by Pedro Urvi
His sister launched a sudden stroke at his chest, which he deflected with a sideways block.
“If you’d just listen and pay a little attention to me, just a little, things would go much smoother,” he said, as he counterattacked.
“You see? I knew something was eating you,” Kyra said. She stepped back. “And you can’t pretend, your brow wrinkles. I can see it a mile off.”
“Didn’t I ask you to take the greatest care? I told you we were making too many trips and it was dangerous.”
“Well, I did.”
“You did? You were discovered, and you almost didn’t live to tell the tale!” he replied, with a thrust.
Kyra parried it as best she could and retreated two steps. She looked grimly round the group. “Who told you?” she asked.
Nobody said a word, or even dared to look at her.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t hear that you fought a group of Hunters? A Master Hunter, no less?”
“I bet it was Romen. The others wouldn’t dare. I told them not to say a word to anybody, and I’m positive it wasn’t Urda.”
“Have you lost your mind? How did you even dare? You should never…”
“I had no choice, they were going to be captured. I had to act, it was all up for them!”
“You confronted a Master Hunter! You’re alive by the grace of Oxatsi!”
“Are we going to fight, or are you going to go on lecturing me?”
Ikai shook his head. “You’re impossible!”
“I know,” she said with a roguish smile, and returned to the attack.
He parried her thrusts, then with a quick step forward hit his sister in the chest with his sword. “There’s always a choice, it’s just a question of stopping to think,” he said as she retreated with a grimace of pain from the blow. “And never let yourself be driven by hot blood. In life, just like in combat, the one who keeps his calm and control, the one who uses his head, has the advantage and usually wins.”
“I’m not like you, I can’t stop to think and decide what’s the best choice for every occasion. I’m more for doing something, following my hunches.”
“Well, you’d better learn, or else you’ll never master swordsmanship, or fighting, and what’s worse, I’ll have to bury you.”
“We’ll see,” she said, and launched into the attack. “Besides, if I hadn’t intervened, Liriana would be dead now.”
When he heard that, Ikai’s stomach turned. He thought about the Captain’s turquoise eyes, her face, her courage, and a range of tormenting feelings assailed him. For a single instant he forgot what he was doing, his mind taken up with Liriana’s image. Kyra’s sword took him in the shoulder.
“Yay!” she cried. “Got you!” She raised her arms to the sky in triumph. The apprentices applauded, although one voice called out:
“That wasn’t fair play…”
“Maybe, but I got what I wanted.”
Ikai felt rage. This had rarely happened to him, but the pressure of the situation, the weight of responsibility for Kyra’s wellbeing, for his mother’s, for that of all those people: these things were affecting him. I guess I’m not so pragmatic, after all… He was striving to do the right thing, but he realized that even so he was encountering difficulties; his sister, good-hearted but untamable, was the first of them. He could not let that happen, he could not let her do whatever she wanted, no matter how much he loved her. No matter how much he wanted to be on good terms with her. He was not prepared to lose her. And if he had to get angry with her, then he would. He took a deep breath and calmed down. It was time to impose order.
He jabbed a finger at his sister. “No more rescues until I say so. We aren’t going to take any more risks. You’re not going to gamble with your life any more. And you’re not to leave the Shelter without my permission. Is that clear?”
Kyra wrinkled her nose, frowned and stood with hands on her hips. “In your dreams!”
“I won’t have your death on my conscience. As long as I’m the leader of this community everyone will do as I say, and that includes you. Particularly you,” he added emphatically.
Kyra was about to protest, but at that moment her mother’s voice reached her. “You’ll do what your brother says.”
She turned round and saw Solma arriving, together with Idana and Urda.
“Why, Mother?” she asked, trying to remain firm.
Solma took her to one side and spoke to her softly. “Because he’s right, and you know it. But above all, because he’s our leader, and his authority can’t be challenged, still less by his sister” – she nodded her head toward them – “in front of all these young warriors.”
Kyra gazed at her mother for a moment, taking in her words and their implications. Then she looked at the apprentices, who were watching her as if she were the incarnation of Mother Oxatsi herself. Idana was making gestures at her to comply, her face a single whole-hearted plea. Urda had her hands behind her back, which was her way of showing agreement. Kyra breathed deeply several times, as she always did when she was trying to calm her inner fire and listen to reason. She let her shoulders sag and turned to the group.
“All right, you’re the leader. You command and I obey.”
Ikai let out his breath and nodded. That was enough. Thank you, Goddess Oxatsi, for making her see reason.
“And now, if you’ll excuse me, brother, I’ll go along with Urda, to practice throwing the knife. I’m a thousand times better with it than with this wretched sword of yours.”
The two friends went towards the third training circle, where several scarecrows in the form of human beings had been set up at different distances for knife-throwing practice.
Ikai looked for Isaz. The experienced hunter was in the second training circle beside the trees, teaching a dozen middle-aged men how to use a bow.
“Isaz!” he called.
The trapper heard him and turned. Craning his neck, he saw Ikai.
“Send them to run a few laps around the fields till noon.”
