“Yes, my lord,” she said quietly.
“Well, that will not happen now or ever again. If you wish to help … fetch me some more wine, then see about getting some food on my table.”
“Oh, I’d be happy to, my lord,” she said eagerly. She went to fetch him the wine and brought it to him, taking the opportunity to brush up against him again.
She had been in the rooms adjacent to the bennesah’s, and so she had heard a great deal through the door between the rooms. Not the least of which was the passion he had shared with the slave girl. He was most certainly a lusty man, from the sound of it, and with the slave girl out of the picture, he would probably be in need of a woman in his bed. She was determined to be that woman.
And she would be, no matter what it took.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Garreth was mentally and physically exhausted. Dusk had come and gone again, and there was still no sign of Sarielle. Dawn was creeping into the sky, and he had not slept since he had discovered Sarielle was missing. He was out on the walls of the keep, the cool air blowing past him as he looked down on the city.
Where could she be? What else could he possibly do to find her? Once again he thought of going into the Asdar Mountains to search for Koro. He wished he too had some way of calling him.
And that was when a huge, winged creature flew past him, skimming so close and with such a huge wash of air that Garreth nearly tumbled over the wall and onto the rocks below. As he gripped the wall and regained his balance, he looked with shock and a surge of hope as Koro settled, digging his talons into the stone of the keep’s walls, his great wings out for balance.
Koro! It was most certainly Koro with those blue iridescent scales that sparkled here and there with the red gemstones stuck between them.
The great beast chuffed out a breath of air and fire, the flames warming Garreth as he stood in awe beneath him. He grinned from ear to ear.
“Koro! She sent you, didn’t she? My clever girl!”
Koro simply looked at him. It was as though Koro were expecting something from him.
“Tell her I’m coming for her! I’ll do whatever it takes, but I will find her!”
Koro spread his wings, the rising sun showing through their membranes, displaying blood vessels and knobby bones. Then Koro was up again in a great wash of air and circled the keep … then the city, then came back again and chuffed fire over Garreth’s head.
Garreth got the message instantly.
“Dethan!” he shouted as he went into the keep and ran down the hallways. He got to his brother’s room and thundered his fist against the door. “Dethan, get up!!”
A very groggy Dethan opened the door. “Damn you, Garreth, can’t it have waited an hour?”
“No! Koro is here!”
That woke Dethan up instantly. “Is he attacking?”
“No! He’s waiting! I think he wants us to follow him. I think he wants to lead us to Sarielle!”
“What if he wants to lead us into a trap?” Dethan said with a dark frown.
“I don’t give a fuck!” Garreth said explosively. “Whether it’s a trap or not, it’s leading us toward Sarielle. If he wanted to kill me, he could have picked me off just now. Roasted me like a duck where I stood. I think he wants to lead us to Sarielle so we can help her.”
“And suddenly you can read the mind of this thing? You aren’t a wrena, you know.”
“And you aren’t an idiot! Surely you can see what’s happening here! Or am I mistaken?”
“No,” Dethan said, “I’m not an idiot.” He scratched his head. “All right, then. Let me put some armor on. You do the same. Have someone prepare our horses, and get a small group of men together. We’ll ride out, follow this thing, and see where it takes us. But I’m warning you. If you get me killed, Selinda’s going to take your head off.”
“I know. Trust me. I’ll do everything I can to keep you alive. Weysa would be just as pissed at me and I can’t afford either one of them being mad at me.”
“All right. I’ll be there in a minute.”
He shut the door and Garreth hurried off toward the main hall so he could find some men.
The only person there was Davine. She was sitting in front of a fire, her body lounging on a chaise. It was pretty early in the morning, so he was surprised to see her there.
“Davine, have you seen any of my men?”
“No, but I could go get someone for you,” she said helpfully.
Garreth smiled, walked over to her, and touched her chin affectionately. “You’re a very good girl,” he said. “That would be very helpful, yes.”
She smiled brilliantly at him. She was up and out of the room in an instant. As Davine ran from the room, she chuckled to herself. Her plan was working. He was beginning to see her. All she had to do was continue to figure out what he needed, what he liked, and soon he would be completely molded to her hand.
Garreth paced the hall as he waited for his men. He wanted to be gone. He couldn’t see Koro from the hall, but he hoped the wyvern understood that he was coming, that he just needed a moment to get his feet beneath him. He had never been so impatient in his life as he was in that moment.
He was going to find her. Koro would bring him right to her—no magician’s magic would hide her from her wyvern. He wished he had a mage of his own to counteract the mind magic of this one, but he did not. He would have to do his best and hope that it was enough.
Dethan was there minutes later with Tonkin by his side. He eyed his brother. “No armor?” he asked.
“No,” Garreth said. “Unlike you, I don’t require armor.”
“Damage can still slow you down,” Dethan said with a frown.
“And I can move faster without it.”
“Very well, brother,” Dethan said reluctantly. “Let’s follow a wyvern!”
The brothers set out within the hour to follow Koro as he reeled and dipped in the morning sky, apparently very satisfied that they were following him. He kept buzzing them, his great wings flapping and washing air down over them.
