A Blight of Blackwings

by Kevin Hearne

  “And as for the rumors that the Raelech and Fornish armies are approaching to reinforce us, as well as a Kaurian fleet: Yes, that is true. A little less than two weeks. And while they are bringing plenty of food with them, we can frankly use all available space to house them. So, if you are on Survivor Field now or struggling in the city and thinking that you might fare better elsewhere—that may be! Now that the weather has turned, it is the perfect time to go.”

  She paused and smiled at everyone. “Regardless: Remember that I love you all, and the pelenaut sends his love as well. Remember to love one another. May Bryn’s blessings be upon you. Thank you.”

  An extended wave of cheers and applause rolled out from the field and the city both, and I saw a stream of people heading toward the gate to find this new resettlement ministry. That was a very pleasant surprise, and I knew that wasn’t the sort of thing one cooked up overnight. Rölly had been planning this for a while, and launching it now, when people could see that the city’s resources were strained to their limits, was much more effective than it would have been even a few days ago, when people were still somewhat comfortable and could tell themselves that everything would be fine.

  Tallynd left, and I didn’t get a chance to ask her anything. Fintan strummed a chord and said, “While many of you check out the new ministry, I’ll sing today’s song and take the customary break before starting the day’s tale. This one’s a Fornish tune.”

  After forty-odd years of hard living I find

  There is no freedom like peace of mind:

  It is a space free of guilt and regret

  And if you haven’t found your way there yet

  I hope you will get there someday soon.

  It’s a process of shedding the past,

  Old memories that weren’t meant to last;

  Embarrassments that you’ve classified as crime

  Don’t deserve another second of your time

  This morning, night, or noon.

  So be free, my friends, be free,

  Lay down that burden you have beside me,

  Step forward and away and then we’ll see

  What new branches grow on your tree.

  “I promised you I’d return to events in Khul Bashab,” Fintan said. “This is what happened after the people’s uprising confined the viceroy to his tower.”

  Hanima Bhandury appeared out of the oily smoke of his seeming sphere, but she had on a new outfit, a jade-green vest over a white shirt and pants tucked into some cheap but new boots.

  It is a heady thing to walk around free. And by “heady,” I mean my head kind of spins sometimes with the wonder of it, this feeling that Adithi says is exhilaration.

  I don’t know if that’s really what it is. Except that it’s the best.

  We can walk around in daylight! We can meet with Tamhan at the Red Pheasant Teahouse without fear of being discovered or interrupted. Because the viceroy is neutralized and for this short, sweet while we don’t have to worry about the physical threat of state violence.

  “The challenge,” Tamhan says, “is to remain this free a month from now.”

  Tamhan’s living at the treehouse as a guest of Jes Dan Kuf, since he finally fell out with his father on basically everything—big, shouty domestic squabble in which he may have mentioned at high volume that he’s using his father’s business practices as an example of what not to do, of what not to allow in a new government.

  Tamhan still looks tired but so cool. Maybe it’s because he’s holding a steaming cup of tea painted with Fornish vinework, or maybe it’s because he’s braided his hair and it looks stunning on the yellow vest he’s wearing, but I think it’s because he has a plan and he knows some people who can make it work. That hunter who led the riot—Khenish Dhawan—has become the acting captain of the city watch and is in charge of keeping order, which means something entirely different now that we are not so interested in persecuting the poor. In fact, he’s working with Adithi and me to form a new relationship with the river folk: By tonight, no one will be out in the streets. Everyone will have a bed, or at least a safe place to sleep, because a nice, polite man on a horse told them to see Khamen Chorous, who has really blossomed into a happy person who loves to help others feel safe. I figure he will make a fine minister of human dignity, which will be an actual thing if we succeed.

  Khenish Dhawan is also working with Tamhan to spread word of meetings and post new broadsides around town.

  “We have such a small window of time in which to work and get the populace on our side,” Tamhan says over his teacup. “I’m going to need one of you to go public. Be visible. Show people that the Sixth Kenning is real and tell them the risks and benefits to the seeking.”

  All of this would be easier to do if there were a Raelech bard in town to broadcast things for us, but since we lack one, we have to organize and repeat ourselves in many places. I’m the one who’s going public, because Adithi says my personality is better suited. That means I have to appear at most every meeting with at least a portion of my hive. Adithi does her part by having a roan mare named Sugarmane transport me around the city with Tamhan and a mounted escort, but we never use any reins. We just wave at people and otherwise keep our hands on the saddlehorns, because Adithi tells the horses where to take us.

  The first place we go to is the city bank and place it firmly under our control. We seize the assets of the royal treasury, the city treasury, the viceroy’s personal hoard, and those of a list of obscenely rich merchants, including Tamhan’s father.

  The second place we go to is the Church of Kalaad, where we meet a very sweaty man called Patriarch Dhanush Bursenan. Tamhan bows to him and announces that we just took all the viceroy’s stuff.

  “I’d like to leave church assets alone,” Tamhan tells him, “but that’s up to you, Patriarch.”

