Blades of the Old Empire

by Anna Kashina

  Evan shrugged. “Not my problem. You and Daemur are the ones who got yourselves into this mess. The only thing I can do is to order my Majat guard to detain both of you for high treason. We could all be prisoners in these chambers. But I won’t do it. Personally, I don’t care for the company. And it seems this wouldn’t make your situation any different, would it?”

  Illitand walked forward and stood over Han’s body. He was shaking. Evan doubted the Duke had even heard what he’d said.

  “I must send him to the Majat Guild,” Daemur said quietly. “With my deepest regrets, and an honorary guard fit for royalty. I must make them realize this wasn’t my fault.”

  Evan’s smile widened. “Good luck with that. I heard the Majat Guildmaster is a kind, understanding man. I have no doubt he’ll see it your way.”

  Daemur looked up, his eyes so empty that against reason Evan felt sorry for the man. Then the Duke turned and strode out of the room.

  Tanad Eli Faruh shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. “You’re completely right, Sire. Kaddim Tolos has the entire household in his power. His men are everywhere. And he’s keeping Princess Aljbeda under lock and key. Even I can’t see her.” He looked at Evan pleadingly. “We have to do something, Your Majesty. Our only chance is to stay united.”

  Evan scoffed in disbelief. “United, Tanad? Isn’t it a bit too late for warmth and friendship? The best you and Daemur can do now is let me out of here. If you still can.”

  The Olivian shook his head. “The castle’s under their control. We are prisoners here, Sire, just like you.”

  Evan laughed. “And you still came here to offer me your terms, Tanad? Politics isn’t a card game, you know. Even if you bluff, you have to have something up your sleeve in case things get out of hand.”

  The Olivian stepped forward and knelt at Evan’s feet. He looked repentant, but Evan noticed how he took care to avoid splotches of blood on the floor that could stain his expensive silk robe.

  “Please forgive me, Your Majesty,” the Olivian said. “I was blind. This man did something to my mind. I wasn’t acting on my own will. If we ever get out of this, I will be, to the end of my days, your loyal and devoted servant.”

  Evan shook his head. “If we ever get out of this, you’ll be in a lot of trouble, Tanad. Now, get out.”

  Eli Faruh raised his face to Evan with the disbelieving expression of a dog who had been hit by its master after showing obedience.

  “Out,” Evan said.

  The Olivian scrambled to his feet and rushed out of the room, leaving Evan to stare at Han’s body. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. The Majat were a formidable power that kept kingdoms on their toes. No one killed a Diamond for sport and hoped to get away with it.

  How powerful had the Kaddim Brotherhood really become?

  A rustle of robes on stone startled Evan out of his thoughts. The Keepers swept through the room and knelt on the floor to examine Han’s body.

  “Blessed Shal Addim,” Odara Sul whispered. “He’s really dead.”

  Hair snaked around her head and settled into a twisted knot. She made no attempt to straighten it out. She just sat there, staring.

  It was indeed a frightening sight. The blow had come from the back, leaving Han’s face undisturbed except for the blood splatters. His slanted black eyes were half-open, staring at the ceiling with an expression of surprise. The left side of his skull was crushed in. Wounds gaped on his chest and shoulders, where the other orbens had hit him during the attack. Many of them showed no sign of bleeding. The weapons had connected after the Diamond was already dead.

  Evan didn’t have a chance to know Han well, but looking at the broken body he felt a lump rise in his throat. His eyes itched with unshed tears, absolutely unbefitting a king. The Pentade duty took into account the possibility that a Majat could die defending him, but such a thing certainly hadn’t happened in the written history of Tallan Dar. The Pentade had been historically considered more of an honorary assignment, intended to maintain the wealth of the Guild and its presence at the King’s court, with no real action involved.

  To Evan’s knowledge, Diamonds rarely got killed at all, as no other warriors came close to being their match. He didn’t envy Daemur Illitand for having to explain the incident to the Majat Guildmaster, who was bound to take this very personally.

  He was startled from his thoughts again when he realized everyone in the room was looking at him. There was a general air of expectation, reminding Evan that now, more than ever, he was the one in charge.

