“Your plan sounds solid and all, but have you forgotten about Kibari Oshield?” Rasia criticized after most of the kids had dispersed. Only the core group remained as they lounged under the veranda. “Did you include her in your plans? She still very much wants to kill Kai, and she’s not going to stop until he’s dead. Have you sent your little tent assassins after her?”
“First off, my alliance with the Tents does not involve murder,” Nico said. Over in the corner, Kelin winked at Rasia, immediately contradicting her words. The option wasn’t off the table, but Nico knew she was the thin line between the Tents and the Grankull. She had to be careful not to start a battle that could lose them the war. “We know Kibari Oshield is corrupt. There must be dirt on her. Certainly, we can blackmail her to convince her to step down from her position.”
“She needs to die,” Rasia declared. Beside her, Ysai agreed reluctantly.
From their brief interactions, Nico knew Kibari was not someone to underestimate. She had a reputation for being unerringly composed and deadly with a spear. In addition, the Sentry Han had killed her tah. If both Rasia and Ysai believed death to be their only recourse, Nico needed to take this threat seriously.
“Okay,” she said. “What do you think her next step would be?”
Rasia and Ysai turned to each other and exchanged a wordless conversation, and then Rasia tilted her head and squinted at Nico in consideration. “I’d target you, because you’re the biggest threat, but considering you’ve already dodged scavengers and tent assassins, I wouldn’t come at you head-on a second time. No, I’d go for easier targets—like Kai or the kid. If it was up to Kiba-ta, she would target Kai, considering she’d get the added bonus of fucking me over too, but Kiba-ta isn’t acting alone. As a group, the Council will probably choose Rae. You should probably go pick them up.”
“Kenji-ta agreed to watch them for the day. They’re safe,” Nico said. Kenji-ta’s hunting record might not be what it used to, but he was still considered one of the Grankull’s best windekas to ever sail. He had a reputation that could bring the tight-knit hunting community to his defense. They always stuck up for their own. Even Kibari wouldn’t dare.
“Besides, the Council can’t kill Rae now,” she said. “They’re the only heir.”
“The Council doesn’t need to kill them to control you.”
Shouts of alarm alerted Nico to the sight of someone racing toward them down the road. A streak of red hair streamed behind the runner. Ysai surged to his feet, hopped over the veranda railing, and caught Jilah as she collapsed into his arms. She gulped for breaths and searched through faces until her eyes caught wide and frantic on Nico’s.
“A hikull of sentries are at tah’s house. The Council is trying to take Rae away.”
“Rasia,” Kai snapped. Rasia bolted before Nico had time to process the words. Once it sunk in that yes—the Council had the audacity to threaten her youngest sibling—she jetted off into the air. Tajih’s house wasn’t too far away, as it was located on the other side of the Heart, the neighborhood that housed most of the scribes. She surfed over the gardens and the Heart Temple. At this height, she could see the gathered crowd. She splashed down at the center of the circle at the same time Rasia came to a skidding stop beside her. The suddenness of their arrival did not disrupt the tense standoff between Kenjinn Ilhani and Kibari Oshield.
“I fucking swear, you harm my child and one of us is not walking away alive,” Kenji-ta threatened. Nico joined tah’s side and minded the rhythm of her breaths, in case she needed to call forth her magic.
Rasia clicked her tongue and strolled to the center. Behind her back, Rasia flashed Kenji and Nico the kull signal to ‘wait.’
“Wow, Kiba,” Rasia said, alarming everyone with her lack of address. “I didn’t know part of a sentry’s job description included kidnapping kids.”
“Disrespect my name one more time and I’ll cut your tongue out,” Kibari said, soft, in dangerous warning. As the Han of the sentries, she couldn’t let such blatant disrespect stand, especially in front of her subordinates.
Rasia smirked, knowing, and taunted both syllables. “Ki-ba.”
Kibari’s spear spun and slid between grips as she dipped into a fighting stance. The sentries, who have all been at the end of her spear at one point or another during a training session, backed out of the way. Rasia reached to her back and unsheathed the wicked curves of her twin khopesh. The white dragonsteel of both weapons glinted off sunlight and drew a crowd of onlookers.
“I’m surprised you haven’t fled for the Desert by now,” Kibari said.
“I’m not scared of you.”
Kibari attacked, and her spear echoed against Rasia’s crossed khopesh. Rasia uncrossed, to trap the polearm in the curves, but Kibari flipped the blunt end of her spear forward. Rasia diverted the attack by switching her grip. Dragonsteel screeched along the polearm.
