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THE DESCENT TO GROUND-level took the better part of an hour. The duke moved quickly and talked to his guards, casting a dark look over his shoulder every so often to be sure that Edwina hadn't fallen behind.
Halfway down they left the main tower, crossing one of the citadel's hanging bridges, into Duke Ansel's western spires.
From the bridge Edwina could see all of Arco-Saudi. The storm was much worse than she had expected, a great wall of sand and wind completely obscuring the desert region, clouds of dust spilling into the rest of the dome. Small dots moved along the inner edge of the storm, these were people, fleeing the desert for the safety of the forest.
More warriors joined the duke in the western spires. They stopped here to put on the, wooden armor and strap on sword belts. Over this, they donned hooded black ponchos with the broad rain hats, secured under the chin by a strap of leather. They were dressed quickly and left for another set of staircases.
Every so often, the duke would glance at Edwina again, a look very different from how he had looked at her in the bedchamber. Now he seemed only to be wondering what to do with her.
The moment his sister had caught them, the duke had lost interest. He had not even finished their conversation, even his accusations of spying for the Dutch-Russians were forgotten. He did not stop her from following him, but went about his business as if she didn't exist.
The newcomers gawked, some even attempted to speak to her, but Edwina didn't answer them. She did not want to draw the duke's attention. Even more unnerving than the cold manner in which he had forgotten her, was the prospect that he might take interest in her again, that they might be alone together, and things might resume where they had left off.
It would have been better if she had used the knife, then at least he would know where she stood with him. It was his easy familiarity that frightened her, more than the callous way that he had tried to have Sowsan thrown out the window.
Edwina reminded herself that it wasn't just Ansel. Both brothers had spoken of throwing the girl out of the window. Soon she would be around the sultan again, but she would not be as careless as she had been with the duke. She would not let the android take control again, and she would keep the dagger she had stolen within reach.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, they reached an odd staircase that wrapped around the outside of a large column, spiraling down into a great chamber on the bottom floor of the citadel. On either side of the chamber were more columns, each with a staircase spiraling around it, each with a slow trickle of armored women and men coming from the different wings of the citadel.
There were horses inside of this entry hall. By the smell of it, this was where they were kept. Some were tethered to the columns, more were being saddled and led toward the gate. At the far end, Edwina saw daylight, two tall doors swung outward, a small army waited at the threshold. All of the horses had been saddled and mounted. Edwina wondered what the animals ate and where they came from.
<This fauna is malnourished.> No. Focus.
Edwina refused to let her attention drift. Any moment that her guard was down, the android's mind could take over without her noticing.
The war party was a hundred strong. The horses and the most heavily armored warriors were clustered toward the middle. Sultan Kareem, and his older sister, were at the head of this group, leaning impatiently in their saddles.
The sultan wore the same clothing he had at the funeral. His horse was a hand taller than the rest, which made up for his diminutive stature. It seemed to be chosen for this rather than battle-worthiness, it was scrawnier than the others, whickered and flicked its tail about while the other mounts stayed still.
There was a large, armored horse ready for Ansel, and to Edwina's surprise one of the servants brought up a speckled mare with no rider, and bade her to climb on.
When the sultan caught sight of her, his face lit up. He straightened in his saddle and called out to her, picking up their conversation from that night as if that were somehow more interesting than the war party.
"You've made it. I'm sorry that I couldn't join you last night. Who would have imagined such a commotion? I've saved you a mount. You do not have these creatures in Dutch-Russia, but I've been riding longer than I have been hunting. I do love hunting, perhaps I can take you when all this is finished."
Edwina did not know what to say. She smiled at the sultan and hurried to the horse's side, happy to be doing anything other than following after Duke Ansel. Edwin had never ridden an animal and was about to ask if she could walk, but no sooner had she laid her hand on its side, than the android took over, grabbing the pommel and hoisting itself into the saddle before she realized what she was doing.
"You're a natural! Look at that!" Kareem said, turning to the others. But the Ansel and Luljita, and some others of the royal family were talking amongst themselves.
"The winds continue to grow," said Luljita, "The towers have come out. Some cry out for your protection, others fight amongst themselves. And the outsiders have taken to hiding in the woods, they are fighting against the rest." These outsiders were Sowsan's people, Edwina guessed. And the other towers they spoke of were Arcos who had been banished.
"Where?" asked the duke.
"Our scouts say the conflict is greatest on the Eastern side," said Luljita.
"I will see for myself," said Ansel.
The doors opened further and Edwina had to cover her face against the wind. Ansel kicked his horse and trotted out first.
