Living the Dream

[Jay Carpenter]

Daryen Daimon, King of Arad Doman

Daryen looked up as General Antony Sadiq entered the war room. The general met his eye in the way that communicated there was news to be heard, and a few moments later, the king escorted him aside. He seized the power and wove a ward against listening. He did so often, nobody present seemed to notice the hush that fell upon their spoken words.
“Highness,” Antony bowed his head as he offered a letter worn by the passage of many hands.

“What have we here?” Daryen asked as he read the contents.

“Your plan has produced, highness. An assassin has taken the bait for your bounty. If you catch him, you will be able to extract the identity of the sponsor,” Antony said.

Daryen sighed. The letter read as much. He had his suspicions about the sponsor’s identity already. Capturing the deal in the act would confirm either way.
“If the assassin is worth his salt, which I wager this one is, he will either kill himself before allowing himself to be captured or he will never reveal his source.”

Antony’s lips thinned to a deep line. He agreed, but what the king said next made him blink, speechless. “Which is why I will be present when you meet him,” Daryen declared.

“Sire, I cannot allow you to put yourself in harm’s way,” Antony insisted.

Daryen smiled with great confidence and clapped the General on the shoulder. “You forget which one of us is Asha’man, General Sadiq. Don’t worry, I’ll wear a disguise if it makes you feel better,” he laughed, broke the ward, and returned to the war table.

---

Jai looked like a proper criminal mastermind. He’d left behind the Asha’man’s clothing in the palace, choosing instead to wear a blend of shades and a generic overcoat. The sword that Daryen gifted was belted at his waist. It definitely gave him away somewhat. If the newness didn’t draw the eye, then the curved line of its shape was likely to snag the wrong attention. They weren’t common weapons in the west. Then again, after he met the sponsor of the bounty, identities wouldn’t matter much. He had every intention of dragging them to the palace dungeons. Shouldn’t be an overly complicated affair, and he could finally move on from this bounty-business.

He came alone. Bringing soldiers, even peripherally, would attract attention to the trap. He didn’t need soldiers anyway. Jai was deadly on his own and despite popular opinion, could actually win in a fight once in a while. Unless it was against Lennox Orander. And unless he agreed not to channel while he just stood there taking a beating. Excluding those two specific details, he should be fine.

He pulled a hood up and over his brow. His face wasn’t as famous in Bandar Eban as others, but he frequented a lot of tavern rooms over the years; played a lot of cards and downed a lot of drinks. Which was why he chose to enter this one conveniently through the kitchen. It drew a few looks, but he passed through without resistance. Apparently this sort of thing wasn’t uncommon.

In the days leading up to this meeting, he’d studied maps of the streets just in case a chase scene erupted unexpectedly. He’d memorized faces of the people who owned the building down to those that took out the trash. Maybe Andreu’s paranoia bled into Jai last time he saw his big brother. Wouldn’t be the first time. Couldn’t be too careful.

Enclosed spaces weren’t exactly the kind of quarters he wanted to make this exchange, but the sponsor insisted, even allowing him to choose the grounds. It was a thieves’ gesture, but Jai wasn’t stupid. He declined food and drink and kept an eye on the door until midnight approached. He was rather calm the whole time despite the pacing, if antsy to get this over with, until a few minutes before midnight when a strange knot of nerves started to twist in his gut.

He seized the power if only to force a sense of calm into his own gut. The power wasn’t calm, not in the least, but it forced him to focus on one thing only. Control. Footsteps grew closer. Heavy ones. He readied the flows, wanting to unleash nothing until he was sure all accomplices showed themselves. Why was he nervous? He carefully planned everything about this night for weeks. There’s nothing he could have overlooked. All variables were accounted. Variances of those variables were figured. The probability all came back to this moment.

Focus. Shadow flickered under the door. The sponsor was on the other side. The person who promised a mountain of gold to the one that killed King Daryen, or someone who would lead Jai to such a sponsor. Imaad Suaya presumably. Maybe it was his younger brother delivering the money tonight. They wouldn’t trust so much coin to an underling lacky likely to run off with it. Tamal would be shit-faced to find Jai the recipient. That fucker. Jai hoped it was Tamal. Regardless, this whole business with the bounty would be over.

The door opened, and General Antony Sadiq entered.

Jai blinked. Antony wasn’t supposed to be here! He was going to blow the whole thing!

Then two more soldiers followed. The room was growing crowded. On their heels was a man in a long cloak with the hood pulled low. Jai suddenly realized the nervousness he’d been feeling these last few minutes wasn’t his own and was utterly bewildered. What was going on?

Daryen pushed back the hood and fixed him with a deadpan stare, then he seized the source. The shield that slammed into him nearly knocked him over. The last time Daryen shielded him was to keep him from slaughtering Tamal Suaya on the hunt. Did he think he was there to kill the General? There was an intensity in the king’s eye that chilled his heart. He knew that look. He knew it for his own. For the day the king conquered Bandar Eban and reclaimed it from the seanchan. He knew it for the nights they didn’t speak a word about the terrors of war yet both relived them as if they were yesterday.  

Daryen was at war now, and as Jai swallowed nervously, there was only one possible explanation. He thought Jai really was the assassin. Really was here to be paid for the deed. If that was the case, then who was Antony delivering all those letters to all this time? Did Daryen find out through some other means and intend to intercept himself? He had to know Jai was here or else would have sent mere soldiers rather than come himself. Only an Asha’man could capture another one.

