Tau moved to his father's side as Nkiru arrived.
"Signal smoke, near Daba," Nkiru said, blowing hard.
"Daba?" asked the High Harvester. "Daba?"
Nkiru ignored him. "'Hedeni crossing fields,' that's the message. They
must have landed a war party and climbed the cliffs. If they're in the
farming fields it won't be long before they're in the hamlet."
Tau thought about the wrecked boat. It had been an enemy ship. He
marveled at the stupidity and courage of sailing the Roar. How many had
they lost to the waters in order to mount the raid?
"Did the message say anything about numbers?" Tau's father asked.
"No," Nkiru said. "But if they've come this far—"
"Send men. Send everyone," Berko pleaded. "You can't let them reach
Daba."
Aren gave orders to the gathered fighters. "Nkiru, Ekon, take the men
you have and head for the mountain barracks. Empty it out."
"Yes!" said Berko, frantic. "I'll go too. I have to get back home."
"I'll make for the keep," Aren said. "I'll gather the men there and ask
the umbusi's Gifted to send an edification. We have to call in the military.
This isn't a normal raid. If they've come this far, they've come in force. The
fighters at the mountain barracks won't be enough."
"Aren… it's just us," Nkiru said. "Lekan won't let the keep guard come
to Daba's defense. I just left him and he says it's too risky to send everyone.
He's worried that the hedeni might also send raiders here, to Kerem."
Aren closed his eyes, drawing a slow breath. "Lekan is not right in this,"
he said. "If the hedeni sailed the Roar to get to us, they've come to do
damage in force. They won't split their fighters and pick at us. They'll
attack as one. They'll destroy Daba." He looked down the mountain, in the
direction of the keep. "I have to speak with Lekan. We need the Gifted to
call the military and we need enough men to defend the hamlet until the
military arrives. We can't do that with just the men from the mountain
barracks. We need the keep guard."
"He won't…," Nkiru said, trailing off and knuckling his sword's
pommel. "Lekan has already called for the military, but he also ordered me
to tell you to lead Daba's defense. He says he'll see to the keep's safety.…
Aren, he won't go to Daba, and he won't let the guards go either."
Berko shot looks at the men discussing the fate of his home. "What does
this mean? What do we do?" he asked.
Aren looked to the sky. It was a cloudless day, merciless in its heat. "We
defend Daba," he said. "That's what we do."
Nkiru's forehead was crinkled with lines of worry, but he turned to the
men and did his best to sound eager. "You heard the inkokeli. Move!"
The fighters, Berko, and the two Drudge went up the mountain, making
for the Taala path. It was the quickest way to the barracks and to Daba.
"Go home," Aren told Tau, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll see you
when it's done."
He squeezed Tau's shoulder, patted it, and left. Tau stood there and
watched his father follow the rest, the lot of them racing against what little
time the people in Daba had, before the hedeni were among them.
He'd not seen his father that concerned in a long time. It meant Aren
didn't think they'd hold Daba. It meant there was a damned good chance
they'd all die.
"No…," Tau said. "Not because of Lekan. Not because of that coward."
He rushed to the closest bit of brush and hid his practice blade and ration
sacks. He belted on his sharpened bronze sword, the one that had belonged
to his father's father, and gripped its hilt. He felt the etchings his
grandfather had made, spelling out the family name in a spiral that wound
its way from pommel to guard. "Solarin," it read.
Steadied and feeling ready for the task ahead, Tau ran down the
mountain, in the opposite direction his father had gone. He went to find
Jabari. Lekan might be craven, but Jabari was as decent as Nobles came.
He'd help. He'd tell his mother to order the keep's men to go to Daba, and
that would stop Tau's father from getting killed.
Before long, the Onai's keep, the largest building in Kerem, came into
view. It was two floors tall, had a central courtyard, and was surrounded by
an adobe wall that was nine strides high. The adobe was smooth and that
spoke to the Onai's wealth.
"Eh, what're you about, Tau?" a reedy voice asked from above.
