Basiyr: Chronicles of Nahtan: Book 6 (The Herridon Chronicles)

by Kramer, D. L.

  He knew the Mo'ani followed him out of loyalty, and he realized how deep that loyalty went now. They had believed so firmly in the prophecy that made them who they were and put him on the throne that even when he had gone against everything they were taught, they still followed him.

  He turned when Brijade approached, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.

  "You still must not entirely forgive me," he noted, looking up from sharpening his skinning knife.

  She shook her head. "This sword is worth more than my entire hold, I'm not risking anyone trying to take it from me," she said. "Aralt found Mallin, he's back about a quarter league in the army."

  He nodded at where to find Mallin. He’d need to talk to him first thing tomorrow. "I don't tax any of you that much," he said. "I know Takis is far from bankrupt."

  "No, most of my money goes to maintaining my armies," she pointed out. "I really need to get more farmland opened up." She sighed and sat across the fire from him.

  "So open it, you've got land south and east. Just don't cross Devayne's border if you go east, I don't need him complaining to me about you forgetting where Takis ends and Devayne begins."

  "The Takis and Devayne border issues were resolved a long time ago," she said. "My issue is the people to work the land. If someone--like, say, the king--would allow me to offer reduced taxes for a year to get people to move there and set up homesteads to get crops and herds established, it would help a lot."

  "Isn't this the kind of thing you should be complaining to me about in Herridon when I have to be king?" He checked the edge on the knife, then went back to sharpening it.

  "You're still king here," she pointed out with a shrug. "Besides, it lets me think our lives might get back to a routine someday. I'll get a new Dweller's horse, have to decide who to advance to apprentice in training, have to listen to farmers complain about losing water in the canals because their neighbors are using too much, spend way too much time negotiating cattle herds and grazing lands with Devayne, and life will be normal."

  "I am sorry about Essian," he told her. "You'd had him since before I met you."

  She nodded. "I'd actually had Essian since I was about nine summers," she said.

  "That's awfully young for the Dwellers to bring you a horse," he noted, surprised. "Valry has Ayita and I know they've established some kind of bond, but not a Dweller's bond."

  "Oh, Essian was at Takis for as long as I could remember," she shook her head. "When I was nine was when he decided he'd trust me enough to accept a bond."

  "He was unbonded?"

  Brijade was quiet for a moment and Nahtan could tell her thoughts were far away. "He was my brother's," she said quietly. "When Deivon died, he went wild. Nobody could ride him and I guess some days you couldn't even get close to him. Jaron's father tried to take him back to their valley, but he wouldn't go. He'd break away and keep coming back to Takis. They figured he was looking for Deivon or something."

  "I didn't know, Brijade," Nahtan shook his head, his tone solemn. He understood now why losing him had been so hard on her. Essian hadn't just been a bonded horse to her, he'd been a last piece of her brother that she could hold onto. "I'm sorry."

  She rarely talked about her brother, so he knew very little about him. All he knew was that there had been a number of years between them in age and that he had been a young Mo'ani killed by church guards while she was still very young, leaving her the sole surviving member of her family. With her too young to take on running Takis, Lord Devayne had been appointed governor. It was during Brijade's tenth summer when she'd started looking through the keep for information about her parents that Devayne decided if she was old enough to want to know who they were, then she was old enough to start learning how to run her hold.

  She gave him a slight shrug. "When I was about seven, he started following me around the hold. He'd never get too close, but he'd stand and watch me. I just figured he could tell Deivon and I were related or something. One day I was outside the keep and this big yellowback snake came out of nowhere. I knew to hold still--that was just one of the things you grow up learning on the plains--but the closest Mo'ani to me where far enough away they couldn't hear me when I yelled for help. Next thing I know, Essian's stomping the hell out of this snake. Pretty soon he started responding to me and while he still wouldn't let anyone ride him, he'd let me pet him and occasionally feed him.

