by Joe Jackson
Kari laughed. “Forget it. Her sister almost killed me, I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her anywhere near me or my family, much less on a regular basis.” She turned and looked at the half-succubus, but there was nothing in the woman’s expression. She seemed to have that mallasti impassiveness, and even Kari’s insults or referring to killing Turillia didn’t evoke any emotion on the woman’s face. She briefly considered the notion of calling Seanada an abomination to see if it had any effect on the woman’s demeanor, but she didn’t want to be quite so petty and rude.
“You do not understand,” Marracir said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “As I said, Turillia was a rogue; she was not ordered to harm you or use you as bait. She did all of that of her own accord, for her own purposes. On the contrary, she was to honor the Wraith’s orders to leave you be or, more pointedly, to protect you.”
“You’re the one who doesn’t understand. I don’t know you, I don’t trust you, and I don’t have any reason to trust her at all,” Kari countered, glancing at Seanada’s expressionless gaze again. “Did she forget to mention the part where she was helping to hunt me and my friends in Sorelizar for King Sekassus? Or that she followed us all the way to Anthraxis afterwards?”
“No, she did not neglect to report on her activities. She did exactly as she was ordered.”
“What?” Kari blurted, her fingers tightening on her left hilt.
“She was assigned to protect you in Sorelizar to the best of her abilities…but in such a way that she could not physically engage or even confront King Sekassus’ minions,” Marracir said, and his accompanying gesture said clearly he expected to be challenged on it.
Kari swung her gaze back to the half-syrinthian. “Did you see us…?”
There was a slight change to her expression for a moment, as though she was trying to suppress a knowing smile. “At the edge of the woods that day? Not exactly, but I was following your scent. I knew you were there. That is why I went south, to draw the other trackers in my wake and give you as many hours’ head start as possible. With erestram pursuing you, you and your friends had little chance of escaping without aid.”
“And you followed us all the way to Anthraxis…?”
“To be certain you had escaped. Had you not arrived there within a few more days, I would have traveled to Si’Dorra to look for you and your friends.”
“But you showed me your swords in Anthraxis…”
“I showed them to the elf who accompanied you, whose identity I did not know.”
Kari shook her head, astounded. “And the Isle of Morikk? Where you there as well?”
A slight dip of the half-succubus’ head. “I was. I had to be certain neither Emma nor any other servant of a demon king came to capture you while you were so close to the Temple.”
Kari blinked several times as the weight of all of this settled in her mind. “How is it you can go from world to world? Or even just realm to realm? I thought that was illegal?”
“Not many are willing to claim an abomination as a citizen of their realm, and then it is not as though I stand out when I go from place to place. As for going world to world, that is best left unsaid.”
Kari was shocked, but tried to stay on point. “But you serve King Sekassus?”
“He believes so, as I am a citizen of his realm,” the half-syrinthian answered. “I see you are confused, Lady Vanador. Know this: I hold loyalties to no one but family. The syrinthians see me as an abomination. King Sekassus sees me only as a tool, as does my birth-mother. I hold no loyalty to any of them. I was raised by a mallasti family in the southeast of Sorelizar, hence my surname of Te’Montasi. They are the only people I hold any allegiance to aside from the Wraith and those who work for him, for they, too, are my family.”
“An assassin’s guild?” Kari asked, not intending to be rude, but honestly curious. Did Eryn see her guild as family? Was that part of the reason she didn’t seem to be making any headway trying to “escape” that life?
Seanada looked to Marracir, who shrugged. “I will explain it in greater detail once Seanada is on her way. But first, we must assess whether or not you will accept her protection for you and your family at the Wraith’s command.”
“My family is not going to want her around,” Kari answered, even as her mind was working through the possibilities. “But I have something to attend to when I return home, and my family will need some protecting. I’m just not sure I can trust you.”
“Well, Seanada will go to Anthraxis and await you there,” the elestram said, nodding to the half-succubus in dismissal. “When you arrive there, you may make the choice whether to take her with you.”