  He looked at the Rubies kneeling on the floor, singling out a strongly built man with sunburnt skin and pale blond hair.

  “Jeih Lothar,” he said. “You’re in charge of the Pentade until the time we can have another Diamond to replace Aghat Han.”

  The Ruby got up to his feet and stood to attention. Evan fumbled in the folds of his robe and produced a glittering Diamond token. He handed it over to Lothar.

  “This is Aghat Han’s. I assume it must be sent back to your Guild with the body.”

  Lothar bowed his head, his lips pursed into a straight line. He reached out and took the token with a stiff hand.

  “The Duke of Illitand,” Evan continued, “will send his men to prepare the body and take it away. You are free to do what you will, according to the Majat ways. I suggest that you cooperate if your customs permit it, for the Duke’s intentions in this matter are well placed. You may also take time to perform any rituals that your Guild demands before sending Aghat Han on his last way.”

  “There are no rituals, Your Majesty,” Lothar said. “Aghat Han died defending you. It’s an honor for a member of the Pentade to die in your service.”

  Evan nodded. Honor was very far from his mind, but he wasn’t about to bring it up at such a solemn moment.

  A group of Illitand guards came in with a stretcher and a large quantity of rags and buckets. They stopped in the doorway, keeping their eyes on Evan.

  “Do what you must,” Evan said.

  He strode past them out of the room to a private niche at the end of the hallway. Settling on the windowsill, he looked into the distant haze over the glimmering waters of the lake.

  41

  A MOONLIGHT SWIM

  Kyth woke after dark. He felt refreshed. His chest and shoulder didn’t seem as sore as before, and his limbs were filled with new strength, making him feel much more fit than he had been in the morning. The idea of riding for another day back to the Cha’ori camp didn’t seem horrifying anymore. He sat up, looking around.

  Egey Bashi sat by the fire sipping his tea, the two Majat stretched out next to him. Raishan, wrapped in his cloak, looked fast asleep. Mai lay flat on his back, covered with a blanket up to the chin. Kyth couldn’t tell if he was conscious.

  When Egey Bashi saw that Kyth was awake, he leaned forward and handed him a small bowl of stew and a mug of tea. The meal was cold, suggesting that it had been cooked some time ago, but Kyth took it with gratitude, suddenly realizing how hungry he was. All he had eaten for the past three days was the watery grain soup his captors had fed him, and the dry meat that he’d had in the morning.

  The stew was made of meat and bread, mixed with a herb that gave this filling meal a faint, refreshing flavor. Kyth ate everything and sat back, sipping his tea under the Keeper’s intent gaze.

  “How’s Mai?” he asked.

  Egey Bashi shot a quick glance at the Majat’s still shape. “His fever’s high. But the worst is still to come. Are you well enough to keep watch?”

  Kyth nodded.

  “If he wakes up and starts moving around,” the Keeper said, “the poison will spread too fast and things might get out of hand. You must get him to stay lying down. He’ll probably be delirious, so it may not be easy. If you feel like you can’t handle him by yourself, wake us up. Can you do that?”

  Kyth hesitated. Mai looked so sick that he couldn’t imagine it would be hard to keep him down. Yet, the edge in Egey Bashi’s voice sugg
ested there was more to it than he realized. He looked at the Keeper with question.

  “It shouldn’t really start until after midnight,” Egey Bashi said. “Just make sure you wake up Raishan before then.” He wrapped into his cloak and lay back. It seemed like only a moment before his breath became even, showing that the Keeper was asleep.

  The moon loomed high above the horizon, a full crescent pouring silvery light onto the landscape. Chilly night air crept through the gaps in his clothes straight under the skin. Kyth sat closer to the fire, watching the still shapes of his sleeping companions. Everything was quiet, except for the barking of the coyotes and the distant boom of a bittern in the reeds downstream.

  Kyth was beginning to doze off when Mai suddenly sat up and looked around. His eyes shone brighter than usual on his drawn face, but he seemed alert and quite aware of his surroundings. He didn’t look delirious at all. In fact, he seemed almost recovered, so that looking at him Kyth felt relieved. The Keepers’ cure must have worked after all, and the worst was behind them.

