The Duelist 9, page 8
In a way, I guessed they were.
“But… Archus Doler,” I said blankly. “I… I met that bastard. Horus and Shay, they hated him, with good reason. They wouldn’t have called him their father if they didn’t have to.”
“I know the man Archus became,” Sha-Kane admitted, and he sounded bitter. “I also know the man he once was, in our youth.”
“You knew him when you guys were kids?”
“We were good friends,” the osprey-man said with a nod. His expression was morose, but he didn’t bow his head. I had to respect that, at least. He never let himself be cowed. “The very best of friends, really. We were inseparable, we told each other everything. Archus’ father did not especially approve of me. I lacked the rank and status Archus was born into, that his father had fought to give him. But this just made Archus all the more determined to stick by me. He was once a man of honor.”
I tried to reconcile this with what I’d seen of Horus and Shay’s father. A vindictive, cruel man who wouldn’t know honor if it walked up in front of him and punched him in the face. I couldn’t imagine it, but I didn’t think Sha-Kane was a liar.
“So… what happened to him?” I asked.
The osprey-man sighed and looked over regretfully at where Horus was still snoozing on the deck, and I moved my foot to try and sweep away the worst of the broken glass from where Horus was lying since I didn’t want him to slice open his hand.
“He fell in love,” Sha-Kane said simply. “We both did. With the same woman.”
I winced. That was just typical. Like something out of a fairytale. Two men in love with the same girl, their friendship torn to shreds because of it.
“Alana,” the osprey-man murmured. “She was… wonderful. Beautiful, intelligent, quick as a whip. No one could dance like she could, she moved through the air like she could walk on it. Like gravity did not apply to her. Even now, I can’t fault Archus for falling in love with her, because I was, too. She was worthy of that love.”
“But Archus wasn’t worthy of her, I’m guessing?” I asked. “If Shay and Horus are your kids, she must’ve picked you, right?”
I wasn’t willing to consider the alternative.
Sha-Kane nodded, and there was the tiniest ease of relief in my chest. Then I watched as he, too, tried to sweep away the glass from where Horus, where his son, lay sleeping.
“I lacked the status someone like Alana deserved,” he said. “She was from a noble family, as was Archus. I was a nobody. No family name, no title, no gold or power to inherit. I think, when Archus married her, he assumed that would be the end of it. The hierarchy of Aventoll had worked in his favor, she was ‘his by right.’ I had no room to put forth my contest. It didn’t matter that I loved her, or she loved me.”
“His by right?” I echoed. Sometimes I forgot how seriously fucked up this world could be. Zoie, Shay, and Amaya were ‘my’ wives, but I didn’t feel like I fucking owned them. I was theirs as much as they were mine. We were all each other’s, and not because of some fucked-up ownership deal. It was because we loved each other.
But I knew this wasn’t the norm in Aventoll.
“It’s an attitude that becomes less and less popular on Aventoll with each passing year,” Sha-Kane conceded. “Nonetheless, it is what happened. I am not proud to admit I betrayed my friend and encouraged Alana to betray the bounds of her marriage vows, but we did. We carried on an affair for several years. Horus was born, but mercifully he took after Alana, and I do not think Archus suspected anything then.”
“Suspected anything ‘then,’” I repeated grimly. “So, when Shay came along…?”
“Yes.” He sighed heavily. “Shale-Lea… she was special from the moment she was born, we all knew it. Not that Horus isn’t special, too, of course. He’s a fine young man, but… well, you’ve seen it. Shale-Lea is the Incarnate. She is destined for great things. I saw it, Alana saw it. Archus saw it, too. And he began to grow suspicious of how close I was with his wife. He knew I still loved her, even though he’d been the one to marry her.”
He rubbed a hand down his face and sighed once again. I could tell as much as he found it was a relief to say these words aloud to someone, it was still a pain to say them. Like a confessional, the truth had a sour, sharp taste sometimes, but you would feel lighter afterwards.
