The Lady of Toryn Anthology (Lady of Toryn trilogy) (22 page)

"Ashlyn!"
Kou snapped, grabbing her arm and yanking her towards him. "You don't
believe me? Fine. Have Skye try to use the magic. Any of your friends- try it.
They won’t be able to. But you will.”

"You're
lying," she said evenly. "My father was faithful to my mother. He
never even noticed another woman."

"He
noticed my mother," Kou said, dropping his hand to his side. "Tag's,
too."

A
silence followed his vengeful reply as she stared at him in horror, the reality
of his words sinking in through her denial.

Kou,
for his part, looked absolutely miserable. "I'm so sorry to tell you like
this," he said. "He sent me away because he didn't want you to know.
Even afterwards, when you'd been gone for so long, he couldn't acknowledge me
outright as his son. I don't think he realized-"

Ashlyn's
knees gave out very suddenly, and she crumpled to the floor before the thought
even registered that she didn't feel much like standing anymore. "You
liar
!"
she cried, smashing a fist into the floor and sobbing with the pain. "I
know what happened. I know you lied to my father and said you'd seen me die,
just so you could worm your way into his good graces. You are a
disgrace.
The
Li bloodline is pure. I am the Elder Heir! I am-" hiccup- "I am-"
hiccup- "I am the
only
heir!"

Skye
was beside her now. As she moved to hit the floor again, he intercepted her
hands, preventing her from injuring herself. "Leave," he said to Kou.
"We'll continue this later."

Ashlyn
pulled free and wrapped her arms around herself, sobbing uselessly. Keeping his
hand on her shoulder, Skye stood and faced Kou, and she found herself wishing
that the swordsman would simply kill this awful man, this strange ninja who had
deceived her from the beginning and now claimed to share her birthright.

"This
cannot wait much longer," Kou said. "There are things I must
say-"

"You
have said
enough
," Skye cut him off, and even in her distress
Ashlyn could feel the anger radiating off of him in waves, the unspoken
challenge that she knew no man in his right mind would accept.

Kou
hesitated a moment longer, then nodded and turned, his sandals scraping against
the wood floor in time with her own laboring heartbeat. Below, Ashlyn could
still hear the horrible screams of the beast that had once been Tag, in the
basement of what had once been her happy home.

Chapter 12

Severed Ties

Ashlyn
scrubbed at her legs with the sanding stone, water sloshing loudly against the
sides of the metal tub in time with her furious movements. The dirt on her feet
seemed to be encrusted there permanently, but that made no difference to
Ashlyn. Her goal was the small symbol that had been tattooed on her left ankle
at birth- the sign of the House of Li. The dark green ink was gone now, lost in
a complex myriad of deep, criss-crossed scratches gouged into her tanned skin.
Tiny rivulets of crimson dripped down her leg and swirled into intricate
patterns in the water.

"Pure
of heart," she growled under her breath, rasping the stone jerkily back
and forth across her ravaged skin. "Pure of blood, pure of flesh. Training
for leadership, learning five languages- for what? To earn the respect of a
womanizer who tainted an ancient bloodline and betrayed my mother for no reason
besides…" She sniffled. "…besides common lust…"

Her
hand slipped and the stone scraped against the side of the tub, sending a
metallic screech resounding through the tiny bathroom. Ashlyn shifted in the
cold water, trying to ease the awkwardness of her position, but the tub was too
narrow for any other angle of attack. Grimly, she braced her ankle up on the
side of the tub again and continued scrubbing, noting for the first time how
shriveled her bloodstained fingertips looked. No telling how long she'd been in
here.

There
was a knock at the door. "Ashlyn?"

It was
Skye's voice.

She
contemplated for a long moment on how to answer, finally deciding against
responding at all. What could she possibly have to say to him?

"Ashlyn,
come on out. I know that water's freezing by now." He hesitated. "The
others are on their way. I…I told them what happened."

