The Soldier's Lotus (33 page)

The journey through the city was eerie for Saerileth. The
streets were unnaturally quiet. Though no serious shortages of anything had yet
reached the city, the knowledge that the fate of the royal house was being
decided seemed to have seeped through Arinport. The stalls and stores were
open, but no one seemed to be buying much. There were many gathered knots of
men and women, but no one spoke loudly. All voices were hushed, but as she
passed, the sounds of speech rose. They were whispering of her, and she held
her head proudly. She was going to give Darien a death.

****

 
Ulen
Ahnok’s
house was as large
as Darien’s had been, and Saerileth was momentarily surprised at its beauty.
From his mode of dress, she would have assumed that his taste would have been
gaudier. She circled around the outside of the edifice. It had a high garden
wall, in typical
Sunjaa
fashion, but no one was
there. Ulen’s wealth was enormous, and he had property reaching nearly to the
city wall. His house stood nearly alone, and Saerileth smiled. She would be
undisturbed on her way in. She scaled the wall, her hands easily finding
purchase in the rough white stone. It was only when she dropped onto the inner
side of the wall that she realized it.

Ulen’s death was not hers to give Darien. It was true that
Ulen deserved death. So did many people. But she was not
Sunjaa
;
she could not take vengeance for the wrongs done to others. And if she simply
stole this death and presented it to Darien, there would be consequences for
him. No one in Arinport would believe she had done this without his permission,
and they would blame him for sabotaging the peace. She knew that Kamen’s words
of civil war were true. Ulen’s death was not something the
Sunjaa
would forgive. His involvement in the assassinations could not be proven
sufficiently to force the
nobles
who had backed him to
accept his execution, and without further proof – which even if it still
existed would never be found until long after Ulen was safe in the
Dimadan
– Ulen’s death would be considered murder.
A murder for which Darien would be blamed.

Ice struck at her heart. Darien could not be blamed! But if
she did not kill Ulen now, then Ulen would escape justice. Darien would suffer
from that forever.

“
What are you doing
here?” A house guard rushed at Saerileth, his sword drawn. “You’re
trespassing.”

Saerileth did not kill him. Instead, she incapacitated him.
If she were still here in ten minutes, she would deserve to be caught. She took
up his sword and stalked into the house, keeping to the shadows there. She had
not bothered to hide her journey here, and she would not hide on her return.
But this time in Ulen’s house she would need to be stealthy. She crept through
the halls, and here she saw the gaudy trappings she had expected. She
understood then. The house itself Ulen must have
inherited,
and it had been designed by someone else, someone whose tastes were more
elegant.

Darien’s house had been lovely.

Saerileth stopped still, and the house-guard’s sword
slipped from her fingers to clatter on the cool, stone floor. She
did
have a death to give Darien. She was owed one death, and no one, not even the
Sunjaa
, would deny her right to take it.

But could she do this? Could she give up her own vengeance
to take Darien’s for him? Could she let her father, her mother, and both her
brothers lie in the earth and cry out in vain for justice? She had once thought
she could give up her vengeance for Darien’s sake, but she found that now that
her foe had a face and a name, now that her vengeance was within her grasp, it
was a vastly different question.
Talex
Chamri
was responsible for the slaughter of her clan; his
death was hers to claim. But Darien deserved justice, too.

Darien was more to her than her clan. Darien was more to
her even than her life.

Saerileth stepped over the fallen sword, not bothering with
it. She would not need it. She darted from shadow to shadow, making her way
deeper into the house. She paused every so often, listening. It did not take
her long to determine Ulen’s location. He was in his private receiving chamber,
attended by two men.

Saerileth stopped in the hallway. The door to the room was
open, and she made sure she stayed out of the line of sight. She held her
breath and listened. One was standing, and judging by his voice, he had his
back to the door. Another, who spoke less often, seemed to be nearer Ulen. Ulen
himself was seated, and she suspected, due to the murmured words, that they
were discussing accounts.

“
I should be able to
live comfortably on the income from only a third of my pearl contracts.” Ulen’s
calculating drawl seemed to Saerileth to be an affront.

“
Will you be
maintaining your upriver properties, Master?”

Saerileth did not wait to hear Ulen’s reply. She tumbled
into the room, and with one swift kick, she had knocked out the man with his
back to the door. She popped up, bouncing on the balls of her feet, and faced
off against Ulen and his other slave.

“
Go while you can,”
said Saerileth. “Your master and I have much to discuss.”

“
Stay!” Ulen’s eyes
were cold and full of fear.

“
Do you fear to be
alone with me, Lord
Ahnok
?” Saerileth relaxed her
fighting stance, instead letting her
pallav
drop
gracefully around her shoulders. “You purchased me. You chose me. Why should
you not wish to see me now?”

Ulen narrowed his eyes. “You wish to accompany me back to
the
Dimadan
?”

Saerileth shook her head.
“No, of course
not.
I have come but for a brief farewell.”

“
Then the slave
stays.”

“
Suit yourself.”
Saerileth glided over to stand near Ulen, but he drew his dagger and held it
out before him.

“
Come no nearer,
Lotus.”

Saerileth stepped backward,
then
dropped once more into a roll. She tumbled past Ulen to stand behind the
trembling accountant slave. Her hands were on his throat, and she pushed her
thumbs against the pressure points. “If you leave now I will spare your life.”
She released her pressure, and the slave darted for the door. He slammed it
shut behind him. His cowardice but confirmed Saerileth in her choice. Ulen had
not been able to inspire loyalty even in his own slaves. But there was not one
servant in Darien’s house who would have betrayed him.

