3.

Kyara arrives just in time to save Luke Penrook from a fiery death.

3.

 

 

Though it was late summer, the evening air was not cool enough to warrant a raging fire in the manor’s master’s suite, yet this evening one blazed.     As the orange glow filled the room with light and stifling heat, it was the thick grey smoke that filled the bedroom that alarmed Kyara the most.

“Luke?!   Luke Penrook; are you in here?”   She called loudly before being overcome by the smoke in the air.   Coughing violently, she staggered over to the window, which had been shuttered and latched on the inside.    Desperate for air, she didn’t waste time trying to find the latch in the thick smoke.   Instead, she slammed her shoulder into it with all her might.   Still wearing her armor from earlier in the day, the metal shoulder piece smashed through the glass and popped the shutter open.    For a moment she hung out of the window, her eyes burning and watering from the smoke, gulping in fresh air.

Then she remembered Luke.

Taking a huge breath, she pulled her head back into the room and felt around in the smoke for what seemed like hours until she found the large bed.

She didn’t dare take a breath or call out, but just groped until she found a man’s form under heavy blankets lying motionless in bed.

Her lungs were about to burst from holding her breath, and she poked and slapped the body.   For a few moments there was no reaction to her and she feared that he was already dead.   But then a hand moved, pulling down the sheets.    

Kyara didn’t waste any time and simply grabbed the hand and pulled it to the side of the bed.   Straining with all of her might, she moved the body near the edge and then she felt him slip over the side on his own feet.   Still holding his hand, the princess yanked him after her, toward the open window.    

For a full minute both of them stood there with their heads outside of the portal, coughing and sneezing from the smoke.   It was indeed Luke that she had found, but they were too overcome by the smoke to speak.

“Outside…”  She finally managed to say and he nodded somewhat passively, but followed her back into the room, through the bedroom door, out into the landing, then finally down the main staircase and out the manor’s front door.    

Both of them collapsed on the cobblestones of the carriage driveway and coughed for several more minutes.    

“Luke… what happened?”   She finally asked as her lungs cleared enough for her to speak.

He just shook his head and shrugged slightly, not looking at her.

“Maybe the flue was closed… you’re lucky I arrived when I did!”

“Thanks,”  He simply said, not sounding overly appreciative.

“Isn’t it a bit warm for a fire?”   Kyara asked, wiping her stinging eyes with the edge of her cloak, which now reeked of smoke.

Again Luke shrugged and she looked at him with a mixture of consternation and annoyance.  

“What is wrong with you?”  She asked, but then she realized what should have been obvious to her, “Yesh preserve me!   You were trying to commit suicide, weren’t you?!”

He didn’t deny it and only looked down at his hands, a miserable expression of embarrassment and frustration in his eyes.

“What in the world is wrong with you!”  She chastised him, “You want to die?”

He nodded, “I’m already as good as dead, Princess.”

“Just because they tortured and castrated you?”

“You don’t understand, Princess.”

“No, I don’t.    I just exiled my sister and I’ll probably never see her again, but I sure haven’t given up!”

“Exiled her?”

Kyara briefly explained what had happened between Avalynn and her.

“Princess, you should have tried to convince her to flee into the Highlands.    She’d have a much better chance there than with Reddric.”

“She wouldn’t listen to me, Luke.   I had wondered what your plans were going to be and now I see why you didn’t answer me when I asked you earlier.”

Luke folded his arms across himself, “I have played my part in this story, Princess; my time is over.”

“No it isn’t, Luke!    That is why I came looking for you; I need your help and advice.”

“I have none to give, Princess.   Everything is gone - when Reddric’s men get here, even this manor, which has been in my family for centuries will be gone.   It is only brick and stone, but that is not what has filled me with such distress.   I lost the will to live months ago.”

