"You had no choice, dilbar." Her smile was frail and her eyes filled with tears.
"You're right. We're both swords. We knew we were headed for war..."
As they headed back down the ramp and towards the river and the piers, Talwar gasped. Startled, Khanda squeezed his hand. "What is it, dilbar?"
"That woman... I know her from Agharek! What is she doing here?"
His eyes met the woman's eyes and he saw her smile. She had brown hair and blue eyes and her bodice barely covered her breasts. Unlike Khanda, she showed off her belly button and a blue sari with silver embroidery wrapped her voluptuous body.
"Isn't that Maya the fortune teller?" Khanda asked, narrowing her eyes.
"So you met her too?"
"Yes... she is quite famous in Agharek... She's the one who told me about my Sila blood."
They stopped, wary, as Maya reached them.
"Greetings, Ajay and Ashrita," she said cheerfully. "Or should I call you Talwar and Khanda?"
"What are you doing here?" Talwar snapped.
"Saving your backsides, probably." Maya chuckled. "Come with me. You're being followed by an assassin, and you have no way to vanish again unless I help you."
"How?" Khanda asked bluntly. "By predicting us a bright future? By telling us we can actually do magic because of some Magical Race blood in our veins?"
Maya chuckled. "You may have some Sila blood, but it won't help, and he doesn't have any magical ancestor, so you'll have to trust me. You will have a bright future, but not here. Come. Or are you afraid of a fortune teller?"
Talwar and Khanda exchanged a glance, then followed her. Maya was probably right, they were being followed and Khopesh would find them if they didn't get rid of whoever was stalking them. Maybe they could even ask her more about those fabled Magical Races. What were the Sila like? And what other races were there, besides them and the Genn?
***
Khanda didn't like Maya much, but she was aware that the woman had "something" – and not just because she'd told her a long time ago that she could speak to birds because of her Sila blood. At least Talwar wasn't too taken by the so-called fortune teller.
He was obviously still upset. And the mark on his hand... Khanda wished she could have taken it upon herself, but her proud Talwar had refused. Katar's betrayal had hurt, but watching Talwar killing his father by mistake had been even worse.
She had seen that Khopesh had only been incapacitated and not killed, therefore something else must have killed Jamdhar. Was it the hit to the chest? Khopesh had the scar on his belly, another very weak spot...
Thank the gods, they'd been let go. Well, almost. Maya was probably right that the local assassins were watching them. She was glad she had sharpened their brass wheels, but it would be really hard to get out of town unnoticed.
She felt tired from the continuous struggle. Why couldn't their families let them go? How could she wipe away that frown from Talwar's face? Where could they find peace?
Not Argantael, no. Maybe Maya was really the only way out, but Khanda couldn't imagine what means she would use. Magic? Who knew. They had no choice but to trust her.
***
Maya lived in a small house with one room and very little furniture. No beds, no plush cushions to sit on, no carpets. An oven and a table to cook and prepare food were all. But her door closed in the face of whoever was following them and for a moment Talwar and Khanda felt safe.
They sat on the floor with her, still wary. How could she help them and what did she know of the events that had taken them here?
"When did you leave Agharek?" Khanda asked.
"After a wicked young assassin was marked by his cousin with the seal of Zindagi," Maya answered, amused. "I thought you were the most interesting inhabitants, and since you were gone, I decided I might as well go back north. It's been almost a century since I was here, therefore I thought it was good timing to come and see what happened to Kumar's descendants."
Both gaped at her. She raised her eyebrows.
"What? You don't believe that I can live that long and still look so young?" she teased.
She looked in her twenties and couldn't possibly have lived for a century. Unless she was a witch, that is. Or a magical being. Some other Magical Race, perhaps?
She leaned forward. "Can you keep a secret?" she whispered with a tone of conspiracy. "I am actually three hundred and seventy years old..." She straightened her back and chuckled. "And you probably don't want to see what I really look like!"
"An old crone?" Khanda asked stiffly. "A Sila?"
