“We should have thrown the Magistrate to them days ago,” Qaansoole said as she loosed an arrow into the onrushing horde. “If there was a chance they would have been satisfied, I would have done so personally,” Sabit answered as she lifted another javelin. It still bore the scrollwork of the ornate cabinet it had … Read more
“Everything will be fine,” Allamu said to the worried people before him. Some had been slaves in the Magistrate’s house. Most had been held as hostage to keep the champions loyal—old men, young women, children, brothers, and lovers. There was not a fighting-man among them. “I know it’s dark, but all of us will stay … Read more
The archer in the patched cloak, Qaansoole, raced onto the balcony. The dazzling morning sunlight illuminated the ranks of mercenaries charging toward the marble house, their drawn swords glinting with bright edges of death. Sabit gained the balcony a moment behind. “How many arrows have you left?” “Barely a score,” Qaansoole answered, nocking one and … Read more
The only thing the cellar of the Magistrate of Vert held a little of was open space. More casks of wine than could be drunk in a score of victory celebrations crowded next to bolts of enough fine silk to clothe every mercenary surrounding the house a dozen times over. Carpets and tapestries, carved wooden … Read more
“You longed to see the wonders of Vert,” Sabit said to Allamu as the eastern sky grew pale with the first blush of dawn. Below, the besiegers arranged themselves in ranks, steps in time with the quickening drums. “Now you shall exult in its grandeur until your bones fall to dust. The white marble of … Read more
The sound of the war drums never ceased. For three nights and three days, their inexorable rhythm had assaulted Sabit’s weary ears. Sometimes the drums beat soft and fast, sometimes they boomed loud and slow. Somehow the drummers seemed to know when the tall spear woman—or those trapped within the grand marble house with her—began … Read more
The forum of justice disgorged its occupants into the open plaza leading to the Magistrate’s house of white marble. Bunched close together, the main group of cloaked revelers staggered toward the Magistrate’s front doors. At the head of the motley assemblage, the house guards could see the Magistrate and the King of Rurr, arms locked … Read more
Sabit was still three strides from Qaansoole when the little archer reached her first arrow. Sabit was two strides away when the archer plucked her arrow from the sand. Sabit was one stride away—spear raised for a killing strike—when Qaansoole nocked the arrow and drew it to her cheek. Qaansoole’s arrow flew. Sabit sped past … Read more
The sun looked down from its zenith upon the forum of justice. The stands were nearly half-full today. The crowd—gathered by a case as monumental as the King of Rurr and a match-up as compelling as the undefeated archer against the rising spear woman—was still a pale shadow of the masses that had thronged to … Read more
The sun was low in the sky by the time the selection of champions was complete. The trial would be at noon the next day. Sabit paced the champions’ rack of weapons, trying each in turn. The balance of her new spear was not quite perfect, but there was no time for a new shaft … Read more