Cripple, Jardir noted, not having to ask who they were. Their auras told him everything, but he allowed Inevera the niceties all the same.

'Honoured husband,' she said. 'Please allow me to present my father, Kasaad asu Kasaad am'Damaj am'Kaji, and his Jiwah Ka, my mother, Manvah.'

Jardir bowed deeply. 'Mother, Father. It is an honour to meet you at last.'

The couple bowed in return. 'The honour is ours, Deliverer,' Manvah said.

'A mother need not cover her face when alone with her husband and children,' Jardir said. Manvah nodded, removing her hood and veil. Jardir smiled, seeing many of the features he loved in the woman's face. 'I can see where the Damajah gets her legendary beauty.'

Manvah dropped her eyes politely, but she was not truly moved by the words, sincere though they were. Her aura was sharp, focused. He could sense her pride in her daughter, and the respect Inevera gave her in return, but nevertheless there was discomfort in the room. Jardir could see it dancing in the auras of his wife and her parents, a discordant web of anger and fear and shame and love that doubled and redoubled on itself, all of it centring on Kasaad.

He looked at his khaffit father-in-law, peering deeper into his aura. The man's body was covered in the telltale scars of a warrior, but the wound at his knee was not from the rending claws or tearing teeth of an alagai. It was even surgical. 'You were once a Sharum,' he guessed, 'but you did not lose your leg in battle.' The words caused a spike in the man's aura, yielding another flood of information. 'You lost the black over a crime. The leg was removed as punishment.'

'How did you ...' Inevera began.

Jardir looked at her, reading the waves of emotion connecting her to her father. 'A crime your wife and daughter long to forgive you for, but dare not.' He looked back to Kasaad. 'What was this unforgivable crime?'

Shock registered in Inevera's and Manvah's auras, but it was worse for Kasaad, who paled in the wardlight, sweat running down the side of his face. He leaned heavily on his cane and lowered himself to his knees with as much dignity as he could manage, then put his hands before him and pressed his forehead into the thick carpet.

'I struck my dama'ting daughter and murdered my eldest son for being push'ting, Deliverer,' he said. 'I thought myself righteous, defending Kaji's law even as I broke it myself with drink and behaviour that brought far more dishonour to my family than anything my son could ever have done. Soli was a brave Sharum who sent many alagai back into the abyss. I was a coward who got drunk in the Maze and hid in the lower levels where alagai seldom wandered.'

He looked up, his eyes wet with tears, and turned to Inevera. 'My daughter was within her rights to have me killed for my crimes, but she deemed it a greater punishment to let me live with my shame and the loss of the limb I used to strike her.'

Jardir nodded, looking to Inevera and her mother. Manvah's face was streaked with tears to match her husband's. Inevera's eyes were dry, but pain streaked her aura as clearly as tears would her face. This wound had been open too long.

He looked back to Kasaad. 'Everam's mercy is infinite, Kasaad son of Kasaad. No crime is unforgivable. I can see in your heart you understand and regret your actions, and the loss of your son has punished you more over the years than the loss of your leg and honour combined. You have not strayed since from Everam's path. If you wish it, I will return your blacks to you, and you may die with honour.'

Kasaad looked sadly at his wife and daughter, then shook his head. 'I thought there was shame in being khaffit, Deliverer, but in truth I have never been happier, nor seen Everam's path more clearly. I am crippled and cannot serve you in Sharak Ka, so I beg you let me die as khaffit, that I might strive to be better in my next life.'

Jardir nodded. 'As you wish. Everam makes the souls of khaffit wait outside Heaven until they have gained the wisdom to return to the Ala with a chance to be better men. I will pray for you, but I do not think the Creator will make you wait long when your time comes.'

Kasaad's aura changed then, a weight lifting. The web among the three changed, but it was still without proper harmony for a family in Everam's grace.

He turned to Manvah, peering into her heart as well. 'You have not been as man and wife since the crime, unable to bear the touch of the man who killed your son.'

Manvah's calm, focused aura had gone cold with fear and awe. She, too, got down on her knees and put her head to the floor. 'It is so, Deliverer.'

'Even the wife of a khaffit must be a wife,' Jardir said. 'And so you must decide now. Either find forgiveness in your heart, or I will dissolve your marriage.'

