“Are you enjoying the city?” Aibek asked. “You haven’t been able to come as often as Ahren and her friends.”
Zyanna smiled. “Yes. It’s been lovely. I’ve bought some new dresses and some clothes for Calloli. There’s so many different people here. It’s a very interesting place.”
She gestured to a table behind him filled with busy-haired, yellow-skinned men in stained woolen clothes. Their shirts were so heavily soiled, he couldn’t tell what color they had originally been.
“I’d stay away from them if I were you. I think they’re Helak’s men. They look an awful lot like the ones that attacked us when we got off the ferry last week.” Aibek turned back to his group, his face set in a grim mask.
He met Wayra’s eyes. “Have you been able to convince any of the guests to guard the doors and keep anyone away that doesn’t belong in the meeting?”
“Yes. About twenty men have volunteered, so we have enough that they can take turns and keep five men on watch at all times.”
Aibek moved his hands out of the way when plump older serving woman plunked food-laden platters down on the table. He thanked the woman and scooped a forkful of the pheasant into his mouth. The rest of the meal passed in relative quiet, with only an occasional comment on the food.
When he had finished his meal, Aibek mustered his courage and went looking for Marah. He needed to be sure she was all right and that she didn’t think he had been avoiding her for the past several days.
He searched both the The Lazy Shepherd, where he and Marah were both staying, and Bard Tavern across the street. The other guests made his search more difficult as they stopped him every few steps to inquire about his health and exclaim over the bruises on his face.
As the sky turned red with the sunset, Aibek gave up and returned to his room to regroup. Marah couldn’t avoid him forever; they were both mayors and would be in the Grand Council meetings together. He’d catch her before or after the meetings to make sure she was all right.
His shoulders drooped as he crossed the road. He paused and fixed his posture before entering the inn. He couldn’t be seen moping about on the night before the big meeting. Instead, he pasted on a smile and strode into the gathered crowd with his head held high.
3
Grand Council
The next morning, Aibek suffered through another exam.
“Has the headache subsided?” The healer asked, prodding Aibek’s ribs.
Aibek shook his head. “Ow! Easy. That’s sore. No, my head still hurts.”
Perhaps that wasn’t the correct word. It felt like the road crews had mistaken his head for a boulder and tried to crush it into gravel.
Androu knelt and pulled a dark vial out of his bag. “Here. Drink this. It’ll help the headache.”
“I need to be able to think today. That won’t knock me out like that other stuff you’ve been giving me, will it?”
Pressing the vial into Aibek’s hand, the healer shrugged. “It shouldn’t.”
“Well…um…you don’t sound very sure.” Aibek stared at the amber vial without removing the cork.
“My wife uses this regularly, and it doesn’t affect her at all, but everyone is different.” Androu shrugged again. “I won’t know for certain how it will affect you until you try it.”
Aibek opened the bottle and sniffed. It smelled like mint but mixed with a bitter odor he couldn’t identify. He hesitated.
“I really need to be alert today.” Aibek pursed his lips, considering. “Maybe I should try it another day, or in the evening when I can sleep if it makes me tired.”
The door swung open, and Wayra strolled in. He eyed Aibek and the bottle in his hand. “You’re not being a bad patient, are you?”
“No, I just don’t want to take anything that’s going to make me sleepy today,” Aibek said.
Wayra turned to Androu, who was packing up his belongings, carefully setting the bandages and tinctures in his bag. “Is it going to make him too tired for the meeting today?”
“Probably not,” the healer replied. “Like I told him, I can’t always predict how someone will respond to a treatment. Everyone’s different.”
“That sounds good enough to me.” Wayra grabbed the vial, peering down into the dark glass. “You’ll be useless by noon without something to take the edge off the headache.”
Accepting the bottle back from Wayra, Aibek nodded. “All right. I’ll try it.” He downed the contents and gagged when the bitterness of spoiled lemons filled his senses.
He shuddered and strode to the door. “Well, let’s get some breakfast. I need something to get that taste out of my mouth.”
* * *
After breakfast, Aibek made his way to the meeting room across the street. He arrived well before the scheduled meeting time, hopeful he could find Marah and talk to her before the session began.
While he waited, he paced in front of the door. He hadn’t waited long before the mayors arrived and filed into the room. They came in pairs and groups, but Marah wasn’t among them. When everyone else had taken their seats, he went into the room and stood at the center of the circle of chairs.
Aibek stiffened his back and met each mayor’s eyes in turn, and blanched when he reached Marah’s seat. He had missed her arrival, somehow, because there she was. She didn’t look at him, but instead leaned over and said something to the woman sitting beside her. They both laughed, and panic welled inside Aibek’s gut.
Running a hand over his forehead, Aibek cleared his throat. “Thank you all for coming. I think we’ve all had a chance to meet each other in the past few days, but we’ll start with introductions, anyway. Let’s go around the room and each give our names and what village we’re representing. You start and we’ll go on to the right.” He pointed to Vayna, who sat beside Aibek’s empty chair.
When everyone had given their names, Aibek introduced himself, then added, “We’re all equals here, so I won’t stand here and monopolize the time. We’re here to discuss our response to the rumors that Helak is building the largest army he’s ever had in preparation to retake the forest. Who has an idea or question we can begin with?”
