A Tale of Revenge Ch. 08

With smug satisfaction she raised the spell she had placed on Dev and watched him unfold from the hiding place she's forced him into. He was not pleased. As soon as he was free he threw himself down the path, not glancing back at Anna until they were well into the temple district.

"Dev," she started, reaching out to him.

"Don't, Anna." His voice was tight with anger. Suddenly he stopped and whipped around to face her. "Why did you do that?" she could almost feel the hurt radiating off of him but he managed to keep his voice down.

"I had to think fast. There is a ward on the palace that I can't get past or around. I saw the soldiers we were after and I had to take the opportunity when it presented itself." She was relieved to tell him about the magic, now he couldn't still be angry.

"And locking me in place like that? Do you have any idea how terrifying it is not to have control of your own body? You could have just motion for me to stay hidden. You think I'd have compromised you in some way? That I can't be trusted to keep my mouth shut and let you, all-powerful one, get to work?" He looked at her, pain and anger in his face. She had taken his control without even thinking twice, or considering his position. "How long do I have to be by your side before you trust me?"

Anna visibly jerked back from him. Trust him? Didn't she trust him? Hadn't she let her guard down with him just the day before? She was about to open her mouth and snap at him when she realized she had closed off from him again almost immediately following that brief exchange. After Leonid she had been left scared and confused; she had shut Dev out, folded back into herself. A sharp pain ran through her when she thought of Leonid but she pushed it away quickly, trying to focus on her friend before her. Trust, the tricky, sneaky word wormed its way into her and settled uncomfortably behind her breastbone. Could she trust Dev? That she didn't know. But it wasn't his fault if she couldn't. She looked up to his face and held up her hands plaintively towards him.

"I'm sorry, Dev," she said softly. She meant it. "It was wrong of me to do that to you. I won't do it again." There was a deep affection she had for him, one which longed to express itself and yet she buried it too deeply inside of her, terrified of what might happen to him if she gave into it. Hurting him was unintentional and she repented having been the source of his pain.

Dev was obviously surprised and took a long moment to look at her. He considered her for a moment longer and then nodded, turning back towards the cobblestone road before them. "Blower's Edge is about an hour's walk." Anna fell into step next to him as they made their way through the city.

As the streets deteriorated in quality, they also became increasingly crowded despite the late hour. Anna's mind kept drifting back to the magical net she had seen over the palace. She had never learned how to channel her magic that way, to build something out of it instead of simply willing the effects to take place. Then again, hadn't she been doing it slowly? She wove her magic into her words to enforce commands. It wasn't as delicate as a spell but it was something. She had begun to create things too, ropes and vines, runes and the like. Maybe, once all this was over, she could spend more time with the magic, learn how to channel it better. She let her lips curve into a small smile. There was some relief in the idea that there would be something beyond her mission.

She looked at Dev, considering him for a moment, letting herself recognize that he was her family now, the only person she cared for, loved even. Quickly she wrapped that thought up and tucked it away. But she saved it, giving herself permission to seek it out again when they were finally done with all this.

Dev slowed down as they entered even narrower streets. During the day this area was sweltering with the heat of the glassmaker's furnaces but at night the pubs and bawdy houses took over and filled the space with noise and smells that no respectable area of town would permit. Dev stopped and slipped a coin to a raggedy looking boy who pointed them towards the pub in question and they found it still raucously loud.

They slipped up to the window and Anna surveyed the room through the smoke. It seemed as though things were dying down, the crowd was thin and those left were either unconscious or part of the small party of soldiers who persisted in shouting and singing as the night began to wane into morning. Anna reached out with her sight and turned back to Dev.

"Six more," she said, not bothering to keep her voice too low. No one inside would hear them. "Three others with them. This is going to be a good night. There should only be a few more left. With any luck I can suggest to one of these men that they send the rest out tomorrow night." Her eyes were wide with excitement. She was flushed with their unexpected victory tonight.

