Page 59 of The Witch who Trades with Death

Chapter Fifty-Nine

They sent a messenger into the mountains with a red flag, so he’d be easy to spot. Phramanka dismissed the meeting, watching the other six Masters leave. “There are several ways this could go wrong for you.”

Khana swallowed, the fear creeping back. “I’m aware.”

“I hate this,” Sava muttered.

“We noticed,” Phramanka said, standing. “Be sure to return the gold you took.”

He sputtered. “I didn’t take it. Baba gave it to me!”

“And I’m certain you had no plans to break open that chest yourself if he hadn’t been there.”

Sava scratched the back of his neck and stayed suspiciously silent. Khana bit back a giggle and handed the chief the bag of coins.

“I’ll let you know when we hear back from the emperor,” Phramanka said. “Tell your unit what’s going on. If there’s a way to get you in with backup, it should be them.”

Khana grimaced. “I’d rather not endanger them.”

“Neither would I. But that’s how war works,” Phramanka said, not unkindly, before leaving the room.

Sava pointed after her. “See, that’s why I could never be chief.”

“You’d be better than a Pinnsviri,” Khana offered.

“So would a goat.”

They chuckled. Khana stepped into Sava’s chest and hugged him. “Thank you, for trying to look after me.”

He tightened his arms around her. “I’m glad you’re staying, but…”

“You hate this?” she giggled.

“Very much.”

She rested her forehead against his collarbone. “I am so tired.”

“Need a nap?”

“Not that type of tired.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I just want this to be over.”

Sava didn’t say anything to that. Just held her, humming a little tune, until she felt ready enough to leave.

The two of them found her unit – plus Heimili, Athicha, Tlastisti, and Ponti – at the inn, doing the world’s most subdued celebration of pregnancy Khana had ever seen.

Neta took one look at them and set down her horn. “What happened?”

“Khana came up with a terrible plan to take down the emperor,” Sava said, turning to her.

“Oh, you’re going to make me say it,” she muttered, and told her unit the details.

Heimili was shaking his head before she even finished speaking, flour falling from his beard with the movement. “You’ll die. Or worse.”

“Probably,” she said, pouring herself a cup of tea. Her hands, surprisingly, did not shake.

“You… are remarkably calm about this,” Neta commented.

“Can you come up with a better idea?”

Her lips pursed. “No.”

“Maybe we should rough you up,” Itehua commented. “Give you some bruises.”

“Itehua!” Lueti scolded.

“What? It’d sell the bit.”

Sava skipped over the tea and helped himself to a horn of mead. “I didn’t think I could hate this plan more, but now I do.”

“Wouldn’t she just use life force to heal?” Tlastisti asked, holding a sleeping Ponti.

“If I got aji to heal bruises, I’d have it to escape,” Khana mused. “That’s not the worst idea, Itehua…”

“Well, hold on, let’s make sure Yamueto wouldn’t see through that before we start punching,” Neta said.

“So, congratulations again on your pregnancy,” Yxe said to Tlastisti, face turning red at her laughter. Ponti shuffled and whined.

“If we were really going to give Khana up, we’d probably do it at spear point,” Itehua said.

“Unless she was going willingly,” Neta pointed out.

“If I were Yamueto and she came willingly, I’d be suspicious.”

Khana hummed. “I was thinking he’d believe that he broke my spirit, or I felt so guilty my conscience made me give myself up.”

Itehua shook his head. “If you were doing it to save the town, then you’d be willing to attack Yamueto to protect it. But if you were doing this because we forced you, then you’d have no loyalty to us. You’d have nowhere to go, no path to victory or even survival at that point.”

“Wouldn’t that make her more desperate?” Yxe asked.

They went around the room, talking about the best way to go about it. By the time the messenger returned, half of the group looked deeply uncomfortable, while the other half seemed calmly willing or at least resigned to beating Khana up. Khana herself… well, she wasn’t looking forward to it, but she’d gone through much worse pain for much less noble reasons.

“We got a response,” the messenger said. “One of the people riding a behemoth saw my flag and flew down to pick me up.”

Were Haz here, he’d be peppering the boy with questions about flying on a night creature. As it was, Neta said, “And?”

“Emperor Yamueto will send one of his behemoths to accept Khana on the northern end of town at sunset tonight.”

Sava cursed. “So he’s flying her there. No chance of sending you with backup.”

“Maybe,” Neta mused. “Those things can carry multiple people. Khana, how did you want to do this?”

She drained her horn of mead, stood, and said, “Punch me in the face.”

The inn went silent.

“I hate this,” Sava muttered into his horn.

Neta stood, towering over Khana. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve taken an arrow to the eye, serji , ” she dryly replied. “Just don’t make me so injured I can’t fight.”

“Obviously.” Neta backhanded her.

Khana’s teeth cut into her lip as she reeled from the blow. She wiped the blood with her thumb. “Good start. More.”

“Oh, gods, I can’t look,” Heimili grumbled, closing his eyes and covering his ears.

Neta smacked her across the other cheek, likely leaving an excellent bruise. But it wasn’t enough. Khana huffed. “Want me to make this easier?”

“How?” Neta asked.

Khana punched her.

It was the first – and probably last – time Khana had ever gotten the drop on Neta like that, enough to actually land a hit. Itehua laughed as Neta stumbled back. The serji growled and palm-struck Khana’s nose. Pain exploded on her face, and her eyes watered. Blood drooled down her lips and chin.

She checked the injury. Bloody, but not broken. And once the watering in her eyes went away, it wouldn’t impair her vision.

“And that’s enough of that,” Lueti decided. “Honestly, you girls are worse than drunken whores fighting over coin.”

“That’s a lie,” Itehua accused. “Those girls pull hair and bite.”

Lueti gave Khana a kerchief to wipe up the blood. The blow she’d landed on Neta barely bruised. The poor messenger who’d watched the whole thing shakily asked, “So… shall I tell the chief?”

“Please,” Khana replied.