The Soldier's Lotus (30 page)

“
Saerileth—”

She stopped still and fixed Kamen’s dark and glowing eyes
with her own. “I saved you because my Master loves you, because he considers
you his brother. I do not love you, Lord
Itenu
, and
you really must not love me. My Master has spoiled you for any other man. Do
not let me spoil you for women.”

“
Thank you, Lotus.”

“
We have far to go,
Lord
Itenu
.” And Saerileth led him through the
darkness of Arinport and thought of Darien’s pleasure in knowing Kamen still
lived. It would, she thought, almost equal her pleasure when
Talex
Chamri
, her true enemy,
died.

Chapter Eighteen

From the quarterdeck, Darien could see a black outline of a
horse in the center of a white flag flying from the main mast of the largest
Zenji ship blocking
Arinport’s
harbor. He looked over
the rest of the ships with his spyglass, not surprised to see them all flying
the same flag. It was one of the Zenji clans, but Darien did not know which.
The captain collapsed the spyglass by slamming it against the palm of his hand.
He handed it to Ruben as he turned to appraise his own force. Twenty ships
floated behind him – twenty, the best of the
Sunjaa
navy. He would sink every last Zenji ship that dared bar his way into the city.

Darien took in a deep lungful of salty sea-air. “Man the
ballistae!”

“Man the ballistae,” Ruben said without pause, his voice a
perfect echo of his captain’s.

“Ready pitch and flame,” Darien said. “Prepare the
catapults.”

Ruben cried out the orders. As the men sprang to work,
climbing ropes and masts, scurrying this way and that, Darien caught a glint of
light out of the corner of his eye. The other ships were signaling with
hand-held mirrors. Ruben’s expression of expectation silently asked for an
answer to his unasked question.

“Tell them,” Darien said. “We’re going to attack.”

Ruben smiled. “The Zenji are about to get the lesson that
every other civilization seems to already know.”

“What’s that?” Darien kept his eyes fixed on the distant
Zenji fleet.

“Don’t get into a sea-war with the
Sunjaa
.”

Darien’s heart raced in anticipation of battle, his senses
keen to the excitement of his men, all seasoned warriors who had seen a decade
of sailing. “Make haste, boys,” he called out across the main deck of
Mirsa’s
Crown
. We got unwanted company.”

The men sent up a communal war-cry, and Darien took in
another lungful of that crisp, clean air he loved so much. It was going to be a
glorious battle. All was set in order, and that familiar quiet before a battle
fell over the
Crown
. Darien would give the order to turn the prow toward
the harbor, and they would sail straight for Arinport. Once they were within striking
distance, he would turn the ship and fire. The other ships would come in behind
him at staggered angles along parallel lines so as to avoid hitting their
countrymen. This is how Darien had taken
Fihdal
ports
in the occasional skirmishes. And this was how he would wrench Arinport from
the clutches of a brutish usurper.

“Come about,” Darien said, “and take us in.”

The deck rose under Darien’s feet as the ship turned, but
the captain bent his knees and leaned into the shifting motion. Ruben flashed
the signal to the trailing ships, and they signaled back their acknowledgement.
Arinport’s
captivity would soon be ended, and the
Zenji fleet would find itself in the dark depths of the sea. Darien donned his
leather helmet and fastened its strap under his chin. He thought of Saerileth
and wished she could see what glories he would win for his people.

Darien took the spyglass again. He wanted to see his
enemies’ movements and preparations. He had never fought Zenji before, and he
did not know what to expect. What he saw confused him, for the Zenji sailors
did nothing but stand on the decks of their ships and stare out to sea at the
approaching
Sunjaa
fleet. Darien tilted the spyglass
up slightly, and then he saw it: the horse flag was gone. Only a plain white one
flew in its place.

Darien handed the spyglass to Ruben. “You’re not going to
believe this.”

Ruben took the glass but did not immediately look, instead
giving Darien a questioning glance. Darien nodded toward the city.

Ruben looked and laughed. “Those pale bastards surrendered?
Without a shot fired?”

Darien took the spyglass and looked again, wanting to
confirm that the Zenji indeed wished to capitulate. “Why would Ulen put a Zenji
fleet in
Arinport’s
harbor if they aren’t prepared to
fight?”

Ruben shrugged and thumbed over his shoulder. “They’re
prepared to scare off a single
Sunjaa
ship, maybe.
But a united
Sunjaa
fleet?
I think
these Zenji are smarter than we give them credit for.”

They were Saerileth’s people, a race that had given the
world the Red Lotuses. The Zenji must be a sensible people, so they must have
known they could not defeat the
Sunjaa
navy.
Why send your ships to the bottom of the sea
when you can just go home?
Darien gave the order for the fleet to stand
down.

“Are you sure, sir?” Ruben asked. “It might be a trick.”

That was a possibility, and from what Darien knew of them,
the Zenji were cunning. “Perhaps, but I won’t fire on a foe who has raised the
white flag. The
Crown
will sail in. Signal the rest of the fleet to stay
back. If the Zenji betray us, the rest of our ships will bury them.”

Ruben sent a series of mirrored flashes to the other ships,
and once they had put sufficient distance between themselves and the
Crown
,
Darien ordered the advance. The Zenji ships moved to make way for the
Crown
,
so Darien sailed his ship right into the harbor. He kept his attention fixed on
each ship he passed, waiting for any sign of treachery, ready to spring into
action. He kept the fires burning and the catapults loaded. But the pale-faced
sailors just stared silently back at him.

