The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

by N. K. Jemisin

  That suits you better, said the woman, giving a solemn nod at my stare. Unthinking, I put the knife into its sheath at the small of my back, though it should no longer have fit. It did; the sheath had changed, too.

  So, Zhakka, you like her. Sieh leaned against me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his head on my breast. Immortal or not, there was such innocence in the way he did it that I did not push him away. I put my arm around him without thinking, and he uttered a deep, contented sigh.

  Yes, said the woman without prevarication. She leaned forward, peering into Nahadoths face. Father?

  I did not jump, not with Sieh leaning against me, but he felt me stiffen. Shhh, he said, rubbing my back. That touch was not quite childlike enough to be truly soothing. A moment later, Nahadoth stirred.

  Youre back, said Sieh, straightening with a bright smile. I took that opportunity to step away from Nahadoth. Sieh caught my hand quickly, all earnestness. Its all right, Yeine. Hes different now. Youre safe.

  She will not believe you, said Nahadoth. He sounded like a man waking from a deep sleep. She will not trust us now.

  It isnt your fault. Sieh sounded unhappy. We just need to explain, and shell understand.

  Nahadoth looked at me, which made me jump again, though it seemed the madness was indeed gone. Nor did I see that other lookwhen hed held my hand in his heartblood and whispered soft, longing words. And that kiss no. I had imagined it. That was clear, as the Nightlord who sat before me now was detached, regal even on his knees, and contemptuous. I was reminded painfully of Dekarta.

  Will you understand? he asked me.

  I could not help taking another step back in answer. Nahadoth shook his head and rose, nodding gracefully to the woman Sieh had called Zhakka. Though Zhakka towered over Nahadoth, there was no question which was the superior and which the subordinate.

  We have no time for this, Nahadoth said. Viraine will be looking for her. Mark her and be done with it. Zhakka nodded and came toward me. I stepped back a third time, unnerved by the intent in her eyes.

  Sieh let go of me and stood between us, a flea confronting a dog. He barely came up to Zhakkas waist. This isnt the way we were supposed to do it. We agreed to try and win her over.

  That isnt possible now, said Nahadoth.

  Whats to stop her from telling Viraine about this, then? Sieh put his hands on his hips. Zhakka had stopped, waiting patiently for the dispute to be resolved. I felt forgotten and supremely unimportantas I probably should, given that I stood in the presence of three gods. The term former gods just didnt seem to fit.

  Nahadoths face showed something less than a smile. He glanced at me. Tell Viraine and well kill you. His gaze returned to Sieh. Satisfied?

  I must have been tired. After so many threats that evening, I didnt even flinch.

  Sieh frowned and shook his head, but he stepped out of Zhakkas path. This wasnt what wed planned, he said with a hint of petulance.

  Plans change, said Zhakka. Then she stood before me.

  What are you going to do? I asked. Somehow, despite her size, she did not frighten me near as much as Nahadoth.

  I will mark your brow with a sigil, she said. One that cannot be seen. It will interfere with the sigil Viraine intends to put on you. You will look like one of them, but in truth youll be free.

  Are they All the sigil-marked Arameri? Was that who she meant? not free?

  No more than we, for all they think otherwise, said Nahadoth. There was, for just that moment, a hint of the softness in him that Id seen before. Then he turned away. Hurry up.

  Zhakka nodded, and touched my forehead with the tip of a finger. Her fists were the size of dinner plates; her finger seemed to sear like a brand when it touched me. I cried out and tried to slap her finger away, but she lifted her hand before I could. She was done.

  Sieh, his sulk forgotten, peered at the spot and nodded sagely. That will do.

  Take her to Viraine, then, said Zhakka. She inclined her head to me in courteous farewell, then turned away to join Nahadoth.

  Sieh took my hand. I was so confused and shaken that I did not fight when he led me toward the nearest of the dead spaces walls. But I did glance back over my shoulder once, to watch the Nightlord walk away.

  * * *

  My mother was the most beautiful woman in the world. I say that not because I am her daughter, and not because she was tall and graceful, with hair like clouded sunlight. I say it because she was strong. Perhaps it is my Darre heritage, but strength has always been the marker of beauty in my eyes.

