Authors: Tamora Pierce
Slowly the group that guarded Dove moved out into the open square, trying to make it to a side street. Instead the battle forced them forward, though they fought to hold their ground. They would be crushed against the fountain.
A gap opened before Aly. A soldier had grabbed a club. He was about to bring it down on the skull of a toddler who clutched his knees, screaming. Aly lunged out, knifing the soldier in the back as she yanked the child away with her free hand. Another soldier descended on her with a roar of fury. She slung the toddler toward the Balitang group and blinded the soldier before she cut his throat.
"I know it's nasty," she told the darkings, panting as she wiped her blades, "but this is the not-very-fun part."
Trick and Secret didn't answer. Both of them leaped from Aly's neck to cover the faces of two soldiers who were headed for Dove. As the men fought to breathe, a raka woman with muscles like rocks bashed one with a piece of stone. A luarin woman thrust a short sword home through the other soldier. Trick and Secret leaped to Aly as the two unknown women continued to fight soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, falling back until they filled the gaps in the line around Dove. Aly’stayed behind them, in case this was a ruse to let assassins get close to her mistress. The ladies paid attention to nothing but the people who smashed into them.
Aly looked around in despair, wondering how they were going to escape. The riot was growing. It would help no one if Dove got crushed.
Crows and miniature kudarung rained down, shrieking and gouging, biting and blinding, driving everyone from a space in front of the fountain. In their wake came a much larger shadow, one so big that even those who battled around Aly's companions looked up. Everywhere else the insanity raged. Here there was a moment of quiet as a bright chestnut kudarung stallion spiraled down to land in the open space. As regal as any king, he walked over to the Balitang defenders, who moved aside. At last he stood before Dove.
Slowly, gracefully, the great creature furled his batlike wings and knelt on his forelegs, a plain salute to the girl.
Aly was the first to recover. "Don't just stand there, climb on!" she cried, yanking Dove's arm so she would advance. "Fesgao, your sash!"
"But... a saddle," Dove murmured, stroking the chestnut's muzzle. "Where do I, um, mount?"
Aly envisioned the messenger who had come to Tanair the year before on a captive kudarung. "Behind his wings," she said. Fesgao thrust his sash into her reaching hand. "Excuse me," Aly told the great creature. "It's demeaning, but necessary." She tied the sash around that powerful neck, and passed its ends to Dove. She hesitated, then slung the toddler she had rescued up in front of Dove. "If you don't mind?" she asked the kudarung.
He straightened his forelegs. Then he nodded.
"Balitang House?" she asked.
Again the kudarung nodded. His hindquarters bunched, and he jumped, massive wings opening with a snap. Up he soared, scooping at the air until he was above the houses. Then he flew into the distance, toward Balitang House.
The afternoon was half over when the rest of them came home. Footmen and maids waited for them beside the guard at the locked gate. They took charge of the worst hurt, carrying or helping them to the infirmary. All were bruised, scraped, and bloody. Petranne shrieked to see her mother and her great-aunt disheveled and carrying the red-bladed spears they had grabbed to help in the fight. The duchess passed her spear to Nuritin and scooped up her daughter, hugging her until Petranne yelped. Nuritin placed one spear on the front hall bench and, taking out her handkerchief, began to clean the blade of the one she held.
Chenaol had followed them from the gate. She grinned at Nuritin and collected the other spear. "If you want me to take that, my lady, I'll clean it properly," she said, nodding toward the weapon Nuritin still held.
Nuritin looked at the spear, then at Chenaol. The old woman trembled from top to toe, but her voice was firm and clear as she replied, "I thank you, but I will clean it myself. I suspect I may need it again. My father said a good blade should always be seen to by the one who uses it."
Chenaol scratched her head for a moment, then offered, "Would my lady like to see our armaments, and choose something more to her taste?"
"I would," Nuritin replied stoutly. "This is a bit heavier than I can manage easily." As the two women walked to the back of the house, carrying spears, Nuritin added, "And since we are to be comrades in battle, we had best do away with this 'my lady' nonsense."
Dove was seated at the foot of the stairs, her arms wrapped around her knees. When Aly looked at her, Dove said, "Next time, I want a saddle."
Fesgao and the rest of their group, who had been catching their breath until now, knelt as one and bowed their heads to her. Aly followed suit.
