K'lrsa rested her cheek against M'lara's. "Can you do me a favor, little one?" she whispered.
M'lara nodded.
"Will you help Lodie escape tonight? Her and the others that came with me?"
M'lara shook her head.
K'lrsa sat back, letting her go. "Why not?"
"Because I'm here to help you escape." She looked back at K'lrsa, her eyes wide, serious as could be.
K'lrsa fought the urge to laugh.
What was she going to do now?
Chapter 16
K'lrsa pushed M'lara off her lap. "You can't help me escape."
"Why not?"
"It's too dangerous. I won't let you. You could get caught."
M'lara crossed her arms across her chest and jutted her lower lip out. "I didn't get caught coming in here to see you."
"It's not the same. You didn't see them tonight. How angry they all were. M'lara. Please. Go help Lodie."
"No."
"M'lara!"
M'lara glared at her. "I said no. I won't do it."
A guard pulled the tent flap aside, thrusting a torch in before him. It was T'kar, the first boy she'd ever kissed. He stood there frozen, looking back and forth between them.
M'lara glared at him, her cheeks streaked with tears.
"M'lara." He knelt between them, speaking softly. "Come on. You need to go back to your tents now."
"No. I don't want to." She moved away from him.
K'lrsa caught her wrist. "Go, M'lara. I'll be fine."
M'lara glared at her, but K'lrsa didn't let go. Finally, she nodded and K'lrsa released her wrist. As M'lara stormed out of the tent, T'kar cast a quick look of sympathy her way before he followed.
At least one person didn't hate her guts. Maybe even two people.
The day was starting to look up.
Who knew what might happen before it was over?
Maybe she'd live to see sunset.
She tried to find her way back to the Core but finally gave it up as hopeless.
Good thing, too, because it wasn't long before D'lan barged his way in. "M'lara just shook me awake, crying her eyes out, claiming that Dad asked you to kill him."
"He did."
"And why should I believe you?"
"Because it's the truth. You know me. You know how much I loved Dad. I never would've murdered him. I almost couldn't kill him even though he begged me to do it."
The sun stone at his throat shone a very soft yellow. He stroked it absent-mindedly as he studied her. "That slave you sent here. She was on G'van's horse. What was she doing with a horse from the Black Horse Tribe?"
"We stole it."
Again the sun stone shone a soft yellow.
"And those people you came here with? They're from the Toreem Daliphate."
"Yes, but it's not like that. They're not allies of the Black Horse Tribe. At least, not anymore."
The sun stone had dimmed when she said they weren't allies of the Black Horse Tribe but brightened on her last words.
"Please, D'lan. Your stone. It's still truth-spelled. Let me tell you my story. You'll know if I'm lying."
He hesitated.
"What do you have to lose? They're still going to kill me in the morning. Please? Hear me out? You have to know there's more to this."
He still hesitated and she whispered, "Please? For Dad?"
He sighed and seated himself across from her, his face still a stony mask. "Fine. But only because he would've wanted me to hear you out."
He removed the sun stone from around his neck and held it in his palm so they could both see it. "Go ahead then. No lies."
So she told him.
About going after their father and finding him dying in the desert sands, his eyes gouged out, his belly slit open, his hands staked to the ground. About him begging her to kill him. And how he'd made her promise not to avenge him, but she'd sworn to anyway. And how Father Sun had shown her the slaver's caravan and Lodie was there and guessed the truth but didn't betray her. About how she'd taken Vedhe's place, sealing the woman's fate. How Lodie had said the slavers were going to kill Vedhe in the morning so she'd helped them escape with G'van's stolen horse. And about how G'van was killed the next morning but she'd still made her way to Toreem, taken as a slave to sell in a brothel.
And then she stopped. Because Badru's and Herin's secrets weren't hers to tell. And as much as D'lan was family, she wasn't sure she could trust him with their true identities.
"Well? You got to Toreem? And? What happened next?" he demanded, enthralled with her story despite himself.
