The Habit of the Kingmaker

by J J Moriarty

  “I know this”, Hyzou said.

  “You’re your father’s son. You’ll grow to be as great a leader as he was, if you let yourself. You won’t do it in the mercenary corps though. A life of constant war is all that awaits you there, the life of the butcher”, Sparrow said.

  “I’m also a warrior, maybe even stronger than Luan. Don’t tell me that the mercenary corps wouldn’t need me”, Hyzou said.

  “But you’re so much more. You told me, when you were a slave in Lamybla. Before you ran off to Uqing, that Pharaoh Ganymedes offered you a role in his court. The role of a Kyrios and warrior”, Sparrow said.

  “He did”, Hyzou said.

  “You rejected it. Yet you’d take the same role, only hold Uqing as your master, not Lamybla”, Sparrow said.

  “It’s different. I have my oaths, to Uqing and the Servants of Qi”, Hyzou said.

  “Is it?” Sparrow said. “All I’m asking you to do is think. Can you do that? Think about what I’ll ask you. As my former pupil, as my friend.”

  “What is it?” Hyzou said.

  “I want to see you join the diplomatic corps”, Sparrow said.

  “And just become a diplomat? Diplomats don’t use their Qi at all!” Hyzou said.

  “Just think about it”, Sparrow said. “Don’t make any decisions until you return.”

  Hyzou took a deep breathe and thought about it.

  I’d never join the diplomatic corps. Hyzou thought.

  “I won’t make any decisions then. Not until I return”, Hyzou said.

  “Thank you. I’d hate to see you waste your potential”, Sparrow said.

  “But by joining the diplomatic corps I’d be wasting my Qi”, Hyzou said.

  “I meant wasting the potential of becoming a man like your father”, Sparrow said.

  “I’ll decide when I return then, I promise”, Hyzou said.

  “Good. Good. Now I believe Aliya passed you some instructions?” Sparrow said.

  “Yes”, Hyzou said.

  “Then you must complete them. Go home now, and sleep”, Sparrow said. “You’ll need your strength for the morning.”

  “I’ll just go downstairs, say my goodbye to her”, Hyzou said.

  Sparrow nodded and stood. Hyzou did the same. He climbed down the ladder, through the greeting room that was growing fuller and fuller. The word must have gotten out, and the neighbours were arriving to bid their goodbyes.

  Hyzou stepped among the crowd and entered Aliya’s room. She looked even smaller in death, someone had closed her eyes and straightened her bald head. Hyzou recognised some of the faces around the bed, and he nodded to them in their silent rumination.

  “Goodbye”, Hyzou whispered.

  Then, crying still, Hyzou turned and left the room.

  He took his coat from the hook by the fire, put on his gloves and ensured his boots were on tight. Sparrow was waiting by the door for Hyzou, he nodded.

  “Remember, the buttery at dawn”, Sparrow said.

  “Of course”, Hyzou said. “I’ll be there.”

  Sparrow nodded. “Safe travels, and good luck.”

  Hyzou bowed his head. Sparrow opened the door, and the snow rushed into the room. Hyzou stepped outside and the heavy wood shut behind him.

  He couldn’t help it, the cold air made Hyzou cringe. It sat heavy around him, and he brought his arms in tight to his chest and stooped over. He began to walk, the blizzard buffering him this way and that. There were dark shapes on the road, they must all have been going to Sparrow’s house, but Hyzou didn’t look to see who they were. He just kept his head down and kept striding forward.

  The north road awaited, and this time the watchman just nodded to Hyzou as he passed. The road began to incline, and soon the houses on either side of him became less and less common. He was leaving Uqing behind.

  Hyzou was always surprised at just how noticeable the change was, when he left Uqing behind and went further up the mountain. The cold grew worse, the snow heavier, and even worse was that the snow no longer fell on gravelly ground and scree, but instead fell on the layers of ice that hadn’t melted from the last snow. It made any walking treacherous, and Hyzou had to own his envy to comfortably move on up the mountain. Shivering, Hyzou could barely remember what a warm Piquean day felt liked, he could hardly even believe such a thing existed.

