Something about Udrebam unnerved Lichos.
He’d been in stranger places. Forests growing within cave systems, where the ground took a night sky’s visage and the ceiling was marred by strangling vegetation. Deserts made entirely from bone, with trees branched by bloody spines and dunes of piled teeth. Even a fog that turned to ice in men’s throats, leaving them blue and choked as the blood became slush in their veins.
None of it unsettled him the way Udrebam did.
They’d worried him, undoubtedly. Terrified and scared him too. But somehow the peaceful, pristine corridor in which he stood, and the similarly perfect building surrounding it, ground against his nerves more than any horrors from the continent of Gol.
It was the iminence to them. Not a fire, all clear danger and warning blisters, but a keg of powder in a forge. A lethal tension that he could barely identify.
Perhaps I’m just poorly adjusted, he mused.
Lichos snapped his eyes up to the opening door before him, shifting on his feet and biting back his sudden worry.
He was surprised when, instead of Lavastro Kaiosyni, a young girl stepped from the room. Of average height, pale skin and blue eyes with hair coloured like mirrored silver.
She met his stare, looking just as surprised as he felt, before hurriedly turning to disappear down the corridor, each step sending sharp echoes as her feet met polished stone. Glancing down, Lichos realised instantly what had caused her flight.
His grey uniform of armoured nylon, slung rifle and side-pistols were a common sight in Wrath. Clearly Udrebam was not so acclimated to a Taikan soldier’s armament.
Looking back at the girl as she continued her hurried pace, Lichos tried to pick his brains for where he’d seen her before.
It wasn’t until her trailing locks flitted around the far corner that he placed her as Gemini Menza.
“Are you quite finished gawping?” Came a stern voice.
It drew his eyes back to the door, and though Lichos cared no more for Taikan mystics than Unixian, the appearance of Lavastro Kaiosyni was one even he recognised at a glance.
The first thing he noticed was her height. A hand taller than Lichos, nearly a foot over most of the men he’d seen in Udrebam, she towered even hunched and leaning against the doorframe.
Her own eyes were fixed on him unwaveringly, steady and intense as if she were committing his face to memory. The rest of her was little different. Features sharp and angular, breathtakingly beautiful and framed by hair so wavy and dark it was like an ocean of black oil.
She wore clothing of flowing fabrics coiled and wrapped around her limbs and torso. Silk, by Lichos’s reckoning. All pale and silver. It covered much, but left the musculature of her lower arms clear to his eye.
Just as lean and defined as the woman’s face.
The image made a fierce sight. Tanned skin completing her classic Taikan visage, stiff bearing and indifferent stare making her look every bit the ruler as was portrayed by her likeness in posters and newspapers the world over.
Only the faintest flicker of disgust broke her regal stoicism.
There it is. I was wondering how long it would take her.
“Sir,” he said. “I’m Sergeant Lichos Kleidra, from Wrath.”
For a moment Lichos thought further explanation would be needed, but Kaiosyni spoke before he could continue. Her perfect face remained as still as a sculpture, eyes fixed on his. Her pupils onyx dots floating in pools of molten gold.
“Yes, my new bodyguard. I was wondering when you would arrive.”
She spoke with a tone that revealed nothing but the faintest disapproval, leaving Lichos to guess what the malaise was for.
“Well, it was this morning.” He answered, painfully aware of how hollow his voice was. How foolish his answer.
Without another word the woman turned, setting off down the corridor. Lichos hurried after her.
“Where are you going?” He demanded, mouth moving before he could think to check it. Kaiosyni didn’t look back as she answered, fortunately more tolerant of questions than an officer.
“I have an appointment, or rather I ought to have a confrontation about one.”
Somehow, it was only then that Lichos recognised the familiar high Taikan accent with which she spoke. It dragged unpleasant memories from the depths of his mind, twisting the confusion and worry in him to anger.
“And you won’t be telling your bodyguard where or why that is?”