"I…um. I was taken into the court of the Daliph." She kept her eyes on the sun stone, willing it to stay yellow. "While I was there, K'var of the Black Horse Tribe came to demand that the Daliph give him more troops so he could kill all his enemies in the tribes."
"K'var did this?" D'lan rocked backward. "And did the Daliph give him the troops?"
She nodded. D'lan lurched to his feet.
She stood, blocking his way. "Wait. There's more you need to know. It was K'var who killed Dad, D'lan. He admitted it. And L'ral is the one who led him there."
"L'ral? That skinny little fool? The one that was supposed to marry F'lia?"
She nodded, tears in her eyes. She still hadn't seen F'lia. And she didn't have it in her to tell her best friend that the love of her life had betrayed the man who'd treated him like a son.
"At least he's dead. What about K'var?" D'lan gripped his dagger.
"He's dead, too."
"How?"
"I killed him."
D'lan nodded. "Good."
"But, D'lan, those troops he asked for?"
"Yeah?"
"They're coming. They're only a few days behind us. That's why we're here. To warn you."
He cussed. "I need to tell the Council."
He raced out of the tent. She started to follow, but T'kar blocked her way. "Sorry, K'lrsa. Orders."
She sat back down in the middle of the cold, empty tent to wait, wondering what would happen now.
Chapter 17
K'lrsa didn't have long to wait until she was once more dragged out of the tent and brought before the Council and the rest of the tribe. The sun was just rising, but the entire tribe had gathered.
She stood alone before them, shivering, her stomach grumbling with hunger as D'lan munched on a piece of dried baru.
She focused on him. Better that than to look around at the sullen anger on the faces of her once-tribe.
Her mother stepped forward, arms crossed. "D'lan says there's more to your story and I should let you tell it."
"And?"
She shrugged, not looking directly at K'lrsa. "I'm not sure I care. You still killed your father." She glanced at K'lrsa, her eyes burning with fury. "Didn't you?"
"To put him out of his misery!" She clenched her hands, trying to control her temper. This was so ridiculous. Bad enough she'd had to do what she had, but for her mother to continue to blame her for it was just too much.
She turned her back on her mother and shouted to the crowd. "I found my father staked to the ground over an ant hill. His belly was sliced open. His eyes were gouged out."
"Liar!" Someone shouted from the back of the crowd.
"No I'm not!" She glared at the crowd, meeting anyone who'd dare's eyes. "I loved my father more than anyone else in this world. I would've never willingly harmed him. He begged me to take his life. It's the only reason I did. To spare him suffering. There was no hope of saving him. He'd been there most of the day by the time I found him." She choked back the tears, remembering how he'd looked when she found him there with the grel circling his weakening body.
She turned back to her mother and held her gaze. "I killed him, but only as an act of mercy."
K'lrsa's mother turned away. She motioned to one of the Riders in the crowd. "Bring the old one." As the Rider raced away, K'lrsa's mother turned back. "We'll see how much of this is the truth and how much is just a desperate attempt
to save yourself."
K'lrsa met her mother's fiery gaze, but didn't bother responding.
A tense silence filled the space as they waited first for the Rider to bring back Lodie and then for Lodie to once more truth-spell the Council's stones.
When they were finally ready, K'lrsa looked straight at her mother and repeated everything she'd already said. Her mother's stone shone with a steady silvery light the whole time, but K'lrsa only cared about what she saw in her mother's eyes.
As she continued, a single tear ran down her mother's cheek, and K'lrsa had to fight not to close the gap between them. "I gave him the last of my water," she said, voice shaking. "Even though he told me it was too late." She bit her lip searching for the strength to continue, to relive those horrible moments. "I freed his hands." She flinched at the memory of how his flesh had torn, melded to the metal stakes. "And then I sat by his side. To keep him company until…until he died. To keep the grel away, and so he wouldn't be alone." Her voice scaled higher with each word as she fought for control, fought her memory and sorrow.
The crowd was absolutely silent. It was just her and her mother.
They stared at one another, tears flowing down their cheeks. "He begged me, Mom. Begged me, to kill him."
