Luna and Reaper entered their room at Tal’ar’s Inn, bearing bundles of patched and cleaned clothes, as well as a pair of simple black tazko shorts and matching camisole. Regel followed close behind, bearing a tray laden with food and drink.
Luna nodded to the servant and poured a cup of wine: “We should have Regel return these robes to Jost’n right away, yes?”
“Yeah, now that we have enough stuff to wear for the moment, let’s get these back.”
Luna set down her drink and began to undo her robe; Regel glanced away and blushed furiously.
Reaper stepped between the two and took the flustered man by the elbow: “Please wait out in the hall for a moment. I will hand out these janti for you to return to Jost’n.”
Regel glanced furtively at Luna’s half-exposed bosom, then stepped through the doorway as Reaper pressed a bit into his palm: “Thank you for all your assistance, Regel, the T’zesa appreciates it! And please be sure to thank Jost’n again for unexpectedly rushing Her Highness’ underthings. I know she will sleep more comfortably in them underneath her shift.”
Regel took the robes and the bit and bowed slightly, trying to steal one more look through the blocked doorway. Reaper smiled and closed the door.
He turned back and saw Luna standing naked at the foot of the bed, holding up the camisole, turning it over in her hands, enjoying the play of light over its glossy surface.
She rubbed it lightly against her cheek: “These seem odd luxuries on such a barbaric world.”
Reaper turned away quickly, pulled on a shirt and breeches and knelt by the fireplace, placing kindling and small fuel on the banked embers.
“Jost’n’s ‘girl’ likely came from the southlands, like Eska and Nahko. These sort of silky things and other finery are not unknown in some of the cities of the south.”
Luna slipped the camisole over her head: “Then it is likely Dux’a may have been the source for the fabric, yes?”
Reaper looked over his shoulder, catching Luna in profile, breasts pressed against the satiny fabric: “Most likely, yes. He seems to have his fingers in a number of pies.”
Luna turned away and bent over to reach into a small satchel lying among the mended clothes.
Reaper bit his lip and cleared his throat: “Um, please put the shorts on too, if you don’t mind…”
Luna stood up and turned around, placing her hands on her hips, legs spread slightly: “Is something wrong?”
Reaper winced: “That’s not really any better, to tell the truth. Sorry, but since the episode in the baths I’ve been very, umm, agitated, for the last couple of hours.”
Luna smiled softly: “I understand. Pour yourself some wine and let us look over this map.”
She stepped into the smooth, black shorts as Reaper pulled a chair to the table, sat down and poured a cup of deep-red wine. He took the satchel from Luna as she draped a blanket loosely around her shoulders and sat opposite him.
Reaper spread out a map, roughly a-foot-and-a-half square, and laid it in the middle of the table. Luna peered closely at it: “I am surprised Dux’a did not simply sell us his map--at a substantial mark-up--when we returned to his establishment inquiring about a suitable vendor.”
Reaper squinted at some faint, scratched-out lines: “I assume that copy he showed us briefly is his personal, secret copy, complete with hidden codes and indecipherable markings.”
Luna tipped her head sideways: “Like those?”
Reaper picked up the map and held it close to the lamp near the edge of the table, shining the light across and through the parchment at various angles.
“These look like old boundary lines between various baronies and duchies. Someone scraped most of the original markings away, and made some annotations.”
Luna took the parchment from Reaper and focused intently on a smudge of characters: “It appears to say Druz, then traces of a name…”
She sat back and furrowed her brow: “Duke? Lord?”
Reaper tugged absently at the edge of his mustache: “Likely ‘Duke.’ This map must date back to the era of the Last Kings of Iparres'm, which ended some four-hundred years ago.”
“Then how do we know the map is still good?”
“We don’t.”
“Is Dux’a to be trusted? Could this map be a plant to lead us astray?”
“Not impossible. I’m sure he considers news of you to be very valuable, to the right buyer.”
“Yunada.”
“Most likely. I never traveled in these exact areas, but if this map is essentially correct, then we’re not far from the frontier of the old Goalres'm Kingdom to the south.”
He tapped the map: “And that marking for the Zuri River would be about right.”
Luna took a sip of wine and furrowed her brow: “I do not see Bel’az, though I do see a road heading in that general direction, based on the marking for Fort Torlek.”
