by Joe Jackson
“Boy, wouldn’t they be disappointed?” Kari laughed.
“I am not certain they would be, even if they found you are rir. Kari, they are not simply reacting to your beauty. They desire you, not your coat.”
Kari glanced at her, curious at the tone of Seanada’s voice. “And you feel the same?”
The assassin looked down for a moment, then away. “I think I know now what it is to be in love with someone,” she said, then sighed. “For so long I have tried to push such thoughts from my mind, afraid of what would come to pass. But you have said many things to me these last few weeks, and the more you tell me, the less I feel you are simply trying to make me feel better about myself. I have lusted after men before, but what I feel toward you…it is different. I now see the qualities I would desire in a mate. You have given me much to consider when the dust has settled from our efforts here.”
“Don’t hesitate,” Kari said. “When you find that person, let them know, even if it’s not possible or they don’t feel the same.”
Seanada looked back at Kari and smiled again. “And you do the same.”
The demonhunter chuckled. She had half-expected Seanada to speak her feelings there and then. Despite the suggestive nature of what Seanada had said to her the night before and just now, Kari thought perhaps she was just speaking generally. She’d been nervous that Seanada was going to seduce her the night before, and they’d end up in a confusing situation, much like with Annabelle so long ago. But whatever signals the half-syrinthian was giving off, Kari didn’t think she was reading them correctly. She wondered just who Seanada could be thinking about.
I hope it’s not the Wraith, she thought. He mentioned having a wife…
The mallasti bodies didn’t have the speed or stamina of an elestram or erestram, but Kari and Seanada were able to travel throughout the day and into the night. They reached the border of Tess’Vorg before they settled down to camp for the night, having taken a straight eastern route rather than heading directly to Ewuaswi. Thankfully, they encountered no trouble on the Sorelizar side of the border, and Kari suspected it would be easy travel the rest of the way.
They settled in for the night, and Kari was able to get comfortable with all the blankets the mallasti women had packed for her. Feeling safe within Tess’Vorg, she dozed off with the vigilant Seanada watching over her. Kari was confident nothing would bother them, but then there had been a kidnapping in Ewuaswi not so long ago, so perhaps Seanada’s paranoia was well-founded.
The demonhunter woke in the middle of the night to the sounds of struggle. She wasn’t able to sleep in the heavy armor, so she was clothed only in the garments she wore under it. Kari shook off the grogginess, scrambled to her feet, and pulled the waushims from her belt. Seanada was firmly in the grip of a harmauth that held her several feet off the ground by the neck.
Kari pointed one of her weapons at the creature. “Put her down, now,” she demanded in beshathan.
“You would make demands of me?” it answered with a loud snort. “You have crossed the border without leave, and will be taken before the local magistrate. Strike me, and you may not even make it that far.”
Ah, border patrol, Kari thought. “It’s all right, we have permission to be here,” she said. She went to dig through her belt pouch when she remembered: she had given King Emanitar’s signet ring to the elestram messenger.
“It is most certainly not all right,” the harmauth returned. “Belt your weapons and throw them over to me, and then pick up your things and follow, or I will crush you and deliver your corpses to the magistrate instead.”
Seanada held her hands up, and the harmauth set her down. It picked up her elestram longswords and fixed the belt diagonally over its shoulder. It was awkward, but then it did the same with Kari’s belt and waushims. The harmauth waited while Kari got her armor back on and then shouldered her pack. It gestured the women forward first, and then its great hooves began to tread the ground behind them.
“Vulkinastra…no wonder you snuck across the border,” it snorted, but then it tilted its great, horned head. “Wait, are you the one that has caused all the ruckus in Sorelizar?”
“I am,” Kari answered. “We are expected to meet with His Majesty in Ewuaswi, and were on our way to do just that.”
“His Majesty is in Ewuaswi?” the harmauth asked no one in particular, coming to a stop. He regarded Kari and Seanada when they turned to look at him. In the blink of an eye, he charged forward and threw them each over a shoulder, and set out at as brisk a run as Kari had ever seen from one of the ram-folk. “You had best hope you are speaking the truth, for if His Majesty is not in Ewuaswi, the magistrate will show you little mercy – as will I.”
