Flicker of the Flame: A YA Epic Fantasy

by Evelyn Puerto

  “It’s all we’ve got, girly.” Sebezh’s voice, always rough, was strained and raw.

  Naco helped her shift to sit. “That’s the problem. We barely made it here.” He wiped his brow. “And it sure isn’t getting any cooler.”

  The sun beat on Tereka’s head. The sky was a burning blue, like glazed tiles reflecting the heat of an oven. She turned her face from side to side, seeking even a breath of a breeze. No such luck. She watched the water drip into the pool. A few tiny blue flowers peeked out of cracks in the rock, others grew in clumps near the puddle below.

  “So what do we do?” asked Savinnia. “Die of thirst? Wait for the desert cats to find us?” She frowned. “Or the guards?”

  “Or let the sand flies eat us alive?” Relio slapped his arm and scratched. He shook his head. “The guards probably gave up looking for us. Or they will if they ever find Murlat.”

  Tereka shuddered. “True.” She rubbed the back of her head, rumpling the lengthening stubble. “Where are we, anyway?”

  “My b-best guess,” said Poales, pointing to the northwest, “is that the river Chu is about ten miles away.” He wrinkled his forehead. “Maybe.”

  “Is that the closest water?” Savinnia’s voice sounded weak.

  He hesitated. “I’m not sure how far upriver we’ll hit it. If we’re too far inland, then we could run into bandits.”

  Relio spit out a curse. “What do those yanshyri do in the desert?”

  Poales squatted and picked up a stick. He drew a wavy line in the sand. “Here’s the Selegu.” He dropped a pebble on one side of it. “I think we are about here.” He sketched a wavy line above the pebble that angled away from the Selegu. “This is the Chu.” He scratched a circle north and east of the Chu. “Here are the Prime Konamei’s ranches and farms. Now do you see?”

  “We don’t want to go there,” Relio said.

  Tereka took the stick from Poales and used it to trace the course of the Chu. “So we just head a bit west and aim for the coast.”

  “You’re forgetting the pirates, girly,” Sebezh said.

  She glared at him. Always so quick with his objections, and often right. She crossed her arms. “It seems our only choice is whether to die of thirst or turn ourselves in. Or be captured by bandits or pirates.”

  “Prison is looking better,” Hinat said. “Maybe not the salt mines. But the strip mine?” He shrugged. “We were getting by.”

  Savinnia nodded. Tereka raised her eyebrows. “Are you saying you want to go back?”

  Relio shook his head. “No. But before we go further, we need to know where we’re going.”

  “Would have been nice if we’d figured that out before we lost ourselves in the desert.” Sebezh dropped into a squat. “We should have kept those horses. That way if girly here decides to go limp on us again, we wouldn’t have to lug her around.”

  “We?” Naco snickered. “You mean me.”

  “Enough.” Relio raised his voice. “Yes, a plan would have been good. But we needed to put some distance between us and the river. Before the guards made us fish food.”

  “We’re here now.” Tereka wiped the sweat from her face and touched the stick to the map. “South is no good. East and north take us to more people, more chances to get caught. That leaves west.”

  Alikse threw a stone against the wall of the gully, hitting it with a loud crack. “Leaving us to either die of thirst or be killed by pirates.”

  Tereka looked at Poales. “You knew this would happen if we came this way.”

  “I knew c-coming this way was our only chance.”

  He’d sat against the wall to escape the sun and his features were half-hidden in shadow. What was he not telling her? “So how do we make this a good chance?”

  Poales pressed his lips together. “You’re not going to like it.”

  “I already don’t like it,” Naco said. He picked up a small stone and set it on top of another.

  “We might be able to get either the b-bandits or the pirates to help us.”

  “Not a chance,” Naco said. He placed a few more stones to build a small tower.

  Savinnia shook her head. “No.”

  Hinat frowned. “Why would they help us?”

  “Where d-do you think the bandits and pirates come from? Lots of them are people who somehow became enemies of the Prime Konamei. Like us.”

