Agent of the Dragon
Chapter 17

It took her a while to replace the salle, but when she did, Hallyk was already there and working out with a very proficient swordsman. Hallyk was holding his own, though barely. Rhysa watched as she warmed up. She decided Hallyk was purposefully not enhancing his movements with magic--probably to keep the fight even.

She finished warming up just as the bout finished. She walked onto the floor. “I’m impressed.”

Hallyk spun and broke into a smile. “So you’ve emerged from your cave.”

“Yeah. After two days of working my way through Lady Kasteryn’s office.”

Hallyk looked amused. ”You’re Lady Kasteryn, now, remember?”

Rhysa shrugged uncomfortably. “It’s a new title, and it squeaks if I move too fast. Amelia will always be the Lady Kasteryn to me.”

“I understand. So you need to relax after two days of reading?”

Rhysa grinned. “You offering?”

A thin, sharp voice intruded. “You’re Amelia Kasteryn’s protégé?” It was the man Hallyk had been working out with.

“Yes.”

He grunted, and Hallyk gestured. “Care to go a round with Kiinzhal, Rhysa?”

Rhysa shrugged and turned to the man. “Sword? Daggers? Both?”

Kiinzhal smiled for the first time. “I’ve just done sword. Let’s do daggers.”

Rhysa set aside her sword, though she kept her real daggers strapped in their hiding places. She picked up a couple of blunted practice daggers from the weapons rack. She walked back to the workout area. Kiinzhal grinned with anticipation and brought his daggers up into a conventional guard position. Rhysa held hers in side grips so the blades guarded the underside of her forearms.

Hallyk gave the command to start, then leapt out of the way as Kiinzhal charged Rhysa. Rhysa parried the few strikes she couldn’t dodge, moving herself off Kiinzhal’s line of attack. As he passed, she lashed out with a foot. He chopped a blade down as she had expected. She pulled the feint and struck the underside of his triceps with the pommel of one of her daggers. Kiinzhal’s arm spasmed and the dagger dropped from nerveless fingers.

Kiinzhal circled Rhysa warily, shaking his numbed arm to hurry the feeling back into it. He tried to work Rhysa away from the dagger on the floor, but Rhysa countered every attempt. With a two to one advantage, it would be too easy for her to become lax, then her advantage would disappear.

The darting blade of the dagger is a different experience than the arcs of the sword. Rhysa enjoyed the deception and physical nimbleness required in a dagger fight. She blocked Kiinzhal’s kicks with her legs, noticing he kept his kicks low and out of the range of her daggers. She parried the flicks and thrusts of his dagger with her dagger-protected forearms. She’d caught him by surprise once, he wasn’t going to let it happen again.

Finally, she noticed a pattern to his attacks. The next time he swiped at her, she blocked it, rather than parrying it. During the split second his movement was arrested, she brought the pommel of her other dagger onto the back of his hand and his dagger clattered to the ground. She spun inside his punch and stopped with the point of one dagger poking his solar plexus and the pommel of the other tapping his chin. He raised his hands and stepped away.

“There was a reason Amelia Kasteryn was the only surviving bodyguard after the failed coup.” Kiinzhal’s voice was respectful. “It seems you would likely have been another.”

Rhysa beamed at the compliment. “Thank you.” She turned to Hallyk. “Now that I’ve been tired out a bit, care to practice the sword with me?”

He smiled slowly. “Enhanced?”

She nodded. “That’s what I need to work on.” He bowed his acceptance of the challenge and she went to exchange practice daggers for practice sword.

Two hours later, Rhysa stumbled into her apartments. She was sore, sweat-soaked, exhausted, and the twisted ankle was giving her pains. Her groan of relief as the outer door closed brought Elise to see what was going on.

A worried look flashed across her face, then she threw back her head and laughed. Rhysa growled, but couldn’t hide her smile. “When you’re done laughing, you can take care of my gear.” Still laughing, Elise walked over and took Rhysa’s sword and scabbard.

Rhysa made her way to her bedroom where she stripped and grabbed a towel from her wardrobe. She went into the private bathing chamber and filled the washing tub. She stepped in and quickly soaped the sweat and oil off her skin, then washed her hair. Having cleaned herself, she filled the soaking tub with hot water and settled herself to soak.

A knock sounded on the bedroom door. “Who is it?” she called.

“Elise.”

“Come in.”

Elise entered and peered around the doorjamb of the bathing chamber. “Feeling better?”

“Much. Hallyk’s very good at enhanced combat, though I suspect he relies on it too much.”

Elise grunted. “While you were playing with the prince, I discovered something in here.” She brandished the riot report.

“There are no chairs in here, but if you sit on the bed, we should be able to see each other.”

