Mahnshooth- chapter two

It was past midnight when a small line of people- not more than a dozen- silently marched to the divahnaa, the great building where all the caravaneers spent the night between two cities, kept their animals and stocked their merchandise. That night, several of them had been bribed to leave with their cotton carts sooner than expected. Because they did not want any trouble with the authorities and Thahnees, it had been agreed they would drop them a few kilometres away from the city walls, into the desert, at a special checkpoint from which the refugees would take wind-ships. Shereen caught up with Kalaj and Rubeydaa, panting with anxiety more than from the physical work- she was carrying a large sack on her head full of paraphernalia, small objects in a big leather bag strapped to her back, several bundles of clothing at each end of two long bamboo sticks on her shoulders, carried three pots in her small arms and had sown all her precious jewellery in the hem of her clothing- like everyone else, really.

The men in front exchanged a few words with those smoking their hookah near a campfire and they rose to leave. A few minutes later, they were all being divided in little groups and led ushered to cotton carts. Shereen quickly followed Rubyedaa and Kalaj and unloaded her bags before she hid in the cart, under the huge cotton balls. It was horribly stuffy and she could hear everyone moaning due to the lack of air. Untying her veil, she tried to take small, silent breaths and prayed. The carts finally started, the caravaneers whispering orders to their animals as lowly as they could, so as not to be spotted. They stopped to a halt at one point Shereen guessed to be the city's great doors, since she could hear the soft and incomprehensible murmur of voices from under the pile of cotton. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard strange noises and realised they were checking the carts. Quickly, she wrapped her face and nose with her scarf, hoping not to suffocate and tried to take slower, smaller breaths. But the guards seemed to be too tired to check deeper into the cart and let them go as soon as they had reloaded them.

A few minutes later, they stopped again and this time, she recognised the caravaneers when they completely unloaded the carts.

"Come on, get out! We haven't got all night! By Aakhdali, I swear… come on, come on!" she was brusquely pulled out of the hot pile of cotton balls and almost thrown on the ground. Getting up, she re-tidied her scarf, smothered her skirt and long tunic that was slit from the armpits and went back to the cart to gather her things. Once she was ready, she carefully looked over the flow of covered heads until she recognised Rubeydaa and her fiancé. She tried to wave at them but almost lost a pot in the process and decided to simply walk over to them.

"Ruby!"

"Shereen! We were worried!" her adoptive sister sighed with relief.

"Quick, let's go before all the wind-ships are full", Kalaj brought them back to earth, cutting his way through the crowd as they jogged behind him to keep up. The caravaneers left as silently as they could and everyone moved towards one of the biggest dunes, where an innocent-looking staff had been planted in the sand. Behind it were three small wind-ships. Shereen smiled at the sight of it- the sight of freedom. They were just like the catamarans you could find on lakes and at sea, except they had special flat hulls and helms meant to go on sand, thanks to the powerful winds of the region and the huge dark sails. Those were meant to carry up to four people, but she noticed they were squished in groups of eight- no one complained, though, being too grateful to escape the city. Once everyone was ready, they raised the high sails and left, the hull leaving deep marks in the desert sand as they were violently tossed on each turn, pebble and small dune.

"Aren't those going to be noticeable?" Kalaj enquired, pointing to the deep tracks the ships left. The man in the front who was tugging on the sails' ropes turned to him and shrugged:

"It looks like there's going to be a sandstorm at one point during the night. That should erase the tracks. Besides, we're taking risks: the Thahnees have very good desert scouts amongst the nomads. But hey, that's the price to pay if you want to flee the city!"

Kalaj felt his throat tighten and kept quiet, hoping the two women hadn't heard. But the looks they exchanged clearly showed they had.

The night went on and some of them even managed to fall asleep- mostly children and elderly people who were too tired for the trip. Finally, dawn broke over the desert. Rubeydaa saw it first. She shook Shereen and pointed at the horizon, smiling. The sun was still low, a blazing blood-red disc, as it light up the rest of the dunes and washed the arid mountains ahead with garish colours: pink, red, mauve and even dark orange. Shereen smiled like the others and heard many cry out with joy as they woke up to see that sight or prayed with tears of joy and relief. The journey wasn't over yet, but they were already a step closer to freedom. She turned to the others and saw Rubeydaa and Kalaj holding each other close, looking in each other's eyes with a look she instantly felt happy about.

