章節 12: Lunacy
Esteban appeared while Mona was helping Cassandra out of the room. He looked disappointed.
"What was that?" he asked, spreading his hands in exasperation.
"What was what?" Mona replied.
"Come on, Mona," Aadhira said, hands stuffed under bowed shoulders. "Master Esteban just told us not an hour ago that there's only one reason people come to find establishments like this."
Mona frowned. "He gave two reasons."
"Two halves of a reason," Esteban put in. "Added together, they make one reason."
"Fights," the dwarf said from behind Mona.
"Whether to watch or participate," Aadhira agreed. "Why else do you think they install hinged railings?"
She gave the railing behind her a sudden, rough shove. The commotion in the common room below them dropped sharply as the railing fell to the limit of its hinge with a bang.
When no falling bodies accompanied the railing, there were a few disappointed murmurs before the noise returned to its previous level.
Mona stared at the gap left by the fallen railing for a moment before nodding. "That explains so much, actually."
Esteban sighed before moving to the other side of his sister and pulling her arm around his shoulders so that she was suspended between him and Mona.
"I'll help you get sis here to her room," he said, and shook his head. "Everybody was so excited to see those four come in with a guiding stone."
Aadhira followed his gaze to the door they had left by and shook her head. "Not worth your time, my left toenail," she muttered darkly. "Mona, I'll see Vilim to his place. See you at home!"
"What?" Mona said, but she had already turned down the hallway to the bedrooms. Aadhira found it quite easy to walk toward the exit as if she didn't hear her calling out her name.
Once outside, Aadhira looked around and motioned for Vilim to take the lead. But the boy moved so slowly, and Aadhira was feeling so restless, that she found herself stalking ahead of him before they had reached the first street.
"Hira?" Vilim ventured after he had followed her down a couple streets. "This isn't the way to my…." He trailed off, uncomfortable.
"No," Aadhira replied, looking around at the empty street. "But it seems like a good enough place to greet our friends. Wouldn't you say…?"
She turned around to where the merchant lady had just followed them around the corner.
"Meegan," the merchant lady answered smoothly. Her guards followed behind her, pulling her partner with them, who… did he have one more black eye than he had, not fifteen minutes ago?
Meegan looked at Vilim with a smile. "I really ought to thank you, boy," she said. "This was one mistake too many. The family will surely no longer tolerate Harald's incompetence after this."
"So if it's good for you, why not just let us go?" Vilim asked. "You got your gold back."
"Yet the fact remains that you did steal from us," Meegan replied, and held up her arms. One of her guards untied the sash holding her fine Convocation clothes together, and she stepped out of them to reveal a loose black shirt and tight, short pants of cheaper and sturdier weave.
"For that you must be punished, so that it is known what happens to those who steal from the Mercer family."
Then she shook her head, clucking her tongue. "I really had hoped your friend would have come with you. She might have at least made this interesting."
"What about your reluctance to attack a noble?" Aadhira asked.
Meegan looked around. "I don't see any nobles here," she said.
The guard that had been chasing Vilim earlier opened his mouth.
Aadhira had an idea of what he was going to say; she stepped to the side and jumped. One foot moved forward before coming back to let the other foot make contact with the guard's chin, closing it with a click.
"I think you underestimate me," Aadhira said, as the guard fell over backwards.
Meegan clapped her hands and laughed "Oh, indeed!" she exclaimed. "I didn't think you had it in you!"
And she lashed out with a blade that hadn't been in her hand a moment before.
Aadhira whirled around and struck at her hand, but Meegan danced lightly backwards.
"I must confess," Aadhira said as they each crouched into their respective battle stances, "I am a little surprised at your reaction to the theft of a mere sixty-three gold. Surely that wasn't your entire life savings?"
Meegan laughed and lunged, which Aadhira dodged. "Hardly. More than Harald should be trusted with, maybe, but" –another attack was dodged– "I don't know. I guess I'm feeling a bit out of sorts. Tonight."
She chuckled as she tried another slash. "Maybe I was just hoping to see some blood tonight somehow."
Aadhira drew back. "What do you mean?" she asked, skin prickling.
"What, was your temple not affected?" Meegan asked. "Low tide. Water barely reached our ankles. And the priestess didn't know any rituals without it."
Aadhira frowned. "How…. What happens next?" she muttered.
"I don't know," Meegan said, and took advantage of Aadhira's distraction to slash her arm.
"That felt pretty good though," she said.
