Page 37

I t was not all peace and unity, for few Kidara sat amid the Valor, nor vice versa. Yet the food was doled out easily enough, and to Jai’s great surprise, the Valor distributed their own foods to the Kidara, sharing in the rich exchange that was the cuisines of the differing tribes.

Expressions of pleasure and gestures of approval began to replace the tense silence, as the delicious dishes made their way to grateful mouths. The disquieted whispers faded, replaced by the sounds of eager chewing and contented swallowing.

The younger Valor children, quick to finish their meals, raced away to explore their new surroundings. They made a beeline for the bathhouses, their laughter and the sound of splashing water soon filling the air. Yet the watchful eyes of the mothers, trailing the excited youngsters, cast an uneasy pall over the jubilation.

There was no denying the reality. There would be disagreements in the days to come, resentments to address, disputes to mediate. But for the moment, the situation was better than Jai could have hoped.

The Kidaran citizenry surprised him, in fact. He supposed the looming threat of battle with those who had once been their brethren had a way of smoothing past prejudices.

As Jai dismounted, a groom stood ready to take his weary mount, Chak. The old creature, worn out from two days of relentless travel, seemed ready to collapse on the spot. It took a good deal of coaxing and a generous serving of dumplings to entice Chak to join the other khiroi in the grazing field.

Jai was grinning as Feng hurried up to him.

‘Things are going well,’ Jai said.

Feng nodded distractedly, his eyes wide and anxious. ‘Well enough,’ he said, ‘well enough. But we have hardly any time to spare. I’ve ordered our warriors to rest as soon as they have eaten, and for the khiroi to be fed the last of our fermented grain – it will help with their recovery.’

Jai nodded, his own exhaustion making it hard to listen. The adrenaline of the last moments was fading, and he swayed, even as Winter slipped beside him to nudge him upright.

‘I think I should follow your advice,’ he muttered. ‘I need rest.’

Feng shook his head.

‘Teji’s army will be moving fast now,’ Feng said. ‘We need to make a plan.’

Jai, his mind wrestling between the demands of his growling stomach and the pull of sleep, managed a dull nod. He staggered over to a nearby cooking fire, gratefully accepting a bowl of piping hot soup. Despite the steaming heat, he swallowed it quickly, his soulbound throat able to resist the heat. Soon after, a handful of dumplings followed the same path.

‘Shall I convene the Small Council?’ Feng asked.

Jai looked to Harleen, still upon her horse, exhausted yet still giving orders. If she could keep this up... so too could he.

‘Do it,’ Jai said. ‘But grant us a few hours’ rest. I think we’ve all earned it.’

THE RELIEF OF SLEEP was fleeting for Jai. It felt as though he’d only just closed his eyes, sinking into the comforting furs that lined his bedchamber with Winter curled up against his belly, when the soft chime of a bell pierced the tranquillity. He jolted awake, his heart pounding in the sudden wakefulness.

Feng appeared between the parted curtains, his face a picture of exhaustion. He had clearly not slept at all.

‘The Small Council are here,’ he said. ‘Zayn and Sindri too.’

Jai got wearily to his feet, and made his way through the partition to sit upon his throne. It was warm in his chamber, and already sleep tugged at his eyelids once more. He shook himself awake.

‘Let them in.’

One by one, the nobles entered, the soft fall of their steps stirring the air. Feng had taken it upon himself to arrange the round table at the foot of his throne, and the nobles took their seats in respectful silence.

Zayn and Sindri were among the last to enter, and there was an awkward moment, for only one cushion had been arranged for them. Zayn took it swiftly, leaving Sindri to hover until another was provided.

Harleen rapped the table with her hands, tearing their eyes away from Jai.

‘It has been a busy few days,’ she said. ‘And it is high time we all swear our fealty to our king. Let us make the blood oath.’

There was a short burst of applause as the Small Council got to their feet, kneeling beside their chairs. All but one.

The room was still as everyone turned their gaze to Zayn, who remained standing, his face impassive. There was a tension in the room, a silence filled with anticipation as they waited for Zayn to move.

