Innkeeper Chronicles 3.5: Sweep of the Blade Read online

  “Mama?”

  Maud opened her eyes. Two pairs of eyes stared at her, one Helen’s

  green the other golden brown.

  She must’ve fallen asleep. In enemy territory. Alarm shot through her in

  a chemical jolt. Instantly she was awake.

  The pale walls rushed at her, the only room she’d seen in the castle so

  far that was made with a sterile polymer instead of ancient stone. She

  was still in the med ward. The medic must’ve added a mild sedative to

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  her medications. Combined with the additional strain of her body,

  exhausted from the fight and healing at an accelerated rate, the

  medication had put her under. She wasn’t sure how long she slept, but

  the sharp pain in her ribs was gone. Fatigue wrapped around her like a

  soft straitjacket. Her head was fuzzy.

  “Mama?”

  “Yes, my flower.”

  “This is Ymanie.”

  Ymanie blinked her big round eyes and gave a little wave. She was about

  Helen’s age, although a little taller and more solid, with dark brown hair

  and dark-grey skin.

  Maud’s mouth was dry, but she made it move. “Good to meet you, Lady

  Ymanie.”

  “She also had repercussions,” Helen said.

  “I did,” Lady Ymanie confirmed.

  “They have a place,” Helen said. “There’s a big tree and it’s on a tower

  and you have to climb to get to the top and then there is a thing and you

  grab the handle and go woosh.”

  What?

  “You go woosh,” Helen repeated. “Down the rope.”

  “Are you talking about a zipline?”

  “Yes!” Ymanie and Helen said at the same time.

  “They won’t let me go unless I have permission,” Helen added. “Can I

  please go?”

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  “Is lady Ymanie going too?”

  Both girls nodded.

  Helen had made a friend and wanted to go play. “Um… sure. You have

  permission.”

  “Thank you!”

  The two girls scurried away.

  Maud pushed from the cushion and sat up slowly. The medic looked up

  from his post near the console.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Tired, but the ribs stopped hurting.”

  “Good. The ribs should be completely healed by tomorrow morning. The

  damage to your internal organs was slight, but it required some repair as

  well, so treat yourself well for the next twelve hours. No strenuous

  activity today. No fighting, no training, no sex. A nice satisfying meal,

  early to bed, and a full night’s sleep. You may soak to lessen the body

  aches, but do not take any stimulants, medications, or supplements. If

  you do something stupid, and come back to me again before tomorrow,

  I won’t be as kind. Do we understand each other?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I’ll help you with your armor.”

  Five minutes later Maud walked down the breezeway back to the tower.

  The transparent shield was down. Sunshine flooded down from the sky.

  It was late afternoon. She’d slept most of the day. Who knew what

  happened in the last few hours? Logic said she should be worried about

  it and taking some steps to find out, but she felt too groggy.

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  A piercing squeal whipped her around. Hundreds of feet above, a tiny

  body shot down a nearly invisible rope across the open gap between two

  towers at a breakneck speed. Maud’s heart tried to jump out of her

  chest. She clamped her chest and sagged against the parapet.

  The child disappeared from view behind a forest of towers.

  It was too late to do anything about it. She would just have to hope Helen

  survived.

  It took her a full thirty seconds to haul herself off the stone wall and start

  walking. If they were in the inn, she would’ve sworn her sister stretched

  the distance between Maud and her quarters, artificially elongating it

  into a never-ending trek. But they were in House Krahr, so she just had

  to keep moving. She would get there eventually.

  Finally, the door of her quarters loomed before Maud. She waved at it

  and it slid open. She went straight into the bathroom. A square tub big

  enough to comfortably soak six vampires sat in the middle of the room,

  a dozen different bottles and canisters waiting on the shelf for her

  selection.

  “Water at 105 degrees Fahrenheit, fill to six inches from the rim”

  Jets opened along the tub’s rim, gushing water. She sorted through the

  bottles. Mint, mint, more mint. There. Soothing blend. The scent

  reminded her of lavender.

  She tossed a couple handfuls of the powder and dried herbs into the tub,

  stripped off her armor, bodysuit, and underwear, and slid into the water,

  positioning herself on a shelf, submerged all the way up to her neck. The

  hot water swirled around her.

  Water. Wonderful hot water. All the water she ever wanted.

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  She could grow her hair out again. A small sound escaped her mouth,

  before she could catch it, and she wasn’t sure if it was a giggle or a sob.

  She was about to close her eyes, when she saw it, a small transparent

  sphere sitting on the edge of the sink. It wasn’t there when she and Helen

  left bathroom this morning.

  Maud slipped out of the tub and padded to the sink. The little

  transparent sphere was barely a quarter of an inch across. On Earth it

  would’ve passed for a tiny glass marble or a stray bead.

  A high-storage datacore, likely encrypted to her. Someone left her a

  present.

