The Last Hawk

by Catherine Asaro

  As Ixpar took her seat next to the Ministry Chair, a flurry of noise came from the entrance, followed by the announcement, "Savina Miesa, Manager of Miesa Estate." Savina sped into the Hall, conferring with a bevy of aides, and ran smack into the Varz Chair. She reddened, looking around, then made her way over to her own Chair next to Bahvla.

  As Savina sat down, Henta smiled. "A dignified entrance."

  Savina caught her breath. "I thought we'd never make it."

  The doors of the Hall opened. "Avtac Varz," the aide said. "Manager of Varz." .

  Silence fell over the room. A tall woman entered, steel-gray and rigid: gray eyes, gray braid, gray vest, gray shirt, gray trousers and boots. At her left walked a woman with hair the color of rust.

  Henta leaned toward Savina. "Who is that with Avtac?"

  "Her name is Zecha," Savina said. "She'll be replacing the captain of the Varz Hunters soon."

  "Rashiva doesn't look pleased to see her."

  The aide at the entrance cleared her throat. "Jahlt Karn." She paused. "Minister of Coba."

  Henta rose with the other Managers and their retinues as Jahlt entered. A single figure dressed in black, Jahlt needed no retinue. Her presence filled the Hall. She went to stand before her Chair and spoke in a gravely voice. "The Sixty-sixth Council of the Ninth Century of the Modern Age is now met."

  A rustle sounded as, all around the Opal Table, Managers settled into their Chairs and brought out their pouches.

  The Minister placed the first die. So began the Council Quis of Coba.

  Avtac paced the living room of the Varz guest suite. Zecha waited by the door and several aides hovered in the doorway to an inner room. Stahna, the Varz Successor, stood by the bookshelf.

  Avtac stopped in front of Stahna. "Incredible." She started pacing again.

  "It was luck," Stahna said. "Henta Bahvla has never dominated the Quis like that before."

  "What luck?" Avtac demanded. "Bahvla has a Haka Calani."

  Stahna spoke with distaste. "An offworlder."

  Like a bite of sour fruit, Avtac thought. It made Bahvla unclean and tainted Haka as well. "Rashiva's Quis was abominable today."

  "She's too ill to be at Council," Stahna said.

  "If pregnancy makes a Manager too weak to sit in Council she shouldn't be a Manager." Avtac turned to a secretary waiting in the doorway. "Go tell Manager Haka I want to see her." As the young man sped off, Avtac resumed pacing. "Henta has Savina so confused, Savina doesn't know a cube from a disk. If this continues, she will vote to give away her own mines."

  "I'll get her into a Quis session tonight," Stahna said. "Maybe I can undo some of Bahvla's damage."

  "A good idea." Avtac went over to Zecha. "This man Sevtar. Can he affect the dice the way we saw today?"

  "It's possible," Zecha said. "There was a definite change at Haka after he went into the Calanya."

  Avtac frowned. "I fail to understand how Rashiva let herself be duped into that arrangement with Dahl."

  "My recommendation was to leave him in prison," Zecha said.

  "It would have avoided a lot of trouble." Avtac saw the boy she had sent for Rashiva coming back alone. "Where is Manager Haka?"

  He stopped in the archway. "Her aides said she can't go anywhere tonight."

  "So." Avtac turned to Zecha. "We will see for ourselves."

  In the antechamber of the Haka guest suite, they found a cluster of aides playing Quis. As Avtac entered with Zecha, the group hastened to its feet. An older woman bowed to her. "Our greetings, Manager Varz."

  "I've come to see Manager Haka," Avtac said.

  "I'm sorry, ma'am. She can't have visitors now."

  Avtac considered the woman. "What's your name?"

  "Chal Haka, ma'am."

  "Well, Chal, I suggest you let Manager Haka make her own decisions as to who she will and will not see."

  Chal flushed, then bowed and withdrew from the chamber.

  "May we get you anything, Manager Varz?" another aide asked. "Some Tanghi? Jai rum?"

  "No," Avtac said.

  Chal reappeared. "Manager Haka bids you welcome, Manager Varz. She will see you now."

