by Evan Winter
Kellan struck, swinging his sword in a flashing arc. Aren blocked, point down, but Kellan's attack had enough power to knock Aren's blade back. Neither man was dressed for combat and Aren's blade rebounded, cutting Aren in his side. Tau's father gasped in pain, shuffling back, and Kellan was on him, swinging, cutting, and stabbing, using forms Tau had never seen and couldn't have identified, given their speed.
Aren stumbled into the wall of people and they shoved him back towards the circle's center. He was bleeding from his arm, side, and leg, and Kellan came at him again. Aren took a slash to the face, a sword pommel to the gut, and was sent to one knee by the flat of Kellan's sword.
"They're cheating. They're using Gifts," Tau said, looking for the Gifted, the Enrager, that must be hidden in the crowd.
"No, they're not," said one of Aren's Ihagu.
"End it," said Abasi Odili, and Tau finally understood. This was a blood-duel, a fight to the death.
Tau strained against the men holding him. He shoved and pushed at them until a hand slipped off. He slapped one of the others and head-butted the last. He was free and ran for his father, who, in that short moment, had been beaten to both knees.
Tau was three strides away. His father was dazed and bleeding, sword down by his side. Kellan raised his weapon and swung.
"No!" Tau screamed, running, watching the bright blade burn through the air.
Aren lifted his sword, to defend. Kellan adjusted, hitting him on the wrist, separating hand from forearm. Tau saw his father's sword drop to the dirt. None of it felt real. His father screamed and collapsed.
Kellan stepped away and said to the crowd, "It's done. I've taken everything from him that made him a man. The son's offense is paid in full." With nothing on which to clean his sword, Kellan held it out from his body and walked back the way he had come.
"Stop!" said Tau. He couldn't remember picking it up, but he was holding his father's sword, its hilt red and slick in his hands. He had the weapon pointed at Kellan's back.
"Put it down, boy." It was Jayyed Ayim, the one-time advisor to the Guardian Council. "That's a Greater-Noble you're threatening."
Kellan turned to face Tau and Tau had sense enough to be afraid. Aren, with the hand remaining, clawed at Tau's leg, trying to pull him to safety. It was too late. Councillor Odili spoke.
"Dejen," he said, calling his Body.
Face placid, Dejen drew his midnight black and eye-twisting Guardian sword.
"Clemency!" Jabari pled.
"I stand for Fief Kerem here!" Lekan shouted. "Councillor, I back your will."
"Odili, it's done," said Kellan Okar, arms wide.
Odili inclined his head and Dejen surged, driving his black sword so deep into Aren's chest it tore open his back. Aren stiffened in shock, mouth open, and there was no time to move or breathe before the Ingonyama ripped the blade free, swinging it at Tau, spattering him across the face and body with his father's life blood.
"Now, it is done," Odili said.
BRAVE
The sword slipped from Tau's fingers and he dropped to earth, beside his father.
"Councillor, it goes too far!" said Jayyed Ayim over the crowd's din.
Tau held Aren, speaking to him, speaking words that made no sense. He spoke for no better reason than to try to hold his father's attention, because as long as his father listened, his father was with him.
Aren's eyes were unfocused. They fell on Tau, fell away, and returned with difficulty. His mouth moved, but made no words. He couldn't, not over the horrible sucking sounds that came from his chest with every breath.
"Father? Father! Da..." Tau said, as the man who had always cared for him convulsed, drowning on a sea of his own blood. "Da!" But it was too late. Tau's father was gone and could not hear.
The noise of the fighting fields came back in a rush. It seemed everyone was shouting, until Odili's voice cut through.
"This Common, a military man," he said, pointing at Tau's dead father, "fought a blood-duel on behalf of his son. The same son who assaulted one Noble and later raised his sword to another."
The tumult did not settle.
"I see you are not satisfied," said Odili, walking to Tau, sword in hand.
Tau watched him come. He didn't move. Jayyed Ayim did. The Ihashe sword master stood over Tau, blocking Odili's way. He had one hand on his sword hilt, the other raised to the councillor.
"Nkosi—" he began.
Odili brushed past and swung a killing blow. Tau did not flinch until the metal shrieked, Odili's blade brought to a screeching halt by Jayyed's sword.
