The Daylight War (105 page)

Both women nodded immediately. ‘It is, Uncle.’

‘Think well on this,’ Jardir said. ‘Your lives will change forever if you take the spear. You may look upon the
Sharum
and see only the excesses they are allowed, but those excesses come at a heavy price. There is glory in the night, but there is also pain and loss. Blood and sacrifice. You will see horrors to haunt you, awake and asleep.’

The women nodded, but he went on. ‘It will be even harder on you than on men. The male
Sharum
will expect you to be
weak, and will not wish to heed your commands. You will be
challenged, and have to be twice the fighters your male
zahven
are until you have their respect. This will not be easy, and I cannot help you there. If men fear to strike you only because they fear me, they will not respect you.’

Ashia looked up at him. ‘I have always known Everam had a different path for me than He did your daughters. Now, having stood in the night, I know. If I shame my husband, then dissolve our union that he may find a worthier
Jiwah
Ka
. I was meant to die on
alagai
talons.’

Shanvah nodded, taking Ashia’s hand as the morning’s first sunbeam came in through the windows. ‘On
alagai
talons.’

You
will
gain
warriors
in
the
night
,
Inevera had said,
but
lose
others
on
the
morrow
. But what did it mean? Did it mean he would refuse them? Or that his men would rebel at the thought of fighting alongside women?

He shook his head. They said the same thing when he made the
kha’Sharum
. Now those men served him with honour. He would not lose warriors by choice. He’d hated the shameful way his mother was treated when he was a child, with no man to speak for her. He had been terrified that he would die, too, and his sisters be claimed by the local
dama
and sold as
jiwah’Sharum
.

Jardir cast his gaze over the court. ‘I do not wish to make women fight, but Sharak Ka is nigh, and I will not turn away those who choose to. Kaji may have forbidden women the spear, but the first Deliverer had an army of millions. I do not, but must fight the same war.’ He pointed to the kneeling young women with the Spear of Kaji. ‘I name you
kai’Sharum’ting
.’

Kajivah wailed.

‘Holy Father,’ Asome said. ‘If my
jiwah
thinks nothing of her vows to me, then I ask you divorce us now, as she suggests.’

Ashan looked at Asome sharply. The union between Ashan’s daughter and Ahmann’s son strengthened the ties between their families, and it would be a loss of face for them to be severed.

‘No,’ Jardir said. ‘You and my niece declared your vows before Everam, and I will not let you go back on them. She remains your
Jiwah
Ka
,
and you will not deny her time with young Kaji. A son needs his mother.’

‘So now my granddaughters go to
alagai’sharak
each night?’ Kajivah demanded.

‘It need not be so,’ Inevera offered.

Kajivah stared at her in shock. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Many of the
dama
have personal guards,
Sharum
only called to
alagai’sharak
on Wanings,’ Inevera said. ‘If it pleases my honoured husband, I will take them as such.’ Jardir gave her a slight nod, and did not need to see her aura to know the sense of satisfaction had returned to his wife.

‘Even on Wanings, it will be a mistake to let them join the front lines,’ Asome said. ‘They will distract men whose attention needs to be in front of them.’

‘My warriors will learn to adapt,’ Jardir said, though he knew it was not quite so simple.

Asome nodded. ‘Perhaps. But is it a lesson you wish to begin while Alagai Ka stalks the land?’

Jardir pursed his lips. ‘No,’ he said at last. ‘I do not know what is coming with the new moon, and it is not the time to force change.’

Asome smirked at the small victory. ‘But that goes for the
dama
,
as well,’ Jardir said.

Asome’s eyes widened just slightly. ‘Eh?’

‘Everam’s Bounty would fall into chaos without the
dama
,
’ Jardir said. ‘And so I will not risk you on Waning until I know what we are facing each month. You may join your mother and wife in the underpalace come the new moon.’

Jayan stifled his laugh, but not enough for it to escape his brother’s ears.

Be
careful, husband
,
Inevera thought as she watched Ahmann and Asome face off.
He
is
still
your
son, and he has his pride.

Thankfully, their staring was broken by a commotion at the door. Inevera saw a lone
Sharum
striding into the hall. He looked thin and haggard, his blacks filthy with mud, and he stank. She could smell him from across the room.

The warrior planted his spear and fell to one knee before the Skull Throne. ‘Shar’Dama Ka, I bring urgent missive from your first daughter, holy Amanvah.’

Ahmann nodded. ‘Ghilan asu Fahkin, is it not? You were sent north to guard Mistress Leesha’s caravan. What has happened? Are my daughter and intended safe?’

Intended
. The word cut at Inevera, even now.

‘Both were safe when I left them, Deliverer,’ the warrior said, ‘but they appeared to have had a … conflict.’

‘What kind of conflict?’ Ahmann demanded.

