A: Ch.12.1

I am officially rewriting this entire story. Consider this a 'first draft' of sorts. The most updated version is on Wattpad, here. I may or may not be updating here. Sorry!

          Chapter XII

“I like him.”

“I still don’t know how you managed this,” Hilt grumbled as he and Kya walked along the busy streets of Parsear.

“You make it sound like I tricked you,” Kya snubbed, but the girl couldn’t contain her enthusiasm. She seemed thrilled to be around people again after weeks sleeping in caves and hardly a glimpse of another human. Her feet were bouncing jubilantly with each step and her wide-set hood wobbled about, threatening to expose her now significantly redder locks.

“You did,” Hilt grumbled, gazing around. He was not pleased, nor was he comfortable. Something was wrong in this city; the fisherman boats were all docked, the people rushed from place to place without stopping to linger, and the streets seemed… quiet.

Kya, oblivious to anything that lay beyond her own nose, was enjoying the prospect of a proper meal and even a bed to sleep in. She jabbered happily as her breath turned to puffs of frost in the cold air. While they were protected from much of the moisture, thanks to the bordering mountains to the east and north, it was still bitterly cold and the sun set early in the day, leaving the shallow waves of the river to crystalize quickly.

 Hilt had been hoping to blend into the crowd—it was the only reason he allowed Kya to join him. He had planned to leave her a few leagues from the city while he came to shop for supplies (mainly furs and grain for the horses as this was the last major city before the crossed the Rachi mountains). Alas, he somehow got wrapped up in Kya’s whining and finally gave in. The General’s stomach rolled angrily and he was rudely reminded that he had to escape from Kya for at least an hour. But leaving her alone was dangerous.

“…those docks reach almost a mile out. The children all run out as the boats herd the fish into the bay. They’re so plentiful you could reach in and grab as many as you wanted with your bare hands. The engineers developed a turbine of sorts which harnesses the energy of the river and fish, which they use for the smiths and artisans. And the mixture of the river with the sea brings a collection of unique fish and coral you can’t find anywhere else.”

What was she gabbering about? Hilt couldn’t tell. Frankly, he didn’t care. His nose was prickling at the annoying scent of the nearby salty seawater and the sickly sweet scent of something familiar, but he couldn’t pinpoint it.

It took a moment to realize that Kya had stopped talking and he looked over to see she had fallen in step very close to him; they were nearly shoulder to shoulder (well, shoulder to waist, really).

“Kya?” he asked quietly. Her face was tilted down and hidden by her hood. He had to strain his ears to hear her.

“Someone is following us.”

“I know,” he said calmly, though Hilt’s senses sharpened. His unique trait of perception allowed him to pinpoint near exact locations of all living objects around him. He could decipher minute differences in sounds and vibrations to identify various threats.

Without losing his long stride, he identified at least two dozen people nearby. All were adults with similar footsteps and hoarse voices which spoke in whispers. His nose was worthless (he expected that in this form, anyway) thanks to the salty breeze, but his other senses worked to perfect precision.

Most of the men (as their footsteps were too harsh to be female) were scuttling away, a few stopped all together, but one was striding along behind them, at least a dozen paces back.

“Stand before me, and keep your cloak closed,” Hilt whispered. “Give me your bow and quiver, quickly. No! Not like that, act as if you’re giving them back. And keep talking as you were before.” He shifted so that Kya was nudged forward. She obeyed grudgingly, her sing-song voice describing the supposedly advanced forging practices of the city.

They followed the linear dock which trailed the length of the river, occasionally stopping to glance at a shop or give a false laugh at an imaginary joke. He noticed sweat starting to bead at her brow despite the cold and a slight quiver in her hands. Without turning, he knew the location of their pursuer. And he knew that it was a soldier.

Kya’s face was blanching and her voice crackled into silence. She knew the outcome of this as well as he did. Her fear was tangible, scratched plainly across her features and petrifying the muscles in her legs.

The streets quickly became deserted as the sun set behind the rolling hills and the temperature rapidly dropped.

Hilt was out of options. He couldn’t risk being hindered, not when he had come so close. Northerner or Southerner, he no longer cared.

