Flamecaller Read online

  Kiyoshi frowned. He wasn't used to having someone around to ask him such annoying questions. He lived alone, and he preferred to spend his life completely alone as well. He didn't even have any friends. "Don't bother." It was nice that Haruo had offered, but they weren't friends, and Kiyoshi didn't really want to start pretending to be Haruo's friend, especially when he didn't know what was really happening here. But the hurt look Haruo was giving him was nearly too much for Kiyoshi to just brush off. "I don't know how long I'll be gone anyway."

  With a shrug, Haruo walked away, leaving him to go out on his own.

  "Don't try to take over the world without me!" Haruo called after him.

  Kiyoshi didn't turn to look over his shoulder. Haruo was a strange man, and Kiyoshi desperately needed a break from him.

  *~*~*

  As soon as Haruo was sure that Kiyoshi was actually gone, he dropped the act. Being nice to the emperor's son had been draining, to say the least. He was glad Kiyoshi had left. It beat being around him any longer than he already had been.

  He found Taka in a nearby tree as he was going to look for her. "You followed us."

  Taka nodded and jumped down next to him. "Can we talk inside?" Haruo nodded and led her back into Kiyoshi's living room. "Is he stupidly easy to kill, like we were told?" Taka asked him once they were safely inside.

  Haruo wished Kiyoshi were, but that definitely wasn't the case. He shook his head. "Not even a little. He's had some serious training. It won't be easy to bring them down. But we can fight. We're not completely useless, not like he thinks anyway. Our fighting style is different than theirs, but we're still capable fighters."

  "But it can be done?"

  Haruo smiled at her. "Of course it can. I said it would be hard, not impossible. He's made of skin and muscle, just like everyone else. We'll be able to kill him easily enough."

  Taka grinned. "Good. Then we can go after his father."

  "Absolutely." Haruo was looking forward to that. And, once the emperor and the son were gone, he'd go after Shiro's executioner. He couldn't be that hard to find. They were on an island, after all.

  "I wish I could kill them for you," she said as he lifted herself onto the counter where Kiyoshi had sat only a little while before.

  "I don't." If Haruo hadn't had to involve her, he wouldn't have from the start.

  "Just because you're a man you think I'm incapable of doing anything. He was my family too, and I have the right to seek justice for him as well. You're not the only one capable of murder in this family."

  That wasn't what Haruo had been saying at all, but he could see where Taka would think that. "I want you safe. I can handle this. Killing Kiyoshi won't be all that hard. He's trained, but he's not invulnerable. You, though. I can't handle you dying. I know you could get close enough to kill him and Shiro too, but I don't want you anywhere near him. Not as long as I can help it."

  She looked angry, but she didn't leave him. Instead she took a deep breath and settled in the kitchen. "Are you sure you could do this? Killing them both and then the executioner? You promised me you'd come out of this alive, but I don't see a way for that to happen unless there's something that you're not telling me."

  "I'll be fine," Haruo said, hoping for the best. He wanted to see a future where the island was free, but he knew what he was doing was dangerous, and as much as he wanted to live, he knew that he might not get through this alive.

  "What's your plan then?"

  He wanted to kill Kiyoshi tonight, before things went any further and he became even more suspicious than he already was, but if Haruo did that, he'd never get a meeting with Shiro. "I need Kiyoshi to take me to Shiro. Then I can kill them both. You'll have to be there though. Neither of them have demanded to see you yet, but I did win so that you could marry Kiyoshi, not so I could get close to him on my own."

  "Are you certain you can convince Kiyoshi to take us both to his father right away? I'm anxious to get this done so we can get back to our lives as they should have always been." Taka didn't sound so certain. Haruo wasn't that sure either. Kiyoshi certainly wasn't the easiest person to get close to.

  "I'm working on it. I'll make sure it happens quickly."

  Taka nodded. "Okay. I'm around, if you need me—"

  "I won't call," Haruo said, interrupting her. "Not until they want to meet with you. Then we'll strike. Kiyoshi wanted to meet you, but I don’t want you here. Not yet. I want to see if he has any weaknesses that we can use first."