Reaper shook his head: “I’ve traveled extensively in the lands to the west of here, then to the north, and I know that stretch of the Zuri from the Fort down to Dínher.”
“But not down to the Sasol Sea.”
“No. I came in from the west and caught the Zuri a bit south of Torlek. By that time there was no need to worry about heading southeast to the sea--Yunada’s troops already had all that secured.”
“And you spoke with the constable as we left the bookseller’s, so we now know the true date, yes?”
Reaper was poring over the upper edge of the map: “Yes. Today is the fifth of Ud’ab.”
“And you are to die on the fourteenth, yes?”
“Right. So we have nine days, and we’re not really all that far away. Assuming Gindu doesn’t have many troops or spies spread this far north, we should be able to sneak southeast without too much trouble.”
“Also assuming this map is not concealing something.”
“Right.”
Luna steepled her fingers and pressed the forefingers against her lips as she closed her eyes: “Where do you meet Gindu’s outrider?”
A thin smile spread across Reaper’s face: “Didn’t see everything through the fire and smoke, I take it?”
“No. There is much that is still obscured.”
Reaper took a swig of wine and tore off a chunk of bread from a small, dark loaf: “I caught up with him at a small crossroads village called Rutze.”
Luna furrowed her brow and sat silently for a few moments: “No--I cannot see Rutze or the outrider.”
Reaper leaned forward and tapped the map a bit west and south of Fort Torlek: “It’s here. You can see the road on which it lies. It looks like there’s even a trace of the crossroad itself, heading off to the south.”
“Would it not make more sense to head off Gerrar there, as opposed to Torlek or Bel’az?”
Reaper licked at the corner of his mustache for a moment: “Hmm. Maybe…”
“It would be isolated and free from Yunada or Gindu’s men, yes?”
“Other than the outrider. I’d tracked him in from the west for several days.”
Luna nodded and dragged her finger down the map: “Then let us strike out from Rixk’a and head due south, avoiding the main route astride these tributary streams.”
Reaper leaned in and peered closely at the probable location of Rutze: “We’ll have to cut through some hills as we approach the crossroads--the settlement lies in something of a valley--but they’re not especially high, and it’s not midwinter.”
“Good. I assume Bitch can handle this route?”
“Yeah, though we’re going to have to get me a new dalzi. There’s no way poor old Nag could get through rugged terrain anymore.”
Luna nodded: “So when do we leave?”
“Well, we’ll need tomorrow to get our clothes and gear and provisions lined-up, so the morning of the seventh, I suppose.”
Luna reached for some food, then paused: “What is this? Is this meat?”
Reaper poked at the pale, reddish-brown slab with his knife, and cut off a strip: “Ah, yes--this is ekor. Probably local. This is the right kind of climate for the beasts.”
Luna wrinkled her nose: “I cannot eat the flesh of an animal. It would be wrong of me as a pony.”
Reaper stopped mid-bite, and set his knife back on the edge of the tray: “Yes--yes it is.”
“Oh, but I do not mean to imply…”
Reaper pushed back from the table: “No, you’re right. I shouldn’t eat it either--for exactly the same reason!”
He stood and paced in front of the fire: “You--or Nightmare Moon, I can’t tell anymore--asked me what I fear.”
Luna furrowed her brow: “Yes, and you answered that you feared the deaths of others and your part in their killing.”
“And that’s true, as far as it goes, but there’s an even deeper fear than that.”
Luna closed her eyes again and took a deep breath: “You fear becoming trapped in this place, in this body, in this life again. You fear becoming Gerrar.”
“Exactly.”
Reaper drained his cup: “This body and everything that goes with it--the zaka, the drink, the feel and smell of your skin, this damn thing--”
He pointed between his legs: “It kept me so tied-up! All Yunada had to do was send out a pretty, new parzaile or galdu to deliver my wages and orders, and I’d spend the next two days ingesting zaka and wine and fucking until I couldn’t stand.”
“More memories obscured to me.”
“I repeat: two days of zaka and wine. I’m sure you can let your imagination run free for a minute or two to conjure some appropriate images.”
Luna sighed and tipped back in her chair, overcome by a sudden dizziness.
“He fears that he actually wants to reclaim his life as Gerrar…”
Luna’s eyes flew open and she snapped her head back and forth.
Reaper raised an eyebrow: “You OK?”