Kibari was good. Rasia was fast.
Kibari pushed forward with both hands, using the spear as a horizontal bar to knock Rasia in the face, but Rasia brought her khopesh up in time to defend. She buckled under the power of the attack and fell to one knee. Kibari lifted her leather boot to kick. Rasia lifted hers. Their right feet slammed against each other in mid-air. They both pushed. Locked together in a match of equal strength.
A stampede of footsteps burst through the crowd. Those Nico had left behind at the house finally caught up to bolster their numbers. They stood at her back, except for one.
Ysai struck with the speed of a cobra.
Kibari evaded his spear thrust, then backed up further to swat away Rasia’s quick strikes. Ysai threw an arm across Rasia’s path, and backed them up, breaking off the attack.
Kibari’s eyes narrowed at the newcomers and slammed the end of her spear to the ground. She addressed Ysai, “You dare to raise a weapon to your Han?”
“It is my job to protect the magicborn.”
“The Council has ordered us to retrieve young Raevin due to concerns of neglect.”
“I haven’t witnessed any such neglect,” Ysai argued.
Kai dove through a hole in the crowd. He folded over his knees when he came to a stop, breathing heavily at the run. Kelin, secretly assigned by Nico to watch over Kai, came jogging up behind him. The gathered crowd immediately shifted their attention to Kai’s entry. They shouted and yelled. A clear chant roared and rolled through the streets, “Cull the runt! Cull the runt! Cull the runt!”
Rasia yanked Kai behind her. Nico stared horrified at the crowd. None of the venom or hatred had been watered down but only seemed to have festered overnight. Amid the overwhelming noise, Rae broke away from tah’s legs. Kai scooped Rae off the ground and stepped closer to Nico.
“You should have stayed in the house,” she whispered at him.
“I won’t let them have Rae,” he said.
The Sentry Han raised a fist in the air and silenced the crowd. She raised her voice to announce, “Now that Raevin is the sole heir, it is of the utmost importance they are well-cared for. The Council has decided it is unacceptable they should remain in the care of a professed liar, a drunkard, and . . .” Kibari took a dramatic pause to sneer at Kai, “the runt. Hand them over. They are no longer your responsibility.”
“Kibari-kull,” Kenji-ta growled out. “I will not let you take my child away from their family.”
“And yet your kulani didn’t care about taking children away from their families now, did she? And really, Kenji-kull? You are barely involved in the child’s upbringing. When you’re not out with the kulls, you’re at the bottom of a bottle. The entire Grankull knows you’re a drunkard. Can you honestly claim you’re what’s best for the child? Besides, it is my understanding that the runt isn’t even family anymore.”
Kai’s eyes widened and he attempted to place Rae back on the ground, but Rae clung to him with stubborn refusal.
“That paperwork will be fixed soon,” Nico said.
The Sentry Han motioned her army of sentries forward. Rasia tensed to spring. Kai clutched Rae tighter.
Thunder cracked the sky and bowed everyone under the weight of the bellowing noise. The Sentry Han stood unflinching. Nico boldly stepped forward and placed herself as a shield in front of her family. They had enough numbers. She might be able to avoid a fight. “Turn away, Kibari Oshield. The Council’s claims are unfounded, and I will not be intimidated. If the Council has a problem with me, I welcome any competitor you think can run against me for the Wing-seat, but you will not drag my family into your petty politics. Dare take a child away from this family, and I will not hesitate to destroy you.”
“Really?” Kibari asked. She turned toward the rattled crowd. “Is this truly the person you want to represent you on the Council? Who would threaten violence over the Council’s reasonable concerns? Or is she no better than Avalai Ohan?”
Kiba’s words twisted Nico into a trap. If she harmed anyone unjustifiably, she would lose the people’s support, or she could let the Council take her younger jih as leverage. She had to make a choice, one Kiba would win either way. Her eyes narrowed and then turned to address the crowd.
“I am not Avalai Ohan, but are there any among you who would allow a child to be taken from your arms? Wouldn’t any of you do whatever it took to protect your family? Especially as triarch? I will destroy anyone who harms Rae, or Kai. Tell your neighbors. Tell your friends. I am not weak like my tah. You come after my children; I won’t come after yours.” Nico turned to Kibari. “I’ll come after you.”
The intimidation tamed the crowd, but Nico saw that dangerous sharp calculation in Kibari’s eyes. She was going to test Nico. She was going to send in the sentries. Force Nico to make a mistake.
