The Sacred Band
( Acacia - 3 )
David Anthony Durham
The Sacred Band
David Anthony Durham
The Story So Far
The Other Lands, the second book of the Acacia trilogy, begins with a prologue that dates back to the time of Hanish Mein’s rule. League slavers have caught the twins Mor and Ravi, in a mass roundup of quota children. On a remote beach in rural Candovia, Ravi tries to stir the other youths into rebellion. When he is captured, a leagueman spares his life, saying that a different fate awaits him-and his soul-in the Other Lands.
The story proper begins some nine years after the events in Acacia: The War with the Mein. Corinn Akaran, now the undisputed queen of Acacia, keeps tight control of her power. She trusts few people beyond her assistant, Rhrenna, a Meinish woman she had been friendly with during Hanish Mein’s reign. Corinn has commissioned experiments on a new distillation of the mist-called the vintage-that can be added to wine. The vintage is being created in partnership with the league, which she appeased after Hanish’s war. She has let them expand their operations on the Outer Isles. The league is now running those islands like a private fiefdom, with the aim of producing quota children on large plantations. Outside of the duties of her office, Corinn has a softer, more maternal side. She dotes on her eight-year-old son, Aaden. He is the only one who knows Corinn is studying The Song of Elenet.
Corinn’s two younger siblings are busy as well. Mena Akaran begins the novel on the plains of Talay, where she is in charge of exterminating the foulthings, the mutated creatures that resulted from the corrupted magic the Santoth unleashed when they destroyed the Meinish army after Aliver’s death. Foulthings vary in form, size, and dangerousness, but Mena-along with her husband, Melio, and Aliver’s friend Kelis Umae-defeats them one by one. Her brother, Dariel Akaran, has been assuaging the guilt he harbors about allowing Aliver to duel Hanish by overseeing reconstruction projects across the empire.
The main storyline begins with the arrival of Sire Dagon and Sire Neen with news for Corinn of a mishap in the Other Lands. The leaguemen explain that their trade has never exactly been with the Lothan Aklun. The Lothan Aklun are middlemen who cater to a larger population, the Auldek. Frustrated by years of knowing little about the Auldek, the league began “seeking intelligence” about them. Unfortunately-they claim-several league spies were found out. Fearing the blunder will interrupt the trade, the leaguemen request that Corinn sail to the Other Lands to renew the good faith of the trade agreements. She does not accept the offer, but she arranges for Dariel to go in her place. She sends Rialus Neptos along to keep an eye on things. The Numrek chieftain, Calrach, and several of his clan, including his son, Allek, are assigned to go, to serve as envoys to help convince the Auldek to continue the trade with the Acacians.
Several supporting characters introduce important narrative threads. Barad the Lesser, a battered laborer formerly of the Kidnaban mines, is now a social activist. He travels around the empire, making speeches, trying to build an organized resistance to the Akaran dynasty. He believes that the Known World can be governed with more equity. He comes to trust the Aushenian king, Grae, who wants to see Acacian power reduced. The dashing monarch agrees to visit the queen’s court to woo her and gain intelligence on how best to topple her.
Kelis, the Talayan who was Aliver’s close companion in his youth, leaves Mena’s service to answer a call from his chieftain. He learns that Aliver had fathered a daughter, Shen, with one of his lovers, Benabe. The child has dream conversations with the Santoth. They have been calling her to them. Since Kelis had helped Aliver find the sorcerers, he is chosen to escort Shen and Benabe to the Santoth. A young man, Naamen, goes with them. They trek into southern Talay on foot, a journey that becomes more magical the closer they get to the Santoth. Eventually they meet Leeka Alain, the old soldier who had killed the first Numrek. He has been living with the Santoth all these years. He leads them to the sorcerers, who snatch Shen away and disappear.
Delivegu Lemardine, a seedy agent Corinn uses for her more unsavory assignments, brings the queen information about Barad the Lesser, telling her there is a conspiracy afoot. He also discovers that Dariel’s lover, Wren, is pregnant with his child. Once Corinn finds out about this, she sends Wren to Calfa Ven, to keep her out of sight while she decides what to do about her.
