TGTGP CH18

Panic swept the Qiari City, forcing Chaya to use magic to calm the people enough to accomplish a mass exodus. All citizens untrained in battle had a choice of going to live with the Brotherhood under Findar’s rule, or they could chance survival on their own in the forests. In the end over a thousand women chose to take their chances in the forests while the remaining women chose to live with the Brotherhood, leaving Amara ten thousand warriors to fight Calem’s army.

All week Ami had done all she could, along with the M’Ja, to get everyone evacuated, along with any belongings they could take, to the Brotherhood village. Findar was the first to admit that his people were woefully unprepared to handle tens of thousands of refugees. Every man in the Brotherhood worked feverishly to build temporary barracks to house the women until proper homes could be built. It would take time to sort out housing but Findar vowed that every woman would have a place to lay her head before winter came upon them, but this was a vow Ami feared no man could keep. She knew he would try his best, though, and she loved him for it.

Now Qiari City stood practically empty. The women who’d chosen to live with the Brotherhood were gone. All that remained now were the warriors who would fight Calem’s army, and the women who were about to leave for their new lives in the forests, outside of Findar’s rule, but not to return to Qiari City until Ami returned to fulfill her destiny to defeat Arekon and reunite her people. Ami couldn’t help but notice all of these women had one thing in common: they were very young, starting from age twelve to no older than twenty.

“I’ve decided to send five hundred warriors and scouts with the women who wish to flee to the forests,” Amara said, as she packed the wagon she planned to give to Bellai. “I have already notified the women that you will lead them, Bellai. In essence, you are now their queen.”

Bellai dropped the satchel she carried and turned to face her best friend, her queen. Ami could see a reflection of herself and Petra in her mother and Bellai. She could imagine how Petra would feel, asked to abandon her in a moment of need.

“You can’t ask that of me, Amara! I can’t leave you. I’m your First M’Ja.”

“You’re the only one I trust to keep those women together, Bellai. They need your wisdom and leadership. They need someone to help them remember the old ways until Ami can take her place as queen and lead our people true freedom. I need you to make them into warriors, Bellai. Ami will still need an army when she returns. They will be that army. Please, do this for me.”

Thorsyn, Cerce, and Zulikah stood close by, watching silently, but also nodding their approval.

“I, for one, refuse to leave,” Zulikah said so fiercely that it bordered on insubordination. “Thorsyn should go with Bellai.”

“I know what you’re trying to do,” Thorsyn said to Zulikah. “You’re trying to save me but I’m not leaving either. Our people must stick together--”

“To stay is to die. We all know this is a battle that cannot be won. Arekon will kill everyone in this city,” Zulikah said.

A small sob escaped Ami. She’d lived in fear since Bilena’s news of Calem’s army arrived. She’d lived with the knowledge that her mother had only days left to live. It had taken its toll. She was jumpy and had kept a constant headache.

“It’s not fair,” Ami said. “You shouldn’t have to die. You’re not old, you’re not sick, you’ve done nothing to deserve it.”

Amara pulled Ami into her arms, and Zulikah looked guiltily at the ground for having spoken so bluntly.

“Please, mother, let us all leave! If we go to live with Father, Arekon will leave us--”

“If we do that Arekon will wipe the Brotherhood out along with the Qiari out of spite,” Amara said. She stroked Ami’s hair. “He needs to feel as though he’s destroyed us. If he has his grand battle he may well let most of our women live.”

“Or he may not,” Bellai said. “The women in the forest may be the only ones--”

“Enough discussion. I am your queen. Obey me,” Amara said. Her words brooked no argument but they were not spoken too harshly. Tears welled up in Bellai’s eyes.

“I will obey you but I resent this order, Amara. I should be at your side right until the end.”

“You have been at my side since I was a babe. You practically raised me after Mother died. You are my oldest, dearest friend, but I am not merely sparing you because of our friendship. I need you to be a leader to the women in the forests, to keep them alive and well, to train them. The women who live with the Brotherhood will change in their hearts. They will not be true Qiari by the time Ami returns. The women you have, however, will not mix with the Brotherhood. They will remain pure, training to survive and fight. I need you to keep the memory of our people, and who we are, fresh in their hearts and minds.”

Bellai nodded and hugged Amara, squeezing Ami between them until she had to pull away to get her breath.

“I will not fail you, Amara. I swear it.”

“Cerce, you’re clear on what needs to be done?”

“I have already received more offers than necessary. Chaya has them now, in the temple.”

