I wasn’t going to be distracted.
“Are you ready, little one?” he asked.
“At your leisure,” I answered.
He nodded at my sword. “Take out your shiny blade. At least try.”
“My sword will come out when it’s ready. At your leisure.” I nodded at him again.
He brought his sword to a classic opening parry, but his stance was reversed. Lunging, he dropped the sword to waist level and drove toward me. I stepped into the parry because I knew he couldn’t get the point anywhere near me. The move simply had us switch positions.
Reo stared at me. Switching his feet into a different stance, I found myself wondering if each of his attacks were going to be slow and deliberate.
They were. I didn’t even have to pull my sword. Each was set up, and each of his hesitations allowed me to prepare to move in concert with him.
This was boring.
I unwound my scarf during one of his attacks and decided to make this a little more of a challenge for myself. Instead of just dodging, I started to use the scarf to catch and redirect the parries. It was an elegant trick my mother had taught me. She wasn’t anywhere near as good as my father with the sword, but her scarves were awesome protection against them.
It also made it look fancier and more difficult than it was. There were a few gasps from the women in the audience, but a glimpse at Dorian showed he was looking at his nails.
I laughed and lost track of Reo’s sword. I had to duck, roll, and come up on the other side, and because I had lost track of his blade, I pulled mine out and held it in defense.
“That’s what you get, girl.” Reo grinned and turned to the audience with a bow.
Roran shook his head. He wanted me to finish the contest. I had been waiting for one of them to say something about that. I switched my grip and Reo came at me.
Dirty fighting, just as I thought. Everyone was taught to fight dirty because that was what was called for on the battlefield: no finesse, just brute strength, and minimal skill.
I also doubted that Reo had seen the inside of a practice room in years.
So, to his dirty fighting, I parried, countered, and danced around his sword with the best of my skills. There was no keeping up with me. He quickly realized that he had chosen the wrong person to fight.
At several points, I smacked my sword against his in such a way to make it look like he was trying. He might have been; I couldn’t tell.
“Ilati,” Dorian called quietly. “Dinner is getting cold.”
I wanted to laugh again, but I understood the message. Setting my feet properly and taking one of his hesitations, I quickly calculated the fastest way to end this.
Clean. I wanted a clean win. I would remain above reproach and merely hold off his dirty shots.
It wasn’t even worth the calculations.
Once he opened the parry, I had him on the ground and the sword at his neck in only four moves. His sword was stuck in the wood beam next to Aiko, and Reo’s hand had a slice on the back of it.
“The pointy end goes in the other person,” I said. “Correct?” I tapped his chin with the point.
Suri stood from her place on the bench. “No more of this.”
I stepped back and dropped the sword to my side as fast as I could. The rules for fighting were somewhat canted toward the defense of women, which was a problem for female swordworkers. There was, however, rules that were in place to respect others, and having an unsheathed sword in front of the woman of the house was one of the prohibitions.
“My lady, your pardon,” I said with a little bow.
“Husband, enough of this. Stand, see our guests back to dinner—no more talk of swords, and no more talk that belittles my children. I don’t want my son driven from me again. I have lost my daughter most horrifically, and I will need to mourn her again. I will take my joy and comfort in my son still being here.” She held out her hand to Aiko. “Come, son. Let’s talk. Just you and I alone, with level heads away from this rabble.”
Aiko stepped away from the group, taking his mother’s hand, heading for the gate.
Reo climbed off the floor and spat on the ground in front of me. Aiko held out the sword he’d retrieved from the post, and his father snatched it without even looking at him. He marched back through the door we had come through minutes earlier.
Yuuto pointed to my sword. “Put away your sword, Lady Stormbreaker.” He smiled at my shock. “I recognize that sword, my lady. I was there the day the storm was broken. I was young, but I was there.”
I slipped the sword back in the scabbard, stepping back and giving a small bow.
Aoi tapped her finger against her wine glass. “Clearly, the triumvirate have things to discuss.”
Aiko was sitting on the dock in the light of the moon. He was kicking his feet like a child, but I could tell that he was solemn.
Though when wasn’t he solemn?
I sat next to him and matched my kicking feet to his rhythm.
“Thank you for not killing my father,” he said.
“Aiko, I never intended to kill him. I didn’t even want to hurt him. The only reason he even got a swing on me was that I didn’t want to humiliate him completely.”
“Well, thank you all the same. I know he’s…”
The words drifted off and disappeared behind the lapping water on the pier.
“You spoke to your mother?”
“I spoke with a lot of people tonight,” he said. “My mother first. Then Aoi found me, and we discussed things. Then Yuuto found me, and we talked some more. There were several other city elders, as well.”
“How did you do with your mother?”
I saw a little smile on his face. “We talked. I apologized for dropping Kumi’s death on her like that, but she wasn’t really upset at me. She’s very, very pissed at my father.”
“When is the baby due?”
“Two weeks.” He smiled. “At the full moon. She’s very excited. It took her a long time to convince him to try for another child. Now… she’s thinking about telling him that she needs time to consider their relationship.”
