|
|
| |
|
| ||
|
|
|
Tanja stared increduosly at the blasted body of Dioren lying in
the street, and then back at Eledan, expecting to see hate in his eyes.
Her fear melted away as she saw concern where she expected rage. She
knew, then, that all his actions had been in what he considered to be
her best interests. He was, of course, horridly wrong for killing
Dioren, and she would not keep his company, but nor could she condemn
him. All she could find the words to say was “Why?”, and even that was
barely mouthed.
He moved to put his arm around her, but she slunk away from his
grasp. Undaunted, he stepped nearer to her and explained, “Tanja, we are
standing at the edge of a large cliff, you and I. A fire burns behind
us, and our only chance is to leap into the unknown. You cannot stay
here in this village any longer. Life with Vera may be risky, but
staying here is death.” Here, he took her by the hand. “Leap with me,
Tanja.” Looking up into his eyes, she almost forgot that he had killed
Dioren. Almost.
Pulling her hand from his with revulsion, she knew she could not
accompany him. “You killed Dioren. In cold blood, you just killed him.”
The reality of the event was sinking in. Tears welled up in her eyes,
but she fought them. There would be time for that later. “I can’t-”
Suddenly, Eledan had stopped stock still, and had a look of deep
concentration upon his face. “What is it?” Tanja asked, but he raised a
finger for silence.
“She is here, Tanja. Come back with us, and you will be safe.
Quickly, if Vera is forced to search for you, she will show no mercy.
Quickly, we must leave.” She stepped away from him, but he drew ever
closer. “Tanja, we must-” This time Eledan interrupted himself
midsentence. “Run!” he commanded, forcing her forward with his body.
Swept up by his urgency, she continued to run as she looked back
at him to demand to know what was happening. Glancing back, however, she
saw the pair of men on horseback charging through the street, straight
towards them. Running with her own strength, now, Tanja angled towards
another road which divurged from the current one several hundred feet
down the road.
As she strained to cover the last few feet to the turn, she felt
a heavy body tackle her from behind. A hand pressed her face into the
ground. She heard the thundering of hooves, an explosion, and then
silence. Still squirming, she struggled away from her assailant as he
released his grip. Turning to strike the man, she saw Eledan. A gaping
hole in the road and two charred corpses were all that remained of the
horsemen.
“What happened?” she asked, still unwilling to trust him.
“I saved you.”
“You killed two people!”
“They were attempting to harm you, my lady. I was hired as a
bodyguard, and I will continue to protect you from any harm, including
Vera or...Dioren.” As he had expected, Tanja turned away at the mention
of that name, as well as the implications of his logic. “I knew, my
lady, that as long as he lived, you would expect to save the villagers,
and be unable to leave. By not commanding you to leave, Dioren was
harming you.”
“I am not a child!” she screamed at the knight. “I do not need
to be ordered what to do and where to go and when and with whom.” Tears
of frustation filled her eyes.
“But you know we must leave.”
“We?”
“I have disobeyed Mistress Vera, and killed two of her knights.
I am no longer safe with her.”
“Well...well, I’m not safe with you. You kill...anything that
gets near you! Everything in your way!”
“I saved you.”
“And for what? Look at me! I can’t trust anyone, I can’t go
anywhere, I’d be better off dead.”
“Which is what you’ll be if you insist on staying here.”
“Well then, why don’t you just knock me unconscious and drag me
off to a cave somewhere?”
“If I had any sense left, I probably would. Come on,” he led her
down the road, in the direction opposite to that from which the knights
had come. Reluctantly, Tanja accompanied him. She didn’t have it in her
to fight back.
The town wall had come into sight when Tanja became aware of the
smell of smoke. Alerting Eledan to it’s presence, he stopped moving.
“Look,” he instructed her, pointing to the horizon behind them. She
looked, but not because he told her to, she told herself. She was just
curious. In the distance, flames could be seen, consuming the homes.
“But so many of her knights must still be in the city...,”
objected Tanja. “She’ll kill them all.”
“It doesn’t matter to her.”
“Or to you,” the young woman shot back, turning to run.