“Has who?” Ami asked.

“The Ghost Warriors,” Amara said, but she offered no further explanation. Instead, she looked out on a line of women, some on horseback, some sitting in supply wagons, most on foot, stretched back on North Road as far as Ami could see. There were 1,500 girls and young women, all lined up and ready to begin their journey into the forests, where they would live neither with the Brotherhood nor in the ruins of Qiari City, but to train to become warriors under Bellai’s rule.

“You are now their queen. I know you will rule them with fairness but do not be afraid to do what is necessary to keep control of them,” Amara said.

Bellai nodded and hugged Zulikah, Thorsyn, Cerce, and finally Ami.

“I’m sorry, Ami,” Amara said, reaching up to touch her daughter’s shoulder.

“Sorry for what?”

Ami felt a sting on the back of her neck before she could turn to face her mother. She immediately felt lightheaded and her body felt heavy. She collapsed to the ground and saw her mother kneel beside her.

“I love you, Ami. Never forget that.”

A kiss to the forehead was the last thing Ami felt before darkness stole over her.

*****

Petra’s face, so blurry it was hardly recognizable, swam in front of Ami’s eyes. She blinked as she slowly came awake, trying to focus on Petra. The sky was clear and blue above her. The air was warm and fragrant with the smell of wet soil and blossoming trees. Below her the wagon bumped and swayed gently.

“How do you feel?” Petra asked.

Ami sat up. Her vision blurred from the effort and her stomach threatened to revolt. Almost at once her head began to throb harder than it had in days.

“What happened?”

“Your mother tranquilized you,” Petra said. “I agreed with her that it was the right thing to do.”

There were a few horses before the wagon she and Petra rode in. Bellai drove. Ahead of her were Simeon, Shadesh, and her father’s wagon. She didn’t see Findar in sight. He must have been under the sunshield with Kiran.

“Your father and brother came to collect you. Mother wants me to live in the Brotherhood camp with my father, rather than roughing it in the forests. She promised to visit…” Petra’s eyes moistened. “I’m still going to miss her.”

Ami wasn’t inclined to sympathize. “I have to go back. Where are we?”

“We’ve arrived,” Petra said.

Ami felt as though she was in a dream. Nothing seemed real or logical. Several times she felt like fainting, and Petra offered her a canteen of cold water to drink. Ami instead upended it over her head and washed her face. It helped clear her mind, at least a little.

Their wagon passed through a tall iron gate. The thick brush of the forest gave way to a sprawling village made mostly of wooden cottages or dormitories. Men moved through the streets, rushing about to make room for the arrival of the Qiari refugees who would travel through their village and into the wild.

“We’re in the Brotherhood village,” Petra said. “King Findar has agreed to give mother and her lot safe passage to the untraveled territory beyond the borders of his land.”

“Why am I here? I should be with Mother.” Ami demanded. It wasn’t until that moment that she realized she was shackled to the wagon. “You chained me?”

“It’s for your own good,” Bellai said.

“Ami, please don’t fight--” Petra began, but Ami angrily cut her off.

“Let me go! I have to go back! In case you’ve forgotten I have to be taken captive. It’s my destiny.”

“A destiny we plan to help you avoid, if we can,” said Bellai.

Petra placed her hand over Ami’s as she struggled to free herself from the cuff that bound her left wrist to the side of the wagon and said, “You can’t save her. You could be right there, right by her side, and you couldn’t do anything to save her.”

“Easy for you to be say, Petra. Your mother is alive and well. You’ll have her around for years to visit while my mother will be dead!”

Petra looked wounded and sat back, as though Ami had spat at her. “Ami, I care about your mother too--”

“Then let me go! I should be there, even if I can’t save her. Simeon!”

Simeon looked back once, and then turned his head, hanging it low. Ami knew she would get no help from him. Her stomach clenched with resentment.

The wagon continued on, heading deeper into Brotherhood territory. The further they went, the older and larger the houses, which were spaced closer together. Boy children, who played in the streets close to their fathers, ran forward to stare at the girls in the wagons.

Ami kept a keen eye on Petra, who became more distracted by her surroundings. This place, after all, would be her home for years to come. When she was certain Petra was duly distracted, Ami slipped a hairpin from her friends’ hair. Petra had always used more pins than was necessary. Ami was grateful for that now.

Working quietly as possible, Ami slipped the pin into the lock, just as she’d been taught in training, and in seconds had the cuff loosened. She slipped her hand free but concealed it, and looked around for the nearest horse.

