Blade Archer ~ Thirty-Eight
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yraeIn a painstakingly careful hand, Kael wrote down every detail Aen could tell him. It was full of spelling errors, he was sure, and his hand ached at the end, but looking over the four pages he had written, he felt proud. He had added his own notes to another page, what he remembered of his own attacker on the night of his mother’s death.
Banok lifted his eyebrows and nodded slowly as he glanced over Kael’s notes. ‘I’m impressed,’ he admitted. ‘You’re sure you’re not going to give up his name?’
Kael shrugged. ‘Maybe, if I like how ye handles it. ‘Til then, I don’t want nothing about me name coming up, right? Soon as they reckon it’s me, I’m dead. I don’t want nothing more to do with this.’
‘Smart move,’ Banok said with a sage nod. ‘One of the hardest things for a new warrior to recognise is when an enemy is too strong or too large to beat. You’ve done the right thing, Kael. Only the right people will see this, I promise you.’ He folded the sheets of parchment up and slapped them against his hand with a proud grin, as though he were Kael’s own father. ‘Now, you go off and have a life. You’ve earned one.’
Kael made an effort to do just that. For the first few weeks, he remained as cautious as ever. He continued to take a different route home every night, with a good portion of his journey spent dancing over rooftops to throw off any pursuers. He watched carefully anyone he saw glancing at him until he was satisfied they meant him no harm. He walked with one hand always on his dagger hilt and his eyes darting to the entrance to any side alleys. He slept on edge, awake at the slightest sound from outside. He had even strung up a tripwire across his bedroom door, just in case he didn’t wake up at the tread of a foot.
But, as the months drew on and no threats became clear, he found his life growing just a little more free. He stopped scaling rooftops to walk home, and found himself looking over his shoulder far less. Only then did he realise how paranoid he had become, starting at every sudden noise in the distance and grabbing his dagger at every movement out of the corner of his eye.
Master Banok only gave him updates when he asked for them, knowing Kael preferred to keep out of the situation. Kael had thought that, with the information he had given the Talons, they would have rounded up the whole rotten syndicate within the week, but months passed with no change. The Winter Solstice came and went. The days grew longer and hotter until the Summer Solstice, too, drew close. The brief months where he had felt that everything was in someone else’s hands had long gone, and Kael was getting nervous once more.
Dressed in uniform for the celebrations, Kael sought out his blade archery master among the throngs of people crowded into the palace grounds that day. ‘How long is this going to take?’ he demanded.
Banok lifted his big shoulders in a shrug. ‘Not for me to know. They’ve got their best on it, though, trust me.’
Kael snorted. ‘I got plans for this year,’ he said, looking aside, a little embarrassed. ‘It’s me hrai-dani late in Autumn.’ He left the statement hanging, then glanced briefly up at Banok to be sure he grasped the full implications.
The big blade archer was grinning. ‘Your healer girl,’ he said with a knowing chuckle. ‘Have you asked her yet?’
Kael shook his head. ‘Not before I know she’ll be safe.’
‘Fair call, fair call. Well, look, I’ll see about rustling up a little more movement from their end, and I swear we’ll have her safe come your big day.’
Kael was dubious. It had been almost a year with, as far as he could see, no progress beyond what he had given them. Nevertheless, he was determined to get on with his own life.
Training for his sixth year had been stripped well back. Where in all his previous years he had been in lessons from dawn to dusk, his lessons were now cut back to just four hours a day. The mornings were filled with two hours of blade archery, followed by one hour of theory and one hour with either sword, bow, palu or the newly introduced siege weapons. After lunch and the midday siesta, he was expected to spend his hours with his daggers until sunset, though the masters didn’t enforce this as strictly as they did their formal lessons.
At least for this week, Kael chose to forgo his afternoon training, promising himself he would catch up with it later. He had more important things to plan now.
He counted up every coin he had earned and saved in his money box. It all came to nearly sixty gold pieces worth. He grinned and closed the lid. He could make something special with this. Clutching the box tight under his arm, he did his best to look casual as he walked the streets of Ni-Yana, though he felt like everyone must certainly know he carried his life’s savings in his box. He was more paranoid than ever in the markets, looking out not for potential assassins anymore, but for thieves and pickpockets. Even then, he could recognise the irony of his situation.
