by Evan Winter
Hadith raised his voice, speaking to the remnants of two Wings. "Help the wounded, no one gets left behind, but know that we cannot slow our pace. Citadel City may stand or fall on our speed."
Kellan eyed Hadith, unsure how to deal with the Lesser's presumption.
"Leave it," said Zuri. Kellan grunted, but left it, and the fighters, Ihashe and Indlovu, moved as fast as they could down the mountain.
"Tau," Zuri said, "there will be no peace?"
"Peace?" Kellan and Hadith said together.
Tau addressed Kellan. "You're the Champion's nephew."
"And?" said Kellan.
Tau hesitated. It felt strange to give up the secret. It was also strange to imagine that any secret meant more than ashes then. "Before the Melee, I followed Jayyed and Odili. They joined up with the Queen's Champion, the KaEid, a few Gifted, and Ingonyama. They climbed the Crags and met a party of Xiddeen in The Fist."
"They did what?" said Kellan.
"You really want me to believe you didn't know your uncle was holding peace talks with the Xiddeen?" asked Tau.
Hadith almost choked on the words. "Peace talks?"
"I wouldn't know," said Kellan. "Abshir is more Queen's Champion than uncle. The man refused to attend my father's funeral. He said he could not, in good conscience, attend a coward's burning." Tau could hear the bitterness in Kellan's voice. "I wouldn't know anything that I was not, as an Indlovu initiate, supposed to know."
"What happened in the Crags?" Zuri asked.
"I only know what I overheard," Tau told her.
Zuri pushed him. "Then, tell us that."
"The hedeni came to the meeting with a captured Gifted, an Enrager. She'd been their prisoner for almost a full cycle. She was tortured. They made her teach them how to Enrage."
"That's not possible," Kellan said. "The races of man cannot learn each others' Gifts. Besides, the Goddess burned out the Xiddeen's Gifts when she cursed them."
Tau's voice was tight. "The hedena Enraged who killed Chinedu and Jayyed would have a word with you on that." Kellan made no reply, and Tau told them the rest. "At the meeting the hedeni returned our Gifted. Their warlord's son came too. The son is meant to manage our military's surrender, as a beginning to peace. In turn, we gave them a Gifted Enervator. She will teach her Gift. Then, to complete the terms for peace, the Dragons must leave Xidda and Queen Tsiora must marry the warlord's son."
"What! Why? Why do this?" spluttered Kellan.
"Jayyed doesn't think... he didn't think our war winnable. He tried to convince the Guardian Council, the Champion, and through them, the Queen. Jayyed was removed from the Council for this."
"Yes, removed. Why bring him to the meeting with the Xiddeen?" Kellan asked.
"Two moons ago, the Council began soliciting his advice again. Thinking about it now, I believe the Queen had come to accept that war with the Xiddeen ends in our destruction. She sought terms for peace."
Yaw interjected. "Surrender, you mean."
Yaw's words, so near the ones Tau had spoken to Jayyed, seemed naive when voiced as the tatters of their fighting force raced down a mountain in the heartland of their Queendom, fleeing an army of invaders they could not stop.
"You think it was easy for Jayyed to argue for peace?" Tau asked. "He spent his whole life fighting the hedeni. He sacrificed so much for the Omehi and the Nobles took more from him than the Xiddeen ever did. Odili and the KaEid used Jamilah to hurt him. They placed his only child in the hands of our enemy!" Tau's voice had gotten louder with every word and he didn't hear Zuri when first she spoke.
"No," she said. "Goddess, no."
"Lady Gifted, we cannot dally," Kellan told her.
Zuri had stopped moving and remained where she was. "Jamilah is Jayyed's daughter? We gave them Jamilah?" Something in the way she said the words made the rest of them stop as well. "She's not just an Enervator. Jamilah is one of our most powerful. She's an Entreater."
"We really should keep moving," Yaw said, looking back. The hedeni were lost to sight on the Crag's twisting paths, but they would not be far behind.
Tau told Zuri more of what he knew. "Jayyed told me that Jamilah knew how to call to the Guardians but she won't be able to do it. They blindfolded her and covered her head before taking her into Xiddeen territory, to a gathering they call the Conclave. She can't direct the Dragons there. She'll have no idea where she is and she was alone, no Hex."
