HAWK & SABLE | THREE

"IS THAT..." Asteria squinted from where she stood, eyes trained on the docks. Ciri, from a distance, could make out a few figures. She was conversing quietly with Laurence in the middle of the deck. Ciri took a few steps forward.

"It's Rhys." Io had a grin plastered on her face. Rhys. That would be Rhysa, the Briar, the only female Iron Wolf so far. She was relatively new, only having become one two years ago, but more than capable. "Rhys and Dominic." Dominic was her partner. The two worked together as a seamless team.

Besides her, Laurence raised a brow. "Who?"

"Iron Wolves," Ciri said, her voice calm. "The royal family has seen us fit for the company of not one but two Iron Wolves. Junior ones, but Iron Wolves nonetheless. Don't attempt charming Rhys, Dumont. Dominic enjoys charm, but Rhys is very strict on the job. You'd likely end up with your mouth carved out."

Laurence said, dryly, "I'll keep that in mind."

He thought it was a joke. It was not. He tilted his head. "One of them's a woman." He was putting it together in that clever little mind of his. Not that it was difficult. There was only one female Iron Wolf, after all.

"That is Rhysa. We call her Rhys, as she prefers."

"The Briar."

"That is her nom de guerre. The man beside her, Dominic, he is the Notus."

Laurence blinked, the only sign of his surprise. "The Briar and the Notus. Goddamn." Both of them were young. Rhys couldn't have been older than eighteen, and Dominic was merely twenty. But they were both legendary. The Notus was extraordinarily powerful, and the Briar was, well...

A woman.

Not that Rhys wasn't immensely skilled in her own right. But most people knew her because of her gender. It annoyed her to no end. Ciri couldn't blame her, exactly, though she understood why this was seen as the only thing making her stand out. Female wiccais trained for combat were rare. Most wiccai outside of the Hatlen Isles, the safe haven of wiccai, were not combat-trained, choosing to suppress their powers and live in hiding in fear of persecution and discrimination. Those within the Isles had traditional ideas of gender norms. Women were rarely, if ever, given any kind of combat training. Their powers were forced into the domestic spectrum.

There was talking behind her. Ciri turned her head. Danna had finally deigned to grace them with her presence, a sailor bringing up her trunk behind her. Danna offered a nod of her head as thanks, and the sailor placed the trunk down. She turned, fixing her eyes on each individual person on the deck before turning to the dock. "Rhys and Dominic?"

"I always forget how good your eyesight is," Asteria whistled, throwing her head back.

Without much emotion in her voice, Danna deadpanned, "You're just blind, darling."

Laurence's brow raised. Ciri shut her eyes and smiled. Asteria grabbed Danna's arm and the two girls walked back to the edge. Io galloped towards Lady Kuroki, who whispered something in her ear to make the little girl grin.

Ciri placed her hand behind her, slowly setting herself down on her trunk. "It will be a few hour's ride to Hong Cheng. Would you like to occupy the carriage with Hua Jueying? I assume Dominic will be guarding him with Rhys."

"Sounds awkward."

"It is. I can join you if you want, though space might be a bit tight. Though all four of them would be occupying the other coach, so it's practically the same, really."

"That would be wonderful, thank you." They were being courteous to each other. People were rarely this polite to her. Most of them just stared.

The ship reached shore. A few moments later, they were walking down the plank onto the docks. Rhys and Dominic were waiting there, arms crossed. Their eyes immediately drifted to Hua Jueying, who was tied up and being hauled off the boat. They watched as he was taken to the nearby waiting carriage and stuffed inside. Dominic muttered his thanks to the sailors and offered them a coin for their troubles. Rhys stood there for a moment before turning to them with a low curtsy.

"Lady Kuroki, Countess, Viscount, Miss Diao, Miss Pang, Miss Mi." Rhys used Arecian.

Dominic joined her a moment later, bowing and muttering the same greetings. Ciri curtsied in return, as did the others. Laurence offered a western bow.

"The Prince and Princess send their greetings," Rhys said, looking regal in her black and white garment. It was a slightly more feminine version of the uniform the Iron Wolves all wore, a bit more form-fitting. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail. "As well as gratitude to the Arecian Secret Service for their aid." That was aimed at Laurence, who she studied carefully behind lidded eyes.

Laurence lowered his head. "It was our honour, Miss..."

"Call me the Briar." The real identities of the Iron Wolves were open secrets. Usually, they didn't mean anything anyways. "Miss Jiang works, but I prefer Briar."

