Blades of the Old Empire Read online

  “My opinion about this doesn’t matter,” Oden Lan said. “But if you really want to know, I think Master Nimos may have had personal reasons to do this. He seemed… infatuated with her. This, however, is really beside the point. The Majat don’t question our employers’ motives. That’s one of the reasons our services are valued so highly.”

  “And now,” Egey Bashi pressed on, “what will happen to the money that he paid you?”

  “It will be returned, of course.”

  “So, he actually won’t be paying you anything, would he?” A strange glow lit up in the Magister’s eyes.

  “Since we are having such an honest conversation,” Oden Lan said, “and I just happen to anticipate your next question, I’ll tell you. Master Nimos also paid the price of one Diamond to ensure that no Majat could be hired to protect the boys.”

  “I see.”

  “Therefore,” Oden Lan went on, “while I do agree that the way Master Nimos behaved around Kara wouldn’t help to establish a good working relationship, I fail to see what he stood to gain by her actions. As of now, the boys are under her protection, which definitely makes his intentions toward them harder to fulfill. If you’re right that this was part of a plot, the plot was quite badly conceived, wasn’t it?”

  “And what will you do now?” Egey Bashi asked.

  The Majat Master glanced around the room. Abib and Raishan averted their eyes.

  “That,” Oden Lan said, “is none of your business, Magister.”

  Raishan raised his head. “Perhaps you would allow me to talk to her first, Master Oden Lan? If you send me to intercept her, maybe I could convince her to–”

  Oden Lan’s short glance cut him off. Raishan lifted his chin and stood to attention.

  “There’s one thing you didn’t tell me, Aghat Raishan,” the Majat Master said, “and you should have. She thinks she’s in love with the boy, doesn’t she? She betrayed her duty to protect him. You should know well that no matter what else happened, that’s what really makes her actions unforgivable.”

  “For the Guild?” Abib asked quietly. “Or, for you?”

  The silence that followed these words hit the room like a thunderbolt. Oden Lan slowly turned around to face the old man. For a moment it seemed to everyone that he was going to hit the weapon keeper, but he didn’t move. His gaze became cold.

  “The deed is done,” he said. “Even if she decided to come back and resume the assignment, it won’t change anything now.” He glanced over to Raishan. The Diamond lowered his head. It suddenly seemed as if the sun had disappeared from the blazing morning sky and it had become dark and dreary in the room.

  “Now, go,” Oden Lan said. “There’s nothing more to be said.”

  “Actually,” Egey Bashi said, “I’m here with another business.” He stepped forward and put a heavy bag of coins on the Guildmaster’s desk. “I wish to hire a Diamond.”

  Oden Lan looked at him in surprise. “For what assignment? If this has anything to do with–”

  “I assure you, it’s a completely unrelated matter. I am on my way to look into certain things at the Monastery in Aknabar. I’ll need a really good bodyguard.”

  Oden Lan leaned back in his chair. “There’re not many Diamonds that are currently unassigned.”

  He looked over at Raishan, who stood inanimate in the way only the top gem ranks could. His slanted gray eyes were fixed impassively on the landscape outside the window.

  The Magister had no way of knowing that after Oden Lan dispatched the messengers to carry the two freshly sealed packages on his desk, Raishan would be the only Diamond left who was available to go with the Keeper. At least, Oden Lan hoped that the Magister had no way of knowing it, and that this was all mere coincidence.

  He paused before turning back to the Keeper.

  “Aghat Raishan,” he said, “is currently between assignments. He will go with you.”

  He reached into his desk drawer and took out Raishan’s token, handing it to the Magister. He took care not to look at the gleam of the diamond, closing his fingers over it and glancing at the name rune instead. It read “hawk”, but to an outsider it looked like no more than an elegant ornament at the base of the crossed blades.

  “You must understand, Magister,” Oden Lan said. “If I find that Aghat Raishan has interfered with Guild business in any way, with or without your orders, it will be a violation of the Majat Code. Aghat Raishan knows what that means. If he forgets his duties, even for a moment, it would be a great loss for all of us. Please make sure it doesn’t happen.”

