A Glimmer on the Blade

by Rachel E. Baddorf

  “Ah, no. No sitting for me. I’m going to bed,” Vansainté said, and led his sister to their bedrolls.

  Yupendra took something from his bag and started cutting off Anoni’s shirt.

  “No! That's one of my favorites. I can get it off,” she protested.

  Yupendra didn’t even pause. “No you can’t. You’re good at acting like you aren’t hurt but when the body goes...” He pulled her shirt off in pieces. It had been one of the few she could wear both as a woman and as a man. “Though we might have to get your mail off over your head. As much as I’d like to cut it off, you’ll need it later.”

  She looked down distractedly. “It went through the mail? So much for Holy St. Issac.”

  “Drink this for the pain.” She gulped from the cup he gave her. “Wix, could you assist me?” Yupendra asked the man across the fire from him.

  “Sure.” Wix got up and came over.

  “Not him, he’ll make me laugh,” she said faintly, but both men ignored her. Yupendra gently manipulated her left arm and shoulder as Wix eased her chain mail and undershirt off. She heard both of their sharp intakes of breath as they saw what she wore beneath it. The moonpearl shirt gleamed gently in the moonlight, rising and falling rapidly as she tried not to cry out in pain.

  “Is there a problem?” Corin asked softly, having come over.

  Yupendra gave him an unreadable look. “There might be. Anoni, what is this?”

  “You been keepin’ secrets again, boss?” Wix asked, serious.

  “Well,” Anoni stuttered as Yupendra started to put down her arm. “Did you really think I could just do all that mindreading in my head? Besides, don’t give me that look, you make deals with spirits.”

  “I can’t find a seam or a catch,” Yupendra said. “How do you get it off, Anoni?” He had to ask her twice because she was drifting in the fuzzy mass that used to be the pain but was now her mind. It seemed the last of the adrenaline had left her to deal with the consequences of her actions and Yupendra’s juice was only just kicking in.

  She had just enough consciousness left to ask for a blanket to cover herself. Wix grabbed her bedroll from where she’d dumped it with the rest of her saddlebags and saddle when they’d pitched camp. He unrolled the blankets and loosely draped them over her legs. She looked down to see the moonpearls were broken over her chest a little higher than her heart. Blood had covered the stones down her front on the left side. She found the command stone near her neck and touched it. The metal between the stones separated in a line down the front. She fumbled to pull the blanket up to cover her front. She still had three moonpearls on necklaces around her neck. Fuzzy, she found herself talking.

  “They are mine, you know. I’m not going to be throwing them about, or showing them to every ignorant brother or manling,” she muttered. Wix and Corin pulled the shirt off her arms, having to jerk it a little to get the stones unstuck from the drying blood. She squeaked as each came free. Her shoulder still trickled blood.

  “What’s she talking about?” Corin asked, running his hands over the shirt of stones. It gave him a pleasant tingling feeling in his fingers. It also seemed to be humming, but he couldn’t be sure.

  “We won’t take them away from you,” Yupendra comforted her. He folded down the blanket to expose the wound but leave the rest of her covered. She gave him a dirty look.

  “You couldn’t take ‘em off without a powerful bit of craftiness.” She blinked slowly and said, “And be careful of me’ shirt. Oh, it’s all yucky.”

  “I’ll clean it for you, shall I?” Corin asked in the special voice he used to calm horses and children.

  “Sure. And get me some water so I can clean them,” she said distractedly.

  Corin addressed the men. “Clearly, ‘them’ and the shirt are separate. Do I want to know what ‘them’ are?”

  Grinning Wix said, “Probably not.”

  ***

  Forests Outside of Almacenista, Safiro Wilds

  Corin

  “Right. I’ll start cleaning this then.” He got up, intent on getting a pot of water.

  “I have to clean the wound. It looks like there are metal links and bits of stone in the wound...” Yupendra said. “Corin, Wix, don’t go too far. I might need your help to hold her down if she struggles.”

  Corin nodded and went to pour some of the extra water from dinner into a pot. He settled down with it and a brush used for cleaning tack. He submerged the shirt and watched the water turn pink with the blood.