"Peace," said Jayyed, his sword arm quivering with the strain of holding the edge of Odili's weapon away from Tau's head.
Dejen Olujimi, Odili's Body, had the point of his Guardian sword pressed into Jayyed's cheek, dimpling it, drawing a bright flower of blood from the skin there.
Councillor Odili lifted his sword and stepped back. Dejen pressed his blade deeper against Jayyed's face, forcing the sword master away.
"Peace again? Do you only play one note, Jayyed?" Odili said. "You're no longer an advisor to the Council and, no matter how you preen, you're still a Lesser. You think you've fallen far? There is so much farther to go."
"Councilman Odili is willing to be merciful," shouted Jayyed to the crowds, without taking his eyes away from the Guardian Councillor and ignoring the Ingonyama looming over him.
Odili laughed, jerking the muscles of his face into a hollow smile. He sheathed his sword and waved Dejen back. Dejen let his sword dip, until it aimed for Jayyed's heart, but he did move off.
Odili kept his voice low, speaking to Jayyed alone, though Tau could hear. "Have this peace, Jayyed." Odili's grin stretched, the edges of his mouth pulled as if by hooks. "It's the most you'll get." Raising his voice, he addressed the crowd. "Clemency asked, clemency granted. The Lesser's father has been punished. I'll leave the boy to his fief."
He said it as if it was worth a cheer. The Southern crowd did not oblige. Unfazed, Odili clapped Jayyed on the shoulder as if they were great friends and whispered. "You've been a pest. The old Queen would not let me swat you, but the old Queen is dead. Get in my way again and it'll be the last thing you do."
Odili slapped Jayyed's shoulder a second time, laughed as if they had shared a jibe, and left. The enormous Dejen, Odili's Body, followed. Trailing the two, disgust plain on his face, was Kellan Okar.
Tau didn't understand. His father could help. He tried to wake him. After long days, Aren would often fall into deep slumbers.
A hand fell on Tau's shoulder. "He's gone." It was Jayyed.
Tau looked up. "My Da..." Tau couldn't feel the ground beneath his knees or the sun's heat. He'd gone numb. He glanced around. Jabari was there, so was Lekan. Tau saw Kagiso on the ground. The fat Noble was nursing the spot where Odili had kicked him.
Thought of the Councillor roused Tau. He placed his father on the ground, letting him rest, and reached for Aren's sword. A strong hand, rough fingers, fell on Tau's wrist.
"I am sorry for this loss," Jayyed said, taking the sword from him. "Your father was very brave. He knew if he stepped in the circle to fight Kellan, he would never leave. The Chosen are made less by his passing." Jayyed called out to Aren's Ihagu, "Come, take your man. Take him home for his burning."
The Ihagu, glad for instruction, did as they were bid. Tau wanted them to leave his father alone. He wanted to snatch the sword from Jayyed and hunt down Odili, Dejen, and Kellan. He did nothing.
"Nkosi," Jayyed said, addressing Lekan, "this Common is from your fief?" He was asking about Tau.
"Yes. Yes, of course," Lekan said.
"He'll be cared for?"
"What? Yes, yes. You can trust I'll take care of him," Lekan said. "What of the testing?"
"What of it?"
"My brother is here, we all are, for the testing."
Jayyed didn't answer. He gave Aren's sword back to Tau and walked away.
"Who does that cursed Lesser think he
is?" Lekan said to the Keremese men around him, low enough that Jayyed would not hear.
The Ihagu took Aren's body away and Tau would have knelt in the dirt till the sun fell from the sky had Jabari not come to take him away as well.
"I will kill them," Tau told him. "I swear it to Ananthi and Ukufa, I will kill them all."
BANISHED
The journey home was made in silence. Jabari sent runners to alert the Keep that the ritual burning for Aren would be performed that same night. Tau marched without marking where they were or how much further they had to go. He marched with Jabari beside him and marched when he wasn't. He marched as the sun beat down and he kept going when it didn't. They marched past nightfall, into the low-cliffs of the Kerem mountains. None of it mattered.
"The pompous ass," Lekan said, joining Jabari, alongside Tau. "Does he even have the power to cancel the testing? Royals-Nobles from the Palm act like they were birthed from the Goddess' twat covered in gold.