  My people were not kind to her. No one said it in front of my father, but I heard the murmurs when we walked through Arrebaia sometimes. Amn whore. Bone-white bitch. They would spit on the ground after she passed, to wash the streets of her Arameri taint. Through all this she maintained her dignity and was never less than polite to people who were anything but. My father, in one of the few clear memories of him that I have, said this made her better than them.

  I am not sure why I remember this now, but I am certain it is somehow important.

  * * *

  Sieh made me run after we left the dead space, so that I would be out of breath when we arrived at Viraines workshop.

  Viraine opened the door after Siehs third impatient knock, looking irritated. The white-haired man from Dekartas audience, who had judged me not hopeless.

  Sieh? What in demonsah. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. Yes, Id rather thought Tvril was taking too long. The sun went down nearly an hour ago.

  Scimina sicced Naha on her, said Sieh. Then he looked up at me. But the game was to end if you made it here, right? Youre safe now.

  This was my explanation, then. That was what Tvril said. I glanced back down the hall as if I was still afraid. It was not difficult to pretend.

  Scimina would have given him specific parameters, Viraine said, which I suppose was meant to reassure me. She knows what hes like in that state. Come in, Lady Yeine.

  He stepped aside, and I entered the chamber. Even if I hadnt been bone tired I would have stopped there, for I stood in a room like nothing I had ever seen. It was long and oval-shaped, and there were floor-to-ceiling windows down both of the longer walls. Twin rows of workbenches had been placed along either side of the room; I saw books, flasks, and incomprehensible contraptions on each. Along the far wall were cages, some containing rabbits and birds. In the center of the chamber was a huge white orb set on a low plinth. It was as tall as me and completely opaque.

  Over here, Viraine said, heading toward one of the workbenches. Two stools sat in front of it. He chose one of them and patted the other for me. I followed him, but then hesitated.

  Im afraid you have the advantage of me, sir.

  He looked surprised, then smiled and gave me an informal, not-quite-mocking half bow. Ah, yes, manners. I am Viraine, the palace scrivener. Also a relative of yours in some way or anothertoo distant and convoluted to determine, though Lord Dekarta has seen fit to welcome me into the Central Family. He tapped the black circle on his forehead.

  Scriveners: Amn scholars who made a study of the gods written language. This scrivener did not look like the cold-eyed ascetics Id imagined. He was younger, for oneperhaps a few years younger than my mother had been. Certainly not old enough for such stark white hair. Perhaps he was like Tvril and I, part Amn of a more exotic variety.

  A pleasure, I said. Though I cannot help but wonder why the palace needs a scrivener. Why study the gods power when you have actual gods right here?

  He looked pleased by my question; perhaps few people asked him about his work. Well, for one thing, they cant do everything or be everywhere. There are hundreds of people in this palace using small magics on an everyday basis. If we had to stop and call an Enefadeh every time we needed something, very little would get done. The lift, for example, that carried you to this level of the palace. The airthis far above the ground, it would ordinarily be thin and cold, hard to breathe. Magic keeps the palace comfortable.
r />   I sat down carefully on one of the stools, eyeing the bench beside me. The items there were laid out neatly: various fine paintbrushes, a dish of ink, and a small block of polished stone, incised on its face with a strange, complicated character of spikes and curlicues. The character was so fundamentally alien, so jarring to the eye, that I could not look at it long. The urge to look away was part of what it was, because it was gods language; a sigil.

  Viraine sat opposite me while Sieh, unbidden, claimed a seat across the bench and rested his chin on his folded arms.

  For another thing, Viraine continued, there are certain magics that even the Enefadeh cannot perform. Gods are peculiar beings, incredibly powerful within their sphere of influence, so to speak, but limited beyond that. Nahadoth is powerless by day. Sieh cannot be quiet and well-behaved unless hes up to something. He eyed Sieh, who gave us both an innocent smile. In many ways, we mortals are more versatile, for lack of a better term. More complete. For example, none of them can create or extend life. The simple act of having childrensomething any unlucky barmaid or careless soldier can dois a power that has been lost to the gods for millennia.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Siehs smile fade.