He walked the waterfront until he found the perfect restaurant, then searched the markets for appropriate new clothes and a gift. Having no idea about fashion, Kael allowed the tailor to dress him for the price he requested, then found himself admiring his reflection in the narrow mirror the tailor provided. He felt smart, with the expensive blue fabrics folding over muscles sculpted by blade archery, and a dark purple sash around his waist that served no purpose but to look good. He couldn’t afford any embroidery, but the sleek, shimmering fabric was more than he had dared hope for.
He searched, too, for a gift. For the beauty he wanted to give her, sixty gold pieces suddenly didn’t seem enough. For two solid years he had been saving, forgoing even the smallest luxury so he could spend it all on this one night, and the tiny trinket that fitted in his palm was all he could afford.
He took a deep breath and stuffed the gift in his bag with his new clothes and what remained of his money box. He passed quickly by Ronanen’s house, slipping a note for her under the door, then headed back to the palace to ready himself for the evening.
The sun was just beginning to turn the city to gold as he arrived back at Ronanen’s house. He looked down at his now-dusty new sandals, quietly cursing himself for not thinking to hire a carriage for the night. He very nearly clapped to announce himself, as was his old habit, then remembered the wooden door and knocked sharply on the polished surface. He took a step back and clasped his hands behind him, resisting the urge to fiddle with his clothes.
The door clanked and echoed in the hallway behind, then swung open. Ronanen’s father, Elak, stood in its frame.
Kael’s skin prickled. If Elak opposed anything, he told himself for the hundredth time, he would have said so by now, but the big man’s lowered brow scattered his assertions to dust.
‘You take care of her,’ Elak told him, through lips that still refused to smile.
‘In every way I know how,’ Kael agreed.
Elak gave a small, stiff nod of acceptance, then stood back and pulled the door open.
Ronanen was no longer the young trainee healer Kael had first met, but now a woman grown. The pale lilac gown she had chosen clung to her body and whispered around her legs like liquid. Her long hair had been swept up into an artful mass of waves behind her head to tumble over one shoulder. But for all the womanly attention she had given her body, her face beamed like a child opening her birthday presents.
She picked up her whispering skirts and floated out the door to meet him. She took both Kael’s hands in hers and reached up to kiss him softly on the lips. A wash of delicate perfume, like honey and some sort of sweet flower, flavoured her kiss. For that moment, there was nobody else.
‘Ye looks like a goddess,’ Kael said dumbly as Ronanen broke the kiss, then scorned himself for saying something so dim-witted.
Ronanen only giggled and squeezed his hand. It was even softer against his calluses than he was used to, probably worked with some cream or powder or something. He wished he had thought to do that himself. ‘You said to dress for an occasion,’ she reminded him. ‘And you’ve certainly set the bar high. You look so handsome.’ She reached up to give him another teasing kiss, halting any protest before he could make it. ‘This is the night you’ve been saving up for?’ Her eyes danced in the pale golden light of late afternoon.
Kael nodded. ‘All for you,’ he whispered.
He tried his best to relax through the evening, but in truth, everything about the situation intimidated him. The wait staff all disdainfully looking down their noses at the imposter even as they had to call him ‘Sir’; the other patrons in the restaurant dressed in finery they clearly knew how to wear; the length of the menu with words and items he had never encountered that eventually had him choosing the only meal on it he could actually recognise; the delicate glassware that felt as though it would break as soon as he touched it; and, ultimately, the question he knew he had to pose at the end of the night.
Ronanen reached a hand across the table and rested a cool, soft hand over his knuckles. Her encouraging smile loosened the knots in his neck and shoulders.
‘We can leave, if you’re not comfortable,’ she offered, ‘but you’re fitting here better than you imagine.’
Kael shrugged one shoulder awkwardly. ‘’Til I open me mouth, maybe,’ he admitted. He took a breath to calm himself, then shook his head. ‘Can we go outside, just for a bit?’
Ronanen’s smile broadened, showing no regret at leaving the table early. ‘Of course,’ she agreed.
They stepped out onto the restaurant’s balcony, vacant now the sun had set but for two other couples standing by the railing. Kael crossed to the other edge, as far from the two couples as he could position himself. His heart hammered in his ears, driving his carefully rehearsed words from his mind and leaving him blank.
