D.D. Ward is Writing

The sheriff and his secretaries led the three of us back into the cell. They removed our manacles. And then they headed back to the door leading out of the prison. I stared across the corridor at Vincent and Leon. Vincent still slept. Leon tossed and turned, not quite awake. We didn’t have much time. The women, finished with their duties patting us down, departed. I have no idea where viking secretaries spent their time. The sheriff was alone. We could overpower one man. I stared at the lock. I should have thought of that before they marched us back to our cell.  Still. I could try to convince him. Leon needed that cure. “My lord sheriff,” I called from the cell. “The potion you took from me. It is a cure for our duke. Will you let us feed it to him? Or would you give him the cure yourself? Please.” The sheriff shook his head. “I’m not administering an unknown potion to an enemy on the say so of three witches.” “What are you afraid the potion will do?” I asked. “Empower him and ren...

Duke Xander turned towards the door exiting the prison, when the door swung open. A man, nearly as tall and wide as Xander stepped in. He wore an elaborate embroidered tunic and pants in traditional Hyperborean style. Xander rubbed his eyes again. “Vanni. What are you doing here?” “I’m here to congratulate my big brother on capturing the culprits.” Vanni said, his arms wide. Xander pushed him away. “You don’t need to be here.” “But I want to be here. I want to see the witches who have pushed us to war.” “There need not be a war.” Xander said.  “Of course there must be a war. An insult such as this must be avenged. A rebellious province must be brought to heel.” “Hyperborea will lose everything. The other nations will unite against us. We will face an invasion. A land war on our own soil.” “No they won’t. The other nations fear us. They will sacrifice Ys, rather than risk our wrath.” “You overestimate how much they fear us. They will not let the jewel of the Boro Sea fall. All natio...

“Kill the lights. Douse the fire. And then hide.” I said to the rest.  I took Amy’s hand in mine.  “You don’t have to do this.” I said. “I’d rather you stay safe.” “There is no safe. I’d rather be with the women I love.” “You could die.” I said. “So could you.” Amy said. “I’d rather die with the women I love.” “Okay.” I said. “You win. I can’t argue with that. Let’s go get ourselves killed trying to save Leon.” “At least I’ll be with you and Fiona.” “And Vincent.” I added. Amy blushed. “And Vincent.” “Then let’s go find them.” We marched out to meet the soldiers. Actually, Amy marched. I limped. I leaned on my cane and Amy’s shoulder as we made our way to our fate. “How did you plan to do this without my shoulder?” Amy asked. “With a large loss in dignity.” I answered.  We entered the intersection of two muddy roads. Shouts went up from many directions. “Halt, in the name of the King!” Amy raised her arms. I took a second to lean my cane against my hip and then followed A...

“No.” I shook my head.  “There is no reason for you to sacrifice yourself.” Monique put her hands on her hips.  “Leon is still dying.” I said. “I’m not letting him die on our behalf. I’ll turn myself in. I can cure him once I’m imprisoned.” “That’s too big a risk. I’m not implicated. I’ll slip him the cure.” Lynn said.  “And then you’ll implicate yourself. That doesn’t help us. I’m already their preferred scapegoat. I should do it.” “We should kill them.” Ada said. “I tire of our men. We do not need them.” “I don’t know how we would do that.” I said.  Ada definitely had social change on the brain. She wanted to move mountains. And I was on her side. But I couldn’t think how to do it. We were a small battered group of fugitives. We were women, which meant Hyperborea afforded us no respect. What options did we have? Could we steal a boat? But none of us were sailors. The Boro Sea was gentle compared to the open ocean. But sailing it and navigating it would still be bey...

