by K. F. Breene
Shanti touched Simon’s mind. Gave him a nudge.
She felt his awareness. Then his surprise. Finally…his desire for death.
She spread out her mind, found each of her people. Did the same. And with each, felt the same. Even the women—they knew their fate. They were safe now, but not for long. They couldn’t end it themselves; they needed her.
That’s when she felt it. Simon—his horror. His fear. His grossly intimate abuse.
Something snapped.
Bowing her head, not caring if this was the end, she latched on to each and every mind belonging to her people. So different than the beastly brain patterns of their captors. She focused on them, feeling that two others were going through the same treatment as Simon. They were suffering. She felt it.
With one blast of pure, intense power, she fried them. It took more energy, but it was quicker. Less painful. Most fell dead immediately. The three strongest fell into the pain, not allowing themselves to scream, until finally succumbing to it.
Simon went limp on the crate, his face clearing.
Barely able to stand, sobs choking her, knowing she had just killed people she had known all her life, she fled. Stumbled and ran. Nearly blind, no strength, she made herself keep going. Legs catching on brambles. Dogs barking, chasing her. Men shouting. She had to keep going.
Had to keep going.
****
“It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Shanti thrashed at the arms, crying out, struggling away. Her face was pressed against a chest with no give. The arms that held her were like giant bands of cable. She lashed out mentally and splintered on a hard block. Cayan.
“Sssshhhhh. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” His rough voice calmed her. Reassuring.
She drifted back into dreamless sleep. If only keeping going wasn’t so painful.
Chapter 24
The ground cooled slowly as the sizzling sun disappeared entirely from the sky. The electrifying colors of dusk settled into the blues and blacks of night, cloaking the land and hiding its mysteries. Somewhere within the large park Leilius roamed, looking for Shanti, skulking behind trees and blending into bushes, cloaked in black and trying to become the darkness. He was great at hiding, but not so great at moving silently. It was a work in progress.
Five days after the battle, Shanti was recovering yet again, still in the Captain’s city. Cayan had offered her a place as long as she wanted. When she was ready to go, he offered her any help he could provide. And while she was thankful, because she needed to heal again, she wasn’t exactly comfortable. She felt the pull of the East, the urge to continue with her duty and move the war effort along. Not only that, but she had dragged his people into her struggle. He and his commanders were starting to think of the overall picture now, having an idea of what was coming, and already choosing a side. That was good, obviously, but they were such a small nation—Shanti couldn’t help but think she had made a grave mistake by not killing him. He’d be taken, and he’d be used. And right now, there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to stop it.
So here she sat, trying to block out the pressure of her duty, her mistakes and failures, and keeping her mind completely closed so Leilius wouldn’t have a chance to sneak up on her. It was amazing, and more than a little frustrating, how mangled her plans had become in the space of a month.
As night settled, she heard stomping to her right. It was loud enough to be a massive land animal. If that was Leilius, he would get his ass kicked, no two ways about it.
“Tasha, wait.” A male’s voice rang through the clearing. Commanding. Controlling, more like.
“Tasha!”
A pretty young woman stomped into view with tears rolling down her face. She had a look of determination intermixed with fear. Behind her stepped a man the usual height for this land, but he was lean for these people. There was a confidence in his bearing that said he could hold his own, but wasn’t an excellent fighter. Dirty fighter, perhaps. Punched people when they weren’t looking.
He grabbed the young woman’s arm and swung her to face him. She collided with his chest, her arms coming up immediately to push away.
“I just want to talk,” he said gruffly. By the way his body loomed over hers, and the way his hips slightly protruded, that was horseshit.
The fear in the girl’s body said she thought the same thing.
“No. I don’t want to. I’m not ready.” She had tears in her voice. “Please.”
He grabbed her with both hands. “You can’t lead me on and then walk away, Tasha. That’s not how this works. What am I supposed to do…” He shook her a little, pulling her back toward the trees.
Boy-oh-boy did he pick the wrong time to step into Shanti’s life. With her nightmares waking her up screaming three nights out of four, she was not in the mood to witness any more social injustices.
Shanti stood up silently and walked closer slowly, trying to control herself before she jumped into this altercation. Because she would absolutely be jumping in. In this city, based on its rules, no woman should be manhandled. It was like roughing up an Empathic in her village. Or someone not engaged in the fighting arts, man or woman. The strong didn’t pick on the weak.
“No, Tommas. Please…” the girl begged.
“Oh, hello,” Shanti said casually, walking into a spot of moonlight in the small clearing.
Tommas startled but held on, not letting go of his prize. Tasha stayed mute, mouth closed tight. Her eyes said help, but they also revealed guilt. Possibly she had been making out with him in the trees and he tried to go too far. Didn’t make it right, but this woman was too young, or too entrenched in social customs, to know that.
“What do you want, bitch?” Tommas asked with a snarl. “Can’t you see I’m having a private moment with my girlfriend?”
