Freedom, Humanity, and Other Delusions (Death's Handmaiden Book 3) Read online

  ‘You’ll be on the same arrangement as Mel. We’ll reshuffle the proportions and with four of us paying, we’ll all have a little extra cash available. This isn’t a handout, it’s a reasonable method of reducing your costs while maintaining some of your lifestyle.’

  ‘It’s a really nice house,’ Melissa said. ‘We have a sento and Suki’s going to get the garden done up. Oh! And with you and Nava living there, we’ll be safe from zombie plagues and alien invasions. They’d never risk attacking.’

  ‘Uh, right,’ Courtney said.

  Melissa, however, was turning her attention to Mitsuko. ‘We’ll need another maid outfit. Mine won’t fit her.’

  Mitsuko nodded, slowly and with complete seriousness. ‘You make a good point. I don’t think the added expenditure will be a problem, however.’

  ‘M-maid outfit?’ Courtney asked.

  ‘Yes, well, you will be on the same arrangement as Mel.’

  ‘Just what kind of arrangement are we talking about?’

  Melissa could not manage to keep a straight face at that point and had to turn away to giggle into her hand.

  Nava regarded the SSF captain for a second. ‘I can’t believe you took the bait. Are you sure you’re the captain of the SSF?’

  Courtney winced. ‘Maybe this is bothering me more than I thought…’

  ~~~

  Naomi Himura Sonkei looked like an officer. In fact, he looked like the kind of officer you saw at the head of his troops, holding a flag in one hand and a battle rifle in the other, spurring his men on to victory. Or on recruitment posters. Well, maybe his hair was a little wrong. He had shoulder-length, black hair which did not quite fit the image, but everything else was right. His strong, powerful body filled out an ASF uniform to perfection.

  ‘He scares the crap out of the instructors,’ Kyle said, smirking at his fellow officer candidate.

  ‘I don’t believe that’s entirely correct,’ Naomi replied.

  ‘That’s effectively admitting that it’s at least partially true,’ Mitsuko pointed out.

  ‘I’ll concede that point.’ Naomi was not quite as taciturn as Nava, but he did tend to give the impression that he was a mountain: immovable, imperturbable, and invulnerable. ‘They should not be intimidated. My scores in the finals were good, but not excellent.’

  ‘You being intimidating has never been about sorcery, Naomi,’ Melissa said. ‘You look like you could break someone in half with your bare hands. I bet you could fold me up like a pretzel if you wanted. I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to stop you.’

  Blink and you missed it, but there was a very slight pause before Naomi replied. ‘I assure you that I don’t make a habit of folding young women into pretzels without prior consent, Mel.’

  ‘Well, no, because you’re a gentleman. But your instructors don’t know that.’

  Mitsuko bent down to put her head beside Nava’s and whispered. ‘Did Naomi just blush, or am I imagining it?’

  ‘He blushed.’

  ‘Fascinating.’

  ~~~

  ‘This is doing wonders for my feet,’ Mitsuko said. She was chest deep in the house’s bath and loving it.

  ‘We spent almost the whole day standing up,’ Melissa said.

  ‘The flat boots the ASF wear are that way for a reason,’ Nava said. ‘Another indication that the school’s uniform code was written by a man.’

  ‘The men should have to wear heels too,’ Melissa said. ‘I heard that they did, once upon a time, because some king was self-conscious about his height.’

  ‘Originally,’ Mitsuko said, ‘they were worn when riding. A heel stopped your foot slipping through the stirrup.’

  ‘Practical,’ Nava said. ‘Not that there’s much need of that these days. People still ride, I suppose.’

  ‘Sport and leisure riding is the only reason we still have horses. We’ll get Courtney moved in here tomorrow.’

  ‘Sudden change of topic, but okay. She did appear to be missing Kyle even before he left. I don’t suppose she’ll see him again for a month or so.’

  ‘Yes. I did consider inviting her to sleep here tonight, but it felt like I was forcing the matter.’

  ‘It’s your birthday tomorrow,’ Melissa said. ‘Are you sure you want to be working like that on your birthday?’

  ‘It’s only my sixteenth,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘We’ll go out for a meal in the evening. All four of us. Courtney won’t let herself be a killjoy at a birthday party. She might even enjoy herself.’

