Chavori shrugged. “Yes, people prefer this sort of thing, but I find it rather silly. It is difficult to be accurate.”
Stara pointed to a large group of buildings, bisected by a drawing of a wide avenue and the Imperial Palace. “So this is Arvice – where we are.”
“Yes.”
She looked at the lines of mountains. At the top of the map was a large blue shape, and some of the mountains had red lines curling out of the top and down the sides. “What are these?”
“Jenna Lake,” Chavori told her. “And the northern volcanos. They expel fire and ash, and what the Duna tribes call earth-blood.”
“The red?”
“Yes. It sprays out and runs down the sides of the mountains, so hot you’d burn if you got near it. When it cools it solidifies into strange rocks.”
“Do people live there?”
“No. It is too dangerous. But the tribes risk it now and then, to harvest gemstones, which they say have magical properties. I found the same gemstones in some of the caves further south, and sensed no magic in them.”
“I want to mine them,” Kachiro told her. “If we can get the secret of their use out of the Duna tribes we may be able to sell them for high prices. But even if we can’t, we can still sell them to jewellers for a good profit.”
“You should see if Motara can design jewellery as well as furniture,” she suggested.
His eyes brightened with interest. “There’s an idea...”
Chavori shrugged. “Just so long as we make enough to enable me to continue my work. Now, let me show Stara what a proper map looks like.”
Taking the roll of paper, he peeled off another sheet and placed it over the first. This one was not as artistically drawn, and half of the map was blank. Instead of pictures of mountains, there were bursts of radiating lines. Where there had been drawings of buildings there were mere dots.
“This shows you not just where each mountain is, but where the valleys are between them,” Chavori told her. He ran his finger along the spaces between the radiating mountain shapes. “I can not only show the valley, but indicate the width of the valley by leaving wider spaces. See this one?” He pointed to a large white gap with a blue line meandering along it. “It’s the most beautiful valley you might ever see. No fields, just wild enka grazing. This river cascades along the middle. Mountains on all sides.” He made a graceful upward gesture, then spread his arms. “And the biggest blue sky above.”
His eyes had misted over at the memory, and Stara felt a pang of longing. Would she ever roam beyond the city again? Was her journey from Elyne the last taste of travel she would ever have?
Looking down, she sought and found the letters that spelled out “Elyne”. They were drawn sideways, along a red line that followed the mountains at the top left of the map. The red line must be the border, she realised. And if a blue line meant a river, did this thick black line roaming through the mountains from the Elyne border to Arvice indicate the road? She looked at the mountains again and suddenly the map looked as if it had gained depth.
“Ah,” she said. “I see the illusion now. It’s just as if we are looking at the land from above. The centre point where the mountain lines meet is the peak.”
“Yes!” Chavori turned to Kachiro. “You were right: you have an exceptionally clever wife.”
Kachiro smiled broadly. “I have, haven’t I?” he replied smugly.
Chavori glanced at Stara, then back at Kachiro. “What else can I show you?”
Kachiro considered the map thoughtfully. “Did you bring any maps of Kyralia?”
The triumphant smile on Chavori’s face fell away, turning into a tolerant grimace. “Of course. Everyone wants maps of Kyralia these days.”
“We are at war with them,” Kachiro pointed out.
“I know, I know.” Chavori sighed and picked up the roll again. Peeling off several more maps like the last, he finally spread out another of the beautifully decorated ones, with drawings of cities and mountains.
Kachiro pointed at the pass then spread his hand over the mountains that split Kyralia from Elyne. “From what I’ve been told, the ichani gathered under the leadership of Ashaki Takado around here. When there were enough of them to form an army, they moved into the northern rural areas and took control of the villages and towns.”
Chavori shook his head. “The reports I’ve heard said that they don’t bother staying to control the people. Instead they’ve been destroying the towns and driving the people out.”
“I doubt they’re driving them out,” Kachiro said. “They’re probably killing them and taking their strength. Driving them towards the Kyralian army will just give their adversary more people to take strength from. Why give them more strength, when you can take it for yourself?”
“Yes, they’d have to be.” Chavori made a sweeping gesture from the mountains to the cluster of buildings labelled “Imardin’. “They’ll be heading for the capital. But I can’t help wondering...” He looked up at Kachiro. “Do you remember I said I passed Nomako’s army on my way back to Arvice?”
Kachiro nodded. “Yes.”
“I noticed at the time that the army was split into three. Nomako at the head of the first group, and two others leading smaller groups.” Chavori looked back down at the map. “It was almost as if he planned to split the army up once it crossed the border.”
“Why would he do that?” Kachiro asked.
Chavori shrugged. “If you are right, so they can sweep through different parts of Kyralia and take strength from the people as they go. The Kyralians will not want to split their forces into three – or four if none of the groups join Takado’s – in order to tackle them.”
“Then all groups will arrive at Imardin at the same time.”
“Those who haven’t met any resistance still strong and ready for battle.”
“Hmm,” Kachiro narrowed his eyes at the map. “And which group is most likely to have met resistance?”
Chavori’s eyes went wide. “Takado’s! He was there first and, if Nomako times things right, will have been the target of the Kyralians. By the time he joins with Nomako’s armies, his will be the weakest.”
“So Nomako will conquer Imardin and ride home the hero instead of Takado. Emperor Vochira will be admired for outsmarting Takado.” He looked up at Chavori, admiration in his gaze. “You have a good head for battle strategy. Perhaps you should be leading the army!”
The young man blushed again. For a second the two looked at each other, then both dropped their gaze to the map again.
Stara frowned. She felt as if she had just missed something. But then, she was no expert on warfare. Though she felt sure she’d understood everything Chavori had said, she might have missed some nuance that they had both appreciated.
“Can I ask a question about the war?” she asked.
“Of course,” Kachiro replied.
“Why are neither you nor your friends part of the army?” Kachiro’s face fell. “I am relieved that you are not risking your life,” she assured him. “I’d much rather you were here. But I suspect it is political and I wish to understand Sachakan politics better.”
Kachiro nodded. “Some of the reasons are political, some are not. My father was unable to fulfil an order taken out by the emperor many years ago, due to a fire, and spent years paying back the debt. He died soon after he made the final payment. So my family has been out of favour for some time, though rebuilding trade connections has grown easier with time.”
His expression was so sad, Stara regretted asking the question.
“Others of my friends are similarly out of favour, though Chavori’s family has good standing,” he continued. Then he smiled. “The advantage is that if we have no family honour or respect, we do not need to join the army to protect it, though I expect our help would have been accepted if we had volunteered.”
Chavori nodded. “I told my father that if he won’t give me the respect I deserve, there’s nothing to risk my life to protect. He called me a coward.” He shrugged. “I suspect he hoped I’d go and be killed, and he’d be rid of me.”
Stara felt a stab of sympathy for this young man, so talented but clearly as unappreciated by his father as she was by hers.
“Can I buy this map off you?” Kachiro asked.