Энтони Райан - Queen of Fire

Without warning the ape charged again, ascending the dais in a frenzy of slashing claws. The faux-marble steps were rent to splinters, Reva and Lieza diving clear as the beast tore away any vestige of protection then rounded on them anew, repeatedly lunging forward and swiping at them with its claws. Reva danced aside as each slash came close, Lieza following her example though she was visibly tiring.

Itʼs too clever, Reva decided, seeing the tense concentration in the apeʼs eyes. Trying to wear us down.

“We need a distraction,” she told Lieza, ducking under another swipe. She managed to ward off another with a jab of the spear but the ape retreated barely a few feet before edging closer. “Dive to the left when it attacks next. Use your chains, only once mind. Then run.”

The ape issued a determined grunt and made another limping charge, both arms extended to the sides like poised scissor blades. Reva dived to the right as the arms closed, the claws slashing close enough to snip off the end of her trailing braid. She snatched a glance at Lieza, sighing in relief at the sight of her scrambling to her feet as the ape wheeled for another attack. Lieza took hold of her chain in both hands and swung it, shouting with the effort. The steel whip snaked upwards to score a hit on the apeʼs face, Reva catching sight of a ruined eye as its head jerked to the side.

It rounded on Lieza with its loudest roar yet as the girl turned and ran, making it only a few steps before stumbling into the sand. The ape bellowed in triumph, crouching for an attack, its back now fully turned to Reva. She surged to her feet, sprinting forward and planting the spearʼs blunt end in the sand, vaulting into the air and landing astride the apeʼs shoulders. She grabbed ahold of the shaggy fur on its neck with her free hand as it thrashed, trying to throw her off. Her legs flailed as the beast wheeled and heaved, swiping at her as if she were a bothersome fly, forcing her to duck as the steel barbs missed her by inches.

Abruptly the ape staggered, ceasing its swipes at her and sinking to one knee. Reva caught sight of Lieza, back arched and arms taut as she hauled on her chains. Revaʼs gaze tracked the chain to where it was wrapped around the apeʼs injured leg, blood pulsing from the wound as it tried vainly to loosen the steel links pressing into the flesh.

She released her hold on its fur, standing upright and hefting the spear in both hands, whirling it about and sinking the broad blade into the apeʼs shoulder. She put all her weight on the haft, teeth gritted as she forced it deeper, feeling it grinding on bone and slicing through sinew until it protruded from the apeʼs chest.

It convulsed as she dived clear, a gasping bellow of pain and confusion issuing from its mouth. It stood fully erect for a moment, eyes tracking from the spear-blade to Reva, now crouched in the sand, ready to dodge another charge. Seeing its eyes, however, dulled with pain and the knowledge of defeat, she saw it was done even before it sank to its knees with a gurgling whine.

Reva glanced about, finding herself less than a hundred yards from the Empressʼs balcony. She was standing close to the edge, smiling with sisterly pride as the crowdʼs unbidden exultation filled the arena. A brief look at the upper tiers confirmed the absence of archers; Varulek had kept his word.

She rose and walked towards the balcony, her eyes picking out the eagle motif in the centre. Flowers cascaded down from the terraces as she walked, liberally covering the sand around her in a multi-coloured floral carpet. She lowered her gaze, concealing a grunt of frustration at the growing blanket of flowers. How to find it amidst all this…

Then she saw it, a faint irregular line in the sand, only partially obscured by a cluster of roses. She raised her eyes to the Empress, seeing her incline her head in acknowledgment. Think nothing. Feel nothing. Reva went to one knee, keeping her gaze on the Empress, her fingers sinking into the sand and inching towards the line until they felt the rough weave of coarse fabric. Her fingers bunched on it, ripping it away, sand erupting in a large plume to reveal the bow, strung and ready… and a single arrow alongside it.

The crowd fell to instant silence as something landed in the sand with a soft thud. Reva closed her eyes, air escaping her in a hiss. Just one arrow.

She opened her eyes, finding herself staring at Varulekʼs slack, lifeless face. From the fresh blood still seeping from the stump of his severed neck it was clear he had died only moments before.

Reva raised her gaze, expecting to find the Empress now shielded by a wall of Arisai, but instead she stood as she had before, precariously close to the edge, arms open with no protection at all.

“You displayed great skill in concealing yourself from my song, little sister,” she said. “The Honoured Master of the Arena did not.”

The doors in the arena walls slammed open in unison, Arisai emerging from the tunnels in a run, perhaps fifty of them, all forming a circle around Reva, Lieza and the dying ape. Lieza tried to run to Revaʼs side but was quickly brought down by a trio of Arisai, laughing as she spat and thrashed in their grip.

“I am pleased to have made such a valued gift to my sister,” the Empress said as Lieza was forced to her knees. Reva dragged her attention back to the balcony where the Empress still stood, maddeningly close, such an easy target.

“But, if we are to share power,” the Empress continued, “I am forced to conclude that you require a lesson in its cost. Power was never won without blood, ambition never fulfilled without sacrifice. So before dear Lieza receives the three deaths, the Arisai have orders to rape her in front of you for a day and a night. But, of course, you can spare her such a fate.” She pointed at the bow and the single arrow a few inches from Revaʼs hand. “It seems you have a choice to make, little sister.”

“Volar features the most heavily fortified harbour in the world,” the Fleet Lord said, his gloved hand sweeping across the map. It was an old chart, the edges frayed and the waxed parchment yellow with age, but also highly detailed. “Towers on either side of the harbour mouth and high walls on the moles that enclose it. The dockside itself has six different strongholds, each holding a battalion of Varitai.”

The map fluttered a little in the wind, obliging him to weight it down with a dagger. The day had dawned with an ominous sky and an unseasonal chill to the air. Frentis could see the trepidation on the faces of many Meldeneans working the Red Falcon ʼs rigging, knowing they feared the onset of another Dark-born storm though Ell-Nurin himself scoffed at such notions. “Sailed the Cut half a hundred times. Sheʼs ever prone to summer squalls, nothing Dark about it.”

“How do you propose we attack such a place?” Karavek asked the Fleet Lord. “Unless you intend to commit my people to some suicidal enterprise.”

“I certainly donʼt.” Ell-Nurinʼs finger tracked to a shallow inlet five miles east of the city. “This is Brokevʼs Notch, favoured haunt of smugglers for as long as thereʼs been an empire.”

One of the other captains, an Asraelin from his garb, stepped forward to peer at the map with a dubious eye. “The channelʼs barely wide enough for three ships abreast that far in.” Ell-Nurin said nothing, staring at him in silence until the captain gritted his teeth, and added, “My lord.”

“We land in relays,” Ell-Nurin said. “Form up on the beach and march on Volar from the east, the least expected direction.”