The Fire Seer and Her Quradum (2 page)

“Yes, Elder,” said Taya.

“Blessings,” said Elder Bahu. “I’ve ordered a room prepared for you. While we await its readiness, Elder Sisit would like to speak to you about your mission in Hrappa. And Mandir, I’d like you to come with me. We’ve got a situation that requires your attention.”

“What’s the situation?” asked Mandir.

“Come in and refresh yourself, and I’ll explain,” said Elder Bahu.

Taya didn’t like that they were being separated. She glanced at Mandir, who murmured, “I’ll find you afterward,” and headed off, as ordered, with Elder Bahu.

So far, she could see no reason not to obey. Taya followed Elder Sisit into the temple.

∞

As Mandir walked with Elder Bahu through the temple halls, he wondered why he’d been separated from his partner. Was there really a situation that required him specifically, or was that just something the elder had said so that they could speak to Mandir and Taya separately and check to see if their stories were in harmony?

Mandir shook his head—he was being overly suspicious. He and Taya had broken Coalition law in Hrappa. They’d illegally healed blighted banana plants, they’d strong-armed a man into forgiving some loans, and when they’d found the jackal they’d been sent to Hrappa to execute, they’d secretly let her go. But there was no reason the Coalition should suspect them of these crimes. Even if someone had reported them, word could not have arrived at the temple so quickly.

He and Taya had spent a lot of time on the road getting their stories straight so that if they were questioned separately, those stories would agree. He took a deep breath, flexed his fingers, and forced himself to relax. He wasn’t in trouble. Not yet.

Flood and fire, had his shirt ridden up? He fixed it, hoping the elder hadn’t noticed. Mothers above, he must look a fright.

The elder led him upstairs and into a small office. Rakigari was Mandir’s home temple; he’d finished his education here, and he knew its peculiarities well. One was that since the temple was built into the hillside, its rooms on the northern and western sides had no windows; thus the temple could be dark, especially on cloudy days or in the evenings. He’d had to summon fire sometimes, just for light, which could be uncomfortably hot on sultry nights. But the elder’s office was on the south side. It featured a large, square window that overlooked the Lioness. As Mandir took a seat at the elder’s table, he spied the fording place where he and Taya had crossed the river half an hour ago.

He didn’t know Elder Bahu well, since she did not instruct initiates, nor had she been the elder who’d sent him on the Hrappa mission. But he’d heard her speak at ceremonies, and he knew her by sight and reputation. She was an older woman in her forties or fifties, gray haired, plump, and wearing a perfectly positioned headdress—unlike Taya, who seemed incapable of getting hers on straight. He’d heard that Bahu was compassionate but plainspoken, and, in matters of discipline, not someone to be crossed.

Bahu took a seat across from him. “Everything went well in Hrappa?”

“Perfectly well,” said Mandir.

“You found your jackal?”

Mandir nodded. “A banana farmer by the name of Zashkalim isu Ikkarum. We executed him under Coalition authority.”

“And what did you think of the disciple of Isatis?”

“She’s a talented woman.”

“So I’ve heard,” said Elder Bahu. “We need to discuss in detail your Hrappan mission, but now is not the time. I want you back on your horse and riding out no later than tomorrow—”

“Riding where?” asked Mandir.

“To the household of Tufan isu Sarrum.”

Mandir almost yelped his response, but forced his voice to behave. “My
father’s
house?”

“Yes,” said Elder Bahu. “Allow me to explain. We received reports of a boy with magical talent residing in Tufan’s household, so we sent someone to test him. The boy did indeed have the Gift, but he refused to return with our envoy.”

Mandir’s heart galloped in his chest. He’d thought he’d left his father’s house forever. The thought of returning heated the back of his neck. “Why did the boy refuse?”

“He said he didn’t want to join,” said the elder. “And we never force an initiate. Our initiates should
want
to be here—they should see it as a privilege. If someone refuses, we can administer the
kimat
and be done with them. But
kimat
is an irreversible step. I’d like to make one more attempt at persuading him. Since you were raised in that household, you might know this boy personally—”

“What’s his name?”

“Setsi.”

Mandir was relieved. “Don’t know him.”

