Naamah's Curse - Jacqueline Carey [172]
The room itself was small, but not unpleasant. It even had a balcony that looked out onto an interior courtyard garden with a fountain at the center, filled with growing plants, and birds and monkeys, too. Amrita invited me to join them, but I refused, feeling I’d already imposed more than enough on their lives.
I tried setting ward-stones around my room as I had learned to do travelling across the Tatar steppe, but the charm didn’t work in a man-made dwelling. At least my own balcony was high and inaccessible; and clever Ravindra came up with the idea of stringing bells to the outer door of my own sleeping-chamber, so that if anyone were to succeed in forcing the lock, the clamor would awaken me before they entered, and I might summon the twilight.
In a week’s time, the Falconer’s messenger returned with the expected reply, delivering it with relish.
“His majesty Tarik Khaga agrees that the dakini Moirin is entitled to hear Bao’s refusal from his own lips,” he said smoothly. “His majesty invites her to accompany me to Kurugiri as his honored guest.”
Clearly, the Falconer’s messenger reckoned this was a counterstroke of masterful strategy on the part of the forces of Kurugiri. The Rani Amrita furrowed her brow and looked troubled, letting him believe she was at a loss for a response. “As ever, it is the dakini Moirin’s choice,” she said carefully. “Again, we will take counsel. Go, and come back tomorrow.”
He bowed, and went.
There was no need to take counsel this time. Our plans were set. Amrita would have liked to use the day to make another round of temple offerings, but her commander of the guard, a handsome fellow named Hasan Dar, was adamant about not venturing beyond the palace walls.
“Tarik Khaga may tire of this game you play with him, highness,” he said earnestly to her. “For all we know, he already has, and his assassins lie in wait. There are too many people in the streets, and it is too difficult to protect you. Please, take no risks. Make your offerings at the household altar. The gods will understand.”
Reluctantly, Amrita agreed; and we heaped the household altar high with garlands of dried flowers, offerings of food and incense.
A day later, the Falconer’s messenger returned, and Amrita delivered our final edict to him, a surprisingly stern note in her musical voice.
“Given your master’s history, the dakini Moirin does not believe this offer is made in good faith,” she said. “And I agree with her. So! We refuse.”
“Then—” the messenger began.
Once again, my lady Amrita raised her right hand in the pose of fearlessness, silencing him. “I offer a compromise. I propose a meeting of both parties on neutral ground. Do you know the plateau beneath the Sleeping Calf Rock?” she inquired.
He nodded warily.
“Very good.” She gave a brisk nod in reply. “Let us meet there, your master and I. The dakini Moirin will accompany me, and your master will bring this young man Bao. No weapons on either side. Each of us will be escorted by no more than ten unarmed guards. At a distance of five hundred paces, we will each exchange a guardsman to verify that both parties have honored these terms. Do I make myself understood?”
“Yes, highness.” The messenger licked his lips. “What do you expect this meeting to accomplish?”
I answered for her. “I expect to persuade Bao to leave your master’s service. If he does, I will honor my word and offer myself in his place.”
His gaze slid sideways toward me. “And if you fail?”
I called the twilight, wrapping its subtle dazzle around me. “I will not fail.”
The Falconer’s messenger looked away.
“I am weary of this game,” the Rani Amrita announced. “No more demands, no more offers. I will await your master on the plateau in one week’s time. Go, and tell Tarik Khaga the Falconer that that is my final word.”
“Yes, highness.” He bowed to her. “I will do so.”
Five days later, we set out for the plateau.
I was sick with unease. It seemed a good plan, but it was a dangerous one, too. With our hidden battalion, we would outnumber Tarik Khaga’s men six to one; but the battalion