Phaze Fantasies, Vol. VI

by Jude Mason, Yvette Hines, Jessie Verino

  "I'm sorry to ask, but were you lovers?"

  "I loved, and love Leannan. I desired him in all the ways that you do. We played together a little bit. But he couldn't love me. No matter how many enemies I killed, or how many duels I won, I would never possess a body that could inspire your Master's lust. My sword couldn't make me Son of Ama-Tsu-Mara, not to him."

  She seemed saddened by this recollection, and rolled away from Leaf, curling on her side. “Let me sleep an hour. Then come back and kiss me awake."

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  Chapter Four

  It took another week before Rin recovered from her injuries. During that time, Leaf sat with her and told her stories. He even remembered some of the songs he'd sang as a child. He brought her meals to the bed and carried her each evening to the warm bath that they would share. He slept lightly, curved against her body. There was something very satisfying about caring for her in this way, because he chose to do it and not because he'd been ordered.

  One morning, early, she sat up and stretched in the lemon light. “I feel stiff from lying so long in this bed,” she said to Leaf, who'd just woken beside her. “I need some exercise, and then I need your body. Do you fence, Leaf?"

  He smiled, proud that he'd learned the art of swordplay. “Yes. Master's been teaching me."

  "Well, would you like to play a game that I used to play with Leannan?” She got out of bed and swung her left arm as if it held a blade, testing how it had healed. “We'll duel, and whichever of us wins gets to be Master."

  The idea of being Master, of telling Rinko or anyone else what to do, was as overwhelming to Leaf as being told he now ruled the world. His nature tended toward sweetness and submission. Under no circumstances could he beat or burn another person, even if that person desired it. But since he held no hope of defeating a person who'd slain eighty-seven samurai and a dragon, he consented to play along.

  They went to the room at the end of the corridor that Leannan, an avid swordsman himself, had set aside for fencing. One of the few empty of the fey's possessions, it had a row of windows that provided ideal light. Nothing cluttered the space. The epees and foils hung on the wall, alongside a pastel painting of a man in white robes and a red sash hovering among cotton candy clouds. Leannan had clipped a picture of a bird's head, beak open, over the man's face. The cawing avian was disproportionately large, as was the glossy, erect cock Master had glued lower down.

  Leaf selected the epee he always used, because it was light and had a springy blade. He thrust forward, bending his right and then his left knee to warm up his legs. Master had given him tight leggings, made of a stretchy, copper-colored material suited to the sport. As Rin tested the heft and flexibility of the other weapons, Leaf practiced some of the parries and ripostes his Master had shown him. Most of the moves Leannan had demonstrated were simple and effective. Leaf, a novice, needed to stop an enemy quickly more than he needed to impress anyone with fancy techniques. While he practiced, Leaf pictured Leannan in his black suit, his hair pulled back but a few strands always loose, framing his face. Last time they'd dueled his hair and eyes had turned the faintest blue, like ice reflecting a winter dawn. Leaf could hear his Master's cool, even voice, encouraging well-executed attacks and correcting faulty ones. Mood changing like weather, Leaf suddenly missed his Master so profoundly that he nearly lost the spirit to fence. He dropped his weapon to his side and leaned against the wall.

  At the center of the room, Rin stood with her chosen blade held erect and said, “Leaf come. Let's begin.” Her boots made her taller than the red-head in his green velvet ballet slippers. So ingrained was the instinct to follow a command that Leaf skulked over to face the Highwayman. They raised their blades, saluting each other.

  Long moments passed and Rin stood as still as one of the vandalized statues. Mostly out of boredom, Leaf attacked first, lunging forward. Quick though he was, Rin parried his blade with the tiniest flick of her wrist, pushing it off to the side and then driving the tip of her own foil into the empty space where it had been. The metal point stopped a fraction of an inch away from Leaf's ribs. Both returned to their original positions, facing off.

  Again Rin waited, compelling Leaf to attack out of impatience. He feigned to the left, toward the Highwayman's lower belly, and changed direction with a swift circular motion to stab toward her opposite side. Rin stepped to the side, bringing her blade up alongside her body, blocking Leaf's sword. The blades scraped together, Leaf's sliding down Rin's until they disengaged. He attacked again and again, and each time found himself dodged or blocked, even though Rin clearly didn't display the full potential of her abilities. Often her ripostes teased Leaf's ticklish waist or rattled his jewelry. Sweat coated him; his cheeks burned. She looked serene, possibly even uninterested.

