Markswoman (Asiana #1)(50)
Derla’s face flushed with anger and she opened her mouth to speak, but Navroz raised a hand, cutting her off. “Wait. I am not finished. You may have territorial jurisdiction over the Thar, but the Order of Kali has moral jurisdiction over the fate of the Taus. It was Kyra Veer who executed Maidul Tau.”
“The Taus are murderers and must be brought to justice sooner or later,” added Felda. “Just because they are better equipped than the average outlaw doesn’t mean that they are beyond the Kanun.”
Derla exhaled slowly. “It is as Faran suspected. The Markswoman Kyra is allowed to take revenge for a past tragedy, and the Order of Valavan is left to handle the bloody aftermath. This is not what we expected of Shirin Mam.”
“Shirin Mam rarely did what was expected,” said Navroz. “Rest assured that you understand her even less than we did.” She frowned. “That said, we will certainly not leave you to ‘handle the bloody aftermath’ alone. When I said that we have moral jurisdiction, I meant it.”
“And what will you do?” said Derla. “Engage them in open battle? That is the surest way to die. Kalashiks can kill over a distance of several hundred meters. For us to use our weapons, we must be able to get close to the outlaws.”
“Is that why the Taus still live?” said Felda. “Because the Markswomen of Valavan are afraid?”
“Felda!” Navroz’s voice was cold, carrying every bit of authority she possessed as the eldest of the elders.
Felda colored, mumbled something that could have been mistaken as an apology by someone a little hard of hearing, and glared into the distance with folded arms.
Navroz said quietly, “I think we all know why the Taus still live.”
The three were silent. They did know, and it was nothing to be proud of. It was the massacre of Veer, after all, that had silenced the voices that complained of the tithe they gave to the Orders, the voices that had insinuated that Markswomen belonged to an era that was dead and gone.
Yes, they had played an important role once. For many years after the Great War, people struggled to survive, to find clean water and grow food to feed themselves and their diminished families. But everything was tainted by the toxic remains of the decades-long conflict. People sickened and died in large numbers—more even than had been killed during the war itself.
But among them were always one or two who led the rest, who never sickened, who defended the weak and fought off marauders, human and animal alike. They were the descendents of the followers of Ture-asa, the last king of Asiana. Under their protection, small groups managed to survive here and there. And in time, as the poison leeched out of the fields and villages grew into more than just a few wretched huts, from among their number was born the first child who would fashion a blade from kalishium and call herself Markswoman: Lin Maya, the founder of the Order of Kali.
But as the Orders grew in power and strength, so too did the clans of Asiana, until now hundreds of thousands of people lived and farmed on communal land, secure in the belief that they were safe. The dark years were over, the light of the Kanun shone in almost every corner of Asiana, and the towns and villages were well able to deal with the infractions of their local populace. It had been decades since outlaws had dared to attack a major settlement. Clan leaders began to chaff at the authority of the Orders. Why didn’t Markswomen restrict themselves to hunting wyr-wolves and leave the rest to the clan councils?
Then along came the Taus and slaughtered every man, woman, and child in the peaceful little village of Veer. As the terrible news filtered through to the far-flung settlements of Asiana, the clans reacted with horror and fear. In the rumors and retellings that spread, the twelve death-sticks became a hundred, and the number of those killed multiplied to several thousand. The towns tripled their guard; the villages built trenches for self-defense. After all, it could have been any one of them. And it could be their turn next.
The killings at Veer accomplished what decades of diplomacy had not. The clans once again turned to the Orders, begging for help and acknowledging their supremacy.
The Orders moved fast, isolating the remaining known death-sticks in Asiana, and trapping the Taus in the sandy wastes of the Thar Desert. The outlaws would be disarmed and punished eventually, once a proper defense could be mustered. Meanwhile, the clan leaders would not question the continued reign of the Orders of Asiana.
“Fourteen years is long enough for the outlaws to have walked free,” said Navroz. “Don’t forget, there is another Order that can help us.”
Derla threw up her hands. “The Order of Khur?” A note of disbelief crept into her voice. “Don’t tell me you wish to involve those—men—in what is happening in the Thar. Kai is one of theirs. The elders of Khur were his compatriots.”
“You know about that?” said Navroz. “It is something known only to elders. What else has Faran told you?” When Derla made no response, Navroz continued, “The elders of Khur do not like to talk about Kai, but this is precisely why they must be involved. They feel responsible for him and what he has done. Besides, Shirin Mam always believed that the Order of Khur should be treated as equal to the other Orders. She had cordial relations with Barkav.”
“And your new Mahimata?” said Derla slyly. “What does she think?”
Navroz hesitated. Tamsyn’s views on men and their place were rather well known. “The new Mahimata will do what she must, as will we,” she said finally. “Tell Faran we will meet in Sikandra.”