“All right, you overgrown bird!” Dethan cried after the tenth time he did it. “You’ll blow me off my horse!”
“He’s playing with you,” Garreth said with a chuckle. “Remember, he’s very young yet.”
“Which prompts the question, is he really leading us to her or is he just playing?”
“We’ll find out soon enough. Now, let’s go! They are over a day’s travel ahead of us!”
Both brothers urged their mounts faster, following the spike-tailed beast.
In the back of the wagon, Sarielle was sitting with her eyes closed, keeping in touch with her wyvern. Through his mind, she felt Garreth was coming for her, following Koro as Sarielle had hoped he would.
Koro was playing with the men … or at least that was the impression he was giving her, that he was having fun. She chuckled to herself as she thought of what that might mean. How exactly does a wyvern play with a human?
Sarielle sat back with a sigh. Communicating with Koro was exhausting sometimes. His thoughts could be very unfocused, his natural instincts getting the better of him. But she was pretty sure he was leading the men from the keep in the right direction. She was assuming it was Garreth … and maybe even his brother Dethan. But she couldn’t be sure. Koro’s description of the men was a little vague: “short” and “tiny” and “shiny metal skin” could mean just about anything, but it sounded a lot like men in armor.
Sarielle looked down at her sisters. Her real sisters. She knew for sure these were not changelings this time. The changelings had been called forth with the power of the mage’s magic. They were real beings that were able to take on the appearance of anything they wished. That was why she hadn’t been able to see through the magic. They had not acted like children because the mage had controlled the changelings, and his concept of how a child should behave was distorted. There had never been children in the bennesah’s household. He had no heirs
. His wife had died trying to birth his only child and the child had followed quickly after. It was one of the events that had colored him against mating Sarielle to another slave. As much as he would have liked to breed the strength of her line, he had not wanted to risk losing her and the power of the wyvern.
The mage had no idea that men from the city were on their way. Perhaps if they caught him off guard they could end this without any of them, her or her sisters, getting hurt.
She began to sing softly to the girls, always keeping her mind open to Koro. In the back of her mind she could feel him swooping and dipping, cutting sharply through the air and blowing fire. All of these things came so naturally to him, including his naturally playful personality. Sometimes she wished she could share this with others, so they could feel the sheer freedom and joy in the wyvern’s heart. His life and needs were simple: food in his belly, air beneath his wings, gems and shiny things for his nest. When he got older, she supposed he would want a mate. And when that mate laid eggs, he would father the hatchlings. Wyverns in the wild were opposite to humans in that the female came and went as she pleased and the male watched over the nest. In the human world, the men came and went and the women were left to nurse.
She wondered what kind of mother she might be. She had never considered the possibility before. She had never mated before.
Oh! Wait! But she had mated! Did that mean she would get pregnant? Would she bear Garreth a child?
The idea wasn’t at all unattractive, but it was a bit frightening … a bit concerning. She wasn’t stupid. She knew he had no intention of sticking around the city once he had a new government under his control in place. Cities were out there just waiting to be conquered. But … perhaps if he had a son … perhaps then he would not be in such a rush to leave. Perhaps then he would have reason to return. He could not possibly make war all turning long. The snows would come and the world would become cold and inhospitable. Surely Weysa would not expect him to continue warring in the frozen ice. What man could function appropriately in such weather?
She shivered just thinking about it. Last night had been a cold one and the mage had not seen fit to give them a blanket. They had huddled close for warmth, but the children had wept and been unable to sleep. Now the sun was up, it was late afternoon, and it was warm in the back of the wagon. The girls had finally drifted off to sleep, allowing her to be in constant contact with Koro.
He was close. She could feel it. But he had to remember to fly low or the mage would see him.
Fly low.
She whispered the thought to him and he whispered it back, telling her he remembered.
She went back to singing her lullaby. Her hands hurt her. They were bound in front of her, the rope constantly cutting into her flesh; her wrists were bleeding and raw from it. She didn’t complain. As soon as Koro told her they were close … she had a plan.
Suddenly she felt his elation. He could see her!
She gasped.
Stop! Don’t come yet! Fly low!
“Girls,” she whispered. She nudged them until they awakened as the wagon swayed and jounced in the ruts of the ground.
Sarielle got up on unsteady legs and quietly pulled back the tarp. They were crossing a field of some kind with moderately high grasses. It was perfect.
“Jona, Isaelle, you must go out the back of the wagon and hide in the tall grasses. You mustn’t let Vinqua see you.”
“No! Don’t make us leave you!” Isaelle whispered fiercely, her blue eyes growing wide with fear.
“Isaelle, I will never let you leave me again. Koro is here with some men to help us … but I need to know you are safe first. Go out, jump into the tall grasses, and hide there until I call for you. I won’t lose you. I promise!”
The girls had tears in their eyes and were clearly scared, but Sarielle encouraged them with a smile. She hoped they would not hurt themselves jumping from a moving wagon with their hands tied, but the wagon’s progress through the high grasses had slowed it considerably.
