Beyond the Hell Cliffs (19 page)

“And he too fell to Brimgor?”

“No, we were all done with Brimgor,” Helkree said.  “I was not born in the time of Lethnil, the 96
th
Agillean, but before he was given his honor Brimgor had been deemed an exile and was forgotten by most.  Lethnil was killed by the Gold-Bearded Prince during the last invasion.  The 97
th
Agillean succumbed to illness when I was young.  It was a bad way to go for such as he, but it happens, I guess.  Allstay became the 98
th
Agillean shortly after his predecessor became ill.”

“It sounds like you know a lot about him,” Raegith said
, flinching at the mention of his father.  “If it weren’t for the awful way you treated him, I would think you even admire him.”

“I did… once,” Helkree said.  “That was a long time ago, when I was younger… and dumber.  I don’t want to talk about this anymore. 
It’s three days to the Citadel and the Gimlets are waiting for us up the trail.”

“The Gimlets?
  What the hell happened to them?” Raegith asked.

“Gimlets are weaklings.  They did what they always do when they think they’re doomed for: they got the fuck out of there. 
Probably why the little bastards live so long.”

Chapter 16

T
he three from Rellizbix stood in a darkly-painted hall lit by braziers hanging from the ceiling that held green flames.  The black walls and deep purple drapes and rugs were much different than what he had imagined of royalty.  The decorations were grim and macabre and all of the colors were dark.  They were flanked by guards in full armor and carrying long, barbed pikes.  Statues of warriors and demons lined the walls and a large, decorative throne sat before them. Just hours ago they were sitting a mile outside the Citadel, waiting on Fibbitch to return.

Fibbitch and the rest of the Gimlets took them the rest of the way to the Citadel without much incident, although Zakk and Ebriz were concerned about how quickly the Gimlets vanished once trouble arose in the Outpost.  Fibbitch tried to explain that he was trying to go get help from the Empress, but even if he was telling the truth, Raegith was willing to bet that he wouldn’t have survived that long had Brimgor not saved them.  Helkree did not elaborate on how she knew the exiled warrior or how she managed to bribe him into intervening… or when.

Just as the Citadel came into view, Fibbitch took them off the trail and hid them near a rocky formation.

“Cannot bring Pasties into the city like this,” he explained.  “Fibbitch go into Citadel, inform
Empress first.  If not, Rathgar maybe kill you all on sight.  So stay here and be quiet.”

“I was beginning to wonder what that little turd’s plan was for getting you into the Citadel,” Helkree replied after the Gimlets left.  “So you really do have an audience with the Empress?  Are we taking in
rejects from the North or something now?”

“I just have a message for her, that’s all.  We’re in a time of peace, so it should not be so odd for a message to be sent to the Empress, right?” Raegith asked.

“Yes, it is odd… and peace?  Are you kidding me?  Maybe in your land there is peace, but never in the Greimere.  There is always fighting here; fighting over resources, land, trinkets.  Then when things look the worst, every male who is not too old, too young or too noble gets rounded up and sent to die in the north, all to ransack a few villages and bring back enough goods for the survivors to live off for another few years.”

Helkree leaned her head back against the rock she was sitting beside.

“Peace has no meaning here, Raegith,” she said.

After a few hours, a covered carriage in all black and purple came down the trail flanked by heavily armed guards.  It pulled off the road and Raegith saw that Fibbitch was leading it to them.  Helkree became very nervous and cursed under her breath as they drew closer. 

“Well, I guess this is it, then?” Ebriz asked, rubbing his hands together with anxiousness.  “They’re either going to take us to the Empress or take us to a dungeon, I suppose.”

“These things are cowards,” Zakk said.  “They would not harm envoys from Rellizbix.  We are their lifeline and killing us would be a declaration of war… real war.  They won’t do that.”

“But would Rellizbix really annihilate them?” Ebriz countered.  “We would not be in this situation if the king were not in need of these people, either.”

“We have the king’s son with us,” Zakk replied.  “We’re not expendable assets.”

“Bastard son, you mean,” Raegith laughed. 

The assembly pulled up to their hiding spot and a guard came out to see them into the carriage.  The armored Rathgar stopped as they came out and became very
upset.

“Take that off!” the guard bellowed, pointing at Helkree with his spear.  Helkree stood unmoving.  “Take it off or I will rip it from you!”

“It’s going to take more than you,” Helkree replied, flatly.

