Forlorn Hope - Chapter 5
Peacock and Horsehair
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The varnished wooden floor, polished and solid, was coated in thick layer of grime made up of sick, faeces, food, and encrusted dirt, though the floor was hard to see amidst the sea of children and the twelve women caring for them all. Babies wailed while the older children played games of catch or pitch pot with imperial jade urns inlaid with gold. Where they found the blunted arrows was a mystery. One woman stood out with her flowing blue dress of thin layered silks, bound at the waist by a belt embroidered with leaping salmon and her hair braided and coiled with flowers. She dashed too and fro singing for babes, kissing toddlers when they fell, and disciplining the older boys when a game got out of hand. All the while she never broke a sweat, never appeared flustered, as she cared for the hundreds of orphans crammed inside the main hall of the Palace of the Lotus. Her songs were in a different tongue, one far more lyrical and heavenward than Tebin’s own.
Six great columns rose to hold the ceiling up at least three times as high as Tebin’s yurt had been. Each banded in heavy iron every few feet leading up to a carved wood ceiling black with age and flaking paint. Once it had been beautiful and once it had held meaning but now it was ancient and forgotten. Great cracks cut like canyons through panels of men and horses, cracks that travelled across and then down into the pillars bound by iron. Tebin son of Tegar may have been from a tribe of hunters and fisherman living in felt yurts but even he’d heard stories of Silicia, the city that had stood since the beginning of time, raised from the earth by Sel and Sar themselves. As he followed the canyons in the roof he believed the myths of the time when gods walked Ixonia for what else could explain the need for such high walls and tall palaces?
A door flew open at the far corner of the hall. Children scampered out of the way as two soldiers stalked inside, neither was armed but both were armoured from head to toe. One wore a helm with long peacock and pheasant tail feathers jutting from the top. The other’s helm had a horsehair plume. The Princess hurried across in a gliding motion that maintained her elegance, she bowed to the peacock tail wearing man but not the other. Both returned the gesture, the horsehair plume scouring the room with squinting eyes. Within minutes Peacock was gathering the oldest boys and lining them against the wall while Horsehair prowled through the sea of black haired youth. He pointed and barked orders at boys who were almost men to stand against the wall. Sisters and younger brothers clung to a boy all arms and legs. Two women wrestled with his siblings to free him yet they fought and cried all the more. Tebin watched bemused as these boys reluctantly stood against the wall, some grinned, most smouldered at the offer of vengeance. I’d rather be out there than in here, he thought sadly as Chuli clung to his arm. But what would happen to her? Since the raid she’d refused to speak, not that she had spoken much before. Chuli would be fine, there were plenty of lone children milling around the room attempting to make friends, many succeeded and those that didn’t congregated together in a corner under a shroud of silence. He could visit, nothing would stop him from that, it was the same city after all. Horsehair plume passed Tebin by with little more than a glance before pointing to a lone boy behind him doing his best to hide his face between his knees. The soldier continued on.
‘I want to fight!’ Tebin shot to his feet. Chuli’s eyes widened in horror but her lips remained sealed.
The soldier turned around, his face was reddened from years in the sun and a mole grew on his cheek. ‘You’re too small, too young I’d say.’
‘Old enough to avenge my parents and village,’ Tebin spat back. Heads had begun to turn and watch, babies wailed and the women gossiped.
‘I doubt you could see over the merlons, let alone draw a bow.’
‘I can too. I’ve been hunting for as long as I can remember.’
The Princess appeared, serene and gentle, beside Tebin. Chuli stared up and smiled as she stroked the Princess’s silk dress. The Princess graced the girl with her visage and crouched to say hello.
‘Rabbits are different to men, boy.’
‘You’re right, men don’t move as much,’ Tebin said.
The Princess giggled, as did the children nearby.
Horsehair ground his teeth, ‘Sign up next year when you’re taller.’
‘There might not be a next year,’ and the hall went still.
Peacock sauntered over, thumbs in his swordless belt, ‘Indeed and one man could make all the difference.’
The way he said it made Tebin think he didn’t mean him but he snatched at the opportunity anyway. ‘Exactly. For me to plant an arrow in the enemy general’s eye I have to be on the walls.’
The two soldiers laughed heartily. Peacock said, ‘Right you are. Commander Gagan an eager boy is worth more than a tepid man.’
Gagan grumbled, ‘As you say Grand Commandant. Against the wall, boy.’ He continued his hunt.
An overwhelming sense of joy overtook Tebin as he marched to the wall, the Grand Commandant behind him. He overheard the Princess singing to Chuli and craned his head back to see her leading his sister elsewhere.
‘Name?’ The Grand Commandant asked.
‘Tebin son of Tegar.’
‘I’m guessing you’re a nomad?’
‘Half the year.’
The Grand Commandant made a sound of acknowledgement and then said, ‘Good with a bow?’
‘The best. Full draw at a gallop and still hit my target, no other boy in my village could do that, few men too.’
That gained a chuckle, ‘Well that’s something the Commander of the Gates can work with.’ The Grand Commandant set a hand on Tebin’s shoulder as he lined up against the wall before continuing on his inspection of Gagan’s choices. All were taller than Tebin, though not all were older, he thought.
Chuli caught his attention, her eyes big and round. She tugged on the Princess’s sleeve and tried to get to Tebin. Tebin shook his head. Chuli scowled, her lips quivering. The Princess peered down then over to Tebin, her eyes welcoming, understanding, a slight smile to her lips. Tebin felt his cheeks redden and he stood straighter against the wall. The Princess sniggered and led Chuli away, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.
‘I’m going to miss watching her,’ the boy next to Tebin said.
‘What?’
‘The Princess. Most beautiful woman in the world I reckon.’
‘Err, yeah I guess.’
‘You guess?’
Tebin turned to the boy next to him, taller, skinnier, and with fewer sun blemishes. Settled folk. ‘Who are you avenging?’ Tebin didn’t want to think of the woman in silk.
‘Huh? My brothers,’ the skinner boy nodded firmly. ‘They died protecting my ma and told me to run and live. I did but…’ his shoulders sagged. ‘Now they’re dead and I’m not and it’s all my fault. If I could…’
‘You’d be dead too,’ Tebin said, harsher than he intended. ‘Name’s Tebin.’
‘Jatan son of Jaran,’ he clenched his jaw. ‘You’re right. Better I’m here to fight than feeding the vultures,’ he puffed his chest out a little.
‘We’ll send hundreds of Gör Khāni to feed the vultures and avenge our families,’ Tebin extended a hand like he’d seen his father do with other warriors.
Jatan shook Tebin’s hand and grinned.
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That last bit of dialogue between the two boys is a bit clumsy, but entirely appropriate to the young, awkward almost-men doing the talking.
Suggestion: add “said awkwardly” or some other similar descriptive adjective to it, to emphasize that the clumsy conversation is intentional.