The Gypsy Queen (7 page)

  Gumi was suddenly speechless. This gypsy girl was very beautiful. Pook noticed the very same thing, and not to be outdone, he spoke up before Gumi could.

  “You may find him at the King’s livery,” he offered, pointing toward it. “He arrived just a bit before you.”
Yana
’s eyes lit up as she poured it on. She went to Pook and gave him an enthusiastic embrace.

  “Thank you so much, kind sir,” as she pulled back, not forgetting her urgency. She nodded to Gumi as well. She gave him a quick hug too, and a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you both.” She leapt back up onto her horse, as they moved out of her way, dumbfounded. Old Pook remembered himself and spoke up, “What’s your name, miss gypsy?” he asked. She gave them a sly grin.

  “
Yana
,” she said clearly, and then bolted up the slope into the city.

  Pook and Gumi looked at each other. “Well, for a half-wink I thought she came to see about my many talents after all!” Gumi exclaimed, feeling smug and fresh off the magic
Yana
had just enchanted the old men with.

  “Hey,” grumbled Pook. “Where’n the hell is my telescope??”

 
Yana
went tearing through the city, uncaring of anyone’s approval or dirty looks. She was careful not to bump into anyone, and she had a pretty good idea of where the livery was, as she sped towards it. Her hopes of finding him were growing into a panic. She could not stop thinking about her friends, Kizzy and Nadya. The city seemed crowded and prosperous today, but she disliked big crowds.

  Sure enough, she found the livery, just west of the palace.
Yana
hopped off her horse,
tied her to a post outside, and went rushing in.

  “Halt!” shouted a man, stepping into the main doorway. “Where do you think you
’re going??” he demanded with a scowl
.
Yana
looked behind him, wanting to bypass him someho
w.

  “Please, I need to see Bastion,” she said.

  “No one here o’ that name,” he answered. She didn’t have any more time for this. She could see that there were people in the stable.

  “Bastion!” she screamed as loud as she could. “Bastion!”

  “Begone, you damn gypsy,” the man said with disgust, reaching for her.
Yana
dodged his reach and went to move around him, which proved impossible, a
nd
it turned into an all out scuffle she was losing. He was much bigger than she. “Bastion!” she screamed desperately.

  “Stop!” a voice barked with authority.  They both froze, and looked to see Bastion standing before them.

  “
Yana
! What are you doing here?” he asked. She struggled free as the man released her.

 
Yana
’s eyes pleaded with Bastion, and without a word, he escorted her away entirely. The stable boss retreated back into the livery, and
Yana
shared her news. “Please, Bastion,” she implored him. “I need your help. I’m no warrior. I just can’t...” her face clouded with impending tears. “I cannot lose my friends,”
she said,
not sure what else to say.

  Bastion’s face hardened. “We will come.” He walked toward the stable and began barking orders. Immediately the livery was in full swing. Bastion summoned any available men who could ride out, and began preparing horses.
Yana
stepped into the livery and marveled at the sight of him. She could only watch, as he commanded the scene entirely. He strode back to her and past her, to retrieve her horse, as she followed him out.

  “What are you doing with my horse?” she demanded.

  “Your horse is spent from getting here so quickly. We will have no chance to get to your friends before we lose them unless we have more speed.”   

 
Yana
opened her mouth to protest, but stopped short. He was right.

  “Well then, what will I ride?” she asked. Bastion turned toward the big stable doors that had opened, and tw
o horses were being led out by the
huge man
she had tried to pass
. Bastion indicated them proudly.

  “My
two best horses
.”
Yana
looked them over with awe. They were huge, majestic creatures. She was fully unsure she
could handle them, and reluctant
to ride an unfamiliar animal.

  “I want my horse,” she protested.

  “They are well-trained,
Yana
. You can do it, and you must,” he sa
id. The stable hands
were strapping on weapons and supplies without question. She didn’t like what he said, but once again, he was right. She thought of her friends who needed her right now, and girded herself for the ride. There was something in Bastion’s voice that made strength rise up within her. It banished her anxiety completely.

 
Yana
hurried
over to her horse, Kuta, and gave her a reassuring hug around her neck. A young boy approached her.

  “We’ll take good care of her,” he said. She looked him in the eyes.

  “Thank you,” she said. “See that you do,” she added, “or else she’ll tell on you when I return.” She winked at him, kissed her horse on the nose, and went back out to Bastion.

  Bastion had made ready and mounted, and reached down to assist
Yana
up onto her massive horse.
Yana
declined his hand, and instead she deftly hopped into the air, setting one foot just right in the stirrup, and swung up into the saddle. They looked at each other for a lingering moment, as if they were squaring off or sizing each other up. The other men were coming out of the livery- four of them. Bastion tore his gaze away from the young gypsy, and organized his men, as Yana arranged
herself to prepare for the run
, trying to get a feel for the steed she was to ride. Dusk was already upon them, and she could feel the fear creep in... riding into the night like this, on a strange horse, in this dark circumstance.