  I’m not sure he’s listening. The few bees I’ve brought in with me are pretty interested in the priest, because they’ve identified him as a water source. I tell them to back off and none of them land on him, but he’s super nervous about their buzzing around.

  “Patriarch?” Tamhan prods him.

  “Hmm? Yes?”

  “Will the church promise not to preach against a new government or against seeking the Sixth Kenning? Or shall we seize your assets and send every church official down the river?”

  His eyes narrow as he regards Tamhan, the words finally sinking in. “You’ll let us stay and keep everything if we simply shrug at your treason?”

  “It won’t be treason if we win,” Tamhan replies. “And look, from the church’s standpoint, what’s changed? We’re all still meat moving around under the sky. How we govern ourselves doesn’t really matter to Kalaad, so why should it matter to the church?”

  He doesn’t answer Tamhan but instead turns his moist eyes to me. “And how does the hivemistress feel about the church?”

  “It’s never done a single thing to help me,” I reply. “But it’s never done a single thing to harm me either. So I am neutral. Mostly I want not to fight with you, and I hope you want that also.”

  “You have no new faith to spread, no religious agenda?”

  “I just told you my agenda. Not fighting. That’s it.”

  “So how about it, Patriarch?” Tamhan presses him. “Shall we leave each other alone? We let you collect your tithes and give you time to change your doctrine to accommodate the Sixth Kenning. In the meantime, if anyone asks, Kalaad doesn’t have much of an opinion about government.”

  He sweats harder as he thinks about it. Maybe thinking gets him overheated. Maybe he’s unwell. I hope he’s not going to keel over and die before he answers. Finally he purses his lips and gives a tiny nod.

  “I cannot promise that the patriarchs of other cities will agree, and you may receive some resistance from
them in the future. But for my part, you have my word that none of my people will preach against you, and I will report that you have been respectful to the church.”

  “You have my thanks.”

  We leave him to quietly melt, and I’m glad that it didn’t come to a fight. Because I know we have plenty of fighting ahead of us.

  We’re doing a district a day for five days, visiting some public place in each district’s five wards, and these meetings are announced via pamphlet well ahead of time. This is an organizational detail, because people are going to elect councillors to represent and govern them at the ward and district levels, plus a city minister and some other offices. The claves are going to have a five-person council that represents them collectively, and those councillors will be elected from within the claves. But the big thing, the best thing, is that we won’t have the city watch acting as the fist of the city minister. They get paid by the city and their loyalty will be to the law, and the watch commander will be elected separately. Khenish Dhawan is running for that office.

  Tamhan is super smart about how to run a meeting. He tells people right off the bat that they will get to see me. Then they’re caught like borchatta in nets, resigned to listening to his very important but kind of boring government stuff.

  While he’s doing that, I’m mostly in charge of my own security. I have hornets and wasps looking at the crowd for folks with weapons and quietly let Khenish know about them if I see any, because he’s sure that at some point, someone is going to take a shot at me. Or at Tamhan.

  That would totally ruin my day, but I’m not afraid. And the reason why I’m not afraid is a story I tell everyone when Tamhan introduces me and I get up on whatever makeshift stage we’ve set up in each ward; I have all the little women buzz about me and over my head in a tight little knot, then have them dissipate. It’s an easy demonstration of my power. And when the applause dies down, I begin.

  “Hi.” I wave to the people gathered in the first ward of the River District. “I’m Hanima. A couple of years ago, a building fell on my head and I lost my family, my ability to speak, and pretty much my ability to support myself. I lived down by the river and begged for food. The viceroy and the city watch never tried to help me, or anyone like me. Just the opposite. And there are plenty of desperate people living in this district. But then Tamhan told me I could go with some others and seek the Sixth Kenning. I went to this grove of nughobe trees, and a nest of bloodcats ate one of my nipples. I got blessed. It fixed my brain and I regained my ability to speak. I’m stronger and faster than I used to be. No animal will ever try to eat me on the plains, not even a flesh eel. I can also communicate with bees, wasps, and termites. And you know what? It’s the best!”

  I kind of laugh one of those exultant laughs when you are intensely aware of your good fortune. And people clap for some reason. When that subsides, I get serious on them.

  “Things are easy by comparison now for me, but it’s not easy for most everyone else in this city. They haven’t seen the bottom of the riverbed like I have, and most of them still have a full set of nipples, you know? But I don’t want them—and I don’t want you—to ever suffer like I have. I want to work with the creatures of the plains and a new government to allow all people to prosper. The beast callers clave will be part of the new clave republic. And if you would like to become a beast caller yourself, then your chance is coming: The source of the Sixth Kenning will be right outside our city walls next week!”

  That is another place where I have to pause, because people need to gasp and be astonished. I hold up my hands for their attention, and when they simmer down, I tell them the downside.

