Darkening Skies

by eden Hudson

  The first princess raised a dubious eyebrow at her.

  “I know it’s silly,” Koida snapped, changing into the training clothes. She sighed. “Just let the Ro-cripple be silly for now. You can say you told me so later.”

  “If that’s what it takes.” Shingti shrugged. “Let’s go, little sister. I’ll walk you down.”

  Though they clearly wished to protest, the ladies held the door to the outer chamber for the princesses. Koida’s personal guard fanned out on her side while Shingti’s Dragonfly Guard filled in on the first princess’s side. There were too many of them to go single file, so the nightcaller floors squealed and squeaked like a herd of angry pigs as they walked the winding corridors connecting the residences.

  Eye-watering afternoon light filtered through the sandglass windows in the ceiling.

  “Is Master Lao expecting you today?” Shingti asked. “Shouldn’t you be dressing for your wedding feast?”

  “I dressed for your return home ceremony in less than two hours,” Koida said. “I’ll be finished training in plenty of time for my ladies to manage the wedding clothes.”

  They descended the stairs and stepped out onto the portico. But as Koida’s eyes adjusted to the blinding light, she realized they weren’t the only ones in the courtyard. The Ji Yu entourage—if two could be considered an entourage—rested in the shade, reminding her that she needed to find their young leader and thank him for the sunbright pill.

  The silent woman who had helped her the night before sat with her back to the palace wall, legs crossed beneath her, fists on her thighs, her entire body perfectly still. If her dark almond eyes hadn’t turned to the princesses, prompting her to give them a respectful bow, Koida might have imagined the woman was dead and in the late stages of rigor.

  Koida returned the silent woman’s bow with one deeper than required for the woman’s unknown rank. “Endless gratitude for your aid last night, gifted physician. Without your help, I don’t think I could have survived.”

  Smile lines appeared around the woman’s dark eyes and she pressed a palm to her heartcenter as if graciously accepting Koida’s thanks.

  Nearby, the yellow-haired foreigner with the squashed, demon-baiting dog face lounged on the thick balustrade running between the portico’s stone columns. Unlike his fellow Ji Yu tribeswoman, he swayed slightly like a charmed snake or an early drunk.

  “Lysander,” Shingti greeted the yellow-haired foreigner informally, boosting herself up onto the balustrade beside him. “I see you survived the night as well.”

  The foreigner, Lysander, chuckled. Koida caught sight of a carved ivory flask disappearing into the man’s robes.

  “How’s your head this afternoon, Princess?” he returned. Koida couldn’t tell whether the strange lilt to his words was the product of an accent or the result of his drinking. He wrapped an arm around the column to steady himself.

  “First princess,” Shingti corrected, a smile tugging at her lips. “I could have drunk twice that and been on the battlefield this morning. I only went easy last night out of respect for your delicacy. What is all this?” Shingti waved at the courtyard, drawing Koida’s attention out into the bright sunshine. “Does the Ji Yu’s leader need training in a proper warrior’s art?”

  At the center of the colorful tiles, Master Lao and the young chieftain of the Ji Yu bowed to one another, then stepped back. Raijin raised his hands, arms outstretched in a strange fighting stance she had never seen before. Opposite him, Master Lao manifested glistening ruby Double-Crescent Knife Hands and crouched in First Attack. Though both men stood relaxed, waiting calmly, as if there was no hurry to begin this match, tension seemed to crackle in the air.

  “Raijin would’ve sought out the Dragonfly of the Shyong San Empire if he wanted instruction in the Path of the Living Blade,” Lysander said. “Not this fraud.”

  “Fraud?” Koida asked, turning back to the man. “You cannot mean Master Lao.”

  “I can mean whatever I say,” the foreigner said rudely. “That Master—”

  A sharp finger snap drew their attention to the silent woman. Her dark almond eyes glared a warning at the foreign drunk.

  Lysander rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Hush.”

  Koida, however, wasn’t ready to let the insult to her master pass. She might frequently find herself frustrated and even angry with the man, but as his student, she was honor bound to defend his reputation.

  “That is my master you’re offending—” she started.

