Sword Sisters (9 page)

Sela pulled the chair into the middle of the room, where the light from the window fell on it, and then brought in a small bottle and a big brush. I sat, and she tilted back my head and poured the oil into my hair. As she worked it in deep, she hummed a tune I almost recognized but couldn’t quite place. Whatever it was, it relaxed me almost as much as the scalp massage.

I felt eyes on me and saw Horva watching from the door. I smiled and said, “Hello. I’m Aella.”

“You’re a monster, aren’t you?”

“Horva!” Sela snapped. “Aella is our guest, and you will be polite!”

“But she’s got sharp parts like a monster. I saw them. Don’t you?”

She wasn’t afraid or accusing. She just saw me as different, not better or worse. “I’m not a monster,” I said. “I’m a Reaper. Do you know what that is?”

The girl shook her head.

“I fight monsters. Some of the scariest monsters in the world. And because I have to do that, I have to be tougher than regular humans.”

“So that’s why you have spikies? So they can’t swallow you?”

“That’s one reason, yes.”

“Can you make them clack together?”

I laughed. “No, I can’t. But that would be something, wouldn’t it?”

“Can I be a Reaper someday?” Horva asked softly.

“Horva, I’m already at the end of my tether with you. Go pull some extra roots for dinner tonight since we have a guest. And don’t tear your dress!”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said, and when Sela looked away, Horva stuck out her tongue. She gave me a conspiratorial little smile then ran off.

“I apologize for all that,” Sela said. “She really knows better, I swear. She just says whatever pops into her mind.”

“I’m the same way,” I said.

Then Sela resumed brushing, and the humming became singing. I went rigid in the chair. It wasn’t from the brushing; the oil made the passage of the bristles as smooth as if through water. But this was a song my own mother sang to me before she sold me for a bottle of Demon blood. She once told me it was written about me and that people far and wide sang it to their daughters to prepare them for a day when the women would stand equal beside the men.

I felt my eyes grow wet and scrunched my lids shut. I cleared my throat, an old trick to stop tears that I’d learned during my time with the Demons. But I kept my eyes closed just in case.

She sang:

The brave girl stood beside the men,

Hey lally lally oh,

And drew her sword with them again,

Hey lally lally oh,

She fought with skill, she fought with grace,

Hey, lally lally oh,

And fought the Demons face to face,

Hey, lally lally oh,

And when the men had all been slain,

Hey, lally lally, oh,

Only she remained, to fight again,

Hey, lally lally oh my oh…

She stopped brushing, fluffed my now-untangled hair, and said, “There you are, dearie. My goodness, you’re a lovely little thing.”

I opened my eyes and turned to her. She was still smiling, still regarding me with a kindness I didn’t really know how to accept.

She saw my discomfort and began putting things away as she spoke. “I remember the end of the war with the Demons, you know. I was a teenager then, just becoming a woman. Exactly what the Demons were looking for. I knew if they found me, I’d either die at their hands or a year later when I gave birth to one of you. At any rate, my father and all the other men in the village decided the only way to protect us from the Demons was to bury us alive. We were put into graves with slender reeds to provide air, and we had to lie still for days at a time. It was awful but not as awful as what happened above.

“The Demons came through and killed all the men they could catch, including my father. They tortured them to find out where we were, but they held firm. My father…I can only imagine how strong he had to be.

“Then came the Reapers. They dug us up, made sure we were safe, then went on after the Demons. My grandmother was terrified of them. Many legends tell of Reapers doing horrible things, even worse than the Demons. But these Reapers were all good. I was told to be afraid of them too because they weren’t human. They had it in them to be as bad as their enemy. They might decide they wanted human women as well. And then we’d be in just as much danger.”

“You’re right, Sela, but only the half-blood Reapers of the first generation were evil. Many of them did take human mates, both male and female, and those Reapers were more human than demon. It was those Reapers that rescued your grandmother and those Reapers that have sworn to protect all humans. We’re all—every one of us—the result of rape. There’s no worse heritage to have, and we’d never propagate it.”

“I don’t know that word, ‘propagate.’”

I smiled. “It just means we’d never do it.”

“I’m glad to know that. Tell me: Can you…people…have your own children?”

I thought back to Eldrid’s certainty that I was not the Red Reaper but merely the chosen one’s brood mare. “We can. It’s rare, but it has happened.”

“Then you don’t need humans to mate with to make more of your kind.”

“No. We’re here to protect you, Sela. We know the world is for you, not us. We’re content with that.”

“I don’t see how you can be.”

“Some days, I don’t either. But you know why I can be now? Because I know that you, that humans, care for each other in ways Reapers don’t. And maybe we never could. You deserve the world because of that.”

“We also hurt each other in many awful ways.”

“I know. But nobody said the world would ever be perfect. That’s why we have a very strict code to live by.” I smiled as I thought back to the endless teachings of the code, the main one being that Reapers could no longer mate with humans.

Which reminded me. “Sela, this may seem an odd question, but do you happen to know a boy with beau—I mean, brown eyes, dark hair and—”

Then a man entered the room, and everything changed.

CHAPTER NINE

The man was tall, bulky, and had the swagger of a bully. He wore fancier clothes than Sela, and his hair was freshly cut. That marked him as an important person or at least a big fish in this small pond. A bright red sash decorated his chest.

Always play weaker than you are. I stepped back, hunched my shoulders, and demurely looked up. I resisted the urge to bat my lashes; that would’ve been overkill. A female warrior’s greatest asset is surprise.

In his hand, he carried one jointed section of giant spider leg. “Where is she?” he demanded of Sela.

“Amelia? She went to find you.” Sela stood, defending her turf.

