Excerpts From Unfinished Novels #28: Lady Of The Beasts
Excerpt is from the first chapter of the novel
Fauve whistled as she strolled through the streets of the town, watching the local people going about their business – the vendors yelling and shaking their wares at passers-by, people walking single-file into the temple out of which the sound of soft chanting was drifting, and the town’s guards patrolling, their gazes carefully travelling over everyone they passed. The smell of meat pies wafted through the air; Fauve sniffed, smacked her lips and made a beeline for the pie stand to buy one.
Pie in hand, she held it up to her nose and inhaled deeply before taking a large bite. She moaned softly at the taste of rich gravy, meat and vegetables. She ambled down the street as she chewed, a happy smile on her face. A flash of green caught her eye; she turned her head and choked slightly when she saw a person with amber skin, muscled arms, and green hair that fell about their face in huge curls. They were gorgeous. And they were staring at her.
Fauve started, and blushed as the person covered their mouth with their hand, their laughter obvious in the way their eyes crinkled. They lowered their hand and smiled at Fauve, who hastily wiped her mouth and smiled back. Her eyes quickly darted to the clock at the top of the town hall and then back to the person who was now waving at her, their lips spread in a coy smile. She had ten minutes to get to the tavern, the thieves wouldn’t be pleased if she was late, but on the other hand, she really really wanted to talk to the person… She could run to the tavern.
She turned and started walking towards the person, only to get knocked sideways when she collided with another body. She stumbled, and let out an exasperated cry as her pie was sent flying to the ground. She cursed, whirled around to give the person who knocked into her a piece of her mind, and froze when she saw a large metal chest plate, with the crest of her hometown emblazoned on it.
“Sorry about that, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” a jovial voice said as a hand clapped her on the shoulder.
Fauve’s eyes darted up to the knight’s face, over to the person who was frowning at her, around at the other town’s people, and back to the crest, over and over again, while her mind spun and worked furiously to actually focus and take in anything she was seeing. All that was clear to her though was that she needed to go right now.
Fauve flinched and jerked away from the hand on her shoulder.
“Uhh…” She glanced over at where the person was, and her stomach dropped when she saw they had gone. Her eyes continued to scan the crowd as she stammered, “Um, yeah, no, sorry, um…Ihavetogo,” before stumbling back and walking away, almost slipping on the crushed remains of her pie.
As she did she glanced at the clock tower and saw that she was going to be late.
Aneira frowned as she watched the other woman stumble away, her pale brown skin flushed and a look of fear and confusion on her face. There was something really familiar about her…It was probably the way she’d acted around her; generally there was only one type of person that acted so strangely around a royal knight: someone that had either just done something wrong, or someone who was about to.
Aneira rocked on the balls of her feet as she watched the woman glance at the clock, curse, and sprint away. Oh, she was definitely about to get up to something she shouldn’t be doing.
The royal knight grinned and wrapped her cloak around her so her armour was concealed before following the woman, her footsteps careful, her tread as light as possible. As the woman turned down an alley, Aneira’s grin widened; she knew exactly where she was headed. She poked her head around the corner just to make sure she was right, and when she saw the woman duck in to The Dancing Boar, she chuckled and wandered away to get herself a meat pie.
She left it a few minutes before making her way back to the tavern, savouring her pie as she did. She paused outside the tavern door, wolfed down the final chunk of pie, pulled her hood up over her head, and slunk into the tavern. She placed a coin in front of the tavern keeper, took the mug of beer he placed in front of her, and took a seat in the corner of the room. She took a slow sip of the beer, hummed appreciatively, and casually scanned the room until she spotted the woman from earlier.
She was sitting with a group of thieves that were very well known to Aniera and her knights; in fact two of them had escaped the castle dungeons only two weeks before. Aneira watched as the thieves questioned the woman, and she narrowed her eyes as the woman leaned back in her chair and waved her hands about as she spoke, an air of total confidence surrounding her. There really was something familiar about her, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. The woman leaned in, and muttered something to the group that caused them all the chuckle and glance at each other, their expressions clearly delighted. The man in the middle of the group nodded, pulled a coin purse out of his pocket and tossed it across the table. The woman opened it, pulled out a coin, held it up to the light, bit on it, examined it again, and quickly looked over the rest of the contents of the purse before closing it and tucking it away. She smiled and reached over to shake hands with the man before giving the group a jaunty salute and leaving the tavern.
