Infall Ch. 09 - END

She put the letters in the box she kept for them. Returning to her work room, she sat down and wrote, painstaking, checking her words, finding them. Every paragraph took time. She wrote one every two weeks.

Her letters would never be sent, but she could give them to Zen and Kythe when they returned, and it made her feel like she was talking to them.

Dear Kythe and Zen,

I am teaching your father to play a game we have in Atlantis with numbered chips and he told people to make them. He likes it and when I'm not there he makes the engineers play it with him but now your father doesn't like that because they let him win. I think you said it to him that I am lonely because he talks to me every day and sometimes we have supper together in the hall.

Mavia came back and I have her to me--

India checked, making a face and crossing it out.

Mavia came back and I have her to me with me, but there is a problem with Elsie because Mavia is not like her rank, Elsie says, and so Elsie moves back to her house in the city and Mavia takes her old room back and I ask your father for help and he makes it so Elsie is not offended I hope.

I miss both of you like a part of me is missing and I think of you when I wake and when I sleep and in between,

Indya

It had been six weeks and she'd had three letters from each of them. Those were what she would get. After that, their letters wouldn't reach her any faster than they would because they would be coming home. It would be six weeks until they arrived.

She read all of their letters over again.

A week later, at five weeks away, it felt like an eternity. But at three weeks, she started to get butterflies when she thought about it. Then it was a little over two weeks. Ten days.

"You taught yourself to read Edion in six weeks, daughter, and to write it, as far as I know. There are dark places under your eyes and my sons will think I haven't been caring for you. Will you please take care of yourself better so I don't have to put a woman in your rooms to make you eat and sleep and go outside?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, Kah-Rí. You've been kind and generous and have cared for me well and respected my wishes. I will work less and eat more and go riding. Thank you."

* * *

The end of six weeks came. She knew it wouldn't be on the day, although she kept looking for them, every sound bringing her head up. It would probably be some time after. They hadn't turned around on the day of their sixth week, she was sure. Possibly they had gone on, if they needed to do so in order to learn about this rumored threat.

A week passed. The prospect kept her on edge. Ten days. Two weeks.

"My sons are late, daughter," the kah-rí said over their chips one day, sitting in the hall after they'd eaten, Zozo at her feet.

"That's to be expected, kah-rí?" Indya said. "Nothing for to worry?"

"No, Indya. They would try to meet the time I gave them, if they could, so I know nothing has happened. If they're not here by now, something has happened, and they haven't sent a fast rider to tell me what and I don't know why."

Indya didn't move. She hadn't understood. Looking down blankly at her hand, she set the chips down and then she nodded and rose to her feet, backing away. "All right," she said with no breath in her. "Okay."

"Indya," the kah-rí said.

She looked at him.

"I said something has happened, not that they're dead. We have to wait and learn."

"All right," she said, nodding. "Can I go now, Kah-Rí?"

He sighed. "I want Mavia with you, Indya. You can go."

"Thank you, Kah-Rí," Indya said, nodding. She turned and went to their rooms, knocking on Mavia's door. "The kah-rí wants you with me."

Mavia's mouth was tight. "I'm sorry, child. They're late. I know it's difficult not to be frightened."

"Yes. It's difficult. All right," Indya said, and went and sat in her garden on the ground under the alea flowers, listening to the nina-bird. Zozo stayed with her, her hand on his neck, stroking.

Mavia stayed with her in her rooms and didn't leave, sewing, and sometimes speaking to her, and made sure that she ate. Indya waited. Two days passed. Two more.

On the fifth day since the kah-rí had said to her that he was worried, she was sitting with Mavia in her rooms when the bells of Averdine began to ring.

Mavia got to her feet. "There's news," she said. "Come, child. Let's learn what it is."

"Yes," Indya said. "Stay here, Zozo."

She left him in her rooms, and then she and Mavia were going down the stairs and people were passing everywhere under the high rounded ceilings, everyone agitated.

"Falvio," India said, the dark-haired man slowing, an advisor, seeing her. "Is there news? Is it the rí?"

"Lí," Falvio said. "We don't know yet. The runners will be here soon."

"Where can I go to learn?"

"I'll take you to the Throne Room. The kah-rí will want you there."

"I can go there."

"Let me take you please, Lí."

"All right."

"I'll go to your rooms and wait, child. I can't go there," Mavia said.

