A Hollow Mountain (The Brightest Shadow Book 2), page 18
"It isn't that simple." Slaten carelessly moved another piece to the center. "Every time I've seen the power used, it's turned against us in the end."
"But all versions of the Legend seem to end with the Deathspawn being destroyed. What other weapon do we have against them?"
"Their armies might be overwhelming, but they're not invincible. I just wish I knew more. There are stories of other continents where Deathspawn and humans fought to a standstill, or even coexist peacefully. Until I know the truth..."
Natala watched him as he trailed off, then spoke softly. "Wouldn't it be better if you had the power?"
Immediately Slaten's memory flickered to standing in the ancient city, surrounded by golden fire. He hadn't been able to utter a word of that and wasn't sure if he wanted to. She was waiting for an answer, however, so he struggled to speak. "If I had that power, I'm not sure I would still be myself. Besides, the Legend has never chosen me thus far, so I don't think it's likely."
"Well, I think it would be better if you were the Hero. Melal has not impressed us so far."
As Natala moved another piece to the center, Slaten realized that the game was over and he had won. He felt nothing in particular about that, since it had been mostly luck. The way Natala had spoken, however, caught his interest. Instead of setting up the pieces on the outer edge of the board again, he just watched her until she explained.
"Not long after you and I started spending nights together, Melal demanded women as well." Natala shrugged as if it was simply to be expected. "We talk, of course. I'm told that he's not a violent man, but particularly selfish on the furs. And the standards for selflessness here are not high."
"I hadn't known that." Slaten sat back and frowned. "Is Laeri...?"
"She wept for half a day. I did what I could to comfort her, because I don't think many of the others understood."
They sat with that, Slaten uncomfortable and Natala giving little indication of her thoughts. He didn't know what he could do about Laeri and he didn't want to talk about Melal anymore. Instead, he decided that it was time to reveal the idea that had him excited for that night.
"I've been thinking about Neyet." He set up the pieces around the board, putting his thoughts into words. "In my opinion, too much of it comes down to simple fate. There is some strategy in the decisions, but very little. Since the two of us will nearly always make the correct decisions, we might as well be casting the bones and seeing who has the higher number."
Natala regarded him with a strange look. "Always make the correct choice? Me?"
"Of course. I've seen some of the warriors overlook an obvious advantage, but you haven't. You're a remarkably intelligent woman, Natala."
"Thank you." She reached over the board and touched the back of his hand gently. "I take it that you have a proposal to change the rules?"
"Exactly. Instead of casting the bones, you can simply choose how many places to move a piece. Also, instead of only being able to move backwards with specific casts, you can choose to move backward or forward at will."
Natala clapped her hands and stared at the board with new fascination. "That is a wonderful idea! But won't we just move a piece to the center of the spiral and then use it to ward off the other player?"
"For that reason, I thought that you should only be able to move a smaller number of spaces backward. No piece could ever guard the center without being overtaken, but each piece still threatens a space around them. This way, the game will have some strategic choices involved."
They made an attempt at it, for once completely focused on the Neyet board. Natala understood the rules instantly and proved a challenge, though she was a bit too focused on moving individual pieces to the center and lost in the end. While playing Slaten realized that it would be easy for experienced players to become locked into stopping each other at the outside of the spiral. That was an obvious shortcoming, but he imagined that a game as elegant as Yenith hadn't been created in a day.
When they finished, they didn't start another game, just considering the board. After a time, Natala shifted over to sit against the wall beside him. She didn't touch him, but he became very aware of her warmth. Eventually she spoke, her hair falling to hide her face from him.
"I meant what I said earlier. I wish that you were the Hero, or at least that you had the power to enforce your beliefs on the world."
"Sometimes it seems that's the only way." Slaten sighed and stared down at the Neyet board. "I don't know if I should enforce anything I believe, but when I see something that's wrong... I wish that I had the power to act."
"Would you like more?"
Slaten turned to her sharply and caught a glimpse of a fiendish smile. "What do you mean?"
"Chief Bufogu wouldn't teach you the Bloodskin clan's techniques of the body, but I will." Natala moved the board aside and sat on her legs just in front of him, eyes alight. "They may believe that only men can fight, but the cold blood of women has its strengths as well. I'm not sure if they know, but many of us have mastered the same skill. Otherwise more of us would be killed by a careless strike in anger."
As grim as that reality was, Slaten focused on the central truth of what she said. "And you can teach me that art?"
"I can, because you've already taught me more than you know." Natala grinned at him again, then abruptly her expression became sheepish. "I will need your help regarding many aspects of sein, however. I believe that the Bloodskin way of speaking of hot and cold blood refers to two basic systems of what you call sein. Those systems are powerful, but they are limited."
"If you've grasped the basics, I feel certain that we could figure out the system between us. But... do you have an awareness of sein?"
"It is not exactly any of the senses you described. Instead of a flow through my body, I feel it pumping along with my heart. I cannot say if I smell or hear it, I only know that I am aware of its movement. Is that enough?"
