Traits One Looks for in a Lady

"The merchants are trying to kill me?!" I was outraged. I wasn't sure what could have possibly pissed me off more than that, but watching the current and former Hell Knights fine dining in the middle of a national crisis certainly was high on the list. I was about to berate Judgment for accommodating them when Falcon Hell raised his hand and cut me off.

"When my guild was tapped for a 'rather unusual' job," He said. "I was almost tempted to come out of retirement." He grinned at his student. "Glad to see my prodigy had things under control."

"Sorry about your underling," Gloria Hell lied. She clearly wasn't sorry at all.

"Wait… You set that up?!" I suddenly realized the sickening resemblance between teacher and student. The art of manipulation was clearly a trait shared by the pair of them.

"What should we do?" Judgment brought the subject back to a more constructive point. "This normally wouldn't be a church matter, but now that they're after Sun."

"We find their objective," Gloria Hell told him. "And we eliminate it. Killing Theo isn't their objective."

Falcon Hell agreed. "The Sun Knight merely represents the God of Light."

"So then they're trying… to kill a God?"Judgment tested.

Glo's eyes lit up, "That' actually quite possible."

"Oh, my," her teacher agreed. "That is bold."

"Quite clever really," Glo nodded.

"Ahem!" I interrupted their back and forth. "What do you mean 'kill a god'?"

"No Sun Knight has ever died in office." Glo reminded me. "If they were to actually kill you then it would be a sign that we've lost the favor of the God of Light."

If one overlooked the sheer impossibility for that ever happening the backlash would be the stuff of legends. There were over a million followers of the God of Light in the capital city alone. Small reservoirs of followers existed even far into the territory of the Shadow God. Our clerics' healing abilities were famous and well thought of even on other continents. Did the merchants really think that killing me would mean the collapse of the church itself?

No, I decided. Gloria was far too clever to even let anyone passed the church's defenses. Besides, in the event of my death my Hell Knight had enough dirt on me that all the church would have to do was tarnish my reputation to save the religion.

But after realizing something I groaned inwardly.

After spending five years defending my reputation there was no way my subordinates would speak ill of my name. For centuries the holy knights had sworn the perfection of their leader. In all likelihood they would rather watch the religion fall and salvage my name, my "good" name. Perhaps they would make me a martyr, but I utterly detested that idea and firmly decided to keep myself alive.

"You'll have to draw them out into a full on confrontation." Falcon warned. "It'll be risky, but seeing the Holy Knights ridding into battle-"

"Is frightfully old fashioned." Gloria interrupted her teacher and stood up. "It's exactly what they'll be expecting."

I watched her collect the dishes and strode off. Judgment followed her out. It wasn't in his nature to let someone else handle the cleanup after a meal. Falcon Hell eyed his student thoughtfully. Contrary to my expectations he did not (as my teacher would have done) scold or punish her for speaking out of turn. I wondered what he had seen in her form that caused him to stay his tongue.

"She's angry." Falcon said as if reading my thoughts. "It's not unexpected. Even if it was joke I did point a blade at her Sun Knight."

I wouldn't call sending an assassin after my life "a joke", but my anger subsided the moment I remembered exactly who I was speaking to. If anyone knew what secrets my spy was keeping, it would have been her mentor. I asked, "Do you know about a woman named Elisa Motife?"

The question caught the former knight of guard. The response just slipped out of his mouth; "The woman Glo hates most in the entire world?" He studied me for moment and then snorted. "Don't tell me…"

"I didn't sleep with her!"

"I should hope not." Falcon settled back into his seat. "That woman is a psychopath."

"Elisa wouldn't hurt a fly," I countered.

"And yet she still managed to wound your beloved Hell Knight in ways you and I were not meant to understand."

I was about to argue, but then I remembered. The sensation of holding Hell's battered body in my arms and praying to the gods more sincerely than ever before sent a shiver down my spine. Glo told me it was my imperfection that had caused her to do that. Her teacher blamed a woman. If I was going to find a real answer I needed to know more about their relationship.

"It'll cost you," Falcon warned before I could open my mouth. "I'm from the underworld and where I come from information is not cheap."

I sighed. "How much?"

"I'll settle for a bottle of your best wine," Falcon said pleasantly. "And we'll go from there."

"Originally I was just going to add Gloria to my spy network." Falcon explained. "I didn't even consider making her a Holy Knight. It would have been impossible."

"Impossible why?" I probed.

"I'm sure by now you've discovered Glo's talents align with… other disciplines." Falcon shrugged. "I agreed to teach her holy magic, but I wasn't expecting anything."

Glo's father, I learned, had been a knight in the private service of the Motife family. He had been fired by Elisa's grandfather after a duty related injury almost crippled the knight. It was customary to pay compensation to the knight's family in that kind of situation. Customary, but not required. Although both her parents were descendents of shadowpreist stock, they had converted to the church God of Light. It must have been unbearably trying to call on their shadow worshiping relatives who occupied the slums for help. Religious prejudices still existed in the capital city and many of the Shadow God's followers had either kept their faith a secret or found a home in the Court of Miracles. Glo's father became the third king of the slum court.

If I had been the one drinking I would have spit out my wine. Glo's father had been king of the Court of Miracles?

During our knight's selection while I was working my tail off trying to impress my teacher she hadn't even been in the running. I pictured the dirty streets in my mind and wondered what it would have been like to grow up there. She wouldn't have belonged. Her sense of honor and purpose would have placed her apart from the other children. Falcon had eventually seen a spark in her hidden somewhere deep down inside. She would have been an uncut diamond cast among river beaten stones.

"How can she use holy magic then?"

"Faith probably," her teacher replied. "I know that's a foreign concept to you."

