today.” The boy ducked his head again, like he was ashamed. Like he was to blame for what was happening to Kaie’s people. “Please, believe me about this. If you tell anyone of our old magics, neither of us will have long to regret it.”
He grew up hearing stories of the Lemme’s abilities, how she could look at you and see a future running before you like a path. How she could read all the secrets you kept in your heart, know your full measure, with just a touch. He was a seer. He could do the same. Kaie didn’t know how it worked and didn’t intend to learn. He wanted none of it. But he couldn’t deny the absolute certainty he felt about this boy, couldn’t ignore what he knew, though he couldn’t possibly know it. There was, or would be, a trust between them, one forged of something more than just shared danger.
“Don’t worry,” Kaie muttered, reaching a decision he didn’t know he was considering. “I’m not telling on you.”
The boy flashed his ephemeral smile again. “No one has yet. Not since we started hiding it. The Jhoda binds us.”
Kaie frowned. “Yeah. Sure it does. I’ll bond all you want. But first you’re going to heal Sojun.”
The boy mimicked his expression very effectively. “I told you already, Lady Autumnsong told me to only care for you. She was very specific. Upsetting her…You wouldn’t thank me for that.”
Kaie grabbed the boy’s arm. “It doesn’t matter. He’s not dying. Do you understand that? If I have to tell them about this Jhoda crap, I will. If I have to bash your head in myself, I will. Whatever it costs. I don’t care what I have to do, you will fix him!”
The kid stared into his eyes. Kaie didn’t blink, didn’t dare to. This was not a test he was going to fail. The boy sighed. “He can’t know.”
“He won’t,” Kaie promised.
With no further argument, the boy placed a hand on Sojun’s forehead. After a second, Kaie could feel a faint crackle in the air, static electricity or something near enough. And then Sojun moaned.
He watched in awe as some of the deeper cuts knit back together and bruises shrunk in on themselves. The blood stayed, caked in Jun’s hair and dried all over him, and the wounds didn’t vanish entirely. It was enough that there was little risk of discovery unless someone was examining his friend closely. But watching it, Kaie couldn’t help but marvel, might easily be the most amazing thing he would ever witness.
When the boy pulled his hand away, Kaie released him. Regaining his freedom, the kid stood up and ran a shaking hand through his lanky white-blond hair. “Do us all a favor and make sure you limp. Both of you. The more hurt you seem, the longer it will take all this to backfire. I don’t expect it will take longer than eighth light tomorrow before we’re discovered, but I would rather avoid it as long as I can.”
“He doesn’t have the old magics – the Jhoda – but Sojun wouldn’t give us up. Not even if he figures out what happened. I swear to you. He can be trusted.”
The boy shook his head. “No, he can’t. No one without the Jhoda can be. Especially not when the Lady Autumnsong is involved. But I’m trusting you, Bruhani. No doubt the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. I don’t doubt a Namer will be coming for us both very soon.”
The kid sighed again and pushed open the flap of the tent, crossing back into the world outside without a backward glance.
Fifteen
There was no way to tell how much time passed from inside the tent. Pulling back the flap would solve that problem, but neither of them reached to do it. There was no way to determine how long they had until the girl would return. It was a pressure building between him and Sojun, one that neither could bring themselves to talk about. After a while they didn’t speak about anything at all. The silence grew harder to break with each passing moment.
Kaie couldn’t understand what was causing the awkwardness between them. Their situation was horrible. He was equal parts furious and terrified. But things were always so easy with his friend. Jun was solid ground when everything else was uprooted. Now all he saw was a gaping chasm opening up between them and he couldn’t figure out why.
He didn’t expect to be able to sleep, but with nothing else to occupy his mind save contemplating the fate coming for him, it happened anyway. In fits and starts. Nothing healing, nothing to break up the monotony of their wait.
When the tent opened again part of Kaie was relieved. Bad things were coming, but at least it would be an end to the waiting. The feeling didn’t last long when faced with the girl and her lifeless eyes. “Good morning, puppy.”
