《Healer's Touch (Deadly Touch 1)》 1: The Dead Man Llew didn¡¯t break stride as she kicked the empty glass bottle aside, barely giving it a thought. Litter was the least of the hazards in Cheer¡¯s streets at night. She walked with her head down, hands thrust deep in the pockets of her coarse brown trousers, blending in with the evening¡¯s wildlife. With hair in dire need of a trim, there was always a risk that the disguise wouldn¡¯t hold ¨C but it only had to hold until she got home. She would cut the offending locks in the morning. A commotion broke out up ahead at Camille¡¯s Cathouse. Some john lacking the financial means to sate his desires by the looks and sounds of it. Perhaps he should have thought about that before buying such a large bottle of whisky. The town¡¯s men hunted gold by day, oblivion and pussy by night, and sometimes the two nocturnal aims conflicted. Both could spell danger for Llew. She approached the still cussing man, stepping into the road to give him a wide berth. At this time of night at least one didn¡¯t need to be so cautious about steaming piles in the middle of the dusty streets; all the horses were asleep in their stables or paddocks or waiting lazily outside a bar or brothel. ¡°Out for a good time, boy?¡± The old coot stepped in front of Llew, stopping her in her tracks. ¡°I¡¯ll share one wi¡¯ yer.¡± Llew tried to side-step him, but he shadowed her movement. ¡°It¡¯s still five miras each. Two men, ten miras.¡± The half-dressed madam on the porch folded her arms across her chest and stared down at them. ¡°You said five miras per girl. We only need the one.¡± His arm snaked across Llew¡¯s shoulders drawing her in to him. If she hadn¡¯t already been cursing staying out late with Kynas, she sure would have started now. ¡°What d¡¯you say? I¡¯ll let you go first. I won¡¯t even watch. Sure you won¡¯t mind me listenin¡¯, though.¡± Llew struggled to find her voice ¨C her deeper, more boyish voice. She shook her head. ¡°Five miras per... service.¡± The woman¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°You want cheap, Renny, you go down see Hedy¡¯s girls. They¡¯ll look after you real nice.¡± ¡°Aw, but Hedy don¡¯t have your wee Tamra.¡± Renny pulled Llew closer to his mouth. His breath reeked like it was coming from the other end of his body. ¡°Wee Tamra¡¯s my favourite,¡± he confided in a loud whisper. ¡°Tamra¡¯s busy, anyway. Now scoot.¡± Camille waved the back of her hand in a brushing motion at Renny, dismissing him. ¡°And don¡¯t come back till you¡¯ve got some cash.¡± Still clutching Llew, Renny waved his bottle, miraculously not spilling any liquor. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re a hard woman, Cammy.¡± ¡°Better a hard woman than a limp dick any day, Renny.¡± The woman flashed a gleaming white grin at them. ¡°Maybe next time you¡¯ll rethink the whisky. Or at least buy it here. Then we can talk discounts. Loyalty is rewarded at Camille¡¯s.¡± ¡°Oh, aye.¡± Renny turned Llew with him to dawdle back the way she¡¯d just come. ¡°Women, eh? Never give nothin¡¯ for free.¡± Llew didn¡¯t know anyone who gave anything for free and didn¡¯t see why the brothel girls should be any different. ¡°Well lad, shall we try Hedy¡¯s?¡± Renny squeezed again. Llew tensed the second his step faltered. He regained his composure almost instantly and squeezed her shoulders once more, this time looking down at the way her shirt bunched across her chest. Two small but distinct peaks appeared as her shoulders rounded under the pressure. ¡°Well, well. Looks like my luck¡¯s on the up ¡¯n up.¡± His arm reached around her shoulders so his hand could feel the soft flesh beneath Llew¡¯s shirt. He sucked back a glob of spit, took a swig from his bottle, and tried to bring her around in front of him. Llew pushed back and ducked under his arm. But he was quick and grabbed the loose waist of her shirt. ¡°Hey! We was just gettin¡¯ to know each other.¡± He tugged and Llew bounced against his chest. She used the momentum to break free of his grasp, turned and ran. The whisky hadn¡¯t kicked in as much as she thought, because he was soon on her heels. She focused on keeping her line straight down the middle of the road. A straggling group of men leaving Polly¡¯s Bar farther down the road made no moves to let her pass, seeming to find the spectacle of a young boy running from an older man interesting verging on downright hilarious. Some of them reached out to slow Llew, but they didn¡¯t go so far as to stop her. Fearing that the men would turn on her, Llew didn¡¯t plead for their help but pumped her limbs even harder, and a few moments later she was past them. Unhindered by the group, Renny caught up to her, knocking her into a narrow alleyway between McNulty¡¯s Bar and Barber Pierson¡¯s. The crash of the half-full bottle against the wall rang out as Llew fell to the ground. Quickly regaining her feet, she found herself facing jagged glass and Renny looking pissed off. ¡°That bottle cost me a night with wee Tamra. Come ¡¯ere,¡± he said, flinging both arms out in some sort of drunken embrace. He missed, but the bottle swung dangerously close and Llew hopped back deeper into the alley. ¡°You owe me the price of a bottle o¡¯ whisky, girlie. And maybe a bit more.¡± ¡°You broke it, you drunk bastard.¡± Llew dodged the man¡¯s next lunge and made a pass for the alleyway¡¯s entrance. He brandished the bottle at her. ¡°That ain¡¯t the language of no young lady.¡± ¡°Who said anything about being a lady?¡± They danced side to side, Llew looking for a gap, Renny blocking. ¡°Oh, you like playin¡¯ at it like a boy, eh? Well, I ain¡¯t picky. Turn around, we won¡¯t even have to take them pants right off.¡± He paused to grab his crotch. ¡°Fuck you.¡± Llew lunged and Renny blocked her path again, grabbing her and throwing her to the ground. He scrabbled at her feverishly, trying to get her trousers undone. Llew kicked wildly, she punched, she clawed, and when he hit her back, she grabbed his face, digging her fingers close to his eyes and returning the pain. Renny slashed at her with the bottle, slicing her shoulder. Llew pressed her hand against his chin, pushing him up and closing her wound. He screamed and slashed again, cutting into her arm. Llew grabbed his wrist, healing this new scratch. Renny cried out again and now swung the bottle blindly, hysterically, cutting Llew¡¯s cheek, neck, chest, forehead, shoulder, ear, nose, eye, throat... Somewhere in all the chaos, a strange peace overcame her. She relaxed and let it take her.
Llew woke to the scent of blood, the jaunty tinkle of a piano being played nearby, light spilling across a wood-plank wall, and a heavy feeling in her chest. No. Not in her chest. It was on her chest, and it was sticky and damp. Smell of blood. Heavy thing. Sticky and damp. She pushed up. The corpse ¨C she couldn¡¯t feel any breathing other than her own ¨C lifted, teetered, and then the strength in Llew¡¯s arms failed. She fell back, and the body dropped with her. A shudder ran through her body. A glass bottle smacked to the ground and rolled across the ground, scraping the stones. Dim candlelight from the uncovered window above reflected from its shattered edge. A broken bottle. The dead man. Remembered pain flitted through Llew¡¯s mind. He had attacked her and now he was dead. The events between those two points were a blank. Her shirt was wet, almost certainly with blood. Mustering all her strength, she wedged her hands under the man¡¯s shoulders and heaved again, pushing higher on one side. His shoulder slid to the ground, easing the weight off her. Bracing herself on her elbows, she kicked and slid, freeing her legs. Clambering to her feet, Llew shook herself, trying to rid herself of the dead man¡¯s touch. Her near-white shirt looked black in the low light. Foul. Only slightly less so with the knowledge that it was her own blood. She could just make out his face, frozen in an expression of horror, in the flickering candlelight from the window above. There was no outward sign of injury Llew could see ¨C apart from all the blood, of course. She couldn¡¯t be found there with the body. The Farries would hang her without question. She turned and ran deeper into the alley, emerging alongside the front entrance of The Diamond Duster, the last of Cheer¡¯s bars to close for the night, and even then, usually only at the Farries¡¯ specific request. ¡°Bit of a rough one, there, lad?¡± someone called after her. Llew kept to the shadows; not that there were many Cheer locals out this late in the dark folds of night, but she had no way to explain her blood-soaked state if she ran into anyone. The distance back to her hovel by Big River seemed greater than normal, but finally, dusty dirt road gave way to swathes of tussock punctuated by the occasional matagouri or lancewood. She pushed her way through long grasses and past branches heavy with yellow bell-shaped flowers, now grey in the early morning light, past her thatched, thigh-high hovel, before pulling off her shoes at the stony bank and wading straight into the water, not bothering to remove her clothing. To have any chance of washing the blood from them, she would have to soak them now. The swift current carried away the sensation of the man¡¯s weight lying over her even as it lifted the blood from her skin and washed it away. It was her blood. It was all hers. He had killed her, and now he was dead. She had never killed before. Probably because she had never died before. Healing, yes, she¡¯d done that. She knew what must have happened, and yet couldn¡¯t bring herself to admit it. Surely, she couldn¡¯t do that: she couldn¡¯t come back from the dead. No one came back from death. She pulled the shirt over her head, then squeezed it under the water, rubbing it and rinsing it and rubbing again. The cold glow of dawn crept across the sky. And the browned blood could not be washed from the garment. She had left Kynas¡¯s late, but not that late. How long had she lain unconscious ¨C or dead? Llew cursed and threw the shirt to shore. She only had one other shirt, and she was almost certain it was getting too small. She would have to spend a good deal of her earnings on a new one or take the risk of stealing more than her usual quota. But she maintained a quota for a reason. After all, she only needed what she needed, and being greedy got you caught. Already half undressed, she fought with her trousers until they jerked free of her body. They, too, were stained with her blood. Damn it! Clothing wasn¡¯t cheap. She could feed herself for free but, if she wanted to mingle with the general public, she had to buy clothes. While she knew how to use a needle and thread, her skills in that department only went as far as basic repairs. She dug her hands into the riverbed and then, with handfuls of sediment, scrubbed the last of the blood from her chest, her face and her arms. Now acclimatised to the water¡¯s chill, she waded in a little farther and dunked herself under, emerging a few seconds later to wipe her eyes clear of water and slightly-too-long hair trailing over her face. She pressed her feet through the muddy sediment, feeling it erupt between her toes, and took the time to appreciate the warmth beneath its surface. Strange how that little bit of heat always remained, somehow not leached by the rushing water above. Like her own sense of worth, somehow not drained by living beneath the flow of Cheer¡¯s society.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Cheer. Named for the happiness the first settlers experienced when they started digging gold. The gold was gone. As was the cheer. But Cheer remained. She peered at her hands in the rippling water. A man had died at her hands. But she had died at his hands first. It was little consolation, but it made forgiving herself easier. Her fingers began to tingle and sting from the cold and she made her way back to shore, wiped herself down with handfuls of grass, returned to her little hovel and wrapped her woollen blanket about her. Despite having spent however many hours unconscious, she needed sleep. There were only a couple of hours before the market started. She drifted off, revelling in the aromas of dew-soaked grasses, damp stones, and thyme.
The heat of the sun on her otherwise frozen toes woke her. Llew lay a few more moments, pulling the blanket clear of her legs, savouring the heat and drinking in the perfumed air. There was little in her life she cherished, but moments like these almost made everything worth it. She dragged herself from her bed, pulled on her clean shirt ¨C which was a little too tight across the shoulders and hinted at the breasts she preferred to keep hidden. She sharpened her knife on a stone, grabbed tufts of hair in her other hand, and hacked. The fringe had grown to her eyebrows, and the sides were nearly covering her ears. Too long. She cared little for the end result ¨C the less pretty, the better. By the time she finished, the sun was well up. The market would be in full swing. She struggled into the damp pants, fastened her belt, and headed for town, hoping brown stains on brown material would pass unnoticed. The monthly market was one of the few times the people of Cheer really mingled and paraded. Women displayed their curves with cinched-in waists below elegant necklines, and men wore pressed shirts, trousers hooked up by suspenders, and vests decorated with gold chains and pocket watches. They preened and swaggered, yet still shared the street with the others who had arrived in Cheer too late to make their fortune. The predominant colour was brown in all its shades, with splashes of red, blue or yellow marking either a woman of class or a girl prospecting for tricks. Llew was invisible among the finery and silent amid the propositions. She had already collected three purses when something caught her eye. Two things, but there was only one she would take with her. That was a knife. It hung from a belt slung across a pair of trousers filled most tantalisingly by a fine arse. She watched the way the folds of material moved and shifted as the owner passed by stalls selling every variety of produce, from meats to baked goods, handmade crafts, and even entertainment in the form of song or dance. If Llew walked about with a knife like that slung from her hip, people would reconsider pushing her into alleyways. She was halfway certain the knife¡¯s finely carved ivory, or bone, handle had drawn her eye down first. A knife like that made a statement. She needed that knife. Her eyes trailed the handle everywhere it went. Her feet followed, and the rest of her body weaved its way between people and stalls. The arse and knife stopped. So did another street kid thinking he was in with a shot, and anger flashed through Llew. The knife was hers! Whipping round so fast she barely saw him move, the man bared his teeth and snarled at the would-be thief, frightening the desire for the weapon right out of him. Side-on, Llew could see the man¡¯s vest. A leather vest, heavy with smaller knives. Not small knives, just smaller than the one on his hip. She nearly reconsidered her need for the knife, but was convinced she needed it more than the man did. He did, after all, have all those others at his disposal. The boy stammered out an apology. Released, he ran with absolutely no care for who he bumped into along the way. So unprofessional. The long-haired man in his dusty black, wide-brimmed hat turned and muttered something to his curly-haired companion. Both men laughed and turned their attention to a stall selling a range of meaty nibbles. Llew moved closer. It was hard to stay inconspicuous. People divided around her; she was like rock poking through water¡¯s surface. While extra height had its advantages, it was getting ridiculous. Llew was keeping pace with most of the boys she knew, and despite most girls her age having matured a couple of years earlier, she only seemed to get taller and a little broader. No worthwhile breasts, though, damn it, just enough to compromise her pose as a boy. As if to rub it in, a stylish dress with a tasteful neckline cupping two beautiful, rounded breasts hooked Llew¡¯s attention on its way past. It disappeared back into the crowd and she looked down at her own shirt that hung almost straight down ¨C straight down enough for nearly everyone to assume she was a boy, which was fine by Llew. Really, it was. A girl her age, with no parents, was better off being seen as a boy in a place like Cheer. Still, it didn¡¯t stop a small part of her coveting the chance to wear a pretty dress one day. One day. Not today, though. Dresses usually lacked pockets. The task at hand was the knife, and the opportunity to take it presented itself while a clown hopping around with bells attached to his shoes distracted the men. He jiggled these in the air while he juggled flaming batons. The taller, curly-haired man¡¯s eyes shone in delight at the display. The shorter, darker, knife carrier watched as a fellow professional might: nothing escaped his attention. Llew moved in, her hand twitching, her finely honed muscles tensed. Keeping her eyes on the men and concentrating on looking like a casual passer-by to other passers-by, she flicked the domed catch securing the knife in place, then moved with the dark-skinned man as he shifted his weight. She gripped the end of the knife handle between finger and thumb, and pulled. Gently, but swiftly. She withdrew back into the throng. She hefted the knife and smiled at the weight and balance. There was something so right about it. She slid the knife into her belt and pulled her shirt as low as it would go. The tip hung below the linen, but it wasn¡¯t enough to give the game away, she was sure. ¡°Hey!¡± Now she was less sure. A quick glance over her shoulder removed all doubt. He was enraged, and he and his companion were pushing through the crowd toward her. Llew took off, ducking fancy hats and parasols. She spared a moment of thanks for the unusually long legs that carried her through the crowd just as fast as the men following her. Skirting parcels and large bellies, and leaving a trail of indignant exclamations, she soon reached the edge of the market and slipped around the corner of a blacksmith¡¯s forge. Clinging to the wood-panelled wall, she listened intently. No footsteps to be heard. She took the chance to breathe deeply and relax. Being there, smelling the furnace and hearing the clang, she as always felt contempt for the men who¡¯d told her she couldn¡¯t run her father¡¯s smithy when he disappeared. Who were they to judge her ability? Being a girl had nothing to do with it. She had worked by his side for years and was perfectly capable. Hearing a creak, Llew looked up, but could see naught save the eaves of the roof. She stepped out from the building for a better look. A crouching figure pounced. The sun, suddenly revealed, blinded her and she was thrown back, her head ringing from its collision with the road. Her wrists were pressed to the ground either side of her head. Her vision cleared to reveal a face framed by sandy-brown hair. She recognised the knife-owner¡¯s companion. He was grim, although there was something else there; a hint of exhilaration lit up the blue eyes. She struggled in his grasp, but he was strong and straddled her across the middle. Another set of footsteps approached, and then a hand gripped her collar. The curly-haired man stood as she was wrenched from the ground and shoved into the nearby wall. Something sharp pressed against her chest. She glanced down at a compact crossbow, loaded, and digging into her sternum; she looked up into a dark, scowling face. If he hadn¡¯t been threatening her, she might have thought he was attractive despite the scars¡­ A peculiar hand-shaped burn under his jaw and a couple of lines through an eyebrow, among others. He had a darker complexion than most Cheer locals, with brown eyes and long, dark hair. The wide-brimmed hat cast a shadow across his eyes. ¡°Well, you¡¯re a ray of sunlight on a cloudy day. Or should that be the other way around?¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± he said. His voice was deep and gravelly, though he looked barely in his twenties. He spoke with an accent. Not local, then. ¡°Jonas¡ª¡± ¡°Back off, Al. He took my knife,¡± he said over his shoulder without breaking eye-contact with Llew. Then he leaned in so close she could taste his breath. ¡°Now, give it back.¡± He spoke quietly, but the commanding tone made her jump. The point of the crossbow grazed her chest through the thin shirt. ¡°Alright, alright!¡± She fumbled at her waistband to free the knife. ¡°Could you consider maybe not pressing that thing into me? I think you¡¯ve drawn blood.¡± Sure enough, a little red seeped through the linen. Great. More blood-stained clothing. She held the knife up next to her head and bit her tongue against further comments. She guessed he was one to take care of his own problems rather than turning to the authorities ¨C something that could work in her favour, if she played her hand right. Of course, it could also go horribly wrong. He grabbed the knife, and, stepping back, sheathed it. Then his fist was in her gut, emptying her lungs and folding her over. He turned on his heel, saying, ¡°Come on, Al. We got work to do.¡± ¡°Thanks for the sport.¡± Al grinned and his blue eyes flashed. ¡°It¡¯s been fun.¡± Clutching her belly, Llew watched them disappear around the corner. A punch in the gut beat being hauled off to the gallows any day. Even as she coughed up phlegm and tried to take in a full breath, she was intrigued. They were certainly not locals. The scratch on her chest stung. She scanned the area about her, then saw what she was after. Across the street, perched on a windowsill, sat a flower box overflowing with flourishing forget-me-nots. Ignoring the sign on the wall decreeing a ¡°Magic-free Aghacia¡±, she brushed her fingertips across the leaves. They wilted. The pain in her gut eased, and the graze on her chest tingled and ceased to hurt. The flash of a dead man filled her mind¡¯s eye, and for the first time in her life, Llew felt guilty for killing a plant. But she couldn¡¯t return life. Once stolen, it remained in her possession. Under the weight of the three purses, her trousers sat awry, revealing the slim hip under a too-short shirt. Time to rectify that. She turned back toward the market. From the street corner, she watched the two foreigners take the few wooden steps up to the grocer¡¯s. While physically smaller both in height and breadth, the one called Jonas had an aura of power that labelled him the leader of the two, but they both moved with a confidence Llew envied. She wondered what kind of work they could be doing, but had little doubt that soon they would be moving on and leaving Cheer. Her envy grew. Yet Llew loved Cheer. It was her hometown, and the kind of town where people could make their fortune. The only problem with that was that one needed a small fortune to get the equipment required to plunder the hills and high-country rivers. These days, absentee rich miners hired locals to do the back-breaking labour so that there was a steady, if dwindling, flow of gold out of Cheer; less and less of anything coming in. At least Cheer, and Aghacia as a whole, was untouched by the wars Llew saw mentioned almost daily in the broadsheets. That was where Cheer truly shined. Peace reigned. Its earliest settlers had hailed from far-off lands Llew knew little about. Recent arrivals usually came from Phyos, the large continent to the east of Aghacia, bringing news of the ongoing wars between Quaver and Turhmos. Llew knew she¡¯d been born in Quaver, but otherwise knew nothing of anywhere beyond Cheer. And there was no denying Cheer¡¯s natural beauty if one took the time to go beyond those areas touched by settlers, whose greed recognised no boundary. She made her way back up the main street, scooting around and past people studying the goods on offer or dawdling away from the temptation to spend more. ¡°Hey, Llew!¡± Llew cursed under her breath. A one-time close friend, these days Kynas made her skin crawl. Still, he was about the only real friend she¡¯d ever had. ¡°Hi, Kynas.¡± She slowed her pace, allowing him to fall in beside her. ¡°It¡¯s been a good day.¡± He grinned, patting his pocket. ¡°Did you have a good day?¡± She jiggled the pouches hanging off her waist. ¡°Great,¡± he said, the jealousy only touching his features for an instant. ¡°You wanna come by my place?¡± ¡°No, Kynas. I¡¯m not in the mood.¡± ¡°You ain¡¯t been in the mood all summer.¡± The boy pouted and stopped walking. No. Kynas had picked up a job doing odds and ends for an elderly couple, the Maddockses. They couldn¡¯t pay him but allowed him to make a small outbuilding on their property his own. Llew had been known to share it with him on cold winter evenings. But it wasn¡¯t winter yet. For a few years now they had been friends, looking out for each other. Kynas had even helped her transition to life on the street. It wasn¡¯t her fault she had soon outstripped him in the skills he taught. But last winter something had changed. Huddling together to keep warm had become something different. They had experimented, explored themselves and each other. For a while, it had been fun. But it wasn¡¯t long before Kynas wanted to play when Llew didn¡¯t. And suddenly the shelter wasn¡¯t free to her anymore. Their friendship had irreversibly altered. She continued walking. She wasn¡¯t about to prostitute herself just to make him feel better. He should know that. Llew had cut her hair short, taken to dressing like a boy, and learned the art of picking pockets to avoid that lifestyle. Besides, there were plenty of others willing to see to his needs. Well, okay, so she¡¯d originally cut her hair and worn pants to please her father, who preferred having a son over a daughter who reminded him so much of his wife. But she had kept the look for her own reasons. She stopped into Inael¡¯s store to try on a couple of shirts. With little occasion to dress up and not enough money to be concerned about matching styles and colours, she stuck to her usual off-white linen. She bought two shirts, figuring it was always handy to be able to wash one while still having something decent to wear. She thanked old Inael and skipped down the steps and back onto the dirt road, heading for home. The streets were quieter away from the market. Llew strolled along with her head up like any other respectable citizen. When she wasn¡¯t picking pockets, she found that skulking only attracted more attention, so it was always best to behave like an innocent. The trick was to look natural doing so. ¡°Llew!¡± Llew turned to the distressed voice. ¡°Kynas?¡± The boy was struggling in the grip of two uniformed men. Farries! Llew instinctively stooped, stepping in by the side of a building. ¡°Help me, Llew! They think I killed Mr. Maddocks!¡± ¡°Well, who else?¡± one of the Farries said, shaking Kynas. Cursing, Llew pressed herself deeper into the shadows. It would be stupid of the boy to put his deal with the Maddockses at risk, but it was a natural conclusion for the lawmen to draw ¨C and any excuse to remove another urchin from Cheer¡¯s streets would do. ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Kynas wailed, kicking his legs and trying to wriggle free of the Farry¡¯s grasp. Realizing his efforts were futile, he relaxed. And then his finger pointed to Llew. ¡°That one. Sh¡ª He did it!¡± 2: Behind Every Great Man The Lady Pancetelle wasn¡¯t much of a lady in Braph¡¯s opinion. She smelled as bad as the Ryaen docks, assaulted his ears with foul language, and she¡¯d been a rough ride. And, if he was splitting hairs, she was a bit potty about the middle. No one could accuse her of being sleek. But he supposed he had to excuse her that ¨C she wasn¡¯t built for speed. At least the ship had carried him safely to Ryaen. He scratched his beard, sweeping his eyes over the docks. Dirty, stinking, and noisy, the scene offended his senses. Sea birds squawked overhead, showering departing passengers in green and white guano. With a thought and a gesture, he conjured an invisible barrier around him. A woman¡¯s gasp and complaint nearby soon let him know it hadn¡¯t been for nothing. He rewarded her accusing look with a contemptuous one of his own, as she dabbed herself free of the deflected droppings with a handkerchief and continued on his way. Burly men lifted crates from the Lady and hurled passengers¡¯ luggage to the docks. Braph had no luggage but the bag slung from his shoulder, and so departed at a brisk pace, with little regard for those in his way. Away from the docks, Ryaen was almost pleasant. Quieter, at the very least. The fashions weren¡¯t dissimilar to those on Phyos: tightly corseted women in brilliantly coloured dresses, and men in braces and bowler hats, trying to look as though they had more important things to do than pass lewd comments on the women. Braph knew better. He reached the livery stable and stood assessing the horse flesh with an unskilled eye. Every one of the creatures was a simple, brainless beast. However, if he were to make his way to Cheer under his own steam, it would leave no power to perform even the most basic magic. And there was every chance he would need far more than basic magic to take the girl back to Turhmos. ¡°After a horse, mister?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Braph looked the man up and down. He wore a heavy leather apron over simple brown trousers and a filthy shirt. Braph was unimpressed. ¡°Your best.¡± ¡°Speed, stamina or temperament?¡± ¡°All of them.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be wanting Revera. She¡¯s a good ¡¯un.¡± The man grinned. ¡°You got money? I can¡¯t be sending her out without a decent deposit, you understand?¡± Braph nodded. ¡°Right y¡¯are.¡± The man disappeared through a heavy side door, appearing some time later, leading a saddled horse. ¡°That¡¯ll be ten miras.¡± ¡°How much?¡± ¡°Ten miras. She¡¯s a good horse.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°Eight?¡± Braph sighed and dug into his money pouch. It still seemed an exorbitant amount for horseflesh, but he wasn¡¯t an unreasonable man. Everyone had the right to earn a living. He placed eight paper notes into the man¡¯s hand. The fingers closed on the paper, but the reins were not handed over and instead the man studied the paper, his brows furrowed.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Paper money. They¡¯re Turhmos miras. Accepted everywhere on Phyos.¡± ¡°Got any real money?¡± Braph sighed once more, working hard to keep his temper in check, and held out his hand to receive the notes back. When they weren¡¯t forthcoming, he snatched them out of the man¡¯s hand before rummaging through his pouch once more and bringing out an assortment of coins. Before the man saw them, he closed his hand and opened it again to display the eight miras ¨C or what looked like eight miras ¨C and sprinkled them into the outstretched palm. Braph couldn¡¯t say how long they would maintain their appearance. He¡¯d only ever performed the trick when he was parting with coins and had yet to keep any he had altered. Grubby fingers closed over the money, and the reins were thrust at him. Outside in the Ryaen sunshine, Braph gathered the reins and swung himself into the saddle. The horse was shorter than he would have liked, and he hoped he hadn¡¯t been played. On the outskirts of Ryaen, he jabbed his heels into her sides. She took off with a turn of speed that nearly sent him over her rump, and maintained a pace that had him in Lanich by early evening. He booked the finest room in the finest hotel in Lanich. That wasn¡¯t saying much; this was Aghacia, after all. In Duffirk, Turhmos¡¯s capital, they had hotels reaching eighty feet high and contraptions to lift you all the way to the top ¨C elevators, they called them. Lanich¡¯s finest was a mere two stories and a rickety flight of stairs. Propping his leather-booted foot on a chair, he unbuckled the small compartment behind his ankle to check the last crystal he¡¯d made from Orinia¡¯s blood. He touched the crystal, remembering their last day together. Then he refastened the buckle. That one crystal held more power than the others combined, more power than he should ever need; unless he ran into his brother. But there was no need for Jonas to be in Aghacia, and only the smallest chance he was still looking for Braph. No, Braph was almost certain that Aris ¨C Jonas¡¯s captain, father-figure, and creator ¨C wouldn¡¯t risk his little project by pursuing revenge. A knock came at the door and Braph opened it to receive his evening meal, brought by a sullen serving girl. A place as small as this rarely offered room service, but they did if you had the knack for asking in the right way. Braph had the knack; he had the knack for all sorts of things. He placed the tray on the bed and set about peeling off the rest of his leather ¨C the long jacket, and the triple-buckled boots, and the thick leather belt with its equally heavy buckle, finally unlacing his trousers and sliding them to the floor. Then he threw himself in the chair and chewed at a piece of tough meat while he contemplated the days ahead. He¡¯d met the girl¡¯s father in Cheer about five years ago. She must have been there, too, but her father had led him astray. And if Turhmos hadn¡¯t allowed Orinia to become so ill, forcing Braph¡¯s return, he would have found her. If she had since moved, he had to hope there was a new trail to follow. And he hoped she was as powerful as her mother and not diminished by her father¡¯s half-blood. Orinia. He missed her, though it irked him to admit it. She had been everything to him during some of his most important formative years: his mother, his wife, his mistress, his best friend, the source of his power. Behind every great man... With her behind him, he had indeed been great. He had been supreme. He would be again. His meal finished, he put the plate by the door. Then he fished in his bag for his thunderstick, one of his own inventions. As far as he knew, it worked, but he was still perfecting the ammunition for it. For now, he used small spherical pellets that he packed down on top of the explosive. He had been developing an all-in-one round that didn¡¯t require packing the powder first, but he couldn¡¯t experiment further without his workshop. The device would be needed should his magic prove insufficient to defeat his brother. He lounged in a chair by the open window. Resting his elbow on the sill he sighted along the thunderstick¡¯s barrel. A man in a dress coat hurried along the street, completely unaware that, if he chose, Braph could put a hole in the back of his head. For a moment, Braph sorely wanted to, just to know how it would feel. ¡°Bang,¡± he said emotionlessly. Braph slept well. In the dawn, after a brief period of meditation, he stretched his muscles and took to his horse once more, aiming to be in Iaves by nightfall. Another day closer to Cheer. 3: Innocent The little¡ª The second officer spotted her and started running. Llew shot off down the road, taking the first turn and continuing on a convoluted path through the streets of Cheer. There weren¡¯t many routes to choose from, and she had to cover the same ground several times. Clutching her better fitting, perfectly clean new shirts slowed her down, but she didn¡¯t want to throw them aside and leave a hint of where she had been, never mind the waste of money. Damn Kynas! She¡¯d never even met Mr. Maddocks, and she was sure as hell it wasn¡¯t the old man lying on top of her that morning. She wondered if they¡¯d found that body yet. It was likely someone had ¨C probably a john taking a leak on the Diamond¡¯s wall. But would they be looking for a killer? Llew hadn¡¯t taken the time to check, but she was certain there wouldn¡¯t be a scratch on him. Well, nothing deadly, anyway. It was just that there was all that blood. Her blood, but they wouldn¡¯t know that. She headed for the seedier side of Cheer where shadows seemed deeper, drunks seemed drunker and morals were all but missing entirely. She turned down litter-strewn Prince Tanath Road and saw a gang of street kids loitering outside a half-collapsed building. These children were evidence that mining could be dangerous and prostitution had side-effects Llew preferred to avoid. ¡°Hi, Llew.¡± One girl looked up from a game of knucklebones. ¡°Annie.¡± Slowing to a walk, she tipped her head to the younger girl in the tatty dress; for now, she was still young and pitiful enough to beg successfully, but she would soon graduate to a place in one of Cheer¡¯s brothels. She had never mastered the art of picking pockets. ¡°You didn¡¯t see me, okay?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The girl shrugged. Llew stooped through a hole in the wall to a space under the building¡¯s floorboards. The children behind her were silent, watching. She scooted along on her belly, thankful that she didn¡¯t have breasts to worry about. Behind her the sounds of the children¡¯s games started up again. Her new shirts were now filthy, and one snagged on a stray nail sticking out from a board. She threw them aside and yelped as her knuckle struck the support beam above her. Sucking at the wound, she peered through the shadows under the building. Cheer¡¯s sun was bright, and its light hindered by little since the buildings were mostly only one story. It filtered through the gaps, allowing her to see well enough. Somewhere on the opposite side of the building, she emerged into Lomirir Way. It was deserted, so she clambered out, dusted herself off, and walked briskly in the general direction she had been going before. If the Farry was still after her, there was nowhere she could disappear into permanently. She had to hope that he had enough doubt in Kynas¡¯s accusation to give up, although she didn¡¯t doubt that simply removing another kid from the street could be incentive enough. She rounded a corner, walking past a man sitting on the rickety wooden steps at the back of an old store. ¡°Lady Llewella, are we peddling our goods today?¡± The words were slurred. ¡°No, sir.¡± Head down, she carried on walking past, not looking at him. How could he have picked her for a girl, let alone known her name? ¡°You wouldn¡¯t turn away a paying customer now, would you?¡± His feet scuffed the dusty road behind her. Llew turned to face him, recognizing one of her father¡¯s old drinking ¡®buddies¡¯; she continued to walk backwards. ¡°Japod, you never were a paying customer. In fact, I think you still owe Pa money.