  ‘That may be asking too much,’ Nava said. She looked around at her two closest friends. ‘So, which bed are we christening tonight?’

  Mitsuko’s lips twitched. ‘I thought we’d start here, once my feet feel like they’re attached again.’

  ‘That sounds like a good plan.’

  ‘Then we can work our way around the beds one at a time. And we should probably do the sofa in the lounge tonight if Courtney will be here from tomorrow.’

  ‘Hm. So, we’ll be moving Courtney over tomorrow afternoon then.’

  ‘Probably. Yes.’

  236/1/11.

  ‘Happy birthday, Suki,’ Courtney said, lifting her glass of wine. She was the only one old enough to drink alcohol and, despite the fact that the others were restricted to grape juice, she had decided that tonight was one night she needed a little inebriation. No one had said anything.

  ‘Thank you,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘And welcome to the household, Courtney.’

  Courtney smiled. ‘Thank you. To be honest… Well, I’m happy to have the company. I didn’t sleep that well last night.’

  ‘I can understand that.’

  ‘Suki failed to manage a night without me after I stopped guarding her last year,’ Nava said. ‘She knows your pain well.’

  ‘I don’t think there was any need to bring that up,’ Mitsuko said, blushing.

  Melissa giggled. ‘I remember that night too.’

  ‘I’m not surprised,’ Nava said. She turned to address Courtney in a manner which might have been conspiratorial if it were not for Nava’s flat expression. ‘The walls in those capsule apartments are thin and Mel was entertained for several hours by Suki’s… singing voice.’ Melissa went scarlet and Mitsuko made strangling noises. Nava appeared not to notice.

  ‘Well, I hope the soundproofing in the house is good then,’ Courtney said.

  ‘You’re far enough away from our room that it should be good,’ Nava said. ‘If it becomes an issue, I’ll consult Chess about a soundproofing spell.’

  ‘You’re going to talk to Chess, the man voted most likely to faint at the sight of boobs, about a spell to mask sex noises.’

  ‘Only if required. It should be hilarious.’

  ‘You’re evil, Nava Greyling.’

  ‘I have my moments.’

  Grinning, Courtney turned to Mitsuko. ‘So, first day of a new year tomorrow. Do you have your speech written?’

  ‘Written and memorised,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘Mel can attest. Nava managed to escape me rehearsing it, but Mel has had to sit through a couple of performances.’

  ‘I think it’s pretty good,’ Melissa said. ‘It’s encouraging, inspiring, and it sets down the president’s opinion on how the students should behave toward each other.’

  ‘You’re giving them your speech on equality then?’ Courtney asked.

  ‘Not exactly,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘I’m simply pointing out a few facts about last year which may challenge some preconceptions.’

  236/1/12.

  ‘Hello, class two-one-three, my name is Taryn Borchardt Firmin.’

  There was a new girl in Mitsuko’s class. A transfer student. A fairly unusual transfer student. The Firmin clan had their own sorcery school and more or less every magician in the clan attended it. To transfer to SAS2 in the second year, Taryn Borchardt had to be some kind of special.

  Physically, she was impressive. She was probably slightly taller than Mitsuko, but the difference was marginal and masked by Taryn’s m
ore voluminous hair. Taryn was significantly more muscular than Mitsuko, however; this was clearly a powerful woman, but also a very shapely one. Taryn was attractive, a real beauty, with lightly tanned skin, a mass of auburn curls falling past her shoulders, and blue-grey eyes. Quite full lips came with a beauty spot above the left corner. She had strong features, almost masculine but not enough to detract from distinctly feminine good looks. Her bust was a match for Melissa’s, so she filled out her uniform very well. Beyond all that, she carried herself with the easy confidence one might expect from a clan that specialised in professional mercenaries and a family at the top of the clan.

  ‘I transferred here from Bosquet,’ Taryn went on, ‘and I’d imagine some of you are wondering why. Basically, I needed a bigger challenge than the school there can provide, so a transfer to the best school in the Alliance was arranged. I promise I won’t bring the class’s average grades down.’ That got a laugh from some of the other students. ‘My main hobby is MagiTag. From what I’ve heard, SAS-squared has a pretty good team, so I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ve got.’

