Энтони Райан - Queen of Fire

I turned at a hard, choking sound behind me, seeing Fornella pull a knife free of Jerviaʼs neck, releasing a fine spray of blood as she held her upright. “You shouldʼve taken the gaolerʼs knife,” she muttered before casting the body away with a grimace.

She sank to her knees as I approached, fatigue obvious and unfeigned now, her smile forced and small. “I owed you a life, did I not, my lord?”

I went to the body, fighting nausea and heaving it upright, proffering the still-gushing wound to her. “Drink,” I said.

She watched the blood flow with detached interest for a second, then looked away. “No.”

“It will restore you…”

“I am already restored. Please take that thing from my sight.”

I let the corpse slip from my arms and moved to her, catching her before she could fall. She lay back against me, her breath coming in slow, shallow gasps. “It will be morning soon,” she whispered.

I could see only a faint glimmer on the horizon — dawn would be hours in coming — but still I held her close, and whispered, “Yes,” into her ear.

I heard the soft tramping of boots on grass, a full company from the sound of it, but didnʼt bother to turn as a large, soldierly form came to a halt at my side.

“So,” I said, “the Empress never believed her.”

Hevren paused before replying, an edge of discomfort in his tone. “She was curious to see what would transpire.”

“Well, I trust this satisfies her curiosity.”

“Your innocence will be proclaimed in the morning. For now, she demands your presence…”

“Later.” I held Fornella closer, feeling only the faint, diminishing flutter of her heart as her grey hair played over my face. “My friend and I wish to stay a while and watch the sun rise.”

He became fully human as Reva led them down into the bowels of the arena, like any other man facing his end; begging one moment, bargaining the next, his temper flaring into brief, unreasoning defiance. “You think you visit justice upon me? This is simply vengeance… You do not know what I suffered… I know many things, I have great wisdom, wisdom any queen would be grateful for… Donʼt you know what I am? What I have done! You are the merest speck on my greatness…”

He fell silent on seeing the black stone sitting amidst its silent companions, Revaʼs torch painting a yellow gleam on its edges. “You…” the Ally choked, shaking as he forced the words out, “You think to destroy me with this? You… You will be making me a gift of more power…” His words were given the lie by the way he shied from the stone, twisting in Frentisʼs grip.

Lyrna cast her gaze over the statues before stepping between them, providing Vaelin an unwelcome reminder of her father as she surveyed the black stone with owl-like scrutiny. “You say this was dug from the Northern Reaches?” she asked him.

“Yes, Highness. Thousands of years ago.”

“So there may be more?”

“The seer made no mention of it. However, it was clear to me he thought it best left buried.”

The queen gave a slight nod, her gaze moving across the statues until it rested on the bearded man. “This is truly him?” she asked with a dubious glance at the Ally, who had begun to whimper.

“Yes, Highness.”

“How far we can fall,” she mused softly, eyes returning to the noble lines of the bearded manʼs face, “if we surrender to malice.” She turned back to the stone, gesturing for Frentis to bring the Ally.

He railed. He screamed. He struggled, collapsing and clawing at the floor with his nails, obliging Vaelin to assist his brother in dragging him to the stone where he thrashed himself to exhaustion, eventually sagging between them, head lowered as he wept piteous sobs. “Just,” he gasped, “Just kill me… All my gifts are gone, the Beyond will not snare me.”

“That would require the death of the body you stole,” Vaelin replied. “And I made a promise to its owner.”

“You are a fool!” The Allyʼs head snapped up, spittle flying as he lurched at Vaelin. “You donʼt know what this thing is!”

“A gateway to another place, somewhere I suspect you will be more at home.”

“You donʼt understand.” His eyes widened as they played over the smooth surface of the stone, unblinking, fixed in terror, his voice dropping to a grating whisper. “When I touched it, when I received my gift, I looked into that world… and something looked back, something vast, and hungry.”

Vaelin looked at the Allyʼs sweat-covered face, his unblinking eyes, seeing no vestige of a lie. He began to demand clarification but Lyrna reached out to take hold of the Allyʼs wrist. “Then letʼs feed it,” she said, slamming his hand to the stone.

There was no sound, no glimmer of light from the blank depths of the stone, not even the faintest change to the musty air of the chamber. The Ally gave a short intake of breath then froze, Vaelin seeing the light fade from his eyes, features soon becoming slack, devoid of all animation.

They held him in place a moment longer, Lyrnaʼs gaze searching the empty features of what had been Erlinʼs face. Vaelin released him and stood back, Frentis and Lyrna also retreating from the still and silent man as his hand slid limp to his side.

“Well,” Reva said, tapping her boot against the stone. “What do we do with it?”

“The mountain folk will not be so friendly this time.”

“Rather them than the big water.” Alturk threw a blanket across his horseʼs back and settled the saddlebags over it. The Tahlessa moved with a noticeable limp these days, alleviated slightly by the salve Brother Kehlan had provided to anoint his wound, the only gift he would accept from the Merim Her. “And we have him to speak for us.” Alturk jerked his head at Lekran, bidding farewell to Frentis a few strides away.

The former Kuritai had caused something of a stir when presented to the queen the day before, failing to bow and instead making a formal declaration of love and proposal of marriage. She had listened patiently to his lengthy list of victories, his apologies for not providing the heads as proof, and confident assurance that, should she agree to the union, he would happily kill the requisite number of enemies in less than five years, his life being forfeit should he fail.

“Only a thousand?” she had asked, breaking the tense silence that followed. “Make it three and Iʼll deign to consider it. In the interim you can have a captaincy in my guard and Iʼll make you ambassador to your people. Go back to the mountains and tell them the slaving days are over and weʼll pay a fair price for whatever metals they care to sell us.”

“You truly intend to brave the ice once more?” Vaelin asked Alturk.

“The shaman says itʼs easier in summer months. And it will make a fine story.” He tightened a strap on the horseʼs bridle and paused. “She was a good woman,” he said. “I will be proud to tell her story and have it placed in the Mahlessaʼs library. For she was Lonak, and we should not forget our kind, whatever names they choose.”

Vaelin stood back as the Tahlessa climbed onto his horse, hefting his war club. “Thank you.”

Alturk looked down at him, eyes arch beneath his heavy brows. “One day…” he began.

“The Lonak will sweep the Merim Her into the sea,” Vaelin finished. “I know.”