¡± She turned away and walked a little faster. ¡°Your pa ain¡¯t been chasin¡¯ me for it.¡± Well, of course he hadn¡¯t. Too many people knew who she was ¨C hair short or long, dress feminine or masculine. She¡¯d just been a tomboyish girl when her father had been around. But all her father¡¯s friends still recognised her. She had hoped their respect for him would be enough for them not to put pressure on his daughter to entertain them. Apparently, she was wrong, at least in this instance. ¡°You¡¯d do an old friend a favor, wouldn¡¯t you, Llew?¡± The rasp of his feet over the coarse dirt grated on her ears. Her mind raced with plans to lose him without running straight into the lawman. But Japod lunged, grabbing her legs, sending them both into the ground. Llew got a face full of gravely dirt and a bite of her own cheek, while the old man was cushioned by the backs of her legs. He scrabbled to yank at the waist of her trousers. ¡°Get off!¡± she yelled, coughing on inhaled dust. Her belt-rope was thin and it gave under the man¡¯s determined tugs. Llew¡¯s efforts to right herself were thwarted as her legs continued to be pulled out from under her in Japod¡¯s efforts to unwrap his prize. Her pants slipped, exposing her longjohns. The two buttons didn¡¯t deter him long. Japod¡¯s dry fingers dug into her flesh. He gasped, and the skin of Llew¡¯s cheek healed. The distraction gave her the pause she needed to swing an arm, knocking him off her. He rallied quickly and was on her again. Japod¡¯s long hair was graying, his chin unshaven, and his few remaining teeth yellow; his breath was a mix of the rotting remnants of his previous meals and whatever concoction he had just been drinking. He planted a wet kiss on Llew¡¯s lips, and she clamped her mouth tight. ¡°Get off me!¡± Llew¡¯s arms and legs worked furiously, but he was stronger than he looked. For a fraction of a second, Llew believed he had listened to her as his body moved away. But then arms looped under her armpits, helping her to her feet. She was pulled to the side of the road and was vaguely aware of someone ramming Japod into a wall. She pulled her pants up, watching the old man take a hammering. His assailant had long hair and was wearing a wide-brimmed hat. The man who¡¯d lifted her, and now stood beside her, was his curly-haired companion. Before the old man lost consciousness entirely, the dark foreigner threw his limp body to the ground and turned away. He headed straight for the cart in which they had arrived. ¡°You alright?¡± Al asked. ¡°Fine.¡± Llew cleared her throat and forced her voice deeper. ¡°Fine.¡± At least at her assumed age, she could brush the slip off as her voice breaking. She crossed the road to the limp old man and kicked him in the gut. ¡°Slimy old coot. You don¡¯t¡ª¡± Kick ¡±¡ªdo that to your mate¡¯s kid.¡± She went for one last kick but was spun around by the young man. ¡°Hey, hey,¡± said Al. ¡°He¡¯s down already. He¡¯s no threat, now.¡± Llew nodded, lowering her head to show her remorse. Living on the streets, she knew there was always a point at which the fight ended, and it usually came before someone died. But Japod¡¯s attack had scared and angered her, especially coming so soon after her encounter with Renny. She hugged herself and then, realizing it might not have looked manly enough, she dropped one arm to her side, still gripping the elbow with her other hand. Even if the lawman had given up on her for today, she was well aware that developing hips and breasts could not be covered forever. She needed to leave Cheer. And here and now, an opportunity had presented itself. The men returned to their cart and Jonas urged the bay horse into life. It moved off at a walk. Llew walked alongside, wondering how she could get them to take her with them. Al must have caught a glimpse of her, for he suddenly laughed, grinning over his shoulder. Jonas looked at her, turned away and urged the horse into a trot. Llew began to trot along behind, hoping he wouldn¡¯t go to a canter. Al kept looking back at her, now and then saying something to Jonas.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Finally, Jonas reined in the horse. Llew ran into the back of the suddenly stationary cart, and took a moment to lean on it, catching her breath. Jonas jumped down off the cart and rounded on her. ¡°What d¡¯you think you¡¯re doin¡¯?¡± ¡°Coming with you.¡± She fought to keep the pleading tone out of her voice. Jonas shook his head. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Come on, Jonas. Hear the kid out.¡± Al swung down from the cart and joined them. ¡°I ain¡¯t no kid.¡± She crossed her arms, scowling at her supporter, who laughed. She narrowed her eyes further, to no effect, then returned her attention to Jonas. ¡°You¡¯re leaving Cheer, right? I want to leave Cheer.¡± ¡°Not our problem.¡± ¡°No. But all the same. I have a little money. Not enough to get me a ticket on a coach, but I could make myself useful, earn my passage with you.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ we need from no thief.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t always a thief. I used to help my pa in his smithy. I can help.¡± The selection of knives in Jonas¡¯s vest caught Llew¡¯s eye again. ¡°I can fight.¡± That got a brief laugh out of Jonas. ¡°I can!¡± She made fists, waving them in front of her just as she had many a time against boys she¡¯d rough ¡¯n tumbled with. Al placed a hand over hers, pushing down. ¡°We could at least see what Aris has to say,¡± he said. ¡°No. This ain¡¯t no job for a criminal, no matter how good his words sound.¡± A movement behind Jonas drew Llew¡¯s attention. It was the Farry. She dived into the back of the low cart, pulling sacks and an old blanket about her. ¡°Get out,¡± said Jonas flatly. ¡°Please.¡± With the realization that her safety was in the hands of someone who had every reason to turn her over to the law, she could think of nothing else to say. She threw everything she had into a pleading look. Jonas looked down his nose at her, then along the road at the approaching law man. With a grunt, he flicked the blanket over her. Llew waited to discover her fate. Maybe Jonas wasn¡¯t an unfair man. She had deserved the fist to the gut. She didn¡¯t deserve to hang. The sack closest to her nose smelled of dirt and potatoes. Something else nearby smelled sweet. Apples? She inhaled and her mouth watered, remembering that she had yet to eat. She forced it from her mind. For now, she could do nothing but be still. ¡°What happened here?¡± ¡°Old drunk walked in front of us. Spooked our horse,¡± said Jonas. ¡°Yeah. He just stumbled out of nowhere,¡± said Al. ¡°You two ain¡¯t from around here.¡± ¡°No, sir. Over from Phyos,¡± said Al. ¡°What for?¡± ¡°Just helpin¡¯ a friend,¡± said Jonas. ¡°Where you staying?¡± ¡°Postmaster Muor¡¯s house.¡± ¡°Nice place.¡± The lawman sounded impressed. ¡°Sure is,¡± said Alvaro. ¡°He¡¯s a good man,¡± said the officer. Another pause, as though he was waiting for the boys to confirm. ¡°Well, maybe the old drunk¡¯ll learn for next time, huh?¡± The officer laughed, inviting the two young men to join him. They didn¡¯t. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to have seen a young lad about so tall, white shirt, grubby, would you?¡± ¡°Just that old boy,¡± said Al. ¡°If we see him, we¡¯ll be sure to let you know,¡± said Jonas. ¡°What did he do?¡± ¡°He¡¯s wanted for questioning about a murder.¡± ¡°Murder?¡± ¡°Yeah. We have an eyewitness saw him do it.¡± Silence from Jonas and Al. Llew tensed. This was it. They were going to give her up. She¡¯d swing from a rope by the end of the week. Or worse. There was always worse. Llew just didn¡¯t have the imagination to fill in the blanks. ¡°Alright.¡± A hand slapped the side of the cart. ¡°You boys stay out of trouble, you hear?¡± The distant sound of children playing reached Llew¡¯s ears. A bird fluttered overhead. What would they do? They hadn¡¯t revealed her so far. That was something to cling to. The blanket was pulled back. ¡°Get out,¡± said Jonas. ¡°I didn¡¯t do it. You have to believe me,¡± she pleaded with him, making no effort to keep her voice deep. ¡°I don¡¯t gotta do nothin¡¯.¡± He looked at her with his stony expression. ¡°Out.¡± She turned to Al. ¡°I¡¯m innocent.¡± Al raised an eyebrow. ¡°Well, maybe not entirely innocent. But I didn¡¯t kill anyone. On my mother¡¯s honor.¡± They still looked unconvinced. ¡°She was a good woman!¡± Jonas grabbed the triceps of her arm closest to him, half lifting, half pushing her from the cart. Llew made herself as heavy as possible and dug in her heels, but it made little difference. ¡°You¡¯re heading for the Postmaster¡¯s, right?¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°Well, if I¡¯m going to leave Cheer, then I need to start at the Postmaster¡¯s anyway. Maybe he¡¯ll let me earn my ticket. At least take me that far.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a thief and we ain¡¯t got time to decide whether or not you¡¯re a murderer. You can walk.¡± He turned his back on her and returned to his seat at the front of the cart. ¡°Sorry,¡± said Al. ¡°Good luck.¡± He resumed his seat at the front of the cart and Jonas flicked the horse back into life, then with another flick called up a trot. Llew stood for a time, watching her brighter future disappear into the distance. ¡°Fuck.¡± ¡°I knew I seen you come this way.¡± She turned to the voice, then darted away, the law hot on her heels once more. Unfortunately, this time there were two of them, and one was young, tall, and fit. He had her on her belly in less than a minute. ¡°I knew we¡¯d get yer.¡± The older officer kneeled in front of her while the younger pulled her hands behind her and cuffed them. ¡°No point running from the law, ya scoundrel. We always get our man.¡± The younger officer wrenched her to her feet, one arm over her shoulder, cupping the opposite armpit. His hand slipped, and he took an experimental squeeze. ¡°Or woman.¡± He tugged at her shirt, pulling several buttons free. ¡°As the case may be.¡± Llew felt the dry Cheer air on her exposed breast. ¡°Well, course she is,¡± the older officer said as though he¡¯d known all along, eying her appreciatively and firing up goosebumps all over Llew¡¯s skin. ¡°A female hangin¡¯... That¡¯ll draw a crowd.¡±
Llew spent three days in a cell, with Kynas in the cell next to her; long enough to make sure everyone knew there would be a hanging. She refused to talk to him, no matter how much he apologized, and determinedly looked everywhere but through the bars at him. He knew her better than anyone, and the betrayal was all the worse for that. There would be no trial for either of them: the accusation was enough. ''Cleaning up the streets¡¯ they called it. In any case, since Kynas¡¯s accusation, someone had come forward about the body in the alleyway and had positively identified Llew as the killer. Or Kynas, maybe. They hadn¡¯t quite been sure which of the two they had seen, but they had definitely seen one of them. Maybe. It didn¡¯t matter. The gallows was going up before they¡¯d even walked into the gaol. As the sun cleared the tops of Cheer¡¯s roofs on the morning of the fourth day, Llew and Kynas were dragged and pushed through a crowd of excited locals only too eager to spit at the filthy killer-urchins as they passed. The two were forced up the steps on to the stage of the gallows where they stood trembling in the cold air while the charges against them were solemnly read out. The Farries had dressed Llew in a long, heavy skirt a couple of sizes too big for her, and a thin, floaty blouse, which they had tied in at the back to emphasize what femininity she possessed. A girl being hanged drew a larger crowd than a boy. Rarity, she supposed, and some kind of thrill. The charge of theft was fair ¨C they had both been carrying stolen purses at the time of their captures ¨C but Llew took offense at being accused of stealing and killing livestock. She had a good relationship with a local farmer, and she caught fish which she regularly swapped for a little beef. She didn¡¯t need to steal the beasts themselves. Looking out over the crowd, she saw that very farmer watching from a few rows back. He looked less angry than the rest of the crowd; perhaps even a little saddened. Would someone actually miss her when she was gone? Llew gave a brief smile to him and he returned it with a pained look of his own. Suddenly he turned and pushed his way back through the crowd. There was no shortage of people to fill the space he left. Llew recognized a couple of men that her father used to drink the evenings away with, and there was Japod, his face still bruised. He grinned at her and she tore her eyes away. How could he smile to see his old friend¡¯s daughter about to be hanged? But, as she unwittingly caught a glimpse of her gallows-mate out the corner of her eye, Llew wondered what friendship really meant. You found people as lonely as you to whittle away the hours with, and if you trusted them, if you let your heart rest with them, they left, just as Llew¡¯s ma and pa had done. Sure, they were most likely dead, but that offered no added comfort. And now Kynas had proved Llew right in her decision to hold back from giving her heart to another. That should have meant she was safe from him and his betrayal. The crowd buzzed with excitement, jostling each other for the best view and sharing their opinions on the two thieves, murderers, and livestock sodomites (how Llew earned that charge, she couldn¡¯t guess). People laughed as though they weren¡¯t about to see two children ¨C at seventeen, nearly eighteen, Llew would have been the first to proclaim her maturity, but now it seemed appropriate to lean the other way ¨C lose their lives. Charges and prayers read, the Farries turned to their captives and pressed them forward to the nooses. Then the hangman took over, guiding the first noose over Kynas¡¯s head before turning to Llew. Kynas blubbered disgustingly, still proclaiming his innocence. Llew was inclined to believe him, but she couldn¡¯t excuse him pointing the finger at her and still refused to look at him. The rope settled about Llew¡¯s neck as she stared out over the crowd. This was all becoming too real. Sure, she didn¡¯t like Kynas much anymore, but he didn¡¯t deserve to die. She couldn¡¯t look at him, but neither could she shut out his wailing. The trapdoor fell away and Kynas hit the end of the rope, rattling the whole platform. For a moment, Llew thought her world had fallen away with him. Her only friend in all the world hung limply from a rope beside her. She was all alone. Parts of the crowd fell silent, while a small section cheered and then grew expectant. Llew¡¯s breathing grew fast as panic began to take hold. Her eyes swept the crowd. Would someone save her? Didn¡¯t anyone believe she was innocent? She didn¡¯t deserve to die! She¡¯d stolen, a lot, but only to survive until the opportunity to live a more honest life presented itself. It wasn¡¯t her fault that chance hadn¡¯t come. Someone, someone. Please. But she had no one. The lever was thrown, and she fell. 4: Cleaning Up The Streets Llew woke from a dreamless sleep. It took but a moment to realize she wasn¡¯t breathing, that she hadn¡¯t been breathing. Gasping for air now, she grabbed the rope around her throat, trying to ease the pressure; her own weight kept pulling her down. Her legs kicked at nothing and she began to swing gently. Someone gasped and someone ¨C the same or another ¨C ran off. Consciousness faded and everything went black again.
When she stirred, Llew had a vague recollection of having done so before. She fought down her panic and managed to squeeze her fingers between the rope and her throat and raised herself enough to take a ragged breath: but her arms failed and she came down on her fingers. She was able to take shallow breaths, but her fingertips were being rapidly suffocated of blood. A woman¡¯s scream alerted her to the fact she was in full public view. Great. Even if she got herself down, there was every chance she¡¯d be right back here soon after, or disposed of in some other, more certain way. An image of a chopping block and an axe flashed through her mind. Oh gods! Through sheer force of will she made her arms once more raise her body and, trembling under the strain, she eased the rope forward from her throat toward her chin. She rested her fingers, grabbing the sides of the noose and leaning her head back into the spiral knot, redistributing her weight. This wasn¡¯t going to be pretty. The hushed silence told her that people were more fascinated by her efforts than they were interested in alerting anyone official. She didn¡¯t know how long she¡¯d been gone. As she focused her efforts on freeing herself, some part of her mind turned over the fact that she¡¯d already died once before. Now she could make it, what? Three times? Three times in how many days? The sun was high. Lunch time. She¡¯d been hung in the morning. Was this the same day? The next day? A week later? As far as she could tell, it had taken her a couple of hours or so to come back after the glass bottle incident. She didn¡¯t know how long a broken neck would take to heal. Her arms rested as much as they could under the circumstances, she returned to her efforts to slide the rope to her chin. Her neck ached, the rope burned her cheeks and jaw, and trapped blood threatened to pop the tips of her fingers. But none of that mattered when giving up would mean suffocating to death. Again. The flutter of wings and the scratch of claws on metal drew Llew¡¯s attention to the roof of the building that cast a shadow over her, shielding her from the afternoon sun. A swamp hawk perched there, inspecting her, its head moving in staccato tilts and turns. She bared her teeth and hissed at the bird. It continued to peer at her with idle curiosity. The best way to lose the scavenger¡¯s interest was to get free and on the move. This was it, her moment of freedom likely followed by a more permanent death. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer to whatever god might listen to an orphan in such a godforsaken place. The ignorance of others and her own luck had so far kept her alive. She just needed them to hold out until... well, until she was away from Cheer. She was almost certain there was more to life out there, somewhere. She took a breath, steeling herself for the drop, and wiggled, rolled and pressed the rope over the curve of her chin. It burned up the back of her head and caught under her nose. Pain seared through her top lip and up her sinuses into her forehead, and her legs thrashed, seeking ground; she wasn¡¯t there yet. The rope was slipping, if slowly. With a flick of her thumbs she forced it from under her nose. Her brow caught on it briefly, then she slid free. Landing on something soft she leaped up immediately, adrenaline flooding her bloodstream, fearing she had landed on an over-enthusiastic onlooker, only to find a still warm but motionless pile of feathers, fur, and flies. A selection of the local carrion eaters: swamp hawks, rats, and bugs. Bile rose in her throat, and her skin crawled. Llew turned from the pile of death ¨C her saviors, evidently. Her body ached and her tired muscles trembled. She would have collapsed from the fatigue and revulsion but, coming face to face with her audience, she was reminded she was not out of danger just yet. The woman right in front of her looked as terrified as Llew felt. Llew poked out her tongue, screwed up her face, and made an unintelligible sound. The woman shrieked and ran, her male companion following after, looking as shocked as she did. No one in the square seemed to know what to do about this girl who had come back to life. They simply stared. Llew didn¡¯t much know what to do either. But standing around was only going to get her caught and killed one more time. Taking advantage of their inaction, Llew leaped from the platform and ran; she kept on running. Her toes slapped the hard-packed sand roads that led to her Spot, and then she pushed through the tussocks. Someone coughed and she skipped behind a tree. Her approach hadn¡¯t been silent, but neither was Big River. Peering around the tree, she saw a man sitting upstream from her hovel, his line in the water. She moved to confront him ¨C fishing holes were like gold seams in Cheer, and this one was hers ¨C but some small part of her made her grip the trunk and stop before she was halfway past. She looked in the direction of her small shelter, hidden behind more grasses and lupins, and knew she couldn¡¯t return. If she went out there the man would see her. A large contingent of Cheer locals had seen her hang, and it wouldn¡¯t take long for word to spread that she had lived and escaped. So, she couldn¡¯t stay in Cheer. If she left immediately, she might have a chance. While news of her feat might spread far and wide, hopefully a detailed description wouldn¡¯t. She owned very little; yet it had been hers. To abandon it left a pit in her stomach, but still she turned away, pushing back through the tussocks, back to the road. She had always thought traveling alone would be dangerous, but what did she have to lose now? If she were attacked, she would heal. If she starved, she would heal. If she poisoned herself trying to stave off hunger, she would heal. Why hadn¡¯t her parents told her this? All her father had ever told her was to keep it to herself, keep it secret. She knew she could fix the odd bump and bruise. Had they thought that if she knew she could come back from the dead she would make a habit of it? Having gone through it twice, no, three times in, perhaps, five days, it wasn¡¯t something she would care to repeat any time soon. Calculating north, she ran with the simple aim of getting out of Cheer. There was no longer a place for her there and, if she was honest with herself, there hadn¡¯t been since the night her father left. She found a clean shirt and pair of trousers on a farmhouse washing line. Feeling almost normal, she continued north for as long as her feet would carry her; this turned out to be a pretty long way with bare feet brushing through fields of lush, vibrant grass. She was dimly aware of the almost constant tingling in her soles as her muscles were continually refreshed. Her stomach continued to grumble, though. The outer regions of Cheer were turning to wine country now that gold was no longer so easy to come by, and she eased the ache in her gut with a couple of handfuls of grapes. And then she found the Great North Road. This continued on a predominantly straight line heading between fields turned to wineries, with others turned to cattle or sheep farms, and finally into the as yet uncleared Aghacian forests. She slept off the road amongst the trees after the sun dipped below the horizon. In summer, the twilight would linger well into the night, but autumn brought dark evenings and freezing nights. She woke shivering in the dark and dawdled onward, figuring she may as well warm her muscles by walking rather than lie sleepless in the early morning cold. Cheer lay behind a series of hills, yet Llew felt she¡¯d hardly made any headway. There was so much farther to go. So many miles of road, so many hours of hunger and thirst. Aghacia was a long, narrow country and Llew knew little of it, having only vague memories of arriving with her father some eleven years earlier. Cheer was a long way from anywhere. It was getting to midday when she heard horses approaching from behind. Her pulse quickened, and she scanned the area for cover. There were always trees by the side of the road and she readied herself to dart amongst them. Then, glancing over her shoulder, she relaxed. It was a carriage with a small escort of riders. Not the Farries, then. If she stuck to her path, hopefully they would just ride past her.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The leading riders caught up and passed her. She kept her head down, still feeling too close to Cheer to be safe from scrutiny. But the carriage pulled up just ahead of her. ¡°You alright, son?¡± The driver was a man a little past his middle years. Beside him sat a prim woman in a chaste, yet flattering dress, with her hair scooped up at the back of her head. A pretty blonde girl about Llew¡¯s age, dressed as properly as the older woman but with a more relaxed air, completed the trio. Llew cleared her throat and made her usual octave drop. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± She kept walking. ¡°We can¡¯t just leave him,¡± the young woman murmured and was hushed by the older woman. The carriage moved forward with her. ¡°It¡¯s just that there ain¡¯t much but road for miles. You sure you wouldn¡¯t be wanting a ride?¡± Llew stopped. ¡°You mean it, mister? You¡¯d take me with you?¡± The rider behind the carriage moved into view. Uh-oh. It was the man Llew had stolen the knife from several days before. And, judging from his expression, he remembered her too. ¡°Hey! You¡¯re that kid from the other day.¡± One of the leading riders swung round. ¡°Remember him, Jonas?¡± Al. That was it. His name was Al. Jonas grunted and gave Llew a none-too-impressed look. ¡°You know him?¡± the girl in the carriage asked. ¡°Kinda. He stole Jonas¡¯s knife at the market the other day.¡± ¡°You let him steal your knife?¡± The older man gave Jonas an incredulous look. ¡°I didn¡¯t let him¡ª¡± ¡°What you doin¡¯ all the way out here?¡± Al asked. ¡°I told you I wanted to leave Cheer. I¡¯m leaving Cheer.¡± ¡°Just how far were you hoping to get with bare feet and...¡± The older man looked her up and down. ¡°...no provisions?¡± Llew shrugged. ¡°Figured I¡¯d walk. There¡¯s gotta be a few towns between here and Ryaen.¡± Ryaen was the only Aghacian city with a port. Cheer should have had one, but an unfortunate tide just out from the peninsula made it a dangerous stretch of sea. Too dangerous for the few flakes of gold coming out these days, anyway. What had stated to be built had been left to fall apart. The older man smiled. ¡°A few, sure. But we¡¯re not due to reach the next till tomorrow, and we got horses.¡± His head dipped. ¡°And footwear. Come on.¡± He patted the carriage platform behind him. ¡°We¡¯re all headed the same way.¡± It hardly needed saying. Cheer was at one end of Aghacia, ocean to the south and east, hills and mountains that dropped off to the sea to the west: the only way to get anywhere was to take the North Road. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea, Aris.¡± Jonas brought his bay and white-patched horse forward. ¡°We don¡¯t know nothin¡¯ about him¡ª¡± ¡°Look at him. Clothes too big, no shoes, planning to walk the length of the country.¡± Aris waved an arm up and down, drawing everyone¡¯s attention to Llew¡¯s attire. ¡°What more is there to know?¡± ¡°I just think we should be careful, is all. Anya¡¯s gotta be delivered safely¡ª¡± The girl in the carriage laughed, at which the woman beside her scowled. ¡°Sorry, Emylia, but I think Jonas underestimates me. I think I could defend myself from a boy that small.¡± Everyone, apart from Jonas apparently, could understand a young lad wanting more from life than Cheer had to offer, and they agreed that extra hands could be put to use. So Llew clambered up into the carriage, and they set off. As he snapped the reins to make the horses walk, Aris explained that they were escorting Anya to her future husband. ¡°This is so exciting!¡± Anya exclaimed. ¡°We¡¯re barely out of Cheer and we¡¯ve already picked up a mysterious stranger. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Llew.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Llew. My name is Anya, this is Emylia, and this is Aris.¡± The woman nodded to Llew with a tight yet friendly smile, and the man offered his hand. Llew shook it and smiled at him. ¡°Up the front,¡± Anya continued, ¡°are Cassidy and Alvaro. They¡¯re cousins from Rakun, where we¡¯re going. The blond one is Cassidy. And behind is Jonas, who I believe you¡¯ve met...¡± ¡°Yes, I, ah, ran into Al¡ª Alvaro and Jonas the other day...¡± ¡°How poetic!¡± Anya said, with a sparkle in her eyes. ¡°I guess it was fate.¡± ¡°So, tell me, Llew. Where are your people?¡± Aris asked over his shoulder. Llew shrugged. ¡°They¡¯re dead.¡± ¡°That¡¯s terrible!¡± Anya¡¯s perfectly clean and delicate hands flew to her lips. ¡°Ah.¡± Aris nodded, ignoring the girl¡¯s outburst. ¡°That¡¯d explain the thieving, then. You lookin¡¯ to make an honest living?¡± ¡°Could I?¡± Aris nodded again. ¡°Never hurts to have an extra pair of eyes and hands. We¡¯ll find a use for you.¡± Jonas watched her with a flat expression for a while then reined his horse in to fall behind the carriage again. Having him behind her made Llew¡¯s spine tingle. Still, the rest of the group seemed welcoming enough. Focus on that. The carriage rolled on and Llew started her journey with strangers. Strangers with benefits and a modicum of danger.
A gentle breeze blew across the landscape. They remained close to the coast, and the hiss and crash of waves were constant companions. Now and then, the salty smell reached them across open fields. They stopped at a creek by the roadside to eat, water the horses, and refill canteens. Llew gratefully accepted a share in the fresh bread rolls and fruit on offer. ¡°So, what¡¯s your special skill?¡± Anya asked, joining Llew by the creek as she filled one of the spare canteens. ¡°Sorry?¡± ¡°Well, you see, Cassidy is a superbly fine shot with a bow and arrow,¡± she began, swiveling so that she could point out each of their companions. ¡°My father insisted they prove to him that I was in good hands. He¡¯s good with a sword, too, but it was Alvaro who shone in the mini-tournament they put on for me.¡± She beamed. ¡°And Jonas has an uncanny knack for knife-throwing. Actually, his knives sliced each of Cassidy¡¯s perfect shots.¡± Anya looked around, seeking out the dark young man. It wasn¡¯t hard ¨C he hadn¡¯t let Llew out of his sight since she¡¯d joined them, and he wasn¡¯t hiding the fact. Every time she looked up, he was there. When she went off for a privacy stop, he was barely out of view, although he was polite enough not to watch. He didn¡¯t trust her, and Llew hoped that was all. She had stolen from him, after all, so she could understand his concerns. ¡°So, my little menagerie has an archer, a swordsman and a knife-thrower.¡± Anya looked Llew up and down. ¡°And what is it that you can do?¡± ¡°Fishing?¡± Llew cursed herself for such a lame answer. She¡¯d been caught off guard and replied with the first thing that came to mind ¨C an archer, a swordsman, a knife-thrower, and a fisher? Anya clapped her hands with delight. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s wonderful! You can catch us some fresh dinners. It¡¯ll make a nice change from the travel rations.¡± Llew blinked. She¡¯d expected a demand for a talent in weaponry. In truth, she had some ¨C you didn¡¯t work for a blacksmith and go on to survive the streets without picking up a few essential skills ¨C but she doubted she compared well with Alvaro, Cassidy, or Jonas. ¡°I¡¯ll need a hook, I¡ª¡± Stop. Just stop, now. ¡°I don¡¯t have a hook.¡± Why was she continuing with this? She should have been proclaiming her skill with a sword, a sling, whatever they needed. Something useful. These people had money and ample supplies, and it wasn¡¯t as if they had the time to sit around waiting for dinner to bite. Fishing. Sure, Llew. They¡¯ll be happy to have you along. You¡¯ll be so useful. ¡°Perhaps we can get you one when we stop at Orn. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll have a store.¡± Llew nodded absently, and Anya headed back to the carriage. Llew didn¡¯t know what to make of the other girl. She was talkative, bubbly and... nice. It wasn¡¯t a normal state for the girls living on the streets of Cheer, where not fighting hard enough for every morsel could leave you too tired and hungry to fight for the next scrap. ¡°Damn shame, ain¡¯t it?¡± ¡°What?¡± Llew couldn¡¯t believe she¡¯d been taken by surprise again. She stood and turned to follow Cassidy¡¯s gaze. He was watching Anya chat animatedly with Aris and Emylia. ¡°A girl like that. Off the market already. Marryin¡¯ a guy more¡¯n ten years her senior, too.¡± Llew looked at Cassidy. Her lips began to curl up in a smile, and then she remembered her role as a fellow young male and the smile disappeared. ¡°Yeah.¡± She cleared her throat. ¡°Damn shame.¡± Anya¡¯s laughter jangled like a cow bell back through the air to them, accompanied by the deeper tones of Aris. Anya was as comfortable in the presence of her elders as she was with Llew, a stranger. Normally, Llew would have been wary of these people. What did they have to gain by taking her with them? Very little. In Llew¡¯s world that equated not to generosity, but ignorance. Giving without expecting in return? Unheard of. In accepting their help without negotiating terms, she had put herself in a vulnerable position, and yet it felt like the right thing to do. She probably wouldn¡¯t have accepted the ride from these people if it hadn¡¯t been for Anya though. She trusted Llew not to take advantage of their generosity, and Llew realized that faith was catching. Cassidy¡¯s clear blue eyes settled on her. ¡°Of course, men like you an¡¯ me never get girls like that. They keep to their own kind and we keep to ours.¡± He wasn¡¯t wrong. But Cassidy didn¡¯t look like much of a street rat. ¡°And what¡¯s your kind?¡± Cassidy¡¯s face lit up in a grin. ¡°Generous.¡±
Revera shifted under Braph, her saddle and his trousers creaking. She was growing restless. If she had any notion how to read the signals flying along the telegraph semaphore line, she would have been as riveted as he. Semaphore towers. Braph shook his head. Aghacia was so far behind the times. Turhmos already had a wired telegraph system, and in having such had a far greater level of security for the information crossing the nation. Aghacia still relied on optical signals, which any damned fool could read. Braph wasn¡¯t a fool, and he was certain he knew more about the information currently heading up the length of Aghacia than the sender or receiver. News was spreading of a witch surviving a hanging in Cheer at the far south of the country, where Braph was now headed. But not only had the girl survived, she had also killed. She was still there then, or at least had been until this news had got out; he doubted she would still be in Cheer any longer. That wasn¡¯t a bad thing. The shape of Aghacia meant that the chances of Braph and the girl crossing paths were high, and Braph was by no means saddened at the prospect of not returning to that primitive and ramshackle town. The only question remaining then was whether the girl had actually died and lived, or if she had merely failed to die in the first place and healed her wounds. Either way, Braph wanted to see it for himself. 5: To Kill The Unkillable ¡°You look as though you haven¡¯t slept in days,¡± Anya said when they took their places to resume the journey. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go in the back and have a lie down?¡± Llew wasn¡¯t sure if she was ready to relax in the presence of these strangers, but urged by Aris and Emylia as well, she clambered over the back of the seat and lay against some rolled bedding in the back. The carriage was filled with the belongings of a teenage girl of far greater means than Llew had ever known. There were dozens of bags bulging, no doubt with fine clothing, a guitar, and even paintings leaning up against one side and carefully roped to the cart struts. The entire carriage interior smelled of perfume. While Llew didn¡¯t love the tangy aromas most of the girls she knew wore, this was a pleasant enough fragrance, with none of the cheap undertones she was used to. The perfume wafted from a stack of papers and envelopes tied with ribbon, with a pen, bottle of ink, and a letter opener attached. Llew had been taught to read, but she felt a pang of jealousy toward this girl who could write as well. Llew remembered her mother writing letters to family they couldn¡¯t visit. But her father hadn¡¯t been one for such things, so he had not taught her the skill. Not that Llew had anyone to write to in any case. The bedding was of the softest material she had ever touched, and it wasn¡¯t long before the soothing sounds and the motion of the rocking carriage lulled her into semi-consciousness. A shout startled her awake, and the carriage pulled up. ¡°How can we help you, officer?¡± Aris¡¯s gravelly voice floated back through the canvas to Llew. Her pulse quickened and muscles tensed, but she swallowed her nerves and the urge to leap out the back and disappear into the trees. For all she knew, they were surrounded. Keep calm, Llew. Keep calm. The silence that followed did little to settle her. ¡°Excuse me, sir,¡± Emylia¡¯s tense voice broke it. ¡°But may I ask what exactly it is that you are looking for?¡± ¡°A witch, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°A witch? Well, this is Miss Anyunca Orell, daughter of Lord and Lady Orell of Cheer. And I would ask that you cease looking at her in that way.¡± ¡°Sorry, ma¡¯am. The witch is a girl, about your charge¡¯s age. You wouldn¡¯t happen to have seen one, would you? She¡¯s probably naked, and likely dirty.¡± So, they¡¯d found the skirt and blouse. Llew guessed they probably expected her to dance around magic stones under a full moon, too. A witch! ¡°No, sir. We haven¡¯t seen anyone like that,¡± Aris answered. Llew closed her eyes in a silent prayer. Only a layer of canvas and the silence of her traveling companions separated her from a return trip to Cheer and the noose ¨C or worse. Then, without another word, the Farries were on their way at a ground-eating lope to spread the word of the witch escaping farther north. Llew let herself relax into the bedding again. But a gap in the canvas at the back of the carriage caught her eyes and, through it, she could see Jonas riding just behind the pack horses tied to the rear of the carriage. She didn¡¯t know if he could see through the hole into the dark interior of the carriage, but it sure looked like he was watching her. She swallowed, gazed up at the canvas roof, and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. No, he didn¡¯t know anything. He was just annoyed that she¡¯d stolen his knife. That was all. She would prove her worth to the group and he would forgive her. Everything would be fine. She hoped.