  As Taryn sat down at her desk, Mitsuko caught the teacher’s eye, got a nod, and got to her feet. ‘Welcome, Taryn Borchardt. I am Mitsuko Trenton Sonkei, the student president. I’m sure you’ll get to know the others here very quickly, but if there’s anything you need help with, please ask. It’s rare for us to see a Firmin here, so I think we’re all looking forward to seeing what you can do.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Taryn replied. ‘I promise I won’t let you down.’

  ~~~

  Nava shifted in her seat and scanned around the theatre. Nothing seemed out of place, but something was making her feel a little uncomfortable for the second time in the last hour. Maybe she was nervous for Mitsuko, who was at the podium right now, giving her speech. It did not seem likely, but maybe that was it.

  ‘Last year was an interesting one for this school and its students,’ Mitsuko said. She was getting to the political bit. Up to now, it had all been boilerplate, welcoming the new year’s students and welcoming back the returning ones, and commenting on the excellent results of the last graduating year – standard stuff that came out in one form or another every year at the matriculation ceremony. Now she was moving on to the less standard bit. ‘We were faced with various threats, both internal and external. We faced two serial killers, a ghost, and an extortionist threatening us with a hurricane. A group of us, myself included, were involved in the terrorist attack in Alliance City last summer. On the other hand, we kicked butt in both the MagiTag and flight competitions last summer, not to mention several other events throughout the year. We put on two very entertaining dances and one of the best-received plays of this decade. There was bad last year, but there were also good things which we can hope to repeat this year.’

  She paused, looking around at the gathered multitude. There were about eight thousand students in the theatre. Many of them knew their president’s views, but at least fourteen hundred did not. They were about to find out. ‘I’m sure you’re wondering what my point is, so here it comes. We got through all of this, the good and the bad, because we worked together. All of us. When we’re faced with a challenge, the students of the Shinden Alliance School of Sorcery do not back down. No matter which stream of study we’ve elected to take, we get the job done. I have personally witnessed support students with no interest in seeing battle stand up and acquit themselves with great honour in the most difficult of circumstances.’ Mitsuko gave a small smile. ‘And I’ve seen combat students knuckle down and do the boring stuff that’s needed to make a school event run well. This year, I hope to see all of that and more. Our school is considered one of the best in the Alliance. Together, we can make it even better.’

  ~~~

  ‘Good speech,’ Taryn said. ‘Very good for school spirit and all that.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Mitsuko said. She had invited her new classmate to lunch out of a sense of duty more than anything else, but it did give her the chance to see where Taryn sat on the ‘combat stream is superior’ scale, among other things.

  ‘Do you really think people who don’t want to get into fights are capable of handling them that well, though?’ That probably indicated Taryn’s viewpoint quite well.

  ‘Well, the three sitting with you certainly can.’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Two,’ Nava said. ‘I’m support stream, but the only issue I have with combat is when I’m not supposed to kill my opponents.’

  ‘Huh?’ Taryn said again. She had selected a curry from one of the refectory counters, but it was currently being ignored as she looked between the people dining with her.

  ‘I’ve been in two combat situations with Nava, Mel, and Chess,’ Mitsuko said. ‘Nava is something of a special case, I suppose.’

  ‘She’s a one-woman army,’ Melissa said, grinning.

  ‘Mel handles combat very effectively,’ Mitsuko went on. ‘She operates in a supporting role, that’s true, but she doesn’t flinch when it comes to it. Chess’s magic is exceptionally useful for scouting. He’s an academic but that doesn’t stop him doing his job in a fight when he’s needed.’

  ‘N-Nava drilled situational awareness and combat tactics into us last year,’ Rochester said. He was doing his absolute best not to look directly at Taryn, but he was still stuttering a little. With Melissa as his previous girlfriend and Hoshi Horne as his current one, one might have expected him to have learned to cope with large breasts. No dice. He possibly had not seen Hoshi naked yet, given that anything too intimate between them would have been illegal, but Hoshi’s teaching uniform did little to hide her assets. Maybe Rochester was destined to go through life staring at women’s hairlines.

