Alterni

by Sunshine Somerville

  Those’ll help.

  She walked back to the hall, which opened into a wide kitchen. This too was modern, with a gorgeous island and stainless steel appliances. Esme set her grocery bags on the counter and pulled out contents to put in the fridge – milk, eggs, cheese, lunch meat, lettuce, bread, a handful of condiments for now, and a box of baking soda. In the freezer, she put a frozen pizza, chicken breasts, and a bag of crunchy M&Ms – thank God this world had crunchy M&Ms! Then Esme set a bundle of bananas on a tray beside the sink.

  She paused before putting a cereal box in the pantry by the fridge.

  It’s like an average day. Oh, sure, vampires are real here. And I’ll be fighting monsters, learning magic, and working with an ancient Order ruled by Kansas City’s chief of police. But first, don’t forget to put baking soda in the fridge!

  Esme smirked at this and tucked the empty bags under the sink. Then she looked across the kitchen. The dining room table was glass, six chairs surrounding it. Beyond this, a set of double doors led out onto a screened porch, and a small, fenced-in yard stretched out back. A doggie door gave Bethy access to this yard, and the beagle dashed out to play with a dog toy lying in the grass.

  Back in the hall again, Esme turned to the right opening and found carpeted stairs ascending to the second level. She guessed this led to her bedroom, so first she returned to the front door and grabbed the shopping bags. With a smile, she walked back to ascend the stairs.

  This is ten times nicer than any place I’ve lived before. A girl could get used to this…

  She reached the top landing and found a wide, comfortable bedroom. Long windows broke up the far wall, facing the street, and a king-sized bed stood between the windows. Nightstands were positioned on either side of the bed, and a colorful painting of a flower hung over the headboard. In the corner, a bright blue chaise looked inviting. Esme’s gaze swung to the left wall, and here stretched a long closet with mirrored doors. To the right, French doors led onto a private balcony with a pair of lounge chairs.

  Wow.

  Esme set her shopping bags by the closet and turned to discover a winding, narrow staircase leading to the third level. She slid her hand along the rail as she ascended, and at the top she gasped in delight when she saw her master bathroom. Marble tile covered the floor. A walk-in shower stood beside a deep, wide tub with a waterfall fount. A long vanity ran against the opposite wall, and its mirror looked over a double sink. Above, the peaked, white-wood ceiling angled down on either side of the room, and two skylights brought in bright sunlight.

  Oh, man. All I wanna do is jump in that tub and steam away the day’s tension… But first things first. I need to stop looking like previous versions of myself. The king feels guilty every time he looks at me. Everyone else who sees me thinks I’m just like the others. I won’t live like that.

  Esme skipped back down the winding stairs to her bedroom. Here, she dug through her bags to retrieve the new scissors, hairbrush, comb, and flat iron. She lastly pulled out the box of hair dye she’d decided would help her look most unique.

  I’m sure I bugged Thaddeus with all my girly questions, but now I know none of the other Esmes had hair like I’m planning. This oughta do it.

  She took her beauty supplies and headed back upstairs. Once here, she got to work opening the wrapping on the scissors and pulling out the contents of the hair dye box.

  This is a weird opportunity on several levels. How often do you get the chance to completely start over? No one here knew the old me. I can become whatever I want. I can dress however I want. Look however I want. Be whoever I want. My old life was going nowhere. Here I can matter.

  Feeling a thrill, Esme first brushed out her long, dark hair and examined herself in the mirror. She took a moment to soak in the significance of this dye job. It would symbolize her commitment to a new life. To the strangeness of new people, paranormal and otherwise. To the danger of the work ahead. To the excitement and terror of living in a world with magic.

  Can I do this?

  Finished with the brush, she set it aside and washed her hands. When she reached for the hand towel, she dripped a small puddle on the counter. Absentmindedly, she recalled the symbol of her world that she’d seen in the pseudo-bar’s ceiling and traced her finger in the water. She pulled the droplets to swirl here, loop there, and perfectly match the symbol in her mind.

  A spark shot up from the counter, dissolving the watery symbol faster than she could blink.

