He told himself he felt nothing at the sight of her. At the sight of the Imperial Queen of Azura beaten and collared by the Zybar. Used and humiliated. Lead in like an animal. After all, he had been the one to capture and bring her here. This was his doing. A swell of something like guilt rose in his chest.
No.
This was war.
War was a reckoner. It levelled many things. The weak fell and the strong rose. Kings. Queens. Gods. Was it not war that had brought the four realms of Ethis into being? War changed everything.
In a sudden move, Cassine shot towards the Queen of Azura, her small hands reaching out for her as a muffled cry of anguish escaped her throat. It took no effort for Theodan to restrain her and with a slight pull, he brought her back against his body. Be still. He commanded her wordlessly, a command that of course, she would not hear. The situation was precarious, and though he knew his men would not let him down, and though he could easily handle the Zybar in this room, he could not afford for battle to break out. Not when he had so much at stake now. Had the children been removed from camp yet? How could he get Cassine out of here unharmed if chaos ensued now? There were simply too many pieces in play now. Be Still, he urged her again.
Curiously, Cassine did seem to calm.
The Queen lifted her head high, looking past Cassine, to lock gazes with Theodan. There was fire there but he saw no hostility in her dark eyes. With dirt-caked fingers, the guard reached up and forced the stained gag from her mouth, pulling it roughly down about her neck.
'My son's victor, we meet once more,' she said after licking her dry lips. Her voice was like sand, powdered and grainy. He fought to hold his head high but felt suddenly much diminished in stature. 'I should like to ask - now that we have a moment to exchange - did you offer my son a noble death, one befitting a warrior such as yourself?'
Theodan swallowed, dipping his head slightly in deference. 'The Prince fought and died bravely your grace.'
The Queen nodded, a sad look flitting over her charming features. 'Then the Goddess did not favour our cause that day.'
'Or any day since it seems,' the king muttered, half-amused, half-bored. 'Now get on with it.' He waved a hand.
'You heard your King,' the Zybar guard spat. 'Speak what you know of the whore.'
Queen Arielle closed her eyes, a slow deliberate movement that reminded Theodan of an act of prayer then opened them again. The king shifted forward in his chair, his focus firmly on the back of the Queen's head, eyes wide and gluttonous. Beside him, Cassine ceased to breathe. Theodan himself, tensed.
'My son loved her,' The Queen said. As King Torrik lifted his head to smile wide in triumph, Cassine turned limp in his arms.
'And so it is!!' The King said, standing. 'Leoth, you will release your slave unto me and we shall be done with this. Release the Princess Fara!'
The Queen started, visibly, and shot Cassine a look so full of strength that Theodan felt momentarily awed by it. She turned swiftly to face the King. 'Princess Fara?' She gasped, horrified. 'Where??'
The King narrowed his eyes. 'What game is this Arielle?? You spoke of the woman your son loved did you not??!' His pallor reddened, his patience thinning. The Queen nodded, and turned back around and lifted her bound hands to point at the courtesan.
'Yes. I spoke of the courtesan, Nysa,' She said. 'My son once proclaimed to love her very deeply.'
The King's face fell as a small gasp of shock escaped from Cassine. Through his fingertips, Theodan felt her heart stumble, felt her blood freeze for the shortest of moments, before rushing hotly once more into a panicked gallop. Theodan followed the King's eyes and saw the courtesan's mouth drop open as she stared back at the Queen.
'What nonsense is this now??' The king hissed, eyes narrowing to dark slits. He was quickly turning white with rage but clearly unsure where and to whom he should direct it. The Queen, The Zybar men surrounding the courtesan, the courtesan herself. 'Your son loved this whore???!'
The Zybar guarding the Queen lifted a hand to wrap it around her throat. 'You will explain yourself to your King at once!'
The Queen closed her eyes, in another act of prayer perhaps, and gasped for breath. 'I tell only what the king has asked. Galyn professed his love for her,' The Queen rushed, choked.
The King was blinking in confusion now, his eyes darting back and forth between the courtesan and the Queen. Finally, deflated, he shook his head and sank back down in his chair. It creaked from the weight and he waved a hand at the guard holding her throat.