The road meandered in gentle curves, negotiating hilly terrain and all the while approximately parallel with the coastline, tracing the edge of the land. The travelers fell silent as fatigue from the day¡¯s ride set in. Hooves and wagon wheels were the only sounds when the road veered from the sea and into a corridor of beech forest, the trees striping the riders with bars of light and shadow. Fallen seeds littered the road and small rodents that had been taking advantage of this year¡¯s feast scurried into the undergrowth as carriage and riders passed. Llew clambered to the front and sat behind the other passengers, watching the passing landscape. The cool forest air was a relief after months of cooking daily in the heat of Cheer. She breathed the moist air deep into her lungs and the cool twilight gave her a sense of peace. Three men on horseback emerged from the trees ahead, stopping Cassidy and Alvaro in their tracks. Their demeanor and brandished knives and swords banished any tranquility. A rustle sounded behind. Llew poked her head around the side of the carriage to see four more men span the road to the rear of their party. More lawmen? ¡°Highwaymen,¡± said Aris, under his breath, as though answering her thought. ¡°Good for nothing no-hopers think they can take whatever they want whenever they want...¡± He kept muttering under his breath. He was right. They didn¡¯t look like any lawmen Llew had ever seen. The only thing uniform about these men was the layer of dust and mud caked on them. Seven men to their three. Big men, too. Llew doubted Aris was up to much these days ¨C he was a touch on the potty side and older than her father would be now. And, she doubted the ladies were expected to fight. Cassidy and Alvaro drew swords, prepared to engage the three men at the front, but that left Jonas to deal with the four at the back alone. ¡°Leave the carriage, and the women, and we¡¯ll let you live,¡± said one of the highwaymen. ¡°Have you met my boys?¡± Aris¡¯s quiet voice cut clear to the men at the front. ¡°I suggest you think twice before startin¡¯ something.¡± ¡°There are seven of us, old man...¡± Llew didn¡¯t like those odds, either. She slunk into the carriage, looked around for something useful, and then clambered over the other luxury items to the writing set and retrieved the letter opener. She might not even the odds, but she was worth something. She watched through the small hole at the back of the cart. Anya cried out, and Llew instinctively turned towards her. The stamping of hooves and the clash of steel on steel, the snorting of horses and the grunts and shouts of men filled the air all around the cart, and Anya climbed into the covered part of the carriage. Llew swung away to look out the back. All four of the riders had converged on Jonas and, for a brief moment, he seemed swamped and certain to fall. But, miraculously, he held his own and more. With a knife in each hand, he parried and struck back at every attack, his horse twisting and turning to keep him in the action and out of harm¡¯s way. His blades whirled with a speed and accuracy that looked unnatural to Llew, and his skill appeared almost magical. Who were these people she¡¯d got caught up with? The highwaymen kept pressing, though judging from the shocked and panicky expressions on their faces, they had expected no resistance, much less this deadly whirlwind. Still, they outnumbered Jonas four to one, and he surely must tire or make an error soon. Llew untied the back of the carriage and pulled back the canvas. Taking careful aim, she flung the letter opener at one rider as he was edging round behind Jonas. The handle struck him in the head and with an ¡°uh!¡± the rider fell, crashing into the dust and spooking his horse, which took fright and desperately tried to disentangle itself from the maelstrom, treading on its rider¡¯s slack limbs before galloping into the trees. The man¡¯s downfall came as a further shock to the others, one of whom looked wild-eyed at Llew. It was a fatal mistake. Jonas plunged a knife into him and before the other two highwaymen recovered their wits, he yanked his loaded crossbow from his saddle, leveling it at one of them. They clearly hadn¡¯t reckoned on putting their lives on the line for a few belongings. One threw his knife at Jonas, who leaned to one side, letting it pass harmlessly by. As he straightened in his saddle and took aim, the two riders turned and took off back up the road. ¡°Well, there¡¯s one more group of Aghacian bandits dispatched,¡± said Cassidy. ¡°You think they¡¯ll thank us?¡± Llew said nothing. She was still staring at the knife embedded in the frame of the cart just a few inches from her head. Llew picked up the letter opener from the road as Jonas claimed his knife from the fallen man. He had used knives from his vest, choosing to leave the bigger, ornate one in its holster. Llew helped him lift the body from the road and into the trees. She had to focus all her attention on not looking at the corpse that used to be a living, breathing man. Jonas seemed not to be bothered by it. When they went to move the one Llew had struck with the letter opener, she exclaimed, startled. ¡°He¡¯s still breathing!¡± ¡°You brained him good, though,¡± said Jonas. ¡°He¡¯ll have a killer headache when he wakes.¡± His lips curled in a lop-sided smile. Llew¡¯s lips twitched in an effort to suppress her own grin. She had made the angry man smile. They shifted the unconscious bandit from the road, then removed the tack from the lingering riderless horses, leaving it all by the side of the road and scattering all but one of the animals into the forest. One was judged suitable for Llew to ride once she had footwear and better tack. In the meantime, he was tethered to the rear of the carriage with the pack horses. ¡°Thanks for your help,¡± said Jonas. The gratitude was unexpected and Llew faltered in her attempt to clamber into the carriage. She shrugged. ¡°I told you I could earn my way.¡±
The sun lowered, drawing the deep blue of a cool, crisp evening with it. They pulled off the road and up a narrow path that led to a clearing. Aris and Llew disembarked from the carriage to help the horses navigate between the trees and steer the wheels around holes and large bumps. They unhitched and hobbled the horses. A creek trickled nearby and Llew had the idle thought that perhaps it was the same one at which they had refilled their canteens at lunch. She helped the boys scout for dry deadwood for the fire while Aris and the girls set about preparing to reheat stew for dinner. ¡°I wanted to apologize,¡± she said to Jonas, brushing the dirt left by her load of sticks and small branches from her clothing. ¡°About the knife¡ª¡±Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Llew smiled at him, thinking she must have made amends with her help against the highwaymen. Her smile dropped when his expression remained stony. He hadn¡¯t forgiven her. With one finger, and no change in expression, he beckoned her to follow him. He walked to their equipment lying close to the horses, and drew two swords. ¡°Woo! Here we go,¡± said Cassidy, dumping his load of wood and joining them. Jonas crossed the camp, absently swinging one sword, drawing curious looks from Anya and Emylia and a stern one from Aris. ¡°You sure that¡¯s necessary?¡± asked Alvaro, joining the break-away group. ¡°Just wanna see what he can do,¡± said Jonas. Fifty paces from camp, he turned and offered one sword to Llew. ¡°If I¡¯m ridin¡¯ with him, I gotta know he has my back, don¡¯t I?¡± He wiggled the handle at her when she didn¡¯t take it immediately, and she tentatively lifted it from his grasp. ¡°He did alright this afternoon,¡± said Alvaro. Jonas ignored him, taking his fighting stance. Llew raised her sword between them, fixing her eyes on his. She concentrated on not letting him see that the weight of the steel weapon was already tiring her hungry muscles. It was a little different to the dull wooden ones she was used to. He knocked her blade aside gently. He wasn¡¯t expecting too much from her. Well, she would do her best to prove him wrong. Concentrating on making it look good, she smacked his sword aside in reply. Guffaws issued from the cousins at the side-line. Jonas struck again, with more force but with plenty yet in reserve. Llew successfully parried and a wry smile crept across his lips. She smiled back and twisted her sword out from behind his, making a lunge for him. He stepped back, blocking her attack with his blade, and pushing back to over-balance her. She recovered, ducking out of the way and preparing for the next strike, but her foot landed on an unstable bit of ground and before she regained her balance, he struck her blade, twisted it and stepped in, pinning her against a tree with his body, an elbow holding her head in place, his sword abandoned and his knife at her throat. The knife. ¡°Hey! Jonas¡ª¡± Alvaro stepped up beside them but didn¡¯t make a move to separate them or finish his complaint. Right there, Llew knew Jonas only took orders from Aris. The rest of the group could totally accept her and she¡¯d still strike trouble if she didn¡¯t get on Aris¡¯s and Jonas¡¯s good side. She was confident Aris didn¡¯t have a problem with her ¨C he had pressed her to travel with them, after all. Face pinned against the tree, she peered at Jonas out of the corner of her eye. He was studying her, and she wondered if she had passed his test. ¡°Jonas¡ª¡± Alvaro said again. Llew held Jonas¡¯s gaze, trying not to let him scare her. At least, not letting the fear show. With a grunt, he pushed away, winding her. He turned and walked back to the camp. Llew watched him go while she rubbed her neck where his elbow had been. No real damage, just sore. ¡°Hey, sorry about that. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s got into him,¡± said Alvaro as Llew straightened her clothing. ¡°He¡¯s an ass.¡± Llew looked at Alvaro, eyebrows raised. Alvaro didn¡¯t seem the type to call people names, but there was the slightest curl to his top lip that suggested he didn¡¯t much like Jonas. ¡°Ease up, Al. It¡¯s a year ago today,¡± said Cassidy, stepping up beside them. ¡°Oh. Right.¡± Alvaro nodded. ¡°A year since what?¡± Llew asked. Cassidy cocked his head. ¡°Hmm, no.¡± He shook his head. ¡°You¡¯ll have to ask him.¡± He started walking back to the camp. ¡°But I¡¯ll warn you now, he doesn¡¯t like to talk about it.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t like to talk about much of anything,¡± Alvaro muttered, before moving to follow Cassidy. Llew walked back to camp a step behind him. ¡°We made good time today,¡± Aris said, scooping stew onto tin plates and handing the first to Anya, the second to Emylia. ¡°I had thought it might be dark by the time we made it here.¡± He sat back with his own plate, leaving the boys and Llew to serve themselves. ¡°How far to the next town?¡± asked Llew. ¡°We should make Orn tomorrow evening. It¡¯s small, but they have an inn.¡± ¡°With a bar,¡± said Cassidy, with a grin. ¡°Beer,¡± Alvaro added. ¡°Girls.¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to a nice warm bath,¡± said Emylia. ¡°Oh, Emy,¡± said Anya. ¡°We¡¯re meant to be roughing it.¡± ¡°We are roughing it, dear,¡± Emylia said, her voice syrupy sweet. ¡°Why, here we are about to spend a night in the open with nothing but canvas walls for privacy. But a young lady does not allow herself to smell like the animals with whom she travels.¡± Cassidy raised an arm and made a show of sniffing his armpit. Emylia waved a hand at him. ¡°You know I meant the horses.¡± ¡°Oh, the horses! I was checkin¡¯ I wasn¡¯t getting to stinking like Alvaro.¡± After dinner, Aris sat with Emylia, chatting quietly of old times. Llew wondered if they had been sweethearts in the past. There was something in the way they leaned into each other, conversing in hushed tones, their skin reflecting the camp fire¡¯s flickering orange. To Llew, it felt as though the group was a family and Aris and Emylia were the parents. It brought a smile to her lips. Alvaro and Cassidy spoke animatedly with Anya, who looked like a royal princess with her two pages as she sat perched on a fallen log, while the young men knelt below. ¡°Alvaro and Cassidy live near Rakun.¡± Jonas¡¯s voice cut into Llew¡¯s thoughts. He reclined against his saddle a couple of yards from her, hands clasped behind his head, ankles crossed, and his eyes apparently closed. She had thought him asleep. ¡°We¡¯re taking Anya to Rakun to meet her husband.¡± ¡°She hasn¡¯t met him before?¡± ¡°They write.¡± Llew watched the girl across the fire. Here she was, leaving her parents behind and traveling to another country, another land, to marry a man she had never met, when all Llew wanted was to have her parents back and to curl up in her mother¡¯s arms. She supposed that if they were still around, she might have wanted to get away from them by now, too. But it was hard to imagine. The boys were clearly reveling in Anya¡¯s giggles and delight. Alvaro waved Llew over, but she shook her head, content to observe and listen. She didn¡¯t feel as though she had much to add to their light-hearted comparisons of happy childhoods. Hers had been good while it lasted, but she didn¡¯t feel like steering the conversation down the path of the lost mother and missing father. After a while, Jonas stood up, and Llew watched him dig something from his saddlebag and disappear into the trees. Aris watched him go, and then resumed conversing with Emylia in muted tones, though his eyes kept returning to where Jonas had disappeared. Llew sat for a few moments more, then got up and began gathering the dishes from the evening¡¯s meal. She needed this group for this leg of her journey. If she didn¡¯t get things squared away with Jonas, she would forever be on her guard. Aris joined her by the fire as she collected the pot. ¡°Get Jonas to help you. He needs the distraction.¡± Llew nodded, glad of the opportunity to make herself useful again. She made her way through the trees, stepping over low ferns and looking for signs of his passing. She found him sitting with his back against a tree, facing the creek at its widest point where it appeared black and almost stagnant under a layer of tiny silver and gray leaves. By daylight, those same leaves had been fire red and gold. Here the soil was dark, damp and scattered with autumn detritus and the air was heavy with humidity. Jonas sharpened his big bone-handled knife, flicking a stone along the edge of the blade in deft sweeps. He held the knife up to inspect it and moonlight flashed on the silvery metal. A log lay on the ground before him, so Llew put the dishes down nearby and took a seat. He must have heard her approach through the leaves but didn¡¯t acknowledge her arrival, instead remaining focused on his task, only pausing briefly to put the stone down, pick up a small bottle and take a swig. He balanced the bottle on the ground and reclaimed the stone. Llew watched him a while. There was a sadness about his eyes as he slid the stone along the blade, then inspected the edge once more. Anger, too. But then, that emotion never seemed far from the surface in his case. Deciding he had ignored her long enough, she inquired, ¡°Want to talk about it?¡± ¡°No.¡± He swept the stone along the blade with greater force. Llew nodded. After a while, she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. The sound of her moving brought Jonas out of his reverie, and he looked at her blankly. She couldn¡¯t be sure, but his eyes seemed to glisten. ¡°Why are you still here?¡± he asked. ¡°Well, I thought our friendship had a bit of a rocky start and¡ª¡± ¡°We¡¯re not friends.¡± Llew stopped cold. She knew he didn¡¯t like her, but she thought they¡¯d made headway after the highwaymen. And even the sword fight hadn¡¯t gone so badly. Maybe he was just plain unfriendly. No wonder Alvaro didn¡¯t like him. ¡°Okay.¡± Llew stood and bent to gather the dishes again. ¡°Well, I hope you won¡¯t let that stop us working together because I plan to continue traveling with you as long as Aris will have me and¡ª¡± ¡°Stop.¡± Llew froze, still bent over, metal plates in the crook of an elbow and the handle of the pot in the other hand. ¡°Sit,¡± he said. Llew let go of the pot handle, returned the plates to the ground, and reclaimed her seat on the log. Maybe not entirely unfriendly, then. Either that, or he just enjoyed giving commands and seeing them obeyed. ¡°Here.¡± He picked up the bottle and held it out to her. She took it and threw back a mouthful. Her mouth felt like it was on fire. She coughed, sending a spray of liquid over the ground, a measure up her nose, and the rest down her throat. She wheezed and tried to catch her breath, only to cough and splutter more. All the while Jonas laughed. Her breathing under control at last, and a more manageable tickle at the back of her throat, she passed the bottle back to him. ¡°I guess I should¡¯ve told you to sip it slow,¡± he said. ¡°But that was worth it.¡± Llew coughed, looking at him over her hand as she pounded her chest with the other fist. ¡°I guess I should¡¯ve known it wasn¡¯t water.¡± They sat, suppressed laughter between them; Llew wasn¡¯t prepared to think it meant anything. He was still testing her. After taking another sip himself, Jonas held the bottle out to her again. She accepted it and took a second mouthful with more care than the first. It warmed her mouth, but she let it slip down her throat. Its warmth spread all the way down, radiating about her chest and settling in her stomach. She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d ever felt so aware of her internal organs. She passed the bottle back to Jonas, and he took another swig, his eyes not leaving her. Then he replaced the cork and sat the bottle next to him. ¡°What¡¯s your real name, Llew?¡± Llew¡¯s initial shock subsided to suspicion. What did he think he knew? ¡°What do you mean?¡± He laughed. ¡°You forget, I threatened you with a crossbow between your breasts. And you throw a letter opener like a girl.¡± Llew gaped. That had been a good throw. ¡°Make a habit of punching girls, do you?¡± ¡°I figured you didn¡¯t want Alvaro catchin¡¯ on.¡± He gave a slight smile. ¡°So, what is it? I mean, Lou¡¯s a fine boy¡¯s name, and it ain¡¯t bad for a girl, but I¡¯m doubtin¡¯ it¡¯s your full, or even your real, name.¡± Llew found herself smiling back. ¡°It¡¯s Llewella.¡± ¡°Llewella,¡± Jonas repeated. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty name.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± She nodded at the ground, reaching down to pick up a stick and draw shapes in the soil. Hearing someone say that name gave her chills. She hadn¡¯t heard it since... She thought she could remember her mother calling her Llewella. Oh, and Japod. The way he¡¯d said it sent a different kind of shiver through her. It annoyed her that Jonas could affect her so. In her experience, boys were nothing but trouble, even as friends, if Kynas was anything to judge by. She lifted her head. ¡°Okay, your turn.¡± Any surprise at her commanding tone was only shown by briefly raised eyebrows over the bottle as he took another swig. ¡°I want to know about that.¡± She nodded to the knife in his hand. He looked at her, his expression at first stern, then softening as he nodded, acknowledging her right to an exchange of information. ¡°This knife...¡± He paused, then took a deep breath, running his fingers along the side of the blade before holding it up, handle to tip, pressed between his index fingers. For the first time, Llew could really see the weapon and appreciate its beauty. The handle was intricately carved with a pattern, a beast ¨C a gryphon, Llew thought. The flawless blade was broader and longer than a dagger, and it too had fine details engraved in the metal. ¡°This knife is a family heirloom. Passed down through generations to protect my family from our enemies.¡± An ironic smile flickered across his features. ¡°Instead, it¡¯s taken the lives of everyone I hold dear.¡± ¡°You¡¯re an orphan, too!¡± Llew blurted before she had even thought if it was appropriate to sound so excited. Jonas nodded. ¡°Then why do you carry it with you? Why not bury, or destroy it?¡± Jonas shook his head. ¡°It can¡¯t be destroyed. It was forged with one purpose: to kill the unkillable. It ain¡¯t like other knives. It can¡¯t be melted down. And so long as it remains in my possession, no one can use it against those I care about again.¡± Llew nodded, studying the forest floor intensely. Now she understood the insult she had done him when she stole the weapon back in Cheer. But something still made her reckless. ¡°Unless someone takes it from you.¡± She risked a smile and a sideways glance at him. ¡°No one will take it. Never again.¡± Her smile left. There was nothing funny in the way he spoke. ¡°So who are these unkillables?¡± She was imagining some sort of thick-skinned creature, with a hide so tough normal steel would sooner bend than pierce it. Or maybe... ¡°Aenuks.¡± The word meant nothing to her and she frowned. He glanced over at her. ¡°The healers.¡± 6: I Wont Tell If You Dont Llew stared into the darkness of the forest and forced herself to start breathing again. ¡°Wh¡ª who?¡± She looked back at him, her face a mask of innocent curiosity. ¡°Aenuks,¡± he repeated. ¡°They¡¯re a race of folk from Turhmos. I¡¯m a Quaven soldier, and Turhmos and Quaver have been at war for centuries. Turhmos boosts their army using Aenuks. They can heal themselves from flesh wounds and as medics, well, a bunch of Aenuks can heal almost anythin¡¯.¡± ¡°Almost anything?¡± ¡°Except this.¡± He twisted the knife, sending a flash of moonlight along its blade. ¡°Wounds inflicted on an Aenuk with this blade heal at the same rate they would on any person. A fatal wound from this is a fatal wound for anyone.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Until a couple of days ago, she had always assumed she could die like anyone else, despite her ability to heal. A day or two of thinking otherwise shouldn¡¯t have made it so hard to accept once more. But it did. She wanted to get up and run away from the knife that could kill her and her body involuntarily withdrew from it. She wrapped her arms around her middle. Glancing at her, Jonas held the small bottle out again. She sipped it and sat a moment, wondering if he¡¯d told her about the knife because he knew what she was. He¡¯d already told her he knew she was a girl. Was this his way of telling her he knew what she could do, too? But if he knew she was able to heal, was one of these Aenuks, then surely he would have killed her by now, since that seemed to be what he did to them. ¡°You asked.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You wanted to know about the knife. What did you expect I did with it? Use it to make daisy chains? It¡¯s a knife. Its purpose is to kill. And the Aenuks I kill are bad folk.¡± Yes, she was a bad person. She¡¯d killed a man less than a week ago and left a pile of dead animals on the gallows where she¡¯d hung. Everywhere she went, she had the potential to leave a trail of destruction. She was a bad person. Or was this all part of some elaborate test that he¡¯d begun when he challenged her to a duel? Was he gaging her reaction to see if she was one of these Aenuks and, if so, had she reacted appropriately? ¡°Did I pass?¡± He looked at her a moment before bursting out laughing, a hearty guffaw that had him clutching his belly. Llew flushed. ¡°You were testing me, weren¡¯t you, before, with the swords?¡± Jonas took a moment to compose himself and Llew took another sip from his bottle as he constructed an answer. ¡°I like to know who I¡¯m fightin¡¯ with, is all.¡± She handed the bottle back. ¡°So, how did I do?¡± He threw back another mouthful of the potent liquid. ¡°You did alright,¡± he said. He slid the knife back into its holster, retrieved the cork from the ground beside him, and pressed it back into the bottle. Then he pushed himself to his feet and offered a hand to Llew. ¡°We should get these dishes rinsed before we¡¯re missed.¡± Llew accepted his help to stand, then gathered up the small pile of plates, utensils, and the pot. They crouched by the edge of the creek, rubbing away the thin layer of stew and breadcrumbs with fine silt before rinsing it away in the slow-moving water. They remained crouching, staring into the water for a few moments after their task was complete. Llew breathed in the damp air. It mingled with the musky smell of her companion, and an unfamiliar sensation radiated through her. She looked at him out the corner of her eye, only to have her eyes settle on the knives filling his vest, then trailing down to the knife in its sheath by his thigh. Feeling the muscles in her legs tiring, Llew stood up, and her head swirled. She took a step to balance herself, slapping a foot into the shallow water¡¯s edge. She would have fallen in if Jonas hadn¡¯t grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She collapsed into him, laughing. He swayed a little, too, and his arms wrapped about her in a casual embrace. ¡°What was that stuff?¡± Jonas didn¡¯t reply. He inhaled deeply, sampling the scent of her hair. His closeness sent shivers down her spine. He let his head rest on her shoulder, then his arms clasped her tightly ¨C one hand at the back of her neck. He shook once, twice, and she thought she heard a muffled sob. A year ago... A year since what? ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Jonas pushed away from her and turned to the creek. Llew faced Alvaro. ¡°We were just doing the dishes.¡± ¡°Ah-huh.¡± ¡°Just go back to camp,¡± said Jonas, his voice betraying only the slightest tremor. ¡°We¡¯ll be there soon.¡± ¡°What are you two doing?¡± Alvaro kept coming on. ¡°Go back, Al.¡± If Jonas had used that tone on her, Llew would have turned on the spot, run back to camp and not looked back. Alvaro stopped. ¡°I just came to let you know we¡¯re makin¡¯ ready for bed. Aris wants Llew on first watch.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be there soon.¡± Alvaro stood a moment longer, glancing from one to the other; then he nodded and turned back to camp. Jonas studied the small bottle. ¡°Hot damn, what is this stuff?¡± ¡°Not whisky, then?¡± ¡°Thought it was. Picked it up in Cheer.¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re a backwards people, all isolated-like up this way.¡± Llew smiled. ¡°I won¡¯t tell if you don¡¯t.¡± He looked at her. ¡°I¡¯m just not ready,¡± she said. She didn¡¯t know how they would take her having lied to them, but if she could prove herself first then maybe they would be more understanding, more forgiving. And she didn¡¯t want them all looking at her the way men looked at girls. So far, Jonas seemed to have more on his mind than ogling her. But would Cassidy and Alvaro feel the same way? Jonas stooped to collect the pot and cutlery and handed it to her, then gathered up the plates and started walking back to camp. Llew shrugged and followed.
Llew¡¯s fear that she might fall asleep while on watch soon disappeared. Scuffles from unknown forest wildlife and the deceptively distant, chilling call of lapwings kept her nerves on edge and her wits sharp. Just before she was due to wake Alvaro, a cramp began in her belly. Oh, hell, no. She peered up at what she could see of the moon and, sure enough, it was at about the same phase as last time. Typical that her body should decide to begin a regular cycle just when she needed it to continue with its usual haphazard ways. How was she going to deal with feminine issues while traveling as a boy, sharing close quarters with men? Her first requirement was to prevent her clothing from getting stained. As soon as she¡¯d woken Alvaro and he¡¯d disappeared amongst the trees, Llew fished around in a communal pack, her hand emerging with a small, tightly woven sack of apples. Well, it wasn¡¯t perfect, but it would do. She began taking apples from the sack and shoving them into the pack, loose. It may not have been rational, but she always felt dirty when her body did this to her so, instead of climbing into the spare bedding provided for her, she made her way through the trees, to the creek, the now empty sack at her side. A few strides in, the creek bed dipped sharply, allowing her to wade waist deep. She crouched down and rubbed herself all over, feeling the grime of a long day lift away, then stood straight, the water streaming from her as she returned to shore. ¡°Llew!¡± Llew shrieked and smacked her hands over her mouth, hardly believing she¡¯d let such a noise escape her lips. Alvaro stood at the edge of a copse of trees, his eyes wide and staring. Llew dashed the last few paces, scooped up her clothes and pressed them in front of her. She didn¡¯t know what to say: so she said nothing. ¡°Llew,¡± Alvaro said in a loud whisper. ¡°You¡¯re a¡­ You¡¯re a girl.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a girl.¡± Such had been her standard comeback over the years; she didn¡¯t even think before she said it. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just¡ª¡± She tried to wave him away. ¡°You¡¯re bleeding.¡± Llew clamped her thighs together and felt her cheeks flush. The snap of a twig sounded over the flowing water, and Jonas emerged, looking from Llew to Alvaro. Her cheeks grew hotter. Just what she needed. Jonas looked back at her, taking in her awkward pose.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Al, go watch someplace else.¡± ¡°But¡ª Um... Okay.¡± Alvaro sounded disappointed and relieved all at once, but he turned and disappeared among the trees. ¡°You¡ª¡± Jonas took a step toward Llew and then stopped. ¡°Wait,¡± he said, holding up a hand and turning back into the trees. Left alone, Llew breathed a sigh of relief. She doubted things could get any worse, but at least someone was on her side, as unlikely an ally as Jonas might seem. He was back in almost no time with a handful of soft bandages. Without a word, he left her to it and returned to camp. Cleansed, dressed, and altogether feeling pretty good given the circumstances, Llew headed for her bed. She stopped short when Alvaro called out to her in a hushed voice. He stepped out from behind a tree. ¡°You¡¯re beautiful, Llew.¡± His doe-eyes shone, and his lips were curled in an awestruck smile. And then he floundered. ¡°I mean, apart from¡ª¡± He waved his hands down low. Well, no, blood trickling down a girl¡¯s thigh wasn¡¯t the most attractive look. ¡°Al, don¡¯t.¡± Alvaro froze. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. ¡°You¡¯re real pretty.¡± This time, the smile was apologetic. Llew gave him a tight-lipped smile and moved past him to her bed, wondering just how many naked women he¡¯d seen in his life.
Breakfast was rolled oats boiled in water, spiced with cinnamon and allspice, all prepared by Anya and Emylia while the others tidied away their camp and prepared the horses for the day¡¯s journey. Every time Llew looked up from her breakfast or travel preparations, she caught Alvaro watching her. He never looked away when she saw him, just smiled. She stopped smiling in return, and shook her head at him to try to discourage him. If Aris knew she was a girl, he might not let her continue with them. They were meant to be a protective escort for Anya, taking her to meet her future husband, Lord Tovias, the Earl of Rakun and its surrounding areas. Another girl in the group likely didn¡¯t feature in Aris¡¯s plans. He needed good, strong men who could fight and, Llew suspected, one letter opener to the side of a man¡¯s head did not provide the kind of conclusive evidence Aris would expect. Llew sat in the cart, mostly ignoring the rocking and swaying as it trundled along the road. She was looking forward to riding the horse they¡¯d acquired from the highwaymen. She wondered if she should have moved to the front of the carriage to sit on the cushioned seat behind Aris, Emylia and Anya each time they tackled a slope and the wheels of the carriage found all the corrugations left by historic rain showers. But she was enjoying her perch at the back: leaning against the canvas wall, back-flap hooked up out of the way, and with her leg slung over the tailgate, ostensibly keeping an eye on the packhorses. She watched the road disappear behind them. Cheer was falling farther and farther behind with each bounce, and she could feel the boy-girl she had been slipping away with it. No longer did she have to be the pickpocket trying to survive as life would allow. She had the opportunity to earn her way legitimately, and go on to... well, to do anything. When this journey was over, she would be in a new land, with new friends and a world of options open ahead of her. There were schools in Phyos, or so she had heard, and cities that could swallow Cheer whole and still have room for three more. Opportunity. Challenge. Rewards to be reaped. Jonas looked back at her now and then, and she would smile at him. He rarely smiled back, or held her gaze, and most of the time he looked as though he might be sleeping under that hat. But the animosity from their initial interactions seemed to have dissipated some.
