Warden (Blade Asunder Book 3) (7 page)

The same female Akkedis returned after they had eaten and took them all back to their chambers. Once she had gone, they all gathered in Ganry’s room, with the exception of Perseus who was acting rather strange. Ganry had caught him in his room, appearing in a trance. He had just assumed he was praying to whichever god he believed in.

“You must thank the spirit of Barnaby for assuring us about the food.” Myriam’s voice broke Ganry’s thought. “We would have all gone to bed hungry if it were not for him,” she said to Hendon.

“Actually, I’m beginning to think he’s more than a spirit, Myriam. I suspect he is from another dimension or world. When we talk, it’s as if he’s still alive, but somewhere else.”

“How strange.” Myriam thought about what Hendon had said, but it was too fantastical for her to comprehend.

“Why do you suppose we have not seen my grandmother yet?” she asked, changing the subject to something more earthly.

“I’m not sure,” Ganry replied, “but I feel there is something going on here that we know nothing of. They are keeping something from us.”

“You don’t think my grandmother to be dead, do you?” she dared to ask him.

“If she were, I believe we would sense it,” Linz answered, recalling the strength of the stones and the magic within the D’Anjue bloodline. “I do feel a weariness in this place, but I suppose it’s the lack of fresh air to breath in. The air within the Cefinon Forest is humid, but this place is far worse,” Linz complained.

“Living underground does not seem natural to me,” Hendon agreed. “I’m sure these creatures need air as much as we do, but they don’t seem to mind if it’s not fresh. I would miss the skies and the rivers. I do hope we’re not down here too long.”

“I would leave now if we could, dear Hendon,” Myriam said, also uneasy with being deep underground.

“Being down here is as natural as being on the surface. It’s just meant for different creatures. We are surface creatures and the Akkedis are more at home under the earth.” Ganry joined in the conversation. “Perseus and I will be going for a walk around the immediate corridors. I would like to map out this place a little, get some bearing of where we are.”

“I’m afraid we cannot allow that,” a voice said from the opening doorway.

Ghaffar walked in, leaving a couple of guards outside the door.

“I trust you are much refreshed now that you have bathed and eaten?” he inquired, as if they were here on pleasurable business.

The Queen nodded her affirmation. “Yes Ghaffar, thank you for your hospitality. I hope that my visit will help bring our two nations together in a closer union.”

Ganry smiled to himself. The young Queen was quickly becoming the wise diplomat.

“Now we are rested I had hoped we could see my grandmother, before I retire.” Myriam emphasized this point to Ghaffar. “I am concerned for her and will not rest easy until I see her.”

“Of course, Queen Myriam.” Ghaffar bowed in an exaggerated manner. “That is the purpose of my visit this evening, to take you to see your grandmother.”

Ganry stood up and walked up to the small frame of Ghaffar’s human looking body. He towered over him but the little man showed no signs of being intimidated by Ganry’s muscular physique.

“I will accompany the Queen to see her grandmother,” he informed him, making it clear this was not a request. “The Queen goes nowhere alone.”

“You are not in a position to make such demands, Ganry the brave. She will not be alone, I will be with her.” Ghaffar sneered at the big human, his address to Ganry, mocking him. Still, Ghaffar did not want to antagonize them just yet. “Very well, you may come along, but you cannot map our corridors. Remember, you are a guest here, and guests act with respect in the homes that they visit. This is the way of humans, is it not?”

“Truly,” Myriam responded on behalf of Ganry before he could speak. “We have every respect for your community. I am truly grateful for the care you have provided to my grandmother. However, we wish for her to return to her own home as soon as possible.”

“Of course, and I shall facilitate that in any way I can, Queen Myriam, when she is well.” Ghaffar bowed again. “For now she is bed ridden, and I am taking the greatest of care for her well being. A woman of the Duchess’ standing, deserves nothing but the best treatment that we can provide.”

Myriam seated herself in a chair, a little shocked at this news.

