Blades of the Old Empire (24 page)

“We should move Kara to my tent,” Dagmara said. “At least there we can keep her warm. She’ll need that, if she’s really alive.”

Ellah nodded, too tired to talk. She reached over and touched Kara’s hand. It was cold. As far as she could tell, there was no pulse and her chest wasn’t moving. She saw no chance that Kara was still alive. No one could possibly survive such a blow.

At Dagmara’s signal Cha’ori warriors came over and carefully picked up Kara’s body to carry it back to the camp. Dagmara followed, and Ellah fell into stride by her side.

When they were halfway there, Ellah saw movement on the other side of the camp. A group of riders milled behind the main tent, with more Cha’ori hurrying toward them. From this distance she couldn’t tell what it was all about, but she saw glints of drawn weapons and heard voices raised in heated argument.

“Take Kara to my tent,” Dagmara said to her escort. “I’ll go look what’s going on.” She peeled off from the procession at a fast walk. Ellah hurried to catch up.

When they approached, the fight was about to start. In the center were two newcomers, the apparent focus of the turmoil. Ellah recognized them at once. Magister Egey Bashi’s scarred face flared with anger, his whip-like weapon ready in his lowered hand. Raishan looked calm, but the tense set of his muscular body showed that he was about to charge.

Dagmara’s raised hand froze the action as she strode through the parting crowd toward the newcomers. Ellah did her best to stay close behind.

“Who are you, and what do you want?” Dagmara demanded.

“Who wants to know?” Egey Bashi asked, his voice on edge.

Dagmara’s hand wavered, ready to signal the attack.

Ellah took a breath. “Wait! I know these men!”

All heads turned to her.

“They’re friends,” Ellah said. “This is Magister Egey Bashi from the Order of Keepers.”

“
Your
friends, you mean? Just like the other ones?” The young Cha’ori who spoke was one of the archers that had escorted Ellah, Mai and Sharrim into the camp. Only yesterday, but it seemed like an eternity ago.

“Are you also going to say they bring no danger, just like the men that came with you?” another voice shouted from further away.

“Maybe she’s at one with them?”

The crowd rippled, voices rising in anger. But Dagmara’s hand stopped them.

“Go on,” she told Ellah.

Ellah met Egey Bashi’s gaze.

“Magister Egey Bashi risked his life for Kyth’s sake,” she said. “And Raishan used to be Kyth’s bodyguard. Last time I saw them, a few weeks ago, they were traveling with Kyth and Kara. I don’t know why they’re here, but they deserve to be heard, Dagmara.”

“Dagmara?” Egey Bashi’s dark eyes lit up with a deep glow.

The foreteller gave him a calm look. “You’ve heard about me?”

“Yes. You’re the one they call Cha’ori Overseer.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Very few know of that. How did you come upon such knowledge, Keeper?”

“I have my ways.”

They looked at each other in tense silence. Then Egey Bashi broke the contact and turned to Ellah.

“What danger are they talking about? Where are Kyth and Alder?”

Ellah shivered as she kept her eyes on him. “Kyth’s been captured.”

Egey Bashi’s gaze wavered, his eyes reflecting both shock and acknowledgment at the same time. He didn’t look surprised. “Then Kara’s dead?”

Ellah lowered her head, aware of the sudden silence around her.

“Who was the one that came after her?” Raishan asked.

Ellah looked at him, trying to control her trembling lips. “Mai.”

“I thought so.” Raishan exchanged a glance with Egey Bashi.

“Can you ask your men to stand down so that we can talk?” Egey Bashi asked Dagmara.

She hesitated, then raised her hand and held it up in the air with an open palm. Weapons lowered everywhere in sight.

“You must surrender your horses,” she said.

Egey Bashi nodded. At Dagmara’s signal, their horses were taken away. The Cha’ori crowd dissipated, leaving a few warriors that formed a semicircle, showing firm intention to follow the newcomers everywhere they went.

Dagmara led the way to the center of the camp. Ellah and Egey Bashi followed side by side, with Raishan close on their heels. As soon as they started moving, Egey Bashi turned to Ellah, his scarred face holding concern.

“Tell me what happened.”

Ellah tried to recall the horrible events of the past few hours. She wasn’t sure where to start.