“Archus finally confronted me one night, a few weeks after Shale-Lea was born,” Sha-Kane continued. “He told me of his suspicions, and for the sake of Alana and the children, I lied. I swore nothing had happened. I would not hurt the woman I loved, nor my children, by destroying their reputation, and that of the man whose status protected them. I confessed I loved Alana, because I knew Archus would never believe me if I said I did not, but I insisted she’d rebuked me out of love for him. I don’t think Archus believed me, but it stroked his pride. He demanded I cut all ties with his family, which I did.”
“So, you left them?” I asked as my lips twisted into a frown. “You left the woman you loved and your children with that bastard?”
“I swear, I had no idea the capacity for Archus’ cruelty,” the Councilman insisted. “His suspicions must have burrowed into his mind, twisted, and festered. When I left, I truly believed it was for the best. My children would grow up affluent, with status, able to choose any life they wished. But when it became apparent Horus had not taken after his supposed father… I suspect that is when Archus truly realized the depths of my and Alana’s betrayal. That, I think, was the final straw.”
“He was awful to them,” I muttered. “It wouldn’t have mattered that you didn’t have status. You would have loved them, which would have been enough.”
“You don’t understand, Alex.” Sha-Kane shook his head. “I have power now, yes, because I fought for it. I fought so I could be someone worthy of Alana’s love. That I might rebuild my family, be someone worthy of such a family. I had nothing before then.”
“I had nothing when I came to this world,” I told him. “Literally nothing but the clothes on my back. I stumbled ass-backwards into my first Duel because I didn’t realize how things worked here. I had to fight for everything I got, too. But I wouldn’t have left someone I cared about with someone like Archus.”
In fact, I literally hadn’t. I’d fought and killed Dagmar because of what he’d been doing to Zoie, because I refused to let some asshole push around a woman just because he felt emasculated by her badassery.
Even so, I could sympathize with Sha-Kane. He’d wanted to give the woman he loved and his children the best possible start in life. He’d sacrificed his own desire to be with them in order to do that.
“I believe you didn’t realize just how awful Archus Doler could be,” I went on. “If you’d been friends with him as kids… that would cloud your judgment. I still think Horus and Shay would’ve been better off with you, though. Even if you’d stayed a nobody.”
Sha-Kane smiled a rueful, tired smile. “Thank you, Alex.”
“So, what changed your mind?” I then asked. “What made you decide you wanted to be involved in their lives now?”
“Many things,” the osprey-man admitted. “Everything came together at once, I suppose. My beloved Alana passed away scarcely a season after Shay was born. Archus could not prove the children were not his without her testimony, not that she would have given such testimony, anyway. And to reveal his wife had two children with a statusless man such as myself would have smeared Archus’ own reputation far worse than mine.”
“Status can be a double-edged sword, sometimes,” I mused. “So you just… kept your distance?”
“I did.” Sha-Kane nodded. “I did not see either of my children for several years. It wasn’t until Horus’ Trial that I even knew what they’d grown up to look like. And I realized that, despite the hardships they’d been through, some of which were my own fault, they had both flourished into incredible young adults. And I could not have been more proud of them. And it broke my heart that I hadn’t been able to be with them for it.”
I remembered meeting Sha-Kane at the Trial and how helpful and generous he’d been toward Horus, how insistent he’d been on wanting to help Horus prove his innocence. Now that made sense, as did all the strange looks I’d caught Sha-Kane giving the falcon-man earlier today, like Horus was an old friend.
In a way, he was.
“When I learned Archus was dead, killed by Horus-- and by you,” Sha-Kane added, “I wanted to reveal myself. But I knew the Trial would not be the most opportune moment. My children already had so much else to contend with. I did not want to overwhelm them, and I still don’t.”
“So you want me to keep this quiet?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow.
“If you could,” the osprey-man requested with an imploring expression. “Just for now. Just until they are in a position where they can properly deal with this revelation.”
Honestly, I wasn’t very confident in my ability to keep a secret from my best friend and one of my wives. But it also wasn’t my secret to share. I was part of Shay and Horus’ family, but this was not my place.