Aadhira frowned at the blood on her arm and dashed forward. A slash to distract from a kick, and Meegan fell back, rubbing at her shin.
"Aah!" she said. "Aah! Aah." She glared at Aadhira. "That did not feel good. Aah.
"Okay. Let's do this."
Meegan set into Aadhira in earnest this time, throwing kick after slash after elbow after stab. Aadhira responded in kind, dodging and blocking and kicking and stabbing back at her.
In short order Aadhira had acquired several more surface wounds on her arms and legs. Meegan hadn't fared better; skin and blood were showing through her clothes in various places, and blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth where Aadhira had just headbutted her.
Meegan wiped the blood from her mouth and examined it on her hand.
"You are rather more fun than I thought you would be," she said, eyes wide and dilated, breathing rapid and shallow. "Have you ever given thought to being a guard?"
"I do have some experience as a guard," Aadhira replied carefully.
"At your age? What are you, thirteen? Fourteen?"
"Somewhere around there." Something was off. Aadhira could understand a little bloodthirst as well as the next girl, but Meegan's demeanor was starting to border on… on… Aadhira couldn't quite think of the right word, but it seemed reason was starting to escape the poor woman.
As if to prove Aadhira's point, Meegan suddenly swiped with her dagger. She was too far away to have any chance of making contact – except she lost her grip on it and it flew past Aadhira's ear to stick in a support beam of a nearby house with a thunk.
When Aadhira looked back at her, she had a new dagger in her hand.
Right. The woman was now a danger to anybody else who might happen on the scene.
Aadhira stepped forward, inviting a reckless stab which Aadhira stepped under. Blocking the older woman's forearm with her opposite hand, she grabbed it and kicked her in the belly. She then twisted, bringing her inside hand under Meegan's armpit and twisted her arm behind her back.
Unfortunately her form was a little off, and Meegan was able to slip around in her grasp when she slid her hand down to take the dagger away. Instead of holding the merchant's head down, they now had their arms entangled and their faces next to each other.
Meegan looked into her eyes with a different kind of lust than the blood variety that had been there moments before.
"You know," she breathed, "I have always liked red–"
Aadhira drew her head back and bashed her forehead into Megan's face as hard as she could.
Carefully she guided the woman's limp body to the ground and turned to her remaining guard.
"Tell me how I know that you will take good care of her," she said.
"I am a cousin of both her and Harald," he said. "In the years that I have worked under their joint leadership, she has been the one who has consistently proven herself worthy of my loyalty and increased our family's worth."
When she continued to stare at him, he added, "And I swear that I will take good care of her."
"I guess that will have to do," Aadhira said. She looked up at the moon, bright above her and headed for the horizon. "Moonless night. Did she seem a little off to you, there at the end?"
The guard frowned. "Yes and no. She has always been a little excitable. A little fond of other people's blood. But I have never seen her on the edge of losing control like that before."
"Did it trouble you?"
The guard considered for a moment before replying. "Yes, I think so."
Aadhira closed her eyes and considered. "Fallen star," she swore. "Vilim? How do you feel about staying the rest of the night with the merchants you stole from?"
Vilim did not look happy about the idea. "What for?" he asked.
"I need someone who knows how to report back to me on how she's doing when she wakes up."
"In that case," a familiar voice said from behind her, "I can have my stuff brought from my inn to theirs."
Aadhira turned to see… that noble's son who seemed so familiar with Mona?
"What." Aadhira said, too surprised to even turn it into a question.
"May I ask you something?" He didn't even wait for her to respond, but just kept talking. "Was it you or… Alys, who felt so compelled to join that game at the inn?"
"I–"
"So this was intended for you?"
A piece of parchment appeared next to his face, held up between two fingers. Aadhira could not keep the desire out of her eyes as she recognized it.
"I see," the noble said. "I had thought to give it to her when I come to court this afternoon" – Aadhira dimly noted the fact that she heard a different meaning there than the guard did – "but if it is actually for you, then I see no reason to withhold it."
Pressing the map into her hand, he made sure she wouldn't drop it before turning to the guard. "I have some smelling salts so that your friends will be able to keep an eye on him as we carry her to your inn," he was saying as Aadhira started walking away.
After seeing Vilim to his shelter for the night, Aadhira went to the palace, finding Mona waiting for her just in front of the entrance.
Mona looked her over, taking in the blood, dirt, and clothes that were nearly shredded to ribbons.
"Did you get it out of your system?" she asked.
Aadhira's only response was to step into her arms.
"Okay, Matchstick, let's go home."
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