is just…inconvenient.”
“It’s why someone else should go,” she suggested gently. “While we’re away you can manage the relocation of the Paladai. If it turns out to be a lie, we kill the messenger, burn the letter, and run.”
He eyed her curiously. “Does that mean you’ve already come to a decision about staying?”
She’d had plenty of time on her way back to the compound to consider her answer. She was sure now more than ever what she should do. She squared her shoulders. “I am a Paladai. My place is at your side, for as long as you’ll have me.”
Kade smiled wistfully at her as he touched her arm appreciatively.
“Sir,” a male voice said. They both turned to see a sentry with the messenger in manacles. “The prisoner, as you requested.”
“Leave us,” Kade ordered and motioned for the messenger to come forward. “So glad you could join us, Jarin.”
“Did I have any other choice?” he replied disdainfully, offering his chained wrists.
“Of course not. But where are my manners? Ashea, this is Jarin, your mighty ‘hero’.”
“Kill me or release me. I will not be subject to your personal amusement.”
“I would watch that mouth of yours, boy,” Kade said, his voice a low warning. “I am giving you the option to live. It is conditional upon you performing a single task. If you refuse, you die. Annoy me, you die. Annoy her,” he said, cocking his head toward Ashea, “you may die. She has a higher tolerance for pests than I do.”
“What do you want from me?”
Kade picked up the scroll and held it up for Jarin to see. “You are charged with delivering this message to Alazane. You claim it speaks of proof to end this war. I have heard such lies before from Dacia and lost good men because of it. In light of this, you can see how I might have reservations about letting you go. So, you will return to Dacia with us, and you will show us this proof. I have little care for how you accomplish this, but you will do this.”
Jarin looked flustered for a moment but quickly recovered. “I am just a messenger, a courier. I’m not privy to such information. How do you expect me to do this?”
“As I said, I have little care for the how. When this so called proof is in my hands, you may complete your mission as intended. I would suggest you move quickly. I doubt your king will appreciate further tardiness.”
Ashea watched as Jarin balled his hands into fists. If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn he would rush up and punch Kade. He wouldn’t have succeeded, but it would have been amusing to watch him make the attempt.
“We should wait until morning. It’s almost dark,” she suggested.
“I don’t like to be kept waiting,” Kade said, annoyed.
“And I don’t like Hunters,” she threw back. Some were annoyances at best, but the truly skilled ones had the preference of striking at night. She knew where there were safe houses between here and Dacia, but they would never make it to the first one with the amount of daylight left. Kade looked peeved, but he conceded.
“You will be escorted back to your cell for the night,” he finally said.
“You’re too kind,” Jarin muttered.
“You may stay as a prisoner in a cell or a corpse on a pike. The choice is yours. Personally, I prefer the pike.”
Deciding Jarin would be more useful alive, Ashea quickly ushered him out of the Great Hall and escorted him back down to the prison.
“You’re making a mistake,” he said as they traversed the long stone halls of the main keep.
“The only one who made a mistake was you when you decided to deviate from the main roads,” she scoffed. “We never would have stopped you, and you might not have run into those thieves. Failing that, if you had bothered to kill those men instead of incapacitating them, they wouldn’t have had a reason to pick up your trail to follow you.”
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“I’m not a murderer like you, Paladai.”
“I didn’t hear you complaining when I saved your life.” She pushed him forward to the winding staircase of stone that led downward to the dungeon.
“I was hardly in a position to say one way or the other.”
“You Dacians are all the same, criticizing our methods as barbaric until you actually need us. You’re all hypocrites,” she said as she opened the door to his cell and motioned for him to enter. “Sleep well, Jarin. We leave at first light.”
----------------------------------------
Supplies were gathered the next morning and loaded into their saddle bags. Ashea dressed in a pair of leather pants and wrapped top and donned her weapons with the addition of her crimson cloak and the assassin’s dagger. Jarin was escorted into the courtyard still looking less than pleased by the situation. Too bad. Maybe if he wasn’t such a fool for traveling off the roads, he might not have gotten himself in this mess.
“I didn’t think you used a saddle,” he said as he watched her cinch Zeru’s saddle.
“It’s easier to stay on, if Zeru has to climb over things.”
“Such as what?”
“Such as the palace walls. How else do you think Kade got in the last time he visited your king?” Kade and his ten Paladai rode straight up to the wall on their draks and climbed over without any real work. Draks were nimble and strong enough to scale just about any height. If needed, Zeru could climb the wall during the night to sneak her into the palace. That was probably going to be the easiest way in.
“You mean when he attacked the king, which he had no right to.”
