by Auryn Hadley
Not yet. Meet Vanica first? Ilija sent. Then I'll have Rico meet you downstairs.
Sal looked up, caught his eye, and nodded. She moved through the door with the rest of them and found herself surrounded by a pleasant murmur. The nobles drifted gracefully, and pages made their way through the crowd with trays of drinks.
"Sal," Ilija called out. He pushed his way toward her, and the Princess followed behind him. Sal looked at her closely. Her nose was slightly rounded like an iliri's and her eyes were large. Her ears were set like a human's, but her skin was copper rather than bronze and her auburn hair glinted in the candle light. Sal curtsied.
"My lady," she said, her eyes to the floor.
"Kaisae, title or not, official or not, we all know better," Vanica said gently touching Sal's elbow and lifting her. "They haven't realized it yet, but both my brother and Ilija have told me all about you. I'm sorry that we never got the chance to meet until now." Vanica looked between them and paused. Her gaze looked at nothing for a moment before she rubbed at her eyes. "And that it will be months before we see each other again. Zaqala is going to be rough."
Sal understood immediately. "Thank you for the warning, but I can't say I expected anything else. Keep him in line, ok?"
Vanica looked at her fiancee with a tender smile. "It's not hard with him," she said. "Jarl's just like him."
Sal nodded emphatically. "I know. I'm sorry I'm going to miss your wedding."
"I would think that you, of all people, would know that it's little more than pomp and ceremony. It's more for the kids than anything else."
"I agree," Sal said, "but few humans would say the same thing, Princess."
"Please, call me Nica. I can't think of you as anything but Sal."
"Fair enough. I'm sorry I can't stay long." Sal flicked her hands to the doors at the back of the room.
"I know," she said glancing up at Ilija. "I heard. Thank you for staying long enough for me to meet you, though. Sal?" Vanica asked, then paused, glancing down. "Do you trust us?"
"Yes, more than anyone else. Ilija and Dom are two of the only humans I truly call friends."
Nica nodded, "Then trust us. Ok? I'm not sure why, but I know it's important."
Blaec stepped to Sal's side. "That's good enough for us, Highness."
Nica chewed at her lip. "It's going to be rough, but you will have to trust us. I'm sorry," she looked between them, "but that's all I know."
Ilija just stared at her for a long time, then sighed. "You never told me Nica."
"Would you have believed me?"
Ilija gestured to Sal. "I believed them, didn't I?"
Reaching up, the Princess kissed Ilija. "True. And it's so nice to finally be able to do that."
Sal chuckled. "I know what you mean. Ilija?" she asked the big man, and he looked down at her. Sal grabbed him and hugged him close, kissing his cheek. "Be a good dad. Be a good Marquis. Stay a good man, ok?"
"Promise."
"I want to talk to your son, and then we will need to quietly disappear."
Ilija nodded at her. "Go. I'll make a toast or something. I sent Dag to make sure Ricown gets back to his room and to handle anything else you need. Good luck, Sal. Thank you for everything."
Sal glanced at the Blades. A few of them nodded, and they began to spread across the room while she made her way toward the pages. The Blades slipped through the doors alone and in pairs, their departure spaced out enough so that few would notice it. Standing alone against the wall, Jarl held a tray of drinks, staring blankly off into space.
"Jarl?" Sal asked.
"Mead, Kaisae?"
"No, thank you. I came to find you."
"Me?" he asked.
Sal nodded. "What do you think about this?"
The boy clenched his jaw. "Did you know?"
"Eventually, but only later."
"Did you make him admit to it?" he asked, staring into her eyes. The challenge was intentional.
It made her want to smile, but the boy deserved more respect than that. "No." She lifted her hand, summoning another page over. "Take his tray, I need to speak with Jarl."
"Yes, Kaisae," the boy said wide eyed.
When he'd left, she invited Jarl to follow her to a quiet nook and took a seat, gesturing for him to do the same. "You know we get in each other's heads, right?" Jarl nodded, anger simmering in every line of his body. "Well, it slipped out in there, and that's how I found out."
"So he's embarrassed of me, then." he growled.
