Infall Ch. 09 - END

She lay herself on his chest, listening to his heart, trying to be careful of his shoulder. He brought his good arm around her and held her, Indya deciding she would sleep there. Her eyes leaked onto his chest as he stroked her hair like Kythe did.

* *

In the morning, she and Zen left Ashka and Zozo in the rooms and went to the kah-rí. Kythe still hadn't woken.

The kah-rí studied her, his lips tight, and then sent Zen a glance. "You should send her to the marketplace."

"I know this, Father," Zen said, nodding.

The kah-rí's jaw jumped and then he released his breath, looking at her. "You would do this for my sons anyway, Indya. Am I wrong?"

Indya looked down, her heart falling to her feet. "You're not wrong, Father. I will still do this."

"I agree to your terms," the kah-rí said. "I would rather not send the second son I love more than myself to his death, and I won't see the daughter I also love grieved by this any more than she already is. Disemond will help you, Indya. Tell him what you need to make this weapon."

Indya looked up. "Thank you, Father."

* * *

Three days later, Mavia was sitting in the corner sewing, Zozo asleep in his bed. Indya had prepared the model. She'd asked for things to be made and the kah-rí had arranged it. She'd been working all day and sometimes into the night to even see if it was possible, and then to figure what she needed, where to find it, only taking time to sleep a little. Her back hurt, her feet. She'd asked them to cast the metal for the model, giving them the dimensions.

A servant knocked and opened the door and Disemond came sweeping in, his nose flaring. She'd given him her requests. He slapped the paper on the table, a list of the things she had asked him to get her, checked carefully against the dictionary. "What is this? Is it a joke? You want me to collect bats for you?" Disemond said, giving a harsh laugh. "Perhaps some cobwebs, Lí? The eye of a lizard?"

Indya walked to the end of the table where the model pointed at a wall, as long as her arm, a candle lit there. She uncovered the model, took a small stick, and lit the fuse.

"Get ready, friend Mavia," she said. "Cover your ears."

"For what, ch--"

There was a huge and loud crack in the room, smoke rose, red sparks flew, and the model flew backward on its wheels, ropes stopping it. A round rock flew from the muzzle too fast for the eye to see and hit the wall with a crack, leaving a huge dent before dropping, inert.

Both Disemond and Mavia cried out, but Indya had forgotten about Zozo, who had been peacefully asleep. Zozo exploded straight up into the air with a mighty yelp and then his feet were scrambling, almost knocking her over and disappearing out the door.

"Zozo!" Indya cried, and then she sighed.

"Goodness, child! What was that?" Mavia said, covering her ears too late.

"I'm sorry, Mavia. It's a...small thing of the big thing I make."

"It certainly is noisy."

"How did you do that, Lí?" Disemond said, walking toward it, looking at it all over.

Indya went back to her notes, her head swirling with numbers, wishing she had a computer. She needed to estimate how much black powder she would need, what they had time to make. She made a small noise, too tired to be patient. "Will you please get me these things now?"

"I want to know, Lí," Disemond said, his mouth drawing down in a scowl. "I want to understand how you did that."

Indya eyed him, going to the small model cannon and dipping the stick with a sponge at the end in the water she had, cleaning the bore. She predicted that Disemond wouldn't be the only one she would have to persuade.

Repacking it, she inserted a small bag, the powder already ground and mixed, tamping, replacing the fuse, loading it, small rags, and then loaded it with the round rock, another thing she'd had to ask for, attendants sent to look for them and carve them, the right size, as round as possible.

Disemond watched her hands.

"Are you willing to help me to do this and make the job easier, even if you don't understand why yet?" she said. "Because I have to work fast and I don't want to argue with you every step of the way because I'm a woman. In return, I promise to explain when I can." She looked at him as she finished.

His jaw firmed and she thought that his mouth pursed up like a butthole and he nodded, a short movement.

Indya covered the model again with the cloth as Zen came sweeping in.

"I thought I heard something in here," Zen said, looking around quickly. "Zozo is hiding under your bed, nina. What is the smell of smoke?"

"A smaller version of the weapon," Indya answered Zen, speaking to Disemond. "For the small weapon, to know if it works, I used the white crusty beads that build up at the stables on the ground from the horse urine, but it's not enough."