"All is well in the best of worlds</FONT>^*</FONT>", she thought with a smile.

* * * * *

"Master Doyhah!" Pahrahth burst through the door, making both maintainers jump with fright and surprise.

"Yes, master Pahrahth", Irvahn tried to flash a calm professional smile.

"This is simply outrageous! Do you hear me? OUT-RAG-EOUS!"

"Yes, I do believe I heard you the first time", Irvahn blinked a few times.

"Have you got so much as an explanation for this complete waste of time?!"

Vahkhehn simply waved their maintainer and city guard's permit that allowed them to do pretty much anything the king allowed city guards to do in order to work on a case: question people, request material, have special rights when it came to transportation and searching houses, etc, etc under his nose and added:

"This complete waste of time actually taught us quite a lot about the relationship your siblings and yourself had with your father, as well as enlightened us on the theft that took place last night. Now, unless you have any more objections, master Irvahn will proceed with the rest of the-"

"I beg your pardon? Who do you think you are?!" Pahrahth roared, "a simple maintainer disrespecting a guild master at the guild of legislators, and a close acquaintance of our king-"

"KingDimaththegreatmayheliveforever- hum, master Pahrahth, I believe he is not disrespecting you but merely doing his job. Now please have a seat", Irvahn Doyhah grinned after he had recited the protocol sentence at full speed, pointing at the chair at the desk in front of him.

Pahrahth grinded his teeth with anger and muttered something incomprehensible along the lines of "you haven't seen the last of me".

"Beg your pardon?" Irvahn looked up from his papers.

"Please get on with this, I have a conference to prepare, with all the bothersome modifications you can imagine", the legislator looked tired.

"Ah, yes, of course. Well, we'll just ask you to sum up your activities before you found out about your father's death. It's as simple as that".

The man in crimson's mouth dropped with shock:

"You are not serious? You don't seriously suspect me of having killed my father?!"

The two city guards looked at each other, surprised, and Irvahn replied:

"No, not at all, why would we do that? That's only common procedures…"

"I shall complain about this to your superiors, be sure of it", the other man snarled, "you won't get away with it".

Vahkhehn rolled his eyes:

"Master Pahrahth, for Yahvo's sake…"

The legislator swallowed hard and started:

"After dinner, we all got separated to go to bed. Lehnah and Tahl'Avis left first, saying they had been too tired by the argument we had with father- I do believe my brother has already told you about that?" he glared at them.

Irvahn Doyhah waved his hand with obvious lack of enthusiasm. "Yes, yes, we know, please go on".

"So Morneeth went to the library, upstairs, to read a bit while Zhaltis decided to smoke and drink with me. I hadn't seen him for fifteen years and though he might have changed, matured, if you see what I mean, but I found out this wasn't the case. Soon, our conversation topic drifted to politics, and we got mad at each other. You see", he made a face etched with disgust, "Zhaltis is pro… pro D'ni/Ahrotahntee relations. He… never mind. We got into a severe argument and I would have almost thrown my glass at him if it hadn't been for my self-esteem and education- I am above that. Who needs to discuss serious matters with ignorant? Certainly not me. I left him with his liquor and pipe and went to my room. I saw Morneeth still reading- we exchanged a glance and I think she didn't hear our argument. Anyway, I went to my room to get some sleep and only woke up when I heard the noise father, Tahl'Avis and Lehnah were making- the two of them talking and the first one breaking things".

"Which reminds me", Vahkhehn suddenly looked up from his notes and turned to Irvahn Doyhah, "how come he made things fall from the desk but ended up near the chimney place?"

Irvahn sighed:

"He rolled on the floor, or crawled, whatever…"

"That means he "crawled" pretty far", the young man snorted with disagreement, "as he was bleeding to death... Your father was one of a kind", he laughed at Pahrahth, who replied wryly:

"Indeed. Which doesn't surprise me. He must have been a pain in the back to kill- just like he was a pain to everyone else while he was alive".

"Are you trying to say that your father's death comes as a blessing?" Irvahn frowned.

"No, no, certainly not", the legislator rolled his eyes with exasperation, "but it certainly is beneficial to some people".

With that, he rose and left.

"I assume you want me to call Lehnah?"

"Good guess", Irvahn sat back in his chair, thoughts racing under his brow.