"Mama, why did they do that?" asked Petranne. "They're only supposed to bow like that to the king."
Winnamine turned, Petranne still in her arms, and saw their escorts and Dove. She set Petranne down. "Because Dove is to be the next king," she replied, and curtsied deeply.
Petranne did the same, as well as her six-year-old coordination would allow her. Despite that, she said, "But Dove can't be king. She's a girl."
Dove rose and walked over to them. She said, her voice shaking, "And this girl isn't going to be that kind of king. Get up, all of you, please. I never want to see any of you on your knees again, for anyone. Winna, please, don't. You're my mother, Petranne’s my sister." Her chin wobbled. "Please don’t close me out." She looked at Aly. "That applies to you as well."
Winnamine rose and hugged her stepdaughter. Kissing the top of Dove's head, she said in a mother's croon, "It's all right. We're all home and safe."
Safe for the moment, thought Aly. The riot in Rittevon Square had not diminished once Dove had gone. If anything, it had intensified, spreading north and east through Middle Town. The household had lost three men-at-arms, killed in the fight. Five more were seriously hurt. Boulaj had dislocated her shoulder.
"If you will excuse me, I need more information," Aly told the others, and headed for her workroom. Passing a door that opened out to the pool courtyard, she saw the great chestnut kudarung there, drinking sedately. Three full-sized mares and a handful of miniature kudarung cropped the grass that grew outside the tiled court.
So much for secrecy, Aly thought tiredly, and walked on. She ducked into her workroom to collect herself. Nawat was there, to her surprise, caught in the act of placing a lotus on her worktable. He swept her up for a hard kiss and embrace. "My kin told me you were well and fighting your way home," he said, "or I would have come for you. Were you pleased when they came to help Dove? I didn't even ask them to, or the little kudarung. They did it because they wanted to."
Aly pressed a hand to his mouth. "I'm
very
grateful,' she said. "Is anyone in the meeting room?"
"Many of your spies, and Ulasim, and Fesgao, and Quedanga," replied Nawat. "They have information for you, as have I, from my kinfolk."
"Information is good," said Aly as they crossed the hall. They could barely fit in, so many sat in the chairs and on the floor. She managed to wriggle her way through to a counter along the wall. Sitting there, she had a view of everyone's face. Nawat remained by the now-closed door, leaning against the wall. Guchol took a few slates from her lap and handed them over; Atisa provided a lump of chalk.
Aly murmured her thanks, nodded to Ulasim and the other senior conspirators, then looked at her pack and their recruits. Placing a clean slate on her knees, she said, "Very well, my children. Since we all have much to say, let us be organized about it. Who has word from Downwind and the Honeypot?"
She released them to go learn more once they had emptied their budgets of news. She noted that Fesgao and Quedanga came and went, pursuing their own duties. Dove arrived at some point, followed by Nuritin and Nomru. The last three stayed, as did Ulasim, while still more messengers arrived. Dove even took over the note-taking briefly so that Aly could ease her writing hand and eat something.
Aly took a short walk to unwind and visit the privy, then stepped out into the garden and looked up. Was it her imagination, or were the multicolored sparks that represented the Trickster now brighter?
When she returned, she reviewed the notes for what she had missed, then began to take things down again. Finally Ulasim called for lamps. Aly hadn't even noticed it was growing dark; she had simply shifted her Sight so she could work without interruption as the light grew dim. Knocked from her concentration, she looked up and around. Winnamine had come, as had Baron Engan, Ferdy Tomang, and Lord Obemaek. Nawat returned soon after lamps were lit. As Aly’stretched her neck to ease a cramp, Imgehai Qeshi arrived, her black priestess's robes disordered, her hood shoved back.
"The fighting has reached the middle of Market Town," she told them, panting. That was where her temple was located.
Aly looked at Ulasim. "There's been no dwindling of the riot since we got home," she told him wearily. "It's spread. And don't ask me how I know this bit, but Rubinyan has sent two hundred of the Rittevon Guard and four decades of Rit-tevon Lancers out. Their orders are to beat the fighting back to the lower edges of Middle Town, but they're stalled at Rittevon Square. The Honeypot is burning again. Who knew they had anything left? The King's Watch is trying to contain another riot in Downwind. With a little help from people who know what they're doing, their lines can be broken there, if you are in the mood. That riot's spreading to Dock-market and up to Flowergarden. That is the state of affairs in Rajmuat at this time." She massaged her neck. "What are your orders?"
