Chapter 44 – Odessa's Lesson

There was happy conversation buzzing at every table of Hai Yo's restaurant except for the one Flik was at. He sat in his chair, staring into a half-finished mug of beer and a bowl of tomato soup.

"What's the matter, Sir Flik?" Nina, to his right, asked. "If you don't eat your soup, it'll go cold."

"Hey, Flik," Viktor, on his left, growled. "Tell the brat to scram. She's killing my buzz."

"Why don't you scram?" Nina retorted. "Can't you see we need some time alone?"

Flik started to massage his forehead with his thumb. "I've known Flik longer than anyone," Viktor argued. "I'm certainly more important to him than some twit who latched on to him a few days ago."

"I'm no twit!" she shouted. "Besides, Sir Flik and I are fated to be together. The Stars of Destiny in the heavens sang out at our meeting."

"I don't care if Hikusaak himself jumped out of the rose bushes to declare you two wed. Just go away, at least until later."

The waitress Min Min suddenly appeared at Flik's back. "Excuse me sir, but if your guests won't stop disturbing the other customers, we're going to have to ask you to leave."

Flik gritted his teeth. "Nina, Viktor and I need to discuss important military matters. You can talk to me some other time, okay?"

Nina frowned, but immediately replaced it with a smile. "Okay, Sir Flik! I'll be waiting for you by your room. See you later!" She got up from her chair and cheerfully bounded away. Flik groaned.

"So…are you actually interested in her?" Viktor asked.

"Of course not!"

Viktor took a swig of his beer. "Then you should tell her that. There's no point in leading her on with half steps."

"I'm not leading her on," Flik answered. "I just don't want to hurt her, that's all."

Smirking, Viktor said, "She's going to keep coming after you until you tell her to stop. Or until she gets what she wants out of you."

"Can we drop the subject, please? I'm not here to talk to you about little girls."

"Right. What do you want to talk about?"

"How are my men?" Flik asked. "I've been out on missions and haven't been able to work with them."

Viktor laughed. "I'm sure they'll be glad to see you. You'll probably go easier on them than Shu. He's had your senior sergeants pulling out their hair trying to get new recruits in shape."

Flik took a sip from his mug. "Any Highland moves?"

"Nope. Everything's quiet. Shu says most of them are still in Muse." Viktor shook his head. "This waiting makes me uneasy. They'll have to come after us sooner or later."

"Hopefully later."

"Could be." Viktor drained the rest of his beer and signaled for another. "Thing is, I want to go out and bonk some heads. That damn strategist's been giving you all the work lately. I'm stuck marching back and forth on dusty roads."

Now it was Flik's turn to smile. "Don't worry, you'll get your chance too."

Later that evening, after several more drinks and a relaxing bath, Flik was making his way back towards his room. He'd been looking forward to sleeping in his own bed for quite some time. Unfortunately, Nina, true to her word, was standing sentinel at the door. At the first glimpse of her, he quickly ducked back into the hallway and flattened himself against the wall.

She appeared not to have noticed him, but continued her vigil by his room. He clenched a fist, telling himself that he was going to march out there and order her to go away. He repeated this in his mind several times, then turned and quickly walked away, leaving his room behind him.

There was only one place to go after that, so he climbed up the stairs of his tower and stood on the landing. Both moons were up and nearly full, though the Blue Moon was waning, while the Scarlet was waxing. The gusting of the south wind had brought up a fine haze that made all but the brightest of stars indistinct. It was uncomfortably warm, even with the sun down.

Flik stretched out on the stone landing and tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in. It wasn't an easy job. He kept tossing and turning on his back, threatening to roll down the stairs. To counteract that, he sat up and leaned back against the wooden roof, but this led to his back becoming sore. Then he went to resting on his stomach. At some point that he didn't remember he fell asleep, and dreamed of events from his past.

