Chapter 16. I know it's been like a million years since I updated, but I haven't had a lot of time lately. All of my teachers have decided that May is the perfect month to pile on the projects. Thank you all for your encouraging reviews, keep 'em coming! So, chapter 16 has arrived at last. As promised, Aly will meet Daine... in a way. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or places in this story, they belong to Tamora Pierce.
So the time has come at last. The time for me to protect our people's only hope, Lani thought amazed. Her feet crunched comfortingly across the empty barren dirt fields of the Plain of Sorrows. It was good to hear something real in such an unreal place.
She and the woman whom she had come to know to be Daine Sarrasi walked in silence, out of respect for the fallen. Looking side ways at her companion, Lani sighed. Daine was still very weak after her time spent in the royal dungeons. Even now she could see that the woman was tiring. Daine would be a help for whatever was to come, but Lani felt that lingering tingle in the back of her mind at the thought of trusting a luarin with the Ladies. Mentally, she scolded herself. Kyprioth trusts her, and it's he who has bet the most on this wager of his.
Slowly, the ground beneath them started to rise into a gentle plateau. Lani had only been here once before, and that had been when she was only four. So she hardly remembered it, fifteen years seemed as long as a century. She had been traveling with her father back home to Rajamaut after he had taken her to see the last daughter of the raka loyalty line. That had been before the ladies were born.
As they reached the top of the plateau, Lani signaled to Daine that they could rest for a moment. With a sigh of relief, Daine sat down next to her. Lani reached for the flask at her hip and handed it to the grateful wild mage.
As her companion drank, the Shang took the moment to look around. In every direction there was an expanse of nothingness, only hindered by the forests to the north and south. To the east and west, the plain spanned from one side of the island to the next.
When she had finished, Daine handed the flask back to Lani.
"So," she asked as Lani took a swing of water, "What have I gotten myself into?" It was a fair question, but Lani hesitated to answer.
Finally she replied, choosing her words carefully, "You know of how the luarin from Tortall and Scanra came to conquer these islands three hundred years ago?"
Daine nodded, "During the Immortals War the scholars in Corus taught everyone a little of the history of our enemies." Lani winced. The Copper Isles had been among the nations that were involved in the tearing down of barrier that had kept the immortals in the Divine Realms. King Oron had been an ally of King Orzone of Carthak. She made the sign against evil as Daine continued, "Queen Thayet insisted on it, she said 'a warrior should know more about their enemy..."
"... Than he knows even about himself'." Lani chorused with her. Daine flashed her a quick grin. It was a common phrase; one that Lani had grown up hearing during her training with the Shang.
"Well, when Rittevon the Conquer began his quest for the throne, he made it his highest priority to take out every single branch of the royal family so that when he ascended the throne, there would be no one left to challenge him. No one to give the raka hope of any rebellion. He slaughtered the entire Haiming clan. He used assassins and traitors and all manner of dirty tactics, but he killed them all, every last one. Or at least that's what he thought. One was saved. She was just a baby when her mother sent her away to live as the child of lesser raka nobility to save her. She was something like a second cousin to the royal line. Her family was executed, but the baby was saved.
Nonetheless, Rittevon of Lenman took the throne and enslaved the raka. He stripped the remaining nobles of their titles, killed some who would never align with him and bribed others onto his side. In a matter of ten years, the raka fell from strongest and proud people in the southern lands to the lowest of low slaves.
Before the luarin invaders came, our isles had already been in much turmoil. Clans turned against each other, each trying to gain control. By the time one leader finally took a firm stance over our people, it was too late. And when his people fell, so did Kyprioth. At the time of our battles, he was fighting his own. It is said that he has spent the last three hundred years or so in exile in the Divine Realms, kept away by his brothers and sisters who had become more worshiped in the Isles than he himself. He, who had been our chief god, became nothing greater than the local sea god.
These past centuries, that one last line of the old royal blood has lived on, hiding behind the masquerade of lesser nobility. That's where we are going, to watch over the last two daughters of the Haiming line. Kyprioth has regained some of his strength and he wants his islands back. As much as he's a trickster, he's got the softest heart of any god. He's seen the raka suffering and now he's going to do something to end it. And he needs our help."