  Extend life? I had heard rumors about what some scriveners did with their powersterrible, foul rumors. It occurred to me suddenly that my grandfather was very, very old.

  Viraine nodded, his eyes twinkling at the disapproval in my tone. It is the great quest of our profession. Someday we might even achieve immortality He read the horror in my face and smiled. Though that goal is not without controversy.

  My grandmother had always said the Amn were unnatural people. I looked away. Tvril said you were going to mark me.

  He grinned, openly amused now. Laughing at the prudish savage. Mmm-hmm.

  What does this mark do?

  Keeps the Enefadeh from killing you, among other things. Youve seen what they can be like.

  I licked my lips. Ah. Yes. I didnt know they were I gestured vaguely, unsure how to say what I meant without offending Sieh.

  Running around loose? Sieh asked brightly. There was a wicked look in his eye; he was enjoying my discomfiture.

  I winced. Yes.

  Mortal form is their prison, Viraine said, ignoring Sieh. And every soul in Sky, their jailer. They are bound by Bright Itempas to serve the descendants of Shahar Arameri, His greatest priestess. But since Shahars descendants now number in the thousands He gestured toward the windows, as if the whole world was one clan. Or perhaps he simply meant Sky, the only world that mattered to him. Our ancestors chose to impose a more orderly structure on the situation. The mark confirms for the Enefadeh that youre Arameri; without it they will not obey you. It also specifies your rank within the family. How close you are to the main line of descent, I mean, which in turn dictates how much power you have to command them.

  He picked up a brush, though he did not dip it in the ink; instead he reached up to my face, pushing my hair back from my forehead. My heart clenched as he examined me. Clearly Viraine was some sort of expert; could he truly not see Zhakkas mark? For an instant I thought he had, because his eyes flicked down to hold mine for half a breath. But apparently the gods had done their work well, because after a moment Viraine let my hair go and began to stir the ink.

  Tvril said the mark was permanent, I said, mostly to quell my nervousness. The black liquid looked like simple writing ink, though the sigil-marked block was clearly no ordinary inkstone.

  Unless Dekarta orders it removed, yes. Like a tattoo, though painless. Youll get used to it.

  I was not fond of a permanent mark, though I knew better than to protest. To distract myself I asked, Why do you call them Enefadeh?

  The look that crossed Viraines face was fleeting, but I recognized it by instinct: calculation. I had just revealed some stunning bit of ignorance to him, and he meant to use it.

  Casually, Viraine jabbed a thumb at Sieh, who was surreptitiously eyeing the items on Viraines worktable. Its what they call themselves. We just find the label convenient.

  Why not

  We dont call them gods. Viraine smiled faintly. That would be an offense to the Skyfather, our only true god, and those of the Skyfathers children who stayed loyal. But we cant call them slaves, either. After all, we outlawed slavery centuries ago.

  This was the sort of thing that made people hate the Arameritruly hate them, not just resent their power or their willingness to use it. They found so many ways to lie about the things they did. It mocked the suffering of their victims.

  Why not just call them what they are? I asked. Weapons.

  Sieh glanced at me, his gaze too neutral to be a childs in that instant.

  Viraine winced delicately. Spoken like a true barbarian, he said, and though he smiled, that did nothing to alleviate the insult. The thing you must understand, Lady Yeine, is that like our ancestress Shahar, we Arameri are first and foremost the servants of Itempas Skyfather. It is in His name that we have imposed the age of the Bright upon the world. Peace, order, enlightenment. He spread his hands. Itempass servants do not use, or need, weapons. Tools, though

  I had heard enough. I had no idea of his rank relative to mine, but I was tired and confused and far from home, and if barbarians manners would serve better to get me through this day, then so be it.

  Does Enefadeh mean tool, then? I demanded. Or is it just slave in another tongue?

