Advent of Ruin (The Qaehl Cycle Book 1)

by Allene Lowrey

  “What’s going on?”

  “There’s a city guard asking questions of anyone who might have had contact with a missing merchant. We think he might be the drunk from the other night. Come on.” Korshed walked off in the direction of the living area.

  Shahin looked at Esha and both men shrugged before Shahin followed.

  Shahin and Korshed passed not one but five other guards questioning caravaners on their way to the largest of the living wagons, around which all the others were arranged. Inside, a number of cushions were scattered on the floor around a large, low table. At one end of the table sat a man in chafiye helmet and a long leather coat, tails spread out behind him. Buckled on his waist was a forward-curving kopis. In other places around the table were the men who had joined Shahin the other night, as well as Seirya and the two youths who had been on watch. Korshed motioned him to take a seat and then folded onto a cushion opposite the guard.

  “Is this all of them, then?”

  “It is, daji.”

  “Very well. Thank you for agreeing to speak with me. One of the men of the city, a spice merchant, was reported missing by his business partner this morning. His last known whereabouts put him in your carnival the day before yesterday. We have had sketches done to replicate a street portrait of the man. Does he look familiar to any of you?”

  A sketch of the missing person was passed around the room. They all agreed, with varying degrees of distaste, that it was the drunken outsider whose name they had never asked.

  “How did he interact with you?”

  “Poorly, daji,” Seirya began. “We were closing down for the evening, and my parents asked me to make sure he made it out of the camp. We’ve had a lot of problems with drunkenness this time, and we thought he might get ‘lost’ on his way out. As we got nearer the entrance he started… propositioning me. He wouldn’t take no for an answer… He followed me all the way back to where the family eats, making lewd suggestions. I tried to ignore him, but…”

  “Seirya and I are promised, daji, so when I saw what was going on I couldn’t just leave it alone. As you can see, I wasn’t the only one. A few of these men are close kin; others I hardly know at all, and I can only assume valued a lady’s honor.” Sepehr spoke up, saving Seirya from her embarrassment.

  Shahin continued the tale, right up to the moment they had thrown the man out. “We waited long enough to be sure he was getting up and then went back.”

  “You said some pretty great things, too,” said one of the youths who had been on watch.

  “‘Their men are not panders, their women are not prostitutes, and if this is all you know of decorum you are not a man.’ That was great.” The other youth did a fair job of imitating his poise and tone, if Shahin was any judge. He had hoped they wouldn’t mention his unmanning of the missing man, though.

  Shahin took a moment to rub his temples. “Yes, I did say something of the sort before I went back to dinner. I didn’t wait around for him to respond.”

  “I’m not sure he heard you,” the first youth said. “He just finished brushing off the dust and wandered off toward the Stormbreaker. He was none too steady about it, either.”

  “I tried to tell him he was going the wrong way to get back to the city, but he just waved at me.”

  The guard heaved a sigh. “And you say that was the last any of you saw of this man?”

  Korshed waited for the others around the table to nod. “It was, daji.”

  “Wait here.” The guardsman stood up and walked out. There was silence in the wagon until his footsteps faded away.

  Korshed looked at Shahin. “Did you really say that?”

  “I… yes, I did. In Udhampna, that sort of behavior has been known to start blood feuds. My insult was just as bad, though. He implied she was nothing more than chattel; I told him that was more than he was worth.”

  “That was an excellent put-down.” Korshed smiled, showing brilliant teeth. “I hope it doesn’t get you in trouble.”

  “Q’uungerab has a good reputation. I doubt they’d make me confess to something I didn’t do.”

  “Perhaps.”

  They could all hear the sound of boots on the wagon steps as Korshed spoke. A moment later the door flap opened and the guardsman stepped back into the shade of the room.

  “I’ve sent a rider down the Vidhyaji. If we are fortunate, we may still find him alive. In the meantime, I would like you six to come with me.” As the guardsman spoke, he pointed at the six people most directly involved. “I would like to ask you a few more questions. I don’t expect this to take very long.”