Oh,
great. Way to go, Skye, shout it to the masses
and
bring the rest of FLD
to Toryn when they weren't even entirely sure of Kou's- Devlyn's- intentions.
Ashlyn threw the remaining scrap of sanding stone down and wrapped her arms
around herself, sinking nearly to her chin in crimson-tinged water. Maybe Skye
would go away if she maintained her silence.

Another
knock. "Ashlyn, come on."

Maybe
not.

Ashlyn
took a deep breath before submerging herself entirely. She squeezed her eyes
shut as the cold rushed up to meet her, every sound intensified, her entire
world enveloped in an icy prison.

If she
could just stay underwater and stare at the backs of her eyelids all day, maybe
she could find a way to regain some frigging trust in the human race again. Or
she could drown while she was thinking about it. Either option was more
appealing than talking to Skye right now.

Even
with her eyes closed, Ashlyn could feel them stinging. It wasn't from the soap
she knew was lingering in the water- she felt like crying again, except that
there was nothing left in her to cry. She was just a hollow shell, some sick,
shriveled replica of a human. Her limbs were heavy, her eyes dry and scratchy,
and she doubted there would be relief anytime soon.

She
laid there, arms folded across her chest, feeling the water tickling air
bubbles at the end of her nose, her drifting hair eventually settling across
her arms and stomach like a shield from the world above. It would be so easy
just to stay here, breathe like she was breathing air instead of water, let
herself go…

Let
everything go…

Could
she?

She
remembered Vargo, the expression on his face just before he had kissed her. His
electric eyes alert, focused completely on her, his lips curving slightly as he
leaned closer. Ashlyn recalled the way her heartbeat had quickened, even though
he had been going exactly with her plan- even though she'd known that he would
be kissing her and had steeled herself against it.

Then
she remembered that she'd puked afterwards.

Reluctantly,
she opened her eyes, exhaling slowly and watching the different hues of red
shift above her. It was quiet, surreal- and quite like an old painting that
she'd seen in the Eastern City mansion, flashes of crimson overlapped by jagged
shards of burgundy, every color some variation of red, each one slightly
different from the next, the darkest shades almost black. Ashlyn had been
fascinated by the painting the moment she'd laid eyes on it, and often wondered
if it was still there.

Now she
was seeing the painting in her bathwater, which really did not bode well for
her mental state.

Ashlyn
sat up, slicking her hair back from her face and shivering as the cool air hit
her skin. Even if the water hadn't been cold, she would have felt the chill.
Autumn was slowly turning its back on the island. Winter would be here soon.

She
rested her forehead against the side of the metal tub, miserably staring at
nothing at all.

She
took a deep breath, steeling herself against the emotion that racked her thoughts.
This wasn't the way of a ninja. Self-pity was destructive in any situation, and
this was no exception.

Another
knock sounded at the door, and Ashlyn groaned. "Skye," she yelled,
and her voice must have bounced off the water because it seemed to echo back at
her much louder, "can't you take a hint? Buzz off!"

"It's
not Skye, it's Tag," came the reply. "And I'm afraid you'll have to
cut your bath short, Lady Li. Toryn is under attack."

Ashlyn
sprang out of the tub and scrambled into her kimono. "Under attack?"
she demanded, flinging open the door as she belted the sash around her waist.

Tag
stood there with his hand up as if he were just about to knock on the door
again. He was human now, mercifully bearing no resemblance to the monster who
had tried to attack Ashlyn in her basement such a short time before.

This
was her brother.

In a
heartbeat, all the pain and heaviness that Ashlyn had been fighting for the
past several hours came rushing back to hit her full-force. She almost
staggered,
physically
staggered under the weight of her emotional
burden. Tag's face, his eyes, so similar to her own and to her father's, danced
before her like a mockery of all that she'd ever held dear.

This
was her brother. Her
brother
. Something deep inside of her told Ashlyn
that this was a good thing, the knowledge that she wasn't alone, that someone
could share the pressures of being the child of Lord Li. But instead the
knowledge turned into a series of sharp edges, cutting her heart to pieces and
telling her, over and over again,
You are impure. Elder Heir no longer. You
are disgraced.

