Kethril (20 page)

Back on the road again, Emmaoen told them
what she knew. “Nobody knows how many stories about Tathan of the
Shadows are true. What is known is that he’s one of the most
successful thieves of all time. It’s also certain that he’s killed
at least a few people.”

“That’s the part that I have a hard time
with,” Liselle said. “I don’t like killing. I think all people
should live in harmony and help each other to survive and
prosper.

Emmaoen raised her eyebrows and smiled.
“You’re so innocent, Liselle. I like it.” She shook her head in
amazement. “I’ve been raised to believe that killing is just a fact
of life, yet you come and say we should all be at peace. It’s
refreshing.”

“It’s true, whether I’m naïve, innocent or
whatever else you want to call it,” Liselle said in irritation.
“Just because everyone else in the world thinks a certain way
doesn’t mean they’re right.”

“Peace, I meant no insult.” There was worry
in Emmaoen’s eyes. She clearly didn’t want to upset her new
friend.

“I know.” Liselle waved off the concern.
“I’m just getting a little tired of being called ‘innocent’.
Anyway, we were talking about Tathan. He just goes around murdering
people? I can’t see that.”

The duchess shook her head. “No, that’s not
it. He tends to kill powerful people. In fact, many consider him a
hero, especially the poor.”

That was new information and Liselle clung
to it in hope. “What do you mean?”

“Your cousin likes to steal powerful things
like his sword, Lightdrinker. It’s an ancient artifact of great
power.”

“I wondered if the sword had a name,” Sir
Danth said from the other side of the duchess. The road was wide
and largely empty, so the ladies rode next to each other with the
boys on the outside. “Lightdrinker is a good name for it.”

“Some call it
Life
drinker too. Nobody
really knows much about it.” Emmaoen seemed to be enjoying the
companionship and conversation. “Tathan stole it from a powerful
wizard in the mountains of Deller. The wizard came after him and
died by the blade. What isn’t often told is that soldiers of Deller
investigated the tower and found hundreds of bodies. The wizard had
been performing experiments on peasants and torturing them for
fun.”

“Oh, that’s terrible!” Vevin exclaimed. He
was bobbing his head in a horrified dance of sorts.

“There was a prince he killed in the Kingdom
of Sooarth after that, probably one of the bounties Felina wants to
collect. The prince had slaughtered and burned the citizens of
three villages in the northern part of his own kingdom. He also had
a crown with a rare emerald in it. Tathan of the Shadows stole the
crown off his head with everyone looking and still managed to
escape. Then he killed the prince the next day. He jumped off a
roof, onto the back of the prince’s horse and then slit the
prince’s throat and jumped to the next building.”

“That sounds gruesome,” Liselle replied.

“It is,” Emmaoen admitted. ”Tathan of the
Shadows has a reputation for doing things in fantastic style, but
most of the rumors about him are exaggerated. Many people think
that Tathan single-handedly killed the Prince’s entire army too
when he only killed a few of the officers.”

“Is that all?” Sir Danth asked wryly.

“Tathan told me about rogues’ guilds in one
city and then spending time in Dralin.” Liselle was most curious
about Dralin. It sounded dangerous and exciting.

“The details aren’t clear,” Emmaoen replied.
“Some say he destroyed three rogues’ guilds, others say he was a
victim of a guild war.” They moved to single file to let a wagon
train pass. After it was clear, they spread out again and Emmaoen
answered the other question. “The stories out of Dralin are almost
as murky as the city itself. It’s known that he killed a few
wizards, a hero of the country, and a high-ranking member of
Altordan’s ruling council. There are rumors about him killing a
captain of the guard, murdering a demigod, destroying a death cult
and a number of other things.”

“Wow. That’s a lot.” Instead of helping
matters, the tale confused Liselle. Her cousin seemed to do a lot
of everything both good and bad.

“Like I said. Most of the tales about him
are rumor. No one really knows who Tathan of the Shadows is except
perhaps Tathan of the Shadows,” Emmaoen finished with a smile.

