The Girl Born of Smoke (20 page)

Roxanne blinked. “I heard you had been
killed. I should have known better than to trust that moron’s
judgment.”

“Yeah, about that.” Tarana glared. “Why the
hell did you have men follow me?”

Roxanne appeared to be over her surprise.
“Because you’re an idiot and I was afraid you would do exactly what
you just did.”

Tarana cocked her head. “Well, that’s odd.
Because they seemed to do absolutely nothing to stop me.”

“What do you want me to say?” Roxanne
demanded. “I sent incompetent guards after you? Yeah, they were.
Who cares?”

Tarana shrugged. “I just think maybe they
weren't sent to protect me at all, just report back to you if I
managed to get myself killed.”

Sitting down on Tarana's
bed, Roxanne put her head in her hands. “Tarana, I was pissed at
you. I didn't want you killed, which is why I sent those morons
after you. Like I said, I know Prisca and I knew you had just made
yourself a very dangerous enemy. While she wouldn't be stupid
enough to fight a fellow soldier while she was in the army, she
certainly had no qualms about attacking you after you got her
kicked out. I wanted to make sure you two settled it without either
of you getting killed. Apparently those orders were far too
complicated for the guys I sent out after you.” She groaned. “You
are in such big trouble, Tarana. Even if you did get that stupid
award, the general isn't going to ignore the fact that you just
killed Prisca. In front of an audience, no less. And that guard
just had to announce to everyone that the both of you were dead.”
She lifted her head. “Prisca
is
dead, right? Since apparently those morons can't
tell the difference between dead and alive.”

Tarana nodded once and Roxanne ran a hand
through her hair. “Well, that's that, then. She winced as she heard
her name being called from down the hallway. Roxanne walked out of
the room and called back to Kendall, then turned back to Tarana and
took a deep breath. “Look,” she paused for a moment, “I'll do what
I can to keep you out of trouble, alright? I don't know if it will
be enough or not, but let me talk to General Kendall for you.”

At that moment, Kendall stormed into the
room and spotted Tarana standing amidst the wreckage of what had
once been her end table. “Just what is going on?” he boomed.

Roxanne stepped between Kendall and Tarana.
“Kendall,” she said slowly, “Prisca attacked Tarana in Ralinos this
afternoon. All she did was defend herself, which unfortunately
resulted in Prisca's death. One of my men saw the entire
thing.”

Looking over Roxanne's shoulder at Tarana,
Kendall swore loudly. “Do you realize how this reflects on the
army? The town is in an uproar. Rivalry is one thing, but murdering
a girl in front of the entire town?” His voice rose in anger.

Tarana opened her mouth to reply, but
Roxanne broke in. “I know it's a horrible mess and shouldn't have
happened, but I swear it will never happen again.”

Kendall glared at her. “Of course it won't.
Prisca is dead. I don't think you quite realize the magnitude of
what she has done. I work hard to keep the peace between the
civilians of the town and the army. That peace has just been
destroyed and I don't know if I will ever be able to recover that
trust. Did you even give her permission to enter town?”

“Yes,” Roxanne replied without hesitation,
“I did.”

“And you must have also given her permission
to carry her sword into town?”

“No, she didn't,” Tarana finally broke
in.

Shooting a glare at Tarana, Roxanne shook
her head. “If anything, that's what she should be punished for.
Simply forgetting to remove her sword before entering town.”

“Why don't you let the
girl talk for herself,” Kendall growled. “What has gotten into you,
Tarana? I award you with a medal for your enthusiasm and
loyalty
and you immediately go and murder
the girl you told me was your friend!” He continued ranting for
quite some time, but Tarana stopped listening, pushing around the
pieces of the broken end table with one foot. Finally, he threw up
his hands. “Until the battle, you will stay here in the stronghold.
If I catch you outside the grounds, you will be immediately
disbanded from the army. You will continue to attend training,
every morning without fail.” He narrowed his eyes. “And return your
damn medal. Scum like you don't deserve something like
that.”

