Souls of Aredyrah 1 - The Fire and the Light (20 page)

“I told you . . .” Dayn mumbled, as he
resumed his place on the other side of the horse.

They walked for hours, no one speaking a
word, and took an occasional break, but only to tend to personal
needs. At first Reiv was nervous whenever Alicine slipped into the
privacy of the shrubbery, but he soon relaxed his fears as he came
to realize she would never leave Dayn, who was kept at Reiv’s side
whenever she was gone.

“Why is it so hot here?” Alicine grumbled,
tugging the lace at her neck as she plodded back from her most
recent visit to the bushes.

“Well, why do you wear such
ridiculous—ridiculous—” Reiv waved his hand in the direction of her
dress and shook his head in bewilderment.

“And why do you wear nothing at all?” Alicine
sneered, eyeing him up and down.

Reiv steered the horse close to her. He
leaned down and placed his lips near her ear. “Who was it that was
complaining of the heat, eh?” he said. He reined the horse aside
and moved back a few paces, then stared hard at her back, hoping
she would sense his telepathic attack. She stiffened her shoulders
and marched on, offering him no satisfaction as to whether or not
she did.

Night soon fell, and Reiv began to feel
uneasy. The sun, which was barely over the peaks of the mountains
when he first encountered the two strangers, was now almost
vanished behind the horizon. Although the moon was bright, Reiv did
not like the idea of making his way back to the city at night with
two Jecta in tow. His nerves, however, were not nearly as apparent
as those of the prisoners. The boy and girl looked frightened and
could not seem to keep their eyes off the increasing shadows.

“What are you afraid of?” Reiv asked. It was
a stupid question, of course, as there was plenty for them to be
afraid of, thanks to him. But the discomfort of their expressions
compelled him to ask anyway.

“Do—do the demons come here?” Dayn asked, his
eyes darting around.

“Demons? What demons?” Reiv replied. He
looked in the direction of Dayn’s wide-eyed gaze, but saw nothing
unusual.

“Well, if you don’t know, then there must not
be any,” Dayn said. His voice sounded relieved, but he and Alicine
exchanged nervous glances nonetheless.

Reiv cocked his head and watched them warily,
then decided it was nothing more than a Jecta superstition. “Do not
slow your pace,” he said, “but do feel free to tell me if you see a
demon.”

Their arrival at the outskirts of the city of
Tearia was marked by a sudden stop and a loud gasp from Dayn. Down
the winding road, between a stand of shimmering poplars, the city
could be seen nestled like an enormous opal in the hillside. The
moon was high in the sky now, its light blanketing everything in
silvery shades of blue and lavender.

Dayn stared at the city as though in a dream,
the reflection of it playing off his eyes. “Is that Pobu?” he
asked.

Reiv thought to be angry, to accuse the boy
of lying again, but then he thought better of it. The strange Jecta
was clearly entranced by the sight of the city, and there was no
hint of a lie on his awe-stuck face. Reiv found himself wondering
if the girl was right. Perhaps Dayn truly did not know how to lie.
Perhaps the boy was some kind of idiot.

“No, that is not Pobu,” Reiv said. “It is
Tearia.”

“So Pobu is a city and Tearia is a city,”
Dayn said.

“Yes, and Tearia is also everything
else.”

“Everything else?”

“Yes, you know . . .
everything else
,”
Reiv said impatiently.

“I think he means like Kirador is everything
else,” Alicine said to Dayn.

“Oh,” Dayn said. He faced the road ahead and
said nothing more.

“You there. Dayn. When we get to the gates,
you keep quiet, understand?” Reiv said. “And girl, I would
recommend that you not attempt your temper with the guards. They
are far better equipped to subdue it than I was earlier. It would
not be pleasant, I assure you.”

Alicine and Dayn looked back at him and
nodded, then turned their attentions to the spiraling towers that
flanked the massive gate before them. Two guards with spears in
hand stepped forward and demanded that they stop.

“Why do you bar my path?” Reiv said crossly.
“I have passage.”

“You will not pass until you have been
authorized to do so,” a guard said.

“And who, may I ask, has the authority?” Reiv
asked.

