by Kyrja
“I didn’t say it was,” Yakuza replied, a frown on his face.
“Is it important that he’s there?” Vory asked, unable to keep her impatience in check.
“Yes,” Yakuza nodded slowly, crossing his arms.
“What is the most important thing for us to know about this place?” Ceirat asked, changing tactics.
“Jikangai is outside of the Song,” he replied, although he seemed to be bored of their questions.
“What question do you want us to ask?” Gaku stepped closer to his grandson, who didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by his grandfather’s rising ire.
“Now that is the best question, ever!” Yakuza beamed, looking from one to the other. He even seemed to chuckle.
“You should ask me how to stop time,” he told them.
“All right,” Ceirat frowned. “How do we stop time?”
“You must kill the Earth Goddess,” he replied, laughing.
Gaku sighed. “I think we have asked enough questions for now. Tell us what you want us to do to travel to this Jikangai place.”
Instead of answering, though, Honsa saw the boy open his mouth and heard him start to sing a single note. It was the loveliest thing he’d ever heard, but he wasn’t able to keep his eyes open. He knew he was being put under a spell of some sort. Yakuza was using magic on all of them. He felt his eyes close without willing it, and his body sagged, but he didn’t fall down. Honsa felt his mind turning fuzzy and thought he really should lay down.
“Sing with me ‘Yapa,” he heard the boy say. At least, that’s what he thought he said. The next thing Honsa knew, another note was added to the sound surrounding him. A deeper note. One that was terribly sad. And then he knew no more.
Chapter Nineteen – Qoraa’s Journal
“I will not hear of it!” Rajesh slammed his fist on the table in front of him. “I told Jahari that when I spoke with her earlier. I will not help you to die for nothing. The three of you came here for nothing. You should return to Nohoyo immediately.”
Sakari stole a glance at Kraas, expecting her to roll her eyes at her. Instead, she wore had a stunned look on her face. It was, perhaps, the first time she had ever seen her without some kind of caustic retort on her lips. She rarely allowed anyone to tell her what to do, or what not to do, and yet here she was, looking as if she was frightened. It made her feel very, very uncomfortable.
“Fine!” Zaria shouted back at him, “Then we will find a way to do it without you!”
“Who are you to question me?” Rajesh leaned over the table, a snarl on his face.
“Zaria!” she snapped back. “I have lived the whole of my life in slavery to a god just like you. I murdered hundreds of people because that is what I was told I had to do, and the only “she emphasized the word, “one who ever received any good from that evil was the god himself. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?” she asked, breathing heavily. “His name was Sov! And in case you haven’t noticed, he’s no longer here. So unless you want to kill me, you can just get out of the way, you good-for-nothing, weak-willed bastard!” Purposefully spitting on the floor to show her contempt, she stood there, her hands curled into fists at her sides, her chest heaving, a look of challenge seared across her face.
“Zaria!” Kraas shouted, turning to her to calm her down, Sakari was sure. Another thing she had never seen Kraas do. What was with her?
“What are you afraid of, Rajesh? “ Sakari asked him, frowning. “Why are you refusing to help? What has changed? You have been nothing but helpful since you first revealed yourself after Denit became the Sun Goddess. What is going on?”
With a wordless cry of anger, he slammed both hands on the table again, then turned his back on them.
“Try not to be too hard on him,” a voice sounded behind the three women as Rhian came into the room. She was almost unrecognizable from the last time Sakari had seen her. Then, she had been in simple black robes, with her hair down. Now, she looked more like she had when she’d been masquerading as the Emperor. Yes, Sakari decided, she looked every bit the Empress she claimed to be. Her heavy robes were ornately decorated in a brilliant display of rich color, her hair was piled into an amazing array of braids and flowing locks designed to make her look taller and powerful. Sakari had never seen anyone look powerful just because of the clothes and hair they wore, but the way Rhian looked was truly the embodiment of power. She almost felt herself bowing before her – she was from Bila after all, and didn’t that make Rhian her Empress? Better to err on the side of overt courtesy, she decided, as she bowed her head and started to bend at the waist.
