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Authors: Jenna Helland
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they could say to her as well.
“We caught the perpetrator!” the guard said. “He was leaving another head—in the king’s bed chamber!”
Cymede was not expecting that news. But she was a master of control, and her face betrayed no emotion.
“Well, then,” she said. “Take me to him.”
The full legion of the Meletian Army wasn’t due to arrive at Akros for a week. Elspeth and her companions accompanied the fast-traveling Battlewise contingent and arrived in three days. Including Anthousa and her Setessan warriors, the vanguard army numbered only a hundred soldiers. When they reached the ridgeline above Akros, their first sight of the city was a shock. From their vantage point, the minotaur’s fortification looked like a black noose around the city. Black smoke burned north of the wall where the tributary fed the large estates—that was where Nikka’s home was located. Between the ridge and the fortification lay the flatlands, already a battlefield with burned caravans and unburied dead, killed by the approaching hordes. Nikka jumped off her horse and stared down at the flatlands in horror.
“You shouldn’t have brought her here,” Daxos said.
“This is her home,” Elspeth said. “And she’s not a child. She doesn’t need to be shielded from the truth.”
The vanguard force set up camp on the ridge overlookingthe polis. At night the black noose transformed into a ring of fire as the minotaurs lit pyres inside their fortification. The mood inside the Meletian camp was tense. The Meletian general had disagreed with Daxos’s call for action and dismissed Anthousa’s opinions as irrelevant. With no contact with King Anax, the general decided the best thing to do was wait for reinforcements, either from Meletis or from the wandering Akroan army, which should have already returned in aid of their city.
Anthousa, Elspeth, Daxos, and Nikka were inside their tent. Anthousa and Daxos argued while Nikka brooded alone. Elspeth worried about Nikka while trying to keep Anthousa and Daxos from taking out their frustration on each other.
“The general is not interested in Setessa’s position—” Anthousa fumed when she was interrupted by a voice outside the tent. Someone requested entry. It was a female voice, and Anthousa opened the door flap to let her inside. A slender figure in a dark cloak stepped inside the tent. When she pushed back her hood, Nikka fell to her knees. The other three were surprised by Nikka’s reaction and stood awkwardly behind her.
“Queen Cymede!” Nikka said. “What are you doing here?”
“Please stand,” Cymede said. “I have spoken with your general, and he sent me here.”
Daxos and Elspeth exchanged a look. “Would you like to sit? Can we offer you something?” Daxos asked.
“There is no time,” Cymede said. “The minotaurs have blocked every way in or out of the city—except I know a secret way. There are tunnels above the Deyda River Gorge, but only an elementalist can make use of them. The Deyda rejects all other attempts to tame her.”
Nikka’s eyes widened. “You came through the gorge?” she asked in disbelief.
“What can we do to help you?” Daxos asked.
“Even before the siege, my husband was struggling,” she said. “He’d believed he was under some kind of curse. Each day, we would find the severed head of a creature somewhere in the Kolophon. No matter the number of guards, the culprit placed it without being discovered. We consulted oracles and mercenaries alike.”
“What sort of creatures?” Anthousa asked.
“Nyxborn,” Cymede told her.
“Did you find out who was tormenting your husband?” Daxos asked.
“I believed it to be mystical,” she said, “but it was much more mundane. We caught a satyr sneaking into his chambers. He is some sort of mage who’s able to cloak himself and move unhindered, or at least I believe that’s how he operates. We have him locked up in a cell under the fortress.”
“With everything
“We caught the perpetrator!” the guard said. “He was leaving another head—in the king’s bed chamber!”
Cymede was not expecting that news. But she was a master of control, and her face betrayed no emotion.
“Well, then,” she said. “Take me to him.”
The full legion of the Meletian Army wasn’t due to arrive at Akros for a week. Elspeth and her companions accompanied the fast-traveling Battlewise contingent and arrived in three days. Including Anthousa and her Setessan warriors, the vanguard army numbered only a hundred soldiers. When they reached the ridgeline above Akros, their first sight of the city was a shock. From their vantage point, the minotaur’s fortification looked like a black noose around the city. Black smoke burned north of the wall where the tributary fed the large estates—that was where Nikka’s home was located. Between the ridge and the fortification lay the flatlands, already a battlefield with burned caravans and unburied dead, killed by the approaching hordes. Nikka jumped off her horse and stared down at the flatlands in horror.
“You shouldn’t have brought her here,” Daxos said.
“This is her home,” Elspeth said. “And she’s not a child. She doesn’t need to be shielded from the truth.”
The vanguard force set up camp on the ridge overlookingthe polis. At night the black noose transformed into a ring of fire as the minotaurs lit pyres inside their fortification. The mood inside the Meletian camp was tense. The Meletian general had disagreed with Daxos’s call for action and dismissed Anthousa’s opinions as irrelevant. With no contact with King Anax, the general decided the best thing to do was wait for reinforcements, either from Meletis or from the wandering Akroan army, which should have already returned in aid of their city.
Anthousa, Elspeth, Daxos, and Nikka were inside their tent. Anthousa and Daxos argued while Nikka brooded alone. Elspeth worried about Nikka while trying to keep Anthousa and Daxos from taking out their frustration on each other.
“The general is not interested in Setessa’s position—” Anthousa fumed when she was interrupted by a voice outside the tent. Someone requested entry. It was a female voice, and Anthousa opened the door flap to let her inside. A slender figure in a dark cloak stepped inside the tent. When she pushed back her hood, Nikka fell to her knees. The other three were surprised by Nikka’s reaction and stood awkwardly behind her.
“Queen Cymede!” Nikka said. “What are you doing here?”
“Please stand,” Cymede said. “I have spoken with your general, and he sent me here.”
Daxos and Elspeth exchanged a look. “Would you like to sit? Can we offer you something?” Daxos asked.
“There is no time,” Cymede said. “The minotaurs have blocked every way in or out of the city—except I know a secret way. There are tunnels above the Deyda River Gorge, but only an elementalist can make use of them. The Deyda rejects all other attempts to tame her.”
Nikka’s eyes widened. “You came through the gorge?” she asked in disbelief.
“What can we do to help you?” Daxos asked.
“Even before the siege, my husband was struggling,” she said. “He’d believed he was under some kind of curse. Each day, we would find the severed head of a creature somewhere in the Kolophon. No matter the number of guards, the culprit placed it without being discovered. We consulted oracles and mercenaries alike.”
“What sort of creatures?” Anthousa asked.
“Nyxborn,” Cymede told her.
“Did you find out who was tormenting your husband?” Daxos asked.
“I believed it to be mystical,” she said, “but it was much more mundane. We caught a satyr sneaking into his chambers. He is some sort of mage who’s able to cloak himself and move unhindered, or at least I believe that’s how he operates. We have him locked up in a cell under the fortress.”
“With everything
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