By the time the group entered Orn, the sun was dipping low. Orn: Population 1,500, the sign at the outskirts said. It was small and dusty, much like Cheer, though the smell of the sea was less pungent this far inland. By this part of the day the streets were mostly empty, and Llew breathed in the aromas of meats, breads, and herbs and spices, some familiar, some strange, from meals in preparation. Her mouth watered and her stomach grumbled. She looked up at the busy arms of the town¡¯s telegraph semaphore as the tower sent a message down the line. Cheer had its own towers, but Llew had rarely seen them at work, and briefly wondered what people might say to each other over such long distances. Likely nothing to concern her. Aris seemed interested, though. He led them to an inn and Alvaro and Cassidy took charge of the horses, unburdening the pack animals and settling them all into the stable. The rest of the group followed Aris inside. The main entrance opened into a common area with a few free-standing wooden tables and benches, and several booths along the walls. To the right of the door was the bar. To the left, stairs climbed to a balcony off which were the guest rooms. The overall appearance, though dull in the limited light, was tidy and clean. Llew hadn¡¯t known exactly what she was expecting, but her recollection of helping her father out of the bar in Cheer painted quite a different picture of the inside of such an establishment. She reminded herself that it was still early. The few patrons sitting at one table gave the newcomers a cursory glance and resumed their conversations and drinking. The innkeeper kept busy drying a tankard as Aris approached. Aris booked three rooms and ordered a warm bath to be ready in each. ¡°Dalea!¡± the innkeeper called, and a voluptuous woman appeared from a door at the other end of the bar. ¡°Can you and the girls arrange three bathtubs for our guests?¡± The woman nodded and withdrew. They brought in what belongings they needed, while the rest was secured in a large cupboard attached to the stable. Two girls, who Llew guessed were the innkeeper¡¯s daughters, had placed a large tub in the center of the room Llew was to share with the boys, and were filling it with steaming water from buckets they carried into the room. Cassidy scooted across to start a conversation with one girl, deftly easing the weight of the bucket from her grasp. Llew shared an amused look with Alvaro and Jonas as the girl started to giggle at whatever Cassidy had said to her quietly ¨C too quietly for them to hear. Under a disapproving gaze from the girl¡¯s mother and a not entirely damning look from the other sister, Cassidy poured the steaming contents of the bucket into the tub and handed the bucket back to the girl to refill. While she was out of the room, he stood beside his friends, rocking back and forth on his toes with a distinctly smug air. Bath filled; the girl lingered at the doorway before her sister dragged her away. Cassidy sauntered back to the others, but before he could gloat over his impending conquest, Jonas and Alvaro announced that they were going down to the bar, and left the room. ¡°Don¡¯t take too long. I don¡¯t want a cold bath,¡± Cassidy said with a smirk, patting Llew on the shoulder before following the other two. ¡°But I¡¯m sure looking forward to nursing a glass of ale.¡± Llew grinned as he ¡®whooped¡¯ his way down the stairs, taking several at a time. And then she was alone. She locked the door and turned to the steaming tub. She wished she could enjoy the hot bath before her, but, thanks to her body¡¯s rhythms, it was not a luxury she could afford. She doubted those who came after her would appreciate it if she did. Still, she wasn¡¯t going to let the chance to wash pass her by. She kneeled by the tub, shimmied out of her shirt, and sponged herself down with the cloth the girls had provided. Even without submerging herself in it, Llew luxuriated at the touch of the hot water. She hadn¡¯t had a hot bath in some six years. Perhaps on Phyos she would find, or create a job that would provide enough income to buy her own home ¨C a real house ¨C with a well and a fireplace to heat the water. Perhaps. She had to get there first. Clean, dry, and clothed, she descended to the bar where the boys sat, each cradling a tankard of ale. ¡°You spruce up nice,¡± Alvaro blurted out. ¡°Better watch out or someone might mistake you for a girl.¡± ¡°Watch yourself.¡± Llew glared at him. ¡°I think you better have next bath, Al,¡± said Jonas. ¡°Maybe you can sweat out some o¡¯ that ale.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not wrong, you know.¡± Cassidy peered at Llew as his cousin headed up to their room. ¡°When I was your age, I was shavin¡¯.¡± ¡°Ease off him, Cass. He¡¯s still growin¡¯.¡± Llew gave Jonas a grateful smile, then turned away. How keen would he be to stand by her if he found out what else she was? ¡°I was just sayin¡¯,¡± Cassidy raised a hand in supplication. ¡°You¡¯ve got mighty smooth skin, is all.¡± Aris joined them, and Anya and Emylia came down soon after. Cassidy loped up the stairs as soon as Alvaro reappeared. After each of them had washed up, they enjoyed a meal of boiled beef, potatoes, and fresh salad greens before making their way to their beds. Llew felt as though she was living a life of luxury when she climbed into a soft bed with warm blankets. Cassidy was beginning the night in another bed, but Jonas and Alvaro¡¯s slow breathing soon lulled her to sleep, and she only woke briefly when Cassidy came into the room during the night. The following morning, Aris sent Jonas with Llew to get decent tack for her horse. The highwayman¡¯s gear would have rubbed the poor animal raw if she¡¯d ridden the length of the country on it. On the way to the tack shop, they stopped in at a tailor¡¯s for Llew to buy a new shirt, jacket, and trousers that fit, along with the finest boots that had ever graced her feet, with money Aris had given Jonas for the purpose. Aris had called it an advance on her fee for her ¨C his ¨C part in the job of getting Anya safely to Rakun on Phyos. Llew¡¯s eyes had boggled as he divvied the money out to Jonas. If it was only an advance, and not the whole fee, she wouldn¡¯t have to rush to find work in Phyos. How much was the man carrying? Instinctively her fingers had tingled at the prospect of a fat wallet, but she¡¯d shoved her hands into her pockets. She would earn her money honestly from now on. Later, strolling down the street, carrying her parcel, Llew realized Jonas was not keeping pace with her and turned round to look for him. He stood studying something in a store window. Llew walked back to join him at the dressmakers. ¡°Looking for something for yourself?¡± she gibed. He turned a sour look on her, then his expression settled into something she hadn¡¯t seen on him before ¨C a kind of gentle consideration. ¡°You ever miss wearin¡¯ ¡¯em?¡± He nodded to the dresses in the window. ¡°I never did wear ¡¯em.¡± She didn¡¯t figure the one she¡¯d been hanged in counted. ¡°Don¡¯t feel sorry for me. Pants are more practical, anyway. Come on.¡± Pants were a damn sight harder for someone else to get off, at least. ¡°I think the store up here might sell hooks. Maybe I¡¯ll catch us dinner one night.¡± She started walking away. ¡°A better view, too.¡± ¡°What?¡± She turned, quite certain she knew what he¡¯d meant, but feeling a need for clarification. Plus, the comment made her very conscious of her cheeks ¨C and not those on her face. They clenched. ¡°Trousers. They¡ª¡± he started. Llew blinked a few times. It was both amusing and astonishing to see Jonas, usually so confident, flustered. ¡°I was just sayin¡¯ they look nice. Let¡¯s go.¡± He strode past her. She caught up with him, and they walked together in silence. Llew wasn¡¯t sure how she felt about Jonas admiring her arse. True, she had assessed him in kind that first day, but that was different. Anya had insisted Llew purchase a fishing hook should she get the opportunity to do so, so the Orn General Store had been added to their list of destinations. Once her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the store, she scoured the shelves for the collection of fishing gear and set about sorting through it. Jonas gave every impression of casually inspecting items without showing any real interest in any of it, all the while keeping himself just a step or two away from Llew. ¡°I¡¯d like to see you in one.¡± His breath tickled the hairs on the back of her neck and Llew swallowed, as though she¡¯d been caught once more with his knife in her grasp. Her breathing and heart rate quickened. He was far too good at sneaking up on people. Recovering, she pinched her chosen hook between her fingers, but stopped short of turning from the shelf. ¡°Think you¡¯d look pretty,¡± he continued. Llew froze. The storekeeper watched them suspiciously. Jonas slipped a hand round beside her, brushing her ribs and sending a jolt through her, and placed the coin she needed to pay for the hook on the shelf. Then, as silently as he had come up behind her, he moved away and left the store. Heart pounding, she took the hook and the coin to the counter to pay before following Jonas out. As soon as Llew emerged squinting into the daylight, Jonas stepped onto the road, heading for the livery stable. ¡°What was that?¡± Llew asked when she caught up to him. ¡°What was what?¡± Llew scowled at his back. She grabbed his arm, turning him to face her. There was the smallest of smiles on his lips. Thought it was funny, did he? ¡°Don¡¯t play innocent with me. I know innocent, and you ain¡¯t it. You were flirting with me.¡± ¡°I¡¯s just playin¡¯, is all.¡± He shrugged her off and continued walking, his hands clasped behind his back. The ¡®V¡¯ drew Llewella¡¯s eye down, and it struck her how easy it was to notice the nice fit of his trousers. She recalled noticing the same when she had first seen the knife at his side. Her eyes moved to the weapon, and she admonished herself for her thoughts. This man had the means to kill her and, by his account, would have thought nothing of doing so if they¡¯d met under different circumstances. In fact, he probably would have done it when they first met, had he known what she was. But he didn¡¯t know. And she would be long gone before he found out. 7: Surprise my Surprise, everybody, I¡¯m a girlSorry I didn¡¯t tell you soonerUnauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. girls should girl Justwater dare What did he know? she been 8: Polite Company ¡°Now, I need bait.¡± Hook in hand, Llew flicked the grass with her fingers to see if she could stir anything to life. Tasked with catching a fresh dinner, she was determined to impress. ¡°Like what?¡± Jonas asked, crouching beside her. Alvaro followed him down on her other side. ¡°Like...¡± Llew said, looking about. ¡°That.¡± She pointed at finely flickering grass blades where she had just caught a glimpse of a cricket going into hiding. Jonas squinted to see what she was pointing at. The cricket leaped from its cover, disappearing into another clump of the yellow native grass. The grass shuddered and Jonas flung out his hand. ¡°Like...¡± He opened his fist, clutching the creature¡¯s powerful hind legs between the knuckles of two fingers. ¡°This?¡± Llew grinned at him. ¡°That¡¯s spittin¡¯ distance to cheatin¡¯, that is,¡± said Alvaro. Jonas raised an eyebrow dismissively at him. Llew carefully took the cricket and grimaced while slicing the insect¡¯s head off with the hook. It wasn¡¯t her favourite part of fishing, but it was necessary ¨C she¡¯d rather they died from a quick decapitation than writhed around with a hook through them, no matter how much more appealing that might be to the fish. ¡°Usually, catching the bait is as much a challenge as catching dinner,¡± she said, threading the hook through the fleshy abdomen. ¡°There were a few hungry nights I could have done with you around.¡± The water downstream from the swimming hole filled the air with a babble loud enough to drown out the loose stones shifting under their feet and to cover their approach from over-sensitive fish Llew hoped had returned since their earlier swim. She stepped up to the water¡¯s edge, let out her horsehair line, and set about her usual performance of teasing the fish with light flicks of her bait on the surface. She sensed Jonas step up close behind her left shoulder. He blocked what breeze there was, and the warmth emanating from him gave her a heady feeling not unlike that provided by his small bottle of liquor. Alvaro placed himself by Llew¡¯s right shoulder. He started to say something but, with a raised hand, Llew demanded silence of them both as they waited for the fish to grow brave enough to investigate the insect touching down on the water¡¯s surface. Little more than an hour later, Llew had caught four sizable fish, which the three of them had scaled and gutted, releasing the entrails into the water to be washed away to feed more fish downstream. ¡°So, why were you leaving Cheer?¡± Aris asked, tucking into the now boiled fish. Llew wished they had a skillet and a little oil, but, even boiled, the fish was a welcome change. ¡°My... friend accused me of murdering his boss. I figured it¡¯d only be a matter of time before the law tracked me down and hung me for it.¡± Less than an hour, but they didn¡¯t need to know that. ¡°I didn¡¯t do it.¡± She eye-balled each of them. Anya nodded. She might not have lived on the streets, but she would have known something about the ways of the law in Cheer. If someone of her standing had been accused, there would have been a trial. Lucky for Llew, it seemed that in her excitement about her impending trip, the news of the hanging of the two young thieves had skipped Anya¡¯s notice. She watched the other girl carefully for signs of ringing bells, but it seemed Anya had remained sheltered from such events. ¡°So, you cut your hair and left your hometown, that it?¡± Aris was savvy. He knew Llew¡¯s one-of-the-boys act wasn¡¯t new. ¡°My pa didn¡¯t like me as a girl. Said I reminded him too much of my ma.¡± She sensed everyone¡¯s mood change. She supposed it was sad for her pa to feel that way, but she had little time for his feelings anymore. ¡°And by the time he went missing, I already knew what happened to girls on the street. I didn¡¯t want that, so I stayed as a boy. I hardly knew different by then, anyway.¡± Aris nodded, then his eyes narrowed. ¡°Didn¡¯t happen to know anything about that witch we were questioned over just out of Cheer, did you?¡± Llew felt her insides constrict, and she concentrated very hard on not letting it show. She shook her head as assertively as she could, which probably just made her look as guilty as she was trying not to appear. Aris¡¯s gaze lingered long enough that she nearly peed herself, but he said no more on the subject and soon returned his attention to his fish. He congratulated her on the catch. She tried not to beam too broadly ¨C just enough for the appreciation of the fish. Watch duty was as unpleasant as it had been the first night. Unfamiliar animals prowled the forest floor, and she now had the added fear that they were surrounded by Aghacian natives; the occasional scuffle that sounded human-sized did not help this. Again, the air lost all heat soon after sun-down, and, even in her jacket, Llew spent most of her awake time shivering and she didn¡¯t look forward to trying to return to sleep. The task of rousing Cassidy without waking anyone else wasn¡¯t easy, but she managed it eventually and headed for her own bedroll. Shivering in the chill night air, she stopped before the sleeping Jonas and recalled snuggling in the arms of Kynas on cold winter evenings. They had been unsettling times. Being warm should have allowed her to relax, but being so close to Kynas and his ever-groping hands did not a pleasant night¡¯s sleep make. While she had traded the skin-crawling for the cold in Kynas¡¯s case, she was seriously considering otherwise this time. Besides, Jonas was at least nice to look at. Maybe the rest wouldn¡¯t be bad, either. Of course, he would expect something in return. That was the nature of things. You traded what you had for what they had, and he had warmth. Technically, they were sharing heat, but Kynas had always made it clear that he gave more than she did and therefore the deficit ran in his favour. In Jonas¡¯s case, maybe it would help with the whole matter of not putting a knife in her if the truth about what she was came out, too. Maybe. She shrugged off her jacket, placed it on the ground nearby and tugged off her shoes, hopping about in an effort to remain balanced on one foot on the frosty damp ground. She knelt before him and peeled back his bedroll. He clung to the tightly woven wool, but with a little pressure Llew had him sleepily making room for her. Some part of her wondered if he knew it was her or if, in the fog of sleep, he was imagining his wife joining him. She didn¡¯t dwell on it long; she¡¯d been up against her mother¡¯s ghost almost her entire life and lost. Anyway, this was just about getting a comfortable night¡¯s sleep. That was all. Jonas wore only his shirt and long-johns, and when Llew pressed back into his chest she was rewarded with immediate heat radiating down the length of her spine and permeating through her body. Relaxing, she settled herself in closer, fitting her rump into the fold of his hips. His arm drooped lazily over her, and he gave an unconscious welcoming hug and relaxed again, the steady pulse of his breathing interrupted by one contented sigh. As was expected in these situations, Llew brought her hand up behind her, found a gap between long-john buttons and slid her fingers inside, but as she touched the coarse hair the arm that was over her drew back and a strong hand gripped her wrist. He withdrew her hand and, linking his fingers with hers, resumed his casual embrace so that, instead of pleasuring him, she found herself captive to a warm cuddle. Llew was confused. He was a man; she was a girl; and they were beside one another. Usually, that meant groping and nakedness. Was there something wrong with him? He shuffled back to remove the growing pressure against her lower back. Nothing physically wrong with him, then. Pondering the quirks of men, Llew fell into a deep, pleasantly warm slumber.
The morning stirrings of the rest of the camp woke Llew. Shifting in her cocoon, Jonas¡¯s arm squeezed her tight. ¡°Stay,¡± he breathed into her hair. She was happy to oblige. A faint glow was the only hint that the sun was due to make any sort of appearance, and the night¡¯s chill prevailed. Anya, wandering by with the pot to collect water from the river, smiled at the two of them. Returning from his watch post, Alvaro stopped when he saw them, but he gave no smile. Nor did Aris, who showed his dislike by generally keeping his eyes averted; quick glances let them know they hadn¡¯t escaped his notice, though. Emylia¡¯s sensibilities did not consider an unwed girl and young man sharing a bed proper, and her disapproving looks didn¡¯t hide this. Cassidy alone didn¡¯t even appear to have seen them, and his concern focused, instead, on the slow progress of breakfast and the early rising after a too short night of broken sleep. Llew luxuriated in the shared warmth, but she couldn¡¯t stay long. For one thing, the party had to get on the road and make the most of the cooler morning air before the heat of the day kicked in; for another, she didn¡¯t want to be the cause of disquiet within the group. Reluctantly, she extricated herself from Jonas¡¯s arm and slid from the warmth of his bedroll to start pulling her shoes back on. He watched her with the hint of a smile. ¡°Brr.¡± ¡°Well, get up and moving, then,¡± she said as she shivered under the touch of her cold jacket. It would warm soon, but that was little consolation in the moment. ¡°What happened to your rigorous military training? Aren¡¯t you supposed to be used to early mornings?¡± ¡°Sure I am. But I¡¯m on holiday.¡± ¡°Holiday?¡± She raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°You look cute when you do that.¡± She scowled at him. He grinned. Alvaro, walking past, muttered something under his breath. Llew stooped, collected up Jonas¡¯s jacket, and threw it at the prone figure.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Get up,¡± she said, then rolled up her own bedroll and went to help Cassidy with the horses¡¯ morning rations and with fitting their saddles. As Llew passed him, Aris stood up from tending the fire and strode back to Jonas, who was untangling himself from his bedding. No matter how much she strained, though, she couldn¡¯t hear their words. Whatever was being said, Aris didn¡¯t look happy. His voice rose enough so they all knew Jonas was being reprimanded, but his words still weren¡¯t clear to anyone not standing right in front of him. Jonas looked like a kicked puppy by the time Aris was finished. Llew watched Aris return to the fire and restrained herself from glaring at him when he looked up at her. His expression wasn¡¯t clear. She still felt like she¡¯d done something wrong. She supposed she had. Girls in polite company did not share their bed with young men, and despite their need to sleep outdoors, she supposed she was in polite company. Breakfast was quiet, with no one prepared to risk eye-contact with Aris or Jonas. Most of the group were civilians, and it was as though the experienced and highly trained Aris and Jonas were the backbone, providing a structure for the rest of them to work from. To feel that support crumble was unsettling. Llew kept her horse between her and Jonas while they tightened girth straps and tied saddlebags and bedrolls, but as soon as Aris was involved with getting the carriage horses hitched, she stooped under the golden neck to talk. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I caused you trouble with Aris,¡± she said. ¡°It weren¡¯t your fault.¡± He didn¡¯t look at her, instead continuing to tie his bedroll in place. ¡°But if I hadn¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°I said don¡¯t, Llew.¡± Llew wanted to punch something. She had finally met a man who didn¡¯t make her cringe when he looked at or touched her and, for some reason known only to him and Aris, he was supposed to do neither. She turned, fists balled, and nearly walked into the shoulder of her horse. The heat of humiliation mixed with her frustration and she raised a fist but caught herself and instead ran her knuckles up and down the horse¡¯s neck. His head extended and his top lip quivered, and she calmed. ¡°Aris would rather Llew rode up front with me,¡± Alvaro said as they were taking their places on the road, ready to head out. Behind him, Cassidy nodded and gave Llew and Jonas an apologetic shrug. Jonas nodded too and flicked his eyes from Llew to the front of the carriage, telling her to go. Her shoulders slumped, but she reluctantly led her horse to the front. The clop of the horses¡¯ hooves, the jingling of tack and the carriage¡¯s creaks and groans dominated the morning ride. Llew didn¡¯t know what to say to Alvaro. He turned to her several times, even opened his mouth and drew breath as though about to speak, but nothing was forthcoming. Anya pointed out the natural beauty of the passing landscape to those in the carriage, but otherwise even her usual carefree banter was kept in check. Aris¡¯s mood affected everyone. ¡°You don¡¯t have any brothers or sisters?¡± Alvaro finally found his voice. Llew shook her head, and Alvaro fell silent for a few minutes. ¡°I have a sister,¡± he continued. ¡°But she¡¯s a lot younger, nearly thirteen.¡± He turned a knowing smile on Llew ¨C she¡¯d know what it was like to be a girl going into her teen years. She did. But she supposed it wouldn¡¯t be too bad having a family to go through it with. Finding yourself alone at eleven was something she wouldn¡¯t wish on any girl. ¡°Cassidy and I grew up like brothers. When he and his mother came to stay in Kas, anyway.¡± ¡°Where was his pa?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know. Never had one, as far as I know.¡± ¡°Everyone has a pa.¡± Alvaro coloured and then rallied. ¡°I guess his ma got cold one evening...¡± ¡°Nothing happened, Al.¡± She didn¡¯t look at him. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean¡ª It¡¯s just¡ª Not him, Llew. Just¡ª Don¡¯t do that to yourself.¡± Llew frowned at him. ¡°He can¡¯t love you like¡ª¡± ¡°You could?¡± Alvaro bit back whatever he had been going to say. ¡°Just don¡¯t give your heart to him.¡± Llew blinked at him. Somewhere in there, she got the feeling he was asking her to like him instead, but he hadn¡¯t said it. It didn¡¯t matter, anyway. ¡°It¡¯s my own heart, Al. I plan to keep it to myself.¡± Didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t play on the attraction Jonas seemed to have for her. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t come to it, but if things went badly, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to have an ally as powerful and dangerous as Jonas. And his knife. Muscles in her back contracted at the thought of that knife travelling behind her. Perhaps after lunch she would suggest she and Alvaro took up the rear. It rained persistently for the next few days, making the journey less pleasant. Whether she rode alongside Alvaro, Cassidy or Jonas, they talked little, just kept their heads down, letting the rain pour from the brims of their hats. Anya and Emylia took up almost permanent residence under the canopy of the carriage. Llew carried out her tasks like the men, catching fish when possible, to break the monotony of their road meals. They stayed in inns whenever their day¡¯s travel brought them to a township for the evening, and Llew now slept with the ladies. On the road she didn¡¯t return to Jonas¡¯s bedroll, despite the growing cold of the autumn evenings, especially after a day being soaked by rain. They rode into Stelt ¨C Population: 1,550 ¨C just before dinnertime. The sun was already behind the Aghacian mountains, though its rays would linger another hour. To make the stop, they had to veer from the main road and cross a bridge not much wider than the carriage. It was the only way into the town, and it made the sojourn feel like even more of a hindrance to their progress. All the other towns had simply been pauses. Still, Llew would much rather take the time to head into the town than sleep outside again. She pondered on that and concluded that she was getting soft. Entering the saloon, Llew felt as though she had been there before. Like the inns from previous nights, it was predominantly wooden, with fittings supported by heavy steel plates and bolts; it housed a few tables and chairs, and several patrons. A couple of girls wearing little more than under garments fawned over whoever was winning a game of cards at a corner table, and a few lone drinkers were scattered about other tables. One man slouched over his ale, alone in a corner. Another observed the newcomers with brief curiosity before returning his attention to his drink. One man sat at the bar cradling a snifter of whisky, as many a man had done at the saloons, inns and bars they had previously visited. Only this man seemed more interested in the new arrivals than any before him. He was dark, with most of his features hidden behind a scraggly beard and shoulder-length hair. His light brown eyes were surprisingly pretty under long eyelashes. He continued to watch them as they stood at the bar while Aris negotiated their rooms. When the rooms were booked and the group was turning to head up the stairs, Cassidy approached the man. Llew looked to Aris for his reaction, but he seemed satisfied that the blond young man knew what he was doing. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be rude, mister, but may I ask what¡¯s caught your interest?¡± ¡°I was just noticing your friend there.¡± The man inclined his head toward Jonas. Cassidy followed the man¡¯s gaze. ¡°I don¡¯t know why. He¡¯s not much to look at, and I don¡¯t think he would reciprocate your interest.¡± He turned back to the bearded man, his piercing blue eyes warning that the man should lose interest. Quickly. The man didn¡¯t laugh, but a few whiskers at the corner of his mouth lifted as he appraised Jonas, who stared back with an unreadable expression. The man pulled his gaze away from Jonas and took in the rest of the group, lingering on Llew. She felt uncomfortable being scrutinised and looked away. ¡°Surprising company you keep.¡± Llew turned back. He was looking at her. He was talking to her. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I said, ¡°Surprising company you keep.¡± The man smiled at her confusion. ¡°A fan of the great Syakaran of Quaver, are you?¡± Jonas went to lunge at the man, but Aris¡¯s hand on his arm kept him in check. The bar fell silent, though an undercurrent of murmurs continued. ¡°Oh. You didn¡¯t know. Interesting.¡± He took a sip of his whisky. ¡°I suggest you finish your drink and move on, friend.¡± Aris gave the word ¡°friend¡± an ominous tone. ¡°Friend, is it, Aris?¡± The man sneered. ¡°No love for a long-lost son? Oh, but I was never your son, was I? Not once my brother came along.¡± His eyes shifted to Jonas. ¡°You¡¯re a long way from home, brother. I trust you¡¯ll keep out of trouble. Wouldn¡¯t want you flying off the handle. Again.¡± The man threw back the last mouthful of whisky, then stood, patting down his leather coat as if checking he had everything. He had an easy manner and seemed unconcerned by Jonas¡¯s glowering; Jonas seemed unable to act. The man scooped his hat off the bar and his sleeve pulled back, revealing a chunky metal bracelet with tubes that seemed to dive beneath his skin ¨C but that couldn¡¯t be possible. He afforded Llew a wink as he pressed the hat onto his head. ¡°Good to see you, Jonas. You¡¯d be proud of your brother¡¯s achievements. I¡¯d love to tell you about it, but it would be so much better to show you. Why don¡¯t you come find me later tonight? I¡¯ll wait for you by the bridge.¡± He turned for the inn door. ¡°I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t have to tell you to come alone.¡± He took a step toward the door and then backtracked, one finger in the air. ¡°On second thoughts, bring the girl.¡± He looked at Llew. Her hand flew to the hair at the back of her head. She looked down at the front of her shirt. There was barely the hint of breasts. The man laughed. ¡°Your costume is fine. But you are the spitting image of your mother.¡± Something in his demeanour changed when he said it. Some hint of emotion. Llew shrank back from the over-familiarity. Something about him scared her to the core, and when he looked at her, he seemed to know her. ¡°No wonder your father was so protective.¡± His voice was filled with a sorrow Llew couldn¡¯t understand. She was too rattled to make a move. She had to pull herself together before Jonas took her to the bridge. Aris continued murmuring to Jonas under his breath. Only the respect he had for the older man kept Jonas under control. ¡°I¡¯ll let you folk settle into this fine establishment. But I do hope you¡¯ll find time for family while you¡¯re in town.¡± This time, the man made it to the inn door. He gave them one last smile and a friendly wave before pushing his way through the door and disappearing into the night. The atmosphere of the inn relaxed, though only slightly. The innkeeper watched Jonas warily, as did several of the bar¡¯s patrons, those still sober enough to be paying attention, anyway. But slowly card games resumed, and the piano struck up again. The group closed ranks around Jonas as Aris hushed the questions about the man who had known far too much. ¡°You two go and see to the horses.¡± Alvaro and Cassidy did as Aris ordered and headed for the stable. ¡°Do you mind settling the girls in?¡± Aris turned to Emylia. ¡°Jonas and I need to have a word.¡± ¡°And me,¡± said Llew, then continued before Aris could object. ¡°He knew about me. I think you should talk to me, too.¡± ¡°No, Llew. This is family business,¡± said Aris. ¡°Exactly. He knew about my ma¡ª¡± ¡°No!¡± Llew jumped back half a step and the entire room fell silent again. ¡°Llew. Braph is a magician. He could pick your thoughts right out of your head,¡± Jonas said in a husky whisper. ¡°But I wasn¡¯t thinking about my parents.¡± Magician? ¡°A bath will be brought up to your room,¡± said Aris, as if Llew hadn¡¯t spoken. ¡°I suggest you use it. We will meet down here for a meal later. No one,¡± he looked pointedly at Llew and then Jonas. ¡°No one will be going anywhere tonight. Do I make myself clear?¡± Jonas and Llew nodded to each other, neither looking at Aris. ¡°So, there is nothing further for you to discuss tonight. Emylia.¡± Aris motioned for Emylia to take over from there. She nodded and rounded the two girls up. ¡°Aw, but things were just getting interesting,¡± said Anya, turning to the stairway. ¡°Ladies don¡¯t whine, Anya,¡± said Emylia behind them. ¡°And young ladies do as they¡¯re told.¡± Anya didn¡¯t reply as she headed up the stairs. Llew followed, ushered by Emylia. After a bath and a meal in strained silence, Llew lay in her bed waiting for Anya and Emylia¡¯s breathing to change, indicating that they had crossed the threshold into sleep. When she was sure she was the only one awake, she eased her blankets back and swivelled from the bed. She hadn¡¯t stripped, so only needed to pull on her shoes, her jacket, and then it was the simple matter of slipping out the door. Simple, if its hinges weren¡¯t in need of a little oil. She opened it inch by inch, cringing at every creak and freezing at each shuffle of blankets behind her. When the opening was just wide enough for her thin frame, she slunk through, and then began the painful process of closing it again. She tiptoed along the corridor, opened and slid through the next door quickly to avoid the racket from the still crowded bar waking those above, then scurried down the stairs; she scooted around drunk men and corseted women, who mostly ignored her in her jacket and trousers and short tousled hair, and finally pushed her way into the clean, crisp air outside. A hand covered her mouth, and an arm wrapped about her waist, and she was pulled into the shadow of the alley by the inn. 9: Your Secret She didn¡¯t squeal. After the initial shock, she knew it was Jonas. He released her once they were hidden from the view of casual passers-by. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be out here.¡± Jonas poked his head around the corner of the inn, checking she hadn¡¯t been followed. ¡°Neither should you,¡± she said, resting her clenched hands on her hips. ¡°Yet here you are. And you knew I¡¯d come, or you wouldn¡¯t have waited on me.¡± He turned back to her. ¡°I didn¡¯t want you goin¡¯ alone. But it ain¡¯t safe for you to come. You should go back.¡± ¡°You know I won¡¯t.¡± He appraised her before replying. ¡°I know. But you gotta do exactly what I tell you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Alright. It don¡¯t look like anyone heard you leave. Come on.¡± Jonas stepped onto the street and Llew followed. They had crossed the bridge on their way into Stelt. The river ran through a deep stretch of green grass on either side. There would be no light from nearby buildings, only what the moon threw down in between scurrying cloud cover. The night air was cold, and Llew hoped that whatever this Braph had to say he would say it fast, but she wanted to hear what he had to say ¨C especially about her parents. ¡°Who is Braph?¡± she asked, trotting to keep up with Jonas¡¯s brisk strides. ¡°Someone I¡¯d rather you didn¡¯t meet.¡± ¡°Why? He called you ¡®brother¡¯.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I am¡ª he is. My pa was his pa first. And he ain¡¯t never let me forget it.¡± Jonas maintained his pace and Llew had to throw in a few running strides to keep up. ¡°He talks so¡ª¡± ¡°Like he went and got educated?¡± He cocked an eyebrow at her. Llew floundered, thinking she¡¯d insulted him. But he didn¡¯t look upset. ¡°Yeah, well, so did I. But I didn¡¯t feel the need to go denyin¡¯ my roots, did I?¡± ¡°Which are?¡± Jonas clamped his lips tight for a few strides before relenting. ¡°We grew up on a farm in Aldia, far north o¡¯ Quaver. Mostly kept us out o¡¯ trouble.¡± ¡°Mostly?¡± Jonas kept walking in silence. Hmm. It seemed, if she wanted to kill a conversation with Jonas, she simply had to ask about his family. They continued in silence. When they arrived at the bridge, Jonas peered into the night and checked both sides of the river; there was no sign of the leather-clad man. ¡°Do you think he¡¯ll come?¡± ¡°He¡¯ll come.¡± Arms folded; Jonas leaned back against the end of the bridge. ¡°Why do you think he wanted you to bring me?¡± ¡°¡¯Cause it¡¯s the only way he¡¯ll have any chance of beatin¡¯ me in a fight.¡± ¡°You think you¡¯ll fight?¡± ¡°He¡¯s got it comin¡¯.¡± Llew stooped and plucked a handful of grass blades. She started throwing them into the cold air one by one until she got bored. Then she brushed the last blades from her hands and hugged herself, rubbing her hands up and down her biceps. The cold was seeping right through her jacket. ¡°Why would my being here give him a better chance of beating you? Doesn¡¯t it put the odds in our favour?¡± Jonas was silent a while. ¡°¡¯Cause it¡¯s harder to fight when I gotta worry ''bout him hurtin¡¯ you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me.¡± She shoved her hands in her trouser pockets, hunching her shoulders up to her ears. She considered telling him why he shouldn¡¯t worry, but now wasn¡¯t the time. With his brother on the way, he had enough to think about. Suddenly Jonas was at her back, warming her. His arms reached around from behind and he pulled her into him and rested his head on her shoulder. They stood watching the play of the moon¡¯s silver light on the rippling water for several minutes. Normally Llew would have brushed such intimacy aside, laughed it off. But she was cold, and even his warm breath across her cheek was welcome. ¡°Warmer?¡± he asked. Llew nodded ¨C a verbal affirmation stuck in the back of her throat. She was supposed to be nurturing his interest in her to keep that knife from her back, but the chill running through her wasn¡¯t from fear. It was thrill. Something she¡¯d heard some of her companions back in Cheer talk about. Usually right before they got plucked from the streets into a far more domestic life. ¡°I will worry about you,¡± Jonas said. ¡°Damn it, Llew! Everyone I¡¯ve ever cared for is dead. It won¡¯t happen again.¡± ¡°You care for Aris, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s different.¡± His voice was almost a whisper. Had Jonas just said he cared about her? Surely not. Besides, it meant little. Her father had cared about her, too. Didn¡¯t stop him leaving when he¡¯d had enough. She almost forgot why they were there; his body against hers and his breath tickling her ear. She let her head fall back onto his shoulder, a thrill shooting through her as her smooth cheek brushed his unshaven one. The chilly air breezing across her exposed neck didn¡¯t bother her, and she wondered if this was what it was supposed to be like to be with a man, courting. She had heard other women and girls talk of sparks and tingles ¨C not the cringing revulsion she had experienced with the men who used to visit her pa, one of whom had been the first to take her, nor yet the despairing touch of Kynas. This was all new. She turned her head toward him and blew out a ragged breath as his lips pressed lightly against her exposed neck. Jonas guided her down into the grass. She sat, and he knelt before her. He stared questioningly, and she replied with a tiny nod and smile. He leaned in to kiss her and then, cradling her head, he guided her to lie back. With one knee between her thighs, he continued with ever more probing kisses, loosening her top button with one hand. Llew pulled his shirt free of his trousers and slipped her hands up to take advantage of every ounce of heat. ¡°I hope he doesn¡¯t come,¡± she said. ¡°Let him come.¡± He planted a kiss at the corner of her mouth. ¡°I¡¯ll kill him before he draws breath.¡± ¡°When did you last see him?¡± she asked as he moved down her neck again. ¡°I ain¡¯t talkin¡¯ ¡¯bout Braph while I¡¯m puttin¡¯ the moves on you.¡± ¡°Oh, you do make it sound so romantic.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know nothin¡¯ ¡¯bout romance.¡± ¡°Sex on the other hand...¡± She finished for him and froze, while he chuckled and kissed her skin. Was that what they were doing here? A flash of Kynas writhing on top of her appeared in Llew¡¯s mind and suddenly she felt sick. She couldn¡¯t think about Jonas like that. She couldn¡¯t do it. They couldn¡¯t do it. His lips on her skin felt so good, but where they were leading filled Llew with dread. ¡°What was that word he called you?¡± Jonas¡¯s head came up, and he sighed with frustration. ¡°Get up.¡± A sword tip smacked the ground by Llew¡¯s ear, and she cracked her head against Jonas¡¯s jaw. Rubbing his jaw, Jonas stood. When Llew went to follow suit, the sword tip was pressed against her chest, where her shirt hung open. She was stuck on her elbows, too scared to move. ¡°Don¡¯t you touch her,¡± said Jonas, moving toward the man. But he had to back up a step when another sword was levelled at him. ¡°Let her go.¡± Llew didn¡¯t think Jonas was in a position to make such a demand. ¡°Actually, it¡¯s her we want. You can go,¡± said the first man. One more stood behind him. All three were thick-set, muscular men with unshaven chins and unkempt hair. ¡°No.¡± ¡°I know what you are,¡± said the leader. ¡°But there are three of us.¡± ¡°Drop your swords,¡± Jonas commanded, speaking slowly and carefully. ¡°Aghacia¡¯s magic-free. We don¡¯t need your kind here. Hers neither, but she¡¯s worth somethin¡¯ to us.¡± The tip of the sword pressed more firmly against Llew. She gasped at its touch even as she tried not to break Jonas¡¯s concentration. He was a capable fighter ¨C he had, after all, defeated the Zaki warrior in a hand-to-hand fight ¨C but here he faced three swordsmen. And each of the men was nearly twice his size. The man holding the sword against Llew grinned, pressed harder and allowed the sword to slip, slicing her skin. Her fingers tingled in the grass below her and the skin healed almost instantly. His back to Llew, Jonas only saw the sword move. Both swords were swept aside, and Jonas had the two men on the ground in little more than a second, knives sunk in their chests. One man lay silent. A gurgling breath came from the other and then he too lay still. Crouching between the prone men, Jonas looked to the third, who held his sword half-drawn from its scabbard. ¡°Leave,¡± said Jonas. Llew¡¯s attention was caught by a shadow passing in front of her. Something grabbed the hair at the back of her head and a stinging, burning sensation stretched from ear to ear. She was vaguely aware of the third swordsman turning to flee when her breath caught in her throat. She tried to swallow but didn¡¯t seem to know how to work the muscles anymore. In her dulling vision, she saw Jonas move and distantly she heard him shout after the man. She tried to call out to him but blew bubbles instead and choked on the warm liquid filling the back of her mouth. She put a hand to her throat in a strange belief that doing so would fix things. Her ears rang. She pulled her hand from her throat. It glistened black. Her stomach lurched, and she fainted.
Braph cursed under his breath as he returned his bloodied knife to its sheath. He cursed the stupid idiots for getting themselves killed without achieving their objective, and he cursed the girl. It was simple. Kill her. That was all. Kill her so Braph could see what happened. He supposed he had to accept some blame. He had underestimated Jonas¡¯s speed ¨C he hadn¡¯t seen him for, what, going on fifteen years? Jonas had grown, matured. What was the girl doing with Jonas? It was a complication he hadn¡¯t anticipated. Crouched at the base of a tree a hundred yards from the action, he watched her struggling for breath while Jonas saw off the last of the men. How could he have guessed that, of all people, the girl would meet Jonas? What was he even doing in Aghacia? The girl toppled over, and Jonas ran to her. Braph narrowed his eyes and wondered what Jonas would do when he saw what she was: or did he already know? Braph doubted it, and it seemed the men had interrupted the pair... exploring each other. He didn¡¯t think Jonas would have been caught in such a position with one of them. A shadow of regret touched Braph. He¡¯d already taken his brother¡¯s wife and child. But he had to take this girl; there was no other way. If she died now, she was dead. If she recovered, then Braph needed her.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. He cursed again. I¡¯m getting soft. What did he care if Jonas was upset? What had Jonas cared when he¡¯d been born, taking all their father¡¯s and Aris¡¯s attention? Braph hadn¡¯t needed to be anyone special, but it was hard not to covet it when everyone thought your younger brother was. And what did Jonas ever care about that, huh? He gave you his knife. And I gave it back. He rocked back on his heels. Watching. Waiting. Was she her mother¡¯s daughter?
Jonas could have chased and killed the fleeing swordsman, but he was just a man caught up in a family feud he had no part in. He wouldn¡¯t return, not without significant backup, anyway, which would take time to muster. He turned back to Llew. She was still sitting in the grass, but there was something wrong. A black stain spread across her white shirt and she held a hand in front of her. Then she toppled to the ground. He ran to her, his heart in his throat. ¡°Llew!¡± He gathered her to him. So alive moments earlier, now limp. All he could see was blood. It covered her hands, soaked her shirt and pooled on the ground. He clasped her chin, turning her to him. The touch sent a tingle through his fingers even as more blood gushed from her open throat and he jerked his hand away, letting her head fall back. His eye was drawn by movement in the grass. One of Llew¡¯s hands had fallen to the ground and the surrounding grass was dying in an ever-increasing circle. Jonas swallowed down his revulsion and dumped her unceremoniously on the ground, jumping to his feet as her body settled face down. In a daze, he reclaimed his knives from the corpses, taking them to the water¡¯s edge to clean with vigorous sweeps of his fingers down the blades. He berated himself for even toying with the idea of getting involved with her. What did he really know about her? He knew her name. And now he knew all he needed to know. He wiped the half-clean blades on his thigh, sheathed them in his vest and drew the big knife at his hip. He cradled it in his hands, watching the moonlight fly off as he tilted it back and forth. There was one purpose to this knife¡¯s existence: to kill the unkillable. And there was no safer time to make an attempt on the life of an Aenuk than when they were already half dead. Jonas turned from the water. The meadow was now like a hayfield. Each blade of grass, each leaf of clover, each dandelion had given its all to provide but a tiny fraction of the energy ¨C jin, as it was known in Turhmos ¨C needed to bring a person back from near-death. She lay unconscious, but her breathing was steady now. He had limited time to act. He crouched beside her, knife hovering over her back right where her heart should be, assuming Aenuks had a heart. But this was Llewella. She wasn¡¯t like the Aenuks he had faced on the Turhmos killing fields. Llew wasn¡¯t trained to fight, to continue to fight, and to take the enemy with her when she faced final death. She was merely a girl doing what she had to do to survive. And she smelled good and felt nice to hold. Her back rose as she breathed, her spine beneath her shirt pressing into the point of the knife. Jonas wavered, cursing softly. He shouldn¡¯t have got involved with her. Llew. Llewella. He needed to hit something, something solid. The nearest tree was a hundred yards away, and while he could run there and back in seconds, the exertion would replace most of the relief one good punch would achieve. Swapping the knife to his left hand, he crouched and punched the ground below him in one smooth movement, leaving a fist-deep crater and filling the air with a cloud of dead grass, roots, and dirt. Standing once more, he looked down at her. One of her fingers twitched. She would wake soon. She was Aenuk. But she was Llew. He rammed the knife into its sheath and turned away. It was tempting to leave her there, to wake the others and get out of Stelt. But that would leave an Aenuk free, and that wasn¡¯t something he could live with. He should have killed her already. It was what the blade was designed to do with its core of Ajnai wood, a tree once abundant in ancient Turhmos, coated in the hardest steel. He was growing concerned that she hadn¡¯t stirred yet. It had been a grievous wound, certainly, and she must have almost died. He knelt by her again. Had she died? She couldn¡¯t have. Even Aenuks didn¡¯t come back from death. But she was taking a long time. He peered into the dark again. Their side of the river was pale in the moonlight as dead, yellowed grass spread out from where she lay, while the other side was dark with lush, green grass. Was there enough life within the perimeter of these dusty roads to bring her back? Cursing even as he made the decision, he knelt and took up one of her hands. There was the gentlest of squeezes back. Then her grip tightened with the involuntary Aenuk reflex. If he was anyone else, he might lose his fingers before pulling free. As a Syakaran, he wasn¡¯t so trapped, but he didn¡¯t fight it; he also had more to give than others. The tingle that began in his fingers wasn¡¯t a result of her grasp, and it soon spread up his arm, across his chest, and from his heart, radiated throughout his core. And then she stirred.