Dev was less enthused. "What's your plan for access? We can't walk in there as patrons; it's too suspicious. If we are invisible someone will surely knock into us." He eyed two soldiers who started play-wrestling drunkenly. "It doesn't seem like they are leaving anytime soon. I don't know if this is such a good idea. Perhaps we could just wait for them."

Anna narrowed her eyes, "I've been after these men for weeks and suddenly now that I'm in a dress you think I can't take them?"

Dev looked away, embarrassed a bit, confirming Anna's suspicions that he was feeling more protective of her than usual. She sighed and turned back, eyeing the group again. He wasn't completely without a point. She could pose as a whore but she didn't want any of the women in there to get territorial. If she could insinuate herself into the group, she could curse each one silently, while the others were none the wiser. The thought made her smile again. She was so close to being done. Something close to hope blossomed in her chest; she was beginning to see the other side of this.

Suddenly one of the soldiers got up from the table and stumbled slightly as he made his way towards the back door, struggling to untie his breeches as he went. She grabbed Dev and started to move towards the back alley where the soldier would be relieving himself by now. Sure enough, as she peeped around the corner, the man was whistling to himself as the sound of his piss hit the damp ground. Quickly she reached into his past, witnessing his crimes in the blink of an eye. She turned back to Dev.

"You have to slap me and call me a prudish bitch," she said in a rush.

"What?" Dev gaped openly at her.

"Now Dev!" She heard the soldier finishing up. In a loud voice she called out in a plaintive, feminine voice. She took Dev's hand and wrapped it around her upper arm before she stumbled into the mouth of the alley so they were in full view of anyone back there. "Please," she whimpered. "My father has sworn to check on me every night until the marriage. You must believe me."

Dev looked at her murderously, and he was not acting. She sighed internally; he was the one who had asked her to trust him. Now it was his turn to help her. His hand tightened on her arm and he brought his hand up. He brought it down on her face but didn't follow through, letting her snap her head dramatically with little more than a sting from his hand.

"You prudish bitch," he growled at her. He brought her hard against his chest and she cried out softly again, as if he was delivering some amount of pain. "Across the larger road I'll be watching from the roof of the furnace marked with a peacock," he whispered. He shoved her body into the wall of the pub and stalked away.

Anna whimpered, crying softly into her hands. The rest of her was keyed to the sound of the soldier approaching from the back door of the pub. His footsteps grew closer but she didn't move. She'd be too pained to pay attention to her surroundings.

"There now," a soft voice came from her right. "What's all this?"

Anna looked up into the face of the guard. His skin was dark enough that it was hard to make out his features clearly in the low light but his teeth gleamed against his skin as he smiled down at her. He handed her a handkerchief, which she accepted timidly.

"Thank you sir," she said in a small, pathetic voice. She breathed deep as though gathering herself together. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and handed back the cloth but he refused it.

"You keep it," he said with another smile. "What's got a beautiful girl like you crying in a back alley at this time of night?"

Anna sniffed loudly, her lips shaking as if she were about to break down again. "My betrothed and I have had a disagreement, that's all. Thank you for your kindness but I really must be getting home."

"Nonsense!" the guard cried, coming closer to her. His hand rested on her shoulder. "Torments of love must always be drowned with liquor! Come, it is my name day after all, and you can be the guest of honor!" With that he gripped her arm and led her back into the bar, her soft protests falling on deaf ears.

As he dragged her back into the pub her eyes grew wide and she put on an apprehensive face. He pulled her over to his friends who, though well intoxicated, were still managing to hold their liquor rather well. With the benefit of the light in the pub Anna could make out the guard's face a bit better. His skin was darker even than Leonid's and his hair was blacker than hers, pulled tightly back against his head and knotted in the back. His fellow soldiers also appeared as if they had origins in the far corners of the country, and possibly beyond. Two were so dark they must have come from the Far East where cities grew out of the dense jungle. Anna smiled shyly as she was pushed into the group.

