Cold Steel

2

All eyes—and it was crowded tonight—shifted from the newcomers to me, and back to the prince’s retinue. Aunty Djeneba had been cooking cassava bread on a griddle in the open-air kitchen. She stepped back from the hearth to examine the interlopers. As the thin bread began to crisp, I could not rip my gaze from its blackening edges. The smell of its burning seemed to come right out of the dream I’d had, the way fire had caught in my flesh. Had Prince Caonabo come to kill me?

Was this what it meant to walk the dreams of dragons? Had I dreamed the dream meant for Bee because we were holding hands as we napped and her dreams had bled into mine? Or had I simply been waiting for this meeting, knowing the Taino would not let the death of their queen pass without a response?

Aunty realized the bread was burning, flipped the flat round onto the dirt, and gestured for one of her granddaughters to take over. After wiping her hands on her apron, she walked to the gate. She looked majestic with her hair covered in a vividly orange head wrap. Her height, stout build, and confident manner made her a formidable presence.

“Prince Caonabo,” she said, not that she had ever met him before, but there could only be one Taino prince in the city of Expedition. “To see one such as yee here at me gate is truly unexpected.”

One of the prince’s attendants answered in his stead, for like any lofty nobleman, Caonabo did not need to speak for himself. “His Good Highness has come to this establishment to find a witch.”

Most of our customers looked at me. I dressed in the local style so as not to draw attention to myself, but the days when I could hope to be just another maku girl making a living after being washed ashore in Expedition were irrevocably over.

Aunty stiffened. “We shelter no witch in me respectable house, nor have we ever, I shall thank yee to know. Nor need we answer to the prince, however good and high as he may be. Expedition remain a free territory. Yee Taino don’ rule us.”

The attendant blew a sharp whistle. Taino soldiers swarmed into the courtyard from the street, rifles and ceremonial spears at the ready, but the prince raised a hand to forestall any action.

“This afternoon I have spoken to the provisional Assembly,” the prince said with the precision of an intelligent man who has learned through countless hours of intense study to speak a language foreign to him. “We have completed our discussions and renewed the treaty between the Taino kingdom and Expedition Territory. One matter remains before I can leave Expedition.”

“What matter might that be, that yee trouble us while we partake of food and drink?”

Aunty still held the paddle she used on the cassava bread, and she had the stance of a woman ready to smack him with it right on his proud, highborn face if he didn’t give her a polite answer.

His attendants looked comically startled that a common Expeditioner would speak to a noble prince in such a bold and disrespectful manner, but Prince Caonabo himself appeared neither offended nor taken aback. He seemed like a man who knew his place in the world but didn’t need you to know it because it didn’t matter if you did. And it didn’t matter. In this part of the world, in the Sea of Antilles, he was among the most powerful men alive.

“Catherine Bell Barahal has been accused in the council hall of Expedition of being responsible for the death of the honorable and most wise cacica, what you call a queen, she with the name Anacaona. As Queen Anacaona’s only surviving son, and as heir to her brother, the cacique, I am required to pursue justice in this matter.”

Because it would be cowardly not to acknowledge him, I met his gaze with my own.

“I would like to know who made that accusation,” I said.

“I made the accusation.”

Customers got up and, with awkward goodbyes, hurried out the gate.

Uncle Joe muttered under his breath, “Cat, step back here behind the counter. Then yee can make a run out the back.”

“No,” I whispered. “I’ll bring no trouble down on you after everything you’ve done for me. But please send one of the lads out to make sure Rory does not come back here until the prince is gone. Send him to Kofi’s house.”

I took in a breath to fortify myself, grabbed a dram of rum, caught Uncle Joe’s warning gesture, and set down the rum without drinking. I drained a cup of guava juice instead, for my mouth had gone quite dry. Then I walked to the gate to face my accuser.

“Salve, Your Highness,” I said respectfully. I wasn’t sure what to make of Prince Caonabo. Despite his accusation, he did not glare at me in a hostile way. Instead, he acknowledged me with a lift of the hand.

“Salve, Perdita,” he answered, calling me lost woman. That was the name I had been given on the day three months ago when he and other fire mages had discovered me washed up and half-drowned on the shore of Salt Island, a quarantine island I should never have set foot on and hoped never to see again. “You recovered your sword.”

“So I did.” To all other eyes, my sword appeared as a black cane, but fire mages and the feathered people we called trolls saw it for what it was: a blade of magically forged steel. At night I could draw the blade out of the spirit world, but during the day it was just a cane unless woken by cold magic. “Your Highness, Expedition is a free territory. It is not ruled by the Taino, nor by Taino law.”

“Expedition Territory exists as a free territory within the Taino kingdom only because the captains of the first fleet that arrived here from Africa and Europa sealed a treaty with my ancestors. One of the conditions written into the First Treaty was the establishment of quarantine islands against the diseases brought across the ocean. Another condition was the right of accusation. Should a person residing in Expedition Territory commit a criminal act against any Taino, the Taino have the right to demand justice. As the accuser, I am allowed to take you into my custody and deliver you to Expedition’s Council Hall. There you will be taken before a standing inquiry on the charge of murder.”

