Demiourgos (50 page)

“I was not aware this was a toll road so if it’s all the same to you I’ll just turn back and take another route.” Rose replied in the sweetest tone she could muster. As a precaution, because she knew this would end badly, she drew her black-bladed sword and swept her gaze from the three behind her to the three in front. All of them were advancing slowly with their weapons out. “I don’t want any trouble.”

“It’s too late to turn back now and you’ll have no trouble if you just pay the fine.” He replied and spread his arms wide; his gnarl-toothed grin still dominated his pock-marked face. He held out his hand toward her and flexed his fingers, making a come-hither gesture while still holding his dagger. “Come now traveler, surely you have some coin to spare.”

“I tire of this game.” Rose felt something inside of her snap. It was just too much all at once. With Nina being held captive and the inability to help creeping up on her compiled with no sleep her temper was not hard come by. She knew she couldn’t use magic or she would attract too much attention.

Holding her sword close to her body she charged forward causing the six of them to pause. From their startled looks it was clear not many people acted aggressively when faced with their demands for a toll. Her sword went low and she brought it up at an angle, spinning her body around and slicing the leader across his chest sending him sprawling backward and his daggers clattering to the ground. The next man in line, a large brute with greyish skin and the look of half-orc blood, raised his two-handed maul up to block but her superior weapon cleaved through the haft of the weapon and caught the man on his chin. When he clutched the open wound on the bottom of his jaw Rose kicked him in the groin and sent him backward. Her ears picked up the approach of another of the thugs from behind and she spun and dropped to one knee barely dodging a slice that would have taken her in the midsection. The man behind her brought his mace downward toward her head and she rolled to her left on the cracked earth of the street, coming up to her feet.

The four of them were in front of her now and the blood dripping from her blade mixed with the sand beneath her feet and clumped in small lumps. It was her turn to wait for them to act. They eyed her while spreading out, still thinking they had the advantage. Putting one foot in front of the other and pirouetting she sliced her blade downward like a corkscrew several times, catching the mace-wielding human’s weapon and cleaving the head off of the haft. As it clattered to the floor she flipped her body backward and flung her feet up, coming back to a crouching position. The woman, who had a spear-like weapon leveled at her, charged forward and Rose tightened the muscles of her legs. She rolled off to the side and sliced the woman’s leg open, causing her to sprawl face forward and cry out in pain.

Rose refocused herself long enough to catch a dagger to the head and roll with the blow. It carved a deep line into her face and pierced the inside of her cheek. Blood trickled out of the wound even as it began sealing itself. Rose glared at the man and swung her sword recklessly, the swing missed him but forced him backward a few steps to get out of the way. The other man standing, who had a squat blade with a basket hilt, closed in on her flank and swept his blade across her ribs. The blow did not pierce her thick clothing or break the skin but bruised her quite well. She danced backward on her feet and dodged two more swings before bringing one leg up in a kick that almost put her knee to her chest. The sweeping blow caught the man under the chin and sent him backward. As she brought her leg down she followed through with a sideways cut of her sword and caught the other aggressor swinging his dagger. A large gash appeared on his arm and he dropped the weapon.

Rose was left standing on the street with the lot of them moaning and groaning clutching wounds and broken weapons with their eyes burning in malice. The man with the sword whom she had kicked in the chin had regained his footing but seeing that he was standing alone he stood several paces from her looking around at his companions. “You picked the wrong night and the wrong street.”

“Understatement.” The leader croaked in pain as he clutched his shirt across the wound on his chest.

“At least I made sure only to disable you as opposed to killing you.” An idea suddenly hit her and she could not help but smile. Rose pulled a silvery disc out of the pouch she kept tucked between her breasts, a trick she had learned from Avreel, and flipped it to the leader. “You want some coin? That little guy has twenty-nine more friends if you do a little job for me.”

Warily the leader looked at the valuable sliver of metal and tucked it into a shirt pocket she hadn’t noticed before. “Depends, what do you have in mind?”

Rose pulled another coin from her hidden pouch and toyed with it across her fingers, making sure to keep all of them in sight. “All I need you to do is create a distraction for me.”

“For coin like that I’d set fire to the palace.” The ugly man said with his customary disgusting smile. “Jacoby’s the name and this be my band of merry idiots.”

~~~~

Rose was back in the Pasha’s home and though it was strange she felt good at least about being off the street. With him gone she could move about the house freely and she had even gone back into the harem to see a few of the girls. She had learned that Neeshka was staying in another part of the palace now as the ‘adopted daughter’ of the pasha since his marriage to Maudette.

Morning light poured through the windows as she walked through the hallways that had once been her prison. A part of her longed for the simple life back but freedom was a powerful drug. At Maudette’s behest they met for breakfast.

“Our house has been invited to the coming royal celebration. It is being held in the courtyard of the palace.” Maudette ate a piece of sliced fruit as she continued while wiping her fingers off daintily. “The pasha promised Lord Rahknand that we will bring our finest dancer with us to entertain him.”

“When is the celebration?” Rose asked as she attempted not to look at the plate of food in front of her. Her nerves were working overtime, she was much too afraid of the coming battle to eat. “Why didn’t you mention this before?”

“I didn’t know if the pasha had responded to the invitation so I did not want to get your hopes up. Now that I know for sure I can get you into the palace grounds at least, but from there you’re on your own. The pasha is sympathetic to the cause but he does not want to lose his standing with the city.” Maudette rolled her eyes and sighed. “All of this work and he refuses to back us up more than just a little.”

“Was everything you did, including what happened to your daughter, worth this?” Rose asked her quietly, not wanting to look up at her adopted mother after the probing and forthright question.

“I would do it all over if I knew it would have kept you safe.” Maudette said in reply keeping her tone even and seemingly unhurt by the question. “What happened to us, what we suffered through before your departure, is nothing compared to what you endured afterward. Ask yourself if the life we had was so bad.”

“It was not bad in most aspects but now that I know freedom I would not trade it for anything.” Rose looked back up at Maudette and found the older woman smiling. “What is it?”

“From what I knew of your mother you have inherited her fire.” The raven-haired woman took a long sip of water and set the cup down. “You have changed so much since leaving.”

“As you said, I went through a lot.” Rose shrugged a little and went back to the problem at hand. “How soon can I get into the palace?”

“The preparation for tomorrow begins tonight. We can leave for the palace as the sun dips low so anything you need to do before then should be done quickly.” The woman replied to her question then tightened her lips for a moment in thought. “I wish I could do more.”

“You’ve done enough; I will claim my actions as my own. You deserve a rest after all you’ve been through.” Rose stood up and left the table, looking over her shoulder before leaving the room. “I’ll be back soon; I have some business to attend to before we go through with this madness.”

