Torn (16 page)

“It’s harmless,” Blaze told the terrified guard.

Honey Wine had expected to feel sympathy for Timus, but his fear goaded her instead. As she watched the Knights’ peaceful interrogation, memories of Torn’s suffering in the dungeon had plagued her.

“How do you like being on the other side of the bars, Timus?” Honey Wine asked.

She restrained the urge to taunt her former comrade, knowing that indulging her own temper would do little to aid the situation.

Within moments, all tension and awareness faded from Timus, and he responded, trance-like, to every question the Knights asked.

They learned the exact location of the arena and discovered the next Entertainment was planned for two weeks’ time. All the monarchs from the participating countries would attend with their most favored beasts.

When the questioning ended, Mahir motioned for Blaze to take Timus to the chamber that would serve as his prison until the Entertainment ended and the High King had the proof he needed to replace the guilty monarchs.

Torn took Honey Wine’s hand and said, “Lets go to bed.”

Yawning, she walked with him across the courtyard and up to their room.

“Do you really think we’ll be able to stop the Entertainment?” she asked as they undressed and slid, naked, into bed.

“We’ll have nearly every Knight not involved in the Zaltanian war surrounding the arena.”

“There are guards in the arena from all the participating countries,” she mused. “Still, none of the armies are as well trained as your Order, I admit that much. And you’ll have me, for what little it’s worth.”

“On the contrary, we’re lucky to have your skill with a sword, even though I’d prefer that you stay here.”

“Not this time, Torn.” Honey Wine snuggled close to him and rested her head on his chest, enjoying the warmth of his skin and listening to his heartbeat. “Both you and Mahir promised I could go this time, and I’ll hold you to it.”

“Mahir has sent word to the High King about our plan. I can’t wait until all this is over.” His voice sounded tired and his hold on her slackened.

She knew in moments she’d succumb to sleep as well, but during that time she savored the feeling of his body against hers and the comfort of knowing he was safe.

“I love you, Honey Wine,” he murmured.

“I love you too, Torn.”

She pressed a kiss to his chest and slept.

* * * * *

Hours later, Honey Wine awoke snuggled close to Torn’s chest. She glanced up and in the dimness, saw his eyes fixed on her.

“Hello,” she murmured, wiping sleep from her eyes.

He smiled softly and brushed her forehead with a kiss.

She embraced him, more thrilled than she could express that he was back in her arms. She’d told him how much she loved him, but she wanted to
show
him.

She sat up, and he tried to hold her, but she tugged away and whispered, “No. Just stay where you are. Close your eyes.”

He did as she asked, his lips parted, the tips of his front teeth adorably visible between them. Pressing her lips to his neck, she traveled downward, licking and kissing every inch of his chest and stomach. She loved the sensation of his hair-roughened skin beneath her lips. Using her tongue, she circled his nipples as he’d so often done to hers, then traced the hard muscles of his abdomen. She licked the joining of his hips and groin and buried her mouth in his dark, curly pubic hair.

Honey Wine licked his cock from root to head and back again. The sound of his increased breathing, and the feeling of his heart pounding against his ribs when she rested her palms against them made her insides quiver with passion.

She sucked him deep into her mouth then laved the head with her tongue and ran her teeth gently along the shaft.

“Honey Wine!” he gasped when she continued the sensual ministrations until his hips bucked involuntarily. She released him just before he came, her fist tightly clamping the base of his shaft.

Grinning wickedly, she leaned forward and trapped his stiff cock between her breasts, pressing and rolling the soft, warm globes of flesh until he came, jerking and gasping as he sprayed them both with his creamy essence.

* * * * *

Over the following weeks, Honey Wine spent most of her time training for the coming battle, studying with Blaze, and helping plan the attack on the arena.

During their free time, she and Torn often went riding or engaged in extra training with Iris, Rain, and Blaze. She noticed how much time Iris and Rain spent together. To them, almost everything was a challenge, but beneath the competition - perhaps
because
of the competition - Honey Wine sensed attraction between them.

