The Mad Giant (Shioni of Sheba Book 3)

by Marc Secchia

  “At once, your royal tininess.”

  “And just you step lively there!”

  “Found anything?” Annakiya turned a frown upon Shioni. “And just you lie down. Now! No, not on your pallet! On my bed, you silly duck. That’s an order.”

  Annakiya gave her a sharp look as Shioni mumbled an unhappy response. Too many orders! But Zi was prattling away about the inscription they had taken from the stele, and what she had discovered by checking every seventh letter in the section of scroll she had been examining. The Princess was quickly distracted.

  Soon bored of lying on the bed listening to their animated discussion about characters, frequencies, codes and keys, Shioni gazed out of the window. A tiny sparrowhawk was surveying the castle from atop the north battlement. She was a fierce little creature–much tinier than the fish eagle, but every bit as much the hunter. She pitied any mouse found scuttling about the gardens or between the huge stones that made up the walls. Shioni pursed her lips, wondering how she had known it was female? The bird gazed unblinkingly into her window, as if aware of her regard.

  Shioni focussed intently, and breathed, ‘Come here, little one.’

  Goodness! The bird opened its wings and swooped in a low, shallow dive straight across the courtyard. Before Shioni could even think about retreating across the bed, the sparrowhawk had fluttered to a neat landing on the bedpost nearest her!

  Annakiya and Azurelle were too engrossed in their discussion to notice the sudden rush of air. Shioni hoped the sparrowhawk would not turn on the Fiuri–she was the size of a large mouse, after all, and might just be considered dinner. But instead, the bird cocked its head and gazed keenly at her from one yellow eye.

  “I do wish I had food for you,” said Shioni. “What did you want?”

  For a second, as she concentrated deeply, it seemed she was inside a storm: the hunger of an empty belly mixed with fear of humans; talons and beak ready to strike; the walls looming like monsters ready to crush a creature used to the endless expanse of the skies…

  There was a gasp nearby. With a piercing shriek, the sparrowhawk darted out of the window and, beating its wings furiously, shot up into the heavens.

  Shioni turned to see Annakiya and Zi staring at her–and her friend Tensi, trapped in the doorway with surprise written clearly in her stance and expression.

  “What was that about?” asked the Princess.

  Tensi was cradling a large clay mug brimming with one of Mama’s medicinal brews, in both hands. Shioni could smell it right across the room. Leaping hyenas! Shioni could smell it right across the room. She realised she had not told Tensi about her rapport with animals–but then, she would have heard the gossip, wouldn’t she?

  Tensi was the warrior Tariku’s daughter, the sister of Gion, whom Shioni had recently been paired with a number of times in warrior training. She and Tensi had in common a love of animals. But speaking to them was almost certainly going too far. Shioni was unsure about how Tariku felt about her skills, even though he knew her well enough since they had travelled into the mountains to rescue the King’s horse.

  Tensi was also a herbalist after Mama Nomuula’s heart. Since her miraculous turnaround of Thunder’s condition, Shioni thought her capable of almost anything.

  “Well?” Annakiya pressed.

  “I think it was meant to be a message from Anbessa,” she said, quietly. “But you scared her away.”

  Tensi’s eyes became perfectly round.

  Then there came a no-nonsense rap at the doorpost.

  Chapter 11: Shuba’s Cure

  Annakiya called, “Enter!”

  Shuba swept into Princess Annakiya’s room with her customary aplomb. She loved a dramatic entrance, did Shuba. Her lean, black-robed frame was perfectly suited to lurking in shadowy places and she took a ghoulish delight in bursting out to scare people–at least, Shioni imagined so.

  The Kwegu scholar took one look at Shioni, tucked up in the Princess’ bed, let her scarified eyebrows crawl towards her hairline as if to indicate her disapproval, and turned to Annakiya. “At last, they’ve found something!” she cried.

  “Who?”

  “My acolytes in Ma’rib. I must have permission to travel at once!”

  Seldom had Shioni seen Shuba so excited. The Kwegu Ascetic was usually coolly rational, but she was waving a message scroll about as though it were a traditional fly-whisk and she wanted to swat someone with it.

  Annakiya asked, “Is it about a cure for Father?”

  “I’m hopeful,” said Shuba, hopping from one foot to the other. “The source is ancient… a papyrus crumbling with age, possibly from the Library of Alexandria itself! I am required to preserve the remains and discern its secrets.”

