The Destroyer Book 3 (20 page)

"You smell different also, girl. Why?" She looked at Nadea with a puzzled expression. Her tongue came out and licked the edges of her lips slowly.

"He isn't going with you." Nadea's jaw was tight and I saw her fists clench in rage.

"You are his pet, not the other way around, human." She laughed and turned to me. "Sometimes I like to use nice words when I ask for things. I learned that tactic from Alatorict. However, I enjoy killing. So I brought a battalion of our soldiers in case my nice words didn't work on you, O'Baarni. Which way would you prefer?"

"You'll let them live if I come with you?" I knew my limits, there was no way I could defeat all of her warriors.

"I have no use for them. I think the empress does though." She tapped her chin with her gloved hand and smiled coyly.

"What do you mean?" Nadea asked.

"If the O'Baarni comes with me, I have something from the empress to give to you. If he chooses to die here with you, then I'll keep it." Isslata's eyes stared into mine. The gold flecks in her irises danced in the torch light.

"I will come with you. I don't want to go to the castle, though." I thought about the massive spider structure and held back a shiver of displeasure. There were too many memories tied to that place. I turned to look at Nadea and her eyes began to water.

"Agreed! You won't have to set foot inside of the castle. The empress has made her camp outside the walls of the city until we can determine what caused the East Wing to collapse." Isslata clapped her hands together in mock joy. "Ahh don't worry pretty little human." Her voice grew thick like honey when she saw Nadea stare at me. "I'll take good care of your pretend Destroyer. Perhaps you'll be able to see him again someday? Maybe if you pray to your Spirits it will happen?" Her words twisted to mockery at the end.

"That is enough, Isslata." Her words just enraged Nadea further. "You said you had something for her?"

"Yes." She reached behind her belt and pulled out a small wooden cylinder with flowers, trees, and birds engraved with a green dye. "I was supposed to give it to the human if she was still alive." She reached across the gap between us and handed it to me. I spun the small container around in my fingers, held it up to my nose to smell it, and then gave it to Nadea.

"It isn't poison. If we wanted to kill the human, we could have. She has her purposes, just like you do O'Baarni." Isslata leaned back slightly on her stool and crossed her arms. Nadea examined the piece of wood and then found the lid. She twisted it off and poured out a tightly wound scroll. I looked over to Isslata while Nadea unraveled it and the Elven warrior gave me a wink and seductively licked her lips.

"It is from the empress," Nadea said with a slight trace of awe in her voice.

"You are incredibly stupid. I just told you it was from her. Really, O'Baarni, I can't see why you throw your lot in with this one. She’s pretty, but you aren't even fucking her. You must explain it to me on our ride." Nadea glanced away from the scroll and glared at the Elven woman with so much hate that I thought she might draw her sword.

"Stop harassing her," I barked. Suddenly my temper flared and I came too close to lashing out at Isslata. It would have been a horrible mistake since she was perhaps my only ally on their side. I would need her to navigate whatever conversations I would have with their empress. Isslata was out for her own interests and had somehow decided that I was the horse that would carry her to whatever destination she had imagined for herself.

Isslata looked at me in surprise and then bit her lower lip. She glared at Nadea and folded her arms before speaking again.

"Read the damn message, girl," she whispered.

But Nadea had already been studying the letter intently for a few seconds. I figured she would give it to me when she finished, but I heard her heart beating faster when she got toward the end. After a minute she put down the scroll and squeezed the bridge of her nose with her left hand in an effort to relieve the stress and anger she was feeling.

"So what will it be?" Isslata asked.

"I don't know!" Nadea replied.

"Don't get mad at me for the content of the letter. Get mad because I am taking your O'Baarni from you."

"What does it say?" I asked as I held my palm out to Nadea. She looked at me with sadness and passed the note to me. The paper smelled of sage and lavender. The script was beautifully written in this new language Paug had taught me.

