The Iron Princess

by Niall Teasdale

Ayah did not leave immediately. Neither Xian nor Leshak seemed especially surprised about the elemental imbalance Ayah was having to deal with and, now that Ayah had identified the problem, certain feelings and problems had a root cause which suggested a few other things that fitted with Ayah’s general frame of mind.

  One of those was an increased libido and Xian had just awakened it from its half-doze. Ayah had noticed a desire for something and now she knew what it was. She was determined to spend at least a couple of evenings finding out just how much pleasure Xian could drag out of her body, and also to find out how much she could give in return.

  Ayah was disappointed when Xian said she would not be leaving too. Or rather, Xian said that she had some other things to do which would not take her to Istollam and Istollam was where Ayah had decided to try her luck. It was a coastal city on the far side of the Western Plains and it had a strong tradition of Water Form. Xian thought it was a good place to try, even if it meant them splitting up. And the splitting up of a partnership which had been going on for almost two short years now was another reason that it took Ayah just over a week to be ready to leave.

  ‘You will be welcome here again, should you need to come,’ Leshak said as Ayah shouldered her pack.

  ‘I haven’t been such a terrible student then?’ Ayah asked, a smile playing over her lips.

  ‘For a human,’ Leshak conceded.

  ‘High praise,’ Xian said, grinning. ‘Keep yourself safe, Ayah. We’ll see each other again. Possibly sooner than you might expect.’

  ‘Well, I hope so,’ Ayah replied. ‘I want more instruction on… alternative meditation techniques.’

  ‘I’m quite well aware of what you two have been doing whenever my back is turned,’ Leshak said. ‘Really, Ayah, I’ve been around for thousands of years and I’m a forest spirit. Do you really think you need to use euphemisms for sex around me?’ Ayah felt her cheeks warming, but Leshak was moving on. He raised a hand toward a nearby tree and one of his portals opened. ‘On your way before you decide to stay another night.’

  Rather impulsively, Ayah wrapped her arms around the tree-man’s torso. It was a little like hugging a tree, but it was still a hug. ‘Goodbye, Leshak,’ she said and then turned to Xian.

  Xian leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Ayah’s lips. ‘Farewell, Ayah.’

  Ayah gave her a nod, suddenly not trusting her voice, and then she stepped through the tree and was gone.

  Leshak waited for the portal to close and then turned his head to look at Xian. ‘And where am I sending you?’

  Xian frowned briefly. ‘I need to pay a visit to the Iron City. I’ve heard rumours and I need them confirmed.’

  ‘Let me know when you’re ready to leave. I’ve heard rumours too. When you’ve discovered your proof, let me know.’

  Omashi Town.

  Someone had pasted a large piece of parchment to the Forest Gate and Ayah stopped to look at it. It had taken her a while to walk out through the cultivated part of the forest and it was edging toward mid-afternoon; a short break before she hunted down a room for the night seemed a wise move and she was certainly not moving on before morning.

  The poster had a carefully painted image covering the upper two-thirds of it. Whoever had made it had some talent and excellent calligraphy. ‘Taravel’s Circus’ was spelled out above images of figures engaged in various forms of martial arts. Or that was what Ayah first thought until she noticed the other writing which proclaimed that the circus had performers of both the Sword Dance and the Fire Dance as well as ‘feats of strength and acrobatics, fortune telling, and many other wonders.’

  Below the picture was a list of places, presumably the ones the circus was visiting. They started with Garia City and then came north, skirting the forest. Ayah suspected that they had spent the brunt of the winter in Omashi or nearby: there was a note saying ‘Spring Season’ above the mention of the town. From here, they would be heading more or less west. They were zigzagging a bit from what Ayah remembered of the geography of the Plains, but they were to end up in Istollam by the middle of First Marita and then go on to the City of the North when the summer brought warmer weather there.