Kai suddenly parted from the others, carrying Rae on his hip.
“What are you doing?”
He ignored her. He sat on the ground and placed Rae cross-legged across from him and used the ends of his shroud to wipe the tears from Rae’s eyes.
“Hey grubworm,” he said lowly, causing much of the confused crowd to lean forward in order to hear. “They might be a little scary, but all they want to do is play with us. Let’s show them how to play.”
Rae sniffled and nodded.
Kai tapped his hands on the ground and created the familiar beat of an old lullaby. Then he and Rae chanted together the kah. Letter by letter. The entire crowd quieted in stunned awe. Most children didn’t know the kah until their first year of school and some others never learned.
“And how do you spell your name?”
Rae exclaimed each letter. “R-A-E!”
Some of the crowd clapped in response to Rae’s enthusiasm. Nico didn’t miss Kai’s clever look when he glanced at Kibari. He had outwitted her. In one fell stroke, he completely cut the knees off the Council’s claims and saved her from having to defend the family. Proud, she scooped up Rae and hugged them into her arms. Together, Kai and Nico stood before the Sentry Han in defiance.
“Rae also knows how to write their name, they eat three meals a day, do their chores, and can recite the entirety of the origin story,” she declared. “Rae has been raised just fine.”
The sentries looked to their Han in uncertainty, most of them won over by the display. Without her sentries, Kibari had lost control of the situation. She stood, hand tightening around her spear, eyes pierced on Kai, lips curled into a snarl.
With the crowd and the sentries wavering, Nico knew this to be the best time to retreat. Kenji-ta must have sensed this too, for he came forward to place a supportive hand on her shoulder as they began a collective withdrawal. Kai gave Kibari one final bold stare before turning toward the others. Rasia sprinted forward, shouting, “KAI!”
Nico swiveled, in search of the threat and found Kibari’s cold calculating exterior rupture with rage. A spear loosed from her hand.
Aimed for Kai’s turned back.
Nico inhaled.
A beat too slow.
Kenji-ta, already in motion, scooped Kai off his feet and yanked him away from the spear that whizzed past to pierce the ground with vibrating force. Kai dangled, stunned, from Kenji-ta’s arm.
It took everyone a moment to process the fact that Kibari Oshield, Han of the Sentries, threw a spear at a child’s back. Such an action had only one response. Sometimes, arguments and words weren’t enough to avoid the inevitable.
With Rae on her hip, Nico marched forward and pulled the shroud from her belt. Then she slammed it down at Kibari’s feet. “I demand a blood price.”
“Then take it,” Kibari said.
“A moment,” she said, indicating the child on her hip. “Or would you also attack me while carrying a child and unable to defend myself?”
“Prepare yourself then.”
Unafraid, she turned her back on Kibari and was immediately met with a chorus of outraged voices. “Nico-kull, what are you doing?” “Are you sure about this?” “Are you crazy?” “Kibari Oshield is undefeated!”
“Kenji-ta,” Nico said calmly, cutting through all the panicked voices that enveloped her. “Go home and get my glaive. You know the one.”
“Nico-po, this is a mistake. Let me fight in your place,” tah said.
“No. If I am to be the triarch of this family, then this is my fight. Go get my spear, please,” she requested. She could see that he was terrified, but he jogged off down the street to cut through the gardens.
“Nico,” Kai said, as she deposited Rae into his arms. “This is what she wants.”
“I know,” she said. Kibari had placed her in a corner. She would lose all respect if she didn’t respond to the blatant public attack, and now that she did, Kibari had her in the perfect position to kill her without legal consequences. She had known the moment she dropped her shroud that this wouldn’t end with a cut on the arm. This was a death match. “I couldn’t let that attack go unchallenged.”
“You’re using your magic, right?” Rasia asked.
“No, I cannot.”
“You’re not using your magic?!” Rasia shouted in alarm, drawing the attention of several in the crowd. No doubt the crowd would continue to grow as the news traveled the streets. High-profile blood price matches didn’t occur often. Already, a few had procured reed pens and papyrus to record the event. Ugh. Scribes.
“Look,” Rasia said. “I know you’re trying to be honorable or whatever, but more is at stake here than your stupid morals. Seriously, kill that skink.”
“I appreciate the advice, but do you have any helpful tips?” she asked.
“I . . .” Rasia narrowed her eyes in thought. “She’s not the type of person to drag things out. Her first strike will be for the kill.”
She nodded. She straightened when tah returned from the house to deliver her worn and reliable glaive. The same trusty one she brought with her to the Forging. The same one that taught her she could fail.
