The Grace of Kings (33 page)

Seeing that no more Xana champions took to the air, Kuni and Mata's men jeered at Namen's camp from atop the walls:

“Who's the girlie
now
?”

“Tanno Namen is an old lady more skilled with the embroidery needle than the sword!”

“Namen, what's for dinner?”

“Maybe the girls from Xana should go back to Pan before it's too late.”

Some of the women hauling stones and logs onto the wall cringed.

Above them, Mata chuckled, though he was slightly embarrassed to be enjoying such humor, but Kuni waved for the men to be quiet.

“I've seen the bravery of Xana's women firsthand,” Kuni said. He wasn't shouting, but his voice could be heard clearly even by Mata, soaring high overhead. Soldiers of both sides waited, hanging on his words—Kuni seemed to have that effect on people.

Mata looked at Kuni in consternation.
Is Kuni preparing another one of his jokes?
But his tone and expression were too solemn, with not even a hint of mockery.

“I know a mother from Xana who was willing to bear a corvée administrator's lash to save her son. I know a wife from Cocru who hiked miles through mountains filled with bandits even while she was pregnant and managed to save the man who was sent to save
her
. While we stand here mocking each other like two gangs of schoolboys, who has farmed our lands and kept us fed, who has sewn our tunics and made our arrows, who has carried up the siege stones and carried down the wounded? Have you forgotten how the women of Zudi fought alongside you in this rebellion? By custom, we wield the sword and wear the armor, but who among you does not know a mother, sister, daughter, friend, who exceeds you in courage and fortitude?

“So let us no more think of being compared to women as an insult.”

It was so quiet—both on and below the walls of Zudi—that only the creaking of the battle kite's winches could be heard.

Mata did not wholly agree with Kuni's speech—women's courage was not comparable to men's at all!—but he noted that even Namen's men, below him, seemed subdued. Perhaps they were thinking of their mothers and sisters and daughters back in distant Xana and wondering what they were doing here.
If that's part of Kuni's plan for corroding the morale of Namen's troops, it's devious.

“But I will say that it's not surprising that Namen is so scared.” The familiar mocking tone and swagger had returned to Kuni's voice. “Why, it's sometimes hard to tell Namen apart from Erishi—both of them need bedtime stories!”

Wild laughter broke out on top of the walls of Zudi, and Kuni and Mata's men took up this new theme with creativity and vigor.

Ten dismembered bodies falling from the sky had a way of discouraging more Imperial troops from volunteering to rise up into the air against Mata, still brandishing Na-aroénna and Goremaw. Namen's officers shrank away from him, trying to avoid the old general's pained and furious eyes.

After waiting as long as it took a cup of tea to cool, Kuni signaled the drummers and trumpeters to play the victory song. Namen's camp remained silent, conceding the point.

As the men in Zudi gradually winched Mata's kite back down to a soft landing in the city, a shout went up everywhere: “The Marshal of Cocru!”

Indeed, to the south appeared a great dust cloud obscuring the road to Zudi. Through the dust, as through a fog, one could barely make out the galloping figures of horses and the bloodred ensign of Phin Zyndu, Marshal of Cocru.

“The cavalry is here,” Kuni shouted to Mata, as the latter unlashed himself from the kite. “Your uncle has come with more troops to relieve the siege of Zudi. We did it!”

Mata grabbed Kuni by the arms and pulled him into a fierce hug. For a moment he didn't know what to say, surprised by the depth of his feelings. “Brother,” he said finally, “we have stood together and held back the tide of the empire.”

“Brother,” Kuni said, his eyes tearing up, “I'm honored to fight beside you.”

“Open the gates,” Mata shouted. “We'll attack together with the marshal and drive Namen back to Pan!”

It was indeed a rout. The Imperials collapsed like a flock of sheep caught between two packs of wolves. The soldiers abandoned everything—weapons, gold, armor, extra boots—as they whipped their horses to go faster, back to the north, to safety.

