The Halo Of Vakh (BOOK 1)

THE WAR HAS BEGUN

"Parr's men," her father replied, sitting down on a chair, clutching a snow parcel to his face. "They told us what they wanted. The mines. And not a single piece of iron from those mines they'd give to us, they said. Had they agreed to let us have even a small share of the iron, we would have agreed. We sent them away. They told us they'd be back. We stayed in case they came during the night and took over. We dare not send the children home in case they were attacked on the way or taken hostage. We were like hens in a coop. They returned near midnight. Twenty of them. We tried to placate them."

He trailed off, out of breath, clutching his side. Her mother rushed to his side, expanding the tear in the neck of his tunic and started examining his chest, where bruises mottled the skin grey under the light. Orion continued.

"That's when we sent the children down into the Pits. It was the safest. The talk didn't go as they planned. They got into a fight with Hamirden when he wouldn't let them through. Leif tried to stop it all. They ran Hamirden through." he sighed and slumped against the wall. Joseryn took his hand and started applying honey on the cuts, fingers gentle, face flushed with colour and brows turned down in a frown. Her eyes reflected nothing but fear. "The men took it as their chance and Leif raised the alarm. We attacked them. Outnumbered them ten to one, we did. Two of them snuck past our sentries towards the Pits. I saw them go."

He hissed and spat out a little blood. "I saw them go but one of their men delayed me. By the time I got to the Pits, Cygnus and Cane were trying to hold them off. Cygnus finished off one of them. One man killed Cane. I attacked the man from behind but not before he had turned upon Cygnus and given him that wound. Once the man was dead, it was all I could do to get him up. The other children were horrified and he was bleeding. I could only hope that his lungs hadn't been injured. The others had managed to subdue the soldiers outside. Father was injured. Uncle took Cygnus on Arzon and I took Jay."

Sapphire wondered if they would have managed to get Cygnus back in time had she not asked Jacinth to take the horses that morning. Not many men went to the mines on their horses. The teapot whistled behind them and Joseryn went to pour out the concoction. Sapphire held Cygnus' face in her hands, clutching his cold cheeks gently and placing her head beside his. The sound of hail crashing against the house punctured the silence.

"May Parr be damned for bringing this upon us," her mother growled, "and ripping the innocence from my child's heart."

"How many of our men were injured?" Joseryn enquired.

"Eight injured. Four dead. Hamirden, Cane, Stai and Dorden."

Sapphire kept her head down, resting upon the coarse wood, her eyes closed, her fingers feeling the soft beat of her brother's heart at the neck. She could feel the tears that threatened to fall if she opened her eyes. Her throat burned and skin perspired in the cold air and the apples of her cheeks flushed with colour. She raised her head to the sky, cursing the monarch and all who supported his heinous acts.

"They'll be back," Alphard said in a voice strained with fatigue and weakness. "We might have outnumbered them but those were trained soldiers. One of them escaped. They'll return. This time with reinforcements."

"We've got a week if not more," Orion said, "before they're back. The nearest cantonment is in Pyropa. The weather will prove to be a blessing. It might take longer. The men will have quite a task reaching Pyropa in this hail."

Sapphire volunteered to remain by Cygnus' side for the night as he lay in their room covered by the blankets. She ushered her mother to sleep once they were sure the house was completely bolted shut. Sapphire did not sleep. She lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. The gale outside raged like the thoughts in her mind. Somewhere in the distance, a loud crash sounded as a tree was uprooted.