Duchess Nadea of Nia,

It is unfortunate that our first correspondence must be in this manner. I would prefer something more intimate but, troubling times unfortunately call for these methods.

I have followed your exploits through various proxies and carry a deep appreciation for your accomplishments. It is no small feat to summon forth one of the O'Baarni, organize a kingdom's resistance, escape a treacherous dungeon, and then wage an insurgent war against a superior force.

You have successfully defeated the Losher army, but now that I have arrived in your fair land, I have no desire to keep you as my enemy. I would prefer that we reach an agreement that benefits each of us and your kingdom moving forward.

I offer you a choice between two options that are much more attractive than the eventual result of the path you are taking.

Choice One:

I would allow you to return to Nia with your army. You and your father will still maintain all of your holdings. I wish to set up a new Advisory Council with both of you. I will need your help rebuilding this country and I cannot point to a better patriot than you. Very little of your life will change save that your family's income will increase from your new roles, and your country will have the unlimited magic and resources that come from my people. We can work on specifics once you return to Nia. I hope you choose this option.

Choice Two:

You leave this country with your army. I believe Brilla will accept you with open arms, but Gradar, or one of the other Northern countries could probably benefit more from your leadership. If you decide on this option, I will buy your lands from you for the sum of eighteen thousand in gold. This shall be delivered to you in the country of your choosing. You will never set foot in Nia again.

I apologize for forcing this decision on you and understand that it will take some time to consider. I've asked for Isslata to return with an answer, but she can leave a runner here with you if you need longer. If I do not receive an answer within a week, I will assume that you have declined both of my offers and shall act accordingly, but with deepest regrets.

I have the fondest wishes and hope for our future,

Telaxthe

Empress of the Ancient People

"There is a traitor in my camp," Nadea said when I looked up from the letter.

"Why do you say that?" I asked with a puzzled expression. I couldn't imagine a human betraying his kind to the Elvens, but Nanos had.

"How did she find us here?" Nadea glared at Isslata.

"We've always known where your army was, human." The Elven laughed.

"Bullshit. If you knew, then you would have killed us sooner." Nadea shook her head.

"Ahhh. That was Alatorict's idea, actually. I wanted to just kill all of you. But that would have left us the Losher to worry about. Instead, he kept an eye on you and didn't tell our allies. When you attacked their supplies too many times, they decided to take our gold and go back to their homeland. You should have seen the meetings he had with their chieftains. They were quite angry with us, but there was nothing they could do. You knew the land better, and according to Alatorict, our troops were otherwise occupied chasing after the O'Baarni and couldn't assist them."

"Fuck." My friend sighed in defeat and shrugged her shoulders. Her face was a mask of pain.

"Alatorict thinks that the failure of the Loshers to get a foothold here will lead to the collapse of their country's brief peace treaty. Soon they shall be fighting amongst themselves again and no real threat on our border." Nadea nodded at Isslata's words. I knew nothing about the Losher's culture or political history, but my human friend didn't seem to doubt the statement.

"Is eighteen thousand in gold a lot of money?" I wondered out loud.

"Yes," Nadea whispered. "Even if I squandered the funds, it would last for a few generations. In my father's hands, it could last forever." She looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Can I read it?" Isslata held out her hand.

"Fuck no." Nadea snatched the letter from me and rolled it up again. Isslata gave an exaggerated pouty face that turned into an evil smile.

"What should I do?" Nadea asked me with a sigh.

"She cannot be trusted," I began before Isslata interrupted me.

"The empress always keeps her word. Unlike your kind, O'Baarni." Isslata flashed her teeth at me in anger. She spun from feral to maniacal to serene so quickly that I wondered if she had many different personalities in her head.

"Can we speak alone?" Nadea asked Isslata. Her voice was calm and had lost all traces of anger. The shift in emotion seemed to give the Elven pause. She looked at me, then Nadea, and back to me.