Antony had a hand on his sword, poised to strike. The soldiers did as well. Jai thought furiously through tangle this became. Daryen cautiously approached, probably thinking Jai was dangerous as a cornered, rabid animal. He was the only person on this planet that trusted him. How could he believe this? His throat fell dry. The knots in his stomach were his own this time. Horror paled his face, but he couldn’t give up on the puzzle. He had to think quickly.

Antony delivered the letters to Daryen, knowing Jai was setting a trap to catch the bounty’s sponsor. Meanwhile, the so-called sponsor was trying to catch the assassin, but to what end? To lead him back to the real sponsor? That didn’t make sense? Why? Why would Daryen keep this plan from him? No, stupid question. Jai kept the plan from Daryen too.

Speaking of, the king reached for Jai’s sword, the one gifted by his own hand. Jai gasped and turned protectively away.
“Disarm, Asha’man,” he commanded. Jai was suddenly empathizing with the cornered animal.
“This isn’t what this looks like, Daryen. You know me. If I wanted to kill you, I’d have done it a hundred times by now.”
“The assassin hasn’t been paid yet,” Daryen said as he came within arm’s reach insinuating the reason bloody action wasn’t already taken.  

Jai, with his Malkier-blood born height, was the taller, but he wanted to sink in front of Daryen and beg him to see reason. That this was all a plan. Antony would vouch for him! Antony – Jai blinked and shot the general a glance as he hovered across the room. He was waiting, watching the king’s every flinch on bated breath. Suddenly, Daryen stepped close enough to whisper. With one arm he clasped Jai’s wrist and with the other, moved as if to confiscate the sword. Flashes of the M’Hael doing the same thing bubbled across his vision. Jai felt the wall hit against his back, Daryen’s face swam close. In the shadow of the room, he witnessed the king mouth a single word for him alone to witness. Sadiq

In that moment, Jai understood.

His heart was pounding with relief. Daryen wasn’t here to find the assassin. He was here to catch the traitor red-handed. Bloody could have let him in on this! Blood and bloody ashes!

Antony Sadiq was a powerful general. While the king commanded the armies, loyalty to their commander on the field was a valuable tool. The soldiers were present to bear witness to the betrayal.

Daryen fell back and with a wave of his hand, he ordered the soldiers to obedience: “Arrest him,” he said.

When they moved toward Jai, who remained quite motionless until this point, the king interrupted and turned toward the General. “Not him,” the soldiers paused as Daryen went on, “Lord General Antony Sadiq of the House of Shaheen, you are under arrest for treason and plot to assassinate your king.”

The soldiers stopped in their tracks, surprised as Antony, and only after a moment’s hesitation flanked themselves around their commander. Daryen thrust one side of his cloak over his shoulder rather mightily and waved that they go about their way.

Antony Sadiq put up quite the resistance. Insisting that this was no plot of his. That he was embroiled in the machinations of the Black Tower and the Council of Merchants. With two Asha’man in the room, the threat did not carry water nor did he stand a chance at escape. His best option was leverage, deal, or alibi. Jai sank in a chair after he was led from the room. The echo of threats against him rang in his ears. Undoubtedly, more forces waited outside to escort the prisoner away.

Jai held his head in his hands when Daryen returned his sword.
“I rather say, you do wear that sword well, brother,” he said.

Jai snatched it away and returned it properly to the hip. The shield dissolved after that, and Jai nodded mock gratitude.

“You should have told me,” he said.
“I could have said the same for you,” Daryen replied with a smile as he let the retort go. He understood Jai’s strategy probably better than Jai did himself. “I’d suspected Sadiq since the Hunt. He was always close to you where the others weren’t.”
Jai frowned, “you’re saying someone being a friend to me is grounds to suspect they must be a traitor. Light man, I’m not a stark raving lunatic. I have friends. Sometimes.”

Daryen smiled that disarming smile. No need to command there, just smile. The bastard.
“Not that at all, Jai. The House of Shaheen has suffered great losses by seanchan attacks two years ago. They’ve never been able to rebuild the ships they lost. The only reason they retained their status at all was Antony’s place at my command. When he suddenly took an interest in you, I paid attention. Jai you have to understand that my enemies will use any means to undermine me. Anyone who is close to me is a target to manipulate. I intend to manipulate in return. The treatise with the Seanchan will move forward even if it means Shaheen dissolves. I may have otherwise seen fit to help them prosper if it wasn’t for the fact they’ve intended to kill me, have you exiled, and restart a war nobody wants.”

Jai shook his head. It made sense. Shit though. That definitely wasn’t a variable he thought about when calculating the odds of success tonight.

He rose from the chair, straightened his sleeve, took a breath and did his best to paint on a celebratory smile. Going closer, this time he whispered. “You were nervous coming in here. I thought it was my emotions,” he said, slipping his hands around Daryen’s waist. The bond blurred the emotions of one into the other so fiercely, when in close proximity, it was almost impossible to distinguish.

Daryen’s face tilted curiously, eyes flickering a distant, soulful penetrance that disappeared so fast that Jai may have imagined its presence. “I wanted to be careful,” he said.

Jai chuckled with relief, “Careful with me, you mean. No need to tip toe around my feelings. I know what I am. It’s okay. I’ll think of a way to make it up to me later,” he said, brushing a hand agonizingly near the man’s crotch as he backed away. They were technically alone for the moment, but footsteps told him privacy was fleeting. Rumors flowed through the palace, but it was best to avoid too much scandal while in the city.

When the two exited, each were in perfect form as they always were. Jai was more than ready to return to the palace and trade the street clothes for his uniform. Tomorrow, anyway.