Herald of Shalia 2, page 22
“Frost!” Lysandra rushed in with Ena, Fayeth, and Renna behind her. “Lady Brynn and Lady Desdemona…”
“Slade!” Hestia grabbed his arm while pulling out a potion. The half-dressed alchemist started dousing him with it. “Was anything poisoned? Are you feeling sick? It’s possible…”
“Not now,” Slade pulled his arm away. “I’m fucking fine!”
“What’s going on?” King Asmund looked at one of his soldiers who pulled out a small orb. He cast a spell and an energy blast shot outward. A couple seconds later it came back and the soldier showed the orb to King Asmund. “They erected a wind barrier to block sound near the rear of the castle. Why the fuck were they near the rear of the castle?”
“Why the fuck indeed?” Slade snapped while glaring at the elves. “If Hestia and I weren’t in the fucking washroom you would have been fucking killed!”
“One of the maids,” Lysandra said as if she were still piecing everything together herself. “She said that all of our clothing was in the washroom being prepared for the trip. So we all…”
“Idiots! You fell for that?” King Asmund gestured at his guards.
“We didn’t know there was any reason to doubt them,” Ena said defensively while staring at Frost. “Maybe if we were informed, we could have stopped it.”
“Get everybody mobilized! We’re going to get back Desdemona.” King Asmund turned back toward the group. “Where are the queens?”
“Tied up and locked in a room,” Slade said while rhythmically tapping his knife. “No hard feelings but Lady Brynn is a princess of Zira and they took her. That now makes this Ziran business and I intend to find out which of your wives knows where she’s at.”
“My wives?” King Asmund nodded approvingly. The man must have also come to the conclusion that at least one of his wives was informing on Desdemona’s movements. “Alright, you have my permission…”
“Thanks, but I don’t need your fucking permission,” Slade glanced at Frost. “Are you going to have a problem with this?”
“No,” Frost answered knowing full well that Slade meant to get the information by any means necessary. As far as he was concerned, the queens were walking corpses if he didn’t get Brynn and Desdemona back safe and sound. “Do what you have to do. Which direction did they go?”
“South,” Slade answered irritably. “But they could have changed direction anytime. A few should be bleeding and a couple are poisoned. But they may just leave the dead weight behind so you better hurry if you intend to catch up.”
“Get ready to leave,” Lysandra said turning toward the other elves. “We have to…”
“No, you’ll slow me down,” Frost said recognizing that Brynn and Desdemona were getting further away by the second. He turned to leave the room as Ena stepped in front of him. “What?”
“We should come with,” Ena said furiously blocking his path. “What if…”
“What if what?” Frost interrupted while pushing past her. “Nothing changes if you come with except you slow me down.”
“What if something happens to you?” Ena snapped angrily while striking his arm several times. “Who’ll be there to help you?”
“If you want to help me get stronger,” Frost said. The powerlessness he felt knowing that Brynn and Desdemona were stolen from him was all consuming. He couldn’t control what’d happened but he could sure as hell respond to it and his response was going to be merciless.
“We know,” Renna said quietly. The short-haired thief had been surprisingly silent throughout everything. “We know it’s our fault. If we were stronger…”
“Frost,” Fayeth grabbed his arm. “We’re sorry…”
“Don’t be. It’s my fault,” Frost patted both Renna and the blonde archer’s head. “I should have told you that the princess was being targeted so you’d stay on guard. I just didn’t want to worry any of you and that was my mistake. But it doesn’t matter because I’m going to fix it.”
“You better,” King Asmund said turning to the soldiers. “And the rest of you send out patrols! Question witnesses! If you even think somebody knows something, you have permission to use any methods you want to get them to talk!”
“Yes sir,” an officer said while running off with his soldiers.
“Herald Frost,” Lysandra wrapped her arms around him. “I love you.”