Daine's head swam with all the knowledge that had just been passed on to her. Finally sorting out what Lani was saying, she asked her, shocked, "The last of the royal line is going rise up against Rubinyan and Imajane. And we're to help them?"
Lani nodded meaningfully, "You've hit the nail on the head Daine, except of course, I don't think the ladies know of their royal heritage. It's a well kept secret, but common knowledge among us common raka, however it has been kept from the ladies as well to keep them safe." The Shang looked up to check the progress of the sinking sun, and obviously found it not to her liking. She stood up.
"We'd best be going. Come, I'll tell you more of it as we walk." Daine nodded, and stood stiffly. She shivered. The rocky regions of the Copper Isles could get very cool.
Lani reached into the small pack the she carried, digging around for something. Daine realized she still knew so little about her new friend. In fact, all she did know was that she was a Shang warrior, but even then, she didn't know her rank.
As Daine was about to inquire about this, Lani handed her a stiff, uncomfortable looking cloth jacket, much like the one she wore herself. This is what she had been digging for.
"Thanks," Daine said as she shrugged into the garment, which was much more comfortable than it had first appeared. Looking down at it, she noticed a small patch that had been stitched neatly onto the left side, just below the lapel. It was a blue and green Shang globe, and sitting atop it was a ferocious looking orange and black cat. The patch proclaimed to all who saw it that the jacket belonged to the Shang Tiger.
Well, that settles that, Daine thought wryly as the pair began to walk again.
It was a miserable day. There was no other way to put it. Aly couldn't help but allow the weather to affect her mood. She was plagued by thoughts of home as she made Dove's bed. The Trickster hadn't sent her any "letters" from home for two weeks and she hadn't even heard from the god days. She couldn't help but lie awake at night, wondering what was going on with the attack back in Tortall, or what had become of Alan. The dull pains she had been feeling from her twin had stopped, but Aly didn't know whether that meant he was fine or...
"Are you alright Aly?" Dove's voice startled her thoughts.
"Just a little homesick," she admitted. She tried to be as honest as possible when she could. That kept which lies she did need to tell much simpler.
The younger girl nodded sympathetically. "You know, you have been freed. You don't need to stay here,"
Aly looked into Dove's eyes and saw that while her mouth said one thing, her eyes said another.
"I want to be here," Aly assured here, "It's just rainy days make me restless."
Dove turned to look out the window. She sighed answering, "Me too. Listen, even the crows are complaining about the weather."
Aware for the first time of the birds' calling in the distance, Aly focused her attention at the message that they carried. Quite simply, they were saying that there were two people on the road approaching Tanair. The crows didn't recognize them as friends.
Aly could feel herself pale. So Kyprioth had been right, she mused. Spring was going to be very interesting. Quickly, she mumbled some excuse to Dove and rushed to alert the others.
The rain was falling in a steady downpour, the likes of which Daine had never seen before. She wasn't one to complain about the weather, but this wasn't just a little rain. This was a lot of rain. Buckets full, falling non-stop for three days.
Daine looked sidelong at Lani, blinking raindrops out of her eyes. She shook her head as she noticed that her companion looked as steady as ever. All during their journey to Tanair, Daine couldn't once remember the Shang ever getting flustered. Not when she had drank a nasty brew of herbs (and had forced Daine to do the same) that she claimed would help their bodies heal. Not when they had spent two days stowed away in the moldy hold of a steam ship, and especially not now while they trudged through mud that had to be at least a foot deep.
"I hate the mud," Daine mumbled to herself. As if in reply, she heard a loud slurping noise coming from her feet. The next step she took found her bare foot meeting slimy mud. Beside her, Lani began to laugh.
Turning around, Daine found that her boot was stuck in the mud. She had walked right out of it! She felt herself blushing profusely as she went back to retrieve it.
"I glad someone finds this funny!" Daine called in good humor over the din of the rain. She was glad to see the normally deathly serious girl was able to laugh.
"Forgive me," Lani gasped between peels of laughter, "It's, just, so..." She wasn't able to finish her sentence.
