The Way of Things: Upper Kingdom Boxed Set: Books 1, 2 and 3 in the Tails of the Upper Kingdom (74 page)

His heart leapt in his ribs now
as what Solomon was saying began to take hold.

“Maybe there are already people
over there, maybe there are living human civilizations in other places, I don’t
know, I just know that I need to find out where I belong.
If
I belong anywhere at all…”

“There are others, Solomon?” His
voice sounded thin, unnatural.

“I don’t know, Captain. That’s
what I’m trying to tell you. Look, I’m grateful to you for what you’ve all
done, how far you’ve come to find me. I would have died many times over if it
hadn’t been for you. I would have probably killed myself out of despair, and
just knowing that you were looking for me gave me hope, kept me alive, kept me
going. But honestly, you’re…you’re not human! You’re an amazing feat of genetic
engineering, yes, and the scientist in me is dying to see what else this new world
has to offer, but…I don’t belong with you. I need to find my people, my own
people, if they exist. If not, then…then maybe it’s just as well that there are
none of us left. Maybe it’s just your turn, that’s all. We had our shot, and
now, you get to have yours…”

Other people. Other Ancestors.

It fell upon him like a cloak
drawn across his shoulders, the weight of responsibility, the burden of
command. Even as Solomon talked, the Captain straightened his posture, quieted
his tail (which had been very restless of late), drew long deep breaths.

He welcomed the heart of Bushido
with every fiber of his being, felt it wash over him, calming him,
strengthening him. His hand closed over the hilt of his sword.

“Solomon,” he said quietly.

“But if there are still some of
us, some remnant of humanity, then it’s my job to find them, to help them, to
teach them not to make the same mistakes we did…”

“Solomon…”

“Before the power went out that
last time, the computer in the Humlander said there were Marine Archives in Turkey,
two in Istanbul, one in
Antalya.
That’s why I’m here. I think I’ve found a boat –“

“
Solomon.”
Not loudly. Never loudly. But with authority. It was the
way of things.

The man closed his mouth,
shoulders sagging. He was exhausted, anxious, frightened at the same time. He
never even noticed the Captain’s hand.

“Sorry, Captain. I’m rambling. Do
you have any ideas?”

The Captain stepped forward. “I
am also sorry, Solomon. I am sorry for you, for what you have been through
since your awakening. For this long quest to find us and the dangers you have
experienced along the way.”

Another step. “I am also sorry
for your people, for the horrible ways they surely died and for the loss of
such knowledge and power from our culture. We learned much from you in the early
days - it is recorded in the journals of the first Dynasties - but Solomon, you
were right. Your people are gone, and they are gone for a very good reason.”

And he slid the long sword from
its sheath.

“And
we
are here, we the people of the Upper Kingdom, and we
are
a people and the Bushido is ours,
and the Way is ours, and the Right to Rule is ours.”

Solomon had not moved. In fact,
his brow was furrowed, as if confused.

“I cannot allow you to discover
if any of your people live. I cannot allow you to awaken any more Ancestors for
these very reasons. Your people are a threat to the Empire, and you Solomon,
even you, are a threat to the Empire.”

“I don’t understand…”

“Your star, your machine, your
‘saddle-light’, killed six of the most important men in our Kingdom. It killed
them while trying to awaken
you.
Did
you expect no repercussions?”

“You…you’re going to kill me?”
His brown eyes were wide in disbelief.

“I am the Captain of the Queen’s
Guard. I serve a glorious Empire and a glorious Empress. She has given me
orders, and I must follow those orders, regardless of my feelings for you.” He
held the blade wide, one hand on hilt, the other flexing the point. “It is an
honorable death. You will feel nothing.”

“You can’t kill me…” Disbelief
still.

“But I can, Solomon. And I must.
And there will be no more talk of Ancestors in this land or in any other and
our lives will return to normal, as if you had never existed. It is the way
things must be. Is this so difficult to understand?”

“Is what so difficult to understand?”
came a voice and Kirin froze as Kerris ambled between the trees and into the
moonlight.

***

“Lord.”

The Leader opened his brown eyes.