  They dueled closely, foils at chest-level, movements tiny. Taking turns, they attacked and parried, attacked and parried, neither landing a blow, though Leaf suspected his opponent would defeat him easily if she chose to do so. But they were just exercising, moving back and forth across the room, smiling at each other as the ring of metal meeting metal banished the silence. Still, Leaf tried to poke the Highwayman with his blade, to challenge himself, to become a better swordsman. But she left no opening in her defenses, and almost seemed to anticipate his attacks.

  Their blades crossed vertically, inches from their noses. Both pushed to try to throw the other backward. Leaf braced himself with his back leg, so he wasn't thrown off-balance when Rin let up. Her arm recoiled with lightening speed, and she attacked just as fast. Rather than try to stop her sword with his own, Leaf stepped to the side. Rin's sword met empty space. Lunging deeply, elbow only inches from his knee, Leaf stretched his arm out. The tip of his foil bumped against the armor that guarded Rin's right knee. If they'd been dueling in earnest, and she'd been unprotected, he'd have crippled her.

  "Well done,” said a voice. Both fencers spun on their heels toward the doorway. Leannan stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the frame. His long hair, a chaste, perfect white just now, hung down his back in a loose braid. Leaf dropped his sword; it clanged against the stone floor. He flung himself at Leannan's feet and hugged his supple calves, crushing his forehead against his Master's thigh. Leannan could punish him later, Leaf didn't care. He clung to the svelte legs, almost weeping with joy.

  Petting the red hair with an uncharacteristic relish, Leannan said, “I missed you, too."

  Stunned, Leaf looked up to meet his Master's eyes, which shone softest lilac. He couldn't believe it when Leannan smiled at him. Then Master turned to Rin.

  "Let's play a new game, shall we, old friend? If I win the duel, you must tell me what you're up to. I heard some interesting gossip when I returned to town."

  "Fine, I'll play,” she said, cutting at the air with her foil.

  "I have my saber with me,” Leannan said, touching a sapphire on the hilt. “Go and get your sword."

  She sprinted from the room and returned a moment later with the divinely-forged katana. The duelists squared off, and Leaf retreated to a corner, hugging his knees. Master's blade hummed softly when he unsheathed it. Rin stood, her feet wide apart, in a position Leaf had never seen. Both of her small hands clasped the dragon-horn hilt, and she held her blade so that it angled up from her right hip. It felt like an eternity passed and neither combatant moved or twitched. Then, lightening-quick, Rin shifted her weapon to her left hand and brought it over her head, the blade parallel with the floor.

  She attacked, leaping into the air and then bringing her blade down in a diagonal stroke as her body arced toward her opponent. Leannan deflected the blow, but barely, and staggered back three steps under the force of the assault. Recovering instantly, he thrust toward Rin's hip. The katana stopped the slender blade of the saber. After that Leaf couldn't follow their movements. Their blades collided at such speeds that he saw only flashes of silver. By the time he heard the musical chink of the meeting swords, Rin and his Master had parri
ed each other's attacks three more times. Their hands blurred with the speed of their wrists bending and twisting. The room filled with the din of blade meeting blade.

  Rin's positions were unfamiliar to Leaf, but proved effective. The play slowed enough for Leaf to watch her grasp her weapon in both hands and hold it over her head with the blade pointing behind her. When she chopped down, Leannan nearly couldn't muster the speed to raise his sword in time. Holding his breath, worried, Leaf saw his Master pirouette like a dancer and avoid the blow. A few pieces of hair fluttered to the floor like snowflakes. He lunged to the left, driving the tip of his saber toward Rin's waist.

