“Maybe,” Scythe answered cautiously, remembering that the Red Guard had underestimated him from the start. If they hadn’t, or if they had drawn their weapons, things would have been very different.
“But, you weren’t ready to seriously injure the Red Guard, so of course they were able to get to the children. After all, there were six of them.” Smoke shrugged, adding, “If you couldn’t immobilize them, then eventually one would get through. It would be the same for anyone with your level of experience. Flame was right last night when she said there was really no way out for you in that situation. You made the right choice, though, by not hurting anyone; they, also, didn’t hurt you when they could have.”
Scythe thought to himself guiltily, But I wanted to hurt them, at the end. I think I would have...if Flame hadn’t called out to me. “I wasn’t thinking about any of that. I was just reacting. It could have turned out differently.”
“Yeah, well, ‘what could have happened’ doesn’t have a voice in the chorus,” said Rend. “What matters for you, today, is what did happen, and what the governor thinks about it.”
“And what he thinks about you, which is why we want him to lend us his ear so he can make up his mind using all the information about you, not just his limited experience with you.”
“What do you think is going to happen?” Scythe asked, voicing the question that had kept him up most of the night.
“Honestly? I have no idea. Keyrin went to talk to his father yesterday, but I haven’t seen him since, so, we’ll have to wait and see,” answered Leandra.
“You are just entering manhood and are still young. I don’t think it’ll be too bad, whatever it is,” said Resner.
Scythe nodded, although he didn’t feel reassured. Then they turned a corner and his mouth dropped open.
“Here we are. Heya, guys,” Smoke greeted the seven Blades standing in the hall outside the governor’s office. Two Red Guard were placed on either side of the door. The one that Scythe recognized from the night before was noticeably tense.
Rend commented, “Remember what we told you about the Blades?”
“Um, yeah, how they stand together?”
Smoke nodded, “Yup, we stand together. This is everyone who is not assigned to a duty.”
Scythe was moved by the show of brotherhood. “Thank you, especially since I’m not even a real Blade yet.” He bowed to the six men and one woman in the hall.
Pride said, arms crossed and a small grin playing at the corner of his mouth, “I’m here to stand for my little brother, real Blade or not.”
“Little Brother? I thought we agreed on Sleepyhead?” said Leandra as they all filed through the door into a lavishly decorated room.
A second pair of larger and heavier doors led to Talto’s office across the way, framed again on both sides by a Red Guard. Impressive paintings of Kin leaders and their families lined the walls of the spacious room. To the right was an ornate desk at which a lady sat typing on a datapad and pointedly ignoring them. There were comfortable chairs surrounding small tables grouped together around the room, vacant except for one pair; an elderly man and woman sat together, startled at first by the large group and then watching with interest.
“Sleepyhead?” asked Scythe, appalled. “I was only late one time!”
“I’m not calling him Sleepyhead. It sounds like something from a nursery rhyme.”
“How about Double Pack?”
“Easy Money,” suggested Smoke, grinning at the round of groans.
“Lost and Found.”
“Lost His Mind When He Backtalked The Governor of Poinsea is more like it.”
“Hmm. Maybe Backtalk.”
“That sets a bad precedence, don’t you think?” said Leandra. “Besides, it’s about as accurate as Sleepyhead.”
“Let’s see if he lives through the day, then we’ll decide,” joked Rend.
“Okay, that is not helping me maintain my calm.”
Flame interrupted, pulling Scythe away from the group and toward the desk, “Poor Scythe, surrounded by a bunch of jokers. How will he ever mature?” She turned to the secretary with a smile, and her eyes widened. “Excuse me, we...”
“Our Lord is aware of your visit and will see you momentarily. You are free to have a seat,” replied the woman without looking up.
Flame, startled by the woman’s abrupt manner, said firmly, “I appreciate your sincere and cordial attention to our needs. Thank you.”
The secretary, bringing her head up from the datapad, said smoothly, “I am happy to serve.” Then her eyebrows shot up and her face transformed into one of happy surprise as she recognized the woman before her, “Flame!”
Flame shook her head, teasing, “Delight, you had me worried there for a moment.”
“I’m sorry about that! It’s so good to see you! How are you? You look good.”
“As well as can be expected. You need to come and visit me in the infirmary so you can meet my daughter, Cinder.”
Delight blinked, her heart racing, “Oh.” She shifted in her seat, eyes wandering, and waved at a pile of papers on her desk. “We’ve been swamped here, what with tensions being as high as they are.”
Flame watched her for a moment and then leaned over and gave her old friend a compassionate pat on the hand, “You don’t have to, Delight. I understand if it makes you uneasy.”
The woman swallowed, forcing herself to meet Flame’s eyes, “No, I have been remiss. I definitely will make time to do that, Flame.”
“That would be great. I want you to meet a friend of mine. Delight, this is Scythe, the young man who is responsible for my freedom. Scythe, this is my friend from long ago, Delight.”
“Scythe and I have already worked together,” said Delight.
