CHAPTER 13 ~ STUCK

AIDEN

“You shot me,” I managed to say.

“Yes, and it would have been easier if you had simply agreed to stay,” she said as she walked over to me. “Who is your captain?”

“You want information now?” I exclaimed through clenched teeth.

“Give it too me and I’ll help you get that out. I’ll even bandage it for you,” she offered quite calmly.

“You must be kidding. I can do it myself.”

“Sure you can, but it will be so much more painful. Of course, you can always have the griffin help. Maglynar, was it? Your choice,” she said in a helpful tone that I wanted to kill very badly.

She raised her hand and tapped the arrow lightly. I yelled loudly and glared at her. The tap sent daggers of pain all over my right side and into my brain.

“Hmm, that seemed like it hurt.”

Kill her now was my only thought.

“It will hurt worse if you try to do this yourself, give me what I want and I promise to be gentle.”

Did she know what that was? What did it matter anymore? This hurt. And it wasn’t as if I had any real loyalty to Ricald or Elangsia. I just wanted out.

“Ricald. My commander’s name s Ricald.”

She stepped back suddenly. “What?” She whispered.

Why react like that? “Ricald, his name is Ricald.”

Her mouth firmed into a thin line and she stared down at me with such intensity, I wondered if she was trying to shoot me again with her eyes alone.

“How long have you worked for him?” She questioned her voice tight.

“Over a year and some odd months. Look, this hurts!” I exclaimed.

“Then answer quicker, you baby. Why did Ricald send you now?”

“Like you thought. Some big battle is about to happen. Elangsia is getting reinforcements, hardened men, wild men. Sounds like a lot of them.”

“Wild Men? Did he use that exact term?” She asked urgently.

“Yeah, I think so.” It was getting harder to think with the pain. Speaking was taking all my effort and my breath was coming in shorter and shorter gasps. Black was swimming before my eyes. Duard had never pulled anything like this. Now, I wondered why.

“Why do you work for him?”

“Huh?”

“Ricald, why work for him?”

Why? There was a reason, right? Why? My head was swimming. I closed my eyes trying to focus. “Training. Need to get better.”

“Open your mouth,” the command was gentle and I was too out of it to do anything but follow. Something hard and nasty was placed into it. “It’s a stick. Bite down, this is going to hurt.”

More intense pain jolted through. It spread over my body like out of control wild fire, burning every place it could touch, but hottest at my shoulder. Numbing hard pain flooded into my mind and covered all my senses. It swallowed everything around me and I allowed it too.

Then I felt something next to my good side.

“Come on, lean on top of me.” Her voice was gentle now, soothing even.

I felt her put my arm over her shoulder. Slowly she helped me to stand. Something warm and soft came to my bad side.

“Good boy, Maglynar. Guide him inside. That’s it. You have to walk, Mercenary.”

I felt a foot move, perhaps it was my own. The pain was too great to think.

“No, not there…. Yes…no, don’t do that…. Let me…..good…..Sleep.”

It was all I heard.

***

“Where have you been?” The words floated around me.

“It’s been three days!” I couldn’t quite place them.

“Well, while you were off preening your ego, I needed to get a message to Tancred!” The voice was the same person.

“I know where he is! Emergencies only, remember?” The girl, it was the girl.

“Who’s working for who here?” But who was she talking too?

“Fine! Have it your way, go see Mother then! We have to make sure the King is informed as soon as possible!” What was she talking about?

“Yes, I’ll wait. But you better be quick! That means no flirting!” Huh?

“Egan! I was serious!”

I drifted away into sleep again.

***

KRISTALYN

I watched from a nearby chair as the mercenary slept. He actually looked peaceful when he wasn’t growling and had that lowered brow of his firmly in place. His short black hair had a chopped look to it, as if he could care less and his jaw showed a shadow of a beard, which wasn’t a surprise for how long he had been out. The shadow didn’t quite cover an inch long scar running down his lower left jaw. His dark tanned skin added to the effect of his face. Just what that effect was, I wasn’t going to analyze. I had only seen his eyes clear once, and even then they had been clouded with pain. They were darker though, an unusual shale blue, I had no doubt they would be devastating if some unsuspecting girl was given the right look. But he didn’t strike me as one to do that too often. He was definitely a hardened warrior. I glanced at the griffin sleeping as close to the bed as he could get. I wondered briefly what inspired so much loyalty from the animal. They were generally vicious creatures, yet this one seemed different, at least when it came to the mercenary. I got the feeling Maglynar only tolerated me because it knew I was helping.

“Why am I helping again?” I asked out loud.

Kuroiden looked up from his spot next to the fireplace. He looked at me steadily for a moment then yawned.

I laughed softly, but then sighed as I looked back at the mercenary. “But it is important, Kurio. He wants to kill the Hunter and you know I can’t let that happen.”

Kuroiden yawned again then stood and lazily stretched before coming to rub me knees. I petted the large black panther absently.

I really didn’t have a reason to help him. It would have been easier if I had shot to kill, but I had needed that information! Now I was stuck with him and Traket would be gone for days. I had to decide what to do. My fist tightened. Ricald was behind this. But then, wasn’t he behind everything that happened to my family?

The mercenary groaned and shook slightly. I waited patently and in a few moments he opened his eyes.

“So, the mercenary finally awakens, huh?” I commented casually, putting the chair back with the table.

“Where…” he started to ask.

“You’re back in the cabin. Five days later, but back in the cabin.”

