by Narro, B. T.
They’d searched the eastern side of Satjen with the chamoline but it hadn’t changed color. Now that they were back, they would have one night of rest, giving Paramar time to meet with Doe while Zeti looked forward to her quiet hut and bed.
Right after she jumped off the wall, she felt a sting to her lower back. The nick was just below her short leather shirt where her stomach was exposed. She spun to see what got her. Paramar was sitting on the wall. He must have sliced her with a claw on his foot.
“Your skin is still very soft,” he said, hopping down so close his chin would have hit her head if she were a neck taller. He reached his hand around her, pressing his palm into the fresh wound for a heartbeat. He brought his hand back to show her the small amount of her blood he took from her. “Even the small claw of a Slugari would open you up. I have to make sure your skin is tough enough for battle before we strike, otherwise you’ll be staying behind.”
“It doesn’t matter how soft my skin is if I don’t get touched. That’s what this is for.” She lifted her bow. “I can fight.”
“Paramar,” someone called. It was a voice she didn’t recognize. When she turned to see Keenu, the chief of the scouts, she took it as her cue to leave. She found it to be common for other chiefs to meet with Paramar and even saw him speaking with Doe and Haemon a few times around camp.
But Keenu stopped her with a hand to her shoulder as she tried to walk by him. “Zeti, right? Sister to Zoke?”
“Yes, what of it?” Whenever someone led with her connection to Zoke, the conversation never went well.
“Doe needs you and Paramar to come with me. Nebre has returned. Follow, and I’ll explain as we walk.”
Nebre…the one who was sent to Kyrro because he could speak their language? He couldn’t have made it there and back already. What happened?
Zeti checked the thin cut on her back for blood as she started after Keenu. Her gray finger came back just a bit redder. She stuck it in her mouth to suck off the stain. And what could Doe want with me?
Keenu spoke while they walked. “Doe and Haemon didn’t trust the Humans from Tenred because the Humans didn’t like our idea of threatening Kyrro to reveal the location of the Slugari. Instead, Tenred wanted us to attack Kyrro with them, take their cities, and use force to get the Slugari location out of them once Kyrro’s hope was lost.” Keenu spat. “But it would be thousands of Krepps in the frontline, risking their blood. Wisely, Doe and Haemon decided to give Kyrro a chance to avoid war. The three Tenred Humans were very displeased by that decision, so Doe and Haemon thought they might kill Nebre and dispose of his body to make it seem as if Kyrro had killed or captured him, forcing us to war because of the threat we issued. So they had me trail a day behind Nebre and the Humans from Tenred.”
This information wouldn’t usually be shared with Zeti, and that made her nervous. Something must have happened when he followed them, but how does it involve me? She knew she would find out soon but was in no way eager.
“So I tracked them,” Keenu continued, “following the footprints of a Krepp and the shoes of three Humans all the way to the center of Satjen to make sure the plan was followed, and it was. They didn’t kill Nebre. The Humans continued west to Tenred, Nebre went south. Then I found something strange. Remember, I was a day behind to ensure I wasn’t seen, so I can only tell you about the footprints and not what created them.”
“More footprints of shoes?” Paramar asked. “Humans coming back to kill Nebre?”
“There was one shoe print, but it was different than the other three. A cruder form of leather, like from the shoes Vithos wore. Next to his footprints were that of a Krepp, someone walking close to him. They trailed Nebre together…” Keenu gave Zeti a long look. His yellow eyes said it all.
“You think it was Vithos and Zoke,” she said for him, holding back spit. “You think Zoke is a traitor.”
“I know it was Vithos and Zoke,” Keenu answered flatly. “Nebre confirmed it.” Their next few yards passed in silence. “I’ll let Nebre tell the rest.”
Zeti felt her heart speeding up. Even if it was Zoke and Vithos, what am I supposed to do about it? “Where are we meeting Doe?” she asked.
“The judgment chambers,” he answered with a soft voice, clearly aware what he was implying.
The judgment chambers, she repeated in her mind, should be called the burning chambers.