“Don’t do that Sakari, we are old friends by now,” Rhian told her with a smile as she came to embrace her. She embraced Kraas and Zaria too, offering them refreshments, which everyone declined. Sakari knew everyone was too upset to sit politely sipping tea, but was grateful to Rhian for helping to break the tension in the room.
“If you have come for help in freeing Giya from Jikangai,” Rhian told them, “then surely you must have heard the tale of how the tortoise came to walk the inner circle, and who she is.”
“Yes,” Sakari nodded. “Giya’s apprentice explained everything to us before we left Nohoyo.” Rhian smiled at her in a way which made Sakari question whether she really knew everything she should.
“Then, perhaps,” she paused for emphasis, “you understand why Rajesh is so upset. At least, perhaps,” again, she added the emphasis, “a little, yes?”
“No,” Sakari admitted, confused. “I mean, I would understand better why you might be upset, since … “ she paused, uncertain how to tell her if she didn’t already know.
“Since the Emperor isn’t my father?” she asked, smiling.
“Well … I …” Sakari stuttered, not knowing what to say.
“That part of what Eruitt told you is true,” Rhian told them, still smiling. “My mother was an amazing woman, despite all the abuse she suffered at the hands of my “father.” She knew he would never be faithful to her. He had no reason to be, he was the Emperor and no one could tell him no.” Looking directly at Sakari, she added, “Not even me.”
Sakari heard her own intake of breath echoed by Kraas and Zaria at the realization of what Rhian had just told them.
“My mother was responsible for making sure no one poisoned his meals, and so it was easy for her to ensure that he would never father children, and that I would never have to carry the shame of bearing his children either. She may not have poisoned him, but she was an accomplished herbalist who taught me her craft before she was taken from me,” Rhian offered them a gentle smile.
“Then how can you claim to be the Empress?” Kraas finally spoke up.
“Oh, he never knew,” Rhian replied. “By the time my mother finally gave him a child, he was old, with no other heirs, so named me as soon as I was born. Of course, that’s why he turned his attentions to me as soon as he could – he was still looking for another heir. He never did like me.”
“That doesn’t tell us why Rajesh won’t help us,” Zaria pointed out, having calmed down. Sakari could still see the fire in her eyes though. It was the first time she had ever seen her act out with such passion and courage. Especially to someone who was obviously in authority.
“The tortoise was my mother,” Rajesh answered quietly, having turned around to face them again.
“You’re the one whose throat she sliced?” Sakari was shocked.
“I was only a few days old when Lumas demanded my life in exchange for peace throughout Bila,” Rajesh explained. “I will never know – no one will ever know – if she might have retained her sanity if I had truly been sacrificed for that hard-won peace. Instead, Lumas played a trick on my mother.”
“He was born a god,” Rhian told them. “Deiserin couldn’t have killed him. It was cruel of Lumas to have pretended otherwise.”
“Cruel or not, she still raised you,” Zaria interjected. “Why wasn’t that enough? Why did she have to steal other peoples’ children?�
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“I grew up in her household, yes,” Rajesh agreed. “But she never looked at me, ever again. She took the others because she reasoned that if any of her other children were taken from her, it wouldn’t matter as much. She wasn’t willing to love again. And especially not me. I may as well have died for all that my mother acknowledged me. By the time I turned ten, Lumas had come to collect me so that I could live the rest of my very long life as Giya’s Ahadi, as invisible to everyone else as I had always been to my mother, except for the first three days of my life.”
“Then what difference does it make to you if we stop her, or get Giya out of Jikangai, or if we even save your mother?” Zaria persisted.
“She’s just like you, Sakari,” Rajesh said looking at her.
“Like me?” she asked, confused. “Why would you say that?”
“Because she never gives up. She keeps pushing past all boundaries, insistent that she is right, even when she’s not.” Sakari couldn’t tell if Rajesh was speaking out of admiration, or annoyance.
