Chapter 10:
Connor looked around the small boutique, Maria selected it as their first stop and started to wonder why Maria was taking so long while trying on clothes. One of the sales girls had just brought another outfit to Maria who was still behind the door of a dressing room.
"I don't think it's a good idea to be hanging out in one place for so long." Connor broke the silence.
Maria peered at him over the door she was behind. "Relax Connor. I told you it’s fine if we're followed. We need to just go about our business as if nothing has happened."
Connor tilted his head and shrugged his shoulder as Maria went back to trying on clothes. He looked down at a short table next to a chair in the dressing room area and noticed an advertisement flash on the plasma screen affixed to the table. The advertisement was in Ukrainian, but it was very clear that it was advertising the stick fighting tournament. The image of two silhouetted fighters with clashing staff's impressed itself on Connor's mind.
"Did you know Billy is promoting this tournament to the public?" Connor waited to hear a response from Maria. There was no response and then Maria opened her dressing room door and appeared before Connor in a sporty and stylistic outfit.
"What do you think? How do I look?" Maria posed with confidence.
Maria was beautiful as usual. Connor briefly forgot about his nerves and the advertisement he just saw. "You look amazing."
"Really?" Maria beamed a bright smile and called for one of the sales girls to come over. "I'll take this outfit. The others you can send back to the Dnieper Hotel...Connor what name did you give the front desk?"
"I didn't give them my name." Connor looked around for any suspicious lingerers.
Maria turned back to the sales girl. "Just tell the front desk Maria will pick them up later this evening. They'll understand."
"Was there something you wanted to tell me?" Maria turned and walked towards Connor.
Connor was still lost in Maria's subtle attractiveness. "Uhhh....Yeah. The tournament is being promoted to the public?"
"Well yes, it's Billy's way of avoiding another El Djem incident." Maria enlightened the conversation.
"What do you mean by that?" Connor asked.
"Let's just say he wasn't happy about losing cooperation from the government and trying to clean up the mess he made on his own." Maria smirked. "I guess he thinks having the public eye on his tournament will force the government to pay attention."
"I think he just wants to make more money and build himself up." Connor scoffed.
"It's more than that Connor." Maria's face turned very serious. "He and Takeo think they can take over governments through stick fighting. The Kenshi did it in Japan and throughout the Pacific and they're going to try it here where they know Ukraine has a weak government."
Connor pondered Maria's comment for a few moments. "What would that prove to anyone?"
"It would prove that they have control and that they dictate what happens." Maria lectured. "It's why you need to succeed."
"How are they going to take over a government with a fighting tournament?" Connor was still lost in how Billy could accomplish something so enormous.
"I don't know Connor, but if something isn't done to stop it they'll go through with it." Maria responded.
Connor put himself on guard again and looked around. When he was comfortable that they weren't being watched he stared Maria directly in her eyes. "Does my mom know how they'll do it?"
"I think she does." Maria's face showed some trepidation.
"Do you have any idea what life is like in Japan now that the Kenshi run everything?" Connor drilled Maria.
Maria's face reflected dissatisfaction with Connor's punitive tone. "Not really."
"All I know is that it's impossible to penetrate Japan and very difficult to get to most countries in the Pacific." Connor put his head down to think. "The Kenshi is trying to grow their shadow. We need to stop drifting around and make some plans."
"We have a plan Connor. Stop getting so anxious." Maria bumped Connor's shoulder with her hip. "This situation is not going to change unless we take it easy and slowly work our way back to Billy."
"I should've just fought him when he showed up at Andre's Babushka's house." Connor reflected.
"It was better you got to me first." Maria rubbed Connor's neck. "You made the right choice. You need to yield to the things you can't control."
Connor's mind immediately gravitated to the art of the quarter staff. He remembered the style of the cat. He was forcing himself to be the boar and Maria was spot on in diagnosing how he should be acting. "You're right Maria. I'm sorry. I need to calm down."
