Everyone sighed with relief. But Pugg was still frowning. “Master Kostek, what could possibly have gotten into that boy? I believed he meant to kill her.”
Tar Kostek shook his head and then rubbing the back of his neck, looked up at the physician. “I’m not sure,” he said and then motioned for Tar Nev and the doctor to follow him outside, leaving Vio and Gwaynn alone.
“I’m sorry,” Vio mumbled, and Gwaynn could still see that there was blood in her mouth. He turned and from a table behind him grabbed a small linen cloth, then moved back to Vio.
“Nothing to be sorry about,” Gwaynn replied, desperately trying to hold in his emotions. “Can you open your mouth?” he asked and she complied very gingerly. He carefully dabbed at the blood on her teeth and beneath her lower lip, before she reached up and took the cloth from him and moved it farther back, closer to where the kata had struck her jaw. She pulled away the cloth and it came out bloody so Gwaynn retrieved another for her and this one she held in place for a long time. Gwaynn pulled up a stool, and just sat with her, lost in his thoughts and unaware for a long time that she was crying silently.
“Is it the pain?” he asked when he finally became aware of her tears. She shook her head negatively and gently pulled the cloth back out of her mouth. It was still bloody but a good deal less so than the previous one.
“I am no longer Deutzani,” she said after a long moment of trying to control her self, still her voice sounded shaky and weak. “They tried to kill me. I know it was not B’dall’s idea…it came from my King. He was angry when I told him of my intentions to stay on Noble Island and become a Tar.” She watched Gwaynn’s face closely, but did not see the hurt she was hoping would appear there. She began crying once more, this time a bit harder. Gwaynn struggled to find the right thing to say or do, feeling very uncomfortable, but in the end he just sat quietly with his head down.
“We could never be together could we?” She asked.
Gwaynn’s head jerked up and he glanced at her, but her eyes held his with such intensity that he found he could not look away. His mind raced as he tried to find a way not to hurt her yet again, but then, like rapids coming upon a deeper channel, his mind grew quiet and he smiled at her.
“No. I cannot see how,” he whispered. “I will be the King of Massi one day. I’m not sure my people would accept a Deutzani Queen.”
She lay quietly in her bed, still looking at his face, but now her eyes darted about as if trying to take him all in at once. “I thought a King could do as he pleased.”
Gwaynn actually laughed a bit. “You’d be surprised. It is not the position of freedom that most think it is.”
Vio sighed. She’d known the answer to her question even before she’d asked it, but somehow she wanted to hear the reality of it from his mouth.
“Then I will indeed stay here on Noble Island, if they will have me, and study to become a Tar.”
“You will make a great one,” Gwaynn answered, sad but relieved that they had past the barrier that had so long stood before them. Without a word he reached out and took her uninjured right hand in his. He squeezed it and she squeezed back hard.
“Stay with me?”
Gwaynn nodded.
?
Gwaynn stayed with her all that afternoon and evening. Late that night she held him captive with her large brown eyes and nearly begged him not to leave her. Her pleas reminded him so much of his twin sister Gwynn that he could not help but relent and stay the night. Alynn, Pugg’s wife, brought Gwaynn a blanket and he moved a second cot close to Vio’s. Lying there, he held her hand as he had his sister’s, back when they were younger and he was so afraid of the dark.
He was surprised how nice her hand felt in his and in the dark he was extremely aware of her breathing and any tiny movement she made, which given her injuries, where few. Despite her pain and injuries Vio fell asleep quickly. Gwaynn rested quietly beside her thinking and listening to her slow even breathing. He was tired himself but it took several hours for him to finally relax and follow her in the world of dreams.
He woke suddenly and fully, at first unaware of where he was exactly. Vio’s hand was still loosely in his, and for a long moment he believed it to be Gwynn’s. He lay still; at a loss as to why he had awakened so quickly, but then he became aware of another presence in the tent. At first he suspected it was Pugg, or perhaps Alynn come to check on Vio, but whoever was present was moving too carefully, too stealthily to be a friend. Without thinking Gwaynn grabbed his kali from under his cot and jumped to his feet. It was not completely dark; the interior of the tent was lit very dimly by the large gibbon moon, which allowed Gwaynn to see the dark outline of the attacker.
“Who is there?” Gwaynn challenged loudly, as he moved from the cot to stand in between Vio and the stranger.
No answer came except for a quick attack from the dark figure before him. Gwaynn sensed rather than saw the blow coming. He sidestepped and parried it with his left hand. Two more quick blows came at him, one missed completely and Gwaynn instinctively blocked the other. He could still see the vague outline of his enemy though only his arms and head stood out against the relative brightness of the tent walls.
“Gwaynn!” Vio whispered urgently through the pain in her mouth, awaken by the clash of swords.
Gwaynn made no answer; his entire concentration was on his dark, nameless opponent. Another blow came and again Gwaynn blocked it, not moving away, not giving any ground, stubbornly remaining between the attacker and the helpless girl behind him.
The assassin before him attempted to circle past, but Gwaynn moved easily to block his way. But when the next attack came it was relentless and though Gwaynn managed to block many of the blows, one grazed his chin and another hammer blow fell against his right thigh. He grunted as it landed and fell off to the left, not feeling pain, but knowing that he had taken a serious injury to his leg. He knew he was in trouble if the fight continued for much longer.
His attacker, however, did not press his advantage but instead darted past Gwaynn and made a lunging attack at Vio.
“Gwynn!” Gwaynn yelled, confused.
Vio saw the attack coming, gasped and lunged from the cot and onto the floor. She landed with a yelp of pain, but the blow missed her and she was safe for a moment, the cot shielding her from her assailant.
Gwaynn moved forward as the attacker reached down, and roughly tossed the cot aside, then prepared the killing blow to the girl at his feet.
Gwaynn must have made some noise, however, because at the last minute the dark shape turned to face him. Gwaynn did not care. It was his turn to attack. He was suddenly wide-awake and very angry, tired of having those who cared for him killed and taken away. He moved in with no fear, no hesitation. His attack came in three furious blows, the first throwing his opponents left kali from his grip the next ringing strongly against the right and the third slicing threw the neck of the dark shape before him.
In the darkness, Gwaynn saw the figure before him stagger. His lone kali fell with a thud to the grass floor of the tent. A strange sucking sound could be heard, as if someone was trying to pull a boot free from the mud, then the head of the stranger flopped back as if on a hinge. The body wavered for a moment then fell straight down and slightly on top of Vio. She screamed…loudly.
Gwaynn stood completely still, staring at the dark mass lying before him, as Vio continued to scream, though how long it took him to become aware that she was screaming his name, he could not have said. He had killed. He had taken someone else’s life. It was a shock and the feel of it was completely different from the way he had always dreamed it would be. Throughout his early childhood, he’d played at war; played at battle and killing. As a child, he’d saved countless damsels, slain more enemies than could be counted, and always in his daydreams he had felt victorious, strong, and happy. Now, however, in the reality of the event, he felt slightly nauseous, dizzy, and….happy.