  The Magister nodded, putting the token away into the depths of his robe.

  Oden Lan turned to Raishan. “Do you have any questions about your new assignment, Aghat?”

  “No, Guildmaster,” Raishan said, his eyes still fixed on the window ahead.

  “You must protect the Magister,” Oden Lan said, “and only him. If you get involved in the protection of the boys, or if you interfere with other Guild members doing their duty, you will suffer the same fate as her.”

  He walked to the door and held it open long after the footsteps of his unwanted visitors died out on the spiral stairway. Then he returned to his desk and rang the bell. His work for today was not done.

  In less than ten minutes, two men came in. One was Gahang Khall, the head of the Jades who had been in the study earlier today when he and the gate captain, Gahang Amir, had brought the bad news. He was accompanied by a freckled young man with curly red hair. The man’s light blue eyes held an expression of childlike wonder, making anyone who met him feel like smiling.

  “Gahang Sharrim,” Khall introduced. “He’s one of my best.”

  Oden Lan nodded. It was difficult to imagine that this red-headed youngster would be good enough for the operation, but Khall knew his business.

  A third figure appeared noiselessly in the doorway. The Jades hurriedly moved aside as he stepped in, smooth and graceful like a tiger.

  “Come in, Aghat Han,” Oden Lan beckoned.

  The newcomer approached the desk and froze, an instant change from movement to stillness. Oden Lan looked him up and down.

  Han looked like a man of Cha’ori lineage. He had dark skin, black hair, and agate eyes that were slanted much more than Raishan’s, narrow slits that shot upward to the corners of his high cheekbones. Like all Diamonds, he wasn’t especially big or tall, but he seemed to occupy a lot of the room with his dark, ominous presence. He and Sharrim, standing next to each other, looked like almost exact opposites, a cheerful young man who made everyone feel like smiling, and a dark, gloomy one who seemed to suck the air out of the room just by standing quietly in its corner. They made an interesting pair.

  “The King and his suite are now at Illitand Hall,” Oden Lan said. “You must travel by a relay, to reach them as quickly as you can. Take the fastest lizardbeasts from the stable. I’m sending messenger ravens to ensure you get fresh beasts every fifty leagues. I expect that with no delay you should get there in eight days. If anyone gets in your way, you may do whatever you need to remove them.”

  Oden Lan leaned forward and handed the two sealed packages to Han.

  “Give this package to the King,” he said, “and this one to Aghat Mai. You are to replace him as the leader of the Pentade until he completes his mission. And you, Gahang,” he turned to Sharrim, “will follow Aghat Mai’s orders until he releases you to return to the Guild. I trust that Gahang Khall has briefed you on the situation and you know what you must do?”

  Sharrim nodded, his face carefully blank. Oden Lan knew Khall must have told the Jade all the necessary details, but he wasn’t worried. Mai was one of the best, and he knew what to do. Mai would not fail.

  21

  THE BLACK DIAMOND

  “What will happen now?” Egey Bashi asked Raishan on the way back to the guest quarters.

  Raishan walked for a while in silence, his smooth steps easily matching the Magister’s purposeful stride.

  “You and I
,” he finally said, “will travel to wherever it is you need to go, and hope that our trip doesn’t bring us into conflict with the Guild.”

  Egey Bashi shook his head. “That’s not what I asked, Aghat, and you know it.”

  Raishan turned his head to look directly at the Keeper.

  “You’re prying into Guild business, Magister. Is this mere curiosity, or do you actually think you can do something about it?”

  Egey Bashi met his gaze. “Personal feelings aside, Aghat, the order of Keepers – and myself – have invested a lot into keeping Prince Kythar Dorn safe and out of trouble. His fate is tied to the fate of our kingdom, and what happens to Kara now will affect him directly. Simply put, I want to make sure that when it comes to action, she’ll be there to protect him.”

  Raishan’s gaze darkened. “Unfortunately, in all likelihood, she won’t. Not for long.”

  The Magister stopped dead in his tracks. “Tell me, Aghat.”

  Raishan shrugged. “I see no reason to talk about this. There’s nothing anyone can do to stop what’s coming.”