Maria let out a sigh of relief and gently grabbed Connor's hand. "Will you take me out to dinner?"
"Of course I will." Connor let out a sliver of a smile.
The couple left the boutique a generous gratuity for their service and headed out to find a quiet cafe where they could practice the patience Maria encouraged.
Maria encouraged Connor to take the lead in finding a place to eat. He led her around several blocks of cobbled streets and old world architecture before he arrived at the top of a hill that had two tables with umbrellas next to an elaborate kiosk. Connor led the way as he held Maria's hand. He was grateful the menu on the window of the kiosk was in Ukrainian and English.
"What would you like Maria?" Connor asked in a light aristocratic tone.
Maria scanned the menu and squeezed Connor's hand tighter. "How about some tea and tomato salad."
Connor turned to the man inside the kiosk. "She'll have the tea and salad...I'll have your meat and cheese sandwich along with the fruit tort."
The man had their order up in less than a few minutes. Connor grabbed the food and drink and followed Maria back to one of the tables and sat down.
"Thank you Connor for bringing me here. This is exactly what I had in mind." Maria slightly blushed.
Connor looked around at the trees amongst the buildings and quiet city scene. "This city is beautiful. I didn't expect Kyiv to have this much charm."
"What have you thought about my charm?" Maria batted her eyes.
"You know what I think about your charm and you're antics won't work on me until our mission is complete." Connor responded playfully.
Maria pouted. "You're no fun."
Maria smiled and continued to eat her salad. Connor paused to take another bite out of his sandwich and tort.
"We should go down the street here after we eat." Maria pointed down a sloped street. There's supposed to be a place where they sell all kinds of Ukrainian art."
"That sounds like fun." Connor smiled.
Connor finished eating and when Maria had finished he walked her down a street and found a variety of different vendors selling art work. Some of the work was on paintings, others on matryoshka dolls, some on wooden eggs, and other work was done with needle point. Connor followed Maria for nearly two hours as she admired the work from the artists on the street. Connor bought her a rose carved out of wood painted in a deep red paint. Maria found a white needle point clothe with a cat stitched in it. After they left the artists market they went back to the hotel.
Connor and Maria laughed and smiled at one another as they approached the hotel. As they got closer to the entrance Connor noticed Maria's guard. His smile faintly faded until Maria's hand suddenly snuck past his defenses and down the back side of his pants. Connor quickly jerked to look at Maria. She pulled him by the shirt collar with her other hand and brought him in for a soft and succulent kiss. Connor's face turned red as he heard Maria's whispered voice.
"Don't panic. We'll go right past him and up to the room. I'm right here."
Connor settled himself down a bit and let Maria take the lead. She casually walked right past her guard and into the hotel. She then effortlessly walked over to the front desk and inquired about the clothes the b
outique sent over. She had a bell hop follow her to the elevator with her clothes in tow. The guard slowly followed Maria's grand entrance into the elevator and up to Connor's room. Maria had the bell hop bring her clothes into the room, gave him a tip and closed the door to see Connor's face was now ghost white.
"I told you not to panic." Maria smiled.
Connor was still pale. "You just led that tosser to our room."
"He needs to know where we are and we don't need to be inconspicuous." Maria started unwrapping her new clothes.
"I know, I just don't like being followed." Connor's voice teemed off in mild frustration.
"It's not as bad as you think." Maria nudged closer to Connor. " He doesn't say anything and other than looking strange it's quite normal."
"Well that's reassuring. So what's next on your agenda?" Connor turned to look out the window.
"We have two days until the tournament starts. We need to proceed as if you are preparing for it. When's the last time you meditated?"
Connor stared off into space. "Yesterday."
"That's why you're so on edge." Maria's face lit up with a glowing smile. "You haven't meditated today."
Connor looked at her in confusion. He knew his meditations brought him greater balance, but he didn't expect anyone else to notice how he was coping with the stressors around him.
"Is there anything else you'd like to tell me about how I'm not myself?" Connor defended himself.