'Let her speak her testimony,' The King sighed. The guard let go of the Queens throat and she began to gasp and cough. When she recovered, she lifted her head to continue.
'My son had a young heart and a young mind. This woman twisted and turned both against your daughter, against his father and I, and against his noble duties. Her influence changed him until he began to care for nought but pleasure and the fulfilment of his own desires. He threatened to marry her in secret after his father and I forbade the marriage.' The Queen's voice slowly began to lift, filling with a regal air that made it loud enough to carry around the silent space.
'Oh, how I loved him,' She continued, her eyes turning glassy with unshed tears. 'He was beautiful and kind and brave, but the Goddess knows he was willful and capricious - even as a child. He desired a great many things but lost interest in them quickly, and so we hoped his desire for the courtesan would pass quickly also. Of course, we reminded him of his betrothal to the princess Dura,' she told the King. 'But whenever we did he became angrier and more stubborn, more determined to do as he pleased. How dare we choose his wife, how dare we decide who he should love, how dare we imprison him with duty. His people would love whatever wife he should so choose, just as they loved him. And if he chose a whore then his people would accept her. And any who did not would be guilty of treason and put to death.' The last part she spoke quietly, hanging her head, clearly ashamed. The King looked tired but faintly curious, listening now with a sort of weariness. 'Finally, we persuaded him to wait until his return from the Festival in Calate. We promised him that if upon his return he still desired Nysa above all others, then we would nullify the betrothal with Dura of Zybar.'
The Queen turned to address Nysa of Therolis then. 'But our suspicions were correct: he did put aside his love for his courtesan and the Goddess smiled upon our cause - for in Calate he met the Princess Fara. And it was she he chose above all others.' The Queen smiled, a genuine, warm smile; magnificent but out of place on her bruised and dirt-streaked face. 'And from this love, he would not be moved. They spoke their vows under the goddess and the moon in secret.'
Theodan felt the air change immediately as a hot blast of rage from Nysa of Therolis flew towards the Queen of Azura. Similar to the rage he'd felt her direct towards Cassine, but it burned brighter, for it held pain. It covered the courtesan in an intense silver light for a moment as she let out a shriek of anger which seemed itself to force her forward.
'HE LOVED ME!!! HE LOVED ME AND YOU TURNED HIM FROM ME AND NOW HE IS GONE YOU HATEFUL WITCH!!!!' The courtesan flew towards Queen Arielle and with an open palm, struck her hard across the face. Cassine moved towards the two women, ready to enter the fray, again Theodan pulled her back against him.
'ENOUGH!!!' The king roared, shooting a look at his men who quickly moved to pull the women apart. Nysa of Therolis squirmed in the arms of her captor while the Queen was dragged backwards away from the still screaming woman. Theodan marvelled at how even now the Queen looked ever graceful and dignified despite all around her.
The King sighed again, loudly, squeezing hard the bridge of his nose. 'I will ask you this Arielle, and you would do well not to play me for a fool,' the King said, calmly, rising to stand once more. 'Tell me what you know of the Leoth's slave.' The Zybar guard took the Queen's chin between his fingers and forced her head around to face Cassine. 'The one, whom your son's whore, claims is Princess Fara.'
The Queen stared at Cassine a moment, her expression entirely unreadable to Theodan. 'Nysa of Theorlis beguiles you with lies as she beguiled my son, King Torrik,' said the Queen. 'This girl is not my son's wife. My son forced his beloved from the castle days before your armies stormed our gates. He thought only of her safety. He sent her with half the royal guard to ride for Calate. I know not if she made it safely to her brother's realm.'
The King closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, his mouth in a thin hard line. The thin advisor behind him seemed to shrink in size also, disappointment visible in the faces of the gathered Zybar. Slowly he began to walk the dais, before descending it, boots loud on the polished wood beneath him. As he made his way to the Queen, his eyes were trained firmly on Cassine. She begun to tremble once more in Theodan's arms.
'So you maintain that you have never seen this girl before?' The King asked, mind ticking loudly in the quiet of the room. Theodan felt the King's rage, it whipped through his blood, seeking tribute. He feared greatly for the Queen as he came to stand by her.
'Yes. I do.' The Queen replied.