  Yupendra knelt beside Anoni with a cloth and a pot of water. He sponged the wound, cleaning off the blood. There was a strange silvery tacky substance in the wound also. Corin watched as the healer tried harder to get the stuff off. Frowning, Yupendra rubbed a finger in the substance and held it up to the light. The silvery stuff glowed faintly in the sunlight. He cursed softly and wiped off his finger. It came off easily for him.

  “Corin, can you find the hole in that shirt?” he asked.

  “Right here. The stones are all cracked and broken around the hole. The links between finally gave.” Corin held up the shirt to show him.

  “I need you to check the stones right near the hole. What do you see?”

  Corin held the shirt close, studying it. “The stones that are missing pieces are hollow,” he said, puzzled.

  Yupendra clenched his jaw but remained silent. He just went on cleaning the wound. He took out a small pair of tweezers and began the long process of pulling the broken links and bits of stone out of the wound. He put all the things retrieved into a metal bowl for later consideration. Corin watched as Anoni was reduced to a gasping pain-racked mess until mercifully, she passed out.

  “What is that stuff?” asked Corin.

  “Not sure. It’s seeping into the wound, and I can’t get it out.” Yupendra grimaced in frustration. “Nothing I can do but disinfect and bandage it all up.” Corin felt himself relax as Anoni’s breathing finally leveled out into sleep. Handling the shirt was oddly calming and despite not having slept in a day and half, he kept cleaning it. As he brushed the stones to clear away the sweat, mud, and blood, he was suspended in a calmness that could not be touched by fear, pain, or exhaustion. Around him, the Dragons turned in.

  He had never washed his own clothes and he wouldn’t know how, he had thought. It was funny that way. He just cared for the stone shirt like it was armor or horse tack, things that he had seen cleaned and cared for. He dried the stones and rubbed the whole thing with the oil used for armor. When he was done he held the shirt up to see it all. Sometime during his meticulous drying, the broken links had reconnected with newly whole stones. The hole was gone.

  ***

  Forests Outside of Almacenista, Safiro Wilds

  Corin

  Corin dreamed he was walking through the audience chamber during a party. The courtiers were dressed in wild and beautiful clothes. Jeweled masks and feathers caught the light and gleamed, all like a menagerie of exotic birds. He found himself still in the merchant’s garb, still in Corin Deviida’s body. The crowd parted as he walked, their eyes following him. Two women in identical silver masks stopped in front of him. Both wore beaded black gowns, the one on the right had amber eyes, while the one on the left had dark blue-gray eyes. They parted, and a man dressed in a bronze tunic and trousers held a little girl in his arms. His mask was shining and had rays fanning out from it. His eyes blazed with fire, and the young girl started to scream. She had amber eyes and frizzy copper hair.

  The man in bronze clutched her closer as the girl’s red dress began to smoke, crisping at the edges. Corin fought to get by the silver-masked women, to get the young Anoni away from the burning man. His movements were too slow, their arms wrapped around him like vines. When he finally twisted free and reached the burning man, the only weapon he had was a handful of dirt. The young Anoni shrieked as her flesh began to burn. The burning man turned to him, smiling. “It’s time.”

  Corin tried to throw the dirt at the man but it caught
fire in his hand. The burning man laughed, saying “It’s your turn now.” Corin shouted himself awake, fighting out of the bedroll, heart pounding. The nightmares had never been so real before. Back at Hawk’s Hoop when he had told Anoni that he dreamed of dying in flames, he hadn’t been exaggerating. His nightmares were always of being caught in fire. This burning man was a new and terrifying invention of his dreaming mind.

  “Hey Corin, you awake?” Wix popped his head inside the tent.

  “I am now,” replied Corin as he ran his hands through his hair, massaging his scalp.

  “Would you take a turn at guard duty? We could use another set of eyes,” asked Wix.

  Corin blinked. When he had only experienced being Prince Corinado he would have snapped at anyone presuming to disturb his sleep, but he realized how much it meant that the Dragons would ask. A small smile curved his lips and then it was gone. “Yes, all right. Give me a minute.” He pulled on his sword belt and boots, grabbing his coat on his way to take Wix’s place on guard.

  ***

  Forests Outside of Almacenista, Safiro Wilds

  Anoni

  Anoni? Are you there? Norsson’s voice echoed in her head and brought her painfully awake.