At Flame’s inquiring look, Scythe explained, “We met each other a few times at the meetings with Lena and Ian and the other ambassadors.”
“Ah, well, that makes sense. Delight, I would like you to look out for him as a favor to me, okay? He is as family to me.”
Scythe’s face reddened at the casual way Flame embraced him, and a warm glow burst to life in his chest.
“I will do what little I can, given my small role here, Flame.”
The door opened and each person in the room turned to see Keyrin, who quickly grinned at the sight of the group before him, acknowledging the bowing Blades with a nod.
“Well, look at that,” he said, addressing them all. His eyes finally rested on Scythe. “You’ve got quite a following, Scythe.”
Scythe lowered his head humbly.
“Well, how does it look?” asked Rend.
Keyrin put his hand on Scythe’s shoulder, reassuring him with a small shake, before answering his cousin. “You know my father; he’s keeping his own counsel on this one. He is busy today, so it will be quick, whatever it is.”
“I’d like to speak to him, if I may, and so would Resner, on behalf of those abducted,” said Flame.
“I imagine you’ll want someone from the Blades, too?” asked Keyrin.
“I will speak,” answered Leandra, “but everyone here stands by him, as do those who hold a duty. Will he see us?”
“Let me see. Hold on.” He entered the room again, closing the door behind him.
Scythe, feeling his nerves begin to fray, took a deep breath and let the calm he often relied on fill him. He emptied his mind as he had been trained to do by his parents, long ago.
Keyrin returned for Flame, Leandra and Resner, who disappeared through the door for some ten minutes. When they reappeared, Flame was clearly uncomfortable. She said, “Well, I’m not sure if we made any impression at all. He just sat there, still as a statue, and then dismissed us when we were done.”
“Let’s go, Scythe. No, Rend,” Keyrin said when Smoke and Rend moved to join him. “He wants to see him alone.”
“Last time we left him alone with someone, he had a breakdown,” objected Smoke, only half joking.
Keyrin shook his head r
uefully, “All right, I guess I deserve that, even though I still think it needed to be done that way. But this is the governor and his word is law. He wants to see Scythe alone.” His tone left no room for argument.
Scythe felt the tension around him rise, but his calm was holding him steady, “It’s okay, Smoke. I’ll be fine. I’m ready for whatever comes.” He turned to Keyrin, who stepped aside, motioned for him to enter, and then closed the door, leaving Scythe inside. Scythe could barely hear Rend and Smoke arguing with the governor’s son through the thick door.
Scythe turned and, quickly locating the ruler of Poinsea in the surprisingly small room, bowed low to him, “My Lord.”
“Come over here, Scythe, son of Scythe.”
The man waved him over to a sitting area by a large fireplace where he sat in a wide, comfortable chair. The whole room was half the size of the waiting area, with just enough space for the large desk in front of a wall of books on one side and the couch and three chairs that faced the blazing fire on the other. The fireplace was set in a wall covered with large multicolored stones, some of which had dazzling veins of gold-speckled quartz crisscrossing their surfaces. The wall across from the entrance was adorned with an enormous, beautiful handmade rug decorated with geometric patterns in red, black and dark blue that were somehow both soothing as well as stimulating.
Scythe joined him, sitting when he was signaled to do so on the edge of the chair next to him. Having no idea what to say, Scythe sat still and concentrated on his breathing.
The governor, seemingly content to relax in his chair, drank from a mug and watched the fire. Finally, he spoke, “You interest me, Scythe. Do you know, I’ve had more than twenty people contact me today to speak for you? That is an incredible number, particularly since I summoned you here less than fifteen hours ago. I had a young woman from a very prominent family in here a month back and only two members of her family thought to intervene for her.” When Scythe didn’t respond, he asked, “What do you think about that?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m honored that those people would do that for me. I’m mostly just surprised at how lucky I am,” Scythe answered awkwardly.
“I don’t rely on luck much, and I don’t think you do either, am I right?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You said that you’re surprised at how lucky you are, but I don’t think it’s luck at all that you have so many friends here.” He leaned forward, putting his mug on the table where Scythe’s knife lay and looking Scythe in the eye. “Do you?”
Scythe sighed, answering honestly, “I feel really honored when things like this happen, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I would do the same for any of them. That’s what friendship is.”
“It’s not just friendship, and, when it comes to your dedication as a Blade, it’s not just duty, either. It has everything to do with you.” At Scythe’s blank look, he said, leaning back, “You’ll understand when you are older, Scythe.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“Now, let us discuss your place here.” When Scythe still remained silent, he prompted, “Do you have any defense for your actions last night?”
Scythe thought before answering, “I’m not sure what I could have done differently, so, no.”
“You were ready to severely injure the man you had on the ground.”
“Yes,” he lowered his head.
“Even though I had called an end to the exercise, you continued to be a threat to us and, as we left, you thought to pursue us.”
“Yes, that’s true, too,” answered Scythe, wondering how the man knew about his deep desire to finish them off as they were leaving. “I should not have done that.”
