The Cry of the Marwing
the
CRY of the
MARWING
KAREN SIMPSON NIKAKIS grew up in the alpine region of north-eastern Victoria. She spent her childhood riding horses around the surrounding countryside, developing a keen interest in landscapes.
After starting out as a teacher, Karen worked in adult migrant education, teacher education and business communications. Taking leave from work to spend time with her young children, she pursued further education, becoming interested in fantasy, mythology and Jungian theory. As well as doing a PhD on Joseph Campbell’s hero path, she wrote short stories, poetry and novels during this period.
Karen lives with her family on acreage near the western edge of Melbourne and is Foundation Head of NMIT’s Bachelor of Writing and Publishing.
Praise for the Kira Chronicles
‘An impressive debut novel which combines assured writing and well-paced storytelling. K.S. Nikakis is a welcome addition to the ranks of Australian fantasy authors.’
Juliet Marillier
‘The Whisper of Leaves is fantasy supreme . . . an enthralling story with characters you care about.’
Sydney Morning Herald
‘[The Whisper of Leaves] is strong on its arboreal setting, and promises further complexity. For the genre fantasy fans.’
The Age
‘This excellent book is filled with adventure and mystery, tragedy and love, with power struggles, the thrill of success and the crushing weight of defeat. A definite recommendation . . .’
Newcastle Herald
‘This is great fantasy.’
Cairns Post
‘Here’s a strong new voice in Australian fantasy writing. It will be a pleasure to watch as this tale unfolds in future instalments.’
Good Reading
‘Follow the lovely, vibrant Kira every step of the way in this fast-paced, epic story from a brilliant new Australian writer.’
Toowoomba Chronicle
BOOK OF THE
KIRA CHRONICLES
the
CRY of the
MARWING
K.S. NIKAKIS
First published in 2009
Copyright © K.S. Nikakis 2009
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.
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ISBN 978 1 74175 250 2
Internal design by Kirby Stalgis
Maps by Ian Faulkner
Set in 12/16.5 pt ITC Legacy Serif by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Printed and bound in Australia by Griffin Press
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Louise Thurtell, for allowing Kira to begin her journey,
and to Angela Handley and Louise for guiding her way
The Tremen
KASHCLAN
Kiraon (Kira) – Tremen Leader and Healer
Miken – Clanleader of Kashclan
Tenerini – bondmate of Miken
Tresen – son of Miken and Healer
Mikini – daughter of Miken
Brem – Healer
Arlen – Healer
Maxen (dec.) – Kira’s father
Fasarini (dec.) – Kira’s mother
Merek (dec.) – Kira’s brother
Lern (dec.) – Kira’s brother
Kandor (dec.) – Kira’s brother
MORCLAN
Marren – Clanleader
Kest – Protector Commander
Kesilini – sister of Kest
Lis – Protector Leader
Aris – Protector
SARCLAN
Berendash – Clanleader
Therin – Protector
TARCLAN
Kemrick – Clanleader
RENCLAN
Sanden – Clanleader
Pekrash – Protector Leader and Commander of the volunteers
KENCLAN
Tenedren – Clanleader
Dendrin – Protector Leader
BARCLAN
Ketten – Clanleader
SHERCLAN
Dakresh – Clanleader
Sener – son of Dakresh
Bendrash – Protector Leader
Tallien
Caledon e Saridon e Talliel
Roshai – Caledon’s sister
Pisa – Roshai’s youngest daughter
Mechtlin – Roshai’s husband
Tain
Beris (dec.) – former king
Adris – King, son of Beris
Aranz – Major Physick
Terak Kirillian
Rulership
Tierken – Feailner
Laryia – Tierken’s sister
Darid (dec.) – Tierken’s uncle and previous Feailner
Merench (dec.) – Tierken’s father
Lyess (dec.) – Tierken’s mother
Poerin – Tierken’s military trainer
Marken – advisers to Terak Kirillian rulership
Rosham – Farid’s father and head of the Marken
Milsin
Domain – Centre of rulership
Farid – Keeper of the Domain
Ryn – Horse Master
Mouras – Room Master
Niria – server and Marin’s wife
Domain Guard
Tharin – Guard Leader
Daril – Guard Second
Storsil
Farsrin
Terak Kirillian Patrolmen
Marin – Commander
Jonred – Patrol Leader
Anvorn
Arnil
Nordrin
Barid
Ralin
Sarim
Serden
Derkash
Ayled
Shird
Vardrin
Slivkash
Jarvid
Kessomi
Eris – Darid’s mother and grandmother to Tierken and Laryia
Thalli – childhood friend of Laryia
Leos – Thalli’s husband
Jafiel – Leos’s brother
Kira – Thalli’s baby daughter
Robrin – stable master
Shargh
Cashgar Shargh
Erboran – Chief (dec.)
