The Champion's Ruin

by Kristen Banet

  “There.” She glared at him for ruining her morning view, but Alchan didn’t seem perturbed by her anger. He had no reason to be. Once, if he had tried to come into her home and made demands, she would have tried to attack him. That had been a long time ago. Now, there was so much understanding between them, only the greatest of insults would be needed for a fight to break out. He was her king, and she loved him for that. Finally, she had a ruler she respected, and he was her brother. There was very little he could do that would truly anger her.

  A short while later, he put another full mug of coffee in front of her.

  “Now that you know about Seanev, I’m going to go. You have a good day, sister.”

  “Tell Rainev I said hello, and that I’ve missed spending time with him,” she said as he walked away.

  “I’ll make sure he puts time aside for you,” Alchan replied.

  The moment the door closed, the tension in the room evaporated, and Mave watched her males finally liven up again, talking among themselves.

  “So…how long have you all known about Seanev coming?” she asked. Picking up the hot cup of coffee, she brought it to her lips as she watched them set the table and continue cooking breakfast.

  “A few weeks,” Mat answered, coming to sit beside her where Alchan had just been. “We didn’t think he would be over so early, or we would have put on clothes before we left the room.”

  “Why didn’t you when you realized he was here?”

  “Pride,” Bryn said, putting a plate of bacon down in the middle of the table.

  “He’s seen me naked,” Luykas said with a shrug. Everyone looked at him at that. “We lived together for a long time. You think we didn’t see each other in the buff more than once? Please. We’re more like twins than half-brothers. If you’ve seen one of us, you’ve seen both of us. There’s nothing to hide.”

  “Wow,” Mave mumbled, shaking her head. She didn’t need that mental image so early in the morning. Then another thought hit her that made her feel a little worse. Her eyes slid across Luykas’ chest, then trailed down. “No wonder Rain’s so into him.”

  Luykas sputtered, his face turning red. “That…”

  “Was uncalled for,” Zayden growled as he dropped a plate of eggs on the table too hard. “I was trying not to think about that.”

  The laughter that filled her home was like a song, harmonizing into music that could only be created once—music she had sorely missed over the spring.

  Mave decided to change the subject as Zayden’s face turned redder. He was happy for his son, but everyone knew he wasn’t comfortable with Alchan and Rain’s sex life, at least not hearing about it.

  “So…what is everyone going to do today?” She looked around the table as they all found their seats.

  “I’ll be evaluating new warriors,” Mat answered. “A bunch of novices. Some have talent and will be able to stay and train here in more advanced groups, but most will need to go north and spend the autumn and winter with Seanev.”

  “So, that’s still on you, huh?” He’d been given the job officially before winter was over. Mat nodded, then grabbed a piece of bacon from the main dish. “What about you, Zayden?”

  “Helping Senri. I take whoever Mat thinks is ready to be a guard, train them in everything Senri wants, then assign them to either a patrol or a stationary watch at one of our lookout points. I keep them on their toes for her since she can’t do any sparring right now. That might slow down with Kian back.”

  “You can work with him,” Mave said, reaching out to pat his hand. “Thank you for helping her.” He grabbed her hand and pulled it up to his lips, delivering a soft kiss to the back.

  “Anything for you and our family. Your father always had a wanderlust. I knew it was him or me to join you on the campaign. I couldn’t keep him from fighting with his daughter and his best friends. Helping Senri was the least I could do.” He released her and finished making the plate in front of him, then switched it with her empty one, so she had food.

  “Bryn? Luykas? What are you two doing today?” She turned to them, full of pride and love for Zayden.

  “I have scouts coming in today and tonight. I’ll be out of the city to rendezvous with them, then send them off, so they don’t lead anyone back to the village. I might not make it back tonight.” Bryn sighed. “I was lucky to be close by when you got home yesterday.”

  “Be safe,” she ordered. He nodded, a solemn promise. She trusted him, but Bryn often found trouble when he was away. That was why he didn’t go on those missions anymore.

