by C. R. Daems
* * *
As we waited for the king and his guest to finish dinner, I was as nervous as I had been learning to read and write during my first cycle at Ahasha. I had talked the king out of a telling, but the current king was a changed man, looking for direction. The Shadow of Death had told him to wait for the Snowmen to strike, but not where or when. If he were feeling desperate...
Thankfully the waiting ended and we entered the hall. Standing against a far wall waiting the Magic Balls team’s turn to perform, I sought the moment, that wonderful place where worries and fears didn't exist. Ironically, that was when I was at my best, and the ball seemed to move in command to my thoughts. There was no audience, only the balls as they were caught, manipulated, and flung back into the air. Then it was over. The king called us over and examined one of the fire balls. I thought I had escaped when we were dismissed and left the room.
We had just entered the small dining room setup for us to eat when Captain Tymon entered, surveyed the room, and headed for Santo. I couldn't hear what was said but Santo frowned and pointed to me. He and Santo walked over.
"Ryana, the fortuneteller?" he said, more a statement than a question. I nodded. "If you will follow me, someone would like to see you."
I didn't bother asking who and followed in his wake to a room in the king's wing that looked like a small, private reception room. In the center of the room, six padded arm chairs sat on a circular rug with the king's seal—five crossed swords on a gold shield. Small tables were positioned near each chair. Two long tables rested against the wall, which had food and drinks.
"Help yourself, Ryana. The king will be in soon." When I didn't move, he spoke. "Do you have any questions?"
I shook my head, no, walked to the table, poured a glass of water, and sipped it as I silently cursed the Passion drug. Hesland should have had peace for many years until the next generation of power hungry men and women decided to hatch their plots, giving me time to heal and have children. The door opening broke my musing, and I went down on one knee as the king and queen entered. I idly wondered if she no longer trusted him out of her sight, or whether he didn't trust himself without her.
"Your Majesty."
"Rise, Ryana. I apologize for what I'm about to ask, but... I want you to give me a telling. I've done my best to keep our meeting a secret." He didn't look apologetic, just desperate—like I felt. "If you can't see into the future, just say so. I promise neither you nor your clan will be punished. You must make a living and telling people a story to make them feel better hurts no one. Everyone would like to peek into the future. Sometimes more than others. However, lying to a king is something else and will be punished."
"The future has many possibilities as each life is impacted by many others. Each decision you make affects others who in turn affects others. Others make decisions which affect others which can affect you. So an individual's future has an endless number of possibilities. If you wish, I will give you the future I see most clearly for you."
"What do you charge, Ryana?" the queen asked.
"Two coppers."
"For a king?"
"For a telling." Damn me! He gave me a perfectly good escape door. And if I anger him, it could impact the Tobar... my clan.
"What now?" the king asked.
"I need two chairs facing each other with a table in between. You will place your hands on the table, face down, and I will place mine over yours."
"Is that necessary?" Tymon asked. When I ignored him, the king nodded. Tymon moved one of the small tables into the center and then pushed two chairs close. When the king sat and put his hands on the table, I sat and placed mine over his. Closing my eyes, I dropped into the moment.
"You are a strong man to have fought your way out of the nightmare of ecstasy to sanity—"
The king jerked his hands out from under mine and his chair jumped backward as he stood. Tymon sword left it sheath, and he took a step towards me. I stayed rooted to the chair.
"How?"
"I promised you truth, not lies or amusement. I promised not the future but what I saw most clearly. If you want lies and amusement, the cost is a tora," I said, wondering if I were two people and too often that second person spoke for me. The room was silent for a long time.
"I like her, Stepan. Even if you don't want to hear what she has to say, I do."
The king frowned in her direction for a long time, then sat. "Tymon, put away the sword. It's scaring me more than her." He snorted. "Continue, Ryana."
He placed his hands back on the table, and I covered his with mine. I could feel the tension, like he was preparing for the next blow.