Palansa – join-wife of Erboran Ersalan – baby son of Palansa – next Chief
Arkendrin – younger brother of Erboran
Tarkenda – mother of Erboran and Arkendrin
Ormadon – allied to Palansa
Erlken – Ormadon’s son – allied to Palansa
Aronin – Ormadon’s kin
Irslin – Ormadon’s kin
Sansula – friend to Palansa
Orsron – Sansula’s baby son
Irdodun – allied to Arkendrin
Irason – allied to Ark
endrin
Orlun – blood-tie of Arkendrin
Weshargh
Orbdargan – Chief
Orfedren
Urugen
Soushargh
Yrshin – Chief
Aukran – blood-tie of Yrshin
Irmrin – blood-tie of Yrshin
Ashmiri
Uthlin – Chief
Irlian – son of Uthlin
Brishanda – wife of Irlian
If Healer sees a setting sun
and gold meets gold, two halves are one.
Then Westerner with silver tongue
will love and lose the golden one
but bind a friendship slow begun.
If horses graze in forests deep
where trees their summer greening keep
then fire will be the flatsword’s bane
and bring the dead to life again.
Deeds long past will hunt the Shargh
and funeral smoke consume the stars
until the thing that draws no breath
devours the dark that feeds on death.
1
The stable door slammed in the wind, startling Kira. Her nerves were still taut after the journey from Maraschin, despite Marin’s patrol having suffered no attacks and the weather having remained fair, if cold. Perhaps it was one of the effects of having to leave Tierken and her kin without any proper farewell, but it was also the sense of having been watched during the trip, a tension that had been shared by the patrolmen.
The plain had seemed empty, but there had been whole days when the men had ridden with their bows unclipped. Marin had been unusually taciturn too, and Kira suspected it was because he had been unable to find Tierken to confirm that Kira had permission to leave. She was sorry to have put Marin in a difficult position.
Her cracked ribs had made the journey a nightmare of unrelenting pain, and the only thing that had kept her on the mare was the awareness that, given the coming battles with the Shargh, a Haelen must be established in Sarnia. Kira shuddered as she recalled the wounds that she and Aranz had laboured over in Maraschin. Many of the injured had died, but countless others had been saved because Maraschin had a place of healing. But Sarnia had nothing. When they’d finally arrived here, Kira had been so unwell she’d had to dose herself with sickleseed, and had slept almost constantly the following three days. And she still felt weak now, as she stood in the disused stable, trying to decide whether it could become a place of healing.
According to Laryia, the stable had been closed up while she and Tierken had been in Sarnia, and it certainly smelled like it. Kira tried to wrest open one of the wooden shutters to get some fresh air, but the hinges were too stiff.
‘Don’t,’ ordered Laryia. ‘You’re just from your bed.’
Kira sagged against the stall, and one of the Domain Guard came forward and struggled with the shutter. Soon there was a harsh screech as it gave way.
Laryia’s face was full of concern as Kira made an effort to straighten.
‘It’s the right layout for a Haelen,’ said Kira. ‘The stalls could be divided with curtains and the harness store made into a Herbery.’
There was water, too – provided for the horses – and the stable’s position under the city wall made it convenient for receiving wounded. All in all it was well suited, thought Kira, feeling heartened. But she wondered whether Tierken’s prohibition of the Haelen – healing having long been banished from the city of the Terak Kirillian – was at this very moment making its way north. There had been a constant flow of message cylinders from Maraschin, ordering the movement south of men and weapons. Farid, the Keeper of the Domain, had told her that reports of her safe arrival in Sarnia had been sent back to Maraschin too. And she also knew from him that there had already been a lot of fighting, which made the need for the Haelen even more urgent. Kira winced. The thought of wounds, even those the Shargh would suffer, filled her with dread.
‘I’ll organise for it to be cleaned out and scrubbed over the next few days,’ said Laryia. ‘And I’ll trade for the services of some woodwrights.’
‘Once the Haelen’s ready, I’ll need to gather,’ said Kira, as they began their trek back up to the Domain. ‘Are there herbs near the walls?’
‘The land there’s pretty well grazed,’ said Laryia. ‘And Tierken directed that you remain within Sarnia. He’s asked me to do the same.’
‘Tierken has directed?’ questioned Kira.
‘He wants to ensure our safety, that’s all.’
‘Tierken insisted that the Shargh wouldn’t come north, so there should be no risk in me gathering outside the walls,’ said Kira.