“Not Amelia, this great warrior she told us about, the one who supposedly killed Lurida Lumo.”

“I don’t know who you mean,” Sela said, hands on her hips. “She told me nothing. She just showed up here covered in all manner of disgusting slime, saying Lurida Lumo was dead. We insisted she go find the council first thing.”

“Well, she did. And there’s an uproar. She’s being held for further questioning, but I want to find this supposedly great battle master. I mean, I could accept it if she’d said a man like Damato did it, but what woman could possibly defeat a god?”

I seethed but kept silent.

Sela moved slightly in front of me. “That’s the second time today you’ve burst into my house without knocking, Sixle. First, you took my daughter. Then, you act as if I’m a criminal. If it happens again, I might mistake you for a bandit and treat you the way you deserve to be treated.”

“That’s not the issue. Where is this warrior?”

Sela’s eyes narrowed. “I remember when we were children, Sixle. You knew nothing about women then, and I see you haven’t learned anything in all the years since no matter how many fancy council belts you get. A man might be taller and stronger, but height and brute force aren’t the only weapons in the universe, are they? Now get out of my house. The gods have given Amelia back to us, and I intend to keep her.”

“Not until…” Finally, he noticed me. “Who are you again? What’s your name?”

“Aella,” I said, and curtseyed. I got it exactly right. Adonis would be so proud.

“This isn’t one of your children,” he said, both certain and puzzled.

“No,” I said, weary of the charade. “I’m the woman who couldn’t possibly defeat a god.” Calling myself a “woman” felt weird in my throat. But it was close enough.

It took a moment for that to sink in. When it did, he chuckled, “You expect me to believe that?”

“Your belief doesn’t change the truth one way or the other.”

“You’re a child.”

“No, I’m just not very tall.”

He shook his head, still amused. “I don’t know what sort of game you and Amelia are playing here, but it’s not funny. And it’s over. Whatever this is,” he said as he shook the spider leg, “it’s clearly not Lurida Lumo because he’s a damn god and can’t be killed.”

Now, I stepped in front of Sela. Behind Sixle, I saw Horva watching from the back door. All the hatred I felt for the authority figures in my life, from distant Adonis to smug Eldrid to hateful old Vilikal the boot maker, swelled in me as I faced this petty little village despot. “I don’t care what you think,” I said carefully. “I don’t need your belief or approval. I know what I did. I would appreciate it if you’d stop threatening these people in their own house.”

He put his free hand on my shoulder and smiled patronizingly. “Listen, sweetheart, I know you’re not from here, or I’d know you. So you probably don’t understand how things work in Cartwangle. But your little playmate has been chosen to serve a larger purpose than you can comprehend. Her death, while it’s unfortunate to the people who know her, keeps our village blessed with strong crops and strong people.” Then he lightly pinched and patted my cheek. “When you’re older, you’ll understand.”

I saw Horva slide further back until only one eye peeked around the doorframe. She was embarrassed for me, for herself, for her family.

I looked up at Sela. “I’m very sorry for the mess I’m about to make. I will help clean it up.”

“Do you what you must, dearie,” Sela said and stepped back.

I grabbed Sixle by his pompous sash and swept his feet out from under him with one kick. I spun and drove him back into the wall so hard I worried I might shove him right through it. I wanted him to understand my strength, to see how he’d underestimated me because of my size and my gender. I wanted to see the exact look on his face that now gaped down at me.

I pulled him down until we were nose to nose.

“I am Aella,” I said calmly. “I am a Reaper, and I am really tired of hearing you talk down to this nice lady. Tell her you’re sorry.”

His mouth worked a few times before the words came out. “I’m sorry, Sela.”

“Good. Now tell me you’re sorry.”

“I apologize,” he said.

“Horva? Come here a minute.”

I felt the little girl move into the room and stop beside me.

“Now tell Horva you’re sorry and that you’ll never treat her the way you’ve treated me or her mother.”

“I’m sorry, Horva. I’ll never treat you this way.” Then he resumed staring at me. “You’re really a Reaper? From Raggenborg Castle?”

“I am. We like to make spot checks through the area to make sure you humans aren’t doing anything stupid like sending your daughters to feed a giant spider.” I don’t know where that idea came from, but I liked the sound of it, and decided I would recommend it when I got back to the castle. Well, once Adonis was through yelling at me.

“I had no idea,” Sixle said. “I haven’t seen one of your kind since I was a boy, right after the war. I thought you’d all died off.”

“Like everything else today, you’d be wrong about that.” I released him. “I killed your spider god. I brought Amelia back to the village. I will stay here for a few days and evaluate what else you gentlemen might have convinced yourselves was a good idea before I report back to Raggenborg.” Crap, why did I say that? I sounded just like Adonis myself.

“Oh, of course,” he said quickly. He straightened his clothes and walked rapidly to the door, pivoting as he moved so he didn’t turn his back to me. “I’ll make sure everyone knows. Thank you.”

“Send Amelia home when you get back,” I added.

“Of course. Anything you say.”

“And don’t forget your piece of god.”

He grabbed the dropped spider leg and practically ran out the front door. When he was gone, Sela said, “You didn’t make as big a mess as I hoped.”

“I know,” I said. “I’ll do better next time.”

“Was any of that true?”

I smiled wryly. “Well, I am a Reaper.”

“Why did you say it then? It seems to needlessly complicate things.”

“I don’t know. Maybe because I didn’t like his attitude.”

“I never liked it either. You know, he was the first man I was betrothed to when were much younger. But the more I got to know him, the less I liked him. I broke it off and fasted myself to Heod.” She shook her head. “Some days, I’m not sure it was an improvement. But at least Heod is honest with me.”