Chapter 25

  Zo

  Kivaan stepped into the steaming pool and almost collapsed as the strength promptly left his body, his spirit understanding something that his mind had refused to acknowledge until this moment: the battle is over … and we have a respite before the next one. He eased down to sit on the sub-surface shelf cut into the living rock and groaned with both relief and the agony of all his tension dissipating at the same time, seemingly drawn out by the hot water. One by one, the other lads disrobed and stepped into the waist deep pool, all groaning or sighing too.

  The cavern was wide with a relatively low ceiling which was shored up with dressed stone and beams. Partitions had been set up down the middle of the single, wide, pool to separate the women from the men, and the far end of the cavern opened onto the majestic vista of The Black Sea. There, the underground spring trickled over a lip of stone and then down the side of the mountain, which made the pool seem almost a part of the distant ocean.

  “Are there two pools in here, that they can partition us?” asked Jiriou inquisitively.

  “Aah!” giggled Hajuyu’s voice from behind the woven screens. “You must not look, Jiriou-zomiyu! How scandalous! Although perhaps Kageyu wishes you would show more interest?”

  “I am no knight,” Jiriou muttered petulantly, making a point to move with aggressive sloshing away from the partitions to the far side of the pool. “Looking at such women would bear a cost not worth the reward!”

  “Does the ocean air have no effect on forest folk?” Hajuyu continued to tease, her voice too loud, while Kageyu audibly took umbrage for her own sake.

  Kivaan noted with a secretive smile that the water’s dancing reflection off the ceiling must be somewhat disguising the flare of the princess’ wings – and then he heard it. The reason for Hajuyu’s excessive merriment. Soft sobs of both happiness and trauma-release from beyond the partition as the princess stepped foot in a proper bath for the first time in many of the Queen of the Night’s reigns. It had been a shock to Kivaan how it involuntarily relaxed him so abruptly … for a young woman who had been through what Tsuzumiyu had been through … Kivaan sighed to himself.

  I am only supposed be taking her under my sword to protect her physically … so why this desire to take her in my arms right now and … and tell her it will be well?

  He plunged his whole head beneath the surface for a good long while before emerging again, his thoughts only slightly gathered. Tsukio had eased himself slowly and painfully into the pool by now and he sat himself on the underwater shelf with a sigh of relief. His eyes sparkled merrily as enjoyed the hot water and the restoration of the company of his fellows.

  “This is nice,” he grinned across at Kivaan. “The nearness of the women is a certain distraction, though …”

  “Pah,” Jiriou snorted venomously, his ego still evidently smarting from Hajuyu’s attack.

  Oniwa said nothing, content to seat himself on the shelf, lean his head back on the lip of the pool and close his eyes. He seemed very happy to ignore everyone and be ignored.

  “Now then,” Tsukio grinned broadly, settling himself and leaning forward on his elbows. “I believe you have an accounting to give me!”

  “Do I?” Kivaan laughed wearily. “Will you not let these weary bones rest for even an evening?” And then Kivaan’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, if with good humour. “And have you not seen all these things already?”

  Tsukio grimaced and waved off the assumption. “I know of broad facts … as related by a rider who arrives in the dead of night shouting his tidings briefly before riding onward.” He snorted rudely. “Is such a thing at the level of a friend sharing glad tidings?”

  “Ah,” Kivaan smiled sadly. “I see. Tsukio, if the tidings were truly glad, I would not be marrying a princess. There is no other who can … no other who will stand over her and shield her from what is to come. I fear I have made yet another rash decision … and I am not wise enough to see the end of this path like you.”

  “Wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing,” Tsukio pointed out. “Then you tell me there is nothing in this union to be glad about?”

  The question was pointed enough that Kivaan honoured its intention by considering it in silence for awhile.

  “She is glad she has found a protector …”

  “Kivaan, you may be my superior, but one more foolish word out of that serious mouth of yours and I will slap you,” Tsukio said earnestly. “Whatever your thoughts on the matter are, I have not looked upon a woman so besotted with her man since last I saw your own mother and father. If your feelings are still dormant … so be it. But you should not dishonour her feelings.”

  Kivaan grimaced because he knew his friend spoke the truth. “My feelings are not so dormant as I had thought they would be,” he grumbled under his breath, praying Jiriou did not hear him.

  The forest lad, however, had made his way back over to the side of the pool nearest the partition, lured in by the beckons of the Chuho twins. He was now engaged in a verbal skirmish with both Hajuyu and Kageyu, and managing to hold his ground through the sheer, perverse grit that characterised him.

  “Well,” Tsukio beamed, his disposition immediately improving, “that does my heart very good to hear! No doubt you regaled her with warnings about how it would be a loveless union and you were only to be her shield …”

  “Have a care, Tsukio, or you will have survived our forest skirmish only to drown in the hot springs of Shikyo …”

  Tsukio laughed merrily and even Kivaan added his chuckle to the good humour. And then Tsukio pointed out through the opening in the cavern, to where the horizon had darkened with nightfall and a single star flickered brightly above the Black Sea.