Llew¡¯s face was itchy. It took a minute to recall where she was and how to communicate to her limbs that she wished to right herself, but eventually she managed to pull an arm from under her and, balancing herself on the forearm, raised her head. She took in the state of the meadow. It had been lush green. Now there might as well have been nothing living for miles: if there was, she couldn¡¯t see it, nor hear it. The meadow was eerily silent. She could still feel ghi pouring from the ground through her exposed skin. Her head was clearing slowly. She brought one hand to her throat. The blood was sticky and thick, but her skin was smooth. She didn¡¯t know what she had expected. Looking down, she saw strings of blood stretching from her shirt to the ground below. Not quite as disturbing as being attached to a dead body by strings of her own blood, but still disgusting. She must have lost nearly all she had. Memories of the dead Renny merged with memories of having been here with Jonas and she was sickened at the thought of what she might have just done. She rolled to a sitting position. The bodies of the fallen swordsmen lay nearby. She turned her head and started fearfully. A dark silhouette stood over her. Expecting another attack, she brought an arm up over her face, only to recognise Jonas just before she blocked him from view. His shape was unmistakable, with the glint of knife handles around his middle and that big knife at his hip. Joy and fear washed through her. Since she¡¯d left Cheer, he was the closest thing she¡¯d had to a genuine friend. But now that he knew what she was, he was going to kill her. Yet the knife was still in its sheath. She looked up, trying to see his face, but it was in shadows. ¡°You didn¡¯t kill me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll probably regret not doing so. Get up.¡± It was fair that he should be angry with her. She hadn¡¯t told him what she was. But how could she after he¡¯d told her he killed her kind? She gathered herself to rise, but when she wasn¡¯t up fast enough, Jonas grabbed her elbow and pulled her up. He wasn¡¯t gentle. ¡°I said get up.¡± ¡°And I was doing it.¡± She scowled at him, brushing herself off. Her hands came away sticky with blood. She poked out her tongue in distaste and searched out a dry patch of her trousers to wipe her palms. Without another word, Jonas began striding back to town. Llew didn¡¯t know if she should follow or not. Did he want her to? Or did he intend to leave her behind? But he hadn¡¯t killed her. She ran to catch up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t tell you sooner, but after you said you killed healers, I couldn¡¯t. Don¡¯t you understand?¡± He kept striding ahead, and she had to run to keep pace with him. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know what I was till you were telling me about your knife. And I never died until just before I met you. It¡¯s all so new to me, and then I met you, someone who would kill me if you knew what I was, and I would¡¯ve told you, I really would have¡ª¡± He stopped, spinning to face her, and she ran into him. ¡°Like you were goin¡¯ to tell us you were a girl?¡± Llew swallowed. ¡°I would have,¡± she said in a weak voice. She had never intended to, but neither had she intended to care what any of them thought of her other than that she was useful to have around. No, she wouldn¡¯t have told them. She peered up at him and knew that he knew it, too. ¡°Would you have let me go with you if you¡¯d known?¡± ¡°I never wanted you.¡± His words stung. Almost as an afterthought, he added, ¡°You¡¯ll have to ask Aris, and he won¡¯t be happy.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t tell him.¡± Jonas laughed. ¡°I already kept one secret from him. Your secret.¡± He leaned into her. ¡°I opened up to you, and what did I get in return? A name? A stupid name!¡± ¡°Stupid?¡± How dare he? ¡°You told me nothing! Everything I know about you I learned from that man at the bar tonight. You expect me to tell you what I am, knowing what you would do to me? You didn¡¯t even have the decency to reply in kind. And you didn¡¯t have the fear of death clamping your mouth shut.¡± They stood, barely an inch separating their noses, breathing heavily. ¡°I gotta tell him.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I told you.¡± He stepped back. ¡°One secret was one too many. He¡¯s my Captain.¡± ¡°What will he do?¡± Jonas laughed again. ¡°He¡¯ll ask why you¡¯re still alive, for a start.¡± He turned and carried on walking back to the inn, hands deep in his pockets. Llew followed, keeping her distance. It must have been well past midnight. It took a long time for her to heal from death and was surprised not to see the glow of dawn. Jonas pushed against the inn door, but it was locked. ¡°Shit,¡± he muttered. ¡°They lock it?¡± ¡°Yeah, well, there¡¯s a witch on the loose, huh?¡± Jonas slanted her a look, but Llew couldn¡¯t tell if it was good-natured joking or disgust. She thought it safest to ignore. ¡°What do we do now?¡± Jonas looked up then along the front of the building. There was one bench seat on the porch. ¡°Try to get some sleep.¡± He swept his arm out, inviting her to take the bench. Llew gave him a small smile and curled up on the seat, pulling her blood-smeared jacket tight about her. Jonas sat on the porch, leaning against the wall by her feet. ¡°The others will wonder what we were doing out here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. We¡¯re gonna tell ¡¯em.¡± ¡°How does Aris feel about Aenuks?¡± Jonas laughed ¨C his usual brief, explosive laugh that subsided as abruptly as it began. ¡°I¡¯m tryin¡¯ to reconcile, Llew, with the fact that you are not like the Aenuks that killed my folks.¡± She lifted herself up, supporting herself on her elbow, and looked at him. ¡°I hate the Aenuks who took my family,¡± he said. ¡°And I¡¯ve killed a lot of Aenuks since. I killed my uncle, who thought he¡¯d take advantage of a young boy who didn¡¯t know his own strength yet. I hate my own brother, and one day I¡¯ll likely kill him, too. It¡¯s what I do.¡± He turned to her in the dark. ¡°People come at me. I hate ¡¯em. I kill ¡¯em. And there are a lot o¡¯ people out there want to have a piece of me.¡± He shifted his weight against the wall. ¡°But Aris... He¡¯s a good man. He grew up in a Quaver ravaged by war like I haven¡¯t known. When Quaver and Turhmos were both stronger, they fought constantly. He saw victories and defeats and destruction like you wouldn¡¯t believe. He saw a future he didn¡¯t like the look of and decided to do somethin¡¯ about it. He started to build somethin¡¯. And Turhmos, and its Aenuks, tore it down.¡± Jonas rested his head against the wall behind him. Llew lay back down and closed her eyes, wondering if she should allow herself to sleep so near this man who should have killed her by now. But she was so tired. She doubted she would get much sleep before the sun¡¯s rays lit the sky, anyway. Still, she could rest her eyes. ¡°Aris just hates Aenuks. It¡¯s all he¡¯s got.¡± Llew¡¯s eyes flew open. She couldn¡¯t believe how close she had been to sleep. So, Aris hated Aenuks. And by his side was Jonas, who killed Aenuks. She waited, listening for a change in his breathing. Was he waiting for her to fall asleep first? Or was he going to drop off and give her the chance to run? He¡¯d already let her live once. ¡°And if he wants me dead? Is that your job? You and your knife?¡± Jonas didn¡¯t reply. Either he really was asleep, and she was fine for now, or he couldn¡¯t answer, which could mean several things. Maybe he didn¡¯t want to tell her Yes. Maybe he couldn¡¯t tell her Yes. Maybe the answer was Yes, that was his job, but maybe he would refuse. He could have killed her by the bridge. While Llew¡¯s mind tried to unpick it all ¨C the relationships between her and Jonas, Jonas and Aris, and Aris and her ¨C somehow, she slipped into sleep.
Llew hadn¡¯t been aware of the increasing brightness. It was the sudden shadow across her face that woke her. She opened her eyes to Aris standing before her, arms folded. It took her a moment to clear her head, to remember where she was, and why. Time to face the music, to find out if she was going to be abandoned or murdered. Sometime since she¡¯d fallen asleep, it had begun to rain in a light drizzle, but they remained dry under the porch roof. ¡°You went to see him, didn¡¯t you?¡± Aris wasn¡¯t looking at Llew. Then she remembered Jonas was sitting at the end of the bench. ¡°After I told you not to.¡± Llew was cold. She looked down at her blood-stained shirt now sticking to her, and pulled her jacket tight, trying to hide the mess. The jacket was smeared, too, but it was cleaner than the shirt. The movement caught Aris¡¯s eye. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°What?¡± He reached down, grabbed the collar of her jacket, and yanked it from her grasp. ¡°What in the hell happened last night?¡± Llew looked down at Aris¡¯s feet. She didn¡¯t know what to say. Well, she did. She could tell the truth. She hoped Jonas might have something to contribute. The inn door swung open. ¡°No sign of them, Aris.¡± Alvaro stopped. ¡°Llew!¡± He flew around Aris to kneel in front of her. He looked at her in horror. ¡°What happened? Are you alright?¡± He half-turned her head and peered at her neck. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Her voice cracked. Suddenly Alvaro had Jonas by the collar, dragging him to his feet and pressing him against the wall. ¡°What did you do? You could have gotten her killed!¡± ¡°Nothin¡¯ happened. It ain¡¯t her blood,¡± said Jonas conversationally, his tone almost bored. ¡°Nothin¡¯ happened? Like hell!¡± Alvaro shoved Jonas¡¯s shoulders into the wall. ¡°Do that again I¡¯ll teach you to fly.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± Aris said. He didn¡¯t shout, and he didn¡¯t take his eyes off Llew. ¡°Step back, Alvaro. Get Llew a fresh shirt.¡± Glaring at Jonas, Alvaro did as he was told. With but a quick glance at Llew, he headed back into the inn. ¡°You two¡¯ve got some talkin¡¯ to do, and I suggest you do it now while we¡¯ve some peace. You went to see him, didn¡¯t you?¡± Llew couldn¡¯t look Aris in the eye. Instead, she turned to Jonas, hoping he could deliver the news in a way that wouldn¡¯t send the older man into a rage. Jonas wouldn¡¯t look at Aris, either. But he nodded and told him about the men at the bridge, told him that Jonas had killed two of them and sent the third running, only to turn and find Llew injured. Then he looked at Llew before turning to Aris, and she knew he was going to tell everything. She closed her eyes, pleading for Aris to understand her need to keep the secret, just as he had understood her masculine travelling attire. ¡°She¡¯s Aenuk, Aris.¡± There was a long silence. ¡°And yet here she sits. Alive and, it seems, well.¡± Jonas didn¡¯t answer. ¡°So, who cut you?¡± Llew and Jonas looked at Aris, both taken aback by the simple question. Neither of them had even stopped to wonder about her assailant. Llew hadn¡¯t seen anyone, only sensed a shadow cross her. Suddenly, she felt as if she was being watched. She glanced up and down the street, not even knowing what she was looking for. Few people walked the streets of Stelt this early in the morning, but Llew was suspicious of them all: one of them had run a knife across her throat. Maybe. She hadn¡¯t seen anything. She didn¡¯t even know if what she thought she¡¯d seen had been real. ¡°You don¡¯t think it was...?¡± Jonas gave Aris a meaningful look. ¡°Braph,¡± said Aris. He turned to Llew, looking her up and down. ¡°From the blood, I can see you must¡¯ve been cut bad.¡± He nodded. ¡°And why would Braph have you attacked and try to kill you?¡± ¡°Aenuks don¡¯t come back from the dead,¡± Jonas muttered. ¡°No. Aenuks don¡¯t. Just how bad was it?¡± ¡°I think I died. Again.¡± ¡°Again?¡± said Aris and Jonas in unison. 10: One Conditon don¡¯t Halfis what ever his
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15: Again Llew had to admit it was a beautiful dress. Blue again. Llew had rather liked the pinkish-purple color of one of the others, but Anya and Emylia had both agreed that the cut wasn¡¯t right. Whatever that meant. At least it didn¡¯t have flowers. Llew had never considered herself a flowers girl. A mirror on the wardrobe door displayed her in her full glory once Emylia and Anya had helped tie it all together ¨C it had a lot of ties, as well as loops and hooks. Lord Tovias had provided six stunning dresses for the women to choose from, along with a variety of hair clips, ribbons, and shoes. Llew¡¯s feet were too big for any of the latter, but her dress hid her riding boots if she stood still. And her hair was too short to take advantage of the clips on offer, but Emylia managed to arrange it in such a way as to give Llew a surprise when she looked in the mirror. She looked... feminine. It was a sight as foreign as it was welcome. She smiled and a pretty girl smiled back. When the women presented themselves in the restaurant downstairs, the boys had the same awestruck looks on their faces as they had during that brief evening in Osurnu, and Llew had to work to hide her own admiration for them. They all looked handsome. Alvaro had swapped his wide-brimmed hat for a top hat to match his gray suit, gold waistcoat and stunningly white shirt. He was immaculately shaved, making him look younger than his eighteen years, while the suit gave him a maturity beyond that, despite the self-conscious smile he flicked Llew¡¯s way when she gazed at him. Cassidy wore a golden suit that set off his blond hair. He too wore a matching top hat and had accessorised with a cane. To complete the look, he put on an aristocratic air which, while Llew knew it was meant to be funny, somehow suited him. Aris wasn¡¯t in clothing dissimilar to his usual get up, but everything was perfectly clean and perfectly pressed. Jonas had opted not to wear a hat. His long hair hung down, one side hooked behind an ear. He wore his own vest, as always fully loaded with knives, but over it he wore a pitch-black short jacket and trousers to match. Over the trousers sat his knife belt with his Syakaran knife even more visible against the crisply clean background. Underneath it all was a tidy white shirt. Llew was almost disappointed by his lack of bravery with colors, but he could still force the wind out of her with but the slightest upturn of his lips. This time they ate at the hotel¡¯s restaurant. The other diners still looked at them, but no longer with the wary, distasteful looks of the previous evening; rather, with the whispered question of just who are these fine people? Aris hadn¡¯t told them that Lord Tovias had also sent a new carriage and horses for them to ride to his estate. These were accompanied by an escort of ceremonially dressed soldiers. They appeared very fancy in their shiny get-up of royal blue jackets and straight black trousers. Many of them had badges on their jackets and Llew wondered what kind of battle action they had seen, or if the decorations were rewards for keeping a tidy uniform. She expressed her concern at leaving Amico behind, but Aris assured her he would be brought to the estate and well tended by Lord Tovias¡¯s grooms. Besides, he reminded her, there was no way Jonas would let them forget his horse. Being in a dress, Llew was expected to ride in the carriage with Aris and the women while Cassidy, Alvaro and Jonas joined the escort. Surrounded by all the finery, Llew felt as though she were little more than the street urchin she had hoped to leave behind in Cheer. The dress felt like a costume. How could any of it be real? She watched the city pass by as the group moved through the busy centre of Rakun at a walk. The cobbled town square was a hive of activity. Overall, it was clean, well kept and the people seemed happy. Money exchanged hands in swift business as people moved from one stall to the next, and milling casually among the crowd were beautifully dressed military men. Some sort of city police force, Llew thought. Their uniforms stood out, even amongst the brightly colored expensive clothes of the civilians. And the people were beautiful. She assessed the city for the possibilities it could offer her: a denser population, more money. Two obvious benefits over Cheer. Just how good were those street soldiers, anyway? With her keen eye she noted that there were no pickpockets loitering in the crowd. Was that because the city simply hadn¡¯t fostered them, and it was ripe for someone to move in? Or did that mean that they didn¡¯t survive long in these streets? Of course, she didn¡¯t need to assess such things. It was a city she wouldn¡¯t be staying in, and she wasn¡¯t going to be a street urchin anymore. She was going to be someone¡¯s captive, though whose was yet to be determined. A chill shot down her spine at the recollection that Braph was still behind them. Surely she would be safe from him once inside Lord Tovias¡¯s estate. Would he strike before then? Could he strike before then, with all these soldiers, decorative as they likely were, and Jonas? Her posture remained stiff and alert for the rest of the journey, waiting for the slightest hint that it was all about to end. ¡°You alright?¡± Jonas asked, bringing his horse in beside the carriage. ¡°Braph.¡± Jonas nodded, then he smiled. ¡°Do you know why he wants you?¡± ¡°To power his magic bracelet.¡± ¡°But he¡¯s got Aenuks for that. Do you know why he wants you?¡± Llew shook her head. Jonas smile broadened. ¡°I think he don¡¯t think he can beat me without your blood. But I¡¯ve¡ª we¡¯ve got you.¡± Llew smiled, too. So Braph needed her blood in order to fight Jonas, but he would have to fight Jonas before Llew would go with him. Her shoulders relaxed. She was going to be fine. They passed through the town square and carried on down the main street. The city slowly changed from high density, high activity, to smaller, well-spaced houses, and quieter activity. Llew let her gaze meander up the road in front of them. The road climbed the hill ahead, stopping at a large estate part way up. They arrived minutes later. A wide, open gateway admitted them into a cobbled courtyard. A water fountain played in the center and the group parted to go around it, rejoining on the other side. Beyond the fountain, they were presented with an expansive entrance to a magnificent house, fronted by huge steps and massive marble pillars. It almost made Llew sick to think she¡¯d spent her life struggling to survive, while people lived like... well, like this. Waiting on the front steps of the mansion were more soldiers and household staff, at the front and centre of which stood a man wearing a short red jacket and black trousers. He had dark curly hair with the deep widow¡¯s peak that comes with age, a rounded belly, and looked to be about halfway between Jonas and Aris in age; he was taller than either and carried himself with a confidence and vigor that gave him an air of youth. His face broke into a huge grin at the sight of the new arrivals. ¡°Aris, my friend!¡± he bellowed. Aris jumped down from the carriage. ¡°Gaemil.¡± He walked into the outstretched arms and returned the embrace. ¡°Good to see you again.¡± Llew turned to Anya, who seemed to have paled at the sight of her future husband. She must have sensed Llew looking at her and looked back with a sort of shrug and a smile. And then, realizing that perhaps a lady of her caliber shouldn¡¯t have such thoughts, she pulled herself up and looked straight ahead, ready to face her future. Whatever his appearance he was, after all, Rakun¡¯s Earl, the representative of Brurun¡¯s King, and commanded as much power as any man Llew had ever encountered. ¡°I trust you met no problems,¡± Lord Tovias said. ¡°None that we couldn¡¯t handle, no.¡± He raised an eyebrow at this, but Aris¡¯s demeanor must have satisfied him because he asked no more and instead looked over to his guests. ¡°Anyunca.¡± He walked through the riders to the blonde girl and held a hand out to guide her down the carriage¡¯s small steps. He kissed the hand she presented him. ¡°Your portraits did you no justice. I am stunned by your beauty.¡± Anya flushed at the compliment but maintained her poise, merely nodding politely. Lord Tovias turned back to those standing on the steps. ¡°Well, let us not dally. Show our guests to their rooms. You must all need to rest; for tonight we celebrate!¡± He beamed and leaned toward Aris. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind, old boy,¡± he said. Aris shrugged. Grooms stepped forward to take the horses to the stables and the house staff waited patiently for the guests to follow them inside. One of the soldiers broke ranks. ¡°Jonas!¡± The soldier ran down the steps to join the new arrivals. He had the same dark skin as Jonas but wore his hair shorter, and his uniform looked pristine. Somehow Llew couldn¡¯t imagine Jonas wearing such a thing. She suspected that if he wore a uniform at all, there would be something about the way he wore it that would appear very non-uniform. ¡°Hisham!¡± The Syakaran beamed and threw his arms wide to envelop the other in an enthusiastic hug. ¡°I didn¡¯t see you in that get-up. What are you doin¡¯ here?¡± ¡°Aris thought you could do with some back-up here,¡± Hisham said. ¡°And someone¡¯s got to keep you out of trouble.¡± Jonas laughed, and the two walked together into the mansion. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± Llew asked. Alvaro shrugged. ¡°Hisham. Jonas¡¯s friend from the Quaven army,¡± Aris answered. ¡°I thought you kids might deserve a break once we reached Rakun, so I arranged some help. Hisham¡¯s the one Karan that Quaver would let me have.¡± Llew raised an eyebrow and Aris replied with a wry twist of his lips. ¡°Individually, they¡¯re experts at finding trouble. Together, they somehow keep each other on the straight and narrow. Put it this way, he¡¯ll find less trouble here.¡± Inside, the house overwhelmed. The ceilings were extraordinarily high and the doorways not much lower; their feet echoed on hard marble floors as they walked between fine, intricately designed rugs that would muffle their footfalls again; magnificent ornaments made of precious metals and stones lined the hallways. Llew was no connoisseur of art ¨C but it was clear she was surrounded by wealth. Anya was shown to her suite of rooms first. She glowed among the finery and gushed politely over every detail. Then the others were taken to their rooms in the guest wing and allowed to settle in for an hour or so before a servant invited them to the dining hall for lunch. As with the rest of the estate, this was a huge room with artworks glowing with age on the walls and sculptures in every alcove. A sm?rg?sbord was presented in silver platters along the middle of the table, at the head of which sat Lord Gaemil Tovias. Anya was guided to sit by him, and the two talked quietly throughout the meal. Llew smiled to see Anya warming to the man. When the lids were raised from the hot food, the room filled with delicious aromas that set Llew¡¯s mouth watering; all other details were forgotten.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. After the lunch, of which Llew ate too much, they were free to do as they pleased. Alvaro and Cassidy took the chance to visit their family in nearby Kas. Aris and Emylia went for a walk around the estate, and Jonas headed off somewhere with Hisham. Anya grabbed Llew, beckoning her back to her rooms before Llew had a chance to come up with her own plans. ¡°Did you hear? Gaemil¡¯s hosting a ball, with dancing and everything, in our honor tonight. And he¡¯s filled my wardrobe with beautiful dresses. You have to help me pick one, and you¡¯ll need one, too, of course.¡± ¡°I think a dress is the least of my worries. I¡¯ve never danced before.¡± ¡°Oh hush. How you look will be the most important thing tonight. The dancing is secondary. Your partner will lead you anyway.¡± Anya strode ahead of her in the most unladylike way. ¡±Your job is to look ravishing. His job is to make sure you have a good time.¡± She spoke over her shoulder. ¡°Whose job?¡± ¡°How am I supposed to know? You¡¯re the one with the men falling over themselves for your attention.¡± Anya grinned over her shoulder. Llew felt her cheeks flush. She turned the questioning on Anya. ¡°Do you like Gaemil?¡± ¡°Of course I do,¡± Anya replied, almost too quickly. They had reached her suite of rooms and she pushed the door wide open. Inside was a magnificent bed, covered in pillows and luxurious cream sheets and blankets. Llew only had a single bed in her room; Anya¡¯s could have slept five. At the sound of the door opening, a maid appeared from an adjoining room. ¡°I am going to give Miss Llewella one of my dresses to wear tonight, so let¡¯s find her something gorgeous,¡± Anya instructed the woman, who smiled and crossed the room to another door that opened into yet another room that appeared to be filled with nothing but dresses and shoes and undergarments. Hold on. Llew thought she¡¯d been coming to help Anya pick a dress. She realized now she¡¯d been ambushed. ¡°Isn¡¯t this fabulous?¡± Anya¡¯s eyes sparkled. ¡°All I could ever want and more. I am such a lucky girl.¡± She riffled through the garments her maid brought out and, after a moment of focused study of fabric and form, she returned to their conversation. ¡°I admit I was disappointed.¡± She spoke quietly, so only Llew would hear. ¡°But he¡¯s lovely, isn¡¯t he?¡± Llew nodded and smiled, as reassuring a smile as she could manage, though she¡¯d barely spoken a word to the lord. What could she, a street urchin, possibly have in common with him? ¡°He has nice eyes...¡± It was almost a question, and Anya¡¯s eyes pleaded with Llew to agree. ¡°He has lovely eyes.¡± Anya pressed a dress under her chin, her head tilting as she assessed its color against Llew¡¯s skin. ¡°Hmm.¡± She put the dress aside. ¡°I just hadn¡¯t pictured him... like that.¡± She bit her lip. She turned away to grab another dress to hold up before Llew. After brief consideration, she waggled the garment, gesturing for Llew to try it on. Llew looked for somewhere to dress, and Anya laughed. ¡°It¡¯s not like you have anything I haven¡¯t seen before. You¡¯ve been passing as a boy too long, Llew ¨C happy to share a room with the men, but too shy to dress in front of me.¡± Llew turned away to shed her dress, which she needed Anya and her maid¡¯s help with anyway, what with all the clips and ties. ¡°I suppose ¡®balding¡¯ and ¡®portly¡¯ aren¡¯t the first words that come to mind when you dream of your future love, are they?¡± She started to pull the new dress on but looked over her shoulder when a reply failed to come from Anya. Anya was almost beet red, and she flicked her head towards the maid. ¡°But he does seem nice. And you¡¯re right about his eyes. And he is tall.¡± Llew whisked the dress over her body and turned to face Anya¡¯s critical inspection. ¡°No, this one won¡¯t do. Let¡¯s try another.¡± Anya turned back to the pile of dresses. ¡°So, who will you go with?¡± Llew pulled the dress unceremoniously over her head. She would go with Jonas if he would have her, but she didn¡¯t know if he was the dancing type. Then again, neither was she. Alvaro seemed like the simplest choice, but something held her back from saying so. ¡°Jonas must really like you.¡± ¡°What makes you so sure?¡± Llew asked, laying the dress on the bed. ¡°Well, you¡¯re still alive for a start.¡± Anya held yet another dress up to Llew. ¡°You really don¡¯t know anything about the history of the Kara and Aenuks, do you?¡± Llew shook her head. Anya signaled Llew to try the dress on. ¡°Let¡¯s just say the animosity between the races goes back further than recorded history,¡± she said as Llew took the dress and began pulling it on. ¡°The exact details were lost centuries ago. The story of how it started would depend on which side you talk to. But it¡¯s been that way since the days of the Immortals.¡± ¡°Immortals?¡± ¡°They were an immensely powerful race. Powerful and cruel. Just because they could, they took control of nations and treated ordinary people like animals. Worse. They were like Syaenuks and Syakara combined... Well, they were Syaenuks and Syakara combined. Until someone discovered the magic to bind their children as one or the other.¡± ¡°How do you know all this?¡± Llew asked as she finished pulling the dress over her head and let it fall around her. ¡°I read, Llew.¡± Anya smiled. ¡°That one¡¯s nice. Turn.¡± She wiggled her finger in a circle and Llew did as she was told. ¡°Gosh, I wonder if Immortals could return. For instance, if you and Jonas were to have children.¡± ¡°Anya, do you know where babies come from?¡± Anya¡¯s cheeks colored, and she nodded. ¡°Well, it¡¯s messy, noisy, smelly, and people make the silliest faces.¡± Anya paled. ¡°Jonas and I are friends. I mean, I like him, a lot...¡± Llew almost lost her train of thought, but mentally shook her mind clear. ¡°But just the thought of seeing him like that...¡± She made a face and Anya looked sick. Llew realized she was probably picturing Lord Tovias in the throes of passion... Oh, why did Llew have to think it, too? Still, Anya was to marry the man and would likely be expected to bear his children. ¡°Sorry. I didn¡¯t mean¡ª I¡¯ve heard many girls say they like it. Usually when they¡¯re being paid to... But I¡¯m sure it¡¯s different when you love the man. I mean, there was this Cat I knew in Cheer who said a woman¡¯s enjoyment had less to do with how the man looked and more to do with how he made her feel... And since Gaemil is lovely, I¡¯m sure...¡± She let her voice trail off. Anya¡¯s maid stood there staring at her, mouth half open.
¡°You go find out what¡¯s going on,¡± Anya whispered. ¡°I¡¯ll have this dress put in your room.¡± Anya took the dress and shooed Llew along the corridor. Llew stopped outside the door to Aris¡¯s room, raising her hand to knock. ¡°It will be safe enough. The security around this estate is second to none,¡± said Aris¡¯s voice through the door. ¡°And I brought in those Quavens especially.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know what he¡¯s capable of. I won¡¯t leave it behind.¡± ¡°Let Hisham keep it for you. I was going to have him stick nearby, but I can have him stationed outside the ballroom.¡± ¡°Braph is stronger than Hisham. I won¡¯t risk it.¡± ¡°You know Hisham usually carries his own knife.¡± There was a pause as Jonas gathered his thoughts. ¡°I know you think it¡¯s a bunch of mumbo jumbo. But my father, my ma, Kierra, our baby... My knife, Aris. I just¡ª I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Then you can¡¯t go.¡± ¡°What do I need to be goin¡¯ to a dance for, anyway?¡± ¡°For some well-deserved fun with your friends.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not my friends.¡± ¡°Jonas...¡± Aris¡¯s exasperated voice trailed off as Llew knocked on the door. ¡°Come in.¡± Llew opened the door quietly and poked her head in. ¡°It¡¯s just me.¡± Both men looked at her, expressions set to neutral, with the animosity of moments earlier simmering just below the surface. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I couldn¡¯t help hearing your voices up the hall. I wanted to make sure everything was okay.¡± ¡°Everythin¡¯s fine,¡± Jonas stated flatly. He was leaning against an ornately carved desk, his arms folded. ¡°I won¡¯t be goin¡¯ to tonight¡¯s dance.¡± ¡°But why?¡± She failed miserably at disguising the disappointment in her voice. ¡°They have a no-weapons policy.¡± ¡°Jonas has decided that it is more important to baby-sit his knife than have fun with his friends.¡± ¡°Then I won¡¯t go either. I¡¯ll keep you company.¡± ¡°No. You go. You¡¯ll have fun,¡± Jonas urged. Llew wasn¡¯t sure about that. If Jonas didn¡¯t go, could she really enjoy herself? He was the only one in whom she had any real confidence should Braph show up. How could she relax if he wasn¡¯t nearby? ¡°And you will go, too, Jonas. I know why you think you can¡¯t leave it. But you have no family left. There is nobody else it can take away from you. The knife will be safe here.¡± Jonas looked at Aris with fury burning in his eyes. He stormed to the door and flung it open. ¡°Have a nice night.¡± He strode through the door, pulling it behind him. Llew grabbed it before it slammed. She looked at Aris before following Jonas out. The man¡¯s face was a mix of disappointment and pity. ¡°You know what that knife means to him. He doesn¡¯t need your pity.¡± ¡°Or his guilt.¡± Guilt? Why did he have to bring that up? The girl was behind them. Aghacia was behind them. Or was he talking about something else? Llew pulled the door shut behind her.
