The Rage of Dragons (Book of the Burning)

by Evan Winter

  "Well met, brother," Jabari said as he pushed through the last of the crowd to stand beside Aren.

  Lekan did not look pleased. "Jabari."

  "What's this then?"

  "I was accosted," Lekan said, lifting his square chin.

  "Accosted? How did that come to pass?"

  "It's not a matter for public discussion."

  "Surely, an attack on a Noble is the exact type of discussion that must be had publicly. If a punishment that destroys an entire family is to be meted out, we must know the story."

  Lekan glared at his sibling. "I was accosted. Is a Noble's word no longer enough in Kerem?"

  Tau saw Jabari's hand tighten around his sword hilt. That was bad. Jabari could talk with the best of them, but he'd always preferred to fight. In a fight, Lekan would lose, but that would do less than nothing to help Nkiru and his family.

  "Nkosi," Aren said, addressing them both with a quick bow. "I have had time to interrogate the accused."

  Tau figured his father had had Nkiru drink a cup or two of MasMas to calm his nerves. If Nkiru had been interrogated, Tau was a Dragon.

  "Nkiru was looking for his daughter," Aren said, "He—"

  "I won't have my name slandered!" Lekan said.

  "He came upon his daughter and—"

  "I'm warning you, Aren!" Lekan snarled.

  "—and saw her enticing a man."

  Lekan's eyes went wide and he cocked his head, as if trying to hear a far off noise. Anya began to sob and Aren told the rest of the only story that had any chance of saving Nkiru, Anya, and the rest of their family.

  "Nkiru was incensed with his daughter's lewd behavior," Aren said. "He struck out at the unknown man and, when his attack was repelled, he realized his grave error." Aren spoke louder, telling the story for the crowd, making it easy for Lekan to let this tale become the official one. "Nkiru snatched his devious daughter and drew her from the Keep in shame. He came straight to me to admit her sins and to atone for his part in shaming the fief."

  "The fief was shamed!" said Lekan.

  "If it please the Nkosi, I was dragging this man and his daughter to Umbusi Onai to tell her that I would ask for their banishment."

  "Yes!" said Lekan. "Wait, banishment?"

  "Yes, Nkosi Lekan!" said Aren. "We cannot allow such diseased behavior to continue unchecked. A Noble with a Lesser? A Common! Disgusting and disgraceful. Who would believe it possible, except that the wretch of a woman did all she could to beguile you."

  "Yes..." Lekan was catching himself up to this fable.

  "Nkosi Jabari, if you and your elder brother agree to banishment, then there is no reason to bring this before Umbusi Onai," Aren said. "All gathered here already know Nkosi Lekan's character. We know what is likely, were he found in a room alone with a Common girl like Anya." Aren was running along a ridge here and the crowd, knowing Lekan's character well, began to murmur. "We can imagine what took place. So, why waste the Umbusi's time? I have sworn, here among my peers and betters, that Nkiru acted in fear for his daughter. We would be unjust to punish him and his family for a child's behavior."

  "That inyoka is no child," said Lekan, looking at Anya sideways, as if he could see scales, fangs, and venom.

  "Even better," said Jabari, joining the fancy. "Let us remove the reptile from our midst. I agree with Inkokeli Solarin's advice. The family will be banished from the fief." Jabari spat the distasteful words like the rot they were.

  "My Noble person was offended." Lekan still wanted blood.

  "Unknowingly, Nkosi," Aren reminded him.

  "Unknowingly." Lekan gnawed on the word. "Yes, the fool must not have known who it was he attacked. He wouldn't have dared, if he knew."

  "He wouldn't, Nkosi," said Aren.

  "I was wearing my sword. If he'd seen me clear, he'd know that to face me is to die," said Lekan, glaring at the crowd. "Yes, banish the scum. Know this, though," Lekan said, placing a hand over his heart. "If I see any of their kin within the boundaries of Fief Onai, after morning's light, they will be eviscerated."

  "What could be more just?" Aren said.

  "What's that?" asked Lekan.

  "Your word, my will," intoned Aren.

  "By the Goddess," said Lekan, turning on his heel and striding into the Keep, the visibly relieved guards in tow.

  The Keep gates clanged shut and the noise cut the invisible strings holding Nkiru aloft. The man collapsed to the dirt.

