Betrayal

"Artemous? Artemous!"

I stepped back beneath a shadowed alcove and pressed my burning wrists against my chest. The part of me that could still think rationally knew that I was only delaying the inevitable but as I closed my eyes and tried to control my ragged breathing I reasoned with myself that I would do anything to keep the necromancer away from me, even if it was only for a few moments more.

"I can feel you Artemous, I know that you're in here!" his voice echoed through the empty gardens, slithering its way through the trees and ancients ruins until it sounded like it was coming from every direction. "Come out!" Thunder exploded above me, near knocking my off my feet as I knelt pitifully in a huddle on the floor. Such monstrous power! I wondered how any man could expel so much forceful energy without being burned to crisp.

His footsteps were coming closer. My instincts demanded flight but I found myself rooted to the spot, unable to move or think. His heavy boots stepped into my view. I willed them to move on and for a moment, as he took one more faltering step forward I thought my wish had been granted. Of course I was wrong, I was always wrong. "Hiding under a rock, little mage?" His mocking tone was jubilant. He enjoyed torturing me. "Come out now, less you force me to come in there after you."

I almost did as he commanded but I was frozen with fear and couldn't move. I heard him sigh above me, the sort of sigh a father expelled when he was dealing with an unruly child and then his hand was wrapped around my wrist and he was dragging me out. Too numb with terror to react I didn't struggle when he pulled me to my feet and caught my jacket lapels. He tutted loudly and pressed his finger to the middle of my forehead. A great invisible whiplash cracked against my back, near crippling me as I released a silent scream of pain.

"Did that hurt Artemous?" His hand caught my chin, locking onto it and forcing me to look at him. "Because I assure you that this is only the beginning. I guarantee that when I'm done with you you'll never try to run again."

"I'm sorry," I gasped. Another whiplash tore into me. "Please!" I cried, trying to pull free and avoid the pain in my back. "I'm sorry, I won't run again! I swear!"

"You swear?" He laughed in my face, spraying goblets of spit at me. "What does the word of a northern mage mean to me?" He threw me to the ground and pressed me down flat with his power. "The only thing your kind understands is force. You need to be punished Artemous and so you shall."

I never could have known what he meant to do to me and even if I had there was no way I could have stopped him. Even so I could feel the bracelets around my wrists burning into my skin. He pressed his palm over both of my eyes and then before I could do more than merely whimper a blinding white force pushed its way through my closed eyelids and into the very depths of my mind.

When he released me at last and I opened my eyes I couldn't see anything. I rubbed at them furiously but all there was before me was darkness. Rough hands caught me under my arms and hoisted me to my feet. I tried to pull away but I couldn't even tell which direction away was.

"Please," I cried. "Give me back my sight! Please, you've blinded me! "

He pressed his lips very close to my ear as his burly arm wrapped around my waist. "So I have little mage and so you'll remain unless I decide otherwise. And do not think this is the end to your punishment boy. You've a lot to answer for." His strong hand rose above me and I saw the curved dagger a moment to late as it hurtled towards my chest. ****************

He woke with a terrified scream that roused the men around him into instant wakefulness. He could feel the tears flowing down his cheeks as he tried to convince himself that his sight was fine, it was merely dark within the swaying cabin deck. A large hand pressed against his chest and forced him onto his back. A light was shined in his face and he sobbed with relief even as it dazzled him. He could barely make out the siluette of the person holding him down but he thought he recognised him. "Jostlin?" He said hopefully, preying it was the young solider that had watched out for him since that dreadful night their leader had attacked him.

"Yes it's me. Why were you screaming?" His voice sounding exasperated but Artemous couldn't detect any real anger.

He looked away from the light and shuddered violently. "I'm sorry, it was only a dream."

"Must have been a fairly awful one." He commented. "You think you can control yourself till morning? They'll gag you if you wake them up again." His voice took on a slightly gentler tone as he pressed his hand against the smaller man's forehead. "You're really shook up aren't you?"

