Innkeeper Chronicles 3.5: Sweep of the Blade Page 25

  there are, and if any are left, we will have to take measures to preserve

  them.”

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  She raised her head and looked at him.

  He smiled at her. “Today we are legends. We killed a Mukona, the next

  thing to the Mukama, the ancient enemy, the devourer of children, the

  cosmic butchers who almost exterminated us. Once the word gets out,

  every House will be beating on our door for a chance to hunt one. They

  really are magnificent beasts. We have to protect their future and

  manage their numbers. I have no idea what brought them to the surface,

  for this hunt of all hunts. Oh well, at least something good will come out

  of this wedding.”

  “It was Helen,” Maud said.

  Now it was Arland’s turn to raise his head and look at her.

  “When I was a little girl, a Mukama came to stay at our Inn.”

  Arland jerked upright in bed. “A living Mukama?”

  “Well yes, it wasn’t a dead one that somebody brought with them. No,

  he was very much alive and wanted a room. They are out there

  somewhere, Arland. Think about it. They were an interstellar civilization

  with an armada of ships. You didn’t really think you got them all, did

  you?”

  “Yeah, I kind of did. What happened?”

  Maud frowned, tugging on the string of a half-forgotten memory. “I

  don’t remember any of it. I was told about it later, but Klaus, my brother,

  was there and it gave him nightmares. The Inn had lain dormant for a

  long time and my parents had just recently became its Innkeepers. They

  were not in a position to turn down guests.”

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  She didn’t really want to remember, but she had started the story and

  now she had to finish it. “My parents offered him a room with a separate

  exit, completely away from all other guests, on the condition that he

  refrain from harming anyone. Supposedly, I had walked into the garden

  at this point. I was maybe five. I should remember it, but I don’t. All I

  remember is my father standing and something huge and dark looming

  over him. And then there were teeth. Really scary teeth.”

  She slid deeper under the blanket. Arland lowered himself next to her

  and wrapped his arm around her waist.

  “The Mukama saw me and chased me through the garden. My parents

  had restrained it. It had taken all of their combined power and

  everything the Inn had. When my father demanded to know why he

  shouldn’t just kill the Mukama now, the creature told him that it couldn’t

  help itself. That I was full of magic and he would do anything to devour

  me. He offered them a fortune. He told them that they had my brother

  and they could always make more children, but it was vital that he be

  allowed to eat me.”

  Arland swore.

  “He raved about it. My father was worried that they wouldn’t be able to

  contain him and he appealed to the Innkeeper Council. They sent the

  ad-hal and the ad-hal took him away. That’s why the Mukama are barred

  from Inns where there are children.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me? Why didn’t anyone tell us?”

  Maud sighed. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t get a chance. All of my

  energy was spent either tending to your wounds or trying to not throw

  myself at you. I’m now telling you because you are the Marshall and I

  am the Maven. As to why nobody told the Holy Anocracy, the vampires

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  are just one of the thousands of species who come through Earth’s

  Inns. We maintain our neutrality and we keep the secrets of our guests.”

  Arland kissed her shoulder. “That’s troubling news.”

  The kissing made it difficult to carry on a conversation. “Mhm. Did you

  know your mother made me a Maven?”

  “She informed me after the fact.” He nuzzled her neck. “Do you like

  being a Maven?”

  “I’m thinking about it. What are you doing?”

  “Since my wounds don’t need tending, I am seeing if I could get you to

  throw yourself at me.”

  “Already?”

  “A knight always rises to the occasion, my lady.”

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  Chapter 16 part 3

  October 19, 2018 by Gordon 669 Comments

  The end came simply and without fanfare.

  The three of them were eating breakfast on her barren balcony. She and

  Arland sat at the table, enjoying mint tea and a platter of meats, cheeses

  and fruit, while Helen had taken her plate and sat cross-legged on the

  stone wall, contemplating the dizzying drop below. Every time she

  shifted her weight, Maud had to fight the urge to leap into action and

  pull her back from the edge.

  “The child is completely fearless,” Arland said quietly.

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  “Karhari was flat,” Maud said. “I’m not sure if she understands the

  danger or is just ignoring it.”

  Arland raised his voice. “Helen, do not fall.”

  “I won’t.”

  Arland glanced back at Maud.

  Well, of course, that fixes everything. She hid a smile and drank her mint

  tea.

  “I have a gift for you.” Arland pushed a small tablet across the table.

  On the tablet, a slightly worse for wear but still impressive vessel

  appeared on the screen. It was patched, repaired and obviously scarred

  but the battle-damaged nature of the ship seemed to make it even more

  imposing. It was like an aging fighter, battered but unbowed.