“Are you saying my grandmother is very ill? I thought it just a part of her recovery from the dungeon, not an illness?”

“Please, Queen Myriam, let us go along and visit her,” Ghaffar suggested, as he opened the door and gestured for them to follow him.

Myriam looked over at Ganry who nodded, indicating that she should go first. Myriam followed Ghaffar out of the door, and Ganry followed his Queen. They walked in procession down an array of corridors cut into the rock, dimly lit by the torches on the walls.

Ganry tried to memorize the way, but he suspected that they were being led in an indirect route. In fact, he was certain that they had been on this current corridor at least once already today, but he could never be certain in this confounded place. If the route taken was meant to confuse them then it had done its task well.

Finally, Ghaffar turned into a doorway and stepped into a dimly lit room. The entourage followed him in and there Myriam saw her grandmother, lain in bed and unresponsive. Quickly going to her side, she knelt on the floor and took a hold of her grandmother’s hand. It felt cold and clammy to touch, and Myriam feared the worse.

“Do you know what ails her?” she asked of Ghaffar, almost accusingly.

“She suffered much at the hands of the pretender, Harald, and endured much in the dungeons of the castle. I rescued her from there, as soon as I could, but now you see the consequences of that terrible experience,” he explained.

Myriam knew there was truth in the tale. Her grandmother had suffered much physical and mental pain to save her throne. This was her fault, not the Akkedis. As Ghaffar had pointed out, he had been the one to rescue her. She had much to thank him for.

The Duchess appeared unaware of anything happening around her, looking pale and almost lifeless. Her skin was cold, but she did still live. Her heart was still beating, just.

“I can only thank you, Ghaffar, you and your people, for all that you have done for my family. Finding my grandmother is a joyous occasion for my heart. I am just saddened to see her this way. I had hoped to travel home immediately, but I can see now that my grandmother is in no state to be journeying across the desert. We must burden you longer and hope that now I am by her side, that she may begin to recover.”

Ghaffar merely bowed his head, saying nothing. His plan had worked well by letting the Duchess slip into unconsciousness. It had served to keep the D’Anjue family here longer, without having to use any kind of force to do so. His Empress would be pleased with his results and would reward him richly.

Artas knew that ruling in Myriam’s absence would be difficult, but he did not realize just how difficult a task it would prove to be. He had hoped to keep a low profile until the Queen returned, but the politicians and merchants were making his life a misery. Their demands to have a private audience with the Queen was a daily occurrence, one he was finding more difficult every day to keep them at bay. Soon they would guess the truth, that Myriam was no longer here, and when they did he was not sure how it would end.

And now to make matters worse, a distant relative of Myriam’s, Lord Josiah, had arrived at the castle with a small private army demanding to see the Queen.

“Should I rouse the soldiers and ride out to meet this Lord?” Artas asked his close advisors, Parsival and Leonie. “I would prefer to battle a hundred dragons than have to face these greedy, conniving individuals,” he declared, totally and utterly defeated.

“Our main concern is not the traders or politicians within the city, it is those who make greater demands of the throne,” Parsival explained. “Josiah is a distant relative of Myriam’s, on her father’s side, and he feels he has claim to lands in this kingdom. And maybe he does, as his lands were lost under the Usurper. If we show weakness now then we will be inundated with distant relatives from all over the lands laying their claims. Only Josiah is aware of the Queen’s departure from her kingdom. True, he does have a small army that will cause this town a hardship, but my friend, we need only use delaying tactics on such a toad.”

“The people will soon learn that the Queen does not reside in her castle, that is inevitable,” Leonie said her part. “This is where you need to use your influence, honorary or otherwise. Call in your chiefs, their Queen needs them. Be decisive, Artas, tell these people, don’t ask them.”

***

The Duchess felt herself floating. The blood in her veins was working so hard, it had become depleted and what remained was attempting to keep her heart pumping. Her heart struggled, something evil was infiltrating her veins and taking away the very magic that had kept her healthy for so long in her life. It was not the magic within her blood that failed her, it was more that something was taking the magic out of her very veins.

