Yspaddaden - Chapter 6

 Kadyriath

Ynwfn, Woods.

Screams pierced the night air, causing the nocturnal birds to rise up in agitated flight. The women standing out in the middle of a woodland clearing swayed back and forth, hands clasped, dressed in beautiful white dresses. The musical screams that they keened at the night sky was haunting, yet lovely. A torch of fire burned to one side, illuminating them with red and orange, clashing with the twilight blue. The moonlight shone down through the branches of the trees, creating strange, dancing shadows on the nighttime scene. Kady stood to one side of them, observing all, not engaging in their mourning. It was all fake anyway. The lone man at the gathering took up a shovel and walked over to where Kady was. The women grew louder as he handed her the blade. She took it and had to look upward at the top of it, it was so much taller than she was. She dragged it on the ground as she approached the open hole that had been dug in the ground. She reached the edge and looked down. The naked body of a woman lay there, silent, unmoving, hands crossed over her chest. Kady reached over and picked up the torch of fire. She held it aloft for a second as the screams grew loudest. Then she cast it down, it fell with a thump onto the body, and the woodland glen became deathly silent. All present watched as the flames burned the stick for a few seconds, then reached out and grabbed hold of the body, enveloping it, burning it. The smells of cooking flesh wafted upward and entered the nostrils of all present. Yet none backed away from the stench. They simply observed as the body of their friend and companion burned, flesh, muscle, bone. It took a while, and no one moved, but eventually, Kady reached out with the oversized shovel and gathered up a large clump of dirt, swinging it out over the grave, then overturning it on the half burned woman. It fell, smothering some of the fire. She repeated herself, until the dirt overwhelmed the flames and it burnt out, the only colour of light remaining being the blue/white of the moonlight. Kady kept on throwing dirt, until the grave was full. The women all took out flowers woven into their hair and cast them on the mound of dirt in commemoration. Kady stood there and let the shovel fall, hitting the ground. The man stepped up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Kady looked up from the grave of her mother and into his face. He smiled at her, then reared back and slapped her full across the face.

Kady didn't remember falling in her dream, but she did in reality. She woke abruptly in another woodland clearing, her face smashing into the dirt, pain and shocks riding her body intensely. She cried out but no one could hear it with her mouth full of dirt. She felt hands grab her arms and pull her to a sitting position so she could see where she was. Tears watered her eyes and she had to blink several times before she could see well enough. The clearing where she sat was large and full of men in uniform. The moonlight shone down through the branches. Most sat around a large fire, some talking, some eating, some sleeping. None seemed to care about her. Except the one that had slapped her and woken her from her dreams. He stood above her, rope in one hand, fist in the other. She had no time to move or even cry out before he brought the fisted hand down upon her cheek, snapping her head to the side, tossing her body to the side. She was able to catch herself with her hands this time so her face did not smash into the earth. He grabbed her again and shoved her down onto her stomach, grabbing her hands and jerking them backwards behind her. He tied first her wrists together, tightly, then tied her wrists to her ankles in a very uncomfortable position. He grabbed the back of her dress and pulled her up to kneeling and then looped a noose around her throat. He said nothing as he slung the rope over a branch in the tree above her, jerking it tight. He finally finished, tying the rope off, kneeling in front of her. He looked her in the face, smiling in a way that she knew all too well. His eyes then traveled downward, taking her in, all of her. He grunted in satisfaction, then patted her on the cheek before standing up and walking back to the fire where he joined his fellow men.

Kady watched him leave with a look of utter hatred on her face. She sat there, kneeling, her hands tied to her feet, her neck strung up to the branch, unable to move at all. She couldn't sit, she couldn't stand, she couldn't lie down. She could only imagine how she was going to cope if she had to stay in this position for too long. She didn't even try to escape out of the ropes, so she simply sat there, observing the clearing. Her head was clearing now from the fog of her dream and the abuse of the soldier.

