“He’s been getting into trouble all day,” Ari said. “Too much time spent standing around, guarding Ambassador Signe and Adviser Ilom as they sat through one meeting after another.”
“Boring!” agreed Janco.
The fact that Valek had managed to fool Ari and Janco with his Ilom disguise made me feel a little better about his presence in Sitia.
“I could be half-asleep and still beat you, Janco,” I countered with my own boast.
He spun his bow and stepped back into a fighting stance. I picked my bow up and set my mind into my zone of concentration. I attacked.
“Good to know you’re keeping fit,” Janco puffed. He retreated a few feet, but counterattacked with determination. “She’s strong and spry, but can she fly?” Janco chanted.
I smiled, realizing how much I had missed his fighting rhymes. A second before he moved, I knew that he would feint high to draw my guard up so he could strike my exposed ribs. My failure to take the bait and to counter the rib strike shocked Janco into silence. Laughing, I drove him back, swept his feet out from under him, and scooted back to avoid the splash of mud when he dropped into a puddle.
Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, Janco said, “Gee, Ari, and you were worried about her.”
“She’s learned a new trick since coming to Sitia,” Cahil said. He was leaning on the training yard’s fence, and must have watched the match.
Ari’s posture turned defensive and alert as Cahil moved to join us. Armed with his long sword, Cahil wore a loose sand-colored tunic and brown pants.
After I introduced Cahil, Ari still didn’t relax. He kept a wary eye on him. I hoped Ari and Janco didn’t recognize Cahil’s name. Names of the dead King’s family were not mentioned in the Commander’s history books of the takeover, and if the older citizens of Ixia remembered, they kept it to themselves.
“What trick?” Janco asked.
“A magic trick. She anticipated your every move by reading your mind. Devious, isn’t she?” Cahil asked.
Before Janco could respond, I said, “I didn’t read his mind. I kept my own mind open and picked up on his intentions.”
“Sounds like the same thing to me,” Cahil countered. “Leif was right when he accused you of using magic to beat me that time we sparred in the forest. Not only devious, but a liar, too.”
I placed a hand on Ari’s arm to keep him from throttling Cahil. “Cahil, I didn’t need to read your mind. Truth is you’re not as skilled as Ari and Janco. In fact, they taught me to find that zone of concentration, or else I never would have the chance to win against them. There is only one person I know who could take them on and win without any help,” I said.
Janco considered. “One?” He scratched at the scar in his right ear, thinking.
“Valek,” Ari said.
“Oh, yes. The infamous Valek. I’m sure his lover would think that highly of him. Or should I call you his spy?” Cahil stared at me in challenge.
“I think you should leave. Now,” Ari said. His voice rumbled close to a growl.
“This is my home. Thanks to Valek. You leave,” Cahil said to Ari, but his eyes never left my face.
Janco stepped between us. “Let’s see if I have this right,” he said to Cahil. “Yelena beats you, so you want a rematch, but you think she’ll use her magic instead of her fighting skills to win. That’s quite the quandary.” Janco pulled at his goatee. “Since I taught her everything she knows, and I don’t have any magic, thank fate, how about you fight me? Your long sword against my bow.”
“You taught her everything?” Ari asked.
Janco waved away his comment. “Details, details. I’m thinking big picture here, Ari.”
Cahil agreed to the match. With a confident expression, Cahil assumed a fighting stance then attacked. Janco’s bow blurred and he unarmed Cahil within three moves. His mood didn’t improve when Janco told Cahil he needed to use a lighter sword.
“She helped you,” Cahil said to Janco. “I should know better than to trust a bunch of northerners.” Cahil stalked away with the promise of a future encounter flaming in his eyes.
I shrugged his comments off. Cahil wouldn’t ruin my time with my friends. Challenging Janco to another match, I swung my bow toward him, but he blocked it with ease and countered with one of his lightning-fast jabs.
The three of us worked together for a while. Even connected to my mental zone, Ari still beat me twice.
Ari grinned. “I’m trying not to project my intentions,” he said after dumping me in the mud.