"I'll be quiet." He answered softly. He doubted he'd fall asleep again that night so there was little risk of waking everyone a second time. "I'm sorry I woke you." He said honestly.

Jostlin looked like he was about to answer but a bellowed voice rang out in the eastern language and the young man answered him frostily. He disappeared back into his bunk and the room was soon full of snores and snorts again. Artemous couldn't bare the idea of entering the nightmare again so he concentrated on being still. He began caressing the bracelet on his right wrist and awaited the dawn. *************

He had never known that the ocean could be so seemingly endless, that the sky could shine so brightly or that the very air that surrounded him could be as thick and warm as soup. All he had ever seen or known was an unending winter.

His mind began to wonder as he stared out over the ocean waves when suddenly an unbidden memory of a laughing woman with eyes the colour of the sea enveloped his thoughts. He cringed inwardly, his thoughts suddenly grim as he stared out over the ebbing horizon. What if a wave does come, he wondered as he peered down into the ocean depths. He had killed an innocent woman because the man he had loved, who ultimately betrayed him, had asked him to prove his loyalty. Didn't such obvious stupidity deserve to be punished?

He reached up and brushed his damp hair from his eyes. He tried not to think of his betrayer or the woman he had killed. It hurt too much to remember. From the corner of his eyes he watched the easterners walk about the ship, their legs steady and sure on the rocking deck. They had quickly shed the firs and pelts they had worn in the north for much lighter and grander looking silks. They had washed as well and no longer smelled like musk and other unpleasant odours. Artemous wondered at that. He had heard the easterners and southerners were barbarians. Little better than beast that rolled around in their own muck. Yet here they were, re-entering the world that they had been born into, and suddenly they looked healthier, richer, and stronger even.

Artemous people did not dress with flamboyance or care; they wore what necessary to keep warm and alive. Colour was not something one expected a decent person to wear. Colour was meant for whores and tinkers. But among the easterners colour seemed paramount. They shaved as well, one and all they were smooth of face. Artemous ran his hand over his own face, rough with stubble from his time spent behind bars and during travel.

"You must be warm." A snivelling voice drawled at his back. Artemous tensed, awaiting Galarias's loathsome touch. It was his neck this time and he had to resist the urge to pull away. He kept his eyes fixed ahead. He had learned the best way to deter a would be admirer was to ignore them completely. "You'll get sick if you stay out in the sun in these." His hand slid beneath Artemous shirt and caressed the top of his shoulder blade. "I have something far more suitable in my chambers, come and I'll show you."

Artemous closed his eyes briefly and repressed a shudder of distaste. Galarias chuckled in his ear abruptly and stood up. "Maybe later then mage." He said brightly before ruffling the northerner's hair and sauntering off up the deck. Artemous lowered his head slightly and watched him leave from beneath a curtain of blonde tresses.

"Galarias bothering you again mage?" a deep voice asked beside him. Artemous offered Jostlin a slight smile and shifted slightly. The other man took the intended invitation and dropped down beside him.

"He's harmless enough I suppose." He answered with a shrug.

"He has a point though; you can't stay dressed as you are. The heat will get worse and it will make you sick. You must be sweltering already. "

Artemous looked at Jostlin's bright red platoon trousers and open purple shirt and flushed guiltily. Jostlin's powerful chest near glistened in the heat, his skin a beautiful golden brown. He looked away quickly before the other man could see but judging by the amused chuckle he heard the easterner had noticed. "I didn't realise you were so shy mage."

"Our ideas of acceptable standards differ I think." Artemous answered quietly, though his rosy cheekbones had little to do with shyness.

"I would suggest you lose your northern squeamishness rather quickly little brother," Jostlin said good naturedly as he hoisted Artemous to his feet. "Come with me and we'll see what we can find to fit you. Whatever it is we'll need something that covers that pale skin of yours. You'll burn something fierce if you're not careful."

"Protect it how?" Artemous asked warily.

