by Varian Morn
Was I going to be forced… to live the rest of my life, pretending? To grow old and die as the great Bride of Derri?
Would I be able to last that long? Would I be able to endure such a…
“Tell me, daughter of Derri… How close can you get to Noth?” Jorma then asked.
“Close, sir?”
“Proximity.”
I shrugged, still fighting off the stinging bile feeling in my throat and stomach. “Close enough…? We’ve not touched, but I can go within such a distance on occasion. He plays along as well as he’s willing, on occasion,” I said softly.
Jorma’s sunblind eye studied me, a little too intently.
“You’ve never killed before, have you,” he said.
“I’m a healer sir,” I quickly responded, and the cold understanding washed through me. It sent a shiver down my spine, and was enough to freeze the feeling of sickness that I had moments ago.
“Do you know how one takes ownership of a Line?” he whispered.
This time I couldn’t respond… not because of the implicating words… but the scary fact that I did indeed know how.
My ancestor had told me, in his ramblings.
“You do? How intriguing. Well…”
Jorma stood, but I remained seated and waited. I already knew where this was going… and I loathed every moment of it.
How greedy the House of Derri were.
How foolish.
But…
Maybe this…
“What do you want me to do?” I asked, and hated how excited I sounded.
Jorma’s dark and burnt face cracked as he smiled. He had interpreted my excitement as my willingness to help the House of Derri.
Good.
Standing from his chair, Jorma walked with a brisk pace… as if he too was now excited. Heading over to his desk, he rounded it and reached down beneath behind it.
He didn’t have to rummage for long, as he brought forth something wrapped in dusty wrappings.
Although what was happening was beyond belief, and something I knew would undoubtedly end with costing me my life… I couldn’t help it. I was intrigued.
Standing from my seat, I drew closer as Jorma untied and revealed the item on his desk. He did so with careful but shaking hands.
I hesitated as the sight of sand came into view… pouring forth from beneath the wrappings, as if all that had been within it was sand.
And kept pouring.
While the sand kept pouring out, I wondered if Jorma had actually wrapped a bunch of sand in cloth. But he quickly undid the rest of the wrappings, and then brushed some of the sand away.
Within the sand, covered mostly, was a large looking root.
“A root?”
“A Sandroot,” Jorma corrected.
Stepping closed, I watched as more sand seemed to appear… causing most of the sand already piled to tumble down and cover the rest of the desk.
“Is it making the sand?” I asked, as more and more sand appeared.
It was a strange sight… and I almost couldn’t believe it. Where was it all coming from?
“Yes and no… it turns anything it touches to sand,” Jorma said.
I paused at that, as he reached over and grabbed a nearby book. Its worn look made it clear it was probably an old ledger, from long ago.
Watching intently, I watched as he touched one of the book’s edges to the root, and I watched with fascination as the edge of the book rapidly decayed and broke apart.
It wasn’t an instant process, but it indeed happened… and I nearly couldn’t believe it as the book slowly turned into sand, scattering down onto the desk.
Jorma dropped the book on the desk, and I watched as half of it quickly succumbed to the sandroot’s power. Once about half of it was gone, the effects seemed to slow.
“I assume it will do this to the flesh as well,” I said softly.
“Far quicker, in fact. The dryer the surface, the slower or weaker the process. Thus the desk not being affected,” Jorma explained.
“It didn’t do anything to those rags,” I said, glancing to the pile of dirty cloth it had been wrapped in.
“They’re made of special material. Don’t ask me what, I don’t know. It’s an old weapon of our House… very old.”
For a long moment I stared in silence at the book which was almost completely gone. In its place wasn’t as much sand as I had thought a whole book was capable of making, but maybe it was just because it was spread out all over the desk.
“If you can get him to touch it… even a fingertip, then the Line is ours,” Jorma whispered, almost so low I had not heard him.
Ours…
Looking up at him, I wondered if he truly comprehend what he was asking me to do.
But no…
It didn’t matter.
Looking down to the root, I imagined myself doing the deed.
Giving it to Noth.
His body decaying into sand.
Gaining ownership of the Line.
Then dying, as the Elders do the same to me.
Since after all, there was no way they’d let me keep it.
“It might not be possible. He always has… a lot of people around him,” I said.
“You’ll have to do it in private. It will take a few moments for him to properly perish, and for your ownership to be secured. Once it is, there’s nothing anyone can do,” he said, rounding the desk and coming up to me.
I stayed silent as he came close, reaching out with his rough hands and grabbing me by the shoulders. “We’ll give you the prime opportunity. During the day of the wedding… once the vows are made… once the deed is done… You’ll get to be alone with him, in the sanctum of our House. Long enough, and secure enough, that no matter how much he yells, no one will hear. You can do it then,” He explained.
Looking to the root, I knew that meant they would indeed properly prepare it. They’d place the root in a secure location… and would get me alone with him. They’d do it under the pretense of tradition and culture.
