Witch King, page 31
Salatel stood on her tiptoes to see over the crowd. A soldier caught her sleeve and pointed. “There he is,” Salatel said, relieved. “This way, Fourth Prince.”
She plunged into the crowd and Kai plunged after her, but only a few steps in it was almost too much. Too many frightened people, too much noise, too much like a battle. Kai fought the impulse to make a break for the bridge. After all this, the sight of an open path to freedom was too tempting. But with a practiced mix of apology and aggression, Salatel shouldered through the crowd and suddenly Bashasa was there.
“Fourth Prince!” Bashasa greeted Kai with pleasure and pulled him in, putting a confident arm around his shoulder. “Fourth Prince, can you speak for the demons?”
“No,” Kai said. At least it was an easy question. Those gathered around were Tescai-Lin, the Arike Prince-heirs Hiranan and Vrim, and others he had seen with Bashasa outside the Temple Halls. Ziede, Tahren, and Dahin weren’t here and he couldn’t spot them in the crowd.
“Ah, the Fourth Prince cannot speak for the demons,” Bashasa told the group as if this was the answer he expected. “But this is a matter that can be taken up later, as the demons freed from the Cageling Court will surely not be fighting for the Hierarchs.”
“What?” Kai didn’t understand.
Bashasa squeezed his shoulder. “Yes, before this day, demons taken from the Cageling Court were brought to the battles in Palm and the Belith Straits. They were forced somehow, obviously.” He turned to the mortals again. “The Fourth Prince was imprisoned in the Cageling Court himself and did not know this.”
Kai reeled, shocked cold, barely aware of Tescai-Lin asking a question, someone else answering, a clamor of objections. That was what the Hierarchs had done with the demons removed from the court. Against their will, Kai thought, a sick knot settling in his chest. It had to be against their will. Demons tortured to the point where they would agree to fight for the mortals who had cut off their connection to the underearth, who had killed their mortal families and burned the clan tents. He didn’t want it to be true.
An Arike soldier appeared out of the crowd and caught Bashasa’s eye. “Trenal, are they here?” At her nod, he told the group, “We must go. I’ll send my messages from Benais-arik and yours will find me there.”
Another mortal, a tall person with the pale coloring of the archipelagoes, said, “You can’t really believe we have a hope of succeeding.”
Bashasa’s grip on Kai tightened. “I don’t give up hope,” he said, his voice suddenly flat.
Into the startled pause, Tescai-Lin said warmly, “I shall count on that.”
Bashasa recovered instantly, and smiled. “You can.”
Tescai-Lin inclined their head, and turned away. As the others gave Bashasa their farewells and promises, Kai spotted Ziede, Tahren, Dahin, and a scatter of Arike soldiers crossing the court. Tahren carried something wrapped up in what looked like a wall hanging … It was a body, Bashasa’s sister’s body, retrieved from the Cageling Demon Court.
Bashasa had Kai’s wrist and was tugging him away. Kai let himself be towed. It wasn’t like he had anywhere else to go. Bashasa said, “We know messengers were sent toward Stios. They will be carrying word to the legionaries stationed there, and any patrols on the road. Everyone must be gone before they arrive!”
“Won’t they expect us to leave and move to cut us off?” Kai tried to get his mind back on what they were doing now, and not on how many captured demons might be fighting for the Hierarchs, and what would happen to the others from the Cageling Court who had refused to follow Bashasa. What would happen to Arn-Nefa.
Kai hadn’t gone far enough into the Temple Halls to see if any of them had still been there. Surely they would have left as soon as possible, well ahead of most of the mortals.
“When the messengers left, this was only a little rebellion among the hostages.” Bashasa tossed the words over his shoulder. “They will be coming here to help secure the place, and will not be expecting”—he waved his free hand toward the earthwork—“that! If we move fast enough, they will lose their chance to intercept us.” They passed wagons and coaches and horses that were being hastily loaded with supplies, past people streaming out the gate on foot.
He was probably right. Even if there were escaping legionaries or servant-nobles among the fleeing crowd, they would be far behind the initial messengers.
Kai hoped he was right.
