I’ll be fine.

Zandrue blinked as the cold sleet dripped from her forehead into her eyes. Instinct made her try to wipe it away, but the ropes binding her to the tree prevented that.

I’ll be fine.

That was what she’d told Felitïa when she’d last seen her. That was what she’d told Rudiger just earlier today when she’d set out on her own to find the cave. Now, here she was, a rope wrapped several times around her chest and arms, binding her to a tree, another rope similarly binding her ankles. She was being drenched by driving sleet, and waiting for Darkers to decide who got to kill her.

I’ll be fine.

She would, too. She’d been in worse predicaments. This was nothing. Not like fighting for her life to protect Corvinian from the Volgs. Not like being sacrificed to the desert sun by a bunch of Collogs. Unfortunately, she wasn’t quite sure yet how she was going to get out of this one. The rope was tied just a little too well and too tight. She couldn’t free herself from it—not without ripping all the flesh off her arms.

Nor could she hear what her captors were saying. They were huddled a short distance away, five of them in total, trying to use the trees as shelter from the weather, but they weren’t having a lot of luck. She was certain they were discussing her fate, but that was all she could tell. The bald one frequently glanced in her direction to make sure she was still there. She flashed him a cold smile each time, but it was unlikely he could see it. It was too dark to see much more than shadows.

Somewhere in the forest, a wolf howled. Another soon joined it. Her captors barely acknowledged them, but continued to talk amongst themselves. Perhaps they simply intended to let her freeze to death. It probably wouldn’t take long. Her clothes were already soaked through, her skin icy cold. She wasn’t sure, but she thought icicles might be forming on her chin and earlobes. Why was the weather always at its worst whenever she got caught?

It had all started out well enough. A few days ago, Zandrue had begun looking into some old contacts in Arnor City. She would have preferred to wait a few more days so she could see Felitïa and Meleng off. She felt bad that she’d had to refuse to go with Felitïa; the least she could do was be there when Felitïa left. However, Garet had insisted she start on the search for Corvinian as soon as possible, and she couldn’t blame him. So much time had passed already. The truth none of them—especially Felitïa—was willing to admit was, finding Corvinian now pretty much required a miracle.

So they’d made do with spending a final evening together—she, Felitïa, Rudiger, Meleng, and Jorvan—during which they’d drunk far too much, told tales, and sung songs. Well, Jorvan didn’t sing due to religious reasons, but the rest of them sang, some of them—Rudiger mainly—really badly. The next day, Felitïa and Meleng had started preparations to set sail, and Zandrue had gone into the city.

Arnor City had changed a lot since she’d last been there, but some things were eternal. Finding what she wanted was not hard.

“Sonna!” Eggar had exclaimed upon seeing her. “How wonderful to see you again! It’s been so long. You are Sonna, aren’t you? You’ve grown a lot—and filled out very nicely, I must say—but you still have her look.”

She had simply nodded.

Eggar looked down at the two guards, who were now sleeping soundly on the floor. “You have Sonna’s touch, too.” He turned to his other companions, seated at the table. “To this day, I have still never met another sixteen-year-old girl who could beat the crap out of two full-grown men—strong men, I might add. Just waltzed in here unannounced like today, and insisted on being heard. My guards at the time learned the hard way you don’t say no to her.” He laughed. “Believe me, boys, you don’t want to cross her.”

“Oh, I think there are some ways I wouldn’t mind crossing her,” one of the men at the table said with a laugh and nudged the man next to him. He looked at Zandrue with lusty eyes. The others at the table did not join his laugh.

Eggar needed only a couple steps to reach the man. He grabbed the back of the man’s head by his hair and slammed his face into the table, then pulled his head back up again. Blood from his shattered nose dribbled through the man’s bushy beard.

“Didn’t I just say the exact opposite of that?” Eggar said. “Next time, show respect, or you’ll get worse than the two on the floor.”

The man stuttered apologies.

“Now get out of here! Oh, and drag those two unconscious dolts out with you. When they wake up, tell them they’re fired.”

The man stumbled from his chair, grabbed one of the guards’ arms, and hurried from the room.

“Looks like there’s a free space at the table,” Eggar said. “Care to join us?”

Zandrue slid into the chair. Eggar took the chair he had vacated only a short while before.

“Mitch, Eraak,” Eggar said, “this is Sonna. You are still going by Sonna, I take it?”

Zandrue shook her head. “It’s Zandromeda now. Zandrue for short.”

