by S D Huss
She had bright red hair and wore a very fine crimson cloak, embroidered with even more golden thread he had ever seen. Her features were smooth, and she was indeed quite beautiful. She must have known this since she refused to wear a mask into battle. Turak grinned at the recognition that this was Nasha of house Adomo, a highly respected, and pompous little brat from Lokkadonia’s elite caste. She didn’t lack power, that he could be sure of, but was she capable of facing off against him? The thought pulled at Turak’s curiosity, and he wanted to have some fun with her. He shook it from his mind as he looked at Oros’ attention, brought to another portion of the battle. -The western flank must be doing well.- He thought.
Without warning, Turak dashed toward Nasha, bringing his blades up to defend against any more Dunamis attacks. To his surprise, she pulled two blades from her back as well and smiled gleefully. -Who does she think she is?- He fumed.
Their incisor blades met in a clash of muted thuds as the bone weapons connected over and over again. Turak refrained from using his Dunamis in those first moments, trying to test the skill of the woman he now faced. She did the same, continuing in an unspoken agreement like the trial of Doxo.
“You’re not half bad, slave!” Nasha taunted. “Who taught you to fight like this?”
Turak didn’t respond, ignoring her childish banter. Instead, he focused on learning her movements and patterns; he smiled under his mask, realizing that she did, in fact, have many patterns. All nobles did, as they were taught by the same sword masters, and after so many years of facing them, Turak had become quite accustomed to killing them.
“So, you know of me!” Turak called out. “I never thought the Lokkadonian royals would pay me any mind; I’m flattered.” He parried several of her strikes and danced over the dead bodies at his feet. Still, the battle raged around them, but there was an unspoken agreement between all warriors of Eleutheros. Any time your leaders found others of their caste on the field, the common warriors would stop and let them battle it out. The warriors from both Lokkadonia and Rexun stood around them in a circle, dangerously close because of the Dunamis, but due to the scope of the battle, this couldn’t be helped.
“You can take it how you please,” she replied. “Just know that this will be the last day you see the sky. I will reap vengeance on you for what you did to Veol. It’s no secret you were the one who killed him.”
Turak laughed at the words, and brought both his blades down, in a furious attack. Then there was the moment of realization in her eyes once his real offensive started; her eyes widened, and she knew she was clearly outmatched.
“You nobles are all the same! Absolutely certain you have the upper hand. Veol did too! He knew he was strong, and in the end, that's what killed him. You will learn the truth as he did, that royalty is no match for power!”
Nasha tried to leap backward using her Dunamis to blast him, but Turak had read her movements and stabbed forward with his weapon, extending a concentrated blast of water out and through her abdomen, just below the protection of her bone breastplate. She gasped at the sudden and intense pain and flew to the bloody grass below. With an unexpected endurance, she leaped up again, ignoring her wound and began to run.
“Oros!” She screamed in terror. “Help me!”
She fell to the ground roughly, like her legs had been pulled out from under her, and tried to stand. She couldn’t, and looked down to see that her left leg was gone. Terror and shock filled her while she gazed at the bloody stump where her leg once was, and Turak dashed toward her.
A massive wall of stone shot from the ground between the two, and Turak skidded to a halt. Oros was now off of his Cro’kan and looking at Turak through the darkened eyeholes of his mask.
“You…” Oros said, his voice seething with hatred “You’ll pay for that.”
Turak remembered the wall under his feet crumbling beneath the power of this man’s Dunamis. He knew he would be strong, this was the son of Agron Ignos after all. But this was his chance to win the battle. Even if his own forces retreated, killing Oros would be enough to halt to advance of his army.
Turak dashed again, his sore and fatigued body starting to slow a bit. The battle had been a brutal one so far, and he had been in the thick of it since it started.
Oros hadn’t drawn his weapon, he only stretched his hands out, and massive pillars of stone shot at him from every direction. The attack was well-known to Turak, but the sheer volume of spikes that came at him was something he had never faced before. He spun to deflect and slice them as they came, but while he did so he was struck with a pillar from the ground below him. Turak grunted as he flew nearly thirty feet in the air. As he fell to the ground, he saw dozens of spikes racing up at him and he knew he was as good as dead. -I... hate... Dae-Voh…- He thought to himself, closing his eyes to accept his fate.
Suddenly he was jerked in another direction, and he realized that his elites had come to his aid. He opened his eyes again to see them soaring through the air with him in their arms. -One… two… three…- He counted all six of them again. -All still here… thank the Great Spirits.-
chapter 45
“A resounding victory!” Agron proclaimed to the hall, filled to the brim with nobles and warriors. He raised a bowl of wine and toasted with the celebrating crowd of Dae. “Oros has once again subdued the reckless and villainous Rexunii, bringing peace to our region, and to all of Eleutheros.”
“May he live long!” One of the nobles yelled, prompting cheers and applause.