They headed for the boats but then Kai realized that Bashasa had angled away from the harbor toward the wallwalkers.
The beasts were easily four times the height of a tall mortal, shaggy dark fur hanging down over the tough, lizard-like hide on their long legs and clawed feet. Their rodent-like heads narrowed to a long snout that belied how wide their mouths could open. Each was hung with nets and harnesses holding cargo carriers, like giant versions of saddle bags. Atop their backs were wide, partially enclosed palanquins, with awnings and curtains catching the wind.
Bashasa headed straight for one. Kai recognized the Arike standing around it from the Hostage Courts. Those were Bashasa’s dependents, the ones Dahin had been supposed to accompany. Preparing to get onto a wallwalker.
Kai planted his feet. Bashasa jolted to a halt and turned to him, startled. “What is it, Fourth Prince?”
Kai said, firmly, “I’m not getting near that thing.”
Salatel and the cadre milled around them, confused, and Bashasa waved them on toward the beast. “I’ve looked at the maps, and this is the fastest way. We must be there as soon as possible!”
The Arike and others boarded the wallwalkers, some climbing up the side on the cargo nets, others using an ornate wooden scaffold with a spiral stair that let them step directly into the top palanquin. There were other riding places, small compartments attached to the harness and hanging lower on the creature’s sides, that soldiers scrambled up into. Kai said, “Have all you mortals lost your minds?”
Bashasa let go of Kai and planted his hands on his hips. “What exactly is your objection?”
“They eat people.” Just being this close to it made things in his chest do something fluttery and unpleasant. The air in the court was suddenly hot and thin, like being back in that bag again.
Bashasa countered, “They eat grass and vegetables.”
“One almost ate me at the Erathi border.” Among the things that would destroy a demon was being chewed up by large teeth and deposited in a giant stomach.
Bashasa said reasonably, “That was war. You probably provoked it.”
Ziede, Tahren, Dahin, and the Arike with them were boarding a second wallwalker, following behind a straggling group of mortals, many injured, some being carried up the scaffold. The last of the soldiers climbed the nets. Ziede shouted across to him, “Kai, just get on the damn thing!”
“No!” Kai shouted back.
Bashasa’s brow furrowed in dismay. “A demon is not afraid of a beast, no matter how big. What are you afraid of, Kai?” He lifted his brows. “Is this how you were brought here?”
Kai hadn’t known until just this moment. So much of what had happened between being captured and imprisoned in the Cageling Demon Court was a blur. He almost bit through his lip to keep the words in, but maybe if Bashasa knew, he would stop asking. “I didn’t know. It’s the smell.”
Bashasa moved toward him and Kai dropped back a step. Bashasa held up his hands. “Kai, you cannot stay here. You will be killed. Either by someone who sees what you are and panics, or by the escaped legionaries who will be hiding near here hoping for revenge.”
Kai shook his head. He knew he wasn’t being rational but he couldn’t make himself stop. “I’m not staying here. I’m just not leaving on that. I’ll walk.”
Bashasa eased forward a step, somehow meeting Kai’s gaze as though the veil wasn’t there. He lowered his voice. “I need your help in Benais-arik, Kai. We two, we have slain Hierarchs. And by some miracle, we live to speak about it. We can do so much more than I thought possible.” Kai knew how persuasive Bashasa could be, but having the whole force of that personality turned on him at once was heady. It was like a Witch using their will. Maybe there was Witch somewhere in Bashasa’s ancestry. That shouldn’t affect Kai, but whatever Bashasa was doing was working.
Kai looked around at the rapidly emptying court. Some mortals fled in barely controlled panic, but so many others were departing in orderly groups. Another pack of wallwalkers already strode away down the bridge. Behind them a train of open wagons and roofed carriages rolled out the main gate, followed by stragglers in small wheeled carts or on horseback. The other Arike Prince-heirs climbed onto a third wallwalker. Tescai-lin’s people had boarded a barge and led a flotilla of boats out the watergate into the canal. They weren’t escaping, they were purposeful. Kai remembered what that was like. Did he want to be purposeful again?
