Heroes at Odds

by Moira J. Moore

  Fiona shrugged. “They are not under your control.”

  “This is our family business. I would have preferred to have this all take place elsewhere.”

  Fiona gave her a tired smile. “Family is rarely convenient.”

  Fiona was looking pale, her face lined, and I had no doubt she had many more important things to attend to before she could get more rest. That she had been dragged into our sordid personal affairs was humiliating. After murmuring my appreciation, I led my mother and Taro out of the office.

  “Nothing like knowing you’d have Cars as a father-in-law to inspire me to do well on the tests,” Taro said in a low voice.

  “He wasn’t always like this,” said my mother. “When I first knew him, while we were negotiating the contract and through the first couple of years after, he was a warm, friendly man. Desperation can make anyone unpleasant.”

  But a person who could remain calm and respectful while dealing with adversity, wasn’t that the sort of person to admire?

  Who was I to talk? I was a mess when I was stressed. “I’d love to not have to think about this for the rest of the day.”

  “I think you should go back to bed.” Mother looked me over critically. “You look terrible.”

  So did she, really, but I was too polite to say so, and too ready to go back to bed to stand around talking about anything less than vital. Because while I was no longer in dire need of food and coffee, it wasn’t feasible to hold on to Taro all day, and I was very, very tired.

  I hoped Fiona didn’t announce the next test anytime soon. I felt I could sleep for a week.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I visited Browne the next day. She was nearly buried under her enormous mass of patients, for while no one had died, many had burns and broken limbs and horrible hacking coughs. Her cottage had survived the fire untouched, but it couldn’t accommodate the number of injured, so she had established a temporary infirmary in the assembly room, a large building the size of a barn where the villagers danced and had public meetings.

  Browne wasn’t the only one attending to the injured. A handful of men and women were there to bring water and soup and change bandages. They were all pale and they moved slowly. I was still barely able to put one foot in front of the other, myself. “Do you have someone young and spritely I could send to the manor to fetch Karish?” I asked Browne. “He is excellent with injured people.”

  “He has a hand for healing, does he?”

  Yes, but not in the way she meant, and I wasn’t going to tell her. “He can put them at their ease. Make them smile. Sometimes he’s able to help them sleep. He’s really very good. If either of us had thought about the injured, he would already be here.”

  Browne nodded and sent a six-year-old girl out to the manor.

  “What can I do to help?” I asked.

  Instead of answering me immediately, she took me out of the building and around the corner for some privacy. “What do you need to say?”

  I passed along Radia’s request.

  Upon hearing it, Browne looked weary and impatient. “The Wind Watcher feels it’s important to do this now?”

  “She didn’t say so, but I would imagine the sooner the better. Given the circumstances.” Something as traumatic as the fire would leave a huge scar in everyone’s memory. Some unexpected good fortune might ease that pain a little. “Can it be done?”

  Browne blew a stray lock of blond hair off her face. “I’ve never heard of anyone levitating anything that big before.”

  “Does the size matter, if it’s moved with a spell?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it. Even when we heard that it was impossible to hang the rock, no one in the circle suggested there might be something we could do.” She frowned and looked off to the distance. “I’ll have to play with the idea a bit and talk to the others.”

  I looked at her for a few moments. “You don’t seem upset that Radia knows about the circle. I promise I didn’t tell her.”

  She shrugged. “She is the Wind Watcher. She knows everything.”

  I contemplated telling Browne that, according to Radia, everyone knew about the circle of casters.

  “Give me a couple of days,” she said.

  I nodded. “In the meantime, is there anything I can do here?”

  “There are always bandages that need cleaning.”

  Ick.

  Taro arrived not much later, taking in the rows of injured before kneeling beside the one who had been most badly burned, a young boy. Browne had assured me that she would be able to smooth away the disfiguring scarring in time, but in the meantime he was in some pain and very frightened. I watched Taro take his uninjured hand in a gentle grip and smile at him, his words inaudible from my distance. After a few moments, I saw the boy smile back, I thought I saw him giggle, and not long after, Taro rested his free hand lightly over the boy’s eyes. I was pretty sure the boy was asleep by the time Taro left him.

  Taro’s next patient was a young man. From Taro’s mannerisms, I knew he was flirting shamelessly. I grinned and went back to scrubbing bodily fluids out of strips of cotton.

  “What is he doing?” Browne asked a short while later.

  “He’s just making them feel better.”

  “How?”

  “He’s very good with people.”

  “That’s it?”

  I looked at her and hoped my expression was blank. “What else could it be?”

  She raised an eyebrow at me but chose not to pursue that line of questioning. “This will confirm to everyone that Source Karish should have been the titleholder.”

  “What? How?”

  “He is here, tending to the injured.”

  “Lady Westsea can’t dedicate any significant time to work like this. She’s got a thousand other things she needs to be doing. And isn’t that a sign of good leadership, knowing when to delegate?”

  “All that people will know is that he’s out here where people can see him, and she is invisible. For all they know, she’s lying about reading a novel and drinking chocolate.”

  “I happen to know she plans on spending at least part of today visiting people, learning what they need.”

