The Young Page

“The Night Queen must not ride alone,” (Episode 5 of Uprising — a six-part serialized fiction story)

( Need to catch up? Read From The Beginning | Read Episode 4 )

The King’s healers were brought in, and they bandaged his wound. He was angry — and secretly afraid.

“What manner of women are these?” he thought.

Two riders approached at a gallop. With tensions running high, a sentry killed one of them before the other gave the day’s word, his name and rank, and begged for mercy. He brought news from behind the wall. “Death and misery, Oh Light, Sehenis take pity on me, death and misery for us and our men. No one inside, fire archers all around. All dead, our men. Nothing inside — empty are the storerooms, the halls, the keep.” He wept. A silence fell upon the men around him.

When the ghastly news reached the wounded King, he bellowed. “Redouble your efforts! I want her whole host dead, and her head on my lance. I will piss into her skull before I leave this wretched place! Now see it’s done, or your head may just do for it!” His face was contorted into a horrific mask.

By dusk the Sargathian army broke through the Ulliahim lines. The Lyrrah had fought ardently, and even the Ulliahim…