Kilig the Sword

by Barbara G. Tarn

"Nobody can compare to you, Hakeem. You're mine as much as I'm yours."

  "Good." Hakeem sighed again. "Do you think it's time to get up?"

  "Almost. I'll stop by Rahul's and send him here on my way to the Guild. I wish it would stop dripping!"

  Hakeem got out of bed, grabbed a couple of pots and put them under the worst drips, then rushed back into bed.

  Kilig cuddled him until it was time to start a new day – and the rain stopped. Hakeem kissed Kilig good-bye then went to tell Ramya he'd be upstairs until the roof was repaired.

  Sanjana showed up as Rahul and Winged Stephen were leaving, so Hakeem invited her in for a tea before joining Ramya in the shop. Sanjana looked excited.

  "What's with you today?" Hakeem asked, amused.

  "I kissed Sabre," she confided. "I took him by surprise and his first reaction was... not so good. Apparently he didn't like kissing women, until he met me!"

  "Sanjana!" Hakeem protested. "What would your mother say of your behavior?"

  Sanjana's smile faded away.

  "My first choice is already in love with someone else," she said. "I sure hope he won't object if I try to find my own happiness."

  "But... with Sabre!"

  "Why not? Why do you still hate him so much?"

  "I don't hate him, but I'm not sure he's the right one for you! Sanjana, why don't you leave the Guild too?"

  "To go where? You live with Kilig, you have no room for me," Sanjana retorted.

  Hakeem snorted.

  "I'm sorry," he grumbled. "I only want you to be happy."

  Sanjana put her arms around his neck.

  "Hakeem. I am happy." She kissed his nose. "I have to go. Give my best to Ramya."

  Her smile was back, and she left, winking at him from the doorway. Hakeem smiled against his will and shook his head.

  Part Two

  Kilig had counted forty turns of seasons when things changed in Godwalkar for everyone. It had been five years since the Guilds' war. Ramya had passed away and her house and shop had gone to a family who needed it more than Kilig and Hakeem, who had moved back into the Guild's building.

  Kilig was still Guisarme's right arm and involved in administrative matters, and Hakeem wasn't an active member of the Guild: he helped the cook, the gardener, and even looked after the two children who now graced the Assassins' Guild.

  Sanjana and Sabre, whose birth name turned out to be Sunil, had had two children: Rohini, named after Sunil's unlucky sister, who was now almost four, and Aditya, named after Nimdja since both felt he deserved to be remembered with his birth name, a toddler of two.

  Having grown up with her aunt and being an only child, Sanjana had decided to keep them both at the Guild. Anelace and Sabre worked as a couple, to protect each other, and when they were on a mission, "Uncle Hakeem" took care of the children. And he seemed to be so good at it, that Kilig sometimes wondered if his beloved wanted to start a family of his own.

  They were in the courtyard – Hakeem, Sanjana and Sabre playing with the children while Kilig observed them – when Rohini pointed at the sky.

  "Look! Is that a demon?" she asked, pulling Hakeem's sleeve.

  He squinted and covered his eyes.

  "I think it's a Sila. He looks black because the sun is behind him," he explained to the little girl who was particularly fond of him.

  Kilig rose to look for himself. The winged being was gliding towards the courtyard and when he touched down, Kilig noticed he had black hair and raven feathery wings, but pale skin.

  "Are you sure he's not a demon?" he heard Rohini ask in a trembling voice.

  "No, it's a Sila," Kilig answered absentmindedly. He hadn't seen many Sila with black wings.

  "Is this the Assassins' Guild?" The Sila asked him, since he was the closest. "I'm looking for Sunshine, daughter of Nightsun."

  Startled, Kilig hesitated, but Sanjana came forward with a smile.

  "Yes, you're in the right place." She stopped next to Kilig and elbowed him. "Kilig will take you to her."

  Of course, Guisarme! Kilig mentally slapped his forehead. He wasn't used to hearing Guisarme's Genn name.

  "Follow me," he told the Sila, leading him to Guisarme's office.

  "My name is Winged Erwan and your father asked me to inform you," the Sila told the half-Genn upon entering her office. "The Varian king is coming, led by Coldwinter, to be crowned emperor in Godwalkar. Since you lead the Assassins' Guild, it would be a good idea if you could come to the palace in two days to meet the new king and emperor."