Bending over, Daine began to wrestle with the mud for control over her boot. A minute later, she found herself covered in mud from head to toe, but luckily with two feet tucked safely away in boots.
"Don't worry," Lani said, still grinning, "We're close to Tanair. We should get there in a couple of minutes. That is if Mother Earth decides not to eat your boot again." They began to trudge onward.
"Is there anything good about mud at all?" she asked Lani, trying to keep the smile on the Shang's face.
In the week that she had spent with the girl, Lani had always been nothing but tense with worry about the task in front of them. Daine couldn't help but feel nervous too after what Lani had told her. Kyprioth's plan to regain control over his islands all depended on the girls, Dovasary and Saraiyu. Without them, the Copper Isles and Tortall would have no hope of defeating Rubinyan and Imajane. However, if Daine had learned anything from her friends back home about how to deal with difficult situations, it was to keep things light.
"Why Daine," Lani answered goodheartedly, "According to the Shang masters, mud is a girl's best friend."
Daine giggled, "Is it really?"
"Of course. In the remaining time of our journey, allow me to instruct you on 'Thirty two reasons not to complain about mud' as told to me by Sandra Kilnhoff, the Shang Fox." Lani answered.
"Wonderful!" Daine replied in a mock cheerful tone.
Lani grinned and continued, "Reason number one: According to the Marenite people of the west, mud is the perfect cure for dry skin. Why, simply spend a day or two in the mud and your skin will feel as fresh as a spring morning." She bent down and scooped a heaping handful of slime and flung it right into Daine's face.
"Can you feel it working?" she asked.
Daine quietly reached down and scooped up her own handful of mud.
"Can you?" she asked as the pile hit Lani square in the face.
Lani swiped mud out of her eyes. "Yep, all the way down to my bones. Reason number two: Mud is perfect camouflage."
Aly, Ulasim, and one of the raka scouts who patrolled the forest lay flat on their bellies atop one of the rocks overlooking the main road into Tanair.
"There's just two of them, no horses and no visible weapons." The scout said breathlessly.
Ulasim pulled out his spyglass and peered into the rain. "Two women." He whispered.
Aly adjusted her vision and enhanced it with her Sight, making her eyes into binoculars. Her companions were right, there were only two women talking animatedly on the road below them. Two very wet and muddy women. Aly studied them carefully.
The shorter woman, a luarin, had curly brown hair and gray eyes. The rest of her face was unrecognizable, covered in mud. She walked slower than the other, her body tensing with pain at every step.
The taller woman was a raka with black hair. Her face was covered in mud as well. Her right arm was bandaged tightly above the bicep, but this woman hardly seemed to notice the injury at all. If it's even really injured, Aly thought to herself. The raka walked with balance that Aly's well-trained eye easily identified as that of a fighter. A dangerous fighter.
Aly motioned to the others to gather close. She looked to Ulasim. "What do you think?" she asked him.
"I was about to ask you the same," he admitted, "They look harmless enough with their injuries, but a little too harmless if you ask me." He looked to Aly for approval. She nodded.
"The smaller one is hurt pretty bad, not much of a threat, but the other one looks to me like an assassin." She said as she drew little circles in the mud with her finger.
"Then we can't take a chance on them reaching Tanair," Ulasim said carefully.
Aly looked up at him. "No we can't," she answered steadily. They both knew what had to happen. Aly turned to the scout.
"May I use your bow?" she asked. The boy quickly handed her his bow and quiver.
"But what if they are innocent?" he asked nervously.
"Neither I nor Aly recognized them, and they walk alone on a day when all sane people would be resting inside. Just being on their way to Tanair on a day like this condemns them. But, if we are wrong, then the Black God will tell them that our mistake was made protecting the Ladies and he will beg them for our forgiveness." Ulasim answered. Aly wasn't too sure about his, but the scout accepted the answered and retreated back into the forest.
Aly strung the bow carefully and pulled an arrow back to her ear.
"I'll take the short luarin who's farther away." Aly whispered to Ulasim, who nodded. "I'll shot first so that our arrows will hit at the same time and neither will have time to run."
Aly carefully aimed and loosed the arrow, just as she recognized her target as her Aunt Daine.