"Of course, Briar."

Dominic spoke. "We're aiming to be at Hong Cheng by nightfall, where you'd hopefully be able to join Prince Ruge and Princess Longyu for a meal. You will be presented to the emperor and empress tomorrow."

"Our quarters?" Ciri asked, clasping her hands together before her.

"The Countess would reside in Shui Xuan Gong with her father, naturally. As neither Baroness Pang nor the younger Miss Pang are in residence at the Xiang Lin Gong, Miss Pang could reside there instead. Lady Kuroki and Miss Mi would be living in Cheng Yu Gong. We've arranged guest quarters for Lord Archsham and you, Miss Diao. You'll be living in Zui Hua Gong with Hua Lin daren."

Expected. The Drunken Flower Palace was often used for guests.

"Hua daren?" Ciri frowned. "Shouldn't he be— ah. Estranged relationship. Lord Archsham, Lord Hua is the heir to a marquess. Unfortunately, he does not quite get along with his sire. Not necessarily his fault, in my opinion."

"Another Hua?" Laurence's voice had a hint of humour. Dominic's lips turned upwards as he stole a conspicuous glance at the carriage.

"This one is better, I promise. He won't attempt to kidnap you, for one."

"If only because he's too busy whoring and drinking." Asteria let out a huff. "But he's harmless and good company when he's doing neither of those."

"I, for once, find him very fun to be around when he's drunk," Io declared, a smirk on her face. Lady Kuroki looked scandalised, tapping her with a fan on the shoulder. Io looked momentarily sheepish, but that expression vanished as quickly as it came.

Rhys' lips curled upwards. "He has his uses." The words were spoken slowly, drawled. Dominic frowned, giving her a sideways stare. Rhys ignored him.

Ciri searched her mind. Rhys and Hua Lin, Rhys and Hua Lin. She herself rarely appeared at the Bone Court, since she technically wasn't allowed in the empire at all, but she had been snuck in once or twice. Hua Lin– or William— also occasionally aided them on missions. The few times she'd seen the two together, they'd made a great deal out of not acknowledging each other. If they exchanged words, it was privately, ending with coy smiles and a little snort or smirk.

Lovers, then. Rhys had her affairs, though she kept them notoriously well-hidden. All the Iron Wolves took lovers at the Court, but Rhys had privately confided that she had to be extra careful about them. She was a woman. Her position here was fragile. The fact that she was willing to hint at something like this among this company showed her trust.

Dominic cleared his throat. "Let's not dilly-dally all day. We'll have your luggage in the third carriage. The Briar and I will guard Hua Jueying. We have one carriage left, which wouldn't be enough for all of you."

Ciri stepped up. "Lord Archsham and I will join you, Notus."

"Charming." Dominic smiled, showing teeth. "Allow me to accompany you to the carriage." Lady Kuroki boarded first, being the oldest of all of them. In a few minutes, they were all ready to go. Rhys and Dominic had Hua Jueying squeezed between them, with Ciri and Laurence sitting on the other side. Dominic rapped his knuckles against the carriage and it began to move. They rode first, with the two carriages trailing behind.

"Four hours," Rhys said.

Dominic grinned. "We brought food."

Food turned out to be a steamed char siu bun the two had bought from a nearby shop. They had bought four, just perfect. Hua Jueying got nothing.

"Tastes good," Laurence mumbled after his first bite.

Dominic nodded. "If you think that's good, wait til you taste the imperial cuisine at the Scarlet Palace. The Emperor is very picky about his food. Passed onto his son. Princess Longyu could probably eat dirt without complaining if she wanted to."

Rhys said, "She is nothing but determination, of course." But there was warning laced in her voice. Ciri knew why. Laurence wouldn't. Dominic noticed it and chose to heed her warning, staying quiet.

That left Ciri to fill the silence. "I just want to taste rice, really. The rice anywhere but in Sai, Asayama and Cheonuang just doesn't taste the same."

Laurence said, dryly, "I feel rather left out of this conversation, not having tasted much Saian cuisine."

"Ruge is going to have epilepsy if he hears that. Does not believe a man has lived before tasting proper Saian cuisine." Dominic snorted. "Every damned meeting with him, and he'd offer you tray after tray of dimsum like some doting grandmother."

"I find it charming," Rhys said.

"Of course you do," he replied.

If Laurence was surprised by how they mentioned the Prince by name, he did not raise any questions regarding it. The Notus was known for being a part of Prince Ruge's Circle of Cranes.

