by Sara Kincaid
Malik and Rina became fast friends. They ran as a pair every day under Commander Dax’s scrutinizing eye and sat together at each meal. They were friendly with the other recruits, but it was clear to those around them, that the two were inseparable. Slowly, Rina adjusted to her all-male roommates and she began to relax.
During their second week of training, the recruits were marched out onto the practice grounds beneath a blazing sun and sapphire sky. They shuffled uncomfortably in their gray uniforms. Sweat trickled down Rina’s back.
A series of targets were set up on the lawn with buckets of arrows staggered about fifty paces from the targets. A gentle breeze tickled the grass and some hairs that had fallen loose from Rina’s braid. Seeing the arrows and targets brought Rina a jolt of confidence. This, at least, she was prepared for.
Moments later, Dax appeared with a few other battalion leaders in tow. Raze Uxton was not among them and Rina felt a pang of disappointment. At night, her dreams were filled with visions of him, of his lips on hers and his hands grasping her waist.
Exhausted as she was, she was still capable of dreaming of dalliances, though Rina doubted that she had the energy to see one through at that moment. Strong from gathering clay and working it into a shape of her choosing, Rina was not prepared for the strenuous exercises that Dax put them through.
Dax motioned for the recruits to line up in pairs beside a bucket. He stood at the middle bucket and picked up a bow lying in the grass. “Being able to fight close up is an important skill. But, shooting from a distance is equally useful. All members of the Burgan military take their turn at watch and up on the ramparts, you’ll be given a bow. So, you better learn to use it properly.” Dax plucked an arrow from the bucket, drew it back with the bowstring and after a moment, let it fly. It landed with a satisfying thunk near the center of the target. “Okay. Get to it.”
The first group of recruits picked up a bow and arrow and imitated Dax’s stance before letting their arrows fly. Many fell short of the targets and a few skittered past, falling harmlessly to the ground beyond. Some even found the wooden stands. But, at the end of the row, her stance wide and her eye true, Rina’s arrow buried itself deeply in the heart of the target. The soldiers let their bowstrings go slack and eyed the quivering arrow in the bullseye.
“Not a bad first try, men.” Dax called encouragingly to the soldiers from the far end of the row. “Let the next group have a go.”
Rina changed places with Malik and handed him the practice bow. It wasn’t nearly as nice as the bow she’d received from her brother, but Rina found it easy to draw. “Nice shot.” Malik grinned. “You’re going to make me look bad.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll teach you.” Rina stepped up behind Malik who drew the bow back until his fingers rested against his cheek. Rina adjusted his aim, straightening the arm that held the bow steady. “Just like that,” she whispered into the breeze. “Okay. Go!”
Malik let the arrow fly and it fell with a thunk into the outer edge of the target. “Not bad for your first shot!” Rina clapped her friend heartily on the back.
Rina stepped back and let Malik practice, calling encouragement as he went. He learned quickly and his aim improved after just a few shots, though the center of the target still illuded him. After shooting a series of arrows, Malik let go of the bowstring and stepped back from the line, holding the bow out to Rina. Just as he did so, Commander Dax stepped up behind them and assessed their target. “Nice shooting, Malik. Someone taught you well.”
Malik gestured toward the arrows sitting at the target’s heart. “That one isn’t mine, sir. Rina shot it.”
Dax let out an undignified cough. His face spoke volumes. He didn’t believe it. “Is that so?” Rina kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the ground. “Recruit Rina, are you going to respond to my question?” Impatience peppered his tone.
Rina looked up. “Yes sir, that was my arrow.”
Dax clicked his heels against the ground. “Alright then. Let’s see it.”
“Sir?”
“Show me.” The commander’s voice echoed around the compound as frustration increased his volume and nearby soldiers and recruits abandoned their tasks to watch.
“Of course, sir.” Rina took the bow in her hand and stepped to the chalk line. She raised the bow, gripping it tightly in her fingers. She touched the bowstring, breathing gratitude for her brother’s training and the strength she had gained in all her years working with Master Miyabi, and took her stance.