Around us the courtyard lay still and silent. A sound of lively laughter and talk drifted from nearby households. Resonant drumming pulsed from farther afield, signaling a victory dance at the local ballcourt for the batey match that had been completed with the dusk. Three days ago there could have been no batey match, no dance, no drumming, for the entire city had been under occupation by the Taino army.

I lifted my chin. “Queen Anacaona led an invasion of Expedition. An invasion is an act of war.”

“The honored cacica’s action was not an act of war. Disease hit our people hard when the maku first came across the ocean from the east. Other nations suffered worse than ours because our behiques were wise enough to place a fence of quarantine around our islands. So you see, the First Treaty explicitly gives the Taino the legal right to act if any quarantine is broken. As you broke it, by escaping from Salt Island.”

“What if I refuse to come with you?” I asked.

He had the look of a man accustomed to gazing at the stars as he attempts to fathom heavenly secrets. He did not look like an enraged kinsman trying to determine if a perfectly well-brought-up and inoffensive young woman has been party to a murder. “I seek justice, not revenge, Maestra Barahal. Duty binds me. I honor my mother as a dutiful son must. Even so, I offer you the protection of the law. If you do not come with me, I cannot answer for what might happen, for it has come to my attention that you have enemies who wish you ill and might use your refusal as an excuse to act against you.”

“Who would those enemies be?”

He raised a hand, palm up. A tiny flame rose from the center of his palm. A glow brushed along the skin of the prince’s two attendants. Both were acting as catch-fires for his fire magic. The greatest danger to a fire mage was that the backlash of power would consume her, as fire consumes any combustible substance. In Europa there were no catch-fires. Fire mages either became blacksmiths and were inducted into the mysteries of that extended clan, or they died young in sudden and horrible conflagrations. The Taino had learned to protect fire mages with catch-fires.

“I think you know who they are,” he replied. “Fire in the wrong hands is a reckless weapon that destroys. In the hands of responsible people, fire heals. It can also offer a means to restrain the hearts of malevolent persons who disrupt the harmonious balance of society. The punishment for murder is that you lose the privilege to walk freely in a peaceful society and must serve it instead. That is why murderers are required to work in the cane fields, or to become catch-fires.”

A shiver of doubt crept its icy fingers down my spine. I felt it wisest to say nothing.

The prince curled his hand into a fist, dousing the flame. “Catherine Bell Barahal, upon my authority as heir to the Taino kingdom, and with the permission of the provisional Assembly that rules Expedition Territory, I place you under arrest for the murder of the cacica, Anacaona.”

I found a bland smile in my store of weapons, and I brandished it. “I’ll go quietly with you, Prince Caonabo, under this condition. Promise on your honor as prince and future cacique of the Taino that you, and any and all of your court and subjects and hirelings, will not harm, persecute, or arrest any person living in this household now or ever. The people living here must never face retaliation for having sheltered me.”

He gave my words thoughtful consideration. “On the honor of my ancestors and on the honor of my own person, I give my word that I and all those who are subject to my authority will not now or ever harm, persecute, or arrest any person living in this household.”

“Give me a moment, if you please.”

I walked over to the kitchen shelter. Aunty had already sent the children into one of the rooms to get them out of the way.

“Aunty, can you quickly put together a satchel of food for me? My skirt and jacket, from my room. And the cloth sleeve for my cane.”

Aunty called over her daughter Brenna and gave her instructions, then took hold of my arm. “Do the prince mean to see yee brought to trial even though he is married to yee own cousin?”

“I’m not sure what to think. Please let Bee and Rory know what’s happened.”

Uncle Joe stepped in under the kitchen roof. His glare was enough to make my eyes water, since I knew he was upset because he cared for me. “Cat, what arseness is this yee’s playing at? I reckon the new Assembly ought better protect a gal who cut off the head of the Taino invasion.”

“Do the Taino have the legal right to invade, according to the terms of the First Treaty? Because of the broken quarantine?”

“Lawyers might say so. That was a long time ago.”

“That it was a long time ago doesn’t change the law. I’ve extracted a promise from the prince that he will never harass or harm anyone who lives here.”

Uncle Joe’s grip was hard, and yet because it was so, I felt heartened. “Don’ forget, gal, that in the eyes of many folk here in Expedition, ’twas the death of the cacica that freed us from the old Council’s unjust rule. When she died and the Taino had to withdraw, that was when the Assemblymen had a chance to overthrow the Council and change the government of Expedition.”

“Yee shall find people aplenty in Expedition these days who shall fight to keep yee safe, gal,” said Aunty. “Don’ think otherwise.”

“Believe me, I won’t let them kill me.”

