The Iron Princess

by Niall Teasdale

  ‘Why did you stop me?’ Naira asked, her voice harsh, rasping.

  ‘Jun did nothing to you,’ Ayah replied. ‘There was no reason to harm him. Why are you plaguing the village like this? Why did you kill yourself?’

  Naira’s eyes narrowed and then she vanished, but her voice still came from the same spot. ‘A man, Harvath, took me by force. When I told of what he did, I was shunned, shamed. His father is powerful.’

  ‘Gratham.’

  ‘Yes. I sought the only way out they left me. Now I come to their men at night and take away what they value most. They gave me no justice, so I take it.’

  ‘But Harvath is the only man in the village that seems unaffected.’

  There was a sound a little like a sob and it came from a spot near the tent flap. ‘He’s the one man I can’t bring myself to go near. Let me finish my work tonight. Let me take that one.’

  ‘No. He’s done nothing.’

  ‘He lusts,’ Naira replied harshly, the tears gone from her voice. ‘He lusts after you. It was your image I used to seduce his mind.’

  Ayah opened her mouth to reply and then closed it again. That revelation was something of a surprise. ‘I can’t let you, Naira. I’m sorry but he’s a friend. He doesn’t deserve this.’

  Briefly, Naira appeared again, her dark eyes boring into Ayah’s. ‘You’ll regret it. Men are not to be trusted. They’re animals.’ Then she turned, walking through the tent flap as though it was not there.

  Ayah looked at her sword. There was no blood on it, nothing to indicate that it had hit something, but it had wounded a spirit and now that spirit was gone. Jun was safe and, amazingly, still asleep. Shaking her head at what men could sleep through, Ayah slipped out of the tent and started for her own. She could get a few hours’ sleep before the circus woke to pack up and move on. And she was going to do one more thing before they left.

  ~~~

  ‘Where are you going?’ Taravel asked as Ayah set off toward the village. ‘We’re packed and ready to leave.’

  ‘There’s something I need to do,’ Ayah replied. ‘Go without me if you must. I’ll catch up.’ She had managed a few hours’ sleep but not really enough and her temper was on a knife edge. Behind her, Taravel let out an expletive. She supposed he had got everyone up just after dawn to strike the camp, wanting to be away from Loffton as soon as possible, and now she was delaying him. Well, he was not her favourite person right now, so he could stew.

  Suyin, Nareel, and Jun caught up with her just inside the gate. She glanced around at them once. ‘There’s no need for you to fall into Taravel’s bad graces,’ she said.

  ‘You saved me last night,’ Jun replied. ‘I still remember the nightmare. I couldn’t wake up, but I feel like I haven’t slept in a week.’

  ‘Naira may have unbalanced you a little. We’ll get Avoona to check and then I may be able to correct it. What about the rest of you?’

  ‘We’re not letting you do this alone,’ Nareel responded.

  ‘You’re our friend,’ Suyin added, ‘and this place is sick.’

  Ayah gave a shrug and angled toward the village hall. ‘Alright, let’s do this.’

  Six faces turned to look at her as Ayah slammed through the door of the hall and marched inside. They were all men, all of them in their middle years or older, and Gratham was among them. That did not surprise Ayah in the least. None of it did, in fact: much of the government in the Western Plains operated on the principle of everyone having a say in public affairs, but that often degenerated into a few old families dictating village policy. Not infrequently, it was the male head of each family who did all the talking.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Gratham yelled, his face turning an angry shade of red so fast it was almost impressive. ‘Get out! You’ve no right to–’

  ‘I’ve discovered the reason for the malaise which affects the men of this village,’ Ayah shouted over him. ‘I think all of you know what’s happened, even if you refuse to accept it, but I spoke with the spirit last night and heard her story. It’s my duty to tell you just why your village is going to die.’

  Gratham looked like he might boil over any second. His voice turned low and menacing, but Ayah was too angry with arrogant men to care just now. ‘Leave this hall immediately or–’

  ‘Let her speak.’ The voice came from behind Ayah and she glanced back to see a tall, quite attractive but ageing brunette with a severe expression on her face. Her arms were crossed over her chest in a manner which suggested menace rather than defensiveness. There were others coming up to the doors behind her: news travelled fast in Loffton.

  ‘Belinna, leave,’ Gratham said. ‘This is none of your business.’

  ‘I think it’s the business of all of us.’

  ‘You will obey your husband!’ Gratham sounded rather desperate.

  Belinna sneered. ‘You have not been a husband to me for nearly two Great Years, Gratham.’ There were some amused titters from the villagers, though not nearly so many as might be expected: all of the women were in the same boat. Belinna turned her attention to Ayah. ‘Tell us what the ghost said, taitai.’

  Ayah gave the woman a nod and pitched her voice so that everyone could hear her. ‘She was born and died Naira, daughter of Mainara the healer. I could see from the marks on her throat and hear in her voice that she died by hanging. She was raped. A man named Harvath took her by force. But that is not why she killed herself. No, when she told of what had happened, she did not get justice. Instead, she was blamed and shamed. She took her life because this village took the side of a monster against her.’

  ‘Harvath… My son is the only man in the village unaffected,’ Belinna said, her voice soft.

  ‘Naira can’t bring herself to go near him. So, she punishes everyone else. Your healer has gone and others have run from your village. Your men are unable to father children even if you can get them to show an interest. It might take tens of Great Years, but Loffton is doomed. She’s attacking visitors now. Soon you’ll have no one willing to come here. You’ll have no trade and no children and your village will die a slow, lingering death. And from where I’m standing, you all deserve it.’

  ‘Yes,’ Belinna said. ‘We do.’ She gave Ayah a bleak smile. ‘But we have to at least try to save ourselves.’ Her gaze moved past Ayah to her husband. ‘And I have a fairly good idea where we should start.’

  No one got in their way as Ayah and her friends walked out and set off for the village gate. ‘Do you think they’ll do anything about this Harvath?’ Jun asked.

  ‘No idea,’ Ayah replied. ‘Plus, I’m not sure it hasn’t gone past that. This whole town is to blame for what happened to Naira. They all knew and they did nothing.’

  ‘And that’s why you’ve stopped calling Herra Taravel “laoshi,” am I right?’ Nareel asked.

  ‘I’m not sure what “herra” means in your language, but “laoshi” is a term of respect. I no longer respect Taravel.’

  ‘Well,’ Jun said, ‘respect him or not, he waited for us.’

  ‘Good. Now I just hope the road’s not too bad and I can get a bit of sleep as we go.’