"You are a strong man and are fortunate to have a strong, devoted life partner and loyal friends for support. The great storm has gone by with few consequences, but another is building," his hands started to move, then stopped, "which will require wisdom, not strength to stop. It waits for you to turn a strength into a weakness, while it looks for a weakness."
"What does that mean... "
"The desert! Beware the desert." I wasn't sure what I meant, but I knew with certainty that the desert was the answer. "That is what I see most clearly."
"How does that help?"
"You are not God—"
"How dare you!" He tried to pull away, but I help fast.
"There are many that stand in the shadows, watching and ready to help—the earth, Araby, the Zunji. That is what I see most clearly." I released his hands. The king stood, glaring down at me. I looked up meeting his eyes.
"You are arrogant, gypsy. And that is not the future," Stepan said, continuing to glare.
"I told you I do not foretell the future. You have many choices to make as does the storm, which lead to many different futures. I have told you what I see most clearly. Pay me my two coppers or have me whipped for being arrogant."
Lalia laughed, as she walked over to me and placed two coppers in my hand. "I like her, Stepan. And I understand why nobles and wizards seek her out. She’s not being arrogant. She sees you as a customer, any two-copper customer, and not as a king. As she said, she doesn't pretend to tell the future, only to tell you what she sees ahead. What she sees most clearly in your future. And I don't think I'd wager against her."
"Thank you, my queen, again. I want a solution that uses force and believe I should be the one to come up with it. And I'm mad because Ryana has seen otherwise. I don't imagine your tellings are very popular, Ryana. Rulers and wizards prefer people to lie to us." He shook his head and laughed. "You have the right of it. When we encourage people to lie to us, we must pay a tora to hear the lies rather than the truth."
"Thank you, Ryana. Captain Tymon will see you back to your clan," Lalia said, as she walked up behind the king and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. Tymon opened the door for me and led me back to the small dining room. The talking stopped when the captain and I entered. I walked over to Luka, gave him a kiss, and proceeded to the table where I loaded a plate with fowl, cooked carrots in a rich, sweet sauce, spiced potatoes, and two small cakes with a cream topping.
"I'm starved," I finally said, which brought the room back to life.
* * *
Luka, exhausted and smiling from a lively session of lovemaking, closed his eyes. I waited until his breathing was soft and even, and then I dressed and ghosted across the city to the Earth Wizards’ lodge.
"Well, what did you tell him?" Rong asked as I settled into the vacant vine-seats awash with pink and blue flowers. "He's dying to attack the Snowmen and couldn't resist a telling from the infamous Ryana, the gypsy fortuneteller."
"I told him to beware of the desert."
"Interesting. The consensus among us it that either the king will attack the Snowmen in the Assur Mountains or Askell will attack one of the provinces, probably Araby. So, you've come to the conclusion that the desert is Askell's strength because of the Storm Wizards."
"Yes. The Snowmen’s best chance for a quick win would be a Hesland attack on the Assu
r Mountains. I believe the storm wizards would provide a decisive victory and leave the cities and towns defenseless. If Hesland doesn't attack, I think Askell will. Since his strength is in the desert, Zunji is the likely place." My unconscious feeling that constituted the telling I gave the king—beware the desert—began to make sense.
"Yes, the king is attempting to get the provinces to send forces to Dazel for just that purpose. But that will take time, and I'm not sure the provinces will be willing to deplete their armies during these chaotic times. The more time it takes the better for Askell to prepare, and the smaller the Hesland army, the less chance they will win. But how do we stop the king?"
"I pointed out he needed help and had allies in the shadows--the earth, Zunji, and Araby."
"I’m surprised you're not in the royal dungeon," Fayza said.
"The queen saved me. She is a very strong woman, which is what the king needs. He's still recovering from the Passion nectar incident. Right now he's angry and impulsive. She's holding him in check."
"What can we wizards do?" Erica asked.
"Can you create something in the desert to hide a person?"
