Sweep of the Blade
“Why didn’t you ever tell me? Why didn’t anyone tell us?”
Maud sighed. “I didn’t tell you because I had forgotten it. I’ve had nightmares about it every night on this planet, but I must have repressed it. It was just too scary. All of my energy was spent either tending to your wounds or trying to not throw myself at you.”
His eyebrows crept up.
“As to why nobody told the Holy Anocracy, the vampires 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.”
Maud frowned. “What is it about the children? The Mukama and their relatives seem uncontrollably drawn to them. Three creatures who had survived on a vampire world all this time burst out of hiding just to eat my daughter. Why now?”
“I don’t know,” Arland said. “But we will find out.”
They lay together in a comfortable silence. Maud basked in it. Warm and safe and…
“Tell me something. When I was running to you, I could have sworn the Mukona froze in mid-move. Was it you?”
She groaned and pulled the covers over her head.
Arland peeled the blankets back. “That’s not an answer.”
“It was me.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
He pinned her with his stare. “It reminded me of Tony. The ad-hal Tony. When he walked into the battle at your sister’s inn and froze the attacking Draziri.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why do you have to be so observant?”
“A lifetime of training and a few moments of fear,” Arland said. “When you see the woman you love and your daughter about to be eaten alive, it sharpens your senses a bit. Why do you have the magic of an ad-hal?”
“I wish I could tell you. I’ve never done that before. Nobody knows how the ad-hal are made or trained. When a child is chosen to become an ad-hal, and the family consents, they are taken away for a while. Sometimes a few months, sometimes a year. The older you are, the longer the training takes. They don’t talk about it, even with their families. Sometimes they come back, like Tony, sometimes they choose not to.”
“Are the ad-hal highly prized? Are they rare?”
“Yes,” she said.
His expression hardened.
“Are you formulating a battle plan in case the ad-hal show up here and try to take me or Helen away?” she asked.
“They will not take you away. You are the Maven of House Krahr. Nobody comes to take you away. They would have to kill the entirety of our House. You said it yourself, their numbers are few. Should they try, there would be a lot fewer of them.”
She gave a mock shudder. “So bloodthirsty.”
He flashed his fangs at her.
“It doesn’t work like that,” she explained. “Becoming an ad-hal is strictly voluntary. If I go back to Earth and demonstrate my new time freezing ability, assuming I can do it, because I don’t know how I did it and I’ve been trying to do it again with no success, the Innkeeper Assembly may want to ask me some questions. But I am not an innkeeper. They have no authority over me unless I break the treaty. But I like the way you think, my lord.”
Arland kissed her shoulder. “That’s excellent news.”
The kissing made it difficult to carry on a conversation. “Mhm. So when did you know your mother made me the Maven?”
“She informed me after the fact.” He nuzzled her neck. “Do you like being the Maven?”
“I’m thinking about it. What are you doing?”
“Since my wounds don’t need tending, I am seeing if I can get you to throw yourself at me.”
“Already?”
“A knight always rises to the occasion, my lady.”
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.
“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.”
She stared at him for a long moment and then 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 supernova.” Arland sipped his tea.
She laughed. “Would you like me to tell you about him?”
“If you wish.”
“We met at a Road Lodge, 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 the 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 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 Helen. I wasn’t about to take any chances. Shooting him now serves no purpose.”
“It might be entertaining to watch him explode.” 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 Marshal 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.
“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 needed 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.”