Zuri was breathing in a strange way. "That's not how it works," she said. "Remember, Tau, Entreaters send out a Youngling distress call. The Entreater doesn't need to know where she is. The Dragons come to her."
"The Guardians can sense where this Gifted is?" Hadith asked.
"Yes," Zuri said to them both. "Yes."
"Must go," said Uduak, placing a large hand in the middle of Zuri and Tau's backs, encouraging them forward.
"She was taken alone," Tau said, marching again. "She needs a Hex to call a Guardian."
"Only if she means to survive," Zuri said.
"The plan was to have Jamilah call down a Guardian attack on the Conclave?" asked Kellan.
"Why won't she survive?" asked Hadith.
Zuri turned to him. "If Jamilah calls a Guardian to the Conclave it will come, it will attack and, when it realizes that its Youngling is not the source of the distress call, it will hold Jamilah's soul in Isihogo until her ability to hide from the demons fails. When that happens, the demons will find her and kill her."
"I can't accept this," Kellan told the others. "It means my uncle negotiated in bad faith. He is many things, but he would never broker a false treaty. Not for war, peace, or surrender."
"He didn't know," Zuri said. "It's a coup."
Kellan shook his head. "Lady Gifted, this path twists too much."
"No, she's right," Hadith said. "When the Queen chose peace, she went against the Royal-Nobles. Peace doesn't just end her reign, it ends them too."
Kellan gave Hadith a look. "You think the Royal-Nobles have conspired together to make sure a doomed war continues? Why? So they can hold onto privilege? Power? What good is it, if they're dead? There is no coup or conspiracy. For one to exist, the Royal-Nobles would have to believe we could win."
"That is what they believe," Tau said.
Kellan rounded on Tau, towering over him. "Then maybe they're right!"
"No," Tau insisted. "Jayyed was certain. There are too many hedeni, and that was before they had our Gifts. This war will kill us all."
"So, peace is our only hope and the Xiddeen are invading?" said Hadith.
"There's no need for talk of coups or conspiracy," Kellan said. "In war, the simple answer is often the correct one. The Xiddeen sought to lull us with hopes of peace and then the cowards attacked, when we were vulnerable."
Zuri grabbed Tau and Kellan's wrists, squeezing tight. Her sudden movement made Uduak draw his blade.
"Zuri?" asked Tau.
"She's already done it," Zuri said.
Kellan pulled his wrist out of Zuri's grip. "With respect, Lady Gifted, what in char and ashes are you going on about?"
"The Xiddeen... this isn't a first strike. We attacked them."
Kellan threw his hands in the air. "I've had enough!"
"A Guardian attacked the Conclave. It destroyed it and Jamilah is dead," Zuri told them and, as she said it, the last puzzle piece fell into place for Tau. He could see what had been done.
He saw how patient Jamilah was to wait for the right time. He saw how well Odili and the KaEid had planned this. Jamilah would teach the Xiddeen the Gift of Enervation because those she taught would never be able to use it against the Chosen. She would train the shamans until it was time for the Queen's Melee. Then, during the Melee, when both the Northern and Southern Isikolo, the Citadel, and many members of the Omehi Military were in the Crags, Jamilah would call her Dragon.
It had to be done then. The Melee was the only time when enough of the Omehi Military could be ordered into the Crags and Citadel City wi
thout raising the Champion or Queen's suspicion.
The puzzle was complete and Tau saw the whole horrifying picture. He saw the colossal black Dragon that Jamilah would have called. In his mind's eye, he saw it swooping down from the sky and blowing fire before it. He saw it boiling the earth and blasting a million souls to char and ash.
Kellan questioned Zuri. "You can sense this? The Dragon? Jamilah?"
"No," Zuri said, "but it's why the Xiddeen are invading. We burned their Conclave and everyone there to ash. We are the ones who betrayed the peace."
They were in the Crags, near its cliffs. They could see all the way down to Citadel City. At the city's centre stood the Queen's stronghold, the Guardian Keep, with its massive domes. The domes glowed with the scintillations of several hundred torches, the fiery brands held in the hands of those outside the Keep's walls.
"Where would the Queen be, right now?" asked Hadith, eyes locked on the scene before him.
"She's in the Keep, isn't she?" said Tau.
Kellan was staring down at the city. He looked like a man with his head in a noose. "She's in the Keep," he said.