  “I will authorise your travel and expenses at once. And the fastest ship. And… whatever else you need.”

  The Princess appeared to be trying for calm, but she fumbled for a reed pen and cast about aimlessly for a blank message scroll embossed with the royal seal of West Sheba. When Shioni made to get up to help a chorus of scolding sent her sulking back between the sheets. As Annakiya wrote quickly, biting her lip, Shuba and Zi discussed the stele and what they had discovered so far.

  Tensi took the opportunity to press the mug of medicine upon Shioni. “Mama’s orders. You’re to drink up.”

  “Phew. Get a whiff of that!”

  “I added honey,” she added testily. “Twice what Mama would put in. So don’t you sniff at my work.”

  “I’m not very thirsty…”

  “Mama said you’d be a bad patient,” Tensi giggled behind her hand. It was a common belief that to show teeth when smiling or laughing was to look like a braying donkey. “She said to tell you she will come and sit on you if you don’t behave. Now stop being a monkey and let me change the dressing on your foot too.”

  Shioni groaned, “Now you sound just like Mama.” But she sipped carefully. “Mmm–that is a lot of honey. Yum!”

  “You don’t want to know what the Hakim Isoke said.”

  “She’s the most spoiled slave-girl in all of West Sheba,” Shuba said, blowing carefully on the ink signature to dry it in preparation for sealing. The girls, startled by her flawless imitation of Isoke’s nasal tones, broke into fits of giggles. Shuba’s scarred, severe face creased into a smile as rare as an anteater with an aversion to ants. “Shioni, the look of horror on your face when I mentioned my acolytes... no, there aren’t more of me, girl. But the Ascetic community boasts over two hundred scholars from my people alone. It is a point of Kwegu pride. Now, I will ride as the wind.”

  Shuba took three steps across the room, and then whirled in the doorway. Her bony forefinger speared out at Shioni. “Mind what you’re doing with your powers, girl! Such a powerful summoning! I understand you were drowning, but you could have killed the old elephant!”

  And with that chilling admonition, she rushed away like a storm hurrying off into the distance to find the right place to drop its fill of hailstones and lightning.

  Tiny feet pattered across the desk. With a hop and a skip, Azurelle deftly leaped the gap between the desk and the bed. She kissed Shioni’s cheek and twiddled her hair between her fingers. “Don’t you listen to that toothless old lioness.”

  “She means well,” Annakiya added, putting down her reed pen with a sigh. She rubbed her temples. “She’s as scary as a hyena with the mange, but well-meaning.”

  “Magic can be arbitrary. And awfully dangerous.” Zi struck a pose on the pillow. “Just look at what happened to oh-most-beauteous me.”

  “If she meant Dusky–Dusky is fine,” Tensi said stoutly. “Bruised, but fine.” But her eyes were full of unspoken questions that Shioni would rather not have answered.

  Shioni said softly, “Dusky saved my life.”

  “Ew, your foot is a mess!” exclaimed the Fiuri, holding her nose.

  “Rather that, Zi, than–you know. And, I must add, you’ve lost not an ounce of your beauty. Do you think Shuba can bring the King ou
t of his coma?”

  “You do make me laugh, Shioni,” chuckled Annakiya, losing her serious expression. “Thoughts blowing with the winds as always. You just managed three corners of the world in one breath.”

  The Fiuri put in, “About my beauty…”

  “Zi.” Shioni touched her friend’s grass-green tresses with a gentle fingertip. “Riddle me this: how is it that a Fiuri with a name like Azurelle–you know, azure, as in the colour of the sunlit sky–comes to have green hair and eyes? And why haven’t you ever spoken about your life back in the Fiuri realms? Don’t you want to return? Is it really better for you here without your magic? Without the use of your wings?”

  “Don’t I want to go back?” Zi echoed, looking so deflated that Shioni felt terrible. “Well–”

  “Shioni!”

  Zi’s head was bowed low, but she held up both hands to forestall the Princess’ indignant interruption. “No, no, Annakiya. She has every right to question me. It’s difficult. I have wanted to tell you more, much more… but I just haven’t found the right moment. You’ve been such good friends. I didn’t want to spoil things. And green is common! A colour as common as mud!”

