Before Nasim could stop them, the akhoz streamed out of the tower. Three ran like hounds toward the soldiers of Yrstanla. The soldiers’ eyes went wide. They warded the akhoz with their swords just before two gouts of flame were released from widened maws, catching them across their chests and heads. The third akhoz leaped upon one of the flaming men, taking him down and tearing into his neck with its teeth.
This one was shot point-blank by two other soldiers. It reared back, baring its teeth and blackened gums and leaping at another soldier despite the black blood seeping down from its chest and shoulder. It was caught by another musket shot in the temple, and a vicious slice from a sword across its neck, and it fell twitching to the ground.
Its brothers and sisters bayed in sickening tones, bringing the battle to momentary silence. Soldiers of both sides turned, weapons lowered, as they looked on with fear plain on their faces.
“Come!” Nasim called to them as the streltsi on the ponies rode near. One of the remaining two streltsi reached down. He and Nasim locked forearms, and then Nasim swung up into the saddle behind him. “Hear me! Come!” he called again.
And now they obeyed. Slowly, reluctantly, they turned away from the battle and followed the pony that bore Nasim southward.
The rook flew silently up and over the same buildings, guiding them. The streltsi followed, the hooves of their two ponies ringing, gaining in volume over the sounds of the battle as they wound their way through the empty streets.
As the sounds of battle faded, the relative peace allowed Nasim to notice what he hadn’t before. The sky. The wind. The taste of the air. It had that same feeling that it had had in Alayazhar.
And it felt worse.
The time was growing short.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
Wood thundered as the barque crashed into the bow of their brigantine. The deck bucked and slid beneath Nikandr’s boots. Three of his men fell, scrambling for handholds.
Nikandr’s attention was caught by a dark shape in the sky above him. It was a ship, gliding not thirty paces above them. There was another higher up, and another. Four in all.
Before he could identify them, the barque slammed into the cliff again. Gaping cracks formed in the hull, running jaggedly from top to bottom, and the ship was beginning to lose its loft. As the ship dropped, its seaward masts got caught up in their brigantine’s starward rigging.
“To the masts!” Nikandr cried. “Cut the barque free!”
The men responded, slipping down the deck to the foremast and climbing it quickly and expertly even in the wind and the shaking of the ship.
Nikandr looked up to the ships. His first thought was that the forces of Yrstanla had arrived, but these ships did not look new like the Kamarisi’s. These ships were old and weatherworn, and the sails were heavily patched and dyed gray as the Maharraht would do.
The barque pulled away, tugging on their lines, stretching them taut until the only thing that was holding them in place were the twelve mooring spikes that had been driven into the rocks of the cliff.
One of them snapped free as Nikandr watched. And another.
The bow of the ship swung wide, snapping another line, and soon all twelve had been pulled free and their ship was sliding out to sea.
As Nikandr moved to join the men, Mahrik’s rope was caught. He was climbing quickly, but before he could reach the top, the rope was pulled taut, snapping him like an arrow on a string. He flew out beyond the deck, flailing his arms uselessly as he plummeted through open air down toward the sea.
Three of the newly arrived ships continued their eastward course, but the nearest altered its course to hover above them. The men aboard were Maharraht: small turbans dully colored, tails hanging down their chest, their double robes ragged, their beards long and whipping in the wind.
It was the Bhadyar, Nikandr realized, and Soroush was standing at the gunwale. His men were lowering ropes, but there’d be no chance to climb if the barque continued to pull them down. Nikandr reached the shrouds and climbed up as quickly as he could. He came to the nearest halyard that had been caught beneath the lowest of the foremast’s yards. He cut the rope as quickly as he could manage, but there were many more, and as they managed to cut some, the two ships would shift, pulling more of the barque’s rigging against their own.
He could feel the havaqiram aboard the ship above them trying to slow the descent of their ships, but these winds were beyond anything a lone havaqiram could hope to outmatch.
