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by Anaka Sedai Loryn Fallyar pulled her warm fur-lined boots over her thick stockings as the final touch to her clothes for the day. She smiled brightly and pulled a silver pendant from under her pillow. She would wait until her brother, Inau, was in the house until she gave him the gift. If she so much as said hello to him in sight of his comrades, he would brush her off. The first time he had dismissed his little sister's affection, she had run in tears to her mother, who had explained to her that even though Inau was in the process of becoming one of the King's Bodyguard and that, in essence, her attentions would not help his image as a master swordsman and a deadly combatant. Her feelings had still been wounded, but she understood. She did not want to be responsible for Inau's rejection. He deserved the honored position, guarding the life of al'Akir Mandragoran, Lord of the Seven Towers, Lord of the Lakes, King of Malkier. Her dear brother was certainly skilled enough and even his private tenderness with his family could not mask the deadly steel of his blue eyes. He would give his life for his King or Queen, and there was not a person who would not know it upon glancing at him. She slipped the pendant around her neck and was about to neatly pull the blankets up over her bed when she heard shouting outside. She frowned. Living on the verge of the Blight, there was often shouting. Trollocs were not new. They did not often get to Malkier itself, but she had seen a brutal raid only several days ago, in the settlement where she had bought the silver pendant. "Loryn!" Her mother burst into the room. "Loryn, we go south." "What?!" Loryn clutched the pendant. "Why?" she asked. "The Shadow is coming," her mother replied, grabbing her wrist. "Where's Inau?" Loryn shouted. With the King... he would die! "No! Mother, he'll die! Mother!" "Loryn!" Her mother's full-handed slap left a red mark on the girl's cheek. "Loryn." The woman's voice was intense, fearful. "We must go. If we do not, we will all die." "I've got to help him," Loryn pleaded, trying to wrest her hand from her mother's strong grasp. "At least let me give him this pendant." "Absolutely not. Your father has your horse saddled. Come with me." "No!" Tears streaked her face as the shouting grew louder. Her mother pulled her through the apartments. "I've got to say goodbye to Inau..." "Inau knows that you love him," her mother said. "I still have to see him!" Loryn screamed, wrenching her wrist painfully from her mother's strong fingers and dashing the other way. She quickly got lost in the throngs of people. The deeper she went into the heart of the fortress, the more the silence pressed in around her. Everyone was leaving, as quickly as they could go. But there would still be some... To stand against the Shadow so long as iron is hard and stone abides. The defend the Malkieri while one drop of blood remains. To avenge what cannot be defended. al'Akir Mandragoran, Peace favor his name forever, would defend the barest bones of his country, and with him, her brother. Then, resonating through the silence: footsteps. "We won't stop until we reach Fal Moran," she heard her brother's voice say in an encouraging tone. The cry of a babe split the air. Loryn followed them, staying close to the walls and in the shadows, curious. Firstly, that her brother was not with the King and secondly, that the cries of a baby could be heard clearly above the rattling of swords and armor. In the stableyard, the men - twenty of them, all recognized as the best of the best in the Kig's Bodyguard - mounted up. One had a bundle strapped to his chest. "To Fal Moran," her brother said again, drawing his sword from the scabbard with a chilling hiss. "Do not fight unless you have to. We are to get Dai Shan to Fal Moran alive! Do you all understand?" Loryn snatched a horse from the stable and threw on a hasty bridle. By the time she had booted the creature out of the stable, the Bodyguard was gone. She heeled the gelding after them. She would ride with them to Fal Moran. She was not a blademaster, but she was Malkieri - reason enough to give her lifeblood to defend the babe of al'Akir and el'Leanna, nephew of Lain Mandragoran. She rode the gelding through the cloud of dust kicked up by the twenty men guarding the baby. Her horse snorted and shied to the left suddenly, causing her to lose her seat. Desperately, she wrapped her fingers through a chunk of flying mane. The thundering was all around - the thunder of retreat in front of her, the thunder of the Shadow's hunters behind. The hunters grew ever louder, the guttural syllables of the Trolloc language tearing her ears apart and making her mount go mad. Now she rode with only half of her heart in protecting Lan Mandragoran. Now she rode for her life. "Inau!" she tried to scream, but it only came out as a strangled sob. Ever closer... "INAU!" And then the ground rushed up to her as her horse's front legs buckled. She saw horse, sky, ground, sky again, and ground... and the thunder came ever closer. She covered her head and curled up in a ball on the dusty ground as the thunder passed over. Thud, thud, thud, thud. The Fal Moran rider's horse trotted evenly over the dead ground, slicing through the chilly air. His eyes were peeled for demons of the ever-encroaching Shadow, but what they saw saddened even the seasoned Borderland soldier deeply. He dismounted the battle stallion to turn the girl's battered body over. Gently, he pulled the lids down over eyes that had died during the height of terror. "The last embrace of the Mother welcome you home," he said softly. As he began to turn away, a glint caught his eye. He picked up the silver pendant from the child's hand; it looked as if it had been torn off her neck somehow. His eyes read the inscription: To Inau Fallyar, from his sister Loryn Return to the main page! |
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