"Like trees and shrubs?"
"Something to encase the person, so an army would walk right past them."
"We can grow most anything, but why?"
"The Storm Wizards, unlike our wizards, are vulnerable from behind. Kill the wizard and you kill the Snowmen's desert advantage. If we had a Shadow or two with the Dazel, Zunji, and Araby armies and they could get behind the advancing Snowmen..."
"You believe the king, with the queen's help, will listen to the Sisters and Earth Wizards?" Rong asked.
"Yes, and the Zunji and wu'Lichak will listen to the Shadow of Death."
Hajna and Fayza decided to accompany me back to Araby. They were senior Assassins/Spies and would be there to support me, if and when war broke out. Erica would also come along to support the Zunji. Rong would stay in Tarion to consult with the king and would coordinate with the Earth Wizards and Shadow Sisters Morag was sending.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
DAZEL: Tarion – Preparing for war.
The next morning, Hajna, and Fayza, dressed in traditional blacks, and Erica walked into camp, as we sat around eating breakfast. Silence descended on the group as they approached Santo.
"Good morning, gypsy Santo. My Sister and I are in need of a ride to Araby, if you don’t mind," Hajna said, her eyes sparkling. I think it was a treat for her to be in the field and seeing action.
"Of course, not. What do we call you?" Santo asked. Gypsies would never turn down a Shadow. Morag and the Shadow of Death had done far too much for them over the years.
"Pick two names, and we will answer to them," Fayza said before Hajna could reply. Santo stood silent, thinking.
"Ana and Betha," Kata said.
"I’m Betha," Fayza said, raising her hand.
"And I’m Ana." Hajna raised her hand, which was funny because they looked like twins in their Shadow blacks, including the color of their eyes. The only difference was the skin around Hajna’s eyes. Being, at least, ten cycles older, she had more lines than Fayza.
After breakfast, the clan finished cleaning up and we departed Tarion, well before noon. Hajna rode with Santo and Lujza, Erica with Kata, and Fayza in our wagon.
"Ha… Ana is like a student on her free sixday," Fayza said, riding up front with Luka and me.
"Why?" Luka asked.
"Ana hasn’t been in the field for several years. She teaches our students weapons, and it’s boring for her."
"She’s an… "
"She taught me," I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"And me," Fayza said. "She needed this."
Santo stopped at sunset. Cooking was pretty much a clan event. The children also participated, depending upon their age, with fetching and stirring, peeling and chopping, or helping cook. Hajna and Fayza walked around observing, talking, and helping. The gathering that night was interesting, as the clan slowly asked my Sisters questions about the life at Ahasha and me.
"As I remember it, she was a sweet little girl, too sweet. That's why we got rid of her," Fayza said.
"No, as I remember it, she was a trouble maker. Best thing we ever did getting rid of her," Hajna said.
Erica was also questioned about the Earth Wizards and gave a small demonstration by growing herself a vine chair, complete with flowers. And at the end of the evening, putting out the fire with water brought up out of the hot desert sand.
"You live an interesting life, Ryana," Hajna said as they walked Luka and I back to the wagon. "It's in stark contrast to the Sisterhood. We would die for each other, but our lives make it difficult to form the kind of bond the clan has. I can see why you fit in so well. You will always be our Sister and loved by us, but you would never be as comfortable there as you are here. This fits the little girl I found in Dunn Pass."
I stared at Hajna for several seconds, then stepped forward and hugged her.
"Thank you, my Sister," I whispered. I had never known who bought me that day. I never saw her after she delivered me to Ahasha, since she never taught the younger children and still took assignments. "I often wondered who has saved me, gave me a family."
"It was the best thing I ever did for the Sisterhood. At the time, I thought you a sparrow with a broken wing, and doubted you would survive the training. But I was glad I had taken you away from Dunn Pass. My little sparrow has turned out to be an Ahasha bat—gentle but deadly."