Aneira hastily finished her beer and hurried out after her. At first, she saw nothing when she left the tavern, cursed, and immediately brightened when she spotted the end of the woman’s cloak disappearing into the forest. Aneira quickly followed, one hand resting on the hilt of her sword. Once she had the woman in her sights she slowed down and observed her carefully, seeing the way her shoulders visibly relaxed and her stride lengthened and slowed down the deeper into the forest she was, hearing her whistle an lullabye Aneira half-remembered from her childhood, and smiling as she paused to smell the flowers before plucking them and placing them in her hair. Aniera was so intent on following the woman that her surroundings faded around her, and it wasn’t until she stumbled over a gnarled root sticking up from the ground that she realised she was far deeper in the forest than she had any right to be.
Okay well, she was just going to have to stick with this woman now until she left the forest. Easy.
The woman reached a clearing in the forest where she stopped, put her fingers to her mouth and let out a sharp whistle.
Aniera frowned and stepped closer, the feeling of familiarity washing over her.
The woman followed her whistle with a guttural cry that almost sounded like a foreign language.
Aneira’s frown deepened. What was it about this woman that was so–
A huge beast slunk out from a dense clump of trees and bushes, sniffing the air cautiously before padding over to the woman and nuzzling its snout against her face as it let out a deep rumbling sound. Aneira’s eyes widened as she took in the enormous antlers, wolf-like head, feathered body and giant wings of the luquiltes. As she watched the woman stroking the luquites’ snout and chatter softly with it, a wave of memories hit her, and she realised exactly why the woman seemed so familiar.
The woman froze, and Aneira shoved a hand over her mouth as she realised that she’d said that out loud. The woman yelled something at the luquiltes, causing it to dart back into the trees, and had started to tear off after it when Aneira leapt forward and yelled out, “Fauve, wait!”
Fauve froze, her hands clenched in the fur of the luquiltes she had been playing with.
“Run!” she hissed before whipping around to face Aneira who was gaping at her, eyes wide in obvious shock.
The luquiltes moved, but instead of leaving it moved its body in front of hers, and reared its head up as it stared down at Aneira, growling softly. Fauve quickly reached out to it, stroking its neck gently as she made nonsensical reassuring noises. The luquiltes calmed down little by little and lowered its head so that it was once again nuzzling her chest, but it remained in front of her, shielding her from Aneira’s gaze.
“Fauve, what’s going on? You weren’t in bed when I woke up, and when I tracked you to the forest I was worried something had happened to you…but yo…wh…ho…what is going on?” her best friend asked, her tone clearly distraught. “You’re playing with a, with a-a-a-A BEAST! And if Mother Phyre finds out we’ve gone out of bounds we’ll be skinned alive!”
“First of all, it’s not a beast, it’s a luquites,” Fauve replied.
“It’s disgusting,” Aneira retorted.
“Well I think it’s beautiful,” Faurve retorted hotly. “And if you’re so worried about getting in trouble then go away!”
She buried her face in the luquiltes fur as hot tears sprung into her eyes. The large animal nuzzled her affectionately, but suddenly stiffened and growled as a voice softly said, “Fauve, I…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…I mean, I sort of did but…I’m just, I’m just scared. I don’t understand what’s going on with you.”
Fauve sniffed and pulled away from the lulquites, wiping her eyes before she turned to face Aneira who had moved closer, but was still keeping her distance.
“I’ve made a new friend,” she said with a shrug, “that’s all.”
“That’s all?” Aneira asked in disbelief. “Your new friends is a luquiltes – they terrorize the kingdom! They’re meant to be killed on sight – they’re dangerous!”
“They’re really not though,” Fauve replied pleadingly. “They’re kind and sweet and they’re just misunderstood.”
Aneira pursed her lips and crossed her arms, and Fauve sighed and said, “Look, it’s hard to explain but there’s some sort of…connection, or something, between me and them – we’re drawn to each other, and we can’t communicate, but we understand each other. They just want to be left in peace. They only attack when they’re provoked.” She kept one hand on the luquiltes flank and held the other out to Aneira. “Come here. Let me show you that they’re no danger to you or me.”
Aneira rocked on her heels as her eyes flickered back and forth between Fauve and the luquiltes. She took a step forward, paused and hesitantly put her hand out toward Fauve as she bit her lip and eyed up the luquiltes.
“It’s okay,” Fauve said, trying to keep her expression and voice as reassuring as possible. “You’re perfectly safe.”
