“Sure.”
“Hey!” protested Smoke, “He’s my protégé!”
“You had your opportunity, joker. Now you’ve got to give him the chance for a real education. Your half-assed instruction is gonna get him killed.”
“No death references please. It interferes with my calm.”
Lex laughed, “No doubt. Okay. As much as I hate to say it in his presence, Smoke is right on both accounts. I think that you are getting ahead of yourself, though. Instead of looking for problems, just look; see what is there and what isn’t there. When you can do that halfway decent, we’ll step up to determining what things are dangerous.”
“Okay.”
“So, let’s start. Look around. What do you see?”
“We got two guys on the canyon wall, forty feet up...”
“Hold up. I don’t just mean people. How much space is there? What are the exits? Where can you not see? What places are readily accessible? How much time would it take to get something? How long has it been since you were there last? What changes could have been made in that amount of time? Okay, you try.”
After dinner that night, Scythe found himself in Smoke’s room with Rend and Lex. They were showing him a card game that many of the Blades liked to play. It had been easy to pick up and he was hearing a lot of groaning about beginner’s luck. It wasn’t luck, though, because the cards were so old that he could often tell from the many wear marks which card was which. Of course no one else playing had a memory like his, so it wasn’t really fair. When he had told them about his ability to read the cards, they said they didn’t care, but they did eliminate the usual betting component of the game and arranged to get new cards the next day. Scythe knew they were playing just to keep an eye on him and make him feel comfortable, which he appreciated. It still humbled him to have the Blades looking out for him like that.
He laid down a card in front of him, picking up another from the pile and saying, “Pass.”
Lex laid down his card, pulling from Scythe’s pile, “Thanks, Scythe, that helps. Pass.”
Rend laughed, laying down his card and picking up Lex’s discard. “So, Scythe, I think it’s time you ‘fess up about what you did to spook Night yesterday. Pass.”
“Yeah, what was that? I’ve never seen him do that, have you, Lex?” Smoke put his card down and picked one up from the pile. “Pass.”
Lex said, “Nope and we were in the same unit a long time before I was recruited for the Blades.”
“I don’t know what it was. Pass. I just felt the urge to look at him so hard that I could see what he was really like.”
“So, you stared him down?” asked Rend incredulously.
“I guess.”
“It was the eye thing. Pass,” said Lex.
“What eye thing?” asked Rend.
Scythe looked at Lex, baffled.
“Well, first you did the calm thing, which worked fine on its own, but then your eyes started changing color, getting greener. That’s what spooked him. Spooked me too, if you want to know.”
“Pass. How the hell did you do that?” asked Rend.
“I don’t know. I don’t even know how to do that. Is that possible?”
“Pass.”
Scythe put his cards down, “Game.” Everyone threw down their cards, and, to a chorus of groans and friendly gibes, Lex scooped them up and started shuffling.
“It must be possible, because I saw it. You were all still, giving him as good as you were getting, and then your eyes started turning bright green. When he looked away, they changed back.”
“Maybe a light...”
“It wasn’t a light.”
“Whatever, I don’t know anything about that,” Scythe grumbled obstinately.
“It might have run in your mother’s family or something...some kind of Human thing.”
“Maybe. She didn’t do anything like that, though, and she never told me about having...” He had almost said, "powers," because that was what it was beginning to sound like, but he stopped himself at the last second. He couldn’t have powers. He was half Kin. It wasn’t possible, was it? In any case, talking about it with the Kin, even his brothers, didn’t seem like a smart thing to do. He finished with, “She never told me anything like that.”
“Well,” suggested Smoke. “Try it now. Let’s see if it works.”
“No,” refused Scythe firmly. He wasn’t feeling comfortable with the subject at all. It was hard enough for him to be tolerated as a halfblood. If he added Human tricks, the term the Kin used for Human powers, to his list of oddities, he didn’t know how the Kin would react.
“Okay, but if it happens again, you have to let us know.”
“Alright. Look, I’m heading to bed. Thanks for the game and for all of your help. Good night.”
“Night, Scythe.”
“Later.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. I want to talk to Keyrin about getting a message to the Humans. I’m afraid they might come looking for me and I want to let them know I’m not coming back. How do I do that?”
Rend asked doubtfully, “You think the Humans would come here, to Poinsea, to get you?”
“What? Again?” Lex joked, and the others laughed.
Scythe thought about Lena for the tenth time that day, “There is one woman I know will be worried and she’s amazingly gutsy, so, maybe. I don’t want her to get hurt trying to get a hold of me, so...”
“A woman?” teased Lex.
Smoke whistled, “You little fox!”
Scythe felt the blood rush to his face, “It’s not like that. She’s older.”
“Look at him blush!”
Rend said, shaking his head at his friends’ antics, “I’ll get a message to my cousin tomorrow and let you know what he says, okay?”
“I’m grateful, Rend. Thanks. See you guys tomorrow.” He ignored their demands for a physical description of Lena and crossed the hall to his room.
