by Jacinta Jade
Now in the middle of the wide hallway, Siraay didn’t step closer but rather kicked her right leg up and spun her hip around so that the blade of her raised boot sped to a stop just before the vulnerable point of Chezran’s throat, her heel tickling the lord’s skin just below his chin.
Now it was his back against the wall, and while faint traces of surprise crossed his face, Siraay also saw his appreciation of her skill. Siraay held her leg extended in the air, her months of training, her fitness, and her will keeping that leg steady, and her body balanced, without the faintest hint of shakiness.
‘Fine,’ she growled at the lord. ‘Keep the escort tailing me, if you want. But remember this—I don’t want or need them.’ She glared into Chezran’s eyes a moment longer before she swung her leg back around and returned it gracefully to the ground.
He simply looked back at her, an unreadable expression on his face, before saying, ‘I will consider your request.’
He resumed walking down the hallway, and Siraay felt like shaking her head. Did nothing ruffle that calm exterior of his?
At the end of the hall, Chezran paused once more, turning his head to speak over his shoulder to her. ‘Coming?’
Fighting hard to stop an amused, and frustrated, smirk from crossing her face, Siraay walked after him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
ALTHOUGH HE HAD sat down with her, Chezran had only been able to eat for a short time before Archon Onan, head of security, had come into the room, requesting some of his lord’s time before Chezran went to his next meeting.
Thus, eating alone, Siraay was able to finish her lunch quickly. After taking a last sip of water from her glass, then setting it down a final time, she stood and stepped away from her chair.
Going to the door, she opened it and looked out.
A female guard stood on either side of the entrance to the room.
Siraay sighed a little to herself but then shrugged. Chezran had made his thoughts clear. She spun to face one of the females who she thought might have acted as an escort the previous day. ‘Lead me to the training area where the elite units are.’
The female nodded, and the pair moved off, Siraay trailing the guards through a number of hallways, down several steps, and then out into the open air.
As she walked through one doorway, she wondered if the guards were leading her to her death, given that the opening led out onto a small platform that had a terrifyingly steep drop straight ahead and to the right.
But the guards merely pivoted to their left, and as Siraay turned to follow them, she saw that a long stone stairwell snaked down the outside wall of the palace.
The stairs dropped down several floors towards another part of the palace structure, and Siraay obediently followed her escort, who halted at the base of the stairs.
One of the female guards pointed to the pair of large open doors that faced the stairwell. ‘You will find members of the elite units within. We are not allowed to pass through the doors, not being of their ranks.’
Interesting, Siraay thought. So the elite units were not used for simpler tasks like guard duty. She nodded her thanks to the pair of females and moved towards the doors, lifting her chin. She was keen to see what set these elite units apart from the other soldiers.
As she walked through the double doors, her immediate impression was one of space. Although the structure had a roof, a large portion of the inside area was given over to sandy ground, similar to the arena. But unlike the arena, this space was filled with various equipment, including something that resembled a weird-looking tree but that seemed to be made out of metal. Other objects were more familiar to her—vaulting blocks, hanging ropes, climbing walls.
‘Hello, Lady Siraay.’
She snapped her head swiftly in the direction of the unknown voice.
A small male stood just two body lengths away.
How had she not heard his approach? Siraay got over her surprise fast and then critically evaluated the male. Smaller than she was, and lean, he was dressed in loose pants, soft boots, and a shirt that was tight around the forearms and the waist, while the rest of the material fit loosely. He smiled at her, but she just continued to eye him. This was a member of one of the elite units?
‘Who are you?’ she asked quietly but in a commanding tone, hoping to unsettle the male.
He only smiled more broadly. ‘I am Drosni, lady. The leader of your elite unit. I look forward to chatting with you further afterwards.’
Siraay frowned at him. ‘Afterwards? After wha—’
She broke off midsentence as a slight scrape sounded from above her. Responding to her training and Drosni’s wide smile, which made her feel unsettled, she looked up towards the soft noise.
Then she was diving forwards, her body rolling hastily as a pair of boots thumped into the ground where she had just been standing. As the momentum of Siraay’s roll brought her back to her feet, she spun quickly, outrage and uncertainty warring within her.
How dare anyone attack her, a Lady of Xarcon?
She felt like threatening to report them to Chezran, but then a cold thought washed through her. What if the whole thing had been a trap? Have her walk herself down into the enclosed training area of the elite units under the pretence of meeting them, where they could take her down or contain her with little trouble.
The theory spun through Siraay’s mind as she swiftly assessed the threatening figure who had leapt down from the high rafter. Trap or no, she didn’t like this, and when her anger joined the adrenaline rushing through her system, she moved.
They didn’t expect her to be so fast—that much was obvious, but she did have to admire how speedily they adapted. Instead of backing farther away following her roll, Siraay launched herself towards her attacker just a breath after his feet had touched the ground, the speed and strength behind her leap fuelled by muscles that had already begun to Change.
