Red Hood's Revenge

surprisingly little time for her to lose it all.
    Talia stepped forward, peering into the water. She saw nothing but her own reflection, but she knew the raikhs were watching. She smiled. “Hello, Rajil. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you and your fairy friend.”
    The water rippled and went still.
    “You are a commoner now,” Lakhim said, clearly relishing her victory. “I’ll thank you to cease your threats against my raikhs.”
    Talia shrugged. “Rajil plotted with Zestan against you. Maybe fortune will turn in my favor, and the two of you will end up killing each other.”
    Lakhim sighed. “Rajil is not the only one to choose Zestan over her own kind.”
    “Perhaps,” said Talia. “But Rajil is the one who enslaved a friend of mine.”
    “I will deal with the raikhs.” Lakhim started to say more, and then her eyes widened. “Mutal, no!”
    Talia could already hear the boy’s bare feet hitting the carpet as he ran through the room. She spun, and the blade that would have struck her back caught instead on her cape. Talia slapped his forearm, and the knife flew across the room. He cried out and backed away, clutching his arm. Talia stepped after him.
    “Talia!” Danielle’s voice was sharp as Talia had ever heard it. Talia stopped, doing her best to slow her breathing. Her fists unclenched, and she gradually allowed herself to relax. She looked past Mutal to his brother, who was hiding in the doorway.
    The mage grabbed Mutal, pulling him close. Stopping him from trying to attack her again, or protecting him from Talia? Lakhim clapped her hands, and both twins jumped.
    “Away, both of you.” Lakhim’s voice cracked like a whip. “Get yourselves to your room and stay there until I decide what to do with two princes who would stab a woman in the back.”
    “Wait.” Talia checked her side. The knife hadn’t even pierced the cape. She swallowed and took a step toward Mutal. “You know who I am.”
    “You killed our father.” His voice was high- pitched, with only the faintest quaver.
    “Yes.”
    From the doorway, Mahatal said, “Grandmother told us you meant to kill our family and take our crown. She named you a liar, no better than the deev.”
    Talia glanced at Lakhim, who raised her chin and returned Talia’s gaze. “You should learn you can’t always trust the gossip of old women.”
    “Why did you kill him?” Mutal demanded.
    Talia closed her eyes, searching for answers that would make sense to a child of eight. No matter what she told them of their father, of the slaughter of her own family, it wouldn’t change the emptiness. It wouldn’t heal their grief for a man they had never known. “Ask me again when you are both men,” she said at last. “I will tell you the truth, if you choose to hear it.”
    “ Your truth.” Mahatal spat. “You’re a filthy, lying—”
    Mutal punched his brother on the arm. “Shut up! I want to know.”
    “ You shut up,” Mahatal shot back, but fell silent when Mutal raised his fist.
    Talia’s vision blurred. She turned away, fighting back memories of her brothers squabbling in exactly the same tone. Taking a deep breath, Talia slid her hands into the sleeves of her robe and pulled out two knives.
    Lakhim clapped her hands again, and guards appeared in the doorway, weapons drawn. They must have been waiting just outside. Lakhim didn’t trust Talia any more than Talia trusted her.
    Talia knelt, flipping both knives so she held them by the blades. She extended the first to Mutal. “Your strike was slow and clumsy. When you attack, hold the blade flat to slide between the ribs.” She spun the knife and demonstrated against an imaginary foe. “At your height, the kidneys are a good target. The inside of the thigh is also good. A cut there can sever the artery.”
    Mutal glanced at his grandmother, waiting for her approval before accepting the knife with his left hand. His fingers tightened around the hilt. He chewed his lower lip and looked up at Talia.
    Talia’s mouth quirked. “Try it, and I’ll throw you into that pool.”
    Danielle snorted.
    “What is it?” Talia asked.
    “I may not understand the language, but I know that tone.” Danielle smiled. “Who says you wouldn’t have made a good mother?”
    Talia pushed that thought from her mind as she turned to Mahatal, offering him the second knife. “Don’t let fear stop you. When your brother attacks, your enemy’s attention will be on him. Use that distraction to strike.