The Desert Spear

me?” Hasik growled and his grip tightened on his spear as his eyes filled with murderous rage.
    “Leave us,” Jardir said, whisking a hand at Hasik and the other guards. As they complied, Jardir descended from the dais to stand before Abban.
    “You speak things best left unspoken,” he said quietly.
    “He was your friend, Ahmann,” Abban said, ignoring him. “But then, I suppose I was once, as well.”
    “The Par’chin showed you the spear,” Jardir realized suddenly. “You, a simpering fat
khaffit,
laid eyes on the Spear of Kaji before me!”
    “I did,” Abban agreed, “and I knew it for what it was. But I did not steal it from him, though I could have. A simpering fat
khaffit
I may be, but I am no thief.”
    Jardir laughed. “No thief? Abban, that is
all
you are! You steal relics from the dead and cheat men in the bazaar every day!”
    Abban shrugged. “I see no crime in salvaging what no man claims is his, and haggling is just another form of battle, with no dishonor to the victor. I speak of killing a man—a friend—that you might take what is his.”
    Jardir snarled and his arm shot out, taking Abban by the throat. The fat merchant gasped and clutched at Jardir’s fingers, but he might as well have tried to bend steel. His knees buckled, putting his full weight on the arm, but still Jardir held him up. Abban’s face began to turn purple.
    “I will not have my honor questioned by a
khaffit,
” he said. “My loyalty is to Krasia and Everam before friends, however brave they may be.
    “Where are
your
loyalties, Abban?” he asked. “Do you even have any, beyond protecting your own fat skin?” He released Abban, who fell to the floor, gasping for air.
    “What does it matter?” Abban choked out after a moment. “With the Par’chin dead, Krasia has no use for me.”
    “The Par’chin is not the only greenlander in the world,” Jardir said, “and no Krasian knows of the green lands like Abban the
khaffit.
You are of use to me yet.”
    Abban raised an eyebrow. “Why?” he asked, the fear leaving his voice.
    “I don’t have to answer your questions,
khaffit,
” Jardir said. “You will tell me what I wish to know either way.”
    “Of course,” Abban said with a nod, “but it might be easier to simply answer my question than to call your torturers and sift the knowledge from my screams.”
    Jardir considered him a moment, then shook his head and chuckled despite himself. “I had forgotten that you find your courage when there is a scent of profit in the air,” he said, reaching out a hand to pull Abban to his feet.
    Abban bowed with a smile. “
Inevera,
my friend. We are all as Everam made us.” For a moment, the years fell away, and they were to each other as they once had been.
    “I am going to begin Sharak Sun, the Daylight War,” Jardir said. “As Kaji before me, I will conquer the green lands and unite them all for Sharak Ka.”
    “Ambitious,” Abban said, but there was doubtful condescension in his tone.
    “You do not think I can do this?” Jardir asked. “I am the Deliverer!”
    “No, Ahmann, you are not,” Abban said quietly. “If it was anyone, we both know it was the Par’chin.”
    Jardir glared at him, and Abban glared right back, as if daring Jardir to strike him.
    “So you won’t help me willingly,” Jardir said.
    Abban smiled. “I never said
that,
my friend. There is great profit in war.”
    “But you doubt I can succeed,” Jardir said.
    Abban shrugged. “The Northland is far bigger than you think, Ahmann, and more populous than Krasia by far.”
    Jardir scoffed. “You doubt any ten, any
hundred
Northern cowards can match even one
dal’Sharum
?”
    Abban shook his head. “I would never doubt you about great things like battle. But I am
khaffit,
and doubt small things.” He looked at Jardir pointedly. “Like the food and water supplies you would need to cross the desert. The men you would need to leave behind to hold the Desert Spear and captured territory. The wagonloads of
khaffit
to serve the army’s needs, and women to sate their lusts. And who would protect the women and children you leave behind? The
dama
? What will they turn this city into while you are gone?”
    Jardir was taken aback. Indeed, in his dreams of conquest in battle, such things had seemed too inconsequential to matter. Inevera had been masterful in manipulating his rise, but somehow he doubted she considered such things, either. He looked at Abban with new