“I have to…”
“You have to say it back,” Lysandra interrupted as Frost started to pull away. He looked down and she was smiling at him as if nothing was wrong. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Frost said awkwardly as she hopped up and kissed him. Lysandra released him and he quickly moved down the corridor towards the stables. “I’ll see you soon.”
“I know,” Lysandra said happily. “We’ll see you soon.”
Frost rushed through the corridors of the castle and out the front gate to where the horses and wagon had been prepped for the journey back. He checked Witch’s saddlebags for his armor and quickly put it on along with his crimson cloak before hopping on his horse.
His memorization abilities didn’t only work for creating recipe and spell books but also it was an effective way to store maps. He activated his scan and started sifting through the few regional maps he’d seen to figure out where in the south the kidnappers might be heading. It was like running with a minimap.
“Let’s go,” Frost said causing Witch to trot but before long he was galloping through the streets of the capital heading toward the south gate. Several soldiers were already ahead of him while others were questioning citizens. He was amazed by how quickly King Asmund’s forces took his orders to heart. He tapped the red mare gently. “Come on, we both know you can do better than this.”
Witch picked up her pace as she blazed passed the soldiers and out the south gate. He compared his mental map to the local landmarks to figure out a rough scale of what he was working with. He knew he was coming up to a fork and needed to figure out which way they would have gone. The fork started to get closer and he hadn’t made a decision.
“Brynn,” Frost smiled as he approached the split in the road. A small shoe was on the left path and based on the size it was likely one of Brynn’s. That told him which direction he needed to go and it narrowed the potential locations down by half.
They had about an hour head start but even if they were all high-levels with maxed out riding abilities they were carrying baggage. Not to mention Brynn was likely doing whatever she could to slow them down.
“Good girl,” Frost said tapping Witch’s head. “Keep it up and I’ll let you run wild for a bit when we’re back home.”
Witch whinnied excitedly as she increased her speed. She was fast but she was still young and weak compared to the warhorses of Zira and Rilia. It was likely that the ones they were chasing were stronger than Witch, but they didn’t have his strength to fuel them.
He passed various travelers he could have asked about Brynn and Desdemona but he didn’t trust anybody. It was just as likely they’d send him the wrong direction as the right one. The only thing he could trust were the clues Brynn left on the route.
He cut right at an intersection where a sock had fallen and suddenly there were only two potential villages to choose from. He had a feeling they were heading toward Rodele, a small village bordering on a river that passed through the southern forest. It was probably the safest route to leave Rilia without using the main roads.
As he approached the final fork in the road, his suspicion was confirmed as Brynn’s other sock rested in the grass.
“Faster,” Frost said encouraging witch. If they managed to board a boat before he arrived, tracking them would get much harder.
CHAPTER 17
Slade wouldn’t say he enjoyed torture but it was a useful tool, a means to an end and he was all about efficiently ending things.
It wasn’t his fault if some fucker wanted to see how long they could last or prove how tough they were. Fuck, if he were in their shoes he’d be singing like a drunk bard. But then again, he’d been tortured before so he knew that no matter how tough a fuck you were, you broke. So, holding out really only proved how fucking stupid you were.
There were exceptions of course. If holding out for ten minutes helped one of your friends get out of town, hold the fuck out for ten minutes. But he only gets the ten minutes. If the fucker decides to hit up his girl’s place to say goodbye while you’re getting your nails pulled out, then that’s on him.
Point being that time fucking matters and he didn’t have time for the bunch of soft cunts blocking his path.
“You absolutely cannot!” Lysandra and the other pointy-eared bitches blocked the door. “Herald Frost will save them on his own! We absolutely will not let you hurt these women.”
“I don’t recall you objecting when your fucking herald beheaded a prince,” Slade said judgmentally. “Get out of my way priestess.”
“No,” Ena growled while holding her shield up. He scoffed at the bitchy blonde thinking she could stop him. “We’re good people and good people don’t do things like this!”