* * *
Late the next day, we were met by a small party of Zunji who directed us off the road and into a Zunji camp, which I suspected had been moved there by Chief Sizwe to make it easier to meet. The clan was eager to put on a show for the Zunji. After making sure the Shadows didn't mind a delay, Santo agreed to stay an extra day and put on a performance tomorrow. Sizwe and his son Gero met with the four of us late that night.
I told of the poisoning of the king, and Hajna, Fayna, and Erica explained what they found during their trek into the Assur mountains with the Shadow of Death.
"I talked with the Shadow of Death in Tarion," I said. Sizwe knew she was me, but Gero didn't. "She feels the Snowmen will target the Zunji—"
"Good, we can avenge the murder of our people—" Gero interrupted but stopped when his father held up his hand.
"Why?"
"She believes the Snowmen's Storm Wizards’ strength is in the desert because sandstorms give them a significant advantage over any opponent. The sand will kill many and leave the surviving force disorganized and ill-fitted to fight."
"Yes, without shelter of some kind, a sandstorm is a deadly foe. With a force as large as you estimate, we will be hard pressed to win without support. But with wizards who can create sandstorms, we will be destroyed."
"You will get support, from the Shadows, Earth Wizards, the king, and Araby. Not only because you are now a province, not just a desert tribe, and your province is the only one that has access to all the others, but because the king and Araby, like you, have a personal debt to settle with the Snowmen."
"If we can't fight them, how can you help?" Gero asked.
"The Sister of Death feels the Storm Wizards are vulnerable from the rear. We must devise strategies that expose the Storm Wizards. It only takes one person behind him," I said, then let the other three take control of the discussion. Erica planned to stay with the Zunji and work to develop something that could hide a warrior as the Snowmen advanced, until the wizard passed. It was late and no one was up by the time I returned. The others stayed, as Sizwe provided them tents for the night.
* * *
Over the next few days, Hajna and Fayza watched as the clan went about their normal routine for a performance day: setting up props, light practices, and deciding on the acts and their order. The evening performance was as much fun for the clan as the audience. It felt like we were performing for another clan rather than strangers. Afterward, everyone gathered around a huge circle and s
oon there was food, music, and dancing. When Sizwe caught my eye and nodded, I followed him to a tent a couple of hundred paces away, where his wife Nubia had laid out food and drink, before disappearing into the tent.
"And what does the Shadow of Death recommend, gypsy Ryana," he said, with a slight smile.
"She can't tell the future, but Askell's original plan, using the Passion drug to gain control, failed. He now must give up his plan of dominating Hesland or take another approach. Ideally, he could hope the king would attack him."
"Why?"
"Because the desert is his strength and the king's weakness. If the Heslanders were effective fighters in the desert, they would have destroyed the Zunji long ago. She has, I hope, convinced the king to wait for the Snowmen to make a move. Again, the desert is their strength so it seems likely he will attack the Zunji. That will give them access to every province and a secure base from which to wage war, either with military or Passion nectar or, more likely, both."
"A Sandstorm would be worth twenty hands of warriors. So that is what each Storm Wizard represents. How many does he have?"
"At least three and one apprentice, maybe more. But we only visited a couple of the Sanctuaries and were only there a couple of days."
"Even if she saw every soldier and wizard, the Snowmen have an army equal to the size of Hesland's combined army if fought in the desert—two hundred hands. The Zunji cannot win against that. We could be destroyed even with Hesland's help." Sizwe looked sad rather than afraid, then surprised me with a twitch of the lip that might be amusement. "But the Zunji walk in the shadows with the Shadow of Death. What does she want us to do?" he asked. I sat stunned, unable even to think. Ask Morag, she's the senior Shadow. Ask Hajna, she's the fighter. Ask Rong, she's the strategist. All I want is to be a gypsy wife and mother, my visual-self screamed. Duty to your Sisters and clan, my shadow-self whispered.
