Chapter 12: Firsts

“Phoe, buddy, I’m sorry, I forgot. You know I didn’t mean to,” I confess. 

He won’t even look at me, it’s as if he fully understands the human concept of betrayal. I place his crackers at the edge of the birdcage I transferred him to. He snags them before turning his back to me for the second time.

“I found a solution,” Boss brags. She holds a gray bottle of eyedrops in front of my face.

“Take two drops of this in the eye you’re planning on linking through the bird a minute or two before you act. Test it out now,” she orders. 

You don’t have to tell me twice. 

I lean back and lurch at the contact of the liquid on my pupil. I blink several times before pumping gemmed blood to my right eye. It works, I can see from Phoe’s perspective the other side of Boss’ lab.

“Boss, you’re brilliant,” I compliment.

“I know,” she shrugs haughtily.

I grab Phoenix’s cage and saunter out of Boss’ lab on the way to my room to finish packing. I shouldn’t feel excited, but I guess that’s to be expected seeing as I’m the only member of our trio who has never been to the Northern Queendom before. 

I can make my own assumptions about it from all of the Northuns I’ve killed though. However, it’s not really the people I’m interested in; I wonder what their food is like, if their native animals are different from ours, if there’s a different hierarchy of preferred enhancements. 

I’ll find out soon enough.

I’m packing a couple of extra rolls of toilet paper in my bag when Akechi knocks on my doorframe. He’s changed into comfortable clothes, a hoodie, and some jeans. It would fit the image of a Southern passerby in the queendom if the bow over his shoulder didn’t scream trouble. The quiver dangling from his fist doesn’t add to his costume appeal either. Quite the amount of gear for someone who’s practiced the weapon for a day.

“Need help packing?” he offers. 

I take it as he wants me to hurry up.

“You can take Phoe. He probably likes you better than me right now anyway,” I nudge my head towards Phoenix’s round crate on the windowsill.

“Take your time. I don’t mind waiting on you. We’re walking to the countryside after we leave the city, so wear your boots,” he says. 

Phoenix coos when Akechi lifts him and Akechi smiles in return. 

Traitors.

“What’s going on with you and Mika out at the gate? You two lovers?” I jive.

Akechi scrunches his nose up like I just uttered the foulest farce. It takes everything in me to keep from crying-laughing right there on the floor.

“I have much better taste than a heathen like that,” he gags.

“The High Priest? A heathen? I don’t think I’ve ever a person be called by two more contradictory titles,” I say.

He doesn’t respond as I conclude packing my bag, lifting it with my left hand. We walk out and I identify Akechi’s bag at the door. I assume he chased my guard away because she’s not occupying her usual chair next to the entrance. I stoop down and pick it up with my free hand. He tries to object but I ignore him as we head to the gate.

We pass some of his half-siblings and their mothers (his sister-mothers? aunts?) on the way out. Seems like there’s a royal for every room in the palace. 

He formulates a believable lie for his forthcoming extended absence when they question him; he tells them that he’s volunteering at a distant research center, helping to search for a cure for TB. An extravagant tale but immensely humanitarian, a tale only Akechi would weave. I smirk at him after the lie and he immediately breaks eye contact with me. We don’t talk to each other again until we make it outside to Mika.

The sky’s clouded over, not a good omen. There wasn’t so much as a mild wind to mask my movements when I was having my ass handed to me by ogre priests. The walk to the countryside will take at least an hour, depending on our pace. Vehicles are few and far between on the dirt road, so taking one would draw attention. Mika-El’s wearing the cloak of worshippers, a Topaz-colored robe with white lining, the inverse of his garment as the High Priest. It reveals a good bit of his chest, I must add. I thought modesty was a holy virtue; I don’t dare complain, though. 

Despite the clouds blocking the sun, it still feels like a hundred degrees outside. Me and Akechi are wearing short sleeves but Mika must be boiling with his thick long ones and his hood on. I’ve heard the climes in the Republic are less intense, probably due to the nation being surrounded by seawater on all fronts. The summers are cooler and the winters are warmer; this must be quite the change for that spoiled zealot, I bet he usually has people flocking to fan him. The tungsten holy mace holstered to his hip should slow him down even further, but he’s managing to keep up with our pace. He must be a leg cyborg. It doesn’t help that he’s wearing sandals; he must have not heeded Akechi’s suggestion, if Akechi gave him one. The dirt and pebbles finding their way under his foot can’t be comfortable. 

