Sword Masters

by Selina Rosen

  "Yes, and because of their cruelty, Tarius will live," Hellibolt said. "I have foreseen it." It wasn't exactly true, but who cared about the truth when a lie might help the girl cope? Besides, with Tarius there was a very real chance that the desire to get even would give her the will to live.

  "Tarius has told me that you are very wise. What should I do?"

  "You should follow your heart, Jena," Hellibolt said quietly. "Go were it begs you to go, and do what it begs you to do. That was Tarius's only real crime."

  Jena nodded. "I said terrible things to her. Terrible!" Jena said.

  "Yes, well, that's the great thing about love. It allows one to forgive anything."

  "Not anything," Jena said sadly.

  "Yes, anything," Hellibolt insisted. "You'll see what I mean in time. Ah! Here we go."

  Robert looked Jena over in silence. He suggested she lie down to rest for a while.

  Hellibolt pulled him aside. "How is she?"

  "In shock. The baby seems fine. I gave her some powders to calm her nerves . . . Is Tarius . . ."

  "The king shot her through the stomach with an arrow, and is currently having her dragged around the countryside by an enthusiastic young stallion. If she lives, it will be a miracle," Hellibolt said quietly. "Of course, as we both know, miracles are Tarius's strong suit."

  The surgeon nodded. "May I say something in the strictest of confidence?"

  "Yes, you may."

  "The king is an idiot," Robert said. "Man or woman, Tarius is a good person, wise beyond his . . . her years."

  Hellibolt had a thought. "I put a spell on the horse so that it left no tracks. However, I could put another spell on a certain surgeon so that he could follow Tarius's exact route. With medical help, she just might have a chance."

  Robert thought about it only a moment. "If you can make up an excuse for my absence from the castle for a few days, I will go. If I find her still alive, I will do all I can."

  * * *

  Harris had followed the activities at the castle carefully, always keeping himself and the horses in the shadows. He would obey Tarius's wishes to a point, however if he got a chance to save her he would take it. When he saw the horse run off with Tarius he took his cue and went after her.

  He followed as closely as he could without being seen, but never losing sight of Tarius. When he was sure the others could no longer see either of them, he closed in. He rode up hard and fast drawing his sword, and after several tries he was able to cut Tarius loose. She rolled for several feet and landed against a tree. The horse took off in the other direction.

  Harris immediately jumped from his mount and went to his friend's side. He rolled her over, took the stocks off her head and arms and cradled her head and shoulders against his chest. She was almost unconscious and so badly beaten and dirty that she was hardly recognizable. The arrow had been shorn off on both sides and only a splinter of it stuck out. Her breathing was raspy, but she was alive. He quickly got to his feet and picked her up. Reluctantly, he lay her over her horse's saddle and tied her on. It was the best he could do for now. The king's men would come hunting the body soon, and he had to get her out of there before they came. He rode on as quickly as he dared guiding her horse behind him.

  At midday he decided he had put enough space between him and the king's men. He smiled when he thought how surprised they'd be to find the horse but not the king's prize. Gently, he took Tarius from the saddle. She was still alive, but barely, and the blood was dripping from her saddle. He carried her over and lay her on a stack of leaves. Then he carefully dribbled some water into her mouth. Just when he thought he'd failed, she swallowed it and then coughed. Harris tried to wash the wound, hoping to find the arrow shaft, but as soon as he was sure he had seen it the blood covered it again. At one point he got hold of it, but it slipped from his fingers.

  "Why?" Tarius choked out.

  Harris looked at her and smiled glad to see she was conscious. "Why what?" he asked.

  "Why didn't you desert me?" she asked.

  "Why would I desert you? Man or woman, you are my kin. You believed in me when no one else did. You showed me a kindness I had never known, and made me all that I am. So you're a woman. Does that make everything you did for me nothing? So you're the Katabull. Does that mean everything you have taught me is wrong? You are the best person I have ever known, Tarius. I know what it's like to be cast out because you are different, and if I could have hidden my difference, I would have, just as you did," Harris said.

  "My one true friend," Tarius choked out. "I don't deserve your loyalty."

