by Lara Morgan
‘Shouldn’t you be talking to Morfessa about this?’
‘No. He can find out tomorrow with everyone else.’
‘Well, what are you going to do? You’ve already signed an execution order for the Free Lands diplomat.’
‘Yes.’
Shaan wondered if she’d even thought about whether the man was actually guilty or not before she put her name to the parchment. She rubbed sleep from her eyes and poured herself a glass of water from a jug on the table.
‘Shaan,’ Nilah said, ‘do you think the Free Lander killed her, or could it have been someone else?’
Putting down the glass Shaan looked at her. ‘Isn’t that what Morfessa and Rorc have been telling you?’
Nilah pushed a hand through her hair so it stood up in a knotted halo. ‘I don’t remember, I haven’t spoken to them for a while. And where is my Seer, anyway?’ She spun around, gesturing with her wineglass at the walls. ‘She’s gone off somewhere and no one seems able to tell me where! They hide things from me, Shaan.’ Nilah stared at her, not noticing she was spilling wine on the floor. ‘Neither of those men will tell me what they are up to.’ She turned pleading eyes to Shaan. ‘I’m all alone. That’s why I need you here tonight. It’s just me and the council and I have to do what I think is right.’
Shaan sat back down on the couch. How could Nilah not remember that Veila had gone to the Serpent Isles? How much had she drunk? Thinking of it, Shaan realised she rarely saw her without a glass of wine in her hand.
‘So what are you going to do?’ she said.
Nilah paused and licked her lips, then went to the table and refilled her wineglass.
‘I’m going to declare war,’ she said. ‘Tomorrow, I’ll have notices plastered in every market square, and I’ll call a meeting of the Nine. That will show Lorgon I’m not someone to be trifled with.’
‘War?’ Shaan stared at her. ‘With who, the Free Lands?’
Nilah nodded, lifting her chin.
‘But Nilah, Azoth is coming.’
‘Stop talking about Azoth!’ Nilah slammed her glass down on the table so hard the stem cracked. ‘I have to do this. A Free Lander came in here and murdered my mother. And he shows no remorse, just keeps protesting his innocence!’ Her face was bright pink, sweat shining on her skin. ‘Besides, those Free Landers have been attacking our trade caravans for months. And I don’t believe it is only mercenaries doing it, as their government says, it’s their army! They’re trying to take what they don’t want to pay for. I cannot let this go unpunished! The people want revenge for the murder of their Guardian.’
‘Nilah,’ Shaan spoke carefully, ‘you have to talk to Morfessa and Rorc about this first. You can’t —’
‘Don’t tell me I can’t!’ Nilah’s voice cracked. ‘I’m the Guardian and they aren’t here, are they?’
‘But if we’re at war, how will we fight Azoth? We won’t have enough soldiers.’
Nilah shook her head. ‘We can win the war, Shaan, then when the Free Lands are under my control I will force them to join us in defending against Azoth.’ Her face held a shaky but triumphant expression. ‘Don’t you see? It’s perfect.’
Shaan couldn’t speak. This was madness. Azoth was coming soon, she knew it, she felt it. Nilah was out of control. She had to tell someone about this.
She rose to her feet and, keeping her voice even with some difficulty, said, ‘What time will you expect me tomorrow?’
Nilah pushed strands of tangled hair off her face with an unsteady hand. ‘Come here to my apartments early, when you wake.’ She looked vulnerable and haughty at once, her eyes red rimmed.
‘I will be here straight after my morning meal.’
‘No. You can eat with me.’ Nilah cleared her throat. ‘I’ll send for you.’
Shaan agreed and left, wondering if the young Guardian would be sobbing or drinking herself to sleep.
Quickly, she went back to her room and covered her head and shoulders with a swathe of dark silk before slipping silently along the empty corridor and out the orchard door.
It was dark among the fruit trees, the wet grass soaking her sandalled feet as she ran swiftly to the small gate that led to the city. It was manned by two palace guards, but one look at who she was was enough to allow her passage through; she was Azoth’s descendant and, despite her supposed hero status, most people didn’t want anything to do with her.