“Brakken, teach this wench the law!” the guard said, waving one of the others forward.

The guard named Brakken eagerly approached Helkree and swung his spear down at her head.  Raegith yelled at him to stop, but Helkree ducked under the blow, stepped into the guard and drove a knife she had hidden on her deep into the underside of his chin and up into his brain.  The guard twitched and dropped the spear, crumpling to the ground as blood pooled underneath him.  The lead guard roared and the other three circled around her.

Raegith pulled his dagger free and stood in front of Helkree, causing Zakk to arm herself as well.

“Stop,” he said to the guard, anxiously looking from him to Helkree and back.  “Soldier, we are the envoy expected by the Empress!  Is she so understanding a ruler that she will forgive you for shedding the blood of her guests?”

“You… uh, what?” the guard asked, completely perplexed.  “You speak like we do?  It does not matter!  We are quite familiar with this whelp.
”

“Are you familiar with me?” Raegith asked.  He pointed at Zakk.  “What about her
?  I’ll introduce you, then.  We are three from the North who are no stranger to death and if you push this fight, we will make you work for it… and then you will return home, whoever is left, to explain yourselves before the Empress.  Now I ask you… is it worth it?”

The guard seemed genuinely perplexed by the whole situation and his hesitation was already spreading to the men.

Finally he acted.  “Flee while you can, Whore of Edge.  I will find you soon enough and bend your iron.  You three… into the carriage.  And no more words from you in our tongue.  It’s too strange.”

The guards lowered their weapons and the leader barked at the ones from Rellizbix to hurry and enter the carriage.  Helkree came up behind Raegith and whispered into his ear.

“Take the same route back from the Citadel and I will find you.  I have a feeling you’ll need me before you’re through with this place.”

“I appreciate it,” Raegith replied, smiling back at her.  There was moment where Helkree just looked at him, hesitating as if she might say something else.  In the next instant she was gone, sprinting off into the distance before the guard
s could change their mind.

Now the three of them were standing inside the palace of the Empress, awaiting her appearance so that they could present the scroll that would reignite the habitual war between his people and hers.  Despite the anxiety that Ebriz expressed the entire way in to the Citadel, it seemed as if everything were going to be alright.  When the guard backed down at Raegith’s words, he felt a surge of power inside himself.  He had some bit of authority in this place.  As Zakk put it, the Greimere needed his arrival and they were never in any harm once the Empress’ people had them.  Raegith wondered why the carriage was not sent all the way to the Hell Cliffs to ensure their arrival, but that was all hindsight, now.  Raegith reasoned that he would not have any of the knowled
ge he now possessed had his escort been stricter.

From an entryway in the back of the room, a girl appeared that
was unlike anything Raegith had ever seen.  She was short and slender, like a Twileen, but her skin was dark blue and instead of hair, her head was engulfed in green flames that flickered up from her skull.  Her green eyes burned with the same ferocity and she had a tail that flipped back and forth behind her, with a tip that resembled a spearhead.  She was dressed in tribal-like clothing that was little more than a pair of wide strips hanging from her waist in the front and back and a triangular strip over her bird-like chest.  She walked so lightly that it appeared as if she stepped on the air just above the ground.

“Envoys from the North, welcome,” she said in the Rellizbix tongue.  “I am Beretta, the Empress Kalystra of Black Talon’s vassal and interpreter.  Please bow deeply as you receive the Empress of Greimere.”

Raegith bent forward to match the actions of the guards to his side.  Ebriz and Zakk imitated him, although Zakk hesitated for an uncomfortable amount of time.  Paladins only bowed before the King, from what Hemmil had told him and Zakk surely still felt herself bound by that rule, despite her chance at becoming one being forever lost.

Empress Kalystra was a Rathgar female, but she was much daintier than Helkree.  She did not have the muscle definition or rugged stature as the outlaw girl.  The Empress was more like the Saban women who worked alongside his mother, at least what he could remember of them before he was taken away.  Her body was made up of soft curves and pampered skin that was lighter than other Rathgar he had seen.  She wore make-up that darkened her eyes and her black hair was pulled up into an intricate design that resembled a splayed eagle’s claw curling out around her face.  Unlike her vassal, she wore silky robes that were so thin they revealed the bare skin beneath each time they grazed her body.
  Her immodest attire was more suitable for preparing a bath than accepting guests, but she walked to her throne and sat before them nonetheless.

