Lord of the White Hell Book One lotwh-1 (26 page)

"At least he beat four of those Cadeleonian boys," Alizadeh said. "Who knew he was such a fighter?"

Rafie dried and bandaged Kiram's arm then asked, "Will you keep it in a sling if I make one for you?"

"For today," Kiram agreed.

Rafie tied a sling and fitted it around Kiram's arm and neck. His touch was sure and quick. After he was done, and he had thrown out the bloody gauntlet, Rafie sat next to Alizadeh on the floor and accepted a cup of peppery, spiced tea.

Kiram lay on their bed, tired but not willing to sleep so early in the day. He listened as Rafie and Alizadeh discussed their plans for the next year. Rafie needed meet with one of his colleagues who had just returned from Yuan with new medicinal herbs. Alizadeh complained about the tedium of the city, but in a teasing manner that made Kiram think that he was perfectly content to stay in Anacleto for a time.

Kiram's own thoughts drifted in memories of his mother's garden and his father's workshop. He closed his eyes. The scent of Alizadeh's tea roused the half-forgotten longing for cardamom cakes, served at the Autumn Dances. He imagined that Musni was attending one of the dances right now, probably with his new wife.

Kiram wasn't sure when he fell asleep but it was nearly twilight when his uncle Rafie woke him and took him to the city stables to again check in with Master Ignacio. Nestor greeted Kiram warmly, but didn't miss the fact that his uncle stood waiting for him at the gates of the stable.

"He's not taking any chances, is he?" Nestor asked.

"Rafie never makes the same mistake twice."

Nestor scowled. "You think my mom helped any?"

"I don't know. She certainly gave Rafie a long enough lecture on the importance of education."

Nester smiled and nodded as if he had much experience with this. "Your uncle may come around. We've got until Sacreday."

Before Kiram could say anything more, Master Ignacio called them to order and took a quick roll. He reminded them of the eighth bell curfew. Then he announced who would be riding in tomorrow's races. Kiram was neither disappointed nor surprised that he was not among those chosen. Javier on the other hand would be expected to compete in two of the three events, as were the Helio twins.

Kiram tried to catch Javier's attention several times but Javier avoided him, and at last Kiram gave up. He left with Rafie without even saying a word to Javier.

They didn't stay the night at the Laughing Dog, as Kiram had expected, but instead crossed the empty fairgrounds to the Irabiim camp. Nakiesh and Liahn greeted Kiram as if he were a longtime friend and wrapped him in a deerskin cloak while he sat by their fire and waited for his supper. At least thirty crows perched around him. The dusty hound that he'd seen at the Laughing Dog wandered over and flopped down next to the fire. Kiram patted the animal and it licked his hand briefly, before settling down to sleep.

A few Irabiim girls with their black-kohled eyes watched Kiram curiously from the fires they attended. And several of the young men found reasons to walk near him and ask if he would be traveling with them, as his uncle and Alizadeh often did.

"I don't think so," Kiram replied. "I'm enrolled at the Sagrada Academy and I'm planning on staying there."

His response made Rafie frown at him.

Alizadeh laughed. "He's as stubborn as you."

Liahn gave Kiram a hot disk of adhil bread and a hollowed gourd full of fragrant stew. When he thanked her, she simply inclined her head and then returned to Nakiesh's side with her own meal.

Rafie sat down beside Kiram with his own gourd full of stew. Alizadeh joined them a few moments later. He tossed a few pieces of his bread to a crow and Nakiesh jokingly warned him that he was going to win himself another lover.

"Well, you know, I can't help but be attracted to the difficult types," Alizadeh replied. Rafie just rolled his eyes. Alizadeh glanced to Kiram and then frowned slightly. "Don't look so sad, Kiram. Nakiesh's cooking isn't as bad as it looks."

As a reply Nakiesh sent small clump of adhil bread sailing into the back of Alizadeh's head.

"The food is wonderful," Kiram said quickly. "I've been missing this kind of meal for months. It's nothing like that."

