by Auryn Hadley
"And how do you get into this?"
She shrugged. "It just takes a touch. Skin to skin. That's how most of our skills work."
Reko nodded, then he shifted awkwardly. "Can I ask you something personal, Sal?"
"Sure. I don't promise to answer."
"Does Major Doll still claim you?"
That was not at all what she'd expected. "You really don't get it at all, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
With a groan, she laid back on the ground, stretching her arms over her head. "Listen to your instincts more, Reko."
He huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, I try, but it's confusing the hell out of me. I haven't been around many of us. You're the only pure-blood I've ever seen, let alone talked to."
That's exactly what she'd been like, back when she applied to the Blades. A trickle of memories teased her, dozens of pieces begging to be put together. How could any iliri grow up knowing so little about their people? She couldn't be the only one who'd been sold off as an infant. And if she wasn't...
"Where'd you grow up?" she asked.
"Merriton. I guess they did some experiments down there."
Which meant she was right. She wasn't the only one. "Yeah. Me too. Makes me wonder how many of us are left."
"Four." His confident answer shocked her. "Well, there are four of us left from the experiments. The rest they either killed or died before they were sold. If you’re from Merriton, I guess you're the female."
She'd always thought that information was classified or something. "Yeah, I got the report, but how do you know that?"
"I went digging. Some company was breeding us, trying to improve us to make pet soldiers. They had twenty-seven children born, two sets of twins. Of those, eight were stillborn. Ten were used in other experiments and didn't survive, five died from either improper nutrition or diseases. Four of us lived and were sold to pay for the cost of the experiment. You brought a pretty high price."
"I'm scared to ask."
"Six hundred thousand krits."
She sat up and looked at him. "Maast. Why?"
"Females are known to be enticing." He shrugged.
"Ok, well that explains your bad manners that first day." Sal huffed a weak laugh, then decided to start at the beginning. "So, the first thing you need to know is that no one claims me. I am the Kaisae. I make the decision on who I choose as a mate. Even a dalliance." She looked at him pointedly, and he nodded. "Think of it like humans, but backward. Imagine how a man would take it if his woman told him that she owned him."
Reko chuckled. "Gotcha."
"And yes, Blaec and Cyno are mine."
"Both?"
She nodded. "Cyno is Ahnor, Blaec is Dernor. You know what those mean?"
"No. I know they called Cyno Ahnor in Anglia, but that's it."
"First mate is Ahnor. Second is Dernor."
With a chuckle, he rubbed at the tip of his ear. "I'm almost sorry I asked. What about the human?"
"Zep? From the other day?"
Reko nodded.
"He's my brother."
"But you hugged him like that?"
"Yeah." She shrugged away the supposed implications. "That's the whole instinct thing. If you see a Blade, watch him. None of us touch anyone outside the unit if we can help it. Grauori don't count. They don't feel the same. Human or iliri? We don't touch them unless we have to. Inside the pack, we're very familiar."
Reko was taking it all in. "How so?"
"Well, it's hard to explain. Little things, like hugging, are common. The men are always grabbing one of the other guys' arms or patting a shoulder. They kiss me often. The top of my head, my hand, things like that. I mean, it's not even uncommon for us to break for camp and end up laying in a group. Me on Jase and Blaec, Zep's legs across another man's shins, things like that."
"Why?"
Sal lifted her hands and let them drop. "I have no idea. It just feels right. Touching my brothers is something I barely notice anymore. I did when I first joined, but now? It just feels right."
He slowly licked his lips, dipping his head to look at her through perfectly white lashes. Everything about his posture screamed submission. "Will you teach me? I don't want to offend you again, but it's kinda nice not to be the only one anymore. I just don't have anyone else to ask."
Sal reached over and rubbed his upper arm, her hand touching only his uniform. "Yeah. I was there once - and someone taught me. Make friends with the grauori, too. They know more than I do."
"Really?"
Sal nodded. "Touch one. Smell one."
"They have eyes like us, and I heard you say we're related to them, but is it that obvious?"
"I don't know. It was to us." Then she pulled her legs under her. "Come on, he's going to call us back soon. Dunno about you, but I'm tired of people yelling at me."