“I do,” a voice from the shadows replied. A
tall, golden-haired guard stepped out, a cruel grin stretched
across white teeth, his blue eyes gleaming like hot stars. He
marched over to Reiv and crossed his arms across his chest. “Well,
if it is not the princeling.”

“Crymm,” Reiv said. “So you are still
ordering the little man around.”

“If you are referring to yourself, then yes,”
Crymm replied.

“No, I was referring to the less than
illustrious guard under your command.” Reiv curled his lip in the
direction of the two guards flanking Crymm, both less than stellar
examples of the military unit.

Crymm’s grin turned to a frown. “What were
you doing outside the gates, Reiv? The Guard had orders you were
not to leave. I was notified you rode out of here this morning on a
stolen horse.”

“Gitta is under my care. You may ask Labhras
if you have any doubts regarding that minor detail. As for my
riding out of here, I received word there were trespassers in the
fields and, holiday or not, it was my responsibility. As you can
see, I have brought the thieves back with me. Do you intend to keep
me from my duties? I do not think Labhras would appreciate it.”

Crymm walked over to Dayn and regarded him
with a puzzled expression, then crossed to Alicine who returned his
critical stare with an icy one of her own.

“She looks too much for you to handle,
princeling,” Crymm said, laughing. “Perhaps you should leave the
girl to me. I will see to it she gets to Labhras. Eventually.” He
turned to the other guards who readily understood his implications.
They returned his laughter with snickers of their own.

Dayn took a sudden step toward Crymm, but
Reiv leapt from the horse, waylaying any intention Dayn had of
defending her.

Reiv shoved Crymm back and leaned in, nose to
nose, with him. “You will stay away from her,” he hissed.

Crymm saw Reiv finger the hilt at his waist.
“What are you doing with that weapon?” he said, moving his hand to
the regulation sword at his own hip.

“Ask Whyn. That is, if you wish to risk
questioning your Prince’s judgment,” Reiv said. “As for the weapon
at your own side, I suggest you keep it hidden. I do not think you
would like your legacy to be that of my murder. Or is that the
ballad you would like to have sung of you?”

Crymm growled and stepped back, then lifted
his head with a renewed air of authority. “You may pass, but rest
assured, if I find that you speak lies—”

“Then you may have my title,” Reiv said as he
remounted his horse.

They passed through without further
interference from the guards, but Reiv could feel their stares bore
into his back as they filed by. Crymm would check out his story
with Labhras, but there was nothing to fear. He was, after all,
taking the two straight away to Guard Headquarters where they would
be detained and questioned. But a knot made its way into his gut as
he realized a great flaw in his plan. The Jecta would have to be
escorted through the city; the main headquarters was located near
its center. It occurred to him that this was the last eve of the
marriage festivities. Tonight would be the biggest gathering of all
in the inner quadrant, and the streets would be teeming with
revelers. The marriage of Whyn and Cinnia would have been
consummated by now, the topic on everyone’s lips whether or not a
royal heir had already been conceived. For Reiv to go marching
through the merriment would be seen as an act of defiance. True, he
had planned to stop the wedding earlier. But his head was clearer
now. He knew such a bold disruption could hold dire consequences,
not only for himself, but for the Jecta in his care. No, he would
have to wait until morning, then he could transport them through
the city. He groaned to himself as hopes of being free of the two
prisoners evaporated.

Reiv directed Dayn and Alicine toward the
stables where he ordered them to halt. He dismounted Gitta and
hurriedly led her to her stall. Motioning the prisoners to stand
against the wall, he got the horse settled and latched the
half-door behind her. He hated that he didn’t have time to tend to
her properly, but there was water in a trough inside, and he had
scooped out a bucket of feed and set it in front of her.

He instructed his charges to turn left when
they exited the stables, then directed them through a narrow street
and down an alleyway.

Dayn, his face paler than moonlight, looked
back at Reiv. “What’s going to happen to us?”

“What happens to all Jecta thieves,” Reiv
said.

“What’s that?” Alicine asked, fear in her
voice.

For a moment Reiv did not respond. How could
he tell her that thieves usually lost a hand, or in some cases
their lives? He felt an unexpected pang of guilt. Did she and the
boy deserve such a fate as that? Other than their thievery, they
seemed decent enough. He rolled the unpleasant taste of regret
around in his mouth, then spat it out. Why should he care? It
wasn’t his fault they were criminals.