"That is a common misconception." I drawled. "Does everyone feel the need to be reminded exactly who the head of the Temple is?"

"I applaud your dedication, but I'm also concerned for my student." Falcon warned. "I've never married, so Glo is like a daughter to me. I promised her father I'd keep an eye on her. I owe the man that much."

"So you made her a knight. How safe do you think that is?"

"Well, her parents think she's a cleric."

"Typical." I poured him another glass. "So, does she just hold some grudge against the Motife family or something?" I tried my best to steer him to the topic I was actually curious about.

"No," Falcon replied. "Elise is different."

The former Hell Knight took a sip of his wine and remained silent for a long, long time. After some thought he confirmed the story that Elise had told me herself. Elise had been psychologically abused by her older sisters and sought refuge in the church. She was studying to be a cleric when Glo was practicing to be a knight. After Glo returned from abroad with Falcon and she had frequently entered the Sanctuary of Light to practice her art of disguise.

"Elise didn't have the talent to be a cleric." Falcon explained. "She returned to her family and Glo went after her. I'm not clear on all the details. It was the first mission Glo had ever failed."

"It's not her job to save people." I said in a low voice. No matter how great of a spy she was, Glo was no match for family entanglements. Even I wouldn't dare trod on another's family matters. Elise would have been an especially hard case.

"I never said she went there to save anyone," Falcon replied. "I know what her job is."

I paused when I realized what he meant. "Who was she supposed to kill?"

"An enemy." Falcon said absently. "But then it's always an enemy. That's what you tell yourself."

"Do you remember the men you've killed?"

"Every single one."

I wanted to ask how many Glo had killed in that way. I wondered how she felt about it. I already knew she was skilled, very skilled. I had seen that much with my own eyes. Did she take after her master? Did she strike hard and fast from above or muscle her way in like panther. I speculated on whether or not she would be cat-like or serpent-like in her pursuits. It was an occupation that couldn't be avoided. Hired killers could be bribed. Glo's loyalty ran on a different revenue stream. I wondered if she really believed the God of Light would forgive her for taking another man's life or if there was some universal hell that all killers were doomed to dwell.

Unless she's sold her afterlife to a necromancer, I remembered wryly.

"Is that all you wanted to ask me?" Falcon inquired.

"How come you never married?" I politely changed the subject.

"Because my ideal woman is half my age."

"…excuse me?" I glared at him suspiciously.

"And of noble birth."

"Ah, that would be a problem." My expression changed to one of sympathy.

Falcon chucked. "I'm lying."

"I see."

The old spy turned the ties on me. "And what about yourself?"

"The Sun Knight only loves the God of-" I started to recite.

"Bullshit." Falcon eased back a little and I could see a splash of color on his face. I wondered if he was starting to feel tipsy. "I'm asking what you're ideal woman is. Clearly you haven't found her."

I snorted. "Oh, and I suppose you have?"

"Aye, and can't bear to bed another since." Falcon nodded slowly. "Courting ladies gets tiring after a while. It's all well and easy when they're giggling messes and you've got your boyish looks to fall back on. When you're my age, unless you're a widower, there's no woman to look at you twice." He leaned back. "Take my advice and have a wife lined up for when you retire. Otherwise you'll be spending your retirement in want of a warm bed."

"I don't think-"

"Trust me." Falcon tapped his nose. "Stop wasting your time on those rich lilies."

"Did Glo put you up to this?"

"Why would my student care who you're sleeping with as long as it's not Elisa?"

"That's a good question. Wait. Why should she care if it's Elisa?"

Falcon's face was flushed now, "I told ya. Glo hates that woman's guts and she's got good instincts. She's my prodigy, you know? Of course she hates…who are talking about now?"

"Never mind." I shook my head. "If you're so smart. What kind of woman should I be looking for?"

Falcon grinned stupidly, "The kind that ain't afraid to stab you in the back, but is kind enough not to. That's a good woman! A girl that can hold her own and won't cling to your arm for protection. They don't look like much now –all prickly and green when they're young- but rather than courting white lilies you should be having a go at blood red roses!"

"Here you go," Judgment passed Glo a handkerchief after she sneezed. "Is it always this dusty in here?"

The stoic Hell Knight waved him off and pulled one of her own from her pocket. Glo nodded in response to his question and cleared her nose. Dust always irritated her sinuses. For that reason along with many, many others she always wore a mask. Since it was just the two of them in the Temple archives Glo had left her mask down so they could have a proper conversation. She was helping Judgment bring an end to the Court of Miracles. To do that she would need to collect her subordinates' notes and records.

It hadn't slipped Gloria's mind that only her cousin or her closest companions had known she and Sun were walking to that tavern. Only the members of the court had known she was there. Even if the person they had sold the information to had been Glo's teacher and in the end no harm had been done- Glo was not going to let the matter slide so easily. She was not a member of the family anymore. She was a loyal knight of the Church. She served her captain and her god.

All others could be damned.

But it wasn't her place to round up criminals. Once she turned the notes over to Judgment he could begin his investigation immediately. She would recommend he take some of the Sun platoon with him in a few of the necromancers got out of hand. Then she should forget the matter. She had other duties to attend to and they were not on the legal side of things.

Her teacher's plan was well and good, but it wasn't her style. It wasn't suited for the modern age. The knights would be facing muskets and magic combined until one side or the other fell. Glo counted the odds and decided that twenty deaths would be sufficient. It was much better than losing allies in the platoons. Riding into battle was foolhardy, but so was infiltrating the enemy ranks alone. Glo ran down a mental list of potential allies she could take with her. Chad would take care of matters at the temple for her. Strictly speaking she should hang back and let others do her dirty work.

But I knew my Hell knight very well and this was personal. Although Judgment couldn't see it she had on her "I'm about to go and do something reckless" look.