  Mai caught Kyth’s gaze and winked. Then he got up and walked toward the river.

  At first Kyth thought he was just following nature’s call, but when Mai went without stopping all the way to the bank and leaned over the water, Kyth suspected something was wrong. He hastily got up and ran over to where Mai was standing, dangerously close to the edge.

  “Mai!” he called out. “What are you doing?”

  The Majat turned and gave him a long look. From up close, Kyth could sense the heat emanating from his body and see the feverish chills that rippled the muscles of his bare torso. He paused, alarm stirring in his chest as he belatedly remembered Egey Bashi’s warning.

  “I’m hot,” Mai said. “I need to go for a swim.” He leaned forward, balancing precariously over the water. It seemed to Kyth he was about to fall in.

  “You can’t go in there!” Kyth reached out and caught Mai by the elbow.

  The Majat’s body tensed up. He spun around so fast that his shape blurred, and grabbed Kyth’s wrist. Kyth’s fingers unclenched of their own accord. His hand was slowly going numb, but Mai still held on until Kyth couldn’t feel his fingers anymore.

  The Majat’s face filled Kyth’s vision, the heat he emanated warming the air around them. Mai was shivering, but his hand was steady like iron. It was hard to imagine such a sick man could still be so strong.

  “Let me go,” Kyth said.

  Mai hesitated, a shade of doubt appearing in his gaze. After a long moment he released his hold and turned back to the water.

  “Don’t touch me again,” he said.

  “But–” Kyth began, but at that moment Mai stepped forward, right off the shore. Kyth reached over and grabbed him with both arms around the waist, throwing his weight back to keep Mai from falling into the water.

  The Majat turned in his arms with dizzying speed and Kyth felt a hand on his throat.

  “I warned you not to touch me again.”

  Before he closed the grip, Kyth took in a full breath of air and shouted at the top of his lungs:

  “Raishaaaaaan!”

  Then they swayed and tumbled over, straight into the turbid Elligar waters.

  The water was deep right near the shore, and much too cold. Kyth gasped, struggling against Mai’s grip. He wasn’t a good swimmer, and without the ability to fully use his body he was having trouble keeping his head above the water.

  “Mai!” he gasped. “Let me g–”

  The Majat twisted against his grip and came up on top, pushing Kyth’s head down. Water filled his mouth. He grasped Mai trying to tear him off, but it was as useless as wrestling with a rock. Mai’s arms were steady, his muscle harder than seemed possible for living flesh. His eyes had an empty look. Kyth wasn’t sure the Majat could understand what he was doing. He grasped on tighter, but his fingers kept sliding and he couldn’t get a good grip. His vision darkened. He saw the moon above his head getting dimmer through the thickening layer of water.

  He was going to drown.

  Use… your gift.

  Use… the water…

  … or die.

  With the last of his weakening senses, he relaxed against Mai’s hold and opened up his mind to let in the water.

  A powerful surge flowed into his body. It overwhelmed his senses, his body shuddering with strength he couldn’t control. Then he got a hold on it. He tore off Mai’s grasping hands and held him back, their bodies tumbling over in the turbid flow.

  Air.

  Need… air…

  The strength filling him was enormous, but his mind was darkening, his lungs burning from lack of air. They were still going down, tumbling, so that he could no longer tell where “up” was. He was losing hold, Mai’s body heavy against him as the river grasped both of them into its arms.

  Air.

  His feet touched the bottom, but he no longer had the strength to push off. He held onto Mai, both of them dragged along the muddy rived bed.

  He had to… take… a breath.

  He had to…

  Give in.

  He gave in, letting the river fill up his body with no resistance at all. He only had moments left to live, but those moments made him strong beyond anything he could ever imagine. He let the water carry him, curving into a powerful wave that reached all the way to the bottom, bringing precious air along with it. He inhaled, and the water carried him up to the surface and higher on to the shore, pushing off to bring him all the way upstream, back to their camp.