The men sitting around the fire were obviously soldiers of the kingdom, men of AethelBald. They wore the blue and gold uniforms that told her so. She could count at least ten here, around the fire. Who knew how many more in other campsites nearby. A hundred? Thousand? An entire company? How important was Yspaddaden to the king? For that was the only reason she could think of why she was here. She traveled with the giant and they had taken her to get to him. Or had they already taken Yspa as well? There was no way to know. A sudden flash of memory overwhelmed her mind for a second before she pushed it away. Joyill! She had known the old woman for less than a week, yet a connection had been made. It would not do to mourn her now. She could wait for that. For now she had to concentrate on escaping these ropes and finding Yspaddaden.

She had just started exploring the knots with her fingertips when a commotion rippled through the men. They all leapt up and stood as a group of another ten or fifteen rode into the clearing on horses and stopped suddenly next to the fire. The man in the lead rode a beautiful black unicorn, horn shining white. He wore a uniform as well, but the medals on his sleeves and the eyepatch on his face told her that he was a much higher rank than the others. He looked around the clearing and spied her. His eye never left her as he slid smoothly off his mount and handed the reigns to one of the other men. The rest of his contingent dismounted as well as this leader strode slowly over to Kady, pulling off his riding gloves as he did. Kady sat there, silently, glaring at the man in defiance. Her gaze never left him, so she didn't see so much as feel the eyes of the rest of the men on her, looking all over, feeding their lusts. Yet this leader-man didn't shake his gaze from her face. He stared into her eyes, searching her face for some sign of weakness. His motivations were different then the others. His were stronger. Theirs were based on simple desire. His on fear. Hatred. Determination.

He reached her side and knelt down, facing her. She stared straight ahead, her gaze not wavering from the flames that licked at the night sky. He simply sat there, staring at her, sizing her up. She let him. Men like him were all alike. Lusting for power and flesh. Nothing else in the world mattered to them. Their desires were selfish, driven by a fear of the unknown. Men such as him hated change, and when it seemed to come looking for them, they would turn away to something familiar, something safe. Kady knew that feeling in men. She was often the familiar, safe thing they turned to. But this man. He had nothing familiar to look at. And she was far from safe.

She felt his hand against her cheek and she shivered, her eyes glaring into the fire. He began to stroke her face, tenderly, maliciously. He touched the top of her head and ran his fingers through her hair. It was the first time she had thought of the hairpiece she had brought with her all this way, and she almost wept. Was it lost, or in the possession of these men? The question flew from her mind as she became aware of the hand. His fingers trembled down her face, tracing her jawline. He reached her chin and his thumb touched her mouth, sliding smoothly across her lip. This time she did close her eyes. Should she? Now? It would be so easy just to lash out and bite down on the hand, but she refrained from doing so. She regretted the decision. His fingers traveled downward, gripping her throat lightly. Feeling the neckline. Touching her shoulder bone. She opened her eyes again when the hand disappeared. All the men were around the fire now, pretending at conversation, yet each one taking turns to glance in her direction, watching, waiting. The man next to her sat silently, breathing heavily. Then he bent forward to whisper to her. His lips brushed against her skin and his hot breath blew gently in her ear.

"I will have you to myself, if you do not tell me where your lover Yspaddaden escaped to."

She did not even want to correct his mistake. Lover indeed. She simply sat there, eyes burning into the flames. He sat there as well, not moving. Finally, after several moments, he pulled back. Then slapped her hard across the face.

Her head snapped to one side, pulled up short by the rope around her throat. She gasped silently as the rope tightened and she could not breathe. The rope around her feet and hands made it impossible for her to raise herself out of the trap that held her there, sucking the life from her body. Her mouth opened and shut in silent screams, and her tongue lashed out to try at any air possible. The seconds became more seconds, yet it seemed like a lifetime. Then, when her vision was finally blacking in front of her, the man pulled her upright and loosened the rope enough for her to breathe, deep, gasping breaths, racking her lungs in pain so intense she thought she was going to die from the air she had lacked mere moments ago. It took her close to a full minute for her to regain her composure enough where she could breathe at a near normal rate and volume. The leader-man knelt down next to her. His lips met her ear once again.