"Ten minutes. Then I am taking the O'Baarni. I have a mission to complete." We both nodded and the Elven woman floated out of the tent. I strained to hear her footsteps walk away. When I was confident she was out of earshot I motioned for Nadea to speak.

"If I return to the castle, I can stay with you." Nadea's hands wrung the scroll case nervously. "If she is telling the truth, I might still help my people here. My father and I can have our life back. This letter, she sounds," Nadea took a breath and thought of the word, "civil and agreeable. It seems that she really wants to work with me."

"It is a lie, Nadea." I shook my head. "She'll kill you. She will say anything to get you to agree. The empress wants you in her hand so she can crush your resistance." I held my hand out, palm up, and closed it into a fist. The knuckles in my fingers cracked to accent the point.

"She could have killed me anytime. She could have told Isslata to kill me now, Kaiyer. The letter seems sincere, doesn't it?" She looked hopeful and brought up her hand to wipe away a lone tear. "Fuck. I hate losing, especially to that bitch," she seethed and glanced toward the tent flap. "Everything seemed to be getting better. How can we win this?"

"You can't go to Nia." I pulled her into an embrace and felt her body relax against mine. "Go to Brilla and hope she doesn't betray her word until you get to the border. I wouldn't expect the money though. She has no reason to give it to you once you escape."

"We need more time. Do you think that Isslata will give us a few weeks together? Then we can plan something. Perhaps there is a third option?"

"I don't think so." I shook my head and sighed. "I believe the explosion in the castle, if I caused it, is pushing up the empress’s time table on me. I am starting to piece together a rough idea of why the Elvens are here, and they expected none of my kind. Let alone their Destroyer."

"Why are they here?" Nadea looked up into my face with a hungry look. I loved her curiosity.

"I believe they are fleeing my people. I'm not sure, but Alatorict hinted to me about an agreement that the O'Baarni have reneged on. Perhaps I can learn more from talking to the empress."

"What will happen to you? If you don't believe she can honor a deal with me," she pulled away slightly in my arms to read my face easier, "then you can't imagine that she will keep you alive after she gets whatever information she wants out of you." I nodded at her words but drew her body against mine again before answering. Nadea was tall and her face buried into my neck during our embrace.

"She will try to eliminate me somehow, I don't doubt. I admit that I am interested in talking to her. First she tried to kill me and kidnap Jessmei. When that failed, she seemed to have a desire to keep me as a prisoner until she could personally question me, or at least that was the impression I got from Alatorict and Isslata."

"It will take us three weeks to get to the border. I don't know if Brilla will be the next country to fall. We might just be delaying the inevitable by fleeing." Her voice was warm against my neck. "Can you escape and meet us there?"

"I can try. The problem we have is that there is only one of me with the magic to stand toe-to-toe with their kind. I will need many years to build an army and train them. And I still need to train you. Brilla is too close to Nia. You know this world though, maybe there is somewhere where we can hide ourselves and gain strength?"

"There is another country." She tightened her arms around my waist. I inhaled deeply, she smelled amazing. I just wanted this to end so I could spend more time with her. "It is Astical, south of Vanlourn. It is mostly desert, with a few oases and too many endless canyons to count. Their self-proclaimed king is really a merchant, or some say brigand, named Staril. I know him; he will give us asylum if we come to him in need." I nodded and thought about my most recent memory. I could work with that sort of dangerous environment.

"Wait for me in Brilla for a month. If I don't come for you, then I have died. You can't let these Elvens take your world or it will be lifetimes of slavery for your people. You must do everything in your power to grow your army, nurture it, and fight back." I sighed and ran my hands through her smooth hair. "If we had more time, I would show you how to change them, I could show you how to train them, I could . . ." My voice trailed off as I searched for the right words. This situation felt frustratingly familiar. In my past, I had used the Elvens as an excuse to put off Shlara, though the real reason I never let myself love her was much less noble.