Part 10 (1/2)

Chapter 11.

The intruders entered the room fast with their blades in their fists, some of which were already streaked with red. The remaining servants had run as soon as the guardsman had appeared with his news, but it looked like some, at least, had run the wrong way. Whoever their guide had been was also not with them, and had undoubtedly been given his reward for bringing them where they'd wanted to go.

Nice people... They wore dark green, tight tunics and trousers, short boots, and were dark-haired and dark-eyed. None of that meant anything to me until I heard someone behind me mutter, ”Kenoss!” and then I was furious.

”They're not Kenoss,” I announced in a loud enough voice to reach everyone, sending a look of disdain toward the newcomers who were forming up in preparation for attack. ”They're sneaking cowards who are trying to make you fear them by pretending to be what they're not.”

”And how would you know, girl?” the one who seemed to be their leader spat, his face twisted with feelings of insult.

”A Kenossi raiding party is never all male,” I answered with a grin of satisfaction. ”They don't wear boots, they don't form up before attacking, and they never ever answer insults thrown at them. What they do is attack with a war cry - like this!”

I let the old, wild yell rip from my throat as I jumped forward, and sure as rain will fall from the skies the intruders were shocked into standing and staring or giving ground in fright. I reached the one who'd spoken to me and cut him down, took the one to his right on the backswing, thenretreated before the rest could react to my being there. They screamed in fury, then, having lost two of their number in the blink of an eye, but more importantly they'd lost the possibility of being thought Kenoss. And then they began to wonder about me...

But wonder or not, frightened or not, the fight was on. The men I stood with were hardly the prudent sort, preferring to stand there and wait to see what would happen. They were the kind to make things happen, and using a sword was a special kind of joy to them. In an instant they were all around me, and when the intruders came forward to do as they'd been commanded, they met a wall of sharpened steel that had no intentions of crumbling.

The only thing that kept the fight from being over immediately was the fact that we were outnumbered. As fighters our attackers were fairly good, but we were better than that and we were fighting for our lives. I caught a glimpse of Garam grinning at the two facing him as he forced them both back, of Talasin holding his second opponent off with side parries while concentrating on his first victim. Ijarin had one down and was pressing the other two hard, while Fearin had also bested one, wounded a second, and was now trying for a third.

More than a dozen then, I thought as I tried to get the two in front of me to do something other than simply defend. Their expressions were grim and they weren't about to run, but they hated the idea of facing me. You don't pretend to be something to impress people unless you, yourself, are impressed by that something, and it bothered them that I'd known they weren't Kenoss. I'd known it too fast, too surely, too thoroughly... And the way I'd taken out two of their number without a single counterstroke trying to stop me...

I knew when each of them decided for himself that I had to be Kenoss, and I cursed under my breath. They were no longer fighting to get at me but away from me, which meant they were dead men. When one of them came in fast and hard in an effort to drive me back, the second broke and turned to run. Once I gave ground the first was supposed to follow the second, but none of it worked out for them. Rather than backing I blocked the attack with my blade, then countered before the man was ready. My point went in through the middle of his chest, causing him to stiffen as he coughed blood, and then he was falling.

I pulled my sword loose before the corpse took it down to the floor with him, intending to follow the second and finish him, but following turned out to be unnecessary. Apparently Ranander had materialized right in the fleeing man's path, and the dagger he held had not found armor to stop it. The body was just crumpling to the floor at Ranander's feet when I looked up, and we exchanged smiles before turning to the rest of the fight.

But there wasn't much left of that fight. Garam was still playing with the last of his, the man cut in a score of places and stumbling rather than backing. Fearin was also down to one, but he wasn't playing. He used his elegant fighting style to outstrip his opponent's excellent defensive moves, then slid his point into the man's throat. Just as that happened Garam finished off the poor soul he'd been toying with, his apparent aim to end just when Fearin did. Garam looked around with a grin to see if anyone had noticed, but Fearin, at least, was more concerned with other things.

”Is that it?” Fearin demanded as he looked around, his sword still poised and ready. ”They're all accounted for? All right, then it's time to take care of our wounded.”

He looked around again and so did the rest of us, but there didn't seem to be anything to find.

We were all spattered with blood, but none of it was our own. We'd not only survived the attack, not one of us had gotten wounded. It was something to be glad about, but it was also rather strange.

