10: His Holy Bones (7 page)

Wah’roa sat on John’s left. He leaned forward in his chair and studied the gathered Fai’daum members. His gaze lingered longest on Pirr’tu, Tai’yu, and Saimura.

“The three of you are new to me,” Wah’roa said.

“They are Lafi’shir’s men,” Ji said. “The three of them advise him and they were with Jath’ibaye at Yah’hali and in Gisa.”

Wah’roa obviously found this interesting, but he didn’t comment. He only asked their names and they supplied them.

Looking at the people gathered here, John suddenly thought that Ravishan must have been right. There were too few of them with any civic skills for this meeting to address the organization of the camps in Vundomu.

“So,” said Ji. “I promised that I would give all of you an answer about what happened here at Vundomu. Though I believe Commander Wah’roa and Ravishan already know.” She looked at the two of them. They both nodded.

“For the rest of you, you must try to stay calm and hear me out. Some of what I have to say will be shocking and your first reactions may not be well considered. So I’m asking that you all listen to what I have to say and then take a few moments to think about it. Will you do that?”

John suddenly realized that she was going to tell them about him. A sick panic seeped through his guts. He had to stop her. But he had no idea how he could.

Ravishan touched his hand gently and John realized that some of his fear had to be showing. John tried to calm down, but his mind kept racing back to the afternoon he’d told his father that he was gay. He’d lost his entire family that day. Now he studied the faces of the people around him, all of them people he knew. Most of them were his friends.

John could see the mixed expressions of curiosity and agitation on their faces. They each assured Ji that they would hear her out. Only Saimura seemed to notice John watching him. He returned John’s glance with a direct, knowing gaze. John looked down at his hands.

“The Bousim rashan’im were not defeated by Eastern sorcery,” Ji said after a moment. “They were destroyed in a matter of minutes by the Rifter.”

Throughout the room there was a sharp intake of breath. Pirr’tu sprang to his feet with a startled expression and then sank back down beside the hearth. Next to him, Tai’yu gripped a piece of firewood with white-knuckled intensity. Both Kansa and Giryyn stared suspiciously at Ravishan. Arren closed his eyes as if to shut out the knowledge. Tanash stared at Ji with wide eyes and an open mouth.

“That’s not possible!” Tanash suddenly burst out.

“I assure you that it is,” Ji replied softly. “But I haven’t finished. The Rifter has been here for far longer than any of us could have suspected. Not even the Payshmura were aware that he had crossed the worlds.”

“The Payshmura don’t know—” Tai’yu cut himself off as he seemed to realize that he’d broken in on Ji.

“They do not know,” Ji assured them. “He is not theirs to command. He is ours.”

John’s cheeks flushed slightly. He felt awkward being spoken of as if he were a piece of artillery. At least Ji’s statement seemed to offer some reassurance to the other Fai’daum. Arren opened his eyes and gazed at Ji. Pirr’tu stood up again.

“Would you stop that?” Kansa snapped.

“I have a question,” Pirr’tu said.

“Wait for Ji to finish,” Kansa told him.

He opened his mouth, then closed it. He stared at Ji.

“Go ahead and ask your question, Pirr’tu,” Ji said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am sure.” Ji cocked her head. “I am sure he is here and that he is not in the Payshmura’s control.”

“But how is that possible?” Giryyn suddenly asked. “Only the Payshmura have access to the Great Gates.”

“It is possible because it is Parfir’s divine will.” Wah’roa spoke for the first time. His tone was assured and smooth. John suddenly remembered how he had talked down the Bousim commander at the Gisa prison. “Even the most powerful mystics of the Payshmura Church cannot keep Parfir from his own kingdom. Whether it is the Great Gates or the blossoming of a flower, nothing in this world is beyond Parfir’s reach.”

“So, Parfir brought the Rifter back to Basawar?” Kansa scowled at Ravishan as she asked. Ravishan raised his dark brows.

“You think I did it?” Ravishan asked.

“You were chosen as Kahlil,” Kansa said.

“But I’m not the Kahlil. I left the church before I even received the Prayerscars,” Ravishan replied. “I never crossed to Nayeshi to find the Rifter. He crossed to Basawar and found me.”

Kansa’s eyes flickered from Ravishan to John. Then realization lit her expression and the color drained from her face. The horror spreading through her expression was everything John had dreaded.

“It’s you,” Kansa said.

“Who?” Tanash demanded. She looked from Kansa’s horrified face to Ravishan’s defiant expression.

