Winter, Evan - The Burning 02 - The Fires of Vengeance by Winter Evan

Author:Winter, Evan [Winter, Evan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: 1549189778
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2020-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

ARMY

The handmaidens took Tau to the queen’s chambers. They walked him to the door, and though Indlovu lined the hallway behind them, Tau thought the handmaidens might stand guard too, but they saw him to the door and left.

His mind tossing with the questions he’d ask, Tau knocked and heard the queen bid him enter. He walked in, hoping he wouldn’t find her in a nightgown, and came near to running Nyah over.

“Vizier?” He knew he sounded disappointed.

“Champion,” she said.

Nyah had quarter moons beneath her eyes, and tufts of her hair, typically pulled back perfectly, had escaped the golden band that held the rest. She’d been standing near the door when Tau walked in, and the queen, sitting cross-legged in one of the room’s two chairs, was watching her.

Tsiora had to be tired as well but didn’t look it. She seemed deep in thought and perhaps a bit distracted. Her brows were furrowed and she was wearing a flowing, amethyst-colored dress that was almost long enough to hide the bare foot she kept absentmindedly tapping against her chair.

“My queen,” Tau said.

She looked up at him and smiled. “Thank you for coming. We’d like your help.”

“How may I serve?” he asked, wondering if there was any chance that Nyah would leave.

“We need the rest of our army,” Tsiora said. “We need the fiefs to send us their Ihagu, but the umbusi are not cooperating.”

Unfortunately, Tau wasn’t surprised. “You’ve already had time to speak with them?”

“Through edifications we have,” Nyah said. “However, half the fiefs no longer send their Gifted to the meeting spots and the other half politely deny our requests for reinforcements.” It didn’t sound like she valued their politeness very much. “They say they can’t send their Ihagu. They say they need them to guard the newly seeded fields. Their excuse is that if the Xiddeen attack the unguarded fields, we’ll starve to death come Harvest and Hoard.”

“A decent argument, neh?” Tau asked.

Nyah crossed her arms. “The best false-faith arguments often come cloaked in the cloths of greater concern. Yes, if the Xiddeen attack the fields we’ll lose this cycle’s harvest, but that’s not why they resist us.”

“The umbusi are Nobles,” the queen said. “If they do not outright prefer that Odili and his Royals succeed in their coup, they certainly won’t be heartbroken if they do.”

“Have they turned against you, then?” Tau asked.

“Not yet, and not as a group,” she said. “They’re waiting to see which way the tree falls, and to avoid appearing seditious while they do it, they either keep their Gifted from receiving our messages or argue that sending their Ihagu risks the peninsula’s crops.”

“How do I help?” Tau asked, not sure there was much anyone could do.

“We need to be more convincing,” Tsiora said. “So we’ll see if the umbusi can deny their queen in person.”

Nyah huffed. She didn’t like the idea of the queen going to the umbusi but also didn’t speak against it. Tau reasoned that meant she thought it necessary.

“Beg pardon, Your Majesty, but won’t going to them make you look weak?” he asked.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.