  ~~~

  The wagon lurched over a rut and Ayah jerked awake with a start. She had settled onto the bed of the wagon, between people’s feet, and told them to wake her when they stopped for the evening. She had not wanted to talk about what had happened. Now she heaved herself upright and rubbed at sleepy eyes. ‘Where are we?’

  ‘Just stopping to give the horses a rest,’ Jun replied. ‘We’re about ten myls out from Loffton.’

  ‘Not nearly far enough.’

  There was a noise from the back and Avoona pulled herself up into the wagon. She was in a thick cloak with the hood up. ‘It’s miserable out there,’ she grumbled. She generally drove her own wagon and had obviously been sitting in the drizzle. ‘I want to be in the dry for a short while.’

  ‘I had something I wanted to talk to you about,’ Ayah said, ‘so I’m glad you dropped by.�
�� She settled onto one of the benches between Nareel and Suyin.

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Yeah. It came to me while I was nodding off. You told me that Naira, the ghost, would come after Jun next.’

  ‘That I did.’

  ‘And she did come for Jun because I rushed to my tent and grabbed my sword and didn’t change out of my dancing costume before going to his tent. That meant that he was having a few interesting dreams about me which drew Naira to him.’ Jun was going a shade of red a beetroot would have been proud of. Ayah ignored that. ‘So, the real reason that Naira attacked Jun was that you told me she would.’

  Avoona grinned. ‘I didn’t know that the ghost was attracted to lust, so I couldn’t have predicted the outcome of you showing Jun a bit of leg.’

  ‘It wouldn’t have been a very tough guess. Anyway, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. The act of prediction made the outcome certain.’

