Green Eyes

Lord Jasper was having a bad day.

To be honest, that wasn’t completely fair; the day had started out nice. But then the last couple of hours, things had gone berserk.

First the stables had mysteriously burst into flames. Thankfully someone had managed to save most of the horses, but the entire cavalry cohort’s tack was lost. They were still putting out the flames and trying to round up all the animals.

Then someone had found the Blood Guard commander, Colonel Aaron, and his two guards murdered. Something told Jasper that the two were related, but he couldn’t find the culprit.

Right now all he wanted was to enjoy a nice meal with his family. Despite having a large dining hall, he preferred to take most of his meals in the small dining room with just his wife and two boys. The hall he used only for special occasions.

“Excuse me my lord,” a young private intruded in on him as sat down at the table.

“Whatever it is, it can wait until after my dinner,” grumbled Jasper ignoring the boy.

“I’m afraid it can’t,” the private pressed. “It concerns your special slave.”

Groaning, Jasper rubbed his forehead. “Very well,” he grouched. “What is it?”

“It seems her guard was slain and she is missing,” the soldier answered.

Jasper blinked, unsure if he heard right. “What?” he asked.

“Her guard has been slaughtered and she has escaped,” the soldier repeated.

“Her entire guard?” Jasper turned to face the man, his brown eyes burning with rage. “All 100?”

“Uh, yes,” gulped the messenger.

“Where is she?” demanded Jasper.

Suddenly the soldier let loose a strangled cry as a sword point was suddenly protruding from his chest. His wife shrieked in horror behind him and his kids turned snow white.

“Right here, Jasper,” Mara snarled as she kicked the dead man off her blade. “And I have some debts to settle with you.”

Jasper stumbled back to the other side of the table. He was unarmed, not that being armed would’ve made an appreciable difference against her anyway. “What do you want?” he stammered as the woman stalked towards them.

“Just payment for services rendered,” Mara casually replied. “Oh but there is one catch. You see, I’m rather specific about how I take my payment; I only accept blood.”

“What are you going to do?” Jasper’s voice was shaking and the blood drained from his face.

Mara walked up to Jasper’s wife and placed her blade across the woman’s neck. “I’m going to pay you back for everything you’ve done to me,” she informed coldly. “You betrayed my father, you took my parents and brothers from me, leaving me orphaned. And then, when I needed your help, you made me your slave.

“I can’t make you my slave and I can’t orphan you,” she explained. “So I’ll have to do the next best thing and make your children orphans.”

With a firm, quick stroke, Mara slide the blade across Jasper’s wife’s throat. The woman tried to scream, but all that came out was a gurgling sound as the life drained out of her. Beside him, Jasper’s two boys shrieked in terror as Mara stalked over to him.

“Please don’t, I’m begging you,” he pleaded as she got closer. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have made you my slave; I shouldn’t have betrayed your father to Manasseh. But please don’t leave my boys without a father and mother.”

Mara’s face was stone cold. Mercilessly she stepped forward drover her sword into his chest. The pain was so much that Jasper couldn’t even breath as he felt his world go dim. The last thing he knew was Mara whispering in his ear.

“Listen to your boys scream,” she said menacingly. “Listen to them cry out for their mother and father and know that you are leaving them alone because you are a traitor and a murderer. Know that you sins have destroyed their lives. Know that and die.”

She jerked her sword back and Jasper’s body slumped to the ground, lifeless. That was one lord down, several more to go.

Mara knew that she didn’t have much time before someone figured out what was going on. Sure enough, she had just made it outside the tower when she heard a scream echoing across the stone courtyard.

“Lord Jasper’s been murdered!” the voice shouted. “Someone help! Lord Jasper and his wife have been murdered!”

Pandemonium broke out in the courtyard as soldiers started running for the tower. Mara felt like she was swimming upstream as she tried to push against the mob. And then the inevitable happened.

“Hey, it’s Jasper’s slave!” a soldier shouted. “And she’s armed!”

“She did it!” another shouted. “Quick, get her before she gets away!”

Mara drew her swords and sprinted for the gate. A couple of soldiers tried to jump in her way, but she struck them down before they could blink. A Form IV user intercepted her, but Mara swept away his attacks with her left blade and struck of his head with her right and kept on running.

She was only a few feet from freedom when she heard someone yell, “Close the gate!”

For a brief second she thought that it was all over but nothing happen.

“I said close the gate!” the voice repeated. But still the portcullis did not move.

Closing the gap, Mara saw Jared running out of the gate house, his naked sword dripping. She tossed him a salute as they sprinted through gateway and out into open space.

“What did you do?” Jared demanded as they crossed over.

“Justice,” Mara shrugged indifferently. “Uh-oh, we have company,” she pointed behind them.