The King nodded and placed a thick hand on the Queen's bare shoulder and brought his mouth to her ear, his eyes still focused across the room at Cassine. 'Then tell me how it is that she spoke so convincingly of her place in your royal household?' He asked quietly. The Queen's face flickered, her eyes skirting with something fearful for what Theodan realised was perhaps the first time since she had been led into the room. 'This suggests that one of you or both of you are lying to me, and can you imagine, Queen Arielle, what I do to lying, deceitful whores in my kingdom?' He reached into his scabbard and retrieved a heavy black dagger - made entirely from Leoth steel - and brought it to the front of the Queen's pale throat.
The dagger had been presented to him by the Leoth council on his visit to sign the war pact. Theodan had witnessed the gifting ceremony himself. Undeserving beast. Theodan felt Cassine strain forward once more, a small sob loosing from her at the sight of the dagger. Against his wrist, his own sword throbbed and warmed in readiness. This was barbarism. This dog was unworthy to rule any Kingdom in any realm.
'If you think I will not slice your throat Arielle, you are mistaken,' the King continued 'I hear from my men that there is little sport left in you..' Theodan growled quietly as Cassine shook harder. 'So think wisely and tell me now... which of you is it who lies to me?'
The Queen swallowed, her head held high, an image of quiet dignity and graceful nobility.
'You are free to judge and dispose of me as you see fit King Torrik, as is your right as victor, but this girl is not known to me,' She said calmly. 'And by the goddess that is the truth.'
'Then it is she who lies?' The King said, turning the dagger and pointing it in Cassine's direction. Theodan slowly lowered his arms, bringing them together across Cassine's body where he could more easily release his wrists to loose his swords.
He had planned the deaths many times since this theatre had begun, but he walked through them once more in his mind, seeking out any weaknesses in his stratagem. The Zybar behind guarding the door first. A slice across both their throats at once. Relieve them of their spears. One of which would then be thrown and lodged in the throat of the dog who calls himself King. Escape the tent with Cassine. It would be over in moments. Where he would go he did not know. How many would follow him he did not know. Elyon and Draden without question, but the rest? Some, those who had rebelled with him at the vote, would follow him to the death. The others would send the message back to Leoth. Deserter. Traitor. The judgement would be harsh.
His head pounded, his blood burning, and then, unwelcome, so very unwelcome, the light behind his eyes began to brighten. Gods no. Not now. He could not withstand a vision now... Gods... I do not deserve your mercy but I beg it of you...Spare me this now...
'I see no reason why this girl would lie to you.' Queen Arielle replied, bringing Theodan's focus back to the centre of the room. 'There were over four hundred servants in my royal household King Torrik. Many of whom I am ashamed to say I did not know. Only our Palacemaster would have known them all.' The Queen's words rang around the tent, her voice firm and resolute with truth. The light behind Theodan's eyes dimmed slightly.
It felt like days since Theodan had spoken, had moved, had done anything but hold Cassine tight and trembling with fear in his arms while they both bore witness to a great Queen degraded. The vision hovered in the sides of his sight, threatening him, warning him.
'Torrik, This is done,' Theodan decided. 'I have no taste for theatrics.' He turned and began towards the exit but then stopped, and turned back. 'Your baseless treatment of a noble Queen shames you,' he looked around into the eyes of the gathered Zybar. 'Shames all of Zybar. This is not the war Leoth agreed to fight.' Turning on his heel he strode from the King towards the exit of the great room.
'Yet fight it you do, Leoth!' he heard the King shout after him. 'Fight it you will!'
When the guards at the opening considered blocking his path, Theodan flashed his teeth and growled audibly. They stepped aside reluctantly. He felt her heels drag behind her and he could sense her looking back over her shoulder.
'Keep moving,' he ordered quietly, pulling her hurriedly down the torch-lit corridor towards the main exit.
'No. We have to go back,' she said pulling against him. 'You have to let me go back!'
He turned his head and gave a growl of warning. 'I have to do nothing of the sort. Keep. Moving.'
'No. Let me go!' She cried. 'Theodan please, I have to help her, let me go, you have to let me go!' she kicked at him, small fists landing nought but featherlight blows against him. With a force that seemed to stun her, he pulled her close and brought his mouth to her ear.
