much about his life on Earth either, though it was a lie. He remembered everything in great detail, but he didn’t want to talk about that. It was gone. It was history, never to be revisited.
He liked Nalani, though. She seemed to be the type of person Alric would have tried to recruit into his group if she weren’t so devoted to her cause. She had just the kinds of qualities he would be looking for. She was smart, knew how to fight, wasn’t scared of anything and was absolutely gorgeous. Though the last one wasn’t a requirement for being a good mercenary, it sure would have been for Alric’s recruitment decision. No way she would ever go for a guy like him though. She had just left the Human king of Marenon. Alric was nothing more than a thief for hire. She was of a different class. Besides, he could only be with a woman that would go with him on his jobs and live as he did. Though a man can dream, the life he lived was often a lonely one. Alric wasn’t one who settled.
In the late afternoon, the alarms shrieked once again, only this time they were much louder and rang out for a longer period of time.
More slaves?
Nalani and Alric both sat up to watch as Nestorian soldiers and even the slaves were made to stand at attention for the coming caravan. This had to be something different. Even Daewyn to Alric’s right was up on his knees and attentive.
“Yep, this is bad,” he said to the others.
“What is?” Alric asked.
“Nestorians don’t show this kind of respect for anyone except…”
They waited for the Erellen to finish, but he just closed his mouth, watching as the lead carriage ushered in more Stühocs and more slaves. In the middle of the caravan was a massive carriage, but not with barred jail cells like the others. This one carried someone of importance.
“Except for what?” Alric said after a few moments.
“The Stühoc king,” Daewyn said. “That’s Anithistor.”
Nalani gasped at the name. Alric had heard of this Anithistor plenty of times, but it didn’t mean a whole lot to him. Just another stupid, ugly Stühoc.
“Well, I wish they’d shut up with the alarms and bells,” Alric said. “I wouldn’t mind taking a nap.”
“You don’t understand,” Daewyn said. “We’re the first people he’s going to visit. I’m the Erellen prince.” He turned his head to Nalani and Alric. “And you’re up here with me.”
Alric swallowed hard as he turned his head to watch the caravan. This was not good. Daewyn would be the object of Anithistor’s fury, but his high standing in the Erellen nation would most likely serve to keep him alive. The Stühoc king had no reason to keep Alric or Nalani alive. To him, they were nobody. On a whim, he could have them killed and it would mean absolutely nothing.
Alric thought about the endless cages of Human slaves that he saw in Mudavé when he had been there only a few months before. It looked as though the caravan carried all of them. There were hundreds of barred carriages following each other in line. These were the brainwashed slaves that Maroke had spoken of when they were disguised as Nestorian traders. He wondered how brainwashed they really were, or if they were just so famished and beaten that they would do anything for a meal.
The caravan moved out of sight, the soldiers dispersed, and all the other slaves went back to work. It was near sundown when Anithistor and a small group of soldiers neared the cages.
Alric had been expecting to see an evil-looking, beastly Stühoc like Maroke, but the king was quite different. Anithistor stood tall in black robes. He didn’t look like most of the other Stühocs. His face wasn’t deformed or scarred all over. He almost looked Human, except for his gray skin and unnaturally dark eyes with no white showing. His features were thin and his eyebrows creased downward producing a constant scowl. His hair was cut short and the gray skin on his face reflected the fading sunlight, almost giving him a supernatural aura. Several tattoos ran down his neck, probably continuing into an intricate pattern over his entire body.
Alric and Nalani exchanged glances, both completely surprised by the Stühoc king’s appearance. Throughout most of his reign, almost no one had seen Anithistor. Most people considered him merely a myth up until now, but in the last three months he had begun