Bitter Wind (Death's Handmaiden Book 2)

by Niall Teasdale

  Having toured the facilities and been granted the necessary security clearances for her rank, Nava was taken for lunch with Nobuyuki’s evaluation looming ahead of her. She decided on something light, a salad, much to Rhianna’s amusement. The mansion had a large dining room with facilities to produce more or less anything you might wish in the way of food, though the menu was moderately weighted toward a high-protein diet.

  ‘Not everyone in the family is a magician,’ Rhianna said as they ate. Rhianna was wolfing down a hearty stew with some sort of beef-like meat in it. They had wandered into the general sort of exposition one gets when someone who knew a lot about a subject had to try to explain as much as possible to someone who knew next to nothing. ‘We probably have a higher percentage than most families because we adopt, but we have people brought in due to their mundane skills too.’

  ‘Snipers,’ Nava suggested. ‘Tacticians and strategists.’

  ‘And a couple of cooks. Hey, an army runs on its stomach, right?’

  ‘Marches, Rhianna. An army marches on its stomach.’ Rhianna actually jumped. Nava had seen the old man who spoke moving toward them by virtue of her position at the table; otherwise, she might have done the same. Maybe. ‘Napoleon Bonaparte. Or so attributed, anyway.’

  ‘Master Kaede! I hate it when you do that.’

  Master Kaede smiled. ‘I’m aware.’ He was obviously an older man. There was grey in his black hair and his face had various wrinkles in it that suggested someone who had plenty of worries but was good-humoured about life. Nava estimated he was her height within a centimetre or so and there was about him the look of someone who had been strong but was now withering a little. He appeared lithe and fit, and he could clearly move without making a sound, but there were long years hiding behind his fading-brown eyes. Most of all, Kaede looked like an incredibly dangerous individual packed into the body of a smiling, late-middle-aged man. ‘So,’ he said, turning his full attention on Nava, ‘this is our new recruit?’ Having his attention focused on her was not an entirely pleasant feeling.

  ‘Yes,’ Rhianna replied. ‘Nava, this is Master Kaede Greyling Sonkei, the leader of the Greylings.’

  Nava got to her feet and bowed. Somewhat to her surprise, he returned the bow, albeit not quite as deeply. ‘I’ve heard a lot of good things about you, Nava,’ Kaede said. ‘Sit. Finish your meal.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Nava said, retaking her seat. ‘It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Master Kaede.’

  ‘Is it?’

  ‘Not entirely,’ Nava replied without a pause. ‘It’s a little like being watched by someone who can see my soul.’

  Kaede lifted his head and laughed. It was a good, hearty sort of laugh. ‘One of the things I’ve heard is that you’re not into pleasantries. I see that’s true.’

  ‘I don’t think you’re the sort of person who responds well to lies in the name of social niceties. It’s mostly a pleasure to meet you and I think my opinion will soften once you’ve finished scrutinising me.’

  ‘That depends on whether you live up to the hype.’ He looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘Considering your actions at the symposium this summer, I admit to having high hopes.’

  ‘The terrorists at the symposium were easy,’ Nava said. ‘They had only one really skilled magician and they believed themselves superior to anyone they might come up against.’

  ‘You still managed to eliminate all of them without any additional casualties among the hostages. Your utilisation of your support resources was significantly better than one would expect of an ASF marine. From my understanding, the promise shown by both Rochester Hunt and Melissa Connelly is down to your instruction in school.’

  Nava gave a shrug. Undue modesty seemed like it would be pointless in front of Kaede’s gaze. Equally… ‘I’m not a teacher. I’ve made suggestions and they’ve worked for us. The potential was there before I got to them.’ She was not going to ask how he knew what was going on in the school: this was the Greyling family.

  ‘Well, soon we’ll see what kind of potential you have.’

