The Sorcery Within

XXIX

THE FORT ATZYRAII-NI-ZYRAII,which the traders called Xurosh, straddled the gorge through which the trade route flowed. The main structure had been erected on the northern cliff, accessible only via a small side road that branched off from the highway a mile to the west, where the grade was not as vertical. The smaller building, across the chasm to the south, could be reached only by the bridge that connected it to the main fort. The small keep commanded a site where arrows could easily be fired through archery slits at the highway, or great stones, already prepared, dropped. Boiling oil could be poured through machicolations in the bridge battlements. The barracks could hold a small battalion.

"Give me your opinion, war-second," Lonal requested.

"Formidable," Elenya answered.

They had come, alone, to a hilltop where they could get a clear view of the fort without being themselves noticeable. She scanned farther. There were no alternate courses through the pass other than the road and the riverbed next to it, and these were equally vulnerable to attack from above. Cargo could only travel via the road. Even unburdened, oeikani would have difficulty negotiating the ridges. To get to their present vantage point, Lonal and Elenya had climbed like goats. The next good pass was a hundred leagues away.

"It's a perfect ambush point," she said.

"This was true even before the fort was built," Lonal said, "and the traders have made sure to secure their advantage. The only way to gain control of this spot now is never to have lost it."

He pointed to the small keep. "That was where my father died. The merchant's army trapped him there with about two dozen men of the T'lil and the Olot. They wanted the spot because that's where the spring is, the only permanent source of water in this region. They starved him for a fortnight, and when they feared to wait any longer, they stormed the summit. They must have lost hundreds of men in the attempt, but they took it. They built the keep on his bones."

He sighed bitterly. Elenya had heard much of the story before. Joren had led Po-no-pha of the T'lil to the aid of warriors of the Olot, who had been taken unaware by the mercenaries the Azuraji merchants had hired. When it was clear that the traders intended to seize the pass, Joren sent messengers begging reinforcements from other Zyraii tribes. But the Buyul and the Fanke refused to do so unless their own war-leaders commanded the defense. There was no time to resolve the issue. Surrounded, Joren held the cliff tops for as long as he could. Men of the Alyr came, but they arrived too late.

"We should have taken the mountain back immediately, no matter how many men it would have cost," Lonal declared. "But the tribes would not band together. My father was perhaps the one man they might all have followed, given time enough to swallow their obstinacy. They argued with one another until the fortress was completed. Now we are left to face this monstrosity."

That was a good description, Elenya thought. Xurosh didn't belong in a land whose people built no permanent structures. The great stone battlements broke the natural lines of the gorge. It was a blot of civilization against the otherwise pristine scenery. The land was no longer as God had made it.

As she watched Lonal stare at the outpost, she understood things about him for the first time. There was more than grief at work. Joren's last stand had determined the focus of his son's ambitions. On the one side, Lonal had to vindicate his father's failure. On the other hand, the defense of the mountaintop had become legendary. Thanks to its fame, and Joren's impressive early career, Lonal might actually win the loyalty of all the tribes. The myth-loving Zyraii wanted the vendetta fulfilled.

Xurosh was the key. It was the root of the war-leader's single-mindedness. It didn't really matter to him what else he did with his life, as long as he dealt with this place.

"I will take it down," he said. "Have you thought of a way to help me?"

"Yes."

"We poison the well," Elenya said.

The tent was filled with the war-leaders and war-seconds of the T'lil, Alyr, and Olot. Toltac, opsib of the T'lil, sat to one side with Gham, opsib of the Olot. Many were disgruntled by Elenya's presence. She was not only a woman – though none would voice this objection aloud – but was also only recently promoted to war-second. It did not seem appropriate that she should be spokesman, but Lonal clearly deferred to her, and made it obvious that he expected everyone else to do so as well.

"We all agree that we don't have the lives to waste taking Xurosh by storm," she continued, "so we have to use their weak point against them. There is only one well. If it is tainted, everyone in the fort will be affected."

"There are women inside. They would be killed, too," pointed out the war-leader of the Olot.

"We've thought of that. The poison we will use won't kill anyone. It will only paralyze. We'll make sure that the women recover, but the men don't."

"What poison are you speaking of?"

"Mother's Breath."

"Only sorcerers can make Mother's Breath. Where do you plan to get it?"

"I can make it."

Murmurs echoed off the goat-hide walls. A few pairs of eyes gazed at her with alarm. Sorcery not of the ken was just short of demons' work.

"It will require a large amount of human blood," Elenya said. "But if we take a little from all of the men in the camp, it should be enough."

The war-leader of the Olot stood up, facing Lonal. "You're going to let a witch bleed us?"

Lonal's tone was offhand. "Are you afraid, Quasham? Would you rather spill your blood on the walls of Xurosh, until you have none left?"

"Who is to say if the blood will be used only to make poison? Should we endanger our souls?"

Lonal shrugged. "I will be the first. Thereafter, if you don't wish to donate, I will be glad to take it from you. We could get all we need from a single corpse."

Elenya smiled. Lonal was stretching the facts in order to enforce the bluff. In fact, Mother's Breath required that the blood be utterly fresh, dripped hot from the wound directly into the mixture at an exact point in time. The blood of a corpse would only be effective for moments after death.

"We aren't as worried about tainting the well as what happens afterward," Elenya said. "We may take the fort, but we have to keep it. The T'lil are not sufficient alone. We can hold Xurosh, yes, but the supply lines must be kept open. We need enough Po-no-pha to harass the traders, should they try to lay siege. They must be convinced that it will be too dear a cost to them to retake the outpost."

