Scarred Man
Page 38
Maida was never going to answer that question and they both knew it, so she closed her eyes again and enjoyed the feel of the sunlight on her skin.
‘I slept well,’ she murmured.
‘As did I, except for the dreams.’
‘Dreams?’
‘Strange dreams of portents and monsters.’ He seemed to be about to say more, but grunted softly and kissed the back of Maida’s neck instead.
Maida sighed, all thoughts of dreams fleeing her mind.
‘What’s that?’ Keshik sat up abruptly. Maida slid off him as he moved. He sprang to his feet. ‘Ice and wind,’ he barked. ‘Maida, get dressed.’
‘What is it?’ she asked as she struggled into her dress.
‘Look.’
Maida followed Keshik’s gesture to where she could see a dark mass staining the grass. She watched it move. It was not coming towards them; it was heading towards the hidden city of the Blindfolded Queen.
‘What is it?’ she repeated.
‘Don’t you recognise the way they ride? The formations? It’s the Tulugma.’
‘Who of the Tulugma?’
‘All of them.’ He pulled on his own clothes while Maida finished dressing, then together they ran towards the massed swords of the Tulugma.
They were seen early and three horsemen peeled away from the main body to investigate. Keshik stopped as soon as he was hailed by them and raised his hands wide above his head to show he was not holding a weapon. Maida mirrored his action.
‘Who are you, travellers?’ one Tulugma called.
‘Keshik and Maida,’ Keshik replied.
At his name, the riders spurred their horses a little faster. They rode to surround Keshik and Maida, staring down at them with hard, distrustful eyes. Keshik allowed them to form the standard circling pattern: one facing them, the other two slightly behind them, just out of their direct line of sight so that if either Maida or Keshik wanted to see the flanking riders, they would have to take their eyes off the lead rider.
‘I know the name Keshik,’ the one facing them said. ‘And you do look like his reputation would suggest.’
‘So does she,’ added another.
Keshik snarled: a low, feral sound. Maida placed her hand on his arm to calm him.
‘What do you want, Keshik and Maida?’
‘To speak with the Tuk,’ Keshik said.
‘Ha! You presume much, Keshik and Maida.’
‘I am Swordmaster to the Tuk. I fight beneath his standard and bear his blood.’
‘No, you aren’t. I know all Swordmasters to the Tuk and you are not among their number.’
‘You are young and new to the Kuriltai. You do not know everything.’
The rebuke was mild, but the young Tulugma bristled visibly. Keshik’s scowl deepened as he considered the young man’s lack of self-control.
‘Take my name and my request back to your Tuk and let him decide.’
‘Don’t give me orders, little man,’ the young Tulugma spat. His horse sensed his agitation and started to prance sideways.
‘I will speak with your Tuk,’ Keshik said, ‘if only to tell him of the lack of self-control of those who speak for him.’ He heard the horse behind him move and sensed the rider’s action before he saw the tension in the young man he had just insulted. The sword sliced through the air, cleaving easily through the space Keshik vacated faster than the rider could move. He dropped beneath the swing and caught the wrist, jerking the man from his saddle. Keshik wrenched the man’s arm, bringing him down hard on his shoulder. The rider landed on the ground with the sharp crack of breaking bone and a scream of pain. Before the other two riders could react, Keshik drew a throwing dagger and sent it spinning into the throat of the man behind Maida. He went down with the peculiar sigh of instant death.
The young Tulugma froze in the motion of drawing his sword, seeing both of his companions dead before he could fully release the blade. Keshik bounded the few paces that separated him from the rude youth, drawing his own swords as he moved. He wove the attack pattern called the Badger’s Mouth in the air on his way. His opponent recognised the pattern and his eyes widened in horror as the blades approached.
Keshik halted his attack with the point of one blade resting on the man’s thigh — right by the great blood vessel — and the point of the other just touching his ribs, having sliced clean through the metal armour.
‘I am a Swordmaster to the Tuk and I will speak with him,’ Keshik said.
‘Of course.’ The young, chastened Tulugma urged his horse around and trotted back to the main column. Keshik sheathed his swords and looked around. The two horses of the men he had killed were still standing by their fallen riders, unconcernedly cropping at the grass. Keshik caught one set of reins and handed it to Maida before stooping to examine the dead men.
Each one had a full set of weapons: throwing knives, sword, bow, garrotte and a pouch of cur fangs. Keshik helped himself to their weapons before leaping up onto the back of the second horse. Feeling better than he had for a long time, he urged his new mount after the young Tulugma. Maida rode beside him, looking less comfortable.
‘How will they react?’ she asked.
‘To what?’
‘To you, to me, to us. To this?’ She indicated the horses they were riding. ‘You just killed two of them.’
‘In a fair fight. They attacked first, I prevailed.’
‘But, you …’ She hesitated, unwilling to say the words.
‘… were exiled?’ Keshik completed it for her. ‘Yes, I was. But that was a long time ago, and I have not returned to the Kuriltai. We are here, in Midacea.’
‘And me?’
‘You, my love, will be beneath their notice. If they even acknowledge your existence, it will be a surprise. No, you are completely safe with me.’
Always, Maida thought as she followed him through the high grass towards the column of Tulugma warriors.
Once again, they were seen early, but this time no one came out to meet them. Instead, bows were trained on them as they rode. The young Tulugma with them held his sword aloft and the bows were lowered. Keshik grunted at the young man. Probably acknowledging his action, Maida thought. Although the meaning of the action was lost on her.
The smell of travelling men and horses assailed her nose, making her wince and gag a little. Keshik shot her a tight grin.
‘We usually smell like that,’ he said.
