***
“I don’t see why I can’t sit regular,” Kyrin asked as she looked up at the side-saddle on the horse.
“You’re in a dress,” Alric said, stating the obvious.
“So?”
“So, it’s not proper. Up you go.”
She shook her head and then mounted the horse as instructed. She almost fell off but was able to correct her balance. “Happy?”
“Yes, that’s much better.”
“Why am I even in a dress?” she asked, frowning. She brushed strands of hair off of her shoulder, but the wind blew it back on again.
“Because you’re in training to learn the proper ways of a lady, and ladies do wear dresses.”
“If I’m attacked…”
“You aren’t going to be attacked during training. You don’t even have a weapon on you.”
“I may fall off.”
“Well, that can’t be helped.”
“Can I get down now?”
“No, we’re going out for a ride,” he said, mounting his horse. Four of the knights came up behind them, also on horses.
“If we’re not going to get attacked, why do you need guards?”
“I don’t need guards. I take knights when I go out, that’s what Kings do.”
“Suit yourself.”
He laughed as they rode out of the city past the apple orchards. They were soon riding through the dense forest that surrounded the main city of Valhara. Kyrin was finally getting the hang of riding side-saddle and was looking around her, checking for attackers.
In her three months with Alric, she’d yet to let down her guard for even a moment. That was something the knights found annoying but the king found highly amusing and interesting to watch.
“Sir?” one of the knights said, looking off to the left.
They all rode over in the direction he was watching and came upon a rock set out among the trees. The large rock was dripping with fresh blood. Everyone but Kyrin dismounted and went to investigate.
She watched, uninterested, as the others began searching for signs of what had died.
“I’m at a loss,” Alric said after an hour of searching. “Bring Trox here.”
One of the knights rode off quickly toward the town.
“Kyrin?”
She looked over at Alric. “Yes?”
“Sithias doesn’t honor sacrifices.”
“Okay”
“You are the only one of us in Valhara that isn’t a follower of Sithias.”
“Okay”
“Did you do this? Did you sacrifice something?”
“No”
“Does your god require sacrifices?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes.”
“When’s the last time you sacrificed something?”
“Being indentured doesn’t mean I have to divulge the secrets of my god.”
“Have you sacrificed since you’ve come to Valhara?”
She simply crossed her arms and turned away from him.
“Alric,” Trox said, coming up quickly.
Alric turned to talk to Trox quietly, and then Trox glanced at Kyrin and began to go through the area. Less than an hour later, Trox returned with something in his hand.
“What did you find?” Alric asked him.
“A human heart.”
“Where did you get it?”
“It was buried out in the woods. I suspect the sacrifice was human.”
Alric glanced nervously at Kyrin, but she was looking through the trees again.
“I don’t think it was her,” Trox said. “If I had to guess, it’s the Qualsax trying to cause tension within Valhara.”
“Are you certain?”
“No, but evils brag about what they do. If she was to perform a sacrifice, then she would have said something.”
Kyrin had to fight back a smile as she listened to them speak behind her.
“Now we need to know if it was one of us,” Alric said, looking around.
“Send out search parties to every city around Valhara. I want to know if anyone is missing,” Trox said.
After getting a nod from Alric, the knights rode off to follow his orders.
Alric looked up when Kyrin turned and looked at the heart in Trox’s hand.
Trox looked down at his hand and then up to her. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“A heart? Why?”
“It’s not something we see often unless in battle.”
She shrugged. “I’ve seen worse.”
“Do you worry that someone may be missing from Valhara and may be dead?”
“Why would I? I don’t know them.”
Trox sighed and then walked off with the heart.
“Let’s go back,” Alric said, mounting his horse.
Kyrin clicked her tongue and started out for the castle. With just her and Alric it was nicer, and no one was watching her like she might snap and attack one of them.
“Trox doesn’t trust me,” she said.
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Why?”
“He suspects you’re what we call an evil.”
“And if I am?”
He smiled. “You’re not.”
“But…” She stopped suddenly and turned to the side when she heard a twig break.
Alric heard it also and stopped to listen. He was only slightly surprised when Kyrin reached under her skirt and pulled out the flail. He readied his sword when footsteps were heard coming at them quickly.
Kyrin jumped down off the horse and then growled slightly when she got tangled in the long skirt. In one swift movement, she tore off the bottom half of it and tossed it to the side.
“Who’s there?” Alric asked toward the trees. His eyes narrowed when twelve Qualsax warriors came out at them.
“Fancy meeting the king here,” the front Qualsax said, smiling at the two from Valhara.
“Why are you on Valharan land?”
He walked forward, cocky and assured. “Why not? Valhara will soon be under Qualsax control. We’re just scoping out the territory and look what we found… the king and his beautiful maiden.”
Kyrin dove forward and immediately crashed her flail into the skull of the closest Qualsax warrior, instantly caving it in. Alric was shocked by her sudden attack but was able to join in soon enough to catch them off guard. He easily stabbed the warrior beside him and then swung and decapitated the Qualsax next to him.
When Alric took down the third Qualsax warrior, he spun and found himself alone in the trees with the four dead. There was no sign of Kyrin or the other eight warriors. Broken branches showed the path they took, so Alric followed them, hoping it wasn’t too late to get to them before they killed her.
He knelt down beside two warriors, who were covered in deep burns, and both were dead. Alric stood up and continued following the path of destruction through the trees.
When he heard sounds of fighting again, he rushed forward and burst through the thick bushes, already swinging his sword. Kyrin had managed to kill two more but was injured and exhausted as the other four came at her.
