Shahin Esca Yusuf-ja

She lounged on a large pillow as the rest of her tail coiled over another one. The sofas of Emanai, even the ones designed for more ‘robust’ families, were rather flimsy for her. The furniture was yet another example of how foreign this country was. The damp air made nights unbearable, despite them being milder in these lands. While the feeble heat of the sun could barely overcome the chill of the wind. Back home, she dressed in silks outside to shelter herself from the bright sun. Here, she had to wear outer clothes even indoors. Or risk her thoughts to slow into a crawl.

“I hear that Domina is planning on expanding the Manor?” Shahin spoke as she drank hot wine with honey.

The warmth and sweet of the liquid kept her warm, so she didn't have to rely on runes all the time. While the actual spell was not complex, maintaining Flow over the entire day could easily drain even someone of her rank. And she had no desire to wake up sick.

She couldn’t afford it.

“My mother has a keen mind.” Anaise Hilal allowed, “It is no wonder that the Manor would prosper under her watch.”

Shahin was inside one of the winter pavilions, sharing her lunch with the Lady of the House and her brother. Amalric looked rather subdued today, allowing his sister to lead the conversation. An otherwise normal occurrence but she had seen him talk to her before. Apparently, the boy had been talked to. That was unfortunate, but not unexpected.

That meant they knew, that she knew. And the game was on.

“I would assume that she is eager to congratulate her daughter’s accomplishments? A new estate perhaps?” She probed instead.

“Is that how Esca honours its daughters, then?” Anaise asked in return.

She smiled, “Indeed. An estate is a first step in acquiring your own Manor after all.”

Anaise eagerly jumped in, asking her about the customs and traditions of her homeland and Shahin let her. The Lady of the House was well-educated and knew her way around sensitive topics. She was also young. Her attempts at changing the topic were laudable but still obvious. That is if one was paying attention. And heard some gossip beforehand.

Domina was planning a large expansion. A very large one. Yet, judging by Anaise's reticence in rightfully calling it hers, that was not a future estate of the Lady of the House. Or estate at all. A word here, an unusual meeting there, and surprising whispers all around painted a somewhat odd outcome rather than a luxury estate for an esteemed member of the Kiymetl household. Nor did it look like the usual expansion due to family growth. Shahin tried to acquaint herself with every member of Kiymetl Manor that resided here. And there weren’t that many around.

This Manor was young and the current courtyards were more than sufficient to house all of them.

It wasn’t an estate she realized. Something simple like that would have been already built. Or at least the walls and the main buildings would have been in place. Domina was waiting for something else to start the construction, something related to the rest of the city. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have spent so much time meeting with the Samat family.

An estate, no matter how luxurious, wouldn't require a collaboration with the rest of the city. A collaboration that most likely implied the necessity for wider roads or even aqueducts.

But a new manufacturing area would.

The question was why would Domina hide it under the name of an estate? Was it to hide it from her own family? Or from someone like her? Perhaps, even both.

She spoke of her homeland, as she drank and ate. The drink wasn’t strong enough to sway her thoughts, but the honey and the meat would keep her body hot and her mind swift for a long time afterwards. Perhaps a combat practice wouldn’t be amiss either. She had to eat quite often since she came over here and her tail was already big enough to hold the heat within. Anything more would only slow her down.

Shahin wove her story skillfully, both pulling at the heartstrings of Amalric and probing Anaise with accidental words. The young man was confused and subdued. Unsure where to put his trust. With his mind that told him to obey his mother, or with his heart instead. And she would not discourage him from thinking so.

She told them of the sands and stars. The songs and dances of her sisters, that kept them warm until the fires were hot enough. She spoke to them, but the tale was more for herself.

Because she knew that she might not return.

Shahin came here both on her own volition and by her House's will. Guided by the chillingly precise comments of the Kiymetl delegation. She came here expecting an upstart to subdue or an accidental discoverer to recruit. Instead, she had found a Pillar Manor almost ready to suborn their craft. The rings inside their braids were simplistic but well-defined. Which meant that whoever made them knew exactly what he was doing, but had no experience with it.