“These men – they appeared out of nowhere, only a short time after Kara was down. They blasted everyone in sight with some horrible power. Kyth was immune to it, but he couldn’t fight all of them. Mai tried to stand up to them, but they–” she swallowed, forcing herself to go on. “They hurt him really bad. And then, they took both of them away.”

“Both Kyth and Alder?”

Ellah gave him a blank stare. It took her a moment to realize what he meant.

“Both Kyth and Mai,” she said.

A gleam lit up in Egey Bashi’s gaze. “What happened to Alder?”

She shrugged, unsure of why he was so insistent on changing the subject after the horrible things she had told him. “Alder wasn’t here. I think he went across the river to meet with the Forest Mother.”

Egey Bashi nodded. “At least we have one less person to worry about now. And, if Mai was captured with Kyth, they would have more hope of escaping, wouldn’t they?”

Ellah continued to stare. How could he not understand? “I
told
you. When they captured Mai they hurt him really bad. I’m not sure he’s still alive.” She paused, struggling to continue. She was certain he couldn’t possibly be alive, but there was no way she was going to say it. She couldn’t. She couldn’t even
think
that way. Ellah lowered her head, unable to hold back her tears anymore.

The Keeper reached over and patted her shoulder. His hand was so rough she could feel the callouses through the cloth of her sleeve, and so warm it burned against the chill of the Grassland wind. His touch was also soothing. After a few moments her tears subsided. She sniffled and raised her face to him.

“We’ll go after them,” the Keeper said quietly.

She nodded. She wished his words could comfort her, but after seeing Mai dragged over the rocks behind a galloping horse, she couldn’t find any room for hope. She was too old to believe in miracles. Yet, she didn’t want to voice the thought. She forced a smile, brushing the tears off her cheeks with the back of her hand.

Dagmara stopped, halting the procession. With a start, Ellah realized that they had reached the center of the camp and were standing in front of the Foreteller’s tent.

“What did you want to talk about, Keeper?” the Cha’ori woman asked.

“I came here to try to prevent what happened,” Egey Bashi said gravely. “I can see I am too late.”

A dry smile passed through Dagmara’s lips. “The men who attacked us have a power that’s unheard of. They knocked down everyone in sight. The only one who could resist them was Prince Kythar, but his skill was not sufficient to defeat so many men. If you were here, Keeper, you would have suffered the same fate. And if by some chance you could resist their power, I doubt you could have defeated them either. There were lots of them. Each was an incredible fighter and they wielded weapons we haven’t seen before.”

Egey Bashi nodded. “Orbens. They’re quite exotic, and they do require a lot of skill. You are most likely right, Dagmara, that if I was here I would have suffered the same fate. But your gift must have also told you how important it is to rescue Kyth from these men. They threaten our entire existence, and his gift is the only hope we have of ever defeating them. Even though I know I would probably fail, I have to try to save him.”

She lowered her gaze. “I know how important he is. But I don’t see what any of us can do. I can’t send my men to certain death. The Cha’ori will not help you, Keeper.”

He studied her face. “A pity. But if this is your decision, Dagmara, then I must go on alone.”

Dagmara’s eyes flicked to Raishan. “You have a warrior with you, whose skill is evident in his every move. He will probably be useless against those men, but he should provide more protection than my people ever could.”

Egey Bashi shook his head. “Aghat Raishan is bound by a word to his Guild not to interfere with Kyth’s fate. However much it pains me, I’ll have to leave him behind.”

“Actually,” Raishan said, “this is not exactly true, Magister. These men have also captured a member of my Guild. I can’t help you with Kyth, but it’s definitely my duty to do everything in my power to rescue Aghat Mai.”

Egey Bashi grinned. “I’ll be damned. Why didn’t I think of that, Aghat?”

“You’re quite inexperienced with the Majat Code, Magister, aren’t you?”

“Apparently so. But now that you made it clear to me, Aghat, we must go without delay.”

A shadow ran over Raishan’s his face. “Before we go, I would like to see Kara.” He looked at Dagmara. The Cha’ori woman nodded. She turned and led the way into the tent.