Nikandr tried to feel for his own hezhan once more, but again felt nothing, so he climbed further, to the uppermost reaches of the foremast where he and Vlanek sawed furiously at the ropes.
Suddenly the mast was pulled sharply windward. One of the galleon’s yards had slipped beneath the foremast’s shrouds.
“Cut the shroud!” he yelled.
Only Styophan remained on deck. He pulled his shashka and sliced it across the heavy ropes of the shroud. With four quick swings the shroud snapped up and away, and at last they were free.
Their brigantine floated out to sea, twisting in the wind like the seed of a sycamore. Nikandr leaned forward and kissed the mast, silently thanking the ship for its kindness.
By the time he’d climbed down to the deck, the Bhadyar had moved directly above them. The havaqiram above was skilled—Nikandr knew this much—for he was able to match both the pace and the slow spin of their ship. Nikandr and the others grabbed and steadied the rope ladders the Maharraht lowered, and in short order they were up and onto the deck of the Bhadyar.
Nikandr sat in Soroush’s cabin at the rear of the ship, sipping bitter araq from a sandalwood cup.
Soroush had asked him here once Nikandr’s men were all safe. He’d given him the araq to warm him up, but then had gone to see to the safety of the other ships. Nikandr had never been inside a cabin such as this. He’d been involved with the capture of four Maharraht ships; three of them had previously been Grand Duchy ships and one had been a ship built by the Maharraht themselves, but he’d never been inside one of the kapitans’ cabins. Colorful glass baubles hung from the ceiling, their colors mirrored by the carpets layering the floor. In one corner, a shisha was held in place by twine, and next to it was a shallow box with a hinged lid that no doubt held a variety of tabbaq.
Soroush returned some time after Nikandr’s second cupful, and by then Nikandr was finally beginning to feel the effects of the strong, fragrant liquor. “Your man from the cliff is safe,” he said, “but we could not find the one who fell.”
Nikandr nodded grimly. He wished they could have gone to the base of the cliffs to search for Mahrik, but it would have been foolish to do so with the storm as strong as it was. Most likely he’d fallen against the rocks below, or if he’d somehow made it to the sea he would quickly have been overwhelmed by the crashing waves.
“My thanks to you for saving us,” Nikandr said in Mahndi.
Soroush sat in the kapitan’s chair and poured himself a cup of araq. His turban and his beard twinkled with the gleam of melting snow. “A pity Mahrik could not be saved.”
Nikandr looked at him closely, surprised he remembered Mahrik’s name. He wondered just how heartfelt those words were, but he could sense no deception, and it made him wonder just how much the experience on Mirashadal and Rafsuhan had changed Soroush. This was a man that had led the Maharraht for years. He had always seemed ruthless, steadfast in his belief that for the Aramahn to be free the Landed must die. And now here he was, lamenting—genuinely—a Landed windsman he hardly knew.
“How did you find us?” Nikandr asked.
Soroush, staring beyond his cup of araq, took long moments to formulate his response. “We were skirting the edge of the Empire’s lands when we came upon a bird. A gallows crow.”
“A black bird with a white hood.”
“Yeh.” Soroush’s eyes were distant, as if he were reliving the moment. “It landed on a shroud and stared directly at me. One of the crew tried to scare it away, but it remaine
d. Only when a musket was trained on it did it take flight, but it returned shortly thereafter and landed near the helm. Again the men wanted to kill it—fearful it was a bird sent by the Matri—but I forbade them.” Soroush’s voice became softer, almost reverent. “I came to the helm, and the bird pecked at the levers. I realized it was always pecking at the leftmost. Slowly, I pushed it inward, and the crow cawed furiously, but as I pulled it out, and the ship turned windward, it remained silent. Until we were heading on the bearing that took us directly over your position.” Soroush paused, shaking his head. “It must have been one of the Matri, but it never spoke. Why would this be?”
Nikandr shrugged. “I saw it as well, less than an hour before you came upon us. I thought I felt one of the Matri as well, but it was faint. Very faint. And then the bird left.”