At his side where they sat on the dirt floor, Sojun’s whole body tensed. Kaie wondered if he wore the same panicked expression. He hoped not. There was no doubt she would take satisfaction from it and he wanted to postpone that as long as he was physically capable.
Her dress was massive. It was all kinds of brightly colored layers and frills. Her face was painted to match, purple and blue and pink in turn. It made her look like one of the painted ladies who performed the old stories during one of his family’s celebrations. Were it another, Kaie would find her appearance amusing. On this girl it was disturbing.
Behind her many skirts, a slouched form skittered into the room. It was a man, not so much older than him, with shoulders carrying a great internal weight. His pale skin and limp brown hair were very similar to the girl’s but it wasn’t until Kaie caught sight of the man’s eyes that he knew they were related. There weren’t two strangers in all the world that could look at him with such an empty and chilling gaze.
“This is my cousin,” she purred, reading his thoughts. “He is here to ensure that the Empress’s will is observed, when it comes to you. Isn’t that right, Peter?”
The man’s eyes darted around the room. Kaie could swear it was in search of a way out. That didn’t soothe his apprehension about what was coming. “Yes.”
She smiled. “There. Do you feel comforted, puppy? Knowing you are being protected by such a fine example of masculinity?”
Kaie pressed his shoulder against Sojun, not sure if he was giving support or drawing it. They were watching a storm blow in with clouds promising a fury that would rip them both apart. His friend pulled in a slow breath. Acknowledgement enough to know he wasn’t alone in the feeling.
The girl snapped her fingers. The man produced – from the folds of her dress Kaie assumed – a thick black band just a bit smaller around than his head. There was nothing inherently ominous about the circle, but it lodged a stone of dread in his abdomen. Maybe it was the way the tips of the girl’s teeth peeked out from between her curled lips as she took it from Peter’s outstretched hands.
“This is my life’s work. I call it the Lunin,” she said. “You’re going to wear it for me, puppy.”
Kaie blinked. “I am?”
“Oh yes. You see, one day this beautiful thing will be used on enemies of the Empire. It will revolutionize interrogation and end the need for torture entirely. It will be so effective that after we have learned all the secrets our enemies can think to tell us they will volunteer to go out and learn more for us. But such progress requires a great deal of work. Experimentation. And this, puppy, is what you will help me with.”
“How’s he going to do that?” Sojun asked.
Kaie was grateful for Sojun’s question. It was the one perched on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t quite push it out, because he knew he didn’t really want the answer. But he needed to know it.
The girl never even glanced in Jun’s direction. She winked at him, though, as if he was doing something that pleased her. Her undivided attention was more than a bit unnerving.
“That is a very good question. You see, this is possible because of a substance I developed. It’s really quite amazing. Just a bit of this paste on your skin every few hours, and you start changing. Soon the Lunin will deliver just the right amount at just the right time. But it is such a long process, determining all those factors. Too much and the damage is simply beyond usefulness. My last puppy, for example, found himself possessed by a ter
rible hunger. He ate himself to death.”
By the way she emphasized the last sentence, Kaie was left with the distinct impression that it was not food the man gorged on but himself. A shudder shook his entire body, no matter how he worked to suppress it. Sojun’s arm slipped around his shoulders. He was so grateful for it he nearly said so out loud.
“The timing is important as well,” the girl continued. “I lost quite a few by stretching the time out too long. And one or two went completely mad when I made it too soon. Madness is to be expected, of course. But if my puppy can’t stop screaming, he certainly can’t provide me with usable data for further experimentation, can he? But don’t you worry. I believe I have sorted out that matter. The amount is what I am focusing my research on now. I believe that with you, or perhaps the one after you, I will get it just about right. It’s really quite exciting.”
“Maybe not so much for me,” Kaie muttered before he could think any better of it.
The girl shook her head and tutted, sounding disturbingly like his mother for a moment. “Not true, puppy. You are going to make history. What more could a lesser race hope for?”
She held up her hand, one finger raised, as if stopping him before he could speak. There was no need. Kaie found himself rather absent of words. “Now, before you ask me to put on the Lunin, I must