The duelist 7, p.8
The Duelist 7, page 8
“What distracted you so much?” she asked me.
“Hm?” I cocked my head in her direction. “What do you mean?”
“I saw it just before Rylan struck you,” she explained. “Something distracted you from the task at hand.”
I thought back a bit about what had happened before my lights went out, and I suddenly remembered a little detail I almost forgot.
“Oh, right,” I said as I looked around the clearing. “I heard a woman screaming. What was that all about?”
“There was no woman screaming,” Zoie said as she peered curiously at me.
“There wasn’t?” I frowned. Now that I was reminded of it, I’d definitely heard a woman scream. “Are you sure?”
“Positive,” she said and glanced upward at her velvet ears.
“Right, then it must have been in my head,” I said even though I didn’t believe that was the case. But who could argue with a Varthan warrior’s impeccable hearing? So, I filed it away to examine at a later time and extended my hand to her. “Shall we go back to the manor?”
My cat-wife nodded and tucked her arm in the crook of my elbow, and the two of us strolled back to the airship where we parted ways, her to find Mr. Jenner, and me on my quest to find Amaya.
There was no rush, however.
Even though I’d had my bell rung by Rylan, I felt a lot more centered by letting out some steam, so when I actually ran into Amaya, I was less impatient and frustrated and more open to whatever she might say.
When I finally found her, she wasn’t really hiding exactly, but she’d sequestered herself on the uppermost floor where it seemed like a plant menagerie was the theme, almost like a rooftop garden on the top of a high-rise apartment building.
The oryx-woman sat under a modest tree with her back against the trunk and her knees tented upward so she could rest her chin on top.
“You found me,” Amaya said with a sad smile as she gazed up at me with her rain-colored eyes.
“So, you were avoiding me,” I said as I arched an eyebrow and folded my arms across my chest.
“Maybe a little bit,” she admitted sheepishly. “I can feel your ire even now that it has been tempered. I’m sorry.”
“Do you know why I am frustrated?” I asked.
“No, but I can guess,” she whispered. “There is but one thing I have ever kept from you.”
I sighed and sat down on the ground next to her. “You could have died.”
“I know.” She shrugged a little and hugged herself tighter.
“What were you thinking?” I finally asked, and I tried to keep my voice steady so the quaking I felt inside wouldn’t reveal itself. “If you had actually…”
My throat closed off the rest of that sentence. The thought was too horrifying to complete.
“But I didn’t, Alex,” she reminded me and gently pressed her shoulder into mine.
“It still doesn’t escape the fact that you could have, and I would have had no idea what went wrong,” I pointed out as I clenched my fist and pressed it into my thigh.
“I can’t explain it to you, Alex, but when I’m with you, I always know I’ll be okay, no matter what,” she said as tears began to track down her cheeks. “Do you regret our time together?”
“No!” I said and whipped around to look at her. “Never. I’ve loved every moment we’ve spent together. It was amazing being so close to you.”
“I feel the very same way,” she said after she exhaled a relieved breath.
“Now, imagine what it would have been like for me if you… if I had harmed you irreversibly,” I said. “I just need you to understand.”
Amaya lowered her eyes away from mine and instead raised a hand so she could cup my cheek.
I knew what she was doing, and because she wanted to Know, I leaned into the overwhelming fear that left their impression on me whenever I thought of how much Amaya’s harm should have been a surefire deal if Anwaar was to be believed.
The stab of horror I felt caused Amaya to gasp and tear her hand away from my face.
“Oh, Alex!” she cried out and flung herself into my arms. “I’m so sorry.”
“Shh,” I coaxed as I held her shaking body against mine. “It’s okay, Ames.”
“I feel so silly and selfish,” she sniffled as she continued to cling to me. “For an augur-woman and Prophetess, I tend to miss some things. Can you ever forgive me?”
“Flower, there’s nothing to forgive,” I said as my own heart ached from the feedback of her guilt and shame. “I just wanted you to understand.”