For a moment, it seemed he would refuse. He stood there, defiant, his gaze locked with Jai’s. Then, with a slow nod, he bent on one knee, and bowed his head in a show of fealty.

‘Under the gaze of our ancestors and the all-seeing Mother, we pledge our loyalty to Jai of the Kidara, first of his name,’ Harleen said, the other voices echoing her speech. ‘Our strength is his shield, our courage his sword. From this day forth, only gold, blood or flesh may release us from our vow. So do we speak, and so do we swear.’

The words hung in the air, and Jai, unsure of what to say, uttered thanks, before the sighs of relief as the nobles were seated once more.

While they did, Feng had taken the liberty of arranging the map upon the table. Jai was surprised to find it was different from last time. Now small banners had been attached to the khiroi that represented the Kidaran military strength, and Jai could see that now the Valor were the largest of his divisions. This was not lost upon his gathered nobles, most of whom had no more than ten khiroi apiece under them.

Zayn’s Alkhara had now joined his own, and Jai found their numbers were close to that of Teji’s tribe, if short by forty men and an Alkhara. He’d faced worse odds... though never on this scale. The Tejinder’s carvings had been placed not far from his own, and even taking into account the relative nature of the map, he could see that they were perilously close.

He glanced up, and realised the entire table was staring at him, waiting for him to speak. For all he had read about warfare, the battles he knew were mostly that of legions against hordes of disorganised men. He wished he had read more of Leonid’s diary now, seen how he had dealt with battling against khiroi.

‘Answer this,’ Jai said, after a moment’s thought. ‘Are we all agreed to ride out and face Teji’s men, spare our people the bloodshed?’

There were nods and ‘ayes’ around the table.

‘Humour me,’ Jai said. ‘Why so?’

Zayn scoffed, but it was Sindri who spoke first.

‘To protect them,’ she said. ‘The enemy might fire our tents, slaughter the innocent. Take our families hostage, put blades to their throats.’

Jai tapped his jaw, musing.

‘Teji wishes to take back the tribe,’ Jai said. ‘As do his nobles. And I do not believe they are so evil as to kill their innocent friends by the thousand. Tell me, then, why will the common soldiers fight for him?’

The nobles stared at him, confused at what must have seemed a rhetorical question.

‘Their oaths,’ Harleen said, after a moment’s pause. ‘Each man and woman is sworn to their noble house first, and their khan second. It is why our own warriors will fight for you, when their time comes. Because we will it.’

Jai raised a finger.

‘Now, we get to the heart of it,’ Jai said. ‘The men and women we face do not wish to fight us.’

‘How do you know this?’

‘Because did they not fight beside you all, in times past? Feasted with you, laughed with you? This schism between my uncle and I is not of their making. They are but pawns bound by blood and oath.’

Harleen nodded gravely.

‘You speak truth. But I don’t see—’

Her words were interrupted by a grunt of amusement from Zayn.

‘Something to say?’ Jai asked.

Zayn stood, and sniffed.

‘We ride, we face them, and if they charge, we meet it,’ he grunted. ‘We should be resting, and sharpening our blades. This is foolish talk.’

Jai stood himself, slamming his hands upon the armrests.

‘Sit, and be quiet.’ He stabbed a finger at Zayn’s seat, and the man’s face darkened. Yet he did as asked.

Jai let out a breath to calm himself, feeling every bit of the weight of his exhaustion. Still, he closed his eyes, and spoke as his thoughts gathered.

‘This is no common battle,’ Jai said. ‘It is a conflict most of the participants do not wish to fight. Do you truly expect the warriors who have fought and bled beside each other will now slaughter the families of their old comrades?’

The others slowly shook their heads.

‘Will they fire the tents of their friends? Slaughter their cousins, their nieces and nephews?’

‘They would not,’ Gurveer grunted.

‘So why fight them in an open field, where their numbers are to their advantage?’ Jai demanded. ‘Let us face them at our camp.’