Maria grabbed his hands. "I think you really need to meditate. I've kept doing it since you taught me and I think it's the only thing keeping me going most days."
"What do you mean you've kept doing it?" Connor was having a hard time following Maria.
"I had a vision when we were in El Djem." Maria's voice turned serious. "I've been able to revisit it a little bit at a time when I meditate."
Connor's attention was completely turned toward Maria. "What kind of vision?"
Maria's face suddenly looked like she was in mild pain. Connor could see the anguish in her face and knew she needed to tell him something. He briefly closed his eyes and pictured a cat. The cat quietly approached an empty chair and rubbed up against its leg. It then precisely jumped onto the chair and curled up in a ball lying down. Connor opened his eyes.
"You can tell me what you saw. Is it about your past?" Connor’s tone of voice was now gentle.
Maria looked up in shock that Connor would know what she had seen. "How did you know?"
"Intuition?" Connor continued.
Maria sat down on a chair in the room. Connor gently sat on the floor below her.
"I was born in Italy. I haven't told you that before, but I know that's where I'm from because of the vision." Maria exhaled.
Connor caressed his hand along Maria's calf muscle. "Do you want to tell me about the vision?"
Maria took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and started talking.
"I was happy in an old village in Tuscany. A woman who I think is my mom was taking me to a fountain in the center of the village. I was happy and excited about something. When we got to the fountain my mom put me down and I started splashing my hand in the water. I heard a man's voice call for my mom." Maria's eyes welled up. "I turned to look to see who it was. When I turned I couldn't see the man or my mom. When I looked again my mom and a man were lying face down on the cobbled street with blood pouring out from under them. I didn't like what I saw so I turned away and a man dressed in white with a shepherd staff stood over me and smiled. He picked me up, sat me on the fountain, and explained that I would see my parents again."
Connor waited a moment to make sure Maria had finished. "You know who this shepherd is, right?"
"Yes, I know. It is the One who we have forgotten." Maria's eyes got puffy. "The One who is now rejected."
Connor's heart was suddenly filled with warmth. "If you tell anyone about this vision it won't be good."
"Do you believe me Connor?" Maria sobbed.
"I believe you Maria." Connor felt tears rush to his eyes. "My mother taught me to believe in the One before she was taken. It is the only hope I have of her being true to me and my father."
Maria smiled. "That is a lot of hope then."
Connor took composure of his feelings. "I know. So what do you think it all means?"
"My vision?" Maria asked.
"Yes." Connor reassured her.
"I'm not really sure." Maria took a few moments to think. "I think my parents were killed because they believed in the One. I think I was protected from their killer somehow. I am not afraid of death anymore."
Connor stared intently at Maria. "What do you mean?"
"Life should be treasured Connor." Maria had depth and passion in her voice. "Death will happen whether we like it or not."
Connor's conscience was suddenly turned on its head. "I thought I'd blocked out Veloz from my mind." Connor put his face in his hands.
"You didn't intentionally kill him Connor, he was a victim of Billy's tournament." Maria gently stroked Connor's hair. "Billy's intentions are to take advantage of everyone around him. He might be the only person on earth who deserves death." Maria admitted.
Connor looked intently into Maria's eyes. "I can't intentionally kill Billy. I know I need to get him out of the picture, but I don't know how to do that."
"It's okay." Maria slid off the chair and hugged Connor. "I don't want you to kill him. I just want for us to be together."
"That's all I want, but we won't be left alone until Billy gets what he wants or he is gone." Connor said.
Maria took a deep breath. "You agreed to remove Billy from the equation and that's what we're going to do."
Connor's posture slouched into Maria. "He's too powerful to simply remove him."
"There's a way to do it without killing him, but we'll need to work together." Maria calmly reassured him.
Connor looked up at Maria. Her maturity was unfolding right in front of him. He smiled and nodded in agreement. She hugged him tight and he embraced her back. He knew it was time to get to work.
Staff Master 2 Page 11