“Isn’t he likely to be a relative of yours?”

Mandir had a large number of half-brothers, none of whom he had a positive relationship with. Most of them had been sired of women Tufan had abducted and abused. “Very likely.”

“So there’s a blood connection,” said the elder. “That might make a difference in persuading him to join.”

“It won’t. I have many relatives in that house. They all hate me.” During those years he’d lived with Tufan, he’d hated himself too.

“I would like you to try.”

He prayed they were not thinking of sending Taya as well. “Just me?”

“No,” said the elder. “I’m sending you with Eriac, the
ilittum
who did the initial testing.”

Good, he didn’t want Taya within a mile of that compound—nor any woman, for that matter. The thought of being there himself turned his stomach. He wiped his palms on his riding pants. “With respect, Elder, I would rather be sent on another task. Taya and I got along well on our Hrappan mission, and she was going to request that I be her
quradum
on future missions.”

“Any
quradum
can escort the fire seer,” said the elder. “But you are uniquely qualified for this task. No one else can do it.”

“I don’t think I’ll be any more persuasive than Eriac. My history in Tufan’s household may be more of a liability than an asset.”

“I doubt that,” said the elder. “Eriac reported a number of oddities about that household. He said if he went back, he wanted it to be in the company of someone who understood what was going on.”

Mandir swallowed, wishing for a cup of water; his mouth had gone dry. The happenings in Tufan’s household were not
oddities
; they were
depravities
. The best thing to do for that place would be to burn it to the ground. Let Isatis cauterize that festering wound, as she had done to the corrupted city of Zhaerath.

“You disappoint me, Mandir,” said the elder. “I’d have thought you’d have more compassion for this boy. Tufan is an embarrassment to the royal family—it is no secret, we all know. The Coalition removed you from his influence. Are you not grateful that we did? Will you not return the favor for this boy Setsi?”

Mandir dropped his gaze. The elder was right; his compassion was lacking. Neshi had rightfully shamed him for this and all his other faults in character. He was trying to do better, if for no other reason than to be worthy of Taya, whom he loved deeply. But to return to that household and revisit all the terrors of his youth? Even thinking about it filled him with dread.

Elder Bahu gave him a stern look. “You will ride out tomorrow. Thus are you commanded, in the Mothers’ names.”

Mandir nodded numbly. He couldn’t defy the Coalition; they’d punished him once already. But flood and fire, if only they’d send him anywhere else. He’d rather face an army of the mountain tribes than see his family again.

Chapter 2

Taya spent a couple of hours with Elder Sisit, relating all the details of her mission and turning over the tablets she and Mandir had written. The tablets documented, among other things, the fire visions Isatis had granted her in Hrappa. Little of what she and Mandir had written had been precisely accurate; they’d doctored much of it to cover up their illegal behavior. Fortunately, the elder hadn’t seemed suspicious.

Afterward, the elder handed her over to a
kinatum
, who fetched her supper from the kitchen and showed her to a room. “I’m sorry it’s so dark in here,” he said.

“Are there no windows?” Taya had rarely seen a room without windows. One needed them not just for light, but to keep the air circulating.

“It’s because we’re on the north side,” said the
kinatum
. “Beyond the wall is solid stone—you see?”

“I see.”

“It keeps us cool, at least. And you can light the candles.”

He was right; the room felt reasonably cool. Taya flicked her hand, lighting all six candles at once.

The
kinatum
bowed and left.

She settled down to eat her first hot meal since leaving Hrappa—barley and lirry fruit and spiced fish—and wondered when Mandir would be through with his meeting.

He turned up at her door ten minutes later, with his hair damp and his face freshly shaved.

“Took me a while to find you,” he said.

Seeing that he had no supper, Taya shoved her plate toward him. “Want some?”

“I’m not hungry. I might go down to the kitchen later.”

Taya eyed him. Not hungry at suppertime was unusual for Mandir. He looked strained. “How went your meeting with the elder?”

“Well enough.” He pulled up a chair and sat. “She hasn’t talked to me about the Hrappan mission yet. She’s sending me somewhere else.”

