The Skull Throne (10 page)

Her form is strong,
Shanvah noted. Micha and Jarvah did not comment, but they followed the conversation with their eyes.

There is fear in her eyes,
Ashia said. Indeed, Selthe took a step back as Jaia moved in. A moment later, Selthe’s head was being held under the water. Jaia kept her there until Selthe ceased struggling and slapped her submission on the surface of the pool. Jaia pushed her farther under, then let go and took a step back. Selthe rose with a splash, gasping for air.

Weak lungs, too,
Ashia said
. She was barely under the water a full minute.

“I see your fingers chattering,
Sharum
dogs!” Amanvah’s cry snapped their heads up. The girl strode angrily their way, several other Betrothed at her back.

“Behind me, little cousins,” Ashia said softly as Amanvah approached. “Eyes down. This is not your fight.” The girls complied as Ashia raised her gaze to meet Amanvah’s. The act seemed to double the younger girl’s ire as she pulled up, close enough to reach out and touch.

The kill zone,
Enkido’s fingers had called the space between them.

“You saw nothing,” Amanvah said. “Say it,
nie’Sharum’ting.
”

Ashia shook her head. “The large fountain is not worth fighting over, cousin, but nothing you can do will make me lie to my master, much less the
dama’ting.
I will not volunteer the information, but if asked, I will tell the truth.”

Amanvah’s nostrils flared. “And what is that?”

“That the
nie’dama’ting
lack discipline,” Ashia said. “That you call one another sister but do not know the meaning of the word, bickering and fighting like
khaffit.
” She spat in the bath, and the other girls gasped. “And your
sharusahk
is pathetic.”

Amanvah’s eyes flicked to her target an instant before she struck, but it was more than enough for Ashia to block and plot her next three blows. The Betrothed spent two hours each day studying
sharusahk.
Ashia and her cousins spent twenty, and the difference had come to tell.

Ashia could have put Amanvah under the water as easily as Jaia did Selthe, but she wanted the beating to last, as had the one Amanvah delivered on their second day in the palace.

Two knuckles into the armpit, and Amanvah howled with pain. A chop to the throat cut off the sound, and Amanvah’s eyes bulged as her lungs seized. The heel of Ashia’s hand to her forehead left Amanvah stunned as the force of the blow knocked her backward into the water.

Ashia could have continued the beating, but she stayed her hand as Amanvah rose choking to her knees, coughing out bathwater. “If you walk away now, I will not have to tell the
dama’ting
you are fools, as well.”

It was a goad, of course, forcing Amanvah to willingly prolong the beating, lest she appear weak in front of the other
nie’dama’ting.

The other girls held their collective breath as Amanvah slowly got to her feet, water dripping from her skin. Her eyes promised murder, but they also told Ashia where she would strike next.

The eyes tell all,
Enkido’s fingers had said. Ashia stood calmly, breathing in steady rhythm, her guard low, inviting the attack.

Amanvah was more cautious now, keeping her guard in place and using feints to set up her true attacks.

It was all to no avail. Ashia could see the moves before Amanvah even made them, blocking a series of blows without retaliating, simply to show the ease of it.

Up to their thighs in water, Ashia kept her feet planted, blocking and dodging with her upper body alone, but Amanvah needed her feet. It made her slow, and she soon began to breathe hard.

Ashia shook her head. “You Betrothed are soft, cousin. This lesson was overdue.”

Amanvah glared at her with open hatred. Wrapped in the soft cocoon of her breath, Ashia was calm, but she put a smile on her lips, if only to goad her cousin further. She already knew what Amanvah was planning, though she wanted to believe the girl was not so stupid as to actually attempt it.

But in her desperation, Amanvah took the bait, delivering a series of feints before trying a kick.

Her legs already tired and underwater, the kick was pathetically slow. Amanvah was counting on surprise, but even that would not have been enough. Ashia caught her ankle, yanking the leg upward.

