The Grace of Kings (39 page)

Mata asked Kuni to come and visit.

Morose and dejected, Mata said nothing as he filled two cups with sorghum liquor. An open fire burned in a bronze brazier next to the table. Kuni sat down across from his friend and took a sip from his cup. The liquor was cheap, strong, and made Kuni's eyes water.

Kuni had heard the same gossip as everyone else, and, tactfully, he said nothing.

“He's sending me away,” Mata said. He drained his cup and immediately fell to great heaving coughs that disguised his tears. “He has decided that Pashi Roma, that decrepit old man, fit only to sit by the gates of Çaruza, will be commander-in-chief at Wolf's Paw. I'm in charge of the rear guard only, and I must leave within the week to begin preparations for the crossing over the Kishi Channel. But I won't even get to cross with the main force. My duty is to play harbormaster and guard the Maji Peninsula in case there has to be a retreat.”

Kuni continued to say nothing. He simply refilled Mata's cup.

“She said that she would not choose between us. And so
he
decided to make the choice for her and get me out of the way. It's his way of demonstrating how much power he has over me, to belittle me. He's taken away my chance for glory.” Mata spit into the fire.

“It's not good to speak this way, brother. You and the marshal are two pillars holding up the sky over Cocru. Discord, like termites in the foundation, is an infestation that must be plucked out, lest it bring ruin upon all of us. You have a duty to focus on the task at hand. The lives of men depend on you.”

“I am not the uncle who
stole
a nephew's woman, Kuni! I am not the one who betrayed a bond of trust! He's a weak old man, and he has always relied on me to fight his wars for him. Maybe it's time I stopped.”

“Enough! You are drunk and know not what you say. I'll go with you, Mata, to the Maji Peninsula. Forget about the fickle woman. She has played with both of your affections, and she is not worthy of your anger.”

“Do not speak ill of her.” Mata got up and tried to strike at Kuni, but he stumbled and missed. Kuni deftly dodged out of the way and then held Mata up, looping one of his thick arms over his own shoulder.

“All right, brother. I'll shut up about the princess. But I dearly wish neither of you had ever met her.”

But Kuni could not go with Mata to war after all. Cogo Yelu sent news from Zudi: Kuni's mother had died. Kuni had to go to Zudi and stay in mourning for thirty days as was the custom. Kuni did offer to delay the mourning until after the present crisis, but Mata strenuously shook his head. Even in war, such proprieties had to be respected.

Since Jia was pregnant again, and it would be difficult to travel with the baby, she decided to remain in Çaruza. Mata promised that he would send reliable men to look after her.

Otho Krin offered to stay behind to protect Jia, and Kuni immediately agreed. He felt better about leaving Jia behind if he knew she had someone loyal she could call on.

“It's slightly inconvenient to have a man stay in the house with me when my husband isn't around,” Jia said. “While I don't much care about Çaruza's gossip, it's best not to give them fodder.”

“I could become your steward and thus be a proper part of your household,” Otho suggested.

Though Jia protested the idea, Kuni decided that it would be for the best. “Thank you, Otho. I'm honored that you'd be willing to do this just to protect Lady Jia. Your loyalty will not be forgotten.”

Otho mumbled his thanks.

Meanwhile, although most of Kuni's soldiers had been incorporated into the expeditionary force to Wolf's Paw, Mata assigned a platoon of five hundred veterans out of Kuni's and his old unit to accompany him back to Zudi.

Kuni thanked him and began to prepare for the trip home.

“Be careful, brother. Focus on our only concern: defeating the empire. Remember your song, the song about our golden-hued brotherhood. One day, I expect to see you parade in triumph in Pan as the King of Géfica. The crowd will praise your name into the sky, and I promise to be there by your side, cheering the loudest.”

But Mata said nothing. His eyes seemed very far away.

“Daf,” the hundred-chief said. “Wake up and start packing. You're going with Duke Garu back to Zudi.”

Dafiro and Ratho looked at each other, yawned, and began to pack up.

“What are you doing?” the hundred-chief said to Ratho. “Just your brother, not you. You're still coming with us to Wolf's Paw.”

“But we've always been together.”