  “Well, I’ll be safe all day,” Luykas said, smiling at her. “I’ll be with Leshaun. Another day of the change over from his time as spymaster to mine. We should have started over winter or even last year, once I started talking to Nyria, but I don’t think any of us were ready for how much Leshaun was going to slow down over winter.”

  “No, we weren’t,” Mat said softly, looking down at his food. “He hit old age hard.”

  “It’s the war,” Luykas said kindly. “Your uncle had centuries left in him, but he’s an elder now. A village consumed with war isn’t the best place for him, and if he sticks around for another few years, it’s only going to take a harder toll on him.”

  “I know.” Mat sighed.

  “He’s leaving? None of you said that yesterday.” Mave felt a sense of dread. “He’s family. He can’t leave.”

  “He won’t be going far,” Mat said gently. “But I’m right there with you, Mave. It’s not going to be easy with him farther than just a short flight away. He’ll probably move out of the Dragon Spine into a new small community where the winters won’t hit quite as hard. We’ll send Blackbloods to him for training, but Seanev is also bringing down an experienced one who works and trains up north to replace Leshaun.”

  “Luykas, I’ll go with you to see him today, even if I don’t stick around,” Mave announced, deciding what she wanted to do with her first day back. “When is he moving?”

  “In the autumn,” Mat answered. “He’s going to let the mativa set up her new small community without him in the way. The new mativa already agreed to allow him to join her as an elder, someone who will need help and can help with smaller tasks. They know he’s from a place of great respect. It’ll be her honor to have him settle in her community.”

  “It will be,” Mave agreed. I’ll make sure she understands it, just in case.

  They finished breakfast, and Mave left home with Luykas. It was odd being back in the village after so long, having missed an entire season. The village had changed. She noticed it the day before, but that could have been written off to the excitement of the warriors coming home. Now, it was abundantly clear.

  As she and her blood bonded husband walked down the trails, paths, and small roads, she took it all in. There was so much happiness. Everyone was smiling as they talked. Males were joking around as they worked on another new building. The streets were clean. A few children ran around, laughing as they ducked and dove away from their caretakers.

  “There’s a war going on,” she whispered.

  “Do you think the world paused for the war?” Luykas asked, and she quickly figured out his meaning.

  “No, but I don’t even remember the village in Olost being this happy.” She remembered a more somber feeling in Olost, a desperation to hold on to the scraps of Andinna society they could save when they ran from the Empire. This felt rejuvenated.

  “Because we weren’t happy in Olost. We’re happy here. And we’re winning. Shadra hasn’t been able to claim a major victory against us yet. If we can stay a step ahead of her, we can win this. Everyone knows it, and it…” he trailed off, looking away from her.

  “It’s electrifying,” she said softly. “It’s something in the air that wasn’t as strong when I left on campaign.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed softly. “I think it really started after Lothen’s execution. It’s only grown since then with Sen and our other captains coming back with our people in
Olost and supplies we needed. Then there’re the victories you brought home yesterday.” He smiled. “This is what we’re fighting for, Mave.”

  “It is,” she acknowledged.

  They continued their leisurely stroll, Luykas taking her hand as they walked.

  Leshaun lived in a very quiet area of the valley in a small wooden house, not a cliffside retreat. A stream ran next to it, made of snowmelt from the mountains rising around them. As they approached, Leshaun came out. He used a cane and leaned on a post that held up the cover for his porch. She took in his wrinkles and pale green eyes, once probably the same vibrant emerald green as Mat’s. His once black hair was now nearly all grey.

  “Well, if it isn’t my favorite female,” he said with a kind smile. “Mave, how are you, my dear?”

  “I’m well,” she said as she went up his steps, Luykas quietly following. “I got back yesterday, but I didn’t see you.”

  “The parties of the younger hearts in the village are not for me any longer,” he said, patting her cheek. His hands had more wrinkles than they once did. Since she had met him, time had taken a devastating toll. He was far more aged than she believed he had any right to be. “But I toasted you, Nevyn, Varon, and Kian every night while you were away, with a small glass of wine.”

