Preludes to War (Eve of Redemption Book 6)

by Joe Jackson

  Almost all eyes fell on the two syrinthian soldiers left. Kari looked around and saw that the third, who’d been bitten, had bled out or otherwise died, laying lifeless where The Vandrasse had drained him. She turned back toward the two snake-folk, both terrified of being outsiders in the midst of angry beshathans.

  “These are our brothers as well,” Kari said, drawing every pair of eyes back to her, shock evident in all of them, even Seanada’s. “They are children of Ashakku, our Great Mother’s holy sibling. If they cast off the chains of Sekassus, should we not embrace them as our kin?”

  Kari’s breath caught when everyone except Seanada bowed down to one knee before her. “You truly speak as a priestess of the Great Mother,” said the elder mallasti woman. “Guide us with your wisdom, daughter of Be’shatha! What would you have us do?”

  “Gather your weapons, and your armor; your children and your most precious, necessary belongings,” Kari said, remembering the words of Kris Jir’tana when evacuating towns during the Great War. “Let us go to Gaeshokk and prepare to make our stand there. Should any other prince or even the king himself dare to show themselves, we will remind them of the strength of our Great Mother.” She turned and looked at the syrinthians. “And Ashakku.”

  The entire gathering arose with a great cheer, and doors began to open around the town as children came out to see what had happened. Reinvigorated beshathans ran to gather their things and their children. The soldiers herded the mousivas carefully back into town and began to pile peoples’ things in wagons to be hitched to the beasts. Kari and Seanada stood by and watched, giving encouraging nods whenever someone looked at them.

  Within hours, the entire town was packed up and ready to go, even the dead taken care of. The elders, the pregnant, and new mothers were allowed to ride on or in the wagons, while all of the elestram, both male and female, volunteered to walk. Kari took a cursory head count as they set out toward Gaeshokk, and saw that she had more than six score people with her. It hadn’t seemed like there were that many during the chaos in the streets, but most had hidden during the confrontation. She placed no fault on them for that; whether they were defending children, spouses, or simply their own homes and lives, Kari would not fault them for not risking all.

  Seanada was more emotional on the walk than Kari had ever seen her. She guessed it was a combination of two things: having faced her biological mother in combat, and being on the way to see her real mother at home. Kari put her hand to Seanada’s shoulder comfortingly, and the shape-changed assassin turned a nervous but not insincere smile her way. She leaned over and kissed Kari on the side of the snout, surprising her.

  “I stand by my earlier comment,” Seanada said. “I wish I was half the woman you are. Now, stop trying to look tough. Get up and ride in a cart until your leg has healed.”

  Chapter XIII – Parley

  The ride to Gaeshokk was slow with all of the women and children in tow, as well as the fact that many of those traveling were wounded in some way. Kari’s ankle healed through the night as expected, and she marveled once again at the speed of her recovery. Once she could walk on it properly, she shed the splint and bandages and took to the road beside Seanada. It was clear that doing so encouraged the people, and from the whispers she could overhear, she understood the people considered her some prophet of the Great Mother.

  Kari considered her healing ability briefly; when had she been blessed with it? She thought perhaps it was more obvious in recent years because she was getting hurt more and more as her missions became deadlier. The only incident she could come up with was when she had danced with Sakkrass in the village of his people on Tsalbrin. She’d felt like he was wrapping her in his scaly flesh to protect her from harm, and now she wondered if he had done something to that effect.

  The more the people whispered about her, the more Kari considered what all of her work would mean for the real Mastriana. As much as Seanada spoke of wishing she was half the woman Kari was, the demonhunter had to hope Mastriana would turn out to be so. The woman certainly seemed devout and well-spoken; Kari simply prayed that she would be able to pick up where Kari would ultimately leave off. She further prayed that the woman would not be killed by the Overking in retaliation for some of the things Kari had said.

