by Jess Schira
The man pulled her dark gaze from her face for a moment to look down, in the direction of her feet and his mouth twisted into a pleased smile. Instead of pulling back and moving to the side, he rushed forward, the tip of his knife aimed at Saika’s stomach.
Startled by his sudden advance and desperate to maintain enough space between them to effectively use her weapon, Saika scrambled backwards and the ground disappeared from beneath her feet.
********
The fall didn’t bother Saika.
In fact, for a split second while she tumbled, Saika experienced a surprising moment of peace where her mind cleared and she felt free of obligations and fear.
The landing was an altogether different matter.
Than her body struck the hard, cold ground with enough force to knock the wind from her and the sense of peace was replaced with panic while she struggled to breathe.
Hands slipped beneath her shoulders and helped her sit up and after a few seconds, she managed to draw a small amount of air into her lungs. She relaxed enough to focus on her brother’s angry voice.
“Of all the dimwitted things you could do,” he ranted. “How could you let yourself fall?”
“It wasn’t intentional,” Saika protested. Her voice was thin and weak, not at all the way it usually sounded.
Nobu ignored her. “After all the training, all the hours of practicing, and then there’s your breeding, you do something completely ridiculous. I thought Grandfather taught you better than that.” Nobu didn’t add how ashamed their proud grandfather would be by her failure. He didn’t have to, Saika already knew.
This wasn’t the time to think about her shortcomings as a warrior.
The man who had bested her knelt on the barn floor and stared down at her. Her stomach twisted in knots as she recognized the cause of the strange orange light flickering across his face.
“You were given a rare opportunity,” he said, his voice breathless from the exertion of fighting her. “We provided you with an opportunity to change the world, to start a brand new era, but you defied us.”
Saika ignored the way her body ached and stood up. Nobu’s fingers wrapped around her elbow, steadying her. “You didn’t give me anything. You merely took. You stole my family and my future.”
The man shrugged. “Regardless of what how you feel, you could have been something great, the kind of person history would remember forever. You rejected the amazing gift you were given. Now you can die with the rest of your family.
Without another word, he closed the trap door, sealing Saika into a black hole which was when Saika noticed the air she inhaled had a smoky scent.
********
Sebastian shifted his weight from one foot to another and wondered how long Saika expected him to wait for her to return. Was there some sort of guideline for this particular type of situation? Some advisory pamphlet or list which provided step by step instructions about what one should do when two partners involved in a dangerous intrigue were forced to separate. How long was one supposed to wait until they raced to the rescue like a medieval knight astride a noble white charger?
Perhaps, if he lived through the night, he should make arrangements to have such a document published. Surely someone would find it useful.
The thought amused him for a moment before worry about Saika’s current predicament returned.
When she left, he’d assumed Saika would stay on the near side of the barn, where he’d be able to keep a sharp eye on her and would know as soon as she got into trouble.
Not that he’d be much help if anything went wrong. He knew how to use a sword and gun, in his youth he’d received enough training in both to consider himself capable of defending himself should the need arise, but compared to Saika, he wasn’t better than a novice, and he suspected he’d only gotten a glimpse of her abilities.
Still, no matter how extensive her training, there was a limit to how much she could defend herself, especially when confronted with multiple assailants, which the encounter in the Tower of London proved.
Sebastian rubbed his hands together and stared hard at the barn as if the force of his stare would cause the wooden sides to part and allow him to see what stunt Saika was up to. Worry turned his stomach into a hard knot. He shouldn’t have let her go on her own. He never should have let her go alone. He should have knocked her out, or tied her to a tree, or done … something.
A flash of light on one side of the barn caught his eye and he redirected his attention towards it. The wavering orange glow caused a shiver of dread to chase down his spine.
Sebastian broke into a run just as four men burst out of one side of the barn. They called back and forth to one another, yelling instructions Sebastian couldn’t make out before they scattered into different directions. One ran towards Sebastian, passing just a few feet to his left.
Inside the barn, animals screamed as the orange glow grew stronger.
Sebastian reached the wide barn door and froze.
The interior of the barn wasn’t engulfed in flames, not yet, but it wouldn’t take long. Flames raced up and down the barn walls, fed on the dust coated cobwebs, before igniting the bits of hay scattered all over the ground. Smoke, thick and pungent filled there air where the large chunks of rotten wood burned.
Sebastian squinted against the glare and searched the barn, looking for any sign Saika was inside. He didn’t see her, but he spot the crouched figure of a man towards the middle of the barn arrange a heavy, flat object on the barn floor.
If anyone knew if Saika was in the barn, or where her family was located, Sebastian sensed it was that man.
He covered his nose and mouth with his forearm and ventured into the inferno.
Through the smoke and the flames, Sebastian saw the figure make their final adjustments to the floor and stand. They started to move towards Sebastian, but paused when they saw him. After a moment of hesitation, they spun on their heel and ran for the east wall where they slipped through a gap in the boards to disappear into the night.