  The houses and gardens alongside the road were gone and replaced by a thick conifer forest. Because all the wolves around Uqing were killed, the savossa thronged in huge numbers in the forest around the city and surrounding villages. Hyzou could sense them nearby, but he could hear them too, chewing their last pine needles of the day before they went to sleep.

  There were turnings off the road along the way, breaks in the forest that gave way to smaller paths that went onwards into the darkness until the forest swallowed them up. Hyzou ignored most of them, home for him was almost as far up the mountains as humans could go.

  It was a thin snaking path that led to it, and it took him forty minutes to reach it. Forty minutes of walking, and by the time he made it back he was shivering uncontrollably. The village was ringed by a trench, which then led onto a tall wooden wall. Hyzou knew that everything the villagers owned was behind those walls. They took all their livestock in with them, because most animals froze in this weather too.

  The gate had been closed, and now there was no way across. For a normal individual, that was. They knew that Hyzou was the last one to return home, so there was no point in leaving a watchman out for him.

  Hyzou breathed deeply and owned his envy. He leaped, powering with his legs off the hardened ice and compact snow. He was propelled, into the air, into the falling snowstorm, and over the wooden wall. He landed straight into a pile of snow and sunk deep, drenching his clothes.

  Cursing, Hyzou dragged himself out of the snow and up onto his feet. The village was dead, everyone went inside long ago. Shrugging off the snow that stuck to him, Hyzou walked over to his hut. He had to kick away the snow in order to get at the door. His Qi reminded him that he was very cold and would be in serious trouble if he didn’t warm up soon. Hyzou pulled open the door of his tiny hut and slipped inside trying to bring as little of the snow with him as he could.

  Inside seemed like a paradise. The fire he had set before he had left was down to its dying embers, but it had done its job. Hyzou’s hut was tiny and the fire’s heat had made for a comfortable room temperature.

  Hyzou stripped off his sodden clothes and placed them gently in one corner, all the better to see them dry. In the other corner a villager had left Hyzou some things. There were two buckets of snow, melting slowly. There was a bucket of dung, which Hyzou carefully placed in the fire to give it fuel for the night. Then there was the bowl of food. Hyzou wolfed it down, old rice and older chick peas.

  After he took a drink, Hyzou went to his bed. It was attached to the floor and the wall, just two planks of wood hewn together. Hyzou imagined he would sleep easily, it had been a long day.

  But he had no such luck. He couldn’t help but think about Aliya. The little he had seen of her before she had been burned, the lot he had seen of her since. It wasn’t until the fire was roaring and the hut warming up that Hyzou managed to drift off.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Despite how many times he’d seen it, Hyzou still never tired of the view from Uqing on a winter morning. The other mountains were alight, their heavy layers of snow reflecting the morning sun’s light back onto a clear blue sky.

  Hyzou was still heavily dressed, but nothing like last night. Today he felt comfortable walking with a hood alone, no cloths around his face. As he came to the entrance of the buttery and looked around, Hyzou even lowered his hood to let him take a proper look around. There were few people around, it was still early. There was a couple kissing by a wall, some Servants up to get their breakfast early, and a few of the watchmen getting some food before they went home after their night’s work. In the main it was too early to find anyone here. The sun ha
d just risen, and people would only be waking up now, if even.

  Hyzou settled against a wall and breathed deeply. Owned his envy and thought some more about Aliya. Death meant he could think of little else but it.

  “Hyzou!” A voice shouted.

  Hyzou looked over at the couple standing by the wall. He realised that he hadn’t been able to recognise them before, their furs had obscured their faces while they kissed. But now he knew them.

  “There you are”, Hyzou said.

  The one who had shouted, a man, was Persimmon. It was a tall Servant five or six years older than Hyzou. He had earned his grey robes some eight years ago and had trained occasionally with Hyzou before Hyzou had become an Archaier. Beside him was his girlfriend, Safia.

  Hyzou walked up to them.

  “Hyzou, you’ve met Safia, haven’t you?” Persimmon said.

  “No, I don’t think so, I’ve only ever seen your face”, Hyzou said.

  Safia extended her arm, and Hyzou grasped her forearm. They shook.

