by Diana Rivers
Shalamith tossed her hair again, setting off sparks of light. Then, with a loud clap of her hands, she called out in that magically resonant voice of hers, “Come, let us have music again; let us dance wildly and boldly. This is the night we all celebrate the freeing of Mishghall: Kourmairi, and Hadra, and Witch together.” Then she took up her little ferl and began to play. Soon Murghanth joined her on her whistle and Kara added her flute to Vestri’s, while the others began drumming again. For a while, there was much music and many of us were dancing. Some of the Kourmairi men even joined us. Yet Shalamith was always the glowing center around which the scene swirled. It was her voice that set the tempo, her ferl that led the music. Finally, when the rest of us grew tired, Shalamith played and sang alone. All eyes were fixed on her. She charmed us all: men, women, children; Hadra and Kourmairi alike. In fact, she seemed to glory in it. The coins began to rain again, showering at her feet and making a little glowing mound.
When at last it grew late, Telakeet stood up, pulled her robe tight, and said with a hiss, “Enough, Witch. You are worse than the Zarn’s army. You have already bewitched these people. Do you wish to pauperize them as well?”
Shalamith stopped abruptly. The golden haze vanished in an instant. She seemed to sink in on herself, looking suddenly old and gray. Telakeet slipped a cloak over her shoulders and put an arm around her. Sighing with exhaustion, Shalamith huddled into the shelter of that cloak. Then, leaning on Telakeet for support, she slowly walked away.
Pell instantly set to collecting the coins and organizing the goods. Renaise and Dhashoti came forward to help. To my surprise, Katchia joined them, making a careful count of everything that had been amassed. I was suddenly aware of the coolness of the night around me. The Kourmairi had already started to drift away.
Chapter Eight
The sun poured down on us, not with the fierceness of summer’s heat but with the soft warmth of spring. It felt like a blessing after the endless winter cold and the long rains of early spring. With our horses ambling along at a leisurely pace, we rode between wide open lands that stretched on either side of the road, fields quivering with spring green and dotted with bright flowers.
I was riding with Pell, Jhemar, Dorca, Zheran, Murghanth, Teko, and a few others. We were only a small band at that moment. Though Vaiya from Mishghall had stayed behind to be our guide, most of the other Hadra had already gone on ahead to see a place Dhashoti knew of by the river, a place she thought would make a good settlement for us. Some had gone still further with Ozzet, to another possible place, and a few had remained in the city to store our goods and settle our affairs there.
We were still riding on the Zarn’s straight paved way, part of the system of roads built into Koormir lands for the movement of Shokam troops. It was easy enough to follow, but Vaiya had assured us we would soon be turning off onto a network of winding dirt roads that would require her knowledge.
To my surprise, Alyeeta had chosen to stay with us. She was chatting quite companionably with Pell. In fact, I had seldom seen them so friendly. Alyeeta’s little pony, Gandolair, had to trot every few steps to keep up with Torvir, Pell’s fast rangy horse, who seemed to move at a ground-eating pace even when he was only walking. Tama rode on Torvir’s back, in front of Pell, with her head resting back against Pell’s shoulder, while her own horse followed after them. It was the most affection I had ever seen between them in public. Pell had her arm around Tama’s waist and leaned forward occasionally to kiss her neck or whisper in her ear. It pleased me to watch them being so open. At the same time, I felt a strange little twisting ache in my heart. It had certainly never been like that when Pell and I were lovers.
I rode relaxed and easy. For once there was no fear of the guards at my back to drive me on. I had even taken off my shirt and tied it around my waist. If I can ride bare-breasted through the streets of Mishghall, I thought, why not on these near-deserted roads? My hair hung loose on my bare shoulders, caressing me as it moved softly in the slight breeze.
We passed a few Kourmairi on the way. They were traveling slowly, their wagons overloaded with possessions, no doubt returning to reclaim their family farms after the struggle for Mishghall. Some greeted us with cheers and some with sullen, wary silence, but all moved aside respectfully to let us pass.
