Sky Riders: The Rising Sun

The night was impossibly dark, the moon and stars concealed by a blanket of snow-laden clouds. Oriens circled above the vast city, just beyond the reach of the light from the fires below. The people within the city of Vereor were entirely unaware of the presence overhead.

“There’s the main gate,” Caelum said silently, his mind touching those of the dragon and Rider. He pointed below them.

Eliana squinted downwards to see the massive wooden drawbridge, which was now closed and flanked on either side by about eight guards. She chewed on the inside of her lip. Caelum had been right; the gate was heavily guarded. The palace was sure to have even more fortifications.

“Land just over that hill,” the elf instructed them. “We’ll watch for a while and see if there’s any way in.”

Oriens circled back to be sure to stay out of the guards’ line of. A large hill rose to the east of the main gate, and the dragon glided down until he settled on the far side of it. Caelum and Eliana both slid out of Oriens’ saddle and crept up the snowy hillside, sliding along on their stomachs in the cold. They stopped just below the crest, where they could see the gates without being seen.

The soldiers that flanked the gate were slumped lazily against the walls. Their swords were sheathed. Their bows leaned against the vast stone walls beside them.

“They don’t seem to be very alert,” Eliana silently pointed out.

“Don’t let them fool you,” Caelum replied. “These are the emperor’s personal guards. See the crest on their uniforms?”

Eliana squinted in the darkness and could just make out the crest of the emperor—a snake wrapped around a sword—emblazoned on the left side of the soldiers’ chests.

Caelum went on. “They are some of the most powerful soldiers the human nation has. We were lucky none of them were sent to Amiscan. If they had been, we would have lost many more lives.”

She sighed as they continued to watch the group of lethargic humans. The guards paced, stretched, yawned, and did it all again, in an endless cycle of tedium that wearied them as well as those who watched them from the hill.

Suddenly, there was a shout from atop the wall. The guards immediately snapped to attention, and Eliana’s heart leapt into her throat. She hadn’t understood the word that had been shouted. Had they been spotted?

“What did he say?” she asked Caelum and Oriens, her hand already on the hilt of her sword.

She could sense Oriens’ confusion as he responded, “I think he said… ‘dancers’…”

She frowned in confusion. Her silent question was answered as a long procession of women became visible along the path leading to the gate. They wore long, flowing dresses of fine silks, which fluttered behind them as they walked—dancers to entertain Prince Nocens.

“Do you know how often they come?” she asked the elf who lay in the snow beside her.

Caelum paused for a moment, considering the question. “We once scouted the gate for a week. A night rarely passed without us seeing them come and go. It kept my men entertained.”

She gave a quiet snort of disbelief. “What would elven soldiers see in human women?”

Caelum turned on his side and propped himself up on an elbow so that he faced her. He smiled softly and brushed her hair back over her shoulder. “Humans have their merits as well,” he said quietly in her mind.

She smiled, but kept her eyes on the gates as he laid his arm across her shoulders and began to kiss her jawline. It took most of her focus to continue watching the dancers proceed towards the gate. Immediately, the bridge was lowered, and the women passed without question.

An idea leapt into her mind. She hadn’t had the opportunity to form it into words when Caelum pulled back and scowled down at her.

“Don’t even think about it,” his voice said sternly in her mind.

“I agree with Caelum, Eliana,” Oriens interjected. “It would be much too dangerous for you to go into the palace as a woman meant to entertain the prince. There’s no telling what privileges he takes with them.”

She scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. They’re dancers, not concubines. Nocens has a dozen of those already, and he could have many more if he wished. What would he want with a dancer?”

Caelum shook his head. “I don’t like it.”

“You’re not going to like any of the ideas,” she pointed out, “so you might as well accept one that will be quick and easy.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And how do you expect me to get in?” he asked. “Dress like a dancer as well?”

Eliana smiled to herself at the idea.

When he saw her expression, Caelum laughed in her mind. “Not a chance.”

“Alright,” she chuckled. “I’m sure we can find you another way into the city.”

“Into the palace,” he corrected her. “I want to be in there with you.”

“Impossible,” she answered with a frown and a firm shake of her head. “I could slip by all the guards easily disguised as a danger, but you’re another story. We could get you over the city walls easily enough, but you would have to stay outside the palace and wait for me.”

