He shook his head. They said the same thing when he made the kha’Sharum. Now those men served him with honour. He would not lose warriors by choice. He’d hated the shameful way his mother was treated when he was a child, with no man to speak for her. He had been terrified that he would die, too, and his sisters be claimed by the local dama and sold as jiwah’Sharum.
Jardir cast his gaze over the court. ‘I do not wish to make women fight, but Sharak Ka is nigh, and I will not turn away those who choose to. Kaji may have forbidden women the spear, but the first Deliverer had an army of millions. I do not, but must fight the same war.’ He pointed to the kneeling young women with the Spear of Kaji. ‘I name you kai’Sharum’ting.’
Kajivah wailed.
‘Holy Father,’ Asome said. ‘If my jiwah thinks nothing of her vows to me, then I ask you divorce us now, as she suggests.’
Ashan looked at Asome sharply. The union between Ashan’s daughter and Ahmann’s son strengthened the ties between their families, and it would be a loss of face for them to be severed.
‘No,’ Jardir said. ‘You and my niece declared your vows before Everam, and I will not let you go back on them. She remains your Jiwah Ka, and you will not deny her time with young Kaji. A son needs his mother.’
‘So now my granddaughters go to alagai’sharak each night?’ Kajivah demanded.
‘It need not be so,’ Inevera offered.
Kajivah stared at her in shock. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Many of the dama have personal guards, Sharum only called to alagai’sharak on Wanings,’ Inevera said. ‘If it pleases my honoured husband, I will take them as such.’ Jardir gave her a slight nod, and did not need to see her aura to know the sense of satisfaction had returned to his wife.
‘Even on Wanings, it will be a mistake to let them join the front lines,’ Asome said. ‘They will distract men whose attention needs to be in front of them.’
‘My warriors will learn to adapt,’ Jardir said, though he knew it was not quite so simple.
Asome nodded. ‘Perhaps. But is it a lesson you wish to begin while Alagai Ka stalks the land?’
Jardir pursed his lips. ‘No,’ he said at last. ‘I do not know what is coming with the new moon, and it is not the time to force change.’
Asome smirked at the small victory. ‘But that goes for the dama, as well,’ Jardir said.
Asome’s eyes widened just slightly. ‘Eh?’
‘Everam’s Bounty would fall into chaos without the dama,’ Jardir said. ‘And so I will not risk you on Waning until I know what we are facing each month. You may join your mother and wife in the underpalace come the new moon.’
Jayan stifled his laugh, but not enough for it to escape his brother’s ears.
Be careful, husband, Inevera thought as she watched Ahmann and Asome face off. He is still your son, and he has his pride.
Thankfully, their staring was broken by a commotion at the door. Inevera saw a lone Sharum striding into the hall. He looked thin and haggard, his blacks filthy with mud, and he stank. She could smell him from across the room.
The warrior planted his spear and fell to one knee before the Skull Throne. ‘Shar’Dama Ka, I bring urgent missive from your first daughter, holy Amanvah.’
Ahmann nodded. ‘Ghilan asu Fahkin, is it not? You were sent north to guard Mistress Leesha’s caravan. What has happened? Are my daughter and intended safe?’
Intended. The word cut at Inevera, even now.
‘Both were safe when I left them, Deliverer,’ the warrior said, ‘but they appeared to have had a … conflict.’
‘What kind of conflict?’ Ahmann demanded.
Ghilan shook his head. ‘I do not know, but I believe the holy daughter’s letter will say.’ He held up a small scroll, sealed in wax.
Ahmann nodded and motioned for Shanjat to take the letter. Shanjat was Ghilan’s kai, but still the warrior leapt to his feet, backing away.
‘What is the meaning of this?’ Ahmann said.
‘The holy daughter made me take an oath, Shar’Dama Ka, to put the letter into your hand and no other,’ Ghilan said.
Ahmann nodded, motioning the man forward. Ghilan sprinted up the steps, falling to one knee again when he was in reach. He kept his eyes down as he handed Ahmann the letter. His voice was low, so only Ahmann and Inevera could hear. ‘I will say this, Deliverer. By her own admission, Mistress Leesha poisoned me to prevent my reaching you.’
‘She was bluffing,’ Ahmann said.
The young Sharum shook his head. ‘Your pardon, Deliverer, but she was not. After two days I began to weaken. On the third, I fell from my horse and lay for hours, waiting for death.’
‘How did you survive?’ Inevera asked.
The Sharum bowed to her. ‘Night was falling, Damajah, and I thought it better to die on alagai talons than lying in the dirt, my strength sapped by a woman’s poison.’
Ahmann nodded. ‘Your heart is that of a true Sharum, Ghilan asu Fahkin. What happened then?’
‘I barely had strength to stand,’ Ghilan said, ‘but I hid myself well and bided my time, waiting for a fool alagai to venture too close. After some time, a field demon came by, attempting to track my scent. When it drew up to my hiding place, I struck hard.’
‘And grew stronger,’ Inevera guessed.
Ghilan nodded. ‘The blessings of Everam come to those who kill the creatures of Nie. My horse fled, I hunted for the next two nights before my strength was restored. I apologize for the delay, but I have come as quickly as I was able.’
Ahmann put a hand on the man’s shoulder. ‘I am proud of you, Ghilan asu Fahkin. Know that your honour is boundless. Go now to the great harem and have the jiwah’Sharum bathe you and comfort you into a well-needed sleep.’
The warrior nodded, leaving the room as quickly as he entered. Ahmann opened the letter, read it, and passed it to Inevera.
‘Husband, I am sorry,’ she said as she scanned the contents, ‘but I did warn you.’
‘Once again your dice have proven true,’ Ahmann said. ‘I gained two Sharum’ting in the night, and lost the warriors of the Hollow come morning.’
‘I take no pleasure in it, beloved,’ she said, but it was not entirely true. ‘If it is any consolation, you cannot truly lose what you never had.’
Ahmann shook his head sadly. ‘It is no consolation, wife.’
Inevera moved the stone covering one of the many hidden nooks in her Chamber of Shadows. There was a small box, warded for cold and powered by a demon bone core. A thin rime of frost covered its surface.
Inevera opened the cloth and removed the stiff bit of silk from within. It was precious, but with her dice restored and Mistress Leesha discredited at last, it was time to finally cast the bones for the Northern witch.
The silk was one of Inevera’s many kerchiefs, this one used to daub the blood Leesha had lost during their fight in Inevera’s pillow chamber. She carefully cut out the bits of bloodied silk, tossing them into a small bowl of steaming liquid. When blood had been fully leached, she poured the mixture over her dice and shook.
‘Almighty Everam,’ she prayed, ‘give me knowledge of Leesha, daughter of Erny, of the Paper family of the Hollow tribe.’ With a final shake, she cast the dice before her.
And gaped.
— She is your zahven, and carries a child.-
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