“Ah yes, bitch. I don’t love that word, myself. Passive aggressive. I much prefer cunt if you are looking to make a point. Much more vulgar, don’t you agree? Widens people’s eyes. Regardless, I wanted to know if I can assist in any way? It seems there is need of a mediator.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You seem to be having a dispute. I thought I might be able to solve the situation logically. As an impartial third party, of course.”
“Fuck off, you stupid cunt!”
“Oh, lovely. Two of my favorites in the same sentence. I just love the word fuck. It’s very similar to flak, in my homeland. You can hear the similarities. The meaning is slightly different, however. Flak is more of ‘everything good in the world suddenly going wrong’. Turning to shit, you might say. Fuck seems to be more sexually based, however loosely. But oh the things you can do with it, am I right?”
Tommas just stared. He had no idea what she was talking about, what was going on, and why his vehemence wasn’t scaring her off. She used this distraction to move ever closer, lackadaisically getting into range so that she could get Tasha away and then have some sport with Tommas.
“For example,” Shanti continued. “You can use it as an action: I am going to fuck you sideways and call you Martha. Or as a thing: you are a dumb fuck. Or as—“
“What the fu—what do you want?” Tommas spat.
“It is certainly used more often when angry, yes. I have noticed that.” Shanti was a step away now, her feet light on the ground, in predator mood.
“Fuck off!” Tommas threw out a hand to push Shanti away at the shoulder. Instead of blocking, or swiping it away, or even letting it reach its destination, she instead grabbed it and pulled.
Tommas lost his balance immediately and took a giant step in Shanti’s direction. He let go of Tasha in anticipation of landing on his face. Shanti stepped around him deftly, putting herself between the two.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Tommas growled. He’d just decided to kick her ass.
What a small minded idiot. As Rachie would say, he was in bad need of a bitch slap.
“Tasha, there is about to be v
iolence. You’d best run off now,” Shanti said calmly, her eyes never leaving Tommas. “If you head east, you will probably run into a fifteen-year-old kid called Leilius. Ask him to take you home. Stay away from this Tommas creep. If he comes near you again, you let me know and I will sort him out. Yes? Hurry along.”
And she was running away east. Good girl. Now for the creep.
“What the fuck, Tasha?” Tommas frothed. His disheveled glare found hers. Something was wrong at the basic level with this youth. He wasn’t safe and probably just starting to show the signs.
Luckily, she had a great deterrent for future violence in others. It was called fear.
Tommas’s body was square to her. “What do you want, you nosey slut? To take her place?”
“Slut? I’m unfamiliar with that one. But since you were so kind to use it in context, I think I get the jest. Gist? Jest is a joke, I think. Although, that also works.”
“Screw this. No one will believe you over me.” Tommas struck out, the back of his hand swinging at her from across his body. He was impossibly slow.
She ducked under.
“Oh, you’re fast, huh? Had a father that beat on you?” Tommas asked, the bravado having slipped a bit.
“Ah, yes, pouring salt in the cut. I must warn you, that is not wise, Tommas. Not with me.”
He reached to grab her, apparently not realizing his body advertised the move a full two seconds before he actually did it. She simply slapped his hand away. She was getting bored.
“You aren’t in the army in this city are you?” she asked even though she already knew the answer. Sanders would throw him over the wall in frustration.
“With those deadbeats and that fairy Captain? Yeah, right.”
“Dead. Beat.” Shanti shook her head, spinning around as he circled her. “Fairy Captain. Your slang is way beyond what I know. You cannot control your anger, and you don’t have much stock in morals. This is not a good combination. I can cure you of that—“
He rushed her with the intent to tackle. With his whole body bent and his arms spread wide—he wasn’t great at judging opponent size—he shuffled toward her and prepared to dive. Since she had plenty of time to think about it, she let him tackle her, making sure she fell slightly to the side. She was curious to see if he was any better on the ground.
He tried to pin her with his body, rage taking over his movements. Since she was to the side, she angled out and gave him a sharp blow to the middle of this back. He cried out, his adrenaline rushing in to fill his body. It would make him faster and slightly stronger. Hopefully.
He angled up with his torso and tried to yank her body back to the ground. She grabbed his wrist and twisted it painfully behind him, then let go when he gave a hoarse yell and his chest hit the dirt. It really seemed like he was trying to lose.
He tried to grab her around the waist, turning on his back to do it. She let him, angling her body to the top of him and straddling his stomach. Then she grabbed his fingers, bending them across the back of his hand, twisting back and down, making the nerves and tendons tweak painfully. It was an extremely easy, and extremely effective, arm lock. He cried out again, his body trying to turn, but since both hands were captured, he just wriggled around.
She bent his arms under her legs, braced herself, then let go. She quickly pulled out her pack of needles from around her belt, and before he could get his arms freed, put one in the nerve at the top of each arm, near the shoulder, to give him a sleeping sensation. It would be painful to move. He was too much of a coward to push through it.
“Well, Tommas. You’ve got yourself in a right pickle this time. See, I do know some slang, huh? Anyway, here’s what I’m going to do. I am going to teach you a lesson.” She licked her hand, then gave him a hard slap across the side of his face. To his whimpers she said, “Yes, it hurts more when the slap is wet.”