“Oh.” Taya perked up. “I didn’t think it’d be so soon. When do we leave?”

“Not both of us,” said Mandir. “Just me.”

Taya set down her spoon. This was unexpected. “I thought we were going to try to be paired together from now on.” So much had been left unsaid. Had he requested a solo mission? Did he
want
to be separated from her?

“I want us to be paired together, but they’re sending me to my father’s house.”

Taya gasped. His father’s house? Where Mandir had been abused as a boy, and inflicted abuse of his own? “And you agreed to go?”

“I’m following orders,” said Mandir. “They tested a boy at my father’s house, and he had the Gift, but he refused to leave with the envoy. So they’re sending me there in hopes that I can persuade him, given that we’re probably brothers or some relation.”

“By yourself?”

Mandir shook his head. “With the envoy.”

Taya stalled by chewing a bite of barley. She sensed that Mandir was trying to appear more confident than he really felt. Any man who’d been through what Mandir had been through would quite reasonably be terrified of returning to his childhood home. But perhaps Mandir didn’t trust her enough yet to allow that fear to show. He wanted to appear strong.

Her relationship with Mandir was still so new and fragile. She didn’t know if it was going to last. They’d slept together every night on the road from Hrappa, but they hadn’t talked yet about where they saw their relationship heading in the longer term.

She’d considered bringing it up while they were on the road, but she hadn’t wanted to risk what they already had. Mandir claimed he’d been in love with her for years, but who knew whether his interest would persist now that he’d actually slept with her and the excitement of their inaugural mission was over? He might have built her up as a fantasy in his mind, one she couldn’t live up to in reality. And there was still a part of her that didn’t fully trust him, either. His changes in behavior might not last. What if he reverted to his old, bullying ways?

A new relationship could be like a new garment: just because it fit and looked wonderful when she first put it on didn’t mean that it wouldn’t itch later, or pull at her in ways that irritated her more and more over time. If the Coalition separated them, she’d be shedding this relationship without ever really knowing whether it suited her. Mandir would go to Tufan’s, and while he was gone, she could be sent somewhere else. Their paths might never cross again.

“Would you like me to go with you?” she asked.

“No,” said Mandir. “But it’s not because I don’t want your company. It’s because I don’t want you near Tufan.”

Taya shrugged. “I’m not scared of Tufan.”

“You should be.”

“Why? I have this.” Taya swept a hand across the table, summoning fire in a swath behind her fingers. It burned and then evaporated into a wisp of smoke.

“Tufan has no magic, but he has the weight of the crown behind him. By the Accords of Let, we have no power to threaten him,” said Mandir. “And his house is a place of depravity. No decent person should see what goes on there.”

“You’re talking to a woman who saw a man burn to death less than two weeks ago.”

Mandir took her hand and squeezed it. “That was hard on you, as I recall.”

She nodded, her eyes welling. Yes, it had been hard.

“Have you ever wondered why I mention my brothers sometimes, but never a sister?” asked Mandir.

Taya blinked. “No, I never thought about that.”

“It’s because Tufan orders his girl children killed at birth.”

Taya swallowed. That was, indeed, rather sobering. “You’re saying that as nasty as he is to men and boys, he’s worse to women and girls?”

“Yes.”

“He still can’t touch me. The Accords of Let that protect him from us also protect us from him. But perhaps you are thinking...” She hesitated, and then forced out the words. “Perhaps you are thinking you’d like to work with someone else from now on.”

“Absolutely not,” Mandir said hurriedly, squeezing her hand again. “I want to come back from this mission and work with you again. I’m terrified they’ll send you away on some other mission, and when I come back, we won’t be able to team up.”

Taya relaxed. It wasn’t their relationship that was the problem; only the situation. “Let me talk to the elders about that in the morning.”

“Good idea,” said Mandir. “As a fire seer, you have negotiating power that I don’t. You should be able to choose me as your
quradum
when I get back. I imagine they’d let you choose anybody.”

Taya thought she might accomplish more than that. Possibly she could persuade the elders to send her on the mission to Tufan’s in place of the envoy. But for now she’d keep quiet. No sense discussing it with Mandir when she didn’t know yet what the elders would say.