Blaze and Torn fought with similar styles. Honey Wine was amazed by Blaze’s fighting ability and almost thought it a pity that he refused to touch a weapon. With his talent, he would have made a marvelous warrior. Torn once told her that Blaze had spent several years in a country across the sea, studying with the greatest masters of empty handed combat. The defensive techniques appealed to the auburn-haired Knight, and he’d carried his knowledge back to the Order. She understood the depth of Torn’s friendship with Blaze and was glad of it. Torn could be so quiet, so serious, and Blaze was so odd that many wouldn’t take the time to really know him. Honey Wine knew each of them might have been alone without the other.

“I’m glad you’ve taken so well to Blaze,” Torn said one day as they shared a horse on a ride back from swimming in the river.

Honey Wine glanced over her shoulder at Torn. “He’s really very sweet underneath all that…that…”

“I know.” Torn smiled. “People laugh at him, look at him like he’s crazy, but I wonder how they’d adapt to his life?”

Honey Wine placed her hands over Torn’s as they rode across the sunny meadow toward the fortress. She tried to imprint upon her mind the sensation of his body against hers, the warmth she’d felt since coming to live with the Order. Not since she was ten years old had she felt as if she was part of a family.

Now Torn’s family was hers. She enjoyed the friendships she’d developed with Blaze, Rain, Iris, and Mahir. Even Warrant and Mage were pleasant and amusing. She was comfortable in Rubyshire, and she belonged.

Gazing up at the cloudless sky, she wished her mind was as clear. She couldn’t help worrying. In two days, their plan would unfold.

* * * * *

The gray stone arena loomed in the clearing, and Honey Wine shivered. The last time she’d seen the dreaded place had been on the night Torn had killed Redly, the night he had almost lost his own life.

Torn and his spies had been the first to approach the arena, and she guessed they’d already infiltrated the walls. Mage led the second wave, the majority of the Knights - the infantry - who surrounded the arena, disguised in the shadows and leaves of trees.

Honey Wine held her position alongside Blaze and his faction who followed up the back, ready to aid the casualties. It wasn’t that she feared combat, but her decision to remain at the back seemed to pacify Torn, and she knew his concentration couldn’t be hindered. He and his spies were in the most dangerous location, directly inside the arena.

She clutched her sword and glanced at Blaze who squatted with his back against a nearby tree, his pale eyes looking eerie in the darkness. She wondered how he could appear so calm, sitting there weaponless. Though they were at the back, they would be thrust into the battle once it began.

“Now flows the sanguine stream,” Blaze whispered. Honey Wine lifted an eyebrow. He searched for the words and said, “It’s beginning.”

She strained to see in the darkness. Everything was still, but minutes later, the fighting broke out.

Shouting and clashing steel sounded from within the fortress walls.

Honey Wine’s heartbeat quickened as Knights dropped from the trees and rushed the fortress. Several troops formed a tight circle around the building while others forced their way through the open doors. Torn and his men had done their work well.

“Onward, Sweet Liquid,” Blaze bellowed above the noise. Honey Wine followed him toward the fighting, two members of his faction at their heels.

Within moments, she lost sight of the auburn-haired Knight as they mingled with the rush of guards from the fortress as well as beasts who had been freed or turned loose during the scuffle. A guard swung his heavy sword at Honey Wine, and she blocked and attacked, every thrust of his weapon jarring her. She felt a rush of excitement she hadn’t experienced in years. Her warrior’s heart still thrived after all.

She dispatched several guards before catching sight of Blaze amidst a small group of armed men. She was amazed at how he held his own, weaponless, against the sword-wielding guards. If he was so quick and powerful with simply his hands and feet, her spine prickled to think of how formidable he’d be if he abandoned his code of ethics.

Honey Wine forced her way inside, desperate to find Torn. Several of the Knights lay injured with the bodies of guards and beasts, and she prayed she wouldn’t find him among the dying.

She raced into the arena and glanced up at the balcony. Rain, Warrant, and several other Knights held the monarchs at sword-point.