"Next time, I may not pull you up. You may think my motivations are based on merely money and prestige." He pulled his head around to where she could glare into his eye. "I lost this because of you!" He pointed to his patch. "Because he escaped and you didn't, the king found it proper to take this gift away from me. As of now, you are one of the people I hate most on this planet. Second only to the man who robbed me of half my sight." He leaned in even closer, his lips so close to her eyes, she wondered if he was going to try to rob her of the same thing. "The only thing stopping me from murdering you where you sit is the fact that we still have not found the giant Yspaddaden. Until we have him, you are safe from death. Barely. And yet, my hatred will not stop me from enjoying you."

With that he leaned in and kissed her roughly on the mouth. She endured for a second, then finally made her move, lashing out, biting down hard on his lip. The taste of bitter blood felt sweet on her tongue as he screamed and tried to pull away. She finally let him free. He staggered backward, holding his mouth, his eyes pure hatred. She smiled at him.

"You can never take what I wont give away."

Her head snapped sideways again at the slap he delivered to her face. This time, it felt good.

Kady spent all the night and all the next day in that same position, kneeling on the hard dirt, hands strung behind her back, neck remaining stiff under the pressure of the rope that was tied to the tree. Several times she had dozed off and woke up in barely enough time to right herself before slumping over and choking herself to death. She wondered what would happen if that had happened. Would these men be merciful and sit her back up? How important was she to them? She knew not. For all she knew they would sit there and observe, taking bets on how long it took for the life to be squeezed from her body, or whether or not her eyes popped out under the pressure. The general, for that was what the other soldiers had been calling the man with the eyepatch, seemed not to care for her at the moment. He wanted her, that she knew, yet he seemed content on ignoring her, leaving her in the misery that she felt more and more with each passing moment. She was surrounded by humans, but she felt more alone now than she ever had before.

Multiple times she attempted to undo the knots that held her captive, but they were simply too well tied. At one point, during the heat of the day, one of the soldiers had come over with a bucket of water and drenched her, head to feet. While it had felt cool for a bit, she realised that the water had soaked the ropes and that they had tightened because of it. Drying did not help them. They remained as solid as ever, even after sitting in the sun for hours after. There was no way she could untie the ropes from behind her, and she had nothing to cut them with. She almost wept again as she remembered the hairpiece that she must have left behind in the village. She must go back for that! But where had it been? Had she left it in Joyill's hut? Or had it come off when she was captured and dragged away? Or had they taken it from her and held it captive as well? She did not know. There was much she did not know. Where was Yspaddaden? Why had he not come to rescue her? Had he forgotten about her so readily? Did he simply not care? If he had forgotten about her, she had to guess that he had lied about the value of his quest, for she was not as important to him as he had made her believe. If he did not care about her welfare, he must have lied about her importance in the quest, and in so doing, her value to him. She hoped that neither were true, yet as the hours drew on, and flies began to torment her, she could not come up with a third answer to the question.

She grew alert as she noticed a young soldier walking over to her, sitting down in the shade of the tree next to her side. The sun was going down behind the tree-line, so there were still some hours left in the day, yet the clearing was growing darker. She looked up and noticed for the first time that all the other soldiers had left the clearing. Where had they gone? She bowed her head again. It hurt to move it. The raw skin that had burned in the sun rubbed fiercely against the rope when she did so. Thus, she jerked slightly when she felt hands at her neck. Another one interested in her body alone? But no, he undid the rope that held her aloft and cast it aside. Kady could not help herself as she slumped to one side, hands still tied. The relief of finally lying down on the dirt after kneeling for so long was a shock. She breathed heavily, the weight of the rope gone. She lay there like that for several minutes, resting. The soldier did nothing to her. After a while, after the blood returned to the areas that it had not visited in hours, she slowly pulled her feet up underneath her and sat up, rocking backward until she sat on her bottom. Her hands, still tied to her ankles, were uncomfortable underneath her, but she did not care after the hours of torture she had already spent. She regained her breath, then glanced over at the young man. He had not taken his eyes from her the entire time. Her hair fell in front of her face. She glared at him, willing him to avert his gaze. But he would not. He seemed both unwilling to, and just as determined not to. She finally had to cast her gaze downward, blinking, attributing the failure to her lack of sleep.

