“Is that how- They said my queen was dead, that the Federación had killed her. Is that how she came back? Striker?”
Kett’s mouth tightened into a grim line at the mention of the Federación, and she nodded. Had she heard of their atrocities too? The things they did to Nasc, to shapeshifters and psychics. The things they’d do to him if they ever found out who he was. What he was.
He shuddered. What he was. Kett was surely going to find out sooner or later-and what if she didn’t know to keep it secret? What if she let it slip and they came for him? What if they took her too, and hurt her, and-
Bael took a deep breath and let it out before he collapsed into hysterics again. “I have to tell you something.” Kett raised her eyebrows questioningly, and he swallowed. “And you can’t tell anyone else.”
“I won’t tell anyone you had a nervous breakdown,” she said, and her eyes sparkled a bit as she said it.
Bael smiled, which he guessed had been her intention, and shifted to lean back against the wall.
“I’m a Nasc Mage,” he said.
Her face showed a total lack of comprehension.
“I- My animal isn’t fixed. It can be pretty much anything,” he explained.
“So?”
“So, every adult Nasc has a fixed animal twin. It can be anything when you’re a child, but as you get older it settles, and then one day you realize it can’t change and that’s when you know you’re an adult.”
“Explains why you act like a child sometimes,” Kett muttered.
“Only my animal never settled,” he went on. “And that’s the sign of a Mage.”
She was silent a moment, then asked, “It can really be anything?”
“Pretty much. And I have power-magical power, but it’s not…I was never trained, so most of it’s useless.” He rolled his head to look at her. “There was no one to train me. My parents were dead and Striker…”
This time understanding dawned in her eyes. “Striker stole his power from other people,” she said. “He went rampaging and sucked magic from everyone he found with any talent.”
Bael nodded. “And I was just a kid, I didn’t have much, so he didn’t notice me. The only people left now with any power have so little of it they can’t teach me anything.” He thought bitterly of Albhar, unable to do more than the simplest spells, barely possessing enough power to light a candle. “But sometimes…recently…I feel things or see things-”
“Like Striker killing all those Nasc?”
He shuddered and nodded.
“I’m sorry,” Kett said, and there was sincerity in her voice.
“And-is it true, about him bringing Chance back to life?” She nodded again. “The people who killed her…”
“The Federación. Euskaran group. Lunatics. I’ve had a couple of run-ins with them myself.”
His fingers tightened around hers. “They’re…well, they’re worse than Striker.”
“No one’s worse than Striker,” Kett said.
“Yeah? They kidnapped the king’s sister. They’ve taken Nasc before. Were-creatures too. Psychics. Magi. They do terrible things to them. So you can’t tell anyone I’m a Mage. Please, Kett. No one. They killed my queen-”
“But Striker brought her back. He’s not with the Federación. Believe me.”
It’s not him I’m worried about. Well, mostly not.
“Why did he do it?” Bael asked. “All those Nasc. You know him, why did he-why didn’t anyone stop him?”
“No one can,” Kett said simply. “As for the why…he did it because it was fun.”
Bael felt sick. “Torturing and killing innocent people-children, even-that’s fun?”
“It is to him.” Kett shrugged. “You have to understand, Striker isn’t like normal people.”
“No shit.”
“But look. He’s formed a sort of…well, treaty, I suppose, with Dark. He won’t harm any more Nasc. He gave his word.”
“Oh, and he’ll keep it?”
“Yeah,” Kett said. “He will. He might be a psychopath, but he doesn’t lie and he doesn’t break his promises. Weird but true. Besides, if he did it’d upset Chance, and that would upset her mother, and when she’s upset she withholds sex, and Striker will do anything for sex.”
“I’m sure he could find someone else.”
“No,” Kett said with certainty. “Believe me when I say he’ll do anything to keep her.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I’ve seen what happens when he loses her.” Kett looked like she was going to say something else, then thought better of it and stood. “Come on. Eat breakfast. Ignore Striker.”
“I’m not sure I can.” Those eyes, that power, it was like barbed wire-
“Don’t be a wimp,” Kett said, and the scorn in her voice brought him back to normality.
He smiled.
Chapter Twelve
Since Kett couldn’t see her father welcoming Bael back into the room, and she just didn’t want the hassle with Striker, she took him out for breakfast. There was a greasy spoon perched high above the city on the viaduct bringing the river through Elvyrn, out of the way of most tourists but in a prime spot for the men bringing their cargo along the river to the west docks.
While the cold wind whipped snow along the viaduct, the inside of the café was warm, the windows steamed over, the air thick with the smell of fried food.
“Eat,” Kett said to Bael, in the mood to be kind since he’d had a fairly large shock. She ordered him a large plate of everything, then another for herself since she’d left her food congealing on Nuala’s breakfast table.
“What is this?” he asked, poking at something big and yellow with his fork.
“Dodo egg.”
“Oh.” Experimentally, he dipped a finger of toast in the yolk. “Var was a dodo once. They’re pretty boring.”
They are. I’ve been one too. Kett got stuck into her fried venroots. “I didn’t figure you for a wolf.” At his look, she explained, “Last night. You were a wolf. It didn’t seem…you.”
Bael raised his eyebrows. “What is ‘me’?”
“I don’t bloody know, do I?” Kett said, annoyed. “A toad or something.”
He grinned. “Ah, see, right there. I thought you were being too nice.”
“All right, next time you throw a hissy fit, I’ll point and laugh.” She downed some coffee. “I know what effect Striker has on people. I’ve seen it before.”
“Have you seen what he’s done?” Bael asked, staring at his plate, his mouth grim.
“Firsthand.” His head shot up and her eyes met his. “I’ve known him since I was sixteen, Bael. He’s the one who brought me to my father in the first place. I’ve seen him make a sword out of fire and cut a man in half with it. I’ve seen him send a whole castle into flames, incinerating everyone inside. I’ve seen him laugh while he slaughtered people, like a child playing. I’ve smelled the charred flesh. I’ve seen him take life and occasionally, when it suits him, I’ve seen him give it. Believe me when I say I know exactly what Striker’s done.”
She started eating again but Bael was looking at her, rather disconcertingly. Kett shoved a large piece of bacon into her mouth and chewed, but he was still watching.
“What?” she asked through the food.
“Who flogged you?”
She narrowed her eyes and kept on eating.
“Come on, Kett. I can’t see you being the type to enjoy being whipped, and anyway, those scars are way too deep for anything fun.”
Kett swallowed. “Know a lot about whipping, do you?”
Bael gave her a grin that, annoyingly, made certain bits of her rather warm. “A little bit.” His grin faded. “And those are serious flogging marks. Must have hurt like hell.”
“It did.”
“Who did it?”
“Nosy bastard, ain’tcha?”
Bael’s hand covered hers. “Kett-I know you don’t believe me, and you don’t want this and you’re fighting it, but you are my mate. And if anyone ever hurts you, I will rip out his innards and shove them down his throat.”