Seanada rose to her feet and Kari mirrored her actions. She was leery about being seated when the half-succubus assassin was at the ready, no matter how much assurance she received that Seanada was an ally. “Are you angry that I killed your sister?” the demonhunter asked.
“She was my sister only by birth,” Seanada answered. “We were not raised together, nor did we know of each other until…until he found us, and gave us purpose. We were sisters more of the blade and of the cause than by blood. And she was a traitor to our cause, so No, I do not hold you to blame for her death. If anything, you saved me the possibility of having to fight and kill her myself.”
With that, the half-syrinthian pulled up the hood of her cloak and, with a bow of her head toward Marracir, she left the shop. Kari stood in the back and listened while Marracir had a brief conversation with another customer or passerby in the beshathan tongue. Soon, she heard the door close, and he bolted it shut. He glanced out the front window in both directions, then came to the back room again and shut that door also. Kari had her hands on her hips just in case, but she suspected if he wanted to accost her, he would have done so with Seanada’s help.
“We have things we need to discuss, as your trust is, understandably, difficult to earn,” he said, and he gestured to the center of the room beside a full-body mirror stand. “Remove your clothes, and I will begin taking measurements for your outfit while we speak.”
Kari almost had to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Here was an assassin working as a tailor, asking her to take her clothes off so he could talk about his guild. Something about him alone put her more at ease, though. Simply not having Seanada in the room was part of it, certainly, but his demeanor and the fact that he was unarmed confused Kari’s instincts. If he was an assassin, he was probably very good at it, because she didn’t get even the slightest feeling that he was dangerous at all.
She unbelted her swords and then took off her armor and padded clothes, laying them on the chair she had occupied. She went and stood before the mirror, admiring the cornrows in her hair that were still in fairly good condition after a few days. She was glad she’d enjoyed a long bath the night before, though her armor and clothes were going to need laundering soon. She saw Marracir looking at her reflection in the mirror, and wondered what had caught his attention, but then she saw what he was looking at: the Great Mother’s symbol.
Kari covered it with her hand, and the elestram made a sound deep in his throat. “You are either very brave or very foolish to wear such a thing, particularly when you are a guest at Her Majesty’s palace.”
“I know,” Kari said, removing it and folding the string before she tucked it into one of her belt pouches. “Someone reminded me the other day and it just slipped my mind again.”
The elestram knelt down beside her. Kari felt exposed standing there in her panties while he inspected her rear end. “Forgive the stare; your peoples’ tails are quite different than those of our peoples, and I am not accustomed to tailoring a garment around them. I will need to touch you to properly measure you, so please do not take offense.”
“Don’t you need a tape or a measuring string?” Kari asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“Lady Vanador, I have been tailoring for over six hundred years, I have no need of such implements anymore.” He laid his hand alon
g the top of the base of her tail, and Kari had to make a conscious effort not to turn and punch him. “Now, we still have the issue of your trust to address. Tell me, do you find your current undergarments comfortable?”
She glanced at him over a shoulder. “I trust you enough to let you put your hand there. As far as my panties, they’re comfortable enough, I guess. I don’t really think about them.”
“That is a start, I suppose,” he said, moving his hand to get a feel for the shape of her tail where it joined her body. It was something she would have enjoyed if it were Grakin doing it, but having an unfamiliar person touch her so intimately was grating. “You have quite a lovely figure, if I may say so. There is so much more to see and feel when you are not so covered up with fur as my people are.”
“Don’t make me regret taking my clothes off any more than I already do,” she grumbled.
“My apologies. I believe I could fashion a garment that fits your figure better and is more comfortable around your tail. A halter top will not be necessary with the outfit style you have chosen; the support will be built into the garment itself. Now, let me see your arms.”
Kari turned toward him and held her arms out, staying still while the softly-furred hands of the elestram passed from her elbows down to her wrists. “Quite muscular, even for a warrior of your sex,” he commented evenly, squeezing the muscles of her forearms gently. “I believe a light pair of purple, elbow-length gloves will accentuate the look nicely. I will make them snug, but you should be well-acquainted with the feel, being armored and padded as you usually are.”