  “You have more grey hair than when I left,” she pointed out softly. He also hunched more and had lost muscle mass. He was no longer a strong, older male, now firmly in the decline that took all old Andinna.

  “Stress ages us quickly if we’re not careful, but it’s okay. I’m certain someone has told you I’m retiring fully, and Luykas is taking over my work. I’ll settle into a quiet life and still have at least five hundred years, if not more. Once I’ve handed everything over to others, I’ll have more energy to spend with the family.” He smiled as though he wasn’t worried about his age. “Now, you have two options. You can come inside and sit quietly while Luykas and I work, or you can go. I don’t have the energy to listen to stories of war today, my niece. I must keep teaching him, then take a nap.”

  “Is that how you’re going to treat me?” Mave sighed. “I wanted to come check in on you.”

  “And you have,” he retorted, still holding that lovely but tired smile. “I’ll come over for dinner later this week if that will make you feel better.”

  Mave nodded, then stepped back. “You’re lucky I love you.”

  “At my age, love from a female such as yourself is less of a blessing and more of a curse. Please, love me a little less.” His smile turned indulgent. “Go enjoy the village, see your friends. Don’t waste your time on an old male like me. Please.”

  She waved and jumped off, promising herself to keep bothering him before he left. She glided over the valley, looking down at the Andinna going about their business. Every season brought more improvements to their quality of life. They weren’t a ramshackle group of survivors anymore. If anything, Leshaun’s retirement from the Company was a promising sign. Finally, they could offer him a real retirement, away from the troubles, while the young Andinna fought the war.

  Mave landed in a small clearing, away from the group in the center. Emerian and Trevan sparred as Dave watched. Ten feet from them, the gryphon lay in the sun as he cleaned between the feathers of his wings.

  The duel was the most interesting thing. Emerian was using a modified sickle that looked more like a scythe with a longer handle. Trevan used a morok, given to him by Luykas. Mave liked the idea of Trevan using a traditional Andinna blade. The first time she had seen it, she hadn’t questioned it. Like the gryphon, if there was an Elvasi who deserved to be among the Andinna, it was Trevan.

  They clashed and jumped away from each other. Emerian used his better range to try to take Trevan’s legs out from under him. Trevan was fast, though. Centuries of practice and a different type of training from most Andinna, he fought differently.

  He jumped over the scythe, a practiced move. When he landed, he didn’t miss a beat, launching another attack and getting into Emerian’s space, too close for the scythe to do anything but block with the wooden handle, which had a chunk taken out as the steel morok cut into it.

  Trevan backed off without anyone needing to call it.

  “I think that one is mine,” he said, grinning as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

  “I think so,” Emerian agreed, leaning over and panting. “But I’m getting better.”

  Mave clapped as she walked closer. All four of them looked at her, including the gryphon.

  “You are,” she confirmed, nodding appreciatively at the unique mutt. His face lit up as he registered what she said. “You’ll be ready for combat before summer is over, won’t you?”

  “I hope so,” he said, the grin making his face seem centuries younger than he was. Mave was less than a century older than him, but they had lived two very different lives.

  “Welcome back,” Trevan greeted softly. He was a soft-spoken man who never felt the need to raise his voice above conversation level, something she had picked up on in one of their earliest conversations. Something about it was soothing when she was normally surrounded by brash, loud, opinionated Andinna.

  Maybe that’s why I sought them out.

  “I would offer to join in, but I didn’t bring my swords,” she said, gesturing to her empty hips.

  “No, no!” Trevan chuckled. “You should take some time off—no reason to train with us, anyway. We’ve been doing well without you or Luykas hovering. Sometimes, we spar with Matesh or Zayden, and they’ve kept us honest.”

  “Good.”

  Emerian chose that moment to jump on Trevan’s back, laughing.

  “Honest? You mean living in fear of being told we were lazy by that fucking grouch.”