She had felt the presence of her granddaughter, imaginary or real, she could not tell. Whatever it was, she had tried to reach out to her but she simply did not have the strength to awaken from the deep sleep that had taken over her body.

Myriam, Myriam, I am here. Wake me up if you can for I am still here,
she called out in her dreams.

Were they dreams or was she simply dead? She felt no pain, only a need to rest. This shell of a body could function no more. She would have to let it go soon. It was such hard work holding on. She longed for the light of the sun. Why couldn’t she find it?

Her granddaughter’s presence faded and she was once again alone. Then the pain started up again, a drumming noise in her ear, like a pump pounding within her veins. A stinging sensation shivered through her entire body and her muscles seized up tightly as she convulsed on the bed.

The female Akkedis, known by her friends as Arriba, felt sorry for the dying woman. She had seemed such a kindly human. As she replaced the pump back into the woman’s veins, she wondered at how much more this frail human frame could take. The Akkedis Empress was demanding more in her drink or she too could die. This human was her lifeline and she worried that the woman did not have much more liquid left to give. If the Empress was to live, then Ghaffar needed to act quickly, or their world would be in chaos.

***

Myriam was heartbroken at what she had witnessed. She wanted to demand that her grandmother be put in her room, but Ganry had cautioned against this, for now. Why was Ganry advising this? She needed to care for her grandmother, and right now she cared little for anything else.

“Ganry, we have traveled long and hard to find the Duchess. I do not believe my grandmother will be in this world for much longer and yet you tell me not to make demands. Why?” Myriam had always trusted Ganry’s judgment because he had always put her life before his own, yet this did not make any sense.

“Myriam,” he called her by her first name, “I know the Duchess suffers greatly, but I do not believe she is ill. I think there is more to her condition than the injuries caused by Duke Harald. I fear for your life, and as Queen, I must beg you not to put yourself in danger until we can avoid it no more.”

“You believe that the Akkedis are killing my grandmother?” Myriam was unsure if this was what Ganry was implying. Surely not? Ghaffar had rescued the Duchess from the pits of hell within the dungeons of the castle. Then he had got her far away from the dangers. Didn’t that make him her savior?

“I too feel that we are all in danger in this city,” Linz offered his advise. “There is something linking the legend of the Rooggaru and Ghaffar, but I have not managed to unravel the mystery. He appeared as a monk in the temple on many occasions, and he was there the night that my uncle was killed. I am wary of him and think he means us harm.”

Ganry decided it was time to approach Perseus and see what his part was to be in all of this. If he had a battle on his hands then he would need Perseus at his side, but he was not sure if he could be trusted.

When he entered Perseus’s room it was empty, with no sign of him anywhere. He had many questions for this elusive Vandemlander, and so took a seat in a chair by the door and waited for Perseus to return. He wondered where he could have gone. None of them were allowed to wander unhindered through the caves. He hoped that he had not come to any harm. He would need his blade if they needed to fight their way out.

A movement on the floor caught his attention and he quickly stood, drawing his sword. A snake, long with a thick body and a scaly skin of many colors writhed out from under the bed. He must have missed it when he entered the room. Had it eaten Perseus? No. He doubted that a warrior of Perseus’s ability would be overcome by a snake, even one as huge as this one.

The snake quickly moved towards Ganry, its tongue slithering in and out of a wide mouth, making hissing noises. Its upper body raised up high, standing upright. The bottom half of its scaled body lay pooled in a circle on the floor.

Its red eyes stared into Ganry’s, as if searching for his soul. The weak could easily become mesmerized by those hypnotic eyes. Ganry lowered his sword, Windstorm, holding it at his side. This ancient piece of weaponry had been forged by Grimlock bladesmiths in the Limestone Mountains. Few would survive its sharp edge, not even the thick scales of a giant snake. Yet he sensed this beast would do him no harm.

What occurred next caused Ganry to doubt his own eyes as he witnessed the snake transforming into Perseus, who bowed his head, his palms together in a greeting.