  Despite himself, Shahin felt his mouth go dry. I couldn’t have been wrong about Q’uungerab, could I? Not with all the trade that passes through.

  * * *

  The heavy door closed with the grinding sound of stone on stone, leaving Shahin alone with five detainees from outside the caravan. The cell was fifteen feet on a side, and while there were chains on the wall none of the men seemed to be shackled. Just a holding cell, then. It was dim, lit only by a narrow slit high in the wall and a small grate in the door at eye-level.

  “So. What brought you all here?” Might as well make the best of it. In a moment of silence he could almost hear the other men exchanging glances.

  “Wrong place, wrong time. Same thing always lands a fellow here.” The other man’s voice was neither high nor low, but worn. “I was checkin’ on a buddy when this highbrow lady ‘cross the road got mugged. Since I saw it, here I am.”

  “Managed to stay on the outside of a tavern brawl ‘at killed some’un. We’ll all tell ya somethin’ similar. You’re the same, right?” This voice was younger and deeper than the first man’s.

  “Feh. Helped throw a drunkard out of the carnival after-hours. Now he turns up missing.”

  “Told ya it’s always the same thing,” the worn-sounding man said. “They’ll rough ya up a bit, make sure yer not hidin’ anything.”

  “So they’re finally looking into the disappearances, huh?” This was a third man, whose voice was soft and cultured-sounding.

  “This wasn’t the first?”

  “Seems like every week someone or another goes missing. Salt-miners, scouts, sand scavengers… if they make a habit of going into the desert, at least one of them has vanished. This guy rich?”

  “Wealthy enough, I expect. Spice merchant.”

  “Feh. Ain’t that always the way.” The man with the tired voice spat. “They figure they’ve always got workers, but once it happens to someone with money, well. ”

  “Like that anywhere you go, friend. Worse some places I’ve seen.”

  “Didn’t think y’ was from ‘round here. Y’don’t sound like one o’ those travelin’ en’tainers, neither, though.” Shahin winced at the deep-voiced man’s mangling of his own language.

  “No, I’m a courier – or was – from Udhampna. Only, after the trip down here, I’m done riding solo.”

  One of the other men whistled. “A courier, huh? What in the name of Khubhranta could scare a courier shitless?”

  “Pray you never find out.”

  Even the man with the tired voice came alive with questions now that they knew he’d been a courier. Shahin lost count of the number he answered before a guard came for him. The door ground open again, and even the dim light from the corridors was enough to make him squint.

  “The man named Shahin is to come with us for questioning regarding the disappearance of the spice merchant Berebazu.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Chandi didn’t need to be told to know that something was wrong. The carnival was crawling with guards from the city. After they arrested the men who threw out the drunken idiot, the Elders put all the wines and brandies under lock and key. With no alcohol their custom dropped by half. Not that the uncles were able to stop patrolling. If anything, there were more fights to break up, and they were worse. With all the guards around, some of the brawlers were arrested, too.

  Also since the arrests, t
he Elders had restricted everyone not performing or selling to the living areas. Auntie Kiran and the other teachers led the students in grueling practice sessions around their own performances. When Chandi was not immersed in dance exercises or flexibility training, she and Gita were assigned to watch a group of younglings. Some of them were just beginning their training, and others were even younger. Gita grumbled about this, and Chandi could not figure out why. Gita waved off all inquiries.

  On the afternoon of the third day since the arrests, Auntie Nikita sent Chandi to one of the stalls for more supplies. On her way back she happened to pass the main entrance. Crossing the gate with a basket full of herb packets and ghee, she glanced out towards the road. A long, leather-colored lump blocked the middle of the Vidhyaji. She stared past the line of customers. The lump had a scarf draped over one end with a thick metal band around it. Is that…? She thrust the basket at one of the men admitting patrons and darted out into the road. One of the local guards!

