Yrenes raised an eyebrow.
“They appointed a civilian, so we’ll have to do the same, otherwise it will look like we fear them. As for the rest, do I have to remind you that you are deployed in the Ministry of Counter-Terrorism? Isn’t this enough? You are also the youngest and least experienced in diplomacy, so this makes you objectively the most expendable figure.”
Julia’s chest heaved slightly, revealing a deep breath, which she struggled to control.
“What if I refused?”
“Your sister’s Education Permit will not be renewed, and she will be left alone to face the shame of your choice. You will be subject to Court-Martial, considering we are now at war. You will be tried and judged immediately as a deserter and traitor. Then you will be shot by firing squad. In the back.”
A high potential electric shock courses through Julia, while a stone drops in her chest and all color goes away – electricity reaches the tip of trembling fingers, trembling all the way to the wrist despite clenched fists, then returns up in a flush of blood that from a moment of cold, cold silence lights up again the frenzied drums of the heart.
Nostrils slightly dilated, expressionless lips in a ghostly white face.
“I’ll need the recordings of this man’s encounters in order to study his moves.”
Smug little smile by Yrenes.
“A study room has already been set up in the basement gym.”
Alone, she sat down on the floor of a huge room furnished with mirrors, staring at the ceiling, knees tucked against her chest and head abandoned against the wall. She barely turned her eyes at the appearance of a blonde cloud at the door, then limited herself to a slight tilt of her head in a small arch and a sad smile.
Such was her condition when Cleo found her. Ignoring the sofa set up in a corner, in front of a still whirring 3D projector, she sat on the floor next to her sister, fixing her bright gaze on Julia’s listless eyes.
“I learned of the duel from the loudspeakers on the Stairs. I ran here as soon as possible. I convinced them to allow me to see you.”
A small silky hand slapping down on Yrenes’ precious writing table.
“Do you want her to win this duel?”
“Of course. Saving ourselves a war is in our interest.”
“Then you’ll let me speak with her.”
“Thank you for coming.”
Julia’s smile was a painful flash. She sighed and bowed her head to stare at some spot on the floor between her knees, hiding tears that were risking to overflow.
“If I didn’t have you, I’d probably just let them shoot me and get it over with. I saw the recordings of some of this Maxim’s encounters. He’ll tear me to pieces.”
Cleo’s hand grabbed her sister’s shoulder, forcing her to raise her chin and meet her eye.
“Listen to me. You are going to face this Maxim and you will beat him.”
“24 years old, a wife, two kids. I saw his declarations of war. He believes in what he’s doing, they didn’t force him, he’s sure he’s going to win.”
“Very well, you’ll defeat him using his overconfidence.”
Julia sighed her doubts, but Cleo was already going on with her reasoning.
“He might be an athlete who does nothing but fencing encounters for work, but you have more experience in real combat. The duel that awaits you isn’t going to be a sports competition.”
At last, a spark lit up in the blue eyes.
“Are you telling me that if I play dirty we’re going to play on equal ground?”
“Exactly.”
-36 hours to the encounter. Cleo was right. Flashing thoughts occupied Julia’s mind, along with disconnected snapshots of recordings and past duels, while the skillful hands of a chiropractor labored on the knots of stress clenching the muscles on her back.
As much as she was trying to collaborate with the boy that was applying - with great deference - all his art to support the physical condition of the Champion of the Empire before the duel, Julia was aware of the involuntary twitching of her body as she went through the sequences of lunges and parries that paraded in her mind. Again, and again.
Her adversary’s stance was impeccable, but a sporting stance, and his own popularity now played against Maxim, as long as she could resist the pressure of his intimidating skill. On her side, Julia could count the fact that she was unknown in the sporting world and that her experience, however limited, was related to actual combat dueling. That, and her being left-handed.
“My lady, would you like to rest for a while? I can dampen the lights, if you wish.”
Julia found herself answering to the chiropractor with a slight delay, surprised by the question and the title. Nobody had ever called her “my lady”.
“Not now, thank you.”
She jumped off the impromptu doctor’s lounger with a determined gesture that nonetheless betrayed just how tired she was, as if the obvious tension on her waxen face wasn’t revealing enough. She closed her eyes and slowly breathed out, raising her arms above her head, grabbing her wrists and arching her back, appreciating the chiropractor’s work.
“My lady, I wanted to tell you it has been an honor for me to work with you today, for such an important task. Your courage will avoid us a war, and I wanted to express the gratitude of a simple citizen of our province.”
Julia snapped her half-closed eyes open, really paying attention to the chiropractor for the first time. He was young, younger than her, and sincere admiration shone in his eyes.
Once again she had to stare at the ground to hide her tears.
“How is your study going?”
Julia stopped her sword in mid air, snapping around at the sound of Yrenes’ voice and trying to hide her annoyance at being caught unawares by the Supervisor’s arrival.
“I’m not going to change my mind, if this is what you want to know. You build your chains well.”