I hate to leave you guys hangin', but was that not the perfect place to cut off? Please review and I'll try to update ASAP.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or places in this story, they belong to Tamora Pierce.
So the time has come at last. The time for me to protect our people's only hope, Lani thought amazed. Her feet crunched comfortingly across the empty barren dirt fields of the Plain of Sorrows. It was good to hear something real in such an unreal place.
She and the woman whom she had come to know to be Daine Sarrasi walked in silence, out of respect for the fallen. Looking side ways at her companion, Lani sighed. Daine was still very weak after her time spent in the royal dungeons. Even now she could see that the woman was tiring. Daine would be a help for whatever was to come, but Lani felt that lingering tingle in the back of her mind at the thought of trusting a luarin with the Ladies. Mentally, she scolded herself. Kyprioth trusts her, and it's he who has bet the most on this wager of his.
Slowly, the ground beneath them started to rise into a gentle plateau. Lani had only been here once before, and that had been when she was only four. So she hardly remembered it, fifteen years seemed as long as a century. She had been traveling with her father back home to Rajamaut after he had taken her to see the last daughter of the raka loyalty line. That had been before the ladies were born.
As they reached the top of the plateau, Lani signaled to Daine that they could rest for a moment. With a sigh of relief, Daine sat down next to her. Lani reached for the flask at her hip and handed it to the grateful wild mage.
As her companion drank, the Shang took the moment to look around. In every direction there was an expanse of nothingness, only hindered by the forests to the north and south. To the east and west, the plain spanned from one side of the island to the next.
When she had finished, Daine handed the flask back to Lani.
"So," she asked as Lani took a swing of water, "What have I gotten myself into?" It was a fair question, but Lani hesitated to answer.
Finally she replied, choosing her words carefully, "You know of how the luarin from Tortall and Scanra came to conquer these islands three hundred years ago?"
Daine nodded, "During the Immortals War the scholars in Corus taught everyone a little of the history of our enemies." Lani winced. The Copper Isles had been among the nations that were involved in the tearing down of barrier that had kept the immortals in the Divine Realms. King Oron had been an ally of King Orzone of Carthak. She made the sign against evil as Daine continued, "Queen Thayet insisted on it, she said 'a warrior should know more about their enemy..."
"... Than he knows even about himself'." Lani chorused with her. Daine flashed her a quick grin. It was a common phrase; one that Lani had grown up hearing during her training with the Shang.
"Well, when Rittevon the Conquer began his quest for the throne, he made it his highest priority to take out every single branch of the royal family so that when he ascended the throne, there would be no one left to challenge him. No one to give the raka hope of any rebellion. He slaughtered the entire Haiming clan. He used assassins and traitors and all manner of dirty tactics, but he killed them all, every last one. Or at least that's what he thought. One was saved. She was just a baby when her mother sent her away to live as the child of lesser raka nobility to save her. She was something like a second cousin to the royal line. Her family was executed, but the baby was saved.
Nonetheless, Rittevon of Lenman took the throne and enslaved the raka. He stripped the remaining nobles of their titles, killed some who would never align with him and bribed others onto his side. In a matter of ten years, the raka fell from strongest and proud people in the southern lands to the lowest of low slaves.
Before the luarin invaders came, our isles had already been in much turmoil. Clans turned against each other, each trying to gain control. By the time one leader finally took a firm stance over our people, it was too late. And when his people fell, so did Kyprioth. At the time of our battles, he was fighting his own. It is said that he has spent the last three hundred years or so in exile in the Divine Realms, kept away by his brothers and sisters who had become more worshiped in the Isles than he himself. He, who had been our chief god, became nothing greater than the local sea god.
These past centuries, that one last line of the old royal blood has lived on, hiding behind the masquerade of lesser nobility. That's where we are going, to watch over the last two daughters of the Haiming line. Kyprioth has regained some of his strength and he wants his islands back. As much as he's a trickster, he's got the softest heart of any god. He's seen the raka suffering and now he's going to do something to end it. And he needs our help."
