Chains of a Dark Goddess (10 page)

“Larekal, you will be my captain.”

Larekal stroked his mustache then bowed his head. “Yes, master.”

“Choose a lieutenant.”

He pointed to a wiry, hawk-faced man with a scar across his neck and unruly hair. “Chentius.”

“Good. Now choose a reliable man to take word back to your people and to guide them to a new area. This man shall be free of me upon completing his task.”

Larekal and Chentius proclaimed trust in all the men, so they decided lots would be drawn with the two of them excluded. The man chosen took one of the guardsmen’s horses and rode away in haste.

Breskaro examined these men in their tattered peasant clothes and bare feet. He had to start somewhere, and while they didn’t look like much, these Rrakans were tough. He thought back to his Valiants. He’d always had his choice of young knights. Whenever they returned from campaigns with losses or retirements, he would go through the ranks of the Second and Third Imperial Lancers, choosing the best. Sometimes he would elevate talented squires straight into the ranks as soon as they achieved knighthood. 

People lauded his prowess in battle, and he was one of the most formidable warriors in Issalia. What people had failed to realize was that his Valiants were as successful as they were not because of his prowess, or his leadership, but because he had a knack for picking out the canniest fighters and helping them realize their potential.

His Valiants
. Breskaro burned with anger to think of them all slaughtered. If only he had them now.

He addressed the Rrakans: “Henceforth, you twelve shall be my disciples, my Knights of the Dark.”

“And what of me?” Esha asked, defensively.

“You shall be my shield-maiden. Even a mighty warrior such as I needs someone to watch his back.”

“I’ll do it!”

“Gather the enemy’s weapons. Crossbows, swords, daggers, and whatever might lie within the guardhouse. Split it amongst yourselves.”

“There was food within the house, master,” said Larekal. “I gave some to the rider we sent out.”

“Divide the rest amongst yourselves and Esha fairly. I need it not. But don’t eat yet. Let’s get as far from here as your legs can take you.”

They mounted the six weakest men on the three horses they took from the stables and the rest followed on foot. They traveled through the night, out into the wilderness with Breskaro leading them by his darksight. But once the men were too exhausted to go on, they made camp in a thick stand of firs at the top of a hill.

~~~

The Rrakans and Esha slept soundly, fatigue having overwhelmed their sense of danger and wonder. Breskaro practiced those spells that he could without drawing any outside attention. Then he studied the grimoire to add more spells to his arsenal. In the morning he appointed men to take turns standing watch. Then he went out. He returned that afternoon dragging a dead buck and carrying a brace of rabbits slung over his shoulder.

Breskaro chose two men who looked well-rested, if a bit starved, and told them were they could find a cluster of trees bearing apples. He told the rest where they could find a stream nearby.

“Take turns, all of you. Drink. Wash up. Bring water back. But be quiet and watch your backs.”

Breskaro took out his dagger, and though it was not meant for such work, began skinning the rabbits.

“You’re doing it wrong, master,” piped a small voice over his shoulder.

“I know what I’m doing, girl.”

“I don’t think you do.”

“I’ve done this before.”

“I’m sure you have, master, but you did it wrong then too.”

He glared at her through the eye slits of his mask. There was something strange about this girl. And not simply because she was willing to talk back to an undead knight.

“Maybe — Maybe not wrong,” she said quickly, “but there
is
a better way.”

Breskaro handed her the dagger. “Go on then. You do it. I’ve got better things to do anyway.”

She drew her own knife which was more suited to this kind of task. “You’re going to trust me with this?”

“You said you knew what you were doing.”

“No adult has ever trusted me before without me proving myself first.”

“You’re my shield-maiden. Why should I doubt you?” Breskaro nominated three men. “Process the deer. Do it however the girl wants it done.”

Breskaro sat on a flat rock nearby. He took out the grimoire and scanned it in depth, committing to memory the names of spells he thought he should learn. Hours passed as he poured through the book, undisturbed by the sounds of his knights or the dappled sunlight which he could now tolerate in small doses. He didn’t stop until he heard the patter of delicate feet approaching.

“Did you finish the rabbits?”

“Yes, master,” Esha said. “The men want to know if we can set fires to cook the meat.”

“Why didn’t Larekal come to ask me this?”

“He said we shouldn’t disturb you. I thought otherwise.”

Breskaro grinned beneath the mask. “Tell them they may cook the meat at twilight, not before, not after, and to see that the fires are screened. You know how that’s done, don’t you?”

“Yes, master.”

“I thought you would.”

“My gramps taught me. He was a scout as a young man, for the Bresolli tribes. Before the Issalians conquered them. That’s how I know how to survive. We stayed on the move all the time, Gramps and Mom and me. ‘Settling’s for the weak,’ Gramps would say. Never met my dad. I think he was just some guy she met in a tavern somewhere.”

Breskaro nodded and returned to his grimoire. Esha didn’t leave. After he finished mentally rehearsing a spell, he growled at her. “What
else
do you want?”

She flinched but didn’t back down. “What’s death like, master? You’re the only person I’ll ever know who’s been dead.”

“I can only speak to my experience. I know nothing of Torment or Paradise, though I’m told that those places do exist. I was in the Shadowland. It was a bleak wasteland of endless ruins, mists, lost souls, and monsters.”

“Can you talk to the dead? Did you perhaps meet—”

“It’s best not to dwell on death. Live your life. Ignore
anyone
who promises you rewards in the afterlife. Trust to nothing but each breath you draw on this earth.”

“You’re not a happy man, master.”

“Happiness fled me long ago.”

Chapter 15

The white-robed priestess chanted as she placed the firebrand in the oil-soaked straw beneath the timbers. The funeral pyre roared to life within the courtyard of Castle Togisi. Sobs spread among the mourners: cousins of Albiria Togisi, friends, handmaidens, servants she’d known all her life. Magnos and Deltenya Togisi stood in the front, close enough that the heat of the flames forced them back a step. The priestess presented a rose to each of them and tossed a third onto the pyre, saying:

“Let Sacred Fire consume this body here and beyond so that this child, disgraced in the eyes of Seshalla, shall have only a spirit form in Torment so that her suffering might be reduced. May the mercy of Seshalla be upon her and on us all.”

The priestess recited a long prayer. The smell of burning flesh commingled with essences of lavender and citrus and many other herbs thrown onto the pyre. The priestess finished and left, then the mourners, starting with those most distant in relation, began to trickle away.

Deltenya tossed her rose toward the pyre. It fell short and wilted under the heat. She hung her head and spoke quietly to herself. When she finally backed away no one remained but she and Magnos.

“Come,” she said to him. “There’s no use standing here any longer. Let’s go in.”

“I will stay.”

“As you will,” she replied with a flash of menace in her eyes. She too went inside.

Tears flowing down his cheeks, Magnos rolled the rose back and forth in his hand, the thorns pricking skin and drawing blood.

“No son,” he whispered to himself. “No daughter. Never another bright smile to greet me upon returning home from a campaign. Besieged by impurity in my own household.
Again.
”

Magnos tossed the rose into the flames. He remained until sundown when the last wisps of smoke drifted away into the wind and nothing was left but a mound of smoldering ashes. He fell to his knees.

“Seshalla, hear me!” he cried into the empty courtyard. “Seshalla, how have I wronged you? Tell me what I should do to make amends!”

He sobbed and prayed, until he shivered suddenly. His jaw and fists clenched. 

Anger returned to him.

