"Lord Jahaksi says she is needed to ensure that the beast is properly cared for." Ekhan frowned in reply. "He is the commander."
"Is it necessary that the commander spends each of his spare hours in conversation with her? Is it necessary now, when Tathaga and several others already do most of the feeding of the beast?"
Ekhan met Da'all Khor's gaze with a look that was at once both coldly penetrating and sharply astute. "Why are you coming to me with this complaint? Should you not first speak to Lord Jahaksi himself?"
"I have spoken to him several times, and each time he has refused to recognize his duty."
"You wish me to speak to him?"
"He will ignore you."
"So, again, why are you coming to me with this complaint?" Ekhan's eyes made it clear he knew full well why, but he also made it clear that he wanted it in plain words.
"I intend to move against him, and I command you to support me in the action."
"You command it?"
"I do."
"Interesting." Ekhan's smile was cold. "You command it, when you well know that more than half of the Brizaki on this mission are men who have been loyal to him for many tens of years. You command me to strike down my commander, who has done no wrong that I can tell, when you say to do so, without question."
To the extent that Da'all Khor's icy pale face could flush, it did so now, pink spots appearing beneath his sharp cat's eyes. "I do so command, Ekhan, as you have obeyed my commands for many turnings of the world, I ask it again."
"Now you ask it." Ekhan nodded with satisfaction. "And when we strike down Jahaksi, you will assume command of the mission and guide us all safely out of Mortentia? You will gain the blessing of the Emperor for this mission's success, and I shall have the satisfaction of having followed your orders, yes?"
"Yes. And you will have done your duty."
"And for doing my duty my reward shall be the enmity of all of Lord Jahaksi's kin, including on the one hand his daughter Skeri, who is a vice-marshal and on the other hand his daughter Fetsera, who is an enchantress of the third circle. And I shall have your thanks to reward me and the satisfaction of having done my duty. Interesting."
Da'all Khor was confused. To any Brizaki having done one's duty should be ample reward for any action, including action that meant certain death. And yet Ekhan Dhaur seemed to be intimating that such reward was not enough.
"If you desire protection against retaliation, I assure that I shall mention your concerns to the Emperor's Hand in Selden Kharn Chihizak…" Da'all Khor began, but a raised hand from Ekhan forestalled him.
"A word that would only brand me a coward for being afraid to face my duty like a true Brizaki, Da'all Khor. You have been my commander for many years, as you have said, and I will not disobey you. But I tell you this. To ensure my own safety and that of those I convince to help me, no word of what we do must ever leave this accursed, blighted land. I want no tales carried to Jahaksi's kin. In addition, I demand that you appoint me second in command upon Jahaksi's death, so that I should have power to avoid the wrath of his kin beyond that of a common soldier."
"You have no right to make demands of me…" Da'all Khor began, but Ekhan interrupted him rudely.
"I hear a fly buzzing in my ear, telling me to commit murder, maybe treason, and take the responsibility for it on my own. The fly would leave me hanging for the maggots should I decide to go through with it. What should I say to the pesky thing, Da'all Khor? And don't be a fool and go for your sword." Da'all Khor jerked his hand back from the hilt of his weapon, seeing that Ekhan had already bared half a blade. "I've been your master in that area for longer than we've known each other."
"You must do your duty." Da'all Khor insisted.
"And you must do your duty by me, vice-commander."
For a moment the two stared at each other, on the brink of bloody death, then Da'all Khor nodded. Ekhan smiled and nodded his agreement.
Jhumar Ghaz shook his head and closed his eyes as the conversation ended. He had known it would come to this. The girl had been a source of sharp disagreement between Da'all Khor and Lord Jahaksi from the moment they had captured her, and the disagreement had been coming to a head for several weeks now, as they made their way through the forest toward the coast. From his position hidden in the brush-shrouded cleft of a lightning split oak he remained unseen as he silently drew back into the darkness and began walking toward the camp. He was a simple man, although not stupid, and he was not much on pondering his higher duties. His loyalty was to Jahaksi, his commander and good friend of many years, and the Emperor be damned.
