“I saw them.” Jao commented, then glared at the other man. “Do you and your team need to read the book again? Shall I come and rub your noses into the marks and signs? Go.”
Dismissed, the man gave him a low bow and me a dirty look.
“I don’t think they like me,” I pointed out.
He shrugged. “There is an imbalance in power here and I must accept some who are not happy with me. Better I know them, and watch carefully, than have someone who would please me with their mouth and stab me with their hand.”
I choked a little at his inadvertent innuendo and took a swig of my beer.
Jao brightened. “But enough, the bath will ease your aches and pains. I know how it is, after combat. So come, my friends, and we will talk where none can listen.”
When we walked into the bathhouse, I knew what he meant. It was wrapped in layer after layer of spells, warding it tightly against unwanted visitors and listeners from afar. We all three stripped and climbed in the tub, and the heat of the water was blissful. Jao sent another elfglobe spinning off his fingertips to light the dim room. It was fully dark outside, now.
“I hear you have lost that, my friend.” His voice was gentle.
“Magic? News travels fast.” I shrugged.
“It is remarkable, indeed, that you went into battle today with no magical defenses.” He sounded awed.
I was uncomfortable. I knew I could have used magic, today, I simply hadn’t thought to, and then when I had, had held off to see if I needed to. Bella walked into the bathhouse.
“Ah, here you are.” She started to strip out of the kimono, which was sooty and worse for the wear. I gaped a little at her, not having expected her to be comfortable naked with a bunch of men equally unclothed, then remembered that she had gone to school in Japan, and closed my mouth.
Ash averted his eyes, out of respect to me, no doubt, as she climbed in, but Jao, the old dog, ogled happily. He didn’t say anything.
“I tucked Dorothy in, and she is sleeping soundly. Where are we in the story?” She asked, leaning her head against the cedar boards.
“Hadn’t really started yet.”
“What did you do to the dragon, anyway?” she asked curiously. She had been standing off the salamander and too far away to see, I remembered.
“I remembered something I had read, and figured I’d see what a bucket of water down his gullet while he had his fire-chamber warming up would do. I’m pretty sure that was a steam explosion, and while it didn’t kill him, he wasn’t a happy camper.”
Jao chuckled. “Most ingenious, a non-magical dragon slayer.”
“I didn’t slay him,” I protested. Actually, I was hoping I hadn’t. He had been more playful than adversarial, oddly enough. I’d known dogs like that, who growled as they played. Only the dragon didn’t get that people burned. Or maybe he thought it was part of the game.
“And the salamander?” Jao prompted. “Evil spirit...” he hissed.
Bella shrugged, which did lovely things to her partly submerged bosom. “I think Ash and I tag teamed it to death. I threw everything but the kitchen sink at it, and the second the shield dropped, we both shot it.”
Jao eyed her with new respect. “Very strong, to exhaust a salamander. And it must have been under orders to take one of you alive, or it would simply have ignited everything.”
I had to trust him on this, I’d only met one once, and it hadn’t gone especially well. But that was an interesting thought. And it brought me to... “Why did you call me here, Jao?”
“I told you earlier that there is an imbalance of power, yes?”
I nodded. He was bringing Bella, who hadn’t been there, up to speed.
“How much do you know about our Court and the politics?” he asked all of us. Bella just shook her head.
“I know it mirrors, in some ways, the Emperor above, and below him, what once would have been called Daimyo. Then merchants, and the middle class. I’m a little fuzzy there, last time I was here it was to help with a problem from the bottom up.”
Bella looked puzzled.
Jao explained. “I needed a man to infiltrate a tong, one who was unknown to any in this Court. King Trytion loaned me ‘his best man’ and we were quite successful.”
I didn’t mention that every one of the tong men had been beheaded, and rumor had it their families were simply disappeared, after I’d gone home. It had been a long, ugly mission. Tongs were tolerated, as long as they respected the emperor.