Sebastian ignored the instinct to give chase and continued to move towards the place where the man had been crouched.
He dropped to his knees beside the square trap door and grasped the handle, wincing when the hot iron scorched his skin. He ignored the pain and lifted the heavy slab of wood.
“Saika,” he yelled.
“Sebastian?”
His shoulders slumped. He’d found her and she was still alive. “Can you get out of there?”
“I won’t leave without my family.” Saika didn’t have to spell it out, Sebastian understood what she wasn’t saying. Her family was her first concern and until they were out of the hole and safe, she would remain beneath the burning building.
Later, Sebastian might be willing to admit that the rescue operation went smoothly, but while he hung half way into a hole dug under a barn helping to pull one weak, dirty member of the Donovan family after another from its depths while the building burned around him the only thing he was aware of was how much the heat intensified with each heart pounding second after another and the terror coursing through his body.
Nothing about the process was easy. With a great deal of grunting and cursing, he and Saika managed to get Nobu out of the bit. With that task completed, Saika gave her family members a boost while he grasped their hands and hauled upwards. Once out, Nobu ushered them from the burning barn.
Sebastian lost count of how many people he pulled from the pit. It seemed the Donovan family had an endless stream of children. Finally, the only person who remained in the pit was Saika.
Sebastian leaned over the edge and looked down at her. He could just make out her eyes in her pale face. They seemed wider than normal. “I don’t suppose your grandfather’s training included tips for how to get out of deep holes.”
Saika shook her head. “I’m afraid he didn’t.”
Nobu knelt beside Sebastian and peered down into the hole at his sister. “You need to hurry.”
; No sooner did he words leave his mouth when a portion of the roof caved in. It fell between them and the front door and showered them with glowing sparks and embers.
********
If by some miracle she got out of this situation, she was never going to curl up next to a warm fire again. The thought chased round Saika’s mind as she stared up through the hole in the barn floor at the raging inferno beyond. She saw Sebastian and Nobu and got the impression they were arguing, probably about the best way to get her out of the pit, but the roaring sound of the fire consuming the barn made it impossible to hear their words.
Saika took a deep breath and looked around the pit. It wasn’t the first place she would have chosen to die, but at least a death here, after what she’d accomplished, would be an honorable one. Something she might not get if Sebastian and Nobu somehow came up with a way to rescue her.
Of course, it wouldn’t be honorable if she allowed them to perish with her.
She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Go away!”
Both Sebastian’s and Nobu’s heads snapped around they stared down at her with twin expressions of shock.
“No.”
Nobu shook his head and reached for something near the edge of the pit. He dropped one end of the thing down into the pit. It was a long harness rein from the tangled pile of tack Saika had seen but ignored when she crawled into the barn.
Saika grasped the trailing leather and started to climb.
It wasn’t easy, her hands kept sliding on the smooth leather and Saika seemed to lose almost as much ground as she gained, but after what felt like hours, she felt Sebastian’s hands slide beneath her arms, and with a groan, he hauled her up and onto the barn floor.
Breathing heavily, she collapsed in a heap beside the two men.
Nobu’s hand touched her back. He stroked her long dark braid. “Saika,” he said, his voice urgent. “We have to get out of here.”
Saika lifted her head and realized he was right. They weren’t out of danger. The entire barn was on fire and it wouldn’t be long before the rest of the roof collapsed, this time directly on top of them.
She looked around for an escape, but the smoke was too thick. It stung her eyes. “How?”
Sebastian didn’t say a word. He grabbed her elbow and helped her to her feet. His grip remained tight as he led her away from the pit, weaving around the patches of burning floor. Nobu followed close behind them.
Saika was grateful for Sebastian. If she’d led them out she would have turned towards the main barn door or perhaps the spot in the wall she’d crawled through, but the flames made getting to both places impossible. Sebastian recognized this and it seemed he’d already chosen another route. He led Saika and Nobu to the west wall which wasn’t as engulfed in flames and through a space between to broken boards.
Together the three hurried from the barn towards the spot far from the woods where the rest of Donovan family waited.
From Moonlight to Mayhem
Chapter Fourteen
The team of heavy draft horses Nobu rescued from the burning barn were a true gift from God. Saika’s family was in no condition to walk to the same inn she and Sebastian had left several hours earlier. They’d spent so much time in the pit, existing on a minimal amount of food and water they barely looked capable of standing upright.
She walked over to the spot where Nobu and Sebastian sorted through the pile of harnesses Sebastian had gone back into the burning barn to fetch. Her brother looked so thin, so weak, she expected him to collapse beneath the weight of the leather.
Sebastian glanced up and his jaw hardened. “What are you doing?”
Saika blinked at his tone. “I thought I’d help.”
He pointed to the distance tree, beneath which, her family huddled while they watched the barn burn itself out. “You should be with them. After all they’re the reason you disregarded what common sense you have and nearly died tonight.”