Elise went to settle on the bed, and as she got comfortable, Rhysa reached out and grabbed a small phial of oil. She sprinkled a few drops into her bath and reheated the water. The smell of bergamont, mint, and a few other essential oils filled the air, and Rhysa felt her mind sharpen.

She re-stoppered the phial and put it on the nearby shelf she had taken it from. Then she turned her attention to Elise and saw she was just finishing spreading the report around herself.

Rhysa waited until Elise looked up. “What did you replace?”

“Someone is trying to get rid of the non-human population.”

Rhysa paused. “That’s an interesting conclusion. How did you come up with it?”

“Of the people killed, more than two thirds were non-humans. Vandalism was rampant, but the only businesses to suffer catastrophic set backs were owned by non-humans.”

“That’s all circumstantial.”

“Yes, it is. But it’s only the start.” Elise selected a sheet of paper and glanced at it. “Normally the cause of a riot is either very easy to figure out, or very difficult. The times it is easy usually has to do with a single incident between two sharply defined factions. The difficult times mostly involve a confluence of random events that spark violent reactions.” Elise took a breath. “This riot seems to have elements of both. The accounts of the sparking incident vary, and most of them are contradictory. Some of that is normal, but this seems to be extreme. On the other hand, there is a common thread running through the majority of the accounts. They seem to center on a conflict between humans and non-humans.

“Another factor to consider is how crowded the streets were that day. There were no political rallies or religious convocations that day. So why were the streets so crowded? The answer may have something to do with the fact that a bunch of people at the heart of the riot wore the same colors and similar badges. It appears as though, despite the lack of planned rallies or gatherings, at least one particular group was out in force.” Elise paused as she searched for something. When she found it, she read aloud: “‘The badge is a diagram of a hermaphroditic human: from the waist up, female, below the waist, male. The whole enclosed in a circle.’” Elise looked up at Rhysa. “Do you know it?”

Rhysa thought for a long while, then shook her head. “I don’t. It’s not a House sigil, or a religious emblem. It has the feeling of a group rather than an individual though.”

Elise shrugged. “Something to investigate later.” She bent her head to look over a couple of other pages. “Looking at the arrest records, it looks like no convictions for instigating a riot. The only convictions were four counts of malicious vandalism and one count of murder. In all cases, the victim was non-human, and the perpetrator wore the badge I mentioned earlier. When asked about the emblem, they all said it was just a group of friends who met to talk and play games.” Elise snorted. “Some games.”

Rhysa pondered. “No one’s claimed responsibility as an act of terrorism, or we would have heard about it.” Elise shook her head in confirmation. Rhysa sighed and stood. She pulled the drain stop with one foot, then stepped out and grabbed the towel she’d brought. “It looks like the place to start is that emblem.” Rhysa’s voice was muffled as she dried her hair. “So we have a riot where the majority of victims were non-human, five convictions linked by non-human victims and the badge, non-humans put out of business, and no one can agree as to what started the riot except it had to do with non-humans. Anything else?” She looked at Elise.

Elise was watching her with a small smile. She gave a small start as if she just realized Rhysa had asked a question. “Hmm? Oh, no. Nothing else from the riot. Several human businesses filled the vacuum created by the destruction of the non-human shops. The murdered person was a vocal non-human advocate, an elf, I think.”

“What’s the percentage of non-human residents in Mestin Reach, anyway?”

“Roughly twelve percent.”

“That’s what, about twenty five hundred?”

“Something between three thousand and thirty four hundred.”

“A sizeable population. What’s the mixture?”

“Mostly elves and dwarves, about thirty five percent of each. Gnomes, midgets and other short people make up twenty percent. Orcs make up slightly less than ten percent. The remaining one percent or so consists of ogres, fauns, and sapient animals.”

“Hmm. I’ve seen a few of them around, but I’ve never been in the areas where they live. What’s that section of the city like?”

“A hodge-podge of architecture. Nice, but odd when placed next to each other.”

“So not like a slum.”

Elise shook her head emphatically. “Not at all. A little surrealistic, but nice, as I said.”

Rhysa abruptly realized she was naked, her hair the only thing even slightly damp. “Is the bedroom door closed?” Elise glanced towards the bedroom entry and nodded. Rhysa hung up the towel and limped to the wardrobe. She selected undergarments and a skirt with matching shirt.

“You should have Coramin look at that ankle.”

“I will.” Something in Elise’s voice prompted Rhysa. “Is he still bothering you?”

Elise’s lips thinned, which was all the answer Rhysa needed. “Do you want me to step in?” Rhysa felt some of the blood drain from her face as she made the offer. Inwardly, she cursed her residual fear of men.

“No. I know you don’t like the attentions of men.”