  ‘So I hear. My nascent bruises are looking forward to it.’

  ~~~

  Nobuyuki was not an especially tall man, but he was built like a brick wall. The black gi he was wearing strained to hold in his biceps and thigh muscles. He was an attractive man with solid features, somewhat wild black hair, and very dark eyes. Despite his name, there was nothing about his face suggesting Asian ancestry which Nava had wondered about on first seeing him. She had also considered him dangerous back then and now, faced with the man in combat, she was discovering that her assessment had been right on the nose.

  She was landing about one blow in four. That would probably have been enough, if she had been trying to kill him. As it was, she found herself in painful locks a lot, and getting out of them was virtually impossible. He was bigger and stronger than she was and while she was faster, it was not by much. She was wearing tight leggings and an equally tight top, giving him nothing to grab, but he was still throwing her around like a toy. And he was not using sorcery; what he was like when he did was something Nava hoped never to find out. At least if she was on the receiving end.

  ‘I believe,’ Nobuyuki said after about thirty minutes, ‘that that is enough.’

  Maybe that was because Nava had just tapped out of a pin and was now lying on the mat in one of the dojos, breathing like an out-of-shape marathon runner. She decided not to reply. Her focus was on breathing right now.

  ‘What do you think?’ Rhianna asked. She had been watching from the side, but now she walked closer, looking down at Nava with a grin on her face.

  ‘She’s competent,’ Nobuyuki replied. ‘I would even say good. She has no particular style, but that’s not an entirely bad thing. It makes her less predictable. With practice, she could be exceptional. Of course, she was holding back…’

  ‘I… was not… holding back,’ Nava said.

  ‘If you had not held back, I would be dead. I’m aware of your Hand of Death spell.’

  ‘Oh… That.’

  ‘So, your assessment is that she’s good enough for situations where she needs her opponent dead?’

  Nobuyuki shrugged. It was a little like watching seismic activity in progress. ‘One can always improve. Let’s get you out to one of the firing ranges, Nava. You can show us what you can do there.’

  ~~~

  ‘As expected,’ Nobuyuki said, ‘when sorcery is a factor, you are extremely formidable.’

  ‘Good situational awareness too,’ Rhianna said.

  Nava had, of course, aced the ranged tests. Using Magic Bullet, she could hit targets out to a kilometre without trying and without a spell assistance device. At closer ranges, her skill let her hit vital points with ease, making her lethal even if she was not using Magic Burst. She had managed a perfect score on a pop-up target test in one of the forested areas too. Yes, when magic was a factor, Nava was an extremely dangerous opponent, but then, she had been engineered to be.

  ‘Thank you,’ Nava said. ‘Given my background, it’s to be expected.’ It was dinner time, and for this meal she was working her way through a perfectly cooked steak and enough vegetables to make a nutritionist glow with pride. She felt like she needed it.

  ‘Perhaps,’ Nobuyuki said, ‘but genetics can’t make up for lack of skill. You’ve learned to use your abilities well. Don’t denigrate yourself simply because some scientists gave you advantages.’

  ‘I don’t. I’m simply aware of the facts. Some of the facts. No one has ever managed to work out what some elements of my genome do.’

  ‘Something to work on in the future, perhaps,’ Rhianna said. ‘Tomorrow, I’ll take you through some evaluations of your non-combat skills, but… You’ve met Master Kaede and Nobo’s thrown you around like a rag doll. None of that’s broken you, so I think you have a right to call yourself a Greyling. Welcome to the grey.’

  Part Three: When Life Gives You Lemons

  Shinden Allia
nce School of Sorcery, Shinden, Clan Worlds Alliance, 235/11/6.

  ‘More weird weather last night,’ Rochester said. He sat down beside Melissa at the refectory table, but he kept more distance between them than he used to. It was lunchtime on the second day of school after the holiday; everyone was about as enthused about school as they could get.

  ‘Unpredicted storm in the Ishikawa Archipelago,’ Nava said. ‘The fourth unexpected meteorological event in the last seven days.’

  ‘There were casualties this time. Three people died due to various weather-related accidents.’

  ‘All Ishikawas,’ Mitsuko said, nodding. ‘They’re not a large family. More or less all of them live on those islands.’

  ‘And Dana Hillam killed one of them,’ Nava said. ‘It’s not their year. You haven’t seen anything suggesting any action’s being taken, Chess?’

  Rochester shook his head. ‘Nothing.’

  ‘I’ll ask my father,’ Mitsuko said.

  ‘I suppose I could ask–’ Nava began.

