Chapter 2

Another guard came running at her, from the side, but she moved quickly enough to skirt pas his assault and knock him on the back of the head. He stumbled, recovered rapidly, and lunged at her feet. He cut her near her ankles, and she sprang forward, kicking him in the head. He rolled over, unconscious.

It was over quickly. Driada heaved an exhausted breath and wiped the sweat from her face. The merchant ship’s crew had either been subdued or killed entirely. Captain Neleos strode across the deck, surveying what they had accomplished. From the looks of it, the captain was trying to suppress a smug grin. He acts as if it was he who accomplished all this. He forgets that we are the ones who fight for him. Without us he is nothing

“All right, everyone, you know what to do! Collect the spoils and start loading the ship!” Captain Neleos exclaimed.

Driada shot off with the rest of her crew and helped haul crates onto their thin ships. It wasn’t long before sweat dripped from her forehead onto her face. She had to be careful not to slip on pools of blood, or trip over a dead or wounded merchant’s body.

She glanced at the boy she had rendered unconscious. When I first began raiding, I felt guilty for attacking them.I barely even flinch anymore. She looked away and picked up the next crate. The strain of such close contact fighting was hard on her limbs, however, and she was only able to help lift a few crates of gold and copper. Not exactly as fun as wine, but this will do.

After about twenty minutes, the cargo had been successfully carried about their ship. They left the vessel, and the remaining survivors, behind.

* * * *

Thea of Ios sat by her husband’s deathbed. Blood red drapes hung from the windows of the royal bedchamber. Their oaken bedpost was decorated with carvings of nymphs floating through the water and playing on the shore, near the trees. But even the nymphs would not be able to save him now. King Arkon, who had been so mighty and powerful only days before, now lay pale and ghostly. Water had filled his lungs, killing him. He was with Hidir, the god of death. Despite his recent victory in battle, the gods had not rewarded him. Yet again, they had abandoned Thea when she needed them most.

The bedroom was filled with the smell of incense and sweat. The opened window helped little to clear the air. Two priests lingered near the doorway, waiting to attend to the king’s body.

Thea wished Arkon would open his eyes, that he would not leave her with the responsibility of tending to the kingdom on her own. But he did not wake. He would never rise again. The realization rocked her like a powerful wave at sea. The next few days would be reserved for mourning, but after that, she would need to assume the mantle of queen, publicly. That would mean she would have to lead her people, the Iosians, and their serfs. She could not show any weakness, even after the loss of her husband.

She sat motionlessly on her oaken chair, her hands folded in her lap, and waited for a god to appear so she might bargain for her husband’s life, as the heroes from stories had done.

But the gods never appeared.

She was alone, with the body of a husband she had never truly loved. She had been his second wife. His first had betrayed him to their enemies. Her name was Helle, and it had been struck from every record in the kingdom. Arkon had hated her deeply for her betrayal.

Thea had worked hard to prove to him that she could be trusted. That she was not like his first wife. She had been friends with the king, certainly, but they had never been in love. Thea had known from the start that she could not possibly love the king the way a wife should. But he had remained by her side through their short years of marriage, without any trace of unfaithfulness. He had been a confidante, a shoulder to cry on, someone with whom she could share all of her worries. But now he was gone.

She would need to find the courage to lead her people without him.

Ios was an unruly land, with two feuding tribes. They were known as the Tolensi and the Ardians. To outsiders, they appeared to have similar customs and religions, but to those who belonged to the groups, they believed they could not be more different. Thea belonged to the ruling clan, the Iosian clan. Their customs were dominant in Ios, but the influence of the other tribes was undeniable. They were a constantly shifting culture, with intermeshing dynamics.