The arena itself resembled a small battlefield. Bodies of guards and beasts sprawled on the bloody dirt floor. A group of guards battled in a frenzied cluster around two Knights. Mage and Torn! Back to back, the two created an unbreakable defense. Torn’s eyes glistened with concentration as he blocked blows with his short, straight sword and struck several attackers with snapping kicks, sending them flying to the arena floor.

“I should have known!” bellowed a familiar voice from behind Honey Wine.

She whirled in time to block a deathblow from Bron’s sword. The guard’s strength nearly ripped her arms from her shoulders, but she spun and slashed his leather chest plate.

“Bitch!” he snarled. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to kill you, Honey Wine. I always said a woman shouldn’t be a guard, and I was right. Tell me, does that mute beast’s tongue feel so good on your cunt that you would betray your own people!”

“Your fun’s over, Bron,” Honey Wine snapped. “No more beasts to torture.

The Entertainment ends tonight along with Alva’s reign.”

Bron and Honey Wine met one another blow-for-blow until she slashed his sword arm. His weapon dropped and his eyes met hers with fury.

“That’s why a woman led the guard,” she hissed. He pulled out a dagger and lunged at her. Reflexively, she shifted her stance and ran him through.

His eyes widened with horror as he dropped at her feet, blood running from his chest and streaming from his mouth.

She pulled her sword free of Bron’s body and turned to the center of the arena. Mage cried out as an arrow embedded in his chest, and he fell, leaving Torn alone amidst the guards.

Honey Wine’s eyes swept the arena, and she noticed a single guard loading a second arrow into his bow. She raced toward him as he took aim at Torn who still fought the small troop surrounding him. Even as she ran, she knew she wouldn’t reach the guard before he fired.

Blaze leapt through the door onto the archer, knocking him to the ground and rendering him unconscious with a strike to the head.

Releasing her pent-up breath, Honey Wine swung around to aid Torn, but he’d already subdued his attackers and stepped through the group of bleeding, groaning soldiers to assist Mage who lay incapacitated.

Honey Wine and Blaze also hurried toward them.

“A safe position,” Blaze said, gently examining Mage’s wound. “The Spirit was with you.”

“Easy for you to say,” Mage muttered through clenched teeth.

“Are you all right?” Torn reached for Honey Wine, his black-gloved fingertips brushing blood from her face.

“I’m not hurt.” She took his hand and squeezed it.

His sapphire eyes met hers for an intense moment before he stood and said, “I have to make sure the fortress is secure then send a message to Mahir. He’s on the outskirts with a troop from the High King’s army. They’re waiting to make the arrests.”

“You think they would have helped us fight.” Honey Wine shook her head in disgust.

“Monarchs, no matter how just they try to be, are all stitched of the same thread,” Blaze said, then smiled. “Forgive me, Sweet Liquid. You are the exception.”

“But I’m not a monarch,” she said.

Blaze didn’t speak again as he continued tending Mage’s wound.

“By the Twin Goddesses, Torn!” Honey Wine clutched her husband’s sleeve.

“The old woman! The one who told us how to escape from the dungeon!”

Together, they raced to the holding cells from which the beasts had been freed. The chamber was empty, the cell doors flung open, the furniture, and healing tools broken and scattered on the floor.

A closet creaked open, and they spun, hands reaching for their weapons.

“Is it safe?” The old healer emerged from the closet, her eyes wide in her wrinkled face. Upon seeing Honey Wine and Torn, she smiled. “I guess I told my tale to the right woman.”

“Thank you,” Honey Wine said to her, “for everything.”

“May I ask a favor?”

“Of course. Anything,” Honey Wine said.

“Do you think you could help an old woman find a place to live now that the arena is gone?”

Torn grinned. “I think we can manage something.”

He cast Honey Wine one last glance before leaving her to see to his troops.

Honey Wine offered the old healer her arm as she led her out of the fortress to freedom.

Within the hour, the High King’s army arrested all the participating monarchs and their surviving guards. The beasts were taken to determine which were capable of entering into society again and which, unfortunately, would be forced to live out the remainder of their lives in confinement.