Aibek held the door open and backed into the room, inviting her in. “I’m all right. Just a bit worried. I wish we had a better plan.”
Marah nodded and stepped closer. “I’m so glad you’re back. I was so worried.” She wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her face to his chest. “We’ll all get together in the morning and work out the details, but I think we have a pretty solid start. It’s going to be tough, though.”
He set his cheek on the top of her head and held her close for a long while, letting go only when she pulled away and backed toward the bed.
The morning dawned bright and clear, and the early sun shone right through the window and into Aibek’s eyes. He rolled away from the glare and stretched, reaching for Marah, but his arm met only cold blankets. Disappointment and loneliness surged through him. He stretched once more and pushed himself out of bed. The cool morning air brought clarity to his mind, and he inhaled deeply. The faint scent of fish cooking reached his nose.
Grinning at the prospect of fresh fish for breakfast, he stretched again, dressed quickly, and hurried to join his friends in the cave.
Before he ate, he sought out Pagi, and found him huddled in the shadows at the far end of the cave.
“Are you all right?” He crouched beside the odd little man.
“I… I don’t like the silence here. Do not worry yourself about me, though. The Saethem said the dragons can communicate with the sister. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think it would be too much to ask if I could pass a message to Zirvesi, the brother, who I follow?”
“I think that’s reasonable. I can’t see why they’d object, though it’s up to the dragons, of course.”
At that, Pagi finally raised his eyes from the floor and peered at Aibek. “Do they not obey you?”
Aibek couldn’t contain a laugh. “No, they obey the Bokinna, not me. They’re only here because she asked them to help us.”
“Oh.” Pagi went quiet and returned to scratching shapes into the stone floor with a pebble.
“Did you get something to eat?” Aibek asked gently.
“I did. I went with the fishers early this morning to try to reach one of the beings. Of course, it was for naught, but I got to spend some time with your people. They are good people. Good hearts. You have chosen your friends well.”
Aibek smiled again. “I know. I couldn’t have asked for better.” His stomach rumbled, and he stood. “If it’s all right with you, I’m going to get some fish and spend the morning developing some solid plans. I’d appreciate any insight you may have.”
Pagi grunted, and Aibek wasn’t sure if that was an answer or just an acknowledgment of his request.
Once he’d eaten his fish and lamented the absence of famanc, Aibek gathered the other warriors and spent the next several hours working out several battle plans and contingencies. By the time they broke for noon training, Aibek felt much better about the coming battle. The fighters from the Tsari were only a few days away, and the dragon riders would wait for them before they struck. Once the backup warriors had arrived, the dragons would attack the south gate, force it open, and the two segments would work together to take back the city. Aibek still worried — there were so many things that could go wrong — but the awful panicky feeling in his gut had settled.
21
Trouble
“Captain, I have an urgent report.”
Faruz looked up from the note on his desk and waved the young man into his study.
“Sorry to interrupt, but the scouts have found an enemy camp just outside the forest, sir.”
A deep sense of foreboding rippled through him, and Faruz set down his pen. “Where? How far?”
“Two miles from the forest on the northern border, sir.”
“Thank you. Could you gather the council members for me? We’ll need to discuss this. Just have them meet me in here.”
The boy’s brilliant blonde hair dropped into his face with the force of his nod. “Yes, sir.”
Faruz hoped the young man — who couldn’t have been more than fifteen — would live to see the end of the coming battle.
With a sigh, he turned back to his letter. He needed to meet with Queen Idril and King Turan one more time before the battle, and he wasn’t looking forward to it without Aibek or Serik there to soften relations.
The soft scratch of pen on paper filled the room while he waited for the others. When he’d finished his note, he set it aside to dry and capped his ink bottle. A bird playing on the windowsill caught his attention, and he watched the light shine off its blue and red plumage while it hopped and chased insects flying nearby.