  They were going to Istollam. Not, perhaps, by the fastest route, but it was a long way to travel on foot and without Xian to help catch food. They had fire dancers there and Ayah knew how to do the Fire Dance. She would have to look into Taravel’s Circus and hope that Taravel, whoever he was, was inclined to take on a new dancer.

  ~~~

  Ayah found a quite comfortable room in one of the smaller inns. It was nothing as grand as the rooms Xian preferred, but it was suitable for someone of meagre means travelling on her own. Ayah had some money, but not a huge amount and she wished to use it as sparingly as possible until she knew what might be needed once she got to Istollam.

  Having found a place to stay, Ayah went looking for the circus, finding them set up just outside the main gate of the town. At first glance, it seemed to be a collection of wagons with horses picketed off to one side. Most of the wagons were open, but there were a few covered ones. There were also a lot of tents and only some of them appeared to be for the accommodation of the circus people. Some obviously were and those were generally relatively drab. There were plenty of brighter colours around too and those tents seemed to house the attractions of the circus.

  Ayah walked past tents selling various kinds of food: meat on sticks, meat between slabs of bread, and various kinds of sweets, not all of which Ayah recognised. There was a fortune teller’s tent where you could have your future foretold for only two bits. Ayah decided that her future was either going to be what she made of it or she did not want to know.

  There were also a number of canvas walls held up on poles which encircled activities you had to pay to see. Ayah found one which was closed off and had a sign beside it. The sign said that this was the fire dancing enclosure and that it cost a mark to go in, and also that it was closed until after dark. Fire dancing would be more spectacular in the dark, she supposed.

  Another enclosure said that it was for ‘feats of strength’ and cost only two bits to go into. Two more enclosures promised ‘exhibitions of the arts martial’ and ‘an opportunity to try your luck against our artists.’ You could get into those for two bits. It cost another two bits to fight one of the performers, but you could get that back and two more if you won. Ayah was almost tempted.

  When she got to the Sword Dance area, she paid her four bits – half a mark – and went in. The circle formed by the curtain of canvas was six or seven paces across with a ring of benches at the outer edge and a rope around the inside of those which marked the area for the dancers. Tall braziers were set around the ring too, presumably to light the area after dark. They were unlit now since the spring afternoon sun was actually quite bright still. At the gate, Ayah had been told that the performance would be starting soon, so she found an empty spot on one of the benches and waited.

  It was not especially long before six women trooped into the circle, all dressed in matching armour and each carrying a sword much like Ayah’s. Well, it sort of looked like armour at first glance and it probably had some protective value, but as soon as you thought about it at all, you got the impression that this was more like someone’s idea of what female warriors would wear if their primary weapon was making male warriors too distracted to fight. There was a sort of dress with a band of pale grey leather over the breasts which was riveted to padded cloth fitted tight around the waist and dropped to a skirt which was made of thin cotton and provided no protection at all. The bodice had a band of pale grey vertically down over the stomach and black at both sides, except that an oval panel of leather was riveted to it on the left side for no reason Ayah could think of. Style, perhaps. The skirt was pleated and just managed to reach mid-thigh on the left side, but it rose up to a split which ran down from the front of the right hip so that most of the thigh was on display on that side. There were leather guards on the women’s forearms whi
ch looked like they might stop a blade, and the ‘boots’ were bronze shin guards with more metal over the foot, but the boots also had built-up soles and raised heels which made the girls look taller and lengthened their legs. They had to be murder to dance in.

  Two men carrying drums followed the women in, setting up beside the gate as the women moved in to form a circle facing into the ring with their swords at their sides. Ayah got a good look at the blades. They were iron swords with brass fittings and nothing as good as her own sword, but the metal was highly polished and, interestingly enough, sharp.

  Abruptly, the drummers took up a fairly slow beat and the dancers began to move. More or less immediately, Ayah realised that the Sword Dance was to Metal Form what the Fire Dance was to Fire Form. Someone, probably long ago, had taken one of the main practice sets of the Form and turned it into a dance. Ayah did not recognise the set – Sanden had been more inclined to teach her to use a sword rather than drill her in patterns – but she did recognise most of the individual positions as the girls shifted smoothly through the set. The Sword Dance lacked the sensuality of the Fire Dance, but it made up for it in spectacle. As the set progressed, the swords came together at various points and the children sitting around the circle clapped in glee each time. Then all six swords came together in the centre, swept apart again, and the sequence began from the start but this time the drums were faster. Each repeat was performed to a faster rhythm and the true skill of the dancers began to show as they whirled and danced and clashed their blades together.

  One of them caught Ayah’s eye in particular. Without the ridiculous boots, Ayah guessed she was just a little shorter than Ayah herself and older by maybe as much as a Great Year. She had a trim figure, if a little plumper than Ayah’s, and long legs shown off by the short skirt. Her chest was not overly large – certainly some of the other girls had more expansive cleavage – but she was possibly the most beautiful of the dancers, depending upon your preferences. Her face was quite rounded, though a pointed chin and slightly hollowed cheeks gave it something of an edge. Her nose was quite flat, but it was cute with a slight upturn, and under it were full lips. A small beauty mark sat beneath the right corner of her mouth and that was the only imperfection that showed on near-flawless, slightly dusky skin. Her eyes were a deep brown, almost black, and they were angled, suggesting that she hailed from the Iron City or somewhere near to it. She had long black hair which fell in curls around the upper slopes of her breasts and was cut in a line which just masked her eyebrows. Beyond her looks, she was the best dancer of the group. That skill need not translate into ability in combat, but Ayah guessed that the woman was at least competent with a sword.

  As the dance increased in pace, Ayah watched in amazement as no one appeared to make any mistakes, but the girl from the Iron City was definitely just a little bit sharper, her movements just a little more precise. And then the swords came together in a final ringing crash and the drums ceased. There was an instant where silence fell over the circle and then the audience were clapping, the children laughing and calling for more. There would be no more, of course: Ayah could see the breathing on the girl nearest to her and it suggested that the dance took a lot of effort. It was going to be a while before they were ready to repeat their performance.

  Ayah sat still as the performers trooped back out, smiling at their audience. Then she got to her feet and followed them out and wondered when the first Fire Dance performance would be.

