Genius Bastard

Braph, Orinia, and Orin entered Taither an hour or so past midday, a powerful spring sun masked by a layer of cloud. The streets were quiet. Not surprising given that it was around ten days since the arrival of his automatons. Braph estimated that the affected Kara would have shown signs of weakness within a day of being injected. By now, the first would be dying. He had pondered that his family may arrive to mass panic, but subdued worry was just as feasible. Quaver’s best were dying and, while they may be able to tie the deaths to the arrival of Braph’s machines, they would have no idea what was happening or what they could do about it. Each minute, Braph sensed his own importance grow as the Karan race became incrementally rarer.

Despite the first grumble from his stomach, Braph led his family down the streets that would take them to Llewella’s memorial garden. His hunger for the pulsating Ajnai would always trump a mere human need to eat.

Someone screamed perhaps a street away. Another yell. A door slammed. Another scream. Running feet, fast, catching up. A whirring whine.

The Karan rushed past, blubbering.

The flying automaton stopped its chase as it drew level with Braph and matched pace with him. Braph waved a dismissive hand at it and brought up his shield, camouflaging his Karanness. The automaton shot off after the fleeing Karan again.

“Was that one of yours?” Orinia asked. “What do they get out of Kara?”

“I helped dad build some of them.” Orin skipped to catch up with the adults and beamed at this mother.

“Indeed you did, son.” A sense of pride washed through Braph and he considered that he might be a good father, having created many an opportunity to bond with his son over the years.

“These ones don’t suck. They inject.” Orin’s eyes sparkled with the opportunity to tell his mother how clever he was.

“Aenuk blood? Or Immortal?” Orinia scowled. Confusion rather than anger.

Braph laughed. She was right. He wouldn’t be so benevolent. Although … “A gift to the world.” He smirked. “The end of Karan violence. The end of war between Quaver and Turhmos.”

“You are Karan.”

“A non-violent one.”

Orinia considered that a moment. Certainly she had never seen him in a fight. She hadn’t attended the battle with Aris, as heavily pregnant as she had been at the time.

Braph continued. “And a magician, of course. A man about to change the course of our world.” He smiled at her and was surprised to find himself hungry for her praise. “For the better. For our son.”

She clasped his hand and leaned in for a kiss even as screaming filled the air around them. Braph’s automatons had returned to Quaver.

***

Llew entered the kitchen numb. Anya scooped her into a hug while Jonas eased himself into a seat at the table. Elka continued to potter at the kitchen bench.

“I’m so sorry, Llew.” Anya’s heartfelt effort to comfort landed empty. Of course there was nothing more she could say. Anya hadn’t met Merrid and Ard, could never understand what the world had lost. And she’d had little to do with Hisham. Still, Llew appreciated the effort.

Released, Llew picked up the water jug, but it was empty. She was about to head for the well with it, when running footsteps sounded outside. What now?

Alvaro swung the door wide, Rowan puffing behind him.

“We’ve got a problem.” Alvaro said. “Come. There’s a— thing you have to see.”

“A thing?”

Alvaro shook his head. “Just come.”

Llew queried Rowan, but all he would offer was tightly pressed lips and a shake of the head.

Llew gave Jonas a grimace and he waved her on. He was sore and tired after the walk back, anyway.

The first thing Llew noticed when she stepped outside was Karlani almost naked by the well, and becoming more so, peeling the leg of her trousers over her heel, her large, unbound breasts in full view. Ard had spoken of the well being a draw to the farm. If anyone happened by now, it wouldn’t be thirst pulling them in. Not for water, anyway.

Rowan made a choking sound.

Water dripped from Karlani’s hair. Trousers thrown clear, she rubbed at her forearm then reached for the bucket and doused her entire body, dropped the bucket, and scrubbed her palms around her ribs, shoulders, chest. Llew wasn’t sure from their distance, but it looked like Karlani may have been crying. She looked sharply at Alvaro.

“Not that.” Alvaro scowled at Rowan, then beckoned Llew. “Come.” He led them back to the farm cemetery.

Alvaro pointed at the ground by what remained of the dirt pile they’d been shoveling over Merrid, Ard’s, and Hisham’s corpses.

Llew stepped closer. Thin, curved pieces of glass lay amongst the sparse, dry grass and dirt. If fitted together, they might have made a sphere.

“It came straight for Karlani, like she was what it was looking for,” Alvaro said.

“It—?” Llew turned to him.

Rowan bent down and fished something up off the ground. He held up a fine piece of metal. “I’ve never seen such delicate work.”

Llew felt sick and her body tingled with the desire to put as much distance between herself and the metal … leg – for that was all she could think of it as – as possible. “Braph,” she pushed the name out. “Braph made that.” It could be no one else.

Llew’s skin crawled with visceral memories of the metallic critters crawling over her as she was tied down in Braph’s lair, piercing her skin, drinking her blood. She wanted to run, vomit. She most definitely did not want to stay anywhere near these finds. But no one else knew what they were looking at. She pressed fingernails into palms. The real sensation forced down those based on memory, helping to keep her panic in check.

Rowan collected another prize from nearby, another leg, this one jointed and still attached to a couple of tiny cogs.

