Blood Legacy: The House Of Alexander Part 13

"Has there been any word?"

Kusunoki finished the sentence for her. "About your father? No."

She glanced over at him. She would not answer, and he would not ask. The matter slipped away from them.

"So what do you think of this 'cleansing'?"

Kusunoki shrugged. "It is an ancient custom. Quite frankly, I think it is long overdue."

Ryan glanced at him, surprised, and he explained.

"There are many of our Kind creating inferior offspring. And many of the controls of the past are no longer in place. The world has become so large and so small at the same time." Ryan waited in silence for him to continue. "Those of us who are far beyond the ability to reproduce must face the consequences of the choices we made hundreds of years ago."

Ryan nodded her understanding while Kusunoki continued. "Those whom we felt might carry our line with honor failed to do so. Or," he said, "Perhaps their offspring failed. Or their offspring's offspring failed."

"So why don't you take matters into your own hands?" Ryan asked.

"I could," he replied. "I could certainly take care of the weaknesses in my own lineage. But I don't imagine the Others, especially my 'peers' would appreciate my exercising that sort of discretion over their own. And it does little good to pull the weeds in your own garden when your neighbor refuses to tend his."

Ryan realized how complex this situation truly was. "I still don't understand why I was the chosen one."

Kusunoki glanced over at her. "I would have chosen you, my only concern being that you had the ability to annihilate generations. I think Marilyn and Ala would have chosen you as well, even though Ala had never met you."

Ryan looked sideways at him. "And why is that?"

"She likes your father," Kusunoki said, his emphasis on the verb a bit too p.r.o.nounced.

"Oh really," Ryan said dryly. She brought her attention back to his previous words. "So who did make the choice?"

Kusunoki was thoughtful. "It was Aeron, the one who in hindsight appears to have the most to lose by you being named the hunter."

"Aeron is in love with death," Ryan said contemptuously. "He may have chosen me just to satisfy his own perverse sense of humor."

Kusunoki looked sidelong at his pupil, but said nothing.

The two settled into a comfortable silence, which Ryan finally broke.

"You know, the human doctor who examined me discovered that my sleep is more akin to a meditative state than to actual sleep."

Kusunoki snorted. "Lazy as always. Taking the easy way out and relying on raw talent instead of practice and training."

Ryan smiled, knowing there was no bite to her master's words. "So, lazy am I? Perhaps you would like to spar a bit, to see if I have been practicing after all."

Kusunoki smiled. "I live for the possibility."

They walked to the wall of the nearest structure where weapons were displayed on wooden pegs. Kusunoki was surprised that Ryan bypa.s.sed her preferred Katana for a pair of sais. Kusunoki, too, removed a pair of the forked weapons.

Ryan swung the weapons, as if loosening up and accustoming herself to their feel. Kusunoki was not fooled. She required neither a warm-up nor adjustment to the lethal swords. He a.s.sumed a ready stance.

In a flash, Ryan was upon him, the two short swords spinning and arcing so rapidly that they were only a blur. Kusunoki parried, his swords moved as quickly as hers. Had anyone been watching, they would have had only a vague impression of whirling swords, supported by the constant "ting-ting-ting," of the metal strikes.

Kusunoki went on the attack, bringing the swordplay up a level. The footwork became elaborate, the swords moving so quickly that attack/ counter-attack became meaningless. The battle had transformed into a ballet of deadly grace, the skill transcendent.

The dance shifted, and it was now Ryan who led. The swords moved so quickly they could not be seen, only arcs of light and a constant "tinging" that sounded like a single, prolonged musical note. Kusunoki's face was expressionless, but he began to give ground, no longer attacking but merely countering defensively. Ryan's speed and timing went beyond preternatural, as if she were now violating the laws of physics themselves. Apparently quantum mechanics had decided to work on a larger scale and favored only her.

Finally, in a move beautiful in both tactic and execution, Ryan trapped both of Kusunoki's swords. He had only one option left, and powerfully bent both his wrists. This had the instant effect of shattering all four swords, effectively disarming them both.

Ryan gazed down at the hilt of the sai, all that remained in her hand. "Strike too hard and the sword will break," she said, repeating ancient words.

Kusunoki nodded. "I see you remember much of what I taught you."

Ryan dropped the hilt to the ground. "I remember everything you taught me." She stood upright and bowed deeply.

Kusunoki stood upright as well. "It is I who should bow to you."

Ryan shook her head. "I may have mastered the physical act of fighting, but I do not have your mental control."

Kusunoki was silent, knowing what was coming.

"I must ask something of you."

"What can I give you?" Kusunoki asked quietly.

Ryan appeared to be in some great internal struggle. She finally spoke. "I need your Memories, but I cannot return the gift."