“He will be,” Kari said, trying to sound surer than she felt. “And if you deliver us to him, you should be well-rewarded.”
“We shall see,” he said, his long, heavy strides churning into the night with the two women on his great, wide back.
*****
Kari was exhausted by the time they reached Ewuaswi, having only gotten a few hours’ sleep before the harmauth abducted them. Riding on his shoulder wasn’t comfortable, but it beat being forced to march to the town with too little sleep. By the time they reached the town, Kari felt like she had a harmauth-shoulder-sized dent in her guts, and her legs were fuzzy and asleep from insufficient circulation. Still, that was the least of her concerns once they reached the town.
Kings Morduri and Emanitar were indeed there, and they came out to meet the harmauth in the early hours of dawn. The withering glares Kari received from both were nothing short of nerve-wracking, and they gestured her into the inn without a word. They looked Seanada up and down as well, and Emanitar yanked the front of her armor down enough to see the tattooed fur of her breasts. He grabbed her by the snout roughly, then, and dragged her into the inn behind Kari, with Morduri bringing up the rear.
The women were led up to what had to be the grandest room in the establishment, and Emanitar took a moment to speak a few arcane words and make gestures around the room. Kari didn’t think either the gestures or words were really necessary, but rather a way to let her and Seanada know that the room was being warded against prying eyes, ears, or arcane trickery. Once that was done, he tossed Seanada onto the bed gruffly and gestured for Kari to take a chair and not move from it.
Emanitar glared at Kari with no shortage of anger in those golden eyes. He glanced at Morduri briefly, then Seanada, then settled a scowl back on Kari. “Would you care to explain just what it is you have been doing?” he asked. “You were tasked with slaying Amnastru, not starting a civil or inter-realm war. What were you thinking?”
Kari started to speak, but stopped. She looked down at herself, then stood up and pushed the chair back where it came from. She straightened out before the two demon kings. When she answered, she did so in beshathan, surprising both of them. “What was I thinking? I’ll tell you what I was thinking: I’m not one of your subjects. Nor am I one of his,” Kari answered, gesturing toward Morduri.
“Well, this is an interesting way of asking for our help,” Morduri said, sitting on the corner of the bed.
Kari shook her head. “Asking for your help…? You two don’t get it, do you? Yes, you asked me to go kill Amnastru. Instead, I’ve given you the means to strike an even greater blow against King Sekassus. You have the opportunity to take over half of his realm, and not only will his people not fight you, they’ll embrace you, and fight for you!”
“When was that ever a consideration?” Emanitar asked.
Kari cocked her head. “Do you enjoy being a coward?” she returned, and the king’s eyes filled with fury. “Did the Overking take your stones when you surrendered to him? Maybe that’s why you never managed to sire a child with Koursturaux?”
“What did you just say to me?” he asked, his ears now angled sharply back, his words coming out in a strained whisper.
“I called you a coward. Go ahead, Your Majesty. Kill me. It’ll at l
east be a nice change of pace from what you’ve spent the last ten thousand years doing. If the taste of the Overking’s feet is so pleasant to you, kill me, put an end to what I’ve been doing, and go back to sulking in your castle and watching football, as if your team being the best means anything at all to your enemies. Let the people of Tess’Vorg and Sorelizar spend the next ten thousand years hoping some outsider will come save them, since none of you seem to have the gumption.”
Emanitar stared at her, more intrigued – or was it ashamed? – than angry now, but both Morduri’s and Seanada’s jaws hung open. “Say it,” the Spotted Lion finally uttered, and Kari cocked her head, confused. “Say the words to me. I want to hear the words from your mouth.”
Kari shook her head, but then it occurred to her. “Epaxa chi’pri!”
“Epaxa chi’pri,” he whispered in return, tears escaping his eyes as he closed them. “Epaxa chi’pri, Morduri. How…how did this happen? Who turned you into a vulkinastra?”
