by B. T. Narro
Marratrice seemed either confused or too tired to understand. One of her eyes was squinted, and she had trouble keeping her head up.
“I’ll tell you more in the morning. We’re following Queen to our sleeping quarters.”
Chapter 28:
STEFFEN
At some point, Steffen awoke to someone stepping over him. He shut his eyes again and thought nothing of it…until another pair of footsteps followed. When he heard whispers, his curiosity was piqued too much to go back to sleep.
He sat up, something telling him not to make a sound as he looked around the wall of the cove they were sleeping in to see who it was.
Javy Rayvender and Jack Rose were walking away from him. When they made a turn and escaped from view, Steffen decided to follow.
He used the tall clay pillars as cover until he found them again. Javy was leaning against the wall while Jack had his arms folded with his back up against a pillar. Steffen squatted behind his own pillar and strained his ears to listen.
“I already know what you’re going to say,” Javy complained. “You don’t want me to do it.”
Steffen could hear Jack take in a slow breath. “It’s more than that, Rayvender. We need to talk this out, figure out what’s best.”
“You mean convince me that you’re right.”
“Look what happened last time we took aggressive action,” Jack whispered.
Javy scoffed. “I knew you were going to bring that up. You might as well say it. You blame me for what happened.”
“Haven’t I said that aloud yet? Of course I blame you. It’s your fault. You chose to send that raven and signal Dex Polken to take the shot.”
“Will you quiet your voice?” Javy’s tone was irritated. “I may have sent the raven, but everyone wanted that except for you. You were the only vote against it.”
“And for good reason,” Jack said. “Westin’s son came after Dex and Lena Polken. Aggression only leads to more aggression. They’re dead now because of the decision you made.”
Bastial stars, what am I listening to? Steffen considered leaving before he heard more. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“Two deaths compared to…who knows how many if Dex didn’t kill Westin. You were on the underground council before I was—” Javy stopped himself. Steffen figured it was to glance around, to make sure no one was close by.
What would he do right now if he found out I overheard? Steffen knew he had to leave before they were done. He couldn’t let them come back to find him missing. But he couldn’t go just yet. He needed to understand what they were saying.
They were talking about the late King, Westin Kimard. Steffen thought no one knew who’d killed him, but here Javy had admitted it was Dex Polken. Steffen had heard the name, though he didn’t remember how he knew it was Cleve’s father.
Then it came to him. Reela had mentioned it, also telling Steffen not to bring it up around Cleve. Although Steffen was known for his inability to keep secrets, it was the opposite when he had absolutely no reason to discuss something. He had no reason to talk to Cleve about his father. There was nothing to say. Well, until now.
Javy continued. “Everyone knew Westin was going mad, and he was teaching his son terrible things. A few more years and our king would’ve turned out worse than his father. Then, who could say if Kyrro would even still be around by now. Our relationship with Tenred has been like dancing in quicksand. The more we’ve tried to work our way out of trouble, the deeper we sink. With an inept king, this war would’ve begun and been lost years ago. But we actually have a chance with Welson Kimard. I know you know this, and it frustrates me that you choose to ignore it.”
Jack sighed. “It’s always the same argument when we discuss this. You already know what I’m going to say next.”
“That there were other ways to make Westin step down besides having Dex shoot him. I know you think this, but even Dex knew the risks and still agreed it was worth it.”
“But he had no idea that you’d sent the raven on your own without the consensus of the rest of the underground council.” Now Jack seemed to be irritated as well. “And you knew Marie Fyremore was close to changing her mind. Kerr was the only one as decisive as you about the decision.”
“He was the closest one to the King,” Javy argued. “He knew better than all of us, which should tell you that it was the right decision.”
“I don’t think you should make this decision on your own now,” Jack said. “You should bring it back to the King.”
“You only say that to delay the inevitable. Welson Kimard would send me right back down here as soon as I explained it. And do you know why? Can you guess what he would say?”
Jack grumbled, then asked, “What?”
“He would ask me what Tenred would do if the situation was reversed. Under Tegry Hiller’s command, they lied about us to the Krepps, telling them we knew where the Slugari were. Tenred did this. Now tell me honestly, do you think they would leave this trapped Bastial Energy alone, or would they explode it beneath our towns?”
From the long breath that Jack took in, it sounded as if he had no retort.
“I thought so,” Javy said.
Steffen knew he’d been there too long. They had to be ending their conversation soon. He dashed behind another pillar, then another, quickly making his way back to the cove.
Close now, he took a peek back at Javy and Jack. Fortunately, they were still distracted with each other. Steffen jumped out from the pillar and hurried into the cove, making sure not to look at Javy and Jack just in case they glanced his way during that moment. He could always claim he went somewhere to relieve himself if they asked.
“Where did you go?” Marratrice mumbled as he lay down near her.
Might as well practice my lie. “Had to relieve myself.”
As he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, he wondered whether he should tell anyone about what he’d heard. His first instinct was to wait for Cleve and then make a decision. But then he realized that if he did see Cleve again, he certainly would reveal this information.
Cleve deserves to know, simple as that.
