The Archer's Heart (43 page)

“Teach me,” Tarek said.        

Chapter 35

 “
Y
OU EAT IT.”
K
ESHAN PUSHED THE LAST PASTRY ON THE PLATE
towards Ajani.

“No, you eat it.” She pushed it back towards him.

Keshan lifted an eyebrow at Iyestar, who sat beside him with his eyes closed. “You want it?”

Iyestar belched. The three of them sat in Keshan’s private courtyard for lunch, catching up on Iyestar’s visit to Prasta. There was a storm brewing out at sea and large, menacing waves crashed upon the rocks below.

“Come on, Ajani,” Keshan urged. He grinned. “You need to get fatter.”

“Why, so you can make up more excuses to sleep around?” Ajani asked, smirking.

Iyestar cracked an eye open. “Hello. I’m here.”

“I see you,” Ajani chided.

“I thought I’d remind you.” Iyestar closed his eye again.

Keshan shook his head. “Fine, fine, I’ll eat it.” His loose hair blew into his eyes, and Keshan brushed his bangs out of his face. All three of them were dressed casually, enjoying a rare respite from governing for the day. Keshan reveled in the feeling of the wind rustling through his hair. He reached for the last pastry.

“You don’t have to eat it,” Ajani said. “I can call a servant to take it away.”

“No, I feel bad for it.” Keshan put the pastry on his plate. “It’s lonely, all by itself on a big empty plate. We ate all its family members. He wants to join them. He is sad.”

Iyestar shook his head. “You are insane, Keshan.” He stood up slowly, stretching his long arms as he did so. “Are we going to practice or not?”

Keshan bit into the spicy pastry, closing his eyes as he did so. It was no longer piping hot as the first few had been, but it was still delicious.

Keshan looked to his brother. “I thought you would be tired of practicing mace after dueling Darvad all week. ”

“I’m not talking about maces,” Iyestar said. “I want to practice swords, remember? We discussed this last night.”

“I wasn’t paying attention to you.” Keshan winked at Ajani, who laughed.

Iyestar sighed. “Some day I’m going to prove to the world how evil you really are. Just wait.”

“We shouldn’t exercise right after eating,” Keshan said.

Iyestar closed his eyes once more and tilted his face up to catch the hot July sun. At times like this, Keshan’s older brother resembled a big cat.

“I’ll carry you if you get a cramp,” Iyestar said.

Keshan smiled. He picked up the last bite of pastry in his hand and popped it into his mouth.

Suddenly, his vision went blank.

Jandu cried out. A man’s fist smashed into Jandu’s face. With a dull crack, Jandu’s nose broke, spurting blood across the bed.

Keshan spat out his food. The blood drained from his face.

Ajani noticed. “Keshan? What’s wrong?”

He tried to smile. “Nothing.”

Jandu choked as a man gripped his throat with both hands and strangled him.

Keshan stood so quickly that his chair fell backwards. Iyestar reached out and touched Keshan’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”

Keshan looked at Iyestar, trying to control his panic.

It always happened like this.

Whenever Keshan had visions, at first they made no sense, consisting of nothing but a jumble of images and sounds. Keshan needed to meditate in order to clarify the order of events, understand what would happen.

 “I need to rest a bit,” Keshan lied. He saw the understanding on his brother’s face and the confusion in Ajani’s.

“Go then,” Iyestar told him.

 As Keshan made his way to his room, he heard his wife following him, so he locked his door. He sat on the floor and tried to calm down as he sat in lotus position.

A shadow fell over Jandu’s face. He looked terrified. Jandu shut his eyes as someone jerked his head back by his long hair.

Keshan had to reach farther back in time. He had to see what had happened before.

The pink blossoms of a cherry tree blew loose across a white courtyard. Men walked past guards, led by a thin man in a turban.

Dice rolled. Someone begged forgiveness. Others laughed.

Keshan scrunched his eyes closed, concentrating on the images he saw, the sounds he heard. The vision shifted.

There was a stark but finely crafted room, with a marble floor and white down pillows. A man in a dark yellow turban set up a dice board. Three other men entered the room. One of them studied the man in the turban curiously.

“You are Esalas?” he asked.

The man in the turban nodded. “Lord Indarel is on a hunting trip with his eldest son, and his wife has asked me to entertain you until his return. Would you like to play a game of dice?”

The guest smiled. “Of course.”

Keshan recognized the man immediately as Firdaus Trinat, lord of Chandamar. It had been years since Keshan last saw him at the palace, and Firdaus gained weight. His black hair now hung in a long ponytail down his back, his face rough with a beard.

Keshan also recognized one of Firdaus’ companions. Hanu was the lord’s younger brother, ambassador to Afadi. The fact that the two men appeared in a vision where Jandu was hurt did not surprise Keshan as much as he thought it would.