  Even Mave laughed as Trevan shook off his friend, and they began to tussle, rolling in the dirt, taking swings, all light.

  Dave walked up beside her and sighed.

  “They’re always like this,” he commented, the humor in his words so clear, she nearly couldn’t stop laughing.

  “Good,” she repeated. She saw nothing wrong with it. Seeing an Elvasi and an Andinna, even a mutt, become close friends was a promising sign for their people. One day, the fighting would be over, and it would be people like Trevan and Emerian who helped guide them all to peace.

  “When do you want to sit down and discuss business while you’ve been away?” His earnest eyes made her want to run. There was obviously a lot he wanted to tell her, probably things she needed but didn’t care to know about like supplies, rationing, and more. Dave loved numbers and telling her all of them. It was one of the few things she loved about the campaign. Swords were simpler than the complex things her human friend dealt with every day while he helped Alchan and Luykas in her absence.

  Mave summoned all of her courage and continued to smile.

  “Why don’t we start now?”

  3

  Alchan

  Alchan was smiling as he left Mave’s home. He didn’t stop until he reached his home, kissed his Consort, and sat down at his own table.

  The reason he’d run from home was the stack of messages he needed to go through.

  “Rain, my love,” he called softly, knowing the mutt was hovering in the kitchen now.

  “Yes?”

  “Are these the papers I’ve been putting aside for the last three weeks?” he asked, refusing to touch them.

  “They are.” Rain appeared at his side and put a mug down, the very same type of coffee Alchan had just made for his Champion. “Seanev will be here any day. You need to read them.”

  “I hate that they’re making me do this,” Alchan mumbled, thumbing through the pages and pages of letters for a second.

  “No one is making you do anything.” Rain wrapped his arms around him from behind. Wings made everything a little harder, but that didn’t stop anyone from being physical. Rain wedged himself between Alchan’s wings, dodged his horns, and leaned over his shoulder. “Leria and Allaina are only stron
gly suggesting this. So did Varon before he left on the campaign. So has Luykas, which is probably the most surprising.”

  “You haven’t,” he pointed out.

  “I was born after the War. I don’t understand most of this, so I’ve been keeping my opinion to myself. It’s not my place to comment on these things,” Rain whispered in his ear, then kissed his cheek before pulling away. He touched the top letter of the smaller stack. “Those are the nobles from before the War ended. Now, they are asking the king to recognize their positions in this new era, after the War and during the rebellion.” He touched the second stack. “These are the priests and priestesses who have come out of hiding or escaped slavery, hoping to return to the temples with your permission, so they can begin to revitalize the temple communities again.”

  “It is your place,” Alchan corrected, grabbing Rain’s hand and pulling it to his lips.

  “Is it?” Rain smiled indulgently. “Why is that?”

  “Because I said so,” he explained, pulling Rain onto his lap and wrapping an arm around his waist so he couldn’t escape. “That’s the nice part about being the king, I guess. I get to make those decisions.”

  “You do,” Rain agreed, reaching out to pick up the first letter. “You should get started.”

  Alchan realized the trap he’d walked into and growled softly, but there was no heat in it. Rain was getting very adept at working around him, maneuvering him into situations and the work he put off. He should have known it was a trap the moment he saw the damn letters. He took the letter Rain offered him but didn’t let his Consort escape his lap as he read.

  “Most ran to Seanev first when they realized you didn’t know what to do with them yet over the winter,” Rain reminded him. “But now, it’s practically summer. You need to address them and give them something or tell them they get nothing. Either way, you have to make a decision. They’re all coming back with him, and there will be no avoiding it.”

  Alchan sighed, nodding slowly. He knew it was creeping up on him to make these decisions, but he had never been the one for this. Luykas was better at it, but he couldn’t ask the mutt half-brother to make these sorts of calls. If his decisions were disagreed with, it would cause more problems. Alchan had to take the responsibility himself and somewhat dreaded it. He didn’t dread going into battle. He didn’t avoid sending his warriors, Andinna he considered his family, in battles they might not come back from. But he dreaded this.