Altered Destiny (10 page)

He took a deep breath. “We looked to our barons, but a single baron and his warriors was not enough to stand against an entire kingdom of men. For years our numbers slowly decreased. Children became a rarity. Then, a leader arose and rallied the Svistra together. With the approval of all the barons, this man is the most powerful Svistra in our history, and he has sworn to take back our lands and more.” He paused.

Selia watched him as he sat with his arms around his knees, his head hung so she couldn’t see his expression. But the tension in his body spoke of strong emotions. She’d never considered that the Svistra could have families or loved ones. “Your father wanted you to fight, and you wouldn’t?”

Jaden looked up, his gaze tortured. “Yes. That commander, the one who united and leads the Svistra, is my father.”

As they moved through the forest, Jaden observed Selia. There was a new quality to her silence, one that didn’t bode interrupting, and so he waited. She hadn’t commented or questioned his story but that didn’t mean she believed it. He’d never told that tale to any human, not even the blind magician who cared for him the first time he’d escaped from his father’s yoke.

Selia slipped on a patch of wet leaves, regained her balance and then walked on without a backward glance. He could tell she needed to rest. “I’m a little hungry. Care if we stop soon for our midday meal?”

Strong emotions were easy to scent, especially in humans. As Selia observed him, there was no acrid smell of fear or anger. Her fragrance remained as impassive as her dark eyes. “Sure.”

Jaden slung his pack near a tree in a small clearing. “I’ll find fresh meat. Be right back.” He didn’t wait for a reaction but stepped into the forest.

Selia sat heavily near an old pine and leaned against the trunk. Gods, she was tired. Misty light filtered through the towering pines, highlighting accumulated leaves and needles on the forest floor. She wasn’t fooled. Jaden wasn’t hungry. He’d stopped for her. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed the break. Every muscle in her body ached.

Closing her eyes, she breathed in the tang of pine, letting her body relax. Sounds dimmed, and her steady breathing filled her ears.

The crack of a branch brought her instantly to her feet.
Fool. This isn’t the tavern
.

Three men approached cautiously through the trees.

“It’s just her,” one of them muttered.

“T’gods are finally smilin’,” another said with a grin, revealing yellowed teeth.

She kept her back to the tree and stole a quick glance at her bow, just out of reach.

The first man followed her gaze, his blue eyes narrowed before he laughed. “Kinda stupid being out here all alone.”

“How do you know I’m alone?”

“Don’t see no one else.”

Selia palmed one of her blades.

“Fixin’ on using that?” Yellow Teeth spoke.

“Take one step closer. You’ll find out.” Her gaze darted between the three men. Trained soldiers, they moved well. This wouldn’t be like breaking up a bar fight. They meant business, and she wasn’t exactly at her best. She switched the knife to her left hand and grabbed another. Where was Jaden? A sudden thought chilled her limbs. What if these men weren’t alone? They were confident they could overpower one woman. If Jaden showed up, they might call for backup. For all she knew, a regiment of soldiers camped over the next rise. She and Jaden would both be dead, and no one would know to rescue Oren.

She shook her head. She’d have to take care of these men alone.

Blue Eyes spat. “Not playin’, girl. Put it down.”

He’s the leader.
“Make me.”

Yellow Teeth stepped forward, and she threw the knife. It embedded in his eye.

With a roar of rage, Blue Eyes rushed her. Selia sidestepped his attack as she slashed.

He glanced down at the welling red mark running from his shoulder to his elbow. His gaze burned with fury. “Don’t stand there, Farnly, hold the bitch down.”

Blue Eyes neared as Farnly circled behind her. Her abused muscles were already shaking. Damn it. It was time to cut and run. Literally.

She feinted to her left and then rolled to her right, slashing at the back of Farnly’s leg. She made three steps before a beefy hand grabbed her calf and pulled hard. Her face connected with the forest floor.

Selia shook her head to chase off the black spots swimming in her vision.
Don’t pass out now
.

Rough hands flipped her over, but she got her knee to her chest and kicked with everything she had. Farnly flew back, his head snapping against a tree, and he slumped down. Still.

As she struggled to her feet, a hand grabbed her hair and yanked her into a muscular chest. “Now where ya goin’? We just started to have some fun.” Rancid breath caressed her cheek before Blue Eyes licked her neck. “Bet ya like rough, huh?”

