Maid in Stone (Tales of the Citadel Book 59) Read online

  “You could say that. Before I was born, they were both assassins or, at least, part of the guild. They weren’t an approved match, so after I was born, there was a death order put on their heads, and we had to run. So, we ran.” She took another mouthful.

  Mathuan blinked slowly. “When did your talent develop?”

  “I think I was two. We were running and there was a shot. I heard a sound near me, felt pain and then the pain stopped. After that, nothing penetrated my skin, not even a tan.”

  “Was it an old-growth forest with a lot of tall crystals?”

  Ki thought about it. “I believe so. It was on Dr’nat.”

  “Do you have any scars from the moment of impact?” Mathuan was leaning forward.

  Tren cleared his throat. “Mathuan studies mutation due to external sources.”

  “Ah, so you are going with the ancient crystalline infection. That has been posited before. The result of the investigation was that it is actually a mimicry talent. As we engage in missions, you will see what I mean.”

  Jeth cleared his throat and fished around for another chunk of meat. “So, are you comfortable in your position as our leader?”

  They waited while she finished choking. “What?”

  Jeth sighed, “I have been acting as leader, but it is difficult. I am much better at making projectiles. I am a man of action, not a planner.”

  She was still clearing spice out of her sinuses. “Do either of you two want the spot?”

  Tren busied himself with the side dishes, and Mathuan went in search of an eating utensil.

  She sighed. “I will take that as a no. Right. So, I will need all the records for every excursion you have had. All your stats sheets, a complete inventory of every useful and detachable item on the base, including food. We are going to work on this every waking moment that we are not out there getting into trouble. Are we clear?”

  The guys nodded, and they all looked relieved.

  So, it was decided by attrition. The last one in was now in charge.

  Thousands of assassin curse words ran through her mind.

  Two days of quiet were enough for her to get her Masuo, settle in, and find the soaking pool.

  Mertwin was next to her and getting some sun when her wrist unit began to shriek. Ki got out of the water and let her suit resume its normal configuration.

  The riot runners were lifting out of their underground garage, and she got to hers less than a minute after the alarm sounded.

  The others were getting settled as she brought up information on the alarm. Apparently, it was a riot in a bar, and someone was using fire.

  “Tren, you take point, tell us what is going on on the ground. Jeth follow close, and Mathuan and I will come in to wrangle the populace. This plan is subject to change if anything is severely on fire.”

  They activated their runners and rose in the air in a staggered line. Ki loved runners. They gave you the freedom to charge at top speed in any direction, including up.

  She crouched low over the console and pulled the controls to get her up and over the wall. She really hoped that the runner she was on had the identification code that would keep it from becoming shrapnel.

  Their group flew in a loose formation toward Stohn, the capitol city. The bar in question was on the northern edge, known to be inhabited by the more unsavoury types looking to escape the conflict in the next system.

  Luasa’s was the source of the tendrils of smoke curling up along the roofline.

  “Master Navo, we have fire.”

  “Nearest suppression system?”

  “Fifty metres south.”

  “Fine. I will grab that and start hauling; you work on evacuation.”

  To their credit, none of the men asked if she could manage the suppression system.

  She landed on the next block, located the compressed tank and nozzle, and broke the protective casing.

  With a grunt and a quick shift, she hoisted the compressed gas, liquid, powder mix and grabbed the nozzle for distant projection. Once everything was strapped on, she climbed back on the runner and headed to the roof of the bar. Landing on a flaming building would be stupid, so she set the runner down on the nearest roof that she could jump from. The first hole she punched was at the front, the nozzle was inserted and a two-second blast of the icy contents shot out. Once she had created a safety zone, she moved to the rear of the bar where smoke was curling, and she made another hole, followed by another shot of the fire suppressant.

  Seven holes later, she had put out the fire.

  “We have them all, including the pyro.” Tren chuckled. “You nailed it in the first shot. They were keeping everyone in.”

  “Good. I have to jump a roof to get back to my runner, but I will be down shortly. Make a note to recharge the suppression system that I just raided.”

  She took a few steps and launched herself onto the next roof. She got back on her runner and landed next to the other runners, checking on her team and the locals.

  Mathuan looked a little singed, but the ladies who frequented the bar looked properly appreciative. They were draped all over him.

  Jeth stood by and spoke with what had to be Luasa. The woman looked angry, exhausted, and relieved.

  Kiala wandered over, and Jeth made the introductions. “Madame Luasa, this is Master Navo. She is our new commander, and we are delighted to have her in charge.”

  Luasa was a simple woman of hot pink skin and a blaze of white hair arranged in a thick braid. Her trousers were tight, and her blouse was pretty but basically opaque. Nothing was getting through there. Luasa was a woman who didn’t fool around.

  “Why are you their new commander?” Luasa looked at Jeth protectively before glaring at the newcomer, as if she wanted to flatten Ki and walk on her corpse. It was cute.

  “Because none of the guys want to do paperwork or inventory for that matter. My first day and I got stuck with it.” She switched the conversation around. “How is the structure?”