"He's moping because his duke has forgotten about him. He didn't even look at Kiram when they were at the stables this evening." Rafie folded his bread and used it to scoop his stew from the gourd. "It's just as well, Kiri. At least this way it won't be so hard for you to leave."

"I'm not leaving," Kiram replied.

Rafie's placid expression hardened. "I know you're young and full of romantic notions, but it is dangerous and foolish to link your fate to that of a Cadeleonian. They aren't like us. They can't free themselves from the bigotry they're brought up in." Rafie sighed heavily before going on. "He may say he's different. He may want to be different. He may even go so far as to become your lover. But he'll always feel guilty and dirty. He'll be ashamed to be seen with you and try and blame you for his own desires. He'll claim you seduced him or that you are somehow irresistible because you're Haldiim. If the two of you are discovered together, he'll press charges against you to save himself. That's how Cadeleonian men are."

Kiram just stared at Rafie, wondering if all of this had happened to someone he knew.

"A Cadeleonian man can't just accept love and be happy," Rafie said sadly.

"Well, your Cadeleonian man couldn't, but not everyone is Rubio," Alizadeh said. Then, to Kiram, "You uncle had a sweetheart before me, you know."

Kiram hadn't known and he found it a little disquieting to consider. Rafie had always been with Alizadeh for as long as Kiram could remember. They were like twin stars fixed, side by side. He couldn't imagine either of them ever being in love with someone else.

"I'm not just talking about Rubio," Rafie objected. "It's the way all Cadeleonians are brought up."

"Not all of them are brought up the same way, any more than all Haldiim are," Alizadeh replied. 'But I grant you that any relationship between a Haldiim and a Cadeleonian is bound to be hard. Between two men, it's nearly impossible unless the Cadeleonian converts, and that happens rarely. For a nobleman, it would mean losing his name and abdicating his title. It's never happened as far as I know."

Kiram felt a deep pain in his chest, as some half-formed wish ripped apart in the face of Alizadeh's pragmatism. But Kiram refused to acknowledge how much the realization hurt him. He had a higher goal than romance.

"I understand what the two of you are saying but none of that matters. I don't want to stay at the academy just to be near Javier." Kiram wasn't sure that he was telling the truth but it was what he needed to believe at the moment. "I want to stay because of Nestor and for Fedeles and because I want these Cadeleonian noblemen to see that a Haldiim is just as strong and smart as they are."

He didn't bother to list breaking the curse among his reasons, as he already knew none of the Bahiim present seemed to think it was a problem worth solving.

Rafie said, "You'll have plenty of other opportunities to prove yourself in Anacleto."

"I'm going to stay here," Kiram stated.

"How?" Rafie demanded.

Kiram started to answer and then scowled up at Rafie.

"I'm not going to tell you." Kiram was a little insulted that Rafie would expect him to give away his plans. He was also irked that he'd almost responded. "You'll just have to find out along with everyone else."

Rafie looked deeply annoyed but Alizadeh laughed out loud, earning himself a hard glare from Rafie.

"It's not my fault that he's so much like you, now is it?" Alizadeh addressed his attention to his dinner, murmuring, "Ah, the irony."

Rafie just shook his head.

After they had eaten, Nakiesh and Liahn offered them the shelter of their wagon for the night. The space was cramped and smelled of sweat and rich spices. Kiram wasn't sure if it was a pleasant perfume or not, but the wagon was warm and his family was close. Despite the strangeness of the deerskin bedding and the soft sounds of birds' wings all around him, he slept soundly.

T
he sharp cries of crows woke Kiram. He sat straight up, staring into a deep darkness, trying to find Javier. An instant later he remembered he was in an Irabiim wagon, far away from the tower room he had shared for so many months in the Sagrada Academy. He bowed his head against his legs, and wished the absence didn't hurt him so deeply.

Kiram could hear Alizadeh's voice somewhere outside the wagon. Uncle Rafie was gone too-probably outside. Crows shrieked and dogs barked. The wagon's small, wooden door creaked open.

"Did the crows wake you, Kiri?"