~~~

Magnos kicked open the door and thundered into Deltenya’s bedroom.

“
How could you let this happen
!”

Startled, Deltenya dropped a phial of sandalwood perfume and the silk robe she was about to put on after having finished a bath. The phial shattered, splashing its musky scent across the floor and onto her feet.

“How
dare
you storm in here without knocking, Magnos! I won’t tolerate such behavior. Especially today.”

Magnos ignored her and slammed the door shut. “It’s your fault my daughter is dead and disgraced! She’ll burn forever in Torment and it’s
your
fault!”

“I’ve already told you that I didn’t know anything about it. If I’d had any idea, any idea at all, I would have stopped her.”

She had already endured an hour of questioning from Magnos when he had arrived home.

“How could you not know? What is it that you do here all the time? You’re supposed to oversee the household. You were supposed to see to our daughter’s upbringing. Other than pleasing your husband, what greater duty do you have than being a mother?”

To fulfill my own wishes, to love and be loved by another
, she thought. 

“I did the best I could. She was willful, and I do have other things to occupy me, I have—”

“A lover?” he snapped.

“A lover, Magnos? Don’t be ridiculous. You know you’re my only love. There is no other.” She raised her chin imperiously. “Besides, you have me watched. You’d know if I had a lover.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Deltenya laughed. “I am not a fool.” 

There
was
a male servant assigned to spy on her. She had discovered what he was up to quickly. Then she paid him handsomely to ignore everything she did. She had even slept with him once to assure his loyalty. That made him more susceptible to the
spell of compulsory obedience
, in case she needed to use it on him.

“I am not a fool either,” he said, seething. “You have cheated on me before. It will
not
happen again.”

“When? Name this supposed lover.”

“
Breskaro Varenni
.”

Silence hung between them … long … slow … moments until Deltenya whispered:

“Magnos, I never—”

“I saw you with him in the gardens. Eight years ago, after the Festival of the Joined Moons. I came home early and didn’t announce myself. You embraced him tenderly before he left.”

Deltenya tried to speak but the words died in her throat.

“Don’t deny what I saw,” Magnos said with malice. “Do the man the honor he deserved and be honest. The affair was the death of him after all.”

Deltenya stammered as she took a step back in shock. “What — What do you mean?”

“With your seductive arts you killed the hero of our nation. Seshalla’s greatest warrior was brought low by you, Deltenya. Your
lust
brought him down.”

Eyes wide, Deltenya said, “There were rumors of betrayal on the battlefield, but…”

“Rumors they will remain. You will
never
mention this to anyone.” He shook his head. “I’m angry. I shouldn’t have said anything. But let it be a warning to you.”

“He was your
friend
, Magnos. How could you?”

“He betrayed me. You I had to forgive. You are my wife.
You are mine
. You will
always
be mine and mine alone.” He stepped menacingly toward her. “I didn’t shame you with your betrayal of me. You won’t shame me with Breskaro’s death. I was kind. I allowed Breskaro a hero’s death and burial. You I spared. I have kept you in my bed and in my heart.”

Deltenya was shocked into silence. Her full breasts heaved. Shadows and candlelight accentuated the curve of her hips. Magnos noticed. It distracted him from his anger.

“I must discipline you,” he said solemnly with lust in his eyes. 

Deltenya’s eyes darted around the room. “Magnos,
no
. Not again.”

Magnos prowled toward her. She grabbed her silk robe and backed up to the window ledge. Her qavra was hidden in a box on the desk across the room. 

Magnos leapt forward. He seized a slender arm with one massive hand and locked the other around her delicate throat. He drug her over to the bed and slammed her down.

“I will have you as I wish tonight. You will do everything that I want,
including
those things you have not wished to do in the past. And it
will
hurt, oh yes, it will hurt. But you must be disciplined, Deltenya. I will—”