by Billy Wong
Alicia frowned. "No, really, it calls storms! Don't you two trust me?"
"I don't even know you," Ethan replied.
"No," Rose said.
The duchess crossed her arms. "Hmph! If you don't believe me, then I'll show you!" She went and fetched her pitcher, and came back to pour a little bit of water into the "pot." "Go ahead, stick your hand outside."
Rose walked to the window and did as told. The moisture of a light drizzle greeted her fingers. She stared at the pot in wonder and marveled, "Ethan, it really does work! Get over here!"
He came, and joined in her amazement. "This is real Old World magic. I assume you don't have droughts around here then, Alicia?"
"Nope. Never!"
Ethan looked at Rose. "Hey, you think maybe we could stay here after the fighting's done? It's such a great place. I love it."
She considered it for a moment. Here was a real haven of a town, with well-mannered neighbors, an attractive layout, perfect weather, and a great landscape surrounding it. More importantly, her love liked it, and she'd never be bored with Alicia around the corner—well, hedge. "Sure, Ethan. Let's do that."
Alicia regarded them and smiled. "This doesn't mean we'll stop adventuring together, will it, Rose?"
"Since when do I go on adventures with you? We just meet in the middle!"
"Well, you won't stop having adventures, will you?"
Rose glanced at Ethan, and he nodded. "We're still young. I'm sure there'll be many exciting travels ahead for us."
#
They stayed a happy night at Alicia's and then another, their days spent exploring the town and making friends with their future neighbors. Patrick, who they'd met before, was a haberdasher's son and learning his father's trade. Jenna was a soldier's daughter, and loved hunting with a military longbow. Larry had a pregnant donkey expecting a mule, and couldn't stop talking about his anticipation of the birth. Wilbur never bathed, and stunk like a pig. There were many others, of course, but Rose didn't remember them all by name. Not yet, anyway.
She was drinking happily with Ethan, youth be damned, in the local tavern called the Green Dragon, when they heard a cry outside. "Raiders! Vlin raiders!"
Rose could hardly believe it. How could they not have gotten word of the invaders sooner? Somebody would certainly have seen if the Vlin were on the move, and told them of their plight. Bird-borne messages traveled a lot faster than ships, and for such important news there surely would have been more than one sent just in case. And what about the Fanteians? She ran outside.
A Vlin longboat had landed on the southern shore of the island, and a villager out hunting spotted its crew moving inland. Was this the beginning of the invasion? They waited for Alicia to arrive, and with her and her two guards went to where the boat had been seen.
There was no giant horde of barbarians to be found, and Alicia concluded, "They're probably a scouting party. Let's go hunt them down."
"Scouting party or not, shouldn't your allies have stopped them?" Rose asked worriedly. "Where are the Fanteians?"
"Maybe the one little boat slipped past them. It happens."
Sure it did. But Rose couldn't help being alarmed. "We should check to see what's going on with them."
"Okay, after we take care of these scouts."
"Yeah. Alright."
They tried to follow the tracks of the barbarians, but as expected they were extremely competent outdoorsmen and had hidden their trail too well for Rose and company's meager skills. She'd have to work on that. "Let's get back to town. If they're here to spy on us, that'd be a natural place to go."
Hurrying back, they found that they'd come just in time. Just outside the wall, a half dozen Vlin harassed a young woman crawling away with a bruise on her face. The men were laughing, and one said something about Anram. "Found you, you animals," Alicia greeted them.
The fight began, and it seemed all but assured the Kaylanders would win the day. Rose struck a man down with a slash at his arms and a reverse cut to his face, and Alicia tore one in half through his blocking spear with a huge axe swipe. The duchess' two men engaged an enemy apiece, and the women each moved on to a second foe.
Suddenly, one of Vlin fighting the guards knocked his opponent down and ran for the girl on the ground, yelling Anram's name as his blade flashed in his hand. The new opponent who stood in Rose's way was quick, and she wouldn't be able to get past him in time... meanwhile, Alicia was too busy manhandling her own Vlin to notice the maiden's plight. Rose raised her sword, hoping she could throw past her opponent if she stepped quickly enough to the side.
