Tau’s jaw clenched, the bones creaking. A hand fell on his shoulder. His head swung. It was Hadith.
“Come away now,” Hadith said. “Come.”
“Those… men,” Tau said, seeing demons in Abasi and Dejen’s places.
“Come away,” Hadith said.
“Food,” Uduak said, pulling Tau along.
Tau let his sword brothers pull him to the mess hall, his mind a jumble, seeing demons everywhere, as if Isihogo and Uhmlaba had become one. They sat him at a long table. They brought him food. They watched him eat.
“What was that, outside?” Hadith asked. “You looked like you were about to kill every last one of those Nobles.”
“Just two.”
Hadith fumbled his spoon. “Wait! You were actually thinking of attacking them?”
“Leave it,” Tau said.
“I don’t think I can,” Hadith said. “I think you need to explain.”
“He killed my father.”
“Neh? Who did?” asked Hadith.
“The guardian councillor, Abasi Odili. He had his Body stab my father through the heart at a citadel testing.”
“Why?” asked Uduak.
“I sparred with and beat a Noble.”
Uduak tilted his head, no doubt trying to recall conversations about Tau’s old life. “Jabari?”
“No. Jabari was… Jabari is my friend. It was an incompetent named Kagiso Okafor. He was a terrible swordsman. He tried to injure me and I stopped him.”
“The Nobles took offense?” asked Hadith.
“Odili put me in a blood-duel against Kellan Okar. The councillor wanted me to die for knocking a useless nceku on his ass.”
“Your father took your place,” Hadith concluded.
Tau was having trouble breathing and closed his eyes. “Okar cut away my father’s hand. Odili’s Body put bronze through his chest.”
“And now?” Uduak asked. “Revenge? You’ll be killed. Your family too.”
“The melee,” Hadith told Uduak. “Then graduation. Then a blood-duel.”
Hadith had pieced it together. Uduak, still thinking it through, shot him a questioning look.
“Kellan Okar fights in the melee,” said Hadith. “He can die in it. Nobles do every cycle. After the melee, we become full-bloods. Full-bloods can blood-duel anyone in the military, even the chairman of the Guardian Council.”
Uduak made a strangled sound.
Tau kept his eyes on his plate. “They killed my father.”
“They did,” Hadith said, tone neutral.
“I’m going to kill them.”
“Listen,” said Hadith, “you have to retreat a few paces, but here’s what we can do—”
“We?” said Tau.
“Yes, we,” said Hadith. “We’re brothers. And, we’re going to do nothing, for now. Leave the guardian councillor to his business. You get caught and everyone sharing your blood dies. Tau, I’ll promise you something. Let us take care of Okar as a scale. If we face him in the melee, we’ll punish him for his part in your father’s death.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“Really? ’Cause from where I’m sitting, it looks like you do.” Hadith put a hand on Tau’s shoulder. “You can’t actually think that the rules the Nobles made up to protect themselves will protect you. What do you think happens if you gut Okar in the melee? What do you think will actually happen if, as a full-blood, you challenge the chairman of the Guardian Council to a fight to the death?”
Hadith had gotten louder, Uduak shushed him, and he took a breath. “Let us help. I’ll think of something. We can punish Kellan, at least.”
“At least?” said Tau.
“Be at peace, just for now. Let me think. Agreed?”
Tau was wound tight as rope, his posture and the set of his mouth as clear and instinctual a warning as any man could give.
Hadith would not be cowed. “Swear it, Tau,” he said. “You risk us in this too. Swear it on your father and know that I have my own reasons to hate Nobles.”
Hadith Buhari, specifically chosen to be in Scale Jayyed; Tau could guess his reasons. Like the rest, he was a cross-caste, his mother likely taken by force. Hadith would consider it a dark secret, a shameful beginning, thought Tau. It made Hadith think he hated the ones whose blood he shared, but he did not know what hate really was. Tau would help with that. He’d become Hadith’s shining example.
“I’ll do nothing while Odili is in the isikolo walls,” he said.
“On your father,” Hadith reminded him.
Tau nodded, stood, and left. A chair scraped behind him and he heard Uduak’s heavy footfalls as the big man shadowed him. Avoiding the central courtyard and the Indlovu, Tau returned to the training grounds.
Uduak didn’t need to play escort. Tau would keep his word. No harm would come to Odili while he was in the isikolo’s walls because Tau knew a Royal Noble like him wouldn’t spend a night among Lessers. He’d leave that same day, and Tau would follow.
STONES
Jayyed had not been at practice all day, and in the mess hall that evening, rumors spread, branching like a tree’s roots. It was said the chairman of the Guardian Council had spoken with Jayyed. It was said Jayyed was to accompany him when he left the isikolo.
Many in the scale were proud of this, glad to see their mentor respected enough to be called upon by their military’s leadership. Tau was not pleased. If the rumors were true, Jayyed would be with Odili when Tau followed him.
At dusk, the Indlovu prepared to march. Jayyed was with them. The initiates, their training day over, returned to the barracks. Tau went too, then gathered his swords and left the barracks, as Hadith joked and drank with the men. This was usual. Tau always trained in the evenings.
On his way to the barracks door, Tau noticed Uduak watching him. Uduak had seen Tau sheath his real swords in the scabbards he was wearing. Tau had his father’s razor-edged blade on one hip and his grandfather’s sword on the other. Uduak’s gaze lingered on the weapons and their eyes met. Uduak said nothing, but Tau could feel the big man’s stare on his back as he walked out of the barracks and into the hot night.
Tau waited in the grasslands beyond the practice yards until he heard the convoy of Indlovu. Their armor, gear, and weapons clattered as they marched from the isikolo, and, seeing demons that weren’t there, Tau followed.
The men marched north. Tau gave them a good lead. The grasslands did not offer cover and he could not risk being seen. After a couple of spans, he realized they were closing in on the Crags and Citadel City. The rumors were right. Odili had come to bring Jayyed back to the Guardian Council.
That made things difficult. Tau would have to sneak into the city and was already having trouble keeping his head straight. He itched. It was the first night he’d not gone to Isihogo, and lost in worry over how much he wanted to go and suffer, he was almost seen.
They’d arrived at the base of the Crags and the Indlovu had stopped marching. Tau was too close and one of them turned in his direction. He dropped to a crouch in the tall grass, hiding and praying to the Goddess that he’d not been seen.
A breath passed and Tau feared he was discovered, but the man turned away, peering out in the dark at something else. That was when Tau heard the newcomers, the sounds of their approach resounding off the rocky ground. Tau crawled closer and did not like what he saw.