Ghilan shook his head. ‘I do not know, but I believe the holy daughter’s letter will say.’ He held up a small scroll, sealed in wax.

Ahmann nodded and motioned for Shanjat to take the letter. Shanjat was Ghilan’s
kai
,
but still the warrior leapt to his feet, backing away.

‘What is the meaning of this?’ Ahmann said.

‘The holy daughter made me take an oath, Shar’Dama Ka, to put the letter into your hand and no other,’ Ghilan said.

Ahmann nodded, motioning the man forward. Ghilan sprinted up the steps, falling to one knee again when he was in reach. He kept his eyes down as he handed Ahmann the letter. His voice was low, so only Ahmann and Inevera could hear. ‘I will say this, Deliverer. By her own admission, Mistress Leesha poisoned me to prevent my reaching you.’

‘She was bluffing,’ Ahmann said.

The young
Sharum
shook his head. ‘Your pardon, Deliverer, but she was not. After two days I began to weaken. On the third, I fell from my horse and lay for hours, waiting for death.’

‘How did you survive?’ Inevera asked.

The
Sharum
bowed to her. ‘Night was falling, Damajah, and I thought it better to die on
alagai
talons than lying in the dirt, my strength sapped by a woman’s poison.’

Ahmann nodded. ‘Your heart is that of a true
Sharum,
Ghilan asu Fahkin. What happened then?’

‘I barely had strength to stand,’ Ghilan said, ‘but I hid myself well and bided my time, waiting for a fool
alagai
to venture too close. After some time, a field demon came by, attempting to track my scent. When it drew up to my hiding place, I struck hard.’

‘And grew stronger,’ Inevera guessed.

Ghilan nodded. ‘The blessings of Everam come to those who kill the creatures of Nie. My horse fled, I hunted for the next two nights before my strength was restored. I apologize for the delay, but I have come as quickly as I was able.’

Ahmann put a hand on the man’s shoulder. ‘I am proud of you, Ghilan asu Fahkin. Know that your honour is boundless. Go now to the great harem and have the
jiwah’Sharum
bathe you and comfort you into a well-needed sleep.’

The warrior nodded, leaving the room as quickly as he entered. Ahmann opened the letter, read it, and passed it to Inevera.

‘Husband, I am sorry,’ she said as she scanned the contents, ‘but I did warn you.’

‘Once again your dice have proven true,’ Ahmann said. ‘I gained two
Sharum’ting
in the night, and lost the warriors of the Hollow come morning.’

‘I take no pleasure in it, beloved,’ she said, but it was not entirely true. ‘If it is any consolation, you cannot truly lose what you never had.’

Ahmann shook his head sadly. ‘It is no consolation, wife.’

Inevera moved the stone covering one of the many hidden nooks in her Chamber of Shadows. There was a small box, warded for cold and powered by a demon bone core. A thin rime of frost covered its surface.

Inevera opened the cloth and removed the stiff bit of silk from within. It was precious, but with her dice restored and Mistress Leesha discredited at last, it was time to finally cast the bones for the Northern witch.

The silk was one of Inevera’s many kerchiefs, this one used to daub the blood Leesha had lost during their fight in Inevera’s pillow chamber. She carefully cut out the bits of bloodied silk, tossing them into a small bowl of steaming liquid. When blood had been fully leached, she poured the mixture over her dice and shook.

‘Almighty Everam,’ she prayed, ‘give me knowledge of Leesha, daughter of Erny, of the Paper family of the Hollow tribe.’ With a final shake, she cast the dice before her.

And gaped.

– She is your
zahven
,
and carries a child.—

‘H
ow does it work?’ Jardir asked, staring in fascination at the Skull Throne, now sheathed in electrum. She had drawn the thick curtains in the throne room, allowing his crownsight though sunset was still an hour away. He could see the steady stream of power the throne radiated in every direction. Its centre shone hot with concentrated magic, like a miniature sun.

‘Your throne now projects a—’ Inevera began.

‘—warding field,’ Jardir finished for her. ‘Not even the princes of Nie will be able to approach my seat …’ He turned, following the path of the magic, looking through the great stone walls as easily as one might look through glass. ‘… for miles.’

It was truly amazing. The Crown of Kaji could repel
alagai
as well. Jardir had mastered its power in recent weeks, learning to extend the protection far beyond his physical reach. No
alagai
could approach within a quarter mile of him, but that he willed it. He could protect an army on the field, but this, this protected the entire inner city and beyond. The demons might strike at his walls, even knock them down, but they would never get past them.

He looked back at Inevera, his mouth curling in a smile. ‘I did not ask what it did, beloved. I asked how it worked.’

Inevera’s aura flushed with shock, and then disappointment that she would not be able to parade around the marvel she had made, revealing its power to him in teasing bits.

Let
her
have
the
moment
next
time
,
he chided himself.
With
this
gift, she has earned it a thousandfold.