Freya's Freedom (The Tower and the Eye Book 3) (4 page)

“Except what?” Freya stroked her horse’s neck, absently plaiting a few strands of his mane.

“The Empress died recently. There isn’t much contact between the Jinran Council and the Court of Elysia, so I doubt you would have heard about it.” Lin sighed. “I need to find the heir before I return.”

“Why are you involving me in this?” Freya glanced around.
Where’s that damn Paladin when I really need him?

“I believe you are the one who Lin is seeking,” Kraarz said.

“And how do you know that?” Freya raised one elegantly shaped eyebrow.

“My companion spirit told me,” Kraarz smiled an expression that made Freya feel mildly anxious. “Vox inhabits the otherworld, the one between the Summerlands and the Human World. As a result, Vox can see what everyone was, is and will be. Vox told me that
you
are the one Lin is seeking.”

“My name is Freya of Jira. I am travelling to meet my brother, Sir Grald at the next village.” She folded her arms. “I have no idea who you are talking about, but I am an orphan, alone, apart from Grald.”

Kraarz frowned, his eyes sparkling red in the darkening afternoon.

“Vox is never wrong.”

Lin placed her hand on Kraarz’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry Kraarz. It may be that she will lead us to the heir, rather than actually being the heir. May we travel with you?”

Kraarz opened his mouth to say something, but Lin shook her head slightly, so he shut it again.

“You are welcome to join me on the journey to Jinra. I have no objection to having new companions.” Freya smiled.
At least if they are with me, they are not trailing behind me. That would be creepy.

“But I have an objection, my Lady.” Vrenstalliren’s voice echoed off the stone buildings around them.

Freya sighed.
What now?

Vrenstalliren strode over and stood in front of her.

“As your Guardian, I must protest. We know nothing of these people. They could be slavers from Giranath for all you know.”

Freya held back a groan.

“I didn’t ask you to be my guardian, you appointed yourself.”

The elven Paladin ignored her. “What exactly do you want?” he demanded of the pair. “An elite Elysian Warrior and an Urakh Shaman is an odd pairing and I am surprised that Master Groilin allows you to stay here.”

The silence was deafening.

Freya closed her eyes.
This is going to get nasty. I can feel it.

“So can I.”
Korettln nudged the back of her shoulder.
“How about you and I go for a ride together? They should have finished fighting by the time we get back.”

Freya’s full-throated laugh surprised the others in the yard and they all looked straight at her. For a moment, she panicked.
What do I do now?

* * *

The situation in Jiren had a number of interested parties watching…

From I’Mor Barad, the Aracan Katuvana and the Jar watched eagerly as the Urakh Shaman began to incant.

“Would my Lord like to place a small wager on the outcome of the coming skirmish?” the Jar remarked as the Elysian warrior took up a stronger stance in front of the Elf.

The Aracan Katuvana snapped his fingers and a small pile of gold coins appeared in front of the window. He sorted them into three piles and with a gesture created an image of the people the money was on, sitting them on top of the relevant pile.

The Jar grinned. “Excellent idea, Lord. I shall match that and we’ll see what happens.” There was a shimmer and matching piles of gold appeared next to Katuvana’s.

The window next to the one they were watching lit up and the Lych Mistress appeared.

“Lord, Sir Grald has set off for his mission.” She paused and took in the scene. “Are you wagering on something, my most handsome of Lords?”

“Yes, Lady Lych. The elven Paladin travelling with Sir Grald’s sister has got himself into a spot of bother with an Elite Elysian Warrior and an Urakh Shaman in Jiren,” the Jar replied, his eye fixed upon the scene playing out on the main window.

The Lych Mistress did something outside her window, studied it and a sexy smile spread over her ripe lips. “My, my. I never thought my brother would have the guts to do something like this. Mother would kill him… figuratively speaking, of course; my goody, goody mother never even raised her voice to us.”

“That is your brother?” the Jar said as Katuvana turned to look at her.

“Oh yes. Vrenstalliren was a baby when I saw him last, still in First Class. I’ll put ten gold on him and double the amount on the others.” She snapped her fingers and the piles of gold appeared beside the ones the Aracan Katuvana had placed.

“You would bet against your brother?”

“Aranok was more of a man than he could ever be,” the Lych Mistress dismissed the Jar’s question. “Besides, he is the enemy now. I am my Lord’s most loyal follower.”

The Aracan made a pleased whistle and with a wave of his hand, a pair of earrings with large rubies in them, appeared in front of the Lych Mistress.

She gasped, flushed and smiled.

“Thank you, Lord! They are divine. I will await your message on the outcome of our wager with pleasure.” Her voice dropped a decibel and she blew a kiss before her window returned to normal.

“I still think she would make an excellent Mistress or even a Wife for you,” the Jar grumbled.

The Aracan Katuvana stared at the Jar and the heat of his gaze from underneath his hood made the Jar quiver on its pedestal.

“Look, Lord. The Paladin is drawing his sword!” the Jar distracted the Aracan Katuvana and breathed a quiet sigh of relief when the gaze was directed at the scene on the window.

* * *

A Blue Banded Hawk perched on the roof of the Golden Dice, her head cocked so that she could watch the fight starting below. Inside her head, a voice was speaking, but she could only understand the emotion of the words and not the content.

“Why is the child just standing there? She needs to stop this. If the next few weeks are to be resolved smoothly, these two need to accompany her, not attack her guardian.”
Calliale’s frustration boiled over and startled the hawk into flapping her wings.
“Sorry, my friend, but I can’t help it! Why is it that Father allows Espilieth to interfere in the Human’s lives and not me?”

The hawk settled again and waggled her tail.

