Brian Staveley - The Providence of Fire

“It’s still a military coup,” Valyn replied. “There were other ways to handle the problem. Ways that didn’t involve murder and treason. Il Tornja went after me, too, Adare. He went after Kaden . It wasn’t just about protecting Annur-he’s trying to annihilate the entire Malkeenian line.” He paused, eyeing her. “Except for you, evidently.”

Adare hesitated, face twisted with confusion. For the first time, Valyn smelled doubt on her, heavy as forest rot after a week of rain. “That wasn’t him,” she said finally. “He told me he didn’t go after the two of you.”

“Oh, he told you. It must be the truth. Somehow the First Shield of the Aedolian Guard and the Mizran Councillor crossed half of Vash with a contingent of soldiers, all with the express purpose of murdering the new emperor, and somehow the kenarang- regent, the man who already admitted to murdering the last emperor, had nothing to do with it?”

Adare took a deep breath, then straightened her spine. “Even if he did, it doesn’t matter.”

Valyn gaped. “It doesn’t matter ? Tell me how it doesn’t fucking matter, Adare! When men come for you in the night, when people paid by the kenarang kill people you love to get at you, when they tear apart your entire world, why don’t you tell me then how it doesn’t matter.”

“I didn’t mean-”

He cut her off. “I know what you mean: it’s best for Annur; we need the kenarang; sacrifice for the greater good.” He spat into the packed dirt. “Fuck that. Fuck that. Il Tornja might be telling the truth and he might be lying. I don’t give a shit. He murdered our father. He murdered Ha Lin-indirectly, but he killed her all the same-”

“Ha Lin?” she asked.

“Never mind,” Valyn said grimly, reining in his rage. “He’s guilty. And I’m going to see him dead.”

Adare’s lips tightened. “You can’t.”

“Because of what?” Valyn demanded. “Because of this?” He waved a hand at the wide camp beyond the walls of the tent. “I spent ten years, Adare, ten years learning to get past this. Here I am, talking to you, right now. I can get to il Tornja. I can get to him, and I can put a knife into his heart.”

“I don’t mean the army,” she said. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe he deserves to die, but you can’t do it now . Maybe you haven’t been paying attention, but there is a battle coming, and whatever Long Fist tells you, it is not a fight Annur went looking for. He is not just another tribal chief, Valyn. For the first time ever the Urghul are united, united and right on our border. Long Fist did that. He systematically crushed everyone who opposed him, and a lot of Urghul opposed him, at least at first. He is coming, bringing with him his blood worship, his human sacrifice … he is coming with close to a million warriors, and someone needs to stop him.”

She stared at him, panting. Rain hammered at the roof of the tent.

“Whatever il Tornja has done,” she continued finally, “the man is a genius, beyond brilliant. The best general in ten generations. The soldiers will follow him anywhere, do anything for him.” She shook her head. “You think I’d leave him alive if he was just another power-hungry soldier? He murdered our father, Valyn, cut him down in cold blood. When I thought that Uinian was responsible, I saw the bastard burned to char in his own temple, and I would do it again, but we can’t . The Urghul are here. They have the numbers. They have the horses. They have the jump on us, and all we have is Ran il Tornja. I hate him, Valyn. Only the Lady of Light knows how much I hate him, but we need him. If we don’t have him, the Urghul win .”

Valyn stared. Whatever else she had done, Adare clearly believed what she was saying. Unfortunately, people held mistaken beliefs all the time. “There are other generals,” he said softly, trying to make her understand.

“Not like him,” Adare replied, voice hardening. She gestured beyond the walls of the tent. “Did you see the dam, what he’s doing with the dam?”

Valyn shook his head. “I don’t give a shit what he’s doing with the ’Kent-kissing dam.…”

“And that, ” she said, “is why we need him. Because people like you and me don’t think the way he does. He’s been leading men, fighting battles for…” She hesitated, something that might have been fear passing across her face. “… a long time, Valyn. I can’t let you kill him. After we’ve stopped the Urghul, all right, but not before. Not now.”

“You can’t stop me, Adare.”

She nodded. “I can shout.”

“I can kill you.”

“You’re really threatening to murder your own unarmed sister?”

“I’m going to see this through.”

Adare blanched at something in his expression, but she held her ground. “If you kill me, you’ll fail. The Aedolians will find my body, they’ll know it was you, and they’ll double the guard around the kenarang . Triple it.”

Valyn hesitated. She had him there. Despite his bold declarations, getting to il Tornja was already going to be nearly impossible. Without the element of surprise, he’d have no chance.

“Listen,” Adare said, setting a hand on his arm for the first time. “Just wait. Let the army get north. Let us fight the battle with il Tornja. Then I’ll help you take him down.”

“Just a few minutes ago,” Valyn said, narrowing his eyes, “you were defending the man.”

“Just a few minutes ago,” Adare replied evenly, “I didn’t know the full depth of his treachery, didn’t know that he’d come after you and Kaden. I love Annur, but I loved our father, too. We need the kenarang now. We can use him. But we won’t always need him.”

Valyn weighed the words. He hadn’t expected his sister to be so ruthless and hardheaded, but her argument made sense, especially if Long Fist really was bringing that army over the Black. Killing the general would destroy morale, and putting an untested commander in charge could mean the difference between victory and defeat. He thought back to Long Fist, to the tracery of scar covering the shaman’s flesh, to the predatory look in his eye. Ran il Tornja wasn’t the only killer that needed watching, that much was sure. So much the better if the two destroyed each other.

“Where is he hoping to fight them?”

“The north end of the lake,” Adare said. “A small town called Andt-Kyl. That’s where the Urghul intend to cross the Black. Il Tornja says it’s the last chance to bottle them up before they get into the empire.”

Valyn shook his head. “You’ll never get there in time. It’s all bog and balsams out there. Nothing even resembling a road.”

“The kenarang knows what he’s doing, Valyn,” Adare said.

Valyn nodded slowly. “All right then. Andt-Kyl. He fights in Andt-Kyl, and when the fighting is over, he dies there.”

“You don’t need to go north,” Adare said. “You could wait here. Kill him when the army comes back south.”

Valyn shook his head. “No. Battles are baffling things. Units end up dead or out of place. People get lost. The best chance to take him down will be right after, in all the confusion.”

The insane thing was that the plan could actually work. The chaos just following the fight would give him as good a chance as any. Certainly it would be easier than killing him in the center of his own meticulously staked-out camp.

“Just make sure you wait for the end of the battle,” Adare insisted.

Valyn nodded. A few more days. Just a few more days until he put a blade in the kenarang ’s back. He could wait a few more days.