Reaching into her pocket, Tarana calmly
pulled out the medal and handed it back to him. Without another
word, Kendall turned sharply and strode out of the room with heavy
steps. Breathing a long sigh, Roxanne glanced at Tarana, looking
exhausted. “Please do as he says, Tarana.” Without waiting for a
reply, she walked out the door, closing it behind her.

For the next week, Tarana stayed in the
building as ordered, leaving only to attend training. In her free
time, she continued training on her own until she couldn't force
herself to move any longer and collapsed on her bed. She saw little
of Roxanne or Kendall and didn’t dare sit with them during meals.
One misty and dark afternoon after training, she started to follow
everyone back inside, then turned and walked down the path toward
Ralinos instead.

Tarana strode down the street, her sword
clanking against her leg with every step. It was lightly drizzling
and she absentmindedly pushed a few strands of hair off of her damp
face. The street had turned to mud with the recent rain and the
road was covered with the impressions of boots. Without bothering
to glance up at the other people and buildings around her, she
headed straight down the main road, farther and farther away from
the stronghold. As she reached the poorest section of town, she
barely noticed when two small girls ran up beside her.

“Excuse me…” the taller of the two girls
tugged at Tarana's shirt. She glanced down at the girl, glaring.
The girl’s long black hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. Her
scrawny body was clothed in muddy rags that looked as if they could
fall apart at any moment. Her bare feet rested on top of the cold
mud and she anxiously hopped from one foot to another.

“Get lost,” Tarana growled and kept walking.
The girls trotted to keep up with her.

“Excuse me!” the girl persisted. “Are you
Tarana?”

Tarana groaned and wheeled around to face
the two. “Yeah, that’s me. I suppose you want to tell me to get out
of your town?” The girls shook their heads. “Then what do you want
with me?” she sighed. “Get on with it, I don’t have all day.” She
rested a hand on her sword, noticing with a grim smile how the
other people passing by kept their heads down and increased their
pace.

“We saw you a few days ago!” the smaller
girl piped up. Tarana turned her attention to the girl, who had
wavy black hair pulled into short pigtails. Vaguely amused, she
noticed that the girl carried a small wooden sword.

Tarana shrugged. “So? Not my problem.”

The taller one shushed the other. “Our mom
took us to see you a few days ago, when you won that award! Did you
see us there? We've been practicing really hard so that when we're
old enough to join the army, we can be just like you.”

She stared at the two girls, taken aback.
“You must be joking.”

The girls seemed not to notice her shock.
“We’ve heard all kinds of stories about you. You don’t let anyone
push you around.”

Tarana raised an eyebrow. “So that’s what
the stories say about me, do they?” The girls smiled up at her and
nodded. “And you want to be just like me?” They nodded again. She
studied the girls for a moment, noting their resemblance. “This is
your sister?” she addressed the taller girl, drawing her sword and
pointing it at the other.

Seeming nonplussed, the girl put her arm
around the smaller girl, who no longer looked quite as confident.
“Yes, her name is Annie. Mine’s Jessie.” Tarana nodded and returned
her sword to its sheath.

“Well if you are so intent on becoming just
like me, you had better get started right away, don’t you think?”
The girls nodded enthusiastically, the rain running down their
exuberant faces. “Well then,” Tarana continued, “you had better
take this.” She pulled Roxanne's knife out from her belt. Unfolding
it and holding it by the deathly sharp blade, she held it out to
Jessie.

Hesitating, Jessie took the dagger by the
handle, holding it awkwardly in front of her. “I’ve never exactly
used one of these before,” she explained. Her sister stared at the
dagger, eyes wide.

“No problem, it’s not difficult to kill
someone,” Tarana said kindly. She took hold of Jessie’s hand,
repositioning her grip on the dagger. “There you go.” Jessie looked
up at her with wide brown eyes and Tarana nodded at her
reassuringly.

“
I don’t know if I
should-“ Jessie trailed off. A strand of black hair had slipped out
of her ponytail and hung in front of her face, but she didn’t
bother to brush it away. The rain grew more insistent and Tarana
impatiently wiped the water out of her own eyes.

“Should what?” Tarana asked, sounding
concerned. “You’re doing fine. Now, why don’t you practice using
it?”