  Tereka’s hands had been shaking at the thought of tangling with ruffians but now they froze in place. She’d never considered that. She was an outcast like a pirate or a bandit. They had the same enemy. “Yes.” She bit her lip. “But we’re not like them. We don’t prey on other people.”

  “If we do something for them, they might help us,” Poales said.

  “No. I’m not helping any bandits.” Tereka scowled at him.

  “I’m with girly. No bandits.” Relio crossed his arms.

  “That leaves the p-pirates.”

  Naco knocked his stone tower over. “They’d be worse. And what help would they be to us, other than taking us away from here?”

  “That’s it.” Tereka tipped her head and smiled at Poales. “You had this in mind all along.” She added a coastline to the map sketched in the dust. “Pirates have ships. They could take us to the far north, beyond the borders of Tlefas.” She traced the route in the sand. “From there we could get to the mountains, and maybe get help from the Riskers.” Surely, her grandparents would help her.

  “This is getting worse and worse.” Savinnia threw her hands in the air. “From bandits to pirates to savage barbarians.”

  “No, girly’s on to something,” Sebezh said. “No one will look for us that far north.”

  Savinnia raised her head. “But what could we give the pirates to get them to help us?” She glared at the men, her scowl deep, her eyes narrow. “And don’t get any ideas about me doing anything personal for them.”

  “Me either.” Tereka wrapped her arms around her knees.

  “Well,” Poales said. “I’ve done some t-trading with pirates in the past. I have a few ideas of things they’d like.” He looked at Tereka. “And they might welcome the services of a healer.”

  She pulled her eyebrows together. “I can’t promise anything.” If her life depended on the amulets healing on demand, this wasn’t going to turn out well.

  “You might have to.” Poales shrugged. “What do you all think?”

  No one spoke. The only sound was the drip of water into the pool and the hum of insects. Naco broke the silence. “I’m not going back. I’m not going to die of thirst. And I’m not taking up with filthy bandits, either. Pirates for me.”

  Alikse nodded. “He’s right. Pirates.”

  “Pirates,” Savinnia whispered.

  Relio, Sebezh, and Hinat all nodded.

  Seven faces turned to Tereka. Any choice could mean death. But only one held out any hope. She took a deep breath. “Pirates.”

  54

  Kaberco fingered the missive in his hand, crackling the stiff paper. The seal was unfamiliar, not the Prime Konamei’s or one of the other ephors. He frowned. No one else would have so important a message that they would send it by bird.

  He dismissed the clerk who’d brought it and waited for her to close the door to his workroom. He broke the black seal and unrolled the parchment. After skimming the opening pleasantries, his eyes widened. Why was the commander of a prison camp writing to him?

  “This is to inform you of an incident in the Prime Konamei’s mines. A group of prisoners volunteered to fight pirates, to help the Prime Konemei’s Guards remove that scourge from the river Selegu.

  The prisoners did manage to defeat the pirates, but most were killed in the attempt.”

  That commander found an easy way to get rid of some troublemakers. Clever fellow.

  “Twenty survived. They had been promised freedom in exchange for volunteering.”

  A false promise, surely. Kaberco pulled his eyebrows together. Taken prisoners were never released. Ever.
/>   “One prisoner, Tereka Sabidur, inquired about another prisoner, Iskra Mukujuk.”

  Kaberco slammed his fist onto the table. He knew it! She was Iskra’s daughter. Good thing he’d had her taken.

  “Since Mukujuk is on the never-to-be-named list, I sentenced Sabidur and the other prisoners who heard the name to the salt mines.”

  Poor girl. She wouldn’t last long there. Kaberco closed his eyes. But then the nightmare would be over.

  “When the guards failed to return on time, a squad was dispatched to locate them. Apparently, the prisoners revolted and killed all of the guards. Their bodies and those of eight prisoners were found near the transport wagon.”

  Please, he wished, let Tereka be among them.

  “The horses and twelve prisoners were gone.”

  His heart beat faster.