“I’m sorry…”
“No, no,” he said, grabbing my hand. “I’m excited. I’m going to have a little brother. I will get the chance to know him. My mother promised that no matter what my father did or didn’t do, she would never bar me from my brother.”
“You like saying brother,” I laughed.
“I do… I miss my sister terribly. Achingly. I always have, but most times, I ignore it or tuck it away. She wasn’t a bad person. She just had goals that weren’t the best. Mine wasn’t either, as a child. As a young man, I had designs on power…”
“With your father? I can’t even imagine why…”
“He’s a terrible father. Honestly, a terrible father. That’s what my mother now sees, and she worries about the little one.
“I was able to see what was wrong with the way I was thinking about life and power and happiness. He hasn’t.” He twisted his fingers with mine. “How do you say those things to your own child? How do you insist that they—he or she—are disappointing? We can only model the behavior we see…”
“Your mother sees you now.” I smiled.
“And I will do my best to model the kind of behavior the little one will see,” he said.
“Good,” Roran said, clasping his hand on Aiko’s shoulder. He dropped down and sat next to him on the dock as Rilen sat next to me.
“And here I thought I would have time alone.” Aiko snickered.
“No, not really,” Roran said. “We’re following you around to make sure that you don’t run off. We are kind of scary.”
“Not scary,” Aiko said. “Just large and annoying.”
“Large?” Rilen asked, glancing down at his flat abs.
“Annoying?” Roran sounded offended.
“Yes,” Aiko said.
“I could have sworn you were not so disappointed by me in that boat,” Roran said.
I watched as his face turned red and he coughed, trying to turn away from the man next to him, but Roran put a hand on his knee. “My brother thinks you’re handsome and desirable. Does that make you uncomfortable?”
“Confused,” he said after a moment. “And doubly so because you’re identical twins.”
“Mirror identical,” Rilen said. “A rarity even among twins.”
“You have been with Master Dorian,” Aiko said. “And now you are with Kimber as well. Were you never confused? I have always been fond of women; being attracted to two men is sudden and unexpected.”
“I guess it was a little at first,” Roran answered. “Being attracted to the same gender isn’t unusual, but it isn’t the most common. Else how would any of us be here? I certainly don’t have the right equipment to carry a child.”
“Savior, can you imagine my brother with child?” Rilen said. “He’d eat half the wheat crop in bread and butter in about a week.”
“Excuse me, I am just as fit as you,” Roran said.
“No, he’s right. You’d eat four loaves of bread and a cow’s worth of butter in a sitting.” I laughed. “You’d make a miserable pregnant woman.”
“You’re both terrible, and I disown you.” Roran laughed and turned back to Aiko. “It was a little strange at first since I had been married—”
“You were married,” Aiko said.
“Yes,” Roran answered. “For a few years. She was killed when the Spine rose. She was in the Burnt Woods when it burned.”
“Oh,” Aiko muttered.
Rilen leaned over. “I was the first one attracted to men between the two of us. It was a bit of a surprise, and certainly, the first time with a man was a mess and rather unpleasant.”
“I…” Aiko looked at Rilen. “It was not unpleasant the other night.” Picking at the fabric of his pants, he took a moment to gather his thoughts. “It’s not that I’m opposed to the idea of being in this little group that supports… and pleasures… each other. It’s that I’m afraid Dorian would never accept me. I don’t want to push him away from you. He was here before me. The twins were here before me. I’m not entirely sure how this works.”
“It works on magic,” Dorian said.
We all turned and found him standing there, staring out at the water beyond us. He eventually brought his gaze back to the four of us sitting there and sighed. He stepped forward and sat on the dock behind us.
“I have a whisper shell…had a whisper shell in a hushwillow box. My mother asked for them for Belshazzar and me. I have no idea what Bel did with his. I had mine until Savion destroyed the city. It was crushed in the temple.”
There was pain in his voice, but he buried it quickly.
“You know what a whisper shell does, Aiko?” I asked quietly.
“No…”
“They hold a prophecy,” Rilen said. “All children were given them for years. They were put in hushwillow boxes… That’s what the Burnt Woods was filled with. And because they were destroyed in a manic act, the wood wouldn’t quiet the whisper shells.”
“It’s part of what drove Niniane mad,” I added. “Savion smashed her hushwillow and made her listen to the whisper shell. It never stops whispering.”
Roran glanced at Dorian. “What was your prophecy? I never even knew you had a whisper shell…”
“A crusty old bastard like me? Getting sentimental about a box his dead mommy gave him? That would have flown like a fishing sinker.” Dorian snorted and looked straight at me. “One of four, four for one, the heart ties magic and blood to the soul of S’Kir. Gather from the corners, scatter to the winds, harness the elements and bind with the whole of the heart and heart of the whole.”
We sat in the silence of the Dawn Sea as it went on about its business. My guess that there was something important about the four of them was right, especially needing all four of them in my life—and in my bed.
“I’m not going to chase you away, Aiko. I realize I can’t, and shouldn’t,” he admitted. “But I can’t simply accept you right away. I am, after all, a crusty old bastard.”
“I swear to you that any affection you show me, or the others, will be our secret,” Aiko answered.