"What about you? You were supposed to leave for the Citadel. We need you in the military. The fief can't survive without the extra funds from Palm."
"I'll travel to the Northern Tear," Jabari said. "They test later than we do."
"How much later? Palm doesn't pay until you're an initiate. We won't get—"
"It's not the time, Lekan."
"Why not? Because your pet Common got above himself and got his father—"
Lekan didn't finish his sentence. Tau leapt on him, bore him to the ground, and struck him in the face. He raised his arm to hit Lekan again, but Jabari shoved him away. Tau rolled to his feet, ready to attack.
"Kill him!" Lekan yelled, his left eye swelling shut. The Ihagu surrounded Tau, keeping him away from the frantic Noble.
"Kill him!" Lekan shrieked.
"They'll do no such thing," said Jabari.
"He attacked me. I'm heir to Kerem."
"Get up."
"He attacked me. He cost you your testing. I'll have—"
"Shut up!" Jabari shouted, startling his brother, before turning to Tau. "High-Common Tau Tafari, this has been a trying day, for none more than you. I have respect for that. I loved your father. He will be given a proper burning."
Tau felt cold. He knew Jabari was talking to him, but couldn't make himself care.
"You attacked my brother, a Noble," said Jabari. "The punishment for that crime is death, by hanging, followed by evisceration. You are not yourself. Still, a Noble cannot bear such behavior from a Lesser.
"Tau Tafari, you may attend your father's burning, but when the sun rises again, you will no longer be welcome in Kerem."
Tau looked at the two Nobles in front of him, Jabari and Lekan Onai. One of them, his friend since childhood, had just banished him from the only home he'd ever known.
"You may appeal my decision, taking up the crime and offered punishment with Umbusi Onai." Jabari paused. "I must warn you, she may look less kindly on a Lesser having struck her heir than I have."
Tau looked at Lekan, he looked at Jabari, and he hated them. Saying nothing, he left, walking in the direction of the small hut he had, until today, shared with his father.
A span or two later, Zuri found him there. He did not have much, but what he had, he was packing. She ran to him and held him.
"Tau," she said, "I'm sorry. By the Goddess, I'm so sorry."
Tau didn't want to be touched, but couldn't summon the will to push her away.
"We'll attend the burning tonight and then we'll go," she said. "We'll leave Kerem and all of this behind."
"I have nothing to give you," Tau said.
"Give? I want to be with you. I won't stay without you and I won't let them take me." She was breathless, perhaps from the run to his home, perhaps from the thing she seemed to want to say, but looked afraid to voice. She took a calming breath and came out with it. "I-I had my test. Tau... I'm Gifted."
Tau found there was enough in him to feel surprise. "Gifted?"
"If we leave now, if we leave together—"
"Gifted? I knew you were special."
"We can—"
"No," Tau said. "We can't. They'll hunt you to the ends of Xidda to get you back. Gifted." Tau thought to laugh. It had to be the Goddess' intent, since she was making mock of his dreams. "I'm not going to live as if my father wasn't murdered," he told her. "I'm going to kill them, Zuri. I'm going to kill the men who did this."
"Kill who? The Nobles?"
Tau gathered up the last of his things.
"Tau, if you touch a Noble, they'll execute your sisters, your mother, your mother's husband. They'll find out if you have cousins, aunts, uncles, they'll kill everyone they can and, once that's done, they'll hang you, cut your body open, and send it to the Curse to rot."
Tau strapped his father's sword and his sword, the one that had belonged to his grandfather, to his belt. He walked out of the tiny hut, into the twilight.
"You're letting them take your life too," Zuri called after him.
He kept going and heard her run up behind him. She took his arm and pulled him, so he was facing her.
"Don't do this," she said. "Come with me to your father's burning. You... you don't have to be with me," Zuri was choked up, "but don't lose your life and everything you are to this."
Tau took Zuri's hand off his arm. "I will hold onto my hate," he told her. "I will stoke it like a fire until it, and I, burn hot enough to destroy those who took everything that I loved from me."