"Why not?"

"It's for royalty."

"It's just a place."

"But it's not my place, Indya."

"Daughter," she heard, turning around.

"Kah-Rí," she said as he walked by them, going to the Throne Room, Indya catching up and walking to keep up with him. "Is there news? Is it Kythe and Zen?"

"We don't know yet. The runners are coming. Mavia, please accompany the lí to the Throne Room."

"Yes, Kah-Rí," Mavia said.

They arrived, the kah-rí walking to his chair and turning around, sitting. He gestured to Indya, who came and sat at his feet, Mavia walking to stand at the bottom of the stairs beside her.

A man came in, breathing fast, walking straight to the throne and stopping in front of it. "Kah-Rí," he said, bowing his head. "The rí reached our allies in Echtha at the same time Echtha was attacked by the Chusans. The Chusans brought a mighty weapon that broke the walls of Echtha. The rí and their men stayed with our allies to defend Echtha and escaped after she fell. The Chusans sent a small and fast force after them and they were almost to Averdine when they were attacked by that force. The rí prevailed, but one of the rí was seriously wounded, the elder. They return with ten men of the fifty and bring wounded."

"Where are my sons now?"

"At the gates, Kah-Rí, making their way here."

The kah-rí turned to one of his advisors. "Get them a guard and clear the streets. Prepare the physicians. I will speak to the younger rí when he arrives."

"Yes, Kah-Rí."

The kah-rí looked at her. Indya had frozen, shaking. He nodded at Mavia, who came and sat with her and took her hand, Indya squeezing it tight.

"I need to speak with Zen when he comes, daughter," the kah-rí said. "He'll be exhausted, and possibly injured himself. The faster I know what's happened, the faster I can respond to this threat. Can you remain calm so you don't distract him? If you cannot, you're free to go to your residence and he will come to see you when he can."

"I would like to stay," Indya said, small sips of breath in. "I will remain calm. Thank you, Kah-Rí, for allowing me to stay."

"Then stand to my right, daughter."

Indya rose and stood with the kah-rí, Mavia standing, all of them watching the door. Time crawled by and then there was the sound of chaos and a voice calling, people running, another voice and then several more voices.

Indya was shaking all over, but she didn't move as the doors were opened and Zen swept into the room, her eyes latching onto him, his braid, his clothing bloody and torn and his shoulder exposed and bruised black, carrying it like he was in pain, looking so tired that she didn't know how he was still on his feet. She couldn't stop shaking.

His eyes flickered to her and his head dropped. "Father."

"Tell me."

"The Chusans had a huge mechanism like a wooden cart with an arm that drew straight back and flung great rocks. Kythe made a picture of it when we first saw it. I've brought the drawing. The mechanism flings the rocks at the walls with force like nothing I have seen before. It crushed the walls of Echtha and the Chusan army poured through. We fought with our allies, but it was hopeless. We got out of the city, but a light force of Chusans chased us up the coast. The Chusans finally caught up with us two days ago. We ambushed them and won the engagement, but Kythe's head was struck with an ax. I carried him and then we put him on a litter we dragged behind the horse. He's still alive, but he hasn't woken."

"How long until this device and the main Chusan army arrives at Averdine?"

"A week, maybe ten days. The mechanism slows them. But they are coming."

"This mechanism. Does it have a weakness?"

"It's wood. It could be burned. But it's surrounded by the Chusans, and they've brought a huge force. Our men would have to attack the Chusan army before the Chusans reached the walls. The Chusans outnumber us and we would be at disadvantage if we met them. We would have no defenses out there. We would be slaughtered."

"It is the only chance we have to stop this monster before it breaks the fortifications of Averdine. You will lead the fighting men of Matise, Zen, outside the walls of Averdine and destroy this monster that threatens our walls."

Indya stopped breathing, couldn't find a way to take in more air.

Zen blinked once, a heavy silence in the room. "Yes, Father," Zen said, looking at the ground and up.

"Rest first, my son," the kah-rí said, slumping in his chair like Indya had never seen him do, looking old and ill. "Get your wounds tended, bathe and rest. Your lí has restrained herself at my request," he said, turning to one of his advisors. "Send a physician to the younger rí's rooms. When the older rí has been tended to and can be moved, bring him there. You may go with him, daughter."