Even though they didn’t have saddles, the cohort of Kalashonian cavalry was pounding after them.

“Think we can out run them?” she smirked.

“Not on foot.”

*******

Selene had been largely bored for the last hour. Bored and cold as she and her furry companions were standing in ankle deep snow outside the castle waiting for Jared to show up.

Then suddenly all hell broke loose and she saw a pair of figures bolting out of the castle. Grabbing the halters, she drug the horses towards the two figures that she was hoping were Jared and his sister.

“Hey guys,” she greeted upon intercepting them. “How’s it going?”

“Get on and ride,” Jared ordered as he swung himself up on to Barak. “You know how to ride bareback?”

Before Selene could answer, a thundering of hooves caught her attention and she saw about sixty horses and riders streaming out of the castle towards them. Looking back at Jared with wide eyes, she said, “I don’t think that’s relevant anymore,” and mounted her horse, the black one.

“No it is not,” the new woman, Mara confirmed as she hopped on her horse.

“Which way?” Selene asked.

“East,” both twins answered simultaneously. “And move it,” Jared added.

All three of them dug their heels into the horses’ flanks and the beasts leapt forward, off the road and into the snow laden plains with the Kalashonians hot on their heels. As they ran, Selene hugged her horse with her knees and hung on to the mane for dear life. She was a fair rider, but bareback was too much for her and she couldn’t outpace the Kalashonians.

Jared and Mara seemed to notice the Kalashonians gaining on them too. But strangely instead of going faster, both of them slowed, letting Selene get farther ahead.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Mara yelled to Jared as they galloped.

“Yep,” Jared nodded. “Selene, get to the river and wait for us. We’ll take care of this.”

“But there’s at least sixty of them!” Selene protested.

“We’ve handled worse,” Mara shrugged.

“Are you guys crazy?” she exclaimed.

“Don’t argue!” Jared snapped. “Go!”

Selene knew better than to debate and started for the Great River, barely hanging on. Behind her, Jared and Mara slowed to almost a trot as they waited for the Kalashonians to catch up. While Selene headed sharply south, the twins headed more southeast, drawing the cavalry with them.

“Ready for this?” Jared asked his sister as they rode side by side.

“After 20 years cooped up in that castle? You bet I’m ready for this,” Mara shot back with a confident smirk.

“Here we go,” Jared replied.

Directly in front of them, one of the taller hills that dotted the Kidron Plain rose up. Instead of turning around it, the twins rode straight on until their horses’ hooves touched the first rise of the ground. Then they veered sharply away in opposite directions.

Behind them the Kalashonian cavalry was nipping at their heels. Instinctively half turned to follow Jared while the other half pursued Mara as the twins hugged the skirt of the mound. For a moment both sides lost sight of each other as the hill towered between them.

That proved fatal for cavalry.

Instead of riding straight on past the hill, Mara and Jared continued to hug its circumference all the way around. Suddenly the two parties caught sight of each other again as they raced around the bend, almost on top of each other. In perfect unison, Mara and Jared pivoted their mounts 90 degrees and raced east moments before colliding. They had been expecting this.

The cavalry had not.

It would have been bad even if they had had their saddles and reins. Without them, it became a disaster. The two surprised troops were helpless in the snow and ice to rein in their horses as they slammed into each other full force, weapons drawn. Dozens were killed instantly and the rest were badly wounded, leaving Mara and Jared home free.

“That was amazing,” Selene exclaimed as they rejoined her next to the river.

“Yeah, it’s a little something we cooked up a few years back,” Mara agreed. “It comes in handy every now and then.”

“We don’t have much time to celebrate,” Jared cut in. “Selene, could you make an ice bridge to get us across the river?”

Selene was still a bit tired from her power drain earlier, but was also feeling confident. Besides, this didn’t require precision. She nodded and dismounted, leading her horse down the hill to the edge of the river.

It was big and rough and she knew it was going to take a lot of power. But kneeling over the water, Selene concentrated on her fear, which she guessed fueled the ice. All the things that had terrified her over the last few months jumped to the forefront of her mind and she felt a cold pressure build up in her chest. It exploded out of her hand, freezing a strip of the river solid all the way across. Tentatively she tested it and found it strong enough to walk on.

“Come on,” she waved to the twins and carefully started across.

Following after, she, Jared, and Mara reached the other side in a couple of minutes. Already the bridge was starting to deteriorate behind them, something of a relief. Beside her, both twins exhaled explosively.

“If I never see that place again,” Mara said, “I won’t complain.”

“Me neither,” Jared replied. “That was too much excitement for one day, right Selene?”

When she didn’t reply, Jared looked over to see the young Navi collapsed on the ground, fast asleep. It had indeed been too much excitement.