“Tough. General Zyndu said to pull fifty men from Third Company for Duke Garu, and that's what I'm doing. Daf goes, and you stay.” The hundred-chief, a young man with an arrogant face, smirked. He fingered the shark's-teeth necklace around his neck, as if daring Daf or Rat to defy his petty authority.

“I told you we should never have come back into the army,” Dafiro said. “I think we have to desert.”

But Ratho shook his head. “General Zyndu gave the order. I won't disobey him.”

There was nothing to do then but for the Miro brothers to say good-bye to each other.

“This is because they think I'm lazy,” Dafiro said. “Now I wish I had worked as hard as you. Damn this wind. It's making my eyes water.” There was only a very light breeze.

“Hey, look at it this way: If I don't come back from Wolf's Paw, you'll be able to stop worrying about taking care of me. Then you can marry a nice girl and keep the Miro name alive. Ha, who knows, maybe you'll even get to be the one to capture Emperor Erishi. Duke Garu is full of tricks.”

“Take care of yourself, you hear? Don't always rush to be at the front. Stay back and watch carefully. If things aren't going well, run.”

At night, the glowing crater of Mount Kana could be seen for miles around.

It rumbled.

What are you doing here, Tazu of Gan, dressed up like a hundred-chief?

A wild laughter, as chaotic as sea wreckage, as amoral as a shark gliding through the unlit ocean.

You're about to bring your damned war to my island, and I'm not allowed
to play some games?

I thought you weren't going to take sides.

Who said anything about taking sides? I'm here to have fun.

You consider it fun to divide brother from brother?

The mortals are always dividing uncle from nephew, husband from wife. I'm doing no more than adding a bit more randomness to their lives. Every­one can use a bit of Tazu now and then.

Phin told himself that he did it to protect both Mata and Kikomi.

Mata had been behaving more and more erratically, and Kikomi had been frightened by what Mata might do if she rejected him outright. It was up to Phin to cure Mata of his infatuation and to protect the fragile, delicate Kikomi.

He asked her to stay the night with him. She sat still for a moment but then nodded silently.

She poured him cup after cup of mango liquor, and her beauty complemented the drink so well that he couldn't stop drinking. She made him feel so young again, and he felt that he could take on the whole empire all by himself. Yes, it was definitely the right decision. She belonged with him.

He pulled her to him, and she smiled and demurely lifted her face for a kiss.

The moon was very bright. The silvery light spilled through the window onto the woven-grass-matted floor, onto the bed where Phin Zyndu snored loudly.

Princess Kikomi sat on the edge of the bed. She was naked. The night air was warm, but she shivered.

You will practice your womanly arts on the Zyndus.

She replayed Kindo Marana's words in her head for the hundredth time.

Phin and Mata Zyndu are the heart and soul of castled Cocru's martial might. But you will divide uncle and nephew from each other with your feigned affections until jealousy and suspicion have paralyzed the Cocru army. And when the time is right, you will assassinate one of the two: with either of Cocru's two arms gone, Namen and I will make short work of the other.

This is my offer, Your Royal Highness: Dedicate yourself to this task, or the people of Amu will pay the price for your failure.

Kikomi got up. Silently, gracefully, she slid across the floor in the way her dance teachers had taught her. She stopped at the folding screen on the other side of the room, where her dress was draped. Reaching inside a hidden fold within her belt, she retrieved the thin dagger. She felt the rough handle digging into the skin of her palm.

This is called Cruben's Thorn. Once, an assassin from Gan tried to use it on Emperor Mapidéré, back when he was still called King Réon. I'll leave it for you in your cabin. The Thorn is carved from a single cruben's tooth, and so, unlike other weapons made of metal, it cannot be detected by magnetic doors or probes, a common precaution of paranoid Tiro kings. It's the perfect weapon for assassins.

She touched the tip with a finger. A drop of blood, a black pearl in the silvery moonlight, grew on her finger. The marshal's guards had required her, like all visitors to the marshal's private quarters, to pass through a short corridor constructed from strong lodestone, apologizing to her all the while. If the dagger had been made of metal, the part of her body attached to it would have stuck to the lodestone, exposing her true intentions.