Bastial Frenzy (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 4) (43 page)

Dentar spotted Zeti first. He stood and muttered something. Ruskir turned next.

“What do you want?” Ruskir said.

“I want to hear the truth, for once!”

He spat. “About what?”

“How did mother to me die?”

Ruskir came toward her, letting himself out of the chicken pen with his sword still in hand. Dentar was close behind carrying his own weapon.

“She was a
slucha
. That’s the truth.”

Zeti nearly threw her dagger at him. Instead, she spat. He jumped out of the way.

“It’s true, Zeti,” Dentar said, stepping to Ruskir’s side.

Ruskir added, “I caught her with male Krepps.”

“Doing what?” Zeti knew her father was lying. He always lied.

“I knew what she was doing,” he insisted. “I didn’t need to see it. I could tell from the way she spoke with them.”

“So you killed her? You believed she cared for other males, and this gave you grounds to kill her?”

“She attacked me,” Ruskir lied.

Zeti cursed at him, then spat again.

He spat back and raised his sword. “You’re going to attack me also, you stupid
kushlat
?”

There were no more thoughts, only rage. Zeti grabbed a rock near her feet and threw it with all her might. It struck Dentar in the chest. He grunted, stumbling backward and clutching his heart. She threw another, this one hitting her target. It struck Ruskir in the shoulder as he turned defensively.

He uttered a scream and charged at her. Her rationality came back just in time. Her dagger against their swords would require technique over strength. She jumped to the side as he lunged, but she was too far to counterattack.

“Kill her,” Dentar encouraged, watching with an ugly grin.

She jumped back to dodge another attack. Ruskir snorted and said, “You shouldn’t have come here,
kushlat
.”

She kicked up dirt, hoping to blind him for a breath. But he moved his forearm in front of his face in time, then charged again.

She tripped over the uneven ground. He was coming too fast. She twisted and bent her leg up to protect her torso.

A blur of gray slammed into Ruskir, tackling him. They came apart quickly, Ruskir wildly swinging at what Zeti soon saw to be Keenu. She got to her feet when she saw Dentar coming behind Keenu as he and Ruskir swiped at each other.

“Behind you!” Zeti screamed, too far away to help.

Keenu rolled before Dentar could remove his head with his blade. Ruskir was already over him, ready to strike with an overhead swing.

This time Zeti did throw her dagger. It was a calculated toss, without anger interfering with her focus. She couldn’t see whether the blade or the handle struck Ruskir in his naked chest, as it didn’t impale him, but it did halt him enough for Keenu to run his sword through Ruskir’s stomach.

Ruskir dropped his weapon and fell backward. Keenu’s sword was already out of his flesh, blocking Dentar’s aggressive attacks. Keenu finished him quickly when he found an opening, stabbing Dentar in the heart.

Ruskir grunted and struggled but lacked the strength to get up. Zeti retrieved her dagger and knelt over him.

“Wait,” he uttered. “I’ve always done what’s best for you and Zoke. I’ve been a good father to you.”

“Stop lying, Father. You know you’re selfish and dishonorable.”

His hand struggled to grasp the handle of his sword. “You’re the dishonorable one,
kushlat
.”

Zeti drove her dagger into his chest.

Chapter 30:

ZETI

“Will we be punished?” Zeti asked.

“Not when you were defending yourself,” Keenu said.

“Then what about you?”

“I was protecting you from death. I had the right to kill either of them. Besides, chiefs are never punished for what they do to other Krepps, only when they fail their tasks.”

They reported the incident to the Krepps responsible for the dead. She knew close friends and relatives were to be notified. A few of her father’s associates might feign sadness, though she knew none would care that he or Dentar were gone.

And Zoke would care even less,
she figured.

It was easy for Zeti to pretend nothing had happened. She’d already come to accept she’d never see Ruskir again. The fact that he was dead hardly made a difference.

Guilt woke her in the night, though. Her neck and back ached, as if she was twisted awkwardly while sleeping. She knew there was no reason to be guilty, but she couldn’t seem to rid herself of the feeling completely.

When she started her tasks the next day, however, the memory of her father easily became just as distant as that of her mother.

It wasn’t the same for Zoke. Just because she’d accepted there was nothing she could do to save him didn’t mean she’d really accepted him being killed. It was frustrating, being unable to accept something inevitable. She didn’t know what to do to fix it. The more she thought about it, the worse it became, causing nausea and even tears when she was in private. As she and others took painstaking efforts to make sure every able Krepp was equipped with a good weapon, she couldn’t help but think of each day as one less that Zoke had to live.

She showed her gratitude to Keenu for saving her life by making sure a sword of the finest steel went to him. He showed up at her hut that evening.

“This was your doing, wasn’t it?” He smiled as he displayed his new sword.

“For your assistance with father to me.”

“Usually it’s the male that offers gifts.” He seemed embarrassed. “I’ve tried to think about what I could give you, but I haven’t decided on anything. I don’t want to insult you with something you can’t use or wouldn’t like.”

“The things I want can’t be gifted.” She thought of her brother, though her mind quickly searched for something else she could say if he asked what she meant.

But he didn’t. Keenu slowly slid his pristine sword into the sheath on his belt, gazing at Zeti silently.

“Is a
seshar
one of those things?”

“It is, but a dead mate is worse than none. I can’t endure the pain.”

He came forward and knelt. “I won’t die.”

Zeti laughed.

Keenu showed insult in a grimace. He stood and straightened his back. “Why is this funny?”