Ashlyn
blinked and shook her head. Now was not the time.

Behind
Tag stood Restlyn and Vargo, looking very out-of-place among the sparse
furnishings in Ashlyn's house. Ashlyn noted briefly that Restlyn had pulled her
hair back into tight bun, looking a little more like herself.

Vargo,
on the other hand, was making no secret of the fact that he was enjoying the
not-so-modest way the kimono clung to Ashlyn's wet skin.

Scowling,
Ashlyn folded her arms across her chest, stupidly attempting to maintain some
modicum of dignity while water dripped down her chin. "Under attack by
whom?" she asked Tag stiffly.

Tag
shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other. "I…do not know,
my Lady. Kou will be able to tell you more. He requested that you meet him at
the gates."

Ashlyn
opened her mouth to reply, but Restlyn rushed forward suddenly. "What
happened?" she exclaimed, falling to her knees in front of Ashlyn.

"What
are you-" Ashlyn broke off in a yelp and slapped her hands against the
doorjamb to keep herself from falling as the dark-haired martial artist grabbed
Ashlyn's left foot and yanked it forward. She swallowed hard when she saw her
blood-streaked ankle and the gaping wound that had replaced her tattoo.

"Ashlyn,
this is down to the bone," Restlyn said, tucking an errant lock of hair
behind her ear as she turned concerned eyes upward. "We need to have a
healer look at it, or you could develop a serious infection."

"Not
something we have time for right now," Vargo said. He stepped forward and
stared down at the open wound, holding his cigarette up by his face as if
shielding himself from the faint light that was streaming in through the open
door. "That's a hell of a nasty scrape. What happened?"

For the
first time in her life, Ashlyn Li was truly at a loss for words. She bit her
lip, rifling frantically for an excuse. "I…um…" She glanced up at
Tag, who stared back at her with his jaw set.

She
could see in his eyes that he knew. Any Toryn would remember the clan
traditions- it didn't take a genius to see what she had done. Ashlyn lifted her
chin, unblinking, silently daring the younger ninja to defy her.

"Do
you wish me to send a healer, Lady Li?" he asked at length. His voice was
low, emotionless.

"Yes,"
Restlyn said.

"
No
,"
Ashlyn snapped, irritated. "I'll have plenty of time to see a healer
later. For now I need to find Kou."

"At
the gates," Tag repeated, stepping aside for her to pass and nodding
towards the door.

"I'll
meet him there as soon as I'm dressed," Ashlyn retorted. She gave Vargo
and Tag an aggravated look and walked past them, pretending not to notice that
she was leaving wet footprints across her wood floors. Thankfully, the two men
took the not-so-subtle hint and left her house, sliding the door shut behind
them.

Ashlyn
pawed through the contents of her drawers, deliberately avoiding looking at her
adoptive sister.

"What
happened to your ankle?" Restlyn asked.

Ashlyn’s
hands clenched over a handful of underwear. "Nothing."

"Don't
lie to me. You took off your clan tattoo. Why?"

Ashlyn
glanced over at Restlyn, surprised at the venom in the other girl's voice, and
saw that the dark-haired martial artist was leaning against the doorway to the
bathroom. Beyond that sat the metal tub, which still held the blood-stained
water Ashlyn had bathed in.

It was
a bit incriminating, to say the least, and Restlyn did not look happy.

Ashlyn
cleared her throat and resumed her search for decent clothing. It was unlikely
that anything would still fit her well, but she had nothing else.

"There
are five Toryn bloodlines that are still considered pure," she said,
holding up a white tank top that had always been oversized for her.
"Marriages, couplings and births have been carefully recorded for hundreds
of years. Monitored. Supervised. The Li is- was- one of those bloodlines, and
each Li heir, including my father, has been tattooed with the sign of our
house. On the left ankle."