He has his usual small smile as he approaches us, "I thought you two would be here. Come. You are missing your lessons, Hana, and Urenii needs a partner." Hana sighs as she stands up slowly with her hand holding mine to pull me up with her. Chaise raises his eyebrows at my compliance, "Why bring Karri? She has already had the Title Ceremony and trained today." Hana glares at Chaise and tugs me in the direction of the training courtyard were the lessons are being given.
"We can practice, Chaise. It has been a while since I have fought you. I might be getting rusty against the added power of a Highborn." I share with him a smile to show that I am okay with Hana's demands. Chaise rolls his eyes and follows behind us as Hana pulls me along. As an excuse it is weak, none of them believe for a second that I would let my power get out of control enough for me to lose to anybody but the oldest and most trained of our family. It is one of the reasons that I was allowed to have my Title Ceremony proclaiming me as a Warrior of the Kinza family and able to hold up the law of the Land at the youngest age yet. Since I was only fourteen years old at the time they had me tied to Hana for how long I would be required to practice regularly in the training courtyards for a set amount of time a day, since they believed she would be one of the longest to receive her title.
Chaise following us shows that he does want to practice against me despite his silent complaints. Before we can see the two combined tamped down dirt courtyards, we hear it. We hear the clang of metal on metal, the grunts of male and female origin, and the yells of taunts, greetings, and bets. It is not just our bloodline that practices and trains here, but also the people who are going through the training to be a warrior, those who are warriors already, and everybody else who is in our army. Even those who are mortal born, like Iien, practice here regularly and they can beat vampires and warriors too. The sight of the practice yard is even more appealing to my eyes. Just seeing the swords, knives, and other miscellaneous weapons at work makes me feel more at home and powerful. I even see my father fighting my aunt, Kamina. At first the surprise has me still but then I turn to Chaise smiling as I see him tying his longish hair up with a leather tie into a short ponytail. I tighten the tie in my hair to bind the loose wisps back up and ignore the fact that this fun tussle might ruin my clothes irreparably or that Hana is foregoing wearing a leather tie herself. Not that it matters for her if her hair is bound up or loose. The wind will keep the strands out of her soft, pale face. Her strange eyes look for the familiar shape of our younger cousin. Suddenly pale blue-gray eyes look up at us in the form of a serious face as Urenii pops up out of nowhere, seemingly.
"Urenii." Hana says with just a touch of unwanted acceptance, wanting to avoid the training she has been brought to. The young girl smiles anyway and steps away from us, acknowledging Chaise with a flick of her eyes. I push Hana towards Urenii and she reluctantly follows her newly acquired training partner for the time being.
Chaise and I share no words as we move to a clear spot. Far enough away from Hana and Urenii that we will not be affected by the backlash of Hana's immense power but close enough where I can help her control it if it starts to get dangerous.
There are no starting words for the two of us, just an innumerable amount of time from standing with our swords partly unsheathed to fully drawn out and the deadly blades meeting in a quick kiss. I separate quicker than we joined as Chaise has flames run down the length of his blade to try to burn me. The flames crackle in hunger before they are dosed out by his control. Only a few more hissing of sliding blades or clanging of metal against metal before the both of us use our powers. Chaise in a heat inducing swipe towards me, and I in affecting the blades of light around us. Chaise cringes away from the now multiplied strength of light shining at him and I slice towards him. Planning to use his moment of weakness against him, just as I was taught. He blocks clumsily and stumbles back as slight burns cover his face and unclothed arms and hands. My face is blank as I hit at his sword with all of my strength and ignore the urge to heal. In one quick lucky block the hit is caught by his red tainted hilt, heating with his continuous use of fire. We stand deceptively calm in our locked position as we try to use pure strength to overthrow the other. I do not last long and push his sword to the side as our breaths slightly increase in speed. He grins and his eyes flash red as a complete fire surrounds his beautiful steel blade; grinning back I change the way the light reflects off my own blade, concentrating it and bending it towards him. His light sensitive eyes strain and he grunts as he stalks forward. We clang and clash our swords together. Then, he tries to feint to my left. Seeing the tell tale signs of his body's true goal to slice upwards on my right I move right into my own counterattack. I cannot help but smirk just slightly as I hit his sword out of his hand with a flick of my wrist. He pants as I hold the tip just so from his neck and I beat another person for the day. We smile in good nature as I lower my sword down slowly.