“No problem, I’ll see that they do. I’ll make them sweat for a while!” he replied with a wink and a smile.
Ikai turned to the apprentices. “Stand up,” he said, and they did so as one. “The body must be prepared for the fight. You must strengthen it, toughen it. Go with Isaz and follow his instructions without complaint. Learn from his teachings.”
They left immediately at a run.
“I’d love to go with them,” Ikai said as he watched them go.
“I know, my son, but your duties await you.”
“Duties…” he sighed.
“It’s the price we have to pay for this freedom, for this wonderful refuge we’re in, my son.”
Ikai looked around. He gazed at the tilled fields which stretched to the south and the east down to the bordering woods, the many half-built homes, the men and women working tirelessly to turn the village of adobe, forest leaves and reeds into a small town. Slaves who had borne innumerable hardships were now filled with hope as they tasted the sweet nectar of freedom for the first time. We have to do it, they deserve the opportunity to be happy, he thought, to cheer himself up. They would manage to create a colony of refugees, to grow and prosper, as long as they kept order and were careful, very careful. He knew he had to take charge of those priorities. Order and wariness, or else they would die in the attempt and it would have all been for nothing.
“We must make it last, Mother.”
“We will, I’m sure of that.”
“Thank you… Mother… for your help with Kyra.”
“No need to thank me. It was the right thing to do. You know what your sister’s like sometimes. She loses her temper, particularly with us, her family, but her heart is pure and true, always remember that.”
“I know, Mother. I know very well, it’s just that sometimes…”
“You mustn’t argue with her in public. Now you’re not just two siblings who love each other and argue as you’ve always done. In the eyes o
f this community you’re much more, you’re the Heroes of the Senoca, the bearers of hope, the great warriors who are capable of confronting the Enforcers and the Hunters. And especially you, Ikai, you’re the leader of this colony. You must always bear that in mind. Your decisions, your actions must always bear that in mind.”
“I will, and thank you for all your good advice.”
“The council awaits you now, my son. Have a wash and something to eat. It’s time to be in command of this place.”
Ikai nodded resignedly. There was nothing that appealed to him less, but he knew he had no choice.
“How many?”
Idana rolled her eyes. “This week we only have twenty requests for an audience,” she said.
Ikai grinned. “Only twenty… I’m sure you could manage yourselves.”
“Yes, but it’s you they want to see,” Solma said. “The Hero. They’ve chosen you as their leader.”
He indicated Idana. “She’s a Hero too, she can manage just as well.”
“Yes, but I’m the apothecary, I’m here to help, not to lead… besides, I’d be terrible, you know me. I wouldn’t know how to make the difficult decisions; my heart would take over… I don’t have a firm hand…” she admitted with a shrug.
Ikai shook his head and smiled. “You’re a blessing for us all, firm hand or not.”
Idana spread her hands. “I’d really like to help you, but there are certain decisions it takes character and an iron will to make. Those qualities aren’t my strong point, and you know it. What’ll happen the day we have to punish someone, even execute them? I wouldn’t be able to do it, it has to be you, Ikai. I’ll be by your side, and I’ll give you the best advice I can, but it has to be you.”
“Idana’s right,” Solma agreed. “Besides, Kyra and Albana don’t even want to hear about it. Your sister’s put off by the council, and Albana wants to stay on the side. Urda has offered herself as a pair of hands, but not as a leader, since she doesn’t want to be one either. There’s only you left, my son.”
“But I don’t want that responsibility either, Mother. All I want is to live in peace, for all of us to live in peace…”
“But for us all to be able to live in peace someone has to lead us, and to do it well. And right now, that someone is you. Accept it, my son, for the good of everyone. Listen to your old mother and heed my words.”
“All right, Mother,” he said reluctantly. “I do it for you, I want you to know that, because of my love for you. I wouldn’t do it for anybody else.” He knew he would lose the argument, just as he had before. “It’s no easy task for me…”
“But you have us,” Idana offered willingly, with her soothing smile. “We’ll help you bear the burden. We’ll be by your side, supporting you. We know it’s a heavy burden, full of responsibility, but we’ll help you to lighten it.”
“Thank you, Idana, I really appreciate that.”
“It’s the least I can do. We’d never have escaped from the Eternal City if it hadn’t been for you. We owe you so much, we owe you our lives.”
“You’d have managed without me, I’m quite sure.”
“I don’t really think so,” Idana said with a heartfelt smile.
“The important thing is that you managed to come back, thanks be to Oxatsi.” Solma said.
“Let’s go to the great hall and make a start, or else it’ll be midnight by the time we finish. Besides, I’m hungry. But if anybody asks me to get some salt, I’ll kick him all the way to the mines of the Third County.”
They went into the building and found it packed. There was no room left for a single person more. On an elevated dais a long table and three roughly-made chairs had been placed. The one in the middle had a higher back, trying to imitate a throne, and Ikai sat in it with Solma and Idana, as his counselors, in the other two. He listened to the first refugee make his request for land for planting wheat in a free area to the west which had still not been subdivided, thinking it was not such a terrible thing after all to spend a few days like this…Much better, at any rate, than being a despicable Hunter, or confronting the Enforcers of the Golden Gods.