Reko huffed at the truth of that and pulled himself to his feet. "You learn to ignore it, eventually. It's been nice watching you put them in their place, though."
They both grabbed their weapons and dusted themselves off, moving into position. Raj saw, sighed, and climbed to his feet. At least he didn't look any happier about it than the iliri felt.
"You scrubbers ready for more?" he tried to taunt.
"It wasn't me that needed the break," she pointed out.
Raj almost rolled his eyes. "You can't keep it up all day. Don't tempt me to try."
Sal grinned, making sure the humans could see her pointed teeth. "I just came from a combat zone, Raj. I'm not sure what kind of battles you've been in, but ours usually take a few hours at least." She flicked her ears up, trying to look as innocent as possible, but her tone just didn't match. "You'd drop before I would," she said, and it was clear she didn't mean in training.
Ignoring her comment, Raj started drilling them again, unaware the iliri were actually enjoying it. The harder he pushed, the more they relaxed into the moves. Sal despised downtime, and her training with Reko was as enjoyable to her as a good meal or a fierce round of sparring. She'd just truly warmed up when a voice called out.
"I'm supposed to collect Lieutenant Luxx!"
Chapter 14
"At ease," Raj grumbled at the iliri before turning to the soldier who'd interrupted. "Who are you?"
"Dalyr Trant, emissary of the grauori of Anglia."
Raj sighed. "And why do you think I should send my soldier off with you?"
Dalyr chuckled, making no effort to stay professional. "Because your politicians are demanding it. I was closest, so the Orassae asked me to make the request."
"What?" Raj asked, confused. "Who is summoning her?"
"Your Parliament, I guess, because the Orassae asked. You Raj Jozefo?"
"Yeah, what's it to you?"
"Fuck off," Dalyr said. "You've been called, too." He gestured, and a pair of grauori made their way to his side. "I'm to have you taken into custody."
"Sicking your dogs on me? Fucking Anglia."
Dalyr hopped over the wood railing and stormed into Raj's face. "You want to make this a thing, we can make this a thing. You Conglomerate fucks have no idea how deep in shit you are right now. Let's go, fucker. I'll put your ass on the ground right now."
"Lieutenant!" Sal said, and Dalyr snapped to attention.
"Sorry, sir," he replied.
"At ease," she breathed.
Raj glared at her, then turned back to Dalyr. "Man, you fuck with me, and shit gets ugly between the Conglomerate and Anglia. We're all bound by The Conventions, and there are not a damned thing you can do to me because of it."
Dalyr looked up at him and laughed. "Yeah, that's where you're wrong. You're the fuck that tried to jack the Kaisae, aren't ya? Yeah, well I got news for you. I'm not bound by The Conventions."
Sal smothered her laugh behind her hands, making Raj look at her. "He's right," she said.
"How the fuck do you know that?"
Sal tipped her head to the side. "I assigned him." Then she looked at her former soldier. "You get tha
t promotion yet, Dalyr?"
"Nah, Kaisae. Next month. My girl said yes, though. Just figured you should know you were right."
"Told ya. And thanks for the man the other morning."
His eyes dropped to her boots. "Anytime, Kaisae. We owe ya."
The men of Azure Silence looked between them confused. Sal sighed and decided to explain. "Lieutenant Trant is considered Grauoran, currently. He's assigned as an intermediary between the grauori and the humans. There's a contingent of grauori assigned to the Verdant Shields that are the opposite. Each is bound to the laws of the kingdom he serves."
"That's Anglia," Tomac pointed out.
Sal shook her head. "Anglia's the country. Humans, grauori, iliri - those are the kingdoms. Anglia's just's the name of the land they all live on. Only humans signed the conventions."
"Sounds complicated," Kap said.
She turned and lifted an eyebrow. "Explain Parliamentary elections to them sometime. Let's see which is worse."
"Good point."
"Kaisae," Dalyr said, "I hate to push, but the Orassae is adamant."
Sal waved him down. "Tell her I'll come. And Dalyr, it's still Lieutenant here."