Kusunoki pondered her words. When he spoke, Ryan was surprised by both his words and by the manner in which he spoke them, for he was no longer speaking to his former pupil but rather to the heir apparent of their Kind.

"Rhian, as powerful as you are, you probably could have taken my Memories. And as compelling as you are, you probably could have seduced them from me."

Ryan did not speak, so Kusunoki continued. "I know you cannot Share your mind because you hide your father there. And no one, not even me, needs to find him."

Ryan did not confirm or deny his words.

"I will give you my Memories."

Ryan still said nothing, simply nodded.

Kusunoki sat in the mediation chamber, his mind prepared. He was utterly still, his eyes closed. A small sword lay across his lap. Ryan sat across from him, also deep in meditation. Their eyes opened simultaneously, knowing the time had arrived.

Ryan stood and moved behind Kusunoki, kneeling. With the solemnity of a religious ceremony, Kusunoki raised the blade of the short sword, then slowly ran it across the skin of his neck, slicing through the jugular vein. Blood began to flow down his side.

Ryan leaned forward and the last coherent thought that Kusunoki had was surprise at how gently her lips covered the wound.

The shock that went through his system, however, was anything but gentle. It was as if lightning had struck the side of his head and went ricocheting through his body, seeking but not finding ground. The agony was intense, but it was also intensely pleasurable. Kusunoki fought to maintain mental control, but for the first time in centuries, also found himself wanting to let go.

Ryan also felt the powerful shock and struggled to reorient herself. Kusunoki's blood flowed into her, and the lightning began burning a path through her veins as well. Her heart strained under the exertion, momentarily faltering, but that powerful organ responded to one even more powerful as her mind took over for her autonomic nervous system.

Kusunoki felt his own heart falter, but then regain a different rhythm, as if Ryan's heart were now driving his own, demanding absolute synchronization. It beat harder, faster, an utterly merciless yet wholly benevolent master.

And then her mind touched his.

And the lightning in his head increased in temperature to that of the core of the sun.

Kusunoki felt a pleasure that he had only dreamed about. It was as if the act of Sharing had moved from the physical into the entirely cerebral, as if Ryan were not content to merely take his blood, or even simply his Memories, but wanted his mind itself.

And Kusunoki wanted to give it to her. He briefly considered resistance, but the thought flitted away, given no weight at all. He opened his entire consciousness to her, offering her an unlimited expanse of awareness.

All was suddenly still for Ryan. She stood on an endless plain bordered by an infinite lake. All was motionless, utterly silent. She turned to Kusunoki, who was at her side.

"I need to see."

Kusunoki smiled and pointed to the infinite expanse of sky. Ryan turned, and the sky was filled with images, Kusunoki as a child, as a young man, as he was transformed into an immortal, as he lived and Shared and fought for centuries, as he became the revered moon G.o.d, then the most honored shogun in all of history. She saw Victor, long before Ryan's birth, and the time they spent together taming Victor's restless spirit. She saw the Others, some that she knew, countless that she did not know. She saw Kusunoki's lineage stretch outward, multiplying toward the future they now occupied.

She saw it all in an instant, yet felt it as if she were living every moment of his very long life. For a moment she saw through his eyes, not only seeing as him, but feeling as him, knowing as him, believing as him, being him.

And now she remembered as him.

He put his hand on her arm, and she turned to him. He smiled at her gently, but there was a fatigue about him that caused her concern. Ryan turned to the sky, which was darkening to a deep red. In the distance ominous drums beat out a steady but ever-increasing rhythm. She turned back to Kusunoki.

"And will you kill me?" he asked softly.

"No!"

The blood-red world disappeared as Ryan jerked away from Kusunoki's limp body. The exclamation echoed loudly in the otherwise empty meditation chamber.

Ryan looked down at the pale figure of her master, who appeared to be halfway between exhausted sleep and death. She put her hand on his chest and was relieved to feel a faint, thready pulse, although in truth that meant nothing. She stood, then gently lifted Kusunoki over her shoulder. She carried him to his sleeping chambers and laid him on his cot, carefully arranging his limbs so that he was comfortable. She knew that he would sleep a very long time.

She started to leave, then stopped. She leaned down very closely to Kusunoki, gazing at his peaceful, beautiful features. She leaned even closer, her lips nearly brushing his ear.

"I will repay in kind when this is over."

Ryan left the shrine. She now knew without a doubt that Kusunoki had no part in her father's betrayal, although she had never really suspected him. But Victor had told her to trust no one, and Ryan had chosen Kusunoki first simply because she did want to trust him. And now she could travel through his lands, using the exact discretion he would have used in culling his line.

Kusunoki awoke when one of the priests tending him brushed his cot. The priest nodded to him, silent as always, and bowed while backing from the room. Kusunoki looked out his window. The sun sat lower in the sky and the shadows were longer. Many weeks had pa.s.sed since he had Shared with Ryan.