“I was expecting there to be more of you,” she said in a voice that was full of boredom.  “I was also expecting goods.  My father said they always bring goods when they come.  I don’t see any goods.”

The girl named Beretta interpreted for her and Ebriz looked up at Raegith as they rose from their bow.  He handed the scroll off to the prince and nodded to the Empress.

“Your highness, if that’s what you prefer to be called, I am afraid we do not have much…” Raegith began before the Empress straightened up in her chair and looked at him with renewed interest.  She held up her hand for him to stop talking and looked over at Beretta.

“What is this, Beretta?” she squawked, her voice losing the tedium it had before.  “This one with the green hair speaks our tongue?”

Beretta shrugged her shoulders, apparently much less excited by the surprise than the Empress.  The Empress turned back to Raegith.

“You speak as we do?  How?  Is this normal?”

“I, uh… I was gifted with the knowledge from… uh, someone powerful… here in the Greimere,” Raegith stuttered, thrown off by her change in demeanor.  She had instantly gone from an exotic and mysterious ruler to what felt like a giddy teenage girl in seconds.

“Who?  Who taught you to speak like me?  Us, I mean.  How long have you been practicing?  You’re pretty good!”

“Empress…” Beretta whispered, giving her a puzzled look.  The Empress gathered herself and leaned back in her chair, dropping back into the bored version he had first seen.

“Not that it matters, much.  You’re here for a purpose and nothing more.  Let’s get on with it, shall we?” she said, looking Raegith over with barely contained curiosity.  “You’ve got something for me there?  I’m not one for extravagant ceremonies or anything, so let’s just get down to business.  My father prepared me for this day, you know.”

“I’m sure he did,
your highness,” Raegith replied, smiling at her.  She, in turn, frowned in confusion.  “Here is the declaration from King Helfrick Caelum.  If your father has prepared you for this, then I can assume you know what’s in here.”

“
You can,” the Empress replied, letting Beretta take the scroll from Raegith and present it to her.

The Empress lazily unscrewed the top of the tube and dumped the parchment out onto her lap unceremoniously.  Beretta hissed at her, but the ruler waved her off with annoyance and unrolled the scroll, looking over it.  For a few moments she remained unexcited, but suddenly she sat up and studied a part of the scroll earnestly.  She shook her head and reread the part that was giving her trouble,
then called Beretta over to look at it.  The vassal read the entire scroll and looked up at the three from Rellizbix.  Ebriz shuffled nervously and even Zakk looked anxious.

“Is there something out of place?” Raegith asked, growing anxious as well.  “If you’re wondering about the gifts we were supposed to have with us, there was a mishap that can be easily cleared up once I return…”

“Restrain them!” The Empress called out to her guards.

Before Zakk could unsheathe her sword, the guard next to her
grabbed her by the arms and held them at her waist.  Ebriz and Raegith soon found themselves handled in a similar fashion.  Other guards rushed in and lowered their pikes at the three of them.  Zakk began cursing and would not stop, while Ebriz simply bemoaned their situation and insisted they should have stayed home in bed.

“Empress,
may I ask what has prompted this?” Raegith asked.  “We came here in good faith… to deliver a message that you should be altogether familiar with.  Your father, surely he can clear this up if he was around for the previous war.”

“The previous Emperor is dead, Green-hair,” the Empress said.  For some reason, her face was nearly as full of fear and confusion as the rest of them.  “And you are wrong.  This message is completely unexpected.  There is an addition to the normal declaration… instructions, actually.”

“Yes, instructions to rally for war!  That is normal, is it not?”

“The instructions are fo
r me to claim an extra incentive… for killing the members of the party that delivers this scroll,” the Empress answered.

“That can’t be,” Raegith turned to Ebriz and Zakk.  “She says the scroll… it’s telling her to kill us for an extra reward.
”

The Empress handed the scroll to Beretta who read aloud in the Rellizbix language.

“Furthermore, there is an increasing concern over the secrecy of our mutual agreement.  In order to ensure the continued success of our partnership, I ask that you execute the members of this envoy upon receipt of this declaration as to prevent the possibility of their return going noticed.  Your compensation for this favor will be in the form of an additional three carts of fine items provided for the nobility of the Greimere Empire.  Our continued business depends on this extra measure and I expect you will embrace this opportunity for carnage.  Enjoy yourselves and secure your continued prosperity by the grace of my rule.