Bitter Wind (Death's Handmaiden Book 2) Read online

  Bitter Wind

  A Death’s Handmaiden Novel

  By Niall Teasdale

  Copyright 2020 Niall Teasdale

  Amazon Kindle Edition

  Contents

  Part One: Love Hurts

  Part Two: Grey

  Part Three: When Life Gives You Lemons

  Part Four: Tests, Trials, and Tribulations

  Part One: Love Hurts

  The Trenton Mansion, Shinden, Clan Worlds Alliance, 235/8/24.

  One of the things about belonging to one of the most powerful families in one of the most powerful clans in the Clan Worlds Alliance was the expectation that you would entertain guests. That went double when you were actually the leading couple in that family. Hence, Zackery and Yuzuki Trenton Sonkei were having a party and, since they were currently staying in the mansion, Nava, Melissa, and Rochester were invited.

  Mitsuko was going too, of course, since she was Zackery and Yuzuki’s third child and second daughter. She had briefed the troops in a closed session meeting in her rooms, possibly so that Rochester could be persuaded that it was a good idea in private. Actually, both Melissa and Rochester were likely to need a little persuasion, she had thought; Nava would take the news in her usual taciturn fashion. Mitsuko had been right: as soon as Rochester learned that it was going to be a fancy dress party, he had developed a sudden urge to catch a fatal disease. Melissa had mostly worried over what she could possibly wear. Thankfully, they had had a week to prepare.

  It had been a week of mixed emotions. Nava had returned from her debriefing at an ASF facility off-planet. Everyone had been relieved about that, but they also had to deal with the revelations about her they had heard while barricaded in a besieged meeting room in Alliance City. Everything had, apparently anyway, settled. Nava was fairly sure that the reaction to knowing what and who she was would not be that simple, but maybe the reaction to being in a terrorist siege was overshadowing the more personal issues. Mitsuko had not been too bad, but Melissa and Rochester had been woken by some nasty nightmares during that week. To Mitsuko’s surprise, so had Nava, though Nava’s dreams seemed to be related to her childhood and the ‘sister’ she had killed the week before.

  In many ways then, a party was a good idea. Nava had asked whether Spencer Trenton was going to be there, had been told that he would not, and had decided that she could let herself relax. The family drunk, Uncle Spencer did not like clanless people and Nava was clanless. Apparently, Spencer had been banned from fancy dress parties after turning up as a Roman emperor with an exceptionally loose toga, getting absolutely slammed, and throwing up in the swimming pool. That was more or less normal for him, but he had claimed he was being in-character since ‘purging at banquets was normal in Ancient Rome.’ Nava had listened to the story and decided that the Trentons were looking for any excuse to exclude the man from parties.

  The other reason Spencer had not been invited was that this was not a family get-together. Airing the Trentons’ dirty laundry among themselves was one thing but doing so where others might see it was out of the question. Nava was a little confused about that too, since this party seemed to feature pretty much everyone airing parts of their body normally hidden. The costumes were many, varied, and ranged from things someone seemed to have thrown together to other outfits which had to have taken time, money, and possibly a genius engineer.

  Nava had considered her costume options for approximately five seconds before saying, ‘I wonder if I could get a whip from somewhere?’ Mitsuko had said she would ask around and the following morning Yuzuki had presented Nava with a four-metre-long bullwhip. Nava had not asked where it had come from and she had no desire to know how Mitsuko’s gorgeous, regal, Japanese doll of a mother had obtained it. Now, Nava was stalking the party in the same catsuit and boots she had worn for the summer dance at school, but this time with a bullwhip tied loosely around her hips. Mitsuko had decided to match her, or at least to match one interpretation of Nava’s outfit, by selecting a leather corset and thigh-high boots. She was also carrying a pair of very functional handcuffs which she would twirl around her fingers as though looking for someone to use them on. In Nava’s opinion, Mitsuko looked more like a dominatrix than she did, mostly because she had the kind of majestic beauty to pull it off and because she was, in heels, taller than most of the men at the party.

  ‘The pool room is going to get hot enough to boil the water tonight,’ Nava predicted as the couple wandered through the house in an aimless manner.

