Fire

Introducing Juku

Slipping between the cool sheets was the most wonderful sensation. The mattress was perfect too, not like hotel beds, which are too firm or too soft. It was just right. Sighing, I rolled over, tucking my knees up to my chest. It was the way I’d slept for as long as I could remember. A defensive position.  Protecting my inner organs, I guess.   It suited me, always on the alert. Always defensive. I slipped into dreams gradually, finally relaxing. 

Gradually I woke to the sound of fire popping and snapping, rubbing at my eyes in confusion. For a second the stone walls swam around me, a moment of panic made me shoot upright, and I realized where I was. Remembered everything that had happened.

For a moment I just stared at the fire, looking around at the empty room. Had the servants come and built a fire without waking me up? No one was here now. It's not like it started by itself. It had been embers last night, before I fell asleep.  The idea was slightly unnerving.

Sitting up in bed I let my feet hover over the stone floor, which radiated cold. Shifting a bit so my feet landed on another one of the shag rugs beside the bed, I stretched. Every muscle ached.  In the bathroom I splashed cold water over my face, letting it shock me awake. Luckily the medieval theme didn’t seem to stretch to the plumbing. There were hot and cold water taps on the claw foot bathtub, and I sat and watched it fill, mesmerized by the water swirling into the coppery basin. I found green tea shampoo and conditioner on one of the shelves, and fluffy black towels in the closet. It was almost like a hotel. A dark, ancient hotel made of stone, full of pyromaniacs…

Right. Slipping into the tub I washed my hair as quickly as I could. Asher had said it didn’t matter how long I took, but I had no idea what time it was right now. What if I showed up at three and everyone thought I was lazy?

Despite getting shampoo in my eyes and having to rub them furiously, I finished in record time, hopping out to wrap myself in a towel. There was a silver comb on the counter, and I yanked it through my tangled hair until it didn’t resemble a rat’s nest anymore. Good enough.

I strode over to the fireplace and felt around under the hearth, searching for the button Asher had pressed last night. My fingers found it, pressed it. There was no noise, but after a moment there was the sound of muffled footsteps in the hallway outside my door. A pause. A careful knock.

Was it Asher? My pulse seemed to quicken automatically. “Come in!” 

The door creaked open, and Asher was leaning in the doorway, hair freshly washed and still curly and wet. He was wearing a ten tree shirt again, with green sleeves and a gnarled oak tree design in the middle. His hands were shoved into his blue jean pockets, “Heya,” he grinned, “ready to get your fire on?”

I think I’d forgotten how good looking he was overnight, because for a moment it was hard to reply, words seemed to stick on my tongue. Asher shook his head, “Oh man, that line sounded way cooler in my head.”

 Oh thank god, he thinks I’m staring because of him. Relief flooded me, and I could speak again, “Don’t worry, it sounded cool,” I glanced down at the outfit I’d picked out, a simple t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants, “is this okay for training? I know it’s mega casual, but I figured…”

“It’s perfect,” Asher’s blue eyes traveled down to my legs, then shot back up to my face immediately, “er…yeah. It’s good.”

I had to turn away so he wouldn’t see my cheeks flush, zipping up the hoodie I’d found in the drawers, “alright,” turning around again I gave him a big smile, trying to push down how shaky and scared I felt, “let’s do this training thing!”

“Don’t worry,”  Asher started for the door, “Juku will love you.”

The way he said it made me curious, “as in…like, he’s a womanizer or something?”

Asher laughed as we started down the hall, and his voice echoed down the passageway, “man, I got to try to be more subtle.”

“I have a feeling that it’s never been your strong point somehow.”

He laughed again, “You’re beginning to know me well. This way, we’re almost there.”

Another two corridors, a set of stair and we were there, standing in front of a huge set of wooden doors. Asher heaved on one of the bronze handles and the door croaked as it swung outwards. I was immediately hit with a wall of noise and the smell of sweat. Swords clattered together, deep voices shouted and grunted. The room was vast and circular, the windows lined the very top part of the stone wall and bright sunlight filtered through them. I realized we must be in one of the towers of the castle and wondered just how high up we would be if I looked out one of those windows.

In the center was a training cage, and two huge, dark haired men were crashing together, rolling over the rubber mats and slinging heavy blows at one another. There was a crowd around them, leaning over the ropes, jeering and laughing and egging them on. Archery practice was going on behind that, with several students, both fire and frost jotun, shooting arrows at targets on wheels. Off to the side were the swordsmen, dressed in full armor, practicing with real blades. My stomach cramped up in protest. Did that mean I’d have to practice with swords that were actually sharp?

There was a square structure on the other side of the fighting cage, made of cement. There was a man leaning against it, juggling a ball of orange flame from one hand to the other, casually. Like he was playing with a rubber ball and not a handful of fire. He was tall, taller than Asher, with a square chin and steel blue eyes. He was clean shaven, but it didn’t make him look boyish, and there was a jagged scar running around his neck, like someone had tried to chop his head off and failed. He shook back long black hair when he spotted me and Asher, giving us a wink.

“Who’s that?” I said quietly.

“That is Juku,” Asher’s voice was flat, “come on. I’ll introduce you.”