Ethan appeared over the girl, slashing at the Vlin with the sword he and Rose had made. The surprised man gurgled as steel ripped into his throat. Raising his hand to the spurting wound, he fell and kicked his last. Ethan stood over the body with his shocked mouth wide, the sword dropping from his hand.
Rose killed her Vlin with a shield rush which knocked him down followed by a downward slash, and Alicia lifted hers into the air, then brought him down to snap him over her knee. Show-off. Ignoring the duchess' bellow of victory, Rose ran to her love's side. "Are you okay?"
He studied the blood on his hands, a bewildered look in his eyes. "I did it, Rose."
"Don't worry. You did well; saved that girl's life."
The last Vlin backpedaled as both of Alicia's guards attacked with their swords, and the duchess finished the battle with an axe through the spine from behind. "What's wrong with him?"
"He just killed a man."
"So?"
"He never did it before." She turned back to him. "You know you did good, right?"
"It's disgusting. It feels awful. I want to puke." And saying so, he did. Then he cried a bit, and finally looked up at her. "How do you do this all the time? It feels so unnatural."
Her heart grew heavy with guilt for being the insensitive murderer she was. Sure, she only killed when she thought it justified, and took pains to protect innocent lives. But perhaps she still killed "evil" men too easily. It wasn't like they were soulless beasts. Maybe she let her choices be too limited, too easily. For her, it'd always been kill, or let the undeserving get killed. Were things really so black and white? Couldn't she at least try to seek more peaceful solutions?
No, she decided. She'd never been given time to strive for such perfect endings. She'd always had to act, or see the wrong people die—often, see herself die. "You made the right choice."
He shocked her with his next words. "Am I like you now?"
"Like me?! W-what are you saying? Am I somehow... disgusting to you?"
"I love you, Rose," he said after a time.
"Answer the question, dammit."
"You're not disgusting, not you. Just part of you. The monster."
She wasn't surprised. He was such a man of peace, and even she often looked at herself with a little loathing for the—yes—monster inside. The woman who'd slaughtered hundreds of men, many of whom doubtless had families and innocent people who valued their lives. But she was angry nonetheless. He was supposed to love her, and to her that meant an absolute, unconditional adoration. The occasional argument was fine, but he wasn't supposed to find anything disgusting in her.
"Damn, Ethan, this isn't who we are. It's what we do."
"I know. You just scare me sometimes."
"Somehow, this went from you killing a Vlin to me being disgusting. How?"
He choked. "I'm sorry. I can't handle this. The blood, gods, the blood..."
Rose's expression softened as she watched him shiver in fright. "Come on then, let's get it washed off."
"T-thanks," he said as she helped him up and away.
#
He barely talked for the rest of the day, and she sat with him in their room, watching him try to hide in bed from his supposed crime. He hadn't done anything wrong in her eyes. Night fell, and Rose couldn't sleep. What if Ethan was permanently damaged inside? He hadn't been made to fight.
In the middle of the night, he turn
ed to her and whispered, "Rose? Are you awake?"
"Yeah. Talk to me, Ethan."
"I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean what I said. I love you."
"I know. Are you all right?"
"No, not really. It happened so fast. One second, I was me, and then the next, I was someone else. A killer. And then, I was me again, only I'd killed..."
Rose wasn't sure if he'd like what she had to say, but she believed it and wouldn't hold it back. "No, Ethan. We're not different people when we do things we don't like, unless we're crazy. That's just a silly excuse, to make us feel better about the mistakes we make. We're us, reacting to the way the world treats us. Though... you didn't make a mistake."
"Do you have any doubts, Rose?"
She smiled. "All the time. But I'd never let them keep me from doing what I have to, and you should be the same way. Think when you want, but act whenever you can. Never be passive."
He frowned. "I think that's the way monsters like Pierce live their lives."
"It probably is. But I think it's the only way to live, if you want to be great."
