The Mirror Empire (63 page)

“Is it done?” Kirana asked. She pulled off her left gauntlet and wiped the sweat from her face. She was a lean but powerful woman, far more physically fit than the Kirana that Nasaka had once known.

“He’s left the temple for Liona,” Nasaka said. “By the time I got back, he was already gone.”

“Don’t tell me your prized boy has become headstrong,” she said, but she was not looking at Nasaka. She was looking off to the left at some commotion.

“I didn’t know about Kirana’s quarters in Garika,” Nasaka said. “By the time I arrived to clear them out, he’d already done it. I had no idea she was meeting with the Garikas behind my back. But our deal still holds.”

“What?” Kirana glanced back at her. “Yes, of course. So long as you control him, he’s no threat to me. You can have the boy. To be honest, I was always surprised you asked for nothing else.”

Nasaka sometimes wondered how different things would be now if her Kirana had been the sort of leader this one was. But their worlds were different. Her Kirana had not been raised in a world that would produce such a person. But it produced me, Nasaka thought. It was I who failed. I should have raised her to be a soldier. A fighter. If I had raised her to such a vocation, we wouldn’t be in this place.

“I’ve seen how you deliver on your promises,” Nasaka said.

Kirana raised her brows. “You got your boy on the seat. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

“You asked me to kill a good many people and lie and betray far more to get there.”

“It’s not as if lying is a new exercise for a woman in your position.”

“Kirana’s death nearly split the country apart,” Nasaka said.

“That was her fault,” Kirana said. “She should have parlayed. Instead, she chose the coward’s way.” The air between them wavered. “I don’t have much time. Will the harbor gates be open or not?”

“I need time.”

“I thought you controlled Ahkio,” Kirana said coolly. “If you can’t control him, he’s not necessary. I can have him easily replaced with any number of my own people.”

“Like Yisaoh?”

“Yisaoh?” Kirana seemed genuinely surprised, then laughed. “I am often heartened by the amount of ignorance you display in these conversations, Nasaka.”

Nasaka gripped her sword hilt hard. The willowthorn branch snaked out, wrapping around her wrist. She bared her teeth. “He’ll do as I ask.” And if he wouldn’t, his wife would.

“Good.” Kirana pulled her gauntlet back on and barked something at her generals in the Dhai dialect they used. Nasaka had picked it up over the decade of their discussions, but the gate between them was becoming unstable, and the words were garbled.

“My son,” Nasaka said, loudly. “He’ll do as you ask.” Just in case she had not heard.

Kirana glanced back at her and flashed a grin. It was a confident, reassuring grin that Nasaka had seen her own Kirana employ while charming clan leaders and Oras alike. It squeezed at Nasaka’s heart.

“I know he will,” Kirana said.

The air pressure suddenly decreased. The air shivered. The rents between the worlds snapped shut.

Nasaka let out her breath. She stood alone in the field. Her grip on her sword eased. She let herself fall to one knee in the poppies. Her heart was pounding fast. The surge of adrenaline was nearly overwhelming. She had wanted to cut across the gate and sever Kirana in two. But the war was coming. Oma was rising. And the Dhai in this world were not prepared for it.

The outcome was clear to her from the first moment the other Kirana dragged her through to witness a death that even now, Nasaka could not bear to think about. This Kirana would win. It would be a rout. The army that flooded Saiduan now was just a taste of what they were about to experience. Kirana had already destroyed her own world. Now she was coming for theirs.

Nasaka waited until her pulse slowed, and then rose. The hourglass of the suns had tipped behind the mountains. The world went turquoise, then violet. Nasaka followed the hunting trail back through the field of poppies, down into the snowy foothills, back to the Temple of Oma and the son who despised her, though she was the only thing standing between him and death.

She was no fool, of course. She knew Kirana would come for them soon enough. But Nasaka had other plans. Plans she needed far more time to put into motion.

When Nasaka reached the temple, it was full dark, her way lit only by the moons. She pushed open the sally port and mounted the long tongue of the grand staircase.

Una, the gatekeeper, met her on the stair.

“He was in the basements a long time before they called him to Liona,” Una said. “He wouldn’t tell me what he was up to, but he had some kind of maps.”

“Did he find Meyna? She’s still secure in the gaol?”

“She is,” Una said. “Don’t worry about that. What was he looking for down there, Ora Nasaka?”

“I don’t know,” Nasaka said. “But I intend to find out.”

 

GLOSSARY

Country on the southwestern shore of Grania, led by a conclave of three queens and two kings.

 

A Saiduan dancer at Kuonrada.

 

The name of a month of the year, in early (low) spring.

 

Teacher in Clan Osono. Son of Javia Mia Sorai and Rishin Garin Badu. Brother to Kirana Javia Garika, the leader of the Dhai people.

 

The largest of Raisa’s three moons.

 

The Patron of Saiduan. A tirajista.

 

Birth mother to 
Yisaoh Alais Garika
. Married to Garika clan master 
Tir
, Moarsa, and Gaila.

 

A member of the Kuallina militia.