Tau looked to the top of the fortifying wall. It was Ochieng, one of the
Ihagu assigned to be a keep guard. Ochieng had always been a blustering
oaf, and, a full cycle older than Tau, he'd already reached manhood. He
hadn't passed the test to be part of the real military and had come back from
the southern capital with his head low and prospects grim.
He'd been lucky; Tau's father spoke on his behalf, and on the strength of
Aren's word, the keep guard took Ochieng as one of their own. Most of
Ochieng's family were either dead or Drudge, and if Aren hadn't vouched
for him, Ochieng would have followed in their footsteps. As it stood, Tau
felt owed.
"Open the gate, Ochieng. I don't have time."
"Don't have time, neh? Where's your hurry?"
"Hedeni raid," Tau said, hoping the news would shock the guard to
action.
"Just heard. What's it got to do with you?"
"I have to see Jabari."
"He know you're here?"
"What do you think?" Tau said.
"Don't know what you're fooling about," Ochieng muttered,
disappearing behind the wall. A moment later, Tau heard the heavy latch on
the bronze gate swing up and away.
"Hurry. In you get."
"Thanks, Ochieng."
"Didn't open the gate for you. Tell Aren I said hello."
Leaving the gate behind, Tau came to a juncture in the keep's paths and
stopped. Jabari could be almost anywhere, and, worried he was making the
wrong choice, he went toward the keep proper and Jabari's rooms.
He moved through the keep's yards at a brisk walk, head down, trying
not to draw the attention of any of its handmaidens or administrators.
Lessers in the keep tended to be women or, if male, they were higher caste
than Tau. He'd stand out and didn't want to be stopped or, worse, prevented
from getting to Jabari.
He sped up, eyes on the dirt, anxious to get where he was going, which
was why he came near to knocking his younger half sister on her ass.
"What in the Goddess's… Tau?" said Jelani, unable to keep the surprise
from her face. "Why are you here?"
"Hello, Jelani."
"Don't 'hello' me."
"Uh… how's Mother?"
"That'll depend," Jelani said, glaring at Tau like she'd found a maggot in
her rations, "on what I tell her about seeing you here."
"I'm looking for… Jabari asked to see me."
Jelani squinted at him. "Jabari?"
"Yes, there's a raid in the mountains… the hedeni—"
"He's in the bathhouse. Find him and leave, before I tell my mother."
Our mother, Tau thought, inclining his head and hurrying back to the
path he hadn't selected. He swore he could feel Jelani's beetle-black eyes
on his back as he went. She hated having a half-low as a sibling. That's how
she thought of him, half-low.
It made Tau want to yell that he was as High Common as she was. Status
came from the woman who bore you, and his name was Tafari, just like
hers. It wouldn't have done any good. Jelani knew their mother wouldn't
have anything to do with him, or Aren.
Pushing his sister out of mind, Tau stepped up to the bathhouse, opened
its door, and was hit by a blast of hot scented air. "Jabari?" he said into the
fog. He didn't dare go in. "Jabari?"
"Tau? That you?" said a familiar voice. "What are you about?"
He'd have only one chance to convince Jabari to help. "There's a fight
coming," Tau said, "and if we don't do something, the people your family
pledged to protect will die."
Tau heard water slosh around, and then Jabari appeared through the
steam, towering over him, stark naked.
"What's this?"
Lekan hadn't told Jabari about the raid. Tau corrected that, telling him
everything, then begging him to act. "Go to your mother," he said. "She's
the umbusi; tell her the defense of Daba will fail without more men."
"Tau, I'm the second son. Lekan's the one being groomed to command
our fief's men. She won't go against him on my word."
"Jabari—"
"She won't, Tau."
"We have to do something!" Tau said, struggling to keep his voice
respectful.
"I know, I know. There's a fight coming and my family must protect the
people of Kerem." Jabari clapped Tau's chest with an open palm. "I have
it."
"Have what?"
"A plan," Jabari said