The Grace of Kings (73 page)

Mata Zyndu's surprise attack from the sky was a complete success. The Cocru soldiers quickly overwhelmed the small garrisons stationed at the city doors and turned the walls of Zudi against the Dasu army.

Since the gates were sealed, the army of fifty thousand outside could only mill around the city's walls helplessly as Mata's men set fire throughout the city and searched for Kuni. Only a few dozen Dasu men managed to make their way back into the city using battle kites—among them Mün Çakri and Than Carucono, who could not bear the thought of abandoning their lord. But this was like trying to put out a fire using teacups, and the Dasu army soon gave up.

Captain Dosa, Mün Çakri, Rin Coda, and Than Carucono rushed into the mayor's house, where Kuni and his family were staying, with the bad news.

“Sire, Zudi has fallen! Mata's men will be here soon. We have one messenger airship that Marshal Mazoti had left behind for an emergency. It's ready to take off in the courtyard. You must get on it right away.”

“I'll hold them off in the streets as long as I can,” Captain Dosa said, and left with his soldiers.

Kuni ran around to round up everyone. The messenger airship was small, however, and all the servants would have to be left behind. Kuni's father, Féso Garu, Kuni, Jia, the children, Risana, Soto, Otho, Mün, Rin, and Than climbed aboard. There was hardly enough room left to turn around in, let alone move.

The airship would not take off.

“There's too many of us,” Mün said.

“Mata has left me alone all this time, and he'll probably continue to do so. And if I'm going to die anywhere, I'm going to die here, in my home.” Féso Garu climbed off despite the protests from Kuni. But the ship still refused to lift.

“We must have forgotten to check the lift gas level earlier,” Than said. They heard the clashing of swords and screams from the inhabi­tants of Zudi in the streets. Mata's men were not far.

Than, Rin, and Mün all got off. The ship remained stubbornly on the ground.

Soto went next. “Mata would never harm me,” said Soto. “Don't worry.”

Jia and Otho caught each other's eyes for a brief moment. Otho smiled at her and stepped off the ship wordlessly. Jia closed her eyes, her heart pounding.

They both knew that such a day would come. It might be true that a heart has room for more than one love, but in this world, a woman still had to make choices that a man did not have to. Jia looked away.

The ship budged, but settled down on the ground again.

Risana and Jia looked at each other. Risana turned and gave Kuni a kiss and began to walk off the ship. Her movements were slow and difficult due to her very pregnant belly.

“No, no,” Jia said. “You go with Kuni and the children. I'll stay with Soto and Otho. I'm used to dealing with Mata. I'll be fine.”

Kuni's face became twisted with anxiety and pain. “No, that is not right. Both of you stay on board.
I
will stay and speak with Mata myself.”

Everyone protested at this. Mün's voice rang out the loudest. “There's no point to any of this if
you
don't get out. Lord Garu, you must leave so that you can rescue us or avenge us.”

Kuni looked at Jia, and then at Risana, then at Jia, then at Risana. Suddenly he turned to the children and knelt down. “Timu and Théra,” he said, using their formal names, which he rarely did, “you have to do something brave for me, all right?”

He carried the children to the door of the airship and asked for Soto to come and get them.

“You're insane,” shouted Jia. “How can you even think of such a thing?”

“Mata won't harm children,” said Kuni. “But no matter what, I can't leave you behind again. There won't be another you, but there can always be more children.”

“Jia is right,” said Rin Coda. “This is madness.” He blocked the door and pushed the children back onto the ship. Kuni continued to shout for Soto and pushed the children out again, and Rin pushed them back in again. Soto stood by and watched expressionlessly.

“Enough of this nonsense,” Jia said. She firmly pushed Kuni back into the ship and bent down to kiss the children. Then she turned to Risana. “Little Sister, please take good care of them.”

Risana nodded, and Jia resolutely stepped off the ship.

