The Crimson Vault (The Traveler's Gate Trilogy) (42 page)

Kai shook his head. "I was a child, raised on his stories. When he changed, he said it was for the sake of defeating Damasca. He said it was for the best.

"I believed him."

"What about Indirial?" Simon asked quietly.

"Indirial has always been wiser than I," Kai responded bitterly. Over Otoku's protests, he began to smooth and rearrange her dress. "He saw through Valin's insanity and went to challenge him. I still believed in Valin. He had always been like a father to me."

"You fought Indirial?" Simon asked.

"I did." Kai shook his head. "No one expected me to win. Not even me."

Surprised, Simon sent his thoughts to Otoku.
I thought he said Indirial was the better swordsman.

I would have been happy to answer your questions,
Otoku responded,
if only you had gotten this madman out of my hair!

Gently, Simon pulled the doll out of Kai's hands. So great was his distraction that he didn't even resist.

It's about time
, the doll complained.
Now, take the comb from him. My hair is all tangled.

What?

Kai wants to comb my hair,
Otoku explained.
You don't. It's a completely different scenario. Now, less moving your mouth, and more moving your hands.

My mouth isn't moving,
Simon noted, retrieving the comb from beside Kai. The white-haired swordsman was murmuring to himself now, and Simon thought he would just leave the man alone for now.

Then you have no excuse, do you? Comb!

Simon sighed audibly and began to draw the comb down Otoku's black hair.

Now, Indirial. He
was
the best. We all thought so. When Kai fought him, he was simply defending the Wanderer's honor. He didn't expect to win, he just wanted to slow Indirial down.

Simon wondered at the picture: Kai, standing in front of an older, taller, more skilled swordsman, ready to risk his life to defend the master he loved.

He could barely picture it. Kai, risking his life for someone else? Simon had never thought Kai cared about anyone so much.

My sisters and I had a bet going, you know,
Otoku said.
None of us expected Kai to even survive. But there were others in the House...well, they had staked everything on him. They saw something in Kai that none of us did.

What?
Simon asked.

Hm? Oh, Mithra chose him as the heir to the thirteenth Dragon's Fang. Didn't he tell you? He was meant to take over from the Wanderer.

Simon's hand froze in the middle of Otoku's hair, and he stared over at Kai. He had his knife in one hand and the block of wood in the other, and he was whittling again.

"You were supposed to inherit the House?" Simon said, almost involuntarily.

Kai peeled another slice of wood off the block. "I see you have been talking to the girls, hm? Good for you."

"Why didn't you?"

"Azura let me borrow her, for a while," Kai responded. "And the dolls were so much more pleasant than...my other advisor."

Simon thought of Azura, hanging on her rack back in the House's entry hall. He had never sensed any sort of awareness or intelligence from the sword. Based on the way Kai always talked about Azura, you would have expected the sword to talk, but the only talking Simon had ever heard connected to the blade came from the dolls.

Did the swords actually speak? Maybe this was one of those things that he had to carry the Dragon's Fang for years before he discovered. Perhaps he would grow into it.

"No," Kai said, in response to something Simon hadn't said. "That's not right. I was afraid, little mouse. The one who carries Mithra has a lot of responsibility."

Simon sat there for a while, drawing his comb down Otoku's hair. He wasn't sure what to say. He couldn't help but picture Kai and Indirial fighting, wondering what had led them to that place.

"Wait a minute," Simon said at last. "You won the fight, but Valin still ended up sealed. What happened."

Kai opened his mouth as if to respond, but only a choking noise emerged. He began whittling faster and faster.

Kai stopped Indirial,
Otoku said softly,
and returned to report his success to Valin. When he returned, he found the rest of the Dragon Army slaughtered. Cut down by their master. Only two others survived, and only because the Incarnation found them worthy.

Simon stared at Kai, who whittled as though the block of wood in his hand was his one true enemy. Simon had no idea what to say.