Katrina stood next to Avria, who was beside Agron’s throne. There were several other people of importance up there as well, but she recognized very few. They wore different colored cloaks, blue, purple, green. The man in purple she knew, Lord Cato of house Vonos, the Torre’ financial supporter of the military campaign in the south, and self-appointed Human enthusiast. -They must be representing different clans.- Katrina thought to herself, wondering who the others were.
Avria gave her a nudge and gestured toward the other Dae. “Don’t stare.” She whispered. “You’ll meet them all soon enough.”
“What clans are they from?” Katrina asked, in her lowest tone.
“The ones in blue are from the Baa’yeaga clan. They are to our East, and just South of Torre’. The ones in green are from Exous, a small, but wealthy clan far to the South. There aren’t any representatives here from the Sabree, Visgo, Volsung, or of course the Rexunii.” She stopped speaking as Agron said something else that caused the crowd to cheer loudly. “By the way, have you seen Daniel? I sent a runner to fetch him, he should be here.”
Katrina shook her head. “I haven’t really spoken to him lately. He has been keeping to himself.” She saw a softness in her master’s eyes, almost pity as she looked away. “I’m sure he’s fine. We just have to look out for him.”
After the initial speech from Agron, all the attending Dae were escorted to a large ballroom, where they began the true celebratory party. The festivities were informal, due to the short notice, but many of the women and men had managed to find fine clothing to wear. Katrina always found these types of events fun. No matter how much she learned to fight, or how deeply she tried to hide it, she still felt like a princess while here.
She mainly followed Avria around as she made her rounds through people of importance, and admirers. Avria was showered with praise, congratulations, and affection from all she approached. Katrina smiled and greeted as well, doing her best to mirror the impressive woman’s demeanor.
“There he is,” Avria said, pointing to Daniel.
Katrina heard her mutter something under her breath as she strode forward to intercept him. By the time they did, he was in the middle of a conversation with Cato. The cheerful man was flanked by his daughter Phenia, the girl who he was attempting to marry off to Boros.
“Of course, we knew it would be an easy fight, the Rexunii have not been at their best in many years,” Cato said with a chuckle.
“But what about Robert?” Daniel as
ked. “I haven’t heard anything about the battle, no real details on anything, except that Oros crushed their army and is sieging Thule.”
“Details, my dear Dan, you mustn't worry about such things. All we needed to know is that the battle is over, and it will be only a matter of time before they parade Alektor through these streets as a corpse or a prisoner. We have to worry about the real threat to Pelemont.”
“And what threat would that be?” Avria said, bowing her head to Cato in respect.
“Ahh, Avria. You have grown so much since we last met. More beautiful than I could possibly have imagined then. I am so happy for you and Oros.” Cato returned the bow but clasped her hands in his. “And Katrina.” He looked at her warmly. “Your exotic beauty is the talk of many here, let me just say.”
“Father,” Phenia warned, rolling her eyes.
“I am just speaking the truth, love. No need to get offended.” He said, defensively.
Katrina blushed a bit but laughed it off. “No worries. I appreciate it, all human girls love to be admired, whether they like to admit it or not.”
“You see?” Cato looked at his daughter, with his eyebrows raised.
“Lord Cato.” Avria interrupted. “May I borrow my squire for a moment? I have to discuss something with him.”
“Of course, Lady Avria.” Cato smiled again. “I shall be around, mingling with the richest people I can find from Exous. I can already smell new trade deals being made. Come, my dear.” He touched his daughter’s shoulder, who bowed, and they both walked back into the crowd of Dae.
Daniel looked at Avria, his expression unreadable. “What do you need?”
“Why were you late, Daniel?” She asked, crossing her arms. “It is important for all representatives of our caste to be present. And one of the Spirit-Sent being absent will not go unnoticed. There are some very powerful people from other clans of Eleutheros here. Agron will be named king of Lokkadonia soon, so we need to be at our best.”
Katrina listened to her light chastisement, somewhat baffled at her calm tone. She was usually much more intense than this.
“I was meeting with one of the Lords from… uh… well, one of those other clans. Sorry, he caught me in the hallway. I probably could have told him to piss off, but he was representing the King of Baa’yeaga. I figured I would play nice.” Daniel shrugged.
“I see.” Avria nodded. “Well, in that case, you did well.”
“Avria,” Daniel said. “What happened at the battle? I haven’t heard anything about the details. I have… you know… friends there.”
Avria looked at Katrina, seeing the same curiosity in her eyes. “Well, it was several days ago, and we are now in the process of sieging Thule. That could take a while, however, and there are more forces from other parts of Rexun that have apparently been assembling to fight. It looks like we got there before they could fully mobilize their forces.”
“That’s good,” Katrina said, looking at Daniel.
“And there isn’t any news on Robert?” He asked.
“As of right now… we think he’s in Thule. But other than speculation, there isn’t much to go on.” Avria said. “Agron is pulling Oros back, and leaving the other generals to handle what remains of the siege. He should be here in a few days, so.” She looked at Daniel. “You will be back with your master soon, it seems.”