"You're talking about the stuff on the ground at the stables, the white stuff? That's a weapon?" Zen said.

She had forgotten about the fuses, making a note. "Seventy-five percent of one. It ispotassium nitrate," she said in Alcon. "But the stables won't have enough. We need a great deal of it, and even once we have it, we'll have to get it out of the dirt. That's why I ask your father if you know there are bats nearby in caves. He said there was some two days' ride. I need someone to go and to collect their droppings. It's the same...material," she said, having no word for compound, or maybe she just didn't know it in Edion, "but there's more of it in bat droppings. We don't have months to make this. I need as much as you can get me."

"Bat droppings," Zen echoed.

"And I need charcoal, which is easy, from fire, but try to make it as clean as possible," she said to Disemond. "I'll get you the amounts. Then I need something else, but I don't know the word. Kythe had some. You find it near the hot springs? It has a smell that's no good?

"Like rotten eggs?" Zen said, making a face, shaking his head. "You want bat droppings and brimstone, nina?"

"And charcoal, yes," Indya said. "This area was full of the mountains that have fire. Again, Disemond, get me as much as you can."

"All right," Disemond said stiffly, his eyes darting to the model under its cover. "I have those who will help to gather these things."

"Is that all, Indya?" Zen said.

She looked at him. "No sign he wakes up, Zen?" Indya said.

Zen shook his head. "Not yet, nina."

She took a deep breath and released it. "No, that's not all. I need the smiths to forge me large size weapons of the small weapon I give you. In bronze, seven mecets long, three of them. And iron balls a little smaller than the hole. I give you the measurements. We should do stone, but we don't have time to carve them."

"Seven mecets! That's huge," Zen said. "Nina, will you explain what you're making so we can understand before I go and tell people to start melting down statues--"

"Cover your ears, friend Mavia," Indya said.

This time Mavia did what Indya said. Indya walked to the small model cannon, pulling off the cover and setting the stick on fire with a candle. She gestured to Disemond, who came to her, Indya pointing at the model.

"The powder I put at the base is made of these three substances. Alone, they do nothing. But with each other and fire, they..." she said, cupping her hands in a ball and making the ball larger. "What is this?"

"Expand, Lí," Disemond said.

"Yes, expand, thank you, and that releases much force. The force has nowhere else to go, a little like...a sneeze in your nose. If you stop up your nose, maybe your head don't explode, but you feel the pressure. Because it's trapped, the force comes out the hole, but the ball is in the way, and the ball must go the only way it can with all that force behind it. This rule is everywhere in this world. For every action, like the force that makes the ball fly, there is the same amount of reaction in the other direction. That is why the ropes to catch. You understand?"

Disemond was concentrating, looking at the model. "Yes, Lí. I think so."

"Then watch. This is a slow kind of reaction," she said, Indya touching the candle to the fuse, the chemical reaction that had to build, and it flashed and fired and cracked like before and the weapon flew backward, a rock shooting out and putting another huge dent in the wall exactly where the first one had been before falling to the floor, inert.

"Goodness, child," Mavia said, her hands dropping from her ears.

"Sorry, Mavia." She looked at Zen. "Imagine that is seven mecets, aimed at your monster."

Zen had gone still. He slowly walked over to the wall, reaching out and touching the deep impact mark while she cleaned the model. His eyes went from the model to the wall and back and then to her eyes. "Indya," he said.

"I know," she said.

"Yes," Zen said. "Let me take the model. I will tell the smiths. They'll begin today."

She nodded, gathering all the pieces of her model together. "To be right is very important. Tell them that, Zen. Tell them so they hear you. No mistakes, no trying to make it better. Like this one and only like this one. It is very bad if they change it. You will need carpenters for the cart with wheels, and the carts must be like this, too, not even a little different, because the height will affect the...what do you do with an arrow to hit something?" she said to Disemond.

"Aim, Lí," Disemond said.

"Yes, aim, thank you. The sticks go with them and each has a purpose. Make sure they're made that way and not another, and the same size larger. I don't know how to say," she said, looking at Disemond.

"She would like the tools to be made proportional to the weapon itself, Rí," Disemond said. "So that they fit into the hole out of which the ball comes."