  Burn it, you better be bleeding Norsson, she groaned, rolling over.

  Aren’t you just a bed of roses in the morning. No wonder you’re single, replied Norsson.

  Situation report, she barked.

  We led First Lieutenant Geoffrey Tuttle into a fake camp by allowing him to overhear one of our men talking in the common room of an inn. Tuttle was half pickled but managed to follow our man. When he stumbled into the camp, he cut the ropes off most of the hostages before we rejoined the party. He drew his sword and waved it around a bit once he realized we were there. He tried to take some potshots at our guards, and then showing a bit of creativity, he used whatever rotgut he was drinking as fuel for spiting flames. He got the extra hostages out. Right now, he’s receiving a medal from the Shaiso cousin in charge of the castle, and trying to figure out what happened. Franco’s wife and children are safe with us. We are free to move without witnesses and we didn’t suffer any wounds.

  Anoni’s laughter was strong enough she almost blacked out from the reactive pain from her wound. Good work. I’ll let Franco know.

  She did so, still chuckling, and finally dragged herself out of her bedroll. Clear noonday sun spilled through the canopy overhead. She felt like she had spent the day at the bottom of a well, but she flexed and moved her arm and shoulder around, pleasantly surprised to find the pain tolerable. She scrambled into her clothes and went out to find her men.

  “Ahoy! We have a late arrival from the moon. Welcome back to earth, Mizrahi,” Wix said with a playful bow.

  “What’s our status?” Anoni asked.

  Wix ignored her question for the time being and said, “Come, we’ve got some leftovers from lunch.”

  She sat on a log near the fire pit and watched as he got some rye bread and yellow cheese from the stores. Finding she was indeed hungry, she dug in. Between bites she asked, “Where is everybody?”

  “Found a river not far from here. My auntie used to say, ‘never take a chance to wash for granted.’”

  Anoni nodded and asked, “How are they?”

  “We’ve been resting in shifts. Copelia’s still pretty shaky. Corin successfully completed guard duty without falling asleep or getting us killed. Talked to himself a bit, though.”

  She found herself smiling around a bite of cheese for no reason she could identify. “We should be getting to the rendezvous soon.”

  “Not yet,” he said, giving her a pointed look up and down, indicating the dried blood, sweat, and ash that covered her from the battle.

  “Not before I get a chance to bathe,” she agreed. She thanked him and gathered up a towel, soap, and extra clothes. Following Wix’s directions, she descended the bluff and headed west. Weaving between the trees, she unexpectedly came upon Vansainté over a rise. He was standing in a clear patch, arm fighting the sun for brilliance, carrying his sister in his arms. She was wrapped like a baby in a trailing blanket, looking pale but hair still damp from the cleaning. Their backs were to her and for a moment Anoni couldn’t breathe past the lump in her throat. They were her friends and family, these fragile valiant children whom she had brought into this mess. Her foot snapped a twig, and Vansainté turned, smile at the ready. Swallowing, Anoni went to meet them. “Good morning.”

  “Good afternoon,” he answered. “We were admiring the plant life.”

  Anoni followed his pointing hand to see a strange, old cherry tree in blossom, delicate pale pink flowers all over the branches. It was out of season for cherry blossoms, so it took her a moment to realize the flowers and branches swayed to a nonexistent wind. Carefully, she picked up a rock at her feet and tossed it at the tree. It thudded against the trunk and the blossoms rose upward, buzzing and circling. En mass they debarked, swarming up and away into the canopy, petals flapping.

  “They’re bugs...” Copelia said in wonder.

  What was left was a broken old tree trunk. There were marks where the bark had been blown off and lines burned in, old signs of a lightning strike boiling some of the sap in the moment it struck. “They were eating the rotting tree,” Anoni said, approaching with care to examine the branches.

  “I think we should import them to Aquillion. Clean up the streets,” Vansainté said.

  “Beauty and function. Perfect for the palace,” Copelia crowed.

  “Don’t you dare. Our luck, they would turn out to like eating people,” Anoni said with a laugh. “There wasn’t anything like that in the river, was there?”

