The Way of Things: Upper Kingdom Boxed Set: Books 1, 2 and 3 in the Tails of the Upper Kingdom (21 page)

“But... but, I thought...”

“Maybe you didn’t
think
at
all,” hissed Ursa. “This is not some game that you can play or a little while
until you grow tired of it. When you swore your oath to the Captain, you placed
your very life in his hands. Did you think that was a game too?”

“I
–I...”

“Enough,
Ursa. You don’t need to make the girl feel worse than she already does.
Besides, if Kirin had to kill anybody, it would be done swiftly. You can believe
that. Kirin doesn’t like killing. He never has.”

“It’s
my fault. I thought I said the right thing.”

“I’m
sure you did.”

“It
is
your fault,” growled
the Major. “You were the one who found him last night, Scholar. You gave him
over.
You.
”

That
seemed to cut the young woman to the quick. “...oh...” was all she managed to
get out before her composure crumbled like a child’s tower of sand and she
buried her face in her arms.

“Oh
well done, Ursa. Why don’t you go kick some old people while you’re at it?”

The Major resumed her pacing and
save for the occasional sob, there was silence in the Great Room for a long
time.

Finally,
Kerris pushed the tray away and sat back. He cast a worried look up the stairs,
in the direction of the upper rooms.

“So,” he said. “Where is he?”

 
“What?” Ursa scowled.

 
“Well, I’ve never actually had the pleasure of killing
anybody myself, not intentionally and certainly not with a sword but I really
can’t imagine that it takes too long, now does it? Not if you have the sword and
the other fellow doesn’t. And Kirin is not the type to gloat over a dead body.
He really doesn’t like getting blood or bits of
stuff
on his uniform. A
bit fussy that way, he is. So then, why hasn’t he come down?”

Fallon
raised her head from the table. “Why hasn’t he come down?”

“That
was the question, yes.”

“Free
my hands...” Ursa’s voice was unnaturally soft.

“Come
again?”

“He
didn’t kill him... he cut the bonds...”

They both glanced up at the Major.
It was like looking into a stormy sky, one that was growing darker, more
ominous by the moment. Suddenly, lightning flashed in her pale blue eyes.

“AhmniShakra!”

And
like a thunderclap, she bolted across the room and up the stairs, with a
bewildered Kerris and Fallon exchanging glances and scrambling on up behind.

***

two hearts pounding,
madness
,
the blood hot, too hot, racing, two lifetimes of memories mingling, merging,
utter
madness,
sad old eyes smiling, weeping, three lifetimes now, your
vision he is saying, the only key,
rejoicing
and
devastation
,
your vision, old eyes,
Ancient eyes
,
Ancestors, here
and now, Captain
...
no...
See it...
please, no...
Know it…
I
don’t want to know this...

And
suddenly, like a blow from a broadsword, Kirin’s soul was ripped in two,
twisting him inside out as though his very heart were being torn from his
chest. He heard a cry, a roar of pain that shattered his bones like a fall from
a rooftop, until he realized it was his own voice he was hearing, his own
voice, and then somehow, his brother’s. The room came spinning into focus.

Kirin
sat up, gasping for breath, fighting the pain and dizziness that threatened to
send him back to the floor.

“Kerris, Kerris, what are you
doing? Where is the Seer?”

“Are
you alright, Kirin?”

“Where?!”

Under
the broken window the Seer huddled in a ball on the floor, groaning and
clutching his head in his hands. Sprawled on top of him was the Major, pinning
him as she had once before, this time with a fistful of mane and a dagger at
his throat.

“Get
away from him! Get away!” the Captain snarled as he lunged across the mahogany,
throwing the woman’s taut arms aside, sending her dagger clattering across the
room.

“Sidi,
can you hear me? Are you unharmed?”

“I
think so,” came the muffled reply. “Except...”

“Except?”

“Except
I now have your headache.”

With
a deep puff of breath, Kirin knelt, fixing the Major with a stare she had seen
precious few times in her life. His teeth were gritted, the muscles in his jaw
rippled with fury.