He grinned. "Not to them. Lieutenant is a human term, Kaisae. You are not human."
"You still trying to claim leadership in Anglia, Luxx?" Raj sneered.
Dalyr grabbed the hilt of his sword and leaned into the man's face again. "We could only be so lucky. Kaisae is a term of respect for a dominant female. Sal is exactly that. The Sergeant at Arms is the title of the person who controls the Anglian Army, and the Orassae organizes the maargra, or grauori soldiers."
"Raj," Drago yelled from the other side of the arena, waving a note. "You and Luxx need to see Parliament."
Dalyr cocked his head, a wry smile on his lips. "Coming?" he asked the man before raising his voice to the approaching officer. "I'm here to collect him, sir."
"Him?" Drago asked, storming toward them.
Dalyr nodded once. "Yes, sir. The Orassae has demanded that the suspect be detained."
"And Luxx?"
"She is not a suspect. Lieutenant Luxx is a witness to the alleged crime."
"I see. Thought you said this shit was dropped, Luxx."
Sal just looked at him blandly, not wanting to show how much she knew about the Anglian plans. "I have no control over how offended others are. If Rragri decides to make this political, that's between her and Parliament."
"And you think you're that important?" Drago asked.
"She is, sir," Dalyr said. "Kaisae Luxx is the only known pure iliri female at this time. The Orassae has claimed her as family and feels that the grauori owe her a life debt. One for each of them."
Sal closed her eyes and let the air in her lungs seep out. "Fucking bitch."
"Yeah, pretty much," Dalyr agreed. "She's not gonna let this go, Lieutenant. She was good until the other night; now she's back to quoting histories."
"Histories?" Drago asked.
Sal shot him an exasperated look. "Try reading sometime, sir. I hear it can be an enjoyable hobby. Dalyr, did she call any other witnesses?"
"Yeah. You won't like it, though."
"Just tell me."
"The Blades - and everyone in a link."
"Fuck."
Dalyr patted her arm. Kaisae, I'm to tell you to challenge her. Demand that she let it be. Both Dominik and Parliament will break it up.
She'll listen to Parliament?
Yeah, this time. She's amused.
Ok. Tell her I've already been briefed. Let's get this over with.
"If you both would follow me?" Dalyr asked, gesturing toward the courthouse.
Sal spent the rest of the afternoon before Parliament with Rragri and Dominik, posturing before the Conglomerate delegation. Representative Berrik tried everything in her power to embarrass the Anglian leaders, but as quickly as she managed to be offensive, Sal made a comment that smoothed it over, veiling it as the answer to a question. Hour after hour, the politicians raged. Sal and Rragri grew tired of it quickly, but they knew this was necessary.
Dominik insisted that Sal be moved to another unit. His request brought at least two politicians to their feet and tempers began to flare. Dom countered every accusation by simply reminding the politicians of the assassinations carried out inside his nation. Sal had to force herself to stay stoic, knowing that Representative Berrik was quickly falling out of favor with her peers. At home, such extremist views sounded powerful, but that faded when potential allies started making their own demands.
Rragri insisted that the iliri were truly her people and that humans had no claims on them. Parliament countered with the fact that most Conglomerate citizens carried as much human ancestry as iliri. When Sal and Rragri felt they'd laid the foundation for their alliance negotiations well enough, Sal made a loud and vehement declaration of her responsibilities to the Conglomerate. Rragri snarled, Dominik snapped something at her in Grauoran - which was barely intelligible - and Parliament apologized. The meeting was adjourned with all accusations of a crime being dropped, and the Anglian leaders making amends to her for their behavior. Sal finished the whole thing by storming into the foyer and telling the grauori to release Raj Jozefo. The guards dropped to their bellies in submission, and Raj quickly stepped away from them while Sal glared.
She caught a familiar scent of a human behind her. "Lieutenant?" Ilija said softly.
Sal turned to him, overly aware of Raj beside her. "Yeah?"
"His Majesty, Dominik Jens, has asked me to give you a gift. He begs you to accept this as a sign of his regret." Ilija passed her a heavy object wrapped in deep green cloth. "If this is suitable, I'm to report it to Parliament," he said, his eyes just flicking to the man beside her.
