“No!” Migo roared with a voice of thunder.
Katsi called another bolt of lightning, striking the waheshi that had clawed its way into Migo’s side. She fell to her knees, body shaking with the effort.
When Migo looked back at her, his eyes became large, black discs, alarm clearly visible in his lizardly expression. He roared again, rearing his neck in either direction as he spit red flames at the nearest enemies. His jaws clamped shut and he bounded to her in a single step, cradling her in one hand before pumping his wings and launching into the air.
Katsi gritted her teeth against the pain of his tight grip that pressed her arms against her body.
Migo flew low, only passing a few streets before dropping down again, jostling Katsi around as he tried not to use the paw that held her. He barked a low cough.
“What are you doing?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”
Migo opened his paw and pointed with his nose.
It was the three survivors from the large building earlier. All three of them stared with wide eyes and open mouths.
Migo lowered himself to the ground. “Come,” he said.
Katsi nodded and waved them over. “Hurry,” she said. “The city is lost, but we can get you to safety.”
“I will not!” cried the young woman.
“But Lady—” the wounded soldier said before she cut him off.
“I will not,” she repeated. “This is my city. I cannot leave.”
Ah. She was of the noble family after all. “You cannot stay,” Katsi said. “If you do, the only fate you have is to be made into one of those monsters. That’s what they’re here for. They don’t just make you a slave, they force you. They transform you. To be taken is worse than death. Do you understand?”
“I hate to say it, Princess Vasash, but this shaman is correct,” the other woman said.
A princess. How delightful. “Hurry,” Katsi said, tempted to send out another pulse to check how closely they were being followed. She thought she could hear the sound of stones clattering not too far away. Those waheshi could run fast.
“NOW,” Migo said. The urgency in his thundering voice seemed to convince them.
Though Princess Vasash looked on the verge of angry tears, she ran over to Migo and climbed up his back from the tail. The other two did the same. Katsi climbed up beside them. Holding onto spikes from Migo’s back couldn’t be any worse than getting pressed together in his grip.
Three waheshi came tearing down the street, and a shower of rocks crashed toward them, mingled with the rain, but Katsi didn’t feel that she had the strength to stop it.
Chapter twenty-three
Revelation
Hatan stood with hands behind his back as the court gathered. A new day was just beginning. The first new day in 500 years. He’d spent the last mark helping to prepare the assembly hall—a smaller room with just enough room to fit twenty chairs that faced a single desk at the front of the room. Hatan waited behind the desk. This was another one of those rooms that Queen Rikaydian had ceased using altogether. It was quite plain, by design, with two sky windows as the only means of natural light.
Every member of the official court had been hand-selected by himself just before he’d gone to bed. He wanted to include a variety of nobility rather than those who held the most financial influence. It would expand more eventually as he got to know more of them better, but even in his role as regent, he hadn’t interacted enough with the various nobles, nor did he understand the different parts they all played within the city.
For now, it consisted of Lady Sinteya Jenali, Lord Obet Ilanitan—despite his objections regarding Hatan and Migo, Lord Nedro Wajek, Captain Jensan Akailen, Lady Briondi Falshon, and Lady Roan Melema who he’d invited on specifically because of her youth. She too had voted for Avidazj Kesten, but he knew she deserved an opportunity to find her own voice. Also, her youth would offer a much needed, fresh perspective on things.
Obet looked particularly wary to be in such company, and he moved with distinct stiffness as he stood at the back of the room.
“Please, be seated,” Hatan said, pointing a hand at an empty seat. “I understand your hesitancy, Lord Ilanitan, but I believe you have offered much helpful insight in the past, despite our disagreements. It is because of those disagreements that I find your perspective even more helpful. If I am to make improvements with our nation, then I would benefit from having a broader picture in mind, wouldn’t you agree?”
Obet chewed his tongue for a moment. “I believe there is some wisdom there.” He inclined his head before taking a seat on the far end of the room.
Sinteya merely offered him a smile as she entered, looking as stunning as ever in a simple red and white dress. He cleared his throat, trying not to stare, redirecting his gaze to the wall.
Nedro was the last to enter, full of smiles and a bouncing energy that belied his age. “Ah, best of mornings to you, everyone,” Nedro said. He dipped his head at Hatan before taking a seat at the front of the room.
Hatan smiled. “Thank you, everyone. It has been a long time since an official court has been in place here in Jehubal, so I hope we can appreciate the opportunity to discuss the different needs of our people. I selected those who had at least some varying degree of professional backgrounds in hopes that we could address things more wisely. For this cycle,” he had to pause and correct himself. “For today, our topic of discussion is unity, not only with the subjects of Jehubal, but also with the neighboring shamanic tribes who live within our same borders.”
“The shamanic tribes?” inquired Captain Akailen.
“Indeed,” Hatan responded. “We’ve never had a formal meeting with them and discussed land use, interaction, or trade to any extent. Some formality or an agreement of sorts would be most appropriate in establishing a long term peace.”
“Ah,” Nedro said with a chuckle. “Nothing like diving in. I can tell you’re hoping to expand the market on those Padarro Pastries, then.”
Hatan smiled. “I think we’ll find that the shamanfolk have much to offer. Their resourcefulness and ingenuity are far beyond what our predecessors have given them credit for, and I’m sure we’ll have much to learn.”
“So what do you propose, then?” Obet said.
“The tribes have been in hiding for quite a while, often harvesting goods from the wilderness between the city and Delirad Lake,” Hatan explained. “I also have no doubt that they’ve been coming into the city and trading already anyway, purchasing or selling goods. I don’t believe they have the same political structure as we do though, so it’s not as though we can lease land to them for agricultural purposes and try to tax them. We have to come up with a more accepting means of engaging with them.”
“But we conquered these lands many generations ago,” Obet said. “If House Padarro is to be the ruling body, and if the land is to belong to a royal family, then it is your right and privilege to tax them or lease the land as you please.”
“True,” Hatan said, “but they do not follow the same political structure, as I’ve mentioned.”
“Then can’t you force them to obey the same policies?” Captain Akailen said.
Hatan shook his head. “Absolutely not. And you are well aware of our inability to force the tribes to do anything. They’d more likely kill us before I am able to tax them or charge a fee for anything we might do. I think our best course of action is to not treat them like subjects at all, but neighboring, independent political bodies, just like we would for Cataban or Lazeem.”