  "Jaron's father came by Takis again when I was about nine and was surprised at how he was acting with me, so he started teaching me how to bond to him. It took a little while for him to accept it, maybe eight or nine months, but he eventually did."

  "Have you ever been to their valley?" Nahtan asked her.

  "No reason to go," she shrugged. "I had Essian and all of my life has been the Mo'ani and Takis since then."

  "Maybe you could go when you're ready for a new horse," he suggested. "I'm sure Jerai would be okay with it."

  "We've always trusted them to be able to match horses to riders for the best bonds," Brijade said. "If they want to bring me another one, then I'll trust them to find the right one for me."

  "You're being stubborn."

  "Yeah, I do that," she shrugged. "But the Dweller's horses are gifts, they're under no obligation to share them with us like they do. They could just as easily have been selling them to whoever wanted to pay for them all these years."

  Nahtan paused, her words hitting him. Yet one more thing he'd never stopped to realize. The alliance with the Dwellers had been made by Mo'ani decades before, but it had never required them to share anything but their cavalry skills when the time came for the Mo'ani to march on Herridon. The Dwellers had made the decision to share their horses and teach the Mo'ani how to bond to further strengthen his armies for generations before he'd even been born.

  "Now I did it," Brijade sighed. "I made you start thinking." She tossed a couple of small branches into the fire.

  "Yes," Nahtan said, wiping his skinning knife on a rag and sheathing it in his boot. "You did." He propped up his knees and rested his arms across them. He knew he could talk to Brijade about anything, but something told him the things he was realizing were outside of her ability to offer advice or help. He pushed himself to his feet and walked over to offer her a hand up. "I think I need to go for a walk and try to clear my head," he told her. "Thank you for telling me about Essian and your brother."

  Brijade accepted his hand and let him pull her up. "You know where to find me if you need me," she told him.

  "I do," he nodded. He leaned over to kiss her cheek then turned to walk out a ways from camp. He felt the need to talk to someone, and normally he'd talk to Bear. Yenene was the next obvious person, but he still had issues to resolve with her that he wasn't even close to trying to figure out yet. He wished Mo'ani were here, his calm guidance had always been a foundation when Nahtan had felt lost as a youth.

  He hadn't gone far outside the camp when a small fire caught his attention. Off near a small copse of trees, he could make out a single figure sitting next to it. He cautiously approached, not wanting to disturb whoever it was if they were wanting to be alone as well.

  The sound of his footsteps drew the figure’s attention and Lady Caya turned to see who was there. She stood and curtsied when she saw him.

  “Ye’re Majesty,” she greeted, sitting once more. “I hope my fire didn’t alarm ye.”

  Nahtan shook his head. “What are you doing out here?”

  She motioned for him to come join her. “Every so often I try to make my offerings to Halona away from all of the commotion and noise. I don’t think she pays much attention, but it helps me focus.”

  “I don’t want to interrupt,” Nahtan told her. “But I wouldn’t go any further outside camp unless you take Trey or Jedrik with you.”

  She smiled. “Trey already stands watch, m'lord,” she said, pointing further out. Nahtan could just make out a shadowed outline in the evening light.

  “I’ll leave you to your fire then,
” he bowed his head to her.

  “Ye’re heart seems heavy, Majesty,” she noted. “I would be happy to try to help if ye needed someone to talk to—or just listen.”

  Nahtan paused. Maybe talking to someone who was removed from everything might provide some direction. She wouldn’t have been friends with everyone he’d hurt, so she wouldn’t have prior biases to influence her thoughts. The only one he knew she’d become close to is Yenene.

  He sighed and came to sit down across from her.

  “Do you know anything of the prophecy about me?”

  She nodded her head. “It’s taught in Halona’s seminaries,” she said. “We’re all taught the prophecy, as well as who Mo’ani is, and those who are your strongest allies.”

  He nodded, not knowing why he hadn’t realized that. Halona had played a large part in writing the prophecy, so of course she was going to have it taught to her priests.