  “Pretty good. The light stuff had just started going up when you blasted the idiot. Thanks for that, by the way. It was nice to see it nearly implode. I think my liquor storage made it.” Luasa glanced over her shoulder. “Would you like to take a look?”

  “Sure. I just arrived this week and haven’t had a chance to take a look at local businesses and what they have to offer.”

  Luasa laughed. “Sorry, you can’t see us at our best, but our best is not great either.”

  The doorway didn’t have an open door. The scorch marks on the floor showed where the pyro had been standing. The talent had been blocking the entrance.

  “Why are the feet so small?”

  Luasa shrugged. “She isn’t a large girl. Her dad was drinking, and when he refused to come home, she said he could stay here, and the resulting damage is what happened.”

  “Wait? A child did this? I didn’t see one outside.”

  Luasa grimaced. “Her father took her home. Finally. He is an idiot, but she has a temper. The two are not a great combination.”

  The interior was stained with smoke, but the majority of the damage was to the floor in front of the door. The girl had really been mad enough to kill.

  The bar was intact, so Ki asked, “Do you need help cleaning up?”

  Luasa smiled. “I will get the regulars to scrub the walls and floors. It is the least they can do.”

  “Does anyone need medical attention?”

  The bartender shook her head. “My staff are all trained medics. It saves on the bills if they can check on anyone who passes out. It also keeps me from being gouged by the local ambulance services.”

  “Right. They have a pay-to-play system?”

  “Yeah. Not the worst but not the best structure, but that is a conversation for another day.”

  The bar was cozy, but there was one thing that stood out among the scorched and tattered wall hangings, an assassin mark. This bar was assassin friendly with no contracts being filled within its walls. It was an
excellent thing to know.

  She could actually have a drink here if she wanted. It almost made her wish she could tolerate alcohol. It was the one thing that she really missed.

  “How did you get those holes in the ceiling? It was clever of you to use the suppression downward.”

  “Oh, I punched the holes at the high smoke points. If there was already smoke getting out, my fist went in.”

  Luasa looked at her hands and then at her face. “The roof is stone.”

  Ki smiled. “I am very good with stone.”

  The bartender looked like she wanted to continue the conversation, but Ki’s wristband went off. “Please, excuse me.”

  “Of course, Master Navo. Come back anytime.”

  Ki knew where they were headed before anything was said. “Which way to their house?”

  The runners were engaged, and they took off. That little girl was either still angry, or her father was trying to end his problem.

  Either way, they were needed.

  Chapter Eight

  Ki’s heart ached when she saw what was happening. The girl was cowering on the ground in a ball of white flame while her father fired weapon after weapon at her. He may be drunk and cursing, but he was also an assassin.

  Ki set her runner to automatic and dropped out of the sky between the man and his target. Her Masuo robes flared around her in the same metallic that she pulled into her skin. “Cease, citizen.”

  He looked at her with unfocused eyes. “You cannot tell me what to do. She is my blood and bone. I can destroy her as she destroyed her mother.”

  “Did she burn her mother?”

  “No. Her mother died birthing the ungrateful wretch. She won’t even let me drink to forget the one good thing in my life is gone because of her.”

  He lifted a crossbow in shaking hands and fired. It shattered on Ki’s skin.

  “She died because she died. The penultimate cause was you, if you are honest, which you are not.” She took a step toward him.

  He blinked. “What? How is it my fault.”

  “You got her pregnant, she had the baby, and in having it, she died. The baby was the result, not the catalyst. You were.”

  “She wanted the baby.”

  “Why?”

  “She said she wanted to see my eyes mixed with her hair. She wanted it to be the best of us.” He wavered and dropped down to his knees. “Allyi!”

  The heat at her back faded.

  The young woman came around Ki and looked at her father. She gave Ki a dark look. “You should not have spoken to him that way. You do not understand the ways of assassins.”

  Ki gave her a calm look. “Of course, I do. Two of them raised me. Feeling rage at a child is never appropriate. He has been trained to remain calm under all circumstances, he has been given analytical testing to make sure he thinks before he acts, and he has been told to never go at the wrong target. If he is an assassin. He does have the weapons, but he doesn’t seem to have the self-possession.”

  The girl looked to her father. “What is she saying?”

  Ki walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “He was trained by an assassin, not as an assassin. I am guessing that it was your mother who held the blade. All the weapons are her size.”

  Tears started streaming from his eyes. “She told me to take care of our daughter. I didn’t know how. When she was weak after the birth, they came for her and killed her. All I could do was run here.”

  Ki nodded. “Makes a certain sense.”

  The girl who was without a stitch of clothing frowned, “I don’t understand. What happened?”

  The drunk’s tears were flowing freely. He sobbed but couldn’t speak.

  “May I fill her in?”

  He nodded.

  “My guess is that the moment your mother announced her pregnancy, there was a bounty for her death. She and your father ran, but it was no use. Instead of birthing you in a safe place, she ended up being vulnerable, and when your father was holding you in his arms, they came for her. He couldn’t save you both, so he followed your mother’s orders and saved you.”

