by JC Kang
Tian shrugged the pack from his shoulders. It would only slow him down. “Where did they take her?”
“A scout followed them west to Wild Turkey Island. There used to be a holy shrine and a village of our Uloki kindred. It has since been taken over by the Metal Men.”
“That is a twelve-hour march along the river.” Yuha pointed west.
Tian straightened. He’d storm the camp alone if need be. “Then my brothers, I bid you farewell.”
The chief placed firm hands on Tian’s shoulders. “My son, you must rest. You will only be going to your death if you go alone and exhausted.”
There was general murmur of agreement, but what else could he do?
He shrugged out of the chief’s grip and took two purposeful steps before Hati crushed him in a bear hug. Tian twisted his hips, sending the chieftain’s son to the ground. Three more warriors wrapped him up. Tian strained to break free, pulling them along. If they didn’t give up, he might have to really hurt them.
Yuha placed a hand on him and chanted.
The energy of the spirits surged through Tian. A cool wave settled over him, the frenetic sensation of his rapidly beating heart and trembling limbs giving way to clear thought. The aches and fatigue weighed him down.
Yuha smiled at him. “There now, my brother, think with your head and not with your heart. Let us rest tonight. My prayer will calm your mind so that you will sleep well, and the spirits will show you a path if you allow them.”
Every fiber of his body protested, but the spirits hushed their voice and lulled him into calm. Tian acquiesced and allowed Ma Jun to guide him to his lodge. Hati picked up the pack and followed.
Inside, it looked as though a storm had swept through. He ignored the clutter—even his compulsiveness to take stock of things was muted—and threw himself into his bedding, the one he would sleep alone in for the first time. Despite all the worries and concerns that should have nagged him, he fell into a deep slumber.
He woke up at dawn, feeling completely refreshed, as if the battle from two days prior and the hard march the day before had never happened. Yet, an unsettled feeling nagged at him. Had he dreamed? If so, he couldn’t remember.
The morning light flooded in through the smoke hole, illuminating the mess made by the Teleri solders. Kitchenware was strewn haphazardly around the fire pit, bringing a bitter smile to Tian’s face—although Kaiya now loved to cook, she was never good at cleaning up afterwards. It always fell to him to tidy up. Their clothes lay scattered about, each article bearing signs of a thorough search. What had they been looking for?
He turned to the long flat stone set up as their family altar. The wooden bowl they used for leaving a small daily sacrifice to their ancestors was gone. The altar’s position seemed odd. He looked up. His crude sketch of Yang-Di, God of the Sun, looked at the empty spot on the wall where the drawing of his consort Guanyin once hung.
The blank spot on the wall! In his dream, Yang-Di had been looking down, pointing an open hand at the ground.
Tian turned toward the spot, covered by his bedding. He lifted it. Words were scrawled in the dirt, in beautiful Hua script: “I love you forever.”
She must have written it, possibly in her last moments in the village. He choked on his tears. He should have told her the same, much like the young Maki lovers whispered in each other’s ears.
The dream! In the dream, the words were not, I love you forever. What was written there? Try as he might, he couldn’t remember.
He emerged from his lodge to find Ma Jun, Fang Weiyong, Lana, and the twins Kona and Kosa there waiting for him. They were packed.
Ma Jun bowed his head. “We will go with you, to Wild Turkey Island. Under the terms of their agreement with the Teleri, the Maki cannot engage the enemy, but they will be able to give us guidance.”
Tian nodded, handing Ma Jun a steel Teleri longsword and dagger. “The Teleri troops have a two-day lead on us. However, it is light out. We can take a boat to the island. We’ll arrive by mid-afternoon. I will free her tonight. Then we’ll go by boat back to Hua. We can’t return to the village. Not until the Teleri threat has ended.”
Buckling on a longsword and dagger of his own, Tian went to visit Chief Nuwa and Yuha. Even if he succeeded in rescuing Kaiya, he might not see the Maki for a long time. If he failed...