”Why should any of us be wounded?” Garam asked with a laugh when it was clear none of us was. ”The rabble was counting on us thinking we were fighting Kenossi, but the girl erased that edge from the outset. Beyond that they were nothing, which we had no trouble proving.”

”I suppose that could be true,” Fearin grudged as he looked around again, then bent to wipe his sword on the clothing of his final opponent. ”It's too bad none of us thought to save one of them for questioning, but it probably would have been a wasted effort. If they were protectedfrom my Seeking, they would have undoubtedly died before telling us anything.”

That left the question of who they'd been and who had sent them, but before we could discuss the point a large number of guardsmen came rus.h.i.+ng in. The swords in their fists said they were ready for a fight, and they wilted a little when they saw that the action was already over. The next instant orders were being shouted, and swords were sheathed to free hands for body removal. It was very nearly a mob scene, and I hurried to clean my sword on an intruder tunic before both the tunic and the body wearing it were s.n.a.t.c.hed away.

In the middle of all that Fearin got the twin girls and their protectors out of the small room, then sent the girls back to their apartment with a strong escort. Their shrill demands were still ringing in everyone's ears as they disappeared up the corridor, and I raised the goblet of fresh water I'd poured and drank from it. The dessert I'd been forced to leave unfinished was a ruined mess, too melted and warm to look or taste the way it had. It had been seasons and seasons since I'd last tasted that particular dessert, and I'd really been looking forward to eating all of it...

”Let me take a look at you,” Fearin said as he came up on my left. ”I want to make certain you're not hurt in any way.”

”Why would I be hurt?” I asked his narrow-eyed stare, uncomfortable with the way he was inspecting me. ”I only faced two of them, and they were mostly interested in getting away from me. I was afraid that would happen and it did.”

”Afraid,” he echoed, now looking at me strangely. ”Would you like to explain that? Not that I expect to enjoy your answer.”

”What has enjoyment got to do with it?” I asked, suddenly feeling very confused. ”One of the ways I knew they weren't Kenoss was the way they all but shouted they were. Most people go terrified at the thought of facing Kenossi, and they might as well be unarmed for all the good their weapons do them. No real fighter wants to face someone who won't or can't fight back, so we usually try very hard not to let them know who they're facing. My two got the idea anyway, which ended the fight for them faster than it should have.”

”So that's why you didn't tell them you were Kenoss,” he said, shaking his head with what looked like faint exasperation. ”We were outnumbered more than two to one, and you stood on a point of honor. I suppose if not knowing had let them kill you, you would have been happier still.”

”If not knowing had let them kill me, I wouldn't have been a true Kenoss so none of it would have applied,” I came back with a small laugh. ”Anyone can hold to a point of honor when the going is easy. Doing the same when the odds are against you is the tricky part, but if you survive you know you've done something more than simply survive. No Kenoss will just settle for life; it has to be a quality life or there's no point to it.”

He was frowning again and looked like he was about to say something, but he never got the chance. The barbarian Ijarin chose that moment to join us, and his words got said first.”

”Aelana, I was worried, but I didn't have to be,” he enthused, stopping to grin at me. ”You handle a blade as well as I do. Nice work.” Then he turned to the man of Power. ”Master Fearin, you may have a problem with those guardsmen. If they're that upset from just seeing a few bodies, how will they react when it comes time to make some of their own?”

Fearin didn't understand what Ijarin was talking about, and neither did I. We both turned to look at the guardsmen, and saw that most of the bodies had been removed. Because of that a number of the guardsmen were free to stand around waiting for their next orders, but that wasn't all they were doing. They were also whispering to one another, and most of them looked pale and shaken. At first I had no idea what was happening - and then I understood only too well.

Fearin began to say something about how impossible it was for those particular guardsmen to be upset at the sight of bodies, but the rest of his protest was lost behind distance when I left the room behind. I made sure not to look at anyone I pa.s.sed on the way to my apartment, andonce there I went straight to the second sitting room.

The room was dim with the light of only a single candle, which meant it was still much too bright. Even so I walked to the corner where the porch-like windows gaped open onto the dark, unwinking black. Not a single torch on the inner walls of the grounds was still burning, not in that unending downpour...