"It's always something." The sultan rolled his eyes for Edwina, then gave his reins a shake. "I'd just as soon not ride into this storm. He craned his neck to look upward. The peak of the citadel was lost in a cloud of sand.
They rode away from the gates and down a wide forest path, past some clearings and out-buildings. The remains of a hunting camp were scattered on the edge of one small field. Farther down, a garden sat in ruin, covered by a growing layer of sand.
"Hobbies of mine," the sultan said when they passed, "some things grow better out here." He leaned close to her and pointed out the place where his flowers had been, and a stack of splintered boards that had been a gazebo.
"You know I used to live in a farming pod," said Edwina, "I've always liked plants."
"Hah, yes I knew we had more in common than you were letting on. Oh I have always loved growing things. I love how they do it in the other domes. Maybe you can help me to replant when it is all over. I have some of these flowers in the citadel, though others might be lost forever because of this storm."
"Maybe," said Edwina, "sometimes even a small cutting will take root."
The sultan smiled and stretched to touch Edwina's shoulder. She was about to put her hand on his, when the sultan spoke again.
"Let's hope we can kill these outsiders in time to save some clippings from the garden." He urged his horse forward, fighting his way to the front of the war party. By the time he had caught up with his siblings, they had reached a large clearing with a low hill in the middle.
Ansel reached the hilltop first and squinted into the sand-beaten trees, trying to see the wasteland farther down the path. Kareem and Luljita joined him. Edwina had wanted to stay behind with the other riders, but one of the sultan's attendants took her horse's lead and brought her to the front with him.
"There are the outsiders." Luljita pointed to a section of woods where the white ponchos of Sowsan's people could be seen moving between the trees, they were coming from the desert and seeking a place to hide in the woods.
"Those ones are not our kind." The sultan said to Edwina. "They come from outside."
"And there are the bastard towers," said Ansel, pointing in the opposite direction. The people coming from that direction wore cloaks of green. These were the ones who had pulled Edwina from the mud and taken her back to their tower.
"These are Arcos who have been disinherited," said the sultan. "They live in those sad wooden towers. Some of their towers have been stolen by the outsiders. But that may all change today.
"Look," Luljita said. "Look at their numbers. The bastard towers are breeding out of control. Look how many mouths they have to feed, it is no wonder they are unhappy with the rations we give them."
"This is why our ancestors expelled them in the first place," the sultan said to Edwina. "They were over-populated. This storm will be a good thing. We will kill the outsiders while they are in the open. Once that is taken care of we will get rid of our traitorous cousins as well. You know, I had thought I would not enjoy this, but I just may. It will be a great hunt. But instead of stag, we are hunting men!"
<A hunt!> The body grew excited, Edwina struggled to keep her senses.
"Bother!" Ansel addressed the sultan. "Send a runner ahead with messages for the bastard towers. Whichever clan slaughters the most outsiders will be given shelter in the citadel."
"What, we can't allow them inside," said Kareem.
"No," said Luljita, "but it will whip them into a frenzy."
"And then what?"
"We'll shut the gates," she said, "and hope the storm buries them all."
As the people approached, Edwina recognized Prince Malik and his uncles. Their faces were covered by the same brown headscarves, but those eyes were as piercing as ever.
Luljita cut them off before they could reach the sultan, moving her horse to block their path. The sultan still hadn't realized that Edwina understood Arco-tongue. He brought his mount closer to hers, leaned against her shoulder and translated as Luljita questioned them.
"They have fled their disaster of a tower," the sultan said. "They fear it will collapse. My sister accuses Prince Malik of breaking the law and allowing his people to breed out of control. Of course his people have always done so. As I said, that is why they were expelled in the first place.
Look at the children who follow him, how sickly they are. This is why our Sultans choose partners from outside of the dome. Now, she will promise him shelter if he will hunt down the outsiders that are hiding in the forest."
Duke Ansel leaned across his brother's saddle to interject.
"Perhaps if the outsiders kill enough of Malik's tower, it will save us the trouble of doing so later."
"You wouldn't," Edwina said.
Ansel shrugged.
"It would make for more peaceful hunting trips," said the sultan "I would not have to take so many guards with me when I go into the woods."
Duke Ansel rode forward and joined the argument. He gestured towards the forest, hitting his palm against the prince's arm in encouragement. Prince Malik seemed to consider what they were saying, looked back, at the line of stragglers who had followed him out of the wasteland, his grandmother and the tower's many children were among them.
Then he nodded, turned to what remained his warriors: his uncles and a few able-bodied men and women, some wearing armor, some carrying weapons, most had only sticks they had picked up in the woods. Edwina noticed familiar shear-marks on the ends of the sticks and recognized the branches that she had cut and neatly stacked a day earlier. In less awful circumstances, she would have been amused.