This time, Sal didn't stop her urge to laugh. "Oh, anything but. You know why he never said anything? It's because you got more without him. He still took care of you, and he watched you grow, and he sent you gifts. He's so damned proud of you and your sister. I felt it, Jarl," she said, touching her head. "Up here, he slipped and nearly clobbered me with how much he loves you. That was a slip. Did you know that if he'd been anything but a Colonel, being your father could have gotten him hung?"
The teen looked up at her, his nearly adult eyes confused. "No."
"Yeah. That's why your mom decided not to tell you. When you were little, like Nava, you may have said something without meaning to, and your dad would have died. He still did everything he could. He even snuck into the nursery when you were born just to kiss you."
"Is that why you gave me the knife?"
"Uh, no. I gave you that knife for the reason I said. What Ilija does has no bearing between us, ok? I respect you for being you. I respect him for being him. Now, I'm going to do something, and it's going to feel weird. Will you let me?"
"Do what?" he asked.
"I'm going to give you a memory. It will feel like a bright flame before your eyes, until you look at it, and then it fades, but the memory of it stays."
"Ok."
Sal carefully picked out just the memory of Ilija's love for his son and his overwhelming desire to claim him as his own, and wrapped it tightly in her mind. She reached out her finger and touched Jarl's forehead, struggling to fight through his human mind to lay the memory inside. Carefully, she released it and felt the boy snatch it as she withdrew.
His eyes flickered, watching nothing pass before him, and then he blinked. First came a sniff. After that, Jarl rubbed his forearm across his face before he looked up at her again. "That's real?"
Sal nodded. "That's what Ilija hit me with. That's how he feels even when he's trying to keep it to himself. You ok with that?"
Finally, the boy smiled. "Yeah. It's kinda weird to have a dad all of a sudden, but yeah, I think that makes it ok."
"Talk to him. He'll tell you what you want to know." Sal stood. "But I have to go."
Jarl looked up at her with knowing eyes. "You mean go, go. Don't you?"
"Yeah. I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything."
"Why?"
"Because I have something I have to do. I love this place too much, and it's hard enough to leave as it is, but we have to do this."
Jarl cocked his head at her. "Then let me help?"
"I'm sorry, but no. You just became really important. I'd love to have your help, but I can't take you away from Anglia."
He grumbled under his breath. "I'm just a page, Kaisae. How important can I be."
Sal flicked her ears forward and knelt before him. "You're very important, Prince Jarl, heir to the throne of Anglia. I need you to make sure my people stay safe."
"Really?" he asked.
Sal rested a hand on his knee. "Really. And I'm serious. I really am counting on you to take care of the iliri. That's the only reason I won't take you with me. You're more important here."
He looked down at their white skin against his dark green pants. The colors nearly matched the country's new flag. "I promise, Kaisae. I swear it, ok?"
"Ok. And take care of the big lug for me? Well, both of them, your uncle and your father." Jarl nodded. Sal stood and snapped a Conglomerate salute. Then she turned, walking quietly from the hall without daring to look back. Ilija saw her head for th
e door and raised his glass.
"I'd like to make a toast," he called out, pulling Vanica to his side. "To friends and family. May we all stay safe and healthy and love every day as much as we did when we were young. May our children inherit happiness, and our legacies live well beyond us. May we learn that being Anglian is about more than where we were born, or what kind of parents we have. Here's to the country the Kaisae made right."
No one noticed that there wasn't a black uniform in the room.
Epilogue
The rain had finally stopped, but all of their gear was soaked. The campsite was made in a cluster of large flat rocks jutting from the foothills. Sheltered from the wind, the grauori made a fire and the Blades hoped it would be enough to get dry. As twilight colored the sky, the heat leached into the stones and the bones of the iliri lounging across them. Sal lay with her head on Blaec's shoulder and Jase's head on her stomach. Blaec traced lines along her arm. Jase held her hand against his heart. Together they listened to the sounds of Hwa hunting in the distance.
Arctic's soft footfalls made Sal crack open her eyes. He lowered himself beside them. "You three keep getting more and more comfortable."
