An Elegy of Heroes

by K. S. Villoso

  “What will you do?” Sume asked.

  “Contact someone who has offered his help many times before, one whom Enosh wants nothing to do with. I myself am not too keen on bringing his ideas and protocol into this game, but at this point in time, our options are limited.”

  Sume lifted her brows. “You don’t mean—Izo As’ondaro?”

  “We have no choice,” Sapphire said.

  “I didn’t say anything. I like him.”

  “Enosh doesn’t,” Sapphire pointed out.

  “Oh, Enosh can stuff it,” Sume said, shrinking back. Jarche laughed.

  Sapphire didn’t look as amused. She began to work on the spell. Jarche, watching, placed her hand on Sume’s. “Thank you,” she said.

  “For what?” Sume asked.

  Jarche shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. When we catch up to Rosha—I will talk to Yn Garr. No matter what happens, never leave her again.”

  They heard a sharp crack.

  “Orsalian? Well, you’re a sight for sore eyes. How many years has it been? Did you finally get rid of Tar’elian? Is that his dead body I see in the corner there? I owe Mahe fifty gan if that’s the case.”

  Sapphire grimaced. “Enosh is well and alive, unfortunately for you.”

  “Don’t be so pessimistic. Mahe owing me money is a lot more important than—wait, you’re still with him, right? I think the bet involved…”

  “Is this a bad time? Shall I wait until you get your priorities in order?”

  “Oh, listen to you, terse as ever. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

  “We need transportation out of Aret-ni. Unfortunately, Enosh’s affairs have gone out of control, and we’ve made an enemy out of Barun.”

  There was a brief pause from the other side.

  “Is this a new affair? Or the old one?”

  “Old one.”

  “Damn. He’s gone soft.”

  “Hasn’t he? I counted less than five women this…” Sapphire turned her head to catch Sume’s eyes and quickly turned back to the basin. “Kaggawa is here.”

  “But I thought they weren’t…”

  “I think they are now.”

  “Can we please go back to talking about getting out of here?” Sume broke in.

  “Sorry, Sume. Really. I’ll secure transportation for you ladies. Enosh included. You are taking him along, aren’t you? I mean, I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to abandon him there instead. I’m quite all right with that. Would love to see it, in fact.”

  “Izo,” Sume warned.

  “Right. Hold tight for a few days. How’s the weather there?”

  “Fair enough not to give you any excuses,” Sapphire said.

  He laughed. “Oh, I can’t wait to see you both. Firekeeper Ceres was just telling me…”

  Sapphire cut the connection. She looked at Sume. “How are you planning to break it to Enosh?” she asked.

  “I’m not,” Sapphire said. “You are.”

  Sume sighed. “I hate you sometimes.”

  A thin cloud of mist hovered over the sea when they arrived at the shore Sapphire had earmarked on the map. A round, bright moon was peeking through the clouds overhead, which removed the need for a torch. As Jarche paused to rest by a rock, Sume walked up to Enosh, who was staring at the sea with an irritated expression on his face.

  “I still dislike that you all went behind my back for this,” Enosh murmured.

  Sume bit back the retort bubbling in her throat and said, in a lower voice, “None of us work for you, Enosh. Not anymore. It was a sensible decision.”

  He looked at her. They had not really argued when she broke the news to him—she avoided heated arguments with Enosh as best as she could because she knew there was little chance of changing his mind once he had decided on something. It was difficult, because there were times when all she wanted to do was scream into his face and tell him exactly what she thought of the whole situation. But he wouldn’t understand such behaviour. He liked it when she was calm and sensible, when she stuck to the facts.

  Enosh didn’t understand, for example, that the past few days of not knowing what had happened to Rosha—if she was safe, or being taken care of—was scraping away at Sume’s sanity. His memories of the time he had spent at Yn Garr’s household seemed to be enough to convince him that he would not hurt the child, even when he himself still felt betrayed enough that he still wasn’t talking to Jarche. Sapphire, for some reason, understood him perfectly.

  “Izo As’ondaro had been nothing but helpful to us ever since Shi-uin,” Sume murmured, gazing out at the sea with him. “He will follow through.”