Only a short time later, Slaten determined that it was. Natala's sein flowed subtly within her, and she was certainly no warrior, but she had a greater internal strength than he had expected. More importantly, she eagerly soaked up new concepts of sein. The more she understood, the better she could explain the Bloodskin arts to him.
With her explanations, it soon became clearer. Though they used sein, nearly all Bloodskin arts were focused on what his people would call a single point of the triangle. They developed their bodies so effectively that they had significant sein capacity as well, but they used it unconsciously based on instinct. It was an effective method in the end. Slaten was not sure how or if it related to the "soul" point of the Oken triangle, but he had never fully understood that aspect of his own tradition.
Eventually Natala had exhausted herself and Slaten wanted to contemplate his own sein. She remained there, not far from him, watching. After meeting his gaze and not turning away for a long time, she spoke.
"Please teach me how to fight."
"Natala..." Slaten took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I am not sure the world needs more warriors. But when I once tried to become something else, I broke and returned to the sword. If you teach me what you know of Bloodskin arts, I will teach you in turn."
"I don't want to be a warrior." Natala stared back at him unflinchingly. "But everything that I am... it could be snuffed out like a feeble candle in an instant. I need to know enough to defend myself."
After a time, Slaten nodded. Natala smiled and briefly embraced him before retreating to wrap herself up in one of the blankets. She had spent herself in their work and was clearly exhausted, so Slaten moved the bear skin on top of her as well.
When he lay down, he wanted to concentrate on all the new arts he had just learned. It took him longer than he'd expected to focus on them.
Chapter 14
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"By our estimate, there are four clans that can field a significant military force. The most dangerous of these, according to both raider lore and our calculations, is unquestionably the Stormpeak clan. We do not wish to add to their legend, but specify: they alone among the major clans make use of resources such as true forging, sein arts, and female warriors. (See attached notes for possible exceptions.) For these reasons, their threat is not simply a magnified version of the others, but different in fundamental kind."
- Scholars of the Blue Mask
-
Though the meat tasted just as good on her tenth meal as on the first, and there were still many delicacies she had yet to try, Celivia found that she no longer held the same anticipation. She had always thought about other subjects while she waited, but now she found her thoughts tinged with boredom.
Her expenses were apparently paid while she waited on the Zeitai, so she focused on physical training and ate as well as she could. Beyond that, however, there was little productive she could do with her time. She'd discovered that her equipment chit would be honored by several army suppliers, but without a way to transport anything heavy back to her band, they were useless. That was only one symptom of a series of unwritten rules that she'd yet to understand.
This time she didn't need to wait long before a tray of the restaurant's best dishes was brought out to her. They could do interesting things with spicing boval meat, but she'd spent more time enjoying the many ways they could serve behemoth. It was delicious in large steaks, yet even better in various cubed dishes served with a steel skewer. On top of that, each plate had included some dishes that were completely new to her.
Just as she was about to begin, a voice interrupted her. "Excuse me, Nin, but are you dining alone?"
The voice belonged to a well-dressed Seinan man wearing a military uniform with a wolf pelt around his shoulders. She'd come to realize that the furs she'd seen in Sotfaal were only imitating the style in Castle Wahles, and this man's pelt was so flawless she struggled to believe it was real. Regardless, she wasn't interested in distractions. "Thank you, Nin, but I'm not looking for company."
"Suit yourself." He sniffed and moved away, more offended than she thought her polite refusal merited. Celivia had just bitten into one of her larger pieces of meat when a different voice interrupted her.
"You know, he wasn't propositioning you. Or maybe you don't?"
She should have wiped her mouth, but instead Celivia merely glanced over while continuing to eat. The woman who spoke had an immaculately kept face and hair with a Laenan tint of green, artfully styled behind her head with some locks still falling around her shoulders. Breaking with the local style, she didn't wear a fox or any other identifiable fur, but instead blue robes that hugged her figure.
Though she held the sein of a warrior, she didn't carry any weapon, forcing Celivia to reconsider. Her garments weren't suitable for a fight, but few would anticipate a fight in the heart of Castle Wahles. Strangely, she wore slanted shoes with long knife-like heels. They must have been the style, because to Celivia they looked completely impractical.
Overall, she didn't know what to make of the other woman, but saw no reason to turn her away. "Does a man asking to eat a meal with a woman have a different meaning here?"
"Not as such, but context is everything." The woman gave a chuckle low in her throat and slid down into the seat opposite her. "Among officers in the Zeitai's forces, such offers are a preliminary to an alliance, or at least an offer. I heard you have been turning aside all comers."
"Ah." Celivia set down her skewer, reconsidering the past several days. "You were right, I didn't understand. Have I caused offense?"
"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Indeed, you've cultivated quite an aura of mystique." The woman leaned forward with a sly smile. "Now, are you going to turn me away too? I was once new to Wahleen and uncertain of all the rules here, so I would like to help if I could."
"I... could use that. Thank you."
