Circle of Reign (16 page)

“Shane!” she screamed. The others in the coach began to open the left door, facing the west portion of the hold. “No!” Moira commanded, but it was too late. Ghryn and Fhayil were cut down as they ran frantically to nowhere in particular by two more arrows. Shayla screamed. Lady Kerr reached out and slammed shut the open coach door, lifted up the front seat of the cabin and retrieved a short blade stored in the compartment.

“What do we do?” Shayla asked in an apprehensive whisper.

“Shane!” Moira again screamed.

“I’m here, my Lady.” Shane appeared at the right door, peering in through the window.

“Thank the Ancient Heavens! We are under attack. I don’t know how many but several are surely already hurt or dead. We must—” She broke off as she took in the sight of Shane more fully. Two other common servants, men, were on either side of him, one with a crossbow. Shane had a sword drawn in his left hand. “You are already armed? You—”

Moira stared at him with disbelieving eyes. “It’s you?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. I am sorry, Lady Kerr.”

“I don’t understand. Why would you do such a thing? Why—” But Moira knew the answer. In her heart, she knew; and, in her heart, she now had no doubt of the monster that occupied the Granite Throne. Terrified pleas for help, shouts of betrayal, and cries of fear filled the hold. She collected herself and spoke firmly with an air of authority.

“These are the Duke’s men, then?”

Shane did not deny it. “Aye, my lady. Khans.”

“Am I to be your captive? Hidden away and kept silent?”

Shane diverted his eyes. “We are to spare no one. I am sorry.”

Moira thought she saw Shane waver. It was there, and then gone just as quickly. “And my son?” She asked, struggling not to let her lip quiver. “Swear to me you will spare my son.” The hold master continued to not meet her gaze.

“Swear it!” Moira said vehemently.

“Hadik,” Shane said with an almost broken voice, motioning to the Khan dressed as a servant on his left. The man immediately ran to the left side of the carriage, reached through the window and grabbed Shayla by the hair. He pulled her head through the open space violently and stabbed her under the soft spot of her chin, driving the blade up to the hilt.

“Shayla!
No
!” Lady Kerr screamed.

“Take her,” Shane commanded. Hadik and the other Khan, one now on either side of the coach, grabbed the handles of the doors and yanked them open. These men were brutal. All Khans were trained in warfare and combat tactics and served loyally without hesitation. But, they were not wood-dwellers. No Arlethian served as a Khan due to the ancient creeds between the Senthary and Arlethians. The Khans would have little chance of catching her
if
she could escape the coach. But Shane, he posed the greatest threat.

An escape hatch above led to the roof. She slashed at the Khan, reaching in from the right side. He flinched back when she struck out, giving her only brief moments but enough for a wood-dweller. She undid the latch with nimble fingers and extricated herself as fast as she could bring herself up. She donned the dark cloak for camouflage amongst the night in a heartbeat’s length.

“On the roof!” Hadik called out, followed by a sound of pain. She peeked over her shoulder to see that the postilion, the young boy who had been shot in the shoulder, had stabbed Hadik in the leg with the very arrow that had struck him.

“Run, my Lady!” the boy cried out. She sprang down from the top of the carriage, lightly sprinted two steps forward on the backs of the horses attached to the carriage and hit the ground of the courtyard in stride. She glanced back over her shoulder to see Hadik strike down the young boy who had bought her time with his life.

Hedron! I must find Hedron!
She passed old lady Wendham lying face down in the courtyard, dead. Others were strewn about as well. The ground in front of her glistened with the blood of her servants, her people who had stayed with her through everything. Moira knew what this was, this move by Wellyn: a silencing of all possible resistance or opposition. Complete extermination of anyone who could possibly know…
know what?
She had come close enough to discovering something and it unnerved Wellyn to a degree that he felt forced to act before she was prepared.
Foolish!
she scolded herself.

“Hedron!” She called out. “To me!”

Snarls and growls followed by yelps of pain sounded through the night. The kennel master must have released the hounds. They wouldn’t stop the interlopers, but slow them down enough perhaps.
Ancient Heavens, where is my son?
Perhaps he was already dead. If so, her heart would turn to stone as she relinquished all her fire for living.

