by Stuart Jaffe
Helping Druzane to her feet, he went on, “This won’t be as easy, but we’ll get there. You’ve shown me what a great woman can do. Now, my love, let me show you what a great man can do.” Though she still looked bitter from the way he had treated her, she did not fight him when he pulled her close and smothered her lips with his own.
Chapter 11
Malja
Two weeks passed without incident. As Malja, with Javery in tow, inspected the progress of the Carsites, that fact kept blazing in her mind. Two weeks. Why haven’t the Scarites attacked?
She walked on the surface, noting the trenches dug around the perimeter of the town and the various defensive walls built at key locations. None of it could stop a creature with the ability to fly, but she had limited information about her enemy and didn’t want to be caught prepared entirely for a flying, snake magician when they might have ground troops as well. Trench digging also took longer and used up a lot of energy. After two weeks, she had to find ways for the people to release. If not, they would either destroy themselves over a petty dispute, or worse, they might give up.
Could that be why Harskill held his army back? Trying to defeat his enemy by waiting them out?
“Ms. Malja, over here. Ms. Malja.” Hirasa approached carrying four long-barreled rifles. She and the other young women had become some of Malja’s most reliable workers. Fawbry enjoyed this fact immensely. “We found the old cache of arms. These ones look like they’re in the best condition, but we don’t know much about guns. Are they any good?”
Malja picked up one rifle. Before she examined it, she noticed that Hirasa had braided her long, blond hair into a single tail in the back — exactly like Malja’s. Javery must have noticed as well because he tried to hide his amusement by grabbing a rifle and swinging it around as if he knew what he was doing.
“Any weapon is better than no weapon,” Javery said. “Right?”
Malja nodded. “If these will fire, they’ll be good. Did you find any bullets?”
“We’re looking,” Hirasa said. “The old, underground storehouse is so cluttered, it’s hard to tell. And when that wellspiker attacked recently, it knocked through one of the walls, so we’ve been digging out a lot of the containers.”
To Javery, Malja asked, “Who knows how to shoot?”
“Most of the old men will remember. And there’s a few young ones that still hunt animals. I’ll see that they get here and check over these.”
She handed the rifle back to Hirasa. “Good work.”
The young woman could not hide her broad smile. It brightened her face, and Malja could see the beauty she would have if not being forced to fight a war. “Thank you,” Hirasa said. “We’re looking for swords, too. Anything that can be used as a weapon.”
“Swords are always good to have.”
“One more thing. Um ... I had an idea — something I think might help us. If we could gain access to the Great Well, then we could —”
“No,” Javery said. “The Great Well’s magic is not something we toy with on a whim.”
She placed her hand over her stomach and backed away. After a few steps, she turned and hurried off to join the other women. One of the women made a face, and Hirasa came running back. “I’m so sorry, but I forgot. Uliana found a box of old fireworks. Are they of any interest?”
With a patronizing tone, Javery said, “What are we going to do with fireworks? Scare the Scarites with pretty displays?”
“Actually,” Malja said, “I know exactly how we’ll use them. Hirasa, you’re turning into a valuable force for us. We should talk sometime soon. I’m glad you’re on our side.”
Hirasa giggled as she returned to her friends.
“The same can be said about you.” Javery watched as the young women hurried back to work with an excited bounce to their step. “Fireworks, huh? I would never have thought we could use them.”
Malja kept quiet. How could a man be as smart as Javery, smart enough to envision and execute his Waypoint system, yet still act like a sycophant?
“Don’t worry,” Javery said as they headed toward the Great Well. “I’ve made sure that two reliable youngsters check the Summoning Horn every morning. It can be heard for miles and makes the perfect warning call when the attack comes. I’ve also made sure that people are reinforcing their walls and have plans to seek shelter if they’re caught outside — especially if they’re caught up in the farms.”
“And the shelters I ordered to be built?”
“The above-ground ones are done — really they’re old storage buildings we’ve stocked with food and reinforced the walls. The two below-ground shelters are more complicated to build, but hopefully, they should be done in four or five more days. If we don’t run into any problems. Oh, and now that we have guns, I’ll set up regular training sessions. Even if we only get a few more days, any practice is better than none.”
“Scouts?”
“We’ve got three groups taking autoflys out regularly. If the Scarites approach, we’ll know.”
Malja pointed to the building that led to the Great Well. Two guards stood by the door. “Is that being reinforced, too?”
“I have three men down there now. But unless they’ve been spying on us, the Scarites won’t know one building from another. I doubt they’ll be able to single this one out.”
Malja thought of the secret meeting she had witnessed. She assumed it had been about the wedding attack, but perhaps it had been more. Perhaps the Carsites had a traitor amongst them.
“You’ve done well,” she said. “These people are lucky to have you.”
“Thank you. I only want to see them safe. I don’t want another wedding like my sister had.” A cloud passed over his face. He waved it off and said, “By the way, Mrs. Wrenley suggested we all wear two white juri flowers in memory of Soralia. Would you do us the honor of wearing them as well?”
