Battle Magic (54 page)

Luvo had been rocking back and forth on his stubby feet as everyone talked. Now he turned to the peak spider. “I thank you, but no,” he said with his usual courtesy. “You do not need to return me to Kangri Skad Po.”

“I beg your pardon?” Rosethorn asked.

Luvo made a humming sound full of rises and falls. The spider crouched low to the ground, then rose to the top of its toes. Luvo hummed louder and deeper, then turned toward Rosethorn. “If you will permit, Rosethorn, I wish to journey to this Emelan with you.” He turned his head knob toward the mountains. “No, my brothers and sisters!” His voice thundered against the rocky heights all around them. Everyone covered her or his ears. “That
you
have never gone forth does not mean I should not do it! My mountain is fine! Its waters and plants and creatures will do nicely without me, and I will wander where I choose!”

By the time he had finished, all of those near him but Evvy had moved away and were using their forearms to put as much flesh as they could between their ears and his thundering voice as it echoed in the pass. Evvy was crying. “You don’t have to do this,” she told the creature who had made her feel safe in those ugly hours after she fled her torturers. “You don’t have to leave your only home.”

Luvo turned his head knob up to her. “I have seen how your education goes, Evumeimei,” he said quietly. “It is well enough, but I can teach you other things. And I do not wish to sleep eternity away. I wish to see more. You and Briar and Rosethorn, and your friends, among you I have felt more awake than I have felt
since the first humans came to Gyongxe. I wish to stay awake with you.”

“Well, if that’s settled, we still need to go.” Rosethorn opened a bag on one of the horses and pulled out some of the scarves the God-King had given them. “Will you ride a packhorse or with Evvy?”

“I will ride with Evumeimei for a time,” Luvo said.

Rosethorn and Briar quickly wound scarves around Evvy and Luvo until the living stone was tucked and secure in front of the girl.

Jimut handed Evvy the reins. “Give my greetings to the river goddess when you reach Kombanpur,” he told Briar. They clasped hands.

“I will,” Briar said. He bowed to Parahan and Souda and rode to Rosethorn, taking the lead rein for their string of packhorses from her.

Evvy waved as the twins and Jimut turned to gallop back to the main road to Garmashing. She waited until they were out of her view before she leaned over and spat on the earth of Gyongxe. “Pass that on to Yanjing, if you’d be so good,” she whispered to the gods of the realm. “I know at least a couple of you are listening.” She looked ahead. “C’mon, Luvo. Any place that gave us Briar and Rosethorn has to be interesting.”

“I look forward to it,” the heart of the mountain said.

“I look forward to going
home
,” Briar said. “Home! My sisters, and Lark, and a city where winter means rain and wool clothes, not furs!”

“Our garden,” Rosethorn added. “Winding Circle temple. The
sea
.”

“I have not been near the sea in a long time,” Luvo said. “It must have changed very much.”

“You will have to tell us,” Briar replied. “And the Kanpoja River will take us there.”

They set off at a trot, the road clear ahead of them.

abatis(es)
∼ branch(es) or X-shaped log structure(s) set in ditches with sharpened point facing outward; an obstacle

Alion
∼ province where Winter Palace is located

bag(s)
∼ Briar’s slang, moneybag(s)

baita
∼ home-away-from-home, a Yanjingyi temple in a foreign land

Banpuri
∼ language of Kombanpur and its neighbors

bleat-brain
∼ Imperial slang for someone stupid

caravansary
∼ an inn with a large courtyard that provides accommodation for caravans

cave snake
∼ a creation of the mountains from human bone in the beginning: a skull with a body that is all vertebrae; they now breed on their own

Chammur
∼ Evvy’s most recent home in eastern Sotat

Chammuri
∼ dialect of Chammur

chetu
∼ toad spit in
tiyon

company
∼ (of soldiers) 100 fighters

cuirass
∼ piece of armor that protects the chest and back

damohi
∼ homosexual in Trader-talk

deep runner
∼ a creation of the mountains, horse-like, with an eagle’s head, golden beak, thin legs, and metal hooves

