[The Anagolay]
A falcon's call rings through the misty dawn.
We have been with the company of Katchil Sylfain for a week that we know the call was a signal. Two wagons carrying supplies are near.
Show time.
Striding towards the middle of the road, I position myself. The sun is still a mere speck in the horizon and the trees looming on both sides of the road, provides shadow for what we are about to do. Soon, I hear cantering and the whinny of horses, the rattle of wheels and the 'hyah' of a man's urging.
With a startled shriek, two of the horses upfront flail it's forelegs and halt at the sight of me.
"Get out of the road, man!" The other wagon also stopping as the first one did.
"What is going on?" Inquire one driver.
"Do you not hear me? I said get off the road," the driver of the first wagon roars. Impatient, he gets off and marches towards me.
"You–"
Pointing the tip of my Anagolay dagger near his eyes cut off his protest. On the second wagon, I glimpse a figure jumping to the driver's seat, aiming a bow and arrow at the driver. Juba.
Tato, showing up behind my driver, hits his nape as Juba also puts his man unconscious. We drag them to a tree Denai has been sitting, tying them together. Then Denai mimics a crowing rooster, realistically.
Aksh, we have learned to be the Katchil's second in command, tagging along with the Katchil himself and three others popping out of their hiding place, crouches towards the wagon. Four local guards from each wagon jump out and engage them.
It is over for the locals fast.
When everything was clear, Lila draws open the curtain of wool, revealing the wagons of fruits. To the other wagon are various pieces of clothing and materials of trade. Katchil Sylfain removes the baskets as though seeing something else. On the floor is a trap door making the prince smirk.
Rapiers and finer blades of bolos, knives and daggers, it is all there.
"Get them all. Hurry," he orders.
We take everything with us and made a beeline towards our own coach ready for us. Aksh jumps to the driver's seat as we crowd inside the wagon.
Sylfain casts his gaze up from the weapons on our feet.
"I must say I have to commend you," he says. "Well done, my Fetue."
The mood lightens as we exchanged triumphant grins. We are officially welcomed as the Katchil's men. For a week, gradually though reservedly we slip in the trade of the prince and his warriors.
Using nature sounds like the various call of birds, they signal to retreat or move. They are a different party to the ones led by his father, King Saramin, who are more of the overt type. But no less clever.
The Prince only has two hundred men at his disposal, including us. He utilizes them the way he sees fit. Aksh, deft swordsman and accountable, I can never get along with unlike Farid who turned out to be one for jests. He also has a lot of spies and we learned with faint surprise that some of them are Faye'ins. Through them we hear of the news in Bessilus, that Cirrhinus is taking his anger out on his people and his army. Asuelus' resistance is still being manhandled, more villages and innocent lives taken away.
Sylfain insisted that I live and breathe Anagolay, which means not revealing my face to anyone at all times and I should only use the dagger. I realized that his goal was to flaunt to Aeon – to the rest of Freobel that I am working with the guerrillas. At that point, Gaviel and the prince are alike in thinking.
I feel the coach take a right, I am guessing we just entered the city gates. A few more minutes of riding, we arrive at the establishment Sylfain owns.
Sanim is with us still for his Uncle Saramin is at Manar city, orchestrating defenses against the militias in Gakaloai. And he welcomes us along with some of the guerrillas.
"Get some rest," the prince says, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "You deserve it." We do as we are told, fatigue catching up to our bodies lacking good sleep for days.
Lila dives at her cot, forgetting to close the curtain that separates her cot to ours. I stretch to my own bed, sleep taking hold of me like a lover.
"Anagolay…" I wake to the sound of Juba's voice.
I yawn. "What time is it?"
"Quarter to three. Come." I groggily follow him, Lila sleepwalking with me as he steps towards the flat rooftop. I shield my eyes, blinking at the sudden heat of the afternoon.
"He wants to meet."
"What?" Then I realize what he means.
***
"What could possibly be so important?"
Captain Gaviel, well blended with the shadows, steps into the light before me. "What do you make of him, the prince?"
No preamble. I glance at Juba who brought Lila and I all the way through the so-called tunnels to a shack in the middle of the road between Ilysus city and Bessilus. He was fast to report.
I sink down to a chair and grab a flask to get a drink. "Clever kid, vast connections, and loyal subjects."
Gaviel turns to the Eng't Urh who shakes a head. "I don't know if we can trust him yet but he outsmarted us."
"What does he want you to do?"
"Intercept Aeon's supplies of weaponries and such," I answer.
