The Silver Sparrow

No Way Out

Raviyani, a full moon celebration in honor of the goddess Ravi, was coming up in three days. For more than a week, the entire kha'gan had been busy with preparations for the event. Life in the White Desert revolved around Ravi and Raviyani, and every chore and activity were carefully scheduled to avoid interfering with prayer time when the moon rises. Resources were put on reserve for Raviyani every month. Here, it wasn't uncommon for families to starve themselves for weeks to make sure they had enough food to go around on this single night.

Having been taken away from the White Desert as a child, Hasheem couldn't remember a single moment of how it had been celebrated in his own kha'gan, and he found himself watching the scale of preparation involved for the event in complete awe and bewilderment. The kha'a and Nazir had been bombarded with so many requests and questions that they were being forced to make decisions even at meal times, and on a busy day, the lines of people waiting to see them wrapped themselves twice over around their tents.

The main camp, usually well spaced and quiet, was now tightly packed with supplies and people preparing for the feast and the entertainment. Women occupied themselves with making food and new clothes for the special evening while the men worked on setting up the fighting pit and clearing the space for the entire kha'gan to come together. On the training ground, warriors in gray gathered in the largest number Hasheem had ever seen to prepare for the duels and games that would be the main events of the celebration. New White Warriors, he'd been told, were given their zikhs on this night, and marriages were proposed and accepted—or declined—only on Raviyani.

But the heart of the evening, the event that made it the busiest, most exciting and highly anticipated celebration in the White Desert were the games. There would be competitions in (but not limited to) archery, wrestling, swordsmanship, horseback riding, hand to hand combat, and other forms of fighting that differed from kha'gan to kha'gan. The zikh-clad champions with the most wins for each year were then sent to compete in the Dyal—the biggest annual competition held in Citara. To the Shakshis, being a Dyal champion was the highest honor a White Warrior could ever have. It could make one a khumar, a council member, or for the very least elevate one's family to elite status in the kha'gan. The warriors, both White and Grays, trained for these competitions like their lives depended on it, and practice duels ran nonstop for the whole day on the week leading to Raviyani.

Which was, unfortunately, one reason why Hasheem found himself in the ring later that day, crossing swords with the one man he'd been trying his best to avoid for the past three weeks.

Zozi izr Zahan, firstborn son of the chief of the southern camp and right hand man of the kha'a, was considered one of the most promising young men in the kha'gan. Just one year older than Hasheem, Zozi had been an undefeated champion in most duels held on Raviyani among the Gray Warriors for two seasons to date and had even been allowed to join the kha'a's council when possible. His father, Zahan izr Abari, being one of the most influential figures on the council, had not been subtle about securing the future of his son as soon as he had a chance to be trained in kha'gan politics. From everyone's unspoken understanding, Zozi was the best candidate for the position of khumar should Nazir fail to father a son, or should an untimely death find him before he could. Becoming the next khumar, however, required both the votes from the chiefs and for Nazir to name him his successor. In short, he desperately needed to be in Nazir's favor and hadn't been shy in its acquisition.

All this shouldn't have had anything to do with Hasheem had Zozi considered the fact that he was an orphan with no family they could execute and therefore excluded from the possibility of ever earning a zikh, which, in turn, made him no competition in any way one chose to look at it. But the fact that he dined at the kha'a's table at every meal and shared every lesson with Djari seemed to draw enough attention to launch him as a pebble in Zozi's shoe, which resulted in a number of unfortunate, life-threatening events finding their ways into Hasheem's schedule for the past three weeks.