Kiram could only make out a vague shape in the darkness of the wagon, but he knew Rafie's voice.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing that you or I could do anything about," Rafie said. Kiram didn't find the answer at all reassuring.

"What is it that's got them so alarmed?"

"No one is quite sure," Rafie replied. "Alizadeh and the other Bahiim all felt a shock of some kind. Something very powerful triggered all of their wards."

"The shadow curse?" Kiram couldn't help but fear the worst. Had it awoken and taken Fedeles? Had it assaulted Javier?

"No, it wasn't a mere shadow. This was something different. Much more powerful, I think." Rafie sat down beside Kiram. He was cold and his clothes were damp from rain. "I really can't tell you much more. I only know that Alizadeh woke up like lightning had just struck him and then the crows started screaming. Alizadeh, Liahn, Nakiesh and both the old mothers are outside now, replacing the wards that burned up. They're trying to trace the source of the assault." Rafie patted Kiram's shoulder gently. "Ybu think you can get back to sleep?"

"No," Kiram said.

"Me either." Rafie sighed heavily.

"Are they going to be all right?" Kiram asked. "I mean Alizadeh and Liahn and Nakiesh. They aren't in danger, are they?"

"I don't know." Fear tinged Rafie's voice. That, more than anything else, frightened Kiram. He had always held Rafie in such esteem that he had never been able to imagine anything disturbing him. "Whatever burned through the wards, it was stronger than any of the Bahiim, and it was searching."

"What for?"

"For Alizadeh probably. Nakiesh says it was concentrated very close to the Laughing Dog when it struck."

"Did it hurt him?" Kiram asked.

"No. It just struck powerfuly but blindly, though it seared through every ward anywhere near it. Liahn thinks it was meant as a warning from the man on the hill. He doesn't want any Bahiim involved in his business."

Kiram scowled at the surrounding darkness. "None of them are involved in his business."

"Both Alizadeh and Nakiesh breached his domain yesterday. Maybe he felt threatened enough to send out a warning." Rafie sighed and then straightened. "It's nearly sun up. You want to help me with breakfast?"

"Help? You mean, cooking it?" Kiram had never cooked anything in his life.

Rafie laughed, sounding more himself. "Yes. That great mystery: cooking. Come, I'll show you how to burn adhil bread and scald mare's milk."

Kiram dressed in the dark and then joined Rafie outside. The sky was pale with predawn light and a humid wind whipped Kiram's hair into his face. Most of the Irabiim were awake also. Women stoked their fires up to bright yellow blazes. Boys yawned and trudged out to their rangy horses, with brushes and bridles. Kiram guessed that they would be taking the animals to auction at the fair in an hour or so.

Kiram didn't see any of the Bahiim. When he asked, Rafie said that they were out in the woods, anchoring their wards in the wood of the trees. As he spoke Rafie frowned at the deep shadows of the forest then turned back to Kiram with a determined expression.

"Well, let's see about your first cooking lesson."

He kept Kiram running all over the camp, trading spices with Irabiim mothers and begging mare's milk from an older man with dozens of brilliant bangles on his wrists. Rafie taught him to mix adhil batter and cut onions. The sun peaked over the distant hills and the last of the night bells rang over Zancoda. People would be up and about their business in the city soon.

Rafie heated oil in an iron skillet and fried the bread. He flipped the thin disks of bread with a flick of the pan. Kiram watched, feeling his awe of his uncle grow. Rafie cracked several eggs into the pan, stirred black salt and spices into them and tossed in the onions. After a few minutes he turned the eggs and onion out onto the bread.

Kiram ate quickly, noting the fragrant spices but still too hungry to savor them.

Rafie ate his own breakfast much more slowly. "You need to be back at the city stable soon, don't you?"

"Master Ignacio wants us there by the first morning bell," Kiram said.

Rafie frowned into the deep shadows of the woods again.

"I can go by myself," Kiram said. "You should be here for Alizadeh, in case he needs you."

