The Soldier's Lotus (28 page)

One evening, when his fleet was assembled and floating
across the dark waters of the ocean, Darien sat in his cabin and sipped his
wine. Ruben shared the bottle with him, and they talked of the old days and
campaigns.

“So, how is your Lotus?” Ruben asked without preamble.

“My Lotus?”
Darien had not expected Saerileth to be brought up in
conversation.

“The one who gave you that.”
Ruben gestured to the silken black band around
Darien’s wrist. “Or do you wear the locks of another lady?”

“No, it’s Saerileth’s hair.” The recollection of when she
had given it to him constricted Darien’s chest.

“Yes, Saerileth, the one who ended the mighty Darien’s
shining military career.”

“Is that the way you think of it?” Darien saw the scene
play out before him again, when Saerileth was almost gang-raped aboard his
ship. He did not mention it, however, especially since Ruben had had no part in
it.

“You had everything, Captain.” Ruben kicked back and put
his feet up on the low table. “And you gave it up for a woman.
A stunningly beautiful woman to be sure, but still – just a woman.”

“Not just a woman. First of all, I was richer than the sun.
Why did I need to keep chasing down pirates? But more than that: the moment I
saw Saerileth, I knew I wanted her. I needed her. This ship is a beautiful
lady, and I thought I could never love another. But then I met my Lotus.”
Darien rose and ran his hand along the wood of the ship’s inner wall. “Even the
Crown
doesn’t compare to her. I know, it sounds like sacrilege coming
from a sailor at sea, but there it is. I wouldn’t take
Abrexa
herself over my Saerileth. And when this little uprising of Ulen’s is put down,
I’m hanging up my captain’s sash for good.”

“The gods give you joy of her.” Ruben raised his glass in a
toast.

“They already have.”

Chapter Seventeen

Saerileth sat motionless, hearing the screams and shouts of
death. Her tears were silent, and she stared at her nurse. Blood trickled down
her nurse’s cheek. Saerileth wanted to wipe the blood away, but terror held her
in chains. The door wrenched open, but it was not the glorious soldier of her
salvation. Instead, it was Kamen who stood before her, and he turned away,
crying out, “No one here, Captain!”

Saerileth sat up, her breast heaving. Sweat soaked her hair
to her brow, and she felt tears on her cheeks. For the first time since Darien
had told her he loved her, she had woken from the nightmare of her childhood. “
Abrexa
, by your golden chain I beg you, keep my Master
safe.
Melara
, by your roses I beg you, keep my love
safe. Bring him back to me.” She gave up on sleep altogether, rising to move
through her Lotus Forms. Perhaps if she exhausted herself sufficiently, she
would be able to sleep the following night.

“
Darien, my love, I
will be waiting for you.” When she had completed the forms, she went back to
the pallet and curled
up,
inhaling Darien’s scent,
which still clung to the camp blanket.

****

“
So tell me, Lotus,
how is that you, a Zenji, speak such perfect
Vadal
?
Not to mention
Sunjaa
?” General
Lomenin
sipped at a mug of beer. The battle-map was partially rolled up, and on the low
table stood a tall, golden goblet of fine
Vadal
wine
beside a bowl of blue grapes.

Saerileth had not touched the wine. She smiled, inhaling
its bouquet. She was not, as some Lotuses were, a particularly skilled
sommelier, but she was an accomplished herbalist. She would not be drinking
this wine. “It is part of a Lotus’s training, sir.” Saerileth plucked a grape
from the cluster. She twirled the grape between her fingers, knowing that the
general’s eyes were fixed on her. “We are taught to speak, read, and write in
Zenji,
Sunjaa
,
Vadal
, and
even Ausir.”

“
Ausir?
That is no mean feat.” General
Lomenin
helped himself to grapes. “But you speak without
accent, as natively as I do. How is this?”

“
We are taught from
our youth. A Lotus is given to the guild no later than the age of five, and we
are given native tutors in every subject. We also never play.”

“
And
what about now?”
The general
took another pull at his beer. “You don’t play now?”

“
Now, sir, I am a
woman, not a child.
Captain Darien’s concubine.”

“
And if it wouldn’t
lead to war, I’d probably take you for myself. Not as a concubine, of course.
You’re a Red Lotus. You deserve more than that.”

Saerileth popped the grape into her mouth. She was
relieved. After the drugged wine, she had feared worse from the general. As it
was, she calculated
he had hoped for no more than a quick
romp with a girl not quite able to think clearly
. “I am content where I
am, sir, and it is as well you recognize that the theft of me would lead to
war.”

“
But are all the other
Lotuses like you?” asked the general. His beer was gone, and he refilled his
mug.
“So educated?
Polished? Beautiful?”

“
All Lotuses are
beautiful,” said Saerileth at once. “But the level of skill a Lotus has can be
determined by her status within the guild.” She held out her left arm,
revealing the tattoo of a fully open red lotus. “I am a full-blown Red Lotus. I
have attained the highest rank within the guild, but I am no more trained or
skillful than any other full-blown Lotus.”

“
So if I were to go to
the – what do they call those Zenji islands?”

“
It is only one
island, sir, and it is called the
Dimadan
.”

“
If I were to go to
the
Dimadan
, I would be able to buy a Lotus?”

