The Way of Things: Upper Kingdom Boxed Set: Books 1, 2 and 3 in the Tails of the Upper Kingdom (30 page)

“I,
for one, am glad you’re alive, ripples or no,” said the Seer.

“Are
you?”

“Of
course. Why shouldn’t I be?”

Kirin
turned back to the fire. “If I were dead, you could go home.”

“And
if
I
were dead,
you
could go home.” His smile faded quickly. “You
are
joking, aren’t you?”

Kirin
said nothing. Sireth stared at him.

“You’re
serious.”

“I
am always serious.”

“Why
ever would I wish you dead?”

“We
argued last night. The last time we argued, three of my men died.”

“You
think I did this. Like the avalanche. You
still
think I’m doing all of
this!”

“I
think you are a man accustomed to keeping secrets.”

“Of
course I keep secrets! I am One of the Council of Seven!” Sireth snarled. “It’s
is simply my
job.”

His
initial outburst had caused not only the women to stare but the leopards as
well, a definite breach of discipline. Sherah arched one black brow before
bending back to her tea. Kirin gritted his teeth.

“Perhaps,
sidi,”
he growled, forcing the volume
lower. “But not now. Not with me. Did you cause this?”

“Perhaps
she
is the firestarter. Have you ever considered that?”

“Answer
the question.”

“No.
I did not cause this. I did not cause the avalanche. I did not kill my
friends.”

“Did
you kill a lion serving in the National Guard?”

“Who
told you that?”

“Did you?”

For
several moments, he struggled for control but when he did find it, it was
complete. He turned back to the Captain, leaning into him like an old friend.

“Another secret,” he purred. “But
perhaps, I shall tell you sometime...”

He
rose to his feet, brushed the snow from his robes and smiled.

“Besides, we all have our secrets,
don’t we, Captain? Some knowledge is simply too
dangerous
for the ears
of others. You might do well to remember that. Goodnight.”

He
snatched his bedroll and, like Kerris earlier, left the warmth of the fire. The
flames leapt a little higher, roared a little louder, at his passing.

***

“That should not happen,” growled
Ursa. “The Captain should never allow that.”

Sherah tilted her head. “And what should
the Captain do?”

Tiny muscles twitched in her silver
jaw, and her blade sharpening grew more savage.

“He should fight him. He should
beat him.”

Golden
eyes scanned the rocky clearing. The guards were all performing perimeter
checks. Kerris was with the horses. Fallon had gone to find him. Sherah smiled
and poured two cups of tea.

“He shouldn’t kill him?”

“No.
We need him.”

She
stirred in the honey. “You grow fond of him.”

“What?! I
despise
him! I
hate him so much
I
could
kill him!”

“Then, do your Captain a favor.
Fight him. Beat him. Kill him if you wish. I will say nothing.”

“I
– I cannot.”

“He
has killed lions before. It is only a matter of time.”

She passed Ursa a mug before
raising one to her own lips.

“What?
Where did you hear this?”

The
steaming liquid bit her tongue, her throat.

“Only a story,” she smiled. “Among
the ranks...”

***

Fallon watched him for some time,
muttering and patting and rubbing the great animal with an affection that men
seldom spent on their wives. She had often wondered why and had come to two
conclusions. One, that men believed their lives depended more on their horses
than their houses and Two, that horses were lovely to look at, yet easily
controlled. Of the two, she did not know which was closer to the truth.

In
the cold night air, a squeal echoed down from the mountains and she realized
that Quiz had made a kill. A rabbit perhaps or a grouse. Something more
substantial than a mouse, at any rate. She shuddered. It was so easy for
animals to kill animals. It was natural. It was the way of things. But for
people to kill people, that she had never understood. Even for a cat to kill a
dog was beyond her reason. Dogs had longer noses. Dogs couldn’t retract their
claws. Dogs married freely, without thought to race or caste. Perhaps this was
why they were considered animals. Still, she could never kill one.

alMassay
nickered and stretched out his neck, nostrils blowing softly in her direction.
It was only then that Kerris noticed her.

