Bloodshed

By Aradia

Tyneth Stormraiser glanced up at the darkening sky over Theryl, then at Indiana Starblood and Baron Jaric. "My Queen has not returned, and it has been several hours," he stated slowly. "Perhaps one of you should see to her?"

Indiana and Jaric took a long look at the Regent, then glanced at each other. "He’s not a warlord," Indiana finally said. "Else, he’d have gone himself long ago."

Jaric smiled at that, then looked back at Tyneth. "Fear not for our Queen, Regent Stormraiser. She is shrewd and cunning, and she tolerates no fools." His smile faded. "And the warlord Lucian Taarene is a fool of the greatest degree. He wants her to think this is an isolated incident."

Indiana took a deep breath, knowing that he might very well find himself pitted against his favorite sister. "Regent, I want you to go to Silver Butte. Prepare the troops. I expect my hot tempered sister to retaliate against this."

Tyneth climbed onto the back of his stallion. "As you will, my Prince." With a nod, he turned and galloped off into the distance. Indiana and Jaric glanced at each other again, then resumed the grisly detail of helping the troops to bury the remaining dead, and repairing the bloodstained village.

Three days later, Calypso returned, looking weary and travel worn. She simply climbed onto the back of her restive stallion, and gestured for her troops to follow her. When her brother took up station next to her, she led the way back to the Silver City, the capital of Kettahr, officially known as Aerialen.

Halfway through the journey, however, whispers reached the Prince. Whispers of blood, of battle, of death. The whispers faded every time the Queen or her Baron came near, mingled with looks of distrust and hatred. It was common knowledge to the villagers that the Queen had enchanted Baron Jaric long ago and had carried his children. It was common knowledge to the villagers that their beloved Sardis had intended for Indiana to inherit, and no one understood why Indiana hadn’t retaliated against his sister’s usurping. Then, the whispers stopped. The Queen had heard the whispers.

The sky was dark with an impending thunderstorm when Calypso turned her contingent south towards Silver Butte. Towards the military city that housed all of Kettahr’s trained soldiers. And she abandoned the leisurely brisk pace she’d kept, choosing instead to ride hard towards the source of the whispers. The soldiers complained slightly, but they were more worried about the truth of the whispers and the rumours than mild physical discomfort. Finally, they reached the military city of Silver Butte.

The whispers had been true. The military city had been decimated and utterly destroyed. Where Silver Butte had once been filled with Kettahr’s best and highly trained soldiers, now it was a charnel house. Bodies lay strewn around, men who had been killed in battle. But there was more, so much more. The wives and children of the soldiers were also dead. Some had also been raped as brutally as the women in the village of Theryl. In numb silence, the group rode towards the square that had been the life of the military city.

Calypso slid off her horse, staring in horror at the number of men who were dead. There was evidence that these men had been raped as well. Some had been emasculated with a knife, or with another weapon that she couldn’t identify. Children and women had smashed bodies, bloodstains on the debris that had once been the Walls.

"A battle?" she finally whispered bitterly. "Not a battle, but a slaughter."

Jaric stepped up next to her, disgust written on his features. "Aye, a slaughter. And dead men tell no tales." He glanced at her, dismay filling his eyes as he truly saw what this had done.

She had drawn him with her sweet innocence, with her cynicism, and with her belief in life, a belief that her elder brother seemed determined to protect. And she had passed that belief on to their children, and he would always love her for that. But now, looking on this carnage, her belief and her innocence had been driven away. Instead, there was a deep burning rage, a rage that would not bode well for the intended target. She glanced up at him a moment, then delicately stepped away, picking her way through the bodies. She hadn’t walked very far when a man’s hand reached up and weakly grasped her ankle.

Calypso jumped in shock and wariness, her specially crafted dagger already in her hand. When she identified the man, her face went white. "Tyneth?" she whispered, quickly resheathing her dagger. The other men all stared at her in shock, but she ignored them and crouched next to her Regent.

Miraculously, he hadn’t been raped or butchered like the others. In fact, his only serious injury appeared to be the slash wound that had destroyed his left eye. He had been clubbed and beaten, but he was still alive.

