* * *
Tragon had known for weeks now that his friend had a habit of late night excursions that sometimes didn't end till dawn. He had the feeling that Tarius did something on these excursions that made him a better swordsman. A secret ritual maybe. Tragon wanted to be a better swordsman. Obviously, the way to do that was to copy Tarius. If Tarius was doing some magic ritual that was helping him, then Tragon wanted to do the same ritual.
Tonight was the perfect night to follow his friend, as both moons were full and would give him plenty of light, but he soon found that he could not keep up with Tarius. Fortunately, he was a good tracker; his father said he was one of the best. He found Tarius's trail easily because he was doing nothing to cover it. It wasn't long before he heard a noise up ahead, and he quickly dove into a bush scratching his face and hands in the process. He peered through the bush and could see Tarius some fifty feet ahead. He was standing on a rock beside the creek.
Quietly, Tragon moved closer. He knew he had to be careful not to get caught because whatever Tarius did out here was very private. If it weren't, Tragon would surely have been invited along. Tarius didn't want
anyone
to know his secret, so if he was going to learn what that secret was, he was going to have to be very careful and very quiet. He managed to get within twenty feet of Tarius without detection. Apparently the sound of the water was concealing any noise that Tragon was making.
The creekbed here was one large slab of rock. Erosion of the weaker strata had left a hole about the size of a small cart and about as deep in the rock. It was constantly filled with clear, clean water.
Tarius started to undress.
Ah! Some sort of cleansing ritual
, Tragon thought.
Tarius took off his shirt, and underneath he was wrapped in a white cloth.
Ah! Some sort of magic cloth
.
As the last of the cloth dropped away, Tragon had to bite down on his tongue to keep from screaming out. The best swordsman in the guild was not a
man
at all! It didn't make any sense. Was this the secret of Tarius's great prowess, that he was a she?
Maybe he just has over-developed breasts; they aren't very big. I've heard of men having breasts before. It would be pretty embarrassing. If I had them, I'd tie them up, too . . .
Then the pants came off, and it was obvious that Tarius was not now—nor had she ever been—a man. And not only was Tarius a girl, but she was a girl with a very nice body. She got into the water, which came up to her neck, and just soaked. No doubt trying to relieve the pain of the beating she'd taken that day.
I've slept by her every night; how could she fool me? How could she fool the whole kingdom? Because no one expects a woman to be any good with a sword. What do I do now? Tell Darian? They'd kill her; she's beaten them all. Hell, she kissed Darian's daughter! They'd definitely kill her—if they could, which I doubt . . .
She crawled out of the water then and lay flat on the rock. The weather was warm, and no doubt the rock felt warm compared to the cold water she'd been soaking in. Then it happened. At first he thought it was a trick of the light and he blinked twice to clear his vision. She was changing. The skin on her forehead and shoulders was thickening. She moved into a sitting position, and he could see that her jaw had thickened as well. Her canines were protruding. He muffled a gasp, and her head swung to face him. Dark brown eyes with elongated, cat-like pupils stared at him only a minute, and then the beast was on its feet and coming for him.
He jumped up and ran. He could hear it growling and the deep huffing of its breath as it pursued him, then something jumped on his back and he was going down. Going down beneath something that weighed a good twenty pounds more than Tarius.
The creature spun him around, and as he looked into the eyes of the creature, he was sure he was about to meet his brothers.
"What the hell have you done?" the creature cried in agony.
The voice was if possible even more rasping, but it was still Tarius's voice.
The creature shook him like a child might shake a rag doll. "What the hell have you done?" it asked again. Although it was more an accusation than a question.
"I followed you. I wanted to know why you were such a good fighter. I thought that you were coming to do some magic ritual. I had no idea . . ." He trailed off, afraid to speak the words.
"That I was Katabull, or that I was female?"
"Neither." Tragon realized he must sound as scared as he was. He also realized he had wet himself.
No sense
, he decided,
in playing the hero
. "Tarius, if you understand me, please, please . . . Don't eat me."