“Whoever she was, you owe her your life. We would not have come upon you in the direction we were headed.”
“But why? Why are you here?”
“We’ve been skirting the Sea of Khurkhan for over a week, and the days before that we were watching the islands to the east.”
While giving Soroush a questioning look, Nikandr took a swig of his araq, swirling it around in his mouth before swallowing.
“We had hoped to find the Hratha,” Soroush said. “After leaving you on Uyadensk we returned to Rafsuhan, but found almost no one. They had murdered any they could find before leaving the island.”
“What of Muqallad and the children?”
Soroush grit his jaw. There were tears welling in his eyes, but he blinked them away. “They were no longer children. They were akhoz, and of them we could find no sign. Those few that survived by hiding in the woods said that Muqallad left the island the day after the ritual.”
“With the Hratha?”
Soroush shook his head. “Thabash returned to Siafyan and there gathered more ships and men. And then he headed northwest, across the Sea of Khurkhan.”
Nikandr thought back to the glint he’d seen on the sea days before. It must have been Thabash and his men. “They’re headed for Galahesh,” Nikandr said, knowing it was true.
Soroush nodded and finished his araq, his lips pulling back from the bite of it. “I believe they go to meet Muqallad.”
“And to find the final piece of the Atalayina.”
“Perhaps,” Soroush said, “but they will not find it.”
“What do you mean?”
While drawing in a deep breath, Soroush glanced toward the door, then down at his desk. He seemed to come to some decision, for he leaned down, opened the drawer, and retrieved from it a satchel of the softest goat leather. After setting this on the desk and closing the drawer, he opened the satchel’s drawstring and pulled out a stone that was unmistakable. He set it on the desk near Nikandr. The knock it made against the wood sounded as though it were made of lead, not stone.
Nikandr picked it up. It was indeed heavy, more like pure gold than stone. The copper lines that ran through the blue stone lent it a raw beauty and an undeniable feeling of age, as if the stories about the fates having created it along with the worlds were true. He remembered Bersuq as he’d held the other two pieces—sisters to this one—above his head. He remembered Bersuq’s will as he’d kept himself from crying out, until eventually it had become too much and he’d released his pain to the uncaring sky.
He was also uncomfortably aware of what this stone would mean to Soroush. His brother had died in fusing the other two for Muqallad. Nikandr wasn’t sure in those waning moments whether Bersuq had questioned his decision. Surely he must have, and if he had thought this way, what must Soroush think? If he believed Bersuq had been misled, it would only fuel Soroush’s determination.
“How did you come by it?” Nikandr asked.
Before Soroush could respond, soft footsteps approached the cabin door. The door opened, and in stepped a woman in robes of blood red. She wore a simple headdress of silver and pearls, and at the center of her brow rested a stone of alabaster, softly glowing in the dim light. She was striking, especially her eyes, which were bright and piercing, as if she could understand one’s very nature with but a glance.
She stared down at the stone Nikandr held in his hands. One of her hands was heavily bandaged, but with the other she stepped forward and snatched it from him. “You would share this with him?”
Soroush leaned back in his chair, as calm as a frozen lake. “You would rather I kept it hidden?”
“Yeh! He has no right to even look upon it.”
As she said these words, Nikandr realized he knew this woman. “You are Ushai. You were once a disciple of Fahroz.”
She glanced at Nikandr, then turned her gaze back on Soroush. There was deep betrayal in her face, more than this stone could account for. And then Nikandr understood. She and Soroush were lovers. Or had been at one time.
“Whether you want to admit it or not,” Soroush said, “he has done much for us.”
“We don’t need him.”
Soroush shrugged and looked to Nikandr. “The fates have seen fit to bring us together once more. Who am I to deny them?” Ushai made to speak, but Soroush raised his hand. “Enough. He is here, and he will help us when we reach Galahesh.”
Ushai’s face turned to one of disgust. “He is a forgotten prince, lost among the seas. He can do nothing to help.”