"This little flower was wilting outside due to an ungrateful suitor, gentlemen," the guard from the alley was saying. "She agreed to grace us with her presence in pursuit of oblivion to soothe her broken heart."

This was met with enthusiastic agreement from the other men and another round of drinks was ordered. The harried barmaid gave Anna a worried look before hurrying away, no doubt concerned about the innocent lass amongst all the wolves. Anna smiled slightly; she was far more dangerous than any of these men. After a raucous toast to broken hearts and endangered flowers, her savior from the alley sat down heavily next to her, tossing a gigantic arm around her shoulder and pulling her into his chest.

She feigned surprise, and placed her hand against his chest as if she were about to lose her balance.

"Now why don't you tell Agunaldo," he said, referring to himself, "why your betrothed is such a simpleton to leave you alone in such a bad part of town."

"It was nothing, really, I don't wish to think of it." Anna's voice was low with false hurt.

"Come now, indulge a drunk soldier on his name day," he brought his face close to hers till his sour breath invaded her nostrils and it was all she could do not to jerk away.

Instead she slipped her hand against his heart and pulled on her magic. "He was unsuccessfully after my virginity. Lucky for you though, because you like them young and untried." The soldier nodded in agreement before the strangeness of her statement finally made it through his drunken haze. "You like to watch them struggle as you debase them the first time, as you touch them where no one else has," she continued, moving her magic into his body, keeping him relaxed and smiling though she could feel his mind try to pull away from her. "And then you call them whores, watch as their faces flicker with confusion as you push the fault of your crimes onto their heads, fill them with the thought that a woman is nothing more than a walking receptacle for your lust."

She could feel him trying to pull away from her in earnest now but she had him fast. To his friends, he seemed to be enjoying flirting with the pretty girl he'd snatched up from outside, but inside he was screaming at the loss of control. "From this day on, you will never touch another woman without feeling pain. You will lust and desire but you will be impotent to act. You will be degraded by those around you as you have done to others and you will never be able to raise a hand in violence no matter what is brought down on your head." She finished by binding him to silence and inaction as she had done to the others, and as a final insult before she released him, she kissed him softly on the cheek as he screamed in fury inside his own head.

Anna pulled out from under his arm. He turned to talk to his friend and she could hear no difference in his tone or words. She felt flushed with success and turned towards the soldier at her right. Just as she was about to speak, the door of the pub opened and she was brought up short by a pair of piercing blue eyes that stared directly at her. Their owner stepped into the pub, slowly coming into view.

Anna's flush of excitement cooled rapidly. The man who stood at the door was looking straight at her as one would an opponent, not some nameless girl in a pub. She looked him up and down. He could not be taller than she was but he was stocky and strong looking. A clear northerner, his eyes were ice blue and narrow, his skin pale and smooth against high cheekbones. His hair was dark and pulled back tightly from his face as all the other soldiers wore theirs. She took in his defensive stance and a spike of energy sounded out within her, jolting her to her feet. This night would not end as quietly as she had thought. The soldier at her side had not been paying attention and reached out to her as she began to back away.

"Mandeep, get away from her," the northerner's voice was slightly accented. The soldiers finally noticed his presence and followed his fixed gaze back to the girl who had just recently been flirting with their friend. The soldiers jerked out of their seats and Anna took a few more steps back. She let her senses flair out into the room, keeping track of everyone there to avoid a surprise at her back.

"What's going on?" the one he called Mandeep demanded, his voice struggling against his drunken tongue.

"That, gentlemen, is a witch. He has requested we bring her back to the palace to answer for some nefarious work against our comrades in arms." The northerner advanced on Anna and she took another step back. She reached further with her sight, sensing for Dev beyond the pub. She had to get to him and get them out.

The soldiers turned to her, drawing their weapons and advancing on her, though she noted that Agunaldo was not threatening her but merely standing with his sword in hand, like a page at his first fencing lesson. She kept the man at the door in her line of sight though, something told her he was not one to be underestimated. The ruse was over and she would have to get out of this today to be able to come up with a new plan of action tomorrow. She backed away, noting that the other patrons had either fled or made themselves scarce behind the bar.