Llew took another step back.

“It flew around her—” Alvaro started.

“Flew?!” Llew looked everywhere, up, down, spinning around. There would be others. Was it really there for Karlani? Or could Braph have sent it for Llew’s blood? He had her mother, and his son. Could his appetite be so insatiable? Her panic rose, but where could she hide from flying machines?

“The – I don’t know, bauble? – held some sort of jelly.” Alvaro pulled his knife and crouched to scoop up a sample from the ground. A viscous liquid partially stuck to the blade while excess sloughed back to the dirt. “Karlani swatted it, but the bauble broke, and she got some on her arm. She’s afraid it could be what Jonas has.”

Llew supposed the critters could inject just as well as suck. Alvaro was saying they could fly now. Llew’s whole body shook. She could think of little worse.

“It targeted Karlani?”

“Hm hmm.” Alvaro nodded.

“Yeah. It didn’t show any interest in us,” Rowan confirmed.

“It might not have been after Karlani specifically … It flew?” Llew was still struggling with that idea. The crawling bloodsuckers had been bad enough. Her skin tingled and her leg muscles itched to move her somewhere, anywhere, away. But there was no away if those things could fly. “Maybe it was trained to hunt Kara.”

“Do you think this could be what Jonas has?” Alvaro lifted the knife slightly.

“I don’t know. It was on the tip of a crossbow bolt; it might be sticky like that.”

“But Braph is Karan,” Rowan stated. “Why would he send these things out to inject Kara with something that would weaken them?”

“Braph’s also a magician. He can probably just tell them to leave him be.” Llew sneered, her hatred of the man almost eclipsing her fear of the flying metal creatures.

“Bastard,” Alvaro said at the same time Rowan murmured, “Genius.”

Rowan looked up, perhaps sensing Llew’s horror. “Sorry. I know how you feel about him.”

No. Llew didn’t think he would ever understand.

“But,” Rowan continued, “the man is a genius.”

“And he uses that genius to hurt people. If that’s not his intention, at the very least he doesn’t try to avoid it. But this …” Llew waved her hand at the sticky gel Alvaro still balanced on his knife. “That’s got to be intentional. He must be sending them out to target Kara. It’ll devastate the Quaven army. The entire nation.”

“What does it do to non-Kara?” Alvaro asked. He stepped back, straightening his arm to distance his core from the gel.

Llew shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

Rowan, too, took a step back from the knife, and took a second look at the pieces of metal in his palm. There were too many ’ifs’. And if non-Kara could be infected, and if contact were enough, Rowan was already in trouble.

“We don’t know that this is what’s hurting Jonas, but I think it’s best we assume it is. If I can cure Jonas …” She nibbled her lip. Nothing they’d done so far suggested she could heal him fully without getting to the tree in Taither, and her theory relied on Jonas’s connection to that tree. No one else could count on that. She looked in the direction of the well, though the homestead blocked her view. Karlani was right to fear getting infected. Llew had no idea if she could help the Syakaran woman. Or even if she would. And she didn’t know if she would have long enough to make a choice.

“Contain it as best you can and come and eat,” Llew said. “We wouldn’t want animals spreading it. I’ll talk to Karlani.”

Alvaro gripped Llew’s shoulder before she turned away. “Karlani said this is the second one she’s had come at her. The first was a few days ago, it was heavier, more full. She smashed it with a stick and doesn’t think any of that stuff got on her, but she also had no idea what it was. She’s real scared this time. Some splashed on her skin. And she’s seen Jonas …”

Llew clenched her teeth on a rebuttal. They’d all seen Jonas. A man with so much to live for. Why should he fade and Karlani live? It didn’t seem fair for Karlani to remain unscathed, but she couldn’t speak such an uncharitable thought. Should she even think it? Llew was Aenuk: healer. What would the likes of Raena do when faced with such a choice? Certainly, it wasn’t a choice to be made in an instant. She nodded her understanding and Alvaro released her.

Llew returned to the homestead – already having noted the absence of Karlani by the well – to find the Syakaran woman in the back corner of the kitchen, still naked and vigorously rubbing at herself with a towel. And sobbing.

Anya stood by her, pleading with Karlani to let them help her. She turned a helpless look Llew’s way.

“Al and Rowan will come in soon,” Llew said. “We might as well eat.”

Karlani stopped her scrubbing and turned a dark scowl on Llew. “Food? You need me whole and all you can do is talk about food? You need me. You need to fix this.”

“And you saw how it was done. Now, tell me you want my blood injected into you for no good reason. We don’t know if what was in that thing is what Jonas has. We don’t know if skin-contact means you’re infected. And we won’t know if you’re infected for a few days—”

“One,” Jonas said. “I knew somethin’ wasn’t right after a day. She’ll know.”

Llew closed her eyes. By the time Jonas had admitted his weakness to her, he’d been suffering in silence for days? Llew wished he’d felt he could have told her, not that she would’ve known how to fix him, and she doubted Braph would’ve helped any earlier. But, still. They could’ve done something .

Llew took a breath, opened her eyes, placed herself behind Jonas and rested her hands on his shoulders. Why had he not trusted her? A conversation for another time.