  “More people have been stolen
in our
kingdom
,” Bastion announced to them. “We are going to rescue whom we can, and destroy their captors.
Yana
will lead us,” he said, motioning to her.
Yana
looked up at the sound of her name. She found herself looking into the eyes of Bastion and his men. She steeled herself. “They were last seen in the forest southeast of here,” she said, pointing. She looked back at Bastion. He nodded his approval, and then nodded to one of his men, who
abruptly
tossed a cloak to
Yana
.

 
Yana
reacted and caught it, and held it out in front of her. It was a deep black cloak, warm and thick. She gratefully put it on, and then looked up at this makeshift team that was ready to ride with her into danger.

  In just a flash of a moment she realized- these
were the black riders. The
ones she had tracked
. The known
assassins. The same ones that were feared by her own people, the gypsies.

Tonight...
Yana
was one of them.

Without a sound, they all began to move out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Otta looked out upon the riders as they departed, watching them vanish into
the evening
shadow
s
. He was proud of them. He walked across the great chamber to address the King. He wore flowing robes, not as a King, but as his trusted advisor, administrator, and in fact, the King’s brother.

  They had been grooming Bastion for the throne, and even more so in recent seasons, as the King’s health had been failing. He was unable to ride hard as in days of old, and was often short of breath for no
known
reason.

  “Your son is a fine warrior,” Otta said to the King.

  “They are gone again so soon,” the King remarked. “I had not even sat with him since his return!”

  “Yes. They were successful in their last strike... but almost failed and lost all. I fear we must cut short his time as Captain, for the sake of the throne.”

  “Failed??” The King asked.

  “Two of our riders were lost. The rest of them were saved... by a gypsy girl.” He couldn’t help a bit of irony in his voice and expression, prompting the King to guess.

  “Not the sam
e gypsy girl that saved him
years ago?”

  “The very sa
me,” Otta replied. “She shot
arrow
s into
their captors and gave chance for the riders to prevail.”

  “Serendipitous beyond measure
,” the King marveled. “I should like to meet her.” Otta agreed.

  “She still looks like naught more than a child, but is a leader among the gypsies. When they return, I’ll be certain to bring her before you
.
”

The King nodded, even as his expression grew pensi
ve. “We must somehow destroy these miscreants who
steal people and sell them just for a bit of gold and silver. It is a horror in our land,” he said, gravely concerned.

  “Bastion rides tonight with that very same gypsy girl, to rescue some of her tribe. We have heard stories that it is not all of
Moldavia
, but rogue groups up from the Lower Reach,” he explained. “I will travel into
Moldavia
and the Lower Reach soon to meet with our spies. Perhaps Bastion can also uncover more reports of them so we can find a way to stop this entirely.”

  “I pray it shall not be at the expense of mine own son, Otta,” the King said.

  “As do I, my Lord,” replied Otta. Then he smiled. “Perhaps the gypsy girl will protect him once more?”

  “Or perhaps,” the King grumbled, considering his own experience with gypsies
, “she’ll be his greatest danger
...”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Yana and Bastion did not go storming out of the city gates like she had expected, but rather, they followed a narrow trail through an unfamiliar part of the city. It was dark, as they travele
d in eerie silence through a
quiet street. The horses stepped so quietly she could only assume they had been specially trained to do so. Bastion led the way to a set of doors that swung open when the
y arrived, that led them into a large,
decaying building. They all dismounted, so
Yana
did the same.

  The man who had opened the doors departed, and closed the doors behind him. Once he had done so, Bastion and one of his men took hold of a wall and it swung open like a door, to
Yana
’s surprise. The opened wall revealed a tall tunnel, pitch black.

  Bastion took the reins to
Yana’s horse and handed them to one of the other riders, and then took Yana’s hand. “Walk with me,” he whispered.
Yana
did not like any of this, but she remembered her friends and the burning wagon she found, and pressed in with Bastion into the tunnel.

  She could see nothing, and wondered how anyone else could. She could only assume they all knew this passage by heart. Down the winding tunnel, they made their way, as she clutched Bastion’s hand and set her steps carefully. It seemed slow going, and
Yana
could not tell how long the tunnel was.

  They finally emerged into the night sk
y, on what she figured to be
the other side of the mountain that
Jedikai
was embedded in. The passage opened into a trail with tall rock walls, and after winding through the rocks a bit, it opened into a meadow.
Yana
realized... this was the gentle valley just west of the city that was coveted by the gypsies. They had tangles with the city folk who did not welcome their presence there in the lush meadow.

  The black riders all mounted, and
Yana
eagerly mounted as well. Her horse was perfectly well behaved, and she patted his neck in appreciation. Bastion began riding in the direction he knew to go, and
Yana
was right beside him. Almost immediately, the horses broke into a run.

  It was all she could do to hang on at first, until she acquainted herself with the gait of Bastion’s horse. It was immensely powerful; she had never ridden a beast so grand. Her black cloak flowed behind her, as she allowed her young, lithe body to find rhythm with the horse.

  Every bit of this moment, this ride, this run... was a new sensation for
Yana
. Streaking through the darkness with the
black riders, well-armed
, headed
for a rescue, and
straight into a fight...