Laura Jo Phillips (40 page)

Aisling watched Urwin, barely noticing the men between them.  This was the man that had murdered her parents so he could steal her inheritance.  The man who had destroyed the lives of who knew how many young women so he could steal their money. 

He had ruined so many lives and stolen so much money, and yet it would never, ever be enough for him.  Here he was again, kidnapping an innocent sixteen year old girl because she was a Princess and he expected to get a good pay-off out of her father.  He didn’t care that he was destroying her life.  He didn’t care that she was little more than a child.  All he cared about was himself, his gambling, and his greed.  That was all he ever cared about.  It never changed.  Until now.  This time, he wasn’t going to get away with it. 

Aisling stared directly at Urwin and saw the fear in his eyes when he realized who she was.  She was a little surprised that it took him so long, but maybe the sight of a gryphon transforming into a woman had thrown him off. 

She stalked toward him, ignoring the other men as though they were not even there.

“Stop!” Urwin yelled when she was still several yards away.  Aisling took two more steps before he pulled a hand laser out of his pocket and reached behind him, placing the muzzle against the Princess’s head. 

Aisling stopped. 

“Turn around and leave,” Urwin said, his voice shaking with either anger or fear, Aisling wasn’t sure which.  Nor did she care.  This man had ruined so many lives.  She would not allow him to walk away this time.

Aisling was so focused on Urwin that she didn’t notice the two men sneaking up behind her until it was almost too late.  She wasn’t sure if it was the scent of them, the sound of sand shifting beneath their feet or simply an internal sense that warned her, but suddenly she knew they were there.  In one fluid motion she reached for her
sai
with both hands and spun around, swinging both hands out and up.  She missed the man on her right, but sliced the man on the left across his abdomen deeply enough to knock him to his knees.  She faced the man still standing, both
sai
spinning in her hands as she waited for his next move. 

Suddenly a roar sounded behind her, so loud that it hurt her ears.  She knew that it was Olaf of course, and she would have rolled her eyes if she hadn’t known better.  Her opponent, on the other hand, glanced toward the sound, leaving her with an opening that she took.  Seconds later the man was flat on his back, a long shallow wound across his chest and a jaw aching from the heel of her boot.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you,” she said softly.  The man gave his head a slight shake, his eyes fixed on the
sai
in her hand.

Aisling backed a few steps away from the man before risking a glance up to Urwin.  She was not surprised to find that Olaf had shifted back to his human form and was standing beside Urwin, the hand laser a crumpled wad of smoking metal on the sand nearby. 

“I’ll watch this one,” Rudy said as he walked toward her.  “It might help the girl if she could see you.”

“Thanks,” Aisling said.  She started to lean up to give Rudy a kiss when she heard a faint slither of noise from the man behind her.  She spun around and flung her arms out, releasing both
sai
without pausing to aim, burying them deep within the man’s chest.  The man’s arm fell back, his blaster dropping into the sand at her feet.

“Idiot,” Aisling said with a shake of her head.  “At least he wasn’t a local.”

“I’ll retrieve your sai,” Rudy said, leaning down for his interrupted kiss.  “You go on and help the Princess.”

“Thanks,” Aisling said.  She reached back for her second pair of
sai
and moved them to the front loops on her belt.  Then she hurried toward the speeder and the girl Olaf was untying from Urwin.

The girl looked at Aisling with wide eyes, her pupils dilated with shock, her face gray with fear.  Aisling clenched her fists and bit her tongue in an effort to maintain an air of calm as she studied the girl’s face.  There was a fist sized bruise forming at one temple, a red hand print across one cheek, a swollen lip trickling blood down her chin.  Aside from the bruises and the blood, the girl was strikingly beautiful.

“Are you Princess Kapia?” Aisling asked gently.

The girl nodded slowly, then glanced fearfully at Urwin’s back. 

“I’m Aisling,” she said, stepping behind her to untie her hands.  “You’re safe now.”