Yrenes endured the blow without reacting.
“Let’s sit down a moment. I’ve brought you some food.”
A small table had been mounted next to the couch and the 3D projector. On it, several bottles of water, some of them already emptied by Julia during her training session. Yrenes placed a small transparent box next to them.
The girl slumped on the sofa and examined the pills in box, a triangle and a square of purplish color. She lifted the square in her fingers, a painful gesture considering the quivering of the muscles of her arm and wrist.
“They look different.”
“They have been integrated to help you in your task. More vitamins, more minerals.”
The Supervisor’s explanation received an unconvinced face as an answer, but Counter-Terrorist Mayne grabbed one of the bottles and gulped down the pills as usual. Seconds later she was leaning with her hands on the pillows of the couch, as if fighting a sudden dizziness.
“What did you give me?”
She was gasping, the fury in her voice somehow suffocated by panic and approaching sleep, that was forcing her to close her eyes. Yrenes was calmly getting up.
“Eight hours of sleep. We can’t afford you losing your wits because of excessive fatigue.”
Julia’s gaze flashed a lightning of hate, then her eyelids closed and didn’t open again. Her head fell back on the armrest, and with a bored look on her face Yrenes gestured to the Ministry doctor, who had been waiting at the doorstep, to adjust her decently on the sofa. The Champion of the Empire was not to get up with muscular contractions due to a wrong sleeping posture.
“I want to go out and see the stars. I hope you don’t plan on drugging me tonight as well.”
Yrenes’ office, -10 hours to the duel.
“No, the drug’s consequences on the performance of the reflexes is not predictable. You may go.”
The Supervisor pushed the little box placed on her writing table, carrying its burden of pills, in Julia’s direction: always pu
rple, but both triangular.
“You can choose whether you are going to provide to your alimentation on your own, or if you are going to force me to call medical personnel to have you take in the substances you need.”
Julia clenched her teeth and swallowed the pills, with slow movements of barely restrained fury. She deliberately let the empty bottle she had been drinking from fall noisily on the floor, then crushed it under her boot with controlled violence; finally, she picked it up and threw it in the recycling can, marking every gesture.
“Very well. May I go now?”
Only a slight ripple on Yrenes’ forehead betrayed the shadow of an emotion in the Supervisor’s composure.
“Permission granted.”
Julia marched out of the building without a word or a salute, walking head-down across the corridors all the way to the main entrance of the Ministry - two soldiers were guarding the exit. They snapped to attention as she passed by, following her at a distance until she stopped in the middle of the clearing in front of the building.
The elder of the two answered her questioning look.
“We are your escort, my lady.”
Julia was watching them and the barrels of their guns with sad eyes.
“Do you think I’m going to run away?”
“We don’t think anything, my lady.”
“Right. Yrenes thinks so, and she’s not going to risk anything unexpected.”
Julia looked up, not expecting an answer. The sky was finally clear, and she found herself breathing deeply the fresh smell of the wind on what was potentially her last night.
She held on to the plan she had worked out, her only shield against an otherwise sure death sentence. Cleo was right – she would have to stick to that idea, without hesitation.
Slightly ahead, she could see the place of the encounter, where seats had been appointed for the war functionaries who were going to assist to the duel. She felt her guts clenching. She remained thoughtful, her hands on her abdomen, taming her breath and her heart until the stars faded and the horizon turned blue.
She turned back only after the first ray of the rising sun had caressed her forehead.
“The functionaries are signing the papers. Maxim is already in the waiting room.”
Julia was donning the blouse of the shiny white outfit that marked her as a direct representative of the Emperor. Embroidered on her back she bore the crest with the symbol of the Imperial Black Moon, stylized to show all its phases.
She closed her eyes for a moment, stroking the fresh and smooth fabric, so different from anything she had ever worn before.
“Fasten the sword on my left side.”
Yrenes knelt down to second Julia’s request, keeping quiet despite her disapproving look - the temporary hierarchy of the duel placed the Champion of the Empire way above a simple Supervisor.
“You should meet Maxim in the waiting room. After that, you’ll be escorted on the field by different entrances.”
Julia nodded, heading with outward calm towards the Ministry Hall, her head held high. She recognized immediately the man she had studied in the 3D projections: Maxim was, as predicted, shapely, blondish and sufficiently sure of himself to show off a relaxed posture, sitting on a wide crimson velvet armchair in the waiting room.
Yrenes silently left, leaving the two contenders on their own.
“So, you’re the slave the Empire has sent to do the dirty job?”
The girl merely stared at Maxim in silence. He softened his tone.
“I’m sorry for you, you know. What did you do to deserve this death sentence?”
Maxim sat up on the armchair, placing his elbows on the armrests and lowering his voice.
“If you’re not going to resist, I’ll make it quick. You’ll become a symbol of rebellion against the oppression of the Empire, a hero and a martyr revered in all of Province P.”
Julia raised her chin to better look down on him.