  The only sound in the room was water dripping as Tensi cleaned Shioni’s wounded foot with a cloth. Every eye was riveted on the Fiuri.

  “I wasn’t very nice before,” said Zi in a small voice. “I was bullied–a lot–when I was young. That was part of the reason I joined the rebellion when Tazaka, my clan father and leader of all the Greens, rose up against the Fiuri King. I wanted nothing but revenge. I would have done anything to get it. I was ruthless and mean and cruel and... I did many things I regret now. Tazaka betrayed me to the witch. She needed Fiuri magic. I don’t know what he received in return.”

  “So you’re a Green?”

  In bitter tones, Zi said, “In all but name. Somehow, at the Naming Ceremony after my chrysalis stage, when I came into my Colour… well, they made a mistake. Stupid elders! Or it was a sick joke! But I wasn’t laughing. And when it turned out I was just an ordinary Green, that’s when people began to tease me and I lost all of my friends.”

  “You were a chrysalis?” the Princess chimed in. “As in, you were a caterpillar before?”

  “Well it’s the closest description I can find that you’d understand, Miss Smarty-Scrolls,” sniffed the Fiuri. “A caterpillar made of pure crystal.”

  Annakiya looked as though she desperately wanted to roll about on the floor laughing, but was afraid of hurting Zi’s feelings. “So then, who are the Azures?”

  “Only the highest, noblest and most mysterious of the Blue clans. That’s what makes my name such a horrid, horrid… well, anyway, now you know why I don’t want to go back.” Zi folded her arms tightly across her chest. “And I don’t want to hear any jokes about caterpillars! Or butterflies either.”

  “Well, we might only be ignorant humans,” Tensi put in unexpectedly, “but to us you’re exceptional.”

  “Exceptionally beautiful,” Shioni corrected.

  “Our butterflies would weep in a jealous rage if they saw you,” said Annakiya. “They would swoon and gnash their… well, they don’t have teeth, do they? Anyway, despite Shioni’s brash questions, there’s no need to tell us anything if you don’t want to.”

  “I’m sorry I asked.”

  “I will tell you everything, I promise. Just not right now.”

  And Zi made for herself a nest of Shioni’s hair and hid in there. She could feel the Fiuri trembling.

  Chapter 12: How do you Measure a Giant?

  With her dagger held ready in her right hand, Shioni slipped into the corridor. Was that a slight scratching she had heard? A rustle of clothing? Her heart pulsed anxiously in her ears, making her wonder if she had heard right.

  Just that afternoon, she and a troop of Elites had endured a lesson from General Getu about the methods and dangers of assassins. Now her imagination was filled with shadowy figures sneaking about in the dark of night. A tiny sound in the corridor outside the Princess’ bedroom had been enough to sting her into panicked wakefulness.

  Had she been dreaming about Talaku stealing goats? Maybe she’d caught more sun that afternoon than she thought. Shioni touched the back of her hand to her forehead. Too hot? Did she need more of Mama’s healing potion? Ridiculous dream! She had to focus…

  Brilliant bars of moonlight slanted across her path. Tonight was full moon. Mama had told the slaves a story about the witch Kalcha… there! What was that? Knees slightly bent, her weight balanced on the balls of her feet, she stole forward. Scabby hyenas take the right foot, which still had to be dragged behind her and set down without the slightest jolt or the pain would stab daggers into her ankle. Her ears strained to their utmost. The dagger rose, searching. Dust swirled languidly in the moonbeams, highlighting the currents of air playing through the corridor–so as the shadow lurched forward, she was prepared. But not for what she saw: Talaku’s face. Low, near the floor. Twisted, snarling, the tic on his cheek pulsing like an angry snake coiling to strike. His eyes shone eerily in the moonlight, reminding her of lamps lit from the inside, just as Kalcha’s had been in the flush of her madness and attack on Castle Hiwot.

  Never had Shioni been so aware of the working of the dragon venom in Talaku’s huge frame. Or was this magic? Or were the two one and the same thing?

  Thoughts raced through her mind: it was a common mistake to believe that lions roar before pouncing on their prey. The hunt is silent, roaring usually reserved for a full belly after a meal, when the lion declares its kingship with a mighty thundering that shakes the African night. Talaku did not announce himself with a roar. His rush was uncannily silent.

  Shioni stayed her counter strike for fear of harming him–if she could have.