  Esme yelped and stepped back from the vanity, wide-eyed.

  Holy shit! Okay. Better not do anything like that again without supervision.

  After a deep breath, she put on the box’s gloves and got to work.

  Three weeks after the new Esme’s arrival, Hakim stood with the off-duty king in the office of the Order Capiti’s training gym. Master Cavali Loukas was in Chile for the month, so Owen and Lexi had taken turns instructing Esme. Currently, Lexi was sparring with the alterni on the far side of a one-way window. Owen had asked Hakim here to discuss how Esme was doing.

  Watching through the glass, Hakim winced as Lexi again knocked Esme to the gym mats.

  “See?” said Owen. “I’ve seen goblins with better body control. I thought her file said she does yoga.”

  “She does.” Hakim watched Esme pick herself up. “She is in shape from it. And she’s strong. Seems to have good balance…”

  “Yeah, but that all means squat if she can't take or give a hit. She falls over as often as she lands a kick.”

  “Well…” Hakim tried to sound confident. “Not all alterni are warriors. Maybe she’ll be better at spells. She can defend herself that way, like many before. The alterni who’ve lived the longest were more conjuri than cavali, you know.”

  “Yes, but they trained for years. This Esme doesn’t have that kind of time. We need her ready now.” Owen put his hands on either side of his head as if he thought it might explode. “She wouldn’t last ten seconds against a bentaforx.”

  “Then good thing she’ll probably never face one, since you already did.”

  “But it could happen. The conjuri don’t know as much for certain as they’d like everyone to believe.”

  “Well, there’s a ninety-five percent chance another bentaforx won’t appear in our lifetime.”

  “When malevolenci are involved, I never trust statistics.”

  Hakim shrugged, trying to get his friend to unclench. “We’ll just have to prepare her for anything. Same as always.”

  The king’s eyes narrowed. “But things aren’t the same as always. We’re in trouble, Hakim.”

  “Indeed.” Hakim put his hands in his pockets and looked into the gym. “We need Esme to close the old rifts as soon as possible. Cavali in Europe say your last alterni didn’t close many before she died. In this region alone, there were thirty-one at last count. New rifts will continue to pop open. We can’t watch them all. We need Esme to close the rifts soon if-”

  “I know. But I’m not rushing Esme into the field.” Owen ran a hand over his face. He was tense. “In eighty generations, we’ve rarely been this close to losing the war.”

  Hakim eyed his friend. “You still haven’t told Esme the whole truth about alterni?”

  “No. Does that woman look like she needs more pressure?”

  Hakim saw his point, but frowned. “I thought you decided this time to tell this alterni everything. And you’re not telling her. You told me not to tell her.”

  “The Master Conjuri,” said Owen, using Hakim’s over-emphasis, “told us not to tell her.”

  “You’re the king, Owen. Your decision could veto Roman’s.”

  “Yes, but he might be right. This protocol’s been in place for a thousand years. Only Roman, myself, and you know the true state of things. Everyone in the Order is already fighting the malevolenci with everything they’ve got, so I don’t want to create panic and chaos when there’s nothing more they can do. We’ve kept some secrets for so long, the people would feel betr
ayed if we told them now. It’s a mess my forefathers should’ve fixed hundreds of years ago, and now my hands are tied.” Owen looked through the window at Esme. “As for the alterni, it’s always been best to keep them naïve so they can do their work.”

  “It’s best for us, you mean. It might not be best for them. And besides, you yourself admitted just a second ago that things aren’t as they’ve always been. Even if we can’t tell the general populace, we should tell this alterni the truth. If we’re in as much danger as we think…”

  “Esme’s under enough pressure without knowing how serious things are. I won’t freak her out by telling her how many layers of horror are involved in this war right now.”

  Hakim paused and looked back into the gym. “We need to believe in this Esme. And you need to believe in yourself. I am glad you’ve been open with her about your own demons. I can’t be the only one whose shoulder you cry on.”

  Owen managed a grin at this.

  “You need to believe in this Esme for several reasons, my friend. Get out of your head and make this partnership work. For all our sakes.”