  Mitsuko’s eyes followed a young woman in body paint, and only body paint, which was designed to make her look like some sort of aquatic alien. ‘I think that’s a distinct possibility. I wonder if that paint is waterproof?’

  ‘Do you recognise her?’

  ‘Vaguely. I think she’s one of the stars of that teen drama thing about the fish people. Uh, Aqua Squad.’

  ‘I’ve never heard of it.’

  ‘No, well, that’s about par for the course with you.’

  ‘I’m not arguing. I’d suggest that such a show would have makeup artists who knew how to apply a costume that will survive immersion.’

  ‘You make a valid point. Oh, there’s Glory. Let me introduce you.’

  The woman Mitsuko was indicating was… pneumatic. She was also wearing a corset, but hers was white and coupled with a long, asymmetric skirt in a silky material, white stockings, and sky-high heeled sandals. There was the impression of material under considerable stress as her corset struggled to keep her breasts in line. She looked exactly the kind of woman Spencer Trenton would fall for and he had. She had skinned him in the divorce because the man was constitutionally incapable of keeping it in his pants. Seeing her just emphasised to Nava how insanely stupid Spencer was; Glory was a beautiful woman with smooth, light-tan skin, long hair as black as night, delicate features, full lips, and a figure most women would kill for. This was after giving birth to two children.

  ‘Mitsuko, dear,’ Glory said as Mitsuko closed the distance. ‘It’s been such a long time.’ She even had a voice designed to weaken men’s knees.

  ‘It’s good to see you again, Glory,’ Mitsuko said, bending to kiss the older woman on the cheek. ‘Please allow me to make the introductions. Gloriana Trenton Sonkei, this is Nava Ward, my friend from school.’ There was a very slight emphasis on ‘friend’ which caused Glory to twitch an eyebrow. It was definitely that which caused the twitch, not Nava’s surname. After all…

  ‘I’m pleased to meet you, Nava Ward. I assume you know that, in one way, we’re sisters. I used to be a Ward too.’

  Nava nodded. ‘I had heard that, Gloriana Trenton. Mitsuko was explaining why your ex-husband found me particularly repellent. Not that his attitude bothered me.’

  Glory’s nose wrinkled and she reached out to take Nava’s hand, clasping it between hers in a conciliatory gesture. ‘I’m so sorry you had to put up with him. I suppose you are used to that kind of behaviour though.’

  ‘No. I just don’t care.’

  ‘Nava grew up outside Alliance culture,’ Mitsuko said. ‘She has a refreshing attitude to the various discriminations heaped upon her. Essentially, if it has no direct impact on her, it’s beneath her notice.’

  ‘I see,’ Glory said. ‘And if it does have a direct impact.’

