The Silver Sparrow

The Perfect Solution

Shadows danced along the walls like an anticipating audience of what seemed to Khali a hundred men—an illusion made by the many hurricanes that had been positioned hurriedly upon the news of his arrival. Under the scrutinizing gaze of ten White Warriors, two of which were the kha'a and khumar, Khali sat both out of breath and energy trying to hold his nerves together in the middle of a half-formed circle of men bigger than him in every way.

Almost every way, he corrected himself, made an effort to sit taller than he wanted to. There was undeniable power in holding information, and at that very moment, having been sent to deliver a message of epic proportions by a man of the same magnitude, Khali knew the power he held over the fate of the White Desert and therefore the men in that gathering.

To his right, his father, as chief of the northern camp and a member of the kha'a's council, was watching him with an expression halfway between relief and worry. It appeared no punishment had been given to his family for what had happened on the hunting ground. If they were still waiting for a verdict on that incident, then this was his chance to redeem his family's virtue, gain himself some recognition and maybe even elevate their status.

It would, however, take some guts to rise to the occasion in front of these men. The kha'a's council of eight White Warriors consisted of the four chiefs of the northern, eastern, southern, and western camps, the head of treasury, the kha'a's appointed representative in the White Tower of Citara, the master of rites who oversaw all the religious ceremonies in the khagan, and the commander of the khagan's combined army. Piss off any of these, and one should prepare for a life of struggle—however long that may be—not including, of course, the part where your limbs came off should the act of pissing off included a public display of disrespect. His words and opinions, if they were to be given, had to be chosen carefully here.

The kha'a lowered the letter when he finished reading, handing it to Nazir, who, after going through its content, passed it on to the rest of the council.

"You have seen all this with your own eyes?" Asked the kha'a with an unearthly calm. He looked fully alert and awake, as if he hadn't just been roused from sleep in the middle of the night. It shouldn't have been a surprise. This was, after all, a man who could lead a battle against another khagan, hacking off heads and limbs for three consecutive nights without rest and won. Several times, Khali reminded himself. "You were present during all these events?"

Khali shook his head. "Not during the meeting, kha'a, no," he said, keeping his tone as level as he could. "I was held at a different location from where Djari and Hasheem were. I have, however, seen the salar's army on my way back at the entrance to the canyon. From what I could see, I believe there were somewhere between two and three thousand of them waiting for a command from Deo di Amarra and the prince." 

For a moment, the council members seemed to have stopped breathing all at once, and Khali couldn't help noticing how the mention of just one name could suffocate the entire population of men both wise and way past their prime in that tent. Then again, this was the man who had handed Muradi the throne, had been said to have come up with the plan that brought down the Vilarhiti and afterward helped the salar put an end to the uprising of the provinces. A few thousand men could be dealt with given their own number of White Warriors, but that number led by Deo di Amarra—or Muradi himself for that matter—was going to give a lot of people in that meeting something to have nightmares about for some time.

"The threat may be real," said Zahan izr Abari, chief of the southern camp and Zozi izr Zahan's father. "But how are we to believe that Sarasef who have been doing business with the Salasar after all this time would suddenly want to ally himself with us?" He turned to the kha'a, pursing his lips a little. "It sounds to me like a trap, kha'a, if I may be bold."