She touched his arm to show her mistake. “Just what you said. No Krepp thinks they’ll die, not even father to me with his stomach pierced by your blade. He still lied as if he was going to live. You can tell me you’ll
try
not to die, but that’s the most I’ll believe until this is over.”

The insult was gone from his bright eyes. “I understand. So you’ll take a
seshar
after we destroy Kyrro?”

“I will.”

By the time news came of Welson Kimard’s death, Zeti knew the final preparations for battle would be done soon. Their whole army would march to Kyrro—every Krepp able to fight, and the two Dajriks. With there being no chance of failure, all of her worries were for her brother.

She was with Keenu in Doe’s quarters when one of the pigeon keepers brought in the announcement of Welson’s death.

Doe began to read the message from Tenred aloud, “The King of Kyrro has been killed. Tegry Hiller wanted me to…” Doe fell into silence as his fat face scrunched while his beady eyes continued reading.

“May I ask a question?” Keenu tried.

“No,” Doe said. “Leave me.”

But they hadn’t finished their original conversation. Doe was explaining a new task he needed from them before the messenger came in.

Zeti opened her mouth to say something, but Keenu touched her shoulder and shook his head. They left quickly.

Zeti waited until they were far enough from the two guards outside the entrance to Doe’s building. Then she asked Keenu what he was thinking.

“That letter was different than the others,” he said. “Nebre has always translated what was told to him. He never wrote directly to Doe before.”

Doe had never started reading a letter aloud without finishing it. He clearly trusted Keenu and Zeti enough with any information about the war. But something different must’ve been in that letter, something he didn’t wish them to hear.

At first, she assumed it had to be something about Zoke. But the thought became foolish before it was even fully developed. Doe loved to bring up her traitorous brother and watch for her reactions.

So then what is it?
But these were dangerous thoughts. Curiosity would only lead to injury or death. It was usually easy to dismiss, but not in this case.

“Is there any way we can see the message?” she asked.

Keenu gave her a serious look. It seemed like he was about to scold her for her curiosity when he said, “I was trying to think of a way to do that. But if Doe really doesn’t want us to see it, then he’ll burn it.”

“Only once he’s absolutely sure he’s done with it. He’ll leave it with the others until then.”

“True,” Keenu said. “He probably won’t be burning it until later. If there was some way to get him out of there, I could go in and read it.”

“He might kill you for entering without permission.”

“Only if he found out. He doesn’t keep his scrolls hidden. All I need to do is get past the guards while he’s away.”

“But he won’t leave his quarters today,” Zeti said. “Not until he must visit the rujin garden to make the emerald for the Dajriks. He’ll probably burn the message before then.”

“So you’ll need to give him a reason to come out right now.”

Zeti twitched her claws nervously. “This is becoming too much. We shouldn’t be curious.”

“This isn’t pointless curiosity, Zeti. We both know there’s important information on that message from Nebre. Doe is keeping it from us for a reason. I need to know why that is. Don’t you?”

“If we can do so safely. How would you have me get him out?”

“There’s only one thing that brings Doe out of his quarters when he doesn’t need to be.”

Zeti thought back to the times she’d seen Doe wiggling through the encampment in a hurry. On each occasion, there had been a massive brawl in the market.

“You’re asking me start a fight?” Zeti asked.

“Only if you wish to. I would do it, but you’re not able to read the scroll. It would also be easier for me to convince the guards to leave. I’ll tell them I’m looking for Doe and that I’ll guard the entrance until he comes back. But we need to hurry,” Keenu urged. “He could burn the scroll at any moment.”

“I’ll do it.”

She turned to run, but Keenu grabbed her arm. “Wait.” He kissed her forehead.

“This isn’t goodbye,” Zeti said, confused.

“Just in case.”

She showed him a smile and then sprinted to the market, devising her plan along the way there. As in her old encampment, the market was in the center. Hundreds of Krepps always were gathered there, sometimes thousands. It was difficult to know how big the whole market was, as she couldn’t see over everyone.

She shouldered her way through to what she believed to be the center. Wooden tables were lined up end to end, each containing goods belonging to the seller behind it.

Many Krepps came to trade a single item, shouting with it raised over their head as they walked around. Often Krepps behind a table would see something they found to be valuable and offer these Krepps a trade, putting their newly acquired item on the table.

Surrounded by a cluster of Krepps, Zeti was about to initiate her plan until she stopped herself. She tried to think of what could be on the scroll that would be worth the damage.

It must be something about the war.
Then she remembered Tegry’s name. Nebre was saying that Tegry wanted him to do something, probably write something. By Doe’s reaction, it was clear Nebre had chosen to speak by his own will.

Zeti didn’t speculate further. If Nebre risked going against Tegry, it had to be important.

She took a deep breath to ready herself for combat. With a hard shove, she maliciously pushed one Krepp into another.

“Who did that?” the Krepp she pushed asked, angry.

She had spun out of the cluster already. She pushed another Krepp.

This one said nothing, but the Krepp he fell into shoved him back.

She heard voices behind her, tones of aggression. Zeti was too busy pushing another Krepp to listen.

Continuing through the market, she used her small stature to hide herself after each shove.

When the fighting didn’t escalate as quickly as she expected, she started muttering curses with a low voice, putting more force into each push.

Soon Krepps were falling, taking down others with them. A table was knocked over. Then another. Something broke against the ground. Screams of exasperation erupted from the crowd. Her heart jumped as a Krepp fell onto her legs.