  Still grinning, Avoona waved the comment away. ‘Oh, that’s been the case with the majority of prophecies down through the ages. If you tell someone that something will happen, even if they don’t want it to, they’ll usually find a way to make it happen. What did I tell you when I made that casting while we were on the road?’

  ‘Uh… You did say there would be a spirit.’ Ayah frowned. ‘And a broken family. There were several of those.’

  ‘And I said that, so long as you held steadfast to your ideals, it would all turn out for the best.’

  ‘You did, and I did. I suppose I got a little justice for Naira. I’m not sure I’d call that the best.’

  Avoona smiled her – now Ayah thought about it – rather annoying knowing smile. ‘Oh, for more than just Naira. Taravel has decided to kick Rathven out as soon as we get to the next village. Sometimes he needs a little kick to remind him, but he’s a good man at heart. Don’t give up on him just yet.’

  ‘I’ll try,’ Ayah replied. ‘But no promises.’

  Part Five: Thunder

  Taking action. Prosperous and smooth. Thunder comes – alarm! alarm! Laughing and talking – ha, ha! Thunder shocks a hundred li. The sacrificial spoon and chalice do not fall.

  – The I Ching.

  Approaching Istollam City, 17th Day, First Marita, 207.

  It was late afternoon when Ayah heard someone call out that they could see Istollam ahead of them. She got up and hopped down from the wagon: she could easily keep pace on foot and she wanted to get a look at her first city.

  In the afternoon sunlight, the city of Istollam looked rather grey, but the fact that she could see the walls from a few myls away suggested that it was big. Somehow, she had expected something with gleaming spires and white walls. Istollam was not that. Returning to the rear of the wagon, she swung up into it easily and returned to her seat.

  ‘That’s a little anticlimactic,’ she said.

  ‘What did you expect?’ Suyin responded.

  ‘I don’t know. Something… brighter.’

  ‘Stone is stone,’ Jun said. ‘It’s usually grey.’

  ‘Very artistic.’

  ‘Astollar’s an attractive city,’ Suyin said.

  ‘True,’ Jun agreed.

  ‘And the Iron City has its good points, so long as you stay away from the industrial quarter which is ugly and smells.’

  ‘The City of the North is… unusual,’ Nareel put in. ‘It started as a winter trading camp for some of the tribes. It has a very high wall, but a lot of what is within is only semi-permanent.’

  ‘Then why the high wall?’ Jun asked. ‘The Great North Wall keeps it safe from anything to the south and there’s nothing much to the north.’

  ‘For the same reason the Great North Wall is there. The tribes still fear the coming of the qiangjianfan, even if most people in the wider world consider them myth. The wall was not built without reason. It has been several centuries since a horde attacked the southern lands, but the wall is there to remind us that they have. So, the City of the North has a strong, high wall around it.’

  Jun gave a shrug. ‘I still think they’re a myth.’

  Nareel almost smiled. ‘When they are ripping you limb from limb and eating your heart, I will be sure to remind you of that.’

  ‘That’s a nice thought,’ Ayah said. ‘Let’s hope we’re all long dead before that happens.’

  Nareel nodded. ‘I agree. Being eaten alive is not something I wish to experience.’

  Suyin let out a giggle and Nareel looked at her, frowning. ‘Oh, Nareel, you just have to have the right person doing the eating.’

  Istollam.

  Closer up, the walls were more impressive. Tall and thick, they were made from large blocks of grey stone mortared in place and with long embossments dotting them to reinforce the structure. The top was crenulated to give cover for archers and there was a massive gatehouse straddling the road ahead of the convoy of circus wagons. It would take a sizeable army to breach the defences of Istollam.

  Within the walls, the stonework continued. The buildings on either side of the street were stone on at least the ground floor. Even the street was cobbled. Ayah decided that walking had been a good idea since the carts were bouncing heavily on the rough surface.

  The upper floors of most of the buildings were timber framed, but the walls had been plastered over and coloured. It was getting late and there was less sunlight to illuminate the scene, but the colours seemed bright. Istollam was, it appeared, quite a wealthy city and its inhabitants took pride in the dwellings. The paint was fresh, probably no more than a Great Year old anywhere Ayah looked. The people were well-dressed too: Ayah saw little in the way of peasant clothing among the people she walked past. Many of the older women were in the long, straight gowns Xian favoured and the younger ones were frequently wrapped in the shorter dress Xian had bought for Ayah. Men wore richly coloured tunics over plainer trousers. The city was bright with colour, whether on the buildings or its people.