"It works," Blaec said.
Arctic chuckled. "Yeah. A year ago, I wasn't sure it would. You're the most unlikely trio I could've imagined. A leader, an outcast, and a homicidal maniac. No offense, Cyno."
"None taken, Raewar."
"Yeah, that's what I wanted to talk to you three about. We're getting worse."
Sal shrugged. "That's not the word I'd use."
Arctic sat by her ankles. "Well, it's the only one I have. Any of you know why?"
I do, Roo said from beside the fire. And yes, my ears can hear you from over here.
"Ok," Arctic said. "Why?"
It's the smell of Sal. Dominant females give off a scent that causes men to submit and bond to them. It's just how it is.
"And you don't do this?" Sal asked.
No, I am rafrezzi. Only some females do it. It is why you like some and do not like others when you first meet them. The scent is not a smell, it's a thought.
"Pheromones," Jase said. "Yeh, we got studied a while back. Something 'bout iliri sweat being an aphrodisiac."
"Ya gotta stay away from the books, Cyno," Blaec teased. "What kind of respectable assassin reads as much as you?"
Sal snuggled closer to her men. "Not me. I never seem to find the time."
"If you stayed out of their beds a bit more, ya might," Arctic told her.
Sal just shrugged, tracing the line of Blaec's chest with her hand. "I'm good with it."
"Hey, Sal?" Zep called to her from the pack mules, interrupting.
"Yeah?"
Arctic looked up, and Zep tossed something at him. "Give that to Sal," he yelled. "I'm betting it's for her."
He handed Sal a resin tube labeled with the new insignia of Anglia. Cracking the seal, she pulled the papers from inside, glancing over them. She patted, Jase's shoulder, and when he shifted, she sat up.
"Maast," she whispered.
"What is it?" Jase asked.
She held up her hand and continued reading. Zep walked over, opened his mouth to speak, but Arctic stopped him. When Sal finally looked up at them, her pale eyes wide, Zep didn't give her the chance to say anything.
"There's this, too." He held out a steel knife.
Her ears twitched for a second before she reached behind her, pulling her blade from its sheath. The two weapons were nearly a perfect match. Behind her, Blaec sat up.
"What the fuck?"
Audgan held his hands out in a silent request to see the blades. "Where'd you get the first one, Sal?"
"Chancellor in Escea. Why?"
"Look," he said, turning the hilts to Sal. Stamped clearly in each was the same symbol: five rings, each surrounding the other, and an odd grouping of indentations. In a semi-circle around it was a line of V-shaped markings nearly touching. "They're exactly the same."
"I always thought that was the maker's mark," she said. "Could the Archduke have gotten his from the same place?"
"I suppose," Blaec said. "Not that many people work steel anymore, but I don't know what would be able to stamp it like that. It looks carved, but they're identical. Even the blotches."
"Oh, it gets better," she said, holding up the letter. Then she began to read.
"Dear Salryc Luxx, Kaisae of the iliri, citizen of Anglia, and honored leader of the Anglian military. I kept my word to you, but I forgot to mention that we'd already set plans in motion before you came to speak to me. Dom and I -" Sal looked up. "It's written by Ilija," she said before continuing. "Dom and I believe we've found the solution to your problem. We both know that you iliri are too proud to know when you're beat, so think of this more as an alliance." The men around her chuckled.
"Anglia has received word from Viraenova. The leaders of that elusive country applaud our efforts to combine our three kingdoms – human, iliri, and grauori – into one. According to Rragri, they were hesitant to believe we had given control of our military to a Kaisae. Not because of the usual reasons, either. Seems there aren't any purebred females to qualify. Rragri had to talk to their leader personally, to insist that you smelled like the real thing. I hope that makes sense to you because it doesn't to me. Anyway, evidently it's a big deal. The Viraenovan leader said you must be the last."
"Damn," Geo breathed. "I knew there weren't many, but the last pure female?"
"Terric killed the rest," Blaec told him. "Rather systematically."