Though many Hadra had been eager to see what Dhashoti wished to show us, I, myself, had been lazy and in no hurry. I knew the place would still be waiting there, whenever I arrived. Also, somewhere in my heart, I was sure it would not be the place for me, so I was in no rush to be disappointed. Jhemar, riding next to me, was dozing from time to time, her head nodding forward. With her empath sensitivity, she was probably much relieved to be out of the press of crowds and all their noisy head-clamor.
Suddenly, Cruzia began to sing in her high, clear voice,
“All so green and all so fair,
Mother bless this land today.
Keep her safe in Your wide hands.
No man’s wars must pass this way.”
It was a familiar Kourmairi spring song, except she had changed the last line of the chorus. She sang verse after verse, softly at first and then louder and louder, till the rest of us were drawn into joining her, even Jhemar, who had no ear whatsoever for song; even Pell, who, if anything, had less. Pell threw back her head and let out her voice with no regard at all for the tune. I might have laughed. Instead, I felt strangely touched by the innocence of that gesture. That we could ride down the road singing together in the sun after all that had happened seemed like a miracle to me. Perhaps Yarmald was indeed different from the rest of Garmishair and would give us a home. I wove my deeper voice in with Cruzia’s high one and heard Murghanth and Teko in back of me harmonizing, playing with the tune and words as they might have juggled balls and sticks for one of their performances.
As the song died down, Jhemar began to nod again. I felt as if I would soon be joining her. My head was becoming very heavy on my neck. Suddenly Jhemar sat bolt upright, fully alert. “Guards!” she said tensely. “We are being followed! They are far more than our small number.” I dressed in haste. Then I looked in all directions. Of course, I could see nothing. There was no sound but the sound of our own horses, yet I could feel Jhemar straining to catch that hint of presence with her inner ear. Tama immediately jumped back on her own horse, and Pell beckoned Jhemar to ride up next to her. “How many? What do you sense?”
“Between twenty and thirty, riding hard and with hostile intent. Fast fire!” Jhemar spat out, as if the word itself was something filthy. I did not think to doubt her. She had far more sensitive inner hearing than the rest of us. The very thing that caused her such pain in a crowd was at other times a great gift among us.
“What can we do? We are out in the open. There is no place to hide and nowhere to run.” There was panic in Dorca’s voice. Zheran, on the other side of me, was stiff with fear, but kept her silence on it.
“So, our small piece of good fortune has made us into careless fools.” Murghanth’s voice was full of bitterness. It was like an accusation to those of us who had ridden at our ease.
“No use worrying over that now,” Pell said grimly. “Let us get out the permeagent and make ourselves ready. Lucky you were with us,” she added to Jhemar. Now I could feel Dorca’s terror on one side of me, Zheran’s rigid fear on the other, and Murghanth’s rage pounding in my head. Though, as yet, I could hear nothing of the guards, still I could feel the chill of presence going up my spine.
We formed a circle facing outward and waited. Faintly at first and then louder, I could hear the sound of hoofbeats coming fast. Soon I smelled the acrid stench of fastfire. Suddenly, two riders came rushing in, one on each side of us, bent low over their horses. They were scattering gray powder as they went. Two others followed fast after them, lighting that powder. When they met with each other, they had us enclosed in a circle of fire that, I knew, would soon start burning inward. Several other horsemen rode up, so that we were quickly surrounde
d by men as well as fire.
“Well, I see we have caught ourselves some Witches in our circle of fire, or some star-brats or Hadera Lossi or whatever it is these muirlla think to call themselves now.” The captain appeared immensely pleased with his success.
Pell took a deep breath and drew herself up very straight. “Hadra, that is how we call ourselves. Hadra, make sure to remember that, Captain. And your little fire tricks will not work any longer.”
At Pell’s signal, Jhemar, Teko, and myself rode forward with Pell and threw the altered permeagent on the fire so as to make ourselves an opening. Roiling black smoke filled the air, making me cough and choke. With a hiss and a sickening stench, the fire died down where the permeagent reached it, but the captain quickly summoned his men to block the opening we had made in their deadly circle. “I am not such a fool as that young captain who lost all his men to little black toads. I have no intention of returning to Eezore empty-handed and in disgrace. I even plan to take back some trophies, to show that I am no sluggard and have worked hard for the Zarn. If I am not mistaken, I think we have caught some of the leaders of these star-brats in our net of fastfire. He will be well pleased.”