"Then I suppose I shall be reborn here?" He said instead between bites.

Rhys made a disapproving sound. "The Prince usually has excellent judgement. Not on this. Nothing special about Saian cuisine. We just loudly agree to keep him from lecturing us on the graces and history of our food in Sai. One can enjoy a meal without knowing who invented it three hundred years ago and how the recipe had evolved since then."

"What she is saying is," Dominic started with a smile, "that we'd prefer if you kept this conversation to yourself."

"I was planning to." Laurence took another bite. Ciri felt some of the sauce on her lips and licked it. She felt Laurence stiffening besides her, inching away.

Well. That was interesting. She always thought he had grown immune to her. She didn't show any sign that she had noticed it, being considerate. That was something she'd think about later. What did it mean that Laurence Dumont felt attracted to her? Not much. If something must happen every time a man found themselves attracted to her, she'd have far too much to deal with.

That wasn't narcissism. That was a fact. It was part of her job, to seduce attention from men and women alike while remaining as pure and virginal as any other blushing debutante in their eyes.

If either Iron Wolves noticed the movement either, they didn't let their eyes speak. The Iron Wolves were just as trained as any of them. This was a carriage filled with four dangerous men and women and one fool. A fool who had managed to capture two of them. It was nothing but embarrassing.

They did not discuss much else, as Hua Jueying was there and it was always a bad idea to discuss confidential information in front of the enemy, no matter how trapped they were. But none of them looked at the prisoner, who remained as meek and useless as a horse without legs.

✢

CIRI GLANCED OUT of the carriage's carved wooden windows and liked what she saw.

The sky had already begun to darken, and the streets were busy. Vendors in markets hurried to pack up their stalls as children rushed home for dinner to the cries of irate mothers. People hustled out of the way when they saw the three carriages going by, the patterns and sophistication of them marking them as rides of the nobility. Some tried to glance inside but failed to. Curious people, Saians.

Laurence was looking out, too, much less subtly, with the enthusiasm of a tourist visiting a new country. Rhys looked bored. Dominic had all but dozed off. Rhys noticed, and a small red orb of energy suddenly zapped him awake.

"Ma de— Briar. The hell was that for?"

Rhys did not look apologetic. "To wake you up, obviously."

Laurence had turned to face them, amusement written on his face. He probably hadn't been expecting the elite operatives of the Saian to be a bunch of squabbling teenagers. Most of the Iron Wolves were young, ambitious men from the Hatlen Isles, looking to make a name for themselves. They came to Sai for the promise of a purpose, of a country to serve. The Hatlen Isles stayed out of politics and the other countries steered clear of them. There were older men, but most of them could not be older than thirty. Even their Captain, Zhang daren, couldn't be older than thirty-five. Rhys and Dominic were some of the youngest of those already doing field work. Anyone below their age was probably still in training.

Their names were chanted in other places and feared. They could not be more different from what one expected, until you saw them work.

They did not recruit fools, the Saians.

"What is your power?" Laurence asked, inspecting Rhys. "I've heard rumours, of course, but..."

Within the blink of an eye, three orbs had appeared in front of Rhys, all identical shades of blood red. Her eyes had turned the same shade as well. They formed a careful triangle, and with the slightest turning of her finger, they began to spin clockwise. Around and around and around, until Rhys finally snapped her fingers and all three orbs fell, the scarlet mist that formed it vanishing into the air before it hit the ground. Laurence watched, mesmerized. The beginning of a beam etched itself on the wiccai girl's face.

Dominic whistled. "Those look harmless, but they can hurt like the devil. She doesn't have to make them ball-shaped either."

Laurence turned to him. "And what's yours?"

Dominic tilted his head, and a sudden wave of cool wind slammed against them. Ciri scowled, her hands flying towards her hair. The boy offered an apologetic smile. "I control wind. I can fly as well."

"Wiccais are also naturally stronger, faster and more resilient than normal humans," Ciri offered matter-of-factly. "Better senses as well. Briar and Notus usually work together as a team."

"Past what you people think we do, we also serve as... detectives, I suppose? We're not exactly a police force, since the cases we work on are always passed onto us only because the government took an interest in it. Missing people, political assassinations..." Dominic ticked it off his fingers. "Fascinating things."

"Sounds interesting." Laurence's eyebrows were very high on his eyebrows now. He seemed duly impressed. That was the usual reaction to the Iron Wolves once the original shock wore off.

"Interesting is one way to put it," Rhys murmured. "I'd suggest you give yourselves one last quick check-over. We're nearing the Palace gates."