In the memory he was running through a thunderstorm, down the slick streets of Gregminster in the middle of the night. He was deathly afraid of losing his way, but also afraid of slowing and getting caught. In his mind, he could hear the beats of the pursuit over the roaring of thousands of drops of rain. Lightning flickered in the sky, enough light to show that he was approaching an alley. Ignoring the stirrings of his rune, he turned and sprinted into the safety.

Back against a wall, chest heaving, Flik waited until he actually heard the patrol stomp past the alley before he moved on. He kept to the shadows, but moved more confidently. The last flash of light had been enough for him to catch his bearings. Still, the streets were not safe for him, especially on this night. Another flash of lightning showed him a single patrolman ahead. Flik waited for the darkness to return, drew his sword, and mercilessly cut the man down from behind. The deed done, he ran on.

His winding course finally brought him to a street full of large mansions, iron wrought fences, and manicured lawns. He slowed his steps as he neared one particular mansion. The guards at the gate pointed their spears at him nervously, but recognized him in the next flash of light.

"Commander Flik, what are you doing here?"

"I need to get in!" Flik shouted. "Let me in!" He brandished his sword at them. The blood was slowly running off of it in the rain.

"Let me get Humphrey," one of the guards said uncertainly. He splashed off through the downpour.

"Damn Humphrey! Let me past!"

Flik nervously looked over his shoulder, begrudging every second's delay. To his credit, Humphrey ran up in fewer than five minutes. In his usual unperturbed manner, he asked, "What's up?"

Flik grabbed the bars of the gate and shook them. "Wake Odessa up! We need to go now!"

Gently, Humphrey placed his larger hand on Flik's and pried it off the gate. "Why don't you take a few breaths and calmly tell me what's the matter?"

He swallowed some breaths, but it didn't change his mood. In a slightly less intense tone, Flik stated, "We need to activate the contingency plan. The Emperor has decided to move openly against us."

One of the guards dropped his spear in shock. A rolling of thunder overwhelmed the noise. "You sure?" Humphrey asked.

With a tight jaw, Flik answered, "Of course I'm sure. The information comes from Viktor. As much as he annoys me, do you think he'd be wrong on that?"

Humphrey shook his head and motioned to the guards to open the gate. "Go and tell Lady Odessa. She'll need to hear it from you. I think you'll find her in her room. But be careful, Flik, her mood has not been good of late." He turned and started giving orders to the guards. "Wake the groomsmen. Tell them to have the horses saddled and ready to go."

Flik darted past them, running down the path that led to the great wooden doors of the Silverberg manor. Not bothering to knock, he shouldered the doors open on his own strength. Inside was a completely different world, one of gold, silk, and perfumed wood. It was dry, and the incessant rain was only a muffled purr on the distant roof.

An elderly but solidly built man rushed over, his face aghast- probably at the puddle forming on the carpeting. He was Horace, Odessa's chief butler. "What has happened?"

"Go. Prepare for your lady's departure," Flik ordered, walking towards the great stairs that climbed to the second level. His blue cape trailed more water onto the floor. At the top of the stairs, he paused to be sure where he wanted to go. When he'd first started in Odessa's service, he'd spent many nights in one of the guestrooms. Recently his duties had pulled him away from this place. It was sadly ironic that even as they'd grown closer together, circumstances conspired to keep them apart.

Now he charged down the hall leading to her sleeping quarters. A maid stood in front of the door at the end of the passage. "My lady has retired for the night," she said, giving Flik a disapproving sniff. "You may leave a message with me-"

With one hand, Flik shoved the maid aside. With the other, he flung open the door. Not hearing the maid's indignant squawk, he rushed into the room. For all the time that they had been together, he had never been in this room. The canopy bed that stood in the middle was at least three times the size of any bed he'd ever seen. As befitted a Silverberg, there were bookcases covering parts of two walls, filled to overflowing with books. He was well aware that she'd probably read most of them and was familiar with all the rest. A wall-length closet extended along the third side of the room.

Odessa was sitting by a dresser with a mirror on top of it, wearing a peach nightgown. Two more maids were helping her comb out her hair for the night. They jumped in front of their lady when Flik looked in her direction. Odessa stood up and motioned them aside, confronting him with a glance that was both annoyed and worried. However, her voice was neutral when she asked, "Why are you here, Flik?"