  "You have many true friends, Tarius. And do you know why? Because you have helped everyone you ever touched. Even Jena. She'll see that in time. You taught her to be all that she wanted to be. You let her be herself when no one else would. Now be quiet. You're wasting your strength, and I'm having trouble getting hold of the shaft."

  "Perhaps I could be of some help."

  Harris swung around quickly, sword in hand. He looked up at the king's surgeon. "You . . . But how?"

  "Hellibolt helped me," the surgeon said. "As you said, Tarius has many true friends. Now let's see what I can do. Why don't you go ahead and set up camp? We'll need a good fire and a tent for sure."

  Harris nodded and went to work.

  "Robert?" Tarius asked in disbelief.

  "Yes." He knelt and started tending to her wound. "The king is a proud fool, Tarius. However, he is my king, and before I work on you I must ask you to make a promise."

  Tarius nodded.

  "Leave the kingdom; go back to the Kartik."

  Tarius nodded. "There is nothing for me here now."

  Robert had Harris lay out a blanket in the sun where he had the best light. He stripped Tarius of her clothes and covered her lower body with a blanket. He wondered fleetingly how much different Katabull anatomy was from that of humans. A bit late to worry about that now. He pursed his lips in determination and went to work. With a scalpel he cut the skin over the arrow shaft to give him enough room to work in, and then he gently took hold of the shaft with some pullers and teased it out. There was a nick in the bowel, which he cauterized. He'd never had much luck with the procedure before, but this time it seemed to work. He sewed up the entrance and exit wounds, then made a poultice and wrapped it to her body with gauze. Finally, he attended to the multitude of scratches and bumps she had all over her body, fortunately he found no broken bones, just deep bruises and shallow scratches. At some point in the procedure she'd passed out, and she was still out cold. Together, Harris and Robert picked up the corners of the blanket and carried her into the tent. Then they walked back outside and Harris handed Robert a cup of tea.

  "Will she be all right?" Harris asked solemnly.

  Robert shrugged. "I don't know. If she makes it through the night, that will be a good sign. I'll stay with you for a couple of days, and then I'll have to get back. Problem is that Hellibolt says that wood is almost like poison to the Katabull. No telling what effects it's going to have on her."

  Harris nodded. "How long before she can travel?"

  "She shouldn't travel for weeks, but that's not very logical. You'd better leave when I do. Persius isn't going to rest until he finds her body, and it will be obvious that someone cut her loose when they find the horse and the stocks," Robert said.

  Harris nodded silently.

  Robert laughed. "Really chaps their butts that a woman is a better fighter than all of them. That's really what this is all about, you know. That a woman outsmarted them. That she could out-think them. If she had just been Katabull, I think they would have seen that as forgivable, might even have just ignored it. It's the fact that she's a woman that pushed Persius and the others to do this to her. They want to establish that they can beat her. If she lives, I for one will be happy to have helped to prove them wrong."

  * * *

  Jena glared at Tragon where he sat at their dinner table—in Tarius's seat. They had been legally married, and he
seemed to think that gave him a license to touch her whenever he liked. She made sure he knew it didn't.

  "Jena, you're awfully quiet," Darian said.

  How very bright of you, Father. It's only taken you three days to realize that I'm not talking to either of you. You could make me marry him, but you can't make me love him. You can't even make me like him.

  "Are you all right, Jena?" Tragon asked with a cultivated sound of concern in his voice.

  "No, I'm not all right!" Jena screamed back. She looked at Tragon accusingly. "I've been thinking about the things you have said to me all along, and one thing becomes quite obvious. You knew from the very beginning what Tarius was. You knew and said nothing. Why would you do that? What were you getting from her, or maybe it's something you weren't getting—like killed."

  She glared at her father then. "This man you insisted I marry is no less a liar to us than Tarius—and with less cause. At least her reasons were noble. Not so him. He wants to own and conquer me. He held his tongue only because he couldn't think of a way to get rid of her. When he did, he spoke. But he knew all along."

  "How dare you speak like that of your husband!" Darian said. "He told you how he came to find out."

  "He is a liar!" Jena screamed. "A liar and a coward just like Tarius said."