  “The Star Arrow? Renouard’s ship?”

  Arland nodded. “The pirate.”

  “What about it?”

  “Would you like him killed?”

  She blinked.

  “He insulted you. You seem to dislike him, so I sent a frigate to track him

  down. We’ve been watching him for the past half-cycle and we have

  more than enough firepower to reduce him and his ship to cosmic dust.”

  “Let me see if I understand correctly. You didn’t like the way a pirate and

  slave trader spoke to me, so you sent a frigate to track him down and

  murder him and his crew at my convenience?”

  “You seemed to really dislike him.”

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  She stared at him for a long moment and began counting on her

  fingers. “Fuel cost, hazard pay, an entire crew sent into deep space…”

  “The man is a menace, and the galaxy would be better off without him.”

  She squinted at him. “Are you jealous of Renouard?”

  “Not anymore. You are here with me and he is somewhere in the Malpin

  Quadrant about to impersonate a super nova.” Arland sipped his tea.

  She laughed. “Would you like me to tell you about him?”

  “If you wish.”

  “We met at a Road Inn, a year and a half ago. He is a smuggler,

  occasional slave trader, and pirate of opportunity. I don’t know which

  House he was in, but I do know that he was born out of wedlock and it

  caused an issue. Depending on who you asked, he was either cast out or

  he left of his own free will, but he has been a pirate for the last two

  decades. I ran into him again after Melizard died. I was desperate to get

  off planet, and he offered me passage.”

  “At what price?”

  Maud shook her head. “Human, vampire
, doesn’t matter. You want to

  know if I slept with him.” It was rather adorable that it was bugging him

  that much.

  “I would never presume to ask.” Arland’s face was very carefully

  neutral. If he appeared any more disinterested, he would fade into the

  stone wall.

  “I never had sex with Renouard. He had hinted at first, then he offered

  me passage for it, but even if I had found him attractive, which I didn’t, I

  never trusted him. He is the type to screw you until he’s bored, and then

  sell you to the highest bidder to make a quick credit. Even if I had been

  by myself, I wouldn’t have taken him up on it. I was responsible for

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  Helen. I wasn’t about to take any chances. Shooting him now serves no

  purpose. Are you really that threatened by his existence?”

  “I am not the least bit threatened by him. We are here, having a pleasant

  conversation, while he is very far away and at my command, he will cease

  to exist entirely.” Arland smiled wide, showing her his splendid fangs.

  Maud rolled her eyes. “Keep him. He’s not stupid. He’s been a pirate

  for twenty years, he’s a survivor. He knows a lot of creatures. He’s also

  vain and he hates the Holy Anocracy, which makes him predictable. He

  may prove a valuable resource. Alternatively, you can storm his ship, put

  him in chains, have him dragged here and hidden in some dark hole, and

  when you’re suffering from an attack of melancholy, you could go and

  poke him with a stick. It would cheer you right up.”

  “I don’t do melancholy.” Arland sat up straighter. “I am the Lord

  Marshall of House Krahr. I have no time to mope.”

  Maud shrugged. “There is your answer then.”

  Arland took the tablet back and typed something in a very deliberate

  fashion.

  “I recalled the frigate. The man is a scumbag but blowing him to pieces

  after this conversation would be unseemly. I have to avoid the

  appearance of pettiness.”

  “What happens the next time somebody is mean to me? Will you

  scramble the fleet again?”

  “I’ll handle it. I just won’t tell you about it until it’s done.”

  She laughed. “Do you feel I need assistance defending my honor?”

  Arland leaned back and glanced into her quarters.

  “What are you doing?” Maud asked.

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  “Checking to see where your sword is before I answer.”

  She leaned back in her chair and laughed again. She couldn’t remember

  the last time she had so much fun at breakfast. You could have this every

  day, a small voice told her. Just like this, the three of them, together,

  making jokes about pirate hunting and watching to see if they need to

  rescue Helen.

  “Do you think I could get some plants for this balcony?”

  Arland stopped chewing halfway through his smoked meat. “Do you

  want plants? Make a list. I’ll have them delivered before sunset.”

  “Thank you. It needs some flowers,” she said.

  “You don’t need to even ask. Anything you want is yours, if it is within

  my power to grant. Besides, as a Maven, you have a discretionary

  spending account and the authority to use it as you wish.”

  Maud toyed with her spoon. “I don’t even know what to get…”

  “Can I have a kitty?” Helen asked.

  The two of them turned to her.

  “If mommy gets flowers, can I have a kitty?”

  Arland looked abashed. “We don’t really have kitties. Would you settle

  for a rassa puppy or a goren puppy?”

  Helen checked her personal unit. “Yes!”