“You can do it. For the House of Derri,” he whispered.
What bothered me wasn’t that I had to nod, and agree.
But how easily I did so.
Chapter Thirty Eight – Truth and Decisions
“Noth!”
Opening my eyes, I groaned as I rolled out of bed and the lights came on.
Waving the door open, I watched my cousin run in with haste.
“Better be good,” I grumbled as I searched for some clothes.
“It's not. We have a problem,” Jamthi said, hurrying over to my closet.
Before I even got out of bed he had thrown a pair of pants at me. “Come on, hurry,” he ushered.
“I just laid down...” I said.
“Telleya tried to sabotage the Line.”
I stopped mid-dress, and looked to my cousin.
“That better be a horrible joke,” I said.
He only shook his head, and I had to sit back down on the bed.
“Anyone hurt?” I asked, returning to getting dressed.
“No. I said she tried, not that she succeeded,” he reiterated.
“True.”
While getting dressed, I tried to stop myself from getting angry. I was going to eventually, and it wasn't going to be pretty, but I had to remain calm for as long as possible.
Instead of getting angry, all I was feeling was sick.
I had not thought her capable of it.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“Off the Line,” he said.
“You killed her? Who? Yevin?” I asked.
“By the Line, no. She's back at her House,” Jamthi explained, tossing a shirt at me as we left my room.
“You let her leave?” I asked.
“We just figured out what happened. She went back to her home earlier, per marriage customs,” Jamthi said.
“Ah.” Yeah Rivini had said something about not being allowed to see her at night.
“I
'll explain when we get there, so you can see,” Jamthi said as he led the way.
I followed him to a floor below us, a large empty storeroom. One we hadn't used yet, so it was still empty.
Sarley, Yevin and Kana, with several of each of their crew scattered around in the room, but at a distance. They were all staying near the hallways and doors... as if to make sure no one entered the room.
“Well?” I asked Jamthi as we approached Sarley, Yevin and Kana.
“Yevin, if you would,” Jamthi said.
While Yevin walked away from us, I noticed he was walking towards some long artifact looking thing. It was vaguely familiar but I couldn't place it.
“Your shirt is on backwards,” Kana whispered.
“Ah,” I quickly went to fixing it as I watched Yevin kneel down next to the artifact, then scrape against it with something.
“It's some kind of bone. From an animal,” Jamthi said.
“Oh. Is it the one from my office?” I asked.
I knew there were plenty more of them than just that one after all… It was Yevin and I who had popped open that crate.
“No, well... watch,” Sarley said as Yevin then stood and walked a distance away, to where there was a grouping of dark spots.
“Explosive magic?” I asked.
“Worse.”
Worse?
Yevin placed something on the floor, and then added something to it. The moment he did, a bright spark engulfed him.
“Yevin?” I asked, and started to step towards him, but Jamthi grabbed my arm.
Yevin quickly backed away, slapping his right arm to put out a small flame.
Although concerned for him, I was too busy watching a giant green flame blaze higher, growing larger.
“Should I seal the room?” I asked… worried at the rate it was growing.
“It'll go out in a second,” Jamthi said, his voice barely heard over the roar of the flame.
Sure enough after a few moments the flame started to die down, decreasing in size and intensity until only small embers remained.
“You alright?” I asked Yevin as he approached, and he gave me a smirk. Kana approached him, and had to forcibly grab his arm to let her take a look.
“When water hits the bone, it erupts into flame. What Yevin just used as an example was filings. Small particles. If that whole bone was to ignite...” Sarley stopped talking, her point made very clearly.
The ground where the fire had been was still hot, parts of the metal still glowing red.
“Dangerous but... Once I sealed the rooms,” I said, gesturing to the walls.
“Yes. But how long would it take you to realize it? A fire of that magnitude? It could encompass dozens of rooms and hallways before you sealed it,” Jamthi said.
“True...”
“He's fine. Nothing worse than a sunburn,” Kana said with a huff, stepping away from Yevin.
“Why'd you not rig up a contraption instead?” I asked him.
“Didn't want to risk it,” Sarley answered for him.
“Crazy,” I whispered, and walked over to the bone.
The thing was longer than I was tall... and as thick as my waist.
They were right. Even though I could have sealed the fire itself, and it would have eventually extinguished itself, the damage would have been horrible.
Many would have died... and large swaths of the Front-Line would have been damaged.
And if it had been placed near ammunition, or the cannons...
Or our food supplies...
“We're not sure if it's a catalyst or just a natural reaction yet,” Sarley said.
“Doesn't matter. We know what it does. Have you checked the manifests yet?” I asked.
“All accounted for. They're sealed away in the room to the right of us,” Jamthi said.
“Anything else like them?” I asked.
“Not as far as we can tell... Everything else is just basic metals. Gold, jewels and stuff.”
I already knew the answer, since I had overseen the vast majority of the loadings. As always, I tried to personally check each crate that entered the Front-Line.