In the semidarkness, Kara’s skin looked even paler than before. Her body, laid out on a cloak, was relaxed, but she no longer seemed asleep. Maybe it was the pose, with her face up and her hands folded over her chest, that made her look dead. Or the way two Cha’ori warriors sat beside her in solemn stillness, keeping vigil. Ellah’s eyes filled with tears at the sight. She didn’t bother to blink them away.

Raishan slowly approached and lowered to the ground at Kara’s side. He folded away the cloak that covered her, looking at the bloodstained shirt, whose front had been cut off to expose the chest, and the forearm where the arrow had gone through, leaving a ragged wound that nobody had bothered to treat. He moved his gaze down her body and back to Ellah and Dagmara, standing on the other side.

“Where did he hit her?” the Majat asked quietly.

Ellah cleared her throat. “On the base of the neck over there. It was very bad. But Odara Sul gave me a healing elixir, and Mai told me to use it on Kara, so the wound – it’s not there anymore.”

There was a stillness of an indrawn breath in the quiet air of the tent as Raishan and Egey Bashi slowly raised their faces and stared at her. Then the two men spoke at once.

“He did
what
?”

“She did
what
?”

Their intensity forced Ellah to step back.

“
Odara Sul
, gave me an elixir, and
Mai
told me to use it on Kara’s wound,” she explained carefully.

The two men exchanged a glance.

“Do you know at what angle the blade went in?” Raishan asked.

Ellah hesitated. The question was strange, but there was so much urgency in his gaze that she got caught in it. She tried to remember the way Mai had put in the dagger coated with the healing substance.

“Straight down. Like this.” She moved her hand, imitating the direction.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Raishan bent over Kara. His hands moved so quickly that they blurred as he ran his fingers along her neck, pressing against hidden points that made her body shudder. After a moment the Majat raised his face to Dagmara.

“You must keep her very warm. Wrap her up in blankets. Start a fire. Have somebody stay with her all the time. It’s very important.”

Dagmara looked at him for a moment. Then she nodded and rushed out of the tent to give orders. Raishan turned to Ellah, who was staring at him in an entranced silence.

“You can save her life,” he said. “If you keep her warm.”

“Save her life? But–”

Raishan’s gaze became impatient. “Do you think Aghat Mai would have asked you to treat a dead body with a precious healing elixir? How stupid is that?”

Ellah blinked. Stupid wasn’t the word that had originally come to her mind. But with all the recent events she just didn’t have time to give it serious thought.

“Do what you can for her,” Raishan went on. “Treat that wound on her forearm, too. And be sure someone’s with her, day and night. If she gets worse, here’s what you should do.”

He moved two fingers along Kara’s neck, pressing symmetric points in the center of the chest and another two, just above the collarbones. Then he rose and touched similar spots on Ellah’s neck. His fingers were hard like steel. For a moment she was scared he’d choke her. She drew back, grasping her throat.

“Just quick pressure,” he told her. “Don’t hold it any longer than this.”

“But– How would I know if Kara gets worse?”

Raishan shrugged. “Use your judgment.”

Ellah glanced around helplessly.

“If Odara Sul gave you this elixir,” Egey Bashi said, “she must have thought you have great potential as a healer. She doesn’t just give it to anyone, believe me. And if you’re as good as she thought, you’ll have no trouble with this.”

He turned and walked out of the tent. Raishan followed, just as Dagmara came in with two women carrying a heap of blankets and a pan filled with hot coals. In a very short time the air in the tent became so warm that Ellah felt overdressed.

She took off her cloak and sat on the floor looking at Kara. There was no color at all in her ghostly pale cheeks. Her face looked hollow and still. And yet, now that Raishan said there was hope, Ellah started to realize something. Kara’s body wasn’t getting stiff. She was cold, but she still seemed warmer than the outside air. And now, in the glow of the hot coals, her skin started to warm up. Ellah wrapped the blankets tighter around her.

She suddenly remembered what Mai said to her, just a short while ago.
‘You wish it could all go away.’
She realized how much she wished it right now – that none of this had ever happened, that Kara was alive, that Kyth and Mai were here so that they could all laugh about their fears and enjoy a moment of peace. But wishing was useless. Wishing never did any good.

She prayed Egey Bashi and Raishan would succeed in their task. And yet, after what they had done to Mai, she was very sure it was impossible. What could anyone do against men who could easily disable a Diamond Majat?

How could she ever hope to see any of them alive?