  “Then we’ll go to the kennels when we finish breakfast. If your mother

  approves.”

  Smart man. “I approve,” Maud said.

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  Their personal units chimed at the same time. Maud read the short, one-

  sentence message, and her stomach tried to crawl sideways.

  The happy couple want to wed on the battle station.

  – Karat.

  302

  Chapter 17 Part 1

  November 5, 2018 by Ilona 485 Comments

  Maud followed Arland into the HQ of House Krahr. The large room

  churned with activity. Desks and displays sprouted from the floor, each

  station a focal point for the House Krahr elite, and between them a dozen

  knights and retainers hurried to and fro. Screens shone on the walls,

  flashing with data and images. A clump of retainers surrounded Ilemina

  on the left and an equally large group crowded Lord Soren.

  “Lord Marshal!” Knight Ruin emerged from the rush, the look of

  determination on his face. As far as she could tell, Knight Ruin’s mission

  in life was to ensure that Arland was where he was supposed to be when

  he was supposed to be there, so he could be taking care of pressing

  matters of which Knight Ruin always had a long and detailed list. She had

  a feeling the russet-haired knight considered her to be a permanent

  threat to his success.

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  Arland veered left to what had to be his desk, with Ruin following and

  speaking in urgent low tones. Several knights peeled off from the crowd

  and closed in on Arland like starved sharks.

  Maud halted, taking in the controlled chaos around her. The entire

  wedding venue had to be relocated to the battle station, where things

  would finally come to an end. The logistics of moving the celebration

  alone were enough to give one kittens but selecting who would be in

  attendance to the wedding added an entirely new dimension. Planetside,

  House Krahr had an overwhelming number advantage. In space, with a

  limited capacity, half of which was taken up by the wedding “guests,”

  every attendee counted.

  The gauntlet was thrown, the war banner unfurled, and the fangs bared.

  House Krahr had risen to the challenge.

  In his wildest dreams that’s what Melizard had envisioned. A thriving

  House, bustling with activity and preparing for war. The hum of voices,

  the chimes of communication alerts, the rapid rhythm of running

  footsteps… Spacecraft taking off on the monitors. Knights in battle

  armor. An electric excitement saturated the hall, sizzling along her skin.

  Her former husband would have drunk it in like it was the nectar of the

  gods. Melizard would’ve killed, in a very literal sense of the world, for a

  chance to be a part of this. He had once told her he felt like he was born

  into the wrong House. She never understood it until now. House Ervan

  could have never delivered this, not on this scale. This was what he

  must’ve seen in his head.

  He must’ve felt suffocated.

  She imagined his ghost standing next to her, a thin translucent shadow

  and waited for the familiar pinch of bitterness. It didn’t come. Maud

  puzzled over it.

  I’ve moved on.

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  She was free. Finally. All her memories and bitter lessons were still there

  but they lost their bite. The present mattered so much more now.

  Everyone around her was busy. She should make herself useful. At least

  she could contribute in some small way. Someone somewhere could use

  her assistance…

  A young vampire knight
slid to a halt in front of her. If Melizard’s ghost

  had any substance, she would have torn right through him. She was tall,

  with a deep grey skin and a wealth of blue-black hair, braided from her

  face. She held a tablet in her hands, a communicator curved to her lips,

  and a secondary display projected over her left eye.

  “Lady Maven.”

  Maud moved to step aside and froze in mid-step. She was the Maven.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m Lady Lisoun. I’m your adjutant. What should we do about the

  chairs?”

  “What about the chairs?” What chairs? Adjutant?

  Lady Lisoun took a deep breath. The words came out of her in a rapid

  sprint. “The battle station banquet hall chairs.”

  Maud waited.

  “They are sojourn style chairs.”

  Sojourn style chairs had a solid back. There was no way the tachi would

  be able to sit in the sojourn chairs. Their vestigial appendages would be

  in the way.

  “Your desk is this way.” Lisoun began weaving her way through the

  crowd.

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  Maud marched next to her. “Can we substitute different chairs?”

  “No, my lady. They are part of a unit, one table and eight chairs.”

  “Are they attached to the table?”

  “Yes, my lady.”

  “Whose bright idea was that?”

  “I don’t know, my lady. They stove away for the ease of storage.”

  “Are they at least height adjustable?” The lees couldn’t sit in a vampire-

  sized chairs either.

  “I don’t know.” Lisoun braked to a stop before a desk surrounded by

  people. “I will find out.”

  The rest of the knights swarmed them. Everyone spoke at once.

  “One at a time!” Maud barked.

  A familiar looking retainer – where had she seen them? Ah, feat hall –

  thrust a tablet under her nose. On it glowed elaborately arranged platter