CHAPTER 92: PLOTS

{Kai’Lin}

The strategy meeting was going great.

"We need to—mmph—"

Kai’Lin’s tactical assessment died as Mei’Lin’s tongue invaded her mouth, one hand tangling in her brown-and-white hair while the other did something that made Kai’Lin’s tail go rigid.

They were in their dorm room, supposedly planning Aegis Starcaller’s unfortunate accident. The desk was covered in combat class schedules, training ground maps, and a diagram of human anatomy with several vital points circled in red ink. Very professional. Very assassin-like.

Except Mei’Lin had decided that sitting in Kai’Lin’s lap would help her concentrate better, and now here they were.

"Sister," Kai’Lin gasped when they finally broke apart, "w-we need to focus!"

"I am focused~" Mei’Lin shifted her hips in a way that made Kai’Lin’s brain temporarily forget what words were. "Focused on how tense you are. Can’t plan a good murder when you’re all wound up, nya~"

"That’s not—we have orders—"

"The Crimson Blade can wait five minutes."

"You said that twenty minutes ago!"

"Did I?" Mei’Lin’s innocent expression was ruined by the way her fingers were undoing Kai’Lin’s collar. "Time flies when you’re reviewing tactical positions."

Kai’Lin grabbed her sister’s wrists, holding them still. Her brown eyes were serious despite the flush on her cheeks.

"The guildmaster will skin us alive if we fail again. We already botched the library attempt, the hallway ambush, and that disaster with the poisoned tea!"

"The tea wasn’t my fault. How was I supposed to know she’d give it to that painting girl instead?"

"Because you were supposed to watch her routine for a week first!"

"I did watch her. She has a very nice butt."

"MEI’LIN."

"What? It’s true. Have you seen how those academy skirts fit her? Criminal." Mei’Lin leaned back, examining her nails with theatrical interest. "Though not as criminal as what she did to Princess Talia against that bookshelf yesterday. The sounds that girl made—"

"How do you even know about that?"

"I was returning a book."

"You don’t read."

"I read lots. Just yesterday I read a very educational scene between a commoner and a princess in the library’s restricted section."

Kai’Lin dropped her face into her hands. Her ears flattened against her skull.

"We’re going to die! The guild is going to execute us for incompetence and mount our heads on pikes as a warning to others."

"So dramatic." Mei’Lin pulled Kai’Lin’s hands away from her face, interlacing their fingers. "Look, I have a plan."

"Your last plan involved seducing her."

"Fine. New plan. Tomorrow’s combat class, we use the group sparring session. Accidents happen all the time when multiple people are fighting."

"Professor Korvo will notice."

"That muscle-headed war criminal? Please. I hear he once watched a student get impaled and called it ’good initiative.’ We’ll be fine."

Kai’Lin considered this. It wasn’t the worst idea Mei’Lin had proposed. Certainly better than the "seduce her then stab her during climax" plan, which had made Kai’Lin break three training dummies in frustration.

"What angle do we use?"

"Ice magic, nya. Long range. Make it look like I was aiming for whoever she’s sparring with." Mei’Lin’s white hair with its single brown streak fell across her face as she leaned down. "You engage her in close combat, keep her distracted. When she dodges left to avoid your strike, I accidentally hit her with a shard to the throat."

"That’s... actually competent."

"I have my moments."

"Usually right before you do something stupid."

"Usually right before I do something brilliant." Mei’Lin’s grin turned wicked. "Speaking of which..."

"No. We need to review the timing—"

But Mei’Lin was already kissing her again, and Kai’Lin’s protests dissolved into a soft moan that would have been embarrassing if anyone else could hear it.

[Why,] Kai’Lin thought hazily as her sister’s hands wandered, [did the gods make her so impossible to resist?]

The answer, probably, was that the gods were assholes.

---

{Aegis}

The training ground smelled like sweat and that particular brand of anxiety that came from knowing Commander Korvo was in a mood.

"PAIRED SPARRING!" he roared, which was his normal speaking voice. "FULL CONTACT! INTERMEDIATE MAGIC ALLOWED! ANYONE WHO HOLDS BACK GETS TO RUN LAPS UNTIL THEY VOMIT!"

Aegis stretched her arms above her head, feeling the satisfying pop of her spine realigning. Next to her, Scarlett was doing lunges that made several students walk into walls.

"Twenty gold says someone loses an eye," Scarlett said cheerfully.

"Fifty says it’s Varyn."

"You’re on."

Across the field, the Summerfang twins were warming up with synchronized movements that would have been impressive if Aegis didn’t know they were planning to murder her. Kai’Lin kept shooting glances her way while Mei’Lin appeared to be checking her nails for invisible dirt.

[Subtle as a brick to the face, these two.]

"Starcaller! You’re with Lionheart!" Korvo barked. "Summerfang twins, you’re against Duskbane and Goldspire!"

Wait.

That wasn’t right.

Aegis watched the twins exchange a look of panic. Their whole plan, whatever it was, had just gone sideways. Varyn was already walking toward them with the kind of smile that meant someone was about to have a political awakening, and Darius Goldspire looked like he’d rather be literally anywhere else.

