Kaiden V

PA 2 – July

Everything was on fire and it wasn’t Kaiden’s fault.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Kaiden swore repeatedly under his breath, running through the burning streets of []. The fire had already long spread across the whole city, jumping from timber to grain to anything else it could burn. Smoke rose high into the air, but not high enough to block out the searing summer sun, which only amplified the heat of the flames around him.

Kaiden had no idea where Gamila was right now, but he hoped to god she was doing better than he was.

“Halt!” Before him suddenly appeared King Cui’s soldiers, their spears held poised and ready to cut him down.

Kaiden skidded to a stop, barely stopping himself from impaling himself on their spears. Raising his hands into the air, he slowly started backing away. “Hey, uh, guys, come on. We can talk about this, right?”

“Kaiden of the Sunset Kingdom,” the lead soldier ignored him, glaring heavily at him. “By orders of the King, we are taking you into custody for treason against the crown. Surrender now, else we will bring you in by force.”

“Fuck,” Kaiden muttered under his breath. “Joseph is going to kill me.”

--

To understand how things had devolved into that, it required going back in time about two weeks, to when Kaiden first arrived at the Oasis Capital following his departure from Sun’s Rest.

Unlike pretty much every other major city in the area, the Kings of the Oasis’ had their capitals on two large Oasis’ off to the west of the river. It meant that they couldn’t take a boat the whole way to the capital, instead disembarking in the old Song capital and walking the rest of the way to the Oasis.

Between the two cities there was little more than a rut in the sands for a road, only used by merchants and soldiers. Unlike the cities along the river, any of which they could get to within a day or two, the Oasis capital took a full week of marching through the desert sands to reach.

It definitely put into perspective how Aniruddha could have held off the Song armies for so long. The logistics alone of supplying an army all the way out here must have been agonizing.

Finally, though, after the most uncomfortable trip he’d ever experienced—even including that time he was on the run from Domenic—they reached the capital, greeting the King Cui at the gates.

“Ah, Lord Kaiden!” Cui smiled at him, holding out a hand. “The Pharaoh sent word that you’d be coming. I am Cui, King of the Oasis. We met briefly, during the Norther War, if you don’t recall.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I remember that,” Kaiden smiled awkwardly at the King, doing his best not to say that all he remembered him doing was getting wasted with the sailors down at the docks. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“And you as well. Tell me though, why have you come? I wasn’t aware there was something Joseph needed to speak with me about…?”

Right. Gamila had drilled him on this. “Ah, it’s not that important. Joseph wants me to learn how administrating a Kingdom works, for when I get older and more involved in everything. But with everything on his plate he’s been too busy to teach me. So he figured, since you’re doing so well for yourself up here, that I could come and learn from you for a bit—uh, ‘broaden my horizons,’ he said.”

“Really?” Cui’s sounded skeptical. “Surly the Pharaoh is not that busy that he can’t even spare time for his own vassal?”

“You’d think so,” Kaiden grumbled, some real annoyance seeping through. “But I don’t have any important job or anything, so with everything happening all the time his time with me constantly gets pushed back for more important things.”

“Oh my, that is a shame.”

“Yeah… But, uh, that’s why he sent me up here. He—I mean, Joseph—really admires you, you know? He told me a couple of times about how you kept your cool during the war, when your people were suffering under foreign oppression, you took the time out of your busy schedule to talk with them, and reassure them that everything would be fine. Considering how often Joseph feels disconnected from his people, he was amazed you were able to understand them so well, how you were able to keep your cool even as a King in exile!”

Actually, Joseph constantly complained about Cui taking up valuable resources and not doing a damned thing to help with the war effort, but there’s no way he be saying that to this man’s face.

“He really said that?” Cui preened, a smug, satisfied smile on his face. “I didn’t know he thought so highly of me. I suppose it makes sense though, the more I think about it. We are peers, after all.”

Kaiden was in awe. Of his ego, if nothing else.

“Very well,” Cui shrugged languidly. “I accept. It is the duty of a King to lead, after all. And what better way to lead then by example?”

“Really?” Kaiden brightened, before coughing and immediately forcing himself into a more refined manner. “I mean, excellent. I’m certain the Pharaoh will be delighted to know you accept.”

“I’m certain,” Cui gave him a small smile, before turning and waving him forward. “Now. Come, come. If we stand out in the sun any longer we’ll start to melt. As we walk, allow me to give you a tour of my wonderful city.”

Kaiden followed Cui, walking besides him as he waved his arms around, acting in the moment as much a tour guide as a king. Really, though, the city wasn’t that much different then Sun’s Rest. The buildings were built in a slightly different way—more blocky and squat then the tall and open homes of Sun’s Rest—and the city was built around a lake rather than a river, but those barely made a difference. The markets were still the markets. The docks still the docks. The people still people. The buildings were made of sandstone and the guards overlooked the city from towering walls of brick and mud.

It could have been any other city along the Nile. A bit bigger maybe, a bit better planned, but otherwise not particularly unique.

That said, there was one thing that was very different from Sun’s Rest.

“And this here is my palace,” Cui raised his arms, holding them wide as he showed off his palace. “Magnificent, wouldn’t you say?”