“NOW!” Hilt roared, flinging around in a fluid motion. The sword at his left hip was unsheathed and the hardened steel made contact with another blade in a bone jarring clang.

Kya had already ducked away, dancing away from the vast swings of Hilt’s broadsword. The General was able to catch a glance of her crouched low to the ground, her dagger in one hand and her pistol in the other. At least he had properly taught her how to hide. Good girl. He couldn’t wipe the grin from his face as the small girl danced away easily from the onslaught to hide in the shadows.

And an onslaught it was. Two dozen soldiers joined the fray and Hilt finally had the mindset to properly see them. Crimson uniforms with opulent trim of black velvet. He should have known.

Each man carried three or four weapons from blades to axes and spears. The twang of a bow behind Hilt signified larger artillery and he jerked his head away. An ebony arrow with raven feathers embedded in the eye of his attacker, who squealed in agony before crumpling to the earth.

Hilt turned, daring the next attacker to challenge him. Nearly thirty men now, but they were all keeping their distance. Perhaps they could clearly see their enemy, the emerald eyes set deep into tanned skin, or perhaps their orders were to keep him alive.

Four men lay at Hilt’s feet (when had he killed the other three?) and the tantalizing scent of death swirled about him, intoxicating him. His stomach clenched in deprived agony and his control began to slip. He couldn’t stop it. He didn’t want to.

Hilt’s erratic movements were no match for such soldiers, regardless of what rank they were. His blade was too fast, his blows too strong, and his ignorance to pain almost sickening. It had been long, too long, since he felt the desire within him, the unending agony which could only be squelched with the blood of a thousand men on his hands.

He was no longer seeing or even hearing the battle around him. His muscles worked without direction, blocking, stabbing, plunging, strangling anything within grasp. Pain radiated from his whole body; he had been hit, but he could no longer pinpoint where. His blade, his only companion in battle, was no longer a tool to aid in his chaos but an extension of his persona, completing him.

His trusted sword clanged against something solid and the shock reverberated to Hilt’s core, causing his bones to clench and vibrate. The jarring pause on his assault snapped his eyes back to normal function, as if a veil had been lifted, but the scene before him took longer to comprehend.

The long expanse of Hilt’s blade was resting almost innocently against a gauntlet of steel and gold filigree. The arm beneath the opposing weapon was enormous, nearly thicker than Hilt’s own waist. Recognition slowly dawned on him.

“Been months since we talked and this is how you greet me?” boomed the familiar voice.

Hilt relaxed the strain of his blade, noticing only then that his arms were still trying to slice through his opponent.

Small, beady black eyes were boring into the General, forcing him to reclaim his body and meld it back with his mind. Pain seared at Hilt’s left shoulder, but it was nothing serious. Hilt blinked away the sleepy haze which had always plagued him after such a loss of control.

“Drop the blade now, son,” the grumbly voice told him. “I need at least some of my squad alive.”

A piercing, echoing shot thundered along the cobbled street. Hilt and the gauntleted man reacted together in a unified motion, years of training embedded in both of their movements.

The bullet grazed Hilt’s cheek, leaving an annoying burn, but completely missing the intended target.

“Fuck!” came a muffled cry. This, more than anything, snapped Hilt completely from his trance-like state. He turned to see a curtain of red hair shielding the crumpled form of his companion. Her firearm discarded nearby, her hands desperately gripped at her face. Half a dozen Nibhein soldiers surrounded her, dumbfounded.

Panic struck at Hilt’s core and he couldn’t quite explain why. Perhaps an aftereffect of his release, as he often called it? Hilt sheathed his blade as he ran, the soldiers around him stumbling back, mumbling words he did not hear.

“Kya?” Hilt asked, crouching next to her, gently tugging at her fingers. Crimson blood was dripping through them and she flinched at his touch. “Kya,” he pleaded, again.

She was still upright, so it wasn’t life threatening, but the amount of blood was alarming. Her body trembled under Hilt’s grasp and she desperately tried to pull away.

“What happened?” Hilt demanded, looking up at the still flabbergasted soldiers surrounding them. Many blanched or turned their eyes to their boots. A few offered meager explanations, but Hilt’s piercing gaze quickly silenced them.

“Obvious, isn’t it?” asked the large gauntleted man, striding towards Hilt.

