The Key of Amatahns

  Chapter Eleven

  She awoke lying on solid ground with grass poking her stomach and something snuffling her hair. A voice was enraged and indistinct in the background. A hard fist slammed into her back, making her rack and cough. Janir spat out mud and gasped for air.

  It was Lucan’s voice in the background. “If she was here, then the enchanter can’t be far off, find him! I need him!”

  Raising a hand above her head, her fingers brushed a soft nose. “Kalbo.”

  The stallion nuzzled her hair with concern. He’d always had a knack for finding her. The horse must have been how Lucan was able to locate her and…with a jolt she remembered Karile.

  Janir tried to twist around to see, but she was too weak to do much of anything. Still, she managed to swivel her head enough to spot Lucan standing by the edge of the bog with his warriors leaning out over it holding branches, trying to find Karile. They brushed their sticks along the surface, searching for any trace of the enchanter.

  Let him be alright, please, please, please. Janir silently pleaded.

  “Here,” shouted one of the Argetallams excitedly, as excited as any of them ever became.

  There was a flurry of action as they hauled Karile out against the pull of the quagmire. The enchanter was unceremoniously deposited beside Janir on solid ground. With a hard blow to his chest, he coughed as she had and rolled over to behold Lucan staring down at him with crossed arms and a vicious expression.

  The Argetallam prince did not say a word. Casually, he stepped between Janir and Kalbo. Then he maliciously drove the toe of his boot into her back, as he used to do when they were little. The impact was far stronger and this time it drove her breath out of her lungs. She couldn’t breathe for a time that seemed to last forever. Just as before, she stifled a scream.

  “There, you see, sister?” Lucan stooped, slipped his fingers under her chin, and pulled her closer so he could whisper in her ear. “Let that remind you why you never fought back.” He shoved her back to the ground.

  Sparing him had been a huge mistake. She should have driven the knife into his spine. Why had she not?

  The two were dragged back to camp and tied to the trees more securely than ever. Lucan and the Argetallams fed on the rodents and didn’t share any of the meat.

  Karile’s stomach growled so loudly, Janir began to wonder if there was something alive in there. Lucan did let them have water, for which Janir was grateful. It had become clear that he wanted them to be as uncomfortable as possible, but not dead.

  Lucan and Camak consulted a map spread over a flat rock, charting their route to heavens knew where. They kept their voices down and their motions discreet. It was anyone’s guess where they were headed.