Even as he spoke, the rest of the circle was burning inward, the flames licking hungrily toward us. It was easy to see where this would end. We did not have an unlimited store of permeagent with us, and there were too few of us to stand off this many men. Even Pell seemed to be at a loss for the moment. Then suddenly Alyeeta was pushing past us, saying, “Follow me. When they move, be ready to make your break.” We massed in back of her. My skin was crawling. I was beginning to feel the heat from the fire. Sweat was running down my body.
Alyeeta raised her arms skyward and intoned some words in a terrible deep voice. She repeated them over and over, as if gathering her power. In spite of the heat, chills were running up my spine. With a sneer the captain said, “Too late, Witch. The circle of fire is already closed.” But under his mocking tone, I could hear the fear in his voice. Suddenly Alyeeta spread her arms wide, as if forcefully pushing something out and away from herself. At that instant, the flames at the edge of the opening suddenly shot forward toward the guardsmen in two long tongues of fire. Their horses reared and leapt back in terror, while the guardsmen themselves shouted with surprise. “Now!” Pell yelled as we all pressed forward in back of her. Alyeeta had to actually kick Gandolair to force him past that wall of flame. The rest of us rushed out pell-mell after her.
There was little heat from the fire Alyeeta had created. Turning, I saw that it had died down quickly, leaving no burn marks on the grass. Alyeeta rode up next to me. “Illusion,” she muttered with a grin of triumph. “It works as well as the real thing, if someone is suggestible. Those fools did half the work for me.”
The guards, meanwhile, were reassembling on the road at some distance from us. I expected that they would either ride off and leave us be or ride back to the attack again. Instead, it was Pell who wheeled her horse around and galloped recklessly after them, shouting as she went, “Wait! Wait, I have to speak with you!” She seemed possessed and rode directly into the captain’s path, with the rest of us tearing after her. “Not so fast! Man of Eezore, there is something you must hear from us. You just tried to burn us alive, and now you think to ride off that way? You must listen to me, not for our sake but for the lives of your men.”
“Are you mad, woman? You should be grateful we did not roast you all. Do not be fool enough to set yourselves in our path again.”
“You are the fool. And you are the one who should be grateful you did not succeed. Have you not heard the stories of what happens to the men who burn us? They go mad and then they die. Go home, look about, listen to the stories in the market and on the street. You will see that what I tell you is true. The Zarn will not tell you, but others will. Look for the men who went on last year’s raids. You will see for yourself. Not a pretty sight, believe me.”
I could feel her tearing at his mind, searching for an opening, trying to make him see. “Not a soldier’s death, Captain,” she went on grimly. “Not glory and honor, but a death of horror, no escape, no cure, no weapon you can use against it. First blisters that burn all over your body, then disfigurement, pain, rot, madness, and death. All inevitable and unstoppable, but with time enough to suffer much before the end. Think on it. You are lucky you did not succeed.”
I rode up next to Pell. “Leave us alone!” I shouted at those men, suddenly feeling full of my own angry power. “We want nothing from the Zarn, nothing but to be left in peace. What does he want from us? We have gone as far away from him as we can.”
“Nothing!? What do you mean, nothing!? You have stolen Mishghall from him. He will never forgive you for that.”
“Mishghall!” I replied furiously. “Mishghall is a Kourmairi city built by the Koormir themselves. We did not take it from the Zarn. It never belonged to him. Besides, it was the Koormir who defeated the guards.”
“With your help! Mishghall was his port to the sea. The Zarn has controlled that access for a very long time. No, he will never forgive you for that loss. And you can be sure he will grant you no peace here, not ever. That is a fool’s wish.”