Mena continues to hunt the foulthings, ranging all over Talay, thinking up ingenious ways to trap and kill the beasts. Eventually, she faces the last monster. It is supposed to be a dragon, but she finds that it is a fusion of reptile and bird, a strangely gentle, feathered beauty. Before she can stop them, Mena’s hunting party attacks it. The princess is snatched into the air by the injured creature as it flies away. The animal crashes in a remote region. The two heal from their wounds together, and form an affectionate bond. Mena names the animal Elya.
Dariel sees many wonders on his journey across the Gray Slopes, including mountainous waves and schools of angry sea wolves. What he does not know is that his host, Sire Neen, secretly hates all Akarans. He holds Dariel responsible for the death of many leaguemen on the platforms. Incredibly ambitious, Neen has embarked on a scheme to eliminate the Lothan Aklun and to monopolize the mist and quota trade. Arriving at the barrier isles of the Other Lands-Ushen Brae in the native tongue-Neen imprisons Dariel and explains that the league has used the occasion of a Lothan Aklun ceremonial ritual to spread poison among them. The entire Lothan Aklun culture has been wiped out.
Neen arranges a meeting with the Auldek. He plans to hand Dariel over as a peace offering. But nothing about his meeting with the warlike Auldek goes as planned. The arrival of the Numrek throws the meeting into chaos. During it, Sire Neen is decapitated. Both Dariel and Rialus are captured, but by different factions. Dariel becomes a prisoner of the resistance movement of quota slaves, the Free People. He is treated harshly for a time, reviled for being a prince of the family that established the mist and slave trade. Despite this, he becomes fascinated by his captors: Mor, the beautiful, angry leader of the group; Skylene, her lover; and Tunnel, a hulk of a man made more impressive because his skin is tattooed gray and he sports golden tusks in his jaw. Many of the quota slaves have had extreme alterations made to their bodies-tattoos, piercings, implants-to make them look like the totem animal deities of their Auldek masters. Tunnel and Skylene gradually tell him more and more about life in Ushen Brae.
Rialus was captured by the Auldek. To his surprise, Calrach comes to his cell and explains that it was not just the league that had treacherous plots at work. The Numrek had their own reasons for coming to Ushen Brae. They are an individual clan of the Auldek people, one of several, but they had been exiled years before for violating Auldek taboos. It was this banishment that took them into the far north, from where they eventually found their way down over the pole and into the Known World. The years they spent in service to Hanish and, later, to Corinn, were a continuation of that punishment. Now Calrach has returned to his native land with news he believes will regain his clan’s status among the Auldek.
Calrach explains to Rialus the same crucial information that Dariel learns from the Free People. The Lothan Aklun had a device called the soul catcher that could remove the souls of quota children and implant them inside Auldek hosts. They stored them in their bodies, making them effectively immortal but also infertile. They need quota slaves for their souls, for labor, and to be able to watch the natural cycle of life that they are no longer part of. The Numrek, however, found that on arriving in the Known World they regained their fertility, as Calrach’s son, Allek, proves just by existing. Calrach returned to Ushen Brae to convince the Auldek to march to the Known World via the northern route and make w
ar. They can have new lands, new children, and new lives in the Known World. The Auldek force Rialus to tell them everything about the Known World, and he becomes a personal source of information for the head chieftain of the Auldek, the ever-confident Devoth.
Dariel, convinced that he can do something to right the wrongs of the quota trade, offers to help the resistance. They eventually give him a mission. They have found a soul ship-one powered by trapped souls-that they do not want the league to get its hands on. They ask Dariel to pilot the ship to a remote place and destroy it. He jumps at the opportunity. He even lets Mor tattoo his face so that he looks like a quota slave. The vessel proves to be fast, maneuverable, and absolutely unlike anything Dariel has ever seen. As he races away in it, he discovers that the league has occupied the island of Lithram Len, on which the soul catcher is housed. If they find the device and learn how to use it, they could make themselves immortal. Dariel does not let this happen. Like the brigand he used to be, he steals explosive pitch from the docks and uses it to blow up the soul catcher. A little later, after destroying the soul vessel and freeing the spirits captive in it, Dariel meets up with Mor. She offers him leave to go as thanks for his deeds, or says that she could take him into the interior of Ushen Brae, to meet the elders of the Free People. Following Mor, he sets off into the wild expanse that is Ushen Brae.