Though she carried a weapon in her hands, she was aware of the smooth grain of the wood, the light hum of the bow’s frame when it stretched to her will and the craftsmanship behind each individual arrow. She took a shallow breath. Her hands carried through the motions like a dance and then, she let the arrow fly. It flitted through the air with an angry hiss and came to rest dead center in the target.
Rina let the bowstring go slack and buried the bottom point of the bow in the dirt and awaited further instructions. This time, she did not look at the ground, instead gazing straight ahead at the commander, her eyes blazing with ire.
Dax took a menacing step forward and Rina tensed. Malik, too, flinched and balled his hands into fists, prepared to protect his comrade. “Commander Dax.” The voice of Raze Uxton floated across the breeze. Rina chanced a glance away from the commander to see FireStorm striding across the field. Today he wore a brown vest over a stiff, white shirt and tweed pants. Even without his dress uniform and wings he was an impressive figure. Black hair fell in loose strands around his eyes and his triangular face was freshly shaved. “I trust that you are treating my recruit properly.” He stopped in front of the commander, his arms crossed casually in front of his chest. “Is there a problem here?”
“Of course not, FireStorm.” Dax relaxed, leaning casually on his back foot. “Your recruit was just showing us her shooting skills.”
A thick black eyebrow rose slowly. “Indeed? Well then, I’m sure you will find Rina’s skills to be far from lacking. She learned from her brother, SquallTamer.” Raze then turned his brown eyes on Rina, seeking to catch her gaze. “I’ve been neglecting my recruit as it is. Rina, please report to my quarters once you’ve been dismissed from training.”
Rina looked at the ground once again, not wanting others to guess at the feelings that had at one time begun to blossom between them. “Yes, Commander FireStorm.”
“Good.” His gaze returned to Dax. “I’ll leave you to it then, Commander. See that you train these soldiers right. Burga is counting on you.” Dax saluted until Raze turned and walked away.
The recruits spent the remainder of their session working on their aim and gaining comfort with the bow and arrow. The sun tracked slowly across the sky and Dax allowed the recruits only a small break for lunch. Finally, at about mid-afternoon, he called a halt to their training and ordered them back to their barracks for a rest and leisure period before their evening meal and duties.
Rina parted ways with Malik with a brotherly slap of their hands and a tight grip of each other’s wrists. Then, Rina was on her own, heading for Raze Uxton’s personal quarters. She’d ignored Malik’s blatant curiosity. What was there to be curious about anyway? She was already destined for the Aviator battalion. Why wouldn’t the commander want to speak with his recruit?
As she walked, she wasn’t sure what to think, what to feel. Her limbs were numb. She’d had little contact with Raze since her brother’s death and before that, Niko had put a stop to their burgeoning romance. They’d shared one lip-swelling kiss in the shadows at the officer’s ball nearly two years ago. Her lips tingled as she allowed herself to remember that moment.
But that was a very long time ago. Perhaps Raze would respect her brother’s wishes or, because they were now colleagues, he would keep his distance. It was probably for the best anyway.
The officer’s quarters were small but private and they sat furth
er up the hill from the rest of the barracks. Rina gazed in wide-eyed wonder at the opulent fortress. From the outside, one would never know the wealth of resources housed within those drab, mountain-colored walls. When she’d first arrived, Rina was most taken with the gardens that covered much of the sloping landscape. While some were clearly for show, with fancy spark-powered fountains that shot water in white spurts into the air and flowers the likes of which Rina had never seen, others were simply for the purpose of feeding those who called the fortress home.
Mt. Yama rose in the distance, her peak surpassing the walls on the far side of the fortress. Rina tried to imagine the day she would ascend the mountain and then dive off of the highest ledge. But that day of triumph seemed a foggy future at best.
The captains’ quarters were small pod rooms with three units to a building. Raze’s rooms were shadowed by trees and long stalks of bamboo. Rina went tentatively to the door bearing his name etched into a shiny nameplate and knocked.