The chief, along with several others, waited for him in the middle of the village. Despite Tian’s urge to get underway, he took long moments to warmly embrace all of these people whom he had become so close to, and bid each a farewell.
To Yuha, he said, “It was fate that brought us together on that cold autumn day. Among your people, I learned so much about what was missing in my life before.”
Yuha placed a hand over his heart. “May the spirits guide you, my brother.”
He turned to the chief. “I’ve had many fathers. The one who gave me life. The master who taught how to take life. I consider you my third father. The one who showed me how to live.”
The chief looked at him with grave eyes. “May the spirits guide you to your love, and find her unharmed. Regardless of where you float on the tides of war and peace, you may always return here.”
Tian then embraced Hati. “My brother. You will become a great leader. Like your father. With spear in hand. Bravely and proudly defend our people.”
Hati crushed Tian in his hug. “Thank you, Brother, for all that you have taught me. You are a hero of our people, and the Warrior Beyond The Wall will live on in our songs as long as we have mouths to sing them. I had hoped you would honor me by serving as second in my wedding to Lahi next month, but I know that’s not possible. So go now, with the spirits as your guide.”
With a final look at the people he had come to love like family, Tian left the village, greeted on both sides by the tearful farewells of the tribespeople.
CHAPTER 51:
Hope and Fear
As the enormous Tree of Light came into sight, the symphony of natural sounds sang in Kaiya’s ears. The chuckling river danced with the rustling wind, waltzing in harmony to the myriad chirps of a dozen different bird species. Like Ayudra Island, where she’d met the Paladin Oracle; like Shakti’s Hill in Palimur where she’d faced Avarax, magic permeated the area.
She tried to remember a Hua chronicle of the ancient Kanin Empire:
The land around Wild Turkey Island is one of the last forested areas on the Kanin Plateau. It is now the private hunting preserve of the Emperor of Kanin, an oasis of trees among farmland stretching as far as the eye can see. A giant Tree of Light grows there, planted by the Elf Angel Aralas himself, just before the War of Ancient Gods. Yet even before that, legend has it that beneath the island is one of the glittering caves, where the elves unearthed a Starburst to aid them in their struggle against the orcs during the Twilight of Istriya.
She sighed in frustration. The resonance of the world called to her, should have made her body tingle with power, but the grey metal collar walled the energy off, keeping it just out of reach.
The Teleri troops had left the village some twelve hours earlier, marching along the path with tireless efficiency. They rested for only short amounts of time, affording her a pack horse so that she would not slow the fast-moving, well-conditioned troops.
General Altos di Bovyan strode beside her and had proven to be a gentleman. He allowed her hands to remain unbound and treated her with the utmost respect. He certainly didn’t paint the picture of a brutal rapist.
A member of the elite Teleri Prospecti—the military officers and administrators—he stood even taller than most of his men. He called for halt and extended a hand to help her off the horse. “Your Highness, this is our last break before we reach our destination. Please rest well.”
With a last glance at the Tree of Light in the distance, Kaiya took his hand and slid down. She curtseyed in the manner of the Arkothi. “General, I thank you for your courtesy. I imagine you might have made a fine Bovyan Knight, bringing order to the chaos f
ollowing the Hellstorm and Long Winter.”
The corners of his lips tugged slightly upwards as he bowed his head. “I appreciate your compliment, though I do not deserve it.”
Maybe she could appeal to his sense of honor. If only she could convince him to take the collar off. “From what I have read, the Bovyan Knights were a noble order, and you certainly honor their legacy.”
“They were. Their code of honor was derived from the Last Testament of Geros, our esteemed progenitor Geros Bovyan, mortal son of Solaris. Nowadays, we are taught we are successors of the Bovyan Knights, but sometimes I wonder if the code hasn’t been corrupted to fit state ideology."
She studied his earnest expression. Apparently, Hua’s historians took an oversimplified view of the Teleri. “How did that happen?”
He returned her gaze. “In the time of our first ancestor, it was acceptable to take multiple wives. After the Hundred Years of War, the Hellstorm, and the Long Winter, there were so few men compared to women.”