Ronanen nuzzled up beside him, brushing her fingertips over his jaw as she pulled him closer for another kiss. The cloud of honey and flowers mingled with the herbs her fish had been cooked in, and the tang of white foreign wine she had paired it with. As ever, the softness of her touch calmed him and reminded him of the best of why he was here.
‘I love you,’ Ronanen whispered against his lips.
Kael slipped his hands around to rest on her lower back, feeling where the whispering fabric of her dress gave way to the softness of her skin. He brushed his hands up and down over her back, enjoying the ripple of pleasure that ran through her. She nuzzled her head into the crook between his shoulder and neck with a contented sigh. ‘Your heart’s racing,’ she noted, touching her fingers to his chest.
Now, he told himself firmly, and called his script to mind before it had a chance to blow away again.
‘You’re the best that has ever happened to me. I’d just be drifting along now if you hadn’t accepted me into yer—your life.’ He swallowed where he had stumbled over the correct grammar, and Ronanen pulled her head back to look up at him. Even in the dull light of stars and distant candles, he could see the flush that glowed in her cheeks. Far from making him forget, though, Ronanen’s direct gaze made the words so clear he didn’t even have to remember them to speak them.
‘You’ve made me a better person. I feel pride in what I do now, and in where I’m going, because of you. I never want to change anything in you, but I’ll change my world for you, because you’re the most caring and open-hearted person I’ve ever met. I want to hold you safe every night. I want to share your laughter and beauty every day. Because of you, I’m not living day-to-day anymore. I’ve got plans for my life, and I don’t think it’s any secret that you’re a part of them.’
He moved his hands to catch Ronanen’s, brushing his thumb over her fingers. Her smile, stretched as wide as she could make it, was infectious, and he couldn’t hold back the grin he felt as he said the last of his words.
‘Ronanen, my everything, will you marry me?’
Ronanen squealed as she threw her arms around his shoulders, kissing him strong and breathlessly on the lips, murmuring a quiet ‘yes’ with every quickly stolen breath.
Behind them, Kael could hear the light patter of applause from the other two couples on the balcony. Kael’s grin only broadened. This year, he promised himself, this year was for him.
Banok lifted his eyebrows and nodded slowly as he glanced over Kael’s notes. ‘I’m impressed,’ he admitted. ‘You’re sure you’re not going to give up his name?’
Kael shrugged. ‘Maybe, if I like how ye handles it. ‘Til then, I don’t want nothing about me name coming up, right? Soon as they reckon it’s me, I’m dead. I don’t want nothing more to do with this.’
‘Smart move,’ Banok said with a sage nod. ‘One of the hardest things for a new warrior to recognise is when an enemy is too strong or too large to beat. You’ve done the right thing, Kael. Only the right people will see this, I promise you.’ He folded the sheets of parchment up and slapped them against his hand with a proud grin, as though he were Kael’s own father. ‘Now, you go off and have a life. You’ve earned one.’
Kael made an effort to do just that. For the first few weeks, he remained as cautious as ever. He continued to take a different route home every night, with a good portion of his journey spent dancing over rooftops to throw off any pursuers. He watched carefully anyone he saw glancing at him until he was satisfied they meant him no harm. He walked with one hand always on his dagger hilt and his eyes darting to the entrance to any side alleys. He slept on edge, awake at the slightest sound from outside. He had even strung up a tripwire across his bedroom door, just in case he didn’t wake up at the tread of a foot.
But, as the months drew on and no threats became clear, he found his life growing just a little more free. He stopped scaling rooftops to walk home, and found himself looking over his shoulder far less. Only then did he realise how paranoid he had become, starting at every sudden noise in the distance and grabbing his dagger at every movement out of the corner of his eye.
Master Banok only gave him updates when he asked for them, knowing Kael preferred to keep out of the situation. Kael had thought that, with the information he had given the Talons, they would have rounded up the whole rotten syndicate within the week, but months passed with no change. The Winter Solstice came and went. The days grew longer and hotter until the Summer Solstice, too, drew close. The brief months where he had felt that everything was in someone else’s hands had long gone, and Kael was getting nervous once more.
