“Yes,” she replied, “but I want you to put the visor down as well.”
“You can’t be serious,” he said disbelievingly.
She stopped walking, forcing Miriam to stop with her. “I am absolutely serious Dorian. If you don’t put the visor down I won’t take one step further.” Everyone was staring at her now, including Mort’s mother. Unable to think of a rationale for her behavior Penny resorted to letting a bit more of her frustration show in the form of a wild expression and some tears.
Miriam waved her hands at Dorian, “Just put your damn visor down Dorian, we need to get her to a room.” Miriam’s face gave him an expression showing she understood his confusion.
Dorian complied with the request, though his body language showed how silly he thought it was. Penny didn’t care though, she was just glad to see his armor fully in place. A few minutes later they reached the guest room.
Once inside Penny was taken to the bedroom while three of the guardsmen were arranged in the antechamber. The fourth was set to stand guard outside in the hallway. Miriam was still paying her considerable attention, “Why don’t you lie down for a bit?” the older woman asked.
Penny found herself feeling bad for worrying the other woman. She embraced Miriam while speaking softly, “I’m sorry for causing such a fuss, but I’m not actually sick.”
Mort’s mother looked at her suspiciously, “What does that mean?”
Penny crossed the room to close the door. Before she did she looked out and saw Dorian lifting his visor again. “I said keep your damn visor shut!” she barked. Dorian glared at her for a second before his hand drew his helm’s faceguard back down. Penny shut the door and turned back to Miriam. “I’m sure Mort has told you about the visions I’ve had,” she began.
Miriam’s eyes grew wide. “In the courtyard?” she said suddenly.
Penny nodded.
“How bad is it?” asked the other woman.
“Bad, and I can’t tell you how or why, but I need you to trust me,” she said.
“What does that mean?” asked Miriam.
“It means I want you to follow my lead. Something bad is about to happen and I may say some things that don’t make sense but I want you to ignore that and go along with me,” Penny replied.
“Like Dorian’s visor?”
“Yes.”
“Something violent is about to happen isn’t it?” said Miriam.
A knock at the outer door interrupted their conversation and both women held their breath to hear what was happening in the outer room. One of the guards exchanged words with whoever was in the hall but they couldn’t make out what was said. A moment later Dorian knocked on the bedroom door. “Excuse me ladies,” he said politely.
Penny opened the door quickly. She was full of more nervous energy now than she could stand. “Yes?” she asked.
Dorian still had his visor down this time, which made his voice sound odd. “James has sent one of his men to request I attend him in his rooms,” he said plainly.
Penny swallowed before answering, her mouth had gone dry. “Then you should go,” she told him.
Dorian raised his hand to his helm, “What about this?”
Penny started to laugh but she stopped herself quickly as she felt hysteria creeping into her voice. “Keep it down until you reach James. Obviously I don’t expect you to wear it while you’re speaking with him,” she replied.
Dorian sighed again. Though she seemed normal Penny was obviously suffering from some sort of stress induced eccentricity. “The guard who brought the message will remain here in my place till I return,” he told her.
“That will be fine,” she answered.
Dorian turned and strode from the room, feeling ridiculous walking out with his visor down. As he went he stared for a moment at the guard James had sent to summon him. Something about the man’s face bothered him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. In any case, he didn’t recognize the fellow anyway.
After he had gone Penny returned to the outer room. She had too much energy to stay pent up in the bedroom. Her presence served to stifle the idle banter her guards had been engaging in and an awkward silence fell across the room. They didn’t have long to wait however, less than two minutes after Dorian left another knock sounded at the door.
The guard outside opened the door without waiting for a response, revealing a highly unusual woman framed by the opening. She was garbed in soft leathers, like a huntsman, though she bore more steel than would be necessary for such an occupation. Her hair was black and curled into delicate ringlets, it might have draped past her shoulders but she had it tied back into a businesslike pony tail. She strode forward into the room as though she owned it.
Penny locked eyes with the strange woman and a chill ran down her spine. This woman is death, she thought and her knowledge of what would soon happen did nothing to change her opinion. “Wait,” she said suddenly, before the woman could speak. “I’d like you men to leave so we can talk in private.”
The man closest to her, Samuel was his name, answered first, “I don’t think that’s what Sir Dorian had in mind when he left.” He might have said more but a dagger appeared, lodged in his left eye. It happened so suddenly almost no one reacted for the first few seconds, aside from Penelope.
Penny no longer had the superior speed and strength she had possessed while she had been Mordecai’s Anath’Meridum, but she had been trained by one of the most skilled warriors in all of Lothion, and she had already known a good deal of what would happen. As the first dagger flew toward Samuel’s head she was already drawing a long bladed knife from her skirt and though she was too far to save him she managed to bat a second blade from the air before it reached one of her other guards.
The room grew still for a moment as Samuel slowly collapsed to the floor, twitching as he died. The other guard, Cole, had just begun to register the fact that a similar blade had almost reached him as well. The strange woman looked at Penny appraisingly, “Not bad, I see Cyhan did a good job with you.”