The beast smiled at him then, and he saw his friend in the beast's features. "You should be so lucky." She got off of him and sat on the ground beside him. She made a face, moved and pulled a twig from her seat. "What the hell am I going to do with you?"
He started to crawl away. She let him move about three feet and then grabbed his leg and pulled him back easily.
"You know everything about me. You could get me thrown out of the academy, perhaps even killed."
Tragon sat up beside the beast. "Why . . . why would you want to be in the academy? Wouldn't you rather be with your own people?"
"Don't you think I would be if I could? My people are scattered in every land now. My own pack is mostly gone, killed by the Amalites. That is why I want to join you. To destroy them before they can do to other peoples what they have done to mine. Your people feared us, you made us outcasts, but at least you didn't hunt us and kill us. At least you accepted our right to exist. The Amalites would deny all but their own kind the right to even live. If your rules weren't so stupid, I wouldn't have had to lie to anyone, and maybe Jena would have fallen in love with me for who I am and not who she thinks I am."
"So you really don't like men the way they were teasing you about tonight, you
do
like girls but
you're
a girl, so that means your still queer as Arvon," Tragon said in a confused tone.
"Thank you, Tragon, that was very helpful," Tarius said.
"So, are you going to kill me then?" Tragon asked carefully.
Tarius looked at him through animal-like eyes. "Are you going to tell on me?"
Tragon thought about it only a moment. "No. I wanted to learn your secret; it's obvious now that it's not something I can cash in on. However, there is talk that they plan to pair us together when we go out into the field. Since I don't like pain, or even the thought of death, how stupid would I be to turn down the chance of riding with the Katabull? I won't even have to get sweaty unless I just want to."
"Good." Tarius stood up and went to retrieve her clothes and sword.
Tragon followed her, watching her dress.
"Doesn't that hurt?" he asked of the way she was wrapping her breasts.
"Well, it certainly doesn't feel good," Tarius said. "Of course I'll have to tighten it after I change back."
"Couldn't you change back now? You're kind of . . . Well, scary this way."
Tarius smiled at him then, a very scary, toothy smile indeed. "Can't. Once I transform all the way I have to eat raw flesh or blood before I can change back."
"Oh! Isn't that lovely? If you don't mind, I'll just head back now."
He watched as the creature ran off into the night. It was a lot to keep quiet about, but his silence would mean he lived, and if he talked . . . Well, Tarius would probably kill him first. If someone else caught her, let them expose her. It wasn't going to be him. How did it serve him? It didn't, and he wasn't in the habit of doing things that might get him killed if there was nothing in it for him.
Darian watched them playing in the courtyard with no sense of joy. Tarius and his class were well into their second term. The country was deep at war with the Amalites, and keeping the second year students quiet was a daily chore. They all wanted to go fight on the front. Tarius was worse than the others.
It was their spring break, and while most of the students had gone home to help their families with much needed crops at this time of war, a few had stayed. Among them were Tarius who had no home to go to, and Tragon who seemed to be afraid to get too far away from Jena. It was obvious that Jena's heart lay with Tarius, but Tarius was impossible to read. On the other hand, Tragon was obviously in love with Jena, and she didn't even know he was alive.
It seemed to Darian that Tarius tried to push Jena towards Tragon on a regular basis, and the more he did it, the more deeply Jena yearned for Tarius. It hurt Darian to see her this way, and he didn't understand Tarius at all. It was like he purposely fought his feelings for her.
It was a big awful mess.
For now Harris, Jena, Tragon and Tarius played ball in the courtyard like four kids with not a care in the world. The game kept their minds off the very real problems here and at the front.
Tarius grabbed the ball in midair, and as he came down Jena tackled him to the ground. She used any excuse to touch him, and at least for the moment he seemed only too willing to oblige. They laughed as they rolled on the ground, and Darian could see the hurt in Tragon's eyes. Jena never encouraged Tragon's advances. He knew where he stood, but that couldn't have made him feel any better. It must seem to him that his friend was always to best him at everything.