The man whose seat she’d just taken slunk back into the room to grab the second guard. Eggar glared at him, but said nothing while he dragged the guard from the room.

Once he was gone, Eggar smiled. “Zandromeda, huh? Good name. I think you could do it, too?”

“Do it?”

“Kill a Volg,” he said.

“Well, I don’t like to brag.”

He laughed. “Unfortunately, most people in these parts don’t know the story.”

Zandrue shrugged. “Their loss.”

“What’s this story then?” the one called Eraak said. He was a greasy-looking Eloorin with wide shoulders, a wide face, and a flat nose. Mitch, who could well have been Eraak’s twin but for the longer nose, nodded his interest as well.

“See what I mean?” Eggar said and laughed again. Eggar himself was a big man, his girth a mixture of fat and muscle. He was dressed more richly than the other men, in a thick woollen jerkin that was perhaps a bit too warm for the smoky room. Beads of sweat on his bald head glistened in the dim lamplight. He placed a pipe in his mouth and leaned back, looking at Zandrue expectantly.

Zandrue looked at Mitch and Eraak. “Maybe I’ll tell you sometime.”

“I’d like that,” Eraak said, a wide grin on his ugly face.

“Shall we deal you in?” Eggar asked, picking up the cards from the table, and shuffling them.

Zandrue nodded. “What’s the game?”

“Crowns,” Eggar replied, and began to deal. “What else?”

Zandrue smiled. “I should have known.” He’d been playing Crowns the first time she’d met him.

The men tossed some coins onto the table. Only copper, she was glad to see since she didn’t have a whole lot. Perhaps if she were lucky, though, she might win a bit. She tossed her ante onto the table.

“So, what can I do to help you?” Eggar asked as they began to play.

“I need information,” Zandrue answered while looking at her cards.

“As always,” Eggar said. “What was it you wanted last time? Something about Ninifin herbs, wasn’t it?” He then addressed the other men, “When the right ones couldn’t be found here in the city, I sent her to Quorge. Never saw her again. That was what? Seven? Eight years ago?”

“Something like that,” Zandrue said.

“So, what is it this time? Bread? Cattle?” He laughed and the other men laughed with him.

“I want to know all you can tell me about Darkers, and particularly about the Volgs who have been using a cave about two days north of the city.”

The laughter stopped.

And that had led her here, to a mostly deserted strip along the western coast of Arnorinn Island. Mostly deserted except for smugglers and Darkness Worshippers, who used the caves in the area as drop-off and departure points for contraband goods.

Eggar couldn’t confirm any Volgs, though he did say he had heard a few rumours of large shapes flying over the area at night. It had been ages since he’d last heard anything like that, however—not since there had been some commotion in the area involving Prince Garet about eight months ago. However, he could confirm that Darkers had been active in the area more recently. There was word that they were transporting “important items” on and off the island. What those important items were, though, he couldn’t say.

Once she had that information, she drilled Garet for a few more specifics about the cave and its location, then set out the next morning with Rudiger and Jorvan on the road leading north from Arnor City. That day was sunny, with temperatures above freezing. Unfortunately, that meant that the melting snow had turned the dirt road to mud. Other than that, though, the journey was pleasant enough.

They travelled northwest past the Royal Hunting Grounds to Elbeth. Beyond that was mostly untamed forest. At Elbeth, the road became little more than a seldom-used trail that wound through the forest, eventually reaching Zunsen lands. However, they didn’t need to go that far.

They left Elbeth the following morning, following the trail a couple hours before Zandrue left them. Neither Rudiger nor Jorvan had been very happy about that—Rudiger out of concern, Jorvan out of distrust. “Look,” she’d told them, “this requires stealth. They’re not going to tell us anything if we just blunder in there.”

“What do you plan?” Jorvan asked.

“To watch, listen, and hopefully learn something.”

“But what if you’re caught?” Rudiger protested. “You need backup.”

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ve done this sort of thing before. They won’t see me. If you two are along, they likely will see us. Especially if we have the horses with us. Let’s be honest, Rudiger, Borisin is not inconspicuous.”

“At least tell us where the cave is,” Rudiger said. “Then we can come after you if needed.”

“Somewhere along the coast,” she told him. “That’s all I know. I have to find it first, myself. Just follow me up the coast. But go slowly. I’ll meet you when I’m done.”

“I can fly ahead,” Jorvan suggested. “Then I can find them faster.”

