The inn girl didn’t like Aien’s suggestion of using the backyard to practice, but gave up and allowed him to do whatever he wanted after he tossed her an extra coin.

  Aien was restless. In their effort to reach Geshin he had on occasion skipped one of his usual practicing sessions, and he could not never shake off the feeling that something was missing when it happened. Between the traveling and training, he was almost always the first to fall asleep, and it was all for this. All for the day he would need to show results.

  Practicing eased his anxiety, emptied his mind of things he’d rather not remember.

  “I see you’re a diligent one.”

  Standing by the inn’s backdoor, one arm resting against its jamb, a bck-skinned woman was watching him. Her hair was bck and cut short, messy and spiky, and her armor was nothing but simple, unimposing chainmail and two belts, for some reason. Were it not for the white cloak under her other arm, Aien would have taken her for just a guard.

  Hanging from a neckce just below the colrbone was the insignia, an iron pin with four ends that looked like a plus sign over a ft disc. Fourth Bde. Master of four weapons. Aside from the arming sword and the dagger on her belt, there was a hilt protruding from her back at the waist level.

  Aien lowered his sword, sheathed it.

  “My name is Aien Bashek. I’m a swordsman, as you can see. I wish to join the Armsmasters.”

  Her expression didn’t change. Taking a closer look, Aien noticed that her eyes were bright hazel.

  “Is that so? Care to tell me why?”

  A test? Not the kind I expected.

  “I’ve seen people die, my parents among them. They were killed by an Abyssal, and no one where I lived could do anything about it. Armsmasters came then, three squads, and killed the thing.”

  “You want to take revenge on the Abyssals?” she asked, an eyebrow slightly raised.

  “It’s not about revenge.”

  Aien was going to say more, but the woman who still hadn’t said her name spoke before he could, “Then you admire the Armsmasters for killing that Abyssal? If that is the case, you might be setting yourself up for disappointment.”

  “I’m not naive like that. The three squads died to kill the Abyssal, but it would have taken hundreds of men to achieve the same thing. I don’t want to be weak. I don’t want things to be taken from me.”

  “That is better,” she said, finally stepping beyond the door, though she stopped a few paces away from him. “What things do you not want taken from you, Aien Bashek? That sword?”

  “The sword as well,” he answered, not taking his eyes away from her. “I’ve once lost everything, and I had to crawl my way alone since then. I don’t intend to let that happen again.”

  “Can’t fault you for that, if it pushes you to be better.”

  Fault? Aien thought.

  He wasn’t sure what to say.

  “You haven’t told me your name,” Aien said, his words rougher than he had intended.

  “I haven’t…” she let her voice trail, just long enough for Aien to open his mouth to make the obvious question, then she answered, “Yshnim Tram.”

  Why are you teasing me?

  “Master Ysh—”

  “No ‘master’.”

  “Yshnin, I’m willing to do whatever you want me to, if it convinces you that I am good enough for this.”

  As Aien spoke, Yshnim started pacing from one side to the other, her arms crossed and still holding the cloak. The weapon in her back was a strange thing, a whip-like sword coiled around her waist like a belt above the chainmail.

  “Have I said anything wrong?” he asked.

  “No,” Yshnim replied ftly.

  “Then?” he questioned.

  “There is always someone wanting to join the Armsmasters. It’s easy to dismiss a kid, because most grow out of it, but when they’re your age things are different. Believe me, there are plenty who live sad lives for never being able to reach the heights they expect, and even some who never take the failure well.”

  “I’m not weak like those cowards. I fought Headhunters and survived.”

  Yshnim gnced at him, but continued pacing.

  “Did you kill them alone?”

  “No.”

  “As expected, but that is an achievement, I’ll give you that. But you misunderstand my meaning, Aien Bashek. When did I say they were cowards? I certainly wouldn’t take well to any of my recruits diminishing a good man because the life of a town or castle guard fits them better. Did I even say it was about achievements?”

  “Then what is it about?”

  “There are no rules about recruiting, but I forgot to ask: who do you think are more powerful, the Armsmasters or the Headhunters?”

  “The Armsmasters.”

