But Akella stopped at the courtyard’s edge, because within it, inside a circle of flagstones shoveled clean of snow, stood Linna and the Commander, swords in their hands. The two were panting, stripped down to only breeches and tunics, their shiny black leather armor resting on a nearby bench. Despite the frigid air, sweat made their tunics cling to their backs.
Akella frowned. The Commander wielded the long, nasty-looking curved blade she normally carried around on her back, while Linna had only an ordinary Imperial short sword in her hand. It hardly seemed like a fair fight. The Commander was already a fair bit taller than Linna, and with the big sword that supposedly had belonged to a sorcerer or some-like before it had come into her possession, her reach was easily twice as long as Linna’s. As Akella watched, the Commander slowly advanced on the little seagull, a mountain leopard stalking its prey.
Don’t let her back you into the snow,Akella found herself thinking even as Linna’s heel touched the edge of the bank behind her.
Linna must have realized she was almost out of space, because her eyes flicked over her shoulder. The glance had lasted only half a second – maybe less than half a second – but half a second was already twice over the time that Joslyn of Terinto needed. In a spinning blur of glinting steel, the older woman whirled the sword around, aiming the flat of the blade for the little seagull’s ribcage. Akella winced as Linna managed to bring her short sword up just in time for a clumsy parry.
But the Commander didn’t even slow down. The discordant clang of steel on steel still vibrated in the air as she spun in the other direction, easily pushed aside Linna’s comparatively clumsy thrust, and aimed a slashing arc at Linna’s neck.
Preyla’s tit, the woman’s going to cut her own apprentice’s throat!Akella gritted her teeth, part of her wanting to flinch away from what was certain to be a fountain of blood in another moment, part of her wanting to rush forward and tackle the Commander before she had a chance to realize Akella was there.
But with a display of that uncanny grace and agility that had so often caught Akella herself by surprise, Linna ducked the blow, then executed a perfect backflip, landing well out of range of the Commander’s longer limbs and longer sword.
Then the little seagull did something that would endear her to Akella forever. As the Commander pressed forward with another thrust, Linna reached back, grabbed a handful of powdery snow, and flung it in her mentor’s face.
The Commander sputtered and aborted her advance halfway through, giving Linna the opening she needed to drop to her knees and land the flat of her blade against the side of the older woman’s ankle.
“Disabled,” Linna announced.
“Did you just throw snow in my face?” the Commander asked, but Akella was surprised to hear a sense of humor in the question.
The Commander had a sense of humor? Akella supposed Preyla occasionally graced humanity with a miracle after all.
“Yes, ma’am.” Linna was smirking, which made Akella smirk, too.
“And exactly when, during the course of my absence, did you begin to fight like a soldier in a barroom brawl?” The Commander finished wiping the snow from her eyes and mouth.
Linna only shrugged, but Akella knew precisely when the girl had learned it: She’d learned it training in the still-dark hour just before dawn outside the Empress’s rear guard camp with an Adessian pirate.
“I believe my ku-sai would have disapproved,” the Commander said. “And probably would’ve set you to cleaning out the chicken coop for the rest of the afternoon.”
Linna bit the insides of her lips, trying to contain her smile. At first, it seemed as if she might not say anything in response, but then she asked, almost shyly, “What does my ku-sai think?”
The Commander chuckled. “Your ku-sai would like you to do whatever you must to keep both yourself and your mistress alive.”
“I don’t need to worry about keeping the Empress alive anymore, now that you’re back. Or the baby.”
Hmm. The baby. Perhaps something was wrong with the Empress’s pregnancy. If there was, it would explain why both Linna and the Empress had suddenly disappeared during the week-long journey to Pellon.
“Don’t be so sure,” the Commander said, easing herself onto the stone bench and beginning to put her black armor back on. “It seems I may be leaving again soon, to investigate a threat massing north of us.”
“Tribesmen?”
“Presumably. But we sent four scouts, and none of them have returned. So I will not know for sure until I have had a chance to see for myself.” The Commander sounded grim. “Which is why I need you at your best. Ammanta will be in charge of the guards again, but you’re the one who stays closest to her.”
Linna nodded. “I will be at my best,” she said, her tone a grave imitation of her teacher’s.
The Commander must have recognized the mimicry, because she smiled and ruffled Linna’s hair. Akella was surprised to feel a pang of jealousy flash briefly through her chest. “I know you will.”
Akella returned to her original mission, ducking down a side hall to avoid being seen by either of them. That tender last moment she’d witnessed – the Commander’s smile, the affectionate gesture, the tenderness between them – somehow it had been too much for her. If she saw more of it, she might even have to start appreciating the Commander. And that was the last thing she wanted to do.