“That’s right,” Slade stepped forward calmly while staring into the elf’s blue eyes. “Good people keep their fucking hands clean. They spout fucking bullshit about how torture is evil and vile to the masses while paying me good coin to do it in their fucking basements. Good people don’t do things like this. They pay people to do them for them so they can sit around and chat at parties and feel good about themselves. They can talk about how they gave rel to a fucking orphanage without mentioning that they paid me to kill the kids’ parents. I’m a bad person, you might want to take that into consideration before you delay me one more fucking second.”
“I’m not scared of you,” the green-haired thief said mockingly. The little bitch wasn’t lying either. None of them were fucking scared because they knew Slade couldn’t harm them without incurring the wrath of that elf-fucker. “If you hurt us Herald Frost will…”
“And there it is again,” Slade chuckled and sighed. “It’s not about what you’ll do to me, is it? You’re good little demis. You’ll ask your herald to do the tough job that you don’t have the fortitude to yourself. Isn’t that right?”
“We’re not going to let you torture the queens,” the big chested elf said calmly. “Even if one of them is bad you’d be hurting five innocent…”
“None of them are fucking innocent you stupid cunt,” Slade laughed. “One of them was successful but that doesn’t mean the others aren’t fucking corrupt.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Lysandra said sternly. The priestess obviously had no intention of getting out of his way. He was going to have to knock them all out if he wanted to get in the room. “Maybe they aren’t nice people but they don’t deserve to be tortured.”
“It’s not about what they fucking deserve,” Slade said coldly. “It’s about results. Now move before I fucking move you.”
“We’re not moving,” the white-haired priestess said while preparing to cast a spell even though she must have realized she was too low level to hurt him. Hell, her spells couldn’t even stagger him let alone stop him.
“Right,” Renna said pulling out a pair of daggers. Slade tried not to laugh at the thought of a novice like her going head to head with him in a knife fight. “We’re not going to let you hurt people.”
“Exactly,” Ena agreed while pulling out a cudgel, as if she’d be able to land a single shot. “You’ll have to get through us and you know what’ll happen if you try it!”
“I’ll give you to the count of three,” Slade said while preparing to act. There were easily a few dozen ways to knock the women out without causing any long-term damage. “One…”
“Stop it right now,” Hestia snapped authoritatively as she approached with food and beverages. “Baron Slade! Have you even tried just talking to the women yet?”
“They’re not going to…” Slade growled at the elf as she stared at him threateningly. “Do you think they’ll tell the truth.”
“You never know until you try,” Hestia smiled impishly. “Anyway, I brought food and drinks for the prisoners.”
“Like hell if you’re going in there alone,” Slade snapped. “They could take you hostage.”
“He has a point,” Lysandra nodded. “You’re not much of a fighter.”
“Fine,” Hestia said while smiling at Slade. “Baron Slade can come in with me as long as he promises not to hurt anybody while I’m in there.”
“He won’t keep that promise,” the green-haired runt of the litter said.
“He’ll keep it,” Hestia said threateningly as Slade scoffed. He knew exactly what the auburn-haired elf was implying by her tone. “Or else.”
“Or else what?” Fayeth asked with a confused expression. “It’s not like we can…”
“I promise,” Slade interrupted. “I won’t hurt them while you’re in there. But once you leave…”
“Then I suppose I’ll just have to stay a very long time,” Hestia stomped past the white-haired priestess and her cohorts. Lysandra opened the door while eyeing Hestia with suspicion and Hestia turned to Slade as she waited in the doorway. “Are you coming?”
“Right behind you,” Slade grumbled. He figured he could let her ask her damn questions, send her out, and then get down to proper business. The room was basically empty except for some storage shelves and a table where the six queens were bound and gagged. Lysandra closed and locked the door behind them to ensure nobody tried to leave.
“Hello,” Hestia bowed politely while setting down the plate of biscuits and a few small bottles. “I’m really sorry about your treatment your majesties. Let me get these ropes.”
