Life Bonds

by Daniel Schinhofen

  Fiona sobbed harder as she leaned into Myna’s embrace as best she could with Sean holding her. “I was a bitch to you, I didn’t want to share him. Why did you help me? You might have had him to yourself if you’d kept quiet.”

  “Because he loves you,” Myna said, not surprised by the abrupt shift in topic. “Sean loves you more surely than the sun rising. I would not cause him pain by trying to pull him away from you. That’s why I helped you see the simple truth; so you can love him as deeply as I do, and he’ll be doubly blessed by our love in return.”

  Sean’s heart clenched for a moment at the thought of losing Fiona. It beat harder when he realized that Myna had been smarter than either of them, and had seen the only path forward for them all.

  Reaching out, he gave Myna’s ears a rub. “You’re a smart kitty, Myna.”

  Myna purred loudly and snuggled into Fiona. “He accepts each of us, even though we have our own flaws. Just as I will accept you, flaws and all, if you’ll let me.”

  Fiona was still crying when her arms went around Myna. “Yes. I’m sorry for my attitude before, and I do care for you. You’re wonderful for being here for me.”

  Myna placed a gentle kiss on Fiona’s cheek, “We’ll be together for a very long time. Our Holder will see to that. Have I ever told you anything of my days at the academy?”

  Fiona sniffled as she tried to regain control of herself. “No.”

  “Let me share part of myself with you, then,” Myna told her. “It wasn’t one of the great Academies, I went to one of the smaller ones...”

  They held each other as Myna told her story, and it was Fiona who comforted Myna while Sean held them both and watched them bond ever closer to each other.

  “I figured you might have had those problems,” Fiona said gently. “I would have been no better than your tormentors, before my Shame.”

  “I know,” Myna said brittlely. “It’s hard to know that, because of my blood, I will always be looked down on. At least, it was—now that I have you and Sean with me, I find it doesn’t matter. No matter what anyone says, it’s like water off a duck’s back. They sound like flies: annoying, but not worth paying attention to.”

  “I killed a high noble, one of the advisors to the Winter Queen,” Fiona whispered.

  “I know,” Myna said gently. “Whelan liked to mock you when we were hunting, saying how if he’d been there, you never would have been able to.” Her voice took on a hard edge and Myna hissed, “I hated that fucking bastard.”

  “He’s dead now,” Sean said, rubbing Myna’s ears again, “so calm yourself.”

  “You called me kitty again” Myna pointed out.

  “Fiona said you might like being called that?” Sean said slowly.

  “If it’s you, Sean, I don’t mind,” Myna said. “It's hard to admit, but a part of me feels happy when you do. I want to preen and ask for head rubs. But it’s also in my nature to hunt, stalk, and kill my prey.”

  “You’ll always be my assassin,” Sean said as he continued to rub her ears. “Silent, deadly, and ready to protect me.”

  “Yes,” Myna purred, tilting her head into his hand.

  Fiona giggled, “You look just like a cat right now.”

  Myna blinked, then bopped Fiona on the nose with a single finger. “Quiet, pointy.”

  “Pointy?” Fiona blinked at both the name and the bop.

  Myna gave Fiona’s pointed ear a gentle tug. “Pointy.”

  Sean snorted, “They are a little pointy. Did you know her ears are sensitive?”

  Myna blinked and quickly let go of Fiona’s ear. “I didn’t…”

  Fiona let out a soft sigh, “Someone is a bad kitty.”

  Myna growled softly, “I’ll bite that ear.”

  “That’s foreplay,” Sean coughed.

  Both women went still, and looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment. Myna lowered her eyes first. “I apologize again, Fiona.”

  “I know you didn’t mean it,” Fiona said, “besides, we’ll talk later.”

  Myna nodded, biting her lower lip. “I think that would be good.”

  Sean watched them, certain he was missing something, but not sure exactly what. “Since we’re awake and I feel rested, maybe we should get things ready to go?”

  “If that is your wish,” Fiona said, turning in his arms and placing a kiss on his lips.

  “I’ll go see to the horses,” Myna said, slipping away from them, “and I’ll get everything else ready, so take your time.”

  “Thank you,” Fiona said, not looking away from Sean. “Might I have a bit of personal time, Master?”

  Sean frowned at her. “I don’t like that word.”

  “You will, in time,” Fiona husked at him. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  Sean was about to respond when her hand went into his pants. Gulping, he met her eyes and nodded. “Maybe for a bit.”

  “Good,” Fiona said.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Gray clouds filled the sky as Sean sat on the driver's bench and guided the horses along the road. Myna and Fiona sat in the covered back, huddling under the blankets and talking in hushed whispers, soft enough that Sean couldn’t make out their conversation. Glancing back occasionally, he frowned at the blanket mound and wondered what the two of them were plotting.

  Thankfully, the snow had abated in the night, but the sides of the road were liberally coated in fluffy white powder. Sean had been surprised by how well the horses endured the snowfall and chill wind last night. He’d half been expecting them to be dead, or at least have colic or something similar.

