A Tale of Revenge Ch. 15

"You have not slept," Serena came up behind her, surprising Anna. She turned and looked at the woman beside her.

"A little," Anna said, "though it seems the night has not been as kind to you." Serena looked worn out. There was a heaviness in her step that had not been there the day before, but yesterday she had not taken a man's life. "I hope you are alright," Anna said lamely. She wished she could say something better, but she found she lacked the soft touch for comforting that Serena seemed to have in spades. It seemed unfair that Serena was the one left without the benefit of what she provided to so many others.

Serena nodded and turned her gaze out to the dark scene below them as the sky grew ever brighter above. They stood there in silence, waiting for the fight they knew was coming.

"Did you ever find satisfaction in it?" Serena asked quietly, eyes forward away from Anna.

"No," Anna said shaking her head. "I never did."

"Is that wrong considering what evil you have removed from the world?"

Anna smiled, and turned to Serena, "I will tell you what a wise woman once told me: Our guilt is what separates us from them. It reminds us that we are human and we can feel remorse, while their lack is their weakness. Our compassion is our strength and it is why we will succeed and they will fail."

Serena's lips trembled and a few tears made their way down her cheeks. Anna wrapped her arms around the woman's shoulders, surprised to find that she was much shorter than anticipated. Serena's strength had always made her seem so much more substantial than the smaller woman Anna held now.

"It may not feel like it will ever get better, but we both know it will," Anna said into her warm brown curls. Serena cried into her shoulder, the two women clasped together as the fighting erupted below them.

In the end Rafia's coup was wrapped up in the space of a morning. She and Serena watched it unfold from their perch. Twice Serena sent spells to whisper in Rafia's ear of traps set by the king's guard. It seemed that Serena could make anything out of magic with the right intention, even the sound of her voice. She wove and built her spells as if they were physical things, something Anna wasn't sure she'd ever tire of watching.

Rafia's men disarmed the opposing forces with little loss of life. With the benefit of her perspective, Anna admired his attention to detail and strategy as she watched his men move around below her in well-coordinated attacks. As expected, the king's body was discovered shortly after the fighting began as his forces came to collect him. The duke cursed mightily upon learning of the apparent suicide and the news of it spread, ending what little resistance the king's forces had managed to mount. With no monarch to protect and no champion to lead the charge, the fight was over before it began.

Once the fighting had ended, Anna and Serena left the others to make their way to the main keep, where Rafia was holding council. Marek chose to join them, intent on being useful.

They found the men in good spirits. Rafia was seated at a large desk covered in reports and a small group of scribes sat next to him, making out more orders to be carried off by the waiting men. Anna noted how quickly the excitement of battle gave way to endless responsibilities in administration surrounding prisoners, new government officials, keeping the peace so recently won, and so on. She and Serena kept to the back of the room as he finished speaking with two of his commanders about working with the city guards to restore order and assure the population that there was nothing to fear.

It occurred to Anna that this was the true measure of a leader, one who was willing to take on not only the big, important decisions of governance but also the grueling day-to-day minutia of making sure a country could run. She sighed internally, unsure if she were up to the task.

Rafia noted their presence but waited to clear the room to avoid calling attention to them. Both were wearing the uniforms of palace healers they had borrowed when they left Marek in the infirmary so as not to draw undue notice. When it was just Rafia and Lavis in the room, the two women came forward. Rafia stood as Anna approached but, much to her relief, neither man bowed.

"It is good to see you, your majesty," Rafia said in a low voice. Anna gave him a sharp look.

"For now I believe 'Anna' will do." Her tone did little to hide her discomfort.

Rafia gave her a kind smile. "Surely if you intend to take the throne you must be ready to accept the title of it as well."

Anna let her eyes fall to his reports to cover how flustered she felt. His words sounded too much like Leonid's. "You are speaking to a girl who was a peasant but a week ago. It will take some getting used to." She looked up in time to see him exchange a look with Serena. "But I'm sure this is hardly the time to reveal myself, so I fail to see the point in trying it out just this moment."

