Home > The Blacksmith Queen (The Scarred Earth Saga #1)(15)

The Blacksmith Queen (The Scarred Earth Saga #1)(15)
Author: G.A. Aiken

She hefted her hammer onto her shoulder. “All right then. Let’s go kill the rest so we can get the children to safety.”

* * *

Gemma had put away her long sword and pulled out her two short swords. She ran at the mercenaries, hacking and slashing her way through them. Laila used her arrows until a few of the men got close. Then she switched to the steel spear she had strapped to her back.

Gemma was just holding these men off until her mother, Beatrix, and the children could slip away. But every time they tried to run, mercenaries moved in front of them. Blocked them.

Getting frustrated but not sure what to do about it, she simply kept fighting. Until Laila suddenly sent out a whistle call.

Gemma didn’t know why until Cadell and Farlan rode into view. There was a lot of blood on them, but nothing that had her too worried.

Farlan immediately leaped into the fray, using a large axe to chop away the mercenaries attacking her. He used his back legs to strike at any men or horses behind him. The strength of his kicks knocked the horses back and killed the men outright from blows to their chests or heads.

“Go!” he finally yelled when he was right in front of her. “Now!”

Gemma ran toward her mother and siblings.

Mum was busy fighting off three soldiers on foot with her two swords.

Coming up behind the men, Gemma beheaded one and disemboweled another. Her mother buried one of her blades into the third’s belly.

Sheathing her swords, Gemma picked up one of the toddlers who she knew couldn’t keep up. She motioned to Beatrix to take the other, which she did but not before she rolled her eyes and sighed a bit.

Gemma struggled to contain her annoyance, knowing this wasn’t the time or place.

With the toddler in her arms, she started to run back toward the house. That’s when she saw Keran and Samuel.

“Take them!” she ordered, handing the toddler to Samuel and motioning for Beatrix to give him the boy, not wanting to risk her dropping him. “Keran! Watch the younger ones! And move! Everyone move!”

When they all ran toward the house, Gemma returned to the last three men she’d killed. She crouched by them and chanted the song of death, draining the land around her of its essence and putting it into the bodies of these men. They all stood and she pointed at the remaining soldiers battling the centaurs.

The abominations ran toward the fight, their weapons drawn, and Gemma yelled out, “Laila! Get out of there!”

Then, without waiting to see if the centaurs followed her order, Gemma raced after her family.

* * *

Keeley battered another man out of her way and took off around the house to get to her family. As she cleared the corner, she ran into more enemies. Startled, she immediately raised her hammer and yelled in rage. So did her enemy.

Then they both stopped.

“Gemma?”

“Oh. It’s you.” Gemma lowered her sword. “Thank the gods.” Keeley stared at her sister. “You’re a War Monk?”

“Is this really the time to discuss it?”

“You’re right.” Keeley lifted her hammer again to strike her sister down.

“Keeley Smythe!” her mother snapped. “You put that hammer down right this second!”

“She’s a necromancer!”

“She’s your sister,” her mother reminded her.

And Keeley knew her mother was right. Despite whatever had set her sister on this path, they were still blood. And family was all.

“Fine.” Keeley lowered the hammer. “Sorry,” she bit out.

Gemma hissed and pushed past her.

But before Keeley could rip her judgey little head off, her mother grabbed her by the back of the neck and whispered against her ear, “She’s your sister, you love her, and nothing will come between you two. Understand?” When Keeley didn’t answer quick enough, her mother squeezed. “Understand?”

“Yes.”

Her mother followed after the rest, but before Keeley could move, Beatrix caught her arm.

“What’s going on?” her sister demanded.

“Beatrix—”

“Now,” she pushed.

“Fine. You’re the future queen.”

“Ahhh. I see,” Beatrix replied, her expression never changing. That reaction bothered Keeley but she didn’t have time to figure out why. “And the men attacking here today . . . ?”

“Mercenaries of Straton the Devourer.”

“Not the oldest, then?”

A strange question, but... “No. I saw the crest. It’s the Devourer.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

Was it?

Keeley took her sister’s hand. “Don’t worry. You know I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Beatrix studied Keeley’s hand, then looked up into her face. She gave a small smile. “Of course you won’t.”

