The Desert Spear (16 page)

'So I am never to know a woman'' Jardir asked. 'What kind of life is that for a man''

'Don't exaggerate,' the
dama'ting
said. 'You may still take wives. I will cast the bones to find ones suitable for you.'

'Why would you do this'' Jardir asked.

'My reasons are my own,' the
dama'ting
said.

'And the price'' Jardir asked. The tales in the Evejah always spoke of a hidden price for those who would use
hora
magic for more than
sharak.

'Ah,' the
dama'ting
said. 'No longer so innocent as you seem. That is good. The price is that you take me to wife.'

Jardir froze. His face went cold. Take her as his wife' Unthinkable. She terrified him.

'I did not know
dama'ting
could marry,' he said, fumbling for time as his mind reeled.

'We can, when we wish it,' she said. 'The first
dama'ting
were the Deliverer's wives.'

Jardir looked at her again, the thick white robes hiding every contour and curve of her body. Her headwrap covered every hair, and the opaque veil was drawn high over her nose, muffling even her voice. Only her eyes could be seen, bright and full of zeal. There was something familiar about them, but he could not even guess at her age, much less her beauty. Was she a virgin' Of good family' There was no way to know.
Dama'ting
were taken from their mothers early and raised in secret.

'It is a man's right to see a woman's face before he agrees to marry her,' he said.

'Not this time,' the
dama'ting
said. 'It matters not if my beauty moves you, or if my womb is fertile. Your future swirls with hidden knives. I will be your
Jiwah Ka,
or you will spend your days looking for them without my foretellings to aid you.'

Jiwah Ka.
She didn't just want to marry him, she wanted to be first among his wives. A
Jiwah Ka
had the right to vet and refuse any
Jiwah Sen,
subsequent wives, all of whom would be subservient to her. She would have absolute control of his household and children, second only to him, and Jardir was not fool enough to think she didn't intend to control him as well.

But could he afford to refuse' He feared no challenger face-to-face, but war was deception, as Khevat had taught him, and not all men fought their enemies with spear and fist. A poisoned drink, or blade in the back, and he could still go to Everam with little glory to buy his way into Heaven, and none to spare his mother and sisters.

And Sharak Ka was coming.

'You ask that I give everything to you,' he said thickly, his mouth gone dry.

The
dama'ting
shook her head. 'I leave you
sharak,
' she said. 'That is all a
Sharum
need concern himself with.'

Jardir stared at her for a long time. Finally, he nodded his assent.

The
dama'ting
wasted no time once the agreement was made. Before a week was through, Jardir found himself before Dama Khevat, watching as she made her vows.

Jardir looked into the
dama'ting
's eyes. Who was she' Was she older than his mother' Young enough to give him sons' What would he find when they retired to the marriage bed'

'I offer you myself in marriage in accordance with the instructions of the Evejah,' she said, 'as set down by Kaji, Spear of Everam, who sits at the foot of Everam's table until he is reborn in the time of Sharak Ka. I pledge, with honesty and in sincerity, to be for you an obedient and faithful wife.'

Does she mean those words,
Jardir wondered,
or is this just a new way to control my life, now that I wear the black'

Khevat turned to him. Jardir started, fumbling for his vow. 'I swear before Everam,' he said, forcing the words out, 'Creator of all that is, and before Kaji, the Shar'Dama Ka, to take you into my home, and to be a fair and tolerant husband.'

'Do you accept this
dama'ting
as your
Jiwah Ka
'' Khevat asked, and something in his tone reminded Jardir of the
dama's
words when Jardir first asked him to perform the ceremony.

Are you sure you wish to do this'
Khevat had asked.
A
dama'ting
is no ordinary wife you can order about, or beat when she is disobedient.

Jardir swallowed. Was he sure'

'I do,' he said thickly, and the assembled
dal'Sharum
gave a great shout, clattering their spears against their shields. His mother, Kajivah, clutched at his young sisters, all of them weeping in pride.

