Maid in Stone Read online

  “Did she make it?”

  “My bond-cuff fell off at her wedding. The rest was just a minor scuffle with a woman who had a thing for the groom.” She smiled.

  “So, you are an actual assassin.”

  Ki nodded. “I am legally a representative and can take commissions if necessary.”

  “So, have you killed?”

  Ki gave her a bland look. “I have. It is not my favourite thing to do because a life taken cannot be restarted, but I have done it.”

  “Did you do it for money?” This seemed very important to Emmyi.

  “No. I did it to stop more killing. The talent in question was insane and filled with rage. Everyone needed to be punished for their pain.”

  Emmyi blushed. “Like what I did today.”

  “Yes and no. You acted out of fear and frustration. He was acting out of malice. He wanted to see pain, and then, he wanted to do it again.”

  The other Guardians came into the common space and she smiled. Mertwin immediately squirmed loose from Emmyi’s arms.

  “Don’t worry. He will come back to you if he thinks he is needed, but he is bonded to Tren, so that is where he returns when Tren needs him.”

  The Guardian in question winked at her as he picked up the Yaluthu. “Yeah, but he is a generous guy. Losing a little bit of fluff, though.”

  Emmyi held up her hands. “I didn’t do anything.”

  Ki patted her shoulder. “It is part of Mertwin’s life cycle. He will moult, nest, and then, there will be little babies hopping around. We don’t need to worry about that. Mertwin will only start his evolution when Tren is stable, so I am guessing that Tren is stable.”

  Mathuan snorted. “I would not go that far. Have either of you started dinner?”

  Ki raised her brows. “I have done the incident report, filed for tutorial materials for Emmyi, looked up genetic genealogy that confirms we are indeed, cousins. And have coaxed the Masuo into a suit that will fit Emmyi. What have you done?”

  Mathuan grimaced. “Scrubbed a floor.”

  Tren grinned. “He didn’t have to do a thing aside from getting himself wet and using his tendrils to scrub.”

  Mathuan continued his grimace. “They then hosed me down to clean me. It was not a fun afternoon.”

  “For you maybe, I got most of it on vid. I will play it later. For now, I will make dinner.” Tren folded his wings tight against his back and headed for the kitchen.

  Emmyi held up her hand. “I can cook.”

  “Wow. I can’t.” Ki grinned.

  Tren was serious. “We take turns, so if you do it today, Jeth will do it tomorrow.”

  “That seems fair. What would you like?”

  Kiala chuckled. “Enough for twelve plus two and some shredded meat for Mertwin.”

  “Got it.” Emmyi went through the cupboards quickly and got everything together. A flurry of chopping later and Ki was convinced that this girl had been born to handle blades. She added it to the schedule and noted how the guys were supervising from a safe distance and adding commentary on spices.

  The first student of the Thanlossit Citadel had been acquired, and signs were looking good that she would get some benefit out of further training.

  Epilogue

  Sitting in a quiet teahouse was always a pleasure, but watching the bustling business staffed by family and friends was even better.

  “Master Navo, we have travelled across the continent to bring our child to you.”

  Ki sat with Tren at her side, and Mertwin was proud on his shoulder. The nervous parents of the surly teen were across from her.

  “Why? The child in question does not want to be here.”

  The young boy snorted and crossed his arms. He was twelve and a low-grade telekinetic. It was enough to make any parent nervous.

  “We were wondering if you could teach him control.” The father was sporting some bruising to the face.

  “I could kill him. That would make it faster.” She sipped at her tea again and set the cup down with her hand made of granite.

  “You... you are a Guardian. You don’t kill.” The boy’s smug pout cracked at the edges.

  “Oh, I am a Master of the Citadel, and I do kill to protect those who are hopelessly unable to protect themselves. For a talent to attack someone who is untalented and to cause injury is a cowardly act. The power of the moment gained by engendering fear only succeeds in creating an environment in which the young one is no longer wanted in the household.”

  The boy frowned. “What?”

  “Would you stay in a haunted house?”

  He darted his eyes from side to side. “Yeah.”

  “Would you live there if you were under constant attack, or would you either move away, or find a way to remove the attacker?”

  “I remove it, I guess.”

  She smiled and nodded. Emmyi came from the back of the shop, and she tapped the parents on the shoulders. “Come with me. We have an excellent healer and some really good tea in the back.”

  The boy made to rise with his parents, but Ki grabbed him and slammed his hand to the table, holding him down. “Not you. Never you.”

  He tugged at her, pulling at his hand in a nearly frantic way. “Let go!”

  “No. I have a talent that you don’t. So, either do something to make me stop, or you are going to be stuck to this table until I choose to let you go.”

  A teapot flew and hit her on the side of the head. She sighed. “I am glad I buy in bulk.”

  Every item in the room came at her, and she was content to let it, until a pot made a beeline for Mertwin. At that point, she crushed the boy’s hand.

  He screamed, and his eyes went white. She released his left hand and gripped his right.

  “Think. Why did I do that?”

  He blinked. “What? My hand...”

  “Think. Why did I hurt you?”

  He slowly focused on her. “I was attacking you.”

  She shook her head. “No. Think again. What were you doing?”

  He looked to the elegant raptor on Tren’s shoulder. “I tried to hurt the bird.”

  “Right. Had the bird attacked? Made a gesture? Made a face? Anything?”

  “No. I just wanted to hurt it.”

  “And that was the point that I gripped your hand. Now, watch. Mertwin, could you please?”

  The raptor hopped down, and his claws clicked as he crossed the table, shoving the broken crockery out as he went. He pressed his forehead to the boy’s wrist, and the swelling receded and fingers began to straighten.