Since their move to the new camp without Vithos, she’d heard the judgment chambers had been taken over by Haemon, with Doe making an appearance every so often. Judgment was no longer part of the process. There was only punishment. If you didn’t complete your task, you received a burning, simple as that. The more you missed your quota, the worse the burning. If you broke a rule, you got a burning. Any dispute between Krepps needed to be resolved by those involved, otherwise each received a burning. From what she’d heard, no one left the chambers without a burning, and now she was to be brought there.
While the new judgment chambers kept the same name as the old, everything else had changed. There weren’t even four walls, just one crude stone wall and a few chiseled rocks to sit on. The Krepp to be burned would stand in front of the only wall. Its sole purpose was to block the fire from reaching anywhere else but the accused’s skin. After the burning, the Krepp would leave, and the next awaiting judgment would file into place.
She heard there was no sitting for deliberation anymore. Doe and Haemon couldn’t sit anyway, Zeti figured, as they didn’t have legs. Or maybe that meant they couldn’t stand. She didn’t care to think about it.
But when she entered, Doe surprised her by pointing to a rock with his gnarled Slugari claw and telling her, “Sit.” His fat face was contorted with a grimace, his beady eyes nearly devoured by lumps of flesh around them. His two small antennae hung limply atop his head, as they had the last time she’d spoken to him. Somehow, he seemed even longer and wider than before, his bulbous tail rounder and fatter, barely thinner than the rest of his body now. It slowly swished back and forth as he glared, waiting for her to sit.
She sat, and Paramar sat on the rock beside her. She noticed then that Keenu hadn’t gone in with them.
Then she noticed Nebre. He no longer had the nervous squint in his eyes, the one he’d had when he was the only Krepp to raise his hand after Doe shouted to the tribe asking who spoke the language of the Humans. No, now he looks like a different Krepp, one with resolve. And he was looking right at Zeti, but not in the same way other Krepps stared at her. He looked ready to jump from his rock with a knife. Then she saw the waxy white line across his wrist. It looked fresh. He’s just been burned, she realized.
“Tell them what happened,” Doe said to Nebre, slithering close to the Krepp. With Nebre sitting, Doe was well over twice his height. Nebre kept his eyes on Zeti but did seem to wince when Doe looked down at him.
“It was brother to you,” he pointed at her. “Him and the Elf. They’re both traitors.”
She felt a twitch in her legs. It nearly stood her upright, but she ignored it and sat forward with her arms crossed. She remained silent, waiting what felt like days for him to continue.
“I had the note, the one for the King of Kyrro,” Nebre said. “Not long after I split from the Tenred Humans, I was chased down by Zoke and Vithos. They insisted on knowing my business but wouldn’t say why. The Elf was so close, I had no chance to lie without him knowing. I thought they were going to kill me.” He took a quick look at Doe.
Zoke would never hurt you unless you deserved it. But Zeti held her tongue.
“When I told them where I was going, what I was doing, they insisted on coming with me. I decided to go along with it. I…I knew Zoke when he was younger. I used to trust him, and some part of me still did. I figured his mind might be twisted from a psychic spell. If I just waited until the Elf was asleep and killed him, Zoke would be thankful. So I waited hours into the night to make sure both were asleep. I took my dagger and just as I knelt over Vithos, Zoke pushed me off him. Even while the Elf was
unconscious, Zoke still saved him!”
Nebre stood and made two fists. “He couldn’t have been under any spell. He’s a true traitor and a coward for not doing the job himself.”
The fury within Zeti made her dig her claws into her palm hard enough to draw blood. Her sharp teeth were pushed together so fiercely under her lips a surge of pain went through her jaw.
“I wanted you to hear that,” Doe told her. “I know what you stubborn Krepps are like.”
She couldn’t handle it anymore. She stood and pointed at Nebre. “He’s a liar.” She noticed then that she wasn’t using a claw to point, but her dagger. Somehow, she’d drawn it from her belt without realizing it. “Zoke would never protect the Elf over his own kind!”
“It’s the truth!” Nebre yelled back.
“It is,” Doe said. “Haemon already made sure of that before he left the judgment chambers. Tell her what happened next, after she sits back down.” He waved his black claw at her.
