The Way of Kings (59 page)

As Kaladin worked, a flurry of small white leaves blew under the wagon and formed into Syl’s figure. She slid to a stop beside his head. “No guards anywhere I could see. Just a boy in the chull pens.” Her white-blue translucent figure was nearly invisible in the darkness.

“I hope these reeds are still good,” Kaladin whispered. “If they dried out too much…”

“They’ll be fine. You worry like a worrier. I found you some bottles.”

“You did?” he asked, so eager that he nearly sat up. He caught himself before smacking his head.

Syl nodded. “I’ll show you. I couldn’t carry them. Too solid.”

Kaladin quickly untied the rest of the bundles, handing them out to the nervous Teft. Kaladin scooted out, then took two of the larger, tied-together bundles of three. Teft took two of the others, and Rock managed three by tucking one under his arm. They’d need a place to work where they wouldn’t be interrupted. Even if the knobweed seemed worthless, Gaz would find a way to ruin the work if he saw what was happening.

Bottle first,
Kaladin thought. He nodded to Syl, who led them out of the wagonyard and to a tavern. It looked to have been hastily built from second-rate lumber, but that didn’t stop the soldiers inside from enjoying themselves. Their rowdiness made Kaladin worry about the entire building collapsing.

Behind it, in a splintery half-crate, lay a pile of discarded liquor bottles. Glass was precious enough that whole bottles would be reused, but these had cracks or broken tops. Kaladin set down his bundles, then selected three nearly whole bottles. He washed them in a nearby water barrel before tucking them into a sack he’d brought for the purpose.

He picked up his bundles again, nodding to the others. “Try to look like you’re doing something monotonous,” he said. “Bow your heads.” The other two nodded, and they walked out into a main road, carrying the bundles as if on some work detail. They drew far less attention than they had before.

They avoided the lumberyard proper, crossing the open field of rock used as the army’s staging area before walking down the slope of rock leading to the Shattered Plains. A sentry saw them, and Kaladin held his breath, but he said nothing. He probably assumed from their postures that they had a reason to be doing what they were. If they tried to leave the warcamp, it would be a different story, but this section down near the first few chasms wasn’t off limits.

Before long, they approached the place where Kaladin had nearly killed himself. What a difference a few days could make. He felt like a different person—a strange hybrid of the man he had once been, the slave he’d become, and the pitiful wretch he still had to fight off. He remembered standing on the edge of the chasm, looking down. That darkness still terrified him.

If I fail to save the bridgemen, that wretch will take control again. This time he’ll get his way….
That gave Kaladin a shiver. He set his bundles down beside the chasm ledge, then sat. The other two followed more hesitantly.

“We’re going to toss them into the chasm?” Teft asked, scratching his beard. “After all that work?”

“Of course not,” Kaladin said. He hesitated; Nomon was bright, but it was still night. “You don’t have any spheres, do you?”

“Why?” Teft asked, suspicious.

“For light, Teft.”

Teft grumbled, pulling out a handful of garnet chips. “Was going to spend these tonight….” he said. They glowed in his palm.

“All right,” Kaladin said, slipping out a reed. What had his father said about these? Hesitantly, Kaladin broke off the furry top of the reed, exposing the hollow center. He took the reed by the other end and ran his fingers down its length, squeezing it tight. Two drops of milky white liquid dripped into the empty liquor bottle.

Kaladin smiled in satisfaction, then squeezed his fingers along the length again. Nothing came out this time, so he tossed the reed into the chasm. For all his talk of hats, he didn’t want to leave evidence.

“I thought you said we aren’t throwing them in!” Teft accused.

Kaladin held up the liquor bottle. “Only after we have this out.”

“What is it?” Rock leaned closer, squinting.

“Knobweed sap. Or, rather, knobweed milk—I don’t think it’s really sap. Anyway, it’s a powerful antiseptic.”

“Anti…what?” Teft asked.

“It scares away rotspren,” Kaladin said. “They cause infection. This milk is one of the best antiseptics there is. Spread it on a wound that’s already infected, and it will still work.” That was good, because Leyten’s wounds had begun to turn an angry red, rotspren crawling all over.

Teft grunted, then glanced at the bundles. “There are a lot of reeds here.”

“I know,” Kaladin said, handing over the other two bottles. “That’s why I’m glad I don’t have to milk them all on my own.”

