The Winds of Khalakovo loa-1

by Bradley P. Beaulieu

  Then the pain quickly became too much, and Atiana’s world went dark.

  CHAPTER 58

  When Rehada neared the cliffs that housed Volgorod’s massive eyrie, she heard the boom of cannon fire. It blasted the air as she spurred her pony onward along the plateau that would lead her past the eyrie and on toward Volgorod. A dozen windships crisscrossed the island in an attempt to intimidate and to search for signs of organized resistance. She knew she had been seen along her journey from the northwestern part of the island-it was impossible not to be-but she had stopped in a house she kept in Izhny to retrieve a set of peasant clothes for her ride east. She hoped that the men in the windships would consider one lone woman riding on a sickly pony beneath their notice, and so far that had held true.

  From Izhny she had made a calculated choice: take the slower northern route and avoid any potential conflict or take the more navigable southern one and put herself within reach of the forces of the traitor dukes that held the eyrie. She knew that the eyrie had been taken, knew that their men would be stationed there in force to protect the jewel they had seized, and yet she still did not consider it an unwise decision until she was surprised by the sound of hoof beats coming fast behind her. She was on a slow decline, the wind driving the tall grasses around her like waves upon the sea, and she could see from this vantage neither the eyrie ahead nor the decline toward Izhny behind. It was the blindest part of the journey, and her assailants must have known this as well.

  There were five of them-mounted men bearing muskets and black cherkesskas and brown kolpak hats cut in the shorter style of the southern Duchies. They had tall, strong ponies, which were probably fresh. One of the streltsi raised his weapon and waved it back and forth above his head, a signal for her to stop.

  Stopping was not something she could afford. They would undoubtedly take her to the eyrie for questioning.

  She spurred her pony to a full gallop. Her loosely tied babushka was pulled from her head by the wind, revealing the circlet upon her brow. The men shouted as she summoned the spirit bonded to her through the tourmaline gem. She felt the warmth upon her brow first, then through her cheeks and scalp and neck. It quickly suffused her frame as her pony-already breathing heavily-galloped on.

  The thrill of her bond ran through her from the pit of her stomach to the knot in her throat. She turned in her saddle and cast her hand over the landscape. In a tight line over the grass that lay between her and her pursuers, fire blazed.

  The men were well trained. The flames had jumped over the well-traveled trail, allowing the streltsi a path through the fire. They continued on with little drop in pace and leveled their muskets once they were beyond the wall of flame. The first of them fired a moment later. A musket ball struck the earth ahead of her. Another shot whizzed by. The next struck her pony in the chest.

  It fell to the ground, throwing Rehada from its back.

  She had been prepared for this, and had slowed the pony’s gait. She rolled away and came to her feet, standing her ground as the ponies charged and another musket shot struck the earth to her right.

  She drew from the suurahezhan again, giving some part of herself to the spirit as she did so. It was no small amount, and she had not drawn such energy from Adhiya in a very long time. She felt her knees buckle as a ball of fire formed between her arms. The heat of it was painful and beautiful and exhilarating in the same breath, and when she released it, it was with a sense of longing and loss.

  The ball of bright orange flame shot forth, striking the lead pony and its rider. Both fell to the ground, the pony screaming, the rider diving away and rolling on the grasses in an attempt at snuffing the flames.

  The fire had sprayed against another strelet. Rehada fed this from the suurahezhan, pulling as much as she could manage. It was more than she had ever drawn from a single spirit, and she was already weakening to the point that her heart began to skip beats, her world began to close in around her, her vision was invaded by bright sparks of light.

  Despite this she reveled in the feeling of touching Adhiya, of communing with the spirit. She nearly allowed the hezhan to take her, and she realized-almost too late-that this must be yet another result of the rift that ran through Volgorod. She bore down, cutting herself off from the suurahezhan. It fought her, but she was not so young in the craft to be taken in this manner, and the spirit was not so old that it was overly powerful.

  Still, as she released the connection, her vision blackened and the world was lost from view.