Scythe thought about what he wanted to say to Lena about the children and the abducted Kin and his decision to stay in the Kin settlement. He imagined her response: surprised and maybe sorry that she had invited him to help her in the first place. She, Ian and his wife, Faith, and their daughter Mercy were the only Humans that he could call friends; they were the only part of living with his mother’s people that he would miss. He regretted that he would probably not be able to see them more than one more time, if even that, but Scythe knew deep down that his decision to stay was the right one for him. Despite the dangers, he felt at home with the Kin, and he knew that Lena would accept that in the end.
Rend didn’t hear back from Keyrin for two more days, and the response wasn’t what Scythe was hoping for.
“He’s going to set up a meeting with the Humans through the diplomatic channels. That always takes a while, probably a couple of weeks.”
“That is too long. I need to get a message to Lena before that, Rend.”
“He wants to confront the Humans with the abductions, Scythe. It’s gonna be a big political thing.”
Scythe thought about the implications of making the abductions public. “That is a huge mistake. I need to talk to him, Rend, before he does that.”
“Why is it a mistake?”
“Keyrin doesn’t understand Humans if he thinks he’ll get anything by doing that. They don’t like...no, they can’t...accept that they do anything wrong or bad. They definitely won’t be able to handle admitting to torture and experimentation. Whatever he thinks he’ll accomplish, reparations or whatever, he will not get it that way. You’ve got to get me a few minutes to explain.”
“Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”
Later that day, Rend and Scythe were summoned to see Keyrin while they were practicing at the shooting range. A short time afterward, they met him in his office. His aide sat on a chair close by, inputting information into a small data pad. Two men sat across the desk from him. Scythe remembered both of them from the dinner he had attended on his first night in the pal
ace.
As Scythe tried to explain for the third time the futility of trying to get the Humans to accept what was done to the Kin victims, he began to see why peaceful coexistence between the Kin and the Humans was so difficult. Their values and beliefs were so far apart that they couldn’t even understand, not to mention develop any respect for, each other.
“That’s ridiculous,” scoffed one of the governor’s advisors, a man named Trior.
“Now you are starting to understand. Even if you show the bodies to every person in the city, they’ll just shake their heads and say, ‘That’s not true,’ because to them, it’s not possible. Humans would never do that. They’re nice.”
“Then, how do they explain the victims?”
“A lie, trick video, you did it to them yourself and are trying to frame the Humans, the bodies aren’t real, it’s an illusion...there are a million ways to explain it and any one will be accepted without a blink of the eye for two reasons.” Scythe counted on his fingers for emphasis, “One, Humans are so comfortable lying to themselves and accepting lies as truth that they do it automatically; they don’t question anything as long as a preferable and even remotely plausible excuse is presented. I’ve even seen them accept ‘Because,’ as an answer. Two, the alternative, in this case knowing that Humans have abducted and tortured Kin over the course of years, is too horrible to accept, so they won’t. They can’t, because then the world they have created, the people they think they are, will all be a gigantic lie. Then it would all fall apart for them. There is no way any politician in any meeting you set up is going to let that happen.” Scythe sat back in his chair, his eyes begging Keyrin and his father’s advisors to accept the truth.
Keyrin leaned forward, his hands gripping the desk, “Let it all fall apart for them; sounds like they need that. What do I care if their little fairy tale world is smashed?” He stood up, enraged, his hand pounding on the desk. “The Blood of the Kin has been spilt!” He kicked his chair back and began pacing.
Scythe swallowed, knowing instinctively to keep silent. He felt the immediate reaction in everyone present to Keyrin’s words. He pulled the calm from his center and waited.
After a moment, Trior cleared his throat and spoke, “I think what the boy is saying is that this particular strategy won’t work, so let’s regroup and look for one that will get us some real satisfaction. I suggest we meet with your father before we make any more decisions on this matter.” He paused, watching Keyrin. He had returned to his seat and sat with his arms folded over his chest, fuming but silent.
Keyrin looked at the second man, Hurg, who nodded in agreement. Then he sighed and said grudgingly, “Okay. We’ll find another way. I suppose we ought to thank you for the information, however unwelcome.”
Surprised by his change in mood as well as honored by the recognition, Scythe didn’t know what to say; he settled for a humble nod.
“I think the boy would be invaluable in our dealings with the Humans,” commented Hurg thoughtfully. “He may be wasted in the Blades. You should consider assigning him to me, my Young Lord.”
“I’m comfortable with him where he is for now, but I will think on it, Ambassador Hurg.”
“He has experience with the Humans that no one in my department has and, being somewhat Kin, is more trustworthy than the Humans we are forced to deal with.” Preparing to leave, he stood and bowed to Keyrin. He was joined by Trior and they both turned to the door.
Although they were obviously done with the meeting, Scythe forced himself to speak up. “There is one more thing I’m concerned about...”
The two Kin looked down at him, affronted by his impertinence, but Keyrin prompted with a surprised grin, “Yes?”