“Why are we meeting here instead of the room in Valasa’s house or the Meeting Hall?” Wayra’s voice brought Faruz back to the moment.
“The scouts found something. I don’t want to alarm everyone until we’ve had a chance to discuss it and maybe investigate for ourselves.” He leaned over to see around Wayra and into the hall. “Are the others with you?”
“They’re coming. Ahren just got back from training, and the others are finishing their luncheon.”
“Oh, no. I forgot about Zifa’s lunch.” He grimaced. She wouldn’t be happy he’d missed it.
“It was fun. I wish you’d been there. I know you’re busy, but it was almost like before, when we could all spend a day together without planning for war.”
“I guess I must have missed that. I showed up as part of the war plan, remember?” Faruz chuckled and hoped he’d get to experience that kind of relaxed friendship once this battle was over.
Wayra and the messenger exchanged awkward smiles, but an uncomfortable silence fell.
Voices in the corridor announced the arrival of the other council members, and Faruz stood. Ahren, Zifa, and Dalan strolled into the room, laughing and chatting. He dismissed the messenger and waited until they’d settled into chairs before he spoke.
“The scouts found an enemy camp not far from the northern border. I’m going immediately to investigate. Who’s going with me, and who’s staying here?”
Everyone chimed in that they’d go along. Irritation scratched at him like a woolen sweater, and he shook his head. “We can’t all go. If we’re caught, someone has to be here to run things.”
“He’s right,” Zifa’s voice was barely audible. “I’ll stay.”
The others met each other’s eyes over the narrow room, but no one else volunteered to stay behind. At length, Ahren let out a sigh. “This isn’t working. We should draw straws to see who stays. We need more than one person in the village. I’m the best sniper you’ve got, so I’m going. Dalan? How would Father react if you got caught?”
Dalan scowled at his sister. His lips pressed to a line, and his blue eyes flashed. Faruz marveled that the young man could keep quiet through the fury evident on his features.
“I’ll stay,” Wayra said. “Someone has to be here to run things if you screw up and get caught.” He laughed, and Faruz smiled back at him.
Dalan huffed and leaned back in his chair. “I guess I’ll stay with Wayra. Ahren’s right. My father needs me here.”
“Well,” Faruz let out a sigh and met Ahren’s defiant gaze. “I guess it’s just the two of us. Meet me back here in an hour.”
The council members filed out, and Faruz hoped Ahren wasn’t about to put a dagger in his back. She’d made no secret of her animosity toward him and Aibek, though she had been tolerably friendly in the previous few weeks. At least she enjoyed training with the dragons. He considered flying to the enemy camp on the dragons but discarded that idea almost as soon as it occurred to him. He didn’t want an enemy to see the dragons yet. He’d save them for a special surprise in battle.
Two hours later, he and Ahren hid behind close-packed trees at the northern edge of the forest, staring out at the enemy camp. He took a silent count of the tents he could see, though the camp stretched over a low hill and disappeared from sight. His gut clenched at the size
of the camp. There were far more than he’d expected — perhaps too many for his little army to fight off. He signaled for Ahren to follow him back into the forest.
He didn’t speak until he was almost halfway home, out of fear that an enemy scout might hear them. When he was sure they were safe, he stopped and met Ahren’s worried gaze.
Ahren spoke first, her words echoing his own thoughts. “We have to do something to weaken their force, or we don’t stand a chance.”
“What can we do?”
Anxiety creased her features, and she shrugged, her hands raised in a helpless gesture.
“Let’s get back and meet with the others. Maybe someone will have an idea.”
Faruz led the way back to Nivaka and up the stairs. When he reached his study, he sent a runner to summon Wayra and Dalan, and asked the housekeeper to bring Zifa to him.
They all arrived within minutes of each other, and Faruz explained what they’d seen.
“What if we just ask the dragons to burn them up?” Wayra offered. “That would solve it.”
