Southern Fire ac-1

by Juliet E. McKenna

  Kheda gaped at him. 'That's it? You're throwing up your hands and abandoning your people? Where do you intend to go?'

  'We can stay in the islands around the Serpents' Teeth, can't we?' Saril took a pace forward, outstretched hands beseeching. 'We'd be no threat, not to you, not to anyone. We can be useful to you, join with your domain, share our skills with yours.'

  'Share your skills? I see you're sharing our silks.' Kheda mocked Saril's embroidered blue tunic and trousers with a furious hand. 'Your grief isn't so crippling that you can't come here all dressed up with your beard neatly oiled and plaited, while your people die naked and alone. Get yourself some plain cottons, get your hands dirty with the earth of your domain. Lead your people in planting their crops, rebuilding their houses.'

  'So the savages have something new to burn and despoil, when they come again?' Saril began shaking. 'I can't do it, Kheda, I can't. I can't go back to spend my life watching the southern seas for the first sign of magic coming to tear my life apart again.' He was sobbing now, nose running, cringing where he stood. 'I cannot face the skies, for fear of the judgement I might read there. I cannot look to the least omen or portent for fear of seeing some new disaster threatening us all. How am I to lead my people again?'

  This is the man I feared was plotting to take over my domain.

  Kheda stared at him helplessly.

  'Chazen Saril, I need more dune grass.' Janne had been plaiting little mats from the coarse yellowy stems.

  The two men looked wide-eyed at her for a moment, then Saril scrubbed at his face with a sleeve. 'Of course, my lady.' Stumbling, he hurried away towards the ridge behind the tower.

  Kheda watched him go, incredulity warring with fury. 'What does he think his people will do, without him to guide them? What does he think the other domains will do if they see Chazen islands left for anyone to claim them? Fear of magic might have Saril pissing himself but Redigal and Ritsem will be thinking of the turtle shell and the pearls, now they've seen the wizards are gone. I don't imagine Ulla Safar will want to be left out and won't Aedis and Sarem have a claim on reparations for whatever ships and men they've sent against the savages? They have sent help, haven't they?'

  As Kheda turned to demand Janne's confirmation, he saw Chazen Saril had returned clutching a handful of grass, shrunken and fearful, tears still rolling slowly down his face to lose themselves in his beard.

  'We can at least eat together.' Janne deftly raked aside the embers from the white mussels and scooped up a couple on to a mat of grass. 'Careful, they'll be hot.' She handed the mat to Kheda. He took it and sat down, glowering at the wretched Chazen lord.

  Janne handed Saril some of the shellfish. 'Let's see what counsel a full stomach can bring us.'

  'Do you have some water?' asked Kheda curtly.

  Janne handed him a finely wrought brass bottle. He drank and they ate in heavy, uncomfortable silence.

  Saril was the first to speak. 'Janne Daish,' he began. He stopped and looked unsure.

  'What?' Kheda demanded.

  Saril grimaced, puzzled. He got awkwardly to his feet, one hand pressed to his belly. 'Forgive me,' he gasped, staggering away to vomit copiously.

  Nauseated, Kheda threw away his remaining mussels. 'What—'

  'Leave him,' Janne commanded instantly.

  'What?' Kheda gaped at her before looking at Saril, who had fallen to his knees, racked with uncontrollable spasms.

  'I said, leave him,' Janne repeated icily. She prised apart the last of her own mussels and ate the yellowy flesh within.

  'He's ill,' retorted Kheda. 'Have you—'

  'He's useless,' snapped Janne with startling viciousness. 'His cowardice forfeits his every claim on the Chazen people's loyalty and the domain's wealth. He's shirked every responsibility and proved himself entirely unfit to rule. There isn't a warlord in the southern reaches who would deny it.'

  'He's choking!' Kheda got to his feet.

  'Sit down!' Janne stood and barred his way, face implacable. 'His death will only be an omen to confirm what everyone has been thinking; that his blood is of no more use to the domain.'

  'And what happens then?' Kheda gaped at her. 'We stand by while Redigal, Ulla and Ritsem start a war for the Chazen islands, along with whoever else feels inclined to join in? Or are you thinking we claim them for Daish and beggar ourselves rebuilding what the invaders destroyed? Janne, he can't breathe!'

