Chapter 28

Nil expected things to go quickly given the general euphoria following the battle; unfortunately he hadn't taken into account the fact that politicians ― no matter their height or culture ― are still politicians. He was surprised because with even the few words the Kushitic chiefs used, they still seemed to enjoy the sound of their own voices. The only one who really seemed to enjoy the back and forth repartee between the various sides and factions was Makro. She was as much in her element as a fish in water; the long hours in conference with the whole group, side meetings with individuals and the inevitable deals and sub-deals between any or all of them. Frankly it bored the crap out of Nil. Early in the process ― the second day in fact ― he turned over the entire diplomatic responsibility to his sister/wife and made it clear she had his full authority and voice.

This turned out to be fairly easy. Since the battle, Nil had been treated by the Kushitic in toto as the equivalent of another Kushitic chief. He, and by association any of his people, had obtained a position of complete acceptance with the populace. Gone were the cool, distant and entirely formal greetings; now it was smiles, waves and even small flocks of children surrounding them wherever they went.

But time didn't stand still. It was getting close to when they had to return and Nil was concerned with what they would find when they returned to the seaport. Would their ship be there? It was almost a certainty the Durhorn ships would be. Would there be trouble?

Nil had helped with the questioning of the Durhorn prisoners and the mystery of why they arrived there was finally resolved. Durhorn had sporadic contact with the country that nominally ruled the seaport and the surrounding country. In fact, Durhorn had a small military outpost within a couple days' sail of the area. They had a spy in that port who had noted the unusual arrival and sent a routine report to his handlers at that same outpost. The spy had no idea this was anything other than just an unusual occurrence but the military commander saw something potentially significant. He had been apprised of what had occurred in Salas in his latest political situation report and noted the similarities in the descriptions of the personnel involved, specifically that of an extremely tall woman who dressed and acted like a warrior. He immediately dispatched a small intelligence team back to the port to obtain more detailed information.

Under the cover of a small trading delegation they re-interviewed their spy and spread out through the town gleaning what information they could from the local population. By that time Nil's ship had left; however they were able to quickly discern it had been Jeevelian. The sailors on Nil's ship had been under no restrictions and sailors will talk, especially in the taverns. It was also natural they would brag ― usually under the influence of copious amounts of wine ― that they had a very important personage on their ship. This was enough information for the military commander to send a substantial contingent of his troops to find who he believed to be the notorious Prince Nilsen wanted for the murder of the son of a Durhorn diplomat. There weren't that many visitors to that area so it wasn't particularly difficult to track Nil's group into the mountains where they met their disastrous defeat.

It turned out their discovery was little more than colossal bad luck! This was both good news and bad. It heartened Nil to find that there had been no treachery involved in their detection, but it didn't change the fact they had been found and now, even if they left, attention would be turned towards the Kushitic and their mountains. The question now was how they, the Kushitic in particular, were going to deal with the new notoriety.

Nil was sitting in a chair reading a history of the Kushitic clans, one of the few written documents they had found. The Kushitic were far from illiterate but ― other than the necessary documents they needed for government administration ― did not seem to have much interest in the printed word. The volume had been written over two hundred seasons earlier and appeared to be little more than a compilation of their myths and legends without much factual information. Still, Nil was bored and it was better than nothing. Deimie and Fobie were lounging on one of the mattresses in the warm afternoon. After Nil's morning practice session they had been in a playful mood and after having their wicked way with him were dozing and thinking about something to eat. Makro breezed into the room, brushed the book he was reading aside and plopped down in Nil's lap.

"So, how is everything going?" he asked after they had kissed for a few minutes.

"Fairly well, actually," she answered. "It looks like we may be able to set up some kind of partnership agreement with them; if not with all of them at least with Xolan's clan and the readers are in his clan's territory so he's the important one. Right now the basics have been set and everything else is just people talking just to prove they are important and have a say in the matter."

"So what would this entail?"

"We would send a limited number of scholars here on a semi-permanent basis along with selected crystals for research and learning. We would also provide a certain number of troops as protection for this group. Of course they will be here to help protect the readers, but that is an unsaid understanding; the Kushitic can't publicly admit they don't have the resources to do it on their own.

"It turns out there was never really a possibility for us to take one of the readers with us; they're solidly attached to the floor of the reader room and can't be removed."

"So what was everybody getting angry about?" Nil frowned.

"It's just human nature, darling," she chuckled. "They had to protest just because we asked."

"That's a waste of time," Nil shook his head. "What was the point?"

"You are far too literal, my dear." She paused and looked over at the twins. "What are these two lazy lizards doing?"

"We have been used and abused by our master for his sexual gratification and now need to rest and recuperate," Fobie answered without opening her eyes.

"I'll just bet that's what happened," Makro snorted.

"Well, there was a lot of gratification," Deimie protested as she opened her eyes and stretched.

"You two are so bad," Makro sighed as she shook her head.

"He didn't fight too hard." Fobie now opened her eyes.

"What is going to happen now?" Nil asked, bringing the subject back to what he considered important matters.

"Ah, well, we finish this up and head back home," Makro replied turning back to him. "I'd say another day or two."

"Will they be able to protect themselves until we return?" he asked.

"You would know that better than I, love," she said. "But I know they are having all the clans send as many of their warriors as can be spared here, strengthening the wall and increasing the contingent of guards posted there. They seem to think they will be fine. They are also making plans for hiding the reader's cave if that becomes necessary. But you already knew that."

"Lavender's kept me updated on most of it," he admitted. "I suppose hiding the cave will do as well as anything else."