"Wonderful. My name is Jeraeli, by the way." Jeraeli casually raised a finger toward one of the servants in the restaurant, who responded without needing to be given any order. Though Celivia wanted to believe she had an ally in this place, she found herself somewhat skeptical about the entire arrangement.
"This may ruin my 'aura of mystique'," Celivia said, "but I am only a band leader. I can't imagine that rank attracts any great respect here, this close to a Zeitai."
"Oh, that's certainly not why anyone is paying attention. But you're an unknown who has an audience with the Zeitai. Most of his top warriors come and go, barely making appearances, and the others in his inner circle are nearly as difficult to approach. In you, everyone sees a potential ladder upwards, or perhaps someone they can turn into a step on their path."
Celivia kept a pleasant smile on her face and spoke mildly. "And which one am I for you?"
Jeraeli covered her mouth as she laughed. "I don't know who you are yet, so I cannot say. But I wonder if perhaps the two of us might not climb together. It seems that neither of us has a solid base of support here in Wahleen, and no connections with the Zeitai."
"Does Zeitai Kreue have many connections? A family or the like?"
"It's extremely difficult to get close to Kreue, but many have tried. He seems to have no living family and no history in the military that anyone can uncover. In the ascension competition where he became Zeitai, every other candidate was killed and so information is scarce. But since then he's formed his own legions, so his subordinates from that time remain closest to him."
"I see." Celivia sat back and considered, wondering if that mystery was by design or simply because of how bloody the Zeitai competitions could be. She knew almost nothing about the history of every other Zeitai, after all. "Well, we will not uncover such mysteries in a day. But I hope you will not be quite so mysterious."
Jeraeli paused as one of the servants brought a crystal goblet of wine. After taking a long sip, she set down the goblet and looked back to Celivia. "I'm a lieutenant and warrior, third class. I came here from Laen Karnak in the hope that it would be easier to earn a Catai rebirth. So far, that has proved more difficult than I expected."
"I understand completely." Celivia decided that she could work with Jeraeli and accordingly should be less rude. "My name is Celivia, recently promoted band leader and warrior, second class."
"Oh, then our ranks are just opposite! Trivial, but amusing."
"Do you want anything to eat? I can finish all this, but I would be happy to share."
"I'm quite fine." Jeraeli took another sip of wine and then held the goblet in her hands, watching her over it. "So, Celivia, just why did you come out of nowhere to receive an audience with the Zeitai?"
"I wish that I could tell you. No one has explained anything to me." She decided not to mention that she had seen two Zeitai in combat and worked directly with a third. Given how territorial the Zeitai could be, those facts might even work against her.
"How strange. If you stay for any length of time after your audience, you must understand that everyone will be curious. I hope that you would be so kind as to tell me first? Such gossip has value, in circles like these. I would be happy to help you as I can."
Celivia nodded, but took some time to eat and consider her questions. Best to start with a practical query to test the limits of the other woman's generosity. "I've been given an equipment chit, but no information about how to use it in any practical way. My band is far south by the mountains, so it feels like a false gift."
Jeraeli laughed. "Yes, everyone here loves to set such little traps in the paths of others. What they want is for you to make a mistake or admit your ignorance. Mostly petty games, but they all add up to something concrete in the end."
"What is the solution, then? To ignore it?"
"Simply proving yourself by solving problems is always acceptable, of course. But in this case I can help you at no cost to me whatsoever, so I'm happy to do so. What you need to do is go to the eastern armory and ask for an officer named Daekhan. Though far from the Zeitai's inner circle, he has connections to the Voidwalkers and can arrange logistical miracles."
"Thank you, Jeraeli." Celivia gave her a smile, ignoring the blood on her teeth. "I hope my gossip is worth your help."
"Oh, think nothing of it. Anything else?"
Though Celivia wanted to ask her comprehensive questions about the political balance across the three human nations, she doubted Jeraeli was interested in giving such remedial lectures. No, this offer of help was also a test to see if she was a worthwhile ally. After some thought, Celivia made her choice. "I haven't seen a single human since I came here, but I've heard they should be all over Wahleen. Do I need to understand their politics to understand the circles around Zeitai Kreue?"
"Once, perhaps." Jeraeli shrugged as if it did not matter, but she didn't scorn the question. "You may have seen, there are some mansthein who have been here for a long time, and they have connections to the human families. But now that the Zeitai has arrived, none of that matters anymore. Do you expect to be assigned further north?"
"I can't be sure, but it was implied that I would do more work in the south, against human raiders."
"Then the humans here matter not at all to you. From what I've seen, you need to understand which families are powerful enough that they cannot be fought and which can be pressured. There is a political game there as well, but if the Zeitai has his way, it won't matter for long."
That troubled Celivia, as she had heard that northern Breilin was mostly at peace. She kept those concerns off her face and merely nodded thankfully. "I will keep that in mind, thank you."
"As much as I would love to keep talking to you, if we talk for too long, everyone will suspect we are working together." Jeraeli rose to her feet, taking her mostly full goblet with her. "You can choose to meet whoever you want... but I would urge you to be cautious. Wait until you understand your position here."