“You want me to just stand around, twiddling my thumbs, with no idea of what’s going on?” he asked angrily.

Eliana sighed heavily, thinking. Then she looked at her dragon. “Oriens, you can see what I can see, right?”

He nodded his large head. “The True Sight works both ways, yes.”

She turned to Caelum. “And you can be inside of Oriens’ mind.” Understanding crossed his face, but she went on anyways. “I will share my sight with Oriens. You can stay in his mind. For as long as I’m in the palace, you will both be able to see and hear everything, just as if you were actually with me.”

“I still don’t like the idea of you being in there without me,” Caelum sighed.

Eliana rolled her eyes. “Don’t be silly. Oriens isn’t complaining about not being in the palace.”

The dragon snorted quietly, his mouth turning up into a slight smirk. “Only because the option of dressing as a dancer is not available to me.”

Both of them choked back laughs, trying not to make any sound that would draw the attention of the soldiers just a few yards away.

Once she had control of herself, Eliana asked, looking at the elf beside her, “So, what do you think?”

He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers with a sigh. “Alright. But if anything goes wrong, I’m coming in after you.”

“Nothing is going to go wrong,” she replied.

He opened his eyes and met her gaze. “With you involved, it’s almost a guarantee that something will go wrong.”

~*~

The next two nights were clear. The bright moon reflected off the snow, bathing the world in a soft, white glow—perfect for revealing any figures that tried to hide in the landscape. Eliana, Caelum, and Oriens were forced to take refuge in the forests several yards from the gate, their dark shapes too conspicuous against the bright snow.

“We can’t wait any longer,” she hissed at Caelum.

He shook his head firmly. “We’ll have to do it tomorrow. The moon’s too bright tonight, and we need more time to plan,” he whispered back.

Eliana clenched her teeth, watching the procession of women walk by them once again. “We have the plan ready, Caelum! Waiting another day won’t make it any better.”

Caelum didn’t answer, but she wasn’t waiting for one. One way or another, she was determined that this would happen tonight, and she didn’t need his help to do it. On the path that wound between the trees, one of the girls stopped. Her sandal had slipped from her foot, and she paused to slide it back on. Her party moved on ahead of her as the dancer tried to quickly lace it around her ankle.

They would get no better chance than this. Eliana stepped out of the trees. The girl looked up at her in surprise, which quickly turned to horror as the earth began to cling to her legs, climbing up to her waist. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came.

The dancer’s hands went to her throat, her lips moving in silent, gaping motions. Eliana glanced over her shoulder to see Caelum stepping out of the woods behind her, his hand closed in a fist in the direction of the girl.

“I told you to wait!” he snapped, keeping his voice low.

Eliana shrugged nonchalantly. “Too late now.” It was apparent that her response agitated him, but she turned her attention back to the young dancer. “How long until she passes out?”

“A few more seconds.”

“Well don’t kill her.”

The dancer’s panicked face became more horror-stricken, but Caelum rolled his eyes. “Do you really think I have that little control over my magic?”

Eliana shrugged one shoulder in reply and watched as the dancer’s eyes closed and she slumped sideways; the earth that held her to her waist kept her in an upright position. Caelum opened his fist, and the girls’ chest began to rise and fall as the air returned around her. Eliana made a quick movement with her fingers, and the earth fell away. The dancer collapsed forward into Caelum’s waiting arms.

The elf’s face was grim as he said, “Hurry up and get her clothes on. You have to catch up to the others before they reach the gate.”

She took the young woman from Caelum. She was surprisingly light, and Eliana quickly carried her the short distance through the woods to where Oriens lay hidden. Caelum remained on the edge of the path, keeping watch. The dragon lifted his golden wing over the dancer and the Rider, shielding them from sight.

Eliana quickly stripped the dancer of her thin clothing, then removed her own. She dressed the girl in her own breeches and tunic, and hurriedly pulled on the dancer’s outfit. She stepped out from behind Oriens’ wing in the dancer’s thin, flowing clothes, leaving the girl lying on the ground at Oriens’ side.

She hadn’t noticed before, but this group of dancers was dressed much more liberally than the others. Her stolen blouse bore her midriff, from her waist to above the naval, and the silky skirt fell several inches above her knees. My father would kill me, she thought.

Caelum’s eyes narrowed in irritation the minute he saw her. “Now I really don’t like this,” he muttered.

