The Paladin's Odyssey (The Windows of Heaven) (6 page)

As
the cage
neare
d
the ground, U’Sumi
recognized
its passengers
; t
he smaller man clasp
ed
the
outer
mesh like a terrified tree lizard
, while
the larger st
ood
comfortably at the platform’s center of gravity
. Uggu and Tarbet apparently had more business with Father.
Both
stepped from their lift as it
reached
the
courtyard
cobblestones. The hover-drone then quickly pulled up, taking the empty cage with it
,
as it swung out of view around the monastery and the mountain behind it. U’Sumi rubbed his ears at the sudden silence.

His father did not look pleased.

A’Nu-Ahki pushed past U’Sumi and his brothers to approach the two visitors. His silver-streaked mat of thinning black hair ruffled in the breeze of the departing drone.

“What do you two want?”

The Titan answered, “We’ve come to notify you of war.”

“What have I to do with your wars? At this stage they’re death throes from a dying world—nothing more.”

Tarbet answered,
“Well, it seems you’re going to
have a lot to do with this one.
” An eager grin slit his yellowed, bloodless face.

“The Oath protects the sons of Muhet’Usalaq from all but voluntary service. Tubaal-qayin Dumuzi, ‘the Shepherd,’ promised not to abrogate Iyared’s Testament.”

“Well,
it seems
the Archon and I don’t interpret the Oath in quite that same light
.
And ‘the Shepherd’s’ political needs
have changed over the past
two
hundred years. We feel
that
a clan regiment can be
‘voluntarily’
reactivated under the command of your father, the Tacticon, or
…
”

“Or what!”

“Or
Marshal
Uggu, beyond our powers of control, can send his people in to conscript all able-bodied men fifty to five-hundred-and-fifty years old and send them off to whatever units
have most
need, thus splitting your clan. It’s up to you and the Tacticon which.”

A’Nu-Ahki said between clenched teeth,
“The blood of the oath-breaker is up
on you and your father’s house.
” He
clapped
his forearms
together
in a traditional gesture of contempt at an illegal arch-betrayal.

“I doubt that.” Tarbet smirked. Then, as if
by
afterthought, he said, “Tell me something Nu
;
how is
Na’Amiha
? I often think of her
.
I hope she’s well. Say, between you and me, does she still stiffen up the way she
always
used to
in the old night-chamber
?”

The Archon-in-Waiting’s taunt hit U’Sumi like a club. Tarbet just stood there, his soft eyes smiling, as if he had just been making innocent conversation. He licked his lips
;
either because they were dry or out of some perverse gesture intended to incite A’Nu-Ahki further.

The evening air hung in sultry silence, while the men just stood there. U’Sumi shook off his shock
and
then
moved
to tackle
Tarbet
, but his father
intercepted him and
held him back.

A’Nu-Ahki growled,
“Is your business here finished?”

Uggu cleared his throat, as if apologetic for Tarbet’s rudeness. “I need an answer now, I’m afraid. Aztlan has invaded across the Central Channel Narrows. Their Elyo push
speedily
inland—my own stronghold of Uggu-stavaar and Twins Haven
fell yesterday
. As we speak, they are sweeping across Southern Lumekkor in what seems to be a drive on the eastern coastal port of Akko. From there, they can easily cut northward into our heartlands. We would need your regiment to join up with Marshal Avarnon-Set at the Balimar Straits
gap
fairly soon. I, for one, would consider it an honor to have the Gryndel Slayer fighting by us.”

A’Nu-Ahki released his son.
“U’Sumi,
go get your grandfather.
”

U’Sumi
bolted for
the tower, blood pumping in his temples—he turned fifty in three weeks! No more stories of valor
or
petty Akh’Uzan bickering over
W
orld-end, no more being the “botch of the valley!” He was going to
war
, where
a man
could rise or fall on initiative and courage
,
not on
who
his parents were or
on
what
t
he
y
believed about
W
orld-end
.

He almost ran into Lumekki at the base of the turret stairs
. The Tacticon
had doubt
less
heard the hover-drone and rushed down from his chamber.
It surprised U’Sumi that so much could change in the time it took a late-middle-aged man to
descend
a spiral stair.

Uggu quickly reiterated the situation for the Tacticon.

Lumekki answered,
“I
n
eed a month to train the lads in basic skills
. T
hen all of us will need equipping and
training in the latest weaponry.
”

The Titan smiled. “You will operate as light infantry and need only learn how to use thunder-pikes and hand-cannons. Expect to be in the thick of it. Many of your old melee weapons could prove just as useful as in the days of our youth. You shall have your month
for
basic training, after which I’ll send a captain to act as your adjutant.”

“I have an adjutant,” the Tacticon said, “my son, A’Nu-Ahki.”

“Then my captain will be your liaison with Alliance Command.”

“That is acceptable. Is there anything else?”