“Killing an innocent man is reason enough.”
“Paladai are hardly innocent.”
Don’t kill him, she told herself. Kade might have given her permission to kill Jarin for any reason she deemed necessary, but being an ignorant idiot wasn’t good enough. Not yet. He was still the best chance she had at finding the proof. She settled for a warning glare as she led him outside the gates where Luken was waiting with his horse.
“Put this on,” she ordered, tossing Jarin a blindfold.
“What for?”
“I doubt you could tell anyone where we are, but we’re not taking any chances. Put it on.”
“How am I supposed to lead my horse?” he whined. Gods, she hoped he wouldn’t be like this the whole time.
“I will lead your horse until we’re far enough away from the compound,” Kade said as he came up with his drak Zaina, an aggressive temperamental beast with midnight black scales. “Now, shut up and do what you’re told.”
He gave a final disapproving glare before mounting his horse and tying the cloth around his eyes.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have me along as well?” Luken offered. “You may need the help once you’re over the border.”
“This is a Paladai mission. Which you are not,” Kade scolded as he grabbed up the reigns for Jarin’s horse.
Luken let out a huff and rolled his eyes. “Watch your back. That one seems to attract trouble,” he said glaring towards Kade and Jarin.
“We’ll be all right,” Ashea said, touching his arm. “Stay safe. I’ll be back before you know it.”
She mounted Zeru and followed behind Kade as they took off toward Dacia. They would have to move quickly to make it to the first safe house. If it was just her and Kade, their draks could, at a full run, make it at least half way to the palace. With Jarin’s horse slowing them down, they would barely make it beyond the border.
After nearly an hour of travel she finally allowed Jarin to remove his blindfold. It was arguably a long time to keep him in the dark, but she refused to be the reason King Ari found Kade’s hiding place. He’d burn it to the ground the first chance he got.
“Where are we?” Jarin asked, now that his sight was returned.
“Still in the Lurraren. We’ll walk for a ways, let your animal catch its breath. We have a long way to go yet before we reach the border,” she said as she dismounted.
“Why is that important?” Jarin and Kade followed suit.
She stifled a groan before answering, “Because we need to reach a house before nightfall, and that house is just beyond the border.”
“Can’t Paladai camp in the woods? Or do you need a soft bed to put you to sleep?”
“Listen here, you pompous little cretin,” she hissed at him. “Do you remember those men who tried to kill you yesterday? They are nothing compared to Hunters. They are skilled, fast, and don’t care who they have to kill to get their bounty. Their favorite time is at night when you can’t see them coming.”
“You Paladai are nothing but bullies thinking you are above us all. Those Hunters do the kingdoms a favor by taking some of you out.”
She acted before thinking, punching him in the jaw, and sent him sprawling on the ground.
“Try to leave him in one piece,” Kade scolded halfheartedly.
She stood over Jarin as he wiped blood from his lip. “We ‘bullies’ have been protecting your royal family for a century. If it weren’t for us, there would still be open war in the streets of both kingdoms. We have been waiting patiently for the two kingdoms to find a peaceful solution. Until then, we will protect the innocent people. Even fools like you.” She offered him a hand up. He eyed it warily, making no move to take it.
“You talk of peace, yet you break into the castle and attempt to murder the king for a crime he did not commit,” he spat.
“He may not have been the man to use the knife, but he is the one who commanded it. You see this blade,” she said, pulling her knife from its sheath and holding it up for him. The snarling head of a water wolf stared at him. “This pommel bears the crest of the Elite guards, men loyal only to Ari. Our man went to retrieve a message of peace similar to the one you claim to be delivering. He returned with this blade in his side. Explain it, if you can.”
“Knives can be stolen. Traitors can act without order. Did you ever consider that?”
“You obviously know little of this world, Jarin,” she said with a chuckle. “Elites don’t lose their blades. We have a certain relationship with this group. If one of their men had betrayed them and acted without order, they would have sent us his corpse, as we have done in the past with men who have betrayed us. No, your king sent the order. I doubt he expected Alran to be the man who—”
“Alran? You mean Alran Valar? He was the one who was killed?”
“You knew him?” It surprised Ashea since he didn’t look much older than her and still would have been a child when her father was alive. How could he know him?
“The entire royal family and most of the Dacian court knows that name. He once saved the king and his family. Ari would never have attacked Alran. He had little love for any Paladai back then, and has even less now, but he trusted Alran. He owed him his life. He would never betray him like this.” He seemed genuinely shocked at the news and so insistent, Ashea almost wanted to believe him. Almost.