As Aneira approached, both she and the luquiltes grew more tense and Fauve kept up her steady stream of reassuring chatter, unsure of whether she was talking to her best friend or her new friend. Both really.
Little by little, Aneira came closer, until her hand was clasped in Fauve’s. Fauve smiled encouragingly and drew her in slowly until they were pressed together side by side.
Aneira nodded, shook her head, and nodded again, all the while breathing erratically.
“It’s okay, I promise you you’ve nothing to be afraid of. Here.”
She slowly pulled Aneira’s hand closer and closer to the luquiltes until it was resting on the beast’s flank. Aneira quickly snatched her hand back, her eyes darting between it and the luquiltes, which turned its head to face her. Girl and animal stared at each other, both clearly curious but weary. Aneira gulped and extended her hand, holding it out in the space between her and the luquiltes. The animal sniffed the air, and hesitantly stretched its neck forwards until it was nosing at Aneira’s palm curiously. Fauve smiled as Aneira let out a long shuddery breath and ran her hand gently over the luquiltes muzzle, along the side of its face and down its neck, while the animal made a pleased sound and leaned in further to sniff at her face and hair. Aneira giggled and squirmed but continued petting it, and Fauve chuckled and joined her on the other side of the luquiltes’ head, scratching it under its chin.
The two girls glanced at each other and Fauve felt her heart leap in delight at the wondrous smile that Aneira gifted her with.
“What do you think?” she asked, lowering her head slightly and glancing between the luquiltes and her friend’s face.
“I think…I think it’s amazing,” Aneira confessed, her voice sounding just as bashful as Fauve felt. “I…how did you get close to them in the first place?”
“Like I said, there’s some sort of connection between us; we feel drawn to each other.” Fauve shrugged and focused on scratching the luquiltes right behind his ear where he liked it best. She shrugged and added, “I can’t explain it any more than this guy can.”
“He hasn’t told me yet; we’re still getting to know each other,” Fauve replied with a wink and a grin. “I’ve taken to calling him Biaste for the moment – it seems fitting.”
Aneira snorted with laughter and petted the luquiltes more vigorously as she said, “And do you mind that, eh Biaste?”
The luquiltes made a happy rumbling noise and leaned further into her touch, causing both girls to laugh.
Fauve turned and stared at the knight from earlier in wide-eyed shock, the childhood memory fading from her mind as quickly as it had washed over her. It couldn’t be…
Her eyes focused on the crest that had thrown her off so tremendously in the town centre before travelling upwards, taking in the pale skin, angular, wide-set hazel eyes, and jet-black hair tied in a large bun at the top of the woman’s head. She still couldn’t believe who it was she was looking at until she saw the thin, jagged scar that ran from the top left of the woman’s face to the bottom right, crossing the bridge of her nose, and then it finally clicked in her mind.
“Aneira,” she whispered, shock and confusion still running rampant through her mind as she took a step forward.
The next thing she knew she was in the other woman’s arms and they were clinging to each other more than they were hugging. A sob broke through Fauve’s lips, but before she could say anything the world tilted as she was sent flying back. Again and again she was sent stumbling back, and it took far too long for her mind to finally focus and realise that it was Aneira that was shoving her back, over and over as she yelled.
“– the hell have you been? You left, you left me all alone, why did you leave? Where did you go? Why? Wh-wh-wwhhhhuuuhuhuhu…” Aneira fell to her knees, her body shaking as she tried futilely to stifled the loud angry sobs that overcame her.
Fauve collapsed beside her and reached out hesitantly, tears springing to her eyes as her heart ached for her former friend. As soon as her hand touched the other woman’s shoulder, Aneira reached out and pulled her close and Fauve immediately wrapped her arms around her and clung on to her as she sobbed and shook.
“I…I th-thou-thought you w-were d-d-dead! I th-thought a luquiltes had eaten you, or, or, or…”
“I know, I know, and I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Aneira, I just…I had to go, and I couldn’t tell you or anyone at the time but I had to.”
“But why, why did you have to leave? Why couldn’t you tell me?”
“Believe me, I didn’t want to, I just –” Fauve paused, and eyed the crest on Aneira’s chest plate before she said nonchalantly, “So you finally became a knight? Still serving the royal family?”
“I, uh..yes?” Aneira replied with a frown, clearly confused at the sudden change in topic. “What does that have to do with anything? Tell me why you left Fauve.”