Jonas had disappeared by the time Llew left Aris¡¯s room. She smiled politely to another guest coming along the hallway and asked if he had seen the angry long-haired man leaving. He pointed her back the way he had come. Questioning several more strangers soon brought Llew outside, but seemingly no closer to Jonas. He had to go to the dance. She couldn¡¯t coherently shape the reason why: she simply knew it. ¡°Llew!¡± Llew turned to see Alvaro approaching. ¡°Hi, Al. I thought you were away for the afternoon. You didn¡¯t see Jonas come this way, did you?¡± ¡°I just got back.¡± A shadow passed across his face and was gone. ¡°Yeah, I saw him head into the stables. His usual happy self.¡± He placed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°I wanted to ask you...¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°Ask me what?¡± She looked past him to the stable. ¡°I¡¯m kind of busy.¡± Again, the flick of annoyance was gone in an instant and Alvaro pulled himself together. ¡°If you wanted to go to the dance with me.¡± ¡°Of course, I¡¯m going.¡± ¡°No, I meant with me. As partners.¡± ¡°Um.¡± Llew¡¯s brain fizzed. If she was going to go with anyone in particular, she would have wanted it to be Jonas. But, for now at least, it seemed he would not go, unless she could convince him to, and she didn¡¯t think begging to be his dance partner would work. She may as well go with Al. It didn¡¯t mean she would have to dance with him all night, did it? ¡°Um, sure. I¡¯ll¡ª I¡¯ll see you later.¡± She gave him a quick smile and ran to the stable, slowing to a walk as she approached the building so as not to scare the horses ¨C or Jonas, for that matter. Jonas stood at his paint gelding¡¯s stall, the animal nuzzling him as he leaned on the half-door. He seemed relaxed in the presence of the horse. ¡°Have you had him long?¡± He looked startled to hear her voice. ¡°Sorry. I followed you.¡± He shrugged and turned back to the horse. ¡°He¡¯s Quaven military, too. We¡¯ve been through a bit together.¡± Llew stood beside him and reached out to pat the big, gentle head. As she lifted her arm, her hand brushed against Jonas¡¯s bone-handled knife by his waist, and an idea formed in her mind. Old habits and skills switched into action, in particular her keen awareness of exactly where his attention was focused, and absolute control over every muscle in her body. ¡°He is very beautiful.¡± Keep patting him. Just keep looking at those lovely horse eyes. ¡°Aris just doesn¡¯t get it,¡± said Jonas and Llew tensed. Patience. ¡°When Braph and I were separated ¨C I was ten, him fifteen ¨C we swapped our most treasured possessions. His was the wooden gryphon. Mine was my knife.¡± He pulled it from its sheath and held it, leaning his arms on the stall door. Llew cursed silently, then plastered an understanding smile on her face when he looked from the knife to her. ¡°When Aris took me in, he was real pissed. I mean, one of the last Syakara givin¡¯ his knife to a mere Karan?¡± He laughed, turning back to the blade. ¡°I was a stupid kid. It was mine by birthright, but it should have been Braph¡¯s. He was older. I knew he wanted it. And I loved him so much...¡± He sneered at his own weakness. Llew placed a hand on his arm, but didn¡¯t know what to say. Put it back so I can take it. Again. She almost gave up right then. How could she do that to him? She¡¯d already stolen the knife in Cheer and already insulted him, several times. What kind of friend was she? The kind that would carry his burden for him, that¡¯s what kind. ¡°There ain¡¯t a day goes by I don¡¯t wish I¡¯d given him somethin¡¯ else.¡± Jonas swallowed his rising emotion, his lips twisting and his jaw clenching. ¡°If I¡¯d had it, she might¡¯ve had a fightin¡¯ chance. Or maybe it just would¡¯ve played out differently...¡± She could¡¯ve told him it wasn¡¯t his fault, he couldn¡¯t have known, that if Braph hadn¡¯t had that knife it would have been another one ¨C it wasn¡¯t designed for killing Syakara, after all. But he wouldn¡¯t want to hear any of that. He wanted to feel. He wanted to know that his need to protect the knife was justified. She squeezed his arm, hoping it would be enough to let him know she understood. He looked at her, past her, barely seeming to see her for a while. Then his eyes focussed, and he smiled his thanks. He slid the knife home and rubbed a hand up and down his horse¡¯s face. Llew moved swiftly. Damn! A dress didn¡¯t have all the handy places to put things that shirt and trousers offered. She bunched the knife into the folds and, holding it securely, backed away from him. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll leave you to your thinking, then.¡± Jonas grunted. Once she was a few paces out of the stable, she ran back to the guest wing, ignoring the startled looks of everyone she passed, with her hand still clasping the side of her dress. ¡°Llew?¡± Approaching her room, Llew looked up when someone called her name. ¡°Hisham?¡± The soldier was loitering by her door. ¡°That¡¯s the one.¡± He beamed at her and held out a hand. ¡°Aris sent me to keep an eye on you.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Llew faltered. Her right hand was still clutching the folds of her skirt around Jonas¡¯s knife. She held out her left hand, and he swapped hands to shake it. ¡°Caught my skirt on a nail. Big hole,¡± she blustered. ¡°Very embarrassing. Must get ready for tonight¡¯s dance.¡± She backed through her door, smiling at him. Inside, she clicked the door closed and leaned against it to catch her breath. She freed the knife from the folds of the skirt and held it in front of her. Well, she¡¯d done it. Keeping the knife out of the wrong hands was no longer Jonas¡¯s immediate concern. A bath had been placed in her room and soon someone would come to fill it with steaming water. The dress she was to wear hung from the door of her wardrobe. She crossed the room and slid the knife under her pillow. 16: It’s Just Sex Llew pressed the softest, most luxurious towel she had ever touched to her skin, dabbing the water away. Somehow, scrubbing didn¡¯t seem appropriate with something so masterfully woven, cleansed and dried. She crossed the room to her bed and brushed the sheets with her fingers; they were smooth and soft and inviting. She almost wished there wasn¡¯t a ball that evening ¨C she couldn¡¯t wait to curl up and sleep in those blankets. She jumped at a knock on her door. ¡°Just a minute,¡± she called, pulling the towel around her and crossing the room. ¡°Where is it?¡± Her heart nearly stopped at Jonas¡¯s hostile tone. She had known he would notice the knife¡¯s absence, and she had known he would know who took it. If anything, she was surprised he hadn¡¯t come sooner. She had been preparing for this, but still she wasn¡¯t prepared. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You know what. Open the door.¡± She secured the towel about her, turned the lock, and skipped out of the door¡¯s sweep as soon as the latch clicked. ¡°Where is it?¡± he said, striding into the room. ¡°You won¡¯t find it, and I¡¯m not giving it back to you tonight. So, you might as well go to the dance. I¡¯ll keep it safe.¡± ¡°Is that what this is about?¡± He almost laughed. ¡°You want me to go to a dance? You stupid girl.¡± He started rummaging through her drawers. They were mostly empty, only containing the few items Lord Tovias¡¯s staff had supplied his guests: hairbrushes, undergarments, towels. ¡°You won¡¯t find it.¡± He turned to her, eyes narrowed, and then walked to the bed and threw back the blankets. The pillows were flung aside. He growled in frustration and came across to her. ¡°What did you do with it?¡± He leaned towards her. She could feel his breath on her skin. ¡°I said I wasn¡¯t giving it back to you. Let it be my problem tonight,¡± Llew replied as calmly as possible. ¡°Now I would like to finish drying off. I have a social engagement to prepare for. Please leave.¡± She pointed toward the door. Her hand barely shook. His hard expression faltered at her commanding tone, and his eyes swept down to her bare shoulders and the towel clasped around her. He swallowed, and Llew saw in him the same hunger she¡¯d seen in other men, but in Jonas it was mixed with a nervousness or fear she¡¯d never seen before. Of all people, this man had all the power needed to make her do what she didn¡¯t want to do. But now she did want to. When she¡¯d been with men previously, they¡¯d taken what they wanted. Jonas wouldn¡¯t take. He would ask, but he looked too unnerved even to do that. Scared of hurting her? Of wanting what Aris said he couldn¡¯t have? Everything she had complained about to Anya fell away. There would be no writhing. Not in a bad way, anyway. She lifted her chin and relaxed her hold on her towel, revealing the plump curve of a breast pressed up by the hand beneath. Jonas swallowed again, his eyes searching hers. Llew let the towel slip a little more, flicking her eyes down to direct his gaze, with her breathing becoming shallow and quickening. He looked down, back up, and then stepped close to her, his hands coming up to cup her jaw. Her hands gripped his shirt, pulling him into her. Their lips pressed together. In the hall, Hisham cleared his throat. Jonas kicked the door closed with his heel and nudged Llew back toward the bed, while she pushed open his leather vest and began work on his shirt buttons. With her hands otherwise occupied, the towel fell to the floor. As soon as his shirt came open, she pushed it from his shoulders. Lean though he was, muscles rippled under the skin as he reached to pull her face to his again. Her hands roved his hard back, feeling the little raised patches of scarred skin. This man kissing her with the same combination of hunger and tenderness that she felt for him had seen combat unlike anything that had happened on the shores of her country. She let her eyes follow the line of his shoulder to his biceps, where he had been injured in Stelt. The wound was knitting well. It would soon join the ranks of the other scars over his body. She wished she could fix it for him. She wished she could fix them all. Then he was pulling back. No. Stop! Don¡¯t stop! Her hands clasped his head, and she tried to pull him back to her. He shook his head. ¡°What¡ª Why?¡± ¡°I know Al told you about me, and what I do, what I did, for Aris, for Quaver.¡± He pried her fingers from the back of his head, the self-loathing settling back in place. Llew shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s just sex. Aris would never let me have you, anyway. And I know you don¡¯t like me that way. It¡¯s okay. The last boy I lay with sent me to the hangman.¡± She was talking too much, and it wasn¡¯t working. ¡°It¡¯s only sex.¡± Jonas studied her face for several moments. ¡°I wonder what you were like.¡± ¡°When?¡± ¡°Before you learned to hate men.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡ª¡± Llew¡¯s denial caught in the back of her throat. He was right. Well, maybe not hated them, but she sure as hell didn¡¯t trust them. He straightened, stepping back from her. ¡°I don¡¯t hate you.¡± She gathered his hands in her own, guided one, then the other to her waist, stepped close to him, tracing the lines of his tattoo with a finger. He took a shuddering breath under her touch and when she looked up at him, he was watching her, a sparkle in his eye. Right or wrong, he wanted it, too. He kissed her, then pulled back just far enough that his lips tickled hers when he spoke. ¡°I don¡¯t hate you, either.¡± He kissed her again, and then trailed kisses down her neck, and her fingers found his belt and began work on the buckle until it fell loose. She made short work of his trouser buttons. He hoisted her up, and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her the last few feet, placing her gently on the bed. His hand cupped her breast, her hip, pulled a thigh up beside him, as though he wanted to touch her everywhere at the same time but was hindered by a lack of hands. She gasped at the thrill that started in her belly and sent aftershocks throughout her being. Her nights with Kynas had led her to believe she was numb, damaged. Clearly, that was not so. They barely had to move. Every tremor of his body met with a quiver of her own. Then Jonas stopped, clinging to her. ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡± His breath tickled her ear. She tensed, listening. Had he heard something? He pulled his head up, watching her with eyes free of their usual simmering anger. Tasting his breath, her body trembled around him. Jonas cursed and clung to her, his head on her shoulder while he fought to control his own body. ¡°I said, don¡¯t move.¡± ¡°It was your fault.¡± Llew grinned, on the verge of laughter. She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d ever had such fun. His head came up again, an eyebrow raised. She smiled at him, and he laughed and then cursed again as involuntary convulsions took over. Waves of pleasure filled Llew, but she couldn¡¯t stop laughing.
Llewella rested her head against Jonas¡¯s shoulder and her fingers traced the curving lines of his tattoo. He was watching her, his face grim. ¡°Why does it make you sad?¡± she asked, rising on an elbow and leaning in to kiss his cheek. He frowned again, looking as though he was about to speak, and then he rolled his shoulder out from under her hand to sit on the edge of the bed. She admired the taut, muscular back, and reached out to touch his bicep. When he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. ¡°I wasn¡¯t home when Braph killed them. I was...¡± His face pinched at the memory. ¡°...getting it finished.¡± At a loss for anything to say, she squeezed his arm, trying to give comfort. A knock came at the door and they both tensed. ¡°Who is it?¡± Llew called. ¡°I am here to help you dress for the ball.¡± A young woman¡¯s voice came through the door. They relaxed. ¡°What?¡± Llew got up, wrapped her towel securely around herself, and went to the door. She opened it just enough to poke her head through. ¡°I am here to help you dress for the ball,¡± the girl repeated. She was Llew¡¯s age, brunette, buxom and pretty. ¡°I don¡¯t need help. The dress buttons up the front.¡± ¡°But you will need help with your corset,¡± the girl said in a friendly, puzzled tone. ¡°My what?¡± ¡°Corset.¡± The girl lifted the garment in her hands. ¡°It does up at the back and is quite difficult to do alone.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Llew couldn¡¯t allow her to enter the room right now. ¡°I just need a little time to finish my bath. Could you come back in five minutes?¡± ¡°Certainly, ma¡¯am.¡± The girl gave a small curtsy and left. Ma¡¯am! Llew closed the door and turned to see Jonas doing up the last of his shirt buttons. Fully clothed, he paused to look at her, his expression unreadable. ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault.¡± ¡°I know,¡± he said, buckling his belt, and Llew sensed he had been trying to convince himself of that fact since the day his family had died. ¡°You¡¯re still not getting it back tonight,¡± Llew reminded him on his way past. ¡°I know.¡± His smile turned sardonic. ¡°You¡¯re good, Llew. You¡¯re quick and clever, and I¡¯m gonna trust you to use that to keep that knife out of your own heart tonight.¡± He raised his eyebrows in a you-understand-what-you¡¯re-getting-yourself-into? look. ¡°Don¡¯t get dead.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± He leaned in to give her a light kiss on the cheek. ¡°Don¡¯t lose it.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± He opened the door enough to check that the hall was empty. ¡°Alvaro asked me, by the way.¡± Jonas paused. ¡°Then you¡¯ll go with Alvaro.¡± He slipped through the door, pulling it behind him. ¡°I wish I had your job,¡± said Hisham as the door clicked shut.
Llew mulled over a misspent afternoon and recalled the sensations she had experienced minutes earlier. Only for minutes, too. She didn¡¯t mind. It had been the most joyous few minutes she could remember. She hugged herself. Now what? Jonas seemed to have accepted her determination to relieve him of his self-imposed burden. A burden she still lacked a full understanding of, but which she now felt keenly. She had given herself a duty to keep the weapon safe, and she would do it. She straightened out the bedcovers and waited for the girl to return. Soon afterwards, dressed in nothing but a corset and long puffy leggings with scratchy lace at the edges, Llew shooed the girl from her room and pushed the door closed behind her. Then she walked to the bathtub, kneeled beside it and fished around for the knife. She pulled it from the water and dried it in the towel. She found a long ribbon from a drawer and tied it around the handle and then her waist, and used another shorter ribbon to hold the blade against her thigh. Pulling the dress on was much harder than she had anticipated. The corset restricted her movement compared to what she was used to. Why ladies chose to wear such things she could not imagine. Well, it did give her a bust she normally lacked. When she was properly attired, complete with dress-gloves and gleaming shoes, Llew prepared to present herself to the rest of the world. The deep murmurings of her companions in the hallway reverberated through her door. They were to arrive together, with Anya following a minute or two behind. Llew faced the door and gave herself one last pat down to ensure everything was sitting as it should. Her hand paused where she could feel the shape of the knife sitting against her thigh. The blade was already warming to her skin. When she pulled her hand away, the dress returned to its usual shape, completely disguising the weapon. She took one more breath and opened the door. Cassidy, Alvaro, and Aris loitered restlessly in the hallway, while Jonas leaned against a decorative table with a vase of flowers on top. They all looked up at the sound of her door opening. The warm and discomfiting glow of self-consciousness spread through her as she rustled towards them. Aris quickly scooted over to help her with the door while she gathered up her skirts before they were trapped in it.Stolen story; please report. ¡°Civilisation suits you, Llew,¡± he said with a raise of his eyebrows and an appraising smile. Then he leaned in so that no one else would hear. ¡°Whatever you did to get him to put down that knife and come along, thank you. It¡¯s high time he had some fun.¡± Llew bit her lip and tried not to blush, wondering if he¡¯d be quite so grateful if he knew the details. Louder, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll see if Anya is ready.¡± He headed off down the hall. ¡°How do you do that?¡± Cassidy was looking at her with mock wonder. ¡°What?¡± ¡°One minute you look like just one of the guys, and the next you come out looking like... that.¡± ¡°I think he is trying to say that you look beautiful.¡± Alvaro stepped up to her. ¡°And I would have to agree.¡± Llew had to admit that the men all were transformed, too. Cassidy and Alvaro wore fancy new suits, waistcoats, and brand-new shirts, like those they had worn that morning, but somehow more magnificent. Jonas was attired in black again. The jacket had fine detail around the cuffs and lapels, giving him an exotic appearance. He¡¯d even taken the time to hook his hair back in a ponytail. Aris returned down the hall. ¡°The ladies¡ª Sorry, Llew. The other ladies are ready to follow us in a couple of minutes. Shall we go?¡± Alvaro presented his elbow and Llew hooked her hand through it, though somewhat reluctantly. She looked at Jonas, who gave no indication how he felt about the contact. The ghost of skin on skin washed over her and she had to look away. She smiled up at Alvaro. Now was not the time to break the news to him; they had a dance to attend. With a nod from Aris, they made their way to the ballroom.
The ballroom was spacious and airy, and filled with the same sense of grandeur as the rest of the house. Tonight, though, it was even more spectacular: candles in stunning silver holders along the walls made for a subdued light that gave the room a romantic air. A long table at one end offered nibbles, as there was no formal dinner tonight; tonight, it was all about dancing. Lord Tovias greeted them as they entered, embracing Aris warmly and shaking the hands of each of the others. He had an air of anticipation and kept glancing behind them until he saw Llew. ¡°My lady.¡± He took her hand and kissed it as he bowed gracefully. ¡°You honor me with your beauty.¡± Flustered, Llew smiled shyly, not knowing what she was meant to do in cases such as this. Alvaro stood by her side, beaming. ¡°Please enjoy the night¡¯s festivities.¡± Lord Tovias spread his arms to indicate the ballroom. ¡°It is all in honor of the work you all have done for me, for which I am eternally grateful.¡± Llew let herself be led by Alvaro into the room, where they loitered as a group for a while, getting their bearings. She was aware of Jonas, but he seemed to be hanging back, keeping out of her way. Leaving Alvaro to enjoy his night, she supposed. But her thoughts were consumed with memories of the afternoon. The ballroom was filled with ladies and gentlemen dressed in extravagant dresses and suave suits. Some lounged near the table, eating and chattering, others wandered around carrying glasses, and still others were dancing to music being played by a small orchestra at the far end of the room. Everything was strikingly beautiful: the clothes, the platters of food, glassware, walls, the ceiling, everything. Llew felt herself pale in comparison. ¡°Hello, handsome man.¡± Llew turned at the sound of the sultry voice to see a woman in a sun yellow dress step close to Jonas and lay claim to him with her hand on his bicep. ¡°Franziska.¡± Jonas nodded, lifting her hand from his arm. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°I received an invitation.¡± The woman looped her arm under Jonas¡¯s. She said something to him, but Alvaro was already leading Llew away. Jonas laughed, and the woman¡¯s arm remained linked in his. Llew¡¯s hand went to the knife at her side. Had she done the right thing? ¡°Can¡¯t take you anywhere, can we?¡± Hisham pushed his way through the crowd. He was dressed in the same uniform as Lord Tovias¡¯s guards. He afforded Llew a knowing look before carrying on through to Jonas, who disentangled himself from the yellow woman to greet his friend. She glared at Hisham, and Llew relaxed a little. A moment later, a hush swept through the crowd. Llew looked around at the entrance. There stood Anya, with Emylia at her side, and trailed by two young attendants. Anya sparkled. Her dress was a pale blue, the material shimmering in the flickering lights, and it was covered in tiny precious stones. Lord Tovias bowed deeply, kissing her hand. Sections of the crowd began to clap and cheer. Soon the rest of the room followed suit, and even Llew found herself cheering the couple on. Aris moved through the crowd to take Emylia¡¯s hand, and the new arrivals entered the ballroom to mingle with the assembled guests. The music started up again. Llew let Alvaro guide her to the food and drink table, where he offered her a stemmed glass. ¡°Wine?¡± She accepted it and took a sip. The tangy, fruity liquid smelled and tasted exquisite. They enjoyed a little of the selection of tiny cakes, fruit, bread, and thin slithers of meats, before Alvaro took the glass from her hand, placed it back on the table, and clasped her hand in his. ¡°Dance?¡± ¡°Oh, well, I...¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be fine. Come with me.¡± He guided her through the crowd. She saw Cassidy watching them as they went by, but she had lost sight of the rest of the others. Alvaro led her closer to the musicians and then turned to face her, lifting her hand with his and placing his other hand behind her back. His lead was inexpert, but Llew found she could follow him, and barely stepped on his feet or anyone else¡¯s. The experience of dancing was glorious. Llew felt more womanly than she ever had, and moving her body with the accompanying music seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Sometimes she felt as though she and Alvaro were the only two people in the room: but for one. Frequently, she swept her eyes over the crowd, seeking Jonas. Now and then they stopped dancing for more wine. But Alvaro must have sensed her enjoyment, for he never took her from the dance floor for long. ¡°You look lovely tonight, Llew,¡± he said one time, when they stopped for refreshments. She accepted his compliment with a smile and small nod and grabbed another glass of wine. Anya tapped Alvaro on the shoulder. ¡°May I borrow your date?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Alvaro shrugged. Llew waved goodbye to him as she was led away, grabbing another glass of wine. Anya took her out through the double doors to the deep, semi-circular balcony, on either side of which a stairway swept to the gardens below. A small waterfall ran into a pond dug into the tidy short-clipped lawn of soft green grass. So different from the dry Cheer she had left behind only a month before. Various bushes dotted the garden, and she thought she recognized some roses but, lacking any horticultural experience, Llew just appreciated the strange tidiness of it. Nature, shaped and molded to fit some human ideal. Anya took a deep breath of the cool evening air and puffed it out with an ¡°ahhh¡±. Her eyes gleamed, her cheeks were rosy, and she couldn¡¯t stop smiling. ¡°Isn¡¯t this magnificent?¡± ¡°Sure is.¡± Llew sipped her wine, watching Anya. The girl seemed truly happy. The earl must have been making a good impression. ¡°I just needed some girl time. You¡¯re my only friend here and if I don¡¯t share with someone, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll explode.¡± She threw her arms out in a big circle. Llew suddenly realized what she meant to the girl. During their travels, Llew had spent most of her time with the boys, and she almost felt as though she was one of them. But Anya had always been treated as a girl. She interacted with Aris and Emylia, but not on a truly companionable level. Llew was her own age, and she felt some guilt at not having made more of an effort to get to know the other girl. Anya couldn¡¯t stop beaming. ¡°He¡¯s absolutely wonderful, Llew. Just wonderful,¡± she gushed. ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± Llew smiled. Pleased for Anya, she was less sure how she felt about herself. She had had an amazing time with Jonas that afternoon, but he¡¯d barely acknowledged her since the start of the ball. And then that other woman... Anya turned wide eyes on her. ¡°So, what about you? You came with Alvaro.¡± Llew looked back through the large open doorway into the hall. Alvaro was already dancing with another young lady, smiling and talking animatedly. Happy. Strangely, seeing Alvaro with another woman didn¡¯t have anything like the same effect as seeing that woman drape herself over Jonas. ¡°Well, he asked me.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Anya watched Llew, then let out another contented sigh and looked up at the stars. ¡°I hope you find as much joy as I have, Llew. I really do.¡± Her gaze shifted past Llew¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Oh, and it just may have found you.¡± Llew turned and found herself nose to chest with a man. ¡°Oh!¡± She stepped back and looked up into a pair of light brown eyes under long lashes she could only describe as beautiful. ¡°Hello, ladies.¡± The man smiled at them. ¡°Enjoying the festivities, are we?¡± He held two glasses of wine. ¡°Oh, yes!¡± said Anya. ¡°Everything is perfect.¡± She almost purred. ¡°You are regulars at Lord Tovias¡¯s court?¡± Anya giggled, politely declining the drink and nudging Llew. ¡°Ah, no.¡± Llew accepted the glass, emptying her own in one gulp. ¡°We just arrived in Rakun last night.¡± ¡°Really?¡± He leaned an elbow on the stone balustrade. ¡°Where did you come from, then?¡± ¡°Cheer,¡± said Llew, adding, ¡°Aghacia,¡± when the man didn¡¯t seem to recognize the name. ¡°Oh? A long way. What brought you to Rakun, then?¡± ¡°Anya is to marry Lord Tovias.¡± ¡°Well, well. That is wonderful.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Anya curtsied, glowing under the man¡¯s admiration. ¡°Was your journey pleasant?¡± Llew and Anya began telling him of the journey from their home, each filling in various details. While they both took turns telling of their ups and downs, Llew was aware that he seemed most captivated by her. Well, Anya was already promised to wed, after all. ¡°And they didn¡¯t hurt you?¡± he asked when she recounted her encounter with the Zaki warriors. ¡°Oh, no.¡± She laughed. ¡°Our friend is in the Quaven army. He took care of them for me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad he did, or I might not have had this chance to meet you.¡± He smiled at Llew. Something about the smile shot straight through her, lighting something deep inside. A smiling Jonas flashed into her mind, but she pushed it away. ¡°I would be honored if you¡¯d let me show you a few sights around Rakun.¡± Llew didn¡¯t know what to say and took a sip of wine. ¡°In fact, there¡¯s somewhere special I¡¯d like to show you. Tonight, if you would come with me?¡± Tonight? ¡°Um, well, I¡ª¡± she floundered and turned to Anya, but Anya was disappearing back into the throng of the ballroom. ¡°I should really stay.¡± ¡°Why? What¡¯s keeping you here?¡± The man¡¯s eyes burned into her and, again, an unwanted flash of Jonas looking at her filled her mind¡¯s eye. She shook her head clear and returned her attention to the man before her. Certainly, all his attention was on her. It was as though he thought he could compel her to go with him if he looked at her intensely enough. For a moment Llew almost believed he could. She looked at her wine, watching the bubbles break the surface. ¡°Well, I just got here, and...¡± A commotion drew her attention, and she looked over her shoulder to see Jonas pushing through the crowd to the balcony, with Anya and Cassidy close behind. She looked back at the man. Or rather, where the man had been. She was alone. ¡°Where¡¯d he go?¡± Jonas demanded as he reached her, scanning the darkness for movement. Llew shrugged and looked at Anya for answers. ¡°I didn¡¯t like his tone,¡± said Anya with a shrug. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Anya,¡± Llew said, and then turned on Jonas. ¡°For a worry-wart, you sure know how to leave a burden behind.¡± Cassidy and Anya looked surprised at her accusation. Cassidy knew his place though and, with his hands resting lightly on her shoulders, he turned Anya and guided her back to the ballroom. ¡°They make a cute couple, don¡¯t they?¡± Llew leaned into Jonas as though she were making an idle observation, before raising her voice again. ¡°Cassidy likes her, you know? But he knows how to keep his hands to himself.¡± Jonas hissed. Anya looked back at Llew, her mouth open and cheeks reddening with scandalized horror. Cassidy looked sick. ¡°He¡¯s cute, too. But he doesn¡¯t have Lord Tovias¡¯s pockets.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough, Llew.¡± Jonas gripped her arm. ¡°You¡¯ve no right to ruin everyone else¡¯s night just ¡¯cause you¡¯re sufferin¡¯ misplaced jealousy. What¡¯s your problem?¡± ¡°You¡¯re my problem. Leaving me to carry your burden while you catch up with an old flame.¡± ¡°She¡¯s not¡ª¡± He stopped. ¡°No one knows you¡¯ve got it, do they?¡± He stepped in closer to avoid being overheard. ¡°You¡¯ve barely been out of my sight all night.¡± ¡°Oh? So, you weren¡¯t bothered when another man was showing interest in me?¡± Jonas looked uncomfortable for a moment. ¡°Alright, so I wasn¡¯t watchin¡¯ you then.¡± ¡°Too busy with your other women?¡± Llew downed the rest of her wine, watching him over the rim. It felt good to say what was on her mind and she wondered if the fruity liquid had anything to do with it. She placed the glass down on the balustrade, forcefully enough to make a point, but with sufficient control not to break it. ¡°That¡¯s enough, Llew.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it is, Jonas. I think we¡¯re only getting started.¡± By now, other guests standing by the doors were looking at them and whispering. ¡°He can bed me when I anger him,¡± Llew said loud enough for them all to hear, watching Jonas¡¯s mounting anger. ¡°But he won¡¯t be seen to enjoy my company in public.¡± Jonas grabbed her by the wrist hard enough to make her squeal and led her down one of the staircases to the lawn below. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m getting lucky!¡± she called over her shoulder as she stumbled down behind him and smiled at the titters that followed. ¡°Has it all got a bit exciting for you?¡± she ventured when they reached the shadow below the curved peak of the balcony. ¡°Don¡¯t be a fool!¡± He spun back to face her; his arm raised. She flinched from the threatened assault. ¡°How dare you!¡± She was positive it was the wine making her so bold. ¡°Damn it, Llew. Little more than a week ago, I could have killed you!¡± ¡°No, you couldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°What makes you so sure?¡± ¡°Because you didn¡¯t.¡± All Jonas¡¯s tension eased, and he rocked back, digesting that. He gave a brief laugh and shook his head. He chuckled to himself, leaned his shoulder against the wall and laughed again. The band struck up a new, slow tune. Llew watched Jonas, lost in his thoughts as he was, and her own spite evaporated. He was right; her jealousy had gotten the better of her and she was going to have some apologizing to do. Jealousy, like a scab: just another thing Llew had never experienced, and she felt duly humbled. She stood a few moments more, wallowing in self deprecation. She glanced Jonas¡¯s way a couple of times, catching his eye once or twice before he, too, looked away. What now? Shouldn¡¯t Jonas have demanded she return his knife and stormed off by now? Here they were, standing close to each other, sort of awkward and yet, somehow, as comfortable as if they¡¯d known each other forever. The band eased seamlessly into another new song with a similar pace. Well, it was hardly right to waste the opportunity... ¡°Dance with me?¡± She held out a hand. He looked at her with an expression suggesting that he wondered if she was thinking clearly, or if she was indeed crazy. ¡°Dance with me,¡± she demanded, shaking her hand at him. He looked surprised, then smiled and pushed himself out from the wall and clasped her hand. He pressed his other hand behind her back and began to move with the music, guiding her with gentle pressure from both hands and, occasionally, a hip. With the warmth of his body, the effects of the wine seemed to double, and Llewella let herself relax into his embrace. She laughed as he stumbled forward to stop her from falling. Her head fell back, and she took in the upside-down garden as he whirled her around, expertly recovering. Allowing Jonas to bring her upright, Llewella brushed her short hair away from her eyes as she regained her bearings. Over Jonas¡¯s shoulder, she saw the man from earlier step down the stairs. She suddenly realized she didn¡¯t know his name. He stood at the bottom of the stairs for a moment, looking about. He saw Llew looking at him and smiled, though the expression was somehow cold, then he disappeared into the shadows. His name settled in her mind then. Braph. Clean-shaven and damn near as handsome as his brother. ¡°What am I to do with you, Llew?¡± ¡°Do with me? I have no idea what you mean.¡± She pulled back to look at him, Braph slipping from her thoughts. ¡°How can I hate everythin¡¯ you are, but feel what I feel?¡± Jonas said in frustration. ¡°It¡¯s turnin¡¯ me inside out.¡± ¡°You could try not hating me for a start.¡± She laid her wine-dizzy head on his shoulder. He gave a small laugh. ¡°I suppose it should be that simple.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said into his shoulder. The music moved into another upbeat number and they pulled apart again for a moment before Jonas leaned in to kiss her. ¡°Ow!¡± He pulled back. ¡°Oh. Sorry, my feet were killing me.¡± Llew smirked at him. ¡°If it weren¡¯t for these gloves, I¡¯d have been zapping Alvaro all night.¡± She gasped as she realized that she had abandoned her escort. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. He¡¯s been distracted since you stepped out.¡± ¡°Come on.¡± She took Jonas¡¯s hand and led him from the garden. They returned to her room, where he assisted her in unbuttoning the gown. The dress slipped away and Llew stepped out from the layered skirts. Jonas laughed. ¡°What?¡± Llew scowled at him, then looked down at herself in her corset and knickerbockers with his knife slung around her waist, tied with ribbons. ¡°Well, help me get them off, then.¡± She untied the knife and threw it down beside him, then turned and let him pull at the knot holding the corset tight. She felt his fingers pull unhurriedly at the tie, loosening the garment down the length of her back, until it finally fell away. She remained standing, facing away, expecting him to dispose of the ugly undergarments as quickly as she wanted to be free of them. But instead, his warm hands clasped either side of her waist and he pressed his lips to the small of her back. ¡°You¡¯re a fine woman, Llewella.¡± She closed her eyes to savor his words and smiled as a thought came to her. She glanced over her shoulder. ¡°You hate Aenuks and I hate men? We must be the perfect couple.¡± ¡°It must be true love.¡± Jonas kissed her back again. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about love.¡± ¡°Sex, on the other hand...¡± Indeed. Llewella turned and pressed him back onto the bed. 17: Turhmos Llewella woke to the sound of gentle, even breathing and a warm hand resting on her belly. She smiled to herself and turned to Jonas. She was surprised by how refreshed she felt. The movement was enough to stir him, and his eyes opened. ¡°Good morning,¡± he greeted her, his voice muffled by the pillow. ¡°I think I got your hangover.¡± He rolled onto his back. She gave him a smile, but inside she cursed herself. It wasn¡¯t fair to go passing her stupidity onto her friends. If it was possible, she needed to learn how to control her power. She shuffled closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, breathing him in. Was this how her parents had felt about each other? No wonder her mother¡¯s death had pained her father so. ¡°I wish this moment could last forever.¡± He kissed the top of her head but said nothing. ¡°It can¡¯t, can it?¡± When he didn¡¯t reply, she continued, ¡°Aris wants me kept safe, and you¡¯re a lieutenant in the army. You won¡¯t have time to stick around.¡± She pushed herself up on an elbow, enjoying the feel of his skin with her other hand. He was looking at her, listening, but his expression gave nothing away. ¡°And then there¡¯s the small matter of Aris wanting you for his Syakaran breeding program.¡± Jonas sat up in the bed and swiveled his legs off the edge. Llew¡¯s eyes trailed down the mighty black curves of his tattoo. ¡°What if he doesn¡¯t find one?¡± He turned his head, and she gazed at his profile. Now free to do so, she openly admired what she saw: a strong brow, straight nose, full lips... ¡°I don¡¯t know, Llew. A little over a year ago I was gettin¡¯ ready to meet my son or daughter. But he, she... it¡ª Gods, I wish I knew!¡± He slapped the edge of the mattress. ¡°My wife and our child were taken from me.¡± He turned to her. ¡°I ain¡¯t planned for nothin¡¯ since.¡± She felt terrible for his loss, she really did. Of course she did. But she couldn¡¯t help feeling that if he hadn¡¯t suffered that, she wouldn¡¯t be here with him now. Would he have even been in Aghacia a month prior? Would they ever have met? If he hadn¡¯t lost his family, Llew could have been in Braph¡¯s, or Turhmos¡¯s hands already. She might not even have had the option of going to Quaver, even if she did still have to talk herself around to wanting that as a future. Quaver looked a whole lot more appealing if she went with Jonas, rather than just being escorted by him. She placed a hand on his shoulder. ¡°Would he ever let me have you?¡± She let her hand drop, brushing down his side with the backs of her knuckles. It must have tickled, because he flinched and snatched her fingers in a fierce grip; then he held them gently, giving her a playful smile. He pressed her knuckles to his lips. ¡°Let¡¯s get you safely to Quaver¡ª¡± Kiss. ¡±¡ªout of the reach of Braph¡ª¡± Kiss. ¡±¡ªand Turhmos.¡± Kiss. ¡°Then we can make a plan.¡± He released her hand and began pulling on his clothing. ¡°Tell me you didn¡¯t just sleep with me, only to leave me behind at the end of all this.¡± He leaned back across the bed and kissed her gently. ¡°I care about you, Llew.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°It means...¡± He stood up. ¡°It means I want what¡¯s best for you. It means I ain¡¯t even sure you¡¯ll be safe in Quaver.¡± ¡°I would be if I was with you.¡± ¡°Llew, look at me. I¡¯m surrounded by ghosts. I ain¡¯t about to let you become one of them.¡± ¡°But I don¡¯t want to live my life not living. And what about you? You want to live the rest of your life running from love because you might lose it again? My pa did that. Maybe he was right, maybe he would never have found anyone like my ma, but he didn¡¯t even try, and look where that got him.¡± Jonas pressed his lips together and turned away to finish buttoning his shirt. ¡°You can¡¯t live under Aris¡¯s thumb forever.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t go from his to yours, neither.¡± The words were as effective as a physical shove. Llew¡¯s mouth fell open. Jonas sighed, clamped his lips tight against further chastisement, or maybe an apology. He scooped up his knife from beside the bed and crossed the room to the door. Gut-punch or not, she couldn¡¯t let him walk out on that note. ¡°Wait!¡± She leaped from the bed, leaving the sheet behind in her eagerness. Jonas stopped halfway through the door, grinning at her nakedness as she looked around for something to cover herself and finally returned for the sheet. She tugged it from the bed and skipped across the room, gripped his collar, drew him to her, and placed a lingering kiss on his lips. He smiled when their lips parted. She smiled back at him. ¡°More of those, please,¡± she said. ¡°Kisses?¡± ¡°Smiles.¡± ¡°Get dressed,¡± he whispered. ¡°I¡¯ll meet you at breakfast.¡± His smile broadened, and he began to close the door behind him. The first clue that they were not alone was the fist that connected with Jonas¡¯s jaw. Taken by surprise, he was knocked down. Cursing, he caught himself on an elbow and was up in an instant to return the blow. The knife fell from his grip, clattering along the hard surface. Alvaro was on the ground with Jonas on top of him before Llew could do any more than gasp. ¡°Stop!¡± she cried as she knotted the sheet around her and tried to wrench Jonas from Alvaro by tugging on his shirt. ¡°Stop it! Stop it!¡± She grabbed Jonas¡¯s arm and he let her pull him up. Alvaro pushed himself from the floor, lunging at Jonas. Llew shoved Jonas out of the way and took the fist full on her cheek, tasting blood as her teeth cut into her skin. ¡°Llew! I¡¯m sorry, Llew.¡± Alvaro¡¯s voice was just audible over the ringing in her ears. ¡°Stop!¡± she screeched as Jonas lined Alvaro up for retaliation. She splayed her arms between them, trying to keep them away from each other. The men eased their stances, still eying one another, and still ready to reply if the other made a move. Doors along the hallway opened and heads emerged, with some people making their way into the hall to see what was happening. ¡°Jonas!¡± Aris¡¯s gruff voice rang down the hall as he strode, half-dressed, towards them. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Nothin¡¯,¡± said Jonas. Aris looked over the three of them. He turned to Jonas. ¡°Nothin¡¯, huh? Doesn¡¯t look like nothing to me. Llew?¡± He raised an eyebrow at her standing there wrapped in nothing but a sheet. Alvaro¡¯s face darkened and guilt rose within Llew. Accepting his invite to the dance had not been a promise of anything more, but... As whispers filled the hallway, Llew straightened, presenting a defiant face. What she did, and with whom, was her business. ¡°Oh, Jonas.¡± Aris¡¯s tone brimmed with disappointment. ¡°Leave me be, Aris. I know what I¡¯m doin¡¯,¡± Jonas said. ¡°Do you?¡± ¡°It was you who told me not to let her out o¡¯ my sight.¡± Jonas lifted his head to look the older man in the eye. ¡°I was keepin¡¯ an eye on her.¡± ¡°You know damned well that wasn¡¯t what I meant,¡± said Aris. ¡°Just what did you mean?¡± Llew pulled the sheet tight and stood as tall as she could. ¡°You want him to keep me out of Turhmos¡¯s and Braph¡¯s hands for what, exactly? What do you have planned for me? And what about Jonas? What are your plans, Aris? Jonas isn¡¯t some stallion you put to stud. He¡¯s a man. He doesn¡¯t deserve to carry the weight of your dreams, and everyone else¡¯s. Let him have his own.¡± Jonas¡¯s ears were flaming red. His lips remained clamped shut as he looked from Aris to Llew, fuming, before storming down the hallway and out of sight. Llew watched him go, baffled by his reaction. She¡¯d just been fighting for him ¨C did he not want what she wanted? Did he not want to break free from Aris¡¯s grip? I can¡¯t go from his to yours, neither, he¡¯d said. Jonas¡¯s knife lay where it had slid and Llew stooped to collect it before dashing into her room. She pulled on her old shirt and pants and darted back out again. She glared at everyone still milling about, daring them to say anything, and brushed Alvaro¡¯s hand with her own before continuing down the hall. ¡°You deserved that,¡± she said in response to his yelped complaint. The broken skin of her cheek rejoined, and her head stopped aching, and she headed the way Jonas had gone. Just around the corner, she met Cassidy coming from another wing. ¡°How¡¯s the head this morning?¡± he asked with a knowing smile. ¡°Fine.¡± He looked sceptical at first, then clicked. ¡°Found someone to pass it on to, did we?¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Llew blushed. ¡°Ah.¡± He smiled. ¡°I have to find Jonas,¡± she muttered, continuing on. She supposed that, as with the previous day, he had sought sanctuary in the quiet of the stables. At least the horses didn¡¯t judge. She ran downstairs and through hallways, finally emerging into daylight. There was no sign of Jonas. He¡¯d be in the stable already. ¡°Hello, Llewella.¡± The smooth voice stopped her in her tracks. ¡°Braph.¡± She turned to face the man from the ball the night before. Today, he wore his customary leather. She let the hand carrying Jonas¡¯s knife fall to her side, hoping he wouldn¡¯t notice. ¡°You know who I am. Fabulous,¡± he said. ¡°That will save some time.¡± ¡°And you know me.¡± She scanned the surrounding area. For a place filled with people, it was strangely quiet. But people had been up late the previous night, either attending or organizing the ball. They would all be sleeping in, and those that weren¡¯t had work to do. There was no one around. ¡°Of course, I do. I¡¯ve been... studying your family for a very long time.¡± Llew¡¯s heart beat faster. Could she run to the stable before he caught her? She doubted it. Even without his magician¡¯s device, he was a Karan. He might not be as quick as Jonas, but he would be faster than her. Hisham appeared around a corner. ¡°Llew. Wha¡ª¡± ¡°Hisham! It¡¯s Braph!¡± Llew turned and ran for the stable as soon as Braph¡¯s attention shifted to Jonas¡¯s friend. She hoped it wouldn¡¯t mean he was hurt, but she had to get away. She heard the thumps and crashes of the too-brief fight behind her, and then running footsteps catching up fast. She didn¡¯t look to see who it was. She knew. If Hisham had won, he¡¯d have called out to her, or simply let her go. ¡°Jonas!¡± she cried. And then Braph had her wrapped in his arms and they were stumbling, falling. The ground rushed toward her, and then it rushed away, even faster. They were flying. Jonas exited the stable, looking around. Braph¡¯s hand clamped over her mouth. Their trajectory took them over the estate¡¯s wall. She watched in shock as Jonas looked over at Hisham slowly, stiffly pushing himself from the ground, and then Llew lost sight of them both. She and Braph crashed to the ground at the edge of the forest beside the estate and Llew rolled from Braph¡¯s grasp. Somehow, she still held Jonas¡¯s knife. Clutching it tight, she ran at Braph. Surely, he would be as susceptible to a blade as anyone else? She drew it back as she neared him, then swept it forward and lunged ¨C and his hand grabbed her wrist. She fought against him, but his grip was like iron. She hit him with her other hand while he fiddled with his foot. He came up again, clicked something on his bracelet and a crystal flew out. Then he clicked the one in his hand in its place, spun her back into him again, gripping her tightly to him. Everything went white, then black, and Llew¡¯s ears screamed. When they crash-landed again, it took several minutes for Llew to open her eyes and find the strength to lift herself from the ground and look about. Braph was lying on the ground beside her, drenched in sweat: but he was watching her, and the look in his eyes told her he still believed he had enough to catch her should she try to run. She didn¡¯t think she had the energy to do so, anyway. They were in the middle of a field of dry, scratchy grass, reminiscent of areas around Cheer. The land was flat for miles in all directions, the landscape featureless from their vantage point, exactly unlike Cheer. The sun shone from a clear blue sky, but there was no heat in it. Llew¡¯s hands were empty. Shit. Jonas would kill her if she lost his knife ¨C not that he would be able to, but that wasn¡¯t the point. She looked around them, panicking that it had been dropped in mid... flight? But then she spotted it in the grass nearby, the ribbon still tied around the handle. Braph just watched as she scurried on hands and knees to collect it. She wished he didn¡¯t know she had it. Still, perhaps she could turn it to her advantage, somehow. One thing she was almost certain of: Braph didn¡¯t want her dead. ¡°Where are we?¡± she demanded, holding the knife as threateningly as possible. Braph smiled. ¡°Right about in the heart of Turhmos, if my navigation is as good as it should be.¡± ¡°Turhmos,¡± Llew breathed. In the middle of the country that wanted her children, with the man who wanted her blood. ¡°We still have a way to go. But we¡¯ve got a good head start if that brother of mine decides to come after you.¡± Braph scrabbled to his feet, and Llew followed him up with the knife point. It was an impotent gesture. Despite the dripping sweat, he moved with the ease of a man with plenty in reserve. He looked at his wrist device and his lips pressed together. He popped out the crystal. ¡°Here.¡± He held it out to her. It was a dull purplish color. ¡°The last piece of your mother.¡± Llew did not move for a moment, paralyzed by the words. Then she took the crystal gingerly, not sure whether to cherish it or toss it away in disgust. She supposed if she kept it for now, she could toss it later, so she pressed it deep into a pocket. Braph clicked another crystal into the device on his wrist, then held out a hand expectantly. Llew looked at it, confused for a moment, and then she remembered the knife. ¡°No. It¡¯s Jonas¡¯s knife. I have to give it back to him.¡± She held the knife behind her. Braph tilted his head, giving her a flat look. ¡°You won¡¯t be seeing him again. It doesn¡¯t fit with my plans.¡± ¡°If he doesn¡¯t come looking for me, he will come for this.¡± Llew scowled at the flash of annoyance that went through her as she realised she was right. It was possible Jonas might not come to find her. They hadn¡¯t known each other that long, and he had a long history of hating her kind. For all she knew, he and Aris might be quietly glad she was back where she belonged. The knife was a different matter. She shoved it at Braph, over-shooting his waiting hand, but he caught it ¨C and did so safely. Damn it. ¡°Does it make you feel any better to know that he once cared so little for the knife that he gave it to me? He thought I coveted it most.¡± Braph swivelled on the spot, studying the landscape. ¡°He was right.¡± He looked down at Llew. He was so like Jonas, and his eyes were haunted by the same sadness touched with guilt; he was taller though, and colder. ¡°But his greatest gift to me would come when I met your mother. I knew what she was the minute I saw her; that complexion stands out in Quaver. And this knife made the taking so much easier. I had planned to return it to him one day.¡± His face twitched at the remembered annoyance. ¡°You did. When you killed his family.¡± ¡°That way.¡± He pointed, ignoring her. How he knew one way from the other, Llew couldn¡¯t guess. It all looked the same to her. Sure, there were mountains in the distance at a couple of angles, but they were too far away to distinguish any features. ¡°Move.¡± Braph shoved her and they began the long trek through the tall grasses.