As if Bashasa read that thought, he stepped close and took Kai’s hand. He had never been afraid to touch Kai. He had thought it was overconfidence, but maybe it was just a way to show trust. Bashasa said, “If you cannot bear it, there is time to leave with others. The Enalin would welcome you, I think. Do you have anywhere you wish to go, Kai?”
“No.” Just burn scars in an open plain. A place where everyone who would welcome him was dead. Kai took a deep breath and felt the knot of panic in his chest break apart. “No. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
* * *
Kai followed Bashasa up the side of the beast, climbing on a set of narrow stairs woven into the harness netting. Salatel and the cadre had waited for them, standing beside the creature’s horribly large clawed foot. Bashasa had waved them on, and most boarded the smaller compartments that hung from the beast’s side while Salatel climbed to the top. Kai didn’t know if he should follow the cadre but the smell here was choking and overwhelming. He had to stop and hang off the stairs so he could cough into his arm. Bashasa paused to wait for him, peering down worriedly, until Kai managed to keep climbing.
A little half door opened into the covered palanquin at the top and Kai squeezed inside after Bashasa, then pressed himself against the rail. The long compartment was already stuffed with mortals, all the way to the curtained back wall. They overflowed the padded benches along the sides and huddled on the floor. A mix of Arike, servers, dependents, some wearing brocade like Bashasa. All were disheveled, and many had injuries. A number were clearly from other places, refugees taking the chance to travel to Benais-arik because they had no place to go, just like Kai. Some had young children or babies tucked in next to them. The back of the palanquin had been turned into a miniature infirmary, with mortals huddling over prone bodies and passing around bandages and water flasks.
Salatel slipped past Kai and stepped across to join the two soldiers at Bashasa’s side. With nowhere else to go, Kai claimed his spot by wedging himself in between the supports and cables securing this corner of the awning.
An Arike, dressed like a woman in wide pants and long tunic under a torn gold and blue brocade coat, said, “Bashasa, what’s this? You have an expositor prisoner?” Her expression was appalled. She seemed the same age as Bashasa, the curls of her dark hair held back by jeweled pins. She sat on the bench near the front, with a younger Arike man standing beside her.
Kai’s veil had fallen over his face during the climb and he hadn’t pulled it back. He had agreed to cooperate with Bashasa, and he had no idea if that was going to involve concealing his identity or not. He didn’t really care one way or the other; he felt like he was still in the rising water filling the Summer Halls, adrift and slowly sinking below the surface.
Bashasa was leaning over the bow of the palanquin having a shouted conversation with whoever controlled the beast. Kai had glimpsed a little cabin just behind the head, which was apparently where the drivers were. At least it couldn’t turn around and eat them from that angle. Bashasa turned back to the woman to say, “No, of course not.” He waved a hand toward Kai. “This is Kaiisteron, Prince of the Fourth House of the underearth. Fourth Prince, this is my cousin Lahshar and her son Dasara.”
Kai pulled the veil off and shoved it into his belt, since there was no point in it anymore. Lahshar recoiled and Dasara glared. Others reacted with gasps or fear. But most of the mortals just watched, or went on with their own anxious conversations. Kai didn’t recognize them, but they seemed to recognize him, probably from the fighting in the Temple Halls. Lahshar said pointedly, “Bashasa, are you mad?”
“Cousin, we both know the answer to that.” Bashasa leaned over the side again and shouted, “Tell them to get on that one with Arava! Yes, that one! Hurry! We’re going now!”
The world lurched and Kai clung to the cables. Quake, he thought, the terrifying phenomenon from the mountains on the far east of the grassplains, when the land shook and changed itself in a wrenching way utterly unlike the smooth transitions of the underearth. A heartbeat later he realized the wallwalker had taken a step and was now turning toward the open gate and the bridge causeway. This was going to be even worse than he thought, and he had already thought it would be awful.
Another lurching step and Salatel and another soldier grabbed the back of Bashasa’s tunic to keep him from falling out. Kai gripped the cables even tighter and was just glad he wasn’t the only one who had yelped.
Lahshar stood, swaying on her feet as if used to the motion. Her jaw was set. “Bashasa, just who have you made alliances with?”