  “The Lover,” he smiled, clearly privy to some information he did not volunteer. He looked at Kivaan. “You should go to the lip of the cave. The view is spectacular, and Jiriou’s protests and accusations will seem quieter.”

  “Do you intend to join in his revelries?” asked Kivaan drily.

  “Perhaps … he has held the line long enough after all!”

  Kivaan sighed and moved off as bidden. “I suppose I shall go see what it is you would have me see then,” he murmured, his quiet sincerity coloured with dry humour. He trusted Tsukio enough to follow even his friend’s most cryptic instructions.

  The water lapped at his belly, then just under his chest as the pool deepened the closer to the edge of the cavern he came. Ahead of him, the mountainside fell away abruptly – not quite a sheer cliff, but certainly steeper than anyone in their right mind would care to navigate if they had any other option. Kivaan leaned upon the lip of the pool, admiring the way the stone had been worn smooth by the steady trickle of water streaming over it and running away down the slope, steaming in the cold evening air. In fact, the cold air only made the hot springs into a more pleasant experience.

  Far below, the sea wall reached out in its languid half-circle, not quite complete, allowing just enough of a gap for small merchant ships to enter. All others must send in a boat under oar-power, for Shikyo was a fortress before it was a place of residence. Security was the greatest concern.

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  And yet … the princess was snatched from her quarters, mused Kivaan, a stirring of anger deep within his soul at the brazenness of such an assault. In the wake of his unexpected engagement, slights against the princess had quickly begun to feel personal. He glared down over the mountainous fortress that had failed so spectacularly to keep the princess safe. So, Tsukio? What did you intend for me to see?

  A tremulous sigh came from the other side of the partition, and with some surprise, Kivaan realised that he was not alone in his study of what lay below. Here, at the very lip of the cavern, there was limited ability to see into the other side of the pool, and there, also leaning against the stone and close enough to touch, was the princess. She noticed him moments after he noticed her, and her face took on that look of innocent horror that he had come to associate with her embarrassment.

  “K-K-Kivaan-zomiyu!” she squeaked, barely audibly.

  “My apologies, princess,” Kivaan murmured, turning quickly away and putting his back to the partition. “I did not realise you were there.”

  “I … I … p-please, give it no thought! I was just … looking out over my home and … and thinking …”

  Kivaan grimaced. Yes. As was I, he thought without humour. … and thinking … how badly it failed you. But then … who could have known how far the Cult would go to prosecute its agenda?

  “These baths … I always loved them,” Tsuzumiyu was saying, her voice shy and quiet. “Here … on the edge … I feel as if I am looking into eternity.”

  Kivaan stole a glance over his shoulder and saw her smiling dreamily at the open sea. Her hair was loose and hanging in wet strands about her naked shoulders and neck. The water around her glowed with a golden luminescence, no doubt from the radiant, blazing wings that he had glimpsed when he rescued her. Evidently they were suppressed by the water. Time seemed to stop for Kivaan in that moment, and he was not able to look away before she caught him staring and promptly went red again.

  “M-M-My Lord,” she stammered, without thinking of what she intended to say beyond that.

  “I must apologise again, Princess,” Kivaan sighed, turning away again and rubbing at his forehead to regain his composure. “Would it upset you to know I once considered you to be without the charm of a young woman?” He laughed at himself.

  “Oh, is that so?” murmured Tsuzumiyu, sounding hurt but brave.

  “Do not misunderstand,” Kivaan chuckled, watching as more stars appeared in the darkening sky outside. “It has been some time since I thought that.” He stopped, self-conscious about saying more than that.

  “Oh,” came Tsuzumiyu’s softer return. “Is … is that so.” She was quiet for some time – they both were.

  More stars twinkled into life, and Kivaan wondered what secrets they might tell Tsukio. As for himself, he must bumble about this relationship despite being able to stride through an enemy camp without a scratch.

  “Um … what … what do you think of me now?” wondered Tsuzumiyu bravely.

  Ah, she insists on luring me out once more, thought Kivaan with some amusement. She is the sort to seem mild until she sees something she wants …

  “My Lord!” Tsuzumiyu pouted. “You told me I would not have to force you … um … that is …”

  Kivaan sighed, but it was through a wide grin well outside of Tsuzumiyu’s line of sight. She is beginning to brandish her power over me! he thought, laughing quietly to himself.

  “Very well, my Lady, I hope your cheeks are prepared for the onslaught I have readied for you,” he returned drily.

  “E-E-Excuse me?” she yelped.

  But he gave her no further respite, and instead embraced the fact that the time had come for him to speak what he thought on the matter … and also be frank about his own history with the Cult. After all, he reluctantly supposed she deserved to hear it and have that closure.