  "Oh." Guisarme exchanged a puzzled glance with Kilig. "What does the Varian king want this far south?"

  "The Blackmore were defeated and he's overlord of the north. The Genn offered him their territory as well, since they're not very good at handling Humans. They felt a Human ruler would be more appreciated," Winged Erwan explained.

  "I don't know about that." Guisarme wrinkled her nose. "Fine, thank you for the message. I'll come to the palace in two days to meet the Varian king."

  The Sila nodded. "Interpreters will be available," he said upon leaving.

  "Interpreters?" Guisarme looked at Kilig, who shrugged.

  "We have one if the Varian language is similar to the Blackmore idiom," he reminded her. "Hakeem is bilingual."

  "Good, then he'll come with us," Guisarme decided. "In the meantime, I want to gather as much information as possible. Send out everyone to investigate."

  The Varian invasion was actually a peaceful one. The northern king had seen enough war and wanted to reign in peace. He was crowned emperor in Godwalkar's main temple and decided the town would be his capital, since it was more central than his native Havenstock – and the weather was nicer. It never snowed in Godwalkar and the mild winters had made the vineyards in the area the most famous in the world.

  Guisarme, Kilig and a very nervous Hakeem met the first Varian Emperor in the brand new throne room, where the bearded monarch was surrounded by his council that included also some Genn. And there were Sila in the room as well, something unheard of for any Human ruler. The new Emperor must have made quite an impression on the Magical Races to have two backing him like that.

  Nightsun introduced his daughter and explained the Assassins' Guild's rules to the new Emperor, using the Varian dialect.

  "Do you understand him?" Kilig whispered, leaning towards Hakeem.

  "Some words are different, but yes, I understand," Hakeem whispered back, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, unable to stand still.

  The first visit was quick, since the Emperor needed to meet many people, but Guisarme stopped to talk with her father, away from the court's ears.

  "Why did you give him the Genn territory?" she protested. "Have you forgotten what happened with the Moren Empire?"

  "The Moren Empire destroyed the Genn and Waiora kingdoms precisely because we fought back," her father replied. "So this time we decided to surrender, to avoid having to hide underground again."

  "Is the Queen Sorceress Shania dead?" Hakeem asked shyly.

  "Yes," Nightsun replied. "And so is King Edwyn. Only Prince Karl is still alive."

  "Oh. The Queen Sorceress was scary. My mother used to say she had evil magic."

  "Indeed. Shania had found a Pond of Dark Magic. It took a powerful half-blood to kill her."

  "Who's the hero?" Guisarme asked, a little sarcastic.

  "Falcon, son of Winged Morgan, and his cousin Kyler Darklight."

  "Oh, I've heard of Kyler Darklight." Guisarme looked at Kilig. "Remember Rakshasa? The half-Fajrulo who wasn't aware of his nature?"

  Kilig nodded. "The man who killed Francisca."

  "Exactly. He wasn't aware of his power. But Kyler Darklight..." She sighed and shook her head. "Half-Sila, half-Fajrulo. The most powerful half-blood alive. And he knows it. I'm not surprised he got rid of evil Shania."

  "I'm confused," Hakeem said, blushing.

  "One day I'll explain half-bloods to you," Guisarme replied with a wink. "If you promise n
ot to bite me."

  Hakeem's hostility towards Guisarme was gone, but they weren't friends either.

  "I'll explain – later," Kilig said, then turned to Nightsun. "Do you think the Emperor will change many things?"

  "Coldwinter tells me the man firmly believes in the Supreme Being, so probably the other religions will have to go," Nightsun answered.

  "That's fine, I'm not religious." Kilig shrugged.

  "Well, there isn't much we can do." Guisarme glared at her father. "I guess we can only wait and see..."

  That night Hakeem curled up against Kilig.

  "So tell me. What's with half-bloods?"

  "Offspring of mixed race can inherit some magic from their non-Human parent," Kilig explained. "They might be aware of it or not. Guisarme has visions. That man we killed twenty years ago had no idea of his Fajrulo blood. He was already dying from our poisoned arrows..."

  "You used poisons?" Hakeem asked, shocked.

  "Nimdja thought it was the only way to kill him after Guisarme felt he wasn't completely Human. So we bent the rules and he turned into a dragon under our eyes."