  Egey Bashi moved his face closer to the Majat. “You want a reason? How about this one: I’ve devoted the last eighteen years of my life to keeping Kyth safe, and what happens now might well ruin all my work. That’s reason enough for me to know, don’t you think? And if no one can stop it, there’s no harm in telling me, is there, Aghat?”

  Raishan hesitated. It seemed to the Magister that despite the Majat’s outward calmness, it was difficult for him to talk about this. Egey Bashi waited.

  “As you know,” Raishan said at length, “being a ranked Majat is a privilege that comes with an exceptional fighting skill. We’re all proud of what we are. But this privilege also comes with a price. A ranked Majat can never leave the Guild. If this ever happens, a Majat of a higher rank is sent to track down and kill him.”

  Egey Bashi looked at him in disbelief. “Do you mean to tell me that your bullheaded Guildmaster would send someone to kill Kara?”

  Raishan stiffened. “I understand you’re upset, Magister. So, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that first bit. And yes, that’s exactly what he will do.”

  “But why? Why have such a rule in the first place?”

  “Two reasons. First, we don’t like to risk exposing the secrets of the trade. And second, it’s simply too dangerous. Having a warrior of this skill on the loose could seriously disturb the balance of power. The higher the rank, the bigger the danger. It’s the responsibility of the Guild to keep this danger under control.”

  Egey Bashi stared at him for a moment as the words settled into his head.

  “But Kara’s a Diamond. There’s no one higher in rank. Who could he possibly send?”

  Raishan hesitated. “There’s a special mechanism in place to kill a Diamond. If such a thing is called for, the Guild sends two Majat. One – a Jade that could provide backup. And the other – the Diamond’s shadow.”

  “Shadow?” Despite the warmth of the morning sunlight, Egey Bashi felt a chill run down his spine.

  “Each Diamond,” Raishan went on, “receives what we call ‘shadow’ training, where we’re taught the exact fighting style and weaknesses of another Diamond in the Guild. In single combat, a shadow can get through the defense where other Diamonds can’t. The shadow, with the help of a Jade, is the only one who could kill a Diamond.”

  Egey Bashi frowned. There had to be a flaw in this strange mechanism. “What if a Diamond you shadow doesn’t have a weakness?”

  Raishan shook his head. “These weaknesses aren’t even known to the Diamond himself. They’re identified by the Shadow Master during training and kept secret from everyone else.”

  “Shadow Master?”

  Raishan nodded. “Everyone in the Guild secretly fears him. He knows everyone’s weaknesses. We all spend time with him after the ranking, but none of us knows who we’re shadowing and who’s shadowing us. He’s the one who does all the matching.”

  “He must be a great warrior,” Egey Bashi said thoughtfully.

  “No,” Raishan said. “He’s a great trainer. He doesn’t fight. He watches. And then, he tells a ranked Diamond how to beat his counterpart.”

  “He’s a dangerous man, your Shadow Master.”

  “Yes.”

  “But it seems to me that even if you knew another Diamond’s weaknesses, the chances you could kill him are still not high enough. From what I’ve seen so far, a Diamond’s virtually unbeatable. Even if you know his fighting style, there may not be enough weakness to defeat him.”

  Raishan nodded. “That’s why a Jade is sent along. Jades are different from other gem ranks. Normally they don’t go on assignments; their job is to ensure the security of the Guild itself. Their special strength is in the ranged weapons. They can’t kill a Diamond, at least not one on one, but in a fight between a Diamond and his shadow they can give the shadow additional fighting advantage. The combination of a Jade and a shadow can’t possibly fail.”

  “So, a Jade’s job is to shoot?” Egey Bashi asked in disbelief. “What if he misses and shoots the wrong man?”

  “A Jade’s job is to do what the shadow tells him. To throw himself onto the Diamond’s sword and die, if necessary. And, I told you, they’re good with ranged weapons. They don’t miss.”

  Egey Bashi paused. “So, you think Master Oden Lan will send such a pair after Kara?”

  Raishan glanced at the tower behind them. “I’m sure he did it right after we left. This is high priority to the Guild and it takes precedence over everything else. Did you see the sealed packages on his desk? One of them must be the Black Diamond.”