A servant stepped out from a corridor in front of her holding a mace. Not a servant, another Khan. Moira had never been trained in any methods of battle or defense. She never had need of it before and mostly viewed it as a silly diversion for the men of the Realm. This did not lessen her drive to survive and find her son. Her speed increased, knowing that she must appear almost as a blur to the Khan in front of her. Extending the short blade with two hands out in front of her, she drove it into the man’s chest with a scream. He tried to react but was too sluggish in his movement, underestimating his foe. Her attack was crude but effective. She shook with adrenaline and retrieved the knife from its mortal sheath.

Other Khans had closed some distance to her and were frighteningly close. She felt the vibration of a bowstring and sprang to the side, a reflex reaction she hoped moved her out of harm’s way. The arrow skidded off the stone floor to her right. Before the archer could draw again she resumed her sprint, trying to calm herself enough to listen, to feel. She ran alongside the eastern wall, heading to a battlement at the northeastern part of the hold. A thick oak tree could offer her an opportunity to escape by scaling it and jumping down outside the north wall. If she could get into the forest, she would be free. She would seek shelter at Hold Therrium. And then another thought came to her. What if Therrium were part of all this?
Ancient Heavens, no!
Could Thannuel’s own blood betray him? She could not be sure. She could not trust anyone, not yet.
Hedron, where are you?

She spotted him, crouched behind a pillar that protruded out from the north wall, hidden in its shadow. There were fewer
screams now, the silence being more terrible than the screams. The dead do not scream or plead for mercy, only the living.
I will do neither
, Moira swore.

She reached Hedron and huddled with him for a brief moment.

“Are you all right?” she asked, inspecting him quickly. “Are you hurt?”

He shook his head. She could see he was terror stricken.

“We have to move. Ready?”

He again shook his head.

She took his face in her hands. “Be brave, my son, as your father would have you be.” She saw his eyes well up with fear. “I know,” she comforted him, “but we must go. Now.”

She peered out from their secluded spot and judged the way ahead of them to be clear. She still hoped to be able to reach the northeast corner and scale their way to safety. The elevated pathways were too far and probably guarded. They moved slowly at first, but soon they accelerated. A crossbow bolt barely missed Hedron’s head and struck the stone wall on their left.

“I have them!” a gruff voice called out.

“Run!” Moira commanded her son. “Now!”

They both sprinted as fast as they could but they were still several hundred paces from their destination. Four Khans ran up from the south and managed to get in front of them. Each of the Khans had a sword drawn; one man had a crossbow slung over his shoulder.
Where is Shane?
Moira wondered with anxiety. She looked down and saw that Hedron had a short blade in his right hand. His father’s. How many times had she scolded him for sneaking into the quartermaster’s locker?
Good, he will likely need it
. The thought that her son would need to fight for his life against trained soldiers sickened her.

Something impacted Moira that she hadn’t sensed vaulting toward her until too late. Shane smashed into her and slammed her body against the northern wall. Pain seared through her left shoulder from the impact. She thrust out her right hand that held the short blade and barely grazed Shane across his left cheek. He swore.

“
Krithia
!” Hedron cried for his mother in the ancient Arlethian.

Shane grabbed Moira’s right hand with speed only another wood-dweller could track and twisted her arm behind her back, forcing the knife from her hand. She leaned forward from the pressure and tried to raise her left arm to blindly claw at Shane’s face behind her, but the arm did not respond. Only then did she notice her shoulder hanging at an odd angle from her torso and realized it must have been dislocated from Shane’s initial attack when she hit the stone wall.

Moira raised her head and looked out from behind her obsidian black hair. “Run!” she yelled to Hedron.

“
Krithia
, no!” he wailed.

