By the Sword - By Sara Flower Page 0,30

sharpening his arrowheads when he heard General Edandir’s sharp voice outside. He stepped out of the shed and saw the general standing close to the royal gardens. A tall, slender female form was walking quickly away from him.

Talya.

She broke into a run and disappeared.

General Edandir walked briskly back toward the castle without a word.

The way Talya was acting angered Tanel. She always thought that she was better than everyone else. After nearly getting all of them killed on the mission, her behavior toward the general – her own father – was inexcusable. She was acting like a spoiled child rather than a skilled knight that had pledged her life to the military.

Talya cared more about fulfilling her own goals than obeying her general. Any other knight would have been horsewhipped for such constant insubordination to his leader. She was his friend, but he wished that she would grow up.

Tanel placed the freshly sharpened arrows into his quiver, strapped it on, and then started to walk toward the barracks. An idea formed in his mind and he stopped. He knew Talya too well.

*****

Talya could barely see the Malinorian commander in the misty darkness, but his rapid footsteps gave him away.

He’s not moving fast enough to get away from me.

She leaped through the thickening fog like a doe, clenching the dagger in her right hand. He would hear her coming soon. She had to be quick.

He turned around sooner than she had hoped.

Talya threw her knife at him. It was a clumsy throw, hitting him just above his left lung. He went to yank it out.

With an angry shout, Talya grabbed her sword from its sheath and drove it through his stomach before he had a chance to react. Instead of retrieving her weapon, she drove it deeper into his midsection. He moaned and wrapped his weakened hands around her neck. She punched him as hard as she could and then pulled her blade out of him.

As he fell backward, she relished in the agonized expression on his face.

“This is for my mother,” she said.

“You’re Edandir’s daughter, aren’t you?” he whispered.

“Yes. The girl you almost killed.”

“Jalarn is going to kill you for this,” he wheezed.

“He won’t find out that I did this. Besides, you should know that Malinorians only care about themselves. You really think that he will avenge you?”

Waltez breathed his last breath and then lay still.

Talya took her dagger out of his chest and then wiped both of her weapons on the dewy grass.

She stood over her dead enemy. At last, he had gotten what he deserved. All of those innocent lives that had been lost in the fire could now have a small ounce of justice. It made her sick to think that the man had once been her father’s friend.

But this still will never bring my mother back.

Somehow, staring down at her fallen enemy made her feel even more empty. Talya turned to leave and was startled to see a tall, lean figure just a few paces away from her.

It was Tanel. She could not see his face, but she imagined his judgmental glare.

“Your father did not give you orders to kill him,” he said.

“So, you were eavesdropping.”

“I was working nearby. I told myself that you wouldn’t do it, but I should have known better.”

“Waltez killed my mother. You have never had to know what it is like to lose yours.”

“That does not excuse what you just did.”

Talya did not wait to hear another self-righteous sentence come from his mouth.

“I thought you were my friend,”she said.

She brushed past him and then walked back to the barracks.

*****

The sun’s first rays kissed the tree-lined horizon as Queen Roselyn urged the sturdy mule into a swift gallop toward Sanctus City. The pain of losing Opal was still too fresh. It was difficult riding another mount back home. She was going to miss her gentle, brave mare until the day she passed on.

The man that had come to her aid in the forest sat behind her on the saddle, singing an old hymn. He was a prophet named Uittan. Not only was he the kindest person Roselyn had ever met, he also possessed wisdom and peace that could have only come from God.

Roselyn had spent the last night on a soft couch in his comfortable cabin. Over a soothing cup of tea that morning, he had settled many of her fears about going to war with Malinor.

Uittan had assured her that God wanted them to fight for the freedom of Sanctus. She