“That sounds perfect, thank you,” Kari said. She tried not to get impatient again when he swept her arms out to the sides and began inspecting her ribs. He met her eyes for a moment, and Kari suspected he was about to try cupping her breasts the way he had her tail. If he was, he thought better of it, inspecting her from the side to get an impression of her measurements. “I can’t believe you’re going to make me clothes without actually measuring me. Can you really do this just by sight?”
“Lady Vanador, I make garments for Her Majesty. Do you think I touch her at all, much less the way I have put my hands upon you?”
Kari grunted a laugh. “I suppose not. So tell me, what other information do you have that you think will make me trust you?”
“The Wraith has given me leave to share something with you to ensure you heed his wishes with regard to Seanada’s service,” he said, straightening out before her. He gestured for her to get dressed again, and took a seat while Kari put her padded clothes and armor back on. “However, he has asked that you keep this bit of information between you and Seanada, and do not share it with your Order or your family and friends unless absolutely necessary.”
Kari turned to face him, half dressed, and noted the sudden impassiveness of his gaze. “What’s that?”
“You keep referring to the Ashen Fangs as an assassin’s guild. I suppose, from your point of view, it is as accurate as necessary, but it is not the truth of the matter. While we have many skilled assassins among our number, that is a means to an end; it is not the purpose of our society. To more accurately describe who we are and what we do, the Wraith has asked that I tell you that we are the remnants of over ten thousand years of resistance to the rule of these usurpers who call themselves demon kings.”
Rebels? Kari thought. That was the about the best thing she had heard with regard to Mehr’Durillia in her life, but she quickly realized it was too good to be true. While the Ashen Fangs being rebels didn’t mean they would necessarily be allies to the Order or the people of Citaria, it was one less group of people working directly against her. If it was true, if the Ashen Fangs could be counted on as a common enemy of the kings, then she could trust him and Seanada, to some extent. They would have no real reason to harm Kari, her family, or anyone from the Order; quite the contrary, in reality.
That made her think of Sherman and Sharyn’s encounter with an elestram assassin while hunting the Tilcimer in the south. Nessandra had been her name, if Kari recalled correctly, and per the report she was given, the elestram had fought Sherman and Sharyn, but only to defend herself. She’d had the opportunity to put both of them to the sword, but instead had disabled them – painfully, but carefully. And then the elestram had aided the rest of their party in fighting the Tilcimer and even Taesenus – something that had cost her life.
“Rebels? You’re a rebel and you serve this closely to the king?” Kari asked at last.
“My wife serves her even more closely,” Marracir returned, and his impassiveness finally gave way to a slight smile at Kari’s reaction. “Evanja should be here shortly, should you like to join us for the midday meal.”
“Evanja? Her Majesty’s surgeon?” Kari asked, and the elestram nodded. “This is…quite a lot to take in. Are you planning to kill Her Majesty at some point, then? And didn’t your wife have the chance when Her Majesty had trouble giving birth?”
Marracir shook his head and gestured for Kari to keep her voice down when sharing such thoughts. “It is not that simple. There is far more afoot than you even suspect thus far, and though the deposition of these so-called kings is our ultimate goal, there are many, many steps that must be taken before such could become a reality. I would advise you to not think too much on these things for the time being; concentrate on doing what you have been. Your revelation as Salvation’s Dawn has added a wrinkle to things, one the kings themselves have not fully accounted for yet. But you must be protected – from them and yourself – and that is why the Wraith has requested Seanada watch over you.”
“I’d like to believe you, but her sister tried to kill me not so long ago,” Kari returned as she finished getting dressed. “How does the Wraith know Seanada’s not going to go down the same path as Turillia?”
