Chapter 1

Terin's Crossing

Kaara was mad. Not insane mad, just pissed off at the world mad. She had made it as far as Terin’s Crossing when the first snows hit, closing the trade roads and rendering the oceans impassable. Her long walk to the Crossing had been one delay after another. On several occasions, bandits attempted to waylay her. Only once did any get her on the ground to rape her, and he would never have children again, she saw to that. The rest of the group he was with ran when they saw her stand up holding his bloody cock and balls in her hand.

She had decided to stay and work as a serving girl at the Broken Wheel Inn out by the marshaling yards rather than the more costly places in town. She had managed to earn enough so far to not have to earn her keep on her back, but she knew the time was coming she wouldn’t have a choice. Food and rent were costing more than she would manage over time. But until then, nobody got in her knickers. Her goal was simple, survive the winter, head west, find Andrew Markenin, Marry him, then kill the son of a bitch for what she had been put through all summer.

Glenis, the head woman of the Broken Wheel watched the group of men in one corner. She knew what was about to happen and wasn’t happy about it, but it needed to be done. Kaara carried her loaded tray of mugs to the corner table where four men in furs sat. They had been drinking most of the evening after eating a heavy dinner. She wasn’t prepared when one of the men grabbed her from behind as she set the tray down. She struggled but wasn’t able to get free right away. She was very strong from her summer as a plow beast, but when surprised, she could still be taken, or so the men and Glenis thought.

Rather than struggle, Kaara went limp, dropping her weight. This caught the man holding her left leg off guard and she was able to jerk free of his grip. She rolled and slammed her foot into the man holding her right leg and he dropped. His head had bent over and she heard a crunch of breaking bones. Glenis saw and heard this and started to go to free Kaara before anybody else died in the coming fight. With both legs now free, she spun her body around and was able to free her left hand. She rammed it down into the groin of the man still holding onto her and he made a faint squeak as she hit, grabbed, and squeezed. He fell and lay still, gasping for breath through massive pain. The fourth man backed away and began pulling his friend’s away as well as he could with a pissed off girl closing on him.

Kaara stopped when Glenis yelled, “That’s enough girl. Pack your shit and get out.”

Kaara spun and faced her, “I will not be a damned bar whore, get that through your booze-addled brain already.” She grabbed the dead man and dragged him to the door and tossed the body out as if he had no weight at all. She went back and dragged the downed but alive man and did the same to him. “As for you two, stay away from me.” She went back to the table, loaded the mugs back on the tray, and went back to the kitchen.

Glenis sighed and went to help the injured men leave. “I pity Andrew if she ever catches up to him.” She closed the door and the common room was much quieter than normal for the rest of the night.

Andor was happy to have a warm place to stay for the winter. He was part of a woodcutter crew so he was well paid and fed. The early snows had trapped him here and that made him wonder at Aston’s luck. At every turn, he had help and was able to stay ahead of him no matter how fast he had managed to travel. Come spring he figured he would be able to hook up with the first caravan heading west. He could act as a guard or driver, so work wouldn’t be an issue. Tonight he sat in the barracks and watched the men gang bang a paid whore for the night. He had joined in a few times on previous nights, but tonight he was not in the mood for it. He had five months to wait. Who knows how far Aston would get in that time. Andor waited, listening to the woman in his head and cursing her for the mess he was in because he believed she could bring him wealth and power. He would wait.

Pine Bluff

Seven men sat and waited. They had been so close at one point they almost had her. Brena had slipped away from them when their attempted snatch had failed so completely. Now they had to wait until the thaw. This early blizzard hit the entire coast and shut all the roads down at once. They would wait, and then they would find Brena Sizemore and kill her as they had been paid to do.