Rilen and Roran chuckled. “Yeah, that’s not going to be hard to do,” Rilen said.
“The lot of you are more trouble than your collective worth,” Dorian said.
A terrifying clang clang clang rose up from the city behind us, startling us. Aiko was up on his feet in the next second, staring back at the city behind us.
“Fire,” he whispered. “That’s the fire bell.”
He was gone from the pier as fast as he could—top vampire speed. Dorian was after him, at the same speed, while Rilen and Roran stayed back.
“We need to help.” I started to jog back to the beach, hoping they were following me.
An explosion ripped through the buildings near the waterfront, throwing me back into the twins who were also tossed back. We landed in a pile on the dock and scrambled to our feet.
“Water,” Rilen whispered, and I could feel him pull in his magic to coax the Dawn Sea to help him. Roran and I added our power to it. In a moment, the water buckled back and reared into the sky. As Rilen directed the water over the crackling fire, Roran pushed some air through it and it turned into a hard falling rain.
I followed it through the building to see if there were any signs of people trapped, but I came across nothing.
“You two have to go find Aiko and Dorian and help them,” Rilen said. “I can stay here and send the water where you need.”
“How would we let you know?” I asked
Roran smiled and tapped his temple. “The twin thing. He’ll know where I am.”
“Go, go,” Rilen said.
“I know you can’t run at full speed yet, Kimber, but go, and I’ll follow next to you.”
With a nod, I let the vampire power bubble up, and I shot off the deck through the streets of Elkthorne. As we ran toward the bell, a second bell started clanging on the other side of town.
I stopped and looked at Roran. “Two fires?”
A third joined them.
“The city is being attacked,” he whispered.
“I’ll find Aiko, Belshazzar, and the triumvirate,” I said. “You go to one of the other fires and help put it out. This is probably Niniane’s army, trying to take the city.”
Roran nodded and grabbed my elbow. He pulled me to him and kissed me hard. “Be careful, ilati. I think we’re in the place to do amazing things with the five of us.”
“I think you’re right, love. Go. Save some people’s lives. I’ll do the same.”
“Meet on the dock!” he called as we both ran away from each other.
I found the source of the clanging, as well as Dorian and Aiko. They were waiting for instructions on what to do.
“Where is Belshazzar?” I asked.
“He’s gone to see what the other bells are for,” Aiko said.
“I sent Roran to one of them. There was an explosion on the waterfront,” I said. The man who appeared to be in charge whirled to me, terror on his face. I held up my hand to stop him. “The waterfront is safe. Master Rilen is there, and we put it out.”
I gasped. “Aiko! Run to the dock, and tell Rilen to lift the water. Dorian, Roran, and I can get to the different fires and put them out that way!’
Aiko nodded as a fourth bell started clanging in the distance. He glanced that way, but I pushed him, gently, toward the water.
Yuuto appeared in a robe, looking distressed. Dorian and I ran over to him. “High Master, we think the city is being attacked—”
He nodded. “I agree. By whom?”
“Probably Niniane’s men,” I answered. “We can help, but where is the guard?”
“We only have a few on after midnight…”
“Wake all of them,” Dorian snapped. “I don’t care if they are balls deep in a prostitute, call them in. Tell them to search out the soldiers set
ting fire to your city. Where are Aoi and Reo?”
“Aoi lives by the water, at the edge of the wall,” he answered. “She would go to the closest bell, the second one. Reo should be at the fourth bell that was closest to his home.”
“I sent Roran to the third,” I said.
“Put this fire out,” Dorian said. “I’ll head to the second bell.”
“Do you have a place to meet?” I asked Yuuto.
Pointing, he nodded. “That way. Frontier Square. It’s large and open.”
“Get everyone out of their houses,” Bel said, walking up. “And don’t let them in the basements. Get them out; get them to water and boats.”
“Are the basements safe?” asked one of the guards.
“If you don’t mind roasting at a comfortable 375 degrees for four hours if the whole city goes up.” Even surrounded by fire, Bel was a smartass.
“The whole city?” Yuuto gasped so hard he started coughing from the smoke.
“Assume it,” Bel said. “It’s safer. I saw what happens when you take shelter from fire underground. Roast human is not appealing.”
“Uh, human?”
“Never mind!” he barked. “Just don’t let anyone underground. Dorian, let’s go.”
The two of them sped off, leaving me with the guards, the firefighters, and Yuuto. I reached up with my power and found that Rilen had a ready supply of water waiting above the city. I pulled on it and sent the water down on the flames that were behind Yuuto and eating through the buildings.
It took me a moment to soak the fire and make sure it wasn’t going to flare back up. But in that time, I could hear more bells across the city.
“Yuuto, please get the guards moving! The sooner we stop the arsonists, the sooner we can make sure the city doesn’t burn to the ground.”
Aiko was suddenly at my arm. “We have more fires, Mistress,” he said quietly.
“Lead the way,” I said.
Aiko led me through the city, and at each spot, we were able to put the fires out with the water that Rilen held aloft for us to use. It was also very clear that there was no pattern. The arsonists were wandering everywhere and anywhere and setting things alight.
Blood of Gods Page 17
