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The Goddess Zindagi was much adored in Akkora, but not in the other kingdoms. Of course now that the southern kings were no more, even in Agharek the monastery wasn't as crowded as it used to be. But since the fighting monks taught how to use weapons, they still had many attending their school.
The temple in Agharek was big and three centuries old. In Argantael there was only a small shrine to Zindagi and no monasteries of fighting monks. Of course former Rajendra was a quieter place than Akkora, since there were no nomad warring tribes, but Talwar was very disappointed.
"There's a big temple, dilbar." Khanda pointed at a marble construction with sculptures of people on all the walls and columns, built at the top of a hill. Two stone elephants supported the sculpted square arch of the entrance at the top of a staircase.
They climbed the stairs and left their shoes outside of the temple. They touched the bell at the door before entering the temple itself. Inside they found the statue of a goddess, the two-faced protector of love and fertility, and an old priest seated in front of her shrine. Perfumed candles gave light to the sculpted shrine and the painted statue, and flower scents filled the big room.
Talwar and Khanda went to kneel near the priest to take his blessings, then stayed in the quiet of the temple to pray and try to figure out what to do next. The stone floor under his knees felt as cold as his heart.
He heard Katar's words again. Parricide. The seal of Zindagi wasn't supposed to kill, but he had hit his father's heart. Would the goddess really never forgive him? What could he do to atone while continuing to defend life – all life – with the pole-arm?
Khanda looked upset and Talwar himself was beginning to realize what had happened at the local Assassins' Guild building. His father was dead. Killed by the seal on the shaft – or maybe his rebellion, his disobedience, his being a disrespectful son.
Katar's words also haunted him. There was no way out of the Assassins' Guild except by death. And he had done the same thing Katar had done – killing his old man. What if he had somehow stained the seal or messed with the spell? Would his pole-arm bring death now?
Talwar took the shaft and looked at the seal. It looked normal. He whispered the words of the spell and saw it burn with its green flame, pulsing on the brass seal as if it was going to burn something.
He closed his eyes and kept seeing the green symbol for a moment, then it vanished. He opened his eyes again, and even if his sight was blurred by tears, the seal looked still the same. It wasn't supposed to kill, why did it kill Jamdhar?
Khanda's hand touched his wrist. He met her pale blue eyes as tears ran down his cheeks.
"It's not supposed to kill," he whined in a whisper.
"It won't kill again," she whispered back, serious. "Here, try it on me. You'll see. It won't kill me."
She offered her wrist. He stared wide-eyed at her. He wasn't going to mark her soft white skin! He wasn't going to hurt her, ever!
He stared at the seal again, then at his own right hand. That was a limb that needed punishment. He should cut it off... or maybe just mark it. If it killed him, it was well deserved. If it maimed him, it was deserved too.
He laid his hand on the stone floor, palm up, and raised the staff.
"No!" Khanda whispered, but couldn't stop him.
"Tum zinda ho!" The seal burned his skin and sent shivers down his arm. He dropped the staff, hissing in pain, watching the mark of the goddess gleam green for a moment, then become a burning red symbol on his palm.
The staff falling on the stone floor echoed in the temple like thunder. Khanda gasped and took his hand, covering it with kisses. She was crying too now.
"Why did you do it? How will you fight now?"
He let her tears warm his fingers, then, as the pain slowly subsided, he opened and closed his hand. It still worked fine. And the power of the goddess hadn't reached his heart. He hadn't even passed out. Therefore his father's death was an accident.
He sighed and left his wounded hand in Khanda's. He still had the goddess's favor, but he felt unworthy. He didn't want to be part of any Assassins' Guild. He wanted to live and protect life, not spend the rest of his existence killing people according to someone else's whim. That would really be a way to be cursed by Zindagi forever.
Khanda looked up at the statue's face. "I should atone by joining some monastery," she whispered, squeezing his hand. "And so should you."
"No!" He shook his head. "Why let them win? We might as well let them kill us both, since it's the only way to get out of the wretched guild!"
She looked at him with tearful eyes and a sad smile. "At least we'd die together," she said.
"We will not die," he said, determined, squeezing her fingers with his still tingling hand. "Come. We shall go farther away. Maybe Uzair is going back to Nilapur and then we can find a ship to go north. Katar's right that waterways are safer for we who don't know the land."