“There has arisen a rival to the Emperor. She...” I hoped my twitch didn’t show, as I realized that this was the likely link to Raven’s powerful shaman. Jao went on smoothly, so either he hadn’t noticed, or had and would ask later. “Claims to have been here longer than the royal family, so she should have precedence. Daniken is a very strong kami, and she is somehow persuading many to cross to her side.”
“So what do you want me to do about this?” I asked, pondering the connections here. Raven was being pulled into a coup attempt by Daniken, which was why he had refused to allow her to bring him here. His power, as unlike the magic of Underhill as oil to water, would no doubt give her the leverage she needed to unseat the ruling family. I was puzzled over why Jao had called me, though, I had no real concern over who was in power, in Eastern Court. Nor did I owe him any favors, much less anything this big. And why had they attacked me?
“I wanted to give into your keeping evidence that would convince Corwin to support the emperor. Daniken is ambitious, and once we are rolled up, she will advance on your Court.” He leaned forward, his eyes earnest. “I know you do not approve of my methods, Unpyou, but please... what she offers is only evil.”
“Unpyou?” Ash murmured.
“Clouded leopard.” I told him. Jao had dubbed me that during our previous association, having found my name a tongue twister, and as he had said enviously, and repeated now.
“Yeah, he’s a sneaky bastard.”
“Your English is much better now,” I told him dryly. I leaned back and closed my eyes, then opened out the Sight. I was thinking, but also looking, hard, at his aura. It glowed clear and bright. The young kitsune boy had a lifeglow tattered and soiled with a powerful influence that had forced him to become a mind-controlled slave, pushed beyond the bounds of endurance, until when he died, the magic had consumed even his body with the force of its hunger.
“We will help.” I opened my eyes and winced with the transition. “And I have a confession, and something to show you.”
I stood up and headed for the steps. Jao, Ash, and Bella, reading my change in mood, followed silently as I got out, and dried.
“Clothes, my dear?” Bella asked. I nodded, and she summoned outfits for all three of us, much more comfortable than the kimonos, although I regretted the destruction of those works of art. I strapped on my shoulder holster over the soft chamois shirt she’d gotten for me. I wasn’t about to go unarmed in what I now considered enemy territory, not that I would have before.
“Why didn’t you shoot the salamander?” I asked her now, suddenly remembering something I had missed in the heat of battle.
“You weren’t firing, so I decided I would wait and see what you did. I knew there was a chance it wouldn’t be possible to hurt it through mundane methods.”
I nodded. “Smart girl.”
“In battle, you’re the leader,” she told me. “I’m going to jump when you say jump, and only ask how high on the way up.”
Jao laughed. “If only all wives were so good!”
I laughed too. “Oh, off the field of battle she’ll ask why before the jump!”
We got back into the room where we had eaten. The table had been cleared. I looked at Bella. “Have you eaten?”
She nodded. “Chong took care of us. Then Dorothy just crashed. Where is he?”
“Guarding the girl personally.” Jao assured her.
“Ward the room, please.” I asked Bella. She nodded, and closed her eyes, cupping her hands. The globe of mag
ic that swelled and grew until it pressed into the walls and hung there, shimmering, was if anything stronger than the built-in wards around the bathhouse, which I guessed Jao maintained for privacy permanently. His eyes were wide again at her display of control and power.
“Didn’t anyone tell you?” I grinned at him. “I married the strongest sorceress in the world.”
“Really, Lom.” Bella opened her eyes and let her hands fall. “Fairy princess is bad enough, I draw the line at sorceress.”
Jao shook his head. “There were rumors, but...” He sat down. “I think sitting is best if you mean to keep surprising me,” he quipped.
I held out a hand, the laughter falling away from me, and summoned the little packet. Now I had both Ash and Jao gaping at me open mouthed.
“I did lose magic, you know. I wanted to die.” I told them, my voice quiet. “But time and someone refusing to give up on me kept me going. And then I went for healing to her uncle and found my magic again.”
Jao nodded. “I am glad, old friend. It was agonizing to imagine.” He shook his head. “I would not want to live that way, either.”