The memory shot through him, causing him equal parts pain and pleasure in his head. He turned the memory over and over in his mind, reliving every aspect of the matchless experience. His pupil truly had become a master.

His expression darkened. And she was indeed powerful. He wondered what the Others would think if they knew she had nearly killed him by accident.

Kusunoki sat up, thoughtful. He did not know if Ryan could have actually killed him. There was no record of any such thing among their Kind. Old Ones were a.s.sumed immortal simply because none of them had ever died. And even with all of their internecine squabbling, none were capable of killing each other, even in the act of Sharing.

But that did not mean it was not possible.

Kusunoki thought back to Ryan's thinly-veiled threat at the Council meeting. He wondered if she had any idea that she might actually be capable of carrying it out. He did not think so, gleaning what little he could from her mind. He did not have her gift-he could not see her Memories without Sharing her blood. But he did not sense she had any grasp of her true abilities.

Kusunoki grew more thoughtful. It would come down to a mental battle. And what gift did Victor have, that he could foresee how important the psychological battlefield would become? All of the Old Ones were equally matched, creating a tenuous detente. Ryan had, in a sense, "caught up" with many of the Old Ones in terms of physical prowess and sheer magnetism, the hallmarks of their Kind. She had done so through her unique birth and through Sharing with the most powerful of their Kind, her father. She now sat in a position as powerful as it was dangerous, both to herself and others.

For Kusunoki realized one very important fact: in order for Ryan to take Kusunoki to the brink of death, she had been required to go there herself. And someone else with less pure motives might take advantage of that door that only Ryan could open.

These thoughts occupied Kusunoki for a very long time. And although he would spend the next weeks in meditation, it would be awhile before his mind would return to the reflection pool it once was.

CHAPTER 12.

THE GREAT TABLE DOMINATED THE s.p.a.cE in the internal meeting place of the Grand Council. It was a less formal setting than the Great Hall, designed only for the secret meetings of the members of the Grand Council themselves. Bordered on all sides by walls ten feet thick, its function was to allow the Council members to speak frankly to one another without the possibility of preternatural ears overhearing. It was also regularly swept for electronic devices that might overhear as well. On this date, it would serve as pre-a.s.sembly prior to Ryan's arrival, who was due to report on her progress. Only Ala and Kusunoki had arrived as yet, and as Kusunoki settled into his chair, he was very aware of Ala's scrutiny.

"You seem different somehow, my old friend." Ala said, her rich, melodic voice both suspicious and knowing.

Kusunoki did not react, his expression inscrutable as always. "I cannot imagine how."

"Mm-hmm," Ala said, "Perhaps you could Share the experience with me later."

The double entendre was not lost on Kusunoki, nor the invitation. He did not react, however, saying only "Perhaps."

Their discourse was interrupted by Aeron and Marilyn, who quite surprisingly came in on Aeron's arm. He led her to her seat, solicitously holding her chair for her as they finished their conversation.

"Yes, she was quite talented at obtaining information, even as young as she was. I quite enjoyed the exchange." Aeron glanced at Kusunoki as he took his seat. His tone was mild and mildly threatening at the same time. "I can't imagine what she is like now."

Kusunoki gazed at Aeron, expressionless. Aeron stared at him for a long moment, then turned back to Marilyn, his demeanor still wickedly charming. "We could all just hold her down and take turns."

Marilyn's eyes gleamed as she entertained the thought, then shook her head with some regret. "Knowing her as I know her, that might be more difficult than you think."

"Ah," Aeron said, "The joy might be in just trying."

"And you would pay for that attempt," Abigail said as she entered the room, "Probably in ways you could not possibly imagine."

Aeron smiled. "But you would finally get the opportunity to collect your debt."

Abigail settled into her chair, unperturbed. "That opportunity is ever-present." She glanced pointedly at Aeron. "And I do not require a.s.sistance to collect it."

Ala cleared her throat, "Perhaps we could move to the business at hand."

Aeron smiled to himself, still enjoying the vision of Ryan being held down. He was gracious to Ala, however, the perfect gentleman.

"Of course." He grew more businesslike. "Does anyone have an educated guess as to how many Ryan has managed to destroy?"

All were silent for a moment, unwilling to show their cards or reveal the extent of their intelligence networks. It was Kusunoki who finally broke the impa.s.se.

"She has been particularly industrious in Asia. I do not have an exact number, but I would estimate she has destroyed in excess of six thousand on that continent alone."

There was a marked silence at the table as Kusunoki's words sunk in. Even Ala turned to Kusunoki, surprised at the number.

Aeron did not believe him, and his tone was scathing. "I find it difficult to believe her capable of such destruction in the span of three months. It is not so easy to kill our Kind, even the Young Ones."