The Destroyer Book 4 (29 page)

“You just need to stay awake for five more minutes.” We were walking through the town now. I passed a few carts that I might be able to use to carry the Elven women, but I reasoned that my destination was close enough that switching to a cart now would probably cost me more time and be bumpier than walking.

“Five minutes? The castle is weeks away. I can’t stay awake much longer,” she hissed through the pain.

“Wake up, Vernine!” I commanded. Her arms tightened around my shoulders a bit and she grunted.

“Why did you kill Isslata?” the pewter-haired woman whispered.

“I didn’t want to.” I sighed.

“She loved you,” Vernine gasped.

“I know.”

“It is part of the reason my sister needs you to leave. You killed Isslata and destroyed the hope of our people.” Fehalda’s voice was softer than a whisper and her black eyes were closed.

“I don’t want to kill your kind anymore. There has been enough death in my life. I want to come to terms with Telaxthe.” Fehalda didn’t respond and I shook her slightly. She gasped in pain and her jaw clenched with frustration.

“You don’t understand what Isslata was to us. My sister will not forgive you so easily.” The white-haired woman glared at me but I couldn’t tell if her expression was angry or just pained.

Vernine began to cough again and more blood spilled across my shoulders and onto Fehalda.

“Stay awake you two. I am not done with you yet.”

“I always imagined I would die in battle. Not in the Destroyer’s arms. And no one will know of this irony.” Fehalda’s teeth chattered as she spoke.

“We are almost there, stay awake. Hey! Stay awake!” I shouted and Fehalda’s eyes opened a crack. Vernine’s arms were still tight around my neck, but she had stopped coughing or moving. The house was a hundred yards down the road. I was almost there.

“Where are you taking us?” Vernine’s voice was hardly recognizable. I heard the liquid in her lungs when she spoke.

“We are here.” I passed the house and did my best to slide down the grassy slope beyond it in a controlled manner. I looked down into Fehalda’s eyes but they were closed.

The river received us with cold arms. I carried both of the women with me into its deep icy depths. The current was strong. More powerful than Earth, angrier than Fire, and more substantial than Air. I pulled the Water into me and wondered if these forgotten Gods the Elvens worshiped even cared that I was saving two of their people.

I hoped I wasn’t too late.

“Another beautiful work, Iolarathe.” Relyara stood behind me on my balcony and looked at the painting over my shoulder.

“Thank you.” I sighed inside and set down my oil brushes. I thought the piece was a failure, but didn’t feel like arguing with my servant. Her opinion mattered little, and no matter what garbage I produced she would praise it effusively.

“How do you imagine such wondrous landscapes?”

I shrugged my shoulders and turned to face the beautiful woman. She wore her usual light-blue gown and seemed to float above the stone of my veranda. I had lost track of the day, but the position of the sun and heat on my back indicated that it was probably lunch time.

“Your guests will be arriving in half of an hour. Do you wish to freshen up?” she asked cheerfully.

“I suppose I must.” I stood from my painting stool and gave one last look at the canvas before leaving the scent of my oil paints behind on the balcony. In truth, I was nervous about my plans for today, but I needed to keep Relyara from discovering what I was up to for a bit longer. There would be an opportunity to include her in the scheme, but now was not the time.

The bath was already filled, so I shed my clothes and stepped into the hot, bubbly water. It was scented with the tang of apricots and rose petals. I had not realized my shoulders were tense until the heat and fragrance of the bath relaxed my muscles.

“Will you throw this one away?” Relyara held up my left hand and gently scrubbed away the paint that had somehow found its way to my fingers. Another servant did the same with my right hand.

“Probably.”

“It is so beautiful. At least gift it to someone.” She shook her head with displeasure.

“I am aiming for perfection.” I felt tired suddenly and wanted to cancel my lunch plans, but I could not. Relyara had already told me that I was walking a razor’s edge with my suitors and maidens. I used to spend hours with them every day, but now only saw them in passing once or twice a week, when I was forced.

It had been that way since Kaiyer was taken from me.

It had been almost a year. I still could not keep him out of my thoughts, though I knew he had most likely perished during the intense training Vertarus pushed on the human soldiers. I knew Kaiyer had survived the process of the change, I saw him sparring in the fields one day as I rode my horse across a nearby hill. That was four months ago. I wanted to look for him again and watch him train, but my entourage expected me to picnic with them. I could not risk them riding out to the fields to find me.

I would know for sure in the next few days if my lover was still alive.

“What?” Relyara had spoken to me, but I wasn’t paying attention.

“I asked which dress you preferred. Cream or silver?” She nodded over to the dresser where the two day gowns hung.

“Cream.” I don’t even think I looked.

“Perhaps after lunch you will want to ride?” She smiled at me and her eyes twinkled.

“I will paint.”

“Painting makes you moody, Mistress. You never ride anymore.”

“Very well. I will do so after lunch.”

I wanted to go to the training fields now. I could ride down the slope and catch a hint of his scent. I inhaled and almost expected to taste his smoky fragrance again, but instead just smelled the disappointing bathwater.

If I rode there and he was not training, it would almost be worse, knowing he was dead. As long as I avoided the area I could hold onto the hope that he lived.

I had a plan. I had to be patient and stay with it. Relyara’s spies were always right. He was alive. I just needed a few more weeks of patience and we could be together.