* * * * *

"No, I am just asking you "what did you do last night", that is all", Irvahn sighed, growing tired of asking the same question over and over again, just to different people. In the corner of his eye, he could see Vahkhehn scribbling furiously. "The kid has a lot to learn…" he thought.

"Oh. Well", Zhaltis started, sounding like he was still a little suspicious. Why did he have to sound suspicious if there was nothing to be suspicious about, Irvahn thought. Surely the man was hiding something! But then again, everyone in that family sounded like they were hiding something. Which made the two Relyimah agents' task so complicated. Irvahn went on writing, trying to stop his conscience from asking him why he had chosen to join the Relyimah in the first place- out of all other things...

"I wouldn't want to be a bore and repeat the same things you've probably heard non-stop for 50 Tahvo but-"

"No, no…" Irvahn faked a joyful, totally content smile, "please tell me everyting-"

"In details", Vahkhehn grined.

"Damn, why did the kid say that?!" Probably to tease him, he decided to think.

"Alright, here we go. Last night, after a pretty tense dinner, we all got separated. Lehnah said she was tired and went to bed first, quickly followed by Tahl'Avis when he saw we would smoke- he hates the smell. Morneeth had no wish of talking to Pahrahth, who is such a politic freak, so I was left alone with my brother. My wife was upstairs, in the library".

"Which means that excepting you and Pahrath, no one here has an alibi between the moment you all left the dining room and when Oonray Chisotahn died", Vahkhehn concluded.

Zhaltis looked extreemely worried and stammered:

"No, no, absolutely not! I mean…"

"It is alright", Irvahn reasured him. However, we will need to question the servants too… normal procedures. No one is suspected yet", he glared at his apprentice.

"Yet", the young blond man snorted almost inaudibly.

"Please tell me what happened while you were downstairs, if you heard anything, and at about what time you went back upstairs".

"I- I got into an argument with that despicable brother of mine and left… I don't know, 50 Tahvo later? I found my wife in the library, where I knew I would find her, and we went to bed. None of us saw any of the others until father started making noise- and yelled, I think… yes, I'm pretty sure I heard a yell, at one point. I got up and told Morneeth to stay there but she followed me. Lehnah was already talking to Pahrahth and Tahl'Avis was trying to break down the door. I helped him and we saw… what had happened. You know the rest".

Irvahn nodded and thanked him, then turned to his assistant once the last member of the family had left.

"We now have something to work on! Not much, but it's still something".

The blond boy nodded, then asked:

"Are you going to get the dagger examined?"

"No, not yet", the older man put away his notes in his folder, "but we will be questioning the ferrymen at the boat rental back on Ae'gura".

"You think whoever came here last night came by boat", Vahkhehn nodded thoughtfully, "but what if he didn't rent one? What if it was a small private craft?"

"Well… at least we'll know if it was indeed a private boat or not", Irvahn got up and opened the door, then took a last look at the room, shaking his head.

"This sure sounds messy… Too messy for such a well-born family. I don't like it…"

"This shouldn't keep us from doing our work", Vahkhehn frowned with determination, "no matter how rich, powerful, and close to the king they are, they are regular D'ni citizens and will be treated as such".

Irvahn smiled:

"Now that sounds like something king Ri'neref would have said…"

"King Ri'neref the great- Yahvo have his soul", Vahkhehn bowed his head humbly and locked the study behind them.

* * * * *

Shereen stopped drawing patterns and writing names on the ground with the small stick she had picked up and got up, looking in the distance at the maintainers herding the crowd in little groups to different sections of the fortress. It had taken them the whole day to climb the dangerous cliffs after they had left the wind-ships. They all feared that the men would meet Thantee revolutionaries that would question them and force them to reveal the fortress' location. But fear never stopped life from going on and so she waited there, in the sun, her clothes still dusty from the desert and the sole of her feet burning from the ground's heat. Kalaj had gone to enquire about the linking procedures and Rubeydaa had gone to get news from the maintainers on the rest of the Age. She hated how they kept her out of all that simply because she was a member of the aristocracy and half D'ni on top of that. Too much respect annoyed her. She wanted to know what was going on, especially since she knew that her home Age would never be the same and that there were risks she would never see it again. She winced at the thought- it was a painful one.