So it had been in Hua, until the Queen Regent banned polygamy—not even the Tianzi could take a concubine. Kaiya nodded, prompting him to continue.
“Within a century, the ratio balanced and monogamous relationships became the norm. But since we can only have one child, always male, our population declined with each succeeding generation. It would have led to our extinction.”
“I would think the Bovyan Knights would have rather gone extinct than resort to institutionalized gang rape.” Which would probably be her fate, at the hands of the Consuls. Kaiya shuddered.
General Altos sighed. “The North was in a perpetual state of chaos. Had the Bovyans died out, how many more people would have suffered? Solaris meant for his son’s descendants to bring peace. It was the only way. ”
Was it? Apparently, even good men could rationalize evil deeds. “It’s a peace bought with the dignity of all the girls you violate.” And they were just girls, just starting their monthly cycles.
Brow furrowed, General Altos pressed his lips together. “It is hard for the conquered, but within a generation of Teleri rule, participation in the Mating is considered an honor.” The retort came out rote, forced.
“You don’t sound convinced.”
He sighed and lowered his voice. “I became close to a woman. She confided in me the horrors of our rule, forcing me to critically look at whether the peace and order we bring justifies the cruel means we use to achieve it. I began to question the Testament of Geros. It is written in a language that only the Keepers of the Shrine of Geros understand, so they control how it is interpreted.”
“Surely there are others who share your sentiments?” If there were a rebellious faction, perhaps the Teleri could be changed from within.
He shrugged. “My views are in the minority, but there are those who idealize what the Bovyan Knights once were. Many of us were deployed to the Wilds instead of on a major front.”
“It saddens me to think that even those who realize that the Teleri system is wrong do nothing to change it.”
He gazed at her. “There is only one way to change us.”
There had to be one. She raised an eyebrow.
He looked up to the sky. “An end to the Curse of Tivar, that cuts our life short at thirty-three, that bears us only sons, that keeps women from having but one Bovyan son.”
If she could help end the curse... “How?”
“Fulfill our bargain with the Altivorc King. Or...” Altos regarded her with a curious eye. He leaned in and whispered, “There are some among us who believe an old story. When the Bovyan Edict was passed a hundred and twenty years ago, one young Keeper dissented, saying the methods were too brutal and that the Testament did not left it.”
Kaiya stared at him. At least some Bovyans took a moral stand. “What happened to him?”
“He was expelled from the Shrine of Geros. However, he used his newfound freedom to go on a pilgrimage to the pyramid in Arkos. The seer there prophesized that a Bovyan who knew his father and mother would take the Teleri imperial crest to the Tower of Light on the Eldaeri’s Forbidden Isle. The knowledge he gained there would bring about the end of the curse.”
Hope sprung in her. Jie had saved Aelward, an Eldaeri Prince and ship captain. He owed them a favor, and the Eldaeri would love nothing more than for the Teleri to leave them in peace. How hard could it be to find any number of Bovyans who knew their mother and father?
Altos shook his head, quashing her optimism. “Unfortunately, there are two sides to every story. The majority of the Prospecti dismiss the prophecy as a fairy tale; or worse, believe it prophesizes the world plunging back into a darkness rivaling the Long Winter. This is why magic is banned, why those with the gift of foresight are murdered. Bovyan boys who are born outside the Mating are quickly brought in, or hunted down and killed.”
Kaiya’s chest tightened. The murder of children, even Bovyan boys, was horrifying. Hua might’ve been immoral in its weapon sales, but it didn’t compare to the evil of the Teleri Empire.
He held his hand out to her. “We must be going. I will do my best to protect you, but know that once we reach Wild Turkey Island, I will not be the highest ranking officer.”
After three hours, they reached a fork in the river. A bridge crossed over a narrow strait onto an island stretching about a li from end to end. The gigantic Tree of Light blocked the view of the iridescent moon, but from the height of the sun, it was clearly getting late. Her heart raced, the foreboding looming over her even more than the tree.