“Run!” the Lady Matron of House Kerr again commanded. “Run.” This last word was spoken softly and without emotion. Two Khans started to move toward Hedron, but he dashed between them with determined velocity and toward Shane. The Khans were too slow as mere humans to seize the boy. His voice broke as a primal scream shot forth from him. Swinging and slashing wildly with his father’s short blade, he attacked Shane. There was no poise or grace in his press, just a savage animalistic ferocity that proved enough to force Shane to respond. His grip on Moira’s right arm loosened, not much, but enough. She whipped her body under her arm, unwound the hold that Shane had on her and thrust her knee into his side with all her might. She was free. Hedron danced around Shane, careful not to get too close. A Khan tried to sneak up behind him and Moira watched as she saw him sense the danger closing in on him. He rolled to the side, regained his feet and was behind the Khan before he knew what had happened. Hedron’s short blade found the back of the man’s thigh, dropping him to the ground. The man cursed in agony as he writhed. Hedron ripped the weapon free and turned to run toward the great oak in the northeast corner.

In the too few moments that the men were distracted, Moira came to the wall and battered her dislocated shoulder against it. She was rewarded with a dull pop as the ball was forced back into
the socket. If it weren’t for the adrenaline, the pain would have no doubt collapsed her to the ground for several moments. She grabbed a torch from a sconce on the wall and swung it at the back of Shane’s head. The explosion of embers looked like hundreds of fireflies in a panicked frenzy before turning to mere ash and escaping with the breeze. Shane stumbled down to one knee. He was not seriously wounded, but perhaps this would give them the time they so desperately needed.
Where can we go?
Therrium would be too obvious of a choice, as would Antious…but they would be better protected than here. She should have left when Antious asked her to, should have—

No, that would only have placed Kalisa and her children in danger
. If they were after her, there’s no doubt Antious and Lord Therrium were being closely watched. Aiden as well.

Fallen Ancients, I can’t even turn to my family without putting them in harm’s way! There is no one I dare seek out!
And then she knew who to search for. They could have refuge there…but could they make it that far while being chased? Hunted?

Moira caught up with her son as they ran together for their lives. She felt the heavy footfall of three Khans behind her. Though they were much slower than her and Hedron, they were not in the open forest with long distances to run. They would catch them if they stumbled even once as they tried to make their escape. Her family’s home was now a graveyard where her most loyal and loved companions lay slaughtered, murdered.
Grieve for them later
.

A vicious snarl was heard behind them as a dark, four-footed figure attacked one of the Khans. Shouts of surprise and pain followed, the dog still barking savagely. Master Elethol, the old kennel master, was right behind his hound, shouting curses as he attacked. She felt his movements stop suddenly and heard the dog’s painful yelp before also coming still.

“This way,” Hedron said. “There’s an opening in the wall.” Moira caught sight of the large oak. It was massive in diameter and grown through the hold’s wall, asserting itself as part of the structure.

“There!” Hedron pointed near the base of the tree where a wily and gnarled root from the oak had surfaced just under the base of the wall, forming a low arch before diving back down into the ground again. Several large stones had been dislodged by the growth, forming a small opening in the wall. And through that opening was extended a small arm with an anxious hand outstretched. Moira’s heart nearly stopped in her chest.

Hedron reached the opening and crawled through. Moira, only a split second behind him, crouched down and peered through the small opening. Hedron stared back at her in a crouched position, encouraging her to crawl through.
Was it a trick of the mind? Had I really seen
—

From around Hedron’s rounded shoulders, a face framed by long dark hair emerged with large, beautiful eyes. She knew those eyes. They locked onto hers. Hot tears sprang to Moira’s eyes but did not spill over. Her world began to spin. She dared not commit to belief.
If this is not real what I see before me I fear my heart will fracture
.

“
Krithia
,” Reign spoke with a quivering lower lip.

Moira gasped. Her soft, high voice shocked her, and for a moment she was completely blank. Unspeakable joy, utter relief, and wonderful confusion all traversed her soul, competing for placement amongst the fear and apprehension. Her heart thudded against her chest with erratic palpitations as she let out her pent-up breath.

The Khans’ heavy footfall approaching from the west wrested her from her incoherence.
Roughly one hundred paces
, she judged from the vibrations.