The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - By N. K. Jemisin Page 0,36
bed. I had expected him to cuddle close, but he seemed content merely to have some part of his body in contact with mea leg and a hand this time, tossed over my own leg and belly respectively. I did not mind the sprawl, nor the faint snoring. I did, once again, mind the daylight-bright walls.
Despite that, I dozed off anyhow. I must have been tired. Sometime later I half-woke and opened my eyes, bleary, to see that the room had gone dark. Since dark rooms at night were normal to me, I thought nothing of it and drifted off again. But in the morning I would recall somethinga taste in the air, as Sieh had termed it. That taste was something I had little experience with, yet I knew it the way an infant knows love, or an animal knows fear. Jealousy, even between father and son, is a fact of nature.
That morning I turned over and found Sieh awake, his green eyes dark with regret. Wordlessly he rose, smiled at me, and vanished. I knew that he would never sleep with me again.
10
Family
AFTER SIEH LEFT I ROSE EARLY, intent upon finding Tvril before the days visit to the Salon. Despite his reassurance that Id already met everyone who mattered, that had been in reference to the contest of heirs. In the matter of my mother, I hoped someone might know more about the night of her abdication.
But I turned left where I should have turned right, and didnt take the lift far enough down, and instead of Tvrils office I found myself at the palace entrance, facing the forecourt where my lifes most unpleasant saga had begun.
And Dekarta was there.
* * *
When I was five or six, I learned about the world from my Itempan tutors. There is the universe, ruled by the gods, they told me. Bright Itempas is chief among these. And there is the world, where the Noble Consortium rules with the guidance of the Arameri family. Dekarta, the Lord Arameri, is chief among them.
I had said to my mother, later, that this Lord Arameri must be a very great man.
He is, shed said, and that was the end of the conversation.
It was not the words that had stuck in my mind, but the way she said them.
* * *
Skys forecourt is the first sight that visitors see, so it is calculated to impress. Besides the Vertical Gate and the palace entrancea cavernous tunnel of concentric arches, around which stands the intimidating bulk of Sky itselfthere is also the Garden of the Hundred Thousand, and the Pier. Of course nothing docks at this Pier, as it juts out from the forecourt over a half-mile drop. It has a thin, elegant railing, about waist-high. This railing would do nothing to stop a person intent on suicide, but I suppose it provides some reassurance to everyone else.
Dekarta stood with Viraine and several others at the foot of the Pier. The group was some ways off, and they had not yet seen me. I would have turned at once and headed back into the palace if I hadnt recognized one of the figures with Dekarta and Viraine. Zhakkarn, the warrior goddess.
That made me pause. The other people present were Dekartas courtiers; I remembered some of them vaguely from my first day. Another man, not nearly as well-dressed as the rest, stood a few paces onto the Pier, as if gazing at the viewbut he was shivering. I could see that even from where I stood.
Dekarta said something, and Zhakkarn lifted a hand and conjured a gleaming silver pike. Pointing this at the man, she took three steps forward. The pikes tip hovered, rock-steady despite the wind, a few inches from the mans back.
The man took a step forward, then looked back. Wind whipped his hair in a wispy cloud about his head; he looked Amn, or of some sister race. I recognized his manner, though, and his wild, defiant eyes. A heretic, flouter of the Bright. Once there had been entire armies like him, but now there were only a few left, hiding in isolated pockets and worshipping their fallen gods in secret. This one must have been careless.
You cannot keep them chained forever, the man said. The wind carried his words toward me and away, teasing my ears. The protective magic that kept the air warm and calm within Sky apparently did not operate on the Pier. Not even the Skyfather is infallible!