Rhysa shrugged uncomfortably. “It’s not that I don’t like the attention. I just have some residual fear. If I’m ever going to get past it, I can’t let it control my actions. Besides, it’s Coramin we’re talking about. He’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“If you’re sure.” Elise sounded hopeful but hesitant. “It would take a load off me.” She paused for a second, an odd look on her face. “What do you mean by ‘residual fear?’ I know you were always shy and uncomfortable around men, but I wouldn’t say you were actually afraid.”

Rhysa sighed, a mixture of relief and apprehension. She looked at Elise. “I wanted to tell you that first day. Good lord, it’s only been a few days since Lady Kasteryn brought you in to help me train. It feels like months. I’d meant to tell you that day, but it’s been so busy since then. I’ve had no time. It’s just been one thing after another. I should have found time, though.”

Elise stood and grabbed Rhysa by the shoulders. “Rhys--you’re babbling. Here. Sit down.” She switched places with Rhysa, then gently pushed her onto the bed. “Now. Take a deep breath. Another. Good. Now. How did this start?”

“I guess it started just after my father was killed. He’d blocked my memory, so I had only instinct to go on for a while. The first thing I remember, I entered a tavern and quickly left again because it felt wrong to me. Shortly afterwards a drunk came out. He chased me, but I got away. Nevertheless, it was my first interaction with someone specific since the memory block. It set the stage for everything that happened later. That, and the people who caught and chained me were men.

“It was what happened that first night after my capture that turned fear into a low level terror. Three of the guards tried to rape me.” Rhysa swallowed before going on. “Jagun got there in time, just in time, and literally pulled them off me. From then on, Jagun kept an eye on me. His eyes and manner scared me, but it was the impersonal fear one might have in the presence of a dangerous animal. He kept me safe. He kept the others away, and he kept an iron wall of discipline on himself. Remember, this was long before I knew about the aura of sexuality I inherited from some ancestor or other, much less control it. All I knew was men looked at me with a possessive desire that scared me. Now that I can control it, I don’t have nearly as many problems with men.”

“So that’s where the fear came from.”

Rhysa shook her head. “That’s where it began. There’s more to it. Jagun proved his reliability on that trip. And afterwards, I overheard him convincing the Auction House master to keep me off the general auction block. He framed it as a public safety concern, but looking back, I realized he was doing his best to keep me safe. As frightening as he might be, I’ve always had a sense of safety with him. Even the first time I saw him, I saw he would enforce safety. I remember I was glad he wasn’t the one to escort me into the woods that first night. I think I was scared, not of him, but that he might be needed. I was still acting on instinct, and all I knew was his presence meant danger. Still, his presence mitigated my personal fears somewhat. That’s probably why I wasn’t really terrified of men as a whole when we first met.”

Rhysa took a deep breath. “The fear--It was the day of the riot. You’d been gone from House Kasteryn for a few months. The guard Jagun had dismissed caught up with me.” With as few words as possible, Rhysa described what had happened: her falling and fear of being trampled, someone hauling her to her feet and breaking clear of the mob, the beating and serial rape.

Elise sat, wide-eyed, unsure if Rhysa needed a hug, or if she could bear to be touched at all.

“That’s why I’ve been afraid of men these past few years. It’s also where I got the crossed arrows. Someone found me and brought me to House Hermestus. Bryn fixed the physical damage, and Emylie helped me through the mental and emotional crisis points. When I recovered a huge portion of my memories the other day, most of the fear disappeared. I imagine Emylie would say it had to do with gaining a solid sense of self these other incidents can’t touch. So now all I have is the residual fear. Fear due to habit, if you will. At this point, it’s more like someone prodding me away from men with a skewer than being paralyzed by lighting.”

Elise sat on Rhysa’s bed, stunned. She’d heard some of it before, but never how much her friend had been through. She noticed an occasional flinch, but nothing consistent enough to call attention to it. Rhysa had done an impressive job of keeping all of this from showing.

Rhysa ignored the effect her words had on her friend. “Coramin won’t be a problem. Professionally, we’re about equal. In social and political circles, I now outrank him.”

“You planning on giving him an ultimatum?”

Rhysa laughed. “No. I’ll make a couple of suggestions, then use that aura I mentioned earlier.”

“But he’ll fixate on you.”

Rhysa shook her head. “I won’t use much. Just enough so he’s as infatuated with me as he is with you. He’ll end up so confused he won’t pursue either of us.”

Elise giggled. “That’s mean.”

“Not really. I’m not toying with anything major, just his lusts. He’ll be a touch uncomfortable, but that’s it.”

“I still say it’s mean.”

“I could let him continue to pant after you.”

“Maybe it’s not that mean after all.”

Rhysa grinned. “I’ll get started when he’s dealing with my ankle.”

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