Dressed in uniform for the celebrations, Kael sought out his blade archery master among the throngs of people crowded into the palace grounds that day. ‘How long is this going to take?’ he demanded.
Banok lifted his big shoulders in a shrug. ‘Not for me to know. They’ve got their best on it, though, trust me.’
Kael snorted. ‘I got plans for this year,’ he said, looking aside, a little embarrassed. ‘It’s me hrai-dani late in Autumn.’ He left the statement hanging, then glanced briefly up at Banok to be sure he grasped the full implications.
The big blade archer was grinning. ‘Your healer girl,’ he said with a knowing chuckle. ‘Have you asked her yet?’
Kael shook his head. ‘Not before I know she’ll be safe.’
‘Fair call, fair call. Well, look, I’ll see about rustling up a little more movement from their end, and I swear we’ll have her safe come your big day.’
Kael was dubious. It had been almost a year with, as far as he could see, no progress beyond what he had given them. Nevertheless, he was determined to get on with his own life.
Training for his sixth year had been stripped well back. Where in all his previous years he had been in lessons from dawn to dusk, his lessons were now cut back to just four hours a day. The mornings were filled with two hours of blade archery, followed by one hour of theory and one hour with either sword, bow, palu or the newly introduced siege weapons. After lunch and the midday siesta, he was expected to spend his hours with his daggers until sunset, though the masters didn’t enforce this as strictly as they did their formal lessons.
At least for this week, Kael chose to forgo his afternoon training, promising himself he would catch up with it later. He had more important things to plan now.
He counted up every coin he had earned and saved in his money box. It all came to nearly sixty gold pieces worth. He grinned and closed the lid. He could make something special with this. Clutching the box tight under his arm, he did his best to look casual as he walked the streets of Ni-Yana, though he felt like everyone must certainly know he carried his life’s savings in his box. He was more paranoid than ever in the markets, looking out not for potential assassins anymore, but for thieves and pickpockets. Even then, he could recognise the irony of his situation.
He walked the waterfront until he found the perfect restaurant, then searched the markets for appropriate new clothes and a gift. Having no idea about fashion, Kael allowed the tailor to dress him for the price he requested, then found himself admiring his reflection in the narrow mirror the tailor provided. He felt smart, with the expensive blue fabrics folding over muscles sculpted by blade archery, and a dark purple sash around his waist that served no purpose but to look good. He couldn’t afford any embroidery, but the sleek, shimmering fabric was more than he had dared hope for.
He searched, too, for a gift. For the beauty he wanted to give her, sixty gold pieces suddenly didn’t seem enough. For two solid years he had been saving, forgoing even the smallest luxury so he could spend it all on this one night, and the tiny trinket that fitted in his palm was all he could afford.
He took a deep breath and stuffed the gift in his bag with his new clothes and what remained of his money box. He passed quickly by Ronanen’s house, slipping a note for her under the door, then headed back to the palace to ready himself for the evening.
The sun was just beginning to turn the city to gold as he arrived back at Ronanen’s house. He looked down at his now-dusty new sandals, quietly cursing himself for not thinking to hire a carriage for the night. He very nearly clapped to announce himself, as was his old habit, then remembered the wooden door and knocked sharply on the polished surface. He took a step back and clasped his hands behind him, resisting the urge to fiddle with his clothes.
The door clanked and echoed in the hallway behind, then swung open. Ronanen’s father, Elak, stood in its frame.
Kael’s skin prickled. If Elak opposed anything, he told himself for the hundredth time, he would have said so by now, but the big man’s lowered brow scattered his assertions to dust.
‘You take care of her,’ Elak told him, through lips that still refused to smile.
‘In every way I know how,’ Kael agreed.
Elak gave a small, stiff nod of acceptance, then stood back and pulled the door open.
Ronanen was no longer the young trainee healer Kael had first met, but now a woman grown. The pale lilac gown she had chosen clung to her body and whispered around her legs like liquid. Her long hair had been swept up into an artful mass of waves behind her head to tumble over one shoulder. But for all the womanly attention she had given her body, her face beamed like a child opening her birthday presents.
