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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