“One stupid enough to kick in water does not deserve the use of their leg.” She struck hard, driving her stiffened fingers hard into a precise point on Amanvah’s thigh. Amanvah screamed from the pain, and then the leg went limp in her hand.

Ashia spun her as she fell, easily slipping into a submission hold as she held Amanvah under.

Jaia tried to intercede, but Shanvah moved in without a word, striking two quick blows that collapsed the older girl’s legs. She fell to the water, thrashing to keep her head above the surface. Selthe could have stepped in to help her, but she and the other
nie’dama’ting
stood frozen in place. Sikvah, Micha, and Jarvah lined up next to Shanvah, blocking their path to the combatants.

Amanvah thrashed at first, and then went still. Ashia waited for her to slap the surface of the water in submission, but to her credit, the girl never did. She knew she was the Deliverer’s daughter, and even Ashia would not dare kill her in front of everyone.

She pulled Amanvah’s head free of the water, letting her gasp a breath.

“
Sharum
blood of the Deliverer. Say it.”

The girl looked at her in fury, spitting in Ashia’s face.

Ashia did not let her draw another breath before putting her back under, twisting her arm painfully for long moments.

“
Sharum
blood,” Ashia said, pulling her into the air. “Everam’s spear sisters. Say it.” Amanvah shook her head wildly as she gasped and thrashed, so Ashia put her under again.

This time she waited long minutes, her hands in tune with Amanvah’s body. The muscles tensed one last time before consciousness was lost. When she felt it, she pulled Amanvah out into the air a third time, leaning in close.

“There is no
hora
magic in the bath, cousin. No
dama’ting,
no Enkido. There is only
sharusahk.
We can do this every day if you wish.”

Amanvah eyed her with cold rage, but there was fear there as well, and resignation. “
Sharum
blood of the Deliverer, Everam’s spear sisters,” she agreed. “Cousin.”

Ashia nodded. “An admission that would have cost you nothing, when I came to you in friendship.” She let go her hold and stepped back, pointing. “I think it is the Betrothed who will use the small fountains where the water is cool from now on. Everam’s spear sisters claim the large one.”

She looked out over the assembled
nie’dama’ting
and was satisfied to see them all rock backward under her gaze. “Unless any wish to challenge me?”

Shanvah and the others broke their line as if the move had been rehearsed, giving room for a challenger to approach, but none was so foolish. They made way as Ashia led her sisters to the large fountain, where they continued their bath as if nothing had happened. The Betrothed helped Amanvah and Jaia onto benches, massaging life back into their limbs. They watched Ashia and the others dazedly, their own bathing forgotten.

That was incredible,
Shanvah’s fingers said.

You should not have interfered,
Ashia replied.
I ordered you to stand back.

Shanvah looked hurt, and the others genuinely surprised.

But we won,
Micha signed.

Today we won,
Ashia agreed.
But tomorrow, when they come at us together, you will all need to fight.

The
nie’dama’ting
did indeed attack the next day. They entered the bath en masse, moving to surround the large fountain where Ashia and her spear sisters bathed, outnumbering them three to one.

Six
nie’dama’ting
were carried from the bath by their sisters that day, limbs too numb to support them. Others limped or nursed black bruises. Some were dizzy from loss of air, and one had still not recovered her sight.

They went through lessons fearing reprisal, but if the
dama’ting
asked questions about the state of them, the
nie’dama’ting
saw nothing.

When they returned to Enkido, they found him kneeling at the head of a small table with six steaming bowls. Always, the girls had knelt by the wall as they ate their small bowls of plain couscous. The room had never before held any piece of furniture beyond training equipment.

But even more shocking was the scent that came from the bowls. Ashia turned and saw dark meat atop the couscous, moist with juice and dark with spices. Her mouth watered, and her stomach lurched. Food such as she had not tasted in half a year.

As if in a daze, the girls followed their noses to the table. It felt like floating.

The head of the table for the master,
Enkido signed.

The foot, for Nie Ka.
He indicated that Ashia kneel at the opposite end. He beckoned Shanvah and Sikvah to kneel on one side. Micha and Jarvah the other.