Lanae began yet another day in what had become a seemingly endless series of the same day. At first light she rose, waking from whatever flat patch of ground Lord Jahaksi had selected for her bedroll the night before, stretching and rubbing herself to take the morning's stiffness from her muscles. The first thing she did each morning was the same thing she had done each previous night. She walked over to the covered wagon that hid Sentinel and looked in on the gigantic eagle.
This morning Sentinel looked neither worse nor better than he had the night before, as if the endless days spent rocking back and forth in the wagon as it followed the nearly invisible trail through the dark forest had no effect on him whatsoever. He was the proudest of eagle-kind, a great, noble bird that nothing that took place on the surface of the world could daunt or diminish. Lanae suspected that he was as ready to launch himself into the sky as he had ever been, and it would take much more than the single month that had passed since his capture to wear him down. Forced inactivity and the frustration of being caged could little impact that great spirit.
Jahaksi walked over to her as she inspected the bird, paying seemingly little attention as she directed Sentinel, through a series of hand gestures learned during her training, to spread his wings and permit her to inspect his plumage. Aside from a slight raggedness about the edges of some of his chest plumage, caused no doubt by his lack of time in the air, he looked to be in as fine trim as ever.
If the journey north had affected any change in Sentinel, it had only been after the strange attempt by the old man with the necklace at cowing his spirit. As if the bird realized what the attempt had been -and Lanae scarcely understood it herself- the eagle's triumph over his enemy had only made him more proud, more determined to show his greatness.
This morning Jahaksi seemed more pensive than usual, and his ready smile seemed hesitant, half-shy. Like any captive dependent on the continued good will of her captors for survival, she had taken to studying the Brizaki closely. She had learned to read Jahaksi well by now, or at least to anticipate his moods, but this morning he seemed somehow different, as if he'd reached some momentous decision.
"Today this one have decided a thing." He told her, his voice quiet and almost secretive. The tone was unusual for Jahaksi, who usually proceeded in a direct and open fashion both in front of her and his -she scarcely dared to call them 'men'- his followers. "This one have decided that you shall live. Understand?"
She stood there, stunned for a moment, trying to understand what he had said. Did she mean that previously he had been unsure? Apparently that was exactly what he meant, for he continued.
"Yesterday us ones not have a decision in this matter, but during the night this one think much. The commanders of me ordered a thing, that no persons of Mortentia may to see us ones and live. This order is direct and certain, and accordingly, you need to die. But then I decide this order is not a good idea, and I decide that I permit you to live. This decision causes problems, understand?"
She could only nod stiffly as he continued.
"You must understand. In this group there are two types. One type are men of mine, the other type are men that follow duty exactly. I have to kill this second type because they want to kill me for this decision." His eyes were grave as he spoke, but otherwise they might have been having any conversation for all the outward sign he made of his uneasiness.
"Yo
u should do what you think is the right thing." She told him, not really knowing what she should say under the circumstances. At some level her keen perception told her that begging for her life, as she desperately wanted to do, would be wasted on this man. "But I hope you will not kill me."
"There is one man, Da'all Khor, who is my … my second man. He wants to kill you from the first day, but I order him not to. Then he wants to kill you after the wizard fails to capture the spirit of the bird, but again I command him no. I tell him we need you to help with the bird. Now I hear from others that he wishes to kill me for this. Because I do not obey the orders, you see?"
"I see." Lanae replied, noticing that her hands were shaking. "But I have to ask you, Jahaksi, why would you be willing to kill your… your second man over me? Not that I'm not thankful, but why?"
Jahaksi's cat eyes looked almost human as he returned her fearful, wondering look. "We are not always what we are now." He replied, and Lanae wondered what he meant by it. "We Brizaki. Once we are not what we are now," then, deflecting any further questions, he added, as if part of the same thought, "the time comes soon, possibly this today. Most likely. Keep careful, keep safe. Perhaps stay in the wagon with the eagle when noise of fighting comes, understand?"