“Lord, a scout has confirmed
campfires. We have them.”

“Which party? Sorcerors or
lions?”

“Unknown, Lord. But cats.”

“Strike the gars. We move
tonight.”

He rolled out of his skins and
was out of the tent in a heartbeat.

***

“Kerris.” The Captain’s tail
lashed once.

“The horses are ready, Kirin. If
we’re going anywhere, we should go now.”

“Yes, Kerris, just give us a
moment.”

The grey lion strolled up beside
Solomon, smile wide, eyes dancing. He glanced at the Ancestor, the look of
panic on his face, then back at his brother and the katanah bared between them.

“So, what is it, then, that is so
difficult to understand?”

“Nothing, Kerris. Please leave
us.”

“No,” said Solomon, grabbing
Kerris’ sleeve. “I would prefer it if you didn’t.”

“Kerris, for once, will you just
do as I ask?”

Kerris cocked his head. “You’re
not keeping more secrets, are you, Kirin?”

“I think he’s going to kill me,”
said Solomon. “And I don’t think I like that idea very much.”

Kerris turned his smile on his
brother. “Kirin is not going to kill you, Solomon. Are you, Kirin?”

“Kerris, I’ve asked you to leave.
Please leave.”

Kerris took a step toward his
brother. “You’re not going to kill him, Kirin. Tell me that you’re not going to
kill him.”

“Kerris…”

“Now what could possibly be
accomplished by killing an Ancestor. Has Lyn-ling asked this of you as
punishment for killing the Seers of
Sha’Hadin?
For that I could see. She has claws, that little one does. Does she know what
Solomon is, Kirin? Have you given her all the information? Or did you choose to
keep her in the dark as well?”

The Captain grew cold. “Kerris,
step out of the way.”

“Is that an honorable thing to
do, Kirin? Keep the truth all to yourself so that you can be the judge, the
magistrate, the ‘Captain’, giving your orders to everyone else but making up
the rules as you go?”

Then hot. “Kerris, move out of
the way.”

Kerris took another step. “Is
this the Way of the Warrior, Kirin? Killing a man who hasn’t even claws to
defend himself? You will not win her love that way, Kirin. There is no honor in
that. Besides, she is marrying another by the New Year –“

“Enough!” White hot now, and
Kirin brought the blade up to Kerris’ throat. “You will not speak of the
Empress anymore!”

Kerris leaned forward and into
the blade, his smile unnaturally bright. “Why? Will you kill me too?”

With a loud snarl, the Captain
shoved his brother away. “Why are you like this, Kerris? You are always pushing
me. Pushing, pushing, pushing. You never listen to anyone, you never respect
anyone. You are lawless, reckless and you have no honor.”

There. He had said it. He had
just crossed a line, he knew it full well, but he believed it and it felt so
good to finally say it.

And it stung, he could tell.
Kerris winced as if whipped. But as he straightened, his eyes grew hard.

“You are right, brother. I have
no honor. You always had so much more of it than anyone. I suppose I never felt
the need.”

Kirin sighed, lowered the sword.
“There is no life worth living apart from honor. I must kill this man because
the Empress has willed it and I obey. It is the way of things. It is
my
way.”

“Right now, Kirin, your way is
wrong.”

“Leave Kerris, or be witness. I
will allow nothing less.”

Kerris stared at his brother,
then stepped slowly, deliberately and directly in front of Solomon.

Kirin felt dizzy, felt his
control slipping away. It was not supposed to be like this.
There was no honor in any of this.

“Please, Kerris. Please, move.”

Kerris shook his grey head. “No,
Kirin. I will not.”

Kirin felt tears spring into his
eyes. “Please, do not make me do this…”

“Do it. I make you.”

He raised the sword. “Kerris…”

“You have wanted to do it since
we were children, ever since you were old enough to realize what having a
brother like me meant for our family. You have wanted to do it ever since I
called the lightning and killed our father and brought dishonor on our house.
You have wanted to do it since I first got drunk and lost the family crest in a
barfight. You have wanted to do it since I bedded woman after woman, bringing
shame upon shame on the name Wynegarde-Grey. You have wanted to do it time and
time again, even when I traveled east and found myself in the company of those
damned
Chi’Chen
and cost the Kingdom
great parcels of land for peace. But land is worth far more than peace, isn’t
it? So do it, Kirin. Muster up some courage for a change and finally do
something that you’ve always wanted to do.”