  Taka nodded, like she'd been expecting that. "Sure. But if you need me and all. Right now though, I'm pretty sure I need to go. I think I hear Kiyoshi coming back."

  Haruo went still and silent, and listened as well. The sound was faint, but someone was definitely coming toward them. "I hear him too. Go. I'll see you soon." Taka hugged him quickly, then turned and ran back toward the village.

  He had only a few minutes before Kiyoshi returned, but in that time, he made himself comfortable. He wanted to look relaxed and at ease in Kiyoshi's home, though he would have preferred to be at the temple with Shiro right now. Not having them together would make this more difficult than it would already be. He hadn't expected to not be living with Shiro, and he certainly hadn't anticipated Kiyoshi being trained at any level. He had to get the four of them together in the same room with as few guards as possible. They wouldn't get another chance at this, and Haruo was determined to make sure he succeeded where his father had failed.

  When Kiyoshi entered, Haruo smiled at him. The expression was fake, but he put as much as he could into it. "I thought you would be gone longer."

  "My father was busy." He came into the living room with Haruo and sat down.

  The silence between them was uncomfortable, and Haruo only knew how to break it with the questions that had been plaguing him most of his life. "Do you know who the executioner is?"

  Kiyoshi snorted. "You don't take long at all. Was that your angle then? To find out my father's secrets?"

  Haruo didn't want it to sound like that, but Kiyoshi was supposed to be an easy-to-kill child. Not a man who actually challenged him. "I would like to know them, yes."

  "Then what is your end game here? Certainly it's not to see your cousin married to me. If it was, you would have thrown her at me already and then taken off. I've seen it done before. But here you are, almost as if you want me for yourself. So let's have it, what is it that you really want?"

  Kiyoshi didn't sound upset or worried, and Haruo admired that about him. His level head showed his bravery. "I think you know that already." It was a test, one Haruo almost hoped Kiyoshi failed, but he had his doubts.

  "Are you one of the many that want the executioner dead?"

  It was an easy guess, and Kiyoshi didn't sound upset about it. Maybe he hated the executioner too. "I want this land's power to return back to her. How Shiro doesn't hear her crying at night is beyond me. I can hardly sleep she's so loud sometimes." He didn’t worry about telling him that. Most people on the island could hear her.

  Kiyoshi stopped moving. He held very still for a long time, and Haruo realized he'd said too much, even before Kiyoshi spoke again. "You're the son of the man who came after my father recently. You're part of probably the very last family that can claim their original ties to this island, which makes you one of her people."

  "We're all her people," Haruo quickly corrected him.

  "I'm not. The Ang family was not originally from here. Although I was born on this island, I can't hear her. Neither can my father. If your goal is to return this island to the way it was before my family took her over, you'll have to kill my father, his executioner, and then me."

  Haruo hadn't realized their talk would turn this dark so fast, but he appreciated the honesty happening between them. "I'm not sorry for wanting to heal her."

  "And I'm not sorry that I'll have to kill you to defend myself."

  Kiyoshi slowly got up from the couch, and Haruo leaned back to watch him. "You aren't what I was expecting here.
"

  Kiyoshi gave him an indifferent shrug. He looked worn out and worn thin, as if he'd had this conversation before and it had never gone the way he'd wanted it to. He surprised Haruo by coming over to stand beside him, sharing his space, despite their dark conversation. "My father won't be what you're expecting either. When you go to him, make sure you're ready. Fight with everything you have, otherwise you won't stand a chance, and he'll either imprison you or kill you right then. That won't change the fact that you'll be dead though, and if you are the last one in your family, that means you're the only one who can return this island to the way she's supposed to be. Most people have forgotten how to listen to her, I'm sure. No one has mentioned her screams in years, so maybe you really are the last."

  Haruo thought Kiyoshi would try to stop him, instead he seemed resigned to the idea that people were going to keep trying to kill his father. Maybe that was what made him so tired. "You sound like you might actually want him to die."

  "Maybe I do. Maybe I wish you'd been a better fighter, someone more capable, someone who actually stood a chance against him. But you're not, and when you go to him, even if you give it everything you've got and then some, I'm almost certain you will be captured, and the executioner will be forced to take your life too. He's had to kill so many people, far too many for one man or one lifetime."