I’m currently carrying Akechi’s and my bags, Akechi’s carrying Phoenix, and the High Priest is carrying his own bag. The weapons Akechi presented earlier were apparently sent on ahead in front of us so that they could be packed and ready for the WarLands when we arrive. His supporters will polish and mend the wares too before we get there, according to Mika.

I notice that Phoenix is resisting his cage more than usual. The thin metal bars around him must make his crate a poorly fashioned oven.

“Let him out,” I tell Akechi, “he won’t stray far and I can call him back when we get there.”

Neither Akechi nor Mika-El knows that me and Phoenix are linked. I’m sure they’re making their own assumptions about his Topaz-colored eye and Boss but it’s probably nowhere close to reality. My eyes are on the golder side as well but most people either think I’m wearing contacts or I have two optical enhancements. Usually the former as having two enhancements and no TB is so rare.

Phoenix flaps through the air, letting the breeze from his speed cool him down. I take it he’s still mad at me because when I offer him my strapped arm he acts as if he doesn’t see it. 

He squawks twice, circling us overhead. I think that odd so I place some eyedrops in, claiming dry tear ducts to my allies. I pump my heart’s blood through my eye and check what Phoenix sees. 

Maybe he just spots some worms or he’s frightened by another bird. 

I wish that was the case. Akechi suddenly craning his head to the side confirms it. 

Bandits. 

We’re a little over halfway to the countryside on a desolate road and people are trying to rob us? Could they be any dumber? We’re dressed like two tourists and a monk. On the off chance that we had any valuables on us at all, I doubt it’d be enough to satiate seven people. 

Seven. I could handle them no problem with Phoe, regardless of my wounds, if I didn’t have to worry about two sensitive onlookers. Having them bear witness to a slaughter a fit Mental would never be able to execute would seal my fate. I even have to act like I’m surprised when the thieves surround us.

Akechi already had his bow drawn when they came into our sight. I acted like this was my signal to brandish my weapon as well in the same way Mika readied himself. I’ll need to engage one enemy at a time to keep up the ruse. These robbers lucked out; I can’t go all out because of the boys and Akechi’s bag has the valuables he’s planning on pawning off in the Queendom. He didn’t trust sending them with Mika’s people. 

I click my tongue. We need to protect these goods or we’ll be in deep shit.

Mika turns his back to us and drops his bag behind him to free his hands. Splendid idea, Your Holiness. 

I follow suit and place my bag next to his and let Akechi’s sit on top of the pyramid. We form a triangle surrounding the bags as one of their archers aims an arrow at Phoenix, deducing that he gave them away. I immediately blow my whistle, beckoning him to me. Phoenix dives, but the archer doesn’t have time to release the arrow because Akechi grazes him with an arrow of his own. Not a direct hit but pretty good for a novice.

This is bad, we’re on the defensive; we’re outnumbered and outclassed. There are two (skilled) archers, one ax wielder, a non-combat medic, two swordsmen, and a woman I assume to be their leader with a silver pin on her waist.

“Fork over the goods and everyone makes it out of this alive,” she threatens. 

Is that a standard thief one-liner?

None of us respond when Phoe claws at one of the swordsmen. Damned bird, guess we’re attacking. 

I bolt to his side with reduced speed and swing at the man’s ankles while flipping the hilt of my sword upwards into the other swordsman’s jaw vertically. He was trying to get the jump on me while I was crippling his friend. I head for an archer while Phoenix unsuccessfully tries to bite off the hand of the incapacitated fencer. His screeching in conjunction with the fainting of the other sword user disorients the robbers. The archer misses her first shot but the next one will hit me at the speed I’m going. I’d be able to dodge easily if I could pump gemmed blood to my feet. I have to settle for getting nicked as I lean slightly to the side.