  It means we who remember Enefa, said Sieh. He had propped his chin on his fist. The items on Viraines workbench looked the same, but I was certain he had done something to them. She was the one murdered by Itempas long ago. We went to war with Him to avenge her.

  Enefa. The priests never said her name. The Betrayer, I murmured without thought.

  She betrayed no one, Sieh snapped.

  Viraines glance at Sieh was heavy-lidded and unreadable. True. A whores business can hardly be termed a betrayal, can it?

  Sieh hissed. For an eyeblink there was something inhuman about his facesomething sharp and feraland then he was a boy again, sliding off the stool and trembling with fury. For a moment I half-expected him to poke out his tongue, but the hatred in his eyes was too old for that.

  I will laugh when youre dead, he said softly. The small hairs along my skin prickled, for his voice was a grown mans now, tenor malevolence. I will claim your heart as a toy and kick it for a hundred years. And when I am finally free, I will hunt down all your descendants and make their children just like me.

  With that, he vanished. I blinked. Viraine sighed.

  And that, Lady Yeine, is why we use the blood sigils, he said. Silly as that threat was, he meant every word of it. The sigil prevents him from carrying it out, yet even that protection is limited. A higher-ranking Arameris order, or stupidity on your part, could leave you vulnerable.

  I frowned, remembering the moment when Tvril had urged me to get to Viraine. Only a fullblood can command him off now. And Tvril was awhat had he called it?a halfblood.

  Stupidity on my part? I asked.

  Viraine gave me a hard look. They must respond to any imperative statement you make, Lady. Consider how many such statements we make carelessly, or figuratively, with no thought given to other interpretations. When I frowned in thought, he rolled his eyes. The common folk are fond of saying To the hells with you! Ever said it yourself, in a moment of anger? At my slow nod, he leaned closer. The subject of the phrase is implied, of course; we usually mean You should go. But the phrase could also be understood as I want to go, and you will take me.

  He paused to see if I understood. I did. At my shudder, he nodded and sat back.

  Just dont talk to them unless you have to, he said. Now. Shall we He reached for the ink dish and cursed as it toppled the instant his fingers touched it; Sieh had somehow lodged a brush underneath. The ink splattered across the tabletop like

  like

  and then Viraine touched my hand. Lady Yeine? Are you all right?

  * * *

  That was how
it happened, yes. The first time.

  * * *

  I blinked. What?

  He smiled, all condescending kindness again. Been a hard day, has it? Well, this wont take long. Hed cleaned up the ink spill; there was enough left in the dish that apparently he could continue. If you could hold your hair back for me

  I didnt move. Why did Grandfather Dekarta do this, Scrivener Viraine? Why did he bring me here?

  He raised his eyebrows, as if surprised that I would even ask. Im not privy to his thoughts. I have no idea.

  Is he senile?

  He groaned. You really are a savage. No, he isnt senile.

  Then why?

  I just told you

  If he wanted to kill me, he could have simply had me executed. Trump up an excuse, if he even bothered. Or he could have done what he did to my mother. An assassin in the night, poison in my sleep.

  I had finally surprised him. He grew very still, his eyes meeting mine and then flicking away. I would not confront Dekarta with the evidence, if I were you.

  At least he hadnt tried to deny it.

  I hardly needed evidence. A healthy woman in her forties doesnt die in her sleep. But I had her body searched by the physician. There was a mark, a small puncture, on her forehead. On the I trailed off for a moment, suddenly understanding something Id never questioned in my life. On the scar she had, right here. I touched my own forehead, where my Arameri sigil would be.

  Viraine faced me full-on now, quiet and serious. If an Arameri assassin left a mark that could be seenand if you expected to see itthen, Lady Yeine, you understand more of Dekartas intentions than any of us. Why do you think he brought you here?

  I shook my head slowly. All along the journey to Sky, Id suspected. Dekarta was angry at my mother, hated my father. There could be no good reason for his invitation. In the back of my mind Id expected to be executed at best, perhaps tortured first, maybe on the steps of the Salon. My grandmother had been afraid for me. If thered been any hope of escape, I think she would have urged me to run. But one does not run from the Arameri.