  'Daish will not take on so much as a finger length of Chazen territory.' Janne ignored Chazen Saril's weakening struggles behind her. 'The whole domain has been tainted with magic. We're not going to tolerate Chazen people in our islands and whatever corruption clings to them for a day longer than we have to either. They go home, rebuild or die, that's up to them.'

  'We still don't want a war on our southern border.' Kheda raised a hand to push Janne aside, anger rising inside him. 'He may be a useless lord but he's the only one Chazen has got!'

  'You must do it, rule Chazen, I mean.' Janne seized Kheda's arms, holding him back, digging her nails into him as he attempted to free himself.

  'What?' He stared at her, disbelieving.

  'You must rule Chazen.' She dragged him round, turning his back on Saril's desperate writhing.

  'I am Daish Kheda,' he spat.

  'Not any more,' Janne said with icy precision. 'Daish Sirket leads the domain and is doing so very effectively. He gathered the forces and allies to drive out the invaders and won the respect of all our neighbours in doing so.'

  'Because I found the means to kill the wizards who brought these invaders on us.' Kheda couldn't decide if he was more astounded or angry. 'Is this my reward, to be dispossessed by my own son?'

  'You stepped aside in his favour,' countered Janne dispassionately. 'He took nothing but the uncertainties and perils you left him.'

  'You make it sound as if I abandoned him,' Kheda objected furiously. 'I went in search of the means to combat the invaders' magic, at risk of my own life, I may tell you, more than once. I brought it back and risked dangers you cannot imagine to rid the domain of those sorcerers. This is how you repay me?'

  'The Chazen domain is modest but it has its wealth, its turtle shells and pearls. Those are untouched by the invaders' foul hands, from what I hear. You will have people to help you rebuild, on untouched land,' said Janne tightly. 'Children born to the domain will certainly be untainted and you may find some means of purification for the rest.'

  Kheda shook his head, uncomprehending. 'You were the first woman I took to my bed, the woman I've shared myself, my life with for seventeen years. You're the mother of my children, my son and heir and the daughters that have blessed my days.'

  'This must be so, for the sake of the children.' The first hint of emotion cracked Janne's voice. 'For all their sakes. Rekha and I are agreed on this, Sain too. I've told them what you've done - some of what you've done. We cannot have you back, not when the magic that stains you may bring disaster in its wake, to devastate us all.'

  Kheda threw off her hands and then seized her forearms. 'What do you mean, some of what I have done?'

  Now fear was plain in Janne's eyes. 'Not all the Chazen islanders died, the ones the savages took prisoner. They told us of the evil these wizards wrought, of the unknown wizard who defeated them with even more unspeakable sorceries. You told me you were allying yourself with this northern wizard, even if only to turn magic against these invaders. My mother told me how the seas in the central domains ran red with slaughter when she was a girl, for mere suspicion of a warlord contemplating such an alliance. That's what I told Rekha and Sain you've done. I haven't told them what else I believe, nor yet what I find myself suspecting now. You ask me about the campaign against the savages yet you seem to know more about it than I do. How do you know the Chazen ships haven't sailed south? You're dead. You've no couriers to bring you word, no messenger birds to carry reports. How do you know if you're not using these magics that let northern barbarians spy on us?'

  'That
has nothing—' Kheda began, all the more irate as his own guilt pricked him.

  'What happened to the moon, Kheda?' Janne faced him, stiff yet trembling. 'How did the moon turn red?'

  'It happens.' He hesitated, fatally. 'It's a portent recorded from time to time.'

  'Recorded, yes,' hissed Janne. 'Foretold, no. I talked to Sirket about it, had him check and double-check the records, the observations back to the volumes from the earliest days. It's not an eclipse, to be predicted and precautions taken against its effects. No one knows when a red moon will be seen, not like that. Sirket says it only ever arises in a dry season too, when the hot winds come up from the south. Of course, that made it all the more potent as an omen, especially when I had told everyone to watch for a sign that the time had come to spill the wild men's blood.