The experience could be gained in time. The colour they possessed - not so much.

Despite all her efforts, the murk alchemist remained out of her reach. Amalric had been fruitless in his attempts, even in bringing him with the Lady of the House. Anaise Hilal acted rather possessively when any conversation touched her new attendant. And she could guess why judging by how often she would play with her rings. A slave of such mastery would be a precious possession.

The sounds of a commotion outside interrupted their conversation. Her hosts looked around but, before either of them could tell one of the slaves to investigate, a servant girl was already beside Anaise Frantically whispering something to her.

“What!?” Lady of the House exploded, and scowled not at the flinching servant but at…her?

“Is there something of the matter?” Shahin asked.

“Please, don’t worry about it. I just need to excuse myself for now.” Anaise quickly rose.

“Of course.” Shahin bowed to her, “Until our next meeting, perhaps.”

“I should probably assist my sister,” Amalric got up as well.

She bowed silently to him, making him awkwardly turn away from her gaze as if he was guilty.

Shahin waited until they left her alone with her servants and then extended her arm. The flute was quickly placed in her hand. Absentmindedly she began a melody of her past. One of the first Songs of Fire that all children learnt. It was calm and simple, easy to memorize and soothing to the mind.

A new slave snuck in as she played, her neck adorned with the seal of Kiymetl, bowing quietly in front of her.

“What is the commotion outside?” Shahin asked after she had finished her piece.

“There is a slave missing.” The girl eagerly reported, “The Young Lady’s alchemist or so I heard.”

“Really?” She smiled to herself. “It seems that he is quite important, then.”

“Oh yes! Some say that Domina is very fond of the murk.” She lowered her voice conspiratorially, “Some even dare to claim that she had summoned him to her baths.”

Shahin held her eyes from rolling as she gestured to her slave. The power of gossip was notorious everywhere, but this was getting to an absurd level. She picked up a small pouch of cuts and threw it into the outstretched hands. The slave girl bowed deeply and disappeared once again with their interaction over.

She stretched and put the flute away, hiding the hint of a smile under her veil. The grim future of her House was still uncertain. If she would throw the dice right, her sisters would not have to freeze and starve. Aikerim Adal didn't outright dismiss her upon arrival, which meant that she was not secure in her new product yet. At the same time, ridiculous rumours about the miraculous rise of the murk and possessiveness of the Lady of the House painted the real picture of the culprit. The culprit, that had already managed to stir the entire Manor with his absence.

Perhaps the Gods would smile upon her and she wouldn’t need to do anything at all.

“One ship - one navigator, was it?” She slowly murmured.

How apt.

XXX

“What?” I said, awkwardly putting dildos away, “They aren’t for me!”

Viter kept goggling.

“It is a present for the girls.” I desperately tried to explain myself.

“There should be a healer nearby, they sell herbs that can raise your spirit.” He suggested.

“I don’t have problems down there!” I hissed quietly.

He raised his eyebrow, “You have the cougar wer vying for your attention. If you don’t have problems yet - you will.”

It was my time to goggle at him, “Wait. You mean they are all like that?”

He turned away, “They are…well-known for their appetite.”

I gulped. Note to self: avoid other cougars at all costs. I idly wondered how quickly I would’ve tapped out if I didn’t have the technology of the advanced civilization keeping my dick rock-hard throughout these nights. It would be fun one day to sit down and reminisce about our first days. Try to figure out who wooed whom. And still, come up short.

“Well, hopefully, she won't be weirded out by me buying it.”

“In your positions, you don’t have to worry about these things.” Viter turned back to glaring at the crowd like a hawk.

I sighed. His words were true in this society, but that was not what I sought from my relationship. And that was the main reason why I wanted them to grow so much. Just as with hypothermia, where nobody is dead until they are warm and dead, it is love when they can leave at any time, yet choose to stay instead.

