Innkeeper Chronicles 3.5: Sweep of the Blade

by Ilona Andrews

  She stepped closer to him, raised her hand, and gently popped him on

  the forehead.

  The young knight reached them and thrust a tablet at Arland.

  Maud turned around and walked away.

  “Maud, wait!”

  She sped up. He couldn’t outright run after her. He would look like an

  idiot to the audience below.

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  “Get this infernal tablet out of my face! Maud!”

  The moment she entered the tower, she sprinted down the stairs. As

  soon as they were out of sight, he would chase her, and she didn’t want

  to have this conversation in the tower. She wanted to have it in her or

  his quarters, after they had been swept clear of Nuan Cee’s bugs. She

  needed to get down to that lawn as fast as she could.

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  Chapter 11 Part 2

  July 13, 2018 by Ilona 551 Comments

  Maud emerged from the tower into the sunshine. Directly in front of

  her, a stone path led to a wide-open lawn ringed by trees. She strode

  forward, to where stone benches and small tables had been placed to

  accommodate small groups, offering a clear view of the lawn. Many of

  the benches were occupied; vampires in full armor lounged, snacked on

  finger foods presented on large platters, and drank refreshments. The

  air smelled of charred meat, fresh bread, and honey. A banner marked

  each sitting area, announcing the allegiance of its occupants. Most of the

  seats directly in front of her, spread out in a crescent, were taken by

  House Krahr, the line of black and red pennants familiar and almost

  welcoming. House Kozor curved to the right, its colors red and

  green. House Sedlak lined the left side. Their banners, blue and yellow,

  waved in the breeze.

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  On the lawn two teams, one red and black, the other comprised of both

  Kozor and Sedlak, clashed with practice weapons. Krim, Maud realized,

  the Holy Anocracy’s favorite sport. One team had drawn a circle roughly

  fifty feet wide. In the middle of the circle a fifteen-foot pillar about

  eighteen inches across supported a white flag. The defenders positioned

  themselves around the pillar, guarding it, while the attackers tried to

  break through and grab the flag. It wasn’t a complicated game, but what

  it lacked in complexity, it more than made up for in sheer brutality. This

  time Krahr defended. Everyone wore full armor, carried practice

  weapons, and sported headbands equipped with sensors. The

  headbands analyzed input from the armor and flashed when the wearer

  sustained enough damage to die.

  “Lady Maud!” A familiar voice called.

  Well, look at that. She managed not to cringe. “My Lady Ilemina?”

  The Preceptor of House Krahr sat at a table to her right. The Lord Consort

  loomed in the chair next to her like an immovable mountain of vampire

  knighthood.

  “Join us,” Lady Ilemina said. It didn’t sound like a request.

  Great, just what she wanted, to be on display next to her possible future

  mother-in-law.

  Behind her the door of the tower slid open and Arland stepped onto the

  path.

  On second thought, joining Lady Ilemina was an excellent idea. Maud

  walked over and took a seat on Ilemina’s left. Out of the corner of her

  eye, she saw Arland stalking down the path towards them.

  Yes, yes. Stalk all you want. There was no way he would be discussing

  any kind of fraternization in front of his mother and stepfather. She’d

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  outmaneuvered him. For some odd reason, it made her feel ridiculously

  accomplished.

  On the lawn, House Krahr, led by Karat, formed a dense ring of bodies

  around the pillar. Houses Kozor and Sedlak split their forces preparing

  to attack from opposite sides. A familiar blonde mane caught Maud’s

  eye on Kozor’s side. Seveline was leading their assault.

  “They’re using the Pincher assault,” Ilemina said.

  “Seems badly thought out,” Lord Otubar said. “There aren’t enough of

  them to effectively break through, and she knows they’re coming. Too

  crude.”

  The maneuver seemed painfully blatant. Karat was shifting her forces to

  compensate, but she was doing it slowly.

  Arland strode over. The only open seat was next to Otubar. Arland

  picked it up, moved it next to her, and sat down.

  “Opinion?” Ilemina asked him.

  He studied the field. “Nothing in either Kozor’s or Sedlak’s tactics up

  until now indicates a preference for direct assault.”

  “It’s a feint,” Otubar said.

  “The question is, where are they going with this?” Ilemina

  murmured. “Did you finish the comparative analysis?”

  Arland grimaced. “There was not enough data for a definitive

  conclusion. What data we have from the known pirate assaults is

  consistent with known tactical patterns of our cherished

  guests. Similarity isn’t proof, however.”

  “What about the Lees’ data?” Otubar asked.

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  “Nuan Cee is stalling,” Arland said.

  “Perhaps something can be done to persuade him to share.” Lady

  Ilemina glanced at Maud.

  They were speaking in front of her as if she was already part of the House,

  and more, they were asking for her advice. She wasn’t sure if she should

  be flattered or upset that everyone at the table viewed her joining House

  Krahr as a foregone conclusion.