Jardir could feel his heart pounding, and part of him wished he was in the Maze, dancing
alagai'sharak,
rather than the dimly lit, pillowed chamber they retired to.

'Do not fear,
alagai'sharak
shall still be there tomorrow!' Shanjat had laughed. 'You fight a different kind of battle tonight!'

'You seem ill at ease,' the
dama'ting
said as she drew the heavy curtains behind them.

'Should I be another way'' Jardir asked bitterly. 'You are my
Jiwah Ka,
and I do not even know your name.'

The
dama'ting
laughed, the first time he had ever heard her do such. It was a beautiful, tinkling sound. 'Do you not'' she asked, slipping off her veil and headwrap. His eyes widened, but it was not at the youth and beauty he saw.

He did indeed know her.

'Inevera,' he breathed, remembering the
nie'dama'ting
who had spoken to him in the pavilion so many years ago.

She nodded, smiling at him, more beautiful than he had ever dared to dream.

'The night we met,' Inevera said, 'I finished carving my first
alagai hora.
It was fate; Everam's will, like my name. The demon bones are carved in utter darkness, by feel alone. It can take weeks to carve a single die; years to complete a set. And only then, when the set is complete, can they be tested. If they fail, they are exposed to light, and the carving must begin anew. If they succeed, then
nie'dama'ting
becomes
dama'ting,
and we don our veil.

'On that night, I finished my set and needed a question to ask. A test to see if the dice held the power of fate. But what question' Then I remembered the boy I had met that day, with the bold eyes and brash manner, and as I shook the demon dice, I asked, 'Will I ever see Ahmann Jardir again''

'And from that night on,' she said, 'I knew I would find you in the Maze after your first
alagai'sharak,
and more, that I would marry you and bear you many children.'

With that, she shrugged her shoulders, and her white robes fell away. Jardir had feared this moment, but as the flickering light caught her naked form, his body began to respond, and he knew that he would pass this last test of manhood as he had all the others before it.

'Jardir, you will take your men to the tenth layer,' the Sharum Ka said.

It was a fool's decision. Three years after he had donned the white veil, every
kai'Sharum
assembled knew that Jardir's unit was the fiercest and best trained in all of Krasia. Jardir pressed his men hard, but the
dal'Sharum
gloried in it, their kill counts exceeding any three other units combined. They were wasted in the tenth layer. It was unheard of for the
alagai
to penetrate the Maze so deeply.

The Sharum Ka sneered at Jardir, daring dissent, but Jardir embraced the dishonor and let it pass through him. 'As the Sharum Ka commands,' he said, bowing low from his pillow to touch his forehead to the thick carpet of the First Warrior's audience room. As he sat back up, his face was serene despite his disgust at the man before him. The Sharum Ka was supposed to be the strongest warrior in the city. This man was anything but. His hair was streaked with gray, his face deeply wrinkled like a
Damaji's.
It had been long years since he had stood in the Maze, and it showed in a belly gone to fat. The First Warrior was supposed to lead the charge in
alagai'sharak
and inspire the men to glory, not conduct the war from behind his palace walls.

But for all that, so long as he wore the white turban, his will in the night was inviolate.

Dama Ashan, his unit's cleric, and his lieutenants, Hasik and Shanjat, were waiting outside the Sharum Ka's palace to escort Jardir back to the Kaji pavilion. He was only a
kai'Sharum,
but there had already been attempts on his life from jealous rivals, even within his own tribe. The Sharum Ka would not live forever, and with the Andrah having come from the Kaji tribe, it was all but certain one of the Kaji
kai'Sharum
would be appointed to take his place. Jardir stood in the way of many older
kai'Sharum's
hopes of ascension.

The three men were never far from his side ever since Inevera had arranged marriages between them and Jardir's sisters. Imisandre, Hoshvah, and Hanya had been in rags when Jardir left Sharik Hora three years ago, but now they were
Jiwah Ka
to his most trusted lieutenants, and had borne nephews and nieces to strengthen those loyalties.