  Rashiva was sitting up in bed when Avtac and Zecha entered the inner chambers of the Haka guest suite. A handsome youth wearing the bands of a Haka Akasi stood by the nightstand, straightening up as if he had just slid off the bed. From his dark beauty, Avtac guessed he was one of the Haka highborn. In the privacy of Rashiva's chambers he was barefoot, wearing only his trousers- and shirt, but his robe lay on a nearby divan and a Talha scarf hung around his neck. Although he regarded her with no smile, Avtac knew he made suggestive invitations with his dark eyes. Haka men were all the same. It was no Wonder their women had to keep such close watch on them.

  "My greetings, Avtac." Rashiva touched the boy's arm. "This is Raaj."

  Avtac bowed to the Calani. "My honor at your presence, Raaj."

  He nodded, still without the forbidden smile, but Avtac recognized the falseness of his modesty by the way his clothes molded to his well-built body.

  Rashiva curled her fingers around Raaj's hand and kissed his knuckles He squeezed her hand, then took his robe and left with his guards

  Avtac frowned at the Haka Manager. "You and I have business to discuss."

  Rashiva glanced at Zecha. then back at Avtac. "The affairs of Haka are not the affairs of one Shunned by Haka."

  "The affairs of Haka are a mess," Avtac said. "You let Henta dice you into corners today. How is it that an offworlder gives Bahvla advantage over you?"

  "You never sat at the Quis table with him," Rashiva said. "Don't underestimate him."

  "If his Quis is so strong you should never have let him leave Haka." Avtac thought for a moment. "Perhaps we can still get him out of Bahvla. My Estate can back your offer. For a high enough price I'm sure even Henta will sell him."

  Rashiva shifted the cushions behind her back. "He doesn't want to come to Haka."

  Avtac leaned over her. "A strong Manager takes a firm hand with her Calani. You would do well to remember that. Let the wishes of an Akasi become prominent in your life and he weakens both you and your Estate."

  "Avtac, it's late," Rashiva said. "This pregnancy doesn't go well. I will see you tomorrow."

  Offworlder contamination? Avtac straightened up. "Is it the Skolian's child you carry?"

  "No."

  "That beautiful boy's? Raaj?"

  "I think so."

  "You think?" Avtac frowned "Stop brooding over that offworld Calani, Rashiva. Put the pieces of Haka back in their proper patterns and start acting like a Manager."

  Chal Haka breathed in relief when the Varz visitors finally went on their way. Her good spirits vanished when she returned to the bedroom and found Rashiva pulling herself out of bed.

  "Manager Haka." Chal strode over to her. "You mustn't get up."

  Rashiva leaned on the bedpost. "I'm tired of Avtac's attitude, that anyone who isn't her isn't worth a wooden die."

  "Please." Chal took her arm. "Go back to bed. Think about the child."

  "I will be fine. I attended Council while I was carrying my daughter and had no problems." She let go of the post. "See? Why don't you fix me a mug of Tanghi? I will take it in my study."

  Chal knew arguing would only annoy the Manager. Besides, the Tanghi might make her sleepy enough so she would go back to bed.

  As Chal left, she glanced back. Rashiva was sitting on the bed with her head bowed, her skin so pale she looked like a ghost.

  * * *

  Ixpar downed the rest of her cooling Tanghi in one swallow. "That was a long session today."

  "But productive." Folding her hands around her glass of jai rum, Jahlt relaxed in an armchair in her study. It was an advantage of being Minister; the Council met at her Estate, which meant at night she retired to familiar rooms.

  "Who would have thought Bahvla could come through so well?" Jahlt said. "Or Haka so weak? Perhaps we will take the Plateau vote this year." />
  Ixpar clunked. her mug down on the table. "Only Haka and Miesa stand firm behind Varz." She got up and paced across the room, stretching her arms. "Near the end of the session I even started to wonder about Miesa."

  "Henta has done good work," J ahlt said. "But she worries me."

  Ixpar lowered her arms. "You think she means to abstain?"

  Jahlt nodded, gratified Ixpar had caught that subtle trend in the Bahvla patterns "If her Quis stays as sharp as today, though, we could still get a majority."

  "I hope so." Ixpar rubbed her neck. "That session lasted forever. I get stiff just thinking about it." She grinned. "What do you say, Jahlt? How about a jog around Karn?"

  Jahlt snorted. "You will send me to my grave with your ideas." But she was not displeased. Ixpar's vibrant health strengthened the Ministry. In the Old Age, Ixpar would have turned her energy to the battlefield, no doubt maturing to become a legend among warrior queens. Now, however, no wars existed to calm her young successor's raging energy and hormones.

