The First Kaiaru (24 page)

E
nashoma rushed from the Gate Platform back to Zaiporo’s room. He was sitting up in bed expectantly.

“They’re back. Safe and sound.”

Zaiporo smiled. “Thank the gods.”

“I told you they’d be all right without you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

She knelt beside him and poured him some tea. “I meant for waiting on Turesobei and Kurine. Obviously, they need you for the battles.”

He took a big sip of tea and frowned. “What’s wrong with this?”

“Nothing,” she replied defensively.

“It doesn’t taste as good as normal.”

“That’s because Lu Bei didn’t make it,” she hissed.

“Oh. You made it?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Sorry. I’m sure it’s fine.”

“It’s better than fine. You’ve just forgotten what normal tea tastes like.”

Zaiporo lay back in the bed. “How does he do it?”

“Make the tea that good? I guess it’s all those herbs he’s using.”

“Have you ever watched him mix his teas?”

Enashoma frowned. “Now that you mention it, I don’t think I have. I’ve seen him pick herbs. I’ve seen him in his nest up on the top of Turesobei’s shelves, mixing. But I’ve never witnessed the process directly.”

“Iniru told me that he rarely gets tea out of the storeroom, yet we all have plenty to drink.”

“Guess it’s magic then.”

Zaiporo took her hand. “Shoma, I’m sorry I’ve been so weird about Nāa and the kavaru.”

“I understand.” Her mind drifted guiltily to the time she’d spent with Nāa and the growing feelings she had for him. “I really do.”

Zaiporo tugged her hand, and Enashoma snuggled in beside him.

“I don’t want you to go back out on the missions,” she said.

He stroked her hair. “You know I have to. And they’re going to need me in the Summer Realm.”

“Will you be ready for it?”

“I’m going to start working out tomorrow,” he said.

“Just take it easy, okay?”

“This business with the kavaru…I’m sure I’ll learn to accept it. I just need more time.”

Enashoma nodded. She couldn’t bring herself to speak. She was confused. She loved Zaiporo. But she couldn’t deny her attraction to Nāa. Even excluding that Nāa was a Kaiaru who only existed within her and a gemstone, he and Zaiporo were both so different from one another. Zaiporo was broad and strong, with gray skin and rugged features. Nāa was pale and graceful, almost delicate in body and in demeanor.

Until this, everything had been so simple between her and Zaiporo. The only complication had been that he was ready for their relationship to become more physical…to move to the next level. And she wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.

But that…that was probably just another example of her fear of taking risks. And it was easy to say she was too young. She was supposed to be—at least according to the rules of her society. Of course, her society also disapproved of her being with a zaboko, having a kavaru, or going off on any sort of an adventure. So maybe society's rules weren't such a good excuse, after all.

“You’re quiet,” Zaiporo said.

“Just lost in thought. Sorry.”

“What’s on your mind?”

“Honestly? Our relationship.”

“Oh,” he said. “I hope the thoughts are good.”

She ran a hand across his chest, carefully avoiding the still-healing scars from where he’d been stabbed in the Cloud Realm. “I don’t want everything with Nāa to pull us apart.”

“It won’t. I swear I won't let my hang-ups about him get in the way of us.”

She believed him. But she wasn’t sure she could make the same promise.
I’m a terrible person. A terrible, terrible person
.

The kavaru stirred. No doubt, Nāa wanted her to know she wasn’t a bad person. On the other hand, maybe…maybe he was responding to her feelings for him.

Enashoma entered the Workshop at dawn. The emerald-eyed Blood King was waiting for her. Turesobei was right. When this personality was dominant, the Blood King seemed decent and was an excellent teacher.

She set the book he’d given her,
The Intermediate Guide to Magical Theory
, on the desk. “It was boring, but I finished it.”

“In one day?” he asked with surprise.

“I’m a fast reader, master,” she replied. “What do you want me to read next?”

“
The Intermediate Guide to Magical Theory.
”

“I just read it!”

“You did not understand it.”

She shot a dumfounded expression at him. “How do you know that?”

“You read it in one day. If you had understood it at a deeper level, it would have taken you a lot longer.”

“Maybe I understood it quickly.”