“I’ll keep my mouth shut,” I said. “Provided you don’t randomly drug anyone anymore.”
“You have my word,” Sha-Kane chuckled again. “I have no desire to hurt either of my children. And I do intend to reveal my true identity to them. I just… I need some time to get everything in order.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked him. “Your life seems pretty set, from what I can see. You have power, status, money. You’re respected, too.”
Horus and I had even eliminated the possibility of Sha-Kane having to have any awkward conversations with Archus Doler, since Doler was now dead.
“I do, and I am,” Sha-Kane agreed. “But it’s more than that. There are shameful things in my past I do not wish to tie to my children. When I enter their lives, I want it to be as a man they can respect and rely upon. Not someone who brings his own problems down upon them.”
“What did you do?” I couldn’t help but wince a little.
“I… I owe a debt,” the osprey-man confessed as he dropped his head. “A blood debt. Which means if I die before it is repaid, it passes to my heir. I refuse to put such a burden on Horus-- or Shale-Lea. So, I must contend with it before I tell them who I am.”
Part of me understood that. Sha-Kane was a man of honor, and he wanted to be someone his children could look up to. But at the same time, I knew how unpredictable life could be. At any moment, it could all be snatched away, and that would be that, and he would never be able to tell his children who their real father was, or that he loved them.
But, once again, it wasn’t my secret to tell, so I would just have to keep my mouth shut and do everything in my power to make sure it all worked out for the best. Which meant Sha-Kane was now on my list of People I Will Defend With My Life If It Comes To It. For the sake of Shay, and of Horus. I knew how much it would mean to them not just to have a parent, but to have a parent who genuinely loved them.
Horus probably only had spotty memories of his mother, Alana. Shay would have none at all. I knew some of what they’d been through, having grown up with no family of my own. There was no way I wasn’t going to do everything I could to give them that security and love, to help Sha-Kane give them that security and love.
“You’re a very honorable man, Councilman,” I said. “It’s impressive, really.”
“That means a lot, coming from you, Alex,” Sha-Kane replied. “You’re close with both of my children-- in fact, you are my son-in-law, aren’t you?”
Oh, shit. I actually hadn’t thought of it that way, but I guess I was.
“Yeah, I suppose so,” I said with a smile. “I like you a lot better than my last father-in-law.”
“I imagine you would,” the osprey-man said with just a hint of wryness. Just a glimmer of humor he had buried deep down, under all his decorum and restraint. “But if I might redirect the conversation, Horus did not drink a great deal of the sedative. I imagine he’ll be waking up soon, and I didn’t knock out my poor son just to tell you an extended family history.”
This was a good point, and now that he reminded me of it, I was incredibly curious to know what the original point of knocking Horus out had been.
“What did you need to speak to me about then, Councilman?” I asked.
“As a matter of fact, it pertains to Gavlain Mec’s book,” Sha-Kane answered.
Now my interest was really piqued.
“You mean the half-book thing?” I asked. “The one written in old runes?”
“The very same.” The Councilman nodded. “I was the one who gave it to him. Because I believe there is something hidden in those pages that could be used against the Council, and possibly even the Order of Mercedes itself. I trusted Gavlain to keep it safe, and to make sure whoever’s hands it fell into would know how-- or how not-- to use the information in its pages.”
I could sense Sha-Kane was trying to tell me something very deep and important, but I didn’t quite know what he was getting at, and I was prevented from asking for more detail by Horus beginning to stir awake.
“Alex…” he said groggily. He awkwardly began to try and get up, but his body didn’t look like it wanted to move just yet, so I moved to help him. “What… what in Mercedes just happened? I feel like I got clubbed around the head.”
“Well, you sort of did,” I said as I pulled him to his feet. He was a bit shaky and had to lean some of his weight on me. “You fell and hit your head on the deck. I guess you could argue the deck hit you.”
“You’re funny,” Horus drawled, and I couldn’t quite tell if that was an attempt at sarcasm that missed the actual tone of sarcasm, or if he was so dazed he genuinely thought I’d said something funny.
