The War of Queens

Chapter 47

Asha

 Anything could be happening. Aryavan might be dead, one of her jaguars might have taken a sword to the throat - Equem might have a sword in the stomach in that very moment - and the worst part was that she was not there to prevent it. When she was a child, she had asked him to keep it a secret that he was the one to kill that first jaguar, and now she was standing there, watching the battle from afar. I always imagined I’d be stronger when I grew up, she recalled. What if that’s not the case?

 She did not feel stronger. She could still remember how she had killed her jaguar, her second jaguar. She could still remember the pain she went through trying to carry it. I have never felt such pain before, and yet it did not stop me. Now I let a woman I’ve never met before stop me.

 It took a while from that thought forming to her hand reaching for her spear. It was only a reflex, only to calm herself, but then it became more than that.

 She could not see the battle; she was within a forest, and the battle was in a large clearing by the edge of the woods. It was not far away, though.

 It barely registered when she stood up, determined once more, hand clenched around the spear. She went to her tent to find her sling in the chest with her belongings. Of course, Hiram saw her and chose to run to her.

 “What are you doing?” he asked, his eyes wide with confusion.

 “What a Kahari must do,” she said. “Protecting my people.”

 He grasped her shoulder, pulling her away from her weapons. “You can’t. Your people needs you alive.”

 She pushed him away. “What use am I alive if I cannot fight?” She clenched her jaw and reached for her sling and the pouch of particularly suitable stones that she collected while traveling. “I am a Kahari, Hiram, not a Queen. Kaharis don’t sit idly by while their men die for them. Kaharis fight.”

 He walked with her as she stomped out of the camp. “And what if you die?”

 “And what if I do?” she asked sarcastically as she picked up a ring mail and a helmet from the barracks.

 “What will we do without a leader?” Hiram asked, not giving up.

 Asha huffed. “Caterina is more than enough of a leader, I should think.”

 He took her hands. “I wouldn’t be able to live if you died,” he declared passionately.

 She leveled her gaze with his. “That is too bad, but it’s also something that every other person in the clan has to deal with. Why shouldn’t you? Because you had the privilege of falling in love with a coward?”

 “But…”

 She pulled her hand from his. “You can’t stop me Hiram.” She stepped closer to him, placed a hand on his shoulder and kissed him. “I’m sorry,” she said once she pulled away, “but I need to do this.”

 Asha ran through the forest, as soundless as the hunter she was. One forest was not much different from another, and once she had understood the differences, she was able to move as swiftly through the northern woods as the southern. When she reached the limits of the forest, she crouched down into the undergrowth.

 The battle was chaotic. There were no clear lines or formations anymore, just men fighting men, some dying and some living. When she saw Aryavan amongst the living, her heart skipped a beat. She placed a stone in her sling and shot the man who was attacking him before he even got close.

 Sundar had often told her that she was a hunter, not a warrior - but humans were just animals who knew how to put on an armor. It was easy for her to pluck out four more men and bring them down the way she would bring down monkeys in the forest. In fact, it was easier; humans were clumsy and a large target.