Hundreds drowned as they tried to cross the Liru River in overloaded transports. Leaving Cogo Yelu in charge of Zudi, Kuni and Mata led their men to join the chase, and the cities along the southern shore of the Liru again flew the banner of the rebellion.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

THE FALL OF DIMU

DIMU: THE SEVENTH MONTH IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF RIGHTEOUS FORCE.

The Cocru army now laid siege to Dimu, the last Imperial stronghold south of the Liru River.

As memories of King Huno's disastrous occupation of the city were still fresh in the minds of the inhabitants, the city elders decided that they would take their chances with the empire, and citizens volunteered to help the Imperial troops defend its walls.

Mata Zyndu announced that for each day Dimu continued to resist, he would permit his troops to loot the city for one more day and to execute an additional one hundred prominent citizens once the city fell. Unfortunately, this announcement did not have the intended effect of diminishing Namen's popular support in Dimu. If anything, it seemed to increase the zeal of the citizen volunteers resisting the rebels.

There was also news that Marshal Marana was sailing toward the Amu Strait with a great armada. If the defenders held out long enough, the siege of Dimu would be relieved.

“The threat was unwise,” Kuni said. “It's understandable that the people of Dimu would be leery of joining the rebellion again after what Krima put them through.”

“Brother,” Mata said, “Dimu has always been a Cocru city. That these men would now side with the empire against us, liberators from their motherland, shows that they have been corrupted by the occupation. Traitors must be purified with their own blood.”

Kuni sighed. It was difficult to argue with Mata when he got into these moods where he launched into pretty speeches full of abstractions. Mata could be proud and unrelenting in his hatred. Sometimes, he saw the world in terrifying, bloody clarity.

Since they had arrived at Dimu by marching over land, Kuni and Mata were not prepared for a naval battle and had no warships. They had no choice but to cede control of the coast and the mouth of the Liru River to the Imperial navy. Their siege of Dimu was thus incomplete. Namen continued to bring supplies and provisions into the city's wharfs, and Imperial ships patrolled the Liru River constantly, taunting the rebel soldiers on shore.

“If I had fifty thousand men,” Mata muttered, “I'd have each carry a bag of sand and march upriver. We'd be able to dam up the Liru River in one afternoon. Then we'd walk right up to those ships, stranded in the dry riverbed like flopping fish, and teach those sailors some manners.”

“If you had fifty thousand men,” Kuni said, “they'd be able to climb over the walls of Dimu just by standing on one another's shoulders. I don't think you need such an elaborate damming plan.” He grinned at Mata.

Mata laughed. “You're right. Keeping it simple and direct is best.”

So day after day, Mata directed his forces to attack Dimu in waves, giving the defenders no chance to rest. He also conscripted peasants from miles around to join the miners digging under the walls of Dimu.

“By the Twins, my back is screaming.” Dafiro stood and stretched. “I need a rest from all this digging. Rat, sit with me a bit.” He dumped the basket of earth he had carried out of the mine in the pile near the opening and sat down.

Ratho dumped his load, looked at his brother, said nothing, and went straight back into the mine.

“What's the matter with you?” Dafiro asked the next time Ratho emerged with another full load. “You're working so hard you'll kill yourself. Listen, Baby Brother, Krima isn't our boss anymore. Duke Garu isn't going to whip us if we take a little break.”

“I'm not resting until General Zyndu rests.”

Dafiro shaded his eyes and gazed at the walls of Dimu. He could see Mata Zyndu's tall figure at the head of a ladder crew rushing at the wall, holding up a giant pavise to protect the men behind him from the arrows raining down from the ramparts. Zyndu had been at it all morning and all afternoon, not taking a single break through two shifts of soldiers.

“Doesn't that man ever get tired?” Dafiro wondered aloud.

“General Zyndu is like a hero from the old stories come to life.”

“These days with you, it's always General Zyndu
this
and General Zyndu
that
. Maybe you should make
him
your older brother.”