“I don’t think he’s evil,” Liselle said
right away. She felt a need to defend her cousin. “I don’t know
what he’s thinking most of the time.”

“I’m not judging him, Liselle. I’m just
telling you what I know,” Emmaoen explained.

“I’m not upset with you,” Liselle said. “I
just don’t know what to think about all of it.”

“We have time, dearest,” Vevin said. “Make
up your mind later after you talk to him more.”

“That’s a good idea. I think I’ll do that,”
Liselle answered with a nod. The rest of the day was filled with
small talk. Most of the talking was done by the ladies, who
exchanged tales of their childhoods. On occasion, the duchess would
zap a spider that came too close to the road. Vevin would help her,
finding it an enjoyable game. Even Sir Danth shifted to the side of
the road and killed a couple. His horse was surprised when he
disappeared and reappeared on top of its back. The horse chose not
to say anything about it though. Liselle couldn’t bring herself to
kill the spiders unnecessarily even to help her friend.

***

A cold rain began falling that night and
lasted for the next three days, making their journey an
uncomfortable one, though they made good time. The fourth day
dawned sunny and by late morning on the fifth, they were in Yema.
In Kethril, unlike other kingdoms, the army provided all the
protection in cities as well as protecting against threats to the
country. Word spread quickly and soon they were sitting with the
mayor of the city and a general who was visiting from a nearby
garrison fort.

“The ship attacked a village called Homram
on the eastern side of the kingdom last week, Duchess,” General
Barrbro said as the others dug into their meals. “There is no
pattern to the attacks. Homram didn’t have more than a few soldiers
to protect it and they were of no use.” He shook his head in
disgust. “We just can’t seem to do anything about it. The ship
attacks at night, terrorizes the village and then goes to
surrounding farms to steal the sheep.

Sir Danth was leaning back on the chair,
balancing with his boot on the bottom of the table. “How do the
sheep get on the ship? Does someone herd them or do the sheep just
walk up the ramp?

“We don’t know. The ship never gets close to
people. It waits for them to go put out the fires in the village.
All anyone ever sees is the sails and a low wooden shape. They hear
a ship’s bell and creaking. When it’s gone, the sheep are gone with
it.

“Thank you for the information, General.
We’ll be traveling east from here in the hopes of intercepting it.
Yema looks to be well guarded,” Emmaoen told him.

“Always, Milady.” The general slammed a fist
into his chest. Liselle giggled at the gesture, drawing frowns. She
blushed and let it go without explanation.

With a good half-day’s sunlight remaining,
they forged on. Liselle desperately wanted to find the ship and get
Tathan out of jail.

The suite the handmaidens led Anilyia to was
wonderful. Carpets and tapestries showed wealth. The sitting room
was furnished with well-crafted furniture and most of the seats
were cushioned with pillows for added comfort. A bar on the right
would contain wine and fine liquors and a fire crackled in the
hearth. Four cloth-covered doorways led to bedrooms, an office area
and bathing room.

Even with all the finery, it didn’t begin to
compare to her personal suites back in Mayncal where she had an
entire wing dedicated to her comfort. It marked her as one of the
richest women in the world.

She was a bit piqued that Emmaoen hadn’t
made mention of the fact that she was a duchess during their
journey. It would have been nice to have another person of noble
birth to talk to awhile. Instead, Emmaoen had acted just as
eccentric as the rest of the people Anilyia had been dealing
with.

The handmaidens fussed over her without
being of any real use. One was dusting off a pillow while the other
pecked at dust on Anilyia’s clothing. “Enough! Have you two silly
birds ever taken care of a princess . . . or anyone of royal
blood?” Anilyia demanded.

“Oh yes, Your Highness,” the one fussing
over her said. “I once helped Princess Chirelle with her hair.”

“And you did a terrible job of it,” A high
voice said from the doorway.

Anilyia turned. She kept her chin up and her
eyes narrowed as though meeting a peasant. It was the best way to
meet a princess from a lesser kingdom. The princess prepared
herself for a battle of wills with eager anticipation.