Flik could barely contain his anxiousness. "Odessa, we must flee at once. Barbarossa has made his move."

The maids frowned at him for not referring to her as "Lady." Odessa smiled; it was an indulgence she was willing to grant to him. "What's happened that's got you so upset?"

"The Emperor's sent men to raid most of our safe-houses in the city. Plus, Viktor's learned that he's ordering an army of ten thousand men through Kwaba. Their orders are to secure Gregminster against 'bandits and other disturbances'."

Odessa's smile quickly became a frown. "The Five Great Generals are permitting such a move?"

"Apparently so."

She crossed her arms on her chest. "Damn. I was hoping that Milich and Sonya would see reason, at least. I wonder, did he use the power of his Rune to force their compliance?"

Flik took a few steps towards her. "Now is not the time to worry about that. We have to leave immediately."

"I afraid I can't permit my lady to escape," a new voice interjected. Flik whirled, his eyes seeing the chief butler standing to the side of the door, pointing a small crossbow in his direction.

"Horace, what is the meaning of this?" Odessa asked.

Flik watched as determination and doubt raged across the butler's face. "I've been given assurances that the Emperor intends no harm for you, my lady. He knows how valuable the Silverberg family is to the stability of the Empire. Everything can be smoothed over if only certain…hotheads are removed from my lady's presence."

Flik's hand tightened on his sword. Horace's steadied over the trigger of the crossbow. "Please put down your weapon," the butler ordered. "We are all well aware of our lady's 'infatuation' with you, so I don't want to have to hurt you."

"Horace, I made my decision to oppose the Emperor a long time ago." Flik could tell by the sound of her voice that Odessa was walking towards him. "None of the people around me have influenced me in that regard."

Horace's finger suddenly wavered, then slipped off the trigger. Flik moved, extending his right hand to launch a bolt of lightning at the butler. The force of the blast tossed the old man hard against the nearest wall, making him drop the bow. Following through, Flik drove the point of his sword into the man's chest, crackling and crunching through his sternum, and pinned him against the wall. Horace coughed up blood onto Flik and then relaxed into death.

Wiping the blood off his cheek, Flik withdrew his sword from the butler and surveyed the room. The two attendants were hugging each other in fear. Odessa had a horrified expression on her face.

"Why did you kill him?" she asked.

"He had a weapon. I couldn't take any chances." Confusion began to well up in him. He'd expected Odessa to be more grateful.

"It was unnecessary. I could've talked him out of it!" Even Flik couldn't mistake the outrage in her tone now.

His confusion was replaced by a blaze of anger. "He was a traitor. He was working with the Emperor. He would've betrayed all of us, even you."

"You didn't have to kill him, damn it!" Odessa shouted at him, on the verge of tears. "I've known Horace all of my life. He was like a father to me, especially when my brother and uncle weren't around. He wasn't a traitor, just a misguided old man!"

"He's the enemy, Odessa," Flik argued back. "This is no time for half-measures. He threatened your freedom. He threatened my life. You know how much I care for you, don't you?" He held the bloody sword that bore her name out in front of him.

"I did not fall in love with a monster," Odessa answered. "Not with a man who kills at the slightest provocation."

He did not fully understand, but he knew her disappointment with him was real, and that cooled his anger. He looked away from her, down at the ground. "I'm sorry."

She walked over in front of him and lifted his chin with her hand until they were looking at each other eye to eye. "You can't undo his death," she said softly. "That's why you should be more careful in your actions. This war will bring so many needless deaths. I didn't want them to begin in my own bedroom." She sighed, then reached forward and touched him on the shoulder. "I accept the apology. Now clean your sword, Flik. I won't allow my name to be associated with unjustified blood."

She moved away, conferring with her maids. Flik stared at his bloody weapon for a moment, then searched for something to wipe it off with. The corner of one of her blankets was handy, so without thinking he cleaned the blade on it. Only afterwards did he realize that he'd now brought that blood directly to her bed. He hoped it wasn't an omen.

