begin to fear you might end up with less than someone else. That’s the trick of the mind that Dukish has worked on you.”
“Lies,” a voice mumbled. Dariel knew whose it was. He had heard that voice in his dreams. “All lies.”
“Dukish, I wish you no ill.” Dariel had to wait as several people stepped out of the line of sight between him and the Anet leader. “I wish you no ill, but you have put Ushen Brae in danger. The war you have waged against the other clans and the deals you have worked out with the league are crimes that will keep the people in bondage. If you do not stop-”
“Who are you to talk?” Dukish said. He did not rise, but his voice was strong and his gaze, fixed finally on Dariel, shot hatred at him. “A prince!” He spit the words. “Do you know what a prince is? The child of a man. One who has done nothing and yet enslaves the world and is too much a coward to admit it. A prince!”
Dariel fingered the horn in his grasp. He held it still, but did not raise it. “Dukish, the league does not wish you well. They want us all weak. They want to elevate one of us above another only because it’s easier to then exploit us all. That’s what they have always done. They will use Ushen Brae now as much as they ever have. More, perhaps, because you’ll be victims no longer. You’ll be part of it with them. The league promises you fertile slaves. They want to sell them to you. They want you to become slavers. I can offer you something better. When we have sent the league from Ushen Brae I will call upon my country to bring you settlers. Think of that. Husbands and wives who will come here of their own accord, who want to make a place for themselves in this land. Why wouldn’t they? I’ve seen Ushen Brae. It’s beautiful. It’s a continent that cries out for souls to live in it again, to fill its ancient cities, and to work the-”
“Lies!” Dukish shouted. He pushed up so fast his chair tipped over and crashed behind him. He was a short man, stout around the chest, menacing as he pushed closer. “Only the league knows how to make us fertile again. Sire Lethel can undo what the Lothan Aklun did to us. You cannot; can you?”
Before Dariel could respond, Anira did. “Yes. He has done it already.”
Dariel stared at her.
She walked toward him and took the horn before she continued speaking. “I… Dariel, I didn’t plan to tell you like this. I told you once that the Sky Watcher showed me a vision of the future and of the role I could play in it. He did not claim it was the future that would be, but just that it could be.”
A small flock of raucous birds swept through the chamber, skimming the roof and squawking the whole time. Anira watched them until they slipped into the shadows and disappeared.
When she stayed silent, Dariel prompted, “And?”
She looked around, speaking to everyone. “In all the years that there have been quota children in Ushen Brae not one has ever grown into a mother or a father. This was the curse for us.”
“We know this!” Dukish said.
“We wanted the trade to end, but if it did, we knew we would end,” Anira continued. “The Free People, I mean. Our ways. The things we made despite our captivity. Eventually, we would age and die. Our freedom, if we ever won it, would be the beginning of our end. That was what I always believed. I think that we all did. Now”-she turned and looked at Dariel-“I know differently. Because of you, Dariel Akaran. Because of you and me, and because of what we are creating.”
Dariel knew, at some level, that she was not talking about the pact between the clans and the fight against the league, but it was not until she slid one of her hands across her abdomen that the clouds blew completely away and the realization of what she was saying stood there clear as day. Clear as a palm pressed lovingly against a woman’s abdomen.
“It’s early days,” Anira said, “but there is life within me. I know it. I can feel it. The Sky Watcher Na Gamen told me it could be so, and it is. I’m sorry for not telling you, Dariel, but Na Gamen told me this could be my destiny. I have your child in me.”
The entire chamber erupted. Dukish cursed it all as a fraud. It was all planned, he said. A lie. He knew it to be a lie. He had proof. It was hard to know if anyone heard him, for people from all the clans pushed in close to Anira. Some of them touched her belly. Others looked her in the face and searched for the truth. Others shouted the joy of it, and still others called foul. Tunnel, trying to protect her, got into a shoving match with several Antoks. Had they weapons, there would have been slaughter.
And if Mor had not clasped her hand over Anira’s and raised the horn high, the place might have descended into chaos. “Calm! Show calm!” Mor shouted. “Do you really want to learn of life and respond with chaos? Free People, step away! Back!”
It took her some time, but the crowd did draw slowly back. Mor’s voice grew calmer as she gained more control of them. “See? The leaguemen want to sell us something that can be freely given. There is nothing more to it than joining with Dariel’s people. We have a future! A free future. All we need do is embrace it.”
Hearing the buzz of enthusiasm this met with, Dukish shouted to be heard. “No! No, no, no! He is the one who sold us. His people. Now the league has freed us, and he wants us to be slaves again. I can prove it.” He lifted his chin and projected his voice over the crowd. “Bring the prisoners!”
For a moment there was confusion, shouted words and questions, a murmuring throughout the entire chamber. Mor demanded to know what was happening, but Dukish, looking smug, ignored her and repeated his order.
People turned as a group of Antoks strode down one of the open corridors. They shoved and cursed as they did, making room. There in the center of them, four figures, weighted by chains. In all the commotion Dariel could not make out their faces until their escorts deposited them in the center of the lighted square. The brawny guards drained away, leaving the four prisoners standing, dejected, frightened, in the center of the gathering.
Dariel recognized them. He blinked, unsure if he could trust his eyes, still stunned by Anira’s revelation. “Melio. Clytus. Geena…”
As he said their names, their eyes found him. They stared, each of them looking at him and none of them recognizing him. How different he must look! One of the quota slaves among others like him. He tried to move toward them, but Dukish’s men blocked him.
“These prisoners were caught trying to enter Avina,” Dukish said. “My brothers the Antoks captured them, and together we got the truth from them. They came looking for Dariel Akaran. They came as spies planning to take over this land.”
“No,” Dariel said.
“They want to make us slaves again. They don’t like that the league is willing to partner with us. That’s why this man is here trying to trick you. I don’t know how he does it. Some trick of the Lothan Aklun. All to keep us passive as they tighten their chains around us again.”
“No,” Dariel said.
“No?” Dukish asked. “I have their written confessions-signed by them!”
Dariel tried to shove his way toward the prisoners, but Dukish’s men beat him back. “They would never confess to that because it isn’t true. Clytus, tell them the truth.”
The man stared all the harder at the mention of his name, but he did not respond. Dariel realized he had been speaking Auldek. He switched to Acacian. “Clytus, it’s me, Dariel.”
“Spratling?”
“Yes, it’s me! Don’t worry. You’ll be free in a moment. I promise it.”
Dukish ignored him. He droned on, building his case on a foundation of lies. Dariel grasped for the horn. Mor released it and Dariel held it high. He jumped with it, shouting until people acknowledged him and Dukish began to lose their attention.
“These people are my friends,” Dariel admitted. “But if they came here, it was to find me, not to harm you in any way. Don’t let Dukish speak for them. He cannot be trusted. Nothing he has said here today has been true.”
Dukish cursed him.
“You know in your heart that’s not true. You told me so. You told me the truth of yourself.”
“Never.”
“You told me of the way you coveted your master’s wealth.”
Dukish moved nearer. People cleared away from in front of him. “I never did!”
“I don’t want to have to say this, but I need you to speak truthfully. I spoke with Dukish as I spoke with all of you. You all know that’s true. As you told me secrets, so did he. I know your hearts, and I do not judge you by