"My Queen," he whispered softly, raising a hand to touch her cheek. When she grasped his hand, he smiled faintly. "Caly…"

"By the Islands," Indiana cast towards Jaric, "he’s in love with her, isn’t he?"

Jaric looked pained. "Indy…you’re a blind fool if you hadn’t realised it before. He’s always been loyal to her, and he’s willing to die for her. And he loves her, but he knows that there is no hope of a future for the two of them."

"Whyever not?"

"Because he’s a rightline son of Lord Geoffrey Stormraiser of Aerialen. And the mother was a prisoner of war that Lord Stormraiser raped as vengeance for his brother’s death."

"So?" Indiana looked confused. "What does Ty’s being rightline have to do with his love of my sister?"

"Rumour holds that Regent Stormraiser’s mother was a Kestrelae. But no one knows for sure, since she died in childbirth. And in prison."

Indiana shrugged faintly. "She was. His nymphae blood is easy to detect. But what does that have to do with his love for my sister?"

"The Regent is an interesting mix of proper and relaxed, Indy." Jaric shrugged, his opinion of that clearly etched on his features. "He never said anything before when my King still lived. Sardis Skycrest was interested in marriage to your sister. Now, the Regent won’t say anything because of the Regency."

Calypso worked during their conversation, drawing upon the lands to heal her friend. Once she had done as much as she could, she pulled him into a sitting position. "How do you feel?" she asked quietly.

"Strange," he answered. "It’s all black on one side."

"I couldn’t save your eye. An infection had started, and the best I could do was to seal the wound."

He gave her a weak smile. "Thank you, my Queen. That was a…gift…from a certain warlord wizard." He instantly regretted it when her eyes turned black and stormy.

"You’re telling me that Lucian Taarene is responsible for this?" she snarled. "That he blatantly and willfully destroyed Silver Butte?"

Tyneth sighed and carefully stood with her assistance. "In broad daylight, I fear. I watched from the Mountain as he marched his troops towards the city. Ours was fifty thousand strong, his was thrice that number. He…" Tyneth trailed off. "He gained access to the Mountain, and dragged the men out, raping and castrating. Some of the families in the Walls came out to defend, and the women and children were captured. Some were raped, some were tortured. But the children…" His voice broke. "They had several catapults. They tied the children over the boulders, and launched them into the Walls. That drove the rest of the families out. No one wanted to hear young girls and boys being killed against their Walls."

She was silent for a long moment, then embraced him silently, letting him draw comfort from her presence and touch. He lowered his head, holding her tightly, fighting for control over his emotions.

Jaric turned away and quietly told the soldiers to search for other survivors. Indiana turned his attention towards checking on the food supply, and any animals that had been there. And by tacit agreement, everyone left the Queen and her Regent alone.

By the time Tyneth had regained control, Jaric and Indiana were silently waiting to speak to Calypso. She brushed a hand over his brow, then turned her attention to her brother.

"The food supply has been tainted, my Queen," Indiana said formally, intensely aware of her simmering rage. "There are no animals left to be slaughtered, and only three warhorses." He paused a moment. "The water supply has also been tainted."

"The water supply’s taint is no obstacle, Prince," she said coldly. Indiana bowed at his sister’s words, aware her tone wasn’t meant for him, and turned to Jaric.

"By my count, my Queen, there are approximately five hundred survivors," Jaric said slowly. "Including the Regent."

Calypso exploded.

"Five hundred survived this slaughter? Out of fifty thousand?"

Jaric hesitated. "That’s of the soldiers, my Queen. Of the civilians, we found none." He took a deep breath. "I would surmise that Lucian Taarene left the soldiers for a reason. To patronise you, perhaps. I see no reason why he could not have finished the kill."

Most of the men dove for cover when she slammed a water blast into the side of the mountain in fury. They were aware of the fact that she was raging over the insult to herself and her country, but that she was genuinely glad there had been survivors. That knowledge did nothing to lessen the fear when the water blast appeared, a blast the size of a large whirlpool.

