“Then I’ll kill you.”

I tore open the front of my garments. “My heart’s in here Cut it out, and burn it in the holy of holies, in the fire for the Quelled. I’ll die for them. But I won’t give up everything for you.”

He unsheathed his sword, and came close to me. His gaze met mine and held, and he was the first to look away.

“I will do this fairly,” he said, “since justice means so much to you. I give you five days to gather together one hundred men who support you and are willing to fight on your behalf. In five days I will meet them with a hundred of my men, on the plateau above the ridge east of Kasimarra. It is an old battleground. If your side wins, I will go. I swear that, in the name of God. But if I win, you go. If you refuse, you’ll be taken from here dead.”

“There is no justice in that,” I said. “I haven’t got a hundred men. I have only one.”

He sheathed his sword, and gave me a dark smile. “It is fairer than slicing the heart out of a defenceless harsha. You have five days, Elsha of the Quelled. Then it is war.” He turned and strode out, his boots echoing in the hall’s great darkness. The door banged behind him, and he was gone.

21 Persuasions

21

Persuasions

MAELMOR CAME TO my apartments demanding that I give them up for Zune. I refused. They could not forcefully remove me, as that would have meant touching me, so Zune was given the Firelord’s guest apartments. He lived only a wall beyond me, but even though he was my enemy, and close, I did not fear that he would do me injury. His word was a Firelord’s word, and he would not kill me. I was safe from him – but only him.

I went nowhere without Lesharo, and Laken allowed no hands but her own to prepare our food. We drank only wine from bottles she opened herself, which she chose from the thousands in the cellars. Lesharo and I both carried knives. I was deserted by the temple guards, and the servants abandoned me. The priests gloated. They had their Firelord now and, in their minds, they had the victory.

The days crawled by, and every hour I went to the highest tower and looked for Amasai. At last, two days before the battle, I saw him approach. Like insects on the ground his army was: a mighty swarm moving slow along a far valley floor, thunderous and dark and glorious.

While we waited, Laken insisted that I properly prepare myself to meet with him. “He’s the commander of your army,” she said, bending to remove my muddy boots. “And you are the future Firewoman. You cannot hold an audience with him while you look like a slovenly stable girl.”