Yamara - Book 1 - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It had not been a good week. James and I stood facing one another with drawn steel and Brina's captive body separating us.

It had begun with me dealing with the increasing alienation I felt from Brina. At first merely a suspicion I tried not to dwell upon, it quickly became clear that something had arisen between James and her. That was okay with me, I suppose. I was a bit bitter, but it was probably for the best for her. Best for me as well, I had to keep reminding myself, because it kept me free of any ties that could be used against me.

We spent time together still when she was not working, of course, but that made it all the more difficult. She continued to instruct me in her unarmed fighting style and we spent time together much as any two women who are close can, though not as close as it had been. Now we were more as sisters then as lovers.

Then James had summoned me again with a new assignment. Considering my abilities and viewpoints, he actually wanted to set me up as an agent far a field, spying upon the movements of Dagrazt's minions. Better yet, he had said, perhaps I could even insinuate myself within the Dark Ones organization and spy from within.

All well and good, it was a very dangerous assignment, but I had lived in similar conditions all of my youth, so I knew how to handle it. It was what came next that really raised my wrath. He had suggested next that I should take care to avoid getting enmeshed too deeply, for it could only bring evil back upon Elendar. And if evil came in force to Elendar, then it also would fall upon Brina.

The insinuation was clear enough to me, and from the way our eyes met, I knew I was correct. He knew the relationship between Brina and I was deeper then we let on and he was counting on that and using Brina as a hostage. More bet hedging on his part. What he did not know was the special relationship Brina and I had shared was perilously close to being broken apart. His words clarified it for me, sundering it for good.

I left later that day, telling Brina only that James had set another task for me and that I might be gone for quite a while this time. She took it well, though with some sadness. At the same time I think she felt relief for no more was her loyalties torn between her past and present.

I sneaked back into the city that night, by way of the sewers that I had been secretly mapping whenever I had a chance to do so. That and my skills at disguise and stealth allowed me to reenter the castle with no one the wiser. Just another faceless servant. I easily picked the lock on Brina's door and slipped into her quarters. Somewhat to my cynical surprise, I found her alone.

A moment of doubt overcame me then. Steeling myself for the decision I had made, I quietly woke her and quickly explained myself. I told her of James threat against her and of my own decision to leave the surface of Elendar because of it. I offered her the choice to come with me, once and only. She looked troubled.

Things took a turn for the worse then. A secret door in the wall slide aside and James emerged from it, a dark look upon his face. I nearly recanted my decision to return and offer her the chance to escape then.

"You misread my words, Yamara," James said sternly. "I knew of no one you cared for in this place save Brina, thus I merely thought to remind you that innocents would suffer should you draw undue attention to Elendar."

"What are you doing, spying on me?" Brina asked, shocked at everything that had occurred so far.

"I suspected she might return and try to steal you from me, this was my final test for her, and she has failed. I suspected she might hasten to join with the Dark One if given the chance, for his means and hers seem much the same." James pointed his finger accusingly at me.

Words were fine, in their place, but I was past them. He had driven me beyond mere anger. How was he to know who I was and what I was like? Yes, I had decided to be done with Elendar because he was as able to deal with people duplicitously as any I had served under in Ossulmere, but I planned to avoid having anything to do with this Dagrazt. I was not the same women as before. I no longer sought to better myself at the expense of others who were of innocent nature or who had done me no wrong.

James had done me wrong though, and I would have no more of it. My sword and dagger was in my hand as I stepped towards him. James reacted as well, drawing his longsword and dirk. "See, she draws steel against me, already she seeks to sow discord at His bidding!"

I scowled and lunged forward. Steel rang as he blocked and dodged my nearly frenzied attacks. Brina called out for us to stop, begging and pleading from where she sat twisted up in the sheets of her bed.

We stopped our duel after several long minutes, both of us breathing hard and sweating. The time was past for words, and an even look of hatred we shared with one another. In wordless agreement, our hostilities renewed. The longer reach of his sword availed him at first, but once I got within its range my shorter blades worked to my advantage, pressing him back. To no avail though, for soon we broke apart again. Brina had tears running down her cheeks and a lost look upon her face. She was more torn then ever.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye one of the pillows of the bed on the floor then. I edged towards it while engaging James again after a very short respite. He seemed not to notice it, or at least paid it no attention. Having reached it, I drove my attacks high upon him, drawing his attention upwards. My foot flicked out then, from underneath the pillow. It sailed up between us, heading for his face.