'Your Queen is as good as dead,' he hissed. 'Another word and you will be too.' Lifting her, he threw her over his shoulder and walked briskly to the entrance of the tent. When she struggled against him he wrapped an arm around her legs restraining them.
Outside, as he expected, Elyon and Draden stood waiting. They looked with concern at Theodan, and then behind him, glancing only vaguely at the squirming shape of Cassine.
'We received Jhaan's message - Theodan what has happened?' Elyon enquired in Leoth, his tone low and serious as he glanced back at the Kings tent. There was a sharp sensation at the base of Theodan's skull, vibrating upwards, crawling over it. It was partly the lingering threat of the vision, but it was also partly the threat that danger was not far. He could not sense it imminent, but it was there all the same, lying in wait. It would come.
'I must return to Leoth at once,' Theodan said quietly.
'What? You jest, surely? A Leoth cannot walk away from battle, Theo?' Elyon frowned.
'This is not a battle. It is a slaughter,' replied Theodan. 'Our atrocity upon this land is already too great.' An image of Queen Arielle on her knees as a filthy Zybar ravaged her tore through him. "I need to convince the council to order our immediate withdrawal from Azura.'
Draden and Elyon gave each other a wide-eyed look but quickly rerouted their focus back to Theodan.
'Have you lost your mind at last?' Draden asked, in a terse whisper. 'You were almost ejected from the council for your last rebellion - you cannot do this again.'
Elyon, soberly. 'The war is all but won Theo. We return home in weeks, days mayhaps.'
The night had drawn in and the moon hung heavy in the black sky. The blood of the fallen blew around him on the soft night breeze, and mixed with it was the sweetness of Cassine's fear and the richness of her tears. She had stopped struggling and hung heavy now on his shoulder.
'And what is it we leave behind for these people, Ely? What hope do they have in the hands of these rabid, feral dogs?' Theodan asked with a shake of his head.
'But that is the nature of war, Commander.' Elyon said. 'The victor decides the new order of things. You know this.'
'I know that war should have a noble cause; it should better the lives of the oppressed, it should depose tyrants,' Theodan said. 'This war does neither. This slaughter of Azura brings about the reverse.'
His men said nothing in response, but Theodan heard their thoughts loud. They supposed he had lost his mind. The Leothine were built for war. They trained for it and lived by it. If they did not have war then what did they have? Perhaps he had lost his mind.
'And so what is your plan?' Draden asked, his voice heavy. 'How do you convince the council to vote to withdraw when you failed so spectacularly the first time?'
Theodan had given this some thought. 'I don't require to convince the council - I require to convince the Visier.'
Elyon laughed, quietly, hopelessly. Draden shook his head in disbelief. 'Theo - it is the Visier who sent us here - it was her vision that saw Azura crushed and Leoth stand with the victors.'
'I had not forgotten, Draden.' Theodan sighed.
'So then I ask again, what exactly is your plan?'
'I must make her see something else.'
Elyon chuckled once more. 'Your charms are many Theo, but I fear this may be beyond even your abilities...'
Draden shook his head. 'This is madness, utter madness. We are warriors. We do not abandon the fight.'
Theodan stopped and turned to the troubled Leoth. 'I'm not asking you to abandon the fight, Draden - this is simply what I must do. It's what my conscience demands. And the Gods will see me punished or rewarded for it.'
'What in the name of Ethis happened in there?' What did he want with you?' Draden enquired, his brow furrowed.
It would do no good to speak of the King's claim regarding Cassine now. A claim which had been refuted by the one person able to prove it. Theodan turned away from Draden and continued walking. Supplying his response a moment later: 'I almost killed the King of Zybar and three of his guard.'
'Well, the four realms would be no worse for it, someone should put that worthless mongrel to its death. And I can think of no better Leoth than you, commander.' Elyon replied. 'Come Draden, I speak true and you know it.'
'Indeed. But I would not see Theodan executed for taking the life of that king of dogs, friend. It would not be a worthy death.'
Elyon nodded his agreement though silently, Theodan disagreed. Ridding the four realms of the ruler of Zybar and Azura would perhaps be the most worthy deed he could yet do.
'And what on Ethis would urge you to such a notion? Did he insult you?' Draden continued.
'No,' Theodan replied, distracted. 'He sought to take that which was mine.'