An Elegy of Heroes

by K. S. Villoso

  “I’m in favour of this plan,” Ceres said. “This, I believe, is what Bearer Kastor meant by not throwing away an advantage that walked into this room. The Boarshind stands to lose the most out of this arrangement, yet they’ve so generously offered their help.”

  “Mostly because we don’t have a choice,” Caiso whispered.

  A few of the Dageians murmured their assents.

  Bannal gave a deep sigh. “If you all think that trusting these people is a wise idea, then there’s nothing I can do. To show my dedication to this cause, I am volunteering to join the infiltration group with select mages of the Enji-ar. We will immobilize the creature while the rest worry about Yn Garr.” He turned to Kefier. “You will join us, of course. Your brother Enosh will be there, too.” He said the last part out loud, as if he wanted everyone in the room to hear it.

  Kefier stared at Bannal for a length of time, wondering what game he was playing. It was difficult to tell. The man had made off with some of his father’s journals in Baidh. What did he know that they didn’t? “I wouldn’t dream of missing it,” he said in a low voice.

  Bannal laughed.

  The meeting continued, but Kefier, feeling that his part in it was done, drew away into the nearest hall.

  “Amusing, is it not? The amount of talk they can do at death’s door?” Enosh’s smooth voice, appearing behind him, felt like a dagger.

  Kefier turned to meet him. Their eyes locked for a moment.

  “And here I thought you were so hurt that you couldn’t possibly of any use to anyone anymore,” Enosh said. “What are you doing here, anyway? I was under the impression that you were free to return to the house I paid for. You’re more than safe there.”

  “Rosha’s not,” Kefier replied.

  “You let me worry about my daughter from now on, Kefier,” Enosh said evenly. “I think you’ve done enough wheedling your way into my family.”

  “I wasn’t aware I’d bruised your ego. Perhaps if you stuffed it inside a closet…”

  “And perhaps if it occurred to you to stop undermining my every move…”

  “Uh,” Caiso broke in. “What the hell is this?”

  Enosh took a deep breath. “He’s right. This isn’t the time and place for it.”

  “I didn’t mean…” Caiso started.

  “Get the men ready for tonight,” Kefier said. “I’ll explain later, Caiso.”

  “You better,” Caiso murmured. He walked away.

  “Explain what?” Enosh asked. “That you are, and have always been, a backstabbing traitor? That the words honour and respect have no meaning to you?”

  “You make it sound like you know them yourself.”

  “The difference is that unlike you, I don’t pretend to be better than I am.”

  “A shred of honesty, straight from your mouth. It’s almost hilarious, Enosh.”

  Enosh smiled. “It is. Are you coming to my wedding? You must’ve seen the ring on my intended’s finger while you were bedding her.”

  “Actually, she took it off.”

  “You son of a—”

  “Right, curse your own mother too, why don’t you?” He caught the look on Enosh’s face. “Fuck. You knew. You’ve always known.”

  “And of course you would change the conversation to make me look like the villain here.”

  “No, let’s go back to talking about your wedding. Are you going to have flowers? What’s the main course? Will there be cake? You know I like cake.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by Sume’s arrival. All the bitterness left Kefier like a flock of birds taking wing. She looked at him, her jaw a hard line. He bit back the longing to run his fingers over it, to watch her ease under his touch, and reminded himself that it was over. He was not about to make this difficult for her.

  “I am glad to see that you are well, Commander Kefier,” Sume said, bowing stiffly towards him. “I hope the journey wasn’t too difficult for you.”

  “It didn’t kill me,” Kefier said. “I see you made it here in one piece, too. Did the sea breeze agree with your complexion, Lady Kaggawa?”

  “Wonderful,” Enosh replied. “Keep this up and we could have a promising career as an acting troupe at the end. Now we need to discuss the particulars of this suicide mission they’re sending us to. My lady…” He stepped towards Sume, wrapping her arm over his. Kefier stepped away.

