A Warrior's Path (The Castes and the OutCastes) (56 page)

“It was that pig, Hal’El Wrestiva,” Sophy growled.  “He was the one who brought it up.  When I find out who told him, I will wring that person’s neck.”

“The Chamber has found Rukh to be Unworthy…”

“
We should be grateful they didn’t mark him with the Slash of Iniquity,” Satha broke in.

“At any rate,” Dar’El said, continuing on as
if he hadn’t been interrupted.  “The Chamber has decided Rukh can no longer be accepted in Kumma society.”

“
It wasn’t their only reason,” Satha muttered angrily.  She flashed an unfathomable look at Jessira before turning to stare out the windows and fold her arms across her chest.

Dar’El shrugged.  “It doesn’t matter what their rationale,” he said.  “The point is when Rukh returns from the expedition, he will not be allowed to step foot within the Oasis or join one of our caravans.  He can try to make his way to some other place and hope they will accept him there, but it won’t happen.  Once a man has been expelled, no other city will accept him.”

“But Stronghold will,” Jessira said, guessing the reason for this meeting.  “That’s why you asked if I could delay my departure.”

Dar’El nodded.  “How long can you wait before the snows close off the mountain passes to your city?”

“I can wait maybe another ten or eleven weeks, but it would be cutting it close.”

“If all goes well, they should be back by then,” Satha said.  “Will you wait for him and take him with you?”

Jessira sat down.  So much was coming at her at once.  Something Satha had said, her expression…oh no.  Jessira realized what Rukh’s amma had meant when she said there had been another reason for the Chamber’s decision.  She felt sick. “It was because of me, wasn’t it?  You said his new Talents weren’t the only reason for his expulsion.  It’s because of the time he spent with me.”

Satha nodded.  “Nothing was alleged but enough was implied.”

Jessira covered her face, appalled by what had happened to Rukh and her role in it.  “I should never have gone with him to that play.”

“
The play and dinner were fine since Bree was with you,” Satha said.  “It was what came after, when Bree left.  Your romantic evening stroll through Dryad Park was noticed and remarked upon.  If I wasn’t so afraid for that stupid boy, I’d box his ears for what he’s done.  The brainless fool!”

Dar’El looked angry
as well.  “Rukh can be so stupid sometimes.  He never sees how his actions can appear to others.  He’s blind to the obvious until it smacks him in his idiot face.  The evening the two of you spent with one another could have been excused, but add in his Talents, and it became the final reason for the other ‘Els to expel him.”

Jessira
slumped in her chair.  Her head fell forward as she stared at the floor. This was all her fault.  It was what Dar’El and Satha knew to be true, but for some reason were too kind to say so.  Jessira had been so selfish, demanding Rukh’s attention when she should have dealt with her loneliness on her own.  If she had, tomorrow morning, she would have left Ashoka, and Rukh would have gone on to live his life as he would have wanted.

“I am furious with
Rukh, but my anger doesn’t matter, and neither does yours,” Satha snapped at Dar’El.  “We still need an answer from you, Jessira Viola Grey.  Will you take our son to Stronghold?”

Jessira nodded.  “Of course.  I owe Rukh my life,” she said.  “But you’re asking me to stay in Ashoka for the better part of three months.  Where will I live?”  She felt guilty thinking of herself at a time like this, but the question needed asking.

“Where else but here?” Dar’El asked, sounding surprised.

“What about Bree and Jaresh?”

“What about them?” Satha asked.

Jessira licked her lips in nervousness.  “When they find out about Rukh’s expulsion, especially my role in it, they won’t be very happy
. They’ll blame me.  I’m surprised the two of you don’t.”

Satha
laughed bitterly.  “I wish I
could
blame you for this disaster, but Rukh wasn’t your responsibility.  He was ours, and he’s become a victim to our House politics.”

“This is not House politics,” Dar’El growled.  “It is war, and if it
is war House Wrestiva wants, it is war I will give them.  When I’m finished, House Wrestiva will be liquidated, and their ruling ‘El will be left impoverished and despised for his incompetence.”

Just then, seeing the hard, cold determination on his face, Jessira was certain Dar’El Shektan would
try to do exactly that.  It was an expression mirrored on the face of Satha Shektan.  Jessira was suddenly glad Rukh’s parents weren’t her enemy.

“We’ll deal with Bree and Jaresh
,” Satha said.  “And we’ll make sure your time here won’t be unbearable.  But the House seat is the safest place for you to stay until Rukh returns.”

Jessira nodded.  “I’ll wait for him,” she said before leaving the study
.  Time to unpack.  What a fool she had been.  On her way up the stairs, she sent a silent prayer to Devesh.  She prayed for Rukh’s safety and also that he would find a way to forgive her once he learned what had happened.

*****

After Jessira left the study, Dar’El walked to the door and closed it behind her.

“
Are you certain of this path?” Satha asked.  “What if she learns the truth?”

Dar’El glanced at his wife.  “
Which truth?  How we just manipulated her, or the near-certainty that Rukh would have been found Unworthy regardless of their night time stroll through Dryad Park?”

“Either.
”

“Jessira will learn nothing, and even if she does, by the
n it will be too late.  It’s already too late.  Our course is set.”

Satha sighed.
“I don’t like lying, but we do what we must.”

“Rukh’s fate was sealed the moment Rector Bryce learned of his new Talents.
  I severely misjudged the man,” Dar’El said with a grit of his teeth.  He wasn’t sure if he was angrier with himself or with Bryce.

Satha grimaced.  “Speaking of the Watcher, w
hat  do you intend to do about him?”

“He will pay for what he has done.  He will pay the harshest price I can devise.”

“Bree?” Satha guessed.  “He’s already lost her.  She knows Rector’s actions in all this.”