Ratho laughed. “Come on, Daf, don't be silly.”

“He's a noble like the rest of them,” Daf said. “Have you forgotten what it was like when Krima became king?”

“General Zyndu is nothing like Huno Krima.” Ratho's voice was fierce and hard, and Dafiro knew better than to argue. “He leads by example, and I would rather die than disappoint him. I'm going to keep on mining until the walls fall or he tells me to stop. We've got to take Dimu before the armada gets here.”

Dafiro sighed and reluctantly went back to digging.

On the tenth day, the mines succeeded in collapsing Dimu's city walls.

The rebels showed no mercy as they poured into the city like a flood and overwhelmed the remnants of the Imperial army. Namen and a few hundred of his most loyal men fought like trapped wolves all night and managed to make their way to the docks, where they were picked up by an Imperial transport and brought to safety in Dimushi.

Out of the ten thousand Imperial soldiers Namen had brought with him across the Liru, only three hundred made the crossing back with him.

Over Kuni's strenuous objections, Mata carried out his threat.

“A threat is like a promise. We will lose men's respect unless we follow through,” Mata said.

“You would have won more hearts by being merciful.”

“Being compassionate to one's enemies means being cruel to one's own soldiers.”

Kuni had no response to this. He stood by and watched helplessly as Cocru soldiers rounded up one thousand prominent citizens of Dimu, denounced them as Imperial sympathizers, and made them dig their own grave.

“Brother, this is a mistake.”

But Mata gave the order, and Cocru soldiers pushed and shoved the crying men and women into the mass grave, and then began to bury them alive.

“You do not ever want to have General Zyndu against your side,” Ratho said. He and Dafiro plugged up their ears, but the screams of the dying men and women could not be blocked out.

My Dearest Husband,

Please excuse the brevity of this letter. I'm still very tired and our little boy is taking up all my time.

There, that was the big news. You are a father now!

It's been one hundred days since his birth, and he's healthy as can be. I'm calling him Toto
-
tika
for now, until he reaches the age of reason and we decide on a formal name.

He looks like a shrunken-down version of you, which, unexpectedly, actually makes him look extremely cute—I hope he does not get that belly of yours any time soon, though. The ladies at King Thufi's court cannot keep their hands off him. But unless he's held by me, he starts crying within minutes. I have been imbibing some lovely dream herbs so that the baby can have some as well through my milk. I think it's working. He smiles in his sleep!

I pray that Kana and Rapa protect you, and that you and Mata are doing well. You must promise to not take any unnecessary risks. Come back safely to me and to our Toto
-tika
.

—
Your loving wife,

Jia

“Congratulations, brother! A son is a wonderful miracle, and now we know who'll be the next Duke of Zudi. I cannot wait to meet him.”

“Since he's born in the Year of the Chrysanthemum, you'll have to watch over him as his uncle!”

Mata and Kuni drained their cups of mango liquor. Jia's happy news was indeed welcome amidst all the death and slaughter.

The two men stood on the docks of Dimu and gazed at the Imperial ships sailing up and down the Liru River, well out of range of Dimu's arrows and catapults. After Mata's rage was spent, Kuni had quickly reestablished order in Dimu and ordered their troops to prevent acts of looting. It was going to be a while before the city would recover, but at least the citizens were no longer utterly terrified of the “liberating” force.

Beyond the ships, they could see the brightly colored buildings of Dimushi, across the Liru's mouth, and they imagined going still farther, past Dimushi, past the rich farmlands of the Karo Peninsula, until they arrived at the roiling waves of the Amu Strait, beyond which lay Arulugi Island, with its floating cities and suspended palaces, its imposing docks and graceful ships, its elegant customs and haughty manners immortalized in ten thousand poems and a hundred thousand brush paintings.

“Amu has a good navy,” Mata said. “It will be up to them to stop Marana's armada and then help us cross the Liru and bring this war to the emperor's doors.”

“Let's pray for their success,” Kuni said.