Manvah looked at her husband, and Jardir could see she was peeling back the years, remembering the man he had been and comparing it with who he was now. Slowly, tentatively, she reached her hand out. She shivered when it touched Kasaad's hand, and he took it squeezing tightly. 'I do not think that will be necessary, Deliverer.'

'I swear,' Kasaad said, 'with the Deliverer as my witness, that I will be worthy of your touch, wife.'

'You already are, son of Kasaad,' Jardir said. 'I am sorry that the cost of your path to wisdom brought so much pain to you and those around you, but wisdom is no small thing to be bargained for like a basket in the bazaar.'

He looked at the aura the two now shared and nodded, satisfied. He turned to Inevera. 'Your mourning does Soli honour, beloved, but remember that you mourn not for him but for yourself. I regret I could not know him, but if your brother was half the man he is in your heart, he is twice the man Everam asks we be to join Him in Heaven. Likely Soli asu Kasaad am'Damaj am'Kaji has already supped at the Creator's table and been returned to the Ala to aid our people in their time of need.'

He looked back to Kasaad, indicating he rise. The khaffit did so, slowly, and then opened his arms. Slowly at first, Inevera drifted towards them, but she closed the last steps in a rush, and they embraced tightly. Manvah threw her arms around them both.

Jardir watched as their auras became one, finally flowing together as a family should.

After a moment, Inevera looked up at him. He could see the love burning in her, but also her question before she could even utter it. 'How did you know?'

To his surprise, it was Manvah who answered, squeezing her daughter's shoulder. 'He is the Deliverer, daughter. Kaji could see into the hearts of men, and he has been born again in Ahmann Jardir. The time for doubt is over.'

Jardir gritted his teeth as he entered his throne room, seeing Kajivah and Hanya waiting with Ashan and Shanjat. He could see the rage and indignation in their auras, and assumed he was in for another lengthy debate on the merits of Sharum'ting.

'Everam's balls, is a minute of peace too much to ask?' Inevera muttered as she followed at his back. Jardir chuckled, but then Hanya turned to face him, and he saw her eye.

He was across the room in an eyeblink, cupping her chin firmly but gently as he examined the bruise. It was a dark, angry colour, but nothing compared with the darkness of his own anger.

'Who struck you, sister?' he asked quietly.

Hanya sobbed and did not answer. 'Her worthless husband,' Kajivah said for her. His sister's aura confirmed it. Jardir turned to Shanjat.

'He is already in custody, Deliverer,' Shanjat said. 'We found him in his quarters in the palace. He was lying in a pool of his own piss, drunk on couzi.'

Jardir drew a deep breath, embracing all his rage and letting it fall away as he climbed the steps to the Skull Throne. He did not trust himself in striking distance of the man. 'Bring him before me. Now.'

Inevera squeezed his shoulder briefly in support before taking her place on the pillows beside his throne. He could feel the strength of her support, and drew upon it heavily.

Hasik was dragged into the room like an animal, held fast by two Sharum with alagai-catchers. His arms were chained to a metal band around his waist, with a spear shaft threaded through his elbows behind his back. His ankles were connected by a short length of chain. A bit kept his teeth open and his tongue pushed back, held in place with a tight leather strap. He was hungover, his aura bright with pain and impotent rage. Beneath that was shame, and fear. He knew what he had done, and what it meant. It was all Jardir could do not to kill him on sight.

'Sister,' he commanded instead. 'Tell me everything that happened.'

Hanya was still sobbing, but with soothing from Kajivah, she managed to draw strength enough to look up and meet her brother's eyes. 'I do not understand it myself, brother. Hasik has been vexed with me before, but he has never drunk couzi, or struck me. But these last few days, he changed. He began sneaking bottles into our chambers, drinking too much and weeping to himself when he thought he was alone. I tried to offer comfort as a wife should, but all my efforts were rebuffed. Then, last night as he slept, I decided to ... surprise him.' Her aura grew hot with shame.

Jardir regretted forcing her to recount the story in open court, but what was done was done. 'What happened then?'

Hanya's aura was bright with pain and confusion to match her shame. 'His manhood ... it was gone.'

'Gone?' Jardir asked.

'Cut away,' Hanya said. 'There was only a scar in its place, and a tiny metal tube.' Ashan and Shanjat's auras told him they had already heard this news, but he could see the discomfort the topic gave them still. Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably, Jardir included. Only Inevera and the Damaji'ting, used to eunuch servants, were unperturbed.