“I do, and I am very sorry,” she repeated, and I tilted her chin up so I could press a kiss on her petal-like lips.
“I think maybe Anwaar is the one who could use some reassurance as well,” I mentioned, and I felt Amaya stiffen in my arms.
“Oh, my,” the oryx-woman sighed as she pulled away from me so she could resume hugging herself. “Yes, I can feel her distress…”
“We also discussed a few ways about how to get you out of the Oath,” I explained. “It appears since nothing bad came out of our lovemaking like it should have, there’s a chance… you might not be the Prophetess.”
A deep frown marred Amaya’s face. “What do you mean? I’ve been dubbed so since I was born on the day of the Renewing Cycle. The circumstances of my birth even make it so.”
“I remember Gavlain telling me about how you were still in your mother’s womb when she tried to drown herself in the Ocean,” I said and reached for her hand.
“That’s one of the reasons why I thought I would be okay after we made love,” she said and squeezed my fingers. “I thought I’d developed an immunity just because of how much I had to fight for my health when I was young. But yes, that is another factor into why the Order has demanded I take my place as Prophetess. There are old prophecies written about a Prophetess who comes from the Ocean. She is to herald in a new age of prosperity for the people of Aventoll. Last I was aware of, not many births end up the way mine did.”
“The fact still remains, I should have poisoned you, but I didn’t,” I pointed out the one salient fact I held onto. “Unless there’s a prophecy that talks about immunity from Ocean overload, explain to me how you walked away totally fine.”
“I… I can’t,” she said. “But prophecies are never completely literal. A lot of them are quite vague.”
“Exactly,” I said with a smile. “So, who’s to say your birth in particular, although extraordinary, is the one the prophecy is even talking about? Anwaar seems to think there’s a possibility you might not even be the Prophetess in the first place.”
“But I--” Amaya frowned as she stopped herself, opened and closed her mouth a few times, and then tried again. “Well, I-- hm.”
“It’s possible, right?” I asked with bated breath as the gears visibly turned in the oryx-woman’s mind. “You said it yourself, prophecies are vague.”
“I suppose I did,” she said as a giddy smile slowly unfurled on her face. “I can’t imagine such a thing… All my life, this has been my fate, and I’ve always been too afraid to picture it otherwise, but could it be true, Alex?”
“That is something I’m going to find out,” I promised her and placed a kiss in the center of her forehead. “Stay hopeful, sunflower. I love it when you smile that carefree smile.”
“Mm,” she sighed as she brought our lips together, and I was pleased to find her precious smile sweetened the flavor of the kiss, so I took the liberty of deepening it.
Her body responded so beautifully to mine like it always did, and I would have loved to see where this was heading, but we were suddenly interrupted by a loud shriek as something exploded out of the tree above us.
“Meeeep!” A black and blue flying lizard creature suddenly took the place of the large branch providing us with shade and landed in front of us.
“Gelf!” I yelled in surprise at the shape-shifting animal.
“Skra!” The familiar cawing of Roofus then followed up as the dusty yellow crow-moth flapped down, landed in front of Gelf, and pecked her gently on the snout. “Krrt!”
Gelf’s little eyes crossed as she stared at the tip of her square nose and snorted. “Mrrrp!”
Then the crow-moth whipped around and took off as the lithe flying lizard gave a rowdy chase.
“Were they just--?” Amaya asked as she watched the two frolicking for a moment before they both dove back down the stairs to the interior of the airship.
“Playing tag?” I finished for her. “Well, it seemed like whatever they were doing, they were into. Roofus didn’t even say hi to me. Rude. It’s not like I’ve been away forever or anything.”
“I think he might fancy little Gelf,” the oryx-woman giggled.
“You are quite right, my dear,” a craggy voice sounded from the spiral stairwell just before a set of furry gray ears appeared followed by my trusty koala-butler himself. “Roofus has been a bloody nightmare ever since he took a shine to that thing. I’m also guessing since I was almost knocked off my feet by the pair of them that Roofus didn’t give you my note to meet me in the study?”