Eledan sprinted after her. “No, Tanja, it could be a trap.” He
caught her a moment later, and pulled her from the middle of the caked
mud road. He pressed her back up against one of the more intact huts
along this street. She looked a mess. Her long, flowing hair was laced
with mud, her face was stained with tears and streaked with dirt. Her
once white robe was nearly brown, and parts of it red from numerous cuts
and wounds. Torn and ragged, the frayed ends of it tickled her
calloused, bruised, and bare feet.
Looking up at him, Tanja could see his concern. Turning her head
several degrees to the left, she placed her mouth softly on his. He
tensed suddenly, but then she could feel him relax. This was what he
wanted. She opened her eyes as they continued to embrace, and noted that
his were closed in passion now. Pulling away from him quickly, she
backhanded him, leaping over his tumbling body. He screamed after her as
she ran down the road. She didn’t get far before two men leapt in front
of her, grabbed her by her arms, and threw her inside the nearest
building.
The young woman hit the ground hard, and felt the air whoosh out
of her. Everything had happened so fast. Her head spun, and ached.
Looking up, she could see very little through the darkness, and her
pain-inspired stars. A voice called to her from the darkness. “My dear
Tanja.”
“Vera.”
She felt a heavy slap across her face. It was painful, but
actually assisted in clearing her vision.
“Mistress Vera,” she spat.
“Why didn’t you leave, Tanja? Did you really think that you
could save all of those people? You? An insolent young child? The very
idea is laughable.” With that, Vera laughed, a shrill and piercing,
hiccuping laugh.
“Why do you care? Just let me leave. Let me live.”
“You are my child, Tanja. You have been my child ever since you
came to my healers so many years ago, frightened for the loss of your
family. I loved and raised you, and what do I get in return? A rude,
idealistic wench!”
Tanja shivered as the cold steel of a knife pressed against her
breast. “So young and beautiful,” began the old woman, “And stupid!” The
young healer winced, expecting that last remark to be punctuated by a
stab with the knife. It wasn’t. “He was mine, did you know that, Tanja?
I once had Eledan. Difficult to believe, isn’t it, an old hag such as
myself? Then you came along, flirting like some brothel girl.” The old
woman paused, for emphasis, and to take a deep breath.
Moving much closer to her protege, she whispered in the girl’s
ear, “I can’t kill you. I cannot take another’s life. But I can see to
it that you die.” The old woman disappeared with one last cackle. Around
her, Tanja could see the hut beginning to burn, but she was frozen in
place.
Hearing a piercing cackle that he knew all too well, Eledan
spun. If he heard Vera, then Tanja must be nearby. Sure enough, he saw
the hut across the street burning. Dashing towards it, he stopped just
outside and peered in. It appeared, at first, to be empty. Soon,
however, the flickering flames illuminated the prone form of a beautiful
young healer, crying, on the dirty floor. Without hesitation, he rushed
to her.
“Tanja! Tanja!” Blearily, she looked up. Her eyes were tired,
swollen, and red. Straining, his muscles already exhausted from his
strenuous day, the knight lifted her tired body. Ignoring the pain and
heat, he kicked a hole in the flaming wall of the hut. Triumphantly, he
stepped into the daylight, carrying the maiden in his arms across the
threshold.
The fire in the village was just behind him now, and so he ran.
The pain and fatigue didn’t matter, nor did the cuts and burns. All that
mattered was Tanja. Sprinting towards the city wall, no opposition was
enocountered. No knights leapt from the alleys, no sorcerors emerged to
Incinerate them both. Without incident, they emerged from the city
unscathed.
“That was too easy,” Eledan told Tanja, setting her body gently down.
“They’re all dead,” she told him. “They must be.”
“I have to make sure.”
“No, no, you don’t,” she begged. “Take me. Take me far away from here and never look back.”
“As long as Vera is alive, I must look back. Otherwise, she will return for me, and she will return for you. Goodbye.” He kissed her softly, and stepped back into the burning village, shouting, “Vera!”
Standing on tired legs, Tanja breathed a sigh of relief. They were tired, but they were hers. Turning her back, for the first time in
a long time, she walked away from Gromhaven. She walked away from Dioren
and Eledan. She walked away from the dead. She walked away from Vera.
Most importantly, she walked away from that young child named Tanja,
frightened and alone, looking towards Vera for help.