Sacrifice: The Queen's Blade (26 page)

"Perhaps some arrangement could be made."

"Good." Kerrion rocked Kerra, who gurgled and waved her arms. "I will be sending envoys to negotiate trade agreements, and I shall expect them to be treated well. I shall also expect your arms' merchants to provide weapons and armour for my men, which you will pay for. Whatever armies you have left will help to oust the Contara, after which you may do with them as you please. Until Kerra is old enough to rule, you will inform me of all your major decisions, and I will tell you whether or not I agree with them."

"Traditionally, the Queen's father has no power in Jashimari," Chiana pointed out.

"Traditionally, the Queen's father is not the Cotti King."

"Indeed. Very well. I agree."

"You have little choice. At this moment Jashimari is mine, and I am giving it to my daughter only because she is my child. I do not have to. And for chasing the Contara from her lands, I shall expect a yearly stipend to be paid in goods, the value of which I will work out later, until she is of age. In return your people will remain free, and Jashimari will enjoy the protection of Cotti."

Chiana turned a little paler, and her lips compressed in a grim line. "Next you will be choosing her consort."

"Husband. My daughter will marry, and she will raise a family. Her eldest daughter will inherit when Kerra is fifty years old, at which time she will abdicate, not kill herself. But she will choose her husband."

"You are flouting ancient Jashimari traditions. Next you will demand that her husband rule as King and make her choose from Cotti warlords."

"No." Kerrion shook his head. "I am not being unreasonable. Her husband will have no power, just some fancy title. As for your traditions, they are barbaric. I will not have my daughter taking the damned Queen's Cup."

"May I suggest that you argue that point with your daughter when she is older."

Kerrion smiled, tickling Kerra's cheek. "I am sure she will agree."

"Anything else?"

"Yes. You will show me proper respect in the future. You will bow as you would to your queen and you will call me 'Sire'."

"Will your daughter have to do this as well?"

"No." He frowned at her, annoyed. "You are only the Regent. Kerra is the Queen and my equal in rank, but you will never be, understand?"

"Yes." She lowered her gaze to the grey dove she cradled.

"Good." He bent and kissed his daughter's forehead, making her gurgle. Smiling at her, he turned to the handmaiden, who stepped forward to take the child.

"One more thing," he said. "My army will occupy this city until that damned bell stops ringing, and no one will enter the room where Minna-Satu and Blade lie."

Chiana's head jerked up. "The Elder Queen is in state. Her people must be allowed to pay their last respects."

"No. In this I will not be swayed, and I will place guards at the doors to ensure it. Let her people pay their respects outside. They are doing it in the city now anyway."

Chiana blinked. "How did Lord Conash... meet his end?"

"He took the Cup."

The Regent bowed her head, hiding her expression as he turned away and marched to the doors, re-joining his men outside. The Jashimari guards closed the portal behind them, and Kerrion led the way back to the courtyard where his war stallion waited. He issued orders to the officers, then spurred his steed through the gates and into the city, a troop of men surrounding him.

In the big tent that had been erected for him in his camp outside the city, Kerrion called a meeting of his lords, advisors and senior officers. In a succinct speech, he explained the situation, claiming a victory to soothe their pride. His daughter was now the Jashimari Queen, and through her he would rule Jashimari. Most of his advisors seemed delighted with the news, and some of his lords smiled and nodded, but many of the officers looked unhappy until he told them that they would be invading Contara, thus conquering two kingdoms.

Kerrion sensed undercurrents of dissatisfaction, but he had expected that, and tried to spot the dissenters amongst his lords. Batian vouched for the Cotti appearance of the Jashimari Queen, and Kerrion explained her conception, omitting his reluctance, which brought delighted growls from the men. He went on to recite the terms he had dictated to the Jashimari Regent, which mollified them further. When he sent them on their way, he was satisfied that he had most of their support.

