Assassin's Curse (28 page)

He cleared his mind and found the calm he had learned at the guild.
 
It was called ‘the perfect killing mind’, one where the mind was devoid of all conscious thought and nothing but the task at hand was acknowledged.
 
As Jeda reached this clarity, he ran forward, tumbled and rose up into the front somersault.
 
He closed his eyes, seeing the target through his mind’s eye, and let loose his knife at the top of his spin.
 
He opened his eyes as he lightly hit the ground and looked at the target.
 
There, twenty feet away, was his knife, embedded in the exact center of the bull’s-eye.
 
The men who had been watching erupted in cheers and clapping at the monumental feat Jeda had just achieved.
 
Now that he had done this, Jeda knew he could do it again and again.
 
His mistake had been trying too hard.
 
When he allowed his mind’s eye to see the target, he hit it dead center.
 
With this accomplishment, he truly felt like the Master Knife of the family.
   

He paused in his practice as he caught movement from the direction of the twins.
 
He looked over to watch their antics.
 
Each twin, under the watchful eye of Keisha, was mimicking him trying to tumble and roll.
 
They were hysterical in their attempts to copy his somersault and Jeda burst out laughing.
 

He walked over to them and Keisha with a big smile on his face.
 
“I see they are gypsies in the making,” he said to Keisha while watching the girls continue to roll around.

“I think you’re right.
 
I can’t get them to stop.
 
When they see you practice, they want to do everything you do.”

“I’ll start to worry when they try to pick up the knives and throw them.”

Keisha flushed at Jeda’s joke.

“What?” he asked.
 
“I was only joking.”

“But, they do practice that as well.
 
They pick up little sticks and try to throw them at each other.”

“Really now?”

Keisha’s disclosure of the twins’ antics made Jeda realize that they were actually old enough to begin the most rudimentary moves of self-defense, and he began to plan their training.
 
At the end of each day, he would take the girls away from the prying eyes of Mirabelle and her ilk and train them in the secrets of guildcraft.
 

Keisha would watch, and actually practiced a little herself.
 
She was not as interested in physical self-defense as she was in training with her mother developing her own powers.
 
She would usually leave partway through the girls’ training session to attend to her own training.
 

It was during one of the early training sessions that Keisha attended that the first mishap occurred.
 
Kala had successfully blocked a punch that Kara had tried to throw at her.
 
It was a simple, basic move that the young girls could easily handle, but Kala went one step further and tripped Kara, unexpectedly incorporating another move that Jeda had taught them.
 
Neither Jeda nor Kara had expected the move.
 
Jeda was surprised and pleased at Kala’s ingenuity, at least until Kara retaliated.
 
Before he could say anything, the young girl furrowed her brows and pushed at her sister with her outstretched hands.
 
A small gust of wind blew Kala backwards and she landed on her backside with a loud thud.
 

Keisha was watching and rushed over.
 
“Oh my gods, she just used magic,” she exclaimed.
 
“That could be very dangerous.”

The admonition that Gelda had given Jeda years ago
came
rushing back to him.
 
The girls will need proper teaching… they will need a strong healer to guide them before they can properly use any of their powers.

He stared at Keisha and realized that the twin’s first teacher was standing right in front of him.
 
“Well, I guess you should teach them how to safely handle their power.”

“Me?” Keisha squeaked.
 
“I’m still learning myself.”

“But you already know the rudiments of handling power; why couldn’t you start with that?”

Keisha looked between the twins and Jeda.
 
“I don’t know if I can.
 
I will have to check with Mother first.
 
There are rules governing the teaching of power.”

Jeda nodded in understanding.
 
“Best you check with Natasha then.”

Teaching the girls would cement the next step in Jeda and Keisha’s developing relationship.
 
Natasha agreed to let Keisha teach the twins how to harness their power, but she was adamant that she would be the one to teach them advanced spells when the time was right.
 

Nothing remains secret within the camp for long.
 
When Mirabelle found out about the magic lessons, she tried to assert her own power within the troupe, pointing out that she was responsible for teaching the gypsy children their letters.
 
She insisted the twins join in her class, but Jeda rebuked her.
 
When the situation threatened to turn ugly, Natasha stepped in and proclaimed that she would oversee all of the training and education for the twins due to their unique abilities with the power.

“It’s not safe for you to teach those rambunctious twins,” Natasha told Mirabelle.

“But, I teach all the children,” Mirabelle argued.

“The twins seem to be strongly blessed in the power.
 
I will oversee their education in their letters and magic lessons.”

Mirabelle was not totally mollified, but she had no choice other than to accept Natasha’s decision.
 
Otherwise, she could easily have exposed to the entire camp with the knowledge of how little of the power she could wield.
 
At four years’ old, the twins were displaying more power than she had and it grated on her.
 
It was one more point in the ever-growing discord between Mirabelle and Jeda.
 
Although she had lost this battle, she continued her rampage of propaganda against Keisha and Jeda, pointing out the unseemly amount of time the two spent together to all those who would listen.
 
With no other recourse, Jeda decided that he would end her constant babbling once and for all.