  Sapphire was sitting alone in the library when they arrived. Her eyes widened at the sight of Kefier. “What’s he doing here?” she asked.

  “He’s the Boarshind’s commander still, apparently,” Enosh said. “Don’t ask me why they’d want him back. Do you want me to get rid of him?”

  Her nostrils flared. “He stuck a knife in me.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” Kefier said.

  “As I’m sure he’s sorry about a lot of things,” Enosh added, dryly.

  Kefier snorted. “Not everything.”

  Enosh ignored him. “Let’s not dwell on the past, Sapphire. He was working for Yn Garr. Now he’s not, anymore. We need to figure out what we’re supposed to do when we get there. I assume running around like chickens with our heads cut off is not in the agenda?”

  Sapphire took a deep breath, casting one last look at Kefier before drawing their attention to the city map on the table before her. “Scouts say he’s keeping the beast tethered somewhere on the palace rooftops.”

  Enosh made a sound. “Agan-wrought?”

  “Of course. Mere chains won’t hold it. If the Boarshind can get us close to it, we can create a seal and trap it in the tower it’s destroyed. We know that works, at least. We can worry about extracting it once the threat is extinguished.”

  “Will we be able to save the Emperor, doing this?”

  “That’s the military’s problem,” Sapphire said. “Once the archers have been taken care of, they can safely make their move across the inlet. Yn Garr’s threat to kill him still stands, but I’m only worried about Naijwa’s beast.”

  “Fair enough,” Enosh said. They heard the door open. Bannal stepped inside, followed by Tribune Amiren and Prefect As’ondaro.

  “You’re starting a meeting without me?” Bannal huffed.

  “Considering your amazing powers of perception, we thought it wasn’t necessary to have you here at all,” Enosh drawled.

  He snorted. “Let’s see how witty you remain by the end of the day tomorrow. Remember, I haven’t forgotten what you or your brother represent here.”

  “What do we represent, Bearer Kastor? I’m curious. So far, you’ve done nothing but treat us like rats you want to poison. And to think, I was going to get you a present for your birthday.”

  Bannal turned to Sapphire. “Leave the bulk of the operation to the best of the Enji-ar. I do not want this man mishandling our affairs.”

  “I wasn’t going to let him,” Sapphire said.

  “One of these days, you really have to tell me what you think about me,” Enosh commented.

  She didn’t look at him. “I know his skills, and what he is and isn’t good for. Remember that if Yn Garr realizes what we’re trying to do, he may change his mind and decide to destroy the creature right then and there, taking us and the entire city with it. It is imperative we do this fast. We need a separate party to intercept Yn Garr and make sure he doesn’t reach the creature before we do.”

  “He will not go down easily,” Enosh said.

  “Which is the reason I need you and Kefier to do this,” Sapphire continued. “Talk to him. Keep him distracted.”

  “That’s an awful job. Can we draw straws instead?”

  Sapphire turned to Bannal. “Kastor and I will head straight for the creature. Prefect As’ondaro will provide protection for our circle.”

  “Of course,” Bannal said. “I would not entrust this to anybody else.”

  “This was the job tasked to us by our father, and his father before him,” Sapphire continued. “To dedicate our whole lives in order to protect the world from Na
ijwa’s mistake.” Her eyes blazed.

  “What are you getting at, Sapphire?” Bannal snapped. “You think you know our father’s philosophies better than I do?”

  “I wanted to see if you remembered,” she said. She glanced at Mahe. “You will assist Prefect As’ondaro, I assume?”

  “I’m still suspended,” she said. “I’ll stand with you.”

  Sapphire nodded. “Then we should get as much rest as we can before tonight. Commander Kefier, I trust your Boarshind will hold up their end of the deal.”

  “They’ll do that,” Kefier said. “I mean it.”

  “We haven’t talked about Rosha,” Sume broke in.

