Dawn of the cemetery - Chapter 1 - part 3

"Hey!" I tried to free myself from the woman's grip but she seemed to tighten it on my skin even more. Zeyana fixed her eyes on me when she heard my moan and only then she let me free: "What the hell is wrong with you! "

"Show me this village of yours and woe to you if you lie ... you have just insinuated that I, the princess of Atenarte and commander of this war expedition, is incapable of having her troops under control! "

"What happens to her majesty? "

Hearing the princess scream, many soldiers ran and I saw Keira making her way through the group of people; I could still use her, maybe she would help me escape if I manipulated her a little more.

"Tynov" the man appeared in front of the princess in a moment and lowered his head to listen reverently to the orders of the princess. I glared at him, biting my lip to avoid insulting or teasing him.

"How far is Clevwood? "

" Not far from the point where you kidnapped me " my voice betrayed all my anger. Dear Princess Zeyana was happy to mistreat me further and without delay she made me get on her horse, positioning herself in front of me: "For this trip I will bear your presence" she whispered with contempt, barely holding back the anger she felt . I was scared of her: maybe she was crazy and once she found Clevwood in its state of destruction, she would blame me and kill me instantly.

"Let's move! I'm not going to waste any more time."

We traveled in a hurry and strangely the travel seemed shorter than before, perhaps because there were few of us and the horses were fast.

The only good thing in that moment was the feeling of the princess's body pressed against mine.

Get over it, I'm crazy over two things in the world: sex and power.

"Now where?"

"A hundred meters ... to the right ..." I said bored by the fact that I had become her personal map.

"If I find out that you"..."

"...lied? Well, I already know that you will cut off my head in that case! "

She turned to look at me with those beautiful and clear eyes that enchanted me. Under the moonlight she shone, just as if she were one of the stars in the night sky. I have never seen something so wonderful and deadly at the same time.

"We have arrived ..." I announced about ten meters from the entrance to Clevwood. It was dark and silent, no light illuminated our path, only the lanterns that the soldiers were carrying.

The gloomy atmosphere was nothing new to me, but the three armed men became more cautious, prepared for whatever might emerge from the darkness of the ruins.

"Come on" The woman said softly, pointing to the desolate village with her hand. I sighed, but struggled off the horse, still exhausted by pain, and took a few steps forward, distancing myself from the warrior princess.

I would have liked to have had the strength to escape, but at the very idea of ​​doing that, my pains amplified and my legs trembled.

Returning to Clevwood was not in the plan, that was certain: I did not expect that in a few hours I would find myself among the corpses and the already dried blood.

"You can enter, there is no one here anymore."

I had reached the center of the square, paying attention to where I put my feet and covering my nose with my cloak; I was afraid of throwing up at any moment or worse, getting some disease. I turned in a hurry and raised my hand to motion for Zeyana and the soldiers to come, but I saw them suddenly freeze and the princess screamed something.

I opened my eyes: a man had come out of the shadow of an alley and had a sword raised above his head, ready to strike me.

In the end, had I not escaped the death that should have awaited me in Clevwood?

"Consequences"

Warning: this chapter contains some contents that may be sensitive.

Dawn of the cemetery

Relying on my instincts I tried to use magic, but I was far too weak. I took off the dagger and with a sudden gesture, I threw it towards him, blocking his rapid advance: the knife was stuck in his shoulder, he wouldn't have been able to fight in those conditions. The man fell to the ground, letting go of the sword and bringing his hands to the wound.

"Ahh! "

The princess was the first to join me and she stepped between me and the soldier, observing the unknown man who had tried to kill me. From her attitude I realized that she was furious: the hand that held the hilt of her sword continued to tighten its grip and release with almost spasmodic gestures.

The soldiers took the wounded man by the armpits and raised him with a brusque gesture: " Stop bastards, stop! You are hurting me! "

"Enough! "The imperious voice of the princess immediately silenced him and even lowered her head to respect her.

"What is happening here? I want explanations! "

"Her majesty...! "

"Speak now! I'm losing my patience! "

I smiled with pleasure seeing the terrified and suffering man. I imagined how pleasant it would be if I were able to manipulate the princess in order to crush my enemies, but my dream shattered when I remembered that actually Zeyana hated me.

I was still pretty confident that I could enter her good graces. I had to learn her weak points and take advantage of them.