  The Highwayman's blade sliced down beside her, pushing the fey's sword away. Then the rapid clang and flashing silver started again, and Leaf gave up the attempt to follow the action. A few minutes later the winning blow fell. Leannan spun gracefully, positioning himself behind Rin and thrusting toward the small of her back. The outlaw would have blocked again by swiping her sword around behind her, but her wounded left shoulder prevented it. What must have been a sharp pain slowed Rin's hand just enough for Leannan to poke the point of his saber against the curve of her body. He drew no blood, but Rin dropped her head, and then sunk to her knees. When Leannan stood in front of her, she offered her sword up on her palms.

  "Enough theatrics,” said the sidhe assassin, sheathing his twig-slender weapon. “I believe we have something to discuss."

  "Leaf will hear it, too,” Rin insisted, standing, but still displaying a dejected stoop of the shoulders.

  "By Nuada's silver hand, why?” Leannan asked.

  "I wish him to. Honor or not, I won't speak unless he's present."

  * * * *

  "General Waltman is my target,” Rin said, sitting with her back to the fire, a whiskey balanced on her knee. “I'm commissioned to kill him. Easy, right?"

  "I would think,” Leannan agreed. “For some one like you."

  "They have a wizard. Or they've at least employed one to set up a magical barrier around their headquarters. I can't get anywhere near. Now that you know, Silver, would you like to help me? I'm happy to share my fee, which is astronomical. Brew the poison you made in the North that can kill just by touching skin."

  "It depends on your employer,” Leannan said. “I refuse to assist anyone from the city-state of Theotopia."

  "It's not those religious nuts, don't worry. I've been hired by the Baron himself."

  Leannan knit his brows, making a single line mar his silken white forehead. “Why would the Baron care what happens here? His state is well protected and his magic is powerful."

  "He's a creature of pleasure,” Rin said, sipping her drink and wincing at the burn. “This state borders the Barony. If that lunatic Waltman decides to expand his territory, he'll strike there first. The Barony can defend herself, certainly, but her Lord prefers more gentlemanly pursuits. He doesn't want to be bothered with a war. War holds up the delivery of wine and fine cloth. Besides, what do I care what the Baron's reasons are? I'm being well paid."

  "How well?"

  Leaf slouched. Not for the first time, he wished Rin hadn't come into their lives. He'd developed a fondness for the thief, but she stirred up trouble and disrupted the comfortable flow of his days. Another dangerous assassination attempt was the last thing he wanted his Master to undertake. Why would Leannan consider it? They were well off, incredibly so.

  "Think of the Barony park,” Rin said. “Lakes, waterfalls, ancient trees. A whole wooded patch as big as this cursed state. There's a limestone manor house at the center. There's also a library with more magical manuscripts than anywhere else in the world."

  "The limestone mansion is your pay?” Leannan asked, his voice thin with greed.

  "A much more suitable place to hold your pseudo fairy court than this. I can't understand why you came here in the first place, Leannan."

  "I came for that boy,” Master said, looking at Leaf with all the yearning he'd expressed toward the house in the park. Eyes wide and cheeks burning, Leaf realized that Master walking into that filthy prison hadn't been fortuitous chance. How much else had the beautiful assassin set in motion?

  "And consider your dearest wish,” Rin continued. “If you'll ever find a way to walk in both worlds again, it might very well be with the knowledge in the Baron's archives. He's promised me access to all of his books."

  "I pine for home until it tears my heart, some days,” Leannan said, voice dripping with a despair Leaf had never heard before.

  "Yet when the Good King called his children home, you stayed behind. And now the veil has become a stone wall."

  "Or else the sickness of this world would infect ours,” Leannan said. “Still, this world offers some pleasant distractions. Come here."

  Leaf hurried over to lay his face on Leannan's thigh. But instead of patting his head, Master reached down and grasped his ribs, guiding him into his lap. His arms clutched Leaf, squeezed hard. Leaf nestled his head under Master's chin and hooked his knees over Leannan's leg. He'd never seen the pale man need comfort.

  "So,” Rin interrupted, shattering the perfect moment. “We'll work together. Just like old times. Silver and Gold again."

  "What exactly must be done?” Leannan asked.

  "The Baron wants Waltman dead, and he's very specific about who can succeed him. It must be a man named Blackwell, a lieutenant colonel whom the Baron believes will rule reasonably. It should be simple to install him; the Baron's spies within the Alexandrian army report that he's liked by the men. The only man ahead of him was a Colonel Price, but I killed him that night at The Bunker.