I give in to my urge finally as my mouth opens, "Do you want me to heal you, Chaise?"
He is about to reply when a deep commanding voice interrupts, "A good fight as usual, Karri, but you were too open." Against our knowledge a small crowd had formed around the two of us, including our Head, Tennan. His pale yellow eyes watch as the two of us bow our heads to him. "You are lucky that Chaise is a young vampire and still greatly affected by the sun's light."
"Yes, Tennan. Should I tend to healing him?" Yellow looks into golden as I wait for him to decide, the only thing that gives away my growing urgency is the lone tick in my pointer finger.
"No, Karri. You are already providing for Akun and Hana regularly. Harisa can heal Chaise." Our Grandfather leaves no room for argument so Chaise nods and carefully wipes sweat from his face as he takes long strides towards the inner manor. No doubt somebody will tell her of what he ordered. As the people still hover Tennan raises a hand and flicks it to the left, suddenly everybody is going back to what they were doing before. His face is serious as he looks down at me, "Let us talk." I nod as I slide my sword back into my sheath and take a peek at my dear cousin. Hana is doing well with controlling her powers today even if all she is really doing is defending herself from Urenii's attacks. My great grandfather looks where I am and nods a little, praising her silently as my two cousins continue to better each other. We walk towards the stone pathway that surrounds the Courtyard in silence. The silence continues as we continue on to the inner courtyard in our sprawling manor.
His hands clasp behind him and his whole demeanor straightens as he prepares to speak, "You may have guessed that this is about Hana." I nod, as I had from his appearance at the Courtyard. "How much has Hana been improving?" It takes me a bit to respond as I think of his question thoroughly, even taking the time to remember every detail I ever knew about her and comparing it to how she has changed.
I finger the hilt of my sword as I hesitantly reply, "She is... better but appears to lack the will to completely control her power. Her overall control has increased immensely since you had her start to drink from me. It is hard to tell if that is because she is learning how with the distance my blood puts between her and her vampire Soul or if it is all just my blood's effect on her body. Her control does start to waver when she..." I blush heavily now, "gets aroused. As of yet it would be difficult to tell how her powers would be like if she were to be tested under extreme emotional conditions." I am still blushing from my complete disclosure but I know that at the moment it is what is required of me. Embarrassment has no say when it comes reports.
Tennan hums thoughtfully as he nods at the people passing by us. "Would you recommend continuing the regimen you have with her or do you think it is time to start lessening the times she feeds from you?" I flush even more from his praise of my observation abilities. To do well by his praise I take my time to consider what he is suggesting and the current situation with my cousin. If I lower the blood she gets from me, we can test how much control she has learned from experiencing the forced control. On the one hand, if I was right and she does not care much for controlling her powers then there could be unfortunate accident. On the other hand nothing can go wrong as she may prove me wrong and has learned some self-control.
I speak slowly and carefully as I respond, "I think I should bring it up with Hana before I finalize my decision but I believe that it is time to start considering lowering her intake of my blood."
I can see a slight smile on Tennan's face just before he speaks, "Very well. I will let you be the judge of that but I expect you to inform me of your decision." I nod. After my agreement only a moment passes before his eyebrows furrow and the pointer finger of his left hand twitches. In the next second his mouth firms and he stops me in the middle of the hallway by placing a hand on my shoulder, "They are not taking too much blood are they?"
I smile at him, trying to offer as much reassurance as I can, "No. As Harisa expected I started producing more blood, but I have found that I do need to feed more often as well." His hand on my shoulder squeezes for a second the concern growing more noticeable. "It is only just as much as Chaise drinks. I have not let the Hunger take over me, grandfather." His dark brown almost black hair seems to shine when his shoulders finally sag with relief. His pale yellow eyes even gain a hint of blue crossing over his irises. Suddenly, a bell interrupts our conversation signaling to all in the manor that the time for our supper is in an hour and that we should clean up and get ready to be present. I cannot help but smile when I think what it means for Cook and her minions under her, a few hours respite from the always warm kitchen. Tennan pulls me from thoughts of my long time confidant by placing a soft kiss on my forehead, "Be careful, Karri. May the light shine in your favor."
I murmur my thanks and bow to my great grandfather before we split our ways. I move slower so Hana can catch up to me. If her previous moods from past spars are any indication she will be in a mood and will need somebody to help her unwind from it.