The Blood King proceeded to grill her on a number of topics. She started out okay, but then things went badly. All in all, she was unable to answer most of his questions.

“Are you sure all of that is in this book…master?”

“None of it is
in
the book.”

“Then how was I supposed to know it?”

“You were supposed to read the book and apply the information to your understanding of the nature of magic.”

Enashoma picked up a copy of
The Advanced Guide to Magical Theory
. “Wouldn’t it be easier for me to read this instead of extrapolating from the intermediate book?”

“You are welcome to try. But if you did not grasp what the intermediate book was trying to tell you, then you are not going to understand anything in the advanced book.”

“If what I need to know isn’t in these books, then what’s the point of them?”

“The point is to make things easier. Magic is like…an orchestra playing a grand symphony, except you are the entire orchestra. These books tell you how to play the instruments, but playing an instrument goes far beyond the instructions a book can convey.”

“It’s something you must learn by doing?”

“Exactly.”

“Then why not teach me directly?”

“I want you to think it all through first. I assure you, this is the fastest way to learn. Read the book again. Think about what it is saying. See the actions that go beyond the words. If you can do that, you can accelerate your understanding. And when we begin doing practical castings in a few days, you will see greater results.”

“As you wish, master.”

“Now, let us examine your kavaru.”

The Blood King stepped over to her. His eyes shifted yellow, then to the white of kenja-sight. He placed his palms on her forehead, beside the kavaru. She tried to close out all her thoughts and think of nothing in particular, in case he could read her mind. She was glad the Maker’s Brush was safely hidden in her room today.

“Nāa has grown stronger,” the Blood King whispered. “This is good. And the two of you…you have grown close in your bond. That is also good.” He backed away, and the milky film disappeared from his eyes. “Has he figured out how he managed to come back?”

“Not yet.”

“Is he trying?”

“He says that he is.”

The Blood King stared into her eyes. “Nāa, I expect some theories soon.” The eyes turned orange. “If I must torture the girl to get those theories, I will do so.”

A
fter a long night with Kurine, Turesobei slept till noon, ate lunch, then headed to the Workshop. He ran into Enashoma in the courtyard. She looked frustrated and a little worried.

“How are your lessons going?” he asked.

She hefted a book. “He’s making me read this again. Apparently, I didn’t understand it the first time.”

Turesobei glanced at the cover and smiled. “Oh, I hate that book. Grandfather made me read it, too.”

“You had to read
this
before you could cast any spells? You were like seven when you started!”

“Oh, I did basic castings for years before learning theory. Lord Gyoroe is just taking the opposite approach.”

“I’d rather do it Grandfather's way.”

“I’m sure Lord Gyoroe knows what he’s doing,” Turesobei replied.

“Any advice on how to figure it out?”

“Read each section, then pretend you’re a wizard casting a spell. Don’t worry about the fact that you don’t know the words or the runes. Just imagine that you’re channeling energy into a spell, any spell you want, and then envision the spell working.”

She sighed. “I’ll give that a try.”

“How’s it going with Nāa?”

“I’m getting along…well…with him. But Lord Gyoroe is frustrated that we don’t have answers for him. He threatened me today.”

Turesobei groaned. “I was afraid that would happen soon.”

“Are things okay with Kurine and Iniru?”

“Why wouldn’t they be?” he asked nervously.

Enashoma narrowed her eyes at him. “I just thought Kurine asking for an extra day might cause problems.”

“So far it’s okay. Iniru seemed to understand, though she certainly wasn’t happy about it.”

“Well, I’m going to go sit with Zaiporo and read back over this book again.”

“Is he going to be ready for the Summer Realm?”

“He says he will be.”

“Good, because I’m sure we’re going to need him.”

As soon as Turesobei entered the Workshop, Lord Gyoroe’s eyes turned yellow, and he glared.

“What is under your right sleeve?”

That hadn’t stayed a secret for long. Turesobei pulled the sleeve back to reveal his marriage brand. He had planned to show it to Lord Gyoroe today anyway.

“How did you know something was there, master?”

“To become as powerful as I am, you must see and understand the most potent and the most subtle forms of magic. Love is a mighty force, even if it cannot summon a demon or conjure fire. In the end, my apprentice, a binding is a binding.”