But the servant in the turban also looked familiar. Keshan closed his eyes and focused. He could feel like he was there if he concentrated hard enough. He relaxed his body into a trance-like state, until he could no longer feel his limbs, hear the sound of the ocean through his windows, or smell the incense of his own room. He concentrated on the white room in his vision, and on the man in the center of it.

He was thin and had a dark beard, but his eyes shone clearly with intelligence. Under the turban, it was hard to see the details of the man’s face, but it was Yudar Paran, much changed from his years in exile, but still recognizable if one knew what to look for.

Firdaus asked Yudar what they would gamble. Yudar protested that he had nothing of value, and would play without staking anything. In response, Hanu opened a large chest of jewels, offering these to the dice teacher.

“I have nothing to offer in return,” Yudar protested.

“Yes you do.” Firdaus smiled. “I hear from my brother than you have a beautiful sister.”

Yudar stiffened. He backed away from the dice board.

Firdaus smiled thinly. “My brother has not stopped talking about Janali since he first laid eyes on her.”

“What are you suggesting?” Yudar whispered.

Firdaus shrugged. “Wager her. Just for one night. Me, Hanu, and my friend would like the comfort someone like her can provide.”

Yudar blanched. “Impossible.”

Firdaus said nothing. He and his friends watched Yudar expectantly.

“Are you mad?” Yudar looked like he was about to be sick. “Do you think I would let my sister sleep with you?”

“I mean no offense, Esalas. I just want to play dice, and I know you have nothing else to your name. And in return, I offer a great amount of wealth and jewels, which would honor your own wife.”

Yudar stared at the dice board. He was calculating, considering the odds. In his mind, he could not lose. And so he risked nothing.

“We play by Prasta rules,” Yudar stated firmly.

Firdaus laughed, and pulled out a set of ivory dice from his pocket. “Excellent!” Firdaus, Hanu, and their companion sat around the dice board.

Yudar looked at the men, and then steadied his resolve. He grabbed his dice. “I’m first.”

Keshan’s rage distorted the vision and in a moment it was gone.

He paced his room, letting the salty breezes of the ocean wash over his bare arms and chest. He angrily ran his hands through his hair. He stared at his bed for a moment, remembering the nights he had made love to Jandu under those sheets. Jandu had been so proud then, so full of life, strong and witty and brave. He thought of Jandu’s brother, a man who was supposed to protect his younger siblings, gambling Jandu away like he were silver. Keshan wanted to kill Yudar. Keshan stuck his head out the window, watching his emotions reflected in the angry sea below, churning relentlessly in the storm, crashing upon the city’s cliff like a purposeful assault.

If Keshan was going to see the rest of the vision, he had to calm down.

Keshan breathed deeply, slowly. He lit more incense, and sat on his bed, cross-legged. He listened to the waves, to the sound of his own household, the laughter of someone in a room below his, the clanking of plates, the distant whinnying of horses, and let the familiar and comforting atmosphere of Tiwari rock him into a lull, let him forget anger and fear, until he found his center of concentration again.

He closed his eyes, and imagined Yudar. The vision came flooding back to him, jagged and piecemeal. They were like images from a new memory.

Yudar held the dice.

The smell of lotus filled the air, and sweat from the men.

The sun streamed in from a high window.

Keshan focused.

Yudar was losing. Firdaus’ pawns moved across the board, weakening Yudar’s position. Firdaus rolled a six and the game ended.

Yudar’s face was void of color. He stared at the dice board in shock, looking like a man who has been shot through the heart.

“It was a lucky throw,” Firdaus said with a frown.

“No…” Yudar covered his face with his hands.

“That’s the problem with dice,” Firdaus said, stretching. “You can have all the skill in the world, but it means nothing if you run out of luck.”

“No.” Yudar’s entire body began to tremble. “Please,” Yudar croaked. “Forgive me! I can’t bear it. Janali, she’s—she’s very special to me.”

Firdaus’ friend smirked. “You should have thought of that before you wagered her.”

Yudar glared at him. “Shut your mouth, servant!”

“What are you, a Triya?” The man shot back. “Go ahead and retract your promise—we’ll see what Lord Indarel has to say about it.”

Yudar moaned, curling in on himself as if he were going to be sick. 

Firdaus stood and stretched once more. “We’ll be decent about this, Esalas. We won’t tell anyone. There will be no shame on her, or on you.” He put on his shoes at the door, and his companions followed him. “Will you show us to Janali’s room?”

Yudar looked like he was choking, terrible retching sounds coming from his throat.

“Esalas?”

Yudar stared at the floor.

“Esalas?” Firdaus raised an eyebrow. “That is your name, isn’t it?”

Yudar looked up. “Yes. Of course. Follow me.”

