by Vi Voxley
She wanted to say something, but no words at all came to her mind. Her instincts were all saying different things, which was very confusing. One of them told her to flee, very quickly. The other was trying to deny what most of her already had realized – that there was pretty much only one reason Faren would seek her out like this. A third was telling her to open her mouth and say something in the next few seconds or Faren might really kill one of her friends.
The most prevailing one, however, was relief. Or gratitude. Or whatever it was that made her feel completely, utterly warm under the piercing gaze of those stormy eyes.
Stupid long songs. They’re going to get me killed. Or Miren. More likely Miren. Oh gods this is why I don’t like warriors…
Leiya had to force the third instinct forward just as Faren turned to Miren and said,
“Stand.”
The look on Miren’s face was unmistakable for anything other than fear, but he was still a Brion warrior. They didn’t back down from fights, even if he knew there was no chance he’d survive it. Leiya’s desire to avoid seeing her friend walk into certain death kicked in immediately, overshadowing the plethora of emotions she was already experiencing.
“No, please,” she said, jumping to her feet, finding herself comically out of words that usually came so naturally to her. “He was joking, General. He didn’t really mean to challenge you.”
“How can you know that?” Faren asked calmly.
How could I possibly explain that to you without making Miren sound like a complete coward? Leiya thought. I don’t think I remember you being challenged, ever. Why would he want to die? Another part of her added, Well that’s pretty eyes for you, dumb girl.
“He was just expressing himself in a way that would make me understand he was being serious,” she tried, but realized about halfway through it only made things worse.
“Yes,” the general said. “I heard.”
He moved so fast none of them besides Miren managed to react, but of course it didn’t help him one bit. His warrior reflexes were faster than theirs, Leiya knew, but that didn’t protect him from someone who was born to be a general. Faren slammed him against the tree he’d climbed, fist around his throat, pushing him up the trunk until his legs were dangling against the bark.
Leiya couldn’t believe he was able to do that. Miren was big, even if he wasn’t as huge as Faren, but he definitely didn’t weigh nothing like Faren made it look like. He was holding him up with one hand, not even appearing to make an effort to do so. Pressing down, slowly, choking him…
“No,” she yelled. “Let him go!”
Cold, stormy eyes turned to observe her with a look she didn’t know how to decipher. He let up just a little, if Leiya judged correctly from the way they could suddenly hear Miren’s rasping, coughing breathing. She saw Iloya shake, knowing the healers didn’t interfere with warrior’s duels, which it technically was.
It was her job to simply fix what was left, if she could. Leiya wondered if she was thinking of when the breaking point would come when she’d no longer be able to do anything. She most certainly was, but Faren could fight them all off with one hand if he wished. The battle ax on his back remained holstered, at least.
“Why?” the general asked.
It was such an odd question Leiya didn’t immediately know what to say.
What do you mean!? Gods, warriors… You’re trying to kill one of my friends! I don’t want him to die! How is that a question? He didn’t mean to challenge you. You weren’t supposed to hear that. He’s no match for you.
That last thought she definitely couldn’t phrase out loud. Miren would hate her forever even if she somehow managed to spare his life.
Her thoughts were falling over each other as she fought to find words to calm down a man they said felt nothing. Usually she could talk to people to calm them down, and sometimes she sang.
Yes, her helpful mind provided. Singing will definitely help here. Try that. Sing to Faren.
She forced herself to be calm. If her judgment of the situation was correct, it sort of made sense for Faren to react like that. If she truly was his gesha, naturally he couldn’t forgive what he’d heard Miren suggest. And her fighting for him looked bad, because it gave the impression she was too fond of someone who wasn’t her gerion.
“He’s my friend,” she said, hoping it conveyed he was nothing more. “Please don’t kill him for bad phrasing. No one here thinks he really wanted to challenge you.”
There was no reaction in his eyes, though Faren didn’t look away from her once. Miren’s face had gone very pale and Iloya’s as well.
“Why would he have challenged you, really?” she pressed on.
She was doing her best to ignore the choking sounds Miren made, trying to helplessly pry the hand from his throat. There had to be a subtle enough way to phrase what she needed to say.
“He’s a young warrior, why would he want to die before he’s even had a chance to prove himself?”
Faren’s eyes still held hers.
“I believe you,” the general said, making her heart skip a beat for some reason. “But a challenge was uttered nonetheless. I can’t back down.”
The sound Miren made was nothing Leiya had ever heard from a Brion throat. It was the sound dying animals made and she looked in horror as her friend’s legs started to grow limp. If she wasn’t a pacifist before, she definitely was one now.
“But I’m asking you,” was all she could think of to say, desperate to buy herself – and Miren – more time.
Then something else impossible happened. Faren let go of Miren, stepping away. The young warrior crashed to the ground. His hands went to his sore throat but Iloya peered them away at once, telling him to be patient until she could heal him. Between her and Kalen, they had him stumble into Leiya’s house to find a med kit Iloya could use.