After that,
Otoku went on,
Kai saw that Indirial had been right all along. They went to the Damascan Successor, the man who would become Zakareth the Sixth, and they begged him for the aid of Ragnarus. You can guess the rest.

Simon could. They had sealed Valin somewhere under a Hanging Tree, where he had stayed silent for years. Indirial had gone to work for the King, either out of gratitude or because he genuinely believed in what Damasca was doing, and Kai had sealed himself for years in the only home he had ever known.

Kai had told him before that he spent most of his life either in the House or the Latari Forest. This went a long way toward explaining why.

Then something unpleasant occurred to Simon: the Incarnation had only broken out now. Why?

Because of you, naturally,
Otoku said, in response to his unspoken question.
You delayed the sacrifice. You didn't think that would have consequences?

Guilt hung heavy inside him. What kind of a child had he been, meddling in the sacrifice when he had no idea what was at stake?

Then something occurred to Simon, and he regarded his master silently. How Kai must feel, having wallowed in his mistake for decades?

With no better idea of what to do, Simon stretched out a hand and clapped Kai on the shoulder.

How touching,
Otoku said, rolling her eyes.

Simon pulled his hand off Kai's shoulder and pointed at Otoku's face. "There it is! There it is again! You moved! She moved!"

Kai cocked his head in Simon's direction. "Of course they can move. They can speak, after all."

Bright as the morning star, this one,
Otoku put in.

"I didn't train him for his stunning intellect," Kai said to the doll.

In the exact same gesture, they both shook their heads.

Simon almost felt faint. "Why now? Why don't you move all the time?"

From my perspective, it's stranger that you
do
move all the time,
Otoku responded.
Why waste the time and energy?

She seemed to think that was the end of the conversation, as she stopped talking and froze into inanimate wood once more.

Talos came striding out of his tent, behind Kai. "I would have expected you to find something more productive to do," he noted, seeing them seated on a log.

"Tomorrow, we shall try to follow your example, my lord," Kai responded, without looking up. "But I've never spent quite so long on my hair. Would you give us the benefit of your experience?"

Simon snorted, trying to hold back a laugh, and Otoku downright cackled.

"I'm glad you're in such a good mood," Talos said coldly, "because I was just thinking that it might be time for us to spar a few rounds. I could use the exercise."

Slowly, Kai swiveled his head around to stare at the Damascan Heir.

Talos cleared his throat and looked away. "Of course, I was talking to your apprentice. Naturally. I would not want to disturb your...valuable time."

Without changing his expression, Kai turned his gaze back to his whittling.

Simon took his cue from Kai and remained sitting, as though Talos’ presence didn't impress him. In truth, it didn't. Much.

"I'd be happy to, Your Highness," Simon said, "but I'm afraid there are still the problems I pointed out earlier. I would be afraid to get too violent."

"Oh, no need to worry about that." Talos was removing his jacket, passing it to a nearby attendant. "If you're used to risking your life, I can accommodate you."

The Heir pulled his red-bladed sword, letting it gleam like a puddle of blood in the midday sun. "This sword was taken from the Crimson Vault, given to me by the King himself. It has many powers, some of which you couldn't even understand—"

In Simon's head, Otoku laughed.

"—and among them is an increased lethality. A single scratch from this blade, even on your arm or leg, is inevitably fatal."

Well, that was a little worrisome. Simon had no doubt that he could defeat Talos, but to do so without taking a single scratch?

Don't worry about it,
Otoku said.
 

Are you sure? It seems like something I should be worried about.

The shiny little boy over there thinks he's a swordsman,
the doll responded.
It's cute, but it's nothing to take seriously.

Simon wasn't certain, but he decided to trust the doll. Falling into a fighting stance, he started to summon Azura.

"Aren't you going to remove your cloak?" Talos said, gesturing to Simon's black cloak. "It will restrict your motion, and it must be stifling."

It
was
hot, but it didn't restrict Simon's motion the way he had once assumed it would.

In response, Simon pulled the hood of his cloak up, and summoned Azura.