“Oh,
hello
sidala.
Can you grab that green
pouch over there? The one on the rock?”

She found it and brought it to him.

“Open
it up will you?”

She
did, and immediately her nose was assaulted by the most hideous of smells.

“Wow. What is it?” she asked,
trying not to look too intrigued when he stuck his hand in the bag and pulled
out a glob of black slime.

“Salve,
for his scrapes. See here,” Grey hand took orange, guiding her down the
powerful leg to a series of cuts across the bone. “From the ice. Took off a big
slice of his pelt here.”

“Is
it serious?”

“Could
have been, if it had been boggy water, and we hadn’t had the salve.”

“Boggy
water?” Her eyes lit up. “Do you have any idea the creatures that live in boggy
water?”

“Not
edible ones, that’s for certain. Anyway, what are you doing out here? Shouldn’t
we all be bedding down for the night?”

“Oh,
yes, well we are. That’s mainly the reason I came to find you. To tell you.
We’re bedding down. For the night.”

“We
are?”

“Yes.”

“You
and me?”

“No!”
She laughed nervously, snatching her hand from his and taking several steps
back. “Nononono, ha haaah..Uh, no.”

“Same
as usual?”

“Yep.
Same as usual.”

“Too
bad. I think Kirin snores. Or maybe that’s me.”

She
watched him rub the salve into the wounds and wipe the residue on his trousers.
So different from a normal lion,
she though to herself. The Captain
would never do that.

“Ursa
says you call down lightning.”

“Ahhh…”

He frowned but did not look up.

“I – I’m sorry. I shouldn’t
have said anything.”

“No, no. It’s alright.” He
straightened, wincing as the stitches pulled in his back. “It’s rather
difficult to describe. I don’t call the lightning. The lightning, she calls
me.”

“The lightning calls you?”

“Yes. Lots of things do, really.
They all have voices.”

“What do?”

“You know, the air, the earth,
water. Most especially water.”

“Oh.”

“But the lightning is the loudest.
And the angriest.”

“Oh.”

“But I don’t remember much when it happens.”

“Like
the cobra.”

“What
cobra?” But he grinned at her, and she was amazed at how, even in the dark
moonlight, his smile still shone like the sun. “Alright then. We’ll walk him
back. I don’t want him far from the group tonight.”

“Just
in case.”

“Exactly.”

The
snow was soft under their boots, the night silent and still, but Fallon’s heart
was pounding like a herd of wild yaks. She cleared her throat.

“You
were pretty amazing tonight. With your brother, I mean. And, and, and the
river.”

“Yes
well, just my job, you know. Saving people and all.”

“I
was really proud of you.”

“You
what?”

“I,
I, I was just, you know, really proud of you.”

“You
were?”

“I
was.”

“Well.”
He smiled again. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Be happy to save
you
again sometime.”

“Looking
forward to it.”

With
a great Imperial horse between them, they walked back to the camp, but took
their time.

***

“Lion-killer.”

Sireth groaned and rolled over,
wrapping his arms over his head and pressing his face into the snow.

“Lion-killers are executed. How
come you were never executed?”

“Because
it was my kharma to face a slow, miserable death with you.”

And he pulled his bedroll over his
head.

Ursa
crept even closer, pausing only when she heard the chirrup of the falcon
perched on a rock above.

“You should not talk to the Captain
like that.”

“Why
not?”

“It
is dangerous. It shows no respect.”

He
turned his face to look at her, rested his chin on his arms. She was also on
her belly no more that a breath away, eyes intense, mouth a tight line, hair
spilling all over the snow. It was difficult to distinguish snow from leopard.

“And
this bothers you?”

“It
should bother you. He is within his authority to kill you.”

“Why
do you care?”

“The
mission would fail. That would not reflect well on him.”

“Come
closer.”

The
same look, a flash of fear, of resistance, crossed her silver face. But he had
issued a challenge and she was no coward. She inched forward.