  When she opened her eyes, she was staring up at the sky. The sound of licking flames could be heard, so it could not have been long. She propped herself up on her elbows and took in the scene as the sickening smell of roasted flesh swept over her.

  All five of the ponymen were dead. Four of the ponies were as well, and her own was dying, its blood still leaking from just below its ribs as it took breath in a rapid and shallow manner.

  One of the ponies was still alive, and she remembered-now that she had achieved some distance-preventing the fire from striking it, though at the time the notion had been nearly drowned by her thirst for more contact with the suurahezhan.

  She walked to the pony, knowing the streltsi at the eyrie and the ships in the sky-even the host of Matri who patrolled the island-would soon come to investigate.

  “Come,” she said to the pony as she ran her hand down its neck. “We have a ways to go, you and I.”

  With her circlet hidden away in the pouch at her belt, Rehada walked alone, her arms in clear sight, on the cobbled road leading up to the Boyar’s mansion. A guard of a dozen streltsi stood along a low stone wall ahead. Beyond them stood the walls of the mansion itself. The stout walls held an imposing iron gate at its two entry points, and there were now several hastily constructed barricades of stone along the road leading up to the gates, forcing anyone who wanted to enter to veer back and forth before reaching the gates themselves.

  A sotnik raised his hand as she approached.

  “I wish to see the Boyar,” Rehada said.

  He stood taller. “And what would he want with you?”

  “I bring news of Atiana Vostroma, who escaped Radiskoye only days ago.”

  His expression turned grim, and he glanced back at the mansion before speaking again. “You can give the message to me.”

  She was already shaking her head. “I have just come from Iramanshah,” she lied. “I bear a message from Fahroz Bashar al Lilliah herself, meant for the Boyar’s ears only.”

  “That is impossible,” he said flatly.

  “It concerns a threat posed by the Maharraht.” This much, at least, was true.

  “Then tell me and it will be relayed through proper channels.”

  “I will not.”

  He looked uncomfortable, glancing back toward the mansion several more times. In the end he frowned and said, “Wait here.”

  And wait she did. She had known that the eyrie had been taken. She had known that the blockade had been circling the island and Radiskoye ceaselessly since the duke of Vostroma had staged his revolt. What she hadn’t known was that ground troops had moved in around the palotza. She had discovered this upon reaching Volgorod.

  The traitor Dukes had landed Polkovnik Andreya Antonov, the head of Vostroma’s military, as well as two thousand streltsi. They had positioned themselves on the shallow plain that lay between Volgorod and Palotza Radiskoye, securing footholds close to each of the prized locations.

  Ranos Khalakovo, as Boyar of the Island of Uyadensk and sitting Posadnik of the City, had responded in kind, organizing his not-inconsiderable number of troops to the edges of the city, ready to respond should Andreya issue the order to attack.

  Rehada had no idea how she was going to reach Radiskoye. Attempting to take a windship, even a skiff, would be foolish to say the least. Her passage would be sensed and a ship would cut off her approach well before she reached the palotza. Travel by water would not work either, as the palotza-even though it was near the wa
ter’s edge-rested atop tall, unscalable cliffs. Travel by land, given the position of Andreya’s forces, had also been taken from her.

  And so she found herself making a decision that at first seemed foolish, but felt wiser in increments in light of the fact that her eventual goal was to reach the Duke of Khalakovo.

  The noon hour passed, and she grew worried that this was taking too long. Soroush had said that they would move tomorrow, meaning she had little enough time in which to find Iaros, to convince him of her earnestness, and to give them time to prevent what was about to happen. What could be done at this point she wasn’t sure-Zhabyn Vostroma had a stranglehold on the island-but she was certain she didn’t stand a chance by herself. Only Iaros had the wherewithal to negotiate a cessation of hostilities or organize an outright attack to buy them time to deal with Soroush.

