CHAPTER 11
Butu’s eyes met Lujo’s, but neither of them spoke.
“When it happened, I was helping the other shepherds find water in the mountains.”
Butu jumped at Retus’ words. The quiet boy smiled apologetically and went on.
“I was sure there was a big spring in a certain place, but they dug and dug and ...” His voice cracked. “After that, Dad told me I could take twelve of his sheep to start my own flock, because I was a man, now. I asked him if I could join the sordenu, instead.” He sounded embarrassed. “I’ve always wanted to do something exciting — maybe just for a cycle or two, not for the rest of my life. I could tell he didn’t want me to do that. I thought for sure he’d say no, but he didn’t. Instead, he shook my hand and told me ...” He paused, taking a deep breath. Butu patted him on the back.
I wish I had had a father to love me like that.
“He told me that if I ever change my mind and come back, he’d give me a flock then.” Retus wiped his nose and put on a brave face.
“You’re not a tem,” Nolen said.
Retus shook his head. “I’m an un’, but my family’s not rich.”
Butu felt a small stab of jealousy. He’s here because he wants to be. He had a choice. Lujo looked annoyed.
“I’m an un’, too, but my mother was the daughter of an el’Ahjea,” Lujo boasted. “If she hadn’t married an orphan against her father’s wishes, I’d be an el’, too.”
“How did your mirjuva happen?” Butu asked with a bit of venom in his voice. Their eyes locked again. Nolen and Phedam rolled their eyes.
“You first,” Lujo said suddenly.
“Fine.” Butu didn’t want to fight him. He’ll only exaggerate his story, let him have the last say. “I fell off a rooftop. It was a race around Jasper. General Pater el’Ahjea told Jusep that I had potential. I once bested the kluntra’s son in a sword fight, you see.” Two can play the story game! He felt his face flush as Nolen sighed.
“How about you, Lujo?” Phedam asked.
Lujo adopted a dramatic tone of voice and raised an arm.
“About a month ago, the foreman had me exploring a cave. It looked natural enough at the entrance...” He put so much emphasis on “looked” everyone leaned in closer. “...But some rock formations a few hundred feet in seemed to’ve been shaped by magic. It looked like I might find something even more amazing than the tomb of the ancient kluntra.” He frowned when Butu groaned. “When I found a labyrinth built of some strange silvery metal, I knew I was right.”
He met each of their eyes in turn. “I could just dig through the walls, right, who can’t? But there’s something about a maze that begs to be solved! This one was tricky. I’m pretty sure the walls moved around just to confuse me. I grew hungry, tired and thirsty, but persevered. Finally, I reached the center — a large courtyard with a silver fountain in the middle. I suddenly realized how thirsty I was. As I approached the fountain, a golem made of the same silvery metal as the labyrinth rose from the floor to block my path. Then a girl who looked to be five or six years old stepped out from behind the fountain. ‘Who are you?’ I asked. She answered, in a voice as cool as the water behind her, ‘Pophira al’Ahjea.’”
He paused, looking to see if the name meant anything to anyone. Butu couldn’t help but be as fascinated as the rest. Nodding, Lujo went on.
“I didn’t know Jusep had any daughers named Pophira, so this confused me! ‘Who’s your father?’ I asked her. She answered, ‘Makhad al’Ahjea.’”
All his listeners burst out laughing. Makhad al’Ahjea had been the last Ahjea to be made King of Turuna — more than two hundred cycles ago.
Lujo took their reaction in stride. “Fine, fine. You don’t have to believe she was Makhad’s lost daughter. I wasn’t so sure myself, at the time, but you understand why I didn’t run over to get a drink of water from that fountain, either. It was obviously a miraman that kept her from getting any older but made her forget to leave.”
A bell rang from the direction of the barracks.
“Lights out,” Phedam hissed. “We should go.”
Nolen waved off his friend. “We can sneak back after Lujo finishes.”
Phedam and Retus looked toward the barracks but said nothing.