Rafia nodded. "It would be unwise until we have secured the capital at least. Though the longer efforts towards peace in the East and rebuilding the kingdom will certainly be bolstered by a rightful heir on the throne."

"We know you are busy and will leave you to that work but we needed to speak with you about the rather mundane issue of housing. There are seven of us in the North tower and no proper living quarters. Since we have established that I won't be taking up residence in the royal suite for the present moment, we need somewhere that is not a work bench or a cell to sleep." Anna gave him a direct look. They both understood the larger issue at work. In a world where magic was largely considered the work of oft-absent gods and the imagination of the superstitious, where did this group of magical individuals fit?

Rafia took a moment to think. "I assume you would like to remain together?" Serena nodded. "Then the best place is the newly vacated royal wing and the family suites." Anna opened her mouth to counter him but he anticipated her, "the barracks will be used for my men, the staff apartments are full and will not be disturbed as far as I know, I will not be taking up residence there in order to set the groundwork for when you are revealed. So in order to give your group the privacy it needs, this seems to be the best option."

Anna looked over at Serena. The older woman laughed and shook her head. "Innis and Rosli will love it."

Anna smiled back. "They do deserve a good bed." She turned back to Rafia. "Thank you, we accept." Her face darkened considerably though as it became time to address the second point of business. "I have to beg a private word, General." Rafia didn't conceal his surprise but he dismissed Commander Lavis and Anna accepted a quick hand squeeze from Serena before she departed the room as well.

"Will you sit?" he asked, gesturing to a chair.

Anna took a seat and Rafia sat across from her. She was nervous to speak to him about what had passed in the days since she had come here. She needed him to understand who she was if he were going to prop her onto the throne she had so recently claimed. He waited patiently while she gathered her thoughts.

"This is hardly the time to have an extended talk about the affairs of the country but there is an urgency that might not be entirely clear from the onset," she began. He gave her a curious look. It occurred to her that her language had changed since she came here, as if she were absorbing the spoken style of those around her. She didn't know if it was her magic or her own skill at mimicking others. Either way, she would contemplate it later. "But I need to know what place you intend to hold in the new regime."

Rafia took a moment and nodded. "Of course," he leaned forward on the table, his arms resting on the dark grain that matched his own skin. "I came here intending to overthrow the king and see the transition to a new government. Admittedly I had hoped for someone of royal descent for the throne but it seemed a minor consideration in the larger scheme. I have little desire to rule as king." He looked at her, assessing where the inquiry was coming from on her part and guessing correctly. "But I did not intend to simply conquer and leave the state to its own devices."

She nodded, grateful at the response. It would have to be enough. Leonid trusted his sister who trusted Rafia, this and her own short acquaintance with the man, would have to be enough.

"It is difficult to speak of. The last few months have been very strange but I think you should know what has passed here before you decide to back my claims to the throne."

Rafia sat straighter, "I have already made that decision. Your identity has been confirmed by several of the soldiers in the King's Guard who were sent to your village and the Duke will be convinced to confirm that you were sentenced to die as a traitor because of it. There should be no difficulty in establishing your lineage with their testimony."

Anna shook her head. "That is not what I mean," she hadn't even considered the legality of her claim. "As I said, I was a peasant, my family farmers, until the king sent his men. I am not educated beyond what I learned from my grandparents who were lucky enough to attend a real school. When I came here I was a prisoner. I have no knowledge of the court or politics or any basics of governance." She paused, wondering if she were trying to convince him to back away from his position.

Rafia smiled at her kindly. "I understand your position, though it is a unique one. But everything you mentioned can be learned. None of it is reason for you to step away from your birthright."

Anna looked away from him, clenching her jaw before she spoke again. "The king and his agents killed my family and everyone I'd ever known when they came to my village. I set off after these men with nothing but vengeance in my heart. When I was captured, they spent days attempting to break me down as much as they could, for magic, information, for the simple pleasure of causing pain. They killed the only person left in the world I loved in front of me." She didn't look back to him, but it was crucial that the man who would ostensibly be running the country understand that she was not what she seemed. "I have flirted with the edge of a very dark place and that has not been reconciled." She found the courage to look back at him. "At the very least, it will take time."