Teft sighed, but sat down and untied a bundle. Rock did so without the complaining, sitting with his knees bent to the sides, feet pressed together to hold the bottle as he worked.

A faint breeze blew up, rattling some of the reeds. “Why do you care about them?” Teft finally asked.

“They’re my men.”

“That’s not what being bridgeleader means.”

“It means whatever we decide,” Kaladin said, noting that Syl had come over to listen. “You, me, the others.”

“You think they’ll let you do that?” Teft asked. “The lighteyes and the captains?”

“You think they’ll pay enough attention to even notice?”

Teft hesitated, then grunted, milking another reed.

“Perhaps they will,” Rock said. There was a surprising level of delicacy to the large man’s motions as he milked the reeds. Kaladin hadn’t thought those thick fingers would be so careful, so precise. “Lighteyes, they are often noticing those things that you wish they would not.”

Teft grunted again, agreeing.

“How did you come here, Rock?” Kaladin asked. “How does a Horneater end up leaving his mountains and coming to the lowlands?”

“You shouldn’t ask those kinds of things, son,” Teft said, wagging a finger at Kaladin. “We don’t talk about our pasts.”

“We don’t talk about
anything
,” Kaladin said. “You two didn’t even know each other’s names.”

“Names are one thing,” Teft grumbled. “Backgrounds, they’re different. I—”

“Is all right,” Rock said. “I will speak of this thing.”

Teft muttered to himself, but he did lean forward to listen when Rock spoke.

“My people have no Shardblades,” Rock said in his low, rumbling voice.

“That’s not unusual,” Kaladin said. “Other than Alethkar and Jah Keved, few kingdoms have many Blades.” It was a matter of some pride among the armies.

“This thing is not true,” Rock said. “Thaylenah has five Blades and three full suits of Plate, all held by the royal guards. The Selay have their share of both suits and Blades. Other kingdoms, such as Herdaz, have a single Blade and set of Plate—this is passed down through the royal line. But the Unkalaki, we have not a single Shard. Many of our
nuatoma
—this thing, it is the same as your lighteyes, only their eyes are not light—”

“How can you be a lighteyes without light eyes?” Teft said with a scowl.

“By having dark eyes,” Rock said, as if it were obvious. “We do not pick our leaders this way. Is complicated. But do not interrupt story.” He milked another reed, tossing the husk into a pile beside him. “The
nuatoma
, they see our lack of Shards as great shame. They want these weapons very badly. It is believed that the
nuatoma
who first obtains a Shardblade would become king, a thing we have not had for many years. No peak would fight another peak where a man held one of the blessed Blades.”

“So you came to
buy
one?” Kaladin asked. No Shardbearer would sell his weapon. Each was a distinctive relic, taken from one of the Lost Radiants after their betrayal.

Rock laughed. “Ha! Buy? No, we are not so foolish as this. But my
nuatoma
, he knew of your tradition, eh? It says that if a man kills a Shardbearer, he may take the Blade and Plate as his own. And so my
nuatoma
and his house, we made a grand procession, coming down to find and kill one of your Shardbearers.”

Kaladin almost laughed. “I assume it proved more difficult than that.”

“My
nuatoma
was not a fool,” Rock said, defensive. “He knew this thing would be difficult, but your tradition, it gives us hope, you see? Occasionally, a brave
nuatoma
will come down to duel a Shardbearer. Someday, one will win, and we will have Shards.”

“Perhaps,” Kaladin said, tossing an empty reed into the chasm. “Assuming they agree to duel you in a bout to the death.”

“Oh, they always duel,” Rock said, laughing. “The
nuatoma
brings many riches and promises all of his possessions to the victor. Your lighteyes, they cannot pass by a pond so warm! To kill an Unkalaki with no Shardblade, they do not see this thing as difficult. Many
nuatoma
have died. But is all right. Eventually, we will win.”

“And have one set of Shards,” Kaladin said. “Alethkar has dozens.”

“One is a beginning,” Rock said, shrugging. “But my
nuatoma
lost, so I am bridgeman.”

“Wait,” Teft said. “You came all of this way with your brightlord, and once he lost, you up and joined a bridge crew?”

“No, no, you do not see,” Rock said. “My
nuatoma,
he challenged Highprince Sadeas. Is well known that there are many Shardbearers here on Shattered Plains. My
nuatoma
thought it easier to fight man with only Plate first, then win Blade next.”