Kirin couldn’t help it. The tears
spilled down his cheeks of their own accord.

“Why do you do this, Kerris?” he
whispered. “Why can you not at least try?”

“Try? Why do I not
try?”
Now it was Kerris’ turn for tears
to make tracks in his grey face. “All my life, that is all I have ever done.
Try. Try, try and try some more. It’s never been enough. I could never be gold
enough. Not for Father, not even for Mummie, certainly not for you. Never gold
enough for you.”

“It has nothing to do with your
pelt,” Kirin snapped. “You rejected Father’s ways. You rejected the family’s
ways! You rejected the Bushido—“

“There
is
no Bushido!”

“Kerris, stop that!”

“I say it again – there is
no Bushido. It is a lie you have created for yourself and others to stay dead
and be proud of it. It is a lie. It is a life of chains.”

“I said stop!”

“There is
no
Bushido!”

“No more!”

“I
spit
on your Bushido!”

The sword moved of its own free
will, wavering at the first talk of Bushido, but flashing now, causing the
Captain to lunge forward in following it, and it sliced the darkness in front
of his brother, the tearing sound muffled only by the roar torn from his own
throat.

Snapping, the pendants dropped to
the ground like rain.

He stepped backwards, an odd
sinking sensation washing down from his ears. The sword felt incredibly heavy
in his hands.

Kerris also stepped back, as the
pale moonlight caught a glint of something stretching like a river from
shoulder to hip.

“What have you done?” It was the
tigress, and he turned to see the Major and the Seer as well, standing behind
him, faces darkened in shadow. They looked as though they had been standing a
long time.

“What have you done?!”

And she rushed past the Captain,
catching the grey lion as he sank to his knees, clutching at the river now a
pool, and growing wider across his chest.

The Seer was staring at him.

The Major was staring at him.

The Ancestor was staring at him.

The Bushido was gone. The Bushido
had fled.

The Captain dropped his sword and
did likewise.

***

There was a double ring of fire
around the tents and the pack surrounded it threefold. There were enough of
them to tear this company to pieces if they chose to do so, but they would wait
on the order of the Leader. These were Sorcerors. The dogs were frightened of them.

Figures could be made behind the
flames and long black cloaks swept the ground where they stood. One stepped
forward and the fire disappeared as he passed through, only to relight itself
behind his feet. The pack shifted as he approached the Leader, stopped an arm’s
length away. They were equal in height, the Leader and this Alchemist, and it
was a reminder to them all that some cats were as large as dogs, if not more
so. They were all formidable.

The cat reached up and removed
his hood. His face was as white as the moon and striped. For many of the pack,
it was the first time seeing their enemy so close. Their faces, shorter,
smoother. Their noses smaller. But it was the eyes, those accursed light eyes,
like stars, like the sun in the sky or the sky itself, not dark like earth or
wood or stone. Truly, they were an unnatural people.

“I am Jet barraDunne, First Mage
of
Agara’tha.”
The man inclined his
head, but did not bow. “You are Gansuhk Rush?”

The Leader raised a brow. “You
speak the language of the People.”

“I speak many languages, lord. It
is a useful skill.”

The Leader nodded. “Yes, I am
Rush, Commander of the 112
^th
Legion under Khan Baitsukhan.”

“He is Third Khan, yes?”

“Yes.”

barraDunne smiled and the Leader
shivered at the sight. “Perhaps, when we are done, there will be a fourth?”

Rush grunted. That was the idea.

The cat turned slightly, gestured
back into the double rings. “If it pleases you, we can discuss matters inside,
where it is warm. I’m afraid I’m useless without a cup of tea.”

“Tea is for old women.”

“I have sakeh and
Shyrian
Arak if you’d prefer.”

 
He grunted again, and
followed the Alchemist through the flames and they talked until the first light
of dawn.