Daine's head swam with all the knowledge that had just been passed on to her. Finally sorting out what Lani was saying, she asked her, shocked, "The last of the royal line is going rise up against Rubinyan and Imajane. And we're to help them?"
Lani nodded meaningfully, "You've hit the nail on the head Daine, except of course, I don't think the ladies know of their royal heritage. It's a well kept secret, but common knowledge among us common raka, however it has been kept from the ladies as well to keep them safe." The Shang looked up to check the progress of the sinking sun, and obviously found it not to her liking. She stood up.
"We'd best be going. Come, I'll tell you more of it as we walk." Daine nodded, and stood stiffly. She shivered. The rocky regions of the Copper Isles could get very cool.
Lani reached into the small pack the she carried, digging around for something. Daine realized she still knew so little about her new friend. In fact, all she did know was that she was a Shang warrior, but even then, she didn't know her rank.
As Daine was about to inquire about this, Lani handed her a stiff, uncomfortable looking cloth jacket, much like the one she wore herself. This is what she had been digging for.
"Thanks," Daine said as she shrugged into the garment, which was much more comfortable than it had first appeared. Looking down at it, she noticed a small patch that had been stitched neatly onto the left side, just below the lapel. It was a blue and green Shang globe, and sitting atop it was a ferocious looking orange and black cat. The patch proclaimed to all who saw it that the jacket belonged to the Shang Tiger.
Well, that settles that, Daine thought wryly as the pair began to walk again.
It was a miserable day. There was no other way to put it. Aly couldn't help but allow the weather to affect her mood. She was plagued by thoughts of home as she made Dove's bed. The Trickster hadn't sent her any "letters" from home for two weeks and she hadn't even heard from the god days. She couldn't help but lie awake at night, wondering what was going on with the attack back in Tortall, or what had become of Alan. The dull pains she had been feeling from her twin had stopped, but Aly didn't know whether that meant he was fine or...
"Are you alright Aly?" Dove's voice startled her thoughts.
"Just a little homesick," she admitted. She tried to be as honest as possible when she could. That kept which lies she did need to tell much simpler.
The younger girl nodded sympathetically. "You know, you have been freed. You don't need to stay here,"
Aly looked into Dove's eyes and saw that while her mouth said one thing, her eyes said another.
"I want to be here," Aly assured here, "It's just rainy days make me restless."
Dove turned to look out the window. She sighed answering, "Me too. Listen, even the crows are complaining about the weather."
Aware for the first time of the birds' calling in the distance, Aly focused her attention at the message that they carried. Quite simply, they were saying that there were two people on the road approaching Tanair. The crows didn't recognize them as friends.
Aly could feel herself pale. So Kyprioth had been right, she mused. Spring was going to be very interesting. Quickly, she mumbled some excuse to Dove and rushed to alert the others.
The rain was falling in a steady downpour, the likes of which Daine had never seen before. She wasn't one to complain about the weather, but this wasn't just a little rain. This was a lot of rain. Buckets full, falling non-stop for three days.
Daine looked sidelong at Lani, blinking raindrops out of her eyes. She shook her head as she noticed that her companion looked as steady as ever. All during their journey to Tanair, Daine couldn't once remember the Shang ever getting flustered. Not when she had drank a nasty brew of herbs (and had forced Daine to do the same) that she claimed would help their bodies heal. Not when they had spent two days stowed away in the moldy hold of a steam ship, and especially not now while they trudged through mud that had to be at least a foot deep.
"I hate the mud," Daine mumbled to herself. As if in reply, she heard a loud slurping noise coming from her feet. The next step she took found her bare foot meeting slimy mud. Beside her, Lani began to laugh.
Turning around, Daine found that her boot was stuck in the mud. She had walked right out of it! She felt herself blushing profusely as she went back to retrieve it.
"I glad someone finds this funny!" Daine called in good humor over the din of the rain. She was glad to see the normally deathly serious girl was able to laugh.
"Forgive me," Lani gasped between peels of laughter, "It's, just, so..." She wasn't able to finish her sentence.
Bending over, Daine began to wrestle with the mud for control over her boot. A minute later, she found herself covered in mud from head to toe, but luckily with two feet tucked safely away in boots.
