Engraved - The Hunted Warrior

Chapter 19.2 - Freedom

The feast was drawing to a close. Drunken men were being led home by their wives. The fire had burned low. Loud songs of battle and love were gone. Even the dogs had finished eating and were blissfully stretched out around the embers.

Alam watched Nurlan and Shaleh bow their respects to Kirill and his wife as they left. With no other reason to stay up Alam rose and walked towards his tent. Frost crossed his path.

"Tell Tajar to be ready to leave," she whispered.

"What?"

"Our deal. Tonight I get the box. We will need to be long gone before they realise it is missing in the morning."

"Good. The sooner we leave the better," Alam said.

***

It was no use going in the front of Kirill's tent. She could easily kill the two guardian warriors but it would make noise. Instead Frost slid her knife silently along the felt at the back of Kirill's tent wall. A long slit appeared. She drew the blade down again - this time parallel to the first gash. Slowly, infinitely slowly, she cut along the bottom of the two gashes until they met and formed a loose flap of fabric. She reassured herself that the hellcat's tooth was secure inside her tunic by gently patting it.

No matter how many times she had done this she still felt nervous. Her heart pounded within her chest. She took a deep breath before lifting a leg and quietly stepping into the tent.

She crouched down while her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The faint orange glow from a fire in front of the guards outside provided all the light she needed. The tent was spacious. As usual in clan tents a small stove stood near the centre pole. To her left were silhouetted shapes that looked like boxes and items of furniture. To her right was a large pallet bed. From the bed came Kirill's rhythmic snoring. She loosened her tunic and pulled out the long tooth.

First the box. Then Kirill and his wife.

If it were me, where would I hide it?

She moved without sound to the boxes. There was a problem.

Locks. I'll need the keys. So it will have to be Kirill and his wife first, and the box second. I'll have to be fast.

She approached the bed. There were two human sized lumps in it. The larger of them was closest. He was sleeping soundly on his back with his mouth wide open. Frost took her knife out and placed it between her teeth. She positioned the tip of the tooth right above his heart.

"Can I help you?"

Frost almost screamed.

Kirill's wife was awake. Her eyes locked with Frost's. For a second her pupils looked like slits. But in the dark it was hard to tell. She looked calm, even pleased.

Frost plunged the tooth down. Kirill screamed. His body shot upright. His wife clapped her hands over his mouth and pushed him back. His hands scrambled at the tooth but Frost's hands were covering it. She put all of her weight down on it. The wife kept his mouth clamped. Frost pulled her hands away and grabbed the knife in her mouth. A quick downward strike and he lay still. Open eyes bulged. Frost stepped away and pointed the knife at the wife.

"Everything all right, King Kirill?" a warrior asked from outside.

"Fine," replied the wife calmly. "Just a nightmare. He is fine now."

"Are you sure?" The warrior was not convinced.

"Yes I am sure!" she snapped. "He drank enough to float a boat last night and is so drunk that he is already fast asleep. I am the one whose sleep has been disturbed!"

"Alright."

Frost had no idea what was going on.

Why is she helping me?

She stepped lightly over the growing pool of blood and skirted around the bed towards the wife. Frost pointed her knife at the wife's throat. The small woman rose out of bed. She raised a hand with a flick. Threads in tapestries all around the wall of the tent glowed. A pale orange light suffused the tent.

"We can talk now," she said to Frost. "No one will hear us."

Frost swallowed.

She's a witch. I'm dead.

"Give me the box," Frost demanded, covering her fear with aggression.

"Of course," the older woman said. She bent down and retrieved the black wooden box from under the bed.

Frost extended her empty hand and the wife gently gave it to her. Frost snatched it away and backed towards the flap she had cut in the tent.

The wife did nothing to stop her. Frost reached the flap and pushed her shoulder against it.

"Ow!" she recoiled.

The fabric was burning hot. Where her shoulder touched the flap her clothes were scorched and her skin throbbed.

The older woman had moved into the centre of the tent. "I simply want to talk."

Frost did not believe her. "About what?"

"A message to your Liege."

Frost's blood went cold.

"Who are you talking about?" Frost tried to look puzzled.

The older woman smiled knowingly at her. "Tell Liege Marext to leave the clans alone. They are mine now, thanks to you. If he tries to take them from me he will fail."

"I don't know what you are talking about," lied Frost.

"I owe you a great deal of thanks, little assassin," the wife continued. "I had been trying to find a way to unite the clans and get rid of Kirill. And in the time it took you to plunge that thing into his heart you helped me do just that."

"Why did you want him dead?" she couldn't help asking.

"He was very useful, and a brilliant tool in many ways, but it was tiresome to have to convince him to do what was needed. Now I can simply do it myself. I just have one question. What is the box?"

"I don't know and I don't care."

The wife considered Frost silently for a long moment. She nodded at last. "Just remember to tell Marext to leave the Endless Plains alone. They are mine."

"Who should I say sends the message?"

"Chumerra."

Frost backed away. The fabric behind her radiated heat. "Like Chumerra the Destroyer?"

"It is flattering to hear that one's name is still remembered, even after a century has passed." She smiled. Her eyes changed. The pupils became slits. The irises turned orange.

"One last thing..."

"Yes?" Frost's heart thumped in her chest.

"When the sun comes up the combined armies of the Plains will chase you. I suggest you RUN!" The final word came out as a roar. Frost could feel heat emanating from the woman.

The heat behind Frost vanished. She threw herself out the hole, rolled onto her feet, and sprinted for Alam and Tajar's tents.

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-Y. V Qualls