Warrior of the Wind by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Author:Suyi Davies Okungbowa [DAVIES OKUNGBOWA, SUYI]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2023-11-22T00:00:00+00:00

Biemwensé

Bassa: Outskirts

Sixth Mooncycle, 23

ON THE MORNING BIEMWENSÉ and Kakutan left the tiny homestead outside of Bassa in whose barn they had been hiding for half a fortnight, they donned wrappers over their heads and bade goodbye to the owners. The couple, two men—one mainlander, one desertlander, just like the Gaddos—were familiar with the entails of living on the outskirts of the Bassai Ideal, literally and figuratively. The younger of them, who came from merchant blood, had invested his privilege of land ownership in the Gaddo Company, becoming one of various waypoints connecting the otherwise wilderness between the city and the border.

They offered the women a travelwagon, but Kakutan refused. She thought it would attract too much attention, especially if they ran into any overeager civic guards. In lieu of that, the couple furnished them with a pack of supplies—food, water, medicine, two short blades—and sent them on their way.

Walking to the fringes of the city was arduous and time-consuming, lasting the better part of the day. It was no match for their earlier trip, in which Alaba’s directions had led them from Chugoko to a small vigilante outpost and to the contacts they sought. Then they had taken a circuitous route through a circumspect portion of the border, a little ways east of the Pass itself. They did not go under like last time, as it turned out the border was more porous than usual because large parts of it were in various states of disrepair.

The paucity of civic guard patrols continued once they’d entered the mainland, and also now, as they headed for Bassa. That didn’t make their trip any less challenging, though. Entering Bassa from the outskirts meant that there was an equal chance of arriving at Sixth Ward as there was arriving at Tenth. The women had little intelligence on how to ensure they entered closer to Fifteenth than not. As it stood, their plan was like a blade thrown by a blindfolded person: equal chance of being completely deadly or completely useless.

Both women trudged on for the better part of the day, keeping well out of sight. So far, they’d only come across lone travellers. There were no notices out for their capture like Danso and Lilong had, so they were at little risk of being identified except by the Red Emperor herself, the only person who had set eyes on them. But it was best to be cautious than caught unawares, so they wrapped away every measure of skin to prevent their complexions and likenesses from being easily deduced. Beneath the folds of cloth, sweat ran slick down Biemwensé’s armpits and settled in the folds of her belly. The sun had doubled its heat, become angrier.

Soon, the architecture of the city loomed before them. The heights, designs, and relative cleanliness of the buildings ahead were sufficient evidence that they had arrived at a ward much closer to the Great Dome than intended.

“We could go around,” said Biemwensé to Kakutan.

The younger woman wrinkled her nose. She had not spoken much throughout their journey and had spent much of her alone time deep in thought.

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