۵ Chapter Five ۵
1869 Words
⌇
Chapter Five
melody
⌇
⌇The Queen's Veil⌇
Ashai's fingertips gently tapped against the window-frame of the Warchief's home.
Countless tunes left her fingers.
The largest home in the village belonged to Warchief Salazaar. A proud, yet gentle man whom had seen and participated in three wars.
He had gained a rotund posture and soft eyes after years out of service.
His face was coated in a fluffy, white beard, strongly resembling a cloud or a heap of snow.
The interior of his home was littered with various inscriptions and charms on pieces of parchment.
The floor had been fitted with an epicurean fur-rug from a polar bear. Surrounding the carpet were two seating areas with fox-skin cushions and eagle-feather pillows.
Ashai furrowed her brows. "I thought the need for fur was for warmth?"
Ser Topaz sighed. "And decoration, my Queen."
She turned to face him with a frown. "It's needless."
The mammoth's ivory beads that hung against the door rattled. "The Queen of Aevahaven!" The Warchief grinned with his arms outstretched.
He turned his attention to the strong ale that lay brewing by the fox-skin cushions. He poured himself a glass into one of the rhino horns that lay on its side.
He gulped down a horn.
"It's been a pleasure having you in my company, Hummingbird." He smiled.
Ashai nodded. "Up until only yesterday, I thought this was my home...but, I suppose it will always be my home."
"How kind of you to say." He held the horn in the air.
"Word has spread quicker than I anticipated, my Queen." Ser Topaz said sheepishly.
Ashai frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
"The Fire Lord knows of you. He knows of your presence in the North. He has sent Shadow Riders to search for you. There is no telling how long they will be." He said.
The Warchief spat on the ground. "Shadow Riders. Dogs that follow the one who pays them. Not a hair of honour on their heads."
"I have never heard of these men." Ashai said.
"And women." Ser Topaz corrected. "Anybody from The Shadow Lands who will fight for gold."
Ashai furrowed her brows. "But, how has he managed to get them to follow him if they come from The Shadow Lands?"
Warchief Salazaar took a sip of ale. "Blood dragons."
Ashai frowned and glanced at Ser Topaz in confusion. "Blood dragons?"
"None of that now, Salazaar. Please. She has enough on her plate." He argued.
A commotion outside led to a teenage boy running into the Warchief's home - rattling the bone against the doorway.
"My apologies! Ser, Warchief, please, we have an emergency!" He begged, his forehead was coated in sweat. So much so that his dark hair stuck to it.
His sapphire eyes were struck red with stress and fear. His teeth chattered as he spoke, yet he wore his fur.
The Warchief put down his horn of ale. "What's the matter, boy?"
"The Riders, they're already here!" He panted.
"What?!" Warchief Salazaar exclaimed. "How in the Lord of the Summer Sun have they reached us this soon?!"
Ser Topaz took out his great-sword. "We have no time for questions, Chief. We must escort the citizens to safety!"
Ashai's eyes were wide with shock. "What about the children? They can't leave!"
The Warchief looked at Ashai with forlorn eyes. "I will meet them at the entrance and buy some time." He turned his attention to the boy. "Boy, help Priest Maro and his girls escort everybody into the church."
Ser Topaz grabbed the Warchief's arm before he left the hut. "You stay safe, Salazaar. Your people need you."
"And you, my friend." He also took a hold of Ser Topaz' arm. He gave a quick glance at Ashai before he left with the boy.
"Come, my Queen." Ser Topaz said quickly. "We have to move, now. Before they start kicking in doors."
Ser Topaz grabbed a hold of her hand and led her out of the hut. There were people running from all different directions, desperately trying to find shelter and safety in case the riders decided to attack.
Ahead in the snow, not far from the Chief's hut, there were several lines of Calvary. Men in dark furs upon black horses, holding flags detailed with the Fire Lord's sigil. A crown ablaze.
At the front was a man in white fur. He had a great blood-red sword attached to his hip, and rode upon a brilliant white stallion.
Ashai followed Ser Topaz through the crowds of people and into a back alley. "Take this." Ser Topaz urged a dagger upon the girl.
She took it reluctantly. It was encrusted with yellow Topaz. "Where are you going?!"
"I'm going to get your unicorn before he's killed." He said valiantly. "You stay right here, and use that if you have to." He gestured to the dagger. "I won't be long."
"Wait, Ser! I don't know how to use it!" She begged, holding it out ahead of her with frustrated eyes.
Ser Topaz stopped mid-jog. "Stab them with it!" He suddenly turned and darted from his Queen, heading into the panicked array of people.
Ashai could see the Warchief reach the lines of Shadow Riders. He bowed to the man in white fur and eventually, he came down from his horse.
"Is it no longer a custom to invite friends for some bread and salt, old man?" The man said.