The streets outside the palace were dark and quiet and the night was warm following a recent rainfall. Sounds of the city drifted up from the bay below, magnified in the still air: the rush of the sea against the shore, the dense hum of life in the inns and whorehouses along the seafront. She was touched briefly by nostalgia for her life at the Red Pepino. Never when she was drinking at the inns below, or cleaning up after the drunks, had she given any thought to ancient gods, or Free Lands diplomats. A different life. But she wasn’t sure now if she would trade the brother she’d found to have it back. Or the mother. She stopped for a moment, looking at the yellow lights, the drifts of smoke. The last breath before the end. The phrase came into her head like a song, a random thought. How long until this city was turned to fire and death? How long until he came? Cara merak, my love. Azoth’s voice was a memory in her head and, angry at herself for thinking it, she shook it off and turned away from the bay, heading toward the steeper roads that led to the yards. There was only one person she knew she had to tell this news about Nilah to first, and it surprised her that it wasn’t her brother.
***
It took her nearly an hour to get to the sept leaders’ housing, and by the time she got near, Shaan’s injured leg was aching. Even though Balkis was now Marshall of Armies he still lived in the same small villa toward the back of the collection of houses among the trees above the pavilion square. Treading carefully along the dark, narrow path, she came to his door and knocked lightly. There had been a few lamps shining in the windows of some of the other houses she’d passed, but Balkis’s was dark and quiet. Perhaps he wasn’t even there. Biting her lip, Shaan knocked again and glanced around, worried others would see her. Finally, she heard movement inside and the door opened. Balkis stood in the entrance, bare-chested, wearing only a pair of light trousers. He squinted at her in the soft light of a lamp he carried.
‘Shaan? What’re you —’
‘Just let me in.’ She pushed past him through the door.
‘Of course, come in …’ he said dryly as he closed the door.
‘Where can we talk?’ she said.
‘Down there.’ He pointed to a door at the end of the short hallway.
She pulled the silk from her shoulders as she entered the small sitting room and Balkis, following close behind, put the lamp on a narrow table.
‘Shaan, what’s going on?’ he said. ‘Women usually only turn up at my door at this hour for one thing.’ His tone was sleepy, intimate, and irritation flooded her.
‘How wonderful for them,’ she said, ‘but that’s not why I’m here.’
He smiled. ‘Jealous?’
She took in a long breath. ‘Balkis, Nilah summoned me to her rooms tonight. She was drunk, but not too drunk to decide to declare war on the Free Lands.’
His expression became serious. ‘What?’
‘She has some stupid idea that doing this will make the council respect her,’ Shaan said. ‘And she won’t talk to Rorc or Morfessa before she does it.’
He shook his head. ‘I always thought she was self-indulgent, but not stupid. What can she be thinking?’ He turned toward an open doorway. ‘I’ll get dressed and go and warn Rorc. Maybe he can get Morfessa to see her.’
‘Wait,’ Shaan said. ‘If she knows I told you she’ll throw me out. I won’t be able to keep an eye on her anymore.’
‘Well, what should I do? I have to tell the Commander.’
‘I don’t know.’ Shaan rubbed a hand over her face.
Balkis stepped closer. ‘I’ll tell her I found out from a serving girl, one who was liste
ning at the door. That one of them was here, tonight. With my reputation …’ He met her gaze steadily and Shaan hated the way her gut churned at the thought of him with another woman.
‘Maybe,’ she said, but knew there was a tone in her voice she couldn’t hide.
‘Shaan,’ he said. ‘You know that’s not true, though. Not for a long while. I haven’t.’
‘Then how will it work?’ She bit her lip, thinking of how Nilah had teased her about him. ‘She might not believe you anyway; it’s too convenient. She’s not stupid.’ She pulled the wrap back around her shoulders, but Balkis put out a hand to halt her.
‘Wait.’ An oddly tentative look came over his face. ‘I’m glad you came to me,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t sure you would, after today, what I said.’
Her heart beat faster and she was suddenly aware he was half naked, the lamplight gleaming on the hard muscles of his torso. She should say nothing, leave now, but instead she said, ‘Maybe you were right, I am changing, but you —’ She hesitated, her mouth dry; she didn’t know what she was saying or why, but something had shifted and she needed him to know. ‘You don’t treat me any differently,’ she said.