"Why do we have to be great?"
"We don't. But I'd like to be, don't you?"
"Rose... you are great."
She giggled. "I'm okay. When I first met you, I thought you were great." A pause. "But after what you did today, I think I love you even more."
"Why?!"
"If you hadn't done it, that girl might be dead. It was brave."
"I suppose... Rose, do you think I should fight, if the Vlin get here?"
"They might not get here."
"If."
She frowned. "I don't know."
"I got you, didn't I?"
"No. It's your choice to make. But as for what I think, I don't think you should. You're not that good. Even Ed's better than you."
"I'm just not suited to being a warrior."
"No." And she was a little glad for that.
#
They slept in each other's arms after that, and as Rose awakened to the sun shining on his bright beautiful skin, a smile emerged on her face. They were going to enjoy each other's love forever, and she would never feel guilty about being able to wake up ever again. With him at her side, she'd always have the perfect reason for life. And hopefully, they would make a few more reasons someday.
"Rise and shine, precious guy."
"Hey. You sleep well?"
"Always, Ethan. I'm going to go look for the Fanteians today. Hope they're there, or we might be in big trouble soon."
"Really big. But I'm sure they'll be there. I can't imagine that the gods would end our happiness in such a dreadful way."
Rose chuckled. "Don't be overdramatic. It's not like we're sure to die if the Vlin do come. We'll just run away again."
"I know. But I want to be here."
"Me too. Well, wish me luck."
"Come back alive."
She realized he was being overdramatic on purpose and rolled her eyes. She wasn't exactly about to fight Pierce, or anything so dangerous.
#
Rose took a small boat from the harbor and went south, searching with a spyglass for the tall sails that would indicate a possible Fanteian warship. Fanteia was east of here, but she couldn't see anything in that direction as of yet. Nor did she see anything to the south, or the north for that matter. She finally made it past the southern edge of the island, and now looked east in earnest. Nothing. If they were on patrol, she certainly should have seen something by now.
Frustrated and scared, she had started back for port when she spotted what she took to be a large ship to the west. Its location surprised her, but she supposed the Fanteians could have circled around. Coming closer, she saw the red and silver of the Fanteian flag, and her heart leapt in joy.
She hurried to the ship's side and shouted up, "Fanteians! I'm so glad you're here. I was getting worried for a moment. Why's there only one of you, though?"
A bronzed, muscular sailor peeked over and asked, "What nonsense are you going on about, silly girl?"
She was too happy to get angry. Instead, she grinned and said, "I suppose that's how I'd expect the usual soldier to think of me. Don't be fooled, I'm a warrior too. A pretty good one, most people who know me would say."
"A warrior too? I'm not a warrior."
Funny, she'd thought most of the crew on a navy ship would be trained to fight. "What are you, the cook or something?"
"No, I'm a merchant—well, I work for one."
What? Oh, no... "You mean you're not Fanteian navy?"
"The Swimming Weasel's been a merchant vessel since its renaming a decade ago. I don't know about before then."
She didn't think he'd know, but asked, "Do you know what happened to the fleet Emperor Regis was supposed to send as help for Weith?"
"I don't know, but I heard there was a real nasty storm closer to the mainland a few days ago. Maybe the fleet got wrecked."
Could that be what had happened? If so, Weith was in big trouble. She hurried back to town, intent on reporting the possible disaster and making evacuation plans before anything else happened. But as she made her way towards the harbor, she took a last look to the south. There they were, to her relief—the tall masts and hulking bodies of a group of mighty ships. They hadn't been sunk after all.
She looked down into the water, and the imposing figure reflected there returned her gaze with a smile on her face. Rose noticed that she was already covered in scars, and wiped a tear away. She felt so old for her age. But the perfect man loved her nonetheless, and with any luck they would survive. What a life. Her mind at ease, she returned with good news for all, and along with Ethan and Alicia celebrated a bright future together.