"Why?"

He took a minute before answering.

"I felt sorry for you."

"I didn't know you monkeys could feel anything."

He simply sat there, contemplating each phrase she said in detail. He finally answered her again.

"I've heard that nickname before. It's the name people call the soldiers of the king. Why is that?"

It was Kady's turn to take a minute before answering.

"I'm not sure. It's what I grew up calling men like you. I know no different."

He looked deep into her eyes.

"Fair enough."

She stared at him. He seemed quite young to be a soldier. His blonde hair he wore long, his face clean of stubble. Thirty maybe? Possibly forty? She questioned him about it. It was infuriating the way he would not answer quickly. He finally did.

"I am thirty eight. Young, I know, not very wise. I'm sure you know much of this world that I don't. I long to travel, to see all I can see. This is the farthest I've ever been from the capitol. It's been an invigorating journey."

"Yes, well, not for all of us."

He sat there, contemplating her words, staring at her face. Then, suddenly, he reached up and moved his hand toward her face. She pulled back instinctively, eyes wide with questions. He smiled and moved his hand slower, brushing the hair from in front of her eyes, tucking the strands behind her ear. His touch was gentle. She hadn't felt anything so comforting for a while. He pulled back and she nodded her thanks. He smiled again at her.

"You are beautiful."

She could not help but laugh. Was this how he wooed a woman? Compliments and soft touches to one tied up and helpless? She shook her head in disbelief at him.

"Look all you want youngling, that's free. But there's a price waiting for you on that particular journey. Many have attempted that, but only the very special are ever able to accomplish the task. Are you up to it? The cost is quite high."

He did nothing. He didn't move, didn't speak, didn't seem to breathe for several seconds.

"Take me with you."

Again his words startled her and caught her off guard.

"What?"

"I want to go with you. I'm sure there's some plan you have to meet up with the giant. Take me with you. I'm tired of this life. It was never for me anyway. My mothers ambition, not mine. I can be valuable to you, I know how to wield a sword, how to hunt for game, how to track. I can help. I want to help."

If she had laughed before, she laughed even more so now. It hurt her throat to do so, still chafed by the rope, but she couldn't help herself. Did he really think her so stupid that she would fall for that? She was a Courtesan of Ynwfn! Skilled in the arts of seduction, manipulation and lying. Did he think to fool her with such an apparent untruth as that? Were the other soldiers hiding in the forrest even now, waiting to see what sort of answer she would give him? They were all stupid. She chuckled as she looked into his young eyes.

"Listen to me. You are like the young colt, wobbling on new legs, trying to find your place in the world. You are like the unicorn in the midst of the pegasus, speechless and dumb by comparison. You are like the blind troll, flailing about, attempting to attack your opponent, but not being able to sense at where they are. Why do you try and trick me with such obvious flattery? You said you know nothing of this world, and you were correct! You also know nothing of me. Well let me educate you. I am the one who can see words as if they danced on the table top. I am the one who hears the questions that are never asked, who feels the breath of the dead, and who can taste the lies on the mouth of the foul. You cannot fool me. I will never give up any secrets, I will never tell of the quest I am on with the giant, and I will never be seen in the company of your kind willingly. Tie me back up, leave me alone, and please, stay downwind."

He stared at her eyes, flickering back and forth, trying to deduce if what she said was true, or merely bluster. But she held firm this time, did not waver her gaze, for every word was true, every inflection shouting at the great companionship she shared with Yspaddaden and his quest. Which surprised her, for before now, she was unsure as to how much she had actually believed and trusted the man. Apparently she trusted him very much. Though she knew not why. Simply a feeling. She had to see this quest through. She had to get back to Yspaddaden.

The young soldier finally broke her gaze and stood up, looping the rope back around her neck, and pulling it tight enough so that she had to kneel again on the hard dirt floor. The clearing was almost completely dark now. The only light came from the fire in the center. She stared at the flames, allowing them to consume her mind. She was proud of herself, but she wanted away from here. She wanted the man she barely knew to come to her and save her, to spirit her away from these men, to take her across the country on their quest together.

She wanted Yspaddaden to come and set her free.