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‘Then what?’ Kaxim grunted.
‘Like I said, I plan to speak with the woman.’
Kione whistled under his breath. ‘You’ve got some plex-steel balls. What bizna would you have with her?’
‘I’ve got a proposition I’d like to share,’ Killen muttered. ‘I need you two to watch my back while I do.’
Kione withdrew his cowl, shrugging. ‘You fear her too, Kíríga? Or is it something else, given how a-flutter you were the last time we met her, all up in your feelings?’
The silver-haired man sucked his teeth. ‘I was not a-flutter as you claim, kínai. I dispatched her because she -,’ he paused, bracing himself for their reaction, ‘sought to blade me.’
‘She fokkin what?’ hissed Kaxim, whirling around to face his King.
Killen laid a hand on his massive shoulder. ‘Relax, like I said. I pre-empted her, never thinking for one moment I’d cross her again.’
‘If she already attempted once, what makes you think she’s not got a contract to un-alive you now?’ Kaxim growled, and his face was clouded with concern. ‘Its fokkin’ imperative that we find out what she wants on Katáne. She could be a danger to us, to you, if she tried indeed to blade you. Word is she’s collected the koyas of many undefeated kavaliers and some of the most notable k?thi in the arena. Her reputation is savage, just after a few weeks.’
Kione grunted. ‘The honours are well-deserved, and the k?thi masters and indeed K?stian himself have bestowed them with fairness. Sana’a has achieved things that no one would expect from a xkénos. With the face of an innocent lamb and the body that’d make any red-blooded warrior run hot and cold at the same time, mind you,’ he smirked.
At this proclamation, Killen snorted, but Kione ignored him, his good nature in the wind as worry crowded his eyes. ‘But she fights like a predator. In fact, she’s surpassed all expectations so much the city is enamoured. She’ll cut your balls off with no provocation.’
Killen shook his head. ‘Nada, she claims she’s after someone else.’
Kaxim sucked his teeth. ‘You’ve had a conversation with her already?’
Killen shrugged. ‘A few.’
Kione and Kaxim exchanged glances.
‘Sounds freakin’ complicated,’ Kaxim grumbled. ‘You going to share what this proposition is?’ he pushed.
Killen crossed his hands over his chest and took a moment, his silver eyes flashing over the faces of his armourers. ‘Didn’t you both say I needed a kísímí trainer who breaks the rules?’
‘We did. So what?’ Kaxim growled.
Kione caught on faster, whistling under his breath. ‘You’re saying her, you, blade training?’
He reared back his head and guffawed before jerking forward to lean into Killen. ‘Damn Kíríga, whyeverfokkin’not. She kicks ass and is a beauty,’ he grinned. ‘What a better secret master than one who is pleasing to the eye?’
Kaxim sucked his teeth in disgust, swivelling to nail his friend with a glare. ‘What do I perceive from deep within the folds of your ineffectual birdbrain, Kione? Is it the sustained scream of a misguided romantic bushtit that I hear? Who’s wasting his breath speaking out of his behind instead of guiding the Kíríga through the dreary depths of the calamity we now find ourselves in?’
‘Shut it, you two,’ Killen growled. ‘Enough with your witty scraps. That woman moves fast, and we must catch her before she flits off again.’
Kaxim sighed. ‘Fokkin snowcock. What if she slices your noggin’ off while you’re ‘fessin your adoration of her skills?’
Undaunted, Killen gave him a narrowed look. ‘I can handle her, but if it gets nasty, you two kinais will have my back, savvy? Turns out I’m in desperate need of a fight master, and she’s the best on Katáne at this present time. I’ll use my persuasive talents, of which there are many.’
He stared down his infuriated armourer, his koya bristling within his locks.
When the Kíríga’s hawkstone flashed with menace, Kaxim conceded with a lift of his hands in surrender. ‘Whatever you say. Have at it.’
With a sigh, Killen backed down.
Despite his bravado, a sliver of self-doubt raced through him. Clenching his jaw, the bitter surge of klaw flooding him. Adding to its potency, he brute forced his hawkstone’s calm into his mind.
She was just one woman.
This was just one conversation.