  Haruo wasn't sure why Kiyoshi would regret what his father ordered another man to do, but to him, it sounded like that was what Kiyoshi was saying. "Are you close to the executioner? Could you get me to him?"

  "You would die if I did."

  Haruo didn't want to play games with him, and he didn't want Kiyoshi trying to protect him either. He didn't need anyone's protection. What he needed was a chance to make things right, and as far as he could tell, Kiyoshi was his only way to doing that. He got up from the couch, intending to stare Kiyoshi down, but Kiyoshi merely looked up at him like he was wasting his time.

  "Yes?" Kiyoshi asked him blandly.

  Haruo was quickly beginning to realize that his usual ideas wouldn't work with this man. "Will you train me then? Since you're so sure I'll die."

  "Train you to kill my father, you mean? No."

  "He killed my father," Haruo spat at him.

  Kiyoshi seemed unfazed. "He's killed a lot of fathers and brothers and sisters and children. He kills people all the time. Your father smiled when he died. Will you smile when death comes for you too?"

  It was a challenge, one Haruo could never win. "No. I'm not done with this life yet, but I will not make it easy for death to take me either."

  Kiyoshi stepped back, and Haruo barely had time to duck before Kiyoshi brought his heel to the side of his face. If he hadn't moved, Haruo was pretty sure Kiyoshi could have broken his jaw. "The executioner is fast. You have to be faster," Kiyoshi explained as he stepped back. "I’ve changed my mind. I will train you, Haruo, but you will have to listen to me every step of the way. You will have to do everything I say. When I'm done with you, maybe you'll be good enough to fight my father. Maybe you'll be good enough to win against him. He trained me, so I will train you. We should have never come and taken this island. Your people didn't even try to stop us. We brought jewels and furs, and my father named himself the emperor, and all of your people simply accepted that without question."

  "I'll attack Shiro when the executioner isn't around. I'll have a better chance then." Haruo didn't need the history lesson. He'd heard it all before. They were a poor fishing village entranced with Shiro's wealth and generosity, and then they became afraid of him when his generosity waned as his power grew.

  "You want Shiro dead, kill him and then the executioner. That is the only way you'll ever stand a chance against him."

  Haruo watched, both entranced and afraid, as Kiyoshi danced back and then sprang forward. Haruo didn't have time to react at this strike as Kiyoshi landed on him, bringing him down to the ground. They landed heavily and then Kiyoshi circled his hands loosely around Haruo's throat.

  "Push me off," he demanded.

  Haruo could easily breathe, but when he tried to simply pull Kiyoshi's hands from his throat, he wasn't able to make them budge. "Let go of me first."

  Kiyoshi rolled his eyes. "How do you ever expect to be able to kill my father when you can't even get out of my hold? Get me off of you."

  Haruo knew how to do that. He could have hurt Kiyoshi in a dozen different ways and even as he thought about them, he heard Kiyoshi's voice in his head, telling him which arteries to go for and how best to take him down. But he couldn't. Kiyoshi was of the Ang line, and he had to die to heal their island, but Haruo wouldn't be the one to do it. After meeting Kiyoshi, after spending time with him, Haruo knew he couldn’t kill him.

  Haruo rested his hands gently on Kiyoshi's tight forearms. His muscles danced under his touch, showing him just how strained Kiyoshi was and just how precise as well. "I can't. I won't hurt you, even though I know how to."

  Kiyoshi released him. A moment later, he was back on his feet. "You're useless to me then. Go on, go get yourself captured. Go get yourself killed by the executioner. I won't train you to kill him if you're unwilling to even hurt me. You want your island back? You have to kill me to get it. Don't be soft with me, not now. Attack me. Fight me. I'll train you, but I won't have you wasting my time, not when you refuse to kill me, even from the start. I can't make you hate me if you don't already. We don't have time for that, and I don't have the energy for it either. I've tried this before, and you're all so useless it's pitiful."

