Adira came out of the tent. “It’ll put you at full strength. He might attack tonight since he controls shadows.”
Ashni sucked her teeth. “Controls shadows. No, Princess controls shadows and she does so from years of training and divine talent. We both know he’s weak, so don’t give him more credit than he deserves.”
“You want him to be weak, so you can snatch Nakia from his grasp. Don’t underestimate him. This isn’t our mission. We still have a whole lot of places to conquer. Don’t let your pride be your downfall. This might be the reason the gods are pissed at you now.”
Ashni twisted her mouth up to the side. “You think? I always thought my confidence was one of my better points.”
“There’s a difference between confidence and hubris. Perhaps you’ve drifted toward the latter. You don’t want to drown in it.”
Ashni tilted her head. “Do you think that’s it?” She never thought herself better than the gods, above the gods. Not until things stopped going your way and you suddenly didn’t need the gods. Perhaps it is hubris. She’d make it a point to pray the second she got a free moment.
“The gods may see it that way. You can turn it around. Now, come eat.” Adira pointed into the tent.
Ashni curled her lip, but did as Adira ordered. She needed to eat and get her mind off of the fact that Nakia was so close. There was a plan, and they needed to stick to it. Throwing herself onto the nearest pillow, Adira handed her a bowl of stew. They didn’t bring any servants with them, but they all knew how to take care of themselves. She smelled it and sneered before taking a bite.
“Your stew tastes like vomit,” Ashni said. It was a lie, but she couldn’t let Adira be right and let her think the food was good. It wasn’t in Ashni’s nature.
“Excuse me your Highness, but I recall the last stew you made gave our entire unit food poisoning.”
“I was fifteen.”
“That’s not an excuse and was that really the last time you cooked?” Adira arched her eyebrow.
“Yeah, it kinda stays with you that you poisoned several dozen people the last time you touched a pot.” She could stomach her own cooking, but she didn’t think it was safe for her to cook for anyone else.
“You’re pouting.”
“You’re an asshole.” It was unnecessary, but she itched and burned and wanted to come out of her skin. Is this feeling part of my punishment? She needed to do something to keep herself sane and picking on Adira came naturally.
Adira sat down on her own pillow and sipped at the stew. There was silence for a long moment. Ashni fidgeted, something she hadn’t done since she was younger. Riding with her father had cured her of childish nervousness, but now anxiety filled her belly to the point where food wouldn’t fit.
Adira sighed. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through, Ashni. I’m sure Saniyah would be able to relate more to this, but I know if someone took Saniyah from me, I wouldn’t rest until I had their spine in my hands. But, I also know, you’d be by my side, making sure I stayed focused, so I didn’t lose myself to the madness of not having her.”
Ashni nodded. “I know you’re here for me. I know you’re trying to keep me in check, but she’s right there. She’s right fucking there.” She pointed to the front of the tent, to the building just beyond them. She could almost feel Nakia.
“And we’ll get her. But, we have to be smart about it. You never rush in,” Adira replied.
That was true, but it was hard to do with Nakia so near. “I’m weak for her.” Maybe that was the punishment. She didn’t understand what her crime was, so it was hard to figure out what the penalty was.
Adira scowled. “No, you’re strong for her. This is why you never understood what made your parents’ story so amazing. You thought them falling for each other somehow made them both weak. They made each other stronger, stronger than they ever could’ve been apart. These soul bonds always make you stronger.”
Ashni’s stomach twisted. Is it that? She never considered it. Yes, she felt deeply for Nakia, held affection for her—but is it something so connecting? “What if it’s not a soul bond?” And what if it is? Both were equally off-putting considering how her stomach rebelled against itself. She definitely wouldn’t be able to eat more.
A little crease settled in between Adira’s eyebrows. “What do you think it is?”
Ashni licked her lips. “What if…what if she’s the punishment from the gods?” Her life had sort of gone off course since meeting Nakia.
A frown cut onto Adira’s face. “Is that why you think she makes you weak?”