Kalaj finally came back:

"They say they will make everyone leave only once they have registered, washed, been examined by a member of the guild of healers, and have gone into a line. They want to know who goes to D'ni and in what conditions- something to do with "alien germs" and politics… Don't ask, they're D'ni- Oh my God, no, by Aakhdali", he apologised, dropping to his knees, "I forgot you were-"

"It's alright, Kalaj, it is alright", she laughed, raising him to his feet, "I sometimes agree with you… there are things the D'ni do that still takes me by surprise, even after all these years…"

She did not add details when she saw Rubeydaa running towards them, her face pale:

"They say the situation in Rhodavia are even worse than when we left!"

Shereen's smile dropped. Her mother's region… the place where she had been brought up before her father paid her studies in D'i…

"Wha-what happened?" she stuttered.

"Marukh Kohfrah and his Thahnees have completely ransacked the region! Like everywhere else: they burnt the religious men in their temples, blew up all D'ni house or national monument… and slaughtered the aristocracy living there… and as for what little D'ni were still left…"

Shereen shuddered. She had already heard of all these horrible things Marukh Kohfrah did after he had seized power, but it was even worse when thinking of all the people and places she knew…

"How- how many survivors?"

"Pardon me?"

"How many survivors of the former regime?"

"D'ni, local aristocracy and their sympathisers? None".

Shereen stared at her, stunned. Her uncles, aunts, cousins, friends…

"None? Are you sure?"

Rubeydaa looked like what she knew was too painful to be told.

"None, I tell you, NONE! Don't ask me how they did it, I didn't want to know myself".

Shereen tried to cry, but found she couldn't: it came as so much of a shock she couldn't quite believe it yet, as though her brain still hadn't processed that information she had just been given.

There was long rather awkward silence and Kalaj murmured a prayer and did the sign of Kalahsos, before he spoke up.

"Come on, we should go get ready. We will need to link before the Thahntee come".

"If they come", Rubeydaa corrected him. Shereen sniffed: by that time, she had stopped hoping things would change.

* * * * *

Shereen sighed as the healer in front of her signed her health certificate allowing her to link back to D'ni. The maintainers had separated the men and women and had made them go through a long and bothersome series of steps before they could actually get their certificate signed. First, they had to register themselves, then register their belongings, which were then searched and "purified", then taken away from them until they would have their certificate. To get that certificate, they needed to wash while their clothes were burnt and were given new ones of rough cotton local women had made while waiting for their turn to leave in the camp. Then, they needed to pass the health tests… And finally get their belongings back after the long wait, series of stamps on the certificate, and bothersome search as the crowd stepped on each other and swore. Finally, Shereen found everything she had given the first maintainer and went back into the courtyard. There, armed men were making two not-so-neat lines. Three small wooden signs read:

"D'ni citizens"

"Native leaders"

"Others"

She wiggled her nose with disapproval. Each line was in a different part of the fortress. The D'nis' line was in the upper East platform, while the "Native leaders"- meaning aristocracy and higher classes- were on the Northern platform, at ground level, with the regular natives' line, in the North-West part, also at ground level. This clearly showed their priority ladder, she thought. Looking down at her new papers, she smiled bitterly. It had been agreed with Rubeydaa that she would switch papers with her so as to become her "decoy", in case of complications. It had been Rubeydaa's idea, and although she didn't quite approve it, her husband and herself had kind of forced her into it.

"We promised your mother as she lay in her deathbed that we would protect you with our lives!" Kalaj had reminded her, "and this is exactly what we will do!"

When everyone was ready, they started calling out names to position everyone in lines. Kalaj came next to her, their papers attesting that she was Rubeydaa and his wife, both regular servants from the farming class of Rhodavia, Kehl'iyah. Rubeydaa had gotten a finer set of dark green clothes with a black trim, a noble colour, and all of Shereen's papers. She was now registering them for the very last time as their servants. The man in burgundy ahead looked at her with doubt and called a superior:

"What am I supposed to do with this one?" he pointed at the young woman with the long folded dress and slit tunic, her face imperturbable with noble pride under her jet-black platted hair half-covered under her light scarf to protect her from the sun and sand. The older man looked at her papers over his shoulder and scratched his head.

"Ah, you're half D'ni…"

"Nehrehjii", she corrected him.

"Uh?"

"You are half D'ni, Nehrehjii", Rubeydaa repeated with a contemptuous look.