“I just had to,” Fauve told her firmly. Aneira opened her mouth and Fauve held a hand up and quickly said, “I’m sorry, really and truly sorry, and I didn’t want to leave you alone but I had no choice about leaving and I can’t tell you why. I can’t tell anyone why. I just had to.”
Aneira clamped her mouth shut and frowned darkly at Fauve who stared solemnly back, her heart aching and her mind screaming at her to just tell her, to let it all out. But she couldn’t – it would break Aneira’s heart to hear the reason why and Fauve just didn’t have it in her, not after all these years of separation, not when they’d just found each other again.
Eventually Aneira sighed and said, “Fine,” as she pulled away and crossed her arms.
Bereft of someone to hold Fauve wrapped her arms around herself and stared morosely at her former friend who was staring at the ground, her lips pursed. Fauve desperately tried to think of something to say, but her mind remained fixed stubbornly on the memory of when she had been forced to leave the kingdom; the feel of the irons against her skin, the shame that coursed through her as the sentence had been passed and she had begged for her life, the guilt over what it had cost…
“Why in the name of God are you associating with thieves anyway?” Aneira suddenly asked.
Fauve started, took a moment to banish the memories to the corner of her mind as she processed the other woman’s question and then shrugged and said, “A girl’s gotta eat you know.”
Aneira’s jaw dropped and eyes widened so quickly it was comical, and Fauve couldn’t hold the snort of laughter that bubbled up at the sight.
“What? What?” Aneira exclaimed. “You mean to tell me you’re working with them? For money? Because you have to?”
“Well…yes. Why else would I be spending time with them?” Fauve asked slowly, completely nonplussed.
“I don’t know, because you think it’s amusing or romantic or because you feel like doing something dangerous or adventurous. But for money?”
“Yes for money,” Fauve replied crossly, her face twisting into an unhappy frown. “How else do you think I get money?”
“By doing an honest day’s work!” Aneira roared. “God Fauve, you’re a mercenary? What happened to your dream of becoming a blacksmith?”
“Clearly it didn’t happen!” Fauve retorted hotly. “Clearly having to leave Gravneir so quickly meant that I wasn’t able to get any references from my apprenticeship or proof of it, so I couldn’t get into a guild and no one would take me on, so I was left to fend for myself. So yes Aneira, I’m a mercenary, not for romance or adventure or any other such nonsense, but because I have to, okay?”
The two woman knelt facing each other, faces blotchy and chests heaving, before Aneira blurted out, “Come back with me.”
Fauve squinted at her and uttered a flat, “What?”
Aneira shuffled forwards on her knees and grasped her hands as she repeated, “Come back with me. Come back to Gravneir and live with me; I can help you get your old apprenticeship back and…and you can get back to your life and we can, we can…we can get back to us,” she finished lamely with a rueful smile.
Everything in Fauve was screaming at her to say yes, to throw herself at Aneira and beg her to never let her go, to do everything she had just promised. But it wasn’t meant to be. Aneira’s beautiful scenario would only ever be a pretty imagining painted with words and nothing more.
“I’m sorry but no,” she said, regret instantly washing over her at the look of disappointment that fell over Aneira’s face. “I can’t go back. Besides,” she added, putting on a brave smile she didn’t feel one inch of, “I’m happy living here in the forest with the luquiltes.”
Aneira shook her head. “I can’t accept that.”
“You don’t have to; it’s just the way it is,” Fauve said sadly.
Aneira pulled away and wrapped her arms around herself as she stood up. “I have to go.”
Fauve stood and faced her as she flashed her an empty smile and said, “If you ever find yourself in this area, you know where to find me.”
Aneira nodded and rocked on the balls of her feet. There were a few moments of silence before Fauve reached into her satchel and pulled out a small circular device which she held out to Aneira. Aneira took it and looked down in surprise at a compass, which was small, neat, and clearly well-crafted.
“Head in a straight line west and you should come out of the forest at the entrance to the town.”
“I can’t take this from you –” Aneira start to say but Fauve interjected, saying, “It’s okay, I can’t make another one later.”
Aneira pulled the compass back and smiled gratefully as she nodded. “Thank you.”
Aneira turned, started to walk away following the compass’s direction, and suddenly whipped around. “I know you need to eat and all, but will you please not work with that group of thieves? I’ve got a patrol of knights with me in town on royal business; if something happens they will be caught and you along with them. Just…stay away, please?”