* * *
The king looked at the motley entourage and grimaced. Persius tried to be diplomatic because Jero was the most powerful of the six barbarian kings, and he didn't want to provoke him when he might very shortly need him as an ally. Jero thought he brought Persius great honor, but unfortunately Persius was neither in the mood nor prepared for Jero to honor him in the barbarian's own special way. Persius had a war to attend to, and a country to try and feed when the enemy was setting whole fields on fire.
More to the point, considering the problem Jero's presence brought, most of his good fighting men were in the field.
"Good king Jero! There is no swordsman currently in my palace who can best your champion, so there would be no contest," Persius said from his perch on the throne.
"If you forfeit, we win, and your kingdom is mine . . ."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait just a minute! That is your law, not ours," Persius said quickly.
"I bring you great honor, and you throw my deed into my face. You have no honor. Your kingdom is weak, and we shall overtake you," Jero said.
Damn touchy, these barbarians.
Persius drew in a deep breath. What an unbridled mess! On most days the barbarian's threat would have meant nothing. However at this particular moment, he was down to a fistful of personal guards. Everyone of any prowess in battle had been sent to the front, leaving the capital city basically unguarded. In retrospect, not a very bright thing to have done.
Jero chose this moment to show up with fifty armed soldiers. They could rip the city to shreds before they could be contained, if they could be.
"Not understanding your laws, I spoke too quickly. Let me talk to the captain of my guard. I will have an opponent for your champion to fight at sunset and a great feast in your honor as well."
Jero and his entourage bowed, pounding their fist against their chests, grunted and left the throne room.
"Rutson! Send for Darian! I think he has a man who can champion us."
* * *
It was not his choice to make. The king had asked for the boy by name. Darian watched Tarius walk from the bunkhouse with his sword on his back and his helmet under his arm, wearing the armor he had come to them in.
Jena was crying and hanging on Darian's arm.
"Send anyone else, Father, but don't send Tarius. I beg you!" Jena pleaded.
"Daughter, let me go!" Darian shook her hand off. "If you are going with us, dress appropriately."
"I'm going, but I'm not watching," Jena said. Then she ran to Tarius, threw herself into the boy's arms, and started crying, pleading with him to decline the fight.
Darian threw up his hands. He gave up. There was no turning Jena into a proper lady. Trips to her aunt's house only seemed to bring her back more determined than ever to have Tarius on her own terms.
* * *
Tarius got into the waiting carriage, but Jena wouldn't let go. She sat beside her as they waited for the others.
Jena's tears cut Tarius to the core. "Jena, please stop. I will be fine. Look at me. I'm not afraid, why should you be?"
"I'm afraid
because
you're not afraid. Because you are a
moron
. You don't have the good sense to be afraid." Jena cried, drying her eyes and wiping her nose on the back of her hand. "All you think of is the great honor that has been bestowed on you."
"I will always be doing this because I am not a careful man. See how much better a husband Tragon would make you than I?" Tarius said.
"For the hundredth time . . . It is not him I love. It is you. Only you. You said you loved me, too, once. Remember?"
Yes, and that was a huge mistake I have regretted daily since. I should have used my head to stay my heart and my tongue,
Tarius thought with a sigh.
Tragon stepped into the carriage then. It was obvious by the look on his face that he had heard what Jena said, but this wasn't the only reason he was white as a sheet. He was to be Tarius's second. Tragon had already begged her not to pay any attention to Jena's pleas. "If I fight in your stead, Tarius, I will die as surely as you will live to fight another day."
Tarius had assured him that she had no intention of declining the fight.
When Justin and Darian climbed into the carriage the driver took off.
It was a royal carriage.
Very nice
, Tarius decided. If she was riding to her death, at least she was doing it in style. Her death would certainly solve a lot of problems. She sighed again, she wasn't afraid, she was too conceited for that. She was sure she was going to win. What was bothering her had little to do with the imminent battle and everything to do with the blond girl who sat beside her hanging on her arm and soaking her armor with her tears. Tarius had no idea at all what to do about Jena or the way she felt about her. However, death seemed like the easiest way out.