  ‘By the stars, you’re perfect!’ Everyone at the table turned to look at the speaker who had appeared near Nava and was now staring intently at her with a huge grin on his face. You would not have necessarily described him as handsome, mainly because his face was dominated by a nose you could use to pick locks. He was mid-height and slim, with fairly short brown hair and eyes on the darker side of hazel. His eyebrows vied with his nose for facial domination and his mouth looked too wide for his jaw, though that might have been a function of the grin. It was the kind of grin you saw on predators after they have cornered some juicy prey. It was focused on Nava. And Nava – who was afraid of more or less nothing that was not a direct threat – was really not sure what to do with it.

  Mitsuko came to her rescue. ‘Terence Daniau, what are you talking about?’

  ‘You know this guy?’ Nava asked.

  ‘Terence Daniau Orlando. He’s in the Drama Club. As I recall, he’s the director of their production this year.’

  ‘Okay… What am I perfect for, Terence Daniau?’

  ‘Yuki, the Ice Queen, obviously,’ Terence replied. ‘Tell me you can act, sweet lady of my dreams!’

  ‘You want me to–’

  ‘She can act, Terence,’ Mitsuko said. ‘I’m not sure acting in your play is right for her…’

  ‘It’s definitely–’

  ‘But she’s perfect!’ Terence exclaimed. ‘We wouldn’t even need a wig! I’ve seen her around, obviously, and she always has that calm, cool demeanour. It’s perfect for the character.’

  Nava was beginning to get a little annoyed. Not that you could necessarily tell. ‘I’m really not–’

  ‘The role calls for more than just that,’ Mitsuko said. She paused and Nava opened her mouth to continue her refusal. ‘I think you should do it, Nava.’

  ‘Have you met me?’ Nava asked.

  ‘Yes, and I think you could do the role justice. I think you could give an exceptional performance, in fact.’

  ‘Performance. Exactly. Performing and acting are not the same thing.’

  ‘Are you saying that you can’t counterfeit emotions?’

  There was a sparkle in Mitsuko’s eyes. Traitor! ‘I can if I need to, but that still doesn’t mean I can perform on stage.’

  ‘Once. It’s one performance. Isn’t that right, Terence?’

  ‘It is,’ Terence replied. ‘We put on a single performance on the last Saturday night of term.’

  ‘I think it would be good for you,’ Mitsuko said. ‘I think it would let everyone see a different side of you. I’m quite sure that most of the school believes you to be entirely emotionless and this would demonstrate your true nature.’

  ‘You’re not going to let this slide, are you?’ Nava asked.

  ‘No. I don’t believe I will.’

  Nava turned her attention to Terence. ‘One night? One performance?’

  ‘Just one,’ he replied. ‘There will be rehearsals, obviously, but there is only one performance.’

  ‘Very well. I’ll do your one performance.’

  ‘Excellent! You won’t regret this. I’ll make you a star!’