  Yshnim uncrossed her arms to shrug. “If only things were that clear cut. You shouldn’t underestimate them. Or anyone, for that matter.”

  If you don’t want me, I can find another Armsmaster. How about that?

  Aien had to make a conscious effort to keep at least some of those words from spilling out. Whether she was testing him or if this was simply how she always acted, he didn’t get the impression that compining would get him anywhere with her.

  He though back to her words.

  “You said there are no rules about recruiting, but how would you, personally, decide who to take in?”

  “However I feel like, in whatever way works the best for whoever is asking.”

  You’re really going to make me ask it?

  “And what way would that be for me?”

  “You seemed simple at first, then complicated, then simple again.” Yshnim stopped walking, facing him. “Seven days from now, leave by Eruin’s northwest gate at noon. There’s a small gde barely an hour in, someone is almost always camping or resting there. If I’m not there, I’ll send someone to let the innkeeper know, and you can ask him. Ten days, at most. If no message comes by in ten days, you can assume something happened and we can’t make it, and then you can start looking for another Armsmaster.”

  “Why not just test me now?”

  Yshnim tilted her head, sighing.

  “Because we have a job to do, and I’m already stretching my time.”

  She turned back to the inn.

  “Take me with you.”

  Her answer was nothing but a raised finger, shaking left and right.

  Aien followed her into the inn, making sure to not approach too fast, in time to see other Armsmasters who were waiting for her. The three turned and left behind Yshnim, white cloaks billowing.

  Fine. Seven days, then.

  He was about to leave the inn when the server reminded him of his dinner.

  It had been a long time since Kaye wanted a proper, rge satchel. The biggest the leatherworker had, and thankfully he agreed to add another strap to turn it into a backpack at a reasonable price. She had dealt with a simple pack since Riin, a constant although minor annoyance, considering everything that happened.

  It was too early to be doing their finances, but they would need new clothes for everyone — Kaye and Hogog still carried their Nagra pieces, furrowed and made for a harsher winter — and, perhaps, when it came time to leave the twin cities, they would do so riding horses, or at least with a pack mule.

  Uruoro came out from the tavern, a thin smile on his broad face.

  “As it turns out, a boruodan can get a job here if he stays well out of sight, hidden in the kitchens.”

  Gima didn’t have the same luck. All the offerings she was interested in were either already taken or paid less than what had been written in the boards. They believed that bad business had driven the payments down on the first time, but the tactic soon became obvious.

  They turned back to the inn they had rented rooms at when the sun started to settle. Hogog and Kaye had struck it big with the local Hunter’s Guild, something she didn’t even know existed. She would not have to decide between the least of the worst among cleaning warehouses and taverns.

  Looking over what she had noted on the wax tablet, Kaye slowed down as they approached the inn’s entrance.

  The man startled her as he left the alley, but it was just a beggar, his shoulders slumped down and hands together in plea.

  “Sorry I scared you, young girl, but do you have anything to spare? Doesn’t have to be coin, I’ll take scraps.”

  Reaching into her belt pouch, Kaye picked two copper coins and held them out to him. She had little, but the man with the rotten teeth needed it more than she did.

  He held her hand gently before picking the coins and leaned closer.

  “Be careful of that white-haired man you travel with,” he whispered, “I saw you coming in earlier.”

  Kaye frowned. “Aien?”

  “So that’s his name?”

  I should have asked for his name instead of giving it, she realized a little too te.

  “Why should I trust you if you don’t even know who he is?” she asked in a hushed voice.

  “I don’t know the name but I was there and I remember him. Not many around like him, the face or the hair or the mark on his forehead, and I don’t think a young kind girl like yourself would be working with a—

  The beggar retreated when Hogog stepped through the inn’s door, taking the coins with him and disappearing into the dark alley. Kaye’s hand was still in the air, as if reaching for the unspoken words.

  “Trouble?” her uncle asked.

  Working with a what?

  “Just a beggar,” Kaye said, shaking her head, “I think you scared him.”

  With who?

  “Didn’t mean to,” Hogog said as he made space for her to enter.