  "You sound as if you'd rather be with that beast, that woman . . ."

  "I'd rather be with anyone but him," Jena said.

  "Hold your tongue, daughter! Chose your words carefully . . ."

  "Or what? You'll have me tied to the back of a horse and dragged to death? Oh . . . But it's too bad they never found the body, isn't it, Father? Oh, yes. I've overheard the king's herald reporting to you."

  "Harris is gone without a trace, Tragon. Where do you suppose he has gone?" Jena asked turning her attention to Tragon. "If Tarius is alive, and there is a good chance she is, she will come back and kill you. You know her, she is very much a believer in revenge. If she is alive, she'll come back and kill you, and I hope to the gods she does. If she doesn't, I just might do it myself."

  "Jena!" Darian screamed. "We'll hear no more of that talk. Tragon is the father of your unborn child. A little respect isn't too much to ask for. A little caring."

  "He is not the father I choose for my child," Jena said. "Yes, it was dark, but I saw Tarius's face that night. It was some sort of glamour."

  "You talk nonsense, daughter," Darian said. "Where would Tragon get such a thing?"

  Tragon couldn't, but Tarius has a friend in the wizard. She could have easily acquired it. No sense in implicating Hellibolt. No sense in this conversation at all. I'm stuck here with no way out. Tarius ruined my life, and I should hate her. Instead I hate Tragon even more than before. I blame him because I was happy in my ignorance, and he wouldn't let me remain ignorant.

  She pushed away from the table and went to her room, locking the door behind her to make sure Tragon couldn't join her. She lay down on the bed and cried. If it weren't for the baby she'd kill herself. But the child gave her hope. It was someone she could love who would love her back.

  I had that with Tarius, but it's gone now. It was all a lie anyway. All a lie, except her love. That was real. But could I love her? Would I have loved her had I known she was a woman?

  She was confused and lonely and filled with hurt. In a few short weeks her life had gone from a dream to a nightmare.

  * * *

  It took them three weeks to reach the coastline. Tarius could barely walk or ride, and she didn't seem to be getting any better. She ran high fevers almost every day and woke with night terrors every night.

  He helped her walk along the docks. They were looking for a Kartik vessel, any Kartik vessel headed for home. They finally found one at the end of the dock. Harris had seen ships in pictures, but nothing he had seen had done them justice. They were huge beasts of wood and rope, cloth and metal. And the ocean! It was so big! He had never seen such a huge body of water.

  "Sister," a sailor said in the Kartik tongue, holding his hand up in the traditional Kartik greeting. Tarius grasped his hand in the air and brought their elbows together.

  "Brother," Tarius answered in Kartik.

  "What can I do for you?" the sailor asked.

  "I wish to talk to your captain about booking passage for myself, my young friend here, and two horses," Tarius said.

  The man nodded and led them on board the ship and to the captain's quarters. The captain wasn't a big man, in fact none of the Kartik people Harris saw on the boat seemed to be carrying even one extra pound. They were tall—on average over six foot—but they were thin and well-muscled. The captain wore bright colors of red, orange and yellow, reminding Harris of Tarius's old gambeson.

  The women Harris had seen on deck were beautiful—dark, and sultry and all wearing swords. Doing what in his country would have been considered men's work. Both the men and women were dressed in minimum clothing all just as bright as their captain's.

  "What can I do for you, sister?" the man asked in Kartik.

  Tarius had started teaching Harris Kartik as soon as they had decided to move. The last three weeks she had made him crazy refusing to speak to him in anything but Kartik. Now he was glad she had. It would be too weird to have people around you talking and not know what they were saying.

  "I wish to book passage for myself, my friend, and two horses back to the Kartik," Tarius said.

  "I'm afraid we are full up this trip," the captain reported. "You're hurt. Accident? Or are you in some sort of trouble?"

  "I'm in trouble. I was fighting in the Jethrik army against our enemy the Amalites."

  To Harris's shock and amusement, both the captain and Tarius stopped to spit on the floor before Tarius continued. "The King of the Jethriks found me out, and now he wants me dead. It was he who put the arrow in my side. My need is most urgent. I must get to the Springs of Montero, or I will die."