“Mama, Mama!” Timu and Théra cried out, and Risana had to hold them back as Kuni, also teary-eyed, closed the door of the airship.

Now that the ship had only the weight of Kuni, Risana, and the two children to deal with, it rose slowly into the sky. Rin Coda had taken care to drape the ship in black cloth. Pursuers both in the sky and on the ground would have a hard time picking it out against the night sky unless they knew exactly where to look. The ship rose until it was a small shadow against the stars, then turned north, heading toward the safety of Géfica.

For a second, Jia wished she did not always appear so strong, so capable of taking care of herself that Kuni actually believed her.

Soto and Jia stood on one side of the group left behind. Soto gave her a meaningful look and said in a low voice, “That was a nice bit of theater by both you and Kuni back there.”

Jia flushed with anger momentarily. “I don't know what you mean.”

Soto rolled her eyes. “Kuni made a show of loving both of you equally, to the point where he would give up his children. Since few men would pick their wives over their heirs, he was trying to score some points with you. This would also make a nice story among the people of Dara.”

Jia smiled a sad smile. “Kuni was always clever.”

“Not as clever as you. By staying behind with me while leaving the children with
her
, you put both of them in your debt. She'll now always think that you saved her life, and Kuni will always feel guilty about your sacrifice. You've laid the foundation for future palace intrigue. This investment may well pay off a hundredfold someday.”

“You make both of us sound so calculating and cold,” Jia said. “Can't you just attribute our actions to love?”

Soto laughed, and after a while, Jia reluctantly joined in. Truth be told, even Jia wasn't sure why she had done what she did. It wasn't just about jostling for political position with Risana, but it also wasn't purely unselfish. Sometimes it was hard to tell where the performance ended and the real self began—but what was this “real” self other than a set of performances?

Love was a complicated thing, she conceded.

“The only fool I pity here is that girl, Risana. She has no idea who she's dealing with,” Soto said.

Their brief moment of merriment was interrupted by the sound of shouting men and clashing swords in the street. The gates to the mayor's house flew open, and a blood-soaked Captain Dosa stumbled in, his body pierced by arrows.

Mata was here.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

THE STANDOFF AT LIRU RIVER

DIMU AND DIMUSHI: THE NINTH MONTH IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE PRINCIPATE.

Mata Zyndu's surprise victory at Zudi soon entered into the realm of myth all over Dara.

“Each of his men fought with the strength of twenty, and that was how the hegemon defeated a force ten times greater than his.”

“Mata Zyndu is Fithowéo incarnate. When he waves his hand, soldiers fall from the sky to fight for him.”

“Kuni Garu may have ridden a cruben, but Mata Zyndu eats cruben steaks for dinner.”

After Kuni safely escaped to Dimushi, he immediately recalled Marshal Mazoti.

“What's next?” Kuni asked.

“I have to first re-create the army you lost.”

Kuni Garu winced at this, but Marshal Mazoti never bothered to sugarcoat things.

“I think most of the troops escaped back to Géfica after the fall of Zudi, though undoubtedly many deserted. It will take some work to restore morale after the humiliation you suffered, with even Lady Jia taken prisoner. Marquess Yemu's ‘noble raiders' are still making trouble for the hegemon in Cocru, though, so he can't invade Géfica until he secures his supply lines.”

“What about the other Tiro states?”

“Many of them now think it wiser to side with Mata rather than you. However, Duke Théca Kimo remains firmly in your camp. He has now pacified Arulugi, and his fate obviously depends on your success. He has asked for permission to sweep through both Crescent Island and Écofi, which, given the tiny populations on those islands, will be easy.”

“Let him.”

“You are not concerned that he might grow too strong and declare independence, like Mocri did in Wolf's Paw?”

“Mata's weakness is that he doesn't trust people, so of course everyone who follows him eventually betrays him. I don't intend to make the same mistake.”

Mazoti nodded thoughtfully.

Cocru and Dasu again stood off across the Liru River.