Pillows by themselves are no threat, save to the smallest of babes perhaps. The movement caught him unawares, however, and his longsword arced across and down to clear it out of his way. I followed his movement, slamming my sword on top of his with force enough to jar it out of his hand and send it clattering to the stone floor. Before he could try and stoop to reclaim it I advanced, stabbing out and scoring a hit on his shoulder with my dagger.

James recoiled, drawing nearer to Brina. He grasped at the only chance he could and reached out for her. Grabbing her hair, grown slightly longer since our time together no Acathia, he pulled her from the bed so that she was between us, and his dagger rested against the dark and soft skin of her throat. I remembered that skin all to well, and grew angered that it was threatened by his naked steel.

"Leave now, Yamara, and you can escape," James panted, trying diplomacy where skill at arms had availed him not. "I will hunt you down, of course, but if you leave now Brina comes to no harm and I will give you until the morning ere I send out my men."

Brina's breath caught in her throat. The sudden events had taken her even more by surprise. She was specialized at close in fighting, but with a dagger rasping against her throat, she took no chance. She was prepared to come over to my side now though, I think. Until James spoke out, that was.

It was barely more then a whisper, and I still am not sure if I have heard it correctly to this day, yet I think I am in the right about it. "Don't worry, love, she will do you no harm and will only leave us in peace now," was what he whispered to her.

I searched into James' eyes and saw the truth. He would need an excuse and no witnesses, personal friend of the King or no. Brina would die as well as I, should I relent to him. My decision made, I looked at Brina and allowed her brief apologetic smile, then tried to forever close the doors within me upon her.

"I can't let him use you against me, Brina." Were my final words to her.

Shortsword in my right hand, I lunged forward, letting the magical blade slide through her belly and into his. As soon as I began to move James tried to draw his dagger across her throat. She smashed her head back into his face, crushing his nose and partially freeing herself. His dagger still struck partially true, cutting a grievous wound on one side of her throat, marring forever the virginal skin. My own dagger I thrust into his chest as they fell to the floor.

I let go of my blades so I was not pulled down with them. Brina's hands had come to her throat, but the blood welled over her fingers and left them dark and red in spite of the pressure. James did likewise, pulling the dagger out of his throat painfully and gasping air through the ruinous hole there. I stared at him darkly, a figure of fey vengeance. I felt nothing for Brina in that moment, and only grim satisfaction as James departing lifeblood left him. His last vision was of me standing victorious above him, then darkness as he passed out. What came next for him I knew not.

Brina's free hand stretched up towards me, beseeching me in a silent cry for help. I forced myself to remain impassive, calling upon my training from years past. I knelt beside her and took her hand in mine. Unbidden, a sole tear made its way down my face. I knew that I could not get help in time for her, and even if I could, my life would then be forfeit at the discovery.

She pulled me closer to her and tried to open her mouth and speak. Blood was in her mouth and spilled across her lips and cheek. She closed her mouth and tried to swallow. She started crying then, and I felt perhaps the lowest I had ever felt in my life. This sweet, young, innocent girl was dying. Dying because of me as well as because of James, but really because of me. Had I not brought her with me to Malatoria she would be alive and well on Acathia. Had I not come back for her, she would be alive and well in James' arms. Within me the dam broke. I hated myself for what I had done, even though later I would finally accept that there was nothing else I could have done.

"I'm sorry Brina," I mouthed the words instead of speaking them, for my voice would not work. Then I admitted to what she had done to me. What she had caused me to feel. What had brought about this ruinous situation. And this time, though it was ruined with emotion, my voice worked. "I loved you."

Her arm went limp at that statement, her hand sliding free from mine to fall to the floor. I did not even know if she heard my last words. My vision was blurred from the tears that fell shamefully from my eyes.

I made my way out then, pausing only long enough to take the money purse on James' belt. My hands reeked of murder, but only in Brina's case. James, I feel, had deserved it. Nonetheless, Elendar was closed to me henceforth and forever. Returning to the sewers through distorted and blurry vision, I found my way in had been blocked thanks to a rather untimely cave in of mud and sewage. My only recourse was to discover another way out, one that took me far beneath the surface of Elendar and many miles and days before I would see the light of day again. What is most important is that I had survived to draw another breath another day. Brina was gone, but I would always remember her, and petty and shallow as that was, it had to be enough for me. I was young still, though I did not feel it, and I had more life to live. More gold to amass. More relationships to form. More relationships to sunder. And many more mistakes to make.

Continued in Chapter 14