Thus, she landed on the strange male’s chest and pinned him to the ground with her weight, growling fiercely as she brought her head down low before she butted her nose upwards. Although it might have seemed like a playful move, it was anything but, given the size and weight of her sevonix skull and the strength contained in the muscles of her neck.
The bridge of her flat nose knocked into the male’s much smaller chin with enough force to cause his head to snap backwards and bounce off the ground. Siraay only hesitated long enough to be sure she had at least dazed the soldier before she whipped her head around to check her surroundings once more. Because while she had been attacking the male, she had heard the soft approaching steps of two more pairs of boots.
Aware that those feet had begun moving more rapidly, Siraay leapt forwards off the male’s still body and whirled around, letting loose an angry roar that stunned the onrushing figures, one male, one female, into stillness.
If it hadn’t been for the urgency of the situation, she might have been happy with her new display of sevonix prowess, but it was not the time for self-congratulation.
Indeed, this new pair only paused for an instant before they realised she hadn’t moved from her spot, then they resumed their quick run towards her once more.
The male Changed as he ran across the sand, and suddenly, Siraay found herself facing an onrushing blirrus. Instantly, she lowered herself closer to the ground and began lashing out with her claws extended, warding off the little beast.
Although small, the blirrus was one of Kaslon’s most ferocious animals, it’s surprising speed, strength, and aggression allowing it to drive off, or take rather large chunks out of, much larger predators. Conversely, its own skin was thick enough to deflect the fangs of some animals, and the skin around its middle was loose enough to allow the animal to turn and attack any creature that had a hold of it.
Not an animal that Siraay wanted to expose her vulnerable belly to.
So she kept lashing out at the blirrus, which growl-screamed at her in frustration when it couldn’t get close. She made herself keep circlin
g, forcing the creature to move with her, while keeping one eye on the female who had also charged her.
That soldier hadn’t Changed, but she was obviously trying to find a way around to get at Siraay’s back.
And she had to keep checking to see if the first male had recovered his wits yet.
Siraay knew it was only a matter of moments until she lost—one of the three would distract her while the others took her out. All appeared to be experienced fighters, knew the space they fought in, and had caught her by surprise.
She needed to get distance between herself and them—only then could she deal with them both successfully. Her eyes were darting around, her mind counting each breath, when she remembered where the first male had come from. She glanced up, her mind judging the distance in an instant.
She leapt.
Her body made a huge effort, her muscles coiling in and then unfolding in a fluid motion that belied the force she was exerting upon the sand. As Siraay’s back legs extended to their full reach and her body was driven up into the air, she stretched out with her front legs, her claws all fully extended. Up and up her body sailed, and just when she thought she wasn’t going to make it, her shoulders came even with the beam that she had been positioned under.
Her strong forelegs shot forwards and wrapped around the strut, her sharp claws digging deep into the wood, as her body began to fall back down towards the sand. With a jerk, her full considerable weight was taken up by the groaning wooden support, and her lower legs curled up instinctively, scrabbling to help push her entire body length up onto the beam.
In a quick moment, she was up and running along the rafter, a full three body lengths above the ground. It had only bought her a brief respite, though, for as soon as she had begun running, the two attackers below had set off in pursuit below, the third just beginning to take to his feet again.
Her original plan had been to either climb to safety or to get ahead of her enemies and escape through the main door.
But then Siraay spotted Drosni, still with that wide smile on his face as he calmly watched her and the others.
Abruptly, she turned on the beam and leapt out into the open air … and landed on the next support, two body lengths away. Then she leapt again. And again.
Soon she was ahead of the three assailants and was making a final growling spring … onto Drosni.
Surprisingly, he didn’t move, even though there was an instant in which he could have leapt for safety. Just like before with the other male, her substantial weight bore him to the ground, the momentum from her leap downwards slamming his back into the sand.
She Changed, ramming a hand against his throat and gripping tightly while her knees pinned his legs to the ground. ‘Call them off,’ she growled to him. ‘Call them off before I rip your throat out.’
Drosni’s smile grew wider. ‘Of course, my lady.’ He whistled sharply.
Disbelievingly, Siraay twisted her head slightly. And frowned.
The blirrus had Changed back into a female, and the two other males were now walking away towards the edge of the training area.
Siraay wheeled back to Drosni, about to start seeking answers, painfully, if she had to, when she heard the sound of clapping from the other side of the area.
Still distrustful of the whole situation, Siraay leapt up onto her feet and spun away from Drosni’s body, backing away slightly so that she could see each figure—the four elite guards, and a fifth form, just emerging from the shadows.
Her eyes narrowed when she saw who it was.
Pyron.
***
‘Well, well, quite the show. Tell me, were you always so slow?’ Pyron’s mouth twisted into a sneer that Siraay could just make out through the shadow that covered his face, although his voice conveyed a polite, mocking concern.
It had all been a test, she realised, from the moment she had walked in. ‘You knew?’ Her voice was low, barely containing the anger growing within her once more.
‘Yes.’ A smug smile replaced the sneer. ‘It is a custom of the elite to test those who are joining them or those they will work with.’