"Ah, yes, forgive me, Nehrehjii", the man apologised for forgetting her title, "yes, hum, half D'ni", he coughed, "what should I do about that?"

They looked up at the platform above them on which a couple of D'ni families were waiting, sweating like hell under the shade, their goggles, pale clothing and fair hair making them stand out from the rest of the population.

"Do you think they'll take it as an insult if-"

"An insult?!" Rubeydaa glared, cutting the young man in mid-sentence, "I am sorry but-"

"Alright, alright, I don't see the harm in that", the older man who was very red in the head replied, obviously too tired to wish getting in an argument of some sort, "we'll call a guard to escort you".

"Indeed", she huffed, then winked at her "sister" and fiancé as she turned on her heals and left the courtyard, accompanied by an armed guard- one of the last ones from the former royal army that had turned towards the D'ni.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, please", another maintainer cried, "I believe the last group has now been registered! You will all leave just before the last maintainers! There is no turning back!"

A loud murmur of voices rose amongst the lines of people waiting there, sitting on the ground, as they rose and commented on what a strange and unbelievable thing it was to abandon their Age to a new regime and leave it for ever. Shereen glanced at Kalaj and he nodded. Together, they got into their line- the biggest one. Looking up, they saw the D'ni line starting to move towards the linking book's stand, Rubeydaa waving at them excitedly. Suddenly, there was a huge explosion and everyone screamed as the entire platform crashed on the South-Eastern side of the fortress- right were all the maintainers not participating to the procedures were waiting in tight rows. Everyone was so shocked it took them some time to realise what had happened- and to hear a completely different noise. The noise of thousands of tribal yells and guns being fired in the air.

"Thahntees!" Someone screamed, "they've found us!"

From that moment on, the entire fortress was swiped with confusion and disorganisation. Everyone either ran for cover, munitions, or towards the linking books, stepping on one another, yelling, hurting themselves, losing things, relatives…

Shereen tried to run towards the book, but saw Kalaj was missing.

"Kalaj!"

He had run towards the platform's debris.

"Rubeydaa! I must find her!" He screamed over the deafening noise.

"No, it is too late! She is already dead, Kalaj! Save yourself while you still can! Please, don't do this!" Shereen cried. But he shook his head. Rubeydaa was the reason he had gotten them out of Rhodavia and had painfully planned their escape- to get a better life in D'ni. Now, his life was crushed by the Thahntee's first bomb, and there was no way he could get it back.

"Go! Go! You are half D'ni, you have a chance! Just go, I tell you! I've done my part of the job, I've kept my promise. It's up to you now! Go!"

Shereen tried to blink away the flow of tears but couldn't and just nodded.

"Massarah Hanoyi! Shorah… Farewell, Kalaj!" she cried before turning away and rushing into the crowd. She thought she would never make it and could hear maintainers die every second, the fortress slowly giving up, ablaze under the attacks, as people still fought to touch the precious linking panel. Finally, just as she thought she was probably one of the last ones to do so, she managed to get a finger on it. Clasping her bags close to her chest, she closed her eyes tight and waited, as the familiar linking noise she had been brought up around softly surrounded her with its soothing darkness.

* * * * *

She gasped when she brusquely landed on all fours, her things flying out of reach on the polished marble floor. For a second, she stayed there, stunned at her surroundings… her dark hands on the cool, polished floor- it had been months since the last time she'd seen something like this, at her mother's mansion- the suddenly almost quiet and calm people around her. She got up and gathered her bags, a old maintainer helping her.

"You will be led to the main office, down the hall, with all the others", he smiled with warm welcoming blue eyes that contrasted deeply with his bright white hair. She nodded, too shocked to answer.

"Do you know how many are yet to come?" he carefully weighted his words, unsure whether she spoke D'ni or not.

She shook her head, then whispered:

"No, I do not know… There was an attenta that killed the last D'ni that wanted to flee, and then total confusion… the fortress has probably fallen to the revolutionaries by now… they must have murdered everyone left, burnt all the books, symbols of the former regimes and leaders… who knows…"

The old man nodded sadly and put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"But you're here, you survived! That's what's most important!" he tried to smile.

She was unable to reply that smile and just left, through the cold, dark crowded corridor.

Nothing at the moment mattered to her more than finding her father…

But how would she tell him what had happened since the last time they had met? Things had indeed changed…

And not for the best.

* * * * *