They all tried to say something more and delay the inevitable, but Nico couldn’t afford to divert her attention to comfort them. She needed all her focus on surviving what was to come. She tightened her grip on the glaive and stepped into the perfect circle the crowd had created. She could smell the rose and lavender from the temple garden, so near that scattered petals had been trampled into the cobblestones. She could taste water on her tongue. It was going to rain today, one of those quick showers before the downpours hit.
Kibari Oshield had tied up her hair. Nico tightened the jute string of her ponytail.
They circled each other. There were none of the taunts or insults that were common in the stories. In fact, the noise of her surroundings faded into silence, the way the world did when she found herself submerged into a deep focus and nothing around her mattered but the task. She took a breath and held it.
Rasia had been right. Her tah didn’t bother with any feints, tricks, or surprises.
Kibari went straight for the kill.
Two beats of dragonsteel.
Nico survived to the other side, deflecting the first strike and countering with one of her own. Both untouched, they continued to circle one another, looking for any weakness of stance or mistake in footing.
But Kibari was not some fresh-faced sentry new to the spear. In order to win, Nico knew she would have to force a mistake, and if she had learned anything with that spear throw, she knew Kibari was not infallible.
“I hope this blood price satisfies all the children you have slaughtered,” Nico said nastily and thrust forward. This was for all those who hadn’t survived the Forging.
With a flick of the wrist, Kibari deflected Nico’s attack and the next one. Nico fought to batter her down but found no holes—only an indomitable defense. What had triggered her before? What had broken her cool composure?
Nico flicked her eyes to Kai, and then she was the one on the defensive. Kibari had sprung at the first sign of distraction. Dragonsteel slashed through Nico’s arm, and the crowd held in their breaths as she attempted a retreat, but Kibari relentlessly chased her back.
“You can’t bear it can you?” she asked, ducking underneath Kibari’s spear and then thrusting forward only for the attack to be sidestepped. “That Kai-ji got the better of you? I wonder how you’ll feel when I am the one to make you look a fool.”
Kibari scoffed, finally giving her a reaction. She leaned back and glanced at her reflection in the spear point that swiped overheard. Kibari said, “You are a naïve spoiled little child who believes the world bends to her whims.”
“You don’t know me,” she said. “You look at me and see my tah. But I am not the one who murdered your kulani. You did.”
Kibari’s face twisted, and she lunged forward. Kibari no doubt expected another retreat, but Nico lunged forward in turn. They scattered the lavender petals.
The crowd gasped. Warm blood dripped down Nico’s forearm. The clatter of a polearm fell to the ground. Kibari Oshield had overextended—a mistake she never would have made if her body had been entirely in her control.
At the last vibration, Nico had commandeered Kibari’s blood. She had used Rasia to convince everyone that she wouldn’t use her magic. The gambit had worked, for Kibari had underestimated her. Kibari thought her weak and soft-hearted and unwilling to go for the kill, but Nico had people to protect.
Honor was a privilege.
Also, yeah, Rasia was right. When someone sent assassins after you twice, threatened to take away the youngest member of your family, outright attacked another, and vowed to wipe your entire bloodline from the sands . . . sometimes, you’ve got no choice but to kill a skink.
“We all must pay our blood prices,” Nico said, and then twisted to dislodge the glaive out of Kibari’s chest. The body dropped dead to the ground.
She straightened and the crowd shuffled back a step. From their point of view, they had witnessed Nico besting one of the greatest polearm users in the entire Grankull. Let them believe she did it without her magic. Let them wonder what more she was capable of. She eyed them all, both a warning and a promise to anyone who dared to mess with her family. “All hunters are hunted.”
“All hunters are hunted,” the crowd echoed.
Nico glanced at Rasia, who stared at the corpse of her parent, replaying the how of it all through those perceptive eyes. Then she looked at Nico with sudden understanding, and Rasia gave a brief acknowledging nod.
Out of the crowd, one of the sentries handed Nico the shroud she had thrown to the ground. She accepted it with thanks and then kneeled to dab the cloth in Kibari’s blood.
Before Kai and Rae, Nico bowed to one knee and offered up bloody retribution. She whispered for Kai’s ears alone, “This offering is for tah’s death, but also for the trauma of the aftermath and believing her death had been your fault for almost four years. You both deserve some justice.”
His eyes swirled and within their bright cores, she could see that for the first time, he was ready to believe the truth. Kai accepted the blood price.