Charlotte Boyett-Compo - The Shadowlord

The WindLegends Saga
Book I: Windkeeper
Book II: Windseeker
Book III: Windweeper
Book IV: Windhealer
Book V: Windreaper
Book VI: Winddreamer
Book VII: Windbeliever
Book VIII: Winddeceiver
Book IX: Windretriever
Book X: Windschemer

They gathered in the forest well beyond the scope of the keep's battlements. It would not do to have the Elders privy to their meeting. Overhead, the aureate light cast from the swollen moon lit a latticework pathway through the tops of the tall firs. Glistening mist pebbled the air and settled on the skin like a cool silk sleeve. At the entrance to the deeply shadowed forest, a sentry held her position, zealously inspecting each of the new arrivals as they made their way to the meeting place. Far to the north, a lone wolf prayed his devotions to the heavenly body sailing high above and lent an eerie blessing to those gathered.

It had never been Aradia Lykopis' intention to lead this ragtag bunch of malcontents. She would have been happy to let others lead, she to follow. She had, after all, much more to lose than any of the other women. Her mother's ire alone, should she find out what her eldest daughter was about, could be enough to cause Aradia untold misery.

Aradia knew her group was necessary. The Elders were growing harsher in their laws: making statues to prevent friendly relations with outsiders; ordering it illegal to leave the tribe and seek companionship outside the strict laws of the Sisterhood. Those who opposed the stringent new dictates had broken away and formed the group that now met in secret beyond the keen eye of the Elders. What they hoped to accomplish had yet to be decided, but each knew there had to be a calmer, easier way to live than by the austere rules that held them virtual prisoners to the Elders' way of thinking. Now there was talk of going to war again, and those agreeing with Aradia's and her group's way of thinking were set against such harsh measures. Peacemakers would be needed to soothe the Elders--if possible--and Aradia had been chosen to lead the way in procuring an end to the talk of war.

Sitting on a fallen tree trunk beside the campfire, Aradia stared moodily into the flames, seeing there a future that, to her, did not seem all that reassuring. A foreboding premonition of doom had followed her all day, and she shivered now and again as her uneasiness reminded her the premonition was still there. Idly poking at the fire with a twisted stick, she stirred the chips of glowing scarlet wood, her actions sending burning motes into the night air.

Hearing an excited murmur of voices, Aradia glanced up from her morose mind-wanderings to see her half-sister, Kydoime, heading purposely toward her. There was an arrogant jut to Ky's already-firm jaw and a steely glint in her black eyes. Her walk--actually more a strut--spoke volumes for her state of mind.

Aradia let out a long, heartfelt, and weary sigh. "What now?" she asked as she came to her feet.

There was no preamble, no softening of the blow. There never was. Kydoime Valsca took great pains to be as precise in her deliverance of bad news as her half-sister was circuitous. "The bastardly Rysalians have taken our sister Orithia captive."

Gasps of disbelief and groans of horror flitted among those gathered. The word "war" was whispered, and every eye turned hopefully, expectantly to their leader.

The news had been as bad as Aradia had expected, but she had not--could not have--anticipated the grief such tidings would cause. "Where was she that they could take her?"

"The Rysalians raided the retreat house at Cascadia. Orithia and two of her friends, Marpe and Iphito, were there on pilgrimage."

"Oh, by the Goddess, this is bad news, indeed!" someone groaned.

"War is imminent now," another said.

"Not necessarily. Where were they taken, Ky?" Aradia asked. Already her heart felt heavy with dread.

"Iphito managed to escape and get word to us. She says our sister and her friend were taken to the slave market in Asaraba." Ky spat the name as if it were a fetid taste she wished to expel from her mouth. Her lips twisted in an ugly sneer. "I am told slave girls are chained like beasts and led naked through the streets to the jeers of the crowd. They are sold to the highest bidder."

Grunts of shock and several moans came from those assembled.

Expecting no less from their enemies, Aradia nodded. "Tell me of this place."

"The slave pens in Asaraba are filled to overflowing with cages that are little more than pig sties and twice as hellish. Only the slave quarters at Abbadon are worse."

"It may not be as bad as it seems, Sisters," Phillipa Telamon said. "Once it is learned that Orithia is of royal blood, she will not be sold on the auction block. She will be kept apart from the others by the Chief Procurer and held at Bennu Keep for ransom."

"How do you know so much about this?" Ky asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Think you Orithia is the first Amazeen taken captive by the Rysalians?" Phillipa questioned. "How do you think they knew about the retreat house? Do you think that was the first time they had gone scavenging there? Many of our gold sovereigns have lined Rysalian coffers through the years."

"Then why isn't the retreat house better protected?" Ky retaliated.

"It has been many years since the last time this happened. Perhaps security has become lax. Who knows?"

"This is why talk of war has re-emerged in the Council of the Elders," Ky said. "We can not allow such injustices to continue unabated!"

"Our sister is the first taken in many years, Ky," Aradia reminded her. "We need not go to war simply to get her back."

Ky turned her full attention to her half-sister. "You are our leader, Lykopis. What course of action must we take?"

Aradia flinched. "What do you suggest?"

"Let the Elders handle this," Ulivia Helioposis suggested. "They are accustomed to dealing with men--we are not. The payment of a ransom demand seems the wisest course of action."

"It galls me to give the Rysalians anything," Phillipa said firmly. "But what else can we do?"

"We send someone after them, of course!" Ky stated. "One woman can slip in and out as swiftly as quicksilver and be done with it. I can not stomach giving one copper rueling to those Rysalian pigs, either!"