"I followed orders! They had said that sir Donovan had talked to the officers ... we listened to him... but they all died, they massacred them and I ran away! "

"Sir Donovan? Where is he?! Where is that bastard? Tell me now! " I grabbed the man by the throat and stared into his bright red eyes.

I wanted to kill him but I refrained because the princess would not allow me to hurt one of her soldiers even though he was a deserter.

"Alex."

The princess said my name coldly, but her voice was commanding enough to stop me. I was at a disadvantage, I couldn't do what I wanted with her soldiers around me. I withdraw my hands from the man's throat, taking a step back, and taking some time to breathe and calm down.

"Tell me about Donovan" she said in a low voice, with serious but still irritated eyes. Her body was stiff, but I felt the tension leave her as control subsided.

"Father Donovan is a killer. He started the witchs' hunt, persuading the priests to follow him into the massacre... he"e killed also my…" I tried to get my voice out, but it stuck in my throat and something wet my face; I brought my fingers to my face, rubbing the skin, and I knew there were tears. I gritted my teeth, angry at myself for showing weakness.

"Did he imprison you? "

"No… the villagers did" I replied lowering my face so as not to show the princess and the soldiers how vulnerable I was at that moment.

"Witch! Was it you? Believe me! Believe me, it's all her fault, she killed all these people... her village! Do you hear? Princess I'm innocent, spare your humble soldier "! "

The woman raised her sword and pointed it at her throat, forcing him to swallow the rest of the lies he was spitting out, and she didn't even turn around, remaining focused on me: "Alex, did you kill them? "

I raised my eyes trying to remain impassive, but her piercing gaze took my breath away once again, however, I held all that pressure by answering her firmly: "No, but I'm not sorry that they are all dead" I smiled showing the princess my cruelest and most unstable side, but she said nothing and went back to talking to the deserter: " I believe her ."

I frowned but said nothing.

"I was together with Father Donovan's soldiers when they gave the order to kill every civilian in the village… but I fled! I haven't hurt anyone, believe me! I didn't think my princess would have the population massacred for no reason, so I didn't do anything! "

"But as soon as you saw this woman, you immediately tried to kill her, why? And where are all the deserters? ! Do you think I'm stupid? Lie to me again and won't be merciful " the tip of her sword had already opened a superficial wound on the throat of the man and this caused a frightened scream in him.

He begged for mercy: "I'll say everything I know, but please, let me live! I have a family… my wife and my little children...! " He started whimpering like a baby and the princess slapped him on the right his cheek, to make him come to his senses.

"Talk otherwise you won't go back to your family! "

The man finally began to tell how things had really gone and I listened attentively, hoping that I could reconstruct part of the memory I had lost: apparently that bastard Father Donovan had bribed the invading soldiers to occupy some villages and carry out raids, massacring civilians so as not to have evidence of his actions left. The witch hunt was a pretext to settle in the villages: the real evil spread at night, when the enemy troops suddenly arrived. That was exactly what happened to Clevwood: Father Donovan's soldiers would have to continue their sacred task of killing witches and I would have been the sacrifice to distract the village from the arrival of the deserters; thus explained the useless attempts of resistance by the villagers and the heaps of scorched corpses and ashes. Probably they couldn't finish their cleaning… but how was it possible that I was alive? What was the reason for the soldiers' flight?

The man who had been questioned by Princess Zeyana had claimed that he was lost after receiving the order to withdraw from Clevwood and in the confusion of the escape, he had decided to go back so as not to stay overnight outside the village at the risk of ending up among the wolves. He explained that after seeing me, he had remembered from the poster they had hung around the inns and taverns that I was a wanted one and he had thought of capturing me to earn some money and returning to his house as soon as possible.

After all that explanation, my innocence was proved and I'd have an excuse to play the part of the persecuted ex"prisoner in order to obtain the warrior princess' benevolence.

The woman had the deserter arrested and we finally went back to the camp.

Zeyana was quiet on the return trip. The night breeze seemed to cool down her anger and my anxiety too. Soon fatigue overwhelmed me and I closed my eyes, bringing my back close to the princess's chest without realizing it.

I thought I felt a hand approaching my hip before falling asleep, but I couldn't have known if that comforting and warm feeling was part of reality or a dream.