  "Henta was amazing today." Ixpar started pacing again. "She obviously has a strong Calanya behind her."

  " 'A strong Calanya.' " Jahlt snorted. "I am not fooled by these attempts of yours to disguise references to Kelricson Valdoria by including large numbers of people in comments about him."

  Ixpar turned to face her. "If I want to praise him, I won't disguise it. Why should I? Didn't you see anything of the man he is that night you talked to him in Dahl?"

  Jahlt got up and went over to her. "I saw a man who could become legend."

  "Then why do you so dislike him?"

  "It is not dislike." Jahlt spoke quietly. "With his dice, he is like a sorcerer given a power he doesn't understand. What will his Quis do to Coba?" She walked to the mantel and stared into the fire. "I cannot answer that question, Ixpar. None of us can." She looked up at her successor. "That is why I fear it."

  The only sound in the Hall of Teotec came from the clink of dice. Managers sat arrayed about the Opal Table, intent on their Quis. Their successors leaned forward to see better, and behind them the ranks of aides watched.

  Ixpar observed from her seat by the Ministry Chair. The Managers looked like a queen's spectrum, the power of each symbolized by the braid hanging down her back. Youngest of all was Khal Viasa, whose auburn braid had yet to reach her waist. Manager Shazorla's braid was black sprinkled with gray, Manager Ahkah's gray sprinkled with brown. Savina Miesa's hair escaped in a disarray of curls that floated around her face.

  The Ahkah Manager let out a breath and leaned back in her seat. It started a rustle of motion: people shifted position; sipped from mugs, rearranged piles of dice.

  Jahlt spoke. "Perhaps we should take a recess."

  A murmur of agreement answered her. Managers pushed away from the table and conversation trickled among the observers.

  Outside the hall, Jahlt joined Ixpar for a walk. "What do you think of the session?"

  "Rashiva's patterns are stronger," Ixpar said. "She must have worked on strategies all night."

  Jahlt nodded. "Miesa may go with Varz after all." She frowned. "We need this vote. Every year Varz succeeds in blocking us, Avtac gains more control over Miesa."

  A shout came from behind them. Ixpar turned to see an aide running up the hall. The woman stopped in front of Jahlt. "It's Manager Haka." She gasped for breath. "She was getting up—from her Chair. She collapsed."

  Jahlt strode back toward the Hall, with Ixpar and the aide at her side. "Has Med been summoned?"

  "I sent for the Karn Senior Physician," the aide said. "A Haka aide went for the Haka doctor and Manager Dahl sent for a doctor who came with the Dahl retinue."

  Inside the Council Hall a knot of people were kneeling near the Haka Chair. Rashiva lay on the floor, her face the color of old ashes. Jahlt stepped past the others and knelt by the crumpled form. "Rashiva?"

  "Ah . . ." The Haka queen's lashes stirred. "My baby . . ."

  A doctor strode into the room, the Med patch blazoned on the shoulder of her tunic showing the Haka emblem of a rising sun. Behind her came the Karn Senior Physician, and behind her a man with the Dahl suntree emblem on his shoulder.

  An aide cleared the Hall. Only Jahlt remained, with Ixpar and Avtac Varz. They moved back, waiting while the doctors examined Rashiva.

  Jahlt indicated the man from Dahl. "He looks familiar."

  "That's Dabbiv," Ixpar said. "He was Kelric's physician at Dahl."

  Avtac frowned. "Dabbiv Dahl? It may be unwise to let him in here. His ideas about medicine are questionable."

  "Manager Dahl thinks highly of him," Ixpar said.

  Shallina Karn, the gray-haired Karn Senior Physician, came over to them. "We're going to take Manager Haka down to Med."

  "Will she be all right?" Jahlt asked.

  "We'll know by tonight. The child is coming."

  Ixpar stared at Shallina. "But it's too soon."

  "Her baby," Shallina said, "doesn't plan to wait."

  . . . across the village, Shaliece cried. Kelric ran out of his father's house and through the cobbled streets of Dalvador. At the turreted house where Shaliece lived a midwife stopped him. His son was gone. Miscarriage. Dead. . .

  . . . Far across a world Rashiva called to him . . .