Aibek groaned silently when Kaskin stood.
“I don’t even understand why we’re all here, since I’ve said this before,” Kaskin began, his voice haughty. “But I’ve decided we will wait to see what Helak does, then respond accordingly. Now that that’s settled, let’s go have some of the snacks the servants have set up at the back.”
“Wait a minute.” Vayna stood, placing a hand on Kaskin’s shoulder as the other man stepped toward the snack tables. “Like Aibek said, we’re all equals here. You don’t get to decide for all of us––”
“I’m the mayor. I make the decisions and everyone else does what I say,” Kaskin shouted, his face reddening.
“No, we’re all mayors,” Aibek said, standing. “Your power doesn’t extend beyond your village’s borders. Let’s all sit down and discuss this.”
“I will not sit down,” Kaskin shouted. “I said it’s decided. The conversation is over. Now let me go so I can have my fill of snacks before these fools eat it all.”
Aibek watched helplessly as Kaskin shoved Vayna backward into another man’s lap and strode toward the food. Vayna’s face contorted in rage as he leapt to his feet. He grabbed the back of Kaskin’s shirt and jerked the smaller man toward him.
“Hey!” Aibek stepped closer to the men. “Let’s keep this civil, both of you.”
Neither man gave any indication that they’d heard him as they circled each other like warriors in a tournament ring, fists raised and eyes locked on their opponent’s.
Recognizing the inevitable, Aibek tried to dodge through the people toward the back of the room, and the exit. He couldn’t afford to add to his injuries. He turned in time to see Vayna’s fist connect with Kaskin’s cheek.
“What’s wrong with you?” Kaskin shouted, drawing back his fist. “Can’t you recognize authority when you see it?”
<
br /> He swung at Vayna, but the larger man stepped aside and countered with another punishing blow to Kaskin’s face.
In an instant, chaos broke out in the large room as half of the attendees rushed forward into the fight and the rest backed toward the exit.
Someone shoved Aibek hard as he stepped through the door. A mob of anxious attendees rushing to escape the brawl in the meeting room nearly trampled him when he slowed. He struggled to move his injured leg faster but stumbled to the side. The throng of escaping mayors passed by, and he turned back to the open door.
Inside, fifteen men and women circled the center of the room, but instead of brawling outright, they had surrounded Kaskin, who staggered around the circle, bleeding from his cheek and nose. Each time he stepped into reach of one of the other mayors, they swung at him and sent him stumbling back across the room.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Aibek shouted, stepping into the room. “Let him go.”
The fighters stepped back, turning toward the door and Aibek’s voice.
“Aw, come on, friend,” Vayna said with a wink. “Let us teach this dictator a lesson.”
“Dictator! I’m the mayor, the one in charge,” Kaskin sputtered.
“You’re not in charge of anything,” a woman in the circle spat. “And with an attitude like that, I doubt you’ll be a mayor for long. No one wants to put up with that.”
“You’ll be sorry for this–– All of you!” Kaskin swiped at the blood running down his face and staggered from the room.
Aibek considered following him but thought better of it. Instead, he ambled into the room and dropped back into his chair.
“You want to mop this up and call everyone back in?” Aibek pressed his fingers to his temples. “My head’s killing me, but we need to try to accomplish something today.”
“You bet,” Vayna said. He jumped into action, grabbing a rag from the buffet and wiping the blood off the polished wood floor. A few of the others stepped up to help reset the overturned chairs, and they had the mess cleaned up in moments.
“You can all come back in, now,” Vayna shouted into the vestibule. “Let’s get back to business.”
The mayors filed into the room, murmuring amongst themselves as they returned to their seats. Aibek smiled when Kaskin rejoined the group, though he still held a rag to his nose.
Good. Maybe he won’t cause a stink over all of that, then, Aibek thought.
Vayna stood and cleared his throat. “I apologize to you all,” he turned and nodded to Kaskin. “And to Kaskin. I swear to you all it won’t happen again.”
He stared at Kaskin, who glared back and wiped the fresh blood away from his nose.
Aibek waited for Kaskin to speak but continued the meeting when the injured man slumped back in his chair.
“Now that we’re all a bit calmer, who has a question or idea on how to handle Helak’s return?”
Silence.
“Well, let’s try a different question, then,” Aibek said. “Let’s have a show of hands. Who has heard the rumors of Helak’s activities outside of the communications within this group?”
Two-thirds of the mayors raised their hands.
“Good,” Aibek continued. “And how many of you have discussed the potential for a return invasion with your councils?”
Nearly every hand in the room went up. Only Kaskin kept his hands in his lap.
“Wonderful. How many of your councils have decided on a preferred course of action?”
Fewer hands raised this time, only about a third of the assembled mayors.
“Okay. Those of you who made a decision, what is your choice?”
The silence stretched, and sweat beaded on Aibek’s upper lip. He fought the urge to fidget, but kept his hands firmly at his sides. Finally, Marah stood. Aibek drank in the sight of her wild blonde curls escaping from the kerchief intended to contain them. Memories of the scent and feel of that silky hair wrapped around his hands overwhelmed his senses.