“You said that you believed that thirty-five Kin were abducted, but only five are accounted for, the two that died after returning here, and the three that are in the infirmary...” Scythe’s words died out, his eyes widening at the immediate and aggressive responses from Keyrin, his advisors and, surprisingly, Rend. Their bodies bolted upright, their hands clenched in fists, and their faces grew hard and angry.
“Yes, we have not been able to get any information about the remaining thirty that we suspect were also taken,” responded the ambassador in a tight voice. “We do, however, have several Humans in our employ working on it in Menelaus. I am confident we will find out what happened to the others, and whether or not any still survive.”
“You have an idea, Scythe.” Keyrin said, stating it like a fact.
“I have a couple of ideas,” he replied, keeping his eyes on Keyrin.
“Good. Let’s take a break for a bit and get something to eat, and then you can tell me what you think. I haven’t even had lunch yet today.” He turned to the other men, “If we come up with something good, I’ll contact you and father and we’ll meet later this week.” He stood, bowing. “Prosperity to the Kin.”
“Prosperity and peace until the end of days,” chanted the two men, and then they bowed and left together.
“Let’s get something to fill this empty hole in my stomach,” said Keyrin congenially to his aide who inclined his head, stood and began collecting his belongings. “Cousin? Scythe? Do you want anything?”
Scythe nodded, turning toward Rend who joked, “Are you kidding? I’m an automatic ‘Yes’ whenever eating is the issue.” He leaned back in his chair and stretched out his legs. “That was exhausting. I don’t know how you do it, cousin.”
“Find us something really good, Pace.” As the man left, Keyrin got up, stretched and walked to stand by the window. He let the warm sun soak into his back. “It’s not so bad. At least I don’t have to crawl through the mud dragging my friends behind me.”
“That isn’t a typical exercise.”
Keyrin raised an eyebrow at him.
“Fine, we do that every rainy season at least once a week. Happy?”
They shared a laugh while Scythe, feeling restless, got up and walked toward the window. He found a yellow pane that was nearly transparent and looked out at the settlement beyond.
A comfortable silence fell between them for a while, until Scythe said quietly, “You should rebuild the damaged areas.”
Keyrin replied without turning, “I know, but not yet.” He walked out of the light, passing Rend and heading toward another, smaller table with four comfortable chairs on the other side of the room. “Let’s eat over here so I don’t have to clean my desk off.”
Scythe joined them at the table when the aide came in with a tray of food. Soon, they were eating sandwiches, some kind of fried vegetables and several types of cheeses on small pieces of toast. They also had a pitcher of a refreshing drink made from soaking the petals of a local wildflower in water and adding lemon and sugar.
“So, let’s hear it, Scythe. What is your idea?” Keyrin prompted later as he was finishing off his sandwich.
“Well, first, if you do manage to spread news about the possibility of Kin prisoners,” Scythe put down his sandwich, feeling full despite only having taken a few small bites, “the Humans responsible will be forced to eliminate any evidence before it is found.” He stared at Rend and Keyrin, making sure they understood what that meant for the Kin. “That’s the first thing I thought of when Rend told me your plan. If there are any Kin left alive, they’ll be made to disappear.”
“Not released,” said Keyrin, revealing his unspoken hope.
“Nope, not ever.”
“Shit.”
“I could be wrong...”
“But, you don’t think you are,” said Rend.
“No, I don’t think I am, and I want them back, all of them, and I know you do, too. I don’t know how to make that happen, but I have an idea that might turn into a plan.”
He leaned forward to make sure that he had their full attention. “I need to meet with my friend Lena and find out if she knows about any of this. To be honest, I really don’t believe that she does, but I’m not sure about anything when it comes to Humans anymore. I’ll be abl
e to tell in a minute if she knows.” He paused, admitting, “If she does know, I’ve got nothing, no plan.” And no Human friend.
He continued, “If she is the kind of person that I think she is, she won’t know anything about it, and she’ll be enraged when she finds out. I know you guys don’t know her, but I do and I think she’ll help us find the Kin and bring them back.”
“She’ll betray her own people?” asked Keyrin in disbelief.
“Not like you think, but she’ll agree that it’s wrong and she’ll do what she can to make it right. Look, I’m not making any promises, I’m just giving you my idea. For now, I want to meet with her and just find out if she knows or not.”
“This is the woman who you think will come looking for you eventually, right?” asked Rend.
“Yeah, she’ll definitely do something if she doesn’t hear from me soon. She might already be evaluating her choices, I don’t know. She feels responsible for me and she can be counted on to act if she thinks I’m in any danger.”
“If she’s the kind of Human that you think she is...” added Keyrin skeptically.
“That’s right.” Scythe looked over at Rend and confided in him, “Rend, she and her brother are my only Human friends, the only people in three years that I’ve ever believed, ever trusted. I...I have to know the truth about them.”
Rend nodded, accepting the admission respectfully, and looked at his cousin expectantly.
Keyrin sat back. “I don’t trust them. They’re not people, Scythe, they’re dogs. This woman, she’s just another dog...”
Halfblood Heritage Page 12