"No, my real form isn't Human." Maya shrugged. "And the Sila can't shift shape. They do look Human, but have big feathered wings. They're Air's harmless children, you see. I'm Fire's creature."
"How many Magical Races are there?" Talwar asked, puzzled.
"Four." Maya shrugged. "Sila, Genn, Waiora and Fajrulo. With Humans that's five, like the Immortals. But I know how much you Humans like your gods, so I won't get into a religious discussion with you – although some of my ancestors actually enjoyed passing themselves off as gods or goddesses, including my mother who helped found the Queendom of Maadre."
"The Queendom?" Talwar was confused and Khanda stared at Maya with wide eyes.
"Yes, there's a Queen and women have the power while men are considered objects, so it's a Queendom." Maya chuckled. "Why is it so shocking for your patriarchal world? It's only Varia that has patriarchal societies, you know."
"Varia?" Khanda dared to ask with a tiny voice. Maya rolled her eyes.
"This continent," she said. She waved off any more questions or objections before continuing. "So, you ran away from Agharek, you are now in Argantael and made another mess that will make you the most wanted couple in the former southern kingdoms... I'm afraid I don't have much influence on Kumar's descendants, who founded the local Assassins' Guild, so the only thing I can do is take you away. I am ready to go back to the northern kingdoms and claim my Lenore identity again, so it's time to put Maya to rest."
"You're a shape shifter?" Talwar asked, still trying to figure out who was sitting in front of him. Maya was obviously more than just a fortune teller. Maybe she was a member of a Magical Race incognito?
"Yes, if I want to interact with Humans, I need to shift shape. And you'll have to bear the sight of my real form if you want me to take you away from here. But we will do it tonight, so the shock will be less in the darkness."
"How do we know we can trust you?" Khanda asked defiantly. "Katar betrayed us, and you're a complete stranger."
"Sometimes help comes from complete strangers," Maya replied. "When you can't trust your own family, what choice do you have? Let me tell you that I don't like what the Assassins' Guild has become. It wasn't like this at the time of Akkora. It wasn't a closed sect, a family business. Kumar was an orphan and a street boy when he reached Lakresha. He was fierce and stubborn and could fight, so a member of the local guild noticed him and trained him. He became an assassin and then worked as sword-master at the Akkoran court. He could be a tiger hunter, an assassin, a mercenary... and ended up marrying the princess of Rajendra. The first king with no real royal blood, in fact he was more a consort that the reigning monarch. Power was in the hands of Queen Indira, then their son, Tarun. But he also had a son with a northern dancer and when Tarun lost his throne and his life, Rahul retired from public life and started the Assassins' Guild of Argantael. His grandson is now the head and Shamshir's son has married Katar's sister, hence the tie with Zarapur."
Talwar nodded, thoughtful. That explained a lot – not Maya's knowledge of it, but it shed some light on what had happened in the Guild's building a few hours earlier.
"And is this guild as closely guarded as the Akkoran ones?" he asked.
"No, not really," Maya answered with a shrug. "They do take on apprentices. They test them for strength and endurance, and if the petitioner is stubborn enough, they train him."
"And can one retire to private life after
a certain age?"
"Shamshir has retired from active service, but he still manages the Guild. He's the one who chooses who does what, gets paid and pays his men."
Talwar thought that this sounded much more sensible. But if they stayed in Argantael, Khopesh would find them and kill them. Besides, neither he nor Khanda wanted to keep killing under someone else's orders.
"Where would you take us and how?" he asked, looking Maya in the eyes. Khanda squeezed his arm, worried, but he patted her knee, trying to soothe her fears.
"I'd take you to the Blackmore Kingdom, but you'd have problems communicating," Maya replied. "In the north they speak very different languages. You can choose between Godwalkar, Darantasia, Jevina... all city-states that used to be part of the southern kingdoms, therefore with the same culture and language that you're used to."
She started drawing in the dust of the floor between them, a rough map of what she called Varia, pointing out Agharek at the southernmost point, Argantael somewhere in the middle, and the three other towns, along with the northern kingdoms.