“Well, my council discussed the matter at length, and finally decided it would be better to join forces with our neighbors than to fall to Helak’s troops again.”
Marah’s gaze met Aibek’s, and he realized he’d been staring. Heat suffused his cheeks and he lowered his eyes to the floor. Fabric rustled, and when he looked up, she had taken her seat.
“Thank you,” he said. His voice rang out stronger than he’d expected.
“And the rest of you? Did you come to the same conclusion? Or did you make a different decision?”
One young man raised his hand.
“Yes, Bartel?”
The man stood, glancing from face to face with a terrified expression. “Um, well, my council decided we’d rather avoid fighting, if we can. We’re open to meeting with Helak or his representatives, or waiting for him to make the next move.” As soon as he’d finished speaking, he dropped back into his chair and slumped back against the seat.
“Thank you,” Aibek said. “And the rest of you, how many of your councils agree with the first option — standing together to face this threat?”
Several hands went up.
“And how many agree with Bartel — that we should do whatever we can to avoid conflict?”
Many more hands went up.
“Excuse me.” A man at the back of the room stood. “Where are we going with this? Are we going to have any real discussion of the issues at hand?”
“Excellent question.” Aibek paused. “Iemes, right?” he waited until the other man nodded, then continued. “I’d love for us to all discuss the options, problems, ideas, and such, but thought we should find out which way people are leaning, first. I have no intention of standing up here through every meeting. Would you like to take over?” Aibek hoped he hadn’t sounded to eager.
“No, I don’t think that’s necessary.” Iemes sat down, his arms crossed over his chest. “I do have one question, though. I’ve heard rumors that you’re claiming to have seen the Bokinna. Is this true?”
“Well, yes, I did.” Aibek shrugged. “I’ve only been back for a little over a week.”
“How dare you?” Someone shouted from the back of the room.
Aibek shook his head, confused. “I’m sorry, is something wrong?”
Iemes strolled to the front of the room and stood in front of Aibek. “You’d have us believe that you traveled to the Heart of the Forest and saw the Bokinna in person, and weren’t destroyed by her protectors? Bah! You’ve just proved what a liar you are! Why should we agree to work with such a heretic?”
“But I’m not lying,” Aibek stammered. “I did travel into the forest, twice actually, to cure the disease that’s killing off the Shadow Trees.”
“If you’ve cured the forest, then why isn’t it better? You claim to have been back for a week, and yet I’ve seen no improvement at all.” Iemes gestured at the gathered mayors. “We passed hundreds of dead and dying Shadow Trees on the way here.”
The others nodded and murmured their agreement.
“It takes time to work.” Aibek held up his hands. “Listen, I can’t give you all the details of how it works, but I swear, it will get better.”
“So you expect us to believe that after hundreds of years of refusing visitors, the Bokinna suddenly decided to let an outsider into her sanctuary?”
“That’s enough!” Marah’s voice cut through the growing noise, and Aibek’s head jerked up. “Aibek isn’t an outsider. He was born in this forest and he belongs just as much as any of us. If he says he saw the Bokinna, we should at least give him the benefit of the doubt, at least until we see whether things start to improve.”
Vayna stepped up beside Aibek. “Marah’s right. Let’s call it a day for now and regroup in the morning at the same time.”
When the meeting room had emptied, Aibek trudged back to his room and collapsed onto the bed, his mind whirling. He stared at the ceiling while he rehashed the meeting but fell asleep still dressed and without supper.
The three moons li
t the night sky when Aibek woke. Alone in his room, Aibek paced. He hadn’t expected the fury he’d gotten for revealing his meeting with the Bokinna.
“How can I make them believe me?” he mumbled at the window.
What now, what now, what now?
He repeated the question over and over in his mind, searching for an answer.
He paced until the window grew dark and his head ached. Dizzy and nauseated, he sank onto the bed and fell back into the pillows. He dozed fitfully, drifting in and out of dreams of angry men, dragons, and talking trees.
Someone knocked on the door, and Aibek shook off the drowsiness and stood. Before he took a step forward, Wayra swung the door open and stepped through, a tray of famanc and breads balanced on his arm.
“You didn’t come down for dinner, so I thought you might want a snack.”
Aibek poured himself a mug of famanc, breathed in the richly-scented steam and seated himself beside his friend. “Thank you. I’m not terribly hungry, but this is perfect.”
“Are you all right? I heard it got pretty intense in there.” Wayra handed Aibek a soft roll and some butter.
“I’m okay,” Aibek said. “But now I have to start all over and find some way to get them to believe me.”
“What about the dragons?”
Confused, Aibek fought the throbbing in his head and struggled to unravel Wayra’s meaning. He bit into the roll and chewed, thinking of how to answer. “How can the dragons help?”
“Well, we all believed you when you showed up riding a dragon. I’m sure they would, too.” He reached for the tray and grabbed a roll. “I think I’ll have one, too. You’re making me hungry.”
Aibek laughed. “I’m sure they would, but I don’t think I can manage that this time. How would the city react to a dragon landing on its streets?”
The Nivaka Chronicles Boxed Set Page 59