“If it was obvious, I wouldn’t be asking, Fae,” Hilt growled, turning his attention back to Kya. She still refused to show her face.

“She was trying to help you, lad, and used that gun there. I doubt she’s e’er used one before and the recoil hit her righ’ in the face. Likely a broken nose, but she may have knocked out a few teeth.” Fae was standing over the two, his massive arms crossed over his naked chest, obviously immune to the cold.

Hilt blinked. Kya was still firmly set against exposing her face. She cowered away from him, shaking her head. Tiny red droplets splattered from her fingers and splashed against his blank face.

 And then he was laughing. Hilt was laughing harder than he ever thought capable. His chest heaved with each bellowing chuckle and tears of mirth sprouted from his eyes. He crumbled next to Kya, his hands desperately gripped in a vain attempt to control the hilarity.

“Stop!” Kya squealed, pulling one hand from her face to reach out and smack at the General. The brief expose revealed a swollen and she had the workings of a bright shiner, but at least all of her teeth were intact.

That thought sent Hilt back into a spiral of completely maniacal laughter. All this time and she had never actually fired the bloody gun?

 “L-Let me guess?” Hilt finally managed to say, his face flushed with humor. “You held it close to your eye to aim better? Or was it too heavy?” He didn’t even need an answer. Embarrassed and horrified, Kya continued to bury her face in her hands, hiding her crimson cheeks from view.

Hilt hadn’t noticed he was the only one laughing, nor did he realize how demented his echoing laughter truly was. Blood stained his clothes, his own blade was still crimson with life, and yet his merriment was all he appeared to notice.

Fae, who apparently cared little for the mass of fallen soldiers or the horror of Hilt’s amusement, finally stepped in.

“Righ’, lad. Let’s get you all somewhere warm, preferably with a nice stiff drink.”

A: Ch. 11.2

I am officially rewriting this entire story. Consider this a 'first draft' of sorts. The most updated version is on Wattpad, here. I may or may not be updating here. Sorry!

Kya curled up close to the fire with her knees tucked under her chin. Hilt had been gone for hours. He stormed off to ‘find some real food’ before Kya had said any more. The snow was swirling harder and the cold was sinking in.

She had never told anyone about her Uncle before, not like this. A few people knew because they were there, but most of her country believed her substitute to be the true princess. Admitting this to the Third General seemed reckless and dangerous, but she felt an odd sense of relief. It was no longer a secret, no longer the darkest shadow in her soul.

Her legs ached and her stomach twisted into painful knots. Their journey had hardly begun, and this trail would be considered paradise once they hit the Rachi Mountains, she knew this. She didn’t fear the journey this time, though she knew should.

“This will have to do,” Hilt grunted, tossing down over half a dozen rabbits. They were skinned, gutted, and ready to be cooked. Kya flinched. She hadn’t even noticed his return.

“I can help,” Kya offered, emerging from her cocoon of blankets.

Hilt snapped a horrified look before pulling the rabbits away from her reach. “No,” he insisted, dutifully cutting up the meat.

Her eyes narrowed. She couldn’t hurt the food that badly.

They fell into an awkward silence for nearly an hour as the General skewered and roasted the small rodents. He didn’t seem to know what to say. Kya couldn’t blame him; she didn’t either. Her sense of relief morphed into nagging anxiety dipped in a coating of suspicion. What would Hilt do with this information?

“Listen, I—“

Hilt interrupted her, “I just have to ask one thing.”

Kya swallowed hard.

“It wasn’t…” His face looked pained, as if the words alone might sear his flesh. “It wasn’t… that… idiot knight, was it?”

Kya blinked in confusion.

“Your husband,” he clarified. “It wasn’t that Cress boy?”

“Oh!” Kya said, slightly confused. “No. It wasn’t. My husband died.” Her fingers tingled and she couldn’t help the words that came out of her mouth next. “You did meet him before he died, though.”

Hilt looked at her with curious eyes. “How could I have? Those crones on your council tried to arrange a marriage between us. I didn’t know you prior.”

“They tried to arrange a marriage between Kya and Damien, not the Princess,” Kya corrected, “and you did meet my husband before me. You were the one who killed him,” she said, a strange sense of pride and resentment in her voice. She’d been itching to confront him with this for months.