"Now, you asked how – well, we will be flying in a straight line, so... I could make a detour to take you to Jevina or Darantasia, but Godwalkar is really on my way. It has a strong Genn presence, therefore I don't think they'll need an Assassins' Guild to keep things straight. But their king just died, heirless, so Gajendra might be a little messy right now..."
13.
Maya might not be Human, but she knew how to cook. She also ate a lot more than Talwar and Khanda put together, obviously filling a belly much bigger than a Human's. As the sun set on the small house and the town, Talwar began to wonder what she actually looked like.
"She ate for four people," Khanda whispered as Maya went outside the front door to throw away the bones of their meal. "What if she's a demon?"
"Demons don't eat food, they eat souls," Talwar answered, thoughtful.
He was starting to think maybe following Maya hadn't been such a good idea. They still had no idea of what she looked like, and in spite of her friendliness, she hadn't really explained much of herself or her people – apart from the fact that her mother had impersonated a goddess in a country beyond the sea, that is.
Dogs barked outside, then whined and quieted. Maya came back and looked at them. "What?"
"You have blood on your chin," Talwar said stiffly. A few drops of blood, as if she had eaten something raw.
"Oh, sorry." She quickly cleaned it with her hand. "It's dark outside, if you're ready..."
She looked around the room and gathered the few kitchen implements, a booklet – "My recipes," she said with a wink – and put everything inside a travel bag.
"Can you hold this for me?" she asked. "I can carry it, but since I have passengers, I'd rather you keep it."
Talwar took it and put it on his shoulder. Khanda stood next to him, frowning in worry again. Maya observed them with her fists on her hips and her head cocked to one side.
"You should wear all your clothes," she said thoughtfully. "It's cold up there. If you have enough to survive a night in the southern desert, we can make it. But cover yourselves."
"How are we traveling?" Talwar asked, narrowing his eyes.
"I told you, we're flying." Maya grinned. "Well, at least I am. And Khanda's Sila blood is too diluted for her to be able to manipulate air around your bodies and keep you warm. So cover yourselves. I'll fly as low as I can, but it will still be colder than the ground."
"You will spread wings?" Khanda blurted out, incredulous.
"This is not my real shape," Maya reminded them patiently. "Come to the backyard when you're ready."
She headed out of a door that led to a small, walled garden that was as dead as the desert. She obviously didn't care about gardens, but she probably needed that extra space. It could contain a couple of elephants side by side, but not much more.
Talwar and Khanda exchanged a puzzled glance.
"Should we try the other way?" Talwar whispered. "Do you want to go by normal means?"
"No, from the window I've seen someone standing outside," Khanda whispered back. "They are following us. Let's do as she says."
"Turn off the lamp before coming out," Maya warned from outside.
Talwar and Khanda quickly added layers to their clothes, leaving only the weapons in their travel bag. Talwar took both bags and left the pole-arm shaft to Khanda who blew out the candles on the kitchen table and turned off the oil lamp on the floor where they had eaten.
It took them a moment to get used to the darkness and find the open door that led to the backyard. What had looked like a barren rectangle under the sun was now filled with a big, scaly form. Talwar stopped on the threshold and gasped.
He held out a hand and touched the skin of what must be a big hind leg. It was almost like touching a python, or maybe a crocodile if he explored further. He couldn't see the stars and realized it was because of big bat-like wings open and ready to flap.
"What are you waiting for? Climb on my back." The voice was weird. He couldn't tell if it came from the creature or was inside his head.
"A dragon?" Khanda whispered with a hint of panic in her voice.
Yellow eyes stared at them. "I won't eat you." The creature snorted. "Come on, get onboard, time to go!"
"Maya?" Talwar asked, incredulous.
"You can call me Starblazer now," the dragon replied. "Let's go."
The dragon filled the small backyard and Talwar had to keep his back to the wall to reach the side. He climbed on the front leg and onto the scaly back. There was no saddle, so he had to hold onto the ridge at the back of the neck.
