Kiran- the Warrior's Bride Read online

  “Wake me up when you decide to kill me! I’m sick and tired of you!”

  I shut the seyr down and fell back asleep.

  Strangely enough, they didn’t’ attempt to wake me up any more. I didn’t hear them leave either. Sleepless nights can do this to you. I had also drunk quite a lot. Although, not as much as Nrogo.

  * * *

  I slept for a long time and woke up because I was hungry. I jumped up, stretched and only then remembered where I was and what I had been doing all night long. I looked at myself in surprise. My attire was the same, that is fairly worn white underwear with brown stains of dried blood.

  Then I remembered about the seyr. I dashed back to my bed and searched it. The device was gone! There was no trace of it anywhere.

  Something caught my eye. I looked at the bed again and froze. Yesterday, the linens were beige. Today, they were white. Both pillows were neatly placed back where they belonged. I didn’t understand what had happened. Had they changed the bed and put me back on it? Had I not notice that?

  Confused, I looked around the dreary bedroom. Then I heard footsteps behind the door.

  “Kiran, baby, are you awake?” A woman’s voice asked.

  “Y-y-yes,” I stammered.

  The door opened, an old woman peeked into the room, saw me looking at her, smiled and only then walked in.

  “Well, hello Kiran, daughter of Ciara.”

  “Hi.”

  “I am Ashara,” the woman introduced herself.

  “K-k-kiera,” I introduced myself, but obviously, that was unnecessary.

  The old woman suddenly frowned, tightened her lips and looked at me with very strange eyes, as if measuring me from tip to toe.

  “Kiran, Little Panther, so nothing happened between Nrogo and you?” She asked.

  I frowned too, turned around, and sat on the bed, covering my panties with the blanket.

  “Who are you?!”

  “Oh, baby, you can sit!” The old woman said indignantly.

  “Should I not be able to?” I was sincerely surprised.

  “No, you shouldn’t!” The old lady desperately prayed to some unknown god. “Oh, Kiran, oh my Little Panther! What have you done!”

  What had I done?!

  * * *

  Breaking and entering is not really my style, but sometimes you have no choice. This was one of those times when I didn’t have one. I listened to Ashara’s lamentations to the tune of ‘What have you done?’ and then decided to pay a visit to the ‘hippo family’. Why? Because mama hippo had my seyr.

  “Tanzhah changed your bed, while mighty warrior Nrogo held you in his hands. He didn’t allow anybody to wake you,” Ashara told me hurriedly. “Tanzhah is the lady-in-waiting of the Beloved Etalynn, and your thingy is in her room.”

  By ‘thingy’ Ashara meant the seyr, but it didn’t matter. More importantly, based on the old woman’s lamentations, I had to get hold of mom urgently, so I needed to get the seyr back as soon as possible. That’s why I decided to pay a visit to my stepmother.

  “Tell me where her windows are,” I told Ashara, as I jumped up and went toward the wardrobe.

  Three minutes later, I was wearing my training suit and thinking about two problems: how to get down to the floor below unnoticed, and what to take with me in case of unforeseen complications.

  In the end I chose two mini cameras, perfume (to use if I ran into animals like the one Nrogo brought yesterday), glue (just in case), an extract of an Ollean herb, and a mineral from Vertakah. When used separately, they are just good hand lotions, but if you mix them 2:1, the resulting substance causes hives. I’m eternally grateful to our chemistry instructor for teaching us this little trick. It was only ten in the morning when, equipped with these meager accessories, I climbed out of my balcony.

  According to Ashara, Etalynn’s chamber was one floor below and two balconies to the left. Taking the regular route through the halls wouldn’t be smart. Ashara explained to me that, then, everyone would understand that nothing had happened between Nrogo and me, which would be very bad. I didn’t quite understand why it would be so bad for me, but decided to trust her.

  On the balcony, I faced a problem – my windows and balcony looked out into the courtyard and currently, my father and thirty other warriors were training there. I sat down behind the railing so that nobody would see me and looked around the yard. I saw a fairly tall stone building in the back. I wouldn’t have guessed what it was used for, but at that very moment several warriors led some four-legged riding animals inside.