She finally broke eye contact, the pain too much. "So I did." She sobbed as she remembered that horrible moment. How the knife had sunk into his flesh. How he'd stopped breathing with one little gasp of breath. The way his dried lips were frozen in a small smile.
"And his body? What did you do with it?" her mother demanded, her voice shaking.
K'lrsa sighed. "The sands took him. Swallowed him up. But I left his sun stone for you. In a cave. Didn't anyone find it?"
"No." Her voice shook with so much emotion K'lrsa wasn't sure how she could contain it.
She reached for her mother's hand. "I'm sorry, Mom. I knew I should come back here and tell you what had happened, but…" She lifted her chin, meeting her mother's anguished gaze. "I wanted to avenge him. I wanted someone to pay for what they'd done to him. And I knew you'd never let me go if I came back here first."
Her mother nodded slightly. "And did you? Did you avenge him? Did you kill the person who did this to him?"
K'lrsa nodded. "Yes."
"Good." She turned and walked back to the rest of the Council.
Too much to hope she'd say sorry or hug K'lrsa or even smile.
His death had broken her.
"Are you still going to kill me?" K'lrsa asked, scanning the council members for some sign of what they thought.
K'lrsa's mother turned back. "No. But I do think you should find a new tribe."
"What?" K'lrsa stumbled backward, the emotional blow worse than any physical blow she'd ever felt. "Why?"
Her mother sighed. "I know why you did it now and I forgive you for that. But the truth is, you killed your father. I felt it when he died, K'lrsa." She shook her head. "Whatever your reason for what you did, I can't stand to see you every day and be reminded of that." She looked around at the crowd. "I'm sure I'm not the only one."
K'lrsa struggled to breathe, the pain in her chest too much to bear. She glanced around at the crowd—here or there someone watched her in pity, but too many stared back, indifferent or hostile.
"No!" M'lara pushed her way through the crowd and threw her arms around K'lrsa's legs. K'lrsa bent down and held M'lara close, crying without shame.
She'd been ready to die to avenge her father, but this? This was too much.
Without her tribe, she was nothing.
Chapter 18
"No. I can't let this happen." D'lan stepped forward, his voice strong and clear as he stopped at K'lrsa's side.
"Mother, you lost the love of your life. I know that. I know how much it hurt you. And I'm sorry it happened. More sorry than you can know." He squeezed K'lrsa's shoulder. "But we all lost him that day. It wasn't just you. And you would've done the exact same thing K'lrsa did if you'd been the one who found him. I would've, too. You can't blame her for this."
K'lrsa's mother glared at him, her jaw clenching and unclenching.
He continued, undaunted. "K'lrsa isn't the one who killed him. She wielded the knife but it was K'var of the Black Horse Tribe who put him there and wounded him past saving."
A mutter passed through the crowd as he named her father's killer, but D'lan continued. "K'lrsa came back to warn us of a threat from the Black Horse Tribe and the Toreem Daliphate. We need to put the death of my father aside and focus on this new threat."
Her mother glared at them through narrowed eyes.
K'lrsa knew there was no point asking her to change her mind. Not now at least. She focused on Lodie, the only friendly face in the crowd and the only one who'd know how bad the news was. "Aran, the Daliph of the Toreem Daliphate, has ordered his troops to attack us. They've already gathered on the border and will be here within days. Their orders are to kill all who oppose the Black Horse Tribe, which includes all of us."
The crowd erupted. Someone shouted about sending the children to safety. Someone else asked how many arrows they had and if more could be made. Another person demanded to know if she could be trusted, but all of the sun and moon stones that had been truth-spelled shone silver and gold.
Lodie clutched at her chest and collapsed to the ground.
K'lrsa rushed to her side.
Lodie stared up at her. She looked like she'd aged a decade in a moment. "Aran is still alive? But how? How is that possible? I thought I'd poisoned him. I thought…"
K'lrsa leaned close and whispered, "Death walker magic. It's how Herin saved you, too."
If she hadn't already been collapsed on the ground, Lodie would've collapsed then.
