"Why, if it isn't little Mori!" she said, and this time Mori knew that she was smiling. Those scarred lips parted, revealing dazzling white teeth. "Last time I saw you, you were but a girl, a slight thing with no breasts and skinned knees. You've become a woman!"
Mori stood, holding her sword in trembling hands, her brother groaning behind her.
"Stand back, devil!" Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Stand back, or my father the king will hear of this, and he will kill you!"
Solina's face softened—the face of a woman who saw a cute, angry puppy that melted her heart. The man at her side, however, seemed not to share her amusement. He stared at Mori hungrily; she felt his small, mean eyes undress her.
"Oh, dear dear, frightened sweetling," Solina said and clucked her tongue. "But we were such good friends once, were we not? We were as sisters. I remember holding you on my lap, mussing your hair, and reading to you stories of romance and adventure. I promise not to hurt you, my little sparrow… but please, do not stand between me and your brother, or Lord Acribus here will hurt you. And he will hurt you greatly, little sparrow. More than anyone ever has."
The tall man with the golden, leathery face licked his lips. His tongue was freakishly long—it nearly reached his eyes—and white as bone. It looked like a snake emerging from his mouth. His eyes dripped lust, both for flesh and blood.
An hour ago, if somebody had told Mori this would happen, she would have expected to faint, weep, even die of fright. Now she found herself snarling. Her love for Orin, and her fear for him, swelled over fear for herself. Teeth bared, she swung her sword before her, slicing the air.
"Stand back!" she said. "You will not touch him."
Solina sighed. "My sweetling." She ran a finger down her scar, from forehead, to chin, and down her neck. She kept tracing her fingers along her breastplate and finally down her thigh. "Do you see this scar, Mori? I call it my line of fire. It runs from my head to my toe. Your brother gave me this scar. He deformed me. Surely you of all people, with your freakish left hand, know about being deformed." She looked at the burnt, groaning Orin. "So I burned him too. But I am not done with him. He will feel so much more pain before I let him die. But you, Mori, need not feel the same pain. You were as a sister to me; I want to spare you this agony. Step aside… or I will give you to my pet. You will scream and beg me for death before he's done with you."
Mori was scared, so scared that she couldn't breathe, and cold sweat drenched her, and her heart seemed ready to crack. She thought of her brother Orin, so handsome and strong, now this ruin of a man. She thought of her other brother, the wise Elethor, who lived up north among the birches.
It's up to me now, Mori knew. Me, the younger sister, the slim girl who is always so fast to cry, so fast to hide. She took a shuddering breath. For years my older brothers protected me; now it's my turn to fight for them.
With a wordless cry, she swung her blade at Solina.
So fast Mori barely saw her move, Solina drew her left sword. The blade was curved, glimmering with white steel and gold. The two blades clashed, one a northern blade kissed with starlight, the other a desert shard of fire. Sparks flew, and before Mori realized what had happened, Solina's blade flew again, nicked her hand, and blood splashed.
Mori's sword fell and clanged against the floor.
Nearly as fast as Solina's blade, her companion, the snarling Lord Acribus, moved forward. He looked to Mori more beast than man, a wild dog of rabid fangs, cruel eyes, and an appetite for flesh. She screamed when he caught her arms, digging his fingers into her; she thought those fingers could break her bones.
"Solina!" she cried. "Solina, please! How could you do this? We… we raised you as family. You… my brother Elethor loved you, I…"
But her words failed her. Solina stared at her with those cold blue eyes. They were as chips of ice in a golden mask. There was no humanity to them, no compassion, nothing but cruelty.