The maids had returned with Odessa's new clothes: a gray tunic, white pants, red boots and cape. These were laid out on the bed. Odessa looked at Flik and winked. "As much as I might want to shock the staff -and you- by dressing in front of you, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to wait for me outside my door."

Flik began to blush at her suggestion. "I-yes, I think I'll wait for you." He backed towards the door. As he did so, he paused to drag Horace's corpse out of the room. Waiting in the hall, he studied the dead man, and tried to understand Odessa's lesson.

Forgetting where he was, Flik rolled over to get the sun out of his eyes. He nearly rolled down the stairs. Catching himself at the last moment, he sat up, yawned groggily, and wondered why he was sleeping on the tower. Then he focused on the memory and shivered. He knew that violence was a part of his life now. He hoped that he wasn't being consumed by it.

He jumped up, realizing that he was supposed to be at a meeting this morning. He rubbed a hand across the stubble on his face and looked up at the sun. Flik judged that there was enough time for him to shave before the meeting, if he hurried. Running down the stairs three at a time, he dashed down the halls until he reached his room. Luckily, Nina wasn't waiting at the door, so he walked into the room to prepare to clean up.

This involved leaving his room to fill a shallow metal basin with water from the nearest pump, but once that was done, he returned and sat down in front of his dresser. He casually pulled his bandanna off to get it out of the way and noted that he'd probably need a haircut soon. Grabbing his straight edge, he set to work shaving off the stubble.

In the middle of that process, Nina's voice suddenly said, "This thing reeks." Flik nearly shaved off his nose in surprise. Carefully setting down the blade, he glanced over his shoulder to see Nina sitting on his bed, examining his bandanna with a look of distaste.

"What are you doing in my room?" Flik asked.

Nina pouted. "You never came back last night. I waited and waited and waited and waited for you, but you never came. So then I saw you coming back this morning and let myself in. But enough of that; you really need to wash this. I know! You want me to wash it?" Without waiting for his response, she jumped off of his bed and skipped towards the door.

"No. Wait! Come back here!" She was gone. Flik didn't hesitate. He got up and ran after her. "Give me back my bandanna," he shouted when he caught sight of her.

Nina looked back over her shoulder and smiled saucily. "No way, not until it's clean." She picked up her pace.

The chase was on. He pursued her down the hallways, past Anita, who smirked, past Hilda, who was carrying linens back to her inn, and past a little girl in a pink coat and skirt, who was leading her sheep through the castle. Nina led him to the natural stone balcony near Hai Yo's restaurant. Yoshino, Freed's wife, had set long lines of laundry to dry in this place.

Nina ran over to the wash basin and plunged Flik's bandanna into the soapy water, eliciting a strangled noise from his throat. Yoshino, her long brown hair blowing in the wind, appeared from between two lines to see what the noise was about.

"She's stolen my bandanna," Flik explained.

"I just want to wash it," Nina said. "It stank of dirt and sweat."

Yoshino chuckled behind her hand. "Why don't you let her?" she asked Flik. "It's always nice to have someone looking out for you. I don't think Freed would clean his glasses if I didn't tell him to." Nina began humming happily as she scrubbed the bandanna. "Besides, she seems like a sweet girl," Yoshino added.

"She doesn't need to stick her nose into my business," Flik commented, which made Yoshino giggle again. Flik sighed and sat down on a rock, waiting for the results of the washing.

He tried not to watch Nina as she worked, though she smiled every time he looked in her direction. Odessa had never been that direct with him, certainly not before he'd declared his love to her. She'd also been more mature than Nina, having been engaged and then having to watch as her intended was killed. Besides, he still loved Odessa, still wanted to make himself stronger and better for the sake of their love. No little girl was going to divert him from that.

"Here you go, Sir Flik!" Nina said cheerily. "All nice and clean. Doesn't it smell great?"