  'What did you do, Kheda, what deceit have you dragged me into? How could you know that a red moon would rise unless you had some hand in it? How could you do that without using this barbarian's magic? That's not keeping yourself at a remove from the taint of magic. That's using it yourself to distort the natural order, sinking yourself freely into depravity. Don't lie to me, Daish Kheda, I know you too well. I can see what you've done written in your eyes.

  'Don't tell me what else you've done either. Don't tell me how you've forsworn yourself and everything we trust in. I don't want to know. All I know is the children must come first for me and Rekha and Sain. They are flesh of our flesh, borne in our bodies, nurtured at our breasts. Nothing can change that. The bond between us—' She snatched back her hands. 'We were only ever one flesh for fleeting moments. The bond between us is broken past mending.'

  'You expect me to accept this?' Searing anguish twisted in Kheda's chest, worse than any pain since the death of his father. 'You expect the Daish people to accept this?'

  'You would fight Sirket for the domain?' Janne challenged. 'You want to throw your children into the confusion of learning you are alive, when they have barely come to terms with your death? You want to bring them that poisoned joy and then have them see you try to kill their brother, your own son? You'd bring that disaster on the Daish domain, an internal war, when the people are still trying to recover from the depredations of those fled from Chazen? Barely half the crops that should have been planted by now are in the ground. It'll be a hungry end to the dry season, even if no other travails come upon us. You think any Daish people would rally to your side, after they learned you had abandoned them, when they heard you had been in the south, fighting magic with magic, no matter how noble your intentions?'

  'There's a powder, it's not magic—' Kheda fell silent and looked at Janne for a long moment, the only sound the surf breaking on the reefs around the island and the mournful cries of some unseen seabird.

  'It wouldn't matter what I said, would it? Any explanations I could offer, what justification, it wouldn't make any difference. You and Rekha, you'll make sure everyone sees it your way and I am condemned. What are you planning, if I refuse to cooperate? You won't poison me, not like poor Saril, that much I can promise you.' Seizing Janne by a shoulder, he forced her round to look at the twisted, soiled corpse.

  'I didn't poison him.' Janne took a step forward as if to assure herself that Saril was indeed dead. 'We all ate from the same shellfish.'

  'From your hands,' scoffed Kheda, incensed. 'Didn't you gather them? Didn't you know they were somehow spoiled?'

  'A red tide had come and gone when I gathered them, that's true.' Janne folded her arms stubbornly. 'They could have killed us all or left us all untouched. His death is an omen that confirms me in my intentions. It tells me your destiny lies in the Chazen domain, not his. If I was in error, I would have been the one to die.'

  'It's not your place to test the future with such follies,' Kheda snarled. 'Nor yet to read such omens.'

  'No, it is Sirket's,' Janne said forcefully. 'He has studied the skies every night since he got word of your death and shared all he sees with me and Rekha. The Vizail Blossom, token for all wives and mothers, has left the realm of marriage and has ridden the arc of death. Now the Diamond joins it, stone for rulers, and the Opal for fidelity and harmony. There is an ending plainly told for us all. The Pearl rides with the Amethyst, jewel for new beginnings and inspirations, and both are in the arc of foes and fears where the Winged Snake twines around all people, promising new conjunctions to reward the brave. The Ruby floats in the arc for siblings and those as close as kin, offering protection against fire for the daring. The Sailfish carries it, promising good fortune and fertility. All the stars tell us the domain will prosper if Rekha and I can only bring ourselves to do this.'

  'Sirket knows what you've been planning?' Kheda struggled with the notion. 'He approves?'

  'No.' Janne shook her head vehemently. 'He knows nothing. He doesn't even know that you are still alive. He only told me what he read in the skies. Rekha and I saw how it bore on our situation.'

  'What are you going to tell Sirket?' Now it was Kheda's turn to be cold as tears threatened Janne's composure.

  'I will tell him that you have returned, that you did something, I don't know what, to defeat the sorcery that gave the invaders their strength.' She paused to swallow a sob. 'I'll tell him you see the impossibility of ever returning to rule the Daish domain, touched as you have been by magic. I'll tell him you're turning all your talent to rebuilding the Chazen domain, so that it might be a bulwark to defend Daish against any return of these savages. Are you going to make a liar out of me to our son?'

