Gene met Ashabel’s eyes briefly as the boy pressed close beside him, then walked on toward the house. Ashabel followed. The Masons left behind looked at one another. Only once Gene was out of sight did they let out their breaths and whisper.
“Whew, I thought I’d lose my head.”
“But doesn’t he seem a little downhearted?”
“Well, after what happened to him, even the Shadowhawk…”
“Shh. Mind what you say. The hawk’s still the hawk.”
Gene guessed something had happened between Ashabel and the Masons, but deliberately did not ask. Ashabel did not complain either, only followed quietly. Near the door, Gene reached out and stroked his head once.
“Thank you. For being alive.”
Ashabel had grown strangely quiet. He nodded, then sniffed once. Gene went inside.
And found himself facing Rosa on the stone wall.
“…”
He moistened his lips involuntarily. Since learning what had happened to Hawk House, countless thoughts had seethed through his head. It would be a lie to say not one had concerned Rosa. Hearing Neups refer to fourteen dead as “men,” he had judged she must be safe. He had also felt it would be wrong to ask after a young woman he had known only days when faced with the deaths of men who had followed him for years, and had suppressed his curiosity. Even so, he had not expected much chance of meeting her here. Hawk House, where he had asked her to stay, was no longer habitable. He had thought she might have left before the fighting, or because of it.
Yet Rosa sat there looking at the house, her face untroubled, as though perhaps she had been waiting for him.
He was pleased. But the words that emerged were different from what he felt.
“You haven’t gone yet.”
Rosa tilted her head to one side, like a warrior loosening her neck before a fight.
“I made a useless promise.”
“Surely…”
Gene was about to answer when cheers rang out and the Brothers of the Hawk rushed outside. They surrounded him. Meeting him after escaping death, they were excited and moved as though reunited after years apart. Some looked ready to shower him with kisses if not restrained. Then Daniel, the burly, bearded owner of the House of the Masons, came in, saw the scene, and laughed.
“Still an impressive outpouring of affection.”
Gene extricated himself and shook hands with him. Daniel was ten years older, but instead of putting on airs, he was pleased to be friends with the famous young patrol captain. When Gene thanked him for providing lodging, he merely shrugged, unlike the other Masons. Then he quickly asked, “Well, have you made a plan to pay them back?”
Gene answered with a bitter smile. Inwardly, however, his decision was already made.
Then Tahyang came out of the house. Hearing the patrolmen’s calls, Gene turned, and his face brightened. As Tahyang approached, Gene raised his right hand. Tahyang raised his left, and they clasped them firmly together. The right-hand sword and the left-hand sword, their private greeting upon reunion. Then they embraced.
“Brother, welcome back.”
“Thank you.”
“Is there still anything between us that needs thanks?”
“You’re alive. And so are the brothers.”
Tahyang smiled with an expression only Gene could read.
“Cats don’t die so easily. And it wasn’t I who saved the brothers. I only returned the day before yesterday. Until then, the one who defended Hawk House was over there.”
When Tahyang looked toward Rosa, Gene instinctively turned too, then grew bewildered. Rosa? Had anyone else said it, he might have laughed it off. But Tahyang was not a man to give empty credit over such matters. The Firran knew nothing of hollow ceremony. Still, Gene could not imagine how Rosa had defended Hawk House. With magic, perhaps?
“Come, don’t stand about here. Go inside and talk. Let’s all have something cool to drink.”
Daniel put his arms around their shoulders and urged them along. Gene took a few steps, then turned back to Rosa. She had already left her place. Instead, Nana stood beside the stone wall where Rosa had been sitting and stared at him. He tried to smile. Little Nana too must have suffered during the fighting. In some measure, that was his responsibility.
But Nana narrowed her green eyes sharply and held up her little finger. Curling her other fingers into a circle and raising only the little one represented Onere, the twenty-fifth character of the Ipnish script. Onere meant secrecy, and warning.
Gene did not know what Nana was warning him about. Not before, and not now. Yet an inexplicable premonition filled him, and he looked straight at her. Though he did not know the question, he felt that he knew the answer.
Gene replied, “This is no affair of yours.”
Discover more from Lilly Translations
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.