“So you just left her there?” Nolen asked with a snort.
Lujo grinned. “I asked her, right, if she was angry with her parents! She shook her head with a smile. ‘Not anymore. I’m just going to get a drink, and then I’ll go home.’ I wanted to stop her, but I knew I was no match for her guardian golem. As she finished drinking from the fountain, she looked up at me like she was surprised I was there. ‘Who are you?’ she asked, as if we had not been talking. I told her. ‘Are you thirsty?’ she asked. I shook my head instead of lying. ‘Are you sure?’ she asked. ‘There’s plenty. ‘Yes,’ I told her. ‘I think I’m going to go home. My family probably misses me,’ I said by way of excuse. Then I walked into the labyrinth and left her there.”
He threw his hands up in disgust. “Unless someone destroys the fountain, she’ll always be there. I didn’t think of it at the time, but anyone who marries her will have a stronger claim on the clan leadership than Jusep does. Maybe in a year or two, I’ll go back down there and rescue her.”
He crossed his arms, daring them to challenge his story.
“And your mirjuva?” Nolen prompted.
“Which you didn’t mention?” Phedam added.
“Oh, yes. That was a misunderstanding, you see. When I came home, I found out three days had passed. Half the town was looking for me. They thought I’d gotten lost in one of the caves. Of course, despite my truthful explanations, they all thought it was mirjuva, and even though it wasn’t, I couldn’t admit it to anyone. I joined the sordenu because I was tired of pretending I had gotten lost. So, I’ve kind of had a mirjuva but not really. I hope my secret is safe with you.”
They all murmured their assurances that it was. Butu suspected they all meant it, too.
If I repeat that story and sound like I believe a word of it, the other sordenu will think I’m the most gullible person they’ve ever met. He grinned inwardly. Learning to see has some merits, I think.
Butu told them what Blay had said about magic. All of them had apparently heard the same thing from other sordenu since their arrival.
“They force us not to use magic. Of course we’ll forget how,” Nolen said, echoing Butu’s suspicions. Retus and Phedam murmured their agreement.
“I’m going to keep practicing,” Butu said. “I’ll do it in secret, if I have to, but I’m never going to stop using magic.”
They all nodded, even Lujo. Butu thought the storyteller would generally be agreeable, if untrustworthy when it came to his stories. He shared a grin with the silver-earringed boy.
How would I look with an earring?
“Maybe we should form a magic club,” Lujo suggested. “Once we’re done with our training, we’ll secretly teach the recruits who come after us to keep their magic, too.”
A good idea, Butu thought, then felt something else — a handful of people approaching. Pater, Aeklan and ... Zhek? The general, a lieutenant, and the sergeant! A familiar flickering presence trailed them. Jani?
The other boys kept talking and gave no sign that they noticed. “Quiet!” Butu hissed. “Someone’s coming this way.”
They all sensed the new arrivals, now. “Let’s go,” Lujo said. “We’re done anyway. Meet you all back at the barracks!” And he vanished.
“Make sure you split up,” Nolen said, voice coming from nowhere. “It’ll make it harder to catch us.”
Retus and Phedam began chanting. “You seek and search, but never see. I’m hiding, and you won’t find me. No sound I make, no shadow cast. No tracks I leave in sand I’ve passed.” They said it again and again, concentrating on the words and remembering the hundreds of games of hide and seek they had played. Of course, even in an open area, winning at hide and seek was much harder when everyone else was j
ust as invisible as you were — including the one doing the seeking.
Butu ducked behind some carts but stopped in earshot. Jani is here. He was sure of it now. Even invisible, she couldn’t hide from him completely. Jani shouldn’t be here. What’s going on?
Everyone else was out of his senses when the three men appeared. The sergeant looked around as if expecting someone else to be here. Butu ducked behind his cart, trusting the darkness more than his magic to hide him as Aeklan peered intently into the shadows.
Kingmaker Page 11