  Safia’s head was shaved, as all pupils’ hair was supposed to. She had been born with a crooked jaw, and her nose had been broken and not set properly. She was taller than Hyzou too, although that wasn’t saying much. Her skin was a rich tan, and her eyes were dark. She was a Mujaden.

  “Hi Hyzou”, Safia said.

  “Did we get supplies?” Hyzou said.

  “I have them here”, Safia said.

  She pointed to a pile of bags by her side, leaning against the wall.

  “Is there any chance you could tell me where you and Safia are headed?” Persimmon asked.

  Hyzou looked at Persimmon. The Servant was smiling, trying to be cordial.

  “Archai business Persimmon, apologies”, Hyzou said, smiling.

  Persimmon’s grin tightened. Like all Servants he had begun training for the tests to become an Archaier. It might take him decades to get there, if he got accepted at all. And he had been training since he was eight.

  “Well then, I won’t enquire further”, Persimmon said.

  “It’s good to see you, but we’re a bit pressed for time, and I’d like to talk with Safia over our breakfast. Do you mind?” Hyzou asked.

  “Oh! Oh no, of course not”, Persimmon said.

  He swooped Safia into an energetic embrace and kissed her for several seconds

  “Goodbye”, Persimmon whispered.

  Hyzou didn’t hear Safia’s reply. For Persimmon’s ears only, Hyzou supposed.

  “And you!” Persimmon said, turning to Hyzou. “You turn her into a Servant.”

  “I’ll try my best”, Hyzou said.

  Persimmon brushed his fist off Hyzou’s shoulder, kissed Safia once again, and then headed off, back to Uqing. Hyzou waited until he had gone, before turning to talk to Safia.

  “No one else was supposed to know we were leaving today”, Hyzou said.

  Safia’s eyes widened.

  “I didn’t know that”, Safia said.

  “Sparrow didn’t mention that?” Hyzou asked.

  “Well he said to keep it a secret, but I thought Persimmon…” Safia said.

  She stopped speaking when she saw Hyzou’s glare.

  “Come on, let’s get breakfast”, Hyzou said. “We’ve a hard road ahead.”

  “Yes master”, she said.

  She stooped and picked up the bags, hoisting them onto her shoulder.

  “Give me some of them”, Hyzou said.

  “Yes master”, Safia said.

  Hyzou began to take the bags in his arms, they were heavy, and would have to be tied around him for the walk along the Cythet Road.

  “And don’t call me master, it’s weird enough to have a pupil my own age, let alone if you start calling me master”, Hyzou said.

  “Whatever you want”, Safia said, and she did a little bow.

  Hyzou shook his head and began to walk into the serving hall main.

  “Maybe we got off on the wrong foot”, Hyzou said. “I’m not angry.”

  “I thought I’d messed it up already”, Safia said.

  “How long were you Aliya’s pupil for?” Hyzou asked.

  He put the bags down on a bench, beside an old wooden table. The buttery’s hall was nearly empty, and they were just starting to serve today’s meals.

  “Two years. But the last four months she couldn’t teach me”, Safia said. “She was sick.”

  “I know. So how have you been learning?” Hyzou asked.

  “With the groups”, Safia said.

  The walked to the end of the long hall. There was a bowl there awaiting each of them. Vegetable soup; Hyzou could discern water chestnut, pine nuts and beans. Hyzou took his and sat back down at the table. Safia did the same.

  “Have you gotten your robes yet?” Hyzou asked.

  “No. I’m not a Servant yet”, Safia said.

  “Well I won’t be able to train you here, I can leave that to the road”, Hyzou said, slurping on his soup.

  “Do you think I’ll be able to make it as a Servant at all?” Safia asked.

  Hyzou looked at her, then realised she was being serious.

  “I know nothing about you”, Hyzou said. “But I assume so. Aliya must have seen something in you to take you on as her pupil. She taught me, you know.”

  “I know. She talked about you a lot”, Safia said.

  “Did she?” Hyzou said.

  “Yes. Well, she’d always tell me about training you. How brilliant you are”, Safia said.

  “Am I brilliant?” Hyzou asked, nonplussed.

  “Yes!” Safia exclaimed excitedly.