Zandrue shook her head. “A flying Isyar is pretty conspicuous. Trust me, it’s best if I go alone.” She handed Lucinda’s reins to Rudiger. The look of concern on his face almost made her reconsider and bring them along.

She reached out and patted Rudiger’s cheek. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Trust me.”

I’ll be fine.

What a fool she’d been. She should have brought them along for all the good her bloody stealth had done her.

The sleet had started just as she’d reached the shoreline. But that hadn’t been the problem. She had cursed the weather, as it meant she needed to get in closer to be able to see or hear anything. Yet she hadn’t even had a chance to find the cave. As she was moving just inside the edge of the trees, a huge man stepped out from behind a tree in front of her. She turned around, but the others were already surrounding her. Then, the big one had her arms in a tight grip, and before she knew it, she was tied to this blasted tree, unable to wipe the cold, stinging sleet from her eyes.

At long last, the group of Darkers broke apart and the bald one approached her. He wore woollen robes soaked through from the sleet. A thick scar ran from his forehead and across his cheek. He looked her up and down and scowled. “Who are you?”

“You already asked me that,” Zandrue replied.

“Yeah, and I didn’t like your answer.”

“I did say you wouldn’t believe me.”

“You’re not Princess Annai.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Flippancy was generally not a good response to people who might kill you over it, but she hadn’t been able to resist. “Maybe not, but I’m still worth more to you alive than dead.”

He sneered. “Why’s that?”

“You didn’t kill me right away, which means you think I’m worth something to you.” She had to blink several times to clear her eyes again, ruining the self-satisfied grin she tried to give him.

“Maybe we just want to know who you are and if you’ve got any friends,” he said.

The big one came over to them. “Let me have her, Greb. I’ll squeeze the truth out of her.” He grabbed her by the chin and sneered at her. He had a lot of strength and it felt almost like he might break her jaw, but she gritted her teeth against the pain and resisted making any noise.

“Enough, Dramon!” Greb said. “Get back to your post.”

Dramon slammed her head against the tree and let go. “Whatever you say.”

Only when the big man wandered off did Zandrue allow herself a groan from the pain. “Is he supposed to frighten me?”

Greb glared back at her. “You should be frightened.”

“Really? Of what? It took five of you ganged up to catch me. Now all you’re doing is a bit of posturing. Why should I be afraid of that? Seems to me, you’re just a bunch of incompetents who got lucky when they caught me. A real interrogator would have had me blabbing ages ago.” Riling him might prove dangerous, but it might also get him to say things in the heat of the moment. She just needed to be careful not to push him too far.

He slapped her hard across the cheek. Her neck twisted from the impact and her other cheek scraped against the bark of the tree. “That’s why you should be frightened,” he growled. “Because I hold your life in my hands. Keep playing games with me and I’ll give you to Dramon. So you better start telling me what I want to know.”

“Fine. What do you want to know?”

“Name?”

“Annai.”

He slapped her again. “The truth!”

She could tasted blood from biting her lip mixing with the sleet. She was going to look a terrible mess when she got back to Rudiger and Jorvan.

I’ll be fine. Ha!

“That is the truth,” she spat. “I’m not Princess Annai, but I happen to have her name. You can choose not to believe me if you want, but that’s the truth.”

He grabbed her chin with his hand. He was strong, too, though not as strong as the big guy. “I know your name isn’t Annai. It’s...” He let go of her and stepped back, wiping sleet from his face. “Fine, Annai it is then. What were you doing here, Annai?”

Now, that was an interesting slip-up.

“Going for walk,” she said. Stupid, she realised a moment too late.

He kicked her in the leg, knocking off her balance. Even with the bindings around her, she slid partway down the trunk. She ended in an uncomfortable squatting position, the ropes caught on a knot and refusing to let her slide all the way down.

“What are you, stupid? You must be a half-wit if you think I’ll believe that!” He kicked her again, this time in the stomach and she couldn’t help crying out. “That’s better. Now you’re starting to learn who’s in charge here. Now, answer the question.”

She remained silent for a moment, turning her head to look away from him.

“Answer!”

How far could she goad him? She’d gotten him to make one slip-up, but could she get him to make another before he’d had enough and just killed her? Best give him something he wanted. “I was looking for you.”

He nodded. “That’s better. And how did you know I was here?”

“Not you personally. I was looking for...your type.”

“Servants?” he said with a malicious grin.

Zandrue sneered. “Darkers.”

“How did you know there were Darkers here?”

“I have my sources.”