Back on Acacia, Corinn narrowly escapes being charmed by King Grae. Delivegu captures Barad the Lesser and presents him to her. Delivegu has deduced that Grae is conspiring with Barad. The queen imprisons him and turns his eyes to stone. Corinn simply sends Grae home.
Corinn is relieved when Mena returns from Talay. The princess flies in on Elya. Corinn is wary of the creature, but Mena adores her. Soon Aaden is in love with Elya also. Mena reunites with her lover, Melio. The two of them discuss having children, something they have long put off. It is a pleasant reprieve, but it does not last long.
Sire Dagon gets word of what happened to Sire Neen in Ushen Brae. He learns of the Numrek’s treachery and of the impending invasion. He runs to tell the queen a modified version of events-one that puts no blame on the league. The Numrek in the palace see Dagon’s unease and know something has happened with their clansmen. They rise in rebellion. The queen is safely locked away with Dagon and Rhrenna when the slaughter begins, but Mena and Aaden are out in the Carmelia, with Numrek guards watching over them.
The Numrek attack the young prince. They stab both him and his friend before Mena can stop them. Mena kills the Numrek, grabs Aaden, and tosses him to Elya, who flies the injured boy away. Melio and other Marah soon join Mena. They fight the Numrek, killing them and all the other Numrek on the island.
Corinn uses the song to heal Aaden’s injuries, but the boy remains unconscious. She dream travels all the way to Ushen Brae. She cannot find her brother, but she does contact Rialus. Through him, she gets proof that the Auldek are marching to war. They have mustered a great host: Auldek; tens of thousands of slaves; and all manner of beasts, including antoks, batlike kwedeir, and freketes-large, intelligent beasts with massive wings.
Wanting the nation on her side completely as they face the invasion, Corinn authorizes the distribution of the vintage, thereby addicting the people to artificial cheer once again. She gives Mena the King’s Trust, Edifus’s ancient sword, and sends her to be the first line of defense against the Auldek, to defeat or delay them while they are still in the far north. She sends Melio with an army to prepare an assault on the Numrek in Teh. The couple’s plan to have children will have to wait.
Aliver’s daughter, on the other hand, reappears. Kelis, Benabe, and Naamen had been left distraught by her disappearance. They searched the desert for her for weeks, but in the end Shen, Leeka, and the Santoth simply reappear. The girl tells Kelis that the Santoth are ready to return to the world now. As Aliver’s descendant, she has freed them, and now she wants to go with them to Acacia. According to Shen, the Santoth believe Corinn is making grave mistakes with her use of The Song of Elenet. They claim to want to help her. Kelis reluctantly agrees. The group begins the long journey back to Acacia.
After the tumultuous part he played in igniting the Numrek uprising, Sire Dagon takes solace in communing with the League Council. They conclude that however the conflict plays out, they will be able to find a way to benefit from it. One of them, Sire El, seizes the opportunity to get approval for a project he has been working on-developing an army from the slaves raised on their plantations. Sires Faleen and Lethel head off to take over Ushen Brae.
In the final chapter of the book Corinn works several acts of magic. She goes to Barad and injects sight into his stone eyes. She binds him with a spell so that he will appear to be free but will only say the things she wants him to. Having found out that Elya has laid eggs-information she got from her clever spy, Delivegu-she sings sorcery into the unborn creatures, charging them to grow into great monsters for her. And then she summons a spirit from the dead: her older brother.
Aliver Akaran is back in the story.