“Would you calm down?” she asked, trying not to look as uncomfortable as she felt in the revealing clothing. She was freezing, and she had a distinct urge to hide behind Oriens’ wing again, but she wouldn’t allow this to stop her from seeing her plan through.

“You look like one of his concubines,” he remarked irritably.

She sighed. “If you’re done ridiculing my clothing, I have to catch up to the rest of the dancers.”

“Alright,” he grumbled. “I’ll be over the wall in a few minutes.”

She nodded and ran off after the group of scarcely-dressed women. She joind the end of the group just as they approached the gate. The guards hastily lowered the bridge and let them pass without a pause. The women strolled past them, and Eliana saw them grinning suggestively at one another.

She ignored them, hastily rearranging her hair to ensure it covered her ears, and they walked into the city of Vereor. What she saw was like nothing she had heard in all of the tales of Corpanis’ cruelty. The cobblestone streets were filled with filth and rubbish. People—from the very old to the very young—lay curled up against the sides of building, shivering in tattered cloaks.

They looked up at her with eyes that seemed to be sunken back into their skin, dark with memories of unimaginable horrors. Many were barefooted.Their legs and upper arms were no thicker than her wrist. They were dying in front of her from cold, starvation, and fear.

Eliana forced her eyes away from the skeletal figures in the streets and gazed ahead of her, as the other dancers did—purposefully ignoring the inhumane world around them. As the procession of women continued towards the palace in the center of the city, the surroundings changed. The tall, narrow complexes and crumbling, filth-filled streets disappeared. In their place were roads of clean stone and large townhouses.

She scowled to herself at the sudden change. There had been no gradual transition from the dirt poor to the filthy rich. While thousands of people were starving along the outer edge of the city, these elect were living comfortable lives in large, whitewash houses with sprawling gardens and dozens of servants.

Nobles in fine clothing walked briskly down the streets, each of them with a dirty-faced man or woman at their heels. Eliana spotted collars around their necks and realized that they weren’t just servants—they were slaves. They kept their eyes meekly on the ground, answering to any order that the noble they followed barked at them.

One of the slaves—a young girl of no more than fifteen—attracted Eliana’s gaze. The girl had paused to watch the dancers, falling behind the nobleman she followed, her arms filled with his belongings. Noticing her lagging, the nobleman doubled back and, without a word, slapped the girl across the face.

Eliana flinched, and resisted the urge to rush to the girl’s aid. She watched as the slave gathered the belongings from the ground, the nobleman raining angry words down on her head. She clenched her teeth and looked away, anger boiling inside her.

“This won’t last much longer,” she thought furiously.

In her mind, Oriens growled his consent. “Not if we can help it.”

Another voice entered her mind. “To your left,” it said.

She glanced in that direction. There were several people strolling the snowy streets, but she quickly found the familiar figure she was looking for. He walked close to the buildings at about the same pace as the dancers, the hood of a brown cloak pulled over his shining blonde hair, covering his ears and casting his fair face in shadow.

He looked up briefly as he felt her gaze and threw her a smile and a wink. Despite it all, Eliana smiled in return. She felt insensibly safe, just having him within her line of sight. She knew she should have been frightened by what she was about to do, but the fear refused to come so long as she could still see Caelum’s figure in the moonlight.

She forced her eyes away from him and looked ahead of the line she followed. The palace towered over them, its top-most spire pointing upwards at the crescent moon. Eliana drew a deep breath and completely opened her mind, allowing Caelum and Oriens—who she felt crouching outside the city walls in tense anxiety—to enter it.

“Oriens, can you see it?” she asked.

“Yes,” he answered. “It’s perfectly clear.”

“Caelum?”

“Yes, I can see it as well.”

Open as her mind was to them, she could hear and feel the fear in both of their voices. “It’ll be okay,” she promised them both. “I’ll be fine. Both of you, just be careful.”

“I am always careful,” Oriens responded predictably.

Caelum didn’t reply. The dancers were now standing expectantly in front of the massive, elaborately carved doors. Eliana glanced around her to see approximately two dozen armed soldiers flanking the path they stood on, leading into the palace. The guards made no motion to indicate they had even noticed the dancers’ presence. Then the doors swung open, bathing the women in light from within the palace.

The group began to move forward and, with a deep breath, Eliana followed, stepping right into the den of the serpent. The girls before her all seemed to know what they were doing and where they were going, walking with certainty down the long and lavishly decorated hallways without a guide.

