“Why doesn’t Father want a grandchild by me to inherit? It’s not like Kachiro can take anything before Ikaro dies.”
Vora shrugged. “Part of it is pride. Inheritance in direct line through male sons is considered the ideal, and your father is nothing if not a traditionalist. He also sees his trade as another son or daughter. He wants to make sure it has a healthy future in the hands of people who will maintain it.”
“And this justifies killing Nachira?”
“Yes.” The slave sighed.
Stara sat down, suddenly filled with helplessness. “I wish we could sneak Nachira out of there and send her somewhere safe.”
“I too,” Vora said sadly. “And I’m no longer in a position to help.” Her eyes narrowed in thought. “Though I might be able to get a warning to Ikaro, if he hasn’t left.”
“Left? Ah, the war in Kyralia.” Stara shook her head. “If Father is so set on having an heir through his son, why would he send Ikaro off to war?”
Vora grimaced. “Pride again. Any ashaki who do not fight will lose respect and status. He has most likely joined the army too.”
“They must be very confident of winning – and surviving.”
Stara frowned. Does Mother know any of this? She can’t know her husband plans to kill her daughter by marriage. She hasn’t even met Nachira, though she must wonder why she has no grandchildren yet. Does she know her son is going to Kyralia to fight? How is a war between Sachaka and Kyralia affecting trade in Elyne? She may not be able to receive dyes from here, but she did have a few arrangements locally. Eventually the war must end and life go back to normal. Then she’ll find out I’m married...
“Is me having a child really going to threaten Father’s trade?” she asked aloud.
Vora blinked as Stara’s question dragged her out of her thoughts. “Well...If Kachiro is gaining a bad reputation that might put people off trading with him or his offspring...so it’s possible. But then if your father knew this he wouldn’t marry you to him. In fact, if the arrangement was so damaging, why didn’t he simply lock you up for the rest of your life?” Stara scowled. “Because I’d have blasted my way out of there.”
“And you’d have been caught and dragged back here. Which would be easy since you have no source slave with which to strengthen yourself.” Vora pursed her lips for a moment. “You know, it would have been far easier for your father to have you killed. He must have enough family feeling to want to avoid that. He’s taken quite a risk marrying you to Kachiro.”
Stara shuddered. “All the more reason to ask: is having a child so great a threat that I should consider not having one?”
Vora began to shake her head, then she stilled and a familiar expression of deep and careful consideration took hold of her features.
“Perhaps. But you’ve told Kachiro you want to have them. He will think it odd if you don’t attempt to.” She grimaced. “Let’s hope he does intend to be the father, by other means, because it could be a little awkward if he suggests you use a lover.”
Stara sighed. “How much worse can this get?” she wondered aloud. Then she winced. “I guess I could be murdered for being infertile.” She sighed and flopped back onto her back. “Why, oh, why did you let me come back to this crazy, crazy country, Mother?”
“You wanted to,” she imagined her mother replying. “You couldn’t wait to return to your father.”
At least the man she was married to was kind and decent. Even if he had a secret or two. Hopefully only the one, she thought. And I guess that’s fair enough, considering how many I have. I don’t even know if Father told him I can use magic. I’m beginning to suspect he didn’t.
For now, until she knew how he was likely to react, or unless she faced a life-threatening situation, she was going to pretend she couldn’t.
The scout’s face had been smeared with ash and grease, and his clothes were dark with dried mud. Dakon had seen this man report many times now, but he still hadn’t picked up his name. He must be good at his job. We always seem to be recruiting new scouts, and old ones keep disappearing...
“A few hundred people used to live in Lonner,” the man told Magician Sabin.
“Any of the villagers alive?”
“Not that I could see. There’s a pile of dead out in a field, but it doesn’t account for all of them.”
“The rest left in time?”
The man shrugged. “Hope so.”
“How many Sachakans?”
“Just over sixty.”
“And how many are magicians?”
The scout grimaced. “I only counted the magicians. There’s two or three times as many slaves, I reckon.”
Sabin frowned and looked at Lord Werrin, who shrugged.
“Perhaps they have dressed some of their slaves as magicians, to fool us,” Werrin suggested.
“Perhaps,” Sabin repeated. “We’ll see what the other scouts say. Thank you, Nim.”
The scout bowed, and moved away. All eyes looked towards the village ahead. Lonner was a typical small settlement, built on either side of a road with a river to one side. Just like Mandryn, Dakon thought, and felt a pang of grief and loss.
The Kyralian army was waiting off the road, concealed behind a farmhouse and a copse. Servants and the supply carts waited several hundred strides further back down the road, though some servants had volunteered to stay with the army to tend to the horses while the magicians were fighting.
Dakon was standing among the seven advisers and leaders of the army.
“We shouldn’t discount the possibility that more of Takado’s friends may have joined him,” Narvelan said.
Sabin nodded. “Though for his army to grow so large, he must be able to claim friendship with half the magicians in Sachaka. No, I am more worried that those who don’t consider themselves his allies or friends are joining him, because there are a lot more of those across the border.” He scowled and turned to stare at the village.
“What should we do?” Hakkin asked. “Will we still confront them?”
Sabin’s frown deepened. “We still outnumber them, though not by much.”
“We have Ardalen’s method. That may give us an advantage,” Dakon added.
“I suspect the benefits will be reduced in a direct confrontation,” Sabin said. “Our strength is the same, whether we fight in teams and direct our strikes through one, or fight individually.”
“But our defence will be more efficient. Those who run out of strength are protected by the shield of their team, and live to fight another day,” Hakkin pointed out.
“Can we avoid a direct confrontation, then?” Bolvin asked.
“Not from the look of it,” Werrin replied. He lifted an arm to point towards the village and everyone turned to look.
Streams of people were spilling out between the houses, slowly forming a wide line stretching out into the unfenced fields on either side of the road. Dakon felt a chill run down his spine. If these were all Sachakan magicians, their numbers had, indeed, swelled alarmingly.
“I gather their own scouts have reported our approach,” Werrin murmured.
“And they don’t think our greater numbers are a problem,” Narvelan added.