  “I didn’t know who I was until I was eighteen summers,” he said after a minute. "And then I found out who I was and I had all of these armies just handed to me and told to go take my throne. I never stopped to really understand what it all meant." He bowed his head, understanding Bear's words now. "Ke, Notaku, Brijade’s brother and parents, Rial's parents, Kile, Othon." He took a slow breath. "Rylen deposed his own father and threw Janec out of Garyn Hold just so he could ally it with Mo'ani. Kile and Adie gave up ever getting married or having a family because they both felt the prophecy was more important than what they'd have together." He exhaled, a heavy, painful feeling settling into his stomach.

  “I don’t know all of these names, Majesty—“

  “Please call me Nahtan,” he interrupted.

  She bowed her head to him. “I’m assuming at least some are people who died?”

  He nodded. “Tuketu was Bear’s brother and Notaku was his mother. Ke died when we took the BishopLord’s Manor outside the Mowik villages and his mother died when he was a boy. I was told she was the first person sacrificed on the altar there.” He frowned, each of their names adding to the heaviness in his stomach. “The Archbishop had Brijade’s brother and parents all killed. The only reason she survived was because she was only a child and still kept under guard in Takis Hold. Rial is the Lord of Valin Hold and both of his parents were killed by the BishopLord there when he was still very young.

  “Kile was the Lord of Olorun before Asher and he was Asher’s cousin. He’s the one who found me and brought me to Mo’ani. Adie is Mo'ani's granddaughter and she and Kile loved each other very much. Othon was the Lord of the Dwellers and died when they took one of the garrisons outside Herridon. Janec is Lord Garyn, but he was a church guard captain while his son supported the Mo’ani. Rylen led a group of Mo’ani to overthrow his father and run him out of Garyn Hold, then took control of it so he could ally it to Mo’ani.”

  He took a slow breath, each name adding more weight in his stomach.

  “The deaths weigh heavily on ye?”

  “There are things about me, Lady Caya,” he sighed. “That you don’t know—almost nobody does except for a select few friends.” He didn’t really want to explain to her where he’d come from. “But I’ll just say I wanted very much to learn to be a good person; to treat people with respect and learn to value life. Then Valry was taken from me, and I forgot all of that.” As he spoke, he found the words easier to say. Lady Caya’s presence was calming, and she was listening attentively to him but not giving any indication that she was judging him or disregarding anything he said.

  “I let the anger and hatred turn me into someone who was the opposite of what I wanted to be. I betrayed everyone closest to me and hurt and killed innocent people. Every sacrifice and choice that was made because of that prophecy and who I am became nothing to me.”

  “It’s a terrible thing to have lost ye’re daughter,” Lady Caya said. “And though I’ve never had a child of my own, I can imagine the heartbreak and loss ye’ve been feeling. I think any parent who loved their child would do whatever was in their ability to find them and bring them home safely.”

  “There were other ways,” Nahtan said. “Bear knew that, and tried so many times to show me. We’re taught something called Mo’ani’s Way when we train. Have you heard of it?”

  “I’ve heard some of ye’re men mention it,” she replied.

  “Mo’ani teaches us to value life, and to stand for those who can’t stand for themselves,” Nahtan explained. “The strong protect the innocent and weak. We’re taught that every life has meaning, and every death is given weight. We know we may die, but we go into battle because we believe Jensina and Halona will be there for us when we fall and our death would bring the Archbishop one step closer to defeat.” He was surprised how easily Mo’ani’s words were coming back to him now. It was like he’d just heard them. "We wear the red cloaks to represent Jensina's Symbols, hoping they'll help protect us and to remind us to show compassion and bear witness. Nahtan--" he paused. "I'm marked with her symbol for 'witness'." He hadn't thought of the scars on his back for some time either, or the three that connected, forming the symbol. "We take watch all hours, guarding against those who would do us harm. When one of us falls, another stands in their place until the battle is ended. We weather the thunder, mend the fence and reap the grain. We seek truth and trust the gods to show us the path to victory." He took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly. It had been years since he'd thought about everything Mo'ani had taught them.