“I should have noticed. They are too different from the rest of the cargo. How obvious,” I said, shamed at my own failure.
“I was there too,” Yevin said, accepting the blame.
“Hard to blame you... some old treasures are ivory, or the like,” Kana said.
“No one was hurt, I hope? Other than Yevin here,” I said, pointing to the fool's arm.
“No one. We figured it out in time,” Jamthi said.
“Run me through it,” I ordered as I kneeled and tried to smell the bone.
I didn't want to touch it... since I didn't want to erupt in flames later on accident when I washed my hands or something.
“Well, first a few ensigns came to me to let me know they had fulfilled your wife's order. To carry something to your office. They thought it was just her giving you a gift or something,” Jamthi said.
“Yes they told me too. And? I was the target?” I asked.
“So it seems,” Yevin said.
Rude. I even shared my most expensive drink with her.
“And I'm the one who brought up the water part. Veronica and I had found her alone in your office the other night, after your meal with her. She had acted a little strangely... but I hadn't taken any notice of it, since she's a strange girl anyway. She carried a bowl of water out of the room, with me and Veronica. I didn't know what it was for then, but it had obviously been intended for this,” Sarley said.
“Why not do it then?” I asked.
“Isn't it obvious?” Kana asked.
“It's precisely because of Sarley and her niece that she didn't do it then...” Jamthi then said.
Standing, I stepped away from the flint-bone and gestured for him to continue.
My cousin gestured to those standing around, and then nodded. “She wasn't trying to kill any of us. At least, I don't think she intended to,” he argued.
“Considering how powerful that flame was, I doubt her intentions mattered,” I said.
“No you don't understand... you see, it wasn't too long after the first ensign told me what happened, a few minutes actually, that another group came to me and said the same thing. Except this time, they took the cargo from your office and threw it over board,” he said.
“Huh?”
Jamthi nodded, and kept his eyes on me. “She ordered them to take it out. In your name.”
“It's true. One of the bones is outside, where it would be if it was thrown off the bridge,” Yevin said.
She removed it? After planting it? She wasn't a very good saboteur.
That explained why Yevin found out so fast, though. It was far too odd not to investigate.
“So... maybe she did what Yevin did. Scraped some off,” I said.
“Why take the whole thing then?”
“Why not just set them aflame in the storage? Why go through unnecessary steps?” I asked back.
“Better yet, why only one? There had been two whole crates full of these things. They could have littered them around the Front-Line, and set them all alight at once. The damage would have been insane,” Kana said.
I sighed, and rubbed my right temple. I was too tired for this.
I shouldn't have joined in the loading, at least not physically... But I had been trying to get my mind off the stupid stuff.
Jokes on me.
“More guards posted already?” I asked.
“Taken care of,” Yevin said.
“We have three teams making sweeps everywhere too, just in case,” Jamthi said.
“Do several,” I said.
Jamthi nodded, and I paced a little. Should I cancel all trade then?
Four Houses worth of goods were now stored securely on the Line... That was enough.
I had almost left with just the Derri's goods. And Derri's cargo was half the size of the other Houses...
Still...
; The image of the young woman's smile as she laughed flashed through my mind.
I had expected her to be a spy. But not a killer.
Not this kind anyway.
Yevin had said she was capable of it… but I had not thought this was what he meant. I thought he spoke of killing those she hated.
Maybe we were the ones she hated.
“You figured this out after she left?” I asked.
“Yes. About an hour or so,” Jamthi said.
If so, she was probably back with her elders... telling them that she had fulfilled her duty. Her mission.
Unless of course they weren't the ones who had ordered it.
She very well could have been ordered by another House, not the Derri.
“Yevin?” I asked.
“This and that are separate things, Noth. This… there could be…” Yevin stopped, and I knew it was because he didn’t want to say it aloud.
This was the reason the Front-Line had willed against the woman.
This was why she couldn’t open any of the doors, this was why she hasn’t asked yet.
But…
“She removed it from your office, Noth…” Jamthi said softly, as if I needed to be reminded.
“You’re sure there’s no scrapes of the stuff in there?” I asked.
“Not as far as we can tell,” Sarley said.
So then why…
“Go get her,” I ordered.
For a moment no one moved, and I wondered what was wrong.
“Well?” I asked.
“I know what this looks like, Commander but...” Kana started to speak, but I wasn't going to hear it.
“She's not the first saboteur we've encountered, Kana,” I said.
“But she is your first wife,” she said back.
“This is no time for jokes,” I growled.
“I wasn't joking, Noth,” she growled back.
Before I could grow angry with her, I noticed the others were just as serious as she.
“I'm not saying she didn't do it. I'm not saying she isn't an enemy... but Noth, she really did enjoy our Front-Line. Her joy and amazement had not been faked,” Kana argued.
Damn. Old Tom taught her well.
“Of course they weren't. But one can enjoy something, yet still turn around and destroy it.”
Kana wanted to say something, to argue further... but didn't. She only lowered her head and went silent.