  She patted the girl on the shoulder and wrapped her in a panel of her robes.

  “The Assassins Guild is very protective of its bloodlines. Any variation in their grand plan causes a cascade of homicide. In my case, my parents and myself were hunted into my teenage years.”

  “Did they hate you?”

  “No, they knew what they were doing. It seems your mother did, but your father wasn’t too clear on the seriousness of the situation. He learned, but it was too late for her.”

  The girl huddled in, and she looked at her father. “I love him, but he hates me.”

  “He doesn’t hate you. He hates that he sees his own shortcomings and feels the pain of your mother’s loss when he looks at you. I am guessing that you look very much like her.”

  The girl looked up. “I have my father’s eyes.”

  Ki stroked her hair. “Just like she wanted. You are just what she wanted in her life.”

  “He tried to kill me.”

  “Not really, he was aiming across your back, and the bolts were being fired into the flame. They burned up before they touched you, and you could have turned him into a column of ash, and you didn’t. So, there is affection on both sides. I think you two need some space, so you can meet in the middle.”

  She looked around, and the other Guardians were standing about with helpless expressions.

  “First, what is your name?”

  “Emmyi. Emmyi Saru, after my mother’s family.”

  “Saru?” Ki chuckled. “I may have to verify it, but I believe we might be cousins. My father’s clan name was Saru.”

  The father looked up from his miserable stance. “I give her into your custody while I try and remember who I was.”

  Ki blinked. “What?”

  “She is fourteen, but if you are even close to being cousins, the laws of Thanlossit allow for custody transfer. You can teach her what she needs to know about being an assassin and a talent, and I can try to salvage my business and remember who I was.”

  Jeth stepped forward and put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Don’t remember who you were, build what you want to be from scratch. You can’t change the past, but you can start with knowledge of how bad decisions can off track you. Take what you are now, solidify it, and build on it. We will guard your daughter, and Master Navo will teach her what she can.”

  “He is just giving me up?” Emmyi’s eyes welled with tears.

  “He is sending you to school while he cleans house. His decisions from here on out are his alone, as are yours. It is a young age to learn that kind of thing, but it is something that happens when you can burn your way through other people.”

  Ki bent and lifted Emmyi into her arms before heading for the runner.

  “I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

  “We will come back tomorrow after he is sober. Right now, he just needs space.” She nodded to Jeth to keep an eye on the man, and he returned to the miserable creature on the floor. “Perhaps Luasa can use some help scrubbing her bar.”

  Occupational therapy was always useful, and the scent of scorched alcohol might help his self-reflection. When he thought of today, he would remember the smell.

  “He needs me to cook and clean for him.”

  “That is not something you should be having to do.” Ki fired up the runner, and they flew back toward the base.

  “I am responsible for him. He needs me.”

  “He needs to learn to take care of himself. I am guessing that your developing power and resemblance to your mother has caused his emotional state to degrade. You will take care of you, and when you are stable, you can return to take care of him. Fair?”

  “I suppose.”

  “You are just going to class, not to prison. You can see him regularly. I promise to bring you into town at regular intervals.” She flew them back to the Guardian base; her first order of business was
to get Emmyi into some flame-retardant Masuo.

  The Masuo had been keyed to Ki’s genes, but it managed a reasonable and decorous coverage of Emmyi. A quick access into the family archives brought out the information that Ki had travelled across nine jumps and countless systems to find a fourth cousin. Emmyi was her blood, and she was in trouble.

  “Emmyi, come look at this.” She widened the display so that the projection of bloodlines was above their heads.

  Emmyi was still running her hands along the thick grey suit that covered her, but she kept her arms around Mertwin. “What is that?”

  “It is a family chart.”

  “I mean, what are those lines?”

  Ki paused. “The writing? They are the names of your ancestors and mine. We come from this branch right here.”

  “What language is that?”

  “The Assassin’s script. You will learn it as we go on if you want to. It is your right.”

  “I have rights?”

  “Sure. It is why the assassins are so determined to stamp out inappropriate matches, or ones that they say are inappropriate. They are trying to build some kind of super assassin, so I am guessing that any variation wrecks their plans.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  Ki sighed and turned off the display. “I was hunted into my teenage years. We went from city to city, planet to planet, running, hiding, and fighting for our lives since the day I was born. My parents could have been lovers without a problem, but when their union sprouted me, they were turned into targets by their own people.”

  “What happened when you were a teenager?” Emmyi’s earnest features and huge blue eyes denoted genuine interest.

  “I turned myself in to the guild during their recruitment testing. I proved what I could do and that I was a genuine trained assassin, and then, I told them that I would be a babysitter under contract if they removed the kill order on my family.”

  Emmyi stared with wide eyes. “What did they do?”

  “At first, they laughed, and then, they remembered that not all of those associated with the guild are assassins. I acted as bodyguard for several years to a young woman who was marrying an approved match. Her fiancé’s family didn’t approve of the guild match entirely and had a price on her head. I was a block between the deadly attacks and the would-be bride.”