  “Black Diamond?”

  “It’s a token,” Raishan explained. “Just like any other gem token, but its stone is black. It’s given to the shadow to symbolize the death contract. In exchange, the shadow brings back the Diamond’s armband.”

  Egey Bashi shook his head. “You Majat really like tokens. So much craftsmanship, so many precious stones, just to maintain symbols.”

  Raishan looked at him coldly. “These tokens are issued only for Diamonds. And each of them has a name on it. This is more than a symbol, Magister. Each Black Diamond means someone’s life.”

  Egey Bashi paused. One had to be raised a Majat to understand the significance of these tokens that meant little to everyone else except for the glitter of their stones. But Raishan’s story went far beyond symbols. To think that someone with a deadly skill was being sent after Kara, and that they knew her weaknesses and was capable of killing her, was sobering.

  “Who’s her shadow?” Egey Bashi asked.

  “No one knows, except Master Oden Lan and the Shadow Master. Just like none of us know who we’re shadowing until the time comes. To my knowledge, nothing like this has happened in centuries.”

  Egey Bashi kept silent for a while as he resumed walking to the barracks. Raishan fell in stride with him.

  “Quite a mechanism,” Egey Bashi said at length.

  “The Majat Guild doesn’t tolerate failure.”

  Egey Bashi shook his head.

  “Perhaps,” Raishan suggested, “we should talk about my assignment? You did hire me for an unrelated purpose, didn’t you?”

  Egey Bashi turned, his thoughts slowly coming back to the present time.

  “My way from here lies to Aknabar, where I must pay a visit to the monastery to find out more about Reverend Cyrros. Under the circumstances I felt that the help of a Diamond would be welcome. I couldn’t afford to hire you by name, but thanks to a timely hint from Master Abib it all worked out well. You’ve seen these men, Aghat. Your help against them would be invaluable. We’re dealing with a formidable enemy.” He looked ahead and froze, his feet coming to a halt of their own accord.

  A lonely figure stood at the entrance to the guest quarters. The man wore light leather armor and a hooded black cloak thrown back over the shoulders. His easy, graceful posture suggested considerable fighting skill. It took a moment to recognize his face,
a short mop of brown hair standing around his head, dark eyes, sharp bird-like features that, without the ominous hood, looked almost nondescript.

  Nimos.

  “Magister Egey Bashi,” he exclaimed with a bright smile. “Aghat Raishan. What a coincidence. Fancy meeting you here!”

  “What do you want?” Egey Bashi demanded.

  Nimos shrugged. “Is it a crime to want to say hello to old friends?”

  “Theoretically speaking, no. But I fail to see how it’s applicable here.”

  “You break my heart, Magister. I thought we were bonded.”

  “What a horrible thought.”

  Nimos spread his hands. “Now that the boys and Aghat Kara are gone, do we really have a quarrel, Magister?”

  Egey Bashi’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you look so pleased with yourself?”

  “Because,” Nimos said, “I’m overall an irresistible man. Don’t you think so?”

  Egey Bashi waited.

  “And,” Nimos went on, “because it all worked out so well, don’t you agree?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You wanted the boys to be under Kara’s protection, Magister, and you got your wish.”

  “You seem to know a lot about this.”

  Nimos smiled. “Your plans, Magister, weren’t hard to guess. Note that I’m not prying into where the Prince might be going so that he needs such an impressive escort.”

  “I wish I could say I was grateful,” Egey Bashi said. “But I’m glad to see that the fact he’s under the protection of someone you tried to hire makes you pleased.”

  Nimos’s smile widened. “Aghat Kara is truly the gem of gems. I wish I could spend all my time with her. But, alas, she has two unfortunate qualities. First, she’s in love with the boy, so she could never be trusted where he’s involved. And second, she seems to be immune to our powers. Which really left us with only one choice.”

  Egey Bashi looked at him, feeling a chill creep up his spine.

  “I see,” Nimos said, “you’re beginning to understand me, Magister. Want me to tell you all of it, or are you bright enough to guess?”