¡°What happened?¡± Jonas asked when he reached Hisham. He scanned the courtyard again. He was sure he¡¯d heard Llew call his name. ¡°Where¡¯s Llew?¡± ¡°Braph,¡± Hisham said, brushing dirt from his uniform, then dabbing his fingers against a tender spot on his cheek and checking them for blood. ¡°Sorry, man. He got her.¡± ¡°He got her?¡± Jonas felt sick. He spun on the spot, scanning the entire courtyard. ¡°Where¡¯d they go?¡± Even Braph couldn¡¯t be that fast. He might be a Karan magician, but Llew wouldn¡¯t make it easy for him. Hisham pointed up. Jonas didn¡¯t understand. ¡°They flew.¡± Jonas¡¯s stomach was an empty pit. Flying? What wasn¡¯t Braph capable of? They could be halfway to Turhmos by now and, even if Jonas started running now, he¡¯d tire before he got to the border. He swore. Of course, Braph had taken her. Jonas had finally let himself feel what had been brewing since that first drunken embrace, and in doing so he¡¯d condemned Llew. Jonas loved, Jonas lost. But he would be damned if would lose Llew to his brother. ¡°We have to go after them.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get the horses ready. You better tell Aris.¡± Jonas cursed again. Aris wouldn¡¯t let him go easily. But he would have to let him go. ¡°Jonas?¡± Jonas turned to Hisham. ¡°She¡¯s Aenuk, ain¡¯t she?¡± Hisham looked him straight in the eye. There was no denying it, not that Jonas would. Llew was Llew, no matter what she was. His lack of denial created a flicker of distaste on Hisham¡¯s face, but it passed quickly. Aris had called in backup, but he hadn¡¯t told them what the backup was for. How long did he intend to keep it secret? Until she was in the heart of Quaver? At the center of anti-Aenuk sentiment? Well, now she was likely at the center of Aenuk adulation. How much better would she be faring? ¡°I¡¯ll talk to Aris. Have four horses ready.¡± As much as he hated to admit it, they would need Cassidy and Alvaro. Hisham could probably move through Turhmos without too much suspicion, but his dark skin would still draw the occasional questioning look. It was unlikely Jonas could do much at all without being recognized. Turhmos had wanted him dead since he¡¯d been born ¨C never mind how they felt after his little rampage a year earlier. Alvaro and Cassidy wouldn¡¯t draw suspicion and would be his passport. It wasn¡¯t unheard of for Brurun locals to visit either Turhmos or Quaver, both of which it bordered; in fact, the tourism was encouraged by both nations. Anticipating resistance from Aris and open antipathy from Alvaro, Jonas turned indoors, figuring both men would be at breakfast by now. He shouldn¡¯t have left her. He should have done as he was supposed to do and kept his eye on her at all times. But right in the middle of a hallway, surrounded by well-to-do folk they didn¡¯t know, Aris and Llew had made a spectacle of him, pulling this way and that. And Llew had the audacity to talk about his dreams. What did she know about his dreams? He didn¡¯t even know about them now. He¡¯d had dreams, and they¡¯d been crushed, and he hadn¡¯t allowed himself to dream since. Yes, he liked her. Yes, he wanted to spend more time with her. But he didn¡¯t dare hope that he could do it. His life wasn¡¯t his to direct. He was a soldier for Quaver; he went where Quaver wanted him. Where Aris wanted him. He was Aris¡¯s man. The plan to take Llew back to Quaver with them buoyed him, since it meant he would be with her for longer. But he wasn¡¯t stupid enough to hope it could last beyond the journey home. She was Syaenuk. She wasn¡¯t an innocent girl to be safely escorted; she was a captive, and she would be taken into custody to be kept out of the wrong hands. And then what? What would Quaver do with her? As much as he wanted to believe they¡¯d keep her in fine accommodation and allow her to follow her dreams, whether that be education or a family, in the back of his mind he knew that couldn¡¯t happen. In the hands of Quaven officials, she would be studied. Some part of him knew that Quaver would almost certainly do what Turhmos would do: try to create more like her. His jaw clenched at the thought of Llew enduring such treatment, and some primal part just wanted to fight for his own claim on her. Damn it! Anya¡¯s Aghacian posse was afforded the privilege of eating with Lord Tovias in his small private dining quarters, while most guests were left to dine in what had been used as the ballroom the night before. They were all there: Aris, Emylia, Anya, Lord Tovias, Cassidy and Alvaro. Jonas avoided making eye contact with Alvaro when he entered. Anya watched him; eyes wide, eager for news. Stories of the altercation in the hall would have reached nearly every ear on the estate by now. A flicker of concern touched the girl¡¯s eyes when she realized Llew wasn¡¯t with him. Aris stood up as he approached. ¡°Braph got her.¡± Jonas said. ¡°Braph has Llew.¡± ¡°What?¡± Alvaro¡¯s chair skidded back, filling the room with a deafening scraping sound before it crashed to the floor behind him. Everyone in the room looked to Lord Tovias for his reaction, but he shrugged it off before returning his attention to Jonas. Jonas ignored Alvaro, focusing entirely on Aris and what he would have to say about it, even though it would have little effect on what Jonas was going to do. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose I can stop you going into Turhmos to find her?¡± Jonas shook his head. ¡°Need I remind you that if not now, then soon Braph will be the most powerful man in the world, and you will be in the heart of hostile territory?¡± ¡°Then I need to stop him. Now.¡± He waited for Aris to make a move. Aris had been livid and terrified when Jonas had ripped through Turhmos on his revenge raid the previous year, and he¡¯d torn strips off Jonas for days after his return. But the simple fact remained that Aris was a man past his prime, and Jonas was Syakaran. Aris nodded slowly. He knew he couldn¡¯t stop Jonas, so he wasn¡¯t even going to try. They had already had many discussions since discovering what Llew was. Discussions in which the words ¡®unnatural¡¯ and ¡®disgrace¡¯ and ¡®evil¡¯ had featured heavily. And, at first, Jonas had tried to honor Aris¡¯s advice; he¡¯d even agreed on some level. But Llew was Llew. She wasn¡¯t just some anonymous Aenuk, and she¡¯d got under his skin despite his best efforts. Aris would be calculating how to send a whole army detachment into Turhmos with Jonas, but there would be no way of doing so without starting a new war, and a war Quaver couldn¡¯t afford right now. He knew well enough that there would be no stopping Jonas. The only power Aris had over him was respect, but they both knew even that had a limit. All Aris could do was try to reduce the risk of the mission. ¡°I need Cassidy and Alvaro,¡± Jonas said. Aris nodded again. ¡°Hisham¡¯s coming, too.¡± Technically, Jonas had no right to commandeer Hisham, as he was a lieutenant, too. Both needed Aris¡¯s command before they acted. But Aris just nodded again. Jonas nodded solemnly in return. That was that, then. He was returning to Turhmos with one Karan and two civilians. Without his knife. 18: Stay Optimistic ¡°If I ran, would you need to use a crystal to catch me?¡± It felt as though they had been scuffing through the long grass for hours, but Llew supposed it had more than likely only been one, if that. She was hungry. She hadn¡¯t had breakfast. ¡°No.¡± One side of Braph¡¯s mouth lifted. ¡°I am Karan. You are merely Aenuk.¡± ¡°Syaenuk.¡± ¡°So, you know what you are. Very good.¡± ¡°You tried to have me killed. Of course, I know!¡± Braph said nothing. ¡°It was you, wasn¡¯t it? You tried to kill me.¡± ¡°I believe I succeeded.¡± ¡°How did you know Jonas wouldn¡¯t kill me?¡± Braph was silent. ¡°What would you have done if he¡¯d made it permanent?¡± Braph pressed his lips tighter. Llew gave up. ¡°How far are we going?¡± A chill wind blew, but whatever snowy peaks Turhmos had, they were too distant to rise above the horizon. ¡°The closest town is a day¡¯s walk. From there, it is a couple of days¡¯ riding.¡± ¡°You couldn¡¯t have flown us a little closer?¡± ¡°I took us as far as the crystal could carry us,¡± he growled. ¡°Do you know how huge Turhmos is?¡± Llew shook her head. ¡°And that¡¯s the last piece of Orinia I had. You had better be worth it.¡± He continued muttering, but the only words to reach Llew with any clarity were ¡®father¡¯ and ¡®dilute¡¯. Llew¡¯s hand went to the hard shape in her pocket. Suddenly, she stopped walking. As soon as he sensed her no longer beside him, Braph stopped too, and looked back to her. ¡°You used to ¡­ own my mother?¡± She had believed her mother dead for all these years and had made peace with that. But now she was having visions of her mother in this man¡¯s cage, of him coming to drain her blood once a day, or week, and leaving her in the dark. Her sorrow was colored by guilt for the times she¡¯d cursed her mother if she were still alive. It had never occurred to Llew that her mother might have been kept against her will. Braph walked back, turned her, and pushed her onward. ¡°It¡¯s a long way,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t own her. We loved one another.¡± Her mother loving this man? She couldn¡¯t believe it; he clearly did. ¡°But you kidnapped her.¡± She still remembered the day, even twelve years later, waiting for her mother to return from the store. Her father thought she might have been captured by the Quaven authorities, and he kept Llew indoors for several days before bundling her up and leaving Quaver forever. Quaver had no reason to keep an Aenuk alive. But there had been no rumors, no stories of an Aenuk in Quaver, and as Llew grew that lack had grown in significance, and she had clung to it ¨C her mother hadn¡¯t been captured, she must have left. ¡°I... I captured her to study, yes. But it grew into more than that.¡± ¡°She was married. And had a child!¡± She spun to face him again, but he grabbed her arm roughly, turning her and propelling her forward with a shove. ¡°Move!¡± Llew tried to pull her arm free, but his grip was too strong. ¡°You¡¯re beginning to fray my nerves, girl. Don¡¯t forget that I have been working with Aenuks and Syaenuks for half my life. I know how to hurt you in extremely interesting ways.¡± Llew mentally cringed. She didn¡¯t know the full extent of Braph¡¯s powers, but his arrogance both infuriated and intimidated her. ¡°What happened to her?¡± she asked as they trudged on. Braph didn¡¯t answer immediately, and when she looked at him, he was struggling to control his emotions. ¡°She was taken from me,¡± he said. ¡°By who?¡± ¡°Turhmos.¡± ¡°She¡¯s still alive?¡± ¡°I believe so, yes.¡± Her mother lived. A muddle of thoughts and feelings filled Llew¡¯s head and heart. Hope. More than a decade. What would her mother be like? Would she ever get the chance to see her? Hug her? Hopelessness. Here Llew was, trudging across Turhmos with Braph; the man who¡¯d taken Llew¡¯s ma from her all those years ago, and who claimed to love her. ¡°You want her back, don¡¯t you? Is that why you came for me?¡± ¡°Initially. I was on my way to find you when you made quite a splash on the telegraph with that rather public reincarnation in Cheer.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t exactly have a choice...¡± ¡°That¡¯s beside the point. Once that news was flying down the wires, I knew Turhmos would make their move. And Turhmos doesn¡¯t know how to take care of their Aenuks like I do. It¡¯s just lucky for you they had no idea what they were looking for.¡± There it was. He was talking about her like she was an animal, a possession, again. When would people stop doing that? ¡°Lucky for me, I met your brother first.¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± He looked at her, reading her. ¡°Do you know how close he came to killing you in Stelt?¡± A familiar chill settled on Llew. ¡°No.¡± ¡°He thought about it. I was watching. While you lay dying, he put this blade to your back. If he¡¯d decided to do it, I would have tried to stop him, but I¡¯ve yet to find out if I could have succeeded.¡± ¡°But he didn¡¯t.¡± The thought brought a small smile to her lips. The breeze picked up and Llew shivered, hugging herself. She was only wearing her shirt and the cold cut right through her. She turned to Braph. He wasn¡¯t looking at her and walked with his head down. With his whiskers growing again, he looked so like Jonas had when they¡¯d been traveling the length of Aghacia: the same straight profile and strong brow over expressive brown eyes. ¡°Why do you need my blood? You must have Aenuk blood already. What do you plan to do with mine?¡± Now Braph looked at her. ¡°I must kill him,¡± he said. ¡°It is too great a risk for me to attempt it without Syaenuk blood. I¡¯ve seen him move. I¡¯ve seen him fight. I¡¯m strong and fast, and with my magic I could do things to him he would have no defense against. But I don¡¯t know if I could do it for long enough to bring him down.¡± ¡°Why must you kill him?¡± ¡°To get Orinia back.¡± He half smiled at her and Llew saw love for her mother in his eyes. Then he turned his head away, lazily observing the empty expanse around them. ¡°And to know that I could.¡±
¡°Please, sit. Eat some breakfast.¡± Lord Tovias beckoned Jonas to join them. ¡°You won¡¯t get far on an empty stomach. And it¡¯ll give my kitchen time to prepare rations for your journey.¡± Eager as Jonas was to get going, Gaemil was right. If he didn¡¯t eat, he would need to stop sooner to find something, and it would only hold them up. If he ate now, he could ride all day without stopping. They might even make the Turhmos border. It was frustrating: Braph and Llew had flown and for all Jonas knew they could be halfway to Turhmos already. Jonas nodded. He sat at the table and started filling a bowl, while Lord Tovias motioned to one of the servants to carry out his orders. Jonas could feel Anya staring at him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll find her,¡± he said and filled his mouth with fruit and cooling oatmeal as he looked at the girl, his hair curtaining his face. She relaxed at his calm tone; he wished he felt the same. Just how far could Braph fly? Could it be possible they were over the border already? And, if so, what sort of trail would there be to follow? No-one would have seen them, so there would be no-one to ask. He wondered how well known Braph¡¯s home was. But he suspected Braph wasn¡¯t especially popular in Turhmos or else he would have been traveling with the soldiers and Llew would have been in real trouble a lot sooner. He sent Cassidy and Alvaro to grab what they needed for the mission, shoveled the rest of his breakfast into his mouth, then, with thanks to his host and a nod to Aris, he gathered the supplies from the kitchen, and took some clothing from his room. Then he headed back to the stable. Hisham waited with five horses saddled and ready to go. ¡°Got to stay optimistic that we¡¯ll find this girl of yours.¡± Hisham grinned and nodded at Llew¡¯s gold and white mount, saddled. Jonas smiled back. He¡¯d known Hisham since they were sixteen, the usual age for recruits, usually Kara, with obvious promise in the Quaven army. They weren¡¯t expected to go to battle that young, but Jonas had been in the army two years by then and Hisham was eager. They fought alongside each other for five years until Jonas¡¯s family had been killed and Aris forbade Jonas¡¯s return to the Turhmos border. The day Jonas had returned to his home in flames and the news that his pregnant wife was dead had seemed to him like the end of the world. He might have only been married a little over a year, and it might have been arranged, but he had grown to love Kierra. She was a beautiful woman who seemed to glow with life when she became pregnant. She loved him. Yes, he had continued to do Aris¡¯s bidding, but he always returned to her arms. As soon as Aris returned the knife to him, Jonas had sprinted into Turhmos and taken his revenge on many, many Aenuks before he even stopped to think what the knife back in his hands meant: that his brother was to blame. Now Turhmos wanted him dead even more than before, and they had a case to have him prosecuted for, and found guilty of, murder. Aris and other Quaven authorities had managed to avoid retaliation against Quaver itself ¨C most likely due to the large dent in Turhmos¡¯s Aenuk ranks ¨C but Jonas was still a wanted man. He was a little surprised Aris was letting him go, but his commander wanted Llew out of Braph¡¯s and Turhmos¡¯s hands as much as Jonas did, if for different reasons. The simple fact was that if Turhmos had her, it wouldn¡¯t be long before they would move on Quaver and crush it once and for all. And Jonas was the only way to get her back without sending a whole army after her.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Cassidy and Alvaro joined them, along with a teary-eyed Anya, who gave them each a hug and pleaded with them to be safe and to bring her friend back. A stoic Aris stood aside; arms folded.
They left the estate without fanfare and rode well into the night, pushing the horses as fast and far as they could and making only the briefest stops on the way. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done it.¡± Alvaro broke the uneasy silence over a late meal before they camped for the night. The tension had been there all day, but with a common goal, it hadn¡¯t been an issue while they rode. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have touched Llew.¡± ¡°Shut up, Al. It¡¯s got nothin¡¯ to do with you.¡± ¡°Nothing to do with me? You knew I liked her. She went to the ball with me.¡± ¡°Let it go, Al,¡± Cassidy said, putting a hand on his cousin¡¯s arm. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t done it, Llew wouldn¡¯t have had to go after you. She would still be in Brurun.¡± ¡°If I hadn¡¯t been with her, Braph likely would¡¯ve taken her last night and we¡¯d be even further behind.¡± Jonas was struggling to keep his temper under control. ¡°If she¡¯d been with you, she¡¯d still be gone, and you¡¯d be dead.¡± Alvaro glared at him across the low flames of their fire, looking like he wanted to fight. Jonas raised his eyebrows and Alvaro looked away. Sometimes it was frustrating being known to be so strong; it meant fewer chances to vent anger than he might have liked. ¡°What will you do if Aris finds a Syakaran woman for you to marry? He don¡¯t condone you and her, anyway.¡± Jonas filled his mouth with tough jerky and set about chewing it into something he could swallow, all the while leveling a flat look at Alvaro until Alvaro finally turned away again. They finished their rations in silence; the tension easing a little despite Cassidy and Hisham¡¯s efforts. Knowing they still had at least a half-day¡¯s ride to the Turhmos border did nothing to ease Jonas to sleep. If he were traveling alone, on foot, he could have made the border by now. But once he was in Turhmos, he was almost entirely useless on his own. He couldn¡¯t risk asking about his brother or Llew. He was simply too well known and too despised. If he could have brought Cassidy without Alvaro, the trip would have been more pleasant. There was one benefit to having Alvaro along: he wanted to find Llew as much as Jonas did.