“Province P – of which I couldn’t care less – will have no independence, no matter the result of this farce of a duel. You have a wife and two children, you can still pull back. The Empire won’t deem you personally responsible for the rebellion.”
The man stood up as well, looking at her with contempt.
“You don’t understand, do you? I’m here because I decided to serve a cause, unlike you, and not because I was forced to. And that is why I will win.”
Julia’s metallic gaze caught the hazel eyes of her adversary, and suddenly Maxim read in her stare such hate and savagery that he recoiled, trying to hide his retreat by turning his back on her.
The steely voice of the Champion of the Empire met him anyway.
“You are the one who does not understand.”
They waited in silence for the signal to begin.
Black and white flags singing their promises of glory to the wind, in the solid blue of an unreal sky. She doesn’t see Cleo, she doesn’t see Yrenes, she doesn’t notice the Emperor and the arrayed aristocracy, she doesn’t hear the nervous public fidgeting in the makeshift seats.
Julia’s senses are all for the enemy, closing in on the field of the encounter.
She draws with a slow, deliberate gesture of her right hand - the sword flashes in the pale morning sun. Maxim closes in, his grace ever so slightly cracked by a feigned confidence.
Julia waits. Maxim starts the dance, circles around his prey - eyes locked on each other.
Then Julia’s sword leaves her right hand, sends a golden flash in the morning wind, draws an arch of light with its course, and ends in the confident grip of the left hand - dodging below and well beyond the surprised attack of her adversary, the Champion of the Empire sweeps her blade a few inches from the ground, strikes down the enemy’s footing, slashing through sinew and bone of the ankle, forcing the knee to bend, as drops begin to fall on the sand.
Maxim falls face-down, Julia already behind him - holding it with both hands, she sinks her blade in his back. Again, and again - until she just leaves it there, stuck somewhere in his ribcage.
She averts her eyes from the widening pool of blood, faces a muted audience with fiery eyes. Checks on her enemy - he won’t get up.
Without even recovering her sword, long strides take her out of the arena.
“Very good Mayne, I always knew you would win!”
She avoids a gloating Yrenes. Ignores the small crowd of spectators gathering to meet and congratulate her, only to shrink away at her gaze, and rushes in the arms of a slim figure making her way through the functionaries using agility and elbows.
A moment of stiff astonishment, then Julia melts in her sister’s embrace.
“Cleo… Let’s go home.”
II
Julia was lying curled up on the bed, eyes closed, her breathing slow and regular - but she was not sleeping. The light of the sunset filtered through shutters and eyelids, and the heavy sensation much like lead which she now felt in muscle and sinew didn’t allow her mind to simply turn itself off as she would have liked. She rolled on her back, with a grunt of pain at the movement, finding herself staring at the ceiling, her arms sprawled in the attempt to ease some muscular pain.
The ring of the videophone shattered the brief relaxation of her posture. Although they were the only ones that weren’t hurting, Julia felt her facial muscles contracting in an expression that from worry, quickly relaxed into simple annoyance - the line had not opened itself automatically, so it couldn’t be a ministerial call.
Without hurrying too much, she stretched one hand toward the videophone to open audio communication, ignoring the video for the moment.
“Who’s there?”
“This is Secretary Marcus, of the Advanced Corps of the Army. I would like to speak to the Champion of the Empire Mayne.”
There was no arrogance in the voice that resonated in the room, simply educated self-confidence. Julia rose from the bed, sitting on the edge and opening the video functi
on of the communicator on the wall: on the small gray screen she saw the face of a handsome man with gray hair, looking at her with deep brown eyes. She answered neutrally, pushing backwards some strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face.
“It’s me, nice to meet you. May I ask the reason behind the honor of this call?”
The Secretary addressed her with a small smile.
“Ever thought of a career improvement?”
Julia remained silent, the expression in her eyes betraying the struggle between a wish for change and the deep distrust of those who have only seen their life change for the worse.
The man seemed to detect this conflict and continued talking, without changing his friendly tone.
“I have a proposal, and would like to meet you in my study to discuss it.”
“Now?”
“I was thinking about tomorrow, around noon. I have already spoken with the Ministry, you have been assigned a free day. I suggest you rest tonight, I would say you need it after your impressive feat.”
Julia nodded, surprised by the kindness in these words.
“You have my thanks. Where can I find you?
“Escalator 7, first villa on the right. See you tomorrow!”
“You’re restless.”
Cleo was staring at the ceiling, in the darkness of the room lit only by the slight luminescence of the videophone. Next to her, Julia’s irregular shape was tossing and turning in the useless quest for a position that could facilitate sleep. The Champion of the Empire sighed, turning on her stomach and peeking at her sister.
“Too many things happening all together. I don’t know what this Marcus guy wants from me.”
Cleo shook her head gently, turning around to look at the darker shadow at her side.
“I don’t know. The Marcus family is old and close to the Emperor, for what I know.”
Julia Dream Page 2