  “The source of the Sixth Kenning moves about the country to different groups of animals, and it confers great benefits to the blessed. But I have to warn you that the success rate of seekers, if it holds true, is incredibly low in comparison to the other kennings. It’s only twelve percent. So that’s an eighty-eight percent chance that you’ll die if you become a seeker. Though it might help if you’re a vegetarian—I think we all were, and remain so. The first person to be blessed, Abhinava Khose, was a hunter and forswore taking the lives of animals before he found the source.

  “But you should also consider these things before making a decision: As a beast caller, you will play a vital role in the development of our new nation. That means you will also be an enemy of the current nation. I have had to live in hiding until now because the viceroy sees us as a threat to the country. He killed Sudhi—a nice boy who got blessed with me—in his dungeon. And I hear that it’s no different with the new king. He wants us all dead. That’s not a joke. So even if you are blessed, you will still be in danger. There will be potential for great good. But there will be the shadow of violence around you too, until we make the country safe. So think about it, and meet me at the docks at noon six days from now if you want to be a seeker.

  “That’s it. Thank you for listening, and make sure you vote for wise councillors next week. Love and honey from me and my hive to you and your family. Let us work together so that we may all thrive.”

  On the second day of ward meetings, held in the Tanner District—full of butchers and tanners, bootmakers and the like—Tamhan gets a lot of questions about how this government will work and how he can justify the illegal seizure of the assets of business owners. His father is in the crowd.

  “How can you justify the criminal exploitation of your workers’ labor, lining your homes with luxuries while depriving those who create wealth their fair share of the proceeds?” Tamhan retorts, and it goes back and forth a little bit, but Tamhan is ready for it and the crowd is on his side, because he explains that the clave republic has no problem with businesses prospering. “We just mandate that profits be shared among the employees.”

  And on the third day of meetings, in the Embassy District, just as Khenish Dhawan predicted, someone tries to kill me. Khul Bashab only has embassies from Rael and now Forn—we aren’t big enough or important enough to warrant embassies from the other countries. We’re gathered in the stone plaza of the Raelech grounds, underneath a huge statue of King Kalaad the Moist, one of the old ones whose efforts to work on the Banighel River basically made Khul Bashab’s existence possible. Two men on the periphery of the crowd are wearing cloaks drawn closed around their bodies, with hats pulled low on their brows. There’s one to my left and one to my right as I take the stage, and I see them both through my eyes and through the eyes of my airborne friends. I look straight at the one on my right while also keeping the left one in sight via the eyes of some hornets.

  The man I’m staring at realizes he may have been spotted, and his eyes shift from side to side, looking for members of the city watch closing in. I haven’t alerted Khenish of his presence yet, so the man is clear. But I smile at him from the stage and he doesn’t smile back.

  The man on the left brings up his arms, splitting the cloak and revealing the crossbow he’d been hiding under there.

  I don’t have to tell my lovelies to do anything. Once they sense a threat to me, they react as they would in defense of their queen.

  But they do not reach him before he levels the bow and takes a shot at me. I turn my head in that direction, and I can tell by the way that everything slows down that I have sped up. I spy the bolt coming and it’s moving fast, but not so fast that I cannot twist and pluck it out of the air. I spin with it and point at the man on the right, even as hornets descend on the man on the left and begin to sting him relentlessly.

  “Khenish, that cloaked man there has a crossbow too!”

  The man’s eyes widen in panic and he tries to flee. I ask the hornets watching him to just keep him in sight and fly above his head. Khenish and his men surge that direction in pursuit, and he’ll be caught. There’s no way to outrun my lovelies.

  The crowd is just piecing together what happened as the man on the left scr
eams and drops his crossbow. There’s a surge of angry shouts and I raise my hands, one with the bolt still clutched in it.

  “Friends! I am safe! And you are safe too! There is no need to worry or be afraid. It is under control, as you can see.”

  There is no helping the man on the left. His screams cease eventually, as he dies like the guard at the gate who threatened me upon returning to the city. When that’s done, I ask Tamhan to get someone over there to remove him while I continue my story and tell them of the seeking. I warn them of the risks, but now they’ve seen a very practical demonstration of the rewards, and I know that word of it will spread.

  Khenish’s men catch the second man, and he’s recognized immediately as a lesser brother of the church.

  Tamhan is furious when he finds out. “We offered them a truce. The patriarch took it, then violated it. We have to address this now.”

  “Don’t go back to him,” I say. “Just take all his stuff and make him come to you. Promise to give it back if he abides by the truce from now on.”

  “Give it back when?”

  “When we truly have our government in place. And tell him we need him at the seeking. We need to give the dead to Kalaad in the sky, like Abhi did. That makes him part of this. That will make him feel like the church has a stake in the republic.”

  “That’s good advice. Thanks.”

  “I think it’s good that you listen to people.”

  Three days later, there are two hundred forty seekers at the docks, which is far more than I thought we’d have. I know the precise number because the newly cowed but still sweaty patriarch is there, and he writes down the names before they conduct their seeking. I give them all another dire warning of their probable failure and reveal only at this time that the source is a hive of burrow wasps. I’d kept the source a secret to ensure that no one tried to eliminate it before we could conduct the seeking.