  When the sotnik stepped out of the mansion and began walking over the expanse of stone leading to the gates, he was accompanied by Nikandr’s sister, Victania. She wore a blue dress, extravagant for a peasant woman but clearly plain for the Princess. Two braids wrapped around her head and tied her long brown hair back like an Aramahn circlet. Her face was grim as she came closer and finally stopped several paces away. “I was told you wish to speak to my brother.” “I do.” “That you have some knowledge of the Maharraht? A threat?” Rehada nodded.

  Victania’s serious eyes thinned. “You are Nikandr’s lover, are you not?”

  Rehada nearly shook her head, ready to deny it in order to reach Ranos, but Victania knew too much. Rehada had been with Nikandr for years, and she had attended several high-profile dinners hosted by various Landed families in Volgorod, and even one in Radiskoye when the Duke had been away. It was too likely that Victania knew a lot more about Rehada than she would have originally guessed, and so she nodded.

  “Do you have news of him?” Victania asked. Her voice had softened. Rehada knew how close the two of them were.

  “I’m sorry, but I haven’t.”

  At this, Victania’s face hardened. “My brother is away. I’m afraid he is not able to see you.”

  “But I have come from Iramanshah, from-”

  “ Da, from Fahroz herself, but let me tell you, Rehada, if Fahroz has something she wishes to tell us, she can come herself so we can weigh her words properly.”Victania turned and began striding back toward the mansion, but she stopped momentarily and turned her head halfway around. “Run back, won’t you? And tell her not to send a woman of the sheets to do her talking for her.”

  She resumed her walk, but stopped at the growing sound of ponies clomping along the cobbled street. A handful of military men dressed in black cherkesskas were riding toward the mansion. At their head were two men: an imposing but graying polkovnik…

  And Ranos.

  His thin mustache and beard were still in place, but stubble was growing in around his cheeks and neck, making him look haggard and wild.

  The nearby sotnik clapped his heels together and saluted the incoming men who had no doubt come from surveying the preparations for Andreya’s attack.

  Ranos saluted in turn, but then noticed Rehada. His face frowned as recognition dawned on him, and then he looked up and found Victania standing just inside the gates. He spoke quickly to the polkovnik with the hanging white beard, and immediately all of the cavalry rode in through the gates, leaving Ranos alone with Rehada.

  Victania strode forward as Ranos heeled his pony closer.“Why have you come?” he asked plainly.

  “I need to speak with your father.”

  He laughed. “The Duke, if you haven’t noticed, is occupied.”

  “All the more reason he should speak with me.”

  Victania stepped past Rehada to reach Ranos’s side. “Don’t listen to her. She’s already lied to get this close to you.”

  “Tell me what you’re after,” Ranos said to Rehada, “or I’ll ask you to leave.”

  She could tell by the tone of his voice that he was weary, that he would simply leave if her rationale wasn’t convincing enough, so she poured all of the emotion bottled up inside her into one simple statement: “If you wish for your precious Duchy to see another day, son of Iaros, then you’ll listen to what I have to say.”

  “Ridiculous,” Victania snapped.

  Ranos looked down at his sister and then to Rehada, perhaps weighing her words.

  “Go on,” he said.

  The mask over Rehada’s eyes and the rope binding her hands were the least of her worries. The boat in which she sat was tumbling over the tall waves in merciless cycles, and without her sight, she was completely unable to anticipate any of it. She had already heaved up the contents of her stomach four times, and as another tall wave struck, she found herself dry heaving between her legs.

  “Please,” she said to the sotnik sitting on the next thwart forward, “I only need a small amount of time to recover.”

  “You heard my orders,” the strelet said.

  Six oars struck the water in synchronized time as the spray pelted her face. The wind was high, and the weather had turned bitterly cold toward the end of the day, and despite the fact that Rehada wore a heavily oiled canvas coat, she was soaked from head to foot and almost completely numb.