  “Tracks near the scene showed that most of the horses had fled. Two took the horses, most likely the ones that had been hitched to the wagon, downriver. The other ten went into the desert. The two on horseback were overtaken and questioned. They confirmed that the others went north, and among them were two women. One of them was Sabidur.

  Kaberco ground his teeth. And now Tereka was free. Those incompetent guards should have been taken themselves. No loss that they were dead.

  “After the interrogation, the guards executed the two men.”

  At least they finally showed some sense.

  “Then the guards followed those who went into the desert. The body of one was found, apparently dead from snakebite. A few mauled bones were found, presumably all that’s left of another. The rest eluded capture. We inform you of this because Sabidur and Mukujuk were taken under your jurisdiction. The Prime Konamei expects your cooperation in apprehending—and ending— Sabidur and her accomplices. They are… ”

  He scanned the list. The only name he recognized was Poales, that dark-skinned trader from the south who dealt with Tarkio. He drummed his fingers on the table then skimmed the message again. With a curse, he tugged the neck of his tunic away from his throat. What was it with these women? First Iskra, then Tereka. Iskra should have died years ago. If she was still on that durak’s list, then she was still alive. Why hadn’t that fool of a commander killed her years ago?

  And Tereka. She should have died her first night in a men’s brigade. Or fighting pirates. Why couldn’t she have been the one to step on a snake? It’s almost like someone was protecting her. Or tormenting him.

  Chewing his lip, he considered the situation. He needed to manage this news carefully. It wouldn’t do for people to have any inkling about what happens to the taken.

  When a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face, he turned it toward the puff of hot air that blew through his open window, the remnant of a short-lived breeze bearing the muffled sounds of the market, clanging and shouts, and the rumble of a caravan of wagons.

  First, he had to figure out who else knew about this. He ran through the other Konament members. The ludi and the adile were of no consequence. No need to worry about them. He lined up the papers on his desk and straightened the quill on its stand. The questor may have received his own message, but he’d be as eager as Kaberco to keep this quiet. That left one other to deal with. He scowled, a sour taste in his mouth.

  Should he wait until Dosanbe? They were due to meet then. He scratched his chin. A lot could happen in two days. Better if he went right away. He locked the message in a drawer and stalked from the room.

  He took a meandering route through the market, chatting with his guards and greeting vendors. He needed it to look like a casual visit. The last thing he wanted was for one of her spies to see him rush over as if he’d received disturbing news. No need for her to know that’s true.

  Only after sampling a pastie stuffed with hopberries, helping a lost girl reunite with her mother, and rebuking a guard for a rip in his tunic, did he approach the building that housed the syndic’s office. He pushed open the door and was greeted with stale air and the buzz of traders and vendors, all in line before the clerks’ tables. He observed the clerks as they heard requests and complaints, shuffled papers, and stamped documents. He stifled a grin when one of them noticed him and jumped to his feet, blushing. The other two followed suit.

  “Ephor!” the first clerk said. “My apologies. If you please, you weren’t expected. Would you like to see the syndic?

  “I just dropped in.” He smiled. “Is she free?”

  The clerk bolted for the inner office. Kaberco knew he had to be careful. He needed to make sure she wouldn’t suspect that he had any special interest in Tereka. If she did, she’d spare no effort to ferret out why. Then she’d wield that knowledge against him like a sharp and deadly sword.

  In a moment, the clerk returned, pausing in the doorway to the inner office. “The syndic will see you now, if you please.”

  Kaberco nodded and strode into Juquila’s office. She stood by her worktable, the gleaming bronze chain draped over her shoulders, the gray turban on her head adding a few inches to her height. Her face broke into a wide smile. “Kaberco! What a pleasant surprise!” She gestured to a chair. “Please sit. Or do you not have time?”

  He took the chair. “I was out for a stroll and decided the sun was getting a bit hot. I thought I’d take a break and stop in on you.”

  Juquila nodded and took a seat. “Anything in particular on your mind, Kaberco?”

