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Authors: Kameron Hurley
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be politic.”
“Let us be seated,” Dasai said. He clutched the top of his walking stick tightly. Ahkio wondered how many polite rituals and welcomes they had already trampled past.
What he wanted more than anything was to go sit by his sister’s side. He should have been here when she got sick. If she’d called him weeks ago, why had no one told him? They could have uncovered together who cursed her with the illness that took her.
“That won’t be necessary,” Taigan said. “Oma is rising.”
Ahkio raised his head. “What?”
“Not according to our stargazers,” Nasaka said.
“Then they are ill informed,” Taigan said. “Oma, just like any other star, has been known to appear suddenly. One cannot always track its path. Now I tell you its effect is being felt across my country. With Oma come invaders. Such is as it’s always been. This time, they’ve found a way to come through before Oma’s full appearance.”
“Who are these invaders?” Ahkio asked. “What do they have to do with us?”
“The last time Oma rose,” Nasaka said, “two thousand years ago, the Saiduan invaded what was then Dhai, when we ruled the continent. There is always a great power that unseats another during Oma’s ascent. Always. I do not contest that. But I see no proof of Oma’s rise here besides your word.”
“If you had seen what I have seen, you would not question it,” Taigan said.
“Shao Taigan,” Dasai said, “we respect you greatly. Yet you do not use the speech we have come to expect of the Patron’s emissaries. What is it we can do for you, sanisi, during your time of trouble?”
Ahkio saw four figures dressed in red come into the Assembly Chamber. They were members of the militia posted to the Kuallina Stronghold; he knew them by the pins at their collars. The temple itself had no standing militia. They must have traveled in on the Line behind him and Nasaka. A bit of fast thinking on someone’s part. But not mine, Ahkio thought. They told me as little as they could. He glanced at Nasaka and wondered how much she’d kept Kirana in the dark, too.
The sanisi laughed at the militia. “You think yourselves safe?” Taigan said. “You may be able to hold for a time, it’s true, with your defensible pass, and the mountains to the west, and that harbor wall to the north, but they will devour you eventually. Oma is rising. These people will rout you.”
“What can we possibly offer in assistance?” Dasai said.
Taigan gritted his teeth. “Scholars,” he said.
“Eh?” Gaiso said. “Book people?”
“Your best translators of ancient Dhai,” Taigan said. “That is what my Patron requests of you. It may help turn the tide.”
Nasaka folded her arms. “You have Dhai records that predate the last Rising, then,” she said. “Records that could help you find out how to turn these people back. But of course, they’re all in ancient Dhai, aren’t they, and you’ve killed all the Dhai in your empire who can read them.”
Taigan said, “The invaders destroy our archives. Strange, no? They could target supply lines, terrorize civilians. They do that, yes. But the archives are first.”
“So send the records here,” Ahkio said. “We could find–”
“Impossible,” Taigan said. “We have two thousand years of records. Do you know how many holds we pillaged to collect it? We can’t risk putting it on a cart to some indefensible country.”
“So we must travel to Saiduan,” Dasai said.
“It was a very long time ago,” Taigan said. “All this death and killing of the Dhai people. You speak as if it was I who did this thing. We have let you alone here. Imported your infused weapons. Are we not friends now?”
“What do we get in return?” Nasaka asked.
Ahkio thought that a bit bold. He wondered if she’d been bold enough to kill Kirana… but to what end? He rubbed his face. And now Oma. He couldn’t imagine Nasaka was as ignorant of that as she pretended. Kirana talked often
“Let us be seated,” Dasai said. He clutched the top of his walking stick tightly. Ahkio wondered how many polite rituals and welcomes they had already trampled past.
What he wanted more than anything was to go sit by his sister’s side. He should have been here when she got sick. If she’d called him weeks ago, why had no one told him? They could have uncovered together who cursed her with the illness that took her.
“That won’t be necessary,” Taigan said. “Oma is rising.”
Ahkio raised his head. “What?”
“Not according to our stargazers,” Nasaka said.
“Then they are ill informed,” Taigan said. “Oma, just like any other star, has been known to appear suddenly. One cannot always track its path. Now I tell you its effect is being felt across my country. With Oma come invaders. Such is as it’s always been. This time, they’ve found a way to come through before Oma’s full appearance.”
“Who are these invaders?” Ahkio asked. “What do they have to do with us?”
“The last time Oma rose,” Nasaka said, “two thousand years ago, the Saiduan invaded what was then Dhai, when we ruled the continent. There is always a great power that unseats another during Oma’s ascent. Always. I do not contest that. But I see no proof of Oma’s rise here besides your word.”
“If you had seen what I have seen, you would not question it,” Taigan said.
“Shao Taigan,” Dasai said, “we respect you greatly. Yet you do not use the speech we have come to expect of the Patron’s emissaries. What is it we can do for you, sanisi, during your time of trouble?”
Ahkio saw four figures dressed in red come into the Assembly Chamber. They were members of the militia posted to the Kuallina Stronghold; he knew them by the pins at their collars. The temple itself had no standing militia. They must have traveled in on the Line behind him and Nasaka. A bit of fast thinking on someone’s part. But not mine, Ahkio thought. They told me as little as they could. He glanced at Nasaka and wondered how much she’d kept Kirana in the dark, too.
The sanisi laughed at the militia. “You think yourselves safe?” Taigan said. “You may be able to hold for a time, it’s true, with your defensible pass, and the mountains to the west, and that harbor wall to the north, but they will devour you eventually. Oma is rising. These people will rout you.”
“What can we possibly offer in assistance?” Dasai said.
Taigan gritted his teeth. “Scholars,” he said.
“Eh?” Gaiso said. “Book people?”
“Your best translators of ancient Dhai,” Taigan said. “That is what my Patron requests of you. It may help turn the tide.”
Nasaka folded her arms. “You have Dhai records that predate the last Rising, then,” she said. “Records that could help you find out how to turn these people back. But of course, they’re all in ancient Dhai, aren’t they, and you’ve killed all the Dhai in your empire who can read them.”
Taigan said, “The invaders destroy our archives. Strange, no? They could target supply lines, terrorize civilians. They do that, yes. But the archives are first.”
“So send the records here,” Ahkio said. “We could find–”
“Impossible,” Taigan said. “We have two thousand years of records. Do you know how many holds we pillaged to collect it? We can’t risk putting it on a cart to some indefensible country.”
“So we must travel to Saiduan,” Dasai said.
“It was a very long time ago,” Taigan said. “All this death and killing of the Dhai people. You speak as if it was I who did this thing. We have let you alone here. Imported your infused weapons. Are we not friends now?”
“What do we get in return?” Nasaka asked.
Ahkio thought that a bit bold. He wondered if she’d been bold enough to kill Kirana… but to what end? He rubbed his face. And now Oma. He couldn’t imagine Nasaka was as ignorant of that as she pretended. Kirana talked often
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