“You want me to guess?” Hilt asked, raising a brow. “I’ve killed many men in my time.”

Kya’s throat clamped shut. She didn’t want to know how many men he had killed.

“Go on, then,” Hilt said, gnawing on a piece of screwed hare. “Tell me who he was.”

“Lorant,” Kya said quietly. “Sir Lorant, the assassin prior to myself, the knight you executed the night I first met you.”

Hilt paused, mid-chew. He finally swallowed and looked her over. Kya hated it when she stared at him, she always felt like a piece of meat.

“I’m sorry,” Hilt said softly. Was his voice sincere? She met his eye and felt the air catch in her throat. The creases at the corners of his eyes softened and his shoulders were slumped. He looked smaller, much like a child being punished. She hadn’t expected this; he was supposed to snicker and make some cruel joke about how he deserved it. But he didn’t.

“I—“

“I wasn’t the one who executed him,” Hilt said quickly. He stumbled over his words, as if he had to justify it. “I was never the one who actually executed the assassins.”

“Could he be alive, then?” Kya asked, hopeful.

“No. He rotted away in the mines. None survived.”

Kya bit her lip. Since they were all about secrets tonight… “That’s not true.”

Hilt’s head perked up and he gave her a queer look. “Yes it is. None have escaped the mines, and all of your idiotic assassins ended up there.” His voice was harsh and Kya flinched.

Hilt noticed and looked away.

“The one before Lorant, his name was—“

“Lehnin,” Hilt interrupted, his eyes narrowing.

“—yes, Lehnin. He somehow made it back to Elivagar two weeks after Lorant was sent in his place. He couldn’t tell us how he escaped, but he told us about you, about the offer that you made, how you needed a guide.”

Kya saw the recognition spark in his eyes.

“The old shit told you about the deal.” Hilt almost looked impressed.

“He died two days after he arrived in The Capital. But it was with that information that we created a new plan. Someone would go and accept your plan and lead you to a trap. You already know how… successful we were.”

Hilt snorted, his eyes dancing. “I should have known. It’s rather clever. Unfortunately, you didn’t realize that I’m a Lycaon, and my body metabolizes sleeping salts at a much more rapid pace.” He snickered and chewed on a leg bone.

 Hilt offered her some of the freshly cooked meat, but she refused it. Her stomach wasn’t sitting well with her.

After his sixth rabbit, Hilt finally seemed full. The uneasy silence blanketed them once more, growing thicker with each minute. Hilt obviously had more questions; Kya decided to answer them before he asked.

“I didn’t have the child,” she whispered. He stayed silent. “When he learned that I was pregnant, he brought in my ‘surrogate’. He knew people would grow suspicious if they found the Princess was with child and my husband nowhere to be found. She had dark auburn hair as she is rumored to be a bastard child of the royal family somehow, so she would pass as the Princess and I then became Kya. Yaro assumed I would see this as a grave insult, but I reveled in the freedom it granted me. I could escape him for the first time since my father passed.”

“So that girl has been your substitute for over a decade. No wonder she acts so entitled,” Hilt snorted.

“She was my dearest friend. She was there when I had the child. It never took its first breath. My body was too young to have its first child and rejected it two months early. Yaro was furious. He thought I had done something to kill the child. He beat me and locked me in my room for a week without food or water with the corpse of my small child.”

Hilt grew tense again. She watched as his fingers gripped at his waist, itching for his sword.

She tried to give him a small smile. “He never touched me afterwards. He had already missed his chance at producing this great ruler the Spirits had promised him.”

“After all that happened, after all your uncle did to you,” Hilt growled, “you still believe those Spirits are protecting you?”

Kya gasped, hurt. “They gave me the strength to—“

“They allowed this to happen to you. Why would you pray to deities who relish the pain and suffering of the world?”

Tears prickled at her eyes and Kya quickly blinked them away. Why was he attacking her like this?

“All religions are the same. They prey on fear of the unknown and promise answers that they then refuse to give. They are parasites. They sap a community dry before moving on, all the while promising a better world and a beautiful afterlife. It’s disgusting,” he spat.