 

A city on the Saiduan coast. Former home of Maralah Daonia’s family.

An Ora and the Mistress of Novices at the Temple of Oma. A very sensitive tirajista.

 

A Saiduan-controlledisland north of Dorinah, currently under siege by Dorinah.

A Seeker from Dorinah. Tirajista.

 

Zezili Hasaria’s husband. Son of Gilyna Lasinya, a tax clerk in Dorinah’s eastern province. The Empress awarded Anavha to Zezili as a token for her service.

 

A Dhai scholar, specializing in Saiduanese history. Married to Lanilu Asaila Sorila.

 

Temporary keeper of the Liona Stronghold in Ghrasia Madah’s absence.

 

Politically formidable wife of Patron Alaar Masoth Taar.

 

A Saiduan scholar.

 

Clan leader of Clan Badu.

 

Record keeper for the archives at Kuonrada. Native of Caisau.

 

Tree that emits a deadly acid that can eat through skin and armor, and melt bone.

 

Tree with spiny branches made of the bones of its prey. Secretes a poisonous sap.

 

Denotes the collected writings of Faith Ahya and her early followers, which have become the basis for historical understanding and religious practices in Dhai.

 

A collection of anecdotal stories and observations which form the basis of religious practices and laws in Dorinah.

 

The Patron of Saiduan’s personal guards, a position which is often hereditary.

 

Novice at the Temple of Oma. A parajista.

 

A city in Saiduan just south of Isjahilde.

 

An old acquaintance of Ora Dasai’s living in Isjahilde before it was overrun by the Tai Mora.

 

Empress of Dorinah.

 

Title used for the spouse of the Kai.

 

Ambitious Ora living in Oma’s temple. Brother to Roh. They share two mothers and three fathers but are not related by blood. A tirajista.

 

Named for one of Hahko and Faith Ahya’s children, Clan Adama’s primary exports come from its orchards.

 

Central clan in Dhai, just north of Clan Garika. Primarily known for its textiles.

 

Clan bordering Clans Garika and Sorila, in Dhai. Politically close to Clan Garika.

 

Coastal clan in Dhai.

 

Clan Dasina often allies with Clan Daora in political matters. The two are named after the twin daughters of the fourth Dhai Kao. Clan Dasina’s exports include rice, sugar cane, and hemp.

 

Known as the most powerful single clan in Dhai.

 

Smallest and least economically powerful of the Dhai clans.

 

Neighboring Clan Mutao, Clan Nako holds much of the country’s wealth in copper and other metals.

 

Central clan in Dhai. Chief commodity is sheep.

 

Originally comprised of two different clans – Riana and Orsaila – Clan Roana is just a century old, and was created in an effort to tamp down the fierce feuding between the Riana and Orsaila clans, which resulted in nearly a dozen deaths.

 

Clan located in southern Dhai, politically aligned with Clan Sorai.

 

Clan Saobina exports timber, herbal aids and medications – which it grows and mixes in its own fields and workshops.

 

Named after a powerful daughter of the third Kai, Clan Sorai is often allied with clans Adama and Saobina in political affairs. They are also the clan responsible for the safety and security of Asona harbor, the country’s single largest trading link to the outside world.

 

Clan nearest the Temple of Oma, in Dhai. Primary export is timber.

 

Named for Faith Ahya’s second daughter, clan Taosina – like clans Saobina and Sorila – borders the woodlands. Pottery and complex, plant-derived technologies such as bioluminescent floor or ceiling lighting solutions, self-cleaning fungus floors and the like are generally created and installed by Taosina crafters.

 

A dajian who lives with Emlee in the Dorinah slave camps.

 

In Dorinah, enslaved Dhai people are called dajians. They are often branded with the mark of the family that owns them.

 

Dajian owned by Zezili Hasaria. Works as Zezili’s housekeeper.

 

The seat of the Empress of Dorinah. A broad, rambling city built on the ruins of the former Saiduan city of Diamia.

 

An elder Ora, over a century old, who teaches Saiduan language, culture and history at the Temple of Oma.

 

Small country located on the northwest corner of the island of Grania, an island at the far tip of the Saiduanese continent. Also the name of the people inhabiting this country. Dhai was established 500 years ago by former slaves fleeing their masters in the neighboring country of Dorinah. It’s said the satellite called Sina was especially powerful during that time, allowing Dhai sinajistas, who outnumbered sinajistas among the Dorinah, to escape their servitude.

 

Guards of the holds in Saiduan, bound to live or die as the hold itself does.

 

Country on the northeast shore of Grania, ruled by a long line of Empresses for the last 1800 years. Relies on the enslaved labor of Dhai people – known locally as dajians – to sustain its infrastructure and economy.

 

A Saiduan sanisi. Parajista.

 

An Ora at the Temple of Oma and assistant to Nasaka Lokana Saiz. Comes from a family specializing in tea blends. A tirajista.

 

Local healer/midwife/sorceress residing in a dajian camp in Dorinah.

 

Granddaughter of Nirata Josa, a woodland Dhai.