Faruz smiled, but said, “No, we can’t ask that of them. The Bokinna said they can help us defend the forest, but that means waiting for them to make the first move.”
“Well, Aibek tried giving them usartma,” Zifa leaned forward, her eyes intense. “And that helped a little, but what if we gave them something stronger?”
“Like what?” At Wayra’s interruption, Zifa glared.
“I was thinking, what if Valasa had some kind of poison we could slip into their food supply? You know they’re not feeding an army that size off rabbits and birds.”
“I don’t think my father would agree to something like that.” Dalan stood and stretched. “He wasn’t happy when he found out we stole his potion to poison Tavan’s guards.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to ask, though, would it?” Zifa pressed.
“There’s no point. It goes directly against everything the Gadonu’s post stands for. He heals—never hurts. That’s why I haven’t officially started my apprenticeship yet; I want to fight, and the Gadonu can’t.” Dalan’s voice held a note of finality that brought an uncomfortable silence to the room.
“Well, what other options do we have?” Faruz asked after a long pause.
Ahren leaned forward. “What about fairy wine? It would be easy to slip into their rain barrels. We’ve all felt what happens the next day. It doesn’t even take much.”
“Do we have enough to poison an army, though?” Wayra’s eyes shone with interest, but his words sounded doubtful. “That would take a lot of wine.”
No one spoke for a long moment.
“Well, we don’t, but what about the other villages?” Zifa sounded uncertain. “If each village pitched in a barrel or two, I bet we’d have enough.”
Faruz smiled at his wife. “That’s a great idea, Zifa. We should send messages to the other villages and see how much they can spare.”
Faruz scribbled on the paper in front of him and glanced around the room. “Who has an idea of how we can get that much wine through the forest without detection? Or any other ideas? What other illnesses could knock the soldiers down a notch? The Bokinna tells me the army probably won’t have the spirits for help this time.”
And neither will we. He kept that last thought to himself. He didn’t know if Aibek had explained their bizarre victory to the others.
The rest of the afternoon passed in debate and deliberations as the council members tossed ideas around and tried to come up with a workable plan.
* * *
Two days later, Ahren tapped her toe while she waited for Faruz at the northern entrance. She shifted the heavy pack, trying to ease the strain on her shoulders. Fairy wine was heavier than she’d expected.
An eternity passed, and the sun crept over the horizon, painting the sky with pink and orange light. A family of monkeys swung through the trees beyond the boardwalk rail, stealing Ahren’s attention from her irritation. She couldn’t stifle a laugh when one of the babies tried to run away down the branch and the mother caught the infant by the tail and kept it from getting lost.
“What’s so funny?”
Ahren spun, her hand flying to her chest. “Faruz! You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that. It’s not very nice.” She didn’t wait for a response but swept past him to the entrance and pulled the lever to lower the stairs.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. What were you so focused on?”
Heat suffused Ahren’s face and she kept her eyes on the stairs as they fell in slow motion towards the mossy forest floor.
“Just a group of monkeys. Nothing that should have kept me from hearing you walk up.”
“I still haven’t gotten used to the monkeys here. Were there babies? I love watching the babies run and play.”
Ahren smiled at the effort he was making. She really had overreacted. She blushed again. “Yeah. The one baby tried to run off, but the mother caught it by the tail. It was so funny trying to pull loose.”
They chatted about monkeys and other wildlife while they walked, and they reached the edge of the forest faster than Ahren expected.
“The villages are so close together now,” she commented when they approached the shade of another, smaller village.
“Yes. I think we’re almost done moving.”
“You mean almost in our battle positions.” Ahren’s voice fell flat. She didn’t want to admit how scared she was of this battle. The last one had terrified her, and it had only involved their one tiny village. This one would include the entire forest, and if they failed, the Bokinna herself would likely perish.
“Well, yeah…” He trailed off as they neared the tree line and bright sunlight filtered through the trees.
