Norshire Chronicles: The Lost Queen

Jacek, one of the Resistance followers, was lying by the lake with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. He was trying to enjoy the small amount of peace he had at the moment. When the Darkland Queen had taken the throne, she sent out the dark knights to slaughter anyone who refused loyalty to her, two of which were his parents. He hadn’t come out unscathed though, three parallel scars rested on his right cheek as a reminder of that unfortunate day.
As he lay there, he could almost remember the sound of birds chirping enough to try to imagine the sound faintly. The Dark Queen’s rule has brought nothing but darkness and fear, even amongst nature itself. He hoped that if they were able to vanquish her, he would be the one to kill her and put and end to her tyranny.
“Jacek.” he heard someone call not too far away. He recognized the voice as Rythorn’s. From the sound of his loud approaching boot clad feet, he knew his guess was right. Jacek heard Rythorn stop, standing just a few inches away from him.
Sighing in annoyance, Jacek said, “What is it, Rythorn?”
“There’s a captive being escorted down the main road.” he said in response. “We’re all getting ready.”
Jacek’s eyes snapped open. Rythorn was looking down at him, his shaggy red hair and beard unmistakable. He had his bow in his hand and arrows strapped to his back. Rythorn usually didn’t use the bow and arrows unless they were going to go after the dark knights. In his other hand was Jacek’s sheathed sword, which he had stupidly left back at the Resistance’s stronghold.
“They haven’t executed anyone in months.” Jacek said, disbelieving.
“Yeah, well, now they are.” He dropped the sword over Jacek, who caught it just before it hit him.
Jacek stood up, dusting of the dirt from his pants. He fastened the sheathed sword to his belt and stretched. Him and Rythorn walked back to the stronghold. It looked like a huge boulder that had no significance at all. Jacek knocked on the rock face in a specific pattern. Then part of the rock, enough to be a doorway, slid away to reveal an entryway. They both stepped in to see their fellow Resistance followers, ready for the fight that was sure to ensue once they tried to rescue the captive.
Rikar, his long black hair tied back with a strip of leather, stood with dozens of daggers in his belt. Synestra had her bow and arrows set, her wild green hair out and partially covering her face. Darmor, standing apart from the others, had his sword sheathed at his belt as he tossed and caught a gold coin in the air, the hood of his coat hiding his face.
“About time you got here.” Synestra said. “I’m ready for blood.
“Yeah, we should get moving.” Darmor said in a low but authoritative voice.
With that, they all left the strong hold. They jogged alongside the road, staying within the trees enough to keep out of sight of anyone on the main road. They stopped when we saw a group of at least eight dark knights, all carrying swords. Between two dark knights was a girl, probably a little younger than Jacek, her dark hair tangled, wearing ragged clothing, and her hands bound in front of her. She looked at the ground as she walked, stumbling slightly twice. The Resistance followed them, planning to surprise them at night.
When evening began to approach, the dark knights headed into the forest to make camp. They sat the captive girl under a tree, not too kindly either. The Resistance climbed up into the trees that overlooked where the dark knights were setting up camp. When they had tents up and a fire lit they sat by the fire and drank, most likely alcohol.
Jacek crouched in a tree directly across from the girl, watching her. She sat there with an unreadable look on her face. She looked at her captors. They all seemed drunk enough. Jacek watched as she started trying to untie her bonds with her teeth, trying desperately to escape. Jacek was fascinated by her courage to attempt escaping.
“Hey!” one of the knights said from the group, making Jacek and the girl jump. He got up from where he sat in the group and made his way towards her.
Jacek held his breath and had his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to attack at any moment.
“Jacek,” Synestra whispered to him. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
He ignored her comment and turned his attention back to the girl and the dark knight who was now standing in front of her.
“You weren’t trying to escape, were you?” he said, his voice slurring slightly from the alcohol.
The girl simply starred up at him, fear written all over her face. Jacek knew the girl was in danger for trying to escape, the fact that the knight was drunk only made it worse. Jacek was getting ready to start fighting if the knight made any move to harm her.
“Don’t attack yet.” Rythorn whispered to him.
“Why? I’m not going to sit by and watch if he tries to kill her.” Jacek whispered back in frustration.
“If you attack now, you’ll just be putting the captive in danger.”
Jacek thought about it and knew Rythorn was right. It would be a great risk to act now, a risk that could kill her. Though it irritated him, he stayed where he was.
“I could’ve sworn I saw you trying to escape.” the knight said as Jacek turned his attention back to the captive. “I must be imagining things.” He held a container out to her. “Here. You want water?”
She looked at the container with desperate but uncertain eyes. She tentatively reached for it with her bound hands. Just as her hands touched the container, the knight yanked it away from her.