Kaiden nodded along pleasantly, taking the building in. It was certainly big, if nothing else. It was built like an ancient ziggurat, three stories tall and towering over even the walls of the city. He’d seen the building from the entrance, but at the time hadn’t realized what it was. The sides were painted with looping geometric patterns with whites and reds and greens and browns, and from each level guards looked down on them, watching over the city, recently acquired bows held ready in their hands.

He’d thought the building impressive at a distance, but now that he was next to it he was having second thoughts.

Despite himself, Kaiden couldn’t help but compare it to Joseph’s home. Despite being King, he lived in a modest home, no different then any of his subjects. His palace, if it could be called that, was little more than a raised plaza with a throne, open to the air and allowing anyone and everyone to come and speak to the King.

Contrary to that, Cui’s palace stood alone, a large gap between its walls and the nearest buildings. He listened with one ear to Cui’s prattling about the palace how long the construction took and the genius methods used to build it and how the people were in awe of it etc., etc. At that last point he looked around, glancing at the civilians walking past. Most did not even glance at the palace, but those who did—and those who looked at their own royal party along with it—stared warily, before shoving their heads down and moving on their way. One person even completely froze upon noticing them, before turning around and speedwalking in the opposite direction without a second thought.

Maybe he was just seeing things.

Maybe.

“It’s all very impressive,” Kaiden smiled at him once his speech was done. “However, if you don’t mind me asking, where is King Aniruddha? I assumed he’d meet us here if not at the gate, but if he isn’t…?”

Cui went quiet, staring at him silently. Finally, “King Aniruddha is currently in his own capital. I’m certain he’ll come by to visit you at some point during your stay, but until then know he sends his warmest regards.”

Kaiden paused. That… that was suspicious. He knew that the two Kings merged their capitals after Aniruddha’s own city was destroyed by the Song, so they should both be here. At the very least, Gamila should have known that. Was this a recent development?

Should he… should he push this?

“I’m surprised. I thought Aniruddha would have been here to greet us—I know Meixiu and I would have been in Sun’s Rest if our situations were reversed. Is there some issue he’s currently dealing… with…”

Kaiden slowly stopped talking, seeing the gradually darkening look on Cui’s face.

‘Shit. Is it really that bad?’

“Ah. Well,” he coughed, backtracking. “I’m sure he has his reasons. I’m sorry, he probably had his reasons.”

“Hm. Indeed he does,” Cui grunted, before waving them off. “Well, I need to see to my own duties—a King’s work is never done, you know. Please follow the servants, they’ll show you to your rooms.”

Kaiden winced at the curt dismissal, but refused to let his smile drop, nodding politely. Splitting up with the King there his group followed the servants over to the guest house, a building thankfully big enough to fit the half-dozen guards and servants that Joseph had saddled him with.

He entered the room he’d been assigned, glancing around. It wasn’t too fancy, just a bed, a desk, and wardrobe, but the sandstone walls had been painted with nice geometric patterns that really made the room pop.

It kind of reminded him of a hotel room, in a weird way. It made him a bit uncomfortable, actually, seeing something so familiar in this stone age world.

“Herneith, can you go make sure the others are settled in properly?” Kaiden asked her, sitting down on his bed. Ah, damn, it was just a big bag filled with hay. And here he thought he’d never miss that itchy wool bed back in Sun’s Rest. “I want to make sure there aren’t any problems we’ll have to deal with later.”

His head guard hesitated, frowning. “I’m not sure how safe it is to leave you alone with just the one guard, my lord.”

“It’s fine, it’s only for a little while, anyway,” he smiled reassuringly at her. “Besides, these are our allies, right? Surely we should be able to trust them this much.”

Herneith still hesitated, but nodded slowly. “It’s as you say, my lord. I’ll be back in a moment.”

With that she left, leaving Kaiden alone with only a single guard.

“Finally,” he sighed, slumping. He clenched and unclenched his fists, forcing his hands to stop shaking. “Gamila, please tell me I didn’t mess up that badly!? I didn’t mean to piss him off like that, but I just…! I thought…!”

“Kaiden, calm down,” she placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. “Kaiden. It’s okay. It’s not the end of the world. Yes, it would have been better if you hadn’t tried to pry so early. But remember—we aren’t here to do anything. Just observe. One little mistake isn’t going to ruin our plans.”

“Are you… are you sure?”

“Yes,” she gave him one of her small, awkward smiles. “Even if he now doesn’t trust you and decided to send you back to Sun’s Rest, that’s still information—on his temperament, specifically. This is a low stake, low risk mission. You’re doing fine, Kaiden.”

Kaiden swallowed, feeling himself calm down. It didn’t feel like he was doing fine—more like she was just telling him that to get him to relax—but even just hearing that he hadn’t already messed up helped, just a little.

“Okay…” he took a deep breath. ‘Remember Kaiden, no more being a coward. You have to do this.’ “Okay. What do you want me to do next?”

“Just talk with him,” she told him simply, her voice calm and soothing. “Ask him simple questions—nothing as probing as that one—just common, everyday things. What does he do for fun? What do his people like to eat? Is he planning anything with King Aniruddha soon? Well maybe not that last one. But just, simple things like that. And then bring those answers back to me, and I’ll focus on figuring out what’s up. Can you do that for me?”

“…Yeah,” he tried to return her shaky smile. “Yeah, I can do that.”

9,864 God-Kings Remain