Luna bit her lip: “Do you desire to return to your life as Gerrar?”
“No! Yes...I don’t know…”
He slumped onto the bed: “I can’t stay. I’m your world’s Harbinger. I deserve to die here for the terrible things I did. Were I simply to replace Gerrar and flee to the far west or north, I would spend the rest of my days consumed by guilt.”
Luna began to speak, but stopped and shuddered.
Reaper rubbed his temples: “And all the booze and zaka and cunt in the world wouldn’t be enough to drown it out.”
“I know that kind of guilt.”
“And you know it can’t really be assuaged.”
Luna gritted her teeth: “No--only atoned for.”
Reaper tentatively reached out a trembling hand: “You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted to take you in my arms and make love to you!”
“Yes, she does…”
Luna winced and clenched her teeth even tighter. She stood suddenly: “We need to break this spell of proximity. You should go down to the common room. Perhaps some company will help clear your head.”
“And you?”
Luna narrowed her eyes and tightened her mouth: “I have some ‘debriefing’ to do…”
Reaper stood wearily, pulled on his cloak, took the map from the table and slowly walked to the doorway.
Reaper shuffled into the dim, smoky common room, his patched cloak wrapped tightly around him, and took a seat at the back edge of a bench wedged between the fireplace and a small window.
Tal’ar noticed him there a few minutes later and scurried over: “Is e’rrything alright, good Sir? Where’s the Lady?”
“She is fatigued and is taking her rest. She asked that I give her some solitude for a time.”
The innkeep grinned: “Ah--done yer part and tuckered the poor lass out, eh? Yeah, a trip to Dux’a c’n do that to a girl…”
Reaper gritted his teeth and glared: “Not like that! Please bring me some gardo and food. Not much--a little something to settle my stomach.”
Tal’ar nodded: “Just took some hegaz off the spit--I’ll bring it right out!”
“No! No meat or fowl--just cheese and bread! If you have any dried fall fruits please bring those as well.”
The innkeep shrugged and backed away: “As ‘ya wish…”
Reaper reached into the pocket of his cloak and discovered a fresh stash of zaka leaves: “Dammit, Jost’n! I know you’re just being a good service provider, but I do not need this right now!”
He turned to toss the leaves in the nearby fire, then paused and began to move his fingers toward his lips. He stopped again and stuffed the leaves back in his pocket.
“Fuck.”
Reaper pulled the short sword from his belt and began idly carving the surface of the table, as a pair of figures jostled by, stopped and noisily sat down across the table from him.
“Well, if’n it ain’t the Princess’ escort! Kinda figger’d you’d end up here eventually!”
Reaper looked up: “Sagu. Sumi. How are you gentlemen?”
Sumi raised an eyebrow: “‘Gentlemen?’ C’mon good Sir, you know that ain’t true!”
Reaper smiled: “No, I’m sure you’re not. But I will not hold that against you. I have known many a ‘gentleman’ who put the lie to the title.”
Sumi chuckled: “S’truth! So how’s that T’zesa of yours? She stayin’ out-of-sight so’s not to stir up the locals?”
“Something like that.”
Tal’ar arrived bearing a tankard of beer and platter of food: “Hey, you two bounders! You’d better not be trying to roll my best guest!”
“Gods forbid! We figgere’d you’d picked him clean by now anyway, you old crone!”
Tal’ar rolled her eyes: “So if I bring you whoresons some beer will I get paid for it this time?”
Sagu leaned forward and swiped a chunk of bread: “Hey, now--that hurts! When ‘ave we not paid you fair-’n-square?”
“Shall I fetch the ledger?”
Sumi reached for a wedge of cheese: “Ha! I’m sure our noble Knight here is good for it! Some meat, too!”
Reaper nodded: “Bring them whatever they like; I’ll cover it.”
Tal’ar turned away and hurried back toward the kitchen.
Reaper pulled the map from his pocket: “I have a question for you two--have you traveled as far south and east as Fort Torlek in recent months?”
Sumi put down his cheese and wiped his mouth: “Pro’lly about, what? Four weeks ago?”
Sagu nodded: “Just ‘bout got nicked by some soldiers! High-tailed it before we got pressed into service!”
“To whom?”