  Though Victania had tried diligently to get him to cast her out, Ranos had agreed to Rehada’s demands. There was a significant problem, however-communication with the Matra had been sporadic at best. They hadn’t been able to speak with her in several days. Of the three rooks that were kept permanently at the mansion, two had apparently been killed by the third, which had flown out of its cage when their keeper had come to investigate the swath of blood and black feathers that lay inside their cage. Three days prior, another rook had flown down from the palotza, but the moment it had landed it began rolling on the ground, cawing, and then it flew back into the air and was never seen again. Clearly the other Matri were in league, working to prevent effective communication between Radiskoye and Volgorod, which presented Ranos with a difficult task: he agreed that his father needed to hear what Rehada had to say, but he saw no easy way to make that happen.

  In the end, he had arranged for her to be ferried away by a hand-selected crew of oarsmen. Their mission was to take her to the cliffs below Radiskoye and to guide her into the cavern that held a passage leading up to the palotza. The only issue was that Rehada could not be allowed to see the route. She argued that it would be night, that she would be able to see very little in any case, but Ranos would not budge.

  And so she found herself fighting to keep herself from sliding along the thwart, fighting to stay warm, fighting to prevent herself from heaving again, an action that brought only pain.

  “How much longer?” she asked between waves of nausea.

  “You know I cannot tell.”

  “Please.”

  “Knowing won’t make it any shorter or longer. Just sit and breathe deeply.”

  As he spoke, something thudded against the boat. She thought at first they had struck bottom, but it happened again a moment later, and the boat began to slip sideways.

  She heard the thump and clatter of wood, and the sotnik sitting ahead of her stood. “Pull, men, pull!”

  “What is it?” she asked as a cold spike of fear slid deep inside her chest. The boat slid further and was tugged downward momentarily. “ What is it?”

  “Be quiet!”

  A moment later the crack of a musket went off just above her head, making her cringe with fear.

  The boat was pulled sharply to port, and something splashed into the water just over the starboard gunwale.

  “ Kozyol!” the sotnik swore. “Pull harder!”

  Then something heavy and wet fell across Rehada’s lap.

  CHAPTER 59

  Sharp pain shot through Rehada’s thighs. She placed her hands over the cold, slimy tentacle, knowing immediately what sort of creature had attacked the boat. There were several types of squid that wandered the oceans, but only one of them, the goedrun, was large
enough and aggressive enough to attack ships. A smaller ship such as theirs was particularly attractive, as it could be tipped over, instantly turning its inhabitants into prey. Given the diameter of the tentacle, she guessed the goedrun was still young, but it was more than a match for the ship if it could get enough tentacles around to capsize it.

  “Cut them!” the sotnik shouted, and she heard two of the men moments later sawing at the tentacle as the ship tilted sharply to port.

  “Let me free,” Rehada shouted, putting as much command into her voice as she could muster.

  She was ignored as another tentacle slipped over the crown of her head and into the laps of the streltsi behind her. The two men screamed and she could hear them sawing at this tentacle as well.

  “My circlet!” Rehada screamed.

  “Give it to her, Goran!” one of the soldiers behind her shouted.

  After a moment’s pause, she could feel the sotnik’s kindjal against the rope at her wrist. An instant later, her hands were free. She pulled the mask off of her face and by the dim light of the quarter moon found the grim-faced sotnik rummaging through a burlap sack at his feet. He pulled her circlet out, but it dropped as the boat tilted sharply upward and he grabbed the gunwales for balance.

  Rehada snatched up her circlet, but had already noticed that the stone was dark. Even before she placed it upon her head she knew the truth of it: the suurahezhan she had bonded with had abandoned her, leaving her utterly defenseless. It may have been because of the trip over the water, it may have simply been its time, but something told her it was yet another manifestation of the rift, the rift that Soroush was ready to rip wide open if given the chance.

  The streltsi shifted aft, ready to hack at the massive tentacle that had grabbed the boat. As they searched the water, shashkas raised, an arm of the goedrun whipped up out of the water and wrapped around two of them before they had a chance to duck out of its path.

  One was able to pull away, but the other was wrapped up tight and was pulled off the boat in a blink, splashing into the dark waves before the shock could even register upon his face.