  “I don’t doubt that,” Enosh said. “He’s a military man. As good as his word.”

  “You don’t like handing the reigns over to Eheldeth, is that it?”

  He grunted.

  “Enosh, it’s for the best. Rosha’s safety is on the line, here.”

  “I know that,” he replied. Hearing the fact in his own voice seemed to irritate him.

  Their conversation was interrupted by the sight of sails in the distance. The make of the ship was clearly Dageian, though it did not bear the mark of a military vessel. As it drew closer, Sume caught sight of Izo As’ondaro standing on the deck. He waved at them.

  A boat was lowered from the ship. They walked out to the shore to meet it.

  “Where’s Mahe?” Sume asked.

  Daro grinned, throwing an oar at Enosh. He drew Sume into a hug. “She was assigned to the Orasmus Peninsula to investigate some disturbances there. I would’ve slowed her down.” He pointed at his leg.

  “It still bothers you?” Sume asked.

  “Some. I can walk and fight like any, which means half as well as I used to.” He looked at Enosh, as if regarding him for the first time. “I could still beat you. You look thin.”

  “Jin food doesn’t agree with me,” Enosh said.

  “Doesn’t look like it. Sapphire…” He opened his arms. She walked past him, helping Jarche into the boat. “Adorable as ever, I see. No thank you, oh glorious hero?”

  “The day she says that, I’m shaving my head and joining the nearest An-albaht temple,” Enosh snorted.

  “Thank you, oh glorious hero,” Sapphire said in an even voice. “Are we leaving or are we going to continue prattling like fishwives?”

  Daro looked at Enosh. “Off to the temple with you.”

  “On second thought, what a mighty selfish thing for me to say. I can’t do that to my dear girl. She’ll miss me too much.” Enosh pushed the boat back into the water. Sume and Daro stepped up to help him. They clambered in when the water was waist-deep.

  A handful of soldiers met them as they arrived at the ship. “Did they reinstate you?” Sume asked.

  Daro nodded. “Eheldeth worked something out with the command. They created a special unit just for the mages’ benefit. I’m Junior Prefect now—a step below my old position—as reward for good service, which doesn’t sound as great as you think because the pay’s the same, I’m back to doing all this paperwork, and I have to answer to a senior prefect who used to tie my sword-belt.

  “I’m also still indebted to Eheldeth, especially during these trying times. Apparently, they’re allowed to release me back into the military if they want, but Firekeeper Ceres says my presence brightens the halls around there, so I’m stuck in the slave-pen, as it is.”

  “There are worse things in the world,” Sapphire pointed out.

  “No, I haven’t gotten to the worst part yet. Mahe’s Tribune now. They made her Prefect before I got the job back, and then Tribune Alerio retired and recommended her for the position. General Takas agreed. Gave her no choice on the matter. She was like an angry bear for weeks. They assigned the rest of the cohort to Orasmus a few days ago. Our last contact was from Lon Basden. I…” He swallowed. “I haven’t heard from her since.”

  “If something’s the matter over there, command would know,” Sapphire said. “Why don’t you ask them?”


  “Junior Prefect, Orsalian. I’ve got about as much right to demand information from them as the cohort mascot. Damn dog. He gets better food, too.”

  “I’m sure she’s all right,” Sume said.

  Daro grinned, although his face still looked strained. “Oh, I’m not worried about her at all. It’s her enemies that ought to be concerned, especially when they get in the way of her tearing General Takas a new one.” He pointed at Enosh. “You were not easy to track down.”

  “I didn’t know you were longing for my company,” Enosh said. “Mahe not enough for you anymore?”

  Daro’s face didn’t betray the slightest flicker. “Tribune Mahe Amiren, my friend. Learn some respect if you don’t want your head rolling about in Dageian soil. But as it happened, Eheldeth had me try to track you down after you all stole away into the night without so much as a by-your-leave.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic, Prefect Daro. It was the middle of the day and you were preoccupied.”