  The king’s pause suggested he was listening. “You’re right. I need to take a different approach here.” Then he winced as Lexi kicked Esme to the floor. He pointed against the window. “But Esme doesn’t need more burdens. We tell her nothing.”

  Hakim accepted this. For now. In time, Owen might change his mind.

  Owen sighed in an overdramatic fashion and headed for the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m retrieving the alterni before Lexi breaks her. Let’s pray you’re right and she’s amazing at spells.”

  Hakim smiled as his friend left the office. He then looked into the gym and watched Esme again get into position to spar with Lexi.

  She always gets back up, he thought.

  With a smile of perhaps foolish jinn optimism, Hakim headed for the door.

  “Pivot from your other leg.” Lexi turned on the gym’s sparring mat to show Esme her back leg’s stance. Lexi wore her usual workout gear of black running tights, tight tank, and ponytail. The large sparring pads on her arms she swung around with ease.

  Esme picked herself up off the mat and adjusted the baggy tank top hanging over her sports bra. Loose strands of gray-dyed hair stuck to the sweat on her face, and she reached up with her wrapped hands to wipe the hair away. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry. Just try again.” Lexi was clearly frustrated, but she was trying to be gentle with the newbie. “Come on.”

  Esme’s gaze drifted around the wide gym. The entire third floor of the Order Capiti was devoted to training gyms, and this gym in particular was always busy. Here, novices from the surrounding regions came to train with battle-hardened cavali. Right now, twelve pairs of fighters were going at it, perfecting their moves and sharpening their technique. Three novices had already passed their Order trials since Esme’s lessons started. Her own training wasn’t going as well.

  I’m so out of my league.

  Two hairy, shirtless cavali men walked by, studying her as they headed to the locker rooms. At least people stared at her with less immediate recognition now. Her neck-length, asymmetric, silver-gray hair made people stare harder at her face before realizing she was the new alterni.

  Lexi saw Esme’s distraction. “Ignore the wolves.”

  “The what?” Esme gawked at the shirtless men. “You mean they-”

  “The Hoffman brothers have werewolf ancestry, yes. Not important right now.”

  Esme turned away from the Hoffman brothers and tried to refocus. She’d encountered a few cavali with paranormal blood, but none of them looked abnormal. If they hadn’t told her of their mixed ancestry, she wouldn’t have known. It was a little disappointing, honestly.

  She frowned.

  I don’t deserve to be wowed. Turns out, I’m a little disappointing…

  “Come on, alterni.” Lexi held up the pads. “Attack again.”

  Esme knew she was in decent shape, but sparring taxed a different set of muscles than her usual yoga routine.

  And I’m new to sparring. I’m not good at this. Am I better or worse at weapons training? It’s probably a toss-up. At the shooting range with Owen yesterday, I hit the target at least once… Okay, only once.

  She shook out a leg before getting in the stance Lexi had taught her. Then she took a step toward Lexi and jabbed in a punch, which Lexi blocked without effort. Esme advanced and swung again and again at Lexi’s lifted pads, and finally she got her body in the right position to kick Lexi’s side.

  “Good!” Lexi had known the kick was coming, but she took a step from the force of the blow.

  Esme heard clapping, and she looked over to see Owen approaching their mats. Several novices became more serious about training at the sight of their king. Owen ignored them. He wore his usual off-duty attire of jeans and a T-shirt, and Esme again suspected there was a rebellious streak in this king. He certainly didn’t dress the part like Hakim.

  Not that he needs to, thought Esme with a smirk. Our underwear model king is hot even-

  “Morning, chief.” Lexi’s demeanor often changed when Owen was around. Sure enough, she shifted her stance to rest one hand on her hip, a pose every woman used to look thinner.

  Owen nodded at Lexi. “Thanks for everything you’ve taught her, but you’d better head back to the station. I’m changing her training from now on.”

  “Okay. See ya later.” Lexi forced a smile at Esme and pulled the pads off as she sauntered toward the locker room.