  “He is offering you healing, knowing that you tried to kill him. You can tell from the contact that it is an intelligence that is choosing to do good, to relieve pain. That is what it comes down to. Every time you are going to lose your temper, choose. When you are going to use your talent, choose. Do it with full knowledge of the consequences.”

  The boy paused. “I don’t know how.”

  “We can help with that. Would you like to enrol for classes here for the summer and see how it works out?”

  He stared and looked around at the shop that had been emptied of patrons during his tantrum. “Even though I did this?”

  “Yes, but the first step will be cleaning up your mess. If you want to go home at any time, you can. We will bring you home. We can even bring you for a supervised weekend visit as long as you return to the school, but as soon as you opt out, you are out completely. This is serious. Lives are at stake, and one of those lives is your own.”

  The boy looked at her seriously. His hand was nearly healed. “Can I talk it over with my parents?”

  “You can, but there will be a school member there to make sure that you don’t lose control if their conversation offends you. We will also need a list of every assault, every vandalism, and every petty crime you have committed before you can be fully admitted.”

  He blushed. “Why?”

  “If anyone in your past goes looking for you in your future, we want to know who and why
. Talents can develop later in life if there is trauma, and if you caused it, you could be in danger from everyone you have ever frightened or abused.”

  His eyes were wide. “Right. Good tip. Can I talk to my parents now?”

  Tren nodded and got to his feet. “Come with me. I will take you to them.”

  Mertwin chirped and pronounced him healed. Ki offered her wrist to the adult Yaluthu and lifted him to her shoulder.

  “Have a nice talk, but you are cleaning up whether you stay or not.” She waved them off and sat back with a sigh.

  Emmyi brought a fresh pot of tea, and two visitors sat in the now-empty spaces.

  “You came in, even with that flying around? You are brave.”

  Her mother and father smiled. Her dad said, “You are offering us a teashop on your doorstep free of charge. Plus. we are a short walk away. It is our dream to be this close.”

  Halfway between city and the base was a meadow, and now that meadow included a teashop for prospective talents and those who just liked good tea. The small lot for parking was usually full, and it gave her first two students practice at using their talents. Fire and water projection were excellent talents for a teashop.

  Her mother frowned. “Did you really crush that boy’s hand?”

  “Yeah. It was the first time, but it won’t be the last. This area is known for bully talents, and I want to stop the cycle before it is unstoppable.”

  Her father smiled. “Good.”

  “And as I can’t be here around the clock, I thought that it would be nice to have folks that I can trust to rear stable talents here with me.” She teared up. “Thanks for coming.”

  Her mother smiled. “Thanks for having us. So, where are we living?”

  “There is a compound under this teashop. I have set it up with living quarters for you and the students, as well as designed it for expansion, if that kind of thing is necessary. If we have to, we will keep building.”

  “So, we live underground?”

  “You sleep and relax underground. This is the living area. There are gardens under construction, a reflecting pool, outdoor seating accessible in all weather, and everything you put into that dream plan of yours when I was ten. Give it some time, it will grow into what you want and more than you imagined it could be. You just have to train another generation of enhanced beings.” She winked. “No problem.”

  Her parents looked at each other and her father scraped a clean spot on the table to place the cups. Three evenly poured cups looked lovely in the rubble. They each lifted one and saluted. “To new starts. May they keep coming.”

  Ki couldn’t agree more.

  When she was taking them on a tour, her mother pulled her aside. “I have read about Yaluthu. They are normally bonded to those who are damaged. Are you injured?”

  Ki lifted a hand and stroked Mertwin. “He is bonded to Tren. I am just... also bonding to Tren. It is a process.”

  Her mother giggled and nodded. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “Mertwin, his name is Mertwin.”

  Tren’s voice rumbled from behind her. “She was referring to me.”

  Ki’s skin went hot. “Ah. Hiya, Tren.”

  He wrapped an arm around her waist as he did at the base. “How much of a process?”

  Her father had been looking over at the pond construction, and when he glanced back toward them, she saw the man who had taken on assassination as a family occupation. He immediately warmed, but there was a calculating look in his eyes. She faded against Tren, and it startled her dad in to laughing.

  Introductions were quick, but her father’s shoulders were shaking the whole time.

  “What? Why are you laughing, Dad?”

  He grinned. “The last time you blended your skin like that, you were seven and trying to get into your holiday presents in the middle of the night. You hadn’t quite realized that your nightwear didn’t transform when you did.”

  She sighed. “The Masuo does a better job.”

  “That it does. All I could see was the man you were leaning against in mindboggling detail, and the raptor on your shoulder.”

  “Detail?”

  “He was naked, Ki. That leads me to believe that you are in more than the process of bonding.”

  She sighed. “Sometimes it is stress relief, others, it is affection and connection.”

  “As long as it is for more of the last than the first, you have a good starting point.” He sighed. “I just didn’t think it would be this soon for you.”

  She put her hand on his shoulder. “I may be young, but I have been on the road for a very long time. I am so glad that you and Mom are here.”

  “We only ever wanted to be close, and now, we can tell you that you are not going to be an only child for much longer. We were just waiting for a stable place and as long as you are here, it is stable enough.”

  “It can’t get better than that.” She watched as Tren explained some of the local berry bushes to her mom. “This is an excellent moment to mark.”

  Family was here, work was good, friends were accumulating, and her school had three students. It wasn’t bad for three months’ work. It boggled the mind to imagine what would happen in the two years of her initial contract. If the next two years were as good as the first few months, Thanlossit was going to be spectacular.

  Author’s Note

  It took a while, but I got here. Maid in Stone begins the first trembling steps of Citadel Thanlossit. At the edge of the universe, even the most seasoned professionals can learn something.

  I hope to come back here regularly, at least to have tea and sandwiches.

  Thanks for reading,

  Viola

  About the Author

  Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.

  An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it, she always goes for the cheap laugh.