  Her mind came back to the more immediate future. There were soldiers traveling with her and the people of Haestronn that had killed some of the town’s residents. They may have been traveling together now in relative peace, but there was still anger there under the surface. It was foolish to expect everyone to get along, but this was a dangerous situation. Here there was potential to go far beyond dissension in the ranks, diving directly into infighting. The troubling thing was, Kari could understand both sides in this tension, and she wasn’t sure just how to defuse the situation.

  Those concerns seemed to melt away once they came into sight of Gaeshokk. The village had advanced warning of the coming visitors, as obvious as the short wagon train was. Kari saw that the soldiers she’d swayed went and spoke with the defenders of Gaeshokk immediately, and from the mannerisms, she was fairly certain they were subjecting themselves to the command of the town’s standing militia. That might do the trick, Kari thought. I’m not sure there will ever be forgiveness there, but if they’re willing to fight to defend these people, it’s a start.

  The elder mallasti males of the village came out to meet the wagon train, and Kari walked to the front to greet them, her cloak shed for the occasion. She was met with wide eyes and even some tears, a far cry from the usual impassiveness of the hyena-folk. Kari cast her gaze from side to side, taking in all of the beshathans before her, and didn’t miss the occasional flick of the eyes toward the syrinthian soldiers. She also didn’t miss the fact that Seanada’s mother and brother were conspicuously absent.

  “Greetings, my brothers and sisters,” she said slowly after getting her thoughts in order. “I am Mastriana Te’Dastra, daughter of the Great Mother, and I have come to free your people.”

  “Foolishness,” came a hissing voice from a doorstep as a sylinth slithered out. He was dressed impeccably – or as impeccably as Kari imagined was possible with no legs. He wore a pristine white skirt with gold trim, and a masterfully crafted vest embroidered with golds and greens. He carried no weapons that Kari could see, but with a sylinthian prince, that didn’t mean he was unarmed by any means. He had painted designs on his serpentine face, his hood not flared despite the challenging nature of his words.

  Kari put her hands to the hilts of her waushims, but the prince raised a hand, its fingers each adorned with a glittering ring, and made a casual gesture. “Be at ease; I have come solely to negotiate, not to engage in violence. I should warn you, however, that simply speaking the words you just spoke will see you dead at the hands of the Overking.”

  “Who are you?” Kari asked, not releasing her grip on her hilts.

  He gave a bow that seemed to contain no mockery. “I am Prince Vassiras of Saristor,” he answered, and Kari straightened up at that. He was the politician, she remembered, and she took her hands off her weapons, fairly certain he was not a fighter. “My father sent me south when all of this nonsense began, to broker some truce should it expand beyond even Amnastru’s ability to disperse.”

  “You want to broker a peace deal?” Kari asked incredulously. She wondered exactly what Sekassus thought he could offer.

  “If possible, yes,” he said. He gestured about. “Look around you; do you see a scene of destruction? I intercepted my brother before he could turn his less subtle ways upon the people here. An angry, wounded people serve no function but trouble, and Father is proficient enough at bringing that upon himself…as you no doubt know.”

  He gestured toward Kari’s white coat, and she tilted her head, looking at the mallasti elders. “So he convinced Amnastru to leave without hurting anyone?”

  “Not exactly,” one of the elders answered. “He took Ilsara Te’Montasi and her son with him, on suspicion of involvemen
t with the Ashen Fangs.”

  Kari had to fight the urge to look at Seanada, and she hoped the woman was covering up the terror that must have filled her at those words. Kari turned back to Prince Vassiras. “What are you offering?”

  “Oh, no, my dear, I am afraid it will not be that simple,” he answered. “You have stirred up quite a hornets’ nest and, if what I have been hearing is correct, you have now killed two of my brothers. You have a clear goal in mind, if not much in the way of a plan, so it must be you who begins this parley by telling me what it is you want.”

  “Freedom for my people,” Kari answered without hesitation.

  Prince Vassiras laughed. “Oh, come now. That will never happen and you know it. It matters little if you are ruled immediately by my father or one of his neighbors, you belong to the Overking. If it is freedom you desire, go treat with him.”