  Sapphire’s eyes gleamed. “We have. We don’t know where she’ll be—as far as we’re aware, it is the boy Arn who has been controlling the creature thus far—but if she is seen, she will be taken under our custody.”

  “That doesn’t sound very reassuring,” Sume said. “I think I should come.”

  “You’ll only get in the way,” Sapphire replied.

  Sume turned to Enosh. “If I see her, I can get her out of there quickly. One less asset for Yn Garr to use. One less distraction for all of you—you can focus on doing what needs to be done.”

  “Damn you and all the gods. You make a good point,” Enosh murmured.

  Sapphire seemed to think about this for a moment. “Very well,” she said. “As long as you don’t interfere with our operations.”

  Enosh nodded. “Commander, let’s see to your men. I need to discuss this Yn Garr interception business. It will be helpful to warn them about what he’s capable of. I’ll talk to you later, Sapphire. Sume, my lady.” He dropped his head into a brief bow before gesturing to Kefier. Kefier sighed and followed him.

  Interlude

  Sapphire watches the door close behind the men and finds herself turning towards Sume.

  “There’s a smirk on your face,” Sume says. “Care to explain what it’s for?”

  “Have I ever mentioned how amusing I find your little family?”

  “That’s been clear since the first day I met you, actually.” Sume drops her head on the table. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Sapphire. If not for Rosha, I think I’d prefer to be across the sea than have to deal with this.”

  “That’s not true,” Sapphire says. “Once all is said and done, I think you would still rather be here than anywhere else. But then again, what do I know? I do not have a life beyond this.” She gestures at the map, scribbled with runes and notes, and takes a deep breath.

  “A good life awaits, Sapphire,” Sume says. “You’ll see.”

  “You have always been so sentimental. And optimistic.” Sapphire draws her arms together. “What does that feel like?”

  “I…I’m not sure how to answer that.”

  “Don’t. It’s a rhetorical question.” She glances out of the window. “Kastor has other ideas. Ambition, the desire for power and recognition for our efforts in Enji, as if they meant more than what they really were. We were supposed to stop all of this, nothing more. The beginning and end of it. A small task, but for a while, it felt good to feel like you were part of something important. And then Moon died.”

  After all these years, the words feel weightless. She squints, trying to remember how her life looked like before it winded down to today. “The last time we saw our mother, she told us, ‘Make me proud.’ Moon made it a point to remind me almost every day after that. After our sheltered childhood in Aret-ni, Eheldeth felt like a paradise. It was too easy to forget that we were not always part of such grandeur. That you didn’t just wake up to breakfast bells and more food than you knew what to do with, or books to entertain you every time you needed something to do.

  “Moon had this notion that life is not a random occurrence, or at least that even if it were, we owed it to ourselves to make something more from it. It is not just about waking up to go through the motions and then die. She talked about purpose, about changing the world beyond ourselves. How else do we give meaning to the mundane, and make sense out of needless suffering and the transience of this all?

  “And so when our father Osog rog-Bannal gave us the choice—to stay in Eheldeth and perhaps fall into a respectable trade while living our lives out in Dageis as citizens, or join him in Lake Enji, we chose the latter. He did not need us there, you understand. He already had Kastor. But Moon felt like we needed to be there. We could honour our mother’s memory, be more than just two bastards eking a living at the bottom rung of Dageian society.”

  “I wish I’d met Moon,” Sume says. “Kefier used to talk about her. He was fond of her.”

  “Was he?” Sapphire muses. “That almost makes up for trying to kill me back in Shi-uin.”

  “He could have done a lot worse, Sapphire. I think he tried not to hit your vital organs.”

  “How thoughtful of him,” Sapphire drawls. “I’ll be sure to strangle him gently when I lose my patience.”

  “Please don’t do that.”

  “Why not? I thought you’ve already made your choice. Or is your intention to keep him on the side?”

  She blushes. “Ah. Another joke?”