“Why, Luke?   Just because you can’t have children-“

“Can’t have children?!”   The elven man snapped, “Do you think that is what concerns me?    You have no idea, Princess!    I can’t even urinate as before!    I am in pain all the time and despite the effects of the magic potion they gave me, I feel myself changing, Princess!  Dark and powerful emotions overwhelm me.   I don’t understand it exactly, but when they castrated me, I lost the fire that burned within me.”

“You can adapt, Luke!   Fight it!   You can still serve a purpose.”

Luke snickered, “How?    Fighting against overwhelming odds?   That is why you’ve come here, isn’t it?   You’re hoping I might have some strategy or plan to help.    I have no hope, Princess!    There are not enough people left in this kingdom to stop Reddric’s armies.”

“We can at least say we tried!”   Kyara protested.

“I’ve given all I can, Your Highness.   My entire family is dead.   I have no-one left.   Not even nephews, cousins or nieces, and I cannot carry the family name forward.    All I believed in; all my parents and family believed in, has crumbled.    There will be no wife or children for me.    Even if I just sit here passively and await Reddric’s occupation, I know his soldiers will find me.    Then they’ll parade me amongst their ranks, laughing at the gelding elven knight.”

“Then resist them, Luke!”

“How, princess?    We are overwhelmed and whether we fight or surrender to them, it won’t make much difference.    I’ll end up a bloated eunuch jester in Reddric’s court that he brings out to entertain them while they smile smugly at the justice that he has delivered to a soulless elf.   I’ll be the target for all their mocks and cruel comments.”

“Then join me in fighting them, Luke!    I need your help!    I know there is a force coming from the west.   It occurs to me that the western high road has a bridge that crosses the Brombrun River that is hundreds of feet high.    All traffic has to cross that bridge and there is no place to ford it for a hundred miles.    If we were to position twenty to fifty archers on the eastside of the bridge, they could keep the High King’s army at bay indefinitely!”

The lovely green eyes of the young princess sparkled with excitement and optimism.   Luke hesitated to critique her plan, for she was certainly trying to come up with something in this desperate situation.

“Princess Kyara, that is strategically sound, and there are several high bridges like that on this island, but there are several considerations.   First, I doubt that there are twenty to fifty trained archers remaining.    But even if you could find them, Reddric’s soldiers are very well armored.    Most wear suits of half plate armor and only the best aimed arrow by the strongest of archers would have a chance of injuring one of them.   When encountering archers, the High King’s soldiers often use a device they call a ‘turtle’ which is a wood and thick hide shell much like an upside down boat.  They throw it over about 12 of them and protected underneath it, they carry this turtle into a barrage of arrows.   They look through slits to see where they are going and once they near the archers, they throw it off and attack them.   It is very effective.”

Kyara frowned, “Well there has to be something we can do!   Perhaps if we destroy the bridge-“

“That would only slow them down by perhaps three or four days.   It would do nothing to stop the second army coming from the south.”

Kyara sighed in frustration, “I’m not giving up, Luke!”

“I understand, Princess.    But a direct attack with a meager force is going to do nothing but ensure defeat.”

“Other than fleeing to the Highlands, what choice do I have?”

Luke closed his eyes, “I told you that it was hopeless, Your Highness.     I can’t give you any hope.    When we were attacked in that steep pass, we were very close to the forest of the Yehsaelie.   We were trying to escape into the forest because we knew that none of the superstitious humans would pursue us there.    If some of our troops managed to escape into the Yehsaelie forest and if there are any of the Yehsaelie really in those tangled woods,  perhaps that would be a place of refuge.    It seems like a risky option, but I have no other to suggest, Princess Kyara.”

A glimmer of hope sparkled in her eyes, “Then that is where we’ll go!”

“Don’t include me in this plan, Princess.   I don’t intend to live much longer.”

“Well, you’ll have to postpone your suicide until after you lead me to the Yehsaelie forest, because I don’t know how to get there.”

Luke sighed in frustration, “No, Princess, I-“

“Luke, think of it this way.   You said that you have no reason to live anymore.   Well, assisting me might be one last thing that you could do.”