Indya broke her stillness, dimly aware that Mavia came with her. She walked with Zen up the stairs and to their home, Mavia going on to her rooms.

A physician was already coming and he put Zen's arm in a sling in the common rooms while Indya ran him a hot bath. The physician left and Indya helped Zen to undress. Zen was impatient with the sling, removing it and tossing it aside. He was terribly bruised in other places, and had abrasions. He stood in the bath as Indya washed them, running water over his body, being gentle, aware he was watching her face.

"Nina," he finally said, a muscle in his jaw jumping. "I'm sorry."

Indya looked up at him and reached out, putting her hand on his braid. "Don't you say that to me. You have nothing to regret and I won't lose either of my rí, and certainly not both. I know the rules of this weapon. It is acatapult," she said in her language. "It's a simple structure."

"Simple or not, even if we know its rules, we have no way to defeat it--," he said, stopping when he saw her face. Zen went still. "Indya?"

She smiled at him through tears, her heart pounding. "Yes," she said. "I can defeat it."

Zen was staring at her. He was exhausted, his beard overgrown, his eyes stark in his face, his skin pale and he was in pain. "A weapon?"

"Yes," she said, feeling sick. "A weapon."

"It can destroy this catapult?"

"I have to get it right. I have to work very fast. I will need help. I don't yet know if there is the things I need here. If not, there are other options. And there is practicing involved to aim the weapon."

"It could defeat the Chusan army?"

She was shaking, her teeth beginning to chatter. "Yes. It would k-kill many of them, making their bodies fly apart--"

He cupped her face. "Only the device, nina," he said, putting his forehead against hers. "I swear, if you find me a way to take out that monster they bring with them to break our walls, I will let every man of the Chusan army return across the seas unharmed. We need to talk to my father."

She released her breath, still shaking as he drew back. "You will eat and rest first," Indya said.

"There's no time--"

"The monster comes slowly. You will eat and rest first."

Zen released his breath. "All right," he said, which told her how exhausted he was. "You're so beautiful. I missed you, Indya."

"I missed you so badly it's like a part of me is torn away," she told him. "Come and eat."

* * *

In not too long. Zen was asleep in his bed, bruised and his heart broken, his other half still in the infirmary. Ashka had ignored his bed and was on the floor directly under Zen.

Indya went to the kah-rí. He admitted her, men going here and there, a great mobilization in the city to get people who wouldn't fight to the keep at their backs. His glance at her was distracted. "Daughter," he said, greeting her when she came. He had aged in the last few hours, deep lines settling into his face.

Indya sat at his feet, Zozo beside her. "Do you have any caves with the small flying animals, Kah-Rí?"

"What?" he said, focusing on her, frowning.

"Are there any caves here with the small animals that fly but don't have feathers on them?" she repeated.

The kah-rí eyed her and then knowledge slowly came to his eyes. He turned to an advisor. "Somebody learn if there are bats near in any of the caves."

Not too long later, a man came, bowing. "Kah-Rí. There are caves with bats, the locals say, two-days ride northeast."

"Clear the room," the kah-rí said, everyone leaving. The kah-rí turned toward her. "What is it?"

She motioned to the earpiece he kept at his waist. He reached, putting it in.

"A weapon to destroy the catapult, Kah-Rí. The device. The monster, as you say."

"Is that what you call it? A catapult? Is it even possible to defeat a weapon so powerful?"

"It is not powerful, Kah-Rí. In comparison to the weapons of our ancestors, it would have been a mere toy. Yes, I can defeat it, if I can get the materials. If I can work fast enough. And nobody will need to leave the city to fight the Chusans. But I want something in return, Father."

"You want me to agree not to use this weapon again," the kah-rí guessed.

"Yes, that's part of it. But knowledge, once released, can't be taken back, Kah-Rí. That people know it can be done will mean they will find a way to do it. I can't stop that, and I will have the weight of the deaths it will bring in the time to come on my head and heart," Indya said, touching her forehead and then touching her chest, her hands shaking. "But I cannot lose my rí."

"I can't stop the knowledge once you release it either, Indya."

"Our ancestors who lived on this world had no more war. We had decided not to hurt each other anymore. We had peace with each other, all of us. Then the sun had a small storm and we're back here thrusting metal into one another's bodies."

"What do you want, Indya, for this weapon?"