She did the other side, leaving an identical welt. He cried out.
“Tommas, you should know that only cowards pick on the weak. And while, by definition, that makes me a coward, you were posing as a big man, so I think I am just, don’t you? I mean, I have talked myself out of killing you, so that is a step in the right direction, don’t you think?”
“Fuck you!”
“Yes, we’ve covered that.” She punched him in the kidney, then the other kidney. She gave him a dead leg and then the kidney again, careful to hit in exactly the same places. The damage would last longer.
When she finished she raised her voice above his sobbing. “Also, only dead men rape women. Or bully them. If I hear you’ve raped anyone, Tommas, I will finish this. Do you understand what I am saying?”
It was then that she heard the footfall to her right, soft and at the tree line. The person either had a weapon, was Leilius, or wasn’t planning to hurt her just yet. She very nearly opened her mind to make sure, but she trusted Cayan to be right behind the person if they were dangerous. It was a huge leap of faith, yes, but judging by their dealings so far, he considered it his duty. And he viewed duty similar to how she did.
Not bothering to get up, or secure Tommas any more than she already had, she looked up in that direction. Sterling stepped slowly out of the shadows, his eyes hard and his face a mask of vehemence.
“Oh. Hello. He a friend of yours?” Shanti asked conversationally. Tommas whimpered.
“We don’t generally punish our citizens with immediate violence.”
“How do you know I am punishing him? Possibly I am trying a new sexual experience.”
“I was drawn by his argument with a woman. Tasha, I believe. You stepped out from your hiding place before I was upon them. I didn’t expect you to defend her honor.”
“What did you expect, that I would help Tommas?” Her voice took on a dangerous edge, directly reflecting her feelings.
“You are a woman who knows how to fight. It was possible your tastes border on perversion.”
“Interesting thought process. What judgment does a woman get if she knows solely how to defend herself? Light disgust and minute snubbing in social settings? And what if she is actually raped because she doesn’t know? Pity from everyone she meets? Lose-lose situation, then, huh? You like your women helpless, is that it?”
“When I was a teenager I met a woman who was passing through. She fought for a living. She indicated it was her culture’s way. She… Her tastes…”
“Mardis. Is that who you are speaking of? Generally a short people with big breasts, black hair, whether died or natural, and a tendency toward domination? Whips and chains and leather? It seems I am compared to that nation a lot in this city.”
Sterling’s eyes got harder. He tried not to grimace, and failed.
Shanti got up with a light kick to Tommas’ ribs. “Then you’re forgiven your judgment. I had a run in with one of them. She offered that I join their clan—that’s what they call a small hunting party. Their prey were men. Younger the better. Lure them in and debase them. Try to strip them of their manhood for sport. Yeah, I went back to her clan. Then I killed all five. Maybe the woman you…met was in that party. Maybe I’ll find her another day and bring her back to you. Who’s to say?”
“I would never hurt a woman, regardless…”
“Sterling, I got newspaper for you. There are a lot of nations in this little world of ours. A whole lot. And most of them have only fighting men; it’s true. But a great many have women in the ranks, too. A great many, Sterling. If a woman takes up arms against you, you will either need to kill her, or train up your own women to do it for you. Because one thing I know: they will destroy all that you hold dear, despite your sentiments regarding my sex.
“And with regard to punishing with violence… well, I wasn’t punishing. I was teaching him a lesson. And if he rapes anyone, woman or man, I will kill him. That is a truth, Sterling. I have put my word on it, and so it will be done.”
Tommas whimpered again.
“You will hang for it,” Sterling said easily.
�
��No, I won’t.”
“Why, because you think you have favor with the Captain and Sanders?”
“Favor with the Captain? I couldn’t think of anything more intolerable. Being controlled is not one of my loves. And Sanders would probably tie the rope for you. No, I won’t be hanged. If it comes to that, I’ll be on my way sooner rather than later. Leaving is inevitable, anyway. ”
Sterling’s eyes squinted. “You helped us. This is not your land. Why should you care?”
“Wow. You must’ve learned conversational direction changes from Cayan, huh? Well, by asking that question you have proved you are an idiot, Sterling, or a bad person.”
Shanti walked to the head of a quivering Tommas. She extracted her needles and tucked them back into her pouch. Tommas curled up in a little ball at her feet.
Shanti looked at Sterling, who was still judging her, “I’ll let you take care of the rest, shall I?” She didn’t bother waiting for his nod before heading back to the hospital wing. She technically wasn’t permitted to leave—Captain’s orders. She had to admire the Captain’s tenacity; he kept trying. Unfortunately, he wasn’t getting any better at being let down.
Chapter 25
“Rachie, what are you doing, boy?” Sanders yelled as he marched toward the two fighting cadets.
Rachie was standing with his hands in the air, surrendering. The boy opposite him was crouched in the attack position, unclear what to do when the enemy surrendered before the fight had begun.
“Sir, he plans on clobbering me, sir, but he is standing off-kilter and it won’t be effective. I’d rather not waste my energy.”