Jala's Mask (13 page)

Jala looked away. “What are they? Floating tombs?”

One of the men who had taken ladders to the other ship came up behind her. “They're dead on the next ship, too.” He peered past her. “Don't look quite so old as these, though.”

Jala heard Inas calling out orders as the remaining ships were searched. Suddenly the strength that had kept her going, ready for a bloody fight, left her. She felt giddy and light-headed, and she swayed. She sat down on the deck. Azi emerged from the hold and sat down next to her. “There were enough men here to kill us all twice over. If they'd lived. I wonder what happened to them?”

Jala's head throbbed. Azi's uncle climbed aboard the ship, and she fought a desperate urge to laugh. “It looks like you were wrong, Lord Inas. We've yet to find a single demon on board.”

“We'll see,” Inas replied. “Azi, they found some still alive.”

“What?” Azi jumped to his feet. “How many?”

“Three of them, still breathing. Hurry!”

Azi slid down the ladder, and Jala followed, climbing down as quickly as she could. By the time she'd boarded the last ship they'd already dragged the three invaders up on deck. They were old and withered. One of them stared with huge eyes that darted back and forth. Another, a man who was completely hairless, squinted at everyone through eyes white with cataracts. Their limbs were thin and their backs bent; they didn't have enough strength to hold themselves up in the heavy armor they wore. Azi's uncle ordered them stripped, and they stood naked, each held by two Kayet soldiers.

“Do you recognize the markings on their armor, Uncle?” Azi asked.

Lord Inas shook his head, then turned to the old men. “Who are you? Where did you come from? Speak before we cut out your tongues.”

One of the men screamed something in a language Jala couldn't understand. His voice was cracked and raw. Jala's throat hurt just listening to him.

“Can you understand me?” Azi asked.

The man screamed again. The blind man giggled, while the third clutched at the hands that held him.

Azi sighed. He looked as exhausted as she felt. “We'll have to find some of the old traders, see if any of them can speak his language. I don't think it's anything I've ever heard, but it's hard to tell. It all sounds the same when they're screaming at you. Uncle?”

“First let's make sure that they're human.” He pointed toward the third man. “That one won't last the night anyway. Let him go.” The sailors holding him obeyed and stepped back. The man fell to his knees and started to crawl.

Lord Inas drew his sword and with one quick strike cut off the man's head. There wasn't even time to look away. Blood spurted over the deck, and in the silence that followed Jala could still hear the crack of his spine.

“They bleed,” Inas whispered. “That's good.” He handed the sword to one of the sailors to clean and ordered the body tossed into the water. Then he pointed at the last two invaders. The wide-eyed man was still rambling in his broken voice, staring at the body. “Take them to the manor and leave them in the basement. Make sure you tie them up tight and don't drop them on the way down. They don't have many falls left in them.”

Each of the invaders was picked up by a sailor and hauled over their shoulders like a bunch of twigs. They couldn't have weighed much. Azi's uncle went after them. As he went past, she thought he looked a little smug. “Sleep well, my queen.”

Azi took her hand and helped her step onto the ladder. After that, everything seemed to happen in a sort of dream. She walked with him back to the manor. At the top of the stairs Azi took her hand again, for just a moment, before letting her go. The stairs seemed longer now. It took forever for her to get to the top, and she felt as though she would fall asleep as soon as she lay down. But instead she sat staring at the wall, trying to ignore the smell of magic that invaded her rooms with each breath of wind.

By the next day, only charred lumps marred the sand where the invading ships had been. Someone—many someones—must have been busy all night.

Jala was already awake when Iliana knocked softly at her door.

“Good morning, my queen,” Iliana said. There were bags under her eyes, and her hair was wrapped haphazardly around two combs. She carried a wide wooden bowl, a cup, and two towels.

“You look like you didn't sleep well either,” Jala said.

Iliana tried to smile. “It was a long night. For once I felt grateful that my room doesn't face the water. I think it'll be a while before the sound of the ocean can lull me to sleep like it once did.” She set the water down on the table next to Jala's bed, then opened Jala's chests and closets and held out dresses, shirts, tunics, and pants for Jala to choose from. “You were there, weren't you, my queen? You saw the old men in the demon boats?”

Jala leaned over the bowl and splashed the cold water over her face. “I saw them. Is Azi awake? I'd like to have breakfast with him. If he wants.” She didn't want to be alone. But she couldn't tell Iliana that. She had to look strong, even if she didn't feel strong, or she didn't know if she could make herself leave her rooms.

“I'll find out for you.” Iliana held up a dark-purple dress. “Perhaps this one?”

“Maybe . . . maybe something brighter,” Jala said. “I want to set the mood for the day, not the other way around.”

The clothes she finally chose were cheerful shades of yellow and blue. The dress had been cut and sewn with another one to show off the different styles, and the top flowed down her arms on one side and opened up on the other. Washed and dressed, Jala felt a little more like herself.

Jala thanked Iliana, and the woman left, taking the bowl and towels with her.

With nothing to do but wait, Jala picked up the book the Nongo had given her, hoping the pictures would distract her. The stories became clearer as she studied the illustrations. There was one about a young boy who made some toy people out of clay, only to have them come to life when he breathed on them. His toys began to fight among themselves, and he left them in the sun only to have them dry and crack. He reminded Jala of the Thoughtless Boy who was the hero of so many island stories.

Soon Iliana returned. “The king is awake and would be happy to have you join him.”