"Silence!" D'lan roared.
The crowd slowly quieted, a few low-voiced conversations continuing here or there.
"We need to decide what we do now. Suggestions?"
"We should make a truce with the Black Horse Tribe," V'kan suggested. "Give them what they want."
K'lrsa's mother sneered at him, her disgust evident to all. "No. They've already shed our blood. There can be no truce."
H'kan, a woman who'd joined the tribe at the last gathering stepped forward. "Then we flee. The Tall Bluff Tribe has a camp in the bluffs we can defend against a larger force."
K'lrsa stepped forward, hesitant to speak again, but knowing she had to. "You can't flee."
"And why not?" H'kan demanded.
"They'll banish you from the tribes if you do."
"Explain," her mother demanded.
"Dad wanted to expel them from the tribes. They know this. So now they'll vote to expel us. And the only way that doesn't happen is if we're there to vote them down."
A dark muttering passed through the crowd.
"Who says?" H'kan asked. "Maybe if we leave them alone, they'll leave us alone.
"Like they left my father alone?"
"He's the one that started it, isn't he? They didn't come into this camp and kill us. They just killed him."
"So you'd let them do whatever they want? Lead strangers across the desert? Trade in slaves? Kill anyone who stands against them?"
H'kan didn't answer, but it was clear what she believed.
K'lrsa turned to the crowd. "We have to make it to the gathering grounds. All of us. All of the tribes. If we don't, we lose everything. My father saw the truth of the Black Horse Tribe and he stood against them. It cost him his life, but it was the right thing to do." She stared around at the faces, mostly scared now. "I've been to the Daliphate. I've seen what our world looks like if we let this happen. Do you want a future where we keep slaves? Where our women are taken and sold for sex? Where our children are so lost in smokeweed and drink that they can't move?"
She wanted to add something about protecting the Hidden City, but she knew they wouldn't care about that. "We have to act. Now. Or we'll lose who we are forever."
"Even if we make it, the other tribes won't." H'kan crossed her arms, daring K'lr
sa to challenge her statement.
H'kan was right, but Herin had been, too. They just had to do what they could and hope for the best. "We'll find a way to get them there. We have to."
K'lrsa's mother shook her head. "What good will it do us if we make it to the gathering grounds? There's still a trained army coming for us."
"We'll be safe there. No one can kill on the gathering grounds."
"Says who?"
K'lrsa turned to the tribe's wise man, a short old man with shifty eyes she'd never particularly liked. "You know, don't you? That it's protected?"
He shrugged one shoulder. "So the legends say."
K'lrsa wanted to slap him. Now was not the time to be cavalier about things.
She turned to Lodie. "Lodie?"
But Lodie wouldn't look at her, too lost in the horror of Aran's return.
K'lrsa's mother stepped forward. "Enough. We need time to think this over. Anyone who wants to have their say, please seek out a council member. We'll gather again in the morning."
"In the morning? That’s a whole day! We can't wait that long. We have to go. Now!"
Her mother shook her head slightly.
"Mother!"
"Go. Everyone. Prepare yourselves to leave in the morning. If our Riders confirm that troops are on the way, we'll need to move. Either to the gathering grounds or the Tall Bluff Tribe."
K'lrsa watched the crowd disperse, her mouth hanging open in surprise.
How could they just go about their daily routine? Didn't they understand?
But, no, they didn't.
It was her fault. She'd failed to convince them.
And now they might all die because of it.
Chapter 19
K'lrsa found herself alone with Lodie who lurched towards her looking so frail she might break. "Are you sure Aran's alive?"
"Yes."
"You saw him yourself?" Her voice trembled as she looked around wildly as if expecting him to suddenly appear.
"Yes. He…" She lowered her voice so no one else could hear her. "He declared himself in the throne room and ordered his men to kill Badru. Said he was taking back the throne because Badru didn't deserve it. It was chaos. Poradom against poradom. Soldier against soldier." She leaned closer. "One of Badru's own men stabbed him in the back."
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