"BEGIN!"

Scarlett’s practice sword came at Aegis’s head fast enough to whistle.

"Shit, Scarlett, we’re supposed to be—"

"Warming up, yeah." Scarlett’s grin was all teeth. "This is me being gentle."

Aegis ducked, rolled, came up with her daggers crossed just in time to catch Scarlett’s follow-up strike. The impact rattled her bones.

"Your gentle needs work!"

"You love it."

[Actually, yeah, kinda.]

They fell into rhythm, Scarlett’s raw power against Aegis’s speed and technique. It was almost relaxing, in the way that not dying usually was.

Then an ice shard the size of a small spear went straight through where Aegis’s head had been two seconds ago.

"What the f—"

Another one, this time close enough that ice crystals dusted her cheek. Aegis spun to see Mei’Lin facing Varyn but somehow managing to send every single attack in completely the wrong direction.

"SUMMERFANG!" Korvo bellowed. "WATCH YOUR AIM!"

"Sorry, professor!" Mei’Lin called back sweetly, then launched another shard that would have taken Aegis’s leg off if she hadn’t jumped.

"Are they trying to kill you?" Scarlett asked, parrying something made of fire that definitely came from Kai’Lin.

"No, this is just how cat-girls show affection."

"Really?"

"No!"

Aegis hit the ground rolling as what looked like an entire glacier flew overhead. Mei’Lin wasn’t even pretending anymore. She’d turned her back on Varyn entirely and was creating an ice storm aimed directly at Aegis.

Kai’Lin, meanwhile, had apparently decided subtlety was for people who weren’t angry at their sister’s terrible aim, because she abandoned Darius mid-strike and came at Aegis with both daggers drawn.

"Oh for fuck’s sake," Aegis muttered, then louder: "PROFESSOR, THEY’RE—"

"EXCELLENT MULTI-DIRECTIONAL COMBAT!" Korvo boomed. "THIS IS WHAT REAL BATTLE LOOKS LIKE! CHAOS! ADAPTATION! PROBABLE DEATH!"

[Is he watching the same fight?]

Kai’Lin’s blade came close enough to part Aegis’s hair. The follow-up would have opened her throat if Scarlett hadn’t body-checked the cat-girl hard enough to send her tumbling.

"Thanks!"

"Behind you!"

Aegis dropped flat. Ice shards peppered the ground where she’d been standing, one of them catching her sleeve and tearing straight through the fabric.

"That’s it."

She was tired of this. Tired of the constant assassination attempts. Tired of pretending she didn’t notice. Tired of playing defense while these two treated her life like a particularly frustrating video game level.

Aegis rolled to her feet, aether already gathering around her hands.

The whip materialized in a crackle of blue-white energy. She snapped it forward, catching Mei’Lin’s next ice shard mid-flight and shattering it into powder. The backswing wrapped around Kai’Lin’s ankle just as she tried to flank.

One hard yank sent the brown-haired twin face-first into the dirt.

"Kai!" Mei’Lin’s composure finally cracked.

Aegis was already moving. Aether Step carried her across the field in a blink, right into Mei’Lin’s guard. The white-haired twin’s eyes went wide.

"How—"

Aegis’s palm strike caught her in the solar plexus. Not hard enough to cause real damage, but sufficient to drop her to her knees gasping.

"STOP!"

Everyone froze. Korvo was striding across the field, and for once he actually looked like he was paying attention.

"Summerfang twins! What in the seventeen hells was that display?"

"Training accident?" Mei’Lin wheezed from the ground.

"Accident my scarred ass. You were targeting Starcaller."

"We were... testing her situational awareness?" Kai’Lin tried, spitting out dirt.

"By attempting murder?"

"Is it really attempted murder if everyone knows it’s happening?" Aegis asked innocently.

Korvo’s good eye twitched.

"Detention. Both of you. My office. Now."

The twins exchanged a look that promised this wasn’t over, but they slunk off the field. Mei’Lin was limping. Kai’Lin’s ears were flat against her head.

"The rest of you," Korvo growled, "back to sparring. And someone get Duskbane out of that ice block before he suffocates."

Oh. Right. At some point during the chaos, Varyn had ended up frozen from the chest down. His face was an interesting shade of purple.

Scarlett bumped Aegis’s shoulder.

"So. Cat-girls showing affection?"

"Shut up."

"You handled that pretty well."

"I’ve had practice."

"How often do people try to kill you?"

Aegis thought about it. There was the assassin at the gala, the Shadow Empress cultists, these two, probably Darius at some point, definitely some nobles she’d embarrassed...

"You know what? I’ve actually lost count."

Scarlett laughed hard enough that several students stopped to stare.

"Gods, your life is insane."

[Yeah,] Aegis thought, watching the twins disappear into the academy building. [And it’s about to get worse.]

The Crystal Masquerade was in three weeks. Magic masks that revealed true natures. In a room full of people with secrets.

What could possibly go wrong?