  “Clearly, I’m not very good at them.” Sapphire clears her throat. “Moon made impressions like that. Not at first—she was quiet that way, but I think you would have liked her, too. It was hard not to like her. Getting around became a lot harder for me after she was gone. People do not respond to me in quite the same manner.”

  “They just need some time to get used to you, Sapphire.”

  “Years, evidently.”

  Sume smiles at her. Without realizing it, the corners of Sapphire’s own lips quirk upward.

  “You see?” Sume says. “You look a lot more human when you smile. Start with that.”

  “I would love it if you didn’t have to point it out,” Sapphire replies. “I thought we were reserving this sort of thing for Enosh.”

  “Right. I forgot.”

  They are silent for a while, staring out at the mid-day sun. “You lost your brother too, didn’t you?” Sapphire asks.

  Sume turns to her. “I did. I’m surprised you know about it.”

  “Occasionally, I pay attention to people’s lives.” She pauses. “How long ago?”

  “I haven’t thought about it for a while. It must’ve been over ten years now, although it feels like forever. I was still just a child the last time I saw him.”

  “So only a little longer than Moon.” She swallows. “Tell me. Does it ever stop hurting?”

  Sume smiles again, her eyes drifting through the window to the sky. “No,” she says, at length.

  “I thought so,” Sapphire whispers.

  Chapter Thirteen

  They left Halfmoon Bay under the dark shroud of midnight. It was a clear night, cloudless, which was both a blessing and a curse. It would make sailing across the inlet a relatively painless task, but the brightness of the moon and stars made them clearer targets for the enemy.

  Enosh frowned, staring at the water’s surface. He wasn’t sure how much he liked the prospect of meeting Yn Garr. Even if the purpose was to stall him, talking to the man sometimes felt like pulling teeth. It was hard enough back when they had been working towards a common goal together.

  The problem, Enosh found, was that Yn Garr was too emotional. It was one of the reasons that he relied on Enosh for business dealings more often as Enosh grew older—Enosh was just better at it. The man would remember a perceived insult for years, which affected his judgment. The worst part was that Yn Garr seemed unaware of how others saw his temperament—he was convinced that he was reasonable and impartial, which resulted in an amplified sort of ruthlessness. He compensated, which made things a lot worse than they had to be.

  He wondered if Yn Garr was drawn to Kefier for this same reason. That emotional part, that raging fire. They shared that with each other.

  He wondered if Sume was.

  Enosh gave a deep, rattling sigh. He should not have been surpris
ed to find that his brother would find a way to join them. If somebody had offered him a clean way out of the sort they had given Kefier, he would’ve taken it in a heartbeat and be halfway to Forrehs by now. All the sensibility he had inherited from his parents seemed to have somehow bypassed his brother.

  Soshain and Meirosh, for example, had been wise enough to create the lie about his parentage in order to preserve his birthright as Meirosh’s heir. He could not remember a day when they did not insist that he wasn’t Soshain’s true son, even when his heart knew otherwise. And he had never needed to ask about it. He could recall his father going over the details of Gorenten traditions with him, and how so many of them where archaic and unnecessary. The glimpse of what went unsaid between the words, over the years, had been enough for him. Clearly, for Kefier, it hadn’t been.

  Clearly, his brother was the sort of person one had to lay out the boundaries for. Perhaps Enosh was partly to blame for letting him run unchecked all these years. He was his brother. Enosh had thought that not bothering him was the best arrangement—Kefier could live a life unbridled by expectations, which was how it had always been. How was he supposed to know Kefier had a head for responsibility? That it would show up because he thought that Enosh lacked it?

  He grew more irritated when he saw Kefier walking at the other end of the deck with Sume two paces away. Those two should at least have the sense to keep away from each other. Their act wasn’t fooling him. They were talking about something, something which seemed to be important enough to discuss while they were halfway towards a task that could kill them, but which they probably decided was too trivial to share with him. Kefier had his hands folded behind his back.