Chapter II
“I’m not impressed.”
“Just wait.”
Well, to be fair, the general had been right,
Kya would have been better off keeping her distance. But alas, her skimpy
outfit had only allowed for a couple of throwing knives and her trusty dagger,
which was now gone.
This was going well.
She sighed and continued to pick on the lock
on her chains with a pin she had hidden in her hair. There had been some
benefit to the ridiculously elaborate hairstyle, at least.
The guards had taken her to the General’s
chambers, a large circular room at the top of the northernmost tower. Instead
of windows (or even walls) the entirety of it was made up of a series of arches
that opened up to the sky above. It allowed for a liberating view of the plains
around Beinn and the smaller hills in the range. The arches started from the
floor and reached nearly five times her height before all coming together in
the domed ceiling. It was breathtaking, yet terrifying.
There were no doors save for the small trap
on the floor close to the eastern edge. Kya was chained to the middle of the
floor to a thick iron loop (she obviously wasn’t the first prisoner here) and
besides thin gold and purple silk curtains around each of the arches, the only
furnishings were the large bed in matching linens and a pair of chairs across a
small chess table.
It was hard to believe that anyone could live
in here, let alone sleep. The wind alone was nearly enough to knock her over
and it screamed like a siren, and then there was the frigid cold as the night
settled in.
Kya flinched as the door banged open and
those poison-green eyes were staring at her again.
“You never answered my question,” the General
said calmly as he kicked the door closed and he pulled himself up.
Kya was silent, but she kept her eyes locked
with him.
“Have we killed all of the men in your
country, or are they still sucking their mother’s breast?”
The muscles in Kya’s jaw were locking up, but
still, she did not speak.
The General waited, staring at her for moment,
before moving toward the chair. He paused, contemplating something. Kya held
onto the small pin in her hand a bit tighter and held her breath. But alas, the
General stopped and turned to glare at the girl, his eyes flickering from her
chains to various components of the room.
“Curious,” he said boring his eyes into her
again. They were quiet again before the General swept toward the opposite side
of the room.
“You obviously know my name, but I do not
know yours. Not that it matters, of course. It just makes it more entertaining
if I can introduce you to the crowd. I know plenty about you, of course.”
Kya swallowed hard. What could he possibly
know?
“You’re a strategist, though a poor one at
that. It’s a wonder how you managed to get such a ranking. You’re older than
you look, at least I hope they didn’t send a child to kill me, and you are not
accustomed to combat or battle at all. You’ve likely never seen someone die and
never been out of your comfortable little woods in the north. Am I right?”
Kya glared at him.
“Now, will you explain to me why you tried to
put these needles on my seat?” he asked, brandishing the three small little
pins she had embedded in the chair. Each had been dipped in a toxic brew. “For
a moment I had thought you were trying to get out of your chains as I entered,
but apparently you were getting back in
them. Clever, my little dove,” he cooed.
Kya was grinding her teeth. Damn.
“And what is this?” the General asked,
lifting up the quilt from his bed. “Fairy’s Breath?” He shook the fabric and a
fine dust floated through the air. “Lethal, of course, but only if exposed for
a long period of time, like if I was sleeping.”
Kya watched as he turned back to the chess
table and examined one of the pieces. “And you dipped this one in clover oil.
Again, impressive that you have done so much in so little time.” He didn’t
sound impressed, instead he sounded angry as he tossed the piece through the
archway and it fell to the earth long below.
“I will admit,” the General growled, stalking
his way back to his prisoner, “I had not expected this. You have done better
than any of your predecessors, for that you are to be congratulated.”
He stared at Kya for a moment before dropping
a small key before her.
“Not that you need it anymore, but come and
sit with me. I have a proposition.”
Cautious, Kya stared as he walked back to the
pair of chairs, and calmly sat down. After a moment’s consideration, she
unhooked her chains and slowly came to her feet. Acutely aware of each
movement, she walked over and sat in the chair opposite of him.
“There, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” the
General asked. Kya still didn’t move. “Fancy a game?” he asked, waving over the
chess set.
“You’re missing a piece,” Kya blurted out.
“I’ll still win without it,” General Hilt
responded. “At least I know you can speak. Here I thought they sent a mute
woman to kill me. Amazing that you came the closest.”
Kya stared at the pieces warily.
“White goes first,” the General kindly
reminded.
Swallowing hard, she picked up a pawn, and
moved it forward.
“Now,” the General said, moving his own pawn,
“I have a deal to propose. It’s the same deal I have made with each of the
pathetic little knights you have sent my way to kill me. All have made the same
decision and all have experience the same fate.”
Kya felt her hands tremble, but somehow
managed to move another piece.
“I will let you leave this city, alive, with
one stipulation: you will lead me to your Northern Fortress.”
The Northern Fortress was the last stronghold
that Elivagar had. It was deep in the north, far beyond the Jagged Spire
mountain range and secretly hidden within the forever snows. It held all of
their dearest artifacts and was a refuge to many abandoned citizens and a
sanctuary to King Yaro when the fighting came too close for comfort. It was the
only secret they still had, the only card to fall back on.
And the General wanted it.
“Why would you assume I could get you there?”
Kya finally asked.
“Because the only way you managed to get such
a ranking where you would even be considered for this mission would be if you
came from money. Money in Elivagar always means high born, at least a feudal
lord. With that power, you would be given access to the fortress whenever you
desired.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“So, would you like to share a mine shaft
with that pretty blonde knight? Or shall you take the obvious choice to save
your own skin?”
Kya gnawed at her bottom lip. She knew what
she ought to do, and she knew what she had been told to do, but the idea of it
sickened her.
“What do you want at the Fortress?” she
asked, her voice croaking.
The General smiled. “That’s none of your
concern. Your job is just to get me there.”
“And if I simply drop you off at the Capitol
and tell the whole city who you are?”
“Well, then I’ll have to wring that pretty little
neck of yours.”
Comforting.
“Come now, little dove,” the General
whispered, “it’s a simple answer.”
“I am not a dove,” Kya growled.
“If you gave me a proper name, I wouldn’t
have to keep improvising.”
Kya ignored him and stared at the chess game
before her. He had her locked in a checkmate with three pieces blocking in her
king. He hadn’t even called it. He simply kept maneuvering pieces around her,
caging her like an animal.
Finally, “How do we get out of the city?”
“Excellent,” the General grinned. His eyes
glistened and his fingers laced together in front of him. “And I shall be
walking out. You,” he said, suddenly standing up, “will find your own way.”
“What?” Kya demanded, standing up as well,
nearly knocking the table over.
“I have other business to deal with before I
leave. I can’t escort you out. You got in, go out the same way,” he said,
waving a hand.
She stared at him warily. “What makes you
think I just won’t run off?”
“If you try, I’ll catch you, and trust me,
you will never be able to run again.”
A stiff breeze raked through the room and
caused Kya to shiver, or perhaps it was the General’s petrifying glare.
“We’ll be leaving at dawn. I’d suggest
avoiding the roads, you saw what happened last time you did that. Oh, and I’d
fix your face as well. You appear to be melting.”
With that, he practically glided over to the
trap door, flicked it open, and disappeared below.
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