Luke shook his head, “We couldn’t travel west, or we’d run into Reddric’s army.    That would mean that we’d have to circle around to the south, and there is another army coming up the eastern highway, so we’d have to head over lesser roads and trails in a southwestern direction until we reach Coppergate where the Brombrun River can be forded.    That would be three or maybe four days ride, then at least another five and possibly six to reach the forest.   By that time, Reddric’s men will have overrun this kingdom.”

“Fine by me, Luke.    If I can’t mount a resistance with the people remaining here, perhaps I can gather an army from those who escaped the ambushes and fight the High King through guerilla warfare.   I need to find any survivors.”

“There won’t be many, Princess.    We don’t even know what lurks in those forests.    Any of our troops that fled there may have been killed by the Yehsaelie - if they really even exist.”

“It seems like the best option available.”

“Even if we gather a force of several hundred, it won’t be nearly enough to challenge Reddric’s thousands of seasoned veterans.”

“We’ll work out details later.”

Luke’s frown deepened as she continued to use ‘we’ in her sentences.    He started to protest, but seeing the fire in her lovely eyes where earlier there was only frantic desperation, he felt too sorry for her to argue.     He didn’t know how he would ride - the trip on the mule with heavy padding on the saddle had torn open his wounds slightly.    Yet he still owed it to the memory of his family and for his previous life as a nobleman’s son in his beloved Baylcothrom.   He’d find a way; it would be his last act, perhaps it would end his story on a brighter, nobler note.   He wasn’t too thrilled with the whole scheme, but he’d do it, though the trip would likely kill him.

“We’d have to leave tomorrow morning, Princess, before we get surrounded by the two armies.   There are hundreds of humans travelling to the capital in answer to his call for men at arms and militia to replace those who are marching against Baylcothrom.   He’s using these men to guard the capital and keep order in the city until his troops can be sent back.    These conscripted men will be heading in small groups toward Caelyinshire and if we disguise ourselves very well, we might be able to pass as young human men travelling to fulfill their militia obligations to the High King.”

“What would militia troops wear?”

“Most have simple armor, but we need to disguise ourselves well, so I’d suggest finding some suits of half-armor like his troops wear.”

“Where would we find it?”

“I don’t know - Trilyum is nearly deserted, but perhaps some of the noble manors may have something that would pass for it.”

“I’ll send servants to check - Luke, I want you to come and stay at the palace tonight.”

“Why?   Are you afraid I might try to kill myself again?”   He asked with a sad smile.

“Quite frankly; yes, that is exactly the reason.    Besides, it is too smoky in your father’s house to stay now.”

“Very well, princess.”

“Good!   Then come with me and I’ll find you quarters so you can rest up for tomorrow, while I search for the armor for our disguises.”

He just nodded; charmed by her enthusiasm but certain that her optimism would quickly fade within a few days.

 

 

***

 

They had sent Avalynn away without her maids and Kyara had put them in charge of the four tortured knights that had returned with him.      As soon as Luke was brought into the palace, the maids hurried to care for him.    But he just dismissed them as soon as they shown him a room.    He spent a painful hour redressing his wounds and chastising himself for agreeing to ride off assisting Princess Kyara.    Surely she couldn’t charm him now as a eunuch.   She was just a young girl really, though her Nymph ancestry made her seem much more mature than she actually was.   But it was her forceful personality and passion to resist Reddric to the last breath that seemed to inspire him.  

Maybe he did still want revenge on those that mutilated him.   One last stab before he died, to leave this world with some of the fire that had once burned so brightly in his family.

All of them were long gone now.    He was the last.

Placing a pillow between his legs to help ease the pain, he wound himself up in a wool blanket and closed his eyes.   Once again he prayed that memories of being tortured wouldn’t revive in any dream, but doubtful that they would stay away.

He would just close his eyes for a few moments.     

Within a few seconds, he was sound asleep.