  But before she could demand an apology, the match in the courtyard began, and all of their attentions returned to the combatants. Master Lao lunged first, the attack swift and calculated. It was a move that often threw Koida off balance during their sparring matches and pushed her into ill-considered reactions, but Raijin simply slipped the Ro blades with a twist of his shoulders, then gave the older man a two-handed shove.

  Master Lao stumbled a step, causing Lysander and a few of the watching guards to snicker. Raijin’s face betrayed no hint of pleasure at his opponent’s misstep, but remained the stony mask of the demon. Calm, cold, alert. Waiting.

  Lao recovered his balance and squared with the young chieftain once more, this time rearing his Double-Crescent Blades back in Second Attack.

  When it became clear that Raijin wouldn’t strike first, Master Lao leapt into the air, bringing his heel around in a glowing ruby Axe-Blade Kick that could easily decapitate a man.

  Raijin pivoted at the last second, slapping Lao’s kick aside with a forearm. The redirected momentum carried the master full circle this time, the sudden spin causing Lao’s grounded leg to slip out from underneath him.

  As Lao hit the ground, laughter and jeers filled the air. The master was losing face in front of both the princesses’ personal guards.

  Snarling, Lao sprang back to his feet, Double-Crescent Knife Hands raised once more.

  Raijin raised his hands in an obvious invitation to attack, his face devoid of emotion. He looked no more pleased with or angered by the progression of the match than the palace walls did.

  Master Lao’s tenuous composure snapped at the sight. He roared a fearsome battle cry and wheeled into the air, whipping his legs and hands in turns in a series of Soaring Axe Kicks and Double-Crescent Knife attacks. Calm as the gray autumn sky above, Raijin continued to slip the older man’s strikes by mere fractions of an inch, his hands clasped behind his back. He moved with a graceful precision and economy of motion Koida had only ever seen Shingti approach. If he didn’t have to move, he didn’t move. When he did move, it was almost faster than the eye could see.

  Just yesterday she would have given anything to see Master Lao thrash the Ji Yu barbarian soundly. The longer she watched, however, the more she found some small, petty part of her hoping to see the master who beat her in every sparring match on the losing end for once.

  “Defense and evasion is no path to victory.” Shingti’s words filtered slowly through Koida’s fascination. “Eventually luck will fall on Lao’s side.”

  “I wouldn’t worry myself overmuch about Raijin, Princess,” Lysander said. “I’ve doubted the kid for years now, but somehow he always manages to come out on top. It’s disgusting.”

  Raijin showed no signs of fighting back, however. Lao’s continuous attacks pressed him backward across the courtyard. The young chieftain waited for each ruby blade to slice within cutting distance before sliding back another step, swinging his lean body aside like an opening door. Lao had grown tired and frustrated, as Koida herself so often did when fighting the master. His attacks were sloppy enough that even she could see his errors, but still Raijin only evaded.

  With a start, Koida realized that Raijin had yet to manifest any weapons or shields in this duel. So far, he hadn’t used his Ro at all. Every move he made was a motion of the bare hands or feet.

  They were all techniques she could use.

  She leaned in closer, determined to commit every detail to memory. Master Lao mig
ht refuse to teach her when she couldn’t manifest a weapon, but perhaps she could learn on her own.

  In the courtyard, Master Lao backed Raijin into a corner where the palace walls met. Lao attacked, slicing his Double-Crescent Knives at the younger man’s throat and stomach.

  Raijin spun and ran up the corner, feet springing off of each wall alternately, until he flipped over the master’s head and landed easily behind him. With a hook of his leg, he swept Lao.

  The master landed flat on his back. Though the air woofed from his lungs, Lao managed to keep the glowing Double-Crescent Knives solid. He rolled up to his feet, lunging at the young chieftain.

  Raijin slapped each of the attacks away with open hands. Lao overcommitted to a final dual swipe aimed at the young chieftain’s flat stomach and exposed throat. Raijin knocked both aside, then lashed out with bare fists so fast that Koida almost couldn’t follow them. She saw him hit Lao in the face once, then deliver two blows to his exposed ribs, but she thought she heard at least four more strikes land.

  Beside her, Shingti cursed in awe.