Talos raised an eyebrow at Azura's length. "I'm not sure we have room to spar if you're going to use that thing," he said. "I'd be afraid to lose my tent."

"Here," Kai called, from his seat on the log. He had his back to them, but he tossed something long and gleaming over his shoulder.

Instinctively, Simon banished Azura and snatched the sword from midair. It was a duplicate sword from the armory: like a Dragon's Fang, only smaller. Much the same size as Talos’ blade, in fact.

"I hope you don't feel like this puts you at too much of a disadvantage," Talos said.

"Oh, Maker, will you just shut up and attack me already?"

Talos stepped forward, thrusting his crimson blade at Simon's chest.

Simon slapped the sword away. It flew out of Talos’ hand, thudding into the grass.

Both Simon and Talos stared at the blade for a moment, while Otoku laughed in Simon's head.

"Two out of three rounds?" Simon asked.

Several bystanders had gathered—mostly Avernus Travelers, to judge by their buckskin outfits and generous use of feathers—and a few stifled chuckles. One of them even applauded something, until a brief glare from the Damascan Heir made him stop.

Talos muttered something about sweat and the heat while he scooped his blade up and brought it into a ready position.

Simon moved forward this time, going through the motions the way he had practiced in the rain garden. He called neither steel nor essence, moving at normal mortal speed.

At first, Talos blocked the strikes, and Simon wondered if he was being lulled into a trap. The motions of this fight were too predictable; Talos blocked exactly where he was supposed to block, and attacked where Simon expected him to attack. Otoku didn't even warn him, so obvious were the Heir's movements.

Simon fell into a rhythm, reacting, barely planning. He almost didn't notice when one of his strikes pushed Talos’ blade wide, and Simon's return movement pressed the point of his sword against the base of his opponent's throat.

Startled, he stopped just in time to keep himself from running Talos through.

"Three out of five?" Simon suggested.

Simon heard a rushing shriek, like a crowd of angry children all screaming at once, and he spun to his right just in time to see Overlord Lysander pushing through the other Travelers toward Simon, a flock of sparrows flying furiously around his head.

"Step away from the Heir," the Overlord demanded.

Simon didn't see Kai move. First he was seated with his back to Simon, still whittling, then he stood in front of the Overlord with a sword in his hand.

Kai cocked his head. "I don't know you," he said.

Lysander froze, but his birds kept hovering, ready to be commanded at any second. The other Avernus Travelers summoned birds, spears, or various other implements, but none of them moved to attack.

Simon slowly brought his sword down from Talos' neck.

"Hold a moment, Lysander," Talos said. "We were simply having a friendly match. Isn't that right, Valinhall?"

"It is," Simon said. Talos didn't sound sincere, but Simon meant it—to him, that really
had
been a friendly match. Had Talos actually taken the fight seriously?

Lysander looked at the Heir and let out a breath. The flock of sparrows around his head retreated into a cloud hovering above him. "I apologize," the scholarly man said. "I may have been overly enthusiastic. Now that it occurs to me, I have never had the privilege of seeing a Valinhall Traveler in action. Would you do me a favor and indulge me?"

Something's strange,
Otoku said.

What?
Simon asked, startled.

Really? You don't notice anything off about this?

Honestly, my life has been strange since I first set foot in Valinhall. I don't know what's normal anymore.

Otoku huffed irritably.
What is Lysander doing here? If it's to defend the Heir, he calmed down awfully quick. Why hasn't he banished his birds? Avernus birds don't like being here any longer than they can help it. And he's an Overlord, so he's surely seen Indirial fight at least once. Yet he claims he's never seen a Valinhall Traveler fight.

Talos bowed to Kai. "Master Kai, would you show us how a real member of the Dragon Army fights? Your apprentice gave us such a show, I'm sure yours would be even better."

What could Lysander possibly do?
Simon thought.
Throw birds at us? Kai could cut all those sparrows from the air and stab him through the heart. In his sleep.

I don't
know,
Simon, I just said it was strange.