Akechi is currently engaging the other archer while Mika is keeping the captain and axewoman at bay. I say at bay but they’re really at his mercy. He stops the downward swing of the axewoman and sidekicks the leader at the same time when she runs up on him. 

Yeah, definitely a leg enhancement. 

The head of this mob doesn’t have the opportunity to show us her true power as she slams into a tree and falls unconscious.

Or dead, she might be dead.

All this and Mika still hasn’t used his mace yet. I don’t have time to pray for the axewoman as the archer nocks her arrow again; I throw my sword at her, but she dodges, smirking. 

That was a distraction, goofy. 

Phoenix plunges through her arms and snaps the cord of her bow between his beak. It’s my turn to smirk. Attaboy. She tries to retreat but her nerves get the best of her as she slips out of the tree she was cooped up in. My sword’s in the thickets somewhere so I wrap my hands around her throat. The medic, seeing that our number of able-bodied fighters now exceeds his crew’s, makes a strategic retreat. Sorry, I can’t have you tattling on us to the nearest village. I don’t need to try to sic Phoe on him because his avian instincts tell him to chase after prey who run. He’ll at least slow him down until I’m done here.

I should have taken some more of those pain pills because my chest is killing me right now. Apparently, strangling someone takes a lot of core strength. This choking needs to be longer than those with the priests, I need to kill this one. I maintain my grip even after she stops fighting me to finish the job. Her nails were stubby so she couldn’t claw very much. This feels weird, this is the first time I need to kill someone who didn’t sign up for this as a soldier.

I’m guessing all these cyborg plunderers had some type of arm enhancement, considering their weapon mastery. I get up, stepping on my victim and holding my side. I need to check on Akechi, he’s probably hurt fighting that bowman by himself. I’ve slowed down to a brisk jog back to my companions at this point. I need to hurry or the distance between me and Phoenix will give us headaches. I’m shocked to find the body of the male archer afflicted by a blunt force trauma to the head. Nice, Mika. He most likely helped Akechi out so they could be two v one against the ax wielder. They don’t need my help so I turn back to find my sword and follow the healer. He surely hasn’t gotten far. Playing hide and seek with my blade starts to waste too much time so I decide on pirating the male archer’s bow. It’s fine, it’s not like he’ll need it.

I finally catch the medic swatting away my crow and staggering along. I blow on Phoenix’s whistle to move him out of the way. I take aim and fire. Square in his Achilles heel before he can turn around.

Damn, I’m good.

I snatch the soon-to-be corpse by the collar, dragging him behind me back to his squad. If you kill together, expect to die together. When I return, the ax woman has lost. 

Are shamans allowed to do this?

We gather the party in a pile after pillaging them of their goods. After finding my sword, I uncover a match and quite a bit of alcohol in the mender’s bag. I show the still suffering ones the rawest form of mercy so that they are out of their misery before we cremate them. 

Out of the three of us, Akechi is the only one shaking and crying. One can’t expect a prince to have killed before, but I didn’t expect Mika’s reaction. He lights the pile and kneels in prayer, whispering hymns for the souls he sent to the afterlife. Akechi vomits at the scent of burning corpses and I go to him. 

I rub his back while he’s throwing up his lungs, smudging the fluids staining his shirt.

“I hurt her, JJ. I used His Holiness as a shield and stabbed her when she wasn’t looking. This woman would’ve been my subject and citizen when I become king. She and every Southerner she knows would have been under my command as sovereign. How can I claim to want to be a just male ruler or crown prince when I butcher my own people?” he cries.

Aw, baby’s first murder. I pop some pain pills, then offer some to him for his stomach. He doesn’t accept.

“Do sovereigns not execute people? What would happen if someone tried to attack the king in his palace? Or one of your siblings? The result would be the same, would it not? Or for anyone really. Anybody who kills understands the risk she’s taking of being killed, Akechi. Even me,” I try to soothe him, stroking his hair. 

Phoenix rubs his feathers up against Akechi’s squatting legs to comfort him. Everyone’s response to their first kill is different. I know mine was; I was hysterically laughing in the middle of the WarLands at fourteen.

Akechi nods but doesn’t reply, letting my words or his actions sit with him. When he gets up again, I can’t recognize the look in his eyes.