"If we can keep Xurosh for one season, we will have won," Lonal stated. "The merchants of Azurajen cannot afford to lose business for long. They will soon be willing to negotiate. Paying us the tribute will rest easier on their minds than having the trade route completely blocked."

"How are you going to reach the well?" asked the war-leader of the Alyr. "It is guarded."

"That's true," Elenya said. "But it is guarded from men, not women."

"For good reason," the man continued. "We would not permit a woman to become involved in acts of war. Are you suggesting heresy?"

"It's not necessary to use women," Elenya said. "It will be enough if the traders merelybelieve that only women are near their well. The reality will be different. We happen to have at least one Po-no-pha who can disguise himself as a woman very well."

During a break in the discussions, Lonal was relaxing by the edge of the oasis. Toltac joined him.

"How do you think it will go?"

"As soon as they're done with their cavilling, they'll accept the plan," Lonal said confidently. "They have nothing to lose. They don't have to commit their forces until after they know if the poisoning of the well has succeeded. Once that occurs, they will hurry to be on the winning side."

"Yes. That was my perspective, also."

The Bo-no-ken seemed pleased with himself, in the mood to talk. Lonal didn't mind. As war-leader and opsib, they had no peers within the clan. Their political relationship kept them from becoming confidants, but they had often conversed at great depth and, quite unknown to themselves, would have regretted losing the chance to continue.

The high priest chuckled. "Do you remember that night when you brought back Yetem and Tebec?"

"Of course. Why?"

"That was the longest night of my life, save the night I spent in the caves of Setan. A time of hard decision. I have never told anyone this before, but I am convinced God spoke to me that night." He lowered his voice to a whisper.

"What did He say?"

"He said, 'The problem is faith. When you believed she was a man, all things were correct. What is simpler than to believe once again she is a man? With sufficient faith, all things are possible.' I then knew God's mind. The whole matter was a test of our belief. But I knew He wouldn't leave it there. There had to be a reason why He would test us in this particular way. Now it is obvious."

"It is?"

"Yes. How else would we have this needle to thrust in Xurosh's eye? As was said, it would be heresy to endanger a female. So God has provided for us a man who looks like a woman. I see now why He had to speak to me."

"He indeed works in fascinating ways," Lonal said.

"What I also never understood before tonight," Toltac added, "was whyyou wanted the westerners. It could not have been only what you told us that night in council, though that was no doubt true. Now I perceive your plans. How far ahead you think! I am impressed."

Lonal demurred. "I had hardly thought of the plan of the well back then. I didn't know Yetem could make Mother's Breath until very recently."

Toltac chuckled. "No, not that. I was watching carefully today." Indeed, observing was all Toltac could do. Though his authority was deep, the Bo-no-ken had no voice in military matters. "The idea of poison was not popular. It is not manly."

"But it is our only hope."

"I agree. But still, it was wise of you to divert the dissension to another target. You place Yetem, with all his 'oddness,' to the forefront. It is then easy for all concerned to direct their dissatisfactions at him. You, though you are the policymaker, are safe in the background."

"I suppose you could see it that way," Lonal said, but his face clouded.

"It is a good scheme. In the event of failure, the blame can fall on Yetem, yet you can claim most of the credit for a success. If your father had possessed that sort of subtlety, he could have become opsha."

"Perhaps I am like you," Lonal said presently. "Perhaps God speaks to me, and tells me what to do. I only see the significance of the acts later. Perhaps He sent Yetem to me for this very purpose – to be my foil." He faced Toltac. "It is comforting, to have His presence, guiding my destiny. But is that all there is to it? Are we all merely players in God's game? Are we the dice, once thrown, that have no choice in how the roll is thrown? Sometimes it seems that God is on my side. But what should happen if I choose not to do what He asks of me?"

"Do not speak of apostasy," Toltac said firmly. "You have always been a devoted servant of God. Even the noblest have doubts. What is better than to fulfill your destiny? Especially one as glorious as yours seems it will be."

"Yetem is good company," Lonal interjected suddenly.

"You have been spending a great deal of time with him," Toltac noted. "In fact, there – "

"There is talk about it, I know. Be comforted – it has no basis in fact. Still, I enjoy the time I spend with him. It never fails to be…educational. I think this would be true in spite of his usefulness to me."

"Be careful of the urges of youth," Toltac said.

"I am not a boy. I can feel what I want."

Toltac pursed his lips. "Perhaps it is time you took another wife. A distraction would do you good."

"I don't need another wife."

Toltac frowned. "I wonder if you know yourself as well as you think," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Suppose the plan against Xurosh fails. Suppose that, in order to continue to pursue your ambition, you need a scapegoat, and Yetem is the only one available. Would you still want his company?"

"Are you saying I would betray him?"

Toltac shrugged. "You tell me."

"I would prefer to consider it when and if the situation arises," Lonal said sharply.

"That may be a luxury. God may test you. He chooses His own time."

Lonal stared at the oasis.

Toltac tried to sound sympathetic. He was not Ah-no-ken, who swallowed the word of God whole and regurgitated it, believing it inviolate; his sect of the ken knew that God's work took place through the hands and tongues of men and they believed it their task to shape that creation. He could note and accept that Lonal lusted for the westerner. It would be heresy to consummate it, and if Lonal were caught, Toltac would not hesitate to pass judgment upon him, but the opsib was not shocked. It was merely new evidence of the inscrutability of God.

"The Lonal that I have known would have only one choice," the opsib finished.