* * *

“Are you sure about this, Da?” Keeley asked her father, her hand pressed against his back.

Caid wanted to give them more privacy but he stayed close. For their safety.

“I’m sure. But I can’t do it myself.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Keeley kissed her father’s cheek. “Go help Mum get on the horse. You know she hates riding.”

Angus grunted and walked away from the small farmhouse he’d bought with every penny of the money he’d saved during his time as a soldier. A house his entire family had been living in for years. Once he’d disappeared behind the stables, Keeley glanced at her War Monk sister.

“I can do it,” Caid offered.

“No,” Keeley replied. “This is up to us.”

She nocked an arrow, aimed the weapon, and waited.

Her sister placed her thumb and forefinger on the arrowhead and softly spoke a spell. A flame flared and Gemma stepped back to her sister’s side. Keeley’s gaze stayed on her the entire time until she said, “That’s completely normal.”

Gemma’s jaw tensed and she snarled, “If what you’re asking is whether I am pure evil, I’m not. But should that change at any time”—she locked a vicious glare on Keeley—“trust me when I say that you will be the first to know.”

Caid cringed a bit, worried that at some point he’d be preventing one of these sisters from killing the other.

Keeley let the arrow fly and it went through the open door of the house. Their father had doused the lower floor in ale and the entire thing was covered in flames in less than a minute. He’d already set fire to all the crops and released the animals. Only the horses that hadn’t run too far from the stables would continue to be used by the family.

Gemma stormed away from her sister and Keeley handed the bow back to him.

“Thanks for that.”

“Of course.”

“I don’t know if there will be enough horses for all of us,” she said as they walked toward the stables. “Mind if I catch a ride?”

Caid stopped walking, faced her. “Really?”

She blinked up at him. “I’m . . . I’m sorry. I was just joking.”

“That’s the kind of joke that makes some of my people very angry. Especially my sister. Don’t let her easy ways fool you. She has a bit of a temper.”

“I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just . . . my heart is breaking because I know my father’s heart is breaking. And there’s nothing I can do to help him.”

Realizing that she wasn’t mocking him or being cruel, Caid immediately felt bad. This was why he rarely dealt with people. Most greatly annoyed him and he wasn’t very good at hiding that annoyance. But Keeley, much like her father, didn’t annoy him much at all. There was something so earnest about her. So open. She didn’t seem to hide anything from anyone.

“I don’t know your family well,” Caid carefully told her, “but I truly think the only thing your father cares about is that his children and wife are alive and well.”

Keeley nodded. “I’m sure you’re right.”

They began walking toward the stables again.

“Who taught you to fight like that?” he asked, suddenly irritated by the abrupt silence between them. “Your mother or father?”

“Both. My father was a soldier. For the Old King’s armies. Many years ago. He always said, ‘I know what soldiers do when they have free rein. I don’t want that for my daughters.’ And my mother was a firm believer that it’s a poor blacksmith who doesn’t know how to wield her own weapons.”

“Well, they did a fine job with you and your sister.”

“My parents taught Gemma how to wield weapons but that other shit...? She learned that from someone else.” Keeley rubbed her forehead but all she did was smear the blood around. “Do you know anything about War Monks?”

Caid opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again . . . let out a long breath.

Keeley raised her hands. “Forget I asked.”

“No, it’s not that bad. It’s just—”

“No. Don’t even bother. We both heard the screams of those mercenaries. Cold-blooded men who kill for sport and gold and yet my much-shorter sister sent them into a panic. I think that says all I need to know.”

They neared the others, who were already mounted and ready to go. The smallest children being held by a sibling or parent.

“Where are we going?” she asked him.

“That’s up to you. We need to take your family someplace safe.”

“But I thought—”

“The children can’t come.”

Keeley stopped. “I will not leave Beatrix. Do you understand?”

“Of course. But you don’t want your brothers and sisters around the Witches of Amhuinn. It’s simply not wise.”

“That’s fine.”

“But we should move. In case more of Straton’s men come.”

Keeley started walking again but she was suddenly nudged forward; the gray mare stood behind her.

   
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