Saika swallowed and rubbed her hands together. Despite his harsh, judgmental tone, she knew Sebastian was right. She should be with her family. Her every action this past week had been dictated by a need to get them back safe and sound. Yet, now that she’d found them, she wasn’t sure what to do with herself. What she’d been through over the past few days was nothing compared to what they’d experienced and it was all her fault. She wouldn’t be at all surprised if they blamed her. It was what she deserved.
“I’ll be more useful here.”
Sebastian looked at her and cocked a brow, not convinced.
Saika’s stepmother caught her eye. He older woman smiled and waved. The expression on her face suggested she thought the ordeal was over, that everyone was safe and life would return to normal.
She could not be more wrong. Saika’s problems were just beginning, not ending.
Nobu shifted closer. “You should go to her,” he murmured and nodded towards their stepmother. “She worried about you the entire time, she was convinced you were dead, that thee men who took us killed you. She’ll want to assure herself you’re safe and unharmed.”
“She has her own children to worry about.” Even as she said the words, Saika regretted them. There wasn’t a kinder hearted women the world than Kathleen Donovan. She always saw the good in all people and treated Nobu and Saika the same way she treated the children she gave birth to.
“You know that’s not true,” Nobu scolded her in a soft voice. “She loves you.” His gaze moved to Sebastian who was ignoring them. “She’ll want to know who he is, how you came to know him, and why he’s helping you.”
“She needs to concentrate on resting and regaining her strength.”
Nobu snorted and rolled his eyes. “Mother thrives on gossip, talking to you will restore her to good health faster than anything else. Besides, she's not the only one who's burning up with curiosity, I'm as interested in your recent activities as her.”
Saika turned and studied her brother. It was interesting. Outsiders would probably assume that they were extremely close. Their birthdays were separated by a short ten months and they shared the same slight build, exotic features, intense stare, and sinuous movement. Both often sat for hours and observed the world around them, a part of it, yet also separate. Yet, strip away the surface layer and they were as different from one another as two people could be. Nobu was quick to laugh and enjoyed the company of others. Like her, he’d been trained in the way of the Samurai, but he’d only gone through the motions, he hadn’t absorbed, or even enjoyed, their grandfather’s lessons. Instead, he’d spent long hours standing beside his father, learning the art of jewelry making and now created some of the most beautiful pieces Saika had ever seen.
While Saika avoided people and preferred to keep her own company, Nobu was interested in how other people lived and had immersed himself in the Cheapside community.
A few weeks ago, while practicing her skills for sneaking from one location to another, Saika discovered that the general population wasn’t the only thing Nobu was interested in. She’d discovered he was keeping a secret. One that involved the youngest daughter of the butcher.
Nobu nudged her with his elbow. “Go on,” he urged, “go talk to them.”
Saika shifted her gaze from her stepmother to her father. He stared at her with dark eyes and an unreadable expression. Saika’s stomach cramped. She’d have to explain the situation to them, but she preferred to have the discussion later as opposed to sooner.
She reached for the part of the tangled, charred harness, and smoothed a bit of leather. “I’ll talk to them after they’ve had a chance to rest and recover their wits.”
From Moonlight to Mayhem
Chapter Fifteen
Sleep eluded Saika.
Each time she closed her eyes, questions about what the future held and how she’d handle it inundated her.
After lying in bed for well over an hour and listening to her sister’s snore, she admitted defeat and climbed out of bed.
Now she didn’t know
what she was supposed to do. Her stepmother often suffered from sleeplessness. She filled the extra hours working on the dresses she loved to design and create, but Saika had never learned needlepoint, and she didn’t see any books she could read.
After a few moments of indecision, Saika reached for the katana she’d placed near the bed and slipped from the room. She kept her steps light and soundless as she crept down the stairs and out of the inn.
An open field just past the barn where the horses were stalled beckoned to her. Yesterday, or was it still today, her sense of time was twisted about, when she and Sebastian left the in, she’d noticed several wooly sheep lived there. The sheep wouldn’t mind if she spent a few hours in their company, practicing with her katana until exhaustion overtook her. Frozen grass crunched beneath her shoes and her breath froze and streamed out behind her as she hurried towards the gate.
Her hand closed over the latch when a voice in the darkness startled her.
“It’s not considered safe for a young woman to be wander about by herself in the middle of the night.”
In one fluid motion, Saika slid her katana free of its saya and spun towards the voice. She dropped into a crouch and swung her katana in the direction the voice had come from.
Sebastian stepped out of the shadows and into a pool of silver moonlight. He held up his hands, palms turned outwards. “Relax, it’s just me.”
The muscles in Saika’s shoulders softened but she didn’t lower her weapon. “I didn’t know you were outside.”
“How would you?” Sebastian shot her a curios look. “I expected you to be busy with your family. Why aren’t you with them?”
“Everyone is fast asleep. I tried to follow their example but… I guess you could say I didn’t have much luck.”