  ‘I still have some issues with combat,’ Melissa admitted. ‘I’m fine, so long as I can’t see the blood. Blood makes my legs go wobbly.’

  ‘So,’ Mitsuko said, ‘I do think that people who don’t wish to fight can handle combat, yes. In some cases, they can handle it very well.’

  ‘People who want to fight are idiots,’ Nava stated flatly. Both Mitsuko and Taryn flinched, but for different reasons.

  ‘That may be a little too direct, Nava,’ Mitsuko said.

  ‘Perhaps a little inaccurate,’ Nava replied. ‘People who want to be in fair fights are idiots. If they like picking fights they know they have no chance of losing, they’re just bullies. No one should want to be in a fight they have a chance of losing, especially when death or serious injury is a probability.’ She looked across the table at Taryn, who was staring daggers at her. The virtual daggers had absolutely no effect. ‘Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes, such a fight is necessary, and entering into one is an act of bravery, but seeking them out suggests that you were born with a severely damaged sense of self-preservation. Or you’re stupidly overconfident. Sadly, that kind of attitude is endemic in Clan Worlds culture.’

  Taryn frowned and then turned back to her food. ‘That’s actually… probably accurate. My family has a lot of mercenaries in it. I guess you could say we seek out fights. But it’s to make a living. We don’t start fights. We just make sure we finish them if one happens.’

  Nava gave a small shrug. ‘Mercenaries have existed for thousands of years. I’m sure society would be better off if they weren’t needed, but it seems there is such a need. You’ll have to excuse me, Taryn Borchardt. My background is somewhat unusual. I grew up outside the Alliance and my attitudes to a number of things don’t quite fit. Further, most people have a lot of trouble determining what my feelings are since I don’t outwardly display them.’

  Flashing a half-smile, Taryn said, ‘I got that. Even after just a few minutes of knowing you, I can tell you don’t give much away.’

  ‘Oh,’ Mitsuko said, ‘you’ve no idea. Just remember that if she’s threatening you with some form of anatomically improbable punishment, she’s almost certainly joking.’

  ‘Almost certainly?’

  ‘Well, she hasn’t done any of them yet�
��’

  236/1/13.

  Mitsuko walked in from the bathroom, rubbing a towel at her hair. Drying her hair could be a real pain at times. Nava’s hair seemed to slough water as though it was made of plastic – which it certainly was not – but Mitsuko had to work at it. Nava’s hair was fresh from the shower now, but it looked dry and untangled as she lay on the bed, naked, reading something on her ketcom.

  ‘What’s got you so enthralled?’ Mitsuko asked.

  ‘I’m not sure enthralled is the right word,’ Nava replied in her usual semi-monotone. ‘I’m learning Japanese.’

  ‘Oh. You are?’

  ‘It seemed like a useful skill to have, given the clan I’ve found myself in. Plenty of people in the Sonkeis speak Japanese. You speak Japanese.’

  ‘Well, true. It’s not mandatory or anything.’

  ‘I’m aware of that. However, it demonstrates my willingness to fit in with my new family, has utility in interactions with a wider scope of people, and makes me feel like I belong a little more. I see no downside.’

  Finally satisfied, Mitsuko tossed her towel over a chair. ‘I do.’

  ‘You do?’

  ‘Yes. Your education is currently a barrier preventing me from doing one of the things I’ve had far too little of in the last three weeks.’ Mitsuko was presenting her best ‘hungry’ expression. Her face said, ‘I want it, and I want it now!’

  Nava decided that prolonging the anticipation would heighten the experience. And she was feeling a little mean. ‘It was only one week. We did it, a lot, at new year. I do not know how your ancient ancestors came up with such a convoluted writing system. I know you don’t use the kanji characters for general writing these days but–’

  ‘Nava…’ Mitsuko drew the name’s final vowel out into a long whine.

  Nava’s eyes flicked up from her book. Then she snapped her ketcom closed and turned to place it on the bedside table. ‘Alright. I suppose I’ve been missing it too. There’s nothing wrong with ending the evening with a bang.’

  ‘That’s more like it.’ Mitsuko stalked forward, regaining her predatory posture as she went. ‘But I want several bangs.’

  ‘Of course.’