Their wagon approached a man astride a handsome chestnut stallion. Ami shifted in the wagon, every muscle taut, ready to launch herself from the wagon. He was a slender man, older, slender and short, and he was staring at Bellai, unable to tear his eyes away from her. He offered Bellai a shy smile, which she turned away from, causing Petra to smile sadly.

“Hi, Daddy,” Petra said to the man on the horse.

“Hi, sweetheart. I’ve got a room all set up for you--”

The time was right. Ami stood in the wagon, latched onto Petra’s father, whose name she didn’t even know, and yanked him from the saddle, forcing him onto his back with a grunt at Petra’s feet.

“You two catch up,” Ami said angrily, and then jumped into the saddle.

Startled, the animal whinnied in fear and reared up. Undeterred, Ami gripped the reigns and turned back the direction they’d come.

“Simeon, stop her!” she heard her father’s voice shout.

Ami dared a glance back and saw her brother riding after her, a determined look on his face. She kicked the horse, sending it thundering on, closer to the gate. Qiari and Brotherhood alike dove out of the way, trying not to be trampled as their princess made a bid for freedom, and her brother made an equal bid to capture her.

“Amazonia!” Simeon shouted. It wouldn’t do him any good, she thought. She would have to be taken by force. “Stop!”

“Go back, Simeon!”

She approached the gate in minutes, but Simeon rode their mother’s favored horse, a white stallion prized for stamina as well as speed. He gained on her and then drew up alongside her as she charged through the gate, nearly running over a young man stationed there.

Simeon grabbed the reigns and began to slow them down. Ami kicked, trying to spur her horse on. With the conflicting orders, one to slow, the other to speed on, the horse whinnied loudly and then reared up, throwing Ami from the saddle. She hit the ground hard and the wind went from her lungs.

“Amazonia!” Simeon said. He jumped from his horse and went to her side.

Ami struggled to catch her breath as her horse charged on, panicked. Hundreds of young women were still in the line, that stretched as far as they eye could see into the deep of the forest. They stared at Ami in a panic. Some of them didn’t understand who Simeon was on sight, and they rushed forward to protect her.

“You see!” one girl yelled as she charged forward to plant herself between Ami and Simeon. “They’re already abusing us! You leave the princess alone!”

Many more women cried out in support and charged Simeon, beating at him with their fists. He fell under the onslaught rather than lift a hand against them. Ami considered leaving him there, but the women had begun kicking at him.

“Stop! He’s my brother! He means me no harm.”

They didn’t hear her at first. There was too much angry shouting. Ami whistled as loudly as she could and pushed her way to the center of the women, guarding Simeon with her own body.

“He’s not abusing me! I’m trying to get back home and he’s under orders to stop me,” Ami explained. “Are you okay?”

“Not really,” Simeon said truthfully. His mouth was full of blood and his face was pained. He put a hand to his side and closed his eyes. Ami immediately felt guilty for even considering leaving him to the mercy of an angry mob.

“Come on,” she said, helping him up. “I’m sorry, Simeon, but I have to go back. I can’t just leave Mother. I can’t run and hide while she faces down Arekon’s army. Besides, I have a destiny to fulfill, remember?”

Simeon stared at her for a long time and then jumped up on his horse, his face shining with sweat. He put a hand down to her.

“If you’re going back, so am I.”

“You’re hurt. You could get killed.”

“I won’t hide while my mother and sister face Calem. Come now or you’ll walk home.”

Ami grasped his hand and jumped up behind him on the horse.

“Simeon?”

“What?”

“You’re a good man.”

“Thanks.”

He spurred them into a run and Ami held on tight as they stormed past the line of Qiari refugees that stretched almost all the way back to Ameena’s lake.

*****

“Simeon, look!” Ami pointed ahead, though it was unnecessary. There were columns of black smoke rising into the air from the city. “Stop here.”

“Stop? The battle has started a day earlier than expected!”

“Trust me. Stop.”

Reluctantly, Simeon drew their horst to a stop near a dock where a small boat bobbed in the choppy water. The sky had darkened, now filled with ominous clouds. Ami went to the edge of the dock and knelt down.

“Gil’Ghita! I need you.”

Gil’Ghita appeared almost at once. Surprisingly she still looked like her old self. Ami was sure the curse would have turned her darker or shown some kind of effect on her.

“I need Ameena’s Armor.”

“I cannot give you the Armor, Ami,” Gil’Ghita said. Her voice was as soft and kind as Ami had always known it to be, rather than harsh and raspy like Pemba’s had been.