Rafie studied Kiram closely. Kiram could see him weighing his desire to be near Alizadeh in case he or any of the other Bahiim were injured against his need to prevent Kiram's escape.

"I won't run away," Kiram assured him.

Rafie studied him for a moment. "I need to have your word."

Kiram sighed, nodding his resignation. As clever as it might be, he just couldn't bring himself to use Rafie's fear for Alizadeh for his own gain. And in any case where would he run away to?

"I swear on Mother's blood," Kiram said. "I'm just going to check in with Master Ignacio and then attend the tournament races. If you don't come for me after the races then I'll come back here, all right?"

"All right," Rafie agreed. He ruffled Kiram's hair lightly. "Be careful."

Kiram hurried back toward Zancoda. The moist wind tossed his hair into his face and sent shudders across the back of his neck. He pulled up the collar of his coat, wondering if it would rain again today and what would be done should a downpour foul the race course. The sky looked both pale and gloomy, white clouds diffusing the sunlight into an eerie glow.

As he passed the Laughing Dog he paused to look for signs of the night's disturbance. At first he saw nothing unusual. The small stone building and its plank stable stood just as they had two days before. Crows perched in the nearby trees.

Kiram bowed his head from the wind and began to walk again. Then he noticed a few black lines cracked through the flagstones just outside the stable. The stone seemed glassy in places and when Kiram stepped back he saw that the black cracks formed a perfect circle around him. A wave of fear washed through Kiram and he quickly stepped out of the circle.

As he did so he noticed a crumpled dark form at the corner of the stable and nearly called out in alarm. His sharp gasp brought the shadowy form suddenly up into the shape of a man. Kiram recognized Javier with relief but didn't feel any less surprised.

He had no idea what Javier was doing here or why he had been hunched like broken firewood against the stable wall. Javier whispered something but Kiram didn't hear the word over the wind. Then Javier rushed forward and pulled Kiram to him, clutching him desperately.

"You weren't at the inn and I thought they had taken you away," Javier whispered into Kiram's neck. His skin was like ice.

"We stayed with the Irabiim," Kiram said. For a moment he let himself relax into Javier's embrace. He had wanted to be held like this yesterday. And it had been this nearness that he had longed for when he woke this morning. But now, feeling himself melt into Javier's arms, he couldn't help but resent Javier's importance to him and how Javier had withheld this closeness all of yesterday.

Kiram pushed him back. Javier released him immediately, glancing up and down the street for any sign of onlookers. There was no one. Javier jammed his hands into his coat pockets and eyed Kiram with an uncertain expression.

"What are you doing here?" Kiram demanded.

"I couldn't sleep. I thought I would meet you at the inn and we could walk together to the city stables."

"So that you can ignore me once we're there?" Kiram had wanted to sound cold and controlled, but instead the words came out sounding so hurt that it embarrassed Kiram. A wave of disgust at his own weakness washed over him.

He turned, bowing his head before the wind, and stalked towards the city stable. Javier fell in beside him. Only a few vendors were out, loading carts with their wares for trade at the fair. The merchants paid little attention to either of them as they passed.

"I thought that if I didn't bother you, if I kept away, it would be easier for you to leave," Javier said quietly.

"Easier? Why are you here, now, if you want it to be so much easier for me?"

"Because I don't really want you to go. Can't you understand? I'm selfish. I don't want to be, but I can't help it. I want to keep you with me even though I know you should be somewhere safer." There was a long pause and Kiram wanted to look at Javier but he didn't trust himself. It was too easy to be won over by him and he wasn't yet willing to relinquish his feeling of righteous outrage.

"I'm not making a lot of sense right now, I know that," Javier said. "But I came here to tell you that I'm sorry."

Kiram sighed, finally meeting Javier's eyes. There he saw the other man's exhaustion and vulnerability. He had not changed his clothes or slept. Blue shadows filled the hollows of his eyes-eyes that hunted for some sign of Kiram's forgiveness. At that moment, he had Javier completely at his mercy.

"It's all right." He let his hand brush against Javier's. The tips of their fingers touched and then parted. "And just so you know, I don't intend to leave."