A moment later, the door opened with a soft creak, and there he stood. Despite herself, Rina felt her heart stumble. She pressed her fist into her breastbone in salute. “Commander.” Her voice was solemn. Raze smiled boyishly, but returned the salute and gestured for her to enter.
The rooms were quaint but tidy. A small table sat in the steady silver glow of an ancient spark light, the spark brought forth by a Mystic decades ago and racing perpetually in a figure eight on its thin wire. A stout stove sat nearby with a copper kettle perched on top. In the center of the room, a worn rug covered the stone floor and two upholstered chairs stood surrounding a low-lying table. At the back of the room, a doorway covered partially by a curtain led to Raze’s sleeping quarters.
They stood in swirling silence, eyeing one another, each fearing to speak, unsure of how this first interaction would break. Finally, with a shaky breath, Rina spoke. “It’s been a long time, FireStorm.” Her voice was soft, careful. But Raze nearly flinched at her use of his battle name. It was so impersonal, so rigid. She hadn’t been any of those things the last time they were alone together. Instead, she’d been rather willing and breathless.
Raze reached for Rina’s hand, but pulled back, less confident because of her stiffness. “There’s no need to be formal here, Rina.” His copper eyes searched hers, his brow creased slightly. They stood awkwardly together until Raze remembered the chairs, leading Rina to one and occupying the other. “How have you been holding up?” Without Niko. In her training. All of the things that were solidly in the here and now, not wispy threads of the past.
Perhaps Raze had not called her to his private quarters to discuss the unfinished business between them after all. Of course, their unfinished business was nearly two years old, so it hardly still counted as business. Only a silly person would hold onto a memory like that, Rina scolded herself.
Raze himself had shared dozens of discreet kisses with women in the shadows of the palace walls, of that Rina was sure. She held in a sigh and maintained a more formal and distant demeanor. It was the easiest thing to do when forced to talk about Niko. She was soon to be bound to Raze and the rest of the Aviators. It would be much easier if he never knew she had pined for him. “Do you mean in training or since Niko died?”
“Both.” He looked at her eagerly, leaning forward in his chair.
She paused, gathering her thoughts and clasped her hands together in her lap. “There is no holding up when it comes to Niko. You eventually just learn to live with the hole in your life. As for training,” Rina shrugged, “I’m surviving.”
Raze leaned back, relaxing somewhat, hoping the action would get her to do the same. “Niko was like a brother to me.” He paused to see if his words had any impact, if they created a bridge between them, for he spoke truthfully. Niko had been the closest thing to family Raze had ever had. A vision of Niko’s broken body and missing wings flashed in Raze’s mind. If he hadn’t broken from formation, he’d likely still be alive.
At the mention of her brother, Rina’s gaze didn’t falter. Her braid curved around her shoulder, over her chest and down her torso, her pink lips pursed in a thoughtful bow.
“I’m glad to hear that training is going well. Your presence here has caused quite a ruckus.” Raze laughed, though it came out hollow for Rina did not join him.
She glanced at the rug beneath her feet instead. The faded reds fell into swirls of gold that looked more like yellow stains than the regal threads they likely had once been. “I have tried to behave as Niko would have instructed me.” Why had he called her here? To discuss her position? Politics? Or was there some other reason? She crossed her ankles self-consciously.
Raze watched as Rina’s eyes slid to the door and took a haggard breath. He was too late. “I have heard nothing but good reports.”
She lifted her head at that, but then quickly looked away. “Even from Commander Dax?” Rina swallowed, embarrassed that she had spoken without thinking.
“I don’t put much stock in what Commander Dax has to say.” The corners of his lips quirked into a smile again, but Rina didn’t respond. Silence billowed like smoke, choking them. Raze cleared his throat. “If you don’t want to be here, you can go.” His voice trailed off. Their eyes met. Somehow, in the span of a few sentences, the distance between them had grown to miles. Were the hours he’d spent with the Regent convincing him to recruit Rina all in vain? He shook the thought from his mind. He’d lost two recruits to the leap of faith. She would pass. But his heart had more to do with her new job than he wanted to admit.
