Page 37 of Queen Demon
Not that Kai was sure whether they were on the run or not, or if there was anyone still alive who wanted to claim this ascension raft.
Once the dockmaster had gone, Kai turned to the others. “I’m going to the city center to look for the envoy houses. I’ll send a message when I know anything. Where will you be?”
Ziede folded back her hat brim to study the arcade above the harbor walkway. A number of shops stood under the curved tile roofs, places selling imported goods and supplies for ships. Signs indicated various wash houses, a free one maintained by the city and a fancier one that cost coins to enter, another sign for a free sailors’ hostel in several different languages, and pots and grills hung up to indicate small cookshops. She pointed to a large place with awnings shading its terraced seating, with carved and painted fish over the pediment of its entrance. “That one.” It was a good choice; they would be able to watch the raft from there and see if anyone official took notice of it.
“So we’re just going to stop and have lunch?” Dahin demanded.
“Yes. We won’t be able to meet with any scholars today anyway,” Kai said reasonably. It was getting toward late afternoon and Belith kept strict hours, with everything except food sellers shutting down at what they considered the day’s end.
“And I have to pee,” Sanja contributed.
“The child has to pee,” Tahren seconded.
“I heard her,” Dahin snapped.
Ziede winced and rubbed her temple and Kai didn’t need to touch her heart pearl to tell she had a headache from the wind and sun. And he was suddenly done being reasonable. He said sharply, “Dahin, do you trust me or not?”
Dahin looked away. He rightly understood that Kai was not asking for an argument. He let his breath out and said, “Yes, of course. And I’m sorry I’ve been…” He made a loose gesture. “I’ve been… thinking about this a long time. I thought… I’d have more time.”
Kai hadn’t expected to get that much of an apology, at least not now. The fact that the apology was toward him and not Dahin’s sister didn’t do more than take the situation back to the already unpleasant status quo. He just said, “Good. I’ll send to you as soon as I know anything.”
Kai left the raft and started up the dock. He had almost reached the walkway when familiar steps sounded behind him and Dahin caught up. “I’m coming with you,” Dahin said, and didn’t sound surly at all, which made some of the tension go out of Kai’s shoulders.
“Did Ziede tell you to come?” he asked.
“No, it was Tenes.” Dahin sounded mildly amazed. “She said I was acting like a bull’s anus and since being here was all my doing I shouldn’t let you go alone. And she’s right, the two of us will draw less attention than a veiled witch walking alone.”
It required a very rude gesture to say bull’s anus in Witchspeak. “So a veiled witch and a Lesser Blessed walking together will draw much less attention.” He nodded to the remainder of the audience who had gathered to watch the raft land, now sitting around on a pile of baskets, chests, and sacks waiting to be loaded on the square cargo ship at the next dock. They were still watching.
“I’m in disguise,” Dahin protested.
Kai glanced sideways at him and saw he had put on anembroidered Arike coat over his tunic and pants. “If you’re pretending to be an Arike, remember you’re an Arike woman.”
“Oh, right, I forgot.” Dahin jammed his sun hat further down on his head as the wind tugged at it. “I’ll pretend to be your wife, then.”
Kai gave up on being angry. He put his arm around Dahin’s shoulders and squeezed. “I would rather throw you into the sea than marry you.”
“That’s probably wise of you,” Dahin admitted readily.
The Past: the Choice
How the Hierarchs established a chain of pain wells down through the south, by slaughtering the inhabitants of cities and towns… the Enalin expedition to Sun-Ar tried to follow this trail toward the capstone but it proved unreliable. Small wells faded with time, others had been created by ambitious expositors both before and after the Hierarchs’ invasion… There are rumors of scholars and immortals who had found ways to diminish or destroy these wells, as a way to fight the influence of expositors who harried the south…
—FromPost-War Journals, by Academician Yanellet Eanochin, Restored Temple of Justice and Antiquity at Ancartre
Kai knew that Bashasa had expected to briefly explain his decision about the dustwitches to the other Prince-heirs and commanders and then go on with their preparations for the strike to the south. He wasn’t surprised that that was how most of the army’s leadership ended up in the main room of the caravanserai arguing. It was good that they had started the meeting fairly early in the morning, because it gave them all the better part of the day to work out what part of the plan they hated most.
Bashasa had released Hawkmoth on his own authority, which was considerable, and everyone admitted that since Kai, an officer in Bashasa’s personal cadre, had captured her, it wasup to Bashasa to make the final decision about what to do with her. But no one else had to like it and they were vocal about how they very much did not. The Arike had their hierarchy but they also had the right to complain about the decisions they objected to.
The Prince-heirs were as dubious about the idea of an alliance with the dustwitches as Kai was, so he found himself torn as to what side of the argument he should be on. Everyone was at least in agreement on the idea of a non-aggression pact, which had apparently been common among Arike city-states, but they wanted to decide what to do if the dustwitches didn’t accept it. Which Bashasa didn’t want to discuss yet.
Finally, an exasperated Hiranan used her crutch to lever herself out of her seat. She said, “Sister Ziede.” Her battlefield voice cut through the arguing and everyone managed to stop talking to listen. “Can you tell us how these Witches are likely to respond to an offer of alliance? If we are able to make an agreement with their leader, will they abide by it?”
Every Prince-heir in camp was present, most with their shield-bearers, as well as the head vanguarders, the guild artisans who ran the supply train and worked with the hidden refugee camps, and even Amabel, who had been on their way back from being checked over in the Physicians’ tent and had been swept in with everyone else.
Ziede had been pacing near the far wall, listening with a pinched expression that said she shared Kai’s doubts but didn’t like to see the leadership this divisive. Kai felt that way too, and had no idea what to do about it either. She stopped and said honestly, “Prince-heir Hiranan, I have no idea. My people in the Khalin Islands did not have a leader like this Doyen appears to be. We respected each other’s opinions and our elders and we made decisions together in counsel, we did not have some sort of cult leader who told us all what to think.”
Tahren, leaning against the wall nearby, frowned as if that was the oddest thing she had ever heard. From what little Kai knew about the Blessed, he wasn’t surprised. The other Prince-heirs took Ziede’s words in with a mix of doubt and incredulity.