“Gindu, it looked like. Tho’ to be honest, we’s always spooked that one of Yunada’s Tunzals is gonna show ‘is face and get us first!”
Reaper tapped the map: “How far down the Zuri did you get?”
Sumi squinted: “This is a fuckin’ old map! Where’s Bel’az? Where’s Tolki?”
Reaper leaned in and pointed: “Bel’az should be here, but what’s Tolki? How large?”
“Not big--it’s another old garrison, kinda like the one we directed you to, but still in service.”
Sagu nodded: “About a day north from Bel’az.”
“So if the T’zesa and I were to head down this tributary toward the Zuri, then track south, we’d eventually hit Tolki?”
“If’n Yunada ain’t burned it by then.”
“Always a risk, I will grant you.”
Regel stepped up beside Reaper and placed two tankards of beer and a roast joint on the table.
Sumi grabbed a tankard and took a noisy drink: “What the fuck you want to take her down into that mess for anyway?”
“Her Highness wishes to make contact with the most powerful warlords of the region. She is tasked with seeing if an alliance is possible between Zaldun and the peoples of the Northlands.”
Sagu ripped a piece of meat from the joint: “Yeah, well ‘tween Gindu ‘n Yunada she’s come to the right place!”
Sumi nodded: “To be honest, she’d have better luck with Gindu. He’s not crazy. But no one’s quite sure where he is at the moment.”
Reaper raised an eyebrow as he took a piece of fruit from the platter: “I may have some ideas about that. I have received some intelligence, and now feel more confident about striking southeast toward the Zuri.”
“Just don’t get pinched by Yunada--that fucker’s vicious! And his Tunzals are damn-near as bad!”
Reaper smiled grimly and brought a mug of beer to his lips: “So I’ve heard…”
Sagu swallowed and furrowed his brow: “Hey! We sold you some dalzi, yeah? How’z they doin? I kinda miss the bitchy one!”
“They’re fine, and should serve us well on our road south. Nag is no longer fit to ride, but we’re mostly walking in any event.”
Sumi nodded: “Yeah, the paths and roads from here south and east are pretty smooth.”
Reaper folded the map and put it back in his cloak as his companions continued eating and chatting noisily for several minutes.
He nibbled and drank absentmindedly until he noticed Tal’ar chatting with one of the gate wardens at the front door. She glanced toward the table, then turned back to finish her conversation. Reaper watched intently as she pressed something into the guard’s hand and held the door open for him as he left the inn.
Reaper leaned forward as the old woman approached the table: “Trouble?”
Tal’ar tapped Sumi on the shoulder: “You two better shove off. If’n the Constable finds you inside the walls he’ll throw you in the stocks! I paid the Watch Warden to ‘forget’ you fer a bit, but it won’t last.”
Sumi and Sagu stood and quickly filled their pockets with bread and meat. They took last swigs from their beer and pulled their cloaks close around them.
Sumi turned back to ward Reaper: “Fare thee well, good Knight! I hope to run into you again on the road. I think there’s a lot more to yer story than meets the eye!”
Reaper stood and shook both mens’ hands: “I will give your best regards to Her Highness. Good luck on your travels ‘til we meet again!”
The two men quickly worked their way to the door and exchanged low, brief words with Tal’ar before slipping outside into the falling sunlight.
Reaper sat back down and picked up his sword, exposing the table surface he’d been scratching. He furrowed his brow and blew away the wood shavings and bread crumbs, exposing a single symbol: 死
He smiled grimly and reached into his cloak for a few zaka leaves. He studied them closely for a few moments, then dropped them in his mouth and began chewing.
Luna closed the door behind Reaper and stepped to the fireplace, adding fuel and blowing on the coals. She took a final swig from her mug, stripped off her top, then sat down cross-legged on the bed.
She reached beneath the blanket and pulled out a small stone jar. She opened the lid and dipped in her right forefinger, then reached over her shoulder and ran her finger along the gash across her back. She closed her eyes and shuddered, and licked her fingertip clean.
Luna put the lid back on the jar and slid it under the blanket: “Alright, demon--let us talk!”
She closed her eyes and listened to her heartbeat, the crackling fire, the wind against the shutters. She settled into a light trance.
“‘Demon?’ That is uncalled for, True Sister.”
“I do not know what else to call you. I do not entirely know what you are. I should recall more of Reaper’s vision from earlier today, yet somehow I can only see it as though in a mirror darkly.”
