Chapter 105:

By the time Vek was done, Sukren’s mind was reeling. He’d already figured out that the Uprising had fractured along ethnic lines, but it sounded like things were touch-and-go even in the geographic territories under Lady Nari’s control.

“What about me?” he asked. “How much do people know about me?”

“They know you’re her guardian, and they know you and the Promised Daughter disappeared together. That’s it.”

“Lady Nari hasn’t told them yet why I disappeared?”

“No.”

Interesting. If nobody knew Sukren had absconded with Mayah to keep her from the Free Serfs, maybe he could still squeeze something out of his position as her guardian.

“What about the Rajas?” Sukren asked. “What happened to them?”

Vek snorted. “You really are a Rajas tail, aren’t you? Why do you care what happened to them?”

Sukren ignored him. “I care about Mayah.”

“Oh, she’ll be fine. The Watchers are the only ones who want to kill more of the Rajas off, and even they wouldn’t touch the Promised Daughter. Nobody’s going to like that she’s a princess, but she won’t be harmed.”

Sukren translated that in his mind. Mayah wouldn’t be killed, but she would be constantly condemned. Out loud he asked, “Who do they hate more, the Rajas or the Eenta?”

“They hate them the same. All non-Chenta are the enemy.”

Sukren mulled this over. “The Cursed are also going to have a hard time then.”

“Well, I told Lainla I’d join the Cursed and advocate for them as if for myself.”

“I don’t know if that’s going to be as easy as you think. The Cursed have customs that govern who can join them and how. It might not be as simple as asking Lady Nari for permission.”

Sukren could tell from Vek’s silence that he hadn’t liked Sukren’s answer. Sure enough, a snarl followed. “You owe me. Make it happen.”

“I can try.”

“Lainla seemed fine with the idea.”

“Okay, I’ll ask Rajani,” Sukren replied. “Lady Nari, though, why not ask her yourself? She’s not going to grant me any favors.”

“You better hope she does. If you have any sense at all, you’ll ask her for permission to join the Cursed yourself. A self-imposed exile will be better for you than anything the Chenta ethnonationalists could come up with.”

The boy was afraid, Sukren realized. Sukren didn’t need his sight to understand that Vek was reluctant to tell Lady Nari to her face that he wanted to leave the Free Serfs. Sukren didn’t blame him for that. Lady Nari was not to be toyed with; Sukren would have to make Vek’s request as smooth and easy to swallow as possible. And he would. Vek had done good by him, stopping the torture after his visit. Sukren would act as his go-between in return, even if he didn’t think Lady Nari would listen.

“I’ll ask her for you,” he said, adding Vek to the list of people he had to help, after Mayah and the Cursed.

“Thank you.”

Satisfied with Vek’s account of the Chenta political landscape, Sukren moved on to question him about Lady Nari’s auxiliaries. Names, details of position, everything Vek could remember, Sukren tucked away. As they spoke he continued to follow Rajani, his hand under her elbow. At one point he wondered aloud how far they had gone and how long it had been. It was hard to tell distance and time without being able to see any markers to show him the way.

“It’s been a few hours,” Vek replied. “We’re almost at the border.”

Sukren could tell that the Cursed around him, Rajani included, were starting to pick up speed. He wondered if Vek’s message that they had to cross into Lost Technology Quinter before Lainla’s discovery had been passed around. Thinking about it made Sukren want to move faster too.

“What do you see?” he asked Rajani.

“Some kind of plant growing up all around us. Stringier than moss, but shorter than az hedges. Like wildflowers without blossoms.”

“Grass,” Sukren said. “We call it grass.”

“Grass,” Rajani repeated flatly. “There are animals too, clustered around a lake to our left. And greenhouses. Greenhouses everywhere. I don’t know why the Eenta guards led us this way. We would have arrived in no time at all if we hadn’t had to walk around all these damn greenhouses.”

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“Do you see anything up ahead?”

“More greenhouses. They’re in a straight line, though, instead of in curves like the greenhouses we’ve been walking around. There are soldiers on top of the ones up ahead, too.”

Sukren situated himself on a mental map. He had been to this border before. During his time in Lost Technology he had crossed many times to LakeCentral on Lady Nari’s business. “They’ll take us through a greenhouse soon,” he told Rajani. “There’s one that has gates on both the Chenta and Eenta sides.”

“I think I see it,” Rajani said.

As they got closer, the flow of Cursed slowed, eventually halting. He and Rajani waited, then shuffled forward, then waited again. “What’s going on?” he heard Rajani ask.