“I don’t see that as a reason to complain,” she replied, uncertain what his point was.
“I’ve known you much longer than you even know,” Rajesh sighed, his shoulders slumping. “We didn’t all watch Giya every moment of every day and night, you know. We Ahadi. We took turns. There was no reason for all of us to follow her every step, and it was often important to travel to different parts of the world to see how other matters were developing. Things which might harm Giya if left unchecked,” he explained. “You were one very important “matter” to me.”
“Why me?” Sakari asked, feeling herself frown.
“Kaya has always been important to Bila, and you were the one who was going to bring him back. I’d always known you would be involved. Oh yes,” he said waving his hand, “I know it was Sahil who went to look for him, but it was you who made it all possible.”
“I don’t know what to say,” she replied, dumbfounded.
“I made sure you were able to escape the night you left to find Sahil. I couldn’t believe you waited so long to go after him,” he told her.
Sakari suddenly understood why Kraas kept looking at him with such fear. “And you made sure Kraas didn’t die either,” she announced with conviction and a huge smile on her face.
“She has only just realized I was the one who kept her from harm,” Rajesh said, looking at Kraas. To Sakari’s surprise, Kraas was actually blushing! And then she realized it was because she was embarrassed by the fact that she had been “saved” by someone instead of having done it herself, and now her “weakness” was exposed for everyone else to see. Oh Kraas!
“I was willing to die to get you past the border,” Kraas said in a quiet voice.
“And she would have,” Rajesh echoed. “She was very brave. And, like you,” he continued, looking back to Sakari, “often very stupid. ” He paused. “Just like what you want to do now.” He held up a hand for silence when they all started to protest.
“I have tried everything within my power to stop my mother … the tortoise … whatever you may choose to call her. I cannot think of a worse fate than to be forever trapped the way she is. She has suffered enough. If I thought you had a real chance of success, I would help you. But I will not help you die for a cause that cannot be rectified. You cannot enter Jikangai alive. It isn’t possible.”
“What about the Second Circle Jahari and Eruitt told us about?” Zaria asked. “When you say we can’t get into “Jikangai” unless we’re dead, do you mean both circles, or just the inner circle, where your mother is?”
“Yes,” Sakari had thought both circles were included, but maybe not. “Do you know?”
“Hmmm … “ Rhian spoke up, “It looks as though you may have provided a new piece to the puzzle, one our Lord Rajesh hadn’t yet considered.”
“Eruitt said Giya told him your father stayed in the Second Circle for hundreds of years,” Kraas put in. “He wasn’t a god, was he?”
“He wasn’t my true father, no,” Rajesh replied. “Lumas made me wholly from herself.”
“Like she made Giya?” Sakari gasped.
But Rajesh just shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I never thought about it that way. I just knew who my mother was, and never asked about my father. I mean, Zemer was there when I was a boy, but I never called him “father,” the way the others did. I knew he wasn’t really my father, but I never thought to ask.”
“You never asked about your father?” Zaria sounded like she was angry again. “That’s all I heard about all my life!” she shouted. “How Sov was father to us all. We know he was Giya’s true father. And Denit’s too. Was he yours?” she wanted to know.
“What’s important,” Sakari interrupted, “is whether or not we can get into the Second Circle. We were told Lumas allowed your father to stay in the Second Circle for hundreds of years, and Lumas is gone now. So maybe we have a chance if we can get there. I’m willing to take the chance, aren’t you?” she looked at Rajesh.
“I should have already been dead,” Kraas echoed. “I’ll go too.”
“The two of you are not going somewhere without me!” Zaria put in, smiling.
“But first, you have to get the Emperor,” Rhian reminded them, as they all heard the doors to the room open behind them.
“No you do not,” Sahil walked into the room shaking a piece of paper in front of him. As the doors closed, Sakari caught a glimpse of guards outside the room and was reminded yet again that Rhian was more than just her new friend. She was also a very powerful woman in her own right – regardless of whether she had the right “blood” or lineage, or not.