  Her plea tore at his heart. Kheda rubbed a hand over his beard. 'I thought I knew you. I thought that sharing my bed and my heart and my fears and joys with you meant I knew you. I never did, did I? You kept yourself so very well hidden. All right, Janne, I won't bring all the grief you promise down on our children, or on my domain, my former domain,' he corrected himself sarcastically. Heart too full to say anything else, he threw up his hands and turned on his heel.

  'Where are you going?' called Janne in consternation.

  'What do you care?' Kheda threw back over his shoulder.

  'Where do I send Itrac?'

  Janne's unexpected query stopped Kheda in his tracks. He turned to look at her. 'What?'

  'She's your responsibility now, Chazen Kheda,' Janne told him defiantly. 'The domain she was born to won't have her back, not with the taint of magic on her. I've pleaded her case but they won't yield. You can't let her loose, not till you're sure she doesn't carry Saril that was Chazen's child. If she bore such a babe, someone like Ulla Safar could marry her and try forcing a claim on the domain.'

  'What will you do if I don't take her?' Kheda spat. 'Feed her some shellfish?'

  Janne flinched as if he had struck her but she didn't relent. 'Where do I send her?'

  Kheda gave up. 'The Chazen dry-season residence. Tell her I'll find her there.'

  Who knows, by then, I might even have worked out what to tell her, how to explain what I have done and how it landed me in this mess. If it wasn't for the sand beneath my feet, the breeze in my face, I could almost imagine this was some horrible dream. But no, no dream. I couldn't dream such agony and not wake from it.

  Kheda stormed down the beach to row back to the Amigal. As he swung himself up on deck, Dev and Risala were standing there, faces avid with curiosity. Kheda glared at them with challenge in every line of his body and both hastily adopted studiedly neutral expressions.

  'Can't say that looked to be going well from here,' said Dev cautiously. 'Not that we could hear much, but isn't that Chazen Saril who's just died such a remarkably painful death?'

  Finally, something to shake that bastard's composure. That might almost make this all worth it.

  'He ate some bad shellfish,' said Kheda in as dispassionate a tone as he could manage. 'Which leaves the Chazen domain without a ruler. Janne Daish believes this is my destiny rather than returning to depose my own son. I am forced to agree with her.'

  'Oh,' said Risala blankly.

  'Forced?
' Dev looked slyly at Kheda. 'There's a handful of ways that trireme could come to grief, before it ever comes to port.'

  'I would hate to think of that happening,' Kheda said with cold threat.

  'So where do we go now?' Risala tried to see past Kheda to the shore.

  He didn't look back. 'I need to get to the dry-season residence of the Chazen warlords. I don't know what there'll be left of it but it's somewhere to start.' He glanced down at the little skiff bobbing at the Amigal's side. 'Can I have this? You can take me as far as the main sea lane before you turn north, can't you?'

  Dev's response surprised him. 'I'll take you all the way you want to go, never mind that.'

  Kheda hesitated. 'You should go north, both of you. There'll be all manner of suspicions floating on the breezes round here.'

  'Suspicions maybe, but none so many witnesses,' grinned Dev. 'No one understands that savage gabble.'

  'Janne says there are Chazen islanders telling of the final battle between the invaders and some unknown mage,' Kheda said with difficulty.

  'Crazed with fear and thirst and hunger, who can be sure what they saw?' Dismissing them with an airy wave, Dev limped painfully down the deck towards Kheda. 'You don't get rid of me that easily. You owe me and plenty, don't forget that. It's a good thing those savage mages weren't interested in turtle shell and pearls, otherwise you'd be hard pressed to pay me this side of the next new year stars.' He passed Kheda and went to sit by the tiller. 'You and the girl better raise the sail if we're to make Chazen waters by nightfall.'

  Kheda looked at Risala. 'We can find you a ship going north, I'm sure of it.'

  'Shek Kul will want a full report, not half a one,' she said, attempting to equal Dev's offhand manner. 'He'll want to know that you've got a firm grip on the Chazen domain.'

  'Let's hope you can take that news north sooner rather than later.' Kheda looked down at the cipher ring pensively.