Blood and Tempest

by Jon Skovron

  At Red’s urging, Prince Leston left his jacket and cravat at the palace, rolled up his sleeves, and joined in the rescue effort to find every last survivor and ensure they received medical treatment. Having the soon-to-be emperor there, visible, to encourage the weary soldiers as they pulled people from collapsed buildings, and to comfort those who no longer had a home, was a sight never before seen in the empire. Word quickly spread of the prince’s heroism and kindness, as Red knew it would.

  The first combined effort of the Vinchen and biomancers was to set up a triage center for the wounded in the large thoroughfare in front of the Lightning Gate. While it seemed many on both sides were open to the theory of this new alliance, putting it in practice was something else entirely. The atmosphere was tense, and if not for the watchful eyes of Grandteacher Hope, Brigga Lin, and Chiffet Mek, open conflict might have erupted at several points throughout the day.

  It was not until all the fires had been put out, and every survivor had been treated, that everyone finally rested.

  But Red had them all up early the next day. He had been asked to advise the prince, and he knew that the people needed someone to believe in right now, and some assurance that things would get better. So he had soldiers ride through the city, announcing that the prince would address the people at midday, and all were welcome to the courtyard to hear him.

  The courtyard filled up well before noon. With the help of Captains Murkton and Vaderton, Red was able to convince the soldiers to allow commoners to sit up on the gates to make more room.

  Empress Dowager Pysetcha had traveled from Sunset Point through the night, but there was no hint of exhaustion on her radiant face as she accompanied Leston onto the parapet that overlooked the courtyard from the third floor. They were flanked on either side by Hope and Chiffet Mek, one in black robes, the other in white, their hoods pushed back. Merivale had expressed some concern about allowing people to see the marks of biomancery on Chiffet Mek, but Red had assured her that a hooded biomancer would have been far more frightening to them.

  The message Red had Leston deliver was a simple one. His coronation would take place in one week, and it would begin a new era of unity and justice for everyone in the empire. The prince then introduced Chiffet Mek as the new head of the order of biomancery. The crowds got a little nervous, as Red expected, so Leston quickly followed that up with introducing Hope the Defiant, grandteacher of the Vinchen order and hero of Paradise Circle.

  Red still got a nice warm glow whenever he heard that title. He’d wanted to add Dire Bane to the list, but decided it was a bit too much. Instead, he’d convinced Merivale to have her spies start spreading the rumors in the taverns of Hope’s time as a pirate and seditionist, especially those taverns near the docks, where the stories might spread beyond Stonepeak. He wanted every commoner in the empire to know that the Vinchen were back and they were on the side of the people.

  Red and Merivale stood off to one side, watching the prince finish up his speech with a rousing reaffirmation that he would work to heal the wounds not just of his people, but the empire itself.

  “He’s a lot better at public speaking than I expected,” Red whispered to Merivale.

  “You’re a much better statesman than I expected,” she told him.

  He shrugged. “It’s kind of like pulling a con, really. Convincing people to think and feel the way I want has always been a gift of mine. The only difference is that now there’s a chance of actually delivering on some of the crazy promises I always make.”

  “Since we’ve gotten the people more or less assured that it isn’t the end of the world, we need to start preparing for this coronation,” said Merivale.

  “Do we really need a whole week to prepare?” asked Red.

  “For the actual coronation? Not really. But we need that long to prepare for the ball that will take place after.”

  “A ball?” asked Red. “Stonepeak is a mess. Vance Post is worse. And you want to have a little lacy dance?”

  “Don’t forget that the lords and ladies also need to be conned,” said Merivale. “We are about to propose some very drastic changes to the power structure of the empire. We need to assure the nobility that they won’t lose everything they hold dear in the process.”

  Red sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”

  Merivale gave him one of her rare wolfish grins. “Besides, I am dying to get your beloved Hope into a proper ball gown.”

  “Well, I’m not sure beloved is the right—”

  “Don’t insult me by claiming it’s anything less,” Merivale said. “And promise me that the two of you won’t let your appallingly principled life choices prevent you from having a torrid love affair, at the very least.”

  To Red’s horror, he found himself actually blushing. “Yeah, well, we’ll see. We haven’t talked about it yet, and I don’t want to assume anything.”

  She pinched his cheek hard enough for it to hurt. “You really are adorable, aren’t you?”

  Red had been to many balls in the last year and a half, and they had never once made him anxious. Until now. He tugged nervously at his jacket, which had been made from the remains of his old deerskin longcoat that he loved so much. As Lord Chamberlain, he couldn’t go sweeping around the palace in a longcoat anymore, so it was comforting to have something he was so fond of from the old days modified to fit his new life. He supposed it was a sort of compromise between Red and Rixidenteron.

  “Announcing the Lord Chamberlain, Rixiden-teron Pastinas!” intoned the high steward, who had somehow managed to survive through the chaos with his dour, grumpy expression completely intact.

  Red didn’t give a great deal of thought to pestering the old wrink, or even to leaping out from the curtain in a dramatic fashion as was his usual wont. Instead he shoved the curtain aside, eager to see Hope in her new gown.