Everyone else made themselves very scarce very quickly, leaving only Leiya and Faren on the grass, with her still speechless. She couldn’t believe it. First of all, that Faren would ever, ever actually back down from a fight, even if it hadn’t really been one. And second of all, much more importantly, that it meant it was true.
Oh. No. No, please no.
If there was one thing the newest, brightest starlet of Briolina hadn’t expected, it was that her chosen would be the bloodthirstiest monster known to the Brions. It made her stomach turn, but looking at him, a whole other emotion took hold of her.
Faren stepped closer to her, until she was as close to him as she’d been during the reception and her fall.
“You guessed already,” the general said, the storm in his gray eyes flashing in the same way Leiya had seen them do before. “But it is right that I tell you. You are my gesha.”
Yes, she’d guessed. Known, even. All through her daydreaming haze, she’d actually already known, but her mind was apparently quite good at protecting her.
She nodded, finding no words to do her feelings justice. She had never been that scared in her life.
“Will you come with me to the Unbroken?” Faren asked.
At least in this, she knew what she had to do.
“No,” she said, her beautiful, trained voice shaking again despite herself.
She would have no escape from this, not truly, but at least she could delay it. Could delay being the gesha of this monster before him, as dreamy as his eyes might have been. A chance to gather her thoughts, at least –
“I’m afraid I wasn’t really asking,” Faren said.
What?
“But…” Leiya began, but then she remembered that people didn’t really argue with Faren.
The general was waiting for her to continue, but words simply refused to leave her lips before him, it seemed.
“It is not safe for you here,” said the man she’d heard ripped the still-beating hearts out of his enemies’ chests.
He held out his hand for her and she hesitated. Not for a second did she doubt that he could read her every emotion straight
from her pulse. Apparently, she hesitated for a moment too long. The next thing she knew, she was staring down at the ground with her hands kicking at Faren’s rock hard back.
“Oh my… Faren! Put me down!” she protested at the top of her mighty lungs.
But the general clearly had no intention of listening to her. With her over his shoulder, Faren moved just as easily as he had when he first approached and if Leiya hadn’t been so steaming mad at him, she might have even seen the poetry in it all. A determined lover, a reluctant maiden, brought together despite misunderstandings and uncertainty…
But screw that. He was carrying her off into gods know where and she doubted that was the end of it.
At least he couldn’t read her mind. Usually it was filled with new ideas, and melodies, and dreams. At that moment there was only one thought bubbling under the current of surprise and irritation at her apparent lack of clarity with the Monster of Briolina. Only one thing she knew for certain.
She’d absolutely won the opposite game.
CHAPTER NINE
Leiya
Fuck.
It wasn’t a word that Leiya used often. It was crass, it didn’t fit the tonality of her music and it usually implied the kind of sex she didn’t have.
It also fit her current situation perfectly. She was completely and thoroughly fucked. Life or gods or fate or something else entirely had decided to fuck her over.
There. It really is such a diverse word, Leiya thought bitterly. Such a shame.
Yet it was true. She didn’t ask much from life, did she? All she wanted was to be famous enough to be recognized all over her beloved Briolina. And rich enough to always have grass and trees around her. And talented enough to be the best singer of her generation and make her father proud.
Alright, so maybe her wishes weren’t all that modest, but they all paled before the most important one – to have a gerion that wasn’t the bloodiest, coldest general in Briolina’s living memory! For fu…
No. Enough of that. She was a nice girl. At least, Leiya firmly believed she was a nice girl. But smiling, and skipping, and only seeing the good in people came so much easier when one wasn’t being carried off like a war trophy!
It was the most undignified thing to have ever happened to her. And there had been plenty of moments of embarrassment in her life. She was a singer, and even the best of them got to experience moments when they would gladly have rather sunk through the ground than spend one more minute alive. Leiya had had her powerful, amazing voice break before thousands of her most adoring fans. She’d sounded like a dying frog then – according to loving commentary from her friends. They’d been in the crowd too and had gotten a very good laugh from her misery. So far Leiya had counted that mishap the most horrible thing to have happen to her.
It didn’t even come close to the way she felt now. Faren’s shuttle was a short way off, and despite her protests, he seemed intent to carry her there.
Leiya did pointedly not fancy being a glamorous boa to the general, but that’s what it came down to. Her fists did absolutely no good. In fact, she half-doubted if Faren even felt her helpless kicks to his back. His very broad, powerful back… Leiya’s treacherous hands were suddenly doing something more akin to caressing than kicking, and she stopped immediately. She hoped to all the gods that Faren hadn’t felt that either. But the gods hadn’t been kind to her lately, so she didn’t hold out much hope.
Fury gave her courage she didn’t usually possess. A part of her mind that still remained properly conscious reminded her that bad, bad things happened to people who shouted at Faren in public.
Only not. No, nothing would happen to her. Internal rage aside, Leiya was his gesha now, and she was actually supposed to fight. In fact, it would do more harm to the general if she shut up.
So tempting, but Leiya wasn’t going to let the opportunity to yell at this monster go by like that.
