Heir of Iron

Chapter 32: Mandhi

(The image above is from http://www.artween.com/Artists/Nikolaz-Godet/Masala-India/Sunrise-over-India.)

It was raining when they carried Navran out of the Ruin and into Veshta's estate. Mandhi laid him into a bed and sent people after ointments, milk, honey, vinegar and rags to clean and bind his wounds. Then she set next to him and began to strip away the burnt rags of his clothing.

When she reached his right hand, she saw that Manjur's ring was bound to the charred flesh of his finger, and though she pulled at it she couldn't dislodge it. Leave it alone, then.

"Mandhi," someone said at the entrance to the chamber. She looked up to see Veshta leaning wearily against the frame of the door. "Sadja-dar is here. I'm going to let him in directly."

"Fine," Mandhi said. "But I'm not leaving Navran."

A few moments later Sadja appeared at the door of the chamber. He nodded to his guard to remain outside, then he went and knelt next to Mandhi.

"Is Ruyam dead?" he asked.

"Yes," Mandhi said.

"What happened?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I'll tell you what I saw." And she recounted how she and Veshta's household had fled through the tunnels until Ruyam found them, and Navran just after. Sadja looked from Navran's burnt, disfigured form to Mandhi.

"Do you understand what happened?" he asked at last.

"Manjur's ring acted to save the Heir," she said. "Or I should say, Ulaur acted to save the Heir through the ring. More than that, I don't know."

"Do you think it'll happen again?"

"No. Not unless it has to."

Sadja cleared his throat and paced the room. "Perhaps," he said, "you should let people assume that the Heir has this power to use whenever he wants. It would be useful."

He paused, then said, "From the palace, we saw a light rise from the Ruin. I watched it from high on the balcony, and from there it looked like a flock of stars spilled across the city, thousands of points of light kindled at once and spreading like dust. I later heard from those in the city that the pentacles were what shone. Every pentacle etched by the Uluriya on a lintel or dangling above a door shone like a true star of heaven for just a few moments. Then they all went out at once."

Mandhi touched the ring. It was warm with the heat of Navran's hand, but nothing else. "I wouldn't have believed it..."

"Most of us wouldn't have. The story of the lights, along with the rain which has quenched Ruyam's fires, has already taken the whole city. I'll add your story to the mix. In the morning, I think we'll find that the loyalties of Virnas have changed."

Mandhi hung her head. "Are we already thinking of that?"

"I have to think of it immediately." But he looked at her with pity and said, "Rest. I've put a guard around the estate, and I'll deal with Thudra. You take care of Navran."

Habdana returned then with the bandages and salves, and Sadja took his leave. Mandhi cared for Navran until the morning light broke through the clouds and flooded the room, and only then did she sleep.

#

Navran stirred. He groaned and thrashed in his bandages, and Mandhi pressed a cool rag against his forehead.

"Quiet," she whispered. "Don't move. You'll only hurt yourself."

He stilled. For a moment she thought he had gone back to sleep, but then he said, "What happened?"

"Ruyam is gone," she said. "But you knew that. Sadja-dar holds the city. You're safe. We're in Veshta's estate. You can sleep now."

"Oh," he said. He took a deep breath, then let out a little gasp of pain.

"You were brave," she said. "You were---"

"No," Navran said. "I did my duty."

Mandhi looked away from him and blinked back tears. She wondered whether she should let him sleep or speak to him now, but the weight of her conscience was too heavy. "Forgive me," she said.

"For what?"

"You know. I sowed discord in the city. I drove you to Ruyam. I was so sure that you were inept, impure, and unqualified to lead the Uluriya, that I tried to steal Manjur's ring for my own son."

He took another deep breath, opened his eyes, and looked at her. "You weren't wrong," he said. "I wasn't fit. I only did my duty, and just barely. And you must forgive me. Taleg's death is on my head."

"Forgiven," she said. "We both owe a debt of blood."

"Yes." He closed his eyes again and winced in pain. "One last thing. Ruyam's manservant."

"Who?"

"A young man, Kirshta. From the mountains. He helped me from the tent to the entrance of the Ruin."

"As far as I know, no one has seen anyone like that. If I do find him, I'll thank him and bring him into the house with honor."

"No. If he's not here, you won't find him. But I have to remember him."

She touched an unburnt patch on Navran's arm. "I'll remember him as well."

"Thank you." He let out a long breath, and a moment later the cadence of his breathing suggested that he had fallen again into sleep.

Mandhi rose and went to the window. The road in front of the estate was crowded with people, Uluriya and gentile, a mosaic of white, yellow, blue and red fabrics, all hoping to pay homage to the new Heir. A small cheer went up when someone spotted her and the window, and she waved shyly then retreated.

She rested her hand on her stomach and thought of Taleg and Cauratha.

"Forgive me, my love," she whispered. "Forgive me, my father. I hoped to honor you, but nearly betrayed you both in my zeal. Forgive me. Oh!"

The baby had kicked---the first time she had felt it move. Had she imagined it? No, there again, a little flutter of motion, like a fish brushing against your hand in a pool.

She smiled. 

~fin~