Chapter 29:
ZETI
Seven days and seven nights it took them to reach Tenred. Not a day went by without Keenu picking up signs that an ambush was ahead of them and changing the route. Zeti never saw the signs for herself, though she stopped looking early on when she realized she wouldn’t notice them before Keenu.
She was thankful for Grayol’s company. After the incident with Vithos and the Humans, Keenu had stopped speaking unless it became necessary. He walked ahead of Zeti and Grayol, making it much easier for Zeti to ignore her anger. But whenever memories came back of Paramar, she could hear Keenu’s offer to slay him.
On the sixth day, Grayol finally brought up Zoke. His tone was nervous, and she could tell he’d been thinking about it for a long while.
“I don’t know who Zoke is anymore,” Grayol admitted. “I don’t want you to be upset with me, but I’m beginning to believe he would rather be with the Humans than with us.”
Zeti couldn’t stand when Grayol spoke like this—not about Zoke being a traitor, that hadn’t happened before. It infuriated her when he made it plainly obvious how strongly her opinion mattered to him.
“Why do you care if I get upset with you?”
“Because…”
Zeti waited, but she seemed to have scared him from saying any more. “Tell me,” she insisted.
Suddenly Grayol exploded with anger. “I hate how you’re like this!”
Shocked, Zeti froze.
“You’re friendly with me when I hardly say a word, but as soon as I say anything about how I care, you get annoyed.”
The little Krepp wasn’t so good with words, but Zeti still understood what he meant. In fact, he was right. Grayol had been unusually distant during this trip, and she had been friendlier with him until now.
But why? Zeti wondered. Why does it frustrate me whe
n he’s nice?
“So I want you to like me,” Grayol said, his frustration nearing a whine. “What’s wrong with that? It doesn’t mean I think I’m going to be your seshar.”
With her thoughts recently on Paramar, she suddenly recalled what he’d told her before he died. “You fear what other Krepps want. That’s the weakness I found in you when we first fought.”
She understood now. Krepps need others to like them, whether it be to gain power within the army, to have someone ready to stand up for them, or to simply have someone to pass the time with. But Zeti couldn’t stand when other Krepps made an attempt to please her.
Paramar must’ve seen this in her the first time they met—when he claimed she treasured the bow more than the sword because she was afraid of getting close. Some part of her knew it was true even then, though she didn’t know why.
I still don’t know why, she realized. “Grayol, I should appreciate when you’re nice. I don’t know why it bothers me, but for some reason it does. Zoke is the only Krepp who can be nice without me wanting to claw him across the face. I understand the struggle to figure out his actions. But he’s the same Krepp who was taking care of me during my shedding. Think about everything he’s done for you, how many times he’s brought you food, how much time he’s spent teaching you to use the sword. What did he do when you came to us with an embarrassing rip on the rear end of your pants? You must remember.”
Grayol faced the dirt. “He stitched them for me.”
“Not just that. What else?”
“I didn’t have any other pants, so he went to the market to trade for a pair that fit me. Then he gave them to me as he sewed the other pair.”
“He worked for hours to mend the huge gash you made.” Zeti was exaggerating, for Zoke was quite skilled with his hands and had finished quickly. But Grayol didn’t need to know how long it really took. “And now you have two pairs of pants, don’t you? Many Krepps don’t.”
“I do,” Grayol replied in a quiet voice.
“The Zoke that you know is the same one now with the Humans. Don’t forget that.”
Grayol nodded sheepishly.
The massive walls separating the people of Tenred from the nearby forest seemed to stretch into the sky. Zeti hadn’t seen anything so large that wasn’t a mountain, and even most peaks didn’t stand as tall as these stone walls.
A swarm of Humans buzzed around the gate, half going in and half going out. A few were dressed in metal, all of which was too shiny for Zeti’s taste. Do our Human allies care more about the appearance of their armor than its use in battle?
At the sight of Zeti, Keenu, and Grayol, one of the men in metal whistled and shouted something in common tongue. The others pushed out a palm at Keenu, signaling for him to wait.
Past the gate, all of Tenred was on an upward slope. The side walls ended halfway up where the edges of mountains took over as the border of the territory. Houses three times as large as any hut within the Krepp encampment were scattered along the miles of incline before her. She couldn’t see much else because the massive stone wall came over the top of the metal gate, blocking her view.
Then the gate opened, and a Krepp came through who she recognized.
“Hello, Zeti.” Nebre had the whitest smile she’d seen of any Krepp.
“What’s with your teeth?” Keenu asked, cringing.
“The Humans like to clean their teeth. I thought I would do the same. You’re going to be amazed by their castle.”
Living with the Humans would’ve been a nightmare to most Krepps, but Nebre seemed overjoyed, privileged, even. It was eerie to see such happiness, especially given the reason.
They followed Nebre through the gate, Grayol whispering, “What’s he doing here?”
“He was sent by Doe and Haemon because he speaks the language of the Humans.”
“So he translates when Krepps like us come to Tenred?”
“That and other things, I assume,” Zeti guessed. She couldn’t get used to how different Nebre was from the last time she’d seen him—when she’d been brought into the judgment chambers to be confronted by him and Doe about her brother.
