As Suyin strode out of the arena, she felt more than a little pleased with herself. It wasn’t every day she could pull off a sneaky ruse and be rewarded with a victory—technical or not—over a Titled opponent. She quite enjoyed the sputtering noises behind her as she walked away. Suyin didn’t have any kind of grudge against the haughty noblewoman, but there was something intrinsically satisfying in stealing a win from someone who minutes earlier couldn’t have conceived of such an idea.
The high wore off fast though.
First came a niggling of guilt. The woman had sparred respectfully with her, complimented her style and skill, and even agreed to indulge Suyin’s request for a wager. Outrageous levels of self-assuredness or not, Lady Ember Moore hadn’t acted like some villain. She’d behaved better than most powerful individuals Suyin had met.
So Suyin’s only defense in that regard was that the outcome also didn’t matter; it wasn’t a big deal. The trick had been a prank, not a slap in the face. At least that was how she had intended the mischievous ploy to be received. Whether such a prideful woman would view it that way…?
After the guilt came concern. Tricking a Titled, a recruit of Vanguard… it went without saying why that wasn’t the smartest idea. Suyin hardly needed to worry for her life, since her master could overpower anyone barring the Sorceress herself, and it wasn’t like the Titled in question seemed violent or vicious to begin with. Even so, making a fool of someone so powerful couldn’t be called a wise decision.
What had seemed harmless in the moment felt both more reckless and more disrespectful by the second. She hoped she hadn’t made an enemy out of the knight.
With those thoughts swirling around in her head, she was feeling downright sheepish by the time she had walked across the amphitheater and returned to Lady Vianora. A glance backward revealed that Lady Ember Moore had stomped up to the administrator’s desk and was arguing with the man in charge. Ember would surely seek out Suyin next to voice her displeasure—and so that Suyin could fulfill her end of the wager.
The black-haired beastkin was biting back a grin, so Suyin clearly had one appreciator of her antics. Lady Vianora wore her usual stony mask.
“This disciple had to employ less-than-honorable strategies to win her bout,” Suyin said, aiming for levity but landing somewhere closer to chagrin. “But she did achieve victory nevertheless.”
An eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch, and Suyin caught a twitch of the lips too. She felt strangely relieved to find that Vianora didn’t outright condemn her actions.
“Well done,” the swordmaster said. “Though can I ask what actually happened down there?”
“What do you mean?”
“I can make assumptions, but I couldn’t hear what you two were saying, so they’d be just that.”
“You… couldn’t?”
“Your opponent employed an anti-eavesdropping artifact.”
“Oh.” The revelation itself didn’t surprise Suyin—most nobility and high-rankers had such items on standby, and particularly private individuals kept them going constantly. Rather, Suyin’s shock stemmed from how she hadn’t sensed any magic around her.
Lady Vianora herself had also masked their conversations from Master Faleryn, and Suyin had been blissfully unaware until he had revealed that fact. So that made this the second time she’d been clueless about nearby magic.
A flicker of annoyance went through her at her own incompetence. “I see. I made a wager with her that I could absorb whatever attack she threw at me, then deliberately lost the bet and let her destroy the barrier.”
A small sigh. “Yes, that was what I assumed. I’m not surprised the strategy worked on her.”
The phrasing felt conspicuous, like Lady Vianora knew Lady Ember well enough to make a judgment on her, but Suyin shook that impression off—anyone could tell the knight was prideful. Suyin had identified and exploited that fact to win in the first place.
“Anyhow,” Suyin said. “I think I got too caught up in the moment. I acted impulsively… and perhaps rudely. I owe her an apology.”
“You’ll be able to deliver it now.” Gold eyes looked over Suyin’s shoulder, prompting her to turn and see why.
A jewel-encrusted knight was stomping up toward them, gaze blistering enough to burn a hole through starmetal.
“Ah,” Suyin said.
Lady Ember arrived. She crowded in so close that she stopped just short of shoving Suyin back, mere inches remaining. Even from afar, those lava-like eyes were arresting—their noses almost touching, she swore she could feel heat radiating from them.
“You… you cheated, you scoundrel!” the noblewoman sputtered in a not particularly dignified way. “How dare you?”
Suyin had just resolved to apologize, but the outraged words had her mouth moving automatically. “Cheat? I did no such thing.”
“You most certainly did!”
“The terms of the wager were clear, and I lost it. But the bet was not the match. So how did I cheat?”
“There was an implicit understanding between us!”
“I can see how someone might have interpreted it that way.” Suyin put on a look of contrition. “Would you like me to speak with the organizers? Try to have this fixed, perhaps with a rematch?”
“You very well know that doesn’t matter,” Lady Ember hissed. “You can hardly ask to have a disqualification overturned. Regardless, I’m offended by the principle of it. You clearly intended this!”
“Some would argue that the swindler is as guilty as the swindled.”
“That… that… that is completely correct!” the woman exclaimed, making Suyin blink. “In fact, all guilt goes to the swindled! To be tricked in combat and make excuses for your own failings would be gross misconduct even for one of modest birth, far less someone of my standing! Responsibility always falls in my lap, and to pretend otherwise would shame me deeply!”
Somehow, the noblewoman visibly meant every word, yet was venting her indignation while refusing to acknowledge the contradiction. Even more to Suyin’s bemusement, she didn’t seem angry—she looked scandalized and offended.
“I really should apologize, though,” Suyin forced herself to say at last. “I swear my intent wasn’t to make a fool out of you. My master taught me to seek victory above all else, and I got carried away. I am… a somewhat competitive person.”
“Hmph!” The noble relaxed far more readily than Suyin would have expected. “That is hardly the worst vice one could possess.” She stepped back, no longer shoving a burning orange gaze into Suyin’s face.