“Well, I suppose, the sooner we know, the sooner we can decide what we’re going to do about it.”

“Decide? What is there to decide?”

Llew held Karlani’s gaze, a fury heating her. “Even if you want my blood, you think I’m just going to give it to you? You who held me down while Aris killed our babies?”

As Llew spoke, the door opened and Alvaro entered, holding the handle of a cast iron pot at arm’s length. He stopped, staring between Llew and Karlani.

“Bacon and eggs.” Rowan stepped through the door, avoiding Alvaro and carrying a bowl, and also paused. “Ah …”

Karlani met Llew’s glare with an impassive gaze, wrapped the towel around her and rolled it to secure it. “Well, yes, I suppose you would bring that up.”

Llew almost laughed off the deflection, rage trembling through her. She had to focus on not squeezing Jonas’s shoulders too hard, and put the energy into a firm but gentle massage. He partially turned his head in query, but accepted her ministrations.

Karlani looked Elka up and down, noting her twisted hands, then glared at Anya. “Somebody wash my clothes. And find me something else to wear in the meantime.” With a huff, she sat on the seat across the table from Jonas, not looking at anyone.

Llew looked to Anya, whose eyebrows raised in question. Indeed; why did they have to put up with the Syakaran woman? While Llew’s first instinct was that Braph’s bug couldn’t have infected a more deserving person, she also couldn’t help harboring some sympathy for Karlani. Underneath every action Llew was taking, every decision she was making, the fact that Jonas might weaken to the point of dying under her watch kept a certain anxiety buzzing at the edge of her conscience. The only thing keeping her going was the shred of hope she could heal him, returning him to full strength. But that belief relied on his connection to the Taither Ajnai. Karlani didn’t have that. But she did have the advantage of early warning, if Llew could bring herself to give blood to the Syakaran woman who had ruined her life.

Alvaro placed his pot on the stove, glanced at Llew and eased around the table to sit by Karlani.

“Are you alright?” he murmured.

“No.” Karlani clipped the word, anger protecting her, but for a waiver in her tone that tugged on Llew’s hint of sympathy that she really didn’t want to feel for this woman.

Rowan placed his bowl on the bench and looked around the room, seeking Anya who emerged from the main bedroom with a selection of garments.

“Good,” she said, placing the clothing in Karlani’s lap. “Before we do anything else, I think we all need a good feed.” She met Llew’s eye with a gentle expression.

She was right. But Llew was still reeling from the discovery of the flying automaton. They’d just put their good friends in the ground, and now this? Not to mention the heat Karlani set boiling within. She felt crowded in that space, everyone looking to her for guidance and solutions she didn’t have. The wrong string of words could tip Karlani into a despair or violent rage they couldn’t afford. Or Llew might find herself unable to maintain her veneer of strength and she might admit how little faith she had in her own plans.

She managed to say, “Thanks, Anya. I’m going outside for some air. I’ll be back, I promise,” before words failed her.

“Really?” Karlani asked. “You’re running away?”

“Shut up,” Jonas said.

“Don’t talk to Karlani like that,” Alvaro snapped.

“Hey, everyone. Can we have a little calm for a moment?” Rowan held up his hands to placate the room.

“Calm.” Karlani rolled her eyes.

“Just shut up, get dressed and eat somethin’,” Jonas said. “We don’t know anythin’, yet. So all this? You’re just suckin’ energy out of the room. Give us all a minute, alright?”

Karlani glared at him.

Anya placed a hand on Llew’s arm. “Go,” she whispered. “We can manage. I’ll keep something aside for you.”

Grateful, Llew stepped outside into blessed encroaching darkness and silence. Relative, of course, with sheep baaing in the distance, and the constant chatter of the chickens closer. Away from people and their expectations, at least. But those flying critters were out there, somewhere. She let the shudder rock her body this time, then stretched out her hearing, glossing over the warbles and chirps of birds, darting her eyes to follow whatever buzzed in the night, but that was all they were. Perfectly natural. She’d never forget the clackety tapping of the metal legs on the stone floor. Likely, the critters would have a distinct sound when they flew, too.

She sucked in and blew out a few deep breaths, trying to center herself in calm. It was safe out here, for now.

The door swung open behind her.

“You need to fix me.”

Llew closed her eyes and let her breath leave her body before turning to face Karlani again.

“You might not even be infected. And I’m only asking for a few minutes. Please, Karlani.”

“Karlani.” Jonas stood in the doorway, leaning into a crutch, his voice full of the confidence he used to possess, Anya at his shoulder looking ready to take the Syakaran woman on herself.

Karlani’s eyelids shuttered briefly, and she rocked back on her heals. “Fine. Have your little breakdown, or whatever, but you better pull yourself together, ’cause this looks a whole lot like the beginning of a war, to me. A war you’ll want Syakaran power to fight.”

“And a soldier gives her captain space to come up with a plan before a battle,” Jonas stated flatly.

Karlani laughed, but she stepped back and back, then turned into the kitchen, Jonas let her pass.

Llew acknowledged Jonas with a nod before turning back to her trees.