Hanya's aura told him the rest, though he could easily have guessed it. 'Hasik woke, saw that you had seen his shame, and struck you.'

Hanya nodded, and Jardir turned back to Hasik. 'Show me.'

The humiliation in Hasik's aura was a scream in the air, but he stood slumped, not resisting as one of the guards pulled down his pantaloons, revealing that he had indeed lost his manhood. Jardir nodded to the guard, and he undid the strap, pulling the bit from Hasik's teeth.

'What happened to you, Hasik?' Jardir demanded.

Hasik did not respond right away, his eyes still on the floor. 'I thought it might grow back.'

'Eh?' Jardir asked.

'If I killed enough alagai,' Hasik said. 'If I bathed in their magic, I thought it might grow back.'

Inevera nodded. 'It does not work that way, Sharum. What is severed cannot be regrown. You only closed the wound.' Hasik slumped again.

'Who did this to you?' Jardir asked. 'You will still answer for striking my sister, but you are my brother-in-law and one of the Spears of the Deliverer. Any assault upon you is one upon me, as well.'

Hasik looked at him, but his shame and fear were overwhelming, and he did not speak.

'The Deliverer asked you a question, dog!' Ashan barked. Shanjat punched Hasik hard in the face, knocking him to the floor. Still, the giant Sharum was silent.

He would rather die than tell me, Jardir realized. Fortunately, for a Sharum there were worse fates than death.

'Strip his blacks, and burn them,' Jardir said. 'Cut off the hand he struck my sister with and throw him out in tan. I will dissolve his marriage and he can live out his days a crippled khaffit, denied Heaven for all eternity.'

'No, please!' Hasik cried in anguish. 'I have served you loyally! It was Abban! Abban the cursed khaffit!' His aura said he was telling the truth, and upon hearing it, Jardir was not surprised that Hasik would have been ashamed to admit it.

Still, it presented him with a difficult problem. He looked to Shanjat. 'Take a dozen men and find the khaffit. Bring him to me untouched. If there is so much as a hair out of place before I question him, it will be paid for ten thousandfold.'

Shanjat bowed, leaving quickly. Before long, he returned with Abban in tow. Hasik remained chained and noosed, but he had been allowed the dignity of his clothes once more. When Abban appeared, he recovered something of himself, seeming to slump as he prepared himself to spring. Jardir could see ghostly visions of him leaping at Abban as he planned the strike. If he could break free and kill the khaffit, the guards might slay him while he still wore his blacks.

Jardir looked to the men holding the alagai-catchers. These were Spears of the Deliverer, and no fools. They were prepared, pulling tight as Hasik sprang and choking him to the ground.

He turned back to regard Abban, probing deeply with his crownsight. The khaffit had already guessed the purpose of the summons, but his aura was calm. He was indeed guilty, but expected to talk his way out of this unscathed. Normally, Abban was skilled at masking his emotions, but here his arrogance was without end. He looked at Hasik flatly, but his aura was one of utter disdain and more than a little satisfaction.

'Did you castrate Hasik?' Jardir asked, wasting no time on pleasantries. His anger was only growing. He might be left with no choice but to kill his bodyguard and most favoured advisor both.

'No, Deliverer,' Abban said. It was truth, but not the whole truth.

'Did you order your kha'Sharum to do it?' he asked, losing patience.

Abban nodded. 'Yes, Deliverer.'

The men in the room all began angry muttering, but Jardir thumped his spear, and they fell silent. Abban still stood there, calm.

'I gave you those warriors to protect your business and facilitate trade, not to assault my warriors,' Jardir said.

'And so I have,' Abban said. He turned to Hasik, lifting his crutch to point at the chained man. 'That one, frustrated with your decree that I not be harmed, has been taking out his ire in my pavilion. You send him to me frequently as your errand boy, and without fail, he takes the opportunity to steal, or break precious merchandise for the pleasure of it.'

'And for this, you sever his cock?!' Jardir demanded.

Abban shook his head. 'Trinkets and baubles are easily replaced, Deliverer. My daughter's virginity is not. Nor the honour of my wives.'

'The khaffit lies, Deliverer!' Hasik shouted. 'I never ...!'

Jardir gave a curt gesture, and one of the guards tightened his noose, cutting off his words. 'I am Shar'Dama Ka, Hasik, and can see your heart. The next lie that escapes your lips will cost you your life, your honour, and your place in Heaven.'