“Funnier than you,” I shot back. “Come on, big guy, let’s get you back to the Manta. I think we could all use a little rest.”
And I needed to talk to the others about how to shift the massive trove of gold and jewels off the ship, as well as help Sha-Kane find a crew to help him transport the remaining Virus crewmen to Alem for trial.
“Seriously,” Horus half-moaned, and the hand he didn’t have slung over my shoulders went to his temple. He winced when his fingers touched his forehead. “What happened? I only had one glass.”
“That stuff was strong,” I said. I didn’t like how fluently the lie came out of my mouth when I was telling it to my best friend, but I was a man of my word, just like Sha-Kane was a man of his, and I wasn’t going to suddenly spring on Horus the true identity of his father. “It made me a little woozy, and I only had one sip. Those pirates drink potent shit.”
“Apparently,” Horus snorted. “It knocked me clean out. How are they not all poisoned?”
“Maybe they are, a little,” I said. “It would explain why they were all working for a piece of shit like Luhrmann.”
“He was,” Horus said firmly. “He was a piece of shit. Fuck him. I’m glad we got rid of him. The pirate gold is just a perk.”
“You say that like you’re entitled to any of it,” I teased.
We slowly began to walk toward the edge of the deck, and belatedly I wondered if Horus was well enough to climb down the rope ladder. I started to push some of his own weight back onto his feet. If he could stand upright, he would probably be fine.
“Some of it, surely,” Horus said, and he swayed a little but didn’t fall over. “We did, like, a double-Duel thing. Split the winnings fifty-fifty, don’t you think?”
“Talk to me when you’re not still half-drunk and concussed,” I snickered. “Now, get in the goddamn boat, Asher Horus.”
“Mercedes, that looks a lot further down than I remember,” Horus muttered when he peered over the edge of the Midnight and at the little rowboat still dutifully bobbing in the waves.
“You’ll be fine,” I encouraged him, and Sha-Kane and I watched carefully as Horus maneuvered himself onto the rope ladder and began to climb down.
“Thank you again, Alex,” Sha-Kane murmured, so quiet I barely heard him, so Horus, who was halfway down the rope ladder, definitely didn’t. “I owe you a debt.”
“Just concentrate on that other debt you have,” I whispered, and the brisk breeze of the sea meant the words were stolen away before anyone other than the osprey-man could hear them. The Ocean was an excellent secret-keeper, with all its Knowledge that could only be discovered by a select few minds, chosen by Mercedes herself. “Pay it, so you can be part of their lives properly. I want that for my friends.”
“I want that, too,” the Councilman replied, and then he began to climb onto the rope ladder next.
As he shuffled down, Horus shouted up to the pair of us.
“I think we should have a party!”
“A party?” I echoed. “Why? Are you still drunk?”
“No!” Horus shot back, though he sounded extremely defensive. “I just think we should have some kind of celebration! We’re out of the woods with the whole pirate deal-- you have the damned ship, now! Jenner’s well, Amaya and Ani are back safe, and you technically just got married again. We should party!”
Actually, I couldn’t really argue with that. We did have a decent reason to kick back for a while and enjoy ourselves. Even the thing with Bodin didn’t appear to be massively urgent, and I was sure he, too, would appreciate a chance to have some fun before his old life all caught up with him in a big, messy tangle. I could give him that, at least.
“I don’t believe it,” I called down to the rowboat, just as Sha-Kane reached the bottom of the rope ladder. “You actually had a good idea for once!”
“Ass!” Horus shouted back, though he laughed as he said it.
I began to climb down the rope ladder, too, but not before I triple-checked that I still had the bangle, ring, and pendant in my pocket to give to my wives. Horus still carried the tiara for Nova, from what I could see, and hopefully he’d snagged something for Anwaar, too.
I’d joked about the haul being mine, but as my brother-in-law, he was more than welcome to a couple pieces for the woman he loved-- who was also my sister-in-law.