Warchief Salazaar peered behind him at the Riders. "It is a little difficult when there is an army at your back, Anselet."
Anselet sneered. "They are no army, old friend."
The Warchief narrowed his eyes. "What are they then?"
"They are an elite. They were given to me to command. And they do as they're told." He said.
"You work for the Fire Lord?" The Chief asked cautiously.
The man smiled. "My dear, dear old friend, Salazaar." He grabbed a hold of the pommel of his sword. "We all work for the Fire Lord."
Salazaar narrowed his eyes. "We mean you no ill will, Anselet. After all, you are a knight. Tell us what you need and we will deliver, just as we always have."
The Chief knew, much like his advisers that have worked beside him for years. The Queen's Veil and it's neighbouring villages swore fealty to House Diamond almost a century ago when Raynerus, the Conquerer rose to power and married (and ordered the exile of) Lady Elisabet Diamond.
Now, and always, the villages of the Veil are sworn to obey the Lord of House Diamond, and in this case, Ser Anselet Diamond of Snowfall.
"His Grace desires the girl you stole from him eighteen years ago. The usurper's daughter." He said. "Her hair of white silk, her eyes of ice opal, her skin of pale pink."
The Warchief stepped forward. "Never heard of her."
Anselet grit his teeth. "Do you take me for a fool, Salazaar?" He stood tall over the elderly Warchief. "If you will not hand her over, we will take her."
He held an arm above his head and signalled the Shadow Rider's to search for Ashai. One rider simply trampled through, and destroyed, a farm to get through to the other side. Others split from their main force and used torches to set buildings alight.
"There is no need for this destruction!" Warchief Salazaar shouted, gazing around at his village ablaze.
Anselet stepped forward. "You're right, there isn't..." With one quick motion, he took his great sword and plunged it through the old Warchief's heart.
Ashai whimpered and grabbed her mouth to stay silent.
The Warchief took a moment, he grabbed the sword with his bare hands, as if to pull it out and fight back. But even he could not fight it, he collapsed and lay bleeding in the snow.
The sound of hooves galloping against the snowy ground grew louder with every step.
Several dark horses and their riders dashed past the alleyway entrance. Ashai panted and held the dagger close to her chest.
She relaxed for a moment and dropped the dagger to her side.
Much to her astonishment, one of the dark horses slowly backed up into the alleyway entrance.
The man stared directly at her; his eyes were completely black. There were dark veins coursing through his pale cheeks.
He slowly hopped off his horse and walked emotionlessly towards Ashai. He drew a thin dark sword made of black ice.
He closed in through the narrow path, his sword outstretched.
"Please," Ashai pleaded, "I don't want this."
He gained in on her and as he was only a foot away he reared his sword, ready to bring it down upon the Princess.
Her heart pounded and she raised the small dagger in defence, but it was needless.
All in a moment, quicker than a snap - the Shadow Rider found himself impaled upon a spear and hanging into the ground. He coughed, and dark splatters of blood coated the ground.
Moonlight reared up, and Ser Topaz jumped off of his silver back. He reached down to Ashai and gently touched her arm. "Come now, my Queen."
Ashai looked down at the dead Shadow Rider. "You killed him."
"Yes, and I would again. He was going to kill you." He said stubbornly. "Now come, get on Moonlight. We have to leave, now."
"I can't leave them! Una and the others, they won't make it now the Warchief has been slain. The chapel won't protect them!" She argued.
He took a hold of her shoulders. "Listen to me! You are the most wanted person in the entire North, perhaps even the entirety of Aevahaven. We have to leave, now!"
She nodded begrudgingly and followed him atop Moonlight. He yanked her up and she slid behind him in the saddle.
With one tug of his reins, the stallion galloped off into the snow.
Behind them, homes were being torched. Village men and women were being slaughtered by the dozens, their children unable to leave the village.
The children screamed, their tiny fists hammering against the blue of the force field, sending ripples across the dome. Some poured out of the barrier, wanting a quick death rather than a snow and painful one from the riders in black.
Bodies littered the floor where the people of the village had been cut down. Sienna, Qhori, Rune and Leo's body were among the fallen.
Moonlight's hooves crashed through the snow.
"Ashai!" A small voice called. "Ashai! I can't come! I can't leave! I can't move!"
"Una?" Ashai glanced over her shoulder as she suddenly became encased in the forcefield.
She watched in fear as the girl she had spoken to just the night before hammered her fists against the dome. Shadow Riders were just behind her, their black swords outstretched.
In mere seconds, she was forced to watch the swords pierce Una like needles. The force pushed her through the shield, where he girl vanquished into dust.
Glitter poured off of Ashai. The melody of the forcefield trickled down her cheeks and hair. Moonlight's hooves left a trail of glitter as he galloped.
She was free.
But she had never felt more trapped.
- Writer