“Well, he did. Whether or not Alran was the target, he knowingly lured a Paladai to his death. If the body had never turned up, we may not have suspected him. But Alran survived long enough to reach Kade and tell him of Ari’s deceit. Are you going to call Alran a liar now?”
He made no response. Just as she thought. Coward.
“We’ve wasted enough time, Ashea. We need to move on,” Kade said.
Nodding her agreement, she pulled Jarin up and pushed him back to his horse before mounting Zeru. She didn’t know what to think. If her father had that much respect from Ari, why wouldn’t Ari try to defend himself better? She supposed saying, “I didn’t mean to kill that Paladai, but I still wanted another dead,” would have gone over about as well as denying everything.
The sun had nearly set by the time they made it to the safe house, a simple enough looking wood cabin. It was more than a welcome sight. The owner of the home, Naiara, came out to greet them. She was a spry older woman, maybe fifty with tanned skin and black hair that would have had a grey streak in it, if she did not dye it in the various colors she always did. The last time Ashea had seen her two years ago she had managed a purple color. Today it was a dark blue.
“Ashea,” Naiara greeted with a bright smile. “It’s been too long, child.”
“Hello, Naiara. It’s good to see you again,” Ashea said with a smile as she hugged her warmly.
“It’s been even longer since I’ve had the honor of your company, Kade,” Naiara greeted with nod of respect. Her smile faded when she looked from Kade to Jarin. “Who is this?”
“This is Jarin. He’s a Dacian we have to return,” Ashea said.
Jarin gave her a droll stare. Ashea smirked at him.
“You three came just in time; it’s nearly dark out. Tend to your gear, then come inside. I have some food ready, if you’re hungry.”
“Thank you, Naiara,” Kade said as he took Jarin’s horse toward the small stable at the side of the house.
“Jarin, would you mind going down to the river to get some water?” Naiara asked, holding out a pail for him. “I would do it, but that’s work for a strong man.”
“I’ll do it, Naiara. Knowing Jarin, he’ll get lost going both ways,” Ashea offered and took the bucket from her.
“Fine, fine. Be quick about it. Come along, Jarin. I’m sure I can find something for you to do.”
After pulling Zeru’s saddle off and leaving it for Kade, Ashea left Zeru to find his own bed for the night. She then took the pail and made her way through the small patch of woods between Naiara’s house and the river. As she turned to head back with the full pail, she thought she heard something moving in the trees. Or someone. They were making a great effort to be silent, but they had already made one mistake. She let her guard down the day before, and had gotten herself into more trouble than expected. Not this time. She kept moving, trying to act as though nothing was amiss. One step. There it was: the sound of creaking wood as a bow was being drawn. Two steps. They were following now, their sights adjusting for movement and distance. This would be the hard part. Any hesitation would mean death. Three steps. Now! Ashea brought the bucket up to catch the arrow as it tried to find its target: her chest.
“Come out and face me, coward!” she called out.
“Well, you’re more skilled than I thought,” came a female voice. Ashea looked to the direction the voice had come from. Up in one of the trees was a petite woman with a slender build, her dark hair pulled back in a tight braid. When she jumped down from her spot, Ashea could see an emblem on the clasp of her cloak, a bow with a knife and arrow crisscrossed over it. She recognized it as one of the more dangerous of the Hunter groups. This woman was either new or the lowest member; they were not known for missing their targets. “This will be fun.”
“For one of us, maybe,” Ashea said, pulling her knife from its sheath. The woman smirked. Ashea was more than happy to carve it off.
She pulled out her own blade and charged. Ashea parried and moved fluidly to get in her own hit. This Hunter might not have enough skill with a bow to be part of the group, but her knife skills were impressive. The flow was near perfect, like a rehearsed dance. It was almost a shame she would have to die. She would have made a great sparring partner. Too bad.
Ashea feinted left, hoping to move in from the right with a killing blow. It nearly worked. She fell for the ploy, but as Ashea came in for the kill, the Hunter moved a moment too soon and pulled away for a retreat. Ashea’s next move became her last. She gave chase, trying to end the Hunter before she had the chance to make any future attempts on her life. What she didn’t see was the smoke bomb she pulled out. The most acrid smell Ashea had ever experienced invaded her lungs and stung her eyes. She choked and coughed trying desperately not to inhale the smoke. Her vision became a jumble of shapes and color as the horrible, familiar scent began to cloud her mind.
“You will die soon, Paladai,” she thought she heard the woman say. But she couldn’t be sure. The poisonous smoke worked quickly until the only thing she could remember was the sight of a black cloak running away.