  “Yes,” Lysander agreed.

  In the courtyard, Raijin’s body went as still as a stone column, his fingertips poised at Master Lao’s throat.

  “Admit defeat,” he said, his rasping voice little more than a growl in the otherwise silent courtyard.

  Master Lao’s shoulders heaved as he panted for air.

  “I am defeated,” the older man wheezed. He pressed his fist against his palm and raised it to Raijin.

  A cloud of glistening ruby Ro filtered from Lao’s heartcenter and into Raijin’s chest. The Ji Yu chieftain scowled as if disgusted.

  “Now admit your crimes,” Raijin ordered, his hand still at Lao’s throat.

  The master’s face turned red. “I have done nothing—”

  “Imir Ikindi’i,” Raijin said. “Cold Sun, firstborn of Jaguar Three-Eyes. And now Second Princess Shyong San Koida.”

  Even from her place on the portico, Koida saw Master Lao pale at the foreign names.

  “I don’t know what you’re getting at, spouting nonsense, Chieftain, but I can assure you—”

  “Do you think I challenged you to a duel to pass the time?” Raijin snapped. “I know what you are, leech. You don’t deserve to call yourself a master.”

  “What are these accusations you’re slinging, Chieftain?” Shingti demanded, her tone carrying every ounce of authority the Exalted Emperor’s did. The first princess hopped down from the balustrade, a glowing ruby sword manifesting in one hand. “I will hear the facts before you spill any blood in my palace.”

  Raijin didn’t look away from the cringing Master Lao. “This man is a known predator of those with Ro deficiencies. He teaches them nothing, then spends all his time sparring them in order to steal their Ro. It’s an exploitation of your sister, your path, and the position of master over student.”

  “That’s nonsense,” Koida blurted, stepping into the sunlight. “Master Lao has been my teacher for four years.”

  “You see!” Lao jabbed a finger at her.

  “Name a single technique he’s taught you, and I’ll rescind my accusations,” Raijin said.

  Koida opened her mouth to list off the strikes and steps of the bo-shan stick, but each of those had come from the master before Lao. Hand and foot techniques and stances she had learned from her earlier masters and drilled with Shingti. Koida couldn’t remember a single occasion when Lao had even corrected a stance. Since he had arrived at the palace, all Koida had done in training was spar.

  “There must be something,” she said stubbornly. “I only can’t think of it because I wasn’t prepared.”

  But even as she spoke, doubt whispered at the back of her mind. What sort of master would use any minor excuse to end their training, but only after he had absorbed some of his student’s Ro?

  “What’s in your head, little sister?” Shingti asked, her sharp purple gaze narrowed.

  “It’s nothing,” Koida insisted guiltily. These weren’t thoughts someone should be having about their master.

  “You don’t have to protect him,” Shingti said, voice low enough that it wouldn’t carry beyond the two of them. “It’s only honorable to defend your master if he is worth defending.”

  Without provocation, Master Lao shouted, “The Ji Yu chieftain is mistaken! This is a misunderstanding of Paths! His barbaric notions can’t grasp the nuances of the Path of the Living Blade. Everyone here knows I would never prey on the second princess. Tell them, Second Princess!” As Lao spoke, he tried to force his way to his feet, but Raijin put a foot on the man’s chest and pushed him back down to the tile.

  “Do not address her,” the Ji Yu chieftain growled.

  “Ignore them,” Shingti whispered, stepping in front of Koida and blocking her view of the men. “Both owe their allegiance to you, not you to them. Help me find the truth in this matter so no one can say justice was miscarried in our father’s palace.”

  Koida gave her sister the smallest of nods, then stepped around Shingti to face the master and the chieftain.

  “It’s a simple matter,” she said, her gaze jumping from Lao to Raijin. “If you both submit to a divination by the court eunuchs, they can tell us who is telling the truth.”

  Raijin nodded, a glint of approval in his jade eyes. “I submit to a divination.”