“What were you thinking, Major?”
Each word was bitten in half. She had never seen him so angry.

She
drew herself up ramrod straight. “Sir. I thought he was attacking you, sir.”

“What
were your orders?”

“Sir—”

“Your
orders?
”

She
steeled her jaw, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks.

“To leave you alone. Sir.”

“And
earlier?”

“Not
to touch him.”

“Kirin,
it did look rather odd,” said Kerris. “I mean it looked like he was cracking
your skull like a coconut.”

“Thank you, Kerris, but I don’t
recall asking your opinion.”

“So
sorry, dear brother, but—”

“That’s enough, Kerris. You have no
business being in here, either.”

“Please,”
Sireth moaned as he pushed himself to his knees. “No arguing. It’s too loud.”

“No
business? No
business?
Kirin!”

“Later,
Kerris.”

“Kirin—”

“Too
loud,” the Seer moaned again, wincing as his own voice roared through his
temples like a morning gong. Just as the sensation was beginning to fade,
green-sleeved arms were flung around his neck and this time, he was tackled by
yet another woman. Thankfully, Fallon Waterford possessed neither the strength
nor the fervor of the Major and she simply buried her tear-streaked face into
his shoulder.

“I’m
so glad you’re still alive.”

 
“Thank you, my dear,” he said, managing
a thin smile. “I’m glad too.”

She
wrapped her arms around his waist and helped him to his feet.

The
Captain was already standing, hands on hips, casting dark, scathing glances
between the Major and his brother, as if deciding whom to behead first.

“Major, I hereby relieve you of
your charge of guarding this man. For the duration of the journey, you will be
responsible for the care and maintenance of the horses.”

“Sir.”

There was the slightest tremor in
her voice, but she remained as straight and rigid as ever, her hands clasped
tightly behind her back. It was as if she welcomed the chastisement.

“Oh,
giving away my job now, are you Kirin? Why don’t you just go ahead and make her
your guide. And make me a Major while you’re at it. I need a new tunic after
all, and I think I would look smashing in all that white leather.”

“Kerris,
I said
later.”

“Captain,
if I may,” said the Seer, still panting as he slipped his gloves back over his
hands. “The Major was ‘simply doing
her
job’, something you all take
quite seriously it seems. You cannot punish her now because she is zealously
concerned for your safety.”

“You
stand up for her now? After all she has done?”

“Not at all, Captain. I stand up
for her for what she
has yet to do.”

The
object of their debate stood still as stone, her eyes not wavering from the
form of her Captain. For his part, her Captain ground his molars together,
feeling the strain as he worked to control his rising temper.
This was not
the way
, he reminded himself, not
his
way, but he feared his way was
slipping farther and farther out of his grasp, and would very soon be torn from
him, in favor of another, much older one.

It
was madness.

“Very
well. Major, you are reinstated as this man’s guardian. You owe him your
station. Do not forget that.”

“No,
sir.”

“And
Kerris...”

The Captain now turned to his
brother. Kerris drew the blanket tightly across his shoulders, as if trying to
retain some of the indignation that had fueled him earlier. It was a difficult
task. He sighed.

“Kerris, go put something on.”

“I
need a new tunic, Kirin. An expensive one.”

“Fine.
Fine. The Empress will pay.”

Immediately,
Kerris brightened.

“Alright then.
Sidalady
tigress, shall we go to the markets?”

With
a hapless shrug, Fallon slipped from the Seer’s side and accepted the arm that
was offered her. The pair headed out the door and down the hall.

The
Captain turned to regard the Major, still as silent as her sword. Sireth
benAramis stood at her side, towering over her as
Kathandu
towered over
Pol’Lhasa
.
Too bad he wasn’t a snow
leopard,
Kirin thought ruefully. The man actually might be a match for her.
If she didn’t kill him first.

“You
may as well go too,” said Kirin. “It will be a long tedious day. See the
sights. Buy what you will.”

“Am
I still under arrest?”

“No, but you are still under
suspicion.”

“I
feel so much better.”

