by Auryn Hadley
The diner was only two blocks down the street, but Zep was nearly melting by the time he made it in the door. Again, a cool breeze hit him and he wondered what the iliri did to keep their buildings so nice in the summer. Even more surprising was that no humans had realized it yet. Then again, not many dared to come to this side of town.
The diner was a small, humble place. Maybe twenty tables filled the room, spaced far enough apart that no one would accidentally brush elbows with another. Most were empty. Zep glanced around, wondering if he should seat himself, but decided to wait. In Guttertown, he would rather appear timid than brazen.
"I think ya got tha wrong place," a petite woman said, walking toward him with her chin held high. Zep couldn't help but notice how much she looked like Sal. Her nose was slightly convex but her large eyes were a very yellow green.
"No ma'am," Zep said. "I'm meeting my friends here. They wouldn't do well in other establishments."
"Do well?" she scoffed.
Zep nodded. "Yes, ma'am. Few places serve meals appropriate for my friends to eat. Evidently, this is the best."
"How many of you?" she grumbled.
"Three."
"Fine. Ya cause problems, we will throw ya out. Do na think because we are small - "
"I know," Zep said. "Most of you are stronger than me. I'm well aware."
She glanced back at him strangely, then gestured toward a table. "Beer?" she asked, curling her lip in distaste.
Zep chuckled. "No. Do you recommend anything for this weather?" He looked up at her politely, his eyes avoiding hers.
"Ya think I know what you want, Ace?" She rolled her eyes. "Water. Yer kind does well enough with tha'."
"Then water it is. Thank you."
She tried to hide it, but her lip raised in a snarl as she turned her back. Zep sighed and reminded himself that his family had to tolerate this every day. He could make it through this, and the waitress was cute enough he was willing to tolerate her abuse.
We need ta get a place or ya here? Cyno's voice asked in his mind.
Already here, got a table for three. And presents.
The door opened and the two assassins walked in. Both wore the pants to their fatigues and the regulation undershirts. Sal's was the thin strapped tank she preferred and Cyno's was white, making the tattoos down his arm even more striking. They saw him and made their way over.
"Kinna shocked they let ya in, big brother," Cyno said with a grin.
Zep shrugged. "I'm getting good at staring at the ground, man. Waitress is beautiful too, so it doesn't hurt."
Sal chuckled, and grabbed the seat beside him. Cyno glanced around the room once and moved to Zep's other side, his back to the wall.
"Ok," Zep told them, beaming. "I have presents."
"Why?" Sal asked.
"Because I could. Just smile, Sal. It's a human thing."
She shrugged and flashed him a pointed grin. "If you say so."
"I do." He lifted the bag into his lap and carefully placed the books on the table. "Iliran grammar for you, demon," he said, passing her the book. "And this one is mine," he put his next to his elbow. "The rest are for you, bro."
Cyno's face went still, and Zep watched the iliri's pupils constrict as he reached for the stack of books Zep pushed at him. Slowly, his face changed, the expressions barely perceptible to anyone that didn't know him well. Cyno's eyes flicked across the swirling lines, then back to Zep, time after time. When he reached the last book, he paused.
"Fuck."
Zep grinned and glanced over to Sal. "That means I did pretty good."
"I'd say." Her ears were forward, intent on her partner. "You can't smell it, but he's pretty impressed."
"How'd ya get this?" Cyno asked, his voice a whisper.
"Wonderful little place up the street. Nice shopkeeper who helped me out."
"Bull shit," the waitress said, reaching over his shoulder and almost dropping the water before him. "Molis will na sell to an Ace."
Sal turned to the girl, her ears flicking back against her skull. "Respect my brother," she snarled.
The waitress took a step back. Both Sal and Cyno glared at her, their eyes fierce. She looked quickly at Zep and he shrugged.
"I didn't get to pick the color of my skin. I did get to pick my family." He reached over and touched Sal's arm gently. "It's ok, Kaisae. She doesn't know. My kind have done enough to hers that it's only fair."
Sal nodded, but it was Cyno who spoke up. "Fair or na, her nose works better than that."
"I assumed it was his servants," she said submissively.