  "A dragon?!" Hakeem's eyes were wide and Kilig smiled at him.

  "Yes, Hakeem. The Fajrulo are shape-shifters. They like to take Human form and mate with Humans, but their true form is dragon."

  Hakeem gasped. "Was he very big?" he asked, eyes wide in wonder.

  "The size of two elephants." Kilig squeezed him. "Almost took off my arm with its claws."

  Hakeem shivered in his arms.

  "So you were almost killed," he whispered.

  "Which was fine with me at the time, since Saif had just dumped me for you and your mother." Kilig chuckled. "But I survived, so here we are."

  Hakeem looked at him adoringly. "I feel so blessed, Kilig... Thank you for loving me like you do."

  "Thank you for making my life worth living again. But tell me, would you like children of your own?"

  "No... no." Hakeem pondered. "Rohini and Aditya are enough. I don't think I could handle them all day and night."

  Kilig grinned. "You love them," he said tenderly.

  "Yes, as nephew and niece." Hakeem smiled back. "Not the same thing... and I'd need to be drunk to make love to a woman!"

  "Oh, really?" Kilig teased.

  "Yes. I've tried with Sanjana. Didn't work."

  "You did? Oh, my. So that's why you grumpily let her sleep with Sabre in the end."

  "She said he was also not so interested in women before meeting her." Hakeem shrugged. "So I gave her a chance. But kept thinking of you..."

  "Sex is one thing, love is another," Kilig replied. "I can have sex with women, but don't fall in love with them."

  "Well, I'd rather have you touching me..." Hakeem purred. "Even five years later... is it love?"

  "No, it's an obsession," Kilig teased. Then he gave him a long, passionate kiss.

  ***

  Hakeem was helping the cook in the Guild's kitchen when Sabre came in.

  "There's some guy speaking northern gibberish at the door, can you come?" he asked.

  "Sure." A little puzzled, Hakeem followed him.

  The middle-aged man had a tonsure and a very simple dark frock. Hakeem asked him what he wanted and the other looked relieved to find someone who understood him.

  "He's an... itinerant friar," Hakeem translated for Sabre and the doorkeeper. "He is sent by the Emperor to teach us his religion?"

  He exchanged a puzzled stare with Sabre who raised his eyebrows, skeptical.

  "Is he aware he is at the seat of the Assassins' Guild?" Sabre asked. Hakeem translated the question.

  The man nodded and introduced himself as Brother... something. Hakeem made him repeat the word, but couldn't translate it.

  "This sounds very much like the Fighting Monks of Zindagi," Sabre commented. "They're called Brother Something – like Smile, Peace, Cook, Handsome..."

  "Smile!" the friar said. "My name, Brother Smile!"

  "Bhai Muskurana," Sabre whispered with a secret smile.

  Jarred, Hakeem stared at him. He still felt that Sabre hid a lot of his past from them – but then, he wasn't really friends with him. Surely Sanjana knew more about him than he ever would.

  The friar grabbed his sleeve to catch his attention.

  "Will you teach me your language, so I can preach?" he asked.

  "Sure." Hakeem shrugged. "I mean, I can try. I grew up in the Blackmore Kingdom, since my mother came from there, but I don't know if I can teach."

  "You come to the palace with a few more and help us communicate," the friar said, determined. "The Emperor will pay you."

  "All right." Hakeem sighed. He turned to Sabre to explain the request and Sabre nodded.

  "Go ahead. And when you come back, you can teach me and Sanjana some of that. I'll tell Kilig you won't be here for lunch."

  Hakeem glared at him.

  "The fact that I'm bilingual, doesn't mean I can teach," he warned. "And I'll ask Kilig and Guisarme what they think before trying." He turned to the friar again. "Wait here, I will ask the Head of the Guild if I can do what you ask."

  The man nodded and Hakeem rushed to knock on Guisarme's office door. Kilig was with her and they were surprised to see him. He explained the Itinerant Friar had come to their door to indoctrinate them, and had ended up hiring him as language teacher.

  "Well, we ought to know more about the Emperor's religion anyway, so this is a good way," Guisarme said. "Be our man in the other camp."

  "But... but..." Hakeem didn't want to be a diplomat or an interpreter and looked pleadingly at Kilig.

  "You can do it, Hakeem," Kilig said, serious. "I'll make sure to reward you tonight even if you don't."