He kicked her again and she groaned. “Thanks for telling me the obvious, bitch. I want to know who those sources are!”

When she stayed silent, he kicked her again. She bit her lip again, but she didn’t cry out.

“Fine!” He began to pace around. “Maybe I’ll just leave you here. Let you freeze to death!”

A few choice comments came to mind, but Zandrue forced herself not to use them. This was one time she was not going to let sarcasm get the better of her—at least not till it worked to her advantage.

The scarred man was getting impatient. He was pacing back and forth, rubbing his hands together in an annoyed fashion, and kicking at twigs and rocks on the muddy ground. He repeatedly wiped his face. “What about your friends?”

“What friends?” Zandrue replied, holding back the temptation to smile. She was getting the better of him. He’d given up on his last question. The game was hers now. If she could keep it, she’d won.

“Friends, acquaintances, companions, whoever the fuck you brought along as backup.” He went to kick her again, but stopped. Interesting. Was he afraid of hurting her too much? Something else she could use.

“Who says I came with any?” she said. “I’ve already demonstrated my foolishness with my sarcastic replies to your questions. Maybe I’m foolish enough to do this without backup.”

“Like I believe that.”

“You haven’t done very many of these interrogations, have you?”

His rage broke and he kicked her again. She gasped, but held in the cry of pain. Still raging, he turned away from her. Even in the dark of the sleet-infested night, she could see him shaking. “Where...are...your...friends?”

“Well, I have a friend who set sail on a very long voyage this morning,” Zandrue replied. “I suspect she’s somewhere just south of the Arnorinn Strait right now.”

Greb roared and slammed his fist into the trunk of the tree above her head.

“You missed.”

“Of course I missed!” he screamed. “It wasn’t supposed to hit.”

“Temper, temper. Interrogators should remain calm.”

“Calm? I’ll show you calm when I smash your fucking head to a bloody pulp!”

“Then do it.”

He took a step forward and raised a fist, as though he was going to actually do it. He hesitated.

She grinned. “You can’t, can you? You’re not allowed for some reason.”

He lowered his fist, scowling, but then he smiled. “You’re right, but I’ll tell you what I can do.” He fumbled through his wet robe and pulled out a dagger. He held it closer to her face, making cutting and stabbing motions as he spoke. “I could cut off an ear, maybe blind one eye, cut off a finger or two.”

He’d probably do it, too. She’d pushed him far enough.

“Okay, my friends. You’re right. There are two of them. As for where they are, they’re a bit behind me. I was scouting. They’ll probably be here soon, though.”

He lowered the dagger a little. “Better.”

“If you start running now, you might get away.”

“Huh?” The dagger rose back up.

“One of my friends is an Isyar, but I think you know that already. Any idea what he’ll do to you?”

He shook the dagger at her. “You’ve got some nerve.”

“He might raise the seawater and drown you. Or have the earth swallow you whole. If you’re lucky, he might just have the wind pick you up and carry you far away. Just hope he doesn’t drop you.”

Greb sneered. “Yeah, I’ve heard the stories, and I don’t—”

A yell came from the distance. Then another one.

“What do you know? Maybe that’s my friend now,” Zandrue said.

One of the other Darkers came running from the direction of the shore. “Greb! They’re here!”

“About fucking time.” He lowered the dagger and turned away from her. “Darm, watch her. Make her squirm. But don’t damage her!” As he strode off, he glanced back at Zandrue for a moment. “Oh, and by the way, bitch, there are more than five of us.”

That wasn’t surprising and she should have expected it. It hopefully wouldn’t make a difference. Jorvan could handle them. Couldn’t he?

The newcomer smirked. “Comfy?”

Her legs were on fire, something she had been trying to ignore. “I don’t suppose you could help me back up into a standing position?”

He stared at her. He was young-looking and not very big, probably no more than sixteen or so.

“Oh come on. I’m not asking you to free me, just to help me stand. My legs are killing me.”

He stared at her a bit longer, then sighed. “Fine.” He approached her, standing directly in front of her, and grabbed her arms just below her shoulders. “How’d you get like this anyway?” He tugged on her, trying to pull her up.

“Your boss kicked me. It made me slide down and I couldn’t get back up again.” He was so close to her, she could almost feel the warmth of his breath. She could certainly smell it. She could overpower him easily if she could just move.

The boy chuckled and tugged some more. “Kicked you?”

“Yeah, in the leg. I deserved it.” She nodded to the side. “The rope’s stuck on that knot. You need to get it free.”