Jostlin laughed and ruffled his hair good naturedly. "Never fear little brother; we're not going to cover you in the animal fat we were wearing before. That would only make you cook all the more I fear."

"That's what you wearing before? Animal fat?" Artemous wrinkled his nose slightly. "Why?"

"Because we don't have your natural tolerance for the cold. The fat protects us from frostbite and keeps our body temperature up. Dreadful stuff but necessary. I think you'll be safe enough with a hat and a long sleeved shirt though. What say you, do you trust me to keep you decent?"

Despite himself Artemous let out a soft laugh. "I trust you Jostlin. Lead the way."

A little while later Artemous found himself sitting on the deck looking decidedly like a peacock. His platoons were a ridiculous shade of green but it was nothing compared to the billowy blue shirt that was so large on him that he had to roll the sleeves up four times before they even reached his wrists. He sighed quietly and pulled the oversized blue hat over his eyes and decided he might as well give into his fatigue and take a quick nap. He was in a far corner so there was little danger of anyone tripping over him.

He closed his eyes but despite his fear sleep was a long time in coming. Fatigue eventually won out though and he fell into a fitful slumber. *********

I can see my father, his eyes wide and unseeing as the blood dripped slowly from the wound in his back. I had known that he owed men money, frightening men with rough voices and cruel eyes. My father told me not to worry, he said he would have their money soon and then they could leave the poverty stricken quarter they were living in and move to one of the outer baronies.

Clearly he had been lying. When he died I was left alone, an eighteen year old boy with no money and no particular skills to speak of. I did the only thing I could and began to steal. It was inevitable that I would get caught. I was too old to enter the trade with any sort of skill and I was too small to defend myself.

The guards collared me and I received the beating of my life. My only other attribute of course was the magic but it was a gift to the wealthy and if I was caught conjuring it would mean my life. Of course as their boots laid into me I stopped caring about the consequences. I lashed out with raw energy and I killed one of the guards. That was when Ruben found me.

"You're beautiful." He told me, his striking voice flowing over me like a velvet caress. "Beautiful and mine."

And I was his, for years I belonged to him. Until he asked me to kill his sister.

"She plots against me my love; she wants my throne for herself. What do you think she'll do to me if she grasps power? You know how she detests me."

So I killed her. I forced the blade into her yielding flesh and stole the light from her sea green eyes. Only she wasn't dying. She reached out to me, shrieking terribly as her unseeing eyes stared mindlessly past me. "Innocent!" She shrieked, "I was innocent! You killed me, you did it to me."

"I'm sorry," I chocked, trying to prise her stone cold hands from my shoulders. "Please, he tricked me. I'm so sorry."

"Too late," She shrieked, "Into the fire, into the fire." She chanted.

Searing heat reached out to me and I realised with growing terror that she was dragging me towards the great fire that had sprung up behind me. I started screaming madly, clawing and fighting for my life. I couldn't break free though, she was too strong and she refused to let me go.

"Into the fire," She cackled as she lifted me from my feet and hurled me towards the dancing flames.

********

"Vesta Shonek!" A voice yelled above him. It was instantly taken up by the rest of the crew and thankfully drowned out the sound of Artemous's screams. He shrank back against the barrel he had been leaning on and tried to control his ragged breathing. What was happening to him? He had never dreamed so terribly before, not even when he was in the cage awaiting his execution.

"Little brother," A voice chimed above him in common. Artemous looked up into Jostlin's good natured face and felt a moment of calm that was cruelly cut short. "Land ho!" He said happily, pointing to the right of them. "We're home."

"Home?" Artemous asked stupidly. He pressed his knuckles into his eyes and rubbed them fiercely. "It isn't my home Jostlin."

The other man frowned for a moment but it soon turned into another smile. "Maybe not yet, but it will be." And with that he leapt to the deck and out of Artemous sight. The young mage took one last deep breath and sat back.

Home he thought solemnly, was something he was yet to find.