His face was serious, as if trying to keep more turbulent emotions from showing. It was a long moment before he spoke. "My soldiers have seen and done things that will likely haunt them for a long time. I do not intend to compare the experiences but the point remains: if the need to heal were a cause for dismissal we would have no army left. The soldiers who cannot perform or have grown too violent, they must be removed, but in my experience those who know they need to mend usually do." He looked at her, his tone was careful but she appreciated his thoughtfulness. "If you believe that you will heal, then I find my support for you only bolstered by that. This country needs a monarch who will help them do the same. Who better than someone who has personal experience?"

She looked at him squarely, choosing against mincing words. "So you are maintaining your support for a sorcerous peasant queen who may or may not succumb to madness?"

Rafia was still for a moment, his eyes considering her, "I am."

She stood from her seat and he rose as well.

"In that case, I must ask your help," Anna said, standing as she explained. "I find myself in a similar predicament as Serena did with the sorcerer who brought us here," she paused, somewhat shy at her request. But this would only be the first time she would have to depend on the man before her. She didn't have the luxury of easing into it. "But I must go the other way and ask that you bring this man to justice when I find that I cannot."

Rafia rose when she did and he came around the desk as she spoke. She avoided his gaze but she felt him searching her, still assessing how sincere she was, still establishing his opinion of her. She wasn't sure if she should feel insulted by it, considering what she had shared with him; but she decided she'd rather have someone who took their time to form their own opinions. "It would be an honor, Anna," he said her name as if to indicate the title he had left out.

"Then we should be off to the dungeon," she said, turning towards the door.

He followed her closely, "The prisons are in the process of being cleared, so let's not waste time if there is someone there who should remain.

"You won't find him without some help," Anna said as she opened door.

The two of them made short work of the distance between the keep and the prison. Rafia was surprised when she showed him the half hidden staircase in the lower cell. He had thought the torture chamber where they had found one of his commanders had been the worst the place had to offer.

Anna took a torch with her, careful now to contain her use of power. She understood that Rafia intended to be loyal to her but he was uneasy with magic despite his earlier assertion. As she descended the stair, she thought for a moment she could hear the sound of a man speaking but when at last they arrived at the small hidden cell, it was quiet.

Lifting up the torch to shed light through the bars, Anna could see a familiar body, lying on her side, facing away from the pair, bearing the marks of several days' work.

Rafia started when he saw a woman's form beyond the bars. "What is this?" he asked, shock and an edge of anger in his voice.

Anna wanted to turn to him but she found herself unable to take her eyes away. Dread had followed her down here and now, bearing witness to what she had done, it grew more profound.

"You have not known me long, but trust me when I say this is not as it appears," Anna said quietly. She reached for the door and forced her power into the lock, swinging the bars inwards. She wasn't sure where the jailor was but it didn't seem crucial at the moment. Her eyes were riveted on the naked girl lying on her side, bloody welts covering every part of her skin.

Anna knelt next to the body that appeared to be her own. It was deeply disturbing to be confronted with the reality of what she had endured. To see it brought down on another, by her own design no less, made her feel a strange sort of regret. The girl's ribs moved as she breathed and Anna reached out to her, pulling her shoulder so that she fell to lie on her torn back.

A strangled cry of pain emerged from the pitiful body before her and Anna watched as the girl's eyes flickered open. They were all wrong, light blue and yet somehow dark and despairing. Before Anna could react, a dirty hand shot out and closed an iron grip around her throat. Rafia lunged at the pair but Anna regained her composure and held up a hand to still him. She wrapped her grip around the wrist of the offending hand. As she pulled the fingers away, she withdrew the spell covering the man lying before her.