The council lasted well into the night. Apart from the requests which had accumulated, they had to talk about the needs of the new group of refugees Kyra had brought. There were many of them. They needed medical attention, clothes and blankets, food and water and a roof to shelter under, apart from other basic needs like hygiene. Organizing it all had taken time and the collaboration of a great many of the residents, but they had finally done it, to a large extent thanks to his two wonderful counselors. Ikai gazed at them and thanked Oxatsi, Mother Sea, and Girlai, Father Moon, for them. Idana smiled; her kind face reflected the joy she felt at being able to help all those poor devils who came fleeing from slavery, hunger, penury and even death itself. His mother too was smiling, pleased, but there was something slightly edgy about her smile, an odd grimace. It worried him.
At last the final audience arrived. It was Romen, the young rebel, Liriana’s companion. He had only been able to exchange a few words with him when he arrived. He seemed frank; he had not hidden what had happened, but had explained everything fully. That honesty had opened the door to Ikai’s trust, as he knew Kyra had told him not to say a word.
“Welcome, Romen. What can I do for you?”
The young man walked over to the table and bowed his head in a respectful salute.
“There are two things I wish to bring before the leader of the Shelter and his Council.”
Ikai waved his hand. “Go ahead, we’re listening.”
“First, I wish to thank you for your help and kindness. Master Gedrel wishes to convey to you his friendship and good wishes and to thank you for sheltering the refugees he has sent.”
“Gedrel can count on my friendship. I don’t forget those who’ve helped me. Although the fact is that we made a deal and we both delivered, so we’re even. What’s the old fox up to? He wouldn’t have sent you here just to thank me for our help.”
“The Master sends me to make an additional request which he wishes me to pass on to you in person. There are some people, crucial for the cause…”
Ikai raised his hand and Romen stopped.
“Another group?”
“An important one.”
Ikai thought about this carefully. “I’m sorry, but we can’t risk another group, not for a while.”
“It’s a matter of life and death…”
“Lately everything has been that, but the priorities here are very different. There’s still so much to do: we have to finish the watermill, raise the palisade against wild beasts, secure the river-level before winter comes so it doesn’t flood. Houses and barns have to be built, fields tilled, the island explored, the surroundings secured, and a myriad more things that come higher up the list than Gedrel’s wishes.”
“But the Master…”
“Wasn’t it you who told me how you almost all perished at the hands of the Hunters during the last transfer?”
“Yes… I don’t understand how they found us. The route was safe…”
“There won’t be any more transports for a while. I won’t risk my people in this, I won’t endanger this Shelter and all the people here. I’m very sorry, but that’s the most logical decision given the situation we’re in. The second question?”
“The second,” Romen began, sounding resigned, “is a warning. Gedrel sends me with some information: Regent Sesmok is looking for you. He’s trying to find you, and showing an uncommon interest.”
“Looking for us?”
“He’s looking for the Heroes. That much we know. He’s sent his Guard and the Hunters after your trail. But he’s not doing it openly, he’s hiding it from the people. Master Gedrel says it’s because he doesn’t want to lend credibility to the rumors that are spreading across all the villages and towns of the Six Counties. The rumors about the Heroes, about your feats…”
“Feats?” Idana asked. “They were no feats. We simply f
ought for survival with nails and teeth.”
Romen bent his head. “For the slave people that’s what they are. You confronted the Enforcers, the Gods themselves, you’ve crossed the Boundary, created this shelter where men are free… Those are unimaginable feats inside the Boundary.”
Idana nodded. “If you put it like that, it might seem like an achievement… I’m not saying it’s not, but if you’d lived through it I can assure you you’d feel very different.”
“This is a great first step for our people, you’re Heroes in your own right,” Romen said with feeling. He bowed to Ikai and Idana.
“I don’t understand it, why is the Regent looking for us?” Ikai said. The bad news worried him. He hoped the swine would know nothing of what had happened, or that if he did know, he assumed they were dead. “We’re outside the Boundary,” he said. “Won’t he be looking for the other Heroes?” He was careful to avoid saying the names of the ones who were still inside the Boundary: Liriana and Maruk.
“Gedrel believes the Regent is under orders to capture all of you. All seven.”
“Orders from whom?
“A direct order… from the Gods themselves…”
A murmur of shock and fear arose, filling the nave of the building. They were all afraid. Ikai knew they were right to be.
“How did he reach that conclusion? Or does the old philosopher have spies among the Gods? Although now I come to think of it, that wouldn’t surprise me.”
“The Eyes-of-the-Gods are leaning on Sesmok. Our spies inside the palace have told us about it. They’re putting a lot of pressure on him.”
This news upset Ikai. He rose and addressed the hall. “It’s time you went back to your homes to rest. Don’t worry about what you’ve heard here tonight. We’re safe here, far from the Regent. Rest and relax.”
Amid whispers of fear and worry, the refugees left the council. When the last one had gone out, Ikai turned to Romen.
