“You do bloody work girl, but I know you have a good heart.” He said, smiling through his thick beard. “Come to the camp! We’ll always have some beer for you.”
Seraphis laughed as she stepped forward to stroke the neck of Hamilcar’s horse. “I will my friend, hopefully soon. Safe travels.”
Only once the clouds of dirt and dust that Hamilcar and his men kicked up settled, did Seraphis turn to her prisoners. Kae had finally tired herself out. The huntress was lying on her side, sobbing quietly. The scholar Cassendir however was sitting cross legged, watching the bandits leave.
“Seraphis.” Cassendir said.
“Hmm?”
“You’re not actually here to kill us.” He said so matter-of-factly that Seraphis couldn’t help but smile.
“Was it that obvious?”
“Well, to me it was.” Cassendir replied. “I suppose to Hamilcar, it wasn’t. He readily left us.”
“He is a bandit, not a murderer. As much as possible, he only kills animals. He robs traders and merchants a plenty, of course, but he lets them go. Unless he gives them as gifts to my dear sister.” Seraphis crouched and ran a knife through the ropes binding Cassendir’s wrists. “My hands are used to being stained with blood.”
Cassendir nodded his thanks and stood, rubbing at his sore wrists. “You don’t like it, however?”
Seraphis shook her head. “Our father taught us to rule with fairness. To only raise a sword to protect our people. But my dear sister had other ideas, and she was the next in line. Of course she would be the one to be followed.”
“So why are you defying her orders? You were always made out to be a loyal soldier.”
“I never said I wasn’t loyal to my kingdom, Cassendir.” Seraphis said as she cut Kae’s ropes. She had to pull the huntress up to a standing position. “I’m sure you saw it in the market.”
Cassendir nodded solemnly. His mage markings glowed their soft blue light under his sleeves as his magic set to healing his cuts and scrapes. “The people of Sagna live in fear. They cast worried glances at the Firestone Keep.”
“Precisely.” Seraphis sighed. She set to shaking sense into Kae, but the huntress was inconsolable. She could only sob, hanging limp in the princess’s strong grip. “I cannot do anything to defy my queen while I’m at her side. But you can, she will think you dead. I’ll tell her I have beheaded the both of you and that I have thrown your corpses to my hounds. She won’t expect a thing.”
“To your hounds?” The scholar winced. “Is that not too gruesome?”
“What do you mean? I do it all the time. I have many hounds and they need to be fed.”
Cassendir gulped.
“Very well then. What do you suggest we do, Seraphis?” Cassendir said. He gazed up at the Firestone Keep, his hands on his hips. Hamilcar and his men did away with his, Kae’s, and Loren’s packs. They were stranded in a foreign kingdom, unarmed, and at the mercy of the Red Sisters of Sagna.
“First thing first, mage. You need to save princess Loren. I fear that my sister has already done the worst to her, and you will have to act quickly.” Seraphis answered grimly.
Beside her, Kae found the strength to stand on her own. She sniffed and wiped at her face. “Did Haedria kill her? Did she kill Loren?” the huntress sniffled, her voice small. She didn’t want to think about the possibility, but she had to ask it all the same.
Seraphis shook her head. “No, Loren still lives, I’m sure of it. The princess was my dear sister’s goal. With Loren under her power, she can manipulate her for the dragon of Aldoran.” She sighed. “I do fear that she has other, more personal plans for Loren.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well…” Seraphis trailed off, gathering her thoughts. “I have told you about my love, Elysia? Let’s say that my dear sister has particular, very specific tastes. Act quickly, Loren may come out of this worse for wear. If she comes out of this at all.”
Kae fell silent. The huntress stared into the middle distance, mind swimming with the possibilities of Haedria’s cruelty. She shook her head, attempting in vain to break out of her thoughts. “How do we save her?”
The warrior-princess looked over her shoulder, back up the path towards the market. No one had dared to follow one of the Red Sisters, but one can never be too sure who is listening in. She motioned to the two to follow her, and led them a ways past the city gates, towards a crop of trees in the shadow of the city walls. “You’ve already seen that Loren has been marked with my sister’s magic.” Seraphis said in hushed tones, holding out one of her own wrists and showing the burned markings there.
Cassendir nodded. He laid a hand on his arm, unconsciously touching his own markings. Looking at the red, raised skin around Seraphis’s markings made him thankful that his own markings did not pain him. “Do Loren’s function much like your’s?”
“Yes, I suppose so. By my dear sister is capable of so much more, I’m afraid.” Seraphis sighed. She rubbed the skin of her wrists. She took a breath, needing to be careful with her words. If she spoke the queen’s name, Haedria would turn her magical attention on her. Now, more than ever, she needed to be discreet. “The queen’s magic is stronger than most mages. She is the prophesied Fourth Daughter, the Witch of Flame foretold to be born in an eastern kingdom.”
“Who prophesizes these things? Is there a mage with magic so strong that they can see the future?” Cassendir’s curiosity was getting the better of him. Kae sighed heavily, opting to sit on a tree root instead.
“My