  “Give me something to trade,” she said. “It is a common misconception

  that the Lees love money above all else. That’s not exactly true. They

  love a bargain; they love getting a good deal. Getting more for less is the

  foundation of their society. Let me take something to them they will find

  irresistible.”

  “I find haggling distasteful.” Ilemina frowned. “Mostly because I’m

  terrible at it. I prefer a fair price, which I can pay without any

  negotiations.”

  “And they think you weaker for it.” Maud shrugged.

  When you bargained with a Lees, the first price they quoted you was

  always outrageous. It was a test and you had three options: first, you

  could pay the price and be known as a fool by their great, great

  grandchildren; second, you could walk away and be judged too rigid to

  become a business partner or an ally; and third, you could bargain. Only

  the third option brought respect.

  On the lawn, House Sedlak engaged Karat’s left flank. She’d shifted her

  formation into a rough oval ring, with two ends facing Sedlak and

  Kozor. Karat stood in the middle by the pillar, her practice blade ready

  in her hand.

  The Sedlak’s assault hammered the Krahr, but the left flank held. On the

  right, nearly twenty-five yards away, the Kozor formed a wedge with

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  Seveline as the tip of the spear. The two vampire knights directly behind

  her looked like they had jumped out of a production of an ancient saga,

  each of them almost as large as Otubar.

  The wedge charged. The knights thundered forward, picking up speed,

  like a herd of enraged rhinos.

  “Hold!” Karat’s voice rang out. The defenders braced themselves, doing

/>   their best impersonation of an immovable object about to meet an

  unstoppable force.

  Seveline would be crushed, Maud thought. Now the plan made more

  sense. If it wasn’t for Sedlak, Karat’s forces could scatter, leaving only a

  few defenders in the middle to slow the charge as it penetrated the

  circle, while the majority of her knights cut at the mass of invaders from

  the sides. Maud had seen that maneuver before. Done correctly, it

  absorbed the kinetic energy of the charge like a sponge. But with Sedlak

  at her back, Karat had no opportunity to maneuver. The steady pressure

  at her back side left her only one choice – to hold.

  The Kozor were almost on them. Maud held her breath, bracing herself

  as if she were in the line of defenders.

  The wedge parted slightly, Seveline slipping through the ranks to the

  back. The final row of the wedge swept her off her feet and up. Seveline

  dashed across the armored shoulders and backs of Kozor knights and

  leaped. For a moment she flew, her lean form silhouetted against the

  blue sky, sunlight gleaming from her armor, then she landed in the

  circle. Karat shied to the right, avoiding getting knocked down by a hair.

  Seveline struck at her, spinning fast like a dervish. Karat blocked, backing

  up, straight into the back of her own armored line. Seveline was a

  whirlwind. Her strikes pierced Karat’s defense in a flurry, so fast Maud

  could barely follow. Damn. Karat blocked and dodged but she had

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  nowhere to go. Red streaks slashed her armor, the blows of Seveline’s

  practice sword leaving their mark.

  Damn it.

  Karat’s headpiece flashed white. Seveline had scored a mortal wound.

  Karat swore and threw her sword to the ground. Seveline laughed and

  fell onto the Krahr’s defensive line.

  “Interesting,” Otubar said, watching Seveline massacre the knights from

  the rear.

  “What could we offer the Lees?” Ilemina sipped blue wine from her glass,

  her tone relaxed.

  “They want the trade station,” Maud said.

  Ilemina smiled. “Only that?”

  “The idea of a trade station has some merit,” Arland said, his gaze fixed

  on the crumbling Krahr line.

  Otubar made a low rumbling noise that may have been agreement or

  disdain. Maud didn’t know the Lord Consort well enough to tell.

  Ilemina’s eyebrows rose. “You too?”

  Otubar gave a barely perceptible shrug.

  “We can take the fleet to Seldak system, and I can reduce their fleets to

  space garbage,” Arland said. “We have military superiority in both

  numbers and the caliber of our ships. However, we can’t hold the system

  indefinitely. Lady Maud is a student of vampire history. Tell us, my Lady,

  what do we know about occupying the territory of other houses?”

  Thank you, that bus that just rolled over me, after you threw me under it,

  felt lovely. “ Nobody in the history of the Holy Anocracy has ever won a

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  partisan war. Any time an occupation of another House was attempted,

  it either failed or the weaker House ceased to exist.”

  “If you count both Sedlak and Kozor, there are almost a million beings

  between the two planets,” Arland said. “We cannot occupy their

  territory, so the only recourse would annihilation.”