  “Princess,” Kivaan began, and he was gratified to hear her breath catch as she tried desperately to ready herself for whatever came next. “It is true. When we first met I made some … assessments … that were unfavourable. Please understand that marriage was the last thing on my mind, and if it were to take place, I was confident it would be to a woman of my parents’ choosing. I am not a politically or militarily ambitious man. Even if it were within my grasp, I would never have presumed to reach for the hand of a highborn daughter. You might as well have been the Queen of the Night. It was on my heart to do my duty and return you to your father as best I could. Even now …” Kivaan grit his teeth and concentrated his gaze on the water dancing beneath the torchlight in front of him. “Even now … I must confess something further to you before I will accept your hand.”

  “Oh,” Tsuzumiyu murmured softly. “Please tell me. I will hear you out.” There was a deep nervousness mingled with fear in her voice, and even tempered by her considerable will, it still caused her words to waver and flicker like a candle in a breeze.

  “I … I found you on my way home in self-imposed disgrace from the Nation of White Towers,” Kivaan said flatly. Truly, it had not occurred to him until just a moment before just how relevant his failing was to the princess. “I was there … because in my vanity, I sought to test my martial prowess. And the greatest known test of strength and grit is the Trial of Raashim.”

  Tsuzumiyu’s deep, shaking, inhalation came as no surprise to Kivaan, but it did sadden him. After all … what face is she making right now? What have I made her feel with this confession? I intended to flatter and encourage her … and yet it seems Jiaduni has laid the burden of confessing my part in the Trial to her.

  “I passed through the Trial and was brought into the Temple of Raashim to make the vows that would have made me one of those who stole you away,” he said, voice low and savage with derision of himself. “There, at last, I balked. I could not do it. Tsukio and I shaved our heads to make our so-called faithlessness public, and that alone prolonged our lives. That very night, we stole away in the Dead Watch, and made our way without roads until we came to the Crooked Spine, and there crossed. So you see, Princess … I must confess fully to you how flawed I am. I will protect you with my life … but I am no longer a man who can honour you with association.”

  The silence was surprisingly short before Tsuzumiyu spoke, her voice still trembling with emotion, but her words far more considered and filled with conviction.

  “I have had my fill, my Lord,” she said with that same voice of command with which she had first introduced herself, “of hearing how unfavourable you are. Please remember …” And here a small sob caught in her throat. “…please remember that yours is not the only vision of your actions. I have been watching you since you first rescued me. I will not insult you by claiming you are perfect … but every wrong or mistake you have made, that I am aware of, you have done everything in your power to correct. How can I hold your participation in the Trial of Raashim against you when every breath you have taken since has been devoted to your penance?”

  A little whimper found Kivaan’s ears then, and he realised, with a deep sadness, that she was trying to keep him from hearing her crying. She spoke again.

  “And how long will you punish yourself for that mistake made in your youth?” she demanded then, with a miserable fury that Kivaan realised was on his behalf. “I believe your father longs for you to be reconciled to him … and if he does not, my father would certainly make you one of his greatest knights. Do you still not understand?” Tsuzumiyu’s face suddenly appeared at Kivaan’s elbow, for the girl had fully leaned around the partition in her insistence on being paid attention to. “My Lord!” she persisted, tears still streaming down her face. “Do you understand? You were on the wrong path, but you have turned from it. How can anyone that loves you do anything but rejoice?”

  "Ah, she is the sort to seem mild until she sees something she wants ..."

  AI-rendering of original characters and narrative by T. Sharp

  Kivaan stared down at the princess, his failure to comprehend exactly what she had just said likely written all over his face. It was difficult, after all, with her insistent face staring imploringly up at him through wet hair while the spring water glistened off her bare shoulders and the soft roundness of her breasts, although she had at least had the presence of mind to cross her arms across her chest. Her cheeks were red at her own audacity, and from her back, that rainbow explosion of colour that was her wings simmered in the steam, the vibrant spectrum almost blinding to look at.

  “I … um …,” squeaked Tsuzumiyu, the prolonged silence making her more and more aware of her own impropriety.

  “I … like you very much, Princess,” Kivaan said before he could think better on it. “I never meant to sound as if all I wished to offer was safety … I wish to provide you with happiness and rest, too. And … and my …” He was conscious of a strange burning in his ears as he tried to say words he had never imagined he himself would say. “… and my love … such as it is.”

  “Ah, my Lord,” Tsuzumiyu murmured, bashful now. “You have accustomed me to small cups of your kindness … how am I supposed to keep my senses when you offer a pitcher of your love …” She smiled tentatively and looked him in the eyes with a daring Kivaan had not seen in her before. “Such as it is?” she wondered. “My Lord … your love is far beyond what I ever dreamed of receiving. Please … do not belittle it.”

  Zo: eff – peace; lit – peace, harmony