I laid the packet on the table and unwrapped it with ceremony. “While I was with her uncle, we had a visitor. He died, before we could render aid, and this is all that remains.”
I pushed it toward Jao, the tattered paper with the sad little mementoes. His eyes were fixed on the pearl, and he sucked his breath in hard as he reached out and picked it up.
“Why...” he started.
“He was a messenger, to Bella’s uncle. Not to me, she would have had no idea I was there, much less that he has ties to Faerie now.”
Jao clutched the pearl in his fist and looked hard at Bella. “What are you?” He demanded fiercely.
She looked rather taken aback. “Half Fairy, half human. I think. There might be... um. Well, my grandfather, I just learned, is a dragon...”
Jao closed his eyes and seemed to sink into meditation. Ash looked back and forth between Bella and me.
“Will someone please explain all that?” Ash asked, sinking onto a mat.
“The pearl is the soul of a kitsune. Daniken, the kami who is trying to take over Eastern Court, sent him to summon Raven, Bella’s uncle, and the, ah...” I tried to figure out how to explain what Raven was without using the word ‘god’ which Raven would object vociferously to, and he was right, he wasn’t divine in any way shape, nor form. “Great spirit of the Pacific Rim, basically. He’s not Fae, and his power is completely different than ours is.”
“Huh.” Ash looked at Bella, who shrugged.
“I had no idea. He was just Uncle Raven, until Lom showed up. I’ve learned a lot since I met Lom.”
Ash grinned. “He has that effect, yes.”
Jao opened his eyes. He had that look on his face, of a man having a burden on his shoulders. “This is...”
I nodded. “His soul is trapped, and not happy.” I told Ash and Bella. “If you hold that thing...” Jao delicately placed it back on the paper as I spoke. “You can feel what he’s feeling.”
“You have given me a lever.” He looked at me. I nodded. Daniken was the patron saint of the kitsune, and the pearl would turn them against her. She wouldn’t have enough power to manipulate all of them.
“Just don’t use it yet, until you hear me out.” I settled on my mat, wishing for something to lean against.
“What is it?”
“We had a dual purpose in coming here.” I gestured at Bella. “Her uncle refused to respond to Daniken’s summons, and asked us to find out what she wants. I’d like to meet with her and talk to her before you use that.”
Jao snorted. “She no doubt seeks an ally in her fight for power.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think you understand, Jao. Bella?”
She got that far-off look that meant she was accessing the library. “Raven, the trickster, the creator of men, predates your imperial family by... uncounted ages. If he were to return, to gather his peoples again, he could rule a vast region. I don’t think Daniken thought this through, or she is desperate, indeed.”
Jao lost his composure. “He’s what?”
“Raven was here first. He’s strong, I’ve...” I remembered the spirit journey he’d pulled me out and onto. I’d glimpsed his power, then.
“Jao, grasp the flow of your magic.” He looked puzzled and irritated, but I saw him look inward a little. “Now, if that is a river, Raven is an ocean.”
He nodded. “I begin to see.” He looked at Bella, eyes narrowed. “Your power begins to make more sense. You are a potent mixture, young woman.”
I yawned. “We need rest. And I will make contact with Daniken tomorrow, somehow, and talk. Just talk, Jao, somewhere neutral. She told Raven something is threatening her people, and she called it a blood tide from the West, so I’m pretty sure she wasn’t talking about your Court.”
He frowned. “I have no idea. Yes, having a go-between is a good idea. I would like to know what her motivation is, other than simply pure ambition. But do not trust her, Unpyou, use all your stealth in ascertaining the truth, I beg you.”
I nodded. At the moment I felt like someone had pulled the plug on me, but I knew that Jao was giving me a concession because he trusted me. And had respect for Bella, now that he had glimpsed what she was and how strong she was. Ash was practically asleep at the table. Bella was drooping, too.
“Are we ready?” she asked, and when I nodded, she gathered in the wards with a gesture, reabsorbing the spell for another time. Jao led us to rooms, and I don’t even remember unrolling mats before waking in the late morning, the light streaming in the window on us. The screen had been shoved back quietly by a young woman, who looked startled as I sat up abruptly, and she disappeared with a squeak. Bella sat up.