“Give me your explanation, so I might spare you some discomfort.”
“I’d like to give you one, but I don’t have any reason that justifies what I did. I should have stood down, but I didn’t.” I didn’t even want to. Heck, it didn’t even occur to me, the truth whispered through his head.
Talto shook his head, “It is a very good thing you have friends to speak for you, because you have no sense of self preservation. If I had to make a judgement based only on this, the least punishment you would face would be detention for a month and expulsion from the Blades. Fortunately for you, your doctor was one of my first visitors this morning. She explained to me about your unusual condition. I will accept that as reason for your overzealous behavior last night. She seems confident that you will be able to control your aggression in the near future.” He paused before continuing, “I notice that you don’t make excuses for yourself.”
Scythe shrugged.
He nodded, “You have proven yourself as a Blade. I am having my son put you into the duty rotation. In addition, I will be assigning you an extra responsibility. You will be working closely with Ambassador Hurg, assisting him and his staff with Human relations. He’s been pestering me about it for a while now...”
“My Lord, I have so much to learn before I can be a full Blade. I need to train...”
Talto interrupted him, smoothly raising a hand for silence. “Naturally, you will continue to train, but you are still very naive, Scythe, and the only cure for that is experience.” He sat up, clearly ready to dismiss the young man. “I think we are done here...”
“I do have one question, My Lord.”
“Yes?”
“Why can’t I smell her very well?” Scythe turned and pointed to a woman behind him who was standing in the far corner behind the desk, a place that was vacant when he entered.
“Some kind of Red Guard trick, no doubt,” replied the governor, smiling. “They’ve got a million of them.”
Scythe looked back at the woman. She was clad in black, with a black hood and face cowl. The only skin he could see was around the eyes and the bridge of her nose; it seemed darker than usual, even considering the sparsely lit room. “Some kind of body paint?”
He shrugged, “Ask the Blades.” The governor stood, took Scythe’s knife, handed it to him, and moved toward the door. Scythe, noting the way the Red Guard tensed, carefully put it in his pocket and followed at a generous distance.
“Remember your first night here, Scythe, when you said something about wanting to find your place here?” asked Talto.
“Yes,” answered Scythe, recalling how fearful he had been of the man.
“Well, I for one am glad, if only for the sake of the Kin you helped return to us, that I didn’t have you executed for the spy you were when you came.”
Scythe’s heart jumped and he froze, dumbfounded, while Talto opened the door and barked loudly in an abrupt change of tone.
“Keep that in mind, boy, and you may make it to Year End! Now, get out!”
Everyone in the room turned and stared at the governor’s irate outburst and Scythe’s shocked expression; he heard more than one gasp and a host of rapid heartbeats.
Scythe swallowed, still shocked by the man’s words, “Yes, My Lord.” He bowed lower than he had before and hurried through the doorway. A rush of air blew up against him as the door slammed shut.
Chapter 19
“We’ve followed just about every lead we’ve had and have very little to show for it. There are just a few drops left in the bucket, and when those run out, we’ll have to call it quits, I think...unless something falls into our lap.”
The video image of Ian shrugged and leaned back in his chair. Behind him, Scythe could see the simple furnishings of Ian and Faith’s home: a landscape painting on the wall, a short table underneath it decorated only with a small bowl of flowers, and the edge of their worn sofa with a blanket thrown over the arm.
Ian continued, “It’s been months now, and the trail is cold. Every time we think we’re getting somewhere, we usually find a body--or a missing person we suspect is a body somewhere--and pile of empty records.”
“What about all those people in the hospital?”
“The hospital was completely emptied out the same day we found you; we haven’t pic
ked up the trail of even one survivor.”
Scythe frowned, thinking about his intentions to get word about Yureg to Ben someday, and wondering how he would tell Enera about the probable death of her son’s father.
Ian nodded, “I know, sorry about that, Scythe; I did search thoroughly for any survivors, questioning the witnesses in Shelfield and then checking the surrounding towns for news of strangers. A couple of trucks came in, loaded up some stuff in crates, wiped the place and took off.”
“Too bad we didn’t leave anyone in Shelfield to watch...”
“We did. We left two people from our unit behind. They disappeared.”
“I’m sorry, Ian.”
“Yeah, me, too. They were friends.” He ran his hand through his hair, blowing out a breath. “I just wish we could get these guys, you know? I mean, there’s got to be some justice, for all the suffering...”
“Ian, you’re such a dreamer,” Lena’s voice interrupted, her face appearing in the screen as she pushed his chair a little to the side. She waved into the camera at Scythe. “Heya, Scythe! Sorry I’m late. I had a ton of work to do.”
“Hi, Lena.”
“How come you didn’t vid last week?”
“What are you, his mother?”
“Shut up, Ian. Don’t you have a diaper to change or something?”
Scythe laughed, “I’m sorry. I’ve been really busy, now that I’m doubling up with training and taking duty shifts and working with Ambassador Hurg almost every day...”
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