She leaned forward and flung her head back, hard. The comforting sound of crushing bone sounded over Farnly’s moans and the throbbing in her own head. In a single motion, Selia turned and reached for the last knife at her belt, slashing across the man’s stomach. His hands came down off his nose, and she stabbed him in the throat.

A warm spray of blood covered her face.

Farnly struggled to his feet, blinking. His gaze drifted from Blue Eyes back to her again. “You fucking bitch.”

“You couldn’t just stay unconscious, could you?” she asked.

Farnly stumbled toward her. Selia adjusted her hold on the knife, still slick with Blue Eyes’s blood. A moment of indecision froze her. If she threw the knife and missed, she’d have no weapon.

Fuck it.
She palmed the hilt and threw. The slick knife flew from her hand into Farnly’s chest but didn’t slow him down. She dove toward her bow. Farnly caught her arm and yanked. Pain blinded her. Fire ran from her shoulder down her arm. She fought the scream that rumbled in her throat.

“Fucking bitch.” Farnly backhanded her so hard she flew off her feet and landed with a heavy smack near the tree. Fresh pain exploded from her shoulder. The breath left her body as small rocks and forest debris dug into her flesh. Blinking back the darkness, her hand found Jaden’s pack and the familiar shape of an arrow.

Farnly approached slowly, a smile stretched his scruffy face. “I’m gonna make this slow and painful for you.” He wrapped his hand around her throat and pulled. Selia used the momentum to bury the arrow shaft in his belly.

“What the…?” Farnly released her and looked down.

Selia dove for her knife, gleaming against the refuse on the forest floor.

Farnly laughed.

She hesitated.

“Go ahead and kill me,” he said. “Save the army from ‘avin’ to do it. But they’ll find you instead. They’re combing these forests.”

Testing the weight of the blade in her good hand, Selia struggled to stay conscious.

“If you think we was gonna have some fun. Wait ‘til—”

Selia blinked at the two arrows sticking from Farnly’s neck, and then Jaden was beside her.

The Svistra didn’t take his gaze away from Farnly.

“He’s dead,” she said.

“He’s not dead.” Jaden’s voice was strained.

“Jaden.”

With obvious effort, he turned to her. His eyes were so golden they glowed under the filtered light.

“Jaden?”

He swallowed. “Are you…”

“Arm’s dislocated. Other than that, I’m fine.”

Jaden helped Selia lean against the tree and then handed her a piece of leather. “Ready?”

She placed the scrap in her mouth and nodded. The pop of her arm going back in its socket sounded far away before the world went black.

Jaden glanced at the human bodies and felt something like pride, then scorned the emotion as irrational. He’d had nothing to do with her training.

He retrieved the bagged rabbit and wished he’d drained it of blood before he killed it. He’d never been so tempted to drink a human as he had when he returned to the clearing to find Selia injured and the attacker wounded but not dead. Rage and hunger had clouded his vision and almost stolen his reason.

Beside him, Selia slept, her face blotted red and beginning to bruise. His anger spiked. Even dead they stank. Not soldiers, probably deserters, but he’d heard what the man had told her. He picked up the dead body and threw it out of the clearing. A bird flew into the dusk, squawking its displeasure. He shrugged his and Selia’s packs over his shoulder and gently picked up the barkeep. She could sleep in his arms.

“Let’s find a place to camp.”

Selia glanced at the sun still well above the horizon in the west then back at Jaden. She didn’t try to hide her irritation at her own weakness. “Fine.” She’d woken a few hours before, cradled against his chest like an infant. It had been both comforting and frustrating. Now they walked side by side, but she recognized his pace had slowed.

A short distance later, he stopped. “Do you hear that?”

Selia reached for an arrow, the muscles of her arm protesting.

He raised a hand. “It’s a stream up ahead. Fresh fish?”

“I don’t hear anything.”

“Then you’ll have to trust me, won’t you?”

They veered toward the east. After a while Selia slowed. “I hear it now.” She turned to Jaden. “How?”

“My hearing is better than yours. One of the benefits of being a predator.”

“Better you than me,” she said, but without heat.

The stream proved deep but narrow, winding its way through the trees. Jaden fashioned a few poles while Selia studied the water.

“Aren’t we closer to the Wastes?”

“Yes. They’re just to the east, and there’s also a finger of them directly north, why?” Jaden walked upstream away from the poles and bent down to splash water on his face.

Selia rushed toward him. “Don’t drink that. This close to the Wastes, it might be deadlier than thirst.” The tang of her fear overpowered the fresh scent of water.