They really are otherworldly. The gold and silver eyes of elves, along with the blood-like eyes of demons, were much the same, but orange wasn’t a color Suyin ran into often. Just who is this person, really?
Finally calming herself, Lady Ember Moore glanced at the two other people present in the group. She scanned Lady Vianora, paused briefly, then looked at the raven-haired beastkin.
The noble’s full-body jerk of surprise set Suyin instantly alert.
It could not have been more obvious, the way the woman gawked at the young mage. Almost three full seconds passed with the catgirl pressing her lips into a line and doing a far better job of hiding whatever she was thinking. Then Lady Ember’s attention turned to Lady Vianora. She once more stared—if with slightly more inscrutability than before.
“You… three know each other?” Lady Ember asked as she turned to scrutinize Suyin in a wholly new light. She could’ve posted a twenty-meter glowing sign that would’ve been less conspicuous.
“No,” Suyin replied. “Do you?”
“Of course not. What would make you think that?” The woman spoke with so much surety that Suyin almost believed her. It was as if Lady Ember assumed she could rewrite reality with pure haughty confidence. “You must be mistaken about something.”
Lady Vianora sighed, and subdued as the exhale was, Suyin still thought it was one of the most expressive displays of emotion she’d seen from the swordmaster.
A second of silence passed, then Lady Ember reached out and grabbed Suyin by the forearm and began stomping away. “Let us speak. You still need to pay out on our wager.”
Suyin narrowed her eyes at the presumption of the touch, but it felt benign and so she didn’t protest as she was hauled off.
A short distance away, Ember released Suyin and crossed her arms. “Who are you?” she demanded.
There were a lot of answers Suyin could give, but she chose the most accurate. “A student of the sword. You know Lady Vianora’s pupil?” The noble’s reaction had been odd for both of them, but more so for the beastkin.
Whoever a Titled chooses to train would be important in her own right, Suyin thought. She hadn’t paid much mind to the girl, but that was mostly due to how she had her hands full with Lady Vianora.
“I already said that I do not,” Ember replied with a huff. “And I want my answer now: who taught you? Or will you renege on that agreement as well?”
“I didn’t renege on anything. The wager and match were different matters entirely.” She wasn’t sure why she insisted on that fact when she knew what Lady Ember meant and even agreed with her.
Then she grimaced, realizing that if she hadn't honored the intent of their agreement, she could hardly expect Ember to do the same.
“I’ll of course answer,” Suyin said. “I won’t go back on my word. But I really do hope it’s to indulge your curiosity alone.”
Lady Ember Moore lifted her chin and sniffed. “I understand why you might need to employ underhanded methods as you go about your daily life, but I am not so weak as to rely on such things. In both letter and spirit, you have my discretion.”
You sure know how to endear yourself to a person, Suyin thought with sudden dryness. She really couldn’t make her mind up on this arrogant woman. Also, I’m not sure how useful your ‘discretion’ is, given how obvious you are.
“I was taught by the one they call the Sword Saint of the Waxing Crescent,” Suyin answered bluntly. “Yxamas Faleryn.”
Lady Ember didn’t so much as blink. She cocked her head, eyes going up and right as she mulled over the name, before finally she nodded in satisfaction. “I see. Yes, that makes sense. All right, now tell me how you met this… Lady Vionara.”
Now it was Suyin’s turn to mentally trip over herself. What she had just revealed was more than a little absurd. Her master was no run-of-the-mill Titled. Yxamas Faleryn could cut through weaker Titled like they were silver-rankers. Even the very best the mortal kingdoms would send to this tournament—the Greywarden, the Guardian Sage, the Savage of the Wastes, to name a few possibilities—couldn’t hold a candle to him. Maybe the resulting fight wouldn’t be a massacre, but Master would win without question. He stood on equal footing with other legendary figures of history, like the first headmaster of the Thaumaturgical Institute, Osmian.
“D-don’t you think you’re skipping over something?” Suyin asked. How could the woman ignore the reveal, especially after making such a big deal of wanting to know who her master was?
Lady Ember scrunched her brow. Her expression was one of pure innocent confusion. “Skipping over what?”
Suyin’s mouth worked soundlessly. She eventually landed on, “You do know who Yxamas Faleryn is, yes?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then… then… most people think he’s dead!”
“As if Sword Saints are that easy to kill off,” Lady Ember scoffed. “For someone of his strength, if there hasn’t been highly reliable confirmation of his passing, then it’s only common sense to assume he’s out there somewhere. I wouldn’t even trust direct reports of his demise, necessarily.”
Well, yes, Suyin was pretty sure she’d heard that viewpoint from Master himself.
Still.
Suyin rubbed her temples. You’re making a fool of yourself. So what if the strange Titled doesn’t care who your master is? Don’t be so conceited. “Okay, well, anyway. You have your answer. Unfortunately, I’m not answering your other one—how I met Lady Vianora—unless you do too.”
“You seem to have defective ears, human. I haven’t met this ‘Lady Vianora’ in my life.”
“Her pupil, then.”
“Nor her.”
Suyin couldn’t help but be impressed that the noblewoman truly was doubling down on the ‘deny basic facts’ strategy. “So why are you so interested in them? Why did you react like that?”
“React like what? I didn’t react in any way at all.”
Suyin stared, and finally shook her head. “Then I suppose there’s nothing more to say. Thank you for the duel, and best of luck in your future matches, Lady Ember.”
Lady Ember seemed aggrieved by the abrupt end to the conversation but, to Suyin’s surprise, she huffed and walked off rather than pressing further. Apparently, the woman really would refuse to explain why she’d responded the way she had.
Head spinning from the bizarre exchange, Suyin turned around and began trekking over to Lady Vianora, freshly interested in who the enigmatic swordmaster was.
The list of questions just keeps growing…