  She picked it up, leaned forward, and blew on the mirror. Faint words

  appeared, written in glyphs of the Merchant Clans.

  With compliments from the Great Nuan Cee.

  The lees. Of course. And so sleek too. A little message to her – we can

  slip into your quarters any time we want.

  Father always said dealing with lees was like juggling fire. You never

  knew when you would get burned.

  Maud returned to the tub and sat back on the shelf, rolling the datacore

  between her fingers. To look or not to look? She wasn’t sure she could

  take bad news right this second. But then if it was bad news, the sooner

  she found out, the better. Maud set the bead on the tub’s rim.

  “Access,” she whispered.

  A light flared within the bead, the silver glow sweeping her. The light shot

  out in a new direction. An open window, framed by long gauzy curtains.

  Whoever was filming this had to be hanging just outside of it. Knowing

  lees, they were probably upside down.

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  The recording zoomed in through the window. Lady Ilemina reclined on

  a sofa.

  Ha!

  Arland’s mother was out of her armor and wearing a long blue tunic. Her

  arms were bare and covered with swollen patches of red. Maud smiled.

  She had worked Ilemina over more than she realized. A portable med

  unit that looked like some nightmarish robotic spider shone green light

  at the largest bruise. Ilemina grimaced.

  Her quarters were beautiful. The furniture was soft, carved from some

  cream-colored wood, and upholstered in deep blue that verged on

  turquoise. Two crystal vases dripped flowe
rs. It was an elegant,

  uncluttered space, simple, peaceful, and surprisingly feminine.

  The door in the far wall slid open and Arland marched through, his face

  battered, his eyes blazing, looking like he couldn’t wait to rip something

  with his bare hands.

  “Hello, Mother,” he growled.

  Ilemina sighed. “Took you long enough.”

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  Chapter 7 Part 2

  April 13, 2018 by Ilona

  Arland shrugged his massive shoulders. “I was detained.”

  “By whom?”

  “The Lord Consort.”

  Ilemina raised her eyebrows.

  “He approached me at Communal,” Arland said. “We had some words.”

  “What kind of words?”

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  “He said, ‘You’re upsetting your mother.’ I asked him if he were planning

  on doing something about it, and here we are.”

  “Is Otubar alive?” Ilemina asked, her voice flat.

  “Yes. Although I did dislocate his shoulder. I expect he will make a full

  recovery by evening.”

  “I wish you would reach an understanding,” Ilemina said.

  “We understand each other perfectly well, Mother. He doesn’t care

  about anything except making sure you’re safe and happy. I, however,

  can’t afford such a delightful luxury. I have to worry about the stability

  of our House, readiness and commitment of our troops, and our

  reputation. Normally Otubar and I strive to get along with each other,

  because it makes things simpler. However, I’m the Marshal and I won’t

  allow him to take me to task like I were a child. Especially in front of

  witnesses. He knew this would only end one way when he started it.”

  “He knows,” Ilemina said. The medical robot moved on to her leg and

  she winced. “He holds back.”

  “Perhaps, the next time he could hold back enough to conduct his

  inquiries in private and use words, so I don’t have to break my

  stepfather’s arm in front of the entire House!”

  “Do not raise your voice at me,” Ilemina snapped.

  “Was this planned, Mother?”

  “Yes, Arland, I planned for you to break my husband’s arm.”

  “Did the two of you conspire to give me and my fiancé a beating?”

  “She is not your fiancé. She turned you down.”

  They glared at each other.

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  “I will say this,” Ilemina said. “She isn’t a pushover.”

  “What were you thinking attacking her, Mother? What was the plan?”

  “There was no plan.” Ilemina sighed. “You’re my only son. I want only

  the best for you. I wanted to see you married to a strong House. To

  someone worthy of you. With a lineage and a legacy. Someone who

  would walk with you into Cathedral and the entire House would be in

  awe.”

  “I see.” Arland furrowed his eyebrows. “And was my happiness ever a

  consideration in this glowing picture?”

  “Of course! I want you to be happy! I want that most of all for you. I

  could have handled you marrying down, but a human, Arland? A human!

  And she doesn’t even want to marry you! Does she not understand who

  you are? Did you not properly explain your station in life? Your

  achievements? How dare she!”

  Water touched her nose. Maud realized she was sinking deeper into the

  water to hide and caught herself.

  “She knows exactly who I am, Mother. She wants to marry me. She loves

  me.”

  “Then why did she turn you down?”

  He ran his hand through his hair. “It’s complicated.”

  “Enlighten me.”

  “No. That’s between me and her.”