At the end of one of the long hallways was a large golden door, flanked on either side by two red-clad soldiers. Just as they had at the main gate, the guards opened the door without question. The room that opened up before her was furnished more beautifully than even the palace in Iterum.

The largest bed she had ever seen occupied the majority of the left end of the room. The other end was furnished as a sitting room, with sofas, chairs, and cushions of the finest upholstery. Sprawled out on one of these sofas was a young man.

He looked up as the women entered, and a grin spread across his face. “Well, it certainly is about time,” he drawled.

“Prince Nocens!” nearly a dozen voices squealed. The girls in front of her rushed towards him.

Eliana quickly followed, trying not to draw attention to herself. Nocens sat up, and a particularly beautiful brunette dropped into his lap, draping her arms around his neck.

“I’ve missed you,” she cooed sickeningly.

Eliana tensed a little at the behavior.

“Something’s not right,” Oriens said.

Caelum’s voice was sharp and filled with anxiety. “Get out, Eliana! Get out now. These are no dancers.”

His statement was reaffirmed as the prince forcefully placed his mouth over the brunette’s, tipping her back until she lay prone on the sofa. She moaned with pleasure, making Eliana grimace distastefully. There was no question now. These were Prince Nocens’ concubines—his personal play things. And now, Eliana was one of them.

Nocens stood up, leaving the girl pouting in disappointment, and turned to face the rest of them. The other girls were glaring at the brunette jealously, but Eliana’ eyes were on the prince. He was handsome, with light brown hair and hazel eyes, but there was something about him that sent a shiver down her spine. There was something cold and snake-like in those hazel eyes.

Prince Nocens met her scrutinizing gaze, and she hurried to look away. But she did so too late. She had already drawn his attention.

The hazel eyes narrowed at her in confusion. “Who are you?” he asked.

She kept her head bowed, refusing to meet his gaze, but she could feel him studying her. “Eliana,” she answered quietly.

“Why did you tell him your real name?” Caelum snapped.

Nocens’ cold hand grasped her chin and forced her to look up at him. He tilted her head from side to side, surveying her like a horse he was considering purchasing. Oriens and Caelum growled angrily inside her head.

“Why don’t I remember you?” he asked.

They had not prepared for this. Nocens’ dancers changed regularly, so he would not know a new one. His concubines on the other hand, were selected by either him or his father, and they stayed until he chose to send them away. She frantically sought for a lie, and said the first thing she could think of.

“I- I’ve been ill, my lord.”

Nocens seemed to consider this for a moment, then turned her so that her back was to him. His hand brushed across the skin above her skirt, making her stiffen. “Where’s your mark?” he asked.

She hesitated again. Mark? She clutched her right hand closed instinctively. She glanced over at the other girls, who stood in a circle, whispering furtively and throwing her burning glares. She looked at the backs of those closest to her. There, on their smooth and flawless skin, just above the line of their skirts, was the sign of the serpent wrapped around the sword—the crest of the emperor’s family. They had been branded, the symbol burned into their skin.

“I… Um, your father chose me for your harem, Prince Nocens. I was to be a gift for you. A- a surprise. But I fell ill before I was able to come and receive my mark.” She was trying her best to sound disappointed, but she had no idea if it was convincing or not.

The prince’s cold hands slid around her waist and began to trace patterns on her bare stomach, making her gasp in surprise. She clenched her hands into fists, fighting the urge to strike him. He dipped his head to her shoulder and trailed warm, unwelcome kisses up her neck, to her ear. He stopped with his lips below her earlobe. “We’ll just have to fix that, won’t we, my jewel?”

“Yes,” she answered breathlessly, trying to fight down the panic that was rising inside her.

“Eliana!” Caelum screamed in her head. “Get out of there now!”

She tried to keep her mind calm, to not let them feel her fear the way she felt theirs. “I can’t,” she answered.

“Then we’re coming in!” Oriens snarled furiously.

“No!” she replied as firmly as she could. “It’s too risky. Just… just give me a moment. I can do this. You have to let me do this.”

She could feel them in her mind, antsy and anxious, ready to crash into the palace, but they remained where they were.

“The rest of you may leave,” Nocens said, his face still beside hers, his chin on her shoulder.