Soroush stared up to Ushai and held out his hand. Ushai seemed angry at first, but then she softened and gently laid the Atalayina into the palm of Soroush’s hand.
“We shall see, Ushai.” Soroush stared into the depths of the Atalayina and smiled briefly. “We shall see what he can do.” Three days later—days filled with merciless winds and snow and hail—they approached the shores of Galahesh. Nikandr and Styophan stood at the bow of the Bhadyar, staring out into the gray fog that lay ahead of the ship. They flew low, close enough to see the white-tipped waves of the sea.
Nikandr was tense—tense because of the weather and the landing that would take place a little more than an hour from now. Soroush had brought seventy fighting men, a dozen of them qiram. They would land far to the north of Baressa and head south, some scouting ahead to find Muqallad’s hiding place, which they hoped would be somewhere near the Spar.
Visibility was down to a quarter-league, and the fog was becoming thicker. More than this, there was a source of discomfort in Nikandr’s chest. He’d woken with it this morning, and it had taken him some time to realize it was due to Nasim. He was to their southeast, somewhere on Galahesh.
The burning at the center of his chest told Nikandr something was wrong. It was akin to the feelings years ago on Uyadensk and Duzol, but this was different in that he’d felt nothing like it since Nasim had been healed. He didn’t know what this meant, but he was sure Nasim was in danger.
“The Spar will not be easy to bring down.” Styophan was leaning against the bulwarks, staring aft toward the three trailing ships.
“The keystones, Styophan. If we can destroy one, I hope it will be enough.”
“As you say, My Lord, but if it’s as simple as that, the Kamarisi will not leave it untended.”
“Da,” Nikandr replied, “but we will try.”
Styophan, as if taking silent inventory of the men they had at their disposal, chose not to reply, but it was clear he considered their mission suicide.
Soroush, after passing out final orders, joined Nikandr and Styophan and looked beyond the sails and into the fog.
“Where will we land?” Nikandr asked.
They had decided that attacking the Spar directly—while containing an element of surprise—would be unwise. They had munitions aboard the ships, and they might fire them all at one point along the massive structure, but it was still questionable whether this would be enough. It would most likely only damage the bridge, and that was an unacceptable outcome.
Soroush pointed out into the fog. “There is a deep vale ten leagues northwest of the Spar. We’ll moor the ships there and head inland toward Vihrosh. Bahe
tt, the Kaymakam of Galahesh, keeps several small storehouses filled with munitions. One is particularly vulnerable. It is there that we will go.”
Revulsion flared up within Nikandr. This was the sort of information the Maharraht painstakingly collected. No doubt they had similar details for each of the Grand Duchy’s cities. That it helped Nikandr now didn’t change the fact that Soroush and his followers were still enemies of Anuskaya.
Soroush must have known this as well, for he was watching Nikandr closely, as if he expected Nikandr to say something of it, as if he too knew they were still enemies and that if they lived beyond the days ahead their hostilities would resume.
It reminded Nikandr of their time on Rafsuhan, when the two of them were still feeling one another out. It reminded him, too, of Soroush’s abduction.
“Why did Muqallad take you?”
“What?”
“On Rafsuhan. He took you and left me. Why?”
He shrugged. “Who knows the mind of Muqallad?”
“What did he want with you?”
“Can you not guess?”
“My guesses are worth nothing.”
Soroush’s jaw set, and his eyes flickered with anger. “Why he took me is of no consequence.”
Nikandr’s first instinct was to bark back a reply, but the two of them, if not allies, had at least come to understand one another, and it was through this lens that Nikandr began to understand. “He wanted the hearts of the Maharraht.”
Soroush’s expression turned dark.
“He wanted the hearts of the Maharraht,” Nikandr repeated, “and Bersuq wasn’t delivering them.”
“My brother was loyal to his people.”
Nikandr bowed his head. “He was loyal, but also torn.”
The Straits of Galahesh Page 60