The Desert Spear

Warrior’s guards.
    “What are you doing?” the Sharum Ka demanded of the crowd. “Stand down!”
    But the rumbling only grew, and men moved to block the exits from the Maze. The Sharum Ka took a tentative step back. Jardir met his eyes, and smiled.
    “Do nothing,” Jardir said loudly, without taking his eyes from the Sharum Ka. “The Sharum Ka has given a command, and all
Sharum
are bound to comply. Everam will decide my fate.”
    The grumbling quieted immediately, men clearing the path, and the Sharum Ka’s rage seemed doubled at Jardir’s control of the men. Jardir sneered at him again, daring him to attack.
    “Take him away!” the Sharum Ka cried. Jardir kept his back straight and walked proudly as the guards gripped his arms and escorted him from the Maze.

    Inevera was waiting in the palace of the Andrah when Jardir arrived.
    Did she know of this day years ago, as well?
he wondered.
    His guards tightened their grip on his arms as she approached, but it was not in fear of anything Jardir might do. It was Inevera that terrified them.
    “Leave us,” Inevera ordered. “Tell your master that my husband will meet him in the Andrah’s audience hall one hour hence.”
    The guards immediately dropped Jardir’s arms and bowed. “As the
dama’ting
commands,” one stuttered, and they scurried away. Inevera snorted, pulling her warded blade to cut his bonds.
    “You did well this night,” she whispered as they walked. “Stand tall in the coming hours. When the audience with the Andrah comes, you must provoke the Sharum Ka with words while standing in submission. Enrage him, but give him no excuse to attack you.”
    “I will do no such thing,” Jardir said.
    “You did it in the Maze,” Inevera snapped. “It is trebly important now.”
    “You see all,” Jardir acknowledged, “but you understand little, if you think I will lower my eyes to this man. I was daring him to attack me then.”
    Inevera shrugged. “Do it that way if you wish, but keep your feet planted and your hands still. He will never dare attack you himself, but if you pose a threat, his men will cut you down.”
    “Do you think me a fool?” Jardir asked.
    Inevera snorted. “Just enrage him. The rest is
inevera.
”
    “As the
dama’ting
commands,” Jardir sighed.
    Inevera nodded. They reached a pillowed waiting room. “Wait here,” she commanded. “I go now to meet with the Andrah privately before your trial.”
    “Trial?” Jardir asked, but she had already slipped from the room.

    Jardir had never before been close enough to the Andrah to see the man’s face. It was old and lined, his beard a stark white. He was a round man, clearly given to rich foods. His corpulence was disgusting, and Jardir had to remind himself that this man was once the greatest
sharusahk
master of his day, having defeated the most skilled
Damaji
in single combat in order to achieve the Skull Throne. In his days beneath Sharik Hora, Jardir had seen the Kaji
Damaji,
Amadeveram, a man of some sixty years, leave half a dozen young and skilled
dama
on their backs in the
sharusahk
circle.
    He looked closer, seeking a sign of that training in the Andrah’s movements, but it seemed his ever-present bodyguards and servants had made the man lax. Even here, he picked at a plate of sugar dates during the proceedings.
    Jardir’s eyes flicked to the sides of the Andrah’s throne. At his right hand stood the twelve
Damaji,
leaders of all the tribes of Krasia. Dressed in white robes and black turbans, they muttered among themselves about being pulled from their business and dragged to the palace when the sun had barely topped the horizon. At the Andrah’s left, two steps back from the throne, stood the
Damaji’ting.
Like the
Damaji,
they wore headwraps and veils of black, falling in sharp contrast over their white robes. Unlike the
Damaji,
they were utterly silent, watching with eyes that seemed to penetrate everything.
    Do they too know my fate?
Jardir wondered, then glanced at his
Jiwah Ka,
standing beside him.
Or do they only know what Inevera tells them?
    “Son of Hoshkamin,” Damaji Amadeveram greeted Jardir, “please tell us your version of last night’s events.” He was Kaji and the Andrah’s First Minister, perhaps the most powerful cleric in all of Krasia save the Andrah himself. The Andrah was said to represent all tribes, but it was he who appointed the Sharum Ka and First Minister, and Jardir knew from his lessons that it had been centuries