Hello beautiful people! Guess who just went through her finals and is finally free from HellSchool?! MEEEEE! As you can see, I didn't update the last few weeks because... Well, I was supposed to be studying, but instead I procrastined by doing absolutely nothing. But I still made it through the finals and now I have two whole months of vacation (Well, if I pass my exams, that is). Anyways, all of that to say that your girl is stoked and will probably finally manage to finish the second part of this story (there are only about six or seven chapters, give or take). Anyways, enjoy!
"Anya?"
The whisper echoed right next to Onya's ear, who hastily threw her fist in that direction. Kassi dodged the blow with ease, used to her violent reactions.
In the middle of the room, Heda was meeting with her Wormanas. It was rather informal and Onya would have preferred them to broach the subject of the Maun, or of Azgeda, but not to waste so much time. Kassi seemed to have managed to sneak into the room to get behind Onya.
"Damnit, when will you stop doing that?" grumbled Onya.
Kassi gave her a huge smile.
"Never. It's funny."
"What do you want, Skaifaya?" Onya sighed.
"I need you to come with me."
Onya gave her a suspicious look.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing! I didn't do anything! I just…need your help for a second."
Onya glanced at Heda, who didn't even seem to notice the presence of the Skaigada. If she disappeared for a few minutes, no one would notice.
Shrugging, she followed in Kassi's footsteps as they entered the secret corridors reserved for servants. By dint of spending her time with Oksana, Kassi had learned all the secrets of the tower, secrets that even Onya was unaware of. They descended a spiral staircase, finding their bearings simply by letting their hands run along the wall. Eventually, Onya emerged into the open air, and Kassi pulled her with her into the city, turning her back on the tower to enter the maze of houses.
The gray night was falling, everyone had deserted the streets, returning home. The silence was disturbed only by the distant bursts of voices of the inhabitants, at home. Kassi walked between the houses with impressive ease, Onya realized that she was probably used to making this journey.
Finally, they arrived in front of the little house where Onya had found her dancing, Kassi turned to her.
"You won't have to get on the roof this time."
Onya nudged her, rolling her eyes, as Kassi sneered. Kassi approached the door, knocked twice, once, then three times, and the door opened.
An old woman faced them, and Kassi opened her arms wide.
"Hello Ingrid!"
Said Ingrid, obviously not very happy to see her, rolled her eyes and moved aside to let them pass, Kassi skipped inside the house, only lit by a fireplace in which a fire was burning.
Kassi led her through the building, directing her to the courtyard that Onya had seen before.
A small group of half a dozen women were chatting peacefully with each other. Some whispered, others smiled. They were of all ages, of all builds, Onya wondered what could have brought them together.
"Everyone, behold! Our one and only Anya!"
A few laughs rang out at Kassi's gesticulations, some nodded to greet her. Kassi pulled her by the hand inside the yard.
"Don't be shy, come on! You gotta meet my back dancers."
"Back dancers, you wish," replied a young woman with a shaved head.
"That's Masha," Kassi announced. "We're using Solveig's house as a rendezvous point, her mother Ingrid doesn't like me very much."
"I noticed," Onya replied.
Smiles appeared on the faces of the women.
"I still think this is a bad idea," grumbled a scarred woman.
"And that's Maia," Kassi added. "She thinks you're bad news."
"I have good reasons. She's too close to Heda. She's going to tell on us."
"Tell on what?" Onya asked.
"See, uh... We've been sorta training to fight," Kassi explained, shifting from one foot to the other. "We're not really supposed to."
"Did you bring me to an underground fighting ring?"
All the women seemed to hold their breath nervously, but Kassi flashed a huge smile.
"Nah, I made an underground fighting ring."
Onya had to fight everything in her not to smile.
"Why am I here?"
"See, we're not the best at this shit. Even Viktoria, who's our best fighter, she didn't go through warrior training. You've been training me for months, you managed to make me improve, which is a miracle . But... They need that knowledge too."
Oksana nervously twisted her fingers, a middle-aged woman named Yelena bit her nails, Masha seemed to be holding her breath.
Onya considered them for a few seconds, before deciding.
"Okay. We're starting right now."
Kassi let out a squeal of joy and the tension disappeared completely.
As Onya's new students teamed up for practice, Kassi hopped over, tying her white hair at the back of her head.
"Thank you for doing this. Really. It means the world to us."
"I'm not a monster, Kassi. If they want to learn, who am I to deny them that right?"
Kassi smiled, then her expression suddenly became more serious.
"Maia was right, though. You can't tell Heda. Or Leksa, for that matter."
Onya frowned.
"We're not planning to overthrow the government or shit," Kassi added. "But if Heda knows, than others could, too."
"Why is that a problem?"
Kassi licked her lips, seeming to hesitate.
"Well... Okay, I think you're one of us now, so I can tell you. But you don't know anything, got it?"
Onya nodded, and Kassi moved closer, rising on tiptoe to whisper:
"Solveig and Ingrid keep getting robbed. Ever since Solveig's father died, they've been harassed by those he was in debt to."
She indicated another woman with a movement of her chin.
"Viktoria's husband beats her."
"What?"
Onya knew her husband, one of Heda's warriors. Come to think of it, Viktoria's hair was covering her face for a reason.
"You don't know anything," hissed Kassi, like a reminder shot. "Believe me, I tried. I wanted to ambush him, beat the shit out of him, but I know what will happen if I do. Trust me on this one, if anything happens, Viktoria will be the one paying the price."
Onya frowned. How could she be so sure?
"The only reason she's here is in case he decides to take his anger out on the kids."
She pointed to another woman.
"Tilda only had daughters so far. Her twins were born right after the death of their father. It's up to Tilda to fight for them."
Onya gazed at the group.
"And Masha's daughter wasn't born a girl. She was born in the body of a boy. Nobody else knows, but once the little one can't hide it any longer, Masha's gonna have to fight for her."
Kassi turned to Onya, a smile on her face.
"See? We're women, we're mothers. We all have to fight for this shit. But we need a teacher. Think you can help us with that?"
Mouth closed, Onya nodded. A smile on her face, Kassi rose on her tiptoes to place a kiss on her cheek.
"Thanks."
And she hastened to join Oksana, tackling her to the ground while screaming like a pauna.