That was when Doe told me I would have to kill Zoke to prove my loyalty, Zeti remembered. I hope Paramar’s murder has done enough.
When the gate had swung open all the way, Nebre stopped to point at the castle atop the hill ahead of them. “Look at that,” he bragged, as if he was somehow responsible for building it.
It was marvelous, though, Zeti couldn’t help but admit. The Humans had somehow built it level, even though the ground beneath it sloped.
There seemed to be three layers to the castle. The base wasn’t much more than a wall of stone that wrapped around the front of it like a shield. Behind this was the second layer, which was a block of stone with rounded towers built into it. The last seemed to be the heart of the castle, peeking out from the center, taller than the rest. All along the top were ridges that made it seem like a walkway was available for the Humans to use.
Zeti couldn’t see much of the middle of the castle, as most of it was covered by the walls of the second layer. But she could see its roof—two square towers jutted out from it. Atop each waved a Tenred flag, black with ten red stars. She’d seen it enough to know by now.
The roads leading toward the castle were crowded with Humans seemingly busy conversing and trading with each other. As busy as they were, though, many stopped to gawk at Zeti and the other Krepps, some even pointing.
They must not have seen too many of us yet. Zeti didn’t know everything that Doe and Haemon had been doing with Tenred, but sending Krepps over clearly wasn’t a big part of their plans. At least not yet. Doe did mention that they were preparing for an attack soon.
Nebre slowed so he could walk between Zeti and Keenu, lowering his voice to tell them, “These Humans…I don’t even know how to describe them. They’re sneaky and cunning. Were you attacked on the way here by men from Kyrro?”
Keenu spat.
A few grunts of disgust could be heard from the Humans around them.
“We were,” Keenu said. “Cowards. That’s all Humans are.”
“If you think that’s all they are, then you have a lot to learn,” Nebre said. “Just a few days ago, three spies from Kyrro were discovered within the castle. Three! It was only one at first, but they tortured her until she gave up the other two. All of them had been living there for years. No Krepp would do that.”
“Because we have honor,” Keenu argued.
“This is war,” Nebre reminded him. “I hear them say it all the time. At first it sounded like an excuse, but I’ve realized now that it’s indeed a reason. They care little about honor compared to winning. As should we. I’ve still been trying to get permission to read their history books. I’m sure they’re filled with surprising stories.”
Keenu spat again. “Filthy Humans.” He muttered a curse. “Don’t let them influence you, Nebre. You have to remember you’re a Krepp.”
They were silent the rest of the way to the castle.
There were only two guards outside the thick wooden door. This didn’t surprise Zeti, as the castle seemed to deny entry on its own far better than any Human could. But inside, she found many more wearing armor at each turn.
What do the Humans need so much protection from within the castle?
“Who are we meeting with?” Keenu asked.
“That depends on why you’re here.” Nebre stopped them in the middle of a stone hallway. It was lit by a few torches on the wall. “I assume it’s about the pigeons?”
“How did you know?” Zeti asked.
“Because they won’t fly back to the Krepp encampment. The pigeon master already explained the issue to me. They weren’t trained properly to think of the Krepp encampment as a home. So when they were sent here with messages, we couldn’t get them to fly back with our replies.”
“We” and “our,” Zeti reflected. What’s with him?
“I see,” Ke
enu said. “So what do we tell Doe?”
“Tell him whatever you want, but that’s the reason—the birds weren’t trained properly and were released too early. I’ll bring you to the pigeon master to explain what needs to happen. Then you three can bring back the birds to Doe and try again.”
“I also have this message to deliver to King Tegry.” Keenu pulled the scroll from his bag. It wasn’t sealed. “Doe and Haemon want to attack Kyrro as soon as possible.”
Nebre reached out for the scroll, but Keenu wouldn’t give it to him.
“Doe told me to place it in Tegry Hiller’s hands,” Keenu explained.
“I’m…I’m not sure I can get you an audience with the King, but I’ll try. First, the pigeon master. He’s on the top floor.”
After all the miles and the sleepless nights they’d endured, the climb to the top of Tenred castle proved to be a laborious task. Every wall was made of stone. The floor was cold against Zeti’s feet, though there was more heat in the air the higher they climbed.
One set of stairs led to the western wall of the castle before it turned and continued upward. There was a slit in the wall. Grayol stopped for a moment and stood on his toes to gaze through it.
“The ocean,” he commented. “It’s like we’re flying.”
Zeti took a look for herself. The castle must’ve been built on a peak over the ocean. She could see bouncing waves of dark blue that stretched for hundreds of miles. There was just one small piece of land in view that looked close enough for her to reach by tossing a stone. Though she knew the distance to be an illusion.
She couldn’t judge how far down the water was from where she stood. Though she did come to realize that she was unable to hear the waves. The castle was too high above for that.
Then she wondered what the view was like from atop the castle.
“Do they let you go anywhere, Nebre?” she asked.
“Almost anywhere,” he answered proudly. “You want to stand on top of this massive structure, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“Me too,” Grayol added.