She didn’t even grace him with an answer, simply continued to walk. Strides long, steps light and back stiff as though it were bound by a Unixian corset. Pale cloth trailing behind her like misted winter breath.
They walked seemingly without aim, but Lichos didn’t once see Kaiosyni falter as her gait ate the distance.
His eyes darted in all directions, reflexively keen and sharp as they searched for potential threats even in the torturous safety of the Udrebam Sieve’s headquarters.
None caught his eye.
When Kaiosyni finally stopped, she did so with such abruptness that Lichos nearly stumbled into her from four paces back. He rose his head, growling protests dying in his throat as he saw a woman approach.
“I’m sorry to intrude, Koros Kaiosyni.” The newcomer said, dipping her head dutifully.
Her movement was practiced, her bearing proud. She had such a steady confidence that it took a moment for him to notice the obvious.
A dula. She’s a dula.
It was hard to believe any woman’s property could be so stately, yet the slave markings etched across her brow left no room for doubt.
“Pyrrhic.” Kaiosyni said, making a greeting of her name. “What news do you have for me?”
The expectation in her voice told Lichos he was missing context. When Kaiosyni’s dula shook her head, however, it seemed to surprise the woman just as much as him.
“Your pardon, Koros Kaiosyni, but there has been another development…”
Her eyes flicked to Lichos, cautious and distrusftul. It was an expression he knew well.
“He can stay.” Kaiosyni said, still not looking at him.
With a quick nod, the dula continued. Seemingly without further concern.
“I was monitoring the Sieve, as you instructed, and one of your spies reported that… Well, a butcher is taking part in the contest.”
The change in Kaiosyni’s demeanour came instantly. She began walking once more; pulling the dula and Lichos along, holding them in her wake through urgency alone.
“Give me the details.” She said, strong voice still clear over the clacking of heel against stone.
“There are few.” Answered the dula. “All I know is its species.” A pause, then she added. “And its power, of course.”
Lichos found himself able to keep up with the conversation, at least barely. He knew well what the notorious butchers were, and he was more familiar with their brutal savagery and magical might than most.
Yet that very experience merely left him wondering how in Mirandis such a creature had gained entry into the competition. He’d heard it was a test meant for children.
“Another complication…” Muttered Kaiosyni, almost too quiet to hear. “Is it here alone? I assume it’s no older than the maximum range for the Sieve.”
“Unknown, I ordered further inquiry but it will take some time.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Order it faster. Divert some of the spies scouting contestants if need be.”
At that Lichos was lost. He didn’t ask about the scouting, knew he would receive no answer, yet his curiosity kept him listening to see what clues he might glean from the continued, frantic words passing between the two women.
It was a futile effort, but one which wasted little more of his time or energy.
The dula pulled away and hurried back down the hall mere minutes later, and shortly after that Kaiosyni came to stop before a door. Black wood, ornately carved and sticking out against the lighter surroundings like a flame in water. It seemed to Lichos even more lavish than Kaiosyni’s own.
His charge paused before it, then turned over her shoulder to glance at him. Her face was hard, eyes harder.
“You are to remain silent.” She said, tone making the order unmistakable for a request.
He met her stare, stilling his face and setting his jaw into the long-practiced look of neutrality that had kept him free of his superiors’ ire so many other times.
An eyebrow arched, and he thought the woman might demand he answer. Instead she turned back and brought the bone of her knuckles to the wood of the door.
Lichos adjusted his footing as it opened, finding himself suddenly ill at ease. His instinct was vindicated when a man with crimson eyes, hair almost as dark as Kaiosyni’s and the look of a provost stepped out into the hall.
If the door stood out in its glaring surroundings, the emergent man outright fought with them.
Black boots were highlighted against the pale marble floor, dark fabrics of wool and linen seeming rejected by the glare of costly ornamentation casting light as it hung on walls. But it was the look on his face that completed the anomalous visage.
For the aimless displeasure and intensity it conveyed might have matched that of Kaiosyni.
The man spoke, but his words were lost on Lichos. Unixian. Or else some other tongue besides the low Taikan spoken in Wrath. Kaiosyni matched his language, clipping her words. Her tongue a dagger, her lips a shield.