Murghanth pushed in front of me. “Tell your master that if he will not leave us in peace at this far edge of Yarmald, then we will come back to Eezore, in force, all of us. We will tear down his city over his head, stone by stone, till not one building is left standing. His gates will never close again. His guardsmen will all go mad from what they have done. His people will flee. He will be left alone, a ragged wanderer with no wealth, no guard, and no city left at his command. Tell him that.”
“Yes, tell him all of that!” Teko echoed furiously. “Surely he remembers the last time the Hadra had cause to visit Eezore. He could not have forgotten so soon. Tell him that if he does not leave us be, we will come back a hundred hundred strong.”
Dorca had gathered her courage and come closer. Suddenly one of the men exclaimed in amazement, “Dorcalyshia, is that really you? Cousin, what are you doing among these vile women?”
“Ermand, Cousin, it has been so long. I can hardly believe it is you. What a terrible way to meet again. We were once so close. Just think, you might have burned me alive. I am here because I was driven out of my city by the Zarn’s edict. And what are you doing here among these men who use fastfire, you who were once so gentle and so kind, more like a brother to me than my blood brothers ever were?”
“I am no longer that child. I am a guardsman now, and I obey the Zarn’s orders. Star-brats are all enemies of the Zarn.”
“How could I be his enemy? I have never met the man. I did nothing against him. And how could I be your enemy, Cousin, when I was always your friend and even defended you against the teasing of others? Have you forgotten how they called you a mother’s boy because you were afraid of horses? Have you forgotten that I was the one who made them stop?”
“That is all childhood nonsense, put aside long ago. I am a man now, a guardsman who is proud to take orders from the Zarn. I am afraid of nothing now, not horses, not killing—certainly not a band of ragged women.”
“Enough of this talk,” the captain shouted angrily. “Regroup and ride out. We have already wasted too much time here. Surely we will find another trophy before we ride home.”
At those words, he turned his horse to leave. With a shout, Pell moved to block his way again. This time all her mockery was gone. “Fool!” she screamed at him. “Do you still think to find other victims, when I have already told you what sort of death awaits you for burning us? Did you hear nothing of what I said? Nothing?!”
At that moment, Alyeeta leaned forward and said with fierce malice, “Captain, I would gladly paint a line across Yarmald with your blood and set a spell on it so no Zarn’s man can ever cross here again. Now go! Get out of our sight.”
At the same time, Tama rode up next to Pell and tugged on her sleeve, saying softly, “Come away, Pell, it is no use to talk to them. The
y must find their own fate.”
Pell flashed a protective glance at Tama. Then I saw a look of grief and fear cross her face. When she turned back to the captain, she was suddenly pure rage. It was as if she had finally been pushed over the boundaries of sanity. “Enough! This is enough!” she screamed into his startled face. “This has gone on long enough! This is past bearing!” She was raving now, screeching with the voice of an Oolanth cat. The sound ripped at my nerves like sharp claws. “If my powers did not prevent me, I would tear out your eyes, tear out your bloody heart, rip off your arms like sticks, and leave you here for the birds-of-death to eat alive. Do you hear me, man? Leave us in peace or we will do as Murghanth says, come back to Eezore and tear it to pieces, stone from stone. Enough! The end! Get out of our lives! Enough! Enough! Enough!” She ended by shaking clenched fists over her head. Then her eyes rolled back in their sockets, and her whole body began shaking with anger. She threw back her head and started screaming with no words, screaming with raw, mindless fury.
The captain had pulled back. There was a look of horror on his face. “Now!” was all he said as he spun his horse around to flee. His men dashed after him with no semblance of order. Pell, in her demented state, was about to follow. “Hold her!” Jhemar shouted as she slipped off her horse and grabbed Torvir’s reins. Pell was struggling with us. Madness had given her Kazouri’s strength. Indeed, I wished at that moment that Kazouri were with us. We tried to unseat Pell, but our powers canceled each other’s in the struggle. She thrashed and roared until Tama screamed her name loud enough for Pell to hear through her fog of madness. Then Pell stopped abruptly and said in a very different voice, “Have they gone?” She sounded almost like a plaintive child.