“Oh my God!” Tanash’s eyes went wide. “Ravishan is the Rifter?” She stared in shock for a moment and then her expression melted into confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Not Ravishan, you idiot,” Kansa ground out.

“It’s Jath’ibaye,” Saimura said flatly. He frowned at Kansa. “Don’t call my sister an idiot.”

 “Jath’ibaye is the Rifter?” Tanash turned to John. She wasn’t the only one. Fear bordering on revulsion showed on the faces of almost everyone in the room as they regarded him. Only Wah’roa, Ravishan, Ji, and Saimura weren’t gaping at him. Then Tanash looked suddenly uncertain.

“But he can’t even charm a compass stone,” Tanash protested.

“Maybe not,” said Pirr’tu coldly. “But he tore down the Oran’dur Bridge with just a touch of his hand.”

“And he went through the Yah’hali Prison like he was walking through smoke,” Tai’yu commented. He seemed unaware of how desperately he still gripped the piece of kindling in his hand. John couldn’t bring himself to meet their eyes.

“So the great destroyer has crossed the worlds,” Giryyn said. Then he looked to Ji. “How long have you known?”

“I have glimpsed Jath’ibaye in visions for longer than I have been flesh,” Ji replied. “I thought I recognized him once when we attempted to take Fikiri on the Holy Road, but I did not know for certain that he had crossed the worlds until Saimura brought him to us as an ally.”

“And you?” Giryyn demanded of Saimura.

“About five minutes,” Saimura replied. “I just figured it out.”

“It doesn’t matter, Giryyn,” Arren spoke softly, his low voice suffused with defeat. “He’s here. Nothing matters now.”

Giryyn seemed about to argue. Then a tremor passed through his body and he sank down into his seat. His hands shook against the arms of the chair. He stared at John with an almost nauseated expression.

“He’s here,” Arren whispered and he clenched his eyes closed again.

Both Pirr’tu and Tai’yu had gone pale. They stared at John in silence. Kansa gazed down at her empty hands and then hid her face in her palms. Saimura closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. His expression was almost serene. Tanash looked around at her fellow Fai’daum and then back to John. Suddenly an expression of terrible apprehension came over her.

John glanced between them, trying to understand what had just happened to them all. It was as if all the hope had suddenly drained from their bodies. Both Wah’roa and Ravishan appeared to be as confused as John.

“No,” Tanash whispered. Tears filled her eyes and trickled down her cheeks. “No! I don’t want to die now!”

And then John realized what all the Fai’daum members must have been thinking. He was the Rifter. His coming heralded the end of their lives and the end of all Basawar. To them, his arrival was the defeat of their world.

“No, Tanash, I won’t—don’t cry,” John said. “I’m not here to destroy the Fai’daum. I’m not going to hurt any of you. I wouldn’t. I swear. I’m on your side.”

Tanash gave a little gasp and more tears poured down her face. This was worse than the anger he’d expected.

“It’s the truth,” Ji said. “Jath’ibaye is the Rifter, but he is not a tool of the Payshmura. They do not even know he is here. He is one of us.”

It took a few seconds for Ji’s words to have an effect. Slowly
the rest of the Fai’daum regained their composure. There were still traces of how badly they had been shaken. Giryyn’s hands
trembled and Tai’yu still hadn’t put down the kindling he held, but a kind of dazed numbness settled over their faces. Saimura simply looked tired. John guessed that had more to do with Fenn’s death than anything he or Ji had said.

Tanash fished a kerchief out of her skirt pocket and wiped her eyes dry. She blew her nose loudly and Pirr’tu laughed. Tanash scowled at him, but he gave her a warm smile.

“So, this isn’t the end? You swear?” Tai’yu looked directly at John.

“I swear,” John replied. Tai’yu studied John’s face, then dropped his gaze down to the firewood in his hands.

“Now that we know, what are we supposed to do?” Tai’yu finally asked.

“We keep doing what we have been doing,” Ji said. “We fortify Vundomu and draw the Payshmura’s forces north so that Sabir can breach Umbhra’ibaye.”

“But all of that…the entire southern push, it was meant to keep the Payshmura from bringing the Rifter to Basawar. What’s the point now?” Kansa asked.

“The point is to destroy Umbhra’ibaye and free the issusha’im. Then the Payshmura will not be able to move between worlds or through time. And most importantly, they will not be able to bring another Rifter from another time to Basawar.”

“Two Rifters? Is that possible?” Arren asked.

