by Jon F. Merz
The crowd went quiet.
Ran looked over at Zaqil and then went to help him up on his feet. He knew the ankle would be sore; he’d come close to breaking it. “Give me your hand.”
Zaqil looked up at him and then smiled. “You are very talented, Ran from Nehon. It was an honor to fight you.” He took Ran’s hand and stood on shaky feet. Then he looked out at the crowd. “They are not used to seeing their king lose.”
“I don’t expect they are,” said Ran. “I’m sorry they had to see that.”
Zaqil shrugged. “It is good for them to know their king is not perfect. That I make mistakes like anyone else. Perhaps I should have trusted Iqban, after all.”
Ran sniffed and wiped sweat from his face. “Iqban is not worthy of your trust. He would kill you in the blink of an eye if he thought it would earn him money. I was surprised to learn that you had even entertained doing business with him.”
“It was not our first choice, but we needed things that he could provide. I would like to be free of him, however.”
“Banish him, then,” said Ran. “Or kill him. It makes little difference to me.”
“Look at him up there,” said Zaqil. “He is almost gleeful at your victory.”
“Because he thinks you’ll pay him for me now.”
“He doesn’t know of our arrangement,” said Zaqil. “But that isn’t a concern.” He turned to the arena and spoke in a loud booming voice while holding Ran’s hand high overhead. “You have seen the talent and ferocity of this man. He is truly an accomplished warrior worthy of honor and respect. Indeed, he has both from me.”
The crowd went wild, and Ran smiled in spite of himself.
Zaqil turned to him. “I know I have promised you your freedom, but I would consider it an honor if you would feast with us tonight. Before you leave.”
Ran debated. Part of him wanted to leave this place immediately. While Zaqil had shown him both grace and generosity, he also didn’t trust the Mung leader entirely. The longer he stayed, the longer he felt like he was in danger. That said, if he refused, who was to say Zaqil wouldn’t take it as an insult and then go back on his word? Ran sighed. “I do have friends looking for me, and I would like to return to them as soon as possible. But I would be honored to feast with you.”
Zaqil clapped his hands, and his smile seemed genuine enough. “Wonderful. I shall make arrangements immediately.” He winced as he put weight on his ankle. “Well, perhaps after the doctor has tended to my leg, that is. In the meantime, you are free to wander wherever you like in our kingdom. I can have a guard assigned to lead you around or you may go on your own. You are a free man, Ran, and you have bested me in combat. As such, you are my honored guest and no one will harm you while you are here.”
“Thank you,” said Ran. “I would like to return to my quarters and get some more rest, though, if that is all right with you.”
“Absolutely,” said Zaqil. “I think that’s a rather good idea, actually. But when you awaken, if you feel like exploring, please do so. The feast will commence tonight, and I will send someone to your quarters with a change of clothes and a bath.”
“What about Iqban?” asked Ran.
Zaqil shrugged. “I haven’t decided what to do with him just yet. But we can talk about that later at the feast.”
“Very well,” said Ran. “I just have one final question.”
“Which is?”
“What will be on the menu tonight?”
Zaqil smiled. “Have no fears, Ran. I know you are not going to become one of us and appreciate the taste of human flesh. I will spare you that as well. Tonight’s feast will feature foods that you will enjoy as much as we will.”
A wave of relief washed over Ran. “Thank you.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Ran chewed another piece of the tender beef and then set his utensils down. Nearby, Zaqil sat drinking a tall mug of something the Mung called Haoji, which Ran figured was a fermented root drink. He tried it and found that it immediately started to affect his head, so he immediately asked for water instead. The last thing he needed was to have hits wits dulled by strong drink while he still considered himself something of a prisoner, despite Zaqil’s assurances otherwise.
He had awoken from his nap and found a set of simple but comfortable clothes in a package outside of his door. The threads within the clothes seemed to shimmer at points when the blue torchlight hit them. Ran bathed quickly, reveling in the hot water they had somehow managed to tap. The clothes fit him perfectly, despite the fact that all the Mung were far shorter than Ran. And then he’d wandered around for a few minutes until a guard found him and asked Ran to follow him to the feast.
The feast room was nothing at all like the room where Zaqil had initially received Iqban and Ran. Instead of the simple design, this room was far more like a cavern with a huge arching ceiling and many torches burning away overhead. There were scores of tables laid with all sorts of meats and vegetables. Ran saw a large fire in the center of the room, giving off a nice blanket of heat to the entire expanse. Servers rushed to and fro, waiting on what Ran assumed were the Mung aristocracy. Zaqil had waved him over to sit next to him in a position of honor. Ran had accepted and thanked the king for the opportunity to dine with him.
The food was as delicious as it had been when Ran first ate it back in his cell. The Mung cooks were certainly adept at preparing the food served here. As Ran ate, he watched the faces of the other Mung and wondered how they could be thinking about conquest when it seemed they had plenty of wealth and security underground. He voiced the question to Zaqil, who only smiled.
“It’s true that we have much that we could ever want in our tunnels and caverns, but the source of our power is dwindling.”