  “Ashara,” I called softly, “these riding beasts, are they herbivores?”

  “You mean gahatas?” The maid asked and answered right away. “Yes.”

  I silently retreated from the balcony and sat down, thinking.

  “Ashara, can the khassar walk into my chamber?” I asked another question.

  “Not until sundown. It’s tradition,” the old lady replied.

  “The smell will be gone by that time,” I decided and headed toward the wardrobe.

  As we liked playing mean tricks, Micha and I always got the best grades in our ‘Sabotage on Enemy Territory’ class, but frankly I never thought that these lessons would come in handy.

  “Okay,” I whispered, examining the perfume bottles that contained pheromones. “What do we have that has predator smell? Aha, this one has extract from tiger urine.”

  I was saying this aloud like I used to do when I was scheming together with Micha.

  “At least we’ll give it a try. Ashara, I need a bulb or a thin glass bottle of any type.”

  The old woman left without saying a word and promptly returned with a small shot glass.

  “Not exactly what I had in mind,” I said. “But it will have to do.”

  After some time, I filled the shot glass and covered its top with a thin film. It was strong enough to hold the liquid in, but it wouldn’t protect the glass from breaking. Holding this contraption designed to distract the enemy, I crawled out onto the balcony again. Hiding behind the curtains, I figured out the best trajectory and threw the shot glass into one of the windows of the tall building in the back of the yard. I didn’t miss, which was not surprising considering that I was always a great shot.

  I sat down behind the railing, waiting to see what would happen. First, I heard some snorting, followed by strange loud neighing. Then the building shook. The nice thing about it was that the warriors stopped their training and dashed to the building, with my father in the lead. As soon as I saw that, I jumped down.

  Jumping from balcony to balcony was quite easy, and a minute later I was in Beloved’s chamber.

  The first thing I noticed was that there were many more curtains there than in my room. They were white, beige and gold in color, which made the room look beautiful.

  “What’s happening there?” A displeased voice asked from somewhere deep inside the chamber.

  I hid behind one of the thick curtains and heard hurried footsteps right away. The woman in a gray robe and black belt I had seen yesterday walked out onto the balcony, looked around and started to explain.

  “Gahatas are restless, my lady. Spooked by the snakes, perhaps,” she said and walked back into the room.

  ‘Hm, they have snakes here,’ I noted to myself.

  “Is the khassar already there?” The same displeased voice asked.

  “Yes, my lady,” the maid answered subserviently.

  “He’s the fastest and the bravest,” the voice said with pride and admiration. “Is aytnah here?”

  “Yes, my lady. She’s waiting for you in Princess Adalynn’s chamber.”

  I heard both women’s hurried footsteps, and then the door slammed shut. I looked out and saw a spacious bright room with wooden floors and similar furniture. I didn’t see anyone inside. I waited a few seconds, walked into the khassar’s Beloved’s chamber and froze, thinking what I should do next. It didn’t take me long – most women hide things in their lingerie, so I decided to search
the bedroom. On the way there, I installed one of the cameras in the living room.

  Finding the bedroom was easy, because the layout was similar to my chamber, with just slightly bigger rooms. I was surprised when I saw the bedroom, however: it was three times bigger than mine. The huge bed with a thousand ruffles was decorated with dozens of embroidered pillows. Several bouquets were placed around the room, some of them dry. On the vanity, there were a hundred not needed perfume bottles filled with various liquids. In one word – tacky. A scene right from a cheap romance story.

  ‘Kiera, don’t be distracted,’ I said to myself and went on to rummage through Beloved’s wardrobe.

  It was interesting to notice that she did have some underwear, despite the tradition. They weren’t revealing and, judging by the shape, they were designed for critical days only. I wondered how they could not wear any underwear on regular days. It was just strange to me.