  A massive paw engulfed her throat. She was slammed bodily against the wall, and then hoisted off her feet, up, up, right up near the ceiling, her legs dangling haplessly in the air. She clutched his wrist but it was like grappling with a tree-branch or the haft of a spear. To fight his strength was to battle a raging river. She sensed hunger, pain, a terrible craving, the need to blindly lash out at whatever tormented him. His breath in her face smelled strange, suggesting burnt anise with a sour undertone of lime.

  Holding her pinned by her neck with his left hand, Talaku drew back his right fist to strike.

  “Friend!” Shioni wheezed. She felt the sound leave her throat, at the same time as an urgent message surged out of her mind–a jumble of feelings frantic to assure him of who she was, that she presented no threat, that he was safe and well...

  Talaku shook his shaggy head as though he had a wasp buzzing in his ear canal. “Huh?” His fist wavered. Then the muscles of his cheek tightened again. “Why not kill? You heard! You came for me!”

  “Of course I did,” Shioni managed to whisper around the iron grip upon her throat. “I’m your friend, aren’t I?”

  She was trying to focus on one feeling, to do what she had done with the sparrowhawk–but it was different trying to concentrate when dangling by her neck faced by a crazed giant. My word, he had to bend down to fit into the corridor! He could no longer stand upright indoors!

  As if sensing her thoughts, Talaku moaned, “It hurts! Never stops–it’s tearing me apart! Oh God! The stretching! The burning! Make it stop… can’t you make it stop?”

  “Why don’t you put me down?”

  “The pain’s like a hundred men pulling me in every direction! I’m frightened, can’t you see?” he demanded. His fingers tightened on her neck as he snarled right in her face, “Don’t you tell anyone! Now you know, I’ll have to kill you.”

  Shioni stared at the tic creeping up his cheek, as if an animal were crawling underneath his skin, and shuddered. But wasn’t he holding back? He was no killer. It just wasn’t in him. That said, if he didn’t let up she wouldn’t have any breath left in her lungs either! Her neck might as well have been locked in a carpenter’s vice. His fingers were stopping her blood. She co
uld feel veins bulging in her forehead, and her eyeballs were aching from the pressure as though they intended to pop out any moment.

  She heard herself rasp, “How tall are you now, Talaku? We should measure you again. I’ll bet you’ve grown.”

  His face screwed itself up alarmingly, registering flashes of indignation, confusion, terror, and an almighty wrath. And then, just as suddenly, he smiled a winning smile. “Right. You’re right.” He set her down on her feet, which felt remarkably good at that point. Right along with being able to soothe her burning lungs with cool, sweet air. “But you can’t use the Princess’ door any more. And anyhow, how were you planning to measure me? You couldn’t reach… two of you couldn’t!”

  “We were way above the lintel anyway.”

  “But we measured last week! Didn’t we?” He punched her shoulder. “Just after you cheated in our race.”

  Ouch! Shioni would rather have been kicked by a horse. “You slowed down.”

  Talaku patted the ceiling as though assuring it he meant no harm. “Don’t you see? I’ve outgrown this place. It’ll have to be outside next time.”

  “Next time.”

  Now he reached down to ruffle her hair. “I need more friends like you.” Fancy rumpling her hair as though she was a favourite dog! Shioni smoothed her hair crossly. “I must leave now.”

  Giant Talaku pushed past her.

  She stared after him. Just look at his hunched-over walk to avoid scraping his head, his hand tapping the stone ceiling she could not have jumped up to reach, the sideways shuffle to squeeze his shoulders between the doorposts! He was growing faster and faster. She had no need of measurements to prove it, only the evidence supplied by her own eyes.

  Incredible. The dagger slumped to her side.

  Surely no man was meant to be his size? There was a story about Goliath of Gath, she remembered, the giant son of the Anakim who had been defeated by David’s slingshot. David had later become the King of Israel. She knew the story because the Sheban Kings proudly traced their descent from King Solomon, David’s son, and the Queen of Sheba who had famously visited him. The Queen’s son by Solomon was the legendary Menelik, foremost of the great line of Sheban royalty. How tall had Goliath been in the story, she wondered? Tall enough and big enough to frighten the entire Israelite army, as surely as hyenas stank and loved to yip at the moon. She should ask Annakiya. She’d know.