Dark purple bruises shadowed her jaw and both eyes now filled with concern.
She’s worried about me.

He placed a hand briefly over her cool hand. “I wasn’t going to drink. I was going to wash.” He cleared his throat and then breathed in. His nostrils flared, and his lungs filled with fresh air. “A deer is feeding in the forest east of us, but it has a sour smell, tainted by the Wastes. A weasel is nursing her young in the bank downstream, and there are fish hiding among the weeds.”

She blinked.

“Sense of smell, another benefit of being a predator. This stream teems with life, healthy life.”

“Oh.” Selia backed off a step, the concern in her eyes fading.

The shoulder she’d stopped touching felt suddenly cold. Jaden fought the urge to reach for her hand. “But you’re right, we need to be careful. Some of the creatures aren’t fit to eat. I’m sorry if I worried you. Staying close to the Wastes is a calculated risk. This far east, we can avoid most of the human patrols.” He realized he was babbling and stilled his tongue.

“And the Svistra?” Her brown eyes were guarded.

“And Svistra.”

“I see.” Selia settled on a moss-covered boulder and wrapped her hands around her knees.

“I’ll go downstream to wash, unless you want me…”

“I’m a big girl. Go.”

He nodded. “I’ll hear you if you need me.”

Selia winced. “I know.”

Keldar paced in the narrow confines of the tent and turned sharply as the flap opened. They’d set up camp that morning, but already sleeping pillows and even a small folding desk and chair graced the tent.

A Svistra entered, his head lowered. “King Josiam approaches, Commander.”

Still no word of his brother, but he was patient. There would be, in time. This was, if not equal, still good news. “Have you obeyed my orders to the letter?”

“Yes, Commander, we’re leading him here. He is alone with four bodyguards, no one else.”

“Good. When will he be here?”

“He seems to be in a hurry. A day, two at most.”

Keldar nodded. “When he arrives, show him to the tent we’ve prepared, offer him food and when he refuses, send him to me.”

The Svistra backed from the tent.

Four bodyguards.
Is the king that sure of his men or of me?
Either way, it mattered little. It suited him to keep the king alive and renew the terms of the treaty his father had made. He counted on Josiam thinking him young and inexperienced.

Outmaneuvering a king was excellent sport. Keldar had learned much from watching his father’s strategies. First of which was to make sure an ally thought he needed you more than you needed him. In this case, it was true.

With Josiam’s help, he’d take the land the humans called Asild. Then, after he’d built his strength, he would take the southern realm too. Why not? The land was said to be rich. Svistra would thrive on the bounty of a land that stayed warm in every season. He’d always wanted to see the far south, where sands stretched out as far as the eye could see.

After that, who knew?

Watching Jaden walk was enjoyable in much the same way she took pleasure in watching a hunting cat. There was restrained power in his movements, grace that inspired respect, a little awe and fear. A part of her knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but a deeper part reacted on a primal level as prey to predator. A recipe for conflicting emotions. Selia didn’t like that she needed him. Her body was far from healed, and weakness invaded her limbs. No matter the cost, she had to get to Oren.

That’s not the only thing disturbing you.
Selia clamped down on that thought as Jaden turned a bend, out of her sight.

He had cleaned her when she slept. When she’d woken in his arms, it was without a trace of blood on her body. He’d cared for her.
He’s not human.

Moving downstream of the poles, she splashed her face with the cool water.
But he’s not a monster either.
According to his story, humans filled that role. And hadn’t she always assumed Svistra had no soul, no reason for being other than to terrorize? In her mind, they’d been like the animals making their way in from the Wastes: an annoyance dealt with by a swift arrow, quickly and with mercy.

Yet at every turn, he’d taken care of her. She imagined Jaden as a child, playing in the frozen north. He must have had a mother who loved him. Did he have brothers? Sisters? And then he’d stood up to his father. That had taken courage and a little folly, but she supposed the two went hand in hand. In fact, she knew they did. What else could you call running off into a war zone to look for a friend?
Oren, where are you? Please be well. I’m coming.

She glanced at the makeshift poles, bobbing in the water.
We’re coming
.

A splash echoed from downstream. She pictured Jaden bathing, and warmth suffused her body. She briefly closed her eyes. There had been men, travelers mostly, she’d found attractive, but none had stirred her interest like Jaden. Was it because he was different, because he’d never return the feeling? And if he did?