  “I waited for years for you to find someone. I should be knee deep in

  grandchildren by now. Instead you’re off, running back and forth to

  Earth, to Karhari, to Hierophant alone knows where. And you come back

  with this… this… woman. A woman exiled in disgrace! You have the

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  audacity to demand I ready our House for her as if she is worthy of the

  honor. You don’t talk to me. You don’t talk to your uncle or your

  cousin. You don’t talk to anyone.”

  “I spoke to Uncle Soren at length,” Arland said. “He approves.”

  “What?” Ilemina jerked up, and the medical robot screeched in

  disapproval. “Why?”

  “Because he is my uncle and I sought his counsel.”

  “No, foolish child. Why does he approve?”

  “You would have to ask him.”

  Ilemina shook her head. “Both of you have lost your minds. You brought

  this woman here. She didn’t introduce herself. You didn’t even talk to

  me about her. You didn’t seek my counsel.”

  “And for that you decided to kill the woman I love?”

  Maud shivered in the water. He said he loves me. For a second, she

  simply glowed in it and then reality intruded, and she put her hand over

  her face. What am I, twelve?

  “I wasn’t trying to kill her. I was… frustrated. And there she was, wearing

  armor as if she knew what to do with it.”

  “She does,” Arland said.

  “Well, I know that now.” Ilemina waved her hand. “It went too far. I

  admit it.”

  “If this was a real fight, you would be dead.”

  Ilemina laughed, a low wolfish sound that raised hair on the back of

  Maud’s neck. “You presume too much.”

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  Arland smiled. “You assume she would meet you in a duel. She

  wouldn’t. One day you would travel somewhere, step out of the vehicle,

  suspecting nothing, and there she would be with her blade. If she didn’t

  cut your head off with the first strike, she’d let you win until you got close

  enough to her, spit poison gas into your face, then run you through and

  be gone before anyone was the wiser.”

  “So, she’s an assassin,” Ilemina said.

  “No. She’s a woman who had been dumped on Karhari with a three-year-

  old child and a husband who was a snake. She is a survivor. She doesn’t

  fight for fun or glory. She fights to eliminate the threat. Every time she

  draws her sword, it’s life or death. She gives it everything, because her

  child’s life hangs in the balance. Of all people, I thought you would

  relate.”

  Ilemina fell silent. “I’ll say that, sparring with her was an illuminating

  experience.”

  “It is.”

  “And the child is adorable.” Ilemina smiled. “The daggers were so cute.”

  “I’ve seen her kill with those daggers,” Arland said.

  “The baby, Helen?”

  He nodded. “She cut a Draziri’s assassin’s throat in the middle of a battle.

  She did it the right way, mother.”

  Ilemina recoiled, shocked.

  Maud ducked her head under the water and wished she were a better

  mother. Helen shouldn’t know how to kill. Sitting under water wouldn’t

  change that fact, but she would have given everything to take that back

  from Helen.

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  She surfaced.

  “But why?” Ilemina asked.

  “Karhari,” he said. He was right. That was the only explanation needed.

  “What sort of House exiles a child?” Ilemina growled.

  “The kind of House that’s beneath our contemp
t.”

  Ilemina sighed. “You really love her?”

  “Yes.”

  “But are you sure, Arland? Are you sure she would make you happy?”

  “Yes, mother. Give her a chance. At least find out who you’re dealing

  with before you reject her.”

  “And if I do reject her? If I reject this union?”

  “I’ll go with her,” he said.

  Maud fell off the shelf and splashed, scrambling back on it.

  “Arland, you wouldn’t dare!”

  “You walked away with Father. I don’t see any reason why I can’t do the

  same.”

  She opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again. “You’re a

  Marshal.”

  “So were you. You’ll just have to replace me with another.”

  “What if she rejects you?”

  “I’ll respect her wishes.”

  Ilemina threw her hands in the air. “This is blackmail, Arland.”

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  “No, it’s a boundary. Your blessing isn’t necessary, Mother. But I would

  like to have it. I know she would, too. She respects you a great deal.

  She’s a daughter of the Innkeepers. She has vast knowledge and

  understanding. She will be a great asset to the House.”

  Ilemina held up her hand. “I will give her a chance. But only a chance,

  Arland. I will make up my own mind. If she stumbles, if she endangers

  you in any way…”

  Arland bowed his head. “Thank you, Mother.”

  The recording faded out.

  Maud leaned back against the tub. He would leave with her.

  She wouldn’t ask for that sacrifice. She had no right. If she wanted him

  – truly wanted him – she had to make sure not to stumble.

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  Chapter 8 Part 1

  May 4, 2018 by Ilona

  The door chimed. Arland. Finally. They had things to discuss. She

  planned to open with “The Lees are spying on your mother, and here is

  the recording of that conversation you had with her.” If her prior

  experiences with vampires in general and Arland in particular were

  anything to go by, it would take her at least twenty minutes to talk sense

  into him and convince him against doing something drastic like kicking

  Nuan Cee and his furry clan out of the castle.