“A member of the Ashen Fangs,” Kari answered. “The Wraith thought it would let me more easily rally people to help me find and kill Amnastru. But…when I saw what Amnastru and his brothers were doing to the people there, I couldn’t just turn away. I killed Prince Fesarri and one other, and sent Prince Vassiras back to his father with the message that I would not stop killing his princes until he set the beshathan people free.”
“Uncle, what have we done?” Morduri asked, wide-eyed, as he rose to his feet.
“How widespread is this?” Emanitar asked Kari, ignoring Morduri’s question. “When you promised these people freedom, Kari, did you–”
“I made sure not to offer freedom from the Overking,” she interrupted, and she could see the relief on both kings’ faces. “I told them our allegiance is first to the Overking, but that they could overthrow Sekassus and hope to be ruled by you, someone more benevolent. I offered them hope and prosperity, not true freedom. I was very careful – at least I think I was – not to provoke action by the Overking. If there is a war, it should just be between you and Sekassus.”
The Spotted Lion began pacing around the room. “What of these whispers I have heard that there was some attack on Sekassus’ very palace? Was that the Ashen Fangs as well?”
Kari nodded. “They’re in this as deep as you and me. I won’t speak for the Wraith; his reasons are his own, but I ended up caught between the two – or three – of you, and did what I thought was best for everyone.”
Emanitar stopped and met Kari’s gaze again. The fury was gone, replaced with what had to be pride, and she could see his mind working to put all the pieces in place. “This is incredible. An outsider, an offworlder – a rir, no less – has taken such steps to protect my mother’s people. I cannot understand it, but I am in awe. And the fact that you wear the coat of a vulkinastra? What a brilliant ploy by the Ashen Fangs. I suspected they would help you in some way, but this is a touch of genius I would have never seen coming.”
“So who is this, then?” Morduri asked, turning toward Seanada.
The half-syrinthian changed her shape back to normal, which left her looking a bit funny with the mallasti-sized armor. Her wings were pinned to her back uncomfortably, but any need to explain her identity was wiped away. No doubt Morduri and Emanitar knew who the Silent Fang was, and they didn’t ask her any questions yet. Satisfied with having proven her identity, Seanada returned to her mallasti form and wriggled her armor back into place.
Morduri turned his attention back to Kari. “Do you still plan to assassinate Amnastru?”
“Of course; that was my debt to you. It’s just proven to be even less straightforward than I had expected,” Kari said with a semi-apologetic gesture.
“Who taught you to speak our language?” Emanitar asked.
“The Wraith and Seanada.”
“You have quite a grasp of it already, and a substantial vocabulary, considering you could scarcely say hello or ask the simplest questions when I first met you. Do you have any way of contacting the Wraith? I should quite like to speak to him of his plans going forward.”
“I can try to contact him through others I know in this area, Your Majesty,” Seanada offered. Kari suddenly realized she had yet to address either king with their honorific, except to do so sarcastically.
“Would you see to that?” Emanitar asked, and Seanada agreed. He gestured for her to take her leave as she pleased, and after receiving a nod from Kari, the assassin left the room. King Emanitar folded his hands behind his back and looked Kari up and down, a touch of humor reaching his mouth. “You look terrible. Go get some sleep; we will continue this conversation when you seem more yourself. With any luck, perhaps the Wraith will join us, and we will see just how much the Ashen Fangs’ desires align with our own.”
“Very well…Your Majesty,” Kari said deliberately with a bow.
“Come, you can use my chambers while we make other preparations,” Morduri said, leading Kari from his uncle’s room.
Morduri had a similar room at the other end of the building, and he allowed Kari in and then entered behind her. He shut the door, and Kari glanced at him briefly as she made her way to a good spot to shed her heavy armor. He was smirking at her, and shook his head when their eyes met. Kari half-expected him to be upset with her, angry even, and to berate her for putting his uncle in such a precarious position. It seemed at first glance, though, that he was happy with what she had done to some extent, and maybe even proud.