Two young women in exquisite gowns flowed
into the room, holding their chins in the air similar to the manner
in which Anilyia had hers. They were younger than Anilyia, one
being about sixteen and the other who followed about fourteen or
fifteen. One had blonde hair like their father and the other had
chestnut locks. Each was pretty and took care of themselves as a
proper princess should.

A gaggle of ladies-in-waiting, handmaidens
and maidservants filled the room, waiting for any one of the
princesses to give a command. No orders were forthcoming though.
The three royals took position in a standoff. The two Kethril
princesses stood next to each other.

Because they were in Kethril, the two held
higher rank. But Mayncal was one of the most powerful kingdoms in
the world and richer than Kethril. There were other factors such as
age. Anilyia was older, but that was not an advantage because she
was beyond the age where she should have been married. The Kethril
princesses were the prime age for unmarried princesses.

A big factor was the fact that Anilyia was
alone with no servants or friends. Her illegitimate lover was in
jail and her companions were off on a quest to save him. The fact
that Anilyia had been kidnapped and was still in the process of
being rescued was another large strike against her.

The clothes were the worst part. Each of the
Kethril princesses was perfect in their elegant gowns decorated
with the finest embroidery whereas Anilyia was dirty and sweaty.
Her hair was pulled back and greasy. The travel outfit she wore
would be more appropriate on a country countess than on a
princess.

The Kethril princesses had the advantage but
for two things. Even in her disheveled state, Anilyia was beautiful
. . . epically gorgeous. She outshined the others, though they were
beautiful in their own right. Most importantly, she was
the
princess that all others measured against and found themselves
wanting. When the Kethril princesses did not relent, Anilyia
lowered her chin and stared them
both
in the eyes, a trick
she had learned at an early age. Sometimes it was necessary to
stare more than one person in the eyes at a time.

After all the time thinking about how nice
it would be to be back in court where she could play politics and
games of power, she now found herself mad at having to do so. The
two little upstart princesses were challenging Anilyia’s position
when all she wanted was to take a bath and figure out how to help
Tathan escape.

Anilyia was going to take a day or two to
relax and be pampered first though. The phrase, ‘known seducer of
women’ had stuck in her ears. She still loved Tathan with all of
her heart, but was very much afraid that she might just be another
trophy in a long line of fools.

The servants looked like chickens with the
way they twisted their heads back and forth to see who would win.
The younger of the two princesses was wavering just a bit. Anilyia
was going to win the contest of wills, but it was going to take a
while and she didn’t want to deal with it, so she cheated.

Breaking into tears was a thing child
princesses did. Doing so after reaching maturity was considered
cheating, especially for the twenty-year-old child of a reigning
king.

The Kethril princesses lost their composure
when honest tears began rolling down Anilyia’s face. Many of the
women surrounding them gasped in shock. Regardless of how remote
Kethril might be, they knew exactly who Anilyia was. They also knew
she had a reputation for toughness and a sharp mind. For her to cry
was doubly unexpected.

The first tears pulled more out along with
overwhelming emotions. Anilyia struggled to continue staring and
holding her head high. Now that she had let the first tears flow,
she didn’t want the rest to come. Resistance was futile and the dam
broke. Strangled sobs began to choke their way past her throat. Her
shoulders and legs shook from effort. Still, she held her head
high.

The Kethril princesses began crying in
empathy for Anilyia. Anything bad enough to make her break must be
terrible. Then they rushed forward and wrapped their arms around
her. For a moment longer, she tried to hold it together.

Anilyia had locked the events of the past
year in the back of her mind. She had cried in fear a few times
when with the companions, but a part of her was always on guard.
Anilyia sank to the floor, bawling. The princesses sank with
her.

“You poor thing! Oh how terrible it must
have been!” the younger of the two said. Anilyia didn’t respond
other than to break into a fresh round of sobbing. They knelt on
the floor for a good ten minutes until her anguish was spent.

Looking up, she realized that the servants
were still staring in silence. Many of them were wiping tears from
their cheeks as well. One of them dashed forward and handed her a
hanky. She extricated an arm and used it to wipe some of her tears.
“I must look dreadful.”