  Tau felt hollow. Nkiru was a good man. True, Anya could be a pain, but that was as bad as she got. There was no chance she had tried to seduce Lekan.

  "I'll talk to my mother," said Jabari.

  "It's done," said Aren. "Lekan will not stop if Nkiru or his family stays in Kerem. He was out for blood tonight."

  "Lekan is an oversized—"

  "Jabari..." said Aren, shifting his eyes towards the gathered crowd and back, drawing the Petty-Noble's attention to the listening Lessers.

  Jabari pressed his fingers against his temples. "As you say. I won't do anything to stop this, if that's what you wish, Aren."

  Aren put a consoling hand on Nkiru's back. The man was still on the ground. "Nkosi Jabari, I thank you for your help. It's frightening to think what could have happened, if you hadn't come. We'll take it from here."

  Aren helped Nkiru to his feet, Zuri stayed by Anya's side, and the crowd dispersed. The rest of the night was longer than Tau's day. He went to Nkiru's hut with his father, Zuri, and Anya. Several Ihagu were waiting when they arrived. They gave a hand in the packing. Nkiru's wife, still suckling Nkiru's youngest, acted brave, but couldn't hide her fear, not really.

  It was near morning when they saw Nkiru's family off. They would travel east to Dakur. The borderland fief was near The Wrist and saw many raids, but that would mean there would be a place for a competent Ihagu. Aren gave Nkiru a few names to call on and then there was nothing left to say or do. Zuri hugged Anya, holding her tight, reluctant to let her go. Anya looked numb and Zuri cried for both of them when the family trudged away.

  Aren began the walk back to the Keep. He had more to do. It was a new day.

  Zuri moved next to Tau and they watched the rising sun turn their friends into silhouettes that became hazy with the morning's heat and then vanished, as the mountain swallowed them behinds its curves. Zuri slipped her hand into Tau's and they stood like that, silent but together, for a span. She squeezed his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was still crying.

  MEN

  The days that followed were a mix of pleasure and pain, satisfaction and disappointment for Tau. Zuri was melancholy. She missed Anya, but made it a point to spend as much time with him as their duties allowed. They found quiet moments to sit and talk, to laugh, sometimes for Zuri to cry.

  Tau tried to be her mountain and discovered that she was everything he hadn't known was missing. She was his first thought in the morning and his last at night. He had trouble considering anything but her smile, her eyes, her voice... her.

  Still, he did what he could to remain focused. He promised himself he would repay Jabari for taking the blame for him at Daba, and for helping protect Nkiru's family. Tau's only currency was time, and he spent it training with Jabari until they both collapsed. It was in this way that the final days of Grow ended, the early days of Harvest flitted by, and the ceremony for manhood arrived.

  The male Lessers, born in the same cycle as Tau, were to be made men. Kweku, the local Sah priest, attended the ceremony, reeking of MasMas. He spoke of the tests facing all men and women of the Chosen. He encouraged the newly made men to be righteous and hoped their deeds would bring pride to their families, as they served the people of The Rend, the Queen, and the Goddess.

  Then, the new men were given Gaum. It was Tau's first time tasting the yellowish sludge, distilled from scorpion poison. He downed his cup and the drink blazed its way across his throat, burned his nostrils, and seared a path up and over the back of his scalp. He gasped and gagged, to the enjoyment of ever
yone come to see him and the others made into men.

  Tau couldn't understand why anyone would choose to drink something so vile. He did notice that the following feast of boiled cabbage, sea-salted potatoes, and long beans tasted more flavorful than was usual. Also, jokes were funnier and he couldn't feel his teeth (had he ever been able to feel them), and every woman he saw was almost as beautiful as Zuri.

  He celebrated into the night, with the other new men and, sometime during it all, Jabari had shown up and gifted Tau a brand new pair of boots. Tau hugged him for a long time and invited the Petty-Noble to join him for the best drink in all of Xidda. He'd asked Jabari if he'd ever had Gaum. Remarkable stuff, he told the taller man. Jabari smiled, waving off the proffered cup.

  The rest of the evening raced then crawled, in turns. Tau's father congratulated him and even sat with him for a time, before leaving for some duty or other. Later, Zuri came and he told her she was the Goddess on earth. She looked at him, an eyebrow arched, hands on hips. He thought this made her more lovely and wanted to kiss her, but people were around. He tried anyway. She didn't let him and said she was here to take him home.