“It gladdens my heart to see you, Tulki,” he said, looking at Sakari with a smile, using his secret name for her from a language long-dead. It was her signal that what he was about to say or do was important.
“What is that?” Rajesh pointed at the paper in Sahil’s hand.
“It is evidence of the fact that Emperor Eazim is not, after all, the last of Binti’s line,” he told them, looking distraught in Sakari’s eyes.
“But the Emperor has had no other children. I’m sure of it,” Rhian protested.
“It wouldn’t matter if he had,” Sahil shook his head, frowning. “He is not of Binti’s lineage at all.”
Sakari felt a shock go through the room at Sahil’s news. He held up his hands, asking them to all let him speak.
“Empress Deiserin and her husband, Zemer, stole three children from other parents after she thought she had killed our fine Lord Rajesh here. Everyone in this room knows that,” Sahil told them, “although I would be willing to wager that no others recall this bit of ancient history. Those three children were named Daiti, a son, then the two daughters, Ladakee, and Binti.”
“How do you know this?” Rajesh asked, his face a mask of disbelief. “I haven’t heard those names in hundreds of years. Maybe longer!”
Sahil chuckled, “The one thing, it seems, that – besides the fear of magic - all of our leaders throughout history, regardless of their various titles, have had in common was their love of recorded history. Our libraries are overflowing with odd bits and pieces of everything from recipes, to military training schedules, and include a good many personal journals from private citizens. Including one from the healer who treated Kweli – the niece who escaped the Binti’s rage when she killed everyone else in her family. Kweli was Daiti’s daughter by the way, the son.”
“But …” Rhian tried to interrupt.
“Uh uh uh …” Sahil told her. “There’s more. This woman, her name was Qoraa, was so infuriated by what Binti had done that she swore an oath to get revenge for Kweli.” Sakari could see that Sahil was excited by his discovery. She wasn’t sure when the last time was she’d seen him so passionate about something.
“She found a way to get invited into Binti’s household – it’s all in her journals – and two years later, when Binti had her first child, Qoraa was there to help bring the child into the world. Rem
ember,” he said, “she was a healer. She switched the newborn daughter for another child!”
“That means …” Sakari started to say.
“Yes!” Sahil shouted, “Binti’s true line was never recorded! Nobody knows what happened to Binti’s true daughter, so the Emperor who rules the Empire of Bila is not of Binti’s blood! This,” he said, waving the paper in front of him, “is Qoraa’s confession, as she calls it. She recorded it, because she wanted someone to know that she had avenged the death of the Empress Deiserin’s children, Daiti, and Ladakee.”
“I’m not sure why you’re so excited,” Zaria said, frowning. “If we don’t know who the direct descent from Binti is, then we can’t very well take them with us, now can we?”
“No,” Rajesh answered. “But I am the only living direct descent from Deiserin herself. Perhaps that will be enough.”
“No!” Rhian hissed. “We need you here, in Bila!”
“You just said you couldn’t imagine a worst fate than what your mother endures,” Sakari protested.
“And that is the only way to release her … the tortoise … your mother,” Zaria agreed.
“The only way we know of,” Sakari cut in, thinking. “Nobody has tried to figure this out for … what… hundreds of years? And now that we are, we’re finding out that what we thought was the truth isn’t.”
“So maybe there’s a different answer than replacing the Empress with Lord Rajesh,” Kraas agreed.
“We’ll never know unless we …” Sakari started to say, but was interrupted by a disturbance outside the doors to the room. Then the doors flew into the room, breaking a window and nearly decapitating Sahil.
“Empress!” a woman ran into the room, and Sakari recognized her as being Aidena, from the City by the Sea, who had been in Nohoyo with the rest of them when Denit had become the Sun Goddess. Of course, they’d had plenty of personal interactions before all of that had happened. The first time she’d met her, Aidena had bested her by using Air to hold her to the ground. She found herself delighted to see her again, but also felt Zaria looking at her in a way that she knew the other woman was watching to see if she was attracted to Aidena. She almost chuckled, relishing the complicated life she lived.