"My pack," Zep whispered. "My family, not my servants."
"I'm sorry," the girl said, daring to reach down and touch his shoulder gently.
Zep nodded at her. "It's ok. I told you, I just wanted a place where my friends could find a real meal." He glanced up at her, and smiled. "Can we try this again? Is there anything you recommend for this weather?"
She listed off both dishes and beverages, but all were in Iliran. None were anything that either Zep or Sal was familiar with. Cyno grinned and grabbed both of their wrists, then ordered. The girl glanced at Zep again, shocked.
"Do ya know what ya just ordered for him?"
"Yeh," Cyno said.
"Dog?" Zep asked.
"Na, horse. Remember Unav?"
"Oh yeah! Zep laughed. "That shit's amazing. What'd ya get Sal?"
"Dog," the waitress said. She shook her head and turned back for the kitchens, but even Zep could hear her mutter, "I'm confused."
She returned quickly, a tray filled with drinks in her hand. One blue, one yellow, and one pale green were placed before them. "I'm na sure which goes where," the girl said.
"They do na know either," Cyno told her. "Think of this more as sampling."
The girl looked at Sal. "Yer na from around here?"
"Nope," Sal said. "Merriton."
The girl glanced at the books on the table and her head cocked to the side.
"And I was raised by humans, as a slave," Sal said, lifting her chin. "I'm playing a bit of catch up and my brothers are helping me."
"I'm sorry, I should na have asked," the waitress said. "I'm Ryali by the way. I just..." she paused.
"Never seen a purebred before," Cyno finished. "We know."
Ryali nodded, her face turning pink, and hurried back the way she'd come.
"Yer gonna get that," Cyno told her. "One form or another, it's how they'll respond here."
"I know," Sal said around a sigh. "But they don't make me feel like a freak. More like a wonder. It's strange. They treat Zep the way they used to do me."
"If I'm around long enough, they tend to get over it," Zep said. "It's just not really safe for them to trust my kind."
"Oh, I know," Sal said. "Doesn't mean I like it."
"Does na mean he does either," Cyno teased. "Specially na the girl."
"Ryali." Zep grinned.
Cyno shoved a hand to his mouth, trying to smother a laugh. "How long b'fore ya try ta get a date?"
"About ten minutes ago," Sal answered for him. "Girl's a fool if she doesn't take you up on it, Zep."
He shrugged. "I get shot down more than picked up, demon. I'm kinda used to it."
Sal flicked her ear and grinned, turning to stare at the table. From the look on Cyno's face, Zep knew he'd been overheard.
"Fuck," he said under his breath.
Sal giggled.
Ryali rested the edge of her tray on the table and passed out a few more drinks. Pink, a darker blue, and one that was almost lavender. "Told Tensa, and she said these are a gift. I'm supposed to tell ya, laetus Kaisae, from her," she said to Sal.
"Give her my thanks."
Ryali nodded, then turned to Zep. "Why?"
"Fuck," he said again, burying his head in his hands. "I wish I could hear like you do, demon."
"Why?" Ryali persisted. "Go north four blocks and ya can have yer pick a' women."
Zep sighed and looked up at h
er. "I hate humans, have since I was a kid."
She nodded, accepting that. "I get off at dark. There's a pub that will allow ya in. Pick me up twenty minutes after the sun goes down and I'll let ya explain it."
"It's a long story," Zep warned her. "Might take a few nights to tell."
Ryali laughed. "If it does, I'll buy ya dinner to hear ya finish it."
"How about I buy you dinner for the chance to tell you?" he asked, daring to look in her eyes.
"Ya eat the horse, I'll let ya buy dinner. Show me ya can stand to eat in the same room as me first."
Zep chuckled. "Easy enough. I've been eating with the Blades long enough I can't remember any other way."
Ryali's head snapped around, and she looked at the people at her table with a new appreciation, glancing at the collar of each. "The Blades?"
Sal plucked something from her shirt. "The Black Blades," she said, pushing the pin across the table. The pair of crossed swords spun on the slick surface.
Cyno tapped his and Zep tilted his collar as Ryali looked at them in awe. "Tensa!" She yelled, hurrying to the back and rambling a string of fluent iliran.