  ~~~

  With some time to wait, Ayah wandered the circus in search of nothing in particular. She bought some pork medallions skewered onto a bamboo stick. The meat had been roasted with a honey glaze, which was a good thing because it had been salted before the cooking and the sweet honey took away from the sensation that all the moisture was being sucked out of her mouth. Thinking that this was a very clever ploy, Ayah went to another tent and bought a flagon of light cider to wash down the food. The cider was nowhere near as good as the cider Leshak made in autumn, but it was not too terrible either.

  There was an old woman standing outside the fortune teller’s tent as Ayah walked past. Well, an older woman: Ayah guessed she was several Great Years past her own mother, but there was no grey showing in the woman’s hair, which was thick and a reddish shade of brown and pinned back from her face by a silver circlet with a moonstone in it. Her face was showing signs of age, a few wrinkles, most of them worry lines. She was dressed in a silky blouse in cream and a skirt which appeared to have been made from dozens of varicoloured silk scarves. Her feet were bare.

  What caught Ayah’s attention was the woman’s eyes. They were dark and rather penetrating, and they followed Ayah as she walked past. Ayah was not entirely surprised when the woman called out to her. ‘You, young lady. You should come in for Avoona to cast your fortune.’ Ayah had never quite heard an accent like it, but Avoona seemed to have a very nice voice. Not answering would be impolite, so Ayah turned back toward the fortune teller.

  ‘I don’t really need my fortune read. I know just where my future lies.’

  ‘Many think so, but few have the means of seeing the way ahead of them.’

  ‘Really, I know exactly where I’m going.’

  Avoona’s brow furrowed slightly. She was trying to keep the frustration off her face, but not quite managing it. ‘Our thoughts and visions can be tainted by internal and external influences which–’ She cut herself off, glanced quickly around, and stepped closer. When she went on, her voice was pitched much lower and her accent was considerably less thick. ‘Look, I know this sounds like a pitch, but your qi is out of kilter and I really think you should get some help. I’d like you to pay me to do it, but–’

  ‘I know about that,’ Ayah interrupted. ‘That’s why I’m going to Istollam to find myself a Water Form teacher. You can actually see it? The imbalance?’