Kapia whimpered softly as the strain on her shoulders was released.  She immediately pulled her hands in front of her and rubbed her wrists. 

“Let’s get you off of that speeder and away from this piece of garbage,” Aisling said, offering the girl her hand.  She kept her tone calm and relaxed, deliberately calling Urwin a name so that the girl would see she had nothing to fear from him. 

Kapia looked at Aisling for a long moment, then glanced quickly at Olaf before dropping her eyes to her hands.  She swallowed hard, then lifted her chin.  Aisling had the distinct impression that she had just made up her mind about something.

The girl placed one cold, shaking hand in Aisling’s, and started to swing her leg off the speeder.  She fell forward, placing her other hand against Urwin’s back to catch her balance.  Pressing hard against his back, she pushed herself away from Urwin who jerked forward with a hiss.

Both feet safely on the ground, Kapia took one step and stumbled.  Aisling reached out to steady her, shaking her head at Olaf who also stepped forward.  She didn’t think the girl would react well to a strange male touching her at the moment.  Once Kapia had her balance, Aisling guided her away from the group of men and speeders and urged her to sit down in the sand.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“I think so,” the girl said softly.  She reached up and rubbed the side of her head with one hand and winced.

“Careful, sweetie,” Aisling said as she reached up to gently pull the girl’s hand away from her face.  “You have a few nasty bruises is all, but there’s no need to aggravate them.”

The girl crossed her arms in front of her and shivered.  “I was scared,” she whispered.

“You had good reason to be scared,” Aisling told her.  “You were in a very dangerous situation.”

The girl shook her head slightly and dropped her eyes.  “I did not fight him as I should have.”

“From the look of your face you fought some,” Aisling observed.

“Not as I should have,” the girl insisted. 

“You could not have fought all of them,” Aisling said.  “If you had tried, they might have killed you, and your father would never know the joy of his daughter being returned to him.”

“My father?” the girl asked, raising her eyes to Aisling’s.  “Is he angry with me?”

“No, of course not,” Aisling said.  “He is out of his mind with fear for your life, but he is not angry.”

“My brother will think I am a fool,” Kapia said, dropping her eyes again.

“I think it’s safe to say that your brother is not a sixteen year old girl abducted by fifteen grown men,” Aisling pointed out.  “If he loves you, he will only be glad that you are safe.”

“I killed him,” the girl said softly.

“Excuse me?” Aisling asked, certain she had misheard.

“I killed him,” the girl said again.  “I was going to kill myself as soon as my hands were released.  It is not possible to live with honor after...,”  she broke off, swallowed hard and took a deep breath.  “I had to kill myself, or him.  You rescued me before he could do what he threatened, so I killed him instead of myself.” 

Aisling frowned as she glanced up at Urwin who was now standing next to his speeder glaring at Olaf.

“How did you kill him?” Aisling asked.

“Sting of the
Naja
,” the girl replied.  She glanced quickly at Urwin, then away.  “It will not be much longer.”

Aisling thought a moment, remembering Kapia’s hand pressed against Urwin’s back, his hiss as he jerked away from her. 

“May I see your hand?”

Kapia nodded and held up her right hand.  The ring was in the form of a golden asp wrapped around the base of her forefinger with glittering green stones for eyes.  Aisling knew what the girl had done, and she didn’t blame her for it.

She patted Kapia’s hand gently and lowered it back into her lap.

“Will you be all right here for a moment?” Aisling asked. 

“Yes, I think so,” Kapia said. 

Aisling gave the girl a hug, then got up and walked back to where Urwin now stood beside the speeder, trying to pretend that Olaf wasn’t there. 

“You’re a dead man,” she said to Urwin. 

“What, you’re going to kill me?” Urwin asked arrogantly.  “You don’t have the guts.  I’m the only family you have left.”

Olaf growled and his eyes began to glow.  Urwin took a step backward and stumbled against the speeder.  When he regained his balance he lifted his chin and puffed out his chest. 