Besides the dozens of wooden structures, the island had a familiar feel. A few shrubs peeked out from the flat, rocky ground. A single hill rose at the southern end, jutting out into the larger river. Its hum, perceptible from where they had taken a break, buzzed in her ears now, the frequency so similar to...Palimur, where she’d confronted Avarax. Even the shape resembled the island where the Temple of Shakti stood.
Holding her chin high as if it would hide her fear, she strode across the bridge. What had the elf wizardess Ayana said about Palimur? That it was a glittering cave site, a place where the energy of the world welled? Her hand strayed to the collar. If only she could tear the damned thing from her neck, maybe she could repeat the improbable feat that had earned her the title of Dragon Charmer.
On the other side of the bridge, a waiting Bovyan yanked her wrist from the collar. Another clamped a hand on her shoulder. Her chest seized. Together, they pushed and pulled her towards a squat wooden building. No! What was happening? Where was General Altos? Struggling futilely against their powerful arms, she looked back.
He stood there, head hanging as the rest of the column dispersed around him. He’d said he’d protect her. But now... Were these men going to violate her now? Pulse throbbing in her ears, she jerked against the men’s grip, to no avail.
With her shoulders and head slumped, the Kanin woman standing by the entrance looked even more defeated than the general. She pulled back the animal fur door, a sun tattoo marring her wrist.
The two Bovyans shoved her in.
It was warm and humid compared to the brisk air outside, and dimly lit. Kaiya’s heart skittered and her limbs froze up. Was this where she was to suffer a gang rape? She blinked away tears, and the room came into focus.
Steam drifted above a large wooden tub filled with water. The girl from outside—was it the same one, or was this a different girl? In her own panic, Kaiya hadn’t noticed, but the body language was the same, screaming of hopelessness.
“They want you to take a bath,” the girl said. “Please undress.”
Kaiya looked back. The door had closed, the men out of sight. She blew out a long breath. The panic had been for nothing. As General Altos said, her rape would be at the hands of the Consuls themselves. Perhaps even the First Consul. She shuddered. Not that reassuring. Still, they would march her back to Tilésité, which might give her up to two months to preserve her dignity. And perhaps escape.
At least a tiny bit assuaged, she shrugg
ed out of the dress, which the woman took before leaving. Once alone, Kaiya sank into the comforting embrace of the water. It’d been months since her last hot bath, going back to the hot spring inn in Iksuvi. Probably one of the happier times. The warm waters soothed her now.
Maybe it was no different than calming a farm animal before taking it to slaughter. While she soaked, a maid entered, bringing towels and a clean white robe that smelled of honeysuckle. Kaiya rose from the bath and donned the open-faced robe.
As she tied the robe in front, a young woman entered. Her broad features, fair complexion, and dark hair spoke of the Arkothi North. She bowed her head. “Greetings, Your Highness. I need to ask you several questions.”
Kaiya’s insides quivered, but she nodded. There was little point in fighting.
“When was your last menstrual cycle?”
It shouldn’t have been a surprising question, given the Bovyans’ abhorrent customs. Still, heat flared in her cheeks. She counted back. “Thirteen days ago, on the new white moon.”
Taking notes, the doctor maintained a professional expression. “Are you having any discharge, like raw egg whites?”
Heaven’s Dew. “For two days now.”
The doctor’s brows furrowed. “Is that normal for you?”
“Always for a few days, before the full white moon.”
“So you are very regular. Please forgive my forwardness. Have you lain with a man recently?”
She nodded. “Two days ago.”
Eyebrows clashing together, the doctor searched Kaiya’s eyes. Then her expression relaxed. “Thank you. Be strong.” With a bow of her head, she turned and left.
What could the doctor’s expression mean? It would be months before they’d reach Tilésité, where the Consuls would do the unspeakable to her. If it turned out she was pregnant beforehand, would they force her to drink a poison which would kill Tian’s baby? Her belly churned. All sense of relaxation from the bath drained out of her.