  Mark on his forehead? Kaye had thought it odd sometimes, how Aien would wear the bandana even on the heat of the desert, but chalked it up to some harmless tradition. Even if there was anything there, the beggar could have simply guessed. If he had told her what it was, then maybe she could confirm it and then…

  And then what?

  “You seem tired,” Aien said, lowering his sword.

  Kaye took a half-step back, dagger in hand. They were sparring at the back of the inn, and for a couple minutes now she had failed to keep up with pretending this was a fight, which slowed her down. Aien was already going easy on her for the sake of making the practice productive for both of them.

  “I know I asked, but you don’t have to push yourself,” said Aien.

  “I’m not tired, just distracted.”

  She knew she would be. Between every traded blow, Kaye wondered about the beggar’s words. What had he tried to warn her about, when Hogog scared him away? How could she even confirm something without knowing what she was meant to look for? And then again, why should she even trust him?

  Gncing sideways, she confirmed they were alone.

  “I had a dream st night. About before.” It wasn’t a lie.

  Aien raised his head in understanding, then nodded.

  Kaye continued, keeping her voice low, “With everything that happened these past few months, my mind was too busy with pressing matters. We’re safe here now, but this dream was a blur and not in the way you must be thinking. Something is always missing.”

  “You can’t remember them?”

  “I can, but… I seem to remember less every time it happens.”

  And the same sorrow doesn’t fill me up every time I think about Frederick, not anymore, and I don’t know when that stopped happening.

  Sheathing his sword, Aien approached.

  Kaye lowered her hands, still gripping the dagger.

  “I think I can understand, but it is as you said: so much happened in these past few months. I’m not as clever as you are, but this happens to be something I have more experience than you in. Things get easier when you convince yourself that you’re not to bme.”

  Kaye knew he was mostly right, but she would have said it with different words. He was wrong about one thing, however. She wasn’t sure she wanted to convince herself she wasn’t to bme.

  Both to shake those thoughts away and to end the awkward silence, she asked another question.

  “Does that happen with you?”

  “Sometimes.”

  You drowned.

  She couldn’t help but wonder if that was what he dreamed about. Whatever it was, he didn’t seem intent on sharing it. There were things he kept to himself, but so did everyone else. Kaye had also told him little about her past life as Jane.

  Her head tilted up slightly to stare at him, her eyes fell on the bandana. She looked for something to hide her focus, and found it in finally sheathing the long dagger.

  The beggar could just be making it up, waiting for more coin ter.

  “How did things go for you yesterday?” Kaye asked.

  When Aien asked to spar with her first thing in the morning, she suspected it hadn’t gone well.

  Sighing, he spoke, “Good, all things considered. Their leader agreed to test me a week from now, by a gde on the side of Eruin. She’s telling me to be patient, so I decided to take things lightly for the following days. I don’t want to be tired when it happens.”

  “They’re leaving the city?”

  “I think so. I’ll go with them.”

  “We won’t be here a week from now. Me and uncle, we’re leaving tomorrow with the Hunter’s Guild. We spoke with them yesterday, and they gave us a spot on a rge hunting trip to gather elk and deer antler. Our payment might be reduced since it’s our test run, but it’s still twice as much more as any other job we found. A day ter and we would have missed the opportunity.”

  “I’m gd you found something you enjoy.”

  Kaye was too, though the mood had been soured by the beggar, then a little further when she dreamt about all of her parents.

  “Can I come with you?” Aien asked.

  What for?

  Only when the question rose in instinct did Kaye realize how on edge she was, and how good of a job she was doing at hiding it.

  Aien took her hesitation to mean something else.

  “I only want to follow you for one or two days before coming back. I doubt the Hunter’s Guild will have a problem with that. I can say goodbye to Uruoro and Gima here after I come back, but I don’t have much to do until my test, and this might be our farewell.”

  Something almost surfaced in her mind then. The ghost of an image. A half-formed thought. She was at the edge of a realization, but the formation disappeared as quickly as it surged. Like telling herself she had something to do only to forget it when she got to her objective. When next her heart beat, Kaye couldn’t even tell what the connection was, or what it was supposed to make her feel like.

  But she knew it was important, in some way. She knew.

  “Of course you can come with us,” Kaye answered.