  After a few hundred paces, the wagons turned left and made their way down a fairly short stretch of narrower road before they came out into a square, and that was where Taravel called a halt. That was a good thing because it was getting dark. There were men with long poles out lighting lamps which did not do much to light the streets. Getting everything unloaded would have been a problem, except that they were not getting everything unloaded this time.

  ‘Alright everyone,’ Taravel called out as streams of circus folk emerged from the wagons. ‘We need to get the horses seen to and the wagons secured. I’m going to see about our lodgings. We’ll get everyone under cover just as soon as we can.’

  Not everyone was going ‘under cover’ as Taravel put it. Some of the staff were sleeping in the wagons and Jun was one of those. ‘You girls get a warm bed and a roof tonight. Pity those of us still under canvas.’

  ‘We’ll let you know whether we pity you after we’ve found out what the beds are like,’ Suyin informed him.

  ‘Not all inns are created equal,’ Nareel added.

  It was not, in fact, an inn that they were staying in. Taravel had an arrangement with the proprietor of a boarding house right on the square. It had a stable at the back for the horses and enough space for more or less the entire circus. Some of the ‘old hands’ seemed to know the place well; Avoona actually had a favourite room which she was happy to discover she was getting again. Ayah, Suyin, and Nareel were sharing again, but they had no real problem with that and their room was bigger than their tent. It did overlook the stables, however, and came with a delightful scent of straw and horse crap. Closing the window only reduced the smell. Still, it was a nice enough place and seemed clean.

  ‘Not too surprising,’ Nareel said as they each selected their beds and put clothes away in the wardrobe and chest of drawers. ‘This is one of the better quarters of the city. The south side is where the rich people live. This area does have some fairly wealthy merchants, but it’s a mix of residential and commercial. The worst area is on the east side, beside the docks. The smell of fish can get a
little strong so it’s mostly warehouses and poorer homes. The ones who can just about afford to get out of there tend to migrate to the north side.’

  ‘Any idea where I’d find a Water Form teacher?’ Ayah asked.

  ‘Not really. It’s not like I needed one. I’ll help you find a good one when you go looking.’

  ‘Me too,’ Suyin said. ‘I mean, I’ll be no use deciding whether they’re any good, but it’ll get me out of the room so I’ll come too.’

  ‘But not tomorrow,’ Nareel said. ‘Tomorrow morning we’ll be setting up and then we’ll be working all afternoon.’

  ‘And Wood Day is the Festival of Growth. Taravel wants us to run an extra-long day for that.’

  Ayah gave a shrug. ‘I’m not in that much of a hurry. Fire Day will do fine.’ She frowned. ‘I wonder if there are any baths around here?’

  ~~~

  Ayah sank into the hot water with a sigh. ‘I don’t think I’ve really been clean anytime in the last couple of months.’

  ‘A good bath is preferable to a bowl of hot water and a cloth,’ Suyin agreed.

  Nareel stepped into the water rather gingerly. ‘Baths are not something I’m used to. Sink yourself naked into water in the north and you’ll probably freeze to death.’

  ‘Get in. You’ll like it once you’re used to it. It soaks away all your aches and pains.’

  ‘I don’t have aches or pains.’

  ‘Oh, get in the water.’

  ‘It is oddly relaxing,’ Nareel admitted after a short time. Ayah and Suyin giggled.

  ‘You know,’ Suyin said after another short pause, ‘in the Iron City and Astollar, it’s mixed bathing. Taking a bath is a real social thing.’

  ‘I knew that,’ Ayah replied. ‘A friend told me. She travels a lot.’

  ‘I am not sure I could accept that,’ Nareel said. ‘I am relatively private about… things like that.’

  ‘Like what?’ Suyin asked.

  ‘Well, sex.’

  ‘That’s the point. It’s not about sex, it’s about– Uh, well, sometimes it’s about sex, but it’s about meeting people, chatting and things like that.’