The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress Read Free Book Online

Of all of Adachi’s students, she was by far the best. Even if Adachi would never admit it.
    Even if he refused to present her with her sword.
    So when a year later Callum suggested she come back with him to England to help him teach self-defense to English ladies and gentlemen, Michiko was intrigued. Aside from the fact that she was getting tired of living a life in fear of the authorities discovering their training camp and being thrown in jail or worse, it had been pretty obvious that her sensei was not going to let her get much further in her illicit training. And here was a man who could take her to a country where she could fight openly, who, moreover, respected what she could do, so much so that he thought she could be a teacher.
    How naive she’d been.

8
    And Introducing Sir Callum Fielding-Shaw
    T HEY ARRIVED AT the market twenty minutes later. Michiko knew Callum probably would have preferred to go on his own, but whenever he went out in public, she went along, too. She was his “kitten” now, but not treated with half so much love or even respect as the old geisha woman had given her. Everyone knew that Sir Callum Fielding-Shaw had a young Japanese assistant. She was an accessory, like the customized walking stick that he’d had Japanese characters engraved on. Though Michiko was pretty sure that “a pig is a small pie” was not what he thought the characters meant.
    He led her under the archway that bridged two teetering tenements and into a small bustling square.
    Callum cut an impressive swath through the market. Everyone in the square knew the great fight instructor Sir Callum Fielding-Shaw. It was hard to mistake that swagger and that thick curling mustache. They knew he’d traveled the world to become a master of his craft, even returning from Japan with an ethereal-looking, exotic young female protégée. They knew he trained everyone from princes to actors and had had an audience with the Queen. More importantly, everyone knew he had money to spend. Or, at least, they thought he had money to spend.
    Like everything else, the whole rich thing was just a front. Not that he couldn’t have been rich. Michiko knew this. If he didn’t waste his money as he did, he’d have been fine. Instead, he hosted huge parties that put him in the hole, and bought new gadgets for his physiotherapy business. He was in debt to many merchants around the city, including several tailors along Savile Row.
    Michiko was pretty impressed by his ability to spend the huge fees he charged for his teaching, especially because not much of it wound up in her pocket, or the pockets of any of his servants. It was one of the reasons she was stuck working with him. All she wanted to do was to leave, but she just couldn’t afford to do it. Not yet. Besides, what other job could she get, a girl who didn’t speak the language? Certainly not one that allowed her to fight, and fighting made her happy.
    So she’d been saving her money. Not buying the weapons she so desperately wanted. Not buying new clothes that she really needed. Just saving and saving.
    So that once more she could run away.
    But no one else knew about Callum’s poverty, and so, as he made his way through the crowd, people would either step aside in reverence to let him by or accost him with their wares. The many Chinese would bow their heads as he passed, and he always had sweets for the beggar children who swarmed briefly at his feet and then vanished back into the crowd. Michiko stayed back, watching him, as she always did. He was completely enjoying being the center of this little world, and he had no idea that they were all just taking advantage of him.
    There was a loud bang as a door at the far end of the square was flung open. Michiko turned and stared across the square. The most magnificent-looking man she had ever seen stood in the doorway. He was tall, with dark skin. He had long, thick black hair that fell down his back and a trim beard, both of which were