"Don't worry," Lani said, still grinning, "We're close to Tanair. We should get there in a couple of minutes. That is if Mother Earth decides not to eat your boot again." They began to trudge onward.
"Is there anything good about mud at all?" she asked Lani, trying to keep the smile on the Shang's face.
In the week that she had spent with the girl, Lani had always been nothing but tense with worry about the task in front of them. Daine couldn't help but feel nervous too after what Lani had told her. Kyprioth's plan to regain control over his islands all depended on the girls, Dovasary and Saraiyu. Without them, the Copper Isles and Tortall would have no hope of defeating Rubinyan and Imajane. However, if Daine had learned anything from her friends back home about how to deal with difficult situations, it was to keep things light.
"Why Daine," Lani answered goodheartedly, "According to the Shang masters, mud is a girl's best friend."
Daine giggled, "Is it really?"
"Of course. In the remaining time of our journey, allow me to instruct you on 'Thirty two reasons not to complain about mud' as told to me by Sandra Kilnhoff, the Shang Fox." Lani answered.
"Wonderful!" Daine replied in a mock cheerful tone.
Lani grinned and continued, "Reason number one: According to the Marenite people of the west, mud is the perfect cure for dry skin. Why, simply spend a day or two in the mud and your skin will feel as fresh as a spring morning." She bent down and scooped a heaping handful of slime and flung it right into Daine's face.
"Can you feel it working?" she asked.
Daine quietly reached down and scooped up her own handful of mud.
"Can you?" she asked as the pile hit Lani square in the face.
Lani swiped mud out of her eyes. "Yep, all the way down to my bones. Reason number two: Mud is perfect camouflage."
Aly, Ulasim, and one of the raka scouts who patrolled the forest lay flat on their bellies atop one of the rocks overlooking the main road into Tanair.
"There's just two of them, no horses and no visible weapons." The scout said breathlessly.
Ulasim pulled out his spyglass and peered into the rain. "Two women." He whispered.
Aly adjusted her vision and enhanced it with her Sight, making her eyes into binoculars. Her companions were right, there were only two women talking animatedly on the road below them. Two very wet and muddy women. Aly studied them carefully.
The shorter woman, a luarin, had curly brown hair and gray eyes. The rest of her face was unrecognizable, covered in mud. She walked slower than the other, her body tensing with pain at every step.
The taller woman was a raka with black hair. Her face was covered in mud as well. Her right arm was bandaged tightly above the bicep, but this woman hardly seemed to notice the injury at all. If it's even really injured, Aly thought to herself. The raka walked with balance that Aly's well-trained eye easily identified as that of a fighter. A dangerous fighter.
Aly motioned to the others to gather close. She looked to Ulasim. "What do you think?" she asked him.
"I was about to ask you the same," he admitted, "They look harmless enough with their injuries, but a little too harmless if you ask me." He looked to Aly for approval. She nodded.
"The smaller one is hurt pretty bad, not much of a threat, but the other one looks to me like an assassin." She said as she drew little circles in the mud with her finger.
"Then we can't take a chance on them reaching Tanair," Ulasim said carefully.
Aly looked up at him. "No we can't," she answered steadily. They both knew what had to happen. Aly turned to the scout.
"May I use your bow?" she asked. The boy quickly handed her his bow and quiver.
"But what if they are innocent?" he asked nervously.
"Neither I nor Aly recognized them, and they walk alone on a day when all sane people would be resting inside. Just being on their way to Tanair on a day like this condemns them. But, if we are wrong, then the Black God will tell them that our mistake was made protecting the Ladies and he will beg them for our forgiveness." Ulasim answered. Aly wasn't too sure about his, but the scout accepted the answered and retreated back into the forest.
Aly strung the bow carefully and pulled an arrow back to her ear.
"I'll take the short luarin who's farther away." Aly whispered to Ulasim, who nodded. "I'll shot first so that our arrows will hit at the same time and neither will have time to run."
Aly carefully aimed and loosed the arrow, just as she recognized her target as her Aunt Daine.
I hate to leave you guys hangin', but was that not the perfect place to cut off? Please review and I'll try to update ASAP.