And it wasn’t just my own stance. Navigators needed mindless sycophants as much as they needed screen doors on the hull of a ship.

In the end, I chose to shrug and continued to stuff the protruding package under the tunic. The recent conversation had eased the load off my mind. This is why I decided to take another detour and visit the merchants once again. Not to buy ingredients, but to purchase trinkets that weren't on my mind before. Like ordering new amulets to be made for Irje and Yeva, checking up on the guitar progression, and making awkward purchases from a very loud seller.

At least I could pick up the guitar`s body tomorrow. And sing first songs by afternoon, most likely.

A stray thought had entered my mind to ask Viter about wermage exploits in bed, but I stayed my tongue. He had been twitchy since he noticed how often I attracted the attention of Domina and Anaise, and the recent encounter with Albin made it worse. I had a faint feeling that he would have a heart attack if I even mention the possibility of bedding one.

Well, at least I got some interesting tidbits about wer in the process.

A street urchin bumped into me. “Hey!” I barked, trying to maintain balance, “Watch where are you going! Oh…”

He didn’t just bump into me, he also managed to leg out of here extremely fast. While clutching my coin pouch.

Little bugger.

Oh well, there wasn’t that much le-

A loud roar blasted my ears as Viter went into combat mode. Claws extended and ready to jump. Scaring all the passers-by around us. He lunged forward as the crowd quickly split apart in front of him, giving him a better path to pursue his prey.

I sighed as the stripes of yellow and black disappeared into the crowd. So much violence for some measly cuts. I would need to talk to him about using proper responses in such situations. Or even develop standard operating procedures exactly for the cases like that. So that I won't stand like a peacock as the crowd gawked at me.

Alone at that.

My breath hitched as I heard the shuffle behind my back. I dropped to the ground fast and hard, barely avoiding the noose that appeared right where my neck was just a second ago. Without bothering to get up, I booked from the clearing in a similar manner as the urchin did moments before. Frantically pushing my way between the legs of the gawkers.

I cursed under my breath as I kept weaving through the crowd, not paying attention to the screams and yells behind me. Fucking Albin! ‘Watch your back’ my ass! He could have simply warned me like a normal wermage being. But nooo! The smarty-pants needed to act all vague and mysterious.

I kept running as my eyes looked for an alley. A sharp turn and a quick climb, and I will be able to put some serious distance just as I’ve done before. The rest I could figure out later. This was an ambush, and the first rule of an ambush, if you are still alive that is, is to get the fuck out of the ambush zone.

A glance to the side, a shove to the other and I pushed myself into a gap between the buildings. It wasn’t deep but walls were rife with protrusions. Perfect to scale upward. A few well-placed steps and I threw myself at the wall, easily catching the protruding brick with my fingers.

My hands pulled me upward with ease. In less than a second, I was already halfway up the wall. Finally getting the first solid grasp on the protruding eaves of the second floor.

That is when a flying brick smashed into the wall right above my head, showering me in chips of clay.

A growl from behind and below, “Get back down, merk.”

Damn, this bugger was much faster than the other two. Smarter too. Oh well, plan B it was.

I dropped sloppily, like a sack of potatoes, landing with a pained grunt and collapsing to the ground.

A single wer. He was a little bigger than me, but not by a huge margin. No wonder why he was that fast.

Good.

I snivelled as my fingers let go of my dagger and braced against the earth. I had no real skill at slashing but he might have. And all that usefulness of the ultra-sharp blade would be gone in a moment if he would disarm me.

He sniffed as he slowly approached me, “you should have stayed put, merk. I could have made this easy for both of us, but you choose to struggle instead.”

He took his time as he approached me. He was telling me something nasty but I didn’t bother listening to his threats. What I paid attention to was the lack of any seals or medallions on his clothes as well as the plain style of his belt. Whoever he was, he definitely didn't dress to impress. He also favoured his right leg somewhat.