Zeti sat on the edge of the rock, barely stopping herself from spitting in the judgment chambers.
“I tried to wrestle Zoke off me, but I couldn’t.” Nebre spoke softly, ashamed. “Vithos awoke and pained me with psyche until I let go of the dagger. Zoke then screamed at me to leave, saying they would deliver the note to Kyrro. He’d taken it earlier. With no other option besides death, I ran. I came back here. He’s a traitor, Zeti. I didn’t want to believe it at first, either.”
What are you doing, Zoke? It felt as if she was hearing a story about someone else’s brother, not hers, not the brother who’d always done the right thing no matter how difficult. Why protect the Elf? It must be some psychic spell that has kept you with him…no, Vithos was asleep and you protected him, so it couldn’t be. You’ve been with him through many nights even, and he still lives. Could you be that much of a coward? Too scared to kill the Elf, so you’ve joined him?
No. No, there must be more to it than that…I wish I could just speak to you. What are you doing out there?
“Why did he say he would deliver the note?” Zeti asked.
“That, I cannot say, but I truly believe they will,” Nebre answered. “When they found out about the note, they spoke in private before deciding to come with me. I can only guess they wish to join with the Humans. With a war to fight, the Humans are likely to accept any ally. They are traitors, after all. It makes sense for them to wish to join our enemy.”
“Nebre is right,” Doe added. “Haemon and I have known Vithos his whole life, and something changed in recent years. He is no longer interested in helping. I am even sure that he knows where the Slugari are, but he pretends not to. We have covered nearly all the places they could be. I know he’s sensed them, but he refuses to admit it. Paramar, that is why you’re here.”
Paramar stood with his chest out. He was especially tall, matching Doe’s height, though the Slugari was longer than he was tall, weighing three times as much as any Krepp.
“I believe Vithos may be trying to make contact with the Slugari,” Doe said. “Being the traitor that he is, he would wish to bring harm to our tribe by helping the Slugari stay out of our reach, perhaps even convincing them to attack us if he’s that stupid. I don’t think he was there by chance but instead because that’s where the Slugari are hiding. Take the chamoline and follow the route that Nebre took. It was mostly along northern Satjen.”
“Understood,” Paramar replied dutifully.
“Vithos is probably on his way to the Humans in Kyrro to convince them not to reveal the Slugari location,” Doe continued. “But before we fight Kyrro for this information, we should keep looking for my cowardly race of Slugari. Taking the cities of Kyrro would be easy wins, but not without many deaths to our tribe. I’d like to avoid that. Have your group set out tomorrow morning, Paramar, and move quickly. But keep an eye on her.” Doe pointed at Zeti. “She has traitorous blood flowing through her.”
She stood ready to scream but knew all that would accomplish was a burning. So she took a long breath, gulped down her pride, and said, “I’ll do everything in my power to find the Slugari. Brother to me may be a traitor.” Her words felt like a dagger slicing through her heart, but she held steady with her chest out and head up. “But I would never go against the tribe.”
“Good,” Doe answered. “Because when we see Zoke again, you’re going to prove that by being the one to kill him.”
Chapter 49: Stone
CLEVE
“Rek?” Cleve asked, standing with his back against the cold stone wall of his cell.
Behind it came the muffled answer from the next cell. “What?”
With the only light coming from a few torches along the walls, it was difficult to know when one day ended and the next began. Rek could convince the jailer of many things, but King Welson had given the jailer no means of getting to other areas of the dungeons. This made him stuck in their section just like a prisoner, but at least he had long hallways to walk about when he pleased. Cleve could already feel his legs stiffening, calling to be used.
“When the jailer brings us food, will you ask him how long we’ve been in here?” Cleve asked.
This time, the response came from the cell on Cleve’s other side before Rek answered. “Ya only been here for four meals, boy. That’s one day and one meal. Ol’ Captain Mmzaza has been here eighty-four meals for spittin’ a guard in his face. I get out at ninety, and I can barely keep me pants on about it.” Captain Mmzaza had a way of talking that Cleve had never heard. Not only was his accent strong and rhythmic, but he spoke as if he’d learned common tongue from a child. “When will ya be out, boy?”