  But after quickly scanning the crowd, his shoulders sank.

  “Of course she isn’t here yet,” he muttered.

  “My Lord Chamberlain?” asked the steward.

  Red gave a wry smile. “Never mind, old pot.” Then he sighed heavily and stepped into the ballroom.

  As he made his way to the bar, Red scanned the room again, knowing it was futile, but unable to help himself.

  There was a small string orchestra off to one side playing the usual light and tinkling stuff that lacies liked to hear.

  He saw Brigga Lin and Alash talking quietly in the corner. Red would have thought they would both be completely at home here at the palace, finally surrounded by the finery they were accustomed to. But they looked just as odd and out of place here as they did anywhere else. Perhaps their time away had changed them too much. Or perhaps they’d never fit in a place like this either. They only ever seemed truly at ease when they were together.

  Poor Leston was trapped on his official imperial chair at the far end of the room, while person after person came to greet him. He smiled and nodded to each, but he kept looking longingly over to where Nea and the other Aukbontarens stood and talked quietly with some of Hope’s Vinchen. The Vinchen all wore regular lacy clothes tonight, but even if Red hadn’t recognized some of them, he could have spotted them by their stance and general bearing.

  But no Hope. Or Merivale.

  “Piss’ell,” he muttered as he accepted a glass of wine from a servant.

  “Something troubling you, Lord Chamberlain?” asked Vaderton, who once again wore the imperial white and gold uniform of a naval captain, although he’d apparently decided to keep the beard.

  “She’s doing this to me on purpose,” Red told him.

  “Who is?”

  “Merivale. She’s making Hope late just to draw out the suspense.” He took a large gulp of wine. “Some would consider this cruel.”

  “I’m sure Lady Hempist has your best interests at heart.”

  “Merivale only has her own interests at heart.”

  “Ah. There she is now,” said Vaderton, looking at the ballroom entrance.
<
br />   “Announcing Lady Merivale Hempist of Lesser Basheta,” intoned the steward.

  Red turned just in time to catch the look of blazing triumph that Merivale was throwing in his direction. Then she moved deftly to one side as the steward announced the next arrival.

  “Announcing Hope the Defiant, grandteacher of the Vinchen order.”

  To Red’s eye, Hope looked like nothing less than a work of art. She stood framed in the entrance, completely unrecognizable yet utterly familiar. Her blond hair had been carefully piled up on top of her head in an intricate weave. Her tight, streamlined black gown was sleeveless, so that her pale neck and shoulders were completely bare. She wore a long black glove that reached past the elbow on one side. On the other, she wore a modified version that allowed her claw, polished to an almost mirrorlike gleam, to show. Her lips had been painted a delicate pink on her narrow, pale face. Her eyes were as they always were—a fathomless blue in which he felt he could lose his very soul.

  When Hope’s eyes met his, his knees almost buckled.

  “Steady now,” Vaderton murmured. “You’ll be fine.” Then he slipped away to go talk to Brigga Lin and Alash.

  Hope gave Red a wry smile as she walked over to him with her usual fluid grace.

  “Why are people staring at me?” she whispered to him.

  “Because there’s suddenly nothing else worth looking at,” he told her.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she told him.

  “Oh great and wise Grandteacher, haven’t you learned by now, I’m always ridiculous?”

  “I do like that about you,” she admitted. Then she sighed. “This place has me completely unnerved. I feel like I’ve stepped onto a battlefield with no knowledge of what the conflict even is.”

  “Not to worry, there is one surefire way to stave off the enemy.”

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “Dance with me!”

  She laughed and shook her head.

  “What, don’t Vinchen dance?” he asked.

  “No, as a matter of fact, they don’t,” she told him. “Luckily, Lady Hempist anticipated this and has been teaching me some of the more popular ballroom dancing techniques.” She looked over at the empty dance floor in the center of the room. “But no one else is dancing.”

  “That’s because they’ve been waiting for us to start.”

  “I doubt that,” she said.

  “Don’t believe me?” He took her hand and led her into the center of the room. “Just wait and see.”

  He signaled to the orchestra conductor, who gave him an enthusiastic nod, clearly seeing this as their chance to liven things up a bit.

  Then, as the music surged, Hope and Red began to dance.

  There are some feelings that only words can convey. Some that require paint, or sculpture. There are some that only music can express. And then there are some emotions that can only be communicated through movement. Beyond language or vision or hearing, it was an expression fully inhabited and purely in the moment, without fear, or doubt, or self-consciousness. Hope and Red came together and glided across the ballroom, their eyes locked onto each other. Hope’s gown was backless, and Red could feel the warm muscles of her back against his hand. He could also feel the sharp bite of her claw against his own back, but that was fine because it was an indelible reminder of all they had sacrificed for each other.

  “Do you remember the day I painted your portrait at Old Yammy’s?” he asked her as they continued around the room.

  “Of course.”

  “That was when I fell in love with you.”

  “All at once?” she asked.

  “Pretty much.”