  Maybe everything on this world is just more resistant to sickness, Sean thought. I haven’t seen a single person sniffle outside of tears. No one has been coughing or anything, either. Maybe I’ve just haven’t seen enough people yet.

  A few hours of quiet travel left Sean in a daze. The slow pace and the sound of the wagon creaking rhythmically with the horses’ steps combined to put him into a sort of trance. As the road took a bend through the lightly wooded area, the horses came to a stop and Sean blinked, snapping out of his stupor.

  He was fully aware when the crossbow bolt hit him in the upper left chest, just short of his shoulder. With a muffled scream, Sean grabbed the shaft of the quarrel, ready to pull it free.

  “Stay where you are, or the next goes into your throat,” a green skinned man said, stepping out of the woods.

  “Bandits?” Sean asked, wincing in pain as his body began to heal and slowly push the bolt out of him.

  “Just a couple of people looking for easy coin, and a man by himself with a wagon is likely to have something we can use,” the man grinned, showing a lot of pointed teeth. “Now, if you’d like to live a bit longer, you can get down and I’ll take that wagon from you.”

  Sean grunted as he stared at the man. “Do I have your word that I’ll be allowed to live if I get down?”

  “Yes,” the man grinned again. “We won’t kill you if you get off the wagon. If you make any attempt to stop me, the deal will be broken.”

  “Fine, I agree,” Sean said as he slowly turned in the seat. Dropping his tone, he said softly, “Ladies, I’m leaving the driver to you.” Getting down carefully, hampered by his injured arm, Sean backed away from the wagon.

  With a laugh, the man walked right past Sean and jumped up onto the driver's seat. “It’s always nice when the deal goes smoothly. Now run along, or my friends might take it the wrong way.”

  Sean put on a cowed expression as he headed into the trees. “You’ll get yours soon enough, bandit.”

  “Not from you,” the green-skinned man laughed, snapping the reins and getting the wagon moving.

  Stepping around a tree, Sean pulled the bolt out and Camouflaged himself. Moving quickly, Sean darted from tree to tree until he caught up with the wagon. With a light bounce, he cleared the tailgate and landed in the back with a small thump. An empty amphora fell over as he landed next to it.

  The bandit
looked back warily, then shook his head. “Just an empty urn.”

  A hundred yards or so down the road, the driver pulled the horses to a halt and whistled. A young woman came out of the trees, both of her wrists blackened with Bond bands. “This isn’t right, Oriv,” the woman said in a tired voice. “Robbing people is a crime, and any magistrate would string us up for it.”

  “We have to be caught,” Oriv laughed, “and that isn’t going to happen.”

  Five more men came out of the woods brandishing a variety of weapons, though none of them carried bows or crossbows. “Oriv’s done this before,” one of the others laughed. “We’ve never been caught in five years of banditry.”

  “I only hit him in the shoulder,” the woman said slowly.

  “Yeah, but you’re using the bolts I gave you. He’ll be feeling the poison soon. That will make him lethargic, which means he’ll lay down. Wounded and sleeping, he’ll be easy game for the Red-eyes in these woods, if the cold doesn’t get him first.”

  The woman blanched. “You mean I’ve killed him?”

  “Yes,” Oriv laughed. “Who do you think the magistrate will string up first when that comes out, hmm?”

  “Not you,” Myna said as she stood up behind Oriv and brought both her blades across his throat.

  Grabbing his neck, Oriv gurgled as he slumped to the left, tumbling off the seat. The five men were momentarily stunned by Myna’s sudden appearance and Oriv’s equally sudden demise. That gave Fiona enough time to jump clear of the wagon. Her fist connected with the woman’s jaw, and the young woman went down as if she’d been hit by a truck.

  The five men surged forward at Fiona, and Myna jumped down to stand beside her. Staff blurring, Fiona wove a defensive circle before her as Myna vanished from sight. Sean blinked, surprised at how ruthlessly Myna had dispatched Oriv.

  With Myna no longer in sight, the five men all focused on Fiona. Stepping back as she parried their clumsy attacks, Fiona led them towards the back of the wagon. Myna reappeared beside one of them, putting one blade through his armpit and the other through his kidney. One of the remaining four spun on Myna, allowing the other three to press the attack on Fiona.

  Sean leapt off the wagon, Shaping Dark Cutter into a dual headed spear as he landed between the two groups. Thrusting backward, he skewered the man going after Myna before yanking it free and punching the point through another bandit’s chest.

  Seeing Sean, Fiona’s smile went feral as she went forward into an attack. Both men went to parry the staff only to find it gone as Fiona closed the distance and formed it into the two short swords now jammed into their chests. Just that quickly, the combat was over, leaving the three of them looking for more surprises.

  Fiona pointed at the woman, whose Bond marks were gone. “What do we do with her?”

  “It sounded like she didn’t want to be involved,” Sean said, looking at the thin woman who lay unmoving on the ground. “Still, she shot me, and with a poisoned bolt no less. Tie her up and put her in the wagon. We can talk to her as we move.”