“I told you, CM, I don’t want to answer any more of your questions.”
Captain Mmzaza let out a shaky hohoho sound, then said, “Again, with the CM. And I tell ya, the name is Captain Mmzaza. That’s mmm-zah-zah,” he pronounced slowly. “The Starving Ocean may have devoured me sanity, but I haven’t lost me name. I’ll be a captain when I return to the Gendocks, and if you were on me ship—”
“I’d call you Captain Mmzaza,” Cleve finished the sentence for him. “I know. You’ve said that many times already. Luckily, I’m not on your ship, CM, and I never will be.”
Rek had been in no mood to talk. Cleve had tried to speak to him several times, only to be answered by Captain Mmzaza when Rek would not respond. When Cleve had asked if Rek wanted him to say anything else to the King before they were sent to the dungeons, Rek simply replied, “You did all you could.”
When he gathered enough courage to ask Rek what he knew of Cleve’s mother or father, the Elf replied, “It’s best to save that conversation for when we’re not filled with despair. Despair makes us weak. You should be content and confident before pulling out that dagger.”
When he asked Rek what he knew of Goldram and Jessend Takary, Rek answered with only two words: “Not much.”
It wasn’t much better than speaking to the wall that separated them. Though, he didn’t blame the Elf. Rek was depressed and understandably so. The only reason Cleve didn’t feel the same was because he was trying to stay strong, ignoring the deep sadness swelling within.
Cleve heard voices bouncing down the hall. Usually this meant the jailer had just received their meals from the other section of the dungeons. The jailer sometimes stayed and chatted after delivering their food, putting up with Captain Mmzaza’s nonsense far longer than Cleve would.
There was just enough space for Cleve to fit his head through the bars, so he stuck it out for a look. He saw that for the first time, the jailer hadn’t come alone. The silhouette of someone behind the jailer came around the turn and into their hallway. It was a woman, one with thick, long hair. Has Jessend Takary finally come to take me from Kyrro? Cleve thought.
“Cleve, you have a visitor,” the jailer announced.
Then he heard what sounded like Rek’s bars being kicked. Cleve flipped his head to find that the Elf was also leaning out from his cell—his shoulders must have crashed into the bars in
his eagerness to see who it was. When Cleve turned back to see for himself, she was still hidden behind the jailer. Yet somehow, Rek knew who it was, for he was already calling her name.
“Reela, Reela! What are you doing here?”
“Rek! They didn’t tell me you were here, too.” She ran to him and they held onto each other’s hands. “Why do they have you both in the dungeons?”
Cleve could feel his blood flowing faster, heating his body with nervous wonder. “How do you know Rek?” he blurted out.
Reela took a shaky breath as she opened her mouth to answer, but she turned and touched the shoulder of the jailer instead. “I’ll be fine here—if we could have some privacy?” The jailer nodded and was off.
Reela had on a blue dress with some other color around her waist, maybe gold. It was too dark to be sure. Though, it was clear the dress was tightly wrapped around her body, accentuating the curve of her hips and bosom. Even in the dim light, he could see the burning green of her eyes, along with the pink of her soft, pouty lips.
“Cleve, it’s so good to see you. I was very worried.”
Cleve felt his throat tighten and his stomach crunch. “You as well.”
Captain Mmzaza gave a whistle. “Me o’ me, what a spicy girl.” His head was leaning out as far as his neck could push it. A scruffy beard of red and gray covered his chin. A pronounced mustache of the same colors curved over his mouth and stuck out from his face. His eyes were two slits in long eyelids. His skin that wasn’t covered by hair was windburned, especially along his forehead. On the top of his head were thin strands of gray that fell to his ears. “And she wants privacy. Got a nice show for ol’ Captain Mmzaza? Come over here, pretty. Let me get a closer look before ya get started.”
She walked over and held out the back of her hand like she was allowing the old seaman to kiss it. He reached out, but just before they could touch, Reela flipped her palm up and let out a soft grunt. He recoiled with a quick scream.
“What didja do? Even me horn gotta sting from that.”