“
Perhaps.”
Saerileth picked up the goblet and began to run
her forefinger around the rim. “But there are no guarantees, and the fees are
enormous. It costs more than many men’s fortunes to rent a Lotus for an
evening. And even then, sir, you must woo her, if you wish to bed her.”

“
What?” The general’s
shock was plain in his wide eyes.

“
Yes, a Lotus – even a
purchased one – has absolute rights of refusal. She must be wooed, but I have
never heard of any man complaining. A Lotus’s company is in itself an honor.”

“
I can well understand
that. So it’s just a matter of money, then?” asked General
Lomenin
.

“
No,
sir.
Money is required, of
course, in copious amounts, but that is only the beginning. It costs much even
to obtain an interview with the
guildmaster
.”
Saerileth’s mind darted back to Ulen
Ahnok’s
interview, the one at which he had purchased her. “And the
guildmaster
requires good birth, well-bred manners, and much remaining wealth, even after
the purchase price, to accept an applicant. Very few Lotuses are purchased. The
bar is simply too high.”

“
But the captain
managed it.”

Saerileth did not want to be the one to ruin the alliance,
and she knew she would if the general spoke a word against Darien. So she
interrupted him. “My Master obtained me by salvage rights on the open sea. He
did not interview for me, of course, for if he had, I would not have become his
concubine, merely his Lotus.” She knew, of course, that Darien would not have
made it past the first screening. He was of common birth, and no Lotus would
ever be sold to a commoner.

“
Captain Darien is a
lucky man.” The general sighed. “And I expect I will try to get a Lotus for
myself after all this is over. Seeing you makes a man feel young again.”

Saerileth laughed, making the response she knew the general
expected. “You are not so old, sir.” In truth, she put him at perhaps forty
years of age, only four years Darien’s senior.

“
Old
enough to be your father, though.”
General
Lomenin
shook his head.
“I’d expect the captain’s nigh my age, too.”

Saerileth nodded but made no verbal reply. Instead, she
surreptitiously began to pour the wine onto the earthen floor of the tent.

“
If Lord
Itenu
made it out, he should be back soon.”

“
Yes,
sir.”
Saerileth set the
now-empty goblet back on the table. “But ‘soon’ might still be later than I
should like to wait. I will retire to my Master’s tent to wait Lord
Itenu’s
return.” She watched the general’s reaction
closely, despite her half-lowered eyelids. A flash of disappointment was his
only response, and he rose to bow her out.

But Kamen’s voice outside the tent immobilized both of
them.

“
Is the Lotus within?
I must speak with her, as well as the general.” Kamen’s accented
Vadal
was clearer than Darien’s.

At the affirmative reply, Kamen swept into the tent.
“Lotus.
General.” Kamen bowed slightly, and Saerileth saw a
dangerous glint in his eye. Something had changed in him.

“
So you return
unkilled
.” The general gestured to one of the canvas camp
chairs, but Kamen did not take the offered seat. Instead, the
Sunjaa
dropped three scroll-cases onto the table.

“
Some of the records
are in Zenji,” said Kamen. “I couldn’t read them, but from the others, I
assumed they would be pertinent.”

Saerileth began to unfasten the scroll as General
Lomenin
spoke.

“
How did you find the
city? How are they fixed for provisions? Are they speaking in favor of Ulen
Ahnok
? Is he accounted the true king?”

Kamen glanced at Saerileth, and she caught the expression
of wry amusement. “I was able to speak with Ulen
Ahnok
.”

Saerileth read over the first scroll as Kamen spoke of
entering the city, of the gathered knots puzzled and anxious of men, but of
there being no difference in the markets from any other time.

“
Ulen has no fear of
the siege,” said Kamen. “He has the port free, and the Zenji ships keep it so.”

“
And this shows why.”
Saerileth felt the blood in her ears, but she kept her breath even, not
betraying her recognition of the names. “Ulen
Ahnok
has, according to these documents, been trading solely with the
Chamri
clan.”

“
And who are these
Chamri
?” asked Kamen. He looked over her shoulder at the
scroll, and she breathed in his sandal-wood scent.

“
They are a powerful
Zenji clan,” said Saerileth. “They have, in the past few years, moved from
powerful to most powerful. They are the only clan left with the ancient
pearl-diving skill. Until thirteen years ago, there was one other clan with
this skill, one that possessed it in even greater amounts. But that clan was
wiped out.”

“
And what does this
have to do with Ulen?” asked the general.

“
You learned all this
from the scroll?” Kamen laid his hand on Saerileth’s wrist.

“
No,
not from the scroll.
I have
some little knowledge of the Zenji political situation.” She pulled away from
Kamen’s clasp. “The scroll is the record of Ulen’s trade with the
Chamri
clan. They have sold pearls to
him,
and to him alone, for thirteen years.”

“
How can you tell that
they sold the pearls to Ulen only?” asked Kamen.

“
I know the general
number of pearls the Zenji take annually. In the numbers that Ulen’s records
show, they can have been trading with no one else.”

“
Is there anything you
do
not
know?” General
Lomenin
did not seem to
want a reply.

“
And what is the
result?
The meaning?”
Kamen took the scroll from her
and handed her another.

The
Chamri
owe their position to
Ulen. They owe their wealth to him. He gave it to them by slaughtering my clan.
“The
Chamri
must owe
Ulen much. They will fight for him. He has made them great with their trade.”
Saerileth opened the scroll Kamen had handed her.

“
You are sure they
will fight for him?” asked the general.