He was hard to ignore, this
audacious mongrel but the Captain did admirably.

 
“Major, you are to accompany the Seer to the marketplace. You
are to see that he returns safely, and enjoys himself while there. That does
not include being threatened by your weapons nor by your tongue. I trust I will
not have to remind you of this again.”

“No
sir.”

“Good.
Now leave me alone. I much to think about.”

“Sir.”

He
swung his back to them, crossing the floor to lean out the open window, thus
signaling an end to the conversation. As Ursa and Sireth moved to leave, the
Captain turned his face in their direction.

“I
wish you had not shown me,” he said softly.

“I
wish I had not seen.”

And
they left him alone, for indeed, he had much to think about.

***

The morning was a bright and sunny
one and by the time they reached the first of the stalls, the marketplace was
full to brimming with bodies. Merchants, peddlers and beggars alike, calling
for silver like so many children, eager-eyed and open-handed at a parent’s
return. Oxen lowed from narrow billets and headless geese swung against
headless rabbits, as shop after shop beckoned for attention. From silken
scarves to idols of jade, from sacks of rice to over ripe oysters, the sights,
sounds and most of all, smells of the marketplace were a delight to the senses,
tempting even the most sensible of souls with her bounty of goods.

The
Scholar was drinking it in.

“Wow,”
she said as she picked up yet another item from yet another stall. “I’ve never
seen anything like this.”

“That’s the fifth time you’ve said
that this morning,” said Kerris. “Really,
sidala,
I think you’ve led entirely too sheltered a life.”

“Oh, well, yes. I suppose you would
think that, wouldn’t you? After all, you grew up in the Palace Courts and I
grew up on a lowly pheasant farm in the jungle.”

“That’s
not what I meant.”

“Oh,
really?” She picked up another item, the likes of which she truly never had
seen. “So what’s this,
sidi
world
traveler?”

“What’s
what?”

“This.
Tell me, Kerris your name was, what in the Kingdom is this?”

“It’s from the time of the
Ancestors, it is,” came the gruff voice of the shop merchant, a jaguar with
series of golden hoops running the lengths of both ears. Like the Inkeep, he spoke
Hinyan, the Language of Commerce. “From the very first Dynasty, or thereabouts.
Look, it’s even got his Imperial monogram.”

Kerris
took the bangle from Fallon’s hand, turning it over and over in his own.

“Hmm.
Saykoh.
Never heard of
him. But I’ve seen this type of thing before.”

She folded her arms across her
chest, grinning a sly, lopsided kind of a grin.

“Oh really. You have.”

“Really.
I have. See.”

He
plucked at the pendants that hung round his neck. It was a confusing jumble, to
be sure, made all the more unmanageable by the blanket still draped across his
shoulders, but finally, he held one out. It was made of a different metal, this
one silver as opposed to gold, but the flattened disk bore a remarkable
resemblance to the bangle in his palm. He turned the disk to face her.

“See,
Tymechs.
Some Old Fhae’roh, perhaps.”

“Wow.”
Fallon received the bangle back from her companion. “But, but what is it for?”

“Purely
ornamental, I should think. I’ve cracked a couple before and inside they’re
full of springs and wires and odd rusted chips of steel. Nothing much to them,
really. Why don’t you put it ‘round your arm. Or maybe your ankle. Might look
rather fetching down there.”

“Why
does it have twelve symbols?”

“I
don’t know. Astrological, perhaps? You know, the monkey, the goat, the
tigress...”

She
didn’t hear him, so intent was she on the face of the bangle, turning it one
way, then the other to catch the light.

“I don’t know. Kinda looks like a sundial
to me.”

Kerris and the shopkeep exchanged
looks.

“Right.
Of course. That’s it. A sundial that you wear on your ankle. Brilliant. Trust
the Ancestors to come up with something like that...” He leaned in to the
jaguar, waggled a grey finger between them. “We’ll take it. Charge it to the
big lion at the Inn. Right?”

“Just
keep that little snow leopard out of my stall, is all I ask. I’ve already had
my share of ears pierced!”