Mata brought to Dimu the prisoners he'd captured in Zudi. In exchange for Kuni's release of Noda Mi and Doru Solofi, Mata agreed to return Mün Çakri, Rin Coda, and Than Carucono. But he kept Kuni's family despite repeated entreaties from Kuni.

Mata decided to press the psychological advantage he had to the fullest. On a large flat-bottomed boat—slow and shallow-drafting and thus not a military threat—he rode into the middle of the Liru and asked Kuni to join him for parley.

Kuni rode out on a flat-bottomed boat of his own. The two sat in formal
mipa rari
on the top decks of their respective vessels, staring at each other across a sliver of river water.

“Brother.”
Mata spat out the word like a curse. “I had hoped to see you in Zudi, but apparently you were too ashamed to see me.”

“Brother.” Kuni sighed. “I wish we were still friends. This all could have been avoided if you had not been so jealous and full of rage when I entered Pan before you. We could have rebuilt Dara from the ruins of the empire together.”

The two sat quietly for a while, contemplating what might have been.

“Yet events have proven my foresight. You're now in rebellion against me.”

Kuni shook his head. “It's not you I'm fighting against, but the idea you represent. I mean to re-create the dream of Emperor Mapidéré, but this time I'll do it right. You want to leave the world to be divided between Tiro states, full of endless wars to serve the empty martial glory of the great nobles. I want to end all that and give the common people a chance to live their lives in peace. Mata, don't stand in my way. Abdicate and hand me the seal of the world.”

“You're as ambitious as I am, only you dress up your desires with lies. If you really believe your pretty words, why don't we settle our differences in single combat? Let no one else die for our dispute. You and me and our swords will decide our fate. Whoever wins gets to remake this world with his will.”

Kuni laughed. “You know me too well to think that I'd agree to something like that. I'm no match for you in a fight, but wars are not won by the strength in one's arms alone.”

Mata gestured to his men, and they went inside the ship and brought up a large cutting board.

Kuni stared at it, confused.

They went inside again and brought up a pot large enough to cook a whole shark in. Setting it over a fire in the open-air hearth on top of the deck, they boiled water in it.

Kuni's heart tightened.

They went inside again and brought up a kitchen knife, but it was so large that it was like a giant's axe. A man would have to use both arms to wield it.

Kuni stood up. He wanted to tell Mata to stop.

They went down a final time and brought up a naked man trussed up like a pig. Kuni saw that it was his father, Féso Garu. He had been gagged, and his eyes bulged in fear.

Mata's men laid Féso on the cutting board, and a burly man gripped the oversized kitchen knife and held it over his head like an executioner.

“Kuni, surrender. Or I will cook your father in front of you and eat him.”

Blood rushed to Kuni's head, and he almost fainted. But he held on to the railing before him and drove all emotions from his face. He couldn't tell how serious Mata was with this threat. This was just like playing a game of cards during his time as a gangster, except this time, he had much more at stake.

“If you surrender, Kuni, I will allow you to stay in Dasu and Rui, and all your men will be pardoned for their acts of disloyalty to me.”

He's lying,
Kuni thought.
Mata hates betrayal more than anything else. He'll never forgive me or any of my men. If I agree to surrender, all of us will die.

Kuni sat back and relaxed his legs into
thakrido
. He laughed. “Go ahead, Mata. Cook him. Cook our father.”

Mata Zyndu narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“You once called me ‘brother,' so my father is also your father. If you want to cook our father today, I won't stop you. Just make sure you save some for me. I'd like a taste too.”

“What manner of son are you?”

Kuni focused every ounce of attention to the muscles of his face and his tongue and throat.
Perform!
“Do you think that if I intend to replace you, I would be stopped by the loss of a single life? I invaded Rui when Jia was in your hands; I was prepared to leave my children behind in Zudi; do not underestimate me, for I am as dangerous and ruthless as you. I've seen plenty of men die. Now hurry up and kill him.”