  Hakeem groaned but nodded.

  "Fine," he grumbled. "See you later."

  Thus Hakeem started teaching the southern dialect to northerners and the northern language to the southerners. Sometimes he was so tired of switching languages, his brain shut down completely and the words sounded like gibberish to him.

  Luckily Kilig was always there to cuddle him and rock him to sleep – silently and tenderly when words became blurred in Hakeem's mind.

  The Emperor decided to rename Argantael "Gladius" and by then Varian Governors – usually Varian noblemen related to the imperial family – were in all the major towns north of the desert.

  He was a firm believer in the Supreme Being, a god of love, and when he heard about the Fighting Monks of Zindagi, he invited Sabre to the court to learn more – with Hakeem as interpreter, since Sabre wasn't fluent enough in the Varian language yet.

  The Itinerant Friars were completely harmless, so the Emperor was intrigued by the concept of fighting monks who protected life. He obviously didn't care about Zindagi, but since his own god preached love for life, he thought maybe he could have a few fighting members in his clergy – to protect the friars, the pilgrims and the faithful in general.

  "There is no need for an Assassins' Guild," he decreed. "Therefore I will turn it into a school for warriors who shall later be ordained as Fighting Monks."

  Guisarme wasn't happy to hear this, but she'd be the headmaster. Sabre, Katar and Anelace would be teachers. Hakeem would still teach languages at the same school.

  "Do we have a choice?" Guisarme asked, wrinkling her nose. Her father, who had brought the news, shook his head. She sighed. "That's what I thought."

  "And teach only warfare fighting," Nightsun added. "No noose, no brass wheels. Just archery, swords and pole-arms, like at the monastery of Zindagi."

  Guisarme snorted. "Boring. Whatever."

  Hakeem stared worried at Sabre. Since he was the only one who'd seen the monastery, he'd be in charge of preparing the courses.

  "May I suggest we have a real Fighting Monk join our ranks?" Sabre suggested. "I can write to the abbot in Agharek and ask him to send someone..."

  Hakeem was startled by the suggestion. He thought Sabre would jump at the chance of showing off his skills, but he had opted
for a real master to join them instead. Guisarme approved the idea, so Sabre wrote a letter that was taken to Agharek by Nightsun himself, using instant transfer spells. The Genn didn't stay for the reply, though, so they could only wait.

  ***

  Kilig listened to Hakeem's lesson from the back of the class. Saif was even older than he was when he'd moved north, so it wasn't surprising he hadn't learned the language. He himself thought he'd probably never learn and would have to rely on Hakeem to communicate with the Varians.

  It had taken a few months of adjustment, but now the Assassins' Guild was officially a boarding school teaching languages and weaponry. Kilig himself wasn't involved in teaching, leaving the task to younger members, and a few strangers had joined the teaching staff: Brother Smile, who had been the fastest learner of the southern dialect and now preached the Supreme Being's word and a bilingual merchant who helped Hakeem with language lessons.

  And then there were the students, both local and from the north, willing to communicate and share and find a way to live peacefully together. The Varians were surprisingly nice now that they'd taken off their swords and chainmail, and people were starting to move freely through the newly formed empire.

  Hakeem finished his lesson and dismissed the class, joining Kilig with a sigh of relief. They went together to the courtyard for a breath of fresh air and found Anelace and Sabre with the children there.

  "Uncle Hakeem!" Rohini rushed to him with a bright grin.

  "Here's my best student!" Hakeem picked her up and made her fly, sending her into a fit of giggles.

  "She's about the same age you were when you moved north," Kilig said, amused. "She'll soon be bilingual like you."

  "And so will Aditya," Rohini added, nodding repeatedly, her arms now locked around Hakeem's neck.

  "So you can help your parents to communicate," Hakeem told her. "Like I did with my father."

  "We're young enough to learn ourselves," Sabre retorted, taking his daughter from Hakeem's arms.

  Kilig chuckled as Hakeem glared at Sabre.

  "Don't worry, dilbar, I'll always need you," he whispered in his beloved's ear.

  Hakeem sighed and squeezed his hand.

  A man in a brown vestment with his hood pulled up entered the courtyard with the doorkeeper who pointed at the group that included Kilig, Hakeem, Sabre, Anelace and the children.