“Back in the catacombs,” I said into the darkness. “We see all the tourist spots.” Amy giggled, but I heard a hitch in her voice as she did.  The catacombs were pitch black. The air hung, cold and damp, wrapping around us like a wet blanket. In the darkness noises loomed large. The sounds of things scuttling in the darkness echoed down the tunnels, rats or worse. Breezes wafted through the catacombs, carrying a whiff of mold and something wet I couldn’t place. The current tunnel’s ceiling sat two low to stand. And so, again, I found myself crawling on my hands and knees. Soil and gravel scraped and shifted under my palms and I crawled. I felt something sticky on my hands. I suspected that my palms had started bleeding.  “Now what?” Ada said in the darkness. Nobody answered.  Ada spoke again, “Lady Ren. What do we do?” Lynn was a baroness. By rights Ada should have deferred to her. I was about to say that when Lynn spoke. “Ren, do you have a plan?” “Me?” I said. “You alway...

The bishop pushed past us. He held his bloody staff forward like a lamp in the darkness.  “You men who have violated the laws of sanctuary. You risk damnation in this life and the next. Ask yourself, is your eternity worth obeying one rogue noble?” The swords wavered. A soldier next to Magnus looked at the noble. “My Lord, should we not obey the Bishop?” Magnus snarled and then drew his dagger and rammed the blade into the soldier’s throat. The soldier gurgled and dropped to his knees.  Magnus raised his bloody dagger. “Is anyone else still concerned with eternity?” “Are you really stupid enough to murder on holy ground?” I asked.  “Are you stupid enough to think holy ground will protect you?” Magnus countered. “I offer absolution and amnesty to all who lay down their weapons and exit the church now.” The Bishop said, his voice rising above the murmurs.  “We accept nothing! We take what we want!” Magnus grabbed at my wrist and yanked me forward. I stumbled towards hi...

A hundred soldiers swarmed at the broken door to the church. They shifted and shuffled about, kicking dirt from the floor into the air. They murmured to each other, whispering doubts and worries about the current situation. Dust floated about me. The air of the church had begun to heat up from the crowd of soldiers. I had begun to sweat from the rising temperature. I felt the sweat trickle down my back as I stared at Sven. I stared at the three feet of tempered steel that he had pointed at my throat.  I resisted the urge to swallow.  “Killing me won’t get Laila married. How do you expect to marry her now that you’ve given her a concussion?” Sven glanced down at the fallen body of his daughter, and his face shifted from anger to frustration.  “You’ve got us.” I added. “We can’t run. We can’t fight. March us back to the castle and put us in our cells. Then you can get healing potions for the two women you’ve beaten.” “He won’t do anything of the sort.” Ada snorted as she st...

Laila pushed forward, elbowing past me. She stepped right into Sven’s personal space. She stood, inches from Sven, glaring up at him.  “This is wrong, father. And you know it. You are dishonoring our house. You are dishonoring your father. And you are dishonoring Hyperborea.” She stood, hands on hips, face set in granite.  The soldiers around us murmured to each other. Sven took a step back and looked around at the men around him. I could hear whispered doubts. They were commoners and Sven was a noble, and they didn’t dare disobey him. But they mistrusted his judgment.  I inhaled and let the anise flavor of the smoke fill my lungs, and then I blew a smoke ring towards Sven. He turned and glared at me.  “Bind their arms.” Sven said to a nearby soldier.  “No! Father, listen to me. You will bring down our whole house if you do this. Ren is right, they will use you as a scapegoat. The whole family will fall with you.” None of the soldiers moved.  Sven wasn’t lo...

Dust from the rafters rained down upon us with each impact of the battering ram outside the front door. The whole structure shook as the battering ram hammered into the door. I could see the doors flexing as the ram slammed into them. The doors weren’t going to hold.  The sound of the hammering blows echoed in the church. The sound echoed, bouncing off walls and splitting my eardrums. I looked down at my hands. They wore blood spatters from the assassin, and they shook. I clenched my hands into fists and felt my nails digging into my palms, focusing my attention.  In another few moments, the doors would break under the stress of the battering ram’s strikes. And then well over a hundred soldiers would pour into the building. And that would be it. We would be out of options. We would have nowhere to run. We would have no moves left to play. I licked my lips and tasted pennies. Blood. I had bit my lip in the fight with the immortal. I could feel the split along the right side of ...