“A great many people, I admit.” Bashasa straightened up and leaned out to see behind them. He waved urgently at someone and the nearest soldier ducked to avoid being hit in the head.
Kai caught a flash of gold at the edge of his vision but it was only Ziede, landing on the bow of the palanquin with a breeze that fluttered clothing and stirred hair. She leaned down under the awning and said, “Vasha said she knows we’re camping at the far side of the river in case we get separated but she wants to know where exactly and what river.” She frowned at Kai. “Kai, are you all right? You look like you’re going to vomit.”
They were past the gate now and moving along the bridge. The pace was more even, but it was the stench, and the nervous crawl in Kai’s spine. He wound himself tighter into the cables and said, “I’m fine.”
Bashasa told his cousin Lahshar, “We will speak of this later, in private.” He stepped over toward Ziede, digging a map out of his tunic.
On the far bank of the tree-lined canal the city passed by, with low stone buildings and wooden spires, bright-colored awnings along wide streets. The wind held the tinge of woodsmoke and heated metal and incense. Figures moved in the streets and Kai wondered if they had come here with the Hierarchs. Or if they were prisoners, too, held here to help supply the Summer Halls. Or if this had been their land before the Hierarchs came. If they had to run before the other legions arrived, was there anywhere to go. Was there anywhere for anybody to go?
By the time Bashasa and Ziede settled the question of the meeting point, they had reached the end of the bridge and turned away from the city, down a high road leading across marshy paddies and terraced fields. Ziede stepped back into the air, headed to her wallwalker. Bashasa leaned over to Kai. “We’re past the choke point now.” He kept his voice low. “Even if the legionaries arrived at this moment, they couldn’t block our escape.”
Kai felt his heart unclench a little. He hadn’t known about the choke point, he didn’t know any details of Bashasa’s new plans. He was still half expecting to die with everyone here in some sudden cataclysm; that had been the goal of the original plan. Bashasa squeezed his shoulder and said, “You should rest. Many unexpected things have happened today.” His mouth quirked. “I know that is a vast understatement.”
Kai half snorted, half laughed. It was only funny because he was so, so tired, and maybe about to faint. He said, “I’m going to sit down.” There was just enough room on the floor in between the little door and the cable anchor. He wedged himself in and let himself go as the wallwalker rocked like a ship in a storm.
THIRTEEN
Kai kept his snarl of rage internal. He shoved the finding stone into the lining of his belt and pushed away from the wall, half swimming, half running through the now still water. He held the intention, knowing if he let it release the mud and debris suspended above the court, it would explode into a watery tornado he would never find his way out of.
Could it be Ramad? No, even a distracted Dahin was too suspicious to let Ramad get the better of him. Let alone Ziede. Besides, she had surfaced nearer to the Temple Halls. She hadn’t gone to the supplication tower where the other two were waiting.
No, they had a worse problem than Ramad could cause by suddenly turning on them.
Kai reached the tree-lined court where the suspended muck swirled in the branches. He found the archway out into the corridor, then finally let the intention drop. The suspended debris billowed loose in the current. His shaft of light showed the court instantly clogged with muck, like a solid wall of mud, blotting out the paving, the skeletal trees.
Kai turned away hurriedly and pressed his chest device to lighten his weight. He swam down the corridor, awkward but fast, and focused on tracing the location of Ziede’s pearl.
His earpiece made a weird rustling noise and Kai stopped, put a hand against the nearest slimy stone to steady himself. It sounded like the speaking device was being jostled in a bag or—Or held in someone’s hand. Then Ramad’s voice, distant and echoing, said, “He told you, the person down there is just a Lesser Blessed servant, there’s no reason to send hunters after—” The earpiece crackled and cut off abruptly.
So. It really wasn’t Ramad who had attacked them. Kai didn’t want to admit how much of a weight that lifted off his heart. You’re a fool, he told himself, since Ziede wasn’t here to say it.
It would have been better if Ramad had managed to work in the identity of just who was up there, but he had gotten the most urgent information across. Kai had a feeling he knew what hunters meant.