“What power?” asked Ran.
Zaqil gestured overhead. “Surely you’ve seen the blue torches. They burn, but not with a yellow flame. Haven’t you wondered what it is?”
“I have.”
“The fuel comes from a special rock we mine far below us. When touched with fire, it burns for weeks, giving us that blue flame. But we’re running out of it. We have tunneled everywhere and found no other vein of it running in the earth. We get heat and light from the rock, and without it we would not be able to sustain ourselves for very long. The elders among the Mung have come together and we have decided that the best option is to move aboveground.” Zaqil sighed. “It will be difficult for many of us accustomed to being the only ones that live underground. It’s a whole new world up there that we do not yet truly understand. That is another reason why we agreed to do business with Iqban.”
Ran glanced around. Iqban was nowhere to be seen. “Where is he, by the way?”
Zaqil waved the question off. “We have the material means to purchase whatever we need to form a new empire aboveground, but what we lack is information.”
“What sort of information?”
“Where we might be able to form a new kingdom, who might oppose us, what strengths they have. All manner of strategic questions that we would need answered prior to simply going aboveground. These mountains have given us shelter for eons, and leaving them presents a huge challenge for us.”
Ran sensed he knew where this was going but said nothing until Zaqil turned to him.
“Is that why you invited me here tonight?”
Zaqil shrugged. “I would have invited you anyway. You bested me in combat, and as such you deserve the accolades. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t also want a chance to discuss things with you. Specifically about how you might be able to help us in the coming years.”
Ran allowed a small frown to cross his face. “How many know about me?”
“Everyone knows you beat me in combat. But not everyone knows about what you are or at least what Iqban claims you are.”
Ran nodded. “It is imperative that no one know what I am. If we are have any sort of relationship at all, absolute trust and secrecy are the first orders of business.”
Zaqil smiled. “I understand. Your identity will be known only to me.”
“Iqban knows also.”
“Worry not about him,” said Zaqil. “I will deal with him when the time is right.”
“As long as Iqban is alive, he is a threat to me,” said Ran. “He would sell every one of my secrets for a gold coin if he thought he could profit from it.”
“Indeed he would,” said Zaqil. “But you need not worry.”
Ran said nothing while he pondered their exchange. Shinobujin had routinely been employed to assist other kingdoms over the years. But such matters were ordinarily arranged by other Shinobujin, not field operatives like Ran. The novelty of this appealed to him. But there were certain things to consider. The Mung were a cannibalistic race. Ran wasn’t sure how well that would transfer to the above world. Still, he knew that there were far-flung races and cultures that engaged in acts many would consider equally barbaric. And that hadn’t stopped them from thriving.
“I would need to consult with my clan before I can formally agree to anything,” said Ran. “You understand my allegiance must first be to them.”
“I would think less of you if you said otherwise,” said Zaqil. “There is much about you that I admire.” He nodded. “That is perfectly agreeable to me. You should contact them and ask if the Mung empire may hire you to scout a location for us that you think would prove suitable for construction of a new fortress.”
“There’s a chance they might not agree to it.”
Zaqil sighed. “I know. But I hope they would look at this as an opportunity to establish good relations with a race many people do not even realize has existed beneath them for thousands of years.”
“They may well do that,” said Ran. “I don’t know how they decide which jobs to take or decline, but I will relay the information and then be back in touch with you.”
Zaqil nodded. “When we escort you out, the guard will show you the entrance to use to return here at a later date. When you come back, you must recite four words which will keep you in good stead with whomever challenges you. They prove that you are a trusted ally of the Mung.”
“What are the words?”
“Bak chang huq yarol.”
Ran recited them, ensuring he got the pronunciation down right. After several moments of letting them sink in, he looked at Zaqil. “What do they mean?”
“The heart of life beats beneath.” Zaqil grinned. “They are words every Mung child grows up learning. We swear an allegiance not to a king, but to the deep depths of the underground. Down deep below us is where all life comes from. A pulsing heart filled with warmth and fire. If that ever stops, we—not just the Mung, but all peoples—will cease to exist. Perhaps because we are closer to it and feel it everywhere in our domain, we appreciate it a bit more. But no Mung would ever turn you away when you say that to them. They will know the only way you would come by that knowledge is if you had been welcomed into our domain previously.”
“I am humbled that you would trust me with this information,” said Ran.
“Then we are even,” said Zaqil. “You now know something about us that could potentially lead to our downfall. We each, as it were, have something over the other. I need you to realize that your secret is safe with me. To prove that, I have given you something of immense value to us.”
“I appreciate that,” said Ran. And he did. Zaqil’s willingness to compromise their security so that Ran felt more comfortable meant a great deal to him. Try as he might, he found it hard to actually think of Zaqil as some sort of evil leader. If anything, it only reinforced his belief that the true enemy was Zal himself. Zaqil’s men had made short work of Zal’s hired army. But Zal had yet to be found.
“Will you be able to find Zal?”
Zaqil nodded. “He can run, but he cannot hide for long. My brother is as foolish as he is egotistical. Sooner or later, he will grow tired of hiding and come out to assume what he believes is his rightful place as king.”