“And?” Teft said.

“Once my
nuatoma
lost to Brightlord Sadeas, all of us became his.”

“So you’re a slave?” Kaladin asked, reaching up and feeling the marks on his forehead.

“No, we do not have this thing,” Rock said. “I was not a slave of my
nuatoma
. I was his family.”

“His
family
?” Teft said. “Kelek! You’re a lighteyes!”

Rock laughed again, loud and full-bellied. Kaladin smiled despite himself. It seemed like so long since he’d heard someone laugh like that. “No, no. I was only
umarti’a
—his cousin, you would say.”

“Still, you were related to him.”

“On the Peaks,” Rock said, “the relatives of a brightlord are his servants.”

“What kind of system is that?” Teft complained. “You have to be a servant to your own relatives? Storm me! I’d rather die, I think I would.”

“It is not so bad,” Rock said.

“You don’t know my relatives,” Teft said, shivering.

Rock laughed again. “You would rather serve someone you do not know? Like this Sadeas? A man who is no relation to you?” He shook his head. “Lowlanders. You have too much air here. Makes your minds sick.”

“Too much air?” Kaladin asked.

“Yes,” Rock said.

“How can you have too much air? It’s all around.”

“This thing, it is difficult to explain.” Rock’s Alethi was good, but he sometimes forget to add in common words. Other times, he remembered them, speaking his sentences precisely. The faster he spoke, the more words he forgot to put in.

“You have too much air,” Rock said. “Come to the Peaks. You will see.”

“I guess,” Kaladin said, shooting a glance at Teft, who just shrugged. “But you’re wrong about one thing. You said that we serve someone we don’t know. Well, I
do
know Brightlord Sadeas. I know him well.”

Rock raised an eyebrow.

“Arrogant,” Kaladin said, “vengeful, greedy, corrupt to the core.”

Rock smiled. “Yes, I think you are right. This man is not among the finest of lighteyes.”

“There are no ‘finest’ among them, Rock. They’re all the same.”

“They have done much to you, then?”

Kaladin shrugged, the question uncovering wounds that weren’t yet healed. “Anyway, your master was lucky.”

“Lucky to be slain by a Shardbearer?”

“Lucky he didn’t win,” Kaladin said, “and discover how he’d been tricked. They wouldn’t have let him walk away with Sadeas’s Plate.”

“Nonsense,” Teft broke in. “Tradition—”

“Tradition is the blind witness they use to condemn us, Teft,” Kaladin said. “It’s the pretty box they use to wrap up their lies. It makes us serve them.”

Teft set his jaw. “I’ve lived a lot longer than you, son. I know things. If a common man killed an enemy Shardbearer, he’d become a lighteyes. That’s the way of it.”

He let the argument lapse. If Teft’s illusions made him feel better about his place in this mess of a war, then who was Kaladin to dissuade him? “So you were a servant,” Kaladin said to Rock. “In a brightlord’s retinue? What kind of servant?” He struggled for the right word, remembering back to the times he’d interacted with Wistiow or Roshone. “A footman? A butler?”

Rock laughed. “I was cook. My
nuatoma
would not come down to the lowlands without his own cook! Your food here, it has so many spices that you cannot taste anything else. Might as well be eating stones powdered with pepper!”

“
You
should talk about food,” Teft said, scowling. “A Horneater?”

Kaladin frowned. “Why do they call your people that, anyway?”

“Because they eat the horns and shells of the things they catch,” Teft said. “The outsides.”

Rock smiled, with a look of longing. “Ah, but the taste is so good.”

“You actually eat the shells?” Kaladin asked.

“We have very strong teeth,” Rock said proudly. “But there. You now know my story. Brightlord Sadeas, he wasn’t certain what he should do with most of us. Some were made soldiers, others serve in his house hold. I fixed him one meal and he sent me to bridge crews.” Rock hesitated. “I may have, uh, enhanced the soup.”

“Enhanced?” Kaladin asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rock seemed to grow embarrassed. “You see, I was quite angry about my
nuatoma
’s death. And I thought, these lowlanders, their tongues are all scorched and burned by the food they eat. They have no taste, and…”

“And what?” Kaladin asked.

“Chull dung,” Rock said. “It apparently has stronger taste than I assumed.”