With their faces tightly covered and swords drawn, the men and woman of the third tower waded into the forest, elderly and children following carefully behind, their ponchos whipping noisily in the wind.
"We'll be chasing the small ones for weeks," Ansel said.
"Ah but I do enjoy the hunt," Kareem said.
<Hunt!> Edwina recognized the thought and pushed it down. This is despicable. She told herself. I should have known better than to get involved.
No sooner had the warriors of the third tower entered into the forest, than another tribe arrived from the wasteland. These people were dressed in the same dark colors as the sultan's warriors but their headscarves were worn and tattered, and instead of intricately carved wooden armor, theirs was charred a dark sooty black.
"The tower of the second son," the sultan said to Edwina. "They are the strongest of the bastard towers."
The people of the second tower approached the war party tentatively. The sultan put his hand on Edwina's shoulder again.
"Pishtaq is their prince," said the sultan, "they are more loyal than Malik and his lot."
"Ho, Pishtaq," said Ansel, "your neighbors have disobeyed me again. Do you see their numbers?"
"We have reported this many times, my duke. They do not follow the laws." The leader knelt at the base of the hill and bowed his head.
"I've been suspicious of them for some time," said Ansel, "but now I see with my own eyes."
"My duke we fear this storm will grow worse."
"I assume you wish to shelter near the citadel."
"Yes, my duke," Prince Pishtaq said, raising his head to look at the war party. The sultan's riders clustered around the hillock, their horses whinnied and shifted nervously. The train of foot soldiers stretched down the forest path, more were still arriving from the citadel.
"Were there not so many rebellious towers, you could all shelter in our woods. But the outsiders have taken the woods. I have sent the third tower to flush them out, but Malik and his uncles are equally traitorous."
"And if both tribes were removed, my duke, the tower of the third son, and the outsiders?"
"Then there would be room enough."
"Understood." Pishtaq bowed his head again.
"Strike the outsiders first," said the Duke, "but Prince Malik and his rotten line must go before this storm is through. You will have claim to their tower, if anything of value remains."
"Thank you my duke."
The sultan gripped the pommel of Edwina's saddle, struggling to pull their horses closer, to talk over the wind.
"Ansel has a better way with the towers than I do. This is why I leave these matters to him."
Edwina had seen it before, a ruler turning his enemies against one another. These people lived comfortably inside their citadel, hoarded supplies, and doled them out to those who were trapped in the desert. The more desperate the towers became, the easier they were to control.
Her own people had behaved like this. When the surrounding villages began to trade with one another, the Dutch-Russian military had stepped in, putting their own governors in place, and working to turn the people against one another. Edwina was sick of it.
But Dutch-Russia was a city-state with a massive army. The villages were many and the politics were complicated. This was a simpler problem. There were a few hundred Arcos in a citadel meant for tens of thousands, and yet, they had managed to hold onto their power by starving the towers, and locking their gates to the rest of Atlas.
Edwina watched as the warriors of the second tower entered the forest, some on horseback, most on foot, carrying blades and cudgels, ready to murder whomever they encountered first.
"Our soldiers will come after to clean up the mess," the sultan said to Edwina.
"If we are lucky they will kill each other and none will return," said Luljita.
Edwina had heard enough. Rescuing her body was not worth allying herself with people like these.
She had thought that she could do it. She despised Prince Malik who had hauled her around when she was in the gardener robot, and his people who had tried to make a slave of her. She had no sympathy left for that foolish Sowsan either. Sowsan had let herself be captured, refused Edwina's assistance, and had ignored Edwina's own cries for help.
But Edwina hated tyrants most of all. It was her disgust that had pushed her away from her father's politics, and into the salvage business. She had already lost everything. She wasn't about to compromise the one principle she had left.
I'll find another way.
Without a wasted moment, she slipped from the back of the horse, and walked toward the forest.
"Where is your guest doing, brother?" said Luljita.
"Edwina, where are you going? There is no need for our blood to be shed. We are holding back. Let the others chase after them."
"Brother," said Ansel, "I told you it was a bad idea to bring that one along." He slapped at one of the soldiers. "Bring her back."
As the duke spoke, more warriors approached from the desert, another tower, coming to ask for help and to pay their respects to the citadel. Ansel and Luljita turned their attentions to the new towers. The sultan called after Edwina, but didn't leave the hill. Two of the riders broke off from the sultan's war party and followed her on horseback.
Edwina reached the trees and broke into a run.