Drimbakangs
∼ tallest mountains in the world

Lho
∼ longer arm of Drimbakang mountains south of Gyongxe

Sharlog
∼ arm of Drimbakang mountains in southeast of Gyongxe

Zugu
∼ “finger” of Drimbakang mountains, reaching from Lho around Garmashing

emchi
∼ mage in Gyongxin

flank
∼ the right or left side of a military formation

fluorite
∼ a transparent crystal that comes in many colors, in this case clear, dark green, and purple

frog
∼ braid loop-and-knot fastening

Garmashing
∼ capital of Gyongxe

get
∼ child

gilav
∼ head of Trader caravan

greaves
∼ leg armor worn below each knee

halberd
∼ long spear with a broad blade that can be used to chop as well as stab

Hanjian
∼ port city on Storm Dragons Ocean, southeastern Yanjing

Heibei
∼ Yanjingyi god of luck

Imperial
∼ language common to the countries around the Pebbled Sea, all part of the Kurchal empire before its fall; home language for Briar and Rosethorn

infantry
∼ foot soldiers

Inxia
∼ kingdom to immediate north of Yanjing

Kajura
∼ nation to south and west of Kombanpur

Kanzan
∼ Yanjingyi goddess of healing

kaq
∼ Trader-talk slang, someone useless, non-Trader; an obscene term

knap
∼ to chip stone with sharp blows, as when shaping flint or obsidian to form an edge

Kombanpur
∼ Parahan’s home in the Realms of the Sun, to the south and west of Gyongxe and Yanjing

Lailan
∼ Chammuran goddess of water, mercy, and healing

Lakik
∼ Briar’s trickster god

La Ni Ma
∼ southern Gyongxe sun goddess

Ganas Rigyal Po, Snow King (southeast husband)

Ganas Gazig Rigyal Po, Snow Leopard King (west)

Kangri Skad Po, Talking Snow Mountain King (middle)

lathe
∼ the arch or bow part of a crossbow

Long
∼ present ruling dynasty of Yanjing, also Yanjingyi term for dragon

lugshai
∼ craftspeople, Trader-talk

mage
∼ someone who has received formal training in the use of magic at a school or through a succession of teachers who are trained by schools

midday
∼ lunch

Mila
∼ Living Circle goddess of the earth and growing things

mimander
∼ Trader mage

Mohun
∼ Chammuran god of silence, stone, dark and secret places

momo
∼ Gyongxin dumpling with various stuffings

nanshur
∼ mage in
tiyon

neb
∼ Briar’s slang for “nose”

Ningzhou
∼ language of Yanjingyi imperial court

numia
∼ Banpuri for “little sister”

pahan
∼ Chammuri for “teacher,” “mage”

palanquin
∼ covered and enclosed platform chair with cushions, set on rods front and back, used to carry people

pipa
∼ four-stringed musical instrument; strings are plucked with a plectrum, or pick

prebu
∼ Banpuri for “master/mage”

puissant ∼ powerful, mighty

Qayan
∼ kingdom to north of Yanjing

qi
∼ (kee) Yanjingyi court dialect for power, magic

qus
∼ Zhanzhi (Evvy’s birth dialect) for “maggots”

Raiya
∼ Kombanpur goddess of mercy and kindness

Realms of the Sun
∼ lands, including Kombanpur, south and west of the Drimbakang mountains

regular(s)
∼ regular army, professionally trained soldiers, not recent volunteers or those recently drafted to fight

semjen
∼ Gyongxin for “animals”

sep(s)
∼ Banpuri for “louse (lice)”

Shaihun
∼ Chammuran god of desert, winds, sandstorms, serious mischief and destruction

shakkan
∼ miniature tree formed like an elongated S pointing to the right of viewer

shaman
∼ someone from a tribal society who is a medium between the real world and the spirit world and who also does magic; in the tribes between eastern Sotat and Yanjing, shamans practice magic in groups, often by dancing

Storm Dragons Ocean
∼ ocean to the east of Yanjing

takamer
∼ Chammuri, rich person

tiyon
∼ common language spoken between eastern Laenpa to the Storm Dragons Ocean, and from the Sea of Grass to the southern Realms of the Sun

waigar
∼ foreigner in
tiyon

Yithung
∼ kingdom to far northeast of Yanjing

yujinon
∼ rotters, lowlifes, incompetents (Chammuri)

zadan
∼ bomb

zayao
∼ explosive powder

zernamus(es)
∼ Chamurri slang: tick-like parasite

Zhanzhi
∼ Evvy’s home province

Zhanzhou
∼ language of Evvy’s home province

Thanks to my Scholastic editors Anamika Bhatnagar, who got things rolling, and Kate Egan, who saw it through, and the wonderful Scholastic gang, including the Boss, David Levithan, and Emily Seife, our concertmistress.

Thanks and sorrow to Judy Gerjuoy, who did research on historical China, including menus, for me, and couldn’t stick around to read the end result.

To the Sunday night Bollywood gang: Bruce, Kathy, Cynthia, Tim, Craig, Catherine, Julie, and Cara, because of the characters and actors and just plain relaxing fun.