The Keep was surrounded, surrounded and under siege by an army of Indlovu.
YOUNGLING
Kellan ordered everyone down to Citadel City. Those too injured to travel at speed were given a few guards and told to leave the path, so they could hide from the Xiddeen. The rest ran. Tau stayed beside Zuri, who was wearied from her time in Isihogo and unused to using her body so harshly.
Running, they reached Citadel City in short order, finding its gates and walls guarded by Full-blooded Indlovu. One of them raised a war horn to his lips, ready to send out an alarm. When the guard realized they were Omehi, he lowered it.
"My name is Kellan Okar, third cycle initiate of the Indlovu Citadel. We have fought a battle against the invading hedeni in The Fist. I demand entry for my men and my injured. We have news for the Guardian Council."
Tau noted that Kellan did not say the Champion or Queen.
The Indlovu, with the war horn, looked down from the low wall. "Well met, Okar." He said, emphasizing Kellan's family name. "The Omehi Military, under the direct command of Inkokeli Odili has taken charge of the city's defense. You may enter but must proceed directly to the Indlovu Citadel. It is the only place we can guarantee your safety."
"With respect, Nkosi," said Kellan. "I have already battled my enemy tonight. I have no need of protection. I do need to meet with members of the Guardian Council, or Odili in particular, to give them news of the battle and how it was lost."
"Lost?"
"The Xiddeen are invading in force."
"Are they?"
"Nkosi, time is being wasted and I have important information—"
"The Inkokeli has the information he needs. I will send escorts to guide you to the Citadel."
"I know the way."
"You do me injury, Okar. I seek your safety."
Kellan grew agitated. "We are being pursued by an invading force of our enemy. They come in large numbers."
"The Goddess smiles on her Chosen. We happen to have large numbers of Full-blooded military men and Gifted in the city."
"I do not see them."
"You will," said the Indlovu.
"Coming down from the Crags I saw fires in the city."
The Indlovu's eyes narrowed. "Did you?"
"They appeared to be coming from its centre. Are we under attack?"
"I had hoped to avoid troubling you, Nkosi Kellan, but a seditious faction has, for the moment, taken the Guardian Keep. They are traitors demanding that, when the invaders come, we surrender."
"I see..."
"Do not let it concern you. It's a few fools, traitors. Inkokeli Odili will burn them out."
Tau was about to say something. Zuri must have been able to tell. She elbowed him, urging silence.
"Nkosi," the Indlovu said, smiling, "You should proceed to the Citadel."
"My thanks," said Kellan. "One last question, if it please you. Do we know the names or identities of these traitors?"
The warrior's smile grew grim. "Can it matter? They are traitors. They will be caught and hung. We are Omehi, the Goddess' Chosen. We do not surrender."
Kellan hesitated. "From your lips to the Goddess' ears," he said.
The man nodded at that, waved a hand at someone behind him, and the gates opened. They entered the city, the glow of the distant fires lending a bizarre sense of warmth to the otherwise dark night. The lead Indlovu sent three Full-bloods with them. They were told to go the Indlovu Citadel and nowhere else. This was a directive from Inkokeli Odili himself. No one was allowed to be on the streets of Citadel City until the enemy, coming for their gates, had been repulsed.
The Full-bloods took up positions at the front, middle, and rear of their party.
"What do you believe now, Okar?" Tau whispered, saying Kellan's family name in the same way the Indlovu at the gates had.
"It's a coup," Kellan said. "Odili seeks to overthrow Queen Tsiora."
"He's filled the city with military loyal to his cause," said Hadith.
"It's not over," said Kellan.
"It's not?" Themba muttered. "Seems over."
"It's not," Kellan said. "If Odili's Wing are still sieging the keep, it means the Queen is alive. They wouldn't waste time fighting for anything or anyone less. Killing her is the only way he can secure the Queendom under his control. He'll have to get it done quickly though."
"The Xiddeen," said Hadith.
Kellan nodded. "Odili has to kill Tsiora soon. He has to end the siege and set his men to the defense of the city."
Tau didn't think the odds made sense. "Is Odili that stupid? The Xiddeen are invading. He can't stop them with a few Wings of Full-bloods."