“Who was that?”
“A maid, I think. How are you feeling?”
“Stiff and sore. Adrenaline, I think, I wasn’t injured at all. How are you?”
“Getting ideas.” I rolled over and partly pinned her down. “Can you be quiet, I wonder?”
She giggled. “Someone could just walk in...”
“Let ‘em watch,” I kissed her and felt her melt. “It might be a while before we can do this again. I always say take it when you can get it.”
She laughed and met me halfway.
Daniken
I wasn’t entirely sure how I was supposed to get in contact with Daniken. Raven had given me a sort of address, but he wasn’t sure that was where she was. He thought it might be, as that was where she had lived centuries before. If she was attempting to claim precedence, she might have returned. I sent a message spell there, and went to find food.
The Kyuden was fully staffed again today. Jao was nowhere to be seen, but Dorothy, Ash, and Bella were already downstairs, and seated at the table. Bella looked up as I came down the shallow steps, and smiled. I felt my lips quirk. It was hard to maintain my tough-guy facade around her.
“What’s the plan for the day?” Bella asked as I sat. Food appeared magically as soon as I had.
Ash eyed it, the same mix of Western and Asian as the day before. “I could get used to this.”
I snorted. “I dare you to ask Ellie.”
“Um... on second thought.”
Bella laughed. Dorothy frowned, “I like Ellie.”
“Ellie likes it a certain way.” I explained, then got around to answering Bella. “We’re going to wait. I’m still trying to figure something out, though. If Daniken was behind yesterday’s attack, why did she want us alive?”
She shook her head. “I haven’t an idea. We will have to ask her when we meet her.”
Ash looked worried. “Are you two sure that’s a good idea? If she attacked here...”
I nodded. “But she can’t have known the other connection. She’ll listen, and we aren’t exactly easy to damage.”
“True. But...” he glanced at Dorothy.
“I’m planning on leaving you two here.” I told th
em. Bella nodded.
“I will not take Dorothy into more danger, and you can watch over her, Ash.”
He nodded grimly, and Dorothy, sensible girl, didn’t argue. The day before had no doubt been an eye-opening experience. Which reminded me.
“I promised lessons. After...” I looked at the food, then my watch. “Whatever meal this is, I have lost track of time, we will go out and damage the lawn a little more, if you’re up to it.”
She nodded, her eyes bright.
“Me too.” Bella put in. “We never finished my training, remember?”
I appreciated what she was doing, giving Dorothy a little boost. Bella, with her raw power, and the library, really could use learning basic defense and offense. There would come a time when being able to finesse and not just blow through the obstacle would be a good thing.
“It can’t hurt,” I told her.
So all four of us, with a curious Chong, trooped out onto the patch of dragon-chewed lawn, where we couldn’t hurt the beautiful gardens too much. I looked at the young man.
“How much training do you have?”
“Some. I am curious about your methods, though.”
I nodded. “You’ll have to show us your stuff in return.”
He smiled. He was young enough to want to show off a bit in front of the women.
I began much as I had with Bella, showing Dorothy how to cast a fireball. She got it quickly, and with no tendency for flair, for which I praised her. Then we showed her how to cache a weapon with a ‘come here’ tagged spell on it. Ash could throw up a hand and pull back his bow, arrow nocked, seemingly from thin air. She fumbled, and he pointed out that he had spent hours practicing for a fast draw. Both Chong and Dorothy started trying it out.
I was distracted by the arrival of a big black bird, circling overhead. Somehow I was certain this was Daniken’s response to my message.
“Ash, take over? Bella and I need to go.”
He glanced upward as well. “No problem. Be safe.”
Bella followed me as we walked toward the end of the garden. The bird stooped and landed on a nearby branch as we entered the woods that bounded the garden. I looked up at it, and it cocked its head and regarded us closely.
Trickster Noir (Pixie for Hire Book 2) Page 23