A whirl of emotion flooded through her. During the past month Lanae had gone from fearful captive to uneasy traveler to an almost friendly relationship with this half-man Jahaksi. Learning that all of this time she had been under an order of death abruptly brought back to her all of the fear of her first few days with the Brizaki, before Jahaksi's kindness had dulled her wariness. Not for the first time, she wished she'd had the good sense to look more closely at the signal flag above Jaren Lioshelm's outpost and fly on.
Jahaksi's furtive manner suggested that the outcome of a fight between his faction and that of Da'all Khor was far from a foregone conclusion, and if Da'all Khor won she had little doubt what her own fate would be. The cold-eyed second in command would kill her as easily as he put on his mottled cloak in the morning.
For their part, the Brizaki seemed to continue about their daily tasks as if there were no underlying tension, for they were experienced soldiers one and all, and consummate professionals. Lanae noticed that certain soldiers, ones that she would have said were older and more experienced, although she would have been at a loss to explain why they gave her that impression, seemed to clump together, avoiding the eyes of the younger and more rigid men. The older men must be the ones who had been with Jahaksi the longest, she reasoned, the ones whose loyalty would be given to him rather than to Da'all Khor. She didn't see Jahaksi's 'second man' that morning, for most of the Brizaki were either scouting ahead to determine the course of the day's march or were hidden along the back trail in case of ambushers. A group of half a dozen seemed to doze in the dappled sunlight beneath an elm near to her position at the wagon, but she twice caught a glimpse of sharp eyes peering from the shadowy recesses of their hoods. They were far from asleep.
Although the Brizaki typically waited until after the noon hour to begin moving and then moved long into the night before stopping to make camp, on some days they had begun earlier, especially when there were no towns or villages nearby. The wagon's axle was kept richly greased, and the beasts pulling it had sacking tied tightly about their hooves to avoid leaving any clear marks on the ground and to avoid unnecessary sound. Other than the slight, unavoidable noise made by the wagon's creaking gear, noise that could have scarcely been heard farther away than a few yards, the Brizaki might as well have been ghosts for all the sound they made moving in the forest. Nevertheless, they avoided moving during the hours when men were most likely to be about.
On this morning, however, Jahaksi had the team of horses hooked up almost as soon as it was light, and seemed only to be awaiting some sign from his scouts before breaking camp. Although she wondered at the reason for the early departure, she knew better than to ask. From the forest two shadows emerged, one of them Tathaga. The other was a burly veteran she had heard Jahaksi refer to once as Jhumar. She knew little of Jhumar, except that even among the woodcrafty scouts he stood out for his ability to become almost instantly invisible in the forest.
Jhumar nodded to Jahaksi twice, and immediately drew his sword. Jahaksi's blade was out in a moment, and the men 'dozing' sprang to their feet in the same moment, pulling loaded crossbows from beneath their cloaks and withdrawing into the brush around the clearing. Tathaga looked at his leader with a blank expression, plainly puzzled. In half a moment Jhumar was gone and he seemed to stand alone with his commander, while Lanae scrambled to get into the rear of the wagon next to Sentinel. She drew the iron-barred door behind her, shutting herself away in the concealing darkness.
Scarcely ten seconds later a group of twelve Brizaki, blades drawn, emerged from the forest with Da'all Khor at their head.
"I accuse you of treason in the name of the Emperor." Da'all Khor announced loudly, pointing his steel blade at Jahaksi's chest. "Surrender or be slain."
"It is you who is committing treason, Da'all Khor. I sentence you to death." Jahaksi replied calmly, idly fingering his own blade. To those who knew him well, his casual appearance did not mask his taut bow string readiness. "I order you to sheath your weapon. These with you will be spared their lives if they do so also."
"You no longer issue the orders, Lord Jahaksi." Da'all Khor was confident, for he did not know of the seven hidden crossbowmen, nor the eight other men who had shadowed him from the place where Ekhan Daur had mustered the fifteen blades he thought appropriate for the overthrow of the commander. There had been a great deal of heated debate at the muster, and three of his chosen group had flatly refused to assist in the attempted coup. They had been neatly killed, and all without a sound.