  Esme stood awkwardly and tightened the band of her ponytail. She noticed the other novices and cavali still glancing her way. None of them had ever seemed impressed with her. She couldn’t blame them.

  Owen stepped onto the mats with her and stretched his shoulders. “I know Lexi’s teaching you her fancy moves, but let’s see what you’ve got, alterni.”

  “What?”

  He stood in front of her and held out his arms, leaving his body exposed. “Hit me as hard as you can.”

  She made a face at him. “Why?”

  “I wanna see what you’ve got. Come on, hit me.”

  “I don’t-”

  “As your king, I order you to hit me.” He gave her a taunting grin. “I bet you hit like a girl.”

  Esme hesitated before stepping toward him. She pulled her arm back and picked a spot on his abdomen. After a final look of hesitation, she slammed her fist into his gut.

  Owen let out an un-kingly grunt and doubled over, taking a step back. He sucked in air.

  “Sorry.” She wasn’t and couldn’t help a grin.

  “Remind me never to let you do that again.” Owen held his abs but stood more erect again. He half-grinned, half-grimaced at her. “Guess I should be glad you didn’t use a spoon.”

  She huffed. “Am I ever going to live that down?”

  “Doubt it.” Owen rubbed his new sore spot and motioned with his head toward the exit. “Let’s go. We need to head upstairs.”

  She looked at her sweaty workout clothes. “Can I shower first?”

  “No time, sorry. I’m taking you upstairs, and then I have to get to a blind date that Hakim set up.” He rolled his eyes and started toward the door.

  Esme stripped the wraps off her hands, tossed them to the side of the mats, and hurried to walk beside him across the gym. “So I can’t shower because your royal lordship has a date?”

  She was over being on her best behavior just because he was the king.

  Owen pushed open the door and led her into the sunlit hall that ran along the training gyms. “Well, we also have to hurry because Roman likes to start first thing in the morning. To Roman, we’ll already be late – never mind that he wasn’t planning on you today.”

  She perked up. “Roman? We’re going to see Roman? You said I wasn’t ready for magic yet. You said Lexi would train me to fight, and you’d teach me to shoot before-”

  “I know, but…” He looked down at
her as they walked by another gym door. “No offense, but I think we’re wasting our time trying to make you a cavali.”

  She felt her cheeks blushing in embarrassment.

  Owen rubbed his gut where she’d hit him. “You’re strong, so at least there’s that. Natural skill, however…”

  “Not so much,” she admitted.

  As they passed the gym with exercise equipment, Owen tapped the door but kept walking. “From now on, stick to the treadmill. You at least need to be in shape to run away.”

  Esme tried not to take this criticism personally.

  He’s right. I’m not cut out for being a ninja fighting machine.

  She hated herself for the tears of shame and disappointment building, and she blinked them into submission so the king wouldn’t notice. Her initial excitement about this adventure had worn off, and now she felt intimidated and overwhelmed. Constantly. By everything and everyone. The past three weeks hadn’t been easy.

  A new hairstyle doesn’t change a person. Maybe I was wrong and I can’t do this…

  They turned to enter a hall, and a short distance later Owen stopped at an elevator and pushed the button to summon the lift. While they waited, Esme studied the king’s expression and saw he looked tense. He didn’t look at her, and when the doors opened he led her inside without a word. Owen selected the ninth floor, then leaned against the back wall as the elevator began to rise. Esme matched Owen’s position against the wall, also silent.

  He’s probably less confident in me than I am.

  Feeling foolish, Esme took a breath. “If you want to send me home and pick another alterni, I understand.”

  This pulled Owen from his own thoughts, and his expression softened. “No, you’ll be fine. The alterni aren’t always kick-ass cavali. Three in the past were crippled when they arrived to our world, you know.”

  She hadn’t known this, and it made her feel oddly better.

  “I watched the video of your summono test, and I have to agree with Hakim that you were the right pick. You’re brave. You care about others even if it means throwing yourself in harm’s way. Those are good qualities. Not all alterni have had them, and their kings suffered for it. I’d rather you be weak and defenseless than arrogant and stupid.”