Ramparts Rise

Tara waited. She wasn’t worried anymore. Andrew and his friends had made it to Broken Sword and were settled in. Some training for Andrew had already begun and several long-standing missions had been closed out. Her clan was now acting as a guard force for the town while they were stuck, which made the local folk very happy. She looked up at the Rampart and could make out the faint glow coming from the road. Ledger had done a great thing when he lit it up as he had. She would wait and when the spring thaw arrived, she and her folk would be on their way to the Cove to meet up with those she knew to be the future of this world.

Blood Queens Castle

She looked out of the upper turret of her frozen fortress and quietly cursed the weather. The first snow storms had come early everywhere and the freeze was the deepest in recent memory. She watched the harbor as the ships were being lifted from the water as fast as supports could be built. They were racing the ice that was building up and filling the harbor and nearby ocean solid with ice.

The Blood Queen’s breath came out in frozen clouds as she stood looking down on the frozen vista below her. Even dressed in her warmest clothing and wrapped in a heavy set of furs, she could still feel the cold wind eating through to her. She returned to the lower levels where the staff had managed to keep the inner walls warm. She would wait, like she always did, wait and hope things would work as she hoped. She had her own plans and they did not include being a meal for some ancient monster from another world. It had slipped up and she saw how it had ended up on Gardallen and she knew it could be destroyed. She needed the holder of that sword to come to her and she could turn him to destroy the Vampire. She hated waiting.

21 years before present, Plains Guard.

Haru of the family Shigeto looked down at the beautiful baby girl in his arms. Her black hair was like her mother’s. Her almond-shaped eyes a bright blue that would soon turn to a dark brown and add to her looks. He could see the faint pointing to her ears that were the hallmark feature of his family line. Umi, the girl’s mother, looked on tiredly at her man and daughter. She knew the question was coming and already he knew her answer, but he had to ask.

“Umi, I ask once more, will you be my wife?”

She looked sadly at him and waited a full minute before answering him. “Haru, I can never marry you. My shame and dishonor I brought upon our families can never be cleansed. I can never marry you. I will stay with you, be your bedmate, bear your children, but I can never have your family name.”

“Oh my Umi, how I wish I could convince you what happened was not your fault.” he paused then went on, “Our first daughter is Aco. I can already see she has your looks and maybe even your skills. We will teach all of our children the ways of the hand, and how to use them on stage.” He handed Aco back to her mother who placed her mouth on a waiting nipple. The girl sucked hungrily at her first meal in a world that held such promise for her.

Over the next decade, Umi gave him two more daughters and two sons. Aika, Chika,

Jun, and Sora. All were of exceptional beauty and ability. Aco was the greatest in her mother’s skill as a contortionist and acrobatics. The rest were as fast, strong, and able to do stunts that amazed all the audiences that came to see the shows, even as very young children.

16 years before present, Rampart Rise, late spring.

The traveling show had paused before making the run up the mountains to reach the Cove before Mid-Summer. They stayed a week to rest, re-supply, and entertain the folk of the towns as they rode past. This stop proved to be a disaster for the Family of Shigeto.

The man approached the wagon, mounted the stairs and began pounding on the door, yelling for the occupants to open up. Haru opened a small sliding panel that allowed him to see and talk to anybody at the door in safety. “What do you want?” Haru asked. He recognized this man. He was a known slaver in several cities in the area.

“I want the oldest girl, I will pay you well for her,” he said. Haru could see the man had a knife in hand and would use it to take what he wanted.

“Go away, slave man. I will never allow you to touch my family. Go away.”

Haru slid the panel shut and he could hear the man outside cursing him, saying, “I will have her, and your bitch now, and your guts on the ground! I get what I want and nobody stands against me.” As he stepped down, he drove his foot down hard enough to break the bottom step.

Haru knew they would have to leave sooner than planned and went to the show master and explained what was going on. The show master agreed and sent word around the company to be ready to move at sunrise the next day. It would not be soon enough to save Aco.