Fauve bit her lip and nodded slowly, her eyes never breaking contact with Aneira’s.
Fauve, for the love of God, please, please don’t be here.
Something sharp was digging into Aneira’s side, and it didn’t seem to matter which way she shifted it was a constant presence. She shifted again and cursed under her breath when the rock, or stick, or, or, whatever, only ended up digging in deeper, sending a jolt of pain shooting through her ribs.
“Do we really need to be out here Commander?” one of the younger knights whispered, his tone belligerent. “The vault has its own guards inside.”
“We were sent here specifically to ensure the protection of the fault while the kingdoms profits are being transferred over. This is the time that the vault is at its most vulnerable so regardless of how many guards there are inside we will remain out here on watch. Am I making myself clear?”
“Yes commander,” the knight replied hastily.
“Good,” Aneira replied tersely.
She shifted again, cursed and started digging around the ground underneath herself.
She finally caught a hold of the foreign object and pulled it out sit a victorious, “aha!” before holding it pin front of her face and examining it closely. At first glance it looked like a gnarled piece of branch, only upon closer inspection Aneira saw it wasn’t gnarled at all, it was smooth, bending and twisting gracefully to a two-pronged point, looking something similar to an…
“Antler,” she breathed, eyes widening. She suddenly leaped to her feet and yelled, “Get to the vault now, there’s a luquiltes here!”
“What?” the knight from earlier exclaimed, his tone frightened and confused.
The side of the building they were watching exploded outwards, sending chunks of stone and a cloud of dust flying outwards. Aneira flung a hand over her face and ducked, the knights around her uttering curses and following suite. When she came back up, she was momentarily paralysed by a wave of fear at the sight of a fully-grown luquiltes, so much bigger than anything she’d ever seen before, striding out of the hole it had smashed through the building. Almost as soon as the fear overcame her it receeded and she shook her head as she snapped out of her paralysis before squinting at the figure that was sitting on the back of the beast, wooping and hollering.
Aneira’s head whipped sideways and her gaze immediately zeroed in on the group of people that were running out of the building after the luquiltes and Fauve, bulging sacks slung over their shoulders. She bit her lip as she quickly considered her options and came up with a plan of action.
“Go arrest them – I’m going after the rider on the luquiltes,” she ordered as she unsheathed her sword.
“But captain, you can’t –”
“I’ve given you my orders; do not disobey them.”
The knight opened his mouth and she focused a firm and unwavering gaze on him. He quickly closed it and nodded before saluting and turning to the rest of the troop. With a few barked orders he had the other knights lined up and Aneira watched them charge off in the direction of the fleeing thieves before returning her focus to Fauve and the luquiltes she was riding.
“You idiot,” she groused as she took off in their direction, her jog turning into a sprint as they entered the forest. “You absolute idiot.”
She charged into the forest, keeping Fauve and the luquiltes in sight, a grin spreading across her face as she slowly gained on them, despite the burning in her lungs and the way her muscles screamed at her to slow down. She pushed herself to move faster and faster, her vision tunnelling so that all that existed in the world were her, Fauve, and the luquiltes.
She was so focused on catching them that she didn’t register that the luquiltes had stopped and Fauve had hopped off its back until it was too late. In her haste to bring herself to a stop, she ended up tripping and barrelling into Fauve. The two women tumbled across the ground in a tangle of limbs and indignant yelps, eventually coming to a stop with Aneira half on top of Fauve. As quickly as she could, Aneira rolled fully on top of the other woman and pinned her in place with a breathless noise of triumph.
“You…are…under…arrest,” she panted hotly in Fauve’s ear as she held her wrists together with one hand and reached for the coiled rope hanging at her hip.
“Get off!” Fauve screeched as she bucked and writhed to no avail. “Goddammit Aneira, get…off!”
“I told you not to work with those thieves – I told you,” Aneira snapped as she clenched her thighs and started to tie her wrists together. “You absolute…UGH! Why did you have to do this? Why did you have to…” She paused, took a deep breath and then continued. “You’re under arrest; you’ll be brought back to the royal court for trial, after which your sentence will be deci-”
Something rammed into Aneira, sending her flying through the air. She cried out as she slammed into a tree trunk and felt something on her side snap with a loud crunching noise. She tried to sit up and whimpered as pain flared through her ribs. A scream rang out across the clearing. Aneira looked up in confusion.
The luquiltes was leaping towards her, its fangs bared and eyes flashing menacingly.
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