The Way of Things: Upper Kingdom Boxed Set: Books 1, 2 and 3 in the Tails of the Upper Kingdom Read Free Page B

gritted his teeth and tried instead to focus his gaze on the
great red and gold door at the far end of the hall. It was impossible because
of the clacking of her high boot heels. In fact, he’d often wondered if she
indulged those heels in order to compensate for her size, as she was a rather
small woman. Those heels, along with her long, marbled tail lashing from side
to side and her long, marbled hair swinging in straight, coarse lines across
her back, it almost worked. Add to that the facts that she wore a uniform of
white doeskin, bore both long and short swords and sported blades strapped all
over her thin, muscular body, she was rather imposing. A snow leopard
among snow leopards. Swift. Fierce. Lethal. She was his right hand.
    And right now, she was giving him a
headache.
    “Patience, Ursa,” he sighed. “They
are on their way.”
    Her ice-blue eyes flashed at him.
    “The summons went out over an hour
ago, before the sunrise. This is insubordination and it is completely
unacceptable.”
    “Can civilians be insubordinate,
Major?”
    “Obviously. Can they even speak
Imperial?”
    “We shall soon see.”
    “Pah. I have no with to be
discussing Imperial matters in Hanyin.”
    He grinned and turned his back but
from the corner of his eye, he watched her. She was perhaps the most striking
woman he had ever known. A study in the colors of ice and snow and cold winter
skies, her pelt as silver as a full moon and just as untouchable. Beautiful,
remote, and confrontational, she had clawed her way through the ranks at
breakneck speed, literally carving herself a path through those who stood in
her way. It was only when he had realized that she was closing in on his job
that he had found it necessary to remind her of one of the First Laws of
Nature.
    Lions are bigger.
    Good thing too, for she had almost
killed him.
    Unconsciously, he raised a hand to
rub the old wound and was distracted by the feel of braided leather. He had not
had the time to inspect his uniform, the laces, straps and buckles that
outfitted him and he hoped he looked honourable. His hands searched for creases
– found none. He adjusted the brigandine across his chest and shoulders,
straightened the epaulliets and tightened the golden sash that had loosened at
his waist. Like the Major, he wore both long and short swords and his hands
fell to the scabbards of their own accord. Katanah and Kodai’chi, a warrior’s blood
brothers. He sighed, not for the first time wishing he’d had a mirror in his
office. Only perfection was acceptable when the Captain of the Guard was
summoned into the presence of his Empress.
    He felt Ursa’s eyes upon him and he
straightened, focusing back on the door at the end of the hall.
    Finally, a muffled clang echoed
through the antechamber. A quartet of panthers accompanied a pair of civilians and
Kirin could tell immediately who was whom. Their very strides gave them away,
as different were they as day from night. He noticed the one, eyes wide and
overwhelmed by the splendor of the Palace. The other however, seemed unmindful
of the gold and ivory and kept her painted eyes fixed on him. Finally, the
guards peeled away, breaking formation with precision, and he was faced with
the two women known to him as the Scholar and the Alchemist. Complete strangers
whose very lives now rested squarely on his shoulders.
    He gave a very small bow, cupping
his fist in his palm. A mere courtesy, for he needed bow to no one save the
Chancellor and the Empress. Perhaps not even the Chancellor.
    “Fallon Waterford. Sherah al Shiva.
Thank you for coming.”
    The Alchemist did not return the
bow, merely lowered her heavy painted lids. The Scholar, on the other hand,
bowed quite formally though not quite perfectly. At his side, Ursa was
scowling.
    He straightened to his full height.
    “I am Kirin Wynegarde-Grey, Captain
of the Imperial Guard. This is my adjutant, Major Ursa Laenskaya—”
    “Wow,” the Scholar interrupted.
    He stopped,