“I—“

“Just shut up,” Hilt snapped. He glared at her with a strange intensity.

Kya swallowed and obeyed.

“It’s going to be a cold night. I’m going to go get firewood.” Hilt quickly got to his feet and stormed out of the cave for the second time that night.

This time, he didn’t return until morning. 

Next Section

A: Ch. 11.1

Chapter XI

“What have you done?”

“I did nothing, Rubi.”

“She saw you.”

“Yes.”

“But, how?”

“Hm, I don’t know.”

“Aru…”

“I swear to the Gods, I know nothing.”

“You created the Gods”

“Funny how that works out.”

“I never anticipated that the north was so… mystical,” Hilt said, slathering his voice with bitter sarcasm. He couldn’t help it. His stomach rolled angrily with each spoonful of rubbery, sickening slop he called a meal.

If there was one thing he had learned so far, it was that Kya should never be allowed to cook. Ever. He only relinquished that duty because the wet winter snows were heavy and dry firewood was a top priority. He was starting to reconsider that, though.

Kya shot a glare at him. She tipped her nose up and swallowed her own food with a poorly disguised grimace. “It’s not mysticism, it’s faith,” she retorted.

Hilt snorted and rolled his eyes. “Faith is for the idiots of the world.”

For weeks now they had followed the curious creatures camouflaged in the trees called Mapulders. They were miniscule, furry mammals, as Kya had explained, that lived in only one type of tree, in this case maples. When startled, they would look for another tree which matched their leaves. Instead of just following the trail of maples, as Hilt suggested, they were forced to chuck little rocks and stones at each new tree. Hilt was confused until they found themselves in a grove of brilliant red leaves. Somehow, the little animals ‘knew’ which tree to go to next. The Lieutenant believed this was a trail planted by the Spirits, Hilt thought it an ingenious plan by an ancient people.

“So you don’t believe in your Gods?”

Hilt tried to ignore her. They’d been over this before. Kya just couldn’t wrap her head around a person who ‘didn’t have faith’. Hilt believed in plenty: people were predictable, the sun always set in the west, people were idiots, the sky was blue, oh, and that people were ignorant of the world. That about summed it up.

“Can we not take a more linear route?” Hilt asked, pushing away his bowl. He couldn’t stomach anymore. He’d have to sneak away when Kya was asleep and find a decent meal, preferably one that was nice and warm.

“Following the Mapulders is the only way to find the path across the Rachi Mountains,” Kya explained. Her face suddenly fell and she gazed out their cave at the swirling white winds. This happened to her often. It was almost as if it hadn’t occurred to her that her precious city was gone. She would have spurts of quiet sulking where she would refuse to speak or even acknowledge Hilt. He tried to break her out of it whenever he could. He hated pouting.

“What do we do when all the leaves are gone?” Hilt asked. The winter was still young, even this far north, so many of the maples still clutched to their vivid red leaves. But another week, at best, and the leaves would all be gone. Where would the Mapulders go then?

Kya blinked and looked up, apparently startled. “The mapulders shed their wings with the leaves. Instead of flying, they’ll just scurry to the next tree.”

“And once we hit the mountains? What then? There are no trees in the Eternal Snows.”

“I know the way.”

Why couldn’t she just give him a direction? He had a compass. He could get them there just fine. That was a lie, but it made him feel better. There were high concentrations of iron in the ground and it interfered with any directions. To make it worse, the stars were obscured by the clouds at night and the daily mist and snow blocked out the direction of the snow. This was why he needed a guide in the first place. It was a guess, but Hilt was fairly certain they were heading east-northeast.

“There’s a city soon. Parsear.”

“Parsear?” Hilt asked, stunned. That was to the far east! And it was near the coast. How had they come so far so quickly? “I thought we were heading north?” he growled. Well, at least this explained why the snows were so wet; they were walking along the coast!

“This is the only way to avoid the marshes.”

“You can’t cut through?”

“If we could, we would.” Kya’s voice was calm and monotone. That irritated Hilt more.

“If we end up in Parsear we spend more time in the mountains,” Hilt noted. He wished he had a map. His own got lost in the scuffle, and Kya felt it unnecessary. “We would have been better off in a boat.”