“I was ready to send us to ruin for her.” How was that not weak? It was selfish well beyond anything Ashni had ever done.
The frown became a tiny smile. “Yes, I know, I was there. But, again, that’s the nature of the soul bond. I don’t blame you.”
Ashni sighed, not feeling better for it. “But, what if it’s not a soul bond?” Adira didn’t assure her Nakia wasn’t a punishment from the gods, sent to drive her out of her mind, pull her from her path, and destroy everything she worked for. “What if she’s a punishment?”
Adira ate some of her stew. “We’ll find that out when you get her back. For now, you have to free her. We know she doesn’t want to be with him, and you owe her a choice. After all, she honored her end of the deal.”
Ashni nodded. Bashira was still traumatized from watching Nakia give herself to Dorian’s troops after they instigated a fight in the middle of the Khenshu marketplace. For a while, Nakia would’ve been the only one between them to honor the deal. Her father probably planned to break it the moment he made it, and Ashni had been ready to throw her word away for Nakia. Who am I without my word?
“She’s worth this, right?” Ashni asked.
“I can’t answer that for you. I have to assume if you’re willing to go through all of this, she is. If you would go through the same lengths for her that I would for Saniyah, then yeah, she’s worth it. You’re worried about if, at the end of this, will she walk with you again.”
Ashni rubbered her palms together, letting sparks pop between her fingertips. “Times are different now. She’s not obligated to be with me.”
“She was never obligated to be with you. You were obligated to keep her alive while we waited for gold. You did what you were supposed to do and benefited from it. She benefited from it as well. Don’t worry. See it through.”
Ashni nodded. Adira is an expert on things like this. A commotion outside the tent caught their attention, and they both went to see. The troops, up and armed, eyed a beast that had been long dead who stood just outside their camp. It was possible the beast was once a yeti, or something like a yeti if the height and what was left of the shoulders meant anything. Decaying, grey flesh sagged and white bone peeked through the rotting skin. Again, absent was the scent of death. It smelled like garbage, even though it should’ve held some aroma of magic. This spoke of Caligo’s talent, or lack thereof. The creature held a scroll in its grip, jagged bones for fingers seemed to barely hold on.
“Oh, great, he controls the dead, too.” Adira deadpanned as she pulled her sword.
“All your favorite things in one trip, huh?” Ashni said. Adira hated all things dealing with the undead. Ashni wasn’t affected by it anymore, having seen and dealt with it several times in life, even though she felt it was disrespectful to commandeer someone’s body in such a way.
“If you’re dead, you’re supposed to stay dead. Your soul doesn’t come back, so it’s just a sacrilege to use someone’s body for your own gain,” Adira replied with a huff.
“For the queen,” the creature spoke in a gravely tone, holding out a trembling arm. Fur slid from its wrist, becoming dust before it hit the ground, as it offered the scroll.
Ashni took the scroll and one of her soldiers put a spear through the creature. The creature disintegrated right before their eyes. Not surprising considering the weak dragon tooth warriors did the same. Ashni broke the scroll’s seal and
squinted as she tried to read it. Adira stepped closer.
“Is that Roshani?”
“I think it is. It looks like a child’s writing.” Ashni tilted her head, trying to make out what the message was. Calling it scribble would’ve been kind, and the surrounding darkness didn’t help against the dark ink.
“Let’s go into the tent and use some light.” Adira led the way.
“Carry on.” Ashni waved her soldiers off. They rushed to their defenses, reinforcing them.
Back in the tent, Ashni moved her food and spread the scroll out, studying it. She felt like she got the gist of what Caligo wanted. How does he know about these books? Some of them I haven’t even seen. She’d have to send word to her mother. There were spies or traitors in the capital.
“How does he even know the Roshan written language?” Adira inquired. Of course, he barely knew it, but he shouldn’t have known it at all. The West wasn’t invited into the Empire to learn their ways, even their language.