Hasik's eyes widened, and his aura went cold.

'Did you rape Abban's daughter, Hasik?' Jardir asked softly.

Hasik was weeping openly now. He did not have the strength to answer, but he nodded. Hanya began sobbing again. Kajivah pulled her daughter in close, catching the tears on her breast while she glared daggers at Hasik.

'And his wives?' Jardir asked. Again, a defeated nod.

'Nevertheless, this cannot be allowed to stand, Deliverer,' Ashan said. 'If khaffit even kha'Sharum can kill dal, then all civilization crumbles.'

'Your pardon, Damaji,' Abban said, 'but neither I nor my men have killed anyone.' He gestured to Hasik. 'As you can see, the Deliverer's bodyguard is very much alive and able to continue his part in Sharak Ka.'

Jardir glared at him. 'Why did you not come to me with this?'

Abban bowed as deeply as his crutch would allow. 'The Shar'Dama Ka has more pressing matters than giving constant reprimands to overzealous Sharum and dama seeking to find loopholes to bully me without breaking your decree.'

Jardir did not miss the change in Shanjat's and Ashan's auras at those words. They, too, were guilty of the crime, if not so unsubtly as Hasik. He would have to deal with them in turn.

But then he looked back at Abban, and wondered. Abban was asking, nay, demanding, the right to defend himself. The khaffit stared at him calmly, daring him to take the Sharum's side over his. If you are fool enough to turn on me over this, then my loyalty has been misplaced, his aura said.

Jardir sighed loudly. 'Time and again, I have told men in this very hall that Abban is not to be harmed. He is my property, and any harm that comes to him will be from me alone.

'Every man has the right to stop his daughter's rape, or avenge it if he can. Even khaffit. Even chin. If Hasik was too weak to defend himself, then he was not worthy of the prize. His cock has gotten him in trouble for the last time. He has sons and daughters to carry on his name, and as the khaffit says, he is still fit for sharak.'

He looked to Hasik. 'You have paid your due to Abban. The price for striking my sister is divorce, not only from your Jiwah Ka, but your other wives as well. I will not have my sister married to half a man. Hanya will keep her sister-wives, all your property and children.' He could see how he was crushing Hasik's spirit, but he did not pity the man. He still remembered what Hasik had done to him, all those years ago in the Maze.

'You,' he pointed his spear at the chained warrior, 'will keep your spear, your shield, and your blacks. You are expelled from the Spears of the Deliverer, but Jayan will find you a new unit to fight for. None here will speak of your injury, and if discovered, you may say it was an alagai wound. Continue to win glory in the night, and you may yet see Heaven. Break Everam's law again, with even so much as a cup of couzi, and I will see you cast into Nie's abyss.'

He looked to Ashan and Shanjat. 'I trust the lesson is clear to you, as well?'

Both men looked chastened, and nodded. 'Good,' Jardir said. 'Make sure the other Sharum and dama know this as well. I will not repeat it.'

Inevera went immediately to her Chamber of Shadows when the audience was over. After the scene with her parents, she had wanted nothing more than to have some time alone with her husband, but it was not to be. The usual mass of courtiers and petitioners were lining up to make their pleas before the Skull Throne, and she had no patience to sit through it all.

She had hoped to save the blood taken from Abban's kerchief for the right moment, but with his power and boldness growing, she could no longer afford to wait. She had not known Ahmann had given the khaffit warriors of his own, and it explained much. Still, she could not believe any kha'Sharum a match for her eunuch Watchers, trained by Enkido himself. They had killed Damaji's wives in their beds while the men slept beside them.

Hasik had deserved his fate, and so, perhaps, had her Watchers, if they had been fool enough to be caught. But still the trend disturbed her. Already, the khaffit had tried to supplant her. How long before he attempted to strike at her again?

She had leached the blood from the cloth while it was still fresh, storing it in a sealed vial. She took this now, pouring it over her dice. 'Almighty Everam, give me knowledge of Abban asu Chabin am'Haman am'Kaji. Can he be trusted to serve the Deliverer? Will he continue to strike at me?' She felt the dice grow warm as she shook, and then cast them to the floor, staring at the brightly glowing symbols.

As always, she was prepared to follow their guidance, but she was not prepared for the answer.

The khaffit is loyal to the Deliverer. Your fates are intertwined. Harm to one is the same as harm to the other.-

30.

My True Friend