Jacek’s jaw clenched in anger. In all the times he’d rescued captives, he’s never seen the dark knights treat them this bad. They usually just used insults or ignored them all together.
The knight held up his hand to strike her. She held up her hands to cover her face. Jacek had a feeling that this wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done this to her. The knight pulled her hands away from her face and slapped her.
“Jacek, don’t.” Rythorn said, guessing what he was thinking.
Then the knight pulled out a dagger and held the blade to her neck. That must have struck a cord with Rythorn because he was now aiming an arrow at the knight. He pulled back the string of the bow and released the arrow. It hit the knight in the shoulder, causing him to drop the dagger.
Jacek dropped out of the tree he was perched in. The dark knights that were sitting around the fire were now standing and, in a drunken daze, struggling to unsheathe their weapons. Rikar and Darmor were now fighting some of the knights as Rythorn and Synestra shot arrows at them.
Jacek made his way over to the girl and the knight who had struck her, now holding a sword and ready to fight. Jacek unsheathed his sword, which strongly resembled a crescent moon with its tips pointing in the same direction as the blade and the grip looked like a dragon with its wings wrapped around its body.
Their swords clashed. The dark knight might have been skilled in sword combat any other time, but Jacek had the upper hand since he was sober. He stabbed the knight in the throat, the space in the armor between the helmet and the breastplate. The knight fell to the ground, making a sickening gurgling noise before finally becoming still and lifeless. The blood on his armor reflected in the light of the fire.
Turning his attention to the girl, Jacek sheathed his sword. The girl stared at him with fear and uncertainty in her eyes. Now that Jacek was closer, he could see a bruise forming on her cheek and several cuts and bruises on her arms. The rope that bound her wrists was soaked with blood where it touched her skin.
He stepped closer to her and she cowered away. Kneeling in front of her, he could see tears on her cheeks and her eyes were gold and silver, made even more shocking by the dancing light of the fire. He moved to untie her wrists but she drew back from him.
“It’s alright.” he whispered, trying to calm her. “No one’s going to hurt you.”
She looked at him, studying his face and words. He once again moved to untie her and this time she didn’t shy away. As he unwrapped the rope, he could see the skin underneath was raw and bleeding. He touched her wrist to study it and she flinched in pain. He stood up and walked over to the dead knight and took the container from his waist. He sniffed it to make sure it was water, then kneeled down in front of her again and cleaned the blood away from her wrists as best he could.
When he offered her the water to drink, she looked at him skeptically. She reached for it, expecting it to be a trick. When she had it her hands she looked at Jacek to the water, then gulped it down. How long had they kept her like this? Jacek thought. She handed the container back to him as she wiped her mouth.
“What’s your name?” he asked her.
“Lorelei.” she said in a low voice, her eyes staring into his.
“Well, Lorelei, can you stand?”
She tried to stand up, but seemed too weak. He stood and held out his hand to help. She was finally on her feet but almost fell. She looked too tired to walk so he lifted her into his arms. He looked at the others. Who had successfully defeated the other dark knights and now searched them for any valuables they wanted.
“Darmor.” Jacek called.
Darmor looked up at him from where he leaned against a tree. When he saw that Jacek had the captive girl in his arms, he nodded. He knew Jacek was going to carry her back to the stronghold, like they always did. But this time, Darmor sensed something different, a change in the wind. Something was coming. He just didn’t know what.
Jacek can feel Lorelei trembling as he carried her. Since it wasn’t cold, he knew it wasn’t because of the weather. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and her face was buried in his shoulder. It felt oddly comfortable to have her in his arms.
When he got to the stronghold, Lausa the medicine woman was outside waiting. She tapped the secret pattern on the rock for him and they both stepped inside. They walked to the sickroom and Jacek placed the now sleeping girl on the bed. He didn’t ask Lausa how she knew he was coming, she had a tendency to know things before anyone else did. She was most likely the one who alerted the others to the dark knights taking Lorelei down the main road.
“Poor girl.” Lausa said to no one in particular. She looked at the cuts on her arms and wrists. “She must have been through so much.”
“Unfortunately, I was witness some of it.” Jacek muttered to himself, still fuming with anger of her mistreatment.
“It is unusual for dark knights to treat the captives this way.” she said. “What is this?”
She lifted the sleeve of Lorelei’s ragged shirt. Underneath on her shoulder was a black design of delicate swirls that looked like lacework. It seemed to be a tattoo of some kind. A very unusual tattoo. What was the meaning behind it?
“Perhaps it would be best to ask her after she is well enough.” Lausa said, guessing his thoughts, as she placed a blanket over the girl.