‘It is the only way to really know how someone thinks,’ Drosni added. ‘To know what they might do.’ His voice was chirpy, and Siraay didn’t need to turn around to know that his annoying smile would still be in place.
‘Talking to a person, or simply asking them a couple of questions, can usually get you a similar result,’ she ground out from between her teeth. She wanted badly to wipe that smug look from Pyron’s face. Preferably with both fists.
‘Not at all,’ chirruped Drosni. ‘In fact—’
‘I’m done here.’ Siraay spun on her heel and began striding towards the doors.
‘Same time tomorrow, lady?’
She ignored Drosni’s question and marched out through the doors to begin climbing the long staircase.
The sound of boots on the steps behind her finally registered when Siraay was a short way from the top, and she turned sharply, one foot on a step above the other.
Pyron was following close behind her.
Siraay’s anger surged, and she thought how good it would feel to just shove the masked male off the steps. She did have the high ground, after all. Instead, she just snapped, ‘What do you want?’
‘Great Mother, but you’re in a rage. Better calm down before Lord Chezran thinks you’re unfit to lead.’
She glared down at the amusement evident in those blue eyes. ‘You should have told me what was going to happen.’
‘And I would have, had you been patient and waited for me to collect you from the room Lord Chezran deposited you in. But no, you’re far too important to wait for anyone.’ The amusement had left his face, and he was now scowling up at her. ‘I’ve got better things to do than walk you around the palace.’
Siraay folded her arms, her anger sharpening at his words. ‘Well, apparently His Lordship doesn’t think so. And it’s only a matter of time before he realises just how useless you are and ceases letting you do even these simple tasks,’ she spat out at him. ‘After all, my former self managed to evade you a number of times … maybe you wear that silver mask to hide what a pathetic, cowardly—’
His fist shot out so quickly Siraay didn’t have time to unfold her arms and block him as a strong hand wrapped around her throat and thrust her to the very edge of the steps.
A cold sweat broke out across her body as first one foot, then the other, left the ground as the chief archon dangled her over the deadly drop to the rocks far below.
‘I should just kill you now,’ Pyron ground out from between his clenched teeth in an icy voice. ‘His Lordship is making a mistake with you. And if you’re gone, then he’ll just have to find another to replace you.’ His grip on Siraay’s throat tightened.
Think, she had to think. She couldn’t get any purchase on the ground with her feet, and her hands were busy trying to loosen Pyron’s hold on her throat. By the Mother, he was strong—if she hadn’t been fighting for her life, she might have admired the feat.
Or maybe she was just thinking that because she was beginning to become light-headed …
Siraay’s thoughts were running into each other without forming coherent meaning, but then one stuck, and she had to repeat it forcibly to herself a couple of times before she could make her body respond. Change …Change …Change!
It was enough. She focused her mind down on that knot of power within her, and as soon as she felt herself beginning to Change, she reached her forelegs forwards and dug her claws into Pyron’s shoulders.
The chief archon screamed horribly as Siraay’s claws pierced his flesh, and even more so when she flexed them, before he suddenly let go of her throat and stumbled back from the edge of the steps.
She would have died then. Would have plummeted to a grisly end on the rocks so very far below, if she hadn’t been pulled back from the edge as Pyron retreated, by the sheer virtue of her claws being imbedded in his shoulders.
As h
e stumbled backwards, her claws slipped free and raked down his chest as she sank onto the steps.
But she didn’t wait around to see what he would do next—even though her throat burned, and her shoulders ached, she managed to get all four legs under her and sprint up the remaining steps and into the palace, her bloodied front paws leaving streaks on the dark stone floor and making her slip.
She had enough of a mind to slow down when she entered a main hallway, but she didn’t bother to Change back from her sevonix form as she stalked swiftly down the halls and to the staircase, servants ducking speedily out of her way while soldiers bowed their heads to her to acknowledge her status.
Of course they knew who she was, even in this form. There were only two who could adopt the sevonix form in Xarcon, out of possibly just a handful on Kaslon. Maybe less.
Siraay kept moving swiftly up the stairs and towards her room. Her escort was there again, but her approach was so quiet that they didn’t notice her until she was almost a body length away.
When they did, it was almost funny. One of the females gasped, causing the other to twist quickly to ascertain the threat, surprise on both of their faces as Siraay paused to growl in annoyance at them.
Then the door of her room opened, and Trelar, sticking her head out, spotted her.
The servant swallowed but promptly stepped back to leave the doorway clear so Siraay could enter, simply saying, ‘Evening, my lady.’
Siraay slipped between the guards and into her room. She waited until Trelar had closed the door before Changing back, and another soft gasp made her look at the servant who was staring at Siraay’s bloodied hands.
‘It’s nothing,’ she muttered to the female. ‘It’s not even mine.’ Then, annoyed with herself for trying to reassure her servant, she snapped at Trelar in an irate voice. ‘Run my bath.’
‘Yes, lady.’ Trelar’s paling face closed up once again, and she hurried about her duties while Siraay walked over to gaze into the mirror. Upon seeing her reflection, she thanked the Mother that she hadn’t Changed until she’d gotten to her room.