A Day of Fallen Night (The Roots of Chaos)

The first time Dumai had met Epabo – her father’s mysterious ally – he had been coughing blood on the snow of Mount Ipyeda. Now he was even weaker, coughing soot into a cloth.

His left arm had been bitten off at the elbow. The healers at the southernmost camp had done their best, cleaning the remnant and burning it shut, but Epabo had walked a long way with that injury. Even if he had not bled so heavily, the limb had already festered.

He had been carried through the forest on a stretched hide. Now he lay in a small tent, dying. Dumai watched him wake from a fitful drowse.

‘Can you hear me, Epabo?’

Epabo managed a nod. ‘Princess Dumai.’ He wore a thick cloth mitten on his remaining hand. ‘I beg you, come no closer. The red sickness may be in me.’

‘What happened?’

‘A winged creature on the road, in the night. I didn’t see until its iron teeth were in me.’

Dumai glanced at her mother, who knew how much a body could endure. Unora gave the barest shake of her head.

‘Such beasts roam wild in every province. Seiiki is on fire,’ Dumai said. ‘Why risk leaving the Rayonti Basin?’

‘I had to see you. To tell you what the River Lord has done.’

She knelt where she was, disquiet lining her stomach. ‘When you came to the temple, you changed the course of my life,’ she said. ‘Tell me. Will your tidings change it again?’

‘I fear so. It seems our story is to end as it began.’

‘Did you find me by following Lady Nikeya?’

‘I had been watching her closely, but when she left the palace, I saw no need to follow. Not this time.’ He grimaced in pain. ‘I’m not sure how long I have to explain. You should summon Furtia Stormcaller.’

‘Does Suzu need help?’

‘Yes.’

Dumai nodded, closing her eyes. The stone was at her neck, bolstering the bond.

Great one, I need you. Can you come?

The fire is strong, earth child.

I think it rises high enough to threaten my sister at court. Dumai concentrated. If you are near me, please come.

I am coming.

Epabo wet his chapped lips. Sweat shone on his collarbones and ran in raindrops down his face. Unora left the tent and returned with a cup of clean water, placing it within his reach.

‘The River Lord has always shown little care for the provinces,’ Epabo said, ‘but his failure to defend our people has confused and disturbed the nobility, including his fellow Kuposa. Even the cities have been left to burn. Only you have protected us, Queen Dumai.

‘After Lady Nikeya absconded, I decided not to pursue her. Instead, I remained in the palace to watch over Empress Suzumai,’ he continued. ‘One night, the River Lord left on horseback, which threw the court into disarray. I assumed he was trying to find his wayward daughter. When he returned, he was . . . different, quieter. He refused to see the Council of State, secluding himself into the Water Pavilion. Still he made no move to stop the burning of our island.

‘When he finally emerged, the River Lord announced that he had worked out a way to end our suffering. He had discovered a precedent, in an old Western tale – the tale of the Nameless One.’

Dumai looked at her mother.

‘I left the scroll there, with your father,’ Unora breathed. ‘It would have been in the Water Pavilion.’

Epabo nodded. ‘In the tale,’ he said, ‘a great red wyrm descended upon the city of Yikala, in a land named Lasia. Its ruler, Selinu, found a way to appease the creature. First, he sacrificed the livestock to its jaws; then he sacrificed the people, drawing a lot each day to decide who would die. One day, the lot fell upon his own daughter, a princess.’

‘Our livestock has already been taken,’ Dumai said hoarsely. ‘Epabo, where is the River Lord?’

‘Taugran has made its lair on Muysima. The nearest city is Uramyesi, which still holds many thousands of survivors. The River Lord declared that he would go there, to treat with the beast and save what remains of Seiiki. He would also take Empress Suzumai.’

Dumai swallowed.

‘As soon as I heard, I reached out to Lord Tajorin through his friends at court. They have been helping those who would defect to your side. I sent a message to your grandmother, to warn her of the danger,’ he said, ‘and then I followed the web of whispers across Seiiki, north to Mayupora Forest.’

‘What is it you fear?’

Unora grasped her own arms. The cloth she wore concealed her expression, but her eyes were enough to betray her foreboding.

‘Why would he take the young empress to Muysima, knowing Taugran is there?’ Epabo said. ‘I believe he means to be rid of her, under the pretence of saving Seiiki. He will offer her to the beast, just as the High Ruler of Lasia surrendered his own child.’

‘Suzumai is under his control. Why would he harm her?’

‘To consolidate a House of Kuposa.’

The voice made them all look. Nikeya had appeared at the entrance to the tent, a hunting coat thrown over her shoulders.

‘I’m sorry to interrupt,’ she said. ‘Hello, Epabo. You’ve looked better.’

‘As have you, Lady of Faces.’ Epabo managed a smile. ‘I am glad that we find ourselves on the same side.’

Nikeya nodded. ‘We all know my father has changed,’ she said to them. ‘His need for power has grown in this chaos. This fire will have convinced him that Clan Kuposa must seize its chance to rule, while the gods are at their weakest. I can imagine him performing a noble sacrifice of the Noziken.’