I felt like an absolute fool, and I hated myself for having behaved so stupidly. I'd actually been laughing, for pity's sake, as though I were just another human being, forgetting I could be almost anything but that. Enjoy it while it lasts, Fearin had said, and like an idiot I'd thought he knew what he was talking about.

”What happened?” Fearin himself demanded as he abruptly strode into the room. ”Why did you disappear like that?”

”I felt like going back to my apartment,” I answered without looking at him, suddenly more aware of the chill in the night air. It made me want to s.h.i.+ver, but I refused to allow that.

”You could have said something instead of simply taking off,” he complained, coming forward to stand to my left. ”First you were there, and then you were gone. And why are you sitting in all but pitch darkness? Why don't you light more of the candles?”

The dark is where I belong, I wanted to say, away from where people can see me and start to believe I'm just like them. I'm not like them, not since I was reborn into the shadows of the dark, and I'll never be like normal people again. I wanted to say that, but it hurt enough already.

”It has something to do with the way the guard was behaving,” Fearin stated after a moment of silence, suddenly sounding absolutely certain. ”When I told Prince Ijarin that that group was from what our men call the Butcher Squad even though they number a lot more than an ordinary squad, he had trouble believing it. The group was as skittish as shy young girls under the eyes of men, and they looked as though they'd had a bad scare. That was when I realized that two of them had been in the corridor when you went out to search for the intruders.”

And they saw me as I truly am, I thought, feeling the hard wood of the window brace behind my head. Now they look at me and drown in fear, just the way so many of my own people did. I'd never seen raw fear on the face of a Kenoss until I, myself, caused the emotion to be there. I hated myself for that more than anything else, just the way they hated me.

”You know, I really thought you were more intelligent than that,” Fearin said then, and surprisingly he sounded annoyed. ”If I'd known I was dealing with nothing more than another silly little girl I would have sent you to bed with those other two. From now on I just may do that.”

”Who do you think you're talking to?” I demanded, forced by sudden outrage to turn my head to look at him. He stood in the dimness like a broad-shouldered shadow, arms folded and head up. ”The day you find yourself able to send me anywhere, that will be the day the G.o.ds come down with shovels to clear the streets after a parade. You can just-”

”Enough!” he interrupted, overriding my abrupt anger with volume. ”If you don't want to be treated like a silly little girl then stop acting like one! You're one of us in this venture because of the Shadowborn inside you, not because of your pretty blue eyes. Did you think you could turn the beast loose without anyone ever seeing it? Have you forgotten it's already been seen?

Those guardsmen are mostly low-cla.s.s peasants in their outlooks and beliefs; did you expect them to see anything but a demon when they peered into the shadows?”

”Leave me alone,” I muttered, turning my head from him again. A demon was exactly what they saw in the shadows, hideous and inhuman, as willing to drink their blood as that of the enemy.

”I won't leave you alone,” Fearin denied, and then there was a broad hand at my face, turning it back to him. A ghostly blue glow now surrounded him, which probably meant he could also see me clearly. ”Only a silly child would waste time sitting in the dark, feeling sorry for herself over something that can't be changed. I can't use a silly child as part of my command group, soI refuse to let her stay like that. And if you think I can't send you to bed early for a few nights to teach you the error of your ways, you forget who the leader of this effort is. And who appointed him leader.”

The outrage flared in me again, and this time I was so furious I couldn't get any words out. That he would dare to even think of doing that to me, to take advantage of his position and Diin-tha's backing to - to - ”Yes, that's exactly right,” he said, and I could see the grin he wore. ”I would not hesitate to ask for any help I might need, and then you would do exactly as you were told. You don't like seeing people fear you; would you prefer to have them laugh at you?”

”No,” I breathed through gritted teeth, unable to free my face from his Power-enhanced grip.

I'd never be able to stand being laughed at and he knew it.

”Would you mind repeating that, and at slightly greater length?” he said lightly, paying no attention to the way nothing but his Power kept the beast in me from breaking loose. ”Take a deep breath, reestablish control, and then tell me precisely which you want.”

The struggle to control myself was brief, but it was one of the hardest things I'd ever done. I forced the red-edged fury back down to where it was supposed to stay, took a shakier deep breath than I'd intended, then moved my gaze to him again.