Page 18 of Red Demon (Oria #1)

Ashes

A dusty sunbeam cut through the shop window as Ash worked the final Asri-style engraving on an officer’s sword.

He was much better than I was at those minuscule mazes around the hilt and down the blade.

I set up materials to do some first-folding, the second-favorite part of my day, as training in the clearing at dawn remained the undefeated first. Six years and counting since my first day at the forge, and I still wasn’t tired of the routine.

It was a slow day, so I set the forging press aside and tried hammering by hand on the anvil to grow my muscles.

Asher looked up. “Why are you leading with your right hand?”

I followed the swing through before I answered, feeling the clang in my bones. “Because it’s a little weaker than the left.”

“Brother, you’re left-handed.”

“With a little work, I’ll fix that.” I swung another blow.

“You’re crazy. Perhaps you should grip with your elbows next to really push your limits.” He mimicked the motion.

I smiled. “Show me that again?”

Galen walked in a moment later with a stack of orders, and we leaned back into our work.

Business was booming, and we’d built a great reputation, cornering a lot of empire contracts that used to come from the shops and factories in the Bend. We now only took the work we liked best. The Bend remained closed. By now, that felt normal.

“We get the North Barrack order in yet?” I set down the hammer and took a sip of water. They remained our biggest client by far, sending an order every week.

“The usual, plus some crossbow bolts.” Galen shrugged.

“But put the Governor’s house at the top of tomorrow’s list. They just need some hinges and bolts right now, but they’ll be tacking on some fabrication for the back gate.

” He spread his papers out and leaned over the table to study them.

“I need one of you boys to look after the shop this afternoon, so I can collect the specs.”

“Jesse should do it, since it’s pickup day. Flirting with the soldiers is good for business,” Asher said.

“Fighting with new opponents is good for training, and business,” I clarified.

Asher’s smile said he wasn’t buying it.

I rolled my eyes, as his running joke did not deserve any further dignity.

It was usually a lower ranked soldier or fresh recruit sent to pick up orders.

The North Barrack did not trust anyone to ship their weapons but themselves, so they’d test quality with their own sensors before loading up.

Each week the soldier came, I’d ask him—or her—whomever, to show me their best moves with their weapon of choice.

If they were in a good mood and up to the challenge, I’d show them mine, and we’d spar out back.

Sometimes I’d learn a new move, or just face someone a little less predictable than the rest of the morning training group, whom I could read several moves in advance now.

Sure, I’d flirt a bit, but only once did that clash of swords lead to—well—a clash of swords.

I was dumb enough to brag a bit to Ash, giving his uptight Asri mind the vaguest details, and he’d still never let me hear the end of it, even though I never saw that guy ever again.

Fuuuck, I hope I don’t see Kane today. Or ever, with Ash around.

Galen leveled a stare at Asher as he folded the orders and invoices into their appropriate cubbies.

“Maybe you can learn a thing or two from your brother, Asher. Even if you tell the elders you want to be arranged, you’ll be hard-pressed getting a girl to accept you if you can’t talk to her.

Elder Austren has some potential matches in her village, if you’ll be ready this year. ”

Asher’s engraving tools clanged on the table. I lanced a sly grin at Ash, but knew to clear my face before Galen turned my way, lest I be the next person he threatened to unleash the town elders on.

Galen straightened his sky-blue tunic and arranged the folds of his black robe embroidered with gold. He’d cleaned himself up and changed out of the black tunics he usually wore around the forge. “How do I look?”

“Good enough to meet the governor.” I’d yet to meet the man, but I knew he had arrived a few days back.

“Why not greet him in the century robe?” Asher asked.

The century robe had been passed down through Galen’s family for, well … I don’t know how long, but I knew the original Attiq-ka owner wasn’t coming back to claim it. Along with the sword Istaran, the robe had survived at least three of the original Galen’s lifetimes.

Galen grimaced. “I doubt Governor Solonstrong will demand formality if he called me to measure a fence. He’s a practical man, from what I’ve heard.”