‘Shaan.’ Hope flared brightly in his gaze and he shifted toward her, but she stepped back, putting a hand on his chest.
‘I have to go.’ His skin felt warm, alive under her fingers, and it was hard to drop her hand. She had the sense she’d started something she shouldn’t have. She turned and went toward the hallway. Balkis followed her to the front door, opening it for her, and as she stepped out he said, ‘Be careful, go straight back to the palace. I’ll go and see the Commander.’
She walked quickly to the dark path, but it wasn’t the palace she headed for. She needed to speak to Tallis.
Chapter 14
Tallis was dreaming of the desert when the sense of Shaan coming toward the Dome woke him. Her tension was like a slap rousing him and, fumbling in the dark, he found a lamp and went down to meet her outside the entrance.
‘What happened?’ he said. Her face looked gaunt in the flickering lamplight, dark smudges shadowing her eyes.
Her lips parted to answer when Mailun’s voice came from behind him.
‘Tallis? I heard you moving about. Is something wrong?’ She stepped from the shadows and saw Shaan. ‘Daughter, are you all right?’
‘I’m fine,’ Shaan said, then turned back to Tallis. ‘It’s Nilah, she plans to declare war on the Free Lands tomorrow. I just came from telling Balkis.’
‘War?’ He almost swore. ‘Has he gone to tell Rorc?’ he said.
‘Yes.’
‘Who’s Balkis?’ Mailun asked.
Shaan hesitated. ‘He’s the Marshall of Armies, Rorc’s second in command.’
Mailun looked at her with speculation and Tallis said, ‘Rorc might not wait for Tuon to return now. He’ll want to leave soon.’
‘Leave?’ Mailun said and he sighed.
‘He wants to go to the Clans and ask them to help us fight Azoth.’
‘And he wants you to go with him,’ his mother said. She rolled her lips in against her teeth then let out a bitter laugh. ‘Of course.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘I was going to tell you tomorrow.’
‘It’s all right, son, I’m not angry at you, only at the gods. They have a strange sense of humour.’
He frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean no,’ she said, ‘I don’t think you should go, son. It’s a bad idea.’
This was the reaction he’d expected, the reason he’d not yet told her. ‘Rorc needs me, Mother,’ he said. ‘And it feels like I should.’
Her expression was hard with sorrow. ‘Karnit will try to kill you.’
‘And fail,’ Shaan said, determination and a challenge in her voice. ‘I’m going as well.’
Mailun’s look softened. ‘Of course, both of you, with him …’ She let out a long breath and shook her head with resignation.
‘What do you mean, “with him”?’ Tallis said. ‘Why not with Rorc? And you shouldn’t worry about Karnit; my strength has grown, Mother. I defeated an Alhanti on my own, easily. I’m stronger than Karnit, he can’t hurt me.’
Her gaze was measured, sad, and she put a hand up to cup his face. ‘Such confidence, so much like him after all.’
‘Like who?’ He took hold of her hand. There were unshed tears in her eyes now and a cold, hollow feeling filled him. ‘Like who, Mother?’ he said again. ‘Haldane? Is that who you mean?’
She shook her head.
‘Mother?’ Impatience filled him. ‘If you’re so worried about Rorc, why not come meet him?’
‘No.’ She pulled her hand from his, her voice louder than before.
‘Why not? I’ve told him that you’re here, he —’
‘What? Did you tell him my name?’
‘No.’ He couldn’t understand why she looked so fearful. ‘Mother, what is it?’
‘Do you know Rorc?’ Shaan said quietly.
Mailun hesitated then said very softly, ‘Yes. I know him.’
‘How?’ Tallis said.
She wouldn’t meet his eye. ‘I had hoped not to have to tell you this but …’ A look of self-mockery crossed her face. ‘Of course I knew I would have to; it is just very hard. I’m afraid to tell you, son.’ She looked up at him then and he saw it on her face before she spoke it. ‘Rorc is your and Shaan’s father.’
He felt the blood roaring in his head and couldn’t speak.
Her face was hard etched as she looked from him to his sister. ‘I shouldn’t have told you he was dead, but for many years he was … at least to me.’ A tear fell on her cheek. ‘I didn’t think I would ever see him again.’
