smudges assailing her eyes. And her baggy Turgonian uniform and parka did not flatter her form under any circumstances.
“ A question.” Rias’s gaze rested on a chalkboard, though he did not seem to focus on anything. “If someone from Kyatt were to decide to marry a Turgonian, would they be allowed to live on your island?”
Tikaya was not sure what she had expected him to ask, but that was not it. “That wasn’t a marriage proposal, was it?”
He coughed. “No, no, just hypothetical. If it were a proposal…” He offered his half smile. “There’d be soft music, excellent food, romantic ambiance…” He tilted his head toward the corner. “Fewer corpses.”
“ Ah, I wasn’t sure how they did it in the empire. Given your people’s reputation, I thought bloodshed and mangled bodies might be standard at social gatherings.”
“ Bloodshed perhaps.”
Rias watched her, waiting for an answer to his question, she realized.
“ The Kyatt Islands are major trade ports and learning centers, and we have numerous foreigners living there, either temporarily or permanently,” Tikaya said. “I can think of numerous Turgonians who studied at the Polytechnic over the years. And there have been cases of foreigners marrying natives and staying on the islands.”
“ Turgonian foreigners?”
“ Well, you would have been more welcome before your people tried to take over the islands.” She smiled, but no humor lightened his expression. “The president might ask you to leave if he found out you were among those sinking our ships and slinging cannon balls at our harbor, but if you said you didn’t take part in the war, I’m sure you’d be allowed to stay.”
“ So.” Rias laid the rifle across his shoulders and draped his forearms over the ends, reminiscent of a man in a pillory. “Refuge, if one was willing to lie for the rest of one’s life.”
“ Or just dodge questions about one’s name and one’s past. You’re good at that.”
She had not meant the statement to sound accusatory, but he flinched.
“ Listen,” Tikaya said, “I don’t mean to insult you, but whatever you did, or whoever you are to those marines, you’re probably less important than you think to the rest of the world. Chances are my people have never heard of you.”
“ Oh?” Leave it to the Turgonians: he looked faintly offended.
“ You could tell me your name-” Tikaya wriggled her eyebrows suggestively, “-and then I could let you know whether or not you’d be welcome on my island.”
She thought he might remind her that his original question had been hypothetical and that he was not asking about his own future, just some imaginary person’s. He did not. He took a deep breath. “You’re right. I don’t know if we’re going to survive the next couple weeks and, even if we do, I’m guessing Bocrest has orders to make me disappear afterward, but either way it’s not honorable of me to keep truths from you. I-”
Glass shattered.
Tikaya whirled, grabbing the heavy book as if she could use it as a shield. A shadow moved at the window. Something long and small slid between the boards and rolled onto the floor. Flame spit and hissed on the end of a string. Not a string, a fuse.
Rias yanked her off her feet. The furniture blurred past as Rias leaped over it, arm clenched around her waist. He landed in the dark hallway, and shadows swallowed them.
He sprinted but only made it three steps before the explosion tore away the darkness. A great boom roared, and a concussion pounded Tikaya’s back, ripping her away from Rias.
The wall filled her vision. She tried to bring her arms up to protect her head, but she crashed first. Something popped in her shoulder and agony seared her body. The book dropped from her hands. She landed on the floor, which sent a second jolt of pain rocking through her. She gasped, trying to stifle cries, not sure who might be nearby.
A door at the end of the hall opened, and lights swam in the darkness. Tears blurred Tikaya’s vision. She gritted her teeth and blinked them away. Half a dozen men raced into the hall, lanterns swinging, swords and pistols waving.
The door at the opposite end flung open. They were surrounded.
Tikaya staggered to her feet. Her shoulder flamed with pain. She gasped and braced herself against the wall. Next to her, a shot cracked with a flash of orange flaring from Rias’s rifle.
“ There she is!” someone shouted, voice ragged and rough, almost inhuman. “Give us the woman!”
“ This way,” Rias whispered.
She grabbed the book and ran into a room after him. A return shot echoed through the hall behind them.
“ Don’t shoot us, you idgeets!” came a cry from the opposite end.
Rias shut the door. A hint of starlight came through the window, but darkness reigned inside.
“ They sound drunk,” Tikaya said, words broken as she gritted her teeth through the pain.
“ Where are you hurt?” Rias snapped the lock, and furniture scraped as he shoved something in front of the door.
An image of the dead men in the other office invaded Tikaya’s mind. They had been trapped in a room, and this was exactly what they had done. It had not worked.
“ Dislocated shoulder,” she said.
“ Let me see-feel-it.”
“ Don’t worry…about me. I’ll-”
But he was already sliding her parka off. She clenched her teeth, trying not to whimper.
Footsteps thundered down the hall, and light slipped under the crack in the door.
“ Which room?” someone barked.
Rias unbuttoned her uniform jacket and probed her shoulder. “Bite down,” he whispered, putting something wooden in her mouth. Knife handle, she guessed. It was smooth and hard. He gripped her arm and shoulder, then jerked with one powerful motion.
Agony erupted. Tikaya clenched her teeth on the handle, panting to keep from crying out. Blackness encroached on her vision, and her legs gave way. Rias caught her and held her gently.
“ You hear something?” someone asked.
“ That room.”
“ No, that one!”
“ It’s whichever one’s locked, you halfwits.”
“ Sorry,” Rias whispered, cupping the back of her head. He leaned his forehead against hers, and even in the darkness she sensed his distress over hurting her.
“ Not your fault,” she said.
Someone rattled the doorknob.
Tikaya found the strength to stand again. Already the pain was fading to a manageable ache.
“ I’m ready,” she whispered.
“ Strong lady.” Rias squeezed her good arm before pressing a pistol into her hand. “Back corner. Find something to crouch behind, but stay where you can aim at the door. If they get past me, shoot them. Here, take this too.” He loaded her up with the second pistol, a powder flask, and an ammo pouch.
“ Shoot to kill?”
He hesitated. “Do what you have to do to stay alive.”
She nodded, then, realizing he would not see it, added, “I understand.”
Someone pounded on their door. “They’re in here!”
Tikaya set the book on a chair and slid behind a cabinet where she could see the window and the entrance. She gripped the pistol. At least the wall had been considerate enough to mangle her left shoulder instead of her right. “Maybe we’ll get lucky, the blasting stick will have destroyed the device, and everyone will return to normal any second.”
“ Maybe.” Rias’s tone made the possibility sound unlikely, and Tikaya wondered if he had seen explosives used on the strange technology before.
More pounding-louder pounding-hammered the wood, and something snapped. A crack of light appeared, but the desk kept the door from opening wide. Rias waited in the wall’s shadows.