  “That might have been more effective if Source Karish hadn’t chosen to do this.”

  “You want us to leave?”

  “No. I could use the help and your Source is clearly making people comfortable.” She pursed her lips for a moment. “I may be calling for you over the next couple of days,” she said, and it seemed to me that everyone in this place had a love for abruptly changing the subject. “I need you to be available to come.”

  “Barring a natural disaster, I will be.”

  Taro and I stayed with Browne for the rest of the day. It was hard work, and I was reminded anew just how easy the life of a Shield was. I played with the idea of doing something useful with my spare time, but what that could be didn’t come quickly to mind. I didn’t have a lot of useful skills.

  When we got back to the manor, I was ready to crawl into bed and maybe sleep for a few days, but upon entering our suite we found my brothers sitting on the floor, looking as tired and dirty as we. They were drinking wine and eating fruit and they had a couple of small wrapped boxes near their feet. “Boys.” I sighed.

  “We’ve got chocolate,” said Dias, holding up one of the boxes.

  “We’re not children.”

  “So only children like chocolate?”

  Taro loved chocolate. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t crave it, either.

  “Eating chocolate makes you relax,” Mika informed me. “So does drinking wine. Take some floor.”

  I gave in. “Is there a reason we can’t use the furniture?”

  “Sitting on the floor fosters an air of intimacy,” said Dias.

  Something about his choice of words struck me as uncharacteristic, though I couldn’t say why.

  “And the floor is easier to clean,” Mika added prosaically.

  They
had both red and white wine, and the chocolate they offered was quite nice, hard little balls with soft tasty centers. And sitting on the floor, drinking wine that I liked and eating with my fingers, did make me feel better.

  “So,” Mika drawled. “What were you doing that year you disappeared?”

  Well, that question had come out of nowhere.

  Taro frowned and straightened his spine and shoulders. “What is this?” he asked coolly. “You are trying to lure us into revealing information you’re not entitled to? With chocolate and wine? Are you amateurs?”

  “Well done,” Dias said with admiration. “Very lord of the manor.”

  “Very pretty,” Mika agreed.

  “Don’t be idiots,” I snapped. “We’ve already informed you we can’t tell you anything about that.”

  “Because it’s Triple S business.”

  “Yes.”

  Mika pointed at me. “You’re lying.”

  And he was right, of course. He wasn’t supposed to be able to read me. We barely saw each other while we were growing up.

  “Your manners are exquisite.” The sarcasm lay thick through Taro’s words.

  “We’re family.”

  “So you don’t need to treat your sister with courtesy?”

  “No,” said Dias. “I mean, yes, we must treat her with courtesy, if you want to be all stiff and unfriendly about it. But what I’m talking about is that one of the jobs a family has is to guard your blind side.”

  “I don’t have a blind side,” I said. And if I did, well, I felt that was for Taro to guard.

  My brothers ignored my comment. “Now, I appreciate that neither of you really understands that,” said Mika as he poured himself another glass of white. “You grew up in the academies. You never got to learn how families are supposed to work. But one of the things we do is keep your secrets.”

  “We have no secrets that need keeping,” I said.

  Mika rolled his eyes while Dias put a hand on Taro’s knee. “I understand you have always had difficulties with your family, and we don’t want to dredge any of that up.”

  Taro glared at me, but before I could say I’d never discussed his family affairs with anyone, Mika said, “No, we’ve learned nothing from Lee. People talk, right?”

  Taro tightened his jaw and his hands, and chose not to answer.

  “I suppose what we’re saying is that we think the secrets you’re keeping aren’t your own,” said Mika. “And it can be dangerous to be the only ones holding the vital secrets of someone else. They may decide you’re a stray thread that needs cutting.”

  It was a horrifying idea. I didn’t want to think about it.

  “What are you trying to say?” Taro demanded.

  “Let me put it this way,” Mika said. “Since his coronation, Emperor Gifford has had fifteen titleholders executed for treason.”

  That was the first I’d heard of it. “Is that a lot?” It seemed like a lot, but what did I know?

  Mika looked disgusted. “Of course it’s a lot. What’s the matter with you?”

  “I don’t know about such things.”

  “And that’s what we’re talking about,” said Dias. “You don’t keep an ear to what’s going on for the rest of us. And maybe you shouldn’t. Maybe you’re supposed to stay above it all. Or, at least, to the side of it all. But that’s what a family is supposed to do, fill in the gaps for you. We can watch these things for you.”

  “But why do we need them watched?” Taro asked.

  “You don’t understand,” Mika said. “Things have changed a lot since Emperor Gifford took the crown. Old laws that have faded past practicality dredged back into common use. New laws that are enforced inconsistently. Those who are in favor with the Emperor are spared anything, those not are condemned on the slightest of evidence. If you can even call it evidence. Those fifteen titleholders, most of them were known for being loyal to the Empress, and they were convicted on nothing more than the testimony of the friends of the Emperor.”

  “And that’s horrible,” said Taro. “I’m serious. That’s tragic perversion of the law, and I feel badly for these people and their families. But it really has nothing to do with us.”

  That sounded callous, but it was true. What could we do about it?

