“With luck,” said the Attolian, “we will be well ahead of any pursuit. They will be slow to track us overland, and we will be moving fast once we are on the road.”
For the time being, our waterskins were full and we each carried a set of the Namreen’s saddlebags stuffed with their extra clothes and a blanket apiece. Their distinctive vests and our own blood-covered shirts we had left in the lion’s den.
Even in my best health, I did not think I could have matched the Attolian for traveling strength, and I watched him closely for signs of impatience as I picked my way slowly behind him.
Encouraged when I saw none, I asked, “When we get to Traba, what then?”
“I have a little coin left from your purse and more from the Namreen,” he said over his shoulder. “If I have not found a means to make the money to pay for lodging and better food than rodents, we are going to have to find a way to sell that necklace.”
As the moonlight was disappearing, the Attolian picked a spot to rest. We couldn’t afford a fire, so we just sat in awkward silence until the Attolian said, “So, you don’t like Senabid jokes.”
The jokes about Senabid and his master are not the sort of thing a slave tells to a free man, and I was an idiot for mentioning them in the first place. I blame it on the fever.
“What about a story from Attolia?” I asked.
“No, I’m no storyteller. Can you tell me more about Immakuk and Ennikar?”
“If you like. First, tell me—how did you come to Ianna-Ir?”
He misunderstood. With a tilt of his head and a wince, he said, “I punched the king in the face.”
Aghast, I had no idea how to respond. That wasn’t what I had been asking about at all. I’d only been trying to decide which story to tell him. I assumed this meant the Attolian was no favorite after all and the king had tasked him with my theft as punishment.
“He was more kind to me than I deserved and he forgave me,” the Attolian said.
Gods above and below. People died—gruesomely—for even thinking of harm to the emperor. Certainly he would never forgive such an offense. I couldn’t imagine why the Attolian king would do so.
But the Attolian hadn’t finished. “Because he was so kind, people thought I was a favorite, and because of that, he thought it safer to send me here.”
At this point, I should have chalked it all up to foreign customs I couldn’t possibly understand, but I was intensely curious. If the king had forgiven him for assault, then he was a favorite, wasn’t he? What greater favor could the king have shown him? Why was his life in danger?
“How safer?” I asked.
“Well, the Namreen aren’t dropping roof tiles on my head or trying to stab me in the back.”
That I understood. It was what came of having a weak king. If the Thief was going to let people get away with punching him in the face, it was no wonder he had no control of his court. He couldn’t keep his favorite safe and had to send him away. I understood, but I wasn’t sure if the Attolian did, because he seemed chagrined for himself, not his king.
I cleared my throat. “I—I was actually asking what route you took to Ianna-Ir. Did you come from Zabrisa to Menle and down the river?”
“Oh,” he said. “No. We sailed to Hylas and went overland on the Three Cities trade road to the Southern Ocean. Then took a ship to the delta and another one upriver to the capital.”
“So, you crossed the Isthmus,” I said. “You know—the narrow stretch of land between the Southern Ocean and the Middle Sea where the Three Cities lie.” This was everyday geography—any child in the empire would know it. His eyebrows dropped, and I was afraid I had offended him. Hastily I said, “I was going to tell you the story of Unse-Sek, the monster of the Isthmus.” I tapped my lip and began.
Narrow is the bridge between the lands of grain
and the lands of sand
the Isthmus evil stalked it
Terrifying Unse-Sek son of the Queen of the Night
tower tall
sword clawed
teeth blood red needle sharp
bat head and great bat wings
barbed at their joints
Unse-Sek stalked the Isthmus in the night
eyes gleaming
gleaming like the copper domes
of Ianna-Ir in the sunlight
In the dark gleamed Unse-Sek’s eyes
as he hunted men
waited until they slept
lurked and leapt
Then he devoured them greedy Unse-Sek
slurped their marrow
left their bones and gobbets of their flesh
scattered on the land
for their friends to find and grieve over
for their friends to weep over
So was the prince of Hylas lost
So did his father and mother grieve
and cry out for deliverance from
the demon saying who will slay the savage Unse-Sek
and make his name greatest
in the lands of grain and the lands of sand?
Glorified before the gods and potent will be his name
if he slays the savage Unse-Sek!
Came the news to Noble Immakuk and Brave Ennikar
Wise Immakuk Strong Ennikar
answered the grieving friends of the prince
the grieving mother grieving father
swore death to Unse-Sek
They went out across the Isthmus
wandered there stalking
the stalker
Lay in wait as he lay in wait
lurked as the demon lurked until he pounced
Foolish Unse-Sek seizing Ennikar
every hand with three talons
every talon a sword he seized Ennikar
was stung
stung by Immakuk’s blade
Snapped with his needle teeth at Immakuk
and missed
Strong Ennikar broke free
swung his sword and lopped Unse-Sek’s sword claws
lopped one hand and its sword claws
Howling for his mother Unse-Sek fled
chased
by Immakuk
and by Ennikar
He flew they followed
He turned and fought and was stung
fought for days
First Immakuk
Then Ennikar
drove the monster
wearied him until Unse-Sek turned
seized Immakuk in his teeth
his bloodred teeth knife sharp
shook him as a cat shakes
a mouse a mouse was Immakuk
Unse-Sek howled with victory snapped again
savage Unse-Sek seized again with sword claws
battered Immakuk with his wings
His barbed wings
pierced Immakuk’s eye with his claws
opened his eye bled out its life
dimmed its light forever
Immakuk raged
could not escape Unse-Sek
Ennikar Strong Ennikar rescued Immakuk
lopped the claws lopped the hand a second time
cut off Unse-Sek’s hand a second time
freed Immakuk
sliced Unse-Sek’s bat wings
so he could fly no more
lopped off his sword claws
Unse-Sek who could not fly could not crawl
he cried out for his mother
the Queen of the Night
cried out
died
Brave Immakuk and Noble Ennikar took his head
brought it to Hylas
hung it there above the gate
eyes still gleaming
When I was done, the Attolian thanked me.
“Very impressive, that Ennikar,” he said.
“So, so, so,” I said, and he smiled at the Attolian slang.