In no time at all I feel her come up behind me and hold onto my right hand tightly, "Hate fighting." It is not more than a barely understandable mumble but it has me feeling sorry for her and annoyed at the same. Sorry because I can see just how much it bugs her and how bad she is at it.
One look has me seeing multiple healing cuts across her arms, hands, and even some through her pale plain blue overdress. I can feel annoyed though because fighting is a part of our family, a part of our life, and there are no tears in her eyes, even if the white of her irises seems even more defined and stark against the black outline which surrounds it. I squeeze her hand in comfort and lead her in as quick a walk as I can to the baths. There is no need to speak between us; I know how much she hates fighting and how she wishes she could train to be something other than a Warrior. She looks over at me as we reach the baths and her eyes speak of a loneliness and regret that only I ever get to see.
My voice is soft as I say my first words to her since separating, "Come on, Hana. We can talk about whatever it is you have been keeping hidden in there after dinner." She smiles back at me and all of her negativity leaves quicker than a change of the wind. Our moment is quickly over though as we get pushed into the baths by a group of other women which has Kamina at its head.
Kamina is almost giddy as she comes up to us, "Did you two hear?" My confusion is palpable at my aunt's question; Hana has already closed herself from showing her emotions as we take our sweat soaked clothes off.
Kamina sighs, almost appearing to languish as she continues, "Oh. Apparently not. You girls should really learn how to gossip. But since I am your loving most amazing aunt I will not let you suffer any longer!" As if to emphasize her greatness Kamina thrusts her chest out with hands on hips as she shares, "Nithe is going to confront Zerren about something. And I hear its big! I tend to believe it this time since the only siblings who make their small squabbles known to the whole family is Harisa's three. Plus Nithe is considering it at supper! And we all know how Tennan feels about supper being interrupted with drama."
If one did not previously know it they would never guess that she is thirty-four years old from hearing her previous ramble and her future guesses of what it could possibly be would only cement that she must still be in her early twenties. Even with the amusement my aunt has me feeling at her inability to act her age I cannot help but feel a bit of hesitance. The hesitance only grows when Hana is now refusing to meet my gaze. I purse my lips as I rub the slightly scented cloth over my body. The warm water we are standing in does nothing to ease my growing unease but I try to push it away. I ignore my instincts and turn from Hana to continue talking with Kamina.
Hana is quick to leave her bath and as I watch her retreating back from the corner of my eye I cannot help but listen to my nagging instincts. I rush drying myself and barely notice as I grab a light supper dress from a waiting servant near the entrance of the baths. My feet are itching to go but I force them to stay as the servant buttons the gold colored dress behind me. It feels like an eternity for her to get done with her hands starting to tremble, probably from feeding off of my urgency, but as she finishes I turn to give her a smile as I swoop down to grab the plain leather slippers laid out for me. As soon as my second foot slides in comfortably I am out of the door and following the path I am sure Hana had taken. People try not to stare as I speed walk down the corridors but I can still feel their gazes linger longer than they usually do. As I catch a glimpse of palest blond hair flip around a corner my pace speeds up even more causing people to pause for a second in their steps to stare at me. I do not care though as I finally catch up to my errant cousin. I grip her upper arm and she flinches. Her eyes are filled with regret as I guide her to an empty corridor nearby, it is filled with shadows as there is nobody who lives in this wing.
My gut twists even more at seeing her expression but I suppress the urge to cry out and walk away from her without confronting her. "Did you use me to tell Nithe?"
Hana tries to tilt her head up bravely but I can feel her body trembling slightly in my hold, "Yes."
I gasp as hurt crashes through my body. Immediately, I release her and step away. I want to do more than that though. I want to run from her or just... just forget it ever happened. I look up at her, my eyes hard to her frantically searching ones, "Why?"
She slumps a little and looks down from my gaze, "I had to, Karri. We have both heard Zerren's thoughts of a Partner. It is not his place to throw Hania's Gift into the Land's face and I knew if Nithe overheard he would confront his brother on his inaction."
My muscles tremble in barely concealed rage and my fists tighten until they are white, "You promised me, Hana. You promised me that you would never- never- use me like you do your inconsequential dalliances." She tries to to step towards me but I shake my head and step back.
Her voice is pleading now, "I had to, Karri! I could not let him ruin the futures of two people because of his misplaced beliefs." She grips at her white dress, "Karri... Please..."