‘You do,’ Maida corrected.
Keshik laughed.
The young Tulugma led them to where a strong, middle-aged man rode tall in the saddle. Maida regarded him, guessing him to be Gielden in ancestry. He was clad in simple leather with a metal breastplate. On his head was a round metal helmet, edged with fur, sporting a short spike that rose about a handspan from the centre. He did not have Keshik’s features or solid build, tending towards the taller stature and broader shoulder of the bowman. While the Tulugma were famed throughout the world for their swordsmen, many specialised in different weaponry.
‘Is that your Tuk?’ Keshik asked their guide and the young man nodded. ‘I will speak with him alone,’ Keshik said. He spurred his new horse into a rolling trot and moved ahead.
‘Is he always like that?’ the young Tulugma asked.
‘Like what?’ Maida said.
‘I guess he is, then.’
Maida watched as Keshik approached, then stopped beside the Tuk. A conversation commenced. At first, it seemed civilised, then a raised voice shouted a word that drifted across the intervening space — ‘kabutat’.
Keshik’s voice rose in response. Fingers were waved, jabbed at each other. Other riders stopped to watch. Weapons were drawn. Keshik drew his swords.
‘No, Keshik!’ Maida screamed. She dug her heels into her horse’s flanks and started to gallop towards the rapidly deteriorating situation.
Before she reached halfway, Keshik stopped shouting and made a harsh, retching sound. Maida went cold as she saw vile blackness vomit out fro
m Keshik and engulf the Tuk. A blast of energy rippled out from Keshik, knocking men from their horses. A few remained mounted and they raised their weapons in insensate fury. They turned on their comrades.
The killing began.
Glossary
Achulti (ak-WUL-ti) — ‘leader of sixteen’; commander of a xuauhtli
Alberrich — criminal, based in Leserlang
Amatios — man of the Kuvnos
Ambra — Midacean witch
Ce Atli (SEE-at-lee) — Mertian doctor
Enst — former Reader’s assistant, based in Leserlang
Eztli-Ichtaca (esh-li-ICK-tak-ka) — the ‘world of could be’; the Mertian spirit world that seers can glimpse
Guaman — the Rogue; leader of the Rogue Troop
Hinrik — former Bane of Myrrhini; Acolyte of Varuun
Hue — man of the Kuvnos
Huitzilin (wet-SIL-in) — achulti of the Blindfolded Queen
Ilmari — former Acolyte of Varuun
Iskopra — Apros Seagull; navigator aboard the Queen’s Quest; Agent of the Blindfolded Queen
Ispaca — member of the Rogue Troop
Itxtli (itsh-LEE) — achulti of the Blindfolded Queen
Joukahainen — former Wielder of the Key of Varuun
Keshik — nomadic mercenary; Tulugma Swordmaster
Kielevinenrohkimainen — ancient Revenant, trapped for ages beneath Vogel
Kirri — woman of the Kuvnos
Maida — nomadic mercenary
Mayehqueh (may-EK-way) — lower class in the society of the Blindfolded Queen; they tend to be either servants or drafted Agents
Mixcoatl (mish-CO-atl) — achulti of the Blindfolded Queen, based in Usterust
Myrrhini — Eye of Varuun; late of the Place of the Acolytes
Nagual (na-GWAL) — Agent of the Blindfolded Queen
Nikolo — Midacean seer and oracle
Opochtli (oh-POK-lee) — Agent of the Blindfolded Queen
Ozcollo — member of the Rogue Troop
Patecoatl (pat-EKO-atl) — Agent of the Blindfolded Queen, based in Usterust
Quetzalxoitl (kate-sal-SHOE-it) — the Blindfolded Queen
Seppe — Midacean barman
Slave — slave of Sondelle
Tatya — shapeshifter
Tchinwukana (chin-WUK-ana) — Agent of the Blindfolded Queen
Tlatoque (LAT-ok) — military rank; commander of sixty-four xuauhtlis
Tochtli (toch-LI) — Agent of the Blindfolded Queen
Tynos — man of the Kuvnos
Vasilis — solpon of the Kuvnos, a nomadic tribe of the northern tundra
Xuauhtli (shoe-AH-ti) — the basic military unit of the Agents of the Blindfolded Queen, consisting of sixteen Agents
Xahnatl yatl (shar-NAT-yat) — an old Mertian expression meaning ‘you’re welcome’ or ‘it is nothing’
Yaotl (yah-OT) — Agent of the Blindfolded Queen
Youxinatl (you-SHI-nat) — Agent of the Blindfolded Queen; a ‘serf’ in a ‘free’ xuauhtli
About the Author
Bevan McGuiness lives near Perth with his wife and daughter. He has worked as a factory hand, geophysicist and laboratory assistant, and he is now a teacher of chemistry at a boys’ school in Perth. He has been writing for years and has published short stories, book reviews, a trilogy and pieces for texts on science education. You can contact Bevan at bevan.mcguiness@optusnet.com.au
Books by Bevan McGuiness
THE TRIUMVIRATE
The Awakening (1)
The First Weapon (2)
The Way of Purity (3)
THE ELEVEN KINGDOMS
Slave of Sondelle (1)
Scarred Man (2)
Copyright
HarperVoyager
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2011
This edition published in 2011
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
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harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Bevan McGuiness 2011
The right of Bevan McGuiness to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
McGuiness, Bevan.
Scarred man / Bevan McGuiness.
ISBN: 978 0 7322 8980 5 (pbk.)
ISBN: 978-0-7304-9784-4
McGuiness, Bevan. Eleven kingdoms; bk. 2.
A823.4
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Maps by Bevan McGuiness