“Don’t you understand what’s happening? Calem is attacking the city! Our people will be scattered and I’ll fall into exile. Mother can save them with that Armor.”

“The Armor is not meant for Amara. It is meant for you, at the appointed time.”

“Then give it to me. I’ll use it to save our people now.”

“I will gladly give the armor to you when the time has come. Goodbye, Ami. I will see you again.”

Gil’Ghita sank beneath the choppy waves of the water.

“Gil’Ghita! Come back! I need that armor!”

It was useless. No amount of pleading would cause Gil’Ghita to give up the armor. Simeon called to Ami to return to the horse.

“Come on, Ami. We’re needed,” he said.

“I can’t believe it has to happen like this,” Ami said, climbing up behind Simeon.

“We’ll do all we can,” he said, and once again kicked his horse into a run.

The forest moved past in a blur. Simeon and Ami rode over familiar terrain until they reached South Gate. Rain threatened to fall, and in the clearing between the forest and the gate Ami looked up to see Marit calling down to the guards to open the gate. She was in the guard tower, just as Petra had seen in her vision. Undoubtedly she’d taken Hazan’s place so that her daughter could escape to live in the Brotherhood camp, or go to live under Bellai’s rule in the wild.

“Ami returns!”

Simeon passed through the high gate as it swung slowly open. Fat raindrops began to fall, slowly at first, but they quickly gained in speed and force.

“Marit, get down from there!” Ami called. The words had no sooner left her lips than did lightning strike the tower and Marit fell. She landed on the ground in front of Ami, dead before she’d even hit the rain moistened earth.

Had this been what Petra had seen?

“By the gods,” Simeon said, looking at Marit’s body in horror.

“Go. Go!”

Simeon kicked them into a run, heading north where loud explosions could be heard, and smoke rose into the air creating a stinking black haze over the north side of the city. The ride seemed to take forever, even though Simeon rode the horse as hard as he could. They reached the armory where the weapons were stored. The area was deserted.

Ami and Simeon ran into the armory. There were a few swords remaining in the corner, and one shield, which Simeon insisted she take.

“It wouldn’t do me much good,” Ami lied. “I haven’t trained much with a shield. You take it.”

Simeon nodded and hefted the sturdy bronze shield, which was etched with Jadeh’s Eagle. They rushed back outside as a particularly loud explosion made the ground tremble beneath their feet.

“What’s causing that?” Ami asked.

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

They rushed forward, heading down North Road, where they began to encounter warriors lined up through every street. North Gate had yet to fall, but they could hear men screaming on the other side. Simeon urged the women to move aside as they made their way steadily on toward the frontline. Ami caught sight of East Road and saw that many warriors were there as well, and they were already engaging the enemy, from the looks of it.

The warriors, Ami noted, were older and more experienced in the rear. The closer they got to the front line the younger the warriors. They all stood still, silent, shields resting against their legs, arms down, feet wide apart in a relaxed posed. They waited, stalwart and brave, for the gate to crash and the battle to begin.

Up front they could see what caused the smoke to rise. Every so often a flaming ball would fly toward the wall and slam into an invisible barrier that blocked it. Burning oil would slide down this invisible wall, sending black smoke rising into the air. Simeon took them toward the gate where they saw Chaya chanting over fifteen dead women. The screams of the men on the other side grew worse.

“Chaya! Where’s mother?”

“Ami? What are you doing here?”

Amara stood nearby, dressed and ready for battle. There were two red lines on each of her cheeks. It was real blood, Ami knew. Only the queen wore blood on her face during battle, while her other warriors wore white lines on their faces.

“I sent you with your father! Simeon, why did you bring her back?” Amara asked, more in panic than in anger.

“She escaped, Mother,” Simeon said. “I won’t leave you, and I won’t force her to leave you either.”

“We’re with you,” Ami said. “You know I have to be here.”

Amara’s eyes looked wet and red. “Ami…”

Ami hugged her mother. “Why are the men screaming? What happened to these women?”

Amara turned to face the fallen women. “They’re Ghost Warriors. Chaya uses her powers to keep their souls bound to earth while they go through the enemy lines. Each one can kill a couple of hundred warriors if Chaya can keep them here long enough.”

Chaya’s face was red and sweat trickled down her bare back. She was almost naked, save for a thin loin cloth. Her skin was painted blue with white lines that accentuated her ribs, though her arms were covered to the elbows in blood. Her eyes glowed with blue light.