#
The Fanteian ships grew larger and larger in the view from the harbor, and everyone figured that someone important meant to pay the town a visit. Dressing to meet them, Alicia growled, "They're respectably late, considering they just got here this morning. So there's no reason I should be so prompt."
"Hey, they are the ones helping you," Rose replied. "And why are you wearing armor to greet them?"
"I want to look respectable, and armor's the best way to do that."
"You're a woman. Women wear dresses to look respectable."
Alicia glared at her. "Rose? You're a warrior. I thought you'd understand."
"I know. You want to look strong. Trust me, you look plenty strong even without the armor."
"Not in a dress."
"Well... maybe you're right about that. Do I look weak?" Rose wore brown breeches and a tan tunic, under which a light breastplate was concealed.
"No, and you're not dressed much more like a woman than I am."
"I'm just being prepared to save you if you say something stupid," she joked.
"Careful, Rose. I never say anything stupid."
The two walked out to the harbor and waited on the dock for the Fanteian ships. As Rose watched, she noticed that some of the vessels looked more battered and out of repair than she would have expected considering the reputation the Fanteian empire had for splendor. Then she began to wonder why all the ships were approaching the harbor, when there was surely no need for visitors from more than one. She started to grow suspicious. Then she saw the familiar, lightly bearded big man on the lead ship's helm and knew.
"Everybody, it's them! It's the Vlin! Get ready to... to, uh..." She didn't know how to finish. She wasn't about to say "die," but then, that was all she could think of at the present time.
Chapter 12
They came then, and Rose knew there was no way Weith could stand for long. There weren't ten thousand or even two thousand here, but only however many Vlin warriors could be crowded onto six Fanteian warships; perhaps a thousand if they were tightly packed. Still far too many. Weith was nowhere near full of strong defenders, with probably less than one hundred warriors trained and ready to fight.
"Looks like it's up to us girls," Alicia remarked. It was almost true. They'd likely hav
e to kill several hundred men each if they were to turn back the Vlin tide. This was not shaping up to be a good day.
The first of the Vlin launched themselves in little boats towards the harbor, and Rose's old enemy on the lead ship's helm asked in a cheery voice, "Smart, aren't I? Made some of the Fanteians give up their ships and sent them to Anram in the process. Too bad I couldn't save any more, ships that is. The others were too stubborn to bow down and die."
"Who the hell are you, anyway?" Rose shouted back at him.
"I am Conrad the Slave!"
"The Slave?" She jumped into the first Vlin boat to come close to the dock, killing the six men inside with frenzied slashes before they could get ashore. "That's a great name."
"I got it when I killed my sister."
"What?!" She left the boat, ran to the next, and felled five more within four blows as they tried to climb up. Jenna the huntress shot the last one down, and Rose smiled. She'd grow up to be quite a woman, if she survived.
Conrad wiped at his face as if brushing away a tear. "I didn't do it on purpose! I killed her by accident, when I mistook her for a foe. So I resigned myself to being a servant for greater men, so I wouldn't have to deal with the pressure of making decisions for myself. I can't bear the guilt of choice anymore."
Lennox, and now Pierce. "You should have picked better masters," Rose spat as she slashed through a man's skull, leaving him with half his head.
"It's always pleased me to kill, as long as it wasn't the wrong person. So I picked the ones who suited me."
"Yeah—and I think you'll be a worthy companion to them in hell."
"Who is that?" Alicia asked as she chopped one man nearly in half and gutted the next behind with a single powerful blow. "Old friend?"
"A willing pawn of evil, is what he is."
"As long as I'm having fun, right?" Conrad said.
By now, his ship had reached the dock. "Get down here and fight," Rose snarled.
"I think I'll wait."
Rose and Alicia killed and killed, their allies pitching in as they could in the desperate fight. But they were taking hits too, mostly from projectiles they failed to avoid. Blood flowed across the wood beneath their feet as they tried to hold out against the press of the innumerable foe. And while Rose had hoped that all the Vlin would try to cross the dock into town, some had landed outside to go around and batter at its gate. When those got through, everything would really go to hell.