He let go of her and moved over to the knot. As he tugged on the stuck wraps of the rope, Zandrue pushed forward just a little—not enough that he was likely to see, but enough that it reduced any slack and made it harder for him to free the rope.

“You might need to loosen the rope,” she said.

He looked back at her. “Yeah, I’m not doing that.” He tugged on the rope some more and managed to get one wrap free.

If she could just get a bit of slack in the rope, she might be able to slip out of it. “It’s getting hard to breathe.” To make it more believable, she added a slight rasp to her voice. “If you won’t loosen it a little, then tug harder.”

More yells came from the distance, as well as a loud horse whinny, followed by someone screaming. The boy looked in the direction of the beach.

Zandrue coughed. “Please? What do you think your boss will do if he comes back and finds that I’ve suffocated? You’re not supposed to damage me, remember?”

The boy tugged more on the rope, but it held fast. Zandrue’s chest was starting to ache as much as her legs, as she maintained the pressure on the rope. She gasped for air.

The boy let go of the rope and kicked the base of the tree. “Fine. How do I loosen it?”

Zandrue allowed herself a smile with her head turned so he couldn’t see. “Find the knot. It’s behind me on the other side of the tree. Undo it.”

“But then you can get free.”

“Not if you don’t let go of the rope. You just let it loosen a little and then retie it. Then you can tug the rope free of the knot and I can stand. You’re only letting the rope loosen a tiny bit, not enough for me to get away.”

The boy nodded and went round the back of the tree. He leaned back to her. “No funny business.”

“Trust me, even if I did get away, I’d just collapse. I’m in that much pain. Please hurry!”

He didn’t respond, and for several seconds, there was only the sound of the blowing wind, and the cries in the distance. Zandrue readied herself. The rope was wrapped several times around the tree, so she was unlikely to able to apply enough strength to pull it away before the kid could do anything. But if she could just get one arm free...

Finally, the rope loosened a little, and she pushed forwards on it, squirming to pull her arm free.

“What the hell are you doing?” the boy cried.

“Sorry, you loosened it too much and I fell forward.”

“Bullshit! You’re trying to escape!”

He was trying to pull the rope tighter again, and Zandrue squirmed some more. She had to twist her shoulder painfully, but her arm came out.

The boy ran back round in front of her, a knife in his hand. “Stay still!”

Zandrue tested the rope. It held, but was considerably looser. He had done a poor job of retying the knot, as she’d hoped. She straightened up. “Oh gods, that feels better.”

“I said stay still!”

Zandrue sighed. “What are you going to do with the knife...Darn, was it?”

“Darm.”

“Darm it, got it wrong. But the question stands.”

He waved the knife threateningly, but clumsily.

“Your boss is a moron. Leaving an inexperienced boy like you to guard me.”

He waved the knife some more. “Shut up.”

“I’m kind of insulted.”

“I said shut up!” He lunged forward.

Zandrue shot out with her free arm, caught his wrist, and twisted. He cried out and dropped the knife. He twisted round, trying to get free, but she held him fast. He yelled out.

“Darm,” Zandrue said calmly.

He cried out again, louder.

“No one’s coming, Darm. Listen.”

He fell quiet.

The sounds in the distance had stopped, and there was only the sound of the wind remaining. Darm stopped struggling.

“Now,” Zandrue said, “if you untie me, I’ll put in a good word with my friends, so they don’t do to you whatever they did to your friends.”

Darm didn’t respond immediately, and she hoped she had sounded confidant enough. Truth was, while the battle was at least paused, she couldn’t be sure Rudiger and Jorvan had won. Surely Greb didn’t have that many more than five people. Even if he only had five (four with Darm removed), could she be sure Rudiger and Jorvan would prevail? She really needed to get free.

“Well?” she asked.

He nodded and she let go of him. He stood up and walk round to the back of the tree. A moment later, the rope loosened again.

“Now the one around my ankles,” Zandrue said as she started to pull the wraps of the rope away from her. A short time later, the rope came loose enough that it fell to the ground. She stepped free of the loops with a grateful sigh, and picked up the knife Darm had dropped. Then she wiped her face with the back of her hand.

At last.

Of course, the sleet seemed to be stopping now. That figured.

She looked back at Darm. He was standing by the tree, looking ready to dart away at any moment. She waved him forward with the knife. “Don’t even think of running. Come with me. I’ll have some questions for you soon.” Not to mention she might need a hostage as well. She strode off towards the beach, Darm beside her.