“Ah…,” said Hadith.
“No. I can’t accept this,” Kellan told the others. “It means my uncle negotiated in bad faith. He’s many things but would never broker a false treaty. Not for war, peace, or surrender.”
“He doesn’t know,” Zuri said. “Don’t you see? It’s a coup.”
“A coup?” Kellan shook his head. “Lady Gifted, this path twists too much.”
“And yet, she’s right…,” Hadith said. “When the queen chose peace, she went against the Royal Nobles. Peace doesn’t just end her reign; it ends them too.”
Kellan spoke to Hadith. “You think the Royal Nobles have conspired to make sure a doomed war continues? Why? So they can hold on to privilege? Power? What good is it, if they’re dead? There’s no coup or conspiracy. For one to exist, the Royal Nobles have to believe we can win.”
“That is what they believe,” Tau said.
Kellan rounded on Tau, towering over him. “Then maybe they’re right!”
“No,” Tau insisted. “Jayyed was certain. The queen is certain. There are too many hedeni, and that was before they had our gifts.”
“So,” said Themba, “peace is our only hope and the hedeni are invading.… Unfortunate.”
“There’s no need for talk of coups or conspiracy,” Kellan said. “In war, the simple answer is often the correct one. The savages lulled us with hopes of peace and launched a surprise attack when we were vulnerable.”
Zuri grabbed Tau’s and Kellan’s wrists, squeezing tight, her sudden movement making Uduak draw his blade.
“Zuri?” asked Tau.
“She’s already done it,” Zuri said.
Kellan pulled his wrist out of Zuri’s grip. “With respect, Lady Gifted—”
“The hedeni… This isn’t a first strike. We attacked them.”
Kellan threw his hands in the air and marched away.
“A Guardian attacked the Conclave,” Zuri said to his back. “It destroyed it and Jamilah is dead.”
Kellan turned to her, incredulous. He was about to say something, but Tau was no longer listening. Zuri’s words had completed the picture he’d been struggling to form and, finally, he could see it.
He saw how well Odili and the KaEid had planned this. He saw how patient Jamilah was to wait for the right time. Jamilah would teach enervation to the Xiddeen because those she taught would never be able to use it against the Chosen. She would train the shamans until it was time for the Queen’s Melee. Then, during the melee, when both the Northern and Southern Isikolo, the citadel, and much of the Omehi military were in the Crags, Jamilah would call a dragon.
It had to be done then. The melee was the only time when enough of the Omehi military could be ordered into the Crags and Citadel City without raising the champion’s or the queen’s suspicion.
Tau could see it. He could see the whole horrifying picture. He saw the colossal black dragon that Jamilah would have called and, in his mind’s eye, he saw it swoop down from the sky, blowing fire before it. He saw it boil the earth and blast a million souls to char and ash.
Kellan questioned Zuri. “You can sense this? The dragon? Jamilah?”
“No,” Zuri said, “but it’s why the hedeni are invading. We burned their Conclave and everyone there to ash. We are the ones who betrayed the peace.”
They were in the Crags, near its cliffs. They could see all the way down to Citadel City. In the city’s center, with its massive domes, stood the queen’s stronghold, the Guardian Keep. The domes glowed with the scintillations of several hundred torches, fiery brands held in the hands of those outside its walls.
“Where would the queen be, right now?” asked Hadith, eyes locked on the scene before him.
“She’s in the keep, isn’t she?” said Tau.
Kellan was staring down at the city. He looked like a man with his head in a noose. “She’s in the keep,” he said.
The keep was surrounded—surrounded and under siege by an army of Indlovu.
“It’s a coup,” Kellan said.
YOUNGLING
Kellan ordered everyone down to Citadel City. Those too injured to travel at speed were given a few guards and told to leave the path, so they could hide from the Xiddeen. The rest ran. Tau stayed beside Zuri, who was wearied from her time in Isihogo and unused to using her body so harshly.
Running, they reached Citadel City in short order, finding its gates and walls guarded by full-blooded Indlovu. One of them raised a war horn to his lips, ready to send out an alarm. When the guard realized they were Omehi, he lowered it.
“My name is Kellan Okar, third-cycle initiate of the Indlovu Citadel. We have fought a battle against the invading hedeni in the Fist. I demand entry for my men and my injured. We have news for the Guardian Council.”
Tau noted that Kellan did not say the champion or the queen.
The Indlovu with the war horn looked down from the low wall. “Well met, Okar,” he said, emphasizing Kellan’s family name. “The Omehi military, under the direct command of Inkokeli Odili, has taken charge of the city’s defense. You may enter but must proceed directly to the Indlovu Citadel. It is the only place we can guarantee your safety.”
“With respect, nkosi,” said Kellan. “I have already battled my enemy tonight. I have no need of protection. I do need to meet with members of the Guardian Council, or Odili in particular, to give them news of the battle and how it was lost.”
“Lost?”
“The hedeni are invading in force.”
“Are they?”
“Nkosi, time is being wasted and I have important information—”
“The inkokeli has the information he needs. I will send escorts to guide you to the citadel.”
“I know the way.”
“You do me injury, Okar. I seek your safety.”
Kellan grew agitated. “We are being pursued by an invading force and they come in large numbers.”
“The Goddess smiles on her Chosen. We happen to have large numbers of full-blooded military men and Gifted in the city.”
“I do not see them.”
“You will,” said the Indlovu.
“Coming down from the Crags I saw fires in the city.”
The Indlovu’s eyes narrowed. “Did you?”
“They appeared to be coming from its center. Are we under attack?”
“I had hoped to avoid troubling you, Nkosi Kellan, but a seditious faction has, for the moment, taken the Guardian Keep. They are traitors demanding that when the invaders come, we surrender.”
“I see…”
“Do not let it concern you. It’s a few fools, traitors. Inkokeli Odili will burn them out.”
Tau was about to say something. Zuri must have been able to tell. She elbowed him, urging silence.
“Nkosi,” the Indlovu said, smiling, “you should proceed to the citadel.”
“My thanks,” said Kellan. “One last question, if it please you. Do we know the names or identities of these traitors?”
The warrior’s smile grew grim. “Can it matter? They are traitors. They will be caught and hung. We are Omehi, the Goddess’s Chosen. We do not surrender.”