  “One of the rumors about your absence for that year,” said Mika, “was that you were sent by the Empress to assassinate someone.”

  I choked and my nose became clogged with wine.

  “And you brought back their daughter to be brainwashed by the Triple S and crafted into an assassin in her own right.”

  I couldn’t speak. I almost couldn’t breathe, the shock was that intense. I mean, what the hell? Where did that trash come from?

  It had been idiotic, I supposed, hoping Aryne would escape everyone’s notice. She was the grandchild of the Empress’s deceased sister, a sister most people hadn’t known existed. But we’d had to take Aryne to Erstwhile, she’d met the Empress, and people had known she was there. But I was sure no one else had known she was a relative of the royal family, and I’d really believed everyone had forgotten about her.

  Taro’s eyes were wide with surprise. He looked as incapable of speech as I felt.

  “That’s not true, is it?” Dias asked almost diffidently.

  That got my voice working. “Of course not! How could you think it was?”

  “You weren’t saying anything!”

  “Let’s just say I’m just a little dismayed that people might think I’ve murdered someone.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wanted to cringe. Because I had murdered Creol.

  “Only stupid people,” Mika tried to assure me.

  Still, it wasn’t Creol they were talking about, and . . . “The fact that anyone—”

  “There are a whole slew of rumors about you two,” Dias interrupted. “All kinds of incredible things.”

  “I can’t believe this.” Assassins. My gods. “Why the hell—I mean—why us?”

  Dias smiled. “You’re famous, big sister. Or infamous, at least.”

  “That makes no sense. There are actors and writers and politicians and notorious ’ristos.”

  “And the Stallion of the Triple S.” Dias grinned at Taro.

  Taro growled.

  I looked down at the floor so there would be no possibility of sending an accusatory stare Taro’s way. I’d known this was going to happen. Well, not that anyone would ever think I was some kind of assassin, because that was ridiculous, but that complete strangers would be talking about us, because it seemed everyone knew who Taro was and found him a fascinating topic for conversation. I’d known that catching people’s interest as Taro’s Shield was inevitable, from the moment we bonded. I’d been worried people would claim that I was sleeping with Taro. Well, I was sleeping with Taro. Couldn’t we go back to rumors about that?

  “The problem is,” said Mika, “that there are all sorts of rumors flying around about the Triple S, not just you two. Rumors that Sources and Shields are learning more than just how to settle disasters. There are rumors that some Pairs can actually start them and are using that ability to blackmail cities and villages into giving them money.”

  “Pairs don’t need money,” Taro reminded them in a voice still hollow with alarm.

  “I didn’t say the rumors made sense. Rumors often don’t. But those are the stories that are circulating. And they’re causing people to question the motives of the Triple S. People are thinking that the Triple S isn’t as neutral and benevolent as we’ve been led to believe.”

  I just couldn’t understand it. How had all this happened?

  “So our concern,” Mika continued, “is that you did perform some special task for the Empress, and the Emperor will use that as a reason to do something to you. Like arrest you.”

  “Only the Triple S can sanction us,” I murmured.

  “And only the Triple S can decide where you’re posted. Isn’t that what you told us?”

  Yes, I understood. If
the Emperor was willing to ignore one custom, he’d ignore another.

  Zaire. I couldn’t believe any of this.

  “There’s more, you know,” said Mika. “Pairs seem to be disappearing. Some dismiss it as a rumor. They say the Pairs have merely been transferred and people have just lost touch with them. But others are not so sanguine. It seems to be happening a lot more frequently as time goes by, and the Pairs that go missing are reported to be among the most talented. I can’t think it’s normal for talented Pairs to be taken . . . what do you call it? . . . off the roster.”

  “Only, you two haven’t disappeared,” Dias added. “So we don’t know what to think. You’re very talented, right?”

  Taro said nothing. I shrugged.

  “And we’re just saying it might be safer if the two of you weren’t the only ones to know the truth.”

  Maybe I was too tired or had had too much wine, but that seemed to make a lot of sense. There had been so many secrets, and I was weary of keeping them. This wasn’t what I’d wanted or planned for myself. I’d always valued honesty. I’d always hoped to be an honest person. I’d lost all ability to be that.

  I suddenly felt like I’d been carrying an invisible weight on my shoulders for years, a weight that grew heavier and harder to stand up under as time went by. A weight I wasn’t sure I could carry on my own for much longer.

  I was so tired.

  To my disgust and dismay, I felt tears coat my eyes.

  “Hey, no, no.” Dias put a hand under my chin and raised my face. “This was meant to ease you, not make you feel worse.”

  Taro took my hand.

  “That bad, are they?” Mika asked.

  “What?” Taro laced our fingers together.

  “The secrets you hold.”

  Neither Taro nor I responded to that. I had no idea what to say, really. I blinked my tears away and struggled with making sense of what I’d been told.

  “You both look exhausted.” Mika rose to his feet and Dias followed. “Just think about it, all right? We might be able to help.” He kissed my forehead and clasped Taro’s shoulder, Dias echoing his gestures, and they both left.

  They left the chocolate behind. I popped one in my mouth in the ridiculous hope it would calm me as it had just a short while earlier.