“I had never thought about it that way before.”

“So you married her?”

“I did, master.”

Gyoroe’s eyes shifted to pale blue. “Well…congratulations.”

“We're keeping it a secret.”

“That is of no matter to me.”

“I wanted to cover the brands using a masking spell.”

“So?”

“I did not want to do that without getting your permission first, master.”

“It is of no concern to me.” Gyoroe’s eyes turned violet. “Now, tell me, have you learned the true meaning of sacrifice yet?”

“I doubt it, master, but I will give bonding with the heart stones another try.”

The attempt went as poorly as Turesobei had feared.

“Do not come back here again this week,” Lord Gyoroe said with irritation. “You are wasting my time.”

“I’m sorry, master.”

“I want you to spend the rest of the week meditating, for as long as you can each day, on the true nature of sacrifice.”

“I will do my best, master.”

“And be prepared for the fight of your life in the Summer Realm at the end of the week. Zyraga's guardians will, without doubt, be worse than anything you have faced so far.”

Turesobei cringed at the thought. They had barely survived the last mission.

“And let us hope Nazyraga does not like to stay close to his heart stone. It is my understanding that I am the only being more powerful than him.”

Turesobei brushed that consideration out of his mind. He couldn’t afford to entertain any thoughts about the Lord of Monsters. Otherwise, fear would leave him anxious and worried and possibly lead to mistakes during the mission.

As he stood, Turesobei groaned and rubbed his back. Six days of attempting to meditate on the nature of sacrifice had led to nothing. The only thing he didn't understand was how the Blood King could murder innocents or allow his worshipers to sacrifice their lives to him. If that was what Turesobei was supposed to wrap his head around, it was never going to happen. Drinking blood sacrifices was what had turned Hannya against Gyoroe. If
she
thought that was going too far, there was no way Turesobei could ever understand it.

He took a long, relaxing bath, then got dressed in his finest robes. As usual on the night before a mission, they were all going to enjoy a large dinner together.

Throughout the week, he and Kurine had shared secret smiles. Otherwise, they had tried to act normal, as if nothing had changed, when in fact
everything
had. So far, luckily, no one else had seemed to notice anything was different.

Interacting with Iniru had been awkward, especially on their first night together. It had been almost impossible to relax, knowing he was keeping such a huge secret from her, a secret that would probably ruin their relationship if she discovered it. And he knew she would find out eventually…somehow. It was only a matter of time.

He had placed a masking spell on the forearm brands, but the illusion spell was bound to fail at some point, and it was difficult to keep Iniru from touching the spot accidentally and feeling the raised skin.

As soon as he entered the Dining Hall, Enashoma stalked up to him.

“Pull up your sleeves. You too, Kurine.”

Well, the disguise hadn’t lasted even half as long as he had hoped.

“Why?” Turesobei asked defensively.

“You know damn well why,” Enashoma snapped. “Don’t play this game with me.”

With a worried look, Kurine rolled up her sleeve. With her fingers bent into a mudra, Enashoma waved a hand over Kurine’s forearm. The masking spell vanished, and the branded, pale-green goshawk appeared on Kurine’s arm.

“You were right, Niru,” Enashoma said. “She does have some sort of brand on her arm. We just couldn’t see it because
someone
hid it from us.”

Kurine shrugged when Turesobei gave her a questioning look.

“I felt it when we were grappling during training practice earlier today,” Iniru said tersely. Emotionally, she appeared cold. But that meant she was anything but calm.

“Show us yours,” Enashoma said to Turesobei.

“What makes you think I have one?” he asked.

“If you don’t have one,” Iniru hissed, her lips barely moving, “then you can easily prove us wrong.”

With a sigh, he rolled up his sleeve. His forearm looked normal. Enashoma waved her hand again and dismissed the masking spell.

“I can’t believe you got matching tattoos…brands…whatever they are!” Enashoma said.

“Awesome,” Zaiporo said, but after a harsh look from Enashoma, he stopped smiling and sat back down.

Iniru stared at them, her eyes ablaze, then she spun around and stormed out of the Dining Hall without another word.

“Subtle, you two,” Enashoma said.