  “Uncle!” Chandi called over her shoulder at the man who wasn’t holding the basket like it would bite. “He’s alive! Help me get him out of the sun!”

  The two men at the gate looked at each other. The Uncle with the basket nodded. His companion covered the ground between himself and Chandi in three long strides.

  The uncle tossed the unconscious man over his shoulder. “Don’t know how we missed him. Those are for Nikita, right? Grab your basket, I’ll carry him.” She retrieved the basket of supplies and he followed her through the carnival to the srani.

  * * *

  “Due to the unusually volatile situation in Q’uungerab Pradesh, we will be closing Carnival as soon as our men are returned to us. We will leave along the southern road. There will be no special announcement of our departure,” Elder Nagendra announced two nights later.

  “Furthermore, this unrest has been caused in part by a series of disappearances,” he continued. “The merchant we are entangled with is not even the most recent any longer, but simply the first to catch the notice of the guard. All the victims have failed to return from excursions into the Qaehl. Therefore, I ask that you refrain from venturing past the Stormbreaker. We will begin reprovisioning tomorrow, so please plan accordingly.”

  Elder Nagendra’s voice still rang clear despite his pure white hair and leathery face. His legs, Chandi had heard, were just as strong today as they had been when her father was a youngling, and his mind had lost none of its sharpness. The announcement around the dinner fire was met with heavy silence. It was inevitable, really. Even the younglings could have seen this coming. She wondered, though: if the guardsman was right, and there were monsters invading the desert, would leaving do any good?

  “A miserable end to a miserable carnival,” Papa grumbled.

  “What’s the matter, sweetling? Something troubling you?” Mama’s voice drew Chandi’s attention.

  “It’s nothing, really.” Nothing she could talk about, at least. Elder Nagendra had been quite clear: not a word to anyone about the guard’s news. It wouldn’t help anything if they knew, anyway. “So when do you think they’ll let the uncles come back?”

  “Soon, I expect. They didn’t do anything wrong, after all.” Papa scooped up some of the night’s stew on a piece of naan. “Shahin was right about this place being reasonably fair about these things.” He bit down, and bread and stew alike disappeared. “The sooner we’re on the road again, the better.”

  Chandi hoped he was right.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Shahin flinched against the light when the door to his cell opened several days after his first interrogation round. A guard entered to unchain him from the wall. He was stiff and sore from being shackled and from the bruises. At least the inquisitors never moved away from bare hands. They’d seemed to avoid hitting his chest, too. The shackles fell away from his wrists, and his shoulders popped loudly as he lowered his arms. The guard with the key looped it back on his belt and leaned down to offer him an arm up. Shahin cocked an eyebrow, but gripped the man’s elbow and pulled himself to his feet from the flagstone where he sat.

  “Come on. Today should be the last of it. We’ve had an interesting report from our rider. The lieutenant will fill you in.”

  “I see.” Well, that would explain last time. That session had ended abruptly when he said that if the fool wandered into the desert, the monsters probably got him. That brought the lieutenant up short; Shahin hadn’t expected them to take him seriously. The pair of guards walked him down the same corridors they always did, one at each elbow as they always had. In any other place it could have been an honor guard. They marched him right past the ordinary chambers, up the stairs and down another set of plain sandstone corridors.

  “So where…?”

  “You’ll see.” Eventually the guards stopped him in front of a large, reinforced double door. The man on his left disappeared into a side room, only to reappear moments later with Shahin’s long tunic and worn leather boots.

  “I’m free to go?” Shahin pulled the tunic on over his head.

  “Not quite yet.” The guard who had gone for his clothes thrust the boots at him. “The lieutenant wants to make use of your expertise today.”

  Shahin stopped with the first boot only half on and stared at him. “You have to be kidding me.”

  “Better put those on. You’ll want them.”