As soon as the meeting was over, he went to the carriage where Minna and Blade lay. Pulling off the Queen's shroud, he sat beside her and took her hand, its warmth and her soft, shallow breaths reassuring him that she still lived. With a sigh of relief, he dug inside his jacket and pulled out the small pottery flask he had carried with him for the last three tendays. He gazed at it, remembering his strange encounter with the gentle-eyed old man who lived in a cave.

Shamsara had been expecting him, it seemed, for he was not surprised when the Cotti King appeared outside his cave, red-faced and panting from the steep climb. Over a strange, meagre lunch of crushed leaves and herbs, Kerrion had explained his dilemma and begged for a way to save Minna-Satu.

Shamsara regarded him with sad eyes. "She has done it then? She is having your child?"

Kerrion nodded. The Idol of the Beasts sighed and shook his head. "Changing the future is a terrible thing, and now you want to change it again."

"Yes, I do."

"You cannot stop her from taking the Cup."

"Is it her fate?"

"No." The old man pondered. "My prediction changed her fate. You just cannot get there in time. She will take it as soon as they see you coming."

"But is there a way to save her?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"The antidote to the Queen's Cup, of course," Shamsara replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I did not know there was one."

"No one does, except me. But you must have suspected that there was, otherwise why did you come?"

"I hoped, is all. So what is it?" Kerrion asked. "And where can I get it?"

"You can get it right here. It is my blood."

Kerrion stared at the old man, astounded. "Your blood?"

Shamsara glanced around. "Is there an echo in here? Yes, that is what I said. But it will change the future of the whole world if I give it to you." A yellow viper coiled into his lap, its forked black tongue flickering as it tasted the air.

"How?"

Shamsara stroked the snake's scales with a finger. "I have lived for eight centuries, Kerrion, and I am destined to live for two more. If I spill my blood to save the Jashimari Queen, I will start to die. It will take a long time, perhaps another hundred and fifty years, but it will cut short my existence by fifty years or more. Each Idol lives for an era, a thousand years. This will bring the dawning of the new Age sooner. The next Idol will be born before I die, and I fear that she will be an Idol of the Elements."

"What does that mean for the world?"

"Well, it changes many things. There are three Ages; of Plants, of Beasts, and of the Elements. The Age of Plants is an innocuous one. People discover the power to control certain growing things, just as they now bond with certain beasts, like your desert eagle. The Age of Elementals is always tumultuous, however, for then people gain control over certain elements, fire, water, air or earth. It is an Age of magic and sorcery, of good and bad mages with different powers. It is very exciting, of course, but that is what will happen if I save Minna-Satu."

"But it is going to happen anyway, is it not?" Kerrion enquired.

"Yes. It just brings it about sooner."

"And what harm can that do?"

Shamsara looked down at the deadly viper curled in his lap. "It upsets the rhythm of the Ages. At the beginning of each Age, people are still attuned to the last one. When I was young, people were shy and peaceful, and had a strong love for the forests and plants. Your people almost worshipped trees, and your oases were formed during the Age of Plants, when men had the power to grow trees in the desert.

"Because of their gentle natures, when the new Age dawned they bonded with harmless familiars such as deer, birds and butterflies. But with each generation they grew bolder and more aggressive, and started to form bonds with the predators.

"Then the war started, and that made them even more inclined to bond with dangerous animals. I had hoped that they would have a long enough time of peace to forget their warlike inclinations and become gentler before the Age of Elements arrived, but if I give you the antidote, they will only have a hundred and fifty years."

"So what will happen?"

The Idol of the Beasts shrugged. "It means that bold, aggressive people will be born with power over the elements, a dangerous combination. The Idol of the Elements will have plenty of work preventing them from tearing the world apart. With each Age, the duties of the Idols are different.

"In the Age of Plants, Agarenon travelled the forests healing any sickness he found and preventing people from perverting the trees too much. My duties are few, I do little more than hand out advice to those who seek it, for the beasts take care of themselves. But the Idol of Elements must, as I said, prevent people from destroying everything with their power."

"I see. But how does it happen? Do people lose their familiars and gain power over an element?"