“I believe that it is,” Ji replied. “Wah’roa thinks otherwise. But it is my feeling that it would be wisest not to give them the chance to even attempt it. This changes nothing as far as the southern offensive is concerned.”

“But what if the Payshmura do realize that the Rifter is already here?” Pirr’tu asked.

“Wah’roa and I are of two different minds about that as well,” Ji said. She inclined her head to Wah’roa slightly.

“I say that the Payshmura will bow down before the will of Parfir once the Rifter is revealed to them,” Wah’roa said. “To do
otherwise would be an utter betrayal of all the church stands for.”

Ravishan frowned deeply at this and shook his head.

“I don’t know that the ushman’im even agree on what their church stands for anymore. They’ve become so corrupt. Parfir is forgotten in his own sanctums,” Ravishan said.

“Then he will be remembered,” Wah’roa growled. “The ushman’im will bow down before the Rifter. If they do not submit of their own free will, then they must be brought to their knees by the might of Parfir’s divine wrath!” Wah’roa stared directly at John. His dark eyes were wide and his sharp teeth barred. “They must repent their wrongs and embrace your divinity. If they refuse, then they must suffer for their arrogance!”

Wah’roa leaned a little closer and John shrank back in his chair.

 “If they refuse your mercy, then you should crush their sanctuaries and wash the heresy from their temples with their blood.”

John had to look away from Wah’roa’s unwavering gaze. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Tanash’s worried expression. She wasn’t the only one. Both Saimura and Kansa looked deeply troubled.

“You would have the Rifter unleash his wrath against our own lands?” Giryyn demanded. Wah’roa’s attention snapped to Giryyn with predatory speed. Giryyn flinched back in his chair.

“If the Payshmura will not submit to the Rifter, then it is his right to do all he must to punish them. It is not our place to oppose his will. All our lives are his to judge as he sees fit,” Wah’roa replied.

Giryyn’s gaze shifted to John. He scowled. John guessed that Giryyn was thinking over what he knew about John, remembering that John was a murderer and a sexual deviant. Not much to cement Giryyn’s faith in the divine judgment of the Rifter. John tried to guess what the other Fai’daum were thinking, but only Saimura would meet John’s gaze and he just looked resigned.

“Wah’roa,” Ji responded evenly, “even if the Payshmura do acknowledge Jath’ibaye as the Rifter, they may not submit to his will.” She went on before Wah’roa could argue, “They have already destroyed four Rifter incarnations before this one. They have the means to fight him.”

“No.” Ravishan only whispered the word, but he sat upright. “I would have the Rifter tear Basawar in half before I would allow his murder.”

Wah’roa nodded in agreement. While the rest of the Fai’daum looked alarmed at the suggestion, Ji simply sighed.

“But if the Payshmura do not know that Jath’ibaye is the Rifter, then they will not know how to fight him,” Ji said. “If we keep the Rifter’s presence in Basawar a secret, then not only will we avoid a general panic among our own forces and the common populace, but we keep the Payshmura from using the few effective weapons that they have at their disposal.”

Wah’roa frowned, but to his credit, he didn’t disagree. He took a deep, thoughtful breath and released it slowly. John realized that he had to say something. He couldn’t just let Ji and Wah’roa decide what he should do.

“It would do more harm than good to announce that I’m the Rifter,” John said. He turned to Wah’roa. “I know that my presence here is a vindication for the kahlirash’im, but no one else could take comfort or strength from it.”

“Of course, my lord Jath’ibaye.” Wah’roa looked a little pained. “But it is the greatest sin for a kahlirash to deny his god. How can we refute your presence among us?”

“You don’t have to refute my presence, but you don’t need to proclaim it to the rest of the world either. I know you’re faithful.” John touched Wah’roa’s shoulder. “Of all the Payshmura, you kahlirash’im are the only ones who choose to fight beside me. It doesn’t matter whether or not people outside of the kahlirash’im know who I am. It just matters that you do.”

Wah’roa’s expression softened and then he bowed his head to John.

“We know who you are, my lord,” Wah’roa said.

John nodded. Then he turned his attention to Ji.

“What about the Fai’daum?” John asked. “How did you explain what happened here to them?”

“I told them that I taught you the most powerful Eastern sorcery,” Ji replied. “Most of them are untrained in witchcraft and have no idea of its limitations. The few who I thought might question my claim or persist in asking annoying questions are here now.” Ji gave Pirr’tu a pointed glance. He simply bowed his head and looked miserable.