Mata stared at Kuni with sorrow. He had staged this execution as a test, and this speech from Kuni had confirmed that he was right to distrust the man, for he was utterly cold, calculating, and without morals.
How could Kuni even believe for a minute that I would kill and eat his father? He has such a low opinion of me only because he's irredeemably corrupt himself.
There were no lines the man wasn't willing to cross; ambition had consumed him. To think that he had once called this man
brother
!

It's impossible to see into men's hearts.
The last glimmer of hope in his mind died.

Kuni leaned forward, eagerly looking into Mata's eyes. “Cook him! Cook him so I can focus on how to get you into the pot one day.”

Mata shook his head. He would demonstrate his moral superiority to Kuni today and shame him with his lack of filial piety—even if it was doubtful that Kuni had any sense of shame left. That had always been Kuni's problem, utter lack of honor.

Mata ordered the fire extinguished and Féso Garu taken away. “Men ultimately sink to their true stations. You're a heartless thug, Kuni, and the people of Dara will see through your facade.”

He sailed back toward Dimu, and behind him, Kuni waited until Mata was out of sight before collapsing to the deck. His clothes were soaked through with sweat, and he felt as though his heart had been pried from him.

Just because Kuni managed to bluff Mata, it didn't mean that Mata's trick wouldn't work on others. Rin Coda immediately suggested that Kuni put Mata's idea to work for himself.

“Several of the Tiro states have agreed to ally themselves with you,” said Rin. “It wouldn't hurt to get a little bit of insurance. Also, having those princes and princesses here will give me more opportunities to gather intelligence.”

“Ah, Rin,” Kuni said, a bitter smile on his face. “Now I wonder if it was a good idea to make you spymaster. You've been hanging around with men comfortable with darker methods for too long.”

“Whether the path is well-lit or dark,” said Rin, “what matters is that we get there.”

Kuni sent out messengers to his allies, saying that he was concerned about the safety of their families. Perhaps, he suggested, it would be best for them to send their families to Dimushi, where the Dasu army could protect them. “With your families by my side, you can continue the fight against the hegemon without worrying about your loved ones.”

Reluctantly, the Tiro kings sent their hostages to Kuni.

THE THIRD MONTH OF THE FIFTH YEAR OF THE PRINCIPATE.

An informal armistice was now in place along the Liru. The people along the river tried to carry on their lives the best they could while living in a war zone that could heat up again at any minute. Merchants and fishing ships cautiously sailed up and down the river. Zones of control and safe passage for civilian vessels had to be negotiated. From time to time, Kuni and Mata sent each other envoys to work out these issues.

One day, a messenger from Mata arrived at the docks of Dimushi, where Luan Zya greeted him.

“Welcome, welcome! You come bearing a message from Master Pering? How is he?”

The messenger, whose name was Luing, was confused. “A message from Master Pering?”

“Oh, of course.” Luan Zya looked at him and winked conspiratorially. With a show of nonchalance, he glanced at the two guards the messenger had brought with him. “Too many ears here. May I inquire after the health of the hegemon?”

Luing replayed the comment from Luan in his head again and again.
What did Luan mean about Pering? And why was he so happy to
see me?

Luan brought Luing to the best restaurant in Dimushi, where Luan ordered a lavish lunch of thirty courses, served with eating sticks made from ivory and inlaid with gold. A serving woman came in to light incense burners that filled the room with thick, fragrant smoke.

“It's fashionable to eat Dasu food with smoke,” explained Luan. “It cleanses the palate and brings out the flavor of the spices.”

The meal went on for hours. Luing felt light-headed and drowsy. After a while, the two guards accompanying Luing seemed to have trouble staying upright.

“They've drunk too much,” said Luan, laughing. He summoned servants to bring them downstairs to nap in a private room.

“Now that we are alone, you can feel free to give me the message from Master Pering,” Luan Zya said.