“What happens, Reiv?” Alicine repeated.

“You will find out soon enough,” Reiv said.
“You will be transported to Guard Headquarters in the morning. I
will do what I can to encourage leniency, but I make you no
promises.”

He said nothing more and motioned them to the
left, down a main corridor, and then to the right. The side street
was deserted and quiet, and the moonlight left menacing shapes in
its wake. They eventually halted before a thick, wooden door that
was stripped of paint. Reiv reached around them and pushed it open,
then motioned for them to enter ahead of him.

Dayn and Alicine hesitated in the
doorway.

“Well, go on!” Reiv barked.

“It’s dark in there,” Alicine said.

“I like it that way,” Reiv replied. Then he
shoved them into the blackness that was his apartment.

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Chapter 13: Out of Control

D
ayn shuffled through
the threshold and into the darkness, his arms thrust out before
him. The insistent shove of Alicine’s palm against his back prodded
him forward a step or two, where shin quickly met cross-legged
stool. He cursed, rubbing the latest in a series of injuries, and
threw an invisible glare over his shoulder.

“Slow down, Alicine,” he said. “I can’t see
where I’m going as it is.”

The door slammed behind them. “Do not go
anywhere,” Reiv ordered.

“Where do you think we would go?” Dayn
muttered. The assault of Reiv’s shoulder against his made it
perfectly clear the remark had not been appreciated.

Alicine stood next to Dayn, clutching his
sleeve as though in terror of losing him. “It’s as dark as the cave
in here,” she whispered.

Dayn wrapped his arm around her. “Don’t
worry, everything will be fine, you’ll see.” He couldn’t see her
face, but he was certain her eyes were searching for his.
Impatience welled in his chest. “Don’t you have any light in this
hole?” he called out. He struggled to focus his eyes, but could
make out no shapes at all.

A sudden flash directed his attention to a
corner. Reiv’s face could now be seen aglow, his features lit in a
pattern of illumination projected from the lantern in his hand.
Dayn recognized the boy’s expression of dissatisfaction and
wondered whether his own rude remark had been the cause of it. But
Reiv made no reference to it, so Dayn turned his gaze to survey
what little of the room there was to see.

“Further away from the door,” Reiv
instructed. He motioned them toward the center of what appeared to
be the living area, a manageable distance from the open kitchen
where he stood, and flicked Dayn a look of annoyance. “This hole,
as you call it, is where you will be spending the night, so you had
best get used to it.”

Dayn winced at the remark, then guided
Alicine to where they had been instructed. He kept his eyes and
ears attuned to Reiv, but more specifically to the weapon hanging
at the boy’s waist.

Reiv’s piercing eyes remained raised to them,
his brows knitted as he set the lantern in the middle of the table.
“Are you thirsty?” he asked. His tone was flat and his face stern,
as though the simple question was a gravely serious one. He turned
his body to the side, his gaze fully upon them as he went about his
task. He reached up to a cabinet along the wall, removed three
mismatched mugs from its shelf, and poured an unknown drink into
them from a jug. He then set two of the mugs at the end of the
table nearest Dayn and Alicine while keeping the third for
himself.

“I said, are you thirsty,” he repeated. “I
will not ask you again.”

To Dayn the boy’s simple act of offering
drinks seemed out of place, as though he had not seen Reiv as a
real person before, but some sort of cruel enigma, incapable of
common courtesies. Then Dayn realized his own manners, or lack of
them, and replied, “Yes. Thank you.”

Reiv instructed them to come to the kitchen
table, its low, elongated benches tucked beneath it. He did not
appear to want them to sit, only to drink their drinks and return
to where they had been standing.

Alicine dallied for a moment, sniffing her
mug with a crinkled nose. She dipped the tip of her tongue into it,
then asked straight out if it was poison. Reiv puffed up and went
to grab for her drink, but she plucked it from his outreached hand
and sipped, eyeing him slyly. Dayn, on the other hand, gulped his
down in one great swallow, delighted by the cool wetness sliding
down his parched throat. If it was poison, so be it. At least it
was wet.