  The second guard was already opening the door to reveal the dusty courtyard beyond. The Lieutenant who had been questioning him was watching from the courtyard, already mounted. Flanking him was a guard with darting eyes and three other guardsmen armed with bows and spears. The nervous man’s horse danced under him, but they were all good-looking animals. The sixth horse was riderless; plainly for him. Shahin wet his lips, his mouth suddenly dry.

  “You want me to go out there. With no weapons. With just you five.” He looked at the guard who had opened the door. “You can chain me up again. I don’t mind. Chains aren’t so bad. Better than being eaten.”

  “You won’t be eaten,” the lieutenant spoke. “But you will help us find evidence of these monsters you spoke of. If we encounter one, I’m confident we can kill it. Once we return to the city, we may be able to arrange your release.”

  Shahin swallowed hard and looked at the faces around him, then took a deep breath and shoved his foot the rest of the way into its boot. “Apparently I have no choice. All right. The sooner we leave the better.”

  * * *

  “Crowd seems sparse. Is something going on?” At this hour of the morning the path out should have been clogged with people on their way to the carnival, and when he first arrived in the city there would have been a mass of people waiting to get in, snaking along the Vidhyaji halfway to the Stormbreaker. There were still people, but perhaps half as many as Shahin expected.

  “We’re not sure. The crowds always come and go, but now there’s talk of disappearances in the street, and both you and Ihsan claim to have seen ‘monsters’ in the desert.” The lieutenant gestured at the nervous man whose horse was still dancing under him.

  Shahin looked flatly at the lieutenant, who raised an eyebrow at him.

  “If I had the resources to track down every salt miner and sand scavenger who disappeared into the desert, do you think we’d tolerate the den of thieves at the western oasis?”

  “Humph.”

  “And you can thank your friends at the carnival for getting us out of the city quickly. After we brought you all in they locked up the liquor.”

  “Has it cut down on the fighting?”

  He shook his head. “Our men are patrolling right alongside theirs.” The lieutenant spurred his horse forward, up the last rise before the Stormbreaker. Shahin and Ihsan took a deep breath and shared a look before following.

  “So you’re the reason they believed me this time?” Shahin’s question was more introduction than query.

  “And you’re the reason Lt. Bahadur didn’t discharge me. The horse is coming out of my pay.”

&
nbsp; So that was the lieutenant’s name. “Think we’ll actually see one?”

  “By Khubhranta’s trident, I hope not.” Nodding, they spurred their horses forward into a trot.

  * * *

  There was nothing immediately out of place outside the Stormbreaker. The desert looked much as it always had, with wind ripples in the sand and only the hardiest scrub growing in scattered patches along the dunes. Shahin’s skin still crawled in a way it hadn’t since his first run as a courier, years ago. That was the only other time he could remember feeling this exposed in the Qaehl. His gaze shifted restlessly, and he could feel the reins cutting into his hands as they moved along the road. Ihsan had been ordered to take the lead, and Shahin could see him glancing from side to side as well. Not that they would be able to spot one in time to do anything about it. Three times he considered asking to borrow a spear from one of the guards, and three times he rejected the idea.

  “We’re here.” Ihsan finally reined in. He spoke softly as the rest of their small party closed the distance. Bahadur stopped next to Ihsan’s horse, which whickered. Perhaps ten feet in front of them was a human skeleton, arms and legs splayed, dry but not yet bleached or scoured by the sands. Not an ounce of flesh remained. The party dismounted, letting their animals’ reins dangle to the ground, and approached the remains.

  “So the bones are fresh enough,” Bahadur commented. “But that’s not enough to say this is him.” He crouched on one knee to examine the remains more thoroughly. Shahin and Ihsan joined him while the rest of their group stood watch.

  The rib cage was cracked open like a nut, and a couple of ribs were broken off near the spine as well, but at first glance that appeared to be most of the damage. On impulse, Shahin reached out to finger a rib near the break. It looked like something had punched right through the bone. A series of even grooves caught his attention, running the length of the rib. What in the world is that? He turned his attention to the upper arm. Maybe it would be clearer on a thicker bone.