Ashinji undid his braid and raked his fingers through his hair several times. It had grown so long, he had taken to looping his queue around his neck when he fought.
I’ll ask Gran to trim it when I see her this evening.
Seijon stepped back so Ashinji could douse himself. He leaned forward and let the cold water sluice over his head and shoulders. His mind skipped back, alighting on the memory of the first time he and Jelena had taken a bath together. The smell of her hair, wet and scented with herbs, the feel of her hot skin against his-he ached all over with longing and the grief of loss. The comforts of the bath house at Kerala Castle were a far cry from the cold water of the de Guera yard.
He stood up, gasping, and pushed his dripping hair away from his face.
“Hey, look who’s here! It’s the tink and his little doxie.”
Seijon reacted as if struck. Trembling, he shrank back and muttered, “Shut up, Leal.”
“What’s the matter, doxie? Truth hurts? The whole yard knows you let him give it to you in the ass.”
Leal strutted into the bath house, his tunic streaked with sweat. A fresh welt twisted like a petulant mouth across the top of his shaven head, testament to his last bout in the arena. He snorted and launched a gobbet of spit that just missed Seijon’s face.
“Leave him alone, Leal,” Ashinji said quietly, and moved to stand between the man and the boy.
“What are you going to do if I choose not to?”
The awning flapped and boomed overhead. The first patter of rain sprayed the canvas.
Leal closed in, stinking of sweat and violence.
Ashinji stood his ground, unflinching. Even naked, he had no fear of this man, for he knew all his weaknesses. He felt confident he could beat him in hand to hand combat, if it came down to that.
“I’ve no wish to fight you, Leal. Don’t we fight and risk our lives enough in the arena?” Ashinji kept his eyes locked onto the human’s, which glittered in the half-light like a feral dog’s.
Leal snarled, revealing a mouth full of crooked teeth. “You think you’re better’n us mere humans, don’t cha? Well, I c’n kill you any time I want, tink.”
Ashinji did a quick surface scan of Leal’s thoughts. The big human’s primitive rage roiled through his mind like molten rock, but a single image leapt out without warning.
At the same instant, Seijon cried in fear, “Ashi, he’s got a knife!”
Reflex, honed by years of combat training, saved his life. Ashinji threw himself down and to the left, narrowly avoiding the arc of Leal’s vicious thrust.
Quick as a cat, Ashinji sprang back, pushing Seijon roughly aside. The boy screamed something, but Ashinji ignored him, all of his attention focused on his opponent.
Leal rushed forward, bellowing like an enraged bull, knife raised. Ashinji met his charge and grabbed the arm holding the knife. As the human’s momentum carried him past, Ashinji ducked beneath Leal’s shoulder and threw his weight toward the ground.
Leal went down, an inarticulate cry bubbling from his lips as Ashinji, still holding the other man’s arm, twisted it hard up and back.
“Drop it!” Ashinji growled, planting his foot on Leal’s neck. When the human did not immediately comply, Ashinji forced his arm upward until the man shrieked in pain and the knife dropped from his twitching fingers.
“Let me up!” Leal gasped. “You’ll dislocate my shoulder!”
“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t do precisely that, you pathetic, cowardly ape!” Ashinji’s heart pounded his ribs like a sledgehammer.
Leal fell silent, lying passively on the muddy concrete.
“Ashi, if you hurt him, the mistress’ll punish you!” Seijon gasped through chattering teeth.
“I’m aware of that,” Ashinji shot back. He continued to maintain the pressure on Leal’s arm and shoulder. “When I let you up, you’d better leave, Leal.” The man nodded mutely. Ashinji released the pressure and sprang back, kicking the knife against the wall. Seijon scuttled over and scooped the blade into his hand.
Slowly, like a bear rousing itself from sleep, Leal climbed to his feet. He turned to face Ashinji and Seijon, who stood back, tensely watching him. For a few moments, time froze as the three of them regarded each other.
As Leal stared hard at him, Ashinji saw the promise of his death in the other man’s eyes.
A flash lit the sky and the rumble of thunder broke the spell.
Without another word, Leal turned and stalked out of the bath house into the rain. Ashinji relaxed and let out his breath in a whoosh. He turned to face Seijon, who stared after Leal with a look so full of hatred, it took Ashinji aback.
“I wish you could have killed him, Ashi. I’d kill him, if I was strong enough!” The bitterness in the boy’s voice caused suspicion to grow within Ashinji’s mind.
He has been strangely subdued these last few weeks…not like himself at all.
“Seijon, has Leal hurt you in the past?” Ashinji kept his voice soft and gentle.
Seijon reached for his clothes and began to dress. He refused to meet Ashinji’s gaze as he answered, “Yeah, when I first came to the yard.”
Ashinji donned his own clothing before turning to Seijon once again. “You can tell me about it. It might help. You should know I’m your friend and would never judge you.”
The boy swallowed hard. His face flushed and his eyes filled with tears.
“I’ve never told anyone. Not even Gran,” he whispered. Ashinji reached out and slipped his arm around Seijon’s shoulder.
“No one ever did anything like that to me before, even when I lived on the street. I was lucky, I guess.” The soft patter of spring rain filled the spaces between Seijon’s words. “My first night here, Leal caught me as I walked back to the barracks in the dark. He dragged me behind the weapons shed…and he…he…” The boy hiccupped and his shoulders began to shake.
“It’s all right, you don’t have to say any more, Seijon. I understand,” Ashinji murmured.
“No, you don’t!” Seijon cried as he broke away to face Ashinji. “It happened more than once! It’s still happening!”
“Goddess’ tits,” Ashinji whispered, horrified. It all made sense now.
Seijon nodded. “Leal makes me…He says if I don’t, he’ll kill you and Gran! I couldn’t let him do that, Ashi!”
Ashinji took the boy in his arms and cradled him until the torrent of tears had subsided. He then held Seijon out at arm’s length and stared directly into the boy’s golden eyes.
“Seijon, you must never, ever believe that by your suffering, you are protecting me, or Gran. We can protect ourselves, far better than you know. This outrage stops now!”
“What are you going to do, Ashi?” Seijon asked, his voice trembling.
Ashinji considered finding Leal and killing him on the spot, but he rejected that idea.
No, I’ll do this the right way.
“The two of us are going to Aruk-cho and you’re going to tell him exactly what you told me. He will deal with Leal, of that you can be sure.”
Seijon bit his lower lip, looking so child-like, it reminded Ashinji of just how young the boy really was.
“Come on, then. Let’s go and find Aruk-cho.”
With his arm still around Seijon’s shoulder, Ashinji guided the boy out into the rain.
A day after Seijon had related his story of abuse to Aruk-cho, the yardmaster had Leal thrown into the small, windowless cell located beneath the storerooms known as “the hole.” There he stayed for an entire week, fed only on thin gruel and water. When he emerged, sullen and withdrawn, he made a conspicuous effort to avoid all contact with both Seijon and Ashinji. The rumor flying around the yard had him stripped of all his points accumulated so far that year.