‘How did you survive?’ Inevera asked.

The Sharum bowed to her. ‘Night was falling, Damajah, and I thought it better to die on alagai talons than lying in the dirt, my strength sapped by a woman’s poison.’

Ahmann nodded. ‘Your heart is that of a true Sharum, Ghilan asu Fahkin. What happened then?’

‘I barely had strength to stand,’ Ghilan said, ‘but I hid myself well and bided my time, waiting for a fool alagai to venture too close. After some time, a field demon came by, attempting to track my scent. When it drew up to my hiding place, I struck hard.’

‘And grew stronger,’ Inevera guessed.

Ghilan nodded. ‘The blessings of Everam come to those who kill the creatures of Nie. My horse fled, I hunted for the next two nights before my strength was restored. I apologize for the delay, but I have come as quickly as I was able.’

Ahmann put a hand on the man’s shoulder. ‘I am proud of you, Ghilan asu Fahkin. Know that your honour is boundless. Go now to the great harem and have the jiwah’Sharum bathe you and comfort you into a well-needed sleep.’

The warrior nodded, leaving the room as quickly as he entered. Ahmann opened the letter, read it, and passed it to Inevera.

‘Husband, I am sorry,’ she said as she scanned the contents, ‘but I did warn you.’

‘Once again your dice have proven true,’ Ahmann said. ‘I gained two Sharum’ting in the night, and lost the warriors of the Hollow come morning.’

‘I take no pleasure in it, beloved,’ she said, but it was not entirely true. ‘If it is any consolation, you cannot truly lose what you never had.’

Ahmann shook his head sadly. ‘It is no consolation, wife.’

Inevera moved the stone covering one of the many hidden nooks in her Chamber of Shadows. There was a small box, warded for cold and powered by a demon bone core. A thin rime of frost covered its surface.

Inevera opened the cloth and removed the stiff bit of silk from within. It was precious, but with her dice restored and Mistress Leesha discredited at last, it was time to finally cast the bones for the Northern witch.

The silk was one of Inevera’s many kerchiefs, this one used to daub the blood Leesha had lost during their fight in Inevera’s pillow chamber. She carefully cut out the bits of bloodied silk, tossing them into a small bowl of steaming liquid. When blood had been fully leached, she poured the mixture over her dice and shook.

‘Almighty Everam,’ she prayed, ‘give me knowledge of Leesha, daughter of Erny, of the Paper family of the Hollow tribe.’ With a final shake, she cast the dice before her.

And gaped.

– She is your zahven, and carries a child.—

27

Waning
333 AR AutumnWaning

‘How does it work?’ Jardir asked, staring in fascination at the Skull Throne, now sheathed in electrum. She had drawn the thick curtains in the throne room, allowing his crownsight though sunset was still an hour away. He could see the steady stream of power the throne radiated in every direction. Its centre shone hot with concentrated magic, like a miniature sun.

‘Your throne now projects a—’ Inevera began.

‘—warding field,’ Jardir finished for her. ‘Not even the princes of Nie will be able to approach my seat …’ He turned, following the path of the magic, looking through the great stone walls as easily as one might look through glass. ‘… for miles.’

It was truly amazing. The Crown of Kaji could repel alagai as well. Jardir had mastered its power in recent weeks, learning to extend the protection far beyond his physical reach. No alagai could approach within a quarter mile of him, but that he willed it. He could protect an army on the field, but this, this protected the entire inner city and beyond. The demons might strike at his walls, even knock them down, but they would never get past them.

He looked back at Inevera, his mouth curling in a smile. ‘I did not ask what it did, beloved. I asked how it worked.’

Inevera’s aura flushed with shock, and then disappointment that she would not be able to parade around the marvel she had made, revealing its power to him in teasing bits.

Let her have the moment next time, he chided himself. With this gift, she has earned it a thousandfold.

To his surprise, Inevera laughed. Not the bark of derision she threw now and then, but a full laugh, infectious and true. There was no more beautiful sound in all Everam’s creation.

‘You never cease to amaze me, Ahmann,’ Inevera said. ‘Every time I begin to question, you remind me you truly are Shar’Dama Ka.’

Jardir might have doubted, but her aura swelled with pride and he knew she meant every word. He reached out, touching her cheek, and watched the shiver it sent through her spirit. ‘I understand perfectly … Damajah.’ He bent and kissed her, feeling himself flush at the passion she was radiating. She might lie to him when she thought it necessary, but Inevera’s love for him was true. What more could a man ask in his Jiwah Ka?

She took a step back when he broke the kiss, reining her feelings in. He was amazed at her control, watching the hot chaos of her aura quickly become cool, ordered. Now was not the time.

‘The skull of an alagai prince has been added to your sacred throne, amplifying the wards that have adorned the skulls of martyred Sharum Ka for centuries,’ Inevera said. ‘We used almost all the electrum to coat it …’

‘Almost?’ Jardir asked, smiling.

Inevera returned the grin, showing him her dice, now safely encased in the bright white metal. ‘You have your tools, and now I have mine.’ Her aura said she had coated more than just her dice, but he let her have her secrets. She was his Damajah, and it was fitting she wield power of her own.

‘I was right to give the metal to you,’ Jardir said. ‘Abban would have found a clever use for it, no doubt, but would never have thought of something so …’

‘Altruistic?’ Inevera supplied, and he had to laugh.

‘Unprofitable,’ he agreed.

‘I do not trust the khaffit, husband,’ Inevera said.

‘Abban is as loyal to me as you are,’ Jardir said.

Inevera shook her head. ‘He is loyal to himself first, and you second.’

Jardir nodded. ‘The same could be said of you, Bride of Everam.’

‘There is a difference in serving the Creator first,’ Inevera said.

‘Yes,’ Jardir agreed. ‘And no. No mortal man or woman can truly trust another, beloved. And yet somehow we must find a way, if we are to win Sharak Ka. Waning is upon us. Now is the time to face the dark, not worry about poisoned blades at our backs.’

Inevera opened her mouth to reply, but Jardir touched a finger to her lips. ‘You are the Bride of Everam, wife, yet I am the one with faith. Not just in the Creator, but in His children.’

‘Faith never gets the weaving done, my mother used to say,’ Inevera said. ‘The Creator helps those who earn it.’ Her aura called him a brave fool.

‘“The Creator helps”,’ Jardir repeated. ‘Do you think it coincidence we found the sacred metal of Kaji just weeks before the greatest test of my reign? We do not fight Nie alone, even if He does not strike the alagai down Himself. And if I am to deliver this world, I must believe that for all our differences, no one, man, woman or child, wishes it to fall to the alagai.’