“Nope.” I grinned and stood up along with Amaya. “Sorry about that, Mr. Jenner.”
“It’s not your fault,” he grumbled. “If it weren’t for Old Tovish, I would have Arvid cook him in a stew--”
“What did you need to talk to me about?” I asked as I tried to stop myself from chuckling at the peeved off little man.
“Yes, well,” Jenner said as he tweaked his monocle. “There are quite a few things of grave importance we must discuss. Especially if you hope to survive tomorrow’s double royal wedding.”
Ah.
Well, that sounded ominous.
Super.
Chapter 7
I looked deeply into Zoie’s beautiful eyes as I twirled her around and around by the waist, and then I grabbed both her hands as I leaned her back and--
“No!” Mr. Jenner clapped his hands, and Zoie and I came to a stop for the fortieth time. “You’re too early this time. You push her away on the beat, Alex.”
“Ugh, I need a break,” I said, and by the look my cat-wife was giving me, I knew she could use the rest as well.
“You both are improving quite a bit,” Shay said from her perch on a small cushioned stool in the airship’s study-slash-library. She had a cozy blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and she was currently drinking something from a mug, but a big part of me suspected she was milking this “exhaustion” thing just so she could get out of dance training.
“Why don’t you have to do this?” I grumbled as I took her mug and drank a sip of flowery tea. “Bleh.”
Shay snorted and snatched her cup back. “Because I already know the traditional wedding dance, my silly husband.”
“Forgive me, Mr. Jenner, but when you said I would need knowledge in order to survive Griss and Sskern’s weddings, I thought you were about to reveal some sort of underhanded plot you caught wind of, or something besides dance lessons,” I complained. “You made it sound like I could die for not knowing the steps.”
“Maybe not a physical death, but a social one if you do not know the moves to one of the most important ceremonies on Aventoll,” the koala-man said with a shrewd look. “Chances are, you will have to attend several more royal weddings in the future given how much you are gaining in status these days.”
I glanced down at the Duelist Stone resting innocently over my sternum. Now that I was a Rank Six, the symbols on the clear quartz face had changed slightly.
Where I used to have five etchings of Sacred Fish swimming around a shield, there was now only one fish, but instead of the image of a shield in the center, it was now a star.
“Speaking of status,” I said as I held my Stone aloft. “What is the significance of the star? I know it’s the Stone’s way of counting the status I’ve gained, but the symbols seem significant.”
“You are quite right, lad,” Jenner said as he rocked up on the balls of his feet. “Every Duelist Stone begins with the shield design, and some scholars have interpreted that as meaning your class as a Defender.”
“And what does the star class mean?” Shay asked.
“The stars themselves have often been used for guidance,” Jenner continued to lecture like the mini-college professor he was. “To have a star in the middle of your Duelist Stone makes you of the Guide class.”
“What’s the significance of these classes?” I asked. “I vaguely remember a conversation I had with Gavlain when he explained the tally system, but he skimmed over any mention of classes.”
“In places like Nata and Terr, where the highest-ranked Asher is no more than a seven or eight, class doesn’t really matter,” he explained as he fiddled with the sleeves of his blue velvet coat. “But if you were to go to the bigger isles like Alem or even Leen, you would see that class makes a big difference. There, you have Ashers ascending into ranks numbering in the double digits.”
“How can there be so many Duelists?” I questioned. “Weren’t there only, like, sixty original dudes?”
“Yes, but don’t forget, you can be bestowed with the Goddess’ gift during Bhraya’s Night,” Jenner said.
“Or in combat, like Horus,” Shay added.
“I thought I spotted something familiar around that boy’s neck!” the koala-man said as he punched one furry paw into the other. “Good for him. If anyone has conviction-- about anything and everything-- it’s that boy.”
“What’s this?” Horus himself poked his head into the study and peered at all of us sprawled out on the makeshift ballroom floor we’d made, which was really just us pushing all the furniture out of the way for room. “Are you all singing my praises without me?”