Relyara gestured for me to exit the bath and I followed her instructions. The other servants towel dried my slick body before they began to comb and treat my hair. Their administrations were hard to pay attention to through the fog of my mind, but I was shortly dressed in the cream day gown and sitting at the table in my dining area.

“Mistress.” Relyara sat next to me on one of the leather padded chairs and placed her hand on mine. “You need to focus on your suitors. You have ignored them for too long. My servants indicate that they are unsettled and consider returning to their homes.”

“That is why we are having this lunch.” I sighed and thought about jumping off my balcony, running to the stables, saddling one of the stallions there, and riding until the creature died. Anything to get away from here.

She opened her mouth to reply but a distant knock on the suite door interrupted her words. The woman gracefully floated to her feet and then seemed to dance across the wood floor to receive my first visitor. I admired her body as she moved and thought about the last time we had made love. Was it a week ago? Two weeks? No. Months had passed.

“Mistress, Vertarus has arrived.” Relyara introduced Elder Dluuzit’s son with a graceful bow and sweep of her hand.

“Welcome, Vertarus. Please join me at the table.” I gestured to the spot across from me and my suitor moved to sit.

“Thank you, Iolarathe.” He smelled of cedar and juniper berries. He was muscular and stocky, smaller in stature than Bur’tilon, but we had sparred together and I judged him to be just as capable in combat as his cousin.

Relyara poured the man some water, cherry juice, and then a glass of sparkling white wine. My suitor raised his wine in toast and I followed his movement. The liquid was a refreshing change from the warm bath.

“Am I early?” He motioned to the other chairs in my dining area.

“Of course, I wanted to spend some time alone with you.” I sat back slightly in my chair and breathed the scent of his sudden arousal. At one time I would have taken pleasure in my ability to control these idiotic men. I no longer cared for their desires.

“I am pleased that the Singleborn wishes to spend her time with me.” He took another sip of the wine and I could tell he struggled to curb his arousal by shifting his sitting position.

“How is the army progressing?” I asked with a slight smile.

“Well. Not as quickly as we want. More humans are surviving the changing process, but most of them are too dumb to survive the training. The animals keep killing each other.” He shook his head and nodded to Relyara when she placed a small appetizer of cheese and pears on the table between us.

“How many are changed and ready for battle?” I picked up a pear and occupied my hands and eyes with the process of cutting the fruit.

“I have a bit fewer than one hundred and forty changed. Only sixty I consider ready for combat. Another thirty have some fighting skills but lack discipline. The rest are split between the newly changed and those that I will need to exterminate if they do not improve in the next two months.” He took a sip of the cherry juice and puckered his lips at its sourness.

“When did this experiment begin? Two years ago?” I knew the answer but wanted to lead him down a particular path in our conversation.

“Yes. We have improved the process greatly. I wish I had more than sixty to show for my efforts, but I am predicting we will quadruple that number in the next twelve months.” He was skilled at controlling his emotions and I did not smell the tin scent of disappointment I expected from him.

“Tell me more about their training.” I cut a wedge of cheese and took a bite paired with the fruit.

“I’ve got them divided up into squads of twenty. Each group trains together, eats together, sleeps together, and is supervised by one of my handpicked commanders. My commanders and I review their progress and plan nightly.”

I nodded at his description and then drank more of the cherry juice. I doubted his commanders knew much of anything about battle, but I decided it would be wise to keep this to myself. I needed him as a friend for now and questioning his judgment would not help me reach that end.

“It seems you have developed a sound strategy.” I forced a smile to my lips and gave a passing thought to how my personality had changed in the last four years. At one time I would have called him an idiot and belittled his progress. If he protested, I would have broken his body or killed him. Now I realized I needed allies that believed I liked them more than a group of idiots who were terrified of me.

“If it would please you, I would enjoy giving you a tour.” I caught the pleasant scent of flowers on him.

“I would enjoy that.” I leaned away in my chair and stretched my arms up against the back of my chair to give him a better view of my torso. The gown was somewhat tight against my breasts and stomach. My nose confirmed the change in his scent immediately. “I am so bored. It feels as though I have walked or ridden every square foot of this place. A tour of your training grounds might entertain me for an afternoon.”

“We have been discussing the idea of taking a few squads out into the wilderness for extended training. Perhaps you would be interested in joining us?” I tried to hide my smile at the influx of his eager scent. I was sure the man imagined all sorts of improbable possibilities that involved us sharing a tent together each night. “We would bring plenty of guards, so you would not need to worry about your safety.”

“I am not worried about humans.”

“No, of course you aren’t. But these are not mere humans. They have unfettered strength and speed. If not for their training, they would be as dangerous as tear wolves. Perhaps not as smart though.” He leaned back in his chair and laughed.

“I do like the idea of taking your humans out for training. I imagine it would be much like herding cattle. When I was younger I would assist in those expeditions across the desert highlands of my mother’s lands.”

“Yes. It will probably be quite similar to your memories.” He smiled and his scent confirmed his excitement.

“The idea of all these other guards around does disappoint me though.” I leaned forward a bit and he matched my movement. “It doesn’t seem as intimate. Do you agree?” One of my fingers found the rim of the wine glass and traced the curve of its edge.