Javier smiled his familiar, slow smile.

"Not just because of you," Kiram said but Javier's pleased expression didn't change.

"Of course not. We both know how much you love Holy Father Habalan's classes."

Kiram just rolled his eyes.

"I promised Fedeles that I would help him, and I happen to enjoy a good number of my classes," Kiram said primly.

"Yes, you do so love riding and fencing instruction."

"I adore my mathematics and natural science classes."

"It's all right to just admit that you like me, you know," Javier said softly.

Kiram's breath caught in his chest, but he still managed to say, "Yes, I do."

They passed a row of bakeries. The smells of fresh bread perfumed the cold air.

"I have enough money to pay your tuition, easily," Javier said in a thoughtful tone. "But there's still the problem of your family's consent. If you were just a half a year older…"

Kiram shrugged. Nothing but time was going to change his status as a minor. "We'll figure something out."

As they continued to walk through the wind, Kiram's thoughts turned over possible ways to elude Rafie. Not for the first or last time he pondered fleeing to a foreign land. That was futile fantasy, and he knew it. Neither he nor Javier could leave Fedeles to the mercy of the man on the hill and his creeping shadow curse.

Another thought occurred to Kiram, suddenly. "You were at the Laughing Dog this morning. When that.thing struck. I think it might have been hunting you." Rafie had said that it had been searching. But what if it hadn't been seeking Alizadeh or any of the Bahiim, what if it had been after Javier?

"What thing?" Javier asked.

"Did you notice that scorched circle in the flagstones near the stable?"

Javier arched a black brow. "Is this a trick question?"

"What? No. No, it's not. There was a circle-"

"I know there was a circle," Javier cut him off. "I made it. I got so frustrated and I thought I wouldn't ever see you again and I lost my grip on the white hell. It was just for a moment."

"You." Kiram stared at Javier, remembering Rafie's grim expression and his fear. "You did that?"

"It was just some stone." Javier shrugged. "I didn't harm anyone. I wouldn't have."

"I know. That's not what I meant…The Bahiim all around the Irabiim camp felt it when the white hell opened. I think you scared them pretty badly."

"The white hell scares most people, or at least the ones with any common sense." Javier gave Kiram a teasing glance.

"Superstition is not common sense," Kiram went on before Javier could get in a retort. "And that's not my point, in any case. I just realized that they didn't recognize the white hell. They didn't know what it was."

"Why would they? The Haldiim don't have hells."

Kiram frowned at this. They didn't believe in hells, but certainly they would have their own understanding of Javier's power. Kiram had his own theory that it was some link to a shajdi. Calixto's diary had hinted at the same thing. But Kiram had hoped that a Bahiim like Alizadeh would recognize the white hell and provide an explanation for it. Maybe he did but hadn't had time to explain it to Rafie. Maybe Rafie hadn't bothered to tell Kiram.

He wondered if he would ever be old enough that his uncle Rafie would take him into his confidences. Remembering last night's lecture he imagined it would be a long time coming.

"How's your arm?" Javier asked.

"Sore," Kiram admitted. "The stitches tore out yesterday."

"I thought that might have happened. You looked bad when you came out of the fencing circle."

"I didn't think you noticed," Kiram replied and a little of his old resentment briefly flared up.

"Of course I did. You were white as a sheet and glaring at me like it was my fault." Javier studied Kiram, and for just an instant he looked deeply sad and then he went on. "You ruined my concentration. I should have wiped the floor with my first opponent but my focus was a wreck. I kept trying to get a look at you without you seeing."

"You succeeded pretty well, I guess. Anyway you ripped through all of your fencing opponents."

"Not nearly as cleanly or as quickly as I should have." Javier smirked at Kiram. "You're going to ruin my reputation."

Kiram rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, next thing you know people will be saying that you read books."

"I do read books."

"Not nice books," Kiram replied. "They'll be saying you read stories about ducklings and apple blossoms. The Hellions will be saying that you've gone soft and have foresworn eating kittens entirely."