“Of course.” Any symbol that rallied an army could only be seen as positive. With one as strong as a girl martyred on her wedding day, this army would make up for its lack in training with sheer motivation. As long as those in charge could be trusted. Taking the white flowers from Javery, she said, “What do you think of Canto? Too many times, I’ve seen good people slaughtered by bad leaders. Is he going to help or hurt you all?”
Javery’s expression remained uncommitted even as he said, “Canto is a good politician. He will try to do the best he can for us.”
“That doesn’t sound like what you need.”
“We have what we need in you.”
This wasn’t the first time Javery had dropped a statement like that, and each time felt like coarse straw scratching her spine. “I won’t be here forever,” Malja said.
“I know. But later we’ll be better positioned to handle this on our own. And, to be blunt, the Scarites will attack again. When they do, our whole country will rise against them.”
They headed to where a line of autoflys had been parked and climbed into one. “You shouldn’t count on such things,” Malja said, as they lifted into the air. “We’ve already lost much of the vigor your people had two weeks ago. Memories fade fast — especially when the reality of death closes in.”
Another hour passed as they inspected the farms and the rest of the defenses. At length, Malja headed back to the guest house. Her stomach grumbled.
She grabbed a crewtic and chomped into the crunchy, yellow root. It had a sour kick that pleased her mouth. Biting into the crewtic again, she crossed the hall and entered Tommy’s room.
He sat on the floor, shirtless and cross-legged, and focused on his chest. Bits of tattoo brightened on his skin, then faded away until Malja could no longer see it. Soon a different tattoo in a different part of his body brightened.
“How are you doing that?” she asked.
Tommy started, and all the bright tattoos faded back into his skin. He looked at her and shrugged.
“Don’t lie. You’ve obviously been practicing.”
He grabb
ed his shirt and buttoned it up.
“I’m not angry. You should know by now, I won’t be angry at you for this. I’ll always worry, but I trust you. And I’m glad you’re practicing. Practice is important if you want to gain control over a skill. You think I just woke up one morning and could fight like I do? I practiced for years.” Old images of Jarik and Calib and their abusive ways tried to resurface, but she kept those on a tight, internal chain.
Tommy sat on the edge of his bed, sweat dampening his hairline.
“I’ve even got a little something to admit to you.”
Perking up, Tommy patted the space next to him.
Malja sat. “I’ve been practicing with my do-kha. Only a little bit, but I’ve tried.”
Tommy pretended to faint.
With a short chuckle, Malja said, “I know, but to me the do-kha isn’t magic. Not anymore. It’s a creation of my people — Gate — and I think I should know how to use it. But it hasn’t gone so well. I can get it to do some basic things, but that was always the case. I’m just consciously doing it now. The bigger things, the ones I really want it to do — I’ve failed every time I’ve tried.”
He looked at her closely, intensely, an expression she had learned meant that he was listening and wanted to know more. Malja looked away, but Tommy shoved her in the arm until she looked back.
“Okay, fine. I’ll tell you. I have been attempting to get my do-kha to open a portal.”
His jaw fell open.
“Not often. Only a few times since we got here and not at all since you boys were caught stealing apples. Since then, I’ve been entirely focused on you and the Carsites and now, the war. But a few of those first nights, I waited until you and Fawbry had gone to sleep. Then I tried to coax my do-kha into opening a portal. But it never worked.”
Tommy raised one hand, palm up, in a gesture meaning Why?
“If I knew why it didn’t work, I might know what I’m doing wrong.”
Shaking his head, he gestured Why? again.
“Oh. Why am I trying at all? Because he hasn’t attacked yet. Back in Corlin, he told me that Gate monitor the universes, that they noticed when portals opened and closed. That’s how they know which planets to get involved with. That’s how they keep most worlds from developing magic to the point of destruction. If I open a portal, Harskill should know it, and I thought that would be enough to bring him here. Except, I can’t get my do-kha to do anything like that.”
Pointing to his chest, Tommy puffed up.
“No. I didn’t say any of that to get you to open a portal.” But she questioned that herself — why else would she say anything like this, if not to get Tommy to do the job?
Tommy’s hand curled into a fist and he pounded his chest.
“I know you’re capable. I don’t doubt that at all. But —”
He thrust his hand in her face and waved it back and forth until she stopped talking. He placed a hand on his chest and nodded his head slightly. She wanted to thank him, to say that she knew what a terrible price he paid each time she needed his magic, to apologize for asking, yet none of those words reached her throat. Instead, she held his face in her hands and his gaze in her heart.
And she hugged him.
He didn’t squirm. He didn’t act shocked. He simply hugged her back.
Chapter 12
Javery
Three days more and still no attack.
Javery could feel the anxiety closing in on the town like the spines of a pricklebush pressing little by little on its prey. Yet when he woke each morning, a part of him prayed that the attack would hold off another day. Not because he feared the fighting. Well, perhaps a little. But more because each day with Malja made him feel safer than the day before. And each day by Malja’s side strengthened the people’s view of him.