Laryia’s eyes flashed but she held her silence until they reached the privacy of the Domain. ‘Why does Tierken’s wish to protect you anger you so? Don’t men in the forests care for those they love?’
‘I’m just anxious about establishing a herbal supply,’ said Kira, reluctant to argue with Laryia. ‘There’s no point in having a Haelen if I have no herbs to minister with.’ Laryia still looked doubtful as Kira turned towards her rooms.
She collapsed onto the bed, feeling more tired than ever, but she’d already lost three days, so instead of resting she opened her pack and emptied its contents beside her. There was the pot of fire-weed Tresen had given her in Maraschin plus a half-used pot she’d originally brought from Allogrenia. The fireweed fingers she had gathered before the Shargh had seized her, had long ago turned to dust. As for the rest of her supplies, there was barely enough for even a beginner Healer’s kit.
‘Kira?’
It was Laryia, poised in the doorway. ‘I’ve been thinking,’ she said. ‘We could get herbs from Kessom, although we’d have to do it soon. Once snow-melt begins, Glass Gorge will flood and the journey would be too dangerous.’
‘We’d need a steady supply, and some herbs are only potent when newly harvested,’ pointed out Kira. ‘And I don’t think there’s fireweed at Kessom – at least, I couldn’t find any.’
‘Is that what you were doing that last day there, when you came back so late – looking for fireweed?’ asked Laryia suddenly.
Kira nodded.
‘Tierken was frantic when you hadn’t returned, even though he knew the Guard were with you. It was a night like that when my father drowned. I don’t remember him, or our mother, but Tierken does. We think our father was caught while gathering in one of the small valleys up in The Slopes. They’re narrow and fill quickly. His body was found in Glass Gorge.’
Kira was silent for a while, finally understanding the violence of Tierken’s reaction. ‘Is there nowhere that isn’t stone in Sarnia?’ she asked in frustration, thinking of her need for herbs again.
‘There’s the Wastes in the Caru Quarter.’
She had fled to the Wastes after the Mid-market banquet and yet another argument with Tierken, recalled Kira. It was full of alehouses and women who traded themselves, but there was also a place rampant with weeds, where the land dipped like a bowl.
‘Actually, its proper name is Kasheron’s Quarter,’ said Laryia.
‘Kasheron’s Quarter?’ said Kira.
‘When Kasheron and his followers deser– left, Queen Kiraon insisted that Terak put aside a quarter of the city for her eldest son and his followers, should they ever return. She even made a garden there, so they’d be reminded of Kessom. But they never came back. Ever since Tierken’s been Feailner, Rosham’s been badgering him to open it up to the other Quarters to build on. The city’s crowded and extending the wall’s costly. It seemed like Tierken was finally going to agree, but he appears to have changed his mind . . . Rosham was very annoyed,’ added Laryia.
‘Tierken’s left Kasheron’s Quarter open in case Kasheron’s people return?’ asked Kira, heart quickening.
‘I don’t know his reasons,’ said Laryia. ‘Tierken gets a little of his own back sometimes by goading Rosham. Probably not the best thing to do, given Rosham’s influence in Sarnia.’
‘If Tierken�
�s Feailner, why can’t he do as he wants?’ Her father had always gone his own way.
‘He can, but it’s easier if he has the cooperation of those who feed the thoughts of others. Sarnia accepts Tierken as the rightful Feailner, but he was raised in Kessom and carries Terak’s eyes – Kasheron’s eyes, too. Gold eyes still elicit ill feeling and mistrust,’ said Laryia looking at Kira uncomfortably.
‘Then the people of Sarnia will never accept me,’ said Kira, the realisation surprisingly upsetting to her. ‘I’ve got gold eyes and I’m a Healer. My very presence here must hurt Tierken.’
Laryia’s hand closed over hers. ‘It’s not that clear-cut. After the long seasons of Darid’s childless rule, Sarnia is keen for certainty. Believe me when I tell you that many in the city would prefer to see the Feailner married to the woman he loves – even if she does have gold eyes – than living alone and childless. Sarnia wants an heir.’
The notion of being part of the Sarnians’ plan for succession was almost as abhorrent as being rejected by them, thought Kira.
‘Don’t let it concern you,’ advised Laryia. ‘They’d like to see me married – preferably to Farid – and carrying, too, for the same reason. After all, if the Feailner won’t produce an heir then his sister should, so that the line continues. But I’ll choose the man and the time of my marriage. Of course, the city can’t see why I haven’t made the Marriage Walk with Farid already and, in some ways, neither can I.’
Kira looked at her in bewilderment.
‘Well, don’t you think he’s handsome?’ asked Laryia.
Kira nodded, remembering the stares of the other women at the Mid-market banquet.