"Matise is the largest civilized center in this part of the world," Indya answered. "I ask that you give literacy to your people. Not just your royalty. Not just your men, not just your citizens. Everyone you can reach who wants it. Teach them to read and to write, and I will make you a print press that will allow you to make a great library of knowledge in Averdine."

The kah-rí's face was tense. "You ask for something that will bring unrest to my people. They are content, Indya."

Indya shrugged with one shoulder, a slow movement. "Nobody is content to be powerless, Kah-Rí. What you fear is already inevitable. They will rise against you. That's also a rule, and you can't escape that any more than this weapon aimed at your walls. People shouldn't serve their rulers; those in power should serve their people and represent their interests. You know this already. If I give this knowledge to you early, you will give us the other early, and we will have the best chance."

"You ask too much, Indya," the kah-rí said.

"As do you. And yet, we are here with one another. Shall we help each other to accomplish this goal? Or, do we reconcile to division and neither one of us gets what we want?"

* * *

Indya returned to their home. They had moved Kythe from the infirmary to his room, a person to sit with him. Indya went in, looking at him among all his things. He was thinner, his eyes sunken, his lips dry. He'd been washed, an attendant sitting with him who greeted her quietly and then sat and didn't look at her. She took Kythe's hand, Zozo at her feet, feeling herself frozen inside again.

* * *

Zen woke not much later, coming in with Ashka. Indya rose and went to him and he sat in one of the large chairs in the room and pulled her onto his lap, both of them ignoring the attendant, the dogs at their feet. She curled up on his good side, careful, leaning to smell him, touching him, holding on to his braid while he played with her hair, his sex under her getting hard.

"You spoke with our father while I slept," Zen guessed.

"Yes," she said. "He hasn't agreed yet."

"What were your terms?"

"The training to read and write for all your people. A library. I'll give the weapon to him without these things, Zen, but I have to ask."

"I understand," Zen said. "He will agree, Indya."

Another attendant came to sit with Kythe and the first one left.

"It's time for bed, nina-bird," Zen finally said, his voice hoarse.

She rose and went out with him into the main area. Indya hesitated. "I can sleeping with you in your rooms, Zen? I'll be careful of your shoulder."

"As if I would let you sleep anywhere else, nina," he said. He led her in, the familiar smell of his room, full of Zen while he was gone and full of him now. When she slept with both of them, they all slept in her bed, and she'd never been in here with Zen before any more than she'd been in Kythe's rooms with him.

She helped Zen to undress and pulled back the bedcovers, taking off her clothing and releasing her hair. He went and sat on the edge of the bed and watched her as she combed it, humming for him and then singing low because she knew he wanted it and because it soothed her.

When she was done, he gestured and she came to him. He drew her between his knees, one arm hanging limp because she knew it hurt him to move it, his head resting on her. Zen nuzzled her, his mouth going to her nipple, sucking, Indya giving a soft cry as he went to the other.

He drew back, looking up at her, his hand hungry, roaming her body, his eyes. "I missed your presence, nina. I didn't think it was possible to miss someone so much, like an ache. And I missed your body. I want you. I still see men dying behind my eyes."

"Lie back, Rí," Indya said, touching her necklace with her fingers, Zen's eyes following the gesture. "Let me do this. Let me give you pleasure."

Zen leaned back on the pillows, his sex getting hard. Indya knelt between his legs and licked him in the way he liked, delicate, coating his sex, and then took him into her mouth, into her throat, Zen's body tense, her tongue working.

"Nina," he said, his good hand going to her hair, his hips thrusting. "You're always so soft, every part of you. I love your mouth, your pula, the noises you make, your heat."

When she was ready, she pulled him out of her throat and came up his body, moving on top of him, guiding him into herself, giving another soft cry as she slowly slid down his sex. Indya worked him, her hips moving. His eyes were on her face. She had wanted this, had thought of him so many times. Her fingers went between her own legs, touching herself, looking at him.

"Yes, nina," he said, grunting, one hand on her waist. "Pleasure yourself while I watch."

She rode him, touching herself, pleasure coming, sex-pleasure. Beginning to come, her head tilting back, she felt her sex convulsing around him. "Zen," she cried.

His good arm came around her and he rose and lifted her, thrusting upward, Indya still coming. After a time, he made a sound, helpless, holding in her, his pleasure taking him.