“This is damn peculiar,” Darien said, but then he
understood. A regiment of
Sunjaa
soldiers waited on
and around the docks. If Darien docked, his ship would be overrun.

“Turn around?” Ruben was at Darien’s elbow.

The Zenji fleet was no threat now. Darien could sail away,
land somewhere up north, and
march
back to the
Vadal
army. With the harbor his, he could count on
Jahen’s
supporters to lay siege to Arinport and starve Ulen
out. It would work, but it would take months. Arinport had granaries and
storehouses to last more than a season.

“No,” Darien said at last. “Bring the
Crown
right up
to the dock.”

Ruben’s face registered shock, but he voiced no objections.
As the ship neared the dock, soldiers moved into position. They would board the
renegade ship, seize its crew, and most likely execute its captain as a
traitor. “Are you sure this is the right move?”

Darien found Ruben’s choice of words amusing, for this
deadly game which Ulen had started Darien would finish. “They think I’m dead.”

“What?”

Darien did not answer but moved to the ship’s prow. He
stood tall and proud on the
Crown
and looked down on all the soldiers
gathered on the dock. Most of the faces he did not know, but one – the
regiment’s commander – he recognized. “Hail,
Zuren
!
Finally got your own regiment, then?”

Disbelief replaced
Zuren’s
clear
hostility. “Darien? You’re dead.”

Darien spread his arms out wide. “I assure you, old friend,
I am very much alive.”

“But your house?”

“I wasn’t home at the time.”

The ship lurched as it bumped against the dock. The
soldiers moved forward to engage, but
Zuren
raised
his hand, ordering his men to halt. He addressed Darien. “Where have you been?”

“North, raising an army.”

Zuren’s
eyes grew hard. “
You
brought the
Vadal
dogs to our doorstep?”

“I’ve brought more than that,” Darien said. “I’ve brought
the rightful King.”

Murmuring rippled through the soldiers below, and even
Zuren
exchanged wondering glances with his men. “What are
you talking about, Captain? The King, his pregnant concubine, and their son
were all killed.”

“Says who?”

“Says Lord
Ahnok
,”
Zuren
said, “who, though devastated by the news, stepped in
and assumed the throne to maintain stability.”

Darien let loose a deep belly-laugh and continued laughing
until tears flowed from his eyes.
Zuren’s
irritation
was as plain as the summer sun. “Yes,” Darien said, his body still being
wracked by sobbing laughter, “I’m sure he was devastated.
How
noble of the King’s cousin to step in for the good of the nation.”

“What are you saying?” Ruben asked.

“You know me,
Zuren
. You’ve never
known me to lie. I’ve always been a plain-spoken man, never one to make claims
I couldn’t support.”

Zuren
blinked slowly as he regarded Darien. “Do you have Prince
Jahen
with you?”

“No,” Darien said, “but Lord
Itenu
,
who is leading the
Vadal
, has him. And he’s not the
Prince; he’s the King.”

Zuren
smiled.
“Kamen?
Is he going to
lead those dogs against the city?”

Darien stepped forward and leaned over the rail around the
prow. “That depends on you,” he whispered loudly.

“Well, the infantry is loyal to Lord
Ahnok
,
but if they found out he lied about Prince – King
Jahen
... he
did
lie, right?”

Darien shrugged. “In the best-case scenario, Ulen is
negligent and lazy, assuming the whole royal family was killed without having
all the bodies. At worst, he killed them and was covering up.”

Zuren
just stared at Darien.

“He sent assassins after me,” Darien said.

“What?”

“Everything can be explained, but we aren’t going to get
anywhere standing here talking at each other. Now, as I see it, we’ve got two
options. You either let me and my men into the city and stand down, or the
Vadal
lay siege to Arinport and I blockade the harbor.”

Zuren
looked out at the Zenji ships in the harbor. “Damn
cowards.”

“Don’t be so hard on them,” Darien said, glancing back over
his shoulder. “That’s not what they’re here for.”

“Then why are they here?”

“All will be revealed, but you have to stand down.
Jahen
shall take his throne, one way or another.”

Zuren
pursed his lips and ground his teeth as he considered the
offer. Same old
Zuren
, always cautious,
always weighing
the options.

“The fate of the city lies with you,
Zuren
,”
Darien said. “I know you never liked making the big calls, but you’re a
regiment commander, so you better get used to it.”

Zuren
narrowed his eyes. “I have no desire to fight you. We’ve
been friends too long.
And my men?
Well, they’ve
already heard of the legendary Darien.”

“Then let’s be friends once more.”

Zuren’s
stare softened, and his rigid stance relaxed. He nodded.
That was all Darien needed to see. He considered himself a good judge of
character and trusted that
Zuren
would not stab him
in the back.

“The ship is yours again, Ruben.” Darien embraced his first
mate.

“Thank you, Captain.” Ruben slapped Darien on the back, and
when he pulled away, his eyes shone with pride.

Darien took one last long look around his ship. “Take care
of her.”

Ruben nodded but did not speak. Tears filled his eyes.

Darien had no time for sentiment, so he just grasped Ruben
by the shoulders, nodded once, and sprang away, taking a hold of a net and
riding it down to the dock. He found himself among uneasy
Sunjaa
soldiers, all armed, all twitchy-fingered and shifty-eyed.

“Stand down, men,”
Zuren
called
out.

Darien did not want to scrap with his own countrymen, and
he guessed that none of the soldiers wanted to get into a tussle with him. They
all gave him a wide berth.