"Yes, proportional, thank you," Indya said. "You are right."

"I will ensure this, nina," Zen said, nodding.

"When they have what they need, get men and find as many round rocks you can and have people carve them down to a little smaller than the hole. They will take the model into the woods and find a target. They must learn how to aim this weapon or it's only loud. Once they understand how the ball flies, how it..." she said, her hand flying up and then falling, looking at Disemond.

"Arcs, Lí," Disemond said.

"Thank you, Disemond. Arcs, yes. Once they understand how it arcs, they will adjust. Let me know when you're ready."

"I'll be back," Zen said, beginning to pick up the model.

"Rí," Disemond said. "If I may say, the lí has been clear that the measurements of this device must be exact. There's a chance you might damage or shift it if you carry it. May I suggest a cart?"

"That's a good idea," Zen said, going to the door. "You'll come with me, Disemond, and explain this to them."

Disemond expanded his chest and nodded. "Of course, Rí," he said, taking the paper she'd given him more gently. "Then I will have them gather these materials as quickly as I can."

"Thank you, Disemond," Indya said, getting more paper.

The place was finally quiet, Mavia sewing and sewing.

"You should eat, Indya," Mavia said just a moment later.

"I will," she said.

A moment later, Mavia said it again. "Indya. It's late. You need to eat."

"I will," Indya said, figuring.

"Indya," Zen said, walking back into the workroom a moment later. "It's time for you to eat. You haven't had anything since this morning. It's almost evening."

"Later," she said.

"Nina," he said, coming around the table. "You're going to be making this for days. Trust me. I'm a soldier. If you don't sleep or eat, you'll make mistakes. You'll slow yourself."

"I told her to eat, Rí," Mavia said, shaking her head. "She's not sleeping enough, either."

"She will from this point on, Mavia," Zen said, his face darkening, glancing at Indya.

Indya stopped, setting down the quill, sighing and rubbing her eyes. "You're right," she said. "I'm sorry, Mavia. I will listen better. Thank you."

"Come have supper with me," Zen said.

"Yes," she said, taking his hand.

They were in Indya's main room sitting when the food was brought. Zozo was sitting in the doorway to her room, leaning on it.

"Come here, Zozo," Indya said.

He looked away. She sighed and stared at her food blankly.

"Indya," he said, his eyes on her face.

"Yes," she said, looking down. She finally spoke. "I know that your people aren't ready. There will be another time when I hope we will make this choice differently. I don't like pointing a weapon at my brother, Zen."

"Our brother is trying to kill us, nina."

"And where does that stop?"

"Shall I lay down my spear when he attacks?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "But try to talk to him a little, Zen, in the time between. Put off, for a small time, the next fight. Face someone once as a person before you face him as an enemy. Ask him for peace before you defend against him. Offer him peace before you attack. Tell him what you want. Find out what he wants. Listen to him. If you've done wrong to him, make it right. Remind him he is your brother. It's not weakness to say this first. It's strength."

"I'll try, nina," Zen said. "I was raised on war, to defend and protect what I love. I don't love them. I love my people, and my city, and my father, and my brother, and I love you."

"As I love you and Kythe," she said, crying now, looking down at her hands again. "I'm just tired. It is the most selfish thing I could do, to give this to your people."

Zen straightened, coming to her. "Then I will ask the Chusans for a parley. I won't go out there undefended, but I will ask to meet the Chusan leader and I will speak with him and learn what could be done to avert fighting. I will listen when he speaks and consider what he says."

"You will do this?" Indya said, looking up at him.

"I admit I'd really rather kill him, nina."

* * *

"I've taken the men out to shoot this small weapon," Zen said, sweeping in two days later. "It is remarkable, Indya. Even the model is powerful. Ashka may never forgive me. I can't take him out there again. It's difficult to imagine what the larger one will do. What else do you need?"

"The men who shoot the weapons should be large and strong. Tell the men you choose that the weapon will make a sound so loud that the men working with it should cover their ears so they aren't damaged. The cannon will fly back with the same force that it releases outward and crush anyone behind it. Always stand to the side. They must clean it well between firing the iron balls or it can release its force here instead of out there and kill everyone around."

"I will choose these men and tell them."