The men emerged into the blazing afternoon sunlight of the southern coast. They crossed through a large white courtyard, past a blooming cherry tree, past guards who were stationed there to protect the women inside. Yudar spoke with the guards and they warily let the men pass.

Once again Keshan’s fury engulfed the vision. He jumped from his bed and grabbed his sword. If the cherry tree was blooming in his vision, then he had no time. What was going to happen would happen any day, if not right this moment. Keshan strapped on his armor.

He whispered a sharta and stepped into the Yashva world, Firdaus’ cousins be damned.

Characters

Abiyar Lokesh: Third and youngest son of Indarel Lokesh, Lord of Afadi.

Ajani Alamar: Wife of Keshan Adaru

Anant Sarkumar: Commander in the Dragewan army

Azari: Pseudonym of Suraya Paria while hiding in Afadi

Baldur Tanaraf: Lord of the State of Penemar

Bandruban: Prophet of the Shentari faith

Baram Param: Second son of King Shandarvan by his first wife Kari;brother of Yudar and Jandu; husband of Suraya Paria

Bir Soridashen: Lord of the State of Jagu Mali

Bodan: Pseudonym of Baram Paran while hiding in Afadi

Chezek: Keshan Adaru’s charioteer and servant

Darvad Uru:Son of King Shandarvan by his second wife Farashi; half-brother of Yudar, Baram, and Jandu

Druv Majeo: Lord of the State of Pagdesh

Esalas: Pseudonym of Yudar Paran while hiding in Afadi

Eshau: Abiyar Lokesh’s weapons master

Farashi Uru: Second wife of King Shandarvan; mother of Darvad Uru

Firdaus Trinat: Lord of the State of Chandamar; brother of Hanu; father of Ishad

Hanu Trinat: Chandamar Ambassador in the State of Afadi;Firdaus’s brother

Harami: Prophet of the Shentari faith

Indarel Lokesh: Lord of the State of Afadi; husband of Shali Amain; father of Ramad, Parik, Vaisha, and Abiyar

Inaud Adaru: Uncle of Iyestar and Keshan Adaru

Ishad Trinat: Lord of the State of Chandamar; son of Firdaus

Iyestar Adaru: Lord of the State of Tiwari; brother of Keshan Adaru

Janali: Pseudonym of Jandu Paran while hiding in Afadi

Jandu Paran: Third son of King Shandarvan by his first wide Kari; youngest brother of Yudar and Baram; husband of Suraya Paria

Kadal Kardef: Lord of the State of Marshav

Kari Paran: First wife of King Shandarvan; mother of Yudar, Baram, and Jandu

Keshan Adaru: Younger brother of Iyestar Adaru, Lord of Tiwari; husband of Ajani Alamar; cousin of the Parans

Koraz: Yashva demon of the forest

Laiu: Tarek Amia’s servant

Lazro Arundan: Son of Tamarus Arundan; friend of Keshan Adaru

Linaz: Mother of Lord Iyestar and Keshan Adaru

Mazar Hamdi: Regent of Marhavad; weapons master to the princes of Marhavad

Mendraz: King of the Yashvas

Nadaru Paria: Lord of the State of Karuna; father of Rishak and Suraya

Ohendru: Chaya soldier in the Uru army

Olan Osasu: Lord of the State of Bandari

Onshu: High priest of Marhavad

Parik Lokesh: Second son of Indarel Lokesh, Lord of Afadi

Ramad Lokesh: Eldest son of Indarel Lokesh, Lord of Afadi

Rani: Servant in the Afadi palace; Janali’s roommate

Rishak Paria: Son of Nadaru Paria, Lord of Karuna; brother of Suraya; brother-in-law of the Parans

Sadeshar: Prophet of the Shentari faith

Sahdin Ori: Lord of the State of Jezza

Satish: Tarek Amia’s charioteer

Shali Amain: Wife of Indarel Lokesh, Lord of Afadi; mother of Ramad, Parik, Vaisha and Abiyar

Shandarvan: Former King of Marhavad; father of Darvad Uru, and Yudar, Baram, and Jandu Paran

Suraya Paria: Daughter of Nadaru Paria, Lord of Karuna; sister of Rishak; wife of Yudar, Baram, and Jandu Paran

Taivo: Prophet of the Shentari faith

Tamarus Arundan: Chaya spiritual leader and friend of Keshan Adaru

Tarek Amia: Lord of the State of Dragewan

Tarhandi: Prophet of the Shentari faith

Umia: Yashva demon consort of Mendraz, King of the Yashvas; aunt of Iyestar and Keshan Adaru

Vaisha Lokesh: Daughter of Indarel, Lord of Afadi

Warash: Chaya soldier in the Uru army

Yudar Paran: First son of King Shandarvan by his first wife Kari; brother of Jandu and Baram; husband of Suraya Paria; Royal Judge

Zandi: Yashva demon and Jandu’s bow