“Bold of you to assume they are praises,” Jenner teased fondly as the falcon-man pushed open the door the rest of the way.
“Why would they be anything less than praises?” he asked with a haughty sniff and then looked around at all of us. “Well? Aren’t you going to tell me what you were saying?”
“Sit down, you loon!” Shay said as she flicked some tea water off her fingers at him. “We were telling Jenner how you became an Asher by gaining Mercedes’ favor during combat.”
“Oh, right,” he said, and he then plunked himself down on the hardwood floor with a faint blush. For all of his bravado, whenever he was confronted with true praise, he actually turned quite shy. “Continue.”
“As I was saying,” the koala-man said and winked a barely-there wink at Horus. “Isles like Alem and Leen tend to report the most cases of Blue Night Ashers over any other island.”
“These things are registered?” I asked.
“Yes, they are magically recorded in the Asher Halls on Alem.” Jenner nodded.
“Oh, okay, like in Harry Potter, got it,” I remarked.
“What is a Harry Potter?” Zoie piped up as she tilted her head.
“Harry Potter is a character in a book where I’m from, and he was born with magic,” I explained. “However, he didn’t know he was magical until it came time for him to go to school, but for the school to send him his invitation, they just looked him up in some magical registry thing that lists all the people who are magical. Or that’s how it was explained to me from a friend of mine.”
“Is this Harry Potter a real person?” Horus asked.
“No,” I said. “It’s just a children’s story about wizards and magic. But you’d be surprised at how much of that world helps me form a frame of reference for things.”
“Interesting,” Zoie said before she turned back to Jenner. “So, every Duelist is accounted for on every island.”
“Exactly.” The koala-man rocked up on the balls of his feet. “Now, come on, we should be practicing some more--”
Before Zoie and I could even groan at the prospect of more dancing, the clanging of Arvid’s magical dinner bell saved us.
“Food!” Horus cheered as he shot up to his feet. “Goddess, I’m starving for some of Arvid’s home cooking. You’ll never believe how much we suffered at the hands of Terran cuisine.”
“You’re so dramatic, Rus-Rus,” Shay said as she rolled her eyes and helped Zoie up. “But I do agree with you. I am not sure how much Regent Sskern’s people can taste overall, but a little salt wouldn’t hurt now and again.”
I snorted and bumped my hip against hers. “Same here, sweetheart.”
“Horus, where is Anwaar?” Zoie asked as we all filed out of the study. “I noticed she wasn’t with you when you came in.”
“She and Amaya needed to chat about a few things, but she promised she’d be at dinner with everyone,” he said. “They both did.”
“Good,” I said. “That will be the perfect time to fill everyone in about what’s been going on.”
Dinner that night was a nostalgic event with all of us circled around the table near the hearth while the large shaggy sloth-man, and chef extraordinaire, Arvid, placed another platter of roast and veggies on the table.
“Thank you, Arvi.” I patted the gentle giant’s trunk of a forearm as he passed, and then I shoveled another forkful of savory meat into my mouth. The flavors of complex herbs and peppery spices made my taste buds dance their own little jig at how awesome it all was, and I sighed in pleasure.
“You’re a genius, Arvid,” Horus said as he patted his stomach with a contented sigh, and Rylan was already in a food coma in the next chair over with his head down on top of his folded arms. “What would we ever do without you?”
The sloth-man blinked as he smiled his dopey smile. “Staaaaaarrrvvveee…”
“True,” I said as the falcon-man snorted.
“Alright, lad,” Jenner said as he grabbed a small sliver of bone off his plate and began to pick his teeth clean with it. “Now that our bellies are full, I believe you mentioned something about an update.”
I sat back and took a sip of my wine as I made eye contact with Amaya across from me. She glanced at her sister beside her, and then she gave me a barely-perceptible nod.
“Mr. Jenner, how much do you and your people know about genealogies and blood lineages?” I asked the koala-man.