“Wait, how long?” He struggled to sit up and his movements caused Maglynar to move quickly so he could see. “Some help you are,” the mercenary muttered, looking at the animal.

“You should be more grateful. He hasn’t left your side the whole time,” I said as I brought him a drink of water.

He took the water and looked back at Maglynar. “You didn’t move? What did you eat?”

Maglynar screeched a reply. I watched curiously as the mercenary responded, “That’s what I thought. Nothing comes between you and your stomach.”

“You can understand him?” I asked.

“He normally makes his needs known. He’s stubborn.”

“So are you,” I replied.

He took a drink and then looked at me more fully. I was right, those eyes were strong. “Why are you still here?”

“Would you prefer I had left you to die?” I asked.

“I would have,” he stated calmly.

I didn’t doubt him. “Well, I didn’t. What does Ricald really want?”

“Oh, you kept me alive for more information,” his eyes were amused. I didn’t like the look.

“Does it really matter?” I wasn’t about to let him know I couldn’t kill him in cold blood after that first shot. He’d think I was weak and I didn’t need the trouble.

He shrugged, and then groaned as his shoulder jerked. I laughed out loud and ignored his glare. “You might not want to do that for a while. Now, about Ricald…”

He was silent for a long time. If he hadn’t been looking right at me I would have said he had fallen back asleep. Finally he responded, “What do you have against Ricald? You reacted to the name earlier.”

I grimaced mentally. I probably had reacted much bigger than I should have. I guessed Ricald had been behind the assassination attempt. I shouldn’t have let my surprise or anger show so clearly. Hadn’t I already learned showing emotions get’s one killed? “That’s my concern not yours, you just need to answer the questions.”

“Why? Because you helped me out? You shot me in the first place! I don’t owe you a thing.”

“Maybe not, but you’ll be here for a long time, so you might as well tell me what you know. Where is Ricald now?”

He stared at me. “What are you babbling about? I can walk out of here now.”

“Physically, maybe. But you’re assuming I’m just going to let you go.”

“Then what are you planning?” He asked, swinging his legs off the bed, careful to keep from jostling his shoulder too much.

“You’re staying. That’s all you need to know,” I replied swiftly.

He barked a laugh. “Really? And where do you think your going?”

I didn’t answer.

“You’re close to this Hunter, aren’t you? Are you planning to go warn him?”

Again, I didn’t respond, he was too close for comfort.

“I hate to be the one to break it for you, Girl, but I’m not staying here. I have a mission to complete and I’ll do just that.” He paused for a minute, “even if I have to go through you.”

I realized with a gut retching feeling that he meant it. What was I going to do? I could only stay myself for possibly another week, but even that was pushing it. With the battle now confirmed, the Hunter would need me at his side. Traket was gone for days and I couldn’t get a message to him even if Egan was back. Besides, this mercenary would certainly kill him. I didn’t need his death on my hands. I could leave Kuroiden behind, but he wouldn’t hold them off for long, not against Maglynar anyway. What options did I have left? I had to think, I was missing the right one.

“You know it’s true,” he said quietly. I looked up at him. He was taller than me by a good couple of inches. “I’ll kill whoever you put here to guard me without hesitation. Their lives mean nothing to me. I only care about my goal.”

How many had he already killed in his quest for the Hunter? And why didn’t he come after me? He had said he won’t kill a girl when we had first fought. But was that really true?

“Where is the Hunter?” His voice was forceful.

“You’re a fool if you think I would ever tell you that!” I exclaimed through clenched teeth. He couldn’t fight me yet, he was still too weak. I could easily tie him up and just leave him. But it would only slow him down. I had to protect Tancred! That was my mission! And I wasn’t going to fail... not at any cost.

“You don’t have to use real words,” he grinned.

I looked at him confused. “What are you getting at?”

“You’ve already told me,” he said it so calmly, but my heart restricted. Had I really made that vital mistake? What could he possible have figured out?

“If you’re so smart, then explain it,” I snapped.

He laughed. “You knew about the big battle before I told you or at least you had a suspicion. Now, how had you heard of it if not from Ricald? You asked where he is, so you can’t know the army’s location, which means you’re not getting your information from there.”

He almost sounded like he was figuring this out on the fly. Was he trying to prove he could think strategically or something? His eyes had a mischievous, but far away look to them. He wasn’t actually speaking to me, at least not in his mind. But who then?

“There are only two places to get information about military operations. One is the military itself and two is the source of the orders.” Now, he was looking right at me, triumphantly.

He knew!

“Your precious Hunter is in Ruma gathering information, right under their noses.”

No! I struggled to keep my face calm. We needed that information. If he was able to stop Hunter from getting it, or worse, if he killed Hunter, our people would be destroyed and so would I.

“Look, you don’t have a lot of options here. Anyway you cut it; I’m walking out that door and heading to Ruma. When I do, you can either be dead or alive. I’ll leave it up to you, but I’m not staying.” His voice was ominous.

“Kuroiden!” I called. He leapt between the stranger and the door. “You are in no position to fight. I can easily out maneuver and out think you. I wouldn’t advise being to hasty just yet or making empty threats. Sit down, you’re not going anywhere.”

“Whether I sit now or not won’t make a difference in the end,” he stated calmly.

He was right. What was I going to do?

“Come with me.”

I looked at him in shock. Excuse me? What had he said?

“Come with me. See if you can stop me. It will be amusing and it’s also your only chance.”

***