  “What about the bodies?” Myna asked.

  “They were bandits,” Sean said. “Take their gear, what little there seems to be. We can re-Shape it into other items to sell. Other than that, chuck them into the woods; the Red-eyes will find them eventually.”

  “I’ll tie her up,” Fiona said, retrieving her wooden swords and Shaping them back into a staff.

  “I’ll start looting,” Myna said as she knelt next to the body closest to her.

  “That leaves me with body dragging,” Sean chuckled. “Funny that.”

  Both women gave him a grin as he took hold of the body Myna had finished looting. Shaking his head, Sean dragged the corpse a few dozen feet into the woods. It didn’t take long before all the bodies were off the road and the women were back in the wagon.

  When he returned, Fiona was in the driver's seat, “Taking over?”

  “If you give me the coat, yes,” Fiona said, “in case it starts to rain or snow again.”

  Sean handed over the oiled leather coat before climbing into the back with Myna and the woman bandit. “Remind me not to ever have you tie me up,” Sean said, impressed at the thoroughness of the bindings Fiona had applied.

  “I’ll keep it in mind,” Fiona grinned, getting the wagon moving again.

  Myna had wrapped herself up in a blanket. “Myna,” Sean said, taking a seat next to her and letting her pull the blanket around them both, “you were quite ruthless killing Oriv.”

  “He was talking about you being dead and laughing about it,” Myna said simply.

  “Didn’t like that?”

  “I will gladly slaughter anyone who hurts you or Fiona,” Myna said.

  Putting his arm around her, he pulled her into a hug, “That’s good to know. It was efficient, and you did what I asked, so thank you.”

  “I don’t mind striking from ambush. My Moonbound blood likes the idea of attacking from the dark,” Myna whispered.

  “Kitties do,” Sean said softly, snaking a hand up to rub her ears. “What do you think we should do with her?” he asked, nodding toward the unconscious woman.

  “Hand her over to the magistrate in Holden. We could see if there was a reward for killing the bandits, too,” Myna purred.

  “We’ll talk to her first,” Sean said. “Maybe she has information we can use.”

  “Doubtful,” Fiona said.

  “It never hurts to ask,” Sean told her, “though you’re probably right.”

  “Did you want to stop for lunch in a few hours?” Fiona asked.

  “Unless this one wakes before that,” Sean replied. “If she wakes up, we’ll pause then.”

  “If that is your wish,” Fiona said, turning her attention back to the road.

  “While we wait, should we start making the weapons better?” Myna asked as she pulled a badly pitted sword towards her.

  “No, just Shape it down into bars. We can use the metal for other things later,” Sean told her as he pulled a hammer to him. “How many coins were there?”

  “Maybe a bronze in total, all coppers,” Myna told him as she focused on Shaping the bronze sword into a plain bar. “The woman had nothing, besides the crossbow and five bolts.”

  “She was Bonded, and doesn’t look like she’s had a decent meal in days,” Sean said, feeling a little bad for her.

  “She won’t be getting many after we hand her over to the magistrate, either,” Myna added.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  The woman remained unconscious even when they stopped the wagon and got lunch started. While Fiona rubbed seasonings into some jerky, she broached a subject. “I was wondering about the three meals a day thing that we’ve been doing, Sean. It isn’t something that’s commonplace.”

  “It is on my world,” Sean said. “It’s not even that I feel hungry, it’s more of a habit for me. I don’t see a problem with having a light meal when we stop to give the horses a rest, though.”

  “Maybe it’s a better idea to start getting used to not having them,” Myna suggested.

  “Hello?” a weak voice called from the wagon.

  “I’ll handle it,” Sean said, getting to his feet.

  When he got to the wagon, the woman had rolled onto her side and was looking toward the driver's seat. Sean looked down at her, “What is your name?”

  When she saw him, her light blue eyes went wide with fear, “Ryann Cullin, sir.”

  “Well, Ryann, you shot me with a poisoned bolt,” Sean said as he climbed into the wagon. “Did you have anything you wanted to say in your defense?”

  Closing her eyes, Ryann began to cry, “I cannot fault you for doing what you will. Oriv is my Holder, and his will is law for me.”

  “Oriv is dead,” Sean said as he bent and hoisted Ryann up by the ropes. He put her over his shoulder and carried her to where Fiona and Myna waited. As he set her down, he introduced her to the other two. “Fiona, Myna, this is Ryann. Ryann, these are my Life Bonded, Fion
a Mithrilsoul and Myna…”

  “Myna Mooncaller, Master,” Myna said, bowing her head. “It’s the name my mother took when she finished her time at the academy.”

  “Myna Mooncaller,” Sean said with a smile to Myna. “Ladies, I was asking Ryann what we should do with her. Since her Holder is dead, I’m at a loss.”

  “You argued with Oriv before I killed him,” Myna said. “How long have you been helping him rob others?”