He stood by his window, watched the night sky, and waited for Druzane’s knock at his door.
Once the battle came, he would take over leadership from Canto. With Druzane’s political intellect at one side and Malja’s sheer force at the other, he would be a powerful leader. The kind that would never be forgotten. However, the longer they waited, the stronger his position became, and the easier that final moment would be.
Javery entered the washroom, looked over his robes, and checked the mirror. The bony face looking back reminded him that he would never be considered handsome. Or even passably good-looking. How had he ended up with a woman such as Druzane?
The sweet, secretive knock answered him simply enough: don’t question the good things in life, there aren’t enough of them.
He opened the door to find Druzane with one arm reaching up the side of the doorway. “You certainly dressed up for me this evening,” she said.
Javery took her by the waist and kissed her. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you all day. It’s been too long since we had a chance to be alone together.”
“Not that long.” She walked into the room, and his eyes watched every curving motion. “Besides, you’ve been busy with important things.”
“That’s right. We’ve done a lot to protect the people.”
“And you’ve done it all at Malja’s side.”
“I think my standing in this town is getting better each day.”
She clapped her hands together under her chin. “Just think how much better it’ll be after the Scarites attack.”
Though he had shared the same thoughts, hearing her express them out loud felt like a punch to the chest. To erase the tainted sensation, he took hold of her hands and brought them down to his groin. She pulled away.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“You know the answer to that.”
“My love, it’s been over two weeks since we last ...”
“I know. I miss you.”
“Well, I’m right here.”
“No.”
“I don’t understand.”
Crossing her arms in a way that both displayed her anger as well as pushed her breasts together, she said, “I’m not playing a child’s game with you. This is my life in your hands.”
Javery poured a cup of gava tea he had set by the bedside for later and sipped it. “You’re right. I do know what you want. And please believe me that I want to marry you. I do. But my sister’s funeral is still a horrid taste in the mouth of the whole community. To announce any engagement would be sickening to them. To announce our engagement, the engagement of Soralia’s own brother, that would destroy all the goodwill I’ve built up since we buried her. Surely, you can see that.”
“And that’s why I’ve not discussed this before now.”
“Trust me. We will be married. After the attack, no matter how successful we are, there will be injuries and possibly deaths. It’s inevitable. That’s when the people will need good news. We announce our engagement then, and they will be thrilled.”
Druzane’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes. There will be an excitement around the whole event. It’ll make you seem even more special.”
Javery pressed his hardened groin against her. “You see, then. I haven’t forgotten my promise to you. But as you have shown me, we must take advantage of every opportunity.”
“You’re right,” she said and escaped his grasp. “That’s why you need to put on a dark robe and come with me outside.”
“Outside?”
“Knowing your enemy is a key to any success. We must go learn more about ours.”
Even as Javery donned his black, winter robe, he said, “I can’t abandon the defense preparations. If we go spying on the Scarites, we’ll be out for days, maybe longer. What if they attack while we’re gone?”
“I’m not speaking of the Scarites. By Carsite and Pali, how would we ever cross the ocean undetected and sneak onto their land? That’s crazy.”
“Then what enemy are we going to?”
“Malja, of course.”
“Malja?”
“You forget that she is still not one of us. Not Carsite. We would be fools to fully tr
ust her.”
At the doorway, Javery paused. “You want to go spy on our one savior in this coming battle? If she catches us, we’ll lose everything we’re building towards.”
Druzane brushed her lips against his. “Nothing worth having is given freely. And knowing what she and her two boys truly are thinking is very much worth having.”
Javery followed Druzane out of his home and around the back. She held his hand and guided him through the darkness, around trees, and over rocks. She moved as if she had no trouble seeing, as if she had traveled this path before, and if not for her hand, he would have been lost within minutes.
Voices rose and fell as homes passed in the distance. He couldn’t pinpoint where the homes were as the sounds circled him — or perhaps they had circled the sounds. Druzane never kept them going in a straight line for long.
Since the guest house stood on the opposite side of the town’s main road and on the other end, he knew they would have to skirt around the entire town to reach the back of the guest house unobserved. At least, that was what he thought they were doing. In the end, he stopped worrying about any of it, and simply focused on keeping his feet moving and his hand clasped inside Druzane’s hand.
At length, they came upon the guest house. A dim light flickered near the back window. Druzane motioned for him to crouch as they approached the wall.
Only a few feet from the window, they could clearly hear Fawbry ask, “You hungry?”
“No,” Malja said. “Go ahead, though, if you are. Tommy?”
An hour passed like this. Inane talk of food and long passages of quiet. Despite the silence, Javery heard tension in that room — the way Fawbry breathed, the way people shuffled around, or how items were set down a bit too hard. Fawbry attempted to break through by making a quiet remark on the beautiful women which nearly started a fight with Malja. Tommy never said a word. Now that he thought about it, Javery couldn’t recall Tommy ever speaking.
He leaned towards Druzane and whispered, “It doesn’t seem we’re getting much.”