By the time she’d exhausted herself, the men had slowly reemerged from their hiding spots. None of them dared to approach her, however. "Heal the survivors, and ready for a return to Aerialen," she finally said, her musical voice tired. "I’ll take care of the water taint." She turned to walk away, but stopped. "And if any of the enemy lives, kill him."

The men filled waterskins after she had cleared the water of its taint. Indiana had managed to convince her to stay overnight, and have everyone head out after sunrise. When she walked away from the group, Jaric watched her silently, then looked at his former brother in law. "She’s furious still, and the slightest thing can set her off."

"What can we do, though? She won’t let me near her, and she’s avoiding everyone else."

"You can’t do anything for her, Indy. But I can."

Indiana looked at Jaric curiously. "And what can you do for our now enraged Queen?"

Jaric pulled his Baron’s ring off and handed it to Indiana. "Derrin is the eldest trueline child," he answered, speaking of his - and Calypso’s - eldest son. "I can do nothing for my Queen. I can do something for my ex-consort." He turned and walked away, leaving Indiana to gape after him.

Sweet Valera, Indiana thought to himself. Jaric doesn’t expect to survive the night with Caly. Not with the mood she’s in now.

The troops and the wounded settled in for the night, Indiana taking the first watch. As the clouds overhead finally opened and began raining hard and steadily, he cursed silently. And prayed to Valera that Jaric would make the trip back to Aerialen.

The next morning, Indiana was woken from an uncomfortable sleep by a gentle kick to the ribs. "Rise and shine, Prince," his sister said. "Or else I’ll take your share of the coffee."

Indiana snarled at her halfheartedly, but prized one eye open to look up at her. A large waterproof canvas had been erected during the night to keep everyone dry, and a fire was blazing away merrily. Jaric was seated on the ground next to the fire, dark circles under his eyes. Tyneth was passing around mugs of coffee, mugs that had apparently been salvaged from the slaughter.

Calypso kicked her brother gently again. "Wake up before I decide to toss you into the rain, Indy." Her comment was so good-natured that he forced himself to sit upright.

She was still furious over the slaughter, and everyone was tense about it. But it appeared that the worst of her fury had been banked, and the calculating look on her face indicated she was going to do something about Lucian Taarene. She handed him a mug of steaming coffee and walked back to Jaric’s side, sitting next to him and sipping her own coffee.

Indiana was sipping his coffee silently and thoughtfully when Jaric walked over and sat next to him. "Long night?" Indiana asked quietly.

Jaric shrugged slightly. "Not really. I’m more surprised than anything that she showed restraint."

"How so?"

"She was very enraged, Indy. I knew I was taking a risk when I decided to redirect her rage towards passion. But she refrained from opening her mind to me like she normally does."

"If she’d done that, you would have died."

"I was expecting to, Indy." Jaric paused. "She lay in my arms all night, and she wept for the people who died here. And when she finally slept, it was a restless sleep. This morning, she sent a mindcast to Anashrel, Silver, Beraleen, and Mi'treysa. Derrin and Jerienne and Michael are already in Aerialen with Inghean. Jonas, Amber, and Plymouth are on their way to Aerialen as well."

The conversation was interrupted when Calypso announced it was time to depart. She and Jaric had created enough waterproof cloaks for the soldiers, and the horses were all weighed down with waterskins. Indiana knew it would be a long walk, but he stood painfully and finished his morning chores before falling in line with the others.

A week later, the weary travelers walked in through the city gates of Aerialen. The citizens immediately dashed over to take the horses and the wounded, allowing a small group to continue to the castle. Calypso asked a servant to see to Jaric and his men, then climbed the stairs to her own chambers and locked herself inside.

When she finally emerged, the dark circles under her eyes were not as prominent, and she looked a bit rested. But the rage that swept through the country at her news was staggering. Volunteers came from every corner, promising to fight, and to fight well. After a brief consultation with the ruling Barons and Baronesses, and with her Regents, Calypso made the announcement.

War had been declared.

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