Flik started at her appearance before him, then snatched the bandanna out of her hand, tying it around his forehead quickly. It was still damp. Glancing at the sun, he knew he was now very late for the meeting. He stood up and said, "Thanks. I've got to run." That's what he did, sprinting back down the halls towards the meeting room.

He paused outside the room, standing before the Journeyman Crystal, and wondered whether or not he ought to say a quick prayer before Shu or Viktor yelled at him. From inside, he heard Apple ask, "Why don't you set up some chairs for the meetings? It would sure be a lot more comfortable."

"That's just the point," Shu answered. "I don't want people to get comfortable. I want them thinking about new ideas, and speaking them. Besides, even I can't stand sitting around and talking about nothing for too long."

Flik walked into the room, noted Viktor, Teresa, Riou, and Nanami, and waved hello. "Sorry. I had some difficulties this morning."

Viktor smiled broadly. "Difficulties? Nina playing hard to get? All you have to do is pursue her a little more vigorously."

Flik shook his head vehemently. "Don't accuse me of chasing skirt! She's the one who's interested in me and you know it. Besides, she stole my bandana and washed it. I had to follow her around the entire castle just to get it back."

Viktor started laughing loudly. He was probably audible for miles around. "It's like you've got a wife, except she's not spending her nights with you. You've got all the problems and none of the benefits."

Shu cleared his throat loudly, reminding Flik of where they were. Flik looked back at Viktor. "I'll find a way to get back at you for that one," he promised, but his tone was good-natured. "Okay, Shu, you can start the meeting."

"Indeed. Now that everyone is ready, I'll begin. With our recent success in Greenhill and the pending arrival of General Ridley, we will soon have approximately ten thousand men with which to fight the Highland Army. While this is enough for a satisfactory defense of what we hold, it is not sufficient to force the enemy off our land."

"And you've already thought up some brilliant plan that will help us, right?" Viktor added.

"I have," Shu commented. "There are still two City-States within Jowston that are non-aligned in this conflict: Tinto and Matilda. Tinto has closed its borders and is refusing to meet with any of our messengers, but Matilda has recently expressed an interest in talking with us. Specifically, Gorudo wishes to meet Lord Riou personally."

Teresa frowned sourly. "Do you really think Gorudo will work with us? He's more likely to stab us in the back for his own purposes."

"I am aware that Gorudo's primary interest has always been the expansion of his political power," Shu observed. "That's exactly why we have to pursue this option, because his motives and ours are in alignment. Highland now controls all of the States bordering Matilda. Gorudo will not want to be surrounded by the enemy. This also helps us because it will allow us to threaten Highland on a second front, forcing them to split their forces. Do you agree with me, Lord Riou?"

"Why does Gorudo want to speak with me?" Riou asked.

"I believe he wishes to measure your character in person," Shu answered. "Gorudo can be a harsh and exacting judge, but he knows where his interests lie. All you have to do is be yourself, Lord Riou, and I'm sure you will win allies to our side."

Riou nodded, "Okay, let's meet with him."

"I'm coming," Nanami exclaimed. "I want to meet with more of those cool knights."

"Cool?" Riou asked. Flik was wondering the same thing.

"Of course they're cool," Nanami replied. "Just look at their outfits, and their dreamy faces. Are you jealous, Riou? Don't worry, someday you might be as cool as they are."

Flik decided against asking where he ranked. Instead, he took a step forward and said, "I think I'd better go with you, Lord Riou. I'll be able to advise you on the military side of things."

"No way!" Viktor said, raising his voice. "You got to go last time. It's my turn to go with Lord Riou."

"Actually," Shu interrupted, "I'll need both of you here. It's about time we practiced marching the whole army at once, and I want you two to be commanding your own units."

"It's okay," Riou responded. "I think I can handle myself without either of you to help me."

Flik looked at Riou, saw the confidence in the youth's eyes. He nodded, knowing that Riou could do the job. Flik still wanted to go, but he knew how to defer his own desires and follow the orders of his leader. He'd learned that lesson long ago.