Hilt thought of the First General with his naval fleet. How simple this would have been if he only had a ship! The General allowed that thought to fester in the back of his mind. Once he returned to Beinn, he would have to challenge the old man.

“The ship wouldn’t travel up the river. You would be in the same position,” Kya stated bluntly. She tried to comb her hair with her fingers. The dark color she had been adding was starting to fade out and the bright orange roots at her scalp were becoming more apparent.

Hilt shivered and scooted closer to their meager fire. If he could change forms this would be significantly easier. He could actually hunt rhetek (and perhaps something else) and their horses wouldn’t have to carry so much. As it was, he was still cautious around Kya. He couldn’t afford to spook her and have her try to kill him in the night again, or worse, run off.

“So you’re telling me that this is the exact route that your Uncle took?” Hilt asked.

“Yes,” Kya hissed, her voice bitter.

“I take it from your tone that you’re hoping to find his body out here from some freak accident on the trail,” Hilt noted, smirking.

“King Yaro is… difficult,” Kya insisted through gritted teeth.

“Oh? I thought he was your dear uncle?”

“Yes, was.”

She was quite resistant to elaborate, but that didn’t matter to Hilt. Anything to get his mind off the bitter cold was a good distraction.

“How did he take the crown away from you?” Hilt asked. “You were the living heir to King Odin, I thought, and you are old enough to bear your own heirs.”

“My father died two months before my tenth birthday,” Kya explained. “A son can inherit the throne at any point, but a daughter must wait until she is at least ten years of age.”

“Why?”

“That’s the youngest a girl can be betrothed.”

Ah. Such an ancient and silly custom. It would never stand in Beinn.

“So your uncle took the throne as regent? That should have lasted but a few months.”

“In those few months, my Uncle changed the laws.”

That was interesting. “How?”

“My Uncle was exceptionally wealthy. He owned several ships which traded with the western ports in Nibheis. We were told he was selling spices and herbs.”

Hilt snorted, unable to control it.

“What?” Kya asked, her brow furrowed.

“Did Yaro have the Peregrine Scepter?” Hilt asked, noting the name of an infamous ship which touched land at Port Foray at least once a month.

“No, it was the Crowned Scepter…” Kya said quietly.

Hilt bit his lip to keep from smiling. It was all too perfect. “Your Uncle was not selling spice, dove,” he informed her, a giddy grin on his face. “He was selling slaves.”

Kya’s perfect pout dropped into stunned disbelief. “No,” she said flatly.

“Oh, yes.”

She was shaking her head now. “It’s a different ship.”

“I thought you hated the man. You’re defending him now?” Hilt asked.

Her mouth snapped closed and her face flushed crimson.

“We needed workers in our mines, your Uncle, apparently, needed gold. We kept quiet because the flow of slaves was constant and consistent. We never asked who the leader of this trade was; the crews changed each time. They were killed, I’m sure”

“But…”

“Yes, your Uncle was selling his own people so he could have more gold. Let’s get beyond this. Tell me how he persuaded the courts to change the laws.”

Kya was apparently still struggling with her King’s source of funding.

“Would it make you feel better if I promised to kill him?” Hilt offered, trying to speed up the conversation here.

“I… what?” Kya asked. She truly couldn’t multitask, could she?

“I will kill him up in the Fortress. I will then kill his spouse and any children he has. That makes you Queen and you can stop the trade slave and save your country and whatever else you want to do. Deal?”

“I…” Her eyes were blinking furiously and her face was bewildered. “But you…?”

“I’ve been waiting to kill that twat for decades now. As long as you give me full access to your archives, it would be my pleasure.”

She fell silent. At least she wasn’t stupid enough to still defend the prick.

“I’m assuming he bribed the courts, but couldn’t bribe your church. That’s why that Silae fool still has enough gall to defy him. The church has more power among the masses than the monarchy so if the church did not agree, he would lose the populous, and likely the armies. If I recall, your army still trains at that sanctuary or whatever, am I right?”

“The Sa—“

“Aye, that.” Hilt’s mind was spinning and he hated interruptions. “So, likely, your Uncle had to make a deal with the church, and that probably revolved around you not being killed.” His green eyes fixated on her. He stared silently until she started to squirm.