Sal unrolled the cloth and heard the clank of steel. She smiled as her knives came into sight. "Thank you, Colonel. Thank you very much. Tell Dom I appreciate it."
He nodded and then left, pushing his way into the courtroom.
Removing the ceramic blades from her belt, she tucked them in the tops of her boots, then slid the steel blades in their place.
Raj's mouth hung open as he watched. "Is that real steel?"
"Yes. Almost two kilos of it," she said, walking out of the door. Raj followed behind her. "Stay the fuck away from me, Raj. I just have to deal with your shit for two more weeks, so don't push me."
"Why two weeks?"
"After that, Anglia either signs or doesn't sign a treaty with the Alliance. If they do, we're gonna kick the shit out of Terric. If they don't, we're gonna get our asses kicked by Terric. Considering the Emperor's only goal in life is to kill my people? It's kinda a big deal to me."
Raj grabbed her shoulders and yanked Sal around to face him. Without thinking, she backhanded him, knocking him to the ground.
"Fuck, bitch" he hissed, pressing at the coming bruise. "I just wanted to know if that's what the shit in there was about."
"Yeah. Dom and Rragri are good friends. They're fucking pissed about what they're doing to us here, and they're willing to make a scene about it. I was pretty rude to them in there, and they've been nothing but amazing to me."
Raj gestured at her waist. "Two kilos of steel? Yeah, I'd say."
"No, those were mine already. Dom just made sure Parliament can't take them from me. You thought I was a bitch before, you should see how well I work with my preferred weapons."
"You actually use those? In battle?"
Sal gave him a feral smirk. "A lot."
"Look, I know you think I'm a fucking fool. I get it. I can still see what you're up to."
"And what's that?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"You're thinking about defecting. Anglia loves you. The damned beast says she's your kin. You refused to commit in there to Parliament even though you said some real pretty shit to them." He looked up at her. "I'm right, aren't I?"
"Fuck you," Sal growled, turning away.
"Iliri don't lie real good either," Raj ca
lled back. "Your ears always give it away. I'll make you a deal, Sal."
She turned and looked at him.
"You got my ass out of shit. I don't know why, but you did. I won't say shit if you help me do something."
"Are you fucking serious?" she gasped. "Right now, I have a whole lot more credibility than you. Go ahead. Scream it to the rooftops. No one is going to believe you."
He shrugged. "Don't mean you shouldn't help me. You got pull in places I don't. Get Trax out. Reassigned, demoted, don’t care, but that prick is getting us killed. I've been in Azure for three years. Wyra's been in for almost two. I'm the most veteran member."
Sal looked at him and cocked her head. "You've got to be kidding. Even the newest units have men who've served for five years."
He shook his head. "Nah, that's what started it. Things were going pretty good - and then you showed up. You got the old man pissed off, and he's back to his typical shit. He sends us into combat and sits behind the lines, calling orders to us. Half the time we can't even hear what he's saying. We lose half our numbers every fight. Fucking about face and parry shit. We haven't drilled mounted in months. When I joined Azure, we were elites. Now? I think he's trying to kill us."
"Why is this my problem?" she asked.
"Cuz you're Azure, now. When we get orders, you'll be right there with us."
Sal rolled her eyes. "Yeah. And I've been in battle on foot before. I know how to hold my own in there. With Reko beside me, we'll do just fine."
Raj stared for a moment, then his shoulders slumped, and he just sighed. "Fair enough. Ya got me cleared. We'll call it a deal on that." He turned and started walking back.
"You're serious?" Sal called at his back.
He stopped but didn't turn back. "Yeah. I jacked ya cuz Trax ordered it. I didn't expect that shit."
"Zep, or the grauori?"
Rubbing his head, he turned to face her once more. "I meant the sedation. I did it. Slipped it in your water at the end of practice."
She could smell nothing but the truth on him. "I'm actually impressed you managed that."
"I knew you'd kick the shit out of me otherwise. Look. I was just gonna scare ya a bit. I swear. I don't fucking rape women."