“Your brother?”
Zaqil smiled. “Yes. Although he was born to my father’s concubine and not my mother. But that has never stopped him from trying to usurp power for himself.”
“Iqban told me that he had been king and was forced into exile.”
Zaqil had some more of his drink. “Yes, I would expect that to be the story he wove. It’s one of the ways he functions. He concocts a good story and then tries to win people over to his side. He’s been doing it for many years. When I uncovered his plot to overthrow my council, I gave him two options: death or exile. He chose the latter.”
“But he didn’t go far. He stayed right around here and then started building an army to take control by force. How does that make sense?”
“I knew all along where he was,” said Zaqil. “I thought it better to keep him close and be able to keep an eye on him and his activities than to lose sight of him elsewhere. When it became clear what he was up to, I made my own plans and attacked before he was ready.”
“Couldn’t he just have attacked through the main gate?”
Zaqil shook his head. “He would know that it is too heavily guarded to get an army through. His only option was to tunnel in multiple places and try to a simultaneous attack. But we are incredible miners, and my people informed me when they became aware of the tunneling happening from the other side. We quickly surmised what he was doing and made arrangements to undercut him.”
“You certainly succeeded,” said Ran. “His troops were overwhelmed, and the results were . . .” Ran’s voice trailed off.
“Yes, unpalatable to you. I understand,” said Zaqil. “But when the Mung are aroused to their berserker state, their appetite increases tenfold. Anything within range is potential food. I daresay you were lucky to not have run into any of my men when you were over there.”
“I count myself lucky as well,” said Ran. “From what I saw, your troops are very formidable fighters, especially in the close confines of the tunnel networks down here.”
“They know how to fight better than the mercenaries that Zal had hired for himself,” said Zaqil. “They were no match in the tunnels, and my men took advantage of it to rout them utterly.”
“A shame that Zal wasn’t taken,” said Ran.
“If you come across him in your travels, I would consider it a personal favor if you killed him,” said Zaqil. “To say that I have had enough of his silliness would be an understatement. It’s true we share the same bloodline, but there comes a point when even family is not above being called out on their stupidity. I would not tolerate such actions from my friends or even the men who serve me. Why should I tolerate it from family just because we share blood? It makes no sense.”
“I lost my family at a young age,” said Ran. “I was adopted by my clan and they became my true family.”
“You are fortunate to not have to have dealt with the pettiness of familial issues,” said Zaqil. “It drains a man of his will to live his life by his own inner compass.”
“How do you mean?”
Zaqil finished his drink and set it down. “Who we are is often the product of those around us. We grow according to what we perceive as the right way to do things. Our values are passed on to us by parents and relatives. At some point, though, we grow old enough to know who we truly are as individuals. How many people constrain themselves because their family wouldn’t be accepting of their true nature? How many people truly enjoy the freedom to be who they are? Very few, I would wager.”
“Put that way,” said Ran. “I do feel fortunate. As long as my allegiance to my clan remains steadfast, I am free to do as I will.”
“Indeed,” said Zaqil. “You are blessed to be able to do what you wish. When Zal is finally eliminated, I will have that freedom as well.”
“But you can already do as you wish.”
Zaqil tapped his head and then his heart. “But here and here, it is still as if he is around me. All I hear is him berating me and insisting that I acquiesce to his demands
because we are family. The number of times I wished my father could have kept his manhood locked up and not fathered such a beast are truly without end.”
Ran laughed. “Here’s to self-discipline and freedom, then.”
Zaqil clanked glasses with him and then set it back down. “You must be ready to be on your way. I have kept you for too long already.” Zaqil smiled. “I have enjoyed our time together. I hope you return with favorable news from your clan.”
“Thank you,” said Ran. “I will endeavor to return as soon as possible.”
Zaqil clapped his hands and a guard materialized. “Escort our guest to the main gate and then back to where Zal built his main gate.” He glanced at Ran. “I trust that will be okay? Your companions might even still be around.”
Ran nodded. “That will be fine. Thank you again, Zaqil.”
“Travel well, Ran.” He stood and clasped Ran’s hand.
Then Zaqil clapped again. From the left side of the room, several cooks pushed a large rack into the center of the room with a writhing form strapped to it. With arms and legs stretched akimbo, Iqban was then hoisted above the fire. Were it not for the fact that his mouth had been sewn shut, his screams would have echoed through the chamber.
Ran looked back at Zaqil, who only shrugged. “I told you I would take care of him. Now go, you have no wish to see this any further.”
Ran turned and followed the guard out.
Behind him, Iqban’s moans gradually faded away as he cooked over the fire.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
It took them nearly twice the time to get back to Zal’s fiefdom as it had when Iqban had brought him to the Mung kingdom, Ran decided as they walked. He wasn’t sure if the guard was deliberately leading them around in circles to confuse Ran or not. Perhaps Zaqil had requested he do it, even though he’d pressed a small silken map into Ran’s hands as they were parting. Ran knew the map would show him how to return if he was ever able to come back.