Slade watched as Hestia walked around the table untying the binds holding the women. The women immediately removed their gags while uttering various profanities. Queen Silvana was the only troublemaker. She grabbed Hestia’s wrist, but released it immediately as she noticed Slade reaching for his dagger. The bitch might have been a warrior but she knew damn well that he could remove her head in a blink.
“Would you ladies mind if I sat with you?” Hestia asked politely while pulling a chair to the table. She sat down and filled a small plate with biscuits, muffins, and brownies. She paused and looked around the table anxiously while biting into the muffin. “I’m really sorry about this your majesties but unless you tell me who kidnapped the princesses, Baron Slade is going to do very bad things to you. I was hoping we could just talk so that doesn’t happen.”
“Bad things?” Queen Silvana grinned while grabbing some food. “That’s an understatement, isn’t it? We better enjoy this meal ladies because unless one of you talks, it’ll be our last.”
“King Asmund would never allow this,” Queen Tabitha slammed her fist on the table. “If I’m being accused of treason, I demand a trial!”
“You haven’t been accused of anything yet. Self-righteous cunt,” Slade smirked as he stared at Tabitha’s trembling hand. He was relieved to see her shaking because it meant that she lacked the experience and fortitude of the others. He really didn’t want to have to explain to his superiors in Zira why he tortured a Ziralian priestess. “You can tell us what you know willingly or unwillingly. But you’re going to fucking…”
“Baron Slade,” Hestia glared at him while shaking her head disapprovingly. “We are being nice right now.” The emerald-eyed elf turned back to the five the queens sitting at the table. “I’m sorry your majesties. Please understand we’re all very worried about the princesses. If you wouldn’t mind, would you please tell us what you know.”
“It wasn’t me,” Silvana said while guzzling her drink and eating a second muffin. “Did you bake these? They’re amazing.”
“Thank you,” Hestia said excitedly. “I actually brought them from home for Baron Slade but I never got a chance to give them to him.”
“For Baron Slade, huh?” Queen Alicia smirked. The dark-haired queen took one of the muffins and bit into it. “Are you in love with him or something?”
“Want me to cut out that fucking tongue of yours?” Slade hissed while glaring at the queen.
“I love him very much,” Hestia said without hesitation. “But I’m worried he doesn’t feel the same since he’s only nice to me in private. He’s so warm at night and the way he wraps his arms around me makes me feel safe and secure but during the day he pretends like I don’t exist. I think he’s embarrassed by me and that’s not…”
“She didn’t ask for your life fucking story,” Slade said while placing his hand on the talkative elf’s shoulder. “And we’re not here to talk about you.” Slade glanced at the queens. “We’re here to find out where Lady Brynn and Desdemona were taken.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Queen Rebecca said while snacking. “It was some wayward follower of Riliandra hoping for revenge against the king for killing their herald.”
“A follower of Riliandra wouldn’t have been able to get into the castle without help,” Slade said. “Even disguised as the help somebody would have needed to flag them in.”
“None of us worship Riliandra,” Queen Silvana said bluntly. “We have no reason to help them.”
“Maybe one of you took it as an opportunity to get rid of Desdemona,” Hestia said politely while sipping her drink. “Is that possible?”
“Then look at Roselle,” Alicia snarled while chomping down a brownie. “Nobody hates Desdemona as much as her.”
“What?” Roselle snapped angrily practically choking on her food. “None of you like her either! I wanted her gone! Not dead!”
“I’m inclined to agree with Alicia,” Queen Silvana nodded in Roselle’s direction. “That little bitch right there was always teasing Desdemona with food and bullying her. That’s why she has all those scratches and bites.”
“Because I wanted her gone!” Roselle snapped defensively. “Gone! Gone! Gone! Not dead! And I certainly don’t want her kidnapped! If somebody else controls the king then I don’t!”
“But you’d certainly control him if you had Desdemona,” Rebecca said calmly. “Anybody could see that.”