As evening approached, Umi and was outside with Aco watching over her little brother and sister Jun and Aika. Umi spotted the man walking rapidly towards them and yelled for Haru to come quickly. She ran over to the children to protect them but was a few seconds too slow. The slaver pulled a jar from a pocket and splashed some of the contents on Aco’s face. Haru saw this and leaped at the slaver before he could finish turning to do the same to the others and Umi. Haru broke over half the man’s bones before snapping the neck, nearly ripping the head off.

As soon as the fluid had hit Aco’s face, she had fallen to the ground, screaming in agony, rubbing at her face. Her mother watched in horror for a few seconds as Aco’s skin began to bubble and burn. She grabbed the wash bucket she had been washing clothing in and began rinsing the girl’s skin, all the while yelling for the healer to come to help her. She was able to keep the acid clear of Aco’s eyes, saving her sight. She was also able to prevent any lasting damage to the girl’s hands. The healer was running at the sound of a child and mother screaming and the sound of bones being loudly and violently shattered.

He saw what Umi was doing and told her to keep rinsing the burned skin to get the acid off and he would be right back. He ran to his wagon which was nearby and grabbed a large satchel. He yelled for a bucket of milk to be brought as well. He knew milk could stop some acids from working.

When he got back, he brought out a pouch of a burn cooling jelly and began wiping it onto Aco’s hands. He then began on her face but stopped when the milk arrived. “Aco, I know it hurts, drink a little milk, it might stop some of the burning.” Some of the burning acids had gotten in her mouth and the fumes into her lungs. The next part would be harder on the girl. He held her face and said, Aco, when I pour some more milk in your mouth, inhale it, don’t swallow. It will hurt and you will choke, but it might save your life.”

Little Aco was in such a state she would do anything to stop the pain. He poured a small dipper of milk into her mouth, she did as she was told and inhaled the milk into her lungs. He rolled her over and began lightly pounding on her back to make her cough out the milk before she could risk drowning in it. She coughed and sputtered, choking non-stop for several minutes. Umi had begun wiping Aco’s face with a milk-soaked cloth and as she did so, Aco began to calm down as she got the milk out of her lungs. The burning in her mouth, throat, and chest had eased and was no longer trying to kill her from within.

The healer, master Samona looked at Aco’s hands and said they would heal. When he looked at the damage to her face though, he felt despair. The once angelic face was now a mass of acid burns that would scar and make her face stiff and painful for her entire life. He didn’t hold back with the truth, Umi and Haru held Aco and assured her she was loved and they would always take care of her.

The show master complained to the mayor of Ramparts Rise but was rebuked, “They should have just sold the kid, less trouble that way.” The mayor and his successors did not figure out for a long time that word was sent out and no show would stop in that city for many years to come.

Six years before the present.

Aco slowly made her way through the markets of Tres. She wore a robe with a deep hood that hid her face from the world. After she had been burned, she refused to be seen by anybody for several months. She did try to continue her acrobatic training and practice though. She became even faster and her mother saw the hint of something even greater in Aco than just being a mere show actor. She trained Aco as far as she could in acrobatics, then began the art of the daggers and killing blows. Aco was given a chance to spar with some of the members of the Brotherhood and she had defeated all that had come against her when her skills finally acceded theirs. When Umi asked if Aco would be accepted into the guild, she was told that Aco had to wait until she had fulfilled a predestined series of events as explained to them by The Lady. Until then, she could not be part of the Brotherhood.

In the larger cities, Aco would wander around the shopping districts, looking in windows, finding things that would help her perform and work even better in a side trade she had begun to be known for. She didn’t kill if she avoid it, but if you needed something collected, she could usually convince the person to pay without further objection. Currently, she was at loose ends, with little to do other than performing with her family every other day with the rest of the show. She had started a new part of her act recently. She could throw daggers and hit a spot she wanted every time. She was still working to master the throwing star. They tended to tumble and twist in the air, making exact targeting difficult. Tumbling across the stage and hitting the center of the target with daggers every-time got good applause.