“And you with your husband to be.” He replied.
“Husband?” she asked, confused.
“Mate. I meant to say, mate. On Earth when you are mated with someone, it's called getting married, and the woman is a wife to the man, and the man is a husband to her.”
“What strange words.” She said. “Anyway, please enjoy yourself, Daniel. I will let you know if there is any word on your friends.”
“Thanks.” He said, turning to walk into the party again.
Katrina was stunned and completely confused at the strangely pleasant exchange between the two. Ever since they had that incident at the practice field, Daniel had been moping around, and Avria has been really nice to him. She fumed at the fact that Avria hadn’t told her what happened. It wasn’t fair, some things she just HAD to know.
“Katrina.” Avria interrupted her thoughts. “I need you to speak with Boros, make sure he prepares a full military reception for his brother’s victory. Spare no expense, this squashed rebellion will be remembered for many years to come, so we need to be sure that it's done right. Tell him also that if he screws this up, I will have his head.”
Katrina nodded. “Of course, my Lady.” She bowed and turned to complete her task.
◆◆◆
Daniel stood on one of the many large balconies attached to the ballroom. There were several nobles scattered around him, but none had even acknowledged his presence. That was fine with him, it’s what he preferred. With a sigh, he rested his head on the ledge, letting his thoughts flow uncontested. A very private part of his life was now exposed, to someone he did not trust with it. Though Avria might not have understood exactly what she had seen in his mind, he had not brought it up with anyone outside his brothers-in-arms, who had experienced the war in Iraq beside him. Now… “Ugh…” He groaned at the thought again. To make things even worse, Avria was treating him differently now. Like a wounded puppy.
“Dan?” a soft, familiar voice called from behind him.
Daniel turned to see Illya standing timidly behind him, her usual confident demeanor undoubtedly absent. “I… I wanted to speak with you. Do you have a moment?”
-This just keeps getting better and better…- He thought but nodded his head to her.
She stepped closer and rested her elbows on the ledge beside him. She paused for several moments as if gathering her strength.
“Listen…” She started. “I know things have been awkward between us the last few months. And I’m not sure how you feel about me right now, but I can’t sit here and pretend everything is alright. You… you should have just told me outright that you had no interest in being my friend. Instead, you embarrassed me in front of the court by ignoring my advances, and-”
“Illya…” Daniel said tiredly but was shut down.
“No, you listen.” She huffed. “I have been thinking of what to say for weeks now, and finally have the courage to say what I need to. I don’t know why you seem so repulsed by me, but… I need to know. Why? What is it about me that offends you so?”
“Oh, lord,” Daniel said, finally turning to look at her. “It doesn’t have anything to do with you, Illya. Holy shit, I have been here for only about a year now, and the rate in which you Dae started showing interest in us humans is pretty impressive. Boros started the moment he saw Kat. I mean, he didn’t even know what she was, just that she was attractive and different. Or,” He used his hands to make air quotes. “‘Exotic’, as you so bluntly described.” He saw her lower lip start to quiver and suddenly felt horrible.
“Look,” he continued. “The reason I tried to avoid it is because it stressed me out. I mean, you’re beautiful and smart and proper in every way. But you’re also the only daughter of the man who decides if we live or die, so as my old platoon sergeant used to say: ‘Don’t shit where you sleep.’” He reached his hand out and rested it on her shoulder. She shuddered for a moment but didn’t make any move to stop the contact. “I couldn’t risk that, and trust me, a part of me really wanted to, a part of me still does. Maybe once this war business is all cleared up, and Kat and I are a little more stable here.”
Illya didn’t say anything for a long moment, just stared at him with tears welling in her eyes.
“I want you to answer some questions for me then…” She finally said, her voice shaky.
“Sure,” Daniel said, trying to be as comforting as possible.
“Are you, or are you not… sleeping with the Doulos you were given?” She asked, in all seriousness.
“What?” Daniel was more irritated than shocked, that he had even been asked this by Katrina. “No, of course not. I don’t take
advantage of people. She isn’t mistreated in any way, and I don’t sleep with her.” He tapped his boot on the floor of the balcony, his annoyance starting to return.
“Ok.” She said, her tension starting to fade a bit. “Second question. Are you in love with Katrina?”
Daniel looked at her blankly and said simply. “No.”
“Alright. Lastly, would you consider going to dinner with me, as a friend, for now?” She added quickly. “Just to get to know each other better. I can understand… that my position might scare you a bit, but if we could work that out, would you consider it? You could do a lot worse than being mated with a princess, after all.” A thin smile crested her lips.
Daniel sighed. “Ok, I’ll go to dinner with you. But this talk of being mated needs to stop. I know that means marriage here, and we are from completely different species. Why would you marry, or… mate with someone who you can’t even have children with?”