  Kyth was only vaguely aware he was still clutching Mai’s body, and of Raishan’s arms pulling them both out onto the delightfully dry ground. They lay side by side, coughing and spluttering water. They were breathing. They were alive. Kyth looked into the sky at the bright crescent of the moon, whose glow seemed like the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

  Raishan’s stern face appeared above him. “What in the hell happened?”

  Kyth took a breath, enjoying the absence of pressure on his throat and the abundance of fresh air around him. It seemed like he had wasted a lot of his life without appreciating these things before.

  “Mai…” he managed, “he wanted to go for a swim. I tried to stop him. I didn’t realize he was still so strong.”

  Raishan gave him a strange look. “By the amount of time you spent in the water, you should have come up way downstream. But there was this big wave that just brought you back here. Care to tell me anything about it?”

  Kyth looked away. He wasn’t sure what had happened, and he didn’t feel like talking about it.

  Raishan gave him another look, then turned to Mai crouching on the ground. Egey Bashi took his place.

  “I thought I told you to keep him from moving around!”

  Kyth shot him a glance. “It got out of hand.”

  “Why didn’t you wake Raishan?”

  Kyth shrugged. He did wake Raishan, just not right away. But it was useless to argue now.

  “Is it going to make him worse?” Kyth asked.

  Egey Bashi glanced over to where Mai sat on the grass, doubled over, coughing.

  “What’s done is done,” the Keeper said quietly. “It’s all up to how strong he is now.”

  It seemed as if Mai heard these words. He raised his head and looked straight at the Keeper, his eyes shining with such a ruthless gleam that Kyth shivered. Mai slowly got to his feet and made an unsteady step in their direction. Egey Bashi backed off.

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” he said quietly. “The Black Death driving him.”

  “Now you’re telling us,” Raishan grumbled.

  He slowly straightened out and stepped into Mai’s path. The Majat looked at him with an empty gaze. He stood still for a moment. Then he leapt forward without warning, throwing his weight against Raishan. The two Diamonds rolled on the ground. Mai went straight for the throat, the force of his grip making Raishan’s face go red. He clutched at Mai’s hands, pressing on the points at the base of the wrists. Mai eased
the hold and Raishan knocked his hands off. They struggled, moving so fast it was dizzying to watch.

  “Don’t hurt him, Aghat Raishan,” Egey Bashi warned.

  “This isn’t exactly my concern at the moment,” Raishan rasped. Mai was on top, the strength of his grasp visible in the way Raishan’s arms shuddered under the strain.

  Raishan twisted out of the lock and threw his weight sideways, rolling over and throwing Mai onto his back. Before Mai could recover, Raishan pinned his wrists to the ground. He threw his entire weight against the hold. He was taller and heavier built, but it clearly took all he had to keep Mai down.

  “I’m afraid,” Raishan said with difficulty, “I might have to knock him out.”

  “Wait!” Egey Bashi reached over and put his hand onto Mai’s forehead. Mai threw him a murderous look and twisted in Raishan’s grip, but Raishan held on with what looked like the last of his strength.

  “Whatever you’re doing, Magister,” Raishan said through clenched teeth, “do it fast.”

  Egey Bashi closed his eyes. Kyth sensed waves of calmness emanating from his still shape. It was subtle, nothing like the smothering feeling emanated by the Kaddim Brothers. Can the Keepers control minds too?

  After a long moment Mai’s arms relaxed and his gaze become absent again, just like it had been earlier in the day.

  “You may let go now, Aghat Raishan,” Egey Bashi said.

  “Are you sure?”

  Egey Bashi nodded and stood up. Raishan slowly disengaged himself and rolled off, sitting on the ground and massaging his wrists. Mai lay still, staring into the sky.

  “I’ll be damned,” Raishan said. “I kind of assumed he’d be weaker by now.”

  “Perhaps it’s all for the best,” Egey Bashi said. “He’ll need all his strength to deal with what’s coming.”

  Raishan’s eyes widened. “Do you mean to say after all this there’s something else coming?”

  The Keeper shook his head. “Let’s just get back to camp, Aghat. Kyth needs to get dried off. And I think all of us could use more rest.”