Alric caught them by surprise and managed to decapitate one before the other three turned on him and left Kyrin alone. The warriors weren’t experienced, and he was easily able to dispatch the other three with only one minor wound. When he scanned to make sure no others were around, Kyrin fell to her knees, clutching her side.
“What’s hurt?” he asked, kneeling beside her. He helped her lay down and then looked over the blood streaming from her side. One of the warriors had caught her in the side, slicing into her torso.
“Watch out,” she whispered, and he looked around the clearing again.
“They’re gone. Let me heal this.”
He concentrated, but no amount of energy was healing the deep wound. She was starting to lose consciousness, and the bleeding continued relentlessly.
“Stay with me, Kyrin,” Alric said, and picked her up gentl
y. She kept a tight grip on her flail, even while she teetered on the edge of unconsciousness.
He called for the will of Sithias, and his feet sped up as he ran. As soon as he had both of them back on the horse, he kicked it hard and flew through the trees. Kyrin had quit moving and was lying limp in his arms when he arrived at the temple.
“Saith!” he yelled, sliding off of the horse.
A priest came out and then ran up to them and took Kyrin from the king.
“I can’t heal her,” Alric said, following them in. “The wounds are too bad.”
Saith laid her down on the table, and more priests came in and immediately began to work on her. Their hands moved over her body as the deep cuts began to glow. One gently pried the flail from her hand and handed it to Alric.
It was taking too long, and Alric began to pace nervously. Finn joined him as soon as he heard of the attack, and Alric sent him immediately to attack the closest Qualsax outpost.
“Why is this taking so long?” he asked the priest.
“She was close to death. We’re doing all we can.”
“Sithias, if you want her studied, you have to help her,” Alric whispered softly.
“She has her own god.” Sithias’ voice rang out through the temple.
“But she is mine to take care of.”
“The burden is not your own. She relies on her god for her protection. I cannot intervene if he has forsaken her.”
“Can you do nothing?”
“No, she is in the hands of your priests.”
Alric sighed when he felt the comforting presence of his deity leave. Finn returned several minutes later, after making sure attacking forces were heading out to Qualsax’s land.
“Sir, you’re hurt to,” Finn said quietly.
Alric nodded but watched the priests fight to save Kyrin. “She was attacked because she was with me.”
“It’s not your fault. Trox told me they’ve been sacrificing on our land. I suspect they were lying in wait for the first Valharan to come by.”
Alric looked over when Kyrin groaned softly. He walked over as the priests stepped back. “How is she?”
“We’ve done all we can. Rest will fix what we can’t,” Saith said, bowing to him.
“May I, sir?” Dewell said, looking down at the bleeding gash on Alric’s arm.
He nodded, still watching Kyrin, and then picked her up once the priest had healed him. Finn mounted his horse and reached down and picked Kyrin up from Alric. Soon, they were back at the castle and laying Kyrin in Alric’s bed.
Finn covered her with blankets and then stood back. “Why is she in here?”
“Her room is too small, and I want to watch over her.”
“Do you need anything?”
“No, you may go. It’s getting late.”
Finn nodded and left, shutting the door behind him when he was out. Alric stepped forward and then sat on the bed beside her. He checked the wound on her side. There was no visible wound, but he knew that internal damage was harder to heal using blessings, and she would need time to get back on her feet.
He marveled at how many Qualsax warriors she had killed single handedly, but he wondered at the deep burns across two of them. He finally wrote it off, thinking there must have been a mistake and they weren’t burns he was seeing.
Night fell, and Alric watched her sleep. She was restless and several times opened her eyes long enough to call for help before falling back to sleep. When the sun rose, she finally opened her eyes and looked over at him.
“Where am I?” she whispered.
“You’re safe. I have you in my room. Do you need anything?”
“No,” she said, and then tried to sit up.
“Please stay down. You were injured badly by the Qualsax warriors.”
Knowing she wasn’t going to be able to stand up, she laid back down and groaned slightly.
“Can I get you something to eat?”
She shook her head. “Where’s my flail?”
“It’s beside you on the table.”
“They were going to take it.”
“Qualsax collect the weapons of those they kill.”
She managed a weak smile. “I almost had them.”
He reached over and gently brushed the hair off of her forehead. “Yes, you did.”
“Did anyone die?”
“Not from our side.”
“You finished them off?”
“Yes”
She nodded and then fell back to sleep. Once he was sure she was down for a while, Alric walked over to the window and clutched the cross amulet he had hanging over his chest.
“I could ask Daemionis for her life,” he whispered.
When he got no answer from Sithias, he knew his god wasn’t pleased with the idea. It was risky to ask another deity for anything, and doing so often resulted in blood pacts and death convictions.
“I can’t let her go back to a demon,” he said softer.
When Sithias spoke, only Alric heard it, “You cannot go to a demon to ask for the life of a follower.”
“Why not? Every demon has a price.”
“His price would be your soul.”
“My time is running out. She has only nine more months here.”
“Daemionis will not let her go. She has something he desires, and we have yet to figure out what it is.”
“Can’t you do something? If she’s important to Daemionis, then she could be important to us.”
“No evil is important to us.”
“I can’t let her go back to how she was living. It’s too dangerous.”
“She is not yours to keep. You cannot have these feelings for her.”
Alric turned to look at her. “I don’t have those kinds of feelings. She’s young and innocent. Her world is too perilous.”
“It’s all she knows.”
“She’ll die.”
Sithias didn’t answer, and Alric turned back to the window.