‘You’ve lost your nerve, Leeth. These men will keep you alive. You need to work out where you stand.’
Sildaan pushed Leeth in the chest with both hands. He staggered back, swiping at the steadying hands of Garan.
‘Don’t touch me,’ he said.
‘Sildaan is right: you have to make a statement.’
‘What would you know of it, stranger?’
Leeth spun round to stare at red eyes in a face bitten raw. Garan’s heavy brows distorted his forehead. Like them all he was powerful, wore the sort of heavy leathers and furs that were totally inappropriate for the rainforest, and carried weapons of little use beyond a clearing.
‘I see what needs doing. You want war; you need to provoke it, not ask it politely,’ said Garan.
‘We don’t want war. We-’
‘Leeth,’ Sildaan said, keeping her voice calm and quiet.
Leeth tensed a little more and turned back to her.
‘You want this,’ he said. ‘Don’t you?’
‘I want an end to the folly that is Takaar’s law, yes. We both do. And this is a message that will be heard across Calaius.’
‘You will bring them all down on us,’ hissed Leeth. ‘And their magic will not be enough. Subtlety, you said.’
‘This is hardly the place to be discussing this. Our allies do not need to hear us squabble.’
But Leeth shook his head. Sildaan felt a wash of fury through her body.
‘They shouldn’t be here. None of them. This is our business.’
‘You know why,’ snapped Sildaan. ‘We need help. We are not numerous.’
‘And about to get less so.’
Sildaan struck fast, her right fist breaking Leeth’s nose. Blood sprayed over her hand and began to run from his nostrils. Leeth jerked back and put both hands to his face. His eyes were wide and he coughed hard at the sudden pain.
‘What was that for?’
‘You’re not my damned conscience, Leeth. Yniss knows I don’t need anyone telling me what to do or how to act. I need to know you’re with us. I need to know you trust me. Well?’
Leeth stared at her over his hands while blood ran down to his chin and dripped onto his jerkin. He tightened his fingers against his nose and moved the bone carefully back into place, provoking grunts from the men nearest him. Leeth didn’t so much as wince. When he was done, he removed his hands and let the blood run freely.
‘You and I have known each other for over eight hundred years,’ he said, his voice a little clogged. ‘And you know I won’t lie to you.’
He spat blood onto the ground and wiped his mouth.
Sildaan sighed. ‘Now might be a good time to start.’
‘Why? Sildaan, I know you better than this. What’s happened to you? We don’t need allies. We cannot trust them. This is not our way. They are not welcome and they will never be accepted. Who sanctioned their coming here to lend us their belligerent assistance anyway?’
‘What happened was that I realised time was short. Shorter than anyone standing over there in their pathetic huddle thinks. You know what’s going to happen in Ysundeneth, at the Gardaryn. Today. You need to learn to move with the times.’
‘But you’re talking about unravelling the harmony. Taking us back to the War of Bloods. Why would you want that?’
‘Leeth, I hear you. But we need to move on. Please?’
But she could see that he’d planted his feet. She groaned inwardly. He shook his head.
‘Fucking sharp-ears,’ muttered Garan.
Leeth snapped. He was shorter and slighter than Garan but that did not make him any the less threatening. That much he knew. He spoke in the tongue of the northern continent.
‘What’s it to you, blink-life?’ Leeth stood a pace away from Garan. Space to strike and kill with his bare hands. ‘This is not your fight. This is not your land. You’ll get your dues whether you raise a blade or stand in the rain where we choose. We own you. Your lives are in our hands right now. We could disappear into our forest and you would never get out.
‘So I will stand and talk with my sister at the temple of my god for as long as I need. And should you choose to insult me again, I will kill you. Do you understand?’
‘I understand,’ said Garan, speaking fluently in elvish. ‘I understand that standing here is wasting time you don’t have. I know that Sildaan is right and that those who refuse to see what is coming risk bringing disaster on the Ynissul.’
‘I have no need to debate this with you,’ said Leeth. ‘You are nothing. Hired muscle.’
‘You are driving me spare, Leeth,’ said Sildaan. ‘Why must you do this?’
‘Because we must do this right or we are betraying every elf and leaving scum like this to march unhindered into Yniss’s blessed country.’
Sildaan beckoned him away from Garan.
‘What is it that you want, Leeth?’
‘I want you to promise me you will not strike down another Ynissul. TaiGethen or otherwise. I want you to accept you are not the arbiter of the fate of any of our people. You nor those above you. Sildaan?’
‘I cannot do that,’ said Sildaan, speaking quietly, voice barely audible over new rain falling in a torrent. ‘And I am desolate that I cannot make you understand why.’
‘Then I cannot walk with you,’ said Leeth, and there were tears in his eyes. ‘We cannot return to a rule by fear. It is you who must move with the times. We must command respect to be obeyed.’
Sildaan walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He felt a surge of sadness. Almost grief.
‘I know. But we cannot achieve that goal without conflict. No elf will bend the knee simply because we ask them. Why won’t you see that?’
‘If they will not then we are not fit to rule again.’
‘Oh, Leeth. We cannot miss this chance because if we do we will be in thrall to Tualis or Beethans. They will not be so timid as you.’
‘Takaar has taught us that conflict is not the way forward. Whatever his failings, he was the one who ended the War of Bloods. This path will lead to disaster.’
‘Then you must follow a different one.’
Sildaan pulled him into an embrace. After the briefest pause, he clung to her and began to weep. Not for a moment did he expect the knife which slid up under his ribs and pierced his heart. He gasped and clung on tighter.
‘Safe journey to the ancients. One day you will bless my way and we will walk again together.’
Leeth felt no pain. His legs gave way and Sildaan knelt with him. He stared at her while she wiped blood from his mouth and nose.
‘Your way will see us all to death,’ managed Leeth.
‘Quiet now. Leave your hate here. Travel free.’
Leeth’s eyes closed. He could not stop his body sliding to the ground. The stone was chill on his cheek. He prayed to Shorth to embrace his soul. Dimly, he felt Sildaan withdraw her knife. He could not muster any anger, just an overwhelming sadness.
Leeth breathed in but blood was filling his lungs, drowning him. He tried to open his eyes but he had not the strength. He heard voices echoing around him.
‘Shorth, take your soul to the blessed embrace of Yniss. Let Tual’s denizens use your body. Let the forest reclaim you. Let your sacrifice not be in vain,’ said Sildaan.
‘It was the only option you had,’ said Garan.
‘I loved him. But what we face is greater than any love for one ula. You, I detest. Work out how much I value your life.’
Leeth shed a single tear.
Chapter 4
Belief in your body is the root of survival. ‘Look at you, beautiful beast.’
And look at you crawling on your belly like the reptile you love so well. Appropriate.
Takaar twitched in anger, his legs rattling undergrowth. The snake turned in his direction, lifted and flattened its head. Its body curled in under it. It stared at him, deep brown iris surrounding a black pupil. Takaar stilled completely, ignoring the entreaties of his tormentor to reach out a hand and embrace his death at the bite of this stunning creature.
Instead, he continued his study. Around him and across him, insects crawled and leeches clung. The taipan’s tongue sampled the air. It was better than eight feet long and a reddish dark brown in colour on its back and sides. Underneath, the scales were a yellower colour. It had a round, snouted head and its neck was quite dark, an almost glossy black.