Not understanding, Jessie looked back up at
Tarana, the dagger hanging limply in her hand. Rain ran in rivulets
down the polished blade and streamed off the tip. “What do you
mean?”

Tarana shrugged. “Well when I was about your
age, I murdered my sister, Aurora.” She glanced briefly at Annie,
who looked about ready to burst into tears. Tarana grinned at
Jessie and was met by a furious glare. The girl threw the dagger
down, where it sank slightly into the soft mud.

“What is wrong with you?” she shouted, her
brown eyes suddenly fierce.

Blinking, Tarana knelt to retrieve the
dagger, wiping it off on her pants. “I thought you said you wanted
to be just like me.”

“Why would you do that to your own sister?”
Jessie stepped in between Tarana and her own sister.

The grin faded from Tarana’s face. “Listen
kid, just trust me. You do not want to be like me.”

“Tell me! Why would you do that?” Jessie
stamped her small foot, mud splattering into the air.

“Just beat it,” Tarana said tiredly. She
turned and looked toward the stronghold. Slowly, she started
walking back. Her boots sank slightly into the mud, making each
step an arduous task. Unexpectedly, she felt no joy from crushing
the two girls’ dreams. She just felt wet, cold, and tired. Jessie’s
yells could still be heard over the drone of the rain, unable to be
blocked out.

Back in the stronghold, nobody had noticed
Tarana's absence. When she walked through the main door, she noted
with some interest that it was complete chaos. Soldiers were
running up and down the stairs in hordes, filling the air with
shouts and orders. Only slightly curious, she leisurely walked up
the stairs toward her room, ignoring the people yelling at her to
get out of the way. As she turned down the hallway to her room, she
saw Roxanne jogging in her direction. She paused and waited
expectantly for Roxanne to fill her in.

“Did you hear?” Roxanne panted. “It's just
been announced; the battle's taking place in exactly a week from
today.”

Tarana cocked her head. “The big final
battle everyone's been so excited about? The one where we're
fighting the entire Citizens’ Army?”

“Everyone'll be there,” Roxanne smiled with
excitement. “All our troops and all of there's. They've been saying
that this is it: our final battle and then we'll be rewarded with
our Age's wizard. Isn't that fantastic? Everything we've ever
worked for is finally almost here.”

Tarana wrinkled her forehead. “So what, this
wizard is just going to appear or what?”

“That's what's so great!” Roxanne laughed.
“I have absolutely no idea what will happen.” Her expression
suddenly turned more serious. “But seriously, Tarana, everyone will
be there, you know what I mean?” She waited for Tarana to nod in
acknowledgment. “You don't want to find those two, alright? Trust
me, if they are even still with the army, you don't want to see
them get killed or have to fight them yourself.”

“Alright, alright,” Tarana snapped. “I don't
even want to see them anyway. But how in the world is their entire
army going to get here in just a week?”

Roxanne shrugged. “They must already be on
their way. It's not like this is coming as a big surprise. It was
fated to happen eventually, we just didn't know when exactly.”

Wrinkling her forehead in
confusion, Tarana looked around at the busy hallway, full of
people. “Fated by
who
?”

“How should I know?” Roxanne threw her hands
up in frustration. “Look, I'm only an officer of a small squad. I
don't know everything that goes on; I just follow my orders and try
to prepare my unit the best I can, alright?”

“Fine,” Tarana grumbled, heading into her
room and slamming the door. “I'll look forward to it.”

The week passed as a blur of contained
chaos. They continued to train as usual, but for much longer
periods of time. Forbidden from entering town for the week, the
officers were almost constantly in meetings or leading training
sessions. The night before the battle, all the soldiers were called
into the dining hall, where they were given a final pep talk by
Kendall, as well as a general strategy for attack, which consisted
of several waves of fighting.

“Remember!” he bellowed.
“We
must
win this
battle if we want the wizard to appear to us, ready to lead the
world to its former glory!” After the deafening roar of cheers had
ended, he continued to assign different squads to certain waves and
locations. Much further into the night, they were finally
dismissed, ordered to get as much sleep as possible before
breakfast the next day.