  “I’d wipe the smug smile off your face if I were you, Enosh. I’m not finished with my story.” Daro folded his fingers together. “Naturally, I suspected you went to Jin-Sayeng somewhere, but the closed nature of the nation made it difficult to find information about your whereabouts. I did, however, came upon a rather curious thing.”

  “If you keep teasing him like that, he might try to stab you in your sleep,” Sume whispered.

  Daro laughed. “As if he needed any further reasons. No, see, just to appease the High Council, I combed through the rest of the continent where I could. Your files in Gaspar, for instance—did you know that your wife took out a rather hefty loan under your name to buy herself a nice country home?”

  “Yes,” Enosh said, frowning. “I’d rather not talk about the bitch right now.”

  “To my surprise, I also found that you—or rather, Hertra Ferral—was involved in some transactions in Dageis. Ah hah! I said something interesting, didn’t I? You should see your face.”

  “Don’t push it, Daro. What transactions?”

  “Your accounts were last accessed in the Orasmus Peninsula.”

  “Nonsense. I haven’t been there in years. Nobody told me anything about that in Cael.”

  “They wouldn’t have. Dageian records are not readily available outside of the Empire.” Daro rubbed his smooth-shaven chin. “These were huge, consistent withdrawals, Enosh. Enough to pique my interest. I had to know what you were up to down there, so we investigated. It turns out that most of your money went straight into the coffers of several well-known Hafed builders and craftsmen. They were building you, or somebody who was posing as you, a rather sizable house in the peninsula.”

  Daro’s words stunned Enosh into silence. Sume observed him withdraw for a moment, his eyes staring at the horizon. “We were never near the western coast,” Sume said, turning to Daro. “But it explains why his accounts were drained.”

  “It’s Kefier,” Enosh said.

  Sume blinked. “Do you really think so?”

  “I know so. After what he did to Sapphire in Shi-uin, do you still believe him incapable of such a thing?”

  “How would he have access to your accounts? They do a check in Dageis.”

  “Maybe it’s something Yn Garr did. Make them think he’s me. It’s easy enough—if I can go through all the charm spells he’s taught me while growing up…” Enosh’s lips twitched, the way they always did whenever he didn’t want to pursue an argument any further. “It’s not important. Do you know where this house is, Daro?”

  “Of course,” Daro said. “I haven’t seen it myself, but it’s supposed to be in a remote location just off the western coast in the peninsula, about two days from Tilarthan.”

  “And you said there was a disturbance over at Fort Oras?”

  Daro’s eyes lit up. “Well, I’ll be damned. I didn’t think to make that connection before.”

  “The difference between a merchant and a soldier, Prefect As’ondaro. We each have our strengths and weaknesses.”

  “Well, I’m just glad my strength involves the ability to throw you over my head and into the sea.”

  “With your leg, my friend, I wouldn’t count on it.”

  Chunks of ice marked the sea the further north they travelled, breaking further into pieces as the ship, with its reinforced keel, plowed straight into them. By the time they pulled into the port at Bardes, the snow was so thick that Sume could see them piled up in drifts along the houses and buildings.

  The architecture reminded her of the time she spent in Ad Methas, the city she and Kefier lived in for a few months while trying to locate Enosh’s whereabouts. If not for the looming danger brought about by Rosha’s condition at the time, the memories of those days were almost…pleasant, and not in the same way Shirrokaru was.

  The thought of Kefier sent a twinge of pain through her. She wasn’t even sure if it was for his sake or Enosh’s. Ever since the night Rosha disappeared, she had been wracked with guilt about her decision. What if she had chosen to stay with Kefier and Rosha? Could it have prevented what happened that night? Perhaps she would know more if she had been closer to them. Enosh certainly wouldn’t have found the beast if not for her—at least, not as quickly.

  Yet every scenario that Sume played out in her head ended just as easily in disaster. Could she allow herself the pleasure of thinking that perhaps none of this was her fault? She was caught in Yn Garr’s tangled web because she had loved Enosh. And she didn’t regret that part, not at all.

  She caught sight of herself from the reflection of a storefront mirror, her breath billowing from her lips in white clouds. “Dageis is so beautiful,” Jarche murmured beside her, her eyes peering through the thick, grey coat that covered the rest of her.