I am shaking my head, the anger warring with the hurt that she would even think of treating me like she does everybody else. It hurts that she would think of me as a means to an end for her to carry out her beliefs. "You promised me you would treat me like a friend. You promised me you would not use me like some cheap entertainment or a – a pawn." I hiss the word out, my inner monster slithering to the surface at my continual anger. She is just like everybody else. Promises mean nothing. As her hand lightly brushes my sleeved arm my anger reaches an all time high and I cannot help but lash out. "What is to keep me from breaking my promise now?"
Her face pales considerably. She grabs my upper arms now with desperation, "P-please, Karri! Not that." Her chest rises and falls too quickly as her fear builds, I can feel it building. "You do not know what Tennan would ask of me if he knew the truth." She pleads with me one more time as tears start to fall from her equally white eyes. I shake her off of me as her tears rip my anger to shreds. It is not fair. It isn't fair. "Please, Karri..." She is starting to hyperventilate now. I look down as I burrow my blunt nails into my palm.
"I will not but this is the end, Hana. You used me and broke your promise. You are no friend of mine." She staggers back as if hit and her eyes widen impossibly. I do not stay to watch any more effects my words will have on her though. I am almost running from her as I make my way to the dining hall. I just want to get this over with so I can lay in bed and be alone.
By the time I reach the dining hall doors I am panting. I know it cannot be from exertion but my muscles tremble anyway as I lean against the door. It takes all of the willpower I have to muster a smile onto my face and will my breathing and body into obedience. As I slowly open the door and take my seat at the table next to my father I appear perfectly calm. My noble smile is out in the open for all to see and my hands are relaxed, swaying slowly and steadily with my calm and easy gait. Nobody stares at me. Well almost nobody. Hana's mother, Orsa, stares at me curiously her hazel colored eyes just watching me. I resist the urge to look away from her gaze as if I am guilty of something. I also resist the urge to lift my chin higher as if I have something to prove. Instead I slide my gaze from hers to look over everybody else in our family as I make my way to the seat reserved for me, next to my father. I hold back a grimace as I quietly pull out the chair and settle myself next to him. Like usual his brown eyes slide onto my form for a second but then jerks away when his eyes meet mine. For a second I feel a twinge of empathy for my father but then Hana walks in and I remember why our relationship is strained too. He was not there for me when I needed him most.
Hana sits quietly across from me next to her mother without speaking a word to me or even attempting to look me in the eyes. My father looks between us with brows furrowed but says nothing as Tennan sits at his place at the head of the table. On his right is an empty chair where his wife would be but on his left is his eldest son, Nithe, and his wife and their son next to her. Next to the empty seat is Tennan's youngest son, Zerren. I try not to look to much at his dark appearance but I cannot help but have my eyes drawn there. If Hana is going to use me I want to see what happens when she intervenes. But first, I have to wait for the normal rituals. We all sit in our seats with our hands in our laps and our heads bowed as we are served our first course. I was told by Mother that we do this to give thanks to the Land and our people as we were once one of them not long ago. Mother taught me a lot about our family before her passing. Only once Tennan has taken a bite of his food do the rest of us lift our heads and partake of our own meal. Conversation once again rises around us with Hana and I still not speaking a single word to each other.
It is not until the third course that my father looks down at me. I pretend that I do not feel his stare causing him to cough quietly. Slowly, I look up into his dark eyes that radiate concern. "Karri, are you alright? It is oddly silent between you and Hana, the two of you have not even shared a single silent conversation tonight."
I smile tightly at my father before my golden eyes slide to the pale blond head of my dear cousin. I am unable to help the slip of my smile for just a second as feelings of anger and betrayal rush through my veins again. His hand twitches as he looks between the two of us and his mouth opens once more but I rudely cut him off before he can continue, "It is alright, Father. I am just tired." The lie slips easily through my lips, I know as easily as it slides off of him as the whole time I spoke I have been staring at Hana who studiously looks down at her food with her parents none the wiser of unusual behavior. He always knows a lie when he hears one but he wisely lets it go.
Just in time too as Nithe's deep voice breaks through the mostly happy conversations around the large wooden table, "Brother, I have heard you have great news to share with the family." Zerren's black eyes stare into his brother's dark gray eyes woodenly and his pale lips purse as he slowly shakes his head no. Even from my end of the table I can hear as the metal in Nithe's hands groans under the strain of them being clenched together so tightly.