Calliale watched as the Paladin and the Elysian feinted and circled. The Urakh Shaman had finished his incantation and now an amorphous sphere of green light floated over his shoulder.
“Why is an Otherworld Spirit involved in this? Is Vaarzasia trying to influence things?”

The hawk made a soft keeing noise in the back of her throat.

“I know, I know. It’s not her fault that one of her Shamans is here, but they are the best two for the job. They might at least be able to get the child out of there alive.”

The hawk shifted from one foot to the other as the combatants lashed out at each other. Calliale lost sight of the girl as they moved in front of her.
“Damn. Can you get any closer to her?”
The Hawk shook herself.
“Fair enough. I suppose it would look a bit odd if…”

A pulse of jubilation made the Hawk flap rapidly in surprise. She called out and Calliale answered.
“I’ve had an idea…”

* * *

Freya gave up pleading with Vrenstalliren. The elf had ignored her all the way and had drawn his sword on Kraarz when he started incanting, forcing Lin to protect the Shaman. She tried one last time to get through the Paladin’s thick skull.

“Vrenstalliren, all he is doing was proving who he is! There’s no need of this.”

He replied haughtily.

“I’m sorry, my Lady, but I take my responsibilities very seriously. He has committed a hostile action by summoning a possibly evil spirit to…”

Freya rolled her eyes as his visor cut off the rest of his speech. She looked across at Kraarz.

“I’m sorry about this, Kraarz.”

“’Tis not your fault, Lady Freya. Let Lin pound some sense into him. She’s very good at that, I don’t think she’ll hurt him a great deal.” The Urakh looked up at the emerald green ball of light that appeared above his shoulder. “It’s about time you arrived, Vox.”

The light pulsed and Freya heard a clear voice from it inside her head, the same way that she heard Korettln.

“I was busy. I don’t have to hang around you all the time, Kraarz.”

Kraarz laughed.

“Lady Freya, may I introduce Vox, my Otherworld Spirit Companion and general ego deflator.”

The light floated over to Freya as Lin and Vrenstalliren circled in front of her. Freya could see that Lin wasn’t even trying to attack the Paladin, just defending and counterattacking his blows.

“So you are the next Empress of Elysia. I told Kraarz that you were.”
The light’s smug tone made Freya giggle.
“You’re a pretty one as well. It must come from your Father’s side, your mother, aunt and grandmother were all as plain as unseasoned Virax.”

“So you are Vox. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance,” Freya replied, smiling.

“Polite too. Your Grandmother let her position go to her head and it made her and your aunt arrogant. That’s why your parents were banished after their marriage.”
Vox floated back to Kraarz.
“She felt your father’s rank too far beneath your mother.”

“Don’t be insolent, Vox. Lady Freya doesn’t know much about her parents. They were killed when she was small.”

“I know. I talked to them for you, remember?”
Vox settled onto the skull on Kraarz’s staff.
“They asked me to tell you that they love you and your brother, even though he’s gone over to the enemy.”

“What?” Freya’s heart lurched. “What do you mean gone over to the enemy?”

“Whoops! I’ll talk to you about it later. For the moment, you’re going to need to stand up strong and hold still.”
The light pulsed.

“Wh…Why?”

“Just do it!”
Vox snapped.

Freya’s self-preservation instincts, finely honed by her life as a pleasure slave swung into action and she braced herself.

With a scream, a blue-banded hawk swooped out of the sky, grabbed Vrenstalliren’s sword out of his hand, dropped it in front of Freya and circled back towards the Elysian.

Lin dropped her blade point and bowed her head.

“I understand, Lady Calliale, I shall not fight my comrades.”

The Hawk screeched once and flew back to Freya.

“Hold your arm out.”
Vox hissed.

Freya raised her right arm and the hawk dropped lightly onto it. The Hawk didn’t seem to weigh as much as it looked.
Why isn’t my arm torn to shreds by those talons? They have to be a good three inches long.

Lin’s eyes widened and she sheathed her sword hurriedly, before dropping to one knee in front of Freya.

Vrenstalliren stared first at Lin, and then at Freya. His eyes dropped to his sword that lay at Freya’s feet. Finally, he looked up at the massive Hawk on her arm. His jaw dropped.

“Lady Calliale has bestowed her favour upon Lady Freya and from this moment on, I serve only her.” Lin bowed her head and extended her arms, crossing them at the wrists.

“I have to say that this Calliale person knows how to break a fight up with style,”
Korettln said, shaking his mane.

“Um, thank you Lin. I appreciate this.” Freya looked at the Hawk, then at the bouncing bubble of light.
“
What’s going on, Vox?”

“Calliale is the Elven Goddess of Truth. She is bound to act only through her messenger, after she caused the Ten Thousand Clan War in Giranath by upsetting their Chief of Chiefs.”
Vox laughed and its light flickered in time.
“That’s the problem with telling the Truth all the time, sometimes people don’t want to hear it.”

The Hawk shrieked and took off again, disappearing into the clouds.

“See. She doesn’t like it when it’s done to her,”
Vox pulsed once.
“Kraarz, I’ll be back later. Don’t let this happen too often will you?”

“I shall endeavour to keep control of the situation, Vox.” Kraarz bowed his head as Vox winked out.

Vrenstalliren looked confused.

“Fair Maiden. What is going on?”

Freya made a sudden decision.

“Sir Paladin, I have something to tell you and I fear you will not like it.”

He frowned, stooped and retrieved his sword, wiping dirt away from the blade with his cloak.

“Do you wish to speak in private?”

“Yes, Sir Paladin, I do.”

Lin stood up.

“Kraarz and I shall return to the common room, your highness.”

“Thank you, Lin.” Freya smiled and took the elf’s arm. “Walk with me, Prince Vrenstalliren.”

* * *