  Tau was not ready and tried asking Zuri to dance, but his tongue felt fat. No matter, he took her by the hand and guided her to the dancing circle. They danced and it was marvelous, until Tau's stomach began to heave. He excused himself, or at least pointed to his stomach and mouth before stumbling off to the nearest brush, where he returned his dinner to the earth.

  He stood like that for a while, amazed so much could come out of him. When he was done, he looked for Zuri, so they could continue dancing. She thought it best they head home. Tau thought that nonsense, but Zuri impressed him with her strength, when she pulled him away from the party.

  Tau yelled he had to get his new boots and Zuri pointed out he was holding them. He said she was the Goddess on earth and was told he'd already said that.

  Aren was at the door waiting and he helped Tau to bed. Tau didn't need help. He could take off his own trousers. He pulled one leg free and tumbled to the ground. He should get his other leg free, he thought, closing his eyes.

  It was the shouting that woke him. His mouth tasted like he'd swallowed a fistful of sand, his stomach rolled, and his head boomed like the inside of a beaten drum.

  "Where is he now? I'll kill him!" It was Aren.

  Tau jumped to his feet and fell over. He had just one leg of his trousers on.

  He heard his father storming away, the footsteps heavy, angry. Tau jerked the trousers the rest of the way on, snatched his tunic from the night before and saw it was filthied with vomit. He found another shirt, torn but serviceable, pulled on his new boots, grabbed his practice sword, and dashed out of the hut, into a new day.

  "Tau?" Aren said. He was with Ekon. He was furious.

  "Father? What's going on?" Tau said, squinting against the sun.

  "Go back inside."

  "What's going on?" Tau demanded. He'd never seen his father like this.

  "He had them killed!"

  "What? Who?"

  "He had them killed, that Cek!" Aren marched off.

  Tau jogged after. "Who!"

  "Lekan," Aren growled.

  Tau didn't want to know. "W-who... who'd he kill?"

  "Ekon's patrol found them. Their bodies had been thrown from a cliff. Nkiru, his wife, Anya, her brother... the baby... the baby." Aren drew his sword, moving faster.

  Tau ran to catch up. "Father, what are you going to do?" He grabbed his father's arm, forcing him to stop. "Father!"

  "I'm going to kill him." Aren pulled his arm free.

  "Ekon!" Tau said to the Ihagu who had become Aren's Second, in Nkiru's place. "Do something!"

  Ekon, hands fidgeting with the ties on his tunic, tried to talk sense into Aren. "Inkokeli, uh... Aren, w-we... we should think about this. We don't know for sure it was—"

  "Don't!" Aren said, rounding on Ekon, making his Second cringe. "We know who did this. We know! A baby, Ekon. Nkiru's baby girl!"

  "You can't fight him," Tau said, joining Ekon in front of his father, blocking his path.

  "I'll kill him."

  "He's a Noble," said Tau.

  "Mka! He'll die the same as a Lesser, when my sword is through his neck."

  Ekon looked about them, head jerking left and right, to see if anyone heard that.

  "Father—" Tau started, but Aren pushed past.

  "They'll hang Tau," Ekon said. "They'll hang him and then Imani. They'll cut their bodies open and ship them out to the Curse to rot. Aren, they will."

  Tau's father was no longer moving.

  "They'll hang Tau," Ekon said again. "You know it."

  Aren sat like the bones had gone out of him. He dropped his sword in the stunted grass and placed his head in his hands. Tau went to his father and Ekon followed. Aren's shoulders bounced up and down. He was crying, without sound. Tau couldn't remember the last time his father had cried.

  "Da," he said. "Da." Tau knelt nearby and put his arms around him.

  "I'm sorry, Aren" Ekon said. "I'm sorry." He kept saying that, over and over. Like the thing that had happened was uncontrollable and inescapable, like it was something more than the act of a mortal man.

  "We'll give them a proper burning," Aren said a while later. "We'll do it in secret. Lekan mustn't know we found them."

  Ekon nodded.

  "Tau, Jabari will come up to train. He'll wonder where you are."

  "I'm with you," Tau told his father.

  "Go," Aren said, standing. "And, don't tell Jabari about this."

