“ I thank you, Ashinji, but I don’t need your protection,” Magnes stated firmly. He looked Lord Sen in the eye, and said, “I give you my word… I am no spy, and I swear by all my gods that I will not betray you, Lord Sakehera. I know you have no reason to trust me, and so…if imprisonment is your real plan for me, then all I ask is that you take my cousin under your protection and help her find her elven kin.”
A tense, heavy silence settled on the room. Jelena fought hard against the cold, sick panic that threatened to overwhelm her. She opened her mouth to plead with Lord Sakehera for Magnes’s life, when, to her surprise, Lady Sakehera spoke.
The Lady of Kerala leaned toward her husband, her voice low and measured. She regarded Magnes coolly all the while, and her words, though incomprehensible, had a curious effect on Jelena. Her fear dissipated, leaving calm in its wake.
Lord Sen listened attentively to his wife, nodding slowly. “My wife says that you speak truth, young Preseren,” he said. “She knows how to…look into hearts of men…to see truth there.” He took a deep breath, as if coming to an important decision.
“ Magnes Preseren, you are duke’s son. A man of rank. You shall have position in my guard, if you wish. It will be first time a human works for me. I shall be envy of district!” Lord Sakehera’s smile brimmed with sly good humor. “My son will show you where you live. You can eat meals with rest of staff now. I take very good care of my people. You will see.”
“ Thank you, my lord,” Magnes replied, and Jelena heard the relief in her cousin’s voice.
“ Jelena, Magnes,” Ashinji said, “I will take you to the barracks now and show you around.” He detached himself from the possessive grasps of his little sisters and transferred them to his mother. Jelena glanced briefly at the Lady. Something about this elegant, handsome woman raised the hairs on the back of her neck. She thought about what Lord Sen had said.
Clearly, it would be unwise to make an enemy of the Lady of Kerala.
As Ashinji turned to escort Jelena and Magnes from the room, the door swung open and a man entered. Ashinji halted in his tracks. The newcomer strode across the room and stopped in front of Ashinji, blocking his way. He stood with one hand on his hip and arrogance infusing every line of his sleek, well-toned body. The familial resemblance was unmistakable. However, this man’s beauty was cold like the icicles that formed on tree branches in the dead of winter. His eyes insolently raked Jelena from head to toe and only settled perfunctorily on Magnes before turning back to Ashinji. He spoke a few words, and Ashinji’s lips compressed down to a thin, hard line.
“ Jelena, Magnes,” Ashinji said tightly. “May I present Lord Sadaiyo Sakehera, Heir to Kerala and my elder brother.”
Sadaiyo Sakehera’s eyes were grey-green like his father’s but held none of their warmth or good humor. He pinned Jelena with a look both contemptuous and suggestive at the same time. She felt a surge of anger and fear, for it was the very same look she had seen in the eyes of some of the less picky Amsara guardsmen, the ones who would try to lift her skirts, then spit on her and call her a dirty tink when she rebuffed them. She felt the comforting presence of Magnes at her back and instinctively leaned into him.
The tension between Ashinji and his brother was palpable. Ashinji spoke, his voice carefully controlled and polite. Sadaiyo responded with a laugh and pushed past him, glaring venomously at Magnes.
“ I apologize for my brother’s rudeness,” Ashinji said quietly. His face had gone very still and pale. “Let us go now.” He turned and stalked toward the door, the set of his shoulders betraying his anger. From behind, Jelena could hear Lord Sakehera’s voice and that of his eldest son’s raised in heated debate.
By the time they had descended back to the ground floor, it seemed that Ashinji’s anger had cooled, but Jelena suspected that it never truly dissipated, but always remained simmering just below the surface. In one short exchange, Jelena knew she had witnessed a telling glimpse into a relationship fraught with a lifetime’s worth of animosity. She decided, then and there, that Sadaiyo Sakehera was extremely dangerous, and the one person at Kerala she must avoid.
“ I take it that your brother doesn’t particularly like humans,” Magnes commented dryly.
Ashinji sighed. “No, he does not. He has made it quite clear that he thinks my father has made a mistake allowing you to stay here. My advice is to stay out of his way, which should not be a problem. He will be totally occupied with preparing for his wedding, which will be taking place very soon-within the next few weeks. In truth, we will all be occupied with it.”
“ You don’t sound very happy,” Jelena observed.
Ashinji shrugged. “He is my elder brother, and the Heir. This is a very important event. I will do my filial duty.”
Jelena decided that a change in subject was in order. “Ashinji, I wish to begin my language lessons right away. If I’m to be your father’s messenger, I must learn to speak Siri-dar as quickly as possible.”
“ Cousin, I think you need to fully regain your strength, first,” Magnes interjected gently. “Don’t forget, you were just released from your sickbed yesterday. I think Lord Sakehera can get along without you for awhile longer.”
“ I must agree with Magnes. You will not be needed to carry messages just yet, but I can begin your lessons now.” Ashinji started pointing to objects as they walked, first calling the thing by its Soldaran name and then following up with the corresponding word in Siri-dar. By the time they reached the barracks, both Magnes and Jelena were sorting out a dozen or so nouns and tripping over the unfamiliar pronunciations. Ashinji patiently corrected their mistakes while trying not to laugh.
The guards’ barracks were located above the stables and consisted of a common room, a dormitory for the men, a smaller room for the female soldiers, and several storerooms. At this hour, most of the inhabitants were at their posts, but as the three of them entered the common room, a lone, dark-haired woman stood up from her seat at the long rectangular table in the center of the room. Jelena felt certain that she had seen the woman before, but she could not remember where. The woman came forward and bowed deferentially to Ashinji. He spoke to her at some length, and as her clever brown eyes darted back and forth between Jelena and Magnes, she nodded in understanding.
“ I’ve told Aneko what she needs to know about you, Jelena,” Ashinji explained. “She knows that you are to be my father’s new messenger when you are healed enough to ride. She also knows that you still require a great deal of rest, so she will look after your needs.”
“ Jelena, you remember? I care for you by river, me and Kami?” Aneko smiled a little self-consciously, as if embarrassed by her broken Soldaran. She gently took hold of Jelena’s elbow. “Come. I show you room where we sleep.” Aneko led Jelena into a smaller room, just off the common room, that contained three beds, each with a storage chest underneath. Shelves lined the walls above. The bed closest to the open window appeared unclaimed.
“ That one must be mine,” Jelena said. She scanned the room then turned back to Aneko. “Surely not all the guards live here. What about the ones with families?”
Aneko’s forehead creased in puzzlement for a moment, then she exclaimed and nodded in understanding. “Families have own house. Not live here. Here is for unmarried people only.”
“ You speak Soldaran very well, Aneko,” Jelena commented. “Who taught you?”
“ Grandmother,” Aneko replied, and when she did not elaborate, Jelena inquired no further. Instead, she stepped over to the window beside her newly claimed bed. A fine metal mesh, the likes of which she had never seen before, covered the opening. Amazed at the cleverness of the idea, Jelena immediately discerned how the screen allowed air to circulate into the room, yet kept flying insects out. She looked out and scanned the view.
The women’s room faced the rear of the building and looked down on the paddocks behind the stables. A few horses stood drowsing in the warm spring sunshine, tails lazily swishing. The earthy smell of horse dung and hay drifted up to permeate the room.
