Richard Parker - Elsewhere

‘Samantha and Gwaynn would have to die soon,’ Cyndar thought, ‘the bitch immediately, while her beloved prince was away . ’ It was a happy thought and Cyndar had to suppress a smile.

Brandt shook his head at Gwaynn’s inquiry, but it was Ramona who answered.

“My son reports no activity along the Gap and as of an hour ago Captain Wicks claims the waters around Cape to be free of enemy vessels,” the Queen said wanting to do more than just report on the front. She knew her people were doing their share to prepare for the upcoming battle, but she felt useless and impotent in the face of approaching battle. What advice could she give when it was her decisions that led to the loss of her own country? Her confidence was shaken, but she was still Queen and so must carry on with pretense.

“I will be here to await word if anything menacing develops,” she added bitterly but smiled faintly as Tabernas put a hand gently on her shoulder.

Gwaynn nodded, catching the older woman’s mood. “We’ll be able to return immediately if it comes to that,” he said then stepped forward and embraced the Toranado Queen.

“You have given us valuable time,” he whispered into her ear. “No one could have stood against such a force. My father couldn’t and I no longer blame him.”

“But you did,” Ramona whispered back and hugged the young man fiercely.

“I was the fool, not my father,” Gwaynn replied and pulled away but gave an extra squeeze with his hands before completely disengaging and turning to Krys and Samantha.

“We’ll stay in close contact,” he said in a louder voice. “This may take a week or a day. There is no way to tell.”

Gwaynn glanced at Krys, suddenly nervous. “Contact me if anything unexpected arises,” he told his Weapons Master.

Krys nodded and smiled. “Emm and I will keep things under control,” he replied and squeezed the hand of the woman he loved. “We won’t be surprised.”

Gwaynn nodded, completely confident in his young friend. War had aged and matured them both.

And with that the High Zarina Monde began working on the bridge to Noble as Gwaynn hugged and kissed Samantha goodbye, neither feeling even a trace of embarrassment over their display of affection. Within moments the bridge was solid and with a last look at Samantha, Gwaynn stepped through and was quickly followed by Monde.

Samantha never took her eyes him as he moved from Massi to Noble, but when the bubble suddenly popped out of sight she found herself staring into the hard eyes of Cyndar Huntley. The Captain held her gaze for a long moment before lifting her chin and sauntering off toward the practice fields.

ǂ

The High King stood at the edge of the rampart and watched as the tail end of the fleet glided swiftly over the horizon. The morning was very windy and unseasonably cool. But the sky was generally clear with just a few large, white clouds that streaked across the blue as if racing his ships to the distance shores of Massi.

Mastoc frowned with nervousness, uncomfortable with the fact that his Temple Knights were now all aboard ship, ships that would soon be moving through enemy waters guarded by what was left of the Toranado fleet. He was no fool and realized all too well that his rule depended greatly on the dominance of the Knights; without them he would be at the mercy of his enemies. He just hoped Admiral Blakely of the Palmerrio knew what he was doing. The Toranado navy…they were still a concern, and would be until their ships were utterly destroyed.

‘Damn the Cassinni anyway,’ he thought spitefully.

“Arden will keep the Toranado at bay if necessary,” Audra said bouncing the growing baby boy in her arms. “He’s placed Admiral Braunwain and the Deutzani fleet at the very tip of the finger.”

The baby, Aiden, yammered something unintelligible and reached up and tried his best to pluck his mother’s left eye from its socket. She leaned back, smiling and the youth became distracted by her hair, which was well within reach.

The High King looked down at his heir and couldn’t help but smile at the baby’s antics. Then he glanced into his wife’s face, who at sixteen was little more than a child herself. He felt a wave of love and confidence. They would get passed this threat, and when they did he promised himself to put away intrigue for the time being and enjoy his family, which was growing quickly. Audra was already large with child again though young Aiden was not yet eight months old.

“The Cassinni will have to be made to pay for their lack of cooperation,” he finally said as if ignoring his own thoughts.

“But not yet,” Audra said simply, and leaned down to kiss the wiggling fingers of her baby.

“No not yet,” the High King agreed, suddenly happy to be here, happy to be with his wife and son. “And we will not have to move against them by sea,” he added and raised his face wistfully to gaze back out toward the fleet, but the last of the ships were gone, driven away by the strong morning wind.

ǂ

Tar Ira Lacombe was still nearly fifteen miles from the city of Manse when he came across the first Massi patrol. There were nearly twenty horsemen and they were all riding swiftly in his direction by the time he spotted them in the distance. It unnerved him a little that they were apparently aware of his presence before he was aware of theirs, but then they were soldiers on patrol, searching for any sign of the enemy they all knew was coming.

Lacombe turned Sunwind and rode directly toward the approaching riders. They were on him quickly, some riding in close while the rest flanked out and surrounded him at a relatively safe distance. To the Tar, they all looked to be hard, well-trained men, which served as a healthy reminder for caution.

“Your name please,” a young soldier barked loudly pulling his horse to a stop only a half dozen feet from Lacombe.

“Ira Banks,” the Executioner lied. “I have papers of recommendation from Paulo Carnetti,” he added and reached into his breast pocket to remove them. Immediately a dozen lances were lowered and aimed directly at his chest. Lacombe stopped moving, his hand frozen in place.

The soldier before him smiled and then nodded. “Slowly,” he said simply.

Lacombe did as he was told, for though he was confident he could take any two of the soldiers before him, he knew he would die quickly against all twenty and their long, deadly weapons. He slowly pulled the papers from his pocket, eased forward and handed them to the soldier who was in charge of the patrol. Lacombe studied the man as he read and quickly decided that if the Massi had many such men on patrol the High King would be very hard pressed to surprise them.

“Why alone?” the young soldier asked when he finished reading the recommendation. “Paulo usually sends out small parties of new men together.”

Lacombe shrugged. “Impatient to kill Temple Knights I guess,” he answered and several men around him smiled in response. The young soldier just grunted, and his demeanor once again impressed the Executioner.

‘Yes, the High King may be in for a nasty surprise,’ he thought but kept his face carefully neutral as the soldier took to inspecting his mount. From his expression it was clear that the animal did not impress him.

“Horseman?”

Lacombe shrugged. “I ride well enough but I fight better on the ground.”

The soldier nodded and ran his eyes once more over Sunwind, still evaluating. Finally he handed the papers back to Lacombe.

“My name’s Gaston. Captain Jeffery Gaston. Ride straight along this road and do not deviate. You will pass through several more check points, just show your papers and tell them you’ve talked to me. When you arrive in Manse check in with a Lee Brandt.”