“Family or not, you are a rabid dog that needs to be put down,” Aisling said calmly. 

“Maybe, but if you kill me, you’ll never get your father’s research, and I know that’s what you really want,” Urwin said.

“Oh, so you are planning to hand it over to me in exchange for your life?” Aisling asked.

Urwin looked at Olaf, then Rand and Rudy.  He glanced at the dozen men he’d hired as they sat in the sand, beaten.  Then he looked back at Aisling.  “I “Yes,” he said finally.  “But only after I have your word that neither you, nor your goons, will lay a finger on me after I give it to you.  You’ll let me get on this speeder and leave.”

Aisling frowned as though seriously considering Urwin’s offer.  After a long moment, she shook her head.  “Sorry, no deal,” she said.

 “What do you mean no deal?” Urwin sputtered in shock, his face going bright red.  “I know you want that crystal.  If you don’t make a deal with me, you’ll never get it back.”

“For one thing, promises won’t help you because, as I said, you’re already dead,” Aisling said with a smile.  “And second, you just told me that you have the data on you, so why would I make any kind of deal with you?”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Urwin said, his face going from angry red to terrified white in seconds.. 

Aisling shrugged and turned her attention to Olaf, dismissing Urwin from her mind. 

“What shall we do with the rest of these men?” she asked him.

“I’m not quite sure yet,” Olaf said.  “Is the Princess unharmed?”

“Not exactly, no,” Aisling replied.  “But I think she’ll be all right.”

Urwin gasped suddenly and bent over, both hands clasping his head.  Olaf immediately moved so that he was standing between Aisling and Urwin, unsure what the human male had in mind, but not trusting him at all. 

Urwin gasped once more, then crumpled to the sand in a heap. 

“Well, that’s that then,” Aisling said, stepping around Olaf and gazing down at Urwin.

“That’s what?” Olaf asked, puzzled.  For no readily apparent reason, the man appeared to be dead. 

Aisling knelt down, placed one hand at Urwin’s throat for a few moments, then nodded. “Yep, he’s dead all right.” 

“How?” Olaf asked, watching as she reached down to Urwin’s belt and unbuckled it, then turned the buckle over and released the catch holding it to the belt.

“Sting of the
Naja
,” Aisling said, turning the buckle over in her hands.  Olaf stared at her in complete confusion. 

“Poison ring,” she explained.  “Kapia’s choice was to either kill herself, or Urwin.  I think she made the right decision.”

“Ahh,” Olaf said.  “Yes, I would agree that she made the correct choice.”

“I’m sorry you didn’t understand what was happening,” Aisling said.  “I just assumed that with your hearing, you would have heard what she said to me.”

“I did hear it,” Olaf said. “I just didn’t understand it.”

“Why not?”

“Because whatever language you were speaking is not one that is known to me,” Olaf said.

“I was speaking another language?  Not Standard?” Aisling asked in surprise. 

“Yes, you were,” Olaf said. 

“It’s the strangest thing,” Aisling said.  “I wish there was a way for me to know when I start spouting off in a language that I don’t even know.”

“We’ll work on that,” Olaf said.  “Is that black stone on the buckle the memory crystal?”

“Yes,” Aisling said.  “It’s not really black of course.  “It’s got some sort of coating on it.  Hopefully it hasn’t harmed the crystal’s integrity.”

“Might I suggest that we leave it as it is and give it to Elder Vulpiran?” Olaf asked.

“Yes, that’s just what I was thinking,” Aisling replied.  “If anyone can salvage this, it’s Elder Vulpiran.”

“How did you know where to find it?” Olaf asked curiously.

“When he offered to hand over the data in exchange for his freedom, he covered the buckle with his hand,” Aisling replied.  “I don’t think he was even aware he did it.”

“You are very clever,” Olaf said, smiling with pride.  “I saw the movement as well, but thought only that he was considering reaching for a weapon.”