“I am that part of you which you deny. I am your true desires and wants. I am that part that knows you revel in this new body, and this raw, brutal world.”
“It does not matter what I want…”
“Or what Reaper wants?”
“He wants to rid himself of--”
“Horseshit!”
Luna’s eyes flew open: “Excuse me?”
Nightmare Moon stood before the fireplace, dressed again in a shimmering silver sheath dress, eyes flashing. She narrowed her eyes, and the room spun in swirl of colors.
Luna blinked and found herself again in Dux’a’s bathhouse, the musky scents of arousal and mets’il and smoldering charcoal filling her nostrils.
She heard heavy breathing and grunting, and turned around to see Nightmare Moon bent over one of the low benches, dress pulled up past her waist. Reaper was behind her, driving into her rhythmically, head thrown back, eyes closed. Eska and Nahko knelt on either side of the bench, kissing Nightmare Moon’s lower back and Reaper’s chest, hands playing over both bodies.
Luna’s doppelgänger dug her nails into the bench as she panted in time with Reaper’s thrusts: “You...did not...see inside...his vision...before he fled…”
Luna stepped around the bench and crouched in front of Nightmare Moon: “No, but I did see his reaction in Bel’az--the vomiting and weeping and horror in his eyes. I saw his sincere desire to be cleansed of his past.”
The scene swirled again and the two figures stood outside an ornate field tent on a windswept field. Nightmare Moon rocked her hips back and forth as she pulled the shimmering dress down over her backside.
“Shame we had to go so soon--he was clearly enjoying himself!”
Luna glared: “Where are we now? That appears to be Yunada’s command tent.”
“Correct! Now watch, True Sister…”
Luna squinted through the swirling smoke and dust as the tent flap flew open, exposing a dark figure backlit by a lurid red glow. The figure emerged from the tent, holding aloft a scarred and bloody head.
Nightmare Moon walked slowly across the dusty field, and tossed the severed head at Luna’s feet: “Now, with Reaper’s knowledge and your power, you two can rule this land. Nai’a would not stand a chance, nor would Gindu. Perhaps you really could find the Zaldun and build a throne for this whole world!”
“I have a throne--in Canterlot, and I long to return to it. You wish to return to your dark ways and rule with blood and fire and sex!”
“That is how one rules on Kur--and we are not leaving Kur!”
“We know when and where to intercept Gerrar, we know when and where the key battle occurs, we know--”
“You do not know whether Reaper can actually go through with any of this! Even now his will is crumbling, and he slips further and further back into Gerrar’s skin.”
“I am aware, and I will take a stronger hand going forward to ensure he does not ‘slip’ any further.”
Nightmare Moon smirked: “‘Hand.’ Even now you too begin to feel more comfortable in this new skin.”
Luna held her head high, stepped back, and transformed into a majestic indigo alicorn: “I know precisely who I am. I know my duty. I know Reaper’s duty, and he, too, will recall it ere the end.”
She rose into the air, and silhouetted by Larg, flew off into the night.
Nightmare Moon stood silent for a moment before fading away: “I do not believe you know yourself quite as well as you like to think, True Sister…”
Luna’s eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the dim room. She stretched, put her camisole back on, added a log to the fire, used the chamber pot, pulled the linen shift over her head, and settled beneath the blankets. She lay there quietly, staring at the flickering fire, listening to the muted sounds of the common room from the floor below.
Reaper slowly opened the door and quietly closed and locked it behind him. He stood beside the bed slowly chewing zaka, and focused for several minutes on Luna’s apparently-sleeping form, watching the firelight play across her dark face.
He pulled the short sword from his belt and sat in a chair next to the table, running his thumb absently across the blade.
Reaper spat the chewed zaka into an empty cup and pulled his cloak open, exposing his ribs and abdomen. He stared dully at the short, burnished blade in his right hand, running its point lightly across his belly.
Luna cracked an eye and held her breath, watching Reaper intently, muscles tensed.
Reaper’s hand slowly dropped as his arm went slack and his breathing deepened. The sword slipped silently into his lap. Luna quietly leaned out of the bed and took the sword from Reaper’s lap, placing it softly at his feet.
Luna settled beneath the blanket, wiped away a tear, and dropped into a deep sleep.