Jai let the murmurs of the Small Council swirl as he turned his attention to the map. There had to be some landmark they could use to their advantage. All he saw were oases.

‘The map shows our riders,’ Jai mused. ‘But how many warriors have we?’

They stared at him, confused.

‘Grooms,’ Jai said. ‘Men and women of fighting age. To attack, one must use your khiroi to catch up to those that flee. But to defend...’

‘Another hundred,’ Harleen said, starting to catch on to his line of thinking. ‘Maybe fifty more that can hold a blade. But—’

‘Hang on a moment,’ Jai said, holding up a hand and furrowing his brow.

Maybe he had read enough of Leonid’s diary. How his supply trains had defended themselves against his father’s raiders.

‘Do we have spears?’ Jai asked.

Harleen looked at him with raised brows.

‘Some,’ she said. ‘Our groomsmen carry them in case of direwolves, sabretooths, manticores. All hunt the grasslands here. But those are usually only a problem in winter.’

Winter perked up at hearing her name, letting out a deep rumble that made Aman jerk away. Jai smiled, letting the small moment of levity take some of the anxiety from where it coiled in his belly.

‘Sindri,’ Jai said. ‘You will have fought with traders. They use spears, do they not?’

He spoke the words casually, and winced as he saw the expression on Feng’s face. Of course. He had almost forgotten his vizier’s parents had met their demise in much the same way. It was no wonder he hated Zayn so bitterly.

An apology for another time , he thought. He had to focus on the battle at hand.

‘Some,’ Sindri allowed quietly, after a moment’s pause.

Jai saw he had been further thoughtless, for now he saw the dark looks of the Kidaran nobles. They clearly did not approve of Sindri’s past betrayal of the Pact.

‘Under my rule,’ Jai said, eager to settle the matter, ‘we will follow the Pact. But there are lessons to be learned from the past, and we cannot afford to ignore them. Agreed?’

The men and women around the table nodded. Turning his attention back to Sindri, he asked, ‘They square their wagons, do they not? And crowd the gaps with spears.’

Sindri nodded, although she was clearly taken aback by the line of questioning.

‘A coward’s tactic,’ Zayn said.

‘Did it work ?’ Jai asked.

‘We never tried,’ Sindri said, interrupting Zayn before he could speak. ‘They were not worth the trouble.’

‘Exactly,’ Jai said, pointing at Sindri.

‘I do not understand,’ Aman said.

‘We need to make this not worth the trouble. That is what we need Teji’s men to think, at least. That a confrontation with us will only leave them the weaker. Or did you want to fight this battle?’

There was murmuring around the table, until Gurveer caught Jai’s stare.

‘My khan... it is just not how we do things.’

Jai steepled his fingers, looking at them with a steady gaze, leaden though his eyelids were.

‘The warriors that are coming broke their oaths to my father and his house when they joined the traitor Teji, and with every day that goes by that Teji has not taken back the Kidara, their shame grows. They outnumber us – if we face them in open battle, they may well risk it all to regain their honour. They will say, if they win, it was the Mother’s will. But if—’

Before Jai could go further, though, there was an outcry from outside. Jai stood, and guards rushed to his side.

A man staggered into the tent, held up by two royal guards. He was bloodied from a deep wound in his shoulder. He uttered a few words, but even Jai’s soulbound ears could not discern them.

As servants rushed to bind his wounds, Jai shooed them aside. He brought up a hand, concentrating, the healing spell crooked upon his hand.

He gritted his teeth, and let out a burst of white light, the spell sputtering from his inexpert fingers. But it was enough.

The man’s wounds closed beneath the flowing light, turning pink, then tan with skin once more.

Jai released the spell, cursing and shaking out his hand. It burned with pain, a consequence of his amateurish form. Rufus had been a good teacher, but Jai had not been powerful enough then to practise much spellcraft.

Water was brought to the man, who was still weak from blood loss, careening back in the chair brought for him, gulping the water as it flowed over his chin.

‘Word from the rearguard,’ he finally said, sputtering, dizzy. ‘They are coming.’