Rina stood, but her feet were like lead. Should she stay? Should she go? Her heart was of little use, both wanting and not wanting all at once. If only he would say why he’d brought her here. “My commander called me here. I was only obeying his orders.” She tilted her head to the side, waiting. “What is it you require of me, sir?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper for she feared what the answer could or wouldn’t be.
Raze stood and fearful that she would turn and walk away from him, his chance lost forever, he grasped her shoulder gently. She paused, her dark brown eyes drinking him in. He leaned down, his lips moving toward hers. Rina’s head tilted up, her own mouth drawn to his like a magnet. When their lips met, she felt her body burst aflame. His hand cupped her cheek gently. “In these walls I am not your commander.”
Chapter Ten
Rina
Rina lay in the dark savoring the smells of her former home. The smoky scent of the used kiln that clung to Miyabi’s clothes. The metallic odor of the glazes languid in their barrels. Even the clay itself had a scent, earthy and wet.
A single candle left glowing on the table flickered in the drafty attic. Rina grasped the candle and rose from the pallet to look out the window. She stood slowly, her shoulder hurting but not nearly as badly as before. The door to the shop was open and Rina could see light spilling out into the darkened street. Miyabi never worked this late, especially in the last few years when her hands and feet had started to swell after a long day.
Barefoot and dressed in a loose sleeping tunic, Rina walked softly to the door. She leaned into the stairwell, listening to the voices from below. Curious, she stepped down a few steps and waited, then admonished herself for spying on her master and walked to the bottom.
When she stepped into the shop, Rina saw Miyabi, also in her dressing gown, sitting at the little wooden table talking to Halay, Rina’s sister. Like her sister, Halay had hair as dark as ink and it shone in the spark light with a healthy gleam, her cheeks pink and rosy.
Halay and Miyabi looked up when Rina stepped into the shop and Halay jumped to her feet. “Rina!” Halay was petite and her body soft with curves. She trotted across the room and took her sister in her arms. “I heard from FireStorm about your injury.”
“You saw Raze?”
Halay looked down before meeting her sister’s gaze. “Yes. He came personally to see me.” Rina sighed audibly. When
Halay wasn’t tending herds outside the city walls, she lived in their childhood home. She wasn’t difficult to find. “Oh don’t worry,” she rushed on. “He only wanted to let me know that you were okay.”
“Did he mention Eli? Or the Mystics?”
Halay shook her head. “No. What happened? You’ll have to tell me on the way. You’ve been summoned by the Regent.” Her lips pursed slightly.
Rina creased her brow. “When are we supposed to meet with her?”
“Now. She said it was a matter of urgency.” Halay shrugged.
At least someone considered the loss of the Mystics to be a matter of urgency. “Maybe she’s going to send someone after the Mystics after all.”
“You must get dressed,” Miyabi interjected. “You have your uniform?” Rina nodded. “Good. Halay will help you dress. I will get the gold paint.” Miyabi trudged back up the stairs to retrieve the small pot of gold that she had created for her pupil nearly seven years ago when the slash on her cheek had blazed fresh on her skin.
When fully clothed in her uniform, Rina stood facing a mirror and drew a thin glaze brush over the scar until the offending blemish gleamed gold in the spark light. With her metal-tipped wings folded at her back and uniform polished anew, Rina cut a striking figure.
As she watched them go, Miyabi felt a rise of resentment for the Aviators. They had taken away her greatest pupil. Rina’s ability as a sculptor was unmatched by anyone she’d tried to teach. She had all but completed her training when the summons from the Aviators had arrived. Miyabi looked with pride on her student, but she was also tired and eager to retire. As she watched Rina walk away once more, Miyabi whispered a silent prayer to Nia, holding fast to her belief that someday, Rina would be able to return to her. No matter what, Miyabi would never take another student.
