Queens' Warriors (24 page)

“
Riad
, but she was sweet this time telling both of us why she would have killed us. Though she did say she would proudly display our cocks on her wall of honor as she had the only other men who had made her come.”

Shan Lin looked at Vincent and winced before speaking up.

“It was a good threat, but that’s all it was as my brother and I both still have our dicks, thanks very much.”

The wry note in his voice had the other set of brothers losing their silly grins.

“
Frechie!
You’re as bad as your Queen when it comes to fucking. You take on anything.” The words were said in a conversational voice, a hint of jealousy in the words.

Vincent shook his head.

“Not any more. Our wife would have something to say about it.” He tried to sound grumbly but knew he failed when the other men laughed uproariously.

Smiling good-naturedly, Vincent let them have their laughter.

Kyden was the first to control himself and continued the tale.

“Anyway, we managed to subdue about thirty-seven of them, and I’ll admit because more than a few were so damned drunk. Then once we could convince them to leave with the gold in their pockets, they did so. Those we couldn’t convince to leave remain secluded and unconscious down the way there.” Kyden ended pointing toward the town of Kilian.

“Good. I’d love to ask them a few questions. You didn’t by any chance get the one the Queen paid the gold to did you?” Vincent asked.

“As a matter of fact,” Dylan cut in, “we did. You’re going to love this. She got it on Vid/Sync.”

Shan Lin let out of shout of joy startling his grazing horse and controlling it easily before he was unseated.

“Proof! Finally! How the hell did she get it past the Queen’s Guards?” Shan Lin asked happily.

Kyden smiled. “She used a man. Your Queen doesn’t think men have brains above their dicks.”

Vincent smiled at Shan Lin, knowing the man’s answer was true.

“The man stood there looking blank-eyed as the Queen came up to him speaking as if to an idiot. It was a risk worthy of Earth’s Trojan Horse maneuver. I mean as much disrespect as I can say when I tell you your Queen is a menace to your Aranak army. If Horrd wasn’t in the middle of its own upheaval, I’d revel in Aranak’s destruction. At this moment, it would be a slaughter.”

Shan Lin and Vincent took no offense at Kyden’s words. They knew all too well he spoke the truth.

Vincent opened his mouth to ask how Kyden had known what happened but was interrupted by Dylan.

“We saw the Vid/Sync. We’ve also got a copy. As much as we trust you two…” Dylan shrugged. “Insurance.”

Vincent nodded at the man. He would have done the same.

Thoughts?
Vincent pathed his brother.

Too many to count at the moment. Let’s just make our way into town and see what happens.

Are we taking them with us?
Vincent asked, his voice neutral.

Riad!
Shan Lin gave a heaving sigh.
I supposed they earned the right.

“Do you have any Warrior clothing with you?” Shan Lin asked the two men out loud.

The two men exchanged incredulous looks at Shan Lin.

“Did you think we strolled in to Aranak in full Horrdian dress?” Dylan asked bitingly.

“Yes,” Kyden spoke nudging his brother with his elbow. “Let us clean up a moment and we’ll get our mounts. Meet us in town as if we’ve come from scouting in the opposite direction in…” Kyden opened a flap in his dirty shirt and consulted a hidden time piece there, “…one hour.”

The four men agreed, then parted, two going toward the town of Hurok, the other two, back through the stinking field they had crawled into to wait for the Aranakian Warriors.

* * * * *

“Winters.” Shari called out to the man as she stepped from the lift and making her way toward him wondering how long it would take her to get used to the house. She had gotten lost twice already and would have missed finding her way back to the elevator if she had not seen someone exiting the machine only seconds before her decision to turn left.

“Yes, My Lady Princess? How may I serve you?” He asked formally.

Shari stood there in the large room she had followed the man into and suddenly stopped. It was exquisite. Family photos hung on the walls and tiny holographic pictures bleeped messages into the air, greetings and love. This was where the brothers had enshrined their family.

“It’s magnificent.” Shari breathed as she grasped Winters’ arm and dragged him through the room. Names adorned faces as messages sounded when Shari brushed the frames. She walked through the room demanding Winters tell her as much as possible about the people in the pictures.

Shari quickly learned her husbands had a sister many years younger than them. She also learned of their father and his grief over the death of his brothers Dain and Larik, Consorts to the Queen, and the death of his wife Evelyn, her husbands’ mother.

“Dead?” Shari asked as a queer sense of grief gripped her briefly. “How did she die?”

Winters made a gesture for Shari to sit and then sat down across from her. A young man hesitantly came forward, drinks and refreshments on a tray he offered to Shari.

“Well, where’d you come from?” Shari asked the young man as she accepted the refreshment.

“Winters summoned me, My Lady Princess. Do the refreshments meet with your approval?” The man asked as Shari took a drink.

Swallowing quickly, Shari nodded her head wondering when Winters had summoned what she now noticed must be lunch.

“Yes. Thank you…” Shari wanted to thank the man by name but was at a loss.

“Andrews, My Lady Princess. My name is Brent Andrews.”

Shari smiled suddenly feeling ravenous and could not remember when was the last time she had eaten.

“Thank you, Andrews.” She said, then shifted to thank Winters. “And you too. I didn’t realize just how hungry I was.”

“That will be all, Andrews. Please thank the cook for the fare.” Winters dismissed Andrews who left with a smile.

“It was nice to meet you, Andrews.” Shari called after the man speaking around the meat she had just bitten into. Seeing Winters smile, Shari rolled her eyes.

“This is delicious! Sorry. I don’t usually talk with my mouth full. My mother did teach me manners.”

Winters smiled indulgently.

“It is your home. Do as you will.”

“Speaking of mothers…” Shari began before stuffing her mouth with more of the scrumptious food.