Kurine called out to Iniru. “Hey, Niru, wait! Let me explain!”

She started after her, but Awasa stopped her. “If I were you, I’d let her calm down a bit first.”

Kurine nodded. “You’re probably right.”

Enashoma snatched up Turesobei’s wrist and twisted his arm one way then another, looking at the symbol dubiously. “Does it mean something?”

“It's the symbol of our clan,” Turesobei said.

“I know
that!
Does it mean anything else?”

“Just that we love one another and are friends,” Kurine answered.

“Kurine's uncle does these,” Turesobei said, trying to use the cover story he’d thought up. “And…I don't know…lots of goronku have them…and it seemed like a good idea…at the time. You know, a way to mark Kurine’s last day with her family and…I guess we got carried away. Then I realized it would upset…people…so I tried to cover it. Thought maybe I could hide it until we were finished with the battles.”

“Hm,” Enashoma replied. “Sobei, how do you think—” she shrugged and dropped his hand “—never mind. It doesn't matter what Grandfather or Mother or anyone else will think, does it? We'll all be cast out of the clan once we return anyway.”

“Not Turesobei,” Zaiporo said. “The clan needs him.”

“They’ll throw him out when they’re done with him,” Enashoma said. “They don’t have any use for freaks like us.”

“I think all of us were freaks from the beginning,” Awasa said, “even if we didn’t realize it. Otherwise, we would never have all ended up here.”

Enashoma sighed. “You’re probably right. Look at all of us. Zaiporo’s the only one who’s still the same person he was when we set out from Ekaran.”

“For now,” Zaiporo said. “Though being normal kind of makes me the freak of this group.”

“Your time is coming,” Awasa said. “You can’t hang around Turesobei for long and stay normal.”

“Thanks, Wasa,” Turesobei said grimly.

She grinned, revealing her fangs. “You’re welcome.”

Zaiporo walked over and checked out Turesobei’s brand. He glanced warily at Enashoma. “Well, I like tattoos. And this brand is really cool. I wish I had one.”

“I recommend traditional tattoos,” Turesobei said. “Getting this brand burned onto my skin hurt a lot.”

“It wasn't as bad as the
Mark of the Storm Dragon
,” Lu Bei said. “That nearly killed you.”

“You know,” Enashoma said thoughtfully, “you’re right, Awasa. We’re all misfits. Sobei tries to blame himself for getting us into this mess, but we were the ones who insisted on tagging along. He’s just the catalyst for us turning weird.”

“To us,” Lu Bei said, raising his bowl of tea. “One big, mostly happy, family of freaks.”

They all raised their bowls, then Enashoma asked with concern, “Should we go check on Iniru?”

“Sobei and I will go,” Kurine said. “It’s our mess to handle.”

Turesobei agreed, then headed out of the Dining Hall with her. He would rather be venturing into the Summer Realm alone with no magic than have to face Iniru now.

“Do we tell her the truth?” he whispered into Kurine’s ear.

“Only if we have to,” she replied. “For now, we stick to our story.”

They knocked on Kurine’s door, but Iniru wasn’t there, so they went to Iniru’s original room and tapped lightly on the frame.

“Go away!” she shouted.

“We just want to talk,” Turesobei said.

“I said go away.”

“Let us explain,” Kurine said.

“I stood outside the Dining Hall and listened,” Iniru replied. “I heard your explanation to the others.”

“And?” Kurine asked.

“And you’re lying,” Iniru replied. “Those marks mean something more than that.”

“Like what?” Turesobei asked.

“Undying love, betrothal…for all I know you’re married now!” She said the last part as if it were absurd, so clearly she didn’t believe that was the case. “I don’t know, and frankly, I don’t care. Because it just doesn’t matter what they represent. You lied to me, you broke our truce, you dishonored our commitment to one another, and you betrayed my trust in you. Now go away!”

“Okay,” Kurine said, “but maybe we can talk about it in the morning….” She patted Turesobei on the arm. “Goodnight, Sobei.”

Turesobei leaned his cheek against the door. “It’s our night to spend together, Niru,” he said softly.

“Leave me alone, Sobei.” He could hear the hurt and the tears in her voice. “Just leave me alone.”