“Then why’d he name himself ‘Solonstrong?’ Pretty cocky choice,” Asher said.

“The queen was born in the Solon Academy. There’s something very practical about that, na ?” Galen’s dark eyes twinkled.

“So, he’s a kiss up.” I inspected my last iron bar to ensure the fold was straight.

“He’s a politician. And both my sons should remember it’s a good thing for the town to be big enough to be granted a governor.”

He’d groused about Nunbiren deserving a governor for years now, telling us how good it would be to see the houses in town full again, with more trade and more business for us to open forges of our own.

He ran his fingers through his hair and saluted. The bells on the door clanged as he left.

Ash got back to his engraving. The afternoon sun lowered its slant through the dusty window, casting shadows across the worn stone floor as I got back to my hammering.

When I heard the soft chime of the shop bell, I yelled that I was on my way, washing my hands before heading over.

Sunlight sliced through the smokey air of the shop, giving the young woman before me a golden aura.

She stared at me agape with Chaeten eyes.

Maybe it was my matching eyes that startled her, maybe it was my smudged and dirty tunic from the hard work next door.

Our regulars were used to my face, but I’d never seen her before, and this was no barrack soldier picking up an order.

She wore an emerald sundress that complimented chestnut skin, with styled raven-black hair shining across her shoulders.

In her hands, she held a small, strange metal box with a display panel.

“Can you repair electronics here?” She nodded to the Chaeten fabricator in the workshop and stood tall. “I heard you might be my best chance.”

“Ash,” I called out, a smile in my voice.

The girl froze, every muscle tense. I wasn’t sure why.

“Asher is your best bet for any delicate work.” I patted the counter for her to place the box there.

“Asher?” she said, just as he walked up. “Ooooh.” She laughed, her voice tinkling like sunlight on a stream. “I’m Ashmira. My friends call me Ash too, so for a second—” She put a hand on her mouth and got a hold of herself. “Anyway, nice to meet you. What’s your name?”

“Jesse Eirini.” I crossed my arms, smiling. “Are you used to your reputation preceding you? I’m afraid I’m out of the loop. Good reputation or bad?”

“My brilliance is greatly exaggerated, I expect.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Well, I’m fond of Ashes. Already found one good one.”

“Jesse and the Ashes might work as the name for a musical troupe. Do you play anything?”

“First-Ash plays mandolin, and I can manage drums.” I turned to Asher as he arrived beside me. He stared at her, mouth slightly ajar. I kicked him under the booth so he’d get his shit together and interact with a human like a human, or at the very least, a customer.

“Anyway, what do you got there?” I gestured to the metal box about the size of a large coffee mug. There was a little door on it, and those panels looked very complex. The more I stared at the thing, the more I wondered why she’d bring it to us.

She leaned in on the desk, her voice just above a whisper. “A code sequencer.”

I said “No fucking way” while Asher squeaked out something that sounded like “What?”

A code sequencer could not only read genetics from a sample, it could be used to build mods. This machine belonged in an empire academy or an expensive doctor’s office, not our forge at the edge of the empire. Voids, we had to get a permit at the temple for my coffee machine.

“I have so many questions,” I whispered, leaning in. “Starting with ‘How’d you get something like that?’ and ending with ‘Why are you coming to a blacksmith instead of a Chaeten engineer to fix it?’”

She looked to Asher, her head high. “Was there a biotechnology lab I missed in town? Maybe behind the stables?”

“The temple priests are probably your best bet,” Asher offered.

“Unless she lacks a permit,” I wondered aloud, and watched her eyes widen. “Which she does.”

She snatched the machine from the counter.

“We won’t tell anyone,” Asher rushed to add, eying me in warning. “I’ll take a look now.”

This surprised me. If our taam was here, he’d have already sent her away. But the look my brother gave me meant she passed the dahn-check. He trusted her.

She sighed in relief. “I didn’t steal it. It was broken. My Academy in Thebos threw it out. A Z’har there said I could keep it.”