She picked up her whispering skirts and floated out the door to meet him. She took both Kael’s hands in hers and reached up to kiss him softly on the lips. A wash of delicate perfume, like honey and some sort of sweet flower, flavoured her kiss. For that moment, there was nobody else.
‘Ye looks like a goddess,’ Kael said dumbly as Ronanen broke the kiss, then scorned himself for saying something so dim-witted.
Ronanen only giggled and squeezed his hand. It was even softer against his calluses than he was used to, probably worked with some cream or powder or something. He wished he had thought to do that himself. ‘You said to dress for an occasion,’ she reminded him. ‘And you’ve certainly set the bar high. You look so handsome.’ She reached up to give him another teasing kiss, halting any protest before he could make it. ‘This is the night you’ve been saving up for?’ Her eyes danced in the pale golden light of late afternoon.
Kael nodded. ‘All for you,’ he whispered.
He tried his best to relax through the evening, but in truth, everything about the situation intimidated him. The wait staff all disdainfully looking down their noses at the imposter even as they had to call him ‘Sir’; the other patrons in the restaurant dressed in finery they clearly knew how to wear; the length of the menu with words and items he had never encountered that eventually had him choosing the only meal on it he could actually recognise; the delicate glassware that felt as though it would break as soon as he touched it; and, ultimately, the question he knew he had to pose at the end of the night.
Ronanen reached a hand across the table and rested a cool, soft hand over his knuckles. Her encouraging smile loosened the knots in his neck and shoulders.
‘We can leave, if you’re not comfortable,’ she offered, ‘but you’re fitting here better than you imagine.’
Kael shrugged one shoulder awkwardly. ‘’Til I open me mouth, maybe,’ he admitted. He took a breath to calm himself, then shook his head. ‘Can we go outside, just for a bit?’
Ronanen’s smile broadened, showing no regret at leaving the table early. ‘Of course,’ she agreed.
They stepped out onto the restaurant’s balcony, vacant now the sun had set but for two other couples standing by the railing. Kael crossed to the other edge, as far from the two couples as he could position himself. His heart hammered in his ears, driving his carefully rehearsed words from his mind and leaving him blank.
Ronanen nuzzled up beside him, brushing her fingertips over his jaw as she pulled him closer for another kiss. The cloud of honey and flowers mingled with the herbs her fish had been cooked in, and the tang of white foreign wine she had paired it with. As ever, the softness of her touch calmed him and reminded him of the best of why he was here.
‘I love you,’ Ronanen whispered against his lips.
Kael slipped his hands around to rest on her lower back, feeling where the whispering fabric of her dress gave way to the softness of her skin. He brushed his hands up and down over her back, enjoying the ripple of pleasure that ran through her. She nuzzled her head into the crook between his shoulder and neck with a contented sigh. ‘Your heart’s racing,’ she noted, touching her fingers to his chest.
Now, he told himself firmly, and called his script to mind before it had a chance to blow away again.
‘You’re the best that has ever happened to me. I’d just be drifting along now if you hadn’t accepted me into yer—your life.’ He swallowed where he had stumbled over the correct grammar, and Ronanen pulled her head back to look up at him. Even in the dull light of stars and distant candles, he could see the flush that glowed in her cheeks. Far from making him forget, though, Ronanen’s direct gaze made the words so clear he didn’t even have to remember them to speak them.
‘You’ve made me a better person. I feel pride in what I do now, and in where I’m going, because of you. I never want to change anything in you, but I’ll change my world for you, because you’re the most caring and open-hearted person I’ve ever met. I want to hold you safe every night. I want to share your laughter and beauty every day. Because of you, I’m not living day-to-day anymore. I’ve got plans for my life, and I don’t think it’s any secret that you’re a part of them.’
He moved his hands to catch Ronanen’s, brushing his thumb over her fingers. Her smile, stretched as wide as she could make it, was infectious, and he couldn’t hold back the grin he felt as he said the last of his words.
‘Ronanen, my everything, will you marry me?’
Ronanen squealed as she threw her arms around his shoulders, kissing him strong and breathlessly on the lips, murmuring a quiet ‘yes’ with every quickly stolen breath.
Behind them, Kael could hear the light patter of applause from the other two couples on the balcony. Kael’s grin only broadened. This year, he promised himself, this year was for him.