They fell silent and crept closer to the forest’s border. Ahren’s breathing came in raspy breaths, as if she’d been running, and she worked to calm her racing heart.
Faruz stopped near the edge of the forest and waited for her to catch up. When she was close beside him, he whispered, “Stay in this area and see if you can locate a few water barrels. I think they must have them scattered through the camp.”
She nodded her understanding.
“I’m going a bit further to see if I can get a better look at the officers’ tents.”
Apprehension warred with panic in her gut as Ahren watched Faruz slip away through the trees, leaving her alone within earshot of the enemy soldiers.
When he’d vanished into the depths of the forest, she turned her attention back to the camp. A patrol approached her position, and she ducked behind her tree and waited until their footsteps faded. Since she didn’t know how often they passed that spot, she decided not to move closer. She wouldn’t be of any help to anyone if she got caught.
From her hiding spot, she could see into the camp between a row of tents. While some soldiers busied themselves with mundane tasks such as shining their shoes, others cooked over fires or sharpened an arsenal of weapons. Still others lounged nearby, making conversation with those who worked.
They must be waiting for their turn to patrol, Ahren guessed, thinking back to how Tavan’s guards had behaved during their rule in Nivaka.
Distracted by her thoughts and unaware of how much time slipped by, she forgot to listen to what the nearest soldiers said, until someone called out a familiar name.
“Tamyr, are you finished with that washing yet?”
Ahren froze. Surely, it couldn’t be the same Tamyr. It wasn’t an uncommon name, she reasoned. It had to be someone else.
She leaned forward, unable to stop herself.
In the tent to her right, something clattered to the ground. The flap snapped like a sail as the person inside came dashing out into the sunlight. Tamyr — her Tamyr — emerged into the narrow space Ahren could see, a basket propped against her hip.
“I’m nearly done folding it, but if you’re so impatient, you can do it yourself.” She plopped the basket onto the ground beside the soldier, sending up a puff of du
st that carried away on the breeze. She vanished back into the tent amid a chorus of raucous laughter and jibes aimed at the abashed soldier.
Weak from the shock of seeing Tamyr amid the enemy, Ahren sank to her knees and pressed her back against the tree, the camp sprawling out behind her. She sat there unmoving, until Faruz returned and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Are you hurt?”
Ahren leapt to her feet, shaken. When she’d regained enough composure to speak, she said, “No, I’m fine. Let’s get home.”
Concern showed on Faruz’s features, but he nodded and grabbed her pack. They hid the bags of fairy wine in the tree branches, where the groundfolk could easily find it, and turned toward home. Ahren had been as surprised as anyone else in the village when King Turin and Queen Idril had agreed to take part in poisoning the enemy, but she was glad they had. It meant she didn’t have to sneak into the camp.
Ahren fought the urge to fidget while they walked home, instead forcing her arms to her sides. A knot of anxiety twisted in her gut. She couldn’t get Tamyr’s face out of her mind. The memory of their one heated embrace burned in her memory, but she shoved it aside. She had to let the others know they’d been betrayed, didn’t she?
Betrayed. The word hung in her thoughts and knocked the breath from her lungs. Tamyr had gone to the enemy, knowing it would endanger her family and friends, knowing what it would mean for Ahren, knowing it would end any chance of Ahren taking on the mayoralty—a goal Tamyr had pressed for months, but Ahren had resisted. The more she thought, the less she worried. There really was only one choice to make, no matter how hard it would be.
Without a word, Ahren followed Faruz into the village and to the sitting room on the third floor of her home. The others lounged in chairs, sipping famanc and snacking on small cakes, oblivious to Ahren’s inner turmoil.
Faruz took his place at the front of the room, and Ahren slipped past him and settled into a soft chair in the far corner. She knew what she had to do, but she had no idea how to do it without shattering into a thousand pieces. How could Tamyr have betrayed her like that? How was she supposed to tell the others?
The Nivaka Chronicles Boxed Set Page 80