Uggu said,
“I will announce in the villages of the lower valley what is necessary. I already have a company waiting at the old drone field
.
How soon can you organize your training camp?”

“I’ll be ready
by
the end of the week.”

The Giant nodded.

A’Nu-Ahki stepped between his father and the two visitors. “If your business is concluded then, please leave!”

“My apologies for disturbing you,” Uggu said, who motioned Tarbet to follow him out the front gate. Outside, a detachment of bodyguards had marched up to meet them from the drone field. They all turned down the hillside trail to the village
before the gate even shut
.

U’Sumi watched his father swing around to the common hall
arch where h
is mother stood
,
tears flooding
her
hollow eyes. She
had been last to the
door
. Seeing the callers, she had
remained inside
until the
y left
. A’Nu-Ahki’s eyes flared
,
unstable
stars
in the night of
his
usually
good-natured face
. For
a few
sickening seconds
,
U’Sumi feared he would strike her.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” A’Nu-Ahki said.

U’Sumi looked to his mother, who should have been indignant.
Please be indignant, Mahm!
Instead
,
she looked as though she would crumple in foaming shame, except for her grip on the door.

She pleaded,
“Nu, the boys!”

A’Nu-Ahki’s
jaw
tensed
. “
We talk
in the loft
,
‘Miha, now!”

U’Sumi had never heard his father use that tone with his mother before—nor with anyone for that matter. Neither had he ever seen his mother so slouched and pale, with purple bags beneath her eyes, as if caught in some red indecency
that
school
boys only whispered
over
with nasty
laugh
ter
. Could she really have been with Tarbet? It seemed so surreal, like a nightmare where the familiar mixed with the strange to transform even common words and images into something garish and sinister.

What else have they hidden from me?

U’Sumi could
no
t stand it. He did not wish to invade his parents’ privacy, but he could not live without knowing.
What if
I’m not
really
the
son of
…
?
No! It was unthinkable!

So was what
he had
heard in the courtyard.

Lumekki returned to his tower. The other sons of A’Nu-Ahki went back to the common hall. U’Sumi turned into the library, below his parents’ loft apartment. Inside, he could hear muffled arguing upstairs. He followed the noise to the south wall, where a scroll rack reached to the ceiling.

At the top of the sliding ladder that rode along a track by the wall shelves
,
sat a slot that contained a work of Q’Enukki called
On the Ten Heavens and Eternity
.
U’Sumi climbed as if to reach for that volume—a subject
that
everyone knew fascinated him
. As he got closer to the ceiling, the voices of his father and mother grew more distinct. U’Sumi rested his hand on the scroll
,
as if to grab for it, and listened.

“Why, ‘Miha? By Underworld, I think I’m going to throw up!”

U’Sumi knew how his father felt.

“Nu, I’m sorry, please let me explain!”

“
What’s to
explain? You told me your betrothal to Tarbet didn’t work because of his womanizing—you failed to mention that you
were one of the women!”

“You and I were forced to marry under such strange conditions—I didn’t know you! I didn’t know how you’d respond!”

“But you came to know me! You could have told me after ten, twenty—even two hundred years—I would have understood!”

“I was afraid! You’re the best thing that ever happened to me and I was afraid of what it would do to us!”

“Did he force you?” A’Nu-Ahki spoke in a menacing growl that made U’Sumi
wince
. T
his was not the voice of his father but
of
a stranger
.

Silence.

“
Did he
?”

She moaned,
“Oh, Nu, not at first! At first, I thought I had found what I have in you! I didn’t stand on ceremony. I was so relieved to be free of the Watchers. When he approached me, I felt it would be okay to give in to him—he was going to be my husband anyway! But something went wrong the minute he touched me. I felt like he was—
well, as if
he was
one of
them
! I couldn’t understand it. It terrified me! The feeling made me
…
you know
…
stiff. That made him angry. I asked him to stop but he refused! Only then did he force me! Nu, please don’t make me go on! I tried to stop him then—really I did!”

“Why didn’t you complain to the Archon?”

She hesitated. “You know how long ago that was. Sa-utar was still a world power in those days.
The Archon was Tarbet’s ancestor.
Lumekkor was already at war with Y’Raddu. I had political considerations to think of. Tarbet’s fathers, Rakhau and Kunyari, paid me to keep things quiet and keep the peace. So there you have it
,
the truth at last! I’m
just
a high-paid whore
;
like the people in the valley
always
say!”
She began to wail.

U’Sumi
’s head swam as bile ro
se in his throat. He turned so he would
n
o
t vomit on the scrolls
,
and
almost
fell off the ladder in
panic
.

His puke splattered on the sandaled feet that stood at the summit of all earthly wisdom and holiness. He did not know where the Ancient had appeared from—he had
no
t seen him at dinner or in the courtyard. Yet somehow
,
U’Sumi’s
great grandfather, the last remaining son of Q’Enukki the Seer, stood at the base of the ladder
waiting to receive
his
vomit offering.