  Nava looked up at the ceiling as though she were praying for strength. ‘I’m regretting it already.’

  ~~~

  ‘Who have I agreed to play in this play?’ Nava asked. It was dinner time and she now had the chance to point out that she had no clue who Yuki the Ice Queen was, even though it seemed that Mitsuko did.

  ‘What’s this?’ Hoshi asked. She had joined the usual group for dinner because, as Rochester put it, she usually ate her meals alone and that seemed unfair. Melissa seemed to think that was perfectly fair, but she had not put up much in the way of objection to Hoshi joining them either.

  ‘Nava is going to be Yuki in the Drama Club’s production of The Ice Queen,’ Mitsuko said.

  ‘I have no idea who that is either,’ Melissa said.

  ‘Uh, neither do I,’ Rochester added.

  ‘It did originate on Shinden,’ Hoshi said. ‘Uh, I think it was a Himura who wrote the original story.’

  Mitsuko nodded. ‘It was, though it’s now better known for the play. And the vids based on the play. The original story is partially based on Japanese folklore. The yuki-onna, or snow woman, hence the name.’

  ‘Yuki literally means snow,’ Hoshi said. ‘It’s quite popular as a girl’s name.’

  ‘I’m going to assume she has white hair,’ Nava said. ‘That’s all I know about her at this point.’

  ‘The yuki-onna was traditionally very pale,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Pale skin, white hair, and very beautiful. The Ice Queen has, traditionally, had darker skin. You’re on the extreme edge of how dark she’s normally portrayed, but I don’t think they’ll be covering you in makeup.’

  ‘It would be a lot of makeup,’ Hoshi said. ‘The Ice Queen’s costumes tend to be on the, um, brief side. Lots of flowing scarves or similar. It’s supposed to demonstrate her supernatural nature. Or it might be because it made for good cover art.’ She shrugged. ‘Anyway, it’s a love story.’

  ‘It’s more of an allegory.’

  ‘It’s an allegorical love story… tragedy. A tragic love story with an allegorical theme.’

  ‘I’m confused,’ Melissa said.

  ‘That was not especially clear,’ Rochester agreed.

  ‘I’m going to be prancing around a stage in scarves,’ Nava muttered. ‘It shouldn’t be hard to get in character.’ Louder, she said, ‘Maybe if you give us the plot, things will be clearer.’

  ‘Well,’ Hoshi said, ‘it’s a fantasy. Or a fairy tale. So, once upon a time, there was a land where the summers were warm and the winters were cruel. People lived to the south, where the snow came only in the winter, and the land was ruled over by a king and queen who treated their subjects well and were beloved by all. To the north, the lands were ruled by Yuki, the immortal Queen of Ice and Snow, from her icy castle atop the tallest mountain in the land. Yuki’s lands were always frozen and, in the winter, she sent cold winds and snow south. Not from malice, but because that was the nature of things.’

  ‘Then a princess is born in the south,’ Mitsuko continued, ‘who seeks to expand her realm into the north when she becomes queen. She’s warm-hearted and hates to see her subjects suffer in the cold. Well, that was the original story. Some of the more modern portrayals have her as just being power-hungry.’

  ‘Even in the original, she’s a bit ambiguous, don’t you think?’

  Mitsuko shrugged. ‘You may be right. Anyway, she falls in love with a young knight and together they hatch a plot to dethrone the Ice Queen. Yuki rules alone and the princess thinks that, should someone thaw her heart, Yuki’s power would be broken. The knight will travel to Yuki’s icy palace and make her fall in love with him. Then, when the Ice Queen’s power is at its weakest, the knight will let an army into Yuki’s castle and her power will be finally destroyed.’

  ‘Off the knight goes,’ Hoshi said, ‘love
for his princess keeping him warm, and he makes his way to Yuki’s castle. It takes him an entire year, but he succeeds in seducing Yuki. The thing is, he’s discovered that she’s a lot more attractive, physically and emotionally, than he thought she’d be. He’s fallen in love with her as much as she’s fallen in love with him. In the end, however, he betrays her, letting the army in when they arrive as arranged. Crushed by his betrayal, Yuki stands in her burning castle, doing nothing to stop the soldiers.’

  ‘That’s not very nice,’ Melissa said.

  ‘It gets better,’ Mitsuko said, grinning. ‘When they search through the ruins, all they can find of the Ice Queen is a single crystal of ice which won’t melt, no matter what they do to it. It’s carried back to the south where it’s made into the centrepiece of the princess’s crown since her father has died and she’s to be crowned queen right after her wedding to the knight. And for three years, everything is perfect. The summers are warm and the winters are mild. The old frozen lands thaw and people start farming them. Then, over the course of six years, things start to go wrong. At first, it’s weird events in the newly colonised lands in the north. People are found frozen to death in their fields. Crops are destroyed by sudden, hard frosts. But the winters are growing steadily colder again, and people are starting to worry. They petition the king and queen to send troops to the Ice Queen’s castle to ensure that she has not, somehow, returned. Soldiers are sent, but they never return.’

  ‘And then,’ Hoshi said, ‘we come to the midwinter festival in the ninth year. This winter is as harsh as any seen while Yuki was on her throne and the feasting has a desperate edge to it. The festival was always there to turn the cold away in the middle of the winter. To call for spring, if you like. This year, it’s needed more than ever. The queen gets up as midnight approaches, ready to make a speech, but the ice crystal on her crown begins to glow brightly. It gets brighter and brighter, until everyone has to look away, and when the light subsides–’

  ‘The princess has turned into Yuki?’ Nava asked.

  ‘I guess it’s kind of obvious. The king, the knight Yuki fell in love with, gets up and begs her to give him back his queen “if you ever really loved me.” She says she did love him, but his betrayal has hardened her heart forever. Then she freezes him into ice along with everyone else in the land. Except that all the frozen citizens then shatter in the extreme cold, but the knight is spared that fate. Instead, Yuki keeps him with her, frozen for all time and still aware. The winter never leaves and Yuki rules over the whole world, alone.’