  Arland’s destroyer flashed before Maud’s eyes. Stationary targets, like

  planets and defensive installations on moons, had no chance against

  space fleets. They followed a fixed orbit and they couldn’t

  dodge. Launching a kinetic projectile or a barrage of missiles when the

  computers could calculate the precise position of your target was child’s

  play. House Krahr could simply sit back and bombard the two planets

  until nothing alive remained on the surface. An icy needle pierced her

  spine. They were sitting here discussing potential death of a million

  beings. It wasn’t an abstract discussion on the morality of it; it wasn’t

  hypothetical. They really could do it. Whatever was said here in the next

  few minutes would determine if the next generation of Kozor and Sedlak

  children would ever grow up.

  “Some would see it as the only option,” Ilemina said.

  “We are not a House that would stoop to genocide against our own

  kind,” Arland said.

  Ilemina smiled.

  Seveline was climbing the pillar.

  “Lady Maud?” Ilemina asked. “Do you have any thoughts?”

  Maud sipped her wine. Her throat had suddenly gone dry. “It seems to

  me that since Sedlak and Kozor found themselves resorting to plundering

  trade vessels, they are short of funds.”

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  “They are stuck on a remote system with no means to expand their

  military,” Otubar said.

  Seveline waived the flag from the pillar’s top.

  “So, there is very little gain to be had from wiping them out,” Maud

  said. “Financially, it’s a loss. It would cost a fortune in fuel and

  munitions. From a military stand point, it’s also a loss. House Krahr

  would gain no territory, resources, or strategic advantage. If one

  considers it a matter of honor, there is little of it in a victory over an

  opponent who never had a chance. It would do nothing to enhance the

  already stellar reputation of House Krahr.”

  Ilemina chuckled into her wine. “Such flattery, Lady Maud. They have

  raided our ships. Satisfaction must be achieved.”

  “And I’m sure Lord Arland would crush them so completely that by the

  time he finished, the only space-worthy vessels in the system will be

  escape pods.” Maud drank more wine. “It seems to me that once the

  pirating adventures of our esteemed guests become public knowledge,

  the trade would shift. The two systems will whither and rot without their

  main source of income. The trade will have to go somewhere.”

  “It will go to Sarenbar,” Arland said. “Or it can come here. Bringing it

  here via a trade station would allow us to control the terms of

  engagement. Placing the Lees in a key role will ensure its profitability.”

  “You would allow strangers into our secure space.” Ilemina’s face

  hardened.

  Arland faced her. “Eventually we will have to interact with the rest of the

  galaxy by means other than invasion and war. We can’t kill everyone,

  mother.”

  Otubar cleared his throat. “We have a visitor.”

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  Tellis, the groom, was walking toward the tabl.

  “A bit of swagger in his step,” Ilemina observed. “Do something about

  it, won’t you, dear?”

  “Yes,” Otubar and Arland said in unison.

  Maud braced herself.

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  Chapter 11 Part 3

  July 20, 2018 by Ilona 745 Comments

  Tellis stopped about eighteen inches too close.

  Her father once explained to her that since vampires were aggressive

  and violent by nature, their interactions had to be strictly

  regimented. All of the rules and ceremony ensured that nobody would

  be casually offended. A vampire would have to actively ignore customs

  to cause offense, and when they did so, it was always deliberate. />
  An appropriate distance between two potential enemies was about five

  feet, far enough for both to draw weapons if necessary. Allies stood a

  little closer, three and a half feet, just out of arm’s length. Friends stood

  within touching distance, and family members often allowed for only a

  few inches of personal space.

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  Tellis had come close enough to brush against the table, which put him

  within three and a half feet of Ilemina and Otubar but only two feet away

  from Maud. He could reach out and touch her, and he was smiling. When

  vampires bared their teeth like that, it was done for one reason only: to

  impress. It was the grin of an apex predator demonstrating how

  awesome he was.

  It was also an obvious insult whichever way you spun it. Either he didn’t

  consider her belonging to Clan Krahr and, therefore, not worthy of basic

  courtesies, or he was deliberately overly familiar with another’s fiancé. A

  human equivalent would be to put his arm around a woman celebrating

  her engagement to another man and smirk while doing it. Tellis couldn’t

  have been more obvious about it if he’d had leered and asked her if she

  was free tonight.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Maud could see Arland’s face. His

  expression was thoroughly relaxed. In fact, she had never seen him so

  seemingly tranquil. He looked a hair away from a dreamy smile.

  Oh crap.

  “Excellent game,” Tellis said, “Our deepest compliments.”

  Lord Otubar smiled. It was enough to give human children

  nightmares. “Interesting tactics.”

  “Yes,” Lady Ilemina said. “We quite enjoyed this revealing glimpse into

  the minds of House Kozor and House Serak. Truly, the cooperation

  between your two houses is praiseworthy. Don’t you think so, Arland?”

  “An example to us all,” Arland said.

  Tellis’ eyebrows rose slightly. He wasn’t an idiot, and he had realized

  that they had overplayed their hand, revealing more than they

  intended. He had two options now: he could beat a graceful retreat, or

  he could barrel on ahead. Given that he was a male vampire knight, he

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  valiantly chose the second and threw himself into assault with all the