  Mitsuko smirked. ‘She usually impacts it back and, if it’s lucky, it walks away with a limp.’

  ~~~

  ‘Growing up on Avorna never prepared me for this,’ Melissa said.

  ‘I could say the same about Leigh’s Landing,’ Rochester replied.

  ‘I’m not sure where to look.’

  ‘I’m glad these britches are loose
.’

  Thankfully, Melissa had not been drinking at the time since spraying the partygoers with fruit juice would have been rude.

  They had decided on somewhat-matching pirate outfits, though Rochester’s costume was a little more traditional. He had a creamy-white silk shirt, open to the waist where it was closed by a wide, colourful scarf tied as a belt. Bucket-top boots with voluminous, knee-length trousers tucked into them were currently hiding his reaction to the amount of female flesh on display. He was wearing an eyepatch over his right eye and had been persuaded not to put his glasses on over it. It was not like he actually needed corrective lenses; the trouble he had seeing without glasses on his face was entirely psychological. He was, obviously, a space pirate, so he had a fake cutlass hung at his left hip and a fake ‘blaster pistol’ at his right.

  Quite a significant amount of the female flesh troubling him belonged to Melissa. If Rochester’s costume was fairly traditional, Melissa’s was not. At least, it was rare to see a pirate in shorts and a minuscule top, which might have been called a camisole, with fishnet stockings attached to her shorts by suspenders and tucked into softer boots than Rochester’s and had a tall block heel. The top carefully shaped her large breasts into a stunning display of cleavage. The lace in various places emphasised delicacy over roughness, but she did manage to look a little badass too; she had been practising her confident strutting technique in their room for three days straight.

  ‘I mean,’ Rochester went on while Melissa was recovering her composure, ‘what’s she supposed to be dressed as? She’s wrapped in bandages. Well, mostly not wrapped in bandages.’

  ‘She’s a mummy,’ Melissa supplied.

  ‘How can you tell?’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘It’s not like she has a child with–’

  ‘No! Not that kind of mummy. A mummy. Have you never seen a horror movie? Uh, generally they’re more decayed and they don’t have most of their boobs hanging out of the bandages. Because they’re usually male. Except when they aren’t. Anyway, it’s like a zombie, but from Ancient Egypt. Or Ancient South America. Inca Mummy Cheerleader was a classic.’

  ‘I think I’ll take your word for it. I tend to prefer documentaries. Or I did anyway.’

  Melissa grinned. ‘I can find you a documentary on mummies. They were real things. It was part of the Egyptian funeral process. And part of their ancient form of magic. I don’t think they actually used to get up and walk around. Or wave pom-poms. Well, I suppose they could have, but this was before sorcery became a science, so you won’t find documentaries about walking mummies. And I don’t think they had pom-poms in Egypt.’

  ‘Still, could be interesting. Not the pom-pom bit. I could take you up on that offer.’

  Melissa’s grin got brighter. ‘We can curl up in front of the screen and watch–’

  ‘Now that just sounds like a perfect way to miss everything after the first ten minutes.’

  ~~~

  ‘Sneak.’

  Mitsuko looked around and frowned.

  ‘Sneak. Sneak.’

  ‘You know,’ Nava said, ‘it’s not really sneaking if you say “sneak, sneak” while you’re doing it.’ She turned her head to look at the woman who had ‘snuck’ in beside her. ‘Hello, Rhianna Greyling. What are you supposed to be?’

  ‘Sexy ninja,’ Rhianna replied through the black bandana tied over her nose and mouth. It was possibly the largest piece of cloth on her body. All the important parts were covered, but the various panels were connected by torn streamers of black material which looked like they could break free at any moment. Even her feet were only covered by what amounted to torn, black bandages. She was a very attractive woman with dark skin, black hair down to her hips, and a bounteous chest. The latter was squeezing out of her costume in various ways; she was a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen.

  ‘I got the impression that Nobuyuki Greyling was the ninja.’

  Rhianna pulled her mask down. ‘I suppose he is more ninja than I am. Good evening, Mitsuko, Glory. It’s nice to see you at one of these gatherings, Glory.’

  ‘It has been a while,’ Glory agreed. ‘It’s always nice to meet a fellow back-pain sufferer.’

  ‘Oh, I must introduce you to Mel,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Good evening, Rhianna. Nobuyuki’s not here?’

  ‘He’s away doing something involving shadows and sneaking I’d imagine,’ Rhianna replied, shrugging. ‘Um, could I borrow Nava Ward for a few minutes?’

  ‘Is she going to come back unperforated?’

  ‘If I were going to try to stab her, I would have brought Nobuyuki.’

  ‘In that case, I have no objection. Nava?’

  ‘I guess I’ll be back shortly,’ Nava replied. ‘Lead on, oh sexy kunoichi.’

  Mitsuko waited until they were a couple of metres away before calling after them. ‘Nava, if she does try to stab you, try not to leave too much of a mess.’