  Damn the woman. When he wanted to be subtle, she popped the subject wide open. “No, I just wanted to know how things are going. There seems to be a lull in bandit attacks, doesn’t there?”

  “Yes, we haven’t had any trouble lately. There was an incident near Anbodu, but nothing closer to home.”

  “That’s good to hear. I like it when our people are safe.”

  She picked up a paper fan and waved it lazily in front of her face. “As do I. Your guardsmen are doing a good job keeping my traders safe.”

  Starting with the flattery already? Kaberco could play that game. “And you’re doing a fine job keeping them in line. No more traders fighting bandits.”

  “Easy to keep from fighting when the bandits don’t come out to play.”

  “What will you do the next time some of them fight back?”

  “You mean, when they interfere with your guardsmen?” she said. “Whatever it takes to keep everyone safe, of course.”

  “I’m glad you’re zealous in the cause of safety and fairness. Like the case of that girl a few weeks back.” He leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking under his bulk.

  Juquila shook her head. “A sad case. She’d been trouble all along.”

  “Wasn’t she some kind of relation of yours?” He kept his tone bland, as if he was asking her to hand him a spoon.

  “My sister’s girl. A troublemaker from birth, if you ask me.” Juquila pointed her chin at a side table piled high with ledgers. “My clerk is her brother. He could tell you stories.”

  Kaberco waved a hand. “No. It’s not important,” he said, though he was perfectly aware that she had something against Tereka.

  “A shame, really.” Juquila picked some lint off her tunic. “Tereka took after her father.”

  “Oh?” He raised his eyebrows and his heart quickened. Was she talking about the Risker?

  “You’ve probably run into him. Tarkio Sabidur.”

  “I have. But I’ve never had trouble with him.” Kaberco took in a slow breath and held it, cursing his idiocy. How could he think she’d confess her sister had harbored a Risker’s daughter all these years? Assuming she even knew.

  “Well, you need to watch him. He’s the reason Tereka went astray.”

  The note of accusation in her tone and the way she raised her eyebrows made him think there was something behind her words but she wasn’t telling him everything. “Why do you say that, Juquila? It wouldn’t be fair to slander an innocent man.”

  “Innocent?” She snorted. “You call cheating on his wife innocent? No telling how many brats he’s g
ot all over the country.”

  Kaberco stretched his legs out in front of him, studying his boots. And here he thought his spies were the best. No one had ever mentioned Tarkio and infidelity. Interesting. He needed to look into it. “That’s not good to hear. But how did that lead his daughter astray? You’re not suggesting he encouraged her— ”

  “Oh, no.” Juquila reared back, her eyes wide. “Nothing like that. Just a blatant disregard for the rules.”

  And what rules would Tarkio have encouraged her to break? Years ago, he’d taken Iskra to the Riskers, a major violation of the rules if ever there was one. His explanation had been plausible, he’d done it all in the name of safety. Kaberco cursed inwardly. He shouldn’t have let that lapse go. Maybe Juquila did know something after all. There must be some way to get her to reveal it. Would the news he’d heard earlier do the trick? Or would it betray his interest in the girl? He rubbed his chin. “Well, given your relationship with Tereka, I think I’ll share some news I have of her.”

  Juquila started. “How can that be? She was taken.”

  “She was sent to the Prime Konamei’s copper mines where she got involved in some kind of trouble.” He studied her reaction, the twitching of her fingers, her quick intake of breath.

  After a few heartbeats, she rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised? What did she do?”

  “Oh, the usual insubordination, I suppose. Fits with what you say about a born hooligan. Anyway, she and the others involved were sent to the salt mines.”

  “That’s the most unsafe place.” Juquila shook her head.

  “Yes. Many die in accidents. Most only last a few months.”

  “That’s unfortunate.” Her tone sounded mildly regretful, as if her tea wasn’t quite hot enough.

  “There’s more. She and her gang escaped.”

  “What?” Juquila nearly squeaked the word. Her jaw dropped and her eyebrows nearly disappeared under her turban.