  She turned red and lowered her eyes from Hyzou’s. Hyzou coughed gently.

  “I miss her”, Hyzou said.

  “You two seemed close. It must be nice to have had a relationship like that with your teacher”, Safia said.

  “It was. She helped me a lot… During a dark time”, Hyzou said.

  He felt his voice quaver slightly. He brushed against his right eye, as he felt the tears well up within it.

  “Did you really kill a Colossus?” Safia asked.

  “Yes”, Hyzou said.

  “That’s just. Wow. You must be so powerful”, Safia said.

  Hyzou raised a brow.

  “Oh right. Sorry”, Safia said.

  “Where do you come from Safia?” Hyzou asked.

  “CaSu”, Safia said.

  CaSu - the largest city in the world.

  “CaSu. Do you remember it there? What age were you when you were taken to Uqing?” Hyzou said.

  “I was seven”, Safia said.

  As she spoke she began to chew on the third finger of her right hand. Not the nail, but the finger itself.

  “So you do remember it?” Hyzou said. “What happened? Did the Servants buy you?”

  “No. My father volunteered me when a street sorcerer told him I had a strong Qi. The Servants at the embassy sensed it too. So they agreed to bring me to Uqing”, Safia said.

  “That means you’ve been here, what, eight years?” Hyzou said.

  “And I still can’t summon my Qi when I want to. It’s so embarrassing”, Safia said.

  She covered her mouth and looked away as she said it.

  “What? No. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I can help with that. You’ll have to forgive me though, you’re my first pupil beyond some children I teach breathing to”, Hyzou said. “I may make a few mistakes.”

  “That’s alright. I’m talking about me a lot. What about you? Where do you come from? It’s Lamybla, right?” Safia said.

  Hyzou shook his head.

  “Not Lamybla, no. I was raised in Piquea. When I was fourteen Pharaoh Ganymedes came to Piquea and burned the city to the ground”, Hyzou said.

  “Oh! I’ve heard of the sack of Piquea. I was here when the news came”, Safia said.

  “His soldiers killed my mother and father. Killed my sister, and killed my betrothed”, Hyzou said.

  “Oh”, Safia said. “I’m sorry.”
/>   “That’s ok”, Hyzou said.

  “Really, it sounds awful”, Safia said.

  “How long have you been with Persimmon?” Hyzou said, changing the subject.

  “Two years”, Safia said.

  “I used to train with him, you know”, Hyzou said.

  “I know. He told me. All the fellows did”, Safia said.

  “The fellows?” Hyzou asked.

  “Persimmon’s friends. They’ve described your talents. Well, you know, you’re an Archaier. I couldn’t believe it when I found out that I was going to be your pupil. And I get to leave Uqing too! So few pupils get that chance. It’s exciting”, Safia said.

  “Even if I was half as able as you seem to think I am, it still wouldn’t mean I’m a good teacher”, Hyzou said.

  “There’s no need to be modest. You’re the youngest Archaier ever!” Safia said.

  Hyzou shrugged.

  “Do you plan to marry?” Hyzou asked.

  “Me and Per? He won’t marry me until I’m a Servant, it’s too complicated otherwise”, Safia said.

  “I always thought that if I should marry, it would have to be a Servant. I can’t see myself travelling around with a wife in one place”, Hyzou said.

  “Are you going to join a corps? You haven’t served in one yet have you?” Safia said.

  Hyzou frowned.

  “You know a lot about my life”, Hyzou said.

  “You’re Hyzou”, Safia said.

  “And?” Hyzou said.

  “Everyone knows about your life”, Safia said.

  “Ok then, yes you’re right, I haven’t served in a corps. And to join the Archai you usually do have to, but they thought it ok if I joined and then did my service”, Hyzou said.

  “Because you’re so strong?” Safia said.

  “Something like that”, Hyzou said.

  “Which corps are you joining?” Safia said.

  “It hasn’t been decided yet. I think I’d like the mercenary corps. But I’ll serve where Uqing needs me. That’s the oath I took”, Hyzou said.

  “Will I be coming with you?” Safia said.

  “I don’t even know if I’m going yet. It’s so far away. Who knows?” Hyzou said.