  ‘You won’t even find the body.’

  ~~~

  ‘My specialities are espionage, counter-espionage, and infiltration,’ Rhianna said once she had Nava alone in a – locked – private room. ‘You probably could kill me without too much fuss.’

  ‘You’ve almost certainly seen everything the ASF has on me,’ Nava replied. ‘You would know better than I do what your chances were.’

  ‘True. On both counts.’ The spy paused, apparently considering something. ‘Zackery says that he didn’t tell Suki any of the stuff we found out about you and I believe him. He said he didn’t want her to be troubled by it unless she had to be.’

  ‘I also believe that to be the case. So far, she’s taken it all very well. That may change when she’s had a chance to think about it.’

  ‘No… No, I don’t think it will. She might ask more questions. They all might have questions for you. From the report I saw, you gave them the basics. They’re going to want more details and they’re probably not going to know how to ask for them. But that’s not why I asked to talk to you.’ Rhianna indicated the seats which were set beside a small conference table for six or eight people.

  Nodding, Nava sat, and Rhianna took the chair beside her, turning it to face Nava. Then she said nothing.

  ‘So… What is it that you wanted to talk about?’ Nava asked.

  ‘Would you like to be adopted?’

  Nava stared at the woman for a second. ‘Adopted?’

  Rhianna grinned like the proverbial cat that got the cream. ‘You are amazing. Do you know that? Amazing. I drop a bombshell like that on you and you don’t even blink. Not even a twitch. How in the name of every god did you learn to do that?’

  ‘It’s easy. All you need are trainers who torture you whenever you show any sign of an emotion. What do you mean by adoption?’

  ‘Oh, uh, people aren’t born into the Greylings. I mean, we do have children born to family members, but when that happens the parents leave or the children are fostered out. Most of us try to avoid it. New Greylings are adopted from other families in the clan. Sometimes, we bring in orphans, like you. You’d gain a family and clan. The pay’s pretty good. We get excellent health benefits, not that you need them, and the pension is amazing. That’s if you ever retire.’

  The room fell silent as Nava considered what seemed to be a very generous offer. There were a number of things which this would be a solution to. Nava probably did not even know what all of them were. Still… ‘You know the ASF expect me to join their forces after I leave school?’

  ‘Not a problem. A fair number of the lower-ranking Greylings are in the ASF. We get on pretty well with them. There should never be any conflict of interest because, when it comes down to it, we have the same goals. Or theirs are a superset of ours. Sort of. They protect the Clan Worlds Alliance. We protect the Sonkei clan. However, since the clan more or less runs the Alliance administration, it’s rare that a threat to the clan isn’t also some sort of threat to the whole thing. See?’ Rhianna certainly had a ready grin.

  ‘I under
stand. I think I’d like to put this to my ASF contact before accepting. Or rejecting.’

  ‘Again, not a problem. We’re not in a drastic hurry or anything. We want to grab you before anyone else does, but your part in various things since you came to Shinden has been kept very quiet. We shouldn’t have any competition for a while.’

  Nava nodded. ‘There is one other thing. I’m learning support magic because I don’t wish to be a weapon. If all you want–’

  Rhianna shook her head. Then she partially took back the denial. ‘We obviously can’t overlook your combat capabilities. That said, we see you more as an all-round asset. That spell you improvised to take out that Harbinger. Yes, I suppose you might say that was a straight combat mission, but the spell wasn’t combat-oriented of itself. You can do things a lot of older magicians would have a lot of trouble with and you’ll probably get better. That kind of power brings enormous flexibility. We just can’t afford to overlook that sort of potential.’

  ‘I’ll give it serious thought and get you an answer as soon as possible.’

  ‘Like I said, no real hurry.’

  ‘Yes. How do I contact you when I have an answer?’

  Rhianna waved the question away as obvious. ‘I’ll send my contact details to your ketcom.’

  ‘Somehow, that’s disappointingly ordinary.’

  ~~~

  ‘So, what did Rhianna want?’ Mitsuko asked when Nava reappeared. Melissa and Rochester had appeared, giving Mitsuko an excuse to stick with Glory for a while longer. Nava had not had to search hard to find them.

  ‘I’ll tell you later,’ Nava replied. ‘Top secret ninja stuff.’

  ‘Oh,’ Glory said, grinning brightly, ‘how intriguing.’

  ‘Nava is a woman of much mystery,’ Melissa said. ‘Even when you think you have her sorted out, you discover something about her that you still don’t understand.’

  ‘I’m not going to claim to be an open book,’ Nava replied. ‘I try to avoid bald-faced lies.’

  ‘Every woman has to keep a little mystery about herself,’ Glory said. ‘Keep them guessing.’