“
So it’s just the two
of us.” Ulen continued to keep his blade before him. “I’ve poisoned it, Lotus.
A nick will be enough for me.”

“
But more than you
will have.” Saerileth could see from his stance that,
so
soon as he moved, he would lunge forward using his left foot. She feinted
forward, giving him the opening. As he lunged, she swept her foot out, and he
came crashing to the floor. She was on his back in a moment, and the five jabs
of the Katipo Form stiffened his body beneath her. She gingerly removed the
dagger from his hand, careful not to touch the blade.

“
I have come to kill
you, Lord
Ahnok
.” She knelt down and looked him in
the face. His wide dark eyes were no longer fearful; they were full of hate.

“
No, my Master did not
send me.” She nudged the rigid body with her knee. “I am here on my own
initiative.” She
smiled,
a slow and joyful smile.

“
What? You did not
think that I would come for you?”

His eyes showed his impotent rage, but perplexity touched
him.

“
Oh,
of course.
You do not know
who I am. My name is Saerileth
Kesandrahn
.”

The recognition that flashed in his eyes brought fear in
its wake.

“
Yes,
Kesandrahn
.
I see you know the name.”

Hope now filled Ulen’s eyes, the only part of him with any
freedom to move.

“
No, do not think that
I will spare you for
Talex
Chamri’s
sake. Yes, I know that he is ultimately responsible, but if I take his death as
the one owed me, then you will escape. And that I cannot allow.”

Perplexity was predominant in him now, even over fear.

“
Why would I do this?
I who am a Zenji to my core?
A Red Lotus?
Why would I
give up my ultimate vengeance to destroy you?
For my Master’s
sake.”
She bent low and whispered the words in Ulen’s ear.
“For Darien’s sake.
Had you not turned against him, had you
not injured
him
in your crimes, I would have let you go back to the
Dimadan
. You slaughtered my clan, but for that I do not
hold you guilty. You were the hired sword for that crime, and the greater guilt
rests on the head of
Talex
Chamri
.
As for your treason, if the
Sunjaa
nation could not
be bothered to kill you, then certainly I would not. But you
did
turn
your evil upon Darien, upon the greatest man to walk the world. You burned down
his house. You sent assassins after him. You killed his concubines. And you
flogged
him. You scarred his beautiful flesh. But those scars make him only
lovelier to me.” She paused, and her gaze wandered to the window where the
bright blue summer sky of Arinport was visible. “You have spat at the sun, and
for the impudence, the sun has burned you alive.”

A calculating gleam appeared in Ulen’s eyes.

“
Oh, you think to urge
me to stay my hand because I risk damnation for this. I leave my family
unavenged
, and they will plead against me to the
Sunlord
and to Alaxton
Battlebringer
.
But I will risk it.” She smiled. “I will trust to
Melara
and
Abrexa
for mercy, for I do this for love’s sake.”

Ulen stared at her, and all light died in his eyes. In her
face was his death, and in her heart was no pity.

“
You have earned your
death.” She took the poisoned dagger and held it before him. “A painful death I
have no doubt. More painful than the one I had intended for you, for I would
have slit your throat. But it is fitting and right that you should die by the
method with which you have meted out death.”

Footsteps echoed in the hallway, and Saerileth laughed.
“For Darien’s sake, die.” She stabbed Ulen’s dagger into his lung, slipping it
between his ribs.

He could not even gasp, and she waited until the light of
life faded from his eyes. Then, slowly and deliberately, ignoring the
still-approaching footsteps, she wiped the dagger on Ulen’s fine linen skirt.
It was clean of poison, and she opened the palm of her left hand. There she
carved the three lines of the arrow of revenge. She had taken the death owed
her.

By the time the door opened, Saerileth was out the window
and half-way down the wall.

****

Darien was no longer in the palace proper but was pacing in
the royal gardens. His face was black with worry, and she saw the frustration
and fury in his eyes.

But she had run all the way back from Ulen’s house, and she
was panting and breathless. She could not yet manage words. She threw herself
into his open arms.

“
What is wrong?”
Darien tilted her face up to his. “Where have you been?”

Saerileth leaned up and kissed his lips. “I have been
fetching you a gift.” She kept her bleeding left hand clutched tightly closed.
“But I want to give it to you before King
Jahen’s
temporary council.”

“
Saeri
?”
Darien’s confusion was adorable.

“
Come, my love.” She
tugged on him with her undamaged hand. “I must speak before the rest of the
city ruins my surprise.”

Darien accompanied her, and they made their quick way
through the palace to the throne room. She still thought, as she had when it
was first announced, that the throne room was a ridiculously pompous place to
hold a meeting. She kept her mind focused on Darien’s hand in hers, not on the
pain of her bleeding left hand.

“
Noble
lords of the
Sunjaa
.”
Saerileth pushed open the door with her closed fist and
stepped into the room still holding Darien’s hand. “I am come to you bringing
word of a Zenji matter that will, doubtless, have bearing on the outcome of
your debates here today.”

“
We have already
reached a decision, Lotus.” Kamen’s weak voice was gentler than even his
injured state demanded. “You need not concern yourself.”

“
No, Lord
Itenu
.” Saerileth at last released Darien’s hand and strode
forward to stand in the center of the half-circle of nobles and soldiers. She
raised her closed fist, and the blood dripped down her arm.