Uncle frowned. “The Taino rule the Sea of Antilles. Don’ make the mistake of thinking them weak. Their behiques is the most powerful of all. I reckon yee don’ truly understand how far the power of Taino fire mages can reach.”

“I have my own secrets. Anyway, I can’t die, for if I did, then who would rescue Vai?” Overwhelmed by longing for the home I had so unexpectedly found at the boardinghouse, I kissed her smooth cheek and his rough one. “But I don’t know what will happen after.”

Uncle Joe sighed. “I shall fetch yee some provision.” He went back to the counter and returned with two flasks, one filled with ginger beer and one with rum.

Aunty looked through the satchel prepared for me with flat rounds of cassava bread, unpeeled guava, jerked chicken, and a gourd filled with rice and peas. “Come back to us if yee can.”

I slid my ghost-sword into a sleeve of cloth to hide it from trolls and fire mages, made my farewells, and joined the prince at the gate.

Caonabo indicated a low-slung carriage waiting on the street. I climbed to the back bench seat, which was shaded by a hood but open to the air. Prince Caonabo sat on the facing seat.

The carriage rolled down a street illuminated by gaslight. Hooves clopped on cobblestones.

“We Taino did not have horses before the fleet from the Empire of Mali came. They are useful animals, beautiful in form and intriguing in their behavior. Do you not think so, Perdita?”

Two could play that game of batey! “I’ve not had the opportunity to study the habits of horses. We did not own any at the house where Beatrice and I grew up as devoted as sisters.”

“Ah, Beatrice.” His expression shaded into a grave smile. “I wondered how soon you would mention her. As you already know, Perdita, when General Camjiata came to Sharagua, he offered Queen Anacaona a trade. In exchange for Taino gold, soldiers, and weapons for his Europan war, he would give her son and heir for bride a young woman who walks the dreams of dragons. Such a woman is precious beyond jewels, for she can see the meeting places and crossing points of the future. With such a bride, my claim to the duho—the seat of power—would be strengthened. Naturally, my mother accepted on my behalf.”

“Bee won’t stand by and let me be condemned. She’ll never forgive you if I die.”

He sat back against the upholstered seat. “Yet if I am to be accepted as the next cacique, I must see the cacica’s murderer brought to justice. Since it was my honored mother’s wish that I succeed her brother as ruler of all the Taino, you may comprehend my dilemma.”

“I think you should just let me go, Prince Caonabo. My hand did not kill your mother.”

“You speak as do the feathered people, disguising your meaning beneath words that hide the truth. I was there the night it happened, on what you call Hallows’ Night, on the ballcourt. I saw a saber-toothed cat break my mother’s neck. I saw a swarm of creatures with teeth and claws rip my mother apart. I saw a hunting hound run off into the night carrying my mother’s head in its jaws. So pray excuse me if I neglect the usual polite talk and cut to the heart.”

“Truly, Your Highness, I think we have passed the point where we need concern ourselves with polite words.”

His gaze was steady, not angry. “I heard what you said to the maku spirit lord that night. You addressed him as ‘Father.’ You said, ‘Are you going to let that fire weaver destroy me? I guess you can’t stop her.’ Do you not think those are strange and careless words with which to ask for the death of another person? Because I do.”

The cavalcade reached the boulevard that fronted the sea, a long stone-built jetty. Waves sighed against rocks and piers; it was a gentle evening, with a gentle wind and a gentle swell. A wagon drawn by a dwarf mammoth trundling along the boulevard caught the prince’s attention. When his gaze flickered that way, it was all the distraction I needed.

Born to a human mother, I had been sired by a creature of the spirit world. That meant I could reach into the interstices that wove together the mortal world and the spirit world and draw those threads around me to hide my body from mortal eyes. With satchel and cloth-covered cane clutched against me, I wrapped myself in shadow. A bounce on the forward seat gave the impression I had leaped out of the carriage.

Prince Caonabo’s attendants shouted in alarm. I held my breath and rode the jolt as the driver hauled the horses to a halt. Soldiers scattered to search for me. The prince passed a hand over his face. For no more than a breath, he smiled as if my audacity reminded him of something that amused him greatly. Then a captain ran up, and Caonabo’s expression settled back into cool reserve. He beckoned to the soldier. As the captain mounted into the carriage, rocking it, I stepped off.

The shouts of the soldiers covered the thump I made on landing. I dodged away and caught my breath under a hissing gas streetlamp, in full sight but entirely veiled by my shadows. Carters and wagoners on their way home pulled aside. One old carter lit a cigarillo nervously, puffing smoke. Young toughs swaggered into view, as if hoping the Taino would push them into a fight. A young woman with a baby strapped to her back grabbed a ripe papaya out of the basket she was carrying and cocked her arm to fling it at the prince, but an older woman grabbed her elbow to stop her.

A whistle shrilled. As the Taino soldiers resumed formation, I crept away down a side street.