“He married you off, didn’t he?” Hilt asked.

He watched as her breathing quickened and her flush turned into a sickened green. “Yes,” she said finally.

“And he was going to marry you himself.”

Hilt thought she might vomit and he subconsciously leaned back to avoid any splatter. Surprisingly, she held her own and her voice was even when she spoke.

“My Uncle insisted that the Spirits had spoken to him, they told him that I would produce a son which would conquer the continent and bring unity to all. The Spirits insisted it would only happen if I lie with one of royal blood.”

Her hands were shaking and she clutched them tightly. “Master Silae intervened. The Spirits strictly prohibit incest, he said. He wouldn’t allow it. The marriage would never be sanctioned by the church.”

Hilt understood. “So as punishment, he took your title.”

Kya nodded. “He made up some story that I had been taken.”

“Taken?” Hilt asked.

She bit her lip. “That I had shared my bed with a man before marriage, therefore no offspring I produced could be considered heirs because my womb was now ‘tainted’ with impure seed.”

“At the age of nine?” Hilt asked, aghast.

She nodded again. “It wasn’t true, of course. He just wanted me out of the picture. I was married to the man who supposedly took me. The wedding was the day before my tenth birthday, another insult.”

“But you hadn’t…?” He didn’t know how to phrase it. This never happened in his country. Girls could not marry until menarche. Ever. This man was sick.

“No, I hadn’t.”

“And your husband?” Hilt asked. “He agreed?”

“He had no choice. His family had no name, no titles or honors. He was the son of a gardener, one of my dearest friends growing up. He was like my older brother. He… He refused to consummate the marriage, though.” Kya pulled her knees close to her chest and stared into the fire.

“And this worked? Your Uncle became king?”

“Yes,” Kya said, nodding. “But he struggled to produce an heir. He was… rough with his wives. He had disturbing desires and several of his wives were found naked in his bedchambers, choked to death with linens or burned beyond recognition with searing hot wax.”

Hilt was now fascinated with how easily Kya spoke of this. Her face was stoic and her eyes glossed over.

“He became a fanatic, insistent that the Spirits were sending him visions and that he had been forced to act upon them. His wives were possessed by demons, he said, and that it was his duty to free them before they could harm his unborn children. None of his wives were pure enough for him. He married younger and younger, but none passed his rigorous tests.

“Once I lost my title, I lost all of the royal protection I once had. Rumors were circling that I would be kidnapped by southerners or bandits and held for ransom. Master Silae argued with the King nightly, determined to keep me safe. So, the winter after I turned ten, he made my husband a knight. This was supposed to satisfy Master Silae, but it didn’t, so he was sent on missionary work to the islands in the Ylid Sea. My uncle justified it by stating the old Master had lost touch with his religion.

“The next day, my husband was sent off on his first mission. I’m sure the King thought that his knighthood would result in his early demise. He was my last and only safeguard. While he would not touch me in bed, he still slept beside me. He always tried to protect me, for he knew where the true danger lied.”

 Hilt consciously relaxed his muscles. His jaw had locked in a painfully constrained snarl and his fingers were curled into tense fists.

Kya took a deep breath and continued. “I was moved into a room which had direct access to my Uncle’s chambers. I didn’t understand at first, I was still so young. I hadn’t even been explained what it meant to consummate a marriage, let alone bear children. My father protected me from that.”

Hilt’s breathing quickened while Kya’s seemed to slow. She was almost in a trance, as if reading from a tedious book.

“He came to me that first night I was alone. I was confused and scared. He stuffed a pillow into my face to stop my screams and threatened to rip out all of my teeth. He was big and heavy, I couldn’t fight him. He was chanting as he took me. He kept repeating, ‘Son before the blood, must be the first son before the blood’.”

Hilt tried with all his might not to bite through his tongue.

“My husband was always away. I never saw him for more than a few hours when he returned and always while my Uncle was in the room. I couldn’t tell him anything; he threatened to poison my husband if I did. Master Silae was essentially banished from the Capital. I was alone with Yaro. He came every night for over a year, determined to impregnate me before I flowered. He was under the impression that a pregnancy before I bled would result in the most pure of children.”

Kya swallowed hard, her face finally falling. “He succeeded.” 

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