  ‘Of course I can.’ The accent was back. ‘Avoona sees all.’ Ayah narrowed her eyes. ‘Okay, yes, I can. There’s too much energy flowing through you. You’re too hot. What did you mean about a Water Form teacher?’

  Telling the woman did not seem like a great idea, but it was not exactly a secret either. ‘I set myself to learning all the elemental Forms. I’m familiar with Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal. I just need a Water teacher and Istollam should be a good place to look for one. Until I do learn Water though, I’m going to be unbalanced. One of my teachers said that most people can handle two or three elements without too much trouble unless they focus on one side too much, but four is where they usually end up having problems. I just have to keep my mind on the task until I’ve learned Water Form.’

  ‘We’re going to Istollam,’ Avoona said thoughtfully.

  ‘I know. I was hoping you might have a position here. I’m a trained fire dancer.’

  ‘We are short a fire dancer…’ The fortune teller looked her up and down briefly and sniffed. ‘You should see the show before you talk to Taravel. I think he’d hire you, but you might want to see what you’d be getting into before you do.’

  Ayah raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, I’d planned to see it anyway.’

  Avoona laughed. ‘You’ll be one of the few women doing so. If Taravel takes you on, I’ll give you a reading for free.’

  ‘Um, thank you.’

  Shrugging, Avoona turned back to her tent. ‘It passes the time on the road.’

  ~~~

  Ayah understood precisely what Avoona had meant about seeing what she was getting into as soon as the fire dancers entered the circle. The enclosure was set up much as the Sword Dance one was: there was a canvas wall and a ring of benches, but now there were torches attached to every other pole holding up the canvas and a low platform of wooden planks formed the middle of the circle for the girls to dance on. On the platform were a number of brass dishes filled with burning charcoal which gave more light but were also there to provide markers for the dancing. Ayah had never done it with live fire since Leshak disliked flames, but she was moderately sure that would no
t be a problem.

  This time, the drummers came in before the dancers, taking positions on either side of the gate. Then the dancers came in wearing long red cloaks. Each of them unhooked their cloak as they walked in and handed it off to one of the drummers, and that was the point where Ayah realised why the dancing was done late and why the audience was almost exclusively formed of adult males. Beneath the cloaks, the girls were wearing, well, not much. The garments were an odd design: frames of beaten metal encircled the ribs and hips, supporting thin, red-dyed cloth which covered the breasts and ran down to form a sort of loincloth that fell to the girls’ ankles. There was a suggestion that there was something under the loincloths to make sure things stayed decent, but the girls might almost have been naked. They were all barefoot which explained the wooden dance platform. At least, Ayah thought, she would not be worrying over dancing in those ridiculous boots.

  There were only five dancers which tended to make the missing position obvious. Adapting the pattern of the charcoal dishes would have caused all sorts of problems, not the least being that it would have destroyed the symbology. There were six places because of the six elements. Well, five elements plus Sky. Examining the positions of the girls, it was Sky which was missing a dancer.

  Then the drums took up their rhythm and the dance began. They were good. Ayah could not see one who appeared better than her, but they were good. They certainly had the sinuous, sensual part of the dance worked out really well. A hush settled over the audience as five lithe, attractive, and largely naked women went through the pattern of the dance. Ayah was a little embarrassed to find herself getting wet. Xian, it seemed, had opened her mind to a new means of entertainment and her body was reacting to this entertainment with a mind of its own. From the looks of the men sitting on either side of her, however, Ayah was not the only one aroused by the performance.

  As with the Sword Dance, each repetition of the basic steps was done at a faster pace until the girls were engaged in a wild, frantic display of skill. The firelight danced on bare flesh and the long skirts flicked around them, flying high as the acrobatic steps of the dance were done at greater speed. It was a spectacle. A rather exotic, erotic spectacle.