"That's not all he has," Zuri said. "The KaEid will be with him. Once the Queen is dead, she'll command the Gifted to call Guardians to our defense. Odili only needs to hold the Xiddeen back until the Dragons arrive."
"So, we all die tomorrow or the next day, instead of tonight," said Tau. "If Jayyed was right, we cannot defeat the Xiddeen in an all out war."
"We have to save the Queen," Kellan said, looking from face to face. "She needs us."
"Kellan's right," Zuri said. "Queen Tsiora is for peace and was betrayed by the same men and women who betrayed the Xiddeen. If she can convince their Shul and warlords that she had no part in the attack on the Conclave, then peace might stand."
Hadith groaned. "More 'ifs'."
Tau agreed with Hadith. "This is our hope? Would we honor peace if the Xiddeen destroyed The Palm or Kigambe? Would we forgive them if they murdered every man, woman, and child in Kerem?" Tau's question cut hard because it was so easy to answer. The Omehi would not forgive.
"The Queen is the hope we have," Zuri told Tau.
"I'll fight," said Kellan. "I'll go to her aid."
Tau was incredulous. "Fight who? With what? The Indlovu have the keep surrounded."
"The Queen has her guards. The Queen has my uncle," Kellan said.
Tau hated feeling so helpless, but their helplessness was a reality. "They can't hold against a Wing of Full-bloods. We have no way to break the siege or get to the Queen."
"That's not true," said Zuri. "The Youngling."
Tau did not like where this was going. "The Youngling beneath the Guardian Keep?"
Kellan looked lost. "There are Guardians in the Guardian Keep?"
Zuri nodded.
"Why are there Guardians in the Guardian Keep?" he asked.
Zuri didn't answer that. "The Youngling tunnels. We can bring fighters through the Gifted Citadel and into the Keep."
Yaw stated the obvious. "Excuse Lady Gifted, but we're not being taken to the Gifted Citadel."
Uduak grunted, drew his sword and leapt onto the back of the Full-blood leading them, bearing him to the ground. The Full-blood called out and Uduak knocked him unconscious. The Full-blood near the middle of the line pulled his blade free of its scabbar
d, but so had most of Scale Jayyed. He looked at the sharp bronze aimed at his chest and dropped the weapon.
Scale Osa made up most of the rear and they did not understand the confusion, but the Full-blood with them had seen enough. He took off running.
"He'll tell the ones at the gate!" said Yaw.
"It won't matter," Hadith said, pointing to the unconscious Indlovu. "When Uduak drew bronze and hit that one, we chose sides."
Uduak brushed himself off. "Right side."
"Fighting for the Queen?" Themba said. "Fighting for... peace?"
"We have to hurry," Zuri said. "We don't know how much time the Queen has. If Odili kills her, this is all for nothing."
"Eh, we'll also be hanged as traitors, don't forget that part," Themba said.
"Themba," muttered Hadith, "always seeing the sunlight."
"Just want to make sure everyone understands the urgency, is all," Themba told him.
"Kellan!" One of the initiates from Scale Osa, a bulky brute with a block for a jaw, had marched his way through Scale Jayyed and up near the front. "What are you doing? Why have these Lessers drawn bronze on the Full-bloods." That was when he noticed the unconscious Indlovu. "Ukufa's tongue! What have you done?"
"Chidubem, these Full-bloods are working with Odili to overthrow the Queen," Kellan told his sword-brother.
"Guardian Councillor Odili?" Chidubem asked.
"They are sieging the Guardian Keep. We need to get to the Queen before Odili can—"
"No! I don't want to hear this."
"It's a coup!"
"It's Royal-Noble business."
"You can't be serious?" said Kellan as the rest of Scale Osa and Scale Otieno came within earshot. He raised his voice, speaking to them. "Odili seeks to murder our Queen. This Gifted knows a way that we can come to her aid. Brothers, you are needed, called to—"
Chidubem shouted him down. "Shut it, Okar! I am not fighting against Odili and Full-bloods on your word and the word of Lessers. Who knows why Odili has chosen to siege the Keep?"
"The Queen—"
"We heard. She wants to surrender," said Inkokeli Otieno, moving through the men to stand near Chidubem. "Hear me," he said, pointing to Chidubem "Like this initiate, I will not fight against my own. However, I will not hinder you either. Go your way and I will go mine, with my Scale."