Jona, the one who had always been the bravest, helped her sister slip over the back end of the wagon. Sarielle saw Isaelle hit the ground and, after a moment of absorbing the shock, run into the tall grass and disappear. Vinqua didn’t slow down for a second. Facing the other direction and thinking them to be subdued, he wasn’t paying attention to what was behind him.
Jona went over next. Sarielle did not get to see her hit the ground because when she leapt, the tarp fell back into place, obscuring Sarielle’s view.
She waited.
And waited.
Then she spoke to Koro.
Come now! Come quickly!
She waited.
And waited.
And then she heard it.
The rush of wings.
Vinqua screamed out, and the wagon came to an abrupt halt. Next thing she heard was Vinqua coming toward the back of the wagon. “Stop him! Call him off or I will kill your girls!”
He thrust back the tarp, standing there with a sword in hand, and looked into the back of the wagon.
Sarielle smiled at him. “What girls?” she asked.
“Argh!!” Vinqua shouted. That was when she realized his hair was singed. “Call him off or you’re dead!” he cried as he jumped into the back of the wagon.
“My sisters are safe from you! I do not care about the rest! So kill me if you must! And do it quickly because the wyvern is coming back, and this time it won’t be your hair he singes!”
“I will kill you!”
“And then he will kill you!”
“I will make us disappear from his sight! I will simply slip away!”
“The wyvern’s eyes see through magic! You cannot hide from him! Your only choice is to let me go!”
That was when she heard the thunder of hoofbeats.
“You are outnumbered. You may be able to fool the eyes of the men coming for you, but the wyvern will see and he will burn you down if you so much as look at me wrong!” she vowed.
Vinqua knew he was beaten. She could see it in his eyes. She heard the beating of mighty wings and he did too. He threw down his sword and raised his hands. “Do not kill me! Please!”
“Untie me now,” she demanded of him. “Make sure the men from the city can see us.”
Vinqua hastened to do as she asked. As soon as she was free she pushed past Vinqua and leapt out of the wagon. Her eyes burned in the daylight as she hit the ground. She stumbled, her legs weak from sitting so long. But suddenly there was a hand on her, a man grabbing hold of her and jerking her hard against his body. Strong arms wrapped around her and she knew … she knew without seeing his face who it was.
“Garreth!”
“Fira!” he breathed into her ear.
“Vinqua! He’s in the back of the wagon!”
“My brother has him. All I care about is you.”
“I’m fine,” she insisted as he enveloped her head in his hands and forced their eyes to meet. She had never seen such a beautiful sight as his fair green eyes!
“Your wrists are damaged. He will pay for that. He will pay for all of this.”
“In time. First, the girls!”
“Are they with you?” he asked.
“After a fashion!”
She looked up at the beast in the sky.
The girls are hiding in the tall grasses! You must find them for me!
For Koro, it was like a game and he was intent on winning it. He swooped and reeled and then suddenly she felt his delight. He had found them.
Show the men the way and I will give you such shiny gifts!
She opened her eyes and looked at Garreth. “Koro has found them. They are in the tall grasses, hiding. Can you have the men find them?”
“Of course!”
Garreth ordered his men to follow the wyvern. Before long she had the girls in her arms.
“Good job, my little loves!” she praised them, giving them hugs and kisses. The girls giggled and laughed, so happy to see her and clearly h
appy to see Vinqua in the custody of the men who had come to save them. “Garreth, these are my real sisters,” she introduced them. “Those others were changelings, brought by Vinqua’s magic.”
“Changelings?”
“Fairy children made to look like a human child.”
“But … I thought you could see through magic.”
“I can. But the changelings themselves are not magic. They are real. And I could see through it; I just didn’t know what I was seeing. I let my eyes fool my head. I knew they weren’t right … just not how they weren’t right.”
“Well, it’s over now. Koro has saved you all. Good boy, Koro!” Garreth shouted up to the sky. The wyvern dipped a wing, then landed close by, kicking up dirt and stones and grass as he skidded to a halt. Sarielle broke away from Garreth and ran over to the wyvern. Garreth followed close behind as she threw herself against his belly, hugging him as best she could with her small, inadequate arms.
My good boy! You did a wonderful job! You are a brilliant boy!
Koro dipped his head and let her feel his gratitude that she was all right. Let her feel how grateful he was that she had been the one to find his egg and be there when he was born.
Sarielle teared up. Garreth saw her sniffling and pulled her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head. “There, now. It’s all over. Let’s get back to the keep. These sisters of yours look very tired and I suspect they are very hungry. Come along, girls,” he said to them brightly. “We have some cheese and bread for anyone who’s hungry!”
The girls cried out and ran to the men, who gave them food from their provisions. Jona and Isaelle stuffed the bread into their mouths so fast their cheeks puffed out.
“Chew,” Sarielle instructed them as she stroked their hair soothingly. She was so happy. So relieved and happy.
“What shall we do with him?” Garreth asked, pointing to Vinqua.
Sarielle eyed Vinqua for a moment, watching him pale as he realized his fate was entirely in her hands.
“You cannot imprison him. He will use his magic to trick the minds of his keepers and will get free once more.”