~~~~

Having known the role of servant most of her life Rose knew how to act and walk as she followed the grand procession that was attached to Pasha Maudette. The house guard was decked out in expensive and loudly colored ceremonial gear and useless pretty weapons. The servants that carried Maudette were the strongest of the house and Rose stood among a few of the other girls from the harem who were trained to dance as she was.

The wall of the palace was twice the size of the wall that protected the city and there were four guards below with large double-bladed weapons and eight above with long bows strapped across their shoulders. Each of the guards was flanked by a seneschal of sorts that was checking in and making note of the people coming in to the palace gates. Behind them stood the palace grounds which consisted of a series of hedges, plant life and statues depicting the sorcerer lord and various other persons she did not recognize. As they approached the gate she spied a familiar face, the woman who had been with the brigands who had accosted her. With a slight nod to the woman Rose continued onward. The distraction had been timed perfectly. Five of the six thieves came strolling out of the palace garden wearing grins and chatting to each other. They were dressed in better clothing than they had been when Rose had laid them low but that wasn’t saying much. As they approached the guards and men scribing noisily at the gate a great commotion erupted.

The guards seized the men and pulled them aside, demanding their names and asking them how they had entered the palace grounds. Rose smiled and slipped alongside the gawking members of the royal processions touching a small portion of the magic she had stored for the day. As she attempted to make herself invisible she felt a presence, strong and menacing bearing down upon her and squelching the spell before she could finish it.

Rose cried out in pain and dropped to her knees holding her head to try and keep it from throbbing so hard. She was convinced it was going to burst apart. Blood trickled out of her nose and touched down upon the sand just as her vision began to darken.

Before she knew it she was being held between two guards with the sword she had belted to her noble outfit being held by the guard on her left. She was unable to move her arms and her body was limp but not by her choosing. She was being led through the promenade of the palace grounds and up toward the main stage which was surrounded by the gathered noble houses and their servants. Upon large stone cathedrae were the sorcerer lord’s apprentices and in the center on a throne made of dark stone and gems was the old tyrant himself.

The old man looked frail. His skin wrapped against his bones giving him a shriveled almost dead look. Where his mottled flesh was showing he had small blackish scales in random patches. The eyes that were sunk down into his skull burned red and angry. His head was covered in a thin sheet of sickly white hair and he wore a long white beard that looked the same. The sorcerer lord sported a long black robe embroidered with blood and bones; it clung to his body and looked more like a long tunic. On his feet he wore tarnished black boots and his fingers were decked in rings that sparkled and twinkled in the fading light of the day.

“So the honored guest of the party finally arrives.” The old man croaked loudly enough for the preparing crowd to hear. His voice was dry and strained but it contained a power that Rose could not mistake. “This celebration is being held in your honor Alethia Rose Nalfys.”

“You know me?” Rose replied groggily while she tried to get her bearings. When the two guards near her let her go she fell to the ground and was met with hard-packed earth and green blades of grass like in the elven forest. Her fingers ran across the odd growth and she looked around realizing that there were trees and plants beyond the normal sand hedges that were growing at the mouth of the palace grounds. “I don’t understand.”

“I have known you from birth, since the moment your mother had you. I was there when you were first brought into the world. I had a hand in creating you; our greatest achievement and simultaneously our greatest failure.” The rickety-looking old man stood as if he had the strength and youth of a teenage human and strode down the stairs toward her. “You disappoint me Alethia.”

“I prefer Rose.” Her voice was defiant even as her strength began returning to her body. She raised herself up shakily and faced him as he approached and stood a few feet from her. In the back of her mind she felt a presence that wasn’t him. Something deeper within the palace complex, something powerful and ancient but subdued. Cocking her head to the side she attended the familiar but foreign song that tickled her ears, half-listening to the gloating old sorcerer.

“Your blood is born of my own Alethia! I even gave you your name.” The old man reached out with one bony digit and stroked her cheek almost lovingly like a father would.

Rose turned her face away from him in disgust and glowered when the guards grabbed on to her arms again and forced her to look at the vile man. He was grinning broadly at her resistance. She wanted nothing more than to put her blade through his chest. He turned away from her and motioned for the guards to follow. As they ascended the stairs Rose noted that there was a single open seat right next to the sorcerer lord’s own station.

“I saved the best seat for you my dear.” He gestured toward the open chair without turning around to look at her. “This celebration marks my ascension to godhood. Once the elves surrender the guardian and his lands to me I will have the power I need and you are going to help me little one.”