She sniffled and slowly nodded. They rose and left the temple hand in hand. They stopped in the main marketplace to eat at a street vendor, looking around in case they saw Katar or Peshkabz or Shamshir. They had no idea what the other assassins might look like, but nobody seemed to give them a second glance.
"How did you find out the brass wheels weren't sharpened?" Talwar asked.
"Because I always double-check my weapons," Khanda answered gloomily. "I sharpened them while you were sleeping with the rowers."
He cursed under his breath. "I was stupid, but then... the seal worked just fine. Except it killed Jamdhar. It wasn't supposed to do that. He should have been stunned, like Khopesh."
"You had no choice, dilbar." Her smile was frail and her eyes filled with tears.
"You're right. We're both swords. We knew we were headed for war..."
As they headed back down the ramp and towards the river and the piers, Talwar gasped. Startled, Khanda squeezed his hand. "What is it, dilbar?"
"That woman... I know her from Agharek! What is she doing here?"
His eyes met the woman's eyes and he saw her smile. She had brown hair and blue eyes and her bodice barely covered her breasts. Unlike Khanda, she showed off her belly button and a blue sari with silver embroidery wrapped her voluptuous body.
"Isn't that Maya the fortune teller?" Khanda asked, narrowing her eyes.
"So you met her too?"
"Yes... she is quite famous in Agharek... She's the one who told me about my Sila blood."
They stopped, wary, as Maya reached them.
"Greetings, Ajay and Ashrita," she said cheerfully. "Or should I call you Talwar and Khanda?"
"What are you doing here?" Talwar snapped.
"Saving your backsides, probably." Maya chuckled. "Come with me. You're being followed by an assassin, and you have no way to vanish again unless I help you."
"How?" Khanda asked bluntly. "By predicting us a bright future? By telling us we can actually do magic because of some Magical Race blood in our veins?"
Maya chuckled. "You may have some Sila blood, but it won't help, and he doesn't have any magical ancestor, so you'll have to trust me. You will have a bright future, but not here. Come. Or are you afraid of a fortune teller?"
Talwar and Khanda exchanged a glance, then followed her. Maya was probably right, they were being followed and Khopesh would find them if they didn't get rid of whoever was stalking them. Maybe they could even ask her more about those fabled Magical Races. What were the Sila like? And what other races were there, besides them and the Genn?
***
Khanda didn't like Maya much, but she was aware that the woman had "something" – and not just because she'd told her a long time ago that she could speak to birds because of her Sila blood. At least Talwar wasn't too taken by the so-called fortune teller.
He was obviously still upset. And the mark on his hand... Khanda wished she could have taken it upon herself, but her proud Talwar had refused. Katar's betrayal had hurt, but watching Talwar killing his father by mistake had been even worse.
She had seen that Khopesh had only been incapacitated and not killed, therefore something else must have killed Jamdhar. Was it the hit to the chest? Khopesh had the scar on his belly, another very weak spot...
Thank the gods, they'd been let go. Well, almost. Maya was probably right that the local assassins were watching them. She was glad she had sharpened their brass wheels, but it would be really hard to get out of town unnoticed.
She felt tired from the continuous struggle. Why couldn't their families let them go? How could she wipe away that frown from Talwar's face? Where could they find peace?
Not Argantael, no. Maybe Maya was really the only way out, but Khanda couldn't imagine what means she would use. Magic? Who knew. They had no choice but to trust her.
***
Maya lived in a small house with one room and very little furniture. No beds, no plush cushions to sit on, no carpets. An oven and a table to cook and prepare food were all. But her door closed in the face of whoever was following them and for a moment Talwar and Khanda felt safe.
They sat on the floor with her, still wary. How could she help them and what did she know of the events that had taken them here?
"When did you leave Agharek?" Khanda asked.
"After a wicked young assassin was marked by his cousin with the seal of Zindagi," Maya answered, amused. "I thought you were the most interesting inhabitants, and since you were gone, I decided I might as well go back north. It's been almost a century since I was here, therefore I thought it was good timing to come and see what happened to Kumar's descendants."
Both gaped at her. She raised her eyebrows.
"What? You don't believe that I can live that long and still look so young?" she teased.
She looked in her twenties and couldn't possibly have lived for a century. Unless she was a witch, that is. Or a magical being. Some other Magical Race, perhaps?
She leaned forward. "Can you keep a secret?" she whispered with a tone of conspiracy. "I am actually three hundred and seventy years old..." She straightened her back and chuckled. "And you probably don't want to see what I really look like!"