  “I don’t know when I fell in love with you,” she admitted. “I think it happened when I wasn’t looking. I was so focused on my vengeance that I wasn’t paying attention to anything else. Then when the need for vengeance was gone, there it was. As if it has always been there. But in nearly the same moment, I lost you.”

  “Well, one thing is pretty clear,” he said.

  “What’s that?”

  “We’re in love.”

  She smirked. “Yes, I think we both knew that.”

  “I just wanted to say it out loud,” he said.

  “Feel better now?”

  “I reckon so. But you have to admit, it’s all so … complicated.”

  “It is,” she said. “Unlike your clever little stories, things don’t fit neatly into a happily ever after. But does it need to?”

  “Of course not. I just don’t know what we’re going to do about it.”

  “What we do is figure things out one day at a time. It won’t always be easy, of course. And there will probably be times when your responsibilities to the emperor will put you at odds with me and my responsibilities to the Vinchen and the people.”

  She gave him a smile that was very close to a leer.

  “But for tonight at least, I think the most important thing to worry about is how you’re going to help me out of this ridiculous gown.”

  Hope had agreed to Red’s request that she and the Vinchen stay at the palace until after the coronation and ball. So this was her last night before she left to establish a new permanent home for the Vinchen. She had insisted on taking a small one down in the lower levels, of course. There was little more than a bed and a few other small pieces of furniture. But that was absolutely fine with Red.

  As they stood facing each other in the small room, it suddenly felt strange being alone with her. Everything was charged and filled with portent. He was aware of every shadow on her face, every whisper of her gown, and every touch of her hand.

  They looked at each other for a moment in silence.

  “So you like the gown?” she asked.

  “It’s perfect for you.”

  She touched her bare shoulder. “You don’t think it … shows too much skin?”

  He stepped in close, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed that shoulder. “It shows exactly the right amount of skin.”

  “All of my scars, though,” she said. “Not very elegant.”

  “Your scars are pat,” he told her as he traced one that ran from her shoulder to her collarbone with his finger.

  She pushed his jacket off and let it drop to the floor, then laid her head gently on his shoulder so that her lips tickled his neck as she spoke. “At one point, I was worried you’d find me … too damaged.”

  “Molly of my heart,” he whispered. “I have a demon living in my head now. So I’m not sure who’s more damaged.”

  “Does it trouble you?” she asked. “The demon they put in there?”

  “Only when I’m not looking at you,” he said.

  He could feel her smile against the crook of his neck.

  He let his hands slide from her shoulder down her arms, slowly pulled off her gloves. One got snagged for a moment on her claw, but he quickly freed it.

  “Sorry,” she muttered. “This thing …”

  “Don’t be.” He took her claw and pressed it to his chest. “And it’s not a thing. It’s a part of you. So I love it, too.”

  She lifted her head and looked at him, one eyebrow arched skeptically. “I suppose you love all my scars, too?”

  He grinned. “Well, I don’t know. I haven’t seen all of them yet.”

  She returned his grin. “You want to see all of them?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Some of them are difficult to find.”

  “I promise to be thorough.”

  “You better see to this gown, then.”

  He reached behind her and unhooked the clasps on the back of her gown. The whole thing slid off in one smooth, satisfying sigh of velvet so that she stood gloriously naked in front of him.

  “My turn.” She reached up with her claw and carefully sliced down his shirt and then his trousers so that they fell away in tatters.

  “Thanks for taking off the jacket first,” he told her.

  “You’re welcome.”

&nb
sp; Then they stepped in close and pressed their bodies together. The heat and electricity, the hard muscle under soft skin, their lips touching, their breath mingling. They tumbled into the bed together without letting go and melted into each other completely. For now, at least, they were united. And that was enough.

  DEATH

  or

  GLORY

  A Dramatic Musical Epic Adventure in Three Acts Being an account of how the illustrious Lord Rixidenteron Pastinas and the radiant Grandteacher Hope the Defiant did save the empire from certain collapse. Written and directed by the great theater master Broomefedies who knows them both personally.

  GUARANTEED NUDITY!

  Astonishing special effects will thrill and chill!

  Children under eight DISCOURAGED!

  Dramatis Personae

  Grandteacher Hope the Defiant

  ..........

  The Luscious Lymestria

  Lord Rixidenteron Pastinas, aka Red

  ..........

  Varaton Baggelworthy

  Filler/Emperor Leston

  ..........

  Misandry Andy

  Racklock/Missing Finn

  ..........

  Rock Craig

  The Black Rose

  ..........

  The Tantalizing Tosh

  Brigga Lin/Lady Hempist

  ..........

  Madgie the Hatchet

  Hurlo the Cunning/Ammon Set

  ..........

  Avery Birdhouse

  Sadie the Goat/Empress Pysetcha

  ..........

  Jagged Jenny

  Soldiers/Vinchen/Biomancers/Wags, etc

  ..........

  Mollie Marbles,

  ..........

  Bill the Bold,

  ..........

  Leaky Lucy,

  ..........

  Wallace and His Ass

  And the great theater master Broomefedies as himself!

  Musical Numbers