The other woman’s patronizing tone got under Penny’s skin immediately and she wanted nothing more than to teach her a lesson, but she kept her wits about her. “This is a mistake. No one else needs to die if you’ll just let me explain,” she said.
The dark haired woman drew two long knives, each with a blade almost eighteen inches in length and advanced. “I’m afraid the time for talking is over sweetheart,” she replied.
To their credit the two guards that remained never wavered in their resolve. Cole drew his sword as the woman stepped forward, as did the man beside him, but they never stood a chance. Their opponent feinted toward Penny and Cole took the bait, lunging sideways to protect his ward and the woman cut his throat wide as she swept back in the other direction. Ducking a swing from the second guard she moved in closely and slashed at his midsection.
That move was purely a distraction however, his breastplate made it impossible for her blade to hurt him there, but he flinched and drew back reflexively… or at least he attempted to do so, but she had pinned his left foot under her own. With a small push she sent him falling backward and followed him downward, using his weight to start a tumbling roll. Penny had stepped over Cole and her own blade narrowly missed the woman’s back as she rolled away.
The stranger came up and into a crouch several feet away, but the man she had tripped didn’t rise. One of the two long knives was lodged under his chin and a pool of blood was already spreading underneath him. Penny stared at him in shock, she hadn’t seen the attack that killed him, or even expected it. All three of her guards were now dead and she assumed that the one outside the room was gone as well. The fight was effectively over, unless she intended to take the intruder on singlehandedly.
Given her condition that seemed foolish. The woman before her was more deadly than anyone she had ever seen, except perhaps Cyhan. Without the extra speed and strength she had had as Mort’s Anath’Meridum there was no way she could hope to over
come her. That didn’t mean she was ready to surrender however. What is it that Mort’s always saying? Stupid never dies. I guess that describes me as well, she thought to herself. If there’s no way to overpower her directly perhaps I can make her underestimate me.
Penelope began edging sideways around the room, backing further from the woman as she moved, until she had reached the place she started. Cole’s now still form lay on the ground behind her, but before she could begin her opponent spoke. “I’m not here to kill you,” the other woman said.
Penny knew this already but she feigned ignorance. “Who are you?” she asked.
The woman laughed, “Ruth is my name. If you put the dagger down I won’t hurt you.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I might put my knee right in the middle of that big belly of yours,” Ruth replied with an evil sneer. “You wouldn’t want to endanger the baby would you?” she said with mock sympathy.
Penny decided to risk some of her information on a bluff, “The king would be very displeased if something happened to me or my child.”
Ruth stepped forward without bothering to reply. As she did Penny stepped sideways but her foot came down awkwardly on Cole’s body, causing her to trip. Ruth lunged thinking Penny vulnerable but her eyes widened in surprise when Penny sank gracefully to one knee instead, bringing her dagger up and in-line with Ruth’s mid-section. Twisting like a cat she narrowly avoided being gutted and the sharp edge slid over the outside of her ribs, ripping a deep cut through her leathers and scoring deeply into the skin beneath. The motion threw her completely off balance and she fell awkwardly beside the pregnant woman.
Penny cursed as her thrust failed to eviscerate Ruth but she followed through, trying to make the most of her opportunity. As Ruth fell Penny leaned to her left and drove her left elbow into her attacker’s side. If she had been more limber she could have tried for a better target but her belly was hampering her movements. She felt as much as heard the grunt of pain that escaped her attacker’s lips as the blow connected. Bringing her right hand around she wasted no time, trying to catch Ruth with her blade before she could recover.
Ruth was moving already though, she rolled to the side before Penny could connect with the dagger and lashing out with her leg she caught her solidly in the side of the head. Penny was thrown sideways by the blow, crashing into the wooden doorframe between the two rooms. Struggling to clear her vision Penny tried to get up, when a second blow she failed to see knocked her down again.
A moment later she was caught. Ruth’s long legs were wrapped around her waist and one arm was around her neck. With crushing pressure Penny felt Ruth’s forearm cutting into her neck, choking off her air supply and making her head feel as though it were about to explode. “You’re going to pay for that cut bitch,” came Ruth’s voice next to her ear. “You’ve got me so worked up I might just choke you to death.”
Penny wanted to reply, but she couldn’t, the pressure on her throat was too great. She was unable to even croak and she knew her face must be blood red… the world was starting to go dark.
Then the bedroom door flew open and Miriam entered the fray. The older woman had been searching the bedroom for weapons and not finding any had finally settle upon the only workable item in the room, a slender wooden chair that had been used with the writing desk. Swinging the chair wildly at Ruth’s back she charged. “Get your hands off my daughter!” Unfortunately her approach was far from stealthy.
The pressure on Penny’s throat abruptly vanished as Ruth released her and leapt aside. Miriam struggled to stop her swing before she hit Penny but only partially succeeded and Penny felt fresh pain as the heavy wood struck her legs. Ruth was smiling now, with a new blade in hand as she approached Miriam, like a cat that has found a new mouse to play with. “I don’t really have to keep both of you alive.”
Penny felt fresh horror sweep over her as Ruth prepared to attack Miriam. No! This isn’t what’s supposed to happen! She thought to herself while her body stubbornly refused to listen to her commands. She couldn’t get up, and there was no way she could reach Miriam in time to save her.