‘Epabo,’ Dumai said, ‘thank you, for everything. I will lead the gods to avert his folly.’

She marched from the tent, into the freezing night, to collect what she would need.

‘Dumai.’ Unora caught up to her, Nikeya just behind. ‘You mustn’t go. It could be a trap, a way of drawing you into the open—’

‘I can’t leave Suzu at his mercy,’ Dumai said firmly. ‘Furtia and I will get her away.’

‘Taugran is much stronger than Furtia,’ Nikeya protested. ‘You know this, Dumai.’

‘Not for long. I feel the coming of the star.’

It was true. Her awareness of it was taut and strong, a string pulled along the neck of a lute, tuned to something that moved closer by the hour.

‘Nikeya,’ Unora said quietly, touching her shoulder, ‘will you leave us a moment, and watch over Epabo?’

‘Of course.’

Nikeya dealt Dumai a concerned look and went back to the tent. Unora took Dumai by the cheek.

‘Do not go to Muysima.’

‘I have to—’

‘I wished, Dumai. When I was twenty.’ Her voice strained. ‘I asked a wish of Pajati the White.’

Dumai stared at her.

‘I wished for a way to reach the court, so I could save my father. Sipwo dreamed of me that night.’ Unora spoke in little more than a whisper. ‘Pajati is an elder dragon – born of the stars themselves, not the sea. His light was still within me when you were conceived.’

‘How do you know?’

‘He told me it would last one turn of the sun.’ She pressed one hand to her stomach, low down. ‘I think it woke the old gifts of your line, in the waters of my womb.’

‘You could have been executed. It was forbidden.’

‘A blade would have been kinder than a death by thirst, or a wasting sickness. I had nothing left to lose, but now I do.’ Unora kept hold of her face. ‘Muysima is where my father perished. A curse lies on that island. Please, my kite – stay here, where it’s safe.’

Unora was no longer the hardened woman who had survived a hostile mountain. One mention of that island, and she was the dying girl from a dust province, alone in the world.

Dumai drew up her sleeve. ‘You must stay here. The people in this camp need a leader they trust.’ She reached for the fraying strand at her wrist and worked it off. ‘Kanifa gave this to me, from our rope, before I left for court. Hold it for me, like the end of a line. Take it and know I am your kite.’

Unora clasped the strand between their hands.

‘I can never regret that wish,’ she finally said. ‘If I had not gone to the great Pajati, my bones would lie in the dusts of Afa, and I would never have had you.’ Dumai pressed their foreheads together. ‘I will let you go, as your grandmother taught me. I will keep hold of this line and wait for your return to me.’

‘As soon as I can,’ Dumai whispered to her. ‘No matter how long I am gone, I am coming.’

****

Dumai prepared herself in her tent. She wove a rainbow through the darkness of her hair, cords in every colour she had worn when her father brought her to Antuma. Once she had fastened her armour, she picked up her ice sickles and made to secure them to her hips.

‘When do we leave?’

She turned. Nikeya was already dressed for the saddle, bundled in thick furs, eyebrows raised.

‘You must stay here,’ Dumai told her. ‘My mother will need help.’

‘So will you.’

‘Nikeya, if anything happens to me, you will be the only one who might be able to temper or defeat the River Lord. Only you know his true motivations. You must remain the Lady of Faces.’

‘She is dead, Dumai.’ Nikeya held her gaze. ‘I told him I loved you. I have chosen a side.’

Dumai shook her head, torn between frustration and tenderness.

‘You can pretend you were lying,’ she said, even as Nikeya came towards her. ‘Tell him you were hunting me for him, or trying to finish your seduction – anything, Nikeya. You must be able to slip back into his circles. I need you to leave that way open.’

‘I am still his only child, his legacy within our clan. I could persuade him to stop this without violence.’ Before Dumai could argue her case, Nikeya said, ‘Muysima smokes with hot springs. While the gods slept, that isle became restless. The early Kuposa used its heat and waters in their metalworking. In recent years, my father sent all exiles there, to mine it.’

‘Why?’

‘Looking for ways to quicken our fire.’

‘You said the gift came from a mulberry tree.’

‘There must be another way to reclaim it, somewhere in this world. The woman we saw in the North, on the glacier – she could make fire from her hands,’ Nikeya reminded her. ‘But my father has lost his senses to this pursuit. I might be able to help him recover them.’

If Dumai had any fight left in her, it disappeared when Nikeya wrapped both arms around her neck, pure resolve in her eyes.

‘Our plan hinges on Suzu. She is our future. I want to help,’ she said. ‘I know part of you still lives on the mountain, where you were the one who took all the risks – but we are married now, Dumai. Even if it’s still a secret, we are meant to face all fights together. Let us start by saving the child who is to be our heir.’

I am almost here, Furtia said, making Dumai shiver. The star will light the sky erelong, and fallen night will quench the fire.

‘A true partnership.’ Nikeya kissed her, just softly. ‘Remember?’

Dumai grasped the hand on her chest, defeated. ‘Furtia is here.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Are you ready to fly?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then come with me.’