Jhumar had watched the murders with a great deal of anger, not just because good men had been killed, but also because of the sloppy way the muster had been held. Any fool forester could have overheard their arguing and be well on the way to the next village with a report of armed soldiers in the Mortentian Wood. Unfortunately, he had not been in a position then to do anything about it. Now he stood with two companions behind dense cover nearly fifty yards from the group facing Jahaksi, and he quietly instructed them on where to put their first quarrels.
"If you will not yield peaceably, Jahaksi, prepare to face death and oblivion." Da'all Khor intoned solemnly, directing several of the men with him to move forward against the commander, who seemed to stand alone. Jahaksi stood silently, shaking his head.
"I give you one last chance to yield and spare the lives of these men, Da'all Khor."
Da'all Khor laughed contemptuously as he sprang forward, his blade leveled for a killing stroke. With an easy twist of his wrist Jahaksi parried, even as the air seemed to come alive with hissing crossbow bolts.
"You should not bring blades to an archery contest." Jahaksi observed, even as Da'all Khor's eyes widened in horror. Every man who had come with him from the forest was down, and only two seemed to still be alive. Before they could rise two more quarrels found them. "You are responsible for their deaths, Da'all Khor."
Da'all Khor licked his lips and lunged again, and again Jahaksi neatly parried his thrust. "You are the one who is responsible, Jahaksi." He hissed furiously. "You allowed the command to disintegrate with your personal indulgences! You at least I shall kill."
Jhumar stepped out from concealment and used his foot to hold down the front of his crossbow as he recocked it. "Hold him off a second and I'll kill him." He said coolly to his commander.
"I can handle him, Jhumar."
Jhumar answered him by letting fly with a bolt that caught Da'all Khor in the lower part of his chest, driving clear to the feathered hilt between the Brizaki's ribs. Da'all Khor's eyes widened with shock and hatred as he sank to the ground. For a moment he looked as if he would speak, but his sword fell from his nerveless hand and his mouth moved silently, indistinguishably.
"I said he was mine, Jhumar." Jahaksi l
ooked angrily at his friend, who only shrugged.
"You are a Brizaki commander, Jahaksi, not some Thimenian savage. You are not permitted to select your enemies, and I am not permitted to let you risk injury in your pride. The crossbow was the correct weapon."
For a moment the eyes of the two held, then Jahaksi bowed formally. "You are correct, Jhumar Ghaz. I forgot myself." Jhumar Ghaz accepted his apology without further comment and turned to look at the dozen dead soldiers. He frowned and shook his head.
"Our strength is halved, Lord Jahaksi. He killed three others when getting these men together. We shall have to double our efforts if we want to make it to the ship on the coast."
Lord Jahaksi nodded his agreement. "Then double our efforts we shall. We are stronger for being rid of this baggage anyway." He kicked Da'all Khor's body. "Still, it would have been better had he not taken so many good men with him."
Chapter 28: Interlude: Rammas, The City of Magic
Derbas-Al-Dhulma, his sun-bronzed hands trembling with suppressed excitement, sat in the black chamber of the dulcet voices and peered into the silvery flowing metal of his mystical mirror intently. His face bore the lines of the scouring desert wind and the pitiless sun of the Sea of Sand, and beneath his shaggy eyebrows his nearly black eyes glittered with the fire and vitality of fifty years. Thief, illusionist, swordmaster; he was all of these things, as well as a man gifted with a rare talent for humor and intense emotions. His bushy black beard hung beneath his neck and nearly touched the strangely carved brass collar he wore above his silk shirt. Rune carved bracelets of gold adorned his slender wrists, and in a scabbard at his waist rested a silver scimitar that literally glowed with enchantment when unsheathed.
The chamber lay in near darkness, lit only by a few crimson braziers set in sconces on the high walls, and the ceiling was invisible in the gloom above. Still, the liquid silver in the stone bowl on his lap shone with its own mystical fire, and cast his face in demonic relief.
War of the Misread Augury: Book One of the Black Griffin Rising Trilogy Page 27