Ulasim sat, his eyes going from one conspirator's face to another's, ending on Dove's. For a very long, still moment the big raka said and did nothing. At last he made a face. "I think it is plain to all of us that the war has begun ahead of schedule," he said drily. "Any child knows it is better to swim with the tide than against it. We attack in force at dawn."
Messengers left the house with orders for the fighter groups hidden all over the city. Members of the luarin conspiracy sent their loved ones, with some guards from their own households, to the Balitang home. Lord Obemaek told Fesgao that if worse came to worst, the families could flee Rajmuat from the house closest to the docks. Aly thought it sweet, though unrealistic. If Crown troops showed up in the Windward District at all, it would be because the rebels had been beaten, and no ship would be able to sail.
Ochobu made certain that everyone who entered Balitang House first had to submit to truthspells wielded by Ochobu, Ysul, or the handful of Chain mages who had entered the city, or to questions under Aly's Sight as she looked to see if they lied. Those who failed the test of loyalty were locked up rather than executed. It was time to start changing their old policies, Ulasim had told the conspirators. If people who were not on their side were spared when possible, it might create goodwill after the fighting was done.
As everyone bustled about in the hours after midnight,
Aly sought a private moment with Ulasim. "You'll see Nawat later," he said before she could open her mouth. "He and his fighters will meet you and Chenaol." When Aly did not leave, he sighed. "That's not it? Well, can the rest wait?" he asked, trying to tie back his hair and write at once.
"It cannot," Aly said, taking control of his hair. "Believe me, I'm not here to waste your time." She did an efficient braid and tied it off.
Ulasim finished his document and handed it to a waiting messenger. "Close the door," he ordered her. As the door thunked shut behind her, Ulasim looked up at Aly. "What is it?" he demanded.
Aly crouched and held out a hand. "Lace," she called. It’s time.
The darking had been hiding under Ulasim's chair. Now it rolled forward onto Aly's palm. Aly picked it up and showed it to Ulasim.
"This is Lace," she told her general, whose eyes had gone wide at the sight of the odd creature. "I cannot tell you how I came to know it, or where it comes from. You would
really
dislike the answer. Lace is a darking. Say hello to Ulasim," she instructed.
Lace stuck up a neck and head. "Hello. What one of us knows, we all know. We can even show sometimes, if you are not in a hurry."
Aly offered the darking to Ulasim. "I mean to give one to Fesgao, Ochobu, Chenaol, Nomru, Her Grace, and Dove." Gingerly Ulasim accepted Lace. "They're all I have left," Aly continued as he rolled the darking on his palm. "The others, but for my personal darking, are at the palace. You keep yours by you, as I always keep mine by me. Say hello, Trick."
Trick put its head up from its necklace shape. "Hello," it said. "It is a fine thing to say hello to you people at last."
"How long have they— No," Ulasim corrected himself as Aly raised a finger. "No questions. But can we trust them, whatever they are?"
"We have kept your trust for weeks," Lace informed him. "We have heard everything, and we have told only Aly."
Ulasim started to speak, then stopped. He looked at their surroundings, the conspirators' meeting room, then at Lace. "For weeks," he repeated, his voice very dry. "And you reported only to Aly."
"We do not
lie
," Trick said in reproof. "Not much."
"Lies are boring," added Lace.
"A good thing we never planned to betray
you,"
Ulasim told Aly.
Aly smiled at him. "Now you're being silly," she replied. "The best place to wear one is around your neck. That way they can speak in your ear."
Lace rolled up Ulasim's arm, raising goose bumps on the mans skin. It shaped itself like a band around his neck. "I tell you what is happening around other darkings," Lace explained.
Ulasim hitched his shoulders. "It is the strangest feeling," he remarked. "Bright Eyes, it is always something new with you. Fesgao, Mother, Nomru, Chenaol, Her Grace, and Lady Dove?" Aly nodded. Ulasim smoothed his bearded chin. "And you. Very good. The Crown's mages can interfere with the communications of our mages. Will that affect these creatures?"