She ceased her chanting and said, “Amara, I can’t hold them here much longer.”

Amara laid a hand on Chaya’s shoulder. “You have done well, old friend. Rest now.”

“Move the warriors back. I can give you another few minutes. They need to be away from the fire.”

“I will.”

Amara looked down at Ami. “You want to be here? There’s no turning back once the battle begins.”

Ami nodded. “I know, Mama.”

Amara kissed her, and then kissed Simeon, before turning to her warriors and ordering them to move back, deeper into the city. The women obeyed, marching backward under Amara’s urging. Five minutes later Chaya collapsed, and Enet rushed to her side.

Amara turned back to the gate as the screaming on the other side of the wall finally ceased. There were a few moments of silence and then a ball of flame came soaring into the city. It slammed into several nearby houses and sending oil and flame splattering all over several women. They screamed in agony before falling, dead.

The sound of a battering ram was like thunder as it slammed into North Gate. The great double doors held fast. They were braced, but the gate would not hold forever. Again and again the battering ram slammed into the door, slowly weakening it.

Ami took her mother’s hand and squeezed it. As the first crack appeared in the plank, Ami’s heart began to truly pound with fear.

*****

Rinan’s stomach churned as he stood atop his father’s transport. In the distance he could clearly make out the long defensive wall of the Qiari’s city. There, somewhere on the other side, was the girl he’d seen in his dreams for almost three years. He knew that Ami hadn’t dreamt of him. Jadeh had made certain that he understood he would be a stranger to the princess. He needed to win her over. He needed to show her that there was such a thing as a good man outside of the Brotherhood.

“Scared, Brother?”

Brodin had climbed atop the transport and now stood beside Rinan. It had become clear that the changes in his brother had been nothing more than an act for their father’s benefit. The elder prince was still nothing more than a cur. He was devious, and Rinan worried that he had something planned against their father out of vengeance for allowing King Lomohr to publicly humiliate him.

“No. Are you?”

“Of course not. What have I to fear?”

Rinan shrugged. “Getting your ass handed to you by a woman?”

Brodin surprised Rinan by suddenly gripping him by the throat. “You stupid little cunt,” he breathed. “I warned you. You’re going to pay for your lack of respect.”

Rinan gripped Brodin’s thump and forced it back. His brother cried out in pain and pulled away. It took all Rinan had not to cough or sputter. Instead he took a few deep breaths and edged closer to Brodin.

“Do that again and I’ll embarrass you in front of all these men.”

“Don’t be so quick to underestimate me, Rinan. I’m not the fool you and Father believe me to be. You see I, too, am a trained warrior.”

“Shall we put our skills to the test, then, Brother?”

They stared at one another. Rinan hoped his brother would make a move, would attempt an attack. He was confident that Brodin was more talk than anything else and he was eager to shame him in front of any man looking.

Sensing Rinan wasn’t going to back down, Brodin sneered and stepped back.

“Put your hands to me again, Brodin, I’ll see the fight through to the end.”

“Boys.”

Their father, fully dressed in the armor Arekon’s high priest had enchanted for him, now stood on the ground outside the transport. He looked up at his sons with a deep frown.

“Come back inside.”

“I’d rather stay and watch the beginning of the fight, if you don’t mind, Father,” Rinan said. “Though I’m sure Brodin wouldn’t mind hiding in the transport where it’s safe.”

“One more insult from you, Rinan, and I’ll have you confined to the transport.”

“One more threat or barb from either of you and I’ll have you both whipped!” King Calem shouted. “We’re going into war. The enemy is over there. We are allies. Act like it!”

Brodin paled and swallowed hard at the mention of being whipped. He bowed his head and Rinan did likewise. Brodin offered his brother one more look of loathing before turning back to the Qiari land. Ahead he could see the first catapults firing burning oil at the defensive wall. Overhead a gentle rain had begun to pick up, though lightning flashed through the sky, threatening a heavier storm.

Men began to scream. Rinan searched for the cause and quickly found it: silver streaks moved through their infantry, felling every man they touched.

“Ghost warriors,” Rinan whispered.

Their men continued to fall. It was alarming how many they lost. Right before Rinan’s eyes thousands of men went to their deaths. Now he understood why his father brought so many men. Despite being female, the Qiari weren’t going to be easy to defeat.

Not long after the ghost warriors were gone did the massive doors to the city finally fall under the assault of the battering ram. Rinan crouched in order to keep to his feet as their father’s transport lurched forward.

This was it. They were riding into battle.

On to Chapter 19