The daylight disappeared in a hurry. Tired, covered with layers of mud and sweat and smelling as if I could attract dung beetles, I longed for a bath.
Before Ari and Janco headed back to the Citadel, Ari put a large hand on my shoulder. “Be extremely careful. I don’t like the way Cahil looked at you.”
“I’m always careful, Ari.” I waved and aimed my sore body toward the bathhouse.
The cooling season was ending; I could see the Ice Queen constellation glittering in the clear night sky. The half-moon glowed like a jewel. Only six days until the full moon. I shivered in the cold air. The puddles would be frozen by morning.
My thoughts lingered on Cahil and how fast our relationship had changed back to those first days when he had believed I was a northern spy. A full circle. I reached for my snake bracelet, spinning it around my arm.
Only when I noticed that the campus seemed strangely empty and quiet did I look around for my guards. Used to their presence, it took me a few moments before I realized that they no longer followed me.
Pulling my bow, I searched for attackers. I saw no one. I drew power to project my awareness out, but a bug bit me on the neck, and, distracted, I slapped at it. My fingers found a tiny dart. The hollow metal end dripped with my blood.
I lied to Ari. I wasn’t careful. I had trusted my guards to keep me safe. Hundreds of excuses for my lapse churned through my mind as the world around me began to spin. No one to blame but myself.
Unfortunately this acknowledgement of my own stupidity didn’t prevent the blackness from claiming me.
27
A SHARP PAIN AND A BURNING numbness in my shoulders roused me from sleep. With a rank taste in my dry mouth, I glanced around. Nothing looked familiar. And why was I standing? Not standing, but hanging. Looking up, I spotted the reason for my position. My wrists were manacled to the ends of a long chain that hung from a thick wooden beam in the ceiling. Once I put my weight on my feet, the pain in my shoulders eased somewhat.
Studying my surroundings, I saw rusted shovels and dirt encrusted hoes lining the wooden walls. Spiderwebs clung to dull-edged scythes. Dust coated the tools. Sunlight filtered in through small cracks and holes, illuminating what I guessed to be an abandoned shed with a muted light.
My confusion about how I had gotten here disappeared the moment I heard his voice behind me.
“We’ll start your lessons now.” Goel’s satisfied tone caused my stomach to lurch.
“Turn around and see what I have planned for you,” he said.
My skin prickled with fear, but I forced my face into a neutral expression before I spun. A smirk lit Goel’s face as he gestured to a table on his right. Weapons and exotic instruments of torture covered the top. A wagon containing an empty burlap sack was to the left of Goel. The structure was bigger than I had thought. The shed’s door loomed behind him, appearing impossibly far to me, but in reality only ten feet.
Goel followed my gaze and smiled. “Bolted and locked. We’re in a forgotten place far away from the Keep.” He picked up a small black leather whip that had metal spikes on the ends.
The Keep! I pulled some power to me and projected a desperate mental call. Irys.
“How’re the ribs?” I asked, trying to distract him.
He frowned and touched the side of his chest. “That horse is gonna make a tasty stew.” He smacked his lips. “But that’s later.” He raised the whip.
Yelena! Thank fate you’r
e alive. Where are you? Irys’s worried voice sounded in my mind.
A shed somewhere.
Goel stepped closer to strike me with the whip. I kicked him in the stomach. He jumped back more from surprise than pain.
“Me mistake,” he said, retreating to his table. “Not to worry. I’ll fix.” He picked up a dart, dipping it in a vial of liquid.
The sleeping potion. I thought fast.
I need more information. Is Ferde with you? Irys asked.
Not Ferde. Goel.
Goel?
No time. I’ll explain later.
Goel loaded the dart into a hollow pipe. He aimed. I laughed. The pipe wavered as he squinted at me in confusion.
“I can’t believe it,” I said.
“Believe what?” He lowered the weapon.
“That you’re afraid of me. No, not afraid. Terrified.” I laughed again. “You can’t beat me in a fair fight so you ambush and drug me. And even when I’m chained, you’re still scared.”