‘Rorc is our father?’ Tallis said.
‘He doesn’t know,’ Mailun said quickly. ‘He left me before he knew I was carrying you.’
‘He’ll soon realise it when he meets you,’ Shaan said. Her tone was dry, accusatory, and Mailun looked up at her quickly.
‘Don’t be angry at him,’ she said.
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s my anger to bear, not yours. And I am the one who lied, to you both. Rorc would not have left me had he known of you.’
‘Then why did he leave you?’ Shaan said, but Mailun only shook her head and wouldn’t answer.
‘What will you do?’ Tallis asked.
‘I don’t know yet.’ Mailun sighed. ‘It’s not easy to revisit the pain of the past. But I must talk to him now I know you are so close to him. If he will see me.’
There was silence between them for a moment then Shaan said, ‘I have to go back to the palace.’
‘And I have to go and see Rorc,’ Tallis said, making no attempt to soften the accusation in his tone.
‘I’m sorry, son,’ Mailun said, but he didn’t know what to say to her. Twice now she had lied to him about his father. Once he had thought it was Haldane, then she’d told him his father was dead, and now … Rorc.
‘Come, then,’ he said to Shaan, ‘I’ll walk with you some of the way.’
Unable to look at her, he turned from his mother and went with Shaan away from the Dome.
***
Shaan had barely been in her bed more than a few hours when a guard knocked on her door and called for her.
She dragged herself up. Her eyes felt as if she’d rubbed them with sand and not even a splash of cold water made her feel better. She pulled Nilah’s old dress over her head and went out to join the waiting guard. He escorted her through the palace in silence. At the gate to the Guardian’s complex another guard stepped forward to take her in.
Morfessa was seated with Nilah at a table near the window. He gave Shaan a look of apology as she entered, but Nilah’s expression was cold as she regarded her over a cup.
‘Good morning,’ she said. ‘I trust you made it here with no further detours to take your whispers to waiting ears?’
Shaan hesitated.
‘Don’t be unfair, Nilah,’ Morfes
sa said quietly.
‘She’s been unfair to me, going to you behind my back.’
‘It wasn’t me, but Balkis she went to,’ he said. ‘And you cannot blame your Marshall for going straight to his superior.’
‘Yes, Balkis.’ Nilah turned shrewd eyes on Shaan. ‘Interesting. He did try to persuade me it was a servant he heard it from, but I knew better. It must have been very late when you went to his room.’
Shaan bit down on her irritation. ‘I don’t think my position here is working out,’ she said. ‘I’ll go back to the temple today and you can find another assistant.’
‘Yes, I’m sure you’d like that.’ Nilah slammed her cup down and picked up a disc of bread. ‘Sit down.’
Too tired to argue, Shaan sat on a chair next to Nilah and watched as Morfessa poured her some kaf.
‘Well, what do you want to do then, Nilah?’ she said. ‘What’s my punishment to be?’
‘Generally,’ Nilah replied, ‘the price for betraying the Guardian’s trust is death.’ Shaan felt an instant of fear at the cool look in her eye. ‘But,’ she continued, ‘I don’t think that’s going to be necessary. Besides, I wonder if a descendant of Azoth would even be that easy to kill.’
‘No doubt Azoth would not take it lightly either,’ Morfessa said.
Shaan rose to her feet. ‘I’ll go and pack my bag,’ she said, and began to walk toward the door.
‘I could call the guards at any moment,’ Nilah said to her turned back. ‘I could have you put in a cell.’
Shaan stopped and for one brief, mad moment she wondered if she could turn her healing power around and use it to cause pain. Something of her intent must have shown in her face because Morfessa said sharply, ‘Stop it, both of you. None of this is important. Shaan, come back and sit down. Nilah, please.’ He glared at her.
‘I don’t think Nilah wants my advice anymore,’ Shaan said. ‘It would be better if I left.’
‘Better for who?’ he said. ‘Please, just sit down.’ He waved at the chair. ‘Nilah is just tired.’
‘I am that,’ Nilah said. Her voice was still hard, but she said, ‘Please sit down. We don’t want the guards in here.’