  "We could take him on together," Haruo suggested as he got back up. He wasn't useless or pitiful, and he hated that Kiyoshi thought that of him. He'd spent his life training for this, and yes, maybe he wasn't as good as Kiyoshi obviously was, but that didn't mean he was suddenly unteachable. He was willing to learn, and to fight, and he needed Kiyoshi to see that too. "The executioner is only one man. I understand that you can't hurt your father. I get that. But what love do you have for the executioner?"

  Haruo never expected to see tears in Kiyoshi's eyes when he looked back at him. "I am the executioner, and as long as my father is alive, I will keep killing for him. Don't make yourself my next victim. Kill him. Find a way. Bring everyone in the village together if you have to, but find a way to do it. You aren't the first person I've asked this of, but I need you to be the last. End this, please, Haruo."

  Haruo simply stared at him. And then he sank down into a nearby chair. He couldn't be. That was impossible. And yet, it wasn't a thing that any sane person would lie about. There was no reason to make up such a story. "I'm sorry," Haruo whispered. He didn’t hate Kiyoshi. He wasn’t mad at him at all. He understood what had happened now, and he knew Kiyoshi wasn’t the one to blame for his father’s death.

  Kiyoshi wiped the backs of his hands over his eyes. "I don't want your pity. I want you to fight. I want you to kill him. That's all. But to do that, to finish your task, you'll have to kill me too. And I need to know that you will. So stop pitying me and fight me. Show me that you can do this."

  "If you train me, I'll do it. But are you sure that you can’t help me kill him?"

  Kiyoshi shook his head. Haruo walked to him, completely unsure of himself as he offered Kiyoshi his hand. He looked at it as if it were a snake about to strike him, but eventually Kiyoshi took his hand. Haruo leaned into him and wished that he was better, and that there was an easy way to free the island. When he, his father, and Taka had talked about attacking the emperor and Kiyoshi at the tournament, it had seemed like such a good plan. They'd had every chance to win, and Haruo had never once thought they could fail. Now he knew better. What he'd thought would be a simple death would be anything but. He didn't want to kill Kiyoshi, but he had to. And what was worse was how Kiyoshi seemed resigned to his death, like he was tired of this life, despite his age.

  Kiyoshi sighed and said, "He has bound my magic. I can't do anything to help you except put you in the same room as him. I come when I'm ordered to, and I spend as much
of my time away from here as I'm allowed to, but all of that is changing now. I'm going to take the throne soon. That's what this whole thing has been about. I have a wife now, though I have yet to meet her, and soon my father will step down and I will become the emperor and then, when your cousin and I have a child, eventually he will become the next executioner—if I make him. I won't, but I could."

  Haruo heard what he wasn't saying. "Your father makes you become him or something, right?"

  Kiyoshi nodded. "Something like that. It's not really important how it's done, only that it is."

  "How many people has he made you kill?"

  Kiyoshi's expression turned hard. "A lot. Let's leave it at that."

  He tried to pull away, but Haruo looked down at their joined hands. "Thank you for agreeing to train me.”

  "If I didn’t, would you still try to go after him?"

  "I will."

  Kiyoshi shook his head. "Then you'll be captured and, as the executioner, I'll have to kill you. If you're so intent on dying by my hands, I can save you the trouble and kill you right here and now. But if you want the chance to go after my father, I'll make sure your death is a quick one. You won't feel anything. Just like I did for your father. I wanted him to succeed. I saw him going into my father's room and I let him go."

  Haruo had to take a deep breath. He realized he'd barely been breathing and his body was fighting him for air. "Thank you for doing that for him."

  "You're welcome." Kiyoshi stepped back, looking uncomfortable. "Want some tea?"

  "That's normally where my mind goes when I need to find a few minutes," Haruo admitted.

  "Mine too."

  Kiyoshi turned and went into the kitchen, and Haruo followed along silently after him. "Is getting me in a room with Shiro the best you can do?"

  Kiyoshi heated the water for their tea, and Haruo tried to patiently wait for him to give an answer, but waiting was hard for him when he saw Kiyoshi's abilities and knew he could use them to his advantage, if Kiyoshi was willing.