Very good.

I held myself still, waiting for him to get near. My head turned away, facing the ground. The smell of dust and petrichor inside my nose. All my attention in my ears. A murmur of the street nearby, a hissing voice of my adversary. And uneven steps of his feet.

A step and a drag.

Step.

Drag.

My muscles flexed. Ready to move.

Step.

Just as he started to drag his foot, I lunged low at the shin in front of me. The one that he just put all his weight at. My shoulder smashed into his leg as I dropped down once again, planting his foot into the ground with the weight of my body.

There is a funny problem with our brains. They really hate falling backwards. And they will use all reflexes available to them to ‘correct’ the issue. It would lock up your muscles and straighten your knees just to push you back into the standing state. Even if the centre of mass was way past your sole foot on the ground. The foot, that was unable to move due to all the weight applied to it.

But nature always finds a way.

And bones are designed to be strong with a specific task in mind.

I heard a loud crack as the shin fractured right beside my head. Both of his bones shattered as he toppled down like a falling tower, squealing like a pig.

That wasn’t good, however. Who knows, if he had friends nearby.

Letting go of my brutal prise, my hand reached past the dildos and grabbed one of the tiny pieces of folded parchment. I lunged to his screaming face, my palm covering his open mouth and forcing him to breathe out the rest of his air through the nose. He tried to inhale right after that, planning to scream again, only to be interrupted by my other hand. The one generously pouring the powder right into his nose.

The wercat snorted and tried to struggle, but I held him down firmly. He was strong, but so was I. And the shock from pain was already kicking in and, in a few moments, the other drug was too.

I calmly watched as his cat-like eyes slowly rolled up, white froth on my fingers. He would most likely survive if his body behaved like a human one. But the wake-up would be miserable.

I wiped off my hands on his tunic and quickly scanned the main street from behind the corner. Painfully aware of all the shady faces in the crowd. Viter was nowhere to be seen. I quietly cursed at my overly eager bodyguard and hid again. It was unknown whether he was still chasing the hapless urchin or looking for me back where we split. The important part was that he wasn’t here.

And staying around with a knocked-out body of a beaten wer was not a healthy way to live.

A quick search yielded nothing of importance and I sighed as I picked up the unconscious body. Leaving him here would mean that whoever hired him would be much better prepared for the next time. And I had no desire to hide inside the manor for the rest of my life. Fearful of shadows on the street.

I had places to be and things to do as early as tomorrow.

I threw him over my shoulders, securing him to myself with his sash. Killing him would have been quicker, but I didn’t waste all this effort only to slit his throat afterwards. Nor did I really wanted to do it either. And here of all places.

My fingers punched into the wall, making a purchase for themselves. Once again I scaled the walls of this city, but now I wasn’t running. I was merely moving fast toward the Kiymetl manor. I was certain that the wermage politics were the most probable cause of my current trouble, and so Aikerim would have to shovel this pile of shit herself.

Who knows, she might learn something valuable from the ‘tongue’ I captured. Or use him as a trading piece.

I crossed the city, jumping from roof to roof. My feet leaving gouges on parapets from all the weight I carried. My only cost was in calories and shoes. It was an unusual way of travel, I would say, but I didn’t wish to risk being stopped and questioned on my way back.

The Kiymetl manor was bustling with activity.

No, let me rephrase it. The Kiymetl was abuzz like an angry beehive.

I entered the main gate almost unnoticed as Sulla was rounding up redheaded warriors into groups. He stopped barking orders as he saw me with my package. Only to start barking a new set of orders, mostly for others to stay put and for me to follow him. Straight into the inner courtyards, to the heart of the Manor, and the residence of the Domina herself.

He left me as I walked through the final door, staying outside.

Leaving me face to face with a livid Aikerim.

I sighed and dropped the unconscious body on the floor, using him as a pillow to sit on.

Well, at least I’ve found Viter now.