Enkido swept his hands over the steaming bowls.
Meat this one night, in honor of
Sharum
blood.

He thumped his fist on the table, making the bowls jump.
The table, always, for Everam’s spear sisters.

From that day forward, they always ate together, like true family.

He punished their failures, yes, but Enkido gave rewards, too.

No meat had ever tasted sweeter.

Years passed. At sixteen, Ashia and the other girls had been commanded to begin growing back their hair. It seemed heavy now, clumsy. She kept it carefully pinned back.

At seventeen, her father sent for her. It was the first time she had left the Dama’ting Palace in over four years, and the world outside looked strange to her now. The halls of her father’s palace were bright and garish, but there were places to hide, if one was limber and quick. She could disappear in an instant if she wished, trained to be invisible.

But no, she was here to be seen. It was an alien concept, half remembered from another life.

“Beloved daughter!” Imisandre rose and went to embrace her when she entered the throne room.

“It is a pleasure to see you, honored mother.” Ashia kissed her mother’s cheeks.

Her brother stood to the right of the throne, draped in the white robes of a full
dama.
He nodded to her, but did not presume to speak before their father.

Ashan did not rise, watching her coolly, searching still for some imperfection to judge. But after Enkido, her father’s expectations were met effortlessly. Back straight, eyes down, every fiber of her black robes in place, she silently approached. At the precise distance from the throne, she stopped and bowed, waiting.

“Daughter,” Ashan said at last. “You are looking well. Does the Dama’ting Palace agree with you?”

Ashia straightened, but kept her eyes at her father’s sandals. He had two
Sharum
guards by the door, too far to assist him in time. A Krevakh Watcher lurked in the columns behind the throne. She might not have noticed him when she was younger, but now he might as well have been wearing bells. Pitiful protection for the Damaji of the Kaji and his heir.

Of course, Ashan himself was a
sharusahk
master, and could see to his own defense against most any foe. She wondered how he and her brother would fare against her now.

“Thank you, honored Father,” she said. “I have learned much in the Dama’ting Palace. You were wise to send me and my cousins there.”

Ashan nodded. “That is well, but your time there has come to an end. You are seventeen now, and it is time you were married.”

Ashia felt as if she had been punched in the gut, but she embraced the feeling, bowing again. “Has my honored father selected a match at last?” She could see the smile on her brother’s face, and knew who it was before her father spoke again.

“It has been agreed between fathers,” Ashan said. “You are released from the Dama’ting Palace to marry the Deliverer’s son Asome. Your palace chambers are as you left them. Return there now with your mother to begin preparation.”

“Please.” Having dismissed her, Ashan was already looking to his advisor Shevali when Ashia spoke.

“Eh?” he asked.

Ashia could see storm clouds gathering on her father’s brow. If she were to attempt to refuse the match … 

She knelt, putting her hands on the floor with her head between them. “Excuse me, honored Father, for disturbing you. It was my hope, only, to see my cousins one last time before I go with my honored mother to follow the path Everam has laid before me.”

Her father’s face softened at that, the closest he had ever come to a show of affection. “Of course, of course.”

She held her tears until she reached the training chamber. Her spear sisters were practicing
sharukin,
but they stood straight, bowing. Enkido was not to be found.

Nie Ka, you have returned,
Shanvah signed.
Is all well?

Ashia shook her head.
Nie Ka no longer, sister. That title will be yours now, and the care of our little sisters. I am to marry.

Congratulations, sister,
Sikvah signed.
Who is the groom?

Asome,
Ashia signed.

An honor,
Micha signed.

What will we do without you?
Jarvah’s hands asked.

You will have one another,
Ashia signed,
and Enkido, until such time as we are reunited.
She embraced each in turn, and still refused to cry.

But then the door opened, and Enkido appeared. With a wave, the other girls filed out of the room, dismissed.

Ashia looked at her master, and then, for the first time since she was sent to the Dama’ting Palace, she wept.