  Kelric bolted awake, sitting up in bed. He stared into the dark, fragments of a dream lingering in his mind. Sweat soaked his shirt. He took the water flask off the nightstand and drank deeply. Then he went into his living room.

  When he opened the balcony doors and stepped outside, wind heavy with moisture rushed in at him. His balcony was at the top of a tower, the trellised veranda reinforced with struts. Far below, the Teotecs spread out to the edge of the world, where a line of light hinted dawn might come despite the rain. Sporadic thunder rumbled across the mountains and wind whipped back his hair. A wildness saturated the air, ancient and free.

  But even the untamed night couldn't wipe away the traces of his dream. He went back inside and wandered out of his suite, into the main common room. It was dark, except for an oil lamp burning in one corner.

  Kelric opened the Outside doors. Taul, the captain of his Calanya escort, sat Outside with his other guards, dozing by a Quis table. Kelric left the Calanya and walked down the hall.

  "Heh!" Running boots sounded behind him and then he was surrounded by guards. Captain Taul drew him to a stop. "You can't come out here."

  Kelric had no idea what he was doing, he only knew a buried instinct was pushing him. "I need to go to the Observatory."

  As Taul's mouth fell open, several guards drew in breaths. Taul's turmoil showed on her face, and Kelric sensed her reaction: should she pretend she hadn't heard the forbidden words? Would it affect his Quis if she denied a request so urgent he broke his Oath for it? Would he fight, forcing them to mishandle a Third Level? Would they have to shoot? If she woke someone in authority, would she lose ranking, prestige, honor?

  After a long moment, Taul came to a decision. "We will escort you. to the Observatory. But please—don't talk anymore."

  Kelric nodded. He set off again, surrounded by the escort.

  When they reached the Observatory, he still had no idea why he needed to go there. All he could think of was that it faced Karn. With his guards, he went out on the high balcony that circled the building. Memories flooded him; Shaliece, her eyes huge and violet, running across the plains of Dalvador with her skirt whipping around her legs, laughing as he caught her and they tumbled into the grass. Shaliece, crying for the death of their child.

  Why now? Why did the pain of his son's death come back to him now, after it had rested for so many years?

  In the muted hours before dawn, Ixpar woke from her sitting up doze on the couch. She looked around the alcove. Jahlt stood by the entrance, in conversation with an aide, and Avtac Varz was sitting on a couch, leaning back with her eyes closed. Across the room, Henta snored in an armchair.

  Jahlt came over to her. "It's late. You should get some rest."
/>   "You too," Ixpar said.

  "Heh." She sat on the couch. "Women have been having babies since time started. Rashiva will be fine."

  "It's taking too long."

  Jahlt exhaled. "Yes. It is."

  Shallina, the Karn Senior Physician, appeared in the alcove entrance. Dark circles rimmed her eyes and her gray hair was pulled from its braid, curling in tendrils around her face. She said, simply, "It's done."

  Across the room, Avtac Varz rose to her feet. "Manager Haka?"

  "She sleeps now," Shallina said.

  "What about the child?" Ixpar asked.

  Shallina pushed back her hair. "A boy."

  "Mother and son are all right?" Jahlt asked.

  "Manager Haka is exhausted," Shallina said. "But she will be fine. The baby, however, is too weak." She spoke quietly. "He won't live more than a few days."

  A shadow appeared behind Shallina, solidifying into Dabbiv Dahl as he came into the archway. "Minister Karn, I've seen symptoms like Manager Haka's before. So for her son—".

  "We don't try untested procedures on an infant, young man," Shallina said.

  "It's tested," Dabbiv said. "We can use the diet that—"

  Avtac interrupted him. "You want to experiment on Manager Haka's son?"

  Dabbiv shook his head. "It's not—"

  "We've already discussed this," Shallina said. "Getting emotional serves no purpose for anyone."

  Dabbiv made a frustrated noise. "I'm not getting em—"

  "Young man," Avtac said. "Perhaps you should leave these matters to those with the experience to deal with them."

  "Dabbiv is right," Ixpar said.

  Everyone turned to her.

  "I should have seen it before," Ixpar told them. "Manager Haka's symptoms in Council were just like the ones Kelric had at Dahl before we changed his diet."

  Relief filled Dabbiv's face. "Yes. That's what I've been saying. If we can find a formula based on that diet, it might increase the baby's chances. of survival. While Manager Haka nurses him, we should keep her on the same diet—"