Tribal Queen Book 1

Chapter 13

Reyn took a walk by the river that ran past one of the walls of the Royal Palace. She heard a branch snap behind her, but before she could turn to look a blade was at her throat.

"I would think about what you are doing..." She said in a whisper that was full of anger. She wanted to get the blade from her belt, but would not be able to move fast enough. So she would have to rely on distraction.

Hot breath hit the back of her neck. The assassin grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, exposing her neck. "Are you that bitch, the queen?"

Reyn snarled, "I will show you just how much of a bitch I am..." She knocked the hand away from her neck with one hand while she reached behind her with the other. She knelt down and yanked the assassin over her head at the same time, slamming them into the ground at her feet.

"Oh no, you fell." She growled at them. Reyn pulled the black hood off their face... and was shocked to see a man who looked like a very young Tau. "Who are you?" Reyn asked the man as she looked at his features while he gasped for air.

The force and shock of her flipping him off his feet made it impossible to form words just yet. "I... am... the son of King Tau."

Reyn picked him up and sent him crashing into a large rock formation along the river. "Tau is not KING! I killed him."

The assassin didn't move. As Reyn started to turn to walk away, she was struck in the back of the head causing her to blackout. The other assassin didn't even try to catch her as she fell. He looked over at his dead partner and shrugged. All of the gold would now be his.

Reyn made a sound and the assassin kicked her, "Shut the hell up."

He picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, walking off in the direction of one of the tribes best known for violence and not fully supporting Reyn claiming the throne. A woman was waiting for him when he let Reyn hit the ground hard after he slid her off his shoulder.

"Here is the bitch. I will take my gold and leave."

The woman shakes her head, "No, I don't believe I owe you anything. As a matter of fact, since you dared to strike a member of the royal court, you must die." She pulled a long knife from behind her and drove it deep into his chest. "Pitiful." She then turned her attention to the Queen.

Reyn was lying face down, her arms under her. When the woman leaned down and rolled Reyn over to check her heartbeat. Reyn had a blade pressing into the woman's throat as soon as she was on her back. The assassin had not checked her for any weapons.

Reyn looked her in the eyes, "Any last words?"

The woman tried to swing at Reyn, but she just pressed the knife into the woman's skin. She refused to answer anything Reyn asked her. Reyn heard voices in one of the nearby dwellings, she cut the girl's throat and left her laying with the assassin. She hid behind a large pile of crates so she could formulate an escape plan.

Reyn waited till the two villagers walked by before she leaped out of her hiding spot. She stabbed one in the back, dodging a counter strike from the other villager. Reyn was just going to stab the other one in the chest when a bone-chilling voice from her childhood spoke from somewhere out of her line of sight. She looked around but didn't see anyone standing there. The man dropped from the nearby rooftop and landed right behind her. She didn't have any time to spin around and face him, he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back.

"What a beautiful queen you are, it's too bad that I am going to have to kill you."

Reyn's eyes went wide, the man at her back sounded exactly like Tau. He wrapped his hand in her long white hair and yanked her head back so he could look at her face. Reyn was staring at a man who looked exactly like Tau. Her whole body went cold.

"As much as I enjoy the look on your face as if you have just seen a ghost. I must inform you that I am Lau, Tau's twin brother."

"I never knew he had any family, let alone a twin."

Lau laughed, "He disowned me a long time ago. He wanted the crown all to himself. Had me declared a tractor and sent me to the exile lands. But I have come back... to seek revenge. I was amused to be told that my brother had been bested by a young girl." He ran a hand from her breast down to her hip, "But you don't feel or look like a girl. The Gods blessed us the day they sent you to us." He pressed a kiss to the side of her face, "Oh what I could do to you. You denied me my revenge. Maybe I should take it out on you? What do you say Ice Queen?"

Reyn raised an eyebrow, "It's Queen of War!" She growled out, her blade poking into his ribs as her anger started to fuel her strength.

"Ah yes, the queen of war." He let go of her and stepped back. "Tell me, Reyna, how have you liked the ancient symbol of your name being branded into your people? I figured you would like to know who we were unable to break into your palace. Those who have been missing and not returned to you. Well, those people were easy to break, they told me things I never thought I would get to know about you."

Reyn swallowed hard, so all of those people with the branding were the ones who were strong enough to resist his torture. Those who have yet to return... they told him what he needed to know. Then they were put to death.

"You are a monster! Just like your brother."

"You flatter me!" He said in an overly dramatic way.

Reyn was about to lunge for him and shove her knife into him when two large guards took ahold of her, latching chains on both of her hands. The metal felt odd on her skin like it was both hot and cold at the same time. She looked at the metal as it shimmered with a blue hue.

"Ah, I thought that might be able to hold you. Since it fell from the heavens just as you had." Lau took out a blade made of the same metal. "Star metal, that is what we are calling it. It fell from the heavens and streaked across the sky in a ball of fire. It destroyed several of our homes in the process. It seems to limit your powers does it not?"

Reyn narrowed her eyes at him, "What do you want from me?!" She growled at him.

Lau laid the blade with its flat side against her cheek, "What I want from you? No, that is not how this is going to work. I will use you to lure those you love here and let you witness their death. Let's start with that pretty thing you call your hand."

The guards brought out a female who had her head covered. When Lau pulled the hood off of her, Reyn could clearly see that this girl did in fact have long brown wavy hair like Willow. But this was not Willow. Reyn let her expression remain blank.

"So, no reaction at all from you? What if I kill her."

"Don't you dare touch her! She is innocent!" And that was even more true by the fact that she had no relationship with Reyn whatsoever.

Lau snarled and he moved to the girl, knife in hand. Reyn tried to pull at the chains from her wrists but didn't budge. She could feel herself growing weaker every moment that metal touched her skin.

Lau drew the blade across the girl's neck, letting her fall to the ground at his feet. Reyn let out a sad cry as she saw the girl die because of her. He killed someone from her court just because he wanted revenge for his brother.

Lau walked back to Reyn, "String Reyna up on the wooden crosses closest to her precious capital city, by the time they find her, the star metal should have poisoned her enough for the sun to do its job."

Reyn spit in his face, "It's Reyn!"

Lau smirked, "Reyna, when will you stop fighting who you really are?"