As the discussion unfolded he seemed to grow more agitated. Lichos would have guessed the man to be in his twenties, at a glance, yet irritation rounded his face. Lines were smoothed, harsh skin pulled tight and clear and bunching subcutaneous fat rounded its edges.
Nineteen. He realised, studying him further. He’s no more than eighteen or nineteen. My age.
His own youth had been something Lichos had learned to disguise. Being a magiphage alone was trouble enough for him, advertising inexperience as well had been out of the question.
Seeing the years drop from the red-eyed man’s face, he realised just how wise he'd been.
Red tinted the man’s face as blood rushed up to touch his skin. He was tanned, for a Unixian, but still wore the flush clear as day.
When at last Kaiosyni turned to leave, the man’s sternness had been replaced by a shaken fury. He stared daggers at the woman’s back, then went to step into the room from which he’d come.
It was only for the briefest moment that his eyes flicked to Lichos, yet it seemed enough. They widened in shock, then narrowed in disgust before disappearing from sight altogether.
Lichos turned from the door, cursing as he saw Kaiosyni had already placed a dozen yards between them and jogging to catch up with her. The strap about his neck jostled uncomfortably, pistols and rifle rocking in their binds as leather ground and chewed at his flesh.
He fell back into a walk three paces from the woman, still hurried by the speed she set.
“Will you be telling me what that was about?” He asked. The irritation in his voice rang even in Lichos’s own ears, but he found himself unable to care.
Kaiosyni showed it no more concern than he had.
“I can’t imagine why you might need to know.” The woman answered, voice equal parts sharp and empty. Her thoughts seemed scattered like smoke in the wind, and Lichos was almost impressed she could muster the mental energy to be so clipped.
He hurried for a few more moments, bringing himself in front of the woman and stopping in her path. She halted, eyes snapping into focus and resting on him with a fury that might have frozen the sun
Anger didn’t diminish her sharp beauty. It may even have intensified it, shadows playing across the woman’s face and eyes almost glowing in the light. Hers, Lichos realised, had always been an allure to swell in danger. Like the glinting edge of a masterworked sword.
“I have places to be, Wrathman.” She spat the words out like poison, furious, suddenly, as if at his presence alone. It didn't surprise him.
“And I have a job to protect you while you’re in those places.” He answered, mustering his every nerve and fighting his every instinct.
After a pause, the woman continued in a quieter tone. Lichos wasn’t naive enough to miss the danger that still resided in it, though neither did he miss the surprise it betrayed.
“Do you know why you’re here, Mr Kleidra?”
“Sergeant.” He corrected. Reflexively, stupidly.
She stared with a startled anger, taken insult clear on her face. He hurriedly explained.
“I’m a sergeant, not a mister. Mister’s an officer’s term.”
“I see.” She answered, tone making clear that she’d have been just as content blind. “Well then, sergeant, do you know why you’re here?”
It was a trick question, that much was obvious, but Lichos truly couldn’t imagine where the trick resided. Having no better alternative, he tentatively answered.
“To protect you.”
She flashed a feline smile, and he knew that he’d just tripped whatever trap she’d laid.
“That’s correct. And why do you suppose this task was given to you?”
He didn’t reply.
“Because I don’t need protecting.” Kaiosyni continued. “I’m more powerful than most adult war-mystics, and I’m in a city surrounded by my spies and contacts. The only reason I have a bodyguard at all is because I was unable to convince the Megala Progenus that it was unneeded.”
She paused for a moment, stepping around Lichos and picking her walk up as if it never stopped. He followed absently, hanging onto her words.
“And the only reason that bodyguard is you rather than one of the Spadai is because they are unsuited for an environment such as this.”
Spadai. The name rang louder than the echoing footfalls, and Lichos recognised it instantly. He doubted there was a single man in the Taikan Empire who wouldn’t.
To receive a task meant for them was a frightful thought.