Chapter 18
Dorian was troubled by a nagging doubt as he walked. Something about the guard that had come to summon him bothered him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He was halfway to the duke’s family suites before it came to him.
He hadn’t recognized the guard… at all. Having been raised in Lancaster, as well as trained there amongst its guards, he should have known him. At the very least the man’s face should have been familiar. There was always the possibility that he was new to the duke’s service, but unlike Washbrook, Lancaster hadn’t had a large influx of new settlers, so the chances of that were small.
I’d better go back, he thought, and turning he began to walk back the way he had come. The further he went the more urgent it felt and before he had gone twenty feet he was running. Keep your visor down, she had said. Damnitt Penny! You knew! A minute later and he was rounding the corner of the hallway their room was on, and as soon as he saw the men in the hallway his fears were confirmed. There was no reason for four strange guards to be standing outside her room.
Despite his conversation with Mordecai previously Dorian still didn’t have an enchanted great sword yet, and for once he was glad of it, the hallway would have been an awkward place to use such a large weapon. Roaring he drew his long sword and dagger, charging down the corridor at the men he knew must be there for the women he was sworn to protect.
The guards started at his appearance and drew their weapons. They bore only swords and truncheons, but many of them wished for a shield when they saw Dorian bearing down upon them. Raising their weapons they prepared to face him.
They might as well have laid down their arms, for all the good their weapons did them. Dorian ignored their attacks completely, trusting to his armor to protect him. Instead he focused his attention on his own weapons and within a span of seconds four of his opponents were down, dead or mortally wounded. Two others had entered Penny’s room, bolting the door behind them. Apparently they weren’t ready to be part of the massacre.
He reached the door in a panic, knowing Penny and Miriam were inside, presumably unguarded now. Naturally the door resisted his first attempt to open it. In frustration he struck the heavy oak with his gauntleted fist, sending splinters and shards of wood flying. The door shook in its frame as if a battering ram had been used upon it. Dorian stepped back and threw himself, shoulder first against the wooden barrier. Impossibly some of the wooden timbers snapped and the door nearly collapsed in on itself. A blade shot forth through one of the gaps, attempting to wound him, but it skittered harmlessly from his breastplate.
Raising his sword he began chopping away the remaining wood, the enchanted steel cutting through the damaged wood as easily as a knife through bread, within seconds he would be inside. He was so focused on getting to Penny and Miriam that he failed to notice the balding man fading into view ten feet down the hallway, nor did he pay any heed when the man began speaking in a foreign tongue.
Through the gaps in the wood Dorian could see dead bodies scattered across the floor. Blood was everywhere and Penny was being carefully bound by a woman with dark hair. He thought he could see a glimpse of Miriam on the floor to one side, lying utterly still. The two men inside were busy piling furniture against the rapidly disintegrating door.
Still unnoticed the man in the hallway gave Dorian a strange stare, for his words had had no noticeable effect upon him. Biting his lip he tried something different and lightning streaked across the distance between him and the armored warrior.
Dorian’s body convulsed momentarily as electricity coursed over his armor. Despite being encased in metal armor he still lived, for Mordecai’s enchantments somehow absorbed much of the strike. Still twitching he looked over his shoulder, spotting the man who had tried to kill him. Not daring to waste time he threw his dagger at the stranger, hoping to distract the man while he
finished cutting his way through the door.
Oddly enough the balding man never wavered or ducked and he seemed strangely surprised when the blade lodged solidly in his shoulder. Letting out a cry of pain and frustration he fell backward, clutching at the wound. Dorian continued tearing a path through the ruined furniture and debris that still blocked his path. The woman had finished binding Penny and stood behind the two male warriors, berating them in their attempts to keep him out of the room.
Not satisfied with how the situation was resolving she searched about for a moment before finding a heavy table leg and… as Dorian finally forced his way in, she struck. Her blow was not the more usual swing, but rather a thrust, as one might use a spear. Normally such a strike would carry enormous force, having the weight of the wielder’s body behind a small point of impact. She struck so rapidly and with such force that Dorian was unable to duck, being still entangled in broken furniture, and the end of the table leg slammed into the face of his helm.
The blow would have killed him outright if he had not had his visor down. Even protected as he was it still sent him stumbling to fall backward over the broken wood behind him. The two fighters with the woman wasted no time, and following her directions they each lifted one of their captives and bore them quickly from the room.
Dorian struggled to rise but Ruth gave him no room, she had leapt through the doorway and now circled him, using the table leg as a cudgel. She struck madly, at his legs, arms, and head, making sure he was unable to regain his balance. She was grinning and sweating as she attacked him but even in her frenzy she was looking for vulnerabilities. Her blows seemed to have little effect on the massive warrior, besides keeping him from regaining his feet. His armor showed no signs of denting, or even being scratched.
“Walter!” she yelled. “Isn’t there something you can do about this metal beast?” That was when she spotted the wizard, wounded and struggling to rise on the other side of the hall. The sight distracted her and Dorian’s mailed fist caught the table leg on its next swing. She struggled to pull it from his grasp for he seemed to be impossibly strong.