  "Are you the Katabull?" the captain asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "Aye," Tarius said.

  "Then say no more. We'll make room for you," he said. He took her hand and shook it.

  "I can't pay much, but I swear to you that if you will give us safe passage I will pay you the remainder of the fare after I find sword work," Tarius promised.

  "Your word is good with me. Collect your horses and your gear; we sail with the tide."

  As they left the ship to retrieve their belongings Harris asked, "What was all that about?"

  "The Hot Springs of Montero have healing properties for everyone, but especially for the Katabull," Tarius said.

  "I know that. You have told me about a hundred times. I mean why did he change his mind when you told him you were Katabull?"

  Tarius smiled. "Because while the Amalites think we are bad luck, and the Jethrik barely tolerate us, the Kartik believe that the Katabull are blessed by the One Who Has No Name. They believe we bring them luck. Sometimes superstision can work in your favor."

  * * *

  Jena looked out the window just in time to see Arvon arrive. He hadn't been coming to help with the training of the recruits since Tarius had been found out. She ran through the house and to the door, hoping to catch him before he entered the academy. She flung the door open in his face, and they both jumped.

  Jena shook her head. "I'm sorry, Arvon. I saw you ride up and wanted to talk to you before you went into the academy."

  Arvon frowned hard and shook his head. "I have no business there. I came to see you. To talk to you. Are we alone?"

  Jena shook her head no. "These days the servants make daily reports of my actions to my father. We could walk down to the creek."

  Arvon was silent as they walked along. Finally, Jena could stand it no longer. "Is Tarius . . . Is he . . . she. Is she . . ."

  "Dead?" Arvon asked, his voice filled with contempt. "Why do you assume I would know, and would you even care?"

  "Yes, of course I would. I didn't want her hurt," Jena said.

  Arvon stopped, deciding they
were far enough away from the house and the academy. "This has been very hard for me, Jena, because the last words Tarius spoke to me were of you and your safety. She made me promise to keep you and your baby safe from harm, and to take care of you. I gave my word that I would. But the last time I spoke to you, you had only words of contempt for her. Such hate and such loathing that I don't really want to help you. Still I find myself in a position where I must."

  "Then you knew all along, what he . . . she was?"

  "Not all along but I've known for a long time."

  Jena nodded then looked confused. "I was very angry and hurt, Arvon. How could I not be? In all truth I still am, but now my hatred has turned to Tragon and even to my father and the king." Jena walked on a little further down to the creek and sat down on a rock. She heard Arvon walk up behind her. "My mind wanders from chaos to madness and back again, it's as if I can't hold on to even the simplest thought. Every night I dream of her, Arvon. Of how gentle was her touch. Sometimes I dream that I make love to her as well. I dream that we are together. May the gods help me, Arvon, it is only those dreams and thoughts of my baby that keep me going these days. I miss her, I know I shouldn't, but I do. Tell me, Arvon, you're queer. Do you think that I am? Could I be?"

  "Frankly, Jena, I always thought that you were. Tarius didn't look like a man. Ask yourself this; why did you choose Tarius? You're a beautiful woman. You could have had your pick of a hundred different gorgeous fighting men, and yet you chose Tarius. Why? Not only does she not look like a man, but she doesn't act like one, either. You may not have known it, but all of the things you found in Tarius that were missing from the men you knew were female traits. You fell in love with Tarius because she was a woman," Arvon said. "I couldn't convince her of this, and now she may be dead. She was afraid that you would react in exactly the way that you did."

  "And, how else did you expect me to react, Arvon? I thought I had married a man and I was married to a woman, and not just any woman but a Katabull. She even put that bastard into our bed to impregnate me so that she could continue to hide her secret." She started to cry then. "Gods won't someone please tell me what I'm supposed to feel? She's not dead; I know she's not, she couldn't be . . . Oh Arvon . . . Please don't hate me; I'm so alone." She turned a tear-streaked face to look at him. "Tarius asked you to take care of me. Well, please do, Arvon, because I need someone to talk to. I need to figure out where my heart is. The wizard told me that Tarius wouldn't die. He told me to follow my heart, but I just don't know where it is anymore."