"Did we just get a fan club?" Sal asked.
Cyno nodded. "Oh yeah. I think the rumor spread better than we thought."
"So why didn't we get this on our way in? Or did it just take time to travel?" she asked, looking between the men.
"Guttertown," Zep said. "Humans aren't welcome here. Means iliri don't have to watch their back. Same reason I like it here."
"Yeh," Cyno agreed. "If they cheer us on in their own homes, it is na the same as doin' it on the street. Military still takes conscripts, kitten."
Sal nodded, accepting that, then rolled her eyes when she saw the gaggle of people peering at them through a crack in the door. "We playing politics, or trying to eat," she asked her brothers.
"Politics," Zep said. "After my meeting with Toth, we need a bit more base than what we have. In Prin, everything comes back to Guttertown, and well, it won't take much to get the iliri on our side."
Sal nodded. "Ryali?" she called loudly.
"Yes, Kaisae?" the girl asked, pushing through the door.
"Tell them it's ok."
Her words were the only encouragement they needed. Eight women pushed through the door and surrounded Sal, all of them speaking in fluent Iliran faster than she could ever hope to understand. Cyno laughed.
"She does na speak Iliran yet," he said in the same language, loud enough for them to hear. "I can na translate that fast."
They fell silent, all looking between her, and her brothers. "Ahnor?" one asked Cyno.
"Na, ilus," he answered, then switched to Glish. "We're as mixed a group as Guttertown."
"But you're all iliri?" she asked, glancing at Zep.
"Close enough," Sal said, resting her hand protectively on Zep's arm. "He's not exactly human. He looks like one, smells like one, but doesn't think like one. I don't know what you'd call him. We call him brother."
"And you told them?" another woman asked. "The humans? You told them?"
"That we're iliri?" Sal asked. "Yeah. Our commander kinda snarled it to every general in Ft. Landing."
"And?"
"They're pissed," Zep said, catching Sal's eye. "They want to break us, but I don't think it's going to happen yet."
A darker woman stepped forward, looking at Zep. "How do we help?" she asked.
He smiled. "We need to make sure it's not just a rumor. Everyone needs to know the Black Blades are iliri, and that's the reason for our success. There's a few crates of documents in the University of Prin that detail your people's history. We need them to be seen. Anything you can get printed would do wonders, in either language. Those who work for the Aces..." He shrugged.
"How will that help?"
"If everyone knows the Blades are iliri, doing as well as they are, and loved by so many people? How many human kids have been pretending to be us? Pretending to be iliri?" Zep asked. "That's why they don't make a big deal about me."
"And that would help?" another asked. "Would it really help?"
"Yeh," Cyno said. "Right now it's the Representatives in Parliament that are tryin' ta stop us. Public opinion, voters, is what sways them. Guttertown is free, so ya all can vote."
"But most do na," Ryali said, resting her hand on Zep's shoulder.
"Then convince them they should?" Sal suggested.
A short pale woman grinned, nodding at Sal. "That, I can do. I will tell ever' one that comes in ta get official."
Sal sighed and ran her hands through her hair, shoving her ears tight against her head. These people were willing to throw themselves into anything that would help the Blades. She didn't want to give them false hope. "Nothing we do will happen fast, you all realize that, right?"
"But yer doing something," the pale woman said. "It matters."
"Il bax genause," the others whispered, nodding.
"Something, no matter how small, Kaisae, is more than we've had before. It matters. The Blades are welcome here anytime." She glanced at Zep, and nodded. "All of you. Guttertown takes care of our own."
"Thank you," Sal told her, meaning it.
"Thank you, kaisae," Zep said.
"Yer both welcome. Been a long time, ya know?"
Sal nodded. "I've heard. I was locked away, though, so I don't exactly know."
"She will, though," Cyno promised them. "We follow the old ways, and we will be sure she knows."
Chapter 11
Sal, Cyno, and Zep were just entering the military compound when LT's thought hit their mind.
I need everyone in my office as soon as possible. What's the ETA?
Two minutes, Sal thought back. Zep and Cyno are with me.