“I am able to slip and slide within the walls, Ganry, and find out much needed information. I am almost ready to complete my task for my master, Qutaybah.”

Ganry slid Windstorm back into its scabbard and he sat back down in the chair, wondering at what Perseus was really about.

“Something tells me that your mission here was not just to deliver our Queen to her grandmother, am I right, Perseus?” Ganry asked.

The door to the outside corridor opened and Ghaffar stood there. At first he looked annoyed and said nothing. Was he aware of Perseus’s trips within the walls?

“Empress Gishja has requested an audience with Queen Myriam. You are all to attend,” he said curtly, closing the door behind him as he left.

“It seems we are summoned, Perseus. I hope it is nothing to do with your tour of the caves,” Ganry said as he knocked on the adjoining door that led to Myriam’s room.

As he opened it, he saw that Myriam was resting on her bed. Her yellow blonde hair was loose upon her pillow and she looked truly beautiful. Fleetingly, he was reminded of his own of daughter, Ruby, who would have been around the same age as the Queen.

In those dark days after he had lost his wife and daughter, he had cared little for his own life and he had served as a mercenary, taking the most dangerous of commissions. But serving Myriam had given him a reason to live again, and he would serve her until his death. He placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently.

“My Queen, we have been summoned by the Akkedis Empress. Would you like to freshen up?”

Myriam sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her sleep on an evening was restless and she often found herself drifting off to sleep during the day, if it was indeed daytime. Who knew so deep underground.

“Gather the others, Ganry, I will ready myself,” she said, automatically seeking out the dagger, Harkan, that she kept under her pillow. Whenever she held it in the hand with the matching ring, it would shine with a white light and then fade out again, almost as if it had charged itself ready for battle.

She pulled at the necklace that Barnaby had given her. Recently it had felt heavy around her neck and had rubbed at her skin. She looked in the mirror, her hand going to a red mark just under her jawline. It was around two inches long and seemed to rise in an inflamed mound, at its center a puncture mark. How had that got there?

When Barnaby gave her the necklace, he said it had magical properties and would ward off anything harmful, but so far it had done nothing, though it was very pretty. Now that she looked upon it, she recalled a dream she had of the necklace. It had been trying to awaken her because she was choking, but yet she could not awaken. She seemed to be having many strange dreams in this place, dreams that disturbed her, making her sleep fitful.

Linz and Hendon entered her room. She looked at Hendon as he also had an identical necklace, but she could not see it.

“Where is the necklace given to you by Barnaby?” she asked, concerned that he really needed to be wearing it.

“I gave it to Linz because I have the staff now, a direct link with Barnaby who protects me at all times,” he told her.

She looked at Linz and noticed the necklace around his darker skinned neck.

“How are you two sleeping?” she asked of them.

“If you mean does Linz snore loud enough to keep me awake so I cannot sleep, then no I’m not sleeping well,” Hendon replied.

Linz laughed. “I sleep very well, Myriam. As for Hendon, he’s too busy mumbling to his staff, but I simply shut out his noise and I’m soon in a peaceful slumber.”

“I only ask because I think my necklace is active when I sleep. It awakens me with some sort of warning. Do you think it has caused these marks?” She showed them the single puncture wound on her throat.

***

“The Empress is not pleased, Arriba. Why were you unable to draw blood from the female?” Ghaffar questioned one of his servants. “Have you lost your touch of invisibility?”

“No, Ghaffar, I have not. My magic remains in my blood for ever and I will continue to serve the Empress always. The girl wears a necklace and when I punctured her skin to take her juices, the necklace burned me. I then tried to puncture elsewhere on her body, but the necklace kept attacking me with burns. When I grabbed it to try and pull it from her neck, it awoke her, so I had to leave.”

“A necklace?” Ghaffar had not heard of such a thing. “I know of the stones, but these are of Akkedis origin, so we should be able to control their magic. I know nothing of any necklace. We must try to steal this thing away.”