“How big a mess have I made?” she asked him.
Morduri’s wandering eyes came back up to hers once her armored coat was completely off. “Nothing unsalvageable. I don’t think my uncle planned to invade or conquer Sorelizar, in whole or in part, any time soon – if ever. But you have forced him to decide on it, at least. You speak of the beshathans of Sorelizar as if they truly are your own people, and I think this has swayed his heart more than he might care to admit. You brought tears to his eyes, Kari; this is something I have never seen in over a thousand years. I’m not sure you appreciate just what you’ve accomplished. I’m having a hard time believing it myself.”
“Not my people,” Kari said with a shrug as she took off her greaves. “Just people. They don’t have to be my people to be worth defending.”
“I quite like you this way,” he said.
Kari chuckled. “More attractive covered in fur? And it being white just makes it that much more special, no?”
Morduri shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I do find this form more appealing than your true one, though that is simply a matter of being attracted to one’s own kind. No, I meant more that you truly care now. When you first came to me, your agreement to my plan was because you felt indebted to Uldriana’s parents, and wanted to repay them somehow for the death of their daughter. And you wanted to hurt Sekassus. Now, though…what you are doing is for the benefit of the people, not out of some spite or vengeance, or indebtedness to me.”
“You care, when you have no easily discernible reason to, aside from character. It has been some time since I heard the expression epaxa chi’pri, and yet it is so fitting when I look at the facts of this situation. I brought you here to murder someone; I won’t even bother trying to put it in more polite terms. But instead, you’ve brought a little bit of light into peoples’ lives, despite the fact that I brought you here for a darker purpose. Emanitar recognized it, and I think he saw a bit of his mother’s influence in all of this. It’s…humbling. You are humbling.”
“Did you not take me seriously when I said…what I did about the Overking?” Kari asked, suddenly aware that they had left the safety of Emanitar’s wards.
“I did, but I thought it was delusions of grandeur more than anything. I think, over these long years since my father died, I forgot what hope looks like. Yet here I sit on King Emanitar’s side of the border, and I can feel the hope emanating from Sorelizar with every new report and detail we receive. You can’t do all of this on your own, but if you can give the people
this kind of hope, I’m not sure what you think is delusional at all. It may just be a level of conviction I have never seen.”
“No, I can’t do it all on my own,” Kari agreed. “That’s why I want King Emanitar to help. The hope a king who cares can spread is far more than I can do on my own.”
“And the hope two kings can spread would be even greater,” he added. He nodded to Kari’s surprised look. “We are too far from my realm for me to bring military help here in a timely fashion, but I will go where Emanitar goes, and hopefully show the people they are not just being conquered by a different king, but welcomed to rejoin their related clans in both our realms – within the limitations of the Overking’s law, of course.”
“Of course,” Kari said, turning down the blankets on the bed. She yawned. “I wish your room had a tub, though I’d probably just fall asleep in it. I haven’t had a proper bath since the night this enchantment was put on me.”
Morduri chuckled through his nose. “We will take care of those things after you have had proper rest. Relax, get some sleep. If the Wraith is here when you awaken, we will have so very much to talk about.”
Kari nodded and slipped into bed, and her head had hardly hit the pillow before she was nearly asleep. She stayed just conscious enough to recognize that Morduri leaned across the bed and gave her a kiss on the side of the snout. Smiling in her semi-conscious state, she relaxed and drifted to sleep. It was the dreamless sleep of exhaustion, exactly what she needed.
When she woke, she was alone in the room. There was no sign that Morduri had slipped into bed beside her, though that didn’t surprise her. If he wanted to get amorous, he struck her as the type who would be direct about it. As she recalled him washing himself in front of her in Emanitar’s bath chamber, she laughed aloud and got out of bed. There were still some traces of sunlight around the window’s shutters, so she figured she hadn’t slept too late. Still, it was going to wreak havoc on her schedule. She’d have to force herself to sleep tonight to get back on it.