She gave the soldiers a smile. "Sorry boys," she said with a flourish as her fingers drew the rune to obscure their sight and she vanished to them. Without waiting for them to gather themselves, she slipped past the group and forced her way through the back door, not caring that they would inevitably see the movement and follow her. There was another sentry there but he saw nothing as she slipped past him into the dark. She had to get to Dev.

She ran, still nothing but a spirit to anyone she might pass, but the streets had mostly emptied and she made her way to the sign with the peacock on it. She dropped the spell as she entered the still studio. Dev appeared from the roof, drawn by the sound of her entry. He made his way to the ground floor, fear in his eyes as she bolted the door behind her.

"There are more soldiers around, I counted four at the exits to the pub," he started before he saw the wild look in her eye.

"We have to go," she gasped and she grabbed his hands, bringing her magic within her to full burning flames, "Someone came, they knew about me." Dev stared at her for a fraction of a moment and then moved towards the door. "No," Anna said, dragging him back to her, "not that way."

She began to interlace the streams of fire around their bodies. As she had done so many weeks ago on the day they had first met, Anna set in her mind a destination and pulled the fire around them, urging it to move them through space to safety. This was by far the hardest feat she had ever managed with her power and she found herself gritting her teeth in the effort. So flushed with success, she hadn't noticed how much of it she had expended tonight. The sound of the guards grew nearer. She had precious little time.

Anna bore down on the spell, pushing more energy into it instead of more finesse. She brought to mind the slope outside the capital, moving it into the fire. They were right outside the door. How could they have found her so fast?

She looked up at Dev, his eyes were wide and he gripped her hands tighter. He turned to look at the door and then back at her. "Anna, you have to go, you don't have enough energy left for both of us." She shook her head. "You can come back for me."

Anna thought of the wards on the castle; she would never get to him in time. She shook her head again. "I'm sorry, Dev," she whispered and she threw the fire from her body onto his. The soldiers were banging on the door now, threatening her focus.

"No!" He tried to grab her hands as she pulled away from him. Anna held out her hands, her fire streaming to him, tightening around his body.

"Run, Dev," she called to him as the magic spilled from her fingertips. Just as the door gave way, her spell pulled Dev from the room and he was gone from their sight. Anna sagged slightly as the spell drained her energy after it. The soldiers streamed in, spreading out around her with their weapons raised. There was no time to rest yet.

She turned to face them, pulling two daggers from their hiding place at her back. This was not going to be easy. The first two attacked, she managed to avoid their blades, forcing them to follow her as she darted back. She put a large caldron that hung on a chain between her and her attackers, taking stock of her surroundings as fast as she could. They came at her again and she parried one blow while avoiding the other. Her fist shot out and struck one man in the ribs, driving him into his friend. The two of them fell to the floor.

A third was already on her, and she blocked three rapid blows. For all their drinking, these men were well trained enough to still be deadly. She saw another come up on her left as the one attacking bore down on her. She twisted out from under his attack, crouching low and sweeping her foot out, knocking him to the ground. She struck him in the fleshy space below the bottom of his breastbone with the butt of her knife as he fell, the air leaving his body with a whooshing sound. The fourth was right above her and she brought her blade into the heavy muscle of his thigh, while her other blade caught his sword before it met her flesh. She left the knife in his leg and scooped up the other's sword. There were more coming for her and there was no time to catch her breath.

Three came at her. She lashed out with the heavy sword, sending them scurrying away from her wild swing. She dipped below the closest one's guard and kicked her foot out, landing a punishing blow to his side. He crumpled under the force of it. She drew back from the other two who were now advancing more carefully, fully aware that they were facing a formidable foe. The first two had recovered and were making their way around the large furnace to flank her. Three were still in front of her.