Laurence's head snapped around quickly. "Oh damn. What language would I be using...?"

"If Irina's the one greeting you, most likely Arecian. If it's Ryan— that's Prince Ruge, Saian." Dominic smoothed his robe, casting Hua Jueying a glance. "If you want to live, you'd want to make a good first impression, hun zhang."

Ciri stifled laughter. "I'm rather certain you're not supposed to insult the prisoner, Dominic. Not that I'm complaining. Just a head's up."

Rhys had switched to Saian. "He's a traitor. And he's thrown quite a few bureaus into disarray in the past few weeks. I think we'll be allowed to have our fun."

Laurence spoke and understood Saian flawlessly, and replied, "I'm rather certain no one would mind a bit of verbal abuse as long as he remains physically unharmed. Arecian Service agents often enjoy breaking out their swear words after a successful mission. No reason you couldn't do the same."

"If we weren't at the gateway of the castle, I would, but..." The carriage had stopped, and the curtain in the front of the vehicle was pushed open. Rhys tilted her head, and the soldier ducked out again, yelling outside for them to be let in. A moment later, the horses were trotting again.

"They're receiving at the Fu Jin Palace. We'll have to walk the final way, if the two of you don't mind. There will be guards to carry him," Dominic jabbed his thumb in Hua Jueying's direction. "You'd most likely have dinner there as well. Your luggage would be delivered to your residence. Is there anything you'd need to fetch first?"

"I have a bag in there I need to grab," Ciri told them. "Has information I need to show them."

"We'll have you take that before the luggage is sent off." Dominic turned to see out of the window. "Almost there."

Almost there turned out to be another five minutes, when the carriage finally stopped. Rhys stood up, crouching slightly, pushing the curtains open and jumping out. Ciri followed, and then Laurence. Dominic stayed behind while Rhys yelled for guards to aid with Hua Jueying, who was unceremoniously led out. The rope tying his feet together were slashed— even if he ran, there was no way he could get out without someone catching him.

Rhys gave him a shove, and two guards clamped down on the prisoner's shoulder, leading him towards a Palace. That would be Fu Jin Gong. Fortune Enter Palace. Ciri turned to see the other girls exiting their carriage, setting off to the last one to grab the bag she needed to.

Moments later, the eight started down the corridor, with Dominic sharing a few architectural tidbits on the way. Laurence listened with interest while the girls chatted at the back.

Asteria was talking to Rhys. "Hua Lin? Really?"

Rhys looked faintly amused. "He's fun."

"In bed or in conversation?" Danna asked bluntly. Io gasped, her hand flying towards her hand to suppress the giggle threatening to break through.

Asteria waved her hand. "No, no. I know he's fun in both— not because I've bedded him, I assure you I'm quite the perfect virgin, but because I hear stories— but why him? You're just so..."

"Different?" Rhys raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "Depends. I'm not always as strict as I am while on the job, you know. I wasn't always like this." Rhys was hardly the only Iron Wolf hiding from her past, but she certainly did the best job at it. Ciri wondered if even Princess Irina or the Duke of Shui Xiang knew her true history.

"Of course not," Asteria said with a roll of her eyes. "But still. He's so flamboyant and... rakish."

"Opposites attract. It's not as if we have any promises anyways. It's just what it is."

"An affair?" Danna asked again, cocking her head.

Rhys flashed one of her fugitive, rare grins. "You've always had a way with words, Daneira."

Danna shrugged. "I'm among friends. No need to use flowery language and dance around the truth."

Ciri snorted. "I cannot believe we're discussing this. What if someone overhears?"

Asteria casted her a look of dismay. "I'm the daughter of a duke, Ciri. Rhys here is an Iron Wolf. And you're one of the most popular ladies in the courts. We'll be fine. Our reputation could stand a hit or two."

"And if Lady Kuroki overhears?"

The baroness was standing side-by-side with Dominic and Laurence, crowing about something. Io shrugged. "She's half-deaf."

All four girls glared at her, and her lips quirked upwards into a smile. "What? It's true."

"She's just in her fifth decade."

"Nearing her sixth. My mother's almost twenty years younger," Asteria murmured quietly. Ciri often forgot that Lu furen and Lady Kuroki were merely step-sisters and very different in age. "And Lady Kuroki has lived a very stressful life."

"Considering how none of her stressful life has ever had her in the path of a very loud trumpet, I don't see exactly how any of that matters," Rhys deadpanned. "Either way, we've arrived."