The Indlovu had been joined by another unit, and this unit was guarding two on horses. Tau peered into the twilight, surprised that he recognized the riders. The horses carried the queen’s champion and the KaEid of the Gifted Citadel. Behind them walked three hooded Gifted and two men wearing the blackened leather armor of the Ingonyama.
Tau considered slipping away. Something far beyond him was taking place and it made him uneasy to think that the Chosen he was stalking, once joined by the Gifted, had enough power to take on four scales of Ihashe.
The champion’s horse made a noise with its nose and Tau almost leapt from his hiding spot. He worried the beast could tell he was there, but none of the others seemed alarmed. Tau calmed his nerves and stayed put, watching the champion for any signs that the animal had alerted him to Tau’s presence.
The champion was as Tau remembered, tall and strong. His shaven scalp was edged with gray stubble that seemed to shimmer in the dim moonlight, and he had his guardian sword at his hip. The KaEid, of an age with Champion Abshir Okar, was graceful and attractive, though stern. He could not see the faces of the hooded Gifted, worried Zuri could be one of them, and rejected the notion. She should still be in Kerem, and these were some of the most important people in the peninsula. The Gifted with the KaEid would be full-blooded, not initiates, not Zuri.
Then, after a brief discussion that Tau could not hear, the eighteen Indlovu were left to guard the horses and gear as Jayyed, Odili, the queen’s champion, and KaEid began to climb the Crags with the three Gifted and three Ingonyama. The group had split, and the horses, whose capabilities Tau did not understand, had been left behind. Tau considered going home but rejected the notion. He had to be careful, exceedingly so, but he’d see the night through.
Odili and his group took the easiest and widest path up the Crags. Tau could not follow that way. The horse-guarding Indlovu would see him. He had to sidle back and around the Crags until he found a section he could climb, unseen. It wasn’t a path, but climbing the Crags was no challenge to a man born and bred in the Southern Mountains.
Odili’s group went up, past the battlegrounds and into the Fist itself. It was well past the middle of the night and Tau couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. The feeling increased when he saw movement higher up the climb. It was a person, weaving between the larger rocks.
At first, Tau thought the group he was following must have a scout up there. That made no sense, though. How had the scout gotten so far ahead? And the scout seemed to be watching down the climb, toward Odili’s group, instead of watching up and guarding against others.
Tau picked up the pace, getting ahead of Odili’s group and closer to where he’d last seen the scout. He did his best to be quiet. He could climb well enough but was no ranger, and if discovered, he was dead.
He clambered over a large rock and was about to work his way over its even bigger brother when he heard his quarry send a loose stone skittering. She cursed to herself and Tau froze. He’d not been able to understand her words.
He swung his head in the direction of her voice and, unable to believe his eyes, slid behind a large rock, hiding. He heard more voices, these ones on their way up the mountain. These he could understand, since they were speaking Empiric.
Odili’s group had arrived and were walking into the clearing below the rock behind which Tau hid. The clearing rose to a crest and the group were entering it from its lowest point. Unlike Tau, they couldn’t see over the rise. Unlike Tau, they couldn’t see the hedeni scout and the rest of her raiding party.
ABOMINATION
Tau’s heart hammered. He had to warn Jayyed. By the Goddess, he’d have to warn Odili. He swore under his breath. Even if he saved all their lives, they’d hang him for being there. Time was short, the hedeni were a few steps from view, and their party was larger than Odili’s. Odili had Gifted and Ingonyama. That made some difference, though not enough if the group was ambushed. Tau made his decision and began to draw bronze; he’d take out the scout first.
“We are here,” shouted Abshir Okar, the queen’s champion, as Tau’s swords were halfway from their scabbards.
“You are here,” came the response from the man at the front of the hedeni raiding party, in broken Empiric.
Tau held, hoping the scout had not heard his bronze whisper against his scabbards. All was quiet beyond the large rock where she hid. A good sign. Tau checked the clearing. Kellan’s uncle had stepped into its center.
“We have come in good faith,” Champion Okar said.
It seemed the hedeni were expected.
“We shall see,” the hedeni man replied, stepping into the clearing as well.
Tau started. It was the burned man who had led the raid at Daba.
“Warlord Achak,” Champion Okar said.
“I see you, champion of the Fire-Demon Queen,” Achak said, as a few members of his party crested the rise.
Warlord Achak, as Abshir named the burned man, had more than sixty warriors that Tau could see. The fighters were mixed, women and men. Most carried cruel-looking spears, their shafts tipped with jagged bronze.
Abshir stopped a few strides from the clearing’s center. Achak did the same on his side. The hedeni warlord wore leathers, but unlike the Indlovu’s, it held no bronze plate for protection. He had no helmet and held his spear well, a fighter.
“My queen accepts the terms, the timeline,” said Abshir loud enough for the warlord, his party, the Ingonyama, and the Gifted to hear. “She will gather our military leadership to arrange for a drawing down of our forces. We will have peace with the Xiddeen.”
Tau had been swallowing and almost choked on his spit.
The champion cleared his throat and continued. “As agreed, upon peace, Queen Tsiora will proclaim Kana, son of Warlord Achak, to be the regent of the Xiddan Peninsula. He will share power with Queen Tsiora during the merging of the Omehi and Xiddeen.” The warlord nodded at this. “Once done, Queen Tsiora will swear fealty to the shul, who will counterswear, in the presence of his entire Conclave, to protect and care for all Chosen, all Omehi.”
There was a pause, the warlord waiting for more.
“With peace secured and Chosen safety promised,” Champion Abshir said, “the Guardians will leave Xidda.”
Tau sat back on his haunches, leaning against the rock behind him for support.
The warlord spoke, his accent and warped Empiric difficult to understand. “The greatest Conclave in memory has gathered. All Xiddeen stand together to see peace done or enemies destroyed. You, in small valley, cannot count the people, more than the sands that touch the endless water, who stand against you.”
Abshir did not react. Tau imagined he’d expected a speech of this sort.
“Heed,” the warlord continued, his voice rumbling like falling stones, “the fire demons must leave. There can be no peace without this.”
It took Tau a breath to understand that the burned man was using the Empiric word for demons to describe the dragons.
Abshir Okar had something else on his mind. “The queen requires proof of your claims.”
The warlord signaled behind him and, on cue, a skinny hedeni came forward. The skinny man was with a warrior. The warrior was male, well built, and just a head shorter than an Omehi Noble. He looked familiar, resembling the warlord, but with no burns, fewer curse scars, and much younger.