"We will need people to grind the powder down and then combine it--always grind separately, or it can explode--and wet it, wrap it in paper, and leave it overnight. It will carry the flame to the powder inside the weapon. We will make more fuses to fire pockets of the powder we leave in the field in front of the gates."

When she looked up some time later, Zen was gone.

"Zozo!" she called, looking at the door.

In a few moments, Zozo came sneaking into the room, looking all around, going slowly. She didn't react, watching him out of the corner of her eye. He went to his bed, where he sat, alert, and then slowly got down on his belly. Indya got her mortar and pestle, setting it down with a small clack. Zozo yelped and scrambled out of the room, his hips falling once sideways and hitting the door with his head on the way out. She sighed.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Indya stood on the battlement with the kah-rí and watched the Chusan army coming, small figures around a mighty construction. It was dawn, late spring. Kythe was in their rooms in the Alzar, and he still slept. The catapult was massive with heavy beams and iron, pulled by rows of oxen. People swarmed over it like ants, readying its power, but they weren't in range yet.

Kythe still slept.

Indya watched them come, the people of Matise also watching, lining the walls, the kah-rí beside her, as the catapult was slowly brought, still far away, and then aimed and loaded.

The voices of the Chusan soldiers drifted across the flat space in front of Averdine's gates and someone yelled, a small sound from here, and the catapult released with force. It was too far yet to reach their walls, aimed at one of the two large stone defense towers outside the city.

Zen had already emptied the towers. There was no way for men to defend against such a thing.

The rocks from the catapult arced in the air high and crashed into one of the towers, and the ants laboriously pulled its great arm back and did it again, and again, and again, all of the strong stones of the left hand tower finally shattering into pieces like a toy.

"What could answer to such terrible power?" the kah-rí said in a low voice.

The gates of Averdine slowly opened, massive gates, and Zen rode out, his long braid, beautiful and strong. He brought twenty men with him and he rode under a flag of parley. The men on the catapult paused and then left it, and men came from the Chusan line to erect a tent in the center of the field.

Indya's heart was pounding to see Zen go to the Chusan army, knowing that he depended on their honor and that he did this for her. The kah-rí said nothing beside her as his remaining healthy son went to his enemy.

In the distance, she saw a large man, as large as Zen, maybe, with long dark blonde hair and a beard, a straight sword at his waist. He and Zen went into the tent together.

Indya had found Zen last night sitting with Kythe, speaking to his brother, who still slept.

"Nina asked me to go to speak with this Chusan leader," Zen said, "whom I already hate when I see you lying here. For my men who were killed in their attack, and for the pain I see in her eyes to make this weapon. I'm the fighter, Kythe. You're the one who thinks about things, the person who talks. Our father says it shows weakness, but he is allowing it for her, because she has given us this weapon. You would be proud of her, brother, but you need to wake soon."

They waited for Zen to come back behind the walls. All of them waited, a great silence around them. Time passed.

She saw Zen sweep out of the tent and go one way, the other man coming out and going the other. Zen got on his horse and joined his men, all of them riding for the gate, Indya watching the Chusans, but nobody moved to stop Zen from reaching the city.

The men who had come to attack them began moving the catapult in range of the walls of Averdine, a slow progress across the field.

Her breath released as Zen got through the gate. In not too long, he was walking up the stone stairs to the walls. Indya met him, walking into his arms, leaning against his strength. Everything was ready.

"I told him what you said to me, nina," he said into her hair. "He didn't want to listen. I asked him what he wanted. He said he would take nothing less than surrendering the city. He gave us that option."

"Thank you, Zen."

They returned to the kah-rí and waited. The canvas bags with premeasured powder were in the bores and had been broken with the spike, the rags tamped, the black ball loaded in each, more black balls to the side in a tidy triangle. The men waited with torches for the signal, above and below, Zen waiting for her.

The catapult reached its firing range to attack the walls, people loading its cup, swarming over it again. A thick army of men accompanied it and came closer, also in range, ready to pour through the holes the catapult would put in their walls.

Indya looked at Zen and nodded, her heart pounding and her breathing quick. She faced forward. "Now we will see, Kah-Rí, the answer you give them," she said.

Zen turned, walking along the walls, bringing his arm up. "Fire!" Zen yelled, his hand coming down.