¡°We stop here for the night.¡± Llew let herself fall to the ground, exhausted. They had walked all day and well into the night, and the landscape hadn¡¯t changed. They were still in the middle of a huge plain where there was no shelter from the freezing breeze that whipped up periodically. ¡°Lie down.¡± Confused, she did as she was told. Braph lay behind her and, lining his body up with hers, he pulled her tight against his chest and stretched his leather coat as far over her as he could ¨C which wasn¡¯t much as it was already a tight fit. Part of Llew wanted to pull away, but he was warm, and she didn¡¯t have enough clothing to survive the night. The thought formed that if she froze to death and healed off Braph, she would be free. But he was fully clothed, and even his hands were gloved in leather. With what she knew of her power, she would more likely draw power from the surrounding ground around her, and then she would still be in his custody and would still be cold. And if she died more than once, where would the next ghi come from? Or from whom? It wasn¡¯t a pleasant idea, so she let herself snuggle against his warmth. His breathing soon suggested he was asleep. Shivering, Llew pressed her freezing hands between her thighs and tried to relax. Her stomach grumbled, protesting its emptiness; her lips tingled, dry. She licked them, but the relief was only temporary. The night was long, and when they woke, the plain was hidden under a low haze. Ice crystals cracked as each blade of grass bent underfoot. Llew¡¯s body had little interest in moving, but Braph pushed her on. He seemed unfazed by his own hunger and thirst, although it took a while for his voice to lose its dry morning rasp. They walked in silence for several hours, the hiss of wind-blown tussock a constant presence. Eventually, Llew felt the need to break the silence. ¡°So, what¡¯s a Quaven boy doing performing magic in Turhmos?¡± ¡°You know of the difficulties between the countries?¡± ¡°Some.¡± ¡°And you know of Kara and Aenuks, of course.¡± Llew nodded. ¡°Do you know what it is like to grow up in the shadow of a brother, a younger brother, who is revered by your entire country?¡± Llew shook her head. ¡°This...¡± she said, ¡±This is all because of Jonas?¡± ¡°Not just Jonas. Aris. All of them. Did you know Aris brought Jonas¡¯s parents together?¡± Llew shook her head again. ¡°Jonas was his little project. The only two Syakara known at the time. Obviously, he got lucky since, finding Jonas a wife. Aris¡¯s chance to guarantee another generation. Oh, Jonas was his darling. He began Jonas¡¯s training when he was a child until war took him off the scene for several years. That¡¯s how he missed claiming Jonas when his mother and our father were killed. We were placed with relatives, together at first, but none were really prepared to take on two Karan boys. Eventually, we were split up and I guess Aris re-claimed Jonas sometime.¡± ¡°I think he was fourteen...¡± Llew offered, trying to remember what Jonas had said of his life. Not much prior to Aris locating him and he had avoided talking about Braph at all. ¡°Well, when I was fourteen, I found myself in the perfect situation as far as I was concerned. A cousin gave me a roof over my head and left me to my own devices.¡± He smiled to himself. ¡°You see? I¡¯m not just a magician. I¡¯m the first. The only, so far. I invented the technology.¡± ¡°You hated your brother so much?¡± Braph¡¯s face darkened. ¡°It wasn¡¯t about him. Not everything is about Jonas.¡± It sure sounded like it was. ¡°How did you... invent it?¡± She sought to keep him talking. It beat walking in silence. ¡°I found your mother when I was about sixteen. I had the knife, which helped. I wanted to study Aenuks, to learn how to defeat them, and it was by accident that I discovered the power of her blood. I tried to sell the idea to Quaver, but no one was interested. That¡¯s how much Quaver hates what your kind does. They won¡¯t even use it for their own gain.¡± He paused. ¡°Turhmos, on the other hand...¡± The familiar smirk returned and disappeared again in a moment. ¡°Unfortunately, they couldn¡¯t get the same results with other Aenuks. I thought it was just that I was Karan. But it wasn¡¯t long before we worked out what your mother was. Is.¡± A faraway look came to his eyes. Then he gave a small nod, as if convincing himself of Llew¡¯s mother¡¯s continued well-being. ¡°Of course, they wouldn¡¯t let me keep her, even though they¡¯ll never get the same results. Karan,¡± he said, pointing to himself and giving a smile. Llew didn¡¯t smile back. He didn¡¯t need to keep reminding her what he was. But, she supposed, after growing up being compared to Jonas, he had to keep reminding himself he was special. ¡°So, you see,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s nothing personal at all. It is business. Just business.¡± Something flitted across his face; something so like Jonas¡¯s customary expression: guilt. ¡°Killing his wife, pregnant with his child, was personal.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not as though he doesn¡¯t have others.¡± Llew bit down on her anger. He was trying to provoke her, and he was succeeding. Of course, it only made her more angry to feel herself react. Why should it bother her that Jonas was just a man like every other man? ¡°But he loved her. And he already loved that child. And you took them from him.¡± Braph was suddenly expressionless. Llew watched him for a moment, and realisation dawned. ¡°You didn¡¯t intend to, did you? You went to fight him. You went to fight him, and he wasn¡¯t there.¡± ¡°I think it would be wise if you stopped talking now,¡± Braph warned. Llew was silent. It was time to return to planning an escape. She didn¡¯t think she could do anything while she and Braph were in the middle of nowhere; he had superior speed even without the enhancement of his magic. But she had spent years sneaking through the streets of Cheer and had honed her skills not just in pick-pocketing, but in making speedy getaways. She was almost certain that once they arrived back among civilization, she would be able to make a break for it. ¡°Are there any free Aenuks?¡± ¡°No.¡± That meant that if she healed while on the run in Turhmos, she might as well paint herself red, pass round maps and wait for Turhmos to find her. Oh, and be ready to bear children for any number of unknown Aenuks. Her eyes settled on Braph¡¯s jacket at about waist height, beneath which Jonas¡¯s knife was tied. The sparrow hopped in close for the crumb before flitting away again, head tilting this way and that, assessing the risk Jonas posed: far more than any other human physically, yet he wouldn¡¯t hurt it. He pulled off another tuft of bread and threw it at the bird¡¯s feet. It fluttered into the air for a few seconds, landed long enough to catch the bread with its beak and danced away again with its prize. Jonas smiled. ¡°Explain it to me,¡± Hisham said, pulling Jonas¡¯s attention from the bird. Having crossed the Brurun-Turhmos border about mid-morning ¨C a quiet affair, as most of Turhmos¡¯s population lived toward the south-east of the country, avoiding civilian casualties when Quaver and Turhmos clashed ¨C they ate their lunch in a clearing off the road. Jonas was almost surprised to find lush green grass within Turhmos¡¯s borders. He had always assumed it would have been killed off by Aenuks. But grass didn¡¯t take long to grow, and it had been months since Turhmos and Quaver had last faced each other in battle. ¡°Why are we in Turhmos trying to rescue an Aenuk?¡± Jonas couldn¡¯t help smiling. Less than a month ago, he would have thought he was crazy, too. ¡°What did they tell you?¡± ¡°Not much. Only that you¡¯d found trouble and needed support. I only guessed what she was when Braph turned up. Still working for Turhmos, is he?¡± ¡°He was alone on Aghacia. I think he¡¯s workin¡¯ for himself.¡± ¡°So...¡± Hisham pulled a piece of bread from his bun and stuck it in his mouth. He was trying to act relaxed, but the reason for their mission had clearly been bothering him. ¡°This Aenuk... that you, the last known Syakaran, slept with...¡± Alvaro shifted uncomfortably at the reminder, though Jonas doubted he¡¯d been thinking of much else for the past couple of days. ¡°You¡¯re still baffling me,¡± Hisham said. ¡°Explain it to me. Why are we here?¡± ¡°She¡¯s Syaenuk.¡± ¡°Syaenuk,¡± Hisham repeated quietly. ¡°You mean¡ª Shit, man. She could kill you.¡± He pulled off another bite of bread but didn¡¯t lift it to his mouth; instead, he waved it in front of Jonas. ¡°If that¡ª¡± He stilled his hand, pointing to Jonas¡¯s jaw ¡°¡ªhad been her, you¡¯d be dead.¡± ¡°I know,¡± said Jonas, but he still couldn¡¯t fully suppress his smile. He ignored Cassidy¡¯s rolling eyes. ¡°But she¡¯s a girl who survived on the streets somethin¡¯ like six years. She¡¯s a sneak, a pickpocket. Once she knew what she was and what I was, she could¡¯ve taken her chances on her own. But she didn¡¯t. She chose to go with a man who could kill her rather than risk fallin¡¯ into the wrong hands. That says somethin¡¯.¡± ¡°I guess,¡± Hisham said, less than convinced. ¡°But I let her down. And now Braph¡¯s got her.¡± ¡°Damn right you did!¡± Jonas didn¡¯t look at Alvaro. ¡°Not just her. That damn knife, too.¡± ¡°I know. But Braph doesn¡¯t want her dead, does he? He won¡¯t use it.¡± ¡°But she could use it on herself. You said yourself she¡¯d die before letting Braph or Turhmos use her.¡± Alvaro was right. She¡¯d asked Jonas if he would be willing to kill her if she needed him to. He hadn¡¯t answered because he didn¡¯t know. But Llew was strong, capable of doing what needed doing. He didn¡¯t know if that would extend to her taking her own life before allowing Braph or Turhmos to use her. If either of them succeeded, he would come up with a plan to deal with it. But if Llew died... ¡°Speaking of knives, where¡¯s yours?¡± he asked Hisham. A select few Kara were trained in the use of the Syakaran knives, since Syakaran numbers were so small. Aenuks could be successfully killed without the knives, as could a Syaenuk, if they could be moved away from other living things ¨C the center of a road, or indoors, for long enough. There was a time limit on when life could be recovered. But there was always the risk that an Aenuk could be brought back if enough healthy Aenuks were around. Quaven knife-wielders were meant to ensure it wouldn¡¯t happen, but carrying the knives was extremely dangerous. If used on an Aenuk still physically fit enough to lash out, then that knife wound became a sinkhole for the attacker¡¯s own jin; that jin drained, though it could not be used by the Aenuk. If the wound wasn¡¯t fatal, the Aenuk could go on to kill with a mere touch. ¡°Na, man. They locked them all up till there¡¯s another war. Don¡¯t want anyone doin¡¯ what you did.¡± ¡°I heard about that,¡± said Cassidy. ¡°Is it true you killed thirty or forty Aenuks single-handedly?¡± ¡°Somethin¡¯ like that.¡± Jonas hadn¡¯t been counting. All Aenuks were a part of the Turhmos army, so it wasn¡¯t a difficult task to find a number of them together. Jonas had been fast enough to get a knife in most of them before they knew what was going on and could retaliate. It had been reckless, though, and he¡¯d come closer than ever to being killed. He brushed the knuckles of his right hand across the scar under his jaw. On top of the danger involved in going in solo, he¡¯d since realized that those Aenuks he¡¯d killed had nothing to do with the deaths of his wife and unborn child. He¡¯d stooped to the same level as the Aenuks who killed his parents; he¡¯d killed away from the battlefields. He¡¯d murdered. The sparrow hopped in closer and chirped. Demanding bread now, was it? Jonas hadn¡¯t eaten his last bite and supposed that subconsciously he¡¯d been keeping it for the creature. He tossed the chunk. The sparrow dived in and, bread in beak, fluttered from sight. Jonas scowled after it, lips pressed together. Ungrateful bastard. 19: Growing Anxiety Duffirk bustled. Cheer was busy during the infrequent markets but, by comparison with Duffirk, it was a ghost town. In Duffirk, people were everywhere and everywhere there were people. The cobblestone streets were lined by gutters into which the city¡¯s waste flowed, adding its perfume to that of the tightly packed crowds. Grated holes placed at regular intervals let the liquid flow underground, but that just left a build-up of the solids. The piles weren¡¯t huge, and Llew realized that someone must have had the job of clearing it; this was the price of civilization, she supposed. As much as she wanted to earn an honest living, Llew thought she would stick to picking pockets before she accepted that job. The buildings in the center of town stood at least two stories high, with some having five, maybe six stories. They cast perpetual shadows across the streets. And the air was thick with smoke. Llew and Braph had yet to walk past the source, but it choked every breath she took. How could people live like this? People streamed around Braph under the shadows of tall stone and concrete buildings, and Llew only avoided being cut off from him by sticking close to his coattails. If she let herself fall back a step, the crowd would close her out. She might have been dreaming of being free of Braph, but she hadn¡¯t been prepared for this. She knew the rhythms of Cheer, and no matter how busy the town center became, she could move between and around people unnoticed and yet continue to make her living. In Duffirk she kept bumping into people, and people kept treading on her. She just didn¡¯t get it. People seemed busier, yet they were performing the same tasks as those carried out by citizens of Cheer. Maybe she just had to get used to the pace of city life again after days on the boat followed by the security of Lord Tovias¡¯s estate, followed by the isolation of the Turhmosian plain and two days riding a lonely highway punctuated by only the smallest of towns. It would be the perfect time to make a getaway. Braph had barely looked at her since they entered the city. But that very fact unsettled her to the point that she hadn¡¯t been able to make a move. She would. She would veer off soon, into a gap. No, she would make a gap. Why wasn¡¯t he checking on her? Did he have some sort of invisible leash of which she was unaware? Was he just so confident that her skills didn¡¯t extend to navigating through a Duffirk crowd? Well, he didn¡¯t know much, did he, because she would be fine. She just had to... She would... Damn it! The crowd thinned each time they turned down a new street. Llew was struggling to put her finger on why, but her nerve was gone. Suddenly, she wondered just how far out of Cheer she would have got if she hadn¡¯t run into Aris and his posse. Would she have walked a few miles and then frozen at the concept of being truly alone? It shadowed her thoughts of escape: she would be on her own, in a country she didn¡¯t know, in a huge continent she¡¯d left when she was five. Sure, she¡¯d been looking after herself for years. But that was in Cheer, and she knew Cheer; she knew how the people and the land worked. This was Turhmos. If she ran, where would she run to? Finally, they turned down a quiet, almost deserted street. Braph pushed open a wrought-iron gate into an overgrown garden. A concrete path led straight from the gate, up concrete steps to a carved wood, black-painted door of a dirty-white, almost gray, two-story villa. Braph gestured her through the gate. With her nerve to run still shattered, Llew took a deep breath, closed her eyes, released the breath, and stepped through the gate.
Jonas hefted the man from the ground, hurling the flailing body aside. The Turhmosian landed like a sack of potatoes, accompanied by a ¡°Hmph!¡°. That distraction out of the way, he was free to draw two knives and face his next opponent. They had been surprised by a small contingent of Turhmos soldiers soon after dawn. It wasn¡¯t a serious problem, but it was a hindrance. He had no idea how fast Braph was able to travel with Llew, and he had no doubt of their substantial lead. To top it off, he didn¡¯t even know where Braph was taking her. At a high-pitched whistle, he side-stepped in time for an arrow to fly past, digging deep into the dirt several feet behind. Then he ducked a sword swipe, executed a leg sweep, pulled the oncoming swordsman to the ground, and plunged a knife into the man¡¯s flesh. ¡°Cass! Arrows! I¡¯ll cover you!¡± He threw knives at two swordsmen near the blond man, freeing Cassidy to prepare his bow. Jonas pulled another two knives from his vest and went to fight by Cassidy¡¯s side. Alvaro ran his sword through his opponent and moved closer to Jonas and Cassidy, helping to close Cassidy off from the nearby swordsmen, while Hisham fought three of the Turhmosians single-handedly. Perhaps Jonas should have been doing the same, but it was a risk. If any of the surviving men knew they¡¯d been fighting Kara, it wouldn¡¯t be long before Turhmos sent more men to find them. That would only serve to hinder their search for Llew if it didn¡¯t result in a new Quaver-Turhmos war ¨C and Aris might have a few things to say about that. Cassidy loosed two arrows in quick succession. One hit the tree the Turhmosian bowman hid behind, the other sunk through his skull when the man dared gloat. An arrow came from behind them, and Cassidy was quick to retaliate while Jonas returned to the closer fight. He was ill-prepared for the sword swinging at him and barely managed to leap out of the way. The blade caught his shirt, ripping it open. ¡°Syakaran!¡± the swordsman exclaimed at the sight of Jonas¡¯s tattoo. Jonas growled and lunged, but the swordsman leaped out of his way and ran back through the trees. ¡°Cassidy!¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got him!¡± Cassidy released an arrow after the man. ¡°I don¡¯t got him. Sorry, Jonas, too many trees.¡± ¡°Damn it! Hisham!¡± The other man nodded and joined Jonas in pursuit of the soldiers. Jonas caught the men up in a matter of seconds and sliced his knife through throats with a practiced ease. It was only as he dropped the last one that an image of Llew suffering the same wound in Stelt flashed behind his eyes. He shook his head to clear the image. A soldier didn¡¯t think about loved ones. A soldier killed. And Jonas had been a soldier his whole life. Hisham joined him on his return to camp. ¡°No Aenuks.¡± ¡°No,¡± said Jonas. ¡°Just a patrol.¡± ¡°Still, you¡¯d think they¡¯d have an Aenuk with them.¡± Jonas nodded. ¡°And us without our knives, in a forest teeming with life... You must¡¯ve put a real dent in their numbers. Turhmos¡¯ll be wishing that girl of yours was a teenage boy.¡± Jonas turned a withering look on Hisham, who shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m guessin¡¯ she¡¯d mind less, too¡ª Hey, I don¡¯t mean anything by it!¡± He held his hands up in propitiation. ¡°What do you think Quaver would do to her if she weren¡¯t your pet, anyway?¡± Jonas didn¡¯t answer. He knew. They¡¯d kill her. They wouldn¡¯t tolerate the destruction she¡¯d caused in Aghacia, accidental or not. Actually, they probably wouldn¡¯t kill her. They¡¯d expect him to. The ground around their camp was littered with dead Turhmos soldiers. ¡°Well, now we¡¯re gonna attract trouble.¡± Hisham gave Jonas a wry look. ¡°We¡¯ve got to get you a new shirt. You can¡¯t go anywhere like that.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have to get me one at the next town.¡± He looked around at Cassidy and Alvaro. Alvaro was holding his hand over his arm, stemming the flow of blood. ¡°You alright?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s just a cut.¡± ¡°Here, I¡¯ll take a look.¡± Hisham stepped over the bodies to Alvaro. ¡°That¡¯s pretty bad. I can tie it off, but I¡¯ll have to stitch it later.¡± Alvaro nodded. Hisham tore a strip of cloth from one of the dead men and returned to tie it around Alvaro¡¯s arm. ¡°That should hold till I can get supplies in the next town.¡± Without another word, they gathered their things and broke camp, leading the horses through forest cover to avoid being seen on the road. By late morning, the forest had ended, and a settlement appeared over the hill several hundred paces away. Jonas and Alvaro sat among the trees while Cassidy and Hisham went into the town for the supplies they needed. On their return, Jonas changed his shirt and Hisham cleaned and sewed Alvaro¡¯s cut closed with a tiny needle and fine silk-like cotton. Alvaro was staunchly silent through the procedure. On the road again, they traveled much faster, urging the horses on at a trot. They headed in a south-easterly direction, stopping the occasional traveler to ask if they had seen anyone that might fit Llew¡¯s description. None had. Jonas fought against the growing anxiety that they might not find her. Any other hall with as many wall-hangings might have been cozy, yet Braph¡¯s walls exhibited a hardness and lack of warmth that seemed a reflection of his character. Metal gadgets of manifold shapes, sizes, and purposes decorated either side of the dim hallway. There were no windows, and what light there was ducked through those doors standing ajar. Large and small polished copper and steel cogs hung from hooks on the walls, their functions, if any over and above decorative, indiscernible by Llew. Copper pipes ran along the bottom of one wall, and the tinkle of water trickling through metal underpinned every creaky floorboard. Noticing Llew¡¯s interest, Braph said, ¡°You haven¡¯t had a hot bath until you¡¯ve had gas-heated.¡± His smile had the same cheek Jonas exhibited at times ¨C the resemblance was such that she nearly forgot to fear the man; a glance at their surroundings set her straight again.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. A door opened and an old man poked his head through. ¡°Master, it¡¯s you. I thought I heard the door.¡± ¡°You should have opened it for me, Nilv.¡± ¡°Yes. Sorry.¡± Then his eyes lit up. ¡°Is that her?¡± Braph nodded and the man¡¯s glee spread to the rest of his face, his cheeks almost entirely smoothing of wrinkles as they plumped into juicy plums below each eye. ¡°The room is ready if you want to use it right away.¡± ¡°I think I might. But first I thought we should welcome our guest.¡± Nilv¡¯s brow puckered in confusion, and his smile dropped. ¡°Bring up the resident Aenuk.¡± Nilv¡¯s face lit up again and disappeared back through the door, letting it swing shut behind him. Braph turned a smile on Llew. She suspected it was meant to be warm, but there was a look in his eyes that suggested he had to calculate just how much to stretch his lips and how tight to squint his eyes to portray what he thought she wanted to see. ¡°I¡¯d like you to feel at home.¡± His lips twitched, but she couldn¡¯t tell if he was laughing at her reaction. Her temper simmered, and she looked back at the door. He hadn¡¯t snibbed it. He was Karan, but Llew thought she might have a chance over that short distance. Come on, feet. But her limbs would not move. It was as though her mind and body were disconnected. Then Llew remembered Anya unconsciously flailing a knife through the air. A few minutes later, Nilv returned, dragging behind him an emaciated man who appeared to be in his sixties. When he looked straight at Llew, she recognized him: her father. His blue eyes were sunken, his cheeks hollowed. His mouth worked to form a word. ¡°Run.¡± The word rasped from his throat and, suddenly free of whatever had been keeping her tethered, Llew was able to follow the command she¡¯d been trying to give herself for days. Her mind swirled with conflicting thoughts as she turned back to the front door. Her father was there, a captive. Shouldn¡¯t she be rescuing him? Hugging him? Slapping him? Her body now moved despite her brain, but she made it only a few steps before running into a woman coming from another room off the hallway. She shoved the woman aside. Her hand reached for the door handle but just before she touched it, Braph grabbed her and, with an arm looped about her waist, dragged her back down the hall. She kicked out and things crashed from walls. She struggled, but his grip was too strong, and she cried out hopelessly. Braph pulled her through a doorway into a room filled with gadgetry, in the center of which were two chairs, plain, wooden, like school room chairs, with leather restraints for wrists and ankles. The room was even colder than the rest of the house, with its floor covered in a thin layer of interlocking gray schist rock. She screamed. She kicked. Braph half sat on her and strapped her arm to the chair, and all the while she lashed at him with her free arm. ¡°Like it?¡± he asked, unaffected by her efforts, his leather coat absorbing all impacts. ¡°Your mother helped me design it.¡± Not for one second would she believe that her mother had actually worked with this man. No, but she had once sat in this very chair. Nilv tied her father into a smaller chair just inside the door. The old man looked so tired, so... ancient. But he wasn¡¯t that old, and it had only been five, maybe six, years since she had seen him as a strong, healthy man operating a smith¡¯s forge. Llew couldn¡¯t comprehend what could have happened in that time to have such an effect. He was Aenuk. Surely, he could heal from whatever had attacked him? ¡°What have they done to you?¡± she asked, as Nilv came to help Braph secure her firmly in her chair. ¡°I have been near death almost every day since I left you,¡± he said, sorrow curving his back and deepening each wrinkle. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Sorry? He was sorry for what they¡¯d done to him? Sorry for abandoning her. Sorry to see her there now. Braph and Nilv moved behind Llew and the room filled with a grating metallic tick, tick, tick. The chilling sound was accompanied by a scratchy tapping noise, explained by the appearance of a spider-like creature... No, it was a device, a machine like Braph¡¯s bracelet. It moved on eight spindly metal legs that terminated in sharp toes. Tiny gears and pistons turned and pumped as each leg moved, scurrying to Llew¡¯s foot. She tried to shift away, but her ankle was firmly strapped to the chair. The critter ran up her leg and she shook her thigh to dislodge it, but it just continued up her torso to her shoulder, then down her arm, where it settled by the crook of her elbow. Her skin crawled. Where a spider¡¯s mouth parts might have been a needle projected and plunged through her skin. Blood shot up the tube and began filling the glass globe that made up the creature¡¯s abdomen. Seeing her own blood sloshing around brought bile to the back of Llew¡¯s throat, and she turned her head away. Another spider climbed her other leg. She squeezed her thighs together, feeling violated. The spider clattered up her body so swiftly it remained unaffected by all her efforts to dislodge it on its way up and then down her other arm. Chink. Plunge. Another climbed to her shoulder and probed a vein in her neck. The first two had stung briefly, but this one really hurt, and moving her head only made it worse. Her flight response kicked in and her heart pounded faster. Blood shot into the glass baubles. Everywhere she looked, her own blood washed around her. She closed her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Llewella. I never wanted this.¡± Llew opened her eyes to look at her father. He seemed so pitiful. Her heart ached to see him like that, and years of thinking he¡¯d cold-heartedly abandoned her fell away. ¡°You¡¯re a pathetic old man, aren¡¯t you? Running away from your own daughter,¡± said Braph, stepping up beside Llew¡¯s chair. ¡°I ran to protect her. To keep you from finding her.¡± ¡°Much good it did her.¡± ¡°Six years. She got six more years.¡± Llew¡¯s father coughed, a hacking, dry cough. Llew sucked air through her teeth as her skin pulled around the needle in her neck. Her father deflated. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I never wanted this for you.¡± He wept. ¡°It¡¯s faster if you wear a dress.¡± Braph rested a hand casually on the back of the chair, oblivious to their distress. ¡°There are some good veins in the thighs. Perhaps next time. Your mother did love it when I brought her a new dress.¡± His hand squeezed her shoulder. She tugged at the straps across her wrists, to no effect. The leather was simply too strong, and too well secured. ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re a little short on captives at the moment,¡± said Braph. ¡°You¡¯ll have to recover on your own. But I do have a room made up for you. I think you¡¯ll like it.¡± He smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll replenish her,¡± said her father. ¡°You think I¡¯m going to risk killing you yet? No, I still have need of you. And she¡¯s too powerful. She¡¯d drain you dry in a moment. Another time, perhaps.¡± The glass vials filled, and the creatures retracted their needles and scuttled away behind Llew, only to be replaced by more. Llew felt herself becoming light-headed and tired. Her skin grew pale. Just as her heart began to falter, the last critter scurried down her leg and from her sight. Braph and Nilv unfastened her and helped her from the room, one supporting her under each arm. Foggy vision prevented Llew from gaining any real sense of the layout of the house, but she felt them carry her upstairs where they lay her on a soft bed. Nilv left immediately. Braph stood beside her, eyes gentle and cold. Llew held his gaze, projecting all of her hate into that fatigued glare. He ran a leather knuckle down one cheek, then left the room, locking the door behind him.
Cassidy shook the man¡¯s hand again. The shake went on longer than necessary, again. Jonas figured it must get lonely on a farm in the middle of nowhere, especially for a couple getting on in years with no children. Still, the boys needed to get moving. They were wasting time. As nice as it had been to join the couple for a hearty lunch of stew and boiled potatoes, the couple hadn¡¯t seen Llew and so had been of no other help to Jonas¡¯s posse. Jonas felt eyes on him and looked to the farmhouse door. The woman peered around the frame, not hiding, just keeping in her place. She didn¡¯t look away when his eyes locked with hers. Jonas lifted his chin. What did the woman think she saw? Even that slight intimidation didn¡¯t make her look away. What did she think she knew? Come on, Cassidy. The rest of them were already mounted and even the horses were impatient; Chino pawed the ground and shuffled the bit in his mouth. Finally, Cassidy gave the man a hearty pat on the shoulder, disengaged his hand from their shared clasp, and mounted. With a nod to the rest of them, he nudged his horse on and they moved off, Cassidy affording the couple one more wave. They¡¯d been nice enough, but Jonas couldn¡¯t help feeling the stop had been a waste of time.
Llew didn¡¯t see her father again. She was allowed out of her room to eat with Braph and to bathe under the supervision of the brusque woman Braph kept to run the household. The man had little time for anyone except Llew, and even then, only at mealtimes. For the most part, he remained in the room of contraptions. Llew spent most of her time locked in her room, reading: it was all she had to do. The room was sparse but for a well-stocked bookcase, although most of the books were dry tales of historic kings and kingdoms and of little interest to Llew. Aghacia barely had a leadership at all, and kings, emperors, or presidents had so far not impinged on Llew¡¯s life. Although, when she got to thinking, she realised she would be spending the rest of her life in places governed by a higher power of some sort, and highly likely one that would take great interest in her. Perhaps it was time to learn about how these people worked. Not that she could retain anything. Her brain felt like mush, as if she hadn¡¯t had a proper meal in days, though Braph fed her well enough. Her mind only cleared for truly coherent thoughts late in the evening, and then they kept her awake late into the night. Locked in that room, in the dark, in a house she didn¡¯t know, in a city she didn¡¯t know, in a country she didn¡¯t know, she formulated and rejected many plans of escape. But when morning returned, her mind rolled over under its fluffy blankets and refused to construct much in the way of a fully formed thought until night returned. The villa filled with an almost constant cacophony of deep rumbles, high whirring sounds, and pops, and bangs. Once she¡¯d narrowed the source to Braph¡¯s room, it didn¡¯t take long for Llew to tune it out. What she couldn¡¯t tune out was the wailing that filled the house several times a day. It sounded like cats ¨C no, children. But she¡¯d not seen one and couldn¡¯t imagine Braph keeping any. Perhaps even more chilling than the crying was the occasional laughter that echoed down the halls, disembodied and ghostly. Over meals, Braph told Llew how he was trying out new ideas for his device, striving to extract every last ounce of magic from Aenuk blood, so that non-Kara could achieve the same power he already had. Of course, he bemoaned, no matter how much more power he isolated, it would never be enough for the Turhmosians: not while he was still more powerful, which he could do nothing about. Someone, one day, would appreciate his efforts. ¡°I suppose I should feel proud of what I have achieved already. But is it so bad to want recognition? I have created a device that will put the power of the Immortals into the hands of ordinary men and women. How does no one see value in that?¡± He spoke across the dinner table as though they were a long-time married couple, comfortable with each other in every way. He gazed at her, his elbow beside his dinner plate, waving his fork with his other hand as he spoke, emphasizing his points. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re scared. My friend told me the Immortals were cruel.¡± Llew spoke to her own plate, but then lifted her chin in defiance. ¡°Maybe, despite all these years of fighting, even Turhmos wants to live in peace.¡± ¡°But they can!¡± Braph pulled himself straighter in his chair, glowing with a childlike eagerness to share what he¡¯d learned. ¡°With my device, we can defeat our enemies and feed our people. With my device, we can turn the destructive power of Aenuks to good. The magic I create can be used to heal, or grow food, or, or... I haven¡¯t even had the chance to explore its limits yet. And with more like you, Turhmos could be a beacon for good. Other countries will beg for such power. And if we had enough power to go around, there would be no need for wars anymore. Hunger, slavery, it could all be a thing of the past.¡± But Llew¡¯s ears had latched onto only one part of his speech. ¡°And just where do you plan to find more like me?¡± In different circumstances she might have found it laughable to hear someone talk of breeding people, of farming people for their blood, and with the very next breath speak of ending slavery. But nothing about Braph brought laughter. ¡°Well, you see, when a man and a woman love each other, or at least find each other attractive...¡± he began. Then all humour dropped from his features and his voice lowered. ¡°Or the woman has something a man wants and needs...¡± Llew glowered at him. Touch me and I will kill you, she sent silently through the look alone. You may be Kara, but I will kill you. 20: I’m Sorry tired No room for self-pity, Llewella. It never gets you anywhereRoyal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Click Damn it Don¡¯t think it, don¡¯t think it Stop it!slap, slapShut up, shut up, shut up! could 21: It Wouldn’t Kill Her Click Stupid. Stupid Except thisWounds inflicted on an Aenuk with this blade heal at the same rate they would on any person This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Just try and take me then, you bastard.
Jonas! No! A scab! near
technically 22: Get Me Out Of Here And I killed my father Spit it out, woman Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Where were you? Sorry
possible someone
Nothing shouldYou
23: Fight Him Stop it! Stop it! Fight him. Fight him Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. 24: You Should’ve Saved Him Jonas! that hehim To hell with Turhmos He If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. that And if you don¡¯t hurry up, he¡¯ll stay that way Now, bugger off NotafterAnd you better hurry up, or I swear I¡¯ll be bringing Jonas back using your ghi, so help me To Turhmos, Jonas is dead Go to him might be pregnant 25: Home tupid, Llew. Neither a good soldier nor a good healer do you make Cackled! Ha!Because he isn¡¯t Braph
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
With his child to raise on your own ¡°Braph happened I told you so Llew 26: Only You Llew¡¯s mind buzzed with new knowledge as she wandered back to her room to take her bath, but she felt there were still so very many holes to be filled. Something had occurred thousands of years ago to split the immensely powerful race, the Immortals, into the Kara and the Aenuks. The book Anya had brought with her from Aghacia spoke of magic used to bind their children as one or the other, until there were no Immortals left. But another book from Gaemil¡¯s library stated that it had been a faster process, that the Immortals themselves had somehow divided ¨C it hadn¡¯t gone into a convincing tale of how, and Llew¡¯s tired mind was too easily confused by it all. Neither book had adequately explained the historical hatred between the two races, either, but both had certainly mentioned it, and Anya had insisted that the fact Jonas cared for Llew at all, despite such an ancient, ingrained hatred, was proof enough that he loved Llew more than he could love anyone else. Well, Llew supposed they would find out once Jonas had had the chance to get to know the Syakaran woman. The Syakaran woman who happened to be right around the corner of the hallway. ¡°Oh!¡± ¡°Oh, indeed.¡± Karlani folded her arms. ¡°Llew, isn¡¯t it?¡± She looked Llew up and down. ¡°No accounting for taste, I guess. But he doesn¡¯t have to settle now I¡¯m here, does he?¡± Llew felt her cheeks grow warm. The woman had quite suddenly lost all her shine and, just as suddenly, Llew felt an immense drive to fight for Jonas¡¯s right not to be paired with her. She drew herself up taller. Karlani smiled. ¡°Do you honestly think you have what it takes to keep him satisfied? He¡¯s Syakaran. He needs a Syakaran woman.¡± Llew fought down the urge to agree. ¡°He needs a woman as... vigorous as he is.¡± Llew said nothing. ¡°He needs someone he can run with.¡± The woman ran a speedy circle around Llew, demonstrating the superior speed of her race. ¡°Someone he can... play with¡ª¡± she sped around Llew again ¡±¡ªwithout the fear that he might break her. I heard you¡¯re not even Kara.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Then whatever made you think you could have him?¡± Llew resisted the urge to say, Because I already have. It seemed crass. ¡°That¡¯s right, little girl. Leave the big boy to a real woman.¡± The woman did another super-speed circuit around Llew. ¡°And we¡¯ll¡ª¡± Whisk. ¡±¡ªget on¡ª¡± Whisk. ¡±¡ªjust¡ª¡± Whisk. ¡°Ugh!¡± Karlani hit the floor. Llew lowered her fist, stepped over the woman, and carried on to her room to take that bath.
Llew lay in the water, her mind churning. Anya had been right ¨C the conflict between Aenuks and Kara ran deep. And with what Jonas had told her about what happened to his parents, it was a wonder he hadn¡¯t stuck his knife in her the moment he learned what she was. She¡¯d told Anya what Braph had seen, that he¡¯d watched while Jonas considered ending her life. Anya had said it further proved the affection Jonas had for Llew. That he had been tempted was a sign of his loathing for her kind. That he hadn¡¯t gone through with it showed that he recognized her as someone special, someone he couldn¡¯t lump in with all those other Aenuks he hated. Part of Llew wondered if Anya just saw things how she wanted to see them. She wanted Llew to be as happy as she was with Gaemil. She might have told Anya what Braph had seen, but she hadn¡¯t told her what he had done. What she had let him do. How could her body betray her like that? And now she¡¯d gone and asserted her right to Jonas over that Syakaran woman, and she didn¡¯t even know if she could bring herself to... to... even think of... She couldn¡¯t even name... it. Oh, gods, she felt as prudish as Anya. Her mind was so busy struggling through these thoughts that she didn¡¯t hear the knock at the door.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Llew?¡± It was Jonas. ¡°It¡¯s unlocked.¡± The door clicked, sending a shudder through Llew, and he stepped inside. ¡°You alright?¡± Llew took a deep, calming breath. Jonas was not Braph. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± She turned her head to try to see him, but he still stood at the door. ¡°The water ain¡¯t steamin¡¯.¡± ¡°Oh. Yes. It¡¯s not hot anymore.¡± Jonas came to her and crouched by the bath, placing a hand on her shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re freezin¡¯.¡± He stood up, grabbed her towel, and came back to her. ¡°Come on.¡± He held the towel for her to step into. Llew got up, water streaming off her with most of it landing in the tub and some hitting the floor and making little puddles. Jonas wrapped the towel around her shoulders and pulled her to him, supporting her as she stepped from the tub. ¡°Why were you still in there? The water¡¯s cold.¡± He rubbed the towel over her vigorously, generating heat. ¡°I guess I was waiting for you.¡± He stood back to look her in the eye, and she suddenly felt shy. ¡°Last time I had a bath in this room, you interrupted me, and, well, I thought that...¡± He lifted an eyebrow. ¡°I might interrupt you again?¡± ¡°I¡¯m scared.¡± He pulled her into an embrace. He hadn¡¯t yet resumed wearing his knife vest and his heat poured through his shirt. ¡°You remember when Braph attacked, how he used his magic to make me seize up?¡± Llew nodded. ¡°Well, it weren¡¯t just my body I lost control of. My mind... I saw my life flash past. Everythin¡¯ from my childhood to the day my parents died, Aris claimin¡¯ me, meetin¡¯ Kierra, findin¡¯ out she was with child, losin¡¯ them, meetin¡¯ you... And I realized somethin¡¯.¡± He swallowed and his arms pulled her tighter. She almost couldn¡¯t breathe, but she said nothing. ¡°I realised that nearly every memory came with a lot of pain and loss. My folks. My family. Even my brother. I mean, he¡¯s alive, but I lost him years ago. But every time you appeared, there was no pain. There was only you and, I can¡¯t explain, but while everythin¡¯ else was chaos, if I thought o¡¯ you, if I fought to keep you in the front of my mind, it didn¡¯t matter what he was doin¡¯ to my body. All that mattered was you.¡± It took several moments for Llew to realize he¡¯d stopped talking. ¡°Oh, damn it, I¡¯m making you wet.¡± She brushed the damp patch of his shirt, as if she could somehow dry it with damp fingertips. ¡°Did you hear me?¡± Jonas pushed back and dipped his head to get a look at her eyes. ¡°I heard,¡± she said, absently brushing imaginary fluff from his shoulder. She¡¯d always fought for what she had. What she wanted didn¡¯t come and deliver itself to her. The top button of his shirt was loose. Llew could just see a hint of the big black tattoo beneath; the tattoo Braph didn¡¯t have; the tattoo that was a symbol of all Jonas was, his family, his race, his country: a symbol of him. She raised a hand and traced that little bit of ink that she could see. He pulled his arms from her and loosened the next button, letting her explore further. Her towel, no longer held firm about her, fell to the floor. ¡°Oh, what did you do to Karlani?¡± he asked, unbuttoning the rest of his shirt. ¡°She was cryin¡¯ to Aris about her nose bein¡¯ broken. It¡¯s not; drama queen. She didn¡¯t have anythin¡¯ nice to say about you. But she didn¡¯t go so far as to admit you did it.¡± ¡°She... ran into my fist.¡± Llew pushed his shirt off his shoulders. Something about that tattoo calmed her. It gave her a grounding. It called her home. She wrapped her arms about his waist, pressed her ear to his chest, listening to his heart. Braph may have had one, but she¡¯d never heard it. She closed her eyes. ¡°Do you think Aris would be upset if I had one of your babies?¡± Jonas tensed. Then he laughed. ¡°He¡¯d be livid. He¡¯s scared enough that if I fall for you, I won¡¯t do his bidding with the Karan girls he lines up ¨C which is true. If it can even happen, I mean, it¡¯s probably like how you can¡¯t heal me...¡± He pushed back from her again, gripping her shoulders, then stared at her, face blank, for a good few moments. ¡°Really? How¡ª¡± He paused. ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± She wasn¡¯t sure. She had never been pregnant before, hadn¡¯t made a habit of hanging around pregnant girls and what she knew of the indications had been overheard only by accident. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t know. But how else could I have healed you? You¡¯re Syakaran. There has to be something that broke that barrier. And I¡¯ve been running fast, and feeling strong. And I¡¯ve been sick. And the Ajnai tree was very interested in... everything.¡± The smile slowly returned to Jonas¡¯s face. Then it disappeared again. ¡°Is that okay?¡± He looked worried. ¡°Are you... happy?¡± The strange thing was that if she let herself imagine it ¨C having a baby, a child and all the mess and stress that went with it ¨C she felt nervous and a little sick. But when she imagined the growing baby inside her, Jonas¡¯s baby, a sense of love and wonder spread from her belly and through the rest of her and she couldn¡¯t think of doing anything more wonderful or more important. She nodded and, when he seemed unconvinced, she nodded more, and smiled. He drew her into a firm embrace and kissed her head. They stood like that for a long while. She thought of those who were lost: from Renny whose life she had drained to save herself, and Kynas who had falsely accused her of another murder. The girl she had unknowingly killed, and the two street kids at Braph¡¯s; and Pa, whom she had failed in her attempt to rescue him. And Jonas, whom she hadn¡¯t failed. So many deaths, one life, and one more to come. And out there was her mother ¨C still alive? With that thought came another, unbidden: a face, a presence. For she knew in her gut that Braph still lived and would now more than ever want revenge; more than ever would want her blood.
END