  Lady Caya listened while he spoke, then slowly nodded her head. "I trust ye follow Jensina ye'reself?" she asked.

  Her question brought his thoughts back to the present. He'd never really considered one god to be more important than another.

  "I--I don't really follow just one of them," he said. "I think they all have their place and can benefit a person."

  Her expression grew curious at his answer. "My apologies, I just assumed where she considers ye her son that ye followed her."

  "I try to make it a point to offer her wildflowers when I can," he shrugged. "Because I was told once that she likes those. I don't know if that counts as favoriting her or not."

  Lady Caya smiled. "I've heard the same," she nodded. "What do ye offer the others?"

  "I usually offer Halona something I have that's important to me," he said. "The same with Zakris."

  "I've been told Halona is partial to fresh grain," Lady Caya said. "And Zakris would rather see something given in his name to one who is without rather than sent in offering to him."

  "I'll keep that in mind," Nahtan promised. He studied her for a moment, already feeling more at ease with himself and his thoughts quieter. "Everything I did betrayed all of the things Mo'ani taught me. It cost lives that can never be replaced and destroyed things that can never be rebuilt. How can I be what so many people believed in now?"

  "Those are complex problems, Nahtan," she said. "And there are no simple answers." She paused. "Would you like to know why I chose to follow Halona?"

  "Why?"

  "Everyone believes Halona to be unforgiving and her fates to be binding," Lady Caya explained. "But her fates provide many paths for each person. The only moments that are set are birth and death. The paths ye walk between the two can be altered hundreds of times through ye're life if need be. She may have written things for ye to do through ye're life, but the roads ye take to get to those things can be many. She allows us the chance to grow as we fulfill our fates."

  Nahtan considered what she said. "So I could have decided not to be king?"

  Lady Caya chuckled. "Fate and prophecy are two entirely different things," she told him. "I'm afraid ye were bound to that no matter what ye did."

  "I could hope," he sighed.

  "Do ye not like being king?"

  "I don't think I deserve to be king."

  Lady Caya looked at him for a long moment and he could tell she was considering what to say next. "It seems to me," she finally spoke. "That ye walked a path through a tempest."

  "That's
one way of putting it," Nahtan nodded.

  "Do storms not also weather away the old to reveal the foundation beneath?"

  Nahtan paused as he considered that. He still had his foundation, proven by how easily Mo'ani's words had come back to him.

  "How do I make amends for what I've done, though?"

  "Have any asked?"

  "No," Nahtan replied.

  "So the need for remedy is only within ye'reself?"

  "There are some I've wronged, who may not ever say it, but I know it's owed." He met her gaze. "And I owe it to my own conscience."

  Lady Caya nodded. "Only ye can decide what those things are worth," she said. "But I believe ye've found ye're way out of the storm and back to ye're path. Any man who would think he deserved to be king would serve no one but himself. If these that ye've wronged are true to ye, Nahtan, then they'll meet ye on that path and then ye can take what steps ye feel are necessary to right the wrongs ye did them." She searched his face, he guessed she was trying to see if what she said was making sense. "Halona's fates are sometimes written to teach one the lessons they need to grow. Our lives aren't always meant to be easy, and she knows that. Ye said ye wanted to become a better person. Isn't it possible that for ye to become that person, first ye had to face the worst ye could be?"

  Nahtan stared at her. Could Halona have possibly guessed what lurked inside him and accounted for that in the fate she wrote for him? She'd have had no way of knowing how it was going to play out, and if that were the case, she'd taken a very large risk.

  "Does Halona ever make mistakes?" he asked.

  "If she does, she's not mentioned any to me," Lady Caya chuckled. "I'm not sure any of the gods would actually admit it if they did, though," she winked at him.

  "Good point," he nodded. He sighed and stood up. "I've kept you later than you intended to be here, I'm sure," he said. "But I appreciate you listening."