  “I’m surprised that you’ve never been here.”

  “It’s dangerous for me. Who knows what the Dageians will do if they get their hands on one of the Kag’s ancient people? I thought, in time perhaps, I would figure out a way. I suppose being under the watchful eye of a strapping young Dageian officer does the trick.” She wrapped her hands around Sume’s arm. “Something’s on your mind, child.”

  “I don’t know how to talk about it, Jarche. I don’t even know if I’m allowed to.”

  “Allowed to?”

  Sume swallowed. “I’ve had expectations placed on me since I was little. Somehow, when it came down to a choice between a young child and an old man’s foolishness, I was the one who had to keep my chin up and look for the sliver of sunlight on a grey sky.” She shook her head. “I loved my father, Jarche. I should not say such things.”

  “One can love something and be honest about its shortcomings,” Jarche quipped. She brushed the snow from Sume’s hair before carefully twisting her chin towards Enosh’s direction. He was walking several paces ahead, arguing with Daro about something.

  Sume pulled away. “I don’t even know the truth of it, anymore. He is Rosha’s father. We are trying to make it work, I think. We made that decision in Barun. This way, we have a chance of undoing the mistakes we’ve made.”

  “Your heart doesn’t seem in it.”

  “An unfair accusation, Jarche. I care for that man a great deal.”

  “I know you do. Yet you forget that I was with you in Hartmur. The way you looked at Kefier…” A smile flickered on Jarche’s lips.

  The guilt came again, followed by something else. “I was lonely, for a time. And Kefier shared my home with me, loved the people I loved.”

  “Why can you not admit you loved him, too?” When she didn’t answer, Jarche’s ears flicked back. “Let me guess—you were afraid. Afraid of losing Enosh, if you learned to love anew.”

  “Afraid of knowing I loved him still,” Sume whispered. She turned her eyes past the ships to the sea beyond.

  Jarche followed her gaze. “What happened in Shi-uin?”

  “Someone must’ve told you.”

  “Casualty reports. Lists of repairs. Boring bits.”

  “I decided it
was best to assist Enosh in locating the creature. Kefier thought otherwise.”

  “Ah,” Jarche said.

  “Ah? Is there a nugget of knowledge in that wizened head of yours? You must share your thoughts.”

  “Perhaps you are regretting your decision in Shi-uin. To leave the man you love, for the man you once loved…”

  “I made it only for my daughter’s sake. I did not intend to pick things up where they left off.”

  They walked in silence for some time.

  Jarche cleared her throat. “That is quite the dilemma you’ve found yourself in, my child. If you can satisfy my curiosity—what would have happened if you had not made that judgement? If you did not have the need to?”

  Sume’s mind skipped along the years in an effort to answer Jarche’s question, but she couldn’t find the words.

  The smile on Jarche’s face deepened. “Let me answer for you: I think you would’ve found a way to sit with your happiness. For if you take responsibilities and the things you ought to do out of the equation, you were happy with Kefier, were you not? I could see it in the way his face brightens every time he sees your daughter and the stories they would tell of your life in Jin-Sayeng. I saw it on you in the brief time I spent with you two.

  “You don’t know if you’re allowed to, you said. But you are allowed, you’re allowed to be happy. What unseen deity stands over us, forcing us not to take what we can out of the mess we’ve been given? Who says it has to be perfect? The fact that you once loved his brother shouldn’t…”

  “The wind is blowing a little too loud, Jarche. Whose brother?”

  “Kefier’s brother. Enosh.”

  Sume stopped walking.

  Jarche turned to face her. “You didn’t know? They didn’t tell you? But I thought…oh gods, those boys—”

  “They’re brothers,” Sume breathed. She could hear herself talk, but somehow, she felt like she was floating away from the rest of the world. She didn’t even think to doubt Jarche’s words. Her mind was filling in blank spaces she had never paid attention to before. The way Kefier knew so much about Enosh’s people. The irritated look on his face every time I mentioned Enosh’s name. His love for Rosha. The way he looked at me, all those years…