Sal tapped the page, pulling their attention back. "As a sign of their support, Viraenova will help us relocate iliri and educate the humans across the continent. Because that country never signed any of the treaties of war, they're exempt from those restrictions on their actions. The grauori are also an independent people. They simply share a territory with the humans of Anglia, and as such, are not held to the laws of humans."
"He has a point," Zep said.
Sal nodded and continued. "We have shared our experiences with them, and told them of your plans to eradicate any threat to our iliri citizens. Rragri has promised to send one thousand troops – she calls them maargra – to stand beside you, and Viraenova will attend the meeting of the Alliance with at least a thousand. They admitted to more if they deem that the situation affects their people. Dominik and the Anglian army will be heading out in two weeks. We should arrive no more than a month after you. I hope for your sake that the trial is over, but if it is not, I'll do my best to keep my promise to you."
"What's that about," Blaec asked.
Sal sighed. "He knows about the assassinations. If they court-martial me, it'll all come out, and if Dom's there..." Sal let the sentence hang.
"Yeah," Arctic agreed. "That could cause problems. Go on, Sal."
"Ok," she picked up the letter again. "Dom finally got his legislation passed to make women equal to men. He's tickled with himself, and I seem to have a few thousand female soldiers in my army. I'm hoping that Nica agrees to marry me tonight," Sal chuckled. "So he wrote this before the ceremony."
"Well, we know how that part ends," Zep chuckled.
"Either way," Sal kept reading, "Jarl will become heir to Anglia. Dom said that he's going to make the grauori Orassae and you equal rulers in Anglia, but I explained to him that he must be careful about giving you anything in public for now. He said he could work around that."
"So that's what the whole reserving Kaisae thing was about," Shift said from behind them.
Sal nodded. "It was Vanja who figured it out, Sal," she continued. "He realized that if we claim you and your people, it gives us justification to stand beside you. The Black Blades will return to Anglia. We're not going to give you up that easy. Included with this letter is a copy of the deed to your new home. When the young lady arrives in the summer, I'll have her put in charge of the keep and given the resources necessary to make Arhhawen renown across the world for your horses. Dominik has already declared that the Te
rran iliri will pay for their relocation with work in preparing the structure for your needs, including a triple suite!"
Jase was reading over her shoulder and laughed. "He put an exclamation point on tha'."
Blaec chuckled. "At least we know it won't get too crowded."
"Shit," Arctic said. "The way you three have been lately, I won't be shocked to find you all in the same bed."
Sal giggled when the men shook their heads in unison.
"Give it a month," Zep teased.
"Let her finish," Audgan insisted, moving closer to the rock.
Sal cleared her throat and kept going. "Sal, this is only a copy. The deed to your new home is on file in Dorton. We know that proof of this could cause complications for you, and Dom didn't trust you not to burn it." She smiled as she handed the copy to Arctic. "I'm sending the Shields ahead of the army and will be using the grauori to guard the rulers – we need a good word for that – so keep an eye out for them. They'll be in the CFC base in plain clothes but authorized to do whatever is necessary to delay or disrupt anything that would cause harm to a citizen of Anglia.
"I also included a gift for you in your packs. I hope you find it before you reach a town but somehow, with your noses, I think it won't hide for long. The Archduke of Terric had all of his weapons removed when he was detained with us. Imagine Dominik's surprise when he carried a blade that was nearly a perfect match to yours. I know about Jarl's dagger, Sal. I know what it means too, and I told Dom. We agreed that if you're willing to give our boy a pass, it's worth at least a kilo of steel. Besides, you need a new offhand weapon, and every good soldier knows that it's easier to work with a matched set. Give it away, keep it, or sell it. The steel is yours, Kaisae. It's nothing in comparison to what you gave to us.
"The Black Blades stood behind Anglia when Anglia needed it. Now, it's our turn to pay it back. Watch your backs and stay a pack. Bite the Ahnor for me, since I hear he likes it like that, and make sure LT knows how much I appreciate his advice. Kiss the pups and enjoy Roo's cooking. We'll see you in Myrosica, and we're going to do this the right way. Stay strong, Sal. Conglomerate ranks mean nothing. You're iliri, and you'll always be the Kaisae."