  Lao spluttered furiously. “I will stoop to no such low! I have been your master for years, Second Princess, and yet you allow this snake to whisper lies into your ear? Are you so easily manipulated into disloyalty by a fair face? If the Exalted Emperor Hao in all his infinite wisdom has seen fit to retain my services for his beloved youngest daughter for this long without incident—”

  From the portico came a drunken hoot of laughter. The yellow-haired foreigner, Lysander, slapped his knee. “Keep talking, Ro-thief! Your innocence will be judged by the length of your argument.”

  Raijin silenced his drunken friend with a look.

  “It was not a question, Lao,” Shingti said, manifesting a second sword and creeping closer to the men. “The second princess’s decree carries the same authority as mine or my father’s. You have no right to refuse her once she’s given a royal order.”

  At this, Shingti sent a meaningful glance at Koida.

  “As second princess of the Shyong San Empire, I order Master Lao and the Ji Yu chieftain to accompany me to the Eastern tower for a divination. If the master is found to be the victim of slander, then Ji Yu Raijin will repay him with whatever price he set on his honorable reputation. If not, you’ll be subject to the laws of the empire.”

  Lao’s face twisted into a grimace. Under the law, Ro-thieves were not given the benefit of a quick death at the hands of an executioner, but drawn and quartered by demon beasts. After a moment’s hesitation, however, he nodded.

  “It will be as you wish, Second Princess,” the master said in a tone of formal respect for royalty.

  Raijin let the man up, and together, he and Shingti escorted Lao to the portico.

  Koida followed, forcing her face to show nothing but determination. Half her mind claimed she was betraying the master who had given up four years of his life trying to teach an unteachable Ro-cripple. The other half wondered why Lao was sweating so heavily if he was innocent. And what of Yoichi’s warning about being wary of Raijin? Was she allowing a liar full of sweet words to destroy her father’s empire from the inside out? Both men had submitted to the divination, where she had expected the guilty party to steadfastly refuse and make the answer obvious.

  As their small procession ascended the steps into the shade, Koida desperately hoped that the eunuchs truly did have a magic that would reveal the liar.

  Without warning, Master Lao whirled, locking an arm around Koida’s neck. A glowing Double-Crescent Knife appeared an inch from her eye. She didn’t even have time to shriek in surprise.

  Ro blades lit up the shade of the portico. Armor clinked and boots hit the ground as members of both pri
ncesses’ personal guards sprang into action.

  “Stay back!” Lao shouted. He jumped off the stair, pulling Koida with him. She clawed at his arm, and her soft-soled shoes scrabbled for purchase on the glazed tiles, but Lao tightened his grip until her vision blurred and her head pounded. He dragged her along easily. “Keep your distance, or I’ll shear her face off!”

  With detached awareness, Koida watched the palace soldiers freeze where they stood, looking to Shingti for orders. The first princess nodded at one of her Dragonfly guards, and he gave a signal to the rest. Slowly, they began to fan out, but didn’t approach Koida and her captor.

  “Dismiss your weapons,” Lao demanded.

  When the soldiers didn’t immediately move to obey, he pressed the cutting edge of the Double-Crescent Knife to the hollow below her bottom lip. Koida tried to pull her face away, but Lao’s grip tightened until it felt as if her eyes would pop out of her head. Shingti scowled and raised up on her toes but didn’t take another step. Koida thought it looked as if her elder sister was trying to calculate whether Master Lao could kill her before Shingti killed him.

  Finally, the first princess growled, “Do as he says,” through gritted teeth.

  The guards didn’t look any happier about it than the first princess, but they dismissed their weapons. Hyung-Po caught Koida’s eye, his round face frantic, probably imagining the fury he would have to endure when he told Batsai that he’d allowed the second princess to be diced and scattered to the winds.

  As Lao pulled her across the courtyard, movement near the back of the soldiers drew Koida’s attention.

  Raijin was circling around them, and it looked as if he held some sort of black butterfly sword down at his side. Koida only glimpsed it through the gaps in the guards, but it certainly wasn’t made of Ro. Rather than glowing, the wide blade seemed to absorb the light around it.

  And then the guards opposite Rajin’s position stumbled and cursed.

  “Apologies, apologies,” Lysander slurred drunkenly as he wove in and out of the tense crowd, shouldering into them as often as going around. “But I wouldn’ave to apologize if some people would get outta my way.”