“Ah, yes, My Lady Princess Evelyn. She was a gentle woman not taken to following the laws of Aranakian society. She enjoyed listening to her husband and what he thought best. In our Realm that is unusual.”

Shari ate while she listened.

“As you can see here, she wasn’t necessarily a woman of great beauty, but she was gorgeous inside. She adored her children and doted on her sons. Their father, My Lord Thaddeous swore she would mollycoddle them to death if he let her. My Lady Evelyn would only smile and allow her husband to rant. When he was done with his tirade, she would smile and do as she always did. Shower the boys with love.

“When My Lady Princess Lyssa was born, the boys, older than their sister by seventeen years, doted on the little one. It was My Lady Evelyn’s turn to complain they were spoiling their sister.”

Winters paused smiling in fond remembrance of the memory.

“But their mother still continued to dote on her sons. Their father loved them but knew if anything happened to Queen Sara or her children, it would be Shan Lin and Vincent’s bride who would inherit the throne.”

At this, Shari sucked in her breath completely forgetting the bite of food she had just taken. The food lodged painfully in her throat, and she hacked and coughed plenty before dislodging the item.

Winters had risen and come to offer his aid, but Shari waved him away as she quaffed at her drink. Recovering quickly, Shari asked the obvious question.

“Does it mean I’ll become Queen one day?” The thought nearly made her panic.

Winters shook his head. “No, My Lady Princess. Queen Sara’s sons have apparently taken a wife. It is she who will assume the throne.”

Shari breathed a heartfelt breath of relief as she muttered thanks.

Winters smiled and continued.

“My Lord Prince Thaddeous wanted his sons to be the best. It didn’t matter what they did, they had to be the best at it. To this end, My Lords’ father had been sending their mother, My Lady Evelyn, away to her sister’s for one month of the summer to ensure his sons were made to train properly in anything they started. The summer of their mother’s death, My Lord Princes’ Shan Lin and Vincent were to begin training as Warriors. They had already gained their titles and lands their wife would receive upon their marriage, as well as acquired the rank of Generals in the Queen’s Guard.”

Shari raised her eyebrows at this bit of information.

“I told you, My Lord Princes’ insured they were the best at anything they did. It also amused their aunt, Queen Sara, to see the young men in her elite guard.”

Now
that
Shari could understand. Partial nepotism, part parental ambition. The same thing went on where she came from. Nodding with understanding, Shari motioned for Winters to continue.

“Yes, well. The Princes had been training night and day for three weeks when the message came out over the Wired News. There had been an attack on an Aranakian village. Men, women, and children had been slaughtered viciously. Horrdian warlords came in and slaughtered the entire village, raping men and women alike, pillaging and burning anything in their paths as they went.”

Shari swallowed hard at the description of what Winters described, she set down the food she had been devouring and waited for the man to continue.

“The town which was attacked was named Trantn. My Lord Prince Thaddeous had sent his wife to Trantn for the month to visit her sister. Both women were sisters to the Queen of Aranak and took it for granted the women would be protected at all times. After all, his wife had been visiting her sister for the last twenty years with little trouble. Why shouldn’t it be so this time?”

Winters paused, Shari reached for a glass on the tray in front of her and offered it to the man. He took it gratefully and drained half the cup before setting it down to continue.

“All three men abandoned what they were doing and raced to help the village. Their mother was in the village. They had family in the village, all who needed their help. They raced with all speed and arrived in record time but it was too late. Evelyn Carrucci-Rayan was dead. She lay next to the bodies of her sister, My Lady Princess Gwendlyn Lawsai-Rayan and her sister’s children, My Lady Princesses Christina and Anna Lawsai-Rayan.”

“But Lawsai? Isn’t that…” Shari asked recognizing the last name. Winters nodded.

“Yes, Captain Lawsai’s mother and sisters. My Lady Princess Theresa Georgia Lawsai-Rayan. Or if she preferred, Anaksup. Both she and My Lord Princes are niece and nephews to the Queen. If they wanted to use the royal name, it is within their right.” He paused before saying. “As it is now yours.”

Shari shook her head in wonder.

“Their mothers were… How long ago was this?” Shari asked.

“Sixteen years ago.”

“But, didn’t you say Shan Lin and Vincent were seventeen years older than Lyssa? And if so, where was she? Why didn’t Theresa die too? Why in hell weren’t royal members of the family being guarded?” Questions backed up in Shari’s mind as she waited for the answers.

None came.

“My Lady Lyssa was left in my care. Her father did not wish to be parted from his daughter, and Lady Evelyn acceded to his wishes in this instance. Though why he would have sent his wife away and not…” Winters caught himself before finishing the thought and went on as if the comment had not been made.

“My Lady Gwendyln also had the first set of triplet girls born in the Realm of Aranak in the last one hundred and eighty years. Her girls were local celebrities. When one wanted something, the surrounding area had trouble denying it to the girl.
Riad
help them if all three wanted something at the same time.”

Shari heard the bittersweet happiness in Winters voice and felt for him as well as her husbands. What the families had to have endured must have been staggering.

“Theresa, her father and twin brothers, Jonas and Damien were out of the village. Theresa had wanted to accompany her father to town and My Lady Evelyn had managed to talk her sister into letting the girl go. She once confided in me Theresa was her favorite but I was to never let on to the other girls. They never heard a word from me, nor has Theresa.”

Shari digested all she had learned and sipped at the remains of the last glass on the tray. This was part of her husbands’ past and she was glad she had been told.

“Thank you, Winters. The tale must have been very difficult to relate to me. I’m sorry for any residual pain it might have caused.” The heartfelt thanks was rewarded.

“It hurts less with every telling, My Lady Shari. Thank you for listening.” Shari nodded absently pondering all she had learned.