"An old crone?" Khanda asked stiffly. "A Sila?"
"No, my real form isn't Human." Maya shrugged. "And the Sila can't shift shape. They do look Human, but have big feathered wings. They're Air's harmless children, you see. I'm Fire's creature."
"How many Magical Races are there?" Talwar asked, puzzled.
"Four." Maya shrugged. "Sila, Genn, Waiora and Fajrulo. With Humans that's five, like the Immortals. But I know how much you Humans like your gods, so I won't get into a religious discussion with you – although some of my ancestors actually enjoyed passing themselves off as gods or goddesses, including my mother who helped found the Queendom of Maadre."
"The Queendom?" Talwar was confused and Khanda stared at Maya with wide eyes.
"Yes, there's a Queen and women have the power while men are considered objects, so it's a Queendom." Maya chuckled. "Why is it so shocking for your patriarchal world? It's only Varia that has patriarchal societies, you know."
"Varia?" Khanda dared to ask with a tiny voice. Maya rolled her eyes.
"This continent," she said. She waved off any more questions or objections before continuing. "So, you ran away from Agharek, you are now in Argantael and made another mess that will make you the most wanted couple in the former southern kingdoms... I'm afraid I don't have much influence on Kumar's descendants, who founded the local Assassins' Guild, so the only thing I can do is take you away. I am ready to go back to the northern kingdoms and claim my Lenore identity again, so it's time to put Maya to rest."
"You're a shape shifter?" Talwar asked, still trying to figure out who was sitting in front of him. Maya was obviously more than just a fortune teller. Maybe she was a member of a Magical Race incognito?
"Yes, if I want to interact with Humans, I need to shift shape. And you'll have to bear the sight of my real form if you want me to take you away from here. But we will do it tonight, so the shock will be less in the darkness."
"How do we know we can trust you?" Khanda asked defiantly. "Katar betrayed us, and you're a complete stranger."
"Sometimes help comes from complete strangers," Maya replied. "When you can't trust your own family, what choice do you have? Let me tell you that I don't like what the Assassins' Guild has become. It wasn't like this at the time of Akkora. It wasn't a closed sect, a family business. Kumar was an orphan and a street boy when he reached Lakresha. He was fierce and stubborn and could fight, so a member of the local guild noticed him and trained him. He became an assassin and then worked as sword-master at the Akkoran court. He could be a tiger hunter, an assassin, a mercenary... and ended up marrying the princess of Rajendra. The first king with no real royal blood, in fact he was more a consort that the reigning monarch. Power was in the hands of Queen Indira, then their son, Tarun. But he also had a son with a northern dancer and when Tarun lost his throne and his life, Rahul retired from public life and started the Assassins' Guild of Argantael. His grandson is now the head and Shamshir's son has married Katar's sister, hence the tie with Zarapur."
Talwar nodded, thoughtful. That explained a lot – not Maya's knowledge of it, but it shed some light on what had happened in the Guild's building a few hours earlier.
"And is this guild as closely guarded as the Akkoran ones?" he asked.
"No, not really," Maya answered with a shrug. "They do take on apprentices. They test them for strength and endurance, and if the petitioner is stubborn enough, they train him."
"And can one retire to private life after a certain age?"
"Shamshir has retired from active service, but he still manages the Guild. He's the one who chooses who does what, gets paid and pays his men."
Talwar thought that this sounded much more sensible. But if they stayed in Argantael, Khopesh would find them and kill them. Besides, neither he nor Khanda wanted to keep killing under someone else's orders.
"Where would you take us and how?" he asked, looking Maya in the eyes. Khanda squeezed his arm, worried, but he patted her knee, trying to soothe her fears.
"I'd take you to the Blackmore Kingdom, but you'd have problems communicating," Maya replied. "In the north they speak very different languages. You can choose between Godwalkar, Darantasia, Jevina... all city-states that used to be part of the southern kingdoms, therefore with the same culture and language that you're used to."
She started drawing in the dust of the floor between them, a rough map of what she called Varia, pointing out Agharek at the southernmost point, Argantael somewhere in the middle, and the three other towns, along with the northern kingdoms.
"Now, you asked how – well, we will be flying in a straight line, so... I could make a detour to take you to Jevina or Darantasia, but Godwalkar is really on my way. It has a strong Genn presence, therefore I don't think they'll need an Assassins' Guild to keep things straight. But their king just died, heirless, so Gajendra might be a little messy right now..."