She walked past a costume store without looking directly at the window in the front. Something in the window though, it caught her attention as she passed it by, she stopped and backed up. This was a strange store. It sold masks as well as other costume parts. This now had her full attention with what she saw, it was something new. She went in and a small bell ringing with the door’s movement and looked around for a moment before approaching the masks in the window. She pulled her hood back a little so she could see better and stopped and stared at a set of white ceramic masks on display in the window. One had a happy face, the other a sad face. The eye-holes were shaped like normal eyes and made up to stand out. The mouths were brightly painted red lips in a bright smile and a dark frown. She reached up and gently touched the happy face, jerking back when a gravely old voice asked, “Can I help you?”

She lowered her hands, drawing them back into the long, wide sleeves. She turned and looked at the old man that had addressed her. “I would like to examine those two masks if I may?”

He smiled, sensing a possible sale. “Certainly my dear, certainly.” He stepped around her and reached up to bring the pair down. “These are a matched set for stage mostly. The actor or actress would wear them to express the emotion of the scene.”

“Are there other emotion masks then?” asked Aco, the hope in her voice low, but noticeable.

“I can make up several dozen different faces to match whatever the story calls for. They are not cheap, but most acting companies will have a few basic sets on hand.” He held the happy face mask to her to examine. “Hold it to your face and let me see how it looks, then look in the mirror to see what I see.”

Aco almost panicked, she had a morbid fear of mirrors because of her disfigured face. She held the mask to her face and turned to the mirror on the wall. She stepped towards it, stepping into the brighter light by the window. She saw the face and smiled under the mask. “May I try the other now, please?”

He handed it to her without a word. There was something about this girl that worried him. To want to hide behind a mask was not normal. He watched as she switched the masks with a flick of her wrist so that her face didn’t show for an instant. “Sad,” she said quietly, then switched them again, “Happy,” her voice changing to match the implied mood. She turned to him, keeping the mask in place. “I will purchase these two. How long would it take to make the complete show set, all of them?” She pulled out a pouch and pulled out coins, waiting for an answer.

The old man was surprised, to say the least at this. “The masks have to be made at the pottery shop, then I paint them and they are kilned one more time to seal them. The next cycle is in one week. The masks can be made in a day. I have the molds for them.”

“Good, I will be in Tres for at least two more weeks. If I have to stay longer, I will. How much for all of them?” she asked.

The old man walked to the counter and took out a quill and started making notes. This took several minutes and some flipping of beads on an abacus. “You will need to pay twenty-five Plat royals for the entire set, half due now, the rest on delivery.”

Aco pulled out a second pouch and laid out thirty coins of the proper type. “The sooner they are ready the better.” She looked at the edges of the sad mask she was holding and asked, “What are these small slots for around the sides?”

He looked at what she was pointing at, “Those allow hooks from a hood to lock the mask in place so you don’t have to hold it all the time.”

“Where can I find these hoods with the hooks already installed?” she asked.

“There is a seamstress shop two doors down that can make them for you. Show her one of these and she will know what you need.” He stacked the coins, “You have paid too much.”

“I will need one more mask, a special mask. The color is to be black. On it, I want that in fine gold tracing.” She pointed to a hanging creature out of nightmare and myth. “I want the face of it for that one, my show mask.”

“I see. I will do my best to have them done before you have to leave,” he said. “You will need to see the seamstress right away so the hoods are done before the masks.”

“I will do that now. I suppose you are wondering why I want masks for my face,” she asked?

“I will admit to curiosity, yes.”

“I hope you don’t shock easily.” She pulled her cowl back and looked up at him. She saw the look of fear and disgust start to make it to his face before he stomped them down. “I was burned by acid by a slaver that wanted me, my parents refused him. He did this to me, then he died at my father’s hands. To say I don’t care for slavers is an understatement.”

“I see. I will have your face ready for you as quickly as can be managed.” He slid the coins into a pouch and took down his cloak. “I must run to the ceramics shop right away to get them started. You young lady get to the seamstress.”