  I found four seyrs at the bottom of one drawer. One of them was mine. Examining the devices, I discovered that one of them, the black one, was used quite often, even the panel was worn out, while the other two didn’t work anymore. I took my seyr, or rather the seyr that Naska had given me. Then I decided to play a trick. I took the black seyr and tried to hack into it. I hid behind the bed, so that I wouldn’t be seen from the door. If necessary, I could get under the bed quickly from this position.

  Very soon I found out that this precaution was quite appropriate.

  “Wretched snake!” Etalynn yelled, bursting into the bedroom.

  I slid under the bed right away and tried to breathe more quietly. This was probably unnecessary as Etalynn continued to yell.

  “Shindah! Daughter of a whore! Wretched bitch!”

  Interesting…

  Lying under the bed, I saw two feet in ugly gray flip-flops pacing the room nervously. Suddenly two more feet appeared, fully covered by a black skirt, so I could only see the tips of black shoes.

  “Adalynn wasn’t hurt,” a husky, but very stately voice said.

  “Wasn’t hurt?!” Etalynn’s scream was so shrill that I felt like covering my ears. “My little girl has no eyebrows, no eyelashes and no hair above her forehead!”

  “It will grow back,” the same stately voice answered. “I checked the cream’s ingredients. It’s only a hair removal cream, nothing more. Everything will grow back in fourteen days.”

  Ha! It was going to be at least thirty-seven days. That little cream had an improved formula that slowed down hair growth. Too bad I couldn’t see my little sister’s face at that moment.

  “Grow back?” Mama hippo continued raging. “Aytnah McVarras, you must cure her right away! Today! Master came for one day only and…’

  “I’m sorry,” the voice sounded sorry indeed. “I can cure an injury or sickness, but I can’t make her hair grow back without affecting her face, and you won’t be very happy seeing your baby with a beard!”

  Etalynn sat on the bed, making it creak in agony.

  “Kiran did it! That bitch!” She moaned.

  Aytnah said something I never expected to hear.

  “Her punishment is at hand, kassaratah Etalynn.”

  As they say, I pricked my ears right away.

  “Aytnah McVarras, are you sure that nothing happened between them?” Etalynn asked abruptly. “Even the ceiling was shaking here!”

  Considering what Nrogo was doing last night, I’m surprised that only the ceiling was shaking, rather than the whole palace.

  “I saw Khassar Nrogo,” Aytnah replied. “His eyes are not those of a satiated man, there is too much hunger and anger in them. Nothing happened between them. Aytnah-khassash will arrive at sundown and confirm it. Nrogo will be deemed to be weak, Kiran will be punished, and the plan of the khassar of Aigor will be implemented.”

  I’d have lost my footing, if I hadn’t been lying on the floor. I couldn’t even think straight.

  “But still,” Etalynn said, “if Nrogo had taken her, then what? Agarn will never give his daughter to an old enemy! Never ever, and we both know it. If so, Ayeh will have to make a choice – either my daughter or the daughter of that whore! Who would he prefer?! The khassar is blinded by his love for this daughter and may not understand it, but the ruler will choose Kiran. Even without her virginity, Kiran would be preferable simply because she’s a warrior’s daughter born to another warrior!”

  Things were getting more and more curious. I didn’t really understand half of what was being said, but it was very interesting anyway.

  “She’s still a virgin,” the woman in black said firmly. “And it will be confirmed at sundown! She would have been treated after spending the night with a warrior, but after the punishment nobody will treat her. Kiran will spend many days in bed, and only Adalynn will be presented to the ruler.”

  “But still,” my stepmother insisted.

  “My lady Etalynn, there is no point in killing Kiran.”

  “It’s the best option!” Father’s Beloved hissed, jumping up in anger.

  “She belongs to us!” The soft and asserting voice, suddenly exhibiting commanding notes, objected. “After giving birth to the heirs of the chosen son of the khassar, Kiran will become an aytnah.”

  ‘Defective gene, they really have way too many plans regarding my humble persona! No, I really need to talk to mom. Urgently!’ I thought, trying to figure out how to get out of this situation.

  I didn’t quite get what ‘will become an aytnah’ meant and needed to find out right away.

  “She’s the eldest,” mama hippo objected. “There’s always a chance that Ayeh will choose her. Rulers prefer the eldest!”