Rafia uttered a curse as Orlith's body came into view, the damage still obvious on the flesh revealed underneath her illusion. His face was swollen and distorted, one eye nearly forced closed. Bruises bloomed underneath scrapes and welts and blood and semen caked his inner thighs. The effort it took him to try and strangle Anna seemed to have drained what little reserve he had and she held him easily in her grasp. She looked down into his eyes and saw a broken man. It surprised her more than it should have perhaps, but she had assumed her tormentor immune to such a human fate. It shrank him in her mind so he was not the all-powerful master he had convinced her he was. He was just another human, susceptible to the same pain he meted out on others.

"This is the king's man, Orlith," she said quietly to Rafia. She turned to look at her newest ally, to see in his face the judgment for what she had done to this man. She saw his revulsion at the evidence of torture but when he looked at her, she could not tell if it was directed towards her as well.

"Orlith Mortok of the North?" Rafia asked. Anna nodded. Rafia's face closed off, he looked back at the man with a cooler gaze. "He is wanted for many crimes performed in the name of his king," Rafia continued. "He no doubt deserves this and more if even half of the reports are true."

She turned back to Orlith's prone form, unwilling to see the pity or horror that Rafia might feel on her behalf when she explained herself. But she needed him to understand why she'd done this, and part of her needed to be reminded of what she could not truly recall. "He has not endured anything that he did not inflict on me ten times over." She examined Orlith's wounds with a clinical look, belying the turbulent pit in her stomach. She felt Rafia stiffen at her confession.

She leaned over Orlith, something like guilt eating at her. Could she find no satisfaction in witnessing him suffer as she had? This was the same justice she had dealt the other men who had been in her village, wasn't it? But she had sentenced and carried out their punishments; for her tormentor she had been too weak to do it herself and so had allowed for his torture and rape by another, wicked though he may be. She was complicit in that evil.

Anna considered the mess of a man before her. In the end he had brought her low, but she would rise above it. No amount of regret could allow her to soften to his circumstances. He had killed her friend, and for Dev justice would be served.

"I would tell you that I'll forget you now, but we both know that would be a lie," she whispered to him. "So I resolve now to think very little of you and in time, you will fade into nothing. I will go on, and live, and forget to think of you." The man groaned through his injured throat. She had not given him the power to speak back. He looked to her as if he wished to say something, but she found she did not care to hear it.

Slowly, so that he might feel every painful moment of it, Anna began to heal his wounds. The man arched off the floor as her magic burned through him, knitting his skin together, mending the numerous broken bones throughout his body. Anna was surprised at the amount of damage the jailor had managed to inflict before disappearing. Perhaps he'd gone to join the fight once it started.

"You will submit to the justice of the kingdom and admit your crimes when asked. You will not fight or resist." She spoke softly, still healing him at an excruciating pace. As the swelling in his face resolved, she was able once again to look into the face of the man who had injured her so deeply. She felt calmer than she had expected; Orlith's all too human condition and Rafia's promise to help gave her hope that she would soon be untroubled by his presence forever.

Anna finished the healing and bound Orlith to inaction against his jailors. She then withdrew her power from her words, knowing that this next part would be true whether she forced it on him or not. "When you stand upon the executioner's block, your last thoughts will be that I am alive and unbroken despite your best efforts and you will take that failure to your grave."

Orlith looked back, hollow and still. She didn't want to look any closer. She stood up and looked at Rafia who was considering her intently. She nodded, and moved away from the man on the floor. Rafia went over and took Orlith's unresisting hands by the chain of his shackles, pulled him to his feet and began marching him up to the prison proper. Anna followed, her steps feeling lighter as she moved back towards daylight.

She left Rafia in the first level of the prison where he turned Orlith over to his men, who had already captured the massive jailor during the fight hours earlier. With hurried steps she climbed the last flight of stairs and threw herself out into the descending evening. Taking large breaths of fresh air she looked around as Rafia's soldiers moved about, restoring what had been upset by this morning's battle, no doubt with the thought of fortifying the grounds once the other two armies at the front caught up with them.