The captain's lieutenant, comes into view. "I did not know the Anagolay is good at following orders," he spats, no effort to hide his distrust on me.
"I am not." Sourly, I retort. We give each other hard stares, sizing one's capabilities. Is it just me or is the lieutenant being too expressive than he used to be?
Lila clears her throat deliberately.
"He knows that you know the trade routes?"
I sigh. "I do not know how but he knows too much about the Anagolay. It is like he has a hold over me."
"Are you really an Eng't Urh?" Hughes asks out of the blue.
She stares at him for a moment. "I'm sorry I lied to you. And yes, I am."
Hughes' disbelief is playing on his face yet he nods and offers her a smile. Another foolish one, like his captain.
"Gav, he has his hands on some black powder," she says. Both the captain and lieutenant halts.
Well, well, they know about it. I cross my arms demanding a response.
"Cirrhinus was going to use it on–"
"Gakaloai but I blew it up on Sebelicia, we know. Tell me something I do not."
"No, not on Gakaloai," Gaviel corrects. He shares another look with his lieutenant. "He has been trading from a foreign country beyond the seas for years. It was from them he had his hands on this powder and a piece of metal, a contraption unlike the swords, that can be manipulated for the use of the powder."
"It was only distributed to the black guards, the palace sentries but not once we have seen them use it." Hughes says. "We do not even pay attention to whatever that powder was…"
"Yes, the Katchil said something similar, metal thing breathing fire."
"Don't underestimate that which you don't know Anagolay." Lila nags, typical.
"I have been tracking it for years. Cirrhinus seems to only store them on colonized cities. He probably wanted to store some on Gakaloai."
"But why?" Lila asks.
Gaviel shifts his weight. "According to my source, Cirrhinus is planning something big with it. Nothing conclusive."
"You mean explosively big?" I snort. "The Katchil wants it."
"Of course he does," Lieutenant Hughes says. "If he has it then he can turn the tide against Aeon."
"We must not let him have it." Lila says. "Nor we allow Cirrhinus to possess any more."
Everyone is surprised at what she said.
"I thought you would suggest the exact opposite," I say.
"Is it not better at the hands of the Katchil than the king?" Juba asks.
She groans. "You don't understand, it is like playing with fire. You can't fight fire with fire and expect not to burn."
"We certainly need fire." I suggest.
"Humans and their unrelenting desire to destroy each other. We never learn!"
Unsure of her remark, the four of us quieted.
"I am afraid the Eng't Urh speaks wise, Gaviel." Juba is the first of us to speak and no one was more surprised than Gaviel to hear him say those words.
"Anagolay?" Captain Gaviel asks.
"Wait, I have to say something?" I can feel the kid's eyes rolling. "I think it is rubbish - foolish really if we do not use the powder for our gain because that fire and burning part is an eventual, inevitable conclusion so why not have some tricks up our sleeve, eh?"
Grudgingly, the lieutenant says, "I am with the Anagolay on this one. We are a few in number, we need something big to even stand a chance."
"The decision rests with you, Gaviel." Lila says finally to the Captain.
"If you do not deliver your end of the bargain, the Katchil would suspect." He begins to say. "But I also hear the warning the Eng't Urh implies…"
Lila nods to him.
"We do neither."
"Captain?"
"Give me a pen and paper." His lieutenant complies. After writing what he wanted, Gaviel gives it to me.
"It is a list of the cities where the powder is stored, memorize it. You and the others must steal it and hide it where no one can locate."
"The tunnels." Juba concludes.
"Until we know we can trust the Young Prince, the powder will stay hidden. Hughes and I will take care of the powders in Bessilus and Asuelus. I listed there each of the cities treasury. In exchange for the powder, you can give the Katchil a portion of the taxes those governors milk from the people."
I see the smile playing on Juba's lips, the straightening back of Hughes agreeing to the plan. Even the open grin Lila offers. But I also like this plan.
After memorizing the list, I burn it.
"I do hope you give back what the people rightfully earned."
"You are asking too much. I feel as though I have to work harder. To not be tempted, I mean." I tell him.
"Twice as hard."
The Captain and Juba shared a greeting of goodbye from Juba's tribe, one hand on each other's shoulder. He does the same to Hughes. Lila hugs the lieutenant to his surprise while the captain offers me his hand. I shake it.
"Until we meet again."
"We must not. I cannot sacrifice my sleep just for you."
I glimpse Gaviel's smile for a second.
"You will do well."
Lieutenant Hughes has gone, Juba as well. I start to leave, pausing to see the last look Gaviel and Lila shares. There were no words. But it was enough.