“How does he know about these books?” Ashni replied, much more interested in that. Many of the texts he demanded were locked away, deep in the capital, and only a few select individuals knew about them.
“Something’s wrong here.” Adira pressed her hands together and rested her chin on her knuckles. “Who is this man?”
“We’ll find out soon enough. Does he think we walk around with the Royal Archives strapped to our backs?” Ashni rolled her eyes.
“Even if we did, why the hell does he think we’d give it to him?”
Ashni snorted. “He’s full of himself and other things.”
“Well, he does have your princess, as he puts it. Surely, you’ll give him the world to have her back,” Adira replied.
Ashni shrugged. “Not a bad assumption, except for the part where I’d rather put my hand through his chest.”
“Then, we’re going ahead with our plan?”
Ashni gave Adira a sidelong glance. “Of course. Do you honestly think I’d give someone openly hostile to us secrets of the Roshan Empire?”
Adira ground her teeth together, as if chewing on some words. “Of course not.”
“You’d do it for Saniyah?” Ashni had no doubt Adira would do everything in her power for Saniyah, including betray the Empire. She wouldn’t hold it against Adira either, not if her emotions felt anything like Ashni’s did.
“I’d want to hold his heart in my hand and watch the light fade from his eyes as I crushed it. But, it’s different for me.”
“I know.” The Roshan Empire and its secrets were Ashni’s responsibility. And despite how much she knew Adira identified as Roshan, underneath it all, the connection for her wasn’t as deep as it was for Ashni. It doesn’t matter. Adira’s connection with Ashni was deep enough, infinite as far as Ashni could tell.
Adira gave her a grin. “Then go put your hand through his chest, hold his heart in your hand, and watch the life drain from his eyes as you crush it. How dare he try to use your hellcat like this? She’s not a pawn.”
“No, she’s not.” Ashni took the scroll into her hand, a charge shot down her arm, and the scroll caught fire. Outside, a thunderclap echoed through the air.
***
“You can’t just change our strategy like that!” Hafiz glared daggers at Layla as they stood in camp with the other generals. Layla wanted to start things earlier than intended.
Layla arched an eyebrow. “I can just change it like that. I did, actually.” She motioned to the nodding generals and Naren at her side.
“That isn’t the way we do things. You can’t just change things without my permission.” Hafiz patted himself in the chest.
“Why can’t I? Am I not the queen?” Layla wasn’t sure if this was Hafiz throwing a tantrum because he couldn’t fathom straying from the formula or if he couldn’t stand the fact that she, technically an outsider, was changing the well-crafted scheme of his mentor and his queen. Maybe, it even bothered him that she was the queen. Ashni always let them know Layla was merely an extension of herself. They were one and the same.
“The Queen made this plan,” he replied.
Layla smirked. “Yeah, and I improved it. It’s been known to happen.”
“This plan doesn’t need improving.” Hafiz folded his arms across his chest.
Layla’s smirk dissolved into a frown. Does he really think I’ll back down? Her frown then turned into a rough laugh. “You think you’re in charge, don’t you? I thought we worked this out. I’m here for Ashni. You’re here for Adira.”
“Yes, and we all know General Gyan steps in when Queen Ashni’s about to do something unnecessary,” Hafiz replied.
Layla scoffed. General Gyan. No one calls her that. But, it was thoughts of Adira that kept Layla civil. Adira saw something in Hafiz, and because of that she stayed her cutting remark. She couldn’t see it herself, but she knew from experience that happened. Ashni was the first person in the Roshan to see something in Layla beyond her gods-given talent as a Shadow Walker.
“Hafiz, you and I are supposed to complement each other, as my sister and the general do. Yes, Adira stops Ashni from doing ridiculous things every now and then, but she also steps aside when she recognizes Ashni has made a good change to things. Moving early gives us more of advantage because we can play to the darkness. They can’t. They don’t have the man who does dark magic with them. We won’t get this chance again, and we don’t know what that man might’ve left behind to help them once they do realize we’re here,” she said, staying as calm as she could.
