“You may, Ikina Furshil.” Unduni inclined her head.
Ikina Furshil. That was the name of the head of the Order of Zorya. Kyra remembered the story of Zibalik’s wolves. Barkav had implied that the Zoryans did not hunt wyr-wolves, believing, as the Order of Khur did, that the wolves were part human.
Ikina glided forward with catlike grace, the white falcon embroidered on her midnight blue robes rippling as she walked. She stared at those gathered around, her stormy gray eyes so compelling that many flinched away from them. “What are a few outlaws against the might of the Orders?” she demanded. “We can break a man’s mind before he thinks to reach for a weapon. Fourteen years ago we promised to protect the clans from these murderers. It is time we fulfilled our promise and destroyed the Taus, once and for all.”
Murmurs rose at this, subsiding as Unduni waved an imperious hand.
“How many will you kill?” said Faran. “A thousand? Two thousand?”
“It will be enough to kill the Taus,” said Ikina. “Leaderless, the rest will lay down their weapons quickly enough.”
“And how do you propose to get close enough to the Taus to overpower them?” inquired Faran. “They are armed with a dozen death-sticks—or have you forgotten?”
Ikina’s eyes flashed. “There are ways of approaching unseen—or have you forgotten? We steal in upon them, we take them by surprise.”
“Too risky,” said Faran. “They will be expecting us. Perhaps they are even inviting us. All it would take is one guard armed with a single death-stick to take down dozens of Markswomen before one of us gets close enough to use the Inner Speech.”
“And even that would not work against Kai Tau himself.”
All heads jerked toward the Order of Khur. Barkav’s thoughtful voice, deeply male, seemed to send a current through the Markswomen around him. Some glared at him openly, while others crossed their arms and turned their faces away. Kyra was torn between amusement and anger at their reactions. Did they not understand that he was on their side?
Tamsyn rose from her chair. “I wonder how many present here are aware that Kai Tau is skilled in the Mental Arts?” she said. “That he developed his skills at the Order of Khur, under the tutelage of Maheshva?”
An uneasy hush fell on the hall. Kyra held her breath, wondering how many were learning this for the first time. Tamsyn had timed her interjection well.
Unduni cleared her throat. “Well, that’s all in the past, and we are here to discuss what to do about . . .” Her voice trailed away as Barkav stood, his bulk menacing compared to Tamsyn’s slender form.
“Yes, Kai trained at the Order of Khur,” said Barkav. “He became a renegade over twenty years ago, as you must be aware.”
Tamsyn’s eyes widened. “Oh, I didn’t in the least mean to cast any blame on the Order of Khur. But I thought—since he was one of yours—that you may wish to be at the forefront of any assault on the Tau camp. It is fitting, is it not? Unless”—and her tone became amused, a little condescending—“unless you think you and your men are not quite up to the task.”
Faran and Ikina both turned to stare at Barkav. There was pin-drop silence in the hall.
Kyra’s fists clenched. Tamsyn had trapped Barkav by implying that Kai Tau was their responsibility, and if there was dying to be done, the Marksmen should be the ones doing it. She hoped that the Maji-khan would not rise to the bait.
Barkav’s eyes had become flints. Beside him, the Khur elders looked furious. But Rustan’s face was blank, as if his mind was elsewhere.
When Barkav spoke again, his voice was as calm as ever. “Yes, it would be fitting. We would have gone after Kai years ago, were it not for the words of our seer and katari mistress, Astinsai. According to Astinsai, there is another who must be consulted on the fate of the Taus.”
Kyra realized to her horror that Barkav was looking straight at her. He meant her.
Tamsyn gave a silvery little laugh. “As I expected, the Order of Khur wriggles out of its responsibility with words that mean nothing.” Before Barkav could respond, she addressed Faran. “I have the perfect plan to eliminate the Taus without risking a single drop of our blood. You may leave it to the Order of Kali. I need from you only two things.”
Faran raised her eyebrows. “Indeed. And what may those be?”
Despite herself, Kyra leaned forward, spellbound.
Tamsyn held up one finger. “First, you grant jurisdiction over the Thar to the Order of Kali.”
Chaos broke across the hall. The elders of Valavan stood up and began to shout. For a while it was difficult to make out what anyone was saying. Unduni frantically rapped the floor with her staff until the noise died down.
When everyone at last fell silent, Unduni glared around the hall at the entire assembly, including the Markswomen of Valavan.
“I remind you,” she said, “that I am the mediator of this clan assembly. Does anyone wish to speak? Please raise your hand if you do. No?” She raked them with her eyes. “Good. You may continue, Tamsyn.”
“Thank you, Unduni,” said Tamsyn. “As I was saying, the Order of Kali will take care of this whole outlaw business. All we need is jurisdiction over the Thar—for how else may we enter it?—and second, we need access to the cache of dark weapons that the Order of Valavan has kept hidden.”
This time Unduni did not even try to control the pandemonium that broke out. She stared at Tamsyn, disbelief etched in every line of her ancient face.
“You’re mad,” said Faran. “You would use the dark weapons? The death-sticks? Shirin Mam would have flayed you alive for even thinking it.”
Barkav was waving his arms, his face red with anger, having finally lost control of his temper. Even the elders of Kali were shouting. Kyra guessed that they hadn’t been informed of Tamsyn’s brilliant plan beforehand. But Ikina looked thoughtful, as if she was actually considering what Tamsyn had said. In fact, Kyra realized with a sinking heart, quite a lot of people in the hall looked thoughtful. Tamsyn smiled a self-satisfied smile; her words had divided the assembly and set them thinking the unthinkable: Markswomen armed with death-sticks.
It made sense, in a horrible sort of way: use the dark weapons against the outlaws. It was the one thing they would not expect, the one thing they would not escape. In her mind Kyra saw rivers of blood, hundreds of bodies cut down by bullets, limbs scattered and guts spilled on the crimson earth. She felt sick, as if she was remembering a terrible event from the future, that had happened in her past, and would happen again and again, unless she did something to stop it.