“Despite being twins, they were quite unalike,” the elestram said. “Where Turillia was consumed by grief and hatred, Seanada was raised…correctly, I suppose you would say, by the mallasti who took her in. Though she is deadly and a highly skilled swordsman, she is loyal and able to form bonds. You heard how she called herself an abomination…it is of no concern to her what her father’s people may think. Family made all the difference in her life. And…from what the Wraith told me of you, I believe when Seanada sees your family and its bonds, she will feel quite at home around you, and perhaps you around her.”
“Now that would be something,” Kari admitted, intrigued.
The bell on the front door jingled, and Marracir led Kari back out to the showroom. They could see Evanja and Durisha standing outside, so Marracir unlocked the door and let them in. A quick explanation that he was taking Kari’s measurements for undergarments in the back was all that needed be said. Durisha was happy to stay for lunch with Kari and the elestram couple.
Evanja did give Kari a strange look when she thought Durisha’s attention was elsewhere. Kari wasn’t sure if it was because she’d been undressed with the woman’s husband in the back room, or because Evanja knew what Marracir must have told the demonhunter.
She looked into the golden eyes of the elestram woman and was amazed at the duplicity of these people.
*****
The next couple of days passed lazily. Kari and Koursturaux had discussed all the major things the demon king wished to speak of. They passed the time walking the impressive gardens of the palace, of which the front bailey garden Kari had seen was only a small sample. It was a nice, relaxing stay for the most part, as Kari partook of fine meals with the demon king, and got to sit and listen to her play piano or watch her ladies dance. Kari would have preferred to be home with her family, obviously, but as far as a stay on Mehr’Durillia could go, it was quite pleasant and Kari made the best of things.
The most interesting thing to her was the night she returned from Vakt’s Needlework. A violent thunderstorm had come in the early hours after dinner. Strangely, it kept Uldriana awake, so Kari had taken her to the east sitting room to watch the lightning outside and rel
ax in the quiet recreation area. Her surprise was complete when she found the demon king stretched out on one of the long, soft couches, fast asleep under a wooly blanket. Recalling a lesson from her old friend Carly Bakhor, Kari had sat across from the demon king and simply watched her sleep.
Kari couldn’t help but think of Marracir’s words regarding Seanada: Family made all the difference in her life. Koursturaux had a navel; Kari had seen it numerous times thanks to the outfits the demon king wore. Koursturaux had to have had parents, and that left Kari to wonder what sort of family life bred such an awful creature. While Koursturaux was refined and not a raving psychopath like some of the other kings appeared to be, she was rooted in evil, and Kari had little doubt what the demon king’s ultimate goals were. Vengeance against “all those who had wronged her” could really only mean one thing.
What happened to you as a girl? Kari wondered. Had she just been raised rotten? Were Koursturaux’ parents also demon kings, perhaps in a time and place before Mehr’Durillia? Was she abused, neglected, or simply brought up wrong? I wish I could read your mind the way you can read mine, Kari thought, carefully tucking her feelings away.
When the last night of her stay arrived, Kari entered the king’s audience chamber to find it converted into a grand ballroom. It wasn’t filled to capacity, but there was a good number of people there, including many men. It seemed Koursturaux had allowed the mates and suitors of her female staff to attend, and Kari looked around, wondering if the king’s kast’wa would also be there. She saw no sign of Celigus, however; it seemed she and Koursturaux would both be unpaired for the night.
There was music, dancing, and dining, as grand a ball as Kari had ever heard of. She had attended few of them in her own life, usually even avoiding the ones Suler Tumureldi had held in Aurun Ch’Gurra. The food was amazing, and Koursturaux’ piano playing was even better than the previous times Kari had heard it. She wondered how they’d gotten the piano from the sitting room to the audience hall, but with at least a few harmauths and erestram on staff, Kari guessed it wasn’t all that difficult. There were other musicians as well, mainly elestram playing long, stringed instruments stretched out across the ground like expansive guitars. Their music was alien and yet hauntingly beautiful in many cases. The dancing, by extension, was different than what Kari was accustomed to, but she saw a side of the beshathans she had never witnessed before.
