“Finished?” Er’it snorted and shook his head, knees once again applied to the best’s sides.
This time the creature moved. Aida gritted her teeth as she followed suit, her tether kept taut in Er’it’s fist so she had to run alongside the pair. They had made up little ground before Aida stubbed her toe on a rock hiding in a clump of brittle grass. Her surprised shriek and ensuing whimper brought the attention of beast and rider both.
Whereas Er’it shook his head and returned to stare at the horizon as if he could bring it closer by that alone, the beast slowed. Its massive shoulders twitched when Er’it applied his knees again, its mane snapping with the tinkling laughter of metal when it shook its head in negation to Er’it’s further command. It swung that head back once more, slowing by increments until Aida was at a brisk walk, something she could keep up for far longer than the harried trot Er’it had forced.
“No, absolutely not,” Er’it growled, giving a twitch to the reins he held loose in his other fist.
The beast let out booming thunder. Nothing at all like the high-pitched neighs of its neighbors, its trumpeting shook through the earth, resonating for miles and echoing back through the narrow valley they traveled.
Aida watched on in slack jawed amazement as the animal denounced Er’it’s vicious whispers. The application of Er’it’s heels brought it to a dead stop, horns lowered as its neck arched high. Its deep, grunting breaths sent plumes of dust into the air, so much that Aida coughed and covered her face as best she could. Still it would not budge until Er’it sat back hard in the molded leather, his murmuring silent to all but her and the beast.
“I’m going to turn you into dinner one day, Kal. Just you wait.”
The beast, Kal, snorted, as if this were a threat often made and in good humor. Another, lighter sound like the grinding of a mountain before a landslide rumbled from Kal’s chest before it began following the train that was nearing its end. Prancing in victory.
Aida could have hugged the animal, whatever it was, for its obstinance. It was still terrifying, this Kal, but right then it was her savior as Er’it allowed it to keep the easy walk as they went deeper into the mountains. He didn’t even correct Kal when it edged Aida to the side, putting her into the well trampled path of the winding train of people of animals. The various rocks smashed to rubble or kicked out the way, she didn’t find half as many things to pierce into the soft shoe.
Even with Kal’s help, such as it was, Aida was weak and exhausted by the time the sun even reached its zenith. Sweaty and caked with grime, she wasn’t certain how much longer she could keep it up. She’d never had so much physical exertion before. Thinking of all the activity she’d been a party to the last few days, her face grew cold and then flush. A strange, twisting sensation deep in her belly that made her feel twice as ill as she did from the heat.
When even the rutted tracks disappeared, leaving them to traverse the crumbling hills and parched growth, Aida was near collapse. Whole body shivering as if in the depths of winter, her teeth chattered. Every inch of her slick with perspiration, she didn’t understand what was wrong. Still she plodded along, feeling more faint with every step. Somehow remaining upright as the sun began its descent, hiding its face behind the craggy peaks that she didn’t have the energy to find any wonder in.
The train came into view once more, all of them milling about with fires and clanging pots. Dusk had settled over the valley, and they appeared to be stopping. She would have cried had she even a single drop of moisture left to her when Er’it dismounted and hauled her stumbling after him to a structure of stretched canvas and stiff poles. Tossed inside, Aida could only groan as the rough woven rug tugged at her skin and set her many cuts to bleeding again.
Feeling the warm trickle of blood at the corner of her eye, she rolled to her back to look up at the darkening roof of the little house. Offering herself up to the Abyss, hoping against hope it would take her, Aida let the warm stain serve as her anguished tears as darkness sucked her down hard and fast.
Chapter 9
Er’it
“She’s unconscious, Majesty,”Maruk said as he finished fussing over the woman.
“Is she really?” Er’it snorted and crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at the pair with as much derision as he could muster. It was far more than necessary as Maruk flinched away, turning towards his busy hands preparing some salve or another.
Er’it had spent an endless hour of watching the healer tut over every scrape, every broken blister, watching as the male picked the arid grass and bits of twigs from her bedraggled curls. Even Er’it could admit she was in quite the state, but why letting the healer have his hands on her was enraging Er’it was not something he understood. That it angered him that Maruk was the one to peel away the ruined gown, to wash away the filth from her welted flesh, was enough to infuriate him further.
All of it while the Omega whimpered in an exhausted faint. Limbs slack and skin over warm to the touch, her list of maladies grew. Heat exhaustion, overexertion, lack of food, dehydration. All of it listed off in the healer’s dry tones as if Er’it hadn’t been the one inflicting it upon her in the first place.
Nose wrinkling at the sharp bite of cinnamon and clove layered over the rank scent of the healing plants, Er’it stalked towards the open flap to breathe in air tainted by the smell of dying things. Staring at the barren hills and scrubby grasses that struggled in vain to remain alive, he wondered if this place would ever recover. Coming through the rough Solosas mountains, they hadn’t seen the true state of Aeslomor. Sucked dry by its previous ruler, the emperor Otaso styled himself to be, the mountains hung in balance.
The other mages had all voiced their concerns as soon as he’d deposited the Omega in his tent and went in search of dinner. Droning on with their worries as Er’it became more impatient. Eager to tear the ruined gown from his prize and slide back inside of her warm, wet tightness, he had told them all to quit their whining and let him be.
Now in an effort to cool his temper and keep his desire in check for the moment, he looked around the barren little valley with a furious scowl. The land was claimed in his name, and now people would expect him to fix this mess. Coming from Denath, a land of dark sands and ever-changing horizons, he understood the real fear these Aeslomorans had about their home. A life in a desert was harsh and unforgiving, not for the weak of spirit or will. The Hat’or only knew how much they had endured under Otaso’s rule all these years, and now to have their very land threatened, watching it wither away every cycle… Er’it grunted and kicked at a frayed clump of grass, frown hardening when it tore free.
Crouching down, he picked it up, turning the matted clump over in his hands. The earth was stiff and crumbling, turning to powder under his touch. No roots to delve deep into the ground, sheared off at the base from any sustenance. It would take generations for the land to heal itself, dozens of cycles just for the farmers to do more than scrape by without losing half their crops and animals. A little less time if a mage were to feed power back into the mountains. Easier still to sacrifice a few thousand and let their blood-soaked corpses drain into the parched dirt, though far more gruesome and not what the Aeslomorans had asked for.
“Majesty,” Endi said as she approached with head bowed and eyes downcast.
“I can’t do anything about it tonight, woman. You and the others will just have to wait until I find someone to remain here and do as you wish me to.” Er’it tossed the sorry weed off into the distance and slapped his dusty hands against his thighs. His temper got the better of him as Endi flinched, chin lowering. He was hungry and the Omega’s sweet scent was taunting him once again. He had no patience to deal with hurt emotions or imagined slights. “What do you want now?”
“I came to tell you some of the people have voiced concerns over the woman, and—”
“Concerns? Do tell.”
“Er’it, you made her walk behind Kal all day. You dragged her along behind you,” Endi whispered, lush brown eyes wide as she looked around to be sure none were close enough to hear. “No water, no food. Everyone saw what you did to her.”
“What I choose to do with my prisoner is none of your concern.” Er’it drew up to his full height, arms loose at his sides as the prickling awareness of the Omega spiraled ever upwards. Taunting him with the verdant freshness of her. Calling him back inside the tent, to do as he’d decided as soon as he saw the bitch fed and watered. An enchanting creature to be used and bred.
Er’it breathed out in a slow, controlled sigh as Endi spoke. Not a word of it reached his ears, too caught up in his desire to have the Omega again which just angered him further. How dare she make him react so? The furious thunder of his heart pounding in his ears deafening him further, his lip lifted in a snarl.