“Seventy people going through a gate takes time,” he replied.

“No, I think they’re doing something inside the greenhouse. Going through a gate shouldn’t be this slow.”

“Rock-god,” Sukren heard Vek swear. “There’s a runner out there, coming from LakeCentral Castle.”

Sukren immediately thought of Lainla. Was the runner coming to provide news of her discovery? “How long do we have until we’re all through?” he asked Rajani, wishing he could see the distances for himself.

“I don’t know,” she replied. Her voice was as tense as her body. “Gather and Hunt, why isn’t the line moving!”

Finally it was Sukren and Rajani’s turn. They squeezed in together, Sukren’s right arm knocking into the side of the gate. Inside he could smell the heavy scent of citrus. Rajani led him forward into the fruit-flavored air, then stopped. She cried out – Sukren felt her torn away from him –

“Rajani!” he shouted.

Someone grabbed his arm. He tried to wrench it away, but stopped when he heard Vek say, “It’s me, it’s Vek.”

“What’s going on?” Sukren asked.

“The Chenta soldiers are separating the Cursed into groups of Chenta, Eenta and Xhota. I’m not sure… I don’t know what…”

The terror in Vek’s voice was easy to hear. If the Cursed were being broken apart, Vek would have no refuge. And neither, for that matter, would Sukren. But an idea was forming in his head. If Sukren could strike just the right tone, maybe…

“Get me Mayah,” he told Vek.

“She’s right over there. I’ll get her now.”

Sukren waited with growing impatience for Vek to return. After what seemed like several minutes, Vek was back. “I have Mayah. I’m sorry I took so long, I was trying to get the Chenta to stop, but they don’t want to take any Eenta into Lost Technology Quinter with them.” Sukren could hear Vek’s voice break. “I think they’re going to kill them.”

“Who’s in charge?”

“Gerath EarthSlash, a magistrate.”

“I know him,” Sukren said. “Tell him to come to me.”

“I’ll get him now.”

“Good. Now Mayah. You said you wanted me to help you make the best of your captivity?”

“Yes,” came the whispered reply.

“Then do as I say. Hold onto my hand. Look up at me while I talk. Don’t turn away, not even for a second.”

Mutely, Mayah obeyed. A little while later, she whispered to Sukren, “He’s here.”

“Gerath,” Sukren said.

“Sukren,” Gerath responded.

“You will keep the Cursed together.”

There was silence. Without sight Sukren had to guess at what it meant, but he suspected that Gerath was trying to assess whether Sukren still had the authority to command him. Back before Sukren had crossed the shelterbelt – a lifetime ago – he’d had the right to extract resources when he needed them, to compel behavior when he saw fit to do so. With Mayah holding onto him, gazing up at him like he’d told her to, Sukren gambled that he could trick Gerath into accepting his authority once more.

“Do you think you best understand the prophecies of the Promised Daughter?” Sukren continued. Gerath, he remembered, was a careful man who had always exhibited a reverent attitude towards the Prophetess Darshana and her pronouncements. “Do you want to take that responsibility onto yourself? Answer me, Gerath. Do you?”

“Bringing Eenta – mutineer descendants, to boot – inside our quinters? Sukren, that’s a hard thing for you to ask.”

“I’m not asking. You don’t know what purpose the Cursed serve. They have to be kept together.”

Again there was silence. It was followed by a terse, “Fine – for now.”

Sukren waited until the orders had been shouted out. Then he turned and said to Mayah, “You’ll go with the Cursed.”

“No,” came Gerath’s response. “The Cursed, fine, they can stay together, but I have specific orders regarding you and the Promised Daughter. She’ll come with me. Now.”

Damnit, Sukren thought. Keeping Mayah with the Cursed would have been best for her. But he knew further argument would do nothing. He grasped Mayah’s hand. He likely had only a few seconds to say what could be his last words ever to her. Already he could feel someone trying to pull them apart.

“Mayah,” he said.

“Yes?” she whispered.

There was so much to warn her about. He wanted to tell her that the Chenta would express nothing but contempt for her Rajas background. He wanted to warn her that she would be watched for signs of princess superiority and that she should never show any. Know your place, he wanted to say. Never speak without first checking yourself.

But they were pulling on him, trying to drag him away. Sukren squeezed Mayah’s hand. “Don’t ever speak Rajim again,” he said. Then he was torn from her, his fingers clutching the empty air. Mayah was still there, maybe, in front of him, but without his hand to see her, she was already gone.