  Tau glanced at Ekon. He didn't like the look on his father's face.

  "I won't do anything. I can't." Aren choked on the word. "Lekan isn't military and Ekon is right. I can't kill him. They'll come for my family, for you and Imani, for Imani's daughters... Go, train. I'll be in the hut."

  Aren strode away and Ekon placed a hand on Tau's shoulder. "I'll stay with him," he said. "I'll stay as long as it's needed."

  When Tau got to the fighting circle, Jabari was already through most of his forms. He saw Tau and his face stretched into a wide grin. "The boots look great!"

  "Thank you," Tau said, feeling sick to his stomach.

  "Ready to fight," he said.

  "In a while," Tau told him.

  "No chance. We're well into Hoard. No days off with testing so close. And, you missed even bigger news by sleeping in."

  Tau looked at him, muscles tensed.

  "The Queen is coming," Jabari said.

  "What?"

  "The Queen! She's coming to Kerem. Well, more to say, she's passing through Kerem on her way to Kigambe. She arrives this afternoon."

  The Queen visited the Northern or Southern Capital every fifth cycle to present the Citadel's highest honors. The ceremony also honored the women who had tested as Gifted. The Chosen tested every woman. It was a right of passage, announcing the transition from girlhood to womanhood.

  And, with only one in ten-thousand possessing the Gift, their abilities marked them as part of a Caste of less than five-hundred. They outranked all but Royal-Nobles and were duty-bound to serve. Tau had heard stories of the Citadel catching women who held back in their testing, failing on purpose. They were branded, then taken to serve.

  Tau pulled his practice sword free of its scabbard, wishing he could plunge the blade into Lekan's seeds. "I guess we'd better get started, if we're to finish in time to see the Queen."

  Jabari let him get a toe into the fighting circle before engaging. The first round was painful, the second excruciating, and Tau had to concede the third so he could throw up his breakfast.

  "The Gaum?" Jabari asked, as Tau wiped half-digested cabbage flecks from his mouth.

  Tau didn't answer. He saw Jabari, but not really. He was focusing on the features his friend shared with Lekan. "Let's go again."

  The two men battled back and forth in the fighting circle and Tau caught out the Petty-Noble every fifth or sixth match. It wasn't enough. Tau
wanted to teach Jabari a lesson, because he'd never have the chance to teach one to Lekan.

  He moved through an offensive form as fast as he could, forcing Jabari back. Then, Tau caught Jabari on the thigh with a glancing strike that would leave a welt. The contact encouraged Tau and he brought his sword up and around to slam the blade into Jabari's side.

  The swing was clean and fast. Jabari was faster. The Petty-Noble whipped his sword at Tau's legs, smashing his ankles together and dropping him in the dirt.

  Tau groaned. His head had hit the fighting circle's floor and there were spots blinking in front of his eyes. Beyond the spots was Jabari, standing tall, his sword tip pressed against Tau's bobbing throat stone.

  "Goddess' mercy," Tau said, ceding the match.

  Jabari stood down. "Cek! You nearly had me. You're faster than a desert scorpion."

  Tau was angry. "I'm done."

  Jabari didn't notice. "After that last match, I'm good for a break too. You really went for me. Hey, let's get down to the Keep. I'll get changed and ready for the Queen's procession. Second for me?"

  "Second?" Tau said. Jabari was honoring him, giving him a chance to be as close as a Lesser could to a Royal Procession. On any other day, Tau would have been overwhelmed by the gesture. "Yes, of course I will... Nkosi."

  "Don't call me that. Just come?" Jabari was grinning, like a fool.

  Tau nodded, face grim. He'd be close to the Queen, but closer to Lekan.

  PROMISES

  Tau accompanied Jabari to the Keep. It was filled with people and everyone was frantic, doing their best to prepare. Kerem had not expected the royal visit and it had been a surprise when the Queen's vanguard had arrived, requesting an evening's accommodation for the Queen and her retinue.

  Jabari went to bathe and prepare, telling Tau to ask the Keep Guard for a proper Second's tabard. This meant Tau had time, time enough for an unpleasant task. He went looking for Zuri.

  He found her in the Keep's courtyard near the bath house. She was cleaning linen with a dozen other handmaidens. Her face lit up and she ran over, hugging him. It was more than she'd ever done in public.