Nithe presses more, "Not even the finding of your Partner's existence?" Zerren twitches as a flash of anger thrums throughout his body so strongly that his power leaks outwards. The oldest of our family shrugs it off like it is nothing but Nithe's eyes crinkle as the full force of Zerren's leaking power hits him through their brotherly bond.
"I have not found her." Everybody is completely silent now as the two brothers air their issue outside the privacy of closed doors.
Nithe hisses, "You lie." Zerren calmly places his utensils down but the shadows seem to grow more ominous by the second. Harisa and Tesaria cringe noticeably as his power touches against their opposing power over light; even I barely manage not to cringe by clenching my jaw tightly together and pushing my power outwards to try to combat his leaking everywhere.
"That is enough!" Tennan's voice booms startling his sons from their argument. "You are harming our three Keepers of Light." Zerren has the decency to look a little guilty at us then draws his power inwards once more. "What is this that Nithe is speaking of?" Now that he has their attention his volume lowers.
I get an image of the girl and I know it is from Hana who is trying to control her more thought induced power from her tumultuous emotional state.
Zerren's jaw clenches and he looks his father in the eyes slowly. "I was walking around the Market District and Upper District," not a sound is heard other than his voice as he goes on as people have now stopped eating, "Then those girls started following me again." His jaw clenches again but then he relaxes it to continue on. "The wind shifted and I heard her voice and smelt her. That is the extent to my finding her." The whole table holds as one except for five people: Tennan, Zerren, Nithe, Hana, and I. This story, this scene causes me upset once again. She had promised to never use me after she started treating people like pawns.
Tennan hums softy before coming to a decision. "Until further notice, Zerren, you will search for this girl then get to know her. Seeing as she did not search for you we will have to consider her a human. If I do not see any progress soon we will decide upon a later date of what more needs to be done. Do make sure you come to my study after supper has finished though, Zerren." Zerren bows his head in acknowledgment his lips pursed tightly together and the meal continues on without further ado, and like our Head wishes, without further incident.
*****
At first I do not know what it is that woke me but as I lay there staring up at my plain ceiling I hear the barest movement of swirling wind. For just a moment I close my eyes as I desperately hope who I think is in my room is not so. When I open my eyes and turn my head to my bay window I see the palest blond hair imaginable that belongs to only one person I have ever known, Hana. My heart stutters as I see her sitting there with her eyes partly closed and her lips tilted just slightly as she listens to the voices on the wind. At my body's sign of distress though her eyes open and her gaze is drawn away from her precious winds to me. I manage to keep my voice calm as words finally come to me, "What are you doing here?"
After I have spoken for a few seconds she looks sad and hesitant but as those seconds pass her face becomes blank and her head tilts up just ever so slightly. "I am doing what must be done," her voice is cool and detached as she lazily plays with the string tying her outer robe closed. "You are the one who talks highly of duty."
My whole body trembles as a hiss escapes me, "Duty means protecting the innocent and fighting when instructed. Not spying on your own family members."
She shrugs as her gaze slides once more to the world outside my window, "As a member of one of the Blessed Families it is my duty to use the powers given to me." I have never wished harm upon my cousin but hearing those words spill from her mouth almost makes me leap out of my bed to do just that.
"You know nothing of duty." My voice is unbelievably cold as I feel my inner monster stirring at my aggression.
At my words though Hana is standing up smoothly, her delicate hands clenched into fists by her sides. "You are always the one talking of how those with power should use it."
My breath halts at her words unbelieving that she would take my words out of context in such a way, but my vampire blood has not yet fully matured so my body forces breath into me after only a few seconds of none. "You know I have always only meant that on the basis of protecting others. Power should never be used for one's own selfish reasons."
Hana's face reddens with either anger or embarrassment, at this point I do not care which, and she stalks to my bedroom door as her hand circles around the brass knob she halts, "There are some who would say that your duty would be as a healer not a warrior, Keeper of Light." With that she quickly leaves my door closing soundly behind her. Her words strike a chord within me. I know there are those who think that... but they do not know what had happened in the past. As the memories try to surface and the age old smell of blood within them I shake. Throwing my covers back I stalk to my window and throw the panes closed with a bang. I tremble slightly as I lean against them pushing away those memories once again. I cannot remember. I must not remember them fully. Slowly the smell of blood leaves my consciousness and my trembling stops. My feet now cold I walk back to my bed and climb under the covers. As I turn away from my window I think back on Hana and I as children. Back then we both hated our powers.