  "The only problem is getting inside. I was able to scale the wall, to stand on top. But when I jumped, I didn't land on the inside, but back on the outside. No charm I used could break the loop. The same thing happened when I tried to sneak in the gate. I ended up on the outside."

  "Interesting magic,” Leannan said. “But we'll figure something out. For a palace beside a lake, for ancient trees and fields of green, for a chance look on Faerie, we'll solve this puzzle."

  Though he knew it wasn't allowed, Leaf couldn't listen to any more talk about killing a man, abandoning their home, and passing into some foreign realm. He broke from his Master's embrace and ran down the hallway, past the rooms where Leannan stored his treasures. Tears sprinkling behind him as he ran, Leaf crossed the temple floor and flung open a door that led to a tiny stairwell off to the side. Sobbing and choking, becoming more upset as he thought about the predicament, he ran up four flights of stairs. By the time he reached the top, he had to double over and hold his knees to catch his breath. For the first time, Leaf wished himself in control of his fate. Until now, he'd been content to leave his destiny in his Master's hands.

  Leaf moved around the massive brass bell at the top of the tower, and stood with his elbows on the concrete railing. Below, the lawn spread out, cut by stone steps and dotted with clumps of ferns. Beyond the fence he could see the hovels of Alexandria, rust and grey to contrast with the vibrant green of the home Leaf loved.

  A touch on his bare arm made Leaf turn. His Master looked at him, not with the anger Leaf had expected, but with confusion, maybe even worry. “Come here, Leaf,” he said. “Sit."

  Leaf obeyed, dropping his narrow ass to his heels. Dead leaves crunched beneath him. Leannan propped his back against the wall as he sat, resting an elbow on one of his slender knees. “Look at me,” he told Leaf. “Why are you weeping?"

  "I'm afraid. I lost everything once before—"

  "Hush,” Leannan said, as gently as Leaf had ever heard him speak. “Did I not tell you that if you love and obey me, I'll protect you? You're not doubting your Master, are you? Will I need to teach you to respect my oaths?"

  "No Master!” Leaf said quickly. Then, considering the question, he looked up at Leannan's eyes, the same sad grey as the sky and reflecting rain clouds, smiled and said “Maybe."

  "I want for you to see my home,” Leannan said. “You can't imagine the b
eauty. I want to take you there, where you'll never grow old or die. Everything I do is for love of you, Leaf."

  Most of the time he felt secure in his Master's affection, but he'd never heard Leannan say the words. Tears fell, darkening the stone between Leaf's knees. Leannan's lithe arms draped his bare back like a shawl, drawing him close. Rising up on his knees, Leaf faced his Master.

  "It's all right, Leaf. Hold me back. Kiss me."

  Leaf threw his head back and let his lips fall open. Master's tongue, cool and soft and sweet as a clover blossom, wiped across his top teeth. Tears flowed into Leaf's ears. Leannan's fingers knitted with Leaf's, and with his other hand he pulled their groins together. His open mouth angled to meet with the red-head's, their lips forming a tight seal. Inside their tongues twisted around each other, pushing together, withdrawing, and meeting again like dancers. The kiss was so perfect that it banished the apprehension Leaf felt about the assassination, the sorrow at leaving their home.

  He reached around and untied the black satin ribbon at the end of Leannan's braid. Combing with his fingers, he separated the plaits. Master's silver hair fell, curtaining both of their faces. Leaf leaned back, supported by Leannan's hand cupping his cheek. Their chests pressed together and their cocks collided, circling, rubbing against one another.

  Arms falling at his sides limply, head lolling back, Leaf lost himself in rapt joy. Nothing existed but the white face in front of him, the eyes opalescent orbs of mint, lavender, silver and blue that merged and separated. Leaf's jaw went slack. He'd have been content to die in that moment.

  And now he drops the poison in, Leaf thought, the realization breaking his trance. No blood, no swords. Just the love spell and then the elixir.

  Knocking far below them dragged Leaf further into the solid world. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand and went to look over the railing. A man in a red shirt stood at the front door, a soldier. Leaf and Leannan looked at each other and turned toward the stairs.