Jala followed her down the stairs and to the Kayet nobles' wing of the manor. As they walked, Jala said, “Last night, I went to Azi's rooms when the invaders came, but he wasn't there. What was he doing in the village last night?”

Iliana hesitated just a moment too long. “I wouldn't presume to know the king's business, my queen.”

She's lying
, Jala thought. Most likely every servant in the manor knew every noble's business. But though she might only be a servant, Iliana had been born on the First Isle, and that made her a cousin of the Kayet. They were still family to her, and Jala couldn't expect her to gossip about her family—her king—to a stranger. Jala decided to let it go for now.

The door to Azi's room was open. Azi rose from the table to greet her. “You look beautiful for someone who hasn't had any sleep.”

Jala tried to smile at him as she sat at the table, but she didn't think it was very convincing. “Did you manage to find someone to talk to the two men who were still alive?” She tried to avoid staring at the scar running down Azi's head. It had seemed dangerous and exciting before, but now it just reminded her how close Azi had come to being killed, then and now. How easily they all could have been killed.

Azi shrugged. “One of the old men came and tried, but he says they don't speak any language he's ever heard of. They don't even seem to understand the traders' cant. He thinks they've gone mad. They don't look at you if you talk to them, just keep repeating their nonsense. I think we should let them die, but my uncle wants to keep them around.”

“They weren't old when they sailed, were they? Their weapons and armor were still good. And I saw their spears and swords. They weren't just ornaments.”

He nodded. “It was madness to try and use sorcery to cross the Great Ocean. They'd have been better off swimming.” Azi gestured for her to sit down. When he'd joined her, he swept a hand to encompass their surroundings. “These were my father's rooms, you know. I hate eating here alone. It still feels like I'm intruding. Jin was the one who spent all his time here, learning from our father. I wish they were here now.” His eyes met hers, and she saw past the king to Azi, lost and unsure. “We aren't prepared for this. We aren't prepared at all.”

“Does that mean you think more will come?”

“I think they already have. Birds from the Nongo arrived an hour ago. Two ships landed on the Fourth Isle. The Nongo say the things they found inside one of the ships weren't human anymore, but the men on the second were alive and well. The nobles barricaded themselves inside their manor and prepared a counterattack while their villages were burned.”

Jala forced herself to speak. “And the Second Isle? My family?”

Azi shook his head. “I've sent birds to all of the islands, but it'll be at least a day before we hear anything.”

Jala thought of the Bardo manor, of her home. Two guards at the gates, a few more inside, just to keep someone from running off with her father's best mainlander wine. She thought of Marjani walking on the beach in the quiet hours.

She imagined the bird reciting her message to corpses. Jala stood, knocking her chair back. “I have to go. I'm sorry.”

Azi took hold of her arm. “There's nothing you can do right now. Eat with me. We'll both need our strength.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but instead he stood and picked up her chair.

Trembling, Jala let him guide her back to her seat. When she looked down at her food, Jala found she was hungrier than she knew and finished her breakfast quickly while Azi picked at his food. After a few minutes of silence, she decided this wasn't the time to ask if she could have what he didn't eat.

“What do you know of sorcery?” Jala asked.

“What everyone knows, I guess. It's dangerous and unpredictable, and the price for whatever you want is usually too high.”

“But dangerous means powerful, too,” Jala said. “Maybe we should try to learn more about it. We might use it to protect ourselves somehow. Everyone says there are sorcerers living on the Lone Isle. Maybe they can tell us something about these invaders and their magic.”

“All you'll find on the Lone Isle are madmen who listen to voices on the wind.”

Jala sighed. Azi was probably right. If there were sorcerers on the Lone Isle, they must not have much power. She'd never heard of them using it, anyway. “Well, you said these invaders were mad. Maybe madmen can tell us about them. We have to do something. We can't just wait until they're burning my home and killing my family.”

“We don't know that they came to the Second Isle,” Azi said gently.

“They came here. This is my home too,” Jala said. “We have to send ships to the other islands in case they need help. Not just the Second, all the others. I can go to the Lone Isle while you take care of things here.”

“Jala, what are you talking about? I can't let you go to the Lone Isle. It's dangerous. And we don't have enough ships to reach every family. Once we know which family needs help most, we can start sending ships.”

“By then it might be too late.”

Azi grimaced, his hand clenched around his fork. “I know. Damn it, I know, but we can't just send the ships off at random. Once we know how many invading ships there were, where they landed, what they're
doing
here . . .”

He stopped, but Jala seized on the opening. “So we have to know more about the attacks and the invaders. And if not me, who? You'll need Lord Inas here. None of the nobles will go. I can't do anything to help you here.”

“But I want you here with me,” Azi said. “And what if something happened to you on the Lone Isle?”

“I'll have a ship full of sailors with me. What can happen?” She tried not to think about all the answers that suddenly popped into her head.
At least he cares enough about me to be worried.

They sat in silence for a minute, then Jala said, “Will you at least send ships to the Second Isle? Please. I'm worried about my family. You know what it's like to lose someone you love.”

“I don't know if I ever loved my father,” Azi said. “But yes, I know what it's like.”

“Then send the ships,” Jala said. “And let me go to the Lone Isle. I feel so helpless just sitting here.”

It took Azi a long time to respond. “All right. I'll send them. And you don't need my permission to go to the Lone Isle, you know that. Just . . . promise me you'll come back safely. I don't want to do this without you.”