“No,” Dar’El said.  “
Bryce will lose something he treasures far more deeply: his moral certitude.”

Satha shrugged.  “As long he learns never to cross this House,” she said.
  “And speaking of our daughter, has Bree forgiven you yet?”

Dar’El
shook his head.  “No.  She hates her role in Rukh’s banishment, and she blames me for it.”

“Suggesting the walk in Dryad Park?”

“She immediately knew what would happen, but that’s not why she’s unhappy with me,” Dar’El said.  “She’s convinced we should have told Rukh the truth.”

“About the politics of the Chamber?”  Satha barked in laughter.  “
And then
he
would have told Jessira…”

“Who we wouldn’t
then be able to guilt into taking him to Stronghold,” Dar’El finished for her.  “And Rukh likely would have refused to join the expedition to the caverns.  He would stayed here in Ashoka, determined to fight the charges and would have instead been branded a coward.  Yet another reason for the Chamber to find him Unworthy.”

“You still cling to that hope?
” Satha asked, sounding surprised.  “The possibility that Rukh’s actions with the expedition might be so extraordinary that the Chamber rescinds their decision?”

“It’s the only way I c
an see him one day returning home to us.”

“And if he dies?”

“Death is always a possibility in the Wildness.”

Satha
didn’t answer.  It was an old argument between the two of them.  Instead, she stood and paced the room.  “What a mess,” she said, rubbing her shoulders.

The room quieted.

“I’m going to tell him about the Book,” Dar’El said into the silence.

“
The Book of First Movement?
”  Satha rolled her eyes.  “Ever since you joined that stupid society…”

“The
Rajans were the ones who told us…”

“I know about the Rajans,” Satha interrupted.  “But
we’ve manipulated our daughter, Jessira, and Rukh in order to grant him a future where he
might
be happy.  And you want him to risk it all for some book no one has ever been able to read.  Do you realize how dangerous such a journey will be?”

Dar’El suppressed his irritation.  This was also an old argument. 
“The risks won’t be as great as you think,” he said.  “Rukh is a Kumma who can Blend.  If anyone can salvage the Book, it will be him.”

Satha didn’t reply.  Instead, she seemed to s
crutinize Dar’El.  “You really think this Book is important enough to risk our son’s life over?”

Dar’El stared out the window. 
Risk his son’s life?  Was anything worth such a price? The answer was obvious, but nevertheless, he hated voicing it.  He hated having to make these decisions.  Life would have been far easier if he could have remained a simple warrior, never becoming the ruling ‘El of House Shektan or joining the Rajans.  Then these soul-twisting choices would have never been required of him.  “When the Book fell into Raja’s hands two thousand years ago, he was opaque on so many items, but on the Book he was clear: it is our best hope to defeat Suwraith.”

*****

N
ight cloaked the column as it wended its way along the shingle beach marking the eastern bank of the Slave River.  The water funneled through a long, narrow canyon, hammering and roiling across heavy boulders and rocks in a steep descent before finally thundering over the Tripwire Falls a mile or so to the south.  High cliffs extended north and south, enclosing the gorge in gloomy shadow even under a noonday sun.  At night the darkness was stygian, with water-slick gravel and stones creating a high risk for a turned ankle.  The expedition had to proceed carefully and quietly, even though the sound of pounding water helped disguise any noise the warriors might have made.

So far
they had avoided detection, swiftly silencing any Chimera scouts and warriors who might have given warning.  It was surprising how lightly defended the breeding caverns were.  Hardly any Chims whatsoever, but there had been enough to ‘interrogate’ – and a bloody, awful mess it had turned out to be.  From them, the Ashokans had gained a fairly accurate picture of the cave system they planned on invading.  According to the Chims, the breeders were housed in large caverns, widely dispersed throughout the cave system and guarded by roughly five thousand of their fellows, just as Li-Dirge had said.

Five thousand Chimera
s…  On an open field, two thousand Ashokans could have easily taken them, but in the tight quarters of the tunnels and caves, it would be a painful, deadly slog.  Kumma speed and power would count for so much less in such narrow confines.

And since a man could easily get lost in the confusing warrens, the Marshall had insisted each warrior be given a map of the caverns and tunnels.  If anyone got separated from their unit, they had to have a way of getting out of there.

As for the plan of attack, there were three entrances to the caverns, and the Ashokans already held them, having quickly overwhelmed the small defending force of Chimeras.  Now it was time for the rest of the warriors to get in there and get the job done. Marshall Tanhue had split his command into three equal columns of just under seven hundred men each.  Rukh had been assigned to the unit tasked with entering the southernmost entrance.

“I can’t believe we’re going in
to those caves,” a warrior walking near Rukh murmured to a companion.  “We have no idea what we’ll find in there.”

“We’ll be fine
,” his friend replied.  “That claw of Tigons and those traps of Braids we captured told us all we need to know.”

“You think we can trust the word of a Chim?”

“No, but they only told us what we already figured to be true, like the Baels all being dead,” the second warrior replied.  “Or how the Sorrow Bringer killed all them horned bastards Herself and put the Tigons in charge.  Just like the Shektan said.”

“You mean the Hume Champion.  Can’t forget what a great warrior he is,” the first
man said, a sneering tone to his voice.  “Naaja bastard.”  He spit to the side.

Rukh
clenched his fists.  He was about to speak up, but almost immediately, he swallowed any harsh words he might have said.  What was the point?  Even if he put a beatdown on those two, nothing would change.  The others wouldn’t care.  The casual slurs would continue.

At that moment, he
wished he’d never been chosen for the expedition.  As for the two men in question – a Muran and a Rahail – they had no idea who it was walking right next to them.  It was the Tainted bastard himself.  He supposed they thought he was just another Kumma.