“I think you are wrong about one thing.” He said, biting back his worry.
Kaiosyni gave no indication that she cared to hear what the error had been. Her steps grew no less frequent, gaze no less scrutinising or impassive. He continued regardless.
“What exactly do they say about Wrath in the more civilised parts of the Taikan Empire?” Lichos asked. He hadn’t expected an answer, and the woman surprised him by providing one.
“That you’re criminals, vagrants or otherwise undesireables. Redeeming yourselves for a life of leeching off your nation by fighting against its enemies.” She paused, then added. “Elites, too.”
It had been the exact sort of impression Lichos had assumed he and his countryman would enjoy in the mainland, yet to hear it described so plainly still gave him pause. Kaiosyni had an amused glint in her eye as she looked expectantly at him.
“Don’t tell me you believe I hold such a pedestrian view.”
Of course you don’t. You clearly have far more reasonable and refined justification for letting hundreds die there every day.
“I don’t.” He answered quickly, burying his thoughts. Before she could press for more, or simply end the conversation, he spoke again. “And I can’t say that it’s wrong to call Wrath full of criminals, but even more than that it’s full of soldiers.”
“There’s some implication to your words that’s lost on me, I assume?”
“Soldiers are the biggest gossips you’re ever likely to meet, sir. In fact, I have it on good authority that particularly interesting rumours can make it through the ranks faster than a resonance network.” Lichos explained.
Even as he said it, he vividly recalled the long hours spent marching through the wastelands of Gol. Heat or cold so great it left even officers unanimated and drained, stilling their tongues and keeping the air free of barked orders.
Gossip had been about the only thing to make the rests between such treks interesting. Alongside drink and gambling.
“Get to the point, soldier.” Kaiosyni answered.
“Well, the boys down in Wrath seem to think that Unix and Taiklos are rearing up against each other.” He said, feeling his jaw tighten with the strain of burying his anger. “And frankly, a lot of the bastard colonies who belong to the sheet-skins have been getting aresy over the past year.”
She stared at him, barbs and walls giving way to something Lichos swore might have been close to reason.
“And how confident are you in your assessment?” She asked him. “How much faith do you have in the judgement of Wrathmen?”
“The judgement of Wrathmen, every other Taikan colony in Gol and as many Unixian ones as I’ve heard word from? Quite a lot.”
“I do not appreciate snark.” Kaiosyni said, coldness back to replace her surprise. “Nor shall I tolerate it. Even if you may have a point regarding Unixian… hostilities.”
Lichos imagined it was as close to a concession or apology as he would get, and so he said nothing upon more. The Princess remained silent, too. Tongue motionless in her mouth.
She stopped when they came to the door Lichos recognised as hers, pausing as she placed a hand on the knob and turned back to him.
“Lichos Kleidra…” She seemed not to notice the way he flushed at his ridiculous name’s mention, turning it over in her mouth as if it were a fine wine.
He braced himself for the inevitable. For the woman to put a reputation to the moniker.
Eyes widening, jaw relaxing and lips parting in something halfway to a gasp, she spoke.
“Kleidra Long-Shot, the magiphage!”
Saying nothing, he studied her for any trace of emotion. Her lips didn’t curl, nor did her eyes narrow into the harbingers of violence. Good signs.
“I am.” Lichos answered, finding himself no more at ease as he continued his scrutiny of the woman.
Either not noticing or, Lichos realised more likely, not caring, Kaiosyni’s mouth was drawn into a smile as she nodded to herself. The expression was no less unnerving than her iciness.
“This changes things.”
She pulled her door open, setting one foot past the frame and continuing.
“Enter with me, Kleidra. I would have words with you.”
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[https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1150390957318099024/1152696833966088283/The_Gemini_Will_be_at_this_years_Sieve.png?width=889&height=498]
Udrebam Sieve Advertisement Poster, Location: Udrebam.
Note: Advert includes likeness of Gemini Menza, colloquially referred to as "The Gemini" or "Gemini" in Unix.
Circa 1,195 I.E.