Dark Queen: The Cybelline Prophecies

Chapter 69

In the dead of night, two riders thundered down the road. Norian looked behind him in fear of the army while Anera rode with Jasreth in tow.

They stopped to rest after three hours of hard riding. Jasreth looked at Anera as she jumped off the horse, "Why do you still follow him? You know he would turn on you if you had no value."

Anera frowned but did not answer. Jasreth continued, "He is the cruelest of my brothers."

"He loves me." Anera hissed, desperately holding onto the last shred of denial.

"Love is a weakness that royalty can not afford" Jasreth said softly, "We were born to a life destined for blood and power. How could mere love compare to that?"

Anera dragged him off the horse and onto the grass, "If you open your mouth one more time I'll cut out your tongue." She walked away quickly, as if demons were at her heels.

"Did anyone follow?" Norian huffed, he drained his skein of water and snatched Anera's.

Anera looked at her empty hands, "No." She said quietly. 

She watched as the rumpled lord gulped down the water. He was not the handsome, confident master who smiled at her as if she was the only one in the world who mattered. Fear reeked off of him, there was blood and dirt on all of his clothes.

"So what now? Am I going back to Londaros with you?" Anera asked, "Will you still marry me, my love?"

"What?" Norian looked at her incredulously and grinned with savage cruelty, "Are you mad? You have nothing. You're a war criminal. You're lucky I don't send your head back on a platter to that Bitch Queen of Spies. From now on you'll be my servant. If you're good I won't beat you. Too much" With that, he backhanded her viciously across the face. She fell backwards onto the grass. Seeing her suffer lessened the anger he had felt about tonight.

Anera paled and wiped the blood from her lips, "Do I mean so little to you?"

"You mean nothing to me." Norian threw the skein at her, "More water. Now."

Anera grabbed the skein and walked towards the river, passing by Jasreth, she looked down and whispered, "You were right."

Jasreth hissed, "If you don't want a life of servitude, do as I say."

After a while, Anera shuffled back towards Norian, "What are we going to do with him?"

Norian looked at Jasreth with a sneer, "He's just extra weight. All we need is his head. Now is as a good a time as any."

Jasreth looked up at him, and in his soft voice, admonished, "I'm your brother."

"Half-brother. And an obstacle to the throne." Norian corrected him, "Your death will be a consolation prize for a night gone wrong. Don't worry brother, I'll use your death to start a war with the CIty of Thieves."

"Consider this carefully, Norian. Are you sure this is what you want?" Jasreth looked up at him, his eyes full of sadness.

Norian pulled out a knife, "More than anything. You are a weak, useless thing, not fit for the great kingdom. I will rid our father of such a waste of space."

He swung down the knife. But Jasreth suddenly moved. He grabbed Norian's hand and kicked him hard in the stomach. Flipping the knife, he slashed the bastard lord across the belly.

Norian stumbled and clutched his stomach, "you..how?"

Anera came up and stood beside Jasreth.

Norian's eyes narrowed, "What did he promise you?"