  “Yupendra did a little dance and whatever it was that was bubbling in one of the pools moved off. You should be safe,” Vansainté said.

  “Thanks. I was joking,” said Anoni. Her show of trepidation was only half fiction. “Maybe Yupendra’ll stay down there, with his back turned, while I bathe.”

  Copelia giggled, and then winced. “The mighty Red Dragon, scared by bugs?”

  “That’s the thing about swords. You can use them against swarms of bugs, but it doesn’t actually help,” Anoni said dryly.

  She left and finished her trek to the river. Most of the men had finished bathing and were getting dressed. Corin, of all people, was still in a very small towel. He blushed scarlet, stammered something, and rushed behind a bush with his clothes. “Hey, Corin! I don’t know why you’re rushing about. Turnabout’s fair play!” called Anoni. This earned her several quizzical looks from the Dragons. Smiling mysteriously, she went over to Yupendra. “Are there any floral, faunal, or...spiritual surprises I should be expecting?” she asked dryly.

  “Ah, I set up some temporary wards on this part of the river. Keep an eye on the current and you’ll be fine. Take the bandages off and I’ll re-bandage it later,” Yupendra instructed.

  They left her to bathe in peace after she passed on her wishes to be on the road soon for the rendezvous with Nekobashi and Tevix. The water was cold and clear, and she washed quickly. She wished she could lay in the sun on one of the big rocks already warm on the bank, so that she could rest her weary body and farm herself a new crop of freckles. Alas, she had never been a woman to keep a military mission subject to her morning toilette. It didn’t mean she left the river without a longing look though.

  Back at the camp, she found them ready to go. Yupendra bandaged her shoulder and chest quickly, and they moved out toward the Almacenista tangent to the North Road. She was glad to see Copelia aboard Nightswift again; the girl seemed to gather strength from the giant horse. Yupendra rode between Copelia and herself.

  “I don’t see why you were so concerned about before. My shoulder isn’t that bad, Yupendra,” she said.

  He scowled at her. “Your reaction was so bad because of exhaustion and blood loss. You should have let me bind it back at the marine’s camp. Besides, the wound was worse last night. Whatever was in the moonpearls seeped int
o the wound. That’s ancient spell matter. You Moon Temple people stare down your noses at this stuff when you are trying to practice. They run theomancers like me out of the Empire, but they lose the power to channel greater magic and the skill to make new spells each year as the oldest priestesses die. They can’t make more relics; they can only do the basics of spellsetting to activate them,” he said bitterly.

  Anoni was taken aback. “Don’t jump down my throat. It’s not my business.” She shrugged. “How do you know all that anyway? Alcyenne isn’t exactly chatty about the mysteries.”

  “I was a healer and a theomancer in Oruno. In Aquillion, I couldn’t channel any Ozuk power because there were none there. I was bored. And as soon as I got Alcyenne talking it was clear the Temple had lost most of their talented theomancers in the Sawgrass Plague. They have spellbooks and no one to use them. And the Goddess has been almost silent for about twenty years,” Yupendra said.

  Anoni blinked rapidly, trying to absorb this. She hadn’t really believed in the Goddess, but having seen an Ozuk, it was getting harder to not believe that some greater power kept the Ozuk out of the central Empire. “I think I was always secretly impressed the relics worked because they’ve saved my life so many times,” she said with chagrin. She thought back to how her exile would have played out as a girl alone in a wasteland full of slavers and raiders. Being seen as a boy had definitely saved her. “How worried should I be about the Temple?”

  Yupendra shrugged expressively. “They’ve lasted a long time. They still have some power. Anyway, be alert for dizziness, stomach cramps, muscle weakness, vomiting, and drink plenty of water. You may have been poisoned by the spell matter in the wound.”

  She sighed. He knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t tell him if her hair was actually on fire, let alone if she was feeling ill. She knew he would be watching her like a self-righteous vulture, circling. Life was too complicated to worry about the Moon Temple, much less poisoning. She had been glad just to get her stone shirt back from Corin before they headed out. He had fixed it for her, but when she asked how, he just shrugged. It was good to have the stones warm against her skin again. She decided to contact Sybil Alcyenne on the stones and ask about the possibility of poisoning. The woman just laughed.