Khanda followed him and straddled the dragon's back, holding his waist tight after securing the pole-arm shaft between them.
"Ready?" The bat-like wings flapped and the dragon lifted off slowly but vertically. It was a dark color, and probably nobody would see it rise and leave Argantael. It was a cloudy, moonless night – a night for assassins and thieves.
Talwar heard a crash and looked down. Half a dozen people burst into Maya's backyard with torches. They became tinier and soon vanished as the dragon started moving forward.
"What happened down there?" Talwar asked.
"We left just in time. Shamshir and his men have broken down my door, looking for you... but they won't catch us, don't worry. They'd never think to look up..."
There were still lights on the ground, but soon they were left behind. Argantael was but a bad memory as the powerful wings flapped forward. Talwar saw a mountain range ahead in the dim light.
"What is that?"
"It's the Central Massif. It divides the south from the north, mostly. We won't reach it, since Godwalkar is before it. Hold tight, we have a couple of hours' flight..."
Talwar held to the ridge and rarely glanced down. It was all dark now, but ahead he could see faint lights in the distance. Khanda's cheek on his neck and her arms wrapped around his waist kept him warm, but he had to admit the air was quite cold. He should have covered his mouth and nose, but didn't dare let go of the ridge now.
The clouds moved and the moon came out. Stars shone overhead and if he looked down, he could see the silver ribbons of rivers. Riding a dragon was not as bumpy as riding a camel, but he didn't dare move – falling off might kill him and there was no saddle or reins to hold on to.
The two travel bags made good weights to keep his balance, but he was starting to not feel his fingers anymore. He wiggled them carefully, but his hands were so cold he ended up sneezing. At least he didn't slide off.
And then he saw lights ahead, brighter than before and coming closer with every flap of wings. It was a palace, all white marble with colored glass on the huge arched windows and balconies with balustrades that looked like stone lace.
It was lit with white lights that must be magic, since no fire could burn like that. It was surrounded by a park and in the shadows around it there was a maze of alleys and houses and some paved streets with torches every few paces and t
he silver ribbons of two rivers.
The dragon was headed that way.
"What is that beautiful building?" Khanda asked.
"It's the royal palace. With a vacant throne due to the death of King Naveen."
"White light?" Talwar wondered, his teeth chattering from the cold.
"Magic lights," Starblazer answered. "The Genn are natural magic users... And healers! They'll take care of your cold."
"I'm not c-cold," he said as Khanda squeezed him, worried. And then he sneezed again.
"Hold on, landing now!"
The dragon made a turn and landed in front of the palace gate so quickly that Talwar barely realized they were on the ground again. Khanda slid off the dragon's back, but he stayed where he was, dazed.
"Talwar, get off," Starblazer said.
"I... can't move..." Talwar felt numb. He'd been too still too long. And the cold seemed to have frozen him in place.
The dragon groaned. "Stand back, Khanda."
The big shape blurred and Talwar fell to the ground as the dragon vanished and Maya stared at him with a frown. His breathing was shallow and his muscles so stiff he couldn't move. Khanda rushed to his side, but he couldn't feel his body anymore.
"He's so white!" Khanda said, anguished. "Is he dying?"
"Goldenstar!" the woman called towards the palace. "No, he's not dying," she muttered to them.
Talwar saw an oval face with very long golden hair and pointed ears leaning over him, then passed out.
***
"Talwar!" Khanda screamed as Talwar collapsed on the ground in front of the palace.
He was barely breathing and shivered uncontrollably. Again he had taken the blunt of the cold and protected her, almost at the cost of his life.
A young woman with pointed ears and a blond mane way below her waist knelt next to them. Maya watched, standing behind the newcomer.
Khanda held her breath as the woman closed her eyes and moved her hands over Talwar's body without touching it. She saw a golden powder wrapping him and slowly entering him. He slowly stopped shivering and seemed to fall asleep.
Talwar and Khanda--Assassins in Love Page 10