She stepped out and he followed, locking the door behind him. He was gone from her sight in a second. She looked up and down the street and spotted a sign with a dress on it. ‘That might just be it.’ she thought and stepped around the crowds walking in both directions. When she opened the door, a small bell rang over the door, letting the seamstress know she had a visitor upfront. Aco looked around at the fancy dresses on stands along one wall. The other side had simple dresses for those of lesser means. The back wall behind a counter had hoods and cowls in a variety of styles and types. One outfit caught her eyes. It was a single piece bodysuit of what looked like golden silk. The material and color would guarantee it cost as much as the masks did. She could afford it.

An old woman shuffled out of the back with a girl no older than Aco leading her. “How may I be of service to you?” she asked, her voice quivering with age.

Aco smiled behind the happy mask she still held in place. “I hope you can. I am in need of several cowls and hoods that will hold this type of mask firmly in place, but can be swapped out in a hurry for another.” She held out the sad mask to the girl. She took it carefully and studied it for a moment.

“She will need a stage hood with the hooks,” she handed the mask back to Aco and asked, “How many will you need, and how sturdy do you need them?”

Aco considered for a moment, “Since I will be wearing them at all times, I figure at least fifteen in an assortment of colors and materials. They need to be robust for long, hard wear. I would also like them to fit snugly on my head so the mask doesn’t slide around.”

“That is an unusual request child. Why would you want to hide your face behind a mask?” asked the old woman.

Aco knew to show her face to this woman could be a death sentence to the old lady. “I will show the young one, not you though,” she said to the older lady. “I don’t think your heart could survive my appearance.” Aco turned to the girl and lowered the cowl just enough for her to see Aco’s face.

One of the girl’s hands flew to her mouth to stifle a squeak she felt in her throat. “Mistress, it is well you do not see her. I recommend we make what she needs right away.”

“That bad then,” said the old seamstress, “Very well child.” She turned to Aco, “It will take a week to get the final sizing done. I will leave that portion to the girls if that is alright with you?”

“That will be fine. I have one other request. Could the gold skinsuit be sized to me? And one of the hoods to go with it in color and material?” asked Aco. “It also needs to be flexible and stretchable enough for me to perform my act. I am hyper-flexible and can tie myself in knots just about.”

“That will not be a problem child. I will need your name and payment must be made before we can begin. I can already tell you it will be over twenty Plat royals.”

Aco pulled out the pouch again and poured out the coins in it. She had thirty left. She handed them to the old woman. “That should cover the cost. I will be in Tres for about two more weeks.”

“Then we need to start right away,” she pocketed the coins. “We need to measure your head and get the sizing for the suit. Come in the backroom for a few minutes.”

Aco followed the pair into the shop area and saw a dozen girls sewing material by hand in the low light of the lanterns. In one corner away from the rest, the girl that had seen her measured Aco’s head and face then took several dozen measurements from around her body. A few were embarrassing as to the contact the girl made with parts of her body. “You will need to have the suit and hoods re-sized over time as you grow. I will leave a bit of extra material in the seams to allow for that.”

“That will be fine,” said Aco. With the numbers taken and money paid, she pulled her cowl up and hid her face once more. She left the shop, planning on returning in three days for the final fitting of the gold suit. That, with the mask, would be her show face.

Aco walked through the city deep in thought. These masks, these faces would become her, or would she become them. She didn’t know. What she would need to learn and practice is keeping them in a specific order as she carried them. With two, it would be easy. With five or six, still easy. Two dozen? That would require much time and practice. She finally returned to the yard where the show was set up. She could see that many of the performers were warming up for their acts. She slipped the masks up her wide sleeves, for the time being, not wanting to spoil the surprise for later. She approached the wagon her family traveled and lived in and stepped in the open door. She was not surprised to find it empty at this time of day when a show was about to begin.