Eliana opened her eyes to find eleven other pairs of eyes glaring at her bitterly. Strange, she thought, that the concubines wanted so badly what was giving her the urge to vomit. Without a word, the women turned and filed back out of the wide, golden doors, leaving her alone with the prince. He turned her around so that she faced him, pressed close against his body, forcing her to tilt her head upwards to meet his gaze.

His smile was malicious and his eyes were filled with a hunger that made her stomach tighten. “Well,” he whispered, “since you have not yet been marked, that means that I have not had you yet.”

Nocens took slow steps forward as he spoke, forcing Eliana to back up blindly, her breath coming in short, frightened bursts. The backs of her legs hit something soft, and she glanced over her shoulder. He had backed her against the impossibly large bed.

Eliana looked back up at the prince, trying to hide the fear in her eyes. Frantically, she threw a wall up around her mind, stronger than she’d ever done before. The presences of Oriens and Caelum vanished from her thoughts. If they saw more, they would rush into the palace and get themselves killed.

Nocens grinned at her and grabbed her around the waist, tossing her roughly back onto the soft blankets. Despite her efforts, a scream escaped her lips. The prince laughed deeply at this. She rolled quickly onto her back, but before she could move any further, his body was on top of hers.

His lips felt frantic as they met hers. His hands were rough and greedy as they roved over her bare stomach, up to the silky top. His fingers seized the bottom edge of the cloth and began to tug it upwards.

“No, no, wait!” she gasped.

Nocens’ groan turned into a bemused chuckle as his mouth began to explore her bare neck. “So you’re going to be difficult, are you?” he muttered against her skin. He lifted his head, his face hovering over hers as he looked down at her with those terrifying hazel eyes. “Very well. What is it that you want? Gold? Jewels? Gowns?”

“No,” she breathed, placing her hands against his chest and slipping out from underneath him. “I want to see the rest of the palace.”

He sat up, looking at her in confusion, his red-and-gold tunic rumpled. “The rest of the palace? All of it?” He shook his head stubbornly. “That would take hours. I won’t wait that long.”

Eliana realized that she was dealing with a very spoiled child. He was likely used to getting everything that he wanted, and she would be no different. He didn’t have to listen to her requests, but he was amusing her for the moment, playing her little game. She would have to play more strategically.

“Alright…” she paused for a moment, trying to think of a way to go to the places she needed without raising suspicion. “What about the library?” she asked, making her voice sound eager and excited. “I’ve always loved books.”

Nocens raised an eyebrow. “Books? You can read?” Eliana nodded quickly. He tilted his head to one side suspiciously. “I’ve never met a concubine that could read.”

She suddenly realized her mistake. Concubines were the daughters of servants or slaves. She hurried to cover her blunder. “Oh, please don’t tell!” she pleaded in a whiny voice that made her want to strangle herself. “I know I’m not supposed to, but my father taught me, and I just love it.”

The prince smiled crookedly and gave a little shrug. “If you insist. The palace does have a remarkable library. It has thousands of books. Some even date back to the beginning of the Great War.”

Perfect. It was exactly what she’d hoped to hear. “And the dungeons. Could I see the dungeons too?”

This suggestion seemed to bother him even more than her previous one. “Now why would you want to see a dreary place like that?”

Eliana cringed internally at what she was about to do, but she needed to see if Ater was there. She leaned close to him and placed a hand on his chest, letting her lips hover just above his. “Please?” she whispered, trying her best to seem coy and seductive. “Just for a little while? Then we can come back here and…”

Nocens smiled and grabbed her lips greedily with his own, putting his arms around her waist. He pulled her down on top of him and kissed her hard, grabbing the hair at the back of her head to apply more force to her mouth. She began to worry that he would ignore her requests completely. Then he pulled away.

“Very well,” he laughed, apparently amused now by the idea of fulfilling her requests. “If that’s what it takes, then that’s what we’ll do.”

He hopped off the bed and pulled her with him, then sauntered, one arm around her waist, out the wide golden doors. Eliana opened her mind up again, letting the wall fall. Furious, frantic questions bombarded her.

“Why in the name of the gods would you do that?”

“What has he done? I will tear him apart!”

She was relieved to sense that they had remained outside.

“Relax,” she said with a sigh. “I’m fine, I swear. Nocens is taking me exactly where I need to go. As soon as I get what I need, I’ll get out. Everything is working out perfectly.”