  “We won’t let that happen,” the woman said calmly and confidently.

  I lay there, trying not to grind my teeth. I was so mad at my father, his hippo-sized woman, this strange person in black and Eeristan in general. I finally began to understand why mom did everything she could to stop me from coming here.

  The floor started to shake slightly, the bedroom door opened, and I saw the familiar boots of my father. The warrior moved practically without any sound.

  “Aytnah McVarras,” he growled, “we need your assistance.”

  Judging by his tone, father was furious, and both women knew that.

  “Oh, my lord,” Etalynn ran up to him, “your clothes are dirty, let me…”

  “Leave, woman!” Father growled furiously. “Aytnah, go downstairs, quickly!”

  The black skirt hurried out of the door. In the meantime, a fight was brewing between the khassar and his Beloved.

  “My lord, allow me…”

  “I don’t need to be washed, woman!” Father snapped. “Remember your duties, go downstairs and make sure that a meal is ready for my sons!”

  “But, my lord,” Beloved insisted. “There’s manure on your chest and on your face.”

  “I’m fully aware that I’m not covered in flowers!”

  I startled every time he shouted at her, but the khassar’s Beloved was obviously used to such treatment, which meant that soon he’d allow her to get some rag and clean him up.

  I saw a towel hanging from the nightstand by the bed. A malicious smile danced on my face, while I carefully squeezed my secret creams out of the tubes onto the towel, mixed them up and rubbed them in using the other end of the tube. I did this quickly and carefully.

  “Agarn, please,” as expected mama hippo’s feet moved toward the nightstand, and the towel disappeared from my sight. “Let me just wipe it away.”

  Her feet approached father’s, and she probably started wiping the dirt off. Five, four, three, two, one…

  “Woman! What’s happening with your hands?”

  I heard a frightened scream, and Etalynn rushed out of the bedroom. Father followed her.

  I glanced from under the bed and regretfully noticed that the cream affected only mama hippo, while father didn’t get any red spots.

  Alas, I had no time to hack into mama hippo’s seyr. I put the device back, then went
up to the door and listened. Etalynn’s whining was coming from somewhere far away, probably from the bathroom. I picked the hazardous towel up and examined it. Then I found a similar towel in the wardrobe, stained it with manure from the first towel and carefully rolled the creamed towel, hiding the evidence. Before leaving the enemy territory, I installed the second camera by the bed.

  I got to my stepmother’s living room without any problems, but I was afraid that I would have to create another diversion when I got back onto the balcony. I got lucky.

  “Tanaye!” Somebody cried out, and everybody in the yard rushed toward the palace.

  A minute later, I was back in my chamber. Two minutes later, I went to the bathroom and burned the towel with remnants of the allergy-inducing mixture. Then I was ready to talk to Ashara.

  “I’m hungry!” Was the first thing I told her.

  * * *

  I lay in bed, holding a sandwich in one hand and my seyr in the other. Mom sullenly digested the information I provided. Micha was not there, she was still asleep.

  “Kiera, you’ll have to find a warrior and… you know…” Mom said in a sad voice.

  “I don’t know,” I bit off another piece of the sandwich and looked thoughtfully at the old lady that was running around and preparing something I could wear. “Mom, this Ashara… who is she? Is she your mother?”

  Mom’s green eyes were full of sorrow.

  “Kier, firstly, nobody would have let my mother into the house of the khassar of Aigor. Secondly, she’s not a maid… she’s not even a woman anymore. It’s a long story, Little Panther. I’ll tell you, when you are back.”

  “Promise?”

  “You know, I always keep my word.”

  “I know,” I was silent for a while. “So, who’s Ashara?”

  “A friend. She owes a lot to me, so she will be on your side, even if she has to pretend that she acts in the khassar’s interests.”

  I finished my third sandwich and moved on to the important questions.

  “Mom, I don’t get it, are incestuous marriages really allowed on Eeristan?”

  “If it’s between children from different mothers, such marriages are even encouraged,” she answered with a sigh.