  “If you want to play with words, we’re going to play with waushims instead,” Kari said, and the prince tilted his head to the side. “You know exactly what I mean.”

  “Of course I do. You wish for Father to cede some of his realm to King Emanitar, hmm? And what could you possibly offer in exchange for such a concession?”

  “The lives of his sons.”

  Prince Vassiras laughed again, putting a hand to his chin. He took in a deep breath when his humor had run its course. “No, I think you will need to offer something more enticing than that,” he returned. “Even if you could kill all of us, that would not sway Father to give up such a sizeable portion of his realm. No, perhaps it is something simpler, and more easily given that might persuade him.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Your death,” the prince said evenly. “Oh, yes. Your death might finally convince him that this prophecy that he has worked tirelessly for centuries to try to prevent from coming true is rubbish. I am no fool, Mastriana: my father’s actions are forcing the very prophecy he fears to come true. Your presence here, your actions, are a result of the deaths of the vulkinastras my father has slain, no? Now here you are, a vulkinastra leading the very rebellion he has been trying to avoid for centuries. Perhaps if you sacrifice yourself, your fellow vulkinastras will finally be safe, and your people will be ground less under my father’s heel.”

  “You want me to sacrifice my life for a perhaps?” Kari balked. “Give me one good reason not to add you to the list of princes I’ve killed right now.”

  “Because I have come as an ambassador. If you kill those who merely wish to speak with you, how long do you think to hold the loyalties of the people you work to free? How can they trust you if you murder anyone who opposes you, violently or not? I expect you are young, and that you did not spend much time sparring with words before you undertook this crusade. There are rules even to a bloody revolution, Lady Te’Dastra.”

  Kari had to concede that point. Solving all of her problems with violence was just going to create more of them. Prince Vassiras had come to negotiate in good faith, and whatever Kari might think of him or his father, she had to respect that. “I can’t speak for all these people,” she said at last. “But I can speak for myself. You go back to your father and you tell him this: I will not stop killing his princes until my people are free of his rule. If he wants to negotiate with King Emanitar, he can do that, but these southern lands of my people will no longer be his to control.”

  Prince Vassiras tiled his head again. “You speak for King Emanitar, then? Are you an agent of his?”

  “As I said, I speak only for myself. But does your father want to look weak when he can be invaded from the north or the east? He would be best served to sell these lands while he still has the option to do so. And you will also tell your brother to bring back those he has abducted from this village, or I will find him and kill him.”

  Prince Vassiras blinked slowly and gestured around. “Look about you, Mastriana. Do you see a standing army? Do you see enough soldiers to fight my father’s legions? You have managed an impressive feat so far, to kill two of my brothers, but you have done this from the shadows, in the wake of my brother’s passing. When Amnastru finds you, he will not come alone, and these people will not stand much chance against my father’s legions. You are bold, brash, and arrogant, and clearly not considering the fates of those you involve in your cause. Surrender yourself to my father’s will, and perhaps you will buy some semblance of freedom for these people.”

  Kari glared at him, but then she started laughing. “You’re afraid, aren’t you? You and your father are afraid of what is coming, that is why he sent you here to try to talk his way out of it. You want to know what I see when I look about me? I see my brothers and sisters. I see a people who are fed up with being abused at the hands of a king who cares nothing for them. Do you think your father’s legions feel differently? Or when they come here, are they going to see me, see this white coat, and remember what it is it symbolizes, and turn on your father?”

  The prince’s eyes wandered for just a moment as he considered a response. Kari continued, “Have you forgotten, in all these centuries, that the syrinthians and the beshathans are all distant relations? Your days of manipulating them against each other are coming to an end, as is your father’s reign. You seem to have a decent head on your shoulders, Prince Vassiras. Are you certain you do not want to join us as well? There are a good number of elestram here; why don’t you ask them which odds would be in your favor?”

  There were some scattered chuckles from the jackal-folk, and Prince Vassiras managed to smile when he glanced at them. “Very well, then. I have done my part here. Assuming you do not hold me here by force, I shall take my leave and deliver your demands to my father. Just know, Mastriana, that you have declared war on my father, and whatever the outcome, that is what you will get. But not just with my father; if you manage to destabilize the tentative balance of the Council, you may just plunge our entire world into war. I am not certain you appreciate what it is you have accomplished.”