Five, Risk said. You want me to bring Tilso?
Yes, Blaec said. Shift, Razor?
On our way, boss, Shift thought.
Together, they made their way up the stairs, Sal leading them into the Blades' office. The door to Blaec's suite stood open and Arctic gestured them in. Zep threw himself into a chair, and Sal sank gratefully onto the couch as Tilso and Risk tapped politely at the door before entering. Blaec walked in from his sleeping chamber and looked around, his eyes resting on Cyno.
"Take the couch, man," Blaec said to him.
"You sure?"
Blaec nodded. "Yeah." He gestured to the office door for Shift and Razor. "I got orders," he said.
Even with the soldiers reclining casually on every piece of furniture, those words silenced them quickly. Sal kicked off her boots and draped her legs across Cyno, her ears tracking Blaec's every move.
"We have three loads of steel moving through the pass. This is our Anglian bribe. I'm going to call in a few favors, but that means we'll be working with the other elites. Pretty sure I can get Devil Dogs and the 112th. I'm hoping for at least two more and I won't be picky about who they are."
"What are we looking at?" Zep asked.
"Three separate passes, each with a secure guard. There's no way we can handle this on our own. We just don't have the manpower for it."
They all nodded, understanding completely.
"Here's why I called you in," Blaec said, leaning forward. "I wasn't exactly authorized for the assistance."
"Fuck," Shift whispered. "We supposed to fail?"
"Yeah," Cyno growled softly. "I think tha's the plan."
Blaec nodded. "Three loads, eight men. There's no way we could do that, so I agree. I've got a message off to Ran Sturmgren, asking for back up on this, but," he held up a stack of papers, "my orders give me quite a bit of leniency. They screwed up there and I'm going to use it to my advantage. I can't order the elites to assist us, but I can ask."
"You tell them about my meeting yet?" Zep asked.
"No, I'll let you."
Zep nodded and leaned forward. "After LT's promotion, I got orders. Report to Representative Toth ASAP. Naturally, I informed my commanding officer, but I did report."
"Get your as
s chewed?" Razor asked.
"Nope. Got offered the unit. He said he thought a, um, man like me could make something of this group. Cited my last round of testing, too, so they're doing their homework."
"So, what do we do if they start changing up our ranks?" Shift asked.
"Same as always," Arctic said. "Play human in public, but we all know where each of our skills lie."
"That's not all," Zep said. "Toth asked about Sal."
Blaec glanced at her, and saw Cyno rest his hand protectively across her leg. Sal just clenched her jaw and said nothing.
"What'd ya say?" Cyno asked.
"I laughed. Made out like it would be the funniest thing ever for LT and Sal to be a couple." He glanced over to his friend. "Pointed out that her partner doesn't report to her, so the thing between the two of you is perfectly within regulations. Sorry, Sal, I made it out like you were a bit too freaky for LT."
The men all chuckled at that and Sal finally smiled. "Thanks, Zep," she said. "But that means we have eyes around here."
"The 97th?" Risk asked.
"I don't think so," Shift said. "We've had too much support from them. LT, are you authorized to request their help, too?"
"Technically," Blaec said. "You think they'd help?"
"Yeh," Cyno answered. "Nyurin's an old friend. And if the eyes are in the 97th, he'll shut them down if we can find them."
"You trust him?"
Cyno smiled. "Yeh. We got history."
"K," Blaec agreed. "I'll talk to him tomorrow then. Guys, we knew this would happen. I have a feeling things are going to get real tight, real quick. We have two options."
"No," Zep said. "We have one. I know what you're going to say, LT. Keep pushing, or back off, and we can't back off." He looked around the room. "I was in Guttertown all afternoon. We can't back off."
"What's the story, Zep?" Arctic asked.
"Stopped at a bookstore and got a gift," Zep said pointedly.
"And?" Sal asked, guessing she was the only one that didn't understand the significance of that.
Cyno rubbed her leg. "Kitten, they do na have much down there. A gift could be the difference between food and rent."
"And the diner?"
"Tensa's place," Cyno told the rest. "Drinks, samples, and at least eight kaisaes begging ta speak with Sal."