“You love him,” he said.

“I respect him. He is a good
leader.”

“But
you don’t love him.”

“I
love no one. No thing.”

“Closer.”

They
were so close now that he could feel her breath on his face, see the pulse of
her throat. Her pupils were wide, black.

“Who has done this to you?”

“Done what?”

“Turned
you to stone.”

She
snorted. “Life has turned me to stone.”

He
did not touch her.

“I
have
killed a lion. And
Life has killed me a thousand times over. But you...I fear you are more dead
than I.”

After
several long moments, she drew back and opened her bedroll. She flapped it out
onto the warm snow and sat, pulling her cloak about her shoulders and wrapping
her arms around her knees.

“Go to sleep,” she ordered. “I will
watch over you.”

“I
know you will,” he said softly. “I know.”

***

His muscles ached as he bent down
to pull on his boots. He had not realized how easily the water could cripple
and while the fire had rendered his uniform warm and soft, inside he was still
bitterly cold. He badly needed to sleep as well but soon, Solomon would come.
Kirin would not leave that to the others. Sighing, he looked about the snowy
ground for his sash.

“I
can help,” said a voice, and the Captain turned to see Sherah standing
immediately behind, black cloak and hood hiding all but her face. He didn’t
want to think how long she had been standing there.

“No,
thank you,
sidala
. I am able to
clothe myself.”

She held up the sash of gold,
symbol of his rank in the Queen’s Court, embroidered threads catching the
moonlight like falling stars. It was torn at one end.

“I can fix this.”

He
took it from her, turning it over in his hands.

“No,” he said as he began to wrap
it round and round his waist. “No, I wish to show the Empress the extent of our
travails when we return.”

“We
will return?”

“Of
course. Why wouldn’t we?”

“I
thought...”

When
she did not finish, he turned to study her.

“What kind of mission did you think
this was,
sidala?”

“The
kind from which one does not return.”

“You
will return.”

“We
have lost four already.”

“Too
many.” He shook out his cloak, patted the snow from its dark folds and pulled
it over his shoulders. “No more.”

“A
promise?”

“No.”
He began to walk back to the campfire, Sherah a silent shadow at his side
. “Sidala?”

“You
may call me Sherah.”

“Sidala,
the Seer has accused you of being a firestarter.”

“Of
course he would.”

“You
deny it, then?”

The hems of their cloaks swept
across the snow and rocks as they walked. Black and Imperial gold. It was like
a heartbeat.

“The military has always been wary
of the Gifts and the Arts,
sidi.
These cannot be seen nor touched, nor therefore, killed. And what cannot be
killed must be feared.”

He
couldn’t stop a smile.

“Do they train you to speak like
this?”

“Of
course.” She smiled back. “But you see, I know you are concerned with the
pragmatic. If either one of us was a firestarter, how would that change
you?”

He
paused. It was a good question. He opened his mouth to speak.

“Kirin!
Sidalady
cheetah!” It was Kerris and
the Scholar, alMassay a solid block between them. “There you are. Heading back
to camp?”

“Yes.
Kerris, how is he?”

Kerris
slapped the great beast’s chest.

“Sound as a yak. Those scratches
shall heal up nicely. Sherah, any chance we could get a last cup of tea before
bed?”

She
was already moving, a ghost of black slipping through the night. But she did
turn her face as she left, golden eyes gleaming through her hair.

“Of
course.”

***

It was well past second watch. The
falcon swooped down over the camp, the floppy body of a rabbit in her talons.
She soared over the figures in bedrolls, scattered around the fire, the Captain
and the brother, the Alchemist and Scholar. Two leopards slept nearby, and she
circled them, before arching her wing and rising higher. She spied the other
two, standing sentry on the surrounding rocks and chirruped to them. One raised
a hand to her, a greeting from a fellow watcher.

She
had seen the Wall tonight, had taken the rabbit at its very base. It was not
far, a day’s travel at most. There were plenty of rabbits. It had been a good
night.