  Kari drew out her waushims, and the prince straightened out, ready to defend himself. Kari crossed the blades before her. “I know exactly what I have done. Epaxa chi’pri.” There were gasps and whispered conversations all about her, and Kari wasn’t sure whether the prince had any idea what the expression really meant. “As for you…you are free to go.”

  Prince Vassiras bowed again toward her and called to his retainers in syrinthian. A pair of the snake-folk emerged from the same home the prince had and fell into step beside him. Unlike his brothers, Prince Vassiras had no cart or coach to carry him, and he began to slither away to the north with his servants.

  Kari called after him, and he looked back. “You know something, Prince Vassiras? I rather like you. You may be the one member of your family I don’t kill.”

  “I shall hold you to that, should you succeed in your goals,” he returned with a smirk, but then he was off.

  “We must mount a rescue effort to recover…Ilsara and Aedrien,” Seanada said once the prince was safely out of earshot.

  “No need,” Kari said, still watching the back of the departing sylinthian prince. She met Seanada’s surprised stare after a moment. “This was all a ruse. Sekassus has no intention of bargaining with us. He sent that poor sap here to make us think we were getting somewhere. I may not be an elestram, but I would bet some enjoyable body parts that Amnastru is not on his way back to his father’s palace, but waiting for word of where I am so he can strike.”

  There were some chuckles at her joke, but the people of Gaeshokk began looking at each other with somber expressions. For all the bluster and bravado, the reality of war coming was no laughing matter, and they were frightened. The fact that Amnastru would be spearheading the countermeasures of the king didn’t help matters. Kari kept in mind that Amnastru was nearly strong enough to be a king himself, and it was easy to understand the people’s fear.

  Her mind whirled as she considered how best they would stand against what was coming. If, as Vassiras had suggested, Amnastru came with h
is father’s legions, it would be a bloodbath. At best, Kari might kill Amnastru and scatter his soldiers, but there would be a considerable body count before she managed to do that, if she even got the opportunity, much less succeeded. Her eyes lingered on the soldiers from Haestronn. Perhaps it was time for a ruse of their own.

  “We need scouts,” Kari said at length, gaining the attention of all those around her. “We need to know if Amnastru really has an army with him. I am not certain that arrogant fool would think he needs one to conquer us; did he have soldiers with him when he stopped here before?”

  “No, Lady Te’Dastra,” answered one of the elders. “He came alone. Do you understand the power he possesses? Even as a village, we could not stand against him.”

  “A village?” Kari returned, surprising them. She turned to and fro, making a point to meet every pair of eyes she possibly could. “This is no village. This is an enclave of children of Be’shatha! Prince Amnastru and his father are very strong, but they do not have the backing of the Great Mother, do they? We will stand together, and together we will reflect the glory of our Great Mother. EPAXA CHI’PRI!”

  “You two!” Seanada called during the stunned silence that followed. Two of the elestram soldiers approached quickly and bowed to Kari before turning their attention back to the shape-changed assassin. “Go and scout the northern roads. Find Prince Amnastru and report back with what military strength he brings with him. Keep those uniforms on; if he discovers you, join with him, that you may betray him to us when you return. Go quickly, now; time is of the essence.”

  “Look also for the prisoners, the missing mallasti woman and her son that he took,” Kari added, and the two scouts agreed and then departed.

  “I need a runner to go to Ewuaswi in Tess’Vorg,” Kari said, and one of the elestram of Gaeshokk volunteered. The woman bowed before Kari. The disguised demonhunter dug up the signet ring of King Emanitar and the carved symbol of the Great Mother from her belongings. She untied the pendant’s thong and slid the signet ring down it, then retied the string and hung it over the neck of the elestram volunteer. “Listen to me very carefully, for life or death hang in the balance of what I am about to tell you.”