'Our orders'' Shanjat asked.

'Tenth layer,' Jardir said.

Hasik spat in the dust. 'The Sharum Ka insults you!'

'Calm yourself, Hasik,' Jardir said softly, and the big warrior immediately quieted. 'Embrace the insult and it will pass through you, allowing you to see Everam's path.'

Hasik nodded, falling in behind Jardir as he strode away from the palace. Hasik had returned from the
dama'ting
pavilion a changed man three years ago. He was still one of the Kaji's fiercest warriors, but like a wolf brought to heel, he had given his loyalty fully to Jardir'the only way to preserve his honor after the humiliating defeat.

'The Sharum Ka fears you,' Ashan advised. 'As he should. If you continue to gather all the glory, the Andrah may tire of having a weak old man commanding his forces and allow you to challenge him to single combat.'

'And seconds after he shouts 'begin,' we will have a new First Warrior,' Shanjat said.

'That isn't going to happen,' Jardir said. 'The Andrah and Sharum Ka are friends from of old. The Andrah will not betray his loyal servant even if the
Damaji
themselves demand it.'

'So what do we do'' Hasik asked.

'You go home to my sister and thank her for the meal she has no doubt prepared you,' Jardir said. 'And when night falls, we go to the tenth layer and pray that Everam sends us
alagai
to show the sun.'

As always, Inevera was waiting for him when he reached his quarters in the Kaji palace. Her robe was lowered to uncover the breast where his daughter Anjha suckled. Jardir's sons, Jayan and Asome, clung to her robes, young and strong.

Jardir knelt and spread his arms, and the boys fell into them, laughing as he lifted them high. He set them back down, and they ran back to their mother. The sight of his sons pricked at his serenity for a moment before he could embrace the feeling. It wasn't just his reputation the Sharum Ka sullied. It was theirs, as well.

'Something troubles you, my husband'' Inevera asked.

'It is nothing,' Jardir said, but Inevera clicked her tongue at him.

'I am your
Jiwah Ka,
' she said. 'You need not embrace your feelings with me.'

Jardir looked at her and let the tight lashes of his control ease.

'The Sharum Ka sends me to the tenth layer tonight,' he spat. 'How many warriors will he lose while his best unit guards an empty layer''

'It is a good sign, husband,' Inevera said. 'It means the Sharum Ka fears you and your ambitions.'

'What good is that,' Jardir said, 'if he robs me of every future glory''

'He cannot be allowed to do that,' Inevera agreed. 'You must find glory in the Maze now more than ever. The bones tell me the First Warrior is not long for this world. Your glory must outshine all others when he goes to Everam, if you are to take his place.'

'How am I to do that waving my spear at empty air'' Jardir growled.

Inevera shrugged. '
Sharak
is yours. You must find a way.'

Jardir grunted, nodding. She was right, of course. There were some things even a
dama'ting
could not advise upon.

'The sun will not set for hours,' Inevera advised. 'A bout of lovemaking and a short sleep will clear your head.'

Jardir smiled and went to her. 'I will call my mother to take the children.'

But Inevera shook her head, stepping away from his reaching arms. 'Not me. The bones say Everalia is ripe. If you take her from behind with great force, she will bear you a strong son.'

Jardir scowled. Everalia was his third wife. Inevera hadn't even bothered to show her to him before they were betrothed, saying the
Jiwah Sen
was selected for her breeder's hips and the fortune the
alagai hora
cast, not her beauty.

'Always the bones!' Jardir snapped. 'For once I would bed the wife I choose!'

Inevera shrugged. 'Take Thalaja if you prefer,' she said, referring to his more beautiful second wife. 'She is ripe as well. I simply thought you would prefer a son to another daughter.'

Jardir gritted his teeth. She was the one he wanted, but as Khevat had warned, wife or no, Inevera was
dama'ting,
and he could not simply take her the way he would another woman. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again.