Hafiz bristled. “We already have the element of surprise.”
“We have it more so now. The darkness can protect us.”
“It didn’t protect you before.”
Layla flinched. It was one thing when he brought up her premature charge over the wall while they were alone, but to allude to it in front of those she commanded was a bad call. He overstepped, even though they were probably all there when she rushed through a wall and almost ran right into a sword as well as poison powder. Her nerves twitched as she weighed her options in hitting him.
The generals seemed to shift, probably contemplating if they should or could stop her if she did move on Hafiz. She wanted to kill him, but again, she couldn’t take this man’s potential away from Adira. But, it was time to stop playing nice.
“I am the stand-in for the queen. We’re doing this,” Layla said. Once Ashni made a serious decree, even Adira was subject to it. He either had to respect her word now or he was questioning the judgment of their queen, in front of the whole army.
“It’s an unnecessary risk,” he replied in a measured tone, trying to be respectful, but failing. He didn’t seem to understand the argument hurt him more than her on several levels. The troops would do what she wanted, but they might hesitate with him because of this. It would get back to Adira and she might look at him differently. It didn’t seem to occur to him that they weren’t equal.
“But, it’s my decision. Everyone prepare. I expect us to be set up within the hour. Dismissed.” Layla stared Hafiz down.
Hafiz kept her gaze for a long moment while everyone else moved around them. He didn’t say anything and after heavy seconds, he went to prepare like everyone else. She sucked her teeth, not sure if the siege would go well if Hafiz continued to think he was her equal. She loved and respected Adira, but she wasn’t Ashni. Layla was Ashni.
“Highness, you should move as well,” Hafiz’s mother, one of Ashni’s generals, murmured. “Give him time. He’ll figure this out.”
Layla nodded. She was right on the first part. The second part, she’d take his mother’s word on it. He came from great stock, parents and ancestry. Adira wanted him to take her place eventually. Maybe she’d see his potential while they did this siege.
Layla moved her troops into position while Naren marched off with his portion of their forces, along with their heavy artillery. Hafiz was already in position, so they would hit Phyllida from three sides, four counting the troops i
nside the city. Dorian wasn’t even aware the Roshan were at the gates yet. He had all of this crap planned out, and we still outplayed him. Layla smirked and her excitement danced down her nerves.
They were about to be under heavy fire and if Phyllida’s troops made it out of the city, they’d be heading right for her. She loved it. Coolness seeped through her, her talent begging to be used, to carry them to their goals. She took a deep breath to stay calm, not wanting to get ahead of herself. She didn’t need another story about her recklessness.
“We’ll make our sacrifices to the Moon tonight. I’m sure the Sun and his son will understand,” Layla said to her group.
No one objected. She was more devoted to the Moon than the Sun, for obvious reasons, but the god she had been taught to honor as a child wasn’t among the Roshan’s pantheon. She’d love to sacrifice to the Darkness, but Darkness had lost back when she was a child, defeated by Khurshid and Tami. She’d give this victory to Tami instead. Tami loomed in the sky, about to witness their greatness. Is the Moon not in the sky as the Sun, giving life and safety to those under it? The Moon could bring them victory just as well as Khurshid.
Layla called for a bull and spilled its blood in the name of Tami. “For you, we’ll claim this land, great goddess Tami, our kind and conquering Moon. Ignite!”
Their archers ignited their arrows and the catapults ignited their load, both firing at Phyllida. The night sky was ablaze with their wrath raining down on the city, also a signal to their people inside to start their attack. The night attack gave Naren more cover for his forces at the rear of the city. They’d be able to get over the walls while Phyllida scrambled to deal with the frontal assault. It would also give Hafiz more time at the gates closest to the river. They might have a harder time breaking through, as the river gave them limited space to work with, but they were well-equipped for the job. With luck, they wouldn’t need Hafiz to think of something outside of the plan. He had better be over his little tantrum, too.
Taming the Wind Page 10