CHAPTER ONE
Corinn Akaran stepped into the brilliant morning light. She walked across the deck of her transport ship, descended the plank to the Teh docks, and strode through the military officials awaiting her as if all of it were one continuous movement. The men-including Melio Sharratt and General Andeson, Marah and Elite officers-parted around her, stunned even though they had stood in preparation for greeting her since the dawn. For a moment the group did nothing but stare.
The queen wore armor that melded influences from the empire’s provinces. Chain mail covered her arms; it was thin and light but made of fine links of steel, cuffed at the wrists with a hint of Senivalian style. A Meinish thalba wrapped her torso, snug against the contours of her hips and breasts. Her skirt, also of chain mail, was as short as any Talayan runner’s. Leather straps wrapped over her legs, completely covering them in a second skin that was tight around the calf, loose around the knee, and tight again around the upper thighs. Over all this she wore a light Acacian cape that flapped around her as she moved.
Baddel, the Talayan who had jockeyed to be the first to address her on his homeland’s soil, welcomed her with a barrage of enthusiastic praise. He poured forth condolences for the injury done to Prince Aaden. “Numrek treachery knows no bounds! I still can’t…” For a moment he got no further. The queen’s Elite guards swept down in her wake, jolting the advisers into motion. They scurried to keep up with her, all except Melio Sharratt, who seemed at ease and said as she passed, “Your Majesty, I’ve never seen you… dressed in armor.”
“We’re at war,” Corinn said. “In this I’m the same as any in the Known World. General Andeson, tell me.”
By which she meant update her on the most recent intelligence. The general did. The first wave of Marah had swept in upon the Numrek’s seaside villas, catching them at least somewhat unawares. They’d fought among the rambling estates, across the beaches and piers and gardens in which the Numrek had lived in sun-drenched splendor. Soon they had the coastline blockaded. Corps of the Elite pushed inland as the Numrek retreated.
“We pressed them back into the hillside fortress the locals call the Thumb,” the general said. “It’s an ancient structure. We’d thought nothing of it, but the Numrek must have reinforced the walls and stocked it with supplies. They’ve had time to prepare their treachery. We’ve offered battle daily, but they no longer engage.”
“They’ve suddenly gone coward,” a younger officer said.
“No, they’re toying with us,” Melio said. “They send their children onto the battlements to float paper birds on the air. They’re clever with such things.”
Andeson’s sideways glance at him was disapproving. Melio shrugged and mouthed, What? It’s true.
“It’s become something of a waiting game,” Andeson said. “The fortress is built atop a butte. There is but a single track that wraps its way up around it, too narrow and unprotected to march an army up. We’ve lobbed stones and explosives at
them, but they’re well dug in. There are tunnels deep within the butte, accessed only from inside it. There’s a water source in there somewhere as well. It may be a matter of starving them to death.”
“An unheroic strategy,” Corinn said.
“I would choose honorable battle every time, Your Majesty, but at times one’s foes make that impossible. These Numrek are vile. They massacred their own servants, you know. Built a wall of their bodies at the base of the Thumb. If you had seen-”
“I’m sure our soldiers have performed well,” Corinn interrupted, “and I have every faith in your leadership. I’ve arrived now. I’ll finish this.”
They progressed out of the docks, through a makeshift storage area in the dusty open space beyond. The Teh coast was somewhat wetter than most of Talay, but this late in the season the grasses that covered the hills to the north were bleached golden by the sun. Corinn was glad to have arranged for horses ahead of time. The mounts awaited them, held by Talayan youths who looked nervous about their unaccustomed work.
“Queen Corinn,” Melio said. “Anything new from Mena?”
“Not since she sent a bird from Luana. I expect to hear from her again soon. Ride with me, Melio. When the Numrek have been dealt with I have an assignment for you. We’ll discuss it as we ride.”
Melio bowed his head, and they stood as the squire attending Corinn’s horse tried to swing it around into position for her.
“There’s a rumor among the soldiers,” Melio said. “It came across on the last few transports. About… Aliver.”
“A rumor? Have Andeson and the other generals heard this rumor?”
“I’m closer to the troops than they. That’s where I heard it, but the rumor is trickling up. It can’t possibly be true, though, right?”
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