Fever Blood

Chapter 104: The Courier's Duty

Kyra caught it, and slipped it on. The large protrusion in the center caught the sunlight, and Kyra assumed her stance again. "Good." Skaria assumed her own stance. And then she swung. 

She forced herself to slow down, and Kyra blocked it, deflecting the sword with the bulbous protrusion on the buckler. Kyra took the obvious counterattack, and to her credit, Skaria had to struggle to block it. She was fast for a noblewoman, especially someone who didn't have any training. 

Skaria parried another blow, a jab from Kyra's side. She was getting bold. Boldness could be good, but it had to be tempered with patience. Time that Kyra learned that lesson. 

Skaria sidestepped Kyra's next blow, wedged her blade's crossguard against Kyra's. One strong shove, and her weapon flew from her hands. "Good try. But don't be reckless. You'll pay with your bloody life." 

Kyra nodded. "I'll remember that." She rose. "Is it hard, being a woman and a mercenary?" she asked. 

"It would be worse for others," Skaria said. "You know, men are going to be stronger than me, faster. But I cheat with magic," she said, "and plus, the way I fight focuses on deflecting incoming blows." She shrugged. "If I try to block their swings head-on, I'd lose." 

"You don't seem too perturbed by it." Kyra shrugged and assumed a stance again. "My father's not entirely thrilled I'm studying under you. Well, he's not thrilled I'm studying at all." 

"Why?" Skaria asked. 

"It's seen as a very improper thing to do," Kyra explained. "You heard of the Codes?" 

"A few things. Indra thought they were stupid." 

"They are." She feinted with a jab. "They're supposed to be remedies for societal ills by having men resist acting like men and women stop acting like women. But that doesn't really work. It ends up becoming a philosophical principal built around learned helplessness." 

"You're right. That is bloody stupid." Skaria shrugged, sidestepping Kyra's lunge. "Well, if I make your father worry so much, what is he going to think when he finds out about the other man in your life?" 

"Oh, he knows," Kyra said, "and he's not too happy. He's pretty convinced that all Changed are predators." 

"Has he met Laidu? I doubt I could see a man who was more straight and bloody virtuous than him. It's almost ridiculous." 

"It's nice," Kyra said. "Men here are either masculine and immoral and crude, or they're courteous and spineless. Laidu's masculine, and he's not gross and crude." 

"I have a question for you." Skaria ducked her wild swing. "I met some ladies who were into Vesperati men. And not like they had a crush on a guy who happened to be a Vesperati, which is perfectly normal. No, these women were into Vesperati men because they were Vesperati. You're not that way with Laidu, are you?" 

Kyra paused. "No." She shook her head. "I mean, I find him handsome now, but it wasn't his looks that drew me to him originally." She ducked Skaria's obvious slash, and came up with a jab. "He was the first man to do something nice to me without expecting some form of payment or reward." 

"I'd say that means you're surrounding yourself with the worst of men," Skaria said, "but you're in politics. That's a given." 

"I know." She shrugged. "Honestly, sometimes I think money makes things worse. There's no doubt it makes some things easier, and it isn't something I'd rather have nothing of, but it brings its own problems." She paused. "I'm not trying to romanticize poverty," she said, "but I hate having everyone lying to me in order to get money."