“Let me go!” she tried again, but Faren pretended not to hear her much like he’d been doing for the last several minutes.
“You’re hurting me!” she tried.
He stopped at once, so suddenly her stomach gave a horrible lurch.
Oh, wonderful. So the argument about my dignity is not good enough, but now the Monster of Briolina is a gentleman.
Still, if it got her feet firmly on the ground, all was fine in Leiya’s book. The lovely sights disappeared and so did Faren’s firm, muscled hands from around her. A part of her mind whined in longing, and Leiya was forced to consider that to be her new most embarrassing moment ever. Contenders for the spot really seemed to pile up that day, didn’t they?
Once she was standing on her own two feet again, she realized with full clarity exactly how tall he truly was. She’d seen so far from over his shoulder! Gods, the twins really were giants. Leiya realized her mouth was open and made a point to firmly shut it. She pressed her lips into a thin line and took a deep breath to give Faren and at least three blocks a piece of her mind – when she saw his face.
It was etched with what had to be… concern?
“Where are you hurt?” he asked.
Oh right. Um…
“It’s fine,” she said reluctantly.
No use in lying that she could see.
“I’m okay. But I can walk myself.”
Faren said nothing, but after a short moment, he nodded. Leiya did her best to ignore the eyes peering out from every house that had a visual on them. She didn’t doubt for a second that this little show was all anyone was going to talk about for months. Faren and Leiya. That had to be the couple of the century.
Thank you, gods. It isn’t enough that you give me everything I ever feared, but you make damn sure everyone on Briolina knows about my humiliation.
She didn’t know much about the other species of the Galactic Union, but some of them had the concept of atheism. Leiya was strongly considering it. Not because she no longer believed in them – no, she believed in them more firmly than ever. Simple coincidence wasn’t enough to explain how exactly her life had taken all of the worst possible turns. This definitely needed a conscious mind. She was considering denying the gods simply because that was the only option they’d left her.
She was Faren’s gesha. Her life was ruined anyway. Nothing they could do to make it worse now.
There weren’t many places where a shuttle as big as the Unbroken’s could land. Faren had chosen the closest possible one to Leiya’s house, which was in one of the parks. Yes, other than her house having grass, she also lived in a part of town that had parks. (She briefly considered that her landing Faren for a gerion was the cost of living a comfy, rich, spoiled life. If that was the case, Leiya wanted to renegotiate the terms. Only it was excellent grass…)
The parks were truly beautiful – lush and green and so full of marvelous scents that Leiya often sought them out for inspiration.
She’d never dreaded one before, but with every step she took, the desire to run got worse. But Faren didn’t let her out of his sight for a moment. The general’s cold, ruthless eyes followed her every move. Leiya shivered despite the warm weather at the way his eyes seemed to take in all of her body. Not just guarding her. There was hunger there too.
Geshas could fight – had to fight – but they couldn’t do it forever, could they? There was a moment, in the not so distant future, where she had to truly become Faren’s. In his bed. Probably. With Faren.
Yeah, running sounded good. But where could she go? With the display they’d put on, there wouldn’t be a single soul on Briolina by tomorrow who didn’t know who her fated was. Who would hide her from Faren? Who would dare? Who would even want to?
Even her parents, who didn’t hold much love for the general either, would tell her that it was simply the hand fate had dealt her. That she just had to suck it up and get used to it. It was exactly what she'd feared, because no matter how hard she looked, the willingness to obey fate like this just wasn't in her.
No way. I can’t. I won’t.
Yes. The only place she could lose Faren.
She looked at him, hoping that nothing in her eyes gave her away. It would be risky. Warriors were built for combat, and chase was a part of it. Faren was bound to be faster than her, and not a little. She’d seen some footage of him in action – not in battle of course, civilians rarely saw what the galactic wars were like. But simple duels or training footage was sometimes shown. Faren was a general. He hadn’t gotten to his position by chance.
In her heart, Leiya knew it was a stupid idea. It didn’t matter, though. The alternative was worse. She wasn’t just going to lie down and – well, lie down for Faren. Not without a fight. A real fight, not like the gesha tradition.
She thought of Diego Grothan's new human fated Isolde and felt a kinship she'd never felt before. She had not liked the idea of belonging to someone without question either. Why didn't anyone else understand the absurdity of that concept?
She waited. He was faster and stronger than her, better suited for a chase in every aspect that counted. Her only allies were surprise, knowledge of the hiding places and –
The narrow air duct was used to air out the underground arenas. They were all over the capital, which had grown so huge that a part of it resided underground. It wasn’t as vast as the city above ground, but there were many compounds and facilities there. They all needed air and in certain places, the air ducts were fairly close to the ground.
As a child, Leiya and her friends had played in them. They liked the way the air rushed past them when they climbed deep enough for there to be wind tunnels. It was a dangerous game, but Brion children played such often.
She ducked into one of them as fast as she possibly could, feeling like a silly child running away from her parents. That was what she’d been reduced to. However! It was perfectly calculated; she slid in without hitting her head on anything.