Southern Fire

Chapter Twenty-One

'Have you seen any Chazen boats?' Kheda stood over Dev as the wizard peered into his scrying bowl held between his bandaged legs. The inky water tilted as the Amigal rode the broad swell of the open waters.

'No,' said Dev shortly. 'Pass me the chewing leaf.'

Kheda bent to pick the wash-leather bag from the deck where the roll of the ship had carried it. 'Look to the east. See if you can see any more triremes.'

'Give me that.' Dev looked up, cuts and grazes on his face liberally coated with salve. He held out his hand, the bruises on his arm now a myriad colours, mocking the magic that had armoured him in battle. 'Chewing leaf won't blunt my scrying abilities but the pain in my foot might. Or the spell could go awry. Do you want your friends seeing that?' He nodded towards the tall tower on the thousand-oyster isle now in plain sight.

Kheda hesitated then handed him the little leather pouch. Dev tugged out a dark, wrinkled leaf, wadding it up and shoving it in his mouth. Kheda did his best to contain his impatience as the mage's jaw worked and the lines of strain on his face lessened a little.

'So, Chazen ships over to the east. Let's see if we can find any there.' He bent over his bowl and little shapes danced in the light flickering over the surface.

Kheda turned away.

He'd be scrying whether I wanted it or not. He's no more wish to be sunk and killed by some hysterical Redigal trireme than me or Risala. He may as well tell me what I need to know while he's at it. But I need not look myself, not if I'm to leave all this magic behind me. Not now I'm finally to go home again.

'Kheda.' Risala's call from the tiller carried a warning note.

He looked at the rapidly approaching islet to see a faint thread of smoke rising into the clear sky. 'Can you see a boat?'

'It's way over there.' Kheda looked to see Dev gesturing towards the distant island at the head of the chain leading back into the Daish domain. 'It's a fast trireme, swordsmen all along both decks.'

'It must be Ja

'I have and there aren't any to be found, not north, south or anywhere else,' replied the wizard with a robustness giving the lie to his manifold injuries. 'They haven't shifted from the Serpents' Teeth.'

There were no words to express Kheda's exasperation. He ran a hand over his neatly combed beard. The breeze was cool on the back of his neck, exposed where Risala had deftly trimmed his hair.

'Where do you want me to anchor?' Risala was sca

'On the beach, in front of the tower.' Kheda made an abrupt decision. 'I've done with skulking and hiding.'

'Only once you've set Ja

Kheda nodded curtly. 'You'll be free to head north, as soon as you wish.'

'Don't want us spreading inconvenient stories?' There was a taunting glint in Dev's one eye that wasn't still swollen. 'Embarrassing you in front of your lady wife.'

'It would be the last thing you did and you know it,' Kheda retorted, unsmiling.

No one spoke as Risala guided the Amigal into the shore. Kheda slid over the rail into the tethered skiff, splashing as he rowed through the shallow water to the beach.

Ja

She looked up with a faint smile as he hauled the skiff beyond the waves. 'Kheda.' Ja

'Ja

Longing for the warmth of her arms around him, her perfumed softness within his embrace overwhelmed him but taking her in his arms wasn't really an option with her concentrating on poking her fire. He saw she had raked ashes and embers over serried rows of pale shells planted in the sand. 'White mussels?'

She nodded briefly. 'I thought we should eat together again.'

'How was your voyage here?' Kheda sat down beside her.

'Quite appalling.' Ja

'Something of it,' Kheda said cautiously.

Ja

'I don't know,' Kheda said helplessly. 'All I can tell you is they are dead, the men who pla

'The wizards?' Ja

Kheda nodded firmly. 'All dead.'

I certainly wasn't going to object to Dev making sure of that with his scrying.

Ja

Feeling increasingly unsure of himself, Kheda looked around the empty shore. 'How goes the campaign to retake the Chazen domain?'

'Well enough.' Ja

'Our losses?' Kheda swallowed painful apprehension. 'And of our allies of Redigal and Ritsem?'

'Not insupportable,' Ja

'What of Chazen Saril?' Kheda tried to moderate his anger but his words rang harsh along the shore.

Ja

'What?' Kheda was entirely confused.

'Chazen Saril,' Ja

'Daish Kheda.' Chazen Saril sidled around the tower of silence with a nervous smile. 'I never thought I'd see you again.'

'I thought I'd see you and your ships in the vanguard of any assault to reclaim your domain.' Kheda saw no reason for restraint. 'Why are your ships still huddled around the Serpents' Teeth while others sail to shed their blood for your benefit? What are you thinking of?'

'My children, my Sekni, my Olkai.' Chazen Saril had lost considerable weight and his skin hung in loose jowls. Apprehensive, his eyes were dark in bruised hollows. 'That's who I think of. That's who I see when the dawn mocks my restlessness or when dreams tear apart whatever sleep exhaustion forces on me. I see them dying. I see the fire and lightning defiling them. I see savage wizards laughing over their dead bodies and pla