"No." Shamsara's eyes twinkled. "As soon as the Idol of the Elements is born, all children will be born with power over the elements and not the beasts. There is a time of overlapping, until the last of the beast-bonded people die."

"And the Idol of the Elements will control all of them, while ordinary people will control only one, just as you can bond with any beast?"

"Yes."

"So it does no real harm, apart from making the new Idol's job a little harder."

"Except to me." Shamsara chuckled. "But then, I have lived a long time already, have I not? What is fifty years?"

Kerrion made a vague gesture. "The decision must be yours. I am not wise enough to make such a profound choice. One that will change the course of history. I want to save Minna-Satu more than anything, but she would not wish to be saved if it costs the future of the world."

"If you wed the Jashimari Queen, you will usher in a new age for the Cotti people."

"Is that a prediction?"

Shamsara nodded. "I could word it more formally, but Cotti prefer plain speaking, not flowery dialogues like the Jashimari. Both of your peoples have good and bad traits, and the best thing for them is to unite. Already a great change is being made to the world, the imminent ending the Eternal War. Had it lingered until the Age of the Elements, it would have proved disastrous for both sides."

Kerrion frowned. "Of course, with wizardry as a weapon..."

"Exactly." Shamsara placed a pot on the fire and filled it with water, throwing in some leaves and bits of bark. "Let us make a good pot of tea, and we can talk on it some more."

They had discussed many things over the following time-glasses, though Kerrion could remember little of it now. As he was about to leave with a heavy heart, thinking that Shamsara had decided against giving him the antidote, the Idol of the Beasts had bade him wait. Shamsara had pricked his finger with a knife and allowed a drop of his blood to fall into the cold tea. He had poured it into a pottery flask and handed it to Kerrion with a smile.

"Enough for one cup of sacred water. Be happy with your Queen, Kerrion, and treat her well."

The King had smiled and taken the flask with a deep, reverent bow. "I shall, Shamsara, and thank you."

Kerrion gazed at the flask, Shamsara's words echoing in his mind. Surely Minna and Blade had shared a cup between them? What if they had not? He tried to remember the goblet in the bier room. It had seemed empty, but the sacred water was clear. Yet Blade had drained it in a single gulp. Surely a full cup would have been too much? He had never drained a goblet in one gulp. He looked at Minna's peaceful face.

"You shared it, did you not? If not, I have only enough here to save you, but I shall need Blade, just as you did. Cotti will be a dangerous place for you, without Blade to slay those who will plot to kill you. If I am wrong, though, you will both die, and I could not bear to lose you." He shook his head, tortured by the choice. "You could only have had one cup between you, it must be."

Unplugging the flask, he poured the pale amber liquid into a goblet. He lifted Minna, cradling her against his arm as he held the cup to her lips and trickled the liquid into her mouth. She swallowed, and he kept at it until she had drunk half the tea, then gave her a little more just to be safe. He went over to Blade's litter and removed the shroud, ensuring that the assassin also lived before he fed him the last of Shamsara's tea.

Emerging from the carriage, he instructed a soldier to summon a healer to tend the assassin's wounds, and found the man's startled expression amusing. Returning to his tent, Kerrion sent for Lord Batian, who arrived promptly, looking curious.

"You summoned me, Sire?"

Kerrion looked up from the document he was reading. "Yes, I have work for you. I am returning to the desert, and I am leaving you in charge of the city."

"What about your brother, Prince Armin? Surely he -"

"I do not trust him with this. I am sending him to lead the army against the Contara. Maybe he will get himself killed. It is only for three days, until that infernal bell stops ringing, then you can withdraw and join Armin. I want no trouble with the Jashimari, and you are a fine statesman. There should not be any problems, since Queen Minna-Satu has ordered her people not to fight us, and they seem an obedient lot. Make sure no one enters the room where we found her, and keep the peace, that is all you have to do. I will send five advisors to Chiana's court; you will introduce them and see that they are settled in."