A Z’har that didn’t have the access to transfer the permit , I noted, but didn’t say aloud.

“I think there’s just a bad circuit in the power supply.

The drive tested clean, software intact.

” She studied our faces. “I’m stumped so far.

But I heard you keep a full-scale fabricator working here, so—” She looked at one of the swords in the display case.

Then she leaned in, her face pinched. “Did you engrave that mazework or did the machine?”

Asher followed her gaze. “Hand-engraved; my work.”

She stared at him, assessing. “It’s exquisite.” She ran her fingers over the display case.

Asher ducked down and pulled it out of the casing, holding it atop thick velvet. “You like swords?”

She leaned in, running a finger over the hilt in Asher’s hands, her emerald eyes sparkling with admiration. “Not a fan of the typical use case, but I can certainly appreciate your steady hand.”

Asher the steady-handed fumbled the blade as she drew alongside him, his tanned cheeks flushing. Ashmira reached out to steady the wrapped sword, brushing his arm. “The artistic detail is, well, it’s stunning. Rewiring a circuit should be nothing compared to this. I have faith in you.”

I looked at my brother with a mischievous smile, but he was all business.

Asher set down the sword and turned his attention to the code sequencer, turning it over in his hands. “Let me get a screwdriver for the casing.”

Ashmira continued to run her finger down the sword once Asher left. “You’d think someone would be too afraid of damaging the art to use it.”

“It’s durable,” I said. “But yeah, maybe you’re right.

Those Asri rebels will get too caught up trying to read the script mid-battle that they’ll trip up.

” I pantomimed being impaled, then motioned to my opponent to give me a moment to appreciate the artwork on the fuller before he drove the blade into my chest.

She laughed as Asher came back with the screwdriver in time to roll his eyes. “Excuse this brute.”

I chuckled, the sound rumbling deep in my chest. “So what brings you to Nunbiren?”

She let out a breath. “My parents sponsored me at an elite academy in Thebos before I was grown, and I’ve since failed to secure a post there on my own. I’m taking a gap year with the governor until I figure out what’s next.”

“I see.” I’d heard the governor came with about a couple dozen empire workers: staff and their families.

“What do you do for him?” Asher asked.

“Provided bragging rights until recently. I’m his daughter,” she said to the ground.

I searched her face, unsure why that would make her uncomfortable. “Well, it will be great to have another Chaeten around. I could count on one hand the Chaeten I’ve met in this shop who aren’t a soldier just passing through.”

“I’m expecting an adjustment from Thebos in that regard, yes,” she said, still smiling to the ground.

Meanwhile, Asher had removed the sequencer’s casing and was squinting at the parts.

Most of the machine was empty space: a cavity to rotate a disk in the middle, plus a few smaller holes that appeared color-coded for some sort of chemical reagents.

Ash produced his magnifying lenses to get a good look at the circuitry, motioning for me to look too.

It was tight work, intricate compared to the engineering we’d learned to keep our fabricator going.

“Can you give us a couple days?” Asher asked. “No charge if we don’t figure it out.”

I raised my eyebrows at that. Our taam liked to follow the rules, and keeping an unlicensed code sequencer in our shop to repair for free was drifting further still from those rules.

She considered, green eyes darting. “Yes, thank you. I’m loath to part with it, but you and your husband seem trustworthy.”

“Husband?” Asher asked at the same time I snorted and said, “Eww, no.”

I laughed at Asher’s flustered expression. “We’re brothers,” I explained to Ashmira.

“Brothers?” She hesitated, burying her head in her hands. “That was an ignorant assumption. I’m so sorry.”

Crossing my arms, I studied her, a warmth radiating in my chest. I’d gotten quite a range of reactions from people who’d met Ash and I for the first time—from incredulity to the statement we looked nothing alike.

Most typically, it led into a barrage of curious questions.

This was the first time where someone just accepted it at face value.

I respected Ashmira for that, a lot.

So I decided if she was gracious enough not to pry into my business, I would not pry into why she was walking around with a code sequencer.