Gifted, he thought. The Nobles were not satisfied with taking his father from him. They'd come for Zuri too. "Goodbye, Lady Gifted," he said, using the title that would become hers, placing her in an elite caste outranking all but Royal-Nobles. Zuri Uba, the woman Tau loved, had gone further from his reach than the stars.
Zuri shook her head. "Don't do this," she said, reaching for him.
He left her there and took the path to Daba. He would circle back when he was lost to sight. He didn't want Zuri to know that he was going to the Keep. He didn't want her to know that he was going to tell Lekan Onai how he would die.
LEKAN ONAI
Lekan was angry. The day had been exhausting and the evening worse. He'd had to explain the events at the testing to his mother and father, with Jabari present. Everything he'd said, Jabari had undercut. His mother had been furious and his soft-hearted father had mourned Aren's loss, excusing himself to get ready for the burning.
Lekan didn't believe the Lesser was worth the bother. Aren had grown too bold and his end was the natural outcome of an unworthy man caught up in his own pride. If Aren had been more humble, his son would be too, and the boy wouldn't have tried so hard to show up Kagiso. With proper Lesser humility the morning's unpleasantness could have been avoided.
As it stood, Lekan had been castigated by his mother. He'd been made to suffer for the mistakes of others. They would have to find a new Inkokeli she'd said and, without Jabari in the Citadel, the fief was in a difficult financial position. She'd cursed the stupidity of men, claiming the Goddess had forsaken her, by sending her sons.
Lekan, knowing his mother's moods, took it in silence. Jabari had tried to argue. She'd sent him from the room.
When it was just the two of them, she'd given Lekan the one positive thing to come from the day. She wanted him to arrest Tau Tafari at his father's burning. He'd be hung the next morning for attacking a Noble. That's what Lekan admired about his mother. She knew when a firm hand was needed.
Later that night, hundreds of men and women came out for the burning, many weeping and sobbing like they'd lost a war hero. Lekan was there with several Keep guards. The Tafari boy had not shown his face. Not wanting another failure on his hands, Lekan sent men to Aren's hut. The boy was gone.
Empty-handed and the evening growing late, Lekan had charged the same men who dealt with that Common whore and her family with the duty of finding Tau. That done, Lekan went to the cellar. He picked an old and dust-covered jug of olu. His mother would lash him with her tongue if the Lesser sl
ipped through his fingers and, because of that and his complete mka of a day, Lekan felt he'd earned the expensive liquor.
He downed it and, when it didn't soften the world's edges, or dull the pain in his cheek, where Tau had struck him, he'd taken a second jug to his chambers, along with a bowl of half-ripe avocados from the kitchens.
The second jug helped. He'd also enjoyed cutting up slices of avocado, imagining his dagger digging into the flesh of Aren's vanished son. Warmed by the olu and stomach full, he'd tumbled into bed, falling to sleep with his breeches and tunic on.
Lekan was a deep sleeper, but that night it had begun to rain, an uncommon event in any season and rare during Hoard. On a normal night, the rain wouldn't bother him. His chambers were on the second floor, where he couldn't hear the rain's incessant pitter-pattering against the ground, and Lekan's room had thick shutters. No, Lekan could sleep through a thunderstorm, but he couldn't sleep through being rained on.
He spluttered awake, slapping at his wet face. It was raining in his chambers, which didn't make sense. Then, he saw the shutters were open. Lekan sat up. He was going to close them, but there was a demon at the foot of his bed.
He squealed and scrambled back. He was about to shout for the guards, though what they could do against a demon he did not know, when the shadowed creature moved into the light. Lekan relaxed, then went tense all over again. It was no demon, but seeing Jabari's pet Common at the foot of his bed was not much better.
"What are you doing here?" Lekan hissed.
"I'm not here to kill you," the filthy and wet Common told him.
"Kill me?" Lekan said. "You dirty Cek!"
"That's all we are to you, neh? Cek? Not men, not people. Is that why you threw my father's life away?"
Lekan didn't like the boy's tone and he looked him over for weapons. He didn't appear to have any.
"I'm not armed. I understand the cost of murder and, unlike you, I value the lives of others."
Lekan, aiming for subtlety, shot a glance to the night table beside his bed. His dagger was there, its blade hidden among the skins of eaten avocados.
