Saldur, his hair loose and wild, wore a white linen nightgown over which he had pulled a red silk robe that he was still in the midst of tying about his waist. “You’ve been very clever, Arista, but you’ve always been a clever girl, haven’t you? Always poking your nose into places you shouldn’t.
“And you Hilfred, reunited with your princess once more, I see. It is a wonderfully gallant gesture to defend her with your life, but it is also futile, and where is the honor in futility? There is no other exit from this dungeon. These men are Seret Knights, highly skilled, brutally trained soldiers who will kill you if you resist.”
Saldur took the torch from the lead seret, who now also drew a dagger. “You have wasted half your life protecting this foolish girl, whose stupidity and rash choices have dragged you through torment and fire. Put down your sword and back away.”
Hilfred checked his grip and planted his feet.
“When I was fifteen, you told me I would die if I tried to save her. That night I ran into an inferno of smoke and flame. If I didn’t listen to you then, what makes you think I will now?”
Saldur sighed. “Don’t make them kill you.”
Hilfred stood his ground.
“Stop, please. I beg you!” Arista shouted. “Sauly, I’ll do anything you ask. Please, just let him go.”
“Persuade him to put down his sword and I will.”
“Hilfred—”
“Not even if you order me to,” his voice grave. “There is no power in Elan capable of making me walk away from you—not now, not ever again.”
“Hilfred…” she whispered as tears fell.
He glanced at her. In that moment of inattention, the seret saw an opening and slashed. Hilfred dodged.
Swords clashed.
“NO!” Arista cried.
Hilfred swung for the throat again, but the knight ducked. Hilfred’s blade struck the wall kicking up sparks and the knight stabbed him in the side. Hilfred gasped and staggered but managed to lunge and thrust his sword at the knight’s chest. Again the point of the blade deflected off the black armor, but this time he was not fortunate enough to connect.
Arista watched as a second knight lunged, driving his sword through Hilfred’s stomach. The sword pierced his body, pushing out the back of his tunic.
“No! NO!” she screamed, falling against the wall as her knees threatened to buckle.
With blood spilling from his lips, Hilfred struggled to raise his sword again. The foremost knight brought his own blade down severing Hilfred’s arm at the elbow in a burst of warm blood that splashed across her face.
Hilfred collapsed to his knees. His body hitched.
“A—Aris…” he sputtered.
“Oh, Hilfred…” Arista whispered er eyes burned.
The knights stood over him. One raised his sword.
“ARISTA!” he cried.
The knight’s sword came down.
Arista collapsed as if the blade pierced them both. She slumped against the wall sliding to the floor. She could not speak. She could not breathe. Her eyes locked on the dead body of Hilfred as a warm wetness crept between her fingers.
“Hilfred,” she mouthed the word. She had no breath left to speak it.
Saldur sighed. “Get him out of here.”
“What about her?”
“They went through so much trouble to get in, let’s find her a nice permanent room.”
Chapter 25
Invasion
“What do you think is going to happen?” Hadrian asked Royce as they sat in the dark.
“The fleet will come in, there will be no pressure to fire the spouts, and the Ghazel will land
without opposition and slaughter everyone. Eventually they’ll reach here, break in and butcher us.”
“No,” Hadrian said, shaking his head. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. The Ghazel will eat us alive and they’ll take their time savoring every moment. Trust me.”
They hung in silence.
“What time do you think it is?” Hadrian asked.
“Close to sunset. It was pretty late when they brought us in.”
Silence.
They could hear the random movements of guards on the other side of the door, muffled conversation, the slide of a chair, occasional laughter.
“Why does this always happen?” Royce asked. “Why are we always hanging on a wall waiting to die by slow vivisection? I just want to point out that this was your idea—again. ”
“I’ve been waiting for that. But I believe I told you not to come.” Hadrian shifted in his chains and sighed. “I don’t suppose there’s much chance of a beautiful princess coming in here and saving us again.”
“That card’s been dealt.”
“I wish I had met Gaunt,” Hadrian said at length. “It would have been nice to actually meet the man, you know? My whole life was fated to protect this guy and I never even saw him.”
They were quiet for a time then Royce pursed his lips and made a hmm sound.
“What?”
“Huh? Oh—nothing.”
“You’re thinking something, what is it?”
“Just interesting that you thought Arista was beautiful.”
“Don’t you?”
“She’s okay.”
“You’re blinded by Gwen.”
Hadrian heard Royce sigh. There was a silence then he said, “She already named our children. Elias if we had a boy—or was it Sterling, I forget—and Mercedes if a girl. She even took up knitting and made me a scarf.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”
“She wanted me to go, remember? She said I had to protect you. I had to save your life.”
Hadrian looked over at him. “Good job.”
Chairs moved in the outer office, footsteps, a door banged, agitated voices. Hadrian caught snippets of the conversation.
“…black sails…a dark cloud on the ocean…”
“No, someone else…”
A chair turned over and hit the floor. More hurried footsteps. Silence.
“Sounds like the fleet is in.” Hadrian waited watching the door to their cell. “They left us for dead, didn’t they? We told them this would happen. We came all this way to try and save them. You’d think they’d have the decency to let us out when they saw we were right.”
“Probably think we’re behind it. We’re lucky they didn’t just kill us.”
“Not sure that’s lucky. A nice quick decapitation is kind of appealing right now.”
“How long do you think before the Ba Ran find us?” Royce asked.
“You in a hurry?”
“Yeah, actually. If I have to be eaten, I would sort of like to get it over with.”
Hadrian heard the sound of breaking glass.
“Ah, we that didn’t take long, did it?” Royce muttered miserably.
Footsteps shuffled in the outer room, a pause then the steps started again, coming closer. There were sounds of a struggle and a muffled cry. Hadrian braced himself, and watched the door as it opened. What stood in the doorway shocked him.
“You boys ready to go?” Derning asked.
“What are you doing here?” They both said in unison.
“Would you prefer me to leave?” Derning smiled. Noticing the riveted manacles, he grimaced. “Thorough buggers, aren’t they? Hang on. I saw some tools out here.”
Royce and Hadrian looked at each other bewildered.
“Okay, so he’s not a beautiful princess. But it works for me.”
The Emerald Storm (The Riyria Revelations #4)
Michael J. Sullivan's books
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