The afternoon was perfect when Jeda decided to make his intentions known to all.
 
Just yesterday, Mirabelle had accosted him again about the amount of time he was spending alone with Keisha, who was still a year away from her majority.
 
She reiterated that although Natasha was teaching the twins their letters and spells, they never spent any time with the other children of the camp.
 
Although that was technically true, it was the other children who were afraid of the twins and stayed away.
 
For some reason Jeda could not fathom, his precious, little girls scared people.
 

Yesterday’s tirade from Mirabelle had been the last straw and Jeda finally decided it was time for him to act.
 
Walking towards Natasha’s wagon, he spied Natasha, Mirabelle and Keisha at practice with their magic.

Good, they are all here,
Jeda thought.
 
I can finish this once and for all
.

The women looked up as he approached.
 
Keisha was alarmed at the look of determination on his face.
 
What if Mirabelle’s tirade had gone too far yesterday?
 
She said a silent prayer as Jeda approached that he was not going to tell them that he was quitting the troupe.
 
What would she do if he left?
 
She inhaled sharply and waited.

Natasha stood as he approached, giving him a welcoming smile.
 
“Good afternoon, Jeda.
 
Is there something we can do for you?”

“Yes, Natasha, as a matter of fact, there is.
 
The constant bickering and attacks directed at me and my twins have become too much to bear.
 
It needs to end now.”

Mirabelle stood and backed away a few steps behind Natasha at Jeda’s announcement, misunderstanding his intentions.

“Here now, you stay away from me,” Mirabelle cried.
 
“Everything I’ve stated is true and for the good of the family.”

Natasha turned toward her sister.
 
“Mirabelle, please calm yourself.
 
If Jeda had wanted to harm you, he would have done it before now.”

Mirabelle eyes widened, but she said nothing more.

“What is it you propose, sir?” Natasha asked in a formal tone of voice.

Jeda looked at Keisha before turning back to Natasha.
 
“I’ve come to ask you for your daughter’s hand in marriage.
 
That is, if she will have me.”

“What?
 
That is preposterous!” Mirabelle screeched.
 
“You are not part of this family.
 
You may have connived your way into the job of Master Knife, but you and your twins will never be family; you will never belong here.
 
Your proposal is not only ridiculous, but insulting as well.”

Natasha turned and glared at Mirabelle, who was still hiding behind her skirts.
 
“Do you speak as the head of this family now?”

“Well no, of course not,” Mirabelle stuttered.
 
“I would not dream of speaking on your behalf, especially when you are standing right here.”

Natasha nodded.
 
“Good.
 
Then you would do well to remain quiet.”

Mirabelle opened her mouth to argue, but thought better of it when she saw Natasha’s stern face.

“So, you would request my daughter’s hand,” Natasha continued, turning back to Jeda.
 
“Knowing the gypsy way of life is that all property shared between you both would become her property; that all the gold and wealth you accumulate would be hers as well.
 
If you are joined with Keisha, then you will become one of us, forever bound to be one of us, to support and defend our family and our way of life.
 
You will ask for her hand knowing all this?”

“Yes, Mother.
 
I would,” Jeda answered, using the honorific title that Natasha held within the family.

Natasha turned to look at her daughter, who was beaming.
 
“Then, if Keisha is acceptable to your offer, you both have my approval.”

Jeda was almost bowled over backwards when Keisha came leaping into his arms.
 
She kissed him soundly with her answer.
 

“It is settled.
 
There will be no more discord in this family about Jeda’s place in the family,” Natasha said, staring at Mirabelle.

***

The summer heat was intense, even this late in the day--just as it had been yesterday and the day before that.
 
Jeda could not quite believe how hot it got this far south.
 
They were close to the southern reaches of the kingdom again, near the city of Edgeforge, and had stopped for the day.
 
The horses were spent from the miserable heat and pulling the heavy wagons of the gypsy camp all day.
 
One more day on the road should see them outside the walls of the city.
 
The yearly circuits the gypsy camps travelled took them to every corner of the kingdom, but Jeda liked Edgeforge best, with its variety of people from both the kingdom and the southern wildlands beyond.
 
He remembered the last time the troupe had stopped here; he had quite a good time carousing in the taverns and beer halls of the city.
 
Of course, the last time he was here, his
status
was a bit different.
 
One of the men helping Jeda set up camp motioned with his head at the storm approaching them.

“Best look out, friend,” he said.
 
“This doesn’t look to be a friendly visit.”

Jeda looked over and saw Keisha heading his way.
 
The look on her face told him something was amiss and her stare told him that he was in the middle of it.
 

She walked right up to him and poked him in the chest.
 
“What kind of father are you anyway?”

“